12/31/2025
This is what I'll be doing today!
On this final day of 2025, I want to share my favourite and most powerful year-end, goal-setting "pre-work" exercise with you.
Even if you don't plan to set goals, I strongly encourage you to set aside a few minutes over the next 24 hours and do this 2-step exercise.
𝗪𝐡𝐲? 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. And I want you to create and amazing 2026! So...
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟏: 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝!
Set a timer for 10 minutes, and then write down everything you feel good about from 2025. Include EVERYTHING!
- Things you accomplished
- Things you tried (even if it didn't work out)
- Things you learned
- New habits you started
- Behaviours you stopped
- Thoughts you started thinking
- Beliefs you let go of.
Go through your journals, photos, calendar, and pile of sticky-notes and napkin scraps (if you're like me, they're plentiful), and write it all down in one big list.
Now, go through that list and pause to celebrate every entry (big and small).
Maybe give yourself a high-five, do a fist pump, or get up and do a little dance!
I'm not joking. Seriously, do something physical to help really write those good things into your nervous system. Your 2026 self is counting on you!
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟐: 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭-𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝
Possibly even more important is getting closure on what sucked about 2025.
And by closure, I mean a sense of peace and empowerment.
Because life is 50/50. Always.
So we need to develop a practice of processing disappointment, grief, sadness, anger, loss and other negative feelings.
Why? To make sure we don't slide into victim-mode over the past.
Our brains use the past to predict what's possible in the future. Drawing on stories of empowerment, not victimhood, is critical for setting yourself up for success in 2026.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔.
We want to access empowered, strong, confident energy when setting our goals for the future.
The energy of possibility. Of excitement. Of belief.
And to create that energy (yes, we CREATE it. It doesn't just magically and spontaneously happen), we need to get closure on the past.
How? By...
- acknowledging and being willing to feel each negative emotion,
- becoming aware of the story we're telling in response,
- and then re-writing that story so that we don't get stuck in victimhood.
This doesn't mean pretending to be happy about terrible things.
This is not about adopting Pollyanna thinking and / or lying to yourself.
The new story you choose needs to be just a real and believable as the old one. The difference is that it's a story that you like better. That serves you to believe.
This might be as simple as acknowledging that you're still here. That you are strong, and weathered the storm.
This might involve taking stock of what you've overcome, and what you learned in the process.
This might involve asking yourself what the silver lining might be.
𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐒𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲.
The goal of this exercise is to shift you into a confident, empowered mindset about what is possible for you in 2026.
This is the energy and mindset you want to be in when you set those 2026 goals.
(𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘯 𝟷𝟿-𝟸𝟹 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘰𝘨 𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱. 𝘋𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯!)
Wishing you a fabulous last day of the year! 😘
