How Is It The End Of The Year...Again?

Leah Spasova
Nov 21, 2025
10 min read

Do you find yourself looking at the date and thinking - No! How is it the end of the year again?!

How did a whole year vanish between blinking away the dust of last January and now curling into the cold shadows of a fast-approaching New Year?

Time doesn’t trickle—it floods, it runs, and then it's gone. One moment we’re planning resolutions, and the next we’re clutching regrets, wondering if we really lived at all, or if we simply drifted through the blur of appointments, deadlines, obligations, and the ever-expanding to-do list. And beneath the noise of life as usual, there’s often a quiet ache—a soft, shame-touched whisper that says: "Wasn’t this year supposed to be different?"

It’s unsettling, isn’t it?

That combination of disbelief, quiet disappointment, and the soft ache of realising that some things you hoped would happen… simply didn’t. Not because you weren’t capable. Not because you didn’t want them badly enough. But because life kept being life — demanding, busy, distracting — pulling you into the daily “doing” instead of allowing you space to actually live.

Are you living on Autopilot?

For so many of us, the year becomes a patchwork of responsibilities, routines, unexpected crises, emotional labour, autopilot habits, and the relentless pressure to “keep up.” And when December rolls in, we’re often left with an uncomfortable question:

Did I live this year… or did I just survive it?

It’s a question that stings. Because even when we’re achieving, growing, evolving — somewhere deep down, we sense the gap between the life we wanted to live and the life we actually slipped into by default.

It creeps in slowly, this erosion of aliveness. You start the year hopeful, maybe even a little wild with ambition, but somewhere along the line, the gravity of everyday life pulls you under. You respond to emails before you even brush your teeth. You tick boxes, meet deadlines, show up, pay bills. You tell yourself you’ll get to that dream—next week, next month, next season. But weeks turn into months, and months slip into memory, and you realise you’ve been postponing joy, deferring rest, outsourcing your desires to a version of you that’s always just around the corner. The version of you that will finally have time - time for you, for what matters, for what you really want and desire.

And as another year folds into itself, there’s often a grief we don’t talk about. The grief of unlived life. Of postponed pleasure. Of neglected purpose. It shows up as tiredness you can’t sleep off. As scrolling late into the night to numb the ache - that thing that even has a stupid name ''revenge bedtime procrastination'' - the sad phenomenon where we delay going to bed by doom scrolling or binging Netflix— even though we are tired and know we should sleep — because we feel we haven’t had enough me time during the day.

We feel envy of people who seem to be living intentionally and are so happy - it's annoying. As that hollow echo inside when someone asks you how you are—really—and you don’t know what to say.

But then the end of the Year brings not only sadness upon reflection but hope too. Hope that NEXT YEAR - Oh, my! - Next year will be THE year when things change!

New Year - New Me?!? Or would it fall flat again?

You're inspired. You're ready. You're convinced next year will be different. So what do you do? You turn to what you've always turned to—New Year’s resolutions. Despite last year’s barely surviving past mid-January—or maybe, at best, dissolving quietly sometime in February—you cling to the idea that this time, with enough determination, it might just work.

But it rarely works.... So you try to be smarter this time. You craft SMART goals, make plans, maybe even download a new app or spreadsheet template. And for a moment, it feels good. It feels like you're in control. But soon, it begins to morph—not into a path, but into a burden. The goals become another to-do list, the structure begins to feel like another kind of cage, and the spark that lit up your vision begins to flicker under the weight of expectation. The goals you set become digital debris—another file lost on your desktop, another well-meaning plan drowned in the flood of everyday survival.

Resolutions are often nothing more than declarations—loud but hollow. They are disconnected from who we are, what we truly value, and how we naturally operate. They rely on the shaky scaffolding of motivation and willpower—as if sheer force can carry us through the tides of real life. They demand discipline without asking what that discipline is in service of. They expect change without giving space for reflection. They treat our lives like projects to be managed, not ecosystems to be nourished.

And so they collapse. Not because you lacked drive, but because they lacked depth. Not because you're incapable, but because you're human. And what you need isn’t another promise you can’t keep—you need a process that begins by witnessing where you’ve already been, and ends by designing a future that actually fits the shape of your soul.

Life by Design - Sounds Great...But... How?!

The end of the year and the rolling in of the new one - the reflections, exhaustion of the 'same old' and the desire for better —is the very reason I see a surge in client inquiries every new year. It's as if the turning of the calendar turns something inside us too. A line is drawn. A quiet rebellion begins. People start reaching out because they’re done living lives that don't fulfil them—not just professionally, but intimately, sexually, relationally. The ache becomes too loud to ignore, and the old ways no longer soothe it.

So December and January I see this uptick of people who come knocking on my door - ready to commit to themselves. And if you read my client reviews, you'll see it for yourself: the change, the clarity, the results—they come quickly. Not because there's a shortcut, but because I know how to walk with people through the process of healing, through growth that roots deeply, through change that doesn’t evaporate the moment the high fades. I help make it stick—not through pressure, but through structure; not through force, but through realignment.

Of course, no one tool or framework can magically fix every part of life. And no one should expect it to. But you can absolutely create containers, models and frameworks for transformation. You can create intentional spaces where your truth has room to breathe, and where your next steps don’t feel so impossibly far away. Progress won’t always be instant, and some changes unfold slowly, almost imperceptibly—until one day, you look back and realise you’ve become someone different, someone closer to who you were always meant to be - true to yourself, aligned with your values, living - not surviving.

Imagine, for a moment, that next year wasn’t something that happened to you, but something you actively shaped—not in a rigid, hyper-productive, colour-coded-planner way, but in a deeply felt, soul-aligned, gentle and grounded way. Imagine waking up in March or June or September and feeling a quiet yes in your body—because the way you're living is no longer accidental. It's chosen. It's yours.

Ask yourself, tenderly: If I lived next year exactly as I lived this one, where would I land? Would I like what my life looks like at the end of it?

Designing your year doesn’t mean controlling every moment. It means reclaiming authorship. It means daring to say: my life matters too much to leave it to chance.

And this—this is why I want to share with you what has changed everything for me. The structure. The system. The slow and steady design of a life that actually feels like mine. Because maybe, just maybe, it can become yours too.

Believe it or not, I am human too... And I have too faced this conundrum...

When I started my business - I was so purpose-driven, so aligned and willing to give it what it needed from me to grow, to become sustainable, and to really help people. But I did end up in some dark rabbit holes - and I knew it - but awareness itself doesn't change anything, right... Otherwise, no one will be smoking - as it says on the box - it'll make you ill and can kill you...

So, despite my awareness, I slipped into workaholism, hustle culture, and the never-ending pressure to be productive slowly began to erode the very things that made me feel alive. I was achieving, yes — but I was not living. Not in the way that nourished me.

I felt disconnected from what mattered most to me. My days were full — but not meaningful. I was “doing” life, not really experiencing it.

I needed a different way. A way that honoured who I was and what I valued. A different way that allowed me to grow without losing myself in the process - because the damn resolutions didn't work for me either.

So, I began building something for myself: A structured, compassionate, honest system for reflecting on my year, reclaiming my time, understanding my patterns, and designing my next chapter intentionally. And I became the CEO of my own existence—not in a cold, corporate sense, but in the way a good leader tends to what matters. With curiosity. With strategy. With care.

I have been building, improving and using my method now since 2020.... Believe it or not, that's over half a decade now.... Wild, right?! And this model - slowly but surely changed everything for me.

Honestly, Why Have I Been Moved to Bring This Up?

In the past few weeks alone, I’ve had one too many conversations with clients in sessions that have featured a kind of reckoning — clients looking at me, half-celebrating and half-grieving, saying: “We’ve made such good progress for my relationship and intimate life… but what about the rest of my life?”

And I know exactly what they mean. They’re no longer stuck in the same relational loops. Their intimacy is blossoming, their self-worth is rising, their romantic lives finally feel tender, alive, connected. And yet — outside of that deep work they do with me, other things - other domains of life still feel misaligned. Their careers, their dreams, their day-to-day energy, their sense of direction — it’s as if the puzzle is only half complete. They’re realising that healing one domain doesn’t automatically heal them all… and many of them have said with heartbreaking honesty: “I don’t want to drag this feeling into another year.”

And they’re right. They can’t just access therapy or coaching for each domain of their life. And they shouldn’t have to. That’s why I’ve started gently sharing pieces of the model I’ve been using — the same system that’s helped me build a life I live by design.

But truthfully, there’s only so much I can cover in a session, in a side comment, in an impromptu diagram sketched between tears and breakthroughs. The full method deserves more space. It deserves to be shared in its wholeness.

And if I’m really honest — with you and with myself — I miss holding space for more people at once. I miss the spark of a room full of curious minds. I miss the larger ripples of impact.

So this year, for all those reasons — the grief in my clients, the readiness I see in them, and the quiet pull inside me — I’ve decided to finally share the full model, for your whole, beautiful, too-precious-to-waste life.

360 of Your 365

This is the first year I feel ready — and excited — to share it.

My journey - from being the CEO of my company to becoming the CEO of my Life became the foundation for what I now call 360 of Your 365 —a process I return to every year, and now share with others. It’s not about being better, faster, or more. It’s about coming home to yourself. It’s about stepping out of autopilot and back into authorship.

This method holds space for:

Deep reflection: so you understand where you’ve been.
Alignment: so your plans match your values.
Intention: so your choices feel grounded, not rushed.
Strategy: so you don’t just dream, you act.

It invites you to gather the fragments of your year, learn from them, and gently build a vision that feels not only possible, but inevitable.

So, I invite you to end the year with Peace and begin next year with Power!

That’s what these two workshops offer.

In Part One: Looking Back With Compassion, we’ll walk through a guided review of your past year—not with judgment, but with curiosity. You’ll reflect on what you endured, what you celebrated, what you settled for. You’ll name what needs grieving, what needs honouring, and what needs to be released. And you’ll choose a word for the year ahead—an anchor, a compass, a prayer.

In Part Two: Looking Forward With Intention, we shift into visioning. We ask: What kind of life am I actually hungry for? What needs to be nurtured? What boundaries need to be built? What rhythms feel right? We’ll shape a vision board that isn’t just pretty, but potent—a living blueprint for a life that reflects your truth.

This isn’t a one-off motivation hit. It’s a reorientation, blueprint, a guide to daily life that makes living in alignment easier and achievable.

Why does this work when other methods - like New Year Resolutions and SMART Goals don't?

Because it doesn’t start with pressure. It starts with presence. Because it’s not about punishing yourself, but partnering with your future self. Because it honours your humanity. Your cycles. Your softness. Your strength.

When you design your year instead of chasing it, you stop living in reaction mode. You begin to respond to life with clarity. Your Yes means something. Your No protects something. And the momentum you build isn’t brittle—it’s embodied.

So, are you ready to meet the next year with intention?

This is your invitation. Not to do more. Not to be more. But to remember: you are the architect of your experience.

The 360 of Your 365 workshops are my most intimate, powerful offering of the year. I will only run them once annually, and the spaces are intentionally limited. Because this work is deep. And because you deserve care.

Your future self is already whispering - begging: Please don’t leave me behind again, don't leave me to the whirlpool of duties, anxieties, responsibilities, and the heaviness of daily life.

Will you listen?