Friday espresso: Wrapping UP 2025: The Quiet Strength of Letting Go
Dec 26, 2025 1:01 am
Rise and Shine!
Let's brew our espresso for an insightful shot!
Wrapping UP 2025: The Quiet Strength of Letting Go
As the year draws to a close, I often notice how conversations become softer, more honest.
When I sat with working mothers on the latest 4 Se-Ibu episode, reflecting on the year that’s been, the stories are rarely about titles or milestones. They’re about trust. About exhaustion. About growth that didn’t look glamorous, but mattered deeply.
Parenthood has a way of reshaping how we LEAD, WORK, and SEE OURSELVES. Not through grand gestures, but through daily decisions like when to hold on, when to let go, and when to trust that we’re doing enough.
These reflections reminded me that progress, especially for working parents, is rarely linear. But it is always meaningful.
👇Catch the full episode here!
Remember to click and subscribe for more exciting coverage in 2026!
https://youtu.be/WENbD0cMRR8
WHY Does Trust Become Central as We Grow
🧠 Control eventually runs out. There comes a point where doing everything ourselves no longer works, at home or at work. Trust becomes less of a choice and more of a necessity. It’s the moment we realise growth requires space, not grip.
🤍 Trust shapes relationships. Whether with our children, colleagues, or teams, trust changes the tone of interaction. It replaces pressure with partnership and fear with mutual respect.
🌱 Trust allows others and ourselves to grow. When we trust, we allow learning to happen. Mistakes become teachers, not threats. Independence becomes a gift, not a risk.
WHAT Are Working Parents Learning About Growth
🔄 Change isn’t failure. Many parents I’ve spoken to have changed careers, directions, or definitions of success. Not because they were lost, but because they became more honest about what mattered.
🧩 Skills evolve, but values stay. Technology changes how we work, but experience shapes how we decide. While tools can support us, judgment, empathy, and lived wisdom remain irreplaceable.
🪞 Identity is allowed to shift. We are not meant to stay the same version of ourselves forever. Parenthood doesn’t shrink identity, it expands it, even when it feels uncomfortable.
HOW Are Working Parents Creating Sustainable Balance
⏳ Design systems, not sacrifice. Balance doesn’t come from doing more, it comes from redesigning how life works. Delegation at home, boundaries at work, and honest conversations make sustainability possible.
🤝 Lean on support without guilt. Support systems are not signs of weakness. They’re signs of wisdom. Asking for help is often the most responsible leadership move we can make.
🌿 Redefine success season by season. Some seasons are about growth. Others are about rest. Learning to honour both is how we stay whole, not burnt out.
What I’ve learned from these reflections is simple, but not easy:
Growth doesn’t always look like progress. Sometimes it looks like trust.
Sometimes it looks like rest.
Sometimes it looks like choosing differently, and standing by it.
For working parents, leadership begins long before the office.
It begins in how we listen to ourselves, how we trust others, and how we give ourselves permission to evolve.
As the year closes, perhaps the most powerful question isn’t “What did I achieve?”
But “What did I learn to release, and what did I finally trust?”
Connect with me on LinkedIn for more Leadership, Change and Heart content!
That’s the espresso, keep the momentum! ☕😌
Stay caffeinated & curious!
Koo Lily
l Founder of mq Training Coaching Consulting l
Leadership Coach l Change Facilitator l Speaker l
_______________________________________________________________
For enquiry, please email us at customerservice@mq.com.my.
CONNECT with Us!
