Scaling Therapist 2025 End-of-Year Review
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Introduction
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[00:00:06] James Marland: Hello and welcome back to a special episode of the Scaling Therapist. I am going to do my first annual end of the year show. Always wanted to do an end of the year show. Just collect some moments and memories from the year of 2025.
[00:00:25] And so here I am doing a show. I'm gonna start out, if you're listening to the show, I'm gonna start out with, um, maybe slightly more business related things, and then we're going to move into more personal related things like.
[00:00:39] Book of the Year, tech of the Year, moment of the Year, and, uh, my songs of the year, things like that. So, uh, without further ado, here we go. We're gonna start with the book of the year. I read maybe 40 books this year. Many of them were business books, some inspirational, some spiritual, uh, the books that made it to the [00:01:00] top of the list.
Book of the Year
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[00:01:00] James Marland: Uh, I'm gonna give you some honorable mentions. At the beginning of the year, I read The Mountain As You by Brianna West, and I really enjoyed that book and the introspective nature and the questions that I asked, and thinking about how many of the problems in my life and the barriers I have are.
[00:01:22] Because of myself, the mountain is you. And so I, I really enjoyed that book. I thought that book could probably, could have benefited from reading it in a, with a discussion group of some sort. Uh, my next book was Stories That Sell by Matthew Dix. He's, uh, from the Moss, he did the Moss radio show and, uh, story slam and some other things that he just really.
[00:01:47] Wrote down some excellent advice on how to capture your stories. And I, uh, I try to do the, uh, homework for life that he calls it, where you write down [00:02:00] moments that matter. well I call them moments that matter. He calls 'em story for life. But the moments that matter and trying to capture that five second moment where something changes that connects to people.
[00:02:12] Uh, the big, the big insight from that book was. You can share about your trip to Hawaii, or you can share about your car accident or life changing. You know, medical emergency, but that doesn't always connect you to people because people might not be able to relate to those big splashy action moments or meaningful moments.
[00:02:36] But what they can connect to is the five seconds of realization where something has changed in your heart and mind. And I really just enjoyed that, um, that discussion. The Coaching Habit by Mike Michael Stanier, S-T-A-N-I-E-R was also an excellent book. There were [00:03:00] five, I think, seven questions that he asks, and now I ask.
[00:03:04] Three to four of them every time I do a coaching session. Uh, my favorite, my favorite question is the wrap up question. I think that's question number seven, where it's like, what, what was useful for you? Or what are you taking away from this session? Which really cements the learning for the person, and they get to put the meaning on it.
[00:03:23] And, uh, it's just been a, a wonderful addition to the coaching re repertoire, the top two books of the year. Go Giver. It helps helped me understand the power of being more human, like adding value and respecting other people and just using, just in a world where everything's AI and pressure driven. And what can I get out of you?
[00:03:47] You can be somebody who, who can go and be high achieving, but also a giver. And I really enjoyed that Go-Giver. My but my final, but my book of the year [00:04:00] has to be the Coach Builder by Donald Miller. Uh, it has really impacted how I see building coaching products and coaching platforms and just services and it's, i, it helped me take all the coaching and training that I had been doing over the last several years and really simplify it. Like he really simplified it and gave, um, actionable steps for coaches. So I enjoyed that. All right. Moving on my program of the year.
Program of the Year
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[00:04:30] James Marland: So I, there were three programs, Kajabi D Script, and Canva that I used a ton, ca, let me just say, uh, DS script is my program of the year. D script helps me edit my videos and the audio, and they keep adding why it's number one is they, they keep adding more and more AI services and tools that make it easier and templates that make it easier, and it's now easier to edit the video and make things sound correct.
[00:04:58] It's just a, it's a really, [00:05:00] really good program. Kajabi, maybe two years ago was my number one because they, they did everything that I wanted to for a coaching business, or, uh, I could host my, my courses on there. I have my podcast on there. They, they have been adding AI tools. They have a, a cohort program, a coaching program, a community program webpages, funnels email list, like it, it is full service, but what I don't like is they like jacked up the price again, and I'm just like, uh, they jacked up the price and they added some features kind of behind a paywall.
[00:05:37] I'm just like, well, that's not what, when I signed up, it was buy everything for one lo. Low-ish price or one price that you would've been paying for, you know, an email list, uh, a web podcast, hoster funnels video editing, all that stuff. But I don't know. They raise the price and it just makes me not as [00:06:00] high on what they offer for people who are just starting out.
[00:06:03] For people who have an established coaching business and they wanna go to a full service and remove some programs and streamline some things, yeah. I think that's a very reasonable thing to do, but not for the, the person just first starting out that they're dipping their toes into coaching business.
[00:06:22] And that's when I got Kajabi, I was like, oh, I'm gonna be helping therapists make. Courses and coaching products, and all they'll need is one program. And that is still true, but the cost is now prohibitive and it annoys me. It really annoys me. So Kajabi is still up there. I still use it and I still like it.
[00:06:44] It's just not as high up there. And I chose Canva over Adobe Express for my program or, um, you know, D Descrip as the program, but Canva made the list. Adobe Express is an honorable mention. I kind of [00:07:00] like the layout and the text fields and the templates of Adobe Express. Uh, and it works really well with Kajabi.
[00:07:08] However Canva is just, you know, everybody I work with uses Canva and so I use Canva too, and it, it, uh, it's still very useful. End. Relatively low priced program. So that was Program of the Year, podcast of the year.
Podcast of the Year
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[00:07:28] James Marland: Um, I have three down here. The number three is politics, politics politics by Justin Robert Young.
[00:07:36] What I like about this show is it's. It's uns sensationalized facts. Most of the time. I think he's left-leaning, but he doesn't wear a left-leaning flag. And so it's reasonable and he makes a lot of good points and he brings on guests from both sides. And he [00:08:00] discusses the issues he gives, he gives the news updates, and then they discuss on topics and just in the.
[00:08:07] In the, the world of politics where it's like, who can you trust and who's not sensationalizing things. He was a very good breath of fresh air. And I, when something big happened, I would go and listen to his show to kind of get a, a centralized, balanced perspective that wasn't too far one way or the other.
[00:08:26] So hopefully that's a compliment to him. I really enjoyed his show. Uh, next was, uh, therapy for Your Money with, uh, Julie Harris. Short plug here. I, I edit Therapy for Your Money. I'm the podcast producer and really enjoy that show, but man, I love the energy Julie brings to the topic of accounting.
[00:08:47] Helping private practice owners make money. And I, it's a joy to listen to the episode a couple times as I'm editing it and finding like the right words and the right pictures for the video. [00:09:00] Um, and then writing some of the blog posts and the show notes. It's just a joy because I get to learn about this accounting side and business running side from, from a professional and her team are amazing.
[00:09:14] So, um. I probably, that's my most listened to show because I edit it. But I love it. Like every week. I love listening to that show. And then finally, I have a my number one show, it's an entertainment show, is Film Sack Scott Johnson and his crew from Frog Pants. Frog pants studio or something, frog pants.
[00:09:34] Anyways, they, uh, they produce a show that is, uh, mining the depths of film, entertainment for all mankind, I guess is the tagline. And it's four guys talking about BB plus movies, and they watch a show and they'll talk, talk about it. So we're not talking like Oscar winner movies here. They're, they're, you know, s movies that you might have heard about [00:10:00] with actors that may or may, that you may or may not have heard about. And then they'll talk about, they'll talk about the director, they'll talk about social implications and make jokes. And so I just, I enjoy that show. It's something I look forward to. So that's, uh, film sec.
[00:10:17] All right, we're starting to get into, let's do, uh, a, let's do one more sort of. Sort of, um, businessy one.
Tech of the Year
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[00:10:29] James Marland: My favorite tech of the year was the Sony WH 1000, XM five. It's these headphones, if you're watching the video, the ones I wear, I love them, like they're noise canceling. They're very comfortable.
[00:10:44] I wear headphones maybe six, seven, eight hours a day for. Editing and video and meetings, and I can barely hear what's going outside the room. And they, they sound great. And I don't even use the noise canceling [00:11:00] set all feature all the time. The battery is great. The features are great.
[00:11:05] It's just a it was on the expensive side. I think I got it on sale last year for like two 50. Uh, I think it's 2 99 right now on the Sony site, but, whew. If you love audio and you, you want comfort, and you want something that is well made, sounds great. These Sony, what are they? WH 1000 XM five Noise Canceling.
[00:11:31] Wonderful. Best piece of tech I've bought in a long time, and ICI can't. IWI love wearing them and listening to music. Worst piece of tech. I bought, I bought two things this year mostly, um, and the, it was called the Logitech MX Creative Console, and I thought I would use it. It's a, it's a dial and buttons and you use it for editing and programs [00:12:00] and presentations.
[00:12:01] I haven't used it for presentations and I thought I would use it to edit my. Videos and like make do things quicker and have buttons. But with the shortcuts that I know and how long I've been doing it, it's didn't really save me a lot of time and it wasn't really made for DS script. It was made for some of the other like Adobe products.
[00:12:22] So it's kind of sitting on my desk. It makes me look professional, like it lights up and does neat things, but I'm not use, I'm not using it. So kind of wish I wouldn't have bought that or not bought that yet. Or May, and I'm not gonna switch from D script right now 'cause I have a great, uh, you know, it's my program of the year, so, uh, that's something I wish I would've bought.
[00:12:43] Okay, we're gonna move into my drink of the year.
Drink of the Year
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[00:12:47] James Marland: I had three top drinks of the year coffee, uh, diet Coke, and water. And for this, this year, you know, I do love a good diet Coke and I love my coffee in the morning, [00:13:00] but water. Uh, water wins. Why does water win? Because it keeps me refreshed. The other drinks kind of wear me down a little bit and I, uh, when I drink more water, I get less headaches.
[00:13:14] I don't know if that makes sense to you, but I love a good, refreshing glass of water and we've been putting, um, some. I like ice in mine and maybe some flavored squirty stuff. Flavor mix a little bit, but most of the time just a good glass of water, something I love. So that's my drink of the year.
[00:13:33] My socks of the year.
Socks of the Year
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[00:13:34] James Marland: If you know anything about me, I love I love looking semi-professional. Uh, today I'm wearing my Marvel t-shirt, but. Well, but I, I love looking the part, but I also like having a silly side. So I have socks. I like to buy just fun socks. So my three favorite socks this year, I, um, my camping socks, I bought just, they look like dress socks, [00:14:00] but they have campers and RVs and fires on them.
[00:14:03] And I have a camping group that I go with. And so when I go to their house. They see my socks. They're like, oh, they're camping socks. And everybody loves those socks because it reminds us of the summer, summertime camping. So I have camping socks. They're just blue dress socks, dressy socks with campers on them.
[00:14:19] Then I, I have a wild pair of socks that are like neon green and orange, and they're my Sour Patch kids socks. They get a reaction from my wife, and that's kind of why they're on the list. She doesn't really like them, but she tolerates them. She wishes I would grow up sometimes. So, I just found this out recently that she's not super thrilled with those socks when I wear them to church.
[00:14:41] But but yeah, those Sour Patch kids socks, I really like. I like the reaction I get. And then my favorite, my favorite pair of socks though, which is sort of in the middle between the, uh, sour Patch and the, the camping socks are my Godzilla socks and my Godzilla socks. Have a big picture of Godzilla on the side and.
[00:14:59] [00:15:00] They look like regular socks until you look, you know, you, they go up the leg and there's this giant Godzilla creature. So those are my favorite socks of the year. All right, we're still, we're doing a littles getting sillier here, uh, songs of the year, so I went to iTunes and asked it what I'd listened to this year.
Songs of the Year
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[00:15:19] James Marland: And this, this kind of surprised me. So here, here they are. My number four. Listen to album was the Doom soundtrack. So Doom is a video game and there's this, it's like on the instrumental side, but it's uh, the metal, metal instrumental side. So I guess I listened to that. I I listened to that song 14 times.
[00:15:41] Then there was another video game soundtrack on the instrumental. It was a Di Divinity two, and then when the Superman movie came out, there was a song five years Time by Noah and the whale. That group. And I listened to that 16 times, I guess [00:16:00] when the movie came out, I listened to it over and over again.
[00:16:02] It's the, it's the song where Mr. Wonderful goes to the camp to figure out where Superman went if you saw that movie. So, I just listened to that over and over again. And actually I should have done Movie of the Year. I will do movie of the year. I'm gonna write that down. But Superman was a good movie.
[00:16:19] So, uh, and then. This surprised me because I don't even remember listening to this very often, but I, I have like iTunes and probably all the songs of my eight nineties, eighties, late eighties, early nine, early nineties youth in there. And so there's thousands of songs. But my number one song was, uh, Metallica.
[00:16:47] Sad but True, I. That kinda surprised me. Uh, my album of the year number four was Jack Johnson, uh, sing Along and Lullabies from the film. Curious George. I [00:17:00] really enjoy that, that that soundtrack and Jack Johnson. Then there, there were o soundtracks, soundtracks made the top three. So Star Wars soundtrack the Best Star Wars movie, empire Strikes Back.
[00:17:12] There was the Han Zimmer soundtrack. So he, he's a movie composer and, um, uh, I Bel, oh, I'm gonna, I can't remember all the songs he did, but, uh, I think he did Dune, I think Dune was released, uh, this year or last year. And so I downloaded those songs. So Han Simmer and then the number one was the Doom soundtrack for some reason.
[00:17:37] So that that is there. I have two main two main, uh, sound what are they called? Playlists. I have a rock playlist and an instrumental playlist, and it looks like I played the rock playlist 16,000 minutes in the instrumental playlist, about 10,000 minutes. So that's kind of where that broke out. Let's do [00:18:00] Movie of the year. I went to three or four movies this year. I can only remember the superhero movies. So that's what I'm gonna talk about. I think number, number, um, three was the Superman movie for me. I really enjoyed it. I thought James Gunn did a good job, thought the characters were good.
[00:18:19] The music, of course, was amazing. The story. The villain was kind of weak in my opinion, and it was a little crazy at times, but I enjoyed the, uh, I, I, at least it didn't fall on its face and being embarrassed that meant of a superhero movie. I thought it was capable and I'm looking forward to new things.
[00:18:39] Number, number two was, um, the New Avengers movie. Uh, um, they're not Squadron Supreme. What are they? Uh, uh, the, the one, um, it's the one Marvel movie that I can't remember, so that tells you how good it was. I didn't write it [00:19:00] down, so I'm just spit balling here. But, uh, I thought it was funny. I thought it was funny and good in one of the better Marvel movies in a long time.
[00:19:08] And then number one was Fantastic. Four. I collected fantastic four comic books growing up and I. Uh, the movies in the nineties or early two thousands, um, they, they, I just did not like them. I thought they did Dr. Doom all wrong. That's the villain. If you don't have a good villain, you don't have a good movie.
[00:19:31] And so I just thought he was so, you know, generic villain, one dimensional. So I was just like hoping upon hope that they did something right. And also Galactus the big world eating creature at the end. He, um, he, in the first two movies, he didn't show up. He was like a purple blob or something. It was just embarrassing and just not what you're looking for.
[00:19:55] So this movie did, did okay. Yes, sure. There's some, there's some weak points and [00:20:00] there's some story moments that aren't. Perfect. But it was a good movie. So, um, if you like superhero movies and if you happen to collect Fantastic Four like I did in the uh, eighties, then um, you would en you would definitely enjoy that movie.
[00:20:17] All right, moving before I get to my moments of the year,
Games of the Year
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[00:20:21] James Marland: I have one more kind of silly moment, and that is my, uh, games of the year. I played, uh, on Steam. I played 16 games and fallout four was, uh, 46% of my playtime. And that's because I tried to get all the achievements for that game. I'm not really an achievement hunter for video games.
[00:20:44] I did this time and, uh, and I, I 100% ended it, but it was, it was kind of, grueling and annoying at the end. So Fallout four though was, uh, number [00:21:00] two. Number three for me was a sleigh. The Spire, it's a cheap indie game that you can play it on the steam, you can play it on. The switch, you can play it on the go, you can play it on your phone.
[00:21:11] It's just a card battling deck builder game and it has a lot of replayability. And, uh, there was a mod for it called Downfall. If I downloaded downfall and instead of being the hero, it makes you the villain. Uh, I don't know. It's just a fun, it's a fun game. You can play it for 20 minutes and then put it back in the box and you're done.
[00:21:32] So sleigh the spire was, um, my second video game of the year. And then, um, my game of the year is that I played is something that was released 10 years ago, and that is, uh, my heroes of the storm game. It's a Blizzard entertainment game. It's free to play. I'm a, I'm a budget gamer, so free to play stuff is up my alley.
[00:21:55] And, uh, I play, I used to play that with a bunch of guys for maybe six, [00:22:00] six years. And then the game got stopped getting supported and we kinda lost touch this year. We got back together for a few times and played that game and it was fun and it made me remember some of the, the good times when I was a little younger.
[00:22:13] And so, um, yes, latest heroes of the Storm is a. It's a fun, easy game to pick up. Most of you probably I'm guessing don't listen to the show for my video game recommendations, but you know what the, that's, uh. Maybe you can glean a little bit about my, what I like to do and, um, like I love, uh, strategy and fun, so I try to put that in everything I do.
[00:22:41] Uh, honorable mention before I get to my moment of the year was, um, these toys, you can't see 'em if you're listening to the podcast, but on the, on the YouTube version, I have these, uh, these potted plant buddies. Plant pales, uh, their Legos that I put together. [00:23:00] My son gave them to me for Christmas. And they're gonna go on my bookshelf.
[00:23:05] Uh, but, uh, it's neat. He's 21, not super sentimental, that kid, but, uh, I'm glad, you know, he thought of me, he knew I liked Legos and, uh, he, he put some thought into getting that gift for me. So really appreciate that. That was the gift of the year.
Moment of the Year
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[00:23:22] James Marland: I'm gonna wrap up with my moment of the year. Something that was really surprising to me, uh, for, uh, for about two years, I ran a game of the game of board game night at, uh, local community center, and there. We, we had about five to 10 people at its height and then. During the summer it kind of dwindled off and, and then, um, you know, we didn't have enough people to, to play games for a while, and so I stopped doing it for, for like from winter to winter, so almost a year, like eight months or so.
[00:23:59] [00:24:00] And then I started back up again. I started inviting people over to my house and people are coming and. One of the guys there came over and, uh, he played a, he played some games and the second night he came back he, as we were wrapping up, he's like, you don't know, do you? And I'm like, no, what, what happened?
[00:24:19] And he's like, you know, in between when we had lost touch for six, eight months, his wife died. Uh, his wife had died. I didn't even know. And he was like. I hadn't been going out and doing things, but you kept inviting me and it meant so much that you included me, um, in these things. And this is one of the first things I've done in the last eight months with other people.
[00:24:50] And, um, yeah, it was just a, a really touching moment and you never know who you're gonna impact. You never know. [00:25:00] What your actions are going to do. You never know what people are suffering through, you know, as they're going through. Uh, so, um. He, he was just very appreciative and thankful. So you never know what you're doing.
[00:25:15] You never know what your actions are going to do or how they, they impact people. So I, I ask you to, you know, find ways to reach out to other people and be you know, check in with people, and just include, include people in things. It's, it's tough. The, the world is getting less and less connected.
[00:25:34] People feeling more and more alone. So don't let, don't, if somebody comes to your mind, just reach out to them, talk to them, chat with them. Be a good friend, be a good neighbor, and have a great 2026. This is James for the Scaling Therapist Podcast. We'll see you next year.
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