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Happy New Year! - Our take on New Year's Resolutions, mini interview with a special (Marathon Completing) guest, OUR resolutions, and the carnivore diet?
73 Plays1 year ago
Hey friends and Happy New Year! We are PSYCHED to be here with you today, and to jump back into our regular content after a much needed holiday! We wanted to cut right to the chase and talk all about New Year's Resolutions. Do you love them? Do you hate them? Do you even make them, and then do you keep them? Whatever your take is, we break down what we think is the best way to make your resolutions a success, for both business and life. As a special surprise, we also welcome Beth's husband Chad back on the pod to talk about his recent success in completing a marathon, and how the same principles he applied to his marathon can apply when setting goals for a new year. Then, we talk about OUR goals for 2024, ranging all the way from goals in our business, to fitness, and more. It's a jam-packed episode that we hope starts your New Year off on the right foot!
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Transcript
Setting and Achieving Resolutions
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy new year, everyone. Wow. I honestly never thought 2024 would be here so fast. Do you guys feel like the year flew by? Well, whether or not you feel ready for 2024, it is here. And this episode is going to be all about setting ambitious yet attainable resolutions and goals for your year in both your business and personal life. So stay tuned.
00:00:21
Speaker
Welcome to the Art of Intention podcast with Beth and Ayla. Two best friends turn creative entrepreneurs. This is a place for us to discuss everything business friendships and faith and occasionally more. We're so excited for today's episode. We think you're going to love it. Stay tuned.
New Filing Requirements for LLCs
00:00:41
Speaker
All right, so first up is a quick little community news segment. So there was a new government organization that was created in the United States just about a month or so ago. It is the Federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
00:00:56
Speaker
Love the sound of that, right? Yep. Well, the truth is if you are an LLC starting January 1st of 2024, the US government is going to be imposing a $500 fee per day every day that you're late and you don't file in time with this new government network.
00:01:14
Speaker
so basically yeah so obviously i am not super well versed in this it's new we're still figuring it out but essentially if you're an LLC you're going to be getting a letter from the government from this division from this branch and it's going to be telling you what to file and how to file and we need to file by within 90 days of getting that letter if you have not done what it says
00:01:36
Speaker
starting 90 days, you're going to be charged $500 per day up to $10,000 or two years in prison if you do not do that. So obviously super scary, not fun. We're here with you. We are just as nervous as you are hearing this right now if it's your first time, but don't worry. Honestly, we have no choice about this, you guys, just when the letter comes, just file, you know, fill it out. I think it's just basically you registering with them. They just want to know you exist. Probably very similar for
00:02:05
Speaker
when you had to register for an LLC in the first place, like just general information. I'm guessing it's just general information about your business that you just have to submit now to this new group. Exactly. I believe so. And I don't believe they're going to have you paying anything else. It's just the $500 is going to be if you don't pay. So just get on that. We don't want to be stuck in something like that, but yeah.
00:02:28
Speaker
Yeah. We'll try to share if more resources come along between when we're recording this and when this actually goes into place. We'll do our best to keep our socials updated with that for you guys. When I get the letter myself, assuming I get it soon, if I get it, I will then, when we hop back on for another episode or on social media, I'll share what it says and what it's like if I have anything helpful to share.
Reflecting on Past Resolutions
00:02:51
Speaker
All right, everyone. Welcome back to the Art of Intention. I hope you all had an amazing Christmas if you celebrated it. Hope you just had rest, time with family, all the good things. Beth and I were able to take a massive break from podcasting and business. It was great. And we were just back and more ready than ever to just jump back into another year with you guys. So today is all about New Year's resolutions and goals for 2024.
00:03:16
Speaker
We're going to walk you through some common pitfalls that people can make when setting new resolutions, how to avoid them and set goals that are actually achievable. And we'll also go into some of our own business and personal goals for this year. Also, as a special appearance today, this is going to be like a semi guest episode because later on in the episode we are featuring the return
00:03:39
Speaker
If you listen to the podcast back in the og days you had as a guest before but we're returning that has been chad to the podcast he just accomplished something amazing in his own life and we think it can tie in really well as we talk about achievements goals.
00:03:55
Speaker
resolutions, things like that. So we're going to share a little bit more about what this episode's about and what we want it to be. And then we're going to be welcoming Chad onto the podcast to kind of share something he's been up to recently that ties all in. So definitely stay tuned for that we have coming up. First, let's just talk a little bit about resolutions. Beth, what do you think about New Year's resolutions?
00:04:18
Speaker
Great question, actually, because I used to not be a fan. Fun little quick fact as we hop into this episode. Before I was a business owner, I actually kind of thought they were dumb. It was a little bit dumb. I had the mindset that if you wanted to change something about yourself, you would just do it. You didn't need to wait until New Year's to turn into a resolution. And that combined was seeing the pattern of most people failing to complete them. Like 91% of people fail to stick to their resolutions and 43% of them don't even stick to them to the end of January. Like that means only 9% you guys.
00:04:47
Speaker
9% of people complete and follow through on their resolutions. So I really looked down on doing it and I didn't even try it. Like I just never, it was just not even something that passed my mind until someone mentioned it. But what changed was actually owning a business. As we have talked about many times before on the show, as a business owner, you naturally, or at least you should do some kind of assessment review of your business at the end of the year. And you implement some changes at the beginning of the year, you know, all that good stuff.
00:05:14
Speaker
So, you know, we set up earning goals, saving goals, plan for purchasing new equipment, you know, all that stuff. So once I started doing that, and of course seeing those things through to the end because it was my business and then of course seeing fantastic results, I saw new years and honestly a whole new light. Um, if we can approach resolutions as more of goal setting and planning and strategizing for our year, rather than just a hope, you know, just a little resolution, I hope I do this. I think we're a lot more likely to succeed, but you know, more on that later.
00:05:44
Speaker
Anyways, I love that. No, you, you summed that up like perfectly so far. And I can definitely understand that I have 100% been there where I set a goal or resolution and I don't even make it a week. I feel like especially in high school, I was trying maybe to get into like fitness and literally I, a lot of girls our age might relate, but literally I would start the new year with like, I'm going to have a six pack. And then I'd go on to like Pinterest for like six pack workouts and
00:06:11
Speaker
Yeah, not even make it a week, like not even a week. And some of that was like, yeah, I do crunches for a week and be like, where's my six pack? And then I'd quit. So, and I know I can get so discouraged by not following through on stuff so easily. And I think you're totally right that business changed a lot of that.
00:06:30
Speaker
But yeah, jumping back to what you said first off about, yeah, I think obviously people should be aware that you shouldn't just take one day out of the year, one month out of the year to decide if you want to change. I think it is good to always, especially with business, be growing and changing throughout the year.
00:06:45
Speaker
And I have made big changes in my life in like the middle of the year before. So of course I think that is the common consensus to be willing to do that. However, last year going into 2023, Chris and I did have a big talk about our dreams for the upcoming year. And I say dreams very specifically because
00:07:03
Speaker
We just talked about life and what we actually hoped to achieve and actually get out of life. And it just kind of so happened we had this conversation in the new year. 2022 was a really hard year for me for a lot of reasons. And so I was out of the gym. I felt disconnected from Chris because of a hard job that I was working. I'm a big comfort eater, so I just was not
00:07:25
Speaker
paying attention to what I was eating, what I was drinking, or actually I was paying attention to it. I just didn't care. I knew I was in a bit of a rut. I was like, I'll fix this eventually. It just so happened that things got better when the new year rolled around. We did talk and say, okay, let's make this year a better one. It was that roughly around New Year's, we just went on a walk and talked about our dreams and what we wanted to improve.
00:07:49
Speaker
i decided trying to do my business full time we decided to get more serious about our health and to get back into the gym and you know what it's stuck we did way better this year and part of it what actually started was me going full time in my business working from home i was much more stagnant
00:08:05
Speaker
because most jobs I've had have kept me moving. So even if I'm not in the gym, I've been moving at least a little bit throughout the day, but suddenly having a desk job at home, I was like painfully aware that I wasn't like using my body throughout the day. And that was like, all right, if I'm doing editing full-time from home, I have to get into the gym Monday to Friday. Like no excuses because it sounds dark, but I was just kind of like aware of the deterioration of my body, like a sitting because I'm a very active person. So yeah.
00:08:35
Speaker
That was a good reason. And like I said, we generally stuck to it. Now I'll be honest, it was about March before our changes took place when we really like got a good schedule with our eating and fitness. And we kind of tried a bunch of things before that. Chris and I have tried over and over to like lock down on our eating and it always changes. We love food. I love food. I love going out for food. I like, you know, all of that stuff. So it's hard sometimes, but it was about March before we found a good, a good system and then we kept it. So.
00:09:04
Speaker
our dreams took time to like find a good system for and that's okay. Uh, but it's been my best year overall of health fitness, health fitness and business. So overall it's easy for people to refuse to make new year's resolutions because they are in the mindset. You can grow and change any time. But I also think there's something really powerful mentally that comes along with the new slate of a new year. And you're right, Beth, naturally you are looking at your business anyway. And if you own your own business, that is going to,
00:09:34
Speaker
change your life too. So there is power that comes behind a new year, I think. So that was on the more personal side of things for me when it comes to the new year, but I think it's just a great time overall to step back and make any changes to your business because also this actual time of year is slower for most people. So you just have the time to do that as well.
00:09:54
Speaker
Um, this is a quick side note, but I actually always pray and ask God for a word for my new year. Um, not quite a Bible verse while that is a good idea too, but I just think of like, I try to ask for like a word or saying that can just be in my mind throughout the year. And so last year it was, um, content in all seasons.
00:10:13
Speaker
So that's just something to keep in my mind. And usually it's something I need to be working on. Usually whatever the word is, it's like something that I want to improve. So I haven't asked about this year yet, so I'll find that one out. But that is something I kind of do to figure out where my headspace should be.
00:10:31
Speaker
Because I think 2021 was a lot of hoping for what's next and planning for what's next. And we're like, what's next, what's next? And God was really like, hey, slow down, be present, be content in all seasons. So we'll find out what to work on next year whenever I talk to him about that.
00:10:50
Speaker
Yeah. Oh my gosh. I absolutely love that. I actually think that that's something that I think you have mentioned that to me before that you do that at the beginning of the year. That's really inspiring and I love that. I want to do better about doing that as well. So great.
Avoiding Common Resolution Pitfalls
00:11:05
Speaker
Okay, so moving on to, we're going to talk about before we really get into some more of this, we want to talk about the common pitfalls of resolutions. We think that's really important. One of the reasons that Ayla and I feel like our resolutions have started working really well is because we know what makes them not work. So we're just going to go through a list of the common reasons they fail. So this isn't talked about a lot, but starting out with number one, making resolutions you don't really want. Totally.
00:11:34
Speaker
Like just making it for the sake of making resolution. You're going around in a group and you have to say something so you say it and there you go. That's your resolution. Or you feel like you have to make one so you just make whatever comes to your head. This is why business resolutions worked so great for me. I really had a lot of drive for my business to succeed. So if I made a goal for it, it was something that I really, really had my heart set on.
00:11:58
Speaker
Um, if you just make resolutions just to make them, you're going to have a hard time with motivation. And we're going to talk a lot more about this. So Ayla, why don't you go ahead and move into the next one? Because I think it's all just going to start tying together anyways. Yeah, totally. And that's such a real one too. Like making ones you don't really want. I feel like fitness is the number one. People are always like, I'll go to the gym.
00:12:18
Speaker
And you don't have to make that resolution if you don't want to. You actually don't because then you're not setting yourself up. If you want to and that's serious in your life, then definitely take the steps. But if you feel like you should because everybody else is, it's a pretty good guarantee you might go to the gym one time and then never again. And you're not bad or wrong for doing that. It just means that that wasn't actually your goal for this year. So that's number one. The next one
00:12:41
Speaker
That, like Beth said, really goes along with that is trying to make too many resolutions. And this can definitely come with making ones that you don't actually want is making too many. Another one of the biggest pitfalls of resolutions is setting too many. And if you have a list of 10 things that you want to change about yourself, I can promise you, you're probably making it too hard on yourself and you're less likely to complete all of them.
00:13:03
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Such a good point. Okay, next one is when your resolutions or resolution is too general. This is one of the most common pitfalls that happen to people. So like, for example, eat healthier, or like you said, Ayla, go to the gym more. We're goal oriented as humans.
00:13:21
Speaker
And when the end goal is a gray area, how are we gonna have a hard time deciphering when we are succeeding or failing? And our brains, they just don't like that. It leads to giving up. With the example of eating healthy, think of it this way. What is healthy eating? Some people think of it as having a little bit of every food category every day. Some people think it's going all organic. Others think it means you cut out all wheat, sugar, and dairy, non-GMO, you know, stuff like that, pre-packaged foods.
00:13:47
Speaker
If you're suddenly feeling like now you have to dive into hundreds of hours of unexpected research just to determine what healthy is before you even start, you're going to be less likely to follow through on your resolution. As sad as that is, that's just a reality. Yeah, absolutely. And I think I'll talk more about that one specifically with resolutions coming up here. But anyway, along with those, just remember, every single human is very highly motivated by small successes. It's why we like our checklists are
00:14:15
Speaker
Maybe you're not like that, but I think generally, most people, we like our checklists. Every time you check a task off your to-do list, that's a small success that motivates you to do the next one. So if we don't set achievable goals and have plans to complete them, we're going to have more mini failures than many successes, and that will totally kill our motivation.
00:14:33
Speaker
Wow, exactly. That's so absolutely right, Ayla. And that actually leads us right into talking about how we can set up achievable goals and resolutions. So you want to make sure that you have a plan that ensures you will have more mini successes than chances for mini failures.
00:14:51
Speaker
So that's really gonna be my first tip is create a specific plan that goes with your resolution. This is also why we kind of talk about not overwhelming yourself with too many resolutions because if you really want them to stick, you can't do this for 10 resolutions usually. I mean a few, yeah, but like, you know, the less the better. So create a plan that goes with the resolution. Be specific, use a calendar, set dates, set times, write down specific numbers. Don't leave gray areas that future you has to take care of.
00:15:21
Speaker
Yes, that's perfect. Maybe you can tell, but like we said, are you pick one main resolution and make it a good one? Maybe one to three, if you absolutely are like brimming with inspiration, but one to three. And I'll say right now, like I said last year, how Chris and I set some dreams that we actually stuck to. It was because there was a few big changes that we knew we wanted to make.
00:15:45
Speaker
They centered around, yeah, our health, our fitness and our finances. And it wasn't like, oh, we got to be better about this. It was like, we were annoyed at being annoyed at our finances. Um, not like we were in a bad place, but we were just like, you get annoyed worrying about money. So we were like, okay, you know what this year? And it's not just like, let's be better about money because like we could say, let's be better about money. And then Chris can say, Hey, do you want to go get chicken nuggets? And I'll be like, yep, for sure. But it's actually, we set, we set little goals. Like we only eat out on Friday night.
00:16:15
Speaker
And we actually make ourselves eat out Friday night, because we know that's our treat, that's our Friday night. And it's little things like that. Because then the answer on Wednesday, hey, do you want to go get some food? Well, no, it's not Friday night. And I'm not saying we've been fully perfect on that every single week. We're still people. But generally, that was a goal that we could hit. We only get pizza on Friday nights. We only go go out Friday nights. We stopped drinking throughout the week, too. Not like it was a lot.
00:16:45
Speaker
We can get a six pack and we can eat out on Friday night because that helped control our finances and our health. It all came out in one rule that helped a lot. We go to the gym a minimum of three times a week. We set numbers. Again, life's life. I'm not saying that happened every week, but we did actually really well, probably 90% of this year.
00:17:06
Speaker
on that because we actually gave ourselves numbers. It wasn't just like try harder at the gym. It was minimum three times a week. If you hit three, then there's room, there's wiggle room for the rest of the week because we hit our minimum goal. So pick one. And yeah, those were like our main ones. So pick one.
00:17:21
Speaker
maybe to three and make it a good one. Make sure it's one you really want and that you're sure you're going to center your life around. Ask yourself if it wasn't New Year's, is this something I would pursue anyway for Chris and I? Absolutely. There were changes we needed to make happen to be around that time and know your why behind a resolution.
00:17:39
Speaker
Exactly. That's literally exactly what we're talking about. Well, what I was saying, that was the perfect example. I love that. Um, and then I think that something that can help too is working backwards from your end goal. So if you want to get more in shape and a lie, but you can kind of give some good insight to this. Like if you want to, you know, if you have a fitness goal or if you have like a certain amount of money you want to make by the end of the year,
00:18:00
Speaker
Start with that end goal and work your way backwards to see how much you'll have to do each month and then constantly how much each day to make that happen. Success happens through small daily marathons. Like what don't people say like success is a marathon, not a sprint.
00:18:15
Speaker
Yes. Oh my gosh. Yes. I love that. And I love that too of like, okay, what's your end goal? And of course, why? So I know we keep coming back to fitness because that's a big one, but say you, you want to lose, you know, 20 pounds by the end of the year. First off, why, why do you want to do that? Sometimes it's a very serious choice you might actually need to make for yourself. And that's a good thing. But again, it did your, did your cousin Mary lose 20 pounds and you're jealous of her for doing that and you feel like you have to, but maybe that's not good for your body to actually do that. So first off,
00:18:45
Speaker
decide your why, decide if that's a good achievable goal. If so, okay, well, how can I start? Probably starts with diet, fitness, but what does that look like for me? Fitness also, oh my gosh, you're right, Beth, I really could go off on this one. I think we do have plans to talk about this more because it's become so important to me, but fitness, what does that mean to go to the gym? What are you going to go there and do? Does that mean you're going to go there and run? Does that mean you're going to go there and do weights? Does that mean
00:19:13
Speaker
You're going to get more into like stretching Pilates. What does that look like for you? Because it's going to look different on every single person. I am not a cardio person. I probably should be because it is good for your heart, but like running anything
Planning for Success
00:19:25
Speaker
that feels hard. I do not want to do it, but I learned that I really liked going and doing weights, which I never would have guessed about myself. So it takes some trial and error and some learning about yourself with everything. Do you want to make more money?
00:19:37
Speaker
in your business by the end of the year. Do you want to make, you know, I want to make 10K more than I made last year. Okay. Well, what did I do? Well, this year that really started boosting my numbers. How can I either do more of that or do something similar? Should I start more streams of income? That making more is going to look different for each business. So it might be, it might be a couple of months into the year before you realize what that looks like for you. And that's okay. But where it's the starting point and what's the steps, what are the little marathons that Beth said?
00:20:05
Speaker
All right, and now we're gonna welcome Chad onto the podcast. We're super excited to talk to him about the marathon that he just ran. So Chad just completed a marathon, that's 26.2 miles, and he is gonna tell us all about that.
00:20:20
Speaker
Chad, welcome back. Hi. By popular demand of Beth and I. He's back. So Chad, go ahead and give us some context. Tell us a little bit about your day yesterday. By the way, everybody, this was yesterday. Chad ran this marathon and he's here hanging out with us. So thank you, Chad. So yeah, just tell us a little bit about maybe what it was for and like the distance. Just tell us about it a little bit.
00:20:44
Speaker
It's the Honolulu Marathon, 26.2 miles. Cool. So was there anything, have you ever run a marathon before, I guess? No, I ran cross country all through elementary school and I started running earlier in the year.
00:21:02
Speaker
just running home from work and then running a few times a week, uh, just to stay in shape. And last year, somehow Bethany and I miss the marathon completely. Like we run by our house in the marathon. Oh, really? Yeah. We didn't even see anyone running. We didn't see anything. So once I saw that, it was like, just right. It's where I run normally is the whole part of the track or the part of the course. I was like, Oh, I'll, I'll sign up. I'll do it. And I'll train for it.
00:21:28
Speaker
Awesome. Oh, that's so cool. So what did you do? I guess what did you do to prepare for the marathon? Like once you decided to do it, I'm guessing you probably, I mean, I'll let you get into it, but you probably had to like change eating, do your research. So what did that process look like? How did you prepare?
00:21:46
Speaker
So prior to like signing up for the marathon, I would just run, you know, three to four miles, three or four times a week. But once I signed up for the marathon, I realized I had to start working up to longer distances.
00:22:02
Speaker
So I'd run two or three times a week. And then Fridays, I would run, you know, 10, 13, 15 miles and then recover Saturday, Sunday. And then a couple of weeks before the marathon, I ran a full 20, not quite the full marathon length, but 20 miles just to see, I figured I could do the last 6.2, you know, just to be sure I could do 20. What's another totally. Yeah.
00:22:29
Speaker
Um, did you change like eating anything change about that in general or just a couple days before? In general, didn't really change anything, but definitely changed like the day before carb loading for each Friday. Cause the, the longer runs were good to like work on nutrition, make sure like nothing was going to give me a stomach ache and something that I didn't
00:22:52
Speaker
prepare for prior to like signing up for the marathon was like mid run fuel. Cause like you can't just run 20 miles. You have to eat while you're running. Huh? So like just picking, picking what I could run on, like what kind of food, what wouldn't give me a stomachache? Um, lots of research. Yeah. And also just researching the route too. Right.
00:23:13
Speaker
Oh yeah, finding the, like, luckily a lot of what I ran in training was the route of the marathon. Other than running all the way out to Hawaii Kai. Totally. Yeah. So you can be like prepared for like what to expect and stuff. Definitely. Okay. So one of the questions we had for you was, um, did you have to do any, uh, like mindset changes to push through the marathon? Like how important do you think mindset is? And I guess also like, what is the mindset you need to have to do something like this?
00:23:43
Speaker
Yeah, mindset change mid marathon. So like I had to set a goal pace of 10 minutes a mile for the marathon and I stuck with it up to about mile 20. And I was like, Oh, I'm a little bit ahead of my pace. I can walk a little bit and like just recover and then get the last 6.2 miles done. And so I walked.
00:24:04
Speaker
And I went to start up again and I started cramping up super bad. So the, like it's easy to slow down and I thought it'd be just as easy, you know, to get right back up to running, especially after a little break, but my muscles just were not ready to, to start up at that same pace. So I had to slowly ease back into a faster pace and that really slowed me down on my final time. So I wasn't able to get the 10 minute a mile goal, but I still stayed under five hours.
00:24:34
Speaker
Under Oh, wow. Under five hours total. That's crazy. That was definitely my fastest mile in high school was 10 minutes. And then it's almost like that break almost like less worth it might have almost been good to just just go and see how long you can I suppose. Yeah. Well, and then also so with that, like how important like I was saying how important do you think mindset is and like what mindset do you need to have? Well, I think it was important mindset as in are you talking about as in once you're in the marathon mindset or
00:25:04
Speaker
Like both, I'm just curious because this is such a big task and how, yeah, like in general, like mindset, how important do you think mindset is? Mindset for completing something like this? Like people always say, is it just all physical or is some of it mental? Just anything big like this in life, I think a lot of things that people wonder is like, how much does mindset play into it? And how much of it is just pure physical, like raw fitness? Yeah, how much does mindset help you? And what kind of mindset helps you?
00:25:31
Speaker
I think in terms of finishing like I don't want to say oh you have to have like a oh I'm going to hit my pace goals and complete it no matter what because you saw those people like laying on the side being helped by EMTs because you know you knew they stuck way harder than they should have to their pace goals and they just couldn't make it because you have to have a
00:25:54
Speaker
I'm going to finish, but that may be a slower than I wanted to pace. Yeah. Okay. I like that. So kind of like your priorities almost shift like mindset. It sounds like more like priority of mindset or mindset is like your priorities changing, like safety over competition. Well, and like what Beth and I talked about earlier in this episode before we brought you on was like, it's important to set goals, but you still want those goals to be attainable. So speaking in life.
00:26:21
Speaker
some people might have the mindset of like, Oh, I want to lose 100 pounds by the end of the year. But is that attainable? Similar, bringing you back to like marathon, you could have the goal of like, Oh, I want a seven minute mile the entire time. Is that attainable? Probably not. Is the goal of finishing attainable? Yes, it is. And then like shifting your goals.
00:26:39
Speaker
from there is probably something important to establish early on. So to kind of bring it with like what you did yesterday, I know it probably wasn't a New Year's resolution, but how did you approach this goal in a way that actually lets you follow it through?
00:26:54
Speaker
Because there's a lot of people, definitely myself included, who have set goals during New Year's that just never go anywhere. People actually don't even make it the first week. They don't even make it like a day with their new resolution. And I think it's important in life to learn from our experience in a time when a goal was followed through. So this marathon, that was obviously a goal for you. Was there a way you approached it that actually let you complete it, follow through, and not give up?
00:27:20
Speaker
Yeah, I think first and most importantly, like it wasn't a huge change. I didn't make a huge change like right away. I just initially, you know, I was already running and so then I started running a little more and then I started implementing longer runs and those longer runs got a little bit longer.
00:27:37
Speaker
until it culminated in the marathon. I think a lot of people start their New Year's resolutions just from 0 to 100 and that leads to burnout really quick instead of maybe slowly and gradually leading into the eventual spot they want to be for the resolution.
00:27:55
Speaker
I had some friends that were training for this same marathon and they either held to a training regimen that was too intense or they went too hard on their pre-marathon long runs and they ended up getting injuries. So by gradually leading up to the training and leading into the marathon distance, I was able to avoid like any stress fractures or any damage from long, any long-term damage and I was able to complete the marathon.
00:28:22
Speaker
that's actually a crazy point too because that's one of the things we talked about was like not like you don't want to set high goals but yes zero to 100 like you can't you i mean maybe you can but generally you can't just wake up and run 26 miles one day if you've never done that before so like build up putting the work in that's actually that's a great point i love that
00:28:42
Speaker
I think that was all. I am so grateful Chad for you coming on. Thank you for joining us on the show and sharing this awesome achievement with us. Like we said, we think it's important to learn from people and experiences that do go well, that were big, ambitious goals that were followed through on. So we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with us. Yeah. Thanks for having me. Yeah. Thanks again to Chad so much for coming on. That was actually so cool to hear. Cause even though like it wasn't a personal,
00:29:09
Speaker
New Year's resolution for him yet to do
Balancing Business and Goals
00:29:11
Speaker
that. It's still the same idea as far as goal setting, working up to a new goal, not just expecting so much of yourself right off the bat, take time, put in the work you need to do. And like we said before he came on, a lot of changes, a lot of mini marathons, not just sprinting all the time. So with that Beth and I are going to hop into a few of our own resolutions for the upcoming year. So you can get an idea of how we plan to put some of these into action.
00:29:39
Speaker
And we split this into business and personal because they can be kind of different, but also like because we each run our own businesses, one will affect the other. But yeah, we just have a few business and personal goals that we have for the new year. So let's head over to that.
00:29:53
Speaker
All right, so I guess I will start kicking it off with mine. So just real quick on mine, a couple of my business related goals. One, I am looking into doing a website rebrand, which would be like huge overhaul of everything. I do refresh my website and Ayla, I think you're pretty similar with this pretty much every year.
00:30:14
Speaker
But I'm still deciding if I'm going to do a full-on rebrand or not. There's a couple of things that I still have to come together for that. So that's like the main one I'm looking at possibly setting. The other one, I'm actually hoping that in next year I can do a full social media handover.
00:30:32
Speaker
which would basically mean that I am completely hands off of social media. I love social media. I've never honestly had no real complaints about it. It's a lot of work, you know, but I've always loved it. I've always wanted to be the one in control of my social media. But over the years I've learned that I just really need to have my hands more just involved in simply the client communication, the photo shoots and other things that I want to expand on in my business.
00:30:56
Speaker
Um, which I guess I'm also coming up onto right now as one of my goals, but, um, yeah, it would be nice to have my Instagram 100% taken care of by someone that's not me. And then also some other social media platforms. So I don't know if that one's going to be achievable. Again, like, and I've been talking about this episode, when you set a goal, you got to sit down and make sure you can achieve it. So still going to look into that one.
00:31:18
Speaker
Another one is a secret. I actually am not going to share anything about it, but I do have a big goal, something that is new. I will say I've never done it before. It's a project and I'm really excited about it. And I thought originally when I looked into it, it was going to take me like a couple of weeks to do. Turns out it's actually going to be many months. So we'll see. That's one of my big business goals for that.
00:31:38
Speaker
Ooh, exciting. I can't wait. Beth and I are going to hop off the call and then she's definitely going to tell me everything. No, just kidding. That's awesome. And I think, I think those are somewhat attainable. And even if you don't get to like all three or you get to two out of the three or whatever, like, I think those are, those are good to, to like have in place and they make sense for you. Like me knowing you, that makes sense for like a good next like step. So yeah, with me, man, I definitely have some business goals for this year. Um, I think my main goal.
00:32:08
Speaker
Overall, this is my goal every year, so I'm trying to figure out how to make it happen, but I want to have a better busy season. It's happened to me three years in a row now where I get way too overwhelmed, and I'm trying to find the balance of I do like work, and I actually don't mind long work days, and I don't mind being up early for a certain amount in the year and tackling all this. A lot of it is fun for me most of the time.
00:32:31
Speaker
But it just does get to where the end I, I'm a lot more stressed. I'm a lot more snappy. I have a lot more nose to the people around me because of no, I have to work like no, I have to work. And I think there is a degree of that. You're a business owner. You can't just like be off like doing things all the time, but I just, I wish I had a few more, I don't know. I wish I could be a little bit more relaxed through my busy season. And I do want to get away from some of the 17 hour work days that I have because of it.
00:32:57
Speaker
I don't love that I have to miss some quality time with my husband and all of that. I generally know what steps I need to take to help correct that. This is tricky because one of them is the fact that I've usually also been working some kind of part-time job.
00:33:14
Speaker
while busy season is around and I know for sure that's me taking on too much too fast and I'm at this place where it doesn't necessarily mean I want to eliminate that part of my life either because that is something else that's important to me but it's just I think I have to be more assertive when it comes to my time and set clear boundaries on what I can be available for
00:33:34
Speaker
I have the option with this part-time job to say, hey, for these months, I can't be here as much and I have that freedom. But I don't always. I think I just like, I'm a people pleaser. So it's like, oh, like, hey, we need you. Can you like blah, blah, blah. And there was a point in October where I was working four days a week.
00:33:49
Speaker
and handling busy season. And that was just, yeah, that's crazy much. So it doesn't mean I have to quit my part time job, but set more attainable hours of Hey, I can actually only do this many days or this many shifts a month actually, when I'm busy and just kind of so I've talked with Chris about it about kind of letting those employers who are also kind of friends of mine,
00:34:11
Speaker
know that more ahead of time because like I knew busy season was coming. It's my third one. It's not a surprise to me anymore. Like my first year, it was a big fat surprise. I did not know that like fall was that time, whatever. I had inquiries out the butt and I was like, Oh, I'm such a good business owner. No, it was just busy season and people were desperate. But anyway, I know it's coming and I still let it like sneak up on me this year. I still thought like four days of working outside and that we're going to work.
00:34:39
Speaker
because it worked for me last year because I had half the amount of clients, right? So it's just like now I'm knowing that I need to make anyway. Sorry, I went off on that one a bit. So like I know the steps that have to be taken. It's just some like boundary setting, which is harder for me to do. So that's like a more personal thing to do. And not like I have to fight with anybody about it. My employers are super understanding of my business and what I do. So it's just like,
00:35:02
Speaker
actually having the foresight to make my busy season easier on me. My next business goal is also a semi-secret, not that big of a deal. It's just some client privacy behind it, but I want to do some research into what it looks like to bring on an associate editor.
00:35:21
Speaker
and possibly start taking on much, much more work through associate editing. I have no clue what it looks like or how to start, but lots of people do it. There's lots of people who hire associate editors. And I'm getting to a point in my business where I think that might be a good fit.
00:35:37
Speaker
I'm going to start looking into that, I think is my other one. And then my only other main business goal, and this will sound small, but it's definitely attainable for me. It's that the, um, the creator of the original course that I took for editing has created a new version of the course. And once you purchase your course, you have lifetime access to it. So I can see her revamped version. She really listened to a lot of.
00:36:01
Speaker
student feedback and added a lot of things that just a lot of new content and Yeah, again, I'm gonna keep a lot of a secret because if you're a photo editor you can look into it and know about it But it's stuff that I still have yet to learn so I kind of during my slow season this year It's my goal to kind of go back into student mode and study some of her new content Make any changes that are probably necessary to my business through that and there's actually just some things for me to actually straight-up learn new for the first time in there so I
00:36:31
Speaker
I said it's easy for me in my slow season to be like, okay, I'm not busy. I'm going to do anything else. So I think it'll be a bit of a challenge to like motivate because I don't have to do that to keep running my business, but I think it'll benefit me a lot in the long run. So yeah, basically get back into the learning aspect of the business a little bit more is like my other, my other business goal. So that is awesome. I love that. I think those all sound great.
00:36:56
Speaker
I think I can handle all three of those. I think I want to actually do it. Love it. That's awesome. And that's what this time is for, seeing if we can do those. We're about to go sit down and make our plans for those in the next couple months. So that's awesome. So exciting. So Beth, jumping into like personal goals, I know like business affects personal, but is there anything that you as a person are just hoping to do that's new this year?
00:37:20
Speaker
Yeah, not exactly super new, but kind of something to get back to. Yeah, I want to get back to going to the gym. Not only am I inspired by you, Ayla, you're always at the gym and always talking about how much you love it and how much it benefits you. I used to go to the gym about once to twice a week. I'd go every Tuesday or Tuesday, Thursday, like junior and senior year of high school. And I loved it. And I definitely have noticed a change in obviously my physical body since not going to the gym anymore. And I miss that.
00:37:48
Speaker
And I remember how much I loved it being where we are in a city all the gyms are so packed and I'm just so intimidated I absolutely hate that like I'm I'm not as shy as I used to be but I absolutely despise walking into a gym to work out where there is just like 500 people and
00:38:04
Speaker
And it was the same way in college. One of the reasons I didn't go a lot in college was because you walk in and it's like every single person at Chico State is in this gym right now. And it was so scary. And I got better about it and I started going a little bit, but it's just difficult. So one of my personal goals, probably my main personal resolution is to get back to going to the gym.
00:38:23
Speaker
or at the very least get into some more regular vigorous workouts. We did a lot of diving this year. That was great. But again, I just, I kind of miss like weightlifting. Like you said, Ayla, it's so fun and some like physical goals with that. So hopefully that'll be something that I see as a big change this upcoming year. So yeah, I have some plans to make that my goal. So why we need to live in the same
00:38:49
Speaker
freaking say because I would just go with you and it would just be fine because I used to be and Beth and I talked about this is probably a sneak peek into a future episode coming up soon here because I have so many thoughts on it but I used to be the same way the gym terrified me I was like he will not catch me dead here yep it's so scary and I went through a time where I was so scary of like scared of like men specifically in the gym I was so ready to be like they're gonna hate me they're gonna think I'm stupid they're gonna think
00:39:18
Speaker
Literally zero issue. Well, okay. I had one issue but that was like a special case but like literally no issues Most people who you're so scared of in the gym like the big strong dudes are gonna be the nicest people in there They're gonna be willing to help you figure stuff out anyway I just like that was a huge huge hurdle for me to get over and I'm so glad I did because I'll let myself I'll let social anxiety cut out so much joy that I could probably have and
00:39:41
Speaker
And that was just one aspect, but I think it's because I got to go with Chris. If I went alone, it never would have happened. So going alone is hard because Chris was kind of like my personal trainer. Like he knew the machines. He knew how to create a workout regimen. Like he knew all that stuff. So I was able to just get the
00:39:57
Speaker
somebody I knew. So I swear if we were in the same city and we got to just go and just dominate, it would be gym buddies. We would literally be gym buddies and we would probably go every day. Like I literally don't see how that wouldn't happen. I really, it's like you can't miss something you never had, but something in me misses that. Like I need that so bad. So anyway, one day, but yeah. Anyways, what about you, Ayla? I'm excited to hear yours.
00:40:22
Speaker
Well, yeah, so like I said, honestly, some of my resolutions for this year are very similar to last year and then just changing the consistency. So like I said, 2023 was Kristina's best year so far of watching her health and being in the gym. But unfortunately, because of said business resolution that took a nosedive for me during busy season, I've hardly been in there for all of October, November. And honestly, it really sucks to lose some of that progress. And I'm trying not to beat myself up over it. I can easily, I don't know, get down on myself for that. But like,
00:40:52
Speaker
stuff like that, big changes like that aren't linear. It doesn't always just go up and get better and better and better. Sometimes you're doing great. And then sometimes it's just, and you know what? I figured out it was honestly easier for me.
00:41:04
Speaker
during busy season to lose some of that routine and not work so hard to maintain it. Like it was actually easier to just let it go and then to be like, no, I still have to make it to the gym at seven and I'm drowning and I have 10 catalogs stacked up to do, but I'm going to make it to the gym. Like it was just easier to be like, you know what? I'm going to work.
00:41:23
Speaker
The gym will be there waiting for me and that's okay. And that was way easier for me mentally to do. So I'm trying not to beat myself up, but anyway, it's easy for me to feel down in the dumps, but I'm trying to turn that into motivation to do better this year. So this year, my goal is to do exactly what we did a majority of last year, but to keep up the consistency and not lose it in busy season through the steps. Like I said before, making more time.
00:41:46
Speaker
in other aspects and being more flexible with doing stuff at home. If I don't make it to the gym, I'm very much like it's either the gym or nothing, but there's lots of options for what I could do at home. If I don't make it out there, we literally have a gym in our building. So like my excuses are few for missing out. Wait, is that the gym you go to? No, we go to like a like a commercial gym, but we have because like usually apartment gyms aren't
00:42:11
Speaker
going to have the same resources, which is okay. But yeah, I just don't want to make as many excuses. And one thing I wanted to touch on was Chris and I, I haven't told you this, maybe I've told you this Beth. I can't remember because I don't talk about it very much, but around April of last year or April of 2023, this most recent year, Chris and I started doing the carnivore diet. Oh, no, I didn't know that.
00:42:33
Speaker
I don't talk about it a lot because the minute you tell people you're doing it and then they see you eating bread, they're going to be like, that's not carnivore. Anyway, we did carnivore pretty strictly for about three weeks. And then after that, we moved to what we call modified, which was like 90%.
00:42:47
Speaker
meat and eggs diet. And we did that for about six and a half months straight. And again, that's what took a nose dive during busy season because I just, it was just easier to eat what I wanted to eat and just like pick up fast food instead. So I kind of want to like back to back January to December.
00:43:08
Speaker
do that consistently because like I'll talk about it some other time. Yeah. Or like, like our version of modified, um, and I won't like bore people with the details, but like very strict carnivore didn't work perfectly for me. It just made me thirsty all the time. Cause there was like zero carbs in that diet and just made me super thirsty. So adding just like a little bit of carb here and there, and that's helpful for when you're going to the gym too.
00:43:32
Speaker
So like 85 to 90% like all meat and all meat at home and like whole food made me feel the best I've ever felt. So anyway, I just, if I can, as best as best as possible. Again, that does sound slightly unattainable to me like January to December. So I'm giving myself some grace for that to not always be perfect. Cause Chris and I do still do like our eating out Friday and that we get to eat what we want. So that's what I mean. It's not perfect, but anyway, just more consistency and not.
00:44:02
Speaker
just disregarding it because times get stressful. Because it'll be like, things are stressful. I'm going to go get ice cream. And it's like still allowing myself little treats, but not just giving up when things are hard. So anyway, that's one. I'm sorry. Go ahead. No, I'm just going to have a totally random question. Does that, I haven't looked into the carnivore diet much. Does that include no vegetables or is it just that you're cutting? What do you cut out? So when you say 90%.
00:44:24
Speaker
So strict carnivore, if you look up the carnivore diet, what people are going to be doing is red meat, eggs and animal fat. So zero vegetables. Yeah. And then the next level of that is adding like poultry, basically. Interesting. And dairy.
00:44:40
Speaker
is like the next one, like a little bit of cheese and like heavy cream. What Chris and I do is, yeah, like red meat, fish, chicken, eggs, cooking with animal fat and not seed oils. And then we do add vegetables to it. And by vegetables, I kind of just mean like onion.
00:45:01
Speaker
and mushrooms just because like this isn't a big vegetable eater. So that's just kind of what we add anyway. I like fruit. So I will add fruit, like avocado is a good one because it's a good healthy fat. And a lot of people on carnivore will kind of use avocado for a bit of green, good, healthy fat. I'll add some fruit because I just like fruit. And again, we're also maintaining like a gym diet. So it's easy for us to make like a protein smoothie at the end of the day. So we still use like protein powder.
00:45:25
Speaker
Things in smoothies so it kind of goes to more of like a whole food just getting away from process like our shopping on carnivore is like the meat dairy section and produce and then we don't touch any other kids and style yeah and Chris dropped 20 pounds in like a month.
00:45:43
Speaker
Right. With that. And then I think I dropped like 10 and then I plateaued because it all became muscle. Like my muscle growth was insane because you're just eating like the hefty protein. But yeah, so that's why we say modified because some people do great with just like red meat and eggs. But again, it's one of those things, if that's not attainable for you, you're going to quit.
00:46:02
Speaker
That's something where I would literally have a whole episode love talking about that because obviously I love talking about this kind of thing because sometimes too though like a lot of times people will make a change like to their diet like that like you went on the carnivore diet and like you saw Chris lose tons of you know weight and you too and sometimes like it's just interesting to look back and see like what changed because sometimes what it is is people they'll lose weight because of what they cut out and not necessarily what they added and like I don't know it's just so it's just interesting and like
00:46:31
Speaker
Are you guys, do you think you'll experiment with other things too or do you want to dig the whole year of that?
00:46:37
Speaker
I think just carnivore, because honestly, we've done clean eating. We've done more of a gym diet, counting calories, counting our macros, chicken and rice for dinner, beef and veggie bowls for dinner, oatmeal for breakfast. We've done general clean eating, and we both end up giving up. Chris has tried meatless one day a week. We give up on that. We've both tried quite a few things, and carnivore stuck the absolute longest, and it was the easiest to do.
00:47:02
Speaker
It freaks a lot of people out because sometimes we do eat bowls of just ground beef and chicken, and that's all that's in our bowl. But I don't know, that's not that hard for me to do. I can just eat. Because it looks kind of weird. You're eating stuff that you wouldn't normally eat throughout the day. We would make a bowl of chicken and then add an egg. No one would ever do that, but it makes me feel good at the end of the day. I know it's good for me, so why not? Why not?
00:47:27
Speaker
it's so interesting love to keep talking about that but overall that's okay yeah sorry I'm glad you guys are still here but actually I've heard a few people I know dabbling in it so I definitely think it is something worth trying but with that Chris and I learned very quickly the reason we call it modified is if we're gonna stick with it
00:47:45
Speaker
we had to have reward systems. We had to have some things that changed it. So it was adding in a few vegetables. Another, sorry, another thing it's used for is it is like an elimination diet. So if you're having problems going on something super harsh and strict, and then slowly adding stuff back in can help you figure out what's making you go wrong. But anyway, we were like, we still want pizza on a Friday night. We still, you know, I'm an ice cream person. I still want that now and again, but just coming up with more reasonable goals of when we can have that.
00:48:13
Speaker
Set it up because if we restrict to nothing, I will quit in like a day like sorry So anyway, right exactly. So no to anyone like hearing this and being like I can't make a diet change January to December It we allow ourselves to have several things that aren't within carnivore That's why I would call it like modified and that's why I don't talk to a lot of people about it Because then it does become a lot like well that's not in your diet and I'm like no or else I wouldn't keep the diet but in like 90% of our week. That's what we're going with like reward centers like people
00:48:42
Speaker
Yeah, like people shaming you for eating so well, that's that's something that people just need to move away from like let people do what they want to do. I thought you were saying like it to come. Nevermind. I thought it was different. But yeah, I think and I love hearing when people are experimenting with a carnivore diet because for so long we were told by
00:49:00
Speaker
fake news that meat was so bad for us. And so you see these people, like you said, coming out going, I'm on the carnivore diet for like a couple months or a few weeks and I feel so much better, my muscles better, this and that. It's like because they added so much more meat. Like the American diet that we're told to have does not give us enough meat. It definitely doesn't give us enough red meat.
00:49:18
Speaker
It's the same way when people become vegetarians. And like, so this is something, again, I studied this for so many years. People who become vegetarians, the same kind of pattern will happen the first couple of weeks. This is different though. I, by the way, my beliefs on these two things are very different, but they in the first two weeks, the first month, the first few months will be like, I felt so good at it. My skin is better than it's ever been in my life. Like yeah, because you added more vegetables than you've ever eaten in the last 10 years of your life.
00:49:41
Speaker
not because the meat was killing you, but because you just added more of what your body needed. And so there's so many of these things where it's like we try this and we find out what our body really needed by how it reacts to such an extreme change. And so it's just so cool hearing that you guys have had such a positive experience with it. That just tells me you guys were not having nearly enough meat, which is like you can have, you know, eat however you want.
00:50:04
Speaker
But now you know you need wind or meat than you were eating. Well, way more meat, it did cut out a lot of processed stuff, for sure. And again, I love chips. I'm definitely still going to eat chips. But we stopped. Oh, one thing that was crazy was we also cut out snacking in between meals during that time. And I'm not saying you have to do this. I'm saying, Chris and I are huge snackers. And like I said, I love food. And that's where all the hidden problems with my weight and my energy lie.
00:50:34
Speaker
All my three meals in the day can be what they're supposed to be, but what's in between and all of that stuff. And again, we're just like, yeah, I don't want to make anybody feel bad. If you don't do this, that's fine. Chris and I just decided to get super strict on our diet and it works better for us or else we'll just like, yeah. When I say we just snack, it's like we'll split an entire cake between the two of us.
00:50:55
Speaker
Yeah. If you do that now and again, live your life, we will definitely be doing that again, but not every few days. So anyway, we noticed, we cut out, we didn't buy chips for weeks. And then one day we went on a little mini road trip to just, we needed some food, grabbed some chips. And I realized that was the first time I tried to substitute chips for a meal. And I was still starving because meat satiates you more.
00:51:19
Speaker
And generally it's a good rule of thumb to do at least half a gram. I would argue one full gram of protein per body per pound of your body weight. So I'm around 160 pounds. I need about 160 grams of protein a day.
00:51:33
Speaker
And I would argue most of that protein should come from meat or egg. And when I say that, I mean, um, not like protein powder or protein supplements. We do still use protein powder. I do one shake a day, but like not four to supplement. That is not the same team. Yeah, exactly. Like I still have one after the gym just cause like that works well.
00:51:51
Speaker
but I would argue most of your protein should come first through meat and then eggs and then cheese. And carnivore is just an easier way to do that because you have no choice but to just eat meat. And I will say I had the best muscle growth. And if you're someone who tracks what weight you can pick up, if you want to be able to pick up more weight fast, carnivore, because it just goes straight to your muscles. Yeah, anyway. Yeah, exactly.
00:52:18
Speaker
man. Anyway, so I'm excited to get back on it. Cause like I said, we've taken a bit of a break from it in the last couple of months. And again, because it is such a restrictive diet, I do not blame us or anybody else for taking a bit of a break, but I'm excited to see more time because you're right. It is new. So I'm excited to see how it affects us.
00:52:35
Speaker
over like more time. And I like that you said you have flexibility with it because at least for me from like an outsider standpoint and of course me having my opinions about diets and certain foods and food groups and all that stuff like I'm glad to see the flexibility of like if you do end up wanting to add something or take away something you know like if you decide you don't want to do as much dairy or you want to add in different kinds of vegetables like I'm glad to see the flexibility in that.
00:52:57
Speaker
And kind of like what we're talking about this episode where it's like you have to be specific and specifics are also knowing like there might be certain things I have to change to figure out that perfect fit. Well, yeah, and it's attainability. Like I said,
00:53:11
Speaker
so many people go into the new year with, oh diet and exercise and say, say to them diet means salad and water, which don't even get me started. That's not a healthy diet of salad and water. But you know, I think a lot of girls put themselves through that of like, I'm just going to eat salads with nothing on them. Then you're going to be starving in like two days. And then instead of just eating more of a better food, you're going to go back to your comfort foods, your fast food, a bunch of bread, a bunch of, you know, whatever.
00:53:37
Speaker
Like bread in and of itself is not bad, but too much of it, right? And that was my cycle for years in high school, college for years. It was restrict, bitch, restrict, binge, restrict, binge. Whereas creating something sustainable. Now I will say carnivore is strict, but then allowing the little bits throughout the day.
00:53:55
Speaker
is going to let us carry this diet that's good for us for way more time than going super restrictive and then just giving right back in. Because I've done that cycle over and over and it's no fun. So yeah, for you, not you Beth, but like the world, if
00:54:10
Speaker
your health is something you want to get into what are the changes you can make what are you already eating for your meals oh you already eat like eggs and oatmeal for breakfast oh you already eat like steak salad a little bit of potatoes for your dinner you already eat stuff that's good for you okay well maybe what are the easier choices you can make can you cut out
00:54:28
Speaker
little bit of chips in the day. Can you drink some more water? Can you cut out on soda? Just like some small changes. And like I said, Chris and I didn't come to this conclusion till March that that was the right move for our health. So it might be trying different things. What can you keep doing? Because if you try something, oh, and I will say also,
00:54:44
Speaker
if you're going to be making big diet or health changes as a resolution, the first two weeks is going to be awful. I'm not a big sweets person, but the three weeks we were on carnivore, I wanted cake so bad. I wanted cake because we cut out, we were zero sugar while we were on that for a while, other than fruit. Get through that first week and then see how you feel because no matter what, you're going to be craving stuff the first week or two. Absolutely. You're craving. Get past that and then decide what you do.
00:55:10
Speaker
Sugar's literally sugar, caffeine, all those things are drugs to your brain. And when you go off them, you have withdrawal and that's why you crave them more. Yeah. Okay. Anyway. But anyway, so sorry, I still have two more resolutions. So I'll say those super quickly, but thank you guys. If you've hung around for that, I will keep you updated on our modified carnivore journey. Number two, Beth, you actually might like this one, but I think Chris and I are going to try to find a church.
00:55:34
Speaker
Oh, fine. Oh my gosh. And I was actually inspired by our chat that we had a few weeks ago on the episode. Is it difficult to find a church right now? Um, Beth and my husband, Chris and I talked about just the church scene right now. How it's changed. Definitely go listen to that one. If you haven't, I, that's one of my favorite episodes we've done actually. And part of what we talked about is how Chris and I have been going. That was actually also one of our goals for last year was to figure out a church. And we spent January, February, March church shopping.
00:56:03
Speaker
And we settled on actually doing like a Bible study with friends. And we've maintained that almost every single week this year, which has been awesome. And we were actually talking a couple of days ago.
00:56:15
Speaker
about how, Chris, I think we want to add a church to that. Because one of the things we talked about was Chris and I were of this mindset that the Bible study substitutes church. And it did for that time. We were getting super frustrated with church shopping. And the Bible study satisfied that need to once a week open our Bibles, whatever. Absolutely. And then after some time, we talked with Beth about how you should always be open to adding. There is church on Sunday.
00:56:41
Speaker
and then try to add a Bible study and try to add a small group and try to add these things.
00:56:45
Speaker
Basically, yeah, I think we're going to try to find a church and just add that to our Bible study. That's awesome. I love that. And actually, yeah, life is just adding more goods. No, I just love that. That's so inspiring. Yeah. Life is just adding more good things. Like each year resolutions, I like what you were saying, how a lot of your resolutions, sorry, not to go off on this. A lot of your resolutions are like you adding or building on what you did last year. Like that's so great in life when we have reached
00:57:11
Speaker
things that we like and we enjoy and we know are good and now we can just add on them in our life. Yeah. Yeah. Just more of that. Or I want to do it better this time. Totally. Totally. Yeah. And also I think, I think we're going to try some churches we've already gone to for a bit that we maybe stopped going to and quite honestly like maybe made some excuses for. We were talking about it. We were like, I think there's some that like weren't, it wasn't that big of a deal. You know, we just didn't feel like going to church at the time. So just kind of digging deep and trying that.
00:57:38
Speaker
And then my last one is to be outside more. That's always a goal for me. I love being outside. And last year, again, we started it. We had a goal to go camping, I think once every month in the summer. And we ended up going once in the spring.
00:57:55
Speaker
And that was good and of course life got busy and stuff So I think every year I'm just gonna try a bit more to implement like walks to implement little hikes and just like enjoy Our time outside because it it actually helps me and business so much more to do that So that's always the goal and this year that just is the end to be outside more. So yeah
00:58:13
Speaker
Yeah, I love that. Those are so good. I absolutely love every single one of yours. And I think you guys can probably tell by listening that we both kind of give the perspective of like, I'm more of the one resolution, Ayla's more of the two or three resolution, and that's
00:58:30
Speaker
Just to show you whoever you are, you know, there's so many ways to do this and but we still subscribe to the idea of like one to three resolutions is like attainable.
The Power of Accountability
00:58:41
Speaker
And one thing we forgot to mention Ayla is having like an accountability buddy or something like that when we talk about ways to yeah to kind of stick to your goals.
00:58:49
Speaker
Even if your accountability buddy is like you writing it down or having some kind of app to track your account, your accountability with something, or if you have like a friend or family member that you talk to or your spouse. But yeah, something for accountability is usually really nice for your goals as well.
00:59:05
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, definitely tell others. Hopefully you're somebody that other people are telling their goals to, if that makes sense. Be a friend, be a listener. We're all just here trying to get through this life together. We want to hear your goals for the new year. You can tell us. We will happily beat your accountability buddies if you've got...
00:59:28
Speaker
If you've got nobody, you've got us. So we definitely want to hear about your goals. And I mean, yeah, you guys can keep us accountable too. I'd be there for it. You can message us on Art of Intention podcast and say, Beth, did you go to the gym today? And Beth will be like, no, I didn't. But now I'll go. No, I'm just kidding. Now I am. Love it. Yeah. Just randomly pop into our DMs and guilt trap us. We love it. That's what we want to, that's what we want to see.
Listener Engagement and Future Episodes
00:59:52
Speaker
No, just kidding.
00:59:53
Speaker
We hope you enjoyed today's episode. To hear more business advice, follow along our Instagram at our Vintension podcast. Be sure to tune in each week for a new episode on Tuesdays.
01:00:03
Speaker
As always, you are welcome and required actually to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, whether that's Spotify, we are also on Apple podcasts or directly through our link on Instagram that connects you to Zencaster. Leave us your five star rating and review wherever you listen. If you, like I said, want to share your resolutions with us, or if you just have an idea for a new episode or think you would make a great guest on our podcast, feel free to message us on Instagram or email us at art of intention podcast at gmail.com.
01:00:33
Speaker
And don't forget, like we said, you can catch us every Tuesday now. So we'll see you next week with a new episode. Bye. Bye.