Momentum, clarity, and life on the other side of yes.

Hello, is it me you’re looking for? What if the answer is yes and it’s been yes all along?

We’ve talked about recognizing the signals. We’ve explored why we ignore them. We’ve examined why comfort keeps us stuck. But what happens when you actually start listening? When you stop resisting the prompts and start leaning into them?

Something remarkable begins to unfold: alignment.

When you show up authentically, or when you stop performing who you think you should be and start living as who you actually are, you attract people who resonate with that truth. And when similarly minded people come together, synergy happens. Not the corporate buzzword kind, but the real kind. The kind that creates opportunity, momentum, and a sense of finally belonging exactly where you are.

This is what’s missing in so many lives and organizations: true alignment. Not just doing work, but doing work you’re genuinely invested in. Not just leading people, but understanding what makes them come alive and positioning them to shine there. Because here’s what most leaders miss: your team members aren’t that different from children. Not in a condescending way, but in a fundamental one. We all need structure. We all need guardrails. We all need someone willing to create safety through leadership.

And yet, so few people are willing to step up and lead.

Why? Because leadership means seeing the seven-year-old still living inside your adult colleagues, the one who still craves excitement, who still wants to wake up on Christmas morning with anticipation, who still deserves to feel that spark. Age doesn’t erase our need for joy. It just teaches us to suppress it, to call it childish, to trade excitement for “professionalism.”

But excitement isn’t childish. Excitement is directional. It’s a compass pointing you toward alignment, toward the work and life that actually fits who you’ve always been. Not who you were at seven or fourteen or twenty-something, but who you are: the consistent thread running through all those versions of yourself.

This episode explores what happens when you finally say yes to the prompts you’ve been ignoring. We examine how authenticity creates synergy, why true leadership means understanding what makes people come alive, and how training through discomfort transforms from drudgery into something you’re genuinely excited about.

The question isn’t whether you deserve excitement and abundance and opportunity. You do. The question is: are you willing to stop resisting the signals and start walking toward them with your head held high?

Because on the other side of yes… on the other side of listening, is a life that finally feels like yours.

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Follow Kristin Johnson on her website, KristinJohnsonSpeaks.com

The quiet resistance that holds us in place.

What if the biggest obstacle to your next chapter isn’t fear of failure, it’s the comfort of what you already know?

We talk a lot about recognizing when it’s time to change. But recognition is only half the battle. The harder part? Actually moving. Actually stepping into the discomfort. Actually becoming a sugar cookie.

Here’s what Navy SEALs know that most of us don’t: sometimes you do everything right. Your belt buckle is the shiniest, your bed is made perfectly, and you still get sent into the ocean, rolled in sand, and forced to train all day, covered head to toe in grit. Not because you failed, but because excellence requires humility. Because leadership means being willing to be uncomfortable when everyone else gets to be clean.

That’s what stepping into change feels like. Like sand in every crevice, while you’re still expected to perform. Like standing visibly vulnerable while criticism flies. Like being the island, the one willing to lead when no one else will step up.

So why don’t more people do it? Because comfort is seductive. Because staying where you are, even when you know you’re meant for more, feels safer than becoming the sugar cookie. Because it’s easier to ignore the internal prompts than to face the external voices that will inevitably judge you when you step out.

But here’s the truth: you don’t become a Navy SEAL without being a sugar cookie first. You don’t become a leader without standing a little rain. You don’t influence others without making mistakes, without feeling the sand, without training through the discomfort anyway.

This episode explores why comfort, and not fear, is often the greatest enemy of progress. We examine what it means to be your own worst critic and your own best coach, why leadership feels lonely (and why someone still has to do it), and the difference between massive overhauls and simple daily disciplines that compound into transformation.

Sometimes change doesn’t require burning everything down. Sometimes it just requires making your bed. And then doing the next hard thing. And then the next.

The question isn’t whether you’ll face criticism or discomfort when you step into something new. You will. The question is: are you willing to keep training anyway?

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Follow Kristin Johnson on her website, KristinJohnsonSpeaks.com

Why awareness comes long before action.

Bueller? Bueller? You’re physically present, but mentally somewhere else entirely. Sound familiar?

We’ve all been there, sitting in meetings we used to look forward to, doing work that once energized us, showing up but not really showing up. It’s not dramatic. There’s no rebellion. Just a quiet absence that nobody else notices, but you can’t shake.

Here’s what most people miss: the signs that something needs to change rarely show up as catastrophes. They’re subtler than that. Sometimes they’re negative; dread replacing excitement, the “I have to” overtaking the “I get to,” that persistent feeling that something’s just… off. Like a blister that wasn’t there before, signaling either your environment changed or you did.

But what about the positive signals? The ones we’re even better at ignoring? The curiosity that won’t quit. The restless thoughts about what else might be possible. The excitement is pulling you toward something different, something bigger. The conversation you keep replaying in your mind weeks later, though you’re not sure why.

These signs—positive and negative—are breadcrumbs. They keep coming back not to torment you, but to guide you.

So why do we ignore them? Because awareness is uncomfortable. Because ponds are cozy, even when they’re starting to feel stagnant. Because recognizing a signal doesn’t mean you have to act on it immediately—but it does mean you can’t pretend you don’t see it anymore.

If you want to be an ocean, you have to leave the pond. But first, you have to notice you’ve been living in one.

This episode explores the difference between signals that say “fix this” and those that say “expand this.” We examine why we’re so skilled at deflecting joy and curiosity, what those conversations you can’t forget are really telling you, and why awareness—simply paying attention—is the first and most important step.

What signals have you been ignoring? And more importantly: what are they trying to tell you?

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Follow Kristin Johnson on her website, KristinJohnsonSpeaks.com

The signals we notice before we’re ready to act

Have you ever felt something shift—just slightly off-rhythm—but kept pushing forward anyway? That subtle discomfort when what once felt rewarding now feels routine? When the song that used to energize you starts playing a little flat?

Change rarely announces itself with fanfare. Instead, it whispers. It taps you on the shoulder through small signals: work that no longer fulfills, environments that feel misaligned, or the persistent sense that something needs to shift even when you can’t quite name what.

But here’s the challenge: if you’re naturally tenacious, those whispers are easy to ignore. We’re trained to hold on tightly, to master through persistence. Yet sometimes the answer isn’t doing more. It’s noticing more.

What if the discomfort you’re experiencing isn’t a problem to solve, but a signal to honor? What if recognizing when it’s time to pivot is just as important as the grit that got you here in the first place? In this episode, we explore the uncomfortable space between recognizing something’s off and actually making a change. We examine why tenacious people struggle most in this moment, why January (or any new beginning) tests our resolve, and how to distinguish between temporary difficulty and a genuine call for transformation.

The question isn’t whether you’re resilient enough to change—it’s whether you’re paying attention to the signs telling you it’s time.

Like, rate, review, whatever your podcatcher platform allows. But, above all, subscribe.
Follow Kristin Johnson on her website, KristinJohnsonSpeaks.com