Lessons from a Quitter

This week's episode features the incredible Tricia Cusden. I don't say this lightly when I say that these episodes are the reason I started this podcast. She is the perfect example that it is never too late to start over and live the most full-life possible. If you can get out of your own way, there is so much more that you are capable of than you let yourself believe. Tricia started out her career as a stay-at-home mom to her two daughters. When her daughters got older, she went back to university and got her degree at 38. She then began a career as a management training consultant. After working for a company for 10 years, she jumped into entrepreneurship and ran her own consultancy until she was 64. After 26 years in that career, Tricia closed down her business in order to help with the care of her granddaughter, who had been born with a rare chromosomal disorder. At 65, when her granddaughter had improved and had other help, Tricia decided she needed a new project. She had always loved make-up and saw a huge gap in the market for aging women. Without any experience in the field, she set out to start her own beauty line with Look Fabulous Forever. What has happened in the 7 years since she launched the brand is just incredible. She has built a business that both her daughters now work in, written a book, attended the Oscars, created a large following, and so much more. She's such an inspiration to me and so many others.

Last week we talked about having a healthy self-concept and the need to give ourselves room to stumble, learn, and grow into our full potential. And while we are worth the investment in growth, we need to also manage our expectations of how that will look. This week, we dive into a root cause of so many of our problems: all or nothing thinking. Hyper fixation on our end goals clouds our vision of the small steps and setbacks that can really help shape us. Everything doesn't have to be absolute or black and white. Learn to live in the grey area and I guarantee you'll appreciate your results. And if you need help on eliminating this type of thinking so you can make progress on your dreams, I'm starting my 6-month group program next week. You don't have to do this alone. If you want to help getting unstuck and finding your dream life, you can find out more information at https://www.quitterclub.com/group

This week's episode covers the most important thing I can teach you. I think it is the root of everything. The root of all of your problems. I want to talk to you about self-concept. This includes how you think about yourself, how you feel about yourself, and how you love yourself. Do you trust yourself? Do you know your strengths and weaknesses? I want you to ask yourself right now, how do you feel about yourself? Being able to identify and own your self-concept is the key to unlocking your growth mindset. And a fantastic supplement to that is a solid coaching program. Starting next month, I am going to be running a 6-month long challenge to un-stuck yourself and begin working toward your dream life. If this interests you, visit www.quitterclub.com/group and schedule your first one on one call to see if this program would be the right fit for you.

This week, we are talking about investing in yourself. Typically, society has programmed us into believing some investments are good while others are "too expensive". I see so many people who feel stuck in their careers jump into getting yet another degree. They're willing to spend tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars on another piece of paper but refuse to invest in themselves. In today's episode, I'll tell you how I have changed my views on investing in courses and coaching and what criteria I use to pick programs to invest in. Whether it's through online courses or 1-on-1 coaching, taking the time for self-improvement is incredibly valuable. If you're ready to invest in yourself, doors are open to my 6-month coaching program. You can find more about it here: www.quitterclub.com/group

This week I have the incredible Vanessa Barboni Hallik on the show. If you're a long-time listener, then you know that I was a public defender. I was on a crusade to save the world. And I had bought into the paradigm that business was filled with greed and evil and that capitalism was ruining the world. While there is some truth to that in certain instances, Vanessa's story shows what is possible if we re-imagine how we run businesses. Her voice, and her brand, are exactly what we need to begin steering the ship towards more conscious consumerism. Vanessa served as managing director at Morgan Stanley for 15 years. She held several leadership roles in the emerging markets and institutional securities business. During her tenure, she tried to leave three separate times but was held back by the same fear and doubt that holds so many of us back. When she finally left, she pursued her interest in environmentalism, which lead her to discover the horrors happening within the fashion industry. That's when she decided to take matters into her own hands. Despite not having any experience in fashion, Vanessa saw the huge need for luxury apparel at a reasonable price that was made with sustainability in mind. She founded Another Tomorrow, an end-to-end sustainable apparel company, and is redefining how luxury fashion brands approach business by focusing on social and environmental good. Her story is inspiring for so many reasons! Listen to it and then check out the beautiful pieces at Another Tomorrow

Why are you searching for your passion? Really think about it. You try to find it because you think that once you find it, you will love your work and finally be happy. What you're searching for is that happiness or fulfillment. Not the passion. And, yet, so many of us are hating the journey there. We think something outside of us is what is going to finally make everything better. But it doesn't work like that. The question isn't "What is my passion so I can be fulfilled?" it is "How can I be fulfilled right now so I can start discovering my passions?" Today on the podcast, I teach you what to work on in order to find fulfillment today. No passion needed.

I am in the thick of my goal setting workshop and I love it. It has gotten me into the groove of talking about goals, so let's keep doing it. We talked last week about not dreaming big enough, not having big enough goals, and really not going after that vision that you want in your life. This week, I want to teach you how to really evaluate whether you're setting the right type of goals. Are the goals you're setting motivating and exciting you? Are they pushing you to grow? Are you having fun while you're doing them? Or are they making you miserable? Are they requiring you to suffer through every action until you reach that final finish line? Let's talk about whether you're setting destination goals or journey goals and why it's so important to know the difference in order to actually accomplish them.

This week, I wanted to talk about the art of dreaming bigger and why it is so important. The reason you aren't clear about what you want in life stems from the fact that you're constantly limiting yourself. You've stopped dreaming. You've settled for what's "realistic" even though deep down you know there is more. Part of finding that dream life is letting yourself set bigger goals to create a clear vision of what you want. You need to allow yourself to want things that seem intangible and then create small, actionable goals to reach them. Let me teach you how.

You've spent so much time and energy getting to where you are. You've acquired some incredible skills. It seems like such a waste to walk away from it all. But what if you didn't have to? What if you used your skills in a new way? The problem is that most of us only think inside the box we've always been in. You do it how it has always been done. But, with the internet, that no longer has to be your reality. There are so many ways to use your skills. So many ways to make money. It just requires you to think outside of the box. To figure out how you can take those skills and use them in new ways. Ways that serve you better. That's exactly what we're talking about (plus a lot more) on the podcast this week with Damona Hoffman. Damona spent her career climbing the corporate ladder in Hollywood, holding several creative executive positions at studios like CBS, NBC Universal, and Paramount. But, like many mothers, after she had a child, she realized that the intense hours of her career were no longer what she wanted. After a decade of creating a notable career behind the camera as a TV producer and executive, Damona walked away. As she jumped into her own entrepreneurial journey, Damona used her skills from casting to production in her own business. She not only became a certified dating and relationship coach but she made herself into an on-air personality. She is a regular contributor on The Drew Barrymore Show, CNN Headline News, The Washington Post, and more. She has an advice column in the LA Times. She's been featured on various series on the A&E Network. She also parlayed her skills into becoming a professional podcaster (meaning she gets paid to host a podcast for other people). She is now the host of the I Make A Living podcast for Freshbooks where she interviews people who work for themselves. The podcast provides a space to have candid conversations about what it is really like to make your own living. Damona is the perfect example that walking away doesn't mean throwing it all away. It means building it on your own terms.

With this being the week entering the New Year, I spend this episode doing a recap of my 2020 year. While we tend to tout all of our successes (and there are plenty of those in this episode), I'm more excited to share all of my failures. As always, I want you to see that you can't get any of the successes if you're not willing to go through a ton of failure. I hope my year is an example of how you can manage both. Happy New Year!