Is it now already?

Dr. Richard A. MacKinnon

28 Nov 2025 — 4 min read

That was quick!

As the late, great Shirley Horn once sang, 'My, how the time goes by'. I can still remember the awkwardness of hearing my own voice on the first ever episode of 'My Pocket Psych' and now we're about to record the 200th episode!

In the years since, I think it's fair to say the quality has improved - the only way was up after the first few, faltering and stammering episodes. We've had some great guests, gathered some lovely feedback and now have a global listenership. Truly: thank you to every single one of you who downloads the podcast and lets me know how much you're enjoying it.

And so I'm going to do something a little different for our '200th birthday'. On Mon Dec 8th at 4pm UK time, we'll be recording live and inviting our listeners to join us. I'll be joined by friend of the podcast Ross McIntosh, who's going to help me review our 199 episodes and what we've learnt along the way. And listeners who join us live will be able to participate, share their feedback and pose their questions too! We'll be broadcasting on Zoom and LinkedIn and you can join us by going to mypocketpsych.com/200

I hope to see you there!

Speaking of time...

It's already the end of November and your thoughts may well be turning to the upcoming holidays and what the new year has in store.

However, it's also a great time to look back on the year (almost) gone by to see what we can learn from it. And potentially make 2026 an even better year. If you regularly do a weekly review, the same principles apply: a retrospective, to identify what went well, what didn't go so well, what you can do differently going forward and what you've learnt from the whole experience.

Obviously, if you've been keeping notes from your weekly or monthly reviews, it's going to be a lot easier. But even if the whole idea of a retrospective is new to you, simply taking some dedicated time to reflect and plan is a worthwhile exercise.

A pause to consider both what we're doing, how we're doing it and why we're doing it can provide us with some valuable reflections and opportunities for change. And prompt us to consider our future - or at least the year to come.

Check out this video from this time last year where I make the case for an annual review:

I'm also going to be facilitating a live annual review session on Mon 1st December for WorkLifeSpark community members. The recording will be available to add community members, so why not sign up now!

And in January, I'll be facilitating a masterclass on making a fresh start (most definitely NOT 'New Year, New Me'!!) and you can find out all about it below.

Some day. Maybe?

Reflection inevitably gets us thinking 'What next?' Thoughts about the future can be incredibly helpful when they're intentional and realistic. Planning is a great example of this. Future-focused thoughts are less helpful when they're about imagined and unrealistic catastrophes, or an imagined wonderful future that's unlikely to actually occur.

"Our days are spent trying to ‘get through’ tasks, in order to get them ‘out of the way’, with the result that we live mentally in the future, waiting for when we’ll finally get round to what really matters – and worrying, in the meantime, that we don’t measure up, that we might lack the drive or stamina to keep pace with the speed at which life now seems to move." Oliver Burkeman, 'Four Thousand Weeks'.

And 'getting through' it all (whatever 'it' is), sprinting towards some idealised future deadline or state can mean we miss out on the present moment. The journey. The experience of life as it's lived.

The 'Arrival fallacy' is a term coined to describe our belief that once we reach a certain point in time, achieve a certain goal, all will be well. "I'll be happy when..." or "I'll be successful when". Even the insidious and quite toxic "Once we get through the next busy period...". An unhelpful belief that life will improve immeasurably at a point in the future means we're not engaging with life as it shows up in the present moment.

We can avoid buying into the arrival fallacy when planning for the future by:

Cultivating a focus on the present moment.
Setting very specific, realistic and values-aligned goals.
Enjoying the process as we work towards these goals.
Celebrating the small wins along the way.

The future will most definitely come, but it's important to enjoy the journey too.

📆 Dates for your diary

As always, we have some upcoming events we'd love to invite you to!

Dec 8th - The 'My Pocket Psych' Ep 200 livestream takes place and you can join us at 4pm UK time by visiting https://www.mypocketpsych.com/200 Alternatively visit our YouTube channel at the same time to join the livestream there.
Dec 9th - Busting leadership myths: The last in our 'Sustainable Leadership' webinar series. I'll be joined by Dr. Rachael Skews for a discussion about why myths about leaders, leadership and leadership development are more than disruptive. And of course, we'll explain what to do about them! Secure your free place here.
Dec 16th - Life after coaching: In the final coaching-related webinar for the year, I'll be looking at a topic that doesn't get much attention in a lot of coaching practice. How to end coaching well and maintain a focus on your development long after you stop working with a coach. Places can be secured here.
Jan 8th - 'Making a fresh start': The first of our quarterly masterclass sessions for 2026 looks at some of the ways we use the 'fresh start effect' to support behaviour change. Whether it's working towards a goal, or cultivating a tiny habit, leveraging a fresh start can make all the different. Find out more and sign up here.