As anything comes to an end, I like to complete it fully; to draw a line in the sand so you’re not carrying previous concerns, failures or expectations into the next phase. As we approach the close of 2025, I invite you to complete the year, whether it has been successful or not. Although the intention of this blog is to complete your business, these questions can be used for any area of life.
If you don’t take the time to draw a line under what’s already happened, the same patterns may show up again and again, even when you’re trying to make things different. When you reflect on your promises, expectations, conversations and goals, you begin to transform yourself and your business. You show up differently. You stop letting the past shape the choices you make next.
Are you ready to stop dragging old expectations and unresolved situations into 2026?
To begin completing the year, we have to uncover what we expected of it (spoken or unspoken).
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Expectations & Promises
I used to focus only on the goals I’d set; what worked, what didn’t and what to carry forward. But I noticed I still wasn’t satisfied. I still felt like I’d failed. When I looked deeper, I realised I’d been carrying unspoken expectations about the year – expectations I never turned into clear goals.
Expectations are tricky. They sit beneath the surface, unnoticed and when you try to move into the next stage, guilt, embarrassment or shame can creep in because you’re quietly judging yourself for what you didn’t achieve, that you didn’t even set out to achieve, because it was just an expectation.
Here are some prompts to help you complete 2025:
- What goals did you set for 2025?
- What did you actually achieve?
- What were your expectations of yourself and your business for 2025?
- What promises did you make to yourself or others?
- What promises did you not fulfil on?
- What expectations, promises or goals did you forget about until now?
Notice as you go through these questions, the thoughts and feelings that are provoked. Maybe they are feelings of fulfillment and joy or sadness and disappointment. Normally this comes from the story we’ve added to the facts.
For example:
“I made £50,000 in sales” versus “I only made £50,000 in sales.”
“I helped one client” versus “I only helped one client.”
Adding only creates meaning. As humans, we collapse what happened with the meaning we’ve given it. Unless you separate the two, you’ll carry it into next year.
- What meaning have you added to what happened?
- Is that meaning actually true?
Example:
“I made £50,000 in sales and expected £100,000. The meaning I added is that I’ll never reach £100,000 and I’m a disappointment.”
Is that true?
Is it true that you’ll never make more money?
Are you a disappointment because you didn’t earn more?
Once you’ve completed your expectations, it’s time to look at the moments that shaped your year the most; your conversations.
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Conversations That Didn’t Go Well
This is the juicy part. Notice if you want to avoid it… who really wants to relive the conversations we wish had gone differently? But these moments often hold the biggest lessons, especially in business where client retention, and building a business, relies heavily on how you communicate to those around you.
By reflecting, completing them and exploring what you’d do differently next time, you give yourself the chance to grow and respond differently next year.
- What conversations didn’t go as well as you’d hoped?
- What happened? What was said?
- How did it make you feel? Where did you feel it in your body?
- If you could have the conversation again, what would you do differently?
- Would that change the outcome? How?
Notice how quickly blame or guilt shows up, or how you make the other person wrong. This often happens because you’re avoiding the uncomfortable feelings underneath.
Allow yourself to sit with them. Close your eyes and notice where the emotion sits in your body. Let it be there. Don’t try to change it. Accept what happened or didn’t happen, and forgive yourself, or the other person.
What will you put in place next time so that history doesn’t repeat itself?
Once you’ve completed what didn’t work, it’s equally important to recognise what did.
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Conversations That Created Connection
Yes, finally, the wins!
It’s time to recognise what went well. Some people struggle with this part, especially if the year didn’t go as planned. They think they don’t deserve to feel good about it. But looking at what worked is vital. It shows you what to repeat, especially the conversations that strengthened relationships; gained clients or helped you retain them.
- What conversations strengthened a client relationship?
- What conversations opened the door to new opportunities?
- How did these conversations come about?
- Where did you demonstrate clarity, courage or integrity?
- What actions did you take afterwards that helped retain or gain a client?
The purpose here is simple: find what worked so you can do more of it. Even if some things felt outside your control, trust me; something you did contributed.
With the wins acknowledged, it’s time to look at the deeper patterns behind them; your behaviour.
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Your Behaviour
Now let’s go deeper. You may begin to see why certain things worked, and why others didn’t.
This section focuses on the behaviours that helped or hindered your results.
- Where did you implement your boundaries?
- What difference did this make?
- Where did you not implement your boundaries and let things slide?
- What was the impact of this?
- What behaviours supported your growth as a business owner?
- Which behaviours held you back?
Look at your client journey:
Have you supported your clients as fully as you could?
Is there anything you’d change?
Have you followed through with accountability?
Have you offered your services to the people who needed them?
Or have there been conversations you avoided?
There’s a cycle that drives behaviour:
Beliefs → Thoughts → Feelings → Behaviours → Results
…and those results reinforce the original belief.
Example:
Belief: “I’m not good enough.”
Thought: “Clients won’t stay with me.”
Feelings: disappointment, resentment
Behaviour: avoiding conversations, not asking in the first place
Once you’ve explored your behaviour, you can begin to extract the lessons and create new commitments for the year ahead.
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Lessons & New Commitments
Let’s bring everything together.
- What are the key lessons from 2025?
- What are you choosing to leave behind?
- What are you bringing forward into 2026?
- What commitments will define your next year?
And finally, completion.
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Complete 2025 fully so you can enter 2026 without the weight of the past, and with the confidence to communicate and build the business you truly want.
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