End of The Year Reflection

DauntlessMinds seeing the beauty in the seasons

It’s approaching swiftly now… the end of 2025, but really only a gentle transition along another milestone. Join me in this end-of-the-year reflection, as I ponder over a few questions. Get a pen and paper and write along your own answers.

Has this year surprised you?

It certainly did. I look back at the post I wrote at the end of last year – I did it mostly for myself after all – and I am amazed that simply setting some intention has worked. Surprisingly!

The surprise is because I didn’t even follow a set in stone plan – to do that you need to know what you’re doing. And I didn’t quite know – I knew I wanted to do something new but what exact shape or form it would take wasn’t clear. But I was willing to be intentional about it and open to learning.

What were your proudest moments in different life areas?

I have stepped into a new role – one of leadership that require pulling forward different parts of me, a wiser part, a more sovereign one, while taking baby steps & feeling quite wobbly in places.

Creating the Inner Orchestra and running a pilot group has been a powerful training ground, stretching me in new ways. It slowly started to recondition & restructure me in how I show up.

Curiously, this has extended in other areas of my life as well – I guess how you do one thing, you do everything indeed.

What valuable life lessons did you acquire this year?

Along the way, I had to fine-tune my own inner orchestra, as some terrified violins were overpowering in the overture.

So I had learned to put down some key terms in the notes. The main undertone I firmly insisted on was tranquillo e gioioso i.e. peace and joy + sonoro, with full sound. I will do it only from a state of inner calm and joy – I wanted to embody & truly live the inner freedom, peace and joy that I want my clients to experience. No allegrissimo or presto, not yet.

I also learned that clarity of purpose comes from a state of inner calm & joy, and seeking answers to posed questions.

What mistake did you make and how did it contribute to your growth?

My perfectionist parts leave little room for mistakes – besides, there is a part of me that gives me a very hard time when that happens. And that was the biggest mistake perhaps as I poured over every detail.

So, I worked with this harsh judge & stepped in as the kind sovereign – offering self-forgiveness and reminding myself that my worth and value are God-given, and do not come from my results.

“You are a masterpiece. You are loved. You are accepted.” Regardless.

This brings up tears, of joy. Even as I recall it. So, let me add this question for you: where did you judge yourself harshly this year, and need to offer self-forgiveness & remind yourself of your true inherent worth?

What feels most significant for you to create in the coming year?

Once a long time ago, I learned about the value of surrender. Surrender to God’s timing in all you do, as opposed to trying to control or push an outcome.

The hustle culture and world we live in encourages exactly this though. It is chaotic and can get overwhelming. So, wanting to take control is only a natural response. But there is a different way of taking control than thru pushing – that of surrendering & tuning in to what is opening up without forced effort.

This is the counter-culture & practice I want to create this coming year in my life & extend it to all areas.

Moreover, surrender does not mean lack of perseverance. Quite the opposite, it involves trust & waiting without giving up.

So, I’m adding TRUST as my guiding star to the constellation of PEACE & JOY I’ve been tracking this year. I know it will be a big learning curve.

What about you? What’s your guiding star for the next year – one word that you can return to that underlines it all, the rhythm you want your orchestra to play to? Comment or email me.

Wishing you a year of growth – deep & wide! May your life become rich & far reaching!

Much love!

p. s. Doors are open now to join the Inner Orchestra – if you or someone you know resonates with what it offers, this can make 2026 a pivotal year in every way. Click for details.

7 Questions to Make Your 2025 Rich & Far Reaching

On the 7th day of Christmas… 🙂 Merry Christmas!

We’re about to step into 2025 and it’s time again for the infamous New Year’s Resolutions. Whether those work or not that is another discussion.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2025 - Make It Rich and Far Reaching — Peace in the New Year 2025

One helpful thing people did across ages was to evaluate how the past year has been. In times of old it was based on the amount of crops harvested, the weather, and whether there’s been any big losses in the family /community. And new hopes and wishes were echoed in the hearts and greetings, as people cast their eyes upon new horizons, setting new goals or just tweaking the old ones. To a great degree that is true today.

It took me a while to appreciate the value of this practice. My approach was to just go with the flow, and kinda bury my head in the sand when hit with future related questions.

So, how do you make this year one of Possibility and Growth in your life? Personally? Financially? Emotionally? Spiritually? In relationships? Vocationally?

Let me share 7 questions that I put together to guide my commitments and goals in the new year. I found it useful to organise them in three parts: 1. looking back and evaluating my parkour so far, 2. being with how I honestly feel about it, and 3. becoming clear about where I’m going and what do I need to keep the momentum. You can ask them separately in all the areas mentioned above and any you might want to add. So… here we go.

Looking Back

1. What was great this past year? What have I accomplished? How I moved forward?

2. What was really challenging? How did that impact me?

3. Where did I want to be in three years time to now? How far I’ve come?

The point here is not to make you feel bad, but rather focus on the progress. The journey towards our goals is rarely a straightforward road. We constantly evaluate and reorient. So, if you can treat any progress and/or lack of it with equanimity and just curious to notice, this is the way to go.

Being With What Is

4. How does it all make me feel? What am I proud of or grateful for? Disappointed?

Be honest with yourself. Acknowledge each feeling and stay with it. Notice also your inner critic. Be kind to whatever you’re experiencing, whether is contentment, joy, disappointment, anger, sadness, etc.

Looking Forward….

5. What do i wish to accomplish in this coming year?

Don’t focus on how, (you will do it later) rather envision it and be specific. Think of 1 to 3 major things. Then the trick later is to accomplish it one at a time.

6. What do I want to avoid happening this year?

Our minds tend to work better by focusing on what they don’t want, so this should be an easy one.

7. What are 3 choices I make today and commit to towards these goals/intentions?

Often we get stuck and overwhelmed with too much information, or which direction to go. Making a choice and acting on it, will open up to us the next door. For best, write it down in a statement, and set up a reminder for first steps you will take. Review & recommit regularly.

Bonus Question:
Who are the people I will let influence and motivate me on my path this year?

Choose a role-model, be it via a YouTube channel, a podcast or a real person in your life you will check with daily. Set a reminder.

This exercise might take some time, depending on how much thought you’ve given to your future goals prior to this. Take your time. If you feel defeated by how little things have progressed for you looking back, remember, it rarely goes according to plan for anyone. We need to leave room for chance, grace, luck, divine intervention or whatever you may want to call that thing, when we recognise not everything is dependent on us, and that it is OK.

Make these year’s resolutions far reaching and enriching!

Wishing you wholeheartedly a Fabulous New Year of Possibility!

The Corruptible Nature of Happiness

When you ask people what they want most in life often they will answer, “To be happy…” However, if you’ve heard about the corruptible nature of happiness you wonder: this pursuit of happiness, is it a worthwhile endeavor?

Well. It depends how you pursue it. Make it the goal of your life and it will ever elude you. Why? Such is the nature of happiness.

Slavoj Zizek stated that happiness should be “treated as a byproduct, and a necessary one”, of whatever pursuit in life. If you focus on it you’re lost. One the other hand, if you work on a goal, towards a dream, and it brings you satisfaction, both the process and the anticipation of the outcome, in there lies the holy grail of happiness.

For example think of it as the shadow of an object. First the object must be there, call it objective or goal. And than light must act upon the object. Call it the action. Casting the right light on the right object will give you a distinct, refreshing shadow. Call it the state of happiness.

Happiness is a necessary byproduct of a life’s pursuit.

On the other hand, others believe happiness is a choice. And there is a great deal of truth in this as well. No pursuit is straightforward and any aspect of life, whether career, relationships, health, etc. will have its ups and downs. Yet how you choose to view it will matter. What you choose to zoom on and dwell on will constitute the choice to be happy.

The thing to bear in mind is happiness will never come solely from one successful aspect of life. We are complex human beings. Our lives have many facets. Some are core major facets. Failure to set and accomplish goals successfully in any of them will affect the rest. In fact that is what often leads to imbalances in people, psychologically and existentially. This in turn will often keep one trapped in depressive states, making them loose hope.

In addition, happiness is linked to the capacity to see beyond the current circumstances. In other words, hope plays a key part. Erik Erikson put it this way: “hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired.”

Are you happy? As an exercise, make a list of all the important areas of your life and grade your level of success in each of them on a scale from 0 to 10. How do you think that impacts your state of happiness? Choose one aspect that needs working on and think of three things you could do even today to improve it’s grading.

Most importantly, start now.

Why Working Hard Is Not Enough

Imagine having clarity and being able to navigate with confidence the transitional changing situations in your life.

Imagine having support and encouragement as you take steps towards your dream goals.

Imagine leaving discontent, confusion and self-doubt behind and finding new confidence and joy in living.

Welcome to Dauntless Minds – the place where you learn to face and overcome giants and wield a solid foundation for a life of meaning.

There are three questions you have to ask before you launch into hard working.

One. What result am I after? Make a clear picture of it in your mind of the outcome you desire. Envision it. Make it in vivid colours. Let it become very clear.

Two. What is my purpose? What is your why? What drives you? It must be the thing that makes you as excited as a baby with the dawn of every new day. Let it inspire you.

Three. What major action do I need take to get there? Identify the steps, the strategy, the people you need to contact, the research you need to do. At first it might be small steps. Set deadlines to keep yourself accountable. Or better find someone to keep you accountable and support along the way.

These are the ways of the prosperous of all ages, the successful ones, and you can be one of them. Decide to start today and resolve to be dauntless about it.

But, you say, something is keeping me blocked, I’m stuck, can’t get passed it. I get it. And there is always a way out – seek and you will find, knock and it will be open onto you, as Jesus would say. I know it for a fact because I’ve made it my life quest to find a way to help those who are stuck, or who hit rock bottom or a roadblock. And all I can say is, there is hope. Contact me for more.

Tag: life purpose