Wrapping up for 2025
Hello and welcome to the last newsletter of 2025!
This edition is going out a little earlier than usual as I'm about to close up shop and head off for a couple of weeks in the city of my dreams: Tokyo. It'll be my first Christmas in Japan, so I'm excited to see what's different and what's the same. I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends, visiting new places and ringing in 2026 in one of my favourite Tokyo venues.
I hope - whatever holidays you're celebrating this month - that you manage to disconnect from work, engage with whatever traditions bring you meaning and purpose and, most of all, have some fun.
🔍 The power of reflection
Our most recent WorkLifeSpark community 'Learn at Lunch' session was all about the benefits of reflecting on the year gone by before planning for the year to come.
Taking time to reflect can feel like a luxury when we're overwhelmed. But, as I point out to clients all the time, maybe a lack of reflection is what's contributing to your feelings of overwhelm! How can we hope to life an intentional, values-aligned life if we're not paying to attention to the life passing us by? How can he hope to learn from experience if we're simply jumping from experience to experience without taking stock?
The end of a calendar year is an ideal time to hit pause, grab a notebook and make a start your review of the year. And if the prospect of the blank page in front of you seems daunt, it's not too later to join the community and access the recording of our session and download the accompanying resources. Remember: membership starts at £FREE, so you've no excuse!
📆 Looking ahead to fresh starts
The next few weeks will inevitably see us all bombarded with messages about change, improvements, growth and success in 2026.
It can all feel a little demanding, particularly if 2025 didn't go so well. It can also feel like a form of marketing whiplash to see messages about dieting after weeks of being encouraged to over consumer at Christmas! You may even feel pressured into committing to changes just because everyone else is doing it.
My message for the new year - at least for January - is going to be a little different. A time for experimentation, not deprivation.
Why should we, in a cold, dark and frankly challenging month, deprive ourselves of life's simple pleasures in the pursuit of an arbitrary 'New Year's Resolution' or marketing campaign?! I'd like to suggest January be a time when you can engage in some experiments to figure out what kind of year you'd like to have. Rather than going all in on one massive change to your life, consider dabbling in some smaller changes - trying them on for size, if you like.
There are no rules here and we can mark a fresh start on any day of the year. Don't force yourself to fit in with societal expectations about January 1st. Instead, think about how you can use the month of January to ease into 2026.
🎉 Celebrating my 200th podcast episode
This month saw me record the 200th episode of 'My Pocket Psych', the podcast I started eight years ago. 200 episodes later and I'm so grateful that I started it, and so grateful for the support from our listeners and expert contributors.
For this anniversary episode, the tables were turned and it was me in the interview seat. I was interviewed by the incredible Ross McIntosh (host of the superb People Soup podcast) and we looked at my standout memories from the last few years of podcasting - as well as plans for the year ahead.
(Ross also asked me to pick a song to represent my time hosting the podcast and - inevitably - I went with a Sondheim banger.)
You can listen to this 200th episode wherever you get your podcasts, or stream it from the website here.
If you're a long-standing or very new listener, I want to say thank you. If you've ever recommended the podcast to a friend or colleague, know that I'm incredibly grateful. It's a labour of love and knowing people are out there listening and benefiting from the topics we cover is all I need to keep me going for another 200 episodes.
🎥 Busting Leadership myths
December also saw the final of our 'Sustainable Leadership' webinars, where I focused on the various myths that surround the topic, and the importance of being evidence-based when it comes to identifying, appointing and developing organisational leaders.
Myths, misconceptions and fads are pervasive and insidious in the leadership space. And when they go unchallenged, they represent a real risk to effective leadership development, leading to disruption, unnecessary cost and inevitable impact on employees.
If you weren't able to join me live, you can watch the recording below:
Thanks for reading. As ever, feel free to get in touch with your feedback and questions. I wish you all the very best this holiday season and a happy and healthy 2026.
