819. Guardrails To Live By That Will Change Your Life

Something doesn't have to be hurting you. Sometimes it can just be slowing you down slightly. But that little bit of added resistance day in and day out turns into a massive disadvantage over the course of a year.

Welcome to the Earn your happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of Light Pink, best selling author, three time fitness world champion, and I'm a crazy, multi passionate entrepreneur. My journey has taken me me everywhere. From being a broke waitress, barista, retails associate and personal trainer with massive anxiety and no belief in myself, to later becoming a multimillionaire in love with my life. In 2007, my husband and I lost everything. We found ourselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. At rock bottom, we had no ideas and I had no education to fall back on. This is when I found personal development and learned everything I business not by choice, but because I realized no one was coming to save me. The conversations on this podcast are going to let you know that you're not alone and that we all feel like we don't know what we're doing. We're going to give you the tools to help you face your fears, take action, start your business, and grow those massive dreams that are keeping you up at night. It's time to create a life that you can't hide from and put so much on the line that your higher self is forced to come out. You're going to stop waiting for someone to approve of you and you're going to anoint yourself. Because I'm obsessed about building businesses that give women a platform, I want to feature you. So if you text the word podcast to 310-496-8363, you can get your questions answered on our Q and A segment along with a shout out. And if you rate, review and subscribe to this podcast, we're choosing someone every month to get coached and featured on our show. It just might be you. So let's get started.

And we're back with another episode of she Said She Said.

Why is it always about you?

You gotta learn everything is about the world.

Everything's about you. Don't you feel like Bananas is about to bark on this podcast?

By the way, I and warning you that Bananas is literally over us working right now. Like super over it.

So over it. And he's doing this. Oh, here he comes right up on the couch. I wish you guys could see this. So this is a total side note. It's not what the podcast is about today, but if you've ever had trouble embracing, done is better than perfect. We went from A fully setup, expensive podcast studio in our last home with all the equipment and all the mixers and all the levels and all the everything. 2. We are in an Airbnb with a couple of non alcoholic Heinekens in sweats with bananas crawling over Lori right now. Bananas are dog bananas. The fruit on the corner of this Airbnb sectional. Recording this on a freaking iPhone. Voice memo. So what's my point, guys? Consistency done is better than perfect.

It's just about consistency.

Sound might not be as good and valuable might not be as good. But if we come and we show up and we deliver value. Hence, if you show up and if you deliver value, that is what's going to continue to help you grow towards all the dreams that you want. So here's what we really wanted to talk to you about today, guys. I wish you could see this. Sorry. So distracting. But he is not.

It's like licking his face right now.

Here's what we really want to talk about to you today. Lori and I went on a walk yesterday, as we always do, and we just got into this conversation of like, things that need to change for 2022. And that's probably a very popular conversation this time of year for everybody in every household.

And like bad habits that have kind of snuck in through Covid. Yep, great things happened. Right. But also some bad habits.

It's like you and I are going on, you know, 18 to 20 months of some bad habits, or at least not playing all out with the good habits that we used to have. And we realized that in some of the parts of our life, we're dangerously close to, quote, going off the rails, right? Like veering off the road that was taking us where we wanted to go. And we developed this metaphor right away on this walk. We're like, oh my God, we need a new set of guardrails. We gotta install some new guardrails. And by the end of the walk, we had created these non negotiable guardrails that we are installing on our highway of life for 2022. And we wanted to share those with you guys. So the first set of guardrails that we decided that we were installing in order to keep us on the highway going where we want to go, is that we are only going to drink cocktails, alcohol, two days, slash nights a week. Some of you might hear this, like, how's this a set of guardrails? Like, ooh, only two nights, you know, Only two nights per week, guys, since COVID I think we're drinking five out of seven nights a week. What do you think, Lori?

Yeah, I think we'll have one glass of wine, or you'll pour a tiny bit of whiskey, and maybe I'll have a couple sips of yours.

Or.

Yeah, just. Even if it's a small drink or a dash of, like, Hendrix with some seven. Like, just. It's not even a lot, but it's enough to just make you not feel your sharpest the next day. And it's almost become, like, this little habit of how we have, like, connected at night after a long workday. It's like, let's have a glass of wine together. And while it is fun, you know what the thing is, is it's fun. And it's not super affecting us or impacting us excep. It kind of is. It's like, just enough to take that extra little brightness off of us. Like the next morning or my workouts.

Are, you know, an 8 out of 10 instead of a 10 out of 10. We wake up maybe an 8 out of 10 instead of A 10 out of 10. It's like a light headwind right here. We all are running the race of life, and it's like if you had a headwind blowing at you the whole time, A light wind.

Yeah. And I literally know that this year for both you and I, we need to play at our highest level. And in order for us to do that, there are things we have to clean up, and that is one of them. It might be small and it might seem insignificant, but it's also a habit that is crept in as, like, oh, seven o', clock, let's pour a glass of wine, let's talk, and then let's watch a show or do some work in front of a show. And it's interesting watching my brain be like, but, but. But it's not doing that much harm. And it's a way that I'm, like, connecting with my husband, and I'm like, wait, if I'm feeling, like, sad to give it up, I should definitely find a new way of finding some joy in the evening. That's not gonna take my edge off because I, like I said, I need literally every ounce of energy in order to get to this next level.

Well, the punchline here, if we can give you a lesson before we move on to the next set of guardrails. The punchline is something doesn't have to be hurting you sometimes it can just be slowing you down slightly. But that little bit of added resistance day in and day out turns into a massive disadvantage. Over the course of a year. And so that's why we set our first set of guardrails that we are installing for 20, 22 to nights of having a cocktail or less every single week, no matter what.

I just want to add one other thing to that. Maybe you can. Maybe you're in our shoes, maybe you're not, but just little things that, you know, Chris calls these, like little dings and pings, like little things that kind of wear on your emotional energy throughout the day. And, you know, as we're getting ready to go places on the weekends or go out to dinner with friends or go on a date night, as we are getting ready and trying on our clothes or picking out our outfits, you know, there's these little moments where we both get irritated with ourselves because we're like, damn it, these jeans don't fit. And we have to wear something you don't want to wear or, dang it.

I hate how my shirt is, jacket.

Doesn'T button and literally that doesn't feel good. It's like a little moment of like, oh, this is because I'm drinking every night. Because nothing has like changed besides that. And it's those dings and pings that kind of nick away at your energy while you're like, oh, I feel like I've disappointed myself. And as many things that I can do to give myself energy, like, oh, I didn't meditate today. Ding. Oh, God, my clothes didn't fit when I went to try them on.

Ding.

Oh, I didn't feel like I had, you know, the energy to get through all of my work today. I wanted to take a nap in the middle of the day. Ding. Like, there's all of these things that ding you. And if you can trace it back to maybe one thing that you could just clean up this one tiny thing that could really make a big difference over a long period of time. And that's where you're going to get game changing results. It's the little things that you can change that in six months you'll go, holy shit, I didn't realize how much that was actually putting me on a downhill trajectory rather than making a decision that is putting me on a hockey stick trajectory.

Hey.

Okay, I gotta give a shout out to one of my favorite humans and podcasters, Kathy Heller, and I freaking love her podcast that I know you're gonna love. It's called don't keep your day job. Does that name get any better? Top podcaster, entrepreneur, business coach, author, and my friend Kathy Heller sits down with successful creative entrepreneurs to learn what it takes to make a living doing what you love. I've admired everything Kathy does from the start of her journey because she takes so much care and has so much intention. With everything she does, her wisdom and tips are unmatched and I myself have learned so much from her podcast that I've been able to apply growth strategies or light pink and earn your happy.

You'll hear from incredible minds like actor.

Matthew McConaughey, hello entrepreneur Seth Godin, Shark tanks Barbara Corcoran. I was also a special guest which was so incredible. Plus everyday people who are quitting their jobs as they build their own businesses. If you're tired of building someone else's dream, if you want to quit your job and get paid to work your passion, this is the show for you. Visit kathyheller.com lori and you'll get my episodes on don't keep your day job plus a free workshop on how to find your dream path from Kathy so you can take action and start living life on your terms. Guys, go check it out. Now let's get back to the episode.

So our next set of guard rails is in the intensity of our workouts and the style of our workouts. Once again, we're very good at doing things consistently. There's not a day that goes by that we don't exercise, and you could even call it a lot of exercise, but it's not intentional high intensity exercise. And so the next set of guardrails that we're adding in is every single week. We must have two great lifting sessions and one great high intensity hit workout to really get our 20 minutes, 20.

Minutes a hit, just to get our heart rates up.

And there's such a difference, you guys, between going to the gym and slowly going through a routine and, you know, convincing yourself that you worked out and actually going to the gym and leaving everything on the table. Right. Like leaving everything that you've got there in a pile of sweat. And again, it's not hurting us per se, but it's certainly not helping us towards our goals by not showing up with that level of intensity.

Yeah. And you know, it's not just saying we're going to do these three different workouts during the week to really make sure that we're getting to our goals instead of just opting for let's take another long walk, which is so great and we connect so well and it's incredible. And it's honestly been the best. It's been kind of a nice break. But at the same time it's been that it's been like a break for us and we both don't feel great in our bodies. We don't feel as strong as we used to. And it's just time we want to, you know, as we move into this next phase of life and business and you know, wanting a family. Like we want to get stronger, we don't want to be less, we want to get stronger. So we're really looking at what that looks like. And for me, I also immediately look at when I want to implement. Making sure that I have these habits and guardrails is what do I need to be supported. So do you belong to a gym that inspires you? What would it take to do that? For us, we joined a gym, but it's like 20 minutes away and it's not really working that great for my schedule with my. So he may stay there. I may actually go to a different gym and get a workout buddy. And that made it sound like it was a guy.

But whatever it takes.

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Find a girlfriend to work out with who also has some major goals. And, you know, to be totally transparent, like, I even have to make sure that my workout partner is super motivated and that that person's going to inspire me as well on some days. So I think that those are the things you really need to look at and be realistic with yourself. Is your gym, you know, near you? Do you need to work out at home if you are going to work out at home, do you actually work out at home and follow through, or do you need to find somewhere nice and close and get a workout buddy like I'm going to get?

Yep, absolutely. And then the last set of guardrails that we're installing, this is going to seem like a simple one, guys. All these are simple, and I'll make a point about that at the end. The last set of guardrails that we're installing is that we have to take our vitamins, like our full set of vitamins every single day. And we have to drink 64 ounces of water or more every single day. I don't drink hardly at all water. Like, it's horrible. I need to drink more water. I need to get hydrated.

Did you do it today? Nope, I did.

I'm halfway there today. Yes, I'm halfway there. So again, not a Real big change in life, but something that we're not doing on a regular basis right now. We live in a different world now, guys. We live in a world where you got to build up your immune system. We are living lives, Lori and I, where it requires a lot from us. And so for that reason, we need to make sure that we're at our healthiest and our most consistent. And having something as simple that we are accountable to and measurable as. Did you take your full set of vitamins today? And did you drink 64 ounces of water or more? Again, to you guys might seem simple if that's something you've already built. But for us, it's been a great big gap. And we know that every single day, 365 days over 2022, that's going to make a massive cumulative difference to us.

Yeah, we were walking, just talking about, like, if we do this for one year, do you even know how much our lives are going to change? And right down to the choices of like, okay, if you can only drink two days this week and you have five social things. Cause sometimes that can actually happen. Five social events or four dinners in one week, which absolutely has happened and does happen when we get really busy is how are you gonna plan ahead? How are you gonna get intentional with like, okay, committing to having sparkling water or whatever that looks like, which then I don't know about you guys. In fact, I think I do know about you guys. Leads to better food choices. So not just that you're not gonna stay out too late. Cause you gotta get your hiit workout in the next day or whatever that looks like. And making sure you take your vitamins and water. It's like these memorable activities that once you tip that domino, it makes things so much easier. And then, you know, there's such a thing as habit layering that once we nail this, imagine what we'll be able to layer on next year as a habit, which will then just bring us to the next level.

So, guys, here's why we always lift the curtain on our life and share these things with you. I think other people might feel like they have to come up with something really radical or these really cool great big leaps or these big commitments. And we want to show you that it's the small shifts.

Got it. Even just water and drinking water done.

Consistently that will lead you to an extraordinary life. And you know, we have an extraordinary life, and it's time to take that to the next level. And that doesn't mean you need to do the biggest things. It doesn't mean you need to do the craziest things. It doesn't mean you need to start meditating six hours a day. And that's your commitment because you won't stick to those things. But if you install some guardrails, right, some things that'll make sure that you stay on the highway towards your goal. Guardrails, if you think about it, when you're literally driving down up a mountain or down a freeway, you look at them, they look pretty insignificant. They're not huge walls, they're just these little guardrails. But they're there for you to keep you going in the right direction. And that's what we're installing this year. And so we're going to encourage you guys to let us know what guardrails you're installing for 2022. DM US, share it with us, send it to our text lists. We would love to know some of the sets of guardrails that you guys are going to install for 2022 as we go into this new year.

Are you guys so grateful for you? We love, love, love to hear from you. So make sure you tag us. Let us know what one of your guardrails is going to be again, even if you picked one for yourself, you will drastically change your life.

Happy Holidays. Happy New Year. And just the most, just sincere thank you for listening to Lori and I babble and ramble and hopefully add some value to you. We'll be here just as consistently next year. We appreciate you, Sam.