Our first Toastmasters club’s meeting after the two-week break for the holidays is always a rough one. We meet at 6:45 in the morning at the Meals on Wheels center in Pacific Grove. After the holidays it can be a little tough getting up and out of the house in time for the meeting, but the minute the meeting starts I know I’ve made the right decision. Our meetings are fun and get the day off to an energetic start.

While every day presents an opportunity to start fresh, there is something special about opening the door on a new year. By Dec. 31, I am ready to put the previous year to bed and move on to new adventures. The new year offers the opportunity to make epic changes and take epic chances.

The trouble, as one of my Toastmaster colleagues so aptly pointed out, is that it is impossible to make epic changes if we insist on dragging our accumulated baggage into the new year. The key is figuring out how to let the old stuff go to make room for the new. Over the years I have tried a number of approaches. While New Year’s resolutions get a lot of airtime, they have never worked for me. It’s not just me, they don’t seem to be very effective for most of the population. What does work? One creative strategy that works for me and which I recommend to clients is to write a success letter to my future self and date it Dec. 31 of the new year. I envision the goals I want to achieve, the changes I will make and growth I will embrace. I tuck the letter in the back of the calendar and give a copy to a friend to mail to me in December. I never fail to be pleasantly surprised when it arrives.

I am also a big fan of the annual Name Your Year workshop presented by my colleague, Denise Kaku. I’ve been naming my year and creating a vision board to accompany it for 20 years. I often post my board on the refrigerator where I will see it every day. My 2024 year was named “Fun, Novel Adventures” and I had plenty. I learned to swim, snorkeled in Hawaii, visited Niagara Falls for the first time, saw the bison up close in Yellowstone Park, and planned a trip to the Galapagos Islands for January 2025. Visualize me there as you read this!

What’s been on your “someday” list? Get a better job, change careers, travel to Africa, improve your public speaking skills? If you are interested in making your “someday” list a reality here are a couple of ideas. Kaku leads an empowering “Name Your Year” Workshop on Jan. 11 or Jan. 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This transformative workshop is specially designed to help you shape the path ahead in 2025. For more information check out https://kakuconsulting.com/embrace-2024-with-clarity-name-your-year-workshop-with-denise-kaku/.

If you are thinking about becoming a better communicator, consider visiting our Toastmasters Club, every Thursday at 6:45 a.m. in Pacific Grove. It’s fun and will fast-track your public speaking skills.

As for me, I am formulating my goals, envisioning my best 2025, and preparing to name my year. Here’s to a fun and fabulous 2025!

Mary Jeanne Vincent, career expert and strategist, has a coaching practice in Monterey. She may be reached at (8310 657-9151, mjv@careercoachmjv.com, or www.careercoachmonterey.com