2025 End of the Year Review

A year in the works, we are finally here. One of my ALL time favorite things to do in the year is to take inventory at the end and set myself up for the next year to come.

This is the third year in a row that I’ve written about this and broken it down, but the concepts I share here I’ve used for several years now in various pieces.

The way that this is formatted — is from me, but all the variables involved have been cherry-picked from some of the greats.

I’ve pulled from James clear, Jesse Itzler, Matt Ragland, David Goggins and so many more. I wish I could take credit for the cool stuff you’re about the read, but the credit belongs to them. I just copy and pasted their ideas in a fancy way.

The origin of this whole process for me is my obsession with getting better and better each year. If we don’t know where we’ve come from and the milestones we’ve hit along the way, it’s REALLY hard to see where you’re going.

Life is short. Our time here should be as intentional as possible. If there’s a dream that you have— pursue it. If there’s a job you hate— find another one. If there’s a lifestyle that you want to live— find a way to live that life.

None of this is easy. It’s all hard stuff. But guess what? We are capable of doing hard things. It’s what I tell my kids as often times as it comes up so that it soaks into their DNA. They tell me “but dad, that’s too hard.” And I’ll respond to them calmly but very sure— yes, but we are capable of doing hard things.

If you aren’t painting that picture for yourself, I would encourage you to do so. And if you have a family, painting that picture is even more important.

You need to SELL THE DREAM. First to yourself and then to the ones you love. And selling that dream starts with believing that you are capable of doing whatever it takes to accomplish it. And to believe that, you have to be WILLING to do whatever it takes. But to get to that point, you need to know what needs to be done. To know what needs to be done, you need to be intentional about what your year/ life looks like. And finally in order to know that, you need to have an understanding of where you came.

Not sure if you followed me on that one, but in order to SELL YOUR DREAM, and live that reality that you deeply desire, you need to be intentional with your life. And the best way that I have found to do that is through this framework that about to describe.

New Year’s resolutions generally don’t work. I won’t say always, but I will say generally. The reason they don’t work is because they are shallow. One thing is said, MAYBE written down, but then that’s it. They might be revisited halfway through, but most of the time they are forgotten by February 3rd.

The future that belongs to you already exists. But you first need to believe that it’s possible and second that it’s just a matter of time. Third— you need to do everything you can to pursue it. Doing THIS falls into the category of “whatever it takes”.

With that, let’s do it!

The following is an overview of what I’m going to cover. I will share the format and template for you to do this as well as review my year and share with you how I am personally going to set myself up for 2026.

1. Closing out the year

2. a. The Deep Clean b. Impact Messages

3. Taking inventory

4. a. WRAP

5. RESET

6. a. Personal Landmarks b. The Needle Movers c. Daily Vitamins

Here’s the overview of what this will look like.

==Closing out the year==

==THE DEEP CLEAN==: Before you can start the year fresh, you need to do some cleaning a head of time. I know this doesnt sound like the most fun thing to do, but dont treat this like a chore, treat this like an exercise. You aren’t just cleaning for cleaning sake. You are cleaning to “declutter” your mind. To physically AND mentally throw out some of the junk. We keep things pretty clean in the Bell house, but there is still stuff that piles up over the year. Take an afternoon and throw some junk away.

==IMPACT MESSAGES==: These might be hard to do. These are simple, but very meaningful. Send a text, email, note, whatever format works best to someone that has meant something to you over this last year. Simple as that. Just let them know how much they’ve meant. You’re not asking them for anything, you’re just sharing the feelings that you have that most don't share. Things like that usually go unsaid. But you’re better than that. Life is short, don't miss your opportunity to share these things with the people you care about.

Now that we have those out of the way, we’re getting into the JUICE here. Taking inventory. The way I lay this out is through the WRAP method. Coined by my buddy Matt Ragland.

WRAP stands for

WINS - What went well? What am I proud of in 2025?

RESULTS - What were the results of my goals and intentions in 2025?

ALIGNMENT - Are my actions and habits aligning with the person I want to be?

PIVOT - Based on my 2024 review, what do I want to pivot—or plan—in 2026?

TO BE CONTINUED