deserves hey there and welcome to Goal Getter, the podcast that gives high performing women the nutrition mindset and goal setting strategies that actually work. I'm your host Jenna Hosteller, registered dietitian, certified Neuro coach and your go to guide to break free from burnout, cut through the health noise and reclaim control of your health, your habits and your life. Each week you'll get practical science backed strategies to support you in crushing your goals so you can stop second guessing yourself. Choose, sharpen your focus and finally feel like the woman who leads her life, not just survives it. Hey there. Happy March. Happy Spring. It feels good to be back. If you've been listening to this podcast as episodes come out, you will notice that I took January, February and most of March off, which wasn't a planned break, but it was very much needed. This year has already been massively impactful for me and I'm really excited to share what's contributed to that change so that you can experience the same thing. I work full time as pretty much an accountability and mindset coach and the company has started a book club that is mandatory for employees which I was actually excited about. I love to read, I just have not prioritized it in years. I have a list of probably 50 books that I want to read and I write down what I read every year. And actually looking at that, I read nine books last year and I'm not even sure how because last year felt so massively chaotic. Actually I do know how I had accountability for five books. Two were novels because I didn't want to watch TV and two are about the Bible which I'm building the habit of reading daily so I can be a reader. I just have not put on that identity which is something that Atomic Habits talks in depth about. Atomic Habits was our January book club book and it has been on my list to read for at least two years. If you've not read the book, I highly recommend it. It was an easy read, I did not want to put it down and I like to read on ibooks and I have 135 highlighted passages and a full page of notes on how certain topics apply to my life. This is literally a life changing book and let me tell you why. If you're a high performer you will understand this. And when I say high performer I mean somebody who takes action, is a go getter, wakes up at 5am and has so much you want to get done in the day because you have really big goals. The people who understand what a productivity adrenaline rush Feels like Now I've been in hustle mode the vast majority of life since 2020 and it really started when I became a travel agent because I enjoyed the industry so much and I had such big goals that I wanted to hit that I would come home from work and immediately start on the travel business until 9 or 10pm easily. And I'm the kind of person who never really slows down because I'm too excited to get to my goals. Even if I'm hanging out with people, watching a movie, chilling out in whatever way that looks for the day, my mind is running a mile a minute. That's why I talk so fast, because my mouth cannot keep up with my brain. And as fun as the hustle lifestyle felt, it was finally catching up with me. I was on a training in December for my coaching business and the woman leading it was telling us that years ago she went into the hospital for adrenal fatigue because she was running non stop and I immediately thought of my lack of sleep, my stress, my constantly being on and I thought that's going to happen to me if I don't chill out. The problem was I didn't know what to slow down on because everything felt important. But I knew I had to get out of the hustle mode, lower my stress level and actually sleep. All nighters were one thing when I was in college. But I am 34 now and I need my brain to continue functioning at a high level for at least that many more years. So I get to shift how I operate. And because I have really big dreams and really big vision for what I want to do with my life and because it's so so exciting for me to work, I give myself deadlines that are completely unrealistic given the reality of my life, I always assume I can do more than I can. And I was working almost non stop because I enjoy what I do, which is one thing atomic habits broke me of. But it was so hard to slow down because once I get a glimpse of what's possible, I want the dang results asap. Which is another thing that Atomic Habits broke me of. And the thing I realized was that I am in control of my schedule. That is the whole point of owning your own business. I get to control what I do and when I work. So why am I voluntarily causing so much stress in my life? Because I was looking at success all wrong. This is where I found myself three months ago. I love what I do. I have big dreams and big vision. I want the results now. And the non stop grinding was creating a life that I did not want to live. So I decided at the end of last year I needed to take a pause and figure out how I needed to be spending my time by figuring out what kind of life I want and then entered Atomic Habits. I could easily write a 50 page book about everything that I learned reading the book. But I'm going to save you the time and cover the three big takeaways that have radically changed how I operate on a daily basis. And then after you listen to this, I highly encourage you to click on the link in the description and buy the book from Amazon. Okay, Principle number one. It does not matter how much you do, it matters that you start. On any given week I can have three to five things that need to get done in any or all of the categories of my life. Travel, business, coaching, business in general, personal development, personal life plus my full time job plus not totally ignoring my family and friends and some things are little tasks. Some things, like recording a podcast episode, are more of a project and take time. Now when I'm looking at my calendar and my task list, it can generally feel like the hours do not exist to get get everything done. Hence my lack of sleeping. And if I don't have a meaningful time to do something, I wouldn't start. So if I believe that I need 45 minimum minutes to work on my podcast, I could skip a week or two working on it because the big chunk of time wasn't there. Then I get behind and feel rushed because I committed to one episode a week. So I must deliver. And there enters stress and hustle. And I've tried variations of what I learned in Atomic Habits before, but it's never stuck until now. And I believe one of the reasons it never stuck was because I didn't really have to change. There's a passage in the book that says when the when they persist over years, little stresses compound into serious health issues. And this is where I found myself. And it is undoubtedly the reason I took the rest of the book so seriously. In the book, James Clear writes, when you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do. And I immediately saw the brain science behind this because our brain is designed to conserve energy, which means it automates as much of life as possible. Combine that with the total lack of interest in doing anything remotely uncomfortable and you have a brain designed to only create habits that take you further down the path of this is easy and I don't know about you, but my goals are the total opposite of easy. I'm looking at my book notes as I'm doing this and I wrote there is no shame in starting micro doing the thing is sometimes more important than how much you do. Having enough discipline to stay consistent is the hardest part of building any habit. It's like pushing a car, it takes a massive amount of effort to get it rolling, but once you start it, it takes comparatively less effort to keep it going. When I started focusing on being someone who does what she says no matter what the amount looks like, I became massively more consistent in everything I said I was going to do. And here's the difference from before. Before I knew it was okay to only work on something for 15 minutes and be done, but it never felt like enough because I was so focused on where I wanted to go. Now I write down the exact bare minimum of my task to be complete every day. And as soon as that bare minimum is hit, I check the box that it is done, which gives my brain permission to stop. And why this works leads into the other two principles. Principle 2 Stop while it's Fun this idea of stopping in the middle of an ongoing task or project while you're still enjoying it was impossible for me to understand until I experienced it. Remember that I said I can work non stop because it's so much fun for me. It takes an immense amount of discipline to stop when what you're doing is still enjoyable and you really want to hit your goals. And because my bad habits were disguised as meaningful productivity that would push me towards my goals, I did not grasp the amount of all or nothing behaviors I was living in my life. Something I'm building out in my membership is specific meal plans and recipes. And when I get into recipe experimentation, I truly enjoy it and have moments where I think that I could do do that for my entire business. And because I enjoyed it so much, I would work non stop building them out, testing them, getting them consumer ready. But by the time I would finish a month worth of meals, I was completely exhausted and burnt out and did not want to think of recipes for another month. It was so enjoyable for me that I went too hard and days or weeks later when I would think about doing more for the next month, I would totally procrastinate because I didn't remember how much I enjoyed it. I remembered how exhausted I was by the end. And anytime we experience something with a strong emotion, that memory becomes almost seared in our brain. And because I was working to the point of exhaustion, I would shift to a completely different project and not want to touch that one again for weeks. This is a huge problem when your life demands consistency. By giving myself a time limit and forcing myself to stop, I am excited to get back to that project the next day. And because I'm always excited to get back to it, I never dread the task itself. I also love to work on projects, which I think a lot of high performers do, because I love to complete something, see it through to the end, then work on something else. Well, if you're creating a business or doing anything long term in your life, the desire to always start something new is why nothing ever gets finished. The shiny object syndrome is a serious dream killer. So when I realized that by breaking everything down into micro tasks, one ending can transition into another beginning. So I'm always working on the fun project and there's no hustle to finish it. Energy that totally wipes me out and has me watching Netflix for hours because my brain doesn't want to think. Third principle is to enjoy the process and I've heard variations of this so many times. But again, it has not sunk in until this book. I think I'm actually going to need to do a part two for this book because identity was a theme he discussed throughout the whole book and I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't talk about it. But back to the third rule I mentioned earlier, that I can work non stop because I'm so excited to get to the results. And while it's good to be that motivated, there are two big problems with this thinking. One, if you're a high performer like me, you are constantly learning what's possible and as you grow and change, so do your goals. James Clear compares this to a horizon that no matter how long you approach it, it constantly is receding. And as we accomplish goals we learn more about what we're capable of and what other possibilities are out there. And which means that the goal is always changing. It keeps getting a little bit bigger and a little bit further outside our comfort zone. We never get to the finish line. Because as soon as we accomplish what we set out to do, we have a new idea that we want to work towards. And some of you listening to this might be lying to yourself by telling yourself that you will be happy when something is accomplished. And that is a guaranteed way to experience lifelong disappointment. I experienced this when I passed my registered Dietitian examination. Between health issues and a slew of other things, it took me 11 years to become a registered dietitian. Six years of college, four years of job searching and working, one year of internship. And the registered dietitian exam is no joke. A lot of people fail in their first attempt and have to take it again. And because of how long I have been working towards it, and because I envisioned what my life could be like once I was a dietitian, I assumed that I would have this incredible feeling of satisfaction, satisfaction and happiness. And I would just feel different once I officially became a registered dietitian and had those letters after my name. So I studied like crazy for about a month, got my exam scheduled, and I'm at the computer just going through questions, and all of a sudden it was over. A window popped up that said, congratulations, you passed. And I went to the front office and I picked up my printout that confirmed I had passed. And that was it. I remember afterwards thinking, huh, I guess that's it. I didn't feel any different. But I hadn't told anyone yet. So maybe after I told my parents and my family and some people I connected with during my internship and some friends who knew I was working on it, maybe once I celebrated enough, I would feel different, the way I should have felt after hitting this huge milestone. But there was nothing. I vividly remember being in my room and getting ready for bed that night, and I thought, nothing has changed. I don't feel different. And regardless of how big or exciting or impactful your end goal feels right now, you will not feel like a different person once you hit it. And if that's what you're counting on to make your life better, you will be massively disappointed. This is why James Clear talks about enjoying the journey. Your horizon will constantly be unreachable. But when you enjoy the process of getting wherever you're trying to go, then you can make the habit stick and you can enjoy becoming the person you're required to become to hit your goal. Every day becomes enjoyable because you like what you're doing on the way to the top instead of waiting for the outcome to make your life better. Like I said before, so many of the principles in this book talk about identity, and regardless of what you say, what you do determines who you are. In case you didn't think to take notes during this, let me recap for you what the three big principles are from Atomic habits that have radically changed how I show up in life. Principle 1 It doesn't matter how much you do, it matters that you start. Principle 2 Stop while it's still fun. Principle 3 Enjoy the process. If you take a look at the things you're trying to achieve in your life, whether it's working out, changing your diet, personal development, or goals for your business or career, these three principles will jumpstart your progress. And while I'm still navigating the new identity I'm working to become, you can expect a new episode every other week. Moving forward, I highly recommend you go to Amazon using the link in the description and grab the book. Forward this to a friend who you think might benefit from it. And if you found this episode helpful, go ahead and give this podcast a five star review. It'll help other high performers like you find it online. Until next time, take action and stay empowered. Okay now before you pop off, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the one episode that could change your life. And it would be incredibly helpful if you would leave a five star review so that more high performing women can find this podcast. If you want to check, check out all of the free guides, templates and resources I've given away. Go to sprintnutritioncoaching. Com. You can grab anything you want, but only if you will do it because information without implementation is worthless. And here at goalgetter we are action takers, not excuse makers.
