Win Today

#181 | Prove Yourself Right: My Annual Letter To Self [2025 Goals Series]

• Season 4

Share episode

Send us a text

Make 2025 your best year and prove yourself right. It starts by writing down what you want to create, and building a system around this.

In this episode, I'm sharing my annual letter which I write at the start of every New Year to reflect on the previous year and set the tone for the upcoming year.

Topics Discussed:
• Discussing the power of writing goals
• The transformative practice of the annual letter to self
• Macro vs. micro evaluation of progress
• Proving yourself right through goal setting
• The psychological benefits of third-person writing
• Focusing on fewer, impactful goals for 2025
• Encouraging the habit of self-reflection
• The power of community in personal growth

2023 Annual Letter To Self & Episode

Thank you for tuning in! If you feel led, please subscribe & share the show to others who you believe would benefit from it.
Keep in touch below!

Speaker 1:

The most powerful tool in the world is you a pen and a piece of paper. This is the greatest wealth creator in the world. Write your goals down on paper and write them down in the present tense, as though you had already achieved them. Your brain knows that you're not a millionaire, but now you're saying I am a millionaire. And so your brain goes to work to close this gap between where you are and where you want to be. And your brain starts to work 24 hours a day and it works and it gives you ideas. There's this incredible power in the universe that you can tap into. You can just reach into it by simply writing down a goal clearly on a piece of paper, and then this mind goes to work 24 hours a day and it starts to pull into your life everything that you need to make the goal clear. But if it's not in writing, not a darn thing happens.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Win Today podcast, a weekly resource thoughtfully crafted to equip people with tools to build and refine discipline, accomplish your goals, fortify your mindset and be of service to somebody in this world. My name is Ryan Cass and I am your host, and every week, you will learn from either myself or a renowned expert in their field, where we will educate and inspire you and give away pieces of our winning playbooks for you to incorporate into your life. If you love the show, please hit the subscribe button, share with somebody who you believe will benefit from it, and leave a rating and review so we can continue to grow and inspire more people in this world. We believe that everybody in this world is meant to do something great with their lives and we're here to play a role in that. Thank you for tuning in and let's win today.

Speaker 2:

Happy final Monday of 2024. If you're tuned in on the release date, you still have one more day. If you're tuned in on Tuesday, then happy new year's Eve, and if you're listening to this later in the week, then happy new year, 2025. What a time to be alive.

Speaker 2:

We live in a world full of opportunities and these past few days have been my favorite days of the year. Every year I really, really look forward to the two days where I sit and evaluate my goals, progress for the year and then write myself a letter for the following year, which we're going to get into in this episode. And it's so exciting because obviously throughout the year I'm looking at my goals and I believe that we should always be looking at them, keep them visible so we can monitor progress, see where we're meeting the mark or we're not. But there's something about writing something down at the beginning of a year or before the start of a new year and then looking at it 12 months later and really seeing the transformation and really seeing how much you got done. When you zoom out just a little bit, because sometimes in the moment in the micro it's tough to see or feel or even believe that progress is being made, because maybe the micro has stressful moments, stressful days, weeks. The micro may have a few bad days mixed in where you weren't as focused on certain habits as you'd like to be. The micro often doesn't tell us the truth and we may believe, damn, we haven't done anything. When we zoom out and look at the macro, then you see, wow, I got this done. I got that done. I did reach this amount of people. I grew in these ways personally, professionally, emotionally, spiritually within your relationship.

Speaker 2:

So I love it because it really provides a solid look at the macro and allows me to experience and see growth and progress at a whole new level. And I highly encourage it and that's why this episode is completely dedicated to that, because I believe that this is part of something I heard a few years ago from Nick Bear proving yourself right. And when you write down what you want your future to be, rather, when you create your future reality and then you ultimately get to live in it or start experiencing it. Or another one from Ed Milet when you start touching those dreams and creating those experiences that align to that ultimate vision that you have, you are proving yourself right. And that starts with being clear on what it is that you even want and writing that down. You can't prove yourself right if you don't know what right is or what you even want. I love that beginning clip from Brian Tracy, which years ago I watched that and wish that everybody, everybody in the world, would see that clip. Brian Tracy is one of the leading experts in the world of personal development, highly respected author and leadership development expert and personal development expert as well. Sometimes I put those clips in for those that have known me for a while, so that y'all can hear somebody else saying write stuff down. This actually works.

Speaker 2:

But this stuff in the personal development world, as far as how we can create our best year, how we can optimize our inner self so that others may experience our best outer self, there really aren't many. There's really no complicated formulas, folks. There's zero Success. The secret to success or the shortcut to success, is that there is no secret. There are no shortcuts, meaning that there are multiple paths you can take, but none of them are complicated. Writing something down, looking at it every day, building a system around it, getting the right people on board repeat, repeat, repeat. It's not difficult in theory. It can be difficult in execution because again, we get caught up. Life happens. The micro, the day-to-day is what gets or what can be, and present the most difficult challenges.

Speaker 2:

So what I'm going to share now is my annual letter to self, and this is something that I've been doing for years, but I just started publicly sharing last year and I'll reference the episode where I first shared it last year and y'all can get a flavor for even how it's evolved from last year to this year. Or if you want two different samples, then you'll have two different samples, but this is how I believe we get to prove ourself right. This is intended to give you a resource and a tool that you can use in 2025 and beyond, and what I do with this letter is I write it in third person also because this is something I learned from a well-renowned sports psychologist and performance coach, steve Magnus, who's been on the podcast, and he talks about psychological distancing just by changing the name, in which we hear something at from meaning, if we switch from I to you. Just think about it like this if you're running a 5k and your 5k is, most people, even non-runners, have ran a 5k and there's this point in a 5k where it's a shorter race three, 3.1 miles you may start feeling hot and heavy. Your legs might start getting tired. You know you don't have a long distance to travel, but it feels like a million miles. That last mile can feel like a marathon in itself and you might tell yourself, oh, I can just. I can push it, you, you can push it, or rather, I can push it, let's go. Let's go just by changing that voice from I to you. So imagine now it's somebody else saying, all right, r Ryan, all right, you can do this, you've got this. It's going to push you a lot further than your own voice just because it's now a third party and, generally speaking, when we know someone's in our corner, someone else is rooting for us, we can push ourselves a lot harder than from our own self-talk. So that's why this is written in third person, that it's creating psychological distance.

Speaker 2:

And as I read this throughout the year and as we move forward into 2025, it just gives a slight mental edge. Really, that's all it is. It gives a slight mental edge. A slight mental edge. Really, that's all it is. It gives a slight mental edge, and I'm for finding and utilizing any mental edge, even if it makes me 0.1% better, and it's my wish, by sharing that, that it inspires you to do the same as well. Any little mental edge we can get, even if it's 0.1%, compounded over a long time, will put you further ahead than a lot of people that may be going after the same exact thing or things that you are. So the letter really breaks down the year and then it gets into opportunities which I classify as areas of growth highlights and then sets the tone for the following year. So they're really. This is how it's broken down. This is all from the heart. I'm going to read it to y'all and then we'll break down a few of the components and set you off into 2025 to create and live your best year. Here we go.

Speaker 2:

I'm thrilled to talk about the Unshakable Discipline Mastermind Group. This has been my baby that I've been working on for the last couple years, and it is now out and available and perfectly timed as we enter the new year. If you are looking to level up in 2025 and be surrounded with more like-minded and ambitious individuals and grow in multiple areas of your life that you deem is most important to you, then this is exactly who we want to have in the Unshakable Discipline Mastermind. This mastermind is all about surrounding yourself with driven individuals who are committed to personal and professional growth, success and excellence, and every week, we have a mastermind session where we learn from some of the best thought leaders, authors and CEOs in the world many who have been on this podcast before. They're going to provide actionable and invaluable insights and strategies and tools to help you achieve your biggest goals, refine your mindset, be more present with your family, excel personally and professionally, and everything in between. Also, on a monthly basis, we host challenges designed to push you out of your comfort zone, help you grow and ultimately give back more in the community and be a vessel of service. You also get the Unshakable Discipline course, which is something that I've created over 13 years of practice and research in the domain of personal development and goals and discipline, pushing your body and mind to greater heights than you believed possible. This is my exact playbook that I've been working on since 2011 that you get in a self-paced course. Right now, we're offering membership at 30% off for the first 20 founding members. Go to unshakabledisciplinecom that is unshake as in milkshake disciplinecom and you can experience the course, be around amazing people, all for a very small investment $67 a month right now and you'll get that locked in for life and have access to the course and any future courses that are developed Unshakabledisciplinecom. I wish to have the opportunity to work with you in the new year. Let's go, ryan.

Speaker 2:

Wow, another year down and it feels like January 24 was five years ago, because of how much you've grown this year, as you wrote this last year and recently reflected on last year's letter again, it indeed feels like a different person wrote it. As you continue this growth journey, your former self becomes unrecognizable. This year you made strong strides in creating a positive and lasting impact and countless lives due to being your word and resembling unshakable consistency. Another year down of not missing a single Monday podcast release, extending the streak to over 115 weeks and counting. This was your most active year on foot yet, logging a record near 2,500 miles and over 460 workouts. This helped others push themselves harder and further than they've ever gone because of your example. You helped generate over $14,000 in giving back to the community through your mastermind dinners, personal contributions, breaking Ribbon's 150-mile run and inspired others to launch charitable causes along the way. You're truly a vessel to help others push themselves and give back. Thank God, you grew a lot in your relationship with Christina and are getting better at recognizing when it's time to let her do her thing, versus always wanting to help. You've become more clear about what you want and communicated openly as opposed to holding it back like you would in the past.

Speaker 2:

Y'all created several new experiences and pushed through some more challenging times. Several new experiences and push through some more challenging times. No-transcript corporate threw you for a loop, as it was a very challenging year at Boeing, but looking back at the bright side one that delivered monumental growth and understanding your corporate career, now approaching 10 years, has been engulfed by massive volatility for roughly 50% of the time since 2019. Imagine that roughly half my corporate career has been centered around chaotic times. Grateful for the learnings here, brighter times are ahead. This scenario has also allowed you to become even more certain in exiting the corporate world someday, and that picture may not have been painted if the going wasn't rough On to the side.

Speaker 2:

Business front, solid wins here, but this year proved yet again that the goals list needs to be a bit more trimmed, even after trimming it from 2023 to 2024. This is good, because it is time to go very deep. If the dream of taking the podcast speaking, coaching and mastermind groups full-time are truly gonna become a reality, it's time to say no to even more and enlist some more help. Rather, re-evaluate and rebuild your army of who's, as you like to say. This is already in work, as you've already been introduced to several new elite-level and higher level mastermind groups, exactly as predicted in 2023. Now it's up to you to grow and remain tight with these people and resist the urge to latch on to anyone who's not operating, nor willing to operate, on the same frequency as you. This will test you. Your start, stop, continue list for 2025 will help transform you when you go all in on it, as this is the most brutally honest list that you've ever written, as customary for this letter.

Speaker 2:

Let's dig into your opportunities for growth and highlights for the year. Opportunities, because failures don't exist in our book. Strengthen your no muscle even more. It's time to drop some things off your plate, even a board membership. This stings to think about, but you require more time to focus on fewer, much bigger things. Decrease the goals list even more. This year, your goals list will be painfully short, for good reason Less equals more. Now we're going to really double down on this. This will help you even more in teaching others on how to focus on far less, because you're walking the walk.

Speaker 2:

Optimize and sharpen thought patterns. There are a couple non-useful thoughts that have visited too many times. While we cannot control the entrance of these thoughts, we can control their timely exit. These two will be rewired out immediately by focusing on less and doing the hard part of saying no more. You get to say yes to your dreams even more. If people aren't operating at, or extremely close to, a 10 out of 10 frequency, it's time to say no to them as well. Always be a resource and a vessel, but it doesn't mean that everyone gets to see it at the table. You provide plenty of resources that allows everybody to eat, but be mindful as to who's getting your harvest.

Speaker 2:

Now for the highlights. Another year to smile about Highlights. Velocity served as a great word and guide for 2024. You're far quicker in reading and reducing the gap between powerful thoughts and action. And reducing the gap between powerful thoughts and action. Giving back unconditionally and generating over $14,000 back into the community, totaling well north of $50,000 in giving and creating impact to multiple nonprofits. Since starting this journey a few years ago, completing a 150-mile fundraiser run on the Ravenel Bridge, which generated $7,000 that's being provided to four families that currently have a loved one battling cancer. This was the most rewarding 43 hours of your life, setting new PRs in the half and full marathon distances and qualifying for all US-based world marathon majors in 2025.

Speaker 2:

Seeing my sister grow tremendously, graduating and working full-time as a nurse and moving in with the man she loves in a nice house, earning a paid podcast sponsor. Thank you, magic Mind Launching and enrolling people into the unshakable discipline course and mastermind a huge step towards creating the dream. We've been talking about this one for years now. Very excited about this. Hosting multiple in-person podcast recordings, which will more than 5x in 2025. Traveling across the pond with christina and experiencing Oktoberfest in Berlin and Munich, and also learning that the Germans do not like Amazon-purchased Lederhosens for reference.

Speaker 2:

Closing Champion Tribe, which impacted 30-plus lives, and gaining experience running a business with a good friend and brother Love you, chris. Creating new experiences with family and strengthening bonds with them. Connecting with several new business owners, high-performance coaches and thought leaders. Investing heavily in my future through coaches and masterminds. We cannot do this alone. Folks. Continuing to give my best to serve the world, learn and grow. Continue to raise the bar for yourself and others, ryan. Inspire them to raise their own bars by continuing to level up, staying laser focused and consistent, and growing from the things that don't initially go your way.

Speaker 2:

As you read this again towards the start of 2026, here's what you want to see you grew the unshakable community to roughly 100 members that are sustaining. You. Launched a high ticket coaching program geared towards driven business owners and executives that want to push themselves harder and further than the ever before. That want to push themselves harder and further than ever before, giving back unconditionally. Through your contributions, mastermind dinners and fundraisers grew twofold, producing over $20,000 back to the community. You ran across the entire state of South Carolina, hometown to hometown, and helped over 10 families that have a loved one currently battling cancer.

Speaker 2:

You're prepared to exit the corporate world and have built the systems necessary to support the dream and vision People from all over are reaching out far more than ever before, because of the positive impact that's been created. You've become more unrecognizable than ever before, in the best way possible. Your inner world and being will and must evolve far greater than ever before to create the reality that you've been inching towards. Create leaps in 2025. Gain yards instead of inches. Never forget where you came from as a reminder, and be a vessel of service. Playing small is canceled. Let's see how far and how hard you can really push and grow yourself. The outer results are waiting for you as you take your inner self where it's never been. Crush it, let's go. Love you. That's it. That's the 2024 reflection and 2025 letter to self, and it's so powerful because I'm already thinking about when I'm going to read that again about a year from now, and the person reading it is probably going to look at the person that wrote it and wonder who is that person? Because of the growth and the intentionality that will be applied and that will occur in 2025.

Speaker 2:

Something as simple as writing a letter allows you the opportunity to create your future reality and prove yourself right going back to the very beginning. It's interesting. I hear people that I admire a lot talk about how the reality they have today is something that they five, 10, 15 years ago and they're in it today, and it makes me think that, rather, it makes me question why wouldn't everyone do this? This creating our reality isn't limited at all. It's accessible to everyone, everyone that is willing to reflect on what they want, put it on paper and build a system around it. We have the ability. You have the ability to make 2025 an amazing year, and I'm committed to giving you as many tools as possible to make that a and chart a desirable course for life. I'm proud of you for your commitment. I'm proud of you if you're listening to this right now, because it clearly means that you're invested in your success for not just 2025, but for your lifetime.

Speaker 2:

We're talking a lot about 2025, but for your lifetime. This is we're talking a lot about 2025, but really, this episode could could apply to the rest of your life. This letter is not a one-year thing. This is a every year thing. Creating and designing our reality is an every year thing that we get to do, and it's my wish that you take this exercise and put it into your back pocket and utilize this tool so that this is the start of, or continuation of, what is to be an amazing life. I wish that all of you have an absolutely amazing, amazing new year. If you're tuning in on the release date, then make these next two days count. We still have two more days. If you're listening to this the release date then make these next two days count. We still have two more days. If you're listening to this, in 2025, happy new year. I'm here to be your vessel. I'm here to be a vessel for the world and would love to help crush it, create your reality, prove yourself right and win today. Thank you so much.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Ryan Cass

Host