Life is Delicious- Mindset Mastery, Midlife Empowerment, Joy, Purpose, Vitality, Inspiration, Women's Health

Reverse Engineering The New Year

• Marnie Martin- Midlife Mentor, Empowerment Coach, Happiness Expert, Best Selling Author • Season 1 • Episode 31

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New Year’s pressure doesn’t have to run the show. We’re flipping the script with a refreshing, research-backed approach to change that starts now—not on January 1—and centers on identity, clarity, and gentle momentum. Instead of chasing rigid resolutions, we map the person we want to become by December 31 and build small, supportive systems that make that identity feel natural and doable.

I share the vision behind my Midlife Manifesto and kick off an eight-part mini-series designed to help you craft your own. We explore why most resolutions fail—willpower fatigue, the brain’s resistance to sudden change, shame-driven goals, and cultural timing—and what to do instead: identity-based statements, self-compassion, and tiny daily actions that compound. You’ll get powerful reflection prompts to take stock of the year, examples of identity statements that stick, and a sample manifesto you can borrow while you write your own.

This conversation is for anyone navigating midlife transitions—divorce, empty nest, health shifts, or a quiet restlessness that says it’s time to grow. You’ll learn how to align choices with values, protect your energy with better boundaries, and choose presence over perfection. By the time the ball drops, you’ll already be living as the person you pictured, with a clear compass and meaningful habits that last.

Subscribe for the full mini-series, share this with a friend who needs a gentle reset, and email LifeisDeliciousPodcast@gmail.com for a free audio version of the manifesto. If the message resonates, leave a review and tell us: Who are you becoming next?


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SPEAKER_00:

Hey beautiful friend, it's Marnie. I hope you had an amazing weekend. I know here in Canada it was what we call daylight savings time and in the fall we turn the clock back an hour, which means we get one hour less sleep and it's just an hour darker earlier. And I don't know about you, but I really feel these darker fall days more than I ever used to. And when I get to this point in the year where I can kind of feel the holiday season sneaking up on us and the end of the year is looming, it just kind of there's so much more pressure. But it also allows me to take a really big deep breath and to reflect on how the year has gone and what's gone well and what I did right and maybe put a bit of a fire under my butt to uh get after the things I haven't quite got to yet. So there can be some good and bad emotions attached to this for sure. But what I decided to do this year, I just actually wrote a book called The Midlife Manifesto. And so what I thought might be kind of fun this year is to reverse engineer the new year and to start right now instead of waiting until January 1st to begin picturing the person I want to be when that ball drops on December 31st. Who do you want to be? I I'd like for us to paint a vision of the person that we actually are moving toward becoming. I think most of us are on a journey to reinvent ourselves as we move into this new chapter of life, and I want to take you along for the ride with me. So what we're doing this month is I'm starting an eight-episode mini-series on the podcast, which will come out every Tuesday. And each week we're gonna tackle a different area of life that's in my ebook. And it's just gonna be a really fun exercise because I think when we think about the new year, it puts this really bizarre pressure on us to want to create resolutions and we feel obligated to make change that maybe we're really not ready for. We're gonna explore all of these details in the next eight-part miniseries called Reverse Engineering the New Year and writing your own midlife manifesto so that you can step into the new year with clarity and purpose and intention. So if you're ready for a little bit of a radical reset, then pop in those earbuds and let's go get it. Welcome to this episode of Life is Delicious. I'm Marnie Martin, and I'm so glad you're here. And if this is your first time here, welcome to the Life is Delicious family. This podcast isn't about surviving midlife, it's about crafting your next chapter life, overflowing with purpose, joy, and delicious possibilities. Listen, midlife doesn't have to be a crisis, it can be a beautiful invitation to remember who we are, to rediscover a new version of ourselves, or to completely reinvent our life to reflect who we are becoming now. So if you're tired of being exhausted, living life on autopilot and putting everyone else first, then you are in the right place. Each week we'll bring you thought-provoking ideas and practical strategies as well as inspiration to help you prioritize yourself again. It's time to take back your Join de Viv. So grab a notebook and pen and pop in those earbuds and let's go get it. As we all know, life isn't always delicious. And one of the only constants we have in life is that things are always changing. Life can be a beautiful mess of twists and turns. And as we grow through each unique season of life, our needs change, our goals change, our priorities change, and our responsibilities change. And sometimes, when the really hard stuff shows up, as it inevitably will, we can find ourselves lost and without a clear direction. Sometimes that can happen when we've had a huge life transition, like a divorce or a diagnosis, or we realize that our babies are all grown up and ready to be out on their own. And sometimes it can be a subtle or not so subtle restlessness that tells us we're ready to step into a bigger, bolder, more authentic version of ourselves. But one thing is for sure, we can't transition into what's next happily until we get really clear about what's weighing us down, what lights us up, and what we truly want when our soul whispers its truth. Happy is not an accident, it's a guided journal created to bring you back home to your truest self, to remember who you are, and to give you a safe place to explore and reflect on where you've been, where you really want to go, and who you want to become now. With deep inspiring prompts, thought-provoking questions, and powerful exercises to help you excavate your most authentic self, happy is not an accident will be the daily ritual that you look forward to as you step into this next awesome chapter of life. Give yourself the gift of self-reflection and create this beautiful life of yours on purpose and with intention. Get your copy or one for somebody that you love at lifeisdelicious.ca forward slash happy. Let's imagine for a minute that it is December 31st, and you're at a fabulous party or you're at home with your loved ones, and it's just about to strike 12. What kind of woman do you want to be when the new year comes? How does she show up in the world? How does she feel about herself? How does she talk to herself? By the time Christmas comes, you'll have your own clear roadmap to begin your new year with clarity, focus, and vision. Are you ready? Let's dive in. So, what exactly is a manifesto? A manifesto is more than just words on a page. It's a declaration. It's a bold, unapologetic statement of who you are, what you stand for, and the life you're committed to living. It's part compass and part love letter to yourself, guiding you toward the life you truly want rather than the one you've been told to accept. The Midlife Manifesto is about reclaiming that sense of clarity, purpose, and self-trust in a chapter of life that is often clouded by a lot of change. It's a personal roadmap you create for yourself, a set of values, intentions, and truths you commit to living by every day. And hey, midlife is not the closing act, but it's a powerful turning point. The beauty of a manifesto is that it's entirely yours, crafted to reflect your experiences, your dreams, and your needs. It'll help you navigate the noise, cut through old beliefs that no longer serve you, and anchor you into a deeper sense of meaning. When we consciously write and live by our own manifesto, we stop drifting and we start steering. We become more intentional about where our energy goes, who we spend our time with, and what we allow into our hearts. We shift from just getting through to thriving. This is your time to nourish your soul, to honor your uniqueness, and love yourself fully, deeply, and unapologetically. The Midlife Manifesto is not supposed to change who you are. It's about becoming more of who you've always been. So that's what we're working on. Now, the one thing I love about reverse engineering the new year is that it keeps us from falling into the resolutions trap. While most people set New Year's resolutions with good intention, there's actually a lot of psychological and behavioral evidence showing why most resolutions fail. Number one, resolutions tend to rely on willpower, not systems. And let's face it, willpower is a limited resource. So when we set lofty goals, but we don't set up structures to support our outcome, we often burn out before we even achieve our goal. Number two, the brain tends to resist sudden change. But neuroscience shows that our brains are wired for consistency and comfort. So when we add sudden dramatic changes like quitting sugar or getting to the gym at 5 a.m., this can trigger resistance and a stress response in the amygdala. And because these radical shifts feel unsafe in the brain, it can quietly allow us to sabotage these efforts. Number three, most resolutions are rooted in self-criticism, not self-compassion. According to Dr. Kristen Neff's research on self-compassion, goals driven by shame actually activate the body's threat system, leading to stress, guilt, death, and ultimately avoidance. Resolutions that come from the energy of I need to fix myself or I'm not enough tend to drain our energy and wear us down. And let's face it, most classic resolutions focus on taking something away or limiting behaviors that we enjoy, like quitting smoking, sugar, or alcohol, or losing weight and cutting carbs. And lastly, number four, timing and pressure undermine our motivation. Studies also show that January 1st has become this universally recognized start date for new goals and changes. However, most of us feel this cultural pressure to change before we're actually really ready to make change. And change made for the calendar and not for the soul rarely sticks. With research that shows that around 90% of resolutions fail, maybe it's time to take a different approach. As we step into November, let's take a moment to reflect before we reset. Ask yourself a few key questions to take stock of where you are, and then reflect on what you want to change and how you want to feel as you approach the new year. What went well this year and why? What did you struggle with? What made you feel stuck? What would you like to let go of as you move forward? And what do you want more of? Give yourself 15 to 20 minutes to really get real with yourself. And then focus on what we call identity-based statements to anchor in these new behaviors based on the feeling you want to achieve. How do you want to feel when you step into February? Maybe for you it's I want to become the woman who keeps promises to herself. Or maybe you want to be a woman who prioritizes peace over perfection. Maybe it's I want to feel strong and confident in my body. Or I want to feel good knowing that I am on top of my financial future. Whatever it is for you, then create one or two sentences that capture your 2026 identity statement. This will be the beginning of your own personal manifesto. And each week for the next eight weeks, we'll focus on a new area of life that will help you get super clear and help you to move forward with small daily actions that will help you step into the new year with momentum. Every Tuesday, I'll be back with another quick bite-sized episode to anchor in a new area of your life and help you to continue to write your own manifesto. But in the meantime, while we're writing our own, here's a sample manifesto from my ebook, The Midlife Manifesto, that you can borrow in the meantime while you are on the way to creating your own. Here we go. I believe midlife is not the beginning of the end. It's the start of my most authentic chapter. I am ready to shine. I believe I'm allowed to change my mind, to rewrite my story, and to choose a life that lights me up from the inside out. I will nourish my body, mind, and spirit with love, compassion, and care. Because I am worthy of feeling good every single day. I will stop apologizing for taking up space, for having dreams, or for prioritizing my own joy. It's my turn. I will release the need for perfection and embrace the beauty of being human, flaws and all. I believe my worth has never been defined by my age, appearance, or the opinions of others. I will speak kindly to myself and honor the voice within me that knows what I truly need. I will surround myself with people who inspire me, support me, and celebrate my growth. I believe my uniqueness is my magic, and I will let it shine without hesitation. There is nobody in the world like me. I will choose presence over busyness, meaning over approval, and courage over fear. I believe that every day is a new opportunity to love more deeply, to live more fully, and to leave this world better than I found it. If you would like me to send you an audio version of this manifesto to listen to daily, just send me an email to Lifeis Delicious Podcast at gmail.com and I'll send it right over. Thanks so much for listening today, and I look forward to the next eight weeks of crafting your midlife manifesto. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. I hope it inspired you or motivated you in some way to keep going and to create your very best life. Wanna know what to do next? Share this episode with someone that you love who maybe just needs a little more delicious in their life. Join my free Facebook community over at Mindset Mastery for Midlife Women, where like-minded women come together to support and inspire each other, and where we get to hang out together. And I offer cool bonuses, videos, and some extra content. And lastly, don't forget to subscribe so that when new episodes drop, they'll be queued up and ready for you. In case no one has told you today, there's not one person on this planet that is exactly like you. And the world is a better place because you're here. So thank you for being here. I'll be back next week, and I hope you'll join me right here on Life is Delicious.