February 4, 2025 • 29 mins
In this episode of the Smart Business Growth Podcast, hosts Nicky and Ness explore the concept of New Year's resolutions in the context of both personal and business growth. They discuss the challenges and pressures of setting resolutions, the importance of understanding one's 'why' through vision and mission statements, and the power of selecting a theme or word for the year. The episode encourages listeners to shift from superficial goals to maintaining a sustainable, reflective planning process throughout the year. Tune in for actionable insights and tips on achieving smart business growth.
Research on new years resolutions - https://www.finder.com.au/insights/new-years-resolutions-statistics
Learn more about Nicky and Ness https://businesstogether.com.au
Buy a copy of Healthy Hustle: The New Blueprint to Thrive in Business & Life www.healthyhustle.com.au
Follow us on socials
Instagram - @b2businesstogether
Facebook - @B2BusinessTogether
Connect on LinkedIn
Nicky LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/connectwithnicky/
Ness LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessamedling/
Give us a call
Nicky Miklos-Woodley 0403 191 404
Vanessa (Ness) Medling 0400 226 875
Or send us an email hello@businesstogether.com.au
Music by Jules Miklos-Woodley
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nicky (00:04):
Welcome to the Smart Business Growth Podcast with
Nicky and Ness.
Ness (00:11):
We would like to acknowledge the traditional
custodians of country, theTurrbal and Bunurong people of
Brisbane and Melbournerespectively, where Nicky and I
both work and live both work andlive.
Nicky (00:33):
Hello, hello, welcome back and happy new year.
Everybody, it is so wonderfulto be here with you again.
Whether you are joining us,listening, whether you are
watching us on YouTube, we arethrilled to be here for another
year to bring you all of thesmarts, insights, frameworks
that we know, the people that weknow are living healthy hustle
and really embracing this worldof smart business growth.
(00:54):
You are going to really lovewhat we have in store for you
this year.
We're continuing thattrajectory.
Of course, of healthy hustle,because, as you know, we are
slightly obsessed.
Hello, of course, of healthyhustle, because, as you know, we
are slightly obsessed.
Hello, we have written a bookand we really want to keep
delving into understanding howdo we keep the hustle healthy,
and this time of year is soimportant to really look under
(01:16):
the hood, look behind thecurtain, as to how can we set
ourselves up for success and abig way of doing that, a key
part of doing that is smartbusiness growth.
Of course, if you have read ourbook, if you have taken on some
of the insights and frameworkswe would love to hear from you,
and if you have no idea what I'mtalking about, because you're
new here, welcome.
It's great to have you here andyou can always go and check out
(01:38):
healthyhustlecomau to see whatthe heck I'm talking about.
So we want to kick off this newyear because a lot of what we
see around us in social media,in conversations, and we say
happy new year and what aboutyour new year's resolutions and
what are you doing differentlyand honestly, it is exhausting,
(02:02):
it is overwhelming.
Ness and I were having aconversation about how we feel
like it's just being shoved downour throat at any given moment
and everywhere we turn.
Ness (02:07):
What are you saying so true, so true.
Just, my sister was saying tome the other day she's going.
Oh my God, my whole socialmedia feed is full of people
start your new year, new year'sgoals, goal setting workshop.
You know, come in and do all ofthis.
You know 50 page reflection andall the kinds of things around
that pressure.
And she was feeling thepressure of having not done
(02:28):
something yet.
It's like, oh, it's the middleof January and I'm feeling like,
ah, so I wonder.
You know, there's probably apocket of the market that is
feeling that pressure andwondering if it's too late.
And then there's others whomight have already done their
New Year's resolutions, butmaybe some of them have fallen
off already.
Nicky (02:47):
Well, that's right, and you know like a lot of what we
talk about is this wholereleasing the weight of
expectation about how we shoulddo business or live our life,
and I think the New Year'sresolutions have now become this
expectation of should and areally good key, like the
quickest tip possible to know ifwe're falling under those
(03:07):
weights of expectations, ifwe're falling victim to what
other people around us aretelling us what we should be
doing is actually our language.
If you find yourself saying toanother person or saying to
yourself oh, I really should dothis, I really should do that,
actually get curious aboutwhat's driving that, because we
need to release the weight ofexpectation.
And Ness you alluded to, youmight be already falling off the
(03:29):
radar with your newsresolutions.
If you are one of the 74% ofAussies that do set news
resolutions, we know thatresearch shows the 12th of
January is where newsresolutions start to break down,
where most people actually arestarting to go ah, too hard, not
motivated, because we rely onmotivation.
(03:50):
We've got this, you know this.
We're coming out of Christmas.
There's this pain we want tomove away from and just digging
around a little bit inpreparation for today, I was
curious about understanding abit more around news resolutions
.
So we know that 74% ofAustralians do set New Year's
resolutions and actually themajority of them are more the
younger generations.
And what we also know is thatthe top three types of New
(04:12):
Year's resolutions are aroundhealth, fitness and weight loss.
Really, interesting.
Ness (04:17):
I can relate, really interesting.
Well, yes, I can relate afterChristmas, exactly.
Nicky (04:22):
The timing after coming out of Christmas?
Yeah, for sure.
Nine percent.
So, with this research that Iwas looking at through from
findercomau insights, we'll putthe link for the there's heaps
of stats in there in the shownotes.
But what was also interestingis nine percent of people set
goals around, or newsresolutions around, working less
(04:42):
and having better work-lifebalance.
So certainly not the top three,but still made the list as to
something that people want tofocus on.
Only 8% of people actuallyfulfill their news resolutions,
so that's quite a small numberout of people who do so.
We wanted to dig a little bitaround this and understand.
Well, if we know that themajority of people don't follow
(05:04):
through the 12th of January,people already now are starting
to walk away and break theirpromise to themselves.
You know why do we set newsresolutions and maybe what could
we do instead.
So, Ness, why don't we startwith?
What do you think are some ofthe reasons that people do fall
into this whirlwind of newsresolutions?
Ness (05:26):
I think, because it's so out there in society, you know,
there's so many different.
Like I said earlier, our socialmedia feed is full of people
talking about their New Year'sresolutions.
There's probably a sense ofpressure by some people.
It's like, you know, everyoneelse is doing.
I know, in business communities, when you are hearing about
(05:47):
other people who are doing alltheir resolutions, you kind of
feel like, oh, I should be doingthat too.
So we're back to shooting allover ourselves.
But I think in some other ways,you know, there's this whole
mental thing around the 1st ofJanuary.
It's a new year.
It's like that new year, new me.
People see it as an opportunity, I think, to be able to create
difference around what theydon't want in their lives that
(06:10):
they've experienced last year.
Some of the funny memes thatI've seen are around you know,
the shit show that was 2024 andbring on 2025.
So I think there's an energeticshift around the first of the
month.
I think the other thing iswe're on holidays, so it's that
whole thing around.
We probably had the opportunityfor me anyway, like Christmas
(06:31):
was nuts and then the beginningof the year was just a nice
fresh start, a nice fresh break.
So it's an opportunity to havea clean slate.
It's about wanting to perhapsgo.
I'm going to do things a bitdifferently, and this is a good
opportunity because everybodyelse is doing it, so why don't I
?
And I think we have more spaceand time at this time of the
(06:52):
year for those that do take abreak to do that reflection and
think about you know, how was myyear?
Do I really want to live thatkind of lifestyle again?
Be that, you know, too muchwork or too much partying or
whatever it is, whatever theextreme is for each person.
I think it's an opportunity forus just to pause, catch our
breath, reflect and think aboutwhat we want to do differently.
(07:14):
I know in the dating circleswhen I was doing dating, I think
the first Sunday or the secondSunday of the new year is the
most active on all the datingsites because people go okay,
I'm ready.
It's a new year.
I'm ready to go and find love.
So I think there is somethingout there in the world that does
bring us to this.
But I also know the flip ofthat is the being in that you
(07:37):
know percentage that don'tcontinue on beyond mid-January,
the sense of failure can sitreally, really, really heavily
and that sense of well, everyoneelse appears to be doing an
amazing job of things.
What's wrong with me and what Iwant us to really do is to
shake that up today, becausethis isn't about if you don't
(08:00):
set New Year's plans, you'regoing to fail at life, but it's
around understanding, when itcomes to business, what is
important for us to look at atcertain times throughout the
year and I think you knowparticularly those who resonate
with our message around healthyhustle and wanting to create
more healthy in their hustle.
This is a really goodopportunity to actually set up
(08:23):
the year and decide what you'regoing to do differently.
Nicky (08:25):
So a couple of things I want to kind of pull out from
what you've said there, becausesome really powerful points
around.
For example, it's an energeticshift and I think what's really,
because, as you said, there isan upside, there's a positive
side to New Year's resolutions.
If we kind of pull back and go,well, what's the purpose of
this?
But there also can be thatdownside, it's an energetic
(08:50):
shift.
That's interesting to mebecause it is an energetic shift
.
But it's an energetic shiftbecause we choose it to be.
What is the date?
What is the 1st of January?
You know there's seasons andcycles in business, in life, in
nature, and there's energeticshifts in nature in the
different seasons.
You know, when we look at thedifference between the energy
behind winter and summer.
So absolutely, I agree, there'san energetic shift and also
let's be aware that we'rechoosing for it to be.
(09:12):
So we can actually proactivelyand consciously choose for that
energetic shift to happen atdifferent times of years.
It's just a number.
It's like we talk about, youknow, time.
Time is a man-made concept.
Naming days of the week, this365 calendar year.
We consciously created that andI don't know the history of
that, but it's a man-madeconcept, besides looking at
(09:34):
seasons and cycles, right.
So I think what's reallypowerful about that is you get
to choose, and if this is theright time of year, like Ness
said, and for us, it is becausewe do close down over Christmas.
There is space, it's summerover here, so there's a blooming
, bright, sweaty energy to it,you know.
(09:54):
So a really important pointthere.
And the other thing I want topull out from what you said is
that you know other people canappear to have all their shit
together.
They can appear.
Comparison is truly the thiefof joy.
It really is the thief of joy.
I'm going to say that againComparison is the thief of joy.
Wow, I didn't even say itproperly when I said it.
Way to make a punchy, powerfulmoment.
(10:18):
But when you're in business, andespecially if you're an
established business and a lotof business owners and leaders
are looking to the next, what'sthe next, what's the next goals,
might not even be an issue foryou because you're all over your
goals, or maybe there's anopportunity to change how you do
your goals, which we'll talkabout in a moment.
Constantly looking at the next,it can be really easy to look
(10:40):
at others around you that havethat next level of success and
think I've got to keep go, go,go, go, go to get there, or why
not me?
Or whatever the narrative mightbe.
But remember, just like theperson that has the fancy cars
and the fancy houses, they mightbe in a fancy load of debt as
well.
We don't know.
We don't know the full story.
(11:00):
So look to others forinspiration.
As soon as you start to seethat comparison piece, remind
yourself we don't know the fullstory.
So look to others forinspiration.
As soon as you start to seethat comparison piece, remind
yourself we don't know the fullstory.
Come back to where am I now andwhat am I focusing on?
Ness (11:13):
Have you heard?
Our book Healthy Hustle the NewBlueprint to Thriving Business
and Life, is available right nowto purchase.
In Healthy Hustle we take youthrough real world, practical
and achievable steps to move youaway from unhealthy hustle to a
place of happiness and living,whilst continuing to achieve
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(11:34):
Order your copy now athealthyhustlecomau.
Nicky (11:41):
Ness, what do you think?
What is a new?
Let's actually take a step backand define what a new year's
resolution.
Let's define it Well.
Ness (11:50):
It's interesting because it is whatever you make it mean.
So in society, I guess a newyear's resolution is a desire to
make a change.
Like you said, it's aboutlosing weight, it's about
getting fit.
Whatever it is, it's a goalthat you want to set, which is
interesting because in business,certainly, the way we do
business and our clients dobusiness is we are setting goals
(12:12):
consistently throughout theyear.
We're doing a, we do our gameplan, our setup for the next
quarter, every end of thequarter before.
It's not something that'sdifferent for us.
So a new year's resolution, Ithink for me it's a personal,
perhaps, resolution as opposedto a business one, but I think
they do carry over.
(12:33):
I don't know what do you reckon?
Nicky (12:34):
Yeah, I mean, nothing has meaning except the meaning that
we give it.
So you know, for you Idefinitely see that you really
start to focus on your personalside of things.
I think for me as well, youknow, like Jules, and I will say
what's our theme for the year,personally, which this year it's
health and fun as we enter anew era of aging and life,
(12:54):
separate podcast episode forthat.
So it is about that personalaspect.
There's a couple of thingswe'll do, and you and I do, from
a business front, on top of theBAU quarterly.
But here's the thing If you'relistening or watching this, it
might be different to what Nessand I, it might actually be
nothing.
It might be the busiest time ofyear that you possibly have.
(13:15):
So it is literally business asusual BAU in business and life.
It could be a chance to reflectand refine.
It could be a clean slate thatyou're consciously choosing.
This is going to be theenergetic shift that I need.
You know there's no rules tothis and I think that's probably
the main thing we want you toget out of this podcast episode
is that you get to make therules of what this means for you
(13:37):
.
You can do a new year'sresolution at any time of year
and in fact I've got my sister,just from a life point of view,
doesn't do anything at NewYear's because they celebrate
her and her husband celebratemiddle of June.
I think it's Yule New.
It's like the it's with theseasons, because seasonally it
actually is New Year via nature.
It is New Year at the end ofJune.
(13:58):
So, again, what are the rulesthat you make?
You get to choose, and ifyou've never consciously popped
the pause button and thoughtabout this, this is your chance
to do that as well, as we'llshare with you what we do
instead of New Year'sresolutions For sure, for sure.
Ness (14:13):
So do you want to go there now?
Let's do it, let's go there.
Well, I think that, in keepingwith the theme around what we
talk about, for any kind ofbusiness planning, our vision
has to be really strong for ourbusiness.
And then we also need thatemotional connection to the
business vision to understandhow that impacts our life.
Why are we in business and whatflow on impact is that having
(14:36):
to how lifestyle and how wechoose to live?
And so I think that January forus is a really good opportunity
because there's more downtimein Australia, like I think about
, you know, in England andAmerica it's winter and they
often just they don't have sixweeks of school holidays and not
a lot of places close down overthis period of time.
But for us in Australia it does, and for you and I, we make
(15:01):
time in our calendar to do thisreflection.
So it really is reconnectinginto why do we do what we do.
So we have our combinedbusiness vision, but for us
separately, there's a connection, an emotional connection, to
that vision.
So it's a really goodopportunity because as the year
goes on you know we've gonethrough 12 months under the
(15:21):
vision that we had last year andwhat we notice is sometimes it
needs tweaking or changing.
Sometimes, if we can reflect ona year where perhaps we didn't
achieve that link back to whatwe wanted to get out of our
personal vision, things mightneed to change, in that we look
at our mission and we go is thatstill on point?
Are we still committed to whatwe said we were committed to 12
(15:42):
months ago?
And also looking at ourbusiness values and our personal
values, because I believe thatcertainly for personal values,
they can actually change over aperiod of time, because it's
what you focus on.
What are your top three?
Are you living that?
Is that impacting how you turnup in the world?
So I think that for us, it's agreat opportunity for us to go
(16:03):
back and just check in and wedon't change it every year and
we don't change it a lot, butsometimes it just needs a little
bit of tweaking.
So I do feel like it's a reallygood opportunity if you're in
business and well, if youhaven't done your vision, your
mission, your purpose, yourvalues, you know understanding
that big impact, that bigpicture, why, then, now is a
(16:25):
great time to start?
Anytime you haven't done them,the next day is a great time
that day is a great time tostart.
Nicky (16:31):
Don't wait to do these Exactly.
Ness (16:33):
But if you've done them, revisit, because if you don't
look back on this in five yearspast, you might find you're
really, really not alignedanymore.
So that's one of the things wedo.
Do you want to focus on anotherone?
Nicky (16:44):
Yeah, the other thing that we do is we set a theme or
a word for the year.
So I mentioned that.
Jules and I do that from apersonal point of view, ness and
I do that from a business pointof view, but still individually
.
So this is something that welove.
Well, I say we, I assume but, I,know I love running this
workshop for clients and all youhave to do is think about, you
(17:05):
know, reflect on the year thatwas which actually is a part of
another thing that we do soreflecting on what did you love,
what did you not love, what doyou want more of, what do you
want less of, what was missingfor you?
They're probably the key thingsto just sort of think about, to
help come up with what could bemy word or my theme for the year
, and it can be any word thatyou want it to be, but it
(17:27):
becomes your anchor point, itbecomes your source of truth.
It's the thing that you comeback to.
Some people like to then createa vision board from it or do a
mud map of words to remind themof how this plays out in
different areas of business, oflife, and it really, really
works.
We've been doing this for anumber of years and the clients
that we do this with, even theones that are a bit sceptical at
(17:49):
first, like, oh, it seems a bitwoo-woo or wishy-washy or
whatever they love it because itreally does serve as that
anchor point to come back with.
Back to you, ness, do you wantto share what your word is for
the year.
Ness (17:58):
Yeah for sure.
So this year my word isintentional and that, for me, is
about making decisions thatmove me closer to what the goals
that I set are.
So it's just in all aspects ofmy life, so choices that I'm
making on a daily basis.
If I go in with intention, thenI feel like I'm really looking
(18:19):
at is this going to move mecloser to where I want to be and
who I want to be, or is itgoing to move me away from that?
And I find that as a reallygreat anchor point for
determining.
You know, what is it that Iwant to take on?
What do I want to dodifferently?
And for me, it stops that the12th of January thing where
motivation dies.
You know that whole.
(18:39):
Well, I could be three monthsin and making choices about what
I want to eat or you know whatwork I want to take on.
It could be any aspect of mylife that I really want to come
back to, having that intentionalpiece and making sure that my
decisions and choices arealigned.
So for me, this year that'swhat it is.
I did grounded last year.
(19:01):
That worked really, really welland I'm ready.
I'm ready for this.
What about you?
Nicky (19:05):
Yeah, I love that you can see as well how, as a business
owner leader that's listening tothis, this is an exercise you
can do with your team members,because how amazing for you to
know.
Ah, okay, ness is in my teamand her word, her theme, her
anchor for the year isintentional.
How can I support that?
How can I help bring that tolife?
So my word is evolution.
(19:25):
So for me, this year is reallyabout what is that next?
Evolution of the book ofspeaking, you know, having done
the TEDx last year, which wasamazing, the next evolution of
speaking, the next evolution ofhealth relationships again aging
, as I alluded to before.
What is Nicky's next evolutionin all of the different areas of
my life?
(19:45):
And it's exciting.
And the thing is that the worddoesn't have to be sexy or cool
or interesting to anybody else.
It just has to have meaning foryou and that's it.
You know, some people havewords like lioness or courage,
or they have a phrase or theythink of a famous person that
inspires them, or like there'sactually no rules around this,
(20:07):
which is pretty cool.
Yeah, it's amazing.
So we've got the word and thetheme of the year, we've got the
reconnecting to the why, thevision, mission and values.
They're the two things that weabsolutely annually, whether
it's at this time of year orsometimes in the past, we've
done it in the middle of theyear as well.
Again, we get to choose theenergetic shift and when we have
that, they're the things thatwe really build on at this time
(20:31):
of year or June.
What else do you think isimportant in terms of getting
that clarity of direction?
Ness (20:36):
Well, you touched on it earlier the reflection and
projection.
So I think that there is greatopportunity for us to go back
and just ask some of thosequestions to reflect on last
year, because I think you knowthe pace we move in business and
life can go very, very quicklyand some people who are high
(20:57):
achievers, they want the nextthing, the next thing, the next
thing.
We've got to pause and justtake that reflection around.
What worked, why did it workwell?
What didn't work?
What is it that I want tochange?
We do those stop, start,continue decisions around every
quarter.
What do I want to stop doing?
What do I want to start doing?
What do I want to continue todo?
So I think it doesn't reallymatter what the actual questions
(21:20):
are, as long as they're gettingyou to come back and reflect on
where did I have success, howdid I get that and is it
sustainable?
And perhaps, if I didn't hit mygoals, that reality check and
the tougher questions I knowthat that sort of came up for me
when I was reflecting back over.
You know some of my my thingsfrom last year and I'm like,
yeah, actually, if I, if I, wasmore consistent in that activity
(21:44):
, I probably would have gotdifferent results.
But until you sit down and lookat it and take that time out, I
would just move on to the nextthing, and there's a learning
there to be had that would havebeen missed had I not taken that
reflection.
Nicky (21:57):
So what I'm hearing in that it's not just about setting
a goal, it's aboutunderstanding our patterns of
behavior that have led us here,what has worked and what hasn't
worked.
And I think this is why newsresolutions probably don't work,
because people get caught up ina hype.
It's like I've got to set agoal, I'm going to have this
goal, but there's no maybemeaning behind it.
There's no connection to thewhy.
There's no reflection of what'sthe patterns of behavior and
(22:19):
action that I can take, that Ihave taken that will lead me to
success.
So it's very surface level andit doesn't have to be
complicated, like even we'veshared already on here.
You can rewind it and listen tothe questions that we've put out
, you know.
Another good question to add tothe list is what could get in
the way.
You know what do I want toachieve.
So I like to look at this asthink about it and I'm keen to
(22:40):
get your thoughts on this butmaybe 20, 30% reflection of the
past, 70% setting what do I wantfor the future?
So, whether that's the next 12months, or because we need to
look at the past to understandwhat worked, what didn't, wins,
learns, patterns of behavior,like you said, so that we can
set ourselves up for success forthe future.
Ness (23:01):
Think about it like driving a car we are looking
towards where we're going, butwe do have to occasionally check
the revision mirror.
We don't spend our whole timedriving a car.
We are looking towards wherewe're going, but we do have to
occasionally check the revisionmirror.
We don't spend our whole timedriving a car looking in a
revision mirror.
Yeah.
I love that.
Same with planning.
We don't want to spend all ourtime looking back.
We've got to look towards thevision of where we're traveling,
where we want to go, ourdestination.
(23:22):
But we also can learn a lotabout what's going on around us
from our revision.
Nicky (23:26):
So, even to continue that awesome metaphor, sometimes we
need to pump the brakes,sometimes we need to refuel the
car, sometimes we need to get aservice, sometimes we need to
put water in the windscreenwipers, sometimes we need to
accelerate to get to, you know,get through the green light, not
the orange light.
But I love that metaphorbecause it is such a good
(23:47):
reflection of actually whatwe're talking about here, even
beyond you know, checking ourmirrors and looking in the
review mirror, and so really wecould look at this as, instead
of setting news resolution or asuperficial goal that won't last
, actually how are you takingcare of the vehicle that is
delivering you to your goals,which is probably your body and
(24:07):
your business?
Ness (24:08):
Yeah, and also, where are you sitting?
Are you in the driver's seat?
Yes, in the backseat, or areyou in the boot?
Nicky (24:14):
Or are you that passenger ?
What do they call it?
Like backseat driver?
Oh yeah, the person that's notin the driver's seat, but you're
telling someone else how todrive, mate.
No, can you not do that?
Ness (24:25):
Exactly.
Nicky (24:29):
I get that a lot, which is really annoying, I don't know
what that says about my drivingskills, but it's really good.
Hopefully you're reflecting.
You're thinking where am Isitting?
Am I in the boot?
Did I lock myself in the boot?
Ness (24:40):
Denial for what's to come, absolutely.
Nicky (24:43):
Okay.
So we've got word and theme forthe year, We've got the
reconnection to the Y visionmission values.
We've got reflection andprojection.
So reflection in the back,projection to the forward.
What else?
I feel like there's anotherfourth one here, Ness, to add to
the mix.
Ness (24:56):
I would say, looking at your top three, maybe five
maximum goals, business andpersonal.
So goals are best delivered asSMART, you know which is I'm
going to forget the acronymspecific, measurable, actionable
(25:22):
, achievable, realistic andtimely.
But the reality is, you knowand we often work with clients
on this because unless you'redoing it on a regular basis, it
can be hard.
You can sort of like I want tolose weight as an example, but
yeah, what, by how much and bywhen I want more clients?
Nicky (25:38):
And also why?
Why, like that's the otherthing why that goal?
Is it that you want to loseweight, or do you want to feel
fit, good, healthy, strong?
That's right.
Do you want more clients?
Why?
For what purpose?
Sorry, had to jump in there, ofcourse.
Of course You've got toquestion that, right.
Ness (25:52):
Why, what purpose and all the other things.
So we want to make sure that wecan measure it so that,
remember, this is not a one anddone.
This is what we do everyquarter, just setting up so, but
you may have the bigger goalsort of, is what you're working
from and towards as you gothrough each of those weeks.
Nicky (26:11):
So what I really love about this is notice that we had
set your goals as the lastthing.
Now you can mix up the order ofthe first three.
You can mix up the order, likeyou know.
Probably reflection andprojection is a good one to
start Reconnecting to why vision, mission, purpose, values, and
then setting of word or theme.
Do those three first, then setyour goals, because that is
(26:34):
going to be what sets you up forsuccess.
So tell me, ness, what's a goodaction, actionable action for
our listeners and viewers totake?
Ness (26:42):
Well, I would say, if you haven't already set aside time
in your calendar to do this,that's the first action.
Already set aside time in yourcalendar to do this, that's the
first action.
You're going to want to take agood day, maybe two days out,
depending on you know how muchyou are used to doing this and
whether you're doing this kindof work on a regular basis or
not, but take time out of yourbusiness to be able to do it.
(27:03):
I think that that's the firststep.
And then, of course, once youhave that time scheduled and
you're sitting there going what?
do, I do next, you know youcould try what we do the theme,
that sort of reconnection toyour vision, missions, purpose,
values, the reflect and project,and then setting the personal
and business vision and I ohsorry top five goals, three to
(27:25):
five goals.
So they're the things you cando in the time, but unless you
have the time scheduled it's notgoing to happen.
Nicky (27:31):
And also, as you said before, we do a version, a
smaller version, of this everyquarter.
And if you do have a copy ofour book or if you want to have
some guidance on how to weactually outline the True North
framework in the book, so youcan oh, we're recording the
audio.
That's going to be out verysoon, the audio book, but you
can get that on Kindle, hardcopy, et cetera.
The other thing I'd just say Ifeel like it's remiss that, if
(27:53):
you do want to hand with any ofthis, we do VIP days where we
work with you just for one dayto get it set up.
So I'm not going to turn thisinto a big sales pitch, but if
that's something that piquesyour curiosity, just reach out
to us.
Whatever you do, please, please, please, do something.
Don't rely on a new year'sresolution.
Go deeper than that.
Set up an operating rhythm inyour business that will serve
(28:16):
you for the long term.
Have fun with it.
It will be more enjoyable andyou'll probably stick with it if
it's more enjoyable.
Ness (28:23):
Excellent.
Thanks for listening.
Bye, Thanks for listening totoday's ep.
If you loved what you heard,connect with us over on LinkedIn
and let's continue theconversation over there.
Did you hear you can now buyour book Healthy Hustle the new
blueprint to thrive in businessand life, at healthyhustlecomau.
Want us to speak to your teamor run a workshop on healthy
(28:46):
hustle in your workplace?
Send us an email or go oldschool and give us a call to
discuss.
Until next time, happylistening and here's to thriving
in business and life.
Welcome to the Smart Business Growth Podcast with
Nicky and Ness.
Ness (00:11):
We would like to acknowledge the traditional
custodians of country, theTurrbal and Bunurong people of
Brisbane and Melbournerespectively, where Nicky and I
both work and live both work andlive.
Nicky (00:33):
Hello, hello, welcome back and happy new year.
Everybody, it is so wonderfulto be here with you again.
Whether you are joining us,listening, whether you are
watching us on YouTube, we arethrilled to be here for another
year to bring you all of thesmarts, insights, frameworks
that we know, the people that weknow are living healthy hustle
and really embracing this worldof smart business growth.
(00:54):
You are going to really lovewhat we have in store for you
this year.
We're continuing thattrajectory.
Of course, of healthy hustle,because, as you know, we are
slightly obsessed.
Hello, of course, of healthyhustle, because, as you know, we
are slightly obsessed.
Hello, we have written a bookand we really want to keep
delving into understanding howdo we keep the hustle healthy,
and this time of year is soimportant to really look under
(01:16):
the hood, look behind thecurtain, as to how can we set
ourselves up for success and abig way of doing that, a key
part of doing that is smartbusiness growth.
Of course, if you have read ourbook, if you have taken on some
of the insights and frameworkswe would love to hear from you,
and if you have no idea what I'mtalking about, because you're
new here, welcome.
It's great to have you here andyou can always go and check out
(01:38):
healthyhustlecomau to see whatthe heck I'm talking about.
So we want to kick off this newyear because a lot of what we
see around us in social media,in conversations, and we say
happy new year and what aboutyour new year's resolutions and
what are you doing differentlyand honestly, it is exhausting,
(02:02):
it is overwhelming.
Ness and I were having aconversation about how we feel
like it's just being shoved downour throat at any given moment
and everywhere we turn.
Ness (02:07):
What are you saying so true, so true.
Just, my sister was saying tome the other day she's going.
Oh my God, my whole socialmedia feed is full of people
start your new year, new year'sgoals, goal setting workshop.
You know, come in and do all ofthis.
You know 50 page reflection andall the kinds of things around
that pressure.
And she was feeling thepressure of having not done
(02:28):
something yet.
It's like, oh, it's the middleof January and I'm feeling like,
ah, so I wonder.
You know, there's probably apocket of the market that is
feeling that pressure andwondering if it's too late.
And then there's others whomight have already done their
New Year's resolutions, butmaybe some of them have fallen
off already.
Nicky (02:47):
Well, that's right, and you know like a lot of what we
talk about is this wholereleasing the weight of
expectation about how we shoulddo business or live our life,
and I think the New Year'sresolutions have now become this
expectation of should and areally good key, like the
quickest tip possible to know ifwe're falling under those
(03:07):
weights of expectations, ifwe're falling victim to what
other people around us aretelling us what we should be
doing is actually our language.
If you find yourself saying toanother person or saying to
yourself oh, I really should dothis, I really should do that,
actually get curious aboutwhat's driving that, because we
need to release the weight ofexpectation.
And Ness you alluded to, youmight be already falling off the
(03:29):
radar with your newsresolutions.
If you are one of the 74% ofAussies that do set news
resolutions, we know thatresearch shows the 12th of
January is where newsresolutions start to break down,
where most people actually arestarting to go ah, too hard, not
motivated, because we rely onmotivation.
(03:50):
We've got this, you know this.
We're coming out of Christmas.
There's this pain we want tomove away from and just digging
around a little bit inpreparation for today, I was
curious about understanding abit more around news resolutions
.
So we know that 74% ofAustralians do set New Year's
resolutions and actually themajority of them are more the
younger generations.
And what we also know is thatthe top three types of New
(04:12):
Year's resolutions are aroundhealth, fitness and weight loss.
Really, interesting.
Ness (04:17):
I can relate, really interesting.
Well, yes, I can relate afterChristmas, exactly.
Nicky (04:22):
The timing after coming out of Christmas?
Yeah, for sure.
Nine percent.
So, with this research that Iwas looking at through from
findercomau insights, we'll putthe link for the there's heaps
of stats in there in the shownotes.
But what was also interestingis nine percent of people set
goals around, or newsresolutions around, working less
(04:42):
and having better work-lifebalance.
So certainly not the top three,but still made the list as to
something that people want tofocus on.
Only 8% of people actuallyfulfill their news resolutions,
so that's quite a small numberout of people who do so.
We wanted to dig a little bitaround this and understand.
Well, if we know that themajority of people don't follow
(05:04):
through the 12th of January,people already now are starting
to walk away and break theirpromise to themselves.
You know why do we set newsresolutions and maybe what could
we do instead.
So, Ness, why don't we startwith?
What do you think are some ofthe reasons that people do fall
into this whirlwind of newsresolutions?
Ness (05:26):
I think, because it's so out there in society, you know,
there's so many different.
Like I said earlier, our socialmedia feed is full of people
talking about their New Year'sresolutions.
There's probably a sense ofpressure by some people.
It's like, you know, everyoneelse is doing.
I know, in business communities, when you are hearing about
(05:47):
other people who are doing alltheir resolutions, you kind of
feel like, oh, I should be doingthat too.
So we're back to shooting allover ourselves.
But I think in some other ways,you know, there's this whole
mental thing around the 1st ofJanuary.
It's a new year.
It's like that new year, new me.
People see it as an opportunity, I think, to be able to create
difference around what theydon't want in their lives that
(06:10):
they've experienced last year.
Some of the funny memes thatI've seen are around you know,
the shit show that was 2024 andbring on 2025.
So I think there's an energeticshift around the first of the
month.
I think the other thing iswe're on holidays, so it's that
whole thing around.
We probably had the opportunityfor me anyway, like Christmas
(06:31):
was nuts and then the beginningof the year was just a nice
fresh start, a nice fresh break.
So it's an opportunity to havea clean slate.
It's about wanting to perhapsgo.
I'm going to do things a bitdifferently, and this is a good
opportunity because everybodyelse is doing it, so why don't I
?
And I think we have more spaceand time at this time of the
(06:52):
year for those that do take abreak to do that reflection and
think about you know, how was myyear?
Do I really want to live thatkind of lifestyle again?
Be that, you know, too muchwork or too much partying or
whatever it is, whatever theextreme is for each person.
I think it's an opportunity forus just to pause, catch our
breath, reflect and think aboutwhat we want to do differently.
(07:14):
I know in the dating circleswhen I was doing dating, I think
the first Sunday or the secondSunday of the new year is the
most active on all the datingsites because people go okay,
I'm ready.
It's a new year.
I'm ready to go and find love.
So I think there is somethingout there in the world that does
bring us to this.
But I also know the flip ofthat is the being in that you
(07:37):
know percentage that don'tcontinue on beyond mid-January,
the sense of failure can sitreally, really, really heavily
and that sense of well, everyoneelse appears to be doing an
amazing job of things.
What's wrong with me and what Iwant us to really do is to
shake that up today, becausethis isn't about if you don't
(08:00):
set New Year's plans, you'regoing to fail at life, but it's
around understanding, when itcomes to business, what is
important for us to look at atcertain times throughout the
year and I think you knowparticularly those who resonate
with our message around healthyhustle and wanting to create
more healthy in their hustle.
This is a really goodopportunity to actually set up
(08:23):
the year and decide what you'regoing to do differently.
Nicky (08:25):
So a couple of things I want to kind of pull out from
what you've said there, becausesome really powerful points
around.
For example, it's an energeticshift and I think what's really,
because, as you said, there isan upside, there's a positive
side to New Year's resolutions.
If we kind of pull back and go,well, what's the purpose of
this?
But there also can be thatdownside, it's an energetic
(08:50):
shift.
That's interesting to mebecause it is an energetic shift
.
But it's an energetic shiftbecause we choose it to be.
What is the date?
What is the 1st of January?
You know there's seasons andcycles in business, in life, in
nature, and there's energeticshifts in nature in the
different seasons.
You know, when we look at thedifference between the energy
behind winter and summer.
So absolutely, I agree, there'san energetic shift and also
let's be aware that we'rechoosing for it to be.
(09:12):
So we can actually proactivelyand consciously choose for that
energetic shift to happen atdifferent times of years.
It's just a number.
It's like we talk about, youknow, time.
Time is a man-made concept.
Naming days of the week, this365 calendar year.
We consciously created that andI don't know the history of
that, but it's a man-madeconcept, besides looking at
(09:34):
seasons and cycles, right.
So I think what's reallypowerful about that is you get
to choose, and if this is theright time of year, like Ness
said, and for us, it is becausewe do close down over Christmas.
There is space, it's summerover here, so there's a blooming
, bright, sweaty energy to it,you know.
(09:54):
So a really important pointthere.
And the other thing I want topull out from what you said is
that you know other people canappear to have all their shit
together.
They can appear.
Comparison is truly the thiefof joy.
It really is the thief of joy.
I'm going to say that againComparison is the thief of joy.
Wow, I didn't even say itproperly when I said it.
Way to make a punchy, powerfulmoment.
(10:18):
But when you're in business, andespecially if you're an
established business and a lotof business owners and leaders
are looking to the next, what'sthe next, what's the next goals,
might not even be an issue foryou because you're all over your
goals, or maybe there's anopportunity to change how you do
your goals, which we'll talkabout in a moment.
Constantly looking at the next,it can be really easy to look
(10:40):
at others around you that havethat next level of success and
think I've got to keep go, go,go, go, go to get there, or why
not me?
Or whatever the narrative mightbe.
But remember, just like theperson that has the fancy cars
and the fancy houses, they mightbe in a fancy load of debt as
well.
We don't know.
We don't know the full story.
(11:00):
So look to others forinspiration.
As soon as you start to seethat comparison piece, remind
yourself we don't know the fullstory.
So look to others forinspiration.
As soon as you start to seethat comparison piece, remind
yourself we don't know the fullstory.
Come back to where am I now andwhat am I focusing on?
Ness (11:13):
Have you heard?
Our book Healthy Hustle the NewBlueprint to Thriving Business
and Life, is available right nowto purchase.
In Healthy Hustle we take youthrough real world, practical
and achievable steps to move youaway from unhealthy hustle to a
place of happiness and living,whilst continuing to achieve
incredible business results.
(11:34):
Order your copy now athealthyhustlecomau.
Nicky (11:41):
Ness, what do you think?
What is a new?
Let's actually take a step backand define what a new year's
resolution.
Let's define it Well.
Ness (11:50):
It's interesting because it is whatever you make it mean.
So in society, I guess a newyear's resolution is a desire to
make a change.
Like you said, it's aboutlosing weight, it's about
getting fit.
Whatever it is, it's a goalthat you want to set, which is
interesting because in business,certainly, the way we do
business and our clients dobusiness is we are setting goals
(12:12):
consistently throughout theyear.
We're doing a, we do our gameplan, our setup for the next
quarter, every end of thequarter before.
It's not something that'sdifferent for us.
So a new year's resolution, Ithink for me it's a personal,
perhaps, resolution as opposedto a business one, but I think
they do carry over.
(12:33):
I don't know what do you reckon?
Nicky (12:34):
Yeah, I mean, nothing has meaning except the meaning that
we give it.
So you know, for you Idefinitely see that you really
start to focus on your personalside of things.
I think for me as well, youknow, like Jules, and I will say
what's our theme for the year,personally, which this year it's
health and fun as we enter anew era of aging and life,
(12:54):
separate podcast episode forthat.
So it is about that personalaspect.
There's a couple of thingswe'll do, and you and I do, from
a business front, on top of theBAU quarterly.
But here's the thing If you'relistening or watching this, it
might be different to what Nessand I, it might actually be
nothing.
It might be the busiest time ofyear that you possibly have.
(13:15):
So it is literally business asusual BAU in business and life.
It could be a chance to reflectand refine.
It could be a clean slate thatyou're consciously choosing.
This is going to be theenergetic shift that I need.
You know there's no rules tothis and I think that's probably
the main thing we want you toget out of this podcast episode
is that you get to make therules of what this means for you
(13:37):
.
You can do a new year'sresolution at any time of year
and in fact I've got my sister,just from a life point of view,
doesn't do anything at NewYear's because they celebrate
her and her husband celebratemiddle of June.
I think it's Yule New.
It's like the it's with theseasons, because seasonally it
actually is New Year via nature.
It is New Year at the end ofJune.
(13:58):
So, again, what are the rulesthat you make?
You get to choose, and ifyou've never consciously popped
the pause button and thoughtabout this, this is your chance
to do that as well, as we'llshare with you what we do
instead of New Year'sresolutions For sure, for sure.
Ness (14:13):
So do you want to go there now?
Let's do it, let's go there.
Well, I think that, in keepingwith the theme around what we
talk about, for any kind ofbusiness planning, our vision
has to be really strong for ourbusiness.
And then we also need thatemotional connection to the
business vision to understandhow that impacts our life.
Why are we in business and whatflow on impact is that having
(14:36):
to how lifestyle and how wechoose to live?
And so I think that January forus is a really good opportunity
because there's more downtimein Australia, like I think about
, you know, in England andAmerica it's winter and they
often just they don't have sixweeks of school holidays and not
a lot of places close down overthis period of time.
But for us in Australia it does, and for you and I, we make
(15:01):
time in our calendar to do thisreflection.
So it really is reconnectinginto why do we do what we do.
So we have our combinedbusiness vision, but for us
separately, there's a connection, an emotional connection, to
that vision.
So it's a really goodopportunity because as the year
goes on you know we've gonethrough 12 months under the
(15:21):
vision that we had last year andwhat we notice is sometimes it
needs tweaking or changing.
Sometimes, if we can reflect ona year where perhaps we didn't
achieve that link back to whatwe wanted to get out of our
personal vision, things mightneed to change, in that we look
at our mission and we go is thatstill on point?
Are we still committed to whatwe said we were committed to 12
(15:42):
months ago?
And also looking at ourbusiness values and our personal
values, because I believe thatcertainly for personal values,
they can actually change over aperiod of time, because it's
what you focus on.
What are your top three?
Are you living that?
Is that impacting how you turnup in the world?
So I think that for us, it's agreat opportunity for us to go
(16:03):
back and just check in and wedon't change it every year and
we don't change it a lot, butsometimes it just needs a little
bit of tweaking.
So I do feel like it's a reallygood opportunity if you're in
business and well, if youhaven't done your vision, your
mission, your purpose, yourvalues, you know understanding
that big impact, that bigpicture, why, then, now is a
(16:25):
great time to start?
Anytime you haven't done them,the next day is a great time
that day is a great time tostart.
Nicky (16:31):
Don't wait to do these Exactly.
Ness (16:33):
But if you've done them, revisit, because if you don't
look back on this in five yearspast, you might find you're
really, really not alignedanymore.
So that's one of the things wedo.
Do you want to focus on anotherone?
Nicky (16:44):
Yeah, the other thing that we do is we set a theme or
a word for the year.
So I mentioned that.
Jules and I do that from apersonal point of view, ness and
I do that from a business pointof view, but still individually
.
So this is something that welove.
Well, I say we, I assume but, I,know I love running this
workshop for clients and all youhave to do is think about, you
(17:05):
know, reflect on the year thatwas which actually is a part of
another thing that we do soreflecting on what did you love,
what did you not love, what doyou want more of, what do you
want less of, what was missingfor you?
They're probably the key thingsto just sort of think about, to
help come up with what could bemy word or my theme for the year
, and it can be any word thatyou want it to be, but it
(17:27):
becomes your anchor point, itbecomes your source of truth.
It's the thing that you comeback to.
Some people like to then createa vision board from it or do a
mud map of words to remind themof how this plays out in
different areas of business, oflife, and it really, really
works.
We've been doing this for anumber of years and the clients
that we do this with, even theones that are a bit sceptical at
(17:49):
first, like, oh, it seems a bitwoo-woo or wishy-washy or
whatever they love it because itreally does serve as that
anchor point to come back with.
Back to you, ness, do you wantto share what your word is for
the year.
Ness (17:58):
Yeah for sure.
So this year my word isintentional and that, for me, is
about making decisions thatmove me closer to what the goals
that I set are.
So it's just in all aspects ofmy life, so choices that I'm
making on a daily basis.
If I go in with intention, thenI feel like I'm really looking
(18:19):
at is this going to move mecloser to where I want to be and
who I want to be, or is itgoing to move me away from that?
And I find that as a reallygreat anchor point for
determining.
You know, what is it that Iwant to take on?
What do I want to dodifferently?
And for me, it stops that the12th of January thing where
motivation dies.
You know that whole.
(18:39):
Well, I could be three monthsin and making choices about what
I want to eat or you know whatwork I want to take on.
It could be any aspect of mylife that I really want to come
back to, having that intentionalpiece and making sure that my
decisions and choices arealigned.
So for me, this year that'swhat it is.
I did grounded last year.
(19:01):
That worked really, really welland I'm ready.
I'm ready for this.
What about you?
Nicky (19:05):
Yeah, I love that you can see as well how, as a business
owner leader that's listening tothis, this is an exercise you
can do with your team members,because how amazing for you to
know.
Ah, okay, ness is in my teamand her word, her theme, her
anchor for the year isintentional.
How can I support that?
How can I help bring that tolife?
So my word is evolution.
(19:25):
So for me, this year is reallyabout what is that next?
Evolution of the book ofspeaking, you know, having done
the TEDx last year, which wasamazing, the next evolution of
speaking, the next evolution ofhealth relationships again aging
, as I alluded to before.
What is Nicky's next evolutionin all of the different areas of
my life?
(19:45):
And it's exciting.
And the thing is that the worddoesn't have to be sexy or cool
or interesting to anybody else.
It just has to have meaning foryou and that's it.
You know, some people havewords like lioness or courage,
or they have a phrase or theythink of a famous person that
inspires them, or like there'sactually no rules around this,
(20:07):
which is pretty cool.
Yeah, it's amazing.
So we've got the word and thetheme of the year, we've got the
reconnecting to the why, thevision, mission and values.
They're the two things that weabsolutely annually, whether
it's at this time of year orsometimes in the past, we've
done it in the middle of theyear as well.
Again, we get to choose theenergetic shift and when we have
that, they're the things thatwe really build on at this time
(20:31):
of year or June.
What else do you think isimportant in terms of getting
that clarity of direction?
Ness (20:36):
Well, you touched on it earlier the reflection and
projection.
So I think that there is greatopportunity for us to go back
and just ask some of thosequestions to reflect on last
year, because I think you knowthe pace we move in business and
life can go very, very quicklyand some people who are high
(20:57):
achievers, they want the nextthing, the next thing, the next
thing.
We've got to pause and justtake that reflection around.
What worked, why did it workwell?
What didn't work?
What is it that I want tochange?
We do those stop, start,continue decisions around every
quarter.
What do I want to stop doing?
What do I want to start doing?
What do I want to continue todo?
So I think it doesn't reallymatter what the actual questions
(21:20):
are, as long as they're gettingyou to come back and reflect on
where did I have success, howdid I get that and is it
sustainable?
And perhaps, if I didn't hit mygoals, that reality check and
the tougher questions I knowthat that sort of came up for me
when I was reflecting back over.
You know some of my my thingsfrom last year and I'm like,
yeah, actually, if I, if I, wasmore consistent in that activity
(21:44):
, I probably would have gotdifferent results.
But until you sit down and lookat it and take that time out, I
would just move on to the nextthing, and there's a learning
there to be had that would havebeen missed had I not taken that
reflection.
Nicky (21:57):
So what I'm hearing in that it's not just about setting
a goal, it's aboutunderstanding our patterns of
behavior that have led us here,what has worked and what hasn't
worked.
And I think this is why newsresolutions probably don't work,
because people get caught up ina hype.
It's like I've got to set agoal, I'm going to have this
goal, but there's no maybemeaning behind it.
There's no connection to thewhy.
There's no reflection of what'sthe patterns of behavior and
(22:19):
action that I can take, that Ihave taken that will lead me to
success.
So it's very surface level andit doesn't have to be
complicated, like even we'veshared already on here.
You can rewind it and listen tothe questions that we've put out
, you know.
Another good question to add tothe list is what could get in
the way.
You know what do I want toachieve.
So I like to look at this asthink about it and I'm keen to
(22:40):
get your thoughts on this butmaybe 20, 30% reflection of the
past, 70% setting what do I wantfor the future?
So, whether that's the next 12months, or because we need to
look at the past to understandwhat worked, what didn't, wins,
learns, patterns of behavior,like you said, so that we can
set ourselves up for success forthe future.
Ness (23:01):
Think about it like driving a car we are looking
towards where we're going, butwe do have to occasionally check
the revision mirror.
We don't spend our whole timedriving a car.
We are looking towards wherewe're going, but we do have to
occasionally check the revisionmirror.
We don't spend our whole timedriving a car looking in a
revision mirror.
Yeah.
I love that.
Same with planning.
We don't want to spend all ourtime looking back.
We've got to look towards thevision of where we're traveling,
where we want to go, ourdestination.
(23:22):
But we also can learn a lotabout what's going on around us
from our revision.
Nicky (23:26):
So, even to continue that awesome metaphor, sometimes we
need to pump the brakes,sometimes we need to refuel the
car, sometimes we need to get aservice, sometimes we need to
put water in the windscreenwipers, sometimes we need to
accelerate to get to, you know,get through the green light, not
the orange light.
But I love that metaphorbecause it is such a good
(23:47):
reflection of actually whatwe're talking about here, even
beyond you know, checking ourmirrors and looking in the
review mirror, and so really wecould look at this as, instead
of setting news resolution or asuperficial goal that won't last
, actually how are you takingcare of the vehicle that is
delivering you to your goals,which is probably your body and
(24:07):
your business?
Ness (24:08):
Yeah, and also, where are you sitting?
Are you in the driver's seat?
Yes, in the backseat, or areyou in the boot?
Nicky (24:14):
Or are you that passenger ?
What do they call it?
Like backseat driver?
Oh yeah, the person that's notin the driver's seat, but you're
telling someone else how todrive, mate.
No, can you not do that?
Ness (24:25):
Exactly.
Nicky (24:29):
I get that a lot, which is really annoying, I don't know
what that says about my drivingskills, but it's really good.
Hopefully you're reflecting.
You're thinking where am Isitting?
Am I in the boot?
Did I lock myself in the boot?
Ness (24:40):
Denial for what's to come, absolutely.
Nicky (24:43):
Okay.
So we've got word and theme forthe year, We've got the
reconnection to the Y visionmission values.
We've got reflection andprojection.
So reflection in the back,projection to the forward.
What else?
I feel like there's anotherfourth one here, Ness, to add to
the mix.
Ness (24:56):
I would say, looking at your top three, maybe five
maximum goals, business andpersonal.
So goals are best delivered asSMART, you know which is I'm
going to forget the acronymspecific, measurable, actionable
(25:22):
, achievable, realistic andtimely.
But the reality is, you knowand we often work with clients
on this because unless you'redoing it on a regular basis, it
can be hard.
You can sort of like I want tolose weight as an example, but
yeah, what, by how much and bywhen I want more clients?
Nicky (25:38):
And also why?
Why, like that's the otherthing why that goal?
Is it that you want to loseweight, or do you want to feel
fit, good, healthy, strong?
That's right.
Do you want more clients?
Why?
For what purpose?
Sorry, had to jump in there, ofcourse.
Of course You've got toquestion that, right.
Ness (25:52):
Why, what purpose and all the other things.
So we want to make sure that wecan measure it so that,
remember, this is not a one anddone.
This is what we do everyquarter, just setting up so, but
you may have the bigger goalsort of, is what you're working
from and towards as you gothrough each of those weeks.
Nicky (26:11):
So what I really love about this is notice that we had
set your goals as the lastthing.
Now you can mix up the order ofthe first three.
You can mix up the order, likeyou know.
Probably reflection andprojection is a good one to
start Reconnecting to why vision, mission, purpose, values, and
then setting of word or theme.
Do those three first, then setyour goals, because that is
(26:34):
going to be what sets you up forsuccess.
So tell me, ness, what's a goodaction, actionable action for
our listeners and viewers totake?
Ness (26:42):
Well, I would say, if you haven't already set aside time
in your calendar to do this,that's the first action.
Already set aside time in yourcalendar to do this, that's the
first action.
You're going to want to take agood day, maybe two days out,
depending on you know how muchyou are used to doing this and
whether you're doing this kindof work on a regular basis or
not, but take time out of yourbusiness to be able to do it.
(27:03):
I think that that's the firststep.
And then, of course, once youhave that time scheduled and
you're sitting there going what?
do, I do next, you know youcould try what we do the theme,
that sort of reconnection toyour vision, missions, purpose,
values, the reflect and project,and then setting the personal
and business vision and I ohsorry top five goals, three to
(27:25):
five goals.
So they're the things you cando in the time, but unless you
have the time scheduled it's notgoing to happen.
Nicky (27:31):
And also, as you said before, we do a version, a
smaller version, of this everyquarter.
And if you do have a copy ofour book or if you want to have
some guidance on how to weactually outline the True North
framework in the book, so youcan oh, we're recording the
audio.
That's going to be out verysoon, the audio book, but you
can get that on Kindle, hardcopy, et cetera.
The other thing I'd just say Ifeel like it's remiss that, if
(27:53):
you do want to hand with any ofthis, we do VIP days where we
work with you just for one dayto get it set up.
So I'm not going to turn thisinto a big sales pitch, but if
that's something that piquesyour curiosity, just reach out
to us.
Whatever you do, please, please, please, do something.
Don't rely on a new year'sresolution.
Go deeper than that.
Set up an operating rhythm inyour business that will serve
(28:16):
you for the long term.
Have fun with it.
It will be more enjoyable andyou'll probably stick with it if
it's more enjoyable.
Ness (28:23):
Excellent.
Thanks for listening.
Bye, Thanks for listening totoday's ep.
If you loved what you heard,connect with us over on LinkedIn
and let's continue theconversation over there.
Did you hear you can now buyour book Healthy Hustle the new
blueprint to thrive in businessand life, at healthyhustlecomau.
Want us to speak to your teamor run a workshop on healthy
(28:46):
hustle in your workplace?
Send us an email or go oldschool and give us a call to
discuss.
Until next time, happylistening and here's to thriving
in business and life.
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