In a nutshell
- 🌱 Hexagram 24: Return (Fu) — Prioritise rhythmic renewal via the smallest repeatable action, set a weekly cadence, and track a single confirming metric to rebuild momentum without burnout.
- 🛡️ Hexagram 26: Taming the Great Power (Da Xu) — Bank strength through preparation: draft, rehearse, and red-team ideas; the payoff is durable outcomes and lower reputational risk, despite the pull of premature announcements.
- 🔄 Hexagram 49: Revolution (Ge) — Make a principled change with clear justification, scope-limited pivots, and early proof points; avoid performative drama by showing your workings and timeline.
- 🧗 Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward (Sheng) — Pursue steady ascent with the “one step, one sponsor” rule; ask precisely for the next rung, respect process and etiquette, and bring a pilot to earn support.
- 🕊️ Hexagram 61: Inner Truth (Zhong Fu) — Build quiet authority through transparency: disclose assumptions, verify sources, and invite counter-evidence; trust becomes your strongest currency in negotiations and leadership.
On 7 January 2026, the I Ching speaks in a crisp winter voice: less about fireworks, more about the kind of energy that holds its nerve and chooses the right moment. In editorial interviews and coaching sessions I’ve been running since autumn, a pattern keeps recurring: teams want renewal, but with proof. That is where today’s five hexagrams concentrate their power—in resets that stick, reform that respects timing, and courage grounded by ethics. Think of them as lenses for decision-making in a tight labour market and a jittery media cycle. Applied well, each can turn a busy Wednesday into a quiet inflection point that you can build a quarter around.
Hexagram 24: Return (Fu) — The Seasonal Reset
After the holidays, many rush back at full tilt. Return counters with a subtler proposition: begin again, but in measured loops. The hexagram’s winter symbolism suggests a step-by-step comeback, not a sprint. Today, the most potent move is the smallest one you can repeat. In practice, that might be reopening a paused project with a 7-day review cadence or piloting a refreshed pitch for a single client before relaunching broadly. The point is rhythmic renewal, not heroic rescue.
In my notebook from a northern newsroom, a producer rebuilt a struggling morning segment by “returning” to one sharp question per guest, then layering complexity week by week. Within a fortnight, the segment’s completion rate rose and the booking pipeline unclogged. Consider these prompts:
- Scale: What is the smallest viable unit of your comeback?
- Cadence: Can you schedule a weekly reset to prevent drift?
- Signal: Which metric—attendance, opens, or calls—confirms the turn?
Pros: resilient momentum; moral of seasonality. Cons: impatience can distort the loop. Trust the cycle; avoid forcing outcomes before the ground warms.
Hexagram 26: Taming the Great Power (Da Xu) — Stored Momentum
Da Xu is brawn with brakes: concentrated strength kept in reserve, like a dam holding back a valley. In media and strategy work, that means drafting materials, training spokespeople, and shoring up sources before the big drop. Power today lies in preparation, not spectacle. If you’re tempted to announce, delay a beat—test the copy, rehearse the Q&A, pressure-test the numbers. People trust readiness more than rhetoric.
Pros vs. Cons:
- Pros: disciplined timing; durable outcomes; fewer reputational risks.
- Cons: opportunity costs; risk of analysis paralysis; team restlessness.
A practical edit-room tactic: set a “red team” to poke holes in your strongest idea for 30 minutes. Publish only what survives. A charity I followed in Leeds used this to refine its winter appeal; they cut three emotive lines, added one verifiable statistic and a clearer ask—donations held, refunds dropped. Why restraint isn’t always easier: it demands saying no to applause now to protect trust later. If you can bank strength today, you’ll spend it at a better price tomorrow.
Hexagram 49: Revolution (Ge) — Clean Breaks Done Right
There are days to patch, and days to replace the roof. Ge signals reform with a conscience: change that is decisive, justified, and clearly communicated. On 7 January, the energy favours a targeted pivot over a wholesale purge. That might be retiring a legacy product, rewriting a flawed policy, or redrawing a beat map that no longer serves the audience. The key is to show your workings—state the harm, the remedy, the timeline.
A composite case study from agency life: a regional PR shop dropped a scattergun press list and built a 40-name “believer file” of editors who actually engage. Within a month, hit rates rose, but more importantly, rejections became instructive. Revolution, done right, clarifies who you serve. To guide the pivot:
- Mandate: What specific pain justifies the break?
- Timing: Can stakeholders absorb the shock this week?
- Proof: What early win will demonstrate you were right?
Why bigger isn’t always better: the sharpest revolutions are scope-limited and reversible if evidence contradicts the bet.
For quick reference, here’s a compact map of today’s strongest hexagrams and how to use them at a glance.
| Hexagram | Core Energy | Best Use Today | Watch-Out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24: Return (Fu) | Rhythmic renewal | Small iterative relaunch | Impatience breaks cadence |
| 26: Taming the Great Power (Da Xu) | Disciplined restraint | Train, draft, rehearse | Analysis paralysis |
| 49: Revolution (Ge) | Principled change | Retire what no longer works | Performative drama |
| 46: Pushing Upward (Sheng) | Steady ascent | Ask for specific help | Skipping steps |
| 61: Inner Truth (Zhong Fu) | Quiet credibility | Negotiations and trust | Over-sharing |
Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward (Sheng) — Climb With Help
Sheng rewards patience, protocol, and allies. Think of a lift that needs both the right code and a friendly doorman. Today’s climb accelerates when you ask precisely for the rung above you: an introduction to a single commissioner, a 20-minute trial slot, a micro-budget to test a section revamp. The hexagram emphasises effort with courtesy—knocking, not barging.
A useful structure is the “one step, one sponsor” rule. Draft your next rung, then name who can validate it quickly. In a Midlands features desk, a junior reporter pitched a narrow series—“five streets, five futures”—and sought the city editor’s mentorship for access and framing. The ascent was modest but real: better sources, sharper data, higher dwell time. To avoid stumbles:
- Sequence: Define the next rung, not the rooftop.
- Etiquette: Formalise requests; respect calendars.
- Evidence: Bring a pilot paragraph, not a promise.
Ambition that honours process tends to outlast flashier gambits—and that longevity is its own leverage.
Hexagram 61: Inner Truth (Zhong Fu) — Quiet Authority
Where noise is abundant, Zhong Fu is the steady drumbeat of credibility. It points you toward authentic alignment—values, facts, and tone in tune. Today, the strongest currency is trust you can demonstrate. For negotiators, that might mean sending the deck with sources linked; for editors, noting what you don’t know and how you’ll verify it; for leaders, inviting dissent in the room and summarising it honestly outside.
In a recent roundtable with local publishers, the titles thriving on slim budgets were those with a ritual of transparency: corrections published by noon, reader questions answered by Friday, datasets available on request. That is Inner Truth operationalised. Try a “trust sprint” this week:
- Disclose: State assumptions and limits up front.
- Verify: Log sources; tag claims by confidence.
- Invite: Ask for counter-evidence before sign-off.
Quiet authority scales because people remember how you made them feel: informed, respected, and free to challenge. From that soil, long deals—and loyal audiences—grow.
Across these five hexagrams, the through-line is disciplined courage: act, but know why; move, but mark your steps; speak, but show your workings. Return sets the rhythm, Da Xu banks strength, Ge cuts cleanly, Sheng climbs with grace, and Zhong Fu seals trust. Use today to choose one lever and pull it fully. In a year likely to reward credibility over noise, that choice could pay compounding dividends. Which hexagram’s energy will you lean into before the day is out, and what is the smallest, testable action you’ll take to prove it works?
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