From Snake to Horse: Shedding, Learning, and Moving Forward

I don’t follow astrology or moon cycles, but the symbolism of the Chinese Zodiac—from the Year of the Snake (2025) to the Year of the Horse (2026)—was too fitting not to pause and reflect on.

The Year of the Snake is associated with wisdom, patience, internal growth, and shedding what no longer serves us. It’s about slowing down, looking inward, and learning—sometimes quietly, sometimes uncomfortably.

As we move from one year to the next, it’s natural to reflect on both our achievements and our disappointments. Ideally, we use both to become better versions of ourselves in the year ahead.

While I accomplished more than I initially realized (as I shared in my December 18 blog), I was also aware of what didn’t happen. There were goals I didn’t reach and expectations I had to release. And honestly, I was ready to leave some of those “failures” behind.

But I also recognize that 2025 was a year of learning.

I read more business books in one year than I had in the previous decade. I learned to meditate and journal, practices that taught me patience and helped me understand myself more deeply. I learned how to let go of things I couldn’t control. And even when I had to let go of the same thing multiple times, I learned that practicing “letting go” is still progress. Sometimes it really is about learning to let them.

Shedding can take many forms.

• We can shed physical things—clothes we no longer wear or items sitting untouched in storage.

• We can shed theoretical things—habits that no longer serve us or strategies that simply didn’t work.

• And perhaps most difficult of all, we can shed emotions—self-doubt, regret, or sadness that quietly take up space in our minds.

Those emotions are often the hardest to release. Even when we meditate, reflect, and give ourselves permission to move on, they have a way of slithering back into our subconscious. But awareness matters. Each time we notice them and choose differently, we create a little more room to grow.

Once we shed what wasn’t working—and what we cannot control—and lean into what we learned, we open ourselves up to the Year of the Horse.

The Horse symbolizes energy, independence, confidence, and forward momentum. It represents ambition and a willingness to take bold steps, especially after a season of introspection.

I’m genuinely excited about what 2026 holds. I’ve already set ambitious goals that include writing a book, launching a TikTok channel, creating more video content, expanding my speaking opportunities, and continuing to build my business into a thriving operation.

Not so ironically, I was born in the Year of the Horse.

Many of its traits describe me almost perfectly. I’ve been called the Energizer Bunny more times than I can count. I’m fiercely independent, sometimes to a fault, and I rarely sit still. Last Friday, I spent hours working on a 1,000-piece puzzle, doing almost nothing else. I honestly can’t remember the last time I experienced that much stillness in a single day. It felt like a gift.

But true to form, I was ready to take on the world the very next day and didn’t slow down until the holiday decorations were put away, the dogs were walked, the house was organized, and I’d squeezed in a few games of pickleball.

That’s the energy I plan to carry with me into 2026.

And remember that book I mentioned? It will focus on mindset. How we move through challenge, how we let go, and how we create forward momentum with intention.

More to come on that soon. And if you have a story about overcoming a challenge or finding success through focus and mindset, I’d love to hear it. Let’s make time to talk in 2026.

Your story matters.

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If you’re ready for clarity in your business or career, email me at doris@dunnwise.com, reach out via DM, or visit dunnwise.com to learn more about coaching, speaking, and training.

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