The Introvert Leader

I Chose Discomfort Over Comfort. Here's What Happened

• Austin Hopkins

Share episode

For the final episode of 2025, Im reflecting on the moments that defined the year, the wins, the setbacks, and the mindset Im carrying into 2026. The podcast saw incredible growth this year, and it's all thanks to you. 

I'll be back January 7th with a new episode. Have a great Christmas and New Year!



Timestamps:

00:52 – 3 Wins from 2025
Leaning into video, staying consistent, and experimenting with new formats.

02:38 – What Didn’t Go Well
Why living in the future and poor time management almost derailed progress.

3:55 – The Biggest Realization of the Year
It's time to stop playing safe and bring full-strength Austin into the content.

4:52 – My Theme for 2026
Why identifying and staying in your strength zone matters more than ever.

5:42 – Challenge For Listeners
One question to ask yourself as you head into the new year.




Career & Leadership Coaching

  • Want a better career? Clients who work with us earn 57% more and get promoted 3x faster on average: Book your free career clarity call here.


Free Resources

  • The Brag Sheet (free Career Achievement Tracker): Here
  • Take the free Career Fulfillment quiz: Here


Engage

SPEAKER_00:

I said goodbye to my comfort zone in 2025. This year has been super uncomfortable. I tried things that would have scared the shit out of me just 12 months earlier. I kept ignoring that little voice in my head that said, This is too scary. You're gonna look stupid. No one's gonna like this. No one's gonna care. And guess what? I did it anyways. The cost is too high to do the same thing year after year. If I don't constantly push myself, then I'm leaving growth on the table. For my last episode in 2025, I want to do a short reflection of my year. I want to share a couple things I'm proud of, some stuff that didn't go so well, and what I'm focused on for 2026. Hello, this is your host, Austin Hopkins, and welcome to the Introvert Leader Podcast. So to kick things off, I want to share a couple things I'm proud of. I don't know if you're like me, but I'm such a big believer in celebrating your wins. We just don't do it enough. But whenever I slow down and reflect on my achievements, it actually helps my confidence and puts my life into a better perspective. I'm building a brand and a business in public as an introvert. This is challenging, but the wins from this year allow me to see the path and where I'm going. So the first thing I'm proud of is leaning into video. I'm excited to share that I grew my YouTube channel by 660% since I started in February. And this was my biggest focus for 2025. And I'm really proud of the growth. Now it was hard and uncomfortable, and especially because 90% of the advice online doesn't apply to me. Most of the advice is to chase virality and trends and do what everyone else is doing, but that just doesn't apply to me in my style. The second thing I'm really proud of is consistency. I never missed a release date, even when stuff got tough. Even when I was injured, even when I got sick or we had deaths in the family, it didn't matter because I showed up every week and grew my podcast followers by 50%. And I was able to grow my downloads by 35% this year. I'm really proud of the growth. And honestly, you know, when you don't have a boss and you're doing it yourself, sometimes it's hard to stay motivated, but I'm really proud of the consistency this year. The last thing I'm really proud of is experimentation. I know the only way to find out what works is to experiment. So that's what I did this year. I tried new formats like a QA series. I tried recurring series like the confidence blueprint. And I even did some weird, kind of more fun episodes like my office episode. And finally, I started posting on TikTok. Who would have thought I'd be a TikTok star? Well, not a star, but I did start posting there. When I look back at the year, those are the things that I think stand out, the things that really make me feel proud and feel like I'm I'm moving towards the right direction. Now, no year's perfect, and I want to share some of the stuff that could have gone better. So the first thing that I think didn't go so well this year was I spent more time than I'd like to admit living in the future instead of the now. So during the year, I caught myself wishing for things to happen sooner than they were happening. So for example, I wanted my YouTube growth to be faster than it was, right? I was able to grow, but not as fast as I had originally thought. And during those moments, I had to remind myself that I chose a slower path. I don't chase virality or trends, and that means growth is slower. I think the next thing I struggled with is time management. I struggle with procrastination, like you wouldn't believe. Honestly, this puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on me. And this year I struggled to record content as early as I'd like. So there are plenty of times where it's the day before something's coming out and I'm still scrambling trying to figure stuff out. And I don't like that. And here's the truth: I know that if nothing changes, I could still put out high quality content, but my quantity is suffering. And honestly, I might even be able to get better quality content if I have better processes in place. So here's my thing: no more waiting for the last minute or hoping the pressure will help. That's what I've done in the past. And at this point, I can't let this habit hold me back anymore. I have too much at stake. If I want to grow this channel, if I want to grow my podcast and all the different areas of my business, I have to lean into better processes. When I look back at my 2025, and I think back to one moment when I had my biggest revelatory idea. And here's the truth: I need to bring more of the full strength Austin into my content. So I reviewed my podcast episodes over the year, all of my content. And while I'm super proud of it, I feel like it was great. I also feel like I can bring more of my personality into my content. This takes time. This is not something you're naturally comfortable with, being on camera, recording yourself, and being the same self that you would be in your public persona as you would in your personal life, but it takes time. And in my personal life, I love to have fun and be goofy. And people resonate with that authenticity. I realize that people might trust me, but if they can't truly feel who I am, then they're never gonna fully buy in. And so I have to stop playing safe and being professional all the time. And I have to bring more of the weird Austin to you all. And that's what I'm gonna be keeping in the back of my mind as I continue to create content in 2026. Now, I'm not one for making year and goals for the next year. I feel like it's a little cliche, but what I am a big fan of is setting an intention and putting an intentional focus on something and a theme, if you will, for my next year. So my focus for 2026 is gonna be really simple. Continue to refine and identify my highest value. I can't afford to spend time on the things that don't excite me or tap into my highest value. I've spent too many years focusing on things that don't excite me and it's a waste. And even if it's stuff I'm okay at, I have to spend time in my strength zone. So here's some of the questions that I'm gonna be asking myself over the next couple of weeks. What am I best at? What takes little effort but produces big results? What gives me energy instead of taking it? And maybe that means hiring help or getting rid of stuff that doesn't serve my highest value. I'm gonna have to keep thinking through those things. That's really my vision for 2026, continuing to lean into my highest value. Before I wrap up this last episode of 2025, I want to give you a quick challenge. I want you to do me a favor and I want you to ask yourself this one question as you reflect on your 2025. Did this year get you closer to where you want to be in five years? If the answer is no, I want you to write down one thing that you're not bringing into the new year. If the answer is yes, I want you to double down, baby. I want you to continue to do the things you like, continue to do the things that bring value to others, that serve others. And I want to close up by saying this year was awesome, and you're a big reason why. Your views, your comments, your shares, all of it is amazing. For an introvert to feel this love from around the world is kind of amazing. And truly I appreciate you. And I want to say thank you so much for listening. Make it a great year. This has been the Introvert Leader Podcast. Subscribe for new episodes every other Wednesday.

Contributor

Austin Hopkins

Host