Here we are in the time of year that has all kinds of definitions, expectations, and emotions. No matter the holidays you celebrate, there is some kind of culmination. And whether it is met with rest, grief, family time, self-reflection, a combination of these things or something outside of them, I find that the end of a calendar year seems to hold the energy of the entire year before it for many of us. I am going to walk you through a map of your mind in the rest of this email to put your year into a picture. Feel free to take notes and even share (with me as a reply or with your community in whatever creative way you choose). Take time to pause with the questions and interact with them like a conversation rather than a typical newsletter.
What is the energy you are holding? How has your 2024 been? If you have not taken time to look at who you were this time a year ago, please take this moment. Nothing can be fully generalized, but the likelihood that you have stepped over some of your accomplishments is high. So, what have you accomplished that you set out to do in 2024? What are some things you accomplished that surprised you? What are you proud of, grateful for? Looking back in this way not only may add to the warm and fuzzy winter feeling, but it is also incredibly effective fuel for your 2025 goals! Keep that in mind. First, we'll go to another important point.
As important as achievements are, surrender and releasing are just as notable. What did you let go of in 2024? What are you leaving behind, whether a belief or something tangible, that you are leaving in 2024? Perhaps with this letting go, there is some relief. Perhaps there is grief. Maybe both. Take a moment to just acknowledge them and the feelings that come along.
What did you learn? Whether you enrolled in courses for specific intentional learning or you were in the school of life, you gathered some things along the way. Were some of the lessons brutal? Were some repeats of lessons you seem to need refresher courses on or notoriously learn the "hard way"? Were some subtle and gentle, as if incorporating into who you are just through exposure? Take a look.
Who inspired you this year? Let's take some inventory of the people around you. Are there new people who matter to you that your 2023 self didn't even know? Are there people you expected to be close who have drifted in some way? Who surprised you this year? What did you learn about your community, your relationships? Taking note of this can support in goal setting in both personal and professional settings in the year to come.
When you have taken this inventory, check in with yourself if there are other notable parts of the year that were not mentioned in these questions. Shine a light on those aspects- joys, sorrows, frustrations, complications, curiosities, creative expressions, grudges or opportunities for forgiveness, etc. Is there unfinished business of any kind? List them and either release them or set a tangible goal that would support you in completing them in 2025. Take stock in what has it still be in process and what you need to wrap it up.
And for those who have worked with me in some capacity, you know that as the credits roll on any exercise like this, I end with acknowledgement, a space for gratitude for yourself, to be seen for the things that matter to you, all the way from the things you're proud of to who you innately are and back. Please send me at least this part so that I can send you some acknowledgement meant just for you.
If you would benefit from walking through an exercise similar to this one to really close the chapter on 2024, and setting clear, meaningful goals for the next year, I will be taking one-off calls on this topic for all of January. Let's create something outside of the "new year, new me" surge and set an intention that is wholly your own. Book here.
For my work at Chief Executive Angel and for myself, I will be deepening into my practice of surrender in the coming year. 2024 brought me much of the unexpected. It taught me more flexibility, gave yet another grand lesson in non-attachment, and offered me more opportunities to trust in areas that I've previously withheld it. It has been a wrecking ball to perfectionism and linear thinking, a bolstering of courage and boundaries, a dare to laugh more and love more dynamically. All of these serve me in business and in life. I have taken on more clients for integration after their plant medicine ceremonies than any year prior (reiki as well) which tells me that people are tending to their spirits with me just as much as their external goals which has been and continues to be a focus of my coaching. This shift is part of the unfinished business. It is ever-evolving. I will acknowledge myself for the growth of my business, the beauty I create from ashes, and for deepening into the flow of life.
Please schedule a 20 min time with me in early 2025 if you are reading along with these. Let's take it off the page, whether we work together or just need a catch-up, there is some kind of reason these resonate. Let's find out. Schedule something here, or if you'd rather something less formal, send a text or reply to this email.
Thank you for what you have contributed to your own life this year. It has made a difference, in ways you knew, in ways you know now after answering those questions, and in ways you may never know.
