Transcript
Speaker: Hi and welcome.
Speaker: I'm Heather.
Speaker: And I'm Julie.
Speaker: And you're listening to Classy on Occasion.
Speaker: We're so excited to launch our very first episode.
Speaker: On today's podcast, Julie and I are going to dig into setting goals for the new year and the importance of reflection as you look ahead.
Speaker: We hope this podcast helps to elevate the start of your 2024.
Speaker: And we just thank you for starting on this journey with us.
Speaker: Happy New Year.
Speaker: What is up?
Speaker: We're doing it, Julie.
Speaker: Here we are.
Speaker: I can't believe that.
Speaker: Um, four months ago, I think we had this conversation and Heather actually pulled the trigger yesterday.
Speaker: I put the pressure on.
Speaker: I made the public announcement.
Speaker: I'm like, okay, Julie, we're on.
Speaker: There's no backing out now.
Speaker: Here we go.
Speaker: So we, we've made a lot of big steps and it's funny because we have these conversations a lot.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: First of all, I'm Julie.
Speaker: I'm Heather.
Speaker: And we are best friends of three years.
Speaker: Our anniversary is coming up.
Speaker: We had the privilege of, or I had the privilege of having a job interview with Heather almost three years ago.
Speaker: And it was the most life-changing interview I've ever had in my life.
Speaker: Well, life-changing.
Speaker: So yeah, it's been incredible.
Speaker: She's an incredible friend, mentor, wife, mother.
Speaker: And I am so fortunate that I get to hang out with her every day, even though it's virtual.
Speaker: I wish I could transport to, she's in Nashville.
Speaker: I'm in Virginia Beach.
Speaker: But we're super excited to start this journey together.
Speaker: Yeah, I think, thanks for that, Julian.
Speaker: You know, I feel the same about you, which is partly why we guys, we want you guys, we wanted to do a podcast like this.
Speaker: But she kind of just gave a little bit of my background.
Speaker: I think you should give a little bit of yours and we can talk about why we feel like we need, we wanted to do this podcast, not needed to, but wanted to.
Speaker: But yeah.
Speaker: Let me start.
Speaker: You said a little bit about me, but I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, leader, learner.
Speaker: On the way here to do this podcast, I was just thinking about, you know, that question has been asked me before, like, who are you?
Speaker: Such a big question, right?
Speaker: because we're so many things, especially women, I think.
Speaker: But definitely learned a lot.
Speaker: I have kids ranging from ages, I think, gosh, 33 now to 11, almost 12.
Speaker: I've been in the financial industry.
Speaker: I've been an entrepreneur.
Speaker: I've done workshops and now I work at
Speaker: I love kickboxing as director of operations.
Speaker: So I've been in a lot of roles in my life personally and professionally.
Speaker: Definitely had a, I can't wait to share a lot of what we've learned.
Speaker: Angela, why don't you tell a bit about yourself and what, you know, your background.
Speaker: Yeah, so again, mother, wife, friend, sister, daughter.
Speaker: And it's funny when you say those things because it's like, who am I?
Speaker: It's also like, who am I today?
Speaker: Right?
Speaker: You feel like some of those roles are much bigger every day.
Speaker: So, but yeah, very incredible opportunity to be a woman and a leader in this world.
Speaker: um, and come from a background in healthcare.
Speaker: So spent almost a decade in healthcare, what an incredible learning opportunity.
Speaker: Um, and then was able to go into management and then, uh, found, found Heather and I love kickboxing, uh, again, three years ago.
Speaker: So yeah, just many, many different roles.
Speaker: Um, right now, mom feels like a really big, big role and, and, um,
Speaker: An entrepreneur.
Speaker: Also, one of my favorite, I hate to say it as a job, right?
Speaker: Because I love it so much, but I do photography and squishy little babies.
Speaker: Like tiny little babies, they have my heart.
Speaker: So yeah, lots of different hats that we wear as women.
Speaker: And Heather and I also have just lived a lot of life.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: you know, even though we've, our lives have only crossed paths in the last three years, we've connected on so many different levels.
Speaker: So we're excited to dive into a lot of that with you guys.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I'm holding myself back.
Speaker: There's so much I want to jump into.
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: I want to just make sure we stay focused on one thing.
Speaker: So really part of the reason I want to do this podcast, Julie, you can share it for you.
Speaker: But like Julie said, a lot of times we're
Speaker: you know, either over a glass of wine or in a hot tub in Mexico, we've just had some really, really deep and honest and vulnerable and great, great conversations that have been very powerful and impactful.
Speaker: And, you know, I've learned through my years and talking to Julie, just came to realization again, that we all go through different things in our lives.
Speaker: but the feelings that they invoke in us and how we deal with that are really very, very, very similar, right?
Speaker: Whether it's, you know, excitement or isolation or fear or sadness or loneliness or joy.
Speaker: I mean, we can, circumstance might be different, but the way we feel or how we handle it, really there's so much crossover there.
Speaker: There's so much similarities there.
Speaker: So that's, I really wanted to just have a platform where we could share.
Speaker: I just left a workshop
Speaker: with a bunch of women as well.
Speaker: And I was reminded again of when you surround yourself and put yourself in a place with people that lift you up, oftentimes unspoken, like it's not someone purposely trying to lift me up or you up, but the things that they're doing or saying or what you're observing makes you want to be better.
Speaker: And that's an intentional action to put yourself in those positions and around those people.
Speaker: And Julie, you certainly do that for me.
Speaker: And I knew that the first time I talked to him on the phone, I'm like, I've got to be in this person's life and I'm going to make it happen one way or the other.
Speaker: But being in this room this morning reminded me of that same thing.
Speaker: And I'm hoping this is a place, a platform that we can really just have conversations and invoke other people, inspire other people to always want to be better and take action to be better and lift each other up and encourage each other in a world that can often be very
Speaker: angry and hateful and scary.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: And you never know what your story, I mean, I heard an uplifting song this morning and it was, it was one lyric.
Speaker: It was like, try a little harder, do a little more, something along those lines.
Speaker: I don't remember exactly, but it was like something so small, your story, your motivation today could
Speaker: Change someone's day.
Speaker: Change their lives.
Speaker: Okay, I'm going to get up and I'm going to go to the gym today.
Speaker: Okay, I'm going to get up.
Speaker: You know what?
Speaker: I'm going to make that phone call.
Speaker: I'm going to call that friend.
Speaker: So being able to share our stories and our journeys and laugh and, you know, again, we're classy on occasion, so we may be a little inappropriate sometimes.
Speaker: We are fun.
Speaker: But being able to share those stories and really lift other people up and potentially help them, you know, encourage them to change their own lives.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And through that, I know that people will change ours too.
Speaker: That's the beauty of that is connection.
Speaker: So today I think we're going to try and talk about and stay focused on and not get off into the weeds or squirrel, as we call it, squirrel, about New Year's resolutions or goals or New Year.
Speaker: And before we dive into it, because this is such a, people sit on one side of the fence or the other with New Year's goals, New Year's resolutions.
Speaker: Tell me where you sit.
Speaker: I, it's such a fresh, it's such a fresh start every year.
Speaker: I don't know what it is.
Speaker: I'm like, are they pumping something in the air?
Speaker: Is it something in our, like, I just, I run with it.
Speaker: I let it just kind of come into my pores and I'm like, all right, we're eating well, we're going to the gym.
Speaker: We're, you know, I do like the saying new year better me.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Cause I'm cool.
Speaker: I like myself.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I feel like I'm meeting a lot of my goals.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Am I meeting them to the full potential?
Speaker: Is there more I could do?
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So yes, New Year, give me all the resolutions.
Speaker: I love it.
Speaker: What do you think about it?
Speaker: Well, I kind of straddle it because some people are like, that's ridiculous.
Speaker: Why New Year's resolutions?
Speaker: Why don't you just make resolutions or goals throughout the year, which I think both you and I do that as well.
Speaker: But there is something about having a place where you can intentionally reflect and
Speaker: which I think is what's very powerful.
Speaker: I'm working on a workshop that I'm going to be doing in February.
Speaker: And we added that component into it because I really feel like you have to reflect on whether it's the past year, the past quarter, the past month, your life.
Speaker: You have to reflect and really be honest with yourself.
Speaker: That's the hard part, being super honest.
Speaker: Sometimes you need to ask, invite other people into that conversation to give you some feedback.
Speaker: Because we all have blind spots, right?
Speaker: Based on how we were raised, our upbringing, surroundings, circumstances.
Speaker: But I think really reflecting honestly in a vulnerable way to say, first of all, with gratitude, what did I do?
Speaker: What am I proud of from the past year or my life?
Speaker: What am I really grateful for?
Speaker: What have I done well?
Speaker: How did I grow?
Speaker: And then identifying the places where I didn't or where I fell short.
Speaker: First of all, were they the right goals to begin with?
Speaker: But then also, if they were, what really stood in the way of me achieving those?
Speaker: And oftentimes, it's things that we had control over.
Speaker: Sometimes it's not.
Speaker: Sometimes it's not.
Speaker: Sometimes things are thrown into our life that we absolutely, health issues, job layoffs, whatever, that we can't, you with your sick children, there's some things we just can't control.
Speaker: But oftentimes, if we really look back and do a hardcore evaluation on the past year, there are things that we could do differently.
Speaker: And I think it's important to reflect on that.
Speaker: be proud of ourselves, but then be honest with ourselves in order to be better this next year.
Speaker: I'm all about, I always want to be better and grow.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: New year, better me every year.
Speaker: And it's like my favorite thing to do is give compliment sandwiches, right?
Speaker: So I want to give myself a compliment sandwich.
Speaker: What was I great at last year?
Speaker: What was I not so great at?
Speaker: And then what can I be great at this year?
Speaker: What can I really
Speaker: do that set slash year apart too, right?
Speaker: Is it just one thing?
Speaker: Is it five things?
Speaker: And then compartmentalizing all of those, right?
Speaker: How does the financial decisions that I make this year, how is that going to grow my marriage?
Speaker: How is that going to, you know, allow me a little bit more freedom with my children or not stress when they're sick every other month because they're in school?
Speaker: Any moms with young kids?
Speaker: You feel me?
Speaker: So yeah, it's super important.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So reflection first, I think that's something we all need to do.
Speaker: And then determining, okay, what do we want to build on this next year?
Speaker: Where do we have some momentum that we can continue to build on?
Speaker: Is there something completely off the radar?
Speaker: It's never been on there before that we want to work towards or accomplish.
Speaker: But I think next is determining what goals we want for the next year.
Speaker: And then this morning while I was in the shower, I was thinking about, you can't just set a goal.
Speaker: You have to then have
Speaker: many goals or actions underneath those goals that set behaviors, create behaviors that will work towards positive momentum to get the results you want.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So a very easy one just to make it simple for us to understand.
Speaker: Then you can apply it to any other part of your, any other goal you have.
Speaker: But like, let's say you want to lose 10 pounds, which is obviously a very common lose weight for a new year.
Speaker: Lose weight is very, very vague.
Speaker: even losing 10 pounds still isn't sufficient.
Speaker: You can say that that's great, but if I don't then set the goals to achieve that and have the right measuring resources and tools to measure that progress, I'm setting myself up for failure, right?
Speaker: And then how long do you want to have that 10 pounds off of you?
Speaker: That should be a life change, right?
Speaker: So the whole SMART goal thing, we could do a whole podcast on SMART goals, but you really want to...
Speaker: to develop habits that are the right behaviors to help you achieve the goals you want, which you can then sustain for a lifetime.
Speaker: Right?
Speaker: So that is whether it's finding the workout that you want.
Speaker: So maybe my goal for this week is I'm going to try one.
Speaker: That's a goal for me.
Speaker: I'm saying it out loud on a podcast.
Speaker: I want next week or actually the week after, cause I'm out of town next week.
Speaker: I want to try another gym that I enjoy so I can continue to build on my health and my fitness and my, and my wellness.
Speaker: So that's what, you know, instead of just saying I want to lose weight or I want to be healthier, my mini goal is I'm going to try something new next week.
Speaker: In January, I'm going to try a new place.
Speaker: We have to do that, right?
Speaker: No matter what the goal is, we have to have those mini goals to create the right behaviors and actions to get the results we want.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And then share those goals with somebody, right?
Speaker: Who's going to hold you accountable?
Speaker: Writing them down first.
Speaker: 33% more likelihood, I think it is, of achieving them if you write them down.
Speaker: And then saying them and sharing them out loud.
Speaker: Wow.
Speaker: Wow.
Speaker: I need to write them in my notes on my phone and then share them with my husband and you and some girlfriends and be like, this is what my goal is.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And like, you know, if that's a goal of yours, is there somebody that's going to come with you?
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Can you take it even a step further where you have somebody truly waiting for you to show up at the door?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So that's so do you have you created or set any goals for yourself?
Speaker: I have.
Speaker: We've kind of started.
Speaker: So the biggest thing was our goal was to come up with a word of the year, right?
Speaker: What's our kind of, I feel like that's your, your top goal too.
Speaker: Once you set that word for our family, once you set that word, there's again, there's so many things.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: How are we going to achieve that word?
Speaker: That's our focus.
Speaker: So our focus is balance.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: we're busy.
Speaker: I'm a busy person too.
Speaker: Like I like being busy.
Speaker: I, my therapist might tell me that that's a, uh, kind of flight response to, uh, but I, I enjoy being busy.
Speaker: Um, I enjoy taking care of my family.
Speaker: And, um, so balance is our goal.
Speaker: Uh, so how are we going to achieve that?
Speaker: What can we outsource at home?
Speaker: Is it balance with working out?
Speaker: Like sometimes I do feel like I'm like, I could live at the gym six days a week.
Speaker: Is there maybe one day that, Hey, your plate is a little full.
Speaker: So maybe do a 15 minute workout at home.
Speaker: You don't have a full hour today.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Um, balance and eating.
Speaker: I mean, just overall balance.
Speaker: So how are we going to eat better?
Speaker: Well, we're doing whole 30 ish.
Speaker: I say ish because I like cheese.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: With my wine.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Dry January.
Speaker: Like that's how we're having balance.
Speaker: But how are we going to – how is that going to live throughout the year, that balance?
Speaker: Sustainable, yeah.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Not drinking during the week, only on the weekends.
Speaker: Whole 30-ish.
Speaker: Being very intentional about putting as much clean, grown from the ground or, you know, animal ingredients as we can on our table.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: For us.
Speaker: And that's balance for our kids.
Speaker: I mean, I have two young girls.
Speaker: And the baby can now reach the snack cabinet in the pantry.
Speaker: And so if there are gummies in there for the older one, she's going to eat 15 bags of gummies a day, right?
Speaker: So I've got to be so intentional about making sure not only the balance of food that I'm eating, that my children are also having that balance in their life.
Speaker: So I think focusing on those, I guess, from the balance, our core things are really healthy living.
Speaker: Our...
Speaker: So our fitness and then our diet is really a big focus for us this year.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: You said dry January and I wasn't, I didn't want to commit to dry January and I'm okay with that.
Speaker: So I'm doing damp.
Speaker: So then I was damp January and then I went into, well, maybe I just want to be like sprinkle moist.
Speaker: I hate that word moist.
Speaker: That is a wrap on the podcast.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That word noise just brought up so many triggers.
Speaker: A sprinkle.
Speaker: Oh, gosh.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Well, February, though, that's a hard thing, though.
Speaker: Like, finding that balance is – so we've done dry January in the past, and then we catapult into – my husband and I both have birthdays in the beginning of February.
Speaker: And, man, sometimes we go into, you know, hailstorm February after dry January.
Speaker: It's like,
Speaker: Tone it down.
Speaker: I know it's been 31 days, but so yeah, finding that balance throughout the year and just knowing that we can do, we can do hard things.
Speaker: Not that that's like a hard thing, but you know, we're social drinkers and I enjoy a glass of wine.
Speaker: So we can do those hard things to say, this is a balance that I need in my life because I also know that those other goals that I have, right?
Speaker: Have a incredible podcast with my best friend.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Creating opportunities for people that hopefully want to follow us.
Speaker: Having that balance and knowing that a little bit of things are pleasurable for us, right?
Speaker: Eating, going out to eat.
Speaker: Take me to an Italian restaurant every night.
Speaker: I will eat out and I'll eat like weakness.
Speaker: But I know that I should have pasta every night.
Speaker: So finding that balance to know that those other goals that I have are also going to be able to have clear focus from me.
Speaker: Yeah, I love that.
Speaker: I love you kind of touched on this, but really establishing the why behind your goals.
Speaker: We do that with our, we coach our owners and our managers and our business every day is like really establishing why, why do I,
Speaker: you know, want to have balance?
Speaker: Why do I want to lose weight?
Speaker: Why do I wait really trying to get down to that feeling that you're really trying to gain?
Speaker: That's going to also help you stick to those behaviors that are going to help you get the results for your goals.
Speaker: So I would challenge anyone listening to, as they write down their goals for this next year is really identifying the why and the feeling that they're looking for and making those goals attainable.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So we can build on them, but you don't want to do something that set yourself up for failure because then you're going to beat yourself up and it's vicious, vicious circle.
Speaker: So I would drop out sooner than you'll beat yourself up.
Speaker: And then, and then you've completely lost track.
Speaker: It's about creating momentum to live the life you want.
Speaker: And so I think, and it's okay to have to reevaluate your goals.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And if you're going to reset them or take one off or add one on really identifying why, and don't let that be something you're going to beat yourself up about.
Speaker: We're great at that as women is to beat ourselves up.
Speaker: Like I'm just going to fail again, or I just sucked at that, but maybe it wasn't the right goal to begin with.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And we're learning and growing all the time.
Speaker: And make sure, again, you are checking in with yourself what that goal looks like.
Speaker: You know, a weight loss goal might be a weekly check-in.
Speaker: A financial goal might be a weekly or a monthly check-in.
Speaker: So make sure you are setting a timeline for yourself too to say, hey, it's the first of the month.
Speaker: I'm going over my finances.
Speaker: I'm not reaching my goal now.
Speaker: So how am I going to make up for it the next four months?
Speaker: I'm not reaching my weight loss goal.
Speaker: What do I need to change?
Speaker: Instead of giving up, remember that you can always start over.
Speaker: It's not...
Speaker: Or just pick up where you left off.
Speaker: You don't even have to think about it as starting over because sometimes that can be intimidating.
Speaker: It's like, well, I failed or I didn't do as well as I thought I was going to do.
Speaker: So just have that check-in so that you're also not like six months down the road and like, oh, shit, I did not lose the 10 pounds that I was hoping to lose by my cousin's summer wedding.
Speaker: Well, when did you last check in with yourself?
Speaker: When did you really sit down and say, what am I doing to meet this goal?
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: So have check-ins with yourself and then have that person who's going to keep you accountable and say, hey, where are you on that new fitness concept that you wanted to try next week?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You have to set yourself up for success.
Speaker: And so you have to ask yourself, what do I need to do?
Speaker: Who do I need in my life?
Speaker: What resources do I need?
Speaker: What places do I need in order to accomplish my goals and be successful?
Speaker: And that might be you need to be a gem.
Speaker: You need to be at a gem versus working out at home.
Speaker: I work out at home.
Speaker: I'm terrible at that.
Speaker: So I know I have to be part of a gem.
Speaker: So that's an example of setting yourself up for success.
Speaker: I know that I need accountability.
Speaker: I will let myself down.
Speaker: But if I know somebody's counting on me or I have to report into a group or a person, likelihood of me fulfilling what I promised will happen nine times out of 10.
Speaker: Then if it's just me, you know what I mean?
Speaker: So that's the importance of having a group, being in a, having a business coach, you know, even a therapist, whatever that is, you know, one of us being on this podcast, whatever that is, I think it's identifying what,
Speaker: do you need to do to set yourself up for success?
Speaker: Who do you need in your life?
Speaker: And again, that goes to looking back at the previous year in review.
Speaker: Who didn't help you grow last year, right?
Speaker: We have seasons of friends and maybe even some family that you're not as close with anymore and they're not... Or you shouldn't be.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: It's just you can still love people and they just...
Speaker: Don't serve the same purpose for each of you, right?
Speaker: It's not being selfish.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: But you need to have people around you that are going to hold you accountable, but also support those goals, you know, challenge you when you're screwing up.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: That's part of doing an audit.
Speaker: I heard on a podcast this morning, what do you need to start doing to hit your goals in this next year?
Speaker: And what do you need to stop doing?
Speaker: And part of that is really evaluating who's in your life.
Speaker: What behaviors are you doing now?
Speaker: What do you need to stop doing in order to have the life that you want?
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: It's a hard question sometimes and you have to make hard decisions, especially if it comes to really limiting exposure to certain people, friends, family, places.
Speaker: Those are sometimes hard things to do, but boy, can your life be better for it.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I can catapult you.
Speaker: Awesome.
Speaker: We touched on a lot of things that we're going to have future podcasts on.
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: Friends in your life, people in your life.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I can't wait to do our next podcast.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: So let's wrap up with, I don't know, what's your word of 2024?
Speaker: It's weird to say 2024.
Speaker: It is.
Speaker: I still am struggling with that.
Speaker: I don't know that I have a word yet.
Speaker: I need to think about that.
Speaker: I mean, I know, listen, 2023, I really started to see in the latter part of the year, I really started to take action to make some changes in my life, personally and professionally, putting myself back out there, doing some things that were uncomfortable,
Speaker: getting back around people, women especially, that are successful entrepreneurs and strong women that I can already feel a difference in my energy and my motivation.
Speaker: I feel inspired again.
Speaker: So I want to continue to build on that this next year.
Speaker: Doing this podcast is a huge goal.
Speaker: And I really have a passion just for making a difference in people's lives and empowering people, especially women,
Speaker: to believe that they deserve it, believe that they deserve to live the life that they want.
Speaker: I'm about to get emotional because I just like so many, and it's gotten worse, I think over the years, but so many women, including me at one point and some days still today, but just don't think we're worthy of it.
Speaker: Don't, you know, are afraid to dream big.
Speaker: And I just feel like we all, we deserve, we have something to give.
Speaker: We all have something to give.
Speaker: And I'm excited just to do this with you and to be back in front of people and make a difference.
Speaker: Because when I do that, when I serve,
Speaker: I'm fed and I'm excited to do that in 2024.
Speaker: What about you?
Speaker: Again, just going back to balance, but really having this podcast to be vulnerable with you and again,
Speaker: the stories and the lives that we've lived.
Speaker: And I say lives, not me and you.
Speaker: I say the lives that we've lived individually, being able to connect with other women, right?
Speaker: Like sometimes we see our world as being such a small space.
Speaker: You may have a lot of actual connections, but are they deep?
Speaker: Are they people who are, you know, maybe going to cry on a video with you?
Speaker: So just being able to
Speaker: connect with people in that way on that deeper level and meeting people who have lived some of the lives that we've lived and had the experiences that we've lived and laugh about them and grow from them.
Speaker: So yeah, I'm really excited.
Speaker: Yeah, me too.
Speaker: I look forward to the next one.
Speaker: Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker: If you enjoyed your time with us, and maybe even if you didn't, be sure to follow us on our social pages, Classy on Occasion.
Speaker: And leave us a review on our podcast platforms.
Speaker: We'll see you next time.
