Hello and welcome to the aligned achiever podcast. 

We are officially in 2025. I’m your host, Siobhan Barnes, and thought we would kick off the year to talk about how to create aligned achievement and specifically how you can begin to think about redesigning your work and life for 2025.

Now, no matter where you are in your life and your career path, I know that oftentimes at the beginning of the year, it can be a time to think about what goals you want to set for some of you, resolutions, goals, intentions, whatever you want to call it, typically, in the new year, we think about what we want to build towards. So whether or not you’re really happy on your current path and just need to make a few tweaks, or maybe you’re looking for a complete redesign. This is the episode for you. 

I hope that you had a really wonderful 2024 and a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s break, winter break or summer break, depending on where you are in the world. And I personally have had a very slow and intentional transition into 2025 which has been very different to previous years. And I started the new year with the flu in bed. Literally, January 1 had the energy to go on the traditional New Year’s hike with my three kids. My husband was down with the flu, and the next day, boom, was out of action. And you know, in hindsight, that was actually a complete blessing, because it got me to slow down, made me relax and settle into what 2025 is really about. 

For me personally this year, and I know working with my clients, coming back to client sessions, that there is an attention and this feeling that many of my clients have, and you might relate to this of like, oh, I need to get going. I need to get done. And so this episode is going to support you to make sure that you are getting really intentional thinking about what this year is about. For you, I’m not actually going to help you with what goals to set, because I think you know how to do that. 

Rather, I’m going to share with you a three step methodology to help you redesign your work and life and to give you some guideposts as to what is important to focus on as you think about what 2025 is about for you. 

Now, this three step methodology is something that I do with my one on one clients and in my Pivot Pathfinders Collective. And it is the culmination of working with literally hundreds and hundreds of women. I haven’t actually added it all up. It could even be close to 1000 I’m not sure. I’ve been doing this now for over a decade, working very intimately with women, and I have learned and seen so many patterns in that work, and myself included, right? 

I fall into the traps and by no means perfect, and this methodology really has come about based on what I’ve seen we need to focus on to get the clarity that we’re looking for. And my intention in sharing with you this methodology is that you understand what to focus on. 

Because when you’re thinking about making a tweak, setting goals, maybe completely reinventing and pivoting, it can feel very disorienting. I know for me, I’ve gone through several cycles of that in my own career. And for me, how I feel and picture it is like when you’re imagining I just went to Japan. 

So this is the analogy that’s really present, but imagining that you’re on a mountain, it’s snowy, very bad visibility. The snow is coming down hard, and even if you walk like a meter in front, you can’t see where you’re going. And that’s how it is when you’re in the swirl and you’re not sure which way to go. 

So this three step methodology is going to support you to know, okay, what is it that you want to be doing in terms of focusing on and that will hopefully give you some direction as you navigate the blizzardy snowstorm. So let’s dive in. 

This methodology that I’m going to share with you is really the aligned achiever framework and there are three parts. 

Number one, there’s your personal mastery. 

Number two, there’s your career strategy. 

And then number three, there’s your intentional action, or what you’re actually executing on. 

So let’s dive in first with personal mastery. 

Personal mastery is really, really important. This is kind of where you rewire and unravel back to your most true you. And it’s really about knowing yourself very deeply. You know most of you will have done values work. You might have done some strengths work, but you know this actually goes beyond just knowing yourself, but actually, in understanding how to work with your nervous system, what your triggers are, how you operate, because it’s these patterns of behaviour that are going to show up with what actions you take or don’t take. 

This is really important for foundation for any given year. At the time of recording, we’re talking about 2025 but if you’re listening to this in the future, and it’s 2627 whatever beyond this, this philosophy still applies. 

So personal mastery is really about unhooking and unlearning patterns of behaviour that don’t serve you, so that you can really make sure that your identity is the real, truest version of you. 

So I often say to my clients that, you know, you came onto the planet knowing that you were enough. You didn’t care what you look like, you didn’t doubt that you were lovable. You didn’t think, Oh, I’m not going to be able to walk or, you know, that person’s not going to like me. You were just so confident in your own skin, expected to be fed in the middle of the night, expected someone to change your nappy, and that was what you expected. For some of us, we got the love and care and attention that we needed. For some of us, we didn’t, and we learned certain things along the way. And so personal mastery is really about coming back to that innate confidence, self esteem, self trust, that was there at the very beginning, but obviously being the evolved, loving parent, adult version of you that has that confidence and knows how to make wise decisions. Because obviously, as a baby, as a toddler, we don’t have the safety mechanisms that we need to make sure that we’re safe.

So this is really, really important, and this really comes down to your identity. So who you think you are, what you believe to be true about yourself, how you talk to yourself. All of this comes under personal mastery, and I really like to tie this to James Clear’s model. So James Clear is the author of Atomic Habits, one of the best selling books of all time, and he talks about a model whereby when we’re looking at creating habits or creating change, most people think about what action they need to change, right? They’re focusing on the outcome, maybe thinking about the process, but they don’t think about their identity. 

So a classic example he gives is, like, if you’re and this is a classic one for the new year, yeah, oh, I want to lose 10 pounds, or want to get fit, want to get healthy, right? I’m not saying that’s necessarily the right goal for you, but I’m sharing it as an example, because I think we can all relate, particularly after some festive cheer. But what he says is that most of us will think about, okay, I’ve got to go run, or I’ve got to go gym, or I’ve got to cut back on calories, or maybe it’s dry January, whatever it might be. And we focus on the outcome we want, losing whatever weight, or cutting something out, and we focus on the process. So the run, the cutting out alcohol, etc, we don’t think about the identity piece. 

It’s almost like you’ve got three concentric circles imagining your and an archer, and you have a bow and arrow, right? You want to hit the bullseye, which is your identity, and then the outer ring is the process, and the outermost ring is the outcome. What can happen is that if we don’t change our identity, then the process and the outcome is not going to change. 

So if you identify as someone who drinks alcohol or who can’t do without a glass of wine on the weekend or gin and tonic, then it’s gonna be really hard to change that behaviour. Likewise, if you’re someone who says, I’m not a gym goer or I’m not a runner, becoming a runner is gonna be very, very difficult. So we wanna go from the beginning to looking at your identity. What are you choosing to embody as your identity as you go about that new goal that you want to set, and that’s where the personal mastery bit comes in. We’re looking at your identity as a human being, as a leader, right, as an empowered, confident woman with self esteem. This is where the personal mastery work is really, really important. 

So why am I talking about this? 

If you’re thinking about creating change or setting goals in 2025 no matter what you’ve written down or where you think you want to go, I invite you to think about who is the version of you that you want in the driving seat, making decisions and perhaps, what do you need to believe to be true about yourself in order to create that particular outcome? 

So let’s say, for example, you are working in a corporate job, and you’re thinking of starting a side hustle. In order to create success in that side hustle, the identity that you’re going to want to play with is side hustler or budding entrepreneur, or whatever language works for you. Again, you want to use the words and the pictures that resonate with you, because that’s how your mind will pick up on this new memo. 

Likewise, if you are wanting to go for a promotion, like you’re happy with your current role, you want to go for a promotion, then you want to embody the identity of whatever role or title that next level is that you’re going for and start to show up as that version. So personal mastery is really, really important, and it’s something that I’m going to present, obviously, this model in a linear fashion, but you come back to it time and time again, right? Because when we’re stepping into something new, we’re going to, you know, fumble a little bit, just like we’re learning to walk, right? 

As kids, we would fall over and stumble. That’s fine, but we want to keep coming back to that. And that’s something that I support my clients with in my one on one work, and also in the Pivot Pathfinders collective, which, by the way, if you’re interested in being supported in 2025 I’m offering up a number of clarity calls this month, so if you would like to have a conversation about how we can work together. I’ll pop a link to that in the show notes.

You and I can have a very No Strings Attached complimentary call to have a discussion about where you’re at and if working together is the right fit. So I will pop that in the show notes over at siobhanbarnes.com/122, so that’s for episode 122. Okay, so that’s part one, personal mastery. 

Part two of the aligned achievement method is to begin to clarify your career strategy.

So this is where we want to get your strategic thinking on board. So this is really about aligning your career goals with your personal values to create meaningful success, but being very clear on what strategy are you going to employ? 

Because there are many, many, many different strategies you can employ to create the outcome that you’re looking for. So if you have a particular goal.

Let’s say we’ve got two people. We’ve got the one who wants to start a side hustle, and we have the person that wants to climb their way up the corporate ladder, then we would think about, well, what’s the right strategy for both of these people? You know, is it to be more proactive on LinkedIn and become a thought leader in the space? Show up, show your expertise and your thought leadership. Is it to network and meet with potential clients? Or, you know, if you’re climbing the corporate landed ladder to meet with stakeholders and build those relationships, we need to then get clear about what strategy is right for you.

And the thing I’ll say around this is that there are many different strategies that you can follow. And again, once you’ve got that personal mastery in place, you can work to your strengths to figure out the right strategy for you.

So classic example, let’s say, for example, you know, you want to climb the ladder and you need to network. Traditional networking could potentially feel exhausting, draining, icky, and you’d want to think about what potential strategy could work for you to do it in a non sleazy way. So perhaps you don’t always go to those large conference events, perhaps you’re more of a one on one personal outreach type of person, in which case that would then be your strategy.

So can you see how the personal mastery is really important to then inform the strategy that you’re looking for? Super important, right?

So specifically, if you’re looking for a pivot, what I recommend is like thinking about what strategy is going to support you to achieve that goal, and then breaking that strategy down into achievable goals for each quarter of the year, or the first half of the year, second half of the year.

And the reason why that’s really, really important is that we want you to be breaking things down into manageable chunks.

I know I’m guilty of this. As I was planning my goals for 2025, I noticed that I was front loading all the work into q1 and for those of you in Hong Kong, like we’ve got Chinese new year coming up, it’s quite a short quarter. There’s quite a lot packed in. So, you know, perhaps it’s not wise for me to do that. And if I’m trying to shove all this stuff in, I might be just setting myself up for stress and, you know, failure. We want to be really intentional, picking some really core focus and thinking about, Okay, what’s the one core strategy I want to employ? How can I keep this simple and get the best result possible, right?

The Pareto principle can come in very handy here, which is like the 8020 rule. So what’s the one thing you can do that’s going to give you 80% of the result with 20% of the effort? So that’s what you want to start to discern, and just know that you might get, you know, find that you’re taking a strategy and it doesn’t work, that’s just feedback.

That’s part of the process, but deciding and knowing that you’re going to get that clarity. There’s an entrepreneur called Marie Forleo. She has a very famous quote that says, clarity comes from engagement, not thought.

So we want to actually test out that strategy in order to get the feedback and then see if we want to pivot and change. So adjusting your strategy. Having a strategy is really important and actually committing to it long enough to see if the result is going to stick. I’ll put my hand up to say I can sometimes be very quick to jump and not follow a strategy through to completion. But when you think of it in a strategic way, and think about what needs. To be allowed, like, what’s a suitable amount of time to give that strategy the the time to flourish, then you’re giving yourself the best chances of success. Okay, so that’s career strategy. 

Final pillar that we want to look at is your intentional action.

So you might have a strategy, but what really matters is you taking action. Execution is where the magic happens. It’s critical to act with that purpose and that intention and avoid overwhelm. And the thing is, procrastination, analysis paralysis, perfectionism, I think those are the three core things that come up that can keep people stuck, particularly in this particular area, when you’re clear on the strategy, you’ve cleared the fluff, you know exactly what you’re doing. You’re going to test something out for three months, six months, then it becomes much easier to know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

So I would encourage you, for this step to map out what are the small, consistent actions that you need to take, to align with that strategy, to align with the goal. And it’s really helpful to integrate, you know, daily or weekly rituals, so that you stay connected to your vision.

So for some people, journaling can be very helpful. Some love to reflect at the end of the day. Totally up to you how you want to do it for me and my Pivot Pathfinders Collective, I’m literally getting people to fill information out so they have a tangible document that’s almost like a manual to help them with this. So figure out how works best for you, and intentional small steps that’s going to lead to significant change in future.

So let’s say, for example, if we go back to the health example, you might find that your intentional execution is to be like, You know what? I’m going to go to the gym twice per week, or I’m gonna experiment with not having alcohol for one month, and then I’m gonna see if I want to reintroduce it, right? Like, what is the thing? Tangible, specific.

This is where you’ve heard the SMART acronym, right? Smart, specific, measurable, actionable, results, driven and time bound, relevant, sorry, and time bound, like, that’s really, really important. So thinking about what are those actions that you want to take that are going to get you there?

And that’s something that I also want to differentiate here. Like you might find that in setting your goals, you have two different types.

Number one can be an outcome goal.

So for example, I want to get promoted to executive director this year, or I want to start my side hustle and start earning 1000 US dollars a month in revenue. You know, for example, that’s a very specific goal. That’s an outcome goal.

The other type of goal you might have is a habit goal.

So I’ve given you an example of the exercise goal, right? Like going to the gym twice a month. But in the case of networking, maybe it’s you do personal outreach to five people every week to see if you can set up a coffee right, and or you specifically nurture your counterparts in another region to build up that relationship, right? So these are the differences between the two goals. And again, I’d encourage you to get really specific about what you’re setting is it an outcome goal? Is it a habit? Goal? And somehow figure out how you can mark your progress towards it.

So there you have it. I’ve gone through the aligned achievement method and the three areas that are really important to support you in mapping out what 2025 is about for you and ensuring that you are really optimizing it to work for you, because this is what I want for you in 2025 I want you to have professional fulfillment.

I want you to achieve those goals that you want, that aligned achievement, that aligned ambition. It’s so so important, and I want it to be meaningful to you, where you have a life outside of work and you don’t burn yourself out along the process. So let these three areas be of guidance and support to you, personal mastery, career strategy, intentional action.

Let that guide you and know that when you have all of those things, you’re actually going to be able to achieve a beautiful sweet spot of purpose, confidence and impact. And that is what I really want for you, so you can have aligned achievement and fulfillment without burning out.

And I invite you, as you think about 2025 to number one, if you haven’t listened to the last podcast episode, close out your learnings from 2024 learn those lessons. Embrace them. Use that as fuel to get that clarity on what you’re redesigning 2025 to look like for you and then from here, as I’ve spoken about these three pillars of personal mastery, career strategy and intentional action, invite you to think about, where do you think you need a focus in 2025?

And if you want support book in for a complimentary call with me to see if you would like to be supported, whether the pivot Pathfinders Collective is right for you or one on one support more than happy to have a chat. So check out that link to book in your call over at the show notes. siobhanbarnes.com/122, and I just thank you so much for tuning in.

Thank you for joining I am so so excited for you, and the year ahead, it’s going to be fantastic, and I look forward to seeing you at the next podcast episode.

Have a brilliant year ahead, and as we close, please remember you are here for a reason beyond merely hustling, grinding and merely surviving, you matter.