I realize this looks different for everyone, but I will add my two cents here and give ideas that most people can do.
JUST START!
Most of us have something tucked back in our brain that we want to do but make reasons (aka excuses) for not doing it. It could be learning something new, picking up a new hobby, taking on a new role at work or even as far as I went to start a new career and a business of your own. Whatever it is, if you don’t start acting on it now, even in the smallest sense, 2025 will come and it will still be tucked back there in your brain.
On my podcast called “Credentialed with Jillian Mele”, I like to bring on guests who have taken a risk or that leap of faith in some capacity and are acting on their “want” list. In this episode with Kristin Harrison, principal designer and founder of Bungalow 10 Interiors, she talks about always having a passion for design, but never taking it to the point of starting a business until friends pushed her to try. A few short years later, her business is a huge success! On the podcast she said “the best piece of advice: just start doing it. Just start, even in the smallest scale. If you want to be a designer, start making little vignettes in your house and taking pictures of it and post them on the internet. Don’t wait and don't think that you can't start because you don’t have some massive project. Create your own luck.” She goes on to say “do it on the weekends, do it at night. If you really like something, just start doing it. You can’t succeed if you don’t start.” And she is right. How can you succeed if you are nowhere near the starting line?
I know that the hill can seem too big to climb at times, I completely understand and have been there. But with each tiny step, eventually you get there. Sometimes I feel like starting a new business is like walking through thick mud that’s knee high while wearing ankle weights (what a picture!) but you get the point. It is so easy to give up because the path ahead seems so daunting, but I am telling you, you have to appreciate every little victory and every small step. One day you wake up and look at what you’ve waded through and it’s a feeling of pride like you can’t imagine. Not only for what you’ve accomplished, but because you actually started and kept going. You didn’t give up.
So, if you start today, and take small steps in Q4 of 2024, when 2025 comes you can start the year saying that you started something you have been wanting to do, and then you have the year to build on it.
WRITE IT OUT!
The next thing I would say is to figure out your why. Figure out what brings you joy, where your passion lies, and how it could potentially translate into something bigger. I spent the last 5 or 6 years doing a lot of writing to really hone in on my feelings and what they meant. I wrote through the journey of leaving my job in national news to come back to Philly and work locally. I wrote through feelings of being in that job and ultimately leaving it and the news industry to start my own business. I wrote through a lot, and it really helped me sort through the feelings, emotions, and thoughts that I was having.
If you start reflecting on your thoughts and feelings in Q4 of 2024, it might help you to have a clearer picture of things that you want to accomplish in 2025. Sometimes a lack of clarity can be one of the biggest things clouding our decisions. When you write, try to be crystal clear about who you are, and who you want to be. Be clear about your goals, and what you want to accomplish. I think we should even be clear about our fears. When we know what they are, and recognize what is standing in our way, it makes it easier to knock down those walls bit by bit. Self-reflection is a powerful thing, and I think the more we do, the better we are in the long run.
GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
We do not grow by being comfortable. Period.
Being comfortable is nice, that’s why we love sweatpants and soft cozy blankets, but being comfortable does not get us ahead. Being comfortable keeps us in a state of plateau.
There are things that you can do in Q4 to start the habit of getting out of your comfort zone that way in 2025, it no longer feels uncomfortable, and you start the year strong! For instance, if you have your own business and you are not utilizing video or social media for it but want to and feel awkward or like you don’t know how to start, challenge yourself to live in the discomfort and hire a coach to help get you started. Hire someone to teach you the ins and outs of being comfortable on camera or hire someone to help you with your social media content and marketing strategy. If you can’t afford to hire someone, start by practicing yourself, even if the content goes nowhere in the beginning- just get used to doing it.
If you want to stand out more professionally in 2025, start now by bringing on a coach to help you in the area that you need it! For example, I coach people how to become better presenters and public speakers and I have another online course coming out soon on this very topic. Learn from people who are experts! When you take steps to better yourself and improve your game, it pays off in the long run. Anytime you step out of your comfort zone, it pays off.
One of my favorite quotes is “Each day we are presented with two choices: Evolve or Repeat.” - unattributed. So, I ask you, which do you choose today? What small steps can you take now and in Q4 of 2024, to evolve, versus repeating in 2025, the same things you did in 2024? No one else can choose to make you grow and evolve, the power lies within you and only you.
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