This year I'm upgrading my plain bullet journal to a guided goal planner and journal. I find that the number of pages with prompts and lists can be so overwhelming. It's like a full-on coaching series without being guided by a coach.
Anyway, I made time to pen down my 2025 wrap-up. You know the achievements, wins, misses, lessons and so on. I like doing this for my own sense of closure and preparing myself for what I want the next year to look, feel and be like.
I'll spare you from my list of achievements and instead share what I take away as most important going into 2026, which is my lessons from 2025.
Picture below to take a visual break from reading...
Lesson #1: Importance of Habits
Never before has habits and self-defined structure been more important in my life than last year. A full year of being self-employed and mostly working from home meant a lot of flexibility but also a great need to build structure. When you work in a company the structure is present around you and for you. Yes you do your own planning but if you don't then you usually have someone checking in to make sure things are moving along.
Last year I heavily focussed on setting healthy habits for how I start and end my day. I did several programs, accountability partners and coaching sessions for myself where the focus was on my habits. The ones that served me, the ones that stuck but didn't do me any good and the aspirational ones I know will help. It's been a year of exploring, experimenting, celebrating and calibrating habits.
🧠 For habits to stick, there has to be a cue (trigger), a routine (the habit itself) and a reward (positive reinforcement). Then of course there's the consistency of coming back to healthy habits even if you miss few reps. Consistency in the long run over intensity for a short time.
💡While tracking habits helps, I know over tracking is counter productive for me. While having an accountability partner is useful, I know I wouldn't want to depend on that in the long run. It always came down to how I felt when I stuck with a habit versus when I didn't. The difference was day and night and that feeling always brought me back to the habits that mattered - sooner or later. That's my reward. That's my positive reinforcement.
Lesson #2: Being mindful of when I'm spiralling
It's so easy to get lost and stuck in your head when you are self-employed. Overthinking, procrastinating, self-doubt, perfectionism - it all comes in spades as you don't have the same structure of a team, Manager, colleagues to align and validate. There's things that worked for me last year in having coaching sessions for myself, accountability partners, fellow coaches I could bounce off ideas with and so on. Despite all of this, there were still times when I went down a spiral and stayed there longer than I needed to.
🧠 Our brains have a Default Mode Network (DMN) which is a set of regions that become active when we think about ourselves, other's opinions, day dream, wonder about the future, recall past memories etc. Too much activation or unregulated activity of the DMN can lead to depression, anxiety and the 'rumination' that leads to spiralling.
💡 When you focus on an external task, your DMN activity is suppressed - you come out of the rumination spiral. What works for me is returning focus back to my bullet journal to plan and make tiny progress. Other things that work can be a mindfulness exercise paying attention to your breath or the environment around you. Whatever helps, starting is always the hardest part when you are about to or in the spiral of negative thoughts. Once you start, the motivation comes and progress is made step by step.
Lesson #3: A balanced care of my mind and body
Can you burn-out from doing something you absolutely love??? Yes it's possible but it takes way longer to realise and admit. I may have been on the brink of burn-out when I was training for dance 20+ hours a week in the lead up to our year-end show. Thankfully work wasn't too hectic then but it was all the mental and physical energy required. While dancing is moving and exercising in many ways, dance alone won't help me if I don't take care of balancing other elements for my wellbeing. There are things to pay attention to for my recovery, strength training, fitness, nutrition and mental recharge to name a few.
🧠 Dance keeps me active and challenges my brain in ways that help me stay calm, build confidence and show up as my best self. This is important when I coach people that my mind is clear and completely able to focus on the other person as best as I can.
💡 Few years ago I did a 'wheel of life' assessment as part of a coaching engagement. Health was my number one priority before family, friends, career, wealth etc. If I died healthy, I would be happy as compared to living an unhealthy life filled with wealth and success. Staying healthy is a constant commitment. The more I want to do and be for others, the more I have to take care of myself.
Why do these lessons matter?!
The three lessons I shared can seem quite generic and what most people would experience in any year. I know because I have experienced these same lessons several years too!
It's the context and the importance of it that makes it stand out so they don't stand out again in the new year the exact same way. Lessons matter because they teach us something about what worked, what needs tweaking and what doesn't work.
Usually what doesn't work is what's easiest for us to revert to when we get busy or are in auto-pilot mode.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." - Albert Einstein
As you probably have been listing or even sharing your accomplishments from 2025, take some time to reflect on the lessons from the past year.
💭 What did the past year quietly remind you of what's important but not getting attention?
💭 What would help you to honour lessons from last year when you go into auto-pilot mode?
Hello👋🏽 Thank you for reading this far! I'm Anne, passionate about helping people grow and get addicted to living outside their comfort zone for what matters to them. I do this through coaching, sharing thoughts and most importantly leading by example in my own life. 🌱
Feeling ready to take courageous steps toward your WHAT-IFS? ✨ Reach out for a chemistry check and to see if coaching is the right fit for you: DM me on LinkedIn, Instagram or email anne@unhiddenpotential.com.