{"id":1404,"date":"2025-12-23T16:12:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T16:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/?p=1404"},"modified":"2025-12-23T16:12:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T16:12:43","slug":"what-i-learned-from-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/2025\/12\/23\/what-i-learned-from-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Learned From 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every year, I like to look back on where I was in January and where I\u2019d like to be a year from now. I often pause throughout the year to reflect, but the end of the year is a perfect reminder for us to do just that. I learned a few things in some unexpected places (for example, my TV subscriptions and my kid\u2019s ever-changing wish lists). I live and breathe health and wellness content because, really, everything comes down to this. You likely won\u2019t be surprised by some of my reminders and realizations if you\u2019ve been following me for a while. Read on below!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Small Subscriptions Add Up, Especially Your Streaming Services<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some lessons arrive quietly, like in your monthly bank statement. Now, I recommend reviewing your statement often, but sometimes, you just don\u2019t realize how many subscriptions you\u2019ve signed up for until you see all of them as a collective. We all know too well how easy it is to sign up for a streaming service to watch a specific show, only to forget about it later. Even if it\u2019s only $8\/month, that adds up over time. Apply that to four additional platforms at varying prices and you\u2019re looking at a number that\u2019s likely over $500.<\/p>\n<p>Christmas Break is a great time to cull your subscriptions and streaming services. Go through your bank statement with a fine-toothed comb and cut out all the subscriptions that you don\u2019t feel 100% passionate about. Go ahead, be ruthless! You can always swap out memberships for a different one later on\u2014it\u2019s better to cut them out and rebuild them than to pay for something you\u2019ve engaged with once in six months. Money drain can happen in the smallest of places, and you just need to be aware.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gift Your Kiddos Memories, Not Material Items<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Look, I\u2019m not against gifting Av and Nate the items on their Christmas wish lists that are exciting for where they\u2019re currently at in their lives. It\u2019s so fun seeing their faces when they open the present they\u2019ve been wanting all year, but there\u2019s something extra special about giving them an experience that they can enjoy\u2014either with their friends or with us. In the past, we\u2019ve given travel gifts where we jet off to somewhere exotic for the Christmas Break. Sure, they might not get a haul of tangible items that holiday season, but they genuinely appreciate spending time and making memories with us. I\u2019m so grateful for this, and I hope they always want to hang out with us (though I do know this might fluctuate as we become \u201cuncool\u201d in their eyes).<\/p>\n<p>Over the last few years, we\u2019ve shifted to more travel and fewer things, because I can guarantee that in 10 years, they will remember the hilarious memories and challenges that come to life on vacation vs the toy they asked for in 2025. I have vivid memories of the travelling that we did as a family when I was little, and I want my kids to experience the same joy and nostalgia.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>In a Dark &amp; Twisty World, Health and Wellness is #1<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think we can all agree that the last few years have not been light ones. As a collective, we\u2019re navigating some big political and economic shifts, and in our day-to-day, we\u2019re trying to do as much good as possible. With these changes, natural feelings of stress and anxiety and prioritizing your mental and physical health can help to aid this. Over the last few years, I\u2019ve come to realize just how crucial moving my body is for my mind, body, and soul. I truly don\u2019t know where I\u2019d be without my regular Barry\u2019s sessions alongside some of my favourite local entrepreneurs!<\/p>\n<p>On top of my physical health, I make space every morning for a short but sweet, meditation. Stepping back from the noise and reminding myself of all that I\u2019m grateful for, helping me show up better for my husband, my kids, my team, and everyone else I interact with\u2014even the stranger walking next to me on the sidewalk! If this isn\u2019t regular practice for you and you\u2019ve been feeling overwhelmed lately, I\u2019d highly recommend implementing some positive daily practices into your lifestyle.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Being an Entrepreneur Means Constantly Growing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset, ever since I was a little girl. Good thing I turned that into reality! Now, I\u2019m going to be honest\u2014entrepreneurship has its share of challenges that you must navigate. Growth, although it\u2019s not a challenge, requires you to wrap your head around it. I often find myself asking the question: How sustainable is this momentum? Will my goals be harder to achieve this year? When does more become too much?<\/p>\n<p>The truth is, scaling a business isn\u2019t linear. It requires you to be realistic\u2014to sometimes push hard on the gas pedal and to pull back a bit. Both are valid; you just need to take time to reflect and navigate the season you\u2019re in. I\u2019m still clearly working through a lot of this as we speak!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I hope these have inspired you to reflect on your last year: identifying what you\u2019re most proud of and what you want to continue carrying forward into 2026. I have a blog about travel coming up in January, as we like to plan out our yearly trips. Keep an eye on it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every year, I like to look back on where I was in January and where I\u2019d like to be a year from now. I often pause throughout the year to reflect, but the end of the year is a perfect reminder for us to do just that. I learned a few things in some unexpected [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":1405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1404"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1407,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1404\/revisions\/1407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}