The passing of another year is an opportunity to reflect upon its lessons, challenges and opportunities, and to commit or recommit to what is important for us to be or do in the new year. And the beauty of a philosophy of life that embraces a growth mindset and continued improvements is that each year builds on each other, as another piece in a puzzle called life, with serenity for both what is left behind and what is ahead.

As you think about 2024, ponder upon what you would want to have left behind, continue or begin in 2025. Such reflection would allow you to gain clarity and set intentions for the new year. While 2024 had some specific challenges for me to work through or learn how to work through, it was an amazing year with a lot of discovery work and several world travels across multiple continents, that brought back a sense of adventure and passion for life that I had in my 20s but quieted in my 30s as a hard working professional and new parent of two. The result of it all is entering 2025 with a renewed life vision in my 40s, anchored in values that define who I am as an individual in this world, with dreams and ambitions at both personal and professional levels.

My serenity for what’s ahead is on the basis of several life lessons crystallized through 2024:

• Allow yourself to experiment with life as a way to decide what works or doesn’t work for you. Of course, this is to be done within the boundaries of integrity and legality. For instance, after almost 20 years of working hard professionally, I’m more committed than ever to honoring the time off I am entitled to, and without feelings of guilt or regret. This right I allowed myself to enjoy without worrying about work left behind or crises that could happen while I am away (which could in fact turn into opportunities for growth and contributions for working staff) made space for great experiences including energizing trips abroad, discovering new countries and cultures. The time off spent disconnecting from work and the regular routine was a reset and refuel moment, which helped sustain high performance without burnout throughout the year, while building memories with the humans and the non-humans that bring joy in my life. Adopting an experimenting mindset speeds up decision making and increases learning and resilience, as you take every decision and experience as feedback loop. And while not planning for mistakes, when these happen, they are part of your growth journey. You can apply this lesson in your own life by considering what you would like to experience more of, be it fitness, writing a book, building or growing a business, or taking more time off as I did. At the end of our lives, what regrets would you want to minimize? The answer to this question can give you clues as to what you could or should experience more of. And if hiking Mt Everest is not within your budget or ability levels, think about what local hikes you could do instead and if you are really serious about hiking Mt Everest, make it a project to study how such dream could be achieved one year or a few decades later. At a micro level, in the day-to-day life, experiment with making fast decisions at least in certain situations where before you might have been an overthinker or a procrastinator. It is Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, who talked about decisions as one-way and two-way doors, with most decisions qualifiable as two-day doors, meaning they are reversible and inconsequential, as opposed to one-way decisions which are irreversible and consequential or life-altering (bonus read on this point here).

• Your inner circle is the most influential group of people in your life, whether it’s intentional or not. This is because people who are the closest to you (mentally and emotionally, not necessarily physically) end up having a strong influence on your thinking, mood, behavior and choices. These people could be family members, friends, work colleagues, or some individuals with influence over us. At times, we grant access to people who might leave our energy levels depleted. Other times, we come across amazing individuals who are inspiring and leave us energized after each interaction. It is important to be self-aware and intentional about who is in your immediate circle and what expectations you set for such interactions. You could even decide to experiment in this area and guide your choices following a path of least regrets or a path that optimizes the positivity that a person might bring into your life. For instance, getting to meet and start a friendship with dr Val Margarit, a leadership and high-performance coach is one of my highlights in 2024. Her uplifting newsletters, self-empowerment books, insightful courses and our interactions in general were a rich source of sheer enthusiasm for life and wisdom throughout 2024. When I think of her and the positive influence she had on my life, in such a short time span, I understand how important it is for each one of us to surround ourselves with individuals who live in their values and are inspiring us to do the same. There are many more individuals that I could list including my partner in life and adventure, my spouse, who inspires me every day with his determination, as well as his unsatiable thirst for knowledge and growth. As you think about your inner circle, remember the strong influence these individuals are positioned to have on you and be intentional about your interactions. We can frame every relationship as a gift two individuals give each other, even if it’s temporary in nature. This nurtures a sense of hope in our humanity and belonging and represents the practical exchange that happens when two persons interact, in terms of exchange of ideas, energies, information, and wisdom.

• Thriving is a way of living when you are guided by and stay true to your values. I will always remember 2024 for the amazing experiences I was fortunate to live and for the inner growth I continued to experience, with internal and external changes including in my fitness level and resilience. At the end of 2024 and the beginning of a new year, I realize that all these experiences and activities are part of my core values and when I act in alignment with such values, I thrive. When you think about the past year and 2025, what values guide your actions or what values represent who you want to be or what you would like to do in 2025? These values are clues for what is fulfilling to you and what habits and activities you should consider integrating in your life in 2025 to align with your values. This is not about societal views or other people’s views of what you should do and how success should be defined; it is about your own vision of what you want from this life, and it is your fundamental right. And this vision could well change over time and be inspired or guided by others… but only you can find your balance on the waves of life and, with it, fulfillment in life – when you have clarity over your own set of values and goals, and act in alignment with them.

• Replace worrying thoughts with a positive attitude. Instead of watering seeds of worries, water seeds of positivity and abundance. Turn any worrisome thought into a reminder to ask yourself the question what if everything will work out and work out for the better at the end? How will that look like? How will events or outcomes be reframed? How will you feel if everything turned out well? What actions or behaviors will be required for such positive outcomes to occur? A lot of our fears are simply the result of our brain working how it was designed – to keep us safe and in our comfort zones. The more we practice getting out of our comfort zones, the more we reduce friction to what drives our growth, and our brain won’t signal danger. The more we quiet the inner voice that might bring anxiety or thoughts of worries, the louder we can make the voice of us as individuals who can handle or learn to handle anything that might come our way. There can be dark experiences and clouds, but the sun will always rise the next morning. No matter how we have been conditioned to respond to challenges, or how much control we have over what happens to us, we can control our response to these challenges and adopt the mindset and behavior of empowered individuals – most often not alone but with others around us, be it family members, friends, coaches, or other individuals who can offer professional help. A life with continuous happy moments and feelings is an illusion we shouldn’t fall in the trap of seeking. But what we should aim for is to get back up every time we get knocked down and to believe that, at the end, life happens for us – the dark moments and paths will lead to a path of light that could have never been found if the darkness didn’t occur. Hope in its purest form even in the midst of dark challenges and crises, doubled down by pragmatism fuels our resilience and turns obstacles into steppingstones for growth. And if you don’t know how to embark on a self-empowerment journey, look no further – dr Val Margarit has a transformational guide that will help you find fulfillment in life and work.

2025, here we are, committed to work towards our dreams, inspired by a community around us that builds each other up with accountability but also with compassion and fellowship as travelers of life in this new year 2025.

PS: If you are still pondering what New Year’s practices you could experiment with this year, two awesome activities I highly recommend are: (1) choose a word for the year, leaning into your own inner wisdom about the most important intention – reflected in such choice of the word – for the coming year and (2) build a personal wall calendar with pictures from every month of the previous year as a way to reflect upon the year that passed and to prolong savoring its greatest memories, one month at a time.