54: Plan Your 2017 Pivot

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What's next? This is a question we're all having to ask and answer more frequently. I'm Jenny Blake, your host of the Pivot podcast and author of Pivot. The only move that matters is your next one.

For show notes from this episode, visit pivotmethod.com podcast if Change is the only constant, then let's get better at it. Here we go.

Hello everybody. Welcome to our last Q and a call of 2016. I can hardly believe it. We're going to spend the first part of this Q and A call on planning your 2017 pivot, and part of that's going to involve reflecting on 2016. And then we'll get into some looking ahead at the year to come.

So settling in even, even deeper, Finding a tall spine. Close your eyes. Relax all the tiny muscles in your jaw and around your eyes. Let's all take another deep inhale in through the nose.

And allow sign.

As you reflect on 2016.

Think about one or two accomplishments and let's start with outer world. Accomplishments, meaning things that you did or got done, either personally or professionally, that you are the most proud of.

As we go through these, if you want to reflect with your eyes closed, then you can also open them when you're ready and jot down some notes. I'm giving you a prompt think of one or two, but maybe you want to start making a big list in your mind and it's up to you how you want to go through these. So first, thinking about the biggest accomplishments of this year, what are you most proud of achieving personally or professionally?

And now, beyond the accomplishments themselves, who did you have to become to make those things happen? How did you grow to be able to achieve those things this year?

What inner progress are you most proud of making this year in 2016? So, thinking about ways that you grew or shifted in some way.

What are you most proud of achieving on the inside this year?

Maybe part of that is thinking about what were one or two of your biggest challenges in 2016?

What did you really struggle with? What really stretched you?

What did you have to learn or do differently in order to make it through those times. How did those challenges ask you to grow this year?

Continuing on that theme, what was the biggest lesson that you learned in 2016? So maybe this combines some of your accomplishments, the inner shift, the challenges. But what was a big takeaway that.

Really prominent for you? Like if you could sum it up in the biggest Lesson learned of 2016, what would that be?

What brought you the Most joy in 2016?

And maybe think of things big and small, personal and professional. So big. Maybe some of you who have kids, I know my brother's baby, she just turned one. It's joyful to watch her do her thing. What a huge bundle of joy. And maybe you find joy in something small and nuanced as well. So looking back at the year, what really lit you up?

When did you feel the most in the zone in 2016? What were the projects and types of work that when you got to sit down and do these things, time just blew.

And whether it's personal or professional, what kind of came the easiest to you, that it was surprising and even serendipitous how certain things unfolded for you in 2016? What had a really special impact magic to it.

All right now, if you could sum up, I know we did a lesson learned, but what would be a mantra or reminder to yourself that you want to take from 2016 into 2017? So this is maybe distilling a lesson learned even farther. For example, one of my mantras is let it be easy, let it be fun.

Or surrender. Turn it over and show me the next step. Those are some reminders that I've often given myself this year. What would be one that you took from 2016 that you could kind of sum up? And this could be one or two or three that are going to guide 2017? Go ahead and jot or either close your eyes and reflect or think of a few of those.

Now, as we turn our attention to 2017, go ahead and take a moment and first we'll just take another centering breath here. And really, in fact, before we move on, what are you most grateful for in 2016? And let's celebrate. No matter whether it was one of your favorite years or least favorite, what are you most grateful for? There's so much to be thankful for in a given year. It's such an enormous amount of time in many ways. So taking a moment to just really feel full with the gifts that you were given and that things you were able to do for yourself or others.

And maybe you want to say a Little thank you to 2016. Thank you for whatever it brought your way.

And as we turn to 2017.

Try to in these next questions, answer from this place of soul goals. So as much as you can drop the shoulds, you can come back to the shoulds later. But for right now.

Think about what is a word or theme that will help guide your year as you look to 2017. This is a big one, so close your eyes and really sit with this for a moment. See what first pops up.

Word OR theme for 2017.

If it hasn't come yet, don't worry, I can always try and capture the essence and then narrow down to just the right word later. What would you be the most excited to have happening in your life by the end of the year? So as we sit and if we imagine us all Reflecting again in December 2017, what would you be overjoyed to have happening in your life and business and work career?

And this can include relationships, health, creativity. Just go with whatever first comes to mind and focus on excitement here. Not it's easy to get into what you should want or what would be good practical to have, but for now, what would you just be thrilled to have happening? I'll give you a little extra time on this one.

What would bring you the most joy? And it's a little hard to project that into the future, but what would just going with the theme of let it be easy, let it be fun, what is the way that you can work and be and live in this coming year that would feel joyful and easy and fun? What ingredients would that entail?

How are you most excited to grow in 2017? So maybe thinking of your word or theme if you have that, what would it look like to grow in this area? What does it success look like of fully embodying this theme? And if you don't have one thinking just about growth in general, how would you be most excited to stretch yourself?

And sometimes I like to tackle this by thinking of what am I still afraid of? Where am I.

Where am I constricted? Where do I get fearful grip, try and grip or grasp in my life? And what is that barrier that if I were to release it and dissolve it would completely free me up on the other side.

Thinking of this like your personal Hero's Journey for 2017.

You don't really use the language of slaying dragons anymore. When I kind of catch myself, it sounds kind of aggressive, so I think of it like domesticating dragons. Maybe you've got some dragons personally, professionally, relationshipally, and you Want to domesticate them. How do you make these dragons your friends? And even if you don't know how, just identifying which are the ones that have room to release.

So much of fear and what holds us back? They're like. Which metaphors? Paper tigers. They seem shadowy and scary and dangerous. And we get up close and they're paper. They're. They can dissolve. We can dissolve them with our loving attention.

So kind of just taking a few more moments to reflect on any of those where you have some opportunity, even small ones.

What do you want to let go of in 2017? So this could be on the inside realm, like the paper tigers, or it could be very practical. Certain work commitments or a way of being like hanging out with people because you should see them, but not because you want to. So what do you want to let go of this year? What are the shoulds in your life that you want to drop in 2017?

On the people front, who would you be most excited to connect with or call into your life? And so I have done this in the past and it has worked where I say, you know what, I'm ready for this type of a friend or this type of a client. And so even if I don't have a name, just think about who would you be really excited to meet this year? What qualities of people? And again, this can be personal, professional relationships.

Would be really rewarding and fulfilling.

What do you want to give yourself permission to do this year?

And as we start to wrap up, think about one experiment that you could run. Given everything that we've been reflecting on, what's one or two experiments that can for now, these things don't have to earn you money. They don't have to be the thing you should do. Just really think about what kind of experiment would stretch you, teach you, help you in all these ways. What would fit your theme? What would that look like?

What daily practices and routines would be most helpful with everything that you're envisioning for 2017 and your inner theme and the things you want to let go of. What are the daily rituals that will really support you in doing all of this and dropping what you want to drop, what is going to help keep you centered and home within yourself? What energizes you, what recharges you, what keeps you home and clear and sane? Taking some time to think about what that looks like in the morning.

In the middle of the day.

And at night.

And thinking about support and what will help support you. This can include people, routines. And I also like thinking about what is your bounce back formula. If you get knocked down when challenges arise, what helps you bounce back? That could be anything from taking a bath to connecting with a therapist or a friend or journaling. But what do you double down on in those tough times? And you could even look in the context of 2016 that really helped you bounce back from step backs.

Now taking this even deeper inside, keeping your eyes closed or if they're not closed, closing them. Now take another clearing breath deep inhale in through the nose.

Exhaling out through the mouth mind like water drop releasing any turning in the mind, going down to that calm lake at your heart center.

And taking a moment to imagine your future self. This you at the end of 2017 gives you some advice. What would your future self advise for you here now approaching the start of the year.

Into the answer, letting it come to you.

Imagine your future self gives you a symbol or a gift.

Totem to take with you into the year. What is it.

Even be a color?

An animal?

Ask if there's anything else your future self wants you to know in this moment.

You might even ask if your future self has a name.

What comes in.

And whenever you're ready, thank your future self for the gift and the words of wisdom.

Slowly begin to open your eyes.

And take one more moment to jot down any notes.

Anything else you want to capture from these reflection exercises.

And know that we just scratched the surface in taking not even a minute for a lot of these so you can re listen to this recording and press pause and reflect for as long as you want or need to as much as you can get out. And I always tell people when I'm delivering workshops that whenever you think you're done, whenever you stop writing, that's usually when your most obvious ideas have come to you. So I encourage you to re listen and spend more time. Maybe you remember the questions. You can even do these as a mind map. But really go crazy. Don't censor yourself. Get as much as you can down and when you think you're done, go twice as long again. Go keep going. Really stretch yourself and you'd be so surprised at what comes up when you think you're already done. And it's always fun. I really enjoy range in answering these too. So what are things large and small, what feels easy, what feels really scary and just letting yourself run the gamut, go for quantity, not quality and then later narrowing it down to what jumps off the page and just know that you're not going to know what to do with everything that you even wrote down yet. But we're planting seeds. We're starting to cultivate this soul garden, and I call it a soul garden, because in these moments that are just for you, that aren't about the pressure to earn a living or make anybody else happy, this is for you. This is cultivating seeds that are coming to you from instincts. Part of what's good about having these exercises and not a lot of time, is that you don't have a lot of time to overthink them. You just write down what's in your heart.

And so if you do them again, try and stay in that mode. Try and really stay in that place of I didn't owe anybody anything. If time, money, and judgment from others were not an issue, what would I really want? What would be really exciting?

And then later you can pick from this and say what really resonates and what seems really challenging. And how can I turn that into a question?

So maybe one of the paper tigers that you came up with, you don't know how to release it, but you just write it down as a question. How can I.

Find freedom in this area? What would help me release my grip? What would help me move past my fear? What does success look like in this area? Without this, who would I be?

How am I already exhibiting that really acknowledging progress is so key and how far you've already come and that you're not starting from scratch in any of these areas.

So just jot down anything else that came up. And I would love if any of you, it's very personal, but you certainly don't have to share your word of the year. But if you want to share the symbol or your theme for 2017 or the any messages from your future self, it's vulnerable to go there. I'm asking you to use your imagination, but really powerful to observe what comes in from that mindset and that perspective of wisdom. And so if any of you are willing to share and be open and post in the Facebook group, I know it would be so enriching for all of us to get to hear what each other, what came up. So I encourage you to, after this call, post and share if you're willing to. And I know it's a little vulnerable, but this is the stuff that really helps us all. And I believe it's not just what the message you got for you individually, but when we start to read each other, it's what we all need to hear. So as a group, we have a collective consciousness in momentum. And what one needs to hear is Very likely that that message, that symbol, is something we can all incorporate and play with as well.

Jumping into our Q and A. And if any of you have a question that you want to ask live, as in with your voice and you're on the call, go ahead and type in chat and you could say I have one and then I'll know to unmute or to pause from the question queue and turn over the mic, so to speak. So I think that will work better than me opening it up at the very end and that will give you all some time as well. If I know sometimes that if it's at the very end and it's putting you on the spot a bit to say, anyone have a question? So if you do, just kind of raise your hand in the chat and let me know and then I'll throw it over to you in between answering ones in the queue. So the first one is from Caitlin who says, what do you do with things on your to do list that you realize no longer are activities obligations you want to do? There are a few at work I do not have to do, but I'm on a path to complete them now. I realize they don't align with my core values and are dragging me down. I would rather wrap them up quickly or let them go, but can't just yet. How do you move forward with activities like this? I love this question and we did the reflection. Why do you want to let go of? One of my intentions for 2017 is to really be discerning and to really notice on a big and small level what tasks no longer seem to fit. And there is a lot that I do that seems like I have to do it or should do it. And I'm questioning it. Like blogging. I haven't blogged at my Jennyblake Me site in a long time, possibly even an entire year. I don't even know. I guess I posted once or twice, but it's a weird one to let go of. But I'm trying to give myself permission that if something feels like a drag or should, does it really need to get done? So Caitlin, I think number one, your awareness around this is a huge, huge. And we could all do this. We could all keep a running list and you might even want to use the bottleneck buster template of what is creating bottlenecks, what is creating drag in your day to day work. And we could all do this. We can all observe over a week, two weeks, a month and see what's bringing us down. And then I would ask the question does this really have to get done? And if it's a yes, then do I have to be the one to do it? Sometimes it's a case where, yes, you do want it to get done, but no, you could delegate it. If it's something that you feel, yes, it's mission critical and yes, I've got to do it, then I would flip it and say, okay, what would help me do this with joy and ease? And that's weird because it's a task that's dragging you down. So it's kind of funny to ask that, but you don't know until you ask. So what would help me achieve this with joy and ease? What would be, let it be fun, let it be easy, what would that look like? And.

Trying that in your case, Caitlin, you're saying, they don't align, they're dragging me down. I'd rather wrap them up quickly or let them go, but can't just yet. I would also look at what's getting in the way. Is it a conversation you need to have? What would happen? What's the consequence if you stop doing this? And what's the consequence you're afraid of? If I say, oh, I stopped blogging, oh, no, then who knows what the consequences people won't see what I think my audience will. I won't get new people into the fold. Who knows my latest thinking is hidden. It's in momentum, but it's not out there publicly. Who knows what the consequences? And then look and see which of those are fear paper tigers, ones that can be dissolved. And then what are ones that you actually care about? And if it's a consequence you actually care about, then to say, well, how else could I meet this objective? How else could I do that in a way that feels new and energizing and joyful and fun?

And then finally, when all else fails, one thing I've been trying is, is surrendering it. I know you always hear me talk about Tosha Silver, but her work really has such an impact on me. For me, a challenge is email. Like when I'm with family and I don't. Not checking it, and then I'm going on a silent retreat, I'm really not going to be checking it. And I don't. I'm just a slowpoke in my autoresponder right now. I say I'm very slow to respond, slower than a sleepwalking turtle. That's kind of how I feel about email in general. And so lately I've just been saying, I surrender this. I, you know, I don't know. I don't know exactly what the answers are, but I surrender it and just show me one next step. And so I kind of ask for creative ideas. So sometimes I'll practice just my mindset around a task before I sit down to do it. And so I picture with email sometimes how many people like I'm so grateful for all that coming in and that when I get in a state of gratitude, then it's easier and more fun to respond or responding with voice memos, things like that. Just kind of getting creative about your mindset and then how you want to tackle them if you do. But I would say so much of us, so many of us have room to let go of a ton of stuff that seems counterintuitive. But I'd say letting go of that in 2017, that permission is going to be very, very powerful for all of us because that no, no to the good or the mediocre or the dragging you down really frees up space for the yeses.

Next question is from Eloisa and Eloisa says in the past three months I've been very sick three times. I'm so sorry to hear that. And yesterday was diagnosed with bronchitis. Right when I had many amazing family plans and requested vacations, it was clear my body's telling me I need to rest after a grueling year both in the professional and personal sense. And I've not fully healed from the first infection. Both two small children and a very demanding job. It's been very difficult. I'll be bedridden for at least two days and wanted to know what are your best self care strategies when exhaustion hits and also uses time for self reflection. Next week I plan to spend a lot of time in this. Now I have this amazing window of time that's great. Your husband is helping out and someone around the house and.

You have 48 hours and don't know where to start. And so Eloise is saying you've red pivot, been working on the exercises, clear on strengths but kind of stuck. So yeah, finding your own North Star is a great one for not sure where to start. Great one. And I understand not wanting to go into more books because these are the three you need right now. And so Eloise says. So in short, what do you do when exhaustion hits? You have an amazing window of opportunity and you're finishing this plant yet not very clear. So first, sorry to hear about all the health struggles. I know that's really challenging and so many of us who are Here in Momentum can relate. And I love Eloisa your self awareness around wow, your body is really sending this message and it's asking you to slow down again and again and more and again. And so just honoring that and taking really the time to rest. What is so tricky about when our body gives us these signals is that it is on a different timeline than the mind often. So the mind will say, well I have a five day vacation and I have two days for this and then three days for reflection and this. So body, okay, you can be sick for day one, but I need the other four. And the mind is kind of trying to negotiate. The body is the body is the body. It is naturally intelligent. All it wants to do is heal and it needs the perfect amount of time for that. And we don't get to dictate it and that the body is not trying to procrastinate, it's not trying to sabotage us. But what I have found is it often craves much more time and rest and space than we think that it should and that the mind feels comfortable with. So so much of this rest and recovery is about self compassion and not beating yourself up for needing as much rest as you need. And what I find is whenever I think I should be done resting, I need to double it. I don't know if you know that Sex in the City how they say however long your relationship was, you need half the amount of time to get over it. Well, I'm discovering for me this rest formula is however long I think I should rest, I need to double it. And that's really when my body is ready. And so part of the rest for you Eloise, that might also be releasing the expectations around knowing what's next. Because what I have found personally and just take only what resonates with you, but when my body is tired.

It'S hard for me to think creatively. And when I need deep rest, deep, deep rest, it's almost out of self protection mode. My mind really doesn't have it in it to clarify the next direction because it's doing the mind and body system is doing one thing at a time and rest is rest. When we put pressure on that to then know what's next, it's not exactly the most restful. So there's this very sometimes scary transition time where using this trapeze bar analogy from my first book, you let go of the first bar, you're in deep rest and you're not holding on to the next bar yet. Can you be okay with that? Can you say it's okay not to know even a bit longer. That even though I feel I'm at my wit's end and I should know, I don't yet. Because when you let yourself rest, the mind and body will naturally, there will come a day where you get some spring in your step back and mentally, creatively, spiritually, all of it. And until then, it's about letting go and letting go. That said, I do think that if you have this time, maybe with no expectation of what comes out of it. But what are your recharge practices? What is both restful and creates space? So, for example, one way to rest is to lay on the couch and watch TV all day. And that might feel really good. I mean, there are days where that's what I need. Then I find, well, it's also really restful for me to stay home pretty much all day. But I meditate, I read, and I journal, and that's part of my creating space. And when I do those things and I even write a soul letter to myself, ideas come up, things start to happen. Maybe not on day one, but after a few days of that, it starts to come in. And so I love that you're already asking for time and help from your husband and the person helping with chores around the house. And you said that that's for two days. It might feel a little edgy, but can you double that? Can you have the house cleaner coming once a week for the month of January? I don't know. I don't know if that's within your budget or your realm of ability to do. But what does double permission look like for you in this moment? What is double and just getting creative about how you find that?

I don't want to ignore your question, which is, what if you're approaching the end of the plant stage and still don't know that's okay? And I actually wrote pivot with that in mind that no, you're not going to know. And so take whatever you do now how you want to feel, what really robust health and energy looks like. What does building in time for rest look like? What does engaged creatively feel like, even if you don't know what you're working on? And that's why the scanning stage, scanning is about starting to fill in the blanks. It's just identifying. Okay, from plant, here are my known variables. Now from scan, what are my unknown variables? What do I want to learn more about? Who do I want to connect with? Who can I talk to? How can I do some research who do I want to ask what they need, what their challenges are. And then Pilot is about running some small experiments because you're just not going to know the whole thing up front. So scanning is starting to just identify what you don't know, your unknowns. And then Pilot is about running experiments. So for you, Eloisa, maybe it's just in the next few days writing down what your unknowns are and what books or people or research would help you start to fill in the blanks, making these very small steps. And what little experiment would feel good. And on the subject of rest and recharging, sometimes the experiment is gulp. I'm going to let go of this scary thing and see what happens, see if anything falls apart. And so sometimes the experiment is not a doing, it's a non doing. And see how that goes. In the meantime, I will be sending many happy, healthy thoughts, healing thoughts. They don't have to be happy. If you have a burst of happiness, that's wonderful. But I got in mid November, I woke up one morning. I'll just share this story because these kinds of things happen to me all the time in small ways. I got an eye bubble, A bubble on my eye. I stayed at a friend's house who has like a dog sitting business and I tend to have pet allergies. There was probably a lot of dander in there. I woke up, I was supposed to speak to a thousand people that day. And I have this bubble on the white part of my eye. A bubble looks like a blister, like a puff. Who knows what's in there? Okay, super weird. And I just thought, what on earth is this? And I like, okay, I don't. Don't freak out, don't freak out. There's a thing on your eye. How do you even Google this? I just start googling eye bubble.

So weird. And I just was like, okay, no problem, I'm going to let it go. And thankfully I slept on it. And the next day it wasn't there. But then about a week later, the eye bubble came back. But this time I talked to it. I just closed my eyes, got into kind of, you know, nice calm state. I just said, hey, eye bubble, you know, what's up? Like welcome. I was trying not to reject it, just welcome.

Why are you here? And immediately I got the answer. I'm just tired. I just need rest. So, okay, I kind of. So I hadn't seen an eye doctor yet. Then about two weeks later, the eye bubble was still there. And it feels like an eyelash in Your eye all day. But I didn't make it wrong. I was just like, you're welcome. Hey, good to have you. My friend named this eye bubble Helen. So like, Helen, you can stay as long as you want, you know, but also.

You'Re more than welcome to go vacation on another island. Get it?

Anyway, so I was like making jokes like, okay, Helen, like you're more than welcome to stay, but I'm sure there's another island that would love to have you. Like, don't need to be here forever. Okay. And then I saw an eye doctor because I got an eye exam, this was just last week. And I, I said, look, do you see this eye bubble? And he said, yeah, that'll probably be there forever. And I was like, what? I mean, no, but didn't something like upset the equilibrium of my body? And that's why the eye bubble is there. I mean there's got to be a. That it showed up. He said, no, there's really no reason. And okay, what could make it go away? Oh no, it's probably not going to go away. So the eye doctor was of no help. So it's not like I felt. Anyway, I don't, I'm not a doctor and I don't recommend you. Whatever. To each his own. You don't, of course, go see a professional when things are going wrong. But.

This thing I kept, this thing of still needing rest. I just thought, okay, it just must need more rest. And I did. I finally got a few really good night's sleep in a row. I'm talking 10 hours. There was a one morning day with my family that morning night. I went into my room at 6pm I did a 30 minute meditation, watched a show, went to bed by 7 that night and I felt really weird doing that. That's what I needed. The eyeball is gone. I woke up. As of this week, it's gone. And I'm sure it will come back. But to me it's this little signal of, hey, I'm tired. So you can also check in with your body and ask, just ask when things are sort of going haywire. What's up? What are you, what do you, what message do I need to hear? What are you trying to tell me? And who knows, who knows if what comes up will be helpful or not. Again, it's totally up to you of how and when you want to see doctor and have medicine. But, but welcome it, engage it in part of the conversation and you might also get some extra tips that will be helpful. Okay, that was a Long tangent. I will go a little bit over today so that I can get to a few more questions and. Yeah, and be able to also answer some in the chat. So, Alyssa, I know you submitted one, but. Yeah, would love for you to ask out loud. So let me unmute you and go for it. Ready whenever you are. Thanks.

Okay, great. I might phrase it slightly differently than I wrote it, but I'm curious what tips you have. Pardon me? I'm curious what tips you have for naming a talk I am submitting to the TED Residency program and I'll post it on the group for everyone because if other people are interested, there's still a week for the deadline and it's actually not that difficult an application. And it's really cool. But I've been like, going through looking at what people named their TED talks, and pretty much all of them seem like they start with why blah, blah, blah, blah blah, or how blah, blah, blah blah blah. So I'm curious. It seems like it needs to be really actionable and concrete. And the topic I'd like to talk about is that we're living in the age of voice, where using our voices and expressing ourselves is really important.

So I'm just curious what you've learned about naming talks in your life.

Great. Okay. Love it. Yes. Great question. And thank you for posting that in the group. Anne, that's so exciting that you're applying to the residency. I love it. Thanks. Yeah.

I look to book titles for inspiration in this arena as well. And you could also just. Yeah. It sounds like you already have researched some of the most popular TED talks. I always think. I mean, I'm kind of bad at viral headline naming, so I know there are people even in the group that are really good at this, but in general, it's got to pique someone's attention and be somewhat counterintuitive. I think those are the things that really stand out. So antifragile. Things that gain from disorder. So already you're kind of wondering, what does that word mean? And oh, things that gain from disorder. That's interesting. That sounds a little different. So I think anytime you can go counter Status Quo. Also, I like titling things in a way that is kind of a prescription. So imagine someone's hurting, they're struggling.

And so the title is the answer. The title is like, let's say with pivot and always. Subtitles are so tricky, but pivot. The only move that matters is your next one. What's hurting? I'm really nervous about the future. There's so many unknowns, and this is kind of already giving permission. The only move that matters is your next one. That's kind of what we were going for. And it's a little counterintuitive because a lot of career planning is about the next five years or planning 30 years out. And so my goal with it was also.

To kind of knock down a sacred cow and just say, actually, forget planning your whole life. The only move that matters is the next one.

So, yeah, those are some ways that I think about naming and then just think about kind of like, tapping in with what would be the thing that people want to retweet. So what encapsulates the message of your talk? So if it was like, the power of voice. Okay, it's a little general, but if it's something like, there's a book that is getting a book deal. It's not out yet. Something.

Brave is better than perfect. Something like that. Bam. Already everyone's going to want to retweet it because it's like. And I think that was a TED Talk that's now becoming a book. Oh, Brave is better than perfect. Yes. That's what I need to hear. Yes. Retweet. Retweet. Yes. Put it on an Instagram photo, like Pinterest. So just thinking of, like, what's the Pinnable tweetable nugget from your talk that people are going to want to spread? And then if you really want to take it a step further still, I mean, you could even put three or five titles in our Facebook group and have people vote or on your Facebook or, you know, do things where you actually just get feedback from the market.

I'll totally do that. Yeah.

Cool. Thank you for asking the question.

Thank you.

So good to hear your voice.

Yay. Okay, awesome. Thank you so much, Alyssa. Let's see. Next question is from Minda, who said, how are you organizing your goals, both personal and professional, for the next year? I found I make lists, but they often get buried in other stacks of tasks. Yes. Funny you should ask Minda, because I have sort of dropped a lot of goal setting in general, but I go for sole goals. I think about what are.

Probably maximum three, just kind of big things. I love to accomplish soul goals, like really meaningful game changers. And if I don't have three, I'll think of one, and maybe that's one personal and one professional. But I kind of go minimalist on this, and then I will think of themes. So in 2016, a big theme was scale. How do I scale myself and my business, how do I reach one to many? And so even though I didn't have the exact way I was going to do that, I had a theme that I applied. And so then quarter by quarter I could ask, okay, what is my goal this quarter? How do I create scale? And for me, a lot of my stuff in business is ongoing. So I have momentum, I have pivot coaching, I have the book or a next book. And so I just have that kind of big container and I know what my main business activities are or streams of income or streams of activity. And then quarter by quarter I say, okay, what's the most meaningful progress I could make? What are my goals this quarter? What do I really want to get done or tackle? And then from there making a list of subtasks or milestones that Marisol and I kind of map that out in Asana. That's what we use for project management.

But in the past I also, I always do a mind map every year as well. So I write 2017 in the middle and I draw spokes for different areas. Book business, income, where I live, classes I want to take, friends and relationships, personal fitness or health and wellness. And then I draw sub scopes for everything that would feel really good to do or be in that area. And so I like doing goals that way where I just kind of lay it all on paper. I've done that for six or seven years now and then I just revisit it. I just look at it from time to time and pull it down. And I kind of feel with less is more, you can always set more goals as the year goes on. But good to just start with a few and go from there. And if they're big and meaningful and juicy, there's so many ways you can get there and that's part of the fun. So not feeling like you have to have it all micro planned out up front.

Erica asks, I know you are an avid reader. Any particular fiction books that inspired you this year? Erica okay, I would love for you to post this in a group because I know people are going to have some amazing fiction.

I don't even know if I've read one fiction book. I read a lot of the celebrity memoirs, so Amy Schumer's book and Jesse Klein loved hers. And then I started reading Jitterbug Perfume, which I think I'm sure it's been out a few years. Someone recommended it, really loved it.

I truly don't know if I've read any other fiction, so I would love to hear from you and from everyone else of your best fiction reads and what you all recommend. And I'm gonna have to think on this. If there was any other fiction that I read, I know there's stuff on my in my Kindle that I've downloaded even from people like what Tim Ferriss have recommended. But this will be such a great one, such a great prompt, so I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. Erica also asked and I know it's 11 on the dot, so or no, that was when I was on the West Coast. It's the top of the hour, so if any of you have to jump off, just come back. I'm going to go a little bit over today and you can come back and listen to the recording. So if any of you are jumping off early, I wish you the happiest start to the new year and do one thing for yourself either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day that just feels joyful and maybe help set the tone and it can be really small. There's no pressure on this, but just do one thing for yourself to kind of celebrate and set the tone in some way and share with us. Report back if you want to. So Erica, you also asked, is there a specific tool you use for keeping notes and web clipping? I've been looking at OneNote and Evernote, but I'm not finding myself committing. I love Evernote so much and yes, I use the Evernote Web Clipper and I just I even a lot of times now with Evernote I forward things from email so you get an Evernote email address and you can forward things to that email. So that's a nice way to capture even from your email. I just love it. I've used it for a really long time, so I'm not familiar with OneNote but highly recommend Evernote. Takes a little getting used to, but I use it all the time and.

Think in Systems Ninja that course I share more about how I use Evernote and also Book Ninja of how I use it to help with the writing process.

Okay, next question is from Greg. Greg says, I've heard you mention that you're a highly sensitive person. Has this caused any issues? And if so, how. Sorry, it's floating.

How have you dealt with them? Yeah. Oh my goodness.

I'm laughing at that. Has this caused any issues? And the first thing that came into my mind was only my whole life.

Oh my gosh. I didn't know how to deal with this for my whole life. The last five years of meditation Exercise, journaling. These are the things that keep me sane and recharged. So there is a book called the Highly Sensitive Person. If any of you feel this may be you, but it's not that easy to read. I've tried multiple times and some good nuggets but it's hard to read. The gist of it is and I think it's about 20 or 30% of the population. So a lot of people you're extra sensitive to noise, emulation, things like loud chewing, volume. Sometimes if I'm in a car and someone's talking, it just sounds so loud to me. Or even family playing games over the holidays. If the game ratchets up to a certain level of volume I get kind of overwhelmed or a lot of stimulation. Parties might be very stimulating. And also emotionally you can be quite sensitive. So you can often feel like a sponge to other people's emotions. You can pick up what they're feeling. You are affected by their. So it's like it's almost as if you know, emotions are contagious. But let's say if you're an hsp, you talk to someone who's down and you feel really down after, it's like you're really affected or. I have not been able to watch the news since I was a kid. It's too scary for me. It continues to be. I don't want to watch scary or violent things before bed. I'll have nightmares. So it's like really? These are some examples, some ways that it manifests and just being around a lot of people.

So yeah, lots of issues. Oh and then emotional, not just absorbing others emotions but even in relationships it can be very tricky because anything that's triggering like I cry very easily, very easily. And I often say I cry because I care. But it's not hard. Very sensitive. The smallest thing used to be able to set me off. Now it's getting better. But.

Meditation. I know, I'm sorry, I'm a broken record everybody but this is the thing that works the best for me. Having a very quiet, neat home environment, taking plenty of time for myself in the morning and afternoon. Noticing when I do get triggered in the middle of the day and having strategies for that. So when I was home with family it's like maybe I go walk the dog. So just giving myself permission to oh, I'm noticing I'm at the end of my rope or I notice I'm getting impatient.

When I kind of meditated asked for guidance this trip home, I got very loud and clear from the Inner voice. Eat clean, exercise, meditate. My job when I was home for six days, eat clean, exercise, meditate. And in the past I let those things fly. I would go home and I would have all the candy and the cookies that are on the counter and just have them for breakfast. Why? Because they're out. And then I would not really exercise because we're sharing cars and oh, it just wasn't in my routine and I didn't know where to go. And then why meditate? You know, the dog's coming in and out of the room in the morning or there's the TVs on or the microwave's going. I just wasn't doing it. And this trip I made it mandatory and it helped a lot. Those three things that helped so much. So knowing and then planning for when I'm not in my home environment and how I find my way back to equilibrium has been really helpful. And also the meditation and journaling for processing my own sensitivities. And I noticed I have sort of double down on self care and recharging, maybe more so than other people even just to be in the world. And so, okay, I've just come to accept that about myself. And then I'm a much better person for everybody else. So giving myself extra permission to take time and space so I can give to others. And when I find myself getting resentful or overly sensitive, it usually means I'm tired or I haven't worked out or haven't taken care of myself in some way.

Greg also asked, what did you learn most in 2016 and how will you apply what you learn in 2017?

I really loved practicing surrender in 2016. What a year. I mean just working so hard for so long and in such a focused way to get pivot out and then from October on just having the opposite, just wanting deep rest and quiet. And so I just learned, I mean I really practiced surrender and letting things go and.

Yeah, I think, I think.

I also confronted a lot of things I was afraid of and just learned how to sit with them and be with challenging feelings. And I think one of the biggest learning came from got sparked reading the Byron Katie stuff and Penny Pierce of finding my own home frequency and learning how to stay there, meaning.

Really taking 100% responsibility that if I'm upset or frustrated or anything, how can I own it completely? And that sounds so cliche because I mean I've been reading all this stuff for at least 10 years, if not 15. I know, okay, you know, be the player, not the victim. Own Your stuff. But I mean on such a nuanced level. Toward the end of the year, I started making nothing anyone's fault, like I was practicing radical acceptance. Everybody got to be exactly who they are and it's my job to come home to myself and stay home and have my own equilibrium and my home frequency. And if I want to be joyful, that's on me and not to wait or even request other people do anything. And 80, 20 on that, where I would drop 80% of what was bugging me and trying to accept people in situations completely then I still might have had preferences underneath, but I was more able to express them in a way that wasn't charged, in a way that I didn't need anything. I just was saying this is my preference. And then I could more easily. I felt much more nimble and emotionally agile. So that was really cool to learn. And what I'm taking into 2017.

Focus, focus. Because my theme word of the year is harmony and continuing on rest and quiet. And that's really weird. Very bizarre for me to be in that mode after having getting so much done the last few years. So I'm going to practice focus so that when I work, it's the right things.

What came to me in a meditation this week was full forward. As all of you know, full has been a big theme of mine the last three months. I'm going to practice living in a way that is full forward in 2017. Meaning the soul is driving, like my mind, the should, the noise.

I don't have the energy to like do it all right now. And I'm a little curious, like, ah, if I'm soul forward, if it's soul first, souls in charge, what kind of stuff am I going to create? Will I create? Will I put things forward at all or is it really going to be on the inside? How will I earn a living? You know, how will anything get done? I'm not sure. But I just know that my mission is this idea of full forward. Like really stuff's got to really align and feel harmonious and I still want to connect with everybody. I always tell all of you, listening to these calls, like, this is soul forward for me because I just love connecting with all of you so much. This is easy. It's a delight. I look forward to coming home and getting on this call. So I want to see how to have that in everything that I do as much as possible. Even things that in the past it didn't seem possible.

So last one from Greg. Greg said, what's One thing that really surprised you about how 2016 turned out.

Well, I'm so grateful for Momo 2.0. I really like. I'm so. It's been so fun. This has been a really fun surprise of just moving it to Facebook and seeing the increased activity. And I have so much love for all of you who are here and respect. And I'm just. I'm so grateful you're here. And I know it's a little cheating because it's kind of a surprise, but the surprise is that momentum is one of the things I've created with Marisol. Of course, we've co created on a lot of faith. Like, I don't know how this is going to unfold. I don't know how this is going to work out. But I'm just so overjoyed that it's become such a love, such a thing that I love. Like, it snuck up on me of how much joy and fulfillment I get from doing this with all of you. And then kind of full circle to Eloise's question. I was super surprised at the moment Pivot came out and I did a big speaking circuit these last two months, talking to groups of a thousand people. Six times. I was in front of a thousand people a ton. Really intense. The deep rest.

I knew from my first book it would come in. It's been a total surprise just how much rest my body is craving. Just it seems never ending. And I know it's going to bounce out, but for now, that's the mode and I'm riding it. There's so much. We get so many insights from slowing down or from challenging times or from things that we want to at first reject because they don't fit. Kind of the overarching flow of society sometimes. But really surprised and delighted by how much gold is in slowing down and even the challenging times. I just love digging through that dirt, if you will, but good dirt, that's the foundation.

So. All right, thank you, everybody. I think we got to all the questions. If I didn't, I apologize. Please resubmit and I will make sure to get to it next time. And it's just so fun to have you all here and see your names and thank you. So I am just wishing you the best. End of year and one more thing I'll say I'm going on a silent meditation retreat five day over New Year's. I'm not sure if I mentioned that to all of you yet, but I will not be. I'm on airplane mode for at least five or six days starting on the 30th and going through January 6th. So I apologize in advance that you won't see me into the Facebook group right away. But I'll be with you all in spirit and I will check in when I'm back and I will leave momentum in all of your very, very capable hands to brilliant sparter and chat and connect with each other. And so yeah, of course, like this is one of the things I'm nervous about of doing an unplugged silent retreat. I'm like, oh no, I don't want to be irresponsible, but I also know that just five days and and I'm excited to see what comes up. This is an inner adventure that I'm taking this year. So I will be sure to report back and share and I just wish for you all the best. Start to 2017 and whatever that means for you and do some more reflecting, do whatever feels good to close out this year and yeah, report back in the Facebook group and big hugs. Just biggest, biggest hugs. I hope you all have a wonderful next week and I will look forward to catching up when I'm back home. So thank you all again for being here. Happy New Year. Happy everything and I can't wait to connect again in the second week of January. Bye everybody.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Pivot Podcast. Make sure you don't miss an episode or my insider tips and templates by signing up for Pivot List, a curated twice monthly newsletter where I share the inside scoop on what I'm reading, watching and listening to and the latest tools I'm geeking out on. Sign up@pivotmethod.com pivotlist get show notes from this episode@pivotmethod.com podcast and connect with me on Twitter ennyblake.

Remember, build first, then your courage will follow. Hasn't it always.