Hey Brad here, quick reminder, if you've ever wanted to write a book and maybe you don't want to sell it on Amazon, maybe you just want to put something out there, maybe it's something you want for your family or your legacy, we can help. I introduced this year something I call our writer's workshop course and services. I hope you either one-to-one or in a small group format depending on what you like. Clarify your idea. I hope you get structure. I have had a best selling book that I've self-published and I also have a book that's coming out next year with Penguin Random House or the Portfolio imprint. One of the largest publishers in the world. That's not a flex. That's me simply saying, I've been there, I've done this, I know how messy the process is and I would love to help. So if you've ever wanted to write a book or you've wanted to put something out into the world in any kind of creative way, shape form, make sure to reach out to us, go to info or email us at info at that's info, i-n-f-o, info at artofcoaching.com. That's info, I and F-O at artofcoaching.com and say, hey, I'm interested in the writer's workshop course or help writing a book that I heard about on the podcast and our team will get back to you. It would be my sincere honor to help you through this period. Hey, one more here. If you've ever wanted to get away, maybe your stress,

you haven't had a lot of time to focus on your own stuff lately.

You know that when you're home, you want to be with family, when you're at work, you want to double down on that. But you need some time to just get away, to brainstorm, to mind map. Maybe it's a certain business problem you're facing. Maybe it's an issue with your team and a leadership issue.

I do one-to-one intensive retreats

where you can actually come out to my home

for one or two days and we focus exclusively on building a strategy around your problem. We'll cook some food, we'll be active, we'll do some workouts, anything like that, or we could just sit in a room with a massive whiteboard all day and you will get my complete and undivided attention. I love strategy and I love helping people like you and also like me who are often overwhelmed and trying to do it all find solid ground and move forward with confidence. So if this is something that interests you, reach out to us, just email us at info at artofcoaching.com. That's info at artofcoaching.com and say, hey, I heard about the private retreats

Brett does. I'd love to get involved in some of that strategy. Please give me more details and I

will reach out to personally or my head of Coaching Podcast. I'm Brett Bartholomew and at a young age, poor communication nearly caused me my life. Now, I help others navigate the great area of social interaction, power dynamics, and communication, so they can become more adaptable leaders, regardless of their profession, age, or situation. This podcast is for everybody who is fascinated with solving people problems. So if you're in the no-nonsense type who appreciates frank conversations, advise you can put to use immediately and learning how others navigate the messy realities of leadership, You're in the right place. I'm glad that you're joining us. Let's dive in. All right, there's going to be a bit of a shorter episode, but it's more of a personal one. I wanted to share some of these things with you.

There are things that I'm going to try to do more of in 2025 and things that I think most people should do more of. If I can be honest, I'm in no position to tell any of you how to live your life. I am not a role model. I don't try to be a role model, but I am honest. I'm straightforward. And so, if you want to kind of just have the chance to be happier and deal with less trauma

and be more grounded, I think these are all worthwhile, okay? And I also just try to be very transparent and vulnerable and open with you guys, as I'm with those on our newsletter. So, one of the things that I'm really gonna hit in mind you, these aren't about like big audacious goals or systems or productivity stuff. These are things that I'm intentionally doing to make my life sound better. It's not because they sound impressive or sexy or anything, and I don't need you to just not along. Just ask yourself of some version of these might apply to you. One is I'm gonna continue to make my circle smaller, all without being closed off, of course.

That's not in my nature. But I always try to make my circle smaller each year and I wanna be really clear what I mean by that. This has nothing to do with being cynical, guarded, uninterested in meeting new people, not at all. I'm always gonna be interested in meeting new people. I enjoy people. I'm curious about people. That's not changing. But what I is changing is how much time and emotional energy I put into maintaining certain relationships, especially those that are one-sided and transactional. This is stuff that I've learned about myself in the past, especially with what I do for a living, right? Being a communication strategist and a coach, I always would tend to fill the gap if I felt like somebody else wasn't meeting me in the middle. Even if somebody seemed kind of just like, not that they were lazy or didn't want to connect, but just seemed more reserved. Somebody that tries to build other people up, I will try to make things easier for them emotionally. That is how I am. And I just, there are multiple years, multiple battles and a lot of like hard moments taught me who's really been there for me. I mean, especially when I wrote my first book, Conscious Coaching, out of the woodwork, all of a sudden I have all these friends, right? And I'm like a D level celebrity if that at that point. You know, but the book brought a lot of people, You know, we want to want to hear what you have to say or we'd love to have you out and we'd love to do this.

And we'd love that. And then, you know, those people kind of use you up. They get tired of you. Some of them stick. And it's not even folks like that. It can just be other friends. And I'm like, man, I have tried calling this person different times a day. I've tried month in and month out. You know, I've tried to just listen to them and it doesn't come back.

You give people grace. You try to understand. You realize that you're not going to be at your best all the time. You can be difficult. We all can be difficult. It's a, it's an inclusive you to like it engage with. But after a point, people have to meet you in the middle. They've got to show up for you too. And so I get rid of, at least I cleave off anybody that just likes proximity when it's convenient or when they need it. It's really important, right? So think about that. Think about anybody that you're wasting a lot of time or energy trying to maintain certain friendships by telling yourselves like, well, just be understanding, give people graves, be the bigger person, those are great values.

But when they only go one direction,

that can easily turn into some sort of like self-neglect.

And it's just you have to ask yourself,

is that other person doing that for you?

Right, the older we get, quality,

and I wouldn't even say the older we get,

quality just beats quantity every time.

Trim the fat in your personal life. Trim the fat in your personal life.

Trim the fat in your personal life. There were some people, I remember there was one person, honestly, that was like, hey, the reason I, you know, haven't kept in touch is I gotta be honest. You know, every time, every time that I talk to you, I just feel like I'm not up to speed on a certain amount of things. And it kind of devolved into a, because I read a wide range of books or I'm a curious

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