The Beautiful Tension of Year-End: Finding Your Way Through
Here we are, standing at the threshold of the holiday season.
Wasn't it just January? Weren't we just setting intentions, mapping out the year, believing we had all the time in the world?
Now the last 60 days of the year are staring back at us, and suddenly everything feels... urgent.
If your mind is starting to swirl, you're not alone.
The Pressure We Don't Talk About
That voice that whispers you should be further along by now.
The pull to "finish strong" – as if the arbitrary ending of a calendar year determines our worth.
The responsibility you feel to create picture-perfect holiday experiences for everyone around you, when what you're really craving is space to breathe.
The gap between where you thought you'd be and where you actually are – and the stories you're telling yourself about that gap.
I know this territory intimately. Despite years of coaching others through it, despite building what I thought was an unshakeable foundation of boundaries and self-awareness, this time of year still has a way of challenging everything I know.
It's the paradox of being human: We can hold deep wisdom and still feel the weight of expectation. We can know better and still struggle.
What's Really Happening Here
Here's what I've learned through my own journey and hundreds of conversations with incredible women:
This end-of-year pressure isn't actually about the holiday season or unmet goals.
It's about the collision between who we've been told we should be and who we're becoming.
It's about recognizing that some of those January intentions don't fit anymore – not because we failed, but because we've evolved.
It's about the beautiful, uncomfortable truth that growth doesn't follow a timeline.
The Power in Your Own Voice
But here's where it gets interesting.
Somewhere beneath all that swirl, beneath the pressure and the expectations and the shoulds, there's a voice. Your voice. The one that knows what you actually want, not what you think you're supposed to want.
The one that whispers the truth when you're quiet enough to listen.
Because at the end of the day, this season – like every season – comes down to choice. Not the big, dramatic kind that requires blowing up your life. But the small, powerful, daily choices that align with what you truly want.
The choice to honor what feels right instead of what is bright and shiny.
The choice to listen to your own wisdom instead of everyone else's opinions.
The choice to say no to what drains you, even if it disappoints someone.
The choice to create space for what matters, even when it means letting something else go.
These aren't selfish choices. They're the choices that allow you to show up as your truest self – which, ironically, is the greatest gift you can give to anyone.
A Different Way Forward
What if instead of pushing harder, we pause?
What if instead of measuring ourselves against arbitrary benchmarks, we ask: What matters now?
What if the last two months of the year aren't about catching up, but about coming home to ourselves?
This isn't about lowering standards or abandoning ambition. It's about bringing intention to where that ambition is directed.
Because here's what I know: You are not behind. You are exactly where you need to be.
The holiday season will unfold whether you orchestrate every moment or not. Your family and friends? They don't need perfect – they need you, present and real.
And those goals you set back in January? Some of them were meant to evolve. Some were meant to be released. And some are still calling to you, waiting for this exact moment.
Your Invitation
As we move into these final weeks of the year, I'm inviting you to do something radical:
Give yourself permission to redefine what "finishing strong" means.
Maybe it's not about checking every box. Maybe it's about deepening into what truly matters. Maybe it's about releasing what no longer serves you with as much intention as you bring to your achievements.
Maybe finishing strong looks like rest. Like reflection. Like saying no more often than yes.
Maybe it looks like being honest about what worked and what didn't, without the shame spiral.
Maybe it looks like choosing presence over perfection, connection over performance.
Maybe it looks like listening to your own voice – and then having the courage to make choices that reflect what that voice is telling you.
Your Guide to Closing the Year with Intention
Here are practical ways to navigate these next 60 days with clarity, grace, and yes – joy:
1. Your Calendar Truth Pull up your calendar for November and December. Really look at it. Time is your scarcest resource, so let's get honest about where it's going. Go through each commitment and ask:
Does this align with how I want to feel this season?
Am I doing this because I want to or because I think I should?
What would happen if I let this go?
Now make three lists: Keep (the non-negotiables that truly matter), Let Go (the obligations that drain you), and Add (the space for rest, reflection, or joy you've been craving). Then act on them. Cancel what needs canceling. Protect what needs protecting. Your time belongs to you.
2. The Intentional No Before saying yes to any new holiday commitments, pause and ask: "Does this align with how I want to feel?" Create a short list of your non-negotiables for the season (rest time, family dinners, creative space) and protect them fiercely. Remember: every yes to something that doesn't serve you is a no to something that does.
3. The Energy Audit List your typical holiday activities in two columns: those that energize you and those that drain you. Be ruthlessly honest. Then find creative ways to reduce or eliminate the draining ones. You don't owe anyone an explanation for prioritizing your wellbeing.
4. The Spacious Pause Before we dive into planning and goal-setting for next year, give yourself permission to simply be with what is. Set aside dedicated time – not squeezed between obligations – for reflection and imagination. No agenda, no pressure. Just you, your thoughts, and the space to dream.
Ask yourself:
What brought me clarity this year?
What surprised me?
What do I want to carry forward?
What am I ready to release?
If I trusted myself completely, what would I choose?
(Psst... my 2026 Inspiration and Aspiration Plan is coming soon! For now, just let yourself wonder.)
5. The Holiday Rewrite Challenge the assumption that you're responsible for everyone's holiday experience. What if you gave yourself permission to show up authentically instead of perfectly? What would you do differently? What would you stop doing? What choices would you make if you listened only to your own voice of truth?
6. The Weekly Reset Every Sunday through year-end, take 30 minutes for reflection. Three questions:
What brought me clarity this week?
Where did I enjoy the most?
What's one choice I can make next week that honors what I really want?
7. The Grace Practice When that voice tells you you're behind or not enough, pause. Place your hand on your heart and say: "I am exactly where I need to be. My timing is just perfect." Sounds simple. Changes everything.
8. The Real Celebration Create a "Wins I Almost Forgot" list. Include the quiet victories, the hard conversations you had, the boundaries you held, the times you chose yourself. These count. Maybe they count most of all.
Here's What I Want You to Remember
The next 60 days will pass whether you spend them in a blur of obligation or in intentional presence.
The holidays will happen whether you orchestrate every detail or allow them to unfold more naturally.
The year will end whether you've checked every box or honored what truly mattered.
But here's what won't happen without your conscious choice: the deep rest your body is asking for. The quiet reflection your soul is craving. The space to simply be, without performing or producing or proving.
So as you move through these final weeks of 2025, I'm inviting you to something different.
Be present to each beautiful day – not as another thing to get through, but as a gift to receive.
Honor how you feel – the joy and the exhaustion, the gratitude and the overwhelm, all of it. Your feelings are information, not inconvenience.
Take care of yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Not as an afterthought or a luxury, but as the foundation for everything else you want to create.
Listen to your own voice of truth. Then make choices – small, brave, aligned choices – that reflect what that voice is telling you.
Because at the end of the day, the most powerful thing you can do isn't to finish strong or push through to try and make it all perfect.
It's to choose yourself. To trust yourself. To honor what your deepest wisdom knows to be true.
That's how you close out a year. That's how you step into the next one.
Not exhausted and depleted, trying to prove something.
But grounded and clear, knowing exactly who you are and what you want.
The calendar will turn regardless. The question is: who will you be when it does?
You get to decide. You've always gotten to decide.
So what will you choose?
