Growing with the Flow: Finding a Way Forward in 2025

One of the things I keep sitting with at the end of this challenging year is the tension and uncertainty that so many of us have been feeling the past few months. 

I think it’s hard not to feel uneasy when you turn on the news and see everything happening in our world, around the globe.

I feel it at a human level like you probably do too, but I also feel it in a personal way. 

From beginning to end, this year has been a rollercoaster in every aspect of my life—from my family to my business to my home.

(If you subscribe to my newsletter, you know that I’m capping off this year with a case of flying squirrels. If you’re not a subscriber yet, now’s your chance, and if you absolutely need to know what the heck is going on with The Flying Squirrels and Me™—send me a message, and I’ll be happy to share the story!)

It's part of our shared reality as human beings—you probably can think of your own examples from this year. It feels heavy, and that feeling is only compounded by the things happening around us in our community or the world at large. 

How do we keep moving forward when it feels like every single path is treacherous and scary? 

I had my “aha!” moment find me recently in a moment I absolutely wasn’t expecting—sitting in the theater watching Moana 2.

Now listen, I know life’s been busy, and maybe you’ve been wanting to see the movie (side note: do it!!!) but haven’t had a chance. I promise I’m not going to ruin it with a bunch of spoilers. But there was a theme that kept jumping out at me that spoke so clearly to this feeling of overwhelm we sometimes get when hard times just keep finding us:

There is always another way.

Sometimes we think there’s only one way forward, or we just have such a firm belief in what needs to happen and what we’re supposed to do. We get so fixated on that single vision of the future, but the reality is that there’s always another path open to us.

It’s one of the reasons that I teach my clients about looking for the alternate path. Because the point isn’t to try to plow through all the challenges and get to a specific destination as quickly as possible. That’s always a surefire path to overwhelm and disappointment.

The point is just to find a way forward.

No matter how small that first step might seem, no matter how unclear the next step after that one seems, the only thing we can do is take one step forward. It’s not always the most direct or obvious path, but there’s always another way to keep moving forward.

Here are three lessons that came up for me as I watched the movie:

1. Above all else, you have to trust yourself.

We are all here to develop a growth mindset, which really boils down to believing in your capacity to get through whatever is happening—to learn new things along the way, to connect with different kinds of people, and to expand your knowledge by soliciting diverse perspectives.

However, in order to find and recognize that personal growth, you have to trust that you can acquire the information and tools you need to find a path forward.

Do you have everything you need right now? Probably not⸺and that's both normal and okay.

But if you think back to last year's version of you, you can see it so clearly: You are not the same person. You've evolved. You learned new things. You overcame obstacles, and you discovered lessons that carried you to this moment. You evolved, whether you noticed it along the way or not.

So believe that you are capable of rising to the occasion, whatever that occasion will be and whatever it will require of you and whatever it is calling you to do or be.

Try this: One great exercise to help reinforce that trust in yourself is to look back at some of the hard things you’ve gotten through in your life. I bet if you take time to reflect on how you navigated to the other side, the answer is never going to be “Someone else saved me.” You got yourself to where you are, and you can take yourself anywhere you want to go.

2. Gather the right people around you.

I realize I started this list with a focus on you, and I truly believe that your faith in your own capacity to grow is at the root of every good thing you’ve created in your life. But when you think about the way forward, it will never be alone. You have to trust your own ability to rise to any challenge, but you also have to trust your own discernment in finding the people you need who will support you along the way.

⚠️ Warning: A small spoiler from the move ahead! ⚠️

In the first movie, Moana sets sail all on her own (talk about trusting yourself, right). This time, though, she starts her journey by bringing very specific people along with her. She has a crew who helps her through.

⚠️ Spoiler complete! ⚠️

You have to believe in yourself, and that means believing in your ability to find your crew. If you’re looking for a home, you must find the right realtor who understands your vision and your family dynamics, can support you in your search, and will bring the knowledge and patience you need to help you find your way through the process. 

If you’re building a business, you’re going to need a team—someone to handle the tasks that aren’t part of your skillset (shoutout to the accountants of the world, who are out here making it happen⸺I see you!), someone to help you with branding and marketing, someone who can be your business bestie and will always have an ear to the ground on new opportunities that they can share with you.

Who is your crew? Who do you have in your corner? Who are the people you know truly understand your vision for your life? Who are the people you know who will show up to share their talents and their gifts to help you get where you want to go? Who are the people who love and support you because they see your dreams as part of a shared mission and because they know that you will bring that same level of care and support to their dreams too?

3. Have faith that the unseen (the yet-to-come) is working for your greatest good.

You’re never going to have all the details. You’ll never know exactly what to do and where to go. Your job is just to lay the groundwork and know that, as one of my favorite authors, Paolo Coehlo, describes it, “The universe will conspire to bring you what you want and what you need.” Trust in yourself, find community with the people who want you to succeed, and then have faith that things are things you cannot see that are coming together to bring you closer to your goals.

Faith is a spiritual part of this life journey—even if you don’t consider yourself a religious person—and there is a spiritual component to believing in things that are not right in front of us. Even having faith in your own growth is a part of that spiritual journey—you’re never going to be able to map every aspect of your growth or see it all unfold transparently in front of you, but you can still know that it’s part of you and it’s happening all the time. 

You have to have faith that the right clients will have a need you can fill at just the right time when you can serve them. You have to have faith that the right house will be available when you need to move. (I’m looking at you, flying squirrels.) You have to have faith that the right person you’re meant to partner with will cross your path at a time when you are ready to embrace them.

One thing I know is that a huge part of my clients’ coaching journeys is accepting that there is so much in life that is out of your control. That’s why faith has to be part of the journey.

You can’t know everything. You can’t see everything. You can’t force the universe to bend to your will. You can’t summon clients out of thin air. You can’t cast a spell to force the current owner to put your dream home on the market. You can’t control when you’ll meet a romantic partner. 

So, what are you going to do? Will you waste your energy worrying about it? Or will you have faith that what you need will come to you when you need it most?

For high achievers like us, faith can be especially hard. Because we want to plan, do, and create—we always need to feel like we’re doing something—and having faith feels so passive, like we’re not doing anything at all. 

So, I’m challenging you to think of ways to practice your faith in a way that feels like you are taking action. Here are a couple to get you started:

Practice visualization. Visualizing activates your RAS so that when something you need crosses your path, you won’t miss it.

Meditate. How can meditation be an active part of faith? When you meditate, you’re calming your parasympathetic nervous system so that when the things you need come your way, you’re not so tangled up in your own emotions that you miss sight of the opportunity. When you’re stressed, you’re so focused on the problem that you can miss the possibilities. Cultivating that calm mindset is an active part of being able to notice how the universe is conspiring to bring you what you need.

As we’re coming into the new year, the weight of all the things that have happened in 2024 can feel like it is keeping us from moving forward with the optimism we truly want to bring to 2025.

All of what’s happened to us and around us this past year is part of our story, but it does not have to be the whole story. My encouragement to you is to

continue to live in the present and be excited for the future.

In my world, there’s a lot on the horizon in 2025 that I’m both excited for and nervous about. I am stretching myself in new ways regarding my business and career; I’m taking things to a new level. My son and I are preparing for a move to a new home (#ThanksSquirrels). We’re waiting to hear whether he’ll get into the high school we feel really good about (and then he’ll actually start high school this year—WHAT???).

A mixture of excitement and nervousness is always a part of the journey, but along the way, we can choose not to lose sight of both where we are and what we’re working toward.

What are you looking forward to? 

Even if you don’t have all the answers right now, hold on to the excitement of looking forward to what’s next. 

I don’t set New Year’s resolutions; I choose a word or phrase that sets an intention for the new year instead. You can find some of my previous words of the year HERE and HERE) 

Looking forward to 2025, I want to take with me the growth that came with the challenges of this past year, but I want to step into this year with my focus on finding a way forward that’s grounded in hope, optimism, and excitement—trusting that I have the ability to face anything ahead, embracing that this community I’ve cultivated around me will support me when I need them, and having faith that what I need will all come to me in time.

This year, I'm embracing a guiding phrase that's been quietly inspiring me along the way. It’s actually the name of my business, The Groflo, and it perfectly embodies my life’s intention:

to always grow with the flow.

And it's the name of my company because I genuinely hope that my work helps others learn how to grow and flow in their journey, too.

For 2025, I’m bringing this intention to the forefront. 

Life will always throw challenges our way—that’s just how it goes. But with every twist and turn, I know that I have what it takes to navigate even the toughest storms. And when I don’t have the tools or answers I need right away, I trust in my ability to learn, adapt, and grow into the person who can handle whatever comes next.

Growing with the flow isn’t about being passive or simply going where life takes you. It’s about meeting every challenge, every uncertainty, with the belief that growth is always possible. 

It’s about embracing change—not as something to be feared, but as something that expands our capacity to become better and stronger than we were before. It’s about trusting that the lessons we need will find us, that the people who will support us will show up, and that the opportunities we’re seeking are already on their way to us.

As we step into 2025, I encourage you to think about what it might look like for you to grow with the flow. 

What if, instead of resisting life’s challenges, you met them with curiosity and confidence in your ability to adapt? What if you trusted yourself more deeply, leaned on your community more often, and allowed yourself to have faith in the unseen forces that are working for your good?

Take a moment to celebrate everything you’ve overcome, everything you’ve learned, and everything you’ve become. Carry those lessons forward, but also leave behind the fear, doubt, and resistance that holds you back. 

Here’s to 2025—a year of growth, resilience, and possibility. Let’s embrace the challenges, savor the wins, and trust that we have everything we need to take that next step forward. The path may not always be clear, but as long as we keep moving, we’re growing.