The Art of Ritualizing: A New Take on Goal Setting in 2025

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About the episode:

Welcome back The Prosperous Empath®! Since it’s still January when this episode airs, I wanted to talk about a new and refreshing perspective for you to consider as you reflect on your goals and your visions for the new year. My intention is that today’s episode will guide you into action, because I think that for many of us, goal setting can be so overwhelming–and there’s a reason for this! If you live in the northern hemisphere, it’s still winter, and energetically for empaths, this season is often not a natural or aligned place to be exerting ourselves and feeling energized and resourced to be jumping into goals. Instead, we should focus on ritualizing our lives to create new habit loops while stepping into the identity that is in alignment with our new level of success. Find out how by tuning into the full episode.

Topics discussed:

• What it looks like to live cyclically with the seasons and why January is actually not the best time to set goals or to launch something new in business
• Remembering that pressure does not equal performance and why it’s important to focus on creating systems rather than goals
• How to design your environment for success in 2025 so that it matches the new experience you are calling to life
• Mastering the art of consistently showing up to create a new habit loop and reinforce the identity you’re working to create

Episode Resources:

• Wintering by Katherine May
• Atomic Habits by James Clear

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[expand title=”Click here for a raw, unedited transcript of this episode“]

Catherine A. Wood  00:01

Hey there. Welcome back to the prosperous Empath cat here. I wanted to record this solo episode for you today to really talk about a hopefully new and refreshing perspective for you to consider as you reflect on your goals and your visions for the new year. Now my intention is that today’s episode be short and juicy and that it be actionable, because I think that for many of us, goal setting can be so overwhelming. So I want to keep this short and so that it feels a little bit more bite sized and digestible. Now, before we get started, I want to kind of normalize something that I’m noticing and something that maybe your experience. And it’s the month of January. January brings so much pressure for folks. There are all of these sayings like New year, new you, the idea that you have to have a new year’s resolutions, that you have to be clear on your goals when you come back from the holiday, that it’s a time for fresh starts and different routines. And there’s almost this expectation that you come back from the holidays and you feel rejuvenated or motivated, and if you’re an empath and you’re tuning into this podcast, it’s likely that you spent the holiday being really generous and thoughtful and caring for other people, and you still may be feeling a little bit depleted or under resourced, which I think is completely normal, and honestly, I don’t even think it makes sense for many of us to start goals in the month of January, because it’s still winter here, at least in the northern hemisphere, like I mean animals, they’ve really got it right, like most of them are still hibernating. But for us humans, we’re kind of socialized to think that we have to be really clear and empowered around our goals and moving forward. And for many of us, we go to work before it’s even sunlight out and we might still be working when it gets dark and energetically for empaths, that’s often not a really natural or aligned place to be exerting ourselves and feeling energized and resourced to be jumping into goals. So if you’re showing up for your work and for your businesses and your lives and your relationships, and you’re still feeling this sensation or this urge to rest or to slow down, I invite you to consider that there’s probably a reason. My intention for today’s episode is that you walk away with some really refreshing and permission giving new approaches to consider your new year and your visions and dreams and hopes for the new year through now. One of my favorite authors, Catherine May, she wrote a book a couple years ago called wintering, and she talks about this idea, this concept of living in alignment with the seasons, and this idea that, this idea that life is cyclical, not linear, and I really love that idea. So the first approach is to consider that when you start tuning in to the rhythms of the seasons, and in particular the rhythm of winter, you begin to realize that life is cyclical, that it’s not linear, and this can remind us that our habits and routines can align with those natural cycles and those natural seasons, and I think that this can really help us to adapt to the natural ebbs and flows of life. In wintering May says we have seasons when we flourish and seasons when the leaves fall from us, revealing our. Bare bones given time they grow again. So consider that, if you two are experiencing winter, wherever you find yourself right now, what would it be like to allow the leaves to fall from you and reveal your bare bones? What are the typical and natural practices and habits and routines and ways of being and operating that are aligned with that season. For you, I know for me in my business, in in wintertime, I often change my work schedule. I start my day later, I end my day shorter, and I really allow myself to work when the sun is up and allow myself to rest when it’s darkened. I also don’t launch new things in January. I think January is a real crappy year for launching things in business, because that’s not what feels good to my nervous system in wintering, May says that wintering is a time to practice doing nothing, slowing down and letting the world recede. And I love that idea of allowing ourselves to slow down and do nothing. And for many of us, I think the practice of doing nothing is actually really uncomfortable. But in my experience, when we can give ourselves permission to do nothing and to simply be when it’s time to do, when it’s time to flourish, when it’s time to exert ourselves, we can show up for that exertion from a place of feeling internally resourced because we’ve allowed ourselves to empower that natural seasonality, that natural ebb and flow. You I mentioned earlier this idea that for many of us, the month of January brings so much pressure because we can feel externally pressurized to declare goals or New Year’s resolutions from a source other than ourselves, and typically, when we exert ourself from a place of feeling pressured to Do so that does not typically result in performance. Pressure does not equal performance, and particularly for empaths, pressure and doing things from a place of feeling pressured to do so typically results in anxiety, angst, people pleasing, perfectionism, overwhelm and frustration, and when we show up from that place as empaths, it’s typically a sign that we’re not showing up from a place of alignment, that we’re not showing up internally resourced, and that We’re not bringing the fully authentic version of ourselves, to our businesses, to our leadership, to our relationships. So for empaths in particular, it is really important that we don’t declare goals and visions from a place of feeling pressured to do so. So when you think about your goals for this year. When you think about your visions and what you want to bring to life, in particular, consider creating systems rather than goals, rather than focusing on the outcome alone of what you want, reflect on the process of how you’re going to get there, in my experience, when we can focus on the system or the how it can allow us to fall in love with the journey and create incremental success, incremental progress. Over time, So I Yeah. Now for many of us, the idea of creating systems might sound really boring, really logical, really masculine. It might not sound necessarily like it’s aligned with this idea of wintering, or it’s aligned with this idea of slowing down and doing nothing, but for me, when I think of the idea of creating a system, I’m really looking at what are the daily and consistent habits and behaviors and ways of showing up that are in alignment with the new level of success, or the new level of results that I’m hoping to achieve in my Business, and for me, that really starts with this idea of ritualizing your life and really looking at, how can you begin to intentionally incorporate meaningful, repetitive actions and symbolic gestures into your daily routine and create through that, a sense of sacredness and mindfulness around your everyday activities. Now for me, this often looks a lot more like bringing more sacredness, more self compassion, more gentleness to who we be on an everyday basis. And in my experience, that starts with looking at the everyday habits and routines that if you were to empower that if you were to consistently show up for would naturally set you up for success in achieving those goals. So it’s not necessarily just the what you need to consider when you look at what you want to bring to life this year in your business, but you really need to look At the how behind the what and the why. You let me scratch that last sentence. When you’re considering your goals and your visions for the year and what you want, you also really need to consider the how behind the what, and really look at what will truly support you in realizing or achieving those goals. And at the end of the day, our ability to achieve a new experience of goals, goals that are truly based in goals that are truly based in possibility, goals that are truly no wait, I’m gonna scratch that again. I’m yeah. So as you really consider your new goals for this year and what you want to bring to life, you also need to consider what will fundamentally support you in realizing or achieving those goals, and at the heart of it, what is truly fundamental to our success in achieving new levels of success in business and in our lives is the lasting change that we need to create in that deeper set of subconscious beliefs that are either aligned with the new set of goals that we’ve created for ourselves or. Or not. Now, I love this distinction from the book atomic habits by James clear, he talks about this idea that we need to focus on creating identity based habits rather than outcome driven ones. Now, what do I mean by that many of us, when we think about incorporating new habits into our routines, we’re super focused on the outcome. We’re super focused on that kind of egoic based count of how many days we consistently showed up to meditate, or the 21 days that it takes to build a new habit, and we really kind of focus on the outcome or focus on the target or the goal, but we don’t always reflect or consider the internal transformation that needs to happen in order to be reliable and consistent for that new habit, so we so if We really want to consistently start to show up No, if we really want to show up consistently and really incorporate the new sets of habits that are aligned with new levels of success, then we need to look at, who do we need to become? What is the new identity that we need to take On that will result in us reliably showing up? I if we really want to build our own muscle around becoming consistent in new habits, and for empaths in particular, I think this concept is really important if we want to become consistent and we want to develop new habits for ourself, we really need to focus on the transformation of habits becoming identity based versus outcome driven. And for us empaths in particular, this shift typically looks like us becoming more compassionate rather than competitive with ourselves, and this shift towards becoming more graceful and having more self compassion will ultimately support us in honoring our habits and in holding them sacred and in holding new habits consistently, this will also allow us to be gentle and generous with ourselves, so not if, but when, we forget a day, or we forget to meditate one day, or we forget to take out our journal, or we don’t make time for our exercise routine One morning, it will allow us to show up the Next day with forgiveness and permission to begin again. You all right, the third distinction I want to invite you to consider is really looking at how can you design your environment for six. Success in 2025 so when we’re really looking at bringing new levels of success, new levels of possibility, to life in our businesses, our environment needs to match that new experience that we’re wanting to call to life. And I think that environment truly Trumps willpower. It also allows good habits to be easier, and it makes bad habits more difficult. So like I if you’re wanting to create a heightened experience of peace or presence in your everyday life, then really designing your environment for that might start with looking at, how can you be more minimalistic in your design, how can you declutter your space? How can you let go of the paper and the distractions that make it really hard to be in the present moment or to feel at peace in your space? The next concept is this idea of mastering the art of showing up. For so many of us, it is that practice of consistently showing up and building that positive habit loop over time that will support you in reinforcing that new identity and in becoming this new version of yourself that is in alignment with the new level of success or the new level of goals or experience of your life and relationships that you’re wanting to create. So if you’re wanting to build a muscle around cold plunging, which is something that I in particular love and talk about a lot. Consider the practice of taking a cold shower for 15 seconds every day, or jumping in your plunge pool in the backyard for 30 seconds and then building it over time is so much More important, even if the effort requires minimal effort you and the last distinction I want to leave you with today is one that I also take from atomic habits by James clear, and it is his Four Laws of behavior change. Now if you are really wanting to ritualize your life this year, if you’re really wanting to approach your goals and your business and your leadership with a new approach or a refreshing new perspective, I think his Four Laws of behavior Change are a really accessible and digestible distinction to consider. So he says, the first law is that you want to make you want to make it obvious. You want to design your environment to make cues for your habits more visible. Now for me, I’m going to use the example of cold plunging. So when I was wanting to start cold plunging and I started my daily practice of plunging in the ocean every day and in the winter. Sorry, let me. Let me take that back. So the first law to building better habits is to make it obvious. You want to design your environment to make cues for your habit or your for your new habit. So the first law to build better habits is you need to make it obvious. You want to design your environment to. Make cues for this new habit more visible. So if you’re wanting to develop a practice around cold plunging like I have in the past, then maybe you put out your jacket and your booties the night before. Maybe you put out your towel and your bathing suit so that it makes it that much easier to do. The second law is that you want to make it attractive. You want to pair this new habit with something you enjoy, to make it more appealing. So last year, for Christmas, my husband gifted me this portable Steam Sauna. So one of the ways that I made this new habit more attractive was that as soon as I would come home from my cold plunge, I would jump in the sauna. It was like my delicious treat after that made the cold plunge that much more attractive and satisfying. The third law is that you want to make it easy. You want to reduce the friction and lower the barrier to entry for performing the habit. So for me, this often looked like taking on my cold plunge in the morning, time when I was much more present, I had much less busy busyness on my mind. My No, wait, the third law of behavior. The third law of behavior changes that you want to make it easy, you want to reduce the friction and lower the barrier to entry for performing the habit. So for me, when I was developing the habit around like daily cold plunge, I would often do it in the morning when there was the least friction present for me to get in my way or to result in my procrastinating or in not making the time for my daily plunge. And the final and fourth law of behavior change is that you want to make it satisfying. You want to use immediate rewards to reinforce that new habit. So I loved plunging with my friends and with my peers. I also loved doing my cold plunge at the beach, because there was that immediate reward of being outside, of being in the sea, near the ocean, which is my favorite place to be, and it was something that I got to do in community filled by a visually appealing environment. So I hope that you found something accessible, something digestible in today’s episode. I always love hearing from you. Come on over to our private community. You can find the link in our show notes and let me know what you’re taking with you from today’s episode and how you are going to practice ritualizing your life in the new year. Thank you so much for tuning in, and we’ll see you next time you.

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