How To Thrive in 2025 Living Your Values and Learning Flexibility

The start of a new year often feels like a fresh page, full of possibilities. It’s the perfect time to hit reset, dream big, and set goals for the months ahead. But let’s be honest—how often do those New Year’s resolutions actually last? Usually, they lose their stickiness because they’re not connected to what truly matters to us.

This year, instead of making random resolutions and arbitrary goals, let’s focus on figuring out what we value most and setting intentions that align with those values.

Harness The Power of Your Values Your values are the guiding principles that shape your every decision and action. Living in line with your values makes life more meaningful and satisfying. Without this alignment, it’s easy to feel like you’re just going through the motions, living by someone else’s rules instead of your own.

Many of us pick up values from our families, culture, or social groups without questioning if they really fit us. This often leads to an inauthentic life, driven by external expectations rather than internal desires. To thrive in 2025, let’s begin this new year by pausing to ask ourselves:

• What truly matters to me?
• What lights me up and makes me feel alive?
• Who do I want to be?

Important to note here is that there’s no wrong answer. Your answers could reveal anything such as honesty, creativity, kindness, adventure, or family. The key is that they are personally meaningful to you. Once you identify what’s important to you, setting intentions that reflect those priorities becomes easier. Instead of setting vague goals like "lose weight" or "make more money," set intentions driven by your values. For example, if you value health, your intention might be: “Make movement a daily habit and choose foods that make me feel my best.”

Tools to Discover Your Values Here are some free tools to help you dig deeper into your core values:

1. VIA: Values in Action Assessment – This tool helps identify your character strengths (how you act on what you value most) and what drives you.
2. DeMartini Value Determination Process – A guided process to uncover what truly inspires you and brings clarity to your priorities.

Intentions vs. Goals Intentions are different from goals. Goals are often about achieving a specific outcome, while intentions are about aligning your actions with your values. Goals can be rigid and focused on external results, whereas intentions are more flexible and centred on the process —they’re more about the journey than the destination. Instead of being fixated on a particular outcome, focus on learning and adapting. For instance, if your value is adventure, you don’t need to book a trip to ascend Kilimanjaro right away. Adventure could mean trying a new hobby, meeting new people, or exploring a park you’ve never visited. The goal is to embrace change and step out of your comfort zone. The focus is on embracing the unfamiliar and expanding your comfort zone, understanding that "the healthiest identity is a flexible identity" (Check Out Manson's Law Of Avoidance).

Think of applying it to your goals in this way: instead of aiming to “lose 10 kilograms,” try an intention like “explore ways to feel stronger and more energized.” This mindset encourages growth and learning without the pressure of perfection.

Bonus: this ties perfectly into the "Learning Flexibility" theme in the Leading and Loving Your Life (LYL) program for those of you already part of the alumni. Have you got your copy of the program material yet? Loving Your Life: Explorations on loving your self and your life more wondrously using the power of mBIT, Positive Psychology & NLP?

Practical Steps for January Here’s how you can start living by your values and practising flexibility this month:

1. Reflect on Your Values: Take some time to identify what truly matters to you and why. Use some of the free tools in this article to help you. Write it down, —it’ll give you clarity.
2. Set Aligned Intentions: Use your values to guide your plans. Keep them flexible and focused on what feels meaningful.
3. Step Into Discomfort: Try something that challenges you—whether it’s saying “yes” to something new or letting go of an old habit. Growth happens outside your comfort zone.
4. Practice Self-Awareness: Pay attention to your thoughts and behaviours. Notice when you’re clinging to outdated patterns or beliefs that don’t serve you.
5. Journal Regularly: Writing about your experiences can give you fresh insights. Think of it as a conversation with yourself. *Take a look at the question starters below to help get you started.
6. Ask for Feedback: Invite input from trusted friends or colleagues, and use it to refine your approach.
7. Be Kind to Yourself: Change takes time. Celebrate small wins and remember that progress, not perfection, is the goal.

Learning Flexibility in Action Flexibility is all about staying curious and willing to adapt. Neuroscience even backs this up—people who practice flexibility are better problem solvers and more resilient. Research shows that cognitive flexibility—the mental ability to switch between thinking about two different concepts or thinking about multiple concepts simultaneously—is linked to what arguably are becoming critical skills in the age of AI: enhanced problem-solving and resilience (Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168.)

Here are some specific questions from the LYL program that you can use to explore your learning flexibility this month:

·?????? “Where am I holding on to a need to be “perfect”? What are my beliefs around 'perfection'? Are there any areas of life where I feel the need to be perfect or right all the time? What are the impacts of my patterns in this? What are more generative ways to think and feel in these contexts?”

·?????? "What new experiences could I embrace to learn and grow? In what areas of life am I not embracing the opportunity to learn? How can I open myself to embodying a spirit of learning adventure? How can I get even more hungry for wise learnings? How can I truly hold a deep love of learning in my heart?"

·?????? "Are there old habits or patterns that I’m ready to let go of? How, when, where, and with whom can I let go of old patterns that no longer support me? How can I encourage myself to be/do more flexibility and requisite variety? How can I bring more creativity and curiosity to this?"?

·?????? What are my key values in life? What areas need more compassionate skilling and focus? How are my values likely to link to blind spots in my life? Are there any values or strengths that are becoming over-used and leading to less optimal patterns? What are new patterns I can introduce into my life to support wiser values and outcomes?"

Resources for Personal and Professional Growth Looking for extra support? Personalised coaching can be a game-changer. For those seeking a deeper, tailored approach, personalised coaching can be transformative. Here are some useful resources:

Future Blueprinting with Tricia Jones: If you are at a crossroads and/or need to decide about your future this coaching framework will help you gain clarity on what you truly desire and craft a clear pathway toward desired outcomes. We will explore your natural tendencies and preferences, creating an alignment of your authentic self with future goals and actions. We will empower you to make a decision and determine the wisest and highest expression of yourself.

Map Your Mojo with Tricia Jones: Motivational Maps is the powerful self-inventory tool we will use to help you and/or your team map your mojo and discover what is driving your energy, focus and overall motivation. Unlike a traditional personality profiling tool, Motivational Maps does not seek to typecast or box you. Rather the insights gained allow us to step outside the box to see what’s inside. To see what your motivational substance is made up of and what might be blocking it right now.

This journey will help you not only clarify your values but also equip you with strategies to align them with your life goals.

Final Thoughts

2025 is a new opportunity to embrace change and live a life that feels true. By choosing our values, setting meaningful intentions, and staying flexible, we can create a year filled with growth, joy, and purpose.

Let's take that first step—reflect, explore, and let the journey unfold. Here’s to a year of leading purposefully, living fully, learning often, and loving the process.

Let’s thrive in 2025.