Make Your Life Count

we're talking about making your life count.

Welcome to Wellness in Every Season. We talk all things wellness regarding the environment that you spend a lot of your time in, your physical health, your intellectual health, your financial health, your spiritual health, professional health, your social health, who you have relationships with, your emotional health.

This is a really big umbrella, so expect all kinds of topics within all of these amazing dimensions of your wellness. Let's dive in

Today I have with me Coach Bill Goodwin, and we're gonna be talking about this book. But more than that, his story behind this, he has such an interesting story that led him on this amazing journey. And he had a friend, and there's always that one friend who motivates you and says, "When are you gonna write this book?"

So without further ado, I would love to introduce you to Bill Goodwin and to his world, and my hope is that we will all come away with nuggets of this is what I should change in my life. This is my fine-tuning that I need to do to better my wellness journey. So thank you for being on, Bill. And tell us-

Autumn, thank you for having me.

Tell us about your journey. You told me about it right before we hit record, and I feel like that's the best starting place to really get people to- Get the texture of your story and really the meat here.

Yeah. Absolutely.

So November 23rd, 1999, that was a Tuesday, two days before Thanksgiving.

That date should be on my tombstone because it was on that date, November 23rd, 1999, that, that-

Say that all over again, and you stay out of the screen. Go around. This is the camera. Start over.

November 23rd, 1999, was a Tuesday, two days before Thanksgiving that year, and that date should be on my tombstone.

I had a severe asthma attack which led to respiratory failure, where I clinically coded on that day. Obviously, I was resuscitated, or Autumn, we wouldn't be talking today. But yeah, that day changed my whole life. I've been given a second chance, and I never really set out to write a book. I just wanted to make my life count because at 28 years of age, my life very well could have been over.

On that date, when my asthma attack got to the point to where I coded, and I can share a little bit more around that story of what happened there. But basically, my spirit left my body, and I had a full encounter in heaven before I was resuscitated. And, since that time, I was really intentional about, oh my goodness, I've been given this second chance, so how do I make the days that I do have count?

And so over the years ahead, I developed these seven key areas. I didn't call them pillars at first, but now I call them pillars, that I'm intentional about as far as living my life. And, yeah, I was encouraged by a friend one day over lunch, "When are you gonna write the book?" And I said, "What book?" And they said, "Everything you just told me.

That's a book. Like, one or more of those pillars could help someone in making their life count." And so I set out then to write the book, and, I'm grateful that I did. I'm just really finding it a great joy when other people hear my stories, the principles that I teach as a coach. I'm a leadership coach and a, and an international speaker, so I love being able to add value to others.

And through the book is another way, in addition to opportunities like this, to talk to people on their podcast and, share Priority Living: 7 Pillars to Make Your Life Count.

It sounds like the biggest takeaway out of this is you don't need to code in order to have a full change of this is what my trajectory should be.

This is my path and my purpose.

You know, I find that over and over again, you hit the nail on the head there. I often say you don't have to die, be resuscitated, as what happened to me, to wanna make your life count. We all have an innate desire to wanna make a difference, in this place called Earth while we're here, and we all do that in different ways.

That leads to the first pillar, which is purpose, living your purpose. And, I love talking about purpose. But you hit the nail on the head that you know, all of us wanna make a difference, but for some ti- I don't know why, but some of us have a wake-up call moment. Maybe it's a near-death experience or, you know, it was a change in a job or a relationship or something that was that moment that kinda got us thinking about the trajectory of our life and, to wanting to be more intentional about the direction that we're headed

What would you say to somebody, who is so stuck in just surviving they can't even get to a point of thriving, and then seeing their future and being able to adjust?

They are just so zoomed in on their life.

If you don't mind, I'll answer it by reading a little bit out of my book, because I think it speaks directly to your question there. a restless night with not enough sleep, the alarm clock summons you to start the day.

It's the start of another series of hours you spend awake before you lay your head on the pillow again. What awaits you? What will you encounter today, both planned and unplanned? What emotions will you experience? Whom will you interact with today? Will there be a moment you will never forget today?

Maybe something so positive or unexpected that you will never forget something you see or hear today, or maybe today will be just another day." That's right, just another day. Another day that starts with hitting snooze before you start scrolling on your little screen, staggering out of bed to the bathroom, scrolling on your little screen some more, then a cup of coffee.

A moment of delight with your coffee before you are off to your scheduled events. You drive to work to look at a medium-sized screen for eight hours, and meetings, so many meetings, while your to-do list seems to be growing, not shrinking. After work, juggling the kids' schedules, paying the bills, figuring out what's for dinner again, fitting in some exercise, drinking from the fire hydrant of problems blasting at your face.

You gather in the evening to relax with others, now to watch your big screen while everyone else has their little screens in their hands and faces. You are four feet apart from the ones you love, and you know they love you, yet you feel 4,000 miles apart. You are lonely, even in the room with others.

Your day is a continual bombardment of emails, social media, trying to figure out AI, your hybrid work environment, the 24-hour news cycle, and never-ending demands that add to your to-do list for another day. No wonder your chest is tight and you can't breathe at times. This is your life. This is just a Tuesday, and now you know why you are so exhausted.

Is this how life is supposed to be?" And so I go on from there to talk about this is not how our lives are supposed to be, and yet many of us find some of the things I just described as the makeup of their day because we get so focused, as you said, Autumn, on just surviving versus getting to a place of priority, getting to a place of thriving in our life.

And so if one thing my book can do, and even our sharing here today can do for someone, is to cause us to pull back out of the tyranny of the urgent or out of the minutiae of our life and begin to say, "Why am I here? And am I living my purpose? And am I moving my life in a direction that ultimately, I make a difference in this world and I find fulfillment, in my own life that, that I'm not just existing, but I am actually thriving and making a difference?"

And that's all part for me of living a life that I call priority living.

Then you won't feel the need to watch a movie, 'cause you're already living that life. You don't need to- Mm-hmm ... zone out or s- or social media or whatever. And for me, it's the ideal of you are not wanting to go on vacation to leave your life.

It's an addition to your life, and you're excited after a vacation to come back to your life, to the everyday minutia. And that should be the goal, but for many of us, it's not. We can't even get ourselves there. So I, I love how you wrote in there. You wrote very- Mm ... how can anybody read that and not relate in some way, shape, or form, by the way you wrote that?

And your style- Thank you ... of writing, I'm already interested. So tell us more about the rest of these pillars, and we can take pauses along the way to dive in, because that right there is a great first pillar.

Yeah.

So, the book is made up of 10 chapters. The first seven chapters is a chapter dedicated to each of these seven pillars and then the last three chapters, I have a chapter eight, which is on priorities.

How do we determine and set priorities? And then a chapter on foundation, that there's a foundation we all must build the pillars of our life on, and, whether we realize it or not, we all have some type of a foundation. Maybe it's a shaky foundation or maybe it's a solid one, and how do we look at the foundation of our life?

That's the chapter that I share the full afterlife encounter that I had, on that day, November 23rd, 1999. And then the final chapter of the book is all about leaving a legacy, that Stephen Covey said in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, many years ago, he wrote, "Start with the end in mind."

So I write a whole chapter on legacy, like when you look back over your life or when people are eulogizing you when your time on Earth has ended, how do you want them to eulogize you? And that's all about our legacy. You see, an inheritance is what we can leave to future generations or younger generations, but legacy is what we leave in them.

Inheritance is what we leave to them. Legacy is what we leave in them. And so I unpack that as well. So the seven pillars. We start with purpose, the first one is purpose. The second one is growth.

Third pillar is impact. The fourth pillar I call rhythm, the rhythm of your life. And then the sixth pillar is connect. It's all about relationships. And the seventh pillar, I call it give. It's all about living a life of generosity. So purpose, growth, impact, rhythm, explore, connect, and give

I'm curious about impact

Okay.

Tell me more about- Good ... that one. Yeah. And then after that, we'll go into what your favorite one is.

Okay, great. To get to impact, we have to start with purpose. You see, all of us are born and, created with a purpose. So purpose is defined as the best of what you have to help others. And so when we get clarity on our purpose, we can then move to the next pillar, which is growth, to be growing ourself, personal development.

Most people accept their lives, they don't lead their lives, and that's all about growing ourself, because the only guarantee that tomorrow will be better is if we're growing ourself today. I had a coaching client recently say this quote that I've borrowed from them, and they said that, you know, You're paving a pathway for your life today that you will drive on tomorrow. That's all about growing ourselves, and when we've put our purpose along with growth, then we can move to impact. So Mark Twain said that, "The two greatest days in your life are the day you were born and the day you discover why."

I absolutely love that quote. So that leads us to impact. Impact is all about making a difference in the lives of others. It could be one other person. It could be in a group of people. I actually believe that when we think of the word destiny, like what's my destiny, I believe that our destiny is not necessarily some big, grandiose thing, although it could be, but really, destiny is more of a person or people group that we are to invest in, that we are to add value to, that we are to support.

You see, Autumn, we are all elevator people. We are either taking people up or we're bringing people down.

I

love that. So how we make an impact could be something significant like, an invention or something that is a movement of some kind. But at the same time, impact is all about changing the life of someone else.

So we could be awake in the middle of the night changing the diaper of a little one, and guess what? We just made impact, because we changed, the conditions of that person's life in the middle of the night. And sometimes we think that impact has to be this big thing, but it could be as significant as, changing the diaper of a little one in the middle of the night.

Impact is such an important pillar for me- It just goes back to the whole subtitle of my book and what we're calling this episode of, making your life count. And it's the ways in which we find avenues in order to make a difference in the lives of others. So many of these pillars, weave in and out of each other, at least in a practical sense in my life.

You know, it goes to the pillar of give, of generosity. You see, success is what we may build for ourself, however we define success, but significance is how we invest in the lives of others, and that's all about generosity. And when we live generously or we give, we also are making impact. We're making a difference in the lives of other people.

So, that's just a little snippet of what, the pillar of impact is all about, and I give some examples in the book of ways in which people make an impact on a daily basis.

I love that, and I thought of so many different things. How many times have you wanted to give but you could not afford it time-wise or money-wise

whatever.

And we've all been there. We've all felt that kind of stuck. And it gives us that reason of, okay, I wanna work harder so that I have this capacity when the time comes that I'm called to give. And the other thought that I had in mind is, you're a leadership coach. So chances are you are working with people to elevate them.

It doesn't mean that you're gonna be this big name that everybody knows, but you're helping to be the shoulders for the people you're working with. So maybe your name won't be the one that's known, but you're helping other people, and maybe their name will be known, and you get to be part of the step that's on their path.

I love that.

Yeah.

Thank you for sharing that. That was so encouraging to me because- And we forget

that ...

we forget that, you know, one is too small of a number for greatness. So the people that have reached whatever level of effectiveness, success, whatever, there are people around them that help them get there.

There are people that support them along the way, and like you said, if I could be one of those people that helps someone else, achieve, the opportunity to impact more lives, that would be huge for me. I love saying that in the chapter on impact. I say, "Do small things and create big waves," and that's really what it is.

It's sometimes we think making an impact is gotta be some big world-changing thing, but it often are a lot of little things that make big waves over time.

There was a podcast episode that I listened to while I was earning my undergrad. I went back to school when our oldest was seven months old, so-

Wow

I was an older adult When I went back to school, I was in my 30s, and it was interesting looking at it differently going back to school. This podcast episode that I listened to made a huge impact for me because there's times where we're busy growing our roots and nobody else can really see it.

You're not showing anything tangible. If you think of plants- Mm-hmm ... it does that.

Yes.

And then all of a sudden you can see the branches of the tree, you can see the flowers, and then you can see the fruit. But before any of that, it's the roots. It's all the underground stuff, and this is exactly what you're talking about in the book.

And for you, when you had your huge spiritual awakening, it's not like you were suddenly like, "Here's all the fruits of my labor," it's all the work that you had to do to be where you are right now. And we forget that we're, when we're in the middle of changing everything, and it can be very painful, that change.

And one thing that I like about coaching that really stuck out to me when I was earning my certification is that it's painful. We forget how painful change is, and it's that moment of do I wanna live in the pain that I'm in now? Or am I willing to live in this unknown pain? I don't know what's going to happen when I step out, but am I willing to get myself there because I'm so sick of where I'm at right now?

To, in order to walk in a new way, there are, you know, it's the law of the trade-off. We have to let go of something in order to grab ahold of something else. And, so often we wanna hold on and not let go in order to trade the future of what could be, 'cause it's unknown and it's out of our comfort zone.

And, you know, everything that we ultimately want is outside of our comfort zone. Otherwise, you'd already have it. You'd already have achieved that or whatever. And so I love what you're saying, and it is true that the roots go down before the branches are, are seen. And, so, one of my mentors is bestselling author John Maxwell, and John says that it's stored up before it shows up.

It's like the roots need to go down deep, and there is a process that we go through in our own life no matter what direction we're headed, whether it's, in business or, working in a nonprofit or, you know, making a difference in some way. But it often is stored up before it shows up.

There's really no such thing as an overnight success. We think, "Wow, how did this person get to where they got? It's like I never heard of them, and then look at them." It's like, well, we don't know the years and years and years that they were developing into who they became in order to write that book or be seen on that stage or, build that company or whatever.

There's no such thing as an overnight success, and sometimes with our social media world, we kind of feel like that's a reality. But there's a lot of effort that goes into all of our lives. For me, it was 25 years after this encounter that I had before I started writing this book.

And, so I like to tell people my book is not theory. My book is something, these pillars are something that I've been living for many, many years. And again, it's not an overnight thing. It's definitely that root's going down before any of these branches, as you put it, are being visible.

It makes me think about lotto winners

They are often, studies have shown, worse off after they win the lottery-

Yes ...

than before because they can't handle that overnight success.

And it makes me at least think about the mindset shift that you need to have before you can have that success.

Yes. Absolutely. Oh, Jim Rohn is a motivational guy from the past. You probably know that name.

Super

Jim Rohn says everyone should become a millionaire, not for the money, but for the person you become in the journey to become one. And, I love that because it really is all about the process of the things that grow us, the hardships we go through, the difficulties we go through.

It's the same with a lot of young professional athletes, very talented, but they come out of a life of poverty, and they get these multi-million dollar contracts that without good people around them, they can actually destroy themselves because they're just not prepared for that kind of wealth.

Yeah, I think that there is a lot of value in the process that we go through, and to realize that everything worthwhile is uphill. Everything worthwhile in our life, relationships, finances, building something, everything worthwhile is uphill. So we need to climb and know that it's gonna be more difficult than we thought.

It may take longer than we thought, but that climb is gonna mature us into the kind of people that can handle whatever type of the results are down the road, and that comes through the daily habits that we put in place, and that's all part of the chapter two pillar on growth, that when we grow ourselves, now we're, we're prepared for the kind of impact that we ultimately desire to make

That makes sense.

And the other thing that stood out to me is that this is why you're also a coach as well as an author, because people can read this book, but how many of us need coaches to keep us motivated and to keep us going? That's why you offer both. Yes.

Yeah that's so true, and I just love coming alongside people that are wanting to move from where they are to where they wanna be.

And in the process of coaching, we get after stuff, and we get, encouragement as well as accountability, and we learn skills along the way that, maybe we didn't get taught at another time in our life that help us to be able to achieve the things that we, are desiring to achieve, and that's all part of the coaching journey.

Yeah. And we get to look at our backpack and say, "We're removing this weight and this weight and this weight that we don't need."

Yes.

So.

Absolutely

There's a reason why I'm in charge of putting together the packing list and putting everything out on our bed, and my husband goes through it and says, "We don't need this."

And then he's the one who puts it in the luggage. Otherwise, it would weigh a lot more than it's meant to weigh. Oh, that's good teamwork. And we all need that coaching-wise of, "Okay, let's remove this now."

That's a great word picture there.

Yeah.

So what is your favorite pillar out of your seven pillars, and which one just lights you up?

It's hard to pick just one. But what I would say is just touching on a couple, and I'll hone in on one here. You know, I come back to purpose. When we get clarity on our purpose, so many things come into focus for us, the vision for our life gets clear, that when the vision's clear, options are fewer and decisions become easier in our life because that clarity on our purpose, clarity always precedes peace. We're all looking for more peace in our life, and sometimes, it's just getting clear on our purpose.

So I have 10 questions, that help us get clear on purpose in the book. I also have a QR code that takes you to a one-of-a-kind online assessment tool called The Purpose Factor, that in, like, 20 minutes you can get a email readout of your purpose. So I love purpose. I talk a lot about purpose.

I love relationships. I love connect. Esther Perel said, "The quality of your life will be determined by the quality of your relationships." Boy, is that ever true. So in that chapter, I have a pyramid of when you are first acquaintance or first meeting someone, to becoming an acquaintance, to becoming whether professionally or personally, in a friendship with them, how you move up the pyramid of growing in our connectivity with one another.

I love that. But what I'm gonna hone in on is I'm gonna hone in on rhythm. it's definitely one that I have learned- And continued to learn a lot about the rhythm of our life. In that chapter I have a picture of a semi-circle, if you can picture it flat on top, the circle underneath it, a half circle underneath it.

And it's like a pendulum that swings, and the rhythm of our life. Too much of my life has been fifth gear, full throttle. I go, go, go until I can't go anymore. And there was a time where I reached complete burnout in my life 2010, 2011. I share about my burnout story in that chapter, and it really was in that timeframe that I learned about rhythm, that there is a pacing to our life.

I borrow a quote from a guy named Mike Breen, who says that we are to work from rest, not rest from work. And earlier you mentioned about we go on vacation almost as a way of escapism from our daily life, and I love that quote from Mike Breen that we are to work from rest, not rest from work.

How does that play out? What's that look like? Basically, when we replenish ourself daily and on a rhythm of our life, and then we work out of it, then we're giving the best of what we have to offer to others and to the work that we do, and we're not giving out of depletion, and we're, our cup is full, so we rested first, and then we have this rhythm where now we can work, and now we can replenish ourself and work and replenish ourself.

It's the work of a pendulum in our life. And so for me, it was in that time of burnout- that I took 12 weeks off, and I just focused on getting healthy. I love the eight dimensions of wellness you have on your wall there. All of that is just so true in my life and all of our lives.

And when I focus on the rhythm of replenishing myself, it's kind of like what they say on the airplane, you know. If the oxygen comes down, put it over your nose and mouth first before assisting others around you. But too often in my life, probably in our lives, we're so focused on helping everybody else to our own detriment, and then we hit a wall, we burn out, we aren't functioning at our best.

And so the pillar of rhythm for me, that whole chapter of what I teach in there, personal stories as well as practical application to how we can live a life of rhythm, has transformed my life. I'm not perfect at it. I'm still growing at it, but I sure live a different way all these years since that timeframe when I learned that principle.

Because

yeah, it helps me to look at am I living a life of priority living? And when I can be my best, then others benefit greatly as a result of it.

So much there. Oh my goodness. Where do I even start? I think the first one is it reminds me relationship-wise that we are the sum of, I think it's the eight people we spend the most time with.

Yeah. I feel like that number's too high.

I think it's five, yeah.

Yeah.

Five

people- That sounds right ...

possibly, but something like

And just thinking about that, when you want to change yourself, you're going to be slowly shifting or maybe quickly shifting those friendships.

Yeah.

And putting that together with that pyramid that you're talking about, I see how they overlay, and they work really well together, especially when you're wanting to grow and you need to find your mentors.

And then you're slowly getting them into friendship, or maybe it's not going to be that person, but they'll connect you with another person who will be really perfect for you. So I was thinking about that, and then I was thinking about how- For most people, how you said, that it's peace, and that really- Mm-hmm

when you feel peace within your body, it's because- Yeah ... you're working on these things. And it's so much easier to live longer when you're not stressed.

Mm-hmm.

And if you look at data for people who have lived a long, full life, they don't have a lot of stress in their lives.

And what does that look like?

And it's so hard for people to picture that, so it makes sense that the purpose part is probably the part that most people need to work on the most and continually redefine. Especially if you've exhausted this path that you've been on, and now it's time for you to pivot. It can be really hard.

Mm-hmm.

Sometimes we live in that area where we've just plateaued for a while because we know we need to switch, but this has defined us for so long

Yeah, there's so much there, what you just said.

And, you know, I believe that there, whether we know it or not there's three questions that we often are wondering about ourself, and that is, "Do I matter?"

"Is what I'm doing, does it matter?" And the third question is, "What's next? What's next?" And in my coaching, not, exclusively but oftentimes I coach individuals that are looking for what's next. They've maybe been in a career for 30 years, and they're like I love what I've got to do, but I feel like I've kind of exhausted this, and I'm trying to determine what's next in my life."

And if you're listening today and that's you, I'd love to connect with you because through the Purpose Factor assessment and some purpose coaching, we can get real clarity on your purpose, which then you can pivot to something that's truly gonna be fulfilling for you, that is gonna be meaningful for you, and, where you're gonna be able to make a difference in maybe a fresh, new way because you have clarity on your purpose.

Well, you don't have to be in that scenario. You can be early 20s and trying to figure out the direction of your life, and you're wondering, "Hey, what's next?" That's a great time to get clarity on your purpose because then you're living purpose aligned, and when we live purpose aligned, we live a much more fulfilled life.

I love to help people get fulfillment on demand. And, the way I describe it, Autumn, is that we're looking for our purpose. When we get clarity on our purpose, we get greater peace. It gives us direction in our life so that we live our purpose, which is giving the best of what we have for others.

And in return, there's this, return that comes back when we're living our purpose, and that is what we call fulfillment, and fulfillment is what actually is the, "Ah, I love what I get to do. I could do this all day. This doesn't even feel like work to me," that kind of thing.

We live purpose aligned, and therefore we can get fulfillment on demand in our life. And, that is a fun way to live.

There's so many people that forget, that's what I love about interviewing people, that you can have one whole career and then you can have another one. Yes. Yes. That's the point of longevity is we can have several careers even.

And for me, looking back when I was 18 years old, oh my goodness, I needed you. Realizing the idea of we have one life to live. I didn't grow up believing in reincarnation. I'm still not sure I subscribe to that. But the idea that I wanna live with high purpose in this life, but there are so many amazing opportunities that I would love to explore.

Yes.

And thinking that I can't do that all in one lifetime, and having that paralysis because of that, that's why it was so great that I just chose a really quick degree so that I could pay for my husband to finish his degree, because he knew his path. And then I was able to go back later, and then I had more of an idea of what I wanted to do.

But I know so many people who are stuck like that. I have an aunt who went into retirement saying she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life.

Mm-hmm.

There are so many other people that do that, and it's sad. There's such a difference knowing that you know your purpose so all those other options have closed to you because you know what it is, and then you are working towards it.

You have your other pillars in place. Mm-hmm. So you're learning from other people, you're continuing to go down this path, you're having those self-check-ins of am I on the right path still? Does this feel right? Are there things that I need to do? That feels aligned and life feels smoother because you already have your roadmap compared to, "I don't know what I wanna do.

I'm just going with the wind, flitting around."

Yeah, it's, i- i- again, it's just the when the vision's clear, options are fewer and decisions become easier. And you mentioned retirement. I, I've connected with quite a few people in retirement that are like, "Okay, what's next? What's next? I'm not done with living."

Uh, unfortunately, there are some people that are done living at 25. They just, you know, haven't stopped breathing yet, but they stopped living, they stopped dreaming, they stopped moving forward, they stopped growing. But even in that retirement stage, there's a lot of difference people can make in that stage of life.

And, again, I don't know the statistics exactly, but I do know that there's a high percentage of men when they retire, that within eight months after retirement, they are looking for some kind of part-time job. And so maybe they've golfed as much as they can or they've gone on those trips they wanted to go on, and now they're sitting around home going, "Now what?

What am- I'm gonna do this for the next 15 years or whate- whatever I got left of my life?" And so they find some type of work in order just to get out of the house and have something to look forward to each day. And I don't blame them for that one bit. It could be their spouse could be saying, "What are you gonna do now?

You're in my space." But I don't know. But, I think that there's still a lot of purpose, because purpose isn't defined by our work only. We can use our work as a vehicle, as a portion of fulfilling purpose, but your purpose is much bigger than just your career. Your purpose is defined by the makeup of who you are.

I love that. There are so many people this, for most, is the best way to do it, where they have their career and it's paying the bills while they are working on their purpose, and it could be their side hustle, their hobby-

Yeah ...

for right now. And then once this makes enough money, their career shifts to this, and now they're able to live within that.

Mm-hmm. Or maybe their career makes enough money that they don't want to give that up, so they need other aspects of their life that are fulfilling, so it's not just this. For my husband in particular, he really loves his career. It's also an hour drive away. We tried to move closer to his work, and the schools there, the housing there, the safety there was just not near his work.

So we ended up moving further away, 15 minutes- ... further than our last house. So he spends a lot of time in the car. So for him it's, "What else can I do that's fulfilling, and also what can I do to add movement back to my life from being so sedentary?" And working with him on that, it's amazing to see how much he's lit up and how he's alive again, and he lets me know, "Hey, I need more of this in my life right now.

I'm gonna spend more time in my hobby things because I need more of that right now." And okay, 'cause it's that divide and conquer between four kids. Like, okay, I got the kids for right now. It's your turn. You need this? Go for it. And we can get so stuck in the grind that we forget that. So it sounds like this book is very refreshing and let's re-look at our lives.

Let's really open this up and examine the things, examine what's in our backpack. We'll use that analogy again.

Sure.

What things are working for us? What aren't? Do we need a totally different bag than what we're- using? It's important.

Right ...

it can be very hard to look at it. That's why it's so great to have a coach, have somebody who is willing to show you those blind spots that you don't even know are there, show you that you're overthinking things- There's so many times that I've done that in math, and it's like, oh, the question's a lot easier than I thought it was.

Sure.

Yeah.

Yes.

So what other last thoughts do you wanna leave us with? And then tell us where we can find your book.

Well, first I wanna give the listener a gift, and that is by going to my website, you can download a free chapter of the book. That's going to prioritylivingbook.com.

Or you can go to my business page, which is prioritylivingcg.com. That stands for consulting group. So prioritylivingbook.com or prioritylivingcg.com. Either way, it'll take you. You can read endorsements on the book and download a free chapter of the book. There is a link there to go to Amazon for the book, or you can look up my name on Amazon and you'll find the book, Priority Living: 7 Pillars to Make Your Life Count.

It is an e-book. It's a paperback or a hardcover, and I'm working on that audiobook, so that'll be coming out. Some closing thoughts. I'm so grateful, Autumn, to connect with you and your audience today.

And I would say that one thing that I wanna encourage our friend that's listening with is no matter where your life is at today or no matter where you've been in the past, I truly believe that your best days are ahead.

Whatever time of the year you're listening to this, the rest of this year could be the best of this year, and the rest of your life can be the best of your life, and that's by putting some principles in place. For me, it's these pillars that make up a priority living framework of a life, but I truly believe that, you have great days ahead.

So go ahead and be the elevator person that lifts others up. You know, the founder of Chick-fil-A Truett Cathy, once asked, "Who needs encouragement?" And then he answered his question by saying, "Everyone who's breathing." And so go ahead and be an encouragement to someone else today. Be an elevator person that lifts people up.

And, go ahead and make the rest of your life the best of your life.

I love that. Yeah, I don't even know how to add to that. That was so beautifully said, and I hope everybody has taken away several things. If not, re-listen to this, because there were so many nuggets here. And please share this with others.

We know that life can be very hard, but it can also be beautiful, and that's the reminder that we can get through the hard, and this is a great resource right here. Also, check out the links that he mentioned. They're in the show notes as well. Can you imagine sharing this episode and giving the person who needs it the most that came to your mind that motivation, and they can turn around and change the world because you shared this episode with them?

Something to think about.

Mm, that's powerful.

Yeah.

Yeah. You know, Autumn, I know we can put these in the show notes, as you mentioned. I have another website which is billgoodwinspeaks.com. And, if you're interested in having me come speak at an event or, coaching, all of that information is on the billgoodwinspeaks.com.

And I have different coaching collectives which are group coaching. I do one-on-one coaching, and, love to connect with you. If you're on social media and you find me there Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, you can find me, and I'd love to connect with you today. So what an honor and a joy to spend this time, in conversation with you, Autumn, and, I just continue to, speak blessing of great success, of opening doors, of reaching more people, with this podcast because, you truly are someone who's making an impact.

And so thank you for making a difference in my life and in people's lives.

Thank you. It's been so fun to interview people like yourself and just feel that light and encouragement that you shared with all of us, and to realize through these interviews of, "Oh, I should shift this in my life to make it just a little bit better."

So thank you for sharing your wisdom with me, first of all, and then with this wonderful community that you are now a part of allowing me to interview you. It's been such an amazing blessing, and I know that it will continue to bless me throughout my life as well as the listeners.

Thank you so much for joining our discussion. If you enjoyed this, please like, subscribe, most of all, share the love with others. Please share this episode so that we can help other people really recalibrate every aspect of their lives so they can be the best version of themselves, and I will see you in the next episode.

I want to have my quick disclaimer here that this is not a one-size-fits-all. If you want one-on-one coaching, let's talk, and we will make sure what wellness means to you is really put into your life, put into practice. I am using my undergrad in applied health and my life coaching experience to bring this podcast to you