Wrenches Don’t Break You. Mindset Builds You: How to Keep Going When Life Goes Sideways

You had a plan. You had a list. You were going to GET. STUFF. DONE.

And then life said, “That’s adorable.”

The headache hits. Traffic is a nightmare. Your boss drops something on your desk at 4:55. The internet goes down. You're exhausted, overwhelmed, behind schedule, and suddenly that beautiful plan you had for the day is circling the drain.

So now what?

In this episode of Breakthrough with Mallory and Julie, we're talking about what mindset really looks like when life refuses to cooperate—because having a positive mindset when everything is going your way is easy. The real test is what you do when the wrench hits the works.

Do you let one bad moment hijack the entire day? Do you throw out the other $900 because somebody stole $100? Do you wallow in everything that's gone wrong—or do you rally, pivot, and take back control?

This isn't another fluffy conversation about “just think positive.” Nope. We're talking about real-world mindset strategies for high achievers who still have days when they're tired, overwhelmed, unmotivated, frustrated, and just plain DONE.

We're digging into:

• Why you can't wait until you feel like it to take action
• How to reset your mindset when your day goes completely off the rails
• Why behavior changes belief faster than belief changes behavior
• How to stop one setback from ruining the rest of your day
• Why remembering your WHY can keep you moving when motivation disappears
• How to create a Plan B before you need one
• Why breaking overwhelming tasks into smaller chunks actually works
• How to do your future self a favor
• Why accountability can help you keep going when you'd rather quit
• And the mantra Julie uses to get herself moving when she absolutely does NOT feel like it: Promises made. Promises kept.

Because here's the uncomfortable truth: You don't think your way into feeling better. Sometimes you have to act your way there.

And mindset isn't about pretending everything is wonderful. It's about refusing to hand over control of your entire day—or your goals—because something didn't go according to plan.

Don't wallow. Rally.

Oh, and stick around for Female Five, because this time we're getting personal! We're answering a question we've received more than once: How exactly did Mallory and Julie meet—and how in the world did that turn into Breakthrough? Spoiler alert: apparently, there was some light stalking involved. 😂

If you've ever thought, “Well, today is shot,” “I'm too overwhelmed,” “I'll do it when I feel more motivated,” or “Why bother? Something always gets in the way,” this episode is your lovingly delivered kick in the pants.

Life is going to throw wrenches.

Your breakthrough is learning not to hand them the steering wheel.

🎧 Listen now and discover how to reset your mindset, take action when you don't feel like it, stay productive through overwhelm, and keep moving toward the goals—and the impact—that matter most to you.

mindset reset, positive mindset, growth mindset, mindset for success, how to stay motivated, how to stay productive, overcoming overwhelm, productivity tips, high achiever mindset, resilience, mental resilience, how to keep going, motivation and discipline, taking action, achieving goals, personal development for women, women in business, women leaders, self-leadership, accountability, overcoming setbacks, Breakthrough with Mallory and Julie

Stay connected to Mallory and Julie!

breakthroughwmj.com

mallory@HerrinHR.com

julie@julieburch.com

@Breakthroughwmj  

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:15

Have you ever had plans for the day and something happens and everything goes wrong? Or maybe you've written out your to-do list, but you didn't get to a single one of those items, you're not alone. Hey Breakthrough crew, welcome to Breakthrough with Mallory and Julie. And today we're going to be talking about mindset. Now, specifically within that, what do you do about your mindset when you're having one of those days and you're feeling overwhelmed? Because just by you listening to this podcast, we know you're the kind of people that pay attention to your mindset, but we're not immune to something like this. My name is Mallory Heron. I'm a wife, mom, CEO, speaker, author, podcaster. And I'm so happy to be here with you today. And I still love dogs.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

My name is Julie Birch with Julie Birch Speaks, and I am excited to be here with you, breakthrough crew. I'm a speaker, author, podcaster, and a warrior, meaning I am all about fighting that war on self-abdication. And this topic certainly falls under that umbrella. So that's what we want to talk about today is really the getting over that self-abdication, meaning giving up our power when things get in the way. And I think that's the key, right? We we've spent, and hopefully you've been listening to all of our episodes, but we talk a lot about mindset. We talk about mind over matter. We talk about success techniques, and those are things that are related to your mindset. So today specifically, we were thinking about what happens. It's it's much easier. And I really do think that like high achievers, which all of you are, generally you have a powerful mindset, right? You are you're willing to work, to put in the effort to do the things that you need to do in normal life. But what happens when life throws you a curveball? What happens when a wrench gets thrown into the works? Are we able to overcome then? It's a lot easier when things don't get in the way, but let's face it, every day it feels like something gets in the way. And I and really part of where this came from for me, uh I get migraines, I get migraine headaches. Um, I have a great prescription medicine that I use to kill it when I get it, and it works great. And I but I get them periodically. And I actually a couple weeks ago I had a migraine and I was not scheduled to speak that day. I was working from home and then I had errands and things I needed to do. And so I had a busy full day, but I woke up with a migraine. And generally when I get them, I wake up with them. And I was just dragging. Oh my gosh, I just can't even, I can't do this, can't do life today. I took my medicine and I laid down and I slept for about an hour. And when I woke up, I had that feeling that oh, my day is just done. Like I can't believe I ruined my whole morning with this. And then I realized I need to knock it off because there are also times when I've woken up with a migraine and I had to take my medicine and walk out on stage and do a keynote. So I was choosing to let the wrench in my works, my migraine, change my day. And that is really what we want to focus on in this episode is not your everyday mindset, because I'm assuming it's great. It's do you have the ability to keep the mindset and to stay in the game even when you don't feel like it.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Absolutely. And I mean, that's not to say like medical conditions happen. Sometimes you truly can't do anything. But outside of that, there's this temptation to let that really decide your day and give into it. And that happens to me too. I should I should do it sometimes. I wish I didn't, but it can, it's the easy thing, the comfortable thing to not get out of bed or to become one with the bed. I am part of the bed sometimes. The bed is part of me. Yes, especially in wintertime when it's cold and I'm like all snuggled up. I'm like, I don't have to. But if I let every day that I felt like this change what I do for the day, I wouldn't be getting what I need to do done. And think about it like this. Let's say you have a thousand dollars, right? Fun, free money, we love it. You've got a thousand dollars, but someone steals a hundred of it from you. Rude.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

More crime, more crime everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Someone needs to tell crime junkie. Would you then say, I'm gonna I don't need the other 900? It's totally ruined. Just get rid of it. No, you'd still keep your bonus $900. And it's the same as we all deal with traffic on the way to work, or even you know, if you work remotely on the way to whatever, traffic is a thing, traffic sucks. Let's say you're on your way to work and there's a bad accident, and I mean, prayers for that person, but you're like it's just it's ruining the whole vibe. The the day is ugh, so you don't go, you turn back around and go home.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Well, now we can't do that. We don't want you fired. Yeah, you're gonna lose your job. That seems like a bad plan.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Yeah. So you it's examples of not letting this one thing just dictate how your day is gonna go. How do you take back control and salvage things and really learn to pivot? That's what it's all about. Uh pivot.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Yes, just like friends. You're off one of the best scenes. Pivot. Pivot, pivot, pivot, pivot. But I think that makes sense. And and you know, these are just simple illustrations. And but every one of you have experienced it. I have no doubt. You know, it could be you're planning on leaving right at five because you've got something you need to do, like, I don't know, go to the gym or whatever it is. Uh, pick your kids up. It doesn't matter. You got to run by the grocery and get that gallon of milk before you go home. And at 4:55, your boss comes in and says, Hey, could you just uh finish this up before you leave? And you look at it and you think, well, this is gonna take 30 minutes. Well, now you're leaving like, well, the whole rest of the day is ruined. And so it it's really mindset is one thing to have the mindset to be successful, to be a high achiever, to to break through and and do those things, make the impact that you want to make. It's but when things get difficult, when we get overwhelmed, when life happens, do we have the ability to pivot? And we're not gonna just throw away the rest of the day. We have to be willing to stay focused. I I I love the idea of that you don't wallow in it, you rally, right? Don't wallow, rally. Because a lot of times we want to wallow. It's like, oh, I just feel I don't feel good, I don't feel like doing it, uh, you know, the stupid traffic is bad, or you know, my stupid boss gave me an extra project, or oh, dang it, this client called me right before I was getting ready to walk out the door and I made the mistake of answering the phone. Whatever it is. Don't wallow in the bad things that happen. Instead, we have to learn to m move it from the negative to the positive and pivot.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

And you'll be surprised when you do that. This actually just happened to us uh two days ago. So we had come to the studio to record the podcast, and neither of us could actually get to the studio because there was a massive fire in the building next door. Yes. And the fire department like had all these trucks out and whole road set down. Whole road can't can't do it, can't physically get to the building at that point. Unsure if it's the this building on fire. Yeah, no clue. So what do we do? We could have just said, Oh, all right, well, I guess we can't get any work done. Go back home. Go shopping. Oh, shopping would be fun. But but we didn't. We were like, you know what, let's go have coffee because I need that at all times. And we had a meeting. And we did. Because we do we do prep for episodes.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Believe it or not.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Like that's sometimes it may not seem that way. But it does happen, I promise you. I think it's really about distinguishing what are the things that you like that really matter to you, and how do you remain agile and still get progress on it? And we've got tons of tips for you today.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

We do. Today's a tip day. Uh I had a woman one time and I I will never forget, and I've heard the same story, I've heard the same excuse a million times when I've done trainings and and presentations with clients. Um, but this one lady in particular made me laugh. We were talking about productivity and having a to-do list, having a plan for the day. And she said that she used to write a to-do list, but she said, why bother? Because the minute that I write a to-do list, my boss is gonna change it on me. So what am I supposed to do? And really, to me, that's exactly what understanding mindset is all about. Having having a good mindset when things are going well does not make you a hero, man. It's can you maintain? And that was her mindset was that why bother? She's just gonna be floating in the wind, bouncing between everybody else's issues and you know, what everybody else needs or wants. And she's never gonna get to the things that she needs to be doing. And I think that's what happens. And sometimes it feels very legitimate. You know, we've kind of used examples, my my migraine example, or or even just traffic examples. But in reality, sometimes they can be very real, they can be very serious. But that doesn't mean that we can just stop. That is what's going to set us apart. That is how we break through. It's the people that can continue even in overwhelm. You don't wait. And I think that this is a hopefully this will be something you can take with you, a good kind of takeaway, something to remind you is that you don't think your way to feeling better. You act your way to feeling better. So I use the example of going to the gym, and it's like, well, I just, oh, I don't have any energy. I don't feel like going to the gym. Well, that's exactly when you need to go to the gym. If you only went to the gym when you felt like going to the gym, you'd never go to the gym. I mean, I would never go to the gym. That's why I don't go to the gym.

unknown 10:21

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

But you get the energy at the gym. And I think it's it, you can use that kind of idea in a lot of things. I I know for me, um, writing, I I don't always feel like writing. I, you know, it to me it's it's it is, it's creative. I I'm just I I feel like I have to be in the mood to be creative. But in reality, it I don't I shouldn't wait till I'm feel like writing to write. I need to make writing a habit, and I need to write even when I don't feel like it.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Uh yeah. And it's important to to know like that's something that you want to achieve. You wanted that for a long time. You were taking steps to make it happen. Right. It was important. And uh this goes for important things and like a little bit less important things. I feel like, and I I heard this the other day, it was great. If something means a lot to you, which which we know, you'll make it happen. Like you just will. But if if you if that is something really important to it to you, you feel it. And when you feel it, it means it's actually within reason, it's achievable if you just take the steps. And where a lot of people get tripped up is not taking the steps. And that's the difference between actually bringing it to reality versus well, it's kind of this like unattainable thought that's out there, like, oh, someday I would love to date Brad Pitt. Realistically, even if I wasn't married, that's not ever gonna happen. He just hadn't met you yet. Right? So if I'm thinking about the things that for me, also Brad would I mean he would be dazzled for sure, but overwhelming. Um again, he just hasn't met you yet. That's yeah, facts. Um, we might not want to let my husband know. So if he might be like, yeah, no, that would be all right. But if I'm thinking about something that's a goal of mine that really means a lot to me, outside of just like the day-to-day monotony, like I still need to get my work done. But I I find it's harder on those like loftier goals, like writing a book, like producing a podcast. That's important for me to recognize, oh, I really can feel that. It's it's within my reach. I just have to take the steps to do it, which means on the days when I just don't feel like it, I'm gonna do it anyway. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

I think it it there's a certain amount of what I think of as being more positive. It's not being negative, it's being it's really easy to think of all the reasons why it's hard and you can't do it. It's more challenging to think about the the positive and making it a positive. And we're not talking about like toxic positivity here, like being ridiculously optimistic no matter what, but it's being, it's always looking for the positive. And I think so often people get stuck in that the negative loop of why it's hard or why they can't. I think and I think again, it's sometimes it's I'm just tired. I'm exhausted, I'm tired, I just can't do it. You know what? You gotta do it when you're tired. And if I have to stay up a little bit later because I have things that I want to accomplish and I'm tired, I'm gonna power through because that's what you do. You reset your mind and you power through. And I think that's a key. Um, we said we were gonna kind of really focus in this episode on tips and ideas. And all right, it happens to all of us. We all get the wrench thrown in the works. It happens a million times, a million ways to everybody. So, how do we really shift the mindset? And one of the things I would add to kind of our tip list is the idea that you make a decision before a decision needs to be made. So being open to a plan B, what am I going to do if, right? Uh, and and being agile, like you said, being flexible and adaptable. But I think making the decision if something goes awry, what am I going to do? And and recognizing when you allow yourself to be derailed, what are the things that tend to take you off course and how can you counter that? And looking for ways that we can still be productive. You know, I'm I um when I'm not traveling, I work from home, I have a home office, and uh periodically, you know, bless Spectrum's heart, uh, sometimes that internet goes down. And uh it's it would be very easy for me to say, oh, no internet, I guess it can't work. Oh, yes, you can. Yeah, you can. There's other things that you can do. And so we have to make the decision before a decision needs to be made. If I get derailed, here's my here's my go-to plan, here's how I'm going to reframe, here's what I'm going to look for. Instead of wallowing, we rally.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Yes. And it it's not necessarily easy, like you said. No, but it's worth it. So if you don't want to look back on the limited time you have and say, I I could I could have achieved this if I just done a little bit more. Just had the time. So one tip that I have is just remembering your why. So I just finished watching for the first time because I'm very late to it, Game of Thrones. Best TV show in the history of TV shows. And spoilers ahead, so if you haven't seen it, just skip a little bit. There is a character named The Hound, and he has like the best character art. It's amazing. So he ends up, I'll try not to spoil too much. He ends up in this like big fight scene with Brianna of Tarth, and he ends up getting his ass kicked, and he's left for dead, and then he's missing for a whole season, and then he comes back, and it was amazing because no one expected that. And it turns out there was this like a village leader kind of person had found him at the bottom of this cliff, nursed him back to health, and he asked the hound at one point, who's just like big hair, huge guy, what kept you going? And he said, hate, because he had this beef with his brother from when he was a child, when his brother like burned his face, and his one goal in life was to like kill his brother. And he he was successful at the the last season, but you know, it's not necessarily that you even have to have a good why, you just need to have a why.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Just a why in general. Yeah. If anybody's familiar with Princess Bride, right? Inigo Montoya. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepared to die. And after he finally kills the six-fingered man, he says, I've spent my whole life waiting to kill the man who killed my father, and now that he's gone, I don't know what to do with myself. So I think that a why is important. Sometimes we get really caught up, and the more that we're committed to it, the more likely we are to do it.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Yeah, and I mean, you can have more than one why. It's it's important to have a purpose in life and to know what your goals are and what you want and work toward them. Another thing that I do, it's a little silly. Um, but let's say, you know, I'm when I wasn't in the mood for studying or I wasn't in the mood for for writing or whatever it is. So I'm not in the mood for podcast editing. I still have to do it. I mean, I guess I don't have to do anything, but that's that's not ideal. So I still need to do the things. I want to do the things, I just don't feel like it. I'll set the mood a little bit. I'll romanticize it. I will put on like some ambient music with some kind of like cool background on YouTube, like on my TV. I'll light some candles, I'll get in some like really cozy clothes, I'll work upstairs in my bedroom instead of downstairs in my office. I just make the environment so that I want to be in it, and it makes me feel a certain way that I equate with the thing that I want to do. And it makes me like fake it till you make it. And eventually, once I get started, once I get going, it's not a problem. It's just the getting started part. I will also throw in, shamelessly, a little treat.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

If if I I'm assuming you mean alcohol.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

Actually, Is that just me? It's a trip to Starbucks.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Uh oh. Oh, I just gave it away. That was I shouldn't have said that out loud. I mean, alcohol's not bad either.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

But if I it's an emotional support beverage. So if I'm trying to go out and do errands and I'm like, oh, I don't wanna, I'll swing by Starbucks. And I'm like, ooh, iced coffee, and it perks me right up. Or I'll bring that c that coffee home, and I'm like, yes, I'm an important lady with important things to do at my important iced coffee. Oh my gosh. But there you go.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

You gotta do what works. You gotta do what works. Um, one of the things that I think is powerful to keep in mind, and it this to me is if I remind myself of this, I think this is a big thing. Behavior changes belief faster than belief changes behavior. Behavior changes belief faster than belief changes behavior. And what that means is that you have to act your way into doing it. So it if you think you're gonna win until you believe you can or you whatever, that it's the behavior. So ultimately, what we're talking about, and you notice the underlying theme for all of this is that it's about action. It's not about thinking your way out of it. It's not hope, we said this in other episodes, hope is not a strategy. Uh, dreams are not a strategy, it it's action. So it's taking the action. And I am not as I think I'm harder on myself sometimes, meaning that when I find myself not doing what needs to be done, I just tell myself, stop being a whiny person and get your button gear and do what needs to be done, right? You you said you would do this, do it. You made the promise to yourself. And I think that sometimes is what people forget, is that you will never not keep a promise to someone else, right? You if your boss asks you to do this, you say you'll have it for them by this time, you would never think of not doing it. If you know your kids have a play that they're gonna be in and you have to be there for them, and you would never think of just not showing up for that. You made the promise, you're gonna follow through on the promise. But we don't always keep promises to ourself. And I think that's huge. And I will tell you the mantra that I and I learned this from my mentor. Um, my I have a small coaching group that I'm involved in, and it's promises made, promises kept. And I promise you that I remind myself of that on a regular basis. Every time I don't feel like going to the gym, I say, but I made a promise myself that I was gonna do this. Promises made, promises kept. If I say that I'm gonna finish this book, promises made, promises kept. I'm gonna, I'm going to be there for this podcast record. I'm gonna be there for this client. I'm gonna do whatever I have to do because I made the promise. And I will tell you one of my favorite moments, just real quick, favorite like crazy story, travel stories. I was speaking in three states in three days. And I had a very crazy flight. I was speaking in California, and then I had to drive three hours back to the airport in California to get on an overnight flight. I literally flew a red eye overnight through Dallas, connecting in Dallas to Louisiana, and my flight from Dallas to Louisiana was delayed. So I flew, I spoke, drove, flew all night long, and because my connection flight was late, I literally got off the plane in Lafayette, Louisiana. I walked straight out, I got an Uber, I got in the Uber, they took me to the convention center, I got out of the Uber, I walked into the convention center, the ballroom, and I was on stage 10 minutes later. It was insanity. And all I kept thinking, because even the people that I was talking to, you're never gonna make it. You can't do it. You should just tell them you're not gonna be able to be there. You can't make it. And I kept thinking, but I I promised I'd be there. I promised I'd be there. I I made the commitment. Promises made, promises kept. And I did whatever kind of travel gymnastics had to be done so that, you know, I'm changing into my business suit on the plane, you know, bathroom, in the which is, you know, that's not fun. Because I knew promises made, promises kept. And to me, the lesson is that it's not like kudos that you did that. It really is just why would I not have that same kind of commitment for myself?

SPEAKER_00 22:52

You gotta show up for yourself.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

That's important. Promises made, promises kept.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

I think about that and it reminds me of so Will von Bolton. Um he is from Dallas and he wrote this book, uh, Operating System for Your Mind. And I actually know him. Uh he's a great guy. And one of the things that his book says is do your future self favors. I love that. And that's a great way to make sure that you're able to remain agile and pivot and keep things moving and be uh loyal to yourself is you know, uh you you're not always gonna be in the mood to do this thing. Something's gonna happen. So what can I do today when I'm feeling okay so that it's even easier for me to tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 23:35

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

It could be you know getting the coffee made so that it could just like turn on in the morning. It could be putting your clothes out for the next day so you don't have to think about it in the morning. It can be tiny things, but it all helps.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

That's right. I think that that uh strategy works for me when I'm traveling, especially, and I stay up and I'm working in my hotel room. And part of the reason why, I mean, yes, I could go to bed earlier, but uh for me, I think about it and I say, well, this this has to be done, right? This prep work has to be done. This these these things that are part of what I have to do, they have to be done. That PowerPoint has to be created, whatever it is. And it's like, well, I could do it, I could, if I don't do it now, I'm gonna have to do it on the weekend. And you know what? On the weekend is when I'm gonna get to see my husband, I'm gonna get to see my nieces, I'm gonna get to do other things. And I don't want to have to be able to be locked in and say, I can't do it because I didn't do this when I had the chance to do it. So whether I'm in the mood or not, whether I'm tired from driving six hours, I'm tired because I just did a six-hour presentation, and then I had to drive two more hours. Those are all, it's very easy to tell yourself why it's hard and why you can't. Mindset matters because mindset is what's gonna tell you you can do what needs to be done even if you don't feel it.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Yeah. I have I have one more tip, and that is break it down into smaller chunks. If I because I I agree with you, I want my weekend time to myself for my family. And but I'm still responsible for getting stuff done before the weekend, so I don't have to do it then. So if I'm not feeling it, what do I do? I'll do it for 20 minutes. I can I can set a timer, I can do it for 20 minutes. If at the end of that 20 minutes, I'm like, hey, I actually want to keep going. I'm kind of getting a groove here, that's fine, and I can do that. If not, I at least got 20 minutes further down the road, and I can come back in a couple hours and do another 20 minutes, and eventually it gets done. There's all kinds of things that you can do. I mean, find what works for you, truly, but at least give it a try. And what about you? Any more tips?

SPEAKER_01 25:44

Oh, I love that actually. I'm a big believer. I think that should be an essential item in an office, right? A stapler, some tape, a sharpie, uh, and a timer. I think it's I think it can be super helpful because it ultimately what we're talking about, the the the whole purpose of this episode is we understand your mindset is probably you're you're a high achiever. That's why you listen, right? You're you are you want to be more successful, you have that that dream, that goal, you want to you want to make an impact. It's it's when things get harder. And are we allowing ourselves to make excuses or are we taking action? And that's ultimately how we have to flip it, right? You've gotta, you've got to look at what action can I take, not wallow in all the reasons why it's hard. Oh, well, this is hard because traffic and I don't feel like it, and I had a headache, and so I got a late start to the day, or you know, oh, my boss asked me to do this extra thing and it's gonna take me another 10 minutes. And if I don't have 10 minutes, I don't have an hour. So realistically challenging yourself to stop asking or telling yourself all the reasons why it's hard and the reasons you can't, true mindset under pressure is doing things when you don't feel like doing them. Right? That's what you have to be able to do. So you don't need your feelings. Your feelings are not the it's not about your feelings, it's about the action. And you can do it. You can. Absolutely. If I can do a keynote with a migraine, I promise you can do it. Yeah. You can, you can.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

I mean, maybe if not if you're in a coma, but you know in most circumstances.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

You're probably not evaluating mindset at that point anyway, right? We still have one at that point. Sometimes that sounds like that'd be good though. It's like I'm so tired. If I could just uh just be in a coma for just like a day, I'd get so much rest. I shouldn't say that, um that's probably not good.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

No, I mean I've I would be lying if I said I haven't thought about it during periods when I'm like really overwhelmed. And I'm like, oh, if I just had a medical emergency, I wouldn't have to do these things. But that's awful. We don't want that. Right.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

No, that's bad karma. But ultimately, I think that's not the medical emergency part, but it is the the one of the mindset issues is that we will take any little thing and make it a medical emergency, right? I just, oh, I woke up and I guess I slept wrong, my back hurts. And instead, instead of taking some leave and getting on with your day, we're like, oh, this whole day is just gonna be awful and it's gonna be so hard. And then we move slow and we accomplish less, we complain more. That is not the mindset of a high achiever. That's not the mindset of somebody who's gonna be successful. People are successful because they have the mindset when things get hard. That's the difference.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

And you can do it if it's hard.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

Even if it's hard.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Well, I think it's time for everybody's favorite segment. Yeah, everybody's. Fan mail five.

unknown 28:35

Fan mail five.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

Actually, we're this is kind of fun. We're a little bit excited about this. We've actually gotten this question more than one, more than one time in more than one way. So this one, normally our questions are directly related to the topic that we're talking about, uh, but this one's a little bit different. And like I said, we've gotten it in a couple different versions. Uh, but actually, Teresa Nevada had uh this is I kind of took hers and ran with it, but I think this is fun. She actually just posed a like a personal question for Mallory and I. So, how did we meet and end up doing this podcast together? And it occurred to us that we may never, maybe you know the story, maybe you don't know the story, but we thought maybe we it'd be kind of fun to share with you.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Yeah. So ultimately it really boils down to me stalking Julie. Oh gosh. I I first saw Julie, I think in I don't know, like 2008, somewhere around there. Oh my gosh, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

I'm so old.

unknown 29:32

No.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

But and maybe it was sooner, but I remember seeing her when she was speaking um for a different organization. And I was like, she's incredible. She's keeping my interest, she's fun, she's funny. I don't want to go to seminars or workshops or conferences that I'm just gonna be like bored to death with the speaker. But I I met her. Well, I saw her, I heard her, and I was like, I'm a fan. So then anytime after that that I was gonna be somewhere and she was a speaker there, I'm like, okay, I'm definitely gonna go to that one. I'm prioritizing that one. Um, I may have answered a question or like asked a question rather in one of those, but I don't we didn't like officially meet at that point, but um, yeah, it started there. I did not know any of that had happened.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

I just knew that we were speaking at some of the same events and we were both super active in the Society for Human Resource Management. Um, I do the speaking, we've spoken at their conferences, we both have. And so we I met her there, and she was just this amazingly brilliant speaker, and she'd written the book and she's phenomenal, and everybody knows her. And we kind of, I think, followed each other around on the Sherm speaking circuit for a while. And so we just kind of came to meet, like came to know each other. And I just thought she was an amazingly brilliant woman, and we were having great conversations, and then we ran into each other. We were both speaking at a national Sherm event in Nashville, Tennessee. Yeah. And this was this was last year, 2025. So we'd known each other for years. Yes. But we actually were speaking at the same conference and we ran into each other in the speaker ready room, and we just we we started chatting, and then come to find out we were both on the same flight home that night. And so we ended up connecting in the airport and we sat and talked, and we were as we were talking, we realized both of us really were wanting to finish a book. And so we said, Well, we should be book writing accountability partners.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

Buddy.

SPEAKER_01 31:29

Yes. So it was like, I don't even know, a month and a half later, something like that, we finally met for coffee and we laid it out, we're gonna do this, it's gonna be great. And we were holding each other accountable and we were following up with each other, and it was great. And so then we decided we were gonna do another coffee. And as we were sitting there talking about it, and I don't even know who how it came up first, but we both basically said at the same time that we both had been interested in starting a podcast. Yeah. But it was just too much work to do alone. We just couldn't take it on, we didn't have the skills, and it was too much.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

And it felt awkward. Like we've both been guests on tons of podcasts, and that's a different experience, like when you're getting asked questions instead of coming up with content. And it, you know, if if I were to try and start a podcast by myself, number one, it would be really weird. And number two, it probably wouldn't ever happen because I I recognize in myself that I need an accountability partner.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

And I think actually that is a great thing to bring this back to our topic of mindset. Because I think when we say we hit when the overwhelm hits, how do we maintain a mindset? And I think one of the best ways to do that, it's not just promises made, promises kept to yourself, but it's having an accountability partner. Because the real deal is that, oh, if I had to come up with content, I could easily procrastinate that. If, you know, oh, you know, the I don't really know how to edit, so it'd be really hard. I don't have to learn, and I could easily procrastinate it. But when you have an accountability partner, when you have somebody who's doing it with you, that we can text each other, we can call each other, we can say, what are you doing? Yeah, and we can get ourselves back on trap. And and and I feel I feel obligated, I feel very motivated that I don't want to be the weak link. So I gotta step up my game so I can keep up with Mallory.

SPEAKER_00 33:22

Well, and I I think it helps each other. I feel the same. And like I'm legitimately a huge fan of Julie. And for like every time I get to record with her or we would meet before, I'd go home and tell my husband, like, I got the talking Julie. Like it was a big it's always been a big deal to me because you're phenomenal. You're very sweet. And I was like, I remember telling my husband when we when we first had that meeting where it turned into like we should do a podcast together about it. I told my husband, I was like, I don't know. She doesn't know that I'm not at her level. So I don't know. She's gonna change her mind.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

Not true, even a little bit. No way. You have stepped up the game. So but though to the to the original question of how did we meet, that's how we've known each other forever. And we've really just started partnering on work content. We've got some, we've got some other things in the work show. We've got some things, we got plans, we got plans. They're coming. So that it that happened a little bit later, but we've known each other for a very long time. So um I could not feel like I couldn't do this with anybody else, absolutely. So I feel truly blessed that that this came to fruition because it's been great. So thank you all for listening and allowing us to continue to do this. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

Please like, share, subscribe, tell your friends, tell your foes, blast it on social media. Please, all the things.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

Oh, if every one of you listening would just share on one, just even one of your social channels about this amazing podcast, we would be so grateful. Yes, and tell us what you think. Interact with us. We'd love to hear from you. Yes, please. All the ways. You can go to breakthroughwmj.com, you can connect with us there. You can hit that uh fan mail, you can hit, you know, send me a send us a message right there in your podcast app. You can email either one of us directly. We'd love to hear from you or hit us up on social. All right, well, till next time, Breakthrough Crew.

unknown 35:08

Bye.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

Bye, Breakthrough Crew. Thanks for thanks for listening. This episode is sponsored by Heron HR, the experts in full service payroll and HR built for growing businesses. Heron HR offers a white glove experience and specifically works with small and mid-sized businesses. Their easy-to-use HRIS system comes with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a payroll provider, including applicant tracking, time, and labor management, electronic onboarding, performance management, and more. That's not all. They also provide benefits, administration, and brokering, recruiting, training, and HR services from the administrative to the strategic. AaronHR is there to take on as much or as little of your HR function as you want and need. If you're ready for a solution that scales with you, if you need full service payroll or you just want a real HR partner, they've got you covered. Give them a call today at 1-800-607-7787 or find them online at heronhr.com.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

This episode is brought to you by Julie Birch Speaks. If you want another boring keynote, keep scrolling. But if you want an experience, meet Julie. Julie isn't just a speaker, she's the moment your audience didn't know they needed. With down home charm, a sharp sense of humor, and zero tolerance for fluff, she delivers real-world techniques that make people laugh, think, and actually do something different when they leave. Through relatable stories, bold truth telling, and solid business strategies, wrapped in brilliant comedic humor, Julie connects in a way that feels like a conversation, not a lecture. Your audience won't be just entertained. They'll be equipped, energized, and ready to level up. Solid business strategies, brilliant comedic humor. Find Julie online at JulieBirch.com or give her a call at 214-679-2717.