The Power of Endings

As the year draws to a close, there’s often a quiet moment—sometimes brief, sometimes heavy—when we pause and look back.

For me, that pause has been unavoidable.

2025 has been one of the more painful years of my adult life. I’ve had ups and downs like everyone else, but this year? An entire hot mess. And in the spirit of vulnerability and growth, I’ve decided it’s okay to say it out loud: Wow. I didn’t do this year very well.

Not everything needs to be redeemed in real time. Not every season needs a silver lining tied neatly around it.

But I’ve also said this—just as clearly: Let’s get it together now, because I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit in that reality for two years in a row.

That’s what endings can do.
A calendar running out can flip a mental switch.

Alright, Girl. New day.

Why Endings Matter More Than We Think

Every experience—whether it’s a project, a relationship, a job, a season of life, or an entire year—has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And while we tend to focus on how things start or how long they last, research tells us that endings carry extraordinary weight.

Psychologists describe something called the Peak-End Rule. When we remember an experience, we tend to give the most weight to two moments: the most intense point (the peak) and how it ended. The duration of the experience matters far less than we assume.

In other words, how something ends shapes how it’s remembered—and what we carry forward from it.

This explains why some difficult seasons don’t define us in the way we expect, while others linger longer than they should. Endings don’t just close chapters. They encode them.

The Hidden Opportunity Inside an Ending

Once we understand the power of endings, a different question emerges: What can we do with that knowledge?

We can use endings to reclaim agency.

That’s why people are often drawn to meaningful changes at symbolic moments—milestone birthdays, new decades, fresh starts. These temporal markers give us psychological permission to say, This chapter is complete.

Endings allow us to stop dragging unfinished narratives behind us. They create a clean edge between what was and what could be.

And sometimes, especially after a hard year, that’s exactly what we need—not a full reinvention, not a dramatic overhaul—just a clear and intentional stopping point.

Ending Well, Even in Small Ways

The power of endings shows up in everyday life, not just big transitions.

Musicians are taught to end practice sessions on a high note so their brains associate effort with satisfaction. Athletes are coached to finish drills with a clean, confident movement. The brain remembers how something ends—and those memories shape confidence, motivation, and resilience over time.

The same principle applies at work and in life.

• How do meetings end?
• How do projects close?
• How do your days finish?

A thoughtful ending—clarity, appreciation, acknowledgment, or a small win—can quietly rebuild morale and engagement, especially after periods of strain.

Endings and Change

For many of us, endings are tangled up with change—and that’s where discomfort often lives. Change can feel big, amorphous, and uncontained, as if everything is shifting at once.

One way to steady ourselves is to give endings a shape.

• Name what is ending.
• Clarify what is not ending.
• Honor what came before.

Not everything has to end for something new to begin. Values can remain. Relationships can endure. Purpose can stay intact—even as roles, structures, or habits shift.

When we do this, endings stop feeling like erasure and start feeling like transition.

So What Does the Peak-End Rule Mean for You—and for Me?

It means we still have time.

Right now.

No matter how you’re feeling about 2025—proud, disappointed, exhausted, hopeful, or somewhere in between—it is coming to an end. And that matters.

Because if endings shape how experiences are remembered, then we get to be intentional about this one.

We get to claim the end of this chapter of our lives.

That doesn’t mean pretending the hard parts didn’t happen. It means choosing how we close the book—with honesty, clarity, self-respect, and resolve.

Endings can be springboards.

So make this one count.

• Use it to reset your posture.
• Use it to flip the mental switch.
• Use it to say, I learned. I endured. I’m still here—and I’m ready.

However 2025 unfolded for you, let its ending do some work on your behalf.

Let it become the launch point for a more powerful, impactful, joy-filled, purpose-aligned 2026.

Alright.

New day.