[00:00:00] And welcome to the scary goals club. I am your host, Hazel Robertson. And I believe that to make the impact that you know, you're called to make in the world, it requires setting bigger, scarier goals, and then becoming the person who creates them. That is what I am here to show you how to do. That's what we're diving into.
Mindset tools, tricks, really simple, practical, actionable steps. You can take and start applying straight away. Cause. Or whatever you believe, we have this one life that we definitely know about. Start making the impact you know you want to make in the world. Fear is not a reason to stop. We keep going. We work through the fear.
That is what we do in the Scary Goals Club. So come on in, come join, hit subscribe, and let's get started.
Hi and welcome to episode 22. Oh, I'm going to just check. It's recording.
It is recording. Okay, we're good. Hi, and welcome to episode 22 [00:01:00] of the Scary Goals Club podcast. I'm Hazel Robertson and I'm here with my dog Maple. Let me see. I might actually show you Maple if you're watching this on video. What else have I got lying around? Hang on, let me remove some of the scraps that are on the floor and show you.
Here you go. Hi Maple, you see her down there? I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull this around. There she is. Ah, she's wagging. Are you wagging? She's wagging. My little podcasting buddy for today, though. I just wanted to jump on here and I'm gonna get so distracted. I don't normally have her in the room with me and she was actually just lying there until I started talking in my maple dog voice.
So now she's like wagging her tail, grabbing something. Anyway, hopefully she'll settle. And if you can hear it clicking in the background, sorry about that. Um, I'm so distracted. Anyway, I wanted to just jump on [00:02:00] here today to share something that I think is a very common misconception and certainly is something that I used to think and that I have completely shifted my own understanding of based on experience, based on science, based on how our brains and our body works.
And it is this. Often we think that, like, when it comes to productivity and getting things done, whether that's our scary goal, it's another project, like anything that we're doing in our business or in our life, and that like quote unquote being productive, like producing something, it can be very easy to be like, oh but, and I fall into this trap as well, a lot.
Being like, Oh, I don't have time to go for a walk or do exercise, or I don't have time to do something else. Like I have all these things to do this, like busyness, like I must be productive like, okay, I have these hours.
better get things done and better just be in this room and be [00:03:00] doing things, thinking that somehow that is going to be more productive.
Now we can define productivity in different ways and it's not just about producing something for the sake of producing something, but having some valuable outcome of creating something in the world that wasn't there before, building connections, Creating something that feels valuable and important, not just productivity for productivity's sake of like doing stuff that actually, if we're honest, doesn't make a difference, doesn't really matter, is just a drain on our time and energy.
So when I'm talking about productivity in this sense, let's just assume that it's being productive on things that are actually important to you and that actually matter and will make the impact you want to in the world.
Whether that's relationships, whether that's producing something at work or producing this podcast, we could argue whether this is going to make any impact in the world. But anyway, I'm going to assume that it is. Oftentimes it can, it can be very easy to [00:04:00] think. And if you do this, no judgment, like be super kind to yourself, but it can be very easy to think, okay, the most productive thing I can do in a day is filling my calendar with all these different things.
And then that's how we will get the most done. And I just want to offer that that is not true. Okay. And oftentimes it can be easy to think, okay, well. if I have this break or do something else or go for a walk or pet my dog. She's just chilling there now. That somehow isn't productive.
That somehow isn't producing. A result. That is just not true. Like, well, firstly, you can do those things just because you are human. We have one life that we definitely know about that we are on this planet for. Life is about living. Life is about connecting in those moments, about doing things that make us feel alive, about doing things that connect [00:05:00] us with other people, with animals, with nature.
Like, some of these things that we, that I certainly used to be like, oh, I can't do that during my working day, are things that just, are amazing and like, help me feel more connected as a human. And I've been building in a lot more of those into my working days. Still, my brain sometimes is like, but that's not being productive.
Go and do this thing instead. Take off things off the list. But I just want to offer why those things, yes, are amazing. Do them anyway, because you're a human and it's all about being and connecting and resting and daydreaming and actually just being a human. Also, the more that you spend time and carve out time doing these things that society would say are quote unquote not productive.
Often we internalize these beliefs as like, I'm being lazy, I'm slacking off, I'm not being productive. Actually, it's those things. that will help us be more productive.
I mean really creating something that wasn't there before, [00:06:00] changing something like where you are using your highest thinking power, your creativity.
we get our best ideas, like creativity comes, we figure out like new ways of doing things and we just feel better and we feel more in like a flow state, more in a creative state, more present.
We have more energy. We do things that like energize us when we build in some of these. Things that society would say are quote unquote not productive, like listening to music, going for a walk, meditating, figuring out how we feel.
And one thing that can be really helpful is even just noticing when you are in a place that's maybe feeling Like you're, I don't want to say like less productive, but maybe your energy's a bit off, maybe you're rushing, maybe things feel a little bit scattered.
That is a sign that actually you want to [00:07:00] take a pause. Because doing anything from that place and I'll give you some specific examples. for example, if I find myself rushing, frantically kind of being on my phone a little bit starting and stopping different things, not really doing what I had decided I wanted to do on my calendar that ultimately I want to do, but I'm kind of jumping around a little bit.
Maybe I'm going to get lots of cups of tea and kind of just trying to distract myself. That is a sign that there is some feeling underneath that I'm not being present with. There's some feeling that's there, maybe it's like anxiety, maybe it's fear, worry, there's something sitting there that I'm kind of ignoring and pushing away and I'm trying to almost like busy myself and distract myself.
Even though maybe I am doing some stuff, in between the distracting myself with my phone and another cup of tea and. Going and doing this and checking that and whatever, even though I might be actually doing some things, if I don't just let myself sit and process that feeling and I'm like, [00:08:00] no, no, I don't have time.
I need to be doing this thing on my calendar. It's like, I'm not actually doing that thing anyway. I'm kind of distracting myself. I'm not really present. I'm not really thinking. And I end up like just spending so much time, not really doing anything. It's not productive. I'm not producing anything useful.
I'm also not listening to what my body needs. If in that moment, I can pause, be present with my feeling, like process it through, be like, okay, what is actually going on? What do I need here? Really understand what's going on. Maybe it is going out for a walk. Maybe that's what I feel like I need to do.
Maybe I need to listen to a song and have like a dance. Maybe I need to go lie down and have a nap. If that's ultimately what I, my body is needing in that moment and I'm ignoring that, whatever I'm doing is just. not going to be as effective and is just going to drag on and take more time. If I can just catch it and sit with whatever that feeling is and process it through, literally it's like Oh, okay, cool.
Onto the next thing, and I [00:09:00] can now focus and get back into where I was, because whatever feeling that we have, if we are trying to resist it and avoid it, and often we do this as humans, uncomfortable feelings, like fear, like anxiety, like self doubt, like uncertainty, they feel really. scary to our brain and to our body and our body's like something's gonna go wrong.
Like we are wired to avoid these feelings. We are wired to want to run away from them. They used to mean danger. Nowadays they often don't. It's the same feeling that we can have. Like we can feel that fear thinking about making a mistake on a project or thinking about standing up and speaking on camera and messing up our words.
And so that feeling of fear is there or self doubt or whatever it is or anxiety. And we want to run away from it and avoid it and distract ourselves and eat something and get another cup of tea and be on our phone and be in our inbox and doing stuff that kind of feels good and quick wins. And rather than if we just actually sit and process through the feeling and tell our body and like our brain, like our nervous [00:10:00] system, I'm not actually going to die.
Like right now, everything is okay and we come back to this like calm place. Maybe we do put on some tunes, we have a dance, we feel amazing. Maybe we think about what we're grateful for, like we have any of these practices that help us feel in a more flowy and helpful and productive place. That's when we're going to be more productive.
When we are in a stress response where we were, our body is like literally on high alert, like fight or flight, something's going to go wrong. We want to run away. So we're not really able to focus on what we were actually trying to do. Like we're trying to avoid the task. It's like, I don't want to stand on it.
I do this all the time. I literally did this this morning or was it yesterday? Yesterday I recorded another podcast, I didn't want to do it and I was able to just sit and like process through the feeling. As soon as I did that, it was like, Oh cool, now I know what I'm going to talk about. Like on I get, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.
If I hadn't done that, [00:11:00] it would have dragged on like hours and hours and hours.
And it is this, this technique that has worked, which is just knowing that the things that society can call quote unquote lazy and not productive. Those are the things that are going to make you most effective.
Those are the things that are going to make you feel most like a human. Those are the things that are going to help you tap into your creativity. even on your, in your work day, as you're moving towards your scary goal, as you're doing anything.
When you are wanting to avoid something, when these uncomfortable feelings coming up. Literally, like, the most productive thing you can do, the most effective thing you can do is to step away, is to press pause, is to go and step outside in nature, even if it's for 15 minutes, is to sit, process through any feelings, even if it's for 15 minutes, even if it's for, if it's for a minute.
And we often think, oh, I don't have time to do whatever this thing is. I don't have time for a walk. I don't have time to go and sit outside in the sun for five minutes. I don't have [00:12:00] time.
And I just want to offer you another way of thinking about it, which is what if that is going to save you so much time? Not that saving time is the reason that you actually want to do these things. You want to do them because you want your day to be rich and interesting and not just back to back meetings and asking loads more in, but actually experiencing life on this planet, connecting with other people, even if they're strangers at a coffee shop, connecting with nature, connecting with.
Your dog, with your kids, with your friends, with your family, with your colleagues, like having the connection, having that time for yourself, understanding yourself more. You want to be doing these things because this is life and it's so short and these are the moments that we have and the more that we can sprinkle these moments, like five minutes here, five minutes there, throughout the day, these are the moments that you are going to remember at the end of the day.
You're not going to remember those extra three things you ticked off your list because your brain will probably be thinking about the other five things you didn't do. But when we can sprinkle these moments of being present, soaking [00:13:00] in the amazingness, the goodness, the richness of the natural world, of what it is like being alive, even when sometimes it's hard and life can be up and down a hundred percent, but just we can be alive.
have these moments of connection, we're going to feel energized. Our body is not going to be in this stress state. We're going to feel more relaxed, more calm. Ideas are going to be coming. We're going to have easier conversations. We're not going to get triggered by things happening as much,
Like we're just going to have more energy because feeling stress like that puts such a toll on our bodies, feeling stress, feeling anxious, worrying about things, It's exhausting. And if we are going through our days in this stressed state, like not giving ourselves a break, just back to back meetings, packing more things in, we're gonna be knackered at the end of the day.
And it's not because of how much we've done, because think about, like, when you've had days that have felt so full but you're literally buzzing afterwards. What is it about those days? You're probably in a very [00:14:00] different energy, meaning you're, there's a way that you're thinking and feeling that just feels a bit more energizing and flowy and like, you're doing things that light you up and you have these connections, you're spending time in nature, you're having conversations, you're coming up with big ideas, whatever that is for you thinking now, like, what are those things that energize you?
How can you build them into your day? And knowing like that is what is going to enhance your effectiveness. That is what is going to enhance your productivity, like what you are able to create and to produce. Stress backed by new things, packing more in, so much to do, that is just going to make your days and weeks just feel dull and everything just feel a bit like meh.
Okay. So the next time you want to go out for a walk, but maybe, and actually I'll give you a personal example.
So even this morning I woke up, I set my alarm, I woke up, then I spent time looking at the election results and I was [00:15:00] tired and I put, I hadn't laid out my gym stuff. I was like, I want to go to the gym. Hadn't laid it out. Hadn't made a plan. Couldn't find a sports bra, then realized there was one in the drawer and then I was like maybe I'm tired, maybe I need to eat something, maybe I need to do this.
Literally all of the excuses, because I hadn't prepped in advance for going to the gym, I had all the excuses this morning and then it was like half eight and I was like, What time am I going to start if I go to the gym and then come back and I was like, uh, and Luke was like, just go outside for a walk.
He was like, literally get outside, just go. And so I went outside for a walk and even before I was like, no, I haven't edited. Like I put the pod, the podcast went out today. It's a Friday. Normally I set it, schedule it in advance. It goes out for seven in the morning. I hadn't done the final editing and uploaded it and so I was like but then what time is the podcast gonna go out?
No I need to go and like do the podcast now. I was literally in such a like unsettled state. I felt like I was about to burst into tears. It was almost like all of these old stories of not being organized and not able to be on [00:16:00] top of things and you can't even exercise. Like all of this stuff was like coming in this morning and I did have a cry and it felt good and I was just able to kind of be with that and then I just went out for a walk.
I left like, I didn't even walk for that long. I took Maple out for a walk. I threw some pine cones for her. I was in the woods. I replied to a few emails. I was like, Oh, just need to do this, that, did a few little other things. I wasn't even out for that long. Was out for like 20 minutes. I came back feeling so energized and was like, okay, boom, let's go and do the podcast.
And if I hadn't done that, like I know, because I've done this in the past so many times, if I hadn't sat with whatever was there. let myself cry, gone out for a walk, like, moved my body, been in nature, connected with Maple, given her a cuddle, threw some pinecones. If I hadn't done that I literally would have come in here half edited, then been like, Oh, wait, no, I need to do this thing.
Oh, wait, no, I'll go get another cup of tea. Oh, wait, no, I'll go and do [00:17:00] like, it just, the time would have spread on. Like I wouldn't have actually done it in such a short space of time. So it's almost like the podcast from a few episodes ago, like the scary hour when you condense lots of scary things all in a one er and you're just in the habit of like, Oh, scary.
I'm going to do it, do it, do it, do it. And you're on a roll. It's the same with this, when you're building time into your day, and taking time to go for a walk, to step outside, to breathe, to like meditate, to close your eyes, to put tunes on, have a dance, to run, to like laugh, to connect with someone, whatever that is, you build that into your day, that's going to energize you and is going to make the rest of your day so much more effective, so much more productive, and more fun, it's just more amazing to actually.
Be living and feel like the living doesn't start after you finished work or start at the weekends or when you get these things done. No, it's like the living fuels like bringing [00:18:00] life into your day to day, bringing in things that energize you and light you up into your day to day. That is what helps you create more and think on a bigger level and just make a bigger impact.
Whatever it is, whether it's with your scary goal or in your business or whatever that looks like. Okay. So the first step to this. is just like you can pause this now or grab a piece of paper or in your phone notes just writing down what are some of the things that energize you some of the things that like light you up that afterwards you know you're just like oh my god this is so good this feels amazing so some of the ones for me if you want some examples like walk in nature or run in nature like snuggling my dog throwing pine cones for her reading a book with my kids with Flynn or like hanging out with him dancing putting on tunes Like going sometimes I'll take my shoes and socks off and just go walk around the grass like on the garden.
Just walking bare feet on the earth just feels amazing.
just anything that's like taking me out of the day to [00:19:00] day and obviously building in things that actually feel energizing and exciting like The other evening after work I met someone for a walk up Skoltie, the local hill, and we met like eight, we put our kids to bed and we went for this walk.
It was so nice just being up, there was dark moody clouds and the wind was like whipping round and it was so loud in our ears, but it was just felt like. So energizing being out in the power of nature. Normally I would be, I don't know, putting on a washing or doing something in the kitchen or doing some admin or I don't know, something not as exciting and feeling alive and just connecting me back with life and it's just so powerful and snapping you out of the, the day to day.
Grind and the meetings and the back and the and not to say that you can't have energizing meetings I like love connecting with people on zoom and I love doing that and I also love having [00:20:00] other bits sprinkled throughout my day and i'm not always I don't always find that that easy like sometimes i'm like, okay, I I just work three days a week.
I have to pack all these things in. It's like reminding myself, no, there's so much time. There's so much time. There's plenty of time to do these things that make you feel alive, that energize you, that light you up. And actually the more that you do, the more energy you have for other parts of your business and for your scary goal.
So the first bit is figuring out what energizes you, write a list and even notice as you go through your weeks, like Oh, that gave me energy or like, Oh, I love that. And that, and like, I carried that with me the rest of the day. And then figuring out the second bit is like figuring out what time of day, like when might you want to sprinkle some of these things in?
So maybe if you have like a period of focus time in the morning or a few more intense meetings or workshops, maybe you want to be scheduling some time after that. Where you're like, I'm stepping away. I'm just going to go for a walk or maybe before a meeting. [00:21:00] So I often do this before I record a podcast, I'll go for a walk before I actually record, because I know that that.
Lifts my energy levels energizes me and it's so much easier to come on and talk through and share ideas and know what I'm gonna say and be fully present when I've been out for a walk when I've moved my body beforehand as well. So thinking about what are some of those things and how can you sprinkle them in throughout the day?
And also noticing if your brain's like, I don't have time for lunch. I don't have time for this, I don't have time for this. Really questioning that. Like, what if. That those are the most important moments of your day. It's not that meeting you think we think it is like, this meeting is really important or this thing is really important.
This deadline. What if it actually really isn't? And the moments, the 15 minutes that you went and like put your, like your face up to the sky and felt the sun like on it and you just connected with the earth. What if those are the most important moments of your day or the time that you left a voice note for like someone that you care about or.
You know, and that brought to mind something that you love and that you feel [00:22:00] grateful for. What if those are the most important moments of your day? Because of how that percolates and infiltrates the rest of your day and how you are being, how you are connecting with people and how you are showing up in the world.
So it is a journey Because society feeds us from a young age of like producing more, more, more, must produce more. I'm only useful if I'm producing. And so oftentimes we can feel guilt when we are stepping away because it's almost like I'm being lazy. What I'm doing is wrong.
Like guilts and emotion that we feel when we think we've done something wrong. So somewhere in our brain, we're thinking not being in front of a computer, not producing is quote unquote wrong. And it's just noticing like, where does that belief come from? Like, where did we pick that up? It can be society and we're fed this.
Maybe there's some other places that it's come in. Maybe it's worked for you in the past, like when you were producing loads and running on a quite like stressed, high adrenaline state, maybe you produce things and were successful. But what if it [00:23:00] is possible to do that by bringing in the moments of peace, the moments of connection, the moments of doing things that make you feel alive?
What if that is what living is truly about? And working is truly about, and it's like re imagining how we actually work. Yes, we're creating things that weren't there before. Yes, we're changing the world with our businesses, with our minds, and the way to fuel that is by spending time in the world, just being.
So going over those two steps again, figuring out what energizes you, and then the second piece is really looking like how can you sprinkle them in throughout your day. And the third piece is actually doing them because you're gonna notice a lot of resistance comes up like you won't want to do them you'll be like but I'm midway through this I haven't finished this thing and like oh this email just pinged in like your brain will find all the excuses of like do more do more.
That is exactly when you want to be stepping away. That is exactly when you [00:24:00] want to be sitting, processing through any feeling, and then coming back and you'll maybe see, oh, I don't even need to reply to this email at all, or like, oh wait, we could do it in this way and it's just going to save everyone so much time.
So once you tap into stepping away, to feeling, processing through any feelings that are there, to playing, to spending time outside. That is going to then help you come up with so many different ways of doing things and make the time that you are spending way more productive because you're just in such a more creative, easeful, playful, present energy rather than like worrying about things, thinking about the next thing, feeling in the stress state that just shuts down the most useful part of your brain and like accessing your creative thinking.
So just want to share that. And if you're listening to this today, I am actually on holiday. I am down. I'm recording this a week in advance. Down in Edinburgh, we have tickets, Luke and I have got tickets to [00:25:00] some live music at the castle. It's gonna be so good. We're going to see the National and the Manic Street Preachers and Skippanish.
Just amazing. And I don't know how we've done it, but we've roped my parents into babysitting for like three consecutive nights. We asked, I can't remember when we booked tickets, it was literally like six months ago or something. And they were like, yeah, yeah, sure. And then I think, yeah, But it's like actually the reality of now they have to come to the gym and look after Flynn for like three evenings but it's going to be amazing and I can't even think of the last time that like Luke and I have had time to ourselves to, I don't know, just be away like and live music as well.
This is something that I know energizes me and I just cannot wait to be like listening to amazing music by amazing bands in the freaking castle. Like, what? And just being with other people in their energy and just like, oh, I am so excited. It's gonna be so good.
I'm probably gonna be so knackered being out late but I can't wait. [00:26:00] So anyway, think about what energizes you and really bringing that not only into your life but into your day to day, into your working day, what if it is the most productive thing you can do? That stepping away, taking time for yourself, doing things that make you feel alive, going for that walk.
And just play with it and you will notice such a difference and then once you notice the difference, it'll be so much easier to plan more of it in and to keep going as well. I just remember, like, the thing that always helps me is remembering how amazing you're going to feel after. So even this morning when I was like, I don't have time for a walk, it's like, yes, you do.
The podcast can wait. It's okay. thinking how amazing I feel after a walk. Even literally since I stepped out the door it was like oh this feels so good and I felt amazing after and then it was like boom boom boom boom boom and the rest of the day has just been so much easier. Okay have an amazing rest of the day, an amazing week and I'll see you next time.
Bye.
Hey, thanks so much for listening. If this was helpful, please hit subscribe and leave a review. This helps get this work in the hands of more [00:27:00] purposeful people. That is more people creating bigger, scarier goals, making an even bigger impact in the world. And if you want to take this work deeper and work with me directly, head to the show note and I put all of the information there.
If you've got any questions or if there's anything you're like, ooh, I'd love you to talk about that on the pod, please just get in touch. I love hearing from you guys. And I'll see you next time in the Scary Goals Club.
