The Reset: How to Create Your Vision and Build the Life of Your Dreams

A 4-step process to get clear on what you want—then bring it to life.

We’re a few days into 2025—how’s it going so far? I hope it’s been restorative and fun, and that you’ve been able to embrace some time to recharge after the holidays.

We had the most chill New Year’s ever, and it turned out to be one of my favorites in memory. (Proving once again that the simplest plans are often the most fun.) We did an early family dinner at Uchiko on NYE that was insanely good as always. The next morning, we met friends at Barton Springs to welcome 2025, and I did my first ever “Polar Plunge.” I’ll admit, I was nervous—temps were in the 40s, and I despise being cold. But pushing myself to do something hard, and the feeling of exhilaration that came after, was the perfect way to ring in a new year. It set the tone for a year of getting outside my comfort zone and discovering the joy that comes from doing something that scares me.

Afterward, we met up at my friend Kate’s house for a brunch that lasted into the afternoon. Kids were running around everywhere, and we all sat around the table and shared our intentions for the year. Truly my dream day. On a side note, it reminded me how much I love brunch as an outside-the-box time to get together with friends. It feels more laid-back and casual than a dinner party, and Kate nailed the unfussy, help-yourself menu: an assortment of bagels and schmears, frittata, a wintery pear salad, fruit, coffee, and matcha.

Polar Plunge + Brunch is how I want to spend every New Year's

Before we dive into today’s post (kicking off our 30-Day Wellness Reset!) I had to share this simple recipe I’ve had on repeat since Christmas. I’m calling it my “Detox Soup,” because it’s perfect for those days when your body is asking you to take it easy after lots of indulging (think the holidays or post-vacation.) I’ve learned that the only way I can really stick to “clean eating” is if it’s also extremely delicious, so I love a recipe that tastes great and is so nutrient-dense that I actually feel satisfied.

You can make this soup with lots of different veggies to mix things up and keep it interesting. I’m using cauliflower as the base here, but here are a few other great combos I’ve tried (just swap the cauliflower and spices out for the below):

• broccoli and peas with mint

• zucchini and parsnip

• butternut squash, ginger, and cumin

I keep it in the fridge for a week and eat it for lunch or alongside a protein for dinner. A few days of that, and I immediately feel a little lighter and a lot more balanced.

Detox Soup

• In a dutch oven, warm a tablespoon of olive or coconut oil, then sauté 1 chopped onion and 3 chopped cloves of garlic for about 5 minutes.

• Add a tablespoon each of turmeric and cumin, and a pinch of salt.

• Add an entire head of cauliflower, chopped. Pour in 6 cups of chicken broth and bring to a simmer.

• Put the lid on and simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes until the cauliflower is tender. Transfer everything to a blender, and blend until smooth.

• Return the soup to the pot, and serve topped with fresh herbs like parsley and chives. Eat!

Okay, let’s get into it—and if you’re a paid subscriber, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post because we’ve got a pretty great Vision Board giveaway for you today.

For the month of January, I’m interviewing some of my favorite experts across nutrition, fitness, and self-care as part of our 30-Day Wellness Reset. January is about manifesting our dreams and feeling our best, and that includes all aspects of ourselves: physical, mental, and spiritual.

For the first installment, you get to hear from… me! (womp womp) Most of you know that I’m extremely passionate about the practice of vision boarding, especially at the beginning of a new year. I think it’s one of the most powerful ways we can bring our dreams to life. Before you even start setting goals, you have to know where you’re headed—so creating a vision feels like the perfect way to lay the foundation for what I’ll be sharing in the month ahead. Let’s dive in.

Creating a vision vs. setting resolutions

This is the time of year when it’s easy to get sucked into the frenzy of New Year’s resolutions. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fresh energy that a new year brings, but for me, resolutions started to feel like a checklist of things I wanted to change about myself. And all too often, I found myself making the same resolutions year after year, which told me—they weren’t really working that well for me.

It wasn’t until I shifted my perspective and began approaching the new year as a time to envision the life I wanted to live that I started to see real change happen in my life. I’ve learned that when I focus on how I want that life to feel on the inside (energized, inspired, and purposeful) over how it looks on the outside, I have clarity around where to place my energy.

"What outcomes are you actually trying to create? What type of life are you actually trying to cultivate? Stay focused."

- James Clear

Vision Boarding 101

My favorite part of the process is creating a vision board that brings that “dream life feeling” to life in a visual way. Vision boarding is a powerful tool to turn my New Year’s intentions into my daily reality.

I’ve created a vision board for the past 5 years, and let me just say—as someone who can be skeptical of anything that hints at “magical thinking”, it surprised me to see firsthand how much this practice works. So many of the dreams that I put on my board have come to life—but often in ways I never imagined. From hitting business goals to building a family, renovating a beach house to launching Casa Zuma, so many things that were once only in my imagination have become my daily reality.

These are all things that, several years ago, I might have said weren’t possible—I barely had the confidence to dream about them. But slowly, one by one, I saw small dreams come to life and it gave me confidence to dream bigger.

When you start breaking through the limitations you put on yourself and see extraordinary things start to happen in your life, it expands what you believe is possible.

There are lots of different ways to create a vision board: with words, on Pinterest, or for those of us who want to hang it on the wall, I created a Vision Board Kit with all the supplies you need. But for the sake of keeping this post actionable, I want to focus on the most important first step: tapping into your own unique, authentic vision for your life.

First, discover your vision

How can you create your dream life if you don’t know where you’re headed? Here’s what I recommend: start 2025 by setting aside a couple hours for a solo date to reflect on what you want for the year ahead.

Take yourself to a coffee shop or a pretty spot in nature, bring your journal and your headphones, and set an intention to tune into your inner voice—not the one that seeks status or approval, but the one who can answer the question: “what do I really want?”

Just like companies create vision statements to inspire their teams, it’s important that we take an intentional approach to who we’re becoming day by day, year after year.

Set intentions for your life spaces

We’re multifaceted humans, so our dream lives should reflect all the different parts of ourselves. For example, you might have all the career success in the world, but if your relationships are suffering, you’re not going to thrive. So, as you’re creating your vision for 2025, map out the different life spaces that you want to prioritize so you can set specific intentions for each of them.

Read on for the life spaces and journal prompts that I use—feel free to use these, or create your own: