Grounded Confidence

19: Two Powerful Questions to Reflect and Celebrate Your 2024

• Episode 19

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Year-end reflection and celebration are rituals I hold close to my heart—and for good reason. In this episode, I share the two simple yet powerful questions I ask myself (and my clients) every year to spark growth, gain clarity, and build momentum for the year ahead. 

I'll walk you through my own biggest accomplishment and lesson from 2024, how I strengthened my self-worth muscle, and why direction matters more than hustle. If you're ready to celebrate your wins, learn from your lessons, and set the stage for an extraordinary 2025, this episode is for you!

  • Coco Duan helps High-Achieving yet Self-Doubting women executives build their Grounded Confidence to become unstoppable in achieving their goals.


  • For VIP, step-by-step, systematic support, apply now for Coco's transformative "Build Your Grounded Confidence" VIP Coaching Program.
    This is your chance to work directly with Coco and unlock the tools, strategies, and mindset shifts you need to thrive. Once you apply, Coco will personally reach out to invite you to a free consultation call to explore how this program can help you achieve your goals.


  • I’m offering a Free 45-Minute Consultation Call to explore how I can guide and support you in creating the life you truly desire.

👉 Email me at Coco@CocoDuanCoaching.com with the subject line: “Consultation.”





Year-end review and celebration are something I value deeply. 

It’s a ritual I practice myself and with all my clients. 

Why are they so essential? 

First: Review is an opportunity to reflect.

Because we don’t learn from our experiences. We learn from reflecting on them. 

Reflection is the seed of growth; without it, we repeat, but with it, we evolve.

Through reflection, we gain clarity; through clarity, we find direction.  

Isn’t that what we want? Not just to rinse and repeat, but to learn, grow and evolve. 

2nd: Celebration. Celebration is just as vital. For me, it was an underdeveloped muscle. Maybe for you too? 
I didn’t use to celebrate myself at all. Growing up in an Asian culture where humility was paramount, I internalized the belief that celebrating myself equaled complacency. My parents never celebrated me, so I didn’t think it was necessary. 

In recent years,  I’ve learned how powerful celebration can be. 

When you celebrate your wins—big or small—you activate the reward center of your brain, releasing dopamine, the feel-good hormone. Dopamine fuels motivation. Motivation leads to action. Action creates movement. And movement builds momentum.

Do you want more motivation in your life? Then make celebrating yourself a regular practice.

In summary, Year-end review and celebration help you:

  1. Cultivate growth.
  2. Gain clarity on your direction.
  3. Increase motivation.

To guide your reflection and celebration, here are two simple yet powerful questions:

  1. What’s your biggest accomplishment this year? And why? 
  2. What’s the biggest lesson you learned this year?

Now, let me share my answers to inspire your own reflection and celebration.

Welcome back to Grounded Confidence. 

I’m Coco Duan, a former Fortune 500 senior executive turned life coach. 

I empower successful yet self-doubting women executives to build Grounded Confidence from the inside out so they become unstoppable in achieving their goals.

If you haven’t already, hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss any future episodes. 

What’s my biggest accomplishment and why? 

This year, I experienced significant growth in my self-worth. 

What is self-worth? Self-worth is the internal sense of being good enough and worthy of love and respect. That’s the foundation of building grounded confidence. 

For me, I started to believe that -  I deserve the best- and no more settling for less. 

This shift has elevated both my personal and professional life. 

As a recovering people pleaser, I had a tendency to put others’ needs, wants, and feelings ahead of my own. I struggled to say “no.”

It’s that nagging feeling—you know something bothers you, like when someone is consistently late or promises to do something but doesn’t follow through.

Yet, you make excuses for them because you don’t want to hurt their feelings, or you worry about what they might think of you.

The result? I was left feeling unfulfilled, unsatisfied, and quietly resentful.

I’ve been working on changing this pattern for years. This year, I made significant progress. 

It started with this experience with my realtor: 

Earlier this year, I decided to downsize and rent out my house and hired a realtor - George  - from my business networking group. He came highly recommended, seemed driven, and started with enthusiasm. He told me, “You have a beautiful house at this amazing location. I will give you regular updates and deliver the best service, and we’ll rent it out quickly.” 

The first couple of weeks went fine. He got it photographed and listed quickly. 

Then, I didn’t hear from him until I reached out to him. There was no proactive communication, weekly updates, or even updates after potential tenants viewed the house, until I asked. 

After a few weeks with little traction on the house, I had to ask him, “Looks like there’s not much traction. Shall we lower the price?”. He said, “Oh yes, that’s a good idea. We should.” What?! That was something he should have advised me proactively. 

I was very disappointed and knew his lack of following through, to me, it was lack of integrity that didn’t align with my values or meet my standards. 

Yet, the people pleaser in me started whispering, “Am I asking too much? Everyone else seemed to be happy with him. What will others think if I fire him? And it’s going to be really uncomfortable to have that conversation with him. I don’t want to do it. ” 

I debated internally for days. I had to get some coaching on this. My coach helped me find clarity and courage to take action and stay true to myself, and reminded me that “I deserve the best. No more settling.” 

When I finally called him, my palms were sweaty, and my heart was racing. 

Looking back now, it sounded funny. But that was me - just a few months ago. 

The result? I hired a new realtor who exceeded my expectations; the experience was seamless, and the house was rented out quickly.

More importantly, I felt empowered. I realized that the fear was all in my head, and I had the power to change it. 

That experience strengthened my self-worth muscle. Soon after, I got more opportunities to flex and build it even further. 

I fired my book editor for similar reasons and joined a high-quality writing program instead.

I said "no" to networking groups, speaking programs, and business partnerships that didn’t align with my values or goals.

Each time, it got easier and easier. 

I learned to prioritize my needs, wants and desires without any guilt. Because “I deserve the best. No more settling.” 

Today, I feel truly proud of the progress I’ve made. I’m patting myself on my back, saying, “Great job, Coco. I’m proud of you.” 

What I learned:  

You are what you tolerate

You are what you settle for  

You are what you hold onto 

If you tolerate mediocrity, you become mediocre. But if you refuse to settle, you elevate every aspect of your life.

It all starts with believing you deserve the best. That belief builds self-worth, which in turn builds confidence—and ultimately transforms your life.

The 2nd question - what’s the biggest lesson I learned this year?

The biggest lesson I learned this year - Direction before Action. 

This year, I learned the importance of gaining clarity on direction before diving into action. 

Earlier this year, before I understood who my ideal clients were and developed my strategy for reaching them, 

I went all in execution mode  - attending tons of networking events, running workshops, and hosting seminars. A lot of hustling. 

Essentially throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck. 

While I gained valuable experience, most of the people I reached weren’t aligned with my offerings. 

Many lacked the growth mindset or resources to invest in coaching. 

The ROI on my efforts was low. I was busy but not effective. 

Looking back, I see that taking more time upfront to clarify my direction would have saved time and energy and generated better results. 

What I learned: 

Before diving into the deep end, decide if it’s the right pool you want to dive in. 

This applies to more than business, it’s true for relationships, careers, and other life priorities. 

As I’ve seen with the successful women executives I coach, their work ethic is unparalleled. They give 120% to everything they do.

But that work ethic is a double-edged sword.

When directed toward the right goals, it leads to rapid success.
When misaligned, it leads to burnout.

A bit of intentional reflection upfront can make all the difference.

While looking ahead to 2025, I would challenge you to take some time to clarify your direction before taking action. 

A powerful question to ask yourself is - If I could achieve only three things in 2025, what would they be? 

Now it’s your turn:

  1. What’s your biggest accomplishment and why?
  2. What’s the biggest lesson you learned this year?

Take a few minutes to reflect. Then, celebrate yourself. Say it out loud, “Great job, [Your Name]. I’m proud of you.”

Let these insights fuel your motivation and set the stage for an even more impactful year ahead.

I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to share your answers with me—I’d be honored to celebrate and reflect alongside you!

If this podcast resonates with you, I’d love your support. Leave a 5-star rating and review, and share it with other women executives who could benefit from building Grounded Confidence. Your support means a lot to me! 

Ready to take the next step? Discover my VIP Breakthrough Coaching Program, designed to help successful yet self-doubting women executives embrace their true selves, act with courage, and become unstoppable in achieving their goals. Visit CocoDuanCoaching.com to learn more and start your transformation today. 

Until next time, remember to be kind to yourself.