What We Welcome and What We Release (Round II)

A quick mental exercise before heading into 2025.

At the end of 2022, I started a new practice: choosing one word or concept to welcome and one to release for the year ahead.

While I like to write out a longer list of goals, I’ve found that having a single word to focus on for the year gives me a clear north star toward personal growth.

In 2024, I welcomed: prioritization.

In 2024, I released: comparison.

I’ve spent most of my life saying “yes” to everything with the thinking that you never know which meeting or opportunity could be transformational. But in this season of life, I’ve realized the importance of being more intentional with my time. My coach introduced me to the concept of “let fires burn”—the idea that you can’t solve or say yes to everything at once. Some fires can’t be put out right away, and we have permission to let them simmer in the background while we tend to the bigger ones.

Learning to prioritize didn’t come naturally to me, but it was the exact word I needed to focus on this past year. It’ll be a lifelong journey toward essentialism, and I welcome it.

Releasing comparison has been one of my heaviest emotional lifts this year, and when I really embody it and use the tools I’ve learned to not compare, wow, it’s a massive weight lifted off of me. In a vacuum, I’m happy and content, but going online and seeing someone achieve what I’m working toward—or, even more confusing, they already have what I desire due to different circumstances—can trigger feelings of inadequacy. This practice is a reminder that we all only see a fraction of someone’s reality online—mine included. We’re all on our own timelines and journeys, and it feels freeing to honor that.

In 2025 I’m welcoming: higher creativity. (and abundant collaboration)

For 2025 I’m releasing: scarcity around time.

This year, I’m tuning into the higher power that creativity flows from. My goal is to protect my time so I can consistently show up to the literal and metaphorical page fully trusting that the ideas will come— and most importantly, free from the weight of perfection or performance.

For me, embracing higher creativity ultimately means embracing trust in myself.

This past year, I leaned into trusting my team, leadership, and those around me—and so much magic came from it. Now, it’s time to let go of self-judgment and embrace that, at this stage, even my “good” is enough. Show up, write, create, and trust the process.

I’m also adding a parenthesis for (abundant collaboration). I want to cultivate more supportive, creative partnerships that celebrate and elevate what we’re building together. I’m still figuring out how this will take shape, but helping each other grow feels like a north star worth following.

This year, I’m releasing something deeply ironic for me: scarcity around time. My Substack is called Take Your Time. The Crown Affair mantra is Take Your Time—not just savoring rituals but actively reclaiming your time. Yet, some days, I wake up already feeling behind—emails to answer, Substacks to write, TikToks to film, books to read, places to be. It’s likely how my ADHD brain works (a superpower in its own right), but I need to channel that enthusiasm and pace myself.

Since starting Crown Affair, my goal has been to remind us all that we have permission to take our time. Now, I’m adding a cadence: there’s enough time for everything. Time is on our side. Nothing needs to be rushed; it’s all unfolding exactly as it’s meant to.

I’m hoping these two concepts will help me surrender more, stay present, and ease my anxiety. I’ll keep you posted throughout the year on how it’s all unfolding :)

If you’re interested in doing this exercise for yourself, here are a few suggestions on how you can approach it.

• Find a quiet, comfortable spot with a pen and paper. Remove distractions, take a few deep breaths, and spend a few minutes meditating to ground yourself before you begin.

• Let it all out—every word, feeling, and thought about what you want to embrace and release in the year ahead. If it helps, reflect on what you retroactively welcomed or let go of this past year. You can also revisit journal entries or inspiring books from the year for guidance.

• Once you’ve chosen your words or phrases, take some time to write about why they resonate with you. In the process, you might uncover a different word that better captures what you’re looking for. For example, for 2024 my initial word was “efficiency,” but as I wrote about it, I realized it wasn’t just about being efficient—it was about prioritization and consciously choosing how to spend my time.

There’s no perfect method here—the real art is simply taking what’s in your head and putting it on paper (or a digital doc). As Joan Didion famously said, “I don’t know what I think until I write it down.” So, just start. Like you, it will evolve—that’s the beautiful thing about being human.

Take care, and take your time, always.

Dianna