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[00:00:00] Dr. Julia Bowlin: My visions kept collapsing because they were built on pressure, not truth, on expectation and not alignment.
[00:00:13] Take one breath and let this episode meet you exactly where you are. You know, every December we all collectively lose our freaking mind. It's like the entire world decides that suddenly January is going to be our redemption arc. We buy planners, we get markers, we get water bottles to track our hydration.
[00:00:32] We're doing this as if we are on a major mission, and don't even get me started about the gym commercials. There's basically all kinds of videos out there saying that if you don't become this brand new person by January 3rd. You failed as a human being. And listen, I've absolutely participated in this nonsense willingly.
[00:00:51] And even with enthusiasm. I was a woman who should have known better, but didn't. And for years, I created what I lovingly call the perfect January. [00:01:00] This would be Dr. Julia's great reinvention. The month where I would overhaul my life, my body, my business, my pantry, my emotional health, and my schedule. Heck, just throw in the world's ozone layer just for good measure.
[00:01:13] I designed gorgeous related charts and online calendars. I Marie Condoed my whole world future in how I had it in my brain. I had resolutions stacked so high, there's no way in heck that I ever would've been able to accomplish 'em. I mapped out every habit, every new ritual, every future achievement I was going to do.
[00:01:35] I choreographed my future year and by January 4th. Yeah, reality showed up like sit down, sweetheart. Because the truth is my resolutions weren't based on my soul. They were based on my performance identity. My people pleasing perfectionistic need to prove that I could outrun exhaustion with just enough pretty goals and a lot of new pens.[00:02:00]
[00:02:00] And then life did what Life does. It handed me a plot twist. My husband's treatments would shift. A new scan result would blindside us. A clinical trial would change the entire rhythm of our household. Another round of chemo, another drive to Cincinnati or Columbus. Another moment where the ground literally was constantly moving under my feet.
[00:02:20] You know, those little moving walkways in the airports. That's how my life felt like, except they were all going in different directions. Am I perfect? January obliterated. Done. Not even ashes were left. And it took me years, decades, if I'm being honest, to realize something important. My visions kept collapsing because they were built on pressure, not truth, on expectation and not alignment, and what I thought I should want, not what my soul actually needed.
[00:02:51] So today in this episode, we are rewriting how we think about vision, how you think about vision, not the forced version that you're supposed to whip [00:03:00] out every January, not the Pinterest perfect charts that tell you that you're failing by week two. This is about an unshakeable vision, the kind that your soul recognizes as home.
[00:03:11] Before we go any further, let me tie this back to the last episode because episode two in December was all about resetting your Basecamp, clearing out the emotional clutter, dropping the shoulds, and getting honest about what cannot come with you into 2026. So we are gonna focus this episode on the Unshakable vision.
[00:03:30] This is the end game reset. This is part of the theory through all December themes, and we're gonna close 2025 strong so we can launch into 2026 really boldly. What if 2026 isn't about doing more but becoming more you? So now that you've cleared some space from the last episode, we get to decide what fills it intentionally, honestly, gently, and.
[00:03:58] If you're happy and wanna go with it, [00:04:00] let's go boldly because an unshakeable vision isn't loud, it's rooted, it's real, and it's yours. And why do most visions fail for people? We're gonna go over that next and why yours doesn't have to. So let's tell the truth. Most people don't feel at their vision because they're lazy or undisciplined.
[00:04:19] They fail because the vision that they set was really never theirs to begin with. We live in a world where goals are basically peer pressure wrapped up in a productivity. Everyone out there is trying to optimize themselves while quietly and secretly falling apart. Inside. You've got people declaring that they're going to meditate twice a day.
[00:04:39] They're gonna train for a marathon, they're gonna quit caffeine, they're gonna organize their garage, they're gonna heal childhood trauma, and they're gonna drink a gallon of lemon water before February. And you know what their nervous system says to them? Absolutely not. Here's the truth that your Instagram feed won't tell you.
[00:04:58] Your body will reject a goal [00:05:00] that wasn't born from your truth. Just like it rejects food poisoning, just like it rejects toxic people, just like it rejects any plan that's built on guilt, fear, or shoulds. And let me break down the top three ways that I see visions collapse after years of working with patients and clients.
[00:05:19] It's not because they're incapable. Because their vision was misaligned from the start. So let's talk about some misaligned goals. I call these the guilt goal, the pleaser goal, and the prove it goal. The guilt goal is the goal that you set because you feel bad about something. You ate cookies in December.
[00:05:38] Now you're gonna sign up for a juice cleanse, right? You're behind on your emails now you're vowing. You're gonna start every day at 5:00 AM even though you're already sleep deprived and running on fumes. Guilt goals never stick. They're fueled by shame and not desire. They'll collapse the moment that real life shows up.[00:06:00]
[00:06:00] How about the pleaser goal? Now, this one's sneaky. It looks noble, actually. It looks responsible and maybe even impressive, but if you peel back the layers, the pleaser goal is built on this quiet, aching belief that if I achieve this, people will finally approve of me. When my husband started his treatment cycles, I fell into this trap hard.
[00:06:24] I stacked my schedule like I was auditioning for superwoman. I did clinic work, hospital work, coaching, business writing, speaking, caretaking, cooking, cleaning, house support, supporting Rick, supporting the kids, supporting the dog, and supporting anybody who so much as breathed near me. I set goals that made me look strong.
[00:06:46] Not goals that kept me strong and nobody wins with the pleaser goal, you lose yourself in the process and the world never gets the real you. Just the exhausted, stretched thin version. And how about the [00:07:00] prove it goal? This is the high achiever classic. This is the, I'll show them goal or the I'll show myself goal or the, if I don't keep producing at a psychotic level, I'm gonna lose everything.
[00:07:13] Goal. That's that fear, that inside fear you're gonna lose everything, that you're not gonna be quite there. These goals are rooted in fear, scarcity, and old stories about worthiness. Am I worthy? The harder I work, the more I prove, the more worthy I am. And listen, I get it. My entire early career was a solid decade of proving, proving I was strong, proving I was capable, proving I could juggle it all, proving I could deserve to be in every room that I was in.
[00:07:42] But that kind of vision comes from ego and not essence, an ego gets tired, but Essence does not. And let's pull the psychology into this for just a minute, because you know, I love a good nervous system, right? So when goals are aligned with our [00:08:00] actual desires, our sympathetic nervous system fires off like a car alarm.
[00:08:05] When your goals aren't aligned with your actual desires, your sympathetic nervous system fires off like a car alarm, stress hormone spike, procrastination kicks in, decision fatigue, ramps up, and emotionally, you're starting to lean away from the goal, not because you're weak, because your body is trying to protect you from running a marathon in the wrong direction.
[00:08:27] Misaligned goals create internal resistance, an aligned goal. That creates internal resonance. One that feels like hustle, the other one feels like home. So if you've ever wondered why do I always start strong and crash halfway through, it's not because you're sucking at follow through. It's because the goal never fit the shape of your soul.
[00:08:50] And this episode, this is the turning point where we stop forcing visions that fracture us and start cultivating visions that fortify us. And [00:09:00] how do we do that? We do that with internal vision versus external performance, right? So let me tell you something that might sting just a little bit. Most of the visions that people set for their lives aren't visions at all.
[00:09:12] They're auditions. Auditions for approval, auditions for worthiness, auditions for belonging, auditions for the life that they think they should want, because that's what everyone else seems to want. And look, this isn't judgment. This is the cultural soup that we are swimming in. Our world has mastered the art of teaching us to perform rather than be, we are human beings, not humans doing.
[00:09:40] And from the moment you can write your name in crayon, somebody was there asking you, what do you wanna be when you grow up? Not who are you becoming? Not what lights you up, not what kind of life feels like freedom in your bones. Instead, you're handed a checklist disguised as an identity. [00:10:00] And if you're anything like me, and if you're listening to this show, you probably are.
[00:10:05] You've spent a good chunk of your life, maybe confusing performance with purpose. So let's talk about that. I'm gonna talk about three things that I believe are cultural, nonsense, hustle harder, do more to become more, and the new you new year person. So let's start at the cultural nonsense. This is the hustle Harder misbelief.
[00:10:28] It's a myth. This is the belief that if you grind a little more, suffer a little more sacrifice, your sleep, your sanity, and your relationships, and maybe even a few vital organs, then you'll finally make it right. But hustle culture never tells you what making it actually means. Does it mean more money, more followers, more gold stars for being exhausted?
[00:10:54] Your nervous system was never designed for a life that requires 24 7 performance, period. [00:11:00] It just isn't. Here's cultural nonsense. Number two, do more to become more. Boy, have I sucked myself into this one? We have somehow normalized the belief that your value increases your output. If you do more, you matter more.
[00:11:15] If you accomplish more, you deserve more. If you juggle 17 plates while smiling, someone somewhere is going to give you a sticker. No. No, they're not. You know what? They are gonna give you more plates because they believe you're the one who can handle it all. That one might sting. Cultural nonsense. Number three, new year, new you.
[00:11:39] And this one makes me laugh every single year, and I do it. I'm not saying that that I don't do it, but like seriously, I'm barely holding onto the old me, right? So why would I order a new one on back order from Amazon, right? Like, we don't need a new you. We need a true you. And the world doesn't need a shinier [00:12:00] version of your exhausted self.
[00:12:01] It needs a more aligned version of your real self. And here's the truth, we skip over because it doesn't fit into a vision board. Our nervous systems cannot sustain life that our soul doesn't want. I'll say it again. Our nervous system. Our body cannot sustain a life our soul does not want.
[00:12:26] Commercial Break: If stress and overwhelm or that relentless inner critic has been running the show, it's time to take back control. You don't need another motivational quote or a feel good pep talk. You need a system, a tool, something that actually works when life gets messy. That's exactly why I created mindset medicine worksheets, no fluff, no filler, just proven strategies that are powerfully designed to help you rewire your thoughts for clarity and confidence.
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[00:13:31] Dr. Julia Bowlin: If the goal, the relationship, the job, the hustle, the persona, if any of it is built on performance. You're gonna feel it. You are gonna feel it in your chest, your gut, your energy, and in your ability to show up for the people you do love in the way you collapse on the couch at the end of the day, wondering why you're so damn tired.
[00:13:49] This is life we chose. That's how it's gonna show up. Now let me pull the curtain back a little bit on something personal. Because this shift wasn't just conceptual for me. I [00:14:00] lived it, and when Ricky, my husband's treatment cycles changed or crashed, our entire world would tilt my schedules, my plans, my patience, my identity as a doer, a fixer, a performer, all that got hit with a sledgehammer to boom.
[00:14:16] Suddenly, my vision for the year wasn't about growth or achievement anymore. It was about being present enough to love him through it, to be present enough to be a witness. Of what he was going through. It wasn't about producing more anymore, it was about staying upright. It was about asking what matters when everything else falls away.
[00:14:37] And I'll tell you this, that kind of clarity doesn't come from checklists. It comes from the soul, and that's the difference between internal vision and external performance. Performance asks, how do I look when I'm doing this? And vision asks. How do I feel living this external performance [00:15:00] drains us?
[00:15:01] Internal vision sustains us external performance fractures, US internal vision fortifies US external performance demands that we keep up the act, fake it to make it. Internal vision invites us to come home to ourselves. And this is the episode where we stop chasing lives that look good on paper and start creating lives that feel right in our bones, because that is where an unshakeable vision begins.
[00:15:36] So let's move on to the Unshakeable Vision framework. Now that we've dragged perfectionism into the light and called out the circus of cultural expectations, let's actually talk about what makes a vision unshakeable. Not cute, not Pinterest worthy, not something that impresses people at brunch.
[00:15:54] Unshakeable. A vision that can withstand life's left hooks. A [00:16:00] vision that stays standing. When your plans don't. A vision that bends and breathes and evolves with you, adds you evolve. I have worked with thousands of patients, clients, residents, and honestly my own stubborn self, and I've learned a few things.
[00:16:18] There are only three things that determine whether a vision collapses or becomes a compass, and if you can nail these three, everything else just becomes noise. So here it is, the unshakeable vision framework. First, we're gonna talk about clarity of desire, what you actually want. Most people have no idea what they want.
[00:16:39] They know that they've been told what they want. They want stability, respect, a clean garage, a full calendar, a smaller waistline, a job title that doesn't make their family whisper behind their back. A partner who doesn't freak out during the rough seasons, but what you want, what your soul wants, rarely shows up in the first [00:17:00] draft.
[00:17:00] And here's why. We confuse desire with obligation. We confuse longing with comparison. We confuse truth with performance. And let me tell you about a moment that I realized that I had been building visions off of obligation instead of desire. It was one of Rick's first treatment cycles. My planner was across the kitchen table, color-coded, highlighted, sticky notes.
[00:17:28] All of that was ready to go. And I remember looking down at this masterpiece of organized ambition and thinking. Huh. None of this is gonna fit into the life that I'm actually living right now. He's like, this is a dream. This is a goal, but it is not gonna fit into the life that I'm living. It was a vision for a version of me that didn't exist anymore, A version who wasn't driving to Cincinnati or Columbus twice a week, a version who wasn't crying in the hospital parking lot between phone calls, a version who wasn't holding space for a spouse in [00:18:00] chronic pain.
[00:18:01] Everything I had written up was for a woman that I thought I should be. Not the woman that I was actually being at the time. Clarity of desire requires brutal honesty, quiet honesty, somatic in your bones, honesty. So ask yourself, when I imagine this goal, does my body lean into it or does it pull away from it?
[00:18:27] Your body always tells the truth before your mind does. If desire feels like relief, expansion, curiosity, resonance, that's true desire. If it feels like dread, tightening, pressure or performance, that's not your goal. That's a costume. Next is integrity of action. What you're actually willing to do, and this is where a lot of high achievers get smacked by reality, we create visions that require 36 hours a [00:19:00] day.
[00:19:01] Unlimited emotional bandwidth, a full-time assistant, three therapists, and maybe even a chef. Meanwhile, we're living in real bodies with real responsibilities and real limitations. Integrity of action means I'm choosing a vision that fits the season. I'm actually in some seasons are expansion, some are survival like mine right now.
[00:19:24] Some are caretaking, some are grieving. Some are rebuilding and some are just slowing down now so we can speed up later. My husband's cancer journey forced this lesson into my bones. His treatments just didn't take time. They changed my energy, my availability, my internal landscape, and the woman who powered through 15 hour days prior could not exist here.
[00:19:51] She wasn't needed. She wasn't sustainable, she wasn't appropriate for the life I was living now, so I had to ask myself what actions am I [00:20:00] generally able to commit to without abandoning myself? We have to stop setting goals for a life we don't have. Stops. We have to stop creating systems for a bandwidth we don't possess.
[00:20:14] And we need to stop promising ourselves that we're gonna operate at super human levels when we are already running out of human energy. Your vision must match your season. Integrity over fantasy, honesty over ego. And next, let's talk about alignment of identity. Who you're becoming as you pursue it. Now, this is the heart of the whole thing because a vision isn't just about what you want, it's about who you must become in order to hold it.
[00:20:51] A vision chooses from fear, creates a fearful you. A, a vision chosen from pressure creates a [00:21:00] pressured you. A vision chosen from soul creates a steady, grounded, more powerful you. And identity alignment asks, does this vision support the version of me I'm growing into, or does it drag me back into the version I'm trying to shed?
[00:21:18] Look, when you've been a lifelong performer, fixer people pleaser, overachieve, or your interest or your instinct is to set goals that will reinforce that previous identity. But when you're growing into someone's softer, stronger, clearer, more attuned, more spiritually anchored, your vision's gonna start to shift.
[00:21:39] It's gonna become quieter, more intentional, and more embodied. And there's a subtle spiritual thread here. The part of you that knows you're guided, held, and supported, the part that trusts you don't have to micromanage the universe to become the person you're meant to be. [00:22:00] Alignment isn't about perfection, it's about resonance truth and becoming more you, not the you performing for the world, but the you.
[00:22:09] The world has been waiting to meet, and when your desire is clear, your actions are honest and your identity is aligned, your visions become unshakeable. Not because your life stops being life, but because you stop being shakeable. Let's take a moment now and do a little vision visualization. And before we go any further, I just want to invite you to a small moment.
[00:22:36] Nothing dramatic, nothing you need to prepare for. Just a breath, a pause, and a gentle settling in. And if you're driving or walking, you don't have to change a thing. This isn't about closing your eyes, it's just about opening your awareness. So just take a big breath. Not because you have to, but just because it feels good to give your body a little spaciousness.[00:23:00]
[00:23:01] And as you breathe, notice something simple. Notice how your shoulders drop a millimeter. Notice how your jaw softens. Notice how your chest gets just one bit more open, just a little bit. Small shifts, meaningful shifts. And now I want you to imagine. Not forcefully, not perfectly. Just imagine a version of you who wakes up on a random morning in 2026, not January 1st.
[00:23:33] Not a big resolution day, just maybe a regular Tuesday morning where your life feels a little more like just your life, and let the image rise up gently, like something floating to the surface. No pressure to see it clearly. Just notice what comes. What's the energy of that version of you? Calmer, more grounded, more honest, maybe more [00:24:00] spacious, maybe more yourself.
[00:24:05] Let your body respond. Before your brain edits anything, do you feel a little pull forward? Like a quiet Yes. Maybe a softening of your stomach, a warmth in your chest? That's your system recognizing itself, that's resonance. Now imagine this version of you, this 2026 U. It's not rushing, it's not performing, it's not even trying to earn anything.
[00:24:37] That version is just simply standing at the beginning of a day and it fits. And I want you to notice one thing, what's different. Not difference on the surface. No shiny new habits, no forced routines, no 4:00 AM winter workouts. Well, unless you're into that kind of torture, I mean, what's different inside?[00:25:00]
[00:25:00] Does that version of yourself trust themselves a little more? Do they move with a clear sense of what matters? Do they let go of things faster instead of wrestling them into the ground? Do they breathe like they're allowed to take up space? Do they carry a sense of direction? Not rushed, not frantic. Just steady.
[00:25:29] Let that version of you stand beside you for a moment. Feel their energy next to yours. Not better, not perfect. Just more aligned. As you sit in that sensation, let one simple truth settle in. You don't have to become that person. You're already becoming that person. The fact that you can sense it at all means that the path is already unfolding.[00:26:00]
[00:26:02] Now take one more breath, deep enough to acknowledge yourself, soft enough to honor your humanity. Steady enough to carry you through into the next part of this episode. And when you're ready, come back to the sound of my voice.
[00:26:24] All right, here's a truth balm that might rattle your teeth a little bit. Your vision for 2026 isn't supposed to be a plan. It's supposed to be a permission slip. Somewhere along the way, we've made visioning this rigid pressurized exercise. It's as if our lives needed a five star strategic plan, right? As if we were going to get graded on our execution, right?
[00:26:51] Or a boss or somebody else is micromanaging everything we're doing and they're gonna judge us on it. No. Absolutely not [00:27:00] a real vision. The kind that holds up under grief, caretaking, chemo schedules, career pivots, heartbreak, healing, exhaustion, and unexpected plot twists isn't stiff. It's alive. And here's where I need you to lean in a little closer.
[00:27:19] Pressure based visions collapse. Permission based visions expand. So let me explain. When Rick's health journey kept swinging us into new territory, new cycles, new decisions, new fears, new hopes, I learned something the hard way. My plans were fragile. My vision was not. Plans need control. Visions need truth.
[00:27:50] Plans get derailed. Visions reroute. Plans demand perfection. [00:28:00] Visions allow humanity. Our vision isn't meant to cage us. It's meant to free us. It's the quiet, steady statement that says, I'm allowed to want what I want. I'm allowed to grow how I grow. I'm allowed to shift when life shifts. I'm allowed to choose differently this time.
[00:28:25] I'm allowed to take up space in my own damn life. When we stop treating our visions like a checklist, and we start treating it like a homecoming, something sacred happens. Our nervous system stops bracing, our spirit stops hiding, our energy stops leaking, and our inner world stops constantly preparing for failure because now.
[00:28:53] We're not trying to force ourselves into a new life. We're letting ourselves become the person we can live, the [00:29:00] life we have in the moment. And that's the difference between a vision that breaks down and a vision that builds you up. So let's go one layer deeper. An unshakeable vision isn't about outcomes, it's about orientation.
[00:29:14] It's not about the mountain, it's about the direction you're willing to walk. It's not about having the right plan. It's about having the right intention. It's not about doing more. It's about becoming more you. And here's the spiritual undercurrent that runs beneath it all. It's quiet, grounding and true.
[00:29:35] When your vision is aligned with who you are, the path will reveal itself. One step, one nudge, one moment of clarity at a time. Winter teaches us this. Everything looks still dormant and quiet in winter, but beneath the surface, roots are reorganizing. Seeds are gathering power. Life is setting the stage for something new to breakthrough.
[00:29:58] Not loudly, not [00:30:00] perfectly, but faithfully. And your vision works the same way. You don't need to force it. You just need to allow it. And allowing takes strength, clarity, humility, and courage. I know that. And a whole lot of dropping the performance and picking up the truth. So here's the December truth bomb wrapped in one clean sentence.
[00:30:22] This year, stop trying to control your vision and start letting your vision correct the course of your life. Just say that one more time. This year, stop trying to control your vision and start letting your vision correct the course of your life. Let that land. Let it shift something in you. Let it soften you where you've been tense.
[00:30:48] Let it strengthen you where you've been unsure, and let it remind you that you're allowed to have a life that fits you. Because vision isn't about pressure. Vision is about permission and [00:31:00] permission. That's your power. Alright, so let's slow down for just a second because this is where things get real. Up until now, we've been talking about clarity, alignment, identity, desire, and all the beautiful buzzwords that make personal growth sound elegant.
[00:31:18] But the truth is growth rarely looks elegant. It looks like spilled coffee in your car console. It looks like running late because you couldn't find a pair. Clean underwear, it looks like driving to work with three empty water bottles and a rogue french fry somewhere tucked underneath the seat, right?
[00:31:36] And honestly that mess is honest. That mess tells the truth about your actual bandwidth, not your fantasy bandwidth. So let's use that. Not shame, not judgment, just truth. Take messy cars. When my car is a disaster zone, that's not me being lazy. It's because life is so fricking full and I'm moving so fast, juggling so [00:32:00] many things, real things, real emotions, real responsibilities, and that fullness.
[00:32:05] If you listen to it is a message. It's a message that's saying, Hey, something needs to shift here. Not because you're failing, but because you're carrying way too much without enough support, and that's the message your vision is trying to send you. Let me give you another example. There were days in medical school when I was so fried, mean, really fried, mentally, emotionally, physically, completely overstretched that one day I spilled my coffee.
[00:32:35] And I literally stared at it like it was a personal attack. Like really, really. And I remember thinking to myself, I can manage cadavers, complex diagnoses, pharmacology pathways, but apparently I can't handle gravity. And that moment wasn't about the coffee, it was about my capacity. It was about how misaligned my expectations [00:33:00] were with my actual energy.
[00:33:01] It was about how deeply I needed to rest, breathe, and recalibrate. And those moments, they whisper the truth long before your mind catches up. So let's bring this moment right here to the heart. If your life feels two full. If it feels too noisy, too chaotic, too cluttered, too. I swear I just cleaned this car.
[00:33:27] Your soul is trying to get your attention, not to shame you, not to scare you, to guide you, but here's the question that matters. Now, what is your soul asking for in 2026? It's not your planner. It's not your boss, not your perfectionism. Not your inner critic, not the imaginary committee of people. You're trying to impress you.
[00:33:51] What do you want? That feels like relief. What do you want that feels like coming home? What do you want that feels like? [00:34:00] Exhaling. After holding your breath through the entire past year, let's go a layer deeper. If you weren't exhausted, what would you choose if you weren't scared? What would you allow if you weren't performing, who would you be?
[00:34:22] And let me flip it one more time, because this is where the breakthrough happens. What are you pretending not to know? This is gonna hurt. Maybe a little bit. Maybe just maybe, what are you pretending not to know? Are you pretending you have more bandwidth than you do? Are you pretending that you're okay carrying everything alone?
[00:34:46] Are you pretending your goals are still your goals, even though they stopped fitting you years ago? Are you pretending that that messy car, the failed coffee, or the overwhelm, or just bad days instead of data, [00:35:00] that something needs to be changed? Because here's the truth, you probably already feel in your bones.
[00:35:07] Your life is speaking. Your soul is speaking, your vision is speaking. Are you listening? Let me give you one more personal moment. There were seasons long ones when my life looked put together from the outside, but internally I felt like chaotic nightmare having a nervous break. And every time I ignored that internal chaos, every time I pushed or pretended or performed, like everything was okay, I drifted further from myself.
[00:35:43] But the moment I started treating those messy moments as messages, everything changed. So here's your invitation. Stop asking yourself what you should want in 2026 and start asking yourself what you're finally ready to [00:36:00] admit You want. Feel the difference. One might contract in your chest and the other opens it.
[00:36:09] Stop asking yourself what you should want in 2026 and start asking yourself what you're finally ready to admit you want. This is the moment where your vision starts to take shape, not from pressure, but from truth. So take a moment, just a breath. Let everything we've uncovered today settle into your system because this episode wasn't about creating a prettier vision or a more impressive one, or a more productive one.
[00:36:38] It was about creating a truer one. So let's gather the threads. You learned that most visions fall apart not because you're undisciplined or distracted, but because they were built on guilt performance or borrowed expectations. You learned that your nervous system has veto power. If a goal hurts you, drains you, [00:37:00] pressures you, or demands that you abandon yourself, your body will push back.
[00:37:06] You learn to stop confusing performance with purpose to stop auditioning for a life. You didn't want to stop running on goals that never came from your soul. You learn three anchors of the unshakeable vision, clarity of desire, the honesty to name you actually want, not what you've been conditioned to want.
[00:37:27] You learn integrity in action. This is the courage to build a vision that matches the season that you are in, not the fantasy that you wish you were living. And lastly, how to have alignment with your identity. The wisdom to grow into the person who could hold the life your crafting without performing or pretending you felt your future self.
[00:37:51] Not as a fantasy, but as a presence, a resonance, a direction. And you were reminded that vision isn't a rigid plan. It's a [00:38:00] permission slip, a declaration that you're allowed to build a life that fits your soul, not just a spreadsheet and a reminder that winter isn't stagnation, it's preparation, it's recalibration.
[00:38:13] It's the quiet work beneath the surface that makes us grow inevitable, and maybe most importantly. You realize that a messy car spilled coffee, overloaded calendars. Our tired decisions aren't failures, they're just signals. They're just data. They're invitations to stop shrinking ourselves into unrealistic expectations and start expanding ourselves into truth.
[00:38:41] So here's the big takeaway I want you to walk away with. Not a cute quote, but a new internal knowing. Your vision for 2026 doesn't need to be perfect to be powerful. It just needs to be yours. Let that settle into your system. Let it [00:39:00] soften the parts of you that clench. Let it strengthen the parts of you that doubt.
[00:39:05] Let it remind you that you're allowed to evolve without earning it. You're allowed to grow without grinding. You're allowed to step into a life that feels like home. This episode was about direction not destination, orientation, not obligation. Truth not theatrics. We're not chasing a future. We're becoming somebody that we can hold onto, and that my friend is an unshakeable vision.
[00:39:40] Before you head out for the rest of your day, I want to leave you with something simple and incredibly practical. If this episode stirred something in you, if it poked at an old expectation or softened a tight place in your chest or made you think maybe I've been building the wrong kind of vision, then I want you to take five minutes with a worksheet [00:40:00] from last month.
[00:40:01] You'll find the link to the show notes. It's the same rise reflection worksheet that I've used during the November series, and it's perfect for this moment because it's gonna help us see what's actually running this show. Inside of our mind before we choose where we wanna go next, it'll guide you through what's weighing you down, what you're carrying, that you isn't really yours, what you're craving, but haven't admitted to yourself, and what your inner world is ready to release.
[00:40:28] As you move into 2026. Use it as a companion to today's episode. Let it help you get honest. Let it help you see that your truth without the noise, because clarity isn't a mindset tool. It's a self-respect tool. The link is waiting for you in the show notes, along with a short summary of today's key takeaways, so you can go back and revisit anything that resonated or landed a little deeper.
[00:40:53] This is where your unshakeable vision starts, not in a plan, not in a resolution, but in a [00:41:00] moment of grounded honesty and reflection. When you're ready, the worksheet will meet you there now. Take one more breath, not to calm down, not to center yourself, not to fix anything. Just to honor the fact that you showed up for yourself today.
[00:41:15] Because vision work isn't about performance, it's about presence, and you were present here fully, honestly, and courageously. I hope so. If this episode opens something in you, trust, that is something softened trust, that is something stirred. Trust that too. Your clarity is already working on you, even if you don't feel it yet.
[00:41:38] And as you move into your week, keep one simple truth close. You don't have to force your future, you just have to stay in conversation with it. And you know we're not done yet. Next episode, we're stepping into energy over everything. A deep dive into how your physical, emotional, and spiritual energy determine what you actually have the capacity to [00:42:00] create in 2026.
[00:42:02] It's the episode where we stop talking about vision in theory and start talking about energy required to sustain it. But for now, be gentle with yourself. Be honest with yourself, and let this episode simmer. And as always, may you be happy. Be healthy and be fulfilled.
[00:42:26] Outro: Thank you for listening to Mindset Medicine with your host, Dr. Julia Bowlin. To learn more about mindset medicine, go to www.juliabowlinmd.com and connect with Dr. Julia to find out how our team can help you today. Join us again next week for more expert tips, tools, and strategies to become healthier, wealthier, and wiser in your personal and professional [00:43:00] life.
