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The following podcast is a Dear Media production.
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Thank you for listening to Balance Black Girl. My name is Les, I'm your host and I appreciate you tapping in. So I don't know about you, but 2024 has been. It's been a year. It's been a year that has felt simultaneously 10 years long, but it's also felt like it has flown by at the speed bead of light. So if you are listening to this episode, the date that it is released, it is New Year's eve going into 2025. And I have to say I miscalculated my math in terms of dates. And the episode that we came out with last week was actually intended to be the last episode of 2024. And this episode that I'm doing today, I'd initially planned for this to be the first episode of 2025. And then I was looking at my calendar and I got to doing calendar math and I thought, I'm missing a week. There was a whole week of episodes that I did not account for. So instead of releasing this In January of 2025, we are going to release this on New Year's eve going into 2025, which honestly, timing wise is probably better. But if you have been following me on social media or maybe listen to last week's episode, I recorded that episode when I was really in the trenches and I have been just kind of struggling a little bit and I thought that I was working ahead and then I found out that I was not and have had to do an extra episode. But it's okay. I'm gonna be okay. We're all going to be okay. And you know why we're gonna be okay? Because we are going to plan for 2025 together. Yes, we are having an in real time planning session right here, right now. So I have my laptop with me because I'm gonna be doing some planning in real time. And you can do this with whatever you like. Now if you are following along, you probably saw that I released a new brand called Spacious Rituals where I am releasing a line of planners and there's a few different planners that you can use to plan your days, your weeks, your months. One of the formats of planners that I have is actually a notion planner. I'm a big notion girly. I love using notion to organize my life and my business. And in the notion version of the planner specifically, there is an area for goal setting where you can do a little bit more annual planning that is not as date focused. So if you have the notion version of the planner, you can do this, you can follow along right in the notion version, or if you just like to use a regular notebook, you can do that too. But I'm going to link in the show notes where you can find spacious rituals planners. Obviously, I think it's best to follow along in the planner, if you can. Again, this is in the notion planner. This is not in the other formats of the planner, because I like my written planners to be just for planning days, weeks, months. But I like to do my annual planning and my goal setting electronically. So that is why it is in the notion version. So also, if you want to pause this episode, you want to pop down, you want to download your notion planner, and then you want to bring me back up, you can totally do that. So before we get into actually planning for 2025, it's really important that we start with reflection of 2024. So if you've been listening to the podcast all year, you may remember that my very first episode of 2024 was all about entering your successful era. And that theme that we have woven in and out of the podcast all year, really defining what does success mean to us? What are the habits and attributes that we need to have to become the most successful version of ourselves, and how can we continue working towards that every day, week, month, so that we can get to where we want to be by the end of the year? Now, if now, at the end of 2024 or very beginning of 2025, you are not ultimately where you want to be. That is okay. I don't want you to beat yourself up. I don't want you to see any goals that you may have come short on as a failure. This is all just data. This is all information. This says nothing about your worth or about your character or about your ability. This is just data. This is just information and a checkpoint in time. So if you have not yet done any reflecting on the year, maybe comparing how you feel now at the end of the year to how you felt at the beginning of the year, reflecting on some of your wins, reflecting on some of your lessons, now would be a really good time to do so. And also as you reflect on your goals from the beginning of the year, celebrate the ones that you reached, look at the ones that maybe you didn't, and understand why that is. Did you not reach them because they no longer resonated? I know for a lot of goals that I tend to not reach, that's a big one. It's because I set this goal at the beginning of the Year that I think sounds good. But then as the year goes by, I actually realized that I don't really care about that goal that much, which is reflected in my unwillingness to work towards it, or maybe I didn't yet have what I needed to reach that goal. And so maybe it's a better fit for 2025 or 2026, or maybe you were focusing on other things. So start off either in your notion or in a notebook or wherever you like, just writing down kind of an overview of how 2024 went. And I really encourage you to focus more on things that were within your control. So we know collectively 2024 has been a rough year. We also know that, especially in the US Coming off of the election, that was very, very intense, and that was really difficult and challenging for a lot of us. You can absolutely talk about that and how it affects you, but I really encourage you to focus more on the things that are within your control. So how did you feel? How were your actions throughout the year? How were your reactions throughout the year? And really focus on those things. So, yes, you can acknowledge the other collective things, but I really encourage you to reflect more on what is you had control over, because that is just going to give you a little bit more clarity. So you can take a moment to do that. Now, another thing that I want to revisit because we did talk about being in our successful era this year, is a few months ago, I released an episode all about embracing an athlete's mentality and how we can use embracing an athlete's mentality to help us reach our goals and to help us win. A lot of you really enjoyed that episode. I actually was a little bit surprised at the positive reception. Not that I thought people wouldn't receive it well, but sometimes when episodes do really well or people get really into it, I just get surprised because sometimes I just don't know. I don't know how things are going to be received. But that episode was super well received. And so when it was so well received, I thought, okay, we could probably do more around this topic and around this theme and around this concept. So going into January 2025, we're actually going to be expanding on that a little bit more, talking this athlete of life concept and how we can apply different athlete principles to help us reach our goals, because that just aligns really well with the new energy. So for this planning session, we're really gonna focus on making our playbook to win in 2025. Because if you think about an elite athlete, they're often not out there winging it. They tend to have playbooks. They tend to have very specific things that they know that they're training towards to reach that goal. And I think it's really helpful to apply this same concept to our lives. So today for our planning session, we're gonna be on creating our playbook specifically for the first quarter of 2025. But even if you're listening to this episode later on or at a different time, you can truly do this anytime. Just for a lot of us, that, like, renewed energy at the beginning of the year tends to be a little bit more motivating, but you can really do this at any time. So today we're working on our playbook for that first quarter of 2025. And then in January, a lot of our episodes will revolve around this idea of an athlete's mentality, of what it means to win, of what it means to tap into that athlete within us to reach our goals. So we're going to be talking to some former athletes. We're going to be talking to different coaches who can help us kind of win and level up in different areas, talking about winning in relationships, talking about winning at work, talking about winning in wellness. So make sure that you're subscribed to the show so that in January, you can catch all of those episodes. And those episodes are really going to play off of the playbook that we are creating here today. So as you're doing your 2025 planning, I really want you to think about you being an athlete and this being the playbook that you are going to follow for your winning or for your success. Like if 2024 for us at Balance Black Girl was about the successful era, I really think 2025 is all about us getting our wins. And I know for so many of us, particularly after the past month, we're focusing more on ourselves, and let's focus on pouring into ourselves and what we need to do to win. What is that we are looking to win at? Okay, so with all that said, we've done our reflection. We've set our intention to be an athlete of life and to create our playbook. Let's get into planning for 2025.
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So I have been working hard behind the scenes launching a new business. Let me tell you, Shopify has been a total game changer. Before I started using Shopify, I was honestly overwhelmed thinking about how to manage everything, especially as I gear up to sell physical products. But now Shopify has made it so much easier to run my business now What I love is that Shopify doesn't just make selling easy, they're actually the best at it. They've got the number one checkout system in the world and their Shop Pay feature can boost conversions by up to 50%. The translation is there's fewer abandoned carts and more sales and they let you sell anywhere your customers are, whether that's online, in store or even on social media. And it's all seamless. I didn't know anything about getting an online shop up and running and I was able to use Shopify as well as the tools and tutorials they have to get it up and running. So if you're serious about growing your business, Shopify is the platform to get you there. It's built to help you scale and take things to the next level, upgrade your business and get the same checkout we use with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com balance black girl which is all one word in all lowercase. Go to shopify.com balance blackgirl to upgrade your selling today. Again, that's shopify.com balanced black girl let's talk about the tool that I get asked about most, which is the Oura Ring. Now if you've been following me, you know I have been an Oura Ring user for years. It's such a huge part of my daily routine and honestly I can't imagine my wellness journey without it. Oura Ring is the revolutionary smart ring that delivers personalized health data, insights and daily guidance. With its advanced sensors. It tracks over 30 biometrics, things like heart rate, heart rate variability and skin temperature trends, all packed into a comfortable and stylish ring. Oura Ring empowers women to better understand their bodies so they can be their own health advocate. The data it provides helps me stay in tune with my body and make decisions that support my overall well being. So whether it's improving sleep, managing stress, or tracking activity, it's all about giving you the tools you need to feel your best. Now for me, it's like having a personal health coach right on my finger. I use the sleep data to optimize my nighttime routine, the activity tracking to make sure I'm staying active, and the stress insights to help me find balance during busy weeks. It even helps me tune into my cycle with its integration with natural cycles so I understand exactly where I am at each stage of my cycle and have a deeper understanding of my body and what it needs at every stage. If you've been curious about Oura Ring, now is the perfect time to check it out. Visit ouraring.com that's O U R A R-I N G.com to learn more and to see how it can fit into your wellness journey. Commit to your health with Oura Ring. You deserve it.
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So before we set any goal or before we move forward with anything, the foundation of everything that we're going to do from here on out is going to be clarity. So if you think about how an athlete moves, they are very clear on on what their goal is, whether that is to win a certain championship, whether that is to win a scholarship, whether that is to win an Olympic gold medal. There is clarity in what they are working towards. So I want you to think about what it is you are working towards. How can you create clarity of being that version of yourself that you want to be? So before we set any goals, before we even dig into any whys, I want you to think about yourself one year from now, imagining that it is New Year's eve going into 2026. It's December 31, 2025. Who are you at that moment? Maybe take some time, write it down in your notion or in your journal. Who is that version of you exactly one year from now? If she were to look back on her 2025 or their 2025, what wins would she be celebrating? What growth markers would she be kind of giving herself props for? What habits did she create that year? What were some of the highlights that year? What were some of the lessons? Because as much as I know we all love to say, this is going to be my year and this year I'm going to be on point with everything at some point. We all get handed some L's at at 1 point. And even if you can anticipate those L's to help you get back up, that is going to be such an important activity for your athletic training. So I want you to take a moment and even pause this if you need to, and write maybe a short letter to yourself or type out a short letter describing the version of you that you see at the end of 2025. So what is it? What goals has she reached? What qualities does she have? How does she feel? Who is she with? Where is she? Go ahead and describe that. Now. Also, as you're describing the version of yourself in 2025, I want you to incorporate that best case scenario process that we've talked about on the podcast many times. I've talked about best case scenario journaling, which is where we write about the day that we want to have kind of assuming all best case scenarios. This is a practice that I love doing in the mornings just to help rewire my brain to see more possibility and to see more opportunity. You can also apply this to your year. So assuming kind of your best case scenarios for the year, what does a version of yourself a year from now have to say? What were her best case scenarios and how did she navigate them or how did she turn some of those L's that she got into best case scenarios? Because I think a misconception about the best case scenario concept is you just assume everything is positive and all I do is think positive. And I actually don't think that is the case. I actually think what the best case scenario practice does is it helps us see opportunity. So even if something happens that is unfavorable, how can we seek a solution to turn that into the best case scenario? So if there's something that you're going through right now at the beginning of 2025 that is challenging, what can you do with that information to turn it into a best case scenario? What are the solutions you can find and how can you flip it? And this is going to set the foundation for any goals that you set for this year. Although I encourage you to set quarterly goals. That's what we're going to talk about in a little bit. These things are really going to set the foundation for how and why you set those goals. So once you visualize that version of yourself, once you are super clear on what your best case scenario 2025 looks like and feels like and the version of you that has that year, now we're going to start setting some goals, but I don't want you to just set arbitrary goals. I don't want you to just set goals because you see somebody else on TikTok do that, right? I. If you see somebody on TikTok who is like, I'm going to get on the stair master for 45 minutes a day and you think, I need to set the goal to use a StairMaster for 45 minutes a day. That's not what I want you to do. I want you to think specifically about that version of yourself at the end of 2025 who you just described, where she is, who she is, what she has, what she has achieved. And I want the goals that you set to be very specific to that. So not something arbitrary that someone else does. Not something random, not because so and so says they're walking 10,000 steps a day. You feel like you need to walk 10,000 steps a day. If that's not connected to the version of yourself that you want to be, then drop it now. When I'm setting new goals for a year, I don't like to set a bunch. I like to set around three, maybe five goals. And I like to start with the intention of reaching these goals by the end of the quarter. This is a concept from the book the 12 Week Year, which basically helps you divide your one year into four years. And I like to apply a quarterly approach because I think when we set annual goals, they can be almost a little bit too big and too lofty. And when we set goals with the intention of reaching it in three months, we tend to set goals that are a little bit more achievable. We tend to set goals that are a little bit more doable. And we also just have a little bit more visibility. And we don't put things off as much. Because if I think, okay, I have till the end of March to get this done, I'm going to treat it with a little bit more urgency than I am. If I were to think, okay, I have until December to get this done. Because if I know that I have till December to get this done, I might start thinking about it in November, maybe. But chances are I'm probably going to forget about it and not do anything about it. So really start thinking about three maximum. Five, even five is a lot. I encourage you to stick to maybe three or four things that you see yourself reaching by the end of of Q1. So I'm going to pull up my notion for my Spacious Rituals notion planner, and I'm going to start typing one of my Q1 goals. So I would say for my Q1 goal, my first goal is going to be release Spacious Rituals second product. I have a second product in the works that I am prototyping, and I would love to get that released out into the world by the end of Q1. And so for me, that is a professional goal. Again in the notion I have all these categories set up where these can be professional, spiritual, financial, social. It can be related to health, it can be personal. So for me, that is a professional goal. Another goal that I want to set is I want to set a financial goal to increase my investing contributions. So increase investing contributions. I'm not going to say specifically how much here on the air because y'all don't need to be in Les's pocket. But in your specific notion and goal setting, I think it helps to be super specific about how you want to do this. So if you say I want to save a hundred dollars a month. That is such a better goal than saying I want to save money every month, because that's going to be really specific and it's going to give you something to work towards. So for me, I do know how much I want to increase my investing to. I don't be talking specifics about my pocket publicly. I only do that privately and among peers and trusted ones. So for me, I put something a little bit more vague just for the sake of example here and then set one more goal. So if you think about what is achievable and doable for you by the end of March, what is one more goal? And as you're thinking about these goals, these goals should be directly tied to that version of yourself that you imagined at the end of 2025. So let's say for me, using my example of increasing my investing contributions, the reason why I set that goal is because the version of myself who I see at the end of 2025, she has an investment portfolio that is worth a specific amount of money. Hopefully. I know markets, things can get a little spooky, but ideally she has an investment portfolio that is worth a specific amount of money. And when I work backwards and look at how much would I need to contribute now to have a portfolio that is worth that much, it is going to equate to this this specific goal that I have to Q1 so think about that version of yourself that you want to be at the end of the year and start seeing your goals as steps that bridge the gap between where you are here today and that version of yourself that you will be exactly one year from now. That is what your goal should be. Your goal should be specific steps that help bridge the gap to get you closer to be that version of yourself. So again, not arbitrary. Not things that maybe are no longer relevant. Not things that are maybe old goals that you just haven't achieved yet. If that doesn't align with the version of yourself that you see at the end of the year, it is okay to drop it. It is okay to not do that. It is okay to chase a new dream, to chase a new goal. So think about that version of yourself that you want to be and set the goal that is specific to her. Now.
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Finding shoes that are stylish and.
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Comfortable shouldn't feel impossible, but let's be.
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Honest, it usually does. You either end up with something cute that leaves your foot aching or something super comfy that doesn't really fit your vibe. But thankfully, bionic exists to end this dilemma for good. Now, right now, I'm obsessed with the Alameda Mary Jane flat. It's sleek, versatile and ridiculously comfortable. Whether I'm running errands, heading to a meeting, or grabbing dinner with friends, I can wear these flats. Flats to do it all. And the best part is they're built with Vio motion technology so they don't just look good, they're also amazing for your feet. Now, what I hate about the common ballet flat is it has no support, but these have arch support and cushioning that keep you comfy all day. And it also has an adjustable strap, which is a total game changer for the perfect fit.
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Now, here's the best part.
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Bionic makes it easy to find your.
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Perfect pair with their risk free 30 day trial.
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You can wear them, you can put them through their paces, and if they don't work for you, you can send back for a full refund, no questions asked. So no matter your style or no matter your vibe, Bionic has a shoe for you. They have flats, they have sneakers, they have heels, they have boots. There's truly something for everyone. If you're ready to treat your feet to shoes that actually work for your Life, head to bionicshoes.com and use the code BBG for 15 off your first order. Again, that's code BBG for 15 off your 1st order@vionication shoes.com now, don't wait too long. This is a one time deal, so make sure that you get a good haul of the shoes that you really want. And trust me, your feet will thank you. The new year always feels like the perfect time to reset and refocus, especially when it comes to money. If one of your goals this year is to get more intentional with how you manage your finances, let me put you on to Ynab. Ynab spelled Y N a B is a life changing app that helps you do what you want with the money you have. You can create a flexible plan for your money through the simple practice of giving every dollar a job, which keeps you focused on the life you want. So every week I sit down for what I like to call a money date and I use Ynab to review where my money is going, what I've saved, and I make adjustments for anything coming up up. It's super simple but so effective and it's helped me feel so much more in control of my finances. So here's how it works. Ynab helps you give every dollar a job so you can plan for the things you need and the things you want. So it's not about cutting back on anything fun. It's really about balance and it's about being more mindful with your finances. And the results speak for themselves. 92% of YNAB users feel less stressed about money. And the absolute average person saves $600 in their first two months. So by the end of the year, that's up to $6,000. Listeners of this show can claim an exclusive three month free trial with no credit card required@ynab.com balanced, that's spelled Y-N-A b.com balanced for an exclusive three month free trial.
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Okay, so we have set our goals for 2025, specifically for Q1 of 2025. Now let's talk about creating a game plan for ourselves to actually achieve, achieve these goals. As I said in our Athlete of Life episode from back over the summer, if you are not playing to win, you are setting yourself up to get played. And it is a tough pill to swallow. It is a conversation that I have with myself all the time where I am like, I don't want to, I don't want to do this, I don't want to be here. I hate capitalism. But the systems that we have, unfortunately, are what we have. I do think we're living in a time where systems are changing and hopefully we will see things move differently in our lifetime. But here, today, today, as we are having this conversation, what we have is what we have. And so if you are not playing to win, you are setting yourself up to get played. And so when we think about how can we play to win, it's about breaking apart those goals that we just set into tangible steps and into tangible habits that we can repeat over time until we achieve those goals. So first off, in terms of playing to win, a big part of that is going to start with mindset. And I think for a lot of people, this is a really big obstacle. Again, like I said, during the best case scenario, this isn't just about, oh, think positive, or oh, assuming your mindset is the only obstacle because there are so many very real things in real life that are hindrances to people getting to where they want to be. And I'm not minimizing that or diminishing that or saying that those, those things don't exist because they absolutely do exist. What I am saying is that if you want to get through them, you have to start having a solution oriented mindset. So if there are obstacles, if there are barriers, if there are things in your way we have to start looking at, okay, how can I either find another way or for this thing that is blocking what I want, how can I dismantle it and work through it to get to the other side? I even think a super simple example of this could be something financial. I mean, finances are a really tricky topic for a lot of people. And let's say that there is an item that you want to buy, like maybe you want to buy a new computer to help you work on your business. It can be so tempting to say, well, I'm broke right now, I can't buy a new computer, I can never buy a new computer, so I'm never going to have my business. That could be true. And another way to work around that, as someone who is an athlete of life could say, okay, this is how much it costs to buy a new computer that I need to launch my business. In the meantime, this is how much money I have. If I'm able to set aside X amount of dollars per month. That means that my solution to this is I can buy a computer in a year to execute my new business. That is a solution. I may not be able to have it today, I may not be able to have it right now, but I'm putting a plan in motion. I'm putting a solution in motion so that I can have what I need a year from now. And in the meantime, I am going to use what I have to learn every single thing that I can about the business that I want to start. So I'm going to start researching competitors, I'm going to start researching gaps in the market. I'm going to start learning about naming and trademarks and what it takes, it takes to create an LLC in my state. I'm going to do all of that research right now while I'm saving for that computer or whatever it is. And then a year from now when I've saved for that computer and I can afford it and I can buy it, I also now have a year's worth of knowledge from doing all of this background work and now I can hit the ground running. So that is an example of what it can look like to have more of a solution oriented mindset to help us reach our goals. So instead of seeing this barrier as well, if I can't have it right now, that means I can never do it. Well, what can you do right now to help prepare yourself so that when you are able to do that thing later, you're ready for it? So I know in my own life, finances were a Big part of this for me. There was definitely a time where it was like I couldn't afford to pay down my debt. I couldn't afford to do all of these different things. And during that time, that was when I really dug in to learn a lot more about money. Back when I couldn't afford to invest and I couldn't afford to travel and I couldn't afford to do do these things, I was reading a ton of finance books just to understand how the language of money worked. So that eventually, when I did get more, I knew what to do with it. So how can you find a solution for exactly what it is you want to achieve with wherever you are and with whatever you have right now? And when you start to switch how your mind works to start seeing solutions instead of just problems, you will be shocked at how much opportunity opens up for you. So again, this isn't just bypassing these real problems and saying, oh, think positive. It's saying for every problem there is a solution. So how can you meet each problem with a solution that works? Even if you can't have it right away, even if it takes a year from now, even if it takes five years from now, the time is going to pass anyway. So how can you start seeing those solutions for what they are? And so when we say switch your mindset, that is what people are saying, switch your mindset to begin looking for solutions. So once you have that foundational mindset of looking for solutions down, then it's time to start talking about those keystone habits. So again, a lot of us think of habits as these very generic things of I need to walk 10,000 steps a day and I have to read these many pages out of a book and I have to journal for X minutes. And those are all fantastic habits to have for overall well being. However, when I'm talking about habits, I'm not talking about those very generic things that a lot of people focus on. I am talking about breaking apart the specific goals that you set to be the version of yourself that you want to be at the end of the year. Habits are the daily, weekly, monthly actions that you do and that you repeat to make achieving that goal a reality. So if you think about how an athlete works, they're not working out doing arbitrary workouts for the sake of working out. They are doing drills to focus on specific skills that help them win their game. So if you think about what your game is, you think about what skills will you need to win that game? What are the drills that will help you strengthen the skills Bars, rap. I'm rapping. That rhymed to help you win that game. So those drills are your habits. The drills are the habits. Okay? So if you think about whatever it is that you want to reach, it's okay. If you are not yet the version of yourself that knows how to do all of the things, it's okay. If you want to be an accountant and you don't know everything that there is about accounting today, that is okay. You're going to break that down into building the skills that you need to become well versed in accounting so that maybe a year from now, when you take the CPA exam, then you'll be ready to pass it. But those daily things that you do to prepare for being that person who passes the CPA exam, I don't know where I'm getting these examples from, y'all, but this is, you know, know. Come with me here. I know you. You. You're picking up what I'm putting down. Those are going to be your habits. So I. For each goal that you set, I want you to identify at least one, maybe two habits that you can repeat regularly. It doesn't necessarily have to be every single day, but at least something that you can repeat weekly that will help you strengthen the skill that you need need to reach that goal. So if I were to look at your journal and I were to see some habits that did not align with the goals, I'd be like, friend, what are you doing? Where are we going? What is this? What are we. What are we doing here? It needs to be very clear. Each habit needs to have a clear line directly to a goal that you want to reach. And this is what is going to help you at the end of 2025, look back at your reflection and say, hey, actually, I did all that stuff, but said that I was going to do so. Breaking down your goals so that they can tie to specific repeatable habits, that's the cheat code. That's the cheat code to your playbook actually working and helping you win whatever game it is that you're playing. Now, the other thing is all about actually making these things happen. And this is where planning comes in in terms of your daily and weekly planning. So we've talked about the goals that we want to reach by the end of the year. We've talked about the skills that we need to have to reach goals, and we've talked about the regular habits almost daily, daily to weekly that we need to repeat and be consistent with to reach those goals, Right? So now you're Going to make sure that you're actually doing those things. That is where your planner comes in. Whether that's your spacious rituals planner, whether that is your Google calendar, whether that is in your notion, whether that is in your notes app, however, works best for your brain to keep yourself accountable. If there is a goal that you say you want to reach, I better be able to if I were to look at your calendar in 2025, I better see something every single week on your calendar that directly correlates to whatever it is that goal is that you say you want to reach by the end of the quarter or by the end of the year. So now that you've mapped out your goals and your habits, I want you to put time in your calendar to actually do the habit regularly. For a lot of habits, they can be done daily. Not every habit has to be done every single day, but it needs to be done at least weekly. For me, the way I like to do this is I like to have just a Sunday planning session with myself where I will look forward at the week ahead. I will look at what are the tasks that I need to get done, are there any projects that I need to follow up on, what are the actions that I need to take to get closer to my goals, what are the workouts that I want to plan for myself, that I want to do. And I will map those things out on my calendar in my planner every single week. Because if I map them out and if I put it on my calendar and if I put it on my to do list, I am far more likely to do it now. No, I'll be honest. I'm human. So sometimes I also ignore things that are on my to do list. And sometimes I also ignore things that are on my planner. But it is hard to ignore if it is there consistently showing up for you in your calendar and if you actually make the time to do it. So you're really thinking about being an architect of your schedule and being an architect of time to help you build out the space to create the habits that are going to help you be where you want to be. And if we also tie this back to the athlete example, an athlete is going to have a regular training schedule where they are doing those drills to help them condition and be prepared to win their game. So if you think of your weekly schedule almost as your training schedule of life, where is the time for your practice, where's the time for your refinement, and also where is the time for your review? So right now I want you to Put some time in your calendar, not only for where you're going to actually do these habits on at least a weekly basis, if not daily, if applicable. I also want you to put some time in your calendar for review. So go ahead, ahead and go to your calendar. Go to the end of March and during the last week of March, I want you to earmark a date to review your progress to your goals. Like I said, I'm somebody who, if I only set goals for the year and then I never set up any time to look back at it. I'm giving myself until December to reach something. I might think about it in November if I even remember that I set the goal. But by setting time on your calendar now, in your planner, on your Google Cow, wherever it is that you like to do it, that is going to give you kind of an accountability check to help. See, okay, have I made progress towards this goal? If I did, great, gold star. If not, that is also okay. It doesn't mean anything bad. But where's some time for review? How can I refine this goal? Did I not reach it because I didn't have those regular consistent habits helping me work towards that goal? Did I not reach it because the goal is just no longer relevant? Did I not reach it because life got to life thing and I had to prioritize other things? All of these things are okay. Again, this is all data. This is not anything about your work ethic or your worth or your ability to follow through. This is all data. But if you actually have that data, then you are able to apply it the next quarter to know what to do differently to get to where you want to be be. So if I were to take a peek in your calendar, I want to see some time every week, even if it's just a five minute little task that is directly related to the goals that you say you want to reach weekly. It's you're not going to reach goals if you're not working towards these things weekly. And I also want to see time at the very end of the quarter, that last week of March, some time on your calendar just for review. It doesn't have to be a lot of time. It can be 30 minutes, an hour, just on your calendar so that when it comes up, you remember to do it. And you can review where it's at. And don't be afraid of not reaching your goals. Don't be afraid or avoid the review if you didn't reach your goals. It's just information. Actually, I think review is even more important. When you don't reach your goals, because then you can understand why. So go ahead and put that time in your calendar or in your planner now. So while we're also thinking about keeping track of our goals and thinking about review, I also want you to think about how you're going to celebrate your wins. Because I am anticipating that you are going to be that version of yourself that you want to be or better by the end of the quarter or by the end of the year. I am somebody who is very reward driven also. I'm like a little bit spite driven. But we won't talk about that. We'll keep it positive. Very reward driven. So for me, if there is something that I want to reward myself with, I know that I'm actually a lot more likely to reach a goal if I reward myself with something. So think about ways that you would want to celebrate your wins at the end of the quarter. Would you want to take yourself to a spa day? Would you want to get yourself a new workout set? Would you want to start planning a trip, Trip somewhere? Would you want to treat yourself to a new candle or to a new book, whatever it is, Start planning your celebrations now in anticipation for reaching your goals. And again, this is also something that you can put on your planner or in your calendar for that last week of March. So you're already anticipating I'm gonna reach these goals. I'm a review what went well. And then I also have some time, maybe on the same day. I don't know what your schedule looks like depends to celebrate my wins. So if I go through this review and I realized I was winning and doing the things and I reached this certain goal that I said I was gonna reach, this is how I'm going to reward myself. So start thinking about that now to give yourself something to look forward to. Now. We've mapped out our goals, we have mapped out our habits. We have put time in our calendars to keep ourselves accountable, to maintaining our habits. We have put time in our calendars for review. We have also put time in our calendars to celebrate our wins. I also want us to think about building in time for rest. Again, going back to the athlete example, athletes also know that recovery is a very important part of their training protocol. And for anybody, whether you are an athlete of a sport or an athlete of life, we cannot be pushing, grinding, forcing ourselves towards something, a goal, a win, whatever that looks like, like 24 7. We need time off. Whether that's a day, whether that's an hour, whether that's A whatever it is. I also want you to start building in some time for recharge within your calendar. So in the spacious rituals planner, we actually have what's called a ritual menu where you can create your own ritual recipes. And this is just kind of a more fun take on creating self care routines because I think we're all six of routines. It just sounds so boring and so stuffy. And so if you think about those different things that help you feel good that you would put into a routine as each individual ritual ingredient, how would you put those different ingredients together to create a routine or to create a recipe of rituals that feel really good for you? And so we have space for this and all of our spacious rituals planners, whether you have have, you know, the iPad version or whether you have the notion version or whatever version that works best for how your brain works and how you plan. So if I were to think about my morning routine ritual recipes, some of the ingredients that I would put in there would be 10 minutes of meditation, 15 minutes of reading, a 30 minute workout, and one cup of my favorite coffee. Those are the different ingredients in my morning routine ritual recipe. And when I put them all together, that is the recipe for the perfect morning ritual for me. Real talk. Those are actually the things that I do really love in the morning because that's how my life is set up and that's what I like. But your ritual routine recipes can look totally different. So start mapping out those recipes that help you feel restored, those things that help you recover. So if you think about the goals that you set for yourself and the different habits that you will need, need to maintain, what are the different ways that you can recover from those specific actions that you're taking? So we can go back to our CPA example, right? If we have a girly somebody who is studying to pass the CPA exams, that is a lot of brain work and that is a lot of math. I would assume. I don't know anything about being a cpa, but it sounds like a lot of math and it sounds like a lot of brain work. So for somebody who needs recovery time from training, from that win of becoming a cpa, I would imagine that the opposite of that, that you would need for recovery would be a lot of play. So her ritual recipes would probably involve a lot of play. Whether that is dance or whether that is coloring or whether that is like reading juicy fiction and just getting lost in a story where she doesn't have to do any math or any studying whatsoever. So think about what it is that you're training for and look at what you need to do to recover from those training periods so that you can keep your head in the game. So for me, my morning routine is a big part of my recovery for the things that I need to do each day, as is my night routine. Also for me, I have Saturdays where I now don't do work things on Saturdays. So I don't go to events, I don't work on the podcast, I don't do things that are networking, I don't really do people's like wellness events. All of that stuff is still work to me. And if it is a Saturday, that is my sacred day where I am either on the couch, I'm outside with friends, or I am at a museum somewhere, or I am somewhere touching grass, weather permitting. And I am doing things that are pure play. I am not balance less, I am not Big sis less. I'm not giving anybody advice. I'm not doing wellnessy things. I'm doing pure play. I'm doing hood rat stuff with my friends. That is what I need to recover from that version of myself that does all the things I need to do to reach my goals. Okay, that's the example for me. But for you, that could be totally different depending on what your goals are and on what that regular kind of training and habits are. So make sure that you're building in time in your routine for that recovery for that ritual so that you have enough gas in the tank to keep going. So before we wrap up, I really want to encourage you to be super intentional about the goals that you set for this year, if you are choosing to set them. So as you may see, there's a common thread through everything that we do. Each habit that we're planning to do is directly tied to a goal. All of our self care and rituals and recovery is directly tied to helping us recharge to reach our goals. So as you map things out, make sure that there is a why and that there is clarity behind every single thing that you're doing because that's going to help you stay in and win the game. Thank you so much for tuning in this week. If you are listening the week that it is released or sometime in January 2025, I am wishing you a happy new Year. I hope you had a restful holiday season and that you have a prosperous 2025 that you are able to reach whatever it is that you want to reach and that you're able to call in whatever it is that you are calling in. If you enjoyed this episode. Please make sure that you check out the Show Notes if you want to check out our spacious rituals, planners, tools and resources to help you reach your goals, as well as information from our sponsors and the different discount codes that we feature during our ad breaks. Also in the Show Notes, you can find me on social media. I, I, I feel like I've been showing up on a lot of people's for you page lately, is what they've been telling me. And they're like, les, I had no idea what you look like. I had no idea that you were on Instagram, or I had no idea that you were on TikTok. And I'm like, ooh, friend, that means you're not reading the Show Notes. Because my Instagram and my TikTok and all the things have always been linked in the Show Notes for years, as well as all of our discount codes from the ads. So I have also had people reach out to me saying they didn't know what a discount code was for something that we talked about. They're always, always in either the episode episode description or in the Show Notes, so you can check it out there. Thank you so much for tuning in this week. Happy goal setting and I cannot wait to see how amazing 2025 is for you. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.