2025 Lessons: Personal Entry

As the year comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on 2025.

It was a layered year for me, intense at times, quiet at others, and deeply transformative... it was one of those years I built character.

Some years you win, some years you build character
– Steve Jobs

Rather than a highlight reel, I wanted to share a few of the core lessons I’m taking with me into 2026.

There's loads more, I just picked 5 that felt the most relevant now. Maybe some of these land for you too.

We don't need fixing.

When you become more aware of traits and habits you label as "bad" or dive into any form of self improvement, it's easy to feel like you need to fix something about yourself. I fell into this mindset... and it's not true.

The belief that you, I or anyone is someone to be fixed is non sense. It's an illusion of the mind created by the mind.

This means we can develop skills and live a creative life of growth through the lens that we're already whole, there's nothing to fix, instead there's just beliefs, identities and perspectives that we've picked up and can let go of.

I believe we're here to remember who we really are, that earth is a school and we came here to learn, experience and have fun doing what we love.

I've been on the journey of exploring ancient healing modalities for years and they have been so powerful in so many ways, these are often frameworks and processes I use with clients when necessary. I was in Bali in June on a spiritual side quest working with a Balinese Healer.

After 3 weeks of intense inner work, I had this moment of clarity... I didn't need to be fixed, like there was nothing to chase anymore...

The feeling was strange but the word embodiment came to my mind immediately.

Embodiment is about living as the person who is healed, not searching for healing.

I knew in that moment I began a new chapter in my life, I felt it in my bones.

So a lot of this year was about letting go of the subconscious part of me that felt I needed to be fixed.

When that dropped, clarity and self-trust started to return naturally bringing a sense a calmness to my mind and body.

Forcing momentum costs me more than it gave me.

If you've ever felt guilt for not working, congratulations you're part of the growing hustle culture that rewards you for abandoning yourself for the sake of looking like you're always on the grind.

The problem isn't hustle culture, nobody is to blame. The problem is the emotion underneath the action... fear, scarcity and urgency.

For the last number of years on my business journey I've both witnessed and unconsciously took part in the hustle culture we see glamorised on social media.

The way I see it... the "always be hustling 24/7" mentality is just another "rat race" thats driven by the illusion of urgency, the fear of not being enough, fear of not being perceived as "successful" in the eyes of others and fear not moving fast enough.

This fear lives in a body and nervous system that doesn't feel safe to rest.

When you don't feel safe to rest, you feel like you can never switch off because the fear consumes you and drives your action.

This year I learned the difference between action driven by the fear highlighted above and action taken from calm clarity.

I stopped valuing myself solely on what I was doing and instead who I was being, in stillness, in slow seasons and in times were no external results showed itself.

That alone has changed my life forever.

I saw that any action taken from my old fear based way of operating produced nothing. The old way stopped working.

Instead real progress came when I stopped forcing "productivity" and started listening to what my body and nervous system needed... to feel safe resting.

When your body feels safe, calm and regulated you build the inner foundation to hold more money, love and joy without having to force anything.

Receiving is a skill, not a reward.

This year I realised I was still subconsciously holding the limiting belief that "everything had to be hard for it to feel worth it"

...which was connected to another belief of "it's all up to me"

What did this mean?

I would make everything harder and more complex than it needed to be and reject support from others because I had to be the one carrying the ship.

But you know what? sometimes we can't carry the ship for a while, sometimes we need to rest, sometimes we need support so we can see that we're not alone in this world.

This year stripped money and security away from me so that I could see how supported I was. Instead of me doing everything, miracles showed themselves time and time again.

When I was open to sharing my situation with people I saw that mentors, friends, and even strangers were willing to support me in ways I could have never predicted.

I learned to receive without self judgement. Not just constantly do.

Support, love, money, rest, guidance. I practiced letting these arrive without earning them through exhaustion or over-effort.

I can now build my business from a new calm state of being, allowing myself to receive without the constant hustle created by these beliefs.

Stillness isn’t stagnation, it's where embodiment grows.

In 2025 my work didn't feel as fun as it did for the last 2 years. I felt like I had outgrown a version of myself.

I felt I was still showing up with "boy who needed to prove himself" energy.

And after turning 28, I know that I'm now beginning a new 7 year cycle in manhood, so this needed to change.

I leaned into the discomfort of becoming more okay with not doing, especially when doing was the most obvious thing to do.

Some of the most important growth for me happened when nothing “looked” like it was happening.

I took long walks in nature, hiked, played a lot of Xbox, spent quality time with friends, got as many massages as I could while living in Bali for a few months, I created when it felt fun, not obligation, I sat in silence and did nothing when all I wanted to do was "do something" to feel productive out of fear.

I realised for me that when no creative spark was there, the default should be rest to allow for the spark to direct to the next clear precise thing to do.

Learning to stay present in uncertainty without rushing to fix things from fear changed how I relate to life and work...

I can safely say I'm excited for my work again going into 2026.

Honesty creates real connection with the right people.

Love, feelings and telling someone how you feel is a scary thing.

For years in my early 20's I would get into relationships and subtly sabotage them because I was afraid of something serious. I never really expressed how I felt while simultaneously craving deep connection.

I was afraid to love, incase it hurt me.

Over the last 3 years I've been healing that.

It takes courage to speak whats on your heart knowing that someone may not feel the same way.

It takes courage be yourself and know that your not for everyone.

It takes courage to live with your heart open instead of playing games and pushing people away.

This year I stopped pushing people away, I spoke my truth and even though the relationship I was in didn't end up working out, I'm proud of myself for overcoming this fear and leading myself with an heart open despite the pain.

When we're honest with ourselves about what we want, the standards we hold and we speak that truth to others we create clarity.

That clarity will remove the wrong people, and bring in the right people.

It works the same way in friendships.

I’m entering 2026 feeling calmer, clearer, and more grounded than I’ve ever been.

Not because everything is figured out, but because I trust myself to meet what comes without fear.

Wishing you a grounded, honest, and aligned start to January.

Thank you for being here and for walking your own path alongside mine.

With love,
Jordan