As we near the end of the first quarter, I'm reminded of how fast time passes. Hours become days, days become weeks. Without a system in place to track progress, it's easy to see how quickly we lose control of our goals.

To combat goal slide, I've started tracking my behavior around my goals. Inspired by the book, The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, I'm documenting my behavior around my daily deliverables for my business so I can: 1) keep my goals top of mind each day; 2) course-correct my behavior in real time; 3) spot patterns in my thinking that lead me off path; 4) reinforce the identity of the person I want to be moving forward (someone who loves to set stretch goals and then does the work to achieve them).

Join me as I share the details of how I'm using daily tracking to make this year different from every other year that I've attempted to achieve big goals.

-----

Cited in this episode:

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

Episode 55: How to Help Yourself When You Feel Stuck in Life

Episode 67: Calm & Focus: How Mastery of the Fundamentals Can Break the Cycle of Procrastination with Nerijus Antanavicius

-----

Original music by JMW

-----

1:1 mindset coaching is for anyone who wants to ask more of themselves but knows their thinking is getting in the way.

If this is work you’re excited to do, sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how managing your mind can bring more peace, happiness, and success into your life.

To book your free call, visit KariWatterson.com.

------

Let's connect:

Website
Instagram: @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

"The Compound Effect is the principle of reaping huge rewards from a series of small, smart choices. What's most interesting about this process to me is that, even though the results are massive, the steps, in the moment, don't feel significant."

- Darren Hardy, Author of The Compound Effect and Publisher of SUCCESS Magazine

So, why do many of us give up before reaching our desired results?

According to Darren Hardy, one reason is that we haven't yet experienced the benefits of the Compound Effect.

Having recently experienced these benefits in my own life, I wholeheartedly agree.

When you finally reap the rewards of your consistent and persistent choices over time, you realize that what seemed like small steps in the moment were actually incredibly valuable.

In this episode, I share some real-life examples of the Compound Effect in action, stemming from a commitment I made four to five years ago to take full responsibility for the results I wanted in life.

Unlike goals such as losing weight or paying off debt, committing to personal and emotional responsibility for our thoughts, feelings, actions, and results can feel like unseen work with slow progress and intangible rewards.

By sharing my experiences, I hope to encourage anyone doing this work to keep going so you can give yourself the chance to experience the payoff of the Compound Effect.

-----

Cited in this episode:

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck, Ph.D.

Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff, Ph.D.
(Subtitle was recently updated to: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind)

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza

The Life Coach School Podcast with Brooke Castillo

-----

Original music by JMW

-----

1:1 mindset coaching is for anyone who wants to ask more of themselves but knows their thinking is getting in the way.

If this is work you’re excited to do, sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how managing your mind can bring more peace, happiness, and success into your life.

To book your free call, visit KariWatterson.com.

------

Let's connect:

Website
Instagram: @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

Do you struggle with procrastination? If so, do you try to think your way out? How has that been working for you?

Overintellectualizing procrastination is what my guest, Nerijus Antanavicius, and I discuss in today's episode. Nerijus is a personal coach and trainer whose unique approach to coaching and self-development led me to hire him as my 1:1 coach back in 2020 to help me work through some particularly vulnerable areas in my own life.

As an overthinker with a resistant brain, I wanted a coach who could offer different modalities to help me get to where I ultimately wanted to go, and Nerijus's unique coaching philosophy and minimalist, results-oriented approach to self-development was exactly what I needed.

Nerijus weaves psychology, spirituality and neuroscience into his work with his clients, guiding them through the process of first awareness, then self-directed neuroplasticity to help them train and recondition their minds and body to loosen old patterns of behavior and rewire in new ways of being.

As a student and practitioner of active and passive mindfulness and meditative practices for over 15 years, Nerijus witnessed firsthand (with his clients and in his own growth work) how difficult it was to take action when the body was trapped by intense, negative emotions. This is where the training and reconditioning part of the mind and body comes in.  

"When you're able to tap into relaxation, you're able to jump into action in a way more efficient manner."

What Nerijus and I discuss in this episode:

• Why Nerijus views himself as not just a coach but a trainer
• Self-directed neuroplasticity (and why the self-directed part is important)
• Why true autonomy includes mental and emotional independence
• What we get wrong about self-development (which is why we struggle to change)
• Why training and conditioning the mind and body to self-regulate, relax, and focus are essential skills for our overall well-being
• The science behind calm and focus and how mastering these can neutralize procrastination triggers
• The relationship between emotions and actions (and why it's important to know)
• The science behind anchoring and associations (and how to use it for you, not against you)
• Where to start with mental & emotional training and conditioning when you struggle to feel your emotions
• The importance of creating psychological safety as you take steps to change
• The primary reason Nerijus says derails most attempts at behavior change
• The lost art of mastery (the dedication and commitment to daily practice of skills that build mental and emotional strength, resilience and fortitude)

Where to find and connect with Nerijus:

• Linktree (for links to all platforms)
• Website (coaching information)
• YouTube: Rewiring Minds (long-form videos)
• Instagram: @rewiring.minds (bite-sized content)

-----

Original music by JMW

-----

1:1 mindset coaching is for anyone who wants to ask more of themselves but knows their thinking is getting in the way.

If this is work you’re excited to do, sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how managing your mind can bring more peace, happiness, and success into your life.

To book your free call, visit KariWatterson.com.

------

Let's connect:

Website
Instagram:  @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." This quote, often attributed to Haruki Murakami, is rooted in the Buddhist parable of the second arrow.

The Buddha says, “In life, we can’t always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. The second arrow is optional.”

Tara Brach explains the teaching like this: "If you get struck by an arrow, do you then shoot another arrow into yourself?"

It's this second arrowing that causes us so much emotional suffering, and what many of us don't realize is that we have control of the second arrow. The first arrow is the original pain we experience as a result of a circumstance in life.

In this diary-style episode, I share a raw audio of me processing how we can use this awareness to lighten our emotional load. So many of us are buckling under the weight of our emotional suffering, not realizing how much of what we carry is self-created.

In this episode, I help you see where you might be creating suffering for yourself, so you can choose whether you want to carry it into the future or set it down.

When we lighten our suffering, we give ourselves the chance to enjoy the human experience rather than buckling under the weight of it.

-----

Original music by JMW

-----

1:1 mindset coaching isn’t just for athletes or select special people. It’s for anyone who wants to ask more of themselves but knows their thinking is getting in the way.

If this is work you’re excited to do, sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how managing your mind can bring more peace, happiness, and success into your life.

To book your free call, visit KariWatterson.com.

At the end of the day, we have one life.

How do you want to live yours?

Think about it.

And then, let's get to work.

------

Let's connect:
Instagram:  @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

What do you do when you're 5 years into a Ph.D. program in a field you know is not meant for you?

In this episode, I talk to Career & Confidence Coach, Ken Li, who spent his formative years being groomed for a life in the sciences. From math camps in the summers to undergrad at Cornell University where he received degrees in chemistry and biochemistry, his relentless pursuit of academic achievement resulted in crippling depression that ultimately led him to drop out of his biochemistry Ph.D. program at Purdue University during his fifth and final year because he realized science wasn't a fit.

After taking a career aptitude test, Ken pivoted to public relations where he excelled the next 20 years.

Though outwardly successful, Ken was in inner turmoil. Desperate to prove himself after dropping out of his Ph.D. program, he spent his time in PR, in the words of Brené Brown, "hustling for his worthiness."

It wasn't until he happened to meet a life coach in his 40s that he realized what he wanted most in life was to follow a path that felt true to him.

In 2020, Ken became a certified life coach with The Life Coach School. His mission? To help those with similar stories get to the place where they feel safe to truly decide their next steps in life.

If you've ever felt you were following someone else's path, not your own; if you've ever felt the crippling effects of impostor syndrome and depression; if you've ever questioned your worthiness or wondered if it was okay to want something different, join Ken and I for this vulnerable, candid conversation about the pain of perfectionism and the incredible consequences of living in fear of other people's opinions -- until you realize the approval you've been longing for all along is your own.

---

Ken Li
Career & Confidence Coach
Website: https://donthatethejob.com/
Email: kenli@donthatethejob.com

Can life coaching really change your life? Read Ken's e-book on LinkedIn.

---

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2 IS LIFE COACHING DAY.

"I truly believe this work has the power to transform people's lives," he said. "But you need to experience coaching to appreciate it."

That's why Ken Li, Denita Bremer, Denon Alderson, and I are offering free coaching sessions on this day. We want people to experience the power of owning what they truly want in life. To book your free call, reach out to any one of us below:

Ken Li - Career & Confidence Coach

Denita Bremer - Shame & Trauma Coach for LDS women

Denon Alderson - Soul Cheerleader (Actively Choose Your Life)

Kari Watterson - Thoughtwork and Self-Belief coach

---

Cited in this episode / Recommended:

Before You Blame Your Job, Do This First: Wash Your Dirty Windows by Ken Li

Positive Intelligence (Shirzad Chamine)
 
The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan with Benjamin Hardy, Ph.D.

Being Happy by Andrew Matthews 

What Should I Do With My Life?  by Po Bronson

The Mind-Made Prison by Mateo Tabatabai

Mindset Shifts are mini-episodes where I share one insight, tool, or concept to help you challenge the negative narratives and unproductive thought patterns that are keeping you from what you most want in life.

In this mini-episode, I walk you through an exercise in causal coaching so you can see, in real time, how different thoughts can lead to dramatically different results. When we understand our thoughts are always creating results for us, we can use this knowledge to think on purpose to create more of what we want and less of what we don't.

Tune in to learn more. 
 
-----

1:1 mindset coaching isn’t just for athletes or select special people. It’s for anyone who wants to ask more of themselves but knows their thinking is getting in the way.

If this is work you’re excited to do, sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how managing your mind can bring more peace, happiness, and success into your life.

To book your free call, go to KariWatterson.com, or email me at kari@kariwatterson.com with the subject line: "Book a 90-minute call."

At the end of the day, we have one life.
How do you want to live yours?
Think about it.
And then, let's get to work.

------

Original intro/outro music by JMW

------

Connect on Instagram:  @_thisonelife

Bruce Lee said, "There are no limits, only plateaus." This is not just an inspirational thought but a truth of life that could shift everything for you when you feel stuck.

Plateaus acknowledge you've done work to get to where you currently are.
They also acknowledge there's more work to do to get where you want to go.

That's it.

Our brains like to complicate and make things very dramatic, especially when we desire an outcome but still wonder if it's possible.

But one of the gifts of being human is our ability to bring awareness to what we're thinking, being able to see what our thoughts are creating, and then recognizing that we have the choice to think something different in order to create a different result.

By the end of this episode, I hope you will see that plateaus are not barriers or ceilings, but simply opportunities to notice and challenge the thoughts that are getting in the way.

-----

Some questions to shift your thinking during these times:

1.  Am I really at a plateau?

2.  What emotion am I actually trying to avoid feeling?

3.  What is the bottleneck? (paired with the focusing question, “What's the One Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”)

4.  Where I am hiding? Where am I playing small? Is my goal big enough?

5.  What am I not accepting about where I am right now? (aka resisting)

6.  Have I really been putting forth the effort?

7.  Am I actually managing my mind and thinking on purpose regularly, or do I let my mind wander?

8.  What skill might I need to learn?

9.  Where can I get help so I can offer my brain different insights & awareness so that my negative thoughts and limiting beliefs aren't the only input in my head?

10.  What do I need to stop thinking? What do I need to start thinking? What do I need to stop telling myself? What do I need to start telling myself? What do I believe, or, more importantly, what do I  want to believe?

-----

Cited in this episode:

Bruce Lee

Hal Elrod  |  The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (By 8 AM)

Jim Rohn

James Clear  |  Atomic Habits:  An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones

Brooke Castillo  |  The Life Coach School Podcast

Gary Keller & Jay Papasan  |  The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results

Ethan Kross  |  Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It

-----

Quotes:

"There are no limits, only plateaus." -- Bruce Lee

"Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal growth, because success is something you attract by the person you become." -- Jim Rohn

"What is the ONE thing such that if you did it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?" -- Gary Keller & Jay Papasan

-----

1:1 mindset coaching isn’t just for athletes or select special people. It’s for anyone who wants to ask more of themselves but knows their thinking is getting in the way.

If this is work you’re excited to do, sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how managing your mind can bring more peace, happiness, and success into your life.

To book your free call, visit KariWatterson.com.

At the end of the day, we have one life.
How do you want to live yours?
Think about it.
And then, let's get to work.

------

Instagram:  @_thisonelife

"Me Time" is not just about taking a break from work or responsibilities; it's about dedicating time to yourself, to nurture your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

We often lead busy lives, filled with work, family, and other commitments. Neglecting "Me Time" can lead to stress, burnout, and a negative mindset. On the other hand, making time for yourself can help you recharge, reduce stress, and improve your overall mindset. 

And yet, most of us designate the end of the day as our "Me Time", when we're the most physically drained and emotionally depleted, which begs the question, "Are we spending our "Me Time" the way we really want?"

That's where a "Me Time" audit can really help.

In this episode, I share the findings of my own "Me  Time" audit in the hope that it will pique your interest in taking a closer look at your own.

"Me Time" is an important aspect of self-care and personal growth. The question is, are we really actually caring for ourselves during this time?

If not, the first step to change is awareness. When we bring awareness to our behavior and patterns, we bring ourselves to the present.

Why is this important? 

Because the present moment is the only time where we can influence and change the trajectory of our future.

------

Original intro/outro music by JMW

------

1:1 mindset coaching isn’t just for athletes or select special people. It’s for anyone who wants to ask more of themselves but knows their thinking is getting in the way.

If this is work you’re excited to do, sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how managing your mind can bring more peace, happiness, and success into your life.

To book your free call, email me at kari@kariwatterson.com with the subject line: "Book a 90-minute call."

At the end of the day, we have one life.
How do you want to live yours?
Think about it.
And then, let's get to work.

------

Follow me on Instagram:  @_thisonelife