5 Lessons I am taking with me into 2026

2026 is here my friends! And while it isn’t completely official at the time of airing this episode, we can easily count down the hours until it takes center stage and becomes our reality. 

As I have been sharing all month, I have done quite a bit of reflecting and looking back over the past 12 months and made some very intentional choices on the lessons I am taking along with me, and what I plan to leave in the past. 

Welcome to the Solo Grind, your chance to have a cup of coffee with me, Teresa Schlup a Brand Strategist and Web Design who loves doing this business thing solo. If you are looking to refresh your brand or website or simply starting from scratch and know you don’t want to do it alone, I would love to chat about the possibilities awaiting you. Head on over to my website caffeinecreative.io and book a free coffee chat with me.   

Today isn’t about strategies or to-do lists. It is all about reflection my friends. And as this is the final episode of 2025, I thought I would share five lessons I’m taking with me into 2026Lessons shaped by experience, perspective, and a whole lot of living in the in-between.

So grab your favorite mug, settle into your coziest spot, and let’s wrap up this year together. 

You know how so many people we chat with through the holidays say, “Where has the year gone!” Well believe it or not this year I am not one of those people. I’ll admit some years feel like they fly by while others feel like the take forever, but for me 2025 was just right. 

That isn’t to say that there wasn't some stress and struggles along the way. They certainly were there, and in part inspire today’s episode. But through those struggles and the triumphs I enjoyed as well, this year just seemed to tick by at the perfect speed for me. 

It has also been a very big year for shifts and changes, and for also getting back to my roots to build the business that I love. 

So before we dive into the lessons learned I am taking with me into 2026 I thought I would share a little bit about what is new around here, and the one thing I am leaving behind in 2025. 

Let’s start with the “new”... 

The big “new” thing around here is I am starting today off with a brand new look! We are talking a new branding, new branding photos, a new website, the works! This has been a HUGE labor of love and honestly something that I am really very proud of and excited for. 

This website is the creation of the lessons learned over the past year, and I think it beautifully reflects where things are going in the future. So if you’d like to take a look around, head on over to caffeinecreative.io! I would love to hear your thoughts on the new me. 

Part of that new brand is rebranding this podcast as well. 

Those of you who have been here with me on The Solo Grind since the beginning may have remembered I originally organized my episodes into seasons. The main reason behind that was simply that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do a full time podcast. So I launched a Limited Series podcast back in September 2024 with the intention of doing at least 12 episodes. I actually went for 14 episodes, took a break and came back for season two. 

Doing this podcast has been a lot more fun and rewarding than I could have ever imagined, and for that reason, I have decided to skip the seasons moving forward and simply share new episodes every week. You will see this in the new imagery for this podcast as I am no longer counting seasons and simply numbering my episodes.  This episode is lucky number 62!  

And now I want to take just a moment to share what I am not taking with me into 2025. 

So back in episode 50, When it stops being fun is it time to break up? I shared that Social Media and I were taking a break. At that time I didn’t fully expect to step away completely from social media, and honestly intended to just minimize my time there, but having that conversation with you seemed to give me permission to step away completely, and I didn’t realize I was waiting for permission. 

Since that episode which aired in mid October 2025, I have spent less than 2 hours in and on social media, and I realized I haven’t missed it. It has actually been very freeing for me, and given me the time I need to focus on the kind of marketing that I love doing. 

Since the breakup, or separation, I have had a lot of conversations about social media and it’s role in business, especially for those of us doing it solo. Some people have started becoming very anti-social media, and coming at it from a fear based approach, others feel you simply don’t have a business if you don’t have social media, and others love it and can’t imagine it not being a part of their life. 

Through all of these conversations, I began to realize, I don’t love it, or hate it. I don’t think it is the next big evil we need to battle nor do I believe it is the savior of small businesses. I just don’t get much joy out of trying to keep up with it. So I am stepping away from social media completely for now. I might go back at some point, and I might not. Time will tell. 

As for my advice to you in regards to social media… Do you enjoy it? If you do, then continue having fun with it, if you don’t, I want you to know it’s okay to step away. There are other ways to market your business and I for one am looking forward to trying out some new approaches in 2026. 

But more on that in a future episode. For now I want to share with you 5 lessons I learned in 2025 that I will be taking with me into the new year. 

1. Beware of Boredom 

For me I think boredom is my worst enemy. Anytime I find myself feeling a little bored or not having much to keep me busy in my business I start looking for ways to fill the void with something new. In 2024 and 2025 I filled that time with commitments that did not give me joy. I kept those commitments, and I did them to the best of my ability, but they came with a price, including overwhelm, too many obligations when things picked back up, and honestly a big lack of fun. 

I have no idea why anyone would operate their own business if it made them miserable, so the lack of fun was a big issue for me. 

Moving into 2026 I am ready for the down times and boredom that may come. With any year, I have no doubt there will be some slow periods just as there will be some really busy periods, but now I feel like I am better prepared to deal with both! 

2. Let Curiosity be your guide. 

My entire branding and web design business began with curiosity, and in the beginning it was what drove everything, from new blogs, to new designs and how I approached my marketing. I barely knew what anyone else was doing around me, unless what they were doing had something to do with branding and website design. And because I was so unaware I spent little to no time comparing myself to other businesses. 

Instead that time was all about discovery. Learning something new, and trying new things to see where they lead me. I look back at those times as some of the best years in my life and business, and I have been feeling a bit nostalgic for those days. 

Heading into 2026 I am once again letting curiosity take the lead. And already I have more “new” ideas than I can count. Ideas for my blog, email list, and my free resource library Solo Grind Central. I actually have more ideas than time so it will be fun to see what comes out of this new year of exploration. 

3. Focus is everything. 

It’s easy to agree with this statement. Focus is everything. It’s one of the most over given pieces of advice out there in the world. Just google quotes on focus and you will see a ton or responses… 

Here are three… 

Always remember your focus determines your reality ~ George Lucas

Your life is controlled by what you focus on. ~ Tony Robbins

The successful warrior is the average man with laser like focus ~ Bruce Lee 

All great advice and very inspirational, and yet putting this great advice into practice in a way that supports the direction we want to be moving is often not all that easy. 

Just yesterday when I was doing the final touches to launching my brand new website I found my focus pivoting in a million different directions, most of which really weren’t necessary. 

The doubts about what I had created were part of that. New ideas I could create were another. I even spent a good 20 minutes or more recreating something I had already decided to leave behind with the launch of my new website. 

The result of this pivoting was a lot of time wasted, and a day that wasn’t quite as productive as I had hoped it would be. Which leads me to one more quote… 

Focus is the art of knowing what to ignore ~ James Clear

Moving into 2026 I am keeping a much closer eye on my goals and intentions. I have done a lot of thinking about where I want to go, and chosen a really cool path to follow that I am excited to explore. But as I said a moment ago, I already have more ideas than time, so keeping myself focused on what supports my goals and intentions is going to be the secret to actually making them happen. 

4. Not all trends need to be followed. 

Do a quick search for Marketing trends for 2026 and you will see a long list of trends, many of them AI centered, and quite a few in direct conflict with each other. Like personalized AI agents and Authentic User-Generated Content. 

It’s hard to embrace all the trends driving business today, even with a large team of people to do the work for you behind the scenes. As a solo business owner, it’s even more of a challenge, and can seriously impact your focus. 

So in 2026, at least for the first quarter, I know exactly what trends I plan to follow and where I want to focus my time and energy. 

After quarter one I may change my mind completely, and that’s okay. I am trusting my curiosity to guide me to where I need to be. 

And this brings me to lesson number 5… 

5. Social Rest is a Must. 

And no I am not talking about just social media, although that is a part of it. I am talking about not getting so caught up in the need to grow, to build, to learn and create. I want to make a point to look at my life and become aware of what is giving me joy and what is draining my energy. 

In my personal life this could be taking a break from TV and streaming. From devices including my phone and kindle. It could be embracing silence rather than feeling the need to fill it with music and audio books. And it definitely will include time away from the office with a little more time outdoors experiencing life. 

In business, this is not scheduling my days so full. It is allowing myself time to do the work I love really well and extra time to fully immerse myself into the discovery of new brands and web designs. It is intentionally setting aside time to learn and grow rather than trying to squeeze it all in. 

Simply put, I want to give my time, energy and focus into simply being where my feet are. 

When we actively allow ourselves to take a step back, and pause, to look around and enjoy life as it unfolds, well that just makes the journey that much richer for me. 

In 2026 I want to simply allow myself to fully connect, and enjoy life around me. 

Wishing you a happy and blessed 2026!

So that my friends brings us to the end of this episode and 2025. I hope that whatever you are wishing for in the new year, you can see the path forward to get you there clearly. 

Wishing you all a happy and blessed 2026 and I can’t wait to see you there. 

Thanks for listening to The Solo Grind. I so appreciate this time with you, and hope that I have given you a little something to help make your new year that much brighter. 

If you’d like to connect with me, visit my website at caffeinecreative.io, where you can book a coffee chat or reach out by phone or email. Either way I would love to hear from you.