Create The Best Me

How to Make 2025 YOUR Best Year

• Carmen Hecox • Episode 97

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In this episode, I recount an eye-opening experience from a fictional dream cruise vacation exercise where I could only bring five items. As the story unfolds, I discuss the difficult choices I had to make when faced with an emergency and what they taught me about priorities, faith, and living a balanced life. The insights from this team-building exercise will guide you in making 2025 your best year yet by focusing on what truly matters.

5 Key Lessons:

1.      The Importance of Faith:

  • Faith can be a cornerstone in overcoming life's challenges.
  • Spending time nurturing your faith can give you clarity and strength.

2.     Prioritizing Family:

  • Make time for your loved ones; their presence is irreplaceable.
  • Balance your professional life with personal commitments to be more present for your family.

3.     Health is Wealth:

  • Regular check-ups and physical activity are essential for maintaining good health.
  • Don’t wait for a health crisis to remind you of the importance of taking care of your body.

4.    Time Management:

  • Planning and organizing can help you achieve more while working less.
  • Prioritize tasks that bring you closer to your goals and spend less time on distractions.

5.     Connecting with Others:

  • Building connections can lead to meaningful collaborations and opportunities.
  • Engage with people who inspire you and share similar values.

Call to Action:

To learn more about prioritizing what's important and making 2025 your best year yet, visit https://createthebestme.com/ep097.

 Thank you for tuning in! Join me next week for another episode that will help you "Create The Best Me." Until then, have a fantastic start to 2025. Catch you next week! 🎙️

 Next Week’s Episode:

Dr. John Lewis will join us next week to discuss the importance of health prioritization. You won't want to miss his insightful tips and advice!

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Imagine this, you just won an all inclusive cruise dream vacation to that one place on your bucket list. The only catch here is that you can only bring five things with you on this amazing dream vacation. What would those things be? This trip is a chance for you to unwind, relax, recharge, and get ready to face 2025 head on and make the most amazing year! I'm going to be really honest with you. This is really hard for me because I've always traveled with my family. And it's really hard for me to think about relaxing without them. But since I can't bring them, I'll have to bring a couple of pictures that I can display in my room so that I can always see them. Another thing that would help me feel comfortable is my comfy clothing. And I'd probably bring different types of clothing, makeup, shoes, jewelry, because you never know what kind of activities could take place on this cruise. And because I can't seem to turn my thoughts off, I'd have to bring my laptop, a portable tripod and wireless mics because you never know who I could meet and I certainly wouldn't want to miss out on interviewing that one incredible guest that will razzle dazzle all you amazing people. Another thing that I absolutely cannot live without are my supplements. You know, being a woman in midlife, I can't honestly rely that this cruise line is going to feed me all the nutritional foods that I need to get me through. So I have to pack my supplements. And last but not least, I'm packing my Bible because when I'm feeling sad and lonely, even though I won't really be lonely because the boat's going to be full of all these amazing women, I'll need something to help me feel more at home since my family's not with me. Going on this dream cruise is exciting, but also sort of scary because I'm stepping out of my comfort zone, doing something I've never done before, and that is travel without my family. Especially on a dream vacation on my own. The first three days and nights are amazing. I am beginning to feel a little guilty because I'm having such a good time and I'm beginning to clearly see what I need to do to make 2025 an impactful year. I have planned out my entire year on how to work less and get more things done. I'm connecting with people who are giving me great tips and ideas. And we're talking about possible collaboration projects. Wow! Why didn't I ever think of this before? This is exactly what I needed! All of a sudden, I'm woken up by a loud siren and everyone is told to go to their muster station. What the heck? I quickly grab my things and my life jacket and head to my muster station. And guess what? Well, the other women on this dream vacation have more stuff than I have, and there's no way we're going to fit on our lifeboats. I know, I know. In a situation like this, you're not supposed to grab your personal belongings, but let's just pretend for the sake of this exercise that me and the other guest brought our personal belongings with us. As I look through my suitcase, I decide I'll have to get rid of my clothes, makeup, shoes, jewelry, and return to my lifeboat. I'm told I need to get rid of more stuff. So I pull out my laptop, portable tripod, and wireless mics. That's still not enough. I need to get rid of more stuff. I toss out my supplements. That's still not enough. I'm stuck having to choose between my family photos and my Bible. I'm really torn, because what would I tell my family if I don't return with their photos? I look at my Bible, which has been by my side for many years and has helped me overcome many obstacles through my young and midlife years. So I leave my family photos behind and board the lifeboat. So you might be wondering, why am I sharing this story with you? I'm sharing this story with you because 30 years ago, during a team building exercise, a team leader made us write on a piece of paper, five things that were important to us. Then we were told to choose what belongings we needed to offload to ensure our lifeboat would not sink with all the other guests. We were all grouped into groups of nine or 10 people. Then the team leader asked everyone to share what was the one thing they were holding in their hand. There were two women in my group, that held on to faith while I held on to family. I was very upset to hear that they chose faith over family. I couldn't imagine my life without my family. What's wrong with these women? One year later, my life was moving really fast. I got sick here and there, but it didn't slow me down. I was earning good money, but I was also missing out on being the mom who was present for my kids. And when I was in church or Sunday school or reading my Bible, I really wasn't there either because I was so tired. I wholeheartedly believed that since I was taking my kids with me to the racket club, that meant I was making up for not showing up for their school events. But it really wasn't because while I was working out or swimming laps, they needed to find ways to entertain themselves, It took a distracted teenage driver with less than two months of driving experience, to slow me down so I could focus on what was important. As I was trying to recover from the life changing accident, I couldn't really be there for my beautiful teenage children because the physical pain was unbearable. I quickly learned that I needed to lean on my faith to help me mentally, spiritually, and physically. It was during that time that I quickly realized why those women held their faith in their hands. My faith helped me accept that there were many things that I would not be able to do physically that gave me pleasure, like running, swimming, working out, or reading. It's been my faith that has helped me get through my debilitating migraines that are a constant reminder of that event. It is my faith that helped me become the mom my teenage children deserved. The one who worked less, attended their events, and made twice as much money so I could buy them the home they deserved. So my advice to you is don't wait for that distracted teen driver, or distracted person to come up and rear end you. Stop right now what you are doing and spend time on whatever your faith is. Spend time reading, talking, journaling, or meditating. Trust me, you will find that your faith, or like I like to say, God, will guide you as to where you need to focus your time. In my own experience, God gave me clarity to see what is truly important to me. Life became easier for me a side of my physical pain that became part of my normal everyday life. But it has been my faith that has allowed me to accept my limitations and embrace it as a gift because it made me learn more about myself, my family, and become the woman I am today. After you spend time with God or your faith, connect with your spouse, family, or friends. because our time with those we love is very limited. And let's not forget about your health. Make sure you are taking care of your body. Get your annual physical mammogram, cervical cancer screening, colonoscopy, and by the way, the American Cancer Association recommends a regular screening at least by age 45. Get your eyes checked. And most of all, make sure you are getting at least 30 minutes of any kind of physical exercise. If you can do more, great. Add some strength training, even better. So before you begin to plan your New Year's resolution that you'll probably break before February, join me in spending time strengthening your faith. Because your faith will help you get through life's never ending challenges. If you'd like additional information, head on over to createthebestme.com/ep097. And you'll have to come back next week as our guests will be Dr. John Lewis. Dr. Lewis is the founder of Dr. Lewis Nutrition. Dr. Lewis will be here to discuss the importance of prioritizing your health. Dr. Lewis provides so much amazing information, you'll need to come back next week to hear it. If you want to learn more about boundaries and practicing self love, you'll have to watch this episode with Courtney Townley. Until then, Happy New Year. I hope you're off to an amazing 2025. Catch you next week. Bye for now.