As I wrap up my working year and get ready for a much needed break, I’ve found myself reflecting on the year that was 2025—what it asked of us, and what it quietly changed.

When I try to describe 2025, I don’t get a neat image, I get a mix. Long hours, too warm laptops, coffee that went cold. The feeling that something was meant to shift, even if it never fully did. And a faint sense of pressure throughout the year that kept us on our toes. If the year had a collective mood, it felt grateful, bruised, wiser, and very, very tired.

So, before I keep going, I’d like to name it. 2025 asked a lot of our hearts, our nervous systems, and our capacity to keep going when the rules seemingly kept changing mid-game. There was war, chaos, and uncertainty that made so many want to disconnect, and rapid technological accelerations that made our heads spin.  But day after day we showed up anyway. Some days brilliantly, some days barely.

For me somewhere in the middle of that, I did have an amazing experience with my daughter as I escorted her to a study exchange in Dublin.  This photo was us on a gorgeous Summer’s day, in a beautiful Tuscan town called Lucca which I will definitely be returning to one day.  Travelling with her was definitely  a bucket list experience I will never forget.

I want to take this opportunity on Christmas Eve to say thank you to all my wonderful friends, colleagues and clients for your presence, commitment and support this year. I want to thank everyone for the great conversations, the big courage moments, and the quiet recalibrations no one saw.

Now, let’s talk about what’s apparently coming. As an unapologetic pattern watcher and meaning maker, I’ve learned that astrologically, 2026 is not a rest year, it’s a realignment year. In numerology, 2026 reduces to a 1 year (2+0+2+6 = 10 → 1). One is the number of beginnings, leadership, identity, and personal authority. A one year doesn’t ask us what we want, it asks us who are we willing to become.

In Chinese astrology, we move into the Year of the Fire Horse. This is not gentle energy. Fire Horse years are bold, fast, and unapologetically alive. They reward courage, independence, and motion, but they burn down anything that’s inauthentic. Half-hearted plans won’t survive, neither will borrowed identities. What this means is 2026 is less about polishing our life and more about whole-heartedly choosing it.

A quick note on the astrology and numerology references above. Humans have always used stories, symbols, and cycles to make sense of change. I reference astrology and numerology here not as predictions or beliefs, but as pattern languages (much like market cycles or seasonal rhythms) that help us step back from the noise and ask better questions about what’s emerging and what’s being asked of us. They are tools for reflection, not instructions. Please take what’s useful and leave the rest.

Which brings me to the holiday break. In my opinion, this isn’t the time for grand resolutions or big life plans. The holidays represent threshold moments that allow us to pause between the exhale and inhale. What we do at this time matters more than what we hustle toward in January.

Here are my tried and true, simple but powerful ways to set yourself up for an extraordinary 2026:

1. Let yourself be purposefully tired. Rest is not a reward, it’s a strategy. Let your body catch up with your ambition.

2. Do a gentle inventory. Ask yourself: – What drained me this year that I kept calling normal? – Where did I feel most like myself? – What am I no longer willing to carry into the next cycle?

Write it down. Fire loves clarity.

3. Choose one word for 2026. Not a goal, but a quality of being. Examples: Sovereignty. Precision. Play. Courage. Simplicity. Let this word become your internal compass when decisions get noisy.

4. Make one brave promise to yourself. Something that says I’m done negotiating with the version of me that stays small.

5. Create space for the new. Clear a drawer, cancel a commitment, end a story you keep retelling. Fire Horse energy needs room to run.

In summary, 2026 doesn’t need us to be perfect, just present. It will require honesty, stamina, and a willingness to move when it’s time, without waiting for permission.

So now is the time for rest, laughter, and gentleness with our exhausted selves, so when the year turns, we can step forward with energy, gratitude and deep respect for all we’ve carried in 2025.

Merry Christmas everyone.  Have a fabulous break and see you on the other side. Naomi x