Coffee Shop Connections
Coffee Shop Connections
Embracing Life's Detours: A Conversation on Reflection, Resilience, and Gratitude
Have you ever caught the scent of pecan pie coffee and found yourself drifting into a state of reflection? That's exactly where Erin and I, Ashley, want to take you during our heartwarming chat. We open our minds and hearts to the personal transformations that happen when we dare to look back to plan our steps forward. With six carefully crafted questions, we guide you through an introspective adventure, examining the shifts in our visions and the daily actions that shape our futures. This isn't just about setting goals; it's about embracing the unexpected detours in leadership, parenting, and career paths that truly define us.
Picture this: you're embarking on a project filled with hope and ambition, but it veers off course—do you view it as a setback or a setup for future triumphs? Through anecdotes of pilot projects gone awry and the resilience that follows, we celebrate the intricacies of adaptability and the strength culled from failure. Join us as we talk about redefining success, goal setting, tracking habits, and the potent effect of 'failing forward.' It's a candid discussion on how the challenges we face are often the very stepping stones to our greatest achievements.
As we wrap up our cozy conversation, gratitude takes center stage. We share transformative experiences with fitness, networking, and mentorship that remind us of the profound impact a little thankfulness can have. Our chat isn't just about sharing stories; it's an invitation to you to carry your own set of reflective questions, a constant companion to keep you grounded and appreciative on your personal growth journey. So grab a notepad and let's navigate this path together, one thought-provoking query and one heartfelt thank-you note at a time.
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Welcome back to Coffee Shop Connections. We have another great episode in store for you. Today we talk about reflecting on your year and how to reflect, so grab a cup of coffee, a biscotti, and enjoy the episode.
erin:Welcome back to another episode of Coffee Shop Connections. I'm Erin here with my co-host, ashley, and I have just got to say, ashley, I have got some of the mill pecan pie coffee in my cup this morning. Oh, you didn't tell you earlier. I was saving it for the reaction.
ashley:Oh, my goodness, it is so good. It tastes like a pecan pie, doesn't it? It does. I've had a lot of flavored coffees and that one is by far the best pecan pie one.
erin:You add a little cream to that, it really tastes like green pecan pie, and when I opened it up to smell it too, it just the smell wafted out to me and I was like, oh, this is going to be good oh yeah, yes.
ashley:Now imagine going to that store when they're brewing it. Oh, it's like oh, get me some of that. Yes, I have. Actually, I ran out of that and I'm Rach will drink a bunch of it too. And I'm like, well, I need to order some more. That's good. Oh, I'm so excited, I can't believe you held out on me, I know.
erin:All morning. I was just sitting here quietly. Ashley and I were chatting for about 15 minutes before the podcast started. And I did not tell her that I was just casually drinking my pecan pie and completing that or happiness over here. So again that's I'm so glad you like it. The mill from Lincoln, nebraska, you can order online at millcoffeecom, I believe is their website. And or if you're in the Lincoln Nebraska area, stop by, get some fresh roasted.
ashley:Fresh roasted coffee. They got a lot of different types of beans. Go check them out.
erin:So my morning is starting off wonderfully. How's your day going, that's great.
ashley:That just made my day Morn's going good. We are in the midst of a washer saga of getting that fixed, so hopefully it's not too expensive and hopefully it's fixable, instead of having to buy a new one because I don't really want to buy a new one, but we do a lot of laundry.
ashley:I could probably own my own laundry mat the amount that we do laundry. So, if it's going good, I still haven't replaced my broken coffee pot yet and we keep forgetting to grab it from Rach's office. So what do you do? Just take out. I went out. I went out and got coffee Lakota local flare. They're dark roast. It's delicious. Go check them out. If you're in Columbia Missouri, go check them out. Shout out Once again, fangirling their coffee is delicious. A lot of different coffee shops in town, but by far one of my favorites.
ashley:So, having that and ready to rock, I'm glad the temperature is a little warmer today and I'll probably go out and shorts and t-shirt, ok, maybe a hoodie. But I could go out and shorts and a hoodie today and be probably OK. So spring weather coming in early, it is. It is Coming in after sub zero or anything sounds. Anything feels like a warm day. So obviously, listeners, if you can tell, after our last episode I'm much more chatty and much more alert. My words should come to me better today, more easier and ready to rock. We got some questions on how to reflect on this past year. We're starting the new year off. Even though you might listen to this in February, it's still the new year, but here we go. We're going to jump into some reflection. And how do you reflect, erin? How do you reflect?
erin:Yeah. So we talk about reflection quite a lot and then, as I was thinking about, it's like you know, sometimes some questions to ask yourself is really helpful. So Ashley and I put together a list of six questions to kind of take you through big picture ideas, down to the nitty gritty of daily actions, to help guide some of your reflection process and questions. And again, taylor, these however you want. We just wanted to throw some brainstormed ideas out there for you. The big thing is that you're thinking about it. You're thinking about them often. Ashley said you might be listening to this in February, doesn't matter if it's August, november, any time of the year is good for reflection. You should do it often, at least quarterly for big ticket items, I think, if not monthly, is a great idea. So we put together these six questions and I'm just going to jump into the first question and it's the big one, because we're starting big and working our way down.
erin:How or has my vision changed for the future and what has influenced those changes? Boom, so big, starting off big, big, big. And typically your vision and values don't change, your goals don't really change over time. But it is important to reaffirm that big picture idea because there could have been something that happened in the last quarter, since your last check-in, since your last time that you looked at this, that really has reshaped your life or your view of where you wanna take your organization.
erin:I know like, if you think back to 2020 with COVID, it's such a great example because it came so quickly and it came out of such a different area that really reshaped some strategies towards your vision for organizations and for personal life. So there could be some personal things going on or some greater, larger economic things coming up that could impact you. Has there been new laws that have been changed? Has there been socioeconomic things that have come up? Has, like a reseller like Amazon come up that has totally changed how you need to shift your gears? So it just is looking at those big, big items that may have impacted that overall goal that you have.
ashley:Yeah, and another thing to look at with this, with how your vision and future has changed over time is you know, we go back to that last episode of that meditation and spiritual reflection. This is a fantastic piece to like kind of bring into if you're trying to figure out how to journal or how to meditate. These are great questions to reflect on and one of the things that could have changed over the years, like think about your life phases. That's a big thing that changes your values. That changes it may be not your values, but like what you're looking for in a job or what you're looking for in balance or what you're looking for in the future of am I single? Am I in a relationship? Am I in a relationship with kids? Do I have a newborn? Do I have older kids? Do I have kids leaving the nest? What does that look like? All different phases of life? Because that kind of changes where you want, if you have younger kids, I want to be around more, I want to be able to enjoy that time, and that's just my personal view. Maybe somebody is like no, I want to provide for them, so I'm going to beef up what I'm doing so I can get them into the sports that they want to do, or the extracurriculars or the music, or I want to travel all those different things that you're looking for in phase of life, and that also affects your job too.
ashley:What happens if you're an organization? You've been there for a long time and there's leadership changes. That changes things. I know both of us have been through a lot of different leadership changes and jobs and you see the turnover. When there's new leadership, there's turnover. There's things that sometimes your goals and visions don't align with the new leadership, and that's okay and it's looking at that and going why do I feel so frustrated or why do I feel burnt out or what do I really need? And those are things that can influence change. So, just to be thinking of things, if you're in something that you really enjoy doing and then all of a sudden you're like this doesn't make sense right now, this is a really good time to reflect and maybe it's one of those, like we talked about in the Pivot episode, is it something that you can roll through or is it something that you need to really look at and pivot to something else?
erin:Absolutely. I'm glad you brought up the relationship piece and even from a leader perspective, as you're empowering your organization and the people below you and they're looking through their professional development or personal development goals, you need to recognize that other people may be going through different phases of life. So I think I've mentioned this before, but Radical Candor is a book that talks about different levels, and you may have a rock star employee who is like a shooting star. They're just going up the ranks, up the ladder, can't be stopped, and then they hit a level. Personally, this is me. I had kids, I wanted to be home more, I kind of had this life shift and I no longer wanted to climb the corporate ladder, and so there's that pause and there's that reflection point. So it's not to say that I'm not gonna. I'm not actively pursuing professional growth now, but it's a different type of growth, so you may experience that. So just having that common thought is really good. So, ashley, I'm glad you brought that up.
erin:Not only for yourself but for others who may be going through something similar.
ashley:Exactly. And the other thing that we talk about this, too, is not only like major life changes, but like what if you have an event that's life changing or life altering? Or we talk about health, like what happens if I have something that came back medically and I'm like, okay, I really need to rethink what I need to do, because my time might be shortened here on this planet, or maybe I had an event where, similar to my experience, where it really reshapes, what I'm looking for, because it's a second chance of living and being able to do the things I wanna do. And so, when it comes to the things that I value the most, I'm holding them at a higher standard to be like, no, I'm not gonna put up with that, because I did that before and now I know that life is precious and so those are things that also happen.
ashley:Is that when people how do you that's where that flexibility comes in with work what happens if you get sick? How do you support family members? How do you be there and still be able to provide and do the things you wanna do? This is where that first question is what are those things that could have changed over the last year? And this is where people grapple with a lot Like, oh my goodness, what am I gonna do? And that's where they get frustrated with work is because it's not aligning with, like, whatever they were wanting to achieve in their lifelong goals. Which then that leads us to the second question of checking my progress on reaching goals. What big wins have I had and what challenges did I face?
erin:Such a good question. One thing that I like about this question and it's an underlying undercurrent for the question is you have to know what your goal is and how you're gonna win right. There's the scoreboard metric that we've talked about before in 40X, and you need to know whether you're winning or losing towards your goals. So not only do you have to have your goal, but you need to have some mini milestones in there, get some metrics in there to define success for you. But then, when you're reflecting back on all of that, there's going to be times when you're going to be winning and you're gonna be feeling great and you're like, yes, everything is aligned, I am making progress towards my goals.
erin:I cannot be stopped. You're like in the flow zone and then there are going to be times when you feel like hitting your head against the wall, because that's what you're doing and you need to determine is it what I'm doing? Is it something outside of my control? How do I change my path or strategy to get to where I want to go, so I don't have to continuously hit my head against this wall? Can I go around the wall, over the wall, underneath the wall? Any of those things? So I think this is such a big one because you always can celebrate the wins and the losses you just like kick under the rug, but you need to look at their losses too.
ashley:You definitely need to. This actually comes as a really good question for me right now, because so I was working on a pilot project and I was working really well, was going great. Looking at my scoreboard and I'm looking at it right now and I'm like, oh god, this didn't come out where I thought it was gonna lead us to. We were looking at wildly important goals and trying to maximize performance and start intervening and learning new processes throughout the onboarding process and through looking at actually gathering the data now that I have it, and looking at where I thought we'd exponentially grow and we've kind of stayed status quo, I've actually been able to figure out. This is a loss, in my opinion, for me, but I've been able to figure out where we need to intervene. What do we need to work on with employees in order to get to the wildly important goal? What's the whole point of the project? So that my loss is actually gonna be my bigger win in, hopefully, the next couple months because we're able to intervene now.
ashley:But that was a big challenge of going like oh, I thought we were doing so well and it's like a gut punch right, you're just like man, we're doing so good and that happens. You have wins, and then it's the ebbs and flows of the industry. And that's the same thing with life, whether you're working with a team or in your personal life. Financially too, if you're trying to save money, sometimes you're doing really great, and then it's like, oh, I want to purchase something. And you're like, oh god, here we go.
ashley:And then you got to work it back up. But I think when you look at those progress, you see all the things. When you look back at your wins, you see all the good things that you did. It's also important to look at those challenges or those losses, to see how did I overcome these things, how did I overcome these challenges and still get to where I am today? Because those challenges are going to make you more successful and drive you more than all of your wins combined.
erin:Absolutely, and I think once you get through the pain of the losses, you look back and you realize that was the biggest growing path for you.
ashley:Yeah, let me put my ego aside and be mad for a second, and then let me regroup. Yes, and if you've listened to our other, podcasts fail forward, fail fast.
erin:It's okay to make. You're expected to make mistakes. It's how you come off of them. And I mean, don't just make a mistake to make a mistake, but think through it and then process, move forward. Yeah.
ashley:Figure out how to fix it. And that's how growth happens is through failure. It happens through failure helps. Look at when you're riding a bike. How many times do you fall off the bike before you actually learn how to ride it? And so and that's a big piece of what we talk about here is like don't be afraid to fail. Don't be afraid to look at all those failures that led to your win.
erin:And because now I just want to say it put a big enough goal where you have to fail. Yes, don't make your goals too easy, because then you're not actually growing right. Put the big goals out there, because you're going to learn through trying to get the big goal. What you're going to do to improve revenue by 10% is not the same that you're going to do to grow revenue by 100%. You're going to have to do different actions. So make it dream big, build your own building.
ashley:Abby Womback told you that building oh man, such a good quote there which building your own building, getting to there, breaking those ceilings, doing all those things, doing the hard things, glen and Doyle, are there things I do every day, helping me get where I want to go, and do I need to tweak anything? Question three, that's the next question, question three.
erin:Yeah, if you need to hear the and so sorry, you're good Jumping over Ashley here I just. This goes back to our Atomic Habits book, right? So you can break everything down into a little bit of behaviors, and this is also 40x talking about. You have your lagging metrics right. Which is your goal targets? Am I hitting my goal? Have I lost the weight? And then it's the leading metrics, right. What behaviors am I doing? Am I doing the behaviors I need to do to get to that ultimate goal? So again, in weight loss it's am I eating right? Did I work out today? Did I get my rest? Whatever those behaviors are that you define.
erin:And so this question three is really looking at that leading metric of are my actions going to get me where I need to go? So, if you are in a customer service base and you're not responding to your customers in your email and clearing your email deck, are those going to get you to your ultimate goal of ultimate customer satisfaction? No, because you're not doing the behaviors that will get you there. So you can break any of your bigger goals down into smaller habit tracking actions, and the key is not to overwhelm yourself in the number of little actions that you need to do every day, but pick the biggest bang for your buck right. So it's that 80, 20 principle, and you want to focus your energy on the ones that are going to get you 80% of the way there and really emphasize those. And if you do those consistently every day, you're going to see the results.
erin:So, when you're looking at this one, have you been tracking your daily actions? Are you successful with them? Are you doing them, yes or no? What percentage are you doing them by? Are you consistently doing them or doing them sometimes? Are you seeing results with them? Yes or no? So, if you don't know how your daily habits get to your bigger vision, you need to connect those thoughts and then, if they're not making progress towards your goal, question two you need to think about do I need to change these actions? Are these really relevant to what I'm doing? If yes, and I'm doing them, I should be making progress. If no, maybe I'm not doing the right thing.
ashley:This isn't the one that I should be tracking.
erin:I should break that down and see what can I do. Moving forward. That'll move the needle.
ashley:Exactly. And if you're a visual person, you're like Aaron and Ashley how do I actually do this and track this? Guess what? There's a lot of opportunity and a lot of options for you out there. There's a lot of daily journals that have prompts. I know Aaron's been wanting to create that herself. There are when we talk about that spiritual and emotional connection when we talked about that last week with the mindfulness journal in the morning, get up, have a cup of coffee, start a journal, make a checklist, check things off, rate where you're at, rate how you're feeling, how are you feeling physically, how are you feeling emotionally? Are the things that you're doing? Are you checking those things off or are they falling off on the wayside? There's a lot of different like templates that you can do if you wanted to check things out to work on your goal. Weight loss is probably the easiest one to explain because you can track that with a scale. You can track that with working out and in chlorine take.
erin:Specifically on this one to give you an example of it doesn't have to be hard. Keep it simple. Keep it simple. I am quite literally. I printed out a calendar word template. I think I got it on Canva. January through December. I have three different color highlighters. Each one is coded to alcohol intake, grams of sugar, add a gram of sugar and workouts achieved, and it takes me two seconds every night to tally off my things and I can visually see am I making progress towards my health, yes or no? And it's actually become. Because it's so visual, my daughters, who are very small, will count them and compare them to husbands.
erin:Talk about accountability and they've turned it into a game for us, and we didn't even have to do that. So, very simple, keep it simple. Keep it easy, then you will do it. It becomes part of your day to reflect on how have I done? Am I winning or losing?
ashley:It's fantastic. And then that also allows you to move into what our fourth question is is, looking at the next few months, what specific plans or important tasks why focus on getting closer to my goals? You see the ripple effect, folks. It all rolls into one. And we've talked about looking at the year ahead and how important that is. And that's what this is, is breaking it down into quarters of more tangible thing to look at. And what do I need to plan for to get closer to my goals? So in the next three months, I want to achieve 100% productivity. Guess what I'm going to be doing Tracking how many people I'm scheduling. Tracking how many people are coming to appointments, discharging people. If I'm wanting to save money, I'm going to track my spending. Maybe my goal is spend $5 less a day. Maybe it's not going to get my coffee once twice a week. Maybe it's making it a home four times a week, and that's $10 a week. You know, times four, it's 40 bucks a month. Compound right there in three months.
ashley:Consistency adds yes and yes.
erin:I think, with this one too, not only are you looking at those smaller habits like what am I doing, but there could be some larger, one-off activities that you need to do to get closer to that ultimate target or Quarterly activities. So let's say like this for me, I had used the same method for moving to Alaska. Our daily or weekly habits were in my networking. Am I looking at jobs? Have I applied for a job? Very simple, minimal additional effort to do In the grand scheme of things. And then the bigger activities I need to call a realtor, I need to get the moving truck going, I need to book the hotels, so like bigger activities that are one-offs, but I cannot get from Texas to Alaska without doing those actions. And so it's Again a very simplified approach to this question, but it is.
erin:I've built my habit blocks and I've built my base behaviors, but there's going to be things that I'm going to need to do that are outside of that. And what are they? And they're kind of Like mini strategies, mini goals, what do I need to focus on? And you write those down and you check them off and once you're done, like boo-hoo, you made it through that mouse. Like that's a little mini mouse, don't you just made it past like you did it? You've got it and you focus in on that. But if you don't plan for them, then you get caught up in your whirlwind, you get caught up in the firefighting, and it's then it seems overwhelming To have to then go do that in addition to so breaking them out.
ashley:You know I love a year-long calendar or quarterly calendar a month on the under.
erin:I love to plan when am I gonna do that? And then you get it in your books and you get it done.
ashley:Exactly. If you don't do it, if you don't put it down, it's not gonna happen. It's definitely something that I've learned. I know one of the things that we're really trying to work on is balance and getting time away from work and More family time. So guess what? We're booking trips. We're booking trips, even if it's just like a like a three-day weekend. We're trying to do that more often now and actually booking it so we don't back out last minute because we both know we we back out quite a bit on things and so so it's sometimes just easier.
ashley:It's a lot of treasure, there's a lot of things. You got kids a lot travel, get dogs. You know it's sometimes easier to stay home, but in the long run the activities are really fun and it's nice to get away, even if it does add some Stress. But if we're it's booked and you have something to look forward to, it makes getting through your whirlwind a lot easier. So that's something to that that we have noticed is like, hey, we have a trip in a couple weeks, we can get through all the fires that are coming and Things and get, and it actually helps, like when you're talking about those tasks that need to be done throughout the week.
ashley:It helps get those tasks done, in my opinion. So it's helped me be like, okay, I need to make sure we get our laundry done, I need to make sure that the house is like, we get the house organized. There's some things we need to purge and, you know, donate to the goodwill and that helps track. Keep me on track to actually get those things done and follow through with the tasks at hand.
erin:Absolutely, and I think I've said this in another one too. But when you have like a busy time at work and you know it's, I always use budget season. But budget season maybe not planning my Extra actions during that time, but doing it afterwards. Or same thing for vacation planning. I know I'm gonna have a busy season. I'm making sure that I'm booking that trip for when that's done, so I can go and sharpen my saw right, yeah, and reconnect and take that time off. So Having that holistic view is going to help you execute towards your vision and goals.
ashley:Exactly. And then that leads into you know what's been the most eye-opening moment in my journey and what lessons did I learn from that? And that kind of circles back to it's question number two in a whirlwind. But what's the most eye-opening moment in my journey and how did I learn from that?
erin:And this one's a little bit broader from a sense of it doesn't have to be directly tied to your goals. It could be, but it could also be that, man, I was really struggling with X and just going out and getting coffee and talking to a mentor on X was really important to me and I had a lot of takeaways from it, and so it might not be like pounding your head against the wall. What did I do to overcome that challenge? It could be some outside factor, but I think it's those light bulbs like those little like ah, I got it. Like the wake up in the middle of the night. You're like jotting it down on a piece of paper. I just solved my problem.
erin:Did you have any of those? If you didn't, that's also fine. You don't have to have like those bright aha moments. But the real takeaway is just thinking about your journey. How has it been unrelated to the goals? Are you feeling good about it? Are you not feeling good about it? What were those? Yes or no? Is this bringing me joy? Going back to our very first episode, the secret right.
erin:Is it positive or negative? Lean towards the positive and move forward. And then how do you take that and continue to move it forward? So if it is the coffee with a mentor thing, maybe you need to do that more regularly. Maybe that's expanding your network is going to help you. It just is so broad scoped that it really gives you that extra level, without getting into the nitty gritty.
ashley:Exactly. It's like what's your big? How does it like reignite yourself? And I actually like this question right now for the fact of just reflection. So, erin, did you know that almost a decade ago you would introduce me to Shakeology and Beachbody? Yes, I'm going there because this is my most eye-opening moment in my journey. If I reflect back to 10 years ago, cause guess what? I've been doing those workouts for over a decade.
erin:Can you believe that it's true? I did have something come up on my feet about that not too long ago and I was like, wow, I'm no longer. I'm not a Beachbody coach anymore. It was a very brief stint, I did not do well at it but I do love the platform. I love their workouts. Still a member. Lift 4 with Joel Freeman is a top favorite workout of mine. P90x I was on this bandwagon before it was streamed, so I have all the DVD sets getting highly off topic.
erin:Me too 21 Day Fix, but yes, Ashley, I didn't realize that that was going to be such a decade of health and development for you.
ashley:It has been, though, but that's my go-to. Whenever I get stuck with something, I go back to the 21 Day Fix, like if it's needing to eat a little bit better or if it's making sure I get my workouts in. It is something that has been the most eye-opening change, so I had to change my diet. It was just stuck. I was like how do I hurt myself, how do I get unhurt and how do I get through this plateau that I was in so a decade ago, and I'm still doing the different workout platforms that they have?
ashley:But that's been an eye-opening moment, because anytime I'm feeling frustrated or stuck, I honestly go back to anything that I've done with Beachbody, whether it's balance, proportion, working out, getting the 30 minutes to myself, and that really is something that I need. I need that 30 minutes of workout. I need those things that, even if, when you're doing the workouts, they're talking to you and, like I love Autumn's workouts and she says things that we talk about in here and it makes you rethink and read when you're stuck on things, like, just let it go and focus on the things you control. Those little habits lead to big changes, and, 10 years ago, the little habit of 21 Day Fix has led to a decade-long journey of really that's where I do my thinking, that's where I focus, that's where I when I'm stuck, that's how I process things, and so I just wanted to lean into that Because I thought that was kind of cool that it's been a decade.
erin:I would have never guessed that it had such an impact. I love that. I love that.
ashley:I love that it did. And it's funny because after the first time, the workouts 21 Day Fix after that I actually reconnected with a bunch of teammates from Seattle and we did a group and that was really cool and so, yeah, it's just kind of been going on strong. That is so fun. Anyways, that is so fun, thank you.
erin:Yeah, I think for me, the eye-opening moment you've heard me talk about it before is design your life book. But just and this is why I kept saying networking or who are you talking to? Because that was such a piece that I really pushed against. I'm more introverted, don't really meet new people, I'm slow to warm up to people, which is weird that I'm on a podcast.
erin:No, you and so Really starting to embrace that. But they walked through how to do it and that really helped me, and just getting in the habit of doing those actions has dramatically increased how quickly I get to where I want to go in my life, and so it's fascinating. See the takeaways that you get from asking yourself that question and how you're living your life. It will tell you. It will tell you. Number five.
ashley:Question number five.
erin:What a good question. I love it.
ashley:It's a great question and then it leads into how can I continue to show appreciation for the help and advice I've received as I move forward. This is a great one and I think it's overlooked a lot and the art of thank you notes. The art of thank you notes have fallen by the wayside, and I'm guilty of it. I actually still have my Christmas thank you notes I need to do, but how do I show appreciation to people who've helped me, who've mentored me, who've supported me? This is huge. If you just take a couple of minutes out of your day and I think back to the mentors that I have and I'm like I can write them a thank you note and thank them on something and just show appreciation, and that goes such a long way Absolutely, and I like this one as an ending question because it's focused on gratitude.
erin:It's focused on others instead of yourself, and there are so many people who will leave an impact or imprint on your life and even if it's just a small conversation of hey Ashley, you should check out Beachbody, who knew. Who knew 10 years later? But it really does. It does and it's Saying thank you and showing your gratitude brings so many positive elements into your life and it then comes back tenfold.
erin:I think, so having that as part of your center and part of your focus is an important part that, again, a lot of people kind of tend to loot out, which is why I really wanted this one to be kind of the last question that you ask yourself, so that way you move forward on that positive note, because let's be, honest, chasing a goal, especially if it's a big one, is gonna be hard and you're gonna be beating yourself up and you're not gonna be winning, and there's very many quarters where you're gonna be like this is the worst.
erin:Aaron and Ashley, why am I doing these questions? Everything sucks, it's not working. I need to rethink this. This is hard. And then you get to the last question and you're like, okay, but really like saying thank you. It shifts the paradigm, it moves you forward and it recognizes that you're not on an island. You do have people who are out there championing for you.
ashley:Exactly, and even if you're looking at people that are outside your organization or mentorship, the people will give you the support to allow you to do the things that you need to get done. So ignore the dog barking in the background, but saying thank you to the folks, to your spouse, who has to maybe pick up the slack because you're chasing your dream or childcare or whatever the case may be, and just a little thank yous and those things go such a long way. I mean, it's the unsaid thank yous, and just to acknowledge this is hard and I appreciate that. I know there's a lot of sacrifices, so it kind of goes both ways.
erin:And let's just talk about the relationship building when you say thank you for even just the little things that people are doing for you. Because, let's be honest, you can unload the dishwasher 100 times and you're still gonna have to unload it 100 more by the end of the week and it's mundane and it's as my kids say, it's boring. It's boring, mom. I'm like, yeah, I know it is boring, but somebody has to do it and it's usually. It's actually usually my husband, it's not usually me. So showing your appreciation for it it does help, because life can be hard and saying thank you is a very helpful task to get you through your day.
ashley:Oh yeah, makes you go for me. I'll go above and beyond. Do you acknowledge or say thank you? It doesn't matter. Work home, whatever it is, okay, I'll do it again. I mean, I need the feedback. I like positive feedback, I like positive reinforcement who doesn't, who doesn't? But in all and all, a lot of this that we've talked about, it's all ripple effect to what you're already doing, what we've talked about, and reflection is huge and it's something to incorporate into your daily day, into your daily life or weekly activities, and it really makes you pause and think about everything that you wanna do and how to accomplish it, whether it's personal or professional. And also it's a really good activity to do with staff, to really have them reflect on what they've achieved over the years, especially if they're burnt out or if they're stuck or frustrated. But more to come.
erin:More to come. Just to recap really quickly cause it's six items, I'm just gonna say them off one by one and then we'll close out. So one how has my vision for the future changed over time and what influenced those changes? Question two checking my progress on reaching goals what big wins have I had and what challenges did I face? Question three are the things I do every day helping me get where I want to go, and do I need to tweak anything? Question four looking at the next few months, what specific plans or important tasks will I focus on to get closer to my goals? Question five what's been the most eye-opening moment in my journey and what lessons did I learn from it? And question six how can I continue to show appreciation for the help and advice I've received as I move forward? There they are. You can write those down for ya, put them in a pocket, look at them often, not just yearly.
erin:And we'll come back at you with another podcast soon.
ashley:Yeah, as always, hope you enjoyed your cup of coffee, got your biscotti and we'll talk to you at the next episode.
