My 2025 learning and word of the year...

Starting Touching Distance was a significant career shift. I didn’t know exactly where it would lead, but I did know two things:

I would give it my full effort and stay adaptable, listening carefully to what people were actually struggling with rather than just following an idea because I thought it was good.

That choice mattered more than I realised at the time.

A hard year and a different response

This hasn’t been an easy year for any of us.

The last few years have carried a lot of global uncertainty, professional upheaval, and emotional fatigue. That kind of sustained pressure takes a toll on the body as much as the mind.

What’s stood out to me, though, is that the people who find their way into this reflective space are often doing something slightly different.

Instead of simply slogging through or pushing on alone, you’ve felt this period asking more of you, and you've been willing to pause. To reflect, to ask questions, and to seek perspective or support, not because something is wrong with you, but because you’re paying attention.

If you’re here, that already says something important about you.

Trying things that didn't neatly work

I tried many things this year. Some worked. Some didn’t unfold the way I expected.

I experimented with new ways of sharing my work and putting it into the world. I joined programmes that promised clarity around marketing and selling coaching. On paper, the ideas made sense; they clearly worked for others.

And yet, something didn’t sit right.

There was a persistent knot in my stomach, a sense of distance between the strategy and how I wanted to relate to people. I leaned in at first, assuming I simply needed to learn more.

But the discomfort didn’t disappear. It showed up elsewhere too: in how I felt on discovery calls, in moments of hesitation when naming my work or offering paid support.

So I paused.

Listening earlier, not harder

Many of us learned early in life to rely on our thinking minds as a form of protection. Being articulate, composed, or quick to explain ourselves often helped us stay safe, capable, or approved of.

This year didn’t introduce a new insight for me, it asked more of a practice I already had.

Again and again, I was reminded that the best way I can protect myself isn’t by thinking harder, but by listening earlier.

When I noticed tightness, hesitation, or discomfort, I treated it as information rather than something to override. Before my thoughts jumped in with explanations or justifications, I tried to enquire: what might this be responding to?

That practice served me incredibly well.

It helped me slow down decisions that needed care.
It helped me notice misalignment sooner.
And it helped me discern what was actually mine to hold, and what required me to hold space for someone else instead.

Listening earlier didn’t make things heavier.
It made them clearer.

Self-worth, tested in real conditions

One of the deeper threads running through this year was self-worth, not as an idea, but as something I was tested on.

I realised how comfortable I had been speaking on behalf of organisations, programmes, and causes, and how different it felt to do that for my own work.

What shifted things wasn’t one big breakthrough. It was cumulative.

Trying things.
Noticing patterns.
Choosing curiosity over self-criticism.
Learning to stay present when something didn’t go to plan.

I also learned that silence in a conversation isn’t necessarily about me. That hesitation doesn’t always mean rejection. And that giving people space and grace changes the quality of the exchange. And invited in connection.

So, everything I only ever wanted.