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From Reflection To Transformation: Set Intentions For A Thriving 2025

From Reflection to Transformation: Set Intentions for a Thriving 2025 ?? Welcome to Your Pocket Coach—the bi-weekly boost for leaders

From Reflection to Transformation: Set Intentions for a Thriving 2025

🌱🧠 Welcome to Your Pocket Coach—the bi-weekly boost for leaders and ambitious minds! Every issue brings you one powerful idea to help tackle a common challenge, two practical exercises, and three resources enabling you to lead your life and career with confidence and energy.

Psssst…..The holidays are coming and if you are looking for a gift that goes deeper than what you can find in the store….you might want to consider gifting a one-on-one coaching session.

The gift that keeps growing (and returning on the investment). Reply to this email for more information.

How to foster meaningful connections?

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Here’s what we focus on today:

Emotional Intelligence as a Superpower
Connecting with Friends and Recharging for the next steps in your Professional Life

Dear curious mind,

As this year comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the journey—it’s been a year of rebuilding, rethinking, and, most importantly, learning. And you’ve been a big part of that.

You’ve been a teacher in more ways than you probably realize. By sharing your challenges, goals, and perspectives, you’ve helped me understand how I can provide value. You’ve shown me how to meet people where they are, what questions matter most, and how to create tools that help others flourish.

Thank you for trusting me, for your time, and for being part of this journey. It means everything. Putting this newsletter together brings me great joy, so hearing how you have been using the exercises and having conversations about the topics makes me smile and want to continue.

This email is a bit differently structured, and it is up to you where you want to start.

My husband and I have been collecting New Year’s Eve Traditions from all over the world, and I will share these at the end of the newsletter. Feel free to jump right into it.

Or, let’s get into the nitty-gritty part: The end of 2024 and how to plan ahead.

As this year is closing off, you might find yourself at the intersection of reflection and anticipation—a perfect moment to pivot your approach to planning 2025.

While goal-setting has its place, research suggests that setting intentions might be the more effective strategy for a fulfilling year ahead.

But why intentions? And how do they differ from traditional goals?

The Science of Intention Setting

Unlike specific, outcome-oriented goals, intentions focus on shaping your mindset and attitude. Psychologists and neuroscientists explain that intentions bridge the gap between who you are today and your envisioned future self. When you set an intention, you’re not merely ticking off milestones; you’re engaging in a transformative process that aligns your actions, thoughts, and feelings with your long-term vision.

For example, cognitive and social psychology studies show that self-concept—how you perceive yourself—significantly impacts your motivation and behavior. Visualizing and embodying your future self activates neural pathways that guide you to act to make that vision a reality.

Why Intention Outperforms Goals

Traditional goal-setting often emphasizes the what—“I will lose 10 pounds,” “I will earn a promotion,” or “I will save $10,000.” Intentions, on the other hand, center on the how and the who—“I will nurture my well-being,” “I will lead with confidence and creativity,” or “I will embody financial responsibility.”

Goals focus on an endpoint, while intentions look at the path and the how, infusing meaning and flexibility into the process. This mindset fosters resilience and reduces the fear of failure because the emphasis shifts from achieving a rigid outcome to evolving toward your desired self.

2025: A Vision of Your Future Self

To harness the power of intentions, start by asking yourself reflective questions:

Who do I want to become in 2025?
What values and attributes do I want to embody?
How do I want others to perceive me?

While these might seem at odds with the concept of authenticity, they’re not. Authenticity doesn’t mean stagnation; it means embracing the truth that you are constantly evolving. Transformation is a part of life, and intentionality ensures your growth aligns with your core values and aspirations.

Practical Steps to Craft Intentions

Reflect on 2024: What lessons, successes, or challenges defined this year? Acknowledge your progress and identify patterns or areas for growth.
Visualize Your Ideal 2025: Close your eyes and imagine a day in your life next year. What are you doing? How do you feel? What’s different?
Phrase Intentions Positively: Instead of framing your intention as “I will stop procrastinating,” try “I will approach my tasks with enthusiasm and focus.”
Align with Your Values: Ensure your intentions resonate deeply with your principles, making them easier to sustain and embody.

A Practice to Begin Now

One exercise inspired by planning guides is to choose a word or theme for 2025. This word will serve as your North Star, guiding your actions and decisions throughout the year. For example, if you choose “Courage,” you might approach challenges with bravery or take risks you’ve avoided.

Take a moment to brainstorm your word. Write it down, reflect on what it means, and explore how it can manifest in various aspects of your life.

Transformation Awaits

As we step into the new year, remember that intentions are not about fixing who you are—they’re about celebrating your potential. They’re a declaration of belief in your capacity to grow and flourish.

So, how do you see yourself in 2025? Let your answer shape not just your goals but the mindset and energy with which you approach the future.

Here’s to a year filled with clarity, alignment, and meaningful transformation.

New Years Traditions

Wear something new for luck (Practices in Spain)
Wear red underwear for love and prosperity (Practices in Italy, Spain, and China)

Before midnight:

Write all things you are thankful for during the old year (no limit), then burn the note
Write 12 wishes for the New Year

At midnight:

Eat a grape with each wish as you read them, then burn the note ( this tradition can be found across Latin America and the Caribbean)
In Denmark, people smash plates against the front doors of their friends and neighbors. More broken plates mean more luck in the New Year.
Feed with each invitee a cherry, telling each other the good wishes for the new year (for good friendship)
Ring a bell (for good luck)
Throw rice or other grains in the air and onto oneself (for prosperity)
Run out with a suitcase as far as you’d like to travel (for traveling)
Open drawers (to let old go)
Sweep stairs (for good luck)

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be today,” –

Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. Additional Resources:

Podcast Suggestion

Playfully connect on a deeper level

Empathy fuels connections between people.

This game is simple. You pick a card and tell your story, from the everyday to the fantastic. Afterwards, the listeners engage with your story by throwing the dice and exploring elements of their human experience.

The empathy game encourages sharing, listening, and engaging with our fellow humans. It’s the active act of recognition and vulnerability that brings us closer together, and what could be better than that.

Talk Suggestion

How To Approach Self-Development

Book: How to Know a Person: The art of seeing others deeply and being deeply seen.

Podcast Recommendation

Flourishing unfiltered podcast

Tackling loneliness, self-doubt, and overwhelm in business – The podcast for high achievers who seek a professional life that feels as good as it looks and are tired of feeling like they’re the only ones struggling on their journey towards success.

An honest and inspiring podcast conversation about entrepreneurship and being the leader you need to be to fulfill your dreams.

Remember:

Saying goes that everything you do during NYE you will be doing throughout the year.

Here’s to a joyful, emotionally intelligent, and connected end to 2024!

Warmly,

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