Friday espresso: Who Are You Becoming This Year?
Jan 09, 2026 2:11 am
Rise and Shine!
Let's brew our espresso for an insightful shot!
Wrapping UP 2025: The Quiet Strength of Letting Go
As the new year begins, I find myself returning to a photo taken during a podcast shoot late last October. On the surface, it looks like I’m simply interviewing guests. But the longer I sit with it, the more I realise that, every conversation I’ve had this past year has also been a quiet conversation with myself.
The podcast has become more than a platform. It has become a mirror. A space where listening deeply to others forces me to reflect honestly on my own growth, assumptions, and identity.
When I sat with Rachel and Joseph, people I’ve known across different seasons of life, I didn’t just hear their stories. I saw how much they had evolved. And in that moment, I was gently confronted with a question many of us carry into a new year:
Who am I becoming, and does that align with who I truly am?
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WHY Does Reflection Matter as We Enter a New Year?
🪞 Growth is easier to see in others first. We often notice change more clearly when we see it in people we’ve known for a long time. Their evolution reminds us that growth doesn’t always announce itself, sometimes it simply unfolds quietly over years.
🌱 Progress isn’t always obvious or linear. The new year tempts us to measure success in milestones and outcomes. But real growth often shows up in subtler ways, in how we listen, how we respond, and how we carry ourselves through change.
💭 Reflection helps us choose consciously. Without reflection, we drift into roles and routines. With reflection, we get to decide what kind of professional and person we want to be moving forward.
WHAT Do These Conversations Reveal About Growth?
🎙️ Listening is a form of leadership. Hosting conversations has reminded me that leadership isn’t always about having answers. Sometimes, it’s about creating space to listen fully, to ask better questions, and to sit with perspectives we might once have dismissed.
🧩 Identity evolves with experience. Like many guests I’ve had the pleasure of having on the podcast this year, Rachel and Joseph didn’t just grow in their careers, they grew in how they showed up. More grounded. More intentional. Their journeys reminded me that identity isn’t fixed; it’s shaped by the choices we make over time.
🔍 Alignment matters more than image. Success feels hollow when who we are professionally drifts too far from who we are personally. Growth becomes meaningful when those two selves begin to move closer together.
HOW Can We Enter the New Year More Intentionally?
🧭 Ask better questions of yourself. Instead of “What should I achieve this year?”, try asking, “What do I want to represent?” Clarity often comes not from answers, but from better questions.
🤝 Let conversations shape you. Pay attention to the people and conversations that stretch you. Growth often happens when we allow ourselves to be influenced, not just informed.
🌿 Allow alignment to be a process. You don’t need everything figured out in January. Alignment is something we work towards, not something we declare overnight.
As we step into a new year, I’m learning that reflection isn’t about judgment, but about honesty.
Every conversation we have, every role we play, every season we walk through leaves a quiet imprint on who we are becoming. The real work is noticing it.
So perhaps this year isn’t about reinventing yourself.
Perhaps it’s about becoming more aligned, letting the different versions of you slowly meet, negotiate, and grow into something more whole.
As the year begins, I’ll leave you with the same question I’m sitting with:
Are the different versions of you starting to align, or are they still finding their way toward each other?
And maybe that, in itself, is a very good place to start.
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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
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