The way we frame our future has a direct impact not just on the dollars in our pockets, but on our health, wellbeing and our willingness to get out, enjoy time with family and friends, and contribute to vibrant communities.
If we want people to feel good about living, working and playing here, our messaging needs to reflect possibility, not despair.
Earlier this year, I challenged the traditional 9-to-5 model in retail and hospitality.
The truth is, most CBDs still shut down just as people finally have free time.
At 5pm, towns turn into ghost towns, while online shopping soars.
Parents who work full time tell me the hours they want to shop are exactly when stores are closed.
If supermarkets and big-box retailers can thrive with extended hours, why can’t our CBDs?
Summer brings longer daylight and plenty of visitors, yet we continue to switch off at the exact time vibrancy should begin.
This isn’t just about keeping doors open longer. It’s about rethinking the way we live and work.
In Napier’s CBD, we experimented with a few late-night shopping events over winter. We closed the streets, brought in music and entertainment, and shops opened their doors.
Not only did they make sales, they broke up the winter humdrum, and most of all, people had fun.
We’d love to continue these early evening shopping experiences every Friday over summer. Notice the shift: “late-night shopping” sounds like a chore, but “early evening shopping” feels inviting and achievable.
It’s about enjoying the lighter evenings, grabbing a bite, picking up something from the shops, and making a night of it.
Are we up for the challenge? And are we up to challenging the 9-5 workday?
What if banks, insurers and offices worked on shifts?
Imagine dropping the kids at school, meeting a friend for breakfast or doing your shopping before heading in to work at 11am.
Imagine finishing at 7pm and still being able to see your lawyer, visit the post office or browse in a store.
This isn’t about adding more staff – it’s about redistributing how we use the staff we already have.
Such a shift could ease infrastructure congestion, support our CBD economies and, most importantly, give people the chance to live rather than just work to live.
The rising cost of living is real and, in many ways, unavoidable.
But if we only focus on the negative, we risk spiralling into collective gloom.
“Optimistic 26” challenges us to reframe.
To stop asking only how we survive, and start asking: how do we live better?
That means businesses being bold enough to experiment.
It means communities demanding more opportunities to come together. And it means leaders finding ways to spark vibrancy beyond the status quo.
Hawke’s Bay has all the ingredients for a thriving, people-first lifestyle.
Let’s not waste it by locking the doors at 5pm. Let’s embrace optimism, adapt how we work and play, and create a future where we do more than survive – we flourish.
Optimistic 26 isn’t just a slogan. It’s a mindset. A challenge. An invitation to live differently.
