January 17, 2025 • 8 mins
2024 was a bit of a rough year, with job losses, hard economic times, and low business confidence. The new year offers a chance to reset.
Dr Dougal Sutherland offers his top tips for starting 2025 off with some oomph:
- If you have a job, count your blessings! Lots of people lost theirs last year and so it’s important to remember that even though it may not be the best job in the world, at least you’re in paid employment!
- Plan out your holidays for the year as best you can. Have a look for the public holidays that are happening in 2025, can you make any of these into longer weekends (e.g. four days instead of three) and give yourself that extra time to rest and recover? Looking ahead I can see there is quite a gap of public holidays between Matariki and Labour Day – can you plan for some leave then? Four months is a long time to go without a break, especially in winter.
- Make a daily ‘Have to, Hope to, Love to list’ – “Have to” are things you must do today; “Hope to” are things that you can do if you have time; “Love to” is at least 1 thing per day that fills your cup – make sure to give this as much priority as “Have to”.
- Take some time to reflect on 2024 – what did you learn from the year? What went well and you would like to keep doing? Anything that you would like to avoid doing again that you did last year?
- Think about the people in your life – are there some who you would like to see more of? Can you plan ahead to make time for them? On the other hand, is there anyone who it may be better off not to have in your life? Are there some (polite) ways that you ease off these relationships?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Teams podcast
from News Talks at b We are.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Kicking off this hour talking about well being and no
doubt you might be one of those people that spends
a bit of time over the holidays reflecting on the
year that's been and looking ahead to the year. You
know at to twenty twenty five. You may be the
kind of person that puts New Year's resolutions in place. Well,
maybe you just take a little bit more time to
think about some As I know, it is quite trendy
(00:34):
these days to do. You do your en list and
your outlist for twenty twenty five. You look at the
things you're going to bring into your life, look at
the things are going to get out of your life. Anyway,
you might just kind of want a little bit of
you know, I like this word mph to get into
the year. So joining us now is Doogle Sutherland. Good morning,
Nice to talk to you again.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Us to talk to you as well.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
How was your twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Four Oh it was not one that I would want
to repeat again, except so I said to somebody the
other day. The first ten months were rubbish. The last
two were pretty good. That's good. Yeah, on balance, I
don't think I would want to have another. The only
(01:21):
bright spark and it came at the very, very very
end is we welcomed our first grandchild.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Into wonderful.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Clarence.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
It doesn't get you know, more joyful than that, does it.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
No? No, So that was that was a nice way
to end the year. But apart from that, I don't
think i'd want to repeat the rest of it. No.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
And I think a lot of people have felt the
same way. You know, we've had job losses, you know,
with its economic times are tough. You know, people you
know are really sort of struggling to remain positive in things.
And I think when you you know, heading into a
new year is a great time, isn't it doogle to
sort of start having a think about the year ahead
and the changes that you'd like to make. What are
(02:02):
some of your top tips for starting the year.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well, yeah, well I've got I've got pulled together five tips.
Now I should say don't if you're listening, don't try
and do all five because you'll probably spectacularly fail at
all of them and then you'll feel terrible. So I
think choose one, maybe two that resonate with you, and
(02:26):
I think you're right. You know, this time of the year,
we've got a little bit of extra time. On her hand,
it's not a bad time to stop and reflect. I
think the very first thing, and actually it was something
my wife said to me the other day we both
started back at work, and she said she she had
to sort of rally herself to get out of a
car in the morning when she got to work, but
she reminded herself that she was thankful that she actually
(02:47):
had a job. And for many people, of course, last year,
whether you're in the public or the private sector, there
was job losses and job cuts, and I know some
might still be continuing. So I think that might be
the first thing I would say is count your blessings.
If you've got a job, then be thankful for it.
It's maybe it's not the best job that you've ever had,
and maybe you want to change and that's okay, but
(03:08):
be thankful that you've actually got a job, because many
people don't or at least lost their job last year.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
My guess this is Google Sutherland, principal psychologist and CEO
of Umbrella Well Being no very good point you make
their Google and if it's not the job you want.
You've got all the time in the years to make
some plans to get the job you do want. But
it is always good just to go hang on a minute.
You know, the world's not falling apart. I've still got
my job.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
The world's done. I've still got a job, I've still
got some income. Look, I think if you have got
a job, then then one thing I really liked to do,
and I did it earlier in the week, was plan
out your holidays for the year as best as you can.
And I know there are lots of hacks around this,
like hacks, I think, And one thing I like to
do is have a look through the year. When are
(03:56):
the public holidays falling? Can I take a day, you know,
before that to convert a three day weekend into an
actual four day weekend, which feels a bit bigger. When
are the big gaps, Like I noticed, there's a big
gap from July to October where there are ant any
public holidays at all. So make sure that you've got
some leave scheduled into those times. I try and make
(04:16):
sure that I'm taking some time off, even if it's
a day, about every six weeks, just to keep those
batteries recharged. Otherwise, you know, your year gets busy, your
diary gets filled, and by the time you know it,
you go, oh gee, it's it's October and I haven't
taken any leave. So do a bit of planning ahead.
That would be my second tip. My third tip would be,
and I started doing this myself a couple of years ago,
(04:39):
make a daily list. And imagine there are three columns
in this list. So you've got you have to do things.
Those are things obviously that you know you've got to
go today. Then the second or the second columns hope
to what are the things that I hope to do today.
I don't have to do them, and if I get
to them, that's great. And the third column, this is
this is the key one, I think, is what do
(05:00):
I love? What am I going to do today that
I love to do today? And that might just be
one thing. It might be something that you're doing work,
or it might be something you're doing at home or
with the family or in the evening. But make sure
that at least once a day there's something that's filling
up your cup of goodness of well being, that's something
that you're actually enjoying because I think otherwise, if we're
(05:22):
just doing all the have tos, we can sometimes feel
a bit drained by the time we come to the
end of the day.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Now, that makes a list a lot more appealing, and
it makes you it sort of makes you want to
encourage to write the list for the next day. That
taking a bit of the pressure off with the have
to and the hope to as well.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
It does Yeah, and I think you can go back
and track it and say, oh, have I done anything
that I've loved to do in the live day or
two or g I haven't, I think too. You know,
as we talked about a fourth that it would be
just take some time to reflect on the year. What
did you learn from it, particularly if it was a
time of change for you? I think often when we've
(05:59):
been through a big time of change, our tendency is
to just sort of try and forget about it. God,
that was awful. I just don't want to think about
it again. But if it's if it's if you're okay
emotionally to go back there and it's not it's not
too distressing, go back and think about Okay, actually, let's
have a look at the year. What what what did
I learn from the year, What if if if I
(06:22):
was confronted with a similar situation again in the future,
what would I do the same? And is there anything
that I would not do? Is there any sort of
lessons that I've learned from this year that I would
not want to repeat and and sort of use those
as a guiding list as to how you perhaps might
approach the next big change that's going to come up
(06:42):
in life.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Whenever I whenever I read Google about happiness and things,
and you look at some of the extremely long longevity
program studies which take place in the in the United
States and things, They'll often say to you when they've
looked at generations of people that the thing that makes
them most happy at the end of the day, it's
not money or what they achieved or anything like that,
(07:05):
it's the cans in the relationships that they have with
people in their lives. And I see that this is
kind of your fifth tip.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yeah, absolutely, I think you know relationships are key and
that they glue us together really and but not all
relationships are created equal, and sometimes relationships the quality ones. Yeah,
sometimes we're in relationships that maybe don't bring out the
best in us or that we're simply kind of you know,
(07:35):
we're in because we kind of feel a sense of
obligation and weirdly. One of my tips is actually think about,
are there any relationships that perhaps aren't the best for
you to be in? And maybe should you think about
just not ghosting somebody, but just sort of turning down
the heat on a relationship. Are there any relationships that
(07:55):
you kind of think, actually, when I'm around this person
that doesn't always go well, I kind of don't really
enjoy it, We don't really get anything out of it,
And actually maybe it's not one of those want to
best a lot of time and look, it's okay to
do that, I mean, do it politely, do it kindly,
and as you don't have to ghost people. But maybe
it's there comes to time sometimes when we want to
(08:17):
focus on the quality, as you mentioned, rather than the quantity.
So that might be another thing for people to consider
as they go into this new year.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Wonderful tips for us. Thank you so much, Doogle, nice
to catch up with your doggle as a principal psychologist
and CEO of Umbrella Well Being.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News talks 'b from nine am Saturday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Teams podcast
from News Talks at b We are.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Kicking off this hour talking about well being and no
doubt you might be one of those people that spends
a bit of time over the holidays reflecting on the
year that's been and looking ahead to the year. You
know at to twenty twenty five. You may be the
kind of person that puts New Year's resolutions in place. Well,
maybe you just take a little bit more time to
think about some As I know, it is quite trendy
(00:34):
these days to do. You do your en list and
your outlist for twenty twenty five. You look at the
things you're going to bring into your life, look at
the things are going to get out of your life. Anyway,
you might just kind of want a little bit of
you know, I like this word mph to get into
the year. So joining us now is Doogle Sutherland. Good morning,
Nice to talk to you again.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Us to talk to you as well.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
How was your twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Four Oh it was not one that I would want
to repeat again, except so I said to somebody the
other day. The first ten months were rubbish. The last
two were pretty good. That's good. Yeah, on balance, I
don't think I would want to have another. The only
(01:21):
bright spark and it came at the very, very very
end is we welcomed our first grandchild.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Into wonderful.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Clarence.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
It doesn't get you know, more joyful than that, does it.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
No? No, So that was that was a nice way
to end the year. But apart from that, I don't
think i'd want to repeat the rest of it. No.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
And I think a lot of people have felt the
same way. You know, we've had job losses, you know,
with its economic times are tough. You know, people you
know are really sort of struggling to remain positive in things.
And I think when you you know, heading into a
new year is a great time, isn't it doogle to
sort of start having a think about the year ahead
and the changes that you'd like to make. What are
(02:02):
some of your top tips for starting the year.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well, yeah, well I've got I've got pulled together five tips.
Now I should say don't if you're listening, don't try
and do all five because you'll probably spectacularly fail at
all of them and then you'll feel terrible. So I
think choose one, maybe two that resonate with you, and
(02:26):
I think you're right. You know, this time of the year,
we've got a little bit of extra time. On her hand,
it's not a bad time to stop and reflect. I
think the very first thing, and actually it was something
my wife said to me the other day we both
started back at work, and she said she she had
to sort of rally herself to get out of a
car in the morning when she got to work, but
she reminded herself that she was thankful that she actually
(02:47):
had a job. And for many people, of course, last year,
whether you're in the public or the private sector, there
was job losses and job cuts, and I know some
might still be continuing. So I think that might be
the first thing I would say is count your blessings.
If you've got a job, then be thankful for it.
It's maybe it's not the best job that you've ever had,
and maybe you want to change and that's okay, but
(03:08):
be thankful that you've actually got a job, because many
people don't or at least lost their job last year.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
My guess this is Google Sutherland, principal psychologist and CEO
of Umbrella Well Being no very good point you make
their Google and if it's not the job you want.
You've got all the time in the years to make
some plans to get the job you do want. But
it is always good just to go hang on a minute.
You know, the world's not falling apart. I've still got
my job.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
The world's done. I've still got a job, I've still
got some income. Look, I think if you have got
a job, then then one thing I really liked to do,
and I did it earlier in the week, was plan
out your holidays for the year as best as you can.
And I know there are lots of hacks around this,
like hacks, I think, And one thing I like to
do is have a look through the year. When are
(03:56):
the public holidays falling? Can I take a day, you know,
before that to convert a three day weekend into an
actual four day weekend, which feels a bit bigger. When
are the big gaps, Like I noticed, there's a big
gap from July to October where there are ant any
public holidays at all. So make sure that you've got
some leave scheduled into those times. I try and make
(04:16):
sure that I'm taking some time off, even if it's
a day, about every six weeks, just to keep those
batteries recharged. Otherwise, you know, your year gets busy, your
diary gets filled, and by the time you know it,
you go, oh gee, it's it's October and I haven't
taken any leave. So do a bit of planning ahead.
That would be my second tip. My third tip would be,
and I started doing this myself a couple of years ago,
(04:39):
make a daily list. And imagine there are three columns
in this list. So you've got you have to do things.
Those are things obviously that you know you've got to
go today. Then the second or the second columns hope
to what are the things that I hope to do today.
I don't have to do them, and if I get
to them, that's great. And the third column, this is
this is the key one, I think, is what do
(05:00):
I love? What am I going to do today that
I love to do today? And that might just be
one thing. It might be something that you're doing work,
or it might be something you're doing at home or
with the family or in the evening. But make sure
that at least once a day there's something that's filling
up your cup of goodness of well being, that's something
that you're actually enjoying because I think otherwise, if we're
(05:22):
just doing all the have tos, we can sometimes feel
a bit drained by the time we come to the
end of the day.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Now, that makes a list a lot more appealing, and
it makes you it sort of makes you want to
encourage to write the list for the next day. That
taking a bit of the pressure off with the have
to and the hope to as well.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
It does Yeah, and I think you can go back
and track it and say, oh, have I done anything
that I've loved to do in the live day or
two or g I haven't, I think too. You know,
as we talked about a fourth that it would be
just take some time to reflect on the year. What
did you learn from it, particularly if it was a
time of change for you? I think often when we've
(05:59):
been through a big time of change, our tendency is
to just sort of try and forget about it. God,
that was awful. I just don't want to think about
it again. But if it's if it's if you're okay
emotionally to go back there and it's not it's not
too distressing, go back and think about Okay, actually, let's
have a look at the year. What what what did
I learn from the year, What if if if I
(06:22):
was confronted with a similar situation again in the future,
what would I do the same? And is there anything
that I would not do? Is there any sort of
lessons that I've learned from this year that I would
not want to repeat and and sort of use those
as a guiding list as to how you perhaps might
approach the next big change that's going to come up
(06:42):
in life.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Whenever I whenever I read Google about happiness and things,
and you look at some of the extremely long longevity
program studies which take place in the in the United
States and things, They'll often say to you when they've
looked at generations of people that the thing that makes
them most happy at the end of the day, it's
not money or what they achieved or anything like that,
(07:05):
it's the cans in the relationships that they have with
people in their lives. And I see that this is
kind of your fifth tip.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yeah, absolutely, I think you know relationships are key and
that they glue us together really and but not all
relationships are created equal, and sometimes relationships the quality ones. Yeah,
sometimes we're in relationships that maybe don't bring out the
best in us or that we're simply kind of you know,
(07:35):
we're in because we kind of feel a sense of
obligation and weirdly. One of my tips is actually think about,
are there any relationships that perhaps aren't the best for
you to be in? And maybe should you think about
just not ghosting somebody, but just sort of turning down
the heat on a relationship. Are there any relationships that
(07:55):
you kind of think, actually, when I'm around this person
that doesn't always go well, I kind of don't really
enjoy it, We don't really get anything out of it,
And actually maybe it's not one of those want to
best a lot of time and look, it's okay to
do that, I mean, do it politely, do it kindly,
and as you don't have to ghost people. But maybe
it's there comes to time sometimes when we want to
(08:17):
focus on the quality, as you mentioned, rather than the quantity.
So that might be another thing for people to consider
as they go into this new year.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Wonderful tips for us. Thank you so much, Doogle, nice
to catch up with your doggle as a principal psychologist
and CEO of Umbrella Well Being.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News talks 'b from nine am Saturday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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