ForCollegeForLife Podcast
ForCollegeForLife Podcast
Visioning For The Future with Jaclyn Gallo
A new year brings fresh energy, big goals, and, for many people, New Year’s resolutions that don’t quite stick. In this episode of the For College for Life podcast, leading voice and speaker Jaclyn Gallo kicks off the season with a powerful conversation about visioning, goal-setting, and how to actually follow through in 2026.
Jaclyn breaks down why so many resolutions fail by “Quitter’s Day” in early January and introduces a game-changing concept: the relationship between intensity and consistency. Through relatable examples, she explains why starting smaller often leads to greater long-term success, stronger habits, and a clearer sense of identity.
The conversation goes beyond vision boards as a craft or exercise and explores vision as a living, evolving guide. Jacqueline shares how to balance dreaming big with pacing yourself, when it makes sense to pivot, and how to stay aligned with who you want to be, even as your life and circumstances change. She also reflects personally on entering a new season of life and what it has taught her about flexibility, intuition, and redefining success.
Whether you love New Year’s resolutions or roll your eyes at them, this episode offers practical, grounded advice for turning goals into sustainable action and creating a vision that grows with you.
If you’re ready to plan for the future with clarity, momentum, and intention, this episode is for you.
Website: https://forcollegeforlife.com/jaclyn/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaclyntgallo/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaclyntgallo/
Hey everyone, and welcome to the latest episode of the For College for Life podcast. We're here in a new season, a new season full of excitement and enthusiasm. We're preparing for an outstanding, extraordinary, fun, exciting 2026. And I can't think of a better way of doing that than introducing the concept that one of our leading voices, Jacqueline Gallo, talks about in her signature program. So today we're going to be talking all about visioning and how we can plan for the future successfully and make sure that those big goals that we have come together with all the enthusiasm and excitement that you have as we start the new year. So let me go ahead and bring to the mic none other than Jacqueline Gallo. So Jacqueline, it's 2026, it's early January, and I think a lot of people have started the new year with enthusiasm, with with excitement. New Year, New Me, and maybe even some folks have set New Year's resolutions. So I kind of a soft toss to you. How did New Year's resolutions and sort of new goals for the year tie to the concept of creating a vision board for yourself?
Jaclyn Gallo:Yeah, thanks for having me, Casey. I'm so excited to talk about this topic. So with your vision, having the vision is the first step, right? So being able to identify what it is that I want to accomplish, what are my goals? What are the different ways I want to operate? That's a big part of your vision, too. It's not just the external accomplishments, but how do you want to carry yourself in everyday life? What are the habits? What is your daily routine? How do you want to show up in the world? And when we consider all those things, step one is just creating that vision. But step two is bringing the vision to life. And so when we set these New Year's resolutions and goals, what often happens is most people give up on them very quickly. And Casey, remind me, Quitter's Day is today as this episode is going live. Is that correct?
Casey J. Cornelius:Listen, if it's not today, this is going live right around January 10th, which is known, I just learned this last year, learn as Quitter's Day. The concept being even people who start with the best of intentions January 1st typically fall off about January 10th.
Jaclyn Gallo:Which is no surprise whatsoever, because 80% of New Year's resolutions fail by February 1st. So those people that are making it to February 1st are the extra umph, but they're still failing. Why? I think that we often feel like it's our fault that we're not self-accountable, that we didn't try hard enough. And I fall victim to this just as well as everyone else. Why? Because it's part of our human nature. So the easiest way to understand this, and this is something that I talk about in the vision board workout, is the relationship between consistency and intensity. So consistency and intensity are inversely proportional, which means as intensity increases, consistency decreases. But the opposite is also true. As intensity decreases, consistency increases. So when we set these New Year's resolutions, when we create a new vision, we often go in with a lot of intensity. Why? Because we're excited. You know, when you set a new goal and you have that feeling, you're just bubbling inside and you want to go all in on that goal. One of the most common New Year's resolutions that I hear is related to health and exercise. So we're going to use this example because something most of us can relate to. So let's say your New Year's resolution is that you want to go to the gym five days a week for 60 minutes a day.
Casey J. Cornelius:Dang. Okay. Yep.
Jaclyn Gallo:But currently you don't go, right? So previous you before the new year never went to the gym. And now you're like, I'm going to work out, you know, Monday to Friday for an hour. This is what most people do. They set a goal like this, which is jumping from level zero to level 10 with nothing in between. So what happens? We go in with a lot of intensity. We have very little consistency. So the first week we might be doing well. But by January 10th, all of a sudden a snowstorm hits and you can't leave your house. And so you just decide to skip today. And then tomorrow it's really cold still, and you skip tomorrow. And then before you know it, six days has gone by. And so this is how we often fall off the wagon and just give up on our resolutions because we feel like there's no point whatsoever. But instead, if you set a goal that is a lower amount of intensity, you will be able to maintain a high amount of consistency. So let's say your goal is just to move your body twice a week for 15 minutes in any way, shape, or form. So maybe when the snowstorm hits on January 10th, you realize I'm not going to make it to the gym, but I'm going to put on a 15-minute YouTube workout or I'm going to stretch for 15 minutes. And you find a way to do something at home because it's only a small amount of time. It's something you can fit in on your lunch break or after your kids go to bed or after you finish your homework. So when we go in with lower amounts of intensity, we can have higher amounts of consistency. And that is one of the key pieces to actually bringing your vision to life.
Casey J. Cornelius:So the notion of pacing yourself is actually good advice.
Jaclyn Gallo:Absolutely. And the best part is people often are afraid to follow this strategy because they think that if they pace themselves, then they will never be able to be this person that's doing the big goal. So they think that I'm telling them to lower their goals. I'm not. I'm saying dream really big and work your way there. So by the end of the year, you could work your way up to that five days a week for an hour. And it's easier to do so because it becomes ingrained in habits and identity, which are two of the really important unconscious pieces that are going on behind the scenes and helping us either fuel us towards the behavior we want or potentially fuel us towards the behavior we don't want. So as we do it in a small way and we pace ourselves, we begin to build those habits, we begin to build those routines and change the way we see ourselves, which ultimately can lead to achieving the big dreams and big goals within the year and finishing your resolution strong by starting small.
Casey J. Cornelius:As someone who is um historically goal-oriented and sort of mission-driven and all that other kind of stuff, the the notion of starting small, pacing yourself and then building momentum really resonates with me. I what do you say though to the people who sort of uh look down their nose on on New Year's resolutions or starting on January 1st? You know, oh, it's just an arbitrary day. If you if you have a goal, you could start anytime. What what's your answer to that? Do you agree with it, disagree with it?
Jaclyn Gallo:I agree with whatever resonates for you. So if you're the kind of person that you get excited about January 1st, use that energy and let it let it fuel you. But if you're the kind of person who thinks it's corny, it's dumb, start any day, then start today. Start January 10th, start yesterday, start three weeks ago, right? I don't want to say start tomorrow or in three days because then we could just keep putting it off, right? So it doesn't matter when you start. You could start on your birthday, you could start on the first of the month, you could start the first of a quarter, you could start a new semester. Doesn't matter, no. What matters is that your mind and your body are all in on starting. And so if that takes a new year, I personally love setting new year goals. I think it's fun. I think it's a nice time to reflect, to check in, to look back. Things slow down around the holidays. So it's a great time to review your goals from the year prior. But you could do the same thing on a monthly basis, a quarterly basis, or on any arbitrary day of the year. It's about what interests you and excites you because if you're not excited about it, then it's never gonna work for you.
Casey J. Cornelius:I love that. So, folks, if if you haven't already, please make sure that you check out uh Jacqueline's Vision Board workshop uh for college for life.com slash Jacqueline. That's J-A-C-L-Y-N. So we're we're gonna be a little transparent here. Got some permission before we hit record, but we're gonna be just a little transparent. We are recording this podcast in December, right? So we're we're doing it before January 1st, and there's a reason for this. Um speaking of uh uh starting new things and and being excited for the beginnings, uh Jacqueline, you have a beginning that's coming up here soon as well. Do you wanna you wanna talk a little bit about that?
Jaclyn Gallo:I do. I am expecting my second baby in early February. So it's a fun time for me to think about my vision. And having kids has been really eye-opening because each season of your life is different and you have different visions. And I think that sometimes it's easy, especially when you're in college, to feel like you need to have your vision figured out for the next 20 years, what your life's gonna look like, and everything's going to just fall into place according to that vision. But as you go into different phases of your life, you realize that you want different things and you can't always predict what those things will be or what the routines will look like or what the day-to-day will look like. So it's interesting for me going into having my second baby. I am visioning, but I'm also open. And this is something I talk about in the Vision Board workshop, how we can make a vision and make a plan and work towards it. But it's actually hurting us more than it's helping us if we are so stubborn about that vision, if new information is presented. So something that I pride myself on is being willing to pivot, being willing to listen to what's working and what's not. And that doesn't just mean externally what's working, am I moving closer to my goal, but internally, is this making me happy? Does this align with me? Has my vision changed for what I want in this season of my life? And just being able to go with that. I always say to college students that the students who are seniors and they know exactly what they want to do for their entire career, maybe they are going to do something like accounting or they want to become a lawyer or a doctor or some kind of really clear career path. Oftentimes those people are set in exactly what they're going to do. But sometimes those people end up later wanting to make changes, even if it's within their field. You know, maybe you thought you wanted to be one kind of doctor, and then you actually start, you know, doing uh, you know, um, I don't even know what it's called, the medical, this is why I'm not in the medical field. Like internships. Yeah. Like internships in medicine. But you don't really like what you're doing, residency. So, and you're like, no, I actually want to do a different field. And so oftentimes, you know, we get jealous of those people who have this picture perfect plan and vision. I know I did when I was in college, like anyone who had a job going into senior year, I was so jealous of they had their whole life figured out. Um, but it's often those people that we're jealous of that later struggle because they don't always leave room for their vision to evolve as they evolve. And so that's something that I try to preach both to um the students in my workshops, but also try to live by in my own life being open to the vision as it evolves. So I don't know what it's gonna look like having two kids because I've never had two kids before. And I don't know what it's gonna look like having a business and you know, multiple businesses actually, because we own the ice cream shop and um I have my speaking business. And so being able to just go with that is going to be something that's really supporting my vision. But what I do know is who I want to be. And so I always tell students if you're unsure exactly what to put on your vision board, maybe you're still a bit foggy about your future, you can always think about who do I want to be? And I know that I want to be happy, I know that I want to be confident, I know that I want to be uh calm and feeling inner peace even amidst chaos. I know that I want to be organized, I know that I want to take care of myself, right? So these are just basic character traits and ways that I want to operate that I can bring into the next season. So it really doesn't matter what season you're going into in your life, but just think about how do I want to show up in that next season? And how can I stay open to my own intuition and where it's taking me within the season while also being self-accountable. So I don't want people to use this as an excuse, like, oh, it's really harder than I thought to reach my goal, so I'm going to give up. That's not what I'm saying here. What I'm saying is if you genuinely find out that, hey, you actually want X instead of Y, then be willing to pivot. But if X is just really hard, but it's important to you, then you need to keep going. So not misconstruing that, but being able to be open while still holding your vision.
Casey J. Cornelius:Wow, how how much great advice did we just get right there? All of us listening, uh, me on the other end of this microphone. I I have to tell you, uh from the notion of pacing yourself to to starting at at uh you know important momentum points for you to to adapting, all those are great bits of advice from Jaclyn. Again, make sure that you check out her vision board workshop uh for college for life.com slash Jacqueline J A C L Y N. Um listen, she's gonna be off for a minute. Let's let's let's be honest, she's gonna be off for a minute welcoming this this lucky, new, wonderful, beautiful, healthy human to the world. But soon, very, very soon, you're going to be able to schedule this for your retreat or your workshop or your uh virtual events or whatever it might be. And and I gotta tell you, the the reviews of it have just been um amazing as people talk about how she helps individuals and organizations actualize, going from a goal to a clear path to get there. So, Jaclyn, first of all, on behalf of all of us, congratulations again. What an exciting time and season for you and your family. But also thank you for sharing these insights today.
Jaclyn Gallo:Thank you so much for having me and for all the positive words.
Casey J. Cornelius:Of course, of course. Folks, if you find this podcast uh interesting, insightful, beneficial, um, some also positive words for you, please make sure that you do the things that you're supposed to do with podcasts. Like, share, and subscribe. Ensure that this gets in the the hands and the ears of the folks who need to hear it. Um, but also if you'd be so kind, if there's a topic or topics that you would like us to discuss with the leading voices of for College for Life, please make sure that you let us know as well. We want to make sure to deliver the information and content that you find most beneficial. So please reach out, please let us know. And again, like, share, and subscribe. And until next time, we wish you well, and we'll talk to you soon. Thanks, everybody.