Empowerment Hacks: Phoenix Rising
- JM Balbuena

- Dec 1, 2025
- 3 min read

Nothing measures your strength like starting over. Whether after taking a loss, heartbreak, failure, it is never an easy feat. And within the silence of that new beginning one can realize a sacred truth: You are still here. Which ultimately means you’re still in the game.
To most people, hitting rock bottom is the end. But for the empowered? It’s the clean slate. The canvas I mentioned on the first blog. After plenty of trial and error experiences, I've come to realize it’s that rare moment in which the universe resets, and you’re invited to paint. It is up to us to pick up the paint brush and decide if it will be something wildly better than what existed before.
That’s what 2025 was for me. A year of redirection, unbecoming, and becoming. A year where I learned that just because something comes to an end, I don't have to feel less than or like a failure. After all was said and done during the "silence", I heard a voice within telling me "the comeback is stronger when you rise as the version of yourself you always knew you could be, but were too busy surviving to become". I held onto that (delulu or not), and I never looked back.
The Strategy
In society, people romanticize the stay-down-til-you-glow-up story. But the glow-up isn’t accidental. It’s strategic. Even more so, it is intentional. It happens when you choose to become someone new. And when you do it with conviction, when you start writing your next chapter before anyone else even realizes the book flipped pages, something magical happens.
Let Me Reintroduce Myself:
This is the version of me I’m stepping into in 2026:
Who she is: PHOENIX RISING
She’s a woman who walks into rooms like she belongs there, and the room acts accordingly..
She’s leading and positively impacting. Whether it's personal, business, traveling the world, or creative disruption, she’s ahead of the curve. She’s built empires that reflect her values. Her presence commands respect.
She’s financially fierce, emotionally grounded, spiritually aligned, and joyfully in love with her life, her partner, and her purpose.
She’s the blueprint.
She’s the quiet in a loud world. The focus in a distracted one. She’s not proving anything. She always acts from a place of love.
What Changed?
The redirection. The rejections. The reality checks. The gut punches. The doors that slammed. The ones that quietly creaked open when no one was watching. I stopped waiting and started creating. I went all-in on myself and my intuition.
And now? I pledge to:
Only build what nourishes me.
Only engage where I’m valued.
Only accept what feels aligned.
And to make room for nothing less.
2026: We’re Not Starting Over, We’re Starting Wiser
Let this be your sign to let go of the version of you that’s still explaining, defending, overgiving, shrinking, playing nice, or holding back.
Step into the version of you that’s luxurious with her peace, firm in her no’s, magnetic in her glow, and unapologetic in her evolution.
You don’t need permission to rebrand. You just need the moment, and sis, this is it.
Empowerment Hack of the Month
Rebrand Yourself. Write Your New Story.
Who are you becoming in 2026 and beyond? What do you want to be known for? Where are you headed now that you’ve shed the skin that no longer fits?
Write it down. Speak it out loud. Wear it like your favorite outfit. Let the world adjust to the new frequency.



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