Wise Owl Coaching

Sometimes we want something 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 than we want to work for it. We get stuck in the 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 phase. We overlook the everyday actions needed to make it happen. We convince ourselves that we'll act when we feel ready, when the time is right. ⏳ But guess what? That perfect moment never comes. ❌ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲— it's resistance, fear of discomfort, or fear of failure. The shift happens when we stop waiting for the right time and start embracing the messy, imperfect process of doing the work! 💪 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵: What's your go-to strategy for pushing through procrastination or resistance? 🔧

Constantly spending your time and energy on things that don't align with your goals leads to burnout.

Anyone else feeling like the last few days have been the longest year of their lives? It's more important than ever to take care of yourself, especially during rough patches. Instead of always trying to push through, try hitting Pause, even just for a moment. 🛑 Step away from the screen. ☕️ Get your favorite coffee and sip it. 👯 Catch up with a friend. 🌳 Get some fresh air. You'll be surprised how a small reset can help turn a week that feels like a year into a manageable few days. What's one small thing you do to reset when you're feeling overwhelmed? Share your ideas below in a comment! ⬇️

What would you pursue if fear of losing 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 wasn't holding you back? "I can't risk my steady paycheck for something better." "It's just a rough patch—it'll work itself out." "There's too much going on already, I can't make another change." "If I make a change now, I'll be starting over." What would happen if... 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 that really aren't serving you and took 1 little step toward what you REALLY want today?

Ever had those days with 7 back-to-back meetings? Are you sure you're not confusing busy-ness with effectiveness? A common leadership trap is confusing 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮 (like meetings) with 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮. At a recent coaches conference I attended, a speaker made the point that you should ONLY have a meeting when there's CONFLICT. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛 𝗶𝘁. Conflict can show up as: 👉 Misalignment 👉 Confusion 👉 Disagreement 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗲𝘀. "Different teams are working on different priorities!" Hash it out in a meeting with the right people. "Expense reports need submitted in the new system." Could that be an email? 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺? Drop a comment and share!

Have you ever worked for a "leader" who put themselves first? Or worse...are YOU that type of leader? Leadership isn't about moving yourself forward. Or the things you accomplish. It's about recognizing when others need a hand... Stepping in to give them a small nudge or bit of help... Then getting out of the way! Drop a comment and share: What's one small action a leader took that made a big difference for you?

I asked a tech SVP what holds mid-career leaders back from being promoted. He identified this as the #1 make-or-break skill: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. Some mid-career leaders draw boundaries around "their stuff" and what they think are other people's responsibilities. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀. The SVP told me a story of a Manager  that wanted to be a Director. The Manager was responsible for mobile app development. He didn't care about the web development teams because they weren't "his teams." Yet the Manager's mobile teams depended on backend software built by those web teams! The SVP advised the Manager to: 🟢 Join meetings with the web team, to ensure their code changes included what his teams needed. 🟢 Volunteer his mobile teams to help on code that both the web and mobile teams would need. Instead, the Manager: ❌  Frequently complained about how the other teams wouldn't make the changes his teams depended on. ❌ Never offered to be part of the solution. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁. The Manager moved to a new company. He told this SVP he knew he had a clean slate there: 𝙃𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧. The Manager said his new philosophy became, "I'm going to make friends with everybody and collaborate with people." Within a few years of turning over that new leaf,  he got promotions 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁. The SVP summarized the Manager’s journey: "That's the hump he had to get over: he had to learn to collaborate and work together." How have you partnered beyond just "your team" at work? What happened? Leave a comment below. 👇

One of the most powerful lessons I've learned in life and leadership: 𝗡𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲. We just finished watching Ted Lasso this week. This quote from Leslie Higgins on the last episode stuck with me: "Human beings are never going to be perfect. The best we can do is to keep asking for help and accepting it when you can. And if you can keep on doing that, you'll always be moving towards better." High achievers often push for MORE. But this push isn't about perfection, which we'll never reach. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 "𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿." Asking for help by requesting feedback, having a mentor, working with a coach to guide you, or having a tribe that cheers you on 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧. Who's a helper in your life that lets you keep moving toward "better"? Share in a comment!

Pat Dubek is right, "The grind never stops!" But it doesn't HAVE to feel like a burden. 𝟰 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 when the grind wears you down: For ambitious people, the daily hustle is part of reaching our goals, whether it's our careers or personal growth. There is ALWAYS something we're working to improve or a new goal we're working toward. And that's fantastic! We wouldn't have Google or the iPhone without ambitious people! But how do KEEP GOING in the grind...day after day? 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲: 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. Get joy back with these 4 tips: 🌟 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀: Don't overlook minor victories when you're focused on the big prize! Take time to acknowledge and celebrate even small progress. Feeling little moments of success adds fuel to your motivation! 💡 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: You have a chance to learn something with every challenge. Shift your mindset to view obstacles as chances to grow. Here's a coaching hack during a setback: Ask yourself, "What can I learn from this?" 🤝 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀: Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey: "Nothing feels lonelier than being alone." (Kidding, I made that up.) Have people in your tribe who share your drive. A quick chat with a mentor or colleague can reignite your passion and remind you why you started in the first place. 🌱 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 "𝗪𝗵𝘆": WHY is this important to you? Remember it and FEEL it. When your daily tasks align with 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 (your deeper purpose), the grind becomes meaningful. The grind never stops! But how you approach it makes all the difference. What's one way YOU stay motivated during your daily grind? Drop a comment!

Have you ever had the courage to PAUSE when you've been chasing something...but feel in your gut that you're hitting the wall? You may have forgotten, but during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, gymnast Simone Biles stepped down from competition for mental health reasons. She faced scrutiny and criticism at the time, but she still chose what was best for her and her health. And yet, Simone Biles won multiple gold medals in the 2024 Paris Olympics! 🥇 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗼𝗸𝘆𝗼… 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼. As leaders, entrepreneurs, and high-achievers, we sometimes face challenges that feel insurmountable. Whether it's burnout, feeling stuck in our careers, or dealing with personal struggles, we ALL encounter moments where we need to step back, reassess, and recharge. Simone Biles's story reminds us that: ⏸️ 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞: Pausing to regroup is not giving up or a sign of weakness. It’s a strategic move for long-term success. 💪 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐞𝐲: Coming back stronger happens when we allow ourselves the space to heal and grow. ❤️ 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫: Having a support network, whether it’s coaches, mentors, or peers, can make a significant difference in our journey. Have you ever achieved something, big or small, after you decided to hit PAUSE? Tell me in the comments!