Intentional Shifts: What Will Change in the Next Year?

"If you want to know your past, look at your present conditions; if you want to know your future, look at your present actions"…. Chinese Proverb

One of the questions I ask almost every coaching client in December is a simple one: Imagine it’s a year from now. What’s different?

Not what went wrong. Not what you survived. But what shifted because you chose to be intentional.

As I reflect on the past year at FSC Group, that question feels especially meaningful.

This has been a year with much to celebrate. We’ve partnered with leaders and teams who were ready to do the real work—strengthening trust, improving communication, and moving from stalled performance to purposeful momentum. We’ve seen managers step into leadership with confidence, teams reconnect to shared goals, and organizations commit to cultures that value both results and people. For that, I am deeply grateful.

It has also been a year that asked more of me personally than I expected.

This year, my family experienced a profound loss. We lost our matriarch, our mom, the steady presence who anchored us, shaped us, and quietly set the standard for how we show up in the world. She was known for her grace, quiet strength, and unwavering faith and dignity. Her elegance wasn’t contrived; it was expressed in how she treated others, how she listened, and how she carried herself with kindness and composure, even in difficult moments.

Grief, as some of you may know, has a way of stripping life down to what truly matters. It doesn’t follow timelines or productivity plans. It simply asks you to be present. To feel. To remember. To honour what shaped you.

Walking through that loss reminded me again that leadership is not about having it all together. It’s about being human, grounded, and honest with ourselves and others.

Both celebration and sorrow shaped this year. And both have reinforced something I believe profoundly: How we enter a new year matters.

2026 doesn’t have to be a repeat of what came before. It doesn’t require bigger goals or more pressure. What it does require is mindfulness and intention; pausing long enough to decide how you want to lead, work, and live.

So, as you look ahead, I’ll ask you the same question I ask my clients: Imagine it’s a year from now, what’s different? 

Once you’ve determined what YOU want to be different, I’m curious: what are you doing today to reach that goal a year from now?  What are you doing tomorrow to achieve that a year from now? And so on.  You cannot expect a change in outcome if there’s no change in action.

At FSC Group, we’re entering 2026 committed to creating space for reflection, clarity, and meaningful action. If you’re ready to lead differently? Not reactively, but thoughtfully, we’d be honoured to walk alongside you.

With all that said, here’s to a new year shaped not by default, but by design.