Planning New Years Eve with Patrick Kennedy
Hey Tribe! I’m so glad you’ve chosen to check out the podcast today! Seriously, I am so grateful for each and every one of you. I am here to ignite your fire to elevate your health, your mindset, your business, and your relationships so that you can uncover the most strong, competent, badass version of you!
And thank you also very much for joining me on this New Year’s Eve episode! I absolutely love this time of year. During the few days we get between Christmas and the New Year, I love having time to slow down and start to really feel the new energy and new life of the new year. And while, of course, you can set goals at any time throughout the year, New Year’s is just such a perfect time for new resolutions.
It’s also a wonderful time to reflect on who you’ve become over the past year. This year has been a HUGE one for me! I’m so thankful to have some time during these few days to reflect on my accomplishments and take pride in the strong, badass woman I’ve become!
In this episode, I want to spend some time reflecting on 2019 and looking ahead to 2020. And it’s so important to me to do this with my husband, Pat Kennedy. That’s why he’s my guest today! For those of you with a spouse or partner, I just want to say — it is so important to set goals for yourself, but it’s also so important to reflect and plan with your significant other so that you can grow together. Pat and I have a commitment to growing together, and that is foundational to our relationship. I hope that this episode is encouraging to you and your partner!
So today, Pat and I both look at who we’ve become and at who we want to be next year! 2020 is going to be big, guys. It’s going to be a beautiful, incredible year, and I am so excited! So let’s dive into this very special New Year’s Eve episode with Pat Kennedy!
What Are You Proud Of?
During this time of year, when you look back on the past twelve months of your life, I think it’s essential to take some time just to celebrate yourself! No matter what your year has been like, you have things to be proud of, and you deserve to celebrate those things!
What are you most proud of this year? Pat and I discussed our proudest accomplishments of 2019, and I honestly could not be more excited for either of us!
For me, I am incredibly proud of myself for starting a business this year. That was HUGE for me! As Pat reminded me, I was still teaching in addition to working on my business for the first half of the year. I was teaching during the day, coaching at night, and working 80 hours a week until after June. It was more difficult than I could have imagined, but look at where I am now: I am finally living out my purpose. I am doing what I’m passionate about, and I have already gotten to work with so many amazing and inspiring people. It is truly my greatest joy to work with people who are embracing their energy and striving toward their full potential, and I’m proud of myself for taking control and creating a life for myself where I get to do that.
And I was scared, to be sure. It wasn’t easy! But I know that it was right for me to start this business at this point in my life, and I am proud of myself for doing it.
I asked Pat the same question because he also has a lot to be proud of from his work in 2019. Pat has worked incredibly hard at his job this year, and I could not be more proud of him. He has genuinely tried to implement positive changes in his corporate environment, but it’s not always easy. He hasn’t gotten to see all of the changes he has set in motion fully come to fruition, but he has planted some seeds and is waiting patiently.
The phrase he used was “moving forward regardless.” I love those words just as a mindset, because it’s so important to figure out a way to move forward regardless of your situation, of the backlash you get from others, or of any other people or circumstances that want to hold you back. Tribe — You rock! Don’t let anything hold you back!
So what are you most proud of from 2019? Take a few minutes to reflect and pat yourself on the back. You deserve it! Consider your accomplishments and allow yourself just to be excited about them.
Who Have You Become?
While you’re spending time reflecting on the past year, I obviously think it’s important to remember and celebrate your accomplishments. But I also think it’s essential to think about the person you’ve become and be proud of her (or him!) too.
If you don’t focus on those internal shifts and those internal accomplishments, you are continually living life trying to chase your self-worth in your outside accomplishments. But remember, you could have made any of those impressive strides in your career or your relationships without first becoming a better version of yourself, so you deserve to celebrate your personal development accomplishments too.
For me, I am so incredibly proud of the woman I’ve become. If I had to use one word to describe myself now, it would be ‘fearless.’ Through this whole process of building a business and doing that for an entire year, I have become absolutely fearless. I’ve become a woman who wakes up every day to take relentless action. I am happy and confident, and I am so pleased and proud to have become a woman who can say those things about herself.
Sidenote: I’m not even scared of bugs anymore! Well, I am a little, as Pat was quick to point out. But I definitely killed a few when he was out of town. I’ve gotten better about that fear, and I deserve to celebrate that, damn it!
Of course, I also wanted to talk to Pat about how he’s grown as a person and what he’s proudest of in that area of his life from this year. I am so amazed by how humble Pat is and the progress he’s made toward becoming a man of more even temper. At the end of last year, Pat was much more likely to react quickly to something I said. He would have these impulses where he got agitated or just annoyed, and he tended to snap back at me and respond poorly. But he has made so much improvement on that this year! He has learned to control those reactions, and he is deservedly proud of himself for shifting his mindset and growing in that area this year.
For Pat, the word ‘control’ was key this year. Because I knew he wanted to make improvements to his mindset in this area, for Christmas last year, I put a special bracelet in his stocking that he wears every day for Christmas. The bracelet says, “control,” and Pat uses it to remind him that he controls the trajectory of his life. He controls who he is in any given moment, and he can control his temper too. And while Pat had to actually buckle down and do the internal work to develop his impulse control and better manage his temper, that bracelet has served as a helpful little guide to him throughout the year, and I’m glad it’s helped him!
What internal shifts have you experienced this year? How have you improved your mindset? Take some time to reflect on the woman or man you’ve become and celebrate that person!
Who Are You Going to Be Next Year?
Okay, now it’s time the flip side of this endeavor. Once you’ve had time to reflect on the past year and celebrate all your accomplishments — both external and internal — it’s vital to start planning for the coming year! This is where those New Year’s resolutions come into play. Ask yourself who you want to be and what you want to do in the new year, and don’t forget all the lessons you’ve learned from the experiences you’ve had in the previous year.
2020 is going to be a big year for Pat and me — I can feel it! This year, we’ve decided to create vision boards individually and as a couple, and I was so excited to talk through a few of the things we want to put on our vision boards while we were recording this episode.
I know that I do not want to sit there throughout 2020 and not become a new version of myself. I am constantly evolving, learning, and growing, and I want to remain dedicated to that growth. I know I will put a lot of time and effort into growing my business, and I am looking forward to seeing what that looks like! Last year I literally had a picture frame on my desk that said “2019 Goals,” and in it, I kept a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish this year. I’m looking forward to updating that list for 2020 with some specific internal shifts and career goals I have for the new year.
I also want us to remain dedicated to growing together and working on our relationship. Pat and I have grown so much as a couple this year! Our conversations are much more productive and much healthier than they were in 2018. We’ve become better at prefacing the conversations with what we need to get out of them.
For example, when Pat comes to me with a problem, the coach in me kicks into gear and wants to help him dig deep and solve the problem, but sometimes Pat just wants to vent, you know? This year, we worked hard on saying, “Hey, I don’t need a coach right now, I just want to vent,” and then entering into the conversation with that in mind. That has been vital for our relationship, and I’m glad to have made that progress.
But I’m committed to continuing to grow with Pat and to working on our relationship even more. Lately, we’ve been investing more in our spiritual growth, and I know I want to invest more in that in 2020.
I also know that Pat and I want to continue growing in the way we handle our money. For example, I invested a lot in myself and my business this year. It was scary, but it was so necessary, and I’m happy I did it! This year, Pat and I are improving the way we lean into the energy of money and trust that we will get the financial returns on our investments that we strive for.
And finally, I know that Pat and I are going to try to take some vacation time just for the two of us this year. When we started looking at our 2020 calendar and getting excited about all the traveling we have planned, we realized that while we have several trips planned, they were all with other people. We have trips planned with other couples and friends of ours, but we realized we didn’t have anything planned for just the two of us to spend some romantic time together. Now — and you can hear this live in the episode — we’re having an ongoing discussion of what that trip will look like (A treehouse, Pat? Really?), but we’re both committed to investing money in a trip for us to enjoy as a couple.
What is your 2020 going to look like? Who are you going to become? Are you going to start a business? Are you going to go after your dream job? What relationships do you want to call into your life this year? What relationships can you improve? What personal goals do you have? Do you want to plan to take a trip, like Pat and me? How will you invest your money this year?
It’s such a good idea to sit down with a journal or a vision board and ask yourself these questions. Think about who you want to be and lean into the beautiful energy of the new year! I know 2020 is going to be big for Pat and me, and I know it will be an excellent year for you too. Think about who you want to be and what you want to do. Dream big, and get ready to make 2020 an incredible year!
Happy New Year!
Thank you so much for joining me on the New Year’s Eve special of The Jenn Kennedy Show! I hope this episode inspired you to really celebrate your accomplishments and look forward to the future.
If you have a spouse or partner, make sure you’re reflecting and planning with them, as well! And if they’re not on the same page as you when it comes to this kind of intentional personal development, that’s okay. Just try to have a conversation with them about it. Ask them questions, and make sure you get their buy-in before proceeding.
Remember, it’s taken Pat and me a while to get to this point of being willing and excited to communicate about these things, for sure. We both grew up in environments where money was not at all an appropriate topic of conversation, so on that issue in particular, we’ve had to intentionally learn to open up to each other and be honest about our concerns and goals.
Let’s get ready to attack this new year, Tribe! You guys are so awesome, and I know you’re going to make 2020 a year for the history books! Whatever your goals, ambitions, and missions for this new year, I wish you all the best, and I can’t wait to connect with you in 2020.
Happy New Year, Tribe! I’ll catch you next time.
