Every year around this time, we talk about intentions. What we want to do differently, where we want to grow, and who we want to become.
But I’ve discovered that lasting change doesn’t always begin with action. It can begin with perception.

The way we see our lives shapes what feels possible and what we believe we’re allowed to choose. Before habits shift or goals take form, something else often happens: our lens changes.

As I look toward 2026, the lens I’m choosing is freedom.

It’s not the traditional kind of freedom that may come to mind.
But a deeper, steadier freedom—one that lives on the inside.

Freedom, Reimagined

I used to think that freedom was something you had to earn and didn’t belong to everyone equally. I thought maybe someday I’d feel the sense of freedom that I hope to feel. It’s only recently that I have discovered that freedom is totally available to me right now at any given moment.

What I’m learning now is:
Freedom isn’t something we need to strive for. It’s something we practice while life unfolds.

For me, freedom isn’t about having fewer responsibilities or more control.
It’s about releasing the old beliefs that quietly shape our choices every day. And about exercising the freedom to choose differently, and to see things differently.

I want to take a look at different types of freedom that come to mind.

Emotional freedom

Over this past year, I really noticed how much my emotions are actually informed by emotional inheritance.

And I know that something people may be familiar with, but for me, it came as a shock to realize how much of the past (and not even my past – my inherited past!!) I’ve been carrying it into my present life.

2025 taught me that it’s possible to be free of all the past layers of EMOTIONAL patterns that have imprinted my lens (go deeper on this here), and I can actually create and build the emotional world I live in. And that is freedom.

Through the lens of freedom, I’m also learning:

Freedom begins when we realize we can witness without carrying.
When we can observe patterns without stepping inside them. (This one is big for me!)
We welcome clarity instead.

This kind of freedom is truly liberating. I’ve tasted it! But in 2026, I want more.

Freedom of Choice

I’ve noticed there is a quiet power in choosing—slowly, consciously, and without apology.

I love this idea.

In 2026, freedom looks like:

• choosing where my energy goes
• choosing fewer, truer commitments
• choosing rest without justification
• choosing to pause before responding

Instead of feeling, in a way, trapped by what’s going on around me, I realize that at any moment I can choose where I want to focus my energy and attention.

This isn’t about detachment.
It’s about discernment.

Freedom lives in the space between stimulus and response—the moment where we remember that we are allowed to decide. (I’m LOVING this!!!)

Freedom of Expression

This has been a big one for me in my most recent chapter of coaching and having an online platform. I realize that I can just say whatever I feel and not worry so much about how other people perceive it. That’s something I’m actually really proud of.

One of the most subtle cages we live in is the need to manage other people’s perception of us.

To explain ourselves.
To shape-shift in order to belong.

Through the lens of freedom, I’m releasing the need to micromanage my message.
I’m trusting that resonance matters more than reach—and that the right people recognize when it’s spoken clearly.

Freedom, here, feels like creative transparency.
Like letting my work, and my words, stand as they are.

Freedom in Relationship

This may be the most meaningful freedom of all.

To me, it’s being able to love people in a way that’s comfortable for me. Feeling like I can show up honestly without feeling responsible for everyone else’s emotions. Experiencing the freedom of just being myself, feeling my feelings, and living my life is truly thrilling.

Freedom in a relationship doesn’t mean distance.
It doesn’t mean withdrawing or protecting myself behind walls.

It means staying connected without self-abandonment.

To me, this looks like:

• compassion without over-giving
• boundaries that feel natural instead of defended
• love that doesn’t require disappearance

Through this lens, freedom becomes relational maturity—the ability to remain present, loving, and sovereign simultaneously.

What I’m Releasing as I Step Into 2026

I’m letting go of:

Emotional baggage that never belonged to me in the first place.

Roles that once kept me safe but now keep me small.

Responsibility for other people’s emotional state.

What’s replacing them is something quieter—but far more powerful: inner spaciousness.

An Invitation for You

As you look toward the year ahead, I invite you to ask yourself:

What would feel freeing to release before I step into this next chapter?
And what kind of freedom am I actually craving—external, or internal?

Because I think the most profound freedom isn’t found in changing everything around us.
It’s found in changing the lens through which we see what’s already here.

In 2026, I’m choosing to see my life through the lens of freedom.

What about you?

Please let me know in the comments below.