The year-end ritual you’ve been waiting for
It’s that time, when we start thinking about closing one year and stepping into a new one. An end and a beginning, all rolled into one.
I love this time of year – probably because I love to reflect and to plan – and I’ve written a lot over the years (like here and here) about how I transition from one year to the next. This year is no different!
So, as you prepare to wind down 2025 and think ahead to the resolutions, goals and wishes you hold for 2026, I thought I’d share a fun and invigorating ritual – one that will help you end this year with thoughtfulness, and begin a new year with intention (and maybe a small fire 🔥).
Try This Out
This is a great ritual to prepare now, knowing that you might choose to actually perform it closer to the end of December.
First, take stock of your year. Review your calendar, your notebooks, and your photos over the past 12 months:
What were your highlight or standout moments and memories?
What were the biggest or toughest challenges you faced?
What did you learn – about yourself, your purpose, your values? About our world?
These are questions you can journal on or consider while out on a walk. Or, keep them handy for the next time you have tea with a close friend. There’s no right way.
Next, reflect: What from 2025 do I want to take with me into 2026? And what will I choose to leave behind?
Grab a stack of notecards or slips of paper, and make two piles – one for the things you’re leaving behind, and one for the things you’re carrying forward with you.
On each notecard, write one item. There’s no correct way to do this, but your lists might look like:
What I’m Leaving Behind:
Wishing I could have made a different decision about X
Feeling bad about that conversation with so-and-so
Doubting myself
What I’m Bringing with Me:
Remembering that I can do hard things
The love and support of my family and friends
A fresh start
Next comes the really fun part: setting up your ritual.
Find a calm, quiet, happy place in your home or outside in nature. If you’re inside, take a piece of painters tape and make a line about two feet long on the floor. You could also use a doorway with a threshold you’ll step over. If you’re outside, lay down a row of sticks on the ground, or draw out a line using your foot.
This line marks the boundary between this year and next year. Look at your line and decide which side of it represents 2025, and which side represents 2026. In a moment, you’re going to step over that line – leaving 2025 behind and stepping forward into a brand new year.
Standing on the 2025 side, take a deep breath and center yourself. Breathe in the high points of 2025 and the lessons you learned this year. Feel grateful for the gifts of this year, and for your readiness to step forward into what’s next.
When you’re ready, read aloud what you’re choosing to leave behind. After you’ve said what’s on each note, destroy it! Yes, you can burn it (please be fire safe!), but you could also bury it or rip it up into tiny shreds.
Once those are destroyed, take a breath in again and steady yourself to move into 2026. Read aloud the things you’re carrying with you into the new year. Say them proudly and with conviction! Know that when you step over the line into a new year, you carry with you all of the wisdom, all of the wins, all the support and love that 2025 has provided you.
And when you’re ready, step over the line – stepping out of 2025, and into the possibility of 2026!
Bonus points: do this with a friend, and when each of you crosses over the line into the new year, let out a loud cheer for one another!
What To Do Next
One thing that many of us wish for in a new year is a Glow Up. I know I’m not alone in this!
Last week I wrote about how Dallas Travers invited me to be part of something big: 40 experts coming together to give away their best resources to anyone ready for a GLOW UP.
And the best part? For every sign-up, $1 gets donated to Period.org, a teen-founded nonprofit fighting period poverty in the U.S.
Here’s how it works:
✔️ Step 1: Click the link to access all 40 expert-created resources.
✔️ Step 2: Scroll through, pick what you love, and download.
✔️ Step 3: Use these tools to glow up your work and your life – no strings attached.
Onward,
