2024 Year In Review

January 16, 2025

The year I got my first tattoo, found my soul fam in Lisbon, and got fired by two coaches I hired.

At the end of each year, I like to reflect on some key accomplishments and learnings before I jump into new year planning.

Here’s how I break it down:

What Went Well

Explored new places!

I visited Thailand, where I saw elephants and snorkeled for the first time. Then, I made it to Finland, where I experienced the Northern Lights and got my first tattoo in Helsinki. Spoiler alert it’s tiny, but the XII stands for being cousin #12 out of the cousins on my dad’s side of the family. We’re a close nit family and decided to get our cousin order tattooed together (spoiler alert, it’s microscopic). I also reunited with my closest college friend in Nice, France, and Monaco—right at the F1 track! Then wrapped up the year spending quality time in the south of Portugal for an annual birthday trip I take my partner on.

Built a community

Moving to Lisbon initially felt tough. Digital nomading in 2021-2022 was both destabilizing and lovely. However, over the past two years, I’ve prioritized staying in Lisbon more (instead of spending 1-2 months in new countries, I now cap it at two weeks). This helped me build routines and grow a solid community. Last year was good, but this year was even better. I found more people who resonate with me—whether it’s human design, biohacking, strength training, or entrepreneurship. I was honored to have multiple friends visit me in Austria at the end of the year too!

Expanded my team

Toward the end of the year, I decided to bring on another part-time hire, and it was hands down one of the best decisions I made! I now have extra sales support and improved sales systems.

More healing, both emotional and physical

- One of the struggles I talked about in a previous review was relationship anxiety. While never formally diagnosed, it was likely Relationship OCD (ROCD). It wasn’t about my partner, but more about me needing to let go of control and find inner security. This year, I actually healed that anxiety with the help of a coach who specializes in this area (check out @anxiouslovecoach on IG).
- On the physical side, my biggest achievement was overcoming a 7-year chronic itching condition, Lichen Simplex. After trying almost everything—emotional healing, creams, doctors—I went all in with two (slightly crazy but brilliant) alternative doctors. Three months of intense diet changes and prescribed supplements finally kicked this problem to the curb! I’m beyond grateful I kept trying until I found people who could help.

Got stronger

I’ve learned just how important strength training is for long-term health, so I made the shift from a full-time yogi to a gym-goer. One of my goals last year was to increase my strength training, and though I’m still working on it, I’m really happy with my progress. By the end of the year, I was back squatting up to 155 pounds!

Challenges and Learnings

What didn't go well last year

Got “fired” by two coaches

I’m a huge believer in coaching. I’ve hired at least 1-2 coaches a year for the past four years, and while it might sound like a lot, it’s been invaluable for my personal and business growth. From recovering from a 3-year eating disorder to paying $21k for a business coach, I’ve always felt it was worth the investment. But this year, I had my first negative experience. The first coach, a business coach, unexpectedly released me from our agreement. While the rejection stung, we were both unhappy with the process. The second coach I hired to help with my skin condition also let me go halfway through our sessions. While disappointing, I was actually grateful to be released from the contracts. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose—but I ended the year with success from the new people I started working with.

Mid-year slump

I hit a big slump around June and saw my first dip in revenue. Without a business coach, I slipped into “cruise control” and faced shiny object syndrome—constantly wanting to change things that didn’t need changing. I lost motivation for social media, feeling disconnected from what I was posting. It felt like after four years of talking about procrastination, maybe I was done. Instead of forcing it, I embraced the season of rest. By September, I was excited to scale again, hired a new coach, and saw revenue climb back up. I also worked with a copywriter focused on self-expression, which helped reignite my connection to the posts I was writing (@selfishlyexpressed on IG).

What I am putting my energy toward in the new year:

No big business goals

This was the first New Year’s where I didn’t map out any ambitious business growth targets. Right now, I’m more interested in life outside of work. I love what I do, and I’m content with my earnings, the number of people I help, and the size of my team. I’m a fan of keeping overhead low. So, this year, I’m focusing on…

Learning Portuguese!

It’s about time! I’m all signed up for a program and ready to go. I know from studying German over the past three years that I’m a slow learner, so my only goal is consistent weekly practice.

Feminine/Masculine polarity work

I’m diving into the study of Yin and Yang energies. Right now, I’m focusing on embracing feminine energy, which is all about living in tune with your cycle, strengthening intuition, and releasing control. It’s a contrast to “wounded feminine” energy, which stems from hyper-independence and manifests in high-achieving women who burn themselves out.

Making time for art and creativity

When I return to Lisbon, I’m planning to take either dance classes or pottery. While I painted on and off this year, I do best when creativity is scheduled, rather than ad hoc. It’s important to have creative outlets outside of the creative work I do in my business, and I want to prioritize that more this year.

Favorite book:

The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene

Robert Greene is my current favorite author. Also, listen to his interviews on podcasts, they are a wealth of information on their own.

Favorite app:

Opal (until I discovered Jomo which is the same thing for a lower subscription cost)

Finally, something that successfully limits screen time! Highly recommend putting hard boundaries on your phone, and this will help you stay out of accidental scroll holes.

Favorite trip:

It’s funny I’ll do these massive bucket list trips, but my favorite every year always ends up being a local boutique hotel in Portugal. This year it was at Amaria in the Algarve.

Favorite purchase:

A spontaneous last-minute 50 euro flight to Nice, France, to hang out with my best friend from college and her partner for the weekend. I brought my partner too and it was a fun couples weekend spent biking around in the sun and playing cards.

**none of these above links are affiliate links. No sponsorships here. Just genuine things I appreciate**

Sometimes people like to sum up their focus for the year in a word, and while part of me feels it’s cheesy, I feel like the word “fun” sums up what I’m going for here. It’s only Jan 16th and I’ve already applied to be on the show survivor, signed up for a Tantra retreat where I’ll learn new energy practices, and registered for Portuguese lessons because why not? I’m excited to try new things and have even more creative play in my life.

If you’d like to read my year in review from 2023, you can check it out here!

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Hey there, I’m Grace!

I help people overcome procrastination, people-pleasing, burnout, and perfectionism so they can get out of their own way, build lasting happiness, and have the confidence to say, “I’m proud of my life.”

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