Get Clarity in Your Business - Work Life Balance Tips 2021 | Lisa Danforth

hi and welcome to the life switch  show i'm adam kawalec i'm your host   which i hopefully am every single week and we are  talking to a beautiful guest today a a wonderful   person i've gotten to know i'm super grateful  to be connected um her name is lisa danforth   and we are going to be talking about having having  clarity in your business and how important that is   in terms of making a switch if that's you  know in life or business but clarity being   so important now before we begin if you're  watching on youtube don't forget to like and   and subscribe and hit that notification  bell that way if you're on youtube you will   be notified every time we go live or put out  anything else plus if you're on facebook you   don't want to forget to like my facebook page  adam kowalik business mindset coach here we go all right as i promised my beautiful guest today  is lisa danforth and she's a speaker business   strategist and a leadership a vision coach that  over the course of 28 years has run and operated   five businesses so she's uh i would say a serial  entrepreneur and she's got a bachelor's degree   in business with a minor in economics and she's  also certified by the coaches training institution   which i have to say is a quite an impressive uh  place to be certified lisa is helping business   owners and leaders develop a saner approach to  success and i am going to come back to that one   because i love how she phrases that and she's  also hosting a weekly in uh linkedin live where   she talks all things business and i had the honor  to be part of uh that show just a while back so   that's another thing to really check out when  it comes to lisa and that happens on linkedin   okay it's it's time for a big welcome to  this week's amazing guest lisa danforth   hey lisa hey adam thanks so much for having  me i'm super excited for this conversation   well you know the pleasure is is is all mine uh  i am excited about this for several reasons a   you know you're an amazing person uh what  i've gotten to know about you is just amazing   b um we're we're colleagues in the field of  coaching and helping business entrepreneurs   and all of that and anytime and every time i  get to have conversations about that and and   i'm going to say see we're going to talk about  clarity clarity happens to be one of the best   things uh i love talking about and i i think it's  like a superpower if you're an entrepreneur so   i you know if you can't tell i'm super excited to  be here today with you i am thrilled to be talking   about clarity that's something that i could talk  about for days and days so i can't wait to jump   in and just sort of start teasing this out and  see how when we're we have clarity when we're   living with intention it's amazing what we can  create with in less time and less effort there   you go now before we kind of dive into this i just  want to say for anyone who is joining on youtube   uh you know make yourselves known where in the  world are you joining uh it's always nice to know   and if you're on facebook the same goes for  you just pop into the comments and just leave   you know hi from sweden or tenerife or wherever  you are and we might even have people joining from   um the states uh where you know lisa you are and  and people might have gotten notified that you're   joining the show also if you have any questions  you can pop that into the comments section   that way we can uh pull that in and either me or  lisa can can then answer those questions all right   uh so lisa i i'm curious i mean i know a little  bit about you uh some of my followers might not   know uh everything about you would you like to  share a little bit about your your own background   as much or as little as you feel uh necessary  sure like you said i am a serial entrepreneur   um at the ripe old age of eight i knew i wanted  to be a business owner which was just crazy that   i actually and the school that i wanted to go  to and all of that uh when i had i've had five   um businesses first one was that i would  excuse me first one was when i was in   college and it was a professional housekeeping  company so i could work around my schedule   i moved to vermont several years later started a  children's wear company called bottom buddies sold   that to one of my home stores after eight years  and then had a catering business for 14 years   and then in 2008 when the economy went down  i'm sure a bunch of people can remember that   i actually started a second catering  company called hot betty barbecue   to sort of accommodate the lower cost events  that people were requesting at that point   and then i got into coaching i tried doing  both catering and coaching at the same time   but that was a little too much and i have been  doing coaching i think since 2015 full time and   just so so happy to be able to use all of my  experience and be able to impact people's lives   that's amazing that's amazing and i love  the diversity uh of of the businesses   what an amazing journey i know there's no real  theme that goes on no not really that's a poll   from all of those when i'm coaching my clients  and i think that that almost makes it uh you   know very typical a serial entrepreneur right  an entrepreneur almost by definition is a person   who sees opportunities right so it's not so much  about i love doing this and i'm gonna do this well   there's nothing wrong with that  but but that doesn't necessarily   it doesn't necessarily revolves around  being an entrepreneur that can just be   a passion you have or a hobby you have a  real entrepreneur i think is is having that   you know skill to identify identify opportunities  which sounds like you've been able to do i have   and my thing is always and this is what i work on  with my clients as well is if something excites   you explore it it doesn't matter that you've  got a business going on right now you can do   the research and see if it's something that you  want to go down and explore a little bit more   even if you don't go too far down and start  the business you're going to learn something   you're going to be more creative and you get to  bring that to the business that you're in now so   so many entrepreneurs are i like to call it  multi-passionate i get a lot of i have shiny   object syndrome there's so many things i want to  do in my business but it's really multi-passionate   and i think instead of avoiding and saying i need  to focus on this one thing it's actually helpful   for us just to explore things the ideas that come  to us and integrate them if they fit and let them   go if they don't hmm i like that that's a very  compassionate uh gentle approach almost i saw we   had some people joining from sweden christina is  here sarah from from london it's it's nice to have   you guys here i've got a couple of regulars they  they tend to uh make sure to catch the show i'm   super grateful for that so i just wanted to you  know do a shout out for them um thanks for joining   us this is going to be a great conversation  and you know if you have any questions   to to you know for lisa or for me uh just you  know you know where to to put those questions   precisely so it's funny how you said at the ripe  age of eight you knew you wanted to you know be an   entrepreneur what you what you wanted to do talk  about clarity right that i mean the the topic of   today's clarity and at the age of eight you had  this clarity almost i mean where did that come   from how is that even possible you know i'm not  a 100 positive where it come came from my uncle   was going to a business school and i admired him  and i was like wow i want to do that so i did go   to the same business school but i knew that i  wanted to be an entrepreneur that i didn't want   to work for anyone else i think i've always been  slightly independent so it just it's it unfolded i   um like i said when i was in college it was  what can i do that i can make decent money work   around my schedule and and be able to to have a  sustainable life so i it wasn't necessarily the   most fun thing to be cleaning houses and whatnot  but it really served me during during that time   and and again that's that's what i'm liking about  your message is again you saw the opportunity and   you know i'm gonna bore  everybody about this but again   you got clear on you know the opportunities here  you said what can i create that can work around my   schedule that will still bring in a decent enough  enemy income so that i can support myself i mean   that is getting clear on what you need what you  want and then going out and creating it versus   i'm just gonna try something i'm just going to do  this i'm going to do that just throw something up   against the wall yeah i mean there's nothing wrong  in it it's just from what i'm hearing it sounds   like you had a deliberate clear mindset around it  when we pause and that's something that that's a   word i talk about often i mean all the time when  we pause we can gain clarity and then we can move   forward intentionally how do we create the life  that we want to live if we're not sure what that   looks like so we need to cast that someday vision  out there whether it's you know a year from now   here's what i want to be doing or if it's if  it's a long-term goal that's 10 or 20 years or   for those young folks out there 30 40 years but  really casting that vision out how do you know   what actions you need to take how do you know  what the priorities are that you need to act in   order and priority of if you don't know what it is  that you're moving towards and this is where i see   whether it's an entrepreneur career stay-at-home  parent having that clarity of what we want and   being intentional allows us to create success  fulfillment that we want not what other people   want need or expect but it allows us to align our  mindset and our actions with where we want to go   i i think that is that is the key really  right to create that clarity because as   you say it then allows you to actually start  achieving what it is that you want out of life   and it you know it reminds me of this and this  is something i often refer to but you know from   alice in wonderland when she first meets the the  cat the the cat in the tree and she's going like   she's at a crossroads or uh intersection and she's  just like oh sorry do do you know which road i   should take and the cat says well it depends on  where you're going well it doesn't matter and the   cat says well in that case it doesn't matter which  road you take either because it's almost like that   if you don't know where you're going any road will  get you there or not uh it kind of reminded me of   that as well it's so true right so we have to  have some intention and i i you probably have   experienced this in your coaching at some point  as well is it is hard for people to slow down   it's not easy it's very simple but it's not easy  and this is where we get tripped up to slow down   and gain clarity and ask those questions where am  i going what do i want to do who do i want to be   and who do i need to be to help get me  there just it's questions it's it's all   questions and it's pausing it's thinking  time if we don't schedule thinking time   we're going to be reactionary to everything  around us instead of creating an intentional life   life that's a good point by default oh yeah that's  that's exactly it i often talk about the autopilot   you know how you know if you're not bringing the  awareness uh or disengaging the autopilot things   will just happen i mean there's a fun fact i  don't know how much of a fact it is but it's said   that we basically all our thinking is  90 recycled thinking from yesterday it's crazy right i it basically means that your  your life will only have about a ten percent uh   change uh if if only 10 are new thoughts  so i mean when you when i think about   that it just scares me uh and and this is i  have to say this is one of the reasons why   mindfulness meditation and slowing things down for  me became such an important thing to become aware   and start introducing new thinking versus being  on the autopilot or as you said the default   uh thinking or living that's amazing it's so true  and it's i mean it's it's that mindset component   i will say one of my core values my number one  core value i have three and i put them in order   of priority the number one core value is growth  so for me in order to to be that person that i   want to be and live into it i need to be looking  at where are the growth opportunities where's   the knowledge where's the learning where's the  education and the teaching component to whatever   it is that i'm doing so that i can think outside  of the box i can think outside of that ten percent   so that i can be more expansive within my life and  help other people be more expansive as well that's   amazing i love how you you're so clear again clear  we should we should have like a counter somewhere exactly uh you're so clear on on again your core  values and not just knowing your top three you   actually know the the order of those top three  that's that's beautiful that's amazing that's   important we need the clarity whether it's with  our our goals whether it's with our relationships   whether it's with our health so that we can  act in order of priority everything doesn't   matter equally yet we go through our days playing  whack-a-mole thinking that you know every email   is more important than either our family or or  that picking up the phone and having a sales call   those things that are going to drive the growth  of your business and your personal development   yeah such a truth so you started you know talking  about this coming from a place where you said   something you often talk about is  making a pause or taking a pause   can can you talk to that a little bit like how  do you actually go about creating a pause in   in your life and or in your business with  intention and clarity yeah there we go the   clients that i work with because they're so busy  there's some overwhelm they're very successful   but they're at that point in their life where  they have achieved much of the success that   they wanted but they're lacking that fulfillment  they're lacking the joy the intention so honestly   i have them schedule moments thinking time i  call it t2 put thinking time on your calendar   don't go big go small at first if you haven't  created any space for yourself to pause and to   think and just to have a cup of tea and stare out  at the you know at the world then don't schedule   two hours at a time you've got to schedule 10  or 15 minutes build the muscle build the habit   so that you can start creating that space  to be thinking about what it is that you   want and what it is that you don't want what  what am i consistently doing that's working   what am i inconsistently doing that's working  what am i doing consistently that's not working   asking those questions i just had a client go  and and she hiked up to the top of the mountain   and she was asking herself where am i going who  am i bringing with me so the key to having that   thinking time is to actually have a question to  be pondering one to three questions always have   a journal if you can so you can just get it out of  your head get it on onto paper but have a question   i've when i was originally asking people my  clients to put thinking time in their calendar   i didn't make sure that they had a question that  they were pondering and then they would their mind   would just rattle off on their to-do list i've  got to pick up the kids so to be intentional and   have that clarity is is going to help you  create the answer get to the answer faster   that's a good point as well i mean  those are really practical tips and   and really powerful ones so for anyone who's  listening i'm sure you know take notes on this   or at least replay this a couple of times  um it it it's such an important detail that   you mentioned with going into one of those  experiences having the question identified   or at least narrowing down kind of  where you're wanting to go because again   the way i have this concept that i'm working  often around is that the questions you have   determines the quality of your life uh because  basically and and anyone can you know go into   yourself and just reflect most of the time and  we're going back to this 90 percent of recycled   thinking most of the time we're not asking  questions we're just you know assuming we're uh   um what's the english word for that we're uh com  getting to coming to conclusions uh right we're   kind of just like statements and what i'm talking  about here is god i had such a horrible day today   there is no question in there there's just an  exclamation mark right it's just a big statement   or she's so this and that and again no question  but if you can start introducing questions   your mind's gonna start looking for those  answers so just to strengthen what you just   said or highlight what you said you move into one  of those periods where you're pausing and slowing   things down and you have a little bit of a clarity  around where do you want to direct your mind   the answers are gonna find you almost uh at  least that's my experience yeah i think we often   approach a situation a relationship whatever it  is in front of us through the lens through which   we see and experience life which is our history it  is so because it's it's just so we don't think we   don't realize that we can take that lens off and  look at something from a different perspective   be curious about things so we go through life  judging not even knowing that we're judging   because it's just the way that we've been taught  it's just like we weren't i was taught english i   you know uh the religion was was given to me  it's not something that i necessarily chose   my name was chosen for me so when we can  pause and be curious about those things is   it so i think is it i always get this mixed up  byron katie or katie byron i can never remember but is it is it so or is it just our judgment  our lens through which we're experiencing the   situation and when we can pause and be curious  and tease it apart we can really chip away at   the mindset component that keeps us from being the  person that we want to be in creating the success   that we want to experience whatever success is  for you not what other people want right yeah yeah   that's a good good point as well on that topic  um you have this saying and whenever i receive   an email from you it says to your success i  like that and and then you have this saying   in your business and around your messaging  you know to have a saner approach to success   you know once and for all can you tell me i love  it and i'd love to know more what does that mean   uh it honestly it means we are over committing  ourselves and under committing to our goals our   priorities and our most important relationships  that's not a sane way to live our lives we need   to get clear on the life we want to live and  the business or career that will sustain that   life not consume it when we're focused and these  are my ideal clients right so they're focused on   that end result just getting to that goal and then  it's well it's not what i expected it's not what   i want even though i'm making the money and i  have my clients right so really getting clear   on what is fulfillment for me what is what does  success look like for me who do i want to surround   myself with what are the conversations that i  want to be having so that we can then again back   out of that and be intentional in what it is that  we're building and how we're showing up in these   relationships and look through a different lens  is the issue that's going on this relationship   me do i need to pivot and often that's exactly  what needs to happen whether it's personal or   professional when we change the other person has  space to step forward and change as well true   how and i might know this this answer  already but i need to ask it how much   does um you know core values play you know in  in in determining your version of success or   uh you know fulfillment and and all of that  because you're very clear on your core values it plays into it as much as you allow it to to be  honest with you but the thing is is when i am at a   crossroads when my client is really struggling  with you know do i do this doing this or even   the behavior that they need to implement a  new behavior when we can connect it back to   is this in alignment with your core values  your vision your clarity is where you're   heading your core values are your compass that  help get you there so we can come back and say   you know this is a really tough choice and this is  an amazing opportunity but it's not in alignment   with my values so it's going to be half a degree  a degree off from where i want to be going and in   a year or three years you're way off course so  when we can pause there's that word again pause   and really look at is this choice in front of me  whether it's watching cat videos on facebook or a   new opportunity or new program is it in alignment  with my core value of who i am at the core   and we can make those difficult choices in the  moment a little more easily not easy but a little   more easily yeah no i love that i and i like how  you you basically named it the compass and that's   that's you know i call it the inner compass and it  is that it just helps you navigate uh and again if well you know sometimes when i do the core  value work with with myself with clients it's   the the look on my face or their faces when  we realize that oh well that explains why i'm   not not very satisfied or that explains why that  decision didn't sit well with me yeah because all   of a sudden when you're realizing you know often  what ends up happening in my case is we get super   clear on maybe top five top eight something like  that and we do a ranking thing as well and then   i like to add you know on a scale from one to ten  how aligned do you feel right now and when they go   four three one then you know something's off  the the the the compact needs to be calibrated   because no wonder that you're not feeling  connected to your life or your purpose or   what it is that you're after and uh i i think  it's such an important starting point when you   start navigating i agree with you a hundred  and ten percent i will jump in as well and say   not always easy to it's it is not easy  to determine our values we want to be   this and this and this and this and we  can actually if when we first start out   kind of whip ourselves with our values this  is who i need to be this is who i should be   and we start shooting all over ourselves all the  time we need to stop that and look at okay this   this is who i am at the core is this truly  an alignment not necessarily who i want to be   we also i found with a lot of entrepreneurs we  have contradicting values right so freedom and   flexibility are a core value but hard work and  accomplishments are also so then there's this   conflict and we beat ourselves up over them so we  need to look at is it accomplishment and what does   that mean describe it gain clarity on what that  means is it freedom what does freedom give you   so when you're working on your core values  really pause and make sure that they're not   contradicting each other because they will  beat you up and you just you're constantly   circling you're always making choices that aren't  fully in alignment and just and just pause is this   who i think i should be i was just on boarding  a new client on monday and she had three values   who they were specifically what she thought  she needed to be which whipped her honestly   in all of her actions because there were all  the components that she didn't appreciate about   herself so she needed these and these are her  core values and we backed out and we're working   on creating a different list that she can live  by that will make her feel good rather than   less than such an important distinction uh  because exactly that when you start doing that   what can end up happening is that you're just  simply putting a wish list together of who you   would like to be or who you think you should be  um rather than who you actually are or you know   what what's been part of of of the making of you  um and and i think i've read this somewhere it's   either on your website or it's on linkedin but  you wrote a perfect article on core values right   yes i did a while ago yeah i mean exactly it's  it's a it's a great guide i think it's a it's a   beautiful guide to getting clarity on on your  core values so i kind of just wanted to put it out   there that like you know connect with lisa find  it on linkedin or go to your website and i know   we're going to be displaying your website  at one point through this conversation   uh but they can can they access the the article  on your website as well or yes they can yeah   so if you go to i think it's resources and it  probably has vlog or something like something   like that because there's there's a lot of videos  on there as well or if you go to my linkedin   and click on articles my linkedin profile that's  great it's got a list of values and there we go   yeah great no it's perfect yeah it's that's how it  you know when you work with professionals this is   it's amazing now i i honestly because i think it's  a beautiful guide to getting clear on core values   and i think it's important we even have a uh ravi  jane uh he's is watching the show as well and he   commented uh he's loving the conversation  today and i'm just assuming that um you know   he's referring to hopefully what we're talking  about and especially around core values and and   being around um you know the importance of um the  intuition or the guidance from within and i yeah   i was just as you're talking was i was  thinking the core values really help us   with switching the life switch show when we know  when it's time for us to pivot we can lean into   our values whether it's pivoting a job pivoting  a relationship or just pivoting in the moment   that's perfect so what you're saying is kind of  like you know if you're in touch with your core   values they can guide you they can they can  support you in signaling uh making themselves   known in terms of it's time for a switch or if  you're making a switch they can inform a path   forward is that kind of like would you like to  add something no it's it's really just pausing   and connecting is this an alignment with my  values do when i was a caterer for 14 years   very successful catering company i just knew  at one point it wasn't in alignment with where   i wanted to go and i was able to lean into even  though i wasn't as clear on my core values this   this is no longer serving me at the level that  i wanted to be to need it to serve me and that's   when i want launched full-time into coaching but  knowing what i wanted and knowing intuitively   allowing my gut to you know and research and  whatnot as well not just the gut it allowed   me to lean into and be like okay this is what i'm  doing i just i know that it's right because it is   it when i think about it it brings me joy and  it also brings me clarity here are the things   that i need to do here are the things that i want  to do and start going down that path there we go   so um i'm thinking around this and maybe  you've kind of already answered it i'm not sure   how how would anyone go about to start defining  or redefining fulfillment or possibly even success   is yeah that's a big question i i know i'm  just gonna be quiet and have you ponder that   yeah exactly yeah we've got plenty  of time five hours at least so go   it's pausing i mean it is creating  space it is unhooking from um   our need to fit in unhooking from what others  think it is truly pausing and saying what   is important to me have you ever heard of a  palliative care nurse called brawny ware oh   yeah the five biggest regrets of the dying people  oh it's such a powerful one please share that   yeah so the five top regress the dying number one  this is a woman who spent the last days hours and   minutes with people she was take caring for them  in the last moments of their life she started   seeing a thread because she would of course be  conversing with them and they would be talking   when when we have nothing to lose it is amazing  what comes out what clarity even joy comes out   the number one the top regret of the time  i wished i had lived a life true to myself   and not what others had expected of  me number two for all of you out there   i wished i hadn't worked so hard pause gain  clarity on what a truly fulfilling intentional   life looks like to you what do you want to  experience what are the feelings you want to   experience what are the relationships you want to  experience and start making actions and movement   towards those but you aren't able to do it until  you're clear at least directionally focused good points that's good i mean because  yeah i like that you just said that because   you know i don't know if anyone's who's watching  the show right now might feel anxious all of a   sudden like oh i'm not clear i don't know  what i want and what i should do and and   i get it that can be scary and and what you  just said is well direction-wise like you know   know if you're you kind of want to figure out  north or south east or west and that's it just   kind of like you said in the very very beginning  with entrepreneurs like you know follow the   curiosity like if there is something pulling you  towards a a direction you know follow that and   then and see where that takes you um it's not  you don't have to obsess i think you don't have   to obsess about like being able to visualize the  flavors and the smells of the destination it can   be helpful but if it's not available to you that's  also fine um you kind of want to figure out the   direction and and start moving in that direction  because it you know the first step you take   is going to reward you with you know feedback data  because you took one step it's kind of like now   you see more and if you see more new possibilities  open up uh new decisions can be made so   that is a good point as well don't don't be  too obsessive about needing to have laser   focus or laser clarity although that can be useful  the point is direction yeah it is progress over   there we go when we get stuck in perfection  it gets in the way so we want to just focus on   progress and that opens up possibility  perfection gets in the way of possibility   so to take that back into that fulfillment  piece when we're pausing and thinking   what what does when i the last time that i was  absolutely excited and elated or just thrilled   to do something you know and i lost all track of  time what was i doing and being curious that way   i actually recommend people almost everyone has  a cell phone these days and you can take the   little notes section on your cell phone and start  recording things whether you're your audible audio   you know you're speaking into the phone or  if you're typing to start taking things out   of your mind and putting them down so that you  can refer back to them when you are scheduling   that thinking time when you have time to ponder  you can look back and say oh look at this there   seems to be this golden thread that's weaving the  tapestry of my life i'm going to explore that yeah   yeah that's that's exactly it and it because  again so many people i've met and and this was   definitely my case in the past that when i didn't  know it and everybody was saying like you need to   have a purpose in life you need to know what why  you're here and you need to know your big why   all those things it kind of freaked me out  a bit because i didn't know right i'm wrong   i'm bad i must not be smart enough i don't know  what my purpose is maybe i don't have precisely   and in some ways i i think that at least  again this was was my experience forcing   the purpose forcing the why started blocking the  creativity the possibility so it's almost like   the harder i try to get it the it's like the  pursuit of happiness right you you can't just   pursue happiness well there are studies saying  that people who pursue happiness are less happy   uh so the trick then is to be happy but that is  such a hard thing to do but what they're saying   is actually if you're pursuing you're kind of  consciously acknowledging that you're not there   yet exactly right so what you want to do is to be  to slow things down uh and and enjoy the moments   and that's when happiness finds you almost so on  that note that's kind of like how i discovered   my purpose by slowing things down not over  overthinking it overworking it but allowing it to   well kind of what you said following the curiosity  and allowing it almost to find me in a way   inviting it in yeah we're so busy our head is down  we're playing whack-a-mole we lose our perspective   and our vision of the future that we want and the  thing is is that our vision for the future impacts   the future that we experience oh yeah wow so we  have to slow down and create the space and invite   invite those thoughts to come in and if we  our brain is always busy going through you   know your to-do list all these different things  that you need to do you don't have the space   to just ponder and again our vision of the  future our images our thoughts of the future   impact the future that we experience i love that  that is beautifully said i'm just going to say   the whole house was just vibrating i don't  know what happened that might show up on on   the recording yeah yeah the whole thing  like i do not know what they were doing   well i i i'm fine i i'm in a safe space uh if  it happens again i am going to mute myself but   now it's okay um on that topic this is such  a brilliant uh uh uh topic i think and we   actually got a question from sarah sarah jones  here about you know oh now it's starting again   but i think this is addressed to you lisa so if  you could talk to this a bit and you know share   whatever knowledge or experience you might have  let me see if i can read it and i'm for anyone   who's listening how to start getting clarity if  we feel we have to always go 100 speed to survive   excellent question sarah not everything matters  equally we have to pause and look at what is   really important to me in this moment what's  really important for me to do when we feel   like everything is important guess what happens  nothing is we we always overestimate what we can   do in a short period of time and underestimate  what we can do in a longer period of time so what   we need to do is map out everything that is your  100 priority that you've got to be on and you've   just got to be going brain dump it sarah and then  i'm going to ask you to go through that list so   you're going to take your to-do list and you're  going to create what's called a success list   and for any of you have heard of the  pareto principle the 80 20 rule where   it says 80 of our results basically come from  20 of our activities go through your list   with each item that's 100 that you've got to be  focusing on and say is this an 80 a 20 percenter   that's going to drive 80 of my results if no move  to the next one ask is this a 20 percenter that's   going to drive 80 of the results that i want  this is where clarity comes in right go through   your list and create your success list so you're  going to minimize i'm not saying that the thing   the other things that are on the list are not  important but what you're going to do with those   is you're going to take them and you're going  to put them in a parking lot so that when your   shorter pareto list your success list is there  and up and running you can start pulling in   these other things but everything does not  matter equally that's a lie of productivity   we achieve less in more time when we do that so  when you've got your list and you've got the 20   i'm going to ask you to prioritize that list what  is the number one thing that's going to drive   your results if you can only do one that would  make everything else easier which one would that   be great put a number one next to that go through  your list should you earn the right to focus on a   second priority what would that be and the thing  is it's not about focusing on only one thing   it's about focusing on one thing at a time  and putting a time block on your calendar   to focus solely on that and saying no to the  distractions for that short period of time so go pausing creating your to-do brain dump  it create your your pareto principle is that 20   set the other one the rest of that list in  a parking lot you can keep going back to it   when you've earned the right and you've  gone through that those top ones that   are going to drive the life that you want to live   that is a great advice uh sarah jones who  asked the question uh obviously says you   know great advice thank you lisa that  was such a direct and powerful advice   uh an amazing thing that you you did that  brilliantly that's super super powerful it   reminded me of something and i i i'm sure that  i've shared this before for anyone who's listening   uh have you read the book uh the essentialist by  greg and i just got his new book yesterday me too   yeah it's uh oh yeah oh it's so exciting i i'm  it's on my reading list is it effortless yeah   yes exactly yeah it's gonna be amazing to read  that one um and in in the essentialist book   and from my perspective this is the understated uh  insight from that book because i think it's just   mentioned briefly in a chapter where he talks  about three truths of an essentialist meaning   saying basically number one there's always  a choice number two only few things matter   number three you can do anything not everything  and i think you know just if you just think   about that for a while you sit with that and and  the way i often do is after we've stated these   i kind of reverse engineer it basically saying  okay so if you can do anything not every uh if   you can do anything not everything what's the one  thing or the things you want to do well let's go   back few things matter so let's get clear on what  matters and once you know what matters you use   your choice your your focus your attention your  clarity and you start working towards those things   100 and you mentioned the one thing there's a book  called the one thing gary keller and jay papasan   wrote the book and i just went through  certification for the one thing so that is a lot   of the material that i just talked about is taking  your to-do list changing it over to a success list   prioritizing that list not everything matters  equally yet we go into life pretending like it   does yeah precisely and it's almost i i'm not  sure that i caught that but did you say it's   a productivity lie to get everything done yes the  number one lie of productivity is that everything   matters equally and the number two my productivity  is multitasking 1.4 of our day due to multitasking   checking instagram going off and doing different  things that's that's 28 of our day that's 1.4 days   per week it's crazy so if we can narrow our  focus gain clarity on what are our priorities   we gain back essentially 28 of our  day 28 of our week 28 of our year   that's massive yeah it is it is check out  the the one thing book as well that that is a   phenomenal book i literally purchased it three  days ago my coach recommended it so i was like   i'm getting i'm taking it i read a book a week  basically so i i'm fortunate enough to be able to   go through a couple of books so it's on my reading  list and yeah i think for anyone who's watching   you know check those out like we already said the  essentialist i think is a brilliant one uh we've   got the uh the one thing there's another one when  are we talking about you know slowing down pausing   getting clarity those things are really really  helpful and again i i haven't read one thing yet   um but the essentialist is is a mindset and a  strategy book so it works on both levels kind of   and i like it because he also talks about and  gives you tools on how to um as an employee   if you've got your list of priorities and your  boss comes to you and says hey you need to do this   you get to say okay so here's the list that you  gave me here's the priorities where where do you   see this falling in order of priority and what  do you want me to take off my list so that i can   focus on this thing that you're asking me to focus  on so you're empowering them and also showing them   it can't be done right so it empowers us to  say here are all the things that you want me   to do where does this fall in order of priority it  empowers us and it empowers everyone on our team   that is such a great example uh years ago  when i was working for ikea i i burnt out   and and the reason was simply because i was just  working too much i was too ambitious and i simply   didn't listen to the fact that you know my manager  actually told me adam you are going to burn out   unless you slow down and i was like no i'm a  machine i don't and plus i was like 25 you know   i couldn't die so it was easy yeah definitely um  but i really had the the best manager in the whole   world uh she she used to be a submarine officer uh  so super calm super strong woman um like she was   half my height but she was the biggest person i i  knew i think an amazing person and i did burn out   i i did crash and um and and she she kind of  nurtured me back because it was there was a   journey involved and one of the things i learned  from that was exactly how you described it and   this was way before i even you know got exposed  to the book or the the idea of essentialism   but what i used to do was i took a blank piece  of paper and i just wrote in no particular order   i just write everything i i imagined i had on my  table and this is in in a work environment so it   was my responsibilities it could be anything it  could be a project i'm working on it could be   reporting on a certain kpi it could be this  meeting emails everything everything i in my mind   thought i needed to get done and i  just randomly mind mapped them kind of   uh yeah we've got a comment i need to start seeing  myself as a boss and employee yeah for sure and uh   started just mind mapping these different things  out then i'd take that big big piece of paper   and circle the three top um projects or items that  i found okay these are the most important things   but i wasn't done there i took that piece of paper  and i walked into my manager's office and i said   please help me prioritize here's everything  that i think is on my table here are the   three things that i find or identify  as the most important what do you see   would you like me to think you know in a  different way you know would you add something   that was such a powerful conversation to have  because she always brought so much clarity so   she would say adam this one you don't have to care  about take this off you're absolutely right focus   on those three no actually i'd like you to focus  on this one because what i learned from burning   out was you're not allowed alone like ask for  help now being an entrepreneur it's different   but it is still the same i mean the rule still  applies meaning if you have a coach if you have   a mentor use that do the same you can do the exact  same exercise and say this is what i've identified   what do you see that i'm not seeing right you can  take that to your coach you can take that to your   mentor if if you don't have access to them there's  communities uh you're probably part of a an   amazing facebook group you can do a similar thing  there or someone who you've got trust for you   can ask them hey here's something that i've been  working on this is i'm feeling overwhelmed around   this what are you seeing i'm not seeing either way  it's to know that we're not alone and sometimes   we just need to get help around prioritizing  because if we try to do everything ourselves   it just ends up you know kind of like what  sarah was saying everything goes in in 100   speed uh it's just too much and what i love about  what you just said is it starts with pausing   it starts with gaining clarity and then being  intentional yeah it's we make things so difficult   it's very very simple it's not always easy  which is where we really trip ourselves up   good point i i think you know based on the topic  of today this is a great place for us to kind of   say wow fantastic because i have one last question  for you uh which is the the you know the kind of   the typical question i often ask at the end of  a conversation like this and before i ask it   i'd like to you know ask you where can people  connect with you because obviously people are   going to be raving about you because this has  been a powerful conversation so where would   you like people to reach out or connect with  you they can email me at lisa lisadanforth.com   they can check out my website which is lisa  danforth.com and my social profile of choice is  

linkedin which is lisa danforth i like to keep  things easy can you tell i agree i agree and   and and let me just say that again like uh lisa's  presence on linkedin is just absolutely wonderful   first of all the value and the content you're  putting out and the lives the weekly lives   that you do are just massive um but also as an  inspiration for anyone who is in the sphere of   business and entrepreneurship the way you handle  linkedin i think it's just a a great role model or   example so um very kind check that out um and also  let me say you have free resources on your website   and one of them being something about time  right yes i have two free resources that you   can download one of them is master time management  mastery and the other one is communicating   powerfully without apology fantastic and i mean  especially i just had to say that because we we   ended up talking a little bit about strategies  around time management and slowing things down   so i thought you know there's probably going to  be massive value inside of of that guide so yeah   and then on my website there's also all of my  linkedin lives or at least my va is starting   to load a little bit more so they should be on  by the end of the week all of them so that's   going to sort of scroll through and see ours  our interview yeah that's right yeah fantastic   well thank you lisa and and to the final question  okay so you say that you have the mic to the world   everybody's able to listen to you you have this  once in a lifetime moment where you can share one   important message what would you like people to  listen to or hear oh that is such a big one adam i'm going to go back to what i said just a few  minutes ago honestly pause there's a great quote   by victor frankl who is a holocaust survivor and  he said between stimulus and response there is   a space in that space is our power to choose our  response and in our response lies our growth and   our freedom i'm a huge believer in that if we want  that growth and that freedom we do get to choose   but we need to create that space and pause  so that we can gain clarity on the direction   that's in alignment with the person that we  are the business owner that we are that we are   the parent the spouse the partner that we are and  then be intentional start each day with intention   so pause gain clarity gain  intention and move into the day   that's it fantastic thank you very much lisa  for sharing that and that is such a beautiful   quote from victor frankl and you know he's he's  he's got a few really really wise uh things out   there you know his book man's search for meaning  is is just uh fantastic thank you so much lisa   for for sharing that thank you for coming on the  show today um it was an absolute pleasure thank   you i am so grateful and thank you to everyone  in the audience whether you're live or on replay   i greatly appreciate you showing up and joining in  on the conversation thanks adam thank you again it   was wonderful uh lisa i'm sure that we are we're  going to stay in touch uh this is probably not the   last time i get to have the honor to have you on  we'll see what happens in the future but thank you   very much for joining today and i i i'll catch  you soon yeah you're welcome and thank you bye   wow okay i'm just going to take a little bit of a  breather here uh i i thought that was wonderful uh   such a a value packed episode i think i hope you  enjoyed this as much as i did i i honestly think   it was super powerful around the conversations  around time management clarity core values uh   knowing where you're going all of those things  i i think it was just a massive conversation to   have and i'm super grateful for lisa coming  on to to do this and if you enjoyed this   make sure to check her out uh the resources you  saw that during the video uh just go there and   connect with lisa so thanks for tuning in today  uh if you're watching on youtube don't forget to   like subscribe and click that notification bell  that way you get notified every time we go live   and put stuff out there which we very often do and  also if you're on facebook don't forget to like my   facebook page adam kowalek business mindset  coach see you next week same time same place you

2021-05-08 03:52

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