It’s not too late. Self-Reflect and Thrive on 2026
🎁 Your 2025 Christmas presents: Career Plan Template, AI Prompts, and Workshop!
Hi! 🙋🏻♀️ Can you believe we’ve already ended 2025?
I prepared for you three things: 1) Career Plan template, 2) AI Prompts, and 3) Workshop with me to fill it. I wish you had a Merry Christmas and Happy new Year! 🎄
What You’ll Learn:
💡 Why year review and planning matter for your career
💡 What to include in your professional review (with templates!)
💡 How to acknowledge mistakes and set improvement actions
From Reactive to Intentional Career
For years, I dedicated a few minutes each December to review my personal goals and set new ones for the coming year. But I never did this professionally. I treated my career like something that just happened to me. Rather than something I could intentionally shape.
Everything changed when I started managing my career the same way I manage AWS projects. I began by setting clear professional goals, success metrics, I tracked progress, and reviewed frequently. That’s when I added intentionality to my career. Suddenly, I wasn’t just reacting or just going towards a single end goal, I was leading all my own journey.
Last year at this time, I set two clear goals: (1) improve my networking and (2) strengthen my communication skills. To achieve my big rock of moving to Spain and likely leaving Amazon, I defined milestones for each. But they were not just vague wishes. I actually drafted measurable goals with planned milestones to achieve them.
Life happened, and I had to reprioritize things, but I made progress on both goals! 🎉 I haven’t moved to Spain yet, but I feel more prepared!
I didn’t do it alone, and I didn’t just “try harder.” I used a structured system that I developed. I tracked my progress in Obsidian, reviewed the progress, and adjusted monthly. I improved my communication skills with the help of a mentor, and I held myself accountable by sharing my goals with people who cared about my growth.
This year, I want to share that system with you. Because we shouldn’t drive the journey of our careers alone.
Why Year Review and Planning Matter
We plan product launches, sprints, and project milestones with incredible detail. We track metrics, analyze data, and adjust our approach based on results.
Why don’t we do the same for our careers?
A proper year review helps us:
✨ Celebrate real wins, not just the big ones; the small victories matter too!
✨ Identify patterns in what worked and what didn’t.
✨ Learn from setbacks without shame or judgment.
✨ Align our actions with our values and long-term vision.
✨ Set intentional goals based on data, not just wishes.
✨ Build momentum by seeing how far we’ve actually come.
Without this reflection, we risk repeating the same mistakes and missing opportunities for growth. Additionally, doing it at the beginning of the year allows you to restart with more positivity. Everyone is planning their resolutions, and starting a new year feels like a fresh start.
With the WonderLead Framework, we’ll continuously refine our approach with accountability to ensure we keep working on our goals through the year.
What to Include in Your Year Review
Based on the WonderLead framework and my experience at AWS, here’s how I do it:
1. Highlights and Wins
List your top 5-10 achievements:
Projects delivered successfully
Promotions or role changes
Positive feedback received
Problems solved
Team impact created
Communities built or joined
Tip: Include both work achievements and personal development wins. Your personal development wins outside your job may impact your professional identity.
Action item: Share them with your manager.
2. Goals Review
Look back at the goals you set (or meant to set) for 2025:
Which goals did you achieve? Celebrate them! 🎉
Which goals are still in progress? That’s okay too.
Which goals did you miss? Let’s learn from them.
Which goals changed? That’s good; adaptation is growth.
For each goal, ask yourself:
What specific actions led to success or challenges?
How did you feel about them? What causes those feelings?
What people or resources made a difference?
What would you do differently next year?
Tip: If you didn’t have goals, think about 2025 and assess themes through the year.
3. Challenges and Lessons Learned
This is the most valuable part. What didn’t go as planned? Think in technical, interpersonal, personal, and organizational challenges and ask for each challenge:
What was within your control?
What was outside your control?
What did you learn?
What will you do differently in 2026?
Tip: Careful with the white bears!
Cognitive distortions (White Bears) are negative or irrational patterns of thinking. There are 10 types: 1) All or Nothing Thinking, 2) Overgeneralization, 3) Mental Filter, 4) Discounting the Positive, 5) Jumping to conclusions, 6) Magnification, 7) Emotional Reasoning, 8) “Should” Statements, 9) Labeling, and 10) Personalization and Blame. Per white bear, create blue dolphins which are “Go-to” positive thoughts that you personally find inspiring, engaging, interesting, and fascinating.
4. Values Alignment Check
This is critical. Look at your core values.
Which values did you honor consistently?
Which values did you compromise?
Where did you feel most aligned?
Where did you feel misaligned?
When our actions don’t align with our values, we feel it. Burnout, resentment, and frustration are often symptoms of misalignment.
Reflection question: If you could change one thing about how you worked this year to better honor your values, what would it be? Make it a goal!
5. Strengths and Growth Reflection
What are your strengths? Have you leveraged them through the year? What new skills did you develop this year? Which growth areas became apparent?
Technical skills (e.g. new languages, tools, frameworks)
Leadership skills (e.g. communication, delegation, mentorship)
Your Company Cultural Principals (e.g. Amazon Leadership Principles)
Emotional intelligence competencies (e.g. self-awareness, empathy, compassion)
Domain expertise (e.g. industry or business knowledge)
My example: In my annual review at Amazon I will use Amazon Leadership Principles to described how I delivered to customers this year. I will write that I demonstrated Customer Obsession and Ownership by interviewing internal customers of the MCPs I delivered internally. However, delivering the MCP was a challenge because stakeholders didn’t understand the technology and I could have demonstrated more Earn Trust by making it easier to understand. Double communicate always!
Remember: Acknowledge Your Mistakes, Learn, and Plan
While reviewing, practice self-awareness and self-compassion.
Mistakes aren’t failures. They’re data and help us to grow.
In my career, I’ve made plenty of mistakes:
Said “yes” to too many commitments and burned out
Avoided difficult conversations, and problems grew
Focused on perfectionism instead of progress
Worked in isolation instead of asking for help
Each mistake taught me something. Each one shaped how I lead today.
A Framework for Processing Mistakes:
Name it and Own it: What actually happened? What was your part in it?
Learn from it: What does this teach you?
Plan for it: What will you do differently? How will you trigger the change?
Release it: Rephrase. You’re not your mistakes.
Example from my year:
Mistake: I took on too many high-level leadership responsibilities right after joining a new team, before learning the mechanics from the team and consistently building their trust.
Learning: Trust is earned through consistent delivery and understanding team dynamics first. Taking on leadership responsibilities too early can undermine credibility and team cohesion. I should have focused on earning trust from the team as early as possible before taking on multiple leadership responsibilities.
Action for 2026: Focus on one major commitment at a time and prioritize earning trust from my new team. Before taking on additional leadership responsibilities, ask: “Have I earned the team’s trust through consistent delivery?” and “Does this help or distract from building strong team relationships?”
Want feedback or have thoughts on this?
Share your similar experiences or advice in the comments. I would love to learn from you! 💬
My Recommendations
Books
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — Stephen R. Covey
(Especially Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind)Dare to Lead — Brené Brown
(On values and vulnerability)
AI Prompts
AI Chat (ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini) as Reflection Partner:
Paste your calendar/projects and ask: “What patterns do you see in how I spent my time?”
Upload performance reviews and ask: “What are my recurring strengths and growth areas?”
Share your goals and ask: “What potential obstacles should I prepare for?”
I will share more AI prompts in the chat, stay tuned!
Your Action Plan for This Week
Don’t wait to review your year and define action items from your learnings. This week, I will share how I am planning 2026 and how to define your new goals.
Start reviewing now while you have the momentum!
Let’s Do This Together
I did a year review and plan of 2026 in a working group of 9 people last Friday. Gabriele Cimato and Jymit Khondhu joined. This Saturday, I will do it again (this time Japan friendly Adler Hsieh). The audience will get the career plan I use with my mentors for free. If you can’t join, you can get it from here.
I’m inviting YOU to reflect and plan 2026 with me. Join now, it is limited to 12 slots.
Because we shouldn’t drive the journey of our careers alone.
Share in the comments: 💬
What’s one big win from your 2025?
What’s one lesson you learned from a challenge?
What’s one Big Rock you’re considering for 2026?
Let’s learn together and support each other. Let’s make 2026 the year we all thrive, not just survive. The next post will guide you to create a plan and system that will enable your success.
Join the Conversation
💬 Comment below with your reflections
🔗 Join our Chat for ongoing discussion
🌟 Subscribe to WonderLead Working Groups (coming in 2026)
Remember: This isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress.
It’s about being intentional. It’s about owning your journey.
Together. 💛
P.S. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the year-end chaos, that’s normal. Start small: just answer one question from this post today. Tomorrow, answer another. Progress over perfection, always!
This post opinions are my own, and may not reflect the opinions of the company I work for.