2020 has been a year that will go down in history for years to come. From bushfires, to the COVID-19 pandemic, to losing celebrities and loved ones and so much more, it’s been a very tumultuous year. But even with the craziness, there’s been some good. And this week, I am grateful for family and friends that have carried me through and helped me this 2020 year. I’m excited and looking forward to a new year, 2021. And like the norm, I am putting my new years resolutions together. Speaking of which, I know, it’s past Christmas, but I have a gift for you and any abundant mother you know of, in this podcast. Listen to the end to find out more. Happy New Year, 2021!
Transcript
Hello, and welcome to Mother of Abundance.
The place where ambitious, caring mothers find information on how to live your best life. So whether you’re a motorist who’s growing a business, climbing the corporate ladder, studying for a qualification or an at home mother, while striving to be the best you can be, you’re in the right place. I’m your host, Xina Gooding Broderick.
Happy New Year!
Let me be the first to wish you a Happy New Year, as this will be the last podcast of this year. We have the privilege and opportunity to see and be in a new year. This is not something to take for granted. So, Happy New Year to you and to your family. I know it’s a bit early. Yeah. The Monday before New Year, I’m allowed. Is this premature? I don’t think so. I don’t think so. Better to do it now, rather than waiting till the Monday after New Year’s, yeah? So, I’m getting it in early.
Let’s do a little bit of a recap over the very interesting year that 2020 has been. We had the Australian bushfires, Prince Harry and Princess Meghan quit the royal family. She’s a princess, isn’t she? I’m sure she is. Both Prince Harry and Princess Meghan quit the royal family. The COVID-19 Pandemic. Yeah, that happened, with the whole new input of sanitize wash your hands, lock downs, wearing masks, lives lost. Some people have never recovered since contracting the illness.
I had COVID-19. So did my husband, so did my sister. So did my sister’s husband. I think one of her sons had COVID-19 as well. In my team, I think two members of my team in addition to myself and my husband into my sister in in my family business, Gooding Funeral Services, I think at least two members of my team had COVID-19. And thankfully, we’ve all recovered from that illness. But yes, the pandemic is still real. And yeah, I think a lot of people have been saying, I can’t wait for 2020 to be behind them. I think we might have a little bit of adjustments to make with the pandemic, still. But you know, time will tell. We’re going to be resilient about the whole thing, aren’t we? I think a positive attitude is required where that’s concerned.
We started to have an online life. So whether it was online schooling, graduations, business and meetings, that became the norm, the big big norm. I said that I was gonna focus more on my public speaking and my professional speaking this year and having and launching a podcast, that was a big part of my professional speaking plan. And I was expecting to go on more stages. And I have done more professional speaking this year, I think, than in all my previous years put together, as a professional speaker. I’d set forth early on in my training days, so I used to be an IT trainer for the Microsoft bundle. I used to train people in what used to be known as rail track, and whilst I was with them, it changed to Network Rail. But yeah, back in my training days, I did a lot of professional speaking. That training comes under the banner of professional speaking, speaking for a living. But since that time, I don’t think I’ve done more professional speaking than I’ve done this year, as during the pandemic and that’s been interesting.
Aside from meetings going online, weddings and funerals, attendees have, attendances have taken place online, in a way like never before. And work, just people working from home now and joining in from Zoom. My goodness, Zoom’s profits must have shot through the roof this year. And not without good reason. I’ve loved being able to connect with people on Zoom. I am not a huge fan of Microsoft, what’s it called? Zoo? Meetings? Rooms? Whatever it’s called, yes.
Skype. All of that. Sorry, Skype. Sorry Microsoft but I’m not a huge fan. I find working online with you guys to be quite glitchy and problematic. I am a Zoom girl. Big fan of that. We’ve been able to have successful Zoom meetings, regular with my team, at Gooding Funeral Services. And more recently with my wonderful virtual assistant. Big shout-out to Mwayitsi. She’s a virtual assisting super duper star. Thank you. Thank you, Lord, for Mwayitsi.
I’ve also done some meetings with Leeds Bereavement Forum, which I chair. I’ve done meetings with Mill Hill Chapel, in Leeds, which I also chair. Big shout-out to Leeds Bereavement Forum. Big shout-out to Mill Hill Chapel, Leeds. And lots of other meetings that I’ve had. I think business meetings that I’ve had as well with Pod groups. I’ve not even heard of the term “pod”, until this year. It’s like if you’ve been studying, you can go into like a room with your Pod, just kind of break away with a smaller group of people. And it’s called a Pod.
But I’ve been studying a lot online. So it’s not only my son who’s been doing online schooling, but, and, well, two of my sons actually, have been doing online schooling. My son was homeschooled by me and some of the courses that the school had provided for us. And my other son, one of my other sons, he is a student at Nottingham Trent and they’ve been doing studies online as well. But I’ve been doing lots and lots of courses. You guys know I’m a super nerd and I love learning. And I did loads of online courses before now, let’s be honest, but this year, I’ve been doing different kinds of courses. I’ve been doing more art courses, like learning a new skill, in my my sort of downtime. That was sort of delineate between work, online and play online.
So yeah, some of the studying that I’ve been doing, I’ve broken away into a Pod and that’s been lovely. A big shout-out to my pod sisters, Sarah Clay and Kia Alene, is it Alene, as she’s gonna kill me for getting her name wrong. I’m so sorry if I mispronounced it, saying it. I’m just so used to calling you by your first name, Kia. So big shout-out again, to Kia and Sarah, my pod sisters in the best pod ever.
I also have to do a huge shout out to my Mastermind Queens. We’ve been meeting online for well over a year now. We’ve been Zooming. I don’t, as a rule, I do not work on Saturdays and Sundays. But the only thing that I will regularly make time for on Sundays, aside from family day and Mill Hill Chapel Church services on Sundays, is me with my Mastermind Queens. And in alphabetical order. They are Jamie. Woop woop! Karen. Woop woop! And Massiah. The Mastermind Queens. And I’ve been meeting with them for quite some time on Zoom. So it’s, because we are in a mastermind group, we do a lot of work, but we do a lot of play. So that’s really in line with the way that I like to do things.
Unfortunately, in 2020, we’ve had a few famous celebrity deaths. Kobe Bryant and his daughter, died in a helicopter crash. Chadwick Boseman. Man, that was a huge, huge loss. I’m a huge Marvel fan. So, and my son and I, we do Friday Family Film nights together. And my nine year old son and I, we choose which films we’re going to watch and sometimes our, my eldest son, Malachi, he’s helped us with films that we could watch as well. And we did a whole Marvel season, where we watched the very first one, in timeline, in Marvel Universe timeline order. We’ve had so much entertainment from Marvel. So we’re huge fans of Black Panther. Huge fans of Chadwick Boseman. So, this house, our home, we really did feel the loss of Chadwick. Yeah, that was really sad. And that’s how I did a lot with the whole movement with Black Lives Matter, which I’ll come on to in a moment.
Another huge famous person, a feature celebrity who had died, was Sean Connery. In our house we’re a huge fan of him, because we like Highlander. We like loads of things that Sean Connery came in, to be honest, but we really liked him in Highlander. My husband does a really dodgy Edinburgh/Spanish accent that Sean Connery did in Highlander. So yeah, they’re just three of the many famous people who died this year.
A local person who we lost, not necessarily a celebrity, but certainly was quite influential was Mr. Paul Lawrence, who did a lot for his community, 100 Black Men of London, owner of Just Tickets, just a huge guy in my family’s lives. And yeah, a huge loss to the local, national and international community. He was a great guy and a personal friend of the family, bit of a big brother to us, really. So yeah, he’s one person that we’ve lost and missed, that’s quite close to us, and many more that I couldn’t even start to mention, now.
Another thing to recap, as we move through, what’s happened this year, is the Black Lives Matter protests around the world. And the anti-racism movement, which I have to say I’m very proud of the anti-racism movement and black people being able to speak their truths and speak our truths, without the same level of gaslighting that we face, when we actually speak about what really happens to us. Yeah, that police brutality was without denial, real, and it was hard to sweep to the wayside and justify, because there is no justification of police brutality. If it’s brutality, then it just can’t be justified. And, yeah, the whole movement, I think I was very proud to see black people coming together in a sort of United Front. And also people of other races coming out in support in an anti-racism and anti-racist stance. So to all the black allies, white allies, all allies from across the world, for all of those who really understood what Black Lives Matters meant and didn’t try to make it into something else, I commend you, and I salute you. Thank you very much.
There was the huge explosion in Beirut. Yeah, lots of lives lost there. That was really sad. And the US elections, my goodness, that was, wow! Where do I start with that one? Just interesting, I think would be fair, a fair assessment of that, whether you are political or apolitical. I’m kinda, I’m kind of apolitical. I’m not for Trump. I don’t think that’s because I’m not a Republican, no, I have to say. Yes, some of the things that he came out were undeniably not just, just not nice. Yes, some of the things that he did was, I’m not aligned with that kind of behaviour. Not at all. I’m not to say that the Democrats are perfect. But yes, some of the things that Donald Trump stands for, is not in alignment with me, and my way of thinking. And that’s nothing to do with the Republican way of thinking or the Democrat way of thinking, but man, if you’re gonna be senior for America, you got to pay your taxes, you know, stuff like that. It’s like, how can you, how can you work your way out of that? But of course, he can work his way out of it, because that’s just what happens when you get a certain amount of power. I’m hoping that where he is concerned, justice will be done.
I’m not sure if Americans are aware quite so much of what an international impact there is, based on who is in power in the States. There is a very real impact in the UK here, based on how you guys vote. So yeah, you might be thinking, well, what’s that got to do with you? He’s kind of got a lot to do with me, frankly, and with people who are based here in the UK and the rest of the world. So yeah. That is a story that is still unfolding and remains very, very interesting.
So, with that being the last thing of my roundup of what’s happened in 2020, although at the time of recording this, it still is very much 2020. And this is due to go out the Monday before New Year’s Day. So it’s still going to be 2020. When you guys hear this, let’s move into the typical New Year’s resolution way of thinking. And my view on New Year’s resolutions.
Well, the typical thing that is going to happen, is a lot of people are going to be signing up to gyms, we see that year on year. People have a resolution to exercise more, lose weight, eat more healthfully, drink more water, quit smoking, get organized, save more money, spend less money, learn a new skill or hobby, or become better at a skill or hobby that you already have. Read more. That’s a big one. Spend more time with family and friends, travel more, live life to the fullest.
I think we’ve, this year being the way it’s been. I reckon a lot more people are going to be saying that we’ve lost a lot of people this year to a common cause of death, which will be COVID-19 and its effects. And people who were found with underlying conditions. A lot of people know someone who has died from from COVID-19. So I think it might be more to the forefront of people’s minds, that it’s really important to live life to the full, live a life with no regrets. And you guys know I’m huge on that. You know, I’m huge on that.
So my new year’s resolutions are kind of the same as always; to live my life to the full, live a life that has no regrets, be as healthy as I can be, be as happy as I can be, bring my love of life and people to the fore, be service led in everything that I do, whether it’s chairing the charities that I chair or working at Gooding, or working at Mother of Abundance, doing this podcast – every single thing that I do, needs to be infused with positive energy. And that’s more or less how I’ve done my new year’s resolutions for few years now. I want to be a better wife, a better mother, better to myself, better daughter, better sister, better arm, better everything man. I’m a lifelong learner. I want to know how to improve in every aspect of my life. But without doing the whole burnout thing cuz that’s let’s just, let’s just say goodbye to burnout man. If that’s been your journey, there, just kick that to the curb now. Swap that for well-being instead. I say do well being not overwhelmed. Yeah, we’re gonna do progress, not perfection.
So one of the things that’s coming up for me in the new year is my academy. You know, I mentioned last week that I have been thinking about it for a really long time now, for quite a while. And I’ve been working towards how I can serve more people, because you know I’m service-focused. And I’ve been speaking to ambitious mothers from all over the world, in my capacity, as an executive coach. I have a couple of clients in France, at least one client in America, majority of my clients are here in the UK. But internationally, you know, the conversations that I’ve had, there is a common theme or a few common themes running through the struggles that are faced by ambitious loving lovers. And that’s you know, how to deal with overwhelm, how to manage time, how to get more out of your relationships with your loved ones, while still having time for yourself.
Well my Academy, which is opening early in the new year, will be teaching all of those things. Not only by myself, who’s an experienced trainer, but also an executive coach. So there will definitely be a strong coaching theme throughout the academy. And I, as I said last week, the early adopters, they get in first, they’re going to be the founding members. We’re establishing the founding members. And if you want to get in early, my offer to you is that you will be able to get into the academy and have a lifetime access to all aspects of the course. And also, you will get the costs at half price. It will never be at that price again. It really won’t be, because I’m pouring my heart and soul into it, into this idea that I’ve got. It’s still ruminating, but it’s due to be open in the beginning of 2021.
So you guys will be able to join and start the new year, you know, straight out of the gate, with power. With power, knowing yourselves better, connecting to your loved ones better, being able to focus on your ambitions with a greater clarity. Not only that, but having the skills to help your children lead a fulfilling life and lead their best possible lives too. So if that sounds like you, and you’re interested, just drop me an email to hello@motherofabundance.com. That’s hello@motherofabundance.com. And just let me know you’re interested in being a founding member of the academy which should be launching early next year.
So that’s it for me. I hope you guys have a fantastic New Year’s celebration. I hope that you keep safe, and that you are able to remain connected to your loved ones. And my prayer for you is that you have an abundant, healthy, happy, love-filled 2021 to you and to your loved ones. Have an abundant day, have an abundant week and have an abundant 2021.
Thank you for listening to the Mother of Abundance podcast. Your host, Xina Gooding Broderick. Sign up at motherofabundance.com, for your free copy of the “Planning Your Best Life and Living It Every Day” Workbook. See you on the next episode.
