#443 - What’s Saving My Life

Hey there, you're listening to the Lazy Genius Podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi. This podcast is not about hacking the system to find more time or hacking your energy to get more done. Hustling to be the best or to make the most out of every opportunity, it is exhausting and it is unsustainable. So here we do things differently. On this show, we value contentment, compassion and living in our season. We favor small steps over big systems. Here we are lazy geniuses, being a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. And I'm so glad you're here. Today is episode 443 What's Saving My Life? It is time to welcome back our old friend who we get to hang out with every season. These episodes where I share what's saving my life have become such a gift to me personally and I know to you all too, the practice of naming and sharing what is making life full and good and connected is surprisingly integral. And I'm glad this is part of our rhythm here on the show. So today I've got 10 things that I will share that have been saving my life recently and hopefully it will inspire you to make your own list. After that, we will have a little extra something in the form of a mailbag segment. So in a recent newsletter, I shared how I spend my days kind of like a day in the life situation. And I got a question about my work rhythms and how they came to be. Essentially, I now work about three to five hours a day, three to four days a week. And that's some wild math for like a successful small business. So I will give you some insight into what choices I've made over the almost 10 years of this business that have led to that ability. If you are a small business owner, maybe you'll find some permission in my story. And if you're not a business owner, I hope you'll at least enjoy some behind the scenes nuggets, but also recognize the beauty in doing less. After that, we'll end with a mini pep talk for when it feels like nothing is saving your life. Now, where's the Lazy Genius of the Week? You might be asking, well, we're going to start with it today because it is someone you might know. Our Lazy Genius of the Week this week is Jamie Golden from the podcast with Nox and Jamie. And listen, she has a fantastic idea. So Jamie and I went to New York a couple of weeks ago to celebrate her 50th birthday, her birthday was last week. So of course we were talking about like schedules and packing and, you know, all the things leading up to our trip. And in passing, she told me her packing list approach. Y'all, it was so good. So good that I was like, I'm going to make you Lazy Genius of the Week. So for context, I, Kendra, have a basic packing list on my notes app. I do like using the act of writing out a packing list, like a really detailed one for my trip as a way to think through that trip. To like process the logistics. So making a new one every time, it doesn't really bother me too much, but it can still be a pain to like have to think through every detail of the trip so that I don't forget things that are not basic, you know, things like an umbrella or gloves or a big tote bag for shopping or whatever. So I have a basic skeleton list, but I'm always adding to it for every trip because every trip needs way more than the basics. Well Jamie does the opposite. I tried her approach for this New York trip and I absolutely loved it. So here's what Jamie said. I have an all around packing list of everything I could possibly need for a trip up to 11 days. And I use that as my base for any trip. It's minutia. It's the whole shebang. It has a bathing suit and a bathing suit cover up and a coat and gloves and eye cream and night cream. It has everything I could ever dream of taking and it's organized by category. So for every trip, I use that list and just check off what I don't need and then check off everything else I do need once it's packed. Then if I'm on a trip and wish I had something, I make sure to add it to the base list. So I'll remember it the next time a trip needs that thing. Okay. So Jamie casually said this to me in a Boxer message and I was like, stop the world. Why have I been doing this backwards? So I immediately made my like master packing list and realized that it is so much easier to look at an item and think, I don't need that. Then to think through my trip and go, what do I need? It is so much simpler for my brain and probably for a lot of brains to subtract rather than to add even though it does require a little bit of work on the front end to make that initial list. But now I'll have that list forever. I already updated it too. Cause I got a zit on my chin when we were in New York and I was like, well, let's add a zit stick to my list. I am so pumped to keep using this idea and I hope you snag it too. If you don't already do something like this, if you think it would work for you. So thank you for sharing your genius with me and us, Jamie. And congratulations on being the latest genius of the week and happy birthday. So if you don't already know Jamie, I highly recommend you go listen to the podcast with Nox and Jamie, a pop culture podcast that will make you laugh and have the best time whether you know or love pop culture or not. And since a lot of you love to read Jamie along with her creative partner Nox and our beloved Aaron Moon, we love Aaron Moon. They have a new Patreon show called Shelf Respect where the three of them talk about books in a way that only they can. They recently did an episode on children's book characters that are the worst. Jamie came really hard for a Marmy in little women. It's always the funniest thing. So if you would enjoy a little bit of reading related laughter in your ears, look no further than supporting their new show, Shelf Respect, which is maybe the greatest name ever. Okay. One more quick reminder before we get into what's saving my life right now, we have new playbooks. They're these small seasonal or topical. Those are the new ones, notebooks that help you compassionately plan what matters most to you. Here are some words that folks recently shared about why they love the seasonal playbooks. Allie said, my favorite part of the playbooks is the flexibility they offer. Blank pages, dotted pages, question pages. You can use whichever pages you need in whatever way makes sense for your life. And if you need to use them differently next month or next season, you can. Same, Allie. That's just the greatest take. Okay. Stephanie says, I love that I can brain dump for the month or week without it complicating my planner. I need to see tasks, but not have them written in stone for my planner. This is helping me pivot over plan, which is something I've never been able to embrace in the past. This is this, these words from Stephanie, this is how I initially envisioned the playbooks being used. They're like a placeholder for the mess. And then you can organize it somewhere else later, like either in your planner and an app or in your head or depending on the season you're in, you could do it in the playbook itself. Like that's what I do. And lastly, Jessica says, our family just came through a really crazy time logistically with lots of moving parts of the calendar. I usually get super overwhelmed in these kinds of situations, but having developed the practice of going through these past three seasons with the playbooks, I was able to look at the situation in advance, know what was going to matter, plan for everything at the right time and get through it so much more peacefully and confidently than I ever would have in the past. The mindset shifts of the lazy genius way paired with the practical guidance of the playbooks has really made a huge difference for me. Man, I love that so much. It warms my heart for real that y'all are using these and that they're making a difference in your life. It's just the most fun thing to hear. Now, if you haven't gotten a playbook yet, you can get the seasons bundle or you can just start with winter, which runs from December to February. So there's still time for you to get that. And remember, we have these new playbooks available, which we're low key calling the extras. They are topical playbooks available that catch sort of those extra parts of life that need space for you to process, travel, projects, celebrations, and our top seller so far, your book. That one is like sneaky special. You can get info on all of these at thelazygeniuscollective.com slash playbooks. And thank you for supporting our small business. All right, let's take a quick ad break, which makes this show free for you to listen to. So thank you to our sponsors. And then we will get into what's saving my life. Hello, I'm Elizabeth Day, the creator and host of How to Fail. It's the podcast that celebrates the things in life that haven't gone right. And what, if anything, we've learned from those mistakes to help us succeed better. Each week, my guests share three failures, sparking intimate thought provoking and funny conversations. You'll hear from a diverse range of voices sharing what they've learned through their failures. Join me Wednesdays for a new episode each week. This is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment original podcast. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. All right, here are the 10 things that are saving my life right now. Number one, stopping pasta Mondays. I know it's a shocker, right? So for years, I have shared that one of our family's most long-lived decide once decisions is pasta Mondays. Mondays are crazy. So we have pasta on that day because pasta is not crazy. Pasta is so easy. That has been true for most Mondays for like the last decade or so. Now we took a tiny detour during the summer where we pivoted to steak and corn Mondays. That was helpful when I was grocery shopping on Mondays and I would come home with steak and corn from our local farm. And I would, it would make the most delicious dinner. That was like a solid seasonal pivot. But for the most part, pasta Monday has been our staple. It's probably my longest running decide once. As a reminder, decide once is one of the original 13 lazy genius principles. It's the very first one that I wrote about in my book, The Lazy Genius Way. It's probably a crowd favorite. Like if we did a poll, every principle would be picked, but decide once would probably win. We just have too many decisions and anything that helps us make fewer of them is always a win. So the idea here is super simple. You make one decision about one thing, one time, and then you keep doing that thing until it doesn't work anymore. Well, that last phrase is important here until it doesn't work anymore. And recently, pasta Mondays stopped working. The reason was nuanced and it took me a while to spot. Even though I was making like spaghetti and meatballs or tortellini or my my stroganoff, which is like kind of like a hamburger helper sort of pasta situation that I'm pretty sure is on the blog actually. It wasn't feeling easy. The cooking itself was as easy as it comes. But the energy wasn't. You know why? One of my kids no longer likes pasta. Maybe we had it too often. Maybe he's just trying to make a point. I don't really know. But this is the same kid who also loathes Mondays. He is absolutely Alexander from Alexander's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day on a Monday. So making his least favorite food on his least favorite day was starting the week on the sourest note. I could possibly choose for him. So guess what I did? I changed my mind. I pivoted. Pasta Monday is now pasta Wednesday. And Mondays get one of our few five out of five meals that everyone loves. Curry rice, pork cutlets, steak, or the newly instated family favorite, uh, fire pork that I've shared before. Monday's dinner is one that everyone genuinely loves. Plus Monday is the only night of the week where we have like a real dinner at real dinner time together. Tuesdays are bonkers with there's musical lessons in band practice overlapping dinner time. We're never all home at once. Wednesday, cause and the boys, they cram food into their mouths pretty fast and then they bounce to go to church youth group where causes a volunteer and both boys are just, you know, they just go to youth group. Thursdays also have band things. I often have some kind of like meeting or something on Thursdays and then Friday nights or football games or social stuff or whatever. Like Monday is our only real family dinner night. And I was making a food that one of my family members thinks is the worst thing that's ever happened to him. He sees spaghetti on the meal planning board and he walks away like he's George Michael Bluth and the rest of development. He has even raised his fist to the sky in anger before about spaghetti. It's all very dramatic. So now pasta goes on Wednesdays. It's quick, which is helpful on a night where we need things to be quick. And since this kid is eating fast in order to go see his youth group friends being forced to eat pasta, it's more palatable since he has something else to look forward to. So that simple swap has been literally life saving for all of us. The most simple thing as we know, sometimes makes the biggest difference. Okay. The second thing that is saving my life is routine. So in case you're new here, it is important for you to know what I don't mean about routine. I don't mean it in like the linear this than that, then this than that sense. Like doing a long list of things in the same order every day. It is totally fine if your life supports that, but it is not required in order to experience consistency day to day. Lazy genius routines, they focus on the end game. They focus on where you're going on what you want to feel or experience. The series of steps, it is secondary to the destination. And sometimes that destination, it is easy to find with just one thing. Sometimes even just like a deep breath, depending on the routine we're talking about here. So I don't have too many this than that routines. I do have some rhythms where like this general set of things, it tends to happen during this general time of day. And I have come to depend on those routines so much during this busy season we are in. September and October have been chaotic in ways I did not anticipate, which is hilarious because I think that's always a little true. And now we're into getting into November and the reliance on those routines. It has been such a gift, particularly in the area of homekeeping and chores. So I did an episode a couple of weeks ago called Chores I Do Every Day, Part Two. And that episode is a great example of what it means to have a chore rhythm that supports your life without draining you dry. Those rhythms have made this busy season not feel quite as overwhelming because the house is like more or less in a flow. Meals are still mostly being planned and cooked. And the people who I live with, they more or less know what to expect. Routines have absolutely been saving my life. Okay, the third thing that's saving my life right now is the men's section at the thrift store. I am a menswear lady. I have always known that I like tailored clothes, things that skew like more traditionally masculine, but I've never thought to actually shop in the men's section, especially at Goodwill. Now it's the first place I go and sometimes I don't even go to the women's section at all. I have found some of my favorite clothes there, button downs, sweater vests, like the occasional pair of worn in jeans. I also love the shoes that I find in the men's section. Plus I live with three men, so I'm always on the lookout for clothes for them, my two growing men especially. I have scored so much Carolina Panthers gear and then school gear from both the boys, middle and high schools. It's like the best. And because I really do love the process of thrifting and making something that I find work for me, this new discovery of the men's section. It has made something I already love that much better. So that's the third thing. The fourth thing that's saving me life right now are thrift store mugs. I don't think you'll understand. I love mugs so much. I can never have too many. But because I like a lot of kinds, it's like not very financially viable for me to buy them at full price or to fit them in my cabinet. And I can buy them at the thrift store for like a dollar or two. I kind of switch them out. That works for me. Yeah. I recently found this tall, skinny, merry gold colored mug with the biggest handle, which is required. And it has the best fall vibes. I love it so much. The kids sometimes make fun of me because they'll unload the dishwasher and they'll see all my mugs and they're like, mom, why are you buying more mugs? I don't care. Like for whatever reason, choosing my mug every morning, kind of like choosing an outfit. It's an important part of enjoying my day. And now I'm doing it for like a lot cheaper with the thrift store helping me out. The fifth thing that's saving my life right now is the first new hairbrush that I have purchased in years and years and years. I don't think I've ever really cared about like a certain kind of hairbrush. Like growing up, we just, we just had what we had, you know, when Annie, my daughter was a toddler and her hair was getting longer. Her hair is like down to her butt now. I got the wet brush. That's the brand name wet brush. And it's great. Like it's really great. We have several around the house. We both of us use them. I don't think my boys even know where a hairbrush is in the house since they never use one. But anyway, when I was in New York last week with Jamie, I did not pack a hairbrush. I actually didn't intend to because I had no plans to wash my hair and I don't brush my hair every day. So who cares, right? Now, the reason I don't brush my hair every day is because I feel like brushing it makes it more gross. I lose some of that like hard-earned volume that I worked hard to get. And, and then it just makes my very fine hair, like staticky and weird looking. I just don't brush my hair unless it's wet out of the shower. Well, fun story. On my second day in New York, I'm, I'm in my hotel room getting ready. I had timed my showers where I show, I washed my hair the day I left for New York. And then I was going to get back for days later. So I was like, well, I'm not going to wash my hair while I'm there. This is, this is perfect. Well, it's my second day, right? I'm in my hotel room. I'm getting ready. I grab my travel bottle of shampoo. This is, sustains us all, right? Well, I lift the roots of my huge amount of hair. I spray the dry shampoo on real good. Wait a few seconds before working it in. Well, when I stuck my fingers in my hair to do so, my fingers like, um, they got stuck. And I was, I was actually super confused. Like, did I wait too long to work it in? Like, why, why is it so thick? Why is it so sticky? What is happening? And what's worse is that the more I tried to like work it, the more tangled and sticky and weird my hair got. And then I looked at the bottle and realized I did not pack dry shampoo. I packed dry volume spray. A brand whose name I will not mention here makes both products in gray bottles. And I grabbed the wrong one and basically like shellacked my hair with a product that did not make my hair look clean, like the dry shampoo was going to do. And it also made it enormous. So not only did I need to get some dry shampoo, I also needed to get a hair brush now, because there's no way my hair would survive that kind of treatment for another couple of days without being washed. Like I would just look like I had greased my head down. Thankfully I was traveling with Jamie who is never against going to a Sephora. And so we went to the one in midtown, which I think is like the biggest Sephora there is, maybe, I don't know. Anyway, I got my travel dry shampoo and then started wandering around to find a hair brush. Well, Jamie was like, let's check the app to see what's in stock and also like what has good reviews because she's a pro. We found the main ready or not detangling hairbrush. It was not expensive. It was smaller fit in my travel bag. I had great reviews. I happily bought it, but I was also like, I mean, it's a hairbrush. It's not going to be anything special because a hairbrush is a hairbrush. My friends, I was incorrect on every count. A hairbrush is not a hairbrush. This thing, I don't even know how to explain it. This brush was like a joy to use. It made my hair look silky without making it also look stringy. It handled my little fairy knot tangles with ease. Somehow like made my crazy, volumized, dirty hair turn into a masterpiece. At home, a couple of days later, I was unpacking and Annie saw it. She was like, um, what is this? I didn't say anything to her. You know, she just started using it and she brushed her hair, you know, like down to her butt with mouth a cape and what was like, why is this hairbrush so good? I'm like, I go, I know, girl, I know. It's so good. She stole it from me. I had to buy a second one. So now I'm just an evangelist for this hairbrush. Maybe it wouldn't be as good on every hair type. And in fact, I'm sure it probably wouldn't be, but the reviews seemed to indicate it is magic for hair like mine and Annie's, which is fine, but a lot of it. So we have very fine hair, but tons and tons of it. Again, it is the main M a N E ready or not, like not with a K. Detangling hairbrush. I'm so glad I did not pack my hairbrush or else I never would have found this thing. The sixth thing that is saving my life right now is ham sandwiches. So I go through faces when it comes to lunch. I will do like one recipe for, you know, like two months or something. And then I'll take a hard left turn into something else. So I've done rice bowls and salmon and barbecue chicken red cabbage wraps and doctored up ramen with rotisserie chicken and all kinds of things. Well, my current kick is a ham sandwich. It is like I'm 11 years old, but I cannot get enough. I got one of those like sides of ham from Costco where you slice it yourself. And I make myself a huge ham sandwich most weekdays with a side of bell peppers and that B word sauce and then whatever fruit I have in the house for the sandwich is just mayo, maybe Dijon, sometimes pickles or a Rugal off. I'm feeling fancy, but really I'm just eating a ham sandwich. Maybe it's the meal itself. Maybe it's the fact that lunch is decided. Maybe it's a little above. I don't know, but every day I look forward to my sandwich and it makes me so happy. Okay. The seventh thing that is saving my life right now is my Instagram rhythm. So I have shared this before, but it still holds true. So one of the original 13 lazy genius principles is schedule rest. We've mentioned several of the principles today and doing that with Instagram. It's been a really significant choice for my wellbeing. So I download the app from Monday to Wednesday, usually making a real on Monday to talk about that week's episode. And then on Wednesday afternoon or evening, usually I delete the app until the following Monday. So those are also the three days that I tend to be more engaged and informed on the news, not necessarily on Instagram, but just like in general, the, you know, podcasts and websites and stuff. The news is a tough hang right now on multiple fronts and, and it can wear you down, it can wear me down. Just today I spent a good bit of the morning crying through like whatever task I was doing, because of how deeply sad I was about everything that's happening and the people who are hurting and the people who are hungry. So I do appreciate Instagram for, you know, the information I get, even though I don't scroll for very long, just because it's not like a life giving practice for me. And I appreciate the chance to be able to like talk to you guys and to, for new people to find the podcasts and to find me. And so I'm really grateful for the app in that way. But also when Wednesday comes, I am relieved and grateful that I can remove the app from my phone. And then I get my news from one podcast for the rest of the week, rather than several constant input is unsustainable. So scheduling rest from it is essential to all of us in whatever way that looks. Your rhythm does not need to match mine, but scheduling some type of rest from the onslaught of input, some of which is really hard to process. It's just good for any soul, I think. Okay. The eighth thing that's saving my life right now is starting small where you are, especially with what's going on in the world. So I have shared before that I'm, I'm like great in a logistical crisis. I'm not who you're probably going to call on like emotionally, but I'm a knockout when it comes to figuring out what to do when something has, is going horribly wrong. I have hugged multiple strangers who have been involved with like car accidents or broken down cars on the side of the road. Like I'll go hug them so they can metabolize their stress like legitimately. I'll pull over to help. And after a couple of minutes, I'm like, hi, I know this is weird, but you're shaking. And I can see your panic happening. Can I give you a hug real quick? So your body knows you're okay. I'm like the ghost of roadside hugging. I'd like help you get grounded and then I bounce. Here's my point. I'm great in a crisis, but I'm also exhausted when it feels like there is crisis everywhere. If I observe the world, there is far more than I can even process a little alone help. It's just too big, which is why starting small where you are is so important. It's been so important for me. I am concerned about hunger and access to food for so many folks in America right now. And also I'm starting small by doing things to support the people in need, in my town with organizations that are rooted in my town where I live. I am concerned about the unhoused population in my town. And I try to help where I'm able that my family knows one man who often stands on a street corner near our house. His name is Mr. Stephen. And when we see him, we stop and say hi. Even if we don't have anything to give him that day, we love seeing him. Like, especially if it's been a few weeks since we have the problems of the world, they seem too big to even take a crack at, but giving a gift card to one parent at your kid's school, who you know is experiencing food insecurity is immense for that person. There's that quote attributed to Mother Teresa, do small things with great love. Just do that. Right where you are. It'll save your life. And there's starting small where I am has been incredible right now. A hard pivot to the ninth thing, saving my life right now, but it all belongs. And that is playing solitaire and watching playoff baseball. I love playoff baseball with my whole entire heart. And even though it is now over, it was so good for me during October. I have watched like pretty much every inning of the entire postseason and I played solitaire with actual cards while doing it. So I've been trying to go analog as much as possible with as much of my life as I can. And so playing cards with cards has been weirdly enjoyable. I have a handful of like solitaire games that I, you know, games you play by yourself and I will play one until I win it. And then I'll move on to the next one. And if I can win all of them before the baseball game is over, then I really win. It has been so small and ordinary and fun. And I've just loved it. And the final thing that's been saving my life that I've already mentioned in several places as rewatching stranger things. Y'all, I finished the season four finale a few days ago. And now I cannot wait until November 26th to watch the final season. Although I'll probably have to wait until after the 26th, because we will be in New York for Thanksgiving because Sam is marching in the parade. If you missed that news, my oldest was accepted into the great American marching band on his alto saxophone. He will be playing in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Maybe we'll kind of be on TV. Who knows if you'll see him, but he'll be in that band. It is so fun. And, and actually when we come back, it's like the busiest week of our entire year. We've got multiple band concerts, lots of winter things, maybe a state football championship if we make it. And then we leave the country. It's like a whole thing. So basically, Kaz and I, we might not get to watch the first half of the final season of stranger things until well into December. But like who cares? I have loved revisiting something that I just adore. I look forward to it so deeply, like on such a deep level. I have also renewed my love of Steve Harrington, who will always be my favorite character in that show. If not one of my favorite characters of all time, I'm pretty sure he's going to die in this season. That's my, my gut is telling me, but I really, really hope I'm wrong. Anyway, doing things that are purely for fun is just the best. It's essential to living a life that matters. We need to get wrapped up in something. And I've been all the way wrapped up in rewatching stranger things. When the series is over, I am preparing myself to be super sad. So to recap my very random list of things that are saving my life, changing pasta Mondays to pasta Wednesdays routine, the min section at thrift store, thrift store mugs, my new hairbrush, ham sandwiches, my Instagram rhythm with plenty of scheduled rest, starting small where I am, solitaire during the world series and stranger things. And those are the 10 things saving my life right now. For a little extra something today, let's talk about the choices I've made over time that have helped me grow this business while also working fewer hours. This question came from someone who is also a small business owner who would like to continue running her business with excellence and joy without running herself into the ground. So I, for context, I work three to five hours a day, three to four days a week. That's an average week. Mind you, there are weeks with like book launches or product development or weeks when I also write like a couple of newsletters on top of the regular work where I definitely work more hours than that. But on average, 9 30 in the morning to around one o'clock Monday through Thursday is my rhythm. I start school pickup at 2 30 on a lot of days. So that, that leaves me my lunch break and then it's like onto parenting and meals and errands and all the things. So there are three things that have led me to that work rhythm. The first is hiring help. So over the last few years, I've hired a team that does what I, I don't do well and they do it excellently. So I have someone who runs the mechanics of the business, like the finances and HR, scheduling, logistics, all of that. I have someone who runs everything creative about the business, editorial ideas, email, planning, podcast, ads, playbook design, website design. And then I have someone who runs everything about the community, our Facebook groups, the email inbox and customer experience and support. My only jobs, mine, are to basically create and approve. I create and I approve. I write podcast episodes, I record, I edit them, I make the show. I write newsletters, I write books, I spearhead ideas that I think we should develop as a business. And then I let my incredible team take the reins and do their thing. This business requires far more than the 15 or so hours that a week that I work. But I'm not the only one working. So having help is enormously important. The second thing is that I work efficiently when it's time to work. I always know what I'm working on. I have systems in place that make weekly processes more seamless. And I don't, I try not to look at my phone or answer texts, like usually while I'm working, you know, I try and like stay locked in on whatever I'm doing so that I can stay there and get it done. And because I work alone, you know, I work from home and no one else is home. I'm rarely interrupted. So the privilege of deep work, that's a real thing. And it's also helpful and allows me to get more done in less time. And the third thing that's helped me create this rhythm, and I think this is the one that's the most applicable to different business owners, is that I am not solely focused on growth and greatness. Now there are plenty of things that I could do to make the podcast or my books or playbook sales or whatever, grow and grow and grow and grow. I could do interviews on other shows. I could spend far more hours on social media making content. I could hustle to send more emails and create bigger funnel campaigns. I could get ads for pay for ads for things. But all of those things, they require hours that I'm not willing to give. I would much rather be able to tend to my home, be available for my kids, be able to take a walk around the block most days with my mom, check in with my friends, just be a person. Like I would rather enjoy my life holistically than work harder to grow my business. Now growing business is not bad. Greatness is not bad. But those are not your only choice. Like I'm, I'm content with where the business is. I absolutely care about creating an excellent product. We work really hard to make a podcast you love, books you love, products you love. And we want all of it to genuinely help make your life better. I also enjoy the occasional opportunities to capitalize on growth when they align with our business values. And it's amazing to get lazy genius concepts in front of more people. But I'm not a hustler. Like I'm not someone who's going to put growth ahead of my own well-being. I'm happy being here, making a great product. And it's okay if this podcast does not continue to climb charts or whatever. Like that's not what matters most to me. And the time I spend reflects that. My time reflects excellence and commitment, but it does not reflect trying to be the most popular in the game. And I'm okay with that. So I work less because I have help because I focus hard when it's time to work. And because I don't spend as much time as I could on growth, because growth, it does not matter more to me than my life does. And that's today's a little extra something. Okay, let's close with a mini pep talk for when you don't feel like anything is saving your life. I know this happens. I know that you hear me or a friend or anyone talk about like the small things in life that are bringing them joy and you feel discouraged or even jaded. Your life is in such a place where hope is hard to spot. You're tired. You're stretched way too thin. You're in relationships that are not emotionally reciprocal or you're grieving the loss of a life you wish you had. Like I understand those feelings, but I will say this. No person is ever without something good. I know it sounds trite, but can you like spot a tree? Can you see clouds in the sky? Do you see that kid laughing with his mom at the store? Have you eaten a really good bagel lately? Like when we are deeply discouraged about our lives, we keep seeing through those eyes without some kind of disruption. So do the small, but valuable work of disrupting your discouragement, not ignoring it, not dismissing it, but disrupt it. Look for something around you that is good. There's that grounding practice used by a lot of therapists where you look for five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste. Let that bring you back to yourself. And I bet one of those like 15 things that you just noticed around you, it might bring you a bit of joy and goodness. Cause good is here right now. Like always, I believe that to my core. So if you don't, or you sometimes run into days where the struggle is just harder than usual, look for one thing that is good around you. You will find it and let it do its good work in your body and soul. And that's a mini pep talk for when it feels like nothing is saving your life. If this episode was helpful to you, or if you've just been looking for a way to support the show, it would mean the world if you'd share this episode with a friend or you can leave a kind review on Apple podcasts, both of those things are so valuable and we appreciate it. This podcast is part of the Odyssey family and the office ladies network. This episode is hosted by me, Kendra Adachi, an executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fisher and Angela Kenzie. Special thanks to Leah Jarvis for weekly production. If you'd like a podcast recap every other week, be sure to sign up for latest lazy listens. That is an email that goes out every other Friday. You can head to the lazygeniuscollective.com slash listens to get it. Thanks y'all for listening. And until next time, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra and I'll see you next week.