This past year, 2025, has been a challenge for so many of us. Myself included. I could talk about how difficult it was to be thrown into the job search twice in one year or the loss of a family pet. Instead I want to talk about the growth I’ve had over the last year and how it’s going to help me continue to grow in 2026.
Embracing Change
I have always bucked “change” into two different categories, exciting change and stressful change. The same change might be perceived differently by everyone, for example how AI will change how we work. Some may find this change exciting and be more willing to embrace it, others may find it more stressful and have a difficult time navigating.
For me, 2025 was filled with more change than I’ve experienced in any other year. Not only did I deal with a lot of change, much of it was stressful change. Here are a few tips that helped me navigate change this past year.
Slow down and take it all in. Instead of instantly reacting I took time to understand what was happening and why. This is something that does not come naturally to me, I’ve always been one to think on my feet and take action as quickly as possible. Doing this helped reduce fear around change allowing me to move forward with a more level head.
Track and Analyze. As someone who has worked with Data for my entire career, I’ve found a lot of peace in tracking and analyzing data. I used this to better understand my progress as I navigate change while also keeping organized.
Celibate all wins (small to large). I’ve never been big on celebrating things myself, I’ve always moved straight to what’s next. Over the past year I’ve celebrated many achievements and by doing so started to feel better connected to those around me. I’ve also found doing so made stressful change much more manageable.
Finding a Balance
Work-life balance has always been a struggle for me. I’m the type of person who wants to run full speed ahead and give everything 1,000%. My entire life I’ve struggled to slow down and take care of myself.
With living a lifestyle of running so fast, I’ve found myself easily prone to burnout. And boy did 2025 top the scales for burnout! Finding a balance this past year was a huge struggle, at first.
Working in a fast paced environment it can be difficult to set boundaries and even more so when working remotely. The first part of the year I focused on taking time to unplug. This included setting backups for when I went on PTO, turning off notifications during PTO … and actually taking PTO.
The last quarter I took the time to slow down even more, spending quality time with family and nature. I can honestly say that I ended 2025 with a solid balance and no burnout.
Going into 2026 I’ve got plans to keep the balance and make this the best year yet!
Finding my Passion
As someone who has enjoyed (almost) every hobby I’ve tried, somewhere along the way I seem to have lost my passion. I’m sure it’s related to my spike in burnout, but for the first time in years I was truly questioning why I was doing what I was doing.
No, I haven’t lost my passion for data or leadership. More so, it was time for me to re-invent myself yet again and follow a new path that I hope will bring me much more joy.
Sometimes we get stuck in a path and just do things on auto-pilot. We set career goals and run full steam ahead. For the longest time I wanted to move into a C-role, then a few years ago I decided to pivot but wasn’t sure what the new path looked like yet. I’ve been (or was) stuck in analysis-paralysis.
I’ve ended the year with a new path not fully mapped out, and for the first time I’m actually OK with that (and kinda excited).
Continuing the Growth into 2026 and Beyond
I’m entering 2026 with so much unknown. I’m making a huge change, one of the biggest career pivots to date.
Am I scared? Maybe a little.
There are defiantly parts of my new role that will push and challenge me in new ways. I’m excited to embrace the change while keeping a solid balance.
Comments
Post a Comment