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What would you do if you had more confidence? Today’s guest, Kelli Thompson, polled over 500 people with this question and received answers that were equal parts inspiring and heartbreaking. In this conversation, Kelli shares the story of walking down the aisle at her first wedding when her intuition was whispering that the relationship wasn’t right, but she didn’t yet have the confidence to listen. We discuss strategies for listening to that still, small voice within; how to stop “box-checking” for external validation; the flip side of the imposter monster: pedestal syndrome; and working through the “poop soup” of liminal space between major changes. As Kelli says, “You can’t criticize yourself into more confidence.” More About Kelli: Kelli Thompson is a women’s leadership coach and speaker who helps women advance to the rooms where decisions are made. She has coached and trained hundreds of women to trust themselves, lead with more confidence, and create a career they love. She is the founder of the Clarity & Confidence Women's Leadership Program and a Stevie Award winner for Women in Business—Coach of the Year. She is the author of Closing The Confidence Gap: Boost Your Peace, Your Potential & Your Paycheck, which was selected as a must-read by The Next Big Idea Club. 🌟 3 Key Takeaways: Your intuition is going to tell you things your brain doesn’t want to hear, but it isn’t always loud. Those little nudges and questions are trying to get your attention and are worth spending time with. We often default to checking the boxes of what we, or our communities, think it means to be successful. Ask yourself: “Do I even want this? Does it feel good? Does this give me energy?” New job smell wears off. The problems we bring with us into new environments are going to come up again and again unless we deal with the internal issues—boundaries, communication, confidence—that cause them in the first place. Try This Next: Write down 3-5 things in your life that you no longer want. Where do you feel resentment? What is out of alignment? Choose one to have a conversation about or draw a boundary around as a next step. 📘Books: Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business Closing The Confidence Gap: Boost Your Peace, Your Potential & Your Paycheck Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live by Martha Beck Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff 🔗Resources: Kelli on the web, Instagram: @kelliraethompson, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook People: Martha Beck, Kristin Neff, Marissa Knox Article: Growing Wings: The Power of Change by Martha Beck Book Club: The Next Big Idea Club The Life Coach School Episode 9: It Doesn’t Get Better Than This 🎧Related Podcast Episodes 52: Martha Beck on Enlightenment and Messages our Bodies Send 282: The Honor Roll Hangover with Melody Wilding 251: Listener Q&A on (Furry) Imposter Monsters 281: Feeling Impostery? Become a Qualified Curator Instead of an End-All-Be-All Expert 313: What’s the pebble in your shoe? Pivoting from Wall Street to RadReads with Khe Hy 124: Penney & Jenny Show — Embracing Liminal Space (the In-Between) 164: Fix This Next (And Stop Keeping Up With The Entrepre-Joneses) with Mike Michalowicz ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes **🎧 **Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/315 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joy and frustration can be equally motivating. Sometimes joy pulls our focus like a magnet to where it needs to be. On the other hand, sometimes being grumpy and frustrated is a sign we need to pivot in another direction. They both help us understand what roles or activities, or ideas we need to say no to to make sure we have enough space for what we want to say yes to.  Today, I’m joined by recurring guest host Adrian Klaphaak, who is just returning from a two-month parental leave after welcoming his second child into the world. We’re talking about preparing for, and returning from, time off; the challenges of parenting while running a business; and working toward sustainable joy and focus amidst it all. Are you working on a Pivot-in-progress? For guidance on reconnecting with what lights you up and creating an action plan to move forward, check out Adrian’s flagship Career Pathfinder Program and apply promo code PIVOT at checkout. More about Adrian: Adrian Klaphaak is a coach, purpose guide, entrepreneur, therapist, and founder of A Path That Fits Career and Life Coaching. His coaching approach is holistic—a constant balance between getting results and a quest for meaning and fulfillment. He describes himself as “a deep seeker with a constant itch to make things happen.” 🌟 3 Key Takeaways: If you’re feeling dread upon returning to work after a break (or even just the weekend), ask: What am I resisting coming back to? See the resistance as a message from a wiser part of yourself telling you something might be off. Surrender to the reality of your life, and remember that you’ve chosen it, even amongst the challenges. Life is long, if we’re lucky, and no situation lasts forever. Sometimes you have to say no and clear space first, before clarity on next steps emerges. Be patient: the biggest dreams take time. ✅ Try This Next: What do you want to say no—or not now—to right now? 📘Books:  Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Life After College The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living by the Dalai Lama 🔗Resources: Adrian on the web, Yelp, Facebook, LinkedIn Course: Career Pathfinder (promo code PIVOT) Articles: Startup Parent Substack, Parable of the Trapeze Video: Finding Your Calling by a Path that Fits Podcast: Startup Parent Podcast 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: Pivot x Career Pathfinder Playlist (previous episodes with Adrian) 204: Radical Alignment: Getting to Hell Yes with Alex & Bob Free Time 166: Crashing into Quiet Time 🏝️ 320: The Beauty of Late Bloomers with Jenna Valovic ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to 'casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/314 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is change whispering to you? For Khe Hy, a former investment banker on the fast track of keeping up with the corporate Joneses, the discomfort from following the status quo first started feeling like a pebble in his shoe. “Psst! There’s more out there for you,” it whispered.  In this conversation, we talk about his decision to leave Black Rock, how he follows his instincts when building his new content and education business, and how sneaky “shoulds” and insecurity often stem from unmet needs we had growing up. Be sure also to check out Khe’s episodes on Free Time: 163: Leveraging Idea Kernels to Create Compelling Content with Khe Hy, and 129: The $10K Work Framework with Khe Hy. More About Khe: Khe Hy is the founder and CEO of RadReads, an online education company that helps professionals lead productive, examined, and joyful lives. Khe is creator of the $10K Work productivity method and teaches the popular cohort-based course Supercharge Your Productivity. RadReads provides guides, trainings, and coaching for over 36,000 professionals to help them gain back free time, scale their impact and make their little dent in the universe. 🌟 3 Key Takeaways: Make an angel investment in yourself: Designate (and save) an amount of money you can afford to lose that would give you enough time to pursue your ideas and experiment to see what sticks.  The 5 Whys Concept can help you identify the real feelings and motivations for your decisions. Ask yourself why you did something. Then ask why the answer is important to you. Then why that answer is important to you. After 5 “whys” you will almost always be at the root of what you want or feel. Manage your energy instead of your time. Email, for example, can usually be done when feeling low-energy rather than using your best and highest energy on it. Techniques like RIZE (Reach Inbox Zero Everywhere) can help you do it quickly, efficiently, and in appropriate amounts.  ✅ Try This Next: Twice a week, take a piece of paper and a pen, go somewhere quiet, and reflect on a question about your life or business. Ask yourself, "What is the pebble in my shoe?” or, “If everything went great, what would my life look like in ten years?” This is less about having precise answers and more about creating the space for reflection. 📘Books:  Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, Life After College The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Mate 🔗Resources: Khe on the web, Twitter, LinkedIn Courses: Supercharge Your Productivity, Life Operating System, $10K Work Accelerator Free Time Operations Dashboard Video: Sheng Wang on Coscto Pants  Articles: The Magic of Doing $10,000 Per Hour Work, How to be the Chief Unblocking Officer (Article), CNN: Meet Khe He, the Oprah for Millennials 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 282: The Honor Roll Hangover with Melody Wilding 296: Top 3 Do’s and Dont’s When Leaving a Corporate Job 272: Love It or Leave It with Samantha Clarke Khe on Free Time 163: Leveraging Idea Kernels to Create Compelling Content with Khe Hy and 129: The $10K Work Framework with Khe Hy ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to 'casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/313 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the saying goes, “Worrying is praying for what you don’t want.” A close cousin is future-tripping: projecting and living in the future instead of being present with what is actually happening, keeping an open mind about whatever might happen next.  If you are inclined to catastrophize, you’re not alone! But getting caught in a fictional movie can mean missing out on important opportunities, ideas, and relationships. Today, I’m talking about why we do this, how future-tripping manifests, and strategies for shifting into what I call present-calming instead. 🌟 15 Strategies for Shifting from Future-Tripping to Present-Calming: Notice when you’re in a movie where you’re projecting events and possibilities rather than being present to the actual facts at hand.  Be compassionate with your fearful side, as being hard on yourself doesn’t help. Take a page from The Work with Byron Katie by asking, “Is that true? Can I absolutely know that it’s true?” Pause and reflect: What are the facts versus what am I assuming? Reframe what you are experiencing as an open-ended, creative question. Trust yourself to be creative and resourceful at every next step as it arises. Intuition happens in the moment, so ground yourself in the present. Be grateful for the abundance that the problem you are facing represents. Create and hold a positive vision of what is possible if all goes as well as it possibly can (instead of worst-case catastrophizing). Listen to relaxing podcasts or meditations if you have trouble sleeping due to anxious thoughts.  Take a small step or positive action toward a solution. Limit your exposure to negative news. Or all news, for that matter! Get your endorphins flowing with 20-minutes of cardio or yoga Talk to an energizing friend or family member to get an outside perspective Surrender. Ask for clarity on what action to take (or not) and for grace and patience in the meantime. ✅ Try this next: Notice when you’re caught in a movie of the future, generating anxiety from a problem or situation causing you stress. Ask to be shown one next step, and stay attuned to clues or hits of inspiration or intuition in your environment. Do you have any strategies for present-calming? Send me a note at hello@itspivotmethod.com or leave me a voice memo at pivotmethod.com/ask. 📘Books:  Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Life After College Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall Rosenberg 🔗Resources: Byron Katie: TheWork.com and Judge Your Neighbor worksheet TV Series: Harlem via Amazon Prime (clip pulled from S2 E4) JB’s Ideal Day Madlib Sleep Foundations: The Best Podcasts for Sleep  Jordan Harbinger: 6-Minute Networking Course 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: [Best Of] Penney & Jenny 1: Intuition and Frequency (listen to the full Spotify playlist of the Penney & Jenny Show) 282: The Honor Roll Hangover with Melody Wilding 260: Everyday Rituals and the 'Sparkling of the Sacred' with Casper ter Kuile 69: Worrier's Guide to the End of the World with Torre DeRoche Free Time 138: ⛵️ Stop Sailing the Sea of Shiny Shoulds ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/312 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s time to leave guilt spirals, perfectionism, and hedging behind. Today’s guest, Lia Garvin, is sharing her favorite tools for reframing frustrating situations through powerful questions and helpful feedback. More About Lia: Lia Garvin is the bestselling author of UNSTUCK: Reframe Your Thinking to Free Yourself From the Patterns and People that Hold You Back, leaning into nearly ten years of experience working in some of the most influential companies in tech, including Microsoft, Apple, and Google to explore the power of reframing to overcome common challenges found in the modern workplace. In her popular TEDx talk, “Your decisions aren't wrong, your inner critic is“, Lia shares the secret to reframing the stress we feel around making decisions. As the Founder & CEO of The Workplace Reframe organizational strategy firm, speaker, and coach, Lia is on a mission to humanize the workplace, one conversation at a time. 🌟 3 Key Takeaways: If you find yourself stuck in the “nosebleed section” of a problem, especially if it’s a situation you don’t have direct control over, consider: What can this vantage point offer me? What can I learn from it? What might I consider for next time? A decision is a best guess: Separate the drivers from the outcomes of your next move. Unhook your self-worth from your work, and reframe your relationship to feedback: This project doesn’t have to be everything or for everyone; it doesn’t have anything to do with who you are as a person. If the feedback hits a nerve, collect more data. ✅ Try This Next: The next time you’re feeling stuck, try reframing your questions from “why?” to “what?” Write down all of the questions you are asking yourself, and re-construct them. So, “Why didn’t they pick me?” becomes: “What else might be going on in the situation that I’m not aware of?” and “Why does this always happen to me?” becomes “What else might be possible?” 📘Books:  Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business  Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Life After College UNSTUCK: Reframe Your Thinking to Free Yourself From the Patterns and People that Hold You Back 🔗Resources: Lia on the web, IG: @lia.garvin, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube Bonuses: Do's and Don'ts for Talking About Your Work with Confidence, 5Tips to Unlock the Best in Your Teams Article: Psychology Today’s Maximizers vs. Satisficers: Who Makes Better Decisions? TEDx: Your decisions aren't wrong, your inner critic is Masterclass: Chris Voss’ Win Workplace Negotiations, The Art of Negotiation 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 289: Stealing Wi-Fi as Career Strategy with Jenny Wood 283: What Are You Here to Do? How to Find a Path That Fits with Adrian Klaphaak 182: Collective Problem-Solving + Negotiating Fearlessly with Mori Taheripour 26: Tame The Advice Monster With Michael Bungay Stanier ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/311 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m complete. Have you ever landed on that sense of satisfaction, perhaps after a peak experience when you’ve given everything you could? Often what quickly follows: Now, what’s next?  My guest this week — the very first partner coach I brought on to help in my business — pivoted out of academia after an accomplished trajectory into running her own coaching practice. Several years ago, she was featured in Shana Gaynor’s wonderful Business Insider article, I went to a career coach, so you don't have to—and it was a rude awakening, that has been bringing clients our way ever since! In this conversation, we discuss creating the impact you want to have in the world, crafting jobs and roles to fit your strengths, and how to navigate the nerves of striking out on your own. More About Rebecca: Rebecca Fraser-Thill is a Pivot Career Coach, the Senior Contributor at Forbes on meaningful work, and the owner of Fraser-Thill Coaching & Consulting, based near Portland, Maine. Rebecca taught psychology at Bates College for 18 years, where she led the design of their Purposeful Work program. She holds a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University. You can find her at www.RebeccaFT.com 🌟 3 Key Takeaways: Are you a coaching skeptic? The feedback, insight, and accountability can be transformative in ways you don’t expect. Job crafting: Take every step you can to make the most of a current opportunity before making bigger moves, to know you gave it everything you had and gain clarity on when it will be time to go. Look for hidden strengths that come so naturally to you that you barely recognize them for the advantages they are. We often downplay our own abilities, so ask for feedback from coaches (and friends and colleagues!). ✅ Next Action: Find a list of work-related or adjacent values online (or generate your own) and write them on index cards or slips of paper. Next, physically put them in order of what is most important to you. Return and reorder them over a week until you have no more changes. This list of values will help you make decisions and rules about your work—if something doesn’t align, it becomes much easier to say no to.  📘Books: Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business  Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Life After College Don't Call It Quits: Turn the Job You Have into the Job You Love by Shana Lebowitz Gaynor Agile: Essentials of Team and Project Management. Manifesto for Agile Software Development by Alex Campbell 🔗Resources: Rebecca on the web, Twitter, LinkedIn Learn more and schedule a Pivot Coaching intro call with Rebecca Business Insider: I went to a career coach so you don't have to—and it was a rude awakening Therapy Apps: Better Help, Talkspace Career Values Lists: Mindtool, James Clear The Tim Ferriss Show: What Is Important to You 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 308: Pivoting in Place with Adrian Klaphaak 303: What is Your Soul Path for 2023? Follow What’s Most Alive — With Adrian Klaphaak 299: Juggling Risk and Pursuing Passion while Pivoting in a Recession with Adrian Klaphaak ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/310 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The Sensitive Leader is a wayfinder, not a truth teller” with all the answers. Learn how serendipity helped today’s guest, Ciela Hartanov, successfully pitch an internal project to co-found and lead The Google School for Leaders; why sense-making is an essential skill when pivoting; and how to “right-size” a proposal until you get a yes.  We also discuss what it means to develop “identity agency,” how Ciela knew it was time to go out on her own, why building a personal brand isn’t the end-all-be-all, and how to build trend-spotting skills. More About Ciela: Ciela Hartanov was part of the founding team of The Google School for Leaders and Head of Next Practice Innovation and Strategy at Google, where she developed projects designed to shape the future of leadership and work. She currently runs humcollective, a boutique strategy and innovation firm that helps companies, executives, and teams make sense of the forces shaping the future and prepare strategically, and cohosts a podcast called Questioning Work. 🌟 3 Key Takeaways: Sense-making means asking: “What’s interesting here? What’s going on here?” It’s about entering more into playfulness than problem-solving. Tension is essential in the innovative process because it provides energy to continue working on new ideas. Identity agency: Develop a sense of who you are outside of your public-facing brand or even the brand association from working at a well-known company. ✅ Next Action: Build your trend-spotting skills by taking a walk in your neighborhood. What are you noticing? What are the things you haven’t been seeing? What does that tell you about the world? 📘Books:  Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Life After College Reclaiming Sensitivity (early 2024) 🔗Resources: Ciela on the web, IG: @cielarose, Twitter: @CHartanov, LinkedIn, Medium Ciela’s Podcast: Questioning Work Articles: It’s Finally Time to Retire ‘Good to Great’ From the Leadership Canon Tool: chatGPT 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 277: Expansive Impact and Spacious Scheduling with Sarah Young 52: Martha Beck on Enlightenment and Messages our Bodies Send 301: The Future is Analog and Books Aren’t Going Anywhere with David Sax 282: The Honor Roll Hangover with Melody Wilding 260: Everyday Rituals and the 'Sparkling of the Sacred' with Casper ter Kuile 228: How I Run My Business Without Social Media 306: ⛵️Stop Sailing the Sea of Shiny Shoulds (Free Time Crossover) 75: Become a Trend Curator + Non-Obvious Trends for 2018 with Rohit Bhargava 172: Self-Care for Empaths and HSPs with Sarah Santacroce Free Time 154: The Hard No ❌ ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/309 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“No [person] ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and they are not the same [person].” —Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher from ~500 BC I share this quote in nearly every Pivot keynote because it speaks to the reality of uncertainty in every aspect of our lives, even when we’re not intentionally pursuing bigger career changes. Every day we are different, as are the companies we work for, the broader economy, our community, and even our physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional bodies. Today, recurring guest Adrian Klaphaak and I are exploring how to keep moving and build momentum, even when you aren’t in a position to take big risks. How do you double down on your strengths and take small steps to pivot in place, creating room for bigger opportunities down the road? Are you working on a pivot-in-progress? For guidance on reconnecting with what lights you up, and creating an action plan to move forward, check out Adrian’s flagship Career Pathfinder Program and apply promo code PIVOT at checkout. More about Adrian: Adrian Klaphaak is a coach, purpose guide, entrepreneur, therapist, and founder of A Path That Fits Career and Life Coaching. His coaching approach is holistic—a constant balance between getting results and a quest for meaning and fulfillment. He describes himself as “a deep seeker with a constant itch to make things happen.” 🌟 3 Key Takeaways: “What should I do?” is the second question. It should come after “Who am I?” when you are thinking about how to improve your work circumstances without leaving your role entirely. Sometimes the role you want doesn't exist yet at your organization. Lean on faith and follow the clues your soul is guiding you with to create the space you want to occupy. Relationships are what make everything happen. Talk to the people you like the most and who seem to be doing the most interesting work. Investing in those relationships gives you more access to opportunities.  ✅ Next Action:  the work activities that you get the most joy, energy, and flow from. How can you build upon those through smaller pilots? 📘Books: Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business  Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Life After College Brave New Work: Are You Ready to Reinvent Your Organization? by Aaron Dignan  🔗Resources: Adrian on the web, Yelp, Facebook, LinkedIn Course: Career Pathfinder, promo code PIVOT Video: Finding Your Calling by a Path the Fits Articles by Jenny on Oprah.com: The Questions You Need to Ask Yourself if You're Bored and Restless at Work, What Is Your Happiness Formula? Newsletter: Adjacent Possible by Stephen Johnson Podcast: In the Arena with Leah Smart 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: Pivot x Career Pathfinder Playlist (previous episodes with Adrian), 289: Stealing Wi-Fi as Career Strategy with Jenny Wood ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/308 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leaving the cool shade of a corporate tree with a great salary and benefits to start a business is never easy. But making the call mere months before a global pandemic hits seems on the surface to be ill-timed—to say the least. Or perhaps cosmic.  Don’t feel bad for Tony McGaharan, who is a pro at finding the silver lining in any situation. Suddenly the market for his budding business went from Belfast to global through virtual events, and his business is thriving because of it. In this conversation, we cover how he knew it was time to give his two-weeks notice (and not just pivot internally), how he addressed financial fears of leaving a six-figure salary, navigating the first few months of the pandemic as a new business owner, and how he builds relationships to generate new business—including Google still a key part of his client roster. As his coach says to him, “Be careful what you do because what you do, you do more of.” More About Tony: Tony is a Leadership Development expert who previously worked for Google's People Operations in Dublin, Singapore, and London. He is an experienced leader, effective facilitator, and qualified coach on and off the basketball court. He founded People Playbook in 2020, host of the Three Points podcast, and has partnered with a diverse range of organizations across the globe to design and deliver purpose-built leadership development programs. 🌟 3 Key Takeaways: You’ll have more options and less pressure when pivoting if you live lean by lowering expenses and your expectations. Silver linings are everywhere; lean into conditions that seem subpar Set expectations with yourself after pivoting as you design your day-to-day: What are your goals? What do you expect to do with your time and your days? What do you want to do outside of work? ✅ Next Action: Outsource your confidence if you need a boost. We can get stuck in our own heads and not see ourselves clearly, so ask friends and family what they see your strengths as and what they think you can bring to the world. 📘Books: Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business, Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, Life After College 🔗Resources: Tony on the web, IG: @peopleplaybook and @SilverLiningsQuiz, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook Tony’s Podcast: Three Points People: Peter Barron, Producer Matt Thompson, Pamela Slim, Charlie Gilkey, Josh Muxen Podcasts: Best of Belfast, Jenny on Three Points — Freeing Your Time with Jenny Blake 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: Pivot 296: Top 3 Do’s and Dont’s When Leaving a Corporate Job 297: Create a Failure Resume Free Time 153: Behind the Podcast — Increasing Serendipity Surface Area — Mic Flip with Matthew Thompson 117: Tiny Marketing Actions with Pamela Slim 091: Quarterly Planning with Charlie Gilkey Exploring Time, Money, and Energy Capacity with Tara McMullin and Charlie Gilkey (Replay) ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/307 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it too late to wish you a Happy New Year? Larry David, one of my favorite curmudgeons, would say yes — I have surpassed the HNY statute of limitations. While the “new year, new you” energy is still fresh, I invite you to conduct a calendar audit: What are your shiny shoulds? The coulds? The so goods? Today I’m sharing a crossover from the Free Time podcast and book about one of the most popular topics that readers ask me about most: Sailing the Sea of Shiny Shoulds. This also ties into one of the Pivot Paradoxes I share in the Pilot stage of Pivot: The Fauxspiration Foe. If you haven’t already, grab your copy of Free Time—winner of six book awards!—and subscribe to the w3 award-winning podcast wherever you listen » You’re invited! I would love for you to join us in BFF, my private community for small Heart-Based business owners. If you want accountability, support, and strategies to stop sailing the sea of shiny shoulds so you can set more time free to do your best work. Visit itsfreetime.com/bff, and enter promo code PODCAST at checkout for a discount. 🌟Key Takeaway: If you want to dabble in something that might be a Shiny Should, treat it like an experiment. Set rules for engagement that respect your time, including firm start and end dates, then evaluate the impact on your energy and your business. Is the juice worth the squeeze? ✅ Action Step: Observe your calendar and projects for the next two weeks: What is most energizing? What’s most draining? Within the most energizing people and projects, conduct a second audit (you can do this by drawing three columns on a blank piece of paper or digital note): What are your shiny shoulds? The coulds? The so goods? 📘Books Mentioned: Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Life After College The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level by Gay Hendricks The Genius Habit: How One Habit Can Radically Change Your Work and Your Life by Laura Garnett Find Your Zone of Genius: Break Free from burnout, Reduce Career Anxiety, and Make the Work Your Doing Matter by Making Your Job The Right Job for You by Laura Garnett 🔗Resources Mentioned: Jenny’s private BFF Community for Heart-Based Business owners Article: The New York Times Workologist feature: Climbing Down the Corporate Ladder Without Alarming Your Boss  Strategic Social Media Sprints: Stephanie Huston Podcast: SPARKED by Jonathan Fields, Free Time 🎧Related Podcast Episodes JB episodes on SPARKED with Jonathan Fields Pivot: 292: True Fun vs Fake Fun with Catherine Price 305: Is What You Are Wanting Actually What’s Best For You? With Luke Burgis  303: What is Your Soul Path for 2023? Follow What’s Most Alive — With Adrian Klaphaak 228: How I Run My Business Without Social Media 183: Cultivating Opposites and Checklists with Alexandra Franzen 076: On Plan Z, Creative Finish Lines and the Graceful No—with Alexandra Franzen Free Time: 134: How I Prepare for In-Person Speaking Engagements  075: Coaching Through the Free Time Framework with Wade Brill 012: Generating Personal MBA Momentum with Josh Kaufman 152: Do Less — On Entropic Bloat & Business Haircuts ✂️ 154: The Hard No ❌ 096: Book Sales Stats—One Month Post-Launch ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/306 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The opening epigraph to Luke Burgis’ brilliant book gave me such a chuckle that I can’t resist sharing it here: “We want what other people want because other people want it, and it’s penciled-in eyebrows all the way down, down to the depths of the nth circle of hell where we all die immediately of a Brazilian butt lift, over and over again.” —Dayna Tortorici via n+1 (as quoted in Wanting) In today’s conversation, we’re talking about mimetic desire and our relationship to wanting. It’s a fundamental aspect of the fact that humans are social creatures: I see, therefore I want; I want, therefore I am. But if what you’re wanting isn’t serving you, this conversation will be just the medicine you need to turn your attention inward again. As Luke says, “Mimetic desire is like gravity—it just is. Gravity is always at work. What gravity is to physics, mimetic desire is to psychology.” We can get better at escaping relational riptides and the rat race. Listen in to learn more about why Wanting is the key to unlocking our deepest desires and ridding ourselves of toxic comparison and competition. More About Luke: Luke Burgis has co-created and led four companies in wellness, consumer products, and technology. He’s currently Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship where he also teaches business at The Catholic University of America. He writes and speaks regularly about the education of desire, and is the author of two books on these topics: Unrepeatable: Cultivating the Unique Calling of Every Person and Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life. 🌟 3 Key Takeaways: Our desires often don’t originate with us, but we do have agency and the freedom to rise above them We often experience mimetic rivalry with those closest to us Thick desires are ones in alignment with our own integrity and most meaningful pursuits, where status and recognition are byproducts (but not the aim) of deeper satisfaction ✅ Next Action: Be like the hawk (as featured in today’s conversation!)—notice what your subconscious Michelin Stars are and examine, Are they serving you? Do they represent your “thickest” desires, or merely what others in your life and industry tell you that you should want?   📘Books:  Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One  Life After College Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life (Luke Burgis) The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It: On Social Position and How We Use It by Will Storr 🔗Resources: Luke on the web, Instagram: @lukeburgis, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn Articles: Dayna Tortorici’s n+1 article My Instagram, The New Yorker—The Floating World: Have’s and the Have Superyachts Videos: Rivalry: How to beat a basic instinct, How to know what you really want, movie trailer for Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 294: Confidence Conundrums and Attention Budgets with Terri Trespicio 278: Radically Content with Jamie Varon 299: Juggling Risk and Pursuing Passion while Pivoting in a Recession with Adrian Klaphaak Additional interviews with Luke Burgis (via Spotify)   ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/305 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Even when you think something is set in stone—literal, actual stone—it changes.” Take it from actor-turned-entrepreneur and rock-climbing aficionado Ryan Devlin: successful pivots involve constant micro-adjustments. Even when you feel most stuck, you can find a new way forward, but you’ll need to double down on your unique skills and abilities. I had so much fun chatting with Ryan about starting his give-back company, This Saves Lives, and his journey from a successful actor living the Hollywood life to an experimental entrepreneur piloting a new podcast based on his passion. Ryan shares why chasing celebrity can be a slippery slope, how getting used to rejection helps with business-building, contributing to something bigger than you, finding flow, and why getting bored in your career isn’t always bad. More About Ryan: Ryan Devlin is a social entrepreneur, rock climbing enthusiast, and actor known for roles on shows like Brothers & Sisters, Veronica Mars, Cougar Town, Jane the Virgin, and Grey’s Anatomy. He hosts The Struggle Climbing podcast, where climbers share their struggles and breakthroughs in nutrition, training, tactics, and the mental game. He is also co-founder of This Saves Lives, a company dedicated to feeding children and helping them thrive. 🌟3 Key Takeaways: What are the unique things that only you can do? What connections, skills, or insights do you have that no one else does? There are opportunities that only you can identify and take advantage of because of the skills, abilities, and connections that are unique to you. From Tony Hsieh’s book, Delivering Happiness, consider three levels of happiness: something ephemeral (like shopping), flow state (over when the activity is over), and service (being part of something bigger than yourself). The more you pivot, the more comfortable you become with change. Take comfort in knowing that if your next move doesn’t work, you can figure out how to adapt from there. ✅Next Action: Pick a niche passion of yours that has a zing of energy and excitement to it; what is one creative project you might be able to tackle in and for this area? Bonus: go to a local climbing wall!   📘Books:  Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business  Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One  Life After College Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good by Paul Newman The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It by Will Storr Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life by Luke Burgis Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh  Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel 🔗Resources: Ryan Devlin on the web, Instagram: @ryandevlinoutside and @thestruggleclimbingshow Company: This Saves Lives Podcast: The Struggle Climbing Show, Guests: Tommy Caldwell, Lynn Hill, Alex Honnold Emily Holland: Podcast Coach, host of the Nature Untold Podcast 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 242: Nahko—Take Your Power Back + "Love Letters to God" Live 305: Is What You’re Wanting Actually What’s Best For You? With Luke Burgis 136: Why I Stopped Exploring Selling the Pivot Brand and Business   ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/304 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy new year, my friends!! Transitioning from holiday time off to the frenetic energy of returning to work and regular life can be rough — so today, recurring guest (and my first career coach) Adrian Klaphaak joins me back on the pod to jam about calmer ways of reentering a new year, and recentering to decide what kind of planning and tracking is the most joyful for you.  More about Adrian: Adrian Klaphaak is a coach, purpose guide, entrepreneur, therapist, and founder of A Path That Fits Career and Life Coaching. His coaching approach is holistic—a constant balance between getting results and a quest for meaning and fulfillment. He describes himself as “a deep seeker with a constant itch to make things happen.” 🌟3 Key Takeaways: Goals can be a loaded concept: they can be helpful or box us in. Try exaggerating your goals so far beyond what you would set typically, and see how your consciousness and creativity change to adapt to the new challenge.  To calculate your personal year number in numerology: Add the digits of your birthday, birth month, and year (i.e., 2023). For example, February 3, 2023. The personal year number would be 0+2+0+3+2+0+2+3 = 13 = 1+3 = 4. Then read the corresponding profile here » Before committing to something new, ask, “Is this really necessary?” Sometimes the easiest way to find more time and ease is to simply do less. What can you do less of next year, and what might that additional time mean for you?   ✅Next Action: Take a breath before launching into a new goal or declaration for the year. Rest and recharge, then came back to the questions of: What do I really want? What is most exciting to me? What do I most want to give my energy to? What is a project that aligns with my soul’s path? 📘Books: Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business  Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Life After College  Life Cycles: Your Emotional Journey To Freedom And Happiness by Christine DeLorey Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great by Jim Collins 🔗Resources: Adrian on the web, Yelp, Facebook, LinkedIn Course: Career Pathfinder Video: Finding Your Calling by a Path That Fits Article: Trip vs. Vacation (Why traveling with kids is never a holiday)  Creative Numerology 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 283: What Are You Here to Do? How to Find a Path That Fits with Adrian Klaphaak 288: Embracing Uncertainty — Mic Flip with Adrian Klaphaak 299: Juggling Risk and Pursuing Passion while Pivoting in a Recession with Adrian Klaphaak Penney & Jenny Show Free Time 123: “Pricing is Branding” — Anti-Time Management with Richie Norton Free Time 056: Set Your Compass—Systems vs. Goals Free Time 152: Do Less — On Entropic Bloat and Business Haircuts ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/303 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🎉 Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business celebrates its one year bookiversary on 3/22/23!  In this episode I'm walking you through the Free Time Framework—Align, Design, Assign—so you have a technique to move from friction to flow in any project or area of your life and work in 2022. Resources Mentioned: Books: Free Time, Pivot, Who Not How Podcasts: Free Time #052: Perceived Capacity vs. Actual Capacity, Centered in the City with Wade Brill Websites: Agile Manifesto for Software Development This episode originally aired in December 2022. 🎁 Give the gift of free time to yourself and others in 2023 by participating in our Buy One, Get One, Give One bonus, back for a limited time. Here's how it works: Buy One: Order the hardcover edition and submit proof of purchase at http://itsfreetime.com/bogogo Get One: Within one business day, you'll get access to the audiobook and Free Time Toolkit with over 15 new templates to set your time free in 2023! Give One: You will get details on how to gift audiobook access to a friend :) Thank you for listening! I can't wait to hear how you start freeing up time, and what you do with it :) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode originally aired on April 4, 2021. Casper ter Kuile is helping to build a world of joyful belonging. He is the author of The Power of Ritual and the co-host of the award-winning podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Casper is a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and the co-founder of startup Sacred Design Lab - a research and design consultancy working to create a culture of belonging and becoming. He also co-authored “How We Gather” and collaborated with Holstee on his Ritual Life Planner. Resources Casper on the web, Twitter: @caspertk, IG: caspertk_, Facebook: @caspertk86, LinkedIn: caspertk, Newsletter: caspertk.com Tech sabbath from sundown Fri-Sat. Sacred Design Lab Articles: NYT feature: God Is Dead. So Is the Office. These People Want to Save Both Podcast: Harry Potter and the Sacred Text Books: Pivot The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices Co-author: How We Gather Ritual Life Planner Outrageous Openness by Tosha Silver Agnostic by Lesley Hazleton Wintering by Katherine May Authors: Richard Rohr Abraham Joshua Heschel Byron Katie Tosha Silver Related Pivot Podcasts: 105: Tools for Transitions—Just Ahead Mentors, Jealousy Antidotes, and Powerful Small Steps to Find Jobs (or Clients) with Dev Aujla 83: Pivot From Working in the Morgue to the Ministry with Former Forensic Pathologist Dr. Thomas Andrew 114: Illuminating Invisible Privilege with Karen Pittelman (and Why She Gave Away Her $3 Million Trust At 24) ❤️ Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call: http://pivotmethod.com/insider 💸 Enroll in the complimentary Free-up Founder Time mini-course before the price goes up 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey 🗣 Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned: https://pivotmethod.com/260 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I don’t want fans, I want friends.” This is one of many approaches to relationship-building that I admire in this week’s guest, super-connector Jon Levy. I learned that when Jon texts with “free for dinner tonight?” you cancel all plans and say YES. Both times I did, I ended up at one of his influencer dinners with famous actors, public figures, pro athletes, and C-suite executives.  Jon’s secret? Designing experiences to facilitate a shared sense of awe, connection, and accomplishment—with job titles revealed only at the end of the evening. Today we’re talking about these principles and more behind his bestselling book, You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did! This episode originally aired on July 24, 2022. More about Jon: Jon Levy is a behavioral scientist and New York Times bestselling author known for his work in trust, human connection, belonging, and influence. More than a decade ago, Jon founded The Influencers Dinner, a secret dining experience for industry leaders ranging from Nobel laureates, Olympians, celebrities, and executives, to artists and musicians. Guests cook dinner together, but can’t discuss their career or give their last name, and once seated to eat, they reveal who they are. Over time, these dinners developed into a community. With thousands of members, Influencers is the largest community of its type worldwide. 🌟3 Key Takeaways: Say yes to invites. If you want higher levels of creativity, new relationships, new ideas—it’s going to happen outside of your standard routines. Novelty is critical if you want to be noticed. What are you doing that only you do? Make that one of the key things you talk about and promote. Instead of asking why you’re not on social media, or forcing yourself into it, ask “Why should I be on social media? If you don’t have a good reason, don’t stress about it!   ✅Next Action: What next group invitation can you send? How can you create a memorable experience around it?  📘Books Mentioned: Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business  Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One The 2 AM Principle You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence 🔗Resources Mentioned:  Jon on the web, Instagram: @jonlevytlb, Twitter: @JonLevyTLB New York Times feature: Want to Meet Influential New Yorkers? Invite Them to Dinner Video: Ted Talk: What Makes Us Influential?, Fortune: The Science of Adventure Resources: Upwork, Notion TV Show: Old Enough Reddit.com 🎧Related Podcast Episodes:  228: How I Run My Business Without Social Media 263: Conduct a Relationship Audit with Ximena Vengoechea   ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey 🗣 Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/285 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does your calendar reflect your values and priorities? Do you pause before responding to requests, or are you saying yes to things out of fear, pressure, or obligation? I’m delighted to be in conversation with my dear friend Sarah Young this week on creating clear containers, clean vs. dirty energy, navigating “spiritual tornados of leadership,” handling inevitable criticism, and moving past people-pleasing toward acting in the path of highest integrity. Be sure to check out Sarah’s beautiful book, Expansive Impact: An Invitation to Lead in Everyday Moments, and subscribe to her fantastic Friday Favorites newsletter! It’s one of my favorite messages in my inbox every week :) This episode originally aired on April 3, 2022. More About Sarah: Sarah Young is the Founder and CEO of Zing Collaborative and the author of Expansive Impact: An Invitation to Lead in Everyday Moments. She works with a handful of highly conscious and committed clients who want to elevate and expand their leadership capacity. Sarah runs retreats, workshops, and speaking events to help leaders further develop through an approach that blends corporate experience, research, mindfulness, leadership, coaching, and experiential learning. She has a deep appreciation for nature, travel, sunshine, warm weather, paddle boarding, rescue dogs, cooking, coffee, and the precious hours of the early morning. 🌟 3 Key Takeaways: If you find it hard to create time for yourself, building time for personal projects and R&R right into your calendar. Ask to meet over the phone or while walking, instead of screen-fatigue inducing video calls. Use a decision filter before saying yes. Ask yourself: “is this fully in line with my values and priorities?”  Remember that you can do everything right to communicate clearly and with integrity, and sometimes it still may not work if the other person doesn't have the desire to meet you halfway.   📝 Permission: Skip the comment section. You don’t need to engage where the energy doesn’t feel right. Sometimes people are just waiting to pounce, and you don’t have to provide the opportunity. ✅ Do or Delegate This Next: Pause. Find a moment in the day where you can pause before you respond to something, reflecting on whether it connects with your values and how you want to engage in the world.   📘 Books Mentioned:  Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business  Expansive Impact: An Invitation to Lead in Everyday Moments The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too) 🔗 Resources Mentioned:  Sarah Young on the web, Instagram, LinkedIn Sarah’s book: Expansive Impact: An Invitation to Lead in Everyday Moments Articles: 999 Problems, Why I don’t have Comments by Seth Godin, An Ex-Google Career Coach Tells Why Pleasing Everyone Will Never Help You in Your Career Quiz: Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies Related Podcast Episodes: Free Time 077: Happy Launch Day! Antonio Neves Guest Hosts (Part 1) Pivot Episode 132: The Making of a Manager with Julie Zhuo   ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey 🗣 Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/277 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"For generations, we’ve been taught there are two ways to succeed—either from talent or practice." My guest today, Ron Friedman, shares a powerful third path: reverse engineering. In this conversation you will learn how to unpack others' success to spark breakthrough ideas of your own, with an original twist. This episode originally aired on November 28, 2021. More About Ron: Ron Friedman is an award-winning social psychologist who specializes in human motivation. His first book, The Best Place to Work, was named an Inc. Magazine Best Business Book of the Year. His new book, *Decoding Greatness: How the Best in the World Reverse Engineer Success,* was selected by Amazon's editors as one of this year's best non-fiction books. Resources Mentioned: Connect with Ron: Ron on the web Twitter: @RonFriedman Instagram: @Nilofer, LinkedIn Videos: Susan Cain The Power of Introverts, Sir Ken Robinson Changing Education Paradigms, Malcolm Gladwell Teaches Writing Masterclass Related Pivot Podcast Episodes: 155: Becoming a Successful Speaker with Grant Baldwin, 207: How to Develop Your Book and Big Idea, 209: On Seinfeld, Sensitivity, and Trend Spotting Related Free Time Episodes: 010: Batching & Boundaries with John Lee Dumas, 022: Become a Thought-Listener, 031: Eleventh-Hour Creative Gremlins, 034: Organizing Research and Ideas — Notion Walkthrough #1, 036: Shaping Big Ideas — Notion Walkthrough #2 ❤️ Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a podcast BFF Insider and you’ll get access to a monthly Q&A call with Jenny and private feed. 💸 Enroll in the complimentary Free-up Founder Time mini-course before the price goes up 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey 🗣 Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned Check out other episodes of the Pivot Podcast here. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen, and if you enjoy the show I would be very grateful for a rating and/or review! Sign-up for my weekly(ish) #PivotList newsletter to receive curated round-ups of what I’m reading, watching, listening to, and new tools I’m geeking out on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“When life takes you down, it changes you. You’re not the same after,” says Dr. Susan Biali in her new book, The Resilient Life. “When I look back on my career, my most cherished accomplishments all came with significant stress.” And yet, sometimes, that work-related stress can tip into burnout if we’re not careful—something particularly prominent these last few years. Susan is one of my longest-time friendtors (fifteen years and counting!), and in this long-overdue Pivot conversation, we talk about what personality traits make someone most prone to burnout, social overwhelm the power of small doses of relaxation response activities, and more. More About Susan: Dr. Susan Biali Haas is an award-winning medical doctor, internationally recognized for her expertise in mental health, stress management, burnout prevention, and resilience. Today we’re talking about her new book, The Resilient Life: Manage stress, prevent burnout, improve your physical and mental health, and live with more resilience. **** In addition to her twenty years of primary care experience, she also coaches a broad range of clients — from senior executives to physicians and other health professionals — to take control of their mental and physical well-being. Dr. Susan’s popular Psychology Today blog has over 10 million views, and she has been featured in media such as the Today Show, Forbes, BBC World Service, Oprah.com, and others. 🌟3 Key Takeaways: Even 10 to 20 min of mindful Relaxation Response activities can have a 24-hour positive impact on your mood and health. When is burnout not burnout? Sometimes what we think is burnout is actually a psychological crash that feels very intense but can be worked through with extra rest, sleep, and other self-care. Real burnout is more serious and often needs the care of a professional to recover from. Leverage your parasympathetic nervous system to counteract your stress response; take a few deep breaths and pay attention to how you feel afterward.   ✅Do This Next: What do you need and want most? Create a social inventory of the different people in your life and interactions you want to have with them, and reflect on how those relationships are showing up or present in your life and if you are happy with that, or want to make changes.    📘Books:  Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Life After College The Resilient Life Live a Life You Love 🔗Resources: Susan on the web, Instagram: @drsusanbiali, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook Articles: Susan’s Psychology Today column, Don’t Try to Reason with Unreasonable People, Create Free Time Within Your Overwhelmed Work Life Podcast: The Jordan Harbinger Show Big 5 Personality Test Video: Relaxation Response Demonstration Research: Resilience Research Center led by Dr. Michael Unger 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 60: How Emotionally Agile Are You? Strategies for Setbacks with Susan David 45: Post-Launch Pivot Point + Visit From the Furry Rest Monster Free Time 063: On Burnout and Business Intuition with Azul Terronez of Authors Who Lead Free Time 006: Going Pro on Podcasting with Jordan Harbinger   ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/302 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when you write a book called The Revenge of Analog, only to find a pandemic relentlessly converting everything to virtual a few years later? David Sax answered the call with a follow-up book, the only one he could write from the confines of home, describing the malaise of digital pushed to its extremes, again making the case for RR: Real Reality (and you know we couldn’t resist a few pirate jokes to follow). I know you’ll love this conversation as much as I did about the timeless nature of our most meaningful moments; the future of books, book clubs, and bookstores; and why the metaverse has nothing to do with our salvation as a species. More About David: David Sax is a technology critic and bestselling author of five books, including Save the Deli, The Tastemakers, The Revenge of Analog, and The Soul of an Entrepreneur. His new book, The Future Is Analog: How to Create a More Human World, highlights the resurgence of analog goods and ideas in a digitally proliferated world. He reminds us all that we should look for community and humanity, not convenience and technology. 🌟Key Takeaway: There are things that are just better in AR: Actual Reality (as opposed to digital). Books, speaking engagements, school, bookstores. There’s nothing saying we have to choose the metaverse despite how relentlessly it’s marketed to us.   ✅Next Action: When someone asks you about your plans for the future, consider: What makes you feel the most human? What kind of connection do you crave and desire? How can you bring more of that into your life? Take something back that has gone digital and return to analog, whether it’s buying a hardcover book or sending a handwritten thank you note. 📘Books:  Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One  Life After College A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload by Cal Newport  The Algebra of Happiness: Notes on the Pursuit of Success, Love, and Meaning by Scott Galloway The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google by Scott Galloway 🔗Resources: David on the web, Twitter, LinkedIn Article: New York Times—This is Life in the Metaverse Scott Galloway: Newsletter, The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway Podcast: 3 Books with Neil Pasricha 🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 287: Solving Pivot Puzzles with A.J. Jacobs 265: Free Time Crossover — Eliminate Email with Cal Newport 122: Digital Minimalism with Cal Newport 29: Deep Work: Ditch Cognitive Junk Food with Cal Newport 143: Transmogrify with Neil Pasricha 44: Want Nothing, Have Everything: The Happiness Equation with Neil Pasricha JB on SPARKED with Jonathan Fields: On Putting Yourself in the Path of Pivot, How to Choose Freedom Over Familial Responsibility, How to Scale While Staying True to Yourself, and How to Know When to Jump Into Your Side Hustle Free Time 134: How I Prepare for In-Person Speaking Engagements   ❤️ Enjoying the show? I'd be grateful for a rating and/or review! Even better? Share this episode with a friend :) 💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter 💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey ☎️ Submit a question or comment for future episodes 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/301 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices