New year energy is usually about what we are chasing next. In this episode of Rigour & Flow, we slow that impulse down and start 2026 by asking, “What are we leaving behind in 2025?”

After an intense year of work, production, learning curves and hard lessons, we wanted something lighter for this conversation. The result is a mix of reflection and a lot of laughter, alongside some seriously important focus points as we step into the year ahead for Rigour & Flow, AiAi Studios, as well as Roots & Rigour.

We launched into our on-mic reflections without comparing notes at all for this one - each of us sharing five things we are consciously putting down as we enter into a year we both want to feel totally different from that last!    

Aiwan reflects on leaving behind the misused word “talent” in the creative industries, exploring how it enables poor behaviour, while erasing the intense work of entire teams. She speaks about productivity systems that promised balance, but only delivered pressure, pain and anxiety. And finally, the cost of allowing other people’s visions to dominate her time, energy and creative life.

Tamanda reflects on entering public-facing work after years in academia and the shock of navigating online hostility and automated culture war commentary. She talks about funding applications, funding rejections, the need to centre realism, and the difference between backing yourself and building expectations on timelines you do not control.

Together, we unpack over-functioning, the consequences of straying out of our lanes, underestimating the labour behind the scenes in creative work, and the subtle ways self-abandonment often masquerades as dedication.

We close with reflections on choosing to trust our experience and instinct more this year, planning for guilt-free rest, living truthfully and outline some simple decisions we have made to build a work and life balance that can be sustained.

🎧 In this episode:

• The misuse of “talent”: How creative industries blur the lines of contributions, empower poor behaviour, and overlook collective effort
• Productivity promises and personal cost: Systems that claimed balance but delivered anxiety, rigidity and rebellion
• Wasted social media arguments: Navigating public commentary spaces, automated hostility, and why not every comment deserves a response
• Optimism and timelines: Funding hopes, rejection, and learning the difference between backing yourself and just getting your hopes up too early
• Over-functioning and reciprocity: The hidden costs of filling the gaps others leave behind because you are a high performer
• Staying in your lane: Underestimating creative processes, straying into everything, and learning to respect and trust others’ expertise
• Self-care as infrastructure: The importance of planning rest, nourishment and recovery before crisis hits

🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xuvHT96FGeY

🔁 Share with someone choosing differently this year

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