Ep 067 Who Are You Deciding to Be? Journal Prompts for an Aligned 2026

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In this contemplative New Year episode, Shalvika recaps the rollercoaster that was 2025—from record-breaking business success to the difficult lessons of health and team management. She shares her public commitment to 52 podcast episodes this year and explains her decision to step away from Instagram to cultivate a deeper, more intentional community. This episode is a workshop in disguise, featuring four powerful journal prompts to help you align your identity for 2026.

Key Takeaways:

• Reflection & Recap: 2025 was a year of financial wins but personal health struggles.
• The Pivot: Moving from "Content Creator" to "Identity Alchemist".
• Digital Boundaries: Why Instagram is no longer the primary home for this community.
• Self-Worth Philosophy: Embracing the idea that your life is already abundant, and everything else is just a bonus.

Journal Prompts from this Episode:

1. The Gratitude Audit: How am I already living the life of my dreams?
2. Energy Assessment: What are the top 3 things that have given me joy & energy in 2025? What are the top 3 things that have drained me?
3. The 89-Year-Old Letter: Imagine that you are 89 years old. Write a letter to your present self talking about your biggest focus areas, your greatest achievements and what you have valued so far in life
4. The "BE" List:  List down all the things you want to BE in 2026. Not do, not just goals that you wanna tick. And then make a list of all the beliefs that version of yourself has embraced. That is your identity shift list

Connect with Shalvika: Substack

Transcript

Hello, hello! And welcome to another episode of your Aligned As Fuck Life with Shalvika. Before we dive in further, I want to wish you all a very, very, very, very Happy New Year. I hope you have all of your love, luck, abundance—I hope all your desires come true and you live the most kick-ass year ever.

I know, I know, I’m a little late to the party. It’s already the 27th of January as I am recording this episode. But if you objectively think about it, January 1st is such a random-ass date. Some person arbitrarily decided that this season in the middle of fucking winter, where the entire Earth is supposed to be hibernating, is going to be the start of a year. Anyway, I’m not here to rant.

I wanted to today share with you a few updates, some things that are happening in my world, some things that I feel like you would really, really benefit from knowing. It’s essentially kind of a recap and a 'what is coming for me in 2026' kind of podcast episode. Before I dive into the actual episode, I want to share that this year, I am publicly committing to publishing 52 episodes. I want to publish one episode for every week. Now, will they all come out weekly? I am not sure. Your girl can be a little random, she can be a little all over the place, but you know what? We are embracing all of that this year.

This episode is actually contemplative. I know I’ve said in the episode title this is like a 2025 wrap-up, some journal prompts for 2026, and what to expect. So, that’s exactly what you are going to get from this. This time of the year honestly always makes me pause, reflect, regroup. It makes me take a step back and assess what worked for me, what didn't work for me, what went well, what didn't go well—you know, all of those standard things that every fucking life coach is probably talking about at the beginning of the year.

But today, I’m going to take a unique approach because I’m going to kind of do a recap of 2025 for me, and as I do that recap, I’m also going to leave you with certain journal prompts that you could work through to prepare for your 2026.

What a fucking rollercoaster 2025 was. Like, literal fucking rollercoaster. I’m honestly still processing, still integrating. But 2025 was the year that I made the most amount of money my business has ever seen. 2025 was the year that my one-on-one coaching was completely booked for months. This was also the year that I massively invested in a mastermind, massively invested in myself. I started learning Indian classical vocals—which honestly has been something that I’ve wanted to do for I don't even know how long and that I just kept putting off. This was also the year that I started building my team.

Professionally, this has been an insane year. So, here is the first journal prompt of today’s podcast episode: How am I already living the life of my dreams? I want you to actually sit down and free-write on this. It’s very natural—a super-human thing—to obsess over the things that did not go well. So just take your journal, grab your favorite tea—I’m right now drinking my favorite spearmint tea—and write down: How am I already living the life of my dreams?

Which brings us to the next part: newer levels always bring newer devils. This year, because it was so massive in so many ways, it literally put me through the grinder. 2025 didn’t just give me wins; it dragged me through some of the hardest personal challenges I have faced. Honestly, I’ve struggled with my body and my health. I have fallen sick a lot. I have had PCOS for a very long time, but mostly in 2023 and 2024, my cycles were back on track. But 2025 again dragged me through a lot of these challenges.

I struggled with creating. In the entire year of 2025, I published only five episodes. Now, I know that’s five amazingly insane episodes, but I want to take it back to the basics of keeping those promises to myself. I want to take it back to: What can I do every single day to create, to make art? Whether it’s watercolor, singing, or coloring. I have struggled with my creative expression. And a part of it maybe is because I got busier this year. I worked with many people one-on-one. I had a team that needed my attention. But the thing I really want to build my business on is that it cannot take away from all of the things that give me joy.

I also had to let go of a team member. I have literally never fired anyone that I employed, and it honestly broke my heart a little. It taught me a lot of lessons: someone might feel like a great fit, but that does not necessarily mean that you are walking towards the same goals.

I have had to go through so many identity transformations, guys. I don't think even I have yet been able to wrap my head around how many self-concepts I’ve had to release. Up until like three weeks ago, I was calling it my 'Dark Night of the Soul,' but I think it’s not that. I think everything that goes to shit is actually a redirection.

Which brings us to what is shifting in 2026. One thing I know for sure is that I am making big-ass fucking moves in 2026. I am done shrinking myself on a lot of fronts. One of the decisions as a result of that is that I am taking a break from Instagram. Does that mean I’m deleting my account? Of course not. But I realized that Instagram has been insanely draining for me. I am done creating 15-second videos with the 'perfect hook' and 'retention tactics' and hoping for people to show up for me. I’m no longer available for that game.

I am craving something deeper. I’m craving a community where people actually want to spend time listening, reading, absorbing my work. When I say I’m taking a break from Instagram, I’m also taking a break from it as a consumer. I am now very intentional about who I follow. I have unfollowed most of the business coaches and life coaches I used to follow, and now I am following people who create art, funny stuff, beautiful recipes, or fitness influencers.

Because one thing I realized in these last couple of months is that I am not a 'content creator.' I do have a podcast and a Substack, but that is not who I am primarily. Primarily, I am an Identity Alchemist. It is time that I fully step into that power. The work that I do takes a massive amount of attention and growth, and I don’t want that to be condensed into just 30 seconds.

Journal prompt incoming: What are the top three things that have given me joy and energy in 2025, and what are the top three things that have drained me? These responses don't need to be things you feel you should write; they have to be things that you actually felt.

This brings me to the next part: My health is my number one priority. Mental, physical, emotional, spiritual—all of it. I am no longer available for hustling. I am no longer available to bend my boundaries. I am done with insane diets. I want daily long walks, lakes where I can jump and swim, movement that feels aligned and flowy. I want to nourish my body with wholesomeness and love. I want to dance, sing, sit with mama cacao, journal, and meet new people.

Journal prompt: Imagine that you are 89 years old. Write a letter to your present self talking about your biggest focus areas, your greatest achievements, and what you have valued so far in life. Be honest, be completely fucking transparent with yourself, because this is your space to do that.

The last segment I want to talk to you about is some new ideas about my self-worth. The first idea: My worth is independent of how much I do. Me doing more does not reflect my self-worth at all. I am worthy just as I am. Second: Everything, in every way, is always working out for me. 2025 was the year I got rejected the most, but it was just redirection and data so I could improve myself. Third: My life is abundant just as it is. Anything more that comes my way is a fucking bonus.

Journal prompt: List down all the things you want to BE in 2026. Not a list of goals or things to achieve. Who do you want to be? And then, make a list of all the beliefs that version of yourself has embraced. That is your Identity Shift List.

My word for 2026 is 'Simplify,' but I’m going to record another episode about this. For now, the last question I want to leave you with is: Who are you deciding to be in this year? Let’s fucking go and be that person. Ciao!