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Merry Christmas everyone! With the New Year quickly approaching, have you stopped to intentionally consider all the successes you’ve had this year? Especially after the year we’ve had, where all we’ve been doing is complaining and wanting it to all be over, there couldn’t be a more perfect time to pause and think about what is better now than it was at the beginning of the year.
Even though it might be hard to believe after the challenges 2020 has thrown at us, I believe that our world is constantly getting better, and so are we as individuals. We’re so zoomed in on our own lives and our progress is so gradual that it can be challenging to see, but I have just the exercise today to help you zoom out and see how you’ve absolutely killed it this year.
Listen in this week as I share 20 of my successes from 2020! Regardless of the year, I always take the time to notice all the things that have gotten better in my own life, to purposefully redirect my brain in this way. So if you find yourself feeling disappointed thinking about how you’ve fallen short of your dreams and what you didn’t accomplish, you need this exercise too, and I hope my list inspires you to get started.
If you don’t currently have a life coach, I would be so honored to be yours. I created a virtual coaching program called Be Bold that I want to invite you to join me in. We have group coaching, individual private coaching, and online chats along with hundreds of hours of courses and content that I’ve created just for you, including my new upcoming course, Lighten up for the Holidays. If you’re ready to take this work to the 10X level, click here to check it out!
What You’ll Learn on this Episode:
- Why I like to practice pausing at the end of the year.
- My list of 20 successes from 2020.
- The importance of acknowledging your successes.
- Why noticing your failures can fuel you forward to show up the way you need to.
- How to create your own list of things that are better now than they were at the beginning of the year.
Mentioned on the Show:
- When you’re ready to take what you’re learning on the podcast to the 10X level, then come check out Be Bold.
- If you’re a coach who is already certified through The Life Coach School, I want to help you take your coaching to the next level. Interested? Get on the waitlist here.
- Follow me on Instagram!
- Grab the Podcast Roadmap!
- It’s a Teen Thing podcast
- The Queen’s Gambit
- Brad Jensen
I’m Jody Moore and this is Better Than Happy, episode 284: 20 Successes From 2020.
Did you know that you can live a life that’s even better than happy? My name is Jody Moore. I’m a master certified life coach and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And if you’re willing to go with me I can show you how. Let’s go.
Hello gang. 284 podcast episodes, that’s what I’m talking about. Merry Christmas. This episode is going to air on Christmas day which always comes up so much faster than I’m expecting. But I’m recording this a few weeks in advance. Hope you had a beautiful celebration. I like to do an exercise at the end of the year. This is the last podcast episode of the year. So I wanted to finish it with this. I do this exercise where I stop and I intentionally think about my successes for the year.
And when I say my successes, sometimes it’s things that I’m proud of that I accomplished. Sometimes it’s just my observation of my family, or the world, or people around me, in a way that I observed that life is better than it was at the beginning of the year or last year. Because here’s the thing, did you guys know that we’re always getting better? We are. Our world is constantly getting better.
Think about the advancements that we’ve seen, if you really zoom out a long time, we’ve gone from living in caves, banging rocks together to start a fire in order to cook something that we caught in the field that day, to convection ovens. And now we have to have two ovens in our kitchen, the double oven. I mean like our world constantly is getting better. And our society and our culture even as people gets better.
Watch a movie that takes place in the 60s or 70s and you’ll see a lot of ways that we’ve improved. Our understanding of human value, our acceptance of minorities, women, all kinds of things has come a long way. We’re constantly getting better. And as individuals we’re constantly getting better, it’s just sometimes challenging to see because we’re so close up to it and the progress is gradual so we take it for granted.
So at any rate I like to at the end of the year pause and notice all the things that have gotten better. Because otherwise what my brain does instead is just complain to me about all the ways that I fell short. All the things I thought I was going to accomplish that I didn’t and how I messed it all up again, which I don’t find to be useful or fun.
Okay, so I’m going to share with you the list I came up with because I’m hoping it will just give you a framework by which to create your own list of things that are better especially this year. All we’ve been doing is complaining about how this year is so hard and we just want it to be over. So I did this exercise because I was like, I want to redirect my brain a little bit to some successes and some things that are better in my life this year. So here we go.
Number one, family dinner time, I love the way our family dinner time routine looks now. Last year at this time we still sat down to eat kind of, but there were a lot of people coming and going. I hated making dinner. I avoided it at all costs which means we ate a lot more fast food than we needed to, or just cereal or whatever. And that was okay for a while but I love that when everything shut down with Covid, for some reason I told myself I’d better start making dinner.
And so I got into a routine of planning every week what we were going to have for dinner and grocery shopping for it. And it turns out when you do that it’s not hard at all to make dinner, it’s not as terrible as I believed all this time. I make simple dinners. I don’t make fancy dinners. We always have backup of like dino nuggets or cereal if there’s a child that really hates dinner. I don’t force my kids to all eat it. I know I probably should. But I’m just not up for that yet.
But I love that we have a dinner routine, that I have a plan every week of what we’re going to eat, which by the way, every Friday is pizza and every Saturday is takeout from somewhere. But the other nights I cook dinner and we all sit down and we eat dinner. And my kids love it and I love it and thank you 2020 because that was not the case last year.
Number two, emotional navigation. I noticed that at least for my family, for my kids and my husband and I we have gotten a little bit better at navigating our emotions because we’ve sort of had to. Everything going on with Covid, everything getting cancelled and shut down and not just Covid but the movement around social justice, and antiracism, and the election, it sort of forced us to have to figure out how to navigate our own emotions a little better. We’ve had some good discussions.
We’ve had some experiences that I am grateful for because I feel like they provided great opportunities for my husband and I to teach our kids and to practice ourselves a little bit better emotional navigation.
Number three, I no longer take for granted some of the things that I used to take for granted. Like being able to get on an airplane and go to a conference, being able to see my friends who don’t live near me, being able to go somewhere and learn new things and be exposed to people who are good at things that I want to be good at. I was able to do that quite a bit until this year. And I think I took it for granted a little bit. It was just sort of something I did. It was part of my job some of it.
But I am going to appreciate and get so much more out of those trips once I can start doing them again, thanks to 2020.
Number four, more awareness around social justice issues. So again in the United States this summer we had the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others. And it caused some upheaval. It caused some chaos. And what I’m grateful for is the awareness that I personally gained of how unaware I was of certain things and how unaware I still am. I have gained some awareness since then because I’ve done some reading and studying, but I know I still have a long way to go. And I am being patient with myself in terms of learning that.
We’re implementing some things in our business here to try to make sure we’re doing our part. But I am really grateful for the awareness of what I don’t even know. I didn’t even know that I didn’t know and now at least I know that I don’t know. And I think that’s progress. And I think overall as a society, a lot of people experienced that.
Number five, I became a more abundant person. I am more abundant today than I was at this time last year. And the reason why is because I experienced some scarcity come up and some fear. And then I asked myself, “What do I want to do with this?” And my coach Bev Aron helped me work through it and decide and get to a place of abundance. So specifically when the grocery store shelves were looking pretty sparse and the economy was going down and I thought I don’t know what’s going to happen here.
I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sustain my business. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get food at the grocery store. And I did tons of work on my thoughts and was able to really make peace with all of that. That’s what I’ve been teaching this month in Be Bold is how to get to abundance. But I feel that and it blesses me in so many ways to be operating from abundance. Not only does it feel better but it helps me show up as more of the kind of person that I want to be.
Number six, I watched my husband and kids find some hobbies, not all of them but some of them, when I say not all of them I mean kids, I only have one husband. But not all of my kids found hobbies and things they’re passionate about, but some of them did. And I’ll just mention a couple specifically. My husband and my oldest daughter Macy, both got really into guitar because again we couldn’t travel, we couldn’t do the things that we are used to doing. We couldn’t get together with friends and family like we normally do.
Our lives changed, we couldn’t go out to movies and restaurants like we usually do. And so my husband picked up his guitar, which he already knew how to play the guitar, but he really advanced his skills. And he really dove in and he found some online classes and he’s just been really into guitar which I think is kind of fun to watch. And then my daughter became interested and has learned to play the guitar a little bit as well.
Another thing that came out of this past year is my daughter Macy and her friend Kate started their own podcast because again they were sitting around kind of bored and needing a project. And they decided to start a podcast and it’s called It’s a Teen Thing. And it’s so good. I highly recommend it for your teens. Have them go subscribe because Macy and Kate do a beautiful job and it’s been so fun for them to have a project.
They dove in and they learned the technology. They learned how to manage it all. They uploaded every week. They edit it, they record it, they do all of it. I taught them some of what I know but they are doing all the work and that’s pretty fun to watch.
Number seven, I have a routine of exercise and movement now that I did not have at this time last year. I was much more all or nothing about it. And when I say I was all or nothing I was nothing for a long time because I couldn’t be as extreme as I used to be. I used to run marathons. So I used to think if I can’t go jog 10 miles what’s the point, I might as well not even bother. Now I’m not running marathons but I walk a lot more. I go for just a short jog. I move my body.
I’m conscious of knowing that I need to be moving my body. Sometimes that means some strenuous exercise, sometimes it’s just a walk but I feel so much better.
Number eight, I cleaned out several closets and spaces and de-cluttered that have been needing some attention for a long time. Some of those spaces need attention again. But I am glad that we tackled some of that this year.
Number nine, I really this year rediscovered my love of music. I sort of go through phases where I listen to audiobooks and podcasts a lot. So any time I’m driving in my car or grocery shopping or have a moment alone I’m listening to things. But when Covid hit I really could tell that I needed something that would make it really easy for me to emotionally navigate myself. And I didn’t always want to be in my head with thoughts. And I didn’t always want to hear people talking about all the current events that were going on, I needed a break from that.
And so I started listening to music again and forgot just how easy it is for me through music to get to the emotional state I want to be in. So I’m really glad I reconnected with that.
In addition to that I put number 10 on my list is The Queen’s Gambit. Oh my goodness, have you watched this show on Netflix, The Queen’s Gambit? It’s so good. You’ve got to go watch it. It’s only seven episodes so you can get through it in a reasonable amount of time. And it’s the sweetest story. It’s intriguing but it’s not disturbing. It’s not that hard things don’t happen. Hard things do happen to these people. But it leaves you feeling so good about human beings. It’s a good reminder that people are good.
So that is number 10 on my list, The Queen’s Gambit, I’m so glad I watched that show. I kind of want to watch it again but it’s probably not going to be as intriguing the second time around.
Number 11, I have developed deeper connections with some of our friends this year. Some of the people who live here locally that I kind of know but I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with, just thanks to more downtime we were able to spend more time together. I feel more connected. I feel closer to some of our friends here and I’m really, really grateful for that.
Number 12, I’m having more fun in my business. Now, I work really hard on my relationship with my business because while I do mostly always love it, there is times when I start to feel like this is hard. I don’t know about this. I don’t want to do that thing. I don’t want to figure that part out. And I still get a little bit of that. But I am so just energized about my business right now because of things that I was able to experiment with this year. Some of the things I experimented with I would call failures even.
Some of the things that didn’t work, I’m realizing okay, you know what? That thing that we tried we gave it a good solid year and it didn’t work, so we’re done with that, we’re not doing that anymore, we’re going to change it up. And I feel so energized by that, I feel like I’ve figured out how to challenge myself in new ways so that I can show up for the business and for my clients the way I need to. And so that’s a pretty fun way to feel.
Number 13, I love my body I really do. I’ve been working on it so hard for a long time, but especially this past year. I literally stand in front of the mirror naked, you guys, I’ve been doing this since April. And I say nice things to myself about my body. I know that sounds crazy and creepy. But it really has helped me love and appreciate my body. I know how to be in my body. I take care of my body like I never have before. My body takes care of me back. I’m so thrilled to have that kind of success, not that I’m perfect at it by any means but I’ve made tons of progress.
Number 14, sort of adds on to that which is overall my relationship with myself, is so much more solid than it was a year ago. I’ve always been a fairly confident person but I feel my relationship with myself is a little bit different than confidence. Confidence is just being able to show up the way I want to in the world. Relationship with me is more intimate. It’s more like I just enjoy being with me. I do, I enjoy being alone. I enjoy even listening to things that I teach.
Sometimes I go back and listen to my own coaching calls. I listen to my own podcasts. And I enjoy listening to me. I don’t just critique myself and pick it all apart, how terrible it is. It’s not like I listen and I’m gloating about me either, I just listen and go, “Yeah, that’s an interesting point.” I literally have a relationship with myself that I could say this is the first time I’ve had this relationship now that I’m 46 years old.
Number 15, my book, oh man, what a roller coaster it is to write a book. I’m so proud of myself for writing a book. I wrote a book this year and I have gone through even several revision drafts which I’m not probably quite done with yet but it’s getting very close. And writing that book, I love the journey that it was for me but I also love the way it helped me gain clarity around my message. It really helped me deepen my relationship with Christ through writing that book.
And it really helped me connect dots that I kind of knew were connected but I really dove in and found the connections between the doctrine of the LDS church and what I teach as a coach. So I’m very excited for you to get your hands on that book. And I’m just in the process right now of deciding which publisher I want to go with or if I want to self-publish. So once I know timelines I’ll let you know, but sometime next year that book will be available. And I’m really proud of that and excited to get it out into the world.
Number 16, I got off diet coke, this is huge. This is huge. Now, when I say I got off it, I still drink it sometimes, I drink a little bit of it. But I’m not dependent on it, that’s what I mean by I got off it. I don’t feel hooked on it anymore. I don’t have this panic crisis of what am I going to do, there’s not a diet coke? That is huge, it kind of happened on accident. It happened because my coach, Brad Jensen who coaches me on my health told me that I need to be drinking a lot of water. And all that water meant I didn’t really have room for more liquid in my body.
And now diet coke doesn’t taste very good to me, and people keep telling me it never tasted good. But now I see it and so like I said, sometimes if I’m eating out at a restaurant or certain foods that I eat at home I like to have a diet coke with. But I don’t drink much of it anymore, that’s pretty big.
Number 17, again sort of piggybacks on that but I really have a hugely different relationship with food and with dieting. I used to think dieting was a bad word, we don’t say that, it’s not a good thing, we’re not supposed to diet. I’ve realized that was just the other side of the same troublesome coin that says you need to diet and you need to get skinnier to be worthy. So guess what? You don’t need to diet to be worthy and it’s also okay to diet if you want to. That’s how you get off of that coin.
And once I realized that and I changed the way I thought about food, the things I expect of food in my life, my appreciation for food, I just have a much healthier relationship with food. You know how I know? I don’t think about food all day. That’s much healthier. But when I do have good food I really love it and appreciate.
Number 18, I was always able to strengthen my muscles a lot because I started lifting weights again. I never really liked lifting weights, I’m a cardio girl. I’ll go on a jog. I’ll go to an intense aerobics class. I love that stuff. But my body really needs strength training. My body responds much better. I see changes in my body and I feel changes in my health and I see changes on the scale when I lift weights, more so than cardio. And so I still do some cardio because I like it. It’s kind of what I do for fun. But I lift weights and my body is glad and my muscles are stronger as a result.
Number 19, I created a whole new program this year that I’m so proud of. It’s an advanced coach certification program. And those of you that are coaches probably have heard about it. Those of you that aren’t, I don’t want to bore you with it. I just want to say that I’m so proud of that program because I’ve been able to help coaches improve their coaching skills, and their confidence. And get experienced coaching at the same time as able to give my clients more help at no additional cost to them because everyone in Be Bold gets free private coaching when that program’s going on.
It doesn’t last all year but while it is going on it’s just an added bonus. And then I was able to give these coaches feedback and it’s just a win all the way around. So I am so proud of that program. We have a new group of coaches starting actually right about now, by the time you listen to this podcast and I’m excited to work with them.
Number 20, final success from 2020 and this is interesting. I hadn’t really thought about this before I sat down and wrote this list. I looked at how many people came into Be Bold, new people. We have a lot of people that are there that have been there for years. We have people that have been there since the very beginning and that’s awesome. I love working with you guys. But this year we had thousands of new people come into Be Bold and learned the model and get coached or listened to coaching and start improving their emotional and mental health as a result.
That is phenomenal, I am so grateful to all of you who put your trust in me, were willing to apply yourselves and do this work. And I’m proud of myself and my team for the program that we have created that does that so well. Thousands of new people we helped this year. And we’re just getting started.
Alright, I hope you do this same exercise you guys, 20 successes from 2020, write them down, think about them, take a moment to be grateful for this year because every year gets better.
I’ll see you next year which is also next week. Have a good one. Bye bye.
Who is your life coach? If you don’t have one I would be so honored to be your coach. I created a virtual coaching program called Be Bold that I want to invite you to join me in. We can address challenges, we can work on goals, and we can do it in so many different ways.
We have group coaching, individual private coaching, and online chats along with hundreds of hours of courses and content that I’ve created just for you. When you’re ready to really take what you’re learning on the podcast to the 10x level, then come check out Be Bold at JodyMoore.com/membership.
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