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Hey you,
Well, I actually did it. This newsletter and blog post are the ones I meant to send last week.
When I wrote that last newsletter admitting I’d missed my own deadline, I wasn’t totally convinced I’d hit the one-week extension either. But somehow… I did.
Last week was actually WAY off from what I intended it to be (not just in regards to this newsletter), but it did all work out ok.
Am I still behind on things? YES.
But you know what? It will be ok.
I don’t have a plan for finishing everything I still want to do, but I am going to work on just getting things done instead of overplanning. Sometimes not overplanning and just getting started is the hardest part (for me anyway).
Which, unsurprisingly, is exactly what this month’s blog post is about: overplanning, tiny starts, and why just beginning may be the best strategy we’ve got (with help from Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff).
Let’s get into it.
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🧪Alchemy Notes
This month’s blog is for the overthinkers, perfectionists, and spreadsheet-habit-trackers among us. (Hi, it’s me.)
I read Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal Obsessed World by Anne-Laure Le Cunff and found myself both called out and comforted. It’s a gentle-but-smart nudge to rethink the way we approach progress, habits, and self-improvement, especially when life doesn’t go to plan.
I’m sharing a few takeaways that helped me reframe “starting and stopping” as something other than failure… and wrapping the year with a Le Cunff approved review method.
If your 2025 felt like it was missing progress, this one’s for you.
Read the Blog: Tiny Experiments, Big Year
📚The Alchemist’s Bookshelf
Why these books made the cut:
I don’t recommend just anything. These are titles I’ve read, loved, and still think about. Some links are affiliate, which helps support this newsletter, at no extra cost to you.
✨Read of the Month:
💫Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World by Anne-Laure Le Cunff
What if your next best move wasn’t a five-year plan or a failproof system, but a small, curious experiment? This is a thoughtful, anti-hustle read that gently reminds us: starting and stopping isn’t failure… it’s feedback. For anyone tired of performing productivity and ready to build momentum on their own terms.
📖More picks for whatever phase you are in:
For when you’re spiraling… with style:
🌀 Wayward by Dana Spiotta
A razor-sharp midlife unraveling with dark humor and surprising tenderness. For when reinvention looks less like a glow-up and more like burning it down (and maybe buying an old house).For when you’re dreaming of something better (but also tired):
🌌 The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
Partially whimsical, partially an emotional gut-punch. A story about second chances that doesn’t pretend it’s all easy… but still makes you believe in the trying.For when you need to laugh about life and getting older:
💋 I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
Classic Ephron: dry, observant, and still too real. Aging, appearance, purses… it’s all fair game. If you want to feel seen and and have a good laugh, this one is for you.For when you’re redefining “togetherness”:
👨👩👧👦 How to Be a Family: The Year I Dragged My Kids Around the World by Dan Kois
A funny, messy, and honest account of one family’s year-long experiment in finding connection. It’s part travelogue, part therapy session, and full of “oh wow, same” moments.
📚 P.S. I read a lot… across strategy, memoir, psychology, and the occasional fantasy/romance/thriller/witchy novel. The book recs in this newsletter aren’t filler. They’re part of how I think, lead, and help clients navigate complexity. Want to see what else is on my shelf? Take a peek at my bookstore (affiliate link, updated regularly).
👋🏻Let’s Not Make It Weird
Hi, I’m Tara, Founder and Chief Alchemist of Alchemy Advising. I help growing businesses untangle their finances, rethink pricing, and build smarter systems so they can scale without burning out.
With nearly 20 years in operations and finance, including FP&A leadership at brands like HOKA and UGG, I now work with founders and execs who need clarity, not just spreadsheets.
Think: budgeting, forecasting, pricing, and big-picture planning that actually connects to how your business runs day-to-day.
If this newsletter made you nod, pause, breathe a little easier, or curse less at your P&L, here’s what’s next:
📬 Forward this to a founder or leader who’s buried in numbers but hungry for insight.
💬 Hit reply if something sparked (or you just want to say “Hi!”).
📅 Want to talk shop? Visit www.alchemyadvising.co and learn about working together or book a chat.
“No one can hate themselves into a version of themselves that they like.”