By BRENDA What a year!
Three hundred and sixty-five days of living intentionally.
This has been that year where I’ve gotten closer to myself more than ever before.
Turning 30 forced me to pause—both personally and professionally—and ask myself where I was truly headed.
More than anything, I made it a point to learn to be present in the now.
This has allowed me to see myself for who I truly am, the past versions I’ve carried unconsciously and helped me grow into the version of me I’m genuinely proud of.
In this reflection, I’m sharing what it took me during the 365 days of 2025 to arrive at where I am now and what I plan to carry into 2026.
1. Learning to sit with uncertainty
If anything, this is the year that I’ve had to experience lots of uncertainties.
From navigating different paths in my career to redefining what a purposeful life means to me.
Turning 30 definitely came with a mentality shift.
“What would I want my legacy to be and what does it mean to make money out of my passions?” I often contemplated.
For the longest time, I believed clarity had to come all at once.
But this year taught me otherwise.
I learned that I don’t need to figure everything out immediately, and that answers often reveal themselves only when we allow time and patience to do their work.
2025 also marked a deepening of my faith.
Growing closer to God helped me understand that my work is not separate from who I am as a vessel of God’s spirit—it’s part of how I serve, love, and show up in the world.
Through faith, I’ve learned that I don’t walk this path alone.
As the year comes to an end, I don’t have all the answers.
But after 365 days of intentional attention, I trust that I am being guided as I walk into 2026.
Pause & Reflect
To master sitting with uncertainty, take a moment to journal or sit with these questions.• What unanswered questions am I currently sitting with in my life?
• Where am I rushing for clarity instead of allowing time to reveal the next step?
• How do I usually respond to uncertainty? Is it with fear, control, or trust?
2. Redefining productivity beyond achievements
As I sat with uncertainty, I also began questioning how I measured my worth.
It is this year that I’ve come to appreciate what it means to be productive.
Questioning my career choices naturally made me question what achievements mean to me.
Let’s be real, it feels reallyyyyy gooood to win and to have something to show for it.
But at what cost?
I’ve come to learn to pace myself.
Doing work in a manner that makes me enjoy it without resenting it.
This has taught me to honour my breaks — both daily and weekly.
And I’ve noticed that I return to work more energized when I consciously take time off.
This is something I want to carry along in 2026.
Pause & Reflect
If you want to redefine productivity, take a moment to journal or sit with these questions below.
• What parts of my work drain me, and which parts energize me?
• Where could rest support my productivity rather than threaten it?
3. Choosing alignment over urgency
With a new understanding of productivity came an even deeper realization.
Oh how easy it is to fall for urgency.
I’ll be happy when I get A, B and C.
Rest can wait, I just need to finish D, E and F to feel at peace.
This year has taught me that my best place to execute anything requires me to be aligned and in my centre.
Aligned with my values and with the version of myself I’m becoming.
From that place of awareness, I uncovered parts of myself I hadn’t fully acknowledged: people-pleasing tendencies, reactive patterns, and a deep attachment to urgency.
Understanding these patterns has been key in helping me come home to myself and approaching those patterns and habits with self compassion.
And that is work I’m still doing.
Pause & Reflect
If you want to live from a place of alignment, take a moment to journal or sit with these questions.• Where in my life am I operating from urgency rather than alignment?
• What does being centered look like for me on an ordinary day?
• Which habits or commitments feel misaligned with who I’m becoming?
4. Trusting slow growth
Being someone that’s moved through life in the fast lane, it’s hard to believe that life in the slow lane is possible.
Intentionally listening to parts of me that require a slower approach to life has been such a transformative step towards becoming a better version of me this year.
Slowing my responses to triggers.
Chewing my food more intentionally.
Taking slower breaths.
None of this has been easy.
I’ve had to remind myself—over and over again that it’s okay to take one day at a time, one breath at a time, one spoken word at a time, one everything at a time — especially if doing otherwise feels good in the moment or provides instant gratification.
I’m talking about reacting to a trigger, chasing the feeling of feeling full when eating, or the comfort in processing negative thoughts.
And I won’t say I’m perfect at choosing the slow lane right now.
They say practice makes perfect.
It’s why this habit is something I want to carry along with me in 2026.
Pause & Reflect
To practice slowing down, take a moment to journal or sit with these questions.• What would it look like for me to slow down physically, emotionally, or mentally?
• Where have I confused speed with progress?
• What small, slow practice could I commit to consistently?
5. Grounding myself in routine
Slowing down didn’t come naturally to me—but it became necessary.
One thing I’ve learnt this year is to ground myself in routine.
Greeting the day by engaging in a daily morning routine that starts with viewing the sunrise and journaling as I drink my coffee.
Following a 16:8 intermittent fasting practice to manage my weight.
Following a certain order of meals within my eating window.
Journaling about my daily experiences and emotions before I sleep.
Working out at least 5 times a week.
These practices have been soooo hard to implement but they have definitely got me to a better version of me than that that I was at the start of the year.
It’s because of this, that I hope to have a similar approach to how I do the things I do in other aspects of life come 2026.
Pause & Reflect
To reflect on anchoring yourself in routine, take a moment to journal or sit with these questions.• Which daily habits help me feel most grounded and present?
• What simple routine could I start or strengthen in the coming year?
• How does structure support my well-being rather than restrict it?
6. What I’m releasing and what I’m carrying into 2026
I used to think that doing something occasionally—that propelled me to change—was enough to equate me to someone that was changed.
I was wrong
This year I’ve learnt that one really becomes what they practice on a daily basis and the results speak for themselves.
Eat well consistently and your body will show that you eat healthy.
Scroll on social media and your mind will reveal someone that will run to social media to numb anxiety.
Compare yourself to others and the statement that comparison is the thief of joy becomes your reality.
I’ve learned that in order to change the things that impede my growth, I gotta do the thing I know is a step towards growth, even when I don’t feel like it and ESPECIALLY when I don’t want to.
Procrastination has been such a block for me to climb and it’s when I chose to face it that I realized oh wow, what a procrastinator I have been.
And this year, this is what I’m releasing;
- Procrastination
- Comparison
- Inconsistency disguised as “waiting for the right time”
What I’m carrying into 2026:
- Consistency
- Discipline rooted in self-respect
- Showing up even when motivation is absent
Pause & Reflect
To reflect on releasing what nolonger serves you and carrying what supports you into 2026, take a moment to journal or sit with these questions.• What habits, beliefs, or patterns am I ready to release?
• What practices do I want to carry consistently into the new year?
• Who am I becoming through what I practice daily?
Final Thoughts: Becoming Is a Daily Practice
As 2025 comes to a close, I’m not ending the year with a checklist of accomplishments or a neatly wrapped version of myself.
I’m ending it with awareness.
Awareness of who I am when no one is watching.
Awareness of the habits that build me and the ones that quietly undo me.
Awareness that becoming isn’t a destination—it’s a daily practice.
This year taught me that growth doesn’t always look loud or impressive.
Sometimes it looks like choosing rest without guilt.
Sometimes it looks like sitting with unanswered questions.
Sometimes it looks like showing up anyway—slowly, imperfectly, but consistently.
I’m entering 2026 carrying less urgency and more alignment.
Less pressure to perform and more permission to be.
Less comparison and more commitment to my own path.
And if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s this: The version of me I’m becoming doesn’t need rushing.
She needs patience, faith, and daily devotion.
Here’s to continuing the work.
Here’s to becoming—one intentional day at a time.
And to you who is on a similar journey of healing and becoming, may the year 2026 be the year you choose to practice the things that make you a better version of you.