The Aspiring Psychologist Podcast - This time next year - resolutions, mindset & planning

Episode Date: January 2, 2023

Show Notes for The Aspiring Psychologist Podcast Episode: 56: This time next yearThank you for listening to the Aspiring Psychologist Podcast. A New Year seems like an important time to reflect on what has gone before for you but also what you’d like to be experiencing by this time next year. That’s exactly the topic of today’s episode. I hope you find it useful. The Highlights: (00:29): Welcome & Happy New Year! Reflections on where you’re at (02:28): Where would you like to be by this time next year? A top tip! (05:24): Being in the right headspace and being hopeful (06:33): The benefits of the aspiring psychologist membership (08:28): The podcast has now turned one year old (11:30): The practice of New Year’s Resolutions (12:41): Choosing to build habits – not having to (14:36): How to get specific and reduce overwhelm and failure (15:34): Make your special requests for podcast episodes and a change to my business Facebook page (16:42): Summary and CloseLinks:• Write a free letter to your future self here: https://www.futureme.org/  Grab your copy of the new book: The Aspiring Psychologist Collective: https://amzn.to/3CP2N97  Get your Supervision Shaping Tool now: https://www.goodthinkingpsychology.co.uk/supervision Connect socially with Marianne and check out ways to work with her, including the upcoming Aspiring Psychologist Book and The Aspiring Psychologist Membership on her Link tree: https://linktr.ee/drmariannetrentTo check out The Clinical Psychologist Collective Book: https://amzn.to/3jOplx0 To join my free Facebook group and discuss your thoughts on this episode and more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aspiringpsychologistcommunityLike, Comment, Subscribe & get involved:If you enjoy the podcast, please do subscribe and rate and review episodes. If you'd like to learn how to record and submit your own audio testimonial to be included in future shows head to: https://www.goodthinkingpsychology.co.uk/podcast and click the blue request info button at the top of the page. Hashtags: #aspiringpsychologist #dclinpsy #psychology #assistantpsychologist #psychologycareers #clinicalpsychology #mentalhealth #BPS #traineeclinicalpsychologist #clinicalpsychology #drmariannetrent #britishpsychologicalsociety #mentalhealthprofessional #gettingqualified #mentalhealthprofessionals #mentalhealthprofessional #mentalhealthprofessionals #workingwithpeople #supportatwork #personalandprofessional #worklifebalance #traineepwp #staffteam #mdt #newyearsresolution #2023 #newyearsresolutions #freshstart #careerplanning #aspirations #manifesting #futureme

Hi there, it's Marianne here. Before we dive into today's episode, I want to quickly let you know about something exciting that's happening right now. If you've ever wondered how to create income that works for you, rather than constantly trading your time for money, then you'll love the Race to Recurring Revenue Challenge with my business mentor, Lisa Johnson. This challenge is designed to help you build sustainable income streams. And whether you're an aspiring psychologist, a mental health professional, or in a completely different field,

the principles can work for you. There are also wonderful prizes to be won directly by Lisa herself. And if you join the challenge by my link, you can be in with a chance of winning a one-to-one hours coaching with me, Dr. Marianne Trent. Do you want to know more? Of course you do. Head to my link tree, Dr. Marianne Trent, or check out my social media channels, or send me a quick DM and I'll get you all the details. Right, let's get on with today's episode. If you're looking to become a psychologist, then let this be your guide. episode. With Dr. Marianne Trent Hi, welcome along to the Aspiring Psychologist podcast.

I am Dr. Marianne Trent and I'm a qualified clinical psychologist wishing you the happiest of happy new years. Welcome to 2023. Does it look like you thought it would? And I guess, yeah, today, as I record this just before Christmas, this feels like a time of reflection for me. So I'm recording this on the 19th of December, and the 20th of December will be five years since my dad died and it always feels like a kind of nice chance to be able to reflect on what's come and gone in those five years. And of course I lost a great deal when I lost my dad, as you might well be aware if you've also lost a parent or someone significant to you.

But there have also been great things that have come since my dad died, and things that when you're in the middle of grief can feel tricky to even imagine that that would happen. I would never have imagined that I would become self-employed, let alone fully self-employed, which my dad was actually from when I was around 10 or 11, I think, until shortly before he died. He retired when he was 69. And so I would have liked to have had a chat with him about what being self-employed was like. And that's something that I won't ever get a chance to do. But I definitely got an understanding of what he was all about and what being self-employed meant to him and that he'd get his books out on a Sunday evening in the kitchen when it was quiet and he'd sort of go through them there whilst eating cheese and crackers. And yeah, I definitely got the idea that being self-employed is about working flexibly.

What have you achieved in the last year? What would you like to see yourself achieve in the next year? This has been prompted for me today because I had my yearly email sent to me from me. So it's something I set up via a website called Future Me and there will be details in the show notes of how you can find that. If you google Future Me you should find it and basically you can write yourself a little letter that will be emailed out to you at a specific time and date and so I forget about it every year. And then I see it in my emails that I've got an email from myself, future me. And it's really nice to be able to reflect on where you were last year. But then I've written my one for next year.

So it will arrive with me on the 19th of December 2023. So it's got my hopes, it's got my dreams, it's got a bit of a recap about where I've been this year, because we can so easily forget. So is that something you could think about doing? And if you did, what would be in it? You know would you celebrate things that have happened this year? Would you you know commiserate and be sad and be compassionate to yourself for things that have happened this year or that haven't happened this year? We all still lost a great deal from Covid even if people we know didn't die from it. There were sacrifices to pay for many of us with things that didn't happen. Are you still wheeling from that? Are

the things that you would like to have be different next year? And given that you might well be an aspiring psychologist or working in mental health, there might be things that you'd like to achieve in your career next year. So if you are an aspiring psychologist, perhaps you'd like to imagine that you might be on a doctorate by this time next year. So your doctorate might have started in September, or you might have had some really useful experiences at interview, or you might be really feeling like you've gained the relevant skills and experience for you to be able to stand a much stronger chance. Maybe you're able to say to yourself, yes, I believe it's my time and I am ready for this next step this year in 2023 because I do honestly believe that is what I would have said to myself and probably was saying to myself but not perhaps quite as directly as that in 2007 when I was you

know I guess I'd already submitted my form which was successful but I didn't know that yet but I did feel it I felt like hopeful I felt like I was in the right headspace and that I had the right experiences that I was able to draw and reflect on in a great way that would hopefully I just felt confident you know um and so that's been something that's been really lovely to nurture people with in the Aspiring Psychologist membership which is something which didn't exist this time last year. It was born on the 28th of February 2022 that's when we welcomed our first cohort of members in and it's been the loveliest membership to champion actually people say really lovely things about it so if you're thinking oh maybe 2023 might bring me

more people that understand where I'm at maybe it might bring me you know more CBT teaching skills and formulation maybe it might increase my skills and understanding in a number of areas, you know, including cognitive analytic therapy, psychodynamic, motivational interviewing. You know, maybe there's reflective practice stuff that you'd like to increase your skills and confidence in. Then do on board or to the aspiring psychologist membership which you can get for 30 pounds a month and you can cancel any time so if you want to dive in for a month and see what it's like see whether it works for you then absolutely do that and you can watch stuff on replay if you don't want to watch it live or you can do both you can watch

things live you can watch things on replay and there's your weekly chance to ask me any questions as well. So, yeah, I am at your beck and call. So do consider that. But in the last year, we also had the birth of the Aspiring Psychologist Collective book. And that, again, has been lovely. And hearing people say that they really like that, they like feeling validated and normalised in their experiences. And people are still saying lovely things about the Clinical Psychologist Collective too. So honestly, when I decided to leave Employed Life in April 2021, well, I decided in January 2021. And then I had to wait out my notice period. So

when I decided, you know, it was two years ago, I decided, very almost, I couldn't have imagined that I'd be enjoying life this much, you know, and that's what I would like you to be thinking as well, this time next year, you know, I couldn't have imagined that it would feel this good to be thinking as well this time next year. You know, I couldn't have imagined that it would feel this good to be doing what I'm doing right now. And I've always enjoyed what I've done. It's not like I was having a horrid time. It's just that I was really liking the opportunity to be able to work flexibly and quickly and responsibly. So that was part of my decision to leave and to go all in because I wanted to be able to support you guys in new, different, creative ways that took more of my time as well. And of course, that allowed the podcast to be born as well. We have now celebrated, but we're about to celebrate as I record this, our one year anniversary.

So as you're listening to this, this happened on the 24th of December. That was our one year anniversary. And you're listening to this this happened on the 24th of December that was our one year anniversary and it's just lovely I know I keep saying lovely but it is like you know working with you guys who are really eager and excited and hungry for information but grateful for information too you're just a really nice you know group of people to work with um so if you enjoy what I do as ever please do consider leaving me a review on apple podcasts or if you'd like to come on and do a testimonial for the podcast or any of the books then please do check out the details in the show notes let's take a quick break here and I'll be back on the other side. So come and take a look It's right here in this book It's the Clinical Psychologist Collective

It's the Clinical Psychologist Collective book was a very helpful read and useful to step outside of the prep work for the DeclinSci application process to really consider if this is something you want to do and reflect on your personal journey. It is a very nice read and kept me company on train journeys. I do think Marianne's guidance through her podcast, compassionate Q&A sessions and this book has played a part in my successful application this year. Thank you. okey dokey welcome back so let's think about the practice of new a way to set your intentions. But let's not go too wild. Let's not change too many things at once. You know, you might want to pick one area of your life. So that

might be personal. It might be professional. It might be, you know, the way you nourish yourself or the way that you move your body. And maybe that's something that you can strive for. Just one area to begin with and really look at, you know, what we talk about this SMART goals. So specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time focused. And the theory is if we can do things for 100 days, then it becomes a habit. Then it's something that we integrate into the way that we do things. So that might look like keeping a reflective journal every day or a few times a week, building that into your regular schedule. So for me, I tend to edit podcast episodes on Fridays and Mondays and record them then too. And I might, well, if I haven't done my email for the week, I might do that on a Sunday, usually laying down,

being quite comfortable, something that becomes predictable and repeatable so that it just slots into your life effortlessly. And that's what we're looking for here with any intentions or resolutions, things that you're choosing to do from a gestalt perspective, rather than feeling like you must or should or got to do. So I choose to create this podcast for you. And in doing so, I choose to sacrifice some of my time because I think that editing it well and doing all the show notes and the transcribing and things is worth it. I'm choosing to do that.

And therefore, it doesn't feel like I've got to do that. And sometimes just that small shift in the way that you think about things from got to to choose to can be really transformational for you and so yeah what could you choose to do in 2023 that might enhance your life or an area of your life and once you've got your hundred days under your belt, then you might like to think about a new intention, rather than cramming it all in at once. Because if we suddenly overwhelm ourselves with, you know, I'm going to get healthy, I'm going to eat really well, I'm going to exercise every day, I'm going to, you know, get the world's best job, I'm going to

have the world's best relationship, I'm going to, you know, get the world's best job, I'm going to have the world's best relationship, I'm going to, you know, do all this published research. There's only so many hours in the day, and it's going to probably lead to overwhelm and burnout, which might then take a dip on your self-esteem. So let's be kind and compassionate to ourselves. Let's be realistic. Let's pick one area. So if you wanted to look into getting some research experience or getting yourself published as a researcher, then what can you do to make that achievable? How can you break that down into smart goals? So yeah, have a think about what you'd like your life to look like next year and just take some moments to plan that out. Maybe think about writing that letter to yourself as an email on future me.

And yeah, just see where you get to and where you'd like to get to by this time next year. It has been my absolute pleasure to bring all of this content to you over this last year, all of 2022, which has just been wonderful. Thank you so much for being part of my world. And please do stay in it in 2023. If you've got any special requests for podcast episodes, or if you'd like to come along and discuss something pertinent to you that might appeal to the audience, please do get in contact by going to the podcast page of my website. And then there's a little form on there. So it's www.goodthinkingpsychology.co.uk forward slash podcast. You can also record testimonials for me on there. And I should also let you know that the other day I changed my Facebook business page to Dr. Marianne Trent.

So now you can find all of me on all of my socials as Dr. Marianne Trent. Everything is consistent. Isn't that marvelous? So, yeah, come and follow me in all those places. Just look for Dr. Marianne Trent and you will find me and connect with me and it will be lovely to do so. I love to celebrate your wins. So please do connect with me and follow with me on LinkedIn and Instagram as that's where I see most of you and your wins. I'm on YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn. I think that's it. I think that's it. That's enough, isn't it? That's

enough. I am also on Pinterest, but I'm not very good at Pinterest. But yeah, you could follow me on there if you wanted to. And I will maybe think about trying to become better on Pinterest in 2023. Do you like Pinterest? I find myself looking at nail designs on there recently. But other than that, yeah, I find it hard, hard to know what's going on. It's good for room design ideas and things, isn't it? But is it good for business? I don't know. Let me know.

What do you think? So, yes, thank you so much for being part of my world. Do come along to the free Facebook group, which is the Aspiring Psychologist Community, brackets, free group. Stay warm this winter. Get the hot water bottles out. I've been really enjoying those. And, yes, stay safe. Look after yourself. Be kind and think about where you'd like to be by this time next year. Take care. My name's Yana and I'm a trainee psychological well-being practitioner. I read the Clinical Psychologist Collective book. I found it really interesting about all the different stories and how people got to become a clinical psychologist. It just amazed me how many different routes there

are to get there and there's no perfect way to become one and this kind of filled me with confidence that no I'm not doing it wrong and put less pressure on myself. So if you're feeling a bit uneasy about becoming a clinical psychologist I'd definitely recommend this just to put yourself at ease and everything will be okay but trust me you will not put the book down once you start.