Hey Rollers,
We’re getting to that time of year where most of us start mentally packing up for the festive season.
Before you fully switch off, I’ve got one simple question for you. It’s a question that has come up again and again in my coaching conversations with clients over the past few weeks, and one I know will come up many more times before the year is out.
If you were offered the past year at the beginning of 2025, would you have taken it?
Some people answer immediately.
“Yes. Absolutely.”
Others hesitate.
And some know, just as quickly, that the answer is a definite no.
What makes the question even more powerful is the addition of one word:
Why?
Why would you have taken it?
Or why wouldn’t you have?
That “why” has a way of cutting through the noise. It strips away surface-level wins and losses and gets to something more honest: how the year actually felt to live.
I’ve found this question works because it reframes things. Instead of measuring the year against expectations, targets, or what should have happened, it invites reflection on what did happen, and what it cost, taught, or gave you.
It reminds me of Dan Sullivan’s idea of The Gap and The Gain.
The Gap is where we fixate on how far we still have to go, what didn’t happen, or where we fell short.
The Gain is where we acknowledge how far we’ve come, what we’ve learned, and how we’ve grown. Even if the year was messy and uncomfortable.
This question gently moves us out of the Gap and into the Gain.
Not to excuse what didn’t work but rather to see the full picture.
A year doesn’t have to be perfect to be worth repeating. Sometimes a year you wouldn’t choose again is the one you needed, and one you’re grateful you lived through. Because of who it shaped you into. Because of the evidence it helped you stack.
So before you close the laptop, set the out-of-office, or mentally write this year off as “done,” give yourself a few quiet minutes with that question.
Take yourself back to January 2025. The year as it has just past gets offered to you. Would you take it?
And more importantly – why?
Be honest, the answer won’t judge you.
Just don’t limit it to only what can be measured. Pay attention to how the year made you feel too.
Until next week.
Keep rolling.
Justin 👊
Take Action in 3 Minutes:
Take three uninterrupted minutes and answer this honestly:
👉 If I was offered the past year at the beginning of 2025, would I have taken it?
Then ask:
– What makes it a yes?
– Or what makes it a no?
Finally, write down one thing you want more of (or less of) as you move into 2026.
Not a resolution. Just a direction.
Sometimes that’s enough.