Transmissions from the Northern Outpost

Setting myself up for 2025 this week

This week (Monday to Friday), starting today, I am listening to a podcast episode each day to help set me up for the new year. Here is the list:

From Niall Breslin on the Where is My Mind? podcast (warning: explicit language, he is a former footballer and rugby player in Ireland): Find What You Really Need

From Dan Harris in conversation with meditation teacher Vinny Ferraro on the 10% Happier podcast: A Radical Buddhist Approach to Making This The Best Year of Our Life
From a talk by Tara Brach: Radical Compassion: Loving Ourselves and Our World into Healing, Part 1
From a talk by Tara Brach: Radical Compassion: Loving Ourselves and Our World into Healing, Part 2
From a talk by Tara Brach: Radical Compassion: Loving Ourselves and Our World into Healing, Part 3

In today’s listen, Niall talked about three things that worked for him in 2024 and what he’d like to continue in 2025. He also invited listeners to think of three things that worked for them last year they’d like to continue this coming year. For him, the three things are: discipline, community, and digital detoxing.

Mine are similar: discipline in my life from home to work, community from family to friends and my hometown, and digital detoxing, especially in the evenings. To start this year, Niall has been putting his phone away at 7 p.m. each night and not picking it up until 7 the next morning for 7 days. It is something that I would like to do too.

The key quote for me from the episode was this:

I don’t think you can find space by creating more chaos or more commitments or more to-dos. I think you get space by seeking out the things that nourish you.

Those things that help me to cultivate my garden.

Motivation Monday

Dan Harris, Niall Breslin, Tara Brach

8 responses to “Setting myself up for 2025 this week”

Helen Murdoch

Digital detoxing sounds like a fantastic idea! It is far too easy for me to doom scroll after I get into bed. I’ll also try to do a bit of a detox this year. Thank you for the recommendation!

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Lisa R. Howeler

Sounds like some good listens!

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1. Bryan G. Robinson
  
  The first one was and the others should be.
  
  Reply
Tina

I like the advice Niall gives about the digital detoxing. It’s important.

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1. Bryan G. Robinson
  
  Yes…I really like him. I discovered him around the pandemic, maybe before. He had another podcast, Wake Up/Wind Down that helped me with starting meditation. “It was very reassuring during the pandemic,” Kim is telling me as I type this.
  
  I ccorrected your typo. 🙂
  
  Reply
Jaffer

A fitting post to start this new year. I am working to discipline myself on two things about my health this year. A Digital Detox is long overdue !

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1. Bryan G. Robinson
  
  I hear you on the health. I’m working on getting my blood pressure under control, and so far, so good. May you have success ttoo with your two things too.
  
  Reply
The Five Remembrances – Transmissions from the Northern Outpost

[…] Friday to help set me up for the new year. I got to two of them, the first of which I commented on last Monday here on the blog. The second one was from Dan Harris in conversation with meditation teacher Vinny Ferraro on the […]

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