I’m writing this blog as we kick off 2025, and whilst it is focused on the start of a fresh new year full of possibility and potential, the information in here is for anytime you need a reset, to buckle down on a goal, or how to set up a more intentional life.
Whilst reflection is a tool I can’t recommend more highly for leaders. It builds your understanding of yourself and impact you can have on self and others. Having an intentional life goes hand in hand with reflection as a skill many leaders can cultivate. Many of my frequent followers will know by now I set an intention theme, captured in a word, every year. I’ve had words like Trust, Creativity, Experiment, Essential, Ease in the past. Each year I get better and better at grounding these themes into my way of life and how I make decisions. I usually select them because it’s a point of lack or a gap in my life. Not just professionally, but holistically.
My year of Ease just completed was exactly what I needed to ride some of the bumps and detours I went on, it really helped me narrow in on what was in my control, how I made choices, and where I chose to focus energy. I found myself asking myself frequently, “what is or will be the most easeful way through this/ approach to this?” In a small and consistent way, it transformed me from being uptight, fuelled by frustration and locked into some fixed ideas to being more in flow, embodied and conscious. And as this occurred, I felt my physical body calling out for nourishment, I am moving into a new cycle of age (perhaps in denial I am in my mid-forties!) and it is really time to look at how I nourish myself differently. So here we are with the word of the year in 2025: Nourish.
To support any change there are two great tools you have access to: setting a Goal and having an Intention.
A goal is the outcome you want to achieve, usually quantified in some way – as a metric. An intention is having purpose to what you do. Clarifying what you want to do, how you want to do it, how you want to think and feel. Asking, who do I want to be during, and after, this achievement I have set? Let me use my 2025 personal and professional goals and intention as examples to illustrate for you.
Personal Goal = Complete the 75-day program I started on 31st Dec. It roughly translates into move, meditate, eat well, no alcohol every day for 75 days in a row.
Professional Goal = Complete the 2nd manuscript for my book by July 2025, and release before December 2025.
My Intention that underpins both = To Nourish. This is a conscious effort to reshape how I eat, move and care for myself. I know I can’t do either of my goals without nourished energy.
Some inside intel… I’ve mimicked the 75HARD program and turned it into my own 75NOURISH. I started on 31st December and since then I’ve been doing daily movement, meditation, getting more sleep and the clincher for me is how I am fuelling my body, so I’ve been off alcohol, bread, sugar, cheese and junky snacks and onto more hydration, protein and salads. I intentionally made sure my language and attitude to this wasn’t about it being a chore, hard and challenge, my re-framing around ‘get-to’ in the past couple of years has supported me so far and feels so much easier and enjoyable. That’s 22 days down, so let’s see how I feel by 75!
As with all cycles of change we go through phases. I was listening to Jay Shetty’s podcast and he shared the below cycle – that is inevitable we all go through all five of these phases when making a behaviour shift.
Jay shares that you cannot succeed with a goal without going through all five of these phases in this order. You may go backwards, but you need to experience the phase before moving forward. Each phase lasts for a period, they aren’t even or equal. Some people stay in Learning for a long time. Or switch back and forth from Experimenting to Performing when the going gets tough and they resist or avoid the Struggling. It’s a great resource to look at and consider which phase of change you’re in; where you want to go; or reflect on what you learned and can take to progress to the next phase.
I feel like I am in the Experimenting >> Performing at the moment with Nourish, and anticipate I will have some struggling to prepare for (perhaps when I am at some long lunch networking events and my birthday in February!)
I took a bunch of people through this and some great questions to help them Set-Up 2025. If you’d like access to this tool, feel free to download it here.
To build extra layers on top and really nourish your ability to see changes stick, you need to be wary of two other components of change. And I say wary, as these are parts of you often find yourself in battle with when it comes to making a shift in your life. Trust and Discipline.
Let’s chat about Trust…
My favourite definition of trust comes from a sketch by Rachel Botsman, a thought-leader on Trust (as a personal, team, organisation and global perspective).
In order to trust ourselves we need to be comfortable enough with the unknown and have our own back that we can figure it out. I also like to say, “faith in yourself”. This comes from knowing your values and embodiment of who you want to be. Which is being able to dream it, visualise it, feel it, and know it – like it already exists even when the outcome or result is unclear, fuzzy or as Rachel says – unknown.
To really start to build trust it’s helpful to use storytelling, as this article in Psychology Today shares, “The best way to maintain your connection with stakeholders (or yourself) is to reassure them systematically that you are on the same page. You can do so by using storytelling techniques that strengthen your emotional rapport by entertaining and educating your stakeholders. You will inspire them and engage with them, reinforcing your bond and building trust.”
Experiment a little… with Trust.
Apply storytelling to the goal and intention you’ve set yourself this year. Write in as little as 2 minutes how you will feel, in real time, to be achieving what you set out for.
Let’s chat about Discipline…
Discipline often gets a bad rap. You may think it’s rigid, forceful, full of pressure, or have one of those controlling inner dictators who like to rule the show. Discipline isn’t a dirty word in my coaching room. It’s a helpful way to be when you want to make a change stick. Habits are the tool help you get there. And not having a lengthy list of 10 things to achieve, hone it down to one powerful habit at a time. One habit that will influence the others, one you know you can stick to (because it’s easiest or the most transformative). If you’re keen to read more on how to be productive through the power of habits, motivation and discipline, this blog will help you.
What lies underneath your success in one habit? For me with Nourish, it’s sleep. Setting up for today means I need to plan yesterday. Mornings are mine in our household, I get up at 5.30 to walk with the dog, meditate and get my day started well. Going to bed on time means I am getting the rest, repair and restoration I need to be better today. And can get up at 5.30. This one habit transformed my life in 2024, and I want to (or get to) keep this habit maintained. What sits beneath my success to nourish is the going to bed on time.
Experiment a little… with Discipline
What is one disciplined habit that sits underneath your intention/ goal that will transform what you want to achieve?
So try these tools for yourself. If you’d like my Deep Dive process, which includes a one-page plan for 2025, download it here.
Enjoy the kick off to a new year, stay with the potential and possibilities – it’s going to be an exciting one and I look forward to sharing resources with you that will help support who you are and want to be.
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