When Your Year Burns Down: How to See It as a Clearing

When the year you planned turns into a year of things falling apart, it may not be failure. It may be a clearing. That is what I have come to believe about 2026, and I think some of you are living your own version of it.

What happens when the year you planned burns down?

When the Year of the Fire Horse started in February, I was so excited I could barely stand it. Fire Horse energy is bold, unstoppable and blazing forward, and I was ready to ride that wave straight through 2026 with momentum.

Here is what actually happened: things burned down. Not the blazing-forward kind of fire I was expecting, but the kind that strips things away. Plans I had made. Expectations I was holding onto. Versions of my life I thought were permanent.

If you have had a year where what you expected is nowhere close to what happened, you know this feeling. I sat with it for a while, honestly a little bitter. I signed up for fire horse energy and got a raging wildfire instead. Where was the bold momentum? Why did everything feel like it was rearranging instead of accelerating?

How does the snake year connect to the fire horse year?

Then I started thinking about last year. 2025 was the Year of the Snake, which is about shedding: letting go of what no longer serves you and peeling back the layers of who you used to be. I did a lot of that last year, even if I did not call it that at the time.

Here is what I think is happening in 2026. The snake year shed what did not serve us. The fire horse year is burning away what is left: the things that survived the shedding but still needed to go. Things we were holding onto out of comfort, habit or fear. Plans that looked good on paper but were not aligned with where we are actually headed.

Is a hard year a sign that something went wrong?

Not necessarily. Fire does not only destroy. Fire clears and makes room. What is meant to be there grows back stronger than before.

You might be in your own fire season right now, with things falling apart, plans changing and life looking different than you thought it would by this point in the year. It is tempting to see that as failure. What if nothing is going wrong? What if this is the clearing?

What does a clearing make room for in 2027?

I do not know exactly what 2027 looks like yet. I just know that the things that have burned down were not supposed to come with me into 2027. They needed to go so that whatever comes next has room to land. When I get there, I want to be lighter, clearer and more aligned than I have ever been. 2027 is the Year of the Fire Goat. I do not know what that means yet, but I am going into it with clean ground and zero dead weight.

What should you ask yourself right now?

Here is the question I am sitting with: What has burned down this year that you are starting to realize might have needed to go? What space has opened up that you have not filled yet?

Frequently asked questions

What is the Fire Horse year?

In this article, 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse, which I expected to bring bold, unstoppable, blazing-forward energy.

What does it mean to be in a fire season?

A fire season is a stretch when plans change, things fall apart and life looks different than you thought it would. Instead of treating it as failure, you can ask whether it is clearing away what no longer fits.

How is the snake year different from the fire horse year?

The snake year, 2025, was about shedding what did not serve you. The fire horse year is burning away what survived the shedding but still needed to go.

If you are clearing space and thinking about what to build next, learn more about Built to Acquire, my three-month group program.