Embracing Alignment in 2025: A Framework for Intentional Living
It’s January 6th, are you breathing and doing what you can to stay grounded?
The start of a new year is steeped in traditions—resolutions, goals, and promises to ourselves. Yet, this season often carries an unspoken pressure: to hit the ground running, to transform overnight, to live up to an ideal of “new year, new me.” But what about "new year, same me?"
Did you know that Quitters Day, the day most people abandon their resolutions, is recognized as the second Friday in January? That’s THIS Friday, y’all. There’s a plethora of research that shows resolutions often fail because they’re built on ambition without a clear foundation or strategy toward habit formation and psychological reinforcement. The key to lasting change lies not in grand resolutions but in consistent, intentional practices that reflect your truest self.
That’s why my guiding intention for this year is alignment. Alignment is about living in harmony with my Values, Strengths, and Needs (VSNs), ensuring that my actions and decisions reflect who I am at my core. It’s a commitment to staying attuned to the signals my body and emotions send when I veer off course—because our bodies are some of our greatest teachers. My 3D Power Tools Framework—Discover, Discern, Determine—provides the roadmap for this journey, helping me uncover hidden narratives, gain clarity, and take intentional, purpose-driven steps toward meaningful transformation.
As we step into 2025, I’m embracing practices that help me realign and reflect—not just in January, but throughout the year. These include a 30-Day Gratitude Challenge, Integrity Inquiry, Annual Audit, and the Year Compass. These tools have not only helped me reflect on 2024 but have also provided clarity and alignment as I move forward.
If the idea of setting bold resolutions feels heavy, or if you’re looking for a new way to reflect and realign, these practices can help you reset not just in January but quarterly, monthly, or even as needed.
Lessons from the 30-Day Gratitude Challenge
For the month of December, I created daily posts from 2024 photos of friends, family, or moments that made me feel seen, heard, and whole in 2024. This intentional 30-Day Gratitude Challenge was a way to close out the year with reflection and connection. Each day, I revisited a memory that brought joy or healing, allowing me to savor the small but meaningful highlights of the year.
This practice illuminated three unexpected lessons:
The Power of Sharing Gratitude
Hearing, "You don’t know how much I needed to hear this today," from so many people underscored how sharing gratitude fosters deeper connections, especially with those you don't see on a regular basis.
Rediscovering the Forgotten Moments
Revisiting my camera roll was like opening a time capsule of 2024, revealing beautiful memories I had overlooked. These photos became a visual gratitude journal, sparking warmth and appreciation for the year.
The Importance of Capturing Life Intentionally
Limiting my posts to photos from 2024 exposed gaps in how I document my life. Moving forward, I want to be intentional about capturing more moments, especially with those I don't see regularly, to better preserve the stories that matter.
Rooted in Purpose: Aligning Growth, Faith, and Legacy with 3D Power
One of the January goals I recently shared on Instagram resonates deeply with this realization: investing in personal growth. This month, I’m doing that by reading my Bible through Jackie Hill Perry’s Through the ESV Bible in a Year podcast and Dr. Anita Phillips’ The Garden Within: Where the War with Your Emotions Ends and Your Most Powerful Life Begins. Both works have been awe-inspiring and deeply affirm my commitment to alignment and purpose.
In The Garden Within, Dr. Phillips shares a nuanced approach to goal-setting that breaks down grand goals into manageable buckets tied to relationships, purpose, and legacy, all rooted in biblical principles:
Relationships: Dr. Phillips teaches that self-awareness and self-love are the foundation of meaningful relationships. This insight resonates with the Discover phase of my 3D Power Tools Framework, where we uncover the narratives and patterns shaping our lives.
Purpose: Her prompts—“What need moves your heart?” “What gifts do I have to offer?” “Which community am I serving?”—mirror the Discern phase, where we clarify our values, strengths, and needs to ensure purposeful alignment.
Legacy: Dr. Phillips encourages us to reflect on someone we admire as powerful and examine why. This process aligns with the Determine phase of my framework, where we take courageous action to create a life aligned with our values and leave a lasting impact on our communities by reframing what powerful really means.
Inspired by these teachings, I developed the mantra to guide my year:
“When I discover the truth of who I am; align with my values, strengths, and needs; and courageously act to transform my community, I produce a life that also sustains me.”
Three Transformative Practices That Align with the 3D Power Tools Framework
These practices—Integrity Inquiry, Annual Audit, and Year Compass—each offer distinct approaches to reflection, planning, and alignment while complementing one another:
Integrity Inquiry: Inspired by the work of James Clear, this practice focuses on regular (quarterly or monthly) check-ins to ensure alignment with your Values, Strengths, and Needs (VSNs).
Annual Audit: Mel Robbins provides a comprehensive, high-level reflection to set the tone and direction for the year ahead.
Year Compass: Acts as a structured, creative bridge between the two, combining in-depth reflection with actionable goal-setting.
Together, these practices create a cohesive system that reinforces the phases of my 3D Power Tools Framework.
1. Reflecting on the Past (Discover)
Integrity Inquiry: Encourages reflection on barriers to aligning with your VSNs, as well as progress and areas for improvement.
Annual Audit: Begins with reviewing highlights and low points from the past year, using tools like your camera roll to jog memories.
Year Compass: Guides you through an in-depth review of the past year, starting with your calendar to explore successes, challenges, and lessons learned.
Framework Connection: This phase aligns with Discover, uncovering narratives, patterns, and moments that shaped your year and created clarity for future growth.
2. Gaining Clarity Around What Matters (Discern)
Integrity Inquiry: Focuses on deepening awareness of your VSNs and identifying actions and beliefs that align or misalign with your core self.
Annual Audit: Asks what brought you joy, taught you lessons, and what you need to stop, start, or continue doing.
Year Compass: Includes prompts to clarify values, priorities, and intentions for the next year while celebrating wins.
Framework Connection: This phase resonates with Discern, helping you reflect on what truly matters, define priorities, and align your actions with your core values, strengths, and needs.
3. Taking Intentional Action (Determine)
Integrity Inquiry: Concludes with actionable steps to align with your VSNs, encouraging small, purposeful habits.
Annual Audit: Guides you to craft a roadmap for the coming year based on lessons learned, including clear actions for what to stop, start, and continue.
Year Compass: Asks you to set specific goals, dreams, and actions for the year ahead, focusing on personal, relational, and professional growth.
Framework Connection: This phase connects to Determine, encouraging you to take courageous, intentional steps toward alignment and meaningful change.
Your Invitation to Begin
As we embrace 2025, I invite you to:
Start your Integrity Inquiry journey: Download the free template from my resources page.
Explore my offerings: Whether through the 3D Power Collective for Women of the African Diaspora, my Living in 3D Power Substack (more on that later), or Mentorship & Coaching, find the support you need to thrive. Additionally, if you are a values-driven leader who wants to elevate your impact, learn more about how I can help you sustain dignity-affirming cultures here. Whatever community you choose know that I will be your integrity partner on this journey.
Listen to The Mel Robbins Podcast: Learn the seven powerful questions that will help you audit your 2024.
Reflect with the Year Compass: This comprehensive, free workbook, recommended by my dear friend Katie Sandoe, will guide you through reviewing 2024 and planning 2025. Oh, I downloaded mine right to my iPad Pro! #ecofriendly
Let’s Step Into 2025 Together
Each time we create space for reflection it deepens our connection to our truest selves, helping us show up authentically and live life on purpose. Whether you’re revisiting past joys, uncovering hidden lessons, or planning bold actions, these practices will ground you in your brilliance—whole and undivided.
