Hey Reader,

I hope you've had an amazing festive period and have been able to celebrate it with family and loved ones.

We're days from 2026 and everyone talks about goals for the new year.

Nobody talks about whether you actually did what you said you'd do last January.

The week between Christmas and New Year is quiet. Most people are winding down. But that silence is useful. It's a chance to look back honestly at the past 12 months.

Not to beat yourself up. Not to make grand promises you won't keep. Just to reflect.

The Easy Trap

It's simple to focus on what didn't happen.

The projects you didn't start. The job applications you didn't send. The skills you meant to learn but never got round to.

What's harder? Acknowledging what actually went well.

Your wins get brushed past. You move on too quickly. But those moments matter - they're proof that progress is possible, even when it doesn't feel like it.

A Difficult Year

This year was challenging for me professionally.

I left my role at a football club and moved to working at a football agency. Leaving that previous role was a difficult period. What got me through it was having a brilliant, supportive network of family and friends around me.

That's something I've learned to value deeply. Your network isn't just about career opportunities - it's about having people who support you when things get hard.

And here's what I've realised: even in difficult moments, you always come out the other side. There are always opportunities out there, as long as you keep putting yourself forward.

Meeting people. Growing your network. Showcasing your technical skills.

If you do that consistently, you'll never be short of opportunities.

That's why it matters to invest time into having calls with people, meeting new contacts, introducing others together. Some of those conversations won't lead anywhere immediately. But you never know where they might take you later.

The Compounding Effect

Another learning: don't underestimate the time it takes to build things.

If you can put in a couple of hours of meaningful work each week, you can create something special. Or learn technical skills that open doors you didn't know existed.

I've been doing that through the Recruitment Room, which I've been building alongside my day job. Supporting aspiring recruitment analysts and scouts - people who want to break into football or progress within it - has been something I'm genuinely proud of.

To have a direct impact on dozens of people's lives is truly special.

I've seen members put an hour a day into learning new technical skills. They've improved massively and created excellent opportunities for themselves in football.

Don't underestimate what you can build with the time you have around your day job or family life. Even if it feels like a small amount of time, it compounds. Over months, you can build something meaningful.

Three Questions

Here's what I'd encourage you to think about over the next few days as we head into 2026:

What's been your biggest success or proudest moment of the year?

What's one thing you've struggled with this year and been able to overcome?

How have you stuck to your plan? Have you been disciplined enough to follow through? If you have, what's been the result? If you haven't, why not - and what can you do differently next time?

These aren't complicated questions. But they're worth sitting with.

Because if you don't take time to reflect on what's actually happened, you'll just repeat the same patterns next year.

The quiet days between Christmas and New Year are a gift. Use them.

Liam