A Gentle End-of-Year Reset: Movement, Mindset, and Meaningful Change

Dr. Christine Li [00:00:00]:
Welcome back to the Make Time for Success podcast. This is episode number 262. In today's episode, I'm going to be taking you through a gentle process to review 2025. It is going to be an opportunity to look at what has happened, what you've been through, what you wanted and what actually happened. But we're going to skip all of the stress of thinking that this has to be some masterclass or giant preparation for the next year. We're just going to do this in a different way. We're going to take things calmly and we're going to just have some reflection time together. So take out your journal, a couple pieces of paper and a pen and let's go listen to this episode together now.

Dr. Christine Li [00:00:58]:
Hi, I'm Dr. Christine Li and I'm at a psychologist and a procrastination coach. I've helped thousands of people move past procrastination and overwhelm so they could begin working to their potential. In this podcast, you're going to learn powerful strategies for getting your mind, body and energy to work together so that you can focus on what's really important.

Dr. Christine Li [00:01:22]:
And accomplish the goals you want to achieve.

Dr. Christine Li [00:01:26]:
When you start living within your full power, you're going to see how being productive can be easy and how you can create success on demand. Welcome to the Make Time for Success podcast.

Dr. Christine Li [00:01:40]:
Hi everyone. As we move towards the end of 2025, I thought we could spend some time together and just do a little bit of a year end review. But that said, I know that middle of December can be a really stressful time for, for many people because it's the end of the year, because you've got checklists, because you've got holiday items to get done and thoughts of people and places and things swirling around in your head. So I want to make sure that you understand that this episode is not meant to stress you out. It's actually meant to be a kind of gentle invitation to to reviewing what is on your plate. How did it get there? What's on your radar? What do you want to do in the future? What is your energy like and what is happening even if you don't realize it. So again, just maybe taking this session time to get a little bit more mindful about where you are right now. I think this middle of December winter time, I'm in New York, so in the States can be a time of real reflection, of looking inward a little bit more than you're used to.

Dr. Christine Li [00:03:06]:
And I've even read that the winter months causes us to be a little more sedentary and kind of like we're in a hibernation period. And that seemed to ring true for me. So if you are hibernating, if you are reflecting, if you are busy like a bee right now, whatever state you're in, you're welcome to join me in this year end review today. I want to offer you some things to think about. And these would be some categories that might be great for your journal today. So you can use journaling as a tool, if you like, not to pressure yourself into anything, but as a way to just really review. What is the clear picture for you? What has been going on? What have you been choosing to create in your life lately? And to just do a little bit of a summary of that for yourself. Okay, so the first task that I would love for you to do in this review is to take stock without judging yourself.

Dr. Christine Li [00:04:15]:
So I'm going to give you a few categories to look at. And again, we're doing an inventory. So think of it like you're counting tomato cans in your pantry. You don't yell at yourself for that, you just count. So this is what we're going to do now for three different areas, movement, input, and mindset. So for movement, we'll start here. How has your body been moving in the past year? Mind you, you might have had some ideas for how it should have been moving this past year, but I would love for you to just jot down how it's actually been for you. What has felt supportive for movement for you? Is it your gym membership? Is it the fact that you've got a friend taking you on walks every other day? Is it your animal that is helping you with movement? Is it your kids? What has been helpful? And another thing to look at is what has felt too difficult or forced when it comes to movement.

Dr. Christine Li [00:05:21]:
Have you been doing things that you haven't wanted to do, but you feel forced into those kinds of actions that we want to have counted as well, because we want to make sure we get the full picture regarding movement, I'll have you think about one more topic, and that is what has felt absent in terms of movement? What have you wanted to do or what do you think you should have been doing that you just never got around to? Again, without judgment, just stating the fact that you wanted to do X, but it turned out you did Y. And then maybe jot down some feelings that you have about that and that will be fine. So again, the topic area number one for taking stock is movement. The second area is input. What have you been feeding your mind this year? What have the sources been? I just finished listening to an audiobook called Jump that was recommended to me by one of my favorite coaches. Her name is Diana Sophia, and she recommended that I read this book because she believes I'm ready for some leaps in my business and in my life. And I really appreciated that friendly suggestion. So what books have you reviewed this year? What podcasts? What conversations were really meaningful to you this year? Maybe this was something that happened back in February and now you can think about that again.

Dr. Christine Li [00:06:56]:
What courses might you have taken? Who did you learn from on social media and what did you learn on social media? I have recently been enjoying the education that I've been able to get from social media. I oftentimes take what I see in the morning on social media and then go and teach that in some of my classes and to my clients. Inside Coaching inside my weekend container, which is called the Success Lab, and my main program, which is called Simply Productive. I love sharing what strikes me as just being interesting and fascinating and stuff about the brain and our nervous system and being more mindful. There's a lot of information now out there, as you probably know yourself, in terms of input. Another question is what has felt good for you? What do you really enjoy taking information from? And then the opposite question is what feels really good, bothersome or noisy or upsetting or draining to you? And you get the chance right now to take stock of that again without judgment and decide what input sources have been great this year and what are some that might need to drift away from you and leave you alone. The third topic here in this taking stock is your mindset. When you look back on 2025, what emotional climate seems to be the dominant climate, right? Were you super busy? Were you super anxious? Were you super grateful? Were you hopeful? Were you effortful? Were you too effortful where you were finding yourself feeling exhausted a lot? No emotion is wrong.

Dr. Christine Li [00:08:42]:
That is one of the first things I ever learned from being in psychology training long ago is that we have to be open to all of our feelings. So note and be mindful about what your general mindfulness state was in 2025. What was the dominant feeling state and are you happy with that? You don't have to judge yourself, but you can reflect on that. Take in all the data, remind yourself all the wins and all the setbacks, and just decide. Where Were you in 2025? This isn't about needing to fix anything. This is just about seeing the year with clarity. Now we're going to go into section two and section two is on gratitude and appreciation for what actually worked, right? Instead of asking yourself, what do I have to be grateful for? You can look back on your pictures in your phone, perhaps as a source of great gratitude. I was once directed to do this in a coaching environment and I thought, oh, this is not going to be so fun.

Dr. Christine Li [00:09:56]:
But it ended up being this eye opening experience because you forget what happened in January, February, March, and sometimes in June and July too. And it can be fun to look back on those happy pictures, those vacation moments, those moments when you ran into somebody and snapped a photo or a selfie, and those times when you had that delicious meal. These are all times that you can review month after month, go January to December and look at what you have to be grateful for. Maybe it's a great reminder that you have so much to be grateful for and that so much actually went well in this past year, even in the smallest of ways, like those yummy meals. Where did you stand tall in your life? Where were you resilient? Where did you show up really well? Where did you learn things? Where did you add to your stock of wisdom? Where did you learn how to trust yourself at a deeper level or in a deeper way? All of these things are really healthy for us to review because as midlife women, most of you are midlife women who are listening, we oftentimes overlook these moments and we think, oh, that was nothing, or oh, that was just. That was lucky, or that had to turn out that way. But oftentimes we are a big part in those successes, in generating those good feelings that we end up feeling grateful for. And many of us are cooking those delicious meals too.

Dr. Christine Li [00:11:35]:
Okay? So notice these smaller moments, have appreciation when you can, and do that Section two review. Now, Section three is a little bit different. Section three is open loops. What are some of the areas in your life that are kind of open loops right now? And by that I mean unfinished business, difficult conversations perhaps that you haven't done yet, Difficult decisions that you haven't made yet or you haven't resolved yet. Things that are on your to do list, that are still on your to do list or really maybe nagging at you, or they're in your mind. Those are all open loops. And I think the end of the year tends to be my year. I used to do this a lot at the end of the year.

Dr. Christine Li [00:12:28]:
I would get really stressed out about those open loops, thinking that I only had until December 31st to get every single one tied up in A perfect bow. And as you can imagine, in those years when I felt like that, I would really end up feeling exhausted by the time December 31st hit. And invariably I would have more of my list to do, because our lists are long and because we can only do so much in a limited amount of time. So. So instead of making yourself burned out at the end of the year, I'm gonna suggest that you just take stock of some of the open loops, as many as you can jot down and decide what do you need to let go of right now? Maybe you can finish them just by saying, I accept that this is an open loop, but I now remove it from my list of priorities because I no longer feel it's so important or it's going to really improve my life in any major way. So let go of some of that stress. And then on the other hand, you're going to look at some of these open loops and say to yourself, I can finish that before December 31st, or I can at least finish it by January 31st and give myself an extra month to do this. But say to myself, it's going to be done by then.

Dr. Christine Li [00:13:47]:
That is my promise to myself. Because I know that closure can really be a really fun feeling to get every once in a while. Having tons of open loops can feel really stressful. So I'm going to surrender some and let some go. But I'm also going to make the choice to close some down, to tie some bows at the end of the year. It is bow tying season after all. And just know to yourself that whether your list is giant or super tiny, you don't have to judge yourself for it. It's just the facts that they're open loops.

Dr. Christine Li [00:14:24]:
We have them. So again, don't spend the end of your time or any time getting down on yourself. Because if you've been listening to me for any length of time, you know that being kind to yourself is really like principle number one for me. In order to do well, you have to treat yourself well. So no judging yourself. Just make these lists if you want to decide to close some things down and then decide to let go of some of the other stuff. And I hope that makes you feel a little bit happier at the end of the year. Okay, now section four is preparing for what is next.

Dr. Christine Li [00:15:04]:
Gently. Remember, this is not a stress exercise. It shouldn't be. As you look ahead, notice what you're looking forward to doing. What are you feeling called to do? Right? And these are things that may not be literal tasks, but they may be things more like I would love to have more energy. I would love to feel like I had more time. I would love to feel like I was braver in new situations. I would love to explore Travel more in 2026.

Dr. Christine Li [00:15:44]:
I would love to pursue my goals with more quickness next year. These are just things that are at the top of my head and I'm just making this spontaneous list. But you might have a list that has been with you for a long time, a list that has been carried in your heart. And you want to ask yourself, what kind of energy do I really want to move forward with? What do I want to greet in 2026? Where do I want things to feel easier for me in 2026? So often we think just about making progress on things, but I have come to learn in midlife that sometimes it's just like I want things to be easier. I don't just want to see progress. I want things to feel smoother and more enjoyable and more in flow as I go too. And you want to decide what are your standards but also what counts as enough for you. Again, the non stress way, the gentle way of making some plans for yourself for the next year.

Dr. Christine Li [00:16:54]:
Decide that you don't have to change anything, but that you have the power to change anything that you like. You are perfect as you are and you have this massive power of choice and freedom in your life. So you get to decide what stays with you, what shifts, what gets thrown away. You know, I talk about clutter all the time and what no longer deserves your energy. This is the time or a perfect time to take a look at all of these things. Freedom oftentimes isn't about doing everything. It's kind of doing things because they matter to you or because you've decide they are part of your purpose and purposefulness which tends to feed you back energy. So act with freedom, act with love and kindness towards yourself and do this gentle review.

Dr. Christine Li [00:17:50]:
All right. Just to give you a reminder of what we've discussed in this episode, we have Section one taking stock about what has happened this year without judging yourself. Section two is having gratitude and appreciation for what has transpired in this past year. Section three is taking a look and making a list of your open loops, the things that are unfinished, unresolved, unthought of sometimes. And maybe you're gonna bring some of this stuff to the surface and take care of it when you have the opportunity. Section four is doing a gentle preparation and setup for the next year and the next months that you have in front of you. May they be delightful, may they be everything that you need. May they be filled with celebrations and lots of gratitude and lots of hope for a brighter future for yourself.

Dr. Christine Li [00:18:45]:
Because you deserve everything that you've worked for, that you've hoped for, and all the good stuff that is coming your way. If you'd like a free download that accompanies this episode on the year end review, go to maketimeforsuccesspodcast.com/review again. Maketimeforsuccesspodcast.com/review I will be back next week for another year end Reflection episode. I haven't made it up yet, but I'll have something good for you then. Take care.

Dr. Christine Li [00:19:19]:
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Make Time for Success podcast. If you enjoyed what you've heard, you can subscribe to make sure you get notified of upcoming episodes. You can also Visit our website maketimeforsuccesspodcast.com for past episodes, show notes, and all the resources we mention on the show. Feel free to connect with me over on Instagram too. You can find me there under the name Procrastination Coach. Send me a DM and let me know what your thoughts thoughts are about the episodes you've been listening to and let me know any topics that you might like me to talk about on the show. I'd love to hear all about how you're making Time for Success.

Dr. Christine Li [00:19:59]:
Talk to you soon.