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Welcome to the Road of Life podcast, the show for married entrepreneurs who want to build a thriving marriage and a thriving business. We're your hosts, Meredith and Craig, relationship experts and entrepreneurs ourselves. We know firsthand that your business will only grow as strong as your marriage does.

On this podcast, we share real stories, practical tools, and honest conversations to help you strengthen your relationship, fuel your business, and build a life you love together. Let's dive in.

Meredith & Craig (00:33)

Welcome back to another episode of the Road to Life podcast with Meredith and Craig. You got us, just us this week. Old school. Old school. Recap 2025 as we're coming to the end of the year. It's always nice to look back on the year and celebrate the wins and take the lessons into 2026. Learn from the bruises and take them into 2026.

I find it to be just a naturally kind of reflective time of year as the year's winding down. I find myself just naturally kind of looking back on what did we accomplish and what did we learn? I think it's actually really beneficial also to do it because one, you want to make sure you're taking the lessons with you so that you don't have to learn them again because the universe has a way of teaching you the lesson.

over and over and over again until you get it. So if we can try and get them as early in the process as possible, like identify them and take them with us, maybe we don't have to learn them again. So I think that's helpful. And two, I think it's really helpful to look back on all the wins and all the things you've accomplished in 2025 or in the previous year. Builds momentum. Builds a ton of momentum. And we forget, like recency bias for humans, and we forget how cool January was when we're in December. it

It just helps to like systematically go back through the year and identify the highlights. And you can learn from the highlights too. Take the lessons from the highlights, take lessons from the lowlights, but identify all those celebrations and all those wins to really pump your own tires going into 2026. So this is a recap of the year episode, if you will. We're going to share a little bit about what we got up to. We shared it along the way, but we'll recap it and also the lessons that we're taking into 2026.

So you want to start with the wins? The 2026 wins? Let's do it. We wrote a book. We did write a book. Woohoo! We wrote a book, edited a book, formatted a book and launched a book. And of all those four parts, writing was the easiest. It was the easiest.

Yeah, I just got asked this question actually online. Someone asked me, you you wrote a book together How was that? Actually was a lot different than I expected the writing part was the easiest part to your point and I think it just naturally flowed for us like we just found our the parts that were meant for us and we just naturally Gravitated towards us so wasn't as bad as you think I make the joke that if you want to really test your relationship right right a relationship book together, but it really wasn't

No, it wasn't bad. And it's launching in January. January 14th. Mark your calendars. The book is available. It's available for Kindle pre-order right now. Don't worry. We'll drop the link in the show notes. Shameless And even if you don't have a Kindle, just order it anyway for $1.99. It helps us out because it's not about the $1.99 in any way, shape, form. And if $1.99 is an issue for you because of the time of year and all that stuff, just let us know and we'll send you $1.99.

⁓ But what it does is it helps us to be able to get a bestseller tag on the book which then will help other people who maybe don't know us aren't as familiar with us make the decision to like ⁓ this is this is an interesting concept it's a bestseller maybe I should get this book and and then it helps our mission of helping more people and and if you Get the Kindle version just reach out to us send us an email at hello at road life coaching comm and we'll we'll get you a paperback

So the $1.99 is well spent, I promise. So yeah, and that's not the only book we wrote. wrote That's right. We wrote three other books. We were participants in three books, in four books this year. You want me to go over them with you? No. Let's recap for McKay's sake. Let's just remind Mayor where we are with the books. Born to Risk, we wrote. Yeah. The chapter in that book. Award-winning author. Thank you very much. Yep. The Awakened.

Yep, best-selling authors now. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And we've written a chapter in a relationship book that I forget the name of, but it's coming out in February. Relationship Roadmap. Relationship Roadmap. Launching in February. So, and then the 200 And then our own book, The 200 % Marriage. Your winning playbook to be an unstoppable team. Correct. So that's four.

We launched the Mastermind this year. Yeah, we did. We launched the Mastermind. That was one of the January, like, you know, recency bias kicking in. That was a long time ago. But you know what? It's been a really crazy, fantastic year in the Mastermind. I think we've created a really safe space. We recorded four courses live with the Mastermind members and we met every week on Friday to go through people's wins and struggles and things that they need momentum and help and support with. And so it's been a it's been a really cool journey. The Mastermind has been a

really great experience. It's one of the things I'm most proud of. Me too. The is really great. I'm really, really proud of that. The Mastermind is another one that I'm really, really proud of this year. The safe space that's been created and the momentum that the members have had and the wins and the celebrations and the growth they've experienced is top notch. Fantastic. Also, all of our Mastermind members got a holiday surprise in their inbox today with a personalized poem and

Hype video for 2026. Woo woo! That's right. So if you want a hype video and a poem customized to you, that's right. Link in the show notes. Shameless plug.

Another win and I won't get specific, but we've literally changed people's lives this year. And we've heard about it in a lot of places. And every time I just, love hearing it every time. It never gets old. It's why we do what we do and change lives. And I'm super pumped that yeah, we've definitely gotten some feedback. A lot of feedback this year that we've done that. And that's exciting. Very exciting. What else?

we took another level in our health this year. Yeah, that was my next one too. You know, we did the eight week transformation, getting buff, took our nutrition to another level where we've, you know, really honed in on what we're putting in our body with macros and tracking that. We've not really went to that level. We've always, you know, recently we've been eating healthy whatnot, but really tracking it, took it to another level.

So think we unlocked something in our health this year. Totally. Yeah, I feel great about that. Also, the last year has been among the hardest, I would say, for me. Yep. Yeah, on a personal level, it was tough year for sure. Absolutely. I had some of the hardest conversations I've ever had in my life in the last 12 months or so. And that's a giant win. It is a giant win. The tough conversations have to happen.

That's how you grow. That's how you move forward. And to not have them is to almost sacrifice a little bit of who you are. Yeah. I'm really proud that we've moved through some of those moments. And obviously losing your dad over this last year, it was extremely tough. Last time we did this, it was so very fresh. He had just passed away. And so now it's been a year of life without him and

Definitely a challenge and not only just on a personal level, but challenges, know, in conversations in the business and just things that we've had to overcome this year without getting into too many specifics about others. it's been challenging. And that's just to show that it's not all rainbows and unicorns and success that, especially as entrepreneurs, go through the ups and you go through the downs and

You know, you think about life is hard. Like everything in life is hard. Like getting in shape is hard. Being out of shape is hard. You get to choose which option of that you want. know, working a nine to five job and having your time dictated to you is Having no control over that. That is hard, but also so is starting a business and controlling your own time, but also making sure that your... Bills get paid. All those things. That's also hard.

everything in life is hard. So you get to choose which version of hard you want. And I do think that we've chosen a hard upfront version. It's very hard in the beginning. I think it continues to be hard as we, take this journey, but I think we've, I wouldn't do it any other way. I agree.

I think our relationships with members of our community and also our nieces and nephews was deepened this year. And I thought that was really cool being able to, we traveled quite a bit this year. Yeah, we had an epic adventure this year. we were able to spend time kind of everywhere where the nieces and nephews were. So we spent a lot of time, not a lot, less than usual. Yeah, less than usual, but more than other places still.

Spent that time in PEI and really got to get to spend some time with Jake and then going to Lilly sports and stuff like that with also with Nate and Jake's and then being in Ontario and seeing Teddy in his soccer and getting his autograph and then obviously in Spruce Grove with Elizabeth. So that was all really fun. We closed a business this year and that's a huge win because it was a bit of a distraction. Yeah, it a fill in our cup. Yep. That was that was a business that

Yeah, it didn't align for us. wasn't something that we needed to keep doing. So yeah, close that. it was a, we'll call it not a resounding success. it was time for that to go. so that was a win. We took the first, my first cruise. My first cruise too. That was fun. We also were on a yacht, a book launch. That's right. Award winning speaker. No big deal. Yeah. I'm going to get to lesson, not award winning speaker.

But that's the I think we told that story on the podcast. Yes, we did. Yeah, so it's one of the passive. Well, we'll link to it for sure. Yeah. More wins. One hundred and fourteen straight episodes of this podcast. No big deal. Check.

Anything else? We spoke at three in-person events and two virtual events so far this year. Yeah. That was pretty cool. I'm really enjoying that actually. I think we're really hitting our stride there too.

I think we really honed in on our voice to your point there. think in person and online, not just speaking, but writing, social media, all the things. really think it was a lesson we found last year was really find your voice and honing in on that. I think we've deepened that and gone further with it. And I think it hits for people. That's the win, right? Well, think we've really...

unlocked the part of us that really was hung up on what everybody thought of us and what and that we had to be for everyone and caring what everyone thought and the truth of the matter is is that no not everyone's gonna like you anyway so why bother trying that like you trying to make everyone happy you make no one happy so just focus on the people that are for you and I think doubling down on that honing in on that has really

Yeah, I did a huge win this year. We were also got to volunteer and be part of a world record-setting toy drive charity event. That was cool. That was was recently by us at PlayBidam. That was still a really cool event. Two weeks ago. It's one of the highlights of the year though, for sure. Seeing those kids' faces as they run onto a professional soccer field, you know, where the pros play and they get to be on that field and then gather as many toys as they possibly can to have a Christmas.

How many toys they can carry. Yeah. And then, you know, how many I can carry having long arms. I was taking tons of toys out and it was super fun hearing kids run on the field, be like best Christmas ever. that stays with you. that was pretty cool. That's a big highlight of the year for sure. For sure. Yeah, that was fun. We scratched two more countries off the map this year. Scratched a couple countries, a few states. Yeah. Yeah, it was a big year for the map for sure. Anything else for you? Nope. All right. So we change gears now.

So all of that cool stuff and some of the flops and the things that we didn't necessarily go well, but we're framing them as wins and celebrations. We take from those things lessons. Lessons. So what's the lesson? My first lesson is we're really good at what we do. We are really good at what we do. Like our approach works, making this really heavy topic and this heavy piece light and enjoyable for people. And you know, I'm amazed

When someone will actually double down and do the work, how quickly it actually shifts. 100%. Yeah. It doesn't take as long as people would like to believe. Yeah, correct. Like it was literally a couple... Within a couple months, you see a big shift. few conversations and people are very drastically in a different place. Another, I guess, sub-bullet of this one is I also didn't really appreciate, didn't really realize

what a big piece the accountability part is when you're making the shift. so meeting with couples every week, I think really holds people accountable to their behavior. To what they're doing in the week while you're not there. Yeah. And that helps make the shift faster, for sure. I agree. When you're meeting only every other week or every couple of weeks, then kind of some of the details of what happens in between the sessions gets a bit lost. But when you're meeting, say, every Tuesday or every Wednesday or every Thursday, then

People remember the details and they're held more accountable because they I'm going to have to talk about this on Tuesday. Yeah, exactly. That's my first lesson. What was yours? Speak from the heart. It goes a little to our voice and how we're honing that. You know, we had that we alluded to that speaking competition. Yeah. A competition and I'm competitive. I want to win. And we talked about this in an episode, but basically I want to win. how am I going to stand out different from everyone else?

It's like, not speak from the heart. I'm going to create a poem. Have I ever written a poem? No. I'm going to recite this poem. Have I ever recited a poem? No. And in order to do that, you need to memorize said poem. Have I ever memorized the poem? No. And I have like 48 hours to do so. So I come up with this poem. I thought I memorized this poem. I recite this poem, sort of, because I didn't really memorize it. So I didn't really recite it. So I get on the stage and I forget like four lines in. like,

what was the next line? And then you vamp for a couple minutes. Your vamp was awesome. Yeah, you got to figure it out at that point. You're up there and you're like, it's blanked out. And it's like, well, okay, here we are. Also, like worst nightmare come true. You didn't die. You don't die. So it's a blessing in disguise when you get on stage. Your biggest fear is literally forgetting your words. Like I was living most people's nightmare.

And literally most people would rather die than get on a stage in front of people and have that happen. So literally most people's worst nightmare experienced 2025 hand up, did it. And here I am. So here to the story. And if you can take anything from it, just take that you will not die and you will be fine. And in fact, you will take a lesson from it that, you know what, maybe poems and reciting like, why didn't I just speak from the heart? Like just speak from your heart. And so that's a big lesson.

pulling into 2026 is, know what, we'll just, from now on, we'll just speak from the heart rather than try to create something that isn't really Isn't really me. That's fair. That's a good one. Go ahead. Next one. The next is we learn who our fuck yes people are. And if it's not a fuck yes, it's a fuck no. That's it. You know, you've got your people and you know,

in this world you want to find your fuck yes people and that's a big lesson and if you can take anything from this episode it's find your fuck yes people. Yeah. And we definitely have found some of ours and let's shout some of them out. Yeah. There are fuck yes people. Interestingly like we discovered this lesson more recently when we were getting a few people to read our book ahead of time so that it gave us testimonials and we asked one person and they came back with it like

When you needed how long is it? You know a bunch of questions and you said I'm looking for fuck. Yes people and then I'm yeah if this person isn't in like if they need to ask all these questions then Maybe they're not the right fit and the very next person who got back to us Like very next person who got back to us said fuck. Yes, literally Within an hour of me saying if they're not fuck. Yes. I'm not sure that they're the right fit

And then Jamie Montana came back with, Yes. Yeah. And I was like, great friends of ours, Jamie and Rocko. were on the episode 105. They were the first guests we brought on this year. And there's a reason. And it's because there are fuck yes people. So go check out that episode. And when you do go jump into the world, go go follow them on social media. Go check them out. They are amazing human beings doing amazing things in Denver and real estate area.

with real estate and construction and ranch to table beef. So just go check them out. They're the most amazing people and they're fuck yes people.

I underestimated, I think I always kind of knew this, but it was really put to the test this year, just in various ways. Resilience and resourcefulness are superpowers, especially as entrepreneurs. There are things that happen in your life. You just have to figure out how to get it done. And I think we've done a really great job of that over the last couple of years of being super resilient and super resourceful with.

getting stuff done and figuring out how to move the business forward and to move life forward. And, you know, it's not, as entrepreneurs, we know that it is chaos, like it's just, it's chaos. And I think we've done a really good job of navigating that with resilience and resourcefulness. really can't be successful without them. I'm convinced of that. I couldn't agree more. And it's definitely a lesson that was solidified in 2025.

And I think that's, you have to develop those skills. If you're an entrepreneur, you're going to learn those lessons. You have to learn them through testing. Correct. And that's why if you can identify those lessons and adopt those behaviors quickly, maybe the universe doesn't continue to beat you over the head with the need to be resilient and resourceful. My next lesson is not everyone and everything is as it slash they seem.

And I think we've learned that a couple of times, but it wasn't a big lesson I've taken out of any year until this year. And there definitely are just some things and some people that are not as they appear. You see it on social media where everything seems the way it is, the way they've portrayed it. And then behind the scenes, you meet them and you get up close and personal. And it's like, OK, not what I expect. Different. Yeah. Noted. So just similar to that.

lesson I took is that empathy and integrity are not values for everybody. Correct. As much as they are values for us, something that we hold dear that we look for in others, I have found lately that we have integrity and empathy recession a little bit. Others do not have such values all the time and somewhat disappointing.

It is what it is and we move forward knowing that. And releasing people from the expectations you have. Like they are, when they tell you, when someone tells you or shows you who they are, believe them. Believe them. And it might be disappointing, it might be sad sometimes, but you can't change them for you. You can't change them for them. They have to change themselves and if they're not, it's not a value for them. It sucks in the moment, especially if they're people that you thought, you know, you'd go through life and do this journey with. But if, for whatever reason,

they decide or can't meet you where you are or you can't be where they are, then it just is what it is. And not every relationship and not every person is forever. that's summer for a season. Summer for a reason. And summer for a lifetime. And not everyone's for a lifetime. My last big lesson from 2025 is to prioritize me, to trust my intuition and to hold my boundaries. This year, with more than any other year, I have held boundaries like I've never held boundaries before. And it's uncomfortable as fuck.

but it's made me feel pretty good about myself.

Nailed it.

In today's day and age with AI and online, relationships are more important than ever. Yeah. They're... in. Lean into relationships. The human experience, the human condition is going to be more important than it's ever been. So prioritize yourself, prioritize your relationships, lean into your relationships and create experiences together. Go on adventures, do the retreat, go on the trip, hike the mountain together.

So if you haven't done this exercise, and we recommend doing it together, finding all your wins and then pulling out your lessons, it'll really set you up for success in the new year. And next week we'll actually talk about how we set ourselves up for success for the new year. This was kind of step one, the reflection part. Step two is the looking forward part. So we'll do that next week with you guys. So take your lessons from 2025, take them into 2026, but also celebrate all the great

Stuff that you got up to in 2025 take a giant list of all the wins because I promise you as you start to Really really deep dive deep into your year. You're gonna find more than you've realized Go through go through your pictures on your phone go through your calendar Whatever will remind you of what happened ten months ago and just write the things down because the smallest thing like it just whatever it comes to mind write it down and really take note of all of the wins and the celebrations that you have because

promise you there's more than you realize now. And share them with us. We'd love to celebrate your wins with you too. So email them to us, send them to us on social media. I don't know. Find a way. Carry your pigeon, whatever. But share them because when you share your wins, it makes them more real. It makes the momentum bigger and it makes you more able to knock through any obstacle coming your way. So build your momentum, share your wins. We love you. Speaking of wins, we're going to go watch the Niners win on Monday Night Football. Cults are going down. Love you more. Bye.

Bye!

Meredith & Craig (22:10)

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Road of Life podcast. Remember, your business will only grow as strong as your marriage does.

So it's one action you're gonna take this week to put something you learned in this episode into practice. Because we love a good chit chat as much as the next person does. But without action, stay where you are.

If you want to turn your marriage into the engine that drives your business forward instead of the brakes keeping it stuck, book a free marriage and business strategy session with us at 200percentmarriage.com/strategycall. We'll see you next week.