Hello, my friends. Welcome back to the Ryan Lee Podcast, where we love to keep things short and sweet to add value to your life and your week. And my friends, this is the final episode of 2025. And as the year winds down, I've been doing something pretty simple, but surprisingly emotional. I've been scrolling through my phone and not looking at emails or texts, but I've been going through my photo album and actually reviewing my year through photos. And it's been rather interesting. If you want to feel everything all at one time, I'm talking joy, grief, pride, exhaustion, gratitude. all you need to do is go into your photo album and just start scrolling. It's interesting because pictures, they have a way of telling a truth that sometimes we've forgotten. I think they remind us where we were, who we were with, and sometimes who we were becoming without even realizing it. There were moments this year that I had completely forgotten. Winds I moved past way too quickly. Hard seasons I survived, and if I'm honest, I never even stopped to acknowledge them. As I'm going through these photos, there were some faces that brought some joy. Some places that stretched me. In fact, one of the photos actually sparked an answer prayer. ironically years ago i was speaking in san diego at a small hotel ballroom and i was walking past the big san diego convention center and literally thousands of people were there for a conference of some sort and under my breath i simply said god i'd love to be able to speak there someday this was years ago and earlier this year my wife and i were in san diego and i was there speaking and And honestly, I was actually there speaking for a couple of events. And so we were going to be there for a couple of days. And so they put us in a hotel and we got there late at night. And the next morning, we opened the blinds and across the street is the San Diego Convention Center. And I opened up my speaker app that has all of my engagements in it. And I see that I'm actually speaking at the San Diego Convention Center. And in that moment, I just remembered, wait a minute. I prayed for this I actually standing in front of an answered prayer Sometimes I think it good to remember what the old you prayed for Who knows if you going through some of your photos this week you might see some answered prayers. That's the power of photography. Photos can take us to places we forgot. And what's also interesting is some photos reminded me of versions of myself that I actually don't want to repeat. That's actually what this episode is all about I've entitled it Looking back to move forward Looking back To move forward Because I think too many people rush into next year Without understanding the year they just lived I mean we love setting New year's goals and resolutions But we rarely reviewed the year That shaped us We are obsessed with what's next And sometimes I think we actually can be careless With what was And so today, I just want you to pause and consider that the way you review your year could determine the quality of the year you are about to create. Not the goals you set, not the habits you post about, but the reflection you practice. So before the calendar flips, I want to help you do two things. First, I want you to just take 10 minutes and open your photo album. them, I just want you to start scrolling month by month. And as you scroll, I want you to write down whatever sticks out to you. Moments that you are grateful for, a conversation that mattered, a trip that reset you, a small wind that perhaps no one else noticed, or perhaps a hard season that you survived, even if you didn't thrive in the midst of it. Perhaps it was a hard season and everybody else thought you were having the best season of your life, but secretly you were drowning. And I just want you to celebrate the fact that, well, you made it. You see, gratitude, it's not pretending everything was good, But I do want you to look back and be grateful to see how far you've become because gratitude allows you to say, hey, even though everything isn't good in my life right now, there are some things that were good that still happened. And so even though we're far from Thanksgiving, that does not mean that you can't live a life that continues to be able to look back and go, man, I'm actually grateful. There was some good that happened in my life, and this matters more than we realize. because when we do this, it actually helps us build confidence. Did you know you don't build confidence by looking forward? That's not how confidence works. No, you build confidence by remembering what you have already been through. Gratitude has a way of grounding us It reminds us that we not starting from zero We actually starting from experience And photos will tell you that story The second thing that I want you to do that I think is going to help you look back to move forward is as you're going through these photos, I want you to consider some things you'd like to leave behind. We talk endlessly about who we want to become next year. Or rarely do we talk about who we don't want to become next year. Rarely do we talk about who we do not want to be anymore. I think part of maturity is naming patterns that you are done repeating. I think part of maturity is naming patterns you are done repeating. so yeah after you take note of your highlights and answer prayers and all that good stuff that's awesome but after you do that i want you to look through those photos and i want you to to take note of a second list things you don't want to do anymore ways you don't want to show up anymore habits that no longer deserve access to your life this is not about shame this is about clarity. I mean, for me, one of the biggest realizations that I had going through photos and just reviewing my year was around this idea of saying no. I actually got better at it in 2025. I said no more than I ever have. I said no to opportunities that, you know, normally I probably would have just negotiated with myself. Oh yeah, let's just do it with your friend. Come on, you just do that. And I'm actually going to be doing a whole episode on saying no in 2026. I think it's going to help all my friends who struggle to do this because the struggle is real. But I will say 2025, I protected my calendar more than ever. I chose margin over momentum more often than I ever have before. But here is what surprised me in hindsight. While I got better at saying no, I realized I was still over-explaining my no. I would decline something and then immediately follow it with context, background, reasoning, a paragraph explaining my schedule, my family, my season. Almost like I owed people an explanation. Like no wasn't enough unless I wrapped it in kindness and logic in a small dissertation proving why my no was somehow justified. And that actually told me something about myself. I was saying no with my calendar, but still negotiating with my conscious. So one of the things I carrying with me into the next year is this realization A healthy no does not require justification For me next year will be a year where I can decline personal and professional invitations without explaining myself into exhaustion. Not going to be rude. Not going to be dismissive. But I will be honest. And I will be clear. My friends, as you go through photos and consider things you want to stop doing, or perhaps relationships you may need to stop investing in. I think we all should consider, was there anything in this year that cost me the most energy that brought me the least return? That is probably something that needs to stay right here in this year. Maybe for you, you want to consider, who was I when I was at my worst this year? And what triggered that? where there's some moments where I would just put me in a position to be somebody I wouldn't even want to hang out with. Maybe you identify some of your own triggers. I should probably do an episode on that soon too. But yeah, maybe you look at some of the things that just easily set you off and you look at 2026 and think, I'd like to extend the fuse on what turns me into somebody I wouldn't even want to be around. You don't do this so you can beat yourself up. I think you do this so you can build guardrails. Because goals without guardrails are just wishful thinking. New Year's resolutions often fail because they focus only on addition, I think. You know, you got to add a habit, add a goal, add a discipline. Some of those things might help. But I actually think real change often comes from subtraction. Sometimes the breakthrough is not in becoming somebody new. Sometimes the breakthrough is finally letting go of who you have outgrown. My friends, looking back, it's not about living in the past. It's about learning from it. Reflection can give us direction. And there's just some history. You do not want to repeat itself. So before you chase the next version of yourself, Would you take a moment and honor the version of you that made it right here, that made it this far? Would you take a moment and celebrate what deserves gratitude? And would you also take a moment and release what deserves closure? And maybe just maybe the best resolution you make this year is not a promise of what you will do, but a decision of who you will refuse to be anymore. This is how I hope you look back to move forward. My friends, thanks for listening to the Ryan Lee podcast. If today's episode inspired you, don't keep it to yourself, share it with a friend. And hey, it would mean the world to me if you'd take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe. Your support helps us reach even more people with these short and sweet nuggets of inspiration. Thanks for being a part of the journey and I'll see you next time.
