You Can Handle the Slog

Ep. 93 ft. Jillian Flodstrom

“You can rest at the end, just not in the middle.”

Jillian Flodstrom

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Bio

As a seven-figure entrepreneur Jillian has created, launched, and built five different businesses in three different industries.
As the founder of FND Insurance & Financial Services, LLC, her current business, is one of the elite few that was chosen in all of the state of Washington to be the preferred provider by the Washington Health Benefit Exchange and has been featured regularly in the media.
From forensic biologist to health insurance broker and entrepreneur to international business owner, Jillian Flodstrom is a specialist in helping her clients mitigate the feelings of overwhelm, chaos, and confusion when it comes to leading and growing their businesses. She is the host of the Scale Your Small Business podcast and frequently does presentations for small business organizations as well as being on the board of directors of a national nonprofit dedicated to raising funds to support people living with life-threatening health conditions.
With a relentless passion for efficiency, organization, and strategic planning Jillian has dedicated her time and her business to helping and inspiring small business owners to become more productive, more aligned and more in control of their future.

Shownotes
What are you celebrating today? Even your smallest steps are moving you forward and worth recognizing. Through the eyes of entrepreneur, Jillian Flodstrom, even giving yourself one day to wallow is appropriate to get you to the other-side.

If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. Or leave a comment below!

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

  • Perfectionism kills opportunity
  • Surrounding yourself with people who want to become better
  • One day to wallow, then get to the other side
  • Planning quarterly to chunk tasks
  • Write down the thoughts that circle in your mind. A list of things in your way from living your dream.

References/Links:

Transcript

INTRODUCTION

Lesley Logan 0:00
Hello, welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast. I am so freakin’ stoked for you to listen to this one, grab your notepads. And if you’re driving, don’t but just know that you’re gonna want to relisten to this because what Jillian Flodstrom is going to just start throwing at you is some really awesome, honest, actionable information. And I’m not kidding, like, I found myself going, “I need to write that quote down. I need to write that one down.” And, you know, I, I really, I really need you to hear this, I really need you to hear this. No one knows how everything’s gonna end up. No one does. Everyone is just really trying to do the best. And I say that to you because you might be listening to this podcast right now feeling a little bit down, feeling a little bit like, maybe you’re not where you want to be yet. And I just want to remind you, first of all, you’re listening to Be It Till You See It. So you’re already doing something she’s going to tell you that you should be doing. Two, give yourself credit for what you’ve done. I really, really, I really, really want you to be starting to think about what you celebra… what you’re celebrating each day because I need you and Jillian is going to talk about this. You need to know how far you’ve come. And so you can actually see, “Whoa, today I’m being the person that five years ago, I wanted to be.” Do you ever think about that? You’re like, actually the person that you wanted to be five years ago? Yeah. So we can make things, we can make things happen a little faster. If we act as if the person want to be in 10 years, we are already. I know I’m really challenging myself on that right now. And it’s not frickin easy. It’s not easy. It’s not easy. I find myself like, frustrated with myself when I am not acting like … acting as if, you know, and being it till I see it, I’m not. It’s like you start to distrust yourself. And what I want you to know is like you’re not alone. If you’re doing that you’re a human being. It’s normal. And, you know, what you’re going to hear inside of this podcast is some tips for when you’re feeling like you don’t have the energy or you don’t have the strength or you don’t have the knowledge to be it till you see it because there’s some nuggets in here. So notepads or iPhone notes, or if you got a kid in the car with a notebook or an iPad most likely (Lesley laughs) have them take notes as you’re listening to this because it’s so freakin good. So after this brief message, Jillian Flodstrom.

Lesley Logan 2:21
Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I’m Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I’ve trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it’s the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring Bold, Executable, Intrinsic and Targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It’s a practice, not a perfect. Let’s get started.

Lesley Logan 3:05
Hey, Be IT babe, welcome back. I’ve got our guest here for you. And I’m really excited because I met this woman, because I did a call out like a shout out like, “I need these things.” And she was like, so on it to go, “I can offer this.” And I loved that so much. And you came in as a guest to our Agency membership and like blew their mind with email organization, I think (Lesley laughs) a couple other things. And I like, “Wow, someone could be that organized.” And so anyways, our paths brought us back together and Jillian Flodstrom, I’m so excited that you’re here, because you are a woman who takes action. And also your story is so freaking amazing. I’m really, really excited. So can you please tell everyone, who you are and what you’re up to these days?

Jillian Flodstrom 3:49
Yes, for sure. Thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be back and share with everybody kind of what’s been going on and really the steps that I’ve taken to take action because I think that is one thing that people really struggle with. So my career started in corporate America for I think a lot of people start there. And I realized that I just wanted a different life. I wanted to be able to travel, I wanted to be able to, you know, do work virtually really, and this was you know, prior to COVID and everything happening. So that was really unusual for a lot of people they were like, “There’s no way that you’re gonna be able to do that.” And so really created this, this thing that, it that was so commonplace, but back then it wasn’t so doing so many different things with you know, actions, I think really has led me to where I am today. So I’m excited to talk about it.

Lesley Logan 4:40
Yeah, I mean, it’s, it is interesting, because similarly I started something after leaving corporate work in 2017, 2018. And then now it’s the norm for people with with the pandemic. And everyone asked me like, “How did you do it then?” That’s like, “Well, I just took some messy action. Did things scared.” (Lesley laughs) But what what do you think it is that ke… keeps people from taking the action? Like, is it fear? Is it uncertain? Like wha… like, that’s the same thing as fear. But like, what do you think it is keeping people from taking those action steps?

Jillian Flodstrom 5:13
I really think is our perfectionism. And it’s got to be perfect. It’s got to be pretty, it’s gotta be beautiful. And I think that the way that we can just move forward is to make it messy, you know, just do it. It’s not gonna be perfect. I always use the example of my website, you know, the first time we launched, I was like, “Oh, my gosh, it’s so beautiful. It’s so amazing.” Ho… not knowing that we were going to completely redo it like six more times, it looks completely different. And I love it even more, but just being open to realize that changes coming, whatever. It looks like version 1.0. It’s going to be so many different versions and being okay with it, that it’s going to change the first time it’s not going to look anything like it does now. And that’s totally okay.

Lesley Logan 5:56
Right. I know, it’s like, I was reading a book about habits. And in the book they talk about like, when babies take their first step, we don’t go, “Oh, no, try again. That was actually like totally off balance.” And turned in like we, “Oh, my God, like, it’s the most amazing thing.” But somehow, we forget that, like, it’s baby steps that like, get us there. So okay, you were in corporate America, you started your own thing. How long ago was that? And how, how big is your thing now, like what …

Jillian Flodstrom 6:25
… That was all the way back in 2009. And that was, you know, if you remember that was when the crash happened. And I thought to myself, “Okay, if I can make it in financial services, when the market is tanking, and people are running for cover, I can make it any time.” I was like, “This is the perfect time for me to go,” just hold my nose and jump in. And that’s exactly what I did and never looked back. And it’s just been. I mean, there was some tough, there was some tough times, but you know, like, my parents always said, “You’re gonna have to muscle through it.” And I just kept telling myself that we rest at the end, not in the middle, and you just keep going. And every huge project that I took on, or the next thing that I was like, “Okay, now I’m going to try this, it’s like you, you can rest at the end, just not in the middle.” So

Lesley Logan 7:12
Oh, such a good reminder. (Jillian: Yeah) Such a good reminder, because it’s so true. Like, we all want to like what the middle is hard and mucky. And like, you know, it makes me think that when I ran, when I ran a marathon, I had a really good pace. And then there is this like middle section, that’s pretty boring, and no offense LA, but like, it’s this part where you could leave Beverly Hills, you’re coming out a century, like passenger city, and it just is kind of this long road, it’s actually uphill, it doesn’t look like uphill when you’re driving it but it’s uphill when you’re running it. And then you have to like run under the freeway also boring till you get to the VA Center, which is somewhat pretty ish. But really, it’s like four miles of just like, block. And I’ve and I slowed down my pace, like I started to rest, right, which just made it harder because I was going uphill anyways, which is the same every middle it has is an uphill battle. And if you’re resting, you’re just in it longer. (Lesley laughs) And then the fascinating thing is, a year later, I did a half marathon and I had that same exact spot and again, didn’t slow down as much, but I slowed down again and I was like, “Ooh, we had this as a learning lesson for life.” So that so I love that, you know, we can rest at the end. So okay, so you start in 2009. I started teaching Pilates in 2008. And it’s the same thing like when people are like, “Oh my God, it’s so hard here because,” I’m like, let me just tell you, if I was able to leave my job during the recession, when people with money, who had that these are the people had the money to spend, we’re like canceling their Alhambra water deliveries. We’re still going, “Okay, I want to Pilates session, you can make it any time.” Like people are always looking for that. So you made it through that. And then obviously, we had the pandemic, with is own interesting trials and tribulations. How how are you able to take like, I guess I want to know, like, what, what did you take any different actions during this last couple of years? Whereas a little different uncertainty versus your first year in business? Or was it kind of the same action steps?

Jillian Flodstrom 9:08
It’s very, it’s very similar, but I think it’s one of those things where you have to be very careful with who you surround yourself with. Because there was a lot of people that were focused on like, the horribleness of it, which of course, it was absolutely miserable. But there was a small group of people that were like, “What can we do differently? How can we look back however long this lesson?” I don’t know about you, but when they shut Disneyland down, I was like, “Okay, this is serious.” Like at that point (Lesley laughs) I was like, “Okay, we got to come up with a game plan because however long this lasts,” and you know, back then we thought it was gonna be you know, a couple months and then we were going to be out and here we are, you know, three years later, roughly. But we I just sat down I was like, “Okay, we have a unique opportunity to look at this time.” And when I look back on it, I want to make sure that I came out better than I went in. And I think that that’s something about shifting your perspective and making sure that yes, it’s a horrible thing. It really, really sucks. But when I look back on it, am I going to be happy with what I did and focus. And I mean, there was an immense amount of focus that was able to happen during that time. I mean, I did things that I would have never gotten an opportunity to speak with certain people, because they were stuck just like I was that I was like, “Hey, let’s jump on a call, let’s, you know, do these things that we would never be able to do because we’re traveling and you know, speaking schedules are so busy. You know, all those different things.” So really remembering that whatever time you’re going through, surround yourself with people that are thinking, “You know, we’re going to make this work. How can we fix this? What can we do differently? How can we support our clients? What are we going to, you know, how are we going to come out better than we went in?”

Lesley Logan 10:57
I freakin I’m obsessed with that. Okay, so same I was when, when everything went down, my entire year canceled. I’m sure most people’s … but like, I travel 8 countries I had like 140,000 miles. And there’s a ton of stuff, right? And so for the first time and like my adult life, I had no plans at all. (Lesley laughs) Right? (Jillian: It’s terrifying.) It’s terrifying. And also, I was like, “Okay, well, we kind of asked for this,” because in 2019, in December, I was like, I told Brad, I said, “I really wish that there was more opportunity for surprise in next year.” (Lesley laughs) (Jillian: surprise) I… well surprise! But I did, I remember thinking to myself, like two weeks, and I was like, “Maybe not even that long.” I was like, “I want to make sure that however, whenever this ends, I have this reset up my business for everything I said I would do when I had the time.” Like when I had the time I would. And so I was like on a mission. I was like moving so fast. Because of course, I thought there’s only gonna be like, two months. (Lesley laughs) How do I know, in two years, I’m able to pace myself. But but like, I think, um, I think first of all, having that mentality, like I want to be better on the other side of this. And I think that we should, we don’t have to have a pandemic for that. Like, it could be anything that we’re in any obstacle that we’re going through, we could think like, “Okay, who do I want to be on the other side of this obstacle?” But I really love about surrounding, who you surround yourself with, I think that that is like, so key. So you called up some people that you knew from your industry and things like that. But what if you like our living? I’m not. So don’t worry about me, everyone. But like one of your liv… I’m thinking of a listener here. What if you’re living in a household where the negative people are there? And like, how, so what would what would be your action steps be to like, surround yourself with other people if you can’t unsurround yourself with people?

Jillian Flodstrom 12:47
Right? Well, I think probably the easiest, the most affordable way to, is to listen to podcasts. There was so much information that we were able to digest because of course, we were all stuck at home. And it’s like, okay, where can we gather all this information from? So podcasts, I mean, books, there’s so much stuff, that when you start immersing yourself in it, it starts to kind of tune the noise out. And if you’re living with negative people, it’s really easy to get sucked into that and be like, “Oh, you’re right, this does, you know stink, and kind of get bogged down that quagmire”. But if you’re setting aside time to know that, “Okay, I’m going to connect with this person on their podcast every single week. And that’s going to be my time to focus on the positivity and know that that person is going to breathe energy into me.” It’s just something that you start to look forward to. And you’re like, “I’m gonna be there.” It’s like the news. You know, the news comes on, every single day. There’s so many podcasts out there that come out every single week that we have access to that I think we just don’t realize. So podcasts and books, definitely the top.

Lesley Logan 13:55
Oh, I lo… and also that’s so simple, because podcasts are mostly free everyone, even the ones that charge they basically offer you last week’s version for free. So that is a great way to surround yourself with positive vibes and books because you can like immerse yourself in those things. And I think until you can change the those around you, or you can, well, you can’t change them until they change themselves. Or you can just change where you live. Those are great. So okay, um, you know, you started your business so long ago, and so many people are. Maybe they’re not even thinking of leaving their corporate job or the current job. Maybe it’s like, no, but this is good. Or maybe they’re staying because health insurance is a real thing. And they and they want to keep it how how would you talk to the person who’s like maybe thinking they have an idea. Maybe they’re wanting to start something as they go weekend side hustle, like, what are some things that they need to keep in their mind so that they can take those action steps.

Jillian Flodstrom 14:52
I think the most important thing is that don’t let anything limit you because I talked to a lot of people that health insurance to is is a huge thing for them. But there’s so many resources, there’s so many things that you could do. So, I would write a list like, “What are the things that are stopping me from having this dream life that I’ve been thinking about for so long?” Whatever it is, if it’s like a virtual world, kind of like what we created, if it’s whatever it is, write it down. Because I think back to all those like sticky notes and back of envelopes, if I had a notebook, to go back and look at my, like, 2009 version of Jil and like, today’s version of myself, I just think it would be so cool. So, I say get one notebook and write all that stuff down, whatever is that limiting belief, or you’re like, “Well, I would leave my corporate job, if I just had health insurance, or if I just had retirement, or if I just had this,” whatever it is, write it down. Because there’s so many different things where you can recreate that for yourself, you just don’t know about it yet. Because there’s a lot of people that stay where they’re at, and don’t realize that that’s even an option that you can create, you know, individual 401K’s for, you and your company, and you know, all those different things.

Lesley Logan 16:05
Isn’t it so true? I mean, it’s, it’s kind of, it’s kind of crazy. I mean, one of our girls on our team, she, you know, we were hoping to bring her on. I mean, timing is everything, but we wanted to bring her on. And she was like, “Well, I really need to have health insurance. Like I really need to have it.” And we were looking at and I found it, it just like, “How much does that even cost?” Like, “Can we just like put her bill on the, on… Can we just pay for it? Like, what does that look like?” You know? And so you like you’d be surprised everyone like what you can either get and in different capacities if you’re just creative, but I think you’re, I think you’re right, I recently just wrote down, I was feeling a little stuck. Because like, it’s just been a lot busy. Like, it’s not a little bit, it’s been a lot busy. And the busy good kind like the stuff when you’re really creating things and you you know, you’re you scale a small business, there’s gonna be moments where like you’re scaling, but like, maybe the bodies to help, haven’t haven’t shown up yet. So ever… everything is happening. And I was like, “I’m just feeling really stuck on like, what I want my new schedule to be because it needs to change because it can’t be what it was.” And so I’m reading this book, and it was like, write down 10 I would like to, and I didn’t write 10 I wrote fuckin 50. Like, I was like, I will, I once I started. I was like, I was like, “Wow, we really do not we want.” (Lesley laughs) But …

Jillian Flodstrom 17:27
It’s amazing, because you just let yourself go. I think we’re so restrictive. Sometimes it’s like, just dream. It’s okay. Write it down.

Lesley Logan 17:34
Yes. Yes. So okay, when. So when you were dreaming up your business? Like, are you living beyond? Is your business beyond what you dreamt up? Or was like, oh, is it exactly what you wanted? How did it work out?

Jillian Flodstrom 17:47
I think it’s better than I thought it was gonna be, which at the time, I mean, 2009 me, it was terrifying. I don’t mean to make it sound like I knew it was gonna be okay. Because I did… And there, I mean, just like the marathon, there is a slog. And I have been … (Lesley laughs) And I think you need to know that. I mean, because when you go into it, eyes wide open, you’re like, “Okay, this is just the slog. I’m going to come out the other side. I’m going to, there’s going to be the downhill run.” Right? And so knowing that the slog is going to happen multiple times, I think that you can better prepare yourself and know that it’s only temporary, and you’re going to get through it. And whatever you write down, it’s going to be better than you thought it was. And it’s really hard to know that in the beginning, but it always works out. Like you’ve talked to so many people. I’ve talked to so many people that everybody’s like, “It’s better than I thought it was gonna be.” Just have to have the courage and the bravery to be like, “Whatever comes my way. I’m gonna handle it. (Lesley: Yeah) And just go for it.”

Lesley Logan 18:47
You’re like, it’s so true. It is, I mean, I’ve it’s rare… I think most people end up those people who take the action most people end up better than they expected. (Jillian: Mm-hmm) And and I think that’s just like the way it goes because you almost cannot picture exactly like, like everything because but you have to dream and I… And we had Hazel Ortega on she she talks about miracle goals. You got to dream way bigger than you actually think is realistic, because you’d be surprised like the synchronicity that shows up and, or serendipity or you know, whatever word like it just kind of works itself out. You’re like, “Whoa, this is like way cooler than I was expecting.” (Lesley laughs)

Jillian Flodstrom 19:27
… it’s so cool to be able to have that journal, that notebook, whatever it is, so you can look back because we forget how far we’ve come. And we’re just like, “Look at what we’re doing. We don’t celebrate ourselves enough. We don’t realize that like, we’re kicking ass and taking names.” And whatever, whether that’s was something small, or something big. It’s like we’re out there and we’re doing it. And we just have to give ourselves enough kudos to remember that (Lesley: Yeah) we’re showing up every … that we can do it.

Lesley Logan 19:55
Yeah, you’re so right. I I love that you share that like you were scared and you have no idea cuz I think, I think a lot of people are looking at other people and they must they have all the answers and like, especially, I don’t care who you were, when when 2020 hit, no one knew what to do. You know, like some people could pivot fast, big businesses have to pivot. Like, it’s not like you can just you can’t turn of big ship, we all saw what happened, the Suez Canal, like, (Lesley laughs) it’s a little harder. And so everyone who was at the top was like, doing the best they could. And they were all very scared. And I think like, we we put a lot of emphasis thinking like, the grass is greener on the other side, or like, they have all the answers, if only I was like them, but really, everyone out there is just like, “Okay, I’m gonna, I’m doing the best I can today.” That’s what’s happening, right?

Jillian Flodstrom 20:42
Absolutely. And I think that’s something that we have to remember too, because we look at these people that we think that they have it all together. I mean, social media helps create that. It’s the Pinterest, you know, lifestyle that people post on social media, we have to remember that. We’re all slogging, we might not be slogging at the same time, but there’s a time for all of us that it’s like, we’re just going through it. And it’s not always going to be pretty, but you just have to keep going.

Lesley Logan 21:07
Okay? So in this slog, because slogs happen all the time, like it’s not (Jillian: Yeah) even just the middle of the marathon, like it could be the middle of the day. And I’m, I’m slowly reading, (I think his name’s Scott Belsky) Ah, I may… anyways, he he sold something to Adobe, he has a book – The Messy Middle. And his whole thing is like, it’s like, you know, there’s the beginning of the business. And then there’s the end of the business and the rest is the middle and it’s messy. And it it’s it’s going up and down. Like like an earthquake. What do you call those things? (Jillian: Oh yeah, totally) But like ideally, it’s on the upward climb, but like sometimes you’re going to be below the up and things like that. And so he, he talks on the messy middle a lot and I I’m, I just think like a… how do you handle the slog when you’re in it? Like, what are the things you tell yourself? What are the things you tell your team? Because also, like, if you’re listening this Mama’s like, there’s many times when like, in the family, the family unit, it’s like a business, right? It’s gonna have a slog time so what are the, what are the things you get yourself, to get yourself through it?

Jillian Flodstrom 22:12
I mean, number one, is kindness. I always tell people like I never realized how big of a bully I was until I realized how I talked to myself. And I think it’s you got to flip that because we’re, of course, we’re all our own worst critic, we’re sometimes downright mean to ourselves, and you would never like, Lesley, you would never call me up and be like, “Jill, da da da da da.” (Lesley: Right) Why do I do that to myself, like, we would never do that to someone else, we shouldn’t do that to ourselves. And so just knowing that giving our self kindness, giving ourselves grace, and knowing that we’re going to be able to come out of it faster. And I think that’s the key is figuring out, how can you write the ship get back up faster, so you can get into those up swings, and be more consistent in that. And I think that’s really, I always do one thing, which is kind of goofy, but I give myself one day to wallow, that means that I can scream, I can cry, I can lay in bed with the covers over my head, I can eat ice cream, whatever your thing is, and most people know what their one thing is, (Lesley: Ahaha) whatever that is, allow yourself to feel those feelings. But knowing that the next day, you’re going to get back up and you’re going to get back to it, whatever that big thing that’s frustrating you or that project, you know, you’ve just got to get back to it. Because if you allow yourself too long to wallow, you could stay there for a (Lesley: Yeah) really long time. And then that creates a whole bunch of other things. So, I think allowing yourself a specific amount of time whether you know it’s a week or whatever you’re going through, allow yourself a set amount of time knowing that, “Okay, on this day, I’m going to get back up and I’m going to you know, get in the shower, whatever it is that my makeup on, and I’m going to get back to it.” I think is really helped me because I know that that timeframe has shortened. You know, when I first started my business and we were in the crash and you know, financial services, we were in trouble like there was a lot of stuff going on and people were absolutely terrified about their retirement. It is really easy to let that affect you and so there was a couple bad things that happened but it was like, okay, got this amount of time, you got to get back up and you got to get back to it because the only way you’re going to get through it, is to go through it.

Lesley Logan 24:28
Yeah. Yeah, I mean like that’s that is so freakin true. Okay, so you have so many great like little nuggets I think everyone needs to relisten to this because I have to cuz I’m like, “Oh my God, that’s a great one.” One day to wallow like that needs to be a song. I got one day to wallow …

Jillian Flodstrom 24:43
… (Lesley: What was that?) I said I feel like it needs to be on a pillow. (Lesley: Yeah, yeah) … got like, “One day to wallow. One day to wallow.”

Lesley Logan 24:51
Yeah, you can like and on the other side. It could like maybe you get to like a timer. “Okay, put that pillows gonna get flipped back over tomorrow.” (Lesley laughs)

Jillian Flodstrom 24:59
It’s like the sequence that it’s like a face, and then you pull it up and it’s like something different. There’s a product idea right there. Look at that and go.

Lesley Logan 25:06
Oh, my gosh. Listen to this. I have friggin love it. Okay. So, right now currently, you know we’re I guess we’re like, heading to the year three of this. But also we’re heading to the place where everyone’s like, “Okay, how do we like work with this? How do we like get through this? And how do we protect people, but also like, keep going?” And so what are you excited about right now? Is there anything that you are doing to make yourself be the next version of yourself to do whatever’s on your goal list? Like, what what are you excited about right now?

Jillian Flodstrom 25:35
Well, so I plan quarterly and I love that. I mean, if you are not familiar with the 12 week year, it’s something that has changed my life. It’s a completely different way to look at the year. And I think a lot of people are always like, “Jill, how are you getting all this stuff done?” And it’s like, because I’m consistently checking in with those goals, writing those goals, giving myself the freedom to adjust those goals, because that’s pretty much what we’ve had to do over these last couple of years, is adjust, like, test and tweak, you know, making sure that we’re making those adjustments that we give ourselves the latitude to do that. But checking in with those goals and say, “Okay, where am I out with this?” Every single day working towards it, and adjusting it, I think makes a huge difference. It’s something that I do all the time, and giving myself the freedom to change those goals. It’s really been great.

Lesley Logan 26:24
So you, you, what did you say you do quarterly at the year you’re beginning, you pled quarterly? You ple… what do you …

Jillian Flodstrom 26:30
Plan quarterly.

Lesley Logan 26:31
Plan quarterly. Got it. So instead of looking at like, the whole year, of all the things you want to get done, you’re like, “Okay, this is this quarters goals.” And you then you give yourself permission to adjust.

Jillian Flodstrom 26:41
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah so …

Lesley Logan 26:44
What’s your process with that? Like how do you like, because everyone’s got one that works for them? I’m always intrigued.

Jillian Flodstrom 26:49
Yeah, absolutely. So what it does is starts with a brain dump of all these things that are rattling around in my head, and kind of looking at my calendar. So we’re mapping out the calendar annually, because, you know, we don’t necessarily have trips that we have committed, right? There’s certain things whether it’s us or our family members that need to do at certain times of the year. So kind of mapping that out. And looking at that and say, “Okay, where can I chunk this down in what quarter.” So think of it instead of like a year being 12 months, think of it as 12 weeks. So that means that 12 weeks is a year, a week is a month, and then so on and so forth. And so you really got to move every single day, because when you’ve only got 12 weeks for your year, that timeframe is so much shorter. And so getting those tasks on your calendar every single day to move that goal forward. So like if you have something that you’re like, “Okay, I’ve got, you know, 12 weeks to do this in, chunking it out down to a daily task.” So, I always tell people that, “When you’re looking at these tasks, if it’s more than two minutes, if it takes you more than two minutes to do it, you’ve got to chunk it down even farther,” because you’ve got to put it on your calendar, because everybody’s got two minutes. But most people don’t have two hours to dedicate to a project and not get interrupted. Because, you know, there’s so many things flying at us every single day. But you got two minutes, you got two minutes when you’re picking up your kids in the carpool lane. You’ve got two minutes when you’re, you know, walking your dog to the dog park, whatever it is, having that short window of time makes a lot less overwhelms, you’re like,”Oh, I can knock that out. I got two minutes right now.” And so giving yourself that freedom to be like, “Okay, I’ve got this. I don’t have two hours but I got two minutes.”

Lesley Logan 28:34
I love that. That’s true. Like, if you can ever get everything down to the smallest smallest piece, then you actually are moving the needle forward because you’re not trying to just tackle a project in a day for two hours, because of course you’re interrupted and then you can’t reschedule that, because were are you going to put two hours? Yeah, I, oh, I’m gonna use that one. Oh, but you’re just like a wealth of knowledge. And I am so excited. I can’t and there there’s so many lovely things in here that I want everyone to listen to again. Okay, Jillian, where can people find you follow you, like get more of this goodness into their brains.

Jillian Flodstrom 29:08
Definitely check out my website, which is scaleyoursmallbusiness.org. That is definitely the best place to check out because I have on my blog, I have all my podcast episodes. My podcast focuses on short, actionable things. So the episodes are going to be anywhere from five to 10 minutes. And I want people to be able to take those nuggets go out and do them that same day, because I’m focused on doing these small actions every single day. And I think that’s how I changed my business, how I changed my life. And anybody can do these small tasks every day. It’s really easy. So check out my website. That’s the best place to find me.

Lesley Logan 29:43
And your podcast is Scale Your Small Business as well. (Jillian: Yeah) And it’s on everywhere podcasts are? Yeah. (Jillian: Yeah, everywhere. Yeah.) Wonderful. All of those will be in the show notes, y’all. Okay, so BE IT action items. I mean, this is going to be easy for you because you’ve already given us so many. But what is some thing that’s bold, executable, targeted or intrinsic, that motivates people to get taking action today, what do you got for us?

Jillian Flodstrom 30:08
I think the most important thing is just doing it. So whatever you got written on your list, and most people have a list, if you don’t have a list, make one, get yourself a cute notebook. I love stationery. So that is something, find whatever it is, if it’s digital paper, whichever side of the fence you’re on, get yourself a notebook and write it down. Get in the habit of writing every single thing down because your mind is not equipped for storage. So get it on paper, whether that’s just every single day saying, “Okay, these are the things that I’m thinking about.” Flip the page to the next day, if it’s that, or if you want to make a list, whatever it is, getting that notebook and carrying it with you everywhere, and get in the habit of writing things down. It’ll change your life. It’ll change your business, it’ll literally change everything.

Lesley Logan 31:00
I love that. I mean, it it’s simple is not easy. But … the just because I think you get you get a lot of feedback, you’ll get a lot of information you can feel into it. You’re like, “I actually don’t like doing this.” Great. Now it’s off your list. (Lesley laughs) (Jillian: Right) You know, “Oh, my God, this is making me feel so good. Good. Put more of that on your list.” I also agree on the writing it down. Even if I can’t read my own writing just the fact that like it isn’t in my brain anymore. I have a way of like remembering things that I wrote down like I like can think back to even the piece of paper or it’s on. So, so I think that’s genius and I love that. Jillian, you’re awesome. This has been so much fun. And y’all, I’m going to be over on Jillian’s podcast. So you’ll also want to check that out. And let us know how you’re gonna use all these tips that she just like, gave so generously. Tag the @be_it_pod. You can also contact her over at her website, and let us know, screenshot this, send this to a friend because you want to know something like, especially right now everyone is a little overwhelmed. Everything is feeling really busy. And, you know, people are worried because Pluto’s here, I don’t even know what that means. But like it’s returned, and that’s a big deal for us. So, so people are just like a little uncertain, a lot overwhelmed. And what I just heard was a bunch of great tips that can actually make you have a little bit more control, a little bit more feeling of that you’re actually taking action and reminding people to just do it. So thank you, Jillian for being here. Everyone next ti… until next time, Be It Till You See It.

Lesley Logan
That’s all I’ve got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It podcast! One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate this show and leave a review. And, follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the @be_it_pod on Instagram! I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us help others to BE IT TILL YOU SEE IT. Have an awesome day!

Lesley Logan
‘Be It Till You See It’ is a production of ‘As The Crows Fly Media’.

Brad Crowell
It’s written, produced, filmed and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell. Our Associate Producer is Amanda Frattarelli.

Lesley Logan
Kevin Perez at Disenyo handles all of our audio editing.

Brad Crowell
Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music. And our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan
Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can’t see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell
And to Angelina Herico for transcribing each of our episodes so you can find them on our website. And, finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

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