1/8/25
A beautiful thing we get to do at the beginning of each year is to reset. Actually, this is something you get to do at any time in the year, whenever you decide you want a reset – to reinvent yourself – to redo – to start over. You can do this at any time. But we’re talking about this now, at the first part of January 2025 because this is when most people regularly take an assessment and reset. People typically reflect on what went well in the past year, what could be better, and then set intentions for the coming year. They will assess things like their major accomplishments, personal and spiritual growth, challenges or obstacles they overcame, areas where they want to improve, key relationships, overall well-being, career progress or success, their financial position, and any other life goals they had set the previous year.
This is something I do with my Life Coaching clients that has proved to be instrumental to bring clarity and confidence in their life. It helps them to decide what they want to keep and bring into the new year, what they want to leave behind, and what they want to create new. I want you to have this tool, as well, so you can make 2025 the most fulfilling, abundant life possible. In this episode, I’m literally going to walk you through this Life-assessment tool. So, pause this recording and grab a piece of paper and something to write with if you need to.
The way we assess is to go through 12 areas or segments of our life. But before we go through specific areas, we want to do a few quick exercises that primes our brain for the full assessment. See, this is necessary because the brain is bent towards the negative. It’s going to want to remind you mostly of the things that didn’t go well so that you’ll avoid that in the future. The problem is, if we allow it, your brain is going to focus only on the negative and conveniently forget all the amazing ways you grew or changed or succeeded. Fortunately, your brain is more likely to repeat these positive ways you’ve grown because of the third part of the brain’s motivational triad – to operate in efficiency – which makes it repeat patterns of behavior. But it’s probably not going to remind you of these wonderful things. And focusing on all the negative things will just make you depressed and discouraged. That’s not a good way to start your assessment…or your year. So, we’re going to do a few things to prime our brain first.
The first exercise is to write down five wins from this past year. We would call anything that represented positive growth – whether that be physical, emotional, or spiritual – a “win.”
We want to celebrate our achievements for sure, no matter how big or small they are. Each achievement, each goal set, each victory won is a testament to our resilience, to our growth, to our determination, to our strength. We want to write them down. We want to say them out loud. We want to share them with each other. To share them with our loved ones. We want to honor these triumphs. Why? Because we are stacking evidence for ourselves – for our brains - that we can do what we say we're going to do. We can accomplish goals. That we are resilient. That we are strong. Again, we're stacking that evidence. Because a lot of times, especially when we are starting something new, our brains get afraid because it doesn't have evidence that we've that we can do it. It's like, wow, we've never done that before, surely we're going to die. A bear is going to eat us. Yep, that’s our brain at work in default. So, the more we can stack evidence to our brain to say, “Hey, we've done this before.” So even if it's the little things like, “man, I wanted to go eat that bag of chips and I didn't.” Or “I wanted to fuss at, yell at, my husband, and I didn't.” Right? Whatever that might be, we’re reminding our brains that we can do new things, we are capable, we are resilient, and doing new things is good.
Winners continue to win. Why? Because the RAS is going to prove it true that you are a winner. That you overcome. That you follow through.
The second exercise is to think about five lessons that you learned in the past year. It's important, also, to recognize the lessons we learned. And these might just be nuggets of wisdom that you have borne out of challenges. Or a spiritual lesson that you learned through a struggle. We do know that the Scripture says that God gets our attention in our adversity. That’s Job 36, verse 15. So what kind of lessons have you learned? This is where our growth track is; where we grow and evolve and become better versions of ourselves because of our circumstances - because of our experiences, good and bad.
Lastly, I want you to continue to reflect and identify any patterns or habits or behaviors that may have hindered your progress. Now, you may say, “Hey, Tricia, this doesn’t sound exactly positive. I thought we were recalling positive things so we could prime our brain.” Well, this is actually a very empowering exercise. Because, of course we know self-awareness is the key to change, right? We have to be aware before we can change anything. Recognizing and naming what obstacles have kept us from moving forward is bringing awareness and taking control by taking responsibility for our actions…then changing it. You are reminding your brain you are not at the effect of your emotions or your environment, or even other people’s thoughts, behaviors, or emotions. You are in control enough to see what personal patterns hindered your progress and make changes. Any time you take responsibility for yourself, now you are empowered. So, what are some obstacles that got in your way this year?
Ok, now that your brain is primed, it’s time to do a self-assessment using the Life Wheel. I’m going to describe it to you, and you can do this on a piece of paper. Or you can grab the Listener’s Guide which will have the life-wheel for you to print and fill out. It will include an explanation of each area to help you do this again and again each year in the future.
There are twelve areas that we're going to assess. With each area we will give it a score of one to 10 in satisfaction or agreement, with 10 being the most satisfying - or “I absolutely agree, absolutely yes.” And a onebeing low – “absolutely no, I disagree.” I’m going to give you the area to rate and then what would constitute a 10, the highest score. If you have a piece of paper, you can just write down the area to asses, and then you can give it a number one to 10 based on your what you understand.
So, area number one: Mental health. This would be a score of 10: I take full responsibility for my thoughts and regularly take negative thoughts captive. I purposefully create the way I experience my life by changing my thoughts.
Number two: Emotional health. This would be a 10: I take 100% of the responsibility for the way I feel at any given time. I do not blame others for my emotions. I do not stuff or ignore my emotions, but am willing to feel & process them.
In the past, I hosted a workshop focusing just on emotions. We discussed things like the origin of emotions – how our bodies use chemicals to create different emotions – and how you can, on purpose, create different chemical cocktails of emotions. How to move from emotional childhood – which most of us were conditioned to live in this state and still do until we’re taught differently – how to move from emotional childhood to emotional adulthood. We talked about how to manage your emotions around difficult people. And how to live in peace while someone else is emotionally out of control. And more. That workshop was golden and changed your lives. I promise. I think I might host another one in February so stay tuned for more information. Or better yet, get on my email list at triciazody.com and you’ll be the first to know when you can sign up for that. It’s free teaching by the way. I just love to share the knowledge!
Ok, back to the assessment. Number three: Spiritual health. On a scale of one to 10, I am taking time to cultivate my relationship with the Lord. I understand that my spiritual health is foundational for all other things. It is priority for me.
Number four: Physical health. My nutrition and physical fitness are a priority in my life. My lifestyle includes eating healthy foods and moving my body regularly.
Number five: Growth or resilience. A 10 would be: I look for opportunities to learn and grow. Even in adversity, I'm looking for the lessons so I can experience new growth and resilience.
Number six: Relationships. A 10 would be: I have meaningful connections with the people in my life. I set aside any expectations, set healthy boundaries, and stay in emotional adulthood.
Number seven: Agency. A 10 would be: I take ownership of what I do, say, believe, how I act, and what I think. I honor my independence and am careful to stay out of co-dependency and/or enmeshment.
Number eight: Finances. A 10 would be: I have a good understanding of how to create, spend and invest my finances. I trust that God is the supplier of all that I need.
Number nine: Recreation and rest. A 10 would be: I regularly plan for times of rest and play in my calendar. I seek out new ways to have fun.
Number ten: Physical Environment. A 10 would be: My home fills me with joy and gratitude. I am creating a safe space for myself and my people.
Number eleven: Time Management. A 10 here would be: I manage my time in a way that creates a healthy work/life balance. I do not overbook. I set goals regularly and keep my word to myself.
And finally, number twelve: Purpose. A 10 would be: I find my purpose by living in authenticity every day. I am settled in the truth that I am a human being, not a human doing. My purpose is directed by my Heavenly Father, not formed by the world.
So, how did you do? This life-assessment is eye-opening for so many. Mainly because I believe most people don’t do this each year. They just roll into the next year, carrying in old baggage – stuff they really don’t want, not realizing they have the power to leave it at the door. And most people also start the year feeling some dread, and that’s because they don’t know that they have so much more power to change their life, and they’ve just been living at the effect of their default brain all this time.
Friend, I want you to feel empowered. I want you to understand how God beautifully created your brain for change – neuroplasticity. And that’s exactly what you get to do for 2025 if you want to – change. This year can be radically different than anything you’ve ever experienced before if you want it to. So I’m going to come back next week and we’re going to finish out this life-assessment. I’m going to show you how to determine, plan, and execute those things you want to create and experience in your life in 2025. Meet me here next week with your life-wheel and let’s get after it! Your beautiful, fulfilling, abundant life is waiting!
Ready for some help making 2025 your best year yet? Life Coaching can get you there. Let’s have a brief chat so you can find out more about it and to see if we’re a good fit. You can book a free call on my calendar. The link is in the show notes.
Also, I’ve put a link in the show notes for this week’s Listener’s Guide that has the life assessment wheel on it for you to work through. Be sure to grab that.
And also, don’t forget my book, Another Beautiful Life, is now available on Amazon. Paperback and eBook. I’ll put the direct link to that in the show notes as well.
Have a wonderful week, friends. See you next Wednesday for the next episode of Another Beautiful Life.
SHOW NOTES:
January is when most people regularly take an assessment of their life and reset. A life-assessment is eye-opening for so many. Mainly because most people don’t do this each year. They just roll into the next year, carrying in old baggage not realizing they have the power to leave it at the door. Most people also start the year feeling some dread because they don’t know that they have so much more power to change their life, and they’ve just been living at the effect of their default brain all this time.
Today I’m going to take you – step by step - through the Life Assessment exercise, assessing 12 specific areas, so you can begin to change your life to live more fully and abundantly in 2025.
Are you wondering how Life Coaching works? Would you like a free, 30-minute session? Click this link to set up a Consult Call: https://calendly.com/triciazodylifecoach/30min
Get the free, printable Listener’s Guide here: https://www.triciazody.com/guide
Buy my book on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/hoPKsBO
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