The Exact Steps I Take to Set Myself Up for Success (And Stay Consistent)

In this episode, I break down the simple but powerful steps I take to set myself up for success in my daily life. From mindset shifts to routines and habits, I’m sharing what actually helps me stay focused, consistent, and aligned with my goals.

Instagram: @theluckygirlspod 

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Host: @sophiaajacoby

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Music: Midnight Drive by Letra

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Lucky Girls podcast. I'm your host, Sophia, and thank you so much for tuning in. It's been such a long time since I've uploaded a podcast episode. Life has honestly been so eventful since the last episode, but I am so excited to share with you guys that I am now engaged. I am a fiance. Gage and I had our five-year anniversary, and he proposed just a couple days before that. We planned and had a beautiful engagement party thanks to our family. So many people came out and showed us love. So that was truly, truly amazing and so meaningful. And then after our engagement party, we ended up moving because our lease was up at our last apartment and we were so ready for something new. And we are just so happy in our new space, our new environment, our neighborhood, and things just couldn't have gone better for that move. Okay, so that little recap brings us to April 2026, and there's just been so many things in between. So if you're interested in what's been going on in my life, definitely check out my Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channel. So this episode is going to be all about setting yourself up for success and how I do that in my own life. I'm a firm believer in writing my goals down. Usually I do it every year and you know look back on what I've written throughout the year just to remind myself. But I know people who do daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals. Um, if that helps you, definitely do that as well. But at least do a yearly vision board of your main big goals. The worst thing is when you get lost in doing something that really doesn't fulfill you and is not working towards your main goals. So writing them down and looking back on them is just going to help you stay on track throughout the year. And if you haven't done that yet, it doesn't matter what time of year it is. Go ahead and write down your goals and start from there. So now that you have your goals right in front of you, you want to build a consistent routine so that you can actually achieve them. If you follow me on Instagram or TikTok, you know that I am so big on my morning routine. It matters so much to me, and it really sets the tone for my whole entire day, my weeks, and it really is about the daily habits that are going to lead you to success. My morning routine includes waking up the home. That means opening up the curtains, letting the sun shine through, making sure I'm waking up at a reasonable time so that I can get everything done during the day that I need to get done, and not snoozing that alarm. That's like the first step. And then I go ahead and make my coffee, unload the dishwasher, do my skincare. I love to journal in the morning, even if I only have two minutes to do so, I still write some things down and write my affirmations. And then I love to get a morning workout in or I get my steps in. So those are just some things that I have in my morning routine. I love feeling productive right at the start of the day. So something as little as my morning routine is going to help me feel like I achieved something and it's just going to set the tone for the entire day. Okay, the next step that I take to set myself up for success is having a clean environment. If your space is messy and crowded, that is how your mind is going to feel. If I am backed up on cleaning and tidying the home for the week, I feel like I am not as creative and not as productive in my work or just in my routine. So make sure that you're actually cleaning your space and tidying up because it really does make you feel so much better. One tip that really made a difference in my life is that if something takes less than five minutes, just do it right then and there. Because if you don't do that, it's just going to pile up. And by the end of the week, you're going to spend a few hours cleaning the whole entire house when you could have spent maybe five minutes every day just doing those little things. It sounds so small, but in order to have a clear mind, your home and your workspace needs to be organized. Without all of the distractions, it'll be so much easier to focus on what you need to get done and just being productive overall. Okay, next step to setting yourself up for success is getting enough sleep. I know so many people do not want to hear this, but you need to prioritize your sleep. If you're going out every night, if you're staying up late on your phone, if you're getting home so late and then waking up so early over and over and over again, that is not good for your mental health, your physical health. It's going to take a toll on you. And if you're feeling groggy all the time, if you're just feeling not yourself and like you don't have energy or the ability to focus, take a step back and look at the basic things like sleep. Some things that I like to do before bed to help me fall asleep are taking a melatonin gummy. I like to have a red light on right before bed. Reading always makes me fall asleep. So if I'm really having a hard time sleeping, I'll read my book for maybe 10 minutes right before bed, and that'll just help me fall asleep so much faster. I also love drinking tea right before bed. Chamomile is super nice at night. You can also drink peppermint. Literally any tea without caffeine is going to help you slow down and be able to relax a little bit more. If you're sensitive to light, sometimes I wear a sleeping mask, and that just helps me not wake up as much during the night. Okay, so now that you have all of your goals written down, you have a consistent routine, your workspace and your home is clean and organized, so your mind is as well, and you have really good sleep. Now the next step to setting yourself up for success is taking a look at if you're surrounding yourself with the right people. The environment that you put yourself in and the people that you surround yourself with are going to impact your daily life and your habits. If you have friends that have hobbies that don't align with your life and your goals, and you're always hanging out with them and doing things that they want to do, but it's really not something that fulfills you, that's going to have an impact on your mental health, your clarity, and it even might be setting yourself backwards. Even if your friends aren't doing something that's necessarily bad, if it doesn't align with you and it doesn't fulfill you in any way, maybe it's something that you don't need to take part in. Of course, you can still be friends with them, but respectfully saying no to hanging out can actually help you achieve your goals. You also want to make friends that love doing the things that you love doing. If you like running and say one of your goals this year is to run a marathon, you should join a run club or you should find someone that also loves running. It makes it so much easier to get up in the morning and just go out with your friend and go on a run rather than doing it by yourself every single day. It just makes life a little bit easier when you have someone to share your hobbies with and you guys can reach your goals together. That takes me into my next step, which is actually taking care of your physical health. Things like working out, your diet, hydrating yourself. It all affects your mental clarity. If you're not fueling your body correctly, you're not going to have the energy to be able to focus or be productive throughout the day. For me, I really like to prioritize a high-protein diet, whole foods, mainly an animal-based diet. And without all of the carbs, the junk food, the preservatives, the sugar, I am able to focus and have energy to work throughout the day. I love putting electrolytes in my water because I don't drink enough water throughout the day. So I like to add that little bit of flavor, and just having those minerals in my water makes sure that I'm staying hydrated. Okay, and then of course, there's movement. You need to be moving your body. I don't care what you do every single day. It doesn't have to be a crazy workout, but at least go on a walk or do some squats in your living room. It doesn't matter, just move your body. I obviously love Pilates. I love to do reformer, matte Pilates, heated rooms. It's just my favorite way to move my body. I used to be big into going to the gym and lifting weights. Now I maybe do that once or twice a week. If you're still trying to figure out the best way to move your body and something that you would actually stay consistent in, I would highly recommend trying workout classes because you can just purchase a drop-in class. Being with a group makes it so much better. I don't know about you guys, but when I'm alone in the gym, I feel so self-conscious and like everyone is looking at me. But when I'm in a group class, it's like we're all in it together. So it kind of takes the pressure off a little bit. But you can try out like a cycle class, you can try out yoga, Pilates, sculpt, literally anything. Maybe try a dance class if you're into that. But try and figure out a way that you actually love to move your body. You can play pickleball, tennis, maybe it's basketball for you, but moving your body is going to help you reach whatever goal that you want. I promise you, moving your body is one of the highest forms of self-respect that you can have for yourself. After a workout, I always feel like I'm on top of the world. I feel so productive, so accomplished. And having that feeling every single day is what keeps me going and gives me that discipline to work out when I don't want to. You can't rely on motivation. You have to just get up and do it. And if you say you're going to do something, follow through with that and you're going to be so proud of yourself. Something that also helps me achieve my workout goals is my aura ring. I love to track my progress and see how many steps I have during the day and how many calories I've burned. It also tracks my sleep so I can see what time I fell asleep, how long it took me to fall asleep, how much deep sleep I've had, REM sleep, my HRV, all of the things. So maybe investing in something that tracks your progress, like an Apple Watch or a ring, maybe it's the Whoop, it might make you feel a little bit more excited to see your progress, and that could help you stay consistent. Even just writing down my workouts on my calendar in my phone or on my to-do list in my journal and being able to check it off helps me keep going. So even if you don't have something like the aura ring, you can write down your workouts and check off your progress. And that little check mark, trust me, it goes a long way. Okay, the last step that I take to set myself up for success is actually being in situations that make me uncomfortable. This means trying something new, taking a risk. Maybe it's taking on a different position, taking on more work or a different type of work. It can mean different things for everyone, but I feel like doing something that makes you a little bit uncomfortable or a little scared is so beneficial and it's going to help you reach your goals. You're not going to reach them if you're just stuck in the same cycle or position at work. You have to do things out of your comfort zone in order to learn and to grow. If you want to reach your goals, there's going to be certain situations that maybe you're scared of or that feels like a big risk. But for me, in my experience, if I didn't take the risks that I did, I wouldn't be able to give you a list of all of the things that I'm currently proud of. So without being scared and maybe feeling anxious about something, I wouldn't be where I am today. I hope I'm able to give you a little push to do something that maybe scares you a little bit, but it's actually in the right direction and a step towards achieving your goal. And maybe that little jump doesn't work out. That doesn't mean it wasn't for nothing. That means it was just a learning lesson that you had to go through and you'll grow from it and you'll know for next time. Those are all of the things that I do to set myself up for success. And I hope you can take some of the things that I do and use it in your own life to help you achieve your own goals. This is what works for me, and I hope you can take some advice or some suggestions and figure out what works for you. As always, thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. You can follow me on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to see more of my life at Sophia Jacoby. I'll have them all linked down in the description box. If you enjoyed this episode, definitely leave a like and a comment. It means so much to me. I'll talk to you guys in the next episode and always remember that you're a lucky girl.