Monday Momentum | Week 6 of 12 | 17 February 2026
The kit is ready. The body and mind are not.
This is Week 6 of my 12 Week Year Q1 2026. Brian Moran calls this the valley of despair. The more I look at the amount of work ahead, the more I understand why. The mountain path is clear. The legs are heavy.
But here’s what I know: I am the only one who can do this work for me.
Too much weight
In my last FFFN I wrote about mapping. This week I realised I’m carrying far too much. And weight is no good in the mountains. You don’t go far and you don’t climb hard with weight.
In climbing and ski touring, you learn to review the kit ruthlessly. You cut everything unnecessary. You carry only what is strictly needed for the objective.
This week I’m doing the same — in business, in commitments, in all aspects of my work.
I have too many relations. Too many projects. Too many maybes. The skill isn’t accumulating. It’s cutting. Pochi ma buoni — few but good — applies to partnerships, to projects, to where I put my time.
The tension
A local friend from Valgerola called about buying a rock near my village. I’ve wanted to open a small crag for friends and children to learn climbing. It’s good. It’s important.
But then I stopped.
Am I sure I want this?
I am a man of big faces and mountain. Even if I love the cosiness of my small village in the Orobie Alps, do I want to limit myself to belonging only here? To one valley? To a county in England?
I belong to Europe. That’s the scale I work at. That’s the scale of Smart Mountains, of Imprese Favolose, of the partnerships I’m building.
The small crag matters. But it cannot become the distraction that keeps me from the bigger face.
The week ahead
This week is all about pushing ahead on two fronts:
UK Board & NED Positioning. Learning the craft. Cyber governance frameworks. Impact-driven oversight. Preparing for the board roles I want to hold. The digital transformation of my own advisory practice depends on this.
Digital Foundation for the Ventures. Fab Campaigns. Imprese Favolose. Smart Mountains. These three need stronger digital infrastructure before the seeding round — now summer 2026. We delayed. That’s not an excuse. It’s an opportunity to build a more compelling story for investors.
What comes next
The next weeks are about one thing: execution, execution, execution.
Not more planning. Not more mapping. Executing what I’ve already designed. Shipping what I’ve already drafted. Reaching out to the people I’ve been meaning to reach.
The seeding round moved to summer 2026. That buys time. It also removes excuses. Use it to create momentum, not to relax into delay.
The principle
In the valley of despair, the only way out is through.
Cut the weight. Carry only what matters. Keep moving.
The summit is still there. The path is still clear. The work is mine to do.
Let’s build together.
Fabrizio de Liberali Partnerships Architect | deliberali.com