But before you go slamming that laptop shut (tempting, I know), I invite you to pause, reflect, and give yourself these three gifts this holiday season.
🎁 Celebrating your accomplishments. Recognizing your wins activates the brain’s reward system, and it’s a powerful way to fuel future motivation! Whether it’s a tangible reward or blasting your favorite hype song, resist the urge to immediately move on to the next thing. A job well done deserves acknowledgment, no matter how big or small.
🎁 Being honest with yourself. What do you really want in the next year? Where are you killing it in your current situation? What’s trash, as my 12-year-old would say? What opportunities are quietly (or loudly) calling your name?
🎁 Listening to your intuition when you want something more or different. When you want something more or different, pay attention. There’s only one person standing between you and what you desire. So… what will you do about it?
By now, you know I value transparency and vulnerability in leadership, so I’ll go first and model both here.
1️⃣ Celebrating – As my first full calendar year as an executive coach concludes, I’m proud to have achieved three of my four professional goals in 2025.
- Credentialed: I earned my ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential in April and am more than halfway to my Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential.
- Purposeful: I coached some amazing people to live and lead with intention, helping 1:1 clients build confidence to make bold leaps, guiding WTF (What the Forties?!) participants to clarify their values and create more fulfilling lives, and supporting professionals as they elevated their resumes to land next-level roles. Being a small part of someone else’s growth never gets old.
- Personal: I shifted my mindset from “I can do this” to genuinely believing “I have a lot to offer.” With an inner critic like Kathy, this one was hard-earned! But hearing that a presentation or workshop resonated with someone I’d never met before reminds me why this work matters.
Along the way, I’ve embraced micro-celebrations such as hype songs, dog snuggles, random Fridays off, and yes, several massages. When I really sit with the courage it took to leave a full-time corporate communications role and build something new, the purpose and fulfillment I feel is a reward in itself. That kind of reflection takes intention.
2️⃣ Being Honest – The fourth goal I didn’t quite hit? Revenue.
Changing careers, rebranding myself, and building a coaching business has been more challenging than I expected. Perhaps it was optimistic to think I’d replace a corporate VP salary in year one of a completely new path. Oh well. Onward! 📈
The upside? I’m more creatively fulfilled than I’ve been in years. I’m deeply grateful to organizations like Commerce Lexington, the Women’s Business Center of Kentucky, UK Wildcat Forum, PRSA and others for inviting me to speak and write for them.
I’m also excited to share that I’ve been selected as a TEDx BellarmineU speaker! 🎉 (Save the date for Feb. 20! Tickets available here.)
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