Hello there,
As we approach the final couple of weeks of this transformative year, I’ve been thinking about how we create the stories that shape our futures and the importance of having support as we navigate this sacred threshold between what has been and what’s coming. This week, we’re exploring perspective on your year’s journey, the power of supportive relationships, the narratives you’re completing with, and how to create authentic vision for your new beginning.
I think of Sarah, who came to me feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to have her “whole next year planned out” by January 1st. “Everyone’s posting about their goals and vision boards,” she said. “But when I think about my year, all I see are the hard parts. I can’t figure out if I had a terrible year or if I’m just being negative. And I have no idea what I want for next year – I’m too exhausted to even think about it.”
What Sarah discovered through our work was that she was looking at individual difficult events (weather) rather than her overall pattern of growth and resilience (climate), and that she’d been trying to create her future vision alone rather than with the support she needed.
Seeing Your Year’s Climate
One difficult day doesn’t define your entire year, just like one storm doesn’t define a season’s weather. This distinction becomes especially important as you reflect on your year and prepare for what’s next.
You might remember the week everything felt overwhelming, the month when relationships felt strained, or the period when motivation disappeared completely. These were weather patterns, not your life’s climate. They passed through your experience, taught you something about your resilience, and moved on.
Your year’s climate – the overall pattern of your growth, love, learning, and becoming – is much larger than any individual storm you weathered. When you step back and look at the full landscape of your year, you see the beautiful complexity of a human life in constant evolution.
Through our work together, Sarah began to see her year differently. Yes, she’d experienced a difficult breakup (weather). But her overall climate showed her developing clearer boundaries, deeper self-knowledge, and stronger friendships. She’d faced job uncertainty (weather), but her climate revealed increasing professional confidence and clearer career values. She’d struggled with health challenges (weather), but her climate showed her learning to listen to her body and advocate for her needs.
The storms taught her about her ability to weather difficulty. The sunny periods showed her capacity for joy. The quiet seasons revealed her ability to find peace within herself. All of it together created the rich climate of her transformational year.
Building Your Support System
As this year closes and new possibilities emerge, notice who has been your steady support and who you’ve been able to support in return. The relationships that sustain you through transitions are treasures worth acknowledging and nurturing.
Support during closure and new beginnings looks different for everyone. Some people need others to listen while they process their year. Others need companionship for celebration rituals. Some need practical help with vision creation, while others need encouragement to trust their own inner knowing about what’s next.
I worked with Michael, a professional who prided himself on being independent and self-sufficient. He believed asking for support was a sign of weakness. As he navigated a significant career transition, he tried to process everything alone and found himself stuck, unable to make decisions or move forward.
When Michael learned to identify and ask for specific types of support, everything shifted. He realized he needed different people for different aspects of his transition: a mentor for professional perspective, a close friend for emotional processing, a partner for practical planning, and a coach (me) for integrating all the pieces.
The most valuable support relationships are those where you can be honest about both your growth and your struggles, where you can celebrate victories without diminishing them, and where you can express uncertainty about the future without being rushed toward premature answers.
The Stories You’re Completing With
Every experience this year became part of your story, but you get to choose how that story ends – and how the next chapter begins. The narrative you create about your year becomes the foundation for how you approach your future.
You could tell the story of this year as one of struggle and disappointment, focusing on what didn’t go according to plan. Or you could tell it as a story of resilience and growth, highlighting how you adapted to unexpected challenges. Both perspectives contain truth, but only one serves your evolution.
Sarah had been telling herself a story of “the year everything went wrong.” Through our work, she learned to reframe her narrative: “the year I learned who I really am and what I actually need.” Same events, completely different meaning and energy for her future.
The stories we complete with become the stories we carry forward. When you conclude this year’s narrative with appreciation for your growth, acknowledgment of your strength, and excitement for your continuing evolution, you set the tone for approaching new experiences with confidence and curiosity.
This isn’t about denying difficulties or pretending everything was perfect. It’s about choosing to frame your experiences in ways that honour your resilience and support your continued growth.
Creating Heart-Centred Vision
Vision isn’t about predicting your future – it’s about creating from your heart’s deepest knowing while remaining open to life’s beautiful surprises. As this year completes and space opens for new possibilities, your job isn’t to control what happens next but to get clear about how you want to feel and who you want to become.
True vision comes from your inner compass, not external expectations. It’s less about specific outcomes and more about the qualities you want to cultivate, the way you want to show up in your relationships, and the contribution you want to make with your unique gifts.
Through our work together, Sarah discovered that her vision didn’t need to be elaborate or completely clear – it needed to be authentic. She realized she wanted to be “someone who trusts herself more deeply, sets boundaries without guilt, and creates work that feels meaningful.” This simple, authentic intention created powerful direction for her growth.
When you vision from this heart-centred place, you create magnetic clarity that draws opportunities aligned with your authentic self. You stop chasing goals that don’t truly fit and start recognizing pathways that resonate with your deepest values.
Your vision doesn’t need to be grandiose. Even a simple intention like “I want to approach life with more courage” or “I want to trust myself more deeply” creates powerful direction for sustainable growth that honours who you’re actually becoming.
Weekly Challenge: Path Creation Practices
This week, I invite you to explore these five practices for creating your path forward:
1. Climate Assessment: List this year’s challenging periods, then identify what capability each one developed in you that you still possess now. Step back and see your year’s overall climate of growth.
2. Support Mapping: Identify three people who can support different aspects of your transition into the new year. Reach out to thank one person specifically for how they’ve supported your growth this year.
3. Story Reframing: Write one paragraph describing this year as a story of growth and strength. Notice how this perspective affects your energy for the future.
4. Heart Vision Practice: Complete from your heart (not your head): “Next year, I want to be someone who…” Let your vision emerge from authentic values rather than external expectations.
5. Professional Climate Review: Reflect on your overall professional growth pattern this year, separate from individual difficult projects. What capabilities have you steadily developed?
Join the Journey
I’m so honoured to walk this path with you! Throughout this week, I’ll be sharing daily vision and support practices on social media to support your path creation journey. Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn for regular inspiration and practical exercises.
I’d love to hear about your experiences with creating your path forward. What does your year’s climate reveal when you step back from individual weather events? Who has been essential support in your growth? How does reframing your year’s story change your energy for what’s next? What vision is emerging from your authentic heart? Comment on any of my social posts or reach out directly to share your journey.
Notice with gentle curiosity:
• How does focusing on your year’s overall climate feel different from analysing individual difficult events?
• What happens when you ask for specific support rather than trying to handle everything alone?
• How does the story you tell about your year affect your confidence about the future?
• Where does authentic vision feel different from goals you think you “should” have?
Summer’s Forward Movement Teaching
As summer’s energy carries us toward the new year here on the Sunshine Coast, remember that this season demonstrates how to move forward with both confidence and openness. Summer doesn’t hesitate or second-guess its abundant energy – it flows forward generously while remaining responsive to what each day brings.
Your path forward can embody this same quality of confident, open movement. Trust your vision while remaining curious about unexpected opportunities. Move forward with your authentic energy while staying connected to supportive relationships. Create from your heart’s knowing while allowing space for beautiful surprises.
With warmth and unwavering faith in your capacity to create a path that honours your authentic becoming,
Gemma-Lee
About the Author:
Gemma-Lee Harvey is a Holistic Counsellor and Lifestyle Coach based on Australia’s Sunshine Coast. With a diverse background spanning psychology, business, counselling, and coaching, she creates a nurturing space for exploring one’s full potential. Her gentle yet practical approach kindles the transformative spirit within, guiding individuals through life’s challenges as they rise through empowerment.
Contact:
🌐 www.phynixbydesign.com.au
☎ 07 5493 6742
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Opening hearts & facilitating transformations since 2017
Phynix By Design ~ Life Reignited