Balance & Beyond Podcast

Step into 2025 with us as we kick off the year by embracing the transformative power of a single guiding word.

Last year, "faith" was my compass, driving a journey from relentless hustle to one of intuition and community building. Reflecting on 2024's milestones—like running two 10K races and dabbling in soccer amidst personal trials—highlights the significance of aligning habits with intentions. Join me as I share insights on setting meaningful goals for the year, focusing on health, nourishment, and fostering supportive communities that span both local and global scales.

We also explore the path toward personal growth and empowerment for women, delving into overcoming self-sabotage tendencies exacerbated by AI and workplace trends. Discover upcoming workshops like the "Self-Sabotage Solution," designed to help women recognize and harness their unique talents and wisdom. As we journey into this promising year, I’m excited to share personal stories of finding one's voice and embracing the art of receiving help. Let’s engage with our vibrant community, exchange ideas, and support each other's growth and empowerment throughout this magical year.

Join us for Future-Ready You: The 2025 Career Blueprint for Success from Friday 17th January. Save your free spot at www.balanceinstitute.com/careerblueprint

Episode Transcript

INTRO: Welcome to Balance and Beyond, the podcast for ambitious women who refuse to accept burnout as the price of success. Here, we’re committed to empowering you with the tools and strategies you need to achieve true balance, where your career, relationships and health all thrive, and where you have the power to define success on your own terms. I honour the space you’ve created for yourself today, so take a breath, and let's dive right in…

Welcome back and happy 2025! Can you believe we are here? The New Year! 2024 is a thing of the past, and this is a beautiful opportunity to step into a new year, with some fresh energy, a new start. And you may have noticed, I said that I wouldn't be back on the podcast until the 22nd of Jan, but things have shifted. There is so much coming through me right now and I thought, “Right, I need to get back on the podcast”. “I need to come and share some of these messages with you earlier”. 

So, if you are back at work, regardless of where you are in the world, I hope you've had a great break, and found some time to, I guess, recharge and re-energize yourself. And if you're still on holidays and you're listening to this by the beach, somewhere, or somewhere that you love, then awesome! This is going to be a brilliant month, especially in January, for us to really kick your year off with a bang. 

One of the most common questions that I get asked is, “As we come into a new year, how do I set myself up for the year?” “What is the process that I go through?” Those of you that have been in my world for a while know that I can be quite reflective, ordinarily. Butm especially at this time of year, I do a lot of work around letting things go, and dropping things in 2024, and not taking them with me. It's a very intentional practice. 

So, today, I wanted to lift back the curtain and take you on a journey of what I did last year, what I learned from that. And then, what I'm doing this year, and there's going to be some beautiful lessons here for you to apply to your own life, and some really exciting hints about what's to come. But, the reason I wanted to start with this episode was when you understand the process I've gone through, and you understand what I'm setting forward for this year. A lot of what I share about what's coming is going to make so much sense. 

And, for me, everything is intentional. And so, it's a really beautiful opportunity for you to see some of the inner workings behind my brain, let's say. And why I tend to live the way I do. So, let's wind back to this time last year. And one of the ways that I set myself up is, I choose a word of the year. This isn't just something I pluck off from a synonym list. It's very much an intentional choice. 

Usually, it comes to me. It sort of just lands as part of intuition. And one way, that I know that I really lived, that is, you go and look at your habits, and your calendar for the last year, and see, “Did I live that?” And “What were my results?” Because, there are two things that don't lie. We can say we want to focus on something, but our habits, and our calendar, actually tell the truth about what we did, and how we did it. 

So, last year, my word was “Faith”. And that was really about cultivating this really deep, inner belief in myself. This belief that “Everything will work out”, that “Life is happening for me.” And I've had a lot of faith, in a lot of ways. I left my full-time job when Mick wasn't working and started this business from absolutely nothing. 

So, I've always had a fair amount of faith. But, I realized that a lot of my faith was built around hustling, and it was built around control, and my ability to push through. For me, last year was more about “cultivation of intuition”. But, the faith was also in learning a different way of operating. So, not hustling so much, and not grinding so much. 

So, while my word was “Faith”, a lot of my intentions for the year were to really focus on my health, to learn to nourish myself better, to focus on recovery and to really build a beautiful community and support system around me, rather than me just operating as a solo person, as someone who works from home, who is quite independent. 

Yes, I can be social, and I'm a massive extrovert. But, really having those people in my community who live locally to me, and I say that I have a beautiful local.. I also have a beautiful global community of fellow coaches and other people I've picked up along my life. So, when you look at my calendar, “What did I do last year?” “What were the results of focusing on faith, and this deep belief?” 

Well, from a health perspective, I ran two 10K races last year. And, according to Strava, because if any runner knows, if it wasn't on Strava, it didn't count. I ran 453Ks last year. So, to go from someone who used to do half marathons a long time ago, to fit that back in my life, I was really, really proud of that. And bear in mind, for three months of last year of 2024, my husband broke his foot. He was in a boot, and couldn't drive. So, I was doing between 15 and 18 hours of driving children around, and ferrying, and waiting for things while he was incapacitated on the couch. 

So that, in itself, makes me even prouder of what I still managed to fit in, and still managed to support myself, despite having to do a lot more of this other stuff for life. I played soccer for the first time. That was something that had scared me for a long time. My kids had played soccer, my husband played soccer, and I always said, “Oh no, I'm not that aggressive”. “I'm a netballer, netballers don't play soccer.” 

And I played in the Winter Season, and over 40s Comp, with a bunch of local mums. And I'm now playing summer soccer, and I loved it! It was a beautiful chance to practice some of my running, to really feel fit again, and it really pushed me out of my comfort zone. And, like many things, it wasn't as scary as I first thought. And I played netball as I have for the last four years, so you can imagine my weekends. On top of all the kids’ activities, I had my own soccer, and I had my own netball. 

So, you can tell last year that's where I put a lot of my time, that's where I put a lot of my priorities and around that I continued to work with a body coach who's out of the UK. I saw him every week. I was doing extra exercises for my body on top of that and then, as a result of all of this, I felt the strongest and the fittest I have in a long time. 

And a lot of my biometrics that I measure, I wear an aura ring to see how my body's tracking in terms of sleep, and readiness, and temperature, and everything. I have reached uncharted territory. And I know a lot of smart people. And, as an example, some of my HRV scores, which often they will say is a “general metric of health”. If there was one metric a lot of people look at, this one has reached numbers that I've reached out to everyone. 

I know, and no one has known, numbers like this. That's not saying that I'm magic, but there is something going on in my body, where it is really, really happy most of the time. Now, as a result of that focus and intention, what happened in other areas of my life? Well, from an existing client perspective, I saw this beautiful increase in their results, this beautiful community that we have created for those who have come through Balance and Beyond and in our Academy and Alliance programs. 

I grew my team because part of this faith was me having faith that the growth that I'm looking for and the impact I'm looking for would come. So new team members fell into my lap. I expanded my team. We're now a team of six. So, I started to see this external reality reflect my words, and start to reflect my calendar. 

However, one thing, looking back, I learned is that there was one area, from a business perspective, that I didn't quite get the results that I was hoping for. And it's no surprise, because I didn't have any habits or intention, really, or time in my calendar set up around it. It was not as much as I needed to. Now, you could call this, “market conditions”. You could call it “interest rates” and “cost of living”. But, I had some pretty lofty goals around how many new people I wanted to bring into my ecosystem. Our back-end client businesses grew between 20 and 30%. 

So, we're growing very, very rapidly. From people, once they're in our ecosystem, they want to stay, and that's testament to the quality of work we do, and the amazing humans that we attract, who want to keep going on their journey. But, I didn't have the new business growth that I was wanting. Now, there's a whole range of reasons behind that that I've unpicked, but this is now an opportunity for me to rectify that into this year, which is where my two words come into 2025, and what this looks like for me. 

This year, my two words that are my words of the year are about “power unveiled”. Two really, really big words. But, for me, 2025 is all about being seen, being visible, being authentic, and being very vulnerable, and today's podcast episode is a part of that. I do most of my podcasts with three to five bullet points. This one, I'm doing with one, and that's basically “Speak your truth”. 

So, I am not running off any notes. I am simply running off what it is that I want to share with you. And what has happened over the last year, is I've had a lot of people say they want to hear more of my story. They want to hear more about what I do, how I operate, what I'm seeing, what I'm working through as a business owner. I know that my business is very much a mirror of me, and so I know that whatever I'm going through, I will have clients going through it, sometimes within weeks, sometimes months or years. 

And I know now that I've been on this journey for quite a long time, I have people new to my world, they think, “Oh gosh, you know, that was me 10 years ago!” But, there's this beautiful position where, it's not to say that I'm superior with anybody, but there's an acknowledgement of how far along you are on your journey. 

And I feel that now, in aligning these habits and my calendar around, really sharing more of my story, and becoming more visible, that this is where I'm going to see more of the results that I didn't get last year, that I'm going to see this year. So again, a really specific choice of words. And, for me, power is really about, It's a beautiful word. It's a word that women often shy away from, because we assume it's power over, and it's power against, and that us having power, is taking it away from someone else. 

Whereas, to me, me stepping into my power gives me permission to be more of my full self. It gives me permission to really step into my true purpose and take off any shackles that I've had. Like many of you, I continue to peel back the layers of the onion with my various guides and coaches as to where I'm holding myself back, because I'm human, and I do it too. 

And so, I'm now cultivating visibility habits. I'm now cultivating more habits around, “How do I really hone my intuition and create more space for that?” I feel like I've got a really beautiful rhythm now in my life of taking care of my body, and nourishing. And, of course, I always need to include that. But, I signed up for another 10K race. I've already done two runs this week. I'm playing soccer, I'm playing netball. 

So, when you first put things in your life, it feels like a challenge. It's okay! I need to put lots of time and attention, but now that I've got this in place, I've got generally better eating habits. My husband and I wake up and tend to do our exercises every morning. So all of that now has become habituated. I now get to focus on something else, on something that's going to move the dial towards more of what I want. So, this is now about me cultivating, going on other people's podcasts. It's about more speaking arrangements. It's around more corporate gigs. 

I went to Gunnedah, which is in regional New South Wales, at the end of last year, to share a workshop with the Women in Mining Association. So, for me, this year now becomes, “All right, this is my word”. And “unveiled” is also very intentional. So, unveiled is more a revelation of what has always been there, of a “pulling back the curtain”, of a “not hiding it anymore, and it's not to say that I've been intentionally hiding it”. 

But, like all people, you know, we hold fears of, “What are people going to think if I reveal my true self?” “Are people going to judge me?” And the truth is, they will. I've come to terms with that. I have become quite a fan of a, you could call it, a “philosophy” or a “theology” around human design. And, as a 5.1 manifester, if anybody understands what human design is my job is to go and initiate, and to go and almost trigger other people, and to push stuff out there into the world that I'm initiating. 

And that's going to piss some people off, and I've come to terms with “that's okay.” I've never liked rules. I probably always piss people off. People have always judged me, but I used to take it a lot more personally. So, in the last 12 months, I've done a lot more work around understanding judgement, understanding when I'm feeling judged. “What is that highlighting in me?” And “What are other people really doing, so that when I get narky comments on my social media, which I do, when I get direct attacks, which I do, I'm able to weather that storm so much easier?” 

Because, the greater the revision that you have, the greater an impact you want to make when you say “yes” to that. You say “yes” to the judgement, you say “yes” to the criticism, and you have to be able to handle it. And usually every time I say, “All right, universe, it's time to step up”. Straight away, I'm smacked right down to say, “All right, you want to play in this part.” “This is how it feels”. And you get smacked in the face really fast. You have to get up and go, “Okay, yes, I still want to play in this pond”. And so that, for me, is really what this year is all about. 

And I ran in December a beautiful “30-Day to a Brighter You” challenge, where we had over 100 women come in, and it was daily doses of wisdom for me. And that was a wonderful reminder that I've accumulated all these nuggets, through all kinds of crazy podcasts, books, interactions, things that I have learned that I often don't think are anything, and we all have “this right.” 

You have your area of expertise in whatever it is in life, and these things come effortlessly to you. But, even I forget, sometimes, that what comes effortlessly to us is “magic” and “wisdom” to other people. And so, really being conscious of “What are the parts of me that are effortless, that I do?” Just know, and not assuming that everybody else knows the same. And one piece that I have really worked hard to cultivate, and I've probably had a natural advantage, just due to my childhood with this, is I've learned to evolve who I am really quickly. 

I changed my identity, I changed my persona a lot. And I know that that is something that has held me in a “good regard”. As I am evolving, and leveling up, and so hence a lot of my plans for this year are to share more about the pieces that have made me. Not from an egotistical perspective, but to say, “Okay, what pieces do you have in you?” “Here are the patterns I'm seeing in other women, and so that you can start to join those dots faster for you.” 

So, what I've got planned around, really, “power unveiled”. And, again, the order of the words is very intentional. Off the back of the 30-day workshop, I'm running a free workshop about “Your Career Blueprint for 2025”, which is actually open for registrations right now. So, check the link in the show notes, if you want to come. And this is all about, again, my knowledge around what is holding women back, and what are the trends that are current in the workplace. 

So, things like AI, things like having to constantly be doing more with less, those workplace trends that we must be on top of, directly link to many of our self-sabotage programs we have as women. So, to give you an example, next week's episode is gonna give you a little bit more information on this, so heads up, it's coming. One of the key pieces with AI and automation that stops women in particular embracing them, is our perfectionist. 

So, until you learn to tame your perfectionist, you will never be able to fully take advantage of many of the emerging trends around AI that are going to be critical to almost every single one of our career futures. Following that workshop, I'm actually starting to experiment, which is this “power unveiled” with. I'm launching the “Self-Sabotage Solution”. 

So, this is a four-week program, and a way for those who have been thinking about coming into Balance and Beyond, who have wanted to work with me in a deeper capacity but perhaps haven't been in a position to have $7,000 to invest in our full program. Well, “How do I give people bite-sized opportunities?” So, the “Self-Sabotage Solution” is all about looking at those pieces of us that really hold us back, and it's one of my favourite weeks from Balance and Beyond. 

And this is all about your perfectionist, your procrastinator, and your people pleaser. Three pieces that the vast majority of women have, and hold us back in so many ways. So, again, this is about different price points, different opportunities, different lengths of programs for people to come in and pick what they need. 

There'll also be a “Burnout Bootcamp” coming at the end of February. And then a unique, custom built leadership program in April, again aligned to all of these trends, and what I am seeing. So, you can see here, when I have a word like “power unveiled”. Well, you will start seeing a lot more of me on social media. You'll start seeing a lot more of me through various guys. 

As I mentioned, other people's podcasts, leadership presentations, public speaking engagements, and they're now shaping my business to align with that, and it will be done imperfectly, and I'm okay with that. And some people won't like it, and I'm okay with that. But, my aim is that many more people are going to love it, because I know that there are so many women out there right now, who are looking for support, who are looking for help. And, if I have answers, if I have all this wisdom and knowledge now, we've last year kicked off a click through, I should say, over 400 women through our signature Balance and Beyond program. 

So, it's 400 women that have invested significantly in themselves and, without doubt, seen these amazing life-changing results. So, when I had the program, one of the common things everyone says at the end is, “Jo, I did not know a program like this ever existed”, “I did not know that a community like this existed, and I didn't know that something like this was possible for me”.So, now it's on me to take this message out into the world, to share the tools we have, to invite people into the community that we have and really to provide a variety of containers for this. 

And a big part of being, you know, unveiling my power is also asking more, making more “asks”. As a woman, sometimes we don't like doing that. We think it can be too pushy, or direct, but you know, asking people to come and join us, in varying containers. Some will be free, some will be paid at various price points. Asking people to share this podcast with those they needed. Asking people to invite their friends into different things we're doing. 

So, once again, this is something that, as women, we can struggle to find our voice, and we can do all the things, and we can stand behind our expertise. The moment though, we ask somebody else to do something, we can stand behind our expertise. The moment though we ask somebody else to do something, we can really struggle with that, because, as I've learned the hard way, when we're asking someone for something, that involves us being ready to receive, and you can't ask until you're ready to receive. 

So, I've done so much work on myself, in being able to receive, in being able to receive others contributing in various ways. So, this is going to be an epic, epic year. I am so optimistic about what's to come! I'm excited to experiment, and I'm excited to experiment with you! So, please do keep the comments coming. 

I've had a lot of you coming into my various Facebook groups saying, “This is what I want to hear.” On the podcast. I reply to every piece of feedback. So, if there's something that you would like me to focus on in this podcast, then feel free to email me. You can email me at [email protected]. You can follow us on socials. We're at BetterBalanceInstitute everywhere. So, come along for the ride. Buckle up, my friends. It is going to be a magical year, and I'm very excited to share it with you. 

I mentioned it briefly in this episode, but the workplace is evolving faster than ever, and success in 2025 is going to demand a transformation from you. So, come and join me. We've already opened registrations on January 17 and 24 for “Future Ready You, The 2025 Blueprint for Career Success”. Over two sessions, both on Fridays, I'm going to be sharing with you, “What are the outdated success patterns that are holding you back?” And “What do you need to really thrive in the workplace of 2025?”  

We're talking AI, we're talking about doing more with less, and we're talking about accelerated learning. That is going to be crucial to you surviving in the future, and actually not just surviving, thriving. You can register at balanceinstitute.com/careerblueprint. Look forward to seeing you there!

OUTRO: Thank you for joining us today on the Balance and Beyond Podcast. We're so glad you carved out this time for yourself. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend who might need to hear this today. And if you're feeling extra generous, leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice would mean the world. If you’re keen to dive deeper into our world, visit us at www.balanceinstitute.com to discover more about the toolkit that has helped thousands of women avoid burnout and create a life of balance, and beyond.Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Balance & Beyond Podcast.