New Year, New Dreams: How to Achieve Your Best Year Yet

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Should all acquaintance be forgot? And I'll never end

I honestly, it's not a different language. I literally couldn't tell you the lyrics to that. I obviously know the tune. The end of it. But I was just like, got nothing. I looked it up and it said less line or time or something. I was like, I don't know what that means. It's probably just super old English. That basically is another language entirely. Well, you're welcome, everyone.

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Happy new holidays. Happy New Year's. Happy whenever you're listening to this. We just had Christmas. It's about to be New Year's. And I'm going to shut up now because I feel like I ruined the intro. I was going to. I don't know why. I'm just actually talking about just being things. I've had literally this thing where when you're trying to get there. Yeah.

And we all know like Ash's nightmare is absent, right? But like, we just kind of like assume we're going to be on the same page, which usually we are, like our vibes always align. But there's these times where Ash will jump in and then she'll feel herself start to like...

It's like you're on a bike and you're starting to walk a little and then she doesn't think where she she kind of knows she's messing up so she doesn't want to quite look at me so she looks off to the camera a lot kind of up and diagonal but check in.

It checks in like, wait a minute, what should I do? And usually at those times, I just fully take my feet off the pedals and I watch because it's so funny. No, it's so funny. Tear and fully, like, taste your feet off the pedals and then prop them up.

grabs the bucket of popcorn sitting next to her and just starts watching the show. It's so good. You know what's funny is last night we had a family barbecue. And my friend Lexi was there. She brought her boyfriend. Jackson was there. At least she was there. And we all had a family dinner.

We had a family dinner, and we wanted to play games afterwards. And we were going to play banana grams, and then my mom was dead set on this, like, trying this game that she wanted to play. And I was like, my sister was like, is it biblical? Like, is this even fun? We gave my mom so much crap. We brought out bibles in the sword drill. And we were like, mom, like, come on. And she was like, no, guys, I really want to play. And we were like, OK.

She goes and grabs a bunch of random objects. Random. There's a pocket knife. There's a screwdriver. There's an orange. There's a sponge. Just random objects from all over the place. Put them in the middle of the table and we all had to pick one. And then we all had a minute to come up with

the history and background of that object in a story form. But not looking it up, just making it up. Literally, she said a timer and we had to make it up in our heads within a minute. Oh my god, how did you do? And then randomly hopcorned around and we all had to read our stories. Everyone's was incredible.

I was like, what was your object? Mine was a pocket knife. I was like, I had this great idea where I was like, oh, like it would be so cool. I was thinking like emotional. Like I was like, oh, this pocket knife has been through many chapters and has been handed down within the same family from grandpa to son, from son to grandson to like, you know, and has, you know, he was in the war and then his grandson was going into war. So he gave him the pocket knife that got him through the war and then like,

That was my concept. Excellent concept, right? I was like, that's a great story. The second I start talking, it all starts going, yeah. Like I was like, wait, what was that? There's more. I was like, there's a man named Carl. He's knives. And he went to the war. Yeah, then it all started just like going downhill. My mom said the most incredible story. I literally teared up. Oh my God, I can only imagine. I literally teared up. It was an oral, sorry.

It was an orange. It was an orange. I got myself out of the clothes. I made a triangle. It was an orange named Omar.

And it was really emotional. And I literally told her she needs to write a children's book based off of it. Because it was so good. Omar the orange. I love that. Jackson's was incredible. It was like a sponge. And anyways, I'm done now. Yeah, wow. So one cares. I do deeply care. I'm crying off all the makeup that I did. Thanks a lot.

You still look beautiful. Wow, well, all this to say, this all stem from. We literally not even three seconds before we started recording. Ashley's like, this is our New Year's episode, right? And I was like, yeah. And then she's like, happy holidays. Oh, good. I'm also 35 now.

So, you know, my brain showing for sure. Yeah, it's downhill from here. I'm officially mid 30 and it's all downhill from here. Yeah, it is all downhill. But on a positive note, it's the New Year and we love New Year's. I specifically love any type of holiday that

represents like a new chapter. So like birthdays, new year, like obsessed. I love the idea of like a fresh start. Yeah. And so New Year's has always been something I've like really loved. So yeah, me and Ash were like,

We're going to be releasing an episode right when you're listening to this New Year's is like the next day. I believe New Year's Eve is the next day. New Year's Eve is the next day. Yeah. So this is like a great time that we can like talk about, we'll share our resolutions. We'll talk about just, you know, stuff to come and then we'll get into a story or two depending on how long we app. Correct. Which you never know.

Yeah, never know. I thought it was very interesting.

Like most popular resolutions, and this was for 2023 and 2024. Can I guess? You could totally guess. And tell me why. I thought this was gonna be like, oh, fun fact. Like Taren loves her fun facts. But I don't know why this was like very depressing to me. And very, I feel like it just very highlights where all of our minds are. And it makes me really sad that that's like where all of our minds are.

Okay, so what do you think the top three? This was for 2023 and 2024. Okay, I'm assuming it's gonna be for this year too. Yeah, it has to be weight loss related. Number one is exercising. Yeah, number two. Reading? I'll give you a same category. So exercising and... Oh, eating. Uh-huh. Healthy. And then number three. Like mental health related?

No, money. I literally was gonna say, yeah, money. Okay. But isn't that sad? Yeah. Like reading, mental health, like love those things are like me breeding off what mine is. Yeah. Spoiler alert. But I don't know what just made me so sad. I just feel like that's always like the one everyone goes to because like, I think that's the one thing that everyone thinks they just don't measure up to. Like even people I've seen that I'm like,

they're what I would consider like, oh my gosh, like if I was that, I would be like set or like, no, I'm not happy with my body. Like it's just so sad that that's such a focus that in your one chance of like, what's something I want to like strive for this year? Like the fact that across the board, the number one thing

is exercising and eating healthy. Those are both, they take up spots like never one of them. They do. And it also doesn't help that it's coming from holiday season. So it's like, even if you are happy with your body, which clearly, like most people aren't, you've been eating extra during the holidays. So it's like fresh start, like, I'm done with the sweets, like sugar is gone, whatever. It also, it makes sense.

No, for sure. And I have a hot take. Around this time of year, even earlier, I'll go ahead and say mid-December. I'm usually over all the holidays anyways. And I'm just so excited to get back to I want no decor.

I'm tired of all this week. That's so funny because I do. You love Christmas so much. Yeah. I love fall so much. And then I love the first couple weeks of Christmas. And then I'm like, I just want my house immaculately clean. I'm done with all of the sugar. And it hits me really hard, where I'm just itching for that fresh start. So I'm very excited to finally be here.

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Well, should we share ours? Yeah. Do we want to go back and forth? Yeah, let's go back and forth. Okay. I feel like that's good. Okay. So I feel like I try to have like a main theme of the year and then like a couple of specifics. So my theme of this year is let go. And let go. Let go and let go.

Specifically, I saw a quote the other day that really hit me, and it's kind of, I think, fresh in my mind, so it's why it's forefront. But if it's not this, it's something better. The things that are meant for you will not pass you by, and you can't mess them up. And I loved that, and I think I tend to be a person. I think one of my strengths

is I'm so loyal and I will give my all to things I care about. But I think where that can be a downfall for me is sometimes I give too much energy and too much time to things that are not beneficial or like good for me. And it's like I want things to happen. So I just like try my hardest to like revive things that I need to just like let go of. And let God.

that go on the garden. I actually stopped making my beautiful resolution. A cheesy hand painted sign. I'm so sorry, continue. Thank you. But yeah, so I think it's more of letting go of control and trying to...

force puzzle pieces to fit together that aren't meant to fit together. Like I really want to just like still work hard, still give my all, still be the person that I am, but be more mindful of like when it's time to like.

Like, am I putting my all into this and this is flourishing or am I putting my all into it? And there's like no give back. You know what I mean? Yeah. So I think that's like my main encompassing theme of the year. I love that a lot. And that's very soothing for you. Taren is one of those people that are literally

drop everything that she needs to do, even if it's important to show up for someone, which is a beautiful gift. Thanks, boo. But over time of doing that over and over again, and I do think maybe allowing people.

who might take advantage of that into your close circle, that eventually will drain you and then leave you with nothing for you. For sure. So it's my mom's very similar. And I recently had this talk with her again, where I was like, hey, you can't

Again, and again, I want to preface this with my mom and Taryn. It's all out of love, and it's out of this deep desire to help, which is so beautiful. But my mom, and I think Taryn, you too, will try to carry someone through something.

when I'm not saying leave them alone and let them tread water by themselves. But I think you should think of it more as holding someone's hand while they go through something is just as meaningful and just as giving and loving as caring someone. And I think caring someone should be for a very few amount of people.

Yeah, we're like the crisis portion of it. It's like there's a time frame where you could maybe carry someone, but you can't carry them from A to B. Yeah. You can only help them and do that for an extended period for a short amount of time. And I think what it should be referred to as is more like you can hold someone's hand through something. And then if needed possibly carry them, but only for an extra amount of time.

Well, and I think something that people don't talk about in this little off topic, but for for people like me specifically who tend to be that person that people go to for in times of crisis. Because I do feel that love back from like giving love, it's like

I tend to be that person where it's like when someone's going through something, I'm there everything. They're like calling all the time, we're hanging out all the time. It's like, I'm everything. Then the second, like the problem gets fixed, they're off to like their life. And then I'm left there feeling like so drained from all I gave and then so empty from like being discarded. You know what I mean? So it's like, I think I just have realized like I put too much into trying to like,

force these things to happen. Whereas like, like you said, like I need to be able to step back and see the beauty that's in simplicity while also taking care of myself. And then also realizing like some people don't deserve to get all of your love. And like that's okay. And that doesn't mean it has to be this malicious like, well, I'm withholding my love until you deserve it. But I think it's just when people pull away or don't treat you right, I think like,

It's okay to like settle in that and like let them do that instead of like I get in like crisis mode and I'm like, okay, well let me give more so that like that comes back. And I need to like, I just need to learn how to like let go of things or even like in career or anything.

It's like, I'll try so hard to make things happen. And then when it doesn't, I feel like a failure. When in reality, that failed. That wasn't for me. So it's like, I need to just strip the responsibility of everyone's life off of myself.

It's not my job, and I'm not that important to everyone, and I'm not saying that in a self-deprecating thing. But it's like, I feel like I give myself too much credit some time of like, oh, I have to fix this. I have to make this relationship work. I have to make their problem better. And it's like, no, I need to let go. And how about I focus.

on me and being my best version and being there for people when they need me, but also letting people be there for me. I don't even give people that space because I just sit in there for them 24-7. And also in a weird parental viewpoint of all of this, for that person, let's say you do love them and you do want to be able to help them through something. Oftentimes, carrying them through something strips the learning from them. Absolutely.

It's one of those things where it's like, hey, my mom could tell me not to do something. And I'm like, you know what? I'm going to do it anyways. And that's a moment of her being like, I could.

ground her and make sure she doesn't do it or could let her learn for herself. And it's one of those things where it's like, hey, if I'm struggling with something and I'm coming to you in hopes of maybe even expecting you to carry me through it, then I'm not learning how to deal with it myself or how to fix it myself.

And again, I think there are crisis moments where like that is necessary and it's so beautiful that you're able to do it, but then they have to like stand on their own two feet and fix it for themselves. No, it's so true. You can spiral so quickly. Oh, for sure. And yeah, I've definitely learned that with my mom too. So I've gotten a little more protective of like, okay, how long have you been?

Yeah, taking care of them, you know? No, yeah. It's crazy. It's crazy to you. Like, I've noticed how much stuff I've mentioned, like, in dating someone, like, stuff has come up from just, like, past things where, you know, in relationships where, like,

there was space and then I felt the need to like fill it and like prove that I'm like worth stuff because I was with these men that made me feel like I was like easily disposable. Whereas now like I'm learning to just like sit in that and that doesn't like someone can be busy and that doesn't mean that they're leaving you like yeah.

So it's also like learning that. So it's just like in every area of my life, I feel like I need to just trust God and trust that and yourself. Yeah, trust myself, trust the people around me, trust my talents, my skills, and the work I've done my whole life. I need to just stop trying so hard because I think in doing that, I strip

just being able to be genuine in things, you know? Because it's like, I'm too overdrive, you know? So yeah, anyways, wow, that was a long...

Think about me, Ash. So please come by you and please have it be long to. Well, my first one that I was going to start off with just because I pretty much do it every year is it is kind of basic and it does go with the kind of like healthy thing that we were talking about earlier. But something I love that I did last year was my running a mile a day. Yes. And I thought it was a great challenge for myself. I enjoyed it so much. I felt

Oh, good. When I accomplished it, that I actually kept going and I ran this year because I was like, I'm going to become a runner. Plot twist. I injured both my feet.

Ashley has, she has bum feet. They are not, they're not it. In doctor's terms, they are flat as duck feet. Like I have zero arch support. No arch, zero arch support. Which are horrible for running. So I have plantar fasciitis in one and I've pulled a tendon in another and I'm just a mess.

So running to the tennis ball thing? Yes. I have one of those spiky ones. OK. And this is going to maybe like freak everybody out, but I have been doing it. So I'm going to share it. I got acupuncture in my feet.

In your feet, Taryn, needles in the center of the bottom of my foot. That sounds like my worst time area, but... Yikes. It's a sharp pinch. It's not super painful, but it freaks you out. It's hard to... Mentally. Yeah, mentally.

It tickles, it's super, they're super sensitive. So when I told my doctor about it, he was like, yeah, let's go ahead and do it. You definitely, like we can, it'll help a lot. He was like, however, you should know your feet are super sensitive. So you're going to feel it way more than you have because I've been getting it done in my neck. I was going to say, because you said you don't really feel it at all. No, you don't feel anything. Yeah. It's like, it's super, it's super simple and it helps a lot. But the feet are way more sensitive. So I've been doing that.

And it's been helping a lot, but it's still not better. So that being said, I'm not gonna be doing running a mile a day, but I still loved the movement of something every day. So I think I'm gonna walk a mile a day. Okay. And I, and again, this is just a me thing. I feel my best when I do something like that mentally. Like I have clarity, especially when I do it first thing in the morning. I feel like I know exactly what I need to do the rest of the day. And I just feel more energized, happier about with life. Like I,

feel more refreshed and I just feel like my mental health is way more stable when I do some kind of movement. And I felt like the running something every day was not sustainable for a year, but like I thought it was a great start to my year. So I wanted to do that again. But also I think the way you went about it and even what you're talking about this year is so important because

It's not, it wasn't like the goal is so much bigger than just like, well, I hate my body. So I want to do this, which like, if that's like the, your main focus, like I get it. Yeah. But I think like it, it's so much bigger when it's like, okay, focus on like how it makes you feel how it like helps you mentally, all that stuff. And what I love that you did about running is you were like, okay, I'm going to start with like, was it four months? Four months.

Because last year you said you initially said, I'm gonna do...

Like four months, we're running as my goal and then like, I'll check in and maybe do a different result. You kind of like, so it wasn't just like, oh, yeah, I'm going to run every single day because I think sometimes like you go too crazy. And then this year, you know that like, that's not conducive to like your physical state. So like, why set a goal? That's not going to be reachable or going to be like painful for you. So you're like, okay, well, I'm going to walk.

Amaya, which is still like reaching the same goal. It's doing the same things for you. So I think it's really smart and I think that's what a lot of people go so deep into like, I'm gonna lose 40 pounds. And it's like, well, your body might not need to lose 40 pounds or that might not be a possibility, but how about we like.

We work out every day like we do things that we know are going towards the goal, but it's more like manageable right now and I've talked about this in Supercast episodes like solo episodes multiple times but like Something that I've just I'm so obsessed with is like creating healthy habits And I feel like it's dramatically changed my life over the last 10 years. Well, yeah 10 years because I started this

And when I was 24, I'm officially 25. So it's been 10 years of me like trying to build constantly challenge myself with new like healthy fitness habits, eating habits, whatever. And the amount of times that I started something too strong. Yeah. Where I was like, Oh, then you're burning all sugar, boom.

Yeah. And yes, that works for some people, but not everybody. And a lot of times, starting off too strong only causes you to binge slash break later. And what you actually should be doing and what will build you up for more success is starting slowly with little things. Oh, if you're trying to cut sugar, instead of cutting all sugar right away,

cut processed sugar. Allow yourself to have fruit because then you're not going to be depleted immediately and you're slow that your body's going to get more used to natural sugars instead of processed sugars. Or start with like, okay, on weekdays, like I'm hitting it hard, but with guns, like I'm free. I'm allowed to have fun with my friends. But like realizing to you what your body needs or doesn't need like I, so I went vegan for a year. And when I tell you, I was the actual worst vegan. Did I eat any animal products? No. But I would do like,

Del Taco every day. And I would do a bean burrito with red sauce. And then I would, when no cheese, obviously a small fry and a small diet cook, like that was my like everyday meal. I lost 40 pounds and I was eating crap, but I just wasn't able to show. I'm like, my allergic to dairy. Girl, probably. Yeah.

But I lost a ton of weight. And so I had a friend that was like, oh my gosh, what are you doing? And I told her, and I was telling her what I eat. I was like, oh my gosh, it's the easiest thing. She did it. And she gained a ton of weight because that just wasn't good for her body. That's not her body type. But I think that's the thing is sometimes we get so heavy into

Well, I want a six pack. Hane, like you might not be built for one or like I want this or I want this. I tried. It's like it's just it's so wild to me how like we don't just sit and listen and it gets back to my let go. Like sometimes like we just get so like our hands are so tight around these things that we want, but we don't take a second to be like.

Is this actually like what I can do or is this something that actually is good for me? Yeah. Because if it's not, stop wasting your energy time and emotion towards that goal and shift the goal. Absolutely. You know, that's something that's in your lane. Yeah. So yeah, I think starting small with things is great. And again, like obviously running's off the table for now, but I still thrive on movement. I think it helps me dramatically. And yes, there's pros to like, I had a lot of

Dessert over the holidays and this is gonna help me get back on track and there's nothing wrong with that. Yeah, and I think I think those like little things

are so monumental to me being my best self that I want to bring that back and start this year strong with the walking. Plus I just love a walk in podcast. Oh my gosh, Ashley thrives. Ashley thrives. Yeah, I think too, where your goal is coming from. So it's like, if you're still coming from that place of love of like, okay,

We had some sweets. We started dating someone. We've gained a few. It was my birthday. I ate my cakes. Yeah. We're just going to move past it. And we have a goal because we want to be our best selves. And we feel like this is a part of that. Versus, I'm disgusting. I have to lose weight. And there's that punishmentality. I think that's where it gets messed up. And it's something, obviously, I work with kids.

I train staff on this all the time, where how much more powerful positive reinforcement is, than just that negative outlook on everything. So if you're coming from this place of like, I'm doing this for myself out of love, and because I believe I can do it, and I'm setting a goal, and I'm trying to reach that goal, versus I'm so gross, I have to work out, because I'm disgusting. It's not sustainable if that's where it's coming from. Exactly.

The other one I really wanna focus on for me is discipline. And I think that hits like many areas too. I feel like I have all these things I wanna do, especially like habits, which like, oh my gosh, I finally downloaded that app. So that's gonna be part I know. I was literally gonna talk about it.

I know, and I want you to talk about it. But yeah, Ashley's like, yeah, welcome to like two years ago I showed you this. But I have so many things that I know are good for me. And when I actually set my mind to it, I see a difference like drinking H2O. Who did that?

Your body functions so much better. But there's just certain things like I want my hair to be thicker and so why am I not like taking a hair vitamin every day and doing hair oiling and like all those things like it's just certain things that it's like I want certain things in my life but I'm not disciplined enough to like do the work for it. So I feel like that's gonna cover so many things versus like you know being more consistent in my job stuff like

journaling like devotions like there's just certain things like I really want to sit with myself and my app that I'm downloaded and like form kind of like my daily things that like I want to be just like consistent on because I'm like if I don't set those habits now while I'm like

Kind of single and living alone and whatever. It's not like I'm going to magically do it when I'm married or have kids. It's going to be so much harder the older I get. So I'm like, this is my window. Also, the longer you put something off, the bigger it becomes when it wouldn't have been that hard to just start it. And here's the cool thing.

All you have to commit to is two weeks. Yep. Because I guarantee you once you do two weeks, it's going to be ingrained and you're not going to have to try anymore. I saw a new stat ash and I was kind of terrified about it, but also I was like, maybe we need to hear this so that we can like be prepared. This is like, you see Davis Health because I was looking up, which we'll get to, like how to keep resolutions, like some tips. And it says,

that they found on average it takes 66 days to form a new one. What is that? In a week? It used to be two weeks. Wow, me and Ashley are, if you could, if you had to be trapped on an island with someone who could like their only survival skills math, it would, you should not pick me or Ashley. Don't pick me, literally. 66 divided by how many days or in a week? Seven.

It's nine point four. Nine weeks. Okay. Well, that's two months. It's a little scary, but also like let's know with that. Yeah. So we can like attack it. Yeah. Well, exactly. And like if you're trying to start a new habit that for 2025, it only takes two months. For sure. That's nothing. That's not even half the year. No.

So, we got this. We got this. Okay, what's your next one? Actually, no. Tell us about the app because I feel like this does transition into this really well. It's not sponsored, but it could be. Not sponsored. This is called the Habit Tracker app, and I started using it last year when I wanted to

I am and I've known this for years. I'm really good and I work really well with like lists, like to do lists. Yeah, you do. And if something's in my brain and I want to get a bunch of stuff done, I'm not going to get it all done. If I have it listed out in front of me, like a what to do today kind of list, I will go through the list so fast. Nothing is more satisfying to my personality than scratching that.

off the list or checking that off my list. And so because I know myself so well, I was like, I need to find some kind of habit tracker where I can have that list format because the gratification I get when I check something off is just as gratifying as meeting your weight goal or reading, finishing a book or whatever, like it works for me.

and like something and being realistic of like, you can't always have your checklist with you 24-7. So like, you found something on YouTube. But when you have with you 24-7, your phone is to like brainstorm. Like, get down and dirty with it and be like, okay, this is what I want. But here is my life. Here are my resources.

I always wanted to be a journal girl. It's not in the cards for me. It's not, it's not. I've tried, I've tried, I've tried. It's not going to work for me. What I work really well with is my phone. So it's called habit tracker. You can completely customize any kind of goal that you want to reach. So for, I'm going to use running because that's specifically what I got it for. You can specifically write out exactly how many times a day you want to do something, how many times a week you want to do something, how many times a month you want to do something.

You can track it. You can color code it. You can add little cute emojis to make it more fun. You can make it a widget on your phone, so you don't even have to go find the app. It could just be a cute little widget. And it could be in the talk corner. And it could be in the talk corner. Yeah, drinking water throughout the day. So my three, four last January that are still on my widget was run, and it was every day. And then drinking water, it was three bottles a day. And then I included a 10-minute meme moment where it was specifically supposed to be no phone.

Okay. And what was cool is within the app, you could set a timer and then the timer would kind of take over your whole phone screen and I would just lay it there and I would either meditate, pray, devotional, sit in silence. I would read, listen to a song, listen to music, whatever, but my specific goal was get off my phone for 10 minutes.

And it could be whatever your me moment wants to be. It could be a food thing, it could be a work thing, it could be a physical thing. It doesn't matter, but it's completely customizable and super cute and fun. And the cool thing is it'll track it so you can actually look at your entire year and see how well you did or your entire month, depending on how long your goal is. So I highly recommend you get it. There's a free version and there's one you can pay for that's better. That's even more customizable.

Maybe start with the free one and if it's working for you by the the other one, I don't know that I'm a big fan and it really helped me and it was it was nice to be able to look back and be like wow. It would give me a little lightning bolt and I was at that field me.

It's like your trainer that you pay for saying, hey, you're doing it. You did it. You're on the right track. And I love it. I really am. Yeah. So I highly recommend. I seriously, especially with the water thing, it was so nice to be like, like one bottle done. Yeah, it was really easy. And I love it. So highly recommend that. Moving on to my next thing.

I'm just obsessed with reading right now. It's so much fun for me. I've never wanted to commit to anything. I literally joined a book club and left like three months later because I was like, I'm stressed and I have a hard time fitting reading into my work schedule. So when it happens, it's nice, but I haven't been very disciplined about reading, but I'm thoroughly loving it. I want to commit to a month, a book a month.

Oh, cool. And I'm giving me grace. I want to be able to include audible books. Yeah. Because some chapters of my life sometimes, I just don't have a second to sit down and read. And by the time I get to bed, I'm too tired. So I'm going to include audible books in this one. I think that's totally, some people don't count them. I totally count them. I don't understand why you wouldn't. I know. Like we read books to kids. Yeah. And along with this that I'm going to kind of like include in this goal, I read a lot of fun books, not a lot of

educational books and I would love to include the educational books. The problem is I cannot sit down and focus for the life of me to read something about how I can better myself or my relationship or like there's a marriage book that I've been wanting to read for the longest time, but I can't sit down and do it. So I was like, I love walking and listening to podcasts. So I was like, you know what?

I'm going to do a book a month. I'm going to include educational books, and I'm going to include Audible because I will be able to listen to it if it's audio. That's really cool, honestly. I think it's going to be doable. And that might be your walk is when you do the educational one because your body's moving and you can focus more. But then when you're home doing your aesthetic nighttime reading, like that's when you have your panacea mask. Love it. I think a book a month is going to work. Look at you. I know.

I love that. We're doing it. I think that's cool. Okay, my next one is very specific. It might be silly. I want to get my butt back. Is it gone? It left me. It left you. I don't know what happened. I, when I was, you know, the cutest little chunky monkey ever did say when I was going through all my stuff and then I lost the weight. Yeah.

It was like, oh, cool. So you know what I mean? I was like, no, you are the only thing that I need in my life. So I really want to get, I've always had a huge butt and it's been bubbly. And now I feel like I look like freaking SpongeBob Squarepants from behind. So I really wanted to be round and perky. And that's for me because I feel like,

Not that I need it for anyone else's attention, but like that's always been a part of my body that like I've liked. Yeah. And that's so easily to do like that's so doable. Like I just need to like do squats. So I found like a 10 minute nighttime squat routine on YouTube. And so I just want to incorporate that in like my night routine or like in the morning or just throughout the day when I have like 10 minutes just like

squatting and like also like obviously like with discipline and stuff like that I want to start like walking and doing things but that's just something like I was like I'm so tired of like complaining about it or like I'll just like look in the mirror and be like

RIP, like where'd you go? Yeah. But then, well, cause I mean, it's like still there. It's just not the shape. Right, right. I don't know if it'd be on there, but it's still there. Everyone else is like what? And I'm like, no, but you don't understand. No, but it's gone. Like that was, my nickname in high school was booty. Okay. Like I have a reputation. I know the senior boys gave it to me when I was a freshman and I was like, mortified. But then I was like, but also,

maybe the highest of compliments. Yeah, thank you so much. But yeah, that's something it's like, and it's not a like, I hate myself for it or whatever, but it's something where I was like, okay, Taryn, like stop complaining and like do some squats, like do something about it. So it's very specific. I've never done something like that where it's like just honing in on like a very specific thing. But I'm kind of like excited about it.

I literally, whenever I do weight days that have 45, oftentimes they will split the room in half and there's like an arm side and a leg side. That's cool. I literally never do arms side. Because why? I want my butt. And here's the thing, it's not that hard to build, especially because it's such a strong muscle. It's not like you have a weak butt.

works like your arms, you're like trying to lift and your whole body is shaking, you know? Your butt can do like, can lift way more than you think. And if you're, I do, you don't, you have a gym at your place, don't you? Yeah. Do they have a Stairmaster? Oh, yes. Let me tell you, that's all you need. Here's the thing, and this is, this is again, here's the theme of being realistic. I actually used to,

Ashley used to take me to the gym with her all the time when we first started hanging out. And this girl can be on the Sarah Master for like, she'll be like, I'm only gonna do 30 minutes today. And I'm not joking, three minutes in, I'm like, I would rather commit murder and be in jail for the rest of my life than continue on the Sarah Master. I'm gonna bye. Bye. Bye.

I can walk up flights of stairs all day. So the Stairmaster, I don't know what it is about this stationary movement. I want to kill somebody. But the other day, I was walking up the stairs in my apartment. We have this one staircase that's an inside one. And it's a lot of windows. And I was just like,

Okay, like I'm gonna start walking up like a flight to like put something in my headphones like walk up walk down like so I'm just I'm gonna start doing it or like my parents neighborhood is like super hilly Mm-hmm like lots of incline so I'm like maybe I'll do some of my walks like up well what you could do is set your habit tracker and

to an X amount of stairs. Yeah. And back to what we said earlier, let's not start with 30 minutes. If you're gonna, let's stare, stare master, for example. What if you did five minutes a day for a week? Five minutes a day for a week. And then the second week, you did eight. And then the third, you did 10. Like the cool thing with muscle growth is the first week is really hard, the second week's easier. And the more you add on, it actually gets easier because your muscle's growing. So it's not like,

You're starting from zero every time. For sure, for sure, for sure. You get stronger. And then that's how you end up going on for an hour. I'm not saying do an hour. I'm just saying, like, if you start small, you can do that. So whatever your goal is for stairs in your apartment building could be the same for your stairmaster. If you can count how many stairs those are, you can summarize that on the stairmaster.

Yeah. Something I did at the hotel when I worked there and I was also trying to build my butt was I, and when I had to like run to guest rooms, which was all the time at night, I wouldn't let myself take the elevator. I would take the stairs and then it got so easy that I added ankle weights. And that's, that's what I could have never started with ankle weights. Like that was a lot and I was on my feet all night long, but it got so easy that I was like, all right, we've got to challenge it longer. For sure. Harder. I don't know why I said longer.

longer, harder, longer and harder. Whatever you want, whatever. Cater to you. Cater to you. Yeah, I know for sure. I think I'll start with physical series, work my way up to the Stairmaster because in my mind, that is my version of hell. Right. Or let me live on my physical series, Ashley. Okay. Okay. Yeah. But say your or. I was going to say or whatever the X number is, if you don't meet it that day, the beauty of the Stairmasters, you don't have to go anywhere. Yeah.

And you can watch a movie while you do it. Which is what I would do. Sure, sure. I literally watched Game of Thrones. Dude, that would be a good one. All the time. Pop up. Just Jon Snow. Daddy. Anyways, what's your next one? So for my next one, I think I have struggled a lot this last, these last two years with work and it's feeling very daunting. All of the sudden, it used to be such a creative

expression of myself, and I think it's become very stressful. And I think a lot of that came with TikTok and having to adapt to a new platform. Now that I feel like I've gotten comfortable on TikTok and I love the platform now, I think I'm so overwhelmed to the point where I start every day and I'm like, all right, am I gonna do this? Am I gonna do this? Am I gonna do this? Am I gonna go on YouTube? And it's gotten so overwhelming that I kind of forgot

who, what my brand of content was. And I think I, especially with TikTok, I feel like I was trying so many things that really didn't resonate with me. I was just trying to like, you know, you threw over spaghetti pasta to the wall to see what sticks. I think that's what I was trying to do. Yeah. And it.

Even though I think it was beneficial for me to find like what worked, I think I kind of lost myself. And like what I used to really enjoy about social media and about YouTube. And I think this last year, I've kind of refocused on YouTube and it's been very nice. Like rediscovered myself there. And I would love to do the same thing with my content. And I think we were talking with some people

about speaking out things that you want to have happen and things that you want to do. And I think I want to start doing that daily with a huge focus towards work and what it is that I want to put out there and what it is that I want to do with

these platforms and how I wanted to reach people and the message I want to send. I think I've gotten lost in that where that used to be like my whole focus. Now it was just like getting content up right and left and I've lost the messaging that I used to find so important. That's so important. Yeah. I lost the like who the person I was trying to like portray.

to simply get up these videos because now we have to post seven times a day and it's just like ridiculous. Anyways, you can't post eight times a day, me just constantly raising the number and still have that message. So I need to find a good

Balance. Yeah. I've done this before where I've done one for them, one for me. And if I need to get that number, that's fine. But I want to make sure I also prioritize the content that's important to me. Good. And I don't know how else the right wording to articulate that other than a balance of refocusing on my brand messaging. Good. I can't.

No, it's gotta be an easier way to say that. That fully makes sense, and I think that's super important. And I think that's what people go, even if you're in a quote unquote traditional career, finding those ways to mix in your passion. Even if sometimes work is just work and you gotta hustle through whatever, but if you can't find things you're passionate about within work, you need to seek it outside of work. And for you, it's finding that balance of like,

Well, work is something I'm passionate in, but also sometimes it just feels like work. Yeah. So how do I make sure that I'm mixing both ends so that I don't get burnt out? Yeah. And like full circle, I feel like one of the reasons my YouTube channel did so well in the beginning was because it was so passionate about it. And that was coming through. And it's so funny how, you know, you'll see on socials or you'll have meetings with everyone and they're like, oh, you need to be posting three times a day and blah, blah, blah. And that's what'll get you there. And it's like,

I hear you, but also I disagree to a degree because the people that I actually click follow on, it's because I resonate with something that's coming from their content. It's not them posting multiple times a day. I feel something when I watch that. To a degree, I feel like I've lost track of that.

For sure. And I want to bring it back and refocus. And I think this is the year. Love that. This is the year of us. Of us. I thought it'd be cute if we talk about what we want for our podcasts here. Oh, which I know we didn't prep this, but we didn't. But that'll make it even more fun. Yes.

I really am so proud of us, Ash, and of us, everyone listening. Like, oh, hello. Sorry. I'm about excited and drop my fidget lip gloss. I think we have grown. I think we've come to a really cool place. I think we've, like, we're continuing to shift with what feels right for us as far as the studio space.

just like what we're doing and I just feel so proud of who we are and I think there are still so many people like that I want to reach and so I feel like this year like I'm just excited to keep doing what we're doing. I believe this guy's a limit for us and I think this year like I'm hoping that we'll grow our family even more and then you know continue to like step it up in the ways that we do.

I love that. I personally, and speaking of speaking things out, I feel like this is a great example. I would love to do another live show. Oh, yes. I absolutely talked about it in the past. We've done it before. It was an absolute riot. We had so much fun. So many of you guys came and I see no reason why we couldn't do it again. Maybe in a new place, new area. I don't know.

talking to so many amazing people and not having faces to put to it. And I think something that was so beautiful for me selfishly and Taryn was to be able to like meet you guys and like see your faces. I would love to do that again. So this is me speaking it out and hoping that that happens in the future because I feel like it was life giving to me and was just like a great reminder of like, it's so easy to feel like it's just me and Taryn just like.

talking to each other and just like doing our thing. And like I oftentimes forget that people are listening. And it was so beautiful to like see all of your amazing faces out there in the crowd. And I would just love to meet you guys again. So whether it's like a meeting, no, I want to live. I'm not downgrading. I want to live. No, we want to live slash me angry because that's what we did. We literally stayed on stage and like hugged everyone that wanted to talk to us and it was

That was my favorite part of the night. It was just like getting to see all of you. And like some of you brought us like gifts. And it's just going to say the coaster. Yeah. And then which I still have. I still use it. It's on my desk. Yep. And then like someone flew in from like New York. Like it just I felt so refreshed and like.

connected with like our community. And like, I mean, I still hope that someday we can get to a point where we're like literally touring and seeing everyone. But even just like, I would love just like an cute intimate like venue and just fill it with our UA people. And yeah, I think that's totally doable. I think it's, I think it's super doable. So live show, hopefully in the future. Love that.

Love that. Okay. Well, I looked up, like I said, like a article. It's so funny because like you look up these things and you read it and you're like, well, duh, like that's obvious, but you're also like, oh.

No, but it's good. It's good. Even for me, I think it's good to talk about tangible, active ways that you can take hold of your goals and actually work towards reaching them. It's all talk until you take those steps. Absolutely. Experts say that picking too many goals can be harmful sometimes. Pick just your handful of ones that you want or just one or two is okay and really sit and think about

what it is that is important to you and why. I love that. I feel like we know that. Yeah. Plan it. So like we were talking earlier, like be specific to be terrific. Yeah. And start now. You used to tell me that. Don't start planning on the first.

True. Plan now. True, true, true. So that when the first comes, you're ready to go. You're ready to kick it. If yours is eating healthy specifically, if you don't have a healthy food in your house, then what are you having for breakfast? Ooh. So it's like little things like that that require a little bit of forethought. You need to start thinking about now.

And I think that's like, in general, like with everything we're talking about, like, it's not just like, oh, I'm going to do this. It's like, okay, well, now let me look at my life. Let me look at my week schedule. Like, what is the day? What is the time slot? What is like, be specific about it, which is the next one. Be specific about it. It's not just like, I want to exercise. It's like, I'm going to do 30 minutes daily. Like, what does that look like? Where am I going to do it? Who am I going to reach out to that wants to do with me and things like that?

And then another one is not taking on too much. So I think all of these are the same thing. What's your capacity? And how do you recognize that? And not because you're like, oh, well, I could never do that. But it's like, OK, if my goal is working out,

Let me start small. I'll never forget, like, when I, the first time I worked out, do you remember this? You're gonna remember this. The first time I worked out after, like, I had, like, gained all the weight and, like, whatever, and I was like, oh, I'm gonna, like, start working out again. Do you remember that one time I went to SoulCycle? Yes. And had full-blown mental breakdown after, because I went to this class that, mind you, me and I, how long had we been going? We were going, like, three times a week.

three times a week like a year. A year plus. When I first went, I was like throwing up in the back row. And then we worked up to the point where we could be like towards the front and like I was barely at a place where I could like do the whole class without having to like sit and take a minute. Like that is such a high intense.

workout. And I was like, I'm going to start working out when I went back to this, not taking to an account. First of all, that my body had like had so much time off from doing anything physical. Next, I was at a weight that like I had never been in my entire life. So it was like, not only am I trying to do the same moves, but I have so much weight added on to that.

And it was just I went way too hard and the way that I felt like such a failure after that. And it was like in the moment after I'm like, well, you did that to yourself. Like what did you expect? Like I should have started with just walk for like 10 minutes and then like build up. But it's I think sometimes we feel so dumb setting like smaller. But it's like if that's all you can do, then start there. And like you were saying with the stairs, then you like

Yeah, builds on it. And that's it's also like how you can injure yourself by like jumping in to where you were. That's like if you think it sounds silly and like duh, but this is a great example. It's like a college athlete that's now 30 something. Yeah, trying to do what they did in college.

Yeah. Just because you used to be able to sprint to at this speed for this number of seconds doesn't mean that you can still do that and definitely doesn't mean that you should try. Yeah. You're probably going to pull something. Yeah. Like you have to you have to set the goal the bar really low again and like work your way back up. I'm not saying you can't do it. I'm just saying your car has been sitting

in the driveway, rusting for a few years, and it needs to be, it needs some fresh oil, it needs to be lubricated, it needs all the new things in order to function again. And it's like, you have to think of your body that way too. Yeah, no, I think that's so important. And your mind, it's in anything that you're trying to accomplish any goal, if you haven't been doing it, you need to start low.

Otherwise it's too much. You're setting yourself up for failure and that's gonna make you feel terrible and then you're gonna be done with your resolution within like two weeks. So it's just starting and like your resolution can morph and change. That's why you do, it's like you start with the broader idea.

Okay, discipline is going to be my thing for the year. And what is that going to look like specifically in these like little areas? So I think it's just being realistic. It's not being like a weenie. It's just like, what can I do with what I have? And then maybe you're like, okay, I'm going to try to walk 10 minutes and you go out and walk 10 minutes and you're like, I didn't even break a sweat. Like I'm going to go to 15, like adjust, but don't overshoot. Yes. And then feel like a failure. You know what I mean? 100%.

I love this one too. I identify accountability partners for support. I think that's so important. Absolutely. I think getting people in your corner is monumental to living like a successful life in every aspect of your life. And I think

is something that helps me, not only my tracker app, but I selfishly post almost every time I work out because I know that that keeps me going. And it does this weird thing where it feels good when you work out and you want to share people with people that you work out. But when I started doing, I started documenting my like mile runs, the amount of people that were like, I'm going to start doing this too and we're DMing me.

And it fueled my flame. And I was just like, I have purpose. And I was like, this is like, this is doing things and it feels good. And it started this small little intimate community of people that were messaging me that they ran today. And I was like, get it girl, like me too. I'm about to do the same thing or whatever. And it felt so good.

feeling like you're not alone and I think that's why I've always loved workout classes so much. Just because I can get myself to work out but nothing feels better than when you look over and someone's crushing like they're lifting heavy or they're going full speed and I'm like actually like let's go and like I love that kind of stuff and I think getting someone in your corner is the same concept. So find a buddy.

Find someone to go to the gym with you. If I commit to like going to the gym in the morning by myself, odds are I won't won't show up, but I might be late or I might not do it for as long or as hard. But if I'm meeting someone there, I'll be there five minutes early and I'll be like keeping time to make sure like I'm not slacking because they're there and

Sometimes it's good to know how you work because then it's like, okay sure. Who wants to go to the gym with me and then, you know, it's just, if you know how you tick, you can find little loopholes to make sure you keep yourself accountable. Absolutely. Like having a workout buddy. And I think it's important to tell your accountability partner like what it is that you want from them. Like I've gone through that with Ash where there were sometimes where I was like, hey, I need you to like straight up bully me and be like,

Are you at the gym, like, get up, go, work out? Have you had water today? Yeah. I love that job. She... I take it very seriously. That job. And then there's other times where I was more sensitive and I was like, just, hey, like, if you see me doing it, like, gas me up. Like, that's what I need or encourage me or like, whatever. So I think it's important to find the right people that you can count on for like, what you need and then tell them what you need. Yeah. All my workout buddies have...

dissipated like my little workout group. One starting is in grad school now and the other one has a job that requires her to be there early. So she's been going to early classes. So I've been going by myself. The way I have, I dragged Jackson to a 45 with me and he now has a membership. And I'm like thriving because I finally have someone to work out with again because that means I'm going to go. Yeah. And it's like,

Maybe I manipulated him into joining the gym, but I don't care because now we're working out together, which is only a win, you know? And you know, you're just, you're worried about his health. Yes, you win. You're just like wanting to just like really pour into him. This is for him. It's a bonding experience. It is a bonding experience and it gets my ass out of bed. Yeah, for sure. For sure.

And then last one, give your resolution time to become a habit. And again, that's the whole 66 days. Commit to it. Don't go into it being like, oh my gosh, this is gonna be the funnest thing ever. No, it's gonna be hard work. It's gonna feel crappy for a while. And after three days, your butt's not gonna be there. But you have to keep going. You have to keep going. No.

SpongeBob, square butt over here. You guys wait. You just wait. Should we do it before and after? No. No. Okay. I don't want to. But yeah. I just can't wait. I just want to see the transformation. I love a transformation. I'll take before and afters for you. Perfect. Because I want to see. I want to see the square to bubble. Square to bubble. She's back. I'm going to post that to double back.

Just twerking. Yeah, right. Can you imagine? I love it. This is great. Yeah. Honestly, get my butt back journey. Get my butt back. I would watch. You would watch. I bet I didn't get a lot of weird. I was watching. Anyways, I loved this episode. We, you know, we were talking about we don't like to stray from stories, but both of us like,

We're collectively just feeling so inspired about this new year coming. Also, I feel like we kind of do it every new year. So we like start fresh with take. I feel like we'd like tingered around with it. And then we finally came to this place where we're like, no, we're just going to go in because I feel like everyone's in the same place as time of year of like reflecting and all we ask and want for you guys is to reflect in a healthy way like to be.

positive to be going into this year with love for yourself, with love for other people, and to be the best versions of yourself, but with very gentle hands while you do that.

That's all we want. Yes, that is all we want. Yeah. And whatever your goal is, I hope that you feel inspired and fueled and excited even to challenge yourself and to grow and to reach those goals because it's possible. And the only one getting in your way is you. And it all comes down to how you think about it and how you think about yourself and take those action steps and you'll be there in no time.

Dude, I literally had this moment. 60, yeah, 66. 66, I'm so sorry. Don't sell them short.

But it's like, it's one of those things where I think we get so wrapped up into trying to replicate what we see, right? We're like, well, this influencer has like a trainer and she cooks all this crazy stuff and she does, you know, she has these products that cost like $5,000 and whatever. And I had this moment the other day, there's like this esthetician was like literally rubbing like a banana peel on her face and was saying how much that like benefits

even more than these, and I was just like, you know what, it's one of those things where if we want it, we just have to do the research and attack it in a way that we can. If you can't afford facials every month,

Buy some bananas. Buy some bananas. If you can't get a gym membership, go drive around and find a cutesy neighborhood that you feel safe in and drive to the neighborhood and then walk for 10 minutes. 100%. Just find things that are doable for you instead of...

Putting yourself in financial trouble because you're trying to do all these things that are just not, again, not conducive to where you are in your life. Be realistic. Not in the cards for you. And then attack it. 100%. There's this girl that I follow on TikTok. If we're talking specifically skincare, she's incredible. I wonder if it's the same one. Is she the most aesthetic looking human being ever? Dark hair? No, but I know who you're talking about. Were we talking about her with Vanessa at this wall?

I don't know if we were, but she's the banana peel video I just saw. And then I went on a trail on her videos. No, there's this girl that I follow on TikTok who is so cool. She is the queen of, she actually says this out. She's like out loud verbally. She's on the spectrum and something she's really good at doing and has always been good at doing is looking at ingredients and finding dupes and she

said it's something that she doesn't even have to try. She just looks at the ingredients and it pops out to her, the words. Which is one of the most beautiful things about people on the spectrum, the way their brains work and how they can hyperfix it. It's so beautiful to see the way it forms into these superpowers. Yeah, it really is a superpower and she has helped so many people find dupes for these crazy expensive skincare products and she's like,

The fact that I found her is wild, guys. That's so hard. Her name is Nina Poole. Wow, her following has literally tripled since I first followed her. She has 3.8 million followers. And all she does is give you drugstore products to mix together or use on their own that are the active ingredients behind these retinols that cost $300 a bottle. And the crazy thing is people are now

getting the products, using them, and then showing before and afters of their skin, and are like, it freaking works. No, she's brilliant. She really is. If that's one of your goals or whatever, you should follow her. She's a good follow. We need to stop running into walls and giving up. We need to find where the step ladder is to get over the, whatever. Let's be creative this year, and attain our goals in ways that fit us, and stop trying to replicate exactly what everybody else is. 100%. That's all I think.

Um, I do have a new year, a new year is hello. Can I see a new year's dog joke for us? Perfect. We're up a sub-teran. Why did Dracula pass out on New Year's Eve? Because there was a countdown. Gosh.

That's good. That was a really good one. Thank you guys. If you made it to the dad joke, you already know the drill. We love you the most is Get excited 2025 is our year and I feel it. Me too. I feel it in my bones. We're gonna reach our goals. You guys are gonna reach our goals. Why? Because we are in this together and this is our community and we have each other as accountability as accountability partners. Yes, so

That being said, if you have any stories you want read on the pod, guess what? You have to email them to us what's our email turn.

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