End of year reflection and goal setting

How Looking Back Helped Me Set Intentions for the Year Ahead

I’ve been obsessed with goal setting and resolutions for a long time, but recently I’ve felt the desire to do something a little less right-or-wrong, and a little more in line with the kind of peace, ease, and spaciousness I’m working towards.

Rather than jumping straight into goals, I’ve been drawn to a more reflective way of beginning the year — one that starts by looking back, before we look forward.

Why I’m Starting with Reflection This Year

While writing the workbook for my 2026 Clarity Retreat: Reflect, Reset, Rejuvenate, I realised I wanted the very first exercise to be about reflecting on the year that’s been. I’ve facilitated this kind of end-of-year reflection before, both in workshops and work settings, and I often ask these questions of others.

What I hadn’t done yet, though, was properly answer them myself.

I’d already begun dreaming and planning for 2026, but I hadn’t paused to honour 2025 — to notice what had unfolded, what I was proud of, and what I was ready to release.

So, with a couple of draft workbooks freshly printed, I sat down and worked through the reflection exercise as if I were a participant.

Using Photos as a Prompt for Year-End Reflection

One of my favourite (and most surprising) prompts was this: look back through the photos on your phone from the year.

I take a lot of photos, and scrolling through them was incredibly eye-opening. It reminded me just how much had happened — moments I’d forgotten, phases that felt distant, and experiences that had quietly shaped me.

I started the year living in Australia, commuting back and forth to Aotearoa to see my partner and step-kids. The plan had been six months to two years, but by April I knew one year would be it for me.

Australia has been such an important part of my journey: living overseas for the first time, helping set up a government organisation from scratch, and being in the same country as my sister for the first time in over a decade. My word for the year was exploration, and looking through my photos, I could see how deeply I’d honoured that — imperfectly, but intentionally.

What Reflection Revealed (That Planning Alone Hadn’t)

The exercise invited me to articulate:

• what I was grateful for from 2025

• what I was proud of

• what had been challenging

• what I wanted to carry forward

• and what I was ready to set aside

These are questions I’d been circling for a while, but sitting with them — pen on paper, uninterrupted — brought them to life in a new way. It reminded me why I believe so strongly in making dedicated time for reflection, and why I value practices like workshops, masterminds, and accountability groups.

One of the biggest insights for me was about priorities and seasons.

Being back in Aotearoa has shifted the rhythm of my life. Writing every day was deeply nourishing and rewarding when I lived in Australia, but in this current season — with step-kids with us half the time — that rhythm isn’t realistic.

I realised I’d been quietly at war with myself: wanting to prioritise family time, while grieving the loss of consistent writing space.

This reflection helped me name that loss, talk it through with my partner, and intentionally claim small, realistic pockets of writing time. It won’t look the same as it did before — but it will exist. And because of that, I can be more present, less resentful, and more at ease.

Looking Back to Move Forward with Intention

This is why I believe that reflecting on the year before setting intentions matters so much. It’s not about fixing ourselves or becoming someone new — it’s about listening, adjusting, and moving forward with honesty and grace.

If you’re craving space to reflect and intentionally set the tone for the year ahead, this is the exact work we’ll be doing together at the 2026 Clarity Retreat.You can read more about it here.

What does looking back at 2025 show you?

What does looking forward bring up for you?

With love,Ruth

A picture I took on New Years day at Mount Maunganui of the beach, th ocean, the mountain ahead, and footprints in the sand.