Speaker #0Do you have some big goals or dreams for 2026 but aren't sure where to start? Today, I'm going to share my top tips with you to help you name, claim, and practically go after your goals and dreams in the new year. Because baby, you deserve it. Welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso. I'm a three-time Webby Award winning podcast host and producer, singer-songwriter, public speaker, and creative coach, and this show is meant to give you tools to love, trust, and know yourself enough to claim your birthright to creativity and go after your heart's deepest desires, aka your dreams. Today I am giving you my top tips to set and go after your goals in the new year. So this first one is something I learned recently from a podcast I'm executive producing that you should definitely check out. It's called Aspire with Emma Greed, and she talks to different business people about how they And she did one on achieving your goals and dreams. And in this one, she talked about you need to look at your goals from the year before that you didn't achieve and get really honest with yourself and ask, was there anything in my power that I could have done that I didn't do? So I know for myself, if I'm getting into victim mode, which we all do sometimes, I can ask why a lot, but not actually seek to answer the question. Right? So it's going through all the times when you ask, why didn't I get that? Why am I not moving forward? Why can't I just expand in this way that I've been dreaming of? And actually seeking to answer the question. Now, there are many, many times when there's so many things out of your control. You know, you might be in an unfair industry. Maybe you don't have the resources you need to build to the levels that you've wanted to. There could be a million blockages. But it's looking at the things that you actually have control over because usually there's at least something... and saying, okay, I didn't do that to the best of my ability or to the top of my ability. How can I get past that block and expand in that way? A big one for me that I notice, a recurrent one, is that I don't ask for help enough or reach out to people enough who might be able to assist in co-creating my goals and dreams with me. So this year, I am making sure to continue to strengthen that muscle there to really do an inventory of everything. everybody I know that might be able to help or align with me and reaching out to them. And I'm going to microdose courage and start with people maybe that I feel more comfortable with and then build my way out to people who are maybe on the outskirts of my network. But that is something that's really important that I can acknowledge that has held me back in the past from getting to my goals as fast as I want to. We cannot build anything alone. And if you have something of value and you're giving somebody an opportunity to collaborate That is huge. So the first thing I want you to do is look back at last year, do an assessment of all of the goals that you had that maybe you didn't get to or you didn't get to like the highest level and ask, was there anything I could have done to push that along further that I didn't? Name what that is and then make sure this next year you're doing that. So after that, I want you to make a practical list of all your goals, all of the goals you currently have, and then a list of everything. everything you do in your day-to-day life, including what you do to achieve these goals. Now this list should be things that are both in your creative life and career and also in your personal life. So you're going to list out all of your goals personally, professionally, creatively, and everything that you are doing in your life. If you cannot draw a line between your action and your goal, that thing should come off the list. And I learned this from a mentor of mine, Kevin Undergaro. And I just think it is such a great thing because sometimes we don't even realize that a lot of our actions aren't aligned with our actual goals or values in life. And so it's really important to make sure those things align. If you don't have an action supporting one of your goals, you don't have enough action supporting some of your biggest goals, you're going to add an action item to that part of the list. So that's your next step. After that, you're going to look at that list with all your goals and dreams and ask, which of these are most pressing and most precious to me? And then I want you to write a detailed list of actions you can take to achieve that in order to increase the likelihood of you being able to achieve it. So for me... A goal this year is to book way more speaking gigs. So it's great to have a goal and tell people like I'm doing right now with you, but it's even more important to list the actions so that it makes it more likely. And you know what the heck you're supposed to do. I mean, sometimes I think it feels overwhelming because you're like, I know I have this dream, but what am I supposed to do to get there? So actually making a map for yourself is very helpful. You start at the foundational level and then you build up to the hardest things that are most likely to push the needle forward when it comes to this goal. So for me, what with my speaking goal, the number one thing I need to do is tighten up my materials, my reel, my website, LinkedIn content, my decks, possibly adding in keynotes that I can do, connecting with my manager, asking her if there are any talks she thinks I should add. Then what I'm gonna do, going back to my first thing of needing to reach out to people more, and I'm gonna make a list of everybody I know who works in events in their contact info, everyone I know who works at corporations in their contact info, and everyone I know who works at colleges and their contact info. Then I'm going to start writing pitches, and these can be like templates, and I'll just personalize them for each person. And then I can plan to send out two to three pitches or outreaches per day and keep a tracker of where the pitch is at. So that's an example. You want to make it specific, actionable, and let each step flow into each other and build upon each other. Know when you're going to do it, how often you're going to do it, and don't try to do two steps at once because that's a recipe for disaster. And as I mentioned, it's very important to add in timeframes and deadlines so you're more likely to achieve your goal. As you're going through this process, you want to remember to microdose progress and take small steps. Again, it's back to that idea of microdosing courage. If you have a goal, it's best to take small steps, especially if it's scary, the thing you're doing, or the goal requires you to form an entirely new habit. So for instance, like a great way to see this is if one of your goals is to work out more. It's easy to be like, I want to work out five days a week or six days a week. And that's a great eventual goal to have. I think you should always have that long-term eventual goal in mind. But we want to set ourselves up for success here, not then not do something and feel like a failure or feel like we can't trust ourselves again. So it's really important to set a reasonable amount of time or days to do the thing that going with this workout idea to set a reasonable amount of time or days to do the thing you want to do. So if it's working out, maybe it's, I'm going to go to the gym at least one day a week, or I'm going to work out for 20 minutes, two days a week. Something that is attainable and as you do it, you can build up yourself a seam and self-trust that sets you up for success because again, it's something that you could feasibly do. Right? And then once you reach that goal, let's say you spend 52 weeks going to the gym at least one day a week or working out 20 minutes two days a week. You can then add on a third day because you've proven to yourself that you can keep a promise to yourself and that you're somebody that is worthy of trust and you're somebody that follows through on things. And probably if you've been doing it for 52 weeks, that it feels really good to move your body in that way. So apply that to whatever it is that your goal is. That's a very literal example. But, you know, for me, even like the two to three pitches a day, maybe that's a little steep because I haven't been doing anywhere near that number. Maybe I should do one pitch a day. See how that goes. Once I get comfortable reaching out to people and putting myself out there in the arena, then I can upgrade to two to three pitches a day. You know, so it's putting yourself in a place where progress can be stair-stepped instead of being like all or nothing. And also if you're scared to do something, starting out with a thing that feels less hard so that you can stair-step your way up to the more difficult things. So for me, reaching out to people I'm very familiar with and close to, and then getting eventually into people way on the outskirts of my network. Now here's the hard part that's not as easy as like one, two, three. When it comes to goals and dreams, the things that most often hold us back are one, we feel like we don't know how to do what we need to do. And two, we feel even subconsciously that we do not deserve to achieve this goal or dream. So therefore you must make it a point to do your research and learn anything you need to know in order to achieve this goal. Because the fact is most things are out there and we just have to have the patience and the nervous system to learn. And most importantly, beyond that, you must heal your worth wounds. Now this healing can come through therapy or by journaling. You could even start by doing the creative wound meditation that I did a few months ago. I'll link it in the notes. It's a great way to start to get to the bottom of this, to understand where that original pain when it comes to your creativity or when it comes to your dreams was formed and how you can start basically getting in touch with your younger self, healing them so you can bring it into this timeline. You can also list out any limiting beliefs that come up when you think of this goal and ask where they come from, especially if it's somebody else's voice that's been repurposed as your own. Going back and healing that at the source is going to be really important. And then rewriting it to what the truth is, something more positive and something probably more accurate and balanced. A lot of times the thing that stands between us and our dreams isn't skill, but rather a belief that we cannot or do not deserve to go after our dreams. So spend time with your younger self, list out your limiting beliefs, heal at the source. And if you can't do it for you in this moment, do it for your younger self. Co-create in tandem with them. A few final thoughts. When you are going after your goals, a lot of times it's easy to think about all the hard work and everything I have to do. And even the fear of like, what if it doesn't happen? Throughout the process, I encourage you to not just feel into like what difficulty you might encounter or what you're going to have to do or the tasks, but instead to feel into what it will be like to accomplish this dream. Really think about it. When you think about your deepest goal right now for 2026, what does it feel like in your body when you envision yourself having achieved that dream or goal? For me, it feels like total release, expansion, and honestly, relief, and also elation and excitement. And when I feel into that, it makes me feel energized to go after, to do all of the work that I need to, to get there. So we create so often from thinking what I have to do, pushing, instead of the feeling we want to get on the other side of that work. So I would really say, feel into it. Anytime you get into a, this is so hard. I don't know if I can do this. pushing, pushing, pushing yourself, feeling constricted. Instead, feel into the energy of what you hope that goal brings to you and what you believe it will feel like once you get it and remind yourself that's why you're doing it. And then one other reminder, which again is my biggest thing, but it's super important. Speak your goals out loud both to yourself and to others to allow other people and the universe to co-create for you. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Obviously, I'm telling you this as much as I'm telling myself this, but we cannot do anything worth doing alone. Nobody creates completely in a silo and no dream could ever be created just all on our own without any help. So don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't be afraid to offer help to somebody who you see who might be able to use it. That karma comes back to you. It really does. Energy is not just balancing out after we die, but also in real time while we're here on this earth. So ask for help, give help. If you see somebody who has a dream and there's something easy you could do to help them make it come true, absolutely do it. And don't be afraid to ask for the same for yourself because we all deserve it. The world would be a much better place if everybody was actively pursuing and living in their creativity and their dreams. So final thing, most, most importantly, goals are amazing. And it is so important to pursue them because you never want to be the one who's shutting the door on yourself. You don't want to say no to yourself. The world's going to do whatever the world's going to do, but we say yes to ourselves and yes to our own dreams. But remember, whether or not you get there has no bearing on your worth as a human being because who you are is the best thing about you. And your dreams are just what take you on the journey. So regardless of where you land, it's always going to be the right thing for you. It's all about trying and that's what gives you the worth to know that you believed in yourself enough to go after it and to ask for what you want and to work hard and to put yourself out there and be vulnerable and be in the arena, not the ultimate result. That said, I wish that you get everything that you dream of this year because you deserve it and I know you're a beautiful person. Thank you so much for tuning in. Unleash Your Inner Creative was hosted and executive produced by me, Lauren LaGrasso. If you like what you heard and you think it could help someone that, you know, feel free to share the show with a friend. Give us a rating and review. Follow us on social media at Unleash Your Inner Creative and at Lauren LaGrasso. And as always, I love you and I believe in you. Talk with you next week.
