Latest / Limitless Living with Fredricka Davis / 093: Push Through or Pull Back? How to Know When Your Goal Needs to Change

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093: Push Through or Pull Back? How to Know When Your Goal Needs to Change · Limitless Living with Fredricka Davis

• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you were looking for Thursdays or Saturdays episodes last week and thought you somehow missed them, you didn't.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: There wasn't one.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to tell you what happened because the decision I made afterward is something I probably would not have made a few years ago.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: I recorded the episodes, or so I thought I did.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: It was late.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: It had been a particularly busy week.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: And what I do most weeks is I record all at the same time in one day.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Then I come back on another day and I edit.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that's when I get everything ready to publish.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: But I didn't double check that the recordings actually saved.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: So when I went back to work on them, edit them and get them scheduled, they simply were not there.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: And you can imagine how I felt right there at that moment, and maybe a few choice words that went through my mind, or even out of my mouth.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I had to make a decision.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Do I find the time to record them again, then edit them, get them published, and keep the schedule that I said I was going to keep, which would have required me doing it into the very late hours of the night, since now we're at the night before because it was such a busy week and I hadn't edited yet.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Do I do that even if it means I lose sleep?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: That was my question.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: That was my dilemma.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And under previous circumstances in the past, I would have absolutely said yes.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: I would have stayed up until two, three, four, five o'clock in the morning and gotten it done, pushed through the next day and kept going because I made a commitment.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: And my word means something.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: I do my best with it.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: That said, this time I chose not to.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I want to talk to you about today.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: How do you know when to push through or when to pull back?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And when is it time to look at a goal that you genuinely care about, but maybe are recognizing that you might need to say, hey, I need an approach that's a little different than what I originally thought.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And how do you make that decision without feeling like you're failing?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So welcome back to the Limitless Living Podcast.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Frederica Davis, your host, and this is Sustainable Success Tuesday.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: This conversation is very much coming from my own life right now.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to walk you through what I considered, what I decided, and four questions that you can use as well whenever you're facing a similar choice, especially if you're an entrepreneur, you're probably going to have those moments.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: You might have something in your own life that you're trying very hard to keep going, exactly the way you originally planned.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe it's not.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's time to look at what that plan, that original plan, is truly asking of you.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now let me give you a little background.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Besides my goal of wanting to make a difference in the lives of whomever listens to this podcast, I had an initial goal to publish three episodes a week until I reached 100 episodes.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Then I said, okay, I will reevaluate at that point and decide what I want to do and start looking at how to bring guests in, and I'll have a good feel for what I'm doing by then.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: I had this plan in my head.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So it would be sustainable success.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thursdays would be wellness reset Thursdays.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then Saturday's theme would be passion, purpose, identity, and the woman that you're becoming.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I've genuinely enjoyed having those different conversations with you.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I have a lot I want to share, years of experience, many things that I know are making a difference with my listeners.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: That part isn't difficult for me.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a challenge at all.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: The time required, though, to turn those ideas into finished episodes, that's another matter.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: There's preparation here.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's writing, thinking, recording, editing, show notes, getting everything uploaded.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, there are, you know, the posts, the blog, the other pieces that all help you find the episode and use what we've talked about.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, I also own a brick and mortar business.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: I have clients.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: I have a team.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: I've got many business decisions that need my attention all the time.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Things I'm building and things that need fixing.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: I also have a life, of course, outside my work that I would like to participate in.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: And a body that has its own opinions, whether I like them or not, about how much I should or should not be doing.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Can you relate to any of this?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm betting you can.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: I had already been thinking for the last several weeks about changing the podcast episode.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: I was feeling like, okay, this was great and it was working well, but now in this season, it's getting harder.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I need to change it sooner than I thought.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Would one episode a week make more sense?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Or would two episodes a week make more sense?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: What would allow me to keep doing this well without consistently finding the time at the end of an already long day?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I had those questions in my head.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: I was already thinking about them.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't really ignoring them, but I still had that number, that 100 in my head.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to get there and then change it.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now you probably have some version of that going on in your life, or maybe have experienced it too.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're thinking to yourself, okay, once I get through this launch, I'll do such and such.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Or once I finish this quarter, or once I reach the income goal, or I'm going to keep this commitment until the end of the year.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes these end points or turning points are really fantastic and reasonable and things we really should hold fast to.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: There are definitely things worth working hard for and pushing through.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: There are times you need to stretch and stay focused and finish something, even though you would rather stop right now.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: I am definitely not the person who will ever tell you to abandon a goal every time it gets hard or uncomfortable.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: But I do want you to examine the agreement you're making with yourself.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: What exactly happens after you reach that point?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Do you actually change something or does another deadline appear right after that and you just keep going?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: I know how easily this can happen.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: I have done this.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: I tend to want to do this.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: You're still working on catching up on what you didn't do during the busy week.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Then there's another opportunity that comes along, another project.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Something else needs attention.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: They get added to the plate, and the recovery you were going to give yourself just keeps getting pushed off.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: It keeps moving further away.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: So last week, when I realized the recordings weren't there, I could see immediately what I would need to do to get them there, have them publish on time, and what that would require.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't simply, oh, I'll record for a little while.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: I would have had to go through the process again, pull up my pre-written everything, because I script things out ahead of time, record it, and then find the time to edit it and all the other extras that go with it.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: And there wasn't much room in there if I was going to do that to sleep.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: My rest was going to be just removed from my list of things to do for a day or two in order to get this done.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: So the time would have had to come from somewhere in order for me to get it done the way I would have liked it to be done.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I genuinely try to work ahead, but this particular week I wasn't.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: My season's just getting busier and busier.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that was part of the problem.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: My system to be working ahead and always one week ahead would have protected this, but it wasn't there.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: There just wasn't room.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: So my sleep was something I had to decide whether or not that was more important than publishing or not.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now I want to tell you, that was not something that was very easy for me.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: I was not very happy about missing these episodes, not putting them out there.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted them to be published on time, as prepared ahead of time.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: I care about being consistent with you.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I was really disappointed with myself and the situation and the fact that I was not prepared ahead.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: But I had to honestly look at the situation and say to myself, okay, given the week I actually have, the week I've had, the week that is coming up, this is a decision that I am going to make.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: So we talked in episode 92 about planning for the week you actually have.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, here it is.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Having to apply that to myself.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I was not working ahead far enough, and I didn't have the cushion of pre-recorded episodes ready to go.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that was part of the problem.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a system breakdown.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's a time breakdown.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Then I didn't verify the recordings were saved because my week was busy and I had not planned according to the week I was having.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: That needs practical correction.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: That I had to look at.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, of course, going forward, checking that the file actually exists and it's saved and plays back needs to be part of my finishing process every time I record a session.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: But even after I identified that correction, I really was faced with having to decide what to do with the week that was in front of me right then and there.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now, knowing how to prevent a repeat didn't create several extra hours for the current week that I really definitely needed.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I think we sometimes all get tangled up.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Those of us who are doers, we know what we should have done, and then we spend so much time arguing with ourselves, battling it on the inside, that we don't make a useful decision about what really should happen next.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't go back.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't recover any of those hours or create more in the day.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Gosh, I would love it if I could do that.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: I could decide, though, how many more hours I was going to spend on that and what I was willing to give up.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get into the four questions that I was using to really decide on what I wanted to do next.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: The first one is what matters here?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: What was the goal supposed to accomplish?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: For me, the podcast is a way to educate, connect, encourage you, and give you practical ideas that you can use.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's also a part of me growing my work and helping the right people find me.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Publishing 100 episodes, that's a milestone.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm proud to be approaching it.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: It'll happen very soon.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: But the number itself doesn't tell me whether an episode helped you or not.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't tell me whether the schedule is working alongside the rest of my business or my life.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't tell me how I'm doing physically.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I really had to ask myself, what am I trying to preserve here?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: I want to keep making useful episodes for you.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: I want to keep showing up.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I want enough time and attention to do that thoughtfully.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Those are all things that matter to me.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Three episodes a week was the schedule I chose to help me do it.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: When you're faced with this question, what really matters here?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: You're allowed to review whether what you put forth initially is still serving the original purpose.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Think about your own goal.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you decided you would post on social media every day.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: What did you want to accomplish with that?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: More inquiries, better relationships, more people understanding what you have to offer, more connections.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Are you seeing that happen with your efforts?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that takes time.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: You have to be consistent for a bit, but are you asking the right questions about it?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Are you seeing it working?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Or are you staying up late making another post just because the daily posting streak has become the thing that you're protecting the most?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you wanted a certain number of clients.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Was the purpose to increase your income or build stability?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it was to fill a particular part of the schedule.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: If reaching that number actually means working hours you can't maintain, you need to look at the whole arrangement.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: That means the pricing, the service mix, the support, the time required.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Ask what the goal is supposed to be making possible.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: That helps you decide what deserved to stay and what needs to change.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: And the second question is what is this costing now?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to be honest about this.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is about more than money.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: You want to be asking yourself, how much time is it taking?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: What are you postponing because of it?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: How much attention does it occupy when you're already actively working on it?
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: And are you regularly borrowing from sleep or meals or your movement or relationships and other important work?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for me, this decision is happening as we enter our busiest season at Massage Wellness and Beyond.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of things going on in the business.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: There are opportunities that I want to prepare for.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: The holidays are coming.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's a ton of responsibilities that increase this time of year that need my attention.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: And there's also things I want to enjoy personally.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: So fall has always been my favorite season.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: I love the cool, crisp air with the warm sun and all the colors.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's just phenomenal.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it is my favorite.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: I love walking on fallen leaves and hearing that crunch.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but that's me.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: But I also notice that this time of year is more challenging for my body.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: When the weather changes and we come into this time of year, the mold counts go up, ragweeds out.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: There's other allergies that hit, and they really tax my system in a way that pushes my autoimmune conditions a little bit to the max for sure.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I need to take my own experience of this season into account.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: In the past, I didn't do that.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: I would just push and push and push and keep carrying on and keep going through.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing: I can love this season and still recognize that I may need to care for myself differently during it.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I can love doing the podcast while acknowledging that three podcasts a week has a cost.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a useful way to look at this for you.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: Finish this sentence.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: If I keep doing this exactly as planned, the time will come from where?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Where is your time going to come from?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is that you're thinking about this for.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you can point to a reasonable opening, great.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: If the answer is that it's coming from your sleep every time, pay attention to that.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: It is so crucially important for you to have sleep.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: If the answer is another project that really matters more to your business right now, whatever you're making this decision about, you might want to do more, enjoy more, but is it really taking away from another project that's more important to your business?
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: When you pay attention to that, you can avoid a lot of problems in the future.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we're just so focused on whether we can complete something that we forget to ask what we're choosing not to do in order to complete it and what that cost is.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the truth: I can absolutely force out some more episodes to get to that 100 mark, but what would be getting less of me to do so?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's the real business question here.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: My attention is part of what I have to manage.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'll say this again.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: You are part of your business plan.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: We, as CEOs, as founders, even as women in careers, you are your greatest asset.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you're showing up to work or showing up to your business sleep-deprived, you're not going to make as many good decisions.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you are showing up decision fatigued, every decision you make is going to be harder, especially the important ones.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: My attention is part of what I manage.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: Your attention, your health, your wellness, your well-being, all of that is part of what you have to manage.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this doesn't mean every demanding period is a sign that you should pull back.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: I, again, there are seasons where you got to make some sacrifices and just push the hell through.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say you have a proposal that's due tomorrow.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, you're going to have some real repercussions at work with your boss, with your job, whatever.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: You understand the work and you've got two hours available.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's really important, and you can finish it without creating a serious problem somewhere else.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: That might be the perfect time to sit down and just get the work done.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: You might be tired, though, of looking at it.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: You might feel nervous about sending it.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you finished it but feel like it wasn't quite right, or you need to tweak it and now you've procrastinated, or maybe you got sidetracked with something else.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do then?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's a moment where you might have to push through, depending on what the situation is.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Compare that with a commitment that maybe keeps expanding or regularly takes longer than you originally allowed and can only be maintained by you sacrificing the same basic needs week after week after week.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: That deserves a different response.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: That proposal deserves you to pushing through and maybe learning from that because the cost is going to be really high.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: But that ongoing issue, something that might need just simply a re-evaluation and a different response that might deserve your attention differently.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Ask whether the extra effort has an endpoint that you can identify.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: What will be completed?
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: When does the demand ease?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Where is the recovery afterwards?
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: The third question is what can change?
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: This is where you give yourself more choices.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you need to stop.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you need a different deadline.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the goal is still right, but the amount of work, the frequency, or the way you're doing it needs an adjustment.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: For the podcast, I don't need to choose between three episodes a week and never recording it again.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: I can just publish two instead of three.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: I can bring the Saturday subjects into the Thursday broader wellness conversation.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: I can continue toward 100 episodes at a different pace.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: That option preserves a lot of what matters to me.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it gives me some breathing room.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can ask the same thing for yourself and for your work.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Could you change the frequency of something?
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Could a weekly event become a monthly event?
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Or could you reduce the scope of something?
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: For example, a workshop does not always need an enormous workbook, several bonuses, and a brand new presentation format all at once.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: Could you change a deadline somewhere?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: If the day was something you selected yourself, you can reevaluate and see whether or not it still makes sense.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: How about getting help?
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Could you get help?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe someone else can handle part of your editing, your scheduling, your administration, or preparation.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you need to remove something because there's genuinely simply not enough room for it?
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: Look at the available options before you decide that you failed.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if other people are depending on what you promised, include them in the plan.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Let them know what's changing, address any of the potential impacts, give them all the information that they need.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, changing a private target or goal is going to be entirely different than changing something a client has paid you for or something that your team is expecting from you.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean you can never adjust those.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: It means the adjustment needs appropriate communication and follow-through first.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the decision that I've made.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: This week you'll have three episodes.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: Today is episode 93.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thursday will be episode 94.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's going to be about red light therapy and thinking out of the box in terms of wellness and education and longevity.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Saturday is Halloween.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: This will be episode 95.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that will be looking at the descriptions and the masks that we carry for.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: ourselves through life.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: Then beginning next week, we're moving to two episodes a week.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Tuesday is going to remain sustainable success Tuesday.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thursday will be our broader wellness conversation.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that's going to include things like nutrition and movement and mindset and identity and next chapters, all the practical ways to live simply more fully.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: We'll bring those subjects all together there on Thursdays.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: And at some point, likely in the new year, if not before, I'm looking forward to bringing in interviews and other voices too.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: So those conversations are going to continue.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm changing the schedule now to give myself a better chance at doing them well, taking into consideration my whole life, business and personal.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Truthfully, one episode a week may eventually be the right fit for me.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm considering that as well.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: But right now I'm choosing two and we're going to see how that works.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, part of me still thinks Freddie you're so close you could get to 100 first.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't you just do the other five you're so close.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: I have that voice in my back of my head by the end of this week I'll be five episodes away from that 100.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Of course it would feel great to reach that milestone of 100 on the original schedule, my original plan.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing reaching it a little tiny bit later does not erase the episodes that were already published.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't remove what I've learned along the way about doing this and this whole process and creating them.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't reduce the value of a conversation someone found helpful or a connection that has transpired as a result of this.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: I can keep going toward 100 while changing the pace.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's a reasonable decision.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is the part I want you to consider if you're feeling disappointed about changing a goal.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say you make an adjustment what's your self-talk around this?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't keep the schedule I originally chose and I didn't get to my goal.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well that might be accurate but saying to yourself I can't follow through on anything I'm a failure that's a much bigger statement and a different conversation.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it's probably ignoring a lot of the evidence.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: And using me as an example, 92 episodes were already published before I even had this conversation.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's evidence of follow through.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's evidence of success, not failure.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: I need to include that when I'm deciding what this change means.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: So whatever situation or potential change that you might be looking at may actually include a similar amount of evidence of success than you're overlooking because you're so busy looking at what didn't go perfect.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: The work you completed the people that you have helped or the progress that you made before you realized you wanted to change course that your original plan needs revision.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: Acknowledge that give that a place in the assessment you don't have to be pleased about every single adjustment.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay to feel disappointed but still recognize that you're making a sensible choice and that there's still value there.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now the fourth question is when will I review it?
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because I want this to be a decision I learn from I'm going to give the two episode schedule at least a few weeks and look at how it's working or not working for me.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Am I getting episodes prepared with more room to breathe?
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Is it helping me get episodes prepared with more room to breathe?
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: Am I protecting my sleep more consistently?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: Do I have more attention available to other things that are important in my business and my life?
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: And am I still delivering topics and conversations I feel good about?
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: And does two episodes fit?
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Or am I finding that I still routinely am forcing the work into time that I don't really have that last question matters.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because if I reduce the schedule and immediately fill the space with additional podcast tasks, I may not have changed the experience very much.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: So in that moment, I need to review the actual outcome.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: For your own adjustment choose a review date.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: Give yourself enough time to learn something useful but don't leave it as I'll see how it goes indefinitely.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: For me, I'm going to give myself a few weeks to see if that's working as I go into this busy season.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: Write down what you're trying what do you expect it to improve?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: What responsibilities still need to be met and what would tell you the arrangement or the change that you've made needs another change.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if you are in a service business chances are you see people in the evenings.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now what if you reduce your evening appointments and then you review your income your available energy afterwards and whether the work was simply moved somewhere else or not or whether it's making an improvement.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you simplify a project you might check whether the smaller version still delivers the result that people actually need.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you change a deadline for something set a new date and identify what will happen before that date.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: That gives the change whatever it is some structure.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: This way you're still making commitments to you're just making them with the information that you have now.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: I also want to address the fear we often get that if we pull back or we slow down, we're going to lose all of our momentum.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, can this happen?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, but this can happen the most if everything starts to become vague.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you decide you need a break but you have no real next step laid out in front of you or there's no communication or no point at which you will look at all of this again and reevaluate evaluate.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: So these are all important.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: Make the continuation clear what's going to stay, what's going to change what happens next.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: For me, the podcast continues Tuesday and Thursday I know which conversations belong there.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: I have a practical step of checking the recordings after I make them to add to my steps and I have a schedule I'm going to review.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: That gives me a way to move forward and nothing about that is vague.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: You might decide okay I'm pausing this project for two weeks while I complete a deadline on this date I'll review the next stage or maybe it's uh I'm reducing this service to one day a week and checking the results at the end of the month and seeing how that changes things.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to be vague or leave yourself guessing about what the change actually means.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: So when should you push?
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: When the effort serves something important the commitment is clear and the additional demand is reasonable for the situation.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now when might you want to pull back when continuing the same way repeatedly costs more than you can reasonably sustain or takes attention from things that need you more.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: And when might be the best time to actually change course?
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: When you still care about the result before you're completely burnt out but the original approach is no longer a good way to reach it.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: And you might just need a little honesty with yourself to distinguish those.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I need to admit I'm avoiding an uncomfortable task.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: I mean let's face it we all do it from time to time.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: But other times I need to admit that I've put too much into my week both require me to look at what's actually happening.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: Neither is helped by automatically telling myself to work harder here's this week's reset choose one goal or commitment you've been struggling to maintain.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Take a few minutes with these four questions what matters what was the goal supposed to accomplish what is it costing include time energy and what keeps getting pushed aside what can change consider the scope schedule deadline method or support and when will I review it?
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: Choose a date and decide what will be the markers that you look at what will be your KPIs your key performance indicators that you will look at.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then make one clear decision.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're going to decide to keep going as planned because after looking at it the effort still is making sense.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe you're going to say oh no I need to change one part maybe you need a conversation with somebody that is going to be affected before you finalize any of the changes.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever the next step is going to be make it really specific.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I would love to hear what this brings up for you in our free Facebook group Limitless Living for Women Who Are Becoming.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a goal you're reevaluating?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: Or did you already change an approach and discover that something is working better for you in your life and of course you don't have to share anything private in there.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can simply join us in the group to be inspired or inspire others and connect.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if you would like help looking at your goals alongside the demands of your business, your health and your life visit fredericadavis.com to explore working with me.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is exactly why I care about sustainable success.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: I want the work to matter I want you to accomplish things that you're proud of I also want the decisions along the way to account for you as part of them.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still looking forward to episode 100 we're getting close and I'm really excited about that.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you how much but I don't need to arrive there having ignored the very things I talk to you about every week.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: Last week I chose sleep over recreating two missing recordings.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: This week I'm making a schedule change I had already been considering and I can do that while continuing to care about this podcast and you the listener.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for being here and thank you for making room for these conversations in your life you'll hear from me again Thursday for our red light episode and Saturday for our Halloween conversation.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: Then we'll settle into Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: And if this episode brought someone to mind please share it with them.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you have not left a rating a review liked or subscribed to us please do so.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: It helps other people find the show.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: And until next time be rooted be resilient and be limitless.