Your 2025 Was Better Than You Think

Why celebrating wins beats obsessing over gaps

Listen here.

I spent all day last Friday in a goal-setting workshop with the folks who create the Full Focus Planner. It was actually great. Part of the exercise was simple: write down the things you’re most proud of from the past year.

We had 20 minutes to do it. I stared at my brand new notebook for longer than I’d like to admit.

Here’s my problem. I’m wired to focus on what’s lacking. What I didn’t finish. Where I fell short. My brain defaults to the gaps, not the wins.

So let’s start with those gaps. I didn’t hit my book goal. I’ve been in a book-writing cohort since March, and I thought I’d have a draft by now. I don’t. I also wanted to be 10-15 pounds lighter and much more fit. I’m not.

But here’s what this exercise taught me: the things I should be proud of are there if I’ll actually look. So I went back through my calendar. My journals. My iPhone photos. My text messages.

And I found them:

34 years married to Susanna. My high school sweetheart. The love of my life. The one who believes in me more than anyone else. Marriage is hard, but it is also worth it. Oh, and she caught her first fish! That was one fun weekend.¹

Two new coaching certifications. I’m now certified in the Maxwell Leadership DISC personality assessment and the Purpose Factor assessment. More on the second one in a bit.

This blog. I’ve been writing it for more than two years now. When I started, I had 15 subscribers. All family and close friends. Now it’s over 800. I kept showing up week after week, even when I wasn’t getting much feedback. Something is starting to click in this space. I’ll write more about that next week.

Ten years leading a rotational program for new engineers. 130 engineers came through that program over the last decade. Many are still at the company. Others have moved on. Either way, watching them grow and knowing I played a small part in it? That’s the kind of thing that makes my corporate career feel like it mattered.

And the biggest one. After years of thinking and praying about it, I finally had the chance to move on from my corporate role and build a full-time coaching and training business. This is still surreal to me. I’ll be sharing more about what this looks like in the weeks to come.

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Soccer star Mia Hamm said it well:

“Celebrate what you’ve accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed.”

That’s the balance, isn’t it? It’s hard for me, but it makes a difference to take the time to be proud of yourself. And then keep going.

So here’s your assignment. Before next Sunday, go back through your calendar. Your photos. Your journals. Your text messages. The evidence of what you accomplished is there. You just have to look.

John Maxwell suggests three questions to help you reflect:

1. What made me proud?

2. What did I learn?

3. What held me back?

Sit with those questions. Write down your answers. You might be surprised by what surfaces.

One more thing. If you’ve been feeling stuck on the purpose question, if you’re wondering what you’re actually here to do, I want to help. If you’re curious, drop PURPOSE in the comments or send me a DM. I’ll share a couple of options for taking the Purpose Factor Assessment. This will jumpstart your 2026.

You accomplished more than you think this year. Take some time today to surface those things and be proud of them.

Happy New Year, friends.

1. Susanna's first fish!