564. What if 2020 is the year of perfect vision?

So I've always found that no matter what it is, whether it's hope or creating a vision, that's what actually makes you want to wake up and get out of bed. Because if you don't have that, what you do is you focus on problems and you make them your vision. Welcome to the Earn your happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of The Bliss Project, 3 Time Fitness World champion, fitness expert and cover model, turned self love junkie, lifestyle entrepreneur and author. Each week, I'll bring you a guest or a thought that will help you bust through your fears, connect to your soul, and get focused and clear so you can elevate your life, business, and relationships. We don't wait until we're ready for someone to tell us we're good enough. We take what we want and we anoint ourselves. Get ready to earn, own and unapologetically rock your happiness every single day. Are you with me? Here we go.

Hey, everybody. We are back with another episode of.

He said, she said.

Can't believe that name stuck.

Well, until you can come up with a better name, that's the name.

My energy is best spent elsewhere. Anyways, what are we talking about today?

Okay, so I had a download the other day, and I can't remember who I was talking to, but we were talking about 2020, the. This year, because that's all everybody's talking about. And I was like, 2020. 2020 means perfect vision.

Oh.

And I had a moment of. I know I had a moment of like, wait, that's not a bus on fire going over a cliff. Isn't that what 2020 is? But I had this moment of, wow, wait a second. I went back to a time period in my life which was around 2008, where everything was being stripped away. And I couldn't help but really go inward and figure out what we were supposed to do, like dig deep and really reconnect to God and lean into faith and all of those things. And I was like, this year reminds me a lot of that year, except we're experiencing it all in the world. Like, every single person is going through it. And now Chris and I are always here to help you kind of reframe or look to what could potentially be positive about a really challenging time. And that's always what this podcast will be. So I think it goes without saying that 2020 is obviously not a year that we wish upon people. But at the same time, if it's here, let's make the absolute best of it. So if 2020 meant perfect vision, what does that actually mean when I say that? It means that potentially this could be stripping away everything that you thought you were supposed to do or be and was distracting us into saying, okay, there is nothing left. Like, you're gonna have to create something that you want. And it brought to mind that scripture, those without vision shall perish. And this has been true for my life, for I know for everything that we teach, that people, when they don't have a clear vision of what they want, even if it's not totally clear, if they don't have vision or hope, you have nothing to work for. You have nothing to. You feel like you have nothing to live for. And so I've always found that no matter what it is, whether it's hope or creating a vision, that's what actually makes you want to wake up and get out of bed. Because if you don't have that, what you do is you focus on problems and you make them your vision. And problems aren't a vision. They are something that keeps you stuck. So what do you think of this, Chris?

I think I'm trying to catch up. So let me make sure that I've got this exactly clear on what you're saying. So you're saying 2020, in most people's minds right now is the shittiest year in the history of crappy years.

Shittiest.

But instead of it being crappy vision, maybe 2020 is the year of perfect vision, using that pun of 2020 being perfect vision. And I think what you're saying is it's stripping away the distractions. It's stripping you out of maybe a wrong direction. It's stripping you from people, it's stripping you from thoughts. It's stripping you from everything so that you can have the clarity to see clearly what you're supposed to do or where you're supposed to go. Is that right? And you referenced 2008, 2009, when we had everything financially stripped from us. And so we had no choice but to choose again. And we had clarity on how we wanted to show up as human beings this time in work and contribution, everything. And now you're saying this year, 2020, it's more of a global. I mean, and we'll even use personal. So Waffles, our dog, which was like, our child, died in January 2020. Then we had the riots here, right on our street in Santa Monica. Then we had Covid. Actually, I guess the order went differently. And then we had my dad die. So what could be a super ridiculously crappy year, you're saying is really just stripping things away to give us perfect vision. And it is so. Wait, let me stop right there. Am I on the right track?

Yes. I just want to clarify. I'm not saying people are being stripped away from you through death, that it creates perfect vision. But what that did do is it made us reimagine and rethink what we actually want for our life. Through that.

Do you know what I just realized? We've been visualizing a lot lately. Like, it's caused us to start visualizing fun ways that we want to do life. It made us talk about kids more. It made us talk about travel more. It made us go out and buy not just this first motorhome that we're looking at, but the second one that we're going to go pick up in two days.

You have to say why? Because the first one was a lemon and this one hopefully will be a.

We bought a brand new motorhome in Wisconsin, thinking, ah, we'll experiment with motorhoming, see if we like it. And if we like it, then we'll keep it. And so we learned two things. One, we love motor homing and we can't wait to do more. And two, this one was a complete and utter turd turd. Dude, I won't name the brand, but don't go buy this brand.

Essentially, it. It just pooped its way down the highway.

So we were on a we this weekend. We're like, hey, let's go down to Orange County. I'm like, oh, sure. Hey babe, I want to stop at this one motorhome dealership on the road.

Like, okay, let's stop.

And it was just like a casual Saturday. Saturday, right? Yeah, it was a casual Saturday. And like three hours later, we bought this epic new tour bus. So I can't wait.

And we got all of our money back for the other one, which was fricking amazing.

You guys, I am the ultimate deal worker. As a side note, I crush when it comes to, like, getting really good deals. And I literally got all of our money back from this new dealer, the motorhome that we bought, that we're trading in on this new more kick ass one.

So can you please write down that we actually need to do a podcast on the art of making deals. Making deals. Yeah, because I think it'd be so helpful because I think people don't go to the places that you go and talk in such a firm yet loving way. So I love it. Anyway, next one, back to our topic is the so vision, so you were talking about how this year, you know, with Waffles passing, with your dad passing, with all of those things happening, that it's actually kind of making you go, not kind of you. I mean, I know that sometimes the year after someone passes, it's probably not the best time to make really big decisions. But also I feel like a different person after losing your dad.

Dad passing. This is about, like, Covid and the lockdowns and how LA gets locked down, but other areas don't.

How our old life is not this. It's not here. It's not even here for us to choose.

Exactly. So let's really get clear, no pun intended, on this idea that 2020 is perfect vision. Here's one of the ways that it's given me perfect vision.

Okay.

I realized that although I love this home here in Los Angeles, Los Angeles doesn't have the appeal it used to have to me. And I want something still in California, I'm sure, but that more spacious in terms of yard, more family roots oriented. I guess I'm just craving a big yard in Orange County.

And family.

Family, yeah.

And I guess when you say that, I know that because in detail we've talked. It's so that it can accommodate more family things and people staying and all of those things. And it's just slower, right?

It's like it's easier to get around.

It's easier to get around. It's a bit slower. The values are a little different. And I feel like right now you're absolutely right, LA does not offer the same things that it had offered before. So why would we stay for these offerings that are completely not even available anymore? Okay, so what else for 2020 for you has been kind of like completely surprising that something has been stripped away that you thought that you loved, but now it's making you say, did I actually love that? Or was that just for the time being? Or now? Am I just even more clear?

Very expensive dinners out all the time. And I don't mean just with you, but with my friends, with everything else. I have learned that I would rather sit in the backyard and hang out with a couple of people than have to put clothes on. Not that we hang out naked, yes, but then have to put on trendy clothes and go to one of these nice crowded restaurants and end up with a blank dollar bill. I'd rather just hang out in the backyard. I have so much clarity that's been gifted to me this year around just wanting to take the simple route and still enjoy human beings. Yeah.

So what is this doing for you for work then? Because I know that it's like sometimes you feel like, oh my God, I want to go hard 24 7. Like, is it making you optimize your work and time or when you go to assess what you want to do in the future, what is this making you ask or say?

It's making me completely rethink how much time freedom I want to have. Because that's the beautiful part about having your own businesses. You get to choose that. And if you wake up one day and you're like, I've got my own businesses and I don't have time freedom, you chose that. I hate to break it to you, but if you go back far enough, you're going to see where you chose that. And so it's making me say up, how do we rethink everything in our offerings? Impact more people, but get more time freedom back so I can get in this motorhome and go, yes.

And just because you guys are thinking that you're seeing only one way with something, let's say you're wanting to launch a program, program similar to someone else's program, and you see it done a certain way. Do you have to add certain calls? Do you have to do certain things? Or can you really rethink your value add in a different way if it is time that is your most important? Because we were on a walk yesterday and we're rethinking a program right now, which is so exciting that's going to be coming out for all of you. And we were like, wait, do we. Is. Is the value here or is it actually over here? And are we just putting ourself in the same situation where we are going to serve to the point of exhaustion? Or could we actually show up and serve in a more powerful way with perhaps less calls or less time throughout all of our programs? Like, what does this actually look like? So I want to challenge you guys with, no matter what you're creating to say in the day to day, I don't want you to just look at the program. I want you to look at it of what or your company or whatever you're creating. Cause I'll talk about how this impacted the company that I'm building right now, but look and say, what is this going to look like in my everyday calendar, in my everyday life? Is this going to be something that's going to give me life and is actually going to have me show up in my most powerful form or maybe continue to educate myself so that I can continue powerfully educating my people, or is this going to exhaust me and I'm going to be like, oh my God, was this really worth it? And so in my company, what this 2020 clear vision idea did for me is that last year, if you would have asked me, I was gonna have a big light pink headquarters. I was gonna create this company culture. I was gonna have all of these people working for the company and creating just this huge.

Culture of like epic Google office alcohol.

And I thought that's what I wanted. And what this time did is number one, we put money down on, on an office for that. And it fell through because of the build out.

Yep. Wasn't being constructed.

It wasn't being constructed on time. And then Covid happened, so nothing was happening. So this gave me enough time to sit and say, is this actually what I want? So it was for sure happening for me because what I woke up and realized is that I want a company that is run very, very small and I want very few team members, but I want them to be extremely impactful. I want to work with people I only want to work with and I want to have the time, freedom and freedom to travel. And I don't want to have to go into a certain office all the time. And I want to build this more online than anything else because that is what I've always done. And I didn't get the time to think of this because what I did is I only looked at what other brands were doing instead of really researching how it could actually be done. And the few and far between that, we're doing it in this new and different way that gives you more time, freedom and flexibility and helps you be more passionate long term over it. Now, this is not for everybody. Some people really want that culture and to be in that, but that's absolutely not what I want. It just looked pretty and flashy and I realized it's for sure not what my day. What I want my day to day to look like.

Another example of 2020 giving you perfect vision. Vision. And that's proactive. Perfect vision. Like it saved you from going down a path that would have been hard to unwind.

Yes. Oh, completely. Once you start that path, you're. You're going to have some serious trouble unwinding that and pivoting.

Yep. Absolutely. Okay.

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So I'm actually catching a theme and I just realized I've been reading a lot of articles that match this theme. When we talk about perfect vision for 2020. So much of the world all of a sudden is switching to this vision of wanting more space, more physical space in their house, more physical space in their yard, more physical space around them. I guess social distancing, more just. They're getting back to the suburbs and almost to a country life.

Yeah.

And they are fleeing the cities. Did you know that rents are down 30% right now in New York City and vacancies are up like almost a matching 30%. Like it's crazy, the rush out of the city that's happening now. It may be temporary, it may be a knee jerk reaction to Covid for a couple of years, but the point is it's here to stay. People's vision is, wait, I want a house with a yard. Wait, I want more space if I'm going to be locked up. Wait, I want to be able to have people over and control my environment. That's one of the biggest areas of clarity or vision I'm seeing coming out 2020 and it's backed up by all the data.

Yeah, I think a big one for me is how much I just filled my calendar with things I thought I should be doing but wasn't getting a ton of fulfillment out of it, right down to going to dinners with people I didn't really know. Which is great, right? That has a place and it's important. But is it important all the time when you are trying to focus on a vision for your life of close family and close friends. And I really looked at my life and said, are my close friends getting the time that I, that they deserve and that I want to be giving them? And they were not at all because I felt the need to say yes to, you know, possible networking, you know, events or things or dinners or relationships. And what Covid has shown me is that you can do those things on zoom, you can do those things on phone calls. You don't necessarily, especially in la, it's not just about a two hour dinner, it's about the two hours beforehand with planning and traffic and driving and getting ready and, you know, taking up half of your day, leaving only your early half of your day to do anything. So we can really look at optimizing that time and saying, does this particular relationship need to be made in this way or can I make it in a much more brief way? And that's something that you have to think about and assess. Cause there are some relationships that are really important to spend that quality time on and get to know each other. But it's really rethinking. And my friend Lindsey Schwartz has been using her, her. Her word for this year's reimagining. So it's not just about, like blowing things up and saying it doesn't work, but saying reimagine in this new way, what this could look like. So it's not that things are not working in this new format. It's that you need to completely reimagine of how it could be and show up.

I love that. Reimagining. That's a really awesome word. That's what everyone's doing right now this year.

Yep. Reimagine. All right, guys. Chris, any last insights?

Yeah, it's okay to, like, use this gift of clarity and perfect vision that you're being given. And it's okay to see the silver lining in it of, okay, X, Y and Z might suck, but at least it pointed me towards 1, 2, and 3. And then to really find that silver lining of it sucks that blank happened. But it's good that I've got clarity that I now want to do this. So lean into the clarity. Start. You know, I'm a huge proponent of you're going to get what you look for. Start looking for 2020 being the year of showing you perfect vision instead of being the year of screwing you over left and right.

I love that. Okay, you guys, if you love this, the biggest thing that you could do for both of our podcasts is to share it and tag both of us and let us know what your biggest takeaway was. And you know what I would really love to hear is their, like, what is coming through for them for their version of perfect vision. Like, what has been stripped from you, that's actually been a gift so that you can sit and have more time and focus. Like, we never give ourselves this amount of time to actually think about what we want. It's almost as if everything is super rushed. And I'll tell you, this gift of just nothingness and time and space has been actually the most life changing time of our lives. And I think we'll look back as the biggest gift for. Don't you think, Chris?

I do. DM us your version of the vision that you've been given. I'd love to hear it.

Oh, I want it on stories. Don't DM me.

All right, Stories DM the whole nine yards.

Yeah, don't DM me. I want stories. I want to be able to share it.

All right, guys, thanks for listening. Appreciate you.

Bye.

Adios.

Thank you guys so much for spending this time with me on the earn your happy podcast. I am sorry. So glad that you stopped by. If you could take one second to share this episode with someone you think would love it, that would be absolutely amazing and we would be forever grateful. Also, please leave us a review if you feel so moved by going to itunes and leaving us an honest thought, an honest comment. Tell us what you think. Tell us what you want to hear more of. It would really help us out on our journey to helping thousands and thousands of people. Until then, don't forget to earn your happy. Thanks again, guys.

Bye. Bye.