Episode 246: Is Your Professional and Personal Freedom Just Five Steps Away?
Sound too simple? It is, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. 😊
In today’s episode, Erin gives you her 5 steps to attaining personal and professional freedom on a daily basis. These steps are perfect to pull out at the beginning of the month to set yourself up for success (and with some room to breathe).
Erin shares:
How to set long-term goals to guide your actions + tell the universe how it can help you achieve them
Why “clear is kind” and how you can practice effective communication as a leader who may also be a recovering people pleaser
How to embrace the truth that you either adapt or get left behind
If you feel like you should have more time than you do—this is the episode for you.
Special sprinkles on top of this episode:
“Batching” your life and how it will shoot your productivity through the roof
Saying no to things that don’t meet your 4 P’s
How to achieve personal freedom?
Letting Go Of Fear.
Setting Boundaries.
Cultivating Self-Compassion.
Pursuing Passion And Purpose.
Simplifying Life.
Mindfulness And Presence.
Building Resilience.
Expressing Authenticity.
-Brainz Magazine
What is personal freedom psychology?
Personal freedom is freedom of your mind from what determines your thoughts, feelings and behavior. It is based on our ability to exercise choice. Although some circumstances may be more favorable for acting autonomously, choice is always possible regardless of circumstances. -personalsynthesis.com
If you liked this episode, you can keep the party going with:
Episode 238: Are You Ready to Use the Four-Step Checklist to Achieve Decision-Making Clarity?
Episode 80: You CAN give feedback as a Leader, and it CANNOT be triggering with Kim Scott
Show Links:
Purchase Erin’s book, I See You! A Leader’s Guide to Energizing Your Team through Radical Empathy.
Get our free Book Club timeline and checklist here.
Did today’s episode resonate with you? Please leave us a 5-star review and drop us any Qs you want answered in upcoming episodes.
Boring professional development is out, improv team building is in. Learn more about our offerings here.
Your hunt for the top virtual keynote speakers stops right now. Learn more about our F Words at Work & Empathetic Leader keynotes here.
Check out Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
Check out Radical Candor
Purchase a Passion Planner here
Connect with Erin Diehl:
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a company that uses improv-used talent development to elevate the new generation of work. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the improve it! podcast on Instagram and Facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you!
Episode 246 Transcription
Erin Diehl (00:00.702)
Hello, my beautiful peeps. Thank you for tuning into today's episode. And if we haven't met yet, I'm Erin Deal, your host. I'm also the founder of the professional development company, Improve It. So this is not only the Improve It podcast, but we have a business called Improve It and we help professionals, leaders and teams become their highest selves, reach their highest consciousness through play.
laughter and learning. And so if you press play or stumbled upon today's episode and are new here, I want to welcome you to the Improve It peeps family. If you're a listener and a long time peep, welcome back to today's show.
Just another quick housekeeping item for all of you. If you are not on our newsletter yet, you'll want to get on it because every Wednesday we are sending you deep dives into the show. We're giving you homework. Every Friday you are getting what we call our Fail Friday newsletter packed with fails, awakenings, insights, and laughs.
So make sure to get on that list. You can go to itsarondeal .com and scroll to the bottom and put in your name and email and we will get you added or you can look in the show notes and you'll find it there as well. So I want to start by addressing the theme of this month. It's July and our theme this month leaning into July 4th is freedom. Now freedom to me is a privilege.
And I want you to know wherever in the world that you are listening to this show, that freedom can exist. But it must start and end in a very special place. Your mind, mind, mind, mind, mind. That was your mind being blown. But seriously, in my 10 years of entrepreneurship, I have found...
Erin Diehl (01:59.774)
that freedom is possible as long as I have systems and processes in place that allow it to be. Now, I wanna talk to you about my 10 years of owning and prove it because the very beginning stages of building this business, I will tell you that freedom did not exist for me at all. I will tell you I...
was extremely bogged down with running this company, getting it off the ground, bootstrapping it myself. We never had investors. This was literally $5 ,000 of my own money that I invested in this business to grow it. And I remember in this beginning stage just wearing all of the hats.
I was the sales team, the marketing team, the facilitator, the trainer, the accountant, the bookkeeper. I wore every single hat and I spent almost every waking hour on my business. So, the freedom that I'm talking to you about right now did not exist in those early phases. I remember a friend very early on in me starting Improve It asking me to coffee.
And I was like, I'm sorry, I can't, I have to work. And she goes, well, isn't owning your own business mean that you have freedom to go to coffee when you want? And I let that sink in for a minute because ultimately she was right. But I was the person, the mindset, the integrator doing the work that I thought had to be done in the way that I thought I had to do it in order to get this business off.
the ground. And if I were building a new business today, I have learned so many things during my journey that I would do differently. But back then, I didn't have this knowledge that I have now. I was not able to feel free. In fact, I was chained to my laptop. I was newly married to my husband, but I was also married to improve it.
Erin Diehl (04:05.598)
Now, I want to make sure if you're listening and you are a new leader or a new business owner or you are in some type of role where you are feeling the same, where freedom doesn't exist, I want you to know you are not alone. Because I was you, I am you. However, about three years into my career, I realized that I could do things differently.
if I was strategic, freedom could exist. That I could have the life I wanted in 10 years, in 5 years, by applying some strategy and some visionary techniques to my future goals and my current goals. Now, I boiled
everything that I learned in my entrepreneurial journey to achieve personal and professional freedom into five simple steps. I can't talk today, y 'all keep slipping over my words, but you know I don't edit this, so we're gonna keep it real. These are five steps, all right? There are more key learnings, but I've narrowed it down to my biggest and best here for you today, because I want you to know personal and professional freedom is possible if you do these five steps.
So number one, here is step one. You first have to define your vision and goals. So really taking the time to articulating your long -term vision and setting specific goals for your personal and professional life. I'm telling you this clarity will guide your actions and it will also assist the universe in helping you get there. So for me,
Right now, currently as I am recording this, I am in the midst of planning with my team our forecasted vision for the next five years. Now, we are using the EOS model in the book Traction, and I cannot emphasize this book enough. It is such a wonderful tool and resource. I had literally 12 business owners in a matter of a month.
Erin Diehl (06:21.886)
tell me to read this book. So thank you, Universe. I got the call and I picked it up and I've been on the phone and we are making plans, baby. Okay. So I want you to know that not only do we have a five -year goal, but we have a one -year revenue goal as well as a goal for things that support our business. You can define your professional goals personally or with your team.
And I really suggest getting this book, Traction by Gina Wickman to get you started. We'll put that link in the show notes for you as well. So that's for your professional goals, making sure you know what your one year plan is for revenue growth, what your one year salary plan is, what are your goals, strategic goals to get ahead in your career or if you're a business owner.
How are you doing this with your team? What are the steps you are taking? What is your clear vision to get there? Here is step two. If you want freedom, personally, professionally, you have got to prioritize and manage your time. Now, I just want you to know, I just did an entire episode on this, episode 242. It's all about batching. If you have not listened to that show,
Please go back. It is so strategic because batching changed my life in so many ways. So I now batch my days. I'm recording this for you on a Wednesday. Wednesday is when I handle everything for this show, for this podcast. Wednesday is solely given to this day. And I am doing this because I really wanted the freedom of a four -day work week for myself and team so that we can have more balance in our life.
Batching is what got me to that part of my professional freedom. Now, I am a recovering people pleaser, so on both the professional and the personal side, I want you to know that it used to be really, really hard for me to say no to things. And I have gotten really good at saying no to things that don't meet what I call my four P's. And I did an episode about this as well, but those four P's are paid.
Erin Diehl (08:41.03)
I am saying no to things if I'm not getting paid. I am saying no to things and if it's a social event then let it be. I won't use the paid but I'll move to step two. If it doesn't align with my purpose of helping others achieve their highest selves through play, it's a big no for me. If it doesn't align with my priorities, which are my family and my communities,
It's a big no for me and if it in any way, shape or form messes with my inner piece, it is a no. So this episode, episode 208 is called Are You Ready to Use the 4 -Step Checklist for Decision Making Clarity? It is so good for you if you are a person who is not great when it comes to making decisions or saying no to things. I strongly suggest this episode. It will go back and give you some really hard hitting tips.
tricks, tangible tools to use the next time you are faced with a decision. So, once you have clarity over what your four P's are, which this episode also helps you define, you will feel a newfound sense of freedom, both personally and professionally. I promise you that. Because my friend, time is your most valuable asset. Are you wasting it?
Or is it providing you freedom?
Erin Diehl (10:14.302)
Now, I get to step three because this one is super important as well. All five of these, I gotta tell you, it's like picking a favorite child. I don't have a favorite, but if I were to emphasize one of these the most, it might be step three here. So, if you want to gain personal and professional freedom, this is step three. You have to speak like a leader.
could better communication open doors that you never could have imagined? I want you to think about that. Brene Brown, one of my favorite authors, thought leaders of this time, has a saying that clear is kind. And I have to tell you that phrase comes up almost daily for me.
I will also tell you that as a recovering people pleaser, sometimes I was not clear because I was trying to be kind. That is actually a disservice to not only yourself, but to the people you're interacting with. So clear is kind meaning you are clear. You set expectations that you are saying what you're thinking and you mean what you say.
And what happens on the receiving end of that is that even though some of the delivery or some of the things that you're saying might be feedback that the other person is going to take a little personally or is going to be hard for them to hear, you have talked about your expectations, made them clear, and that is actually a service for you and this human being to now interact in a way that is honoring your being and their being.
because you have certain standards. Now, I also know that there is a way to deliver feedback in a way that is effective, and that is called Radical Candor. That is an amazing, amazing book. If you've not read that yet, put that in your leadership toolkit. But Kim Scott is the author of that book. We have had Kim on the show twice. First time was episode 80 called You Could Give Feedback as a Leader, and it could not be triggering.
Erin Diehl (12:30.11)
And we're talking all about radical candor in that episode. So this sort of mindset allows you to give feedback in a way that is candid. It's clear, it's concise, it's not obnoxiously aggressive, it is not ruinous empathy is another term that Chem uses. It's actually super clear. So I want you to know,
that when we give ourselves freedom in owning our words, we are actually giving freedom to everyone else to be candid, clear, and kind. Freedom does not happen when you hold things in, my friends. I gotta tell you, you're just creating a prison cell for yourself inside your own mind. Freedom is meaning what we say and saying what we mean.
And as a recovering people pleaser, I have learned this again, the hardest ways possible. If we want more freedom, we need to communicate, give love and support. And also, this is a huge piece, let go of judgment. When we judge others, we're not only judging them, but we're judging ourselves. And when we judge in silence and we don't have conversation about the thing that we're judging,
This leads to what I like to call dis -ease or disease in the body. And it allows us to store that judgment or that pain and manifest in physical pain. And I talked all about this on this show in 2023. There's an entire series called the self -healing series. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go back, scroll back to those episodes because
Truly when we store emotions in our bodies and we don't allow them to get out, we are actually creating dis -ease in our bodies. So, clear as kind to you and the person you are communicating with, speak like a leader and use communication to open doors you could have never imagined. All right, here is step four. Adapt or get.
Erin Diehl (14:53.854)
left behind. And I say this with love, this is clear and it is kind. Because if we are not committed to lifelong learning and being open to change, we are going to get stagnant. And what happens when we get stagnant? People pass us up. They see an opportunity, they run right through it. And we're staying stuck back at the finish line. Or the starting line, I should say, when they're at the finish line running laps around us because we have a fear of adapting.
There's so much freedom in adapting and embracing innovation. So I know this is the world filled with AI and I know that computers and robots are taking over the world, but there are so much freedom in adapting to automation. I will tell you now more than ever, there are tools that can help you do so many things even while you sleep.
For example, at Improve It, our email campaigns, we write them, but then we automate them to send at specific times. We automate ads that drive people to our product and service. And let me say this, you can also automate processes and have templates created that allow your team to use these templates over and over again in an automated fashion. So just going to share with you our process for booking a workshop with us.
So let's say you have a need, let's say you're having problems with communication on your team or your team and another team got merged together and you're trying to figure out how to effectively communicate in this hybrid workforce. So you call and prove it, all right? The first step is we have a discovery call. Then after that, we send you a proposal.
and then after you say let's do it, we send you an agreement and an invoice and then we add you on our side to our internal workshop calendar. Then we send you an email, which is a template with logistics. We ask you to confirm all logistics.
Erin Diehl (16:56.062)
Now after you confirm all logistics, you then get set up with a consult call with whoever your facilitator is. And we have another template of questions during that call that we use with every client to make sure we're getting all of your objectives down. Now after you have this call, you are then sent the pre -work for your team with the survey, which is automated with results through SurveyMonkey. So we get those results in real time. We send those to you.
And after that, we do either the live session virtually or in person, and then we send you our three week DIY e -learning course, which is automated, built in conjunction with whatever workshop you're using. And then after that, we use an email template that we send you to schedule a follow -up call. And every single one of these steps, my friend, is processed out in our task management software, Asana.
I'm gonna tell you straight up. How I found Asana was listening to the Gold Digger podcast by Jenna Kutcher. How I came up with this process was trial and error, but was also through learning with different leaders who are sales managers. From learning how to create templates and saving them in our Gmail through a thought leadership summit I went to. All of these things combined helped me and my team.
create an automated process. Some of it isn't automated. We do have to use the emails that we send for logistics and things like that. Those are just templates, but they are somewhat automated because it's just a copy and paste and adding in your specific logistics. But this is what makes our process work. This automation, this checklist on Asana is what we use to guide us through every single workshop that we have. And we do hundreds of workshops a year. So,
processes and automation and being open to being a lifelong learner, adapting with technology is going to give you freedom. I have to tell you, in even putting together these notes for the show, I was thinking about the system that I just described to you, our workshop process, and I created that system, but then I passed it off. I haven't touched that system in about four years, okay?
Erin Diehl (19:20.286)
My team handles all of that. But again, that gives me the freedom I need after that was created to do things like create this show. I will also tell you, we have processes for everything that we do here. We have a Peeps referral program, which is a program for people who know, like, trust, love, and prove it to give referrals to us. And we have a process for that.
We have a process similar to the workshop process on how we handle keynotes and how we communicate with our clients when a keynote is booked. We have a process for this show and that is such a robust process. So I did an episode on that as well. I'll have to find and dig and see which one that was, but I talked about if you wanted to start your own podcast, how you could do it specifically. But I will tell you, we use Asana.
to lay out all of these processes. We make sure every time that we have an episode, the process for the podcast is in there. We check off what is complete. I love checking off the Asana Task Management little check mark. And this is again, a software that you can use almost like a project management tool to help you stay on track. But literally having these processes and using this automation gives me freedom to.
grow the business, to work on not in the business, and as an entrepreneur and as a leader, sometimes when you're so in it, that is giving you this prison. You are not feeling freedom and you're not feeling what you could feel from this abundant mindset. If you were to just automate, create processes, set it and let it go, I'm telling you the freedom that you will feel is so significant.
Moving on my friends to step number five, and this is your final step. If you want more freedom, personally and professionally, you have got to cultivate a balanced and resilient mindset. Now you might ask yourself, what does that look like? I haven't had balance in X amount of years. my God, resilience. I feel like I'm always just coming back from something and failing and then getting back up and doing and doing the next thing. What are you meaning, Erin?
Erin Diehl (21:42.366)
I want you to take a moment and ask yourself what freedom would look like to you.
Sit with that a minute. What would freedom look like to you?
Is there anything in your life that you do feel is balanced?
Think about that.
Erin Diehl (22:10.142)
Now, I think about balance and I try to balance my personal and professional life. Freedom to me looks like having a strong combination of both because I truly believe as a mother, I'm a better mother because I do what I love and I get to show my son the passion that I have for the work that I do. And I believe truly that I'm a better leader because I'm a parent, because I am being taught things every single day by this five -year -old human.
So what does balance look like for you?
I'll incorporate some of the things I do in my life just to give you an idea here. For me, Balance is a date night every single month with John, my husband. And I will tell you, that is a non -negotiable for me. We've had a date night every single month for the past year and a half and it has changed our marriage significantly. Especially if you have little ones around, not having to help somebody or...
Make sure they're in their chair or take them to the bathroom during a dinner. Just makes such a difference. So giving yourself a date night with your partner. Balance for me looks like time in the evenings and mornings with my son Jackson without my phone. And if I do have my phone, it's because we're using it as a timer to stretch. We've gotten into this routine lately of.
I'll do a workout in the morning, he'll listen to his Tony box, and then he'll get on his bike, he still has training wheels, and we'll do a big loop around our neighborhood, and I'll run while he bikes, and then we come home, and we stretch together, and I have to tell you, it's the highlight of my day. I love starting my day with him, and just having some conversation as he's biking and I'm running makes my day. Balance, for me, also means that I do one thing for my body.
Erin Diehl (24:03.934)
one thing for my mind and one thing for my soul every single week. And I will tell you this does not include working out or meditation. I take out my planner, I use a passion planner, plugged passion planner out there, and I literally plan something every single week for my body, mind and soul. So for my body,
It could be I book a massage, which I know is a privilege. I book a dance class and I just go and feel the music and let go. I take a bubble bath, which is somewhat free. You got to get the bubble bath and the bath going. But that to me is giving back to my body. I do one thing a week, either body, mind or soul. But I'm going to give you some examples here. I do things for my mind. So.
I have a therapist and I'll meet with her every other week. So every other week I do therapy or I work with my intuitive coach. I'll do something for my soul once a month or once a week as well. So I make sure I do a body, a mind and a soul every single month. So my soul is something like energy cleansing or long meditation. Hold on you guys, my dog, big deal. Come here buddy.
He wanted to come in and say hi. So you might hear a little shifting right now. I'm not gonna edit this for you, cause this is real life. Cause I gotta tell you, holding my dog gives me joy and the freedom that I feel right now, being able to work from home. Hold my dog, be with something I love. This little four -legged creature is freedom. This is freedom right here. But going back to this balance.
I want you to think about how you could add more balance to your life. And when we talk about resilience...
Erin Diehl (26:03.806)
Let me just say the name of this show, if you go back really far, was called the failed it podcast. And it was foreshadowing. I mean, we failed it for a reason. There were so many things I learned in the first episodes. Episodes. See, I can't talk today. Episodes of this show. I have literally failed three massive times today. One time in a huge way that left a huge pit in my stomach.
But instead of saying I failed, I've never lost. I've just learned.
And I will say in this resilience of bouncing back up from the thing that I was learning from quote unquote today, it actually made me dig a bit deeper as I was writing out the notes for this show. And when I got back up and I tried again, I realized this is so important, this conversation I'm having with you, because life is really all about resilience.
And I want you to really think about a time in your life that you've had more resilience. What is the time? Name it right now in your mind that you had a very hard time and you never thought you would get through it.
But you did. And you're still here.
Erin Diehl (27:29.438)
When we reframe our failures and we look at them as gifts, which is one of the biggest tenets of improv comedy, we are freeing our mind. We are giving ourselves more freedom to be alive. We are giving ourselves more freedom in every area of our life. And when we have this balance of our mind, body, and soul in check, freedom usually exists because we've given to the most important person in our life first.
Us. You.
So I want you to know I care about you so much. And if no one told you that today, you are so worthy of freedom. You are so worthy of freedom. You deserve freedom and it can exist as long as you allow the mind to allow it to be. I wanna recap these steps. If you want personal,
and professional freedom. You first have to define your vision and goals, my friends. Get super clear on what those are. Then you have to step two, prioritize and manage your time. Go back, listen to episode 238 about the four Ps. Realize, are you getting paid? Does it align with your purpose, your priorities and peace? And make decisions accordingly. You have to three speak like a leader.
Clear is kind, my friend, and radical candor will give you all of the freedom to be your best self personally and professionally. Number four, you've got to adapt. You have got to figure out systems and automation in your life that are going to give you the freedom to do the things that you want to do. And step five, you have to get this mindset of balance and resilience right. It all starts with your mind.
Erin Diehl (29:32.094)
So let me end with this. When you think of freedom, when you sit here right now and ask yourself, freedom means to me, what does that mean?
Think about it. Get super clear about what freedom looks like to you. It is different to every single human. It could mean financial freedom. It could mean the freedom to choose where you're going to work that day. It could mean freedom to live and be where you want to be. But life is too short to not live a life beyond your wildest dream.
I gotta tell you, I'm not perfect. I'm not sitting here doing all five of these things all day every day. I stumble, but in that resilience, I get back up. And it's not how many times you stumble. It's in that getting back up that matters and that counts. And every single time you get back up, you apply that lesson. And I have applied them time and time again. And I'm teaching you today the lessons that I know that if I applied them 10 years ago, I would be sitting in a whole different place. But I know where I'm going.
I sure do, and I'm taking you right there with me. So define what freedom means for you. And my friend, if today's episode spoke to you, please consider leaving a five -star review on this show. That is how I know you are listening. That is how I know you are liking and you're picking up what I'm putting down. I want to give you the freedom to listen, to be, and live and do whatever it is you want to do. I'm so proud of you.
Keep failing, keep improving, because this world needs that very special it that only you can bring. I'll see you next time.