Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet in here. I’ve been away on a 1:1 retreat with a client, mapping out her strategy for 2026, and it reminded me why I love doing this work in beautiful environments. Coffee appearing at the table while we’re deep in conversation about the next stage of her business. A slow lunch where ideas actually have room to land, instead of being squeezed in between calls and emails. Cake in the afternoon, purely because we felt like it. Champagne delivered at 4pm while we looked at the bigger vision. A roaring fire in the background the whole time, creating that kind of quiet you just don’t get at home or in the office. It’s incredible how different your mind works when you step out of your usual environment. The clarity hits in a way it just doesn’t when you’re rushing. Decisions make sense. Things click. You can actually feel the excitement for the year ahead rather than forcing it. I'm off to Tenerife for a week in the new year with another lovely client to map out 2026 for their businesses and can't wait for the sunshine. I love the motivation and excitement that gets re-ignited on the back of these goal setting sessions. It's so contagious. It got me thinking about planning in general. Some people don’t go near their goals until January. Others start feeling into them around now. Some don't do it at all. What about you, do you wait for January or do you start mapping things out earlier?

I just need to take a minute to publicly worship @Gemma Stone because… wow. My team did a video day with her husband yesterday and came home with a some of her lemon drizzle cake and honestly, I’m still thinking about it. The level of joy that cake delivered should be studied. 🔍 I’m convinced it was zero calories too, so please don’t correct me. 😆 Gemma, you are officially the Queen of Baking. All hail. 🙌🍋✨ Thank you for brightening my Friday in the most delicious way. 🫶🍰

It’s the last Friday of November, which means two things: 1. A lot of people are about to mentally check out until January. 2. … this is exactly why you shouldn’t. Before we head into December, I want us to take a minute and look at this past month with some honesty. How did November actually go for you? Not “fine.” Not “busy.” Not the polite, flippant answer. Did you show up the way you said you would? Did you follow through on the stuff that actually matters? Did you choose the uncomfortable thing over the easy thing? Or did you coast a little because you were tired, overwhelmed, or waiting for a magical burst of motivation that never arrived? A lot of people switch off now. They start telling themselves that nothing really happens in December, that business slows down, that it’s easier to just wait for a fresh start in January. The thing that I want you to know is that if you do what everyone else does, you won’t stand out, you’ll just be average and I don’t believe any of you want to be average. December is one twelfth of your year. You either let it drift… or you use it to set yourself up so January isn’t another restart, it’s a continuation. So today’s journal prompt is this: Are you about to tap out for the year… or commit to making the last 31 days count? What needs tightening? What needs finishing? What needs starting? What would “I didn’t waste the end of the year” look like for you? Even more importantly: What version of you do you want to walk into 2026 as, because that doesn’t magically appear on January 1st. You build her now. Pop your reflections below if you want to. Let’s finish this year intentionally, not accidentally. 👏

Tree 1 of 4 has been started 👀

That came around quickly!!! What are your plans for the weekend? It’s absolutely thrashing with rain here today ☔️ We’re off to Nottingham for our Christmas do. We’re taking our team and some clients 👋 @Kay Rowlands to watch an ice hockey game and for dinner. There are 18 of us so that will be lots of fun. I hope you all have nice plans over the weekend 🫶.