52 Weeks Podcast

Hi I'm Josh, the bass of the group. One of my goals for 2021 is to go mountain biking and skiing during the same week or even the same day. With Utah's weather, anything is possible. When I'm not enjoying the mountains, I love going country dancing and making custom clothing for my business, JP Couture. I built this company with the mantra: Life is full of compromises; the fit shouldn't be one of them! My suits come with a 100% guaranteed fit. Also, one of my goals is to have a failure each day. If you make failure a goal, then it takes the fear out of it!

Hi! I'm Heidi! This week in my hot seat interview you’ll get all the details behind my quest to set and achieve goals. It started with a quote from Benjamin Franklin and has taken several paths as I’ve tried to love life and love myself. When I’m not setting goals I’m an avid reader who loves to travel. Magic happens when my wandering path crosses the path of my favorite characters. This year I am slowing down, showing more gratitude and embracing the whole spectrum of real life.

Welcome back to the second season of the 52 Weeks Podcast. Old-timers Meredith McBride and Steph Shoell recruited Heidi Mecham and Josh Kamp to join them on their goal setting journey. Season 2 is full of new guests, funny stories, and a mantra to dream big, start small, and act daily. Listen to the four comrades chat about their vision and goals for 2021.

t's hard not to get emotional reminiscing over this past year. When we started recording in December of 2019, we had no idea what was in store for the year. I am so grateful for the weekly consistency of getting together every Sunday with Kellie and Meredith for 52 weeks. It has been my sense of normalcy during earthquakes, riots, and the COVID-19 pandemic. What good friends I have to commit to my crazy idea of having a weekly podcast talking about goals. Today is a bittersweet day for me because Kellie won't be joining us again for season 2 of the podcast. Although I know we will still be friends and hang out, I started crying when she walked in to record today. I hate getting emotional! Kellie and Meredith are the two friends I see the most. They know my inconsistencies and my excuses. They see my strengths and my determination. Being vulnerable each week about goals and spending many mornings walking the park together has created a friendship beyond this podcast.

Kellie, we will miss you but thank you for coming along for the ride!

We basked in Thanksgiving this week….sans pecan pie, which was sad, but good for our calorie intake….and it was wonderful to not be at work and to spend some time giving thanks for different circumstances and experiences.

This week we pondered Andrew Carnegie’s words as we look ahead to 2021. He said:

“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.”

Well said Andy! We decided this could be a great litmus test for what is worthy of focusing on in 2021. We are excited to ‘go again’ with new goals that raise our ambition! Bring it on!

Have a delightful week!

It’s Thanksgiving week and we all have a lot to be grateful for.

G.K. Chesterton said some wise words; I don’t know who Chesterton is but his words sound smart and a little cheesy. “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” Kellie just googled him and Chesty, as we like to call him, is known as the Prince of Paradox….so, I guess we can trust him...maybe.

One thing we are grateful for this year is our podcast. It really has helped us to have a sense of normalcy during an ‘interesting’ year. Jim Rohn talks about why we set goals:

The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them.

Happy Thanksgiving, and if you have pecan pie, invite Kellie over.

As we are wrapping up this year, it's caused us to reflect on what success really is. Success isn't just about accomplishment. Life isn't just about a checklist of checking things off, but it is about the people around us. The whole reason we have been accountable weekly with a podcast is that we knew that one day we would figure out this goal thing, and we wanted a record of how we did it to help other people accomplish their goals. We thought we would be goal Allstars at the end of the year, and yet after 49 weeks, I realize I still have a lot to learn.

Our quote for the week comes from the dating guru Matthew Hussey. I have had this pinned on my cork board all year to remind me of the high-value lifestyle that I want to create.

"Create a high-value lifestyle that will draw men (people) to you and satisfy you with or without your man (career, possessions, relationships)."

XOXO - Meredith

Today is daylight savings and we are, although we are thankful for another hour to sleep. However, a funny idea going around is that none of us need an extra hour of 2020. Amen to that! This week was rough for me. The cold front made me abandon all hope at continuing a morning routine. It just felt too hard to get out of my warm bed. But my laziness scared me; I have worked too hard to give up at the end. The good news is that Kellie and I dragged ourselves to the gym on Saturday, so now we will be better prepared for our power gym sessions in the afternoon starting tomorrow. We had extra motivation because we need to counteract the vast quantity of red robin fries we consumed Friday night.

“There is a window that exists between the moment you have an instinct to change and your mind killing it. It’s a five second window. And it exists for everyone.” - Mel Robbins

Today is daylight savings and we are, although we are thankful for another hour to sleep. However, a funny idea going around is that none of us need an extra hour of 2020. Amen to that! This week was rough for me. The cold front made me abandon all hope at continuing a morning routine. It just felt too hard to get out of my warm bed. But my laziness scared me; I have worked too hard to give up at the end. The good news is that Kellie and I dragged ourselves to the gym on Saturday, so now we will be better prepared for our power gym sessions in the afternoon starting tomorrow. We had extra motivation because we need to counteract the vast quantity of red robin fries we consumed Friday night.

“There is a window that exists between the moment you have an instinct to change and your mind killing it. It’s a five second window. And it exists for everyone.” - Mel Robbins

Today is the first snowfall which marks that winter is coming. Steph is mourning the loss of summer and is brainstorming ways to beat the winter blues. She really should just move to a warmer climate in the winter. Kellie plans to hunker down for the winter and get all her meals from DoorDash. That will contradict with the great strides she made in not purchasing from Amazon or food delivery services, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She should probably just join Steph in that warmer climate. But as for Ginger Cat here, I am a winter baby. I have a fireplace and am just waiting for snowshoes to go on sale at Costco so I’m all set. I just got Lasik so I am able to see the snow more clearly.

Today we are talking about hope. This quote by Dieter F. Uchtdorf talks about how hope sustains us through despair:

“Hope sustains us through despair. If only we could glimpse for a moment what the Lord has in store for us, not only in the next life but in this one as well. our hope would be UNSHAKEABLE and despair could never overcome us.”

Goals give me hope. Steph talked about how she needs to have hope in dating so that she doesn't feel despair. Kellie says amen to that. Whatever it is you are struggling with, remember if your hope is unshakeable, despair won’t overcome you.