Welcome to the Elevated Edit podcast.

I'm your host, Blakely Ramsey, and the goal of this podcast is to discuss all things personal development, wellness, and the art of editing your life in an elevated way.

From mastering morning routines to mastering your mindset, we're going to sift through the noise and empower you to take elevated action.

Make sure you catch the show notes for all the details.

Enjoy the show.

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Elevated Edit podcast.

I don't know about y'all, but my text and my emails the week before Thanksgiving and the week after Thanksgiving are filled with sales, holiday sales, all the things which I love.

I typically keep myself a little wish list that I buy from during Black Friday sales.

My angel trees, family gifts, different things like that.

I wait and I spend like the majority of my money on those sales.

But then I feel like marketing shifts from those holiday sales.

It's almost like it skips the whole meaning of the holiday season and it goes straight into New Year.

New you, starting on January 1st, change your whole life.

You know, the messaging is very, if you just buy this one thing or if you just do this one thing, your whole life will change on January 1st.

And I feel like we have also been conditioned to kind of fall in line with that marketing mentality where it's like, okay, I'm going to set myself these really big New Year's goals, And starting on January 1st, I'm a new woman.

My whole life is going to change.

But what I found for me was that while these New Year's resolutions sounded great in theory, in practice they often left me feeling more stressed out and more more overwhelmed than inspired.

I would either set these huge goals and then fail in a couple days or a couple weeks and get really down on myself and just be like, well, I'm just not meant to ever have X, Y and Z, whatever the goal was, or I would accomplish the goal.

And this was usually kind of in line with losing weight.

And I feel like this was kind of like a yo yo thing for me.

But I would, I would lose the weight, you know, come out with the bang, go like hardcore, all the things, lose the weight.

And then I would keep it off for a month.

And once that diet that, you know, I bought back in December, that diet plan, once I stopped doing that, I hadn't changed any of my habits.

And so I went right back to where I was before.

And if you are like me, a high achieving, multi passionate woman, I have learned that big, vague resolutions just don't serve me what does serve me is creating a clear vision for my life and then working backwards from that to make it happen.

And one of the problems that I found with resolutions was that resolutions for me often came from a place of pressure and guilt and not from a place of clarity.

So, like I said, I would set these huge, unrealistic goals, and they would leave me completely defeated when I didn't accomplish them.

So I realized this was happening.

And in 2024, I didn't set New Year's resolutions for myself.

Instead, this past year, I shifted my focus from massive resolutions to setting a clear vision for myself and then working backwards from that.

So I didn't focus on the outcome.

I focused on the skills, habits, and mindset that I needed to build along the way.

And it worked.

This year, I feel like I have grown more than the past five years combined.

It has been such a transformational year.

So many things have fallen into place that I haven't even really announced yet.

And overall, it's just felt very aligned.

It's felt very easy.

It's been a very fun year.

It hasn't been a year filled with, like, work that I didn't feel comfortable doing or obligations that I didn't feel comfortable doing.

It was just a good, light year.

I'm not saying it was always, like, the easiest.

Obviously, I still worked very hard, but it all just felt kind of like I was in the flow.

And so I understand.

And this is, like, kind of my pet peeve with podcasters sometimes is they say these really vague things, and then they don't actually share their own personal experiences.

They don't actually share what they're doing.

So today, I'm going to give y'all my 2025 vision and then show you how it's different from a New Year's resolution.

Because instead of just focusing on the goals, I'm going to be focusing on the skills, habits, and mindset that I need to build along the way in order to make these things actually happen.

So my 2025 vision is this.

Like, this is literally how it's written out in my.

I've got a 2025 Google Doc, and this is exactly what it says at the top.

In 2025, I want to focus on growing my brand through my podcast, releasing a transformative course in March, and hosting an elevated event in the fall.

So, to me, that vision still kind of teeters on New Year's resolutions.

And in the past, I would have taken that list and I would have sat down and been like, okay, what are all the things I need to do to be a top podcaster, to release a course, to host an event, and I would have dove straight into it.

I would have probably been stressed out the whole year.

And the sad part is, is I probably would have accomplished the goals and I probably would have done all the things, but I would have done it in the hardest way possible because I wasn't changing myself, I was just chasing a goal.

So instead of focusing on who I needed to become in order to be a top podcaster, or focusing on who I needed to become in order to host a really high level event, I would have just dove straight into the things.

And I do think there is some power in that kind of facing your fears head on, diving right in.

I think it can definitely help you grow very quickly if you dive right in, you know, put your feet to the fire.

But I also feel like there is a, an ease and a calm and an alignment when you change yourself versus chasing a goal.

And so let me explain, because I might not have explained that very well.

This is how I'm setting myself up for success and this is how I'm shifting from, okay, those goals that I used to would have just made my New Year's resolutions.

Instead, I'm focusing on what I need to do, what I need to change, what I need to implement in order to be the type of person that can achieve those goals.

So, so I'm focusing on knowledge and skill building.

So I have a list of books, of courses, of podcasts that I plan to listen to next year.

Like, I literally have a calendar, I have an agenda.

I've got like, my books lined out by month, I've got my courses lined out by month because I need to turn into the type of person who is a top podcaster, who can bring value to a high level event, who can release a transformative course.

There's still some habits and discipline habits that I need to work on.

And so instead of just telling myself, okay, I'm going to accomplish this goal, I'm really honing in and I'm focusing on the things that I need to improve, the habits that I need to improve in myself.

So I'm doing this not just to learn, but I also need to understand what my audience wants and needs.

And if I am not taking other people's courses or reading other people's books or attending other people's events, I can't know what my audience wants.

So that's the first thing I'm working on.

Knowledge and Skill Building number two is networking and connection.

I am focusing in 2025 on intentionally getting into rooms with like minded individuals to build relationships and gain insights for my event and my course.

I have always been pretty good at networking.

I truly do believe that your network is your net worth.

But in the past I have been very dilly dally with my networking.

I just wanted to network with everyone, everywhere, all the time.

In 2025, I'm really going to laser focus on getting into the specific rooms, talking to the specific people that are doing exactly what I want to do, that are exactly where I want to be.

That is something that I'm definitely going to try to narrow down because like I said before, I would just want to network with everyone, everywhere, all the time.

And it did pay off.

You know, I definitely have a very, very rich network that I'm very thankful for, but I probably worked harder, not smarter for it.

I could have built the network in a more intentional way and instead of just building a network of people that I felt could do something for me, I could have really brought more value to said network.

And that's what I plan doing in 2025.

So I plan on showing up in the room, showing up in the conversations with the people who are already where I want to be and being like, hey, can I, how can I help you?

Like, how can I get in the same room with you?

How can I get on your team?

Whatever it is, that is what I'm focusing on.

Instead of focusing on the end results, I'm focusing on what do I need to do to get there?

Who do I need to be to get there?

Number three, personal growth and wellness.

Y'all know I'm all about personal growth, but to show up at 100% in 2025, I'm really prioritizing my personal care and wellness as far as taking care of my physical self, my mental, my emotional.

So gonna keep on with the daily walks.

I don't think the 10,000 step mornings are going anywhere.

Like I said, they're a huge time commitment, but they completely shift my whole entire day.

Mindful practices.

Will doesn't necessarily love this because he loves loud movies and music and he'll have his reels.

He will literally, he'll be sitting in the living room, have the TV on loud, like be on reels, and then he can have like another noise in the background and I just can't do it anymore.

Like, I would prefer honestly to sit in silence and because like, I think that my nervous system craves it.

It's like, can we please just be quiet for a second.

So I'm going to focus on those practices and focus on.

Focus on the routines that really fuel me once again.

Instead of focusing on this big, massive goal, if I just narrow down and focus on these little tiny things that will help me develop into the person who can do all the things that I'm wanting to do.

It's so much easier than constantly fighting and constantly chasing.

And then the fourth thing that I'm going to do, and this is a big one for me, I literally have down on my outline.

This is a big one for me.

Like, it says that I am sticking to pretty strict boundaries.

I feel like I'm someone who's never had great boundaries before, and implementing them in 2024 has not been easy.

Like, I've definitely had to have some really difficult conversations.

I have hurt people's feelings.

I feel like unintentionally I have pissed people off.

I guess that's the best way to put it.

I've definitely had relationships tested.

A lot of things have kind of, I don't know, been super uncomfortable this year, and I haven't been perfect at them.

Like I said, I'm new to this whole boundaries thing, and so I haven't always implemented my boundaries probably in the best way.

But I do feel like I've gotten a lot better at it.

And for me, it has been really healthy to say no on the forefront instead of get myself in a pickle and then feel pressured and feel obligated and have to scramble out of a commitment that I made because I shouldn't have made it in the first place.

Like, I have really tried to practice saying no.

And I know if you are someone who's great with boundaries, it sounds super simple, but for me, oh, my gosh, it's been so hard this year just knowing that it's okay to set boundaries and it's okay if people are upset about those boundaries.

Like, that's on them.

At the end of the day, you have to do what is right for you.

And if people are bothered by it, if it hurts their feelings, if it upsets them, that's perfectly okay.

But, like, you don't have to hold space for their reaction to your boundary.

And so that is what I'm really going to focus on in 2025.

And the reason for this, I don't just want to be the girl that says no to everything, but I want to keep my boundaries solid so that other people's agendas and other people's energy don't derail my focus.

I do sometimes feel like I.

And you can probably relate to this, but I self sabotage through other people.

So right before I will reach a goal, someone will ask something of me.

That's a huge time commitment, or they'll come to me with a huge personal problem, and I'll just drop everything I'm doing and everything I'm focusing on.

I'll be like, oh, yeah, I'll help you, or oh, yeah, I'll do that.

And I can't be mad at them because at the end of the day, my boundaries are my responsibility.

But I could, now that I look back, I could 100% see all the times that I self sabotaged because that was almost to my goal.

And then I let other people's agendas, I let their bad day, I let their poor planning, I let all these things derail me.

And look, this is not to say that you shouldn't stop and help others.

Like, I.

I think the more we give, the more we get 100% all the time.

But y'all know what I'm talking about.

There is always going to be that person who asks a little bit too much or a little bit too often, or that person that pushes a little bit too far, or that person that just knows that because you are the way you are, if something is put on your plate, you're going to get it done, and it's going to be done to the best of your ability.

But that doesn't mean that it's your responsibility.

Like, that's been the hard thing for me this year to realize is like, just because I can do it and just because I'm good at it doesn't mean it's my responsibility.

And that realization has kind of came to me a couple of times this year, and it's been like, oh, well, that's kind of freeing to have that thought.

And like I said, I don't want to turn into the girl that says no to everything, but I do want for people to, you know, I guess, quote unquote, my reputation for someone to say, oh, yeah, I asked Blakely and she said no.

And I want whoever it is to be like, yeah, she says no to quite a bit.

Like, she's got a pretty narrow focus.

Like, that's 100% what I want my reputation to be.

I want to be known as someone who works hard and is disciplined and is very consistent and doesn't stretch herself then and doesn't say yes to everything and, you know, has discipline and boundaries.

I have no problem with that.

Now, this time last year, I did.

I had a ton of guilt around it, but I have released the majority of that guilt, and I feel so much better.

And I feel very at peace about saying no to things, because I know how much good can come from putting up boundaries.

I've seen it.

It's.

It's been a game changer.

I got off on a little tangent about boundaries, but I wanted to show y'all how I'm shifting from that New Year's resolution to becoming the person that I needed to be.

And even with boundaries, that's such a good example where, you know, before, I would have set these New Year's resolutions, but I wasn't doing any work on implementing boundaries.

So as I'm working towards my resolutions and my goals, I have all these incoming questions and incoming requests and incoming demands from other people.

And because I didn't work on my boundaries and I didn't become someone who respects her boundaries, I was just saying yes to everything.

And then before I knew it, I had 200 things on my plate that were for other people, and I had zero time to actually work on my goals.

And so that is why this vision is so important.

And that's why vision beats resolutions, is because resolutions focus on what you think you should do.

So I should lose weight.

I should start a business.

I should remodel the house.

But a vision focuses on who you want to become.

So when you're clear on your vision, you can actually take intentional steps that align with it, and that goes back to those skills, habits, and connections.

Instead of focusing on the big picture and the big overwhelming thing and feeling like you have to dive in and feeling like you have to change your whole life in one day.

Just focus on the tiny, tiny, everyday steps that it takes to become the person who has that.

So if resolutions have not served you in the past, just try this this year.

Not saying that you have to overhaul everything, that you can't just do New Year's resolutions.

Or if you want to watch me for a year, like I said, I have put my goals out there.

Y'all are hearing them in real time.

These are my actual, real 20, 25 goals I have put out there, how I'm going to accomplish them.

So watch me for a year and see if it works, and then maybe try this next year.

Write down your vision for the next year, and then ask yourself, what skills, habits, and connections do I need to make to make this vision a reality?

And then focus on those.

So I'm going to repeat that action step one more time.

Instead of focusing on your resolutions this year, try writing down your vision for the next year and then ask yourself what skills, habits and connections do I need to make this vision a reality?

And then you can just focus on those things and a little reminder.

It's going to be super boring if you're someone like me who probably has a little adhd.

Like I said, I'm very multi passionate.

I have a lot of different things I want to do.

This is a lot easier said than done sometimes because it's hard to sit down and focus on the tiny everyday things because I want to.

I want big, I want exciting, I want fresh.

But narrowing down and focusing on those tiny skills, habits and connections every day has been so huge for me and I think that it would be super transformational for you as well because it just creates a lot of flow, a lot of clarity and a lot of ease.

So this year, try skipping the pressure of resolutions and focusing on creating a vision that inspires you.

Work backwards, take intentional action and give yourself grace along the way.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend who might need this message for 2025.

And if you feel so compelled, please leave a review.

It helps the podcast reach more amazing women just like you.

I'll see you in the next episode.

Thank you for tuning in to the Elevated Edit podcast.

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