3 Lessons I Am Taking With Me Into 2026 + How You Can Use Them Too
Every December, I like to pause and look back on the year — not to judge it, but to honor it. To notice the moments that shaped me, the hard things that stretched me, and the quiet lessons I might’ve missed while moving through the day-to-day. In today’s episode, I’m sharing the three biggest lessons I’m taking with me into 2026 — personal, practical, and deeply grounding.
These aren’t “New Year hype” lessons.
They’re real-life, lived-in wisdom.
The kind that shifts the way you move through life… if you let it.
Whether you’re closing out a year of growth, grief, joy, or a mix of everything, these lessons will help you step into 2026 with more clarity, confidence, and alignment. And the best part? You can take each one and apply it to your own life — starting today.
LET’S DIVE IN. 🖤
Happy December Sisterhood!!! I can’t believe we’re in the final month of 2025. I’m never one to “wish a year away” in hopes that another year will be “better.” And. I will say that this year was H-A-R-D HARD for me. As the year comes to an end, it’s my favorite time to reflect on all the lessons and woven themes and today’s episode is one of those conversations where I’m going to peel back the curtain on my journey in hopes you can see pieces of your own in my journey. Before we hop into that, though, I want to give a couple of announcements for the month of things happening IN and AROUND our community (+ how YOU can be a part of it):
The Sisterhood is open for enrollment RIGHT NOW (in real time) thru December 5th. We’re doing a 21 Day intimate coaching container to end the year feeling our best and finding the joy and presence and peace along the way. It’s called 21 Days of WELLMAS and if you are a woman who is
AND…it’s back ya’ll! Our Third Annual UNSTOPPABLE SELF VISION BOARD WORKSHOP IS COMINNNNNNG and YOU. ARE. INVITED. My goal is to help you create a VISION for 2026 that makes you want to show up and make PROGRESS towards it. So often we skip the KEY STEPS of becoming UNSTOPPABLE bc we dive right into action and then get burnt out, overwhelmed, and frustrated when we don’t make progress. WHAT IF WE DID THINGS DIFFERENT? What if you created habits, behaviors, and routines that helped you show up even and esp when life gets challenging in the next year. What if you casted a vision for your best self and you aligned your choices to her? I promise you — that’s what makes you UNSTOPPABLE.
In this LIVE workshop you’ll get:
✺ a digital/printable goal setting workbook that will help you reflect on the past, create a vision for the future, and bridge the gap to make those dreams a REALITY.
✺ a 90 minute workshop where I’ll guide you through the process of creating a vision board that not only aligns with the goals you set for your BEST, most UNSTOPPABLE self, but also reflects the habits, behaviors, and routines you need to adopt as well.
This goes BEYOND visualizing your "dream life” and then letting it collect dust for the rest of the year...you’ll be creating a deep sense of OWNERSHIP for who you are when you’re AT YOUR BEST…laying the foundation for a year that can truly be UNSTOPPABLE.
✺ and then you’ll also get a digital vision board template via Canva to help you create your vision board OR use as a guide to make a physical one if that’s your jam, too.
Can't make it live? No stress — once you snag your ticket to join us you will have access to ALL materials, including a replay of the workshop after it’s over.
Okay…all of the details for EVERYTHING (21 Days of WELLMAS inside The Sisterhood and The Vision Board Workshop) are in the show notes below OR you can DM me on social (@inspirebeautybritt) and let me know what you want info on and Id be happy to help! Alright. Let’s get into the 3 themes and lessons that I’m taking from 2025 with me into 2026.
I always get a little emotional recording this one, because I know on the other side of this microphone are women in every single kind of season — women who had breakthrough years, women who had breakdown years, women who barely held it together, and women who feel like they’re ending the year different than they expected… maybe stronger, maybe softer, maybe more tired, maybe more awake.
And I want to start today by saying this:
Whatever this year was for you — you made it.
I was thinking about that the other day out on my run. This year has stretched and challenged me in so so many ways. And. I am still here. Still fighting forward. And so are you. That alone is something to honor.
So instead of pushing resolutions or “new year, new me” energy… today is going to feel like a gathering of wisdom before we step into what’s next.
And instead of giving you a list of 10 lessons or 25 takeaways, I realized that this entire year came down to three big lessons — three themes that wove themselves through every month, every struggle, every breakthrough, every quiet moment.
These three lessons changed me and shaped me — and I hope that as I share them, they remind you of your own strength, your own resilience, and your own becoming.
So let’s get into it.
Lessons I Learned from 2025 + HOW you can apply them to your life in 2026:
① YOU CAN HOLD TWO TRUTHS AT ONCE.
If there’s one thing this year taught me again and again, it’s that life is rarely clean-cut or neatly labeled. We love to believe things are either good or bad, easy or hard, joyful or painful. But 2025 showed me—sometimes gently, sometimes not—that the most honest seasons of growth are almost always both/and. I found myself celebrating big things and grieving tender things at the exact same time. I found myself feeling incredibly proud of the woman I was becoming while also wondering if I was somehow behind. I found myself deeply grateful for the blessings in my life while also feeling the ache of prayers that still felt unanswered. And it took me a long time to realize… nothing was wrong with me. Holding two truths at once doesn’t mean you’re confused. It means you’re human. It means your heart is wide enough to handle complexity. It means you’re actually becoming more whole, not less.
This year was both beautiful and brutal. I love how Glennon Doyle expresses the duality. She calls it “brutiful.” And it was. It can be both at the exact same time.
EXAMPLES FROM MY LIFE:
Grief and Gratitude Lived in Me at the Same Time:
There were pockets of this year where everything felt deeply right—my marriage, the new season with Crave, the healing I was slowly stepping into—and at the very same time, I carried grief over the things that hadn't happened yet. The uncertainty around becoming a mother. The dreams that felt stuck in limbo. The prayers that seemed to echo with no clear answer. I would wake up full of gratitude and go to bed with a lump in my throat. And for a long time I thought that made me ungrateful or dramatic or spiritually immature. But really? It just made me human. The grief didn’t cancel the gratitude, and the gratitude didn’t erase the grief. They simply sat side by side, teaching me how to breathe in the tension.
Grit and Grace can Coexist:
There were stretches of this year where I was strong—physically, mentally, emotionally—and other stretches where I didn’t even recognize myself. Days where I powered through like the old version of me, and days where I couldn’t get out of bed. But instead of demanding I pick one identity, life invited me to hold both. To be strong and soft. Capable and tired. Brave and unsure. To have both GRIT and GRACE. And the best part? I realized both versions of me were worthy. Both versions were telling the truth. Both versions were me.
HOW YOU CAN USE THIS HEADING INTO A FRESH YEAR:
Acknowledge Your Duality One of the most freeing things you can do heading into a new year is to simply acknowledge your emotional duality without trying to edit or correct it. Notice where two truths are showing up in your life: “I’m grateful and overwhelmed. I’m hopeful and scared. I’m healing and still hurting.” Both sides of the experience are allowed to be real at the same time, and neither cancels out the other. When you stop forcing yourself to choose just one feeling, you make space for a fuller, more honest version of yourself to exist.
Remove the Shame of “Mixed Emotions” Another step forward is removing the shame you’ve attached to having “mixed emotions.” You’re not inconsistent or dramatic—you're human. Complex feelings don’t mean you’re doing something wrong; they mean you’re living something real. Instead of judging the contradictions, let them breathe. Let them have room. Give yourself permission to feel layered without making it mean something about your strength, your faith, or your readiness.
Let Both Sides Teach You Something Once you allow both truths to be present, you can begin asking what each one is here to teach you. What is the grief revealing? What is the gratitude deepening? What is the resistance protecting? What is the breakthrough growing in you? When you stop trying to eliminate one side of the experience, you gain access to the wisdom in both.
Move Forward Without Waiting to “Choose One” And finally, don’t wait to resolve every emotion before taking your next step. You don’t need perfect clarity to move with intention. You don’t need every question answered before you choose your next right thing. You can live, grow, heal, and evolve right here in the tension. Holding two truths at once doesn’t make you fragmented or confused—it makes you whole, resilient, and deeply human.
② YOUR CALLING REQUIRES ALIGNMENT, NOT DESPERATION.
If there is one muscle I had to build over and over this year, it was learning to tell the difference between aligned action and desperate hustle. And let me be clear — the difference is subtle. It doesn’t show up on a schedule. There is no neon sign that flashes when you’re crossing the line. Most of the time, the shift happens inside your body before your brain has language for it.
This year forced me to confront a truth I had never named before: my calling will never require me to sprint, scramble, or grasp for it.
Yes — it will ask me to show up.
Yes — it will ask for energy, consistency, courage, and devotion.
But it will never ask me to abandon my peace to prove my worth.
And what I also learned? Hustle is not always ambition. Sometimes hustle is survival. Sometimes hustle is the only way we were ever taught to feel safe. And for women especially, the pressure to perform, achieve, and “hold it all together” can disguise itself as drive… when really it’s fear wearing mascara.
When things got financially tight this year — when I felt unsure, unclear, stretched thin — I didn’t realize how quickly I slipped back into an old operating system. I started scanning for opportunities I could grab. I started mentally rearranging my priorities to “fix” the discomfort I was feeling. I started trying to do more instead of pausing to see what was right.
And that’s when the whisper came:
You are not being led — you are being driven.
And there’s a difference.
Anything rooted in fear will ask you to hurry.
Anything rooted in calling will ask you to align.
This year I had to learn — in real time — that the things meant for me won’t require me to betray my peace, abandon my boundaries, or hustle from a place of panic. I don’t have to sprint for my calling. I don’t have to grasp for it. I don’t have to manipulate timing or force opportunities to appear.
The work that’s truly mine? It always asks me to slow down, to listen, to trust myself, to trust God, and to move from conviction — not fear.
EXAMPLES FROM MY LIFE:
When finances got tight — desperation felt like “doing the right thing.”
This year stretched us financially in ways I didn’t expect — a new business, a massive lifestyle shift, leaving behind consistent income… and stepping into a season where nothing felt predictable. And the moment things felt tight, that old panic bubbled up: “I should be doing more. I should be taking on more. I should be fixing this.” And honestly? I started chasing opportunities I would have been GREAT at. Good opportunities. Safe opportunities. Logical opportunities. But when I really slowed down, I felt the anxious energy beneath it. It wasn’t alignment — it was fear disguised as drive. It was my nervous system trying to outrun uncertainty instead of trusting where I was being led.
When clarity didn’t come — I wanted to run instead of root.
This year was one of the quietest spiritual years of my life. God wasn’t loud. My clarity wasn’t clicking. My purpose felt foggy. Everything was… gray. And when things feel unclear, my instinct is to hurry — to “fix it,” to figure it out, to make something happen so I don’t feel lost. But in the quiet, I realized: My calling wasn’t asking me to move faster. It was asking me to be still enough to hear myself again. The clarity didn’t come on my timeline, but the trust I built with myself? That was the real gift.
When opportunities showed up — I realized timing matters more than talent.
There were opportunities this year that I genuinely could have excelled in. I had the skills. I had the experience. I had the drive. But my body told the truth before my mind did — the adrenaline, the urgency, the tightness in my chest. This wasn’t alignment. It was me trying to rush into something just so I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable sitting still. The timing wasn’t right — not because I wasn’t capable, but because I wasn’t meant to build from panic. And that realization became one of the biggest breakthroughs of the year.
HOW YOU CAN USE THIS HEADING INTO A FRESH YEAR:
Pay attention to the energy behind your “yes.” — Is it coming from clarity… or fear? From desire… or pressure? From purpose… or panic? The energy you build from is the energy that carries into the outcome.
Notice when hustle feels like safety instead of alignment. Are you rushing because it’s right — or because stillness feels too uncomfortable? Are you chasing clarity because you don’t trust yourself? Awareness changes everything.
Let your calling be something you move with, not sprint toward. Your purpose won’t disappear if you slow down. You won’t “miss your moment.” Doors meant for you will remain open long enough for you to walk through them with peace, not panic.
Choose alignment over urgency — every time. The aligned yes will always require less force. It will feel calmer, clearer, more grounded. It won’t demand you abandon yourself to secure it.
Trust that the timing will make sense later — even if it doesn’t right now. Sometimes the pause is protection. Sometimes the slowness is refining you. Sometimes the quiet is the clarity. Even when it doesn’t feel like it yet.
③ THERE ARE BLESSINGS IN THE PRESSINGS
This was one of the hardest and most honest truths of my year. There were seasons where I genuinely wondered if something was wrong with me—emotionally, physically, spiritually. Times where my strength felt unfamiliar. Times where my confidence felt far away. Times where I didn’t recognize the girl in the mirror because she looked tired, frayed, and stretched thin. And yet, the more I lived inside those moments, the more I realized that breaking doesn’t always mean “broken.” Sometimes breaking is the thing that makes room for rebuilding. When your life breaks open, it’s often making room for something new. Sometimes breaking is the invitation to slow down, soften, pay attention, and finally take care of the parts of you that have been carrying too much for too long. This year taught me that becoming isn’t polished or pretty. Becoming, growing, evolving— it’s often uncomfortable, humbling, and shaky. But it’s still becoming. It’s still growth.
EXAMPLES FROM MY LIFE:
Mind:
This year, my mind broke open in ways I didn’t anticipate. Coming off my medication wasn’t a prideful choice or an impulsive one — I did everything right, with support and intention — but my brain simply didn’t stabilize the way I hoped it would. That season shook me deeply. It wasn’t just emotional discomfort; it was fear, confusion, and a sense of losing my footing after years of feeling more steady. I wasn’t “failing” at anything — my mind just needed more support than I realized. In that breaking, I learned how brave it is to ask for help, how necessary it is to soften when everything in you wants to tense up, and how much strength there is in acknowledging your limits. That breaking reshaped my self-compassion. It rebuilt my resilience from the inside out, not from grit or hustle, but from truth and tenderness.
Body:
My body had its own breaking and becoming story this year. Going from a flexible, online, work-from-home lifestyle to suddenly running a brick-and-mortar coffee shop was a complete shock to my system. Not because I was doing anything wrong, but because the physical demands were simply different. The repetitive motions — lifting milk jugs, mopping, scrubbing, tamping espresso, cleaning, stocking — slowly created an overuse injury that I couldn’t stretch, ice, or willpower my way out of. The emotional impact was harder than the physical pain. Movement has always been where I feel most myself — lifting weights, working out, staying active — and suddenly, everything had to be modified. I felt disconnected from the version of me that felt strong and capable. But that injury taught me new strengths: patience, gentleness, allowing my identity to expand beyond what my body can perform. That breaking created space for a softer, wiser way of being in my body.
Spirit:
Spiritually, this year stretched and stripped me in equal measure. I felt lost at times — unclear, unanchored, unsure of what was next. So much shifted in my work, in my rhythms, in my own identity, and I had more questions than answers most days. But toward the end of the year, I did something that reminded me who I am: I signed up for a half marathon. Not out of pressure or performance, but out of agency. It was my way of saying, “This year challenged me, but it didn’t get the final word.” Every run rebuilt a piece of me — my confidence, my creativity, my clarity, my belief that I am capable of doing hard things again. That decision was spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical all at once. It reminded me that becoming isn’t something that just happens to you. Sometimes it’s something you choose. Sometimes it’s one step, one mile, one intention at a time. That breaking made space for a new strength — one rooted in agency, trust, and quiet resilience.
HOW YOU CAN USE THIS HEADING INTO A FRESH YEAR:
Notice the places in your life that feel tender, heavy, or uncertain: Those are not signs of failure — they’re invitations. Instead of rushing past them or judging yourself for not being “stronger,” get curious about what those tender places might be making room for. Sometimes the parts of your life that feel like they’re breaking are actually the parts where you’re expanding, growing, or shedding something that wasn’t meant to be carried forward.
Give yourself permission to see breaking as a form of becoming rather than a sign that something is wrong with you: When you shift the narrative from “I’m falling apart” to “something new is being built here,” everything changes. Your pace softens. Your expectations shift. You begin treating yourself with compassion instead of criticism. Let this be the year you allow rebuilding to be a gentle, sacred process rather than a rushed one.
Resist the pressure to bounce back quickly or to return to an old version of yourself: You’re not meant to go backwards. You’re becoming someone new — someone wiser, more grounded, more aligned. Let that evolution take the time it needs. Small, quiet steps count. Rest counts. Asking for help counts. The work you do in the dark — the healing, the regulating, the honest conversations with yourself — is shaping who you’ll be on the other side.
Trust that what feels like unraveling might actually be alignment: Sometimes God closes doors quietly. Sometimes clarity comes slowly. Sometimes the breaking is the pathway back to yourself. Let this year be the year you stop fearing the pieces that are shifting and start trusting the One who’s helping you rebuild them.
As we wrap up 2025 and step toward a brand new year, my hope is that these lessons don’t feel like pressure or performance — but like companions. Gentle reminders. Pockets of wisdom you can tuck into your back pocket as you enter a season filled with new possibility.
Let’s revisit what this year quietly, persistently, faithfully taught us:
You Can Hold Two Truths at Once. You don’t have to choose between gratitude or disappointment, faith or doubt, strength or softness. Your humanity holds both — and you’re not failing because your emotions are layered. The tension isn’t something to fix; it’s something to honor. It’s where your depth, empathy, and growth are born.
Your Calling Requires Alignment, Not Desperation. This year reminded me — again and again — that hustle is not holiness. Good things can come wrapped in urgency, pressure, and scarcity… but that doesn’t make them yours. The things meant for you won’t require you to abandon yourself to reach for them. Your calling will meet you in clarity, peace, and patience — not panic. Choose alignment over urgency every single time.
There Are Blessings in the Pressings. The moments that felt like breakdowns were actually breakthroughs being born. The quiet seasons weren’t punishment — they were preparation. And the parts of your life that felt stripped away were making room for something stronger, softer, truer. You were never broken; you were becoming.
I hope you take a moment — even just a breath — to look back at the year behind you and recognize the woman who walked through it. The one who kept going. The one who tried again. The one who learned, stretched, and shifted in ways most people will never fully see.
And as you step into a new year, I hope you carry these truths with you:
You don’t need to have it all figured out.
You don’t need a perfect plan.
You don’t need a complete map.
You just need the courage to keep showing up for your life — one moment, one decision, one act of alignment at a time.
Here’s to a year of deeper peace, clearer purpose, fuller presence, and softer strength.
Here’s to 2026 — and to the woman you’re becoming.
I’m forever and always rooting for you. 🖤✨
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