Time To Reflect

2025 — the Year of the Snake — a year symbolised by shedding, renewal, and transformation in the Chinese zodiac. The Lunar New Year reminds us that growth isn’t always loud or obvious. Sometimes, it’s quiet and internal. There is a gentle release of what no longer fits.

A lot can happen in a year, more than you could ever imagine, visualise, or plan for. Wins you didn’t expect. Lessons you didn’t choose. Versions of yourself you’ve already outgrown.

While there’s so much value in looking ahead at all the possibilities a new year brings, there’s also something powerful about pausing before you move on. Like the snake shedding its skin, take a moment to reflect on 2025, to close the chapter with gratitude, and to consciously decide what you’re ready to leave behind.

Before stepping into 2026, here are a few simple ways to reflect on the year that’s been.

Go for a run or a long walk
Let your body move while your mind wanders. Often, the most honest reflections come when we’re not forcing them. Research shows that physical exercise significantly improves cognition, memory, and executive function across all ages, even at low to moderate intensity like walking or jogging. Studies summarising hundreds of trials have found clear evidence that exercise enhances how we think, remember, and plan — reinforcing that getting your body moving can help you reflect more clearly and think more creatively about your year ahead.

Listen to your Spotify Wrapped or Apple Music Replay
Notice where you were and how you felt when you listened to those songs. Each song will have made it on that playlist for a reason and directly correlates to the phases of life they soundtracked. Music has a powerful way of anchoring memories in time.

Create a vision board — or something gentler
Look back at the vision board you created at the start of last year. Notice what you achieved, what surprised you, and what quietly fell into place without you forcing it. Pay attention to what no longer aligns with the person you’ve become and just as importantly, reflect on the values, intentions, or themes that deserve to be carried forward. Understanding what shifted, what stayed, and what you’re ready to release creates clarity before you begin imagining what comes next.

From here, you can begin piecing together a vision board for the year ahead — not as a complete reinvention, but as a reflection of who you are now and what you’re consciously choosing to move towards. This doesn’t need to be perfect or polished, start with words that resonate with you, then search for images that directly relate to those words, or even leave yourself a voice note to listen back to.

Neuroscientist Tara Swart highlights that when we visualise our goals and imagine the feeling of them, the brain treats those visualised experiences very similarly to real ones, helping prime the mind to recognise opportunities and move in that direction.

Write a letter to yourself
Reflect on what you’ve learned, what you’re proud of, and what you’ve carried this year. Write without judgement and acknowledge where you’ve been and where you hope to go next.

Scroll through your camera roll
Cast your way back to January and work your way through each month. Look for the moments you forgot about. Notice the people surrounding you, the small joys of everyday life. All of those ordinary days that quietly mattered and delivered you to where you are right now. Save some of your favourite memories in a folder to look back on in years to come.

Whether you complete one or all of these exercises, use what you uncover to shape how you want 2026 to feel — not just what you want to achieve. There’s no need for a complete life overhaul. No “new year, new me” pressure. Just intentional shifts that feel sustainable and aligned.

Sometimes progress looks like slowing down and choosing to move forward with more clarity than before. Think of 2025 like a skin that needs to be shed before you jump on to the Year of the Horse and ride away into the sunset of 2026.

If you’re ready to step into 2026 with intention, clarity, and purpose (without the overwhelm), I’d love to support you. Join my coaching community to build sustainable habits, gain mindset tools, and reflect with purpose — not pressure. 👉 Click here to learn more about The ENTI Theory and start your year with confidence.

Sources

• Hamer M, et al. Effectiveness of exercise for improving cognition, memory and executive function: a systematic umbrella review and meta-meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2025

  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40049759/ 

• Swart T. The Source: Open Your Mind, Change Your Life. Vermilion. 2019
  

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