Win Today

#221 | 87 Days To Upgrade Life: Making The Best Out Of 2025

• Ryan A. Cass • Season 5

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There are 87 days left this year—more than 2,000 hours to reset, refocus, and finish strong. This episode is about turning Q4 into a launchpad by simplifying what matters and removing what doesn’t. If you’ve felt scattered or behind, this is your chance to make real progress before the year ends.

Three takeaways:

  • Choose 1–2 meaningful goals and build an anti-goals list to eliminate distractions.
  • Create accountability with small weekly check-ins and a trusted circle.
  • Use nature and gratitude as daily resets to stay steady and clear-headed.

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Two hard things. Help one person be good and do good. Live a life of discipline, and you will always win. You have all the tools that you need to succeed. Welcome to win today.

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Thank you so much for tuning in. My name is Roman Cass and I'm your host. My purpose in this world is to help push people further and harder than they believe possible and become unshakable in what matters most to them in their lives. Every week you're gonna learn from either myself or a renowned expert in their field, and we're gonna unveil pieces of our playbook to help you win today. Please, if you love this show, subscribe and share it with somebody that will benefit from it. Let's dig in. Happy October, my friends. Crazy to be saying that. And as of the release date of this episode, there will be just 87 days left in 2025. And that is both short and plenty. Short in that we both know that it'll go by quick. Plenty in that we also can both believe that it is plenty of opportunity and time to create lasting change for 2026 to completely upgrade your being and to show yourself that hey, we can get more done in a short amount of time than we believe possible when we really, really lock in. We have, as of today, if you're tuned in on the episode release date, over 2,000 hours to rewrite our story for the year. As fourth quarter can typically be the time where people tend to move away from their goals, and we're not too far off from when people start to research how do I become more focused, how do I become more disciplined, because the new year is here and people fell off the wagon right around that October, November, especially December time frame. So I'm putting this together as hey, even if 2025 hasn't gone your way yet, or if 2025 has been great, here's how to capitalize on the rest of the year. And I'll also share this kind of from a perspective of let's just say you want to have a clean slate. It's fourth quarter. Maybe it's a it's a brand new game for you mentally. Here are five things, six things rather, put together six things that we can do to take advantage of the year. One thing that I'll also share it for encouragement and to create a different perspective around time. It's something I've really been focused on a lot this year, around this perspective of time and this association of wealth that we have with this time, thanks thanks to a conversation with Sahil Bloom, the author of The Five Types of Wealth, but also really studying his work pretty heavily throughout the course of the year. One thing that stood out earlier this year that he had mentioned is that you are one year away from people saying that you got lucky. You are one year away from people saying that you got lucky because we've seen this happen countless times, especially on social media, that there's a big creator or there's somebody that their product blows up, their business blows up, their podcast blows up. And perhaps you may have also had this thought, man, that person, they just got lucky. The algorithm served them well that day. That's it. And we can sometimes negate all of the daily investments that got put in, all of the time, all of the sweat equity, all of the misses, all of the rejections, everything. And oftentimes we'll say that about the other person because it just didn't happen to us. But what that also says is hey, with consistency and very granular focus, you can completely transform your life in a short period of time. And I believe 87 days, the last quarter of the year, you can be 87 days away from people saying that you got lucky because you're going to be coming into 2026, just absolutely crushing it. So this is intended to again share how we can take advantage of the fourth quarter, not fall off the wagon. And here are six things that we can do to do so. The first thing, if especially if we're just wiping the board clean for the rest of the year, I want you to think about one to three meaningful things, and and I'll even challenge you to go one max of two, because one thing I've learned with goals and goal setting and building systems is that less actually equals more. But one to three, but let's just go one to two, one to two things that if you were to be able to say that they got finished by December 31st, that man, that would feel so good. So let's think about what are one to two meaningful things that if we got those done, or if we said that we started those things, or we launched this thing, whatever the case may be, one to two meaningful things that if it was December 31st, 2025, and those things were either complete, started, launched, that would make you feel really good, let's think about that. So the question really is what few things, if done or launched, would make me feel proud about how I finished 2025. And what that's gonna do is also we're setting up our 2026. Because by thinking about, okay, here's one to two things that when we get those things done or launched or built or or put out into the world, not only are we gonna feel awesome about it, we're gonna have a positive association with the year 2025. And boom, now 2026, now it's really a clean slate if you approach the years from January 1st to December 31st. We're we're rolling. We are absolutely rolling. It's interesting when I launched my mastermind group at the beginning of the year, the unshakable discipline community. I did a little bit of homework on Google searches. And in January, there's this explosion of search volume around the words goals and discipline and habits. And it stays relatively high until about February, kind of starts dropping down in March. It's pretty much at sea level for the summer, and then now it's starting to come back and starting to come back. And a lot of what I see that stops people is that they want to focus on 5, 10, 15, 17 things, and then when they realize, oh, we can't do 5, 10, 15, 17 things, they get upset and they say, Ah, why do we need to wait for 2026 to be the year when we still have so much of 2025 that we can make 2025 the year? Now, as I mentioned before, less equals more, people will write off a year because they'll think that, oh, these other people, they must get a thousand things done in the year. One thing that I continue to discover through experience and through a lot of study and homework on admired brands and people is that they focus on less and they dive very deep. I continue to see this theme of obsession that is almost being a key to winning. Like how truly obsessed are you over very few things, if not one thing. So that's with especially with limited amount of days and hours, there's limited amount that we should focus on. The second thing, when we think about our goals, then we often will think about okay, what do I need to do now? What what are all of the things with this one to two meaningful items? What are all the things that I need to start doing now? What what subscriptions do I need to buy? What books do I need to buy to learn? Who do I need to talk to? Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And now that also, when we think about the how can create this analysis paralysis at times, that okay, I found this one meaningful thing. Well, now I can think of 17 things that I need to do in order to get there. And perhaps some of these things may have a lot of sub-items. Now here's a different way to look at it. We can build an anti-goals list that supports our goals. Meaning, let's just take a simple example. Let's just say for these last 87 days of the year that you want to get in a consistent exercise routine. Now, one may start running through this inventory. I've got to buy a gym membership, I've got to buy shoes, I've got to wake up, I've got to buy blue light therapy, I've got to buy a red light glasses, I've got to buy the cold plunge, I've got to subscribe to factor meal subscription services, I've got to buy AG1, boom, boom, boom. Then we get so overwhelmed we do nothing. Versus, hey, I want to lose 25 pounds before the end of the year. What do I need to stop doing? What's an anti-goal that I can make around this big meaningful thing that I would love to do to accomplish by the end of the year? Oh, okay, I can I'm going to stop buying DoorDash at nine o'clock to ten o'clock p.m. four days a week because that is something that doesn't support. I'm going to stop buying food at work. Okay, because now we can meal prep. So oftentimes, instead of thinking about adding, again, less is more, what do we need to subtract? And that's another thing that I've found in some of these big players, these big time players, these big names, these big companies. It's not so much of here's what to do, it's what do we need to not do? Or what are we doing now that is not in support of our best selves, our ultimate vision? What is it that pulls you away from these things? What habits, people, or distractions pull you off track? What commitments could you let go of that don't serve you anymore? What drains your energy that if you no longer did that thing, then you could have more energy to show up positively for XYZ or be more engaged with important people in your life. So think about an anti-goals list or an anti-to-do list as it relates to that one to two things. I actually started doing this recently. What do I need to stop doing? Another thing that you can associate this with, that I do more at the beginning of the year, is a start, stop, cons continue list. And you can make those very granular to every single goal in your book, but I like to think about it more of if I'm just looking, if you're just looking at yourself as a third person and all the things that you do in a normal day, what are positively associated with your goals or moving you forward? Let's continue those things. What are things that we know are good, but we're not doing them yet? All right, let's start those. What are things that we know are bad that aren't moving us forward? Boom, stop those. So start, stop, continue. That's another question to ask. It's just what can I start, stop, and continue? Or anti-to-do, anti-goals list. Number three, find your growth circle. A lot of what I present here to you all are things that you've heard before. And just like most personal development podcasts and books, they're not sharing new information, but it's perhaps packaged in different ways that maybe it lands when it's packaged this way, maybe it's doesn't land so much when it's packaged this way. Maybe you like one entree when it's got this sauce, but it doesn't register with your taste buds when it has that sauce. But find your growth circle. So what you've heard before is that you become the five people that you spend the most time with. Make sure that you have a small group of friends who are deeply invested in personal growth, just like you are, and let them know what you're going after. It's so important that at least one person or a small group of people are aware of what you want to accomplish. With these one to two things, if I were starting new and writing out that one to two things I want to get done before before the end of the year, and then I've identified what I'm going to stop doing, I'm also going to make sure that there are people that are aware of this one to two things so that they can help push me. It helps me keep myself more accountable because studies show that when we publicly share our goals and it doesn't need to be on a big social media post, but basically when we make other people aware of our goals, we're 70% more likely to achieve them. And they need to be written, by the way. I say that so much that I feel like people should know that, but they need to be written. But that's now we're we we create this ecosystem of hey, I know what you're going after, you know what I'm going after. We can hold each other accountable, we can find each other resources, we can celebrate our wins and progress and keep moving forward. Number four, on the same note of people, build deeper connections and use these, use this time to build community. One thing that I hold absolutely sacred in my week are is the Tuesday speed group and every other Saturday Washed Up Coffee Club. So bunch of people on Tuesday mornings, 5 a.m. that are absolutely getting after it. Whether we're running laps around a park or running laps around a track, these are people that are going back to even the last point, they're deeply invested in growth and themselves and giving back in the community and doing amazing things. But this is also such a great time before the end of the year that you've got at least three to five people that can be there for you that speak your same language. Great way to find them. Whatever activity it is that you love, see if there's a group of people that are already doing it. If you love running, come out to Hampton Park on Tuesday morning in Charleston, South Carolina at five o'clock a.m. And you will find a bunch of people that not only love running, but that are, again, very, very invested in each other and growth, and great way to find three to five friends just in that group right there. There's actually a lot of research that shows that having just three to five close friends can drastically increase your sense of belonging and overall happiness. There's a Harvard study that states close friendships can add up to ten years to your life expectancy. So just as people and things can drain you, the right people can inject additional life into you. Number five, get outside more. Get outside more. One thing that I'll say I've become more awake to is nature and being, like literally just being and allowing myself to see the surroundings, see the things that you normally wouldn't notice, even the bird that may always be on your one particular branch on your one particular tree that you've never noticed it because you're so focused in the hustle and bustle and looking at your phone and making sure that you didn't forget your lunch and grabbing your backpack and all and your keys are falling out and the dogs barking and all these things that you don't notice. That there's this beautiful bird that is always out there just to say hey to you. I had a woman on my show towards the end of last year, Patricia Rust, who former Grammy Award-winning actor and now uh children's author, but was in a stage four battle cancer stage four. And I asked her, Patricia, with what you are facing now and what you've learned about life, what would you tell somebody that doesn't have your condition about how they can live their life or what they should do? And she said this so beautifully with her sweet voice, and Patricia for context is uh now her at the time was uh elderly, sweet, probably five foot, a hundred-pound woman blonde hair, and so you think about perhaps you know your your your grandmother that would would give you wisdom or just uh an old woman that is special to you. So this is the answer she gave. She said, Ryan, I would tell them to sit in the park and watch the squirrels play for a few minutes. Go buy the ice cream, sit on the bench, listen to the sounds, and just be. And for most of us, especially in in Western cultures that are used to moving so fast, that may seem like a daunting task, and that we don't have the time for that. But I'll say that I feel like that's been a big unlock for me this year in 2025, and something that I wish it or rather if I knew or if I was gonna do one new thing, this is like probably one of the the one thing, this is the one thing that I would that I would want to be told for the first time if I if I wasn't already doing this for the rest of the year. It has brought so much peace. I was just recently in the upstate and taking the dog for a walk and I just sat there for a moment and stood and listened to the trees swaying and the crickets chirping. Uh, nature slows you down, it helps put into perspective what actually matters, and science backs this up too. Studies show that just spending 20 minutes outside can significantly reduce your stress and lower cortisol levels. So as we're going into the end of the year, take a step outside, breathe, and be still. It's a skill that you can develop. The last one is practicing gratitude. And perhaps this even fits in with the last one of get outside more, because that's an awesome time to practice gratitude, but practice gratitude deeply and often. I just listened to Lewis Howe's most recent, one of his most recent podcast episodes, Six Morning Habits to Manifest the Financial Life You Desire. And he was talking about what are the six things that he does every morning that has really served as major unlocks to creating this dream life. And one of the things he kept harping on was gratitude. And again, nothing that we haven't heard before, but when you hear it from people that we admire and talk about the most, I would use that as a biggest green flag or green light in your life. Hey, you should we should probably do that thing too. So we know it's we know it's important, but studies show that people who practice daily gratitude report 25% higher happiness levels and sleep better and make better decisions and experience less stress than those who don't. People who practice daily gratitude report 25% higher happiness levels and sleep better, make better decisions, and experience less stress. All for how much of your time? Just a few seconds. So you can start practicing this literally right now. And it's my wish that you're thinking about something or expressing gratitude for something that is meaningful or something that you're around right now. It could even be if you're if you're listening to this on the drive, I'm grateful for this car. If you're listening to this on a run or on a walk, I'm grateful to move this body. I'm grateful to have this body that that can be challenged and moved and to sweat. Uh running for me is really where I do my gratitude practice. I'll be running and literally just take a few seconds and open my arms wide, completely spread them out, and just start saying, hey, I'm so grateful for this day. I'm so grateful. Thank you so much. I'm so grateful for this life. I'm so grateful for the opportunities. I'm so grateful for everything that life brings, both good and not so good, because the not so good brings growth, therefore, all is good. Thank you so much. I'm so grateful. And that's what we can do to take advantage of these next 87 days. Again, 2,000 hours. We can completely rewrite our story, or we can keep tacking on to a great story that we've been writing so far this year. Pick one to two meaningful things for you that by the end of the year, if those things were done, launch started, you'd be like, Yeah, heck yeah. Go me. Then we're gonna decide what do we need to stop doing so that we can actually be freaking pumped on December 31st. We're gonna find our people, get outside, and live in gratitude. Because here's the truth, folks. The rest of the year isn't about playing catch up, it's about showing up. And 87 days is more than enough time to upgrade everything about your current state of being now to keep the momentum rolling, or if you're starting fresh and this is your invitation to wipe the board clean, and you know what, we're gonna make these 87 days the best so that the 365 coming in 2026 is better than any year that's preceded this one. Great. I'm rooting for you, I'm with ya. We're 87 days away from people saying that hey, we got lucky. It doesn't need to be a year, it could be 87 days. Go do the little things. It doesn't have to be this grandiose plan or a thousand little mini things. A few things can change the course of your life and help you win today.

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Ryan Cass

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