What 2025 Taught Me: 5 Lessons From a Big Year with Athena Dobson

Right… this is it.
The final episode of the Girls in Property Podcast for 2025.

I honestly cannot believe I am writing that. We have recorded over 45 episodes this year and this one feels really special. It felt right to end the year doing what I always do best on this podcast… being open, honest, a little emotional, and sharing what I have really learnt along the way.

In this final episode of 2025, I bare my soul and reflect on the year that has been. The highs, the challenges, the growth, the tears, the laughter, and everything that came with building Girls in Property alongside my own personal journey.

As always, I cry. I laugh. And I share as honestly as I can, because that is what this space has always been about. Adding value, sharing the real stuff, and hopefully helping you feel a little less alone on your own journey.

I talk you through the 5 biggest lessons that 2025 taught me. These are not just business or property lessons. They are life lessons. Lessons around rest, alignment, trusting yourself more deeply, letting go of old layers, and remembering why you started in the first place.

I also take time to celebrate what Girls in Property has become. The podcast, the community, the conversations, and most importantly the women who show up week after week. You are the reason this space matters and the reason I keep showing up, even on the hard days.

If you have had a tough year, if you have felt a bit lost, or if 2025 has quietly stretched and changed you in ways you are only just starting to see, I really hope this episode helps you feel more seen, more heard, and full of hope for what is coming.

This episode is a love letter to 2025, and an open invitation to step into 2026 with belief in yourself and what is possible for you.

Thank you for being part of Girls in Property.
Thank you for listening, sharing, and growing alongside me.

I love you all.
Athena x

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Transcript

0:01

Good morning everyone and welcome to your final episode of 2025 of the Girls in Property podcast. My goodness, is everybody ready for Christmas? we in like ultra Christmas mode? Those of you who will be tuning in in terms of the video content online or in my reels, you'll see that I'm wearing my Christmas jumper today as opposed to my Girls in Property one. As I thought, you know what, it is Christmas, why not? Get the Christmas jumper out. At the end of the day, you can only wear it for about a month. So might as well get my money's worth out of it. But we are on officially the countdown to Christmas and I am on the countdown to actually getting some rest as well. So this will be your final episode for Girls and Property for 2025, where I'm then gonna be taking a lovely well-deserved, if you don't mind me saying rest, for the rest of the year, I'm gonna be enjoying the festivities and really getting ready actually for 2026 and all the amazing guests that are gonna be coming on. and sharing with you all of their knowledge and content and everything else. So we're gonna be back in your ears just to let you know on Monday, 5th of January after today's episode. So last episode today, and then Monday, 5th of January, we will be back. But take this time to really catch up on your favorite episodes. I've actually been guest on many episodes. I was calculating it. I think I've been a guest on about 10 episodes this year, which is amazing. And some of them released, some haven't. So also try and catch up on some of those. So that's hopefully you really get to, you know, gain a loan of value from that as well. Cause it's lots of different types of conversations that I actually have with them. So I'll link you to quite a few of them in my stories on Instagram and just go and enjoy them and, you know, refresh your memory on some of your favorites from Girls and Property. So what I thought that we'd do today is I thought I'd do a solo episode today because number one, I haven't done a solo episode in a while and I miss you all. And two, I thought what better way to finish the year. then just having a bit of a recap, having a bit of a celebration, but also a bit of a moment of this year. And then thinking about what I thought would be a really good idea just to give you some, some value for the last bit of the, um, of 2025 for my podcasts is to talk to you about the five things I've learned in 2025. Um, so the five things I've learned, seem to like this number five. I feel like four is not enough and six too many. I sort of go for like five. Um, but talk about the five things that I've learned in 2025 and how it might help you to reflect on your 25 and growing and how you've grown and everything like that. So let's spend the next, let's say 40 minutes together, whether in your car, taking the kids to school, doing some paint work for the refurb, doing actual sort of a rip out. Hopefully I'll be in your with the next sort of 40 minutes and just keeping you a bit of company. So in true celebration, let's choose style, should say, let's start with celebrations. So let's start with celebrations first because Let's celebrate 2025 for Girls and Property because what a year. mean, absolutely incredible year. Really, really fantastic. Some brilliant, brilliant women that I have met in 2025 who I know will be friends for life. And actually, dare I say like some really incredible men as well, honestly, absolutely incredible men that have been on the podcast and guests and everything like that. So I've got a couple of stats actually that I wanted to share with you in terms of celebrating Girls and Property. Because I think when I actually did this and I thought, Oh, I better do some stats on this podcast. I even took a step back and I went, wow. I was like, that's incredible. I was like, that's a lot. Um, so just to give you some overviews of the, purely just the podcast, you know, in 2025, I recorded 48 episodes in 2025, um, which is just incredible when you really think about it. We've got 138 overall. So 138 episodes in total. since January 15th, 2023. And this year alone, I recorded 48 episodes. Now each episode, as you know, is roughly about like an hour, an hour 15, an hour 20. So that's like two whole days worth of podcasting that we have and I have recorded, which is insane. And of that, I've had 46 guests, because I did two episodes of solo episodes. So 48 episodes this year and 46 guests. Now, If you think about the property spectrum and the business spectrum and trying to coordinate women and trying to coordinate men, very, very busy schedules and getting everyone together. I have managed to coordinate successfully, 46 individuals as entrepreneurs to come onto the girls in property podcast. Now, if you host your own podcast, or if you're thinking about getting into podcasting to get 46 people who are extremely busy um to agree a set date and time to come on your podcast is pretty remarkable and I'm gonna give myself a little bit of a pat on the back on that one because it's just brilliant and you know each person that I bring onto the podcast of course I need them to give value as well and I want them to give value to you. It has to be important conversation because you know all of our time is precious and so I want to make sure that you get the most out of it and when you're thinking about it there've been some just incredible, incredible guests. Just brilliant, brilliant guests. And so I really want to celebrate that. And I want to celebrate every single guest who's ever come on this podcast. Thank you so much if you're listening to this. And if you would like to be a guest, of course, for 2026, then I am taking um open requests at the moment in terms of coming on. The only thing I would say is if you are going to message me about it, ah Let's start a conversation first. I usually like to get guests on that I know and I've spent some time with because it just makes for a far better conversation. So if you are interested in coming on and I know you, let me know. If I don't know you, just start up a chat first just before you go straight in with hardcore, I want to come in your podcast because you'll probably get a no. uh So just try, make that one a little bit more of a softened cushion, let's say, and hopefully see you around now that I'm in London at some networking events and get to know each other. But just to follow up on that then, so 48 episodes this year, 46 guests, 138 episodes in total. We're now also in 31 countries around the world. So we are global for Girls and Property. So 31 countries listen to Girls and Property. And in the UK specifically, Girls and Property is listened to in 282 cities. So in the UK, it is listened to in 282 cities, which is just bonkers, absolutely bonkers. So absolutely brilliant stat when you think about it. And actually, if I go on to the stats at the moment, because I actually have this page up, because I didn't check this before, let's see which city is actually in top then. We have got Bristol. Bristol, you are my number one. Everyone listening from Bristol, shout out to you. Manchester, you are second. Shout out to Manchester. And then Birmingham, you are in third. So we've got Bristol, number one, woohoo. Manchester, second, and then Birmingham, number three. Ooh, how exciting. So yeah, I absolutely love that. So thank you everybody for listening. Absolutely fantastic. um And then just on this one as well, the other stat that I wrote down here was that we've actually now also had 56,000 downloads as well. So 56,000 downloads since we started the Girls and Property podcast back in 2023. And just to say downloads is not, em is not like listening, like you can listen to it and not download it. So that's everyone who has actually downloaded each episode for Girls and Property. So if you don't download, please do, because it means the world in terms of our sort of stats and everything. So those are our downloads of 56,000 downloads for Girls and Property, which is just wild. It is brilliant. um And on average, they say that if you get about 2000 downloads every 30 days, which I do, I get about 2008, 2009. I think it's like you're in the top 5 % of podcasts in the world or something ridiculous like that. it's, um, I mean, it's mega, it's absolutely awesome. So I will continue as I always promised to do to really, really celebrate girls and property and to bring you so much value. Um, I know this podcast means so much to, so many of you from the messages that I receive. And I promise you this, I will do my absolute best to try and get the best guests on for you to have the best conversations, to give you the best value that I possibly can because that's what I truly truly believe in. But in order to do so, can I just ask a quick favour? And that is if you can leave a review on Apple Podcasts or on your favourite platform, if you can like, if you can share, if you can subscribe, if you can download, it really really helps for sponsorship and it really helps in terms of just in terms of getting the algorithm going as well and trying to get everybody to hear about Girls and Property. So my promise to you is that I will do my best to get you the best guests, the best conversations, the best value. And in return, just a small favor would be just to download it, um review it, and to really help, um you know, share with as many people as you can for Girls and Property. And then just to say also, for anyone who has ever followed this podcast and really loves this podcast, I just also released, which you've probably seen, my tickets to the Girls and Property annual retreat as well. So... As everybody knows, this is my favorite, favorite day of the entire year. I always say to people, if you don't come to anything else for Girls in Property, if you don't come to the workshops, if you don't join the community, if you don't come to like the winter party, summer party, that's fine. Come to the Girls in Property annual retreat. It is the best thing since sliced bread. And I will say that open heartedly for all to hear. ah It's incredible. My background is in events management, so I love. putting on this event. have three, actually probably gonna have four this year, but let's go for three guest experts, which I'm gonna be announcing soon. You are gonna absolutely love who I'm about to announce as the guest speakers. Put it this way, I booked them in a year ago and they all said yes. I was like, you're speaking. They were like, okay. Actually they didn't even say okay. They were like, hell yes, which I love. So I've got three guest expert speakers, which is super exciting. Potentially could be four. So hold your hats for that one. I'm gonna be announcing them soon. And then also something else that I do at the retreat, um due to popular demand, and I'm going to be doing it again this year is I host eight expert tables. So for example, let's say that you wanted to learn about auction. I'm going to have an auction table. Let's say that you want to learn about title split. be a title split table. Let's say that you want to learn about land. There'll be a land table. Let's say that you want to learn about HMOs, HMO table, et cetera. So it's going to be eight tables where you can then go and almost like around these tables to meet with experts and have meaningful conversations. Because sometimes when you, when you get presented to, Let's face it, you're in a room with 80 women, so it'd be 80 women in the room, all incredible from newbies all the way through to people that develop. There's a literally a variety of people there. If you aren't in property or don't know anything in property, still come along because that is the room to be in when you make those connections and then you go through your journey as it were and you get to meet meaningful people, really fantastic women. But sometimes when you're in that room, you don't have the confidence to maybe ask your question in front of everybody and you might think it's a bit silly question or anything like that. So we host these basically guest expert tables, but it's usually about like 10 of you around it. And then what you'd be able to do is you'd be able to ask those questions. So it's going to be for one and a half hours, that section for the expert tables. And I'll be ringing the sort of the bell, the dong for every half an hour. So you get three sets of half an hours. You can either stay at the same table or you can move around. And then of course, lunch and dinner is included. Some of us stay over and then we'll have breakfast together the next morning. So it's just... Brilliant. And it's female only. It's an only female property network event. I've done it for four years now. It has sold out every single year. Um, I actually did a pre-sale to the community. So I let the girls have early access to this and we sold over 50 % of the tickets purely on pre-sale. I mean, if that does not tell you how good this event is and retreat, I don't know what does. So let that speak for itself. So if you want any information, just DM me the word retreat. It's also in my bio on Instagram, grab a ticket and I will see you there on Friday, 24th of April at Penley Manor in Tring, Hertfordshire. Super excited. Okay. So let's talk about this year and give you some jam packed value. Um, because I think a lot of you have actually messaged me to say, Athena, it has been a, um it's been an interesting year. It's been for some people, it's been a long year, an interesting year. For some people it's been the best year. you know, let me know what kind of year it's been for you. Um, and some of you already know this cause I touched on it in the community call that we did, but for those who didn't, did you know that this year was the year of the snake? So if you look at like the Chinese calendar is the year of the snake and in the year of the snake, the, the, the ethos goes that basically this was the year of shedding. This was the year of em end of cycles. This was the year to let go. This was the year of transformation. So if you're sitting there and you're like, God, Athena, I have had a year and a half where I've, I've had to cut people out of my life. I've had to let go of business partners. I've had to let go of relationships. I've had to let go of bad business decisions. I've had to end this particular cycle of life. That is because it was the year of the snake and, I'm not very good at this. This isn't my specialty, but I've learned that it was called a universal nine, which means it was like the ninth year of the calendar or something. And again, this is in line with the snakes. So it's all about the end of cycles. And I'll be really open with you ladies, as you know, my relationship ended this year, as it were. And so you think to yourself about the end of cycles and the end of year and things that no longer are almost like a line with you. And you think to yourself, something doesn't feel right. something feels off and so you go, I think I have to leave, I think I have to go and I have to go and like spread my wings elsewhere. And the other thing that I've decided to do this year as a result of coming out of my five and a half year relationship, and actually to be honest with I was with a person for seven years before that. So I've basically been in a relationship with men for 12 years because I was with my ex of an ex for seven years and then I was with Steve for five and a half years. um And so now that I'm single and literally I'm completely single and I'm really happy with that I've decided also to actually come off of the pill that I've been on since I was 18 years old Since I was 18 I've been on the contraceptive pill and I'm now 34 years old and I'm saying that I'm explaining this to you because I bet some of you will relate to this and I hope that you can come forward and it helps you to talk about it. There's not enough, not enough of us talk about it. Is I've literally decided to come off because now is the time where I'm like, well, if I'm ever going to do it now, now it's literally the time because I've never known really my body as a woman that hasn't been on the contraceptive pill. I don't know my own hormones. They've always been like fake hormones and all of that. And I have to say, I highly, highly recommend it to any woman out there who has been on the pill for a long period of time. Think about it. Get, get your own professional due diligence research. Do your own thing. but it's one of the best decisions I've made. Like literally, I thought coming off the pill, I was going to be really crazy, really hormonal. If I'm honest with you, sorry if guys listening to this, but it's the truth. I thought I was going to have like a really heavy blood flow, you know, and all of these things, which I did, I did a little bit, but nothing what I thought it was going to be. And I thought I was going to get like loads of acne because, know, I used to have like really bad acne as an 18 year old and everything like that. None of those things happened. You know, it... It's brilliant. And now you actually can feel like a normal human being and it's your raw emotions. And okay, if you get upset and if these happen, that's because it's real. And then you can allow your body to just relax and flow and be in its normal cycle. So I didn't mean to detour on that one, but if there's anyone out there who thinks about ending their cycle, uh not ending their cycle, ending their pill cycle uh and going for it, then DM me because it's one of the best things I've ever done. And People kept saying for me to do it over and over again and I kept saying, you know, no, no, no. And then of course it was the right time to take the plunge and it's genuinely one of the best things I've done for 2025. So, yeah, lots of change, lots of transformation for the year of the snake. And then you're probably asking me, okay, Athena, if that's the year of the snake for 2025, what is it the year of for 2026? So for 2026, it is the year of the horse. So the year of the horse is for 2026 and it's a universal one, which means that it's basically a year of boldness, movement, again, transformation. Um, and I remember I was reading about this and they use the words sacred wildness and I was like, sacred wildness. thought that sounds fun. So if you're thinking, God, Athena, this has been a long year. That's fine. Me too. Year of the snake, we are going into the year of the horse and it is just going to catapult you. It really, really is. And I want you to think about what you want for 26. I want you to make that vision board. I want you to put those action steps in place. I want you to push forward to say, this is my year. 2026 is my year. And that is me right now. I really, really feel that I'm going to have a transformation in 2026. And what's interesting is, is when I say that, a transformation in 2026, I'm actually not necessarily always talking about business because I'm going to come onto this with what I've learned this year, but yes, business will do well. And I know business will do well because I know that girls and property will just go from strength to strength. And I know that it will. But when I talk about a transformation, I'm also talking about myself and the way that I will transform because it's about us as well as the businesses and how we can really take ourselves forward to be the best versions of ourselves that we can be. And I'm just so excited to almost like learn more about me this year and learn more about who I am and what I want and why I want it. Because I think when you're a business owner and you start out, you almost feel like you have to be a certain way and you have to continue to push, push, push. And I get it. I get it. I pushed. Everyone knows I pushed so hard. I burnt out twice. But now that you're now that my business and maybe some of the listeners as you're listening to this businesses are out there thinking, actually now we don't need to push it as hard. Now it's about actually putting it back to almost like, who are we? Who are we? What is it we're looking for in life? You know, I'm 34 years old now. You know, what is it that I want in life? What's the life that I want to live? Who is it that I want to live my life with? And I'm almost at a point where I feel like I can't move forward until I've done the work. And what was it I wrote in a post the other day? not the other day, sorry. I wrote this in a post a couple of months ago, just after my breakup, and I said in order to go forward, you have to go deep. And I read that in a book. said in, in order to go forward in life, no, no, what was it? No, this was it. In order to go five foot forward in life, you have to go five foot deep. And I thought, yeah, you're right. And I thought you need to go deep in order to go forward. And I'm going be talking about this because it's something I'm really passionate about at the moment. And Honestly, it's one the scariest things you can do, but I think it's one of the most liberating things you can do when you actually just look within yourself to go, hmm, who actually am I? Like not this person that you put on social media, not this person that you put out there to, know, as a business person, this business face that you put on. Instead, who are you as a person? Who are you if we were to go out for dinner at 8 p.m. at night and I was to see like the real you? Who is that? And that's what I'm really interested in. I'm interested in those kinds of conversations. I'm interested in knowing more about that and asking the questions and having the conversations that you wouldn't usually share with other people, but you share them with the right people. And I think that's a really beautiful place to be and types of conversations I'm now having with some of the girls and I'm absolutely loving it. So let's think about this. Let's think about the five things I've learned in 2025 to set us up for the year of the horse. So. in the year of the horse with bold movement, gravitas, transformation. Here are the five things I've learned in 2025. And I'm going to point out each one, explain why I'm saying that they're my biggest lessons. And I want you to think about whether these were lessons for you. And if they were lessons for you, let me know, let's share and compare. And if you have other lessons that you've learned, let me know. And I'd love to hear your lessons because I always think about sharing and I always think about, you know, bringing us forward with that one. So Starting off with one of the first five things that I've learned in 2025, number one has to be without a shadow of a doubt, the lesson of money won't make you happy. I mean, that is my biggest lesson of 2025 by a country mile. And I think I've always known it. think, I think deep, deep, deep down, I've always known it, but the truth of it is When you're a business owner and you start in business, rightly so by the way, rightly so in my opinion, you become obsessed with cashflow because cashflow is the king in business. know, money flows in, money flows out, money flows in, money flows out. And I was obsessed with cashflow and I was obsessed with, well, we've got to keep above a certain amount and we've got to keep pushing and we've got to make more money and we've got to do this and we've got to do this. And this year, it's funny really, because somebody was talking about this at the iconic Wealth for Women event the other day. Girls and Property has done amazingly this year. So Girls and Property doubled its turnover this year. So I basically became, I'm proud to say, and I should say it with my chest out, I should say it with pride, I became a six-figure business owner this year for Girls and Property. So it made more than six figures in turnover, not profit, really clear in turnover. I think a lot of people don't talk about that. think, my God, she's got like six figures in her bank account. No, I also had a lot of expenses. So turnover was six figures, which is super exciting. And so I doubled my turnover in the year, right? So amazing and wonderful, but your personal life then almost gets sacrificed as a result of that because you build this business and it's almost like you... you use it as a distraction from life. And I'm saying this to try and help as many people as I can. And again, you see, this is where you see the real me, right? So, The advice I would give is do not get sucked in. Like do not get sucked in. Please believe me when I say this to you with those posts and everything where they say, I'm now a six figure business owner. I'm now a seven figure business owner. I've now made all of this money because I'm telling you, there'll come a point where you look at your bank balance and this was me this year. Don't get me wrong. I'm very proud of myself and everyone's very proud of me. And yes, I'm proud of myself, but there comes a point where you look at your bank balance and you're like, Okay. You know, and now I see my bank balance very differently and I'll explain how I see it. So before this year, when I was going through the year of the snake, I was going, okay, that bank balance is good, but I don't feel good in myself. I don't feel good in my life right now. I don't feel like me. I don't feel like I'm, I'm living the life that I want to live. I'm living the life that I think I'm meant to live. And they're two very, very different things. Whereas now going into the year of the snake, sorry, going into the year of the horse, 26, it's totally different. Because now I look at that money and I go, what do I want to do with it? And that excites me. I'm like in a really excited bit now because it no longer becomes that I look at it and I go, I sacrificed so much to make that. And I did, I sacrificed everything to get Girls and Props to where it is now. But now I look at it and I go, do you know what? I'm so excited at traveling this year. So for me, one of the big things I really want to do is I just want to travel the world this year. Like I'm 34 years old, I'm turning 35 in September next year. Like I want to go traveling. I want to be away for my birthday. I want to have holidays booked in. want to, I want to go see culture. I want to get back to my roots of like, I want to have a backpack on and I want to go to like South America and I want to go in the hilltops where there's no signal and just be in nature. And like, that's what I want to do this year. So when I look at money now, I'm like, right, what can money do for me? Money can give me choices in order to go forward to go in and do the things I want to do. So when I say money won't make you happy, the physical money in the bank account will not make you happy. You'll get to that stage where you become a six-figure business owner and you get to that stage where you've got a large amount of money in your bank account that you look at. I've been in a position where I've literally looked at that. and have felt so numb inside, like numb, where you're like, it doesn't mean anything because of what I've had to do to sacrifice myself for it. And you almost look at it and you go, that's great, Athena, but I don't like what you've done to your health in order to receive that. I don't like what you've done to yourself in order to receive that. So you've really got to think about that and think about what it means for you. So for me to put a positive spin on it, I'm really excited for 2026. I'm really excited to use money to build out the businesses, go traveling, invest in my therapy, invest in subconscious health, invest in myself, go back to the gym. So now when I look at money, I think, right, what am I going to do with that money? How am I going to build it for me? How am going to invest it in me? And that's a very, very different way to see money. So year of the horse, we're going to transform the way we see money. And we're going to make money work for us in terms of our dreams and aspirations. And it's the dreams and aspirations that make us happy, not the money in the bank account. So that's a massive lesson for me for this year. Number two is exploring your subconscious beliefs is what will take you to the next level. So exploring your subconscious beliefs is what will take you to the next level. So those who follow me, you'll probably have worked out this year that I have been massively into my subconscious beliefs. I've been speaking about it more, I've been learning about it more, and it is incredible. It is one of the hardest things I've ever done, and it is one of the best things that I have ever done because I did a recent podcast with Alice about this, and actually I've got an amazing guest that's going to be coming on in 26 to talk about this in real detail from like an actual scientific neuroscience point of view and perspective. But I genuinely believe that mindset is not enough. And what's interesting is, is I think at the beginning of the year in 2025, you probably would have heard me say, I'm a mindset coach. I can help you with your mindset. I can give you this. give you this. And as I was doing it, I realized that there is so much, there's like, if you think about like a layer of a cake, it's almost like the mindset is the icing on the cake, but the subconscious beliefs is the actual sponge of the cake. And so you've got this beautiful layer of icing of this mindset, but it's like, yeah, but what's underneath that? What's the base of the cake? And that's what I'm really fascinated by is tapping into subconscious beliefs. And what I've learned this year is that I didn't even know what I don't know, if that makes sense. And when you don't know what you don't know, it is literally like, well, Do we, you know, are the beliefs that we have our own? Are they the beliefs of somebody else's? What are our beliefs as it were? And this notion of subconscious rooted beliefs like money blocks, um scared, like not wanting to be visible and why, how we were raised, how what our parents instilled in us from a young age still live in us without us even realizing it. And for me, what I've learned is, is this is actually what takes business owners to the next level. And this is what truly, truly transforms a person. And for me, I feel like I am, I'm still learning and I feel like I'm going to be a different person in 26 with the work I'm going to continue to do, but I'm certainly a different person to the person that started 2025. And I warn you, I do warn you, if you, and I say this with love, if you start to do this work with your subconscious beliefs, things will start to come to the surface and unfortunately as a result of that certain things will happen to you which means that certain people will no longer be prevalent in your life as a result of it because you will learn so much about you and what you want in life and what you don't want in life and then you cannot ignore it it's like you open Pandora's box and you can no longer shut it And in a way that's the most beautiful, beautiful thing because it's the truth and you cannot escape your truth. You just can't, but also you have to be ready for it and you have to be prepared for when it comes that it will live with you for the rest of your life in a beautiful way, in a positive way. And it will make you so accepting of yourself as well. So I recommend anybody who is a business owner listening to this right now in property, in whatever it is that you do, get yourself subs... get yourself to subconscious level of work. Whether that is something that Girls and Property is to put on, uh you know that I've got my Girls and Property Accelerator program. You know that I'm working with the incredible, incredible Akhtar Khan on this. And the responses we've had from the women have just been breathtakingly brilliant. em yeah, I just can't wait for them all. In fact, I might even get some of them on the podcast actually. just talk about the breakthroughs that they've had really within themselves and the way that they were terrified of being visible. But yet we broke through that for their subconscious beliefs and now they're posting like three times a week. And I'm like, who are these people? Or having money blocks and then the next day going, my God, I'd literally threw caution to the wind and I went and spoke to this chap and now he's going to be investing in me and all of this. And I'm like, what is happening here? And it's because of the subconscious beliefs. They literally got unpacked and repackaged together and then they were set loose again. which sounds a bit set loose, you know what I mean, set free. So it's pretty remarkable, it's pretty remarkable and if you want to know anything more about that I'm not saying I'm an expert, I'm not saying that I've done like subconscious um practitioners, I'm not that girl, but I'm saying I'm the student, I'm learning and if you want to learn with me come and learn with me because um it's fascinating. So that's number two. Number three is a difficult one for me, if I'm honest with you. And as soon as you hear it, you'll go, my God, that must've been tough for her to say. number three is rest is as important as work. Um, rest is as important as work. And those of you who know me well will know I'm still working on this. So rest, let's talk about rest. So it's really, really hard. really hard when you have so many deadlines looming and you have so much work and you have a remortgage coming up and you know you've got to get the house in order before before it goes on sale or you've got to get the refinance in order before you can get the valuation in or get the value whatever it is like it's just so much to do and so you sort and you and by the way i appreciate that most of you have got children and then throw children into the mix and you throw a husband into the mix or a wife into the mix and then you're like athena there is no time to rest like what is rest And this used to be me, right? And to a certain extent, I will not lie to you. To a certain extent, I still have my days where I don't rest. And I still have my days where I go, I pushed myself too hard today. I still have those days frequently, 100%. But it is still a lesson, right? It doesn't mean we have to be perfect at it, but it can be a lesson in the fact that rest is as important as work. And the reason that rest is as important as work is because, you know, If you don't know the answer to this of why, should definitely go listen to the podcast I did with Anastasia talking about our neuroscience um and somatic work as it were. And she's talking about the fact that we go from our, I think it was like the parasympathetic um and things. And it really is my most creative, I think, when I am most rested. So my best ideas come to me when I literally, joke, and like, Not long if this is you as well. My best ideas come to me when I'm either in the bath, I'm in the shower, or I'm on a day off. That's where get all my creative ideas. Any other time, I'm literally just making my way through my to-do list. I'm like, right, this has got to get done, this has got to get done. And some days, the to-do list is never ending, that you then don't have time to rest. And what then happens, by the way, is the only way we ever actually allow ourselves to rest, myself included, is we get sick and we go... well the body literally won't allow you to work, you have to go to bed, you have to rest. And do you know the amount of times I've spoken to my body? I must look like a crazy woman. I have literally spoken to my body when I've been really unwell in bed and I've literally gone to it. Fair play, fair play. I see what you've done here. I see what you've made me do. And em if that's you as well, then let me know, we could be crazy together. um But yeah, I'm just gonna leave that with you because I'm still learning this myself, but it is a lesson for 2025 that rest is as important as work. And if we can all encourage each other to have more restful days as busy entrepreneurs, I think that we would be a lot healthier as people. And to have fun with that, you know, when I talk about rest, I want to talk about having fun as well. You know, have a day where you just go have fun and you know, you don't stress and you don't maybe don't take your phone with you and things like that. So Rest is as important as work. And for me, I'm gonna really try and sort out some of my um mindful stuff going forward. So I'm gonna try and get back into yoga, Pilates, meditation. I really wanna try and do that for 26. So for me, health for 26 is not just gonna be about getting physically fit, it's gonna be about getting mentally fit as well. And I'm really gonna try so hard to really push myself to do that, because it does not come naturally to me. And you know, working out comes naturally to me. I like being fit, but then going and doing mindful work, that's hard for me. So keep me accountable to that one. um And I'll try to keep myself accountable. And then number four is a bit of an interesting one. So number four, had to really think about. So 2025 was a bit of an interesting year for me, if I'm honest with you. How do I explain this? There's been a lot of things that that have come forward within the industry in 2025, where I haven't necessarily liked a lot of the things that I've seen within the industry. I don't particularly like the way that I have been treated or that other people have been treated. And I don't think it's right. And one of the things of my biggest lesson for 2025 is I've written here, your gut instinct is usually right. Because my gut has been screaming at me all year. Like in, in personal life, in business life, my gut has literally been there going, Athena, you are literally ignoring us. Like we're screaming and you can't hear us. And I've ignored my gut on many, many occasions this year. And I went, this doesn't feel right. Something's wrong. Something's wrong. This person doesn't feel right. This environment doesn't feel right. This person, like all of it. And you're probably nodding along going, do you know what, Athena, I ignore my gut too. And do know what? Ladies and gentlemen, let's make a promise to each other to just not ignore our gut going forward because it genuinely usually is right. And there's a gut feeling for a reason. There really is. So I'm going to make a conscious effort going forward to trust my gut, trust my instinct. I would rather be wrong with my gut instinct and, and therefore I'd like to get it wrong and go, I'm really sorry I thought this, but actually this, I'd love to do that. Um, as opposed to the other way around. And also your gut instinct can work in reverse, by the way. You know, if your gut instinct is like, I really like this person, I really can relate to this person, I really like this person's mojo and feeling and whatever it may be, then also lean into that, like lean into that. So when people say to me, I don't know who to work with, I don't know who I want to talk to, I always say, who do you enjoy listening to? Who do you enjoy talking to? Who do you trust? Like it's also about that and trusting your instinct from that perspective. So, you know, your gut instinct is usually right, is number four. And then finally, my favourite one, which I want to leave you all with for your fifth and final lesson for 2025 is, and I've underlined it, only you can make you happy. So only you can make you happy. So this is my takeaway for all of you. This is the year you make you happy. If you're already happy, fantastic, go and make yourself even happier in 2026. All I want for you is happiness, love. greatness. It's all I want right? Actually what I want for you is faith, flow and fun. That is my mantra for 26. That's actually what I want for you. I want you to be in a place of faith, flow and fun. Yeah, FFF. And I want you to make you happy and this is my greatest lesson. I now know that only I can make me happy and If you're in a particular situation, if you're in a relationship, if you're in a joint venture partnership, if you're in a particular structure and you are unhappy, leave. I know that's a very bold thing to say, but leave. Because I'm telling you, you have your whole life ahead of you. Your whole life. And only you can make you happy and only you can be the person who does. what makes you happy. And actually let's reverse this, let's turn this on a really positive, only you can make you happy. um Go and get that deal. Go and do that thing you wanted to do. Go and buy that thing you've been putting off. Go and take that holiday that you've wanted forever. Make yourself happy. Because I'm telling you, life is so short. It is the shortest thing in the entire world. And it's only when really, really big things happen to you that you then change this. And I keep saying to myself, I am not going to wait for the time. when someone close to me leaves or leaves this earth or when I become extremely unwell and really sick to realise that my god now I need to take this seriously now I need to start living my life I refuse to do that I refuse to be that person I'm gonna make that change before any of that happens so and by the way this is the stuff that happens when you start doing like subconscious work so only you can make you happy so go spread your wings be happy and and um just really, really start to think about that. And by the way, just on that, it might be, for example, that you sit there and some of you might say, do you know what, Athena, what does make me happy? Like, do you even know what makes you happy? And if you're sitting there going, hmm, do I know what makes me happy? Then start with the subconscious work because the subconscious work will then let you know what makes you happy or will at least let you know what makes you unhappy. and then you can then take your life from there and it will change your life. So going back over the five things I've learned 2025. Number one, money won't make you happy. Number two, explore your subconscious beliefs. Exploring your subconscious beliefs is what will take you to the next level. Number three is rest is as important as work. Let's do that together everybody. Number four is your gut instinct is usually right. And number five is only you can make you happy. So go spread your wings, have fun. Um, and then just to say once again, so we are going to be back on Monday, the 5th of January for the girls and property podcast. I have absolutely loved receiving all of your messages, all of your DMS, all of your love, everything this year. Um, whether you're at the winter party, whether you're at the annual retreat, whether you're at the summer party, whether you're in the community, I just want to say a huge thank you to each and every one of you. I am sending you all virtual hugs through the screen or through your radio. I hope you can hear me. Radio, how old am I? Bloody hell. Through your earphones. You all mean the world to me, like more than you will ever know. And it has been my privilege to do all of this and the podcast and the community and everything for all of you. So go be your badass selves. Go take 2025, 2026, the year of the horse by storm. If you need to shed anything and to let go of anything for 2025, now is your time. Go shed it, go burn it, go stumping it, do whatever you need to do. Let it go and do not take it into 2026. Just thank you. Thank you everybody. I hope to see so many of you at the annual retreat. That's Friday, 24th of April. DM me the word retreat or go and get the ticket in the bio on Instagram. Um, we've only got fifth, uh, well, be less than that now probably will be limited spaces available because over 50 % went at pre-sale, but we've only got 80 tickets in total just due to venue size. So if you can make it and you're free come, these are the types of conversations I want to have. These are the types of, of environments I want to be in. I want to create meaningful moments. want to have real conversations in this industry. I have so many plans for 26. I'm going to talk to you about in another podcast when I come back on Monday, the fifth. by the way, I'm just gonna say I'm really, really hoping on Monday the 5th of January. What? doesn't know it yet. Haven't told her yet. Now that I'm living at home with mum, I was actually really hoping that I could get mum on the podcast for um January 5th as the first episode back. So DM me and let me know if you'd like the idea of that. She's been on the podcast before, so we'll try it again. But yeah, you all, I know you all have great love for mum. um as I do. um hopefully we can do a podcast together and she can give you a bit of an insight into the craziness of the world and going into 2026. So yeah, so to recap, I'll see you at the retreat Friday, 24th of April. If you're not a member of the community yet, we are now over 120 community members within that, which is incredible. I've got some incredible guests already lined up and I've actually got some new ideas as well for the community. I want to be a lot more interactive, so I'm thinking things like five day challenges and that type of thing. So really, really looking forward to it. And I can't wait to see you all. I can't wait to come back on January the 5th refreshed. But for now, all I'm going to say is, is happy Christmas, happy new year. I hope you will have the most incredible time. Let's take number three and let's go rest for Christmas um after the craziness of everything we got on with Santa and elves and all sorts. But try get some rest and I will see you in the new year, the year of the horse, refreshed, great guests, great um energy that we will bring and frequency. And just know that if you ever need me, I'm always here for you. And we are all in the same boat. Nobody is further along than anybody else. We are all just muddling our way through in the messy middle. And I'm here to support you as best that I can always and bring you on this incredible journey of my development personally and girls. So have an amazing week all of you, sending you loads of love. Take care, speak to you soon, happy Christmas. Bye!