#55 - The Yearly Reset Series (Part 4 of 4): Stepping into 2025

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

This episode features three tactical goal setting strategies, two useful frameworks to ensure success, and a time capsule activity (plus a bonus ritual) to close out this year and prepare for the next.  

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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 so many to choose from; I am honored and excited to share this time with you! I hope this episode gives you something meaningful to think about as we wrap up 2024 and look forward to 2025. 

This is the final episode in the four part series, and today I’m excited to share with you guys powerful tools that will help you set intentions for the year ahead, map out your yearly bucket list and so much more. 

Personal Update: 

Firstly, Merry Christmas! I just love Christmas–the songs, the decorations, the cookies, the food, all of the things–so I hope you are all finding a way to make this Christmas special–you listening to my podcast is one of the best gifts you could give me!

Second, I will give a quick update on the dating life–I had a wonderful date just last week. I think more than the things we did, what we ate, where we went, the most special thing was, was the side of him I got to see. I got to see the weeknight version of him-and I liked it so much. This is a big deal because typically we are party people–I am so excited I found someone who I like being both ridiculously irresponsible with AND responsible with–#winning. 

Last- quick update on the running. I ran my first 5k outside! What an awesome time that was! I was very nervous about running outside, but I sincerely enjoyed it–being in FL helped–but still. I bested my time, even with the hills and the wind–and I am freaking stoked about that! 

The Yearly Reset  

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

1 - Your Year Unfolded - What were your best moments, your highlight reel of 2024?

2 - Growing into Greatness - What are your values? How have we transformed this year? What are our priorities and are we living in alignment with them?

3 - 2024 in the Rearview – 9 carefully curated questions to bring peace and clarity to your inner and external world 

4 - Stepping into 2025: This week is all about setting goals and intentions for the new year. PLUS - a bonus ritual I swear by! 

OK - SO - Part 4: Stepping into 2025–this episode is all about the new year and new you! For this exercise I have 3 parts: we will get a bit tactical in terms of our plans, our goals, and our intentions, then we will get a bit philosophical before we end with a bit of a time capsule exercise, AND OF COURSE the bonus ritual. 

The inspiration for this episode comes from many places and people and posts and podcasts, but notably I am drawing on inspiration from a couple of special people: Bob Proctor, Jess Itzler, and Chris Williamson. We will use Bob Proctors A,B,C goals, Jesse Itzler’s yearly bucket list, and the best of Chris Williamson’s in-depth yearly review exercise to craft a beautiful year. 

OK - So I have 3 tactical prompts we can use to make 2025 the best year yet. 

First, ABC Goals by Bob Proctor. So, if you guys didn’t listen, I highly recommend going back to episode 47 because there are many good nuggets there. BUT ABC goals are essentially three levels of goals. A goals are easy because we know what we need to do, we know how to do it, we just need to execute. B goals are a bit more challenging, we sort of know what to do and how to do it, but these goals feel a bit out of reach, and then C goals are the wild, grand slam kind of goals, the goals that we have no idea where to begin or how we would even accomplish them. SO I thought it would be fun to set an A, B, and a C goal for 2025. I am excited about each of these goals, and I especially like the varying challenge and difficulty of these goals. SO, what would be an A, B, and C goal for you? For me. I decided to apply this ONLY to my professional sphere. My A goal is to get my place listed on Airbnb. My B goal is to have a net worth of 100k (I am already so close, this really should be an A goal, but I am calling it a B goal). My C goal is to buy a Mid-Sized (30-50 unit) building to rent out–this seems wild, but I am VERY excited to go after this. What would be a WILD and FUN challenge for you to take on? Maybe your A, B, and C goals are in different spheres, maybe they are all professional like mine. Either way, choose an easy goal, a medium goal, and a difficult goal to go after this year. Make a plan and execute on it. 

Second, is Jesse Itzler’s key events for a winning year–I think this one is all about FUN. If anyone knows me, they know I love planning fun and new experiences. SO Jesse Itzler’s yearly bucket list includes: 1 year defining thing, 4 new habits and 6 mini adventures or new experiences per year. I love this because similar to Bob Proctors A,B, and C goals, these key events vary in cost and commitment. What will be a year defining thing for you? For me, 2022 was quitting smoking. 2023 was buying my house. 2024 was starting this podcast. 2025 will be going to Europe and doing the Half Marathon. What do you want to look back on 2025 and say, “I did that!” Pick 1 or 2 year defining events. The next thing he suggests, is to add in a winning habit per quarter. I personally haven’t selected these yet, and that’s ok. You don’t have to know what habits you want to add, just pick one to start. For me, I tied my first habit in with my B goal from the Proctor Goals. So my one habit is to calculate my net worth every month. By adding in this habit, it compliments my goals. Think about what your goals are, and what habits will make that a slam dunk. Then add them throughout the year as your quarterly habits. Last, and arguably, MOST fun, find 6 mini adventures / new experiences you can do every other month. SO – this I typically let unfold because my life seems naturally filled with new experiences, and if not, I find or seek them out. Some examples of my mini adventures in 2024 would be the camping trip I took with the dogs, or making pasta from scratch, or staying in Chicago and going to places I have never been, or stopping in Chattanooga on my drive to FL. In 2025, I genuinely have no idea what these will be. There is only one or two things I have on my list, one of which is going to the symphony. The point is, try something new. It could simply be making a new recipe or something like that, or it can be more extravagant. The point is, to prioritize fun, new, experiences. Novelty experiences slow time down. Decide on your yearly defining thing. Select 4 new habits that support your goals. Choose 6 adventures or experiences that will add novelty to your life. Craft a winning year. 

Third, this was sincerely profound for me. And this I created myself. This is my thing, originally created and crafted by yours truly (SO YOU BETTER LOVE IT). SO-what I did, was I sat down and I just wrote out all the words I wanted to use to describe 2024 when it was over. At the top of a paper I wrote “2024 was…” and I just started listing words that seemed to make sense to me. Then I looked at those words and selected my top favorites. Then I defined those words. So If I wanted to look back on 2024 and say “2024 was healthy” I literally asked myself, what is MY definition of healthy? My definition of healthy was: I worked out more, I drank less, I slept well, I ate nutritious and delicious foods. Pretty solid definition of healthy if you ask me, but I am pleased to say, I nailed it. My 2024 was healthy. I did work out more, I did drink less, I slept pretty well and I prioritized all things meal portioning and planning. I would not have achieved that if I didn’t spell out these specific metrics and program them into my mind. Either way, pick 3-10 words, carefully define what those words mean to you, put them in the past tense, then write them down. BONUS, if you want to really kill it, record it and listen to it hundreds of times so you can program it into your mind. I literally made a “2024 was” recording and then I would listen over and over again, until I had it perfectly memorized and it became a part of my mental script subconsciously. So. When you look back on 2025, how do you want to describe it? Is it healthy? Is it peaceful? Is it loving? Is it successful? Is it fun? Is it relaxing? Is it exciting? You choose. You have the power to create a life you LOVE. Do it this year. Be intentional. Be focused. Let 2025 be your best year yet. 

NOW - sliding into the philosophical part. These two frameworks are meant to help you zoom forward into the future. They will help you think about who you need to be, what you need to do, and how you need to do it in order to live your best life in 2025. 

FIRST is a “timetravel” exercise: you ask the question “How would 2025 look if everything went perfectly according to plan? Then you’re going to ask, “how did I do it? How do I feel now that I accomplished it?” You can do this for your goals, your intentions, whatever it is. You can also apply this framework to your day, your week, or your month. What it does is it helps you envision the results you want, how you accomplished it, and then locks that in the brain when you FEEL the accomplishment. SO when you look back at 2025, how would it look if everything went perfectly according to plan? How did you accomplish your A,B, and C goals? How did you get all of your mini-adventures in? How did you start all those new habits and do your year defining thing? How did you feel when you look back on your year, after successfully accomplishing your goals, going on these adventures, and crossing off your year defining thing? Spend some time meditating on this. I typically like to do this while walking. There is something calming, and energizing about walking that brings me clarity with these things. Regardless of where you do this, spend some time timetraveling into the future in which you have successfully lived 2025. Then lock in that feeling and get to going on your plans! 

This next framework comes from Chris Williamson’s yearly review (which is as intensely thorough as he is, so naturally I love it). He poses the question, “Who do I need to become for the next chapter of my life?” I spent some time thinking on this and answered this question for myself, which OF COURSE, I will share. But first lets think about this. When you think about your priorities, your goals, and your intentions going into 2025 and beyond, who do you need to be? Like we talked about last episode, what do you need to let go of in order to be this new version of you? In the last couple of months, I have embraced this “act as if it is already done” attitude, so with that, I have decided that the person I need to be for this next chapter of my life is a wife. A runner. A top 10% woman. I have never felt more ready to lock in with my person and ride or die. In order to hit my goal of running a half marathon, I need to become a runner. Each run I go on, I am voting for me as a runner. I am a runner. In order to be the type of wife and partner I want to be and know I am capable of being, I need to focus much of my energy on becoming a top 10% woman. It is incredibly important for me to be a woman who is not only loving, but also brings monetary value to the partnership. So what is on your horizon. Who do you need to be in this next chapter of your life? How would you act, if it were already done? Build her (or him). Act as if it is already done and watch the universe serve you up the most amazing moments and opportunities that are perfectly aligned with this new version of yourself.  

LAST but far from least, is this time capsule activity. It can be as simple, or serious, or in-depth as you want it to be. Write yourself a letter. People do this in all kinds of ways. I have done this many times, just never as a part of my yearly reset. This will be the first year in hopefully a multi-decade run. You can write the letter to your future self (the version of you that has successfully achieved everything they set out to do in 2025) or your future self can write to you now at 2024 to tell you how amazing things were. You could take a totally different approach and simply tell your future self about this year–you can give the highlights, recap your accomplishments, and any yearly defining things. The challenges. The fun times, The wins. Whatever feels right to you. I can’t recommend this more. Every time I come across a letter I wrote myself, I am usually brought to tears of joy and happiness or appreciation. This helps you note how far you have come, and remember those things that can easily fade out of our memories. I have seen parents do this for their children and I absolutely love it–when I am a mom, I will absolutely make time to do this for them. 

BONUS BONUS BONUS. My favorite ritual to close out the year always takes place between the day after Christmas and the New Year. Typically I take down my christmas decorations the day after Christmas, and then I do an intense deep clean of my house (TOP TO BOTTOM), closing it out with an energy clearing and sage smudging. I just find it to be the perfect way to close out the year and start literally fresh. My pets love it. I love it. And my home always feels so wonderful as a result. SO - get your mop and bucket. Burn your sage. Ring those energy clearing bells. 

Annnnnnnnnd thats all for today folks! I hope you guys have enjoyed this four part series and are able to close out 2024 with peace and step into 2025 focused and ready to go.

Set your a,b, and c goals. Choose your year defining thing, your 4 habits, and your 6 adventures. Define the words you want to use when you describe 2025 and then listen to them in past tense, on repeat. Timetravel to the future in order to lock in the feeling of success and get the cheat code for living your best year. Meditate on who you need to be in this next chapter of your life. And write yourself a letter to capture those moments and triumphs you don’t want to fade away. 

Next episode will be a tee up type episode for what I have in store for you throughout 2025. Stay tuned. 

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