#54 - The Yearly Reset Series (Part 3 of 4): 2024 in the Rearview

Moving into the third episode of a special four-part series designed to wrap up 2024 and jump into 2025 with purpose and intention.

This episode features 9 impactful questions to help you close out one year and step into the next with clarity, positivity, and focus.

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Transcript

Intro:

Hello Everyone! Welcome to The Game of Life Podcast; I am Alexandria Burek and I am your host. 

Thank you for picking my show out of the millions to choose from; I am honored and excited to share this time with you! 

Continuing with the four part series, I’m excited to share with you guys some of my go to prompts that bring me closure and freedom as I exit the year; before the end of the series I will also give you a bonus ritual I do every year that sets me up with a fresh start. 

Personal Update: 

This year things are a bit out of sorts for me when it comes to the holidays and the close out of the year–BUT I am making the most of it. 

I am excited about a new tradition that has begun, which we are calling Cousins Christmas. My cousins and I have collectively decided to get together and spend time with each other before the extreme chaos ensues–year 1 down the rest of our lives to go! 

The trial run with River North and the dogs could not have gone any better. My girl dog was even good while we were getting the parking validated (which I was very surprised by). The walks were ok. Overall very pleased and optimistic about our future here in the city. I was also inundated with angel numbers–which has me GLOWING. Such good vibes and so much optimism and reassurance that I am where I am supposed to be and I am doing what I am supposed to be doing! 

OK- enough of that, on to the good stuff. 

The Yearly Reset  

Before we dive deep into 2024, lets run through a quick recap on the four part series: 

1 - Your Year Unfolded - We started with different ways to look back on and appreciate 2024 (highlights, pictures, memories)

2 - Growing into Greatness - Last week we thought about and defined our values, our transformations, and our priorities 

3 - 2024 in the Rearview – This week we are going to explore ways to bring closure to the year

4 - Stepping into 2025: Next week is all about setting goals and intentions for the new year 

OK - SO - Part 3: 2024 in the Rearview– in order to move into the new year, we need to bring closure to the things, events, people and moments that might have been a bit heavier for us over the last year; and also celebrate, or at the very least, give ourselves some credit, for the fact that we made it through the tough moments. This episode is designed to give us time and space to acknowledge those things, and then leave them in the past. 

The inspiration for this episode comes in part from Catherine Ponder’s book “Open Your Mind to Prosperity” which I covered in episode 38. She highlights the importance of order, forgiveness, and letting go to eliminate negative energy and create space for good things to come into our lives. One of the most profound takeaways from that book that I think about almost weekly is this question she asks, “Where are you lacking order?” she says if your life is chaotic and your mind is chaotic you are not in a position to receive. I want to receive. I want to be in a mindset, and a frequency to receive. I want to bring as much order into my life as possible.  

To help us all bring order and closure to 2024, I have curated 9 questions that are designed to eliminate the chaos in our lives while also bringing clarity and peace to your inner and external world. 

I am going to quickly read off these questions so you know what we are getting into here, then my goal is to do a little bit of a deep dive on each to help you get the most out of them. 

The questions

Where am I lacking order? 

Who do I need to forgive? 

What do I need to eliminate? 

What do I need to let go of?

Who do I need to send love to? 

What am I most thankful for?

What did I learn from my failures?

Where did I fall short? Why? 

What made me feel expanded or contracted? 

Starting with, “Where am I lacking order?” – I typically try to go about this in a couple of ways. First I will physically walk around my house, and look at my space to see where I am lacking order and organization, then I will tackle those areas. Or at the very least make a note of the areas that need attention. So, when is the last time you took an inventory of your space? Are there closets that need reorganizing? Has your workspace exploded slowly over time into a mess? Is your kitchen in a state of disarray? Where are you lacking order in your home? One example of an energy suck that I wish I would have addressed sooner, was the wood pile in my backyard. Over the year, the wood had shifted and logs tumbled around. It looked sloppy. Finally one day, I put all that fire wood in order and I can just sigh with satisfaction and peace thinking about it. It is a small thing but I do believe these tiny little things shift our energy and block us from receiving our highest good. SO- take some time to bring order to your home. Next, I go internal with this concept. Where am I lacking order? Am I in conflict with someone? Am I personally focused? Do I know what my priorities are? Am I acting in alignment with my priorities and my values? Now ask yourself these same questions. Who do you need to resolve a conflict with? Are you focused? What are you prioritizing and does it align with your values? Where are you lacking order internally and externally?

Next, “Who do I need to forgive?”

This has been the single greatest hack of my life. I wished I had learned the benefits and art of forgiveness earlier, HOWEVER, late is better than never. I may have mentioned in a previous episode that I started a note in my phone to list, and actually get those thoughts and feelings out of my body and head. I have found that just listing the persons name and what I am forgiving them for usually does the trick, however, if it is something more serious, you might want to write them a letter (I have suggested writing thank you notes to the people who fucked you over); I have found that the letter really allows you to get all of it out–of course I do not recommend giving this letter to the person–this is solely for you to process your own thoughts and feelings. But either way, you will feel MUCH lighter after you do this exercise–and I am sure it will bring you clarity. Remember, the point of forgiveness is to free yourself from the negativity. It's to move forward. Forgiveness is for your highest good. Create a routine of forgiveness for yourself.  

On to, “What do I need to eliminate?”

This question I haven't yet answered myself. The first thing that came to mind was swearing. I believe I have come a long way with eliminating, aka drastically reducing it. That said, in the last couple of weeks, I have caught myself swearing more than usual. SO. I think that is a good example of something I might want to eliminate going into the new year. Has there been a behavior, a habit, or even an attitude that you think, “I probably shouldn’t do that anymore”? You might be feeling that about a friend, person, or friends group: have you outgrown them? Do you feel good around them? If not eliminate them all together from your life, is the answer to limit or change the nature of your relationship? It can also be a physical thing, like clutter, or junk or old clothes that you know you don’t use, fit in, or intend to use, can you eliminate those things?–by eliminating these things, people, and places from your life, you eliminate negative energy and create space for new, better things. 

Similar but different, “What do I need to let go of?”

In talking to my friend, I mentioned to her that I think I need to loosen up, and let go of this need to have predominantly deep, philosophical conversations. While I will still love them and prefer them to surface level topics, I do believe that there is a time and place for the deeper stuff. I realized this when I was on my latest date. I usually come to the date with a couple of questions, like something fun and something a bit more deep. The date was WONDERFUL but my date was clearly stressed a bit (rightfully and understandably), and I just felt it wasn’t time to ask him some deep, prodding questions. I instead, did something I typically do not to do, and shared relatively shallow things, and kept it light. I found it to be kind of surprisingly enjoyable. BUT I have also realized that I have never ever been with this person and had a bad time regardless of what we are doing–so it could also be a testament to his company and how much I enjoy it. ALL THAT TO SAY, what do you need to let go of. Is it a preference like mine? Is it a piece of your identity? Is it an experience that you are holding on to for far too long? The more you let go of, the more you open up the channels for good. Think about what you need to let go of so you can be the best version of you. 

Sadly, most of us do not make it a whole year without a single failure. So, one of the best questions I have heard, and use, to identify the lessons in my failures, is to ask, “What did I learn from my failures?” I am going to leave my personal example a bit more vague than usual. One of my failures could have been reduced or minimized by addressing my issue sooner, rather than avoiding it. I got to a certain point with this area in my life that, I really felt I had no answers, no solutions, no way out despite the incredible effort I was making to overcome it. I did work myself up a handful of times to face it head on, however I was not approaching the problem with the right solution. Sadly, I failed many times before I found a solution in this particular area. I would say lessons learned here are:

Number one, avoidance does not work. It makes whatever you’re facing worse in every way, every time. 

Number two, even when you are approaching the problem head on, even that may not yield the results we desire. 

Number three, crowdsourcing can’t hurt. I think of the “sly fox” parable from the Thanksgiving Day Episode #51. You never know who has the answer to your problem. If you keep it to yourself you are limited to only your perspectives and you might miss out on an obvious solution. 

Number four, sometimes it can be embarrassing or scary to admit to your peers, mentors, friends, whoever, what it is you are dealing with or up against, but in doing so, I have found people will likely surprise you with their compassion and support in helping you to find a solution. 

Think of an area, or a thing that could be construed as a failure you experienced in the last year. And really think about what did you learn from it. Convert your failures into lessons learned and be better as a result.  

Ok - So, this one off the cuff gives negative, however, is actually a very positive question. “Where did I fall short? Why?” – Earlier this year I was at the wealth conference in Nashville, and Angie Wisdom was giving a great talk, and one of the major takeaways from her talk that day, was the way she asks herself this question. The key is the delivery and the intent. She asks this question from a place of curiosity with the intention to get better. She gave an example of carving out time to write her book. She said she kept falling short, so she asked herself “why didn’t I accomplish this goal?” she did this over and over and over again, until finally she narrowed down the best time, and place, and circumstances to write her book and then she stopped falling short. So were there any goals or areas in your life that you feel you are falling short on? Then you need to make a decision to go one level deeper and ask yourself why, over and over and over again, until finally you know exactly what you need to do. 

On a brighter, happier note, “Who do I need to send love to?”

Sending love is such a powerful experience. Sometimes it is directly expressed and received by the person you are sending it to, other times, you just send them love without directly telling them. You can also do this in the form of sending a christmas card–one of my personal favorites. Whichever way you decide is best, send love to some of the people that made your year. I plan to use a mixed method of delivery based on the person who is receiving it. I am also inspired by someone I have come to know and admire. He writes his clients a handwritten note in January–I really like this and I might just adopt this. I like it because it can be done after Christmas and it will not get lost in the sea of christmas cards. If you aren’t necessarily compelled to share this with the person, maybe you make a list of the people that impacted you so positively this year in a journal or something like that. Ultimately the point is to spend a few moments, sending love to the people that made your year. The more love you put out in the world, the better it is and the more there will be coming back to you. 

Just as we look at some of our challenges and things we want to leave in 2024, we also need to look back and think about, What am I most thankful for? It could be for a person who came into your life, or a new job, but spend some time reflecting on what truly went well for you this year. What and who made 2024 special. Over the course of the year I have been increasingly more aware and more thankful for the wonderful friends I have–wonderful doesn’t even sum up what they mean to me, but they are top of mind. I am so thankful I got to host my grandma for thanksgiving. I am thankful for the commitment I made to getting healthy, and for the ways I have strengthened my belief and my relationship with God–and for the many gifts he has given. What and who was it for you? 

Saving potentially one of my favorite philosophical questions for last, “What made me feel expanded or contracted?” – you can use this to guide you and steer you towards, and away, from people, places, and things that are in alignment or not. I did this experiment for like 30 days and in doing so I learned quite a bit about myself which then guided me in a different direction and allowed me to make different decisions. More importantly than doing this for a period of time, is tuning into your body and investigating these feeings and then using them to guide you. Podcasting and Real Estate and doing Technology Integrations make me feel expanded. Paperwork and meaningless conversations make me feel contracted. Thinking about my future makes me feel expanded, while spending too much time thinking about childhood or my past makes me feel contracted. If this isn’t something you have spent much time thinking about, start now. Notice how your mind and your body feel and how you express yourself in certain areas–and watch how all of a sudden your life becomes increasingly better and more aligned with your true nature. 

Annnnnnnnnd thats all for today folks! I hope you guys have some unique questions to ask and to think about as you wrap up 2024 and step into 2025.

Spend some time assessing where you need more order in your life, thing about who you need to forgive. Make a list of things you want to eliminate from your life and let go of as you step into 2025. Send the special people in your life love and think about all that you have to be thankful for. Turn your failures into lessons; find a way to run experiments so you can fine tune your life and stop falling short. Think about What made you feel expanded or contracted and then align your actions with the things that make you feel expanded. 

You guys thank you so much for spending this time with me–I hope this episode and this show continues to give you things to think about that ultimately help improve your life. Thank you so much for your support of the show–if you enjoyed the show please give the show a 5-star rating, leave an honest (and hopefully positive) comment, and most important of all, share this show with someone you love. 

Until next time…. Byeeeeee