3 words to set the themes for your 2025

Sara Burton: 00:00:00

There is no greater opportunity for a fresh start, to wipe the snake clean and to build on the successes and lessons of a previous year than when the clock strikes 12 on New Year's Eve. And today we're going to be diving into a powerful practice that I've used over the last couple of years.

It's simple, it's easy to understand, it's quick to put together, and it can be hard. Utterly transformative.

ds to set your intentions for: 2025

So grab a pen and let's dive into this method and I'm going to show you how it can bring you clarity and focus for your year ahead. Welcome to Start over and Rise.

I'm Sarah Burton, your host, and this is the podcast for you if you are ready for fresh starts to reclaim your power and create the life that you truly desire.

Whether you're navigating a major life change, recovering from a setback, or simply just feeling a bit stuck or that something is missing, this is your space for inspiration, practical tools and empowering conversations. Each week we'll dive into topics that help you. You step into the person you're meant to be so that you can rise to your new desired heights.

Because here's the truth.

It's never too late to make a change and it's never too early to start over with your thinking, with your approach, with your attitude so that you can be, do and have all you want in your life. So let's get started. Hey, gorgeous. How are you doing? Sara here. Thank you for joining me again. And I hope you've had the Christmas that you wanted.

I hope it's given you everything to feel fulfilled, happy and, yeah, to really round off the year as you wanted. I have had one of the best Christmases I've had in many years.

They've been so different in more recent years, but I have to say it's felt progressive. I felt that I embraced grief of previous years in a new kind of way.

Our family is expanding and it's just the most wonderful, wonderful feeling to be surrounded by so many fabulous family members and friends. So, yeah, I'm feeling very, very grateful at the moment. And I really want to say this.

I don't think I've ever been more excited about a brand new year ahead. And I hope that comes across to you.

If you' feeling like you've had a really crap year, there's always hope, there's always a chance for you to take back some control.

Decide how you're going to react to events and things that have happened to you this year in, you know, things that have happened that have enhanced your life and things have happened maybe to you, things that were out of your control.

Whatever kind of year you've had, this is the perfect opportunity to, as I said earlier, wipe the slate clean and decide that from right here, right now, you can start to make choices about the kind of year that you're going to have. So I mentioned earlier we're going to be talking about three words, and let's start with why. Well, why choose three words?

In previous years, I have used just one word and I picked a theme and I had words such as, well, here are some of them. I've had courage, I've had freedom. I've had consistency. I've had lots of different sort of single words. And to be fair, they've worked fairly well.

It's really good to have, you know, some kind of focus and they've taught me an awful lot. But I have to admit I felt that one wasn't enough. And so now I have three.

And I started this two years ago and it is more of a sort of phrase, really.

The words aren't necessarily connected, but by having those three different things, it just has allowed me to keep me more aligned, more motivated, and definitely more productive. So the idea is that these three words serve as sort of guiding principles for your year ahead.

So unlike, you know, when we've set rigid New Year's resolutions, that can feel really restrictive. And also if you fall off the wagon with it, you can just let it all go and it's easy to give it up.

But with three words, I'm finding it gives me almost like a framework. It's flexible, it's more empowering, and it just gives me that little bit more scope. So we're going to be choosing three words.

I'm going to take you through the process so you can see how it's done. But I want you to think of these words as your North Star.

They're going to be working as a compass for, for your decision making, for your personal growth, for your mindset and for your focus. They're not just three words. They are intentions. They help you answer questions like what matters most for me this year and who do I want to become?

Who do I need to be. To do all the things and achieve the things that you want to in the coming year. So let's talk about how we actually choose these three words.

Now, I touched upon this in the previous episode when we were talking about the review process. So the thing to say here is, this is very much a personal process, but here are some steps to guide you.

So first of all, if you haven't listened to the previous episode, it's all about reflection and taking the best and, you know, really sort of diving in to your previous year. Because when we reflect and this is the first thing, go back to that episode because it's important to reflect on your past year.

And sometimes you can get stuck because you're just thinking about the things that didn't work out. So what I take you through in the previous episode is really, really important.

But think about: 2024

attention to move forward in: 2024

So you've got to picture yourself, you know, picture yourself in a year's time, this time next year. How do you want to be feeling about your year? What do you want to have achieved? How do you want?

I think that's the biggest thing for me in most recent years is how do I want to feel? Because if you feel good, everything becomes so much easier.

How you make decisions, the way that you move through life, the relationships that you have, everything. If you feel good, it does make everything so much easier. It does for me. And I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on this.

So when we decide what kind of person that we want to be, it's really helpful. So think about where you want to be this time next year. Who do you want to have around you? What do you want to have achieved?

So we're thinking about those things. Number three is to identify key themes. So as you reflect and you think about what you want in the future, you'll start to see these themes emerging.

Maybe you're seeking more balance. Maybe you want to experience more growth, either personally in your experiences and your outlook.

Maybe there's things you want to do that tap into your creativity a little bit more.

Maybe you feel that actually the thing that is most wrong is, is your Connection with other people, your connection with what you do for a living, and so on. So as you're going through all of this, start to see these themes that pop out to you.

And then the fourth thing we are doing is when you start to see those themes coming through, you can start to choose words that resonate. So your words should be meaningful to you. They should be things that you can take action as a result of.

And it doesn't matter what those words are, they are specific to you. It's the meaning that you have behind those words that is going to make all of the difference.

So, for example, you might say, I really want some success this year. And that might be a word that you choose, but you might actually find that a word behind that would be.

Actually, in order for me to be successful, I need to demonstrate discipline. I need to be making sure that the things I say I'm going to be doing, I actually do.

So when you start to look at the meaning of these words and what you need in order to use them to catapult you forward, words like discipline or resilience, those words tend to come up. So another example is happiness. A lot of people say, I want to be happy. Well, what does that actually mean to you?

Does it mean you want more fun in your life? Does it mean you want to be more joyful?

Does it mean that actually you have got a lot of great things going on, but maybe you haven't been tapping into you the gratitude of it all enough? Maybe you haven't taken stock of the things that actually make you happy. So start to choose the words that resonate with you.

And then the fifth part of this is to test them. And this is the best bit I'm a big one for. Post it notes and write the words down.

So if you start to have some words that resonate with you, write them down and put them on the back of the toilet door or somewhere where you're going to see them at various points in the day and then you can just test it out. Do those words resonate with you? Do they excite you? Maybe you want words that challenge you or do they just feel a bit flat? Do they feel a bit meh?

So as you look at them over a couple of days, because we've got a couple of days until New Year's Eve, you can just, just test them out, see how they feel. Because sometimes you go, yeah, those are the words.

And then after a day or two you're like, yeah, it's not really having the effect that I wanted on. So let's just look at a couple of examples here. So three words. Balance, strength, curiosity.

Now those are words that have often come up for me previously. And if you're someone who's seeking a more balanced life, a more harmonious life, where staying physically strong is important to you.

So I, I know how I feel when I go to the gym and I know how I feel when I do some weights. It doesn't mean I want to bulk up, but I like that feeling of strength and I think it can replicate into your life in other ways.

So it could also be words, those words that were, you would use if you were, you wanted to be open to learning. If you want to be, you know, you're more curious about opportunities that come up or that people come into your life and so on.

So think about those words. Focus, health, growth. So they might be good for somebody who's prioritizing clarity, their well being.

If this is a year for them in terms of, actually this is a year I work on myself. This is a year of my personal development. And those are some really good words there.

And I'm just giving you a few here to get you started really, because if you're like me, if I'm left too much in my own devices, I quite like a starting point. So here's, here's three others. Create, connect and flourish.

And these are ones that if you are, say for example, you've got an online business or if you want to do something to create more passive income and there's going to be a level of creation, you're going to have to connect with the right audience in order to, to flourish and for you to feel like you're, you're giving your absolute best. So the words don't have to follow a particular formula, they don't have to go in a particular order. They just need to speak to you, that's it.

They need to mean something to you. So once you've got your three words, how do you then use them? I've mentioned put them on a, you know, put them on the back of a door.

But once you've got your three words and you've tested them out and they feel right to you, the next step is to integrate them into your daily life. Start to think about how you're going to do that and how these three words are going to work in all different areas of your life.

So I definitely recommend having them visually.

It might be that you put them on the front of your journal, it could be that you start Every day, when you open your diary with writing your three words down, I have mine on a heart post it note, and they go on my monitor because I'm at my desk every single day at some point, even if I just come into my office to pick something up over the weekend. But they are there, they're in front of you because you need to keep reminding yourself what they are.

And I promise you that if you start to get a little bit of discipline with this, start to make it part of your daily routine.

Maybe when you're having your cup of coffee in the morning and you're coming through, you know, getting yourself together, it might be when you're brushing your teeth, you know, perhaps put them on the mirror, but start to integrate them into your daily routine, because if you've chosen these three words, you've chosen them for a reason. And they're going to be there to help you move forward. So make sure that you do display them somewhere where you're going to see them.

Seeing them daily will reinforce your intentions. The second thing is, and this is where I have found their power, you know, their most power. It's about using these words as a filter.

So when you're making decisions, ask yourself, does this decision align with my words?

So, for example, if one of your words is balance, then you know, if you're committing to do something for someone, you can ask yourself, hang on, is this something that is going to support my need for greater balance in my life? Now, you might decide actually the balance needs to tip in this direction just for a little bit.

And after you've done that task, then you can tip it back again. So it's all about making it work for you. Now, one of my words that I'm sticking with this year is fun.

And if things don't feel like fun, and I know not everything feels like fun, right? You know, when I'm doing the washing up, I don't think, yay, this is such fun.

I don't mean that, but the general gist of things that you are committing to, of the work you're doing, of the people that you're sharing your time with. For me, if fun isn't in there, I'm not here for that.

I don't want to be doing things that make me miserable, that cause me frustration, that bring me down.

So when you decide, if you've been given an invitation to go to an event, if it doesn't feel like fun to you, it doesn't excite you, then you don't have to do It.

So this is why it's important to really resonate with the words because they will help you stay in alignment with the goals that you're setting with the, you know, the way that you want to move forward. And the next thing to do is to reflect regularly.

I can't tell you how much time I spend analyzing, reviewing, reflecting on things that have happened. And it seems that the older I've got, the more I do this. And I love it. It's not a waste of time.

You can go so far that you know, you don't want to be living in the past, but by going back and just reviewing a few things, you know, you might do it on a Friday afternoon. Okay, how has the week been? You know, what could I do differently? What did I learn this week? What was great fun this week?

What was good, what was bad? You know, all those kind of things. It can literally take you like 15 minutes to do that.

But my goodness, for me, it allows me to take it out of my head and to move into whatever it is I'm going to be doing on the weekend. It's about transitioning from one thing to another.

So regularly reflecting on how your life is going, how are you feeling, you know, physically, mentally, all of those things. So you can use these words. I mentioned, fun as one of them. You know, what was difficult?

If you had a week that was particularly difficult, what wasn't in alignment? Look at your three words. And that's why it's so important to choose these words carefully, to think about them on a greater scale.

The next thing to do, and I do this often, I'm a big journalist for you. Like last year I had about seven months where I didn't.

It was when my mum was really ill and we were in an end of life situation and I just couldn't journal for whatever reason, I just couldn't do it. And then after that time I really picked it up again. Incorporate these words into your journaling. Use your words as prompts.

So for example, if one of your words is connection, for example, journal about the ways that you've nurtured relationships that way. Or look at if you've got your own business and social media comes into that, you know, how did you connect? How well did it go?

What could you do to make it better? What do you need to stop doing? You know, what things are fostering connection and what things are blocking connection. So use those words as prompts.

And also my favourite, celebrate your wins. Celebrate the moments when your words guided you to success and it doesn't matter.

Even if it was the smallest thing, celebrate them, because it just reinforces the power. It reinforces the fact that, you know what. Yeah, I was conscious of that word.

I worked in alignment with that word, and I got the success that I wanted. Whether it's a small thing or a big thing, it doesn't matter. The more you celebrate the wins, the more you will find they will come.

They will just keep coming because you're more conscious of what is working well. And when we're more conscious of working well, guess what happens? We replicate it. We do it more often. So have a think about this.

I hope this has kind of given you a little bit of inspiration I didn't want to talk about. What are your big goals? What are all the, you know, look at all the different areas of your life, what you want to achieve, all of those things.

That's great stuff that I do with my clients. There's nothing more empowering than breaking it all down, going into all areas of your life and going into it.

But for the purposes of really getting used to think, I think three words.

Because when you reflect, when you look at everything, those words will start to come out, and they really can be guiding lights for where you want to be. So before we wrap up, I'm going to share what my three words are, and I'm actually keeping two of them from last year.

I'm not changing them because I don't feel I've mastered them. I feel I've made great progress with them this year, massively, but I don't think I've mastered them. So my three words are fun, simple, and abundant.

And the overall theme around that is energy. Because I have found that if I keep things simple, I can remain motivated. It feels achievable. I feel calmer.

If things are fun, my energy for it is so much more. You know, joy is a word that I incorporate into fun.

You know, earlier when I was saying the words behind the words, but actually joy, laughter, happiness, all of those kind of things come under the word fun for me, because if something feels fun, my energy is high. I feel excited. I'm way more likely to take the actions than I need to, so it makes me more productive. Simple is just.

I have a tendency to overcomplicate things.

I've almost got, you know, if you've got money blocks and things like that, it's one of those for me, that I feel I have to, like, you know, practically kill myself through exhaustion in order to have success. So by keeping that Word simple in mind.

When I'm starting to put together something for my business, or if I'm starting to plan an event or a holiday or something like that, I can really make things complicated. So to keep myself on track. Hang on. Let's just keep this simple. It's so. It keeps me out of overwhelm. It.

It does so much for me in terms of being productive. So that is definitely a word that's staying in there. And my third one is abundance.

And I have to say, it's had various different meanings for me last year, but I do want to keep it in there. Sorry.

I do want to put it in there because I think the fun and the simple, the more I master those, the more abundance of whatever it is that I want is coming into my life. This year has been so foundational for me in terms of who I am, in terms of my healing, in terms of the amount of love I want in my life.

Love for myself. So abundance is something that. Yeah, I haven't mastered these. These three words.

I've come a long way with fun and simple, and that has led to more abundance in my life in different ways. But abundance this year is about investment. It's about financial growth. It's about more financial freedom.

I have financial independence and that's all. But I want to build on that now. There's so much more I want to be doing right.

So I feel like this year has been very foundational in many respects in me really getting to grips with how I use these three words to keep me in alignment and keep me moving forward. So actually, this year I want to build further on that because I can see that it's working.

I can see that those three words are really working for me, and I don't think I'm finished with them. Next year could be completely different, but it's. That's where I am right now.

So if you are in the same place, if you are thinking, you know what, I've made great progress this year in lots of things. Pick out those things that you've made progress in, because that might be where your three words are just waiting to pop out to you.

It might be that you did this last year and you're like, me. And you're like, yeah, I'm reflecting. I'm looking back on this.

I'm looking at what was working, and I'm going to carry on with those words, whatever it is, make sure it resonates with you. Keep those words in that have connection for you. Keep those. Use those words. So there you have it.

That is my practice that I would love to that I've shared with you. Use it as you will or not. You might decide you only want one, maybe you want five. That's the whole thing of this, you know.

I just bring you things that have worked for me and you can take them or leave them, but for me, those three work. Having three works so well.

It helps me stay intentional and focused and it definitely helps me from feeling overwhelmed with everything I've got to do.

I want to be, do and have in: 2025

. We'll be into the throes of: 2025

Loads of great episodes and some really good interviews coming up for you to dive into as well.

hree words light the way into: 2025

Thanks for joining me. Happy New Year. Bye.

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