What Really Mattered This Year?
I’m a transformation coach. It’s my job to push people to set goals and look to the future. But at the time of year when people are literally lining up to find someone to help them make New Year, New Me changes, I find myself hesitant to jump in and market my coaching biz. Which makes me, the Reflector Type person I am, dig deep and question myself — why?
2025 moving into 2026
Reflecting on 2025
I think a lot of my hesitancy started when I realized I went into 2025 full force. Determined to set and “conquer” (although I hate that word in this context) goals, and take my clients with me.
Was I successful? I’d go with a “yes.”
But I was also exhausted.
What happened?
In a word (two): The World.
The world shifted, and I tried to follow it, and I didn’t like the direction it — and I — went.
I spent so long trying to jump on the social media train and do all the things a new business owner was supposed to do. And I do mean All. The. Things.
I invested in course creation workshops. I revamped my website (multiple times) using the platforms everyone swore were the best. (I finally settled on the one I’d wanted in the first place.) I changed my business card to the format of the future. (And then switched back to the one I started with that I like better.)
I attempted to go wide with online coaching platforms that took me away from the one-on-one connection with my clients that I love the most. These platforms were great for spreading knowledge and helping more people on a larger scale, but I didn’t get to see the a-ha moments that keep me going and remind me that yes, what I do matters to others.
In short, I was everything except what I tell my clients to be: authentic.
My Takeaway?
What really mattered in 2025 was not the technology. It wasn’t my anti-AI bandwagon stance, although it terrifies me to think about the future in a world where my children and their children won’t be able to trust anything they see anymore, since they aren’t growing up with the discernment of a pre-generative-AI generation.
It wasn’t all the courses I took or emails I followed. It wasn’t all the things I said I lacked and needed to do to be a better coach, wife, mother, daughter, and friend.
What really mattered when I look back on 2025 was the people I surrounded myself with. The negative online energy I let control me, versus the positive recharge I got when I allowed myself to “have fun” with my loved ones instead of working.
It was the time I spent in my prayer closet, straining to hear God through all the noise of the outside world. As many times as I questioned why I couldn’t sense Him, by the end of the year, I knew He was always here and was just waiting for me to let go of the stuff distracting me.
New Year, New Me? Nope, Just Momentum
So, back to my question of why I’m not going all in on the New Year’s Resolution bandwagon. It’s because I don’t buy the hype. How many of us make resolutions to do better, eat better, exercise more, and just be a “new” person, only to give up and sink back into our old habits within a month or two (or less)?
Instead, why not take the lessons you learned this year and bring them with you into 2026, making your momentum intentional instead of accidental? That’s where my shift is — letting go of all the things I “should” be doing, and taking the next step to my next step on the path to building an even better future.
It’s a scientific fact: Momentum doesn’t stop unless another force of energy (external force) blocks it. As long as I keep taking steps forward, I’ll carry that movement with me, bringing the things I know create positive energy to make every step easier. And I’ll share that movement with my clients to ensure their New Year’s resolutions become meaningful, long-term change.
This year, the world doesn’t need a New You. It needs you just as you are, messy, imperfect, and, most importantly, trying to do better and learn from your mistakes. Happy New Year. Let’s make 2026 the year we all make our part of the world a better place, a few little steps at a time.
