[00:00] This year, there’s some anxiety and uncertainty. This is all new to us. And if you’re feeling like, Hey Jim, well, gosh, this is podcast episodes, kind of anxiety provoking. Sure. It is. This is reality though. This is your reality. And my goal is to bring you some peace of mind and some clarity and some solutions for you.

[00:22] Welcome to another episode of series. Through failure. This is your host, Jim Harshaw, Jr., and today I’m bringing you a solo episode. We’re going to talk about how to stay on track when the track has always. Uh, now in prior episodes in particular episode, 220, I talked about how to do a reset in your life when you kind of get blown off on track, off track.

[00:43] And, you know, sometimes we need that sometimes because we’ve been sick or on vacation, or we just got through a long stretch of life that has ground us down. So I absolutely recommend checking out up. So 220. But there’s just sometimes when we need that reset. Right. Recently though, I was having a conversation with a client that led him to an epiphany.

[01:03] And before I share that, I want to share a quick review that was left for the podcast by Brandon Hawkins. And Brandon said this, he said, I’ve been working with Jim for about four months. He’s a great influence and helps me look at opportunities differently. His podcast is great and he’s an even better coach.

[01:20] Now that was actually a year ago now. And Brandon is still part of the inner circle group. If you want to learn more about that, just go to JimHarshawJr.com/APPLY. If you want to hear your name on the show and get famous, this could be your big break. Go ahead and leave a rating and review on whichever podcast platform.

[01:38] You’re listening to this on. Also take a screenshot right now and post this on whatever your social media platform of choice is. Not only does that help grow the podcast and I’ll thank you for that, but it helps me get to know you. The listeners just a little bit better. I love to a cyber stock your profiles a little bit and see who’s out there listening.

[01:58] Also, I want to share this too. Before I share this epiphany that I had with my client a week ago, a few listeners have been having trouble accessing the action plans. So if you go to JimHarshawJr.com/ACTION you’ll get a link as soon. You’ll get an instantly, you’ll get a link sent to you. All of the action plans get added to that link.

[02:17] So once you subscribe, once, once you put your email in there, you’ll never have to do it again. Just bookmark that link. If you’re having trouble with that, just drop an email to paulyn@newui.jimharshawjr.com. That’s P A U L Y N, paulyn@newui.jimharshawjr.com, and we’ll get you all squared away.

[02:35] All right, let’s get back to that. Uh, about a week ago, this particular client said to me, he said, Jim, I feel like I need a reset. And then he said, actually, I feel like I always need a reset. And he said, because I don’t know if there’s ever. And so we had this long discussion about his particular situation.

[02:56] He has young kids that change by the day. It seems like certainly by the month or every few months, he has a side hustle. He’s trying to get off the ground. He has a job that is in flux right now, and there’s always going to be changed. He had this realization, there’s always going to be. And maybe you feel this way too.

[03:16] This hits me in particular. I kind of noticed this every June or so right around June and in September again, I noticed myself feeling out of rhythm. Like my days somehow feel different. Like I find gaps in my schedule where the. Gaps before, or maybe I find myself not doing the routines that I was doing just a week earlier.

[03:38] And then it finally hits me it’s because in June school had just ended. Right. And the kids are off for the summer or in September. It’s like the kids are back in school and my routine changes. So you have to have this awareness. And when you don’t have this awareness, these changes happen and you find yourself just off track.

[03:56] Right. And this, like I said, the, the track is always changing. So what I’m going to share with you. Our three essential things and tips that you can use to stay on track when the track is always changing. If you think about, you know, the situation I just told you about my client and myself. There are plenty of other agents of change in our lives, too.

[04:17] Right? Family illnesses, aging parents, personal injury, or illness, new jobs, or new colleagues at work, a new boss, a changing economy, shoot global pandemic, right. The list goes on. Is there such a thing as normal? Like when you think about all this stuff, like, I don’t know. I don’t know if normal really exists because it changes so much, you know?

[04:40] Normal a year ago and normal a year from now for you are going to look completely different, maybe even normal a month from now, certainly a few months from now, like personally a year ago, right now in may, we were looking at our second summer in Montana. Four or five, almost six weeks in Montana. The last two summers, you know, last year right now I was checking the tires on the data lack, you know, we drove the minivan out there.

[05:09] I’ll, you know, my wife and I and four kids and a dog and a dog mountain bikes and pass, stand up, paddle boards. Right. I spent my time digging through camping gear and our overcrowded garage, uh, you know, spending hours on the internet, distracted looking at campsites and swimming holes in glacier national park and the grand Tetons and all these amazing places this year, or preparing for a completely different.

[05:34] Well, we’re going to be moving an aging relative family member from Massachusetts to Charlottesville, Virginia, we’re pricing, you halls and storage units. Instead of campsites in new backpacking gear, it’s a totally different feeling, totally different routine, totally different tracks to run on new last year, you know, we were excited and there was certainty.

[05:56] We had done this before this year. There’s some anxiety. And uncertainty, this is all new to us. And if you’re feeling like, Hey Jim, well, gosh, this podcast episode is kind of anxiety provoking. Sure. It is. This is reality though. This is your reality. And my goal is to bring you some peace of mind and some clarity and some solutions for you.

[06:17] All right. So I’m going to share with you a few ways. These are essential essential tips for how to manage, change, how to stay on track, how to update your routines. Through this always changing, ever evolving life. All right. So I’m going to share with you three ways. Number one is this, I talked about awareness.

[06:37] I mentioned awareness a few minutes ago, right? You have to be aware when change is coming or change is happening or change has already had. If you’re not aware, you’re just going to drift through life. My coaching program is called reveal your path. The analogy that we make is like, you know, we’re on the path.

[06:56] And sometimes we drift off of the path and we end up over in the woods somewhere bushwhacking right off of the trail off of the path. Now sometimes listen, sometimes we have to step intentionally off of the. And that’s okay. Right. We have to get off of the path, maybe in our workouts because we’re, you know, dealing with something else in our lives that we really have to put a lot more time and energy and focus into that doesn’t mean we stop our workouts.

[07:24] We go back to the cut, back to what I call minimum effective dose. You may have heard that term before, but. There’s these times when we have to intentionally step off the path, right? We have to intentionally spend less time with our family because it’s really the busy season at work right now. And we spend three months head down, crushing it at work, and then we step back on the path, reconnect, you know, get back in balance with our family, et cetera.

[07:47] Now that’s intentional. But most of the time, what happens is we drift, we drift off the path unaware until the crap starts hitting the. And we’re not sure how we ended up there. You know, I had these goals, I set these goals just a few months ago, but here I am over here, you know, I haven’t done anything with my goals and I’m off track.

[08:09] I’m out of balance. I’m not working out. I’m not connected with my family. I’m not doing well at work. Maybe it’s one of those. Maybe it’s all three of those, but you have to be aware. How does that. Quick interruption. If you like what you’re hearing here and you want to learn how you can implement this into your life.

[08:26] Just go to JimHarshawJr.com/APPLY to see how you can get a free one-on-one coaching session with me. That’s JimHarshawJr.com/APPLY. Now back to the show. If you listen to episode 350, just recently, you know, the secret, the secret to success. Is the productive Paul. And I have share several clips.

[08:52] One of them is my interview with Tim Ferris and how he shares his version of a productive pause in that episode. But over the years, listening to these, these world-class performers and people, I get to interview on the podcast and looking back at my own life as a All-American wrestler, as an Olympic hopeful, as a division one head coach, as a successful entrepreneur and as a failed entrepreneur, you know, I look at the times when I was successful and I.

[09:19] It was the single habit that I most credit for my success in the same with all these world-class performers who I’ve talked to over the years is this concept of the productive pause. And for those, if you’re a longtime listener, you can say it with me. If you’re a new listener, welcome to the show. I’m so glad to have you here, but the definition of a productive, positive.

[09:39] It’s a short period of focused reflection around specific questions that leads to clarity of action and peace of mind. Clarity of action and peace of mind. That’s what we’re looking for here. Right? The track is always moving. The path is always moving in life. We have to step back, hit the pause. If we just wake up and do the same thing today for no better reason than that’s what we did yesterday, wake up tomorrow and do the same thing for no better reason than that’s what we did today.

[10:06] That is the recipe for getting off track. All right. Your routines have to update. So what is a productive pause? You can journal, right? Just open up a journal where they’re handwritten or typing it and just start typing, answer the question. Where am I at in my life or what is work? What is not working. I just start open-ended writing.

[10:29] Right? You can do this out loud. If you’re driving, you can ask those questions yourself right now and just start speaking out loud to yourself. No, one’s going to think you’re crazy because they think you’re talking to somebody on Bluetooth. So if the person at the stoplight next to you looks at you, you can just smile at them because you’re talking to yourself.

[10:44] But don’t think that you’re, you’re talking to somebody on Bluetooth that you can talk this stuff out loud. You know, you can work with a coach and you can work with them. You have to hit the pause button and reflect, right? So anyway, that, that episode three 50 really goes deep into this concept of the productive pause.

[11:01] So that’s the first of the three essential tips here. Number one, you’ve got to hit the pause button. How often do you do this? Certainly have to do it. It’s some level every day. Okay. At least looking at your calendar and kind of planning your day. I mean, identifying maybe three things to win the day, you know, what’s important now, win what’s important now, how do I win the day?

[11:23] Identify those three things. Boom. That will help you stay on track today. Step back every month. This is what I really do with my clients is we step back once a month, we set micro goals, right? We have our. But we set these micro goals. This productive pause is the single habit that will allow you to get off the treadmill.

[11:44] Get out of the rat race for just a moment. Catch your breath on a daily basis on a monthly basis on an annual basis. Right? So that’s number one. All right. What do you want your life to look like? Like seriously, think about that. Like, have you done more than just dreamed about it? All right. So you might have like some sort of, and thoughts in your head, but have you really crafted out a vision for your life?

[12:07] Like what do you want your life to look like in the next 3, 5, 10 years? Like, do you have that vision? Have you ever really documented what you want that to look like? And I have Cameron, Harold, he’s the author of a book called vivid vision coming on the podcast soon. And the concept behind that book is really around businesses, but it’s also, he talks in the episode of the podcast episode, the interview about how this is for your life as well.

[12:33] But this is really kind of three-year vision for your life. But what is that? What does that three-year vision or the five or the 10 year vision for your life? What do you want your life to look like three months from now, right at the end of the quarter or the next quarter, right at the end of next month.

[12:45] Right. Do you know what’s driving. Do you know where you’re headed? Do you know what’s important to you? This is the place that I start with my clients. It’s like, what’s important to you. Yeah. I know. You want to make a lot more money. I know you want the promotion or to start that business or to have that career success or any other success you want to have in your life, but like, what do you value?

[13:03] Like, do you even know? Do you even know what is deeply important to you? And yeah, you have some ideas on top of your head, but whenever. Uh, identify those things that drive you when, whenever you have those core values, it helps you stay on track and figure out what the things you need to be doing are right.

[13:21] Like when you use that as your compass, it’s your guide every day. And a lot of you may be sitting here listening and going. Yeah. Well, I’ve done core values before I did it at this workshop, like a year ago. Well, here’s my challenge to you. What are they right now, top of your head? Do you know exactly what they are?

[13:38] And a lot of times the answer almost always the answer is no. And if you do know them awesome, that’s, you know, kudos to you. That’s probably in top, you know, 3% of people, maybe 1% of people who can actually speak with their core values are like, those are the compass for the decisions that you make in your life.

[13:54] From the small decisions to like, like. Should I eat that donut in the break room to the big decisions. Do I buy that house? Do I quit my job? Right. And everything in between. That’s what knowing your core values will do for you. So that’s number two, have a vision for your. And identify your core values.

[14:11] And I go deeper into that and episode 3 24. So three to four is the episode where I talk more deeply about core values, right? That’s the first two, the productive pause and the core values. And then the third one is this, right? If you want to stay on track in your life and you feel like you’re drifting off tracker, sometimes you find yourself looking for a reset, trying to find what normal is and normal last week was different than this week.

[14:33] Here’s the. This is absolutely critical. Have you identified clear goals for each area of your life and you’re going, ah, Jim, come on. I’ve heard this before. Gold. Your that’s just secret. You’re going to tell me to have goals. Yeah, that’s the thing. That’s the secret, like it’s one thing to listen to podcast episodes about this, but have you actually done it?

[14:56] Have you actually done the work? Have you actually stopped grafted out your, your vision for your. And identify goals. And these are the four areas where you need to set goals, relationships, self health, and wealth, wealth slash work. Okay. Relationships, self health and wealth, wealth being like wealth slash work self is kind of the subheadings.

[15:18] There would be growth or impact or fun growth, personal professional growth, learning, a new skill, taking a course, getting a certification impact would be volunteering or philanthropy. Fond is just what is purely. Right. If you don’t know what those are, you will drift off. You will never know what normal is for you.

[15:35] You will never figure out what my habits and routines need to be. If you don’t know what your goals are in those areas, you are going to drift through your days and weeks, and months and years. And you’re going to get to a point where you’re going to look back in your life and go, gosh. Now I, I thought, I thought it’d be farther along.

[15:56] Gosh, I, I thought it’d be, hell I didn’t really didn’t imagine myself being unhealthy or unfit, or I really didn’t imagine my, my relationship. Deteriorating to this point, like have you intentionally set those goals and broken them down into micro goals? And we talk in episode 269 about how to document goals.

[16:20] Okay. 2 69 is a deep dive into how you set goals. Now, listen. You’ve heard this stuff before, but have you actually done it? The productive pause, creating a vision and core values for life and having clear goals and relationships, self health, and wealth. Don’t just listen to this episode and go. Ah, okay.

[16:42] Good stuff, Jim. Thanks back to the basics. The fundamentals. No, no, no. That doesn’t work. You can listen to a hundred podcasts today. If you don’t take action, nothing changes. If nothing changes, nothing changed. Stop right now and do this. If you don’t have time to stop right now and do this, tell your smartphone to set a calendar appointment for you tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM or 8:00 AM or, or noon or, or 5:00 AM and go back, listen to this, download the action plan, printed out, look it up, whatever you need to do, pull up the PDF of it and go through this systematically and identify these things and put these things in place in your life.

[17:28] thanks for listening. If you want to apply these principles into your life, let’s talk. You can see the limited spaces that are open on my calendar at JimHarshawJr.com/APPLY where you can sign up for a free one-time coaching call directly with me. And don’t forget to grab your action plan. Just go to JimHarshawJr.com/ACTION.

[17:47] And lastly, iTunes tends to suggest podcasts with more ratings and reviews more. You would totally make my day. If you give me a rating and review those go a long way in helping me grow the podcast audience, just open up your podcast app. If you have an iPhone, do a search for success through failure, select it, and then scroll the whole way to the bottom where you can leave the podcast, a rating and a review.

[18:13] Now I hope this isn’t just another podcast episode for you. I hope you take action on what you learned here today. Good luck.

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