The ONLY Framework You Need for SUCCESS | Lisa Guillot

Everyone is creative, like hands down. And here's why. In order to be inspirational, you need to inspire yourself. And in order to be motivational, you need to be motivated within. And every step, every thought, every choice has to be aligned to that clear vision moment. And that requires a massive opportunity for you to build inner trust and self-awareness and that creative mindset.

Lisa, welcome to the Book Thinkers Life-Changing Books Podcast. How are you feeling today?

I'm feeling actually really good because here in Chicago, a huge storm just like blew through and I thought it might be one of those tornado, you know, Midwestern tornado moments. But there's not sunshine yet, but it's no longer black outside. So that's a win for me.

Yeah, under-promise, over-deliver. That's what that's like. Well, great. For the members of the Book Thinkers community that are not familiar with you or your business or your April 11th book, I'd love to have you introduce yourself and your business and your book to everybody.

I'm Lisa Guillo. I'm a certified transformational mindset coach and a personal and professional brand expert. And so what I do is I bring the creative process to both my clients in terms of their mindset. Who are they being? What do they most value? The impact they want to make, the clear vision they want to bring to life. And then we move that through personal and professional branding. So in my mind, it's really the best of 2 worlds there, because oftentimes In my previous life, I was a graphic designer and went to school for graphic design in San Francisco, worked for companies and built brands like Pottery Barn Kids. I was on the team that brought them online for the first time in the year 2000, if that gives you any like indication of how long I was in the industry. We worked with companies like Sephora and The Gap. I also worked with companies like Paper Source and Crate and Barrel here in Chicago, marketing firms, advertising agencies. So in that world, we created brand strategy and created this forward-facing brand and really gave it its best shiny glow. But in terms of business branding, it's often just a one-way conversation. Then when you actually take that lens and that type of strategy and apply it to a human being, that's where the real fun happens, because then it becomes like a 2-way conversation between me and that person who I am wanting to work with, partner, collaborate with, share, inspire, motivate, however it shows up. And that's where I think the real magic happens. And that's the place that I like to play with my clients. in my company, Be Bright Lisa. And from that place, this book and the framework of this book is what really, you know, sort of fell into place over the last 2 years.

Who is the target reader, do you think, for this book, Find Your Clear Vision?

Well, it's folks who don't currently have a clear vision, which I really could, you know, say might be all of us because it shows up Whether it's in your personal life or your professional life, a relationship, a relationship to yourself. I have a clear vision as it relates to all areas of my life, and it could be like a 1-month intention or a 2-year intention. But the sweet spot of the people that I think would be most drawn to this type of work Are those that have already had some type of success in their life or their leadership or their career, but they kind of reached that moment in time where they're like, you know what? I'm done with this. Or if this is like how life's gonna go from here, this kind of sucks. What's new for me? What's next for me? And they don't quite know how to like get to that next phase or that. You know, some people call it the second mountain, for example. And I think this book would resonate most with people like that.

Well, vision is one of Luke's favorite subjects. We spend quite a bit of time talking about it internally here. So, I'll kind of kick it over to Luke for the next question.

Yeah. You know, I'm just so curious. Did you have, have you always had a clear vision for your life, like from a young age, or is it something that you have cultivated over time?

Oh, yeah. Cultivated, messed up, screwed up, started over. Yes and yes. Um, I think growing up I always was an artist of some type, you know, whether it was pottery classes, painting, dancing, anything but music. I am not musically talented whatsoever, but my— the rest of my family is. So I tried so hard, right? I really wanted to be a part of that band. But that was not in the cards for me. But I dabbled everywhere. And in fact, I never considered myself a writer either. But I knew writing is a form of creativity. So I wanted to try it on. And it started, I think, in 2018 when I took a poetry writing class, because I was like, that's an easy way to kind of start playing with words, just, just in little small sentences, right? Or a haiku. So I think my vision always had something to do with creativity and playing, and then that led into graphic design. But I think there's a, a real distinction in my mind between being an artist where you're creating art, for example, for yourself or a cause, or to make an impact, or a mission-driven moment, versus graphic design is commercial art. for the purpose of business branding, for example. And I always thought that was a lot safer because it wasn't about me. It was about building something for a brand or a business. So I was kind of able to separate myself from being too much of an artist, which is kind of risky sometimes because when you find your clear vision and you're like, this is what my mission in life is, this is my purpose, my why. And you're like, okay, now I'm open to it. But it's a little bit vulnerable to kind of be out there to express yourself in such a big way. Most of my clients are trailblazers, meaning they're the first person to the starting line of this moment in time. And being a trailblazer or a leader means you're at the front. And there's often not a path to follow. And that can be scary sometimes.

Yeah, absolutely. I'd 100% agree with you that it is a very scary place to be where you have to be the one in front. So what is your clear vision for your life at this point in your life? What was it? Have you achieved what you set out to achieve before this point? And do you have a new one for your life at this point?

Yeah, I'm someone who likes to explore and discover and play a lot in lots of different areas. So my clear vision has actually truncated oftentimes. Like the first one, for example, this book was a great way to find my clear vision. And it really started with that poetry class. It moved into a personal essay writing class. And then I thought, you know what? I have all of these frameworks and formulas that work and create results for my clients in a really big way. Wouldn't it be cool to write a book about it? And that moment in time was the clear vision. That was it. Because that's the C in the Clear Vision Framework is to have a clear concept. Wouldn't it be cool to write a book? And like my most vibrant self, my highest self was like, yeah, it would. And then everything between that moment in time until the book became like a real life moment, you know, that I could hold in my hands is what I call the messy middle. That's the space in between your bright idea and actually making it a reality. So I've played with, you know, 2 years is kind of a longer moment for me. Sometimes my clear vision could just be a month-long trying out a new yoga practice, for example, or a new fast, right? For example. So there's different ways to use this framework where it doesn't have to be an end-all be-all moment, but it can be something that you try on as you're exploring who you want to be and how you want to show up in the world and what Type of impact you want to make.

The first thing that I highlighted in the book when I got the opportunity to dive in was the concept of the messy middle. So, I think that our audience, most people are in the messy middle in some way, shape, or form because personal development books or self-help books, business books, they all help you close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. So, just like you articulated, you have this moment of clarity, and then everything else that happens, all of the books you read, the steps that you take, the things that you implement, they're all part of that messy middle. So, could you elaborate a little bit more on what that space is and how you came to define it that way?

Yeah, that's that space in between where you've got a bright idea, or even if you're at that space where you're like, I don't know what I want, but I know it's not this.

Right?

I know it's not my default life. Most people live along this sort of default line that they're happy, good things happen, you know, they're promoted, they're in a good relationship, right? Or sometimes the opposite of that where it's just self-sabotage, etc., etc. Okay, that's your default line. When you find your clear vision, uh, it's actually anchored in your own personal energy, and you get to pop, boop, pop right past that default line towards your clear vision. And every step, every thought, every choice has to be aligned to that clear vision moment. And that requires a massive opportunity for you to build inner trust and self-awareness and that creative mindset. And when you can anchor yourself in those moments, That actually ultimately translates into what's traditionally known as transformational leadership, where you can motivate and inspire those around you. But I truly believe in order to be a transformational leader, or really any leader like worth their weight in salt, is that you need to— in order to be inspirational, you need to inspire yourself. And in order to be motivational, you need to be motivated within. So that's that inner work. And so the self-awareness in the messy middle where things are upside down, uncertain, unclear, most the time people are going to drop and they're going to drop down to that default line. But using self-awareness and trusting yourself, believing in yourself, You can pop out of that typical thinking pattern, but it requires so much— I don't want to say it requires so much work because that doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but it really just becomes a choice, right? Am I gonna— I call it pop, the pop thought or a drop thought. The drop thought is the thoughts you've been thinking for a long time that aren't going to work for you in your future. And the pop thought is the one that's going to lead you towards the thing you want to create, your vision.

Can you share an example of a drop thought that you've had to let go of recently? I know you've been working in the space for quite a while with these frameworks, but I'm just curious if there's anything that comes to mind when you think of a challenge that you've faced and something that you had to drop.

Yeah, well, I'm actually— a lot of the sketches in the book are from like my own sketches that I do with clients. So I had a client session today, and I'm not gonna show you the sketch because it's confidential, but a pop thought and a drop thought total example here. Most people will say, I'll believe it when I see it, right? I'll believe it when I see it, you know. Oh, you're gonna get that job. Yeah, yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. Versus that sort of It leaves you in a space of circumstance and waiting for reality to catch up and to prove to you something, right? And that's just going to keep you in this cycle of, well, I'm waiting to see it before I believe it, versus you can just switch that thought and say, I see it, so I believe it. I have the vision, so I believe it.

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, it's a little bit of, it's a little bit of kind of like the law of attraction style, you know, leveraging vision and turning it into reality.

Yes. And that's what creative people do. It's create. Everyone is creative, like hands down. And here's why. You are somebody who can create ideas in your head. Right? That's what a creative person does. They have a new idea. And then here's the difference, is that they then make it a reality. You take the idea and you make it a reality. And I think that messy middle, the space in between, is that you have to believe it. Right? You gotta be rooted in that belief and that self-trust and that self-awareness. And when you have that formula and that framework, then pop, you're gonna be able to get there.

I know Luke is burning to ask a question here, but I've got one follow-up. So I'm curious, do you think that people who live in a constant state of vision but always fail to execute actually have some sort of self-belief issue? Yeah.

Not being a therapist, But yes, honestly, there's, there's that gap, right? If you— I run into a lot of people who have so many ideas, and that's great and that's fine, but then there's a difference between having that idea and executing it. And I think sometimes that's where the law of attraction's got it wrong, right? You can have all the ideas in the world and all the things you want to manifest, and then you sit And you wait, right? And, and you're like, well, I'm waiting for it to come versus I'm go— I'm the person to create the opportunity. I'm the one to make the phone call. I'm the one to, right? You have to take radical responsibility for that vision.

Creative people aren't the ones that just come up with the ideas. They're the people that create from their ideas. I like that a lot. All right, I'll shut up now.

I apologize, my internet connection might be a little rough. So if I'm coming through staticky, just let me know or just cut me off. It's funny because Nick asked the question that I kind of wanted to ask too about that, where how do you get from just the idea to taking action? Like, have you ever worked with clients that they have all these ideas and they're having a hard time taking action? Like, what advice do you have for those people that are like, okay, I have all these cool ideas, but I just can't seem to take the action. Like, what is your advice for somebody like that?

If you imagine, like, a lot of people know what the drama triangle is. So the drama triangle is a way that oftentimes we address conflict with other people, right? You can play the victim role, the abuser, or the rescuer. So from the victim place, for example, like, if we just pick that one, oftentimes somebody will be like, oh, poor me, I've got all these ideas, but none of them actually come to life. And nothing ever good happens to me, right? I'm just making stuff up. But let's imagine that's the state of mind they have, right? All this, you know, the bus always leaves, nothing's on time, everything's always happening to me. I'm taking that role. Or in the case of a lot of folks who are trying to look for their vision, they just continually say how they're stuck. I'm stuck and I, I just don't know how to move forward. I just can't see it. So then what happens? We move from that level of playing like the victim role in the drama triangle. We actually move up a level to what I call your anti-creator consciousness. In this place, you're actually having the conversation with yourself. I'm stuck. See, I am, I am stuck, right? Or see, bad things always happen to me. Well, that's why the bus didn't come. So in essence, you're just playing this like back and forth war within your own mindset. And it's no wonder you're stuck, because once again, you've got these repeated neural pathways that are just looping around like a record for you. So when you are Moving from the victim to the warring self, that space— you're having the conversation in your head, you're stuck, you can't get out of your head. The way through is to make a connection with someone else. You have to get out of yourself and connect with someone else. So for each part of the drama triangle, there's actually a way through to move into your creative Consciousness. The creative consciousness is having all those pop thoughts, the thoughts like, um, I— right, like I said, I see it, so I believe it. Boom, take action from that place. And some people, you know, they're like, well, that's just, you know, positive self-talk, Lisa, or positive, you know, positive psychology, you know, a couple of affirmations and boom, everything just falls into place. And you can be like, yeah, yeah, sure. But on the other hand, what you say to yourself, your subconscious believes it. They already believe you, right? If your subconscious tells you, I'm stuck, then it's gonna be like, cool, all right, we're gonna be stuck today. That's what's going down. And so oftentimes it's getting outside of yourself. Right? This is why, you know, oftentimes in the self-development world, people talk about service, right? Well, go out and be of service. Go out and connect with someone else. That's a beautiful example to like get out of your own way and go out and make a difference. And then you can take that energy and apply it to your own life.

Yeah, I think, I think sometimes the criticism that gets put on the personal development or self-development industry Yeah, it's all about a lack of action. Now I'm curious, in a lot of the conversations I've had with Luke about vision, I always kind of default back to this space of like enjoying the present moment. So it's interesting how your frameworks, they're not like 5 or 10 years, like sometimes they're 1-month kind of visions. Does it make sense?

Yeah.

So is there a right framework, a right period of time for somebody to be executing against?

I think it's going to depend on what you want to create. And I think I can get bigger now that I've practiced at smaller moments.

Hmm.

So, you know, even for example, I take, you know, CorePower Yoga. So it's like hot yoga. They heat up the room to like, I don't know, 100 degrees, then you do your yoga. And, and then they add weights sometimes. So it gets to be very, very hard. But, you know, in yoga, it's all about being present. Oftentimes, if it gets really hot, I have to stay present so I don't feel like I'm going to pass out or throw up, right? Sometimes I'm in the class and they do a monthly challenge. And so last month I did 10 classes in a month. I could challenge myself to do that. And literally, the idea of taking a little star sticker off and putting it next to my name on the board was awesome, right? Because it was a visual representation of me getting closer and closer and closer to my vision for the month. Now, now I'm starting to think just in my yoga practice alone, huh? Well, wouldn't it be cool to like do a 30-day challenge? And 30 classes in 30 days. Wouldn't it be cool to be a yoga instructor? Maybe that's in my future. So now I'm just starting to play at a bigger level. But if I were to jump out 5 years from now and be like, I want to be the manager of a CorePower Yoga, and I'm going to have all of these classes and rituals, like, that's just not going to happen for me. I know that's not how I work best. And so finding how you work best And what type of accountability you need. That's why people hire personal trainers or coaches or mindset coaches. I know because I have like 2 or 3, right? Because I often think the best coaches need coaches because we have to be doing the work to try it on and make sure that this type of framework does work.

Yeah, I resonate with the idea that It's hard to stick to a 5-year vision if you're not sticking to your weekly or daily vision. So that makes a lot of sense to me.

100%.

Yeah, absolutely.

Oh, go ahead, Luke.

No, it's okay. I was just gonna say, I, I totally agree with that. It was funny, I was actually having a conversation with a, um, friend today who has trouble like keeping promises to himself. And I told him, I was like, well, you need to start with the, the small promises because he always makes these grand, like these grand things, like I'm gonna do this for for, you know, 3 months and sure enough, a weekend and he's, he's already given up on himself. And that's why I, I always tell him like, you just gotta start small. You know, if you wanna get off sugar, for example, just tell yourself you're gonna stay off sugar all day tomorrow. Just start with that. Start with that promise. And once you keep that promise, you can start stacking those promises on top of each other as you do it from day to day to day to day. So I like the, I do like the shortened, the shortened month. I think that's a great way to, to continue building that trust with yourself, which is really awesome. So I know we've talked a little bit about mindset here, and maybe do you have— do you want, before I ask my question, you can go? I don't know if you had a comment on what Nick was saying. I interrupted.

No, I think you're like totally spot on. Because if you have like a 5-year plan, and you want to, I don't know, write a book, become the C-suite here, You know, get that SVP level, but you aren't getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep and you feel burnt out and worn out today, right? How do you expect to get there? So you're spot on. It's like, who am I being today? And is it in support of my clear vision? Yes or no? And you can quickly define yes or no. And then you get to make a choice from that place.

Yeah, that's awesome. We got to start small, start with those baby steps, right? I want you— I know we've talked a little bit about mindset and kind of everything we're talking about really is at the end of the day mindset, but I would like to know what are your thoughts around before we get to this grand, big, clear vision of our life and our future, like what are the few things that we have to do? You mentioned sleep. Like, is there anything else that you have stacked yourself? Like, you're like, okay, I know that When I go work with a client, I have— they have to have this part of their mindset right, this part of their mindset right, this part of their mindset right before they can even think about getting to the future. Are there any like standard practices or standard mindset tips that you have for people who are like just starting out?

It's definitely not a one-size-fits-all, and it's really based on the type of life you lead and the type of life you want to lead. So I, I've been stacking over time to what works best. And, and oftentimes in the self, you know, personal development world, people are like, well, you know, water, sleeping, meditation. And yes, and yes, and yes. But literally my meditation is like maybe 5 minutes. But midday, if I'm feeling like I need to pop, It's my go-to Spotify playlist song. And so honestly, even though I am not a musician, like I said, in any way, shape, or form, music is still one of my go-tos for energy. And so I work with my clients, like, very detailed moments of what is going to give them energy, what drains them of energy, and what provides them with energy. And yes, that is water. Yes, that is sleep. But it also is in the way that they dress, in the way that they show up, how they present themselves, in their speaking and language, in, you know, the music, their go-to song before stepping on stage, before recording a podcast or whatever it is. But it's in each little tiny moment. And deciding what's going to give you that higher level energy, and then you create your life that way.

Transitioning a little bit more towards process, like taking action. I love the metaphor that you have in here about the creative process is like growing a garden. Could you talk a little bit about that?

Another thing I'm not good at, which is growing plants. But yeah, there's 6 steps in the creative process. And oh my God, I just like killed myself because I just flew into that with judgment. So the first step in the creative process is to release judgment, right? So I need to release the judgment that I am not a good gardener and I cannot grow plants.

But I think that's a good example. So anytime anybody asks you about that, you should say, well, I'm not good at it. Okay. That's an example of what I should have been doing.

Right. So if I came with the intention that I want to grow sunflowers, right? I am someone who can grow sunflowers. If you take that idea, I'm someone who can grow sunflowers, and I have the seed. I have the seedling of the idea. I have the clear concept. I want to grow sunflowers, right? I've brainstormed this idea. I've got the future vision of what it is. And then imagine I go out into my backyard and I'm like, just throw that out there. Okay, I'm gonna come back in 3 months, see how you're doing, right? And then you go and leave. So that is, that is the moment. That's the messy middle where I now need to tend to my clear concept that I intend to be someone who can grow sunflowers. I need to keep that vision in mind. And then I need to actually design, right? Design that space, design that life, feed it with all of the materials it needs— water, sunshine, who knows what else it needs? Fertilizer, maybe. You need to talk to the plant, probably. I hear that's a good thing.

Luke talks to plants. Oh, yeah?

Does it work?

I definitely do. And it does work.

There you go. You might be a gardener. So, and at the end of the creative process, right, I've taken my seedling of an idea, I have tended to it, I've created it, I've released the judgment, I continually release the judgment. And then I got to release the outcome too. You know, what I had thought might be a sunflower seed might have been a tomato plant. Who knows? I— but I need to release that judgment and release the outcome. Then the 6th step in the creative process, um, particularly like for graphic designers or people in the marketing or design world, is that we share. We share the idea, we share the wealth, we share the sunflower. Um, this is what, you know, moves us into thought leadership and personal and professional branding is you take your vision, your clear concept all the way through and use it and share it to motivate and inspire others.

Yeah, I think we have a lot of content creators in the audience. We have a lot of people that work in marketing and branding. So I think that that framework, the process, the 6-step process is going to be useful to people and giving them a little bit of a better understanding as to what they can learn in this book. So thank you for sharing that.

How do we begin to— like, we talk about, you know, you talk about releasing, releasing the judgment, one, and then releasing yourself from the outcome as well. Like, what are practices around that? Like, how do we practically release it? Because I know that personally, I have a very difficult time releasing the judgment, number one. And then also, if the outcome isn't exactly what I wanted it to be, I get upset by that. And then like, there's all this inner turmoil and judgment and everything else. And then I go down this spiral. So What are some, like, practical tips that we can, we can do with, in our, with, within ourselves to release ourselves from all of it?

Yes. Well, so notice, right, with the gardening moment, I caught myself in, in the, in the judgment, right? I came out with my default thought. I'm not a gardener, right? I've been saying I'm not a musician, same thing, right? And so I'm declaring it to my subconscious self. And that subconscious self is like, school. We're not gardening, we're not a musician, and it keeps us stuck in those repeated thoughts. So that's the, the first thing is you got to catch yourself. And in the book, I talk about white space. So white space is the space in between the default thought, and then there's some breathing room, and then you get to choose a different thought. And most people don't give themselves like a breath, right? I think Mel Robbins calls it like the 5-second rule. You just, you give yourself 1 or 2 breaths, a little bit of white space, and then you have to choose another thought. And that, I think, is where the mindset work, self-awareness comes into play, because if you don't think you have another thought, Right? Boom! You're gonna go back to the default. So in terms of graphic design, white space is often like the negative space in between shapes, or the negative space in between letters or lines and tracking, you know, that allows your eye just a moment to rest. And I think that actually is like the key, key moment I would want anyone to take away from this. That is the moment that is actually gonna enable you to practice your creativity in a different way. That's where your mind is going to be able to come up with a new idea. If you can give it just like 1 or 2 breaths is literally all it takes. And that's how I work with my clients who, like, I had a client who moved just recently from an executive vice president to chief creative officer in a large company in LA. And when you move up the corporate ladder or your team becomes so much bigger, you're given more and more responsibilities, but you're not given any more time. But you're expected to make better decisions, clearer decisions, creative problem-solving decisions. And so how do you do that? You actually just have to create a little bit of white space in between a thought and action. So, so slow it down and then choose a different thought.

Yeah, I love that. That reminds me just of myself being in the car and Being impatient with other drivers, you know, over time, I'm actually, I consider myself a very patient driver at this point in my life. But occasionally I let it get away from me. But I used to be so upset about everything, like everything happening, the traffic, you know, people cutting me off, whatever. And just by, and it's funny, I haven't made that connection with everything else in my life, but just by giving myself that little bit of space of thought to reaction. It's like, okay, I don't need to react this way. I don't need to, I don't need to react in anger. It's just somebody driving. They're trying to get to their place. I'm trying to get to my place. It's okay. Everything's fine. And just keep going. And I'm glad you brought that up. And it was really cool too how you just did that with the whole gardening. You did that live with us, the whole, your whole gardening thing, which I, which I love. So thank you for, yeah, thanks for answering that question because that was, that was one that I've just again, just been struggling with recently, more so recently than I have in a while.

So, I have, I have a practice for you, Luke, if you so choose to take it.

Yeah.

So, when you're driving, let everyone merge in front of you and go the speed limit. One day.

I've got to do it. All right. That's the, that's, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm staying in Denver right now. And I'm from Lexington, Kentucky. The traffic there isn't bad, but the traffic here is, is a whole nother, another story. So that's gonna be, gonna be my little challenge from going back and forth to the gym, just allowing people to get in front of me, go the speed limit. It's, it's awesome.

Take the parking space, you know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love how it's just a—

sorry.

I was just gonna say, it's funny how leaving 5 minutes earlier could just solve all those problems, you know? Because I, I used to find myself trying to get 10 seconds here and 10 seconds there driving from A to B and it's like, if I just left 5 minutes earlier, I'd be, I wouldn't need to compete for time.

Yeah. And that's something that I've always done. Like, I like to be early, so I do leave early too and still find myself getting a little impatient, but that's okay. Work in progress. Work in progress. I'd love to know, you know, we can maybe get back to a little bit to the personal branding stuff because I think it's so interesting. Like, we live in the age of social media and everyone's telling you need a personal brand, you need a personal brand, you need personal brand. For somebody who's like out there listening that doesn't necessarily have a personal brand or know where to start, like what are your tips for people just getting started? And I understand like we have the clear vision piece, but is there even steps before that that they should take to start building their own personal brand?

Yep. Well, and I think that's one of the benefits of this book is it's like a part 1 and part 2 masterclass. They really could have been 2 books, but overachiever here. I was like, I'm giving you 270 pages. The part 1 is really about finding your clear vision and the mindset needed to stay elevated and popped. So then when you show up in the world from being self-motivated and inspired, and inner trust, then on the outside, the outer platform, how that shows up in personal and professional branding is that you are someone who is trustworthy, right? You are someone who can clearly communicate with a clear vision. Then you become a visionary leader, right? We see, I mean, I mean, to talk about the internet as being a cluttered place is so redundant now. But we can point to someone and be like, I like this person. I follow this person. I'll buy whatever they tell me because you can clearly see their vision. And it's because they've done this work. And then similarly, that person— so like for me, for example, I try to stick to just 4, 3 or 4 just key visionary values in what I share. online, right? It's mindset work. It's personal and professional branding. It's spiritual and energetic work. I'm not showing anything I cook or eat. I don't want to talk about that. That doesn't light me up, right? So I don't need to do it, right? I don't share a whole ton about my family. That's my private life, so I don't do it. And it's starting to just narrow down your field. This is kind of the opposite of, right? We go super big with a vision, but then you need to narrow down your field a vision so people can see you and connect to your energy. Because here's the biggest point about personal branding. It's not visuals or design, which is interesting to say coming from a graphic designer, but personal and professional branding is really about the exchange of energy. It's my energy connecting with you. And if you resonate with that energy, Then boom, right? We have a connection. We've made an impact, and it's become memorable. And so even you can see it and feel it when you walk into a room, right? You can feel people's energy. You can see them online, and that's what's attracting you. So if you just want to focus on one thing, start to focus on the energy that you bring with you everywhere you go.

I love the idea of branding as energy. It's something that you said, I think, in the introduction. And talking a little bit more about energy, because I think about this a lot too, could you highlight some of what you wrote on masculine and feminine energy and how they can— maybe I'm, maybe I'm spoiling this, but how they can coexist at the same time? Yes.

Yeah, I, I actually have like a really strong, uh, masculine energy about me that's gotten me in trouble a lot. Personally, just because it's—

Me too, by the way.

Yeah, yeah. It's like, go, go, go. I'm a Capricorn. Are you serious? Yeah. Hello, fellow Capricorn. Yeah, it's like everyone is creative, like hands down. And here's why. What's the Wi-Fi here? What's the deadline here? Got to get it done. Got to do it now. It's got to be perfect. That's my flavor of masculine energy. So that, um, just spewed all over the place into the rest of my life, and it wasn't working for me. But we can live with both. So masculine energy loves structure and logic, things making sense, things being on time, right? It's like if you imagine a glass, right? The masculine energy is going to be the glass form. It's got to have a container. The feminine energy— we need both. Feminine energy is creative. It likes to play and flow, and that's where the pop energy comes from. So it's the water inside of the container. If we didn't have this container with some logic, some execution and action, your creative, fluid feminine energy is just gonna like fall onto the table and go everywhere. So we need both, but they've got to be in harmony with each other. Otherwise, we're going to run into problems.

All right, I'll, I'll read something real quick and then kick it over to Luke. So on page 32, you say you can be vulnerable and strong, empathetic and enraged, humble and hot, soft and steady, stable and spontaneous, magical and logical, seeking and grounded, powerful and personable. So just to give some examples, I related to a lot of those. And there's a duality to them. But there's also a synchronicity to them. So I totally get what you're saying. And I really like that.

Yeah, you can be both.

And how do you cultivate a balance between both the masculine and feminine energies in your life?

Hmm.

How do I cultivate? Well, We were talking about like that, that CorePower Yoga earlier. I used to, before I really started a lot of this mindset work and became a certified coach, I used to go to CorePower Yoga because I was like, it's going to be hot, I'm going to sweat, I'm going to lift weights, and then I get a 1-minute meditation at the end. Boom, right? Done. Check. And then I'm on to the next. And it, it ran me into a lot of health problems. Let's just say you can read that in like chapter 2 of the book. Now, right today, I went to a CorePower class this morning, and I got there 15 minutes early. I laid in shavasana. I actually did the meditation beforehand intentionally. I stayed present. I slowed down. I use the time to think about ideas and creativity. I don't do it to like burn myself to the ground. I do it now to lift myself up. So it's just, I, it's in essence the same exact thing. I'm doing the same exact thing, but just from a different mindset.

Okay. Well, I was going to say we're already 45 minutes into the conversation. So before we wrap up, I wanted to mention a couple of things. Number one, we actually met each other. All 3 of us actually met, but Lisa, the 2 of us met at the Lewis Howes event last year. So for anybody that's listening, I think all of us will be in attendance again this year in September, right?

Yep.

You're planning on going? Yeah. So that's a fun event. There's a lot of really cool networking opportunities. You'll meet amazing coaches. For anybody listening, you'll meet amazing coaches and authors like Lisa and Cool podcast hosts like us on the Book Thinkers team and such a cool event. And I also wanted to mention that you have some other resources available to people outside of just the book, right? So, you have your coaching. Is there anything else that people can take advantage of that you want to mention today?

Sure. You can on my website, which is bebrightlisa.com, B-E brightlisa.com. There's a tab called Resources. You can buy the book. You can download a free chapter. There's an hour-long webinar about how to become a thought leader. There's my blog. There's lots of resources there for you. I love, love, love coaching one-on-one. I've also got a membership called Clear Vision U, where you guessed it, we find your clear vision and bring it to life through personal and professional branding. And then we got that book. Yeah, I asked, I honestly asked the printer, I was like, can you make that any brighter? And they're like, no, Lisa, this, this is it. This is as bright as like CMYK is gonna allow us to do. So.

Did you, and I'm assuming that you designed The COVID Well, let's just, let's just say we went through 19.

This was my Capricorn showing. We went through 19 iterations of what this cover was going to look like, which is hilarious because this is like pretty simple of a cover. But it was me like, okay, we need to find the exact white space between each and every letter form. And this E, I don't like the E in this typeface. Can we look at a different So that was my graphic design Capricorn showing a little bit there, but that's what happens. But I'm really proud of how it actually looks, and so I'm excited to put it out there.

And did you paint the landscape piece of artwork behind you?

That's my mom. She's an artist.

Oh, that's your mom? Yeah, it's amazing. I love it. What I can see of it at least.

Yeah, she's an artist and my dad is a bluegrass musician. So shocking, right?

It's a fun combination to grow up around though.

It was loud and messy. Yeah.

Luke, any final words before we wrap up today?

Yeah. You know, I like to ask all of our guests this one question, which is basically you're passed on, all the information and everything that you've put out there is completely gone, but you are allowed to leave one piece of advice. What would that be?

Well, fun is one of my core values. And so I would say have fun.

I like that.

Me too. I love that. Cultivating more of that in my life for sure.

Well, do it while you're driving. There's—

Safely.

Safely. That's right. All right, Lisa, thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. I'll see you again in September.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.