A New Year of Fun and Self-Discovery

This episode explores the complexities of New Year’s resolutions and the significance of embracing change in 2025. We discuss the importance of starting small, the role of accountability, and how to approach change with patience and fun.

• The dual perspective on New Year’s resolutions 
• Embracing a playful approach to change 
• Identifying realistic starting points for transformation 
• The importance of a strong support system 
• Practical strategies for maintaining commitment 
• Changing is a gradual process that requires time and patience 
• Invoking personal and professional growth this year

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:05

Welcome to Leo's Liberation. I'm your host, trey, and welcome to 2025. Happy New Year's everyone. Sorry that I wasn't with you on New Year's Eve, but I had to take a little mini sabbatical myself, but I can definitely feel it in the air that everyone is happy that a new year is upon us, and I do apologize for missing Monday's episode just prior to the new year. Everyone is happy that a new year is upon us and I do apologize for missing Monday's episode just prior to the new year, but I took a mini sabbatical, as I just mentioned, to enjoy the first day of a week and a half long vacation. And imagine this yeah, that first day I actually worked a few hours of it. So, yeah, whatever it is.

Speaker 1 0:42

So, however, I did manage to take the second half of the day and keep it for myself and basically, you know I can't recall the last time that I've slept this much, but it feels great. You know, you have you had those nights where you sleep so hard. You wake up and you don't have to be anywhere and you do that like dog stretch thing in bed where you literally stretch your whole body out. You literally feel like this positive, just just relaxing energy, like flow through your entire body, all the way to your fingertips and the tips of your toes, and it just feels great. And then you just like somehow exhaust it yourself. So you pull the covers back over and try to get, try to get some more sleep. That's pretty much what I've been going through and, I'm not gonna lie, it feels awesome. Um, I've really been enjoying the time off and I need to do it a bit more. But you know, in 2024, I did preach hitting that reset button. So you know, like I discussed with the mental health professional, I need to start taking my own advice. So it's this year I'm definitely taking my own advice a lot more. That might be part of my resolution or one of my resolutions, I'm not really sure, but definitely taking my own advice is where I'm sitting at this year.

Speaker 1 1:45

So on New Year's Eve we didn't do much. I think we were a little bit partied out from our Christmas events that we hosted. So you know, our last minute plan that we came up with was hey, let's make some homemade wings and wedge fries and sit in front of the TV. You know, watch TV, play on your phones, play on your laptops, whatever. Just relax, eat food and, shockingly, this was actually probably a healthier option than drowning ourselves in a pool of booze, only to forget that midnight ever even happened. The wings were four different flavors we had mango, habanero, lemon pepper, caribbean jerk and I had a honey ghost pepper wing that I made, but you know, our bellies were full and there was a peaceful ambiance as the new year rolled in and hopefully this was setting the tone for this year, which I think we have. Um, we didn't win the lottery raffle this year. It was the first year where we managed to actually get our ticket on time, and I suppose we're not meant to be rich, but I'm perfectly fine with that, because I hear more money, more problems is usually the case, so I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm okay and happy with what we have.

Speaker 1 2:49

But so let's move on to the first topic of 2025. And, as you can probably expect, it's probably gonna have something to do with the new year, and we always talk about new year's resolutions. Some people love them due to the ability or thought of a fresh start and a chance to do things over. Others tend to dislike new year's resolutions and believe that if you want change, you shouldn't wait until the new year to invoke significant changes in your life. Well, you know, it's a different ride for all of us sometimes, but I know, um, we're already three days into 2025, but I guess the question is what do you change or what novel approach do we take to get from day to day this year?

Speaker 1 3:29

When do you start to make that change and how do you start to make that change? Is this a journey you take on your own or do you reach out for assistance and motivation to stay on track? The answer, as you well may know, is mixed. It's mixed with simplicity and complexity. The journey for change or newfangled life is different for each of us.

Speaker 1 3:48

Do you choose to take a fun approach to things, which I found this to kind of be sometimes a better approach, depending on what the changes that you're trying to make. It's easier to brush things off if you don't succeed. You don't have that dreaded sense of failure. But you know, fun is saying that you're going to try um versus you know I'm going to and you're obligating yourself to this one task. And you know, um, fun is also kind of like just being like I'll take a trip to a new destination every weekend or every month, or something to that effect. Or I'll cook a new dish or something crazy like that. Um, I love food, so obviously it's always going to be a new dish for me, versus taking a trip.

Speaker 1 4:23

But you know, getting that tattoo is also another fun one that people kind of make. But you know, get that tattoo you've always wanted or dreamed of, or you drew it or had a friend draw it up for you years ago. You just never had it actually permanently placed on your body somewhere. But you know, the thought of that needle is what deters you each year. So maybe this year, you know, somebody will go with you and motivate you enough and get you to sit in that chair long enough to get that tattoo. Start small, just remember, start small If you're not used to having a needle on you for hours on end. Start small, okay so.

Speaker 1 4:52

But you know, can you guys guess what the three most common resolutions that were that are made each year? And you know, I'll say, if you actually guessed about these three common resolutions, if you guessed that they were exercise, losing weight or changing eating habits, you'd be right. But I would probably say it probably should have said the top four, actually not the top three, because I recall lots of people aiming to save or do better with money, each year too. So those tend to be mostly probably the ones you hear the most, because people are looking to, you know, enrich and improve their lives from year to year and do change things from the year before. So you know these resolutions. For a lot of people they do fall apart because, well, you know, life happens. So not many of us calculate getting that new job and the demands of that new job and how it's going to pull us away from our commitments, or having another baby, or having to move for unexpected reasons. Or you know the infamous peer pressure for family and friends to join in on activities like vacation barbecue parties. And you know, if your mom brings your favorite dish, yes, you're going to eat it, I don't care what kind of diet you're on. You're not going to tell your mom I can't eat that, when you've been eating it since probably the day you started breathing. So the list can be endless.

Speaker 1 6:06

The thing about making change is it doesn't have to be rocket science, and I think you know and I'm not saying don't put thought into it but I think sometimes we just make things way more complex than they need to be, but it it doesn't have to be rocket science. First, all you have to do is just figure out what you want differently in your life and how far you're willing to go to make that happen. Will you need a support system? You know, if you choose one, choose a strong one, that one family member or friend that won't allow you to talk your way out of it. Don't choose that friend or family member that's going to just oh, you know support you no matter what you do, whether it's right or wrong. Pick that, no matter what you do, whether it's right or wrong. Pick that one person that's like no BS going to hold you accountable for everything, because accountability is always a big helper in making change. But you know, at the end of the day, you know yourself and you know when you're BS and yourself and you know when you're BS and others. So don't just say you're going to take on this challenge to change. Be about it Actually. You know. Show proof. You know words are one thing, but actual actions are another, totally different beast. So you know when you're starting.

Speaker 1 7:03

Most people claim to start the day after new year's eve. However, a good majority of the world is hungover after new year's eve. Let's be honest about that. So, speaking from experience, motivations and expectations are severely lowered the day after new year's eve because you're trying to sober up and, depending on how old you are, it may take more than a day to sober up. So you can just kiss that first week goodbye if that, if you really got wasted on new year's eve which you know, good for you if you did. But you know, be realistic about your start date. Some people say there's no better time than now. Truth be told, if you're not feeling the now, then the level of commitment will be less than zero.

Speaker 1 7:38

And I'll say most of my changes happen after I've placed some serious thought like I can't get this thing off my mind. And you know, believe it or not, my change happens based on how deeply disturbed or focused I am about something. If substance is your thing, substance use is your thing, take advantage of those moments of sobriety. That moment of clarity is when you want that change to start for yourself. And you know that's when I would definitely say, enlist friends and family, someone that can help you. And definitely you want those people who are not going to allow you to BS yourself or them, to kind of help you take advantage of those moments of sobriety where you can actually start to invoke that change.

Speaker 1 8:17

So next, you know how are we going to. You know, go about this change this year First. You know, starting off by researching a bit kind of helps sometimes, especially if the change is new to you or it's a new habit you're trying to form. The more informed you are about what you're trying to do, the more likely you'll be able to navigate the water on those stormy, challenging days of sticking with it, you know. But try not to go in blind. Incorporate change or the new habit a little bit at a time, and I know you guys have heard this stuff before, but you know if you're a more structured person, create a calendar with reminders. We all have these expensive phones in our pockets and only scratch the surface with the applications that are free for use, like the calendar. So be ready to put this change into play for two solid months, roughly. Give yourself enough time to adjust and turn things into a habit. Two months, folks, that's two months of commitment right there. The first two months of change are going to be hard and this is, I think, why you'll see people who show up at the gym in the first week for all you gym rats. But this is where you'll see people who show up at the gym in the first week for all you gym rats. But this is where you'll see people who show up at the gym for that first week of January and then most of them drop off before March.

Speaker 1 9:26

Why, most likely, they went in blind. They didn't have a plan of attack. They lost interest because the endeavor of fitness was never something that they were fully interested in in the first place. It was just some change they wanted to make. But you know the crazy thing about the how part of this is if you fail and yes, failure is a word and it may and most likely may happen to you but if you fail, try again, adjust, fire, aim at the target and shoot again. Even the most successful people have failed time and time again.

Speaker 1 9:55

You know and I talked a bit earlier about enlisting some support to keep you you know, if you're obstinate or easily influenced, there are so many options for information these days that it can be overwhelming and it can cause you to lose interest in your goal. So this one I can't really give an actual opinion on, because I go through it myself and the climate of the world right now with. You know, virtual information is just literally insane. So let's make this a part of your plan too. Too, when you're trying to do that, how part? But you know, find that influencer to follow on social media, that fitness guru on whatever fitness site that catches your eye, or simply grab a book, read an article, find a personal trainer or teach yourself. Whenever you teach yourself, there is more interest, uh, invested in the activity.

Podcast Signoff and Engagement Request

Speaker 1 10:42

So I think the biggest thing I want um folks to take away today is basically change, and forming new habits doesn't happen overnight. Patience is a good supplement to add to your resolution. Remember, we're always changing, always evolving into a better version of ourselves. So the challenge of the year is to invoke novelties, whether they're personal or whether they are professional. I always say if you're not learning, you're not living. So I try to live in this truth on a daily basis. It keeps me going, amongst other things. So that is pretty much where we're going to be sitting at for this show this time around, guys. So invoke novelties, invoke change and keep growing on a day-to-day basis this year.

Speaker 1 11:25

So I'm Dre. I'm signing off from another episode of Leo's Liberation. Take care of yourself and each other, and I'll talk with you guys on Monday, and please follow me on whatever platform You're listening to this podcast on. Give me a like or a rating or, even better, leave me a few comments. I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Have yourselves a great first weekend In this new year, be safe, and I will talk with you guys on Monday. Have a great one.