January 10, 2025 • 33 mins
What if you could transform the overwhelming hustle of setting countless goals into a serene journey of meaningful intention-setting? Join me, as we embark on a heartfelt exploration of grounding our intentions for a purposeful life in 2025. By sharing my own experiences, I illuminate how even the smallest steps forward are worth celebrating and how embracing a reflective approach can align our intentions with personal values. Dive into a conversation that encourages slowing down, embracing self-compassion, and letting go of societal pressures.
As we welcome the new year, experience a shift from the frenetic pace of goal-setting to the peace of intentional living. Reflecting on my own past, I reveal how prioritizing fewer, truly meaningful goals has led to a more fulfilling and mindful life, free from the chains of constant busyness. This episode is designed to inspire simplicity and mindfulness, inviting you to share your intentions and rituals for 2025. Let's continue this journey together, fostering a community filled with support, love, and authentic living.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi loves, welcome to the Journey to the Soul podcast.
I am your host, jacinda Villa,a spiritual life coach and
holistic health coach.
Every week, we will be divingdeep into all things purpose,
wellness, spirituality andcreating the life that you dream
of.
This space is meant to be safeand transformative for you to
(00:26):
dive into the deepest parts ofyourself.
I will share what I havelearned from my journey along
this path years of research andmentors along the way.
Having spent many years livinglife out of alignment and afraid
to go after my dreams, I knowfirsthand what it means to take
the first step down, living alife authentic to you.
(00:47):
We are on this road ofself-discovery together.
It is time for you to live thelife you imagined.
Hello, beautiful souls, welcometo this episode of Journey to
the Soul, to this episode ofJourney to the Soul.
I am so excited to say hello toyou from 2025.
(01:09):
It is a new year, a new chapterin our beautiful book of life,
another time filled with newopportunities.
I hope you all had a lovelyholiday season, celebrating with
your loved ones and enjoyingall the winter things.
(01:29):
Winter is really settling inhere in Tennessee.
This morning, we actually hadour first bit of snow, and it's
just so beautiful to lookoutside and see how all the
trees are vacant and everythingis desolate and asleep and so
(01:54):
quiet and at ease and peaceful.
It really is so amazing to lookat how the seasons change and
evolve with every couple ofmonths as time continues to go
on, so I hope you are enjoyingthe winter season so far.
(02:15):
For today's episode, I wanted totalk about a more grounded
approach to setting goals or NewYear's intentions or
resolutions.
If that is something that youdo.
I want to start off by sayingthat there are seasons of life
(02:37):
where setting goals might notfeel resonant for you, and that
is completely okay, and thereare also just people who may not
resonate with it completely,and that's completely okay too.
With this episode, I want totouch on a couple of things as
(03:00):
everyone gets settled intostarting a new year and this is
really the time when most peoplewant to set all of these new
year resolutions and intentionsfor 2025 and what they want to
do but how can we actually do itin a more grounded and
supportive way for us?
(03:21):
So that is what we're going tobe talking about today making
sure that this is coming from aplace of compassion and doing it
from a place that is really inalignment for us.
Like I mentioned, if you don'tresonate with setting goals on
(03:42):
January or at any moment in timeduring the year, that is
totally okay.
I feel like many people canfeel the pressure to do so from
the outside world, society,social media, parents,
colleagues, what everyone elseis doing and regardless of what
(04:04):
I go through in this episode, Ijust want you to know that if
you don't feel like doinganything, there is nothing wrong
with that.
We all have our own journey onthis earth and the way that
we're meant to move through thisworld in such different and
individual ways, and settinggoals can really not be
(04:25):
supportive for some people.
So take everything that I saywith a grain of salt.
If there's something that doesresonate with you which I'm sure
there will be great, becausesome of these things are just
things that we can keep in mindwhen it comes to other aspects
of our life.
The way that I usually approachintention setting is I typically
(04:51):
have a three-part processreally two, but it involves
three aspects, and the firstthing is a reflection piece.
This is typically when I lookat the intentions that I set the
year before how I did withthose where maybe I could have
(05:12):
done better, where could I havedone things differently, and
then from that I am able to gainclarity on what intentions I
want to set for the new year.
So the reflective piece is justcreating space to gain clarity
(05:34):
and take a consensus of whatworked and what didn't and
really tapping into your valuesagain and what you're trying to
do and accomplish in the newyear, and that sets a foundation
to the new intention.
So that is my approach.
So I was sitting reflecting onthe five intentions that I had
(06:01):
for the last year and I was justso plainly looking at what I
said I would do and what I did,and I was giving myself a hard
time about it, which I know isthe case for most of us, because
there was three out of the fivethat I clearly accomplished and
(06:21):
then two that I didn'taccomplish.
The way that I said that I wasgoing to it wasn't exactly in
that way.
As I was writing about it andbeing reflective, I realized
that I still made progresstowards those two other
intentions.
(06:41):
It wasn't what I set out to bein any way, shape or form, but I
made more progress and was morefar along than last year when I
set the intention.
But it was really easy for meto disregard that initially and
(07:01):
feel, you know, slightlydisappointed in myself initially
and feel, you know, slightlydisappointed in myself and this
is coming from years of me doingthat and just innately
disregarding what my small winsin life.
This is also part of why I haveadded this reflective piece
into my intention setting.
(07:23):
I feel like having that couldbe so beneficial for us to give
ourselves a hug and a pat on theback before we move on to
setting new intentions for theyear.
So as I was sitting therewriting, I came to the
realization more and more that Iactually did do something, you
(07:45):
know, and what I did in regardsto these two intentions was very
valid, like it was still energyput in, there was still
intention there, and one of themwell, really, both of them I
overestimated how much time wasgoing to go into accomplishing
(08:06):
them.
And as I've gone throughaccomplishing them or trying to
accomplish them little by littlein the last year, I realized
that, lo and behold, it's not asquick as I thought it would be,
and that happens sometimes,especially when we're trying to
do something new in our life, orstarting a new habit of some
(08:30):
sort, or whatever it is.
We really don't know, unlesswe've done it before.
We really don't know the timecommitment, the energy, what
it's all going to look like,right?
So with these two intentions,it's like even if I had given my
all to them, I don't think Icould have actually accomplished
(08:52):
them, because I didn't know atthe time of setting these
intentions how much time it wasgoing to take.
But from January of 2024 toDecember of 2024, did I make
progress in them?
Did I still do something thatis going to set me up to have a
(09:12):
better chance of reaching themin the new year?
Absolutely, and that's thefirst thing that I wanted to
touch on is that it's so easyfor us to disregard the progress
we have made in our life if itdoes not exactly fit into the
(09:33):
expectation that we set out forus, if it doesn't fit into the
box, if it's not exactly what wewrote out.
And the thing that we need tokeep in mind here is that
progress was still made.
Right Is that we are stillbetter off than we were before.
(09:53):
So this is something that Iwant you to keep in mind, if you
are going to go through areflective time before you set
intentions for the new year, isto really notice, in the
smallest ways, how you stillmade progress with any of your
(10:16):
goals.
And taking the time to reflectbefore setting new goals, like I
mentioned, really allows us tohonor our small wins, big or
small.
It's an opportunity for you topat yourself on the back, to
give yourself a hug, to be kindto yourself and honor what you
(10:40):
have done, because so often wejust want to quickly go on to
the next thing as soon as oneyear ends Okay, january 1st,
let's get ready to start thenext year and we just completely
disregard everything thathappened the year before, and we
(11:01):
need to give ourselves the loveand validation that we want and
need.
It's so important when we aretrying to do anything in life.
It's so important to take astep back and just honor
yourself wholeheartedly for whatyou did.
I call it the sacred pause.
(11:22):
Did I call it the sacred pause?
Creating a sacred pause betweenfinishing a year and going on
to the next year In anythingthat you do?
I love taking a sacred pausebecause it just allows us to do
this, to reflect, to digest, tolook more deeply into everything
(11:45):
that we experienced, all thewonderful things the year
brought to us, what you got outof this year the most.
The other thing that reflectiongives us by creating this space
is clarity, and the reason thatthis is so important is when we
(12:10):
come from this place of clarityand we know what didn't work,
what did work, what we want torefocus on, what are our values,
and we just have completeclarity over that, then we can
go and set intentions from agrounded place that is more
(12:37):
connected to our hearts and thisis part of living from a
heart-centered place.
And if we disregard this stepor taking this sacred pause,
like I mentioned, you couldreally just go from one thing to
the other from a place of need,from a place of lack, from a
(13:01):
place of fear, a place of lackfrom a place of fear.
If you don't take the time toreflect and digest and honor
your wins and relish in all thewonderful things that happened
last year, you're going to gofrom one chapter of life to the
next with this underlying needto perform, but not from the
(13:27):
right place, not with the rightintention.
So, creating this space forreflection, for clarity to come,
in that you can go and setintentions that are really in
alignment for you.
(13:48):
So from this we go to settingintentions for the new year, and
I like saying lightly, lightly,setting intentions for the new
year.
Why lightly?
And when we think of lightly,there's this airiness, right,
(14:09):
this gentleness, this softness.
How does it feel when you thinkabout it?
How does your body feel?
How does your mind?
Again, it's not from a place ofrigidness, it's not from the
need to perform, from a place offear.
(14:33):
Something that I want you tokeep in mind is that life
happens as well.
So if something comes up duringthe year that you did not
anticipate, or something elsetakes center stage in your life
and it is requiring yourattention, it's about learning
(14:58):
to carry on with what's in frontof us, gracefully right, and
being kind to ourselves in doingso, and it's knowing that
sometimes we need to focus ourenergy on something else in the
moment.
And what I'm trying tohighlight here is that there's
always going to be somethingthat comes up and happens, and
(15:22):
we need to allow for flow,surrender and ease in life, to
not take everything so seriously.
There is a fine line therebetween being overly rigid and
commanding of ourselves andshowing compassion and love
(15:45):
towards ourselves in a way thatis still supportive of us
reaching the goals that we havein life.
So, when thinking about yourintentions for the new year,
also keep in mind that somethingmight come up and, when that
happens, leaning into it withease, with lightness, with grace
(16:12):
, and this is really workingwith our feminine energy.
It's that part of us that ismore in the flow with life, the
part of us that honors more andsurrenders and is like water
(16:34):
right, if there's a rock infront of a stream, the water
finds another path, another wayto flow.
And that is the energy that I'mtrying to focus on when I'm
saying this.
That is what I want you tofocus on, and many of us are
(16:58):
getting ready or have alreadyset intentions for the new year.
Whenever you're listening tothis, it's probably the first
week of January or the secondweek of January, and for many of
you, intentions could alreadybe set, goals done, clarity,
(17:19):
figured out, things already doneto a T, figured out things
already done to a T andsometimes we do that because we
simply feel like we need to.
We expect so much of ourselves.
We feel like we need to do whateveryone else is doing and get
our life together by the firstof the year and have it nice and
(17:41):
detailed and have a plan andbullet points for everything and
how am I going to make ithappen?
And I think that that's allwell and good if that feels good
for you, but that also lookslike a multitude of things and
it doesn't need to happen whenit's happening all around you as
(18:02):
well.
I used to be that person that byJanuary 1st, had their entire
year figured out and I alwayshad so many goals 20 goals for
many, many years since I waslike a teenager, I think, I
(18:24):
started setting goals and doingvision boards and things like
that.
I was really young when Istarted doing that and the way
that I set intentions for theyear now is completely different
to then.
But I used to set 20 goals ayear in 10 different aspects of
life and the reality was that Ididn't reach half of them.
(18:50):
I maybe accomplished three orfour, half accomplished another
handful and the other half Ididn't even touch or they got
lost in everything else.
And what ended up happening isthat at the end of the year, as
(19:11):
I was getting ready to start anew year.
It really just left medisappointed in myself and so
burnt out because I had allottedso much energy on all of these
things, but I felt like I hadgotten nowhere with any of them.
And this is how I slowlystarted realizing that I started
(19:37):
making progress on half ofthese things that I felt like I
needed to and wasn't reallyimportant to me.
And this is also when I wassuper into multitasking and I
thought multitasking wassomething to be proud of.
And I will say thatmultitasking has a time and a
(19:59):
place.
Multitasking has a time and aplace, but it is not something
that I strive to do in any way,shape or form.
I let that go many years ago.
It ties into something that I'mgoing to talk about later in
this episode, but one of mypersonal lies, as I call them,
(20:21):
was that I always needed to bebusy.
So this was a limiting beliefthat I had a lie, like I
mentioned, that I believed andthat I always needed to be
productive and doing something,and I know many of us struggle
(20:43):
with this.
So what do we do?
We reach and reach, constantlytrying to fill up our day,
because we're afraid of the freespace, we're afraid to just be.
There is a tie there betweenour self-worth and what we do,
(21:06):
and having 10 or 20 goals maywork for some people, but it
really doesn't work for most ofus.
So the key is in beingintentional.
In the last few years, I'vetaken a less is more approach.
(21:26):
Like in 2024, I only had fiveintentions and less.
It has allowed me to feel moreat peace, because intention is a
(21:51):
huge thing in my life, and ifyou've listened to other podcast
episodes, you've probably heardme talk about intention a lot.
It's a word that I do use a lotand it's because for me and my
life and what I value, intentionis a huge backbone in that I
want to be intentional with mytime.
(22:13):
I want to live an intentionallife, and in order for me to
live an intentional life, inorder for me to live an
intentional life, use my timeintentionally doing things that
I love, all from a place ofintention, really allows me to
live a life that is fully for me, because I don't want to waste
(22:37):
my time on this earth.
I know that our time here islimited, this earth.
I know that our time here islimited.
I don't want to waste my timedoing something that doesn't
bring me joy, freedom, a feelingof ease, bliss, if it doesn't
bring that into my life.
(22:57):
I don't want it in my life, andI have gotten clearer and
clearer on those things, andI've talked about this in
another podcast episode as well,about how your energy is gold,
and that episode is also rootedin the theme of intention.
(23:17):
So intention has been a hugething in my life, because I used
to do everything not for thecorrect reasons and not for the
right intentions, and it was notworking for me, as it does not
for most people.
And when it comes to settinggoals, resolutions, whatever you
(23:41):
want to call it, intention issuch a powerful thing.
Focusing your energy on threeor five things will allow you to
make more steady progresstowards them.
It's focused energy, being ableto do something in short spurts
(24:02):
.
But with focused energy, you'regoing to do a lot more than
spending twice as much timedoing something.
Multitasking.
You're not going to be able toaccomplish it as quickly as well
.
It's all about being focused,and when you do this, you're
(24:23):
also able to feel a greatersense of peace because you're
not overwhelmed, and overwhelmis another thing that we need to
be careful of, because itinhibits us.
Sometimes, when we areoverwhelmed with life or in a
state of anxiety, it can inhibitus from actually doing anything
(24:45):
.
By taking away more andfocusing on less, we are able to
be fully with whatever it is weare doing.
More is not better.
Less is more effective.
I have also adopted a slow lifethis past year, and intention is
(25:09):
also a huge part of this.
Living with intention allows meto live a slower life, which is
a way of living and approachingyour day-to-day that is rooted
in simplicity, mindfulness andliving a life that is wholesome
(25:30):
and nourishing to you, and thisis something that I have chosen
for myself because it feels verysupportive to me, and I'm going
to expand on why I decided toadopt a slow life in an episode
to come, and I'm actually alsoworking on launching a blog in
(25:53):
the coming weeks where I'm goingto share more on slow living
and my reflections on it, sowhen that is out, I will share
that all with you.
I'm really looking forward tohaving more conversations about
that, because I really thinkthat in our day and age, where
we have a very strong andprevalent hustle culture and the
(26:19):
need to perform and constantlyoutdo each other, outdo
ourselves it just gets so tiringand you start to wonder what is
all of this for and like.
Where is the fun in life, whereis the joy, where is the peace,
where is the ease in all ofthis?
(26:39):
Because having the constantneed to perform is not a way to
live.
So adapting a slower lifeallows us to step away from that
noise and really live life forus on our own terms.
And I know that as you'relistening to this, you might
(27:00):
want to start off the yearstrong and making progress on
every area of your life.
We can get high off of the buzzof everyone around us and what
people are posting and sharingand what everyone else is doing.
It really is a wonderful time.
(27:20):
I love a start of the year.
I have this thing about Mondays.
I don't know if it's because Iwas born on a Monday, but I love
a start of a new week, thestart of a new year.
I love new beginnings becauseit goes back for me to the
principle that we are in aconstant state of flux.
(27:41):
In a constant state of flux, weare in constant evolution,
which means that with every newday, if we want to look at it
from that minute way, we canalways choose something new for
ourselves to be a new person, toadopt new habits, to be whoever
we want to be.
It's a new day.
(28:02):
New habits, to be whoever wewant to be.
It's a new day.
So I understand why that energyis so attractive and it feels
so good to so many of us.
But if you choose to setintentions, you don't need to
have it all done and figure itout by now when you're listening
to this.
On January 10th or 11th or evenFebruary.
(28:27):
You can do this whenever youwant.
It doesn't have to be at thebeginning of the new year.
In some years I've setintentions for my year around my
birthday, because that feltbetter for me.
You can do this in November.
You can do this never as well,like I mentioned, if that
(28:49):
doesn't feel good to you at all.
So as you set your newintentions, please remember that
if you did not reach your goalslast year and you feel a bit
disappointed in yourself, knowthat you still made progress in
some small way and that stillcounts for something that should
(29:12):
not be discounted.
We need to acknowledge the wins.
It's so integral for us to dothis before stepping into the
next thing Giving ourselves timeto reflect, to take the sacred
pause so that you can be yourbest friend before you carry on.
(29:37):
If we don't learn how to do thatfor ourselves now, we never
will Go slow to go fast.
By going at a pace that feelsgood to you, you are able to
make sure that you are workingtowards anything in life with
intention, with clarity and withpurpose.
(30:00):
If we go too fast, we can fallshort of where we want to go
because we were too busy beingfocused on something else, and
the truth is is that thisactually allows us to get to
where we want to go quicker,because we are moving with
(30:23):
intent.
And lastly, anything worthhaving in life takes time.
So why don't you just allowyourself to enjoy the journey
while you're on it?
Where do you still resist?
Allowing yourself to soften tolife?
(30:44):
Let yourself feel the bliss,the peace, the awe of being
alive.
We are not meant to be here onthis earth to make ourselves
miserable, to fight ourselves tothe grave.
That is not why we incarnate.
That is not why we are here.
(31:04):
If we allowed ourselves, wecould truly live our own version
of heaven on earth.
So, as you get ready to startthe new year.
Take these things and put theminto practice in your life, if
that feels good, because it willsimply allow you to feel more
(31:25):
connected to your life, to whatyou're setting out to do this
year, all the excitingopportunities to come, all the
success that you're going toexperience this year.
What adventures are you goingto go on?
But just let yourself enjoy it.
Let yourself fall in love withbeing here and enjoying the next
(31:49):
365 days of the year to come.
Remember to be kind to yourself.
Remember to be kind to yourself, and that being your own best
friend along this journey oflife is really the best thing
that we can do for ourselves.
So I hope you all have awonderful start to your year.
(32:13):
I would love to know what someof your intentions are for 2025.
If you are setting intentions,you can share with me on
Instagram.
You can also share with me in acomment.
You can send me a personalmessage.
(32:33):
Whatever works, if you're notsetting intentions, that's
wonderful too.
Is there any other ritual thatyou have, perhaps for the year
when it starts?
I would love to know, and Ilook forward to talking to you
all in my next episode.
I am sending you so, so muchlove and so much light Until
(32:57):
then.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Please make sure you subscribeso you never miss an episode and
share this message with anyfriends and family.
I'd love to hear your takeaways, so share them with me by
leaving a comment below orheading over to my Instagram at
jacindamarie.
(33:18):
I am sending you all so muchlove.
Hi loves, welcome to the Journey to the Soul podcast.
I am your host, jacinda Villa,a spiritual life coach and
holistic health coach.
Every week, we will be divingdeep into all things purpose,
wellness, spirituality andcreating the life that you dream
of.
This space is meant to be safeand transformative for you to
(00:26):
dive into the deepest parts ofyourself.
I will share what I havelearned from my journey along
this path years of research andmentors along the way.
Having spent many years livinglife out of alignment and afraid
to go after my dreams, I knowfirsthand what it means to take
the first step down, living alife authentic to you.
(00:47):
We are on this road ofself-discovery together.
It is time for you to live thelife you imagined.
Hello, beautiful souls, welcometo this episode of Journey to
the Soul, to this episode ofJourney to the Soul.
I am so excited to say hello toyou from 2025.
(01:09):
It is a new year, a new chapterin our beautiful book of life,
another time filled with newopportunities.
I hope you all had a lovelyholiday season, celebrating with
your loved ones and enjoyingall the winter things.
(01:29):
Winter is really settling inhere in Tennessee.
This morning, we actually hadour first bit of snow, and it's
just so beautiful to lookoutside and see how all the
trees are vacant and everythingis desolate and asleep and so
(01:54):
quiet and at ease and peaceful.
It really is so amazing to lookat how the seasons change and
evolve with every couple ofmonths as time continues to go
on, so I hope you are enjoyingthe winter season so far.
(02:15):
For today's episode, I wanted totalk about a more grounded
approach to setting goals or NewYear's intentions or
resolutions.
If that is something that youdo.
I want to start off by sayingthat there are seasons of life
(02:37):
where setting goals might notfeel resonant for you, and that
is completely okay, and thereare also just people who may not
resonate with it completely,and that's completely okay too.
With this episode, I want totouch on a couple of things as
(03:00):
everyone gets settled intostarting a new year and this is
really the time when most peoplewant to set all of these new
year resolutions and intentionsfor 2025 and what they want to
do but how can we actually do itin a more grounded and
supportive way for us?
(03:21):
So that is what we're going tobe talking about today making
sure that this is coming from aplace of compassion and doing it
from a place that is really inalignment for us.
Like I mentioned, if you don'tresonate with setting goals on
(03:42):
January or at any moment in timeduring the year, that is
totally okay.
I feel like many people canfeel the pressure to do so from
the outside world, society,social media, parents,
colleagues, what everyone elseis doing and regardless of what
(04:04):
I go through in this episode, Ijust want you to know that if
you don't feel like doinganything, there is nothing wrong
with that.
We all have our own journey onthis earth and the way that
we're meant to move through thisworld in such different and
individual ways, and settinggoals can really not be
(04:25):
supportive for some people.
So take everything that I saywith a grain of salt.
If there's something that doesresonate with you which I'm sure
there will be great, becausesome of these things are just
things that we can keep in mindwhen it comes to other aspects
of our life.
The way that I usually approachintention setting is I typically
(04:51):
have a three-part processreally two, but it involves
three aspects, and the firstthing is a reflection piece.
This is typically when I lookat the intentions that I set the
year before how I did withthose where maybe I could have
(05:12):
done better, where could I havedone things differently, and
then from that I am able to gainclarity on what intentions I
want to set for the new year.
So the reflective piece is justcreating space to gain clarity
(05:34):
and take a consensus of whatworked and what didn't and
really tapping into your valuesagain and what you're trying to
do and accomplish in the newyear, and that sets a foundation
to the new intention.
So that is my approach.
So I was sitting reflecting onthe five intentions that I had
(06:01):
for the last year and I was justso plainly looking at what I
said I would do and what I did,and I was giving myself a hard
time about it, which I know isthe case for most of us, because
there was three out of the fivethat I clearly accomplished and
(06:21):
then two that I didn'taccomplish.
The way that I said that I wasgoing to it wasn't exactly in
that way.
As I was writing about it andbeing reflective, I realized
that I still made progresstowards those two other
intentions.
(06:41):
It wasn't what I set out to bein any way, shape or form, but I
made more progress and was morefar along than last year when I
set the intention.
But it was really easy for meto disregard that initially and
(07:01):
feel, you know, slightlydisappointed in myself initially
and feel, you know, slightlydisappointed in myself and this
is coming from years of me doingthat and just innately
disregarding what my small winsin life.
This is also part of why I haveadded this reflective piece
into my intention setting.
(07:23):
I feel like having that couldbe so beneficial for us to give
ourselves a hug and a pat on theback before we move on to
setting new intentions for theyear.
So as I was sitting therewriting, I came to the
realization more and more that Iactually did do something, you
(07:45):
know, and what I did in regardsto these two intentions was very
valid, like it was still energyput in, there was still
intention there, and one of themwell, really, both of them I
overestimated how much time wasgoing to go into accomplishing
(08:06):
them.
And as I've gone throughaccomplishing them or trying to
accomplish them little by littlein the last year, I realized
that, lo and behold, it's not asquick as I thought it would be,
and that happens sometimes,especially when we're trying to
do something new in our life, orstarting a new habit of some
(08:30):
sort, or whatever it is.
We really don't know, unlesswe've done it before.
We really don't know the timecommitment, the energy, what
it's all going to look like,right?
So with these two intentions,it's like even if I had given my
all to them, I don't think Icould have actually accomplished
(08:52):
them, because I didn't know atthe time of setting these
intentions how much time it wasgoing to take.
But from January of 2024 toDecember of 2024, did I make
progress in them?
Did I still do something thatis going to set me up to have a
(09:12):
better chance of reaching themin the new year?
Absolutely, and that's thefirst thing that I wanted to
touch on is that it's so easyfor us to disregard the progress
we have made in our life if itdoes not exactly fit into the
(09:33):
expectation that we set out forus, if it doesn't fit into the
box, if it's not exactly what wewrote out.
And the thing that we need tokeep in mind here is that
progress was still made.
Right Is that we are stillbetter off than we were before.
(09:53):
So this is something that Iwant you to keep in mind, if you
are going to go through areflective time before you set
intentions for the new year, isto really notice, in the
smallest ways, how you stillmade progress with any of your
(10:16):
goals.
And taking the time to reflectbefore setting new goals, like I
mentioned, really allows us tohonor our small wins, big or
small.
It's an opportunity for you topat yourself on the back, to
give yourself a hug, to be kindto yourself and honor what you
(10:40):
have done, because so often wejust want to quickly go on to
the next thing as soon as oneyear ends Okay, january 1st,
let's get ready to start thenext year and we just completely
disregard everything thathappened the year before, and we
(11:01):
need to give ourselves the loveand validation that we want and
need.
It's so important when we aretrying to do anything in life.
It's so important to take astep back and just honor
yourself wholeheartedly for whatyou did.
I call it the sacred pause.
(11:22):
Did I call it the sacred pause?
Creating a sacred pause betweenfinishing a year and going on
to the next year In anythingthat you do?
I love taking a sacred pausebecause it just allows us to do
this, to reflect, to digest, tolook more deeply into everything
(11:45):
that we experienced, all thewonderful things the year
brought to us, what you got outof this year the most.
The other thing that reflectiongives us by creating this space
is clarity, and the reason thatthis is so important is when we
(12:10):
come from this place of clarityand we know what didn't work,
what did work, what we want torefocus on, what are our values,
and we just have completeclarity over that, then we can
go and set intentions from agrounded place that is more
(12:37):
connected to our hearts and thisis part of living from a
heart-centered place.
And if we disregard this stepor taking this sacred pause,
like I mentioned, you couldreally just go from one thing to
the other from a place of need,from a place of lack, from a
(13:01):
place of fear, a place of lackfrom a place of fear.
If you don't take the time toreflect and digest and honor
your wins and relish in all thewonderful things that happened
last year, you're going to gofrom one chapter of life to the
next with this underlying needto perform, but not from the
(13:27):
right place, not with the rightintention.
So, creating this space forreflection, for clarity to come,
in that you can go and setintentions that are really in
alignment for you.
(13:48):
So from this we go to settingintentions for the new year, and
I like saying lightly, lightly,setting intentions for the new
year.
Why lightly?
And when we think of lightly,there's this airiness, right,
(14:09):
this gentleness, this softness.
How does it feel when you thinkabout it?
How does your body feel?
How does your mind?
Again, it's not from a place ofrigidness, it's not from the
need to perform, from a place offear.
(14:33):
Something that I want you tokeep in mind is that life
happens as well.
So if something comes up duringthe year that you did not
anticipate, or something elsetakes center stage in your life
and it is requiring yourattention, it's about learning
(14:58):
to carry on with what's in frontof us, gracefully right, and
being kind to ourselves in doingso, and it's knowing that
sometimes we need to focus ourenergy on something else in the
moment.
And what I'm trying tohighlight here is that there's
always going to be somethingthat comes up and happens, and
(15:22):
we need to allow for flow,surrender and ease in life, to
not take everything so seriously.
There is a fine line therebetween being overly rigid and
commanding of ourselves andshowing compassion and love
(15:45):
towards ourselves in a way thatis still supportive of us
reaching the goals that we havein life.
So, when thinking about yourintentions for the new year,
also keep in mind that somethingmight come up and, when that
happens, leaning into it withease, with lightness, with grace
(16:12):
, and this is really workingwith our feminine energy.
It's that part of us that ismore in the flow with life, the
part of us that honors more andsurrenders and is like water
(16:34):
right, if there's a rock infront of a stream, the water
finds another path, another wayto flow.
And that is the energy that I'mtrying to focus on when I'm
saying this.
That is what I want you tofocus on, and many of us are
(16:58):
getting ready or have alreadyset intentions for the new year.
Whenever you're listening tothis, it's probably the first
week of January or the secondweek of January, and for many of
you, intentions could alreadybe set, goals done, clarity,
(17:19):
figured out, things already doneto a T, figured out things
already done to a T andsometimes we do that because we
simply feel like we need to.
We expect so much of ourselves.
We feel like we need to do whateveryone else is doing and get
our life together by the firstof the year and have it nice and
(17:41):
detailed and have a plan andbullet points for everything and
how am I going to make ithappen?
And I think that that's allwell and good if that feels good
for you, but that also lookslike a multitude of things and
it doesn't need to happen whenit's happening all around you as
(18:02):
well.
I used to be that person that byJanuary 1st, had their entire
year figured out and I alwayshad so many goals 20 goals for
many, many years since I waslike a teenager, I think, I
(18:24):
started setting goals and doingvision boards and things like
that.
I was really young when Istarted doing that and the way
that I set intentions for theyear now is completely different
to then.
But I used to set 20 goals ayear in 10 different aspects of
life and the reality was that Ididn't reach half of them.
(18:50):
I maybe accomplished three orfour, half accomplished another
handful and the other half Ididn't even touch or they got
lost in everything else.
And what ended up happening isthat at the end of the year, as
(19:11):
I was getting ready to start anew year.
It really just left medisappointed in myself and so
burnt out because I had allottedso much energy on all of these
things, but I felt like I hadgotten nowhere with any of them.
And this is how I slowlystarted realizing that I started
(19:37):
making progress on half ofthese things that I felt like I
needed to and wasn't reallyimportant to me.
And this is also when I wassuper into multitasking and I
thought multitasking wassomething to be proud of.
And I will say thatmultitasking has a time and a
(19:59):
place.
Multitasking has a time and aplace, but it is not something
that I strive to do in any way,shape or form.
I let that go many years ago.
It ties into something that I'mgoing to talk about later in
this episode, but one of mypersonal lies, as I call them,
(20:21):
was that I always needed to bebusy.
So this was a limiting beliefthat I had a lie, like I
mentioned, that I believed andthat I always needed to be
productive and doing something,and I know many of us struggle
(20:43):
with this.
So what do we do?
We reach and reach, constantlytrying to fill up our day,
because we're afraid of the freespace, we're afraid to just be.
There is a tie there betweenour self-worth and what we do,
(21:06):
and having 10 or 20 goals maywork for some people, but it
really doesn't work for most ofus.
So the key is in beingintentional.
In the last few years, I'vetaken a less is more approach.
(21:26):
Like in 2024, I only had fiveintentions and less.
It has allowed me to feel moreat peace, because intention is a
(21:51):
huge thing in my life, and ifyou've listened to other podcast
episodes, you've probably heardme talk about intention a lot.
It's a word that I do use a lotand it's because for me and my
life and what I value, intentionis a huge backbone in that I
want to be intentional with mytime.
(22:13):
I want to live an intentionallife, and in order for me to
live an intentional life, inorder for me to live an
intentional life, use my timeintentionally doing things that
I love, all from a place ofintention, really allows me to
live a life that is fully for me, because I don't want to waste
(22:37):
my time on this earth.
I know that our time here islimited, this earth.
I know that our time here islimited.
I don't want to waste my timedoing something that doesn't
bring me joy, freedom, a feelingof ease, bliss, if it doesn't
bring that into my life.
(22:57):
I don't want it in my life, andI have gotten clearer and
clearer on those things, andI've talked about this in
another podcast episode as well,about how your energy is gold,
and that episode is also rootedin the theme of intention.
(23:17):
So intention has been a hugething in my life, because I used
to do everything not for thecorrect reasons and not for the
right intentions, and it was notworking for me, as it does not
for most people.
And when it comes to settinggoals, resolutions, whatever you
(23:41):
want to call it, intention issuch a powerful thing.
Focusing your energy on threeor five things will allow you to
make more steady progresstowards them.
It's focused energy, being ableto do something in short spurts
(24:02):
.
But with focused energy, you'regoing to do a lot more than
spending twice as much timedoing something.
Multitasking.
You're not going to be able toaccomplish it as quickly as well
.
It's all about being focused,and when you do this, you're
(24:23):
also able to feel a greatersense of peace because you're
not overwhelmed, and overwhelmis another thing that we need to
be careful of, because itinhibits us.
Sometimes, when we areoverwhelmed with life or in a
state of anxiety, it can inhibitus from actually doing anything
(24:45):
.
By taking away more andfocusing on less, we are able to
be fully with whatever it is weare doing.
More is not better.
Less is more effective.
I have also adopted a slow lifethis past year, and intention is
(25:09):
also a huge part of this.
Living with intention allows meto live a slower life, which is
a way of living and approachingyour day-to-day that is rooted
in simplicity, mindfulness andliving a life that is wholesome
(25:30):
and nourishing to you, and thisis something that I have chosen
for myself because it feels verysupportive to me, and I'm going
to expand on why I decided toadopt a slow life in an episode
to come, and I'm actually alsoworking on launching a blog in
(25:53):
the coming weeks where I'm goingto share more on slow living
and my reflections on it, sowhen that is out, I will share
that all with you.
I'm really looking forward tohaving more conversations about
that, because I really thinkthat in our day and age, where
we have a very strong andprevalent hustle culture and the
(26:19):
need to perform and constantlyoutdo each other, outdo
ourselves it just gets so tiringand you start to wonder what is
all of this for and like.
Where is the fun in life, whereis the joy, where is the peace,
where is the ease in all ofthis?
(26:39):
Because having the constantneed to perform is not a way to
live.
So adapting a slower lifeallows us to step away from that
noise and really live life forus on our own terms.
And I know that as you'relistening to this, you might
(27:00):
want to start off the yearstrong and making progress on
every area of your life.
We can get high off of the buzzof everyone around us and what
people are posting and sharingand what everyone else is doing.
It really is a wonderful time.
(27:20):
I love a start of the year.
I have this thing about Mondays.
I don't know if it's because Iwas born on a Monday, but I love
a start of a new week, thestart of a new year.
I love new beginnings becauseit goes back for me to the
principle that we are in aconstant state of flux.
(27:41):
In a constant state of flux, weare in constant evolution,
which means that with every newday, if we want to look at it
from that minute way, we canalways choose something new for
ourselves to be a new person, toadopt new habits, to be whoever
we want to be.
It's a new day.
(28:02):
New habits, to be whoever wewant to be.
It's a new day.
So I understand why that energyis so attractive and it feels
so good to so many of us.
But if you choose to setintentions, you don't need to
have it all done and figure itout by now when you're listening
to this.
On January 10th or 11th or evenFebruary.
(28:27):
You can do this whenever youwant.
It doesn't have to be at thebeginning of the new year.
In some years I've setintentions for my year around my
birthday, because that feltbetter for me.
You can do this in November.
You can do this never as well,like I mentioned, if that
(28:49):
doesn't feel good to you at all.
So as you set your newintentions, please remember that
if you did not reach your goalslast year and you feel a bit
disappointed in yourself, knowthat you still made progress in
some small way and that stillcounts for something that should
(29:12):
not be discounted.
We need to acknowledge the wins.
It's so integral for us to dothis before stepping into the
next thing Giving ourselves timeto reflect, to take the sacred
pause so that you can be yourbest friend before you carry on.
(29:37):
If we don't learn how to do thatfor ourselves now, we never
will Go slow to go fast.
By going at a pace that feelsgood to you, you are able to
make sure that you are workingtowards anything in life with
intention, with clarity and withpurpose.
(30:00):
If we go too fast, we can fallshort of where we want to go
because we were too busy beingfocused on something else, and
the truth is is that thisactually allows us to get to
where we want to go quicker,because we are moving with
(30:23):
intent.
And lastly, anything worthhaving in life takes time.
So why don't you just allowyourself to enjoy the journey
while you're on it?
Where do you still resist?
Allowing yourself to soften tolife?
(30:44):
Let yourself feel the bliss,the peace, the awe of being
alive.
We are not meant to be here onthis earth to make ourselves
miserable, to fight ourselves tothe grave.
That is not why we incarnate.
That is not why we are here.
(31:04):
If we allowed ourselves, wecould truly live our own version
of heaven on earth.
So, as you get ready to startthe new year.
Take these things and put theminto practice in your life, if
that feels good, because it willsimply allow you to feel more
(31:25):
connected to your life, to whatyou're setting out to do this
year, all the excitingopportunities to come, all the
success that you're going toexperience this year.
What adventures are you goingto go on?
But just let yourself enjoy it.
Let yourself fall in love withbeing here and enjoying the next
(31:49):
365 days of the year to come.
Remember to be kind to yourself.
Remember to be kind to yourself, and that being your own best
friend along this journey oflife is really the best thing
that we can do for ourselves.
So I hope you all have awonderful start to your year.
(32:13):
I would love to know what someof your intentions are for 2025.
If you are setting intentions,you can share with me on
Instagram.
You can also share with me in acomment.
You can send me a personalmessage.
(32:33):
Whatever works, if you're notsetting intentions, that's
wonderful too.
Is there any other ritual thatyou have, perhaps for the year
when it starts?
I would love to know, and Ilook forward to talking to you
all in my next episode.
I am sending you so, so muchlove and so much light Until
(32:57):
then.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Please make sure you subscribeso you never miss an episode and
share this message with anyfriends and family.
I'd love to hear your takeaways, so share them with me by
leaving a comment below orheading over to my Instagram at
jacindamarie.
(33:18):
I am sending you all so muchlove.
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