The Year We Chose “Small but Steady”
If 2025 had a theme at The Mindful Brew, it was this: small rituals, steady life. We learned (and re-learned) that consistency beats intensity, worst-day versions are a thing, and calm mornings start the night before. This post is a cozy roundup of what I wrote about in 2025 and some lessons learned along the way. I’ll also give a quick look at my new resource, The 7-Day Calm & Energy Reset, that you can finish in 10 minutes a day; a resource that’s sure to start your new year off right.
New Projects, New Lessons
I want to start with a not so little win. I finished a new book this past October: One Less Thing. Finishing this book was a big win for me. If you’ve followed my author career you know that I publish a book every few years in the month of November. Well I did the work, I got it completed, but I didn’t publish it. Enter, the lesson. I remember how accomplished I felt when I finished One Last Thing, on schedule. I also remember the feeling of disappointment and a few other emotions I won’t mention when I wrestled with the idea of someone else holding up the publication. I did the work and I deserved to publish on schedule, as planned.
Raise your hand if you know from experience that things don’t always go as planned.
I was very stubborn about this and insisted that I wasn’t going to wait a whole year to publish next November. And then, I had an opportunity to sit with my self and not only ask but answer a few questions. Why now? Why November? What’s the significance? Why is this so important for me to publish now? What is my why? Can I tell you friends that I didn’t really have a good answer. I wanted to publish in November because it’s what I’ve always done.
From a logistical perspective, my book releases aligned with the one time of year that I took off from my day job. The first week of November is my birthday week. It was my dedicated creative time and me-time to do something that mattered to me. To share with the world something that I cared about.
Moms? Raise your hand if you laugh at the idea of me-time.
Many authors have their process and they are vey methodical, especially if they self publish. I can be one of those authors at times but as a wellness coach I also understand how our unwillingness to shift and change when necessary can be unproductive and unhealthy. One of my favorite books just came to mind: Who Moved my Cheese by Spencer Johnson. I actually read this book so many years ago because I’m a writer and I love to read. I’ll make an assumption that if you’ve gotten this far in the post, you also don’t mind reading. For those of you who are skimming this post and prefer an audio version of Who Moved My Cheese, click this link for a visual/audio of the book.
If you’re interested in hearing about other things that didn’t go as planned in November, check out this post.
Small, and Steady wins the race?
You may not actually win the race, but you will make progress.
Here’s what 2025 taught me—tiny, repeatable actions carry the year. Ten quiet minutes of Sip-Before-Scroll set the tone for calmer days (who knew the phone could wait?). Breakfast on autopilot—simple builds, not chef-level recipes—remove the “what are we eating?” decision fatigue and saves money. Gentle boundaries (especially around tech and ‘important’ requests from others) protected my mood and my sleep. When the seasons shifted, I shifted too: cozier meals, earlier wind-downs, more light when I could get it. Even though I’ve been tracking things like energy, mood, sleep and stress (via my Oura Ring), I started data tracking these areas and writing them down in my journal. And of course, that first-sip coffee pause continued to be a mini reset. Most important? Community. We show up differently when we don’t have to do it alone; The Mindful Brew is the community that keeps me going in this space.
If 2025 was proof that small things matter, the Reset is how I stack them—one calm minute, one tiny action, one honest line at a time. Here’s the week, at a glance.
A 7-Day Gentle Start for January
If you want structure without pressure, I built a 7-Day Calm & Energy Reset you can finish in 10 minutes a day. It includes worst-day versions, a daily checklist, self-talk scripts, and a weekly tracker so you can notice trends without judgment.
How it works (at a glance):
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Day 1: Box breath, one-sentence intention, one honest line.
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Day 2: Hydrate before hustle (16–24 oz) and place your bottle where you’ll see it.
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Day 3: Breakfast on autopilot—pick one template and repeat for three days.
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Day 4: Move gently—3 min walk, 3 min mobility, 4 min light strength.
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Day 5: Tech boundaries you’ll keep—Sip-Before-Scroll, notifications on after your first micro-win.
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Day 6: Afternoon dip plan—one snack with protein + fiber + fat.
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Day 7: Light reset—clear one surface, pick your top 3, choose one thing you won’t do.
Track Energy • Mood • Sleep • Stress on a 1–5 scale each night (signals, not grades). Aim to increase any average up by .5 the following week. Stay tuned for Saturday’s post for more details on how this resource can benefit your wellness.
Remember..
If you missed or paused routines, or had a tough season—you’re not late. You’re here. Start where you are with what you have. One tiny action, then the next. That’s how steady energy and real calm take root. You’ve totally got this!
Until next year.. 🙂
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