Latest / Your Thoughts Your Reality / Empowering Leadership Transformation: Linda Zelnik's Journey from Cross-Cultural Marketing to Balancing Authority and Compassion

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Empowering Leadership Transformation: Linda Zelnik's Journey from Cross-Cultural Marketing to Balancing Authority and Compassion · Your Thoughts Your Reality

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome to your Thoughts, your Reality with Michael Cole, the podcast that shines a compassionate light on the journey of veterans battling through life's challenges.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Michael is a dual elite certified neuro encoding specialist in coaching and keynote training presentations dedicated to guiding military veterans as they navigate the intricate pathways of post-deployment life.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Join him as we delve into the profound realm of neuroencoding science, empowering these brave individuals to conquer universal battles procrastination, self-doubt, fear and more.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Together, let's uncover the strength within you to re-engage with families and society, forging a new path forward.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: All right, hello, hello, hello everybody.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: So super excited today.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Linda and I have been working on getting her on the show and we made it happen, so I'm very jazzed about that.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: So a little bit about Linda.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Linda Zelnick is a seasoned leadership coach and educator with Altar Coaching.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: She specializes in helping high-achieving, purpose-driven leaders, entrepreneurs and coaches cultivate effective and compassionate leadership, and we're going to talk a lot about that today and I'm really excited for that.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Linda has a passion for guiding others to achieve communication mastery, which is so important, especially in today's world Prevent burnout again super important, and we might need an hour, linda and manage their priorities effectively.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: So, linda, why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself, if you will?
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: Sure, yeah.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: So I am, as you said, a leadership coach.
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: I'm an author, my coach educator, and I am just really passionate about supporting leaders as their thinking partner to show up the way they want to in the world.
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: And that looks differently for every.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: You know every leader, their definition of where they are and where they want to go and why.
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: So diving into the purpose of that is really meaningful, and so we, we get you know, really clear on those things and then we hold on tight, you know, and just see, see where their, their flourishing leads them.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Absolutely love that.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: I truly do so if we can, why don't you tell us just a little bit how did you get into this into coaching, and you know, if we can, why don't you tell us just a little bit how did you get into this into coaching and you?
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: know what led you to this purpose for yourself, for that matter, sure.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: So I have a varied career.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: I started out in cross-cultural marketing that led to international importing and exporting and working in that realm of corporate America exporting and working in that realm of corporate America and also have spent some time overseas teaching at universities in China, and then at some point in my career about, well, 14, 15 years ago was able to combine those two things international business and higher ed, and so I led global studies for a local university and after about five years they were moved into an academic program at the university that specialized in supporting mid-career professionals going back to finish their bachelor's, and in that program we built in some really innovative and experiential classes that included leadership coaching.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: My master's is in leadership and some of my first clients you know student clients were veterans, and I thought this is just amazing to watch these veteran students, as well as our other mid-career students, really bring in what they were strong at, and then we would just work on adapting those into where they wanted, where they were now and where they wanted to be.
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: And so I thought, man, so I did that at the university for them for a couple more years and just with life and family needs, decided to take a break from that and thought, of all the things I'm walking away from, leadership coaching is what I'm going to miss the most.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: And so I just decided to dive deep and open a company and see where this might lead and supporting more people in a more broad capacity.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Fantastic and you know, I always love to hear how people you know their journeys and then where, as les brown says, life be lifing right, but things come up and so on.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: So, um, it's really, really cool to see how the journeys and life take us and we look back, we're like, how did I get here?
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: And then you literally just kind of step back and the little little 2% changes in the steering the ship takes us to our purpose and takes us to the amazing things that we want to do.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: So I love that.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: That's so true.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you for sharing.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: So leadership sometimes feel, you know, really like a tightrope between compassion and authority.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: So I'd love to get your feedback on how do you guide leaders to know and to navigate those waters.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: Great question, and I think more that it's often a redefinition of those terms like what is authority and what is compassion, and I don't think that they're polar opposites.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: You know, we often have false dichotomies and I think authority and compassion are two of those and it's not either or it's both.
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: And so how can we be strong and kind and how can we be authoritative for the mission, but not to our people, because they have a lot of strengths to bring to the table?
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: How do we tap into those strengths, empower them, give them autonomy and direction so that they thrive against the whole team and the mission thrives?
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I love that you said that because you really can be think.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of the authority, it's more just having the respect of the people you know that you work with.
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, totally yeah, you really.
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: And then, in reality, unless they respect where you're coming from, it's going to be difficult to exercise that authority.
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: And so you, that will go so far for a pretty a short period of time until you really got to get buy-in and and um acknowledge and accept and welcome all the voices and and encourage them to get stronger too.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely yeah, and I think you know, for me it's always about, hey, learn their strengths so that it makes you stronger as well.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because you have a team, for a reason you know the more minds, the more thought process, the more input, just, I think, makes you a better leader.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: So many veterans struggle with finding a new sense of purpose after service.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: You know my experience with working and coaching with veterans is, a lot of times they don't know what they want, they don't know what they love, right?
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: So I know this is one of the things that you're passionate about working with people, with, with, and so what are some of the I'm going to say tricks, of the trade or the things?
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: that you do to help people find the what, the why.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's so valuable because you're right, when you're making that big of a shift, a life shift, it can feel like starting over in a in an overwhelming way.
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: And so how do I transition from, from this very clear role that I've been trained and filled for so long into something that, into civilian life that doesn't feel, you know, like that construct at all?
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: And it really isn't.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: There are a lot of different cultural changes like that construct at all, and it really is that there are a lot of different cultural changes.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: I think the biggest thing that we want, I want to work on with, with veterans, is to say it doesn't have to again, it doesn't have to be either or there are so many of your strengths that we need and so you don't have to throw all of those things out.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: Let's you know, welcome them and and get clear on what works you know in your new setting and and then which ones might need to be filtered or or developed in a way, transitioned in a way that they fit into the new culture similar to the way you would.
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: If you're assimilating into a foreign culture, you know different than your own.
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: If you're assimilating into a foreign culture, you know different than your own.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: So it doesn't have to be a total break and I think that releases some of that pressure valve.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's fantastic.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: So what would you say?
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: How do I want to say this?
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: What would you say are let me go back.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: I think some of the key things that the things that veterans forget is what they, the leadership skills, will figure out.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: I'm going to figure it out, I can figure it out.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: You know, when they get it back in the civilian world I'm not talking all veterans, but I see the pattern all the time is that they forget that they have these skill sets that people want, desire, need, truly need in the civilian world and your own business, working for you know someone else, corporations, whatever the case may be, again, whatever you want.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: So what are some of the things that you see that can help them kind of re-engage in all those skill sets that they've been conditioned with in the military and use that to their advantage?
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: an assessment, you know like a character assessment, a BIA assessment or a DISC assessment, where you really get like a standard view of how you know what strengths you're bringing to the table and how those might show up, and then you kind of cross-reference those with what you are wanting to do in civilian life.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: I also think it's really valuable to for so long they've given to a specific mission and it's not necessarily one that they've defined but have adopted, and so asking some questions about what they really want.
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: And a lot of people, no matter where they're coming from, have these unspoken dreams that they don't think are possible, and so I really get excited when those get voiced because most of the time they are possible.
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: I truly believe number one, that past results don't predict the future.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: And you know, with without a disruption, if you've got a disruption, they don't predict the future, right.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: And then also, if you can dream it, you can do it because you've been given that dream.
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: That's specifically yours, it's not somebody else's, and so I I don't think that a dream is impossible if you, if you've been able to see it.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: And so when we can give them space to dream and and see, okay, well, how might that be possible and what kind of combination of things would lead to that?
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: Um, so I can't remember what your first question, what your, what your question was about that, but it's kind of a combination of having them dream as well as, um, looking at their strengths in a new way.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was just using the skills and things that they learned in the military, you know, and how to, how to use that in civilian life and kind of bring that back out.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: And I love the way you talked about about giving space to dream, because really, linda, I mean for everybody, civilian, military, first responders, all of us we need us, we need to know what we want, we need to know what we would love, right, that's really what's important to build the dream, don't allow yourself to do that.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: like you said, yeah, you can't create a path from where you are to where you want to be without knowing where you're starting.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: Um, the other thing to your point um and I'm married to a veteran.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: My husband spent five years in the air force and, um, he got a lot of really great training.
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: He um is in the mechanical engineering world now, or mechanical contracting world now, and he utilizes that training all the time that he got in the military and has built a great career on it.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: And between you know, of course, living with him and then seeing my military students and then getting to coach other personnel now, other personnel now.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: The amount of training that the military provides is significant too, especially with leadership training, and so I feel like some vets don't really know that they have a big leg up on people who haven't had that experience and maybe even take for granted that some skills that they don't realize are pretty valuable because you know ever so often they're being looked at for okay, what's your next move and how do we get you ready for that before you need to be?
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: And it's just a really intentional process, that training and the regularity of it.
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: It's just something I didn't witness in my own corporate career and I just am excited that they do have that support on a regular basis for growing and moving and preparing for the next level of responsibility.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Absolutely.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: And I always you know again, when I'm doing trainings or coaching, it's as soon as they realize.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: And again, not everyone.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: Some people come out with a plan, but I've also seen the story, and this is what I deal with a lot is I'm out, I have a honeymoon phase of whoo-hoo and then all of a sudden, what am I going to do with my life?
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: You know, and that's some of the negative setbacks start coming into play.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: So I think having that dream, having a plan, having community especially with, again, veterans and first responders of course as well but coming out when you're retiring, whether it's been two years or 27 years, it's so important to have that kind of plan in place.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: 27 years, it's so important to have that kind of plan in place.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: And to what you said about that leadership, you learn all of these skill sets in there that people want you know.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: So the more you think about that, the more you have the plan moving out into civilian life, the better off you're going to be with community and employment.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: Again, whether you do something for yourself and that build that dream.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: Or maybe your dream is corporate, corporate america, you know, whatever the case may, be so um bring that up so let me ask you this um, let's go back to the dream right and with your coaching, um, for for you know, let's, let's use this specific um.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: What are some of the?
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: The first things when you're coaching with somebody, when you're talking about what you want, right, because once you know what you want, it's magical how the how happens, right it really is, so let's talk about that.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: So, when you're coaching someone, what are some of the tips or things you give them?
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: are coaching someone, what are some of the tips or things you give them?
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: Well, so my version of coaching is to really pull that out of them first and to just say you know when have you felt on fire before?
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: You know what you know when.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: What lights you up, what do you get excited about?
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: What makes you angry?
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: You know those things.
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: Both of those give us cues about our purpose from two different angles.
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: And so you know, we might spend some time asking those kind of questions or pretend you've had all of your needs met, all the needs of those you want to take care of met, and money is no issue.
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: You know the whole lottery kind of scenario.
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: What is it that you?
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: How would you want to spend your days?
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: You know where do you want to leave an impact and add value to the world?
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: So those are kind of some of the dreaming questions we might talk about in order, If someone is thinking, you know I'm just I'm tired from my service and I don't know what I want right now, we might start talking there.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's fantastic.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: So it's very cool, and you bring this up when you see them light up and you know as a coach, right yeah.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: You know, or a friend for that matter.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: You know that's what you should be doing.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: It's one of the most amazing things to experience.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: I just got chills, even.
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: I know.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fantastic.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: So so let's go to again.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: You know the plan, right, so you know what you want to do.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: What would you tell people for for your fulfillment?
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: You know what you want to do.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: You know what you'd love.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: What do you tell your coaching clients if you will friends, for that matter what are the first steps then?
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: How do you know what the first steps are?
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Because I know, you know I work with this as well, with my coaching and trainings it can be overwhelming, right, it's like holy excuse my language, shit.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: You have this big, huge vision, dream goal, whatever you want to call it, and then it's well, crap.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: And then what happens to so many people, especially people that don't have coaches?
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: They go oh, that's too much, I can't do that.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: So talk to me about your process a little bit.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: I'd love to hear that.
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: So that overwhelm is real, the struggle is real with that.
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: It's, you know, real for all of us.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: Our brains are just designed to keep us safe and so when we think about, you know, reaching for a big thing, the brain's going no, no, stay where you are, this is what, this is what's safe.
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: But growth happens outside of your comfort zone and so you, that whole statement, what got you here, won't get you there.
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: It's very, you know, very you know.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: There's a reason why that exists, because if you stay safe, you can't get where you're going and you'll likely need some new tips and strategies or frameworks, you know, to do that.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: So a couple of ways that I think is that you can break that down into something that isn't overwhelming is to one just start with the end in mind and reverse engineer, like, break it down into what that might look like, and just keep nudging it back, nudging it back, nudging it back, until you have something that's attainable, you know, within a short time period.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and a simpler version of that is to just have someone take a deep breath and say you know, and then celebrate that out of each one.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: Celebrate that you have the goal.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: I mean literally physically get up, dance, pat yourself on the back and smile.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: It releases all these amazing sorry, I'm going to geek out on neuro encoding just for a second all of these amazing chemicals in your brain and creates new neural pathways and strengthens them.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: So the more you do, that in your brain is going what was that?
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: I want more of that and you start doing it more, you start looking for more, you're more excited about it and it and it reduces the anxiety and overwhelm when it starts to come up.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: So I love that.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: You said that and I had to geek out.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: But when you chunk it down into small bowls, it's so important.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: And again.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: Celebrate them, man, because we do not celebrate enough in this world.
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: That is so true and thank you for saying that, Because it really is not just celebrate what you would call a win, but celebrate every effort, because John Maxwell says sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: And so, a lot of times that I see this with clients regularly, we hesitate to celebrate something that we didn't, if we didn't do the whole thing a hundred percent right.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: Like we, people are hesitant to celebrate their effort, but effort is one.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: Like you said, 1%, 2% makes a huge difference over the course of time.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: It's that compound change, not that.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: It's often tiny little steps, not giant leaps.
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: So, celebrating every single effort, you know, in deepening your neural pathways and your go-to oh and reminders, Well, if I did that, I can do this.
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: So yeah, that celebration is huge.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I want to just add on to what you're saying is, when you steer, you have your ship.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: People hear me say this because I love the analogy whatever you have, you're on a, on a ship, right, and you're in control of the ship, which is, let's call it, your life, I don't know.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: And so if you see a vision, a goal, whatever you want to call it, where you have fulfillment and you can turn that, that, that wheel I don't know what it's actually called.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: I do, I can't think of the name.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: Anyway, the wheel, let's call it on the boat.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: Sure, two percent, right Over miles, you get to such a different destination.
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: But it's just that two percent change.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: Taking that action, touching base on what you talked about earlier.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: Just take that little action, any action right.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: Send a text, create that plan, you know, call somebody that can help you, that's been through it before a mentor or a coach or something like that.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: You know, just making that small change changes everything.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: I love that you brought that up.
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I want to change gears here just a little bit.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: Um, driving the boat.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: I want to talk about burnout, because it is so common now and I know this is very passionate, you're very passionate about this so a burner is, you know, so common for high achievers.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: So what are some early signs that someone might be heading there first?
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: And then I'd like to get into how you move yourself out of that and get excited about things instead of being burnt out.
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: So, if you will please yeah, you know, the first step if I even rewind to my own burnout and when I am talking with leaders and they're describing behaviors on their teams, when I am talking with leaders and they're describing behaviors, you know, on their teams this remains true over and over again is that there's a like, an apathy or a cynicism where there wasn't before and that seems, you know, I think, unconnected in a lot of ways, and so it's hard for us to recognize that it is part of burnout and we don't know that it is part of it.
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: But I do think that's one of the first signs of burnout is when someone used to be excited about what they're doing and now they feel like what I'm doing doesn't make a difference, or just hostile or cynical in some way.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: I think that sets in before the exhaustion.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, I think you nailed that honestly, because you do, you start like you know, I just don't want to do this, and you're not getting up early and staying up late, you're not excited, you're not passionate about it and so important.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: So what would be the next thing?
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: Just, I see anger people getting angry, frustrated, faster, and I think you're right, I think it's you go through these, these phases, if you will, with with all of that, so so how do you combat it?
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: yeah, um, so this could.
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: This is also a personal, personalized thing, but gratitude is one of the best ways to start combating it Journaling, focusing on what is good and it seems simple.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: It might even seem trite, but it is one of the most universal ways to get out of the frustration and into a more positive outlook and to start to also feel like you have something that you can do to influence a situation, because the other thing that I that, the other lie of burnout is that there's nothing you can do about it.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: So gratitude is something everyone can do.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: And then, once you start to activate that part of your essence in your mind, realize now that, yes, there was a lot of work to be done, but the way I approached my work was just as much, if not more, so you know a part of my road to burnout.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: And so realizing that we've got agency and that we do have choices is something that's hard to do when you're exhausted, but the gratitude can start to open your mind up to okay, well, I can't change the workload necessarily, but I can change how I'm managing it, and so just looking for again smallest steps possible and getting some wins under your belt with those is what leads you down into you know.
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: Recovery or prevention.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, fantastic.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: So you know, I do something myself.
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: So everything.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: I do with my clients, I do myself right.
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: Because, I don't teach theory right.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: I want to know what works Otherwise.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to tell you to go do something.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: I'm like am I work?
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: I don't know, I'm not, I'm not that guy, right, yeah, what if we could?
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: You talked about small steps.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: So what if we could just have to?
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: I need to to, I get to.
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: Yes, one word change.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: I challenge everybody here that's listening and later on the podcast and so on Try it for one day.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: Change your vocabulary one more and see if that doesn't change your perception and your energy, just by changing.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: And see if that doesn't change your perception and your energy, just by changing.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, words have so much power.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, yeah, because I'm going to go off on something your thoughts Hold on, I always can't point to, are your reality.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: So the words and the thoughts that you bring into your own life can give you energy or it can wipe you out.
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: That's why you see people from the same background.
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: One goes in and it is, you know, goes the wrong path and drugs and crime and suicide, and one is thriving and doing amazing in the world and experience the same thing.
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: It's the thoughts, and I'm going to go with the definitions you gave to those thoughts even more so.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: I love that you bring that up.
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: So, with that said, we're almost done with the show.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: So I want to make sure people can reach out to you.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: So anybody that wants to reach out to Linda, how do we reach?
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: you, yeah, so you can reach me at Lindaindaaltacoachingcom.
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: That's one way You're welcome to email me directly.
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: And then also you can find me on LinkedIn.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: I've also got a YouTube channel and some Instagram presence, as well as Facebook, so those are Alta Coaching, and then LinkedIn is Linda Zelnick, pcc or something like that.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: So if you can, linda, I know you're going to share some things.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: If you can, please drop that you know in the comments so people can reach you later on.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: It looks like my wife just popped on to help with that as well.
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: Susan.
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: Yes, thank you, susan.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: So you know we always give three tips to get veterans and their families further faster.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: So if you could give us three tips to help again veterans and their families just move into that leadership or find out what they want.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: Whatever you want to share that's on your heart.
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: The first one would be to just write your dream down.
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: Write down a goal.
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: If you don't want to call it a dream, write down your goal.
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: There are stats that show that people who write down a goal are 50% more likely to achieve it.
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: So I mean, what a small thing to do is to just take a moment and write it down.
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: That very act of getting it out of your head through your hand onto paper really starts moving you towards it.
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: The second one would be to catch the if it's possible and change how, change it to how.
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: So not if, but how.
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: It's another really powerful language switch that I like to give people.
• 30:21
  Speaker 3: Michael, from you know your have to to to get to.
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: I really like to encourage people to just catch their language, catch if and ask how, because your brain gets focused on whether or not that can happen.
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: If you're using the word if, but if you just change it to how, then you're activated into solution mode rather than focusing on the problem, and that's empowering.
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: And then the last thing is another Les Brown quote that has just changed me and the way I think about things.
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: And he said he says if you, you can't control the thoughts that enter your mind, but you can control which thoughts you dwell on.
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: And so, again, those are things that all of us have control over.
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: Is you know, where are we going to spend our mental energy?
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: The one that isn't serving us, or or the one that that might lead, you know, or can lead, to our, our flourishing, and where we want to be in life?
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: Absolutely love that.
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: Absolutely love that, and all of those are just really amazing, simple tips that you can use every day in your life.
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: So, absolutely love that.
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: So, linda, I just want to say thank you.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: It's been absolute pleasure.
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: I love the tips, the golden nuggets you dropped and all of those things.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: You know, time is, you know, one of the most valuable resources we have as human beings and we're honored and we thank you for spending, you know that, with us, we don't get that time back, so thank you for spending the time with us.
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: It's such a pleasure, michael, thanks so much for having me on, and I hope all of you listening will just lean into these things and see where they lead you.
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: Absolutely love it.
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: And on that note, everybody guess what we're out of here.
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: Bye-bye.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on another insightful journey of your Thoughts your Reality podcast with your host, michael Cole.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: We hope the conversation sparked some thoughts that resonate with you.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: Hope the conversation sparked some thoughts that resonate with you To dive deeper into empowering your thoughts and enhancing your reality, visit empowerperformancestrategiescom.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Remember your thoughts shape your reality, so make them count.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: Until next time, stay inspired and keep creating the reality you desire.
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: Catch you on the next episode.