Creating Balance: Rhythms for Sustainable Success

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In this episode, explore the essential components for creating an extraordinary life. We focus on the importance of intentionality, focusing on a strong mindset and well-defined goals. There are a few common aversions to the concept of goals - so stick with it, you are free to use alternative terms, such as objectives or outcomes. 

The discussion covers the role of mindset, backed by neuroscience, in shaping brain structure and promoting growth and adaptability. The episode outlines a practical framework for achieving balance and sustained high performance: daily diversions, weekly withdrawals, monthly maintenance, and annual abandonment. These practices support regular reflection, creativity, and emotional well-being while preventing burnout. 

To put this into action, utilize a specially designed worksheet for maintaining a powerful daily mindset and design your own rhythym: CLICK HERE

00:00 Introduction: The Power of Intentionality

00:23 Mindset and Goals: A New Perspective

01:09 Combining Mindset, Goals, and Habits

03:10 The Neuroscience Behind Mindset

04:25 The Role of Goals in Achieving Success

06:06 Balancing Goals with Life Rhythms

06:49 Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Annual Practices

09:41 Implementing the Annual Abandon

11:42 Reflecting on Life's Big Questions

12:43 Creating a Balanced and Intentional Life

14:25 Conclusion: Taking Action Towards an Extraordinary Life

Transcript

0:59

Welcome to another extraordinary week Creating an extraordinary life requires more than just luck or talent. It requires intentionality starting with clear mindset and well-defined goals. Now, if you're someone who doesn't like the word goals, hang in there with me. Because we're gonna deal with this in a little different way. Maybe the word goals, won't be such a deterrent. First of all a strong mindset allows you to approach challenges with resilience and optimism while goals give you a sense of direction and purpose. I don't care if you call them something else, you can call them objectives or you call them outcomes. You can call them purposes, whatever you want to call them. That's okay. But for the purpose of our conversation, I'm going to continue to refer to them as goals. And I want you to, just to hang in there with me. I got you. So I know that sometimes the word goals is just can be just exhausting, but we're going to talk about why. And we're going to talk about a way around that feeling that goals might be. Bringing. Your way. When, when these elements of mindset and goals are combined with effective habits, they create that powerful rhythm that propels you towards a life filled with fulfillment and achievement. Now we know this, this is not new to you. And you probably have dealt with, I was on a really good track before and something happened and I just got thrown off. I don't know what happened. I just stopped doing it. I felt so good. And I just stopped doing it. I lost all my weight and then I gained it all back again. I And I just can't get myself to go, go back to it. We have all these different stories that we deal with and we don't have to, they don't have to be exhausting and they don't have to weigh us down. We can establish this powerful rhythm. And this is what I want to talk to you about, because this is really what I'm going to spend this week, reflecting on. And I'm going to, I'm going to go into this week, uh, as. With a mindset of my annual abandoned. And I'm going to talk to talk about that. There's this rhythm that I use to evaluate, and I find that evaluating and re setting up these regular times to just check in on what are my goals and What's the outcome that I want. What are the habits that are serving this? What is my mindset? And really taking some time. Sometimes that's through journaling. Sometimes it's through setting up a special session with a coach or an accountability partner. All different ways that we can check ourselves to see, are we still heading the direction that we want to go? Because there's nothing worse than drifting to someplace. We don't didn't mean to be. Whether that be in relationships in courier. Or in our health, whatever arena that you're kind of thinking about right now. Drifting to. A place of unhealth, for example, or a place of burnout or a place of distance in your relationship. Those aren't places that we ever get go intentionally. So, where would you go if you were always being intentional? Now. Our mindset is. Isn't just a vague concept. It's rooted deeply in neuroscience. The brain's plasticity, its ability to reorganize and form new neural connections. Means that our thoughts and our attitudes can literally shape our brains structure. Uh, positive growth oriented mindset encourages the formation of new connections. And making us this will make us more adaptable and capable of learning from experiences. And this is really what we get when we go to therapy or we go to coaching, we start to expose some of those things that aren't serving us and those mindsets that are experiences that have. Formed our brains structure unintentionally, and we start replacing them and we start rewiring our brain. Now conversely, a fixed mindset, which views abilities as static can limit our potential by reinforcing negative patterns in the brain. Neuroscience shows us that shifting to a growth mindset. Not only enhances learning and problem solving abilities, but also boosts emotional resilience and mental wellbeing. This is when we can align with our goals and our intentions, and actually start to get the outcomes that we want and show up in the world and the way we really want to. Now goals act like a roadmap to an extraordinary life. They provide clarity and focus and motivation. And they guide us through that daily grind with a clear vision of what we want to achieve. When you write your goals down, especially I have mine written on a whiteboard in my closet and I see them every day. When you write those things down, those things that you are moving towards. You don't forget them and you don't start drifting in the other direction, at least, uh, not without being aware. neuroscientifically setting goals. Activates the brain's reward system. When we set out to achieve a goal, the brain releases dopamine and that's a neuro-transmitter associated with pleasure and satisfaction. It feels really good to get what you too, to set a goal and to cross that line. And I think we're at where are we where we start to stumble is what if I don't meet that goal? Well, then just move it until you do. You made the goal up, you can adapt and you can make it up again. the fear of not making a goal is what makes you not like goals, then you need to rethink what you're making that mean, because those are things again, it's a made up story. So you might as well make up one that's better. And one that serves you. getting goals not only makes us feel good, but it also reinforces the behavior and it makes us more likely to pursue future goals with enthusiasm. And so this is how you need to treat goals is placed things that, that you can celebrate and that you can, that move you in the direction that you want to go. Now goals have to be approached with balance. And this is another reason why people don't like goals. The pursuit of goals without proper rhythm can lead to burnout and exhaustion and that doesn't feel good. This is where that concept of creating a consistent life for them comes into play. Integrating the pursuit of goals with the need for regular renewal and reflection. Years and years ago. we were church planting, our coach shared with us. Something that I don't think he made it up. I th I don't know their original, the origin of this framework. but it must share it with you anyway. and feel free to reach out to me and tell me who made this up in the first place. But first of all, daily divert weekly, withdraw monthly, maintain an annually abandon. It's a consistent rhythm in life that allows us to maintain that momentum while also ensuring. To not deplete our resources, the idea of daily divert weekly, withdraw monthly, maintain annually, abandoned serves as that powerful framework. For achieving balance and sustaining and that high performance over a level long term. So, first of all, daily divert, Every day, it's crucial to take those small breaks or diversions from intense focus. These diversions could be as simple as a short walk, a brief meditation or engaging in a hobby. This is something that I like to do in between work and home in transitioning between those two environments. I like to take a short walk after work or spend some time journaling or in meditation. Just to reset and refocus. And re energize neuroscience shows us that taking regular breaks can help refresh the brain. Improve concentration and prevent decision fatigue. This is something to do. If you work from home, it's some it's important to do at home to give your build into your. Uh, work pattern. Regular breaks by allowing ourselves to step away from work or intense focus, We eventually return with renewed energy and creativity. And this is also why it's such a bad idea in healthcare to have these long. Fast paced. Extremely busy days, high pressure shifts. Without breaks. It's just ridiculous. It's a health hazard really? And it. I think we're getting better, but it needs to stop. Let's talk about that a little bit. Weekly withdrawal involves setting aside time to completely unplug from work and routine tasks. And this might look like. A day of rest, a Sabbath. And you can do these things by spending time in nature or engaging in activities that just nourish the soul and that's going to look different for everyone. So. Find something that, that meets that criteria that nourishes the soul. regular withdrawal will helps reduce stress and gives the brain time to process and consolidate information. It's during those times of withdrawal that we often gain new insights and solutions to problems that we've been grappling with. They just come think about when you take a shower and you're not really thinking of anything else. And just a great idea pops into your head. This is what happens when we do this monthly maintenance, when we take a step back and just allow that space for our brain to move around and to work And to organize. Now annually abandoned. This once a year, it's beneficial to step back and evaluate which habits, schools and commitments are no longer serving us. We tend to sometimes Chuck our goals when we don't develop the habits and we can, it's really easy to get off track. Through throughout the year when When we don't have this rhythm or this time of accountability. so it's a great time to just evaluate which habits, goals or commitments. Aren't working and then we can go to work replace those or strengthen them. Now, we're talking about goals and how we evaluate and how we address them and how we go about a rhythm. I want to say about the annual abandon, uh, it's designed to be a week or two of time and not just for evaluating. Design a retreat. Go on vacation. Then, uh, take some time to also be reflective and evaluate during that time. maybe it's before you go on vacation. Maybe after you get away to play and just enjoy yourself and unwind and release, and then you can go to work. Resetting your goals, reconnecting with those, or maybe bookend your vacation. However you do that. But this whole week doesn't have to be focused on just goal getting. We want to really design that time to nourish your soul, to rest and to relax and to just reconnect with your life vision. Okay. So we have daily divert, weekly withdraw and monthly maintain. And annually abandoned. Once a year, it's beneficial to step back and evaluate which habits, goals, or commitments are no longer serving us. This annually abandoned process is very freeing. It gives that space to let go of what's not working. And re-imagine what wellness and success look like in our lives. It's an opportunity to renew our focus and redirect our energy towards what truly matters. If you're on my email list or in my book club, you know, that we're reading the book life worth living, and that asks all the really big questions. And so I've, decided that. with the my birthday and the rest of this week, I will be. Really wanna finish that book for one thing. really starting to try to answer some of those questions and looking at my resources, how I spend my resources, my time, my money are all of those things aligned. Are they all facing the right direction? Is what I want worth wanting is what I do. Is what I'm doing, getting me what I want. All of these questions are really hard questions. They're good questions. They're deep questions. And they're ongoing questions as well. They're not ones that a lot of times, sometimes we don't get answers to these questions, but even in thinking about the question, we begin to redirect our energy towards what truly matters. when we follow this rhythm, we create a life that's not just busy, but balanced and intentional. Now again, notice that I didn't say we wouldn't be busy. Maybe you'll be busy and maybe won't be, but he won't be, if you are it, won't be just busy. It'll be balanced and intentional. The regular practice of diverting, withdrawing, maintaining an and abandoning. Allows us to constantly reimagine and refine our vision of an extraordinary life. It frees us from that trap of mindlessly pursuing goals that no longer resonate working are working really hard to get something that Maybe we don't really even want. Giving us that mental and emotional space to pursue what truly fulfills us. Not necessarily just what is expected of us. Now incorporating these rhythms into our lights also fosters that sense of control and empowerment. Neuroscience supports this by showing us the regular reflection and mindful breaks, enhanced cognitive function, creativity and emotional wellbeing. And by aligning our habits with these practices, we not only achieve more, but we do that with greater joy and satisfaction. So ultimately a combination of strong mindset, clear goals and consistent habits enhanced by the principles of daily, weekly, monthly, and annually rhythms. Creates that powerful foundation for an extraordinary life. And this approach not only helps us to achieve our dreams. But also ensures us that we do so in a way that is sustainable and balanced and deeply fulfilling. here's the thing. It's not just about hearing these ideas. It's about putting them into action. And that's why I've created a worksheet to help you lock in a powerful daily mindset. So if you get on the list, the link is in the show notes down below. I'll send it straight to your inbox. And this is that, that next step towards living intentionally and making every day count. I want to thank you for joining me. I hope you will subscribe and share this with others. it's my honor to be on this journey with you as you get up every day and default to yes, you are extraordinary self.