It's not what you think - Why 2026 Will Be My Year of Clarity, Strategy & Rebellion
“Sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just show up.” - Brené Brown.
Well hello....
I’ve finally got my backside into gear and set up my blog. For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved to write, in fact, I’ve probably had more blogs than cups of Yorkshire tea over the years (and that’s saying something, as we do love a brew in Yorkshire). All focused on different themes, reflecting different chapters of my life.
But this time feels different.
I decided to begin this blog with an honest reflection piece. Yes, it’s connected to business, but it’s also about why I haven’t been writing this year. Because if I’m completely truthful… there were times when I was simply hanging on.
This year has been full. Full of change, loss, challenge, and unexpected turns. If I wrote it all down in detail, it could probably fill a book, but that’s not the point of this post. I’m writing now because as we bring 2025 to a close, it feels like a pivotal moment to pause… and begin again. And, write again.
I believe deeply that people buy into people, and that we naturally work with others when the timing is right. So this first post isn’t just to launch my blog, it’s an invitation. A chance to connect more honestly, to get to know me on a deeper level, and to show you where my work is heading next.
If parts of this resonate with you, I hope it reminds you that you’re not alone.
And if it sparks something in you, perhaps that’s exactly why you found it.
So here we go…
🌿 What 2025 Taught Me And Why 2026 Will Be Led by Clarity, Strategy & Rebellion
2025 has not been an easy year. It wasn’t clean. It wasn’t linear. It certainly didn’t unfold the way I thought it would. Messy is quite honestly an understatement.
But it has been one of the most important years in both my business and my life — not because I got everything right… but because this year showed me what matters most:
⚪ Clarity before action
⚪ Energy before expectation
⚪ Alignment before income
⚪ Boundaries before burnout
This year brought business lessons, spiritual lessons, and deeply human ones, all filled with pathos. I lost loved ones. I heard the word cancer far too many times. It shook me, to my core. And as difficult as it was, it reminded me of something powerful:
Sometimes life just… lifes.
And we must learn to be flexible, allow more grace, and keep going gently.
I’ve learned resilience. I’m learning that strength doesn’t always mean pushing through. Sometimes it means allowing myself to pause and realising:
There’s still time, and there’s still space.
At times my business felt like it was standing still. Emotionally, I was vacant for the first three months of the year, following three family deaths, including both of my grandads, the last of my grandparents. Strategy went out of the window, and for the next three months I felt like I was constantly catching up. (I now know different, of course.)
Business Lessons: What 2025 Taught Me
This year I worked with a wide range of clients, and each one helped shape my next chapter.
✨ Clients I Won’t Work With Again Taught Me:
Never hold space without a contract or payment in place
If it’s not aligned from the start, it won’t magically align later
My value lies in clarity, structure and strategic thinking — not just admin
Ethics matter — I don’t chase clients or act on someone’s behalf
Boundaries protect everyone — if they’re unclear, business becomes heavy
✨ Clients I Would Work With Again Reminded Me:
Clarity sessions can shift lives and businesses
Strategy can feel calm and empowering
Neurodivergent clients thrive with visual tools and flexible delivery, and that’s where I do my best work
Progress doesn’t need to be rushed, it can be built wisely
The right clients can become collaborators… even friends
Some clients found me through networking. Others through referrals.
And some, especially the clarity seekers, began with a single sentence:
“I know I need change. I just don’t know where to start.”
That became the catalyst for the work I love most.
The Turning Point And the Birth of The Rebel Mandala™
2025 taught me this:
My work isn’t just admin.
It isn’t just planning.
It isn’t just strategy.It’s calm clarity, structured creativity, and space for alignment and rebellion.
That’s how The Rebel Mandala™ was born
my new guiding framework for 2026 and beyond.
At the centre of it sit four words, my compass:
Clarity | Strategy | Rebel | Alignment
From these, each offer found its natural place within The Rebel Business Method™:
Rebel Align™ sessions
1:1 & group accountability calls
Automate & Om™ (systems & support)
Alignment Membership — a nervous-system-safe structure (more soon)
Rebel UK & EU Retreats
Thought leadership & bold business pivots
This isn’t just a rebrand, it’s the integration of everything I’ve ever done well.
It’s structure with soul. Strategy with humanity.
All shaped by business lessons, career experience, social psychology… and yes, a bit of woo mixed with a whole lot of logic.
2026: What I’m Building
After everything this year has “gifted” me, I don’t feel called to rush into 2026 with declarations or big plans.
What I do feel is this:
2026 doesn’t need to be busier.
It needs to be clearer.
It needs to be gentler. The wading-through-treacle era is officially over.
It needs to be built from alignment, not urgency.
I will continue to support women through Rebel Align™ sessions and strategic guidance, but I’ll also be creating spaces where business feels calm, collaborative and regulated.
Because I’ve learned this:
clarity isn’t always loud.
Sometimes it arrives after grief.
Sometimes after exhaustion.
And sometimes after simply admitting that pushing isn’t working anymore.
So I’m not entering 2026 with force.
I’m entering it with grounded feet and a hopeful heart.
And if life has tested you this year too, I want you to know:
There is still time.
There is still space for you.
And you’re allowed to build a life and business that supports your nervous system, not fights it.
That’s what I’m choosing.
That is what 2026 will be for me:
clarity, alignment, rebellion, and a teensy bit of grace. I will move as quickly as life will allow, because I have a vision of what I want Rebel Business Method™, a holistic pathway
A Final Note on Grace & Flexibility
I entered 2025 thinking I’d sprint.
Instead, I was taught to walk, and sometimes limp or crawl, differently.
After three family deaths, multiple health scares and the heaviness of life happening all at once, I finally realised:
✨ It’s okay to move more slowly
✨ It’s okay to rebuild gently
✨ It’s okay to change direction
✨ It’s okay to want more, without burning out
Sometimes life just lifes.
And when it does, you’re allowed to pause… reflect… and return with more clarity than before.
This is what I’m choosing in 2026.
A return to clarity, structure, alignment… and rebellion the kind that frees you.
I’m ready to build from this place.
And if you’re feeling the pull too… you’re welcome to walk with me.
The doors to 2026 are open.
Visit Rebel Align
With clarity, grace and belief in your next chapter,
Nikkola
Founder of Rebel Business Method™
The Rebel Mandala Framework™ | NikCollab
