Imagine Yourself Nailing Your New Year’s Resolutions

New Year. New Decade. New You!

Imagine unwrapping a big, beautiful New Year’s Gift—the Ultimate Digital Player for your life! There are three big, shiny buttons to help you Fast Forward into the new decade…

PAUSE:

Everyone has a busy schedule. As crazy as it sounds, sometimes, the way to be most productive is to Pause. Give yourself time to rest, recover, and refresh so that you can be your best self in the new year.

REPLAY:

Press the Replay button and examine the past year. Concentrate on what went right so you can duplicate it in 2020. Don’t be afraid to reflect upon what went wrong. There’s plenty of opportunities to make positive and strategic changes this time around.

RESET:

You can begin this decade with a new vision and a fresh start. Use the mistakes of the past and the wisdom of the present to propel you forward in the future. From a healthier lifestyle to better time management to having fewer distractions, we've discovered there are some basic keys to help unlock any door to a new you. Join us as we get real about our own successes and failures with past resolutions and strategize for the new year to come.

For more specific goals, you may also want to check out our podcasts on better finances, balance, organization, parenting, career and more. There are also episodes on beating burnout, procrastination, loneliness, negative thinking, and other life hacks.

Here at Imagine Yourself, we’ve dedicated this episode to the New Year and to the New You!

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Sandy Kovach [00:00:01]:

Life can throw a lot at you, but imagine if your life were different, better, not because of what's coming at you, but because of what's coming from you. Let's get there together. Join us and imagine yourself.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:15]:

Ready for a new decade at Imagine Yourself? Hello. I'm Lanee.

Sandy Kovach [00:00:18]:

And this is Sandy, and I can't believe that it's gonna be 2020, and that's just the promise of so many new things.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:27]:

Yes. New year, new decade, new I don't know. I felt like when I was a little kid, I thought that 2020 was gonna be some futuristic land that we'd be living in. But, I mean, we still just drive our cars and go to work and do our thing, but

Sandy Kovach [00:00:38]:

There's nobody flying around.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:39]:

Nobody flying around, but it is exciting to have 2020. And, Sandy, it's exciting to have 2020 New Year's resolutions.

Sandy Kovach [00:00:49]:

So that's what we're talking about today is resolutions even though Not everybody makes them, and for sure, not everybody keeps them. Right?

Lanée Blaise [00:00:57]:

Well, that's true. But that's why today, we are imagining what if Your New Year's resolutions came true this time. What would your actual resolutions be? We are truly imagining ourselves With this being a reality, not just something that we already give up before we start.

Sandy Kovach [00:01:17]:

Because that's true. Ever bit of research about the maybe that's more correct. Okay. So everything I've seen says it's, like, February 1st or February 15th. I've even seen some that say January 15th, people give up on their resolutions. So it's almost like you said. We go in with the expectation that this isn't really gonna work on anyway. I'm just gonna make my little list of, oh, yeah.

Sandy Kovach [00:01:39]:

I wanna lose weight or I wanna be more organized, but you don't really think it's gonna happen.

Lanée Blaise [00:01:44]:

Yeah. So part of the key is believing that it is going to happen, and that's what we like to do at imagine yourself. But the other part, I think, is to be specific. Don't just have little 2 word resolutions like do better, be better, lose weight, be healthy, quit smoking. The no. Let's have more Fulfilling intentional phrasing of it. I don't want you to have a full paragraph because that's just too hard to remember, but I really want It to be like a more thought out, full bodied phrase, like a full bodied wine.

Sandy Kovach [00:02:17]:

Wow. Okay. And with your voice The way it is because you're cold when you say full bodied wine.

Lanée Blaise [00:02:21]:

Full bodied.

Sandy Kovach [00:02:22]:

You do sound like you are selling some wine there or something. But Something.

Lanée Blaise [00:02:26]:

Because, yeah, that that's my New Year's resolution. I'll I'll put it in a full body phrase. I would like for my voice to come back to its normal. So

Sandy Kovach [00:02:35]:

Although it does sound very nice, but I do like your other voice even better.

Lanée Blaise [00:02:39]:

Even better. Yes.

Sandy Kovach [00:02:40]:

So let's get to these things. Now I Kinda came to the same conclusion. I found this website called developing good habits .com, and they are talking about measurable, Specific, actionable, some of the words that they use, and that's exactly what you were saying. Right?

Lanée Blaise [00:02:57]:

Yes. Because if you can't say out loud In a complete way, what it is that you're trying to attain, then that's why you would very likely give up. For example, like we said with Lose weight. What if instead of just saying lose weight, what if you say, in 2020, I promise to lose weight by exercising physically each day And exercising self discipline each day when it comes to choosing and purchasing healthy foods and activities and beverages. Things like that that will keep my

Sandy Kovach [00:03:31]:

eye on. Good for you, though.

Lanée Blaise [00:03:33]:

I heard that statistic that a little glass of red wine before you go to bed can help you lose weight, But don't go crazy.

Sandy Kovach [00:03:39]:

Don't Don't go crazy. Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:03:40]:

Don't go too in moderation.

Sandy Kovach [00:03:41]:

Moderation. It's all about moderation. Measurable. Measurable

Lanée Blaise [00:03:45]:

Increments. It's about being specific. It's about believing. It's about phrasing. And, Sandy, I feel like we should make a resolution In 2020 to have a podcast that we we might have to get an expert, but where we dedicate it to healthier lifestyles and actual ways that We can implement those because we have all kinds of topics on bettering ourselves, but I don't know that we have one specifically on nutrition.

Sandy Kovach [00:04:11]:

And We don't. So that will be something that we do. But Before we even go any further, we should note that so many of the things that we talk about, you can hit more specifically in Some of our other podcasts like organization, we just had 1 on decluttering.

Lanée Blaise [00:04:26]:

Yes. Decluttering your home, decluttering your life. That was mine, Sandy. If I hadn't have already had that in 2019, then that would have been my resolution moving forward in 2020. Our guest, Nadia Audette, came to my home and we got my home was okay, but it was my basement.

Sandy Kovach [00:04:44]:

Mhmm.

Lanée Blaise [00:04:45]:

And I'd been talking about this basement for six Years.

Sandy Kovach [00:04:48]:

Wow.

Lanée Blaise [00:04:49]:

Yeah. And I never made it as a New Year's resolution per se, but I did just have it as this goal. And I guess so my New Year's resolution will be to keep up with it, the practices and the systems that Nadia helped me put in place.

Sandy Kovach [00:05:02]:

Mhmm.

Lanée Blaise [00:05:03]:

That's what I want to continue to do moving forward. Everything has its proper place. That was a great episode for anyone Who struggles with organization even if it is just in one little part of your house like the basement or one little part of your life.

Sandy Kovach [00:05:17]:

Right. And I think when we first started talking about that was An episode even prior to that on self discipline, which is really what helps make those New Year's resolutions A reality. So you can go back to check that one out, but that's when you first brought up the decluttering. And I have to give you credit because you said, okay. Here is my thing I need self discipline with. And I did mine, and mine was to become more healthy. So you actually took the step of hiring somebody to help you out. Now I have gotten better since our podcast on self discipline As far as walking, but I haven't really and here we are in the midst of the holiday season as we're recording this, and I can promise you I've had in the past week, Like, maybe a couple of dozen sugar cookies

Lanée Blaise [00:05:57]:

Temptation.

Sandy Kovach [00:05:58]:

Yeah. Something. Yeah. Or Reese's trees or whatever. You know? It's just maybe this isn't a great time to be thinking about Cutting back on sugar, but that is something that I'm not there. So I'm partially to my goal, but I feel like you really took a huge step towards yours.

Lanée Blaise [00:06:13]:

Well, I think remember too, you still may be better than you are thinking because this is a very tempting time, and people do give you even treats as a gift and things like that. So, Again, it might be about that measurable standard where you're just taking in less of it. You don't eat the whole sugar cookie, and, You know, you break it up or What? No. You don't cut it into little thorns or something like that. What? Oh, man. I've been doing that because we got this big Cookie bouquet from a friend of ours because he

Sandy Kovach [00:06:38]:

How big are the cookies? Wait a minute.

Lanée Blaise [00:06:40]:

They're as big as my hand.

Sandy Kovach [00:06:41]:

Okay. Alright. Well, you were talking big sugar cookies then. Alright.

Lanée Blaise [00:06:44]:

Okay. So I cut them in.

Sandy Kovach [00:06:45]:

Okay. Alright. Because I was thinking, you know, it's normal cookie, and you're cutting the cookie. I was like, wow. Okay.

Lanée Blaise [00:06:50]:

Hey. I mean

Sandy Kovach [00:06:51]:

Whatever you gotta do. Everything's in your job. I admire it. I'm not I don't admire it.

Lanée Blaise [00:06:55]:

But But you gotta start some and that's that part 2 we're saying. Sometimes you have to bring in a professional, whether that be a dietitian or Go to a boot camp and get your exercise on or like I did with the professional organizer. Sometimes you can do it with a friend. Sometimes you can do it cold turkey by yourself. There are so many ways that we learned in that self discipline episode that you can Get things accomplished.

Sandy Kovach [00:07:20]:

Exactly. So I found this quote. The New Year stands before us like a chapter in a book waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals. Yes. So alright. We define it.

Lanée Blaise [00:07:35]:

Yes. Specifically.

Sandy Kovach [00:07:36]:

Specifically. It's not like I wanna lose weight. I wanna lose weight by cutting back on sugar, and here's how I'm gonna do that. Go cold turkey on sugar for 30 days. Or if you don't wanna do anything that drastic, no desserts or whatever it is. You gotta say specifically what you're gonna do, For how long you're gonna do it.

Lanée Blaise [00:07:54]:

Yes. And you're gonna get the people around you to jump on board with you Even if they don't have the discipline to do it for themselves, please make sure that they are not tempting you to come to the other side.

Sandy Kovach [00:08:07]:

They're baking and giving you big cookie bouquets

Lanée Blaise [00:08:10]:

Yes. Exactly. That or or, like, shop we were talking, in the blog because we do have our blog also on imagine yourself podcast .com about Shopaholics.

Sandy Kovach [00:08:21]:

Mhmm.

Lanée Blaise [00:08:21]:

So, again, if you know that you have issues with shopping too much, and this is that time of year as well. Right? And you want to make sure that you're not putting yourself in tempting situations on a regular basis and that your shopping buddy is not Pulling you into the dark side Mhmm. And you don't want to go that route. There are ways that you can make sure that you Very kindly try to get the people in your life, your loved ones to help you towards your goals Yeah. As opposed to pulling you away from them because We had an episode on finances.

Sandy Kovach [00:08:59]:

Yeah. We did. That's another big one this time of year. Yes. That's, like, almost equivalent with the losing weight thing.

Lanée Blaise [00:09:06]:

Exactly. And you just really have to, again, define things. We had Kemballa Evans was our Guest there, she's a financial coach. And you said that's another one of the resolutions. You have to start plugging in the different things that you're gonna do differently. Brent Lee, you can't do everything the same and end up in a different spot.

Sandy Kovach [00:09:28]:

So when you're writing down your goal, Your resolution, whatever you wanna call it, start with an action verb. Lose weight's probably too general, but walking every day. Okay.

Lanée Blaise [00:09:39]:

Yes. An action verb in a positive direction. So instead of, like, saying, like, maybe what you're not gonna do, say

Sandy Kovach [00:09:47]:

what you

Lanée Blaise [00:09:48]:

are gonna do in Positive way.

Sandy Kovach [00:09:49]:

Right. So for finances, writing down everything I spend or for if somebody wants to be more organized, They are going to declutter their office. Or like Nadia taught us, to start small. Start with 1 little area and and work our way around. Because I think another thing that leads to failure is that we have these big visions of the end. Like, okay. So my house is gonna be perfectly organized, or I'm gonna be Two sizes smaller. Instead of saying by the month of June, I want to lose x number of pounds, and just small little goals, things like that.

Lanée Blaise [00:10:26]:

I agree. And, also, sometimes you can pair things with other things too. I know this is gonna sound crazy, But honest to god, I lost 10 pounds while I was doing the decluttering in my home.

Sandy Kovach [00:10:43]:

Seriously?

Lanée Blaise [00:10:44]:

Yes. And it was something about the fact that while this is something Nadia had me doing too. It's like kind of subconsciously, but While we were going through and decluttering different rooms, she wouldn't have us take long breaks. So we were doing that little thing where we were snacking, and it would have to be healthy snacks. You know, she had asked me to make sure I got some nuts and some fruit And some cheeses and different little bite sized things and some plain yogurt without all the sugar and stuff

Lanée Blaise [00:11:16]:

And just little things that you could eat kind of fast But don't get all dirty and you're not spreading out a whole big thing.

Sandy Kovach [00:11:22]:

Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:22]:

And I we were doing that each day that we would declutter a different area of the basement, And I kinda stayed on that system even after she finished. And isn't that interesting that I lost the clutter and I lost the weight?

Sandy Kovach [00:11:37]:

Wow. So that's another habit that does work for people. I think it's the smaller meals and keeping away from processed Food and stuff like that.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:46]:

It's about what you're purchasing. Everything is just intentional to just take that extra second or so to think about what you're doing, and is it in line with what you want?

Sandy Kovach [00:11:59]:

And another thing that we touched on, I think in an entire episode that I wanna bring up is relating to habits. It's how you start your day.

Lanée Blaise [00:12:09]:

Yes.

Sandy Kovach [00:12:10]:

And there's this famous book, I think, Make Your Bed Little Things That Can Change Your Life, And it's written by a former Navy Seal, an admiral, and he I think he gave a speech, like a graduation speech to a university, and It went viral, and he actually ended up writing a book based on it. And it just started with okay. Here's this little habit of making your bed. And he, I think, went on to say it doesn't It have to be your bed. It could be something else. But that's something very simple we all can do. But the fact that we accomplished this, And it gets us in that mindset of this task is already completed, and I haven't even walked out of the bedroom. And then when you come back home, even if you did had a crappy day and you didn't get a lot of stuff done.

Sandy Kovach [00:12:50]:

Well, hey. There's my nice made bed. Welcoming you home. Welcoming you home. So it's all about starting your day right and developing habits. And whether it's making you better, whatever it is, something that small can just have a spiral effect.

Lanée Blaise [00:13:05]:

I agree. That leads to something else. So we didn't discuss this in particular in any previous episode, But the concept of time. Time is something that we are all given in equal quantities, And we are tasked to make the most of our time. And so, like I said, we didn't have an episode on time management or anything like that, but we did have An episode on procrastination. We did have an episode on burnout, and those are kinda 2 opposites. Procrastination is something where We can get caught up by distractions.

Sandy Kovach [00:13:43]:

Mhmm.

Lanée Blaise [00:13:43]:

And and whether they be things or electronics or people or, like, those time vampires, they come and get you. And we wanna make sure that we are stopping ourselves or even if we do have Little time vampire things that we want to do that we know eat up our time. Put a timer on or something to at least have an endpoint to it so you don't end up the whole day is gone, And all you've done is checked your Facebook or your your phone and things like that. Yeah. But the other aspect is burnout, And we wanna make sure that we're not overdoing it in the things that do matter to the point where we no longer Enjoy those things or so burnt out we're no longer any good at it. So balance is something we talked a lot about this year as well, And that's a great resolution that you can't, you know, need to use an action verb. You can't just say, I wanna be balanced. But how do you wanna be balanced? What areas of your life Do you want to improve?

Sandy Kovach [00:14:41]:

Josh Schneider, who we had a couple of weeks ago, who's an entrepreneur, and he talked about The fact that we need to kinda take 5 minutes even if it's just on our commute just to sort of reset because there are so many distractions and things Coming at us, that can be a huge help in finding balance, and maybe that can give you the action verb that you need. Because sometimes when you say, okay. I want a more balanced life. You really don't have any idea how to get there.

Lanée Blaise [00:15:10]:

Exactly. Yeah. He talked about 5 minutes. I ask anyone who is listening right now, whether it's 5 minutes or even if it's 30 seconds, Can you sit your little self down for a minute and visualize, you know, doing and being the way that you want to be? Can you take A minute a minute out of your schedule and out of your distractions and focus on this resolution that we are Trying to pump you up for. Because if you can't see it and if you can't take time to imagine it, then how in the world are you going to attain it? You don't even know what you're looking for. Time is valuable, and we are only asking for 1 or 2 minutes to dream and imagine for your own betterment.

Sandy Kovach [00:15:55]:

Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:15:56]:

I believe that we gotta have a shift. Resolutions can be powerful. Resolutions can be attained. If we're choosing and focusing on the right resolution and if we're really believing in it and taking it seriously. Mhmm. So even in the bible, in Matthew 7:7, it says ask And it shall be given. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be open to you.

Lanée Blaise [00:16:18]:

It still requires that you do need to ask and seek and knock And not just halfway believe it, or in the words of Will Rogers, even if you're on the right track, You'll get run over if you just sit there

Sandy Kovach [00:16:33]:

That's right.

Lanée Blaise [00:16:33]:

You know? You've got to get up and think about what you want, And you gotta word these resolutions. You gotta expect them to come true. You gotta think that 2020 is such a cool year and a cool number. Why not?

Sandy Kovach [00:16:47]:

Right. So we're starting with knowing what you wanna do by getting some downtime and just thinking about it, whether it's making a list, A physical list, whether you're doing it on your phone or paper. If you can't do any of that, just like you said, 30 seconds to think about. And sometimes there's just so much going on. Your kids are demanding, or your job is demanding, and this is demanding, and that is demanding. But Josh recommended the Commute time, if you have that, maybe that's the time you kinda decompress and you think about it. So alright. So you've come up with do you think it's bad to come up with more than a couple of resolutions? Is that too much? Is that gonna overwhelm you?

Lanée Blaise [00:17:25]:

I think it is. Remember that part about we're talking about you can pair things together, but I feel like After you get to 4 so even if you pair 2 together and pair another 2 together, I think, like, once you get past that 4 or 5 range, It becomes overwhelming Mhmm. And it's too much for the one mind to focus on intently. But I do like the idea of If someone wants to try to get more than 1 squeezed in there, that's okay. And I really love everybody loves a partner. I love partnering With the resolutions with each other, and I love partnering with other people who are on the same page and trying to do the same resolutions as you.

Sandy Kovach [00:18:06]:

Fair enough. Resolution. However you wanna do it with a partner, without. And there's gonna be a lot of companies also who are going to be trying to sell you their product or service to partner with them, you know, so to speak. And that's not always a bad thing. You just have to be discerning because not all of it's legit, but some of it could be very helpful. Take that and say, alright.

Sandy Kovach [00:18:29]:

Well, there's gonna be a lot of offers Rolling my way for gym memberships, or there's going to be weight watchers or different apps and different things that are gonna be Flooding your Facebook feed and everything else. Well, maybe look into 1, or look into having somebody join a gym with you, or go on a walk with you, or take this January barrage that you're gonna get from marketing

Lanée Blaise [00:18:55]:

Yes.

Sandy Kovach [00:18:56]:

And maybe Pick something out. It's not all bad. It's and they're gonna be deals out there. So

Lanée Blaise [00:19:02]:

I agree. Use it to your advantage.

Sandy Kovach [00:19:05]:

You're just finding out Something that's right for you. And it doesn't have to be taking advantage of marketing and spending money on things. It can be something that you can do Without spending money, because maybe finances

Lanée Blaise [00:19:17]:

is your big one. And what if you wanted to partner finances with weight loss? Your way doesn't necessarily have to be going to a gym. Your way might be deciding that you're going to not spend any money on junk food. So that way you're doing good on your budget, and you're doing good on your fitness

Sandy Kovach [00:19:34]:

Yep. It's all about whatever works in your lifestyle, and it's all about looking at the plan, Writing specific goals down and remember the action

Lanée Blaise [00:19:42]:

Yes. Word. And stay positive. You know that's what we're all about over here.

Sandy Kovach [00:19:46]:

Yeah. That's right. As positive as you can. And know That there are gonna be challenges, and just expect that that it's not gonna be a cakewalk that, okay. I'm gonna write this down, and I'm gonna succeed. You're gonna fall back. And when you fail, don't give up. That's the other thing.

Lanée Blaise [00:19:59]:

Don't beat yourself up either. Yeah. We are human, and we are meant to Get back up, brush ourselves off, try again, and you're not the only one who is dealing with a little setback every once in a while on it.

Sandy Kovach [00:20:12]:

And you can learn from the setback. It's like, okay. So how do I screw myself up there? Oh, I see what I did. I went out to dinner without having an idea of what I wanted to order. Yeah. When I before I went, so I ended up ordering something that was, like, real creamy sauce and really spoiled my weight loss plan. But next time maybe you go online and you look at the restaurant you're going to and you they post calories and stuff now on a lot of, menus, and There's information. You know? You can have a plan, or if you're going to a party, instead of going starving, if you know they're gonna be serving Fattening food? Eat an apple and drink some water before you go so you're a little bit just little tips like that.

Sandy Kovach [00:20:51]:

And those kind of tips are all over the Internet. And Like you said, we'll be doing more on nutrition. But whether it's time management or clutter, there's a 1000000 resources out there. Educate yourself on what you wanna do. Have that information and have a plan in your head before these temptations come. But if you still screw up because, you know what, you're probably gonna Yeah. But we can

Lanée Blaise [00:21:13]:

learn so much about what not to do

Sandy Kovach [00:21:17]:

That's right.

Lanée Blaise [00:21:17]:

After that happens, and that is part of the process as well.

Sandy Kovach [00:21:22]:

Yep. As we've talked about before in other podcasts, failing forward.

Lanée Blaise [00:21:26]:

I feel like we did a great wrap up of the year In general, at Imagine Yourself and the different things that we really were striving, we started we launched in 2019 and tried to make sure that we focused on topics that would better people's lives and lift people up. And I think as a takeaway today, super simple like Nike. Just do it. Just do it. And we love to hear from you also. We really want to encourage anyone to reach out to us on imagine yourself podcast.com, and just let us know some of the things that you are Struggling with or things that you'd like to have as topics for 2020, things that you're interested in, things that inspire you, Guests that might be good for the show, we want to hear back from you, and we just want to Get that dialogue Yeah. And energy going.

Sandy Kovach [00:22:22]:

Absolutely. So your resolution?

Lanée Blaise [00:22:25]:

My resolution For 2020 is to take better control of my calendar and make Sure that I am saying yes to the things that I should be saying yes to and that I am confidently and without guilt saying no to the things that I need to say No too. How about you, Sandy?

Sandy Kovach [00:22:47]:

As far as the health goals are concerned, I wanted to break them down into practical steps. So I think I need to do better in meal planning. I think that's a big fail on my part as far as nutrition goes. And the other thing that I wanna work on is less distractions, and I need to have a real plan about that. And that will also include kind of a data cleanup sort of thing. Like, whether it's just cleaning out your friends list on Facebook, or whether it's even going into your Computer and saying with files that don't need to be there anymore. Everything is a potential distraction. And for somebody that spends a lot of time in front of a screen, the less That's there.

Sandy Kovach [00:23:28]:

It's gonna be better. So those are my 2 things. I don't think I pair those.

Lanée Blaise [00:23:31]:

But I do like the fact that they are all about cutting out the unnecessary. Just like you. Yeah. Yeah. Whether that be food, whether that be distractions, whether that be things that, in my case, that I'm supposed to do or not supposed to do, Cutting out the junk.

Sandy Kovach [00:23:48]:

So you see what we did there? We didn't just do a general big goal. We did little specific goals. It could be part of a big goal. Doesn't sound as grand, but it's more realistic.

Lanée Blaise [00:24:02]:

More attainable. So overall, We just want to truly thank you for listening to this episode and to all of our podcasts back in the previous year. We wanna wish you the very best in 2020, and we hope that you'll continue to get inspiration from future episodes at Imagine Yourself. So we end with Imagine your resolutions coming true.

Sandy Kovach [00:24:27]:

Thanks for listening. Now we'd like to hear from you. Got an idea for the show? Wanna share your story or just say hello? Make sure you connect with us. You can do that at imagine yourself acast.com, and we'll talk to you again next time when we have something new to imagine.

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