The End of the Day Podcast with Kari Watterson: Using Mindset Work to Live Your Best Life

Welcome back to The End of the Day Podcast—a mindset podcast on a mission to help you think differently so you can start living differently.

In this episode:

• New Series Launch: Introducing The Daily Shift—quick episodes (20 minutes or less) designed to deliver a single thought, tool, or insight to help shift your mindset and keep you moving forward.

Today’s Focus:

• Key Insight: "Most people give up on what they truly desire because they start believing their thoughts."

What We Unpack:

• The Power of Awareness: Recognizing this insight can be a game-changer. If you've ever felt like giving up (or quietly quitting), it’s a cue to pause and check in on what thoughts and beliefs might be steering your actions.
• Mindset Check: When you're struggling, it's likely that the quality of your inner dialogue has shifted. Our thoughts and beliefs are just words in our heads, but they shape our emotions, actions, and ultimately, our life's direction.
• Course Correction: Remember, you have the power to course correct at any time. By regularly bringing mindful attention to your thoughts, you can reclaim your sense of agency and influence your life's path.

The Bottom Line:

• Taking Action: When we become aware of our thoughts, we reduce unnecessary emotional pain and get to where we want to go much faster.

Questions to Help You Think Differently:

•  What thoughts, when you believe them, slow your progress or make you want to give up? It's important to know what these are and to not be afraid of them. Beliefs, positive or negative/helpful or limiting, are equal in that they are just words. How much power we give them is up to us. These thoughts can serve as the cue to pause and reflect on the next question.
  
  
• What thoughts, if you believed them, would ignite your desire to get back on track? These are thoughts that make you excited to march toward the steps ahead because you know where those steps are going to take you. Think about it, write them down, and review them daily. They will become brain shortcuts and will be lifesavers when you’re struggling to stay on track.

Episodes that partner with this one:

• Episode 32: Choosing Motivational Quotes with Intention (as a tool for personal growth)
• Episode 35: Giving Yourself the Permission You've Been Waiting For

Quotes in this episode:

"If nothing changes, nothing changes." - Courtney C. Stevens

"No one is coming to save you." - Mel Robbins

"You can't go back and change the beginning but you can start where you are and change the ending." - C.S. Lewis

"Live in the present, but from your future.  Most people live in the present, but from their past." - Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan (10x Is Easier Than 2x)

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Intro/outro music by JMW

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To see how 1:1 mindset coaching with me will help you to think differently so you can live differently, visit my website to book a coaching call this week, or email me at [email protected] with the subject line: 'Book a Call to Experience Mindset Work"

Website
Instagram:  @kari_mindsetcoach
LinkedIn

In this week's episode, I share how I went from being completely overwhelmed and depressed by the state of my home to being almost 80% decluttered and organized and still excited and motivated to keep going.

While I love a good decluttering story, I recorded this episode to share the mindset work that allowed me to take the first small step, and how I used that first small step to keep the momentum going.

The biggest shift this time around was my compelling reason to start in the first place: I wanted the capacity to focus on the rest of my life. As I alluded to in episodes 70, 71, and 72, I finally gave myself permission to ask what area of my life, if transformed, would most free me up to go after my deepest yearnings. In essence, if I were to look at what most triggered my self-sabotaging behavior in my adult life, what would that be and what would life be like if that was an area I finally got under control?

I share my journey because I know how it feels to think you're the only one with secret, shameful struggles. While household management might not be your Achilles' heel, I know each of us have something we long to work through so that it's no longer hanging over us, taking up precious time, energy and bandwidth that we could be using for seeing what life could be like without all the cognitive load.

Even if decluttering and organizing is not your struggle, you'll get actionable mindset shifts and tools that will help you in whatever task or project you want to start, continue and finish.
 
Cited in this episode:

Dan Sullivan |  Podcasts

Lisa Woodruff of Organize 365  |  Research  |  Organize 365 Podcast

Quotes:

By Dan Sullivan: “If we were meeting here three years from today—and you were to look back over those three years to today—what has to have happened during that period, both personally and professionally, for you to feel happy about your progress?”

By Lisa Woodruff of Organize 365 (paraphrased): "Declutter so you can organize because when you're organized you can be more productive. And when you're more productive, you unlock time and capacity which you can put toward impact (or what you feel you're uniquely created to do)." Bottom line: we're organizing our households and ourselves not to do more dusting, dishes or laundry, but to reclaim our capacity so we can explore what it is we want for our lives.

By Gustave Flaubert: "Be steady and well-ordered in your life so you can be fierce and original in your work."

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Intro/outro music by JMW

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To learn more about 1:1 mindset coaching with me:

Website
Instagram:  @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

In this week's episode, I share what it's like to do this work in real-time, when you're actually in the muck of your own mind. How do you navigate through those dark periods when you're believing the worst about yourself, and how can you use the power of active language to initiate the second part of pattern recognition -- the inevitable rally.

Cited in this episode:

Book  |  Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach

Tara Brach Podcast (on Apple Podcasts, Spotify)

The ADHD Experts Podcast  |  Ep. 501 - ADHD & Procrastivity: How to Outsmart Procrastination and Improve Productivity with Dr. Russell Ramsay

The Weekend University Podcast  |  Rethinking ADHD - Dr. Russell Ramsay

Article  |  Thinking Through Adult ADHD: Change Your Outlook and Cope Better with ADHD by Dr. J. Russell Ramsay (Psychologist, ADHD expert, speaker, author of several books on ADHD, including Rethinking Adult ADHD: Helping Clients Turn Intentions Into Actions)

Article  |  What is Self-Efficacy? by Jabeen Begum, M.D.

Quotes:

By Brene Brown: "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world. Language is our portal to meaning-making, connection, healing, learning, and self-awareness. Having access to the right words can open up entire universes."

By Tara Brach: “Fear of being a flawed person lay at the root of my trance, and I had sacrificed many moments over the years in trying to prove my worth. Like the tiger Mohini, I inhabited a self-made prison that stopped me from living fully.”

By Tara Brach: “As a friend of mine put it, “Feeling that something is wrong with me is the invisible and toxic gas I am always breathing.” When we experience our lives through this lens of personal insufficiency, we are imprisoned in what I call the trance of unworthiness. Trapped in this trance, we are unable to perceive the truth of who we really are.”

Exercise  |  Asking "What do I know to be true about me?" to rally out of dark moments

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Intro/outro music by JMW

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To learn more about 1:1 mindset coaching with me:

Website
Instagram:  @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

Last week we talked about harnessing the emotional intensity of your deepest yearning to 'hush' or quiet the areas of your life that are 'yelling' at you, This week we talk about channeling that deep motivation into action and how to avoid the common pitfall of gaining your reward from planning and thinking (and more planning and more thinking) versus from taking actual steps toward the change you want.

If you have a cognitive bias toward thinking versus action, and you feel like you can't get beyond a certain point, this podcast episode is for you.

Cited in this episode:

Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Dr. Kristin Neff

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Dr. Carol Dweck

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach (also: the Tara Brach podcast on all major platforms)

Dr. J. Russell Ramsay (Psychologist, ADHD expert, speaker, author of several books on ADHD, including Rethinking Adult ADHD: Helping Clients Turn Intentions Into Actions)

The 'Wanting vs. Yearning' Exercise

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Original music by JMW

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1:1 mindset coaching is for anyone who loves the idea of spending the next 6 to 12 months actively working through the thoughts and beliefs that have been keeping them from living and loving life. Part mindset, part habits, part identity, part self-talk, each week you'll learn tools and concepts that will help you clean up your thinking and deepen your belief in your ability to use your own mind to direct your own life.

If this work feels like exactly what you've been missing, head on over to my website to sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep-dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how learning to direct your own mind will forever change your life.

You'll walk away from the call with tools and resources that will have you looking at yourself and your life with fresh eyes and an empowered mindset.

How long have you been struggling with the same thoughts and beliefs?

And are you ready to fight for something different?

To book your free call, visit KariWatterson.com.

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Let's connect:

Website
Instagram:  @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

If you've ever turned down the radio to think, or decluttered before tackling a project or new task, you'll want to learn about house hushing. Coined by home decor author, Myquillyn Smith, house hushing is the act of "quieting" a physical space of visual clutter for 24 hours so the brain can experience what a room could be like without everything in it. Smith calls this "backwards decluttering" because you get to experience the emotional and visual benefit of decluttering right away without the decision fatigue of actual decluttering. The idea is once your brain knows that it's possible to feel peace, calm and order in your space again, it will yearn for simplicity and be very protective and intentional about what gets let back in.

You can see the parallels between house hushing and mind hushing.

By the end of this episode, you'll be itching to use Myquillyn Smith's concept to not only hush your physical spaces but the areas of your life that feel like are always yelling at you.

Imagine what your present and future could be like if you did the work to quiet the noisiest aspects of your life.

Cited in this episode:

Terrence Bradshaw (@xterrencebjr)

Article: "House Hushing and Why You Need It" by Myquillyn Smith of The Nester

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The 'Wanting vs. Yearning' Exercise

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Original music by JMW

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1:1 mindset coaching is for anyone who loves the idea of spending the next 6 to 12 months actively working through the thoughts and beliefs that have been keeping them from living and loving life. Part mindset, part habits, part identity, part self-talk, each week you'll learn tools and concepts that will help you clean up your thinking and deepen your belief in your ability to use your own mind to direct your own life.

If this work feels like exactly what you've been missing, head on over to my website to sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep-dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how learning to direct your own mind will forever change your life.

You'll walk away from the call with tools and resources that will have you looking at yourself and your life with fresh eyes and an empowered mindset.

How long have you been struggling with the same thoughts and beliefs?

And are you ready to fight for something different?

To book your free call, visit KariWatterson.com.

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Let's connect:

Website
Instagram:  @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

As we near the end of the first quarter, I'm reminded of how fast time passes. Hours become days, days become weeks. Without a system in place to track progress, it's easy to see how quickly we lose control of our goals.

To combat goal slide, I've started tracking my behavior around my goals. Inspired by the book, The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, I'm documenting my behavior around my daily deliverables for my business so I can: 1) keep my goals top of mind each day; 2) course-correct my behavior in real time; 3) spot patterns in my thinking that lead me off path; 4) reinforce the identity of the person I want to be moving forward (someone who loves to set stretch goals and then does the work to achieve them).

Join me as I share the details of how I'm using daily tracking to make this year different from every other year that I've attempted to achieve big goals.

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Cited in this episode:

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

Episode 55: How to Help Yourself When You Feel Stuck in Life

Episode 67: Calm & Focus: How Mastery of the Fundamentals Can Break the Cycle of Procrastination with Nerijus Antanavicius

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Original music by JMW

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1:1 mindset coaching is for anyone who wants to ask more of themselves but knows their thinking is getting in the way.

If this is work you’re excited to do, sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how managing your mind can bring more peace, happiness, and success into your life.

To book your free call, visit KariWatterson.com.

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Let's connect:

Website
Instagram:  @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

"The Compound Effect is the principle of reaping huge rewards from a series of small, smart choices. What's most interesting about this process to me is that, even though the results are massive, the steps, in the moment, don't feel significant." 

- Darren Hardy, Author of The Compound Effect and Publisher of SUCCESS Magazine

So, why do many of us give up before reaching our desired results?

According to Darren Hardy, one reason is that we haven't yet experienced the benefits of the Compound Effect.

Having recently experienced these benefits in my own life, I wholeheartedly agree.

When you finally reap the rewards of your consistent and persistent choices over time, you realize that what seemed like small steps in the moment were actually incredibly valuable.

In this episode, I share some real-life examples of the Compound Effect in action, stemming from a commitment I made four to five years ago to take full responsibility for the results I wanted in life.

Unlike goals such as losing weight or paying off debt, committing to personal and emotional responsibility for our thoughts, feelings, actions, and results can feel like unseen work with slow progress and intangible rewards.

By sharing my experiences, I hope to encourage anyone doing this work to keep going so you can give yourself the chance to experience the payoff of the Compound Effect.

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Cited in this episode:

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck, Ph.D.

Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff, Ph.D.
(Subtitle was recently updated to: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind)

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza

The Life Coach School Podcast with Brooke Castillo

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Original music by JMW

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1:1 mindset coaching is for anyone who wants to ask more of themselves but knows their thinking is getting in the way.

If this is work you’re excited to do, sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how managing your mind can bring more peace, happiness, and success into your life.

To book your free call, visit KariWatterson.com.

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Let's connect:

Website
Instagram:  @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

Do you struggle with procrastination? If so, do you try to think your way out? How has that been working for you?

Overintellectualizing procrastination is what my guest, Nerijus Antanavicius, and I discuss in today's episode. Nerijus is a personal coach and trainer whose unique approach to coaching and self-development led me to hire him as my 1:1 coach back in 2020 to help me work through some particularly vulnerable areas in my own life.

As an overthinker with a resistant brain, I wanted a coach who could offer different modalities to help me get to where I ultimately wanted to go, and Nerijus's unique coaching philosophy and minimalist, results-oriented approach to self-development was exactly what I needed.

Nerijus weaves psychology, spirituality and neuroscience into his work with his clients, guiding them through the process of first awareness, then self-directed neuroplasticity to help them train and recondition their minds and body to loosen old patterns of behavior and rewire in new ways of being.

As a student and practitioner of active and passive mindfulness and meditative practices for over 15 years, Nerijus witnessed firsthand (with his clients and in his own growth work) how difficult it was to take action when the body was trapped by intense, negative emotions. This is where the training and reconditioning part of the mind and body comes in.  

"When you're able to tap into relaxation, you're able to jump into action in a way more efficient manner."

What Nerijus and I discuss in this episode:

• Why Nerijus views himself as not just a coach but a trainer
• Self-directed neuroplasticity (and why the self-directed part is important)
• Why true autonomy includes mental and emotional independence
• What we get wrong about self-development (which is why we struggle to change)
• Why training and conditioning the mind and body to self-regulate, relax, and focus are essential skills for our overall well-being
• The science behind calm and focus and how mastering these can neutralize procrastination triggers
• The relationship between emotions and actions (and why it's important to know)
• The science behind anchoring and associations (and how to use it for you, not against you)
• Where to start with mental & emotional training and conditioning when you struggle to feel your emotions
• The importance of creating psychological safety as you take steps to change
• The primary reason Nerijus says derails most attempts at behavior change
• The lost art of mastery (the dedication and commitment to daily practice of skills that build mental and emotional strength, resilience and fortitude)

Where to find and connect with Nerijus:

• Linktree (for links to all platforms)
• Website (coaching information)
• YouTube: Rewiring Minds (long-form videos)
• Instagram: @rewiring.minds (bite-sized content)

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Original music by JMW

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1:1 mindset coaching is for anyone who wants to ask more of themselves but knows their thinking is getting in the way.

If this is work you’re excited to do, sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how managing your mind can bring more peace, happiness, and success into your life.

To book your free call, visit KariWatterson.com.

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Let's connect:

Website
Instagram:  @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." This quote, often attributed to Haruki Murakami, is rooted in the Buddhist parable of the second arrow.

The Buddha says, “In life, we can’t always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. The second arrow is optional.”

Tara Brach explains the teaching like this: "If you get struck by an arrow, do you then shoot another arrow into yourself?"

It's this second arrowing that causes us so much emotional suffering, and what many of us don't realize is that we have control of the second arrow. The first arrow is the original pain we experience as a result of a circumstance in life.

In this diary-style episode, I share a raw audio of me processing how we can use this awareness to lighten our emotional load. So many of us are buckling under the weight of our emotional suffering, not realizing how much of what we carry is self-created.

In this episode, I help you see where you might be creating suffering for yourself, so you can choose whether you want to carry it into the future or set it down.

When we lighten our suffering, we give ourselves the chance to enjoy the human experience rather than buckling under the weight of it.

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Original music by JMW

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1:1 mindset coaching isn’t just for athletes or select special people. It’s for anyone who wants to ask more of themselves but knows their thinking is getting in the way.

If this is work you’re excited to do, sign up for my free offering (a 90-minute deep dive coaching call) so you can experience firsthand how managing your mind can bring more peace, happiness, and success into your life.

To book your free call, visit KariWatterson.com.

At the end of the day, we have one life.

How do you want to live yours?

Think about it.

And then, let's get to work.

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Let's connect:
Instagram:  @_thisonelife
LinkedIn

What do you do when you're 5 years into a Ph.D. program in a field you know is not meant for you?

In this episode, I talk to Career & Confidence Coach, Ken Li, who spent his formative years being groomed for a life in the sciences. From math camps in the summers to undergrad at Cornell University where he received degrees in chemistry and biochemistry, his relentless pursuit of academic achievement resulted in crippling depression that ultimately led him to drop out of his biochemistry Ph.D. program at Purdue University during his fifth and final year because he realized science wasn't a fit.

After taking a career aptitude test, Ken pivoted to public relations where he excelled the next 20 years.

Though outwardly successful, Ken was in inner turmoil. Desperate to prove himself after dropping out of his Ph.D. program, he spent his time in PR, in the words of Brené Brown, "hustling for his worthiness."

It wasn't until he happened to meet a life coach in his 40s that he realized what he wanted most in life was to follow a path that felt true to him.

In 2020, Ken became a certified life coach with The Life Coach School. His mission? To help those with similar stories get to the place where they feel safe to truly decide their next steps in life.

If you've ever felt you were following someone else's path, not your own; if you've ever felt the crippling effects of impostor syndrome and depression; if you've ever questioned your worthiness or wondered if it was okay to want something different, join Ken and I for this vulnerable, candid conversation about the pain of perfectionism and the incredible consequences of living in fear of other people's opinions -- until you realize the approval you've been longing for all along is your own.

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Ken Li
Career & Confidence Coach
Website: https://donthatethejob.com/
Email: [email protected]

Can life coaching really change your life? Read Ken's e-book on LinkedIn.

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2 IS LIFE COACHING DAY.

"I truly believe this work has the power to transform people's lives," he said. "But you need to experience coaching to appreciate it."

That's why Ken Li, Denita Bremer, Denon Alderson, and I are offering free coaching sessions on this day. We want people to experience the power of owning what they truly want in life. To book your free call, reach out to any one of us below:

Ken Li - Career & Confidence Coach

Denita Bremer - Shame & Trauma Coach for LDS women

Denon Alderson - Soul Cheerleader (Actively Choose Your Life)

Kari Watterson - Thoughtwork and Self-Belief coach

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Cited in this episode / Recommended:

Before You Blame Your Job, Do This First: Wash Your Dirty Windows by Ken Li

Positive Intelligence (Shirzad Chamine)
 
The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan with Benjamin Hardy, Ph.D.

Being Happy by Andrew Matthews 

What Should I Do With My Life?  by Po Bronson

The Mind-Made Prison by Mateo Tabatabai

Atomic Habits