Promise yourself a fresh start this new year by harnessing the profound power of reflection and intention setting. Imagine capturing the essence of your previous year, dissecting its highs and lows, and mindfully using that insight to create clear, attainable goals for the year ahead. In this series, we'll guide you through how to effectively set intentional goals for the New Year by starting with reflection on the past year.
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Shop our apparel! --> Love Your Body Now
Follow us on Insta: @loveyourbodynow.podcast
Promise yourself a fresh start this new year by harnessing the profound power of reflection and intention setting. Imagine capturing the essence of your previous year, dissecting its highs and lows, and mindfully using that insight to create clear, attainable goals for the year ahead. In this series, we'll guide you through how to effectively set intentional goals for the New Year by starting with reflection on the past year.
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Shop our apparel! --> Love Your Body Now
Follow us on Insta: @loveyourbodynow.podcast
Before we get into today's episode, I want to share a special announcement that we are doing with the Love your Body Now brand. As you may know, we launched an Etsy shop a few months ago just to test out some items that we wanted to create for the brand and represent our community. So if you've gone and explored on the Etsy shop, you may have seen some popular sayings like growing in progress, love your Body Now. I Defined my Dream Body. We have those on t-shirts, sweatshirts, stickers. If you haven't checked that out, be sure to go check that out. However, with the new year approaching, we wanted to launch a few new items to our shop, specifically on our own website. So we are opening up our own website with our own items to launch in there, and they are for the people who are going into 2024 and want to have the mindset of this is my year, but I want to do it the right way. We've all gone into the new year before with the new year's resolution focusing on weight loss, focusing on trying to get back into our fitness routine, and these sweatshirts are perfect for you if you are looking to go into the new year with a positive mindset and one focused on self care and becoming the best version of yourself. I think that you are going to love these items if that is what you are focused on for the year of 2024. We are launching three new sweatshirts as of right now and they are embroidered sweatshirts. So if you have been on the Etsy shop, you know that we don't have any embroidered items. So we are super excited to launch these and we actually had a few friends of mine who were willing to order these ahead of time, kind of test out the product and also represent the products to be featured on our Instagram pages and our website, and we've got nothing but great feedback. Everyone loves them. They say they are so cute. So I think that you're really going to love these items and if you haven't seen them yet already, be sure to go to the link in the show notes and check them out and make sure you get your orders in before the new year so that you can wear them into the new year of 2024.
Speaker 1:All right, let's get into today's episode. Welcome to the love your body now podcast, the podcast for women who are ready to feel confident in their body right now and redefine what health looks like for them. I'm Savannah, your host, and together we'll be having conversations about what it means to accept and love our bodies now, while simultaneously prioritizing our health dream. We'll be debunking beliefs that do not serve us and diving into misconceptions and unhealthy narratives in the fitness world, so that we can rebuild our foundation from a place of self love. Oh my gosh, I cannot believe that we are almost to the last month of 2023. It does not feel like an entire year has gone by and that we are already approaching 2024. And I say that as I'm like looking at my desktop wallpaper, which is the vision board that I made back in 2023. And it's been my wallpaper this entire year and it just does not feel like it's been an entire year.
Speaker 1:But, with that being said, I want to focus on this episode of talking about the power of reflection over the past year, because the next few episodes that I do, it's going to be all about how to set yourself up for the new year in a very powerful way and not just in the way that we typically have done in the past, where it is all about New Year's resolutions and like getting back into the fitness world you know how it usually goes where everyone in the new year is like, okay, yeah, I'm going to start becoming really healthy and going to the gym, all these things, and they're just not super intentional about it. They go to the gym for maybe a week or two and then it's like nothing really actually changes. And so I really want to talk about how we can be super intentional with this last month of 2023 and focusing on reflection of how 2023 went and analyzing how maybe things didn't go well or didn't go our way or we didn't achieve the things we thought we were going to achieve, and how we can go into 2024 a little bit differently and with a little bit more intention. So the next few episodes we will be talking about how you can do that. I'll give you the steps of how I'm doing that and what I've taught in the past before and, of course, what I've used to be super intentional with my year and always make sure that I'm staying on track and aligned with the direction that I want to take my life.
Speaker 1:And I think it's important that, before you go and start setting goals and figuring out what you want to achieve in the new year, it's important to reflect on how the previous year went and what you achieved or maybe what you didn't achieve, and figure out why that may be, because you can't go into 2024 with this intent to change your life or to change your habits and not really know why you haven't been able to change them in the past or what hasn't worked for you well, so that you can better plan ahead for the new year. And so I think it's really important to sit down and actually think and reflect on every single month out of this entire year. And it can be kind of hard to do that, especially if, let's say, you started 2023, how maybe you always do where you just kind of say what you want to achieve out loud, but you don't really have a plan for it. You just say, oh yeah, like I want to lose 20 pounds this year, and then you didn't really go into the new year with a plan and it kind of just like ended up not really happening because you stopped focusing on it and you know other things came up and life just got super busy, and that's pretty normal to happen. And so if you're trying to reflect on the new year not on the new year, but like the entire year it might be a little bit challenging for you, especially if you feel like you didn't have a lot of intention throughout the whole year. Maybe you were just in survival mode. But, trust me, I think it's important to sit down and like actually have a notebook or writing in the notes of your phone and really going through the entire year, not just on the things that you achieved.
Speaker 1:I think it's super important to just reflect on like what occurred throughout the entire year, like go month by month by month and again it can be kind of challenging, especially if you didn't pay super much attention or like write down what happened throughout the year. But you can also do this by going into the album on your phone in your photos and like going through the months. It actually lets you go through and go through all of the photos and just kind of like reflect on the memories that happened that year. Or you can go through your social medias. If you post a lot of stories or post posts in general, you usually can go through it and see what you've posted in the past and what time of year that it was.
Speaker 1:So I really recommend doing this and starting with January, february, march, april, may and like just writing down some of the things that happened that year, whether they're good and they're bad, whether you achieved them or you missed a goal, whatever it may be, just like writing it down to kind of reflect on what happened this year and if you did make a vision board and you did keep it in front of you for the entire year, also reflecting on that as well, on top of like reflecting what happened this year. So, for example, I have my vision board on here and there are some things that I feel like I did really well at and other things that are they didn't really happen. But also I can kind of reflect on why they didn't happen and like what happened in the process of where these things kind of became a back burner and really didn't like they didn't stay at the top of my focus and I was kind of okay with that. So, for example, when I think about the first quarter of the year, I think about some of the things that I achieved, which was I got a job that I worked really hard to get. I also bought a new car the first time ever that I bought a car. I'm trying to think I don't have it written down, but actually I do have it written down somewhere but not in front of me. So, like, those are a few examples, but also I okay, here's another one I launched my podcast the beginning of this year and I started saving, like, like opened up an actual high yield savings account and I also, like left the job that I got at the beginning of the year.
Speaker 1:So there was a lot that happened in that first quarter that I am able to reflect on. I know we went on a couple of trips at the beginning of the year. I think we went to Mexico and Hawaii I'm not sure if they were quarter one and quarter two. So those are also things that I can reflect on and look more into, which, of course, I will. I'll actually be writing down an entire list of things that happened and occurred throughout the year, whether or not they're on my vision board or not. But the other thing that occurred and this was something that I had on my vision board, which was to basically get promoted to a marketing role, and when I got my job initially at the beginning of the year, I put on my vision board that I got promoted to this role within that same company and I wrote, I basically made a fake mockup post of the company recognizing me for my promotion to a marketing role, and obviously, again, I didn't stay with that company, but I did end up getting a marketing position for a different company.
Speaker 1:So in a way, I recognized that this is what I wanted at the beginning of this year and I actually achieved it and got this what I was looking for. So that is something that I'm like super reflective on and like pretty proud of myself with that, because for the longest time, I really had a hard time, like it felt like I was never going to get my foot in the door with an actual marketing position, and somehow I managed to do it, but it didn't look exactly how I thought it was, how I thought it was going to look, and I think that that's kind of powerful, because we can throw up all of these things on a vision board or write down what we want to achieve, and we may achieve them in a way, but it may not look the way that we thought it would. And I feel like this is also something I've realized when I look and when I do things that are like oh, I'm going to focus on manifestation, which sometimes what I'll do is I'll. Basically, this is the trick I learned from someone who teaches all about manifestation. I don't remember her name, but it's just a good reminder of, like, how powerful we really are, by basically saying putting out into the world, like, oh, in the next 72 hours I will see blank, whether it's.
Speaker 1:You know, one time I did, I said I will see a black stone. And just like, putting it out into the world, whether you're saying it out loud, whether you're writing it down, and like basically proving to yourself how powerful it is to manifest things into your life. And this trick has worked for me every single time that I've done it. And it's just a good reminder of like, when you put things out into the world and you speak it into existence, of like this is going to happen. I want to achieve this. It can happen, but it doesn't always happen in the way you think it will, whether it's maybe with the same, the same exact details, or maybe it's like in a different, completely different way than you thought, or maybe it's not even like the same timeline that you thought it was going to be, which is very possible. But so, yeah, like I'll do that throughout the year where I just will, like say hey, I'm going to see a Blackstone within 72 hours and I don't know how, but you know, I'm going to be open to it. And it's crazy because I think it was like the last day that I had said, you know, within 72 hours, whatever. And I was scrolling on TikTok and this girl popped up on my feed and she was wearing a necklace that was a Blackstone. And it was just crazy because you never know, like, where you're going to see these things.
Speaker 1:And another example that I can give is I remember I said, oh, I'm going to see a pink dog and these things that you say like they can't be something. That's completely unrealistic, but it also has to be something that isn't like something you would normally see or like a common thing, like it has to be kind of specific and not something that you're going to normally see. So I said that and it was within the same day that I was driving home and I was almost home and this lady was like watering her grass with a hose and it caught my eye because she was like waving around the hose and it was like shooting water out really far. And so I looked at her and then right next to her. Below her was her dog wearing a pink vest. And I give this example because this is where you can either have a super open mind and perspective on things or you can be super closed minded and not see the universe working for you. And the reason I say this is because some people might say, well, you said a pink dog. That's technically not a pink dog and it's like, yeah, but also like we project things into the world and although we may have an idea of what it may look like, it may not look exactly how we thought it was going to, even though we still kind of got what we wanted. It's just it looks differently than we thought it would. And that I give that example because it correlates to me putting on my vision board. Oh, I'm going to get promoted to a marketing position with this company and although I didn't get promoted with that company, I still got a marketing job, so I still see it as a win. It just didn't look exactly how I thought it was going to look. So that is just one example.
Speaker 1:Another example is I put on here saving for a wedding, and I actually feel like this has not been a huge priority for me anymore, or for us, because we have been in a season where we actually purchased another home this year but I've still been saving. So it turned into oh, we actually want to try and purchase another home this year so we can become landlords and rent out our other home and we need to save for this other home to make sure that we have enough savings backed up as like a safety net for this situation. So, although I have, on here, saving for a wedding, it became more about saving for our. You know, we're trying to set ourselves up for financial freedom. So although the wedding is not really a priority right now, it will be in the future and we're still saving money and we're still planning for our future. So that's kind of how I see it in ways that I've achieved my goals for the year.
Speaker 1:That didn't quite look how I thought they would look at the beginning of the year, and sometimes it's just, you know, when I was creating this vision board, some of the things that I put on here, I just kind of put on to have stuff on my vision board. It wasn't necessarily, you know, it just didn't become a priority for me as I went throughout the year and I think that that's something that sometimes people could get really hung up on and feel super like disappointed in themselves of seeing, like all these different things on their vision board, but maybe they didn't achieve all of them. That's why it's super important to still reflect on the year and like recognize what you have achieved, even if it wasn't on the vision board. Like you know me, buying a car wasn't on my vision board, but I had on my vision board that I am abundant and I welcome abundance, and I may not have realized that I was even going to want to get a car or need to, but I did, and you know it still happens. So, recognizing those things and making sure that you're still you're proud of yourself in what you did achieve, even if it maybe didn't look the same as you thought it would. So that is really the importance of reflecting on the past year, because you can also point out okay, so this happened at this time of year and I'm not happy that it happened, but what can I learn from this situation?
Speaker 1:You know, one of the things that I put on my vision board was all about my wellbeing and really focusing on my overall health, and I actually feel like this year I didn't. This didn't look how I thought it would. So I've actually, like, gained weight this year and feel like I've struggled the most, prioritizing my wellbeing. And as I approach the end of this year and even this past couple of months, I've really reflected on how do I put myself in a situation again to where I'm prioritizing myself above everything else, above whatever I'm doing for work, like above everything else going on in my life. We're managing a property.
Speaker 1:Now how do I figure out how to prioritize my wellbeing again? Because these past couple of months have been really challenging for me mentally, physically, emotionally and as I look at my vision board, that shows, oh, this year I really wanted to prioritize my well-being. I really wanted to get and feel super healthy again. I really wanted to just make that my main priority. And now here I am the last, almost the last month of 2023 and feeling like I could either be super disappointed in myself for not achieving this on my vision board or I could take it as maybe this was the year I learned what matters to me and I learned what I need to do in 2024 to really re-prioritize myself again and how I can better manage other things going on in my life to where I'm still prioritizing me at the top of everything. So, again, it didn't quite look how I thought it would. I didn't, I didn't become my fittest self or whatever, but there was a lot of things that I learned this year that I will be able to take into 2024 and I will also be able to implement, like currently. Right now, I am implementing different things to make changes into my life that allow me to put my well-being at the top again, and so, even though I didn't quote unquote achieve this for 2023, I think that it made me more resilient and also made me learn more about myself that I needed to better understand on how to better take care of my well-being.
Speaker 1:So it is all about perspective. When you were reflecting on everything in your life and being able to recognize the takeaways that come from it. It's completely pointless if you reflect on this year and you point out all of the things that you didn't achieve and that you wanted to achieve, but you didn't. It's completely pointless if you are like, well, I guess this year has just been a waste. You know I'm just a piece of shit because I didn't achieve all the things that I set out for no, it's like okay, so I didn't achieve these things. Why didn't I? Was it because they weren't a priority? Was it because I had some life happen and I had to like refocus on things? Was it because other things became more important to me?
Speaker 1:Like, there are so many factors that come into this, and one of these things that I put on my vision board was I had put on here, like how much I was going to grow all of my social media platforms and my email list, and In the last few months I I barely posted on my social media. I haven't written an email to any of my email subscribers in months and For me it can be super like that's really hard for me because, like, look at all of these things I put on there that I was going to achieve and I didn't even achieve them. But part of it is like, okay, I didn't achieve that specifically. But I also, you know, I launched an Etsy shop. I launched an apparel line. I started learning about how I can start designing apparel line for the brand, and that has been where my focus has been, and you know I got this new job this year in marketing, which is also something I wanted and it's been taking up a lot of my time. And then we became landlords, so we've been managing a property and that's also been consuming a lot of my time.
Speaker 1:So it's not necessarily that I didn't achieve those things. It's me recognizing yes, I wanted to achieve those things, but other things came into my life this year that I couldn't foresee and had taken up some of my focus and have given me Things that I didn't know would come my way, that are still blessings and that I still appreciate, and so I wouldn't, I wouldn't Change anything this year. I feel like there's so much that I learned and there's there's still so much that I can, you know, manifest into my life and focus on. And you know, now I kind of realize Some things that I want again in 2024, or maybe some things that no longer are really valid for me or are are a Priority for me, and that's okay, there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 1:I think that that's the beautiful thing about reflecting is we learned so much about ourselves and what really matters to us, and also like being super, just appreciating what we've done, how far we've come, because I think that we don't do that enough. We are so hard on ourselves and Always are like quick to point out, well, I'm not doing this, I'm not doing this, like I didn't achieve this. I actually probably reverted backwards and like did worse, like it didn't even make any progress. I Get it like I do it. It's so easy to point out all of the wrong things, but there's something just super powerful in reflection and having abundance, abundant mindset when it comes to that reflection and really focusing on the things that you have, you have learned and when you have built resilience Throughout that entire process. So I hope that that was helpful.
Speaker 1:This is the beginning of somewhat of a series of how we are going to go into the new year with a positive mindset, a Abundant mindset, and how we can strategically plan out our year and create a vision board that really means so much to us and really like Says something to us and makes us feel a certain way, so that we are intentional for the entire year of 2024. I'm super excited to talk about this whole Process with you in real time, as I am going through it and doing it myself. It's going to be a lot of fun and I can't wait to Continue on this journey with you. So if you love this episode, please reach out to me and let me know. Share it on your social media. Share it with a friend who you think needs to hear this, who maybe you want to Focus on building a vision board this year with and you want to do it the right way with her. Go ahead and share it with her so you guys can do it together and hold each other accountable. And, anyways, I will chat with you next week and have a great day.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. You have no idea how grateful I am to have you as one of the love your body now listeners. If you are loving this podcast, it would mean the world to me if you subscribed and left a review. This helps me get the message out to more women just like you who are also committed to their journey. And if you love this episode, please be sure to share it with someone who you know needs to hear today's message. Together, we can help more women recognize their self-worth and build their confidence from a much deeper place, just like you're doing right now. Let's help change the world, one woman at a time. All right, talk to you soon, friend you.