Vision to Reality Series: Turning those New Year's Resolution into Reality

In today's episode, Cheryl & Colleen breakdown how to get that dream, that vision, that huge goal that's been keeping you up at night, broken down to goals, tasks, and actionable items so you can ACHIEVE the life you've been dreaming of!

This episode is the preview of our upcoming Vision to Reality Series, where we will hand hold you from designing your future, to setting up your daily task lists, to celebrating your successes!!! If you haven't been able to tell by the excessive exclamation points, WE ARE SO EXCITED to be bringing you this!

Follow along at @DoingThisRightPod on Instagram and TikTok.
And register for the complimentary webinar series here. 

Transcript

Cheryl: 0:36

Oh, hello again, my friend. How

Colleen: 0:39

Hello. Happy New Year.

Cheryl: 0:42

Happy New Year. Are you like a stay up all night kind of family or are you like a we're going to bed at normal time, kind of family

Colleen: 0:50

I, my kids this year really wanna stay up really late. My daughter was like, I'm gonna stay up till 5:00 AM and I'm like, that sounds awful.

Cheryl: 0:57

Terrible.

Colleen: 0:58

I bet my older two will want to stay up. When we lived in on the West coast, it was really awesome because we would do East Coast New Year's and now we live on Eastern Standard Time. So I don't know, like maybe we can do Paris New Year's or something like that. Like maybe there, maybe there's some other time zone that we could celebrate. Because I just. I'm not super interested in, I don't know, maybe I'm a Grinch when it comes to New Year's, but I always feel like there's like so much hype about doing something cool for New Year's. There's so much hype and I've never really felt like I've done anything that lived up to the hype, and I don't know if there is anything that can.

Cheryl: 1:47

Like even if I've gone out and like done the big party, always turns into a shit show. It's like amateur night. Every rookie drinker in the world is out and no, you're in good company. I grew up doing the, I'm in on West Coast and I grew up doing Michigan Ball Drop because that's where my family was.

Colleen: 2:05

Yeah.

Cheryl: 2:05

So three hours earlier, and then as an adult, since we've had kids, I don't think Alex and I have made it to midnight on purpose in at least seven years. I. So, and I am hosting this year a like five o'clock ball drop and party for some friends. And because you guys spoiler, here's how the sausage is made. We're recording this before New Year's, but we're pretending like this is after

Colleen: 2:28

Afternoon

Cheryl: 2:29

So we are hosting like a five o'clock ball drop and one of my girlfriends was like, okay, cool, so can we stay the night after? Like, we'll party after the kids go to bed. And I was like. No, No. we go to bed at a normal time. Like the idea of five o'clock is so that at seven o'clock I can be in my pajamas and we can just be

Colleen: 2:46

Yeah. You need to put up one of those signs that says, please leave by seven

Cheryl: 2:52

Yeah, please leave by seven or my bra will come off and you will just be.

Colleen: 2:56

That might make want them to stay. They might wanna stay now, so I don't think you should tell.

Cheryl: 3:01

Yeah, that's true. Everybody wants to see those dips at my, at my belly button. thRee kids, you know, keeping it real, folks.

Colleen: 3:08

Keep it real. Okay, so we, this episode we are gonna talk about New year stuff, right? It feels like we should at least address like goals, resolutions, you know, like how we're starting out the new year strong. And I think we want to talk about, you know, like creating big goals, manifesting big things for your future, but then also like How are you doing those things or how are we putting those things into action? Right?

Cheryl: 3:40

Yeah, I am huge on like. One of the things Colleen and I really wanna offer to our listeners, and like our retreat guests coming up later this year, and anyone that works with us in this entrepreneurial space is like, okay, all these big ideas are so fantastic, but how do we implement them? Like, where's the action? How do we actually like implement this into our life? So today we wanna talk about the big resolutions, like, did you make one? Did you like? I think for Colleen and I, it's more like business planning. Mhmm., it's not really a resolution, it's just like, here's where my roadmap for this year.

Colleen: 4:13

here's what we're doing. Yeah.

Cheryl: 4:15

yeah, and then like what steps are we gonna take to get there? So we wanna make sure that we are providing you with tools and resources to help you achieve those. So I think the first thing is like having your vision. So are you vision boarding this year, Colleen?

Colleen: 4:30

Absolutely. Absolutely. I did it last year. I attended a workshop, with a woman who like helps you do the vision boards, but it was like also like, it's a little woo woo, you know, whatever. But it was like, you know, like releasing the things that you are. That you don't want or you feel like are holding you back and then, creating a vision for the new year and really setting your intentions for the new year. So I did that last year and I will say I was super, like, skeptical. I was like, okay, but I love to make a collage, so I'm gonna do it. And another agent invited me and I really like her. So I was like, great, I'll, I'll do it. I'll tell you. I would say. 90% of the things that I put on my vision board I achieved this year. And so I was like, oh, hell yeah, I'm doing that again this year. Like, I've been waiting. I wanted to do it again with this woman. Her name is Sarah Armstrong, and she's like a coach here who we should get on this show. I, I'll see if I can reach out to her. But she was Not doing them at the end of the year, or maybe she was busy or something, so I'm gonna have to do it myself. And I think you and I talked about maybe doing them together, like online, but I definitely,

Cheryl: 5:52

in

Colleen: 5:53

I'm gonna do that

Cheryl: 5:54

from a relationship-based business perspective I just have an idea and I'm always gonna share'em. You know, if you're trying to build a network and a community around you, why not host the vision board session yourself?

Colleen: 6:05

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely could do

Cheryl: 6:06

You know? Yeah. And then invite friends in and, and even just like acquaintances or people you wanna know and invite them to join your WOOWOO party and create their vision board.

Colleen: 6:18

Yeah. And uh, maybe I probably will do that, that I've been thinking about that, but I feel like maybe I needed somebody else to be like, do it. You know, sometimes you need that. Right.

Cheryl: 6:27

DO it.

Colleen: 6:28

host the party and,'cause I've been waiting to do one. I have a lot of big. Goals this year. And I wanna make sure that like, I'm doing the things that were successful for me. And I think that that's something to pay attention to as well, is like, what did you do last year that was successful? Or what did you do last year that wasn't, didn't turn out the way you wanted? And how do you change that? So definitely doing vision boards. Are you gonna do one

Cheryl: 6:55

No. So here's the alternate perspective. I hate all things craft. And like that shit is not for me,

Colleen: 7:00

Oh.

Cheryl: 7:01

So, you know, I'm gonna probably build a spreadsheet of some sort. I actually started like the, the Maderis family 2024, like kind of goal spreadsheet. You know, you and I have one for doing this, right Todd and all of our endeavors and got one for business and. So I, I, and I think you could also do this by journaling or just like thinking, just like having that think session of like, what is my vision and vision is different than goal. Like I want vision to be, in my opinion, vision should be like the big picture. It's not like the small actionable things. It's like, so doing this right pod, like. The retreat is our vision, but the retreat is also part of a bigger vision of like, Colleen and I like creating this entrepreneurial space with resources and information and like really taking this business to the next level is my business. Like I want you guys to see Colleen and I on the TED Talk stage. I want to be like a nationally known person that is known for Motivating, inspiring, and then providing resources to help other people take their motivation, their dreams, their visions, and turning that into their successful life, whatever that looks like. So that's like my vision for doing this right pod or like my vision for my real estate business here in San Luis Obispo County is I wanna be the like in the top two names that comes off somebody's. Mouth in the area of trusted, reliable, great agents that you would work with. so those are like the visions. And then obviously the next step then is break that into a goal. And I'm sure everybody's heard the, the term smart goal. So it's specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time sensitive or time bound. So that's, that's how you break those visions now into goals. So if.

cheryl_1_12-29-2023_091001: 8:50

Colleen and my vision for

Cheryl: 8:52

doing this right is, you know, number one podcast and TED talk speakers and like creating this beautiful community where we share resources and help people achieve their goals. Okay, now how do we get that specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound? We can't bite off the whole vision all at once. So, you know, this year we're doing the retreat. And so that's a, now that is a goal, that is a specific, measurable, achievable time-bound relevant goal. And we can break that now down even further. And then, you know, we wanna be number one podcast. Okay. Well. YouTube is apparently where it's at right now for podcasts and all of that. So, you know, now we begin setting those goals around getting the podcasts on YouTube and then growing our YouTube channel and, and getting advertisers and getting like just more national exposure. So just take the vision and then chew off what's attainable in the time period that you're setting your goal for.

Colleen: 9:57

But I also wanna say, and not, but in addition to that I wanna say is like, don't be scared of that. Don't be scared of that. And then minimize what your vision is, right? Like. This is a really strange analogy, but I think it'll make sense. I was helping my son last night build a Lego car. Like what? It's like this massive, it was called El Toro logo and it's this massive car and it's one that like you pull it back and go. So it's a big monster truck car and it actually functions and I was looking at it. and this is not my forte, right? To build these things. buT the way Lego, as a company and as a brand has so smartly broken down the steps. So simply, my husband was even commenting like, there's not even words. There's no words, it's just pictures. And each page is like a minor step, right? It's like, put this piece with this piece. That's step one. And then at the end you've built this giant thing, like we built the El Toro Loco. We built the Hogwarts castle, and so the analogy is like dream and vision, the Hogwarts castle. Right, but each step to that Hogwarts castle is one or two bricks that you are putting together. And each step can be very, very simple and you just keep working. You keep the vision right. You have the, you have the Hogwarts castle box in front of you. You keep the vision, but each step is a tiny little step. And those are the things that help you get to the castle. And oh my God, that's such a good analogy by the way.

Cheryl: 11:47

Well done.

Colleen: 11:48

That's what this is, right? You and I wanna be, we have these goals, X, Y, and Z for our podcast. We have goals X, Y, and Z for our businesses, right? But in order to do that, it's these little tiny things, and those things are relationships. Those things are checking the things off the list. Those things are making the list. Sometimes the step is just Making the list, opening up the, the spreadsheet, right? Making the list and, and not negating those tiny steps as progress. But also not looking at the Hogwarts castle thinking, I can never get there. It's too big. I'm gonna dream smaller. Like you have to make sure that you are gi giving yourself, you're not limiting yourself what you can do because you're scared.

Cheryl: 12:44

right. It's gone. Oh, I had this thought. I, I keep thinking, you know, uh, the reason that this podcast is in, in life is because I. I decided I'm gonna write a book and I'm gonna write that book sometime in the next 10 years. I don't know what that book's gonna be about yet, you guys, I don't know, but I felt like having a podcast platform would be a good opportunity to kind of explore some of the ideas and see what people are interested and make sure the messages that I wanna talk about are being received so that this podcast was a step to that. But what that was really was just starting. Just start. Just do something. Just start. And the podcast is another great example of just starting. So I had this idea. Okay, well, so now I'm gonna do a podcast. Okay. Let's start. It was Google search, like how do you make a podcast? What do you do? You know, just start collecting information, start compiling that information, start reviewing that information. Start seeing what other tasks that finding that information provi or, you know, makes for you to do so. I kind of have been thinking my book might be just start

Colleen: 14:00

Yeah.

Cheryl: 14:01

like really just start. So when I wanted to leave my corporate job. I decided that that was something important to do. So I made the spreadsheet of like, okay, here's all our bills, here's all my income, here's all my income, outside of my corporate income, and like kind of just, I just started. I just like, you have to take that first step or you're gonna stay exactly where you are. So just start, just start. You guys have your vision and then just start

Colleen: 14:30

Have you seen Mel Robbins talk about the Nike slogan? Okay, so she asked the question the Nike slogan is, just Do it Right. And she asked somebody, I forgot who it was, and she's like, what's the most important word in that slogan? What do you think it, yeah, that's what the guy said. And she said, no, it's just.

Cheryl: 14:55

Hmm.

Colleen: 14:55

Right, because just do it. Right. If the slogan was just do it, you'd be like, eh, you know, but it's just like, just do it. Like

Cheryl: 15:06

Right.

Colleen: 15:07

do the thing. Just take the step. Just get in the pool. Just, you know, pick up a ball, whatever it is, right. But like you're saying, it's just start, right? Like, it's just that, just, just that. It's just that word. Right? And I think so many people are afraid. I mean, and maybe that's something we should talk about as far as, as creating these big goals and then creating these different steps is like, there is a part of this that is. We prevent ourselves because of fear. Like it's, it's fear-based. Right? And this is something I've wanted to talk about on our podcast for a long time. We talk about, we hear, especially for women, they talk about being fearless. Like, we're gonna be fearless and we're gonna go out there and be fearless. And I do not agree with that I'm scared a lot. I'm scared a lot, but I don't allow the fear. To stop me, right? Like,

Cheryl: 16:11

You're scared and you're courageous.

Colleen: 16:13

yeah. And, and you can't be courageous without being scared, right? Like, that just doesn't, there would be nothing to be courageous about unless it was scary. Right? Does that make sense? So

Cheryl: 16:25

Yeah.

Colleen: 16:25

I, I say don't, don't worry about being fearless. It's okay if you're afraid, but you just do it anyway.

Cheryl: 16:36

Right.

Colleen: 16:37

you just, you work through it and acknowledge like, yeah, this is fucking scary, man. Like I moved my entire family across the country to a state that we had never lived in, and a place where we had very little contacts, no family. Right? I had a couple friends here and I had like a college alumni association. Right. But you, we just did it because. While it was scary, like we knew that if it didn't go the way we wanted, we could just change. So I think that there's, you know, like this, this idea of addressing fear when it comes to these big goals or it comes to entrepreneurship like, or it comes to, like if you're somebody who's listening and you're like, oh my God, I wish I could start my own business, or I wish I could start my own podcast, like. Well, first of all, you can, you can do that And if you are scared, like that is very normal. Like I don't want people to think that you and I are this fearless queens that attack everything without any fear or without any skepticism or, or self-consciousness or worry or wonder like, like you said, like is anybody gonna be interested in listening to us? Yeah, I think we've proved that that is true. People do wanna listen to us now, but we didn't know when we first started. We're just like, hell yeah. If no one listens, then it's just you and I having a great chat and it's super fun. Right. So I think we should, you know, like I think addressing that in the beginning of these big goals for your year is like You don't have to be fearless. Like please eradicate that from your, from your mind. You can be afraid and you can still do it anyway.

Cheryl: 18:31

Well, and let's address too like, okay, so Colleen and I are currently in a phase of our lives where like our vision is like business and growth, and so our goals are all lined up with that. But I want to go back and remember for a long time my vision was family grow a family, build the family. And then the goals were like, keep the children all alive until the end of the day when Alex got home, and, and I've talked about this before, like we had a period in our marriage where Alex was so goal focused and so like wanting to save money, wanting to make more money, wanting to do all these house projects. And I was like, I'm trying to produce enough milk every day and like stay awake and like I was hanging on by a thread, so my goals looked so different. So if your goals aren't, do a TED Talk rule the world as Colleen and I have them right now, then that's okay. And you just be where you are.

Colleen: 19:29

Yeah.

Cheryl: 19:30

The beauty of life is like I get to do what I wanna get to do and you get to do what you wanna do and they get to do what they wanna do and like to each their own and that's great. So just Also, don't beat yourself up. If your ambitions don't feel as big as what maybe Colleen and I are talking about. That's okay. You're in a different season than we are. You're a different person than we are. You have a different, you've had different life experiences. We all get to do what we wanna do. So you do You boo

Colleen: 19:55

Yeah, and what we consider big goals. Somebody else might be like, well, those are measly. Right? And so what you consider a big goal for yourself, you know, might be different than what we consider a big goal for ourselves. When I was 20, in my twenties, my big goals were I wanted to be the first, well second female athletic trainer in the NFL, and I wanted to get married. Those are my goals. Those are my big goals. I achieved one of those and it wasn't the NFL, you know, and then in my

Cheryl: 20:30

When and married.

Colleen: 20:33

And then, you know, I had a big goal was I, for whatever reason, I wanted to have my first kid by the time I was 30. That was my goal, right? Those were the goals that I, that were important to me at those times, and they were really valid Beautiful, big, wonderful goals, right? And you know, as I stepped into my forties, I was able to, you know, we talked about being untethered, right? I was able to untether my myself physically from my children and really work on these big business goals. So every season of your life is different. You might be tackling your big business goals in your twenties.'cause you could care less about getting married. Right. Or you know, tackling your, wanting to get married in your forties. Like, these are all so personal. Like we don't have to worry about and what. It's just, if you've got a big dream, like we're gonna help you figure out a way to get to that, whatever that is.

Cheryl: 21:37

Okay, so, so far we've, we've set our visions and then we've broken that down into smart specific, measurable, attainable goals. Okay. So then the next step is to take those goals and prioritize them. So what is the most important thing to do first to, to, to create this podcast? I needed to buy a microphone first. You know, there's like There is an order to these things and like, or let's say you have like, okay, I have a goal of my real, I've got a goal for my real estate business, my personal life, my podcast, our entrepreneurial business. Okay, which, where do I want to prioritize my time? And that's important so that you can really spend your time wisely. You know, everything we're doing, we're trading for time. Time is our number one currency, so make sure. This brings me to kind of my word of my word of the year, if you will. My intention for the year is alignment, so I wanna make sure everything I'm doing is in alignment with my goals and my values and where I wanna be. And so when I'm deciding how I'm gonna spend my time, I need to be in alignment with the priorities that I have. So. You need to actually like take those visions, take those goals. Now set your priorities. Like what are you willing to trade your time for first to get to where you wanna be. So setting those priorities.

Colleen: 23:04

And, and this is like a layered system, right? Like you set the, you manifest the goal. Like I am, I am a TED talker, right? Whatever that is, right? So you set the goal and then you do your smart goals and you work through those things, but you're still. You're still working on that intention of that goal, like the, we don't pass by, like we don't just check off the things and, and keep going. Does that make sense? You know what I'm saying? I think it, what I wanna talk about is that they talk about this a lot now, if you're in any kind of world that talks about manifesting is the reticular activating system that part of your brain, that You know, it's, it's the analogy of like, you wanna buy a red Corvette and then everywhere you go you start seeing red Corvettes because that's what's on your mind and that's what you're thinking about when you weren't seeing any of them before. And so we've talked about this in a couple different episodes about that hyperfocus. Well, this is kind of in that same vein of like, if I wanna be If we wanna be on a TED talk, right, then that's something we're thinking about all the time. And then thing, you start to search for those things, right? And then they start to come up and you start to see different ways that you can uh, you know, achieve the minor, the, the smaller steps to get to those goals.

Cheryl: 24:33

So what I, so after set priorities, it's exactly that. Like visualize your success, like start to picture yourself living that life that you have. That vision you've set forward and like keep that in the forefront of your mind. And I think why manifestation and like affirmations and stuff are so powerful is because if that is what, if that's what's on your mind every day, then the actions that you're taking will become in alignment with that because that is what your focus is day in and day out. So if I am I mean, weight loss has always been a goal. You know, that's like a, A one that I think a lot of people chase. So if you are like every day weighing yourself, if you are every day, you know, looking up healthy recipes and being and visualizing yourself in that body, like the choices you make will more likely be in alignment with that, because that's what's on your mind, you know, that's. So manifestation is powerful in that you're visualizing, you're believing it, you're sending the vibrations, all of that woo woo stuff that Brittany Hoop stopped talked about in her episode. But then it's also like those thoughts are what is guiding your actions.

Colleen: 25:40

right.

Cheryl: 25:41

So that is where that becomes so powerful if this is like staying on the forefront of your mind, each choice you make, like it's running through that filter. Like I want this, and then. You're thinking about that all day long. So like my choice X, Y, and Z that I'm gonna make today, more than likely are gonna be in alignment with that.'cause that's what's on my mind. That's my focus, that's my intention.

Colleen: 26:03

Right, and that's why vision boards are part of that, right? Because it's something that you look at every day, something that you see, so that you're constantly keeping that vision so that you're constantly looking at your goals. Some people need the, the, the visual of that, right? Or like for you, you have your spreadsheet, right? You're looking at your spreadsheet every single day. What does that look like?

Cheryl: 26:27

Right. So historically that's the step I've missed. Like I set these goals, I'm great visionary, and then I create this spreadsheet and I'm doing good. I've got step one, I've got step two, I've got step three. Visualize success. Yeah, I think I. Do that, but then I'm, I've never like printed out the goal list and had it like just sitting there. Like I don't, it's not something I'm looking at every single day. It's filed away in my Google Drive somewhere. That's what really needs to change for me this year is like keeping those goals in front of my eyes every single day in maybe a vision bulletin board where I've got three different. You know, checklists standing there of the things I'm wanting to achieve in each of these different areas of my life, so that every day I'm looking at that and I'm reminding myself so that then as I move through my day, I'm running all of my choices and decisions through that filter of these are the, these are the things I wanna achieve this year.

Colleen: 27:18

Yeah. I think that's why you have to, you don't have to do anything. I hate people. You say that, but that's why I think having something physical in the physical universe to see is really helpful because Shit's not gonna go exactly how you want it to go. you know, like, we can do all of these, we can set our smart goals, we can do the things and we blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right? and sometimes it doesn't work, so, but you have to have that. You know, it's having that, that visual in front of you to be like, oh God, yeah, I do. I do really wanna buy that house this year. I do really wanna start investing this year. Okay, so what I did before wasn't working. What can I do again? And you're gonna have to start pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. You're gonna have to start working on resilience. You're gonna have to start realizing that failure is not Bad. Right. Failure is just the, just, it's like a science experiment, right? It's just the thing that helps you get to the next experiment,

Cheryl: 28:21

I think that failure, honestly, I think the only way that you fail. Is if you quit and not, if you quit something that no longer serves, you

Colleen: 28:29

Sure.

Cheryl: 28:30

quit all day long. Quit the shit that you don't wanna do anymore. Say on October 1st, you set a a goal of doing X, Y, and Z, and now you're like, fuck, I actually don't like X, Y, and Z. Like, I've done more research, I have more information now. I don't wanna start a podcast anymore. A podcast sounds stupid to me. Now quit. That's fine, but don't quit something you want. Because then you're failing. But if you keep going, I was just talking to my uncle about this yesterday and I was talking about, you know, like I, a big vision or, and I'm, now I'm breaking it down into goal for me is like, I want to bring in enough streams of revenue that if my husband no longer wants to do his job, he doesn't have to.

Colleen: 29:13

Yeah.

Cheryl: 29:14

And you know, I'm working on it here and I'm working on it there, and I'm working on it there. And. I'm like, you know, I'm gonna succeed at this. I'm gonna get there, and the reason I know I'm gonna get there is'cause I'm no, I'm not gonna stop. And if you don't stop, you're gonna eventually get there. So failure is quitting something that you want, in my opinion, which is maybe why I always have felt like I don't feel like I failed a lot in my life.

Colleen: 29:39

Yeah.

Cheryl: 29:39

I, I make mistakes absolutely all day long. Queen of mistakes I falter. Things don't work out exactly how I think or want them to. And then I keep going. I pivot, I adapt. I'm flexible. And those are some of the, the other steps that come down on my list is review and adapt and stay committed and stay flexible. Persistence is the key. If you stay committed to your goals and you're flexible and how you're gonna achieve them, you eventually will achieve them. You just can't quit.

Colleen: 30:11

Yeah. And you can't, uh, yes. Yes. And I think one of the things that I think may be challenging for people is that flexibility. Like people, there are certain type of people where, you know, they want the systems to work perfectly and they don't always, hardly ever.

Cheryl: 30:30

Which is really fucking frustrating. I am one of those people. I want everything to go according to plan. I have a plan, and I want the plan to be executed perfectly. I want it to go by the vision that I've set up, the visualization that I've put into place. That's what I want, and I get super frustrated when things don't go to plan, but. I can then, and I know that I have to then adapt and be flexible and problem solve and find another way through. I'm reading those books right now by Rebecca Yarrow, the the fourth Wing and the Iron Wing or the, something like that. And I. She, the main character's, like very frail and like can't really do things in the way that other pe it's like a kind of a war story. She can't really do things in the way the other characters can. And one of the guys told her like, so do it different. You can still do it different. So she's had to overcome like these crazy obstacles by just looking at it. Differently from how the rest of the, the group has been doing it. So just being creative and being flexible and being persistent is gonna be key to then achieving these goals.

Colleen: 31:34

Yeah.

Cheryl: 31:35

So, okay, so we have had our vision, we've set our goals, we've set our priorities, we're visualizing our success, and we're doing that daily. Okay, now we're creating an action plan. For how to get there. So like this is like now we're breaking those goals now into like manageable tasks. So I was recently introduced to this method of when you're planning, figure out what you need to research, figure out what you need to review, and then figure out what your action items are for those things. And. I have also heard this phrase like, plan your day around your energy, not your time. So we, I'm speaking to the women here because we only have two, two or three male listeners. So we have a cycle. Each of us, it's a month long cycle and at different points in that cycle, we have different strengths and we have different weaknesses, and we have different abilities. So pay attention to your body and what part of the month. Or week or day even that you. That's an optimal time to spend time researching or an optimal time to spend time reading. Like if you hand me something to read after two o'clock in the day, I will comprehend almost nothing. If I read that at seven 30 in the morning, clear, clear as glass, two o'clock in the afternoon, clear as mud. It is so crazy. I remember the first time I noticed this, and maybe like our young listeners haven't experienced this yet, maybe it comes with age, but I remember being at work one day and getting a long email from a client. And I was like, I don't know. I was, I'm reading it and I'm like, so stumped. This doesn't make any sense to me. I'm not even sure I follow his email. So I slept on it. I just didn't respond, you know, and I'm like, let me just take some time to think on this. I reread the email the next morning and I was like, oh, got it. This, it was, it was just so crazy how much my brain didn't work at two o'clock in the afternoon and how much it did work at seven o'clock in the morning and. Your month is gonna be like that too. There's gonna be times where like you're like, I just can't make myself think, I can't make myself get outta bed. So that's not the time to task yourself with doing massive research for a project. Maybe that's the time to be quiet with yourself and maybe visualize. What you want. And then there's probably gonna be a time where like yesterday Colleen and I are on the phone. You guys, we had the biggest shit show, trying to have like a 10 minute conversation because, oh, hold on. I gotta put you right back. Oh, hold on. Life of a realtor. But you know, like we needed to just start, we just needed to start with this retreat planning we're bringing to you guys. And so we're, we're having this call and I'm kind of thinking, I've been thinking all these things through, but I just hadn't put anything on paper. And it was as simple as like, Okay, so we're talking about this now, let's just research. Research is easy. I mean, getting the, getting the resources to review is easy. So like Google, search this, Google search this Google search this. Now I just need to organize these things so that I can come back when my brain is in the right space to actually review this information and figure out how we're gonna implement it. So. I was thinking so much shower thought because it's the only time, like I don't have my phone and I'm not, you know, I'm not distracted by all of those other things. But Pinterest, you guys, we need to go back to using Pinterest to organize our thoughts and our ideas and our goals and our research to achieve these goals. So like Colleen and I have a shared Pinterest board where we're just saving like venues, you know, and here we're saving like topics and we're saving like Swag ideas or whatever it is, and then you can just be collecting this information. And then when your brain is in the right spot now you go back and you review that, and then you figure out what the implementation of this information that you've now got. So it's different steps. And you don't have to do it. Doesn't have to be find the resource, read the resource, make the. Action item and do the action item all at once. It can be as simple as like, I'm gonna find five resources today and that that's what my brain can handle right

Colleen: 35:35

I wanna go back to the point of you talking about like periods of the day where you're more active. I like, this is something I realized not until my late thirties, early forties, it, it's that same idea of like wake up and exercise, then you do this, then you do that, then you do that. I am super on fire early in the morning, so if I exercise during that time, I feel like I'm wasting my brain power.

Cheryl: 36:05

Mm-Hmm.

Colleen: 36:06

But that's similar to you, like probably that's because we're not so tired and we haven't been like, beat down by our children by the end of the day. But also everybody's cycles if this activity are different. My husband will stay up all night working on stuff and I'm like, do not talk to me about anything once I am in our bed. Like do not show me a spreadsheet'cause I will murder you. Right. But that's when his mind, that's when he has time to relax.'cause he goes to work super early and I'm just like, when you're working with a partner like you and I, we're also on a time difference and we've got time zone, different, whatever. It's understanding and recognizing those partners and when those partners are active and and giving each other a little bit of grace on that as well, which is why. You and I working together is really great because we just throw everything. We can just throw the ideas into the spreadsheet and then we can find a time when we can talk about those things. But sometimes for me, like yesterday, I was able to quickly research a bunch of hotels in the car, in the parking lot where I was sitting right outside of going to get my passport photo done, where they totally did me dirty and I have to go get it redone, which I was so pissed about by the way. But I was like, okay, I've got 10 minutes, I'm gonna sit here and on my phone, look up three or four hotels and use those times, like use those. If you have those times, use those times. I, I, I think we have to just find a, this is the find a way, right? Because some people will be like, I don't have, uh, two or three hours to sit down in the morning and do research. And this is the best and hardest part about our life and our world is that we. Have these little pockets of times. Like somebody once said, I do, I used to sell like Stella and Dot and things like that, that like multi-level marketing, like side hustle kind of stuff. And they would say, fit your business into the pockets in windows of your life. Right. And that sometime

Cheryl: 38:11

Aon said nooks and crannies.

Colleen: 38:13

Yeah. Nooks and crannies.

Cheryl: 38:14

nooks and crannies.

Colleen: 38:15

Exactly. They all say the same thing. Right. But it's like. If I'm sitting in the car while my son's at soccer, right? I can do two things. One, I can go out and talk to the parents and create relationships, or I can sit in the car and I can work, knock a bunch of research out. You just have to make decisions on what is the right thing to do at that time. But those are.

Cheryl: 38:36

Can be running that through your filter. Like what? If you're visualizing your success and you're prioritizing it, what? What is your priority today? And you're keeping that in front of you every day. You've got your goal list in front of you every day. You've got your vision board in front of you every day. So everything's being run through that filter. So if you're like, wow, I really need more connection for this business right now, this is my priority, then you're gonna get outta the car because you've run it through this filter and now that's the appropriate decision to make, or. You are like, okay, we're on a, like I've set this timeline on this goal. Like I have a specific, actionable, measurable, time sensitive goal, so this is what I need to be spending my time on.'cause you've run that through that filter.'cause you're keeping that visualization in front of you. You're manifesting it, you're keeping it at the forefront of your brain. So you get to make those choices after you run through that filter.

Colleen: 39:29

I guess I, I wanted to bring that up because I am somebody who really likes schedule and who really likes routine. But if the routine doesn't go, like if the routine gets thrown off by one thing, I get really thrown. So I've actually, I. Stepped away from routine in, in a, in like a backlash way of like, if I don't have a routine, then it can't get messed up. Does that make sense? And so I have figured out and had to adjust and had to adapt because once you have kids, like you can set routines for your kids, but they get fucked real quick, right? Like somebody pss your routine's, done, like, you know, somebody's, you're on a time schedule like this, somebody's gotta go poop. Right. Like you're done. Right.

Cheryl: 40:18

My nemesis.

Colleen: 40:20

Why are they always having to poop in like the most random places?

Cheryl: 40:24

You guys. My kids love to poop in public places. It's like their passion, I think. So I'll go to socialize with you. Sorry for the sidebar, but I'll meet you somewhere. We're going to a brewery. We're gonna have a nice beer, hang out, relax, let the kids run around. No, we're not.

Colleen: 40:38

No, we're

Cheryl: 40:38

I'm gonna spend 20 minutes in the bathroom while each of my children take a turn. Pooping. It's my.

Colleen: 40:44

It's so like, that's life. And so I had to take this very like regulated preference towards structure and adapt to the fact that that is just not happening for me right now. So, so then it's like, okay, well I've got 20 minutes in the car, I've got 10 minutes while they do this. And sometimes that is time and that's fine. And sometimes that is work time and sometimes that is Life planning time. So I just wanna throw that out. For people who, who feel like having a really rigid schedule feels really overwhelming, like. You can do this, you can do it. You can find little pockets of time. It doesn't all have to be at one time. Like do 15 minutes here, do 10 minutes there, you know, whatever. And find those little pockets to, to do, find the nooks and crannies in your life to do those things and, and add, and add. To your life so that you can keep working on these goals. sO I just, I think that that's important to, to talk about because there are so many of us who are really structured and who love structure and then there are so many of us who that is really, um, scary for, you know, and, who want structure, but their life doesn't facilitate that right now because their children are pooping every public place that they go

Cheryl: 42:12

Constantly. Constantly. Okay. So we visualized, we're creating our action plan. We're breaking all those actions into tiny little tasks. So there it, so it's manageable and it's not overwhelming, and you've got a list. Okay. I would be remiss, Susie, I'm gonna do this for us. We need to have a task list and we need to have that task list. In one place. We don't need 17 task lists. We need one place that we go to that has all of the things that we're doing, and we need to be looking at that every single day and checking things off our task list and assigning reassigning. If we, if you don't get through your task list today, fine, just move that to tomorrow. But you need to have a task list. You need to have it in one place and you need to be able to find it. So like 17,000 sheets of paper, you guys probably not the best system to stay organized so that you can stay on track to achieve these goals. My apologies for all you slips of paper people. I understand. I like them too. If you're a paper person, you need a notebook. One single notebook, not 17 notebooks. Jennifer Vick looking at you, one single notebook, to keep track of all of your tasks and all of the things that

Colleen: 43:15

I don't know what you are talking about.

Cheryl: 43:20

So for our audio listeners,

Colleen: 43:22

what you're talking about,

Cheryl: 43:24

1, 2, 3, 4 different notebooks in her hands right now. Oh five. So we are, she is this, I'm like not just talking to Jennifer Vic,

Colleen: 43:33

No, I love a written notebook, but I also keep everything on my phone so you can be that person. I like to write things down. And sometimes I write them down in multiple places, but I, I do keep everything on my phone and I am

Cheryl: 43:46

got like a master.

Colleen: 43:47

uhhuh, but sometimes I just need to write it.

Cheryl: 43:51

And some resources for this. You guys, if you need a place where you can keep track of like all these goals, Asana is a great place and they've got a free version, and you can organize by your different categories of goals, you know, all your different visions if you would, or Google has task lists, um, could be using. If you're a Compass agent like me, use the Compass task list. You know, there's, there's so many resources. Or use a spreadsheet if you're gonna keep it open and you can check it off every single day. Just find that place and hopefully it's somewhere that you can have it everywhere you go so that you can really stay on top of it. And in those nooks and crannies, when you find five minutes in your day, you can pull up that task list and say, oh, I did that, I did that, I did that. Actually, I'm not gonna have time for that. I'm moving that to tomorrow. You know, change the due date on it and stuff. So. Do that. Okay. So we've now we've got the, we've got all our little tiny manageable tasks. We are setting deadlines and milestones for those tasks so that we can stay on top of it. So if I have the goal to, if, if Colleen and I have the goal and the vision to do this retreat this year, and we have now set a deadline that like we need to have pricing, lodging information out to our What are you guys Our friends, our friends. Our friends by March, April, like six months ahead. So now we've set that deadline and now when we are running things through our filter, our vision board, like that's gonna have to be a priority because we've set this deadline for ourselves and

Colleen: 45:20

and we've made it.

Cheryl: 45:21

little task is, is on a sooner deadline so that we can meet this big deadline for that

Colleen: 45:27

And here's a tip. If you have a goal, like this is a big tip, I think. You have to tell somebody because then it makes it real, right? Like we've been talking about this retreat, we've been talking about it, we've been talking about it. We've been starting to put some plans together. Then we announced it to the world, and now we're like, oh.

Cheryl: 45:48

Here we

Colleen: 45:48

Here we go. Now we actually have to do this. This is no longer a dream. This is a reality. You have to do it. So tell somebody, and it doesn't matter who it is. You just tell somebody. It can be the lady who waxes your eyebrows. It can be the grocery checker, it can be your mom or dad. It literally can be anybody. But you have to tell somebody so that it's real, preferably somebody who's gonna be supportive. Don't tell somebody who's gonna be a hater, but, or maybe that motivates you.

Cheryl: 46:18

Yeah, get rid of the hater readers. Okay, so now we are reviewing and adapting and staying committed and flexible. That is throughout that, that goes like throughout this whole process. We're visualizing our success. We're staying flexible. We're reviewing and adapting as needed. We're staying committed. Persistence is key. We talked about this already. If you quit something you want to do, you failed. Otherwise you didn't. It's just all steps along the path and the path to where you wanna go may not be linear. You may go up and down and up and down and three steps backwards and two steps forward and all of that. But if you just stay committed and you are persistent, then you will succeed. In one shape or form. Okay. And then seek support and feedback. So this is my favorite thing to do. I love, I love to crowdsource. But you know, if I have a goal, I was thinking about this yesterday, so I'm building out the budget for the retreat and like what we need to spend and. Susie, Jennifer and Eliza are doing micro, like two day retreats basically right now. Every month. they have a system for this. You better bet your ass. I will be making the phone call to them and be like, what does your budget look like? Here's what mine looks like. What did I forget? Is there anything that you know? And and use? Use resources and use tools. So if you think I don't go to chat. GPT. Three times a day to be like, how should I be doing this? You're crazy. GPT is really great at like making you actionable, actionable lists and like, okay, I need, I need to create a budget for this thing I'm doing. Get as specific as you can when you're putting information into that thing. I'm creating a retreat for women entrepreneurs. I want it to be a holistic focus. Mind, body, soul, da da. I Want it to be three nights. I'd like it to be in. Some are beautiful in the fall and I want there to be excursions, this and that, and all these things. What items should I plan for on my budget? And it's going to then kick out things that maybe you didn't think about or maybe you had already thought about'em, or maybe Maybe that maybe you're at a block and you can't start, like you just can't get started. Go there and use that tool or that resource first to get the juices flowing and get you going. I'm also a huge component. This probably should have come earlier, but like brain dump, like sit down. I guess they used this, used to be called stream of consciousness in school or whatever, but like just sit down and dump everything out of your brain somewhere and then Look at it and it will create more ideas and like it'll help you decide like what direction you need to go first. And it can help just put you on the path. So maybe that's kind of vision boarding, brainstorming, all of that. Like just dump your brain and then show someone like, hey. Friend over here. I know you have a really big strength in marketing. Like, this is what I'm doing this year. This are where my thoughts so far, like what do you think? Use that

Colleen: 49:08

Use your.

Cheryl: 49:08

rise by lifting others and surround Yeah, surround yourself with other people that are doing the same. So really on a, just on my soapbox over here, feeling very passionately about these

Colleen: 49:20

I a hundred percent agree, and I am somebody who and my husband, for better or for worse, is like the person for me. So if I am like, I'm really upset about this, I just need to vomit out all the things that are in my mind right now for me, I have to say them, right? And that means give saying them to another person and usually means it's David, poor guy. And I'll be like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I, he has learned, he doesn't need to tell me what to do with that. I just needed to say those things to somebody else to literally get them out of my mind so that I could think more clearly or more focused. You know, very early on, he wanted to solve those problems for me, and I'm like, I don't want you to.

Cheryl: 50:05

yes, I, that was what I was gonna say. How great is that? He, he's. Now been conditioned to know like, I'm just talking and I just need you to listen and just be supportive in the background. But you guys, it's completely okay to tell whoever you're talking to. Like, Hey, I just need to brain dump right now. I'm not looking for solutions. I'm just looking for an ear. And please preface those conversations. I find myself often, one of the things that I do for work is I support au pairs and host families through their time together and conflict arises. It's just reality and. I sometimes the au pairs will reach out and they're like, brain dumping or emotion dumping, whatever you wanna call it. And I immediately go into, well, have you tried this? Have you tried this? Have you tried this? I, I need to remember to ask them as the receiver of this, are you looking for a solution or are you looking to vent?

Colleen: 50:54

Yeah.

Cheryl: 50:55

Let me know which hat you'd like me to put on. I have both. My default is to solve all your problems, but if that is not what you want from me today, I just need to know that that's not what you want from me today and, and I need to do that for Alex, and I need to do that for my friends and my mom. When I'm calling to vent, I just need to remind them like, this conversation is a vent. This isn't a problem solving session.

Colleen: 51:18

Yeah, my friend bhavna is very good at that. Like, we'll, I'll, we'll be text, I'll text or something or whatever, and she, she will say, do you need support or do you want feedback? And a lot of times I'll say, I want a little bit of both Like, that's what I

Cheryl: 51:34

Fir. Start with support and then we'll transition into

Colleen: 51:37

And I think that's. So imperative to the planning vision process. You have to be able to have a way to kind of dump these things because there's gonna be a lot that you're, and this also has a lot to do with, especially for women, the mental load, right? Like all the things that you're holding onto in order to get really hyper-focused on what you're trying to do. You might have to do that. You probably do. You probably just have to dump all the things out. I in a way that is probably it. Like don't be abusive to your spouse, don't yell at your spouse, because I am very guilty of just being like, oh, blah, blah, blah. There's so much laundry and there's so much dishes and I can't handle it all, and blah, blah blah, and just have a meltdown. And he's like, Ugh. But sometimes that's what I need to do in order to be like, oh God, okay. Okay. Now I can work on this project because I just hold. We are all holding on to so much

Cheryl: 52:33

Right,

Colleen: 52:33

time.

Cheryl: 52:35

right. Okay, so the last step in all of this, you guys celebrate your success, celebrate your accomplishments. Like there's this book called The Gap in the Game. I think it's by Dan Sullivan. I'll put it in the show notes. The premise behind it is imagine yourself climbing a mountain. If you are always looking at the peak at the summit. It's like, oh my God, I have, I have so far to go. Like, you're only ever looking up. How, how much more work you have to do. But if you stop and you turn around and you look at how far you've come, that is worth celebrating and that will, that will help remotivate you and that will help you stay consistent and stay persistent because you've, you're looking at how far you've come and not just constantly beating up. About how far you have to go. So when you're climbing this mountain towards these big visions, towards these big goals, stop, turn around and look at everything you've done. And I bet you'll be really impressed with yourself and that deserves celebrating.

Colleen: 53:34

absolutely. And we're here to celebrate with you. We'll like cheer you to bits

Cheryl: 53:42

Yes. Thank you for listening. I hope you guys walk away today feeling like super motivated and inspired and with a plan that you can put into place in your own life so that you can turn your visions into your, into your summit, and you can turn around and see how far you've come and celebrate. So cheers. Happy New Year.

Colleen: 53:59

Yeah, and share those things with us, like let us champion your dreams. Like if there's a way, and Cheryl and I will always say this and I know we have to wrap up, but if you have a big goal or you have a big dream and you need help with that, that's literally what we love to do, so, so please let us know and let us know how we can be helpful or let us know and maybe we have resources that can help you with that. So please reach out

Cheryl: 54:22

Teamwork makes the dream work. Guys

Colleen: 54:23

happy.

Cheryl: 54:24

happy New Year. Talk to you soon.