Ep 213: Redefining Success by Setting Expansive Goals in 2025

It's about having the clarity , self-confidence and unstoppable belief to go after and get everything you want . If you'll come with me , I'll show you how . Hello friends , I hope you had an amazing week and welcome to 2025 . So I love another bright , shiny new year . It is always so fun to think about the year ahead and what might be possible .

So , in that vein , in this episode , we're going to talk about goals , but not from the perspective that most of us think about them . When it comes to , maybe , our corporate career , where we were trained , most of us think about them when it comes to , maybe , our corporate career , where we were trained , most of us , to do something called a SMART goal .

So you know , specific , measurable , achievable , results-oriented and time-bound . That's fine . That's all about being realistic and what can we actually go do , and there's a place for those goals . But when it comes to your life , we want to be a bit more expansive .

We want to look at what's possible for us and to do that we need a bit of inspiration , you know . And so today we're going to talk about goal setting for yourself and your career or business in a much more expansive way .

It's slightly inspired by a book that I've been reading called 10X is Better Than 2X which is a great book , by the way personal development and moving ahead and expanding yourself .

That is a fantastic book to read , and this is slightly inspired by that , Also inspired by a former mentor of mine who believed that goal setting should be about stretching yourself and expanding yourself and not going for things that are just easily achievable .

Nothing wrong with achieving your goals , but too many times we've been trained that , oh , that's too big , that's too big of a step forward , that's too big of a stretch . I'll never do it .

And the point that I'm trying to make in this podcast is it's okay if you're stretching yourself beyond what you actually might get to , because by doing so , you may not achieve exactly what you set out to do , but you're probably going to get much further than you would have gotten if you would have set a safe goal .

So enjoy this episode today and , as you're listening to it , have a think in a fresh way , maybe about what you want this year to be about for you , for your career , for your relationships , for your family , all in , how could you expand and 10X your life , or at least shoot for that .

And even if you only land at a three or four instead of a 10 , that you're so much further along than you would have been , and I think it's personally very inspiring anyway to go for something that expansive . It gets that excitement going that you haven't felt in a while .

Maybe you're in a stuck place , Maybe you're in a you know , sort of a bit of a routine . This might shake it up a little bit for you . So enjoy this episode on goals . We're going to talk about goal setting with conviction , or , as I like to call it , mission impossible , because , believe it or not , it's that time of year again . It's time to set goals .

If you're someone who dreams of doing big things , you really need goals . You need a compelling vision that drives you forward , so that you don't just stay stuck where you are , Something that pushes you to do more than you thought you could do , Even when circumstances crop up that might make those goals more difficult to achieve .

When you have that vision , that passion , it really does drive you forward . It's like it pulls you towards it because you care so much about making that thing happen . So , even when difficulties crop up , anything that happens that would seem to prevent us from fully reaching our desired outcome , we still have that thing that gives us hope , that drives us forward .

By doing so , we'll reach further down into ourselves and pull out more of our own capabilities , versus if we just waited for external circumstances to be perfect , Because there's really never going to be a perfect time to do something big and new .

It's always going to be that your brain will serve up excuses why you should wait or do it later , when you're more prepared . So let's dive in and explore this idea of what a mission impossible for 2025 would look like . So , first and foremost , you're probably asking yourself why am I calling it mission impossible instead of just talking about goal setting ?

And , honestly , this is something I started a couple years ago . I chose this phrase because it's much more powerful than calling it goal setting . In fact , if you just look at the yourdictionarycom definition of goal , it's defined as something you aspire to or wish to do . So think about that for a minute . You set a goal .

Is it something that you want to aspire to or wish to do . That sounds optional . Those words lack passion and conviction . They certainly don't inspire a do or die emotion . And if you don't feel a do it or die kind of commitment to your goals , let's face it you're going to give up on them . I mean , look at New Year's resolutions .

For most people Only 55% of us ever stick with our New Year's resolution for more than a few weeks . Think about that for a second . Most of us quit on ourselves just a few weeks into the new year . And for me , at many times in my life I have quit on myself and it doesn't feel good .

But there are other times , notable ones for me , when I haven't quit . And so , over time , as I started to think about why do I quit sometimes and why don't I quit others , it's because the times when I didn't quit I had a deep commitment to making that thing happen .

So in the past , when I didn't quit on myself , when I was going after something hard or doing something really difficult , it's because I chose a thought like this is happening . When you have a thought like this is happening , it inspires all kinds of emotions , all good . It inspires you to feel things like confidence and fiercely committed to something .

So that's really why I chose the term mission versus goal . It's a really purposeful word because when you look up mission , it means a goal or ambition to which a person or group is especially dedicated , to which a person or group is especially dedicated .

That sounds a lot better than the definition of goal , which was something that you aspire to or wish to do . Aspire and wish to do is a lot different than a goal or ambition to which you're especially dedicated . Those words , especially in dedicated that really says something .

It says that the goal isn't just a random idea , something that's actually super important to you . It's something you care about , that you really actually want to make happen . So now you get why I chose mission instead of

goal . But you might be thinking well , what's the impossible part all about ? This is actually really purposeful too , because most of us have been taught that when we have something new that we want to go do that , it needs to be realistic or achievable . Remember the whole SMART goals thing . So most of us have been trained on that thing .

So most of us have been trained on that . Smart is an acronym that stands for specific , measurable , achievable , relevant and time bound , and I agree with a lot of those things . And I mean , who doesn't love a good acronym ? Smart is very catchy . It's the achievable part , though the A .

That's the problem , and you might be asking well , why is that a problem ? Achievable is a good thing , right , but I would say that if something is easily achievable , what it means is that you're playing it safe . You're limiting yourself to choosing only those things that you know for sure you can achieve . And I get it .

I mean it can be really helpful when we can easily step into belief on doing something new . It does give you a feeling of confidence and it's very gratifying , especially if you're a check the box kind of person . I love completing tasks and I love crossing them off lists . There's something about it that makes me feel like I'm really getting it done .

So it's fine if , in the spectrum of the things that you want to try to go do this year , if a lot of them are achievable types of things , that's perfectly fine . In fact , it probably would help right . So it's nice to know that some of the things on your list you can actually achieve over the next month , three months , six months , et cetera .

But I truly believe that you need at least one mission impossible for the year , Something that lights you up , that inspires you every single time you think about it . The important thing is to know that when you choose a mission impossible for the year , there's actually a really good chance that you won't achieve it . But guess what ?

Even if you don't get all the way to the goal line the fact that you chose it and that you drove yourself forward and you keep getting up when you fall down or when things get hard you pushed yourself so far outside of your comfort zone by not being realistic but instead by being aspirational that you set yourself up to have a year of quantum growth .

You didn't go for incremental growth when you have a mission impossible . You made a grand leap forward , even if you didn't cross the goal line . This is how we make big , bold strides in our career business by pushing ourselves or maybe , better said , by dreaming of doing inspirational things .

But taking those big , bold strides is going to inevitably bring up all kinds of discomfort . So let's talk about discomfort for a minute . If you're like most people , your mission impossible is probably going to bring up all sorts of fear and self-doubt .

It might be fear of judgment , maybe fear of failure , that you won't actually be able to do it even if you give it your all . Fear of losing friends or family if you do achieve it who might think you've gotten a little too big for your britches or a lack of self-belief that you can do it and a lack of self-confidence .

And then , last but not least , has been my personal favorite throughout my life , which is the who am I to do XYZ ? That thought is the hallmark of what it means when self-doubt has moved into full-blown imposter syndrome , where you're spending your whole time shrinking down into a smaller version of yourself than what you know deep down inside you can actually be .

And if you're not careful , that fear and self-doubt is going to cause you to quit before you even really try . And we do that to avoid failure . A lot of us quit in advance . But really , when you quit to avoid failure , you're failing . That's the thing we don't usually connect to .

You've just chosen on purpose to fail and many times we think this type of failure is better than really failing because nothing's been lost , we haven't really tried , right , we chose not to try and then we do that . We'll give ourselves all kinds of reasons to justify what we did or make ourselves all kinds of promises on how we'll do it next year .

When the circumstances look better , when there isn't the reorg , when you have a better boss , when you've year , when the circumstances look better , when there isn't the rework , when you have a better boss , when you've found the new job . Does that sound familiar ?

Think about a time when you set a goal Maybe it was to lose weight or to get a new job or to start that new business or side hustle and maybe you actually went at it for a month , maybe two , and then you quit . Why do you quit and how do you feel after you quit ? I have to be honest with you .

Depending on what it is like for me in earlier on in my career , public speaking , If I would accept an invitation to speak , I felt overwhelmed by fear , self-doubt . I mean just deep , scary emotions and I would back out . I mean just deep , scary emotions and I would back out . And the second I backed out . I felt amazing .

I was like , oh , thank God , because the pressure's now off . When you quit , there's a dopamine hit you get because now I don't have to get up on stage and worry about not being able to find the right words or to say things that other people might think is dumb or that they disagree with . The pressure was off .

I don't have to push myself so much and I tell myself , oh , I'll try it in six months or a year , the next time someone invites me to speak , I'll do it . It's what I used to tell myself , so I didn't have to experience the discomfort or put myself out there in a scary way .

You don't have to experience the pain that comes from being deeply committed to something big and new and not being able to do it on the first try or the sixth try or the 60th try .

I don't know if you've seen the Marvel movie , that scene in the movie where they showed her throughout her life and it was a moment where she was experiencing big failure and they did a montage scene where she kept getting back up . You know she'd crash the bike and she'd get back up , or she'd do this and she'd get back up through her whole life .

And she found inspiration and an ability to be resilient in that moment because she knew that she tried and failed before and she still got back up and did it again . That's powerful , Because when you really give it your all and you don't get it done , a lot of us will use that to beat ourselves up Instead of saying , oh , that didn't work , Now what ?

When you choose to stop trying , you feel relieved , but somewhere deep down inside you feel disappointed , Sad even , Because once again you're playing small . Once again you didn't follow through . Once again you're playing small . Once again , you didn't follow through . Once again you quit on yourself .

And I got to tell you something as you get older , you do that enough . That's how passion dies , my friend . That is exactly how passion dies . I don't know about you , but for me , I've looked at other people in my career and there's two camps . I don't know about you , but for me , I've looked at other people in my career . There's two camps .

There's some people that you look at them and you think , wow , look at everything they have achieved . It's amazing to see that . On the other hand , I see other people so full of potential , who tried a few times , failed and just settled in .

There's a lot of reasons why we settle , and some of them are good , if there's all kinds of situations that can crop up in our lives . So I'm not judging . What I'm saying is , if you have a burning desire , there's something that you want to go do .

You can't afford to let your passion die and , by the way , I really think that's when our fire starts to go out and we stop caring about ourself and our relationships and our life . Really , this is a new year , it's a clean slate , and I encourage you to approach 2025 in a bold new way .

Set your goals and if you want to do some easily achievable things , great . That'll give you a little jolt of dopamine when you achieve something , even if it's easy , and having some easy wins might be a good thing . But pick something hard that you really , really want .

Your mission impossible , Something that's a big , bold dream that's not realistic , that doesn't seem achievable when you really stop to think about it , but that you really wish that you could do . And then we're going to do a little exercise .

So , once you come up with that new Mission Impossible , I'd like you to spend a little time doing some self-coaching on this .

So , when you have your Mission Impossible , write it down on a piece of paper and then carve out like 10 , 15 , maybe 20 minutes and look at the mission impossible and really think about all of it , what it's going to take to do it , what it's going to feel like to have it all of it and write down one sentence per line , all the thoughts that come up for

you when you look at that mission impossible , and keep writing until it's all out on paper . One thought per line . Keep writing . They might be a mix of things , some positive stuff , like I've got this or I was meant for this , Like I've got this or I was meant for this .

But if you're like most of us , when it's a big , bold , scary mission impossible , it'll bring up some things that are a little more self-limiting , Like well , that's never going to happen , or I'm going to fail , I can't do it , I'll never achieve it . People will think I've lost my mind . What if I lose my friends ? I don't want to look stupid .

Really doesn't matter what comes up for you . The goal is to get it all down on paper and don't edit it so they sound pretty . Put all the ugly and the good down on paper .

There's real power in doing this exercise because you're able to download all of the thoughts that are in your mind related to that mission impossible , and those are the very things that if you don't do some work on it , which we'll explain here in a minute how to do it those are the very things that are going to cause you to give up on it .

This is why people do not achieve their New Year's resolutions or they quit on them because of what is stored in their mind when they think about doing that thing . Either they make it that it's going to be hard or that it's impossible , or that they'll look stupid , or why should I even try ? Whatever it is , for you it's important .

There's power in seeing those thoughts , taking them out of your mind and putting them on paper , Because when you see them on paper , you're forced to say is that really in there ? Do I really think about myself and my possibilities this way ? When you look at it , that sometimes can be really scary and powerful .

So once you have everything down on paper , scan the list and ask yourself which of those thoughts surprises you . Were there more positive and empowering thoughts than you expected to have , or were most , if not all , of them negative and self-limiting ? Then pick the one that jumps out at you as the most negative or troubling .

It might not even be a thought you were aware you had about yourself and your possibilities until you saw it written down on paper . And now ask yourself , how do you feel when you see that ? What emotion comes up when you have that thought ? For example , if it's a thought like I'm going to fail , it might make you feel fearful .

If it's a thought like I'm going to fail , it might make you feel fearful . Do you want to feel fearful about yourself and your possibilities ? Of course not . And guess what ? You don't have to feel that way . That's the thing we think because we have a thought that the thought is true .

Like if we have a thought like I'm going to fail , that the thought is true . Like if we have a thought like I'm going to fail , we think we're going to fail Because we don't realize how our brain works and how all of these things are stored in there without our being aware of it . And really your brain just served up a thought .

The thought doesn't mean anything . And if you don't want to feel that way , you get to choose a new thought . I mean , listen , if you have a page or two full of really negative , limiting thoughts , I get it and I feel for you . And , by the way , you're not alone . This is how our brain works .

Choosing a mission impossible is scary and I felt frightened by some of my ambitions for much of my life . But for whatever reason , when I was younger I found it a lot easier to brush fear and self-doubt aside and , just by sheer grit , push myself forward . Didn't come from a place of ease , it came from a place of relentless pushing .

That probably made it harder than it needed to be , but nevertheless I did not give up .

And in the last episode I talked about a few of the transitions I've gone through in my career and of course you know one of the biggest was going back to school as an older student , slightly older than the traditional age , and finishing my degree while working full time .

And once I got the degree and finishing my degree while working full-time and once I got the degree , then transitioning out of my job to move into corporate marketing was really tough . It was way , way harder than I expected . I mean , after all , I'd worked so long and so hard to get my degree . I thought when I had the degree I was going to be elated .

But in reality going through that transition brought up all kinds of negative emotions that I did not expect . I felt sad because my thought was I'm never going to see my clients again . I felt fear because my thought was , maybe I'm not good enough to do well , Maybe I can't achieve the things I want to achieve .

And there was a lot more where that came from . But , 28-year-old Carla pushed through those negative emotions because my stronger , overriding thought was this is happening . This is happening . There was an inevitability to that thought that made me deeply committed .

It was a do or die type of emotion that I felt , and the power and passion behind those words of this is happening drove me past the sadness and past the fear until I created the success that I wanted .

I just did a bunch of this work , though on myself again , because , for me , creating that success and loving the career that I created , even though I felt the strong desire to start the purposeful career , this business that I'd been dreaming of for so long , and trying to push the dream aside , and it just wouldn't let go of me trying to push the dream aside

and it just wouldn't let go of me . You know , after all , I mean , I'd spent my career growing brands and businesses .

I know digital advertising , but yet I had all this fear and self-doubt and for me , I was focusing more on what I was giving up the career I love in order to do something new that was calling to me but that I wasn't 100% sure I was going to love it . Because how do you know ? I mean , you think you want to do it , but do you really want to do it ?

You don't really know until you do it right . So my thought was I'm not sure I'm ready to do this , or maybe I'll do it some other time in a few years . Or why should I give up something I love for something that I'm not really sure I'll like as well ? Or what if I'm not successful ?

And , of course , all those thoughts made me feel self-doubt , uncertainty , even fear . And it wasn't until I realized that I could allow myself to do both things .

For now at least you know , to stay in the corporate job I love while also having a business as a side hustle , so I could still help all the people that I want to help who are earlier on in their career learn from my mistakes and my successes . I gave myself permission to do it when I realized that I didn't have to make that choice .

Yet I gave myself permission to do it when I realized that I didn't have to make that choice yet , that I could do both , and that took some of the fear away . But , honestly , some of the self-doubt was still there . There was this fear of being judged , this fear of she's a brand person , why does she think she can be an entrepreneur .

The fear of putting myself out there with my point of view and having people think , wow , that's kind of woo-woo Like , why would you be thinking these things ? And then , of course , for me , imposter syndrome has been a thing . So my most overriding thought is who am I to do ? X , Y , Z ?

But all of that stuff can keep you stuck if you don't shake yourself loose , can keep you stuck if you don't shake yourself loose .

And it wasn't until I really looked back at that first big transition I made in my life and remembered the thought that younger Carla chose , which was this is happening , that I shook myself loose when I started thinking that about this business and also had the thought of I can do both .

I shook myself loose and I was able to channel that emotion of feeling deeply committed and the inevitability of . I know it's not gonna be easy , but I'm going to do it . It's important to me and I'm going to keep trying until I get it right . And now here we are , I have the business .

So what I'm telling you is that getting over your fear of failure so you give yourself permission to really go after the things that you want . It's in your control . You can choose to do it . And once you choose your mission impossible and get in touch with the limiting beliefs that your brain serves up , when you look at that , you can choose new thoughts .

Those thoughts that are stored in there are not true . They're just your brain's way of trying to keep you safe . You can choose a thought that empowers you , that drives you forward , that really allows you to get comfortable being uncomfortable , and that's the frame of mind and emotion that will drive you forward towards this mission impossible .

If this sounds interesting , I really hope that you'll walk you through the exercises we've just described here of not only choosing your mission impossible but getting in touch with all the limiting thoughts that bold new mission brings up for you .

And when you look at that piece of paper , after you do your thought download , don't judge yourself for thinking negative thoughts . Your brain is very powerful .

It has stored away , like a computer would your entire life , thousands and thousands of past experiences and observations that you've had , it's made those things mean something , either good or bad , and that's where all of those thoughts come from .

Your brain is generating neuroscientists say up to 60,000 thoughts a day when your brain serves up a thought that makes you feel fearful . It's important to remember that your brain is just trying to keep you safe . It just wants you to be okay . It's trying to avoid having you put yourself out in the world in a way that might cause you to fail .

When we were cavemen , our ancestors , a thought that's trying to keep them safe was very useful , because it kept them in the cave , where it was safe and warm , by the fire , instead of venturing out on their own where they might get eaten by the lion . Now , in today's world , lions live on the plains of Africa or , I think , somewhere or in the zoo .

So the lion is different for us as modern man and woman . The lion that we contend with . The thing to fear most is the thought that's in your head . You can choose the thoughts you want to think . You can choose to think about your mission impossible . Something like this is happening or I've got this or I'm doing it .

Choose something that really resonates with you . There's something about this is happening for me that makes me laugh too , like it's inevitable and I believe it , and it inspires me . But it also makes me laugh , so there's a lightness to it , while it also inspires a deep commitment .

Choose whatever thought works for you , Something that makes you feel good and makes you feel fiercely committed . That new thought will shift you from fearful to confident and committed . When you hold onto that thought over time , there's no way you're going to quit on yourself , like you might've done before . You're going to keep going , even when it's hard .

Even when you're going to quit on yourself , like you might've done before . You're going to keep going , Even when it's hard , even when you're not sure what to do next because you haven't done it before .

Even when you try something and you don't succeed on the first time or the 10th time or I hate to say it the 100th time , because sometimes , if it's really big , it takes a little trial and error . Even people you know say judgmental things . That's not going to feel good , but if you hang on to that thought of this is happening , it doesn't matter .

Best of all , even if you do fail and you fall a little short of that goal . Think of how just going after it has caused you to grow .

Think about at the end of this year how much further down the line you're going to be if you go for that big new thing , even if you fall a little short , versus just focusing on something that you know is easily achievable .

If you've got big plans , dreams , choose a mission impossible and do the work for this episode and then get going because you deserve everything you dream of . And then some Remember the career life you want doesn't happen by accident . It happens on purpose . And you make that happen . Make it a great week . My friends , Do you have a life coach ?

If not , I'd be so honored to be your coach . I've created a virtual coaching program and monthly membership called Next Level . Inside we take the material you hear on this podcast , study it and then apply it . Join me at the purposefulcareercom backslash next level . Don't forget the purposefulcareercom backslash next level .

Join me and together we'll make your career in life everything you dream of . We'll see you there .