One Question to Carry Into the New Year


Reader —

With just two days left in 2025, I’m making this email relatively short and sweet.

No matter how you feel about this year, it’s about to be over. The calendar page turns whether we want it to or not.

If you haven’t yet, I recommend spending a little time reflecting on the year and deciding what you want to carry forth into 2026 and what you want to leave behind.

Deep Thoughts on Finish Lines

Tonya and I had some fun crossing episodes with our friends over at Listening for the Questions. Their final episode of the year addresses the questions you should ask about finish lines. They had asked Tonya and me for our thoughts when planning their episode. We came up with the big question of whose finish line are you running toward, which sparked its own episode on our show. Listen to our episode first, followed by theirs, and reply here to tell me what you think.

Tune In: The Business You Really Want

Here are the latest episodes:

The Sustainable Success series originally was livestreamed on LinkedIn, but the interviews were too good to keep to a single social media platform. So we did a little editing and now have them on the podcast, so you can hear the firsthand experiences of women in business who found their own paths to sustainable success.

If you’re a creator or love collaboration, make sure to listen to the episode with Tonya where we discuss how we’ve been able to continue enjoying our work together even after adding a podcast into the mix.

If you’re a service provider with dreams of lightening your load through building a team, don’t miss the interview with Nicole Serena. I think she was working close to 90 hours a week when we first met and while it’s been exciting to see her business expand, what thrills me most is the amount of time she’s been able to free up to do things that fill her own up (like meditation, yoga, and publishing books).

If after listening to the episodes on finish lines, or any of our other episodes, you decide you want my help in the new year, reply here. I have space for new clients starting Jan. 12.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the remaining hours of 2025 and take time for rest so you can greet 2026 refreshed and ready for whatever the new year may bring.

Gwen

PO Box 1133, Merced, CA 95341
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Gwen Bortner | Everyday Effectiveness

Gwen Bortner is a business advisor who provides outside perspective and unwavering accountability. She’s also the one to ask the hard questions others won't. After four decades of working across 47+ industries, Gwen has learned that marketing and sales have built-in feedback loops — you know quickly if they're working. But the behind-the-scenes engine that runs your business? That's where the blind spots live. That's where successful businesses secretly start breaking down, even when everything looks fine from the outside. Gwen's monthly newsletter provides tips to help you identify bottlenecks others miss so you can build a business that performs well without consuming your life.

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