July 15, 2025 • 13 mins
Ever feel like your New Year's goals have disappeared into thin air by July? You're not alone. This candid mid-year check-in explores what it truly means to set goals that enhance rather than diminish your confidence.
We dive deep into the reality of goal-setting—the successes, the struggles, and the goals that simply haven't seen the light of day since January. I share my personal journey with my eight personal and six business goals for 2025, from my improved presence with loved ones to my untouched herb planters still sitting empty on my kitchen counter. This transparent look at goal progress reminds us that perfection isn't the point—intentional growth is.
The episode offers practical strategies that have transformed my own goal-keeping, including the game-changing practice of setting goals as device screensavers, breaking aspirations into tiny achievable wins, and anchoring each goal to your deeper "why." Most importantly, we explore the freedom that comes with modifying or even completely dropping goals that no longer align with your current season, energy levels, or true desires. Remember, goals should serve you, not shame you.
What goals will you reset, modify, or celebrate as you move into the second half of 2025? There's still so much year left to finish strong and grow in confidence. If this resonates with you, please share it with a friend who might need this reminder, or leave a review to help others discover these confidence-building conversations. Let's embrace progress over perfection together.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ciera (00:03):
You're listening to Confidently Beautiful with Ciera
, a podcast to help you stayconfidently beautiful, because
we all have confidence inside us.
We just need to bring it outand I'm here to show you how
Body image, dreams, parenting,style, personality and more.
Here we cover it all.
Get ready to stay confidentlybeautiful.
Ready to stay confidentlybeautiful.
(00:29):
Welcome back to the podcast.
I am happy that you havedecided to tune in and listen
today.
Can you believe that we arealready halfway through 2025?
Like, I can't even believe it.
I mean, the fact that we'regoing back to school pretty soon
is crazy to me, but beinghalfway through the year already
is wild.
This is a perfect time of theyear to reflect on what you have
been doing this year and if itis on track to what you've been
(00:49):
hoping that you could accomplishthis year.
And the heart of this wholeepisode is about progress and
grace and confidence in thejourney.
It's not about getting to thefinal destination or checking
that box and finally doingsomething, but just being
confident throughout the wholejourney and reevaluating as
necessary.
How are you doing with yourgoals?
Are you totally crushing them?
(01:11):
Have you forgotten what theyeven are?
Do you feel stuck or behind, ormaybe unsure, or maybe you're
feeling like the goals that youhad originally set aren't really
applicable to you anymore.
It's okay if you're off track.
This is your moment that youcan reset this year.
This year, for my personal goals, I set eight personal goals and
(01:32):
I set six business goals, and Ifeel like I am struggling with
most of them.
I'm not on track with a lot ofthem, but there are a few that I
feel like I am getting closerto.
One of my personal goals that Ifeel like I am on track this
year with is to be present withthe people that I'm with them.
(01:53):
So when I'm with my kids, to bewith my kids.
When I'm on date night, to beon date night.
When I am having a conversationwith a friend, to like be all
in on that conversation.
So to make sure my mind and mythoughts aren't wandering, I
don't have my phone out, I'm notthinking of the next thing that
I have to do.
I've been really trying hard todo that this year.
(02:15):
I'm definitely not perfect atit far from it but I've been
really trying to.
One goal that I definitely havenot done anything with is to
learn about gardening.
I wanted that goal this year Iwanted to learn about gardening
and like more about food prep,and I even got these cute I
(02:36):
think they were from my mom forChristmas, these cute herb
planters that like go on mykitchen counter.
They've been sitting theresince Christmas, empty, like no
dirt in them, no herbs in them,and I just I have really wanted
to do that this year and I justhave not taken the time to do
that.
So that is one of my goals thatI am not.
(02:57):
I'm not ready to let it go.
I want to keep that goal, but Ineed to definitely reevaluate
how I can make that morepractical in my life and
learning more about that.
Another one of my goals that Ihad for this year is to budget
monthly and stick to it.
I've done pretty good, I'mgoing to say I've been pretty
good.
I definitely have done a budgetevery single month but sticking
to it.
(03:17):
That is where I've kind ofstruggled a little bit, but I am
definitely getting better.
One of my business goals that Ihave had this year is I want to
have 100 items in my Etsy shopby the end of the year and in
fact, while I'm sitting here,let's pull it up and see how
close I am to being on track tothat goal, because I think I
have a ways to go.
But that has been one of my biggoals that I wanted to do this
(03:39):
year is to have 100 items that Ihave in my Etsy store.
So I have my Etsy store, whichis fabulous and great, and it
looks like I have 34 items in myEtsy shop.
So I am definitely behind.
I should be closer to 50 if Iwant to have 100 by the end of
the year, but I would say I'mdoing pretty well.
I'm not super far behind, sothat is really good news.
(04:03):
Speaking of my Etsy shop, ifyou didn't know, I have an Etsy
shop.
I'm running a 20% off saleright now for everything in my
Etsy shop.
There's some really, reallycute things.
There's a lot of things aboutconfidence.
There's some cute spring andsummery attire and some cute
mama attire tumblers,sweatshirts, t-shirts.
(04:25):
There's some fun things inthere.
So if you want to check thatout, click the link in the bio
and definitely look by the endof this month, which is July,
because that is when the 20% offsale will end is at the end of
the month.
Some tips for staying focused onyour goals which have helped me
this year are to keep yourgoals visible.
So my strategy this year hasbeen to have all of my goals as
(04:47):
a screensaver on my phone, myiPad and my laptop.
This has been such a gamechanger for me to actually
remember what my goals are,because there's been so many
years in the past when somebodysaid, so what are your goals for
this year?
And I had forgotten by Februarywhat my goals were.
But this way I can actuallyremember my goals.
Like if you ask me what mygoals are, I could pretty much
(05:07):
tell you all of them off, justoff the top of my head, because
I look at them every single day.
So that has been really helpful.
It's just that constantreminder.
So it gives me constantintention to remember my goals.
Tip number two is to break goalsinto tiny wins.
So instead of just saying getfit, like, like you could say
(05:29):
that you're going to make a goalto move for 10 minutes today,
you can build on them.
So like if your overall goal islike you want to maybe lose 15
pounds, or you want to be ableto lift a certain amount of
weight or just, in general, getfit, then you can set little
tiny goals along the way, likethe moving for 10 minutes a day
(05:50):
or get maybe 10,000 steps is toomuch for you, so maybe you just
say I want to get 6,000 steps aday.
Whatever those little smallergoals are, that will give you
those tiny wins and then you canbuild on them and this will
build your confidence and yourmomentum.
Tip number three is to anchorgoals to a why.
I want to move my body daily.
Why?
Because I feel mentally clearer.
(06:14):
Connect your goals to yourvalues and your identity.
So I talk a lot about values,but if you can go back and think
about, like, what are my values, what do I value, then that can
help you to identify your goalsand what you want to achieve
from those goals.
So just pick one thing that youcan try this week, like that is
(06:34):
maybe tied to one of yourvalues, and try and have a goal
that is tied to that value andthat will anchor your goal to
something, so that you're notjust like doing this goal for no
reason, but you actually have areason behind it.
And as we're doing this goalevaluation, this mid-year
check-in, you may find that yourgoals need a reset.
(06:55):
So sometimes our goals likethey just evolve, like we're not
who we were when we set thegoal six months ago, and that's
totally okay.
Maybe we started workingtowards the were when we set the
goal six months ago, and that'stotally okay.
Maybe we started workingtowards the goal and we realized
that this was not somethingthat really was aligning with us
or making us feel confident orthat we wanted to do.
So you can modify the goal.
(07:15):
You can just base, like maybesomething new has happened this
year that wasn't taking place inJanuary when you set the goal,
and so you can change your goal,modify it based on your new
circumstances or your energy,whatever the new situation may
be.
You can reset the goal, likemaybe it's just not aligning
(07:36):
with your values or your currentseason of life, and then you
can just totally reset it.
You can just drop a goal.
There's nothing wrong with justdropping a goal.
If it is not working for you,if it's not making you feel good
, if it's not serving you, thenyou can just drop it.
One example that I have is Ialways would think to myself I
(07:58):
want to work out early in themornings, before my kids get up.
I can think of so many timeswhen I set this goal, but I have
found that the truth is I donot have the drive right now to
get up before my kids.
Sleep is winning for me rightnow, and so I am not going to
make this happen.
(08:18):
So for me, like I just can't belike wake up at 5 am, mom, that
I know a lot of people love anddo religiously, but I just
can't do that right now.
I need to get up when my kidsget up.
I need all the sleep that Iknow a lot of people love and do
religiously, but I just can'tdo that right now.
I need to get up when my kidsget up.
I need all the sleep that I canget and then I can start moving
my body and exercising.
So, instead of saying I'm goingto exercise before my kids get
(08:40):
up, I just say I'm going toexercise first thing in the
morning.
That means that my kids will beawake and that's okay.
I've just had to modify myexercise routine around that.
So, even though I had the desire, I didn't have the capacity to
do that.
I don't have the capacity to dothat.
So I set a more realistic goaland I gave myself permission to
(09:00):
let it go instead of letting itchip away at my confidence,
because every morning would comeand I wouldn't get up and then
it was just eating at myconfidence because I was not
keeping that promise to myselfand that was not beneficial for
me and it was doing more harmthan good.
So your goals should serve you.
They're not supposed to shameyou.
(09:21):
So make sure that when you'resetting goals, you're just
making them realistic for yourcurrent situation, your current
circumstances, smart goalsetting, moving forward.
So what resources do I currentlyhave?
What support do I currentlyhave?
What is my energy level?
Consider, like, your bandwidth,like what's your mental load
(09:41):
like right now?
What is your family season?
Do you have a newborn?
Do you have a middle schoolerwho's getting up really early
for sports that you have to getthem to?
What is your mental health likeright now?
Are you feeling like you'repretty on a high and pretty
stable, or are you maybestruggling with some anxiety and
you don't know how you're goingto feel when you wake up in the
(10:02):
day, waking up in the night andmaybe having a hard time going
back to sleep because of yourmental health?
And then also consider yourtime, like what is your time
looking like.
Do you even have time to putall the energy and time into a
specific goal, or do you need tohave a goal that is less time
consuming?
Also, check in with your desire,because if your desire is not
(10:23):
there, it's probably not a goalworth pursuing.
Is it just pressure, likeyou're just feeling like, well,
I should be doing this, or is itbecause you really actually
want it?
I think when I set goals,there's a lot of times when I
set a goal because I feel likeit's what I should be doing or
(10:44):
what other people around me orother moms are doing, and I can
definitely fall into that trapof feeling the pressure rather
than this is actually somethingthat I want for myself.
I encourage you to write one tothree of your new goals or
updated goals for the rest of2025.
So I'm going to go through mine, I'm going to update mine.
I'm the ones that I haven'teven touched or that I maybe
(11:05):
don't even necessarily want tofocus on right now.
I'm going to modify or update,and then I'm going to update all
of my screensavers right,because I want them on my
screensaver so that I have them,and then I am going to try and
finish out 2025 strong and notfeeling like, when December
comes, my confidence is taking ahit because I didn't hit the
(11:26):
goals that I wanted to.
I'm just going to allow myselfthis reset and know that it is
okay, and if I need to resetagain in three months, then
that's great.
You are not behind.
The fact that you're taking thetime to reflect is proof of
your growth and that youactually are trying.
Confidence isn't aboutperfection.
It's just about showing up withintention and self-trust and
(11:49):
listen to what your heart iswanting.
Celebrate what has gone wellfor you so far this year and
move forward with like, freshenergy, like be excited for the
things that you did accomplishand moving forward with the
things that you want toaccomplish and the things that
you are adjusting.
There's still so much year left.
(12:10):
We can absolutely finish 2025strong and be wiser and more
confident than when we startedthe year.
If you found this episode to behelpful, I would love it more
than anything if you would shareit with a friend that you think
might enjoy this episode.
And if you're feeling extrakind and you want to screenshot
this episode, tag me in it.
(12:30):
Share it on your social media.
It would mean so much to me, orif you want to leave a review.
The reviews help other peoplefind the podcast and it helps me
to know what content you areenjoying and what I should
continue to share.
Thank you for listening andstay confidently beautiful.
Thanks for listening.
Connect with me on Instagram @confidently beautiful podcast
(12:53):
and share this episode withsomeone in your life who could
use a little reminder of justhow amazing they already are.
Stay confidently beautiful.
You're listening to Confidently Beautiful with Ciera
, a podcast to help you stayconfidently beautiful, because
we all have confidence inside us.
We just need to bring it outand I'm here to show you how
Body image, dreams, parenting,style, personality and more.
Here we cover it all.
Get ready to stay confidentlybeautiful.
Ready to stay confidentlybeautiful.
(00:29):
Welcome back to the podcast.
I am happy that you havedecided to tune in and listen
today.
Can you believe that we arealready halfway through 2025?
Like, I can't even believe it.
I mean, the fact that we'regoing back to school pretty soon
is crazy to me, but beinghalfway through the year already
is wild.
This is a perfect time of theyear to reflect on what you have
been doing this year and if itis on track to what you've been
(00:49):
hoping that you could accomplishthis year.
And the heart of this wholeepisode is about progress and
grace and confidence in thejourney.
It's not about getting to thefinal destination or checking
that box and finally doingsomething, but just being
confident throughout the wholejourney and reevaluating as
necessary.
How are you doing with yourgoals?
Are you totally crushing them?
(01:11):
Have you forgotten what theyeven are?
Do you feel stuck or behind, ormaybe unsure, or maybe you're
feeling like the goals that youhad originally set aren't really
applicable to you anymore.
It's okay if you're off track.
This is your moment that youcan reset this year.
This year, for my personal goals, I set eight personal goals and
(01:32):
I set six business goals, and Ifeel like I am struggling with
most of them.
I'm not on track with a lot ofthem, but there are a few that I
feel like I am getting closerto.
One of my personal goals that Ifeel like I am on track this
year with is to be present withthe people that I'm with them.
(01:53):
So when I'm with my kids, to bewith my kids.
When I'm on date night, to beon date night.
When I am having a conversationwith a friend, to like be all
in on that conversation.
So to make sure my mind and mythoughts aren't wandering, I
don't have my phone out, I'm notthinking of the next thing that
I have to do.
I've been really trying hard todo that this year.
(02:15):
I'm definitely not perfect atit far from it but I've been
really trying to.
One goal that I definitely havenot done anything with is to
learn about gardening.
I wanted that goal this year Iwanted to learn about gardening
and like more about food prep,and I even got these cute I
(02:36):
think they were from my mom forChristmas, these cute herb
planters that like go on mykitchen counter.
They've been sitting theresince Christmas, empty, like no
dirt in them, no herbs in them,and I just I have really wanted
to do that this year and I justhave not taken the time to do
that.
So that is one of my goals thatI am not.
(02:57):
I'm not ready to let it go.
I want to keep that goal, but Ineed to definitely reevaluate
how I can make that morepractical in my life and
learning more about that.
Another one of my goals that Ihad for this year is to budget
monthly and stick to it.
I've done pretty good, I'mgoing to say I've been pretty
good.
I definitely have done a budgetevery single month but sticking
to it.
(03:17):
That is where I've kind ofstruggled a little bit, but I am
definitely getting better.
One of my business goals that Ihave had this year is I want to
have 100 items in my Etsy shopby the end of the year and in
fact, while I'm sitting here,let's pull it up and see how
close I am to being on track tothat goal, because I think I
have a ways to go.
But that has been one of my biggoals that I wanted to do this
(03:39):
year is to have 100 items that Ihave in my Etsy store.
So I have my Etsy store, whichis fabulous and great, and it
looks like I have 34 items in myEtsy shop.
So I am definitely behind.
I should be closer to 50 if Iwant to have 100 by the end of
the year, but I would say I'mdoing pretty well.
I'm not super far behind, sothat is really good news.
(04:03):
Speaking of my Etsy shop, ifyou didn't know, I have an Etsy
shop.
I'm running a 20% off saleright now for everything in my
Etsy shop.
There's some really, reallycute things.
There's a lot of things aboutconfidence.
There's some cute spring andsummery attire and some cute
mama attire tumblers,sweatshirts, t-shirts.
(04:25):
There's some fun things inthere.
So if you want to check thatout, click the link in the bio
and definitely look by the endof this month, which is July,
because that is when the 20% offsale will end is at the end of
the month.
Some tips for staying focused onyour goals which have helped me
this year are to keep yourgoals visible.
So my strategy this year hasbeen to have all of my goals as
(04:47):
a screensaver on my phone, myiPad and my laptop.
This has been such a gamechanger for me to actually
remember what my goals are,because there's been so many
years in the past when somebodysaid, so what are your goals for
this year?
And I had forgotten by Februarywhat my goals were.
But this way I can actuallyremember my goals.
Like if you ask me what mygoals are, I could pretty much
(05:07):
tell you all of them off, justoff the top of my head, because
I look at them every single day.
So that has been really helpful.
It's just that constantreminder.
So it gives me constantintention to remember my goals.
Tip number two is to break goalsinto tiny wins.
So instead of just saying getfit, like, like you could say
(05:29):
that you're going to make a goalto move for 10 minutes today,
you can build on them.
So like if your overall goal islike you want to maybe lose 15
pounds, or you want to be ableto lift a certain amount of
weight or just, in general, getfit, then you can set little
tiny goals along the way, likethe moving for 10 minutes a day
(05:50):
or get maybe 10,000 steps is toomuch for you, so maybe you just
say I want to get 6,000 steps aday.
Whatever those little smallergoals are, that will give you
those tiny wins and then you canbuild on them and this will
build your confidence and yourmomentum.
Tip number three is to anchorgoals to a why.
I want to move my body daily.
Why?
Because I feel mentally clearer.
(06:14):
Connect your goals to yourvalues and your identity.
So I talk a lot about values,but if you can go back and think
about, like, what are my values, what do I value, then that can
help you to identify your goalsand what you want to achieve
from those goals.
So just pick one thing that youcan try this week, like that is
(06:34):
maybe tied to one of yourvalues, and try and have a goal
that is tied to that value andthat will anchor your goal to
something, so that you're notjust like doing this goal for no
reason, but you actually have areason behind it.
And as we're doing this goalevaluation, this mid-year
check-in, you may find that yourgoals need a reset.
(06:55):
So sometimes our goals likethey just evolve, like we're not
who we were when we set thegoal six months ago, and that's
totally okay.
Maybe we started workingtowards the were when we set the
goal six months ago, and that'stotally okay.
Maybe we started workingtowards the goal and we realized
that this was not somethingthat really was aligning with us
or making us feel confident orthat we wanted to do.
So you can modify the goal.
(07:15):
You can just base, like maybesomething new has happened this
year that wasn't taking place inJanuary when you set the goal,
and so you can change your goal,modify it based on your new
circumstances or your energy,whatever the new situation may
be.
You can reset the goal, likemaybe it's just not aligning
(07:36):
with your values or your currentseason of life, and then you
can just totally reset it.
You can just drop a goal.
There's nothing wrong with justdropping a goal.
If it is not working for you,if it's not making you feel good
, if it's not serving you, thenyou can just drop it.
One example that I have is Ialways would think to myself I
(07:58):
want to work out early in themornings, before my kids get up.
I can think of so many timeswhen I set this goal, but I have
found that the truth is I donot have the drive right now to
get up before my kids.
Sleep is winning for me rightnow, and so I am not going to
make this happen.
(08:18):
So for me, like I just can't belike wake up at 5 am, mom, that
I know a lot of people love anddo religiously, but I just
can't do that right now.
I need to get up when my kidsget up.
I need all the sleep that Iknow a lot of people love and do
religiously, but I just can'tdo that right now.
I need to get up when my kidsget up.
I need all the sleep that I canget and then I can start moving
my body and exercising.
So, instead of saying I'm goingto exercise before my kids get
(08:40):
up, I just say I'm going toexercise first thing in the
morning.
That means that my kids will beawake and that's okay.
I've just had to modify myexercise routine around that.
So, even though I had the desire, I didn't have the capacity to
do that.
I don't have the capacity to dothat.
So I set a more realistic goaland I gave myself permission to
(09:00):
let it go instead of letting itchip away at my confidence,
because every morning would comeand I wouldn't get up and then
it was just eating at myconfidence because I was not
keeping that promise to myselfand that was not beneficial for
me and it was doing more harmthan good.
So your goals should serve you.
They're not supposed to shameyou.
(09:21):
So make sure that when you'resetting goals, you're just
making them realistic for yourcurrent situation, your current
circumstances, smart goalsetting, moving forward.
So what resources do I currentlyhave?
What support do I currentlyhave?
What is my energy level?
Consider, like, your bandwidth,like what's your mental load
(09:41):
like right now?
What is your family season?
Do you have a newborn?
Do you have a middle schoolerwho's getting up really early
for sports that you have to getthem to?
What is your mental health likeright now?
Are you feeling like you'repretty on a high and pretty
stable, or are you maybestruggling with some anxiety and
you don't know how you're goingto feel when you wake up in the
(10:02):
day, waking up in the night andmaybe having a hard time going
back to sleep because of yourmental health?
And then also consider yourtime, like what is your time
looking like.
Do you even have time to putall the energy and time into a
specific goal, or do you need tohave a goal that is less time
consuming?
Also, check in with your desire,because if your desire is not
(10:23):
there, it's probably not a goalworth pursuing.
Is it just pressure, likeyou're just feeling like, well,
I should be doing this, or is itbecause you really actually
want it?
I think when I set goals,there's a lot of times when I
set a goal because I feel likeit's what I should be doing or
(10:44):
what other people around me orother moms are doing, and I can
definitely fall into that trapof feeling the pressure rather
than this is actually somethingthat I want for myself.
I encourage you to write one tothree of your new goals or
updated goals for the rest of2025.
So I'm going to go through mine, I'm going to update mine.
I'm the ones that I haven'teven touched or that I maybe
(11:05):
don't even necessarily want tofocus on right now.
I'm going to modify or update,and then I'm going to update all
of my screensavers right,because I want them on my
screensaver so that I have them,and then I am going to try and
finish out 2025 strong and notfeeling like, when December
comes, my confidence is taking ahit because I didn't hit the
(11:26):
goals that I wanted to.
I'm just going to allow myselfthis reset and know that it is
okay, and if I need to resetagain in three months, then
that's great.
You are not behind.
The fact that you're taking thetime to reflect is proof of
your growth and that youactually are trying.
Confidence isn't aboutperfection.
It's just about showing up withintention and self-trust and
(11:49):
listen to what your heart iswanting.
Celebrate what has gone wellfor you so far this year and
move forward with like, freshenergy, like be excited for the
things that you did accomplishand moving forward with the
things that you want toaccomplish and the things that
you are adjusting.
There's still so much year left.
(12:10):
We can absolutely finish 2025strong and be wiser and more
confident than when we startedthe year.
If you found this episode to behelpful, I would love it more
than anything if you would shareit with a friend that you think
might enjoy this episode.
And if you're feeling extrakind and you want to screenshot
this episode, tag me in it.
(12:30):
Share it on your social media.
It would mean so much to me, orif you want to leave a review.
The reviews help other peoplefind the podcast and it helps me
to know what content you areenjoying and what I should
continue to share.
Thank you for listening andstay confidently beautiful.
Thanks for listening.
Connect with me on Instagram @confidently beautiful podcast
(12:53):
and share this episode withsomeone in your life who could
use a little reminder of justhow amazing they already are.
Stay confidently beautiful.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.