Happy Friday 👋 !

As we wind down the year and the pace around us slows (even if just slightly), I hope you give yourself a gift: a chance to pause.

The holiday season isn’t just about checking out. It’s a great opportunity to check in.

Whether you’ve had a year of breakthroughs, burnouts, or something in between, this is the ideal time to rest, reflect, and re-energize so that you can walk into 2026 not just ready for change, but aligned, grounded, and clear on who you want to be in it.

Here are 10 ways to use this season intentionally -- grounded in the science of adaptability, but written with real life in mind.

🔟 10 Ways to Use the Holidays to Rest, Reflect & Re-Energize

🧘 1. Schedule Rest – Not Just Time Off

Rest is not the just the absence of activity; it’s letting your body and mind recover. Just as muscles need rest to get stronger, so does your adaptability. Block time for true recovery, not just errands, family obligations and parties.

📌 AQ Link: Resilience, Emotional Health

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📓 2. Do a Year-End Reflection Journal

Use the Four Rs: Recognize, Reframe, Respond, Reflect.

• What tested you in 2025?
• What did you learn about yourself?
• What do you want to carry forward — or leave behind?

📌 AQ Link: Mindset, Resilience

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🔁 3. Let Go!

What belief, habit, or goal no longer serves you? Let it go — in writing, in a conversation, or even symbolically, and don't feel guilty about it. You're making space for what’s next.

📌 AQ Link: Unlearning, Mental Flexibility

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🌱 4. Reset Your Environment

Clear your physical and digital space. (I'll be doing this one!) Rearranging your environment, even slightly, sends signals to your brain that change is welcome and you have space to think without distractions.

📌 AQ Link: Work Environment, Emotional Health

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🧩 5. Do Something New

Try a new hobby, experience, or a fun challenge just to explore something unfamiliar. This builds Mental Flexibility and helps you practice optimism in the face of uncertainty. Each new experience is a small vote of confidence that you can adapt, grow, and enjoy the process.

📌 AQ Link: Mental Flexibility, Mindset

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☀️ 6. Reconnect with Your Purpose

Ask: “What truly matters to me heading into 2026?”
Revisit your values and list out your top 3-5. Then think about your long-term direction. Is it aligned with your values?

📌 AQ Link: Motivation Style, Hope

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🫂 7. Invest in Deep Conversations

Make the time spent with family valuable by really being present. Let go of small talk. Instead, ask:

• What did you get most excited about in 2025?
• What did you learn this year?
• What are you proud of?
• What do you want to do more of next year?

📌 AQ Link: Hope, Emotional Health

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🧭 8. Pick Your "Word Bridge"

Choose 3 words that describe your 2025. Then pick 3 words you want to define your 2026.
Ask yourself:

• What’s the shift between these words?
• What would help me move from one to the other?

📌 AQ Link: Hope, Mindset, Motivation Style

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💡 9. Experiment with Small Shifts

Try one small, positive habit for 7 days. Journal daily for 5 minutes. Turn your phone off at 9 p.m. The key? Short planning, long thinking — use rapid feedback, not rigid resolutions.

📌 AQ Link: Mindset, Grit

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✨ 10. Visualize Future Confidence

Write a letter from “you in December 2026.”
What are you proud of? What changes did you embrace? This vision helps reinforce belief — the foundation of real adaptability.

📌 AQ Link: Hope, Grit, Mindset

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🌀 Rest and Recover

Sometimes, the most adaptive thing you can do is slow down and listen -- to your energy, your environment, and your evolving sense of self.

So take what resonates, leave what doesn’t, and trust that even small acts of reflection now can fuel big shifts later.

Here’s to a re-energized, recalibrated, and more adaptable you in 2026.

You got this!

Ann
​www.adaptsuccess.com​

🧠 Gear Up for Change is your weekly dose of insight on navigating and leveraging change — grounded in AQai’s science of adaptability. If you find it valuable, forward it to a colleague who’s also leading through liminality and they can subscribe here.

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P.S. Want to feed your curiosity? Check out "The Thinking Game" on YouTube, a documentary following Demis Hassabis and the DeepMind team as they work toward artificial general intelligence. Their story about training AI to master the game of Go so they could eventually solve protein folding is absolutely fascinating.

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Want to Gear Up for Change Faster? Here are 3 Next Steps:

1️⃣ Get Your FREE AI Leadership Edge Scorecard. How prepared are you to lead your team and thrive through change? Find out in less than 5 minutes.

2️⃣ Measure Your AQ Take a 25-minute assessment to discover your Adaptability Quotient (AQ). Learn how to thrive in times of change and create a strategy for your growth. Gear up for the rest of 2026 using our companion AQme Workbook. (Tip: check with your manager -- you can probably expense this!) Hit reply and say "Tell me more!".

Issue #59, 12 December 2025