#15 – Don't Plan 2026 Until You Do This!

As the year winds down, we’re pausing to look back and reflect. In this episode, we walk you through our favorite year-in-review questions and simple reflection practices — the ones that help us gather the gold, honor the hard, and step into the new year with clarity and purpose.

From flipping through your calendar and camera roll to asking the deeper “What did this year teach me?” questions, this episode is your invitation to pause, breathe, and really see the story you lived this year.

Whether you love reflection or avoid it (hi, we see you), these prompts will help you get rooted, grounded, and intentional before stepping into what’s next.

Grab a cozy drink, a journal, and come reflect with us!

Let's stay connected! 

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Transcript

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Welcome to today's episode. We are going to combine conversation around ending the year well, by looking through the lens of mindful practices that we can do to reflect, to be intentional about the way that we close the year out. We both believe that in doing things with some intentionality and purpose, especially in looking back over the last 12 months, it can be a way of setting ourselves up for success in the year to come. We're gonna share some practical journal prompts and some things that we love to do as a year in review. And so either follow along if you're in a place where you wanna grab a journal, grab your favorite hot drink and sit down, get cozy, feel free to listen and pause if you want to do the exercises with us in real time. Alternatively, I'm gonna encourage you to set a date for yourself, maybe listen through to the episode once and then come back, visit the journal prompts, and the practices that we're gonna offer you today so that you can take one-on-one time with yourself to close out this year well and really set yourself up for success going into 2026. Dez, what are some of the thoughts you have around intentional practices that support you on a nervous system, spiritual and emotional level for finishing out a year or looking back over a season as it comes to a close? Well, I don't know about you, but for me, when I get to December, I feel like a chicken with her head cut off. I'm sprinting to the finish line and there's so much to do and so many needs and so much going on. And I think that we're expected once we hit January 1, just to like launch with clarity and vision and purpose when in actuality we need a lot of care and even processing the year that just passed. I find that this practice of intentionality, of sinking in, noticing, it's the best process for me extract and savor what has been. And I think that the antidote to this feeling that we never have enough time to do anything is not actually more time. That's really not gonna resolve all the things that we need to get done. But presence, being present in the right now moment of your life helps you sink in and savor and notice. What we're wanting to walk people through as part of the things that we practice is this ability to notice the heart moments, the ahas for us, the spiritual highs, some of the challenges, because by honoring all of it, it's naming, being present with that's really going to help you feel ready to enter into the next year. I love the way you said that. love the way you highlighted presence. If you're able to take some time for yourself and you you can even pick and choose, pick one practice, pick a couple. We're gonna list three main things that we do with some sub points underneath that. I wish I could take credit for coming up with all of them, but honestly, are journal prompts and practices that I've picked up over the years. Today is just a few simple practices that you could do over the course of one to two hours, but potentially you could take to your small group. You could do with a group of friends around a table if you wanted to, and just share your answers, share your highlights. There's a lot of room for flexibility and making it your own. But like Dez said, the point is just to help you drop in, be a little bit more present in the craziness of this season and close out 2025 with a sense of intention so that you're able to release what needs to go behind and step into what's ahead in 2026. So good. I love you highlighting flexibility and a thought I had is even if you don't do this processing until after Christmas or until after New Year, you're not behind. There's no timeline for this process. This is just an encouragement. There's no need to feel shame or that you're failing in any way, even as we present this. So I love the flexibility. If it's February 1st, good for you. Yep, Totally. And you can take this before a birthday. I like doing similar practices, going into a new chronological year of age. Anytime that you have the sense that you're standing on the threshold of something new, it can be wonderful to think about the chapter that you're stepping out of. I love new beginnings. I've really grown over the years to value ending well as well. I think there's a uh deep value in closing things out well. there's beauty in the new things and there's beauty in something closing. I love that. Same, similar. require attention and celebration for what they've been and what we're letting go of. So without further ado, let's dive into the first practice. Dez, you want to share a little bit about what this practice can look like? Okay, so we recommend you review your calendar. I'm a very visual person, so I happen to have an actual calendar book that I use. Flip through it, look through, notice the things that you've spending time doing. Notice the games, the celebrations, the people coming over. If you can highlight the parts of your life that you're investing in, you're working hard you've prayed for these things, you've uh set aside time, you've put effort into them. So by just looking through your calendar, your diary, if you journal, it's a great thing just to kind of flip through your journal, notice answers to prayers, notice things that felt hard, notice moments of holding space for other people in prayer, or even the things that were inside of your heart that were challenges and places that you were working on and working towards. I think uh the act of looking through your calendar can be a great way to help you go back those 12 months and start to review. Yeah, super practical. And if you are an online digital person, just go back through calendar. I'm with you and that I love my pen and paper the diary. The tactile act of writing things down and flipping through pages feels really good for me as well. But just start at January. What were some highlights? When were the vacations? I know that when I was flipping through my calendar, I had forgotten about some of the things that I had done this year. For instance, this year was a really travel intensive year for me. And flipping through of like, yes, I had that flight to that place. I completely forgot about that. I was like, how did I forget? But it was amazing the things that will slip your mind sometimes. it's true. through the calendar, like you said, the people you spent time with, the places you went, the games. If you're a parent like us, what your kids have, all those things can just be a great way to give you a snapshot of what your year was spent doing. When I did this, I felt very validated in a lot of ways. I'm no wonder my life feels so full or no wonder I'm feeling a little tired. Whoa, that really was a interesting March. I Think that noticing the calendar and reflecting, it can validate, wow, this impacted me. Those were important things. I spent my energy, my time there. And this is what the season required of me. It even helps you understand your season and so true. of parenting, the seasons of your business, depending on who you are and where you're at in life. So yeah, I enjoyed this and I felt very validated. I was like, that makes sense. And It's a very practical way to see what you actually spent time on cause we can come out of seasons and often we feel the emotion of what a season felt like in our bodies or in our emotional states, but also taking the time to look through on a practical level. It reminds you of what actually happened. And it like you said, gives context to, man, maybe I did have a lot on, this gives some context for why I feel the way I do right now. And also I feel like it can give me perspective if I'm too fixated on how I'm feeling about something. It can also be a positive, like, man, maybe there's some really hard things and that's what's coming up in my mind or what's coming up in my emotions. But looking back through and seeing what I actually spent time on, it's possible for me to see a little bit more balance and nuance in what some of the overriding emotions might be feeling like. I am so glad you mentioned that. That is so true. Yeah, there's oftentimes the emotional override. When you get to December, it's really hard to know that in March or January, what you were doing and how you probably felt really successful or accomplished or fulfilled. I'm so glad you said that point. Let's talk about the second practice that we like to do, which really goes hand in hand with the first one. And that is reviewing your camera roll. So again, just as you picked out your diary, started at January, grab your phone, flip it open, scroll back to January of this year, and just go through the photos. What did you take pictures of? What are some of the things that you had forgotten about? Were there any snapshots that felt not significant in the moment, but looking back on them now, you realize, this actually played a significant role in my life this year. Do you have anything that came up for you when you were looking through your pictures that popped out, you hadn't initially thought of it as being significant at the time, but looking back, is a little more significant than you realized? Oh, As you were talking, I had like four or five images that I was thinking about flash in front of my mind. What I love about reflection in this way, especially in the image, you can almost see what in in the moment you valued and you can relive the joy. You can relive the milestone. You can relive that game or when the kids got her braces on or those moments are your life. I felt like I valued the year so deeply and I let myself, almost romanticize, like, wow, my life really is beautiful. Mm. a small thing like a tree on a walk or a flower, was like, this is actually rich. My life is full of really rich, beautiful moments that sinking in and reviewing in this way gives me insight to what I was valuing at the time and why that seemed important and what I was doing in my life. It just really helps me savor the beauty of my life. Any specific photos that come to mind that you want to share about? I just had a couple come to mind for me when you were sharing. Wouldn't necessarily have meant anything to other people, but revisiting them and actually brought up more emotion and sense of connection to something than I had initially anticipated. Do you have some of those? I'll share a couple of mine when you're done, but... I had of a theme because they were usually celebratory moments or moments where I felt happy and silly and laughing. I was at a wedding for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. looking through and just seeing how much fun and I was like, look at my life. Who am I? I'm on the East Coast across the United States, having New Year's at this beautiful wedding of people I really loved. And so seeing me with the funny glasses and just dancing and there were so many moments like that. I thought, life is so good. Life is so beautiful; it has so many rich, rich moments. I could remember the feeling in my body of that moment. And I think those were the pictures that I lingered in. I let myself feel like, that was so significant when my kids sang me happy birthday. These little moments or that funny thing that happened when we broke the glass and everyone was laughing. It's those moments I could relive I love this practice. It's kind of that romanticizing my life. I'm like, this is so great. I had such a great year. I love it too. The things that stood out to me, one that I came across was the very first TikTok that I had done for the year. It had saved to my camera roll. And the crazy thing was, it had been a daily affirmation that I remember right before I recorded it, I had had this aha moment where I was like, I feel like I need to share this with people. And I hit record and I remember saying, this year I get to be supported. I get to feel supported. I get to be supported in my dreams. I get to be supported in the things that are important to me. And it was interesting because at the time I was like, okay, I'm recording a TikTok and I'm gonna post it. The importance of that theme through my life this year and even something I was sharing with Dez before we hit record is that actually feels like it's become a pillar of my life as somebody who's learned to do a lot of hard things and actually values doing hard things and has probably drawn some of my identity out of I can do hard things and I can do stuff by myself and I can power through. Leaning into the softness of I get to be supported. And the fact that I had posted that the first or second day of the year and that it has become a theme through my life, I'd forgotten about how important that had been. now it's something that feels really integral in a theme that I'm wanting to grow in more and more. One of the other ones, one of the other pictures was just a random snapshot I had taken. uh If you're a parent of kids who play basketball, you understand this, but I had taken a snapshot of the game book where all the stats are kept. And I had taken a shot of my son and he had had a triple double that day. And I remembered he had had such a good game. And I had this proud mama moment of, I'm gonna grab the snapshot of this before the end, he had just had an excellent game. And as somebody who sat in many practices, many games, driven from here and everywhere, it was just like, okay, that's just a snapshot. Has he had other great games? Yes. But something about that specific day, it felt like a snapshot where I was really seeing so much of his growth. And had I not grabbed that shot of the book, I probably would have completely forgotten about it. And so like you said, the beautiful moments of life, I actually had some pictures that I had taken of funerals that I'd been to that had reminded me of even some of the loss of the year. So it's not just the celebratory moments, but there's something about a picture telling a thousand words Yes. that just brings back the memory and like you said, leaning into the feeling in your body, what did it feel like emotionally? How's it landing with me? This is a practice that I've really only adopted in the last few years, but I love it and I have found tremendous joy in doing it. This is so beautiful. I love your share. I love the theme, the pillar. That feels so significant. I would love to even invite listeners to think about, is there some theme that you see even by going through your pictures? Notice that. Dig around and lean into it a little bit. If you wanna take this reflection tool one step further, you could consider making a folder with your favorites of 2025. These were the 50 pictures or the 20 pictures or whatever it is that really helps me process this year. This helps me see, yeah. album or something like that. Do it for yourself. If you're not on social media and you don't share, do it for yourself. Just do it for the beauty of life. Do it because that's honoring the things that are coming up in your heart when you're looking through your camera roll. That's a great idea. I love the idea of putting it into a special album. You can even just hit the album and hit play and it will actually create a slideshow, which is a great way of organizing your photos. I'm sure there's some people out there that are amazing. Mine is just like 10,000 pictures. That's what I was thinking. You could tell we're like, make a reel, that's like my tippity top level. To all of you well-organized camera roll people, uh show us your ways. I have a few random albums here and there, but other than that, it's just one big conglomeration of thousands of photos blended together from years. such a middle-aged lady moment right now. Oh Man, that was funnier than I thought. Okay. OK, let's move on to journal Do you like journaling, Dez? Are you a journaler or? I'm not right now in my life. I used to be, but currently, Dez is not journaling much. How about you, sweetie? I truthfully love journaling. It's probably my oldest self care practice. When I look back over the years, am I as consistent today as I have been in other seasons? Probably not, but it's because I've replaced it with certain other practices. So I don't feel like it's I'm neglecting it. It's just, There's so many things that I can choose to do. Journaling is something that I feel like I always find value in. And especially for this end of the year reflection questions, I like to do this. But in terms of every single day, I don't do it as much as I used to. I used to journal every day. I have stacks and stacks of journals. If you are a regular journaler, grabbing your journals from this year and taking some time to read through. I've actually heard of multiple people doing this. They've said they'll read through their journals from the beginning of the year. And again, look for themes, look for highs and lows. It is another, like think of this as a bonus practice. Reading through your journals could just be another thing to do in addition to your camera roll. Specifically for this episode, we've curated a few questions and these are questions that I personally love to take some time and thoughtfulness to answer. So whether or not you're an everyday journaler or wanna do it once a year just to check in, I think that these can be really timely. I feel like the questions are great to get you into that contemplative and mindfulness head space to really think about the things that have happened. Dez, do you want us off? We've got six questions to reflect on your current year and then a couple of questions that are looking forward into 2026. Yeah, to begin, what are three defining moments from this past year and why did they matter? When you go to define them, what did you learn? What are the takeaways? How did it define you? Mm. Sit down and take the time to really sink into the things that have defined you this year. The thing I like about three specifically is I find that when I say, what are three? It really causes me to focus on, hmm, whether it seemed big to other people, what did it mean to me? And what did it actually mean about my year? And it could have been something that happened last week. Could have been something that happened six months ago. It could have been something that happened at the beginning of the year. And that's what I love about defining moments is you don't always plan them or time them. I think asking this question, I think good questions elicit good heart responses. And this to me feels like a good question. If you took no other journal prompt from this entire list that we're about to give you, I think you couldn't go astray if you answered those. Dez, do you have one or two that you wanna share something from your own life? Well, I had a thought about the way to even think through defining moments. You can think of three defining moments in your parenting, in your family life, three defining moments in your business or in your spirituality, in your personal life. You can really even divide this into sections. So defining moments for me. Yeah, this is helpful because there were so many big things that happened in 2025. When I thought back and looked through my calendar, in spring, I decided to do a free workshop for life consultants. I was getting a lot of feedback from people that I had gone to school with asking me questions and I could just see the need. And it was very new for me. I never really saw myself taking up that space. And so when I launched that free workshop and got the feedback and the people signed up it felt like it opened a completely new playbook for me in terms of how I was seeing myself, who I thought I was, a focus for my business that I'm still exploring. It felt like a seashell moment where I was like, oh, I'm going to pick this up. This is a marker for me to notice and define. I think I realized that I had thought my realm, my playbook, I had defined it in a certain way. And it felt like I jumped out of that box. And I was entering into a whole new playground. So that was why it was a defining moment for me. It's helping me see my capabilities or my area of impact or things that my business can do, people I could support in just new ways. How about you, Mel? I love that. First of all, just even before I share something, what I hear you saying is it was like a part of your gifts and the things that you could bring to the table. It opened up a chapter that you hadn't considered before. It was like a new realm that you realize not only was there demand for, but you had gifts that you could offer to people that they needed. I love it when things open up that take us by surprise. That's what I heard you saying. You didn't expect this. It kind of came out of left field. And then all of a sudden there was a demand and it was fruitful for you. It was very unexpected. I feel like when we do a lot of inner work, people like us who do a lot of inner work, I love the times that I am surprised because I feel like I have quite a high level of self-awareness. You may feel the same way. And so when something opens up that you didn't expect, it feels like a fun surprise, a little gift. I went to that live workshop and I remember thinking, girl, this is fantastic. There was such a demand and it was beautiful. Oh, Thank you so much. How about you, sweetie? What's a defining moment you would like to share? There's two that come to mind and I think one is gonna be the same for both of us, but one would definitely be launching this podcast. Go us. Yeah, go us, I know. When I was looking through my calendar, I was surprised at when we had actually started laying the tracks. We didn't launch till August, but we had been talking and planning since early in the year. Yeah, I was thinking February or something. Those were some of our first meetings. Yeah, we've been at it for almost a year. Yeah, so to have it go live, I had forgotten about all the pre-work we had done. I knew we'd done a lot, but if you had asked me, how many months did you work on it? I would have been like, oh, maybe three or four. I didn't realize it was a full five, six in advance before we actually went live. So we had laid a lot of foundation before we hit the record button and actually published the first episode. That felt defining for me; it felt like putting action to a dream that I'd had for a long time. It looked like getting to collaborate with somebody that I consider a dear friend and somebody that I'm excited to talk with. I mean, this is fun for me every week. And it also looked a little different than what if you'd asked me two or three years ago, I might've said, would do a podcast, but I didn't know what it would look like, whether I would do it with somebody else, whether it would be solo, how it would pan out. And so giving my heart a voice, giving my desires a voice, being open to what it could look like, and then going through the creative process with you was really fun for me because I felt like we really carried a lot of the same core values. So working together with you isn't a drag. It's not a drama. It feels fun. It feels like we both have things that we can contribute and there's times that we'll finish the podcast and I'll walk away and I'll still be thinking about things that you shared. I'll be like, dang, I want to put that into my life. I enjoy what I get out of the podcast. Our prayer is that the listeners would get something out of it, but I get life out of this as well. So it's felt like a, a fruition of a dream coming to life. And I also feel like it's the beginning of something that I can't quite see where it's gonna go to, but it definitely felt like a defining moment to me. I've got another moment that I'm thinking of, but I actually wanna hear first from you about what the podcast has meant for you this year. Hearing about what it means to have an intention and a desire and then to act on it, that's what I was like, even in your share, I want to reflect back to you. think that's provides so much momentum in your life. I've wanted this and I did it. Like I went for it. I didn't hold back. I could have, I could have pumped the brakes so many times. And that's true, I think even in that looking back in your calendars, it took time and then we traveled and then we had to restart and we didn't give up. For me similarly, why it feels like a defining moment is I think this is probably one of the pillars or the themes for my year is I didn't limit myself in what I thought I could do or what I was capable of or like the areas I, those are not for you, Dez, or you sit here and you do this thing, because this is how you've always done it. So it feels like uh a defining moment, because it's reminding me that I don't have to limit myself. I'm the one person who's going to push, stop or go on my life. Let's do this, press the button and go for it. It's a gift. I just want to echo, I have so much fun. This is like, oh no, we're definitely keep doing this. I might get rid of other things, but we're not going to get rid of the podcast. I I so hear you on that. And I love that you said, yeah, we're not gonna get rid of it. What we were talking about before we started today is I was saying to Dez that if we hit 21 episodes recorded, we will be in the top 1 % of podcasts. Not meaning that it's the top 1 % of podcasts listened to yet, but the top 1 % of podcasts that actually stick with recording and producing episodes. I think 90 % of podcasts don't get past three episodes. And so I was looking up online the other day and I was like, okay, what would it take? How many episodes would you need to produce before you were in the top 1 %? Cause I knew it wasn't a high number and it said 21, 99 % of podcasts stopped before 21 episodes. And I'm like, dang, we're on a roll. We're going to probably hit 21 this season. It felt like a combination of things, giving a voice to our heart, saying yes to our desires, being willing for it to take form and shape and morph and change as we go, which feels great. I feel like we both learned a lot prior to coming into this process together about flexibility and freedom. And I feel like our emotional work has really set us up for success in a lot of ways, because I'm kind of like, oh, I can let go of how I think things need to be and truthfully, it's been a delight. If it sounds like we're having fun, we really are. This isn't pretend. We actually like each other and we like the process. Yeah, yeah. And the other defining moment that I was thinking of was, it took me by surprise. But it was actually when I hit a thousand followers on TikTok, which was wild for me because I started TikTok last year. Going onto TikTok has truthfully been a form of therapy for me. That's the best way I know how to say it, because deciding to show up and especially because TikTok values less curated content, it really values a lot more raw. Who cares if you've just finished a workout and you're hot and sweaty, just hit record. And so there's a lot of invitation to show up authentically on TikTok, which I feel like Instagram is a little bit more curated, like is the aesthetic right? And do you have the brand colors on point? Is your makeup correct? And is the light, yeah, what filter are you using? Whereas TikTok's just like hit record and go. The process of me going through choosing to show up on TikTok and then at times like, I legitimately hitting walls of imposter syndrome or my own freeze response where I'm just like, I don't know what to talk about and not even posting for a month, sometimes a couple of months at a time. And then picking it back up again and going, okay, I'm gonna keep showing up. And I remember when I hit the thousand follower mark, it felt like a milestone to me. For me, that actually felt significant. Again, it was like, okay, I can back myself. I can show up. It's okay if I stumble. It's okay if I can't manage it or I'm too busy or I'm too triggered to do it for a month or two. It's like, no, I came back and I kept going and I kept showing up. It felt like a commitment that I had made to myself that I didn't quit. And I don't have the same experience on other platforms. I don't know what it is exactly about I think it is that authenticity piece that that's what it values. And so it has felt like I said, its own form of therapy and like me choosing to show up is forcing me to confront my own limiting beliefs. And so that one little thing of like, okay, that's a thousand followers, it felt like a reward for the work that I had put in. It's like I've hit a little milestone. Okay, what's next ahead? And it really sparked some vision in me for even where I want to focus my time in the future around content. I love that win for you. I just think the work, of noticing those limiting beliefs in your life and being present and staying with them, I just thought to myself, you found you had a champion in yourself of you. You kept engaging in the limiting beliefs. You're like, I found someone who's actually on my team. You're like, I found it. Like someone who's gonna support me no matter what, wholeheartedly. So so proud of you. up and being like, okay, perfection's not the goal here. I can pick up, can fall down, I can fall down another 20 times. um For different people it would be different things that invites them into that growth. But for me, being comfortable with being visible, being comfortable if a video takes off and starts getting more views and how do I feel about it? Just things like that are all great lessons for our nervous system and how do we feel about being seen and perceived by others. We could talk about defining moments for the whole year. Okay, guys, we're gonna power through the next five so that we this doesn't turn into a three hour episode, So these two questions go together. What are some of the things that you intentioned to do so that you said that you would do and that you followed through? And in the same way, what are some of the things that you said that you would do and didn't get to do or wasn't able to follow through? And especially, when you think of this second question. If you can cultivate context around why it didn't happen and be really honest, is it because, dah, dah, dah, dah, you might find that life happened. A lot of unexpected things happened and your capacity to do those things changed. And that's OK. I think that the more context and the more story you can understand of yourself around that intention. The more compassion you can have, the more humanity you can offer and extend to yourself because we are humans. It's to also bring in the ability to have intention without having it motivated by shame, if that makes sense. If my only intention to do a thing is so I don't feel shame or like a failure, it's not a good motivator. Shame is not a good motivator. Love, compassion, kindness, offering yourself those Those are the ingredients and the motivators that really help bring longevity to an intention. So I would just offer that. I think that's great. Recognizing the things we followed through on, asking the questions around was that? Did I have better support? Was it a must for me as opposed to a good idea or feeling obligated? If you get to the end of the year and you go, well, actually the things I didn't do, I do want to do, then even framing of what would I need in order to help that be successful moving forward? Let's get curious about why. We're trying to ask questions that cause us to reflect in meaningful ways about, hmm, what am I doing? So we don't just blindly stumble into 2026 and fingers crossed, hope it's different. Okay, the next question, this is a fun one. What do I know about myself now that I didn't know a year ago? Mm. Ooh, such a good question. A practice like this that I've worked with is if you could write a letter to yourself in January, what would you say about what you've learned? Who have you become? How do you feel about her? Do you have gratitude that she began this journey? if you can imagine inviting your January 1st version into your current life, what are the things you know about her now? I love this question because it really helps connect to yourself, to your own heart. It connects to why you're journeying the way you're journeying, especially if you're on an emotional health or a spiritual journey of any kind. I love that idea of the letter that's great. These last two questions, again, pair up well together. I found this to be a really insightful question that which is, what are the things I spent too much time on? And equally, what are the things that I didn't spend enough time on? I find that sometimes can feel like a little bit of a kick in the pants, but like a reset of where am I actually getting distracted off track? it's just that little reset, that invitation to be conscious about what we're doing and where we're putting our time and focus. Would you add anything to those? Yeah, well, I hadn't thought about this question. When I've reflected in seasons past in my parenting, I would have answered I find myself spending too much time reacting to my kids' needs. And I was like, this isn't working for me. I need to have more boundaries. I need to define, okay, we're not gonna just run out to the store whenever we forgot a project or need to bake cookies. It helped me notice places I needed to have boundaries in my life because with those boundaries, I could start to invest in the things that I really wanted to invest in and show up in a way that wasn't so reactive. I think any mom of small kids would feel like you're spending so much time reacting. I got to get up and go in the car and do this thing and drive someone here and there's a game and there's a this and there's a that. And I just was like, that actually is depleting me and I need to have some levels of boundaries. How could I use that time to start pouring into the things that really did matter or what I wanted to invest in? Yeah, which feeds into the, were the things I didn't spend enough time funneling the too much into some of the not enough and seeking that balance. As you've gone through your calendar and you've looked through your pictures and journaled out defining moments and wrestled with and noticed is there something that you have learned in this year that you're wanting to take with you into 2026? Is there a theme? A truth? A pillar? Is there more compassion? What is it that you've found in this work of reflecting, that you want to carry with you? do you want to take in your pack as you move on your pilgrimage of life? And similarly, this is also a time to notice what are the things that aren't serving you? Is it limiting mindsets? Is it lack of taking care of your body? Is it self-doubt and playing small, keeping yourself in a box, whatever it is from your time of reflection, the things that not serving you, you're allowed to just take that out of your pack and you're allowed to leave it. You're allowed to continue in your pilgrimage onward and upward. What do you want to carry with you? do you want to leave behind? I think it's such a mindful way of looking and... you are intentional about what you're leaving behind, intentional about what you're carrying forward, it's amazing how things will start to open up. When we do these reflective practices, what I expect that you will notice is that there are themes. Maybe the things that really brought you a lot of joy, you'll notice some similarities between them. Maybe you'll notice the things that really drained you and were stressful or hard. There might be some similarities in there. And taking time to notice the themes, you will recognize that your life already contains clues for what is coming ahead.

Sometimes there can be this big pressure of, it's the new year's resolution: 37:30

what's the thing and what's the vision and where am I going? And sometimes that can feel really overwhelming. Your life already contains clues. Taking this time to reflect is going to unearth things that you already know and perhaps some things that you didn't know, but it is not about wiping the slate clean and having to start 2026 from scratch, we're not resetting the odometer to zero. Yes, we're crossing over into a new year, but there are things that absolutely you will wanna bring with you. And there are clues that are pointing you in the direction that you were meant to go. I would encourage you as you've listened to this, anything that felt highlighted, perhaps it was one practice in particular or one question in particular that you felt that little spark of joy at the thought of pondering it, pay attention to those. Those are clues, too. Yes. So good. All the markers for your journey are within. You already possess them. So the road ahead is actually the road inward and to notice, extract, and to cultivate the things that are already there. Those will naturally lead to the next step. You have everything you need friends. This has been such a gift personally for me to do this episode with you; em thank you so much for being here. Thank you, friends. We are going to be back next week for a special Christmas Eve episode. We can't wait to be with you again. Have a wonderful rest of your week. Bye.