Transcript 25: Be Your Best Self in 2025: Setting Achievable Goals

Melissa NicholsoN INTRO

MELISSA NICHOLSON: Today it is all about turning that clarity and intention into action. We’re talking about how to set the kind of goals you will actually stick with this year. This isn’t your typical goal-setting process, though. We are ditching the old way of setting vague resolutions. Instead, we’re diving into science-backed methods that work

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Introduction

INTRO: Welcome to Job Share Revolution. The show about job sharing—a partnership between two people to bring two minds and skill sets to one full-time position. I’m Melissa Nicholson, former job sharer turned founder of the first U.S. job share company. But it wasn’t long ago that I felt like an utter failure at work and as a new parent. Job sharing was my game-changer. I reclaimed four days a week to fully engage in my life while my capable partner handled everything. Together, we achieved more than I ever could solo. Fast forward to many lessons learned to bring you the training and support I wish I’d had to change lives and the modern-day workplace. Let’s live life and slay work.

Melissa NICHOLSON

MELISSA NICHOLSON: Hey there, friend. It’s your friend Mel. Welcome back to Jobshare Revolution. Before we get started, can you do me a favor? Share episode twenty-five with a friend. It’s just good karma. They’re going to love getting a great start to 2025 by setting their goals for the year with you. Trust me, trust me, trust me… As someone who worked with a job share partner for almost a decade, with four different partners, you will love having a built-in accountability buddy. This is how you reach your big, audacious, amazing goals for the year. So share it with a friend; I promise it’ll come back to you.

Okay spunky, we are now halfway through the Be Your Best Self in 2025 Challenge and I am just so proud of the progress you’ve made. If you are just joining us, no biggie. Let me fill you in, but first stop the pod, go to workmuse.com forward slash best self, download and print your Be Your Best Self in 2025 Workbook. This workbook is everything so do it right now. Stop, pause, download, and print.

A few years back, I created a kinder, gentler approach to the New Year. Forget resolutions setting you up to fail. I can’t stand that. I wanted you to have a sustainable and intentional approach that actually will yield results for you. I’d personally been through a bring you to your knees moment in my life. And as I embarked on becoming a sandwich gen dual caregiver to my mom with Alzheimer’s with kids home and a very full career, I knew I had to do something radical. We were all coming off the pandemic PTSD and I wanted you to find the very same thing: adventures and present time with your family, living with real intention. I didn’t want the last handful of years home with my kids to pass me by.

Our Work Muse community loved it, but my life unfolded in this unreal way with adventures and fun and more joy than I had had in years. Even with intense caregiving responsibilities, I was able to have those things.  Here’s the other part of doing this challenge. With everything going on in the world right now, doing this exercise with you, I think it will help you. And I know it has already helped me.

Last year, I upped the ante and took it a step further by tying the Be Your Best Self Challenge to your work-life goals for a purpose-driven career that aligns with your values and to help you make the changes you need to get there in the new year. I created the workbook, which I freaking love, to come back to throughout the year. Look, I was just creating this entire thing as I went. I was iterating and testing and trying it. And the AHAs and responses from the community were off the charts, so I was trying more things. I was going with my gut, but I was looking into all of the research on how are we able to live our best lives. How are we able to do this? I was onto something, I was onto this hunch.

According to renowned neuroscientist Dr. James Doty,  there is something to all of this though I didn’t know it at the time, I’d only experienced it myself and heard all the AHAs from our community. But manifesting is real, I know that now deep in my bones. And there is a science to it. By using all of your sensory organs as much as possible, you can embed what you want in your life into your subconscious. This is science. This is real. You decide your intention, by writing it down you are doing something tactile. That is where the workbook comes in. Then, reading it aloud and visualizing it over and over again. It embeds it into your subconscious. So in its third year, I’m guiding you through it on the podcast. So you’re listening to these exercises, it’s embedding into your subconscious. I can’t wait to see how this part, guiding you through it on the actual podcast, impacts our little experiment: the Be Your Best Self in 2025 Challenge

So if you’ve been following along, you’ve already made some transformational moves: leaving behind what no longer serves you in 2024—buh bye, see ya later—and choosing a Word of the Year to guide your mindset for 2025. Today, it’s all about turning that clarity and intention into action. We’re talking about how to set achievable goals—the kind of goals you will actually stick with this year. This isn’t your typical goal-setting process, though. We are ditching the old way of setting vague resolutions that fade by February. Instead, we’re diving into science-backed methods that work

Okay, I’m going to be honest: I used to struggle with goal-setting. I really pushed back when I worked in corporate when we went through 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year goals. Maybe because I didn’t see myself there in five years. I knew I was meant for more. I have always been very buttoned up in my professional life, but on the other side of that, I’m just this free spirit, I’m completely spontaneous in my personal life. I think that’s what I loved about job sharing, honestly. I could just set aside that structured side of my life half the week and be spontaneous whether it was a farm, or going to the park, or getting completely lost in the woods all day with my littles.

I have never been one who loved to sit down and get deep into goal setting. So back to my job share, I did get strategic for quarterly goals with my job share partner, but when you’re flying solo, you definitely need some guidebook to not just setting goals but actually achieving them. So grab your workbook. You’ll need pages 7 through 10, a pen, and let’s get started!

When I researched goal setting for this challenge,  I started to understand the science behind what separates the people who miss their goals from the ones who actually achieve them. It’s not about sheer willpower—it’s about setting goals that are personal, aspirational, and aligned with your core values. Let that sink in. For me, one of the biggest shifts came when I realized that my goals weren’t just about what I wanted to do. They were about who I wanted to be. And that’s what I want for you, too. Let’s unlearn the old ways of goal-setting and step into something more intentional, more achievable, and more aligned with the best version of yourself.

To help you set goals that stick, we are going to use the SMARTER framework. This is a slightly evolved version of the SMART goals you may have heard of; it adds an extra layer of intentionality. Here’s what it stands for:

  • Specific – the “S” is for Specific. You want to be clear about exactly what you want to achieve.
  • Measurable – “M” is for Measurable: You want to decide how you will track your progress.
  • Action-Oriented: You want it to be Action-Oriented. That’s the “A” to focus on what you will do to achieve it.
  • Risky – the “R” in SMARTER is Risky. You want to push yourself out of your comfort zone just enough to grow.
  • Time-bound – your goals should be time-bound. You want to set a deadline for when you’ll achieve it.
  • Exciting – the “E” is exciting. You want to choose goals that light you up and make you feel motivated.
  • Relevant– the “R” is for relevant. Make sure your goals align with your core values and dreams.

So just to go over it one more time, you want your goals to be specific, measurable, action-oriented, risky, time-bound, exciting, and relevant. 

You need to know your will and your way for your goals to stick.  The will is WHY the behavior change is important to you. Most people focus on the WHY and forget all about the HOW or the way. Don’t forget the way, friend. The way is what do you need to do? What skills or plans do you need to put into place to actually achieve your goal? 

So before I ask you to set any goals, I want you to make me a promise. Don’t make these five mistakes before you decide on your BIG audacious awesome goals. First, don’t forget the HOW. Second, don’t set too many goals, stick to one to three goals. Third, don’t make your goals too easy peasy, or insanely hard. You need to hit the sweet spot. Your goals need to be challenging for sure, but doable. Fourth, don’t make your goals too general: choose specific goals. If you want to run a race this year, decide, “I want to run the Austin half marathon.” And fifth, don’t make your goals too rigid. You’ll just set yourself up for failure. Set a high-low range, like, “I want to run between 2 and 4 days each week.” 

Okay, it’s Day 3 Challenge Action: I want you to take a moment to write down 1-3 goals for 2025 that feel deeply personal and exciting to you. If you are not sure where to start, think about these five areas:

  1. Health and wellness
  2. Career, money, or school
  3. Relationships, love, and friendship
  4. Fun and happiness
  5. Purpose, spirituality, and meaning

All areas for a full life, right? I first heard this from Mel Robbins and I thought it was genius. So, for each area: health and wellness; career, money, or school; relationships, love, and friendship; fun and happiness; and also, purpose, spirituality, and meaning. ask yourself:

  • What was hardest for me last year?
  • What did I learn?
  • What do I want to start, stop, or continue this year?

What do I want to start doing, stop doing, or what do I want to keep doing this year? Once you’ve reflected on these questions for each of the five areas, pick 1-3 big, aspirational goals that you are so excited to work toward. Write them down in your workbook, and don’t hold back—this is your time to dream big.

On page 10 of your workbook—linked in the show notes or workmuse.com forward slash best self—write down your WHY for each goal. Next, write down what your plan is for how you will achieve each goal. Finally, what are you willing to do AND not willing to do the work for to achieve each goal? I think that’s equally important. 

Now that you’ve set your goals, let’s talk about how you’re going to achieve them. Research shows that it is not enough to just know your ‘why’—you also need a clear plan for ‘how.’

Here are a couple of tips to get started:

  1. Break your goals into micro-actions. What’s the first teeny tiny step that you can take today? For example, if your goal is to run a half marathon, maybe your first step is finding a training plan or a running club. That is what my guy Mike did five years ago. It started with one mile, which he struggled to finish, and a few weekends ago, he ran a 9-freaking- hour-long 50K race with his running club friends. Isn’t that crazy? But he did it. And it all started with one mile. It just started with these tiny microactions. 
  2. Create systems that support your goals. James Clear says, ‘You don’t rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.’

Think about what habits, routines, or environments you need to set yourself up for success.

And remember: Your goals don’t need to be perfect. It’s better to start small and make progress than to aim for perfection and never start at all.

Okay, now it’s your turn! Write down the 1-3 goals you picked in your workbook, and then share them with our community. I’m telling you accountability works! You can post in our Job Share, Live Life + Slay Work Facebook group or text me from Apple’s link in episode twenty-four’s description.

So here’s a little incentive: At the end of the challenge, I’ll be picking a winner from the Facebook group to receive a fun work-life prize! Don’t be shy—share your goals, celebrate your progress, and cheer each other on.

As we wrap up, I want you to remember this: The goals you set today are just the beginning. They’re a reflection of who you want to be in 2025, and that is the most powerful thing of all.

Next week, we’re diving into Challenge Day 4: James Clear Your Year: Habits That Stick. This is where we’ll take your goals and turn them into systems that support you every day.

Until then, keep dreaming big, taking action, and showing up for yourself. You’ve got this. If nobody’s told you today, I believe in you. 2025 is your year for the taking, friend. I will see you next week for Challenge Day 4! Same time, same place. Remember, it’s all in you.

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