Happy holidays and Happy New Year!

We're popping into the podcast feed to share with you that mostly unintentionally, we've been saying no to the podcast for a few months now. And as we're resetting for 2020, setting our goals and focus for the year, we've decided to intentionally step back from the podcast (for now). We are forever grateful to have published 65 episodes. Thank you thank you thank you.

And this isn't goodbye forever. Here are some ways to stay in touch:

Until next time, we wish you and your better half the best on your journey of personal development, Together.

Links:

• Half Better — Join the Newsletter!
• Lesley Lang (@lesleymlang) • Instagram photos and videos
• Zachary Lang (@zachary_lang) • Instagram photos and videos

As important as it is to have a plan for doing work, it is perhaps more important to have a plan for rest, relaxation, self-care, and sleep.

~ Akiroq Brost

On today's episode we dive a little deeper into self care. What is working for us, what are some tips and tricks, and how do we help each other as partners?

We use the Full Focus Planner's new Self Care Planner as a framework for our conversation. We go through:

Links:

• Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals: Rachel Hollis: 9781400209606: Amazon.com: Books
• The Adventure Zone | Maximum Fun
• Manta Sleep Mask - Upgrade Your Sleep. Upgrade Your Life.
• Planners – The Full Focus Store by Michael Hyatt and Co.
• Organifi Gold
• Cook Once, Eat All Week: 26 Weeks of Gluten-Free, Affordable Meal Prep to Preserve Your Time & Sanity: Cassy Joy Garcia: 9781628603439: Amazon.com: Books
• Whole Life Challenge | 7 Habits (That Might Change Your Whole Life)
• Bumbleroot Rethink how you drink... a healthier way to hydrate for you and the planet
• Cure | Clean, Effective Hydration
• STREAKS. The to-do list that helps you form good habits. For iPhone.
• Automatic Sleep Tracking with Sleep++ 3.0 - David Smith, Independent iOS Developer
• WaterMinder® - track your daily water intake, hydrate, feel better!

Joyce Meyer said, "I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you." Brendon Burchard states that if there is one piece of advice he can give to his productivity clients, it would be to take a year and get in the best shape of your life possible. With those in thoughts in mind and knowing that October is Breast Cancer awareness month -- something very near and dear to my heart as there is history of Breast Cancer in my family -- we have two guests on today to talk about Environmental Toxins (specifically within cosmetics) and how they can can affect your health. . . and ultimately your productivity.

Lesley here. This week, I chat with Director Jessica Wall and Senior Consultant Dr. Tijana Sefic Eby of BeautyCounter to talk about the risk of environmental toxins to your health and the role that switching to safer skin care and cosmetics can play in prevention.

Additionally, I am excited to talk with both of them because both are moms who work multiple side hustles. How do they make time for a side hustle and fit in into their life? We explore the power of a strong why, and how finding connection with other women and entrepreneurs brought unexpected joy into each of their lives.

I hope you enjoy the episode, and join us in our listener challenge for Breast Cancer Awareness Month:

Where to find Jessica Wall:

Where to find Dr. Tijana Eby

Check out the BeautyCounter Holiday Line here: https://www.beautycounter.com/lesleylang?goto=/products/gifts

Links:

• Clean Beauty | Safer Skin Care | Beautycounter

Today on the podcast, we discuss the book Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. The book helps you to see the value in the Make Time Framework, which helps you to choose what you want to focus on, build energy to do the work you want to do, and then break your default habits so that you can actually focus and be intentional about the way you live your life. Literally - its about making time for what matters.

The Make Time Framework is 4 steps, repeated every single day. The four steps are:

The book is chock full of 80+ tactics to try and figure out how to make the framework work best for you. We love how it's not a one size fits all approach and we have a lot of fun discussing several of the tactics that we have opted to try out.

We hope you enjoy it, and encourage you to try some of the tactics out!

Until next time, we wish you and your better half the best on your journey of personal development, together.

Links:

• Focused #78: Changing Defaults with John Zeratsky - Relay FM
• Calm - Meditation Techniques for Sleep and Stress Reduction
• WeWork IPO: Company yanks plans to go public - CBS News
• Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days: Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz: 9781501121746: Amazon.com: Gateway
• Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day: Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky: 9780525572428: Amazon.com: Gateway
• What's the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon? | HowStuffWorks
• Time Timer | Visual Timers, Classroom Timers, Time Timers
• Mark's Daily Apple
• Using Tags - Things Support - Cultured Code

The pursuit of goals, personal development, even just getting by day-to-day (with or without a task list) can sometimes feel chaotic and never-ending. What if we could use a filter to help us focus on what is really important to us? That's why we recommend using the Rule of 3 to help guide you through your year, quarter, week, and day.

In today's podcast, we go into detail about how to achieve the life you want by:

In terms of a partner perspective, we recommend at the least sharing your 3 goals/objectives with your partner for the year, the quarter, and the week. These conversations can be really interesting dives into what is important for your partner and your family, how you can support each other.

We think it might get a little tedious to share Daily Big 3 with a partner, however, we recommend sharing a win at the end of the day. Studies show that when you share joy with someone, it increases your sense of well-being. That little boost to your motivation might be just what you need to wade through the resistance and the messy middle of completing a goal.

Until next time, we wish you and your better half the best on your journey of personal development, together.

Links:

• Time Tracking with Timeular — MacSparky
• Timeular - The easiest time tracking solution
• Getting Results the Agile Way | A Personal Results System for Work and Life
• Reply All | Gimlet
• Goal Setting for Couples — Half Better
• How to Plan Your Life: Together — Half Better
• Half Better Clarity Sheet
• Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want: Michael Hyatt, Daniel Harkavy: 0884430287664: Amazon.com: Gateway
• Full Focus Planner – The Full Focus Store by Michael Hyatt and Co.
• How to Make Time for What’s Most Important — Half Better
• Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day: Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky: 9780525572428: Amazon.com: Books

"We can’t improve what we don’t assess."

Lesley and Zachary chat about a weekly (p)review - what it is, how to do it, and how it can help you feel a little more centered and less frazzled even when you're super busy. Topics include:

Links:

• Amazon.com: Getting Results the Agile Way: A Personal Results System for Work and Life eBook: J.D. Meier, Michael Kropp: Kindle Store
• Full Focus Planner® | A planner by Michael Hyatt
• Getting Things Done® - David Allen's GTD® Methodology
• The story of the Brilliant Life Planner + Your Questions Answered! - Brilliant Business Moms
• Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear

All improvements begin by reconnecting with the ideal.

~ Michael Hyatt

Today we thought we’d do a deep dive on the concept of the Ideal week; what is is, and how to use it to align your week with your values and to make time for what’s most important to you. We cover:

We'd love to know how crafting an Ideal Week goes for you. . . let us know in the comments below or on Instagram.

Links:

• Full Focus Planner® | A planner by Michael Hyatt
• Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear

After a bit of a rest, we're back! And we're talking about the book Rest.

We cover the main topics of the book, plus discuss our overall thoughts and a partner perspective:

Links:

• 5 Reasons Why You Should Take a Nap Every Day
• Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less: Alex Soojung-Kim Pang: 9780465074877: Amazon.com: Books
• Zach's AM & PM Rituals - YouTube
• H.I. #108: Project Cyclops — CGP Grey
• Full Focus Planner® | A planner by Michael Hyatt

“If you can learn how to say no skillfully and wisely, you can create what you want, protect what you value, and change what doesn’t work.”

Today on the podcast, we are discussing the book “The Power of a Positive No - How to Say No and Still Get to Yes” by William Ury.

This month, we’re all about cutting back, resting, and rejuvenating, and one of the best ways to do that is to not take on more things, more to-do’s more stuff. But how do you do that in a way that doesn’t alienate you from the people around you? That’s where the power of a positive no comes in!

Together, we learn about:

We walk through some concrete examples so that you can leave the episode with a clear understanding of how to navigate the framework of a positive no, and feel more confident to say no in a way that protects your values and what you want, all while keeping the relationship intact.

Let’s continue the conversation below: which Three-A Trap do you typically lean on when saying No?

Links:

• Mole Rats In Space | MindWare
• William Ury | The Power of a Positive No: Save the Deal Save the Relationship – and Still Say No
• Whitney Hess, Executive Coach
• Aikido - Wikipedia
• Clean Beauty | Safer Skin Care | Beautycounter
• Daily Stoic
• Captain Fantastic (film) - Wikipedia
• Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less – Deliberate Rest

It’s time for another HQ Review with Lesley & Zach! We love these episodes where we get to check in with what’s going on in our lives, answer any questions that have come up from listeners, and give you a glimpse into how we look at our progress with personal development.

In this HQ review, we’re checking in about finances, work & side hustle stuff, health, planners, & creating a summer rhythm and new Ideal Week for when the kiddos are not in school!

If you have any questions you’d like us to answer in the next HQ review, leave them on Instagram, and we’ll make sure to answer it next time!

Links:

• Dolly Parton - Wikipedia
• Upgrade - Relay FM
• Keelo - Strength High Intensity HIIT Workouts
• Kate Northrup
• SHAPE UP
• #182: How to Mega-Batch Your Content - Amy Porterfield | Online Marketing Expert
• Design Pickle | Core 4
• How to Plan Your Life: Together — Half Better