Staying Positive in 2025: How to Reframe Resolutions for Mental Health Growth

Kyrus Keenan Westcott (00:00):
I get a notification when my cat’s eating. I get a notification when my cats are drinking and I get a notification when my cats are pooping because I love my cats that much and I’m just always worried about them. And here’s the big thing about the new thing that I got them. It has a camera. It has a camera on it, so whenever they go to eat or drink, there’s a camera and it sends the video to my phone. So I just will always be able to keep an eye out on my cats. Hey there vibes. Welcome to The Vibe With Ky Podcast, where we keep it real, we keep it relatable, and we keep it a little bit funny as we dive into all things mental health, ADHD, and introversion. My name is Ky. I’m your host, and each week we’re going to tackle life’s struggles with honesty, humor, and a whole lot of heart.

(00:46)
So whether you’re here for practical advice or a little validation or just a laugh about what life is like as an adult in today’s world, listen, you are in the right place. We are not about toxic positivity here. We are all about being genuine to each other and to ourselves, and we’re talking about real things and we want to encourage each other and remind you that you are not alone. With that said, my friends, sit back, relax, and let’s vibe through this together and enjoy today’s episode of The Vibe With Ky Podcast. What up vibes? Welcome to another episode of the Via with Ky podcast. We have a really, really cool episode today because this is the first day of the new year. It is January 1st, and we’re, wait, am I releasing this on January 1st? Hold? Let me check because I’m saying it’s January 1st right now I’m recording this.

(01:36)
It’s December, but when am I releasing this? I’m releasing this on January 1st. Okay. Yeah, so we’re going to pretend we’re going to pretend like it is January 1st, even though I’m recording this on December 30th, but that’s neither here nor there. I’m excited because we’re in the year 2025. It’s kind of crazy to think about the fact that we’re here. I don’t know where time goes. I have hella ADHD, and so it’s hard for me to even grasp the idea of time anyway. And now the entire year of 2024 is gone, and now we are in 2025, and that is just surreal to me. That is just surreal to me. So in today’s episode, we’re going to be talking all about how we can stay positive in 2025 because I know that there’s a lot of people out there that their 2024 wasn’t great, or maybe it wasn’t their favorite year ever.

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And I’ve seen a lot of comments on my social media posts and I see a lot of videos out there from people not really looking forward to 2025 for a lot of understandable reasons, and I just want to hopefully shed some light on 2025 as we head into this new year and we embrace it, and I want us to at least try to start off this year on a positive note if we can. It’s understandable if you can’t or if it’s difficult for you. I totally understand that, but I want us to at least try. I want us to give it a shot. So that’s what today’s episode is all about. But before we get to that, as always, my friends here are three quick things. Quick, three things I was about to say. Here are three quick things. Number one, universal Studio’s. Epic Universe opens this year, opens in 2025, May, 2025 to be exact, and it opens on my birthday.

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And those of you that know me, y’all know that I am a gigantic, gigantic theme park nerd to the point. Some people are like, oh, I like Theme park still. I love theme parks to the point I’m talking. I study them. I study the theme park industry, the ins and outs, the engineering, the business behind it, the finances behind it, all that kind of stuff. I love that. And so Universal Studios is opening their new park in Florida this year, and I’m super excited and I’m going, I’m going to go opening weekend because that is my birthday weekend and where else would I be every year? I celebrate every year I celebrate my birthday at a theme park. That’s just how I roll. Those of you that know me, y’all know that’s how I celebrate my birthday. Every year it’s at a theme park, so this year I’m going to be celebrating it at the grand opening of Epic Universe in Orlando, Florida.

(04:36)
Super excited for that. I’ve gone on red. I think I might do a podcast episode one day on my take, my controversial take on Universal Studios and Disney down in Orlando, Florida. I have some pretty hot takes about Disney that the group of people that I call the Disney Defense team are not going to like. They’re not going to like it, and that’s not me hating on Disney. I love Disney. I love Disney everything. I love Disney parks especially, but I have a hot take about Disney parks that Disney lovers are not going to like, but it’s not an attack on Disney. It’s just keeping it real, just keeping it real. I might do an episode about that. If you think I should do an episode about that one time, let me know. Let me know. And maybe if there’s enough interest y’all, y’all will get to sing me Nerd out for about 30, 45 minutes talking all about Disney and Universal down in Orlando.

(05:32)
So that’s number one. Number two, my cats. Y’all know me. Y’all know I always talk about my cat, my cats, I got them a Christmas gift this year. I mean I get ’em s gifts every year, but this year a new automated water dispenser and a new automated food dispenser, they always had automated water and automated food dispensers, but I got them a brand new one and I spoil the heck out of my cats, and I have no shame. I have no shame in that. I will spend every dime that I have to make sure that my cats are healthy and happy. I will spend every dime that I have. So if you’re listening to this, you might not be able to see them, but I’m sure at some point during this podcast episode, this recording, I’m pretty sure you’re going to see them walking around in the background because I spoil them.

(06:29)
So I got them this brand new automated water machine thing, and the technology is just insane and it’s all app focused. And the same thing with their feeder machine. It’s all app focused, right? In fact, that buzz you just heard, that is a buzz that I got on my phone. You can probably see my cat in the background. It is a notification that my cat is eating. I get a notification when my cat is eating. I get a notification when my cat’s eating. I get a notification when my cats are drinking and I get a notification when my cats are pooping because I love my cats that much and I’m just always worried about them. And here’s the big thing about the new thing that I got them. It has a camera. It has a camera on it, so whenever that they go to eat or drink, there’s a camera and it sends the video to my phone. So I just will always be able to keep an eye out on my cats because I’m that kind of cat Dad.

(07:28)
I was live on TikTok one time and somebody called me cat daddy, and I’m not sure how I felt about that. I don’t know how I feel about being called daddy, daddy anything, especially a cat daddy. But according to that person, I am a cat daddy. I’ll take Cat dad, cat father, if I may. That was number two. Number three, a lot of people ask me all the time, what is my goal when it comes to my career, my life? It’s really simple. I want to get to a point in my life where I can look at my family, my friends, my loved ones, and say, you never have to work another day in your life. That is what motivates me because I feel like I have the opportunity to provide that kind of life for the people that I love the most. I want to be able to look at my girlfriend and her kids and say, you don’t have to work another day in your life.

(08:28)
The kids, they’re all set. I want to be able to look at my best friend’s hops and Jazzy and Nikki. I want to be able to look at them and say, Hey, whatever you need, I got you. Literally anything that you want, I got you. I want to be able to look at my mom, my dad, my nephews, my nieces, and just say, Hey, you don’t have to do anything else. Whatever you need, I got you. That is Michael. That is what keeps me going. So all this content creation that I make, all of the things that I do for my career, like my job, I’m a brand manager at an equity firm. I do it because that’s my goal. I don’t want to be wealthy. I want my friends and family to be wealthy and taken care of, and I’m talking generational wealth. That’s what I’m looking for.

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That’s why I work so hard every day, nine to five at my normal job. And then as soon as I get home, I make content for everybody on all my social media platforms because that’s how much I care about the people around me. I have this unique opportunity to provide a life for my friends and family, and that’s what I work so hard for. And on top of that, I also have a unique opportunity to use my platform to help other people that I don’t know as well. All my followers, all of my vibes that are out there, all the people that are listening to this podcast, all the people that are watching me now on Instagram live. As I record this, I have this opportunity to provide something for other people, and that is what keeps me going. Every single day when I wake up in the morning, I say, okay, what can I do to help other people? And that in and of itself is enough for me. That’s why I do what I do, and it warms my heart so much that I have the opportunity to do that. That was three quick things, and now let’s get into the main topic today, 20, 25 Friends, I want to start off by just acknowledging the struggle.

(10:38)
I feel like 2024 felt like a never ending Monday. I felt like 2024 was a Monday of years. You know what I’m saying? It happened and we’re just like, oh God, we still have another week, another four days in the week. That’s what it felt like. And I know there’s a lot of you that felt like that as well. And if you did feel like that, you’re not alone. You’re really not. It’s really okay that you feel that way. I want to validate your feelings here because we don’t have to stick this good vibes only thicker on the year 2024 and pretend like it was all sunshine and rainbows. You know what I’m saying? Growth happens in the mud. It doesn’t just happen in sunshine, and that’s why you’ll never hear me say good vibes only. You’ll never hear me say that. You’ll hear me say good vibes, but you’ll never hear me say good vibes only.

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Why? Because by saying good vibes, only that is invalidating other feelings that we might have about something. So if you’re sad, if you have sad vibes, that’s valid, that’s okay. That’s a valid thing to feel. That’s why you’ll never hear me say good vibes only, right? So if you felt like 2024 was a hot mess for you personally, that’s okay. That’s understandable, right? But now that we acknowledge that, now it’s time that we roll up our sleeves and we plant some seeds and we make 2025 our comeback year, our year that we made things happen, and I’m not saying that from a toxic positivity standpoint. Y’all know me. I’m not a big fan of toxic positivity. I like to keep it real, but everybody, I, I’m very realistic about all this, but I want you to know that you have the opportunity to take your life up to the next level, and it may seem impossible at times. It may seem like it’s not something that you can do, but it is. You got to believe that. If you don’t believe that, it’s never going to happen. So then what are you doing with your time? Why are you wasting your time? You have the opportunity, just like I was talking about earlier, about I have an opportunity to help other people. You have the opportunity to help yourself own that. Live in that. It’s worth it.

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It’s the thing I want you, when you think about 2024, I don’t want you to look back at it and start beating yourself up. Don’t do that. When you look back, I want you to reflect, but don’t ruminate. Looking back, it’s not about beating yourself up, it’s about learning and then leveling up. I’m going to repeat that because I don’t think the people in the back heard me. I’m going to scream it for the people in the back. Looking back isn’t about beating yourself up, it’s about learning and then leveling up. How do you do that? Good question, Ky. Well, if you keep a journal, if you write in a journal, I’m going to give you some prompts as you reflect on your 2024. Number one, answer this question, what went well? What went well for you in 2024? And don’t give me that BS where it’s like nothing went well, no, you’re still here.

(14:14)
Anything works here. Nothing went right for me. No, you’re still here. You’re still alive. That’s something to celebrate. What went well for you? The next question I want you to ask, what needs work? What do you need to work on? The next question I want to ask you or that you should ask yourself is what’s one lesson that you’re carrying into 2025? Those are the three questions I need you to ask. I need you to ask yourself and I need you to answer. You can write it down, you can put it in a journal. You can type it out. You can put it on your phone. I don’t care where you put it. Just answer it. What went well? What needs work and what’s one lesson that you’re going to bring with you that you’re going to carry with you into 2025? And don’t think that it has to be this big thing. It doesn’t have to be this big thing. You can celebrate the small wins, big or small. It doesn’t matter. Even if all you did in 2024 was keep yourself afloat, that’s worth celebrating. Don’t toss that to the side that’s worth celebrating. Celebrate everything. The other thing I need you to do as you’re reflecting on 2024, is I need you to let go of the guilt. Let it go. Let it go. Give yourself some grace here. 2024, it may not have been perfect, but guess what? You showed up.

(15:57)
You showed up. That’s what counts. Now y’all know me. I like to quantify a lot of these things by giving potential real life examples here so that we can all understand what’s happening, right? If 2024 was a group project, for some of you, it felt like you were the only one that was doing the work on the group project, and there are some other group members, metaphorically, of course, that didn’t show up, that didn’t help nod your head if you agree, if you know that feeling understandable. It felt like a group project, but understand again, if it got done, that’s what matters. So what can you learn from that? Again, learn. You’re going to reflect, you’re going to learn. You’re going to level up.

(16:55)
At that point. It’s time for you to reframe your resolutions as intentions. I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I’m not. I’m a big fan of New Year’s intentions, so reframe those resolutions into intentions. I feel like resolutions, they can feel like a trap, but if you transform, if reframe resolutions into intentions, then intentions will give us room to grow without the pressure to be perfect. You know what I’m saying? How do you do it again? Great question, Ky. I’ll answer that for you. That’s why we’re here. How do we do it? Well, number one, focus on themes, not Hass. Common resolution that people have is I want to lose weight. Fine, understandable, right? Instead of saying, I want to lose 20 pounds, change that resolution into an intention, so change it. Instead of saying, instead of saying, lose 20 pounds, say, take better care of my body, do you see the difference there?

(18:14)
Do you spot the difference, right? Instead of saying, lose 20 pounds, say, I’m going to take care of my body. I’m going to take better care of my body. Do you see the difference? You see how a resolution can feel like a trap because if you don’t hit that goal of 20, 20 pounds, you feel like a failure. You feel like you just man suck. That’s why resolutions fail all the time because we paint ourselves in this corner when we shouldn’t take that resolution, turn it into intention, so when you reframe that into take better care of your body, that opens up, that gives you room to grow, that gives you room to be flexible physically, literally, and metaphorically. Ideally, give yourself that space to grow and learn. Break it down. Break down your intentions. Big goals need bite-sized steps. Think of it like assembling Ikea furniture, which I suck at by the way, not good at it.

(19:25)
It’s not even necessarily just Ikea. Whenever I order most of the stuff that you see in my house, I order it off of Amazon. I put all of that stuff together myself. Took way longer than it probably should have, but I did it. I did it in small bite-sized steps, but it got done right. It was confusing, but it was manageable and I got it done. Nothing has fallen apart yet. It’s pretty sturdy because I followed the instructions and I took it step by step. So focus on themes, not tasks, number one. Number two, break it down into small bite-sized steps. Number three, add flexibility. It’s not about falling off the wagon, it’s learning how to get back on falling off the wagon. That’s normal. That’s going to happen. Why? Because you’re human. You are a human being. Sorry to break it to you.

(20:21)
It’s not about falling off the wagon. It’s about learning how to get back on. See, this is why I’m not a big fan of resolutions because it always paints us in this corner. No, stop. Turn those resolutions into intentions. Resolutions are like new gym memberships. You end up forgetting about it in February, but change your mindset there and that resolution will become an intention, and then instead of saying, again, putting yourself in a corner by saying, I’m going to go to the gym every Tuesday at Wednesday, Thursday, paint yourself in a corner. Change that task into a intention. I am going to work out more.

(21:17)
That gives you flexibility. It’s really important that you build momentum with a thing that I call micro habits, right? I kind of alluded to this before when I was talking about big goals that need bite-sized steps. If you want to make big changes in your life, it always starts with tiny actions because let’s be honest, nobody has the energy for massive overhauls. I feel like sometimes we want to do this big rebrand of ourself all at once. How often has that ever worked out for anybody? Name me one person that was able to do that successfully? It doesn’t happen because big changes start with tiny actions. How do you do it, Ky? What I’ll tell you number one, start with a thing that I call five minute habits, right? Five minute habits, journaling, meditating, drinking, a glass of water, whatever it may be. Pick a five minute habit, a new five minute habit that you’re going to incorporate into your life, and then do that thing consistently. Five minute habit. Another thing is a thing that I call habit stacking.

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Habit stacking is when you tie new habits into existing habits, so for example, maybe one of your five minute habits is to stretch more, and one of your existing habits is to make coffee in the morning. Okay, let’s do some habit stacking while you’re brewing your coffee in the morning, stretch while your coffee is brewing. Habit stacking. Make sense? It’s going to make your life so much easier. You don’t have to separate it. You can combine these things and then you got to track your progress because you want to track your progress because it’s important for you to celebrate your consistency. Don’t celebrate perfection. Celebrate consistency.

(23:34)
Missing a day. It doesn’t erase the work that you’ve done because a lot of times people are like, oh, I want to do this, this boom, and then they miss a day and they’re like, man, I messed that up. I’m just far from perfect, and then they give up. No, celebrate your consistency, but don’t celebrate perfection. There is no such thing as perfection. Perfection is an unattainable goal that people have. It’s not real. There is no such thing as perfection. No such thing. Maybe cheese. Cheese is pretty close, but still it has its flaws. It has its flaws. One of the biggest flaws of cheese. It doesn’t last forever. You got to eat it while it’s still good, and even then moldy cheese. It’s thing people like blue cheese crumbles. I like blue cheese crumbles. That is moldy cheese. Even cheese gives it a second chance. Give yourself a second chance too, my friends, you got to find joy. You got to find joy in the journey. You got it?

(24:53)
2025 doesn’t have to be perfect in order for it to be powerful In 2025, I want you to focus on progress, not perfection. You’ve heard me say that a lot. You’re probably going to hear me say it all throughout the year because it’s important. Focus on progress, not perfection. I want you in 2025 to celebrate every step forward. No matter how small it is, progress is progress, whether it’s a big step or a small step. If you’re stepping forward in any capacity, that is something to celebrate. Celebrate it. Celebrate good. It’s okay to feel joy. Feel joy. Give yourself permission to feel joy, even if it feels like your life is messy. Give yourself permission to feel joy that is allowed and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. It’s okay to feel a sense of joy. It is such a great feeling if you allow yourself to go there, you deserve it. Don’t let anybody say that you don’t.

(26:13)
Your goal, your goal in 2025 isn’t to be someone new. It’s to become the best version of yourself. Y’all hear me all the time. Say, I try to be a better person today than I was the day before. You should do that too. You can do it with a year. I’m trying to be a better person this year than I was the year before. The goal is to form this new person. The goal is just to be the best version of yourself. I want you to raise a metaphorical glass with me, friends. It doesn’t have to be alcoholic. We’re going to make a toast. It’s 2025. Hold it up. I’ll hold up. I’ll hold up my water bottle right here. It’s here thanks to Google. They’re not a sponsor of this podcast, but I love this water flask, so let’s hold up a glass, hold up a cup, hold up a flask, whatever it is that you have, hold it up and we’re going to make a toast, right?

(27:22)
Friends in 2025, we pledge to ourselves to be the best version of ourselves for us. We are going to be a better person this year than we were the year before. We are not going to try to attain perfection. We are just going to celebrate the small steps forward. We are going to give ourselves permission to feel joy. We are going to give ourselves grace. We are going to allow ourselves to make mistakes. We are going to allow ourselves to fall off the wagon, but then work so hard to get back on because that’s what it’s all about. We acknowledge in this toast that in 2025 we are going to have some good days and we’re going to have some not good days, but we’re going to acknowledge that that’s normal and that’s going to happen, and guess what? We’re going to push forward because again, it’s not about the big steps forward about the small steps. Any step forward, celebrate it. It’s a reason to celebrate. Raise a glass 2025, my friends, did you hear my cat? My cat agreed. My cat was like, yeah, you better listen to him.

(28:48)
With that said, my friends, I feel optimistic for 2025 and I think that you should as well. I know it’s kind of hard to view that sometimes, but you got to allow yourself the opportunity to do that. It’s worth it. It’s going to be a really good thing if you allow yourself to feel that joy if you allow yourself to feel that optimism. I’m not saying this from a toxic positivity standpoint. I’m not saying that you should ignore any negative feeling or any sadness or disappointment or depression. What I am saying is that you need to allow yourself to enjoy your life. We only got one chance on this rock, so what are we going to do with that time? And that’s a wrap on this week’s episode of The Vibe With Ky Podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you so much for watching.

(29:37)
Thank you so much for listening. I hope that you found a little bit of in today’s episode, and I hope that you’re walking away with a little encouragement and I hope that you laughed a little bit along the way. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to like it and subscribe and leave a review. Let me know what you thought of the episode. I really want to hear your voice. I want to hear your story. I want hear all about your journey. Let’s keep the conversation going. Make sure you follow me on all of your favorite social media platforms. Follow me on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, whatever it may be @TheVibeWithKy. For more tips, more laughs, and more real talk. Remember my friends, you are not alone on this journey. We are in this together, and until next time, stay kind to yourself. Embrace the journey and keep vibing. I’ll catch you next time. Much love, good vibes.