I started the year with a beautiful new digital vision board (thanks to the Women in Tech Aberdeen workshop) and two words to guide me. The first was “bloom”, I thought this was my year after years of putting down roots and growing. The second was “simplicity”, something I have been craving more and more as the years have gone on.
As I reflect on all that has unfolded (especially the last two months!), it has instead been a year of change. I got busy and many of the things that I love were parked – the podcast, blogging, social media content creation (I know this is a weird thing to love, but I am obsessed with Canva, best tool ever!), journaling, TikToking and I am ashamed to admit it, but also my family. The simplicity that I was seeking descended into chaos.
But I also discovered some really beautiful things along the way too…
2025 was the year that I found my voice and started to sing again, not just in my random TikTok videos and in my car, but in front of people not in my household. I even got to perform a solo on the Aberdeen Music Hall stage. That was not on my vision board!
2025 was the year that I realised how completely amazing my network is and how much trust I have built with those connections. So whilst things didn’t work out as I hoped, my heart is very full knowing that there’s a community there ready to rally round to create lasting change and impact.
2025 was the year that I properly dove into experimenting with AI and creating things with vibe coding. I have many people to thank on my learning journey in 2025, including ACT (The App Association), the Amazon Innovation Accelerator team, Surya Ramesh from GenAI for Entrepreneurs, Nicole Christie for the AIBuilders sessions, Lena Sharikova (all-around conversational AI, automation and vibe coding expert) and Noelle Russell founder of the I Heart AI community.
Do I feel lost?
Yes, a little. However, in another way, I am even more clear on what I don’t want and that is also a very powerful guide.
I feel a little sad at some of the time “wasted”. The opportunity cost of what I could have created, the impact I could have made.
Entrepreneurship, particularly when the work is very purpose driven, is a tough path. It does consume you a little.
So what is next for 2026?
That is a very big question. For sure there will be more change, but I also hope more impact.
“Impact” is something I have found myself really drawn to this year. How to understand what it means, how to evaluate it? How to communicate value when there are so many different contributing factors and not everything can be measured? Honestly, my Chemical Engineering brain that was trained in complex Material and Energy Balances really wishes that some of these less tangible benefits and outcomes could be better quantified.
Will “Impact” be my word of the year? I feel like yes, but I’m going to let things percolate for a bit longer as I reflect and work on setting my goals for 2026.
2026 Goal Setting
One thing that will definitely help with this is the vision boarding workshop I have planned for the Women in Tech Aberdeen group in January. We’re running two sessions, an in-person one on the 10th of Jan and an online one on the 13th of Jan. There are more details and booking links on Eventbrite. I’ve also created a mini workbook to go along with the session, which includes some writing prompts and reflective activities. If you’d like a copy, I’ve popped it in the Kindspace shop as a free download.
Journaling for Wellbeing
Before I go, the other thing I wanted to share, as a little end of year gift and to spread some kindness, is a journaling app I’ve made that helps to give you writing ideas.
When I started journaling, it was really difficult to know what to write about, I felt a bit like I must be doing it wrong, because words don’t always flow so well for me. My engineering brain prefers numbers. The wellbeing benefits of journaling are significant, especially physically writing your thoughts down on paper. So I wanted to make it easier for people to get started and not get bored writing about the same things every day. In 2024, I journaled almost every day on TikTok. I shared hundreds of writing ideas, which has given me lots of content for repurposing and sharing in different formats.
I’m actually really proud of this app I vibe-coded in Lovable. It is super simple, only really does one thing, gives you a writing idea for your daily journaling, so might not be that impressive to some. But I am a big believer in simple solutions. All of the journaling prompts are from the morning journaling that I was doing on TikTok throughout 2024 and early 2025 and some of them also appear in my journaling book on Amazon. The writing prompts are very purposefully designed to help you take some time out for yourself and really connect with the things that matter to you.
Here’s the one it gave me for today:
“Reflect on whether you are comparing your life to someone else or an idealised vision of what you think you should be doing. Write about what truly matters to you and how this shapes how you want to spend your time and energy.”
Perhaps journaling is something you’d like to start in 2026, and maybe this will help you on your journaling journey. I’d love to know if you try it and what you think of the writing ideas. Perhaps you’ll find a favourite one that really resonates with you and where you are in your life right now. And if you’re looking for a new physical journal to write in, the Create Your Kindspace journal is another great support to get you into the habit of writing regularly.
2025 may well be the year I lost my way, but with self-reflection and giving myself some grace (coincidentally, this was my word for 2024), I hope that in 2026 I get back a feeling of alignment, focus and trust in the path I am on. More than ever, I am certain that my purpose is to serve and collaborate on things where I can do good (and use all the entrepreneurial skills that I now have!).
If you are reading this and we’re not connected. I’d love to connect with you on LinkedIn so that we can keep in touch and cheer each other on through 2026. I’d also love to know what unexpected discoveries did 2025 bring you?