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50. The One Where You Realise Time Isn't Waiting
1 Playsin 15 hours
Can you believe we're already halfway through the year?
In this special 50th episode of The Mindful Educator, Victoria invites you to pause, reflect and intentionally reset for the next six months.
Life can easily become a cycle of getting up, looking after everyone else, going to work and repeating it all again. Before we know it, months - or even years - have passed without ever asking ourselves whether we're living the life we truly want.
This episode is your reminder that you don't have to stay on autopilot. By creating a clear vision and taking small, intentional steps, you can begin building a life that feels aligned, fulfilling and meaningful.
In this episode:
- Celebrating 50 episodes of The Mindful Educator
- Why life feels so busy (and why time disappears)
- Completing a mid-year life audit
- Using the Wheel of Life to gain clarity
- Reviewing your relationships, health, finances, career and personal growth
- Why your personal life deserves a plan just as much as your business
- Reverse engineering your goals into achievable actions
- Reconnecting with hobbies, passions and the things that bring you joy
- Taking back the driver's seat of your life
Reflection Questions
- Am I happy with where my life is today?
- Where do I want to be in 6 - 12 months?
- What isn't working anymore?
- What do I need to start doing today to create the life I want?
- What brings me joy that I've stopped making time for?
This Week's Challenge
Take 30 minutes to reflect on where each area of your life is currently sitting. Choose one to three priorities for the next six months and break them down into small, achievable actions.
Time will keep moving - make sure you're intentionally creating the life you want to live.
Connect with Victoria
🌐 www.victoria-r.com.au
📧 hello@victoria-r.com.au
📱 Instagram: @the.victoria.r
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Transcript
Celebrating 50 Episodes and Reflecting on the Journey
00:00:37
Victoria R
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Mindful Educator podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. so hard to believe that we are now in like the second half of 2026. So I'm not sure about you, but these first six months of the year have literally flown by.
00:00:57
Victoria R
And I know we always start off we're like, oh, you know, like this year is going to everything's going to be a bit slower and you know I'm really going to appreciate everything that happens. And then it's like you blink and it's it's July. It's like, oh, that didn't quite quite happen the way I thought it was going to happen. um And so I just wanted to have this episode as like a little bit of a check in. Let's just see how we're going. and i also want to take a moment just to celebrate the fact that this is the 50th episode of the podcast which blows my mind as well so to bring um episode number 50 which in itself is a huge achievement for me i kind of i started this last year not knowing kind of how long or what exactly it was going to look like and the fact that we're now 50 episodes deep is absolutely amazing and I'm so stoked about that as well because I really, really hope that each of these episodes has helped in some way um to just kind of improve your life in whatever manner it it's kind of focused on and helped you with. so yes, that that was my hope and aspiration behind actually starting this podcast was to help people, was to bring to attention things that maybe aren't discussed very often or we don't know that much about.
00:02:13
Victoria R
And so I really hope that the podcast has helped you in that regard, whether it be to discover new people with who I've interviewed or um just understand new topics that we've spoken about over the 50 episodes.
00:02:26
Victoria R
Crazy.
The Role of Goal Setting in Business and Life
00:02:27
Victoria R
So today's episode, I really wanted to chat to you about kind of having a bit of a plan, having a direction. And this has come through kind of looking at stuff with my husband's business. So the business that we own together and also just in life as general, as I said, like we're halfway through this year already. i That is crazy.
00:02:51
Victoria R
Like that is legit crazy. And it just seems like time, it almost feels like time is speeding up. And I guess just from what I have said, observed and noticed and overheard and discussed with people is but people, life is busy. Life is really busy for people. And I prefer to think of it as life is very full. Try and put out that positive spin on it. We do have very full lives. And what that means though, is a lot of the time we're just so in it. We can't often see like the big picture. We can't really see,
00:03:33
Victoria R
yeah, kind of see where we're actually wanting to go. We're so busy in that, that daily grind that we kind of lose that perspective a little bit. And it's kind of, you know, you get up, you do what you're doing, repeat, sleep, let's go again.
00:03:46
Victoria R
And I know I mentioned this quite a lot, but we we need to kind of have some understanding of what we're actually wanting out of our lives, whether this is actually the life that we're wanting to be living.
00:04:01
Victoria R
And I know that I've repeated this, and I'm going to keep harping on about it, because I'm so passionate about this as well. Because when we actually get down to the crux of it, so many of us aren't living the lives that we want to be that we dreamed about that we, you know, have the wishes and the hopes and you know, these great ideas of ours and they're not coming to fruition because we get so caught up in the daily grind that we don't give ourselves that opportunity or that permission or that courage to go forth and actually get what it is that we're wanting out of our life.
Aligning Life Areas with True Desires
00:04:34
Victoria R
And so i want us to kind of think, all right, we've we're halfway through this year. We've got six months of this year left. What is it that we're actually wanting to achieve in these six months? Are you wanting to be in exactly the same position in six months that you are in now?
00:04:51
Victoria R
Are you happy with where you are now? And if you are happy, great. Like there's no like, yeah, good on you. Otherwise, is there some areas that perhaps you'd like to tweak a little bit? And this is where I think it's really good to kind of look at each area of our life and really break it down. You know, let's look at the relationships in our life. That can be our intimate relationships. That can be our you know, parental relationships, if you know, parent-child relationships. um We can look at our friendships, right? Let's look at how they're tracking. Are we pretty happy with with what's going on there? You know, let's look at our finances. How are our finances tracking at the moment? Is it where we want them to be? Are things, you know, perhaps not so great? Or, you know, we do we need to kind of look at maybe some alternative income streams? You know, let's kind of do a bit of an audit on our finances as well. Then I also want you to think about your work or your career, right? Is this what you wanted?
00:05:50
Victoria R
Is this what you're wanting? You know, are you happy with what your it is that you're doing? You know, and if you are perhaps on a hiatus, perhaps, you you know, if you're on leave of some sort, if you're looking after your children or whatever it might be, you know, look at that side of things. You know, is this is this where you're wanting to be six months from now? How are you wanting it to look?
00:06:12
Victoria R
and Then, like I said, let's look at what it is that we're actually doing for our own personal development and how that's tracking along. Let's have a look at what you're actually doing for your health and your fitness. How's that moving along as well? And any other areas of your life that kind of come through. And i know one of the tools that I love to use is like the wheel of life. And this is where you kind of put it in.
00:06:38
Victoria R
it's like a circle. almost like it's cut up like a cake, and you get to kind of like rate how each every area of your life is going. And I find things like this really helpful to kind of just, just see whether you're actually on the path that you wanted to be on. And so once you've done this quick look and you don't, you don't have to do the wheel of life. This is just an example where you can literally just go through and go, right, you know, where am I sitting with each area?
00:07:05
Victoria R
Work out where is it that you actually want to be kind of six to 12 months from now. If we're looking at, you know, start of July, 2027, what would you like to be doing in this, like in 12 months time? Where would you like to be? What would you like your life to be looking like? What has been working really well so far and what isn't working
Setting Realistic Goals for Personal Growth
00:07:27
Victoria R
so well that you'd like to change?
00:07:29
Victoria R
And again, i think it's so important that we just we constantly come back to what it is that you're wanting your life to look like. And know for even in business, like having a plan for your business is so important. And we put so much emphasis on that, but people don't put that emphasis on their own personal lives. It's just as important to have a plan for your personal life. life This is super important as well. This is what you're living and breathing. And this is you like every single day. So why do we not prioritize this more? It's not really huge thing that people do. And it should be, you know, people going to businesses, having business plans, but they don't go into their life, having a plan for that as well. They just kind of, you know, throw stuff at the wall and hope it sticks. And it's like, well, you know, you can actually change the direction of where you want to be. You can make those little decisions every day that are going to get you closer to being the person that you want to be or living the life that you want to live.
00:08:28
Victoria R
And so we're finding that, like I said, life's very full. Time is moving very quickly. Let's really nut down what we actually want to focus on so my suggestion to you is we've we've gone on through six months of the year. What are you wanting for the next six months? Where are you wanting to be at the end of this year? What are you wanting to have achieved in the next six months? And obviously being realistic about this as well, knowing that You know, if you want to say, I want to be a bajillionaire by the end of the year, well, you can definitely put some things in place. It may not happen unless you win a lotto, but you know, you can still put some pieces in place. And I think also knowing, having that plan in mind, having that goal in mind of what it is that you're wanting to be or do really helps you when it comes to those everyday decisions that you're making. If you were wanting to compete in a triathlon by the end of the year, well, you know that over the next six months, you need to do so much training in order to get yourself ready for that. All right. You know that you need to be doing a combination of swimming, running and cycling. You know that you will need to be doing several training sessions. You know that you would start off slowly and build up on it. all right You know that with your nutrition, you're going to have to make sure that you're getting enough protein and enough energy to get up and do this. You want to be making sure that you're getting enough fibers and fruit and vegetables so that you're not getting sick and all the rest of it. You've got a plan in place if you're wanting to achieve that goal. And when we don't have an idea of where we're wanting to go, then we're just kind of floating along.
00:10:11
Victoria R
You know, you just, oh, yeah. There's no real motivation, no real um determination to to kind of get somewhere. So this is even where those little tiny things, they can be what you're wanting to focus on. So if you have something small that, you know, you want to be able to do you know, 20-kilometre walk, for example, and I'm just using physical exercise as the example because it's one of the more common ones that we can relate to.
00:10:38
Victoria R
right You know that you can then build up on that. This is going to be something that you build up on and you focus on increasing this every single week. right You're gonna go that a little bit further with your walk. You're gonna actually dedicate the time to doing that.
00:10:52
Victoria R
So once you've got this in mind, you know what it is that you need to do to get there. So why not apply this logic to the different areas of our life as well? Why do we only kind of focus when we've got these big goals that we want to achieve? You know, look at your finances and go, all right, I know that I want to be able to have our home loan paid off by date. So that means that You know, within the next five years, this is what I'm going to have to start doing. And then break it down. Reverse engineer what it is that you're actually wanting to do. This is the goal. So let's go backwards and work out the steps that we need to do in order to get there. All right, if you know by the end of the year that you want to have so much in savings, okay, that's the amount that you want to have in savings. Let's break it down. What are you going to have to do each week? How are you going to be able to save money each week in order to get that amount?
00:11:40
Victoria R
All right. Or can you invest it in a different way? Can we look at some alternative income streams?
Integrating Passions into Daily Life
00:11:45
Victoria R
Let's start thinking a little bit outside the box here in order to achieve what it is that we're wanting to achieve. All right. Same with your career or your professional development or your personal development. All right. What is it that you're wanting to know? All right. Or maybe you don't know what you want to know. You just know that this isn't it. All right. So then you might have a bit of a think and go, um all right, well, I know that You know, I don't necessarily like this aspect of my life or the way that I behave in this regard. So I want to be able to approach this situation more like this.
00:12:16
Victoria R
Let's reverse engineer how I can learn how to do that. All right. And this is where, like I said, it gives you some direction. it gives you some confidence. purpose as well. So we're literally not just getting up and going through the motions every single day like a zombie. It's giving you something that you really want to work towards. And I think it's really important for us as well to also just kind of go,
00:12:39
Victoria R
you know what, like, what was it that I actually really wanted to do with my life? What was it that I absolutely loved to do in my spare time that perhaps I don't make time for anymore? You know, might've been someone that loved to paint, or you might even have just, you know, put music on and danced around and, and, You know, it didn't have to make sense. You know, it could be seen there reading books. It could be writing. It could be who knows what, anything.
00:13:07
Victoria R
Where are those passions now? Are they actually something that you carve time for in your days or your weeks? Or is it something that's just forgotten and you literally just spend all your time working? you know, we want to have our lives that are full of joy and abundance and make us just, oh, they're so delicious. like We want our lives to be the best that they can. So where are we kind of missing that? What's kind of become a bit of a grind that you don't really enjoy so much anymore? And how can you perhaps you know integrate something that really spark like sparks you up and makes you go, yeah, this is good. And know for me, I've been doing some adult tap classes. I have never tapped before in my life. like i I didn't really do dancing as a child. And so i love these dance classes on the Monday nights that we have them. And for me, it's like, it's that little, little time just for me, it's kind of bringing me back to myself. And like, I've always loved to dance in some regard. I've never done formal dance training and this has been really great. So
00:14:15
Victoria R
I think this is where it's really good to kind of recognize that as well. And so, you know, another thing that I've always loved to do, which I'm starting to slowly, slowly get back into is playing the drums. um You know, I definitely can't really hold a beat at all, but it's something I love to do. It's a bit of a challenge for me and it keeps my mind active. And it's like just carving out time for these little things that,
00:14:37
Victoria R
are just for me. You know, it's not for anyone else. It's, you know, it's just for me, something that I really enjoy doing. And so i'm asking you to maybe look at your life and think, all right, where are some things that you can start bringing in that kind of, ooh, make life feel so nice, make them feel really good, where it's not, you know, you're not just in mum mode or you're not just in work mode or you're not just in wife or partner mode, where you're actually just, it's for you This is time just for you to be who you are, to enjoy the things that you do. And it's okay if it's clunky at first, if you haven't done something for years. And it's also okay if you do it and then you're like, well, actually, i don't really enjoy that so much anymore because, you know, we we are allowed to change our mind. So start bringing that in. Start bringing these these bits of kind of goodness and juiciness into your life again so that, and like I said, it's not just a daily grind that, you know, the next six months don't just go by and you're kind of like, oh, um all I did was get up and go to work and then come home and that was it. you know, let's, let's make sure that what we're doing is feeling really good for ourselves as well.
Living with Intention and Enjoying the Journey
00:15:40
Victoria R
So I said, time, time is going to go anyway. It's one of those things, it's going to keep moving. All right. we We know we can't slow it down. We know we can't stop it. So let's make sure that what we're doing with our time is actually something that we're really enjoying. And that's really good for us. And obviously there are going to be the mundane things that we have to do. That's just part and parcel of it. All right. But where can we carve out these really good things? Where can we kind of have that that goal in mind or have that plan of where we're wanting to go and what we need to do to get there? And all these good things that we can sprinkle in along the way that that make life so much nicer for us. You know, even if it's something as simple as making sure that you're carving out that time to catch up with friends on the regular. you know, which is something that some friends and I have started doing because it was getting ridiculous how long we were going between catch ups, you know, so we have made a commitment to make sure we catch up at least once a month, you know, and that in itself can be really tricky when you've got varying schedules. But it's so nice to know that that that's just for us. We've got that time together, you know, same as, you know, with your partner or whoever it is that you're with, you know, making time just for the two of you you to go out, you know, i have a date night or just have some time just sitting there chatting. You know, again, we've got to carve these things out of our busy schedules. um
00:17:08
Victoria R
But it's so worth it when we do it It's so worth it. And we sit there going, why don't I do this more often? Well, why don't you? Why don't we do this more often? Let's make it a conscious effort to do this more often. Let's lock things in if we need to. Let's put them in the calendar. Let's have a plan in place, you know, and making sure that even on the everyday, what's something a little that you're doing just for you that's making life feel extra good during that time?
00:17:34
Victoria R
And so, like I said, this time next year, you know, come the 1st of July, 2027, all right, where are you wanting to be? What are you wanting your life to look like? Really get clear on that and then you can reverse engineer how you're going to make that happen. Then you can kind of go, right, in order to be here, I need to start doing this, okay, and then work out how you're going to bridge that gap in between. Now, being realistic, sometimes you may not be able to be exactly where you wanted to be in that 12 months. Sometimes things take a little bit longer and that's okay. But if you know that you're on that right path and that trajectory, then it's it's going to fall into place. There are goals that i created
00:18:20
Victoria R
Oh, probably over four years ago now that I was like, you know, in 12 months time, this is where i'm going to be. And they're only just coming to fruition now. all right. There are things that perhaps, you know, I looked at even longer than that, and they're only just starting to come to fruition now, but they've always been in my mind. And it's always been that direction that I'm heading. And I've been making sure I've been putting things in place in order to get there. And that's where having this plan, having this direction, having this goal or commitment, helps us kind of get where we want to go
Self-Reflection and Setting New Directions
00:18:51
Victoria R
right? So this is what going to ask you to do when you hop off after listening to this episode. Sit down, look at the different areas of your life and see kind of how they're tracking in each one. If you need to Google Wheel of Life, all right, and download that and fill it out just so you can kind of have that visual. And then I want you to get really clear on what you're wanting either in the next six months or the next 12 months and beyond, right? What you want your life to look like in each area, what you want your finances to look like, what you want your career to look like, what you want your personal relationships and your friendships and, you know, your parenting or whatever it is that you can break it down to health and fitness. That's another area that you can have. your leisure time, things just for you. All right, what do you want each of these to actually look like? Where do you want to be, you know, six to 12 months plus from now?
00:19:42
Victoria R
right because this is where life then becomes something that you are creating you're not just going through the motions this then becomes for you you're you're kind of taking the driver's seat here you're in the driver's seat you're taking the wheel you're directing where you're wanting your life to go and how you're going to get there all right once you've worked that out then i want you kind of reverse engineer and think back okay if this is what I want, what do I need to start doing now? If you're wanting to get a grip on your finances, sticking your head in the sand is not going to work, but right? It means you might need to start, you know, doing some, you know, YouTube videos on crypto, understanding, you know, what's actually happening with your money when it comes in and and the best way to invest it. You know, you really have to kind of put some effort into working out what you're wanting to do with it in order to get
00:20:31
Victoria R
the goal figure that you're wanting at the end. You know, so this is going to require some time and I'm not saying do it all at once. All right. What I am saying though is start breaking it down and working out. Okay. I'm going to commit maybe 30 minutes for, you know, the next few weeks, 30 minutes a week where I'm just going to just watch some videos about finance and learn about money a little bit more.
00:20:57
Victoria R
Alright, or it could be something as simple as I know that I've got this big triathlon goal, so I'm going to start, you know, with some gentle jogging. You know, again, just reverse engineer what it is that you're doing, knowing that you can't necessarily get the results all at once, it is going to be a progress thing, but it can be done. and The thing is, this is another thing as well. Like so much of it is actually about, i know this sounds really cliche, but it's actually about the journey of getting there.
00:21:26
Victoria R
All right. Yes, you may compete in the triathlon, but what have you learned about yourself in terms of doing the training and doing the planning and doing the prepping and, you know, working on your health and working on your fitness in this time? What have you actually taken away from that? Yeah, you you've done the big goal of competing in the triathlon, but what did you learn in that process?
00:21:46
Victoria R
You know, and that journey though to actually get to that, that's usually where the goodness is in that as well. Okay. So like i said, little bit of homework for you ah after this episode, but it's something that will be highly beneficial for you.
00:22:05
Victoria R
Okay, even if it's just, you know, thinking about it, jotting it down in the notes in your phone as you're going through things or going, also recognizing maybe what you're you're not liking. That can be a really good way to get us clear on what we do want and we do like, all right? If you're like, oh, Victoria, I've got no idea. I don't know where i want things to go. I don't know what my goals are. well, what isn't working? What aren't you liking?
00:22:26
Victoria R
And go from there, right? Because that can often give us that clarity and direction that we need as well. You know, we're not liking this. So we know that we're not wanting to keep going this way. So what's on the other side here?
00:22:37
Victoria R
All right, I'm going to leave
Podcast Break and Call for Listener Feedback
00:22:39
Victoria R
it there. i am going to be taking a break for a few weeks, just, you know, school holidays and this and that and everything else. Keep your eye out on the socials and um mailing list. I'll let you know when episodes going to be back.
00:22:52
Victoria R
In the meantime, i am going to be doing my own planning and my own ah direction of where I want this podcast to continue going. And in the meantime, if there is anything that you would like to hear, what anything that you've loved, anything that you want to me to keep kind of sharing with you or not sharing, any guests that you want, please let me know it's you know. Oftentimes I am sitting here in my office recording these episodes and I'm not sure how it's landing or what people are getting out of it. I just hope that you know, people are taking something away from it. So if you do have a few moments just to share, i would be so appreciative of that. um Otherwise, yeah, let's let's make these last six months of the year the freaking best ones that we can. And I'm going to be back in your ears chatting away on the podcast very soon. I'm just, like I said, taking a little bit of time just so I can get my direction and plan sorted. for where I want the Mindful Educator podcast to go. So thank you so much. Yay for 50 episodes.
00:23:56
Victoria R
Freaking amazing. i love it. And I will speak to you all very very soon