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What does the word alignment mean to you? Does it instantly resonate as something you need in your life? Or does it sound a little foreign and strange as a word that has nothing to do with you or how you live your life? I'm excited to chat with you today about this word and how it may be worth looking into as a tool and how you see things coming together and working together in your life. Stick around to the very end. I have some exciting news about a new community and a podcast launching. Welcome to The Grit Show, where our focus is growth on purpose. I'm your host, Shawna Rodrigues, and I'm honored to be part of this community as we journey together with our grit intact to learn more about how to thrive and how to get the most out of life. It means a lot that you are here today. As you listen, I encourage you to think of who may appreciate the tidbits of knowledge we are sharing and to take a moment to pass this along to them. Everyone appreciates a friend that thinks of them and these conversations are meant to be shared and to spark even more connections.

What exactly does the word alignment mean? A simple definition from the dictionary is a position of agreement or alliance. Second one is arrangement in a straight line or incorrect or appropriate relative positions. That's probably the one you think of when you hear the term alignment. I'm going a little more with a position of agreement or alliance for this conversation. When I think of alignment, I think of my vehicle's alignment. All the wheels working together and perfectly straight, so there is no pull in any one direction. Because if you want to get to where you're going, you got to have those wheels working together and pointing the same direction. If even one is a little bit off, things are pulling, going against each other and causing problems. I grew up on a dirt road with a ton of potholes.

This meant that wheels got knocked out of alignment pretty frequently. I also lived in New England with salty roads that eroded pretty well, which also meant potholes. And at high speeds that could do probably more damage at times than 15 miles an hour down a dirt road hitting a pothole might do to them. It seems there's a lot in the world that can knock you out of alignment. Your car and you. So, what do you do? The longer things are out of alignment, the greater the wear, the greater the potential damage. If you're dealing with your car, it means that your tires have to be replaced more frequently because of the damage that's being done. I had an issue with my current SUV that the alignment issues meant that my warranty was invalidated because I didn't have my tires rotated frequently enough and it was causing uneven wear. It drove me absolutely crazy.

It also means there's a strain on suspension, it can affect your ability to brake. There's also more pull in the steering, it can make it more difficult for you to control your vehicle, which can really make a difference when things happen quickly on a road and you need to be able to steer away from things. Is everyone ready to take their car in to the shop and check the alignment? See if it needs to be done? I'm always surprised at how far mine is off when I do get mine taken in. What about each of us look at our lives? There are a lot of ways that we could label each of the four wheels and look at them to see if they are all moving in the same direction. And lots of different potholes that could be knocking one or more of them out of alignment so they're pulling in a different direction. The simplest way to label them is work, family, health and self. Are there things we are doing in each of those areas that are moving us towards our overall goals? Or is one of the areas a little off and pulling us away from where we want to be going? To simplify things, I'm going to put an easy goal that I'm moving towards, which is my word of the year, savor. So, if I'm trying to savor everything, is everything in my work, wheelhouse, my family wheelhouse, my health wheelhouse and myself wheelhouse, is it all moving inflow towards me being able to savor things? Is it all going in that same direction? So, for you, if you're trying to focus on something in your life, are all of those different wheelhouses, are each of those different things moving in the direction to do that? Or is there something in one of those areas pulling you off track? And if so, what can you do to put it back on track? Perhaps for me, it's work that's making it hard for me to savor.

So, what can I do to better align my work with everything else in moving towards the goal to better be able to savor? Yeah, that's the one, huh. For me it usually is. For me it's usually the fact that I have a lot on my plate with launching a business and having a business that makes it hard to be able to savor. So, with doing that, if the savoring is important and I notice that that wheel is pulling me off track, what can I do if I'm trying to move towards savoring and getting things alignment to move in that direction, what do I need to do? So, for me it's a matter of acknowledging that the hours are causing issues. So, making sure that I take a break for dinner and to go on a walk or spend time with my partner each evening and then working at a different time in the evening while he's doing something else so that my ability to savor is not being impeded by the number of hours that I need to work. So, trying to figure out which of those things might be off and what you can do to bring it back into alignment. So that's kind of the thinking behind it, right? That we have these different areas and we're trying to move towards our goals and if they're off in their alignment and they're pulling us off, what can we do to bring them back into alignment? And if you notice in the title, I use the word attract goals.

Because really, if we get everything in alignment, if we're clear about what we want and that we're moving in that direction, the goals should be straight ahead and we should be able to attract them to us. And we're not in alignment, those goals are not on the path and its difficult terrain and it's hard to get to them and it's hard to navigate. We keep getting pulled, our steering wheel keeps getting pulled in a different direction away from the goals and we're not going to hit the goals and we're not going to track the goals. And so that's where it gets a lot more challenging. So, if we look at those areas, if we're not getting our goals, if we're not getting there to look and see which one of those areas is not in alignment and what we can do, what specifically is happening, in that area and what we can do to bring it in alignment with trying to figure out how it can move towards that goal in that direction. And that's essentially the concept of looking at alignment as a way of seeing where we're at and where we want to go and how we can bring everything kind of together. For me, my business is an example and when I look at business, we kind of have to label these things a little bit differently. So, for me, the four wheels, when I look at my business, one wheel is my clients. One is my way of letting clients get to know me and connecting them to my business, that's another wheel or my funnel of, a lot of times in business, we talk of our funnels, how we funnel our clients in, so that would be another wheel. Another one is my products or what I'm offering my clients is another wheel. And then all the systems that make my business run is the other wheel. So those are my four wheels. My goals, like two of my biggest goals are the goal that I call 37 by 27, which is increasing the number of women hosting podcasts. So, mine is increasing by 10% the number of women hosting podcasts in the next five years. One of my other big goals is to have a sustainable business model that replaces and adjusts for inflation, the income that I had when I left my career. So that income for my business and having the goal of making that impact in my business are two of my biggest goals in my business. In my business, it's still in its early stages, it's still less than a year old, but currently, I'm not attracting those goals with ease. And so, when that's happening, what I need to do is to go back and see what's not in alignment of those four pieces of looking at my systems, looking at my funnel, looking at my clients, looking at my products, to see what's not in alignment with being able to hit that. So, for me, my primary funnel strategy, of funneling in books into my business has been through the Internet, because that's what you're taught through social media. Yet my business is podcasting.

I know the power of podcasting to be able to funnel people into business and have them get to be the way of attracting people in and getting them to know you. I named the business, Authentic Connections because I believe in the authentic power of podcasting as a way to connect. So why on earth would I use social media instead of podcasting as a way to connect to my audience? And the biggest reason was probably because I already had a podcast. Well, actually two podcasts, which you may or may not know. On top of launching a business, having one podcast is a lot, on top of launching a business, but having two and adding a third, that's just too much. And that would be threatening my other vehicle, so to speak. And that balance of being in alignment, to be able to savor, which was an important goal. I did not want to add a third podcast to be as my way of doing that for my business. However, it was leaving my business completely out of alignment.

So that required looking at things critically. How could I get my business into alignment and better able to attract its goals while keeping my life in alignment and attracting its goals? So, this podcast, The Grit Show, came before my podcast network. It was part of my journey to find my way to launching the network. And that's why it's very dear to me, you all are very dear to me. And along the path is when I learned that a third of podcasts were hosted by women, less than a third were hosted by women. And I knew that that was the problem that needed to be solved. And I knew that would grow into becoming my business was that. And I knew that when I launched mine, the women that I met, many of them didn't launch a podcast. So, I knew the reasons and what needed to change and what needed to be done differently. So, I knew how to fix, I knew the products that were needed, and I knew who I wanted my clients to be. So, I knew these other pieces of the business to build. Right? So, for the last six months, I've been wrestling about doing the presence on social media as a way to bring clients in and knowing that the podcast is actually what that vehicle. The lead part of that funnel needs to actually really be the podcast as a way for people to get to know me and the products and the way of connecting to bring people into the network. And so, the obvious answer was to just let go of The Grit Show or rebrand it to be for entrepreneurs or for people that want to start podcasts, but it just never seemed to fit right. So again, that alignment piece of trying to figure out what it was and how those things needed to come together and be in alignment, and that's also why it took so long for me to make that shift. Because getting things in alignment isn't as simple as just trading one thing out for another. It's like making sure things feel right and they are all going in the right direction and they all fit together because my business is one wheel on the bigger business of my life, right? So, I need to make sure that all those things kind of fit so it still was moving towards my life goals as well as my business moving towards its goals and those things could all be in alignment.

So, in the end, after spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to make it all be in alignment, I finally landed on a solution that felt good and was aligned on all those fronts. So as a consequence, I'm launching a new podcast, which is what I've probably known for six months need to happen, but need to know how it would fit. And so, Authenticity Amplified is launching on November 2 and I'm also going to keep The Grit Show. And instead of getting rid of The Grit Show, because the fact that I was still attached to it in so many ways and wanted to keep it, I'm actually going to reduce the amount of energy that goes into The Grit Show. So instead of having four guests a month, I'm going to have two guests a month and two brief solo episodes a month. And this made it feel more manageable because again, we talked about over here on this other life alignment piece, that in order to save, I need to not take up a lot more space with a podcast and to make it more manageable. So having two brief solo episodes a month was more manageable than having four guest episodes of finding four guests and interviewing four guests and the editing and everything to turn over for four guests made it more manageable.

And as time goes on, I hear from all of you and we see how that works and if the podcast still does well with all of that, to see if that still stays in alignment. So, be sure to tell me what you think of these changes so we know what you think as well as what the numbers show to see if you all still show up and listen to the shorter episodes, if that still works for you. And part of that is knowing there's 60 previous episodes that can be referenced. And so, in the shorter episodes, we'll make sure that we always give you a chance to go back and listen to something else that kind of supports the discussion that we're talking about. And with the growth of the Authentic Connections Network, there will also be more opportunities to introduce you to other great creators and other podcasts that will be joining the network that are about connecting and a lot of the same things and values that my listeners here on The Grit Show prioritize and hold valuable that those other shows will be able to connect with as well. So, it takes a lot of thinking and looking at things to keep things in alignment, but it's a different type of concept than just trying to solve a problem because it's actually like lining up all of the different pieces that are impacted by that situation, right? So, it wasn't as simple as me keeping The Grit Show was not just about a business decision because the easy answer for the business was to get rid of The Grit Show and to just do this new podcast. But that didn't fit well with me being in alignment with my bigger goals of being of service to people and helping people for myself. Because that would be a whole other vehicle, right, of what I needed for myself. To be in harmony, move towards my personal goals of what I want to do for my legacy, for my well-being, and for what I want to offer the world. The Grit Show is important for that, so it needed to stay there. So, when we're talking about being alignment, or balancing multiple vehicles, so to speak, and all the wheels need to be in alignment on those vehicles towards the goals of those different vehicles as well as how they all balance each other out. And so, keeping The Grit Show is important for this vehicle of self, for me to have the things that make me happy, that make me move towards this goal of me having an impact and having this legacy that I want to leave, right? You've all heard my podcast episode on Kicking the Bucket List and wanting to make sure that I'm doing the things that are important to me, and The Grit Show was something that was important to me, right? So, I want to keep that and that needs to be in alignment over here and feel good and feel aligned. And also, my business needs to feel aligned and feel like I'm not messing up this vehicle over here of my life, that I'm not giving too much to work, that I'm not able to save or move towards those other goals that I have. And so, being able to figure out a solution that matches up all those pieces and it took a long time to do that, right? And being out of alignment, it has tangible effect.

So, for those six months, it was wearing out. Just as your tires get worn out while you're pulling on one side after another because of the too many potholes and things getting pulled out of alignment, it takes a toll on you when something isn't working right, like it's not working right and the business is taking a toll. So, it takes reflection and assessing what feels off to figure out a solution that kind of keeps everything in align and trying to figure out different ideas to get things back together and flowing together. When I left my career to do consulting, write a novel, start a podcast, eventually launch a podcast network. It was all a process of finding what was in alignment with my goals, with where I wanted to be and what I wanted needed to be doing, to be moving in the right direction of my life in multiple areas. And that is what alignment is about, it’s finding what has the flow and what doesn't, what doesn't fit, and being able to move and navigate those things and what things are pulling us to the side and making the steering harder than it needs to be. It'd be nice if there was just a less straw, we could pull in every six months. At least they say like, every two to three years for your alignment. But when I was at less straw, I think they said every six months. If not checking every time you get your tires rotated, but pull in for a couple of $100, they can just figure out what it is, adjust things, and get it fixed for you. It's a little more complicated than that, but it took me about six months to figure out how to get the podcast things in alignment, and I'm still not launching the new podcast until November, right. To make sure everything is set up and done right. And this is something you can get a coach to help you with, or a therapist. If you aren't sure what is out of alignment, what needs to go back into alignment, you can go back to the Coach versus Therapist series. I think it's episode 56 that covers that part of the conversation. But if you need somebody to help you figure out what's out of alignment, if something just feels off and things aren't flowing and you aren't getting closer to your goals because things are just out of alignment because being in alignment is a powerful thing.

And thinking through the parts of your life, your work, your business, yourself, your health, your family, all those things to ensure they're working together towards taking you where you want to be is a valuable exercise. And it really does make a difference. So, this is partially explaining to you that there will be a new format for The Grit Show going forward, but also helping you to see the importance of alignment and for you to be able to step back and look at your own life and those different pieces to see what is or isn't aligning for you and how you can possibly get it in the right place and have the patience to understand that all of these things impact each other. Right? So, like I said, it's almost like, I gave you the analogy of a car with the four wheels. One of them is self, one is family, one is work, one is health. And with all of those different wheels, like, if the health wheel has something that needs to be fixed with the alignment with the health wheel, like, it's almost own vehicle and we give you four different wheels on that vehicle, right? To get it in alignment, it has to plug back into this other vehicle. And when we take off the self, we have four different wheels we could probably figure out for that one and figure out what needs to get in alignment there to plug it back into this other vehicle, right? And I just took off that work for me as my business and take that off and what was off alignment for that one and how one piece of alignment on my business, my work vehicle, was impacting my self-vehicle. Like, The Grit Show is my self-vehicle.

It's not really my work vehicle even though people think it's my work. It is a podcast. I have a podcast network. But you guys know I'm here for you, I'm here for these conversations and this is an example of the work I do. I learned a lot of what I do for my business through doing this podcast, but there's no money that's being made through this podcast. This is an opportunity to connect with all of you and give back in this way and so it actually fits on the self-wheel. And so, when I'm trying to make adjustments to this podcast, it impacts the self as much as it's also something needs to be fixed in the business that kind of connects with it too. So, getting the alignment is complicated because it's kind of a balance, right, of figuring out what needs to shift in one and how it affects the other ones. And you almost need to look at them individually and they have different goals, right? Your goals for your health, your goals for your family, your goals for your business, they're different goals and so you need to look at them individually and get them each in alignment separately sometimes and then figure out how to bring it all together. And it sounds really complicated, but that's why you take it apart in pieces but also give yourself patience when it takes time to figure it out. And it's taken me six months, eight months to figure out how to address the need to have a podcast as part of that funnel piece of my business. But knowing it wasn't this podcast, but not wanting to let go of this podcast and figuring out how all of those things could fit together. So, it's important for you to look at those pieces and have patience with yourself as you do. We're going to get back to that a little bit. We're going to jump into the grit wit in 2 seconds, but you all know how we kind of go through this. And our next piece as we start to wind down is actually jumping into self-maintenance minute.

So, as we jump into our self-maintenance minute, I just want to talk to you about what I've been doing for my maintenance since you have a solo episode with me today. So, what I've been doing is working on getting more movement. It's something that I've been wanting to do more of for quite some time and I've been trying to find a way to work it in. So as most of you know by now, I've been in the process of moving. And so, we are still a little bit in transition. Nowhere close to unpacking boxes for a number of reasons. Still haven't sold our home in Portland, so still dealing with that part of the transition. But as I establish routines in this new place, we've moved to Bend, it's a different part of Oregon, I'm excited to incorporate habits here that have to do with movement. So, we were taking out the kayak on lakes this summer and hopefully we'll find a weekend or two. We can still do that before the weather has shifted, but we need to find other routines here that are involved in that. And I love walking and going on walks, so my fiancé has been fabulous about doing some walks. We've walked down by the river and this past week we've been walking and exploring our neighborhood and it's really fun to be living in a new place with lots of new areas to explore. And we have, it looks like a river, but it's actually a canal that runs really close to us that we can go walk along. And so, we've gotten to walk along it and walk along different areas and it's kind of fun because I don't always know we're going to make it back to the house and we always do because it's all new, but we've been doing more walking. And the other really cool thing that I did is that I went and tried out a Pure Barre class for the first time and I don't know if you've ever heard of them or ever tried it out.

I always have been curious about it. I think that I likened it to be similar to ballet in some ways and there is a barre and I'm sure there are similarities to ballet. But for me, it was actually just a really incredible class that focused a lot on isometric movements that really had you focus on your body and using your body and being very focused. They talked a lot about working a muscle to fatigue and then stretching the muscle was kind of how they presented parts of it. But it was really good for me to really focus on parts of my body in a way that felt good and felt strong and felt like it was really good. I found weightlifting a number of years ago felt like it was something my body needed and been missing. This was nice because it felt very similar to that, but using body weight to do all the exercises and it was wonderful. I'm very excited.

Pure barre here in Bend. This wonderful woman, Michelle, is the owner. She was there when I went there and I got to meet and chat with her and she's fabulous. So, it was great to have this new business that she owns. They've just opened up here in Bend and so it was exciting to be part of something that was new. The woman that was working the front desk was absolutely fabulous. Enjoyed speaking to her and the class, the woman that taught it, her name was Jill, was great and I felt like I got a good amount out of it and I'm excited to go back and get more out of that class now doing that.

So that definitely became part of my self-maintenance this week, was actually checking that out and it was stretching beyond my yoga and the things that I'm used to doing. So, it was kind of nice to go beyond and check out something new. And I joked before I went to it that if I hated it and it was horrible, I could just leave and never go back because nobody knew me. But I met people and the owner and such and enjoyed them. And I'm glad that I got to check that out and we'll likely go back. So that was great. So, getting to our grit wit and talking about you being able to apply this, I just want to check in with you about you thinking about your alignment and looking at those pillars that I just discussed with the work, the family, the health and the self and thinking about, if you have, it's easiest to just do with one overarching goal.

Like, I just simply used my word of the year, right? My desire to savor things, my desire to be able to be in things and enjoy them. And savor was what I talked about, things being in alignment and working towards that at that base level. So, trying not to get because again, go into my work, my business, there's a lot more goals and I just those top two-level goals when I talked about my business. But for you to find that one goal. So, what is your one goal? Your one goal is to be fulfilled at the end of the night and feel connected to your family. Or the goal you're focused on right now is that you guys want to move into a home that better fits your family or you want to be excited about your work every day is your biggest goal right now. Figure out what your one goal is.

We're not going to dive too deeply in because remember, our grit wit is trying to make things applicable, but something that you can readily apply and more adapt. Like we need a coach or community or something for more accountability for going much deeper. So, let's say you decide that your thing is that you want to feel at the end of the night like you've really accomplished something, right? And so, when you look at your work, your family, your health and yourself, that when it comes to your health, you're just tired all the time. And so, it's really hard for you to feel like you've accomplished things because you're tired all the time. And so that's something that's really been plaguing you and just not in alignment with you feeling like you've gotten things done because you're just tired all the time. Let's take that one thing and to look at it and reflect on it to figure out what's going on with you being tired all the time. Is it because you're not getting enough rest? Is it because you're not getting at least seven and a half hours of sleep? Is it because you're up all night worrying about other things? And then to decide like, what's the one thing that you can do to take steps in that area to get that aligned with your health? Like, what can you do to your health to get that back aligned? Do you need to talk to a doctor? Do you need to prioritize going to bed at a certain time and addressing that? Do you need to work on some mindfulness techniques to help clear your mind so you can fall asleep? Do you need to start taking melatonin at night so you can get that rest? So, is that the one thing or when it comes to you feeling that way at the end, is it that you just have the stressful relationship with someone in your family right now that's completely distracting you, making that hard and you need to prioritize kind of addressing that so that you can get in a better zone with that? So, when it comes to filling the line, what is the thing that's pulling you off? Like, if you're going to pull into the tire center and have them do an assessment for you, what is the little tweak that needs to be made to get you back aligned to reach those goals? Like, what is the one thing that is keeping you from being in alignment? Is it the work thing? Are you working too much? Or are your hours preventing you from doing these other things in life that are important towards you, reaching your goals? I know I am asking a lot of questions which may be making it hard for you to think about it.

So, just reflect for a second. When you think about what is if you just had the one word, like my one word for the year is if you have a word of the year, just use that for simplicity. Like, are you able to create? Are you able to savor? Are you able to forgive? Are you able to rest? Whatever your word for the year is, are you able to do that? And if not, let's look at the work, family, health and self to see what's not in alignment. If you don't have a word for the year, if you were to tell me what was your biggest priority right now, that one priority, what is it and are you achieving that? Is it attracted? Are you in alignment with it? Is it in your sights? Because everything else is coming together and if not of those areas, what's the thing that we need to tweak to get things into alignment? That's the thing that I want you to spend some time on for your grit with today, to kind of reflect on that and think about what you can do to get things better aligned and working together so you're not constantly pulling at that steering wheel to get things going in the right direction. You actually just tweak it so you can just go in the right direction. Things are right in your path and everything is aligned as a new way of looking at things. So, as we finish up for today, I also want to let you know about an exciting community that's launching this month and it may be something you'd be interested in or you may know somebody who might be interested in it. It's called EPAC. And that stands for Entrepreneurs and Podcasters Authentically Connected, so EPAC. It's a great opportunity. It has weekly online gatherings for individuals who are typically working independently. So, solopreneurs and founders and entrepreneurs and podcasters. And they could benefit from a community that they can connect with and grow with and be able to have as a resource for them. There's networking, learning, coworking, coaching, and personally, I'm very excited about it. So, if you know someone who'd be well suited for this community, send them over to @37by27 on Instagram and they can just go to the link tree in the bio there to learn more about the community. Or they can send a direct message to me through the @37by27 account.

And if they mention the word “Community”, I'll know that they're interested and we have a webinar that we can send them where they can learn a little bit more that way as well. And as I mentioned, Authenticity Amplified is the podcast that's focused on entrepreneurs who want to better connect with their clients, and it will launch on November 2. It's for entrepreneurs and founders who want to get to know their clients, where they're at, how to talk to them, what to say to them, how to have content that will connect to their clients. And it's really meant for entrepreneurs that are mission focused, often offering ways to positively impact the lives of those they serve. Whether they're health professionals, therapists, service professionals, consultants or coaches, they'll be very excited to find this content in this new podcast that will give them some practical ways to learn more about SEO, search engine optimization, story branding, utilizing their social media, which is something I think most entrepreneurs are always intrigued to learn more about, as well as other tools and skills important to managing their business and information on podcasting. If you're a podcaster or thinking of starting a podcast, it will also resonate with you. We'll have segments each week that tie back to podcasting because it is a critical tool in growing a business and in figuring out your biggest messaging. As I mentioned earlier, there is an active voting opportunity going right now in Facebook for the cover for Authenticity Amplified. So, if you head over there, you are welcome to weigh in. There's also a chance to join the launch team for Authenticity Amplified. If you or someone you know has connections that might find this new podcast helpful, just send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram with the word “Launch” in it and I'll be assembling that team the first week of October and we'll get back to you at that time. Thank you so much for staying here to learn more about alignment, how it might benefit you, and for supporting this podcast. I would love to hear your thoughts on the changes being made to The Grit Show and how you think that you'll enjoy them, or what else you think about what we can do to make this more of a community for you during these transitions.

Thank you for joining us today. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to jump on over to Instagram and follow us @The.Grit.Show. And if you aren't already following Authentic Connections Podcast Network, @37by27, you should definitely be doing that as well. Don't forget, you are the only one of you that this world has got, and that means something. I'll be here next Tuesday. I hope you are too.