Speaker #0Hi, welcome to The Pulse. I hope you're doing well. My name is Julie, I'm your host, and today in this episode it's a special one because we are starting for the next three weeks Podmas setup. So instead of doing regular episodes, I'll be sharing the episodes of five to ten minutes every other day for the month of December. So I hope you enjoy this tinier format and let's go with this first topic. I would like to start Podmas on December 1st with actually already reflecting on 2025. I think it's a good timing not to wait until really the last day of December because usually we're very busy and we'll talk about it in another episode. What's usually happened at the end of the year with all the festivities and how it can be overwhelming. But I would really like to use the time already in early December to do that, also to prepare for January. This is also, in my opinion, a reflection that you don't have to automatically do a year end. It's always nice and good to do these reflections on a regular basis to kind of understand where you're at, what's your progress. So I tend to do this on a quarterly basis. But here today in the episodes, I really want to share what are my top three lessons that I've learned. and And actually, it's very much related to the handling of keeping up with the reflection and catching up on achievements. So I'll go straight to the point. My first lesson happened very early on in the year. I think I was very motivated. Early January, let's do 2025. Sounds like an amazing year. And end of January, I had some tough news regarding my dog. he he has become a bit ill and it was very much unplanned and very scary and that kind of changed a bit how my year went on because as I've mentioned I was highly motivated highly positive and then this very negative news really impacted my mood for the following months but also impacted how I deal with it so I think the lesson is really that you can Never really plan things. And my life has told me this multiple times. You can plan your life to go a certain way. You can plan things to go a certain way, but until they actually happen, or you never know what's going to happen in between. So you always have to keep being on your toe, remaining positive, but be aware that things could go not the way you expected and that you have to be highly flexible to balance and to reshift and to be ready to reassess. And as mentioned earlier, this is why it's Good also to do those reflections not only for the year end, but you can definitely reuse some of those thoughts all throughout the year. That's my first lesson. And the second one is also very much related to that. It's also, I learned to slow down. And it sounds crazy when you look at my day to day, a lot of my friends and colleagues would say, well, I mean, you do running, you do the podcast, you have your job, you have your dog, you have whatever else. I'm definitely a very busy person, but I have put in place some key moments where I have slowed down and I have changed my intention of how I do things. And the main one related to what happened with my dog was to spend the time with him to stop having the TV running in the background or when I go on a walk to having a podcast. I dedicated a certain period of time where I was... fully focused on him and there was a moment no matter how fast or slow he was going I was going his pace I used to okay we're going to walk let's make it a bit fast walk so it's also good for exercise for him and therefore it became kind of like a bit of a challenge for me to see like how much we can go how many kilometers we can do but I changed and switched We still have those sporty walks, let's put it that way, but I also have those moments where it's really about his rhythm. It's the same thing. If we are on the couch cuddling and you just want a moment with me, it's not just me having one on him and then like cuddling him and then having also my phone or the TV. It's really taking that moment just for us two. And this you can also definitely apply, I think, in your day-to-day. I'm sure many of us get busy. or get distracted with technology, with also all the things we have to do in life. And so taking the time for you, but also for the other people to really put everything. side, what stays on your mind, what is on your phone, on whatever object can also be like sometimes someone just wants your attention and to give fully commit that attention. Slowing down to give that space allows I think for better relationship and for also for yourself it has an impact of for me at least was really calming me down. So I would say this is my second lesson And my third was... To not forget your achievements. And here, I have to say, it has been very difficult in the beginning of quarter three. So basically, September. As mentioned to you, I tend to do those reflections not only at the year end, but I like to do it on a more regular basis. And I tend to do a reflection of what went well, what didn't, what did I achieve on a quarterly basis. It's really my go-to. And I did this reflection, but... This year, instead of having the right intention to really sit down, do it properly, I rushed it. I just had this feeling of being unhappy and overwhelmed. And so I did it in the wrong moment in time. I did it in the wrong space. And what happened is that because of it, I forgot what I had achieved. It was in beginning of September and I really completely forgot. It's like I had achieved nothing for the last eight months. And that is not okay. And you automatically have achieved something. Even if it's small, it's about just finding it. And in order to find it, you have to be in the right space. And because I didn't find it, then I got very worried. And then I rushed to complete extra things that was on my to-do to have that feeling of achievement. And then if I take it then a month later, early October, when I was in a much better space, I was on holiday, I had the time, I then remembered, oh, wait a minute. I mean, I created this podcast, right? So it's already an achievement as it is, no matter how successful it is. I have been wanting to do this for quite a while. So achieving it is something, creating it is something, keeping track and doing every two weeks as expected is something. And I completely forgot about it. And that's mainly because I was in the wrong space and the wrong time when I did it. So be aware, keep in mind how you do it, how you do things and have really this mindset of not forgetting your achievement. So yeah, I think that's it for today. As mentioned, it's very short. I will have a lot more to say and a lot more to deep dive. But I hope this... can help you have some thought also regarding what are three lessons of the year and feel free to let me know and let's exchange I would be happy to hear if those three lessons resonate in some ways or could be helpful for the future or if there is anything else that you've learned in 2025. As mentioned this is the first of our podmasks and I'm looking forward to seeing you in the next one in two days. Bye.
