2166 - Reclaim Your Time, Reclaim Your Life Finding Happiness Again with Michelle Gruening

0:05Hey there, thoughtful listener. Are you looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, influencers, influencers, and clients? Well, I've had private conversations with over 2 ,000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video you can watch with no opt-in required where I'll share the exact steps necessary to be 100 % inbound in your industry over the next six to eight months with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for over 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high-ticket sales appointments.

0:51Also, don't forget, the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for great guests. Go to upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. I'd love to have you.

1:05with us right now it's michelle gruning michelle it's great to have you you are the owner uh of mg consulting you are mg coaching you're found on the web at michelle gruning.com to our friend that's listening right now just click around in your podcast app so you can follow along we have a link directly to michelle's website michelle it's great to have you i am so thrilled to be here, Josh. Thank you so much. Before we get going, Michelle, what do you do in your free time? What are you into lately? Oh, yeah. So I have lots of different things that I'm into, but what I really am into is I'm learning how to play chess.

1:44It's something that I challenged myself to learn at the beginning of the year is I like to learn something new every quarter. And I reached a new level of geeking out last night when I was watching a video recap of the puzzle that I couldn't solve in my chess app. So I think I've elevated up a geek out level, but it's been really fun and really challenging. Okay. For someone who wants to learn chess, who's like, Hey, I'm going to dip my toe in it. What would you, what's the path? What would you recommend? Like, what are you using? It sounds like you're using a program too. I'm using an app. It's called chess.com and it is incredibly simple.

2:21There are tutorials. It tells you what every single piece does. I was very intimidated by it because there are so many pieces. They all move in different ways. But once I dug into it a bit more, I realized, oh, the basic premise of how the pieces move is incredibly simple. And then all of the possibilities of how a game can go is where it gets really complicated and really deep. But I would encourage just at chess.com, there's a free app. You can pay for it if you want, but it breaks it down to the most simple format. Yeah. Well, Michelle, yeah, listen, I'd love to talk chess more, but I really want to get into the work that you do.

3:03And can you tell us a little bit about your impact that you have in the world? Yeah. So what I really strive to do, the way that I really want to contribute to the world is to remind people that they have full control over their actions, their choices, their attitude, their effort. And so that really helps me when I work with business owners, because a lot of times as business owners, there are so many things that we can do. And there's a lot of things we can do well. And at times what I really love to do is when I help my clients, I take all of those things they can do. And I say, all right, you can do all of them.

3:41You just can't do them all right now. So let's prioritize them, gain some clarity. What's going to help you reach your version of success in the path you want to go? And so for me, it's all about helping people find clarity on what success means to them, because success is different to everybody, and really identifying their path to reach those goals that they have set for themselves. I'm just like the ultimate hype girl. I just want people to understand that they have the capacity and the ability to make their dream life happen. They just have to go after it. Do you think that that's a challenge for people?

4:22I do think it's a challenge because a lot of times we are told this thing, A, is success. And if you do not have this version of success, then you're not successful. And so I think a lot of times people are struggling to really determine what it means for them in their business, whether they've been in business for one year, 10 years, 20 years, sometimes that version of success changes. And it's almost like sometimes people are waiting for permission to be told, you can change. You can change your path and change your end goal. um so what so so the first thing i think the first step is is belief right the accurate title and and we i see this um quite frequently um for example like you know i've been working as a fraction to give you an example for myself right um i've been working as a fractional chief revenue officer and i've been doing that for years and years and years i didn't use the term because it felt like oh that's too big like i you know i can't say that i'm that um you know i'm just a consultant or whatever but yet you know as finally it was someone that said what what are you afraid of like are you afraid that someone's going to call you out as a faker or something like that and I was kind of like well maybe a little bit I don't know maybe yeah maybe I am can you maybe address that you know again I think we're talking a little bit about imposter syndrome which I think you know even if we think oh no no no I don't have imposter syndrome are you sure because what's the next level up for you?

5:51What, you know, and, and really it took someone independent of me to say, Josh, just please just to say it, goodness gracious, you, you need, and oftentimes we do, we need that outsider perspective to say, just own it. Yeah, absolutely. And, and imposter syndrome is so real. And a lot of times, even again, even if you've been in business for decades, sometimes it, it can be hard to own the fact that you're rocking it, that you have a successful business, that whatever title you have is worthy and deserving of it. And so a lot of times when I see people that are like, yeah, well, I mean, that's what I was supposed to do.

6:29That's the business I'm in. I'm like, but that's still worth celebrating. So if you're constantly tampering down your achievements, your goals, if you're constantly moving the goalposts and it's never good enough or it can always be better, like, yeah, that sense of growth and betterment is important in continuing to grow your business, but also all of your celebrations are worthy of winning. So I know a lot of times people, people can think, well, I don't have the answer to every single thing in my industry. So I can't call myself a CRO. I can't call myself this thing because I don't have every single specific answer ready to go at the tip of my tongue.

7:13That's the perfectionist tendencies coming in an impossible. Yeah, I know. And yeah, that perfectionist tendency is thank you for identifying that. That was like, you know, for example, like I remember, you know, from my last company, like I had been in the media over 2000 times. Like and that's, you know, led me to create a seven figure a year company. And so I started doing pro bono stuff in our local startup community. And someone asked if they could hire me for their PR. And I remember like. And then I like go and ask my friend who is like the head of the PRSA locally. I'm like, someone wants to hire me for PR.

7:49Am I going to get in trouble? Like, can I, can they hire me as their PR person? And he's like, Josh, what are you asking me? Like, dude, go. Yes. They all, you know, that person cares about results. Can you get them results? Yes. Well then yes, you're a PR person. Go for it. I love that so much. Focusing on the results and the outcomes that you can bring. from your skills, you know, that's fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. Michelle, I want to ask you about your activity book that you created called Stop Doomscrolling. You and I were talking about this briefly before we started recording. I don't think that you, listen, I want you to shout this from the tops of the mountains.

8:29There's your segue to talk about your book, Stop Doomscrolling. Yeah, so I created this activity book, Stop Doomscrolling, several months ago, really out of a need that I identified for myself. And listen, social media is out there. It can provide a lot of things, but it's also not exactly, let's say, the healthiest place to live. And people can doom scroll. And if people aren't familiar with that term doom scrolling, it's essentially getting sucked into social media or the news and primarily negative content that is leaving you feeling worse than when you started. And so for me, yes, I think that social media can be a tool if it is used appropriately.

9:16So that's my little caveat to getting off of your phone. But if you are seeking connection in your digital device screen, you're going to be left feeling lonelier and more distant than when you started. And I think what we have forgotten, I'll paint with broad brush here, is that we need to connect with ourselves. We're so focused sometimes on connecting with other people that we forget where we're even starting from. So stop doing scrolling is a little bit of a blend. So there's mindfulness activities like coloring pages and mazes. There's crossword puzzles. I love to hike and travel. I've been to a couple countries in Africa.

10:05And so a lot of the crossword puzzles are going to teach you something. They're not easy. Um, but there's also personal growth activities like journaling prompts and the wheel of life and self-talk and the importance of the words and the language that we use. And so this, I hope, is another option for people when they know they want to do something, but they don't want it to be behind a screen. They can do something relaxing like color, or if they're interested in starting a journaling, exercise or a journaling habit, there's journaling prompts in there to get you started. I just really hope that people know that life is existing outside of our phones.

10:51Our phones are a tool, but it's not the end all. And out here, as I gesture largely, is where life is happening. That's where the magic is happening. And this is kind of like a bridge for people who are wanting to spend less time on their phones, but maybe don't necessarily know what they like to do without a phone, this has a lot of options for them to kind of bridge that gap. Yeah. So I wanted to share this, you know, in terms of like, I really, honestly, this is a message I don't think that can be said enough. You know, one thing that I did, so like a book like Stop Doomscrolling, which I think is brilliant.

11:31I think it's fantastic. But the first rule that I set for myself was like, listen, there's no social media in bed. Like that is the first place. Like my bed is going to be a place for sleeping and relaxation. I am not going to bring social media there because is it can it be positive? Can it be fun? Sure. Is it all also anxiety producing? Yeah, absolutely. That's the way it's designed. Right. It's right. It's dopamine farming is, you know, is basically all it is. And particularly for people who need to feel right all of the time, it can be pretty awful. So that was the first thing. So, you know, buy the book, stop doom scrolling and say no social media in bed.

12:11I only bring stop doom scrolling to bed, you know, and also then the next step is I got myself a chair. And then so then it was like nothing in bed other than sleeping. And if I wanted to read and all that other stuff, that was in the chair. Right. But still no social media in the chair, in the bedroom at all. So I just kept on moving the goalpost out to protect myself. And quite honestly, I'm a much happier person today as a result of that. So Michelle, I just want to say thank you so much for producing that book. That's fantastic. Your website, michellegroening.com, how do you work with people?

12:46Like what do you do? And if someone goes on your website, what should they look for? Absolutely. So one of the things that people can go to right away is I have a resources tab on my website that's got lots of freebies. You can download a free sample of Stop Doom Scrolling if you're a see it before you buy it type of person. I also have a resource that's all about building your own personal advisory board. And yes, as a coach, a coach is part of that board, but really this is for anybody in any stage of business, especially those that are farther along in business, having those roles of mentor, the connector, the accountability buddy, the coach.

13:24And I think most importantly, the devil's advocate to stress test your ideas and your products is really key. So there's an assessment and a free guide for people that want to kind of get a temperature check on where their support network and how it currently exists. But the way that I really work with people is I love working with people one-on-one. I fancy myself a tough love coach. and I help people have honest conversations with themselves about where they are in their business. I coach them with tough love. So if people need a super soft hand, I'm probably not gonna be the best coach for them, but there's lots of other amazing ones out there that they can work with.

14:06And I really help people prioritize and clarify their goals and create an action plan to reach those goals. So one-on-one is my bread and butter. I love working with entrepreneurs and business owners in that manner. And then I also have a women's mastermind group that is for professional women that are more individual contributors at another company, but want to grow themselves alongside their leadership skills in their own company. And those are really my primary ways of how I work with people. And everything I do is virtual. So no matter where you are, we can connect, which is one of the incredible things about technology.

14:47sorry i had to hit the cough button there i mean and the last couple days of a lingering flu which has been awful so oh michelle i didn't get that on you because i hit the mute button and nor are listeners everyone is safe um well michelle um i know you have a bunch of free resources here too do you mind just for someone that wants more uh michelle in their life? Like, what would you recommend that they take a look at? Yeah, so I think that if they want some more Michelle in their life, I have been so fortunate to be able to be guests on podcasts. But I also have written a blog and I love to write.

15:24And if anyone is interested in more, more topics about personal growth, all of the lessons that I pulled out of my climb of Mount Kilimanjaro that can be applied to life or business, the blog is going to be a really great place to kind of tap into, uh, tap in a bit more to me and kind of my, my thoughts and my approach to life. Um, and I know we were just talking about doom scrolling and social media, but my Instagram is where I really show, uh, the life that I'm living. Yeah. It's a safe space. It's a safe space. It's a safe space. Yeah. All right. Well, again, you can reach all of that through michellegroening.com.

16:05It's G-R-U-E-N-I-N-G. Michelle, it's been a great conversation. Thank you so much for this. Thank you so much, Josh. I really enjoyed it.

16:18Thanks for listening to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world. We love our community who listens and shares our program every day. Together, we are empowering one another as thoughtful leaders. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this program, if you're looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, and clients, I have had private conversations with over 2 ,000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from.

17:00I've got a free video that you can watch right now with no opt-in or email required where I'm going to share the exact steps necessary to be 100 % inbound in your industry over the next six to eight months with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for more than 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high-ticket sales appointments. Make sure to hit subscribe so that tomorrow morning, that's right, seven days a week, you are going to be inspired and motivated to succeed.

17:41I promise to bring positivity and inspiration to you for around 15 minutes every single day. Thanks for listening and thank you for being a part of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Movement.