Episode 18:
For this episode of the Intentional Greatness Podcast, I’m joined by Ali Stieglbauer. Ali is the co-author of my book, Chasing Perfection: Shatter the Illusion; Minimize Self-Doubt & Maximize Success. Ali is a remarkable and driven leader, and the Marketing Manager at my company, YESS! Your Extraordinary Success Strategies, Inc. And most importantly, Ali is my daughter.
In this episode, Ali and I discuss a broad range of topics including physical and emotional balance and wellness, the dangers of imposter syndrome and learning to recognize that you’ve earned your place, and the joy (and sometimes fear) of having new experiences and doing things you’ve never done before. We offer our advice for women leaders who are struggling with these challenges, and we share tips and advice for personal improvement and finding greater balance across all aspects of your life.
What You Will Learn:
- Ali discusses the Whole Life Challenge and its practices relating to sleep, nutrition and hydration, exercise, wellbeing and reflection. Ali discusses the success she has found during this latest round of the challenge.
- Sue talks about the revelations she has discovered through the Whole Life Challenge, in particular, the discipline that it has helped her obtain. She also talks about how it has helped her recognize her need for more sleep.
- Ali shares how she has learned to shift her thinking and begin considering small, incremental changes to be worth the effort. She shares how she has learned to make the choice to walk short distances rather than driving them.
- Ali talks about her feelings of imposter syndrome that she has been experiencing, in particular in relation to interviewing to be on a Young Professionals Board. Sue shares advice for women leaders who also struggle with imposter syndrome.
- Sue discusses why she loves attempting new things she hasn’t tried before. She talks about the process of learning and what she gets from trying a new experience, and she shares why she considers trying something new to be a fun process especially for other women leaders.
- Sue shares her strategy for trying something new and finding the joy in it by building up to it. She discusses helping her daughter Summer find fun in riding roller coasters by starting with the easiest ride and working up.
- Ali shares how she felt unfu♥<kwithable when she finished her first half-marathon and when she got into her college of choice. She shares how the hard work and the feeling of accomplishment were why she felt unfu♥<kwithable.
- Sue discusses feeling unfu♥<kwithable when she was preparing to get married, and she discusses a recent experience of receiving bad news from close friends and feeling the opposite of unfu♥<kwithable.
Resources
- Chasing Perfection by Sue Hawkes and Ali Stieglbauer: https://amzn.to/2x9DX0S
- Whole Life Challenge website: www.wholelifechallenge.com
Advice for Women Leaders | Learning Never Ends
You’re here because you know that learning never ends. You’re the kind of entrepreneur, business owner or leader who realizes that the pursuit of a perfect life, while a worthy goal, is also an impossible one. You know there is no end to the race, and you’re ready to power through anyway. You know that the climb to the top is endless, and you’re going to make the climb anyway. In short, you’re ready to become an unf♥<kwithable leader.
Ali Stieglbauer is my daughter, the Marketing Manager at YESS!, and the co-author of my book, Chasing Perfection: Shatter the Illusion; Minimize Self-Doubt & Maximize Success. For this episode, Ali joins me to offer advice for personal improvement and physical and mental wellbeing, to discuss several of the challenges that we all experience at different times in our lives, and to share strategies for overcoming imposter syndrome and finding the fun in attempting something new that you’ve never done before.
The Whole Life Challenge
Ali and I have embraced the Whole Life Challenge, a six-week system that “gamifies” developing positive lifestyle habits like eating healthier foods, drinking plenty of water, getting an appropriate amount of sleep, maintaining focus on your mental and emotional wellbeing, and reflecting on the events and activities of each day. This system takes small, incremental changes and personal improvement habits and gives you motivation to stick with them, and it has been a wonderful tool for both of us. Other women leaders can use this Whole Life Challenge as well to seek and obtain a better balance.
For Ali, the biggest thing has been developing the discipline and awareness to make small changes to her daily activities, such as walking to nearby locations rather than driving. For me, the system has helped me pay closer attention to the sleep I’m getting and the quality of that sleep. The biggest lesson the Whole Life Challenge teaches is that it is important to pay attention to all the different aspects of your health and wellness rather than focusing on one to the detriment of the others. It can be a great resource to help you recognize the areas of your life that need attention, as well as a great motivator by showing you where you’re doing great. You can find information about the Whole Life Challenge at www.wholelifechallenge.com if you are interested in participating.
Advice for Personal Improvement and Learning to Love New Experiences
During our conversation, Ali shared a recent experience of applying to join a Young Professionals Board, and the feelings of imposter syndrome that the experience triggered. We’ve all felt imposter syndrome at one time or another in our lives, but it is important to recognize our own accomplishments and realize that we’ve earned our place. It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking we’re not up to the challenges we face and fall into illusions of self-doubt, but the reality is that we are often our own worst critics. Our best advice for women leaders to defeat imposter syndrome is to reframe your mindset; instead of worrying that you might not be up to the task or that you might fail, reflect on your successes that have brought you to this point and lean into your strengths. No one succeeds every time at everything they do, but not succeeding doesn’t have to mean “failure”, instead it can be viewed as an opportunity to learn and improve so that you’re even more prepared next time.
That applies to anything new you try, any new experiences that are outside your comfort zone. Intentionally changing your mindset and reframing a new experience from being something potentially scary to being something exciting can be a powerful way to overcome your fears. As I discussed during the episode, my daughter Summer was certain she didn’t like roller coasters, but by easing into the experience with less scary rides and then building up to the bigger ones, she was able to find the joy in the experience and learned to have fun with it.
I hope you enjoy the discussion Ali and I had about goals, fears and mindset, and I hope our advice for personal improvement can help you in all aspects of your life. Taking the time to care for yourself and your wellbeing, tackling opportunities with enthusiasm instead of fear, and learning to value yourself and your achievements can be transformative. And remember, you can find more inspiring and motivational episodes with women leaders by visiting us at www.sayyess.com/podcast/.
Download Your FREE Chapter of Chasing perfection
Get the first chapter of Sue’s book, Chasing Perfection: Shatter The Illusion along with the companion toolkit, the Maximizing Success Journal!
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