108: Commitment to (your) Self

Tired of resolutions that fizzle by February? We’re trading quick fixes for a revolution of agency, and it starts with a bold commitment to self. Together we unpack how to stop outsourcing your life to motivation, approval, or trends and start building a direction you actually believe in. This isn’t about more goals; it’s about fewer, truer priorities—and the consistency to make them real.

We dig into the mindset traps that keep you stuck, from fear of change to the brain’s obsession with sameness, and show how small wins compound into real self-trust. You’ll hear why intrinsic drive outlasts hype, how to choose meanings that empower action during discomfort, and the simple shift from push to pull motivation. We get practical with a strategy-first approach: clarify values, uncommit from distractions, pick sound methods and timelines, and schedule the work. Expect detours and plan for them—cruise ships don’t turn like speedboats, and course correction is part of the journey.

Identity shifts matter, so we talk “act as if,” internalized modeling, and the power of proximity—spend time with people who live the standards you want. Relentlessness shows up as full expression in hard moments, not performative hustle: showing up at the gym, the boardroom, the blank page, and for loved ones with your whole self. The foundation beneath it all is worthiness: you don’t earn your value by overcommitting; you protect it by choosing what truly matters. Boldness has genius and magic because decisive action organizes your world around the choice. If you’re ready to feel momentum, meaning, and ownership, press play.

If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend who needs a spark, and leave a review telling us the one commitment you’re making today.

Follow Coach Polly @getbusythriving and Coach Sam @thesamanthapruitt 

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Transcript

Why Commitment To Self Matters

Polly Mertens 0:07

Hey superstars, welcome back. Polly here and Sam Pruitt.

Samantha Pruitt 0:11

What's up, beautiful humans? Firstly, it's so great to have you back on the episodes. Thank you, my dear. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Good to be back. Good to be back.

Polly Mertens 0:22

Yeah. And what a fun topic. Commitment to self-time.

Samantha Pruitt 0:27

Exactly. We're still in January. So we thought uh this topic is timely because you and I don't do New Year's resolutions. We do revolutions if we do anything. We don't do resolutions. But this isn't really about that. It's about really owning your life.

Polly Mertens 0:47

Mmm. You know, I think some people have a fear of that word commitment, whether you put it in relationship or, you know, committing to hard things or whatever. Um, and I really want us to dispel what they think, you know, like why would you be afraid of this, right? Like, I think there's so many benefits of quote committed life or committed to your things, right? And what what what is the full title? Commitment to joy, self.

Samantha Pruitt 1:15

Commitment to self, right? So it's your dreams, your joy, your life.

Polly Mertens 1:21

Yeah.

Samantha Pruitt 1:21

That's a full commitment to myself, making all of that happen, right? Having complete agency over all of those things. Mm-hmm.

Polly Mertens 1:30

Mm-hmm. Because what what the alternative is we give it over to somebody else or like like hope for it or whatever. Like this is like I'm committed to having these things in my life. My joy, you know, I'm I'm choosing that, right? And that's part of it, like deciding, choosing it. So I love this topic. I'm so glad you, you know, we came up with this. And yeah, like you said, January, if you're whenever you're listening to this, it's always a good topic, but you know, January, especially, because I think people like kind of come out of that New Year's slumber, ah, what do I want to do? And, you know, have wavering commitment to that. And I'll talk about some of the places where I've been out of my you know integrity with my commitments and you know, like how that happens and you know, some of that.

Samantha Pruitt 2:09

So well, yeah, and this isn't like um a lot of you know, New Year's revolutions, resolutions are really people sort of beating themselves into submission over things they don't like about themselves. This is also the polar opposite of that. It's like, who the hell am I? What do I stand for? What am I about? And then how can I get up to that to build my dream life, you know? And that takes a different uh level of awareness, which we'll get into what it is, why it is, and how to do it. But like that's where the real value is, the real joy, the total bliss is like in

Agency Over Approval

Samantha Pruitt 2:45

that place, not like how can I make this part of my life look better, be better, produce more, whatever, whatever, however, you deem success, right? This is about you, real, just real ownership over being your best self. All right, let's do it. Let's do it. Okay, so what does it mean to commit to oneself? What does it mean? First of all, so many people are scared, like you said, to even do this. It's about building agency over your life, right? So agency is not needing external approval or permission to be who you are, like having a sense of ownership, like we just discussed earlier about what do you stand for? What are your beliefs? What are your values? Who the hell are you anyway? And that's some deep, heavy work that many people maybe haven't done. Should they be afraid of doing that work and exploring that, Polly? Yes, probably yes, yes, you know, um, in a good way.

Polly Mertens 3:45

And it's worth it, you know. You should, yeah, yeah, you probably because um you're gonna well, the number one thing, you know, just as a mindset coach, you know, I can't help but think about you're gonna bump up against the boundaries of your mindset, right? So should should you be afraid of it? It's like, yeah, because your mind is gonna tell you no, your mind is gonna want to keep you the same. Your mind is gonna say, not that. Oh my god, we can't do that or be that or whatever, right? So yeah, it's going to take this um level of commitment to yourself that, like, when I bump up against a boundary, a limitation, a self-imposed limiting belief or whatnot, right? Yeah, that that's probably gonna be some little bit of lifting, right? Because the mind's got all uncomfortable. The brain has an amazing way of throwing all kinds of shit at you that like to get you to not change, right? You're like, wait, are we on the same team here? Nope, not on the same team. Nope. You being your best self isn't always what the brain is up to. It's used to sameness, non, you know, minimizing energy, all that stuff. So yeah, but is but on the other side, right?

Samantha Pruitt 4:49

Mm-hmm. And people who are famous for procrastinating or for looking for outside external forces, uh, family members, friends, society, coworkers, or whatever to validate those things are generally the ones who are most afraid of doing that work. And I would say at the core of that work is a sense of value for myself, self-worth. And so if I'm lacking in that, that is going to be difficult for me. And I will procrastinate and I will look to others to direct my life or to validate my success or my worth or all of those things. So, really, you have to be willing to look in the mirror and say, hey, my value isn't innate in just me being born, in me just showing the hell up and standing here tall in all of my imperfect glory and be willing to just like show up for my life. And nobody else needs to provide that for you. That has to come from yourself.

Polly Mertens 5:49

Yeah, it's like intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, right? You know, there's a lot of willpower and motivation. I had somebody text me yesterday and they're like, could you send me some motivating videos and this and that? And I was all Okay, yes, sure. You know, like you want some candy too to go with that, you know, just to like it's like fast food. It's like that that's not gonna nurture nourish you, it's not gonna nourish what you're actually seeking, right? Is getting up to something, being authentic with yourself, not you know, whatever you're pussyfooting around, like, okay, that whatever that is that you're avoiding, like you said, procrastinating and stuff. It's time to step it up. You don't need a motivational video when you have a compelling why, right? Like when you have like a I'm I'm doing this thing, I'm committed to this thing. Like it, I was telling somebody the other day, like they they were saying, and I believe and I love it, they said that their year word for the year, because I've been you know working with a lot of people on their word for the year and theme as part of the return of the light, and I was like, ignite. And I'm like, that's great. Yeah, you know, and like it reminded me of push motivation, let's call it, you know, like from behind, like you know, you got somebody like what cracking a whip on you, kind of like ignite something. And I'm like, that lasts for a time, and but pull motivation, you know, when it's something that you've created and you've put out into your future and it pulls you towards it, is it's like like a slow, long burn of something that you can just endure because it's like, yes, yes, it's not that fast flame die out, right?

Samantha Pruitt 7:26

Well, ignite is great, right? It started, but again, is

Mindset Limits And Fear

Samantha Pruitt 7:30

it gonna sustain the fire? No, sustaining the fire will be continuous logs and oxygen coming from you into the fire. I don't expect Polly to come over with cords of wood every week, and I don't expect, you know, my neighbor or my husband or whatever to be blowing on the fire to keeping it going. Like that fire is mine to tend.

Polly Mertens 7:52

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And I think that's where committed is like even when I don't have the fire, that thing is a pulling me, like I'm so committed to it and do what it takes. And even when it's waxing and waning, but I don't need electric off-the-chart energy towards it to keep my commitment to it and to pursue it. And actually, you know, one of the things I find is um consistency is more valuable than motivation, right? Like even when you're not motivated, like consistency, like you do it just because I said I was gonna do it. I do it because you know, it's that long term.

Samantha Pruitt 8:28

Consistency is my word and mantra for ultra running or ultra endurance. Anytime I have to be, I choose to be doing some extraordinary feat of many, many miles, hours, or whatever days it's gonna be or something. That literally is my go-to word. Just be consistent. I expect nothing else from myself except the consistency. And I know A, I'm capable of that because I trained that. I trained my mind and body to be consistent by continuously showing up, making the investment. And then when I have to, you know, do the work, like make shit happen, that I can fall back on with comfort because it's like, whoa, that's a muscle I have. That consistency muscle is my thing.

Polly Mertens 9:15

I would need great comfort. I would take consistency over ignition or like a powerful, whatever. Like, yeah, to get it started. So maybe it's like ignite consistency, like like tie those two together, don't just have one or the other, right? Like, because you may not have, you know, if you need something, because there is definitely um I'm trying to remember what the word is in neuroscience about what's that? Yeah, the resistance. It's like you know, it's basically physics, the body in motion tends to stay in motion. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. And with your mind and your goals and all this things that you're up to, they all tend to stay flat and not happening if you let them sit, right? Yeah. Yeah, totally, totally.

Samantha Pruitt 10:00

Um, another thing I want to just mention at the gate about like what does it mean to commit to oneself? It does mean to be willing to explore and unearth these things within yourself. So that might require some time and some space, right, to allow that to happen. It's not necessarily something that needs to happen overnight. It can be something that you curate over days or weeks or whatever, as we get into kind of the how, the nuts and bolts of it. But you do need to open that place up within yourself. And one of the biggest gifts that will come out of that is self-knowing and self-trust. Those are gold nuggets, okay? The more you know yourself, the more you can live to your full potential, the more you trust yourself, the more you can take risks, totally leaps of faith, whatever you want to call it. Just try new shit, just be willing to show the hell up. And extraordinary things will happen with those two things. Like they're just giant gold coins in your pocket that you can just walk around life and be like, you know, talk about being rich. That's rich.

Polly Mertens 11:11

I am putting, I am picking up what you're putting down, or it's like I as you were saying that, what was firing in the back of my mind. The second one is like, um, I believe in myself, right? Self-trust is like, no matter what comes, I fucking believe in myself. I I got this. However, the shit hits the fan, whatever, I'll be okay, right? And then know thyself, right? I really love adding that, like, like a component of that is like I really know, like, and trust myself, right? All of those things. So good. So good. But you're right, you know.

Samantha Pruitt 11:42

Grand adventure, dude. It's a grand adventure called your freaking life.

Polly Mertens 11:46

Well, and I think you pointed it. So, one of the best, I've been asking people for feedback from the return to light, and the best feedback. So, I did this massive undertaking, created this giant workbook, not giant, but like a, you know, a decent workbook. And it's got all these pages of questions and questions, you know, and and giving them time to do the work and then like come up the next week. And and the feedback I kept getting was like, wow, I really enjoyed all these questions, this time to be with myself and like, you know, some of the beauty of like looking at their magical moments for the year and celebration, you know, and and what where they grew, you know, and not giving that to ourselves, like not doing an inquiry, not finding out what we really want, where we are, all you know, like people just blipping along, like life by default, like okay, last year looked the same, let's just have more of that in the new year. But it's an opportunity, like you said, do that work. Like, what matters most to you, you know? Yeah, and in and and as it evolves, right? Because

Intrinsic Drive Vs Motivation

Polly Mertens 12:40

like your values from you know, 10 years ago may not be your values right now, your priorities right now may not be what they were even 90 days ago, right?

Samantha Pruitt 12:49

I hope they're not, or else you're standing still. I mean, what the hell have you been asleep?

Polly Mertens 12:55

How is it possible? Well, we're talking about commitment and consistency, so there'd be some that you know, but yeah, but things will indeed change. So it's like adjusting in moment by moment as well.

Samantha Pruitt 13:07

Yeah, and the other um gold coin is like it turns ideas, just thoughts, ideas into action and actual results. So like change will occur because you're not asleep, you know, you're not standing still. You are now actually taking action and therefore all circumstances in your life will change. By the way, they do anyway, like in Buddhist terms, we call it everything is impermanent. But you don't, if you don't already have that sort of wrapped around yourself, it this is a good way to be like, hey, I can impact change, I do have the power, and all of these little things are gonna amount to big, big, big changes. You won't recognize yourself at the end of it. That's how it should be.

Polly Mertens 13:54

That's the goal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it it should be an identity shift. We talk a little bit about that, but we'll come back. So, okay.

Samantha Pruitt 14:03

So, why is it important? Because this is how you build success in your life. Last time I checked, a lot of people care about that. Um, happiness, again, people seem to be seeking kind of important, yeah. Yeah, happiness and choice, kind of a thing, right? Um, a deep sense of purpose and meaning to your life. Yeah, you know, living a fulfilling, meaningful life. I mean, yeah. Gotta do that work. And then your connection to yourself and others.

Polly Mertens 14:32

I'm so stuck. You just said purpose and meaning, and I've been doing a lot of study in both those two words. And I think we're gonna do an episode in the future. I'm just already hearing it, like separating those purpose and meaning. Meaning, I think is exactly what you double-clicked on. It's like, is it meaningful to you? Having a meaningful life, right? You know, and by knowing what you want, committing to what you want, you're actually living the life you fucking say you want, right? Like you're you're like, oh shit, look at this. I can have and do and be what I want in life. Starts with getting clear, like, know who you are, what what's important to you, and then get about it, like these commitments. Like it's not struggle, suffering, whatever. It's actually leading you to the life that you say you want.

Samantha Pruitt 15:20

I love it. And that might scare some people when they realize how much power they have. Oh, what? I thought I was powerless, you know, and that is not the case. Sure, many people are in circumstances that they cannot influence outside of themselves. And those influences, of course, we deeply respect will influence what they can and cannot access and resource and opportunity and things like that. But this innate sense of freedom that comes with committing to yourself, a relevant of those external things, is really what we're getting at today, right? Uh also it derives a sense of curiosity. You know, because then you start thinking about the what ifs, huh? What if I did do that thing differently? What if I did go this direction? What if I did, you know, try something new today? What if I did pick up the phone and make that phone call? Whatever.

Polly Mertens 16:13

Yeah, yeah. What if? What if such a such a freaking great word? It's a great question. Yes.

Samantha Pruitt 16:19

Um, it sparks and fuels drive, which is one of your things. You're a very driven person. I said to you earlier in a conversation about something different that you're literally the most driven person I know. And then you're like, oh, okay. But it is one of your superpowers. Um, how do you feel drive impacts your sense of commitment to yourself in your life?

Polly Mertens 16:43

Say that again. How do I feel drive?

Samantha Pruitt 16:46

Yeah, how do you use drive as a tool to like be committed to yourself? You know, because it is one of your superpowers, is you're driven.

Polly Mertens 16:54

You know, I think it's just know thyself. It's like, yeah, I'm that. You know, it's like uh um, yeah, it feels like part of my thumbprint, if you will. Um you know, I think I just uh have this insatiable like I was just noticing at the gym this morning as I was like feeling around inside my thoughts and my body for you know our program that we're doing in February. And I was like, what are the limits of it and who do we want in it and things like that? And I was like, man, I want people who like want the best for themselves. They want the best that they can be in their expression in the world, right? And so that's what drives me is like being the best me that I can be, and in all the ways that that, you know, is an expression of me, right? Not just like nothing, I think, dims people's light and joy and happiness factor, including my own, in being half-assed, being half of what we were capable. Like I was just telling you, just you know, I was, I mean, there was a a reason for this, but

Consistency As A Superpower

Polly Mertens 18:00

over the holidays, I took a you know, vacation and just little walks on the beach and stuff. And then I was like, that just didn't feel very fulfilling, you know, like like I'm capable of more. Now I get the reason why I did it at the time, you know, looking back, I was like, that was actually I had been running a marathon, call creating a bunch of stuff.

Samantha Pruitt 18:18

Totally.

Polly Mertens 18:18

So that was okay. Um, and yet, like today, I'm not that was three weeks ago or whatever. When I'm at the gym, I was like, let's fucking lift some weights today. Like I was like sweating, and I did these like leg wall sits and I was like burning it, like right to the end. I was like, Yeah, you know, I walked out of there feeling fantastic, proud of myself, right?

Samantha Pruitt 18:39

Yeah, totally. It's a way to explore your edges, yeah, right, is that drive. And I I believe that this kind of work sparks that drive in people. Like some people are like, I'm not motivated, right? There's a difference between like again waiting to get motivated to do things. By the way, don't hold your breath because that's a limited resource. So it's just gonna hit you upside the head. Not really a even a thing, right? But to be driven comes from within, and you can spark that drive at any given moment, and it can change from minute to minute. You know, like I'm back at the gym, rehabbing my back and getting back into my strength and all these things, right? And I know a lot about fitness and strength training, so it's a little bit comical to my me laughing at myself about like I'm doing a lot of really baseline, basic re-establishing my foundational strength things that I haven't done in a really long time. And a lot of it's very like traditional strength training and exercises, and I'm just sort of laughing out loud. I'm sure the people around me are like, who's the crazy lady? Doesn't matter, I have my headphones in. But like I can get to the end of that, you know, traditional rep set, a bench press or whatever, and I can do the rep set, or I can go to failure. Okay, I can do the eight to 12 reps, or I can be like, I Still go, I'm still going, right? Yeah. I'm gonna take to failure. That's my way of operating in the world. I'm here to build muscle, and that's not an easy task for a post-menopausal female, right? So this takes very specific tactics and techniques and whatever. Or I can just do go through the motions without the drive. The drive is taking it to what you're capable of. That's the difference to me. Like it's night and day difference.

Polly Mertens 20:28

And it's the expression of you. Like that could be poetry, that could be being a mom, that could be and you know, marathons, whatever it is, you know, it's like to your mental edge, your physical edge, your your heart's edge, whatever. Like, like be like I could, you know, so like just like you said. So I was doing that wallset this morning, and I could feel my legs wanting to give out, you know. I was like, ah, and then I sat with that and I went, like you, like we've had enough experience. I go, yeah, that pain is the pain of growth. I'm not gonna die, you know, it's not pain like I'm broken something, or you know, whatever. Like you and I know, like that's a good thing. And I sat with it and I was like, suck it up, man. It's fucking I was like, 15 more seconds, bitch.

Samantha Pruitt 21:12

No, no, I didn't say like that, but I was like, or intervals, same thing. I started doing the sprinter intervals again, right? Because like I'm on a bite, I wasn't able to run. So I'm like doing my cardio different. And I'm like, well, how many intervals? Okay, well, I should probably do like four intervals, but I'm like, but can I do five? Can I squeeze out another one? Yes, of course I can. Who the hell am I kidding? Okay, so these stories that we tell ourselves, right? Or can I write another page, or can I make another phone call, or can I like whatever the thing is for somebody? Yeah, like it are you capable of more? It's being a full fully committing to your life is being a full expression of who you are. So one of my commitments to myself this year is to be a full expression of myself wherever I go. So when I show up into a place, and that could be me and my bed, by the way, or it could be like I've just had a year of really fucking hard things, dude. And I've shown up to some incredibly insanely difficult places to be. And I'm like, can I be here and be a full expression of myself without needing to kind of like hunker down, a to either protect myself from about what's to happen or to navigate the complexities of the environment and the other people and all of their needs and nuances or whatever. Me just fully owning me is showing up in that full expression and not needing permission, but feeling like, hey, what I have to say, what I have to offer, who I have to be, is div is really delivering value to the world. And like that's that's when you own your life, you can just do that in the boardroom, in the hard conversations with the partner, the spouse, in the with your kids, wherever the hell you go. And I just want that for people.

Polly Mertens 23:07

Wow, so good. And I I what I hear in that too is like, you know, one of my lines is like self-trust is built in small wins. Okay. And what I'm hearing what you're saying

Creating Time And Space For Self-Knowing

Polly Mertens 23:20

is like, in those, like, you know, we avoid challenge. We think life should be fluffy and soft and never, you know, whatever. And when challeng like, you know, the one of the biggest ripoffs that we have is we think our life shouldn't have pain and suffering and all this stuff. It's like we're fucking like, sorry, nobody's getting out of here with joke of all. Yeah, yeah. So like accept that. Like, just you know, I mean, in Buddhism, you know, it's like, ah, we're the opponent, you know, like you, you not welcome the challenge, but because it's like when we're talking about going into the gym or you in these hard places, it's like you see who you really are in those difficult moments and what you can grow through. I don't want to say go through, but like what you can grow through, whether it's sitting in silence when somebody's ripping you a new one, right? Or you're like being called to do more or do something that you haven't done before, and it like really pushes you to go, like, damn, I gotta show up for this thing, or for my loved ones, or this fucking person sitting in front of me, losing their life, is crushing me, and I'm willing to be there with it, you know, and like those tough moments, it's like and you got through it totally, and you got through it, yeah.

Samantha Pruitt 24:38

So and you can get through it and you will get through it, and you are giving an extraordinary gift to the others in the space, because by you being that person, being willing to bravely be that person, what you do is you give everyone else permission. Oh, yeah, to sort of also be like, oh, you know, you're not running. Yeah, maybe I don't need to run. Yeah, you're not backing down. Maybe I don't need to back down. Have you been in those business? I'm sure you have business meetings or board room meetings, you know, where it's like it is not a healthy environment. Okay. I've been in a bunch of these hard negotiations or whatever. And you're literally like, what in the hell is going on? Like you're almost blown your own mind about how dysfunctional it can get in these spaces.

Polly Mertens 25:27

Yeah, yeah.

Samantha Pruitt 25:28

And people just go silent, right? Because the person who is going down in control of the room, yeah, right, the dysfunctional human in the room who's having a breakdown or whatever that's going on there is just trying to dominate all the people in the room. If you can just stand tall in those really hard moments like that, stand up for what you believe, what you know to be true, for what you have to offer, yeah, dude, the power that comes with that and the amount of just self-trust is like so good.

Polly Mertens 26:01

So good. I wanted to say something here, just uh sort of like I'm not saying sit in that and suffer. Like we shouldn't, you know, like I'm there, there's I'm not asking you to suffer, I'm asking you to grow through it. Like go and grow through that thing, whether it was a harder workout or saying something that was hard for you to get out, or hearing something that was hard to hear or do or whatever it is. I'm not saying take it, but like no, like see how strong you really are, right? Like, see how strong you really are, because we don't know the limits of how strong we are. We've, you know, in the brain, like it's like we can't take it. Yeah, you can, yeah, you can, and be stronger for it.

Samantha Pruitt 26:47

Yeah, you by no means need to accept these things, right? You can change the circumstances by just standing tall and owning your own truth. Yeah, yeah, whatever that looks like for you, you know.

Polly Mertens 27:00

And one of the key things, just to reiterate, and you we've talked in the podcast here before, a lot about this with emotional resilience and intelligence is the meaning you're making in that moment, right? So you and I face, you know, you've you've you've done 10 sets on your weights and you've got more in you. You don't make it mean I'm good, check out whatever you're like. No, the meaning is I have more in me. I'm capable of more, right? Like me is like, oh, this is starting to get hard doing these wall sits. Like, okay, I can do hard, right? Like, so I didn't make it mean give up, stop, quit, whatever. Somebody's, you know, you're in an uncomfortable situation, define that however you like. What's the meaning you're assigning in that moment will have you either feel empowered, be empowered

Purpose, Meaning, And Power

Polly Mertens 27:45

by who you're showing up as, or not, right? So choose the meaning that you're giving those moments. So much. All right. We're talking about way more than commitment here.

Samantha Pruitt 27:55

I love this. I know, but these are the reasons that commitment to self, owning one's own life are so important, is these are basically the fruits of the labor.

Polly Mertens 28:05

Yeah.

Samantha Pruitt 28:05

This is all the why to do those things, right? So now let's talk about how to do those things. Well, first of all, it's not, it's it's not a you know, New Year's resolution, right? It's a life strategy. So owning one's life is an actual life strategy. Coming from a growth mindset, a sense of, you know, agency and ownership over how you're gonna live this one precious life and this one precious body is totally a strategy for living. So that's what we want to in part two, is when we talk about how to do it, to be clear this is really the only way to do it is just to make a commitment, right? Okay, so first you've got to clarify what and why you want to get up to whatever the things are, right? So in order to clarify, you need to give some time, space, and actually write these things down. Start writing these things down.

Polly Mertens 29:00

Yeah, and I wanna, and maybe we're gonna talk about that, but I wanted to talk about prioritizing because part of that's number two. Okay, okay. Okay, well, go for it. So what what when you started to say that I feel like there's also a degree of uncommitting that sometimes needs to happen, right? So there may be an overcommit, like somebody, you know, with the overload, and la all the whatever they want to language their life sounds like like I can't commit to another thing. Okay, maybe the first step is where are you committed? You know, you've committed yourself, but is it really a priority? Does it line up with who you're truly committed to being or how you want your life to go, or the results that you say you want, or however you want to language that? It's like, do I let me look around and see? Because a commitment requires you prioritizing that thing, giving some energy, life force, attention, whatever. And like you said, it's a consistency thing. So we can you let's just play off this analogy of working out or something just because it's it's you know it can be universal. People have movement in their life in whatever degree. So if you had, or meditation practice or whatever, a relationship. So if you oh, sorry, if you have that, you realize like, okay, do you have room in your life for that thing, or do you need to decommit first, possibly to some other things, so that you can prioritize it and you can, because the last thing you want is like you just sort of willy-nilly commit to that thing, and then you're like, Oh shit, how how am I ever gonna get to that? And that's where people get to these not saying no to enough things and they're overcommitted in their life, feeling the burden of it, and they're just depleted, burnt out because and they feel powerless because they're not committed to the things that really matter most to them, right?

Samantha Pruitt 30:40

Well, I would just say then they didn't actually do the work. So before they started and made all these new goals, so a commitment to your life is not setting a hundred new goals for yourself, right? It's like the real work is what do I stand for? What do I believe in? What is my value system? And where do I want to go with this one precious ride?

Polly Mertens 31:03

This is it. Yeah.

Samantha Pruitt 31:04

Yeah. So you got to do that. And once you do that, you'll really quickly see, even myself and you, I'm sure, like 20% of the time, and maybe for some people it's 50% of the time, they are doing a bunch of bullshit that means nothing and doesn't align with any of that. But it somehow has crept in. So no judgment, but there will have to be a cleaning of the plate, right? And then, okay, if I have a plate called my life, I have 24 hours in the day like everybody else, 365 days in the year, right? If I get another year of life, that's what I'm gonna get. All right, what am I gonna put on that plate? You know, yeah. Am I gonna just pile it full of french fries? Am I gonna pile it full of a meaningless job, a relationship that doesn't work, uh, loneliness and confusion and lack of whatever? Or am I gonna really, with great intention, take my limited resources called time and energy, and put the things back on the plate that care the most, that I care the most about, that I stand for, that I value the most.

Polly Mertens 32:07

Yeah, and I'm gonna call myself on, you know, where this showed up for me recently, and maybe this will at the end of this story may have us to go into the next one, I have a feeling, is um so I had the 75 hard, 75-day challenge, right? Yeah, and had like all these things, and and then I would see myself like social posting is one of them, right? And you you you know in the background how I feel about that, right? It's like not your favorite thing. Because it feels like I'm pissing in the wind. That's so where where I wanted to go with this is like, do you do you believe it's gonna get you closer to the result that you're after, right? And so I committed to it, and I wasn't like like the energy it was taking for me to do it is because I was out of alignment, mind, body, spirit, intuition, whatever you want to call it, like head, heart, and in and gut were not a hell yes for that thing. It was like, you know, because

Using Drive To Reach Your Edges

Polly Mertens 33:00

for me, time is like the most precious thing ever, right? Relationships, time, whatever. And so if I'm committing time, like you said, like minutes, hours, whatever, social media, it ain't just like 15 minutes. People are like, oh, you can just post something in 15 minutes. And I like have asked a lot of people in my own life, it's like I'll hear them say hours. And I'm like, if I can be doing that, if that's what I'm getting up to for hours, do I think I'm gonna get the result I'm after? And this could be just a bullshit test. Like, you know, uh, some people choose whatever they choose for a fitness goal, a creativity goal, a travel goal, whatever, like for money goal, you know, like, oh, I'm gonna save $50 a month or whatever it is. Like, is it is that thing, do you believe in it? It's gonna get you where you want to go. Because if you don't, and I've just saying for myself, like I was sabotaging. I was like, eh, because I I committed, but then I didn't believe in it taking me where I wanted to go. So that could be just something to look for.

Samantha Pruitt 33:59

Oh, well, that's very common in health and fitness, right? People do all kinds of shenanigans. I mean, I have seen and heard the most bizarre things ever in my whole lifetime of being in the health and fitness space, but like it's like going to, I'm gonna commit to go to the gym, but I'm going to the gym and I'm doing what what am I doing at the gym? Right. There's no if you're gonna put an ounce of sweat, time, energy, financial resources also into these this building of your life, this building of your life, right? And your life goals, aspirations, then you should absolutely know that a your strategy is sound, right? And this is part of the how to do it. Actually get clear on what you're trying to achieve, and then get a sound strategy with a timeline on how you're going to get there. Right. And it doesn't mean it's automatically going to happen because we don't have a magic wand, but you're at least knowing, fully knowing that, hey, I if I take these steps over this timeline, there's a high probability I will achieve that goal. Yeah. You might not actually know what that means. You might need to get outside resources, coaches or help, or do some research or read or take a class or whatever to know what the right path is, the actual strategy forward and the steps forward. But that's part of this work, is like figure that out. So if I decide that my top five values are this, and I'm gonna achieve these things by owning my life, and I'm gonna work on these five things that I say I value so much. What are the actual steps?

Polly Mertens 35:38

Exactly.

Samantha Pruitt 35:38

You know, how am I gonna get there? And by the way, for me to get there is not gonna be what it takes Polly to get there or any other person. My path is unique, yeah. And it doesn't mean someone can't help you create that path and hold you accountable to that path and give you some support and tools around it. For sure, you know, people like us exist, but like you need your unique path, and then you need to believe in it 1000%. That's commitment.

Polly Mertens 36:07

Definitely, yeah. Well, and that's where that's where the you know, so it starts with a moment of decision, commitment, right? Yeah, and where the rubber meets the road is you like have a plan for this. Like, how's this gonna happen? Right. And then the final is like, well, there's phases of this, let's say, right? When that's not what this is all about, but it's like then you you know look at what do I need to do, how much is it gonna cost, take time, whatever. I line that out, and then you put it into your calendar, and then you get up to doing it, you know, like all of all that's the downwind of you know, downstream um implementation. But the commitment is where we're focusing on is like I've got to commit to that thing and then commit to the things doing the things that it says that I say that I want for that thing, right?

Samantha Pruitt 36:54

Yeah, totally, and then be ready for the shit to go terribly wrong.

Polly Mertens 36:59

Yeah, change, change is I call, you know, it's it's challenging in the beginning, it's messy in the middle, and it's beautiful in the end, right? Like anything you get up to, it's totally yeah, yeah. So expect it to so you know, a dear friend of mine, you know, it's like in the world of habits, you know, you can miss a day, right? But don't miss more than two, because then you start to like have all sorts of excuse, whatever, right? So never, you know, just look into habits around like the committing and and how to implement that. But don't expect a perfect path. Perfect, you know, exactly. Don't expect perfect, and don't expect it to be easy either. Like, nope, it might not, especially in the beginning, you gotta you're reorienting your life, you're reorienting your mind, you're shifting some things that we're going in a different direction, in a new direction. You know, there's there's gonna be some bumpiness, whatever that looks like. Some short term, some a little bit longer, you know.

Samantha Pruitt 37:49

I love that um visual of reorienting, right? It's like the compass of your life and reorienting the direction you're gonna go. And you know, you mentioned your mind. Your mind is really going to run the freaking show. Okay, like it's hilarious the shit that your mind will tell you. Totally. Okay. I always say I have the evil twin and then the good twin, right? Like, and the evil twin is gonna tell me all kinds of craziness, dude, based on the 56 years of my life journey and even whatever ancestral stuff I happen to bring along in my DNA package. So there is a lot of stuff there that are these stories that my evil twin wants to tell me is happening and will be happening. And, you know, generally it's you know, fear-based or lack or penny penny, the sky's falling, or the undeservingness. It's generally pretty negative shit. Totally. Okay, totally. But I can see her for what she is when she waltzes on into the room uninvited, and you know, take her to task and redirect myself. But that is because we have built the mental muscles, the mindset for a life of agency and commitment and growth and all of the things that we love to do. We don't expect it to be perfect, but we're like

Full Expression In Hard Moments

Samantha Pruitt 39:10

we're we're understanding that the stories we tell ourselves will therefore impact the thoughts and the feelings that will drive the actions. And if my thoughts and feelings are misaligned, my actions will also be misaligned. Right?

Polly Mertens 39:29

Yeah, the metaphor that was coming to me that I've often used in habit change, you know, some people think that they're zipping along the ocean in a speedboat, and they go, Oh, I want to go in that new direction, and the speedboat just turns on a dime. And I go, You're actually more like in a and depending on what it is in your life, and I'm just using it as a metaphor, you're actually more likely in a cruise ship. And those things don't turn very on a dime, right?

Samantha Pruitt 39:51

I'm glad you didn't say the Titanic. Uh-huh. Okay. No.

Polly Mertens 39:54

You're you're you're the captain of a cruise ship, you're in a carnival cruise ship. You're on a cruise. Christing through life, like doo-doo doo, like this is the direction of your life, and you say, Oh, let's suddenly head to the Bahamas, right? And said, And it's like a cruise ship takes a little something to get going in a new direction. It will, but it's not a speedboat. It's not just like you make a sharp right. You know, it's very uncomfortable for the contents of a cruise ship if they take a hard write. So no, we won't be doing that, but that's you know, often what it looks like in the course of a life is more like a cruise ship, a gentle right instead of a sharp right.

Samantha Pruitt 40:30

So this is where it can be helpful in your strategy building, your steps to uhwards achieving, you know, your step, your committed steps towards achieving the goals. Um, having somebody maybe help you understand the nuances around this because it is different for everybody. And we both trained, you know, hundreds, thousands of people at this point, like some people can swing a pretty good pendulum, you know, and other people are the all or nothings. Like, there's just different personalities, different ways of being in the world. Yeah. So helping them devise a plan where they can stack wins for themselves. And some people that's really, really slow. Micro moments, micro decisions of getting towards a new way of being. And for other people, I tend to be one of those. I like to break everything and start walk over. Like I generally am like, whoop, right? I like a clean slit. I I'm a relatively aggressive person like that. So just knowing who you are or having somebody help you understand, hey, I see this is where you really excel. Like this is a thing that works for you, you know, getting there in these baby steps or busting everything wide open, you know, whatever it might be. But figure that out and then figure out how to just consistently show the hell up and do it.

Polly Mertens 41:50

You know, and one thing I would say is um I was talking with someone yesterday and they were talking about um how do I say this? So like the husband is stuck, not really motivated. That's where the one that sent me, hey, can you send me a motivational video like to get my husband, you know, to stop watching that's awesome videos until 3 a.m. or something like that. I was like, and then I said, Well, you know, I'm a coach, like I can help you with this too. And she's like, Oh, well, this and I go, okay, well then you're deciding to stay, you know. So, like, what do you really want? You know, like here's some like candy, or here's like a fast food item that's not, you know, good luck with watching one video and expecting that to, you know. So, like, what are you really committed to? Like, are you like, and would it serve you? You know, and and I would say a coach and support, like you're talking about, is speed, right? It's it's that reinforcement, that speed that we need, because that little you talked about that, you know, you and I have a lot of experience with the devil and angel on our shoulders, right? That mindset shifting. So we know what it's like when it shows up and how to redirect that. If you haven't faced it, or if you haven't done a great job, like pay for that ability for someone to like coach you through those pivots that uh getting myself to do the thing, right?

Samantha Pruitt 43:08

Yeah, against that. Again, that's a way of people beating themselves. I should be able to do this, I know better. I this, I that, I whatever their story is. Okay, you're a human, not helpful, just as imperfect as us, and life is fucking hard, dude. There's a lot of things going on, and we have a lot of responsibilities. And in the current time and space that we're all living in, it's pretty chaotic on a good day. Okay. So don't feel bad that you cannot like muscle this out on your own or somehow just force yourself into submission to get towards a goal. First of all, like you just said, maybe it's not even the right goal. But definitely the path or the map that we would help guide them on a map based on their own uniqueness, right? Where are they gonna get that map? If they couldn't get it for the last 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years, or however old they are, right? Like maybe they don't have the map.

Polly Mertens 44:10

Yeah.

Samantha Pruitt 44:10

And once they have the map and they have clarity, they might be a crusher. Execution, 100%, off you go. It's possible.

Polly Mertens 44:18

Yeah, yeah. I noticed this. I was talking with someone about who's starting a school, like they want to start an online school, and never done anything like this before. Like, never, you know, started a business. Never, and I was just like, you know, so do you have a business plan? You know, do you have a whatever? And because I was hearing in the conversation, he was like, as he's telling me, like, well, I went to this person, they said this, and this person said that. So, like, his web guy's telling him to do this, and his marketing guy's telling him, and and he just feels like a pinball in a machine, you know. And I was like, Okay, so like, where's your business plan? You know, and do you have a marketing plan? So, like, you're the curator, you're you know, or like or you're working with a coach, somebody that's like helping you get the the strategy, get it action in place.

Choose The Meaning In Challenge

Polly Mertens 45:00

So those people, you're directing them instead of you're just bouncing back and forth. Like, that's what I was like, you go to the marketing person, they tell you that's a priority. You go to the web guy, and he says, I need this first. And you're like, you're the one that's got the hey guys, come to my come to my symphony and I'm gonna orchestrate. Like, you guys work for me. This is what we're doing here. I'm like, I know how this music is gonna sound. Let's now let's play. Or we're building a house, you got a blueprint, right? So, like, get that.

Samantha Pruitt 45:27

Yeah, yeah, no one else can be the expert in your life. Yeah, you know, again, that's so incredibly disempowering in that um scenario, like you're saying, with business, but people do it in their personal lives too, right? Like, my parents must know what's best for me. What in the hell? I didn't know what's best for any of my children. They need to figure that shit out. I mean, I can just be teaching them things, but I'm not determining their life course. That's ludicrous, or my grandchildren for that matter, right? Yeah. Um, one of the tips and uh tricks that I have done that I have felt has worked for me, curious what your experience is, is the act as if. So I wanted to become, you know, I wasn't a triathlete or an endurance athlete, right? I was a personal trainer and I barely, I was a couch potato, sorry, and then I became an ex-couch potato, and then I found fitness, became a personal trainer, and then became a running coach, and then a triathlete and an endurance coach, all those things, right? So I went from I was none of those things, but along the path of becoming those things all the way up until today, I would just act as if, right? So, okay, well, how do those endurance athletes or those triathletes, what do they do? Where do they hang out? How do they eat? What kind of equipment do they use? What sort of tra like, okay, I'm gonna act as if I'm gonna start doing those things. Or when I went from triathlon into ultra, ultra running, right? Totally different world. These are very foreign worlds. You literally Mars and Saturn, you know? How can I become one of those people now? Oh, I don't want to be one of these people anymore. I want to be one of those people. I start acting as if, oh, I'm an ultra runner now. I really just went from one day because somebody said to me, Hey, you did an Iron Man. I think you can run an ultra. I'm like, I don't think so. And they're like, Yeah, I'm pretty sure if you can go 140.6 miles, you probably can run this 15 miler. Okay, sign me up. What do I do? Just start doing these things. Basically, just show up and acting as if. So I think that can be very powerful too, even in business. I started many businesses not knowing what the hell I was doing. I still don't really know what the hell I'm doing, right? I'm figuring it out because it's changing all the time. So, again, allowing myself to evolve in the process and acting as if.

Polly Mertens 47:47

Yeah. Yeah, what it reminds me of, um, I call it internalized modeling, right? Or um, so acting as if that person already, right? So I think what's important in that is you you have a model. You see something. Like, yeah, you can sort of like, I think we would, I mean, you could act as if you what you think they're doing or what you think of try of, you know, whatever, whoever you want to become. But I think if you can have a model, then you're acting as if what you're they're modeling for you the actions, the behaviors, the ways of being, things like that, right? When you don't have that, I think you can flounder a little bit. You know, you can act like this and act like that. Am I doing it? Am I doing it? You know, is this it? Is it how they do, you know, and it could, you know, it could be um disempowering because you don't feel like you're necessarily, you know, you're going in too many directions, you're not necessarily going in the direction, right? So internalizing the modeling, acting as if that person, like, oh yeah, you know, like people who are this, I see some traits, right? And I'm a big fan of listening to what those people say. Because it because their beliefs come out in what they speak. So you know, identifying with what they say, if you if you like them and admire them, obviously, you know, if you want to.

Samantha Pruitt 49:06

Yes, please pick somebody that you admire. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And also don't pick a hundred people, because then it's very confusing because a hundred people are doing it all differently.

Polly Mertens 49:13

Yeah.

Samantha Pruitt 49:13

Right. So yes.

Polly Mertens 49:14

Yeah, because then their beliefs will like they filters out for, you know, like not only in the behaviors that they're doing, you can model some of the behaviors, but you can also listen to the way that they speak about themselves, the way things are. That can be a fast track for you to like beginning to identify, like, oh, they believe this, not this, you know, like people who save money versus people who overspend money. Like, what are the thoughts that they're thinking? You know, what if I adopt some of those beliefs and take on those rituals, practices, and whatnot, acting as if, as if you said, um, okay, if I mod embody that, okay.

Samantha Pruitt 49:48

Yeah, I agree. Yeah, and that comes back to what you said in the beginning is you better have a compelling vision. And card, that compelling vision can be like, hey, I greatly admire whatever the hell, Oprah Winfrey, for goodness sake. Pick something crazy that's wild, that you may never meet her, right? She doesn't have to be hanging out with me. But I could say, well, what kind of life has she

Strategy Over Resolutions

Samantha Pruitt 50:10

led? You know, what is her legacy? What kind of legend is she? Like, what are all the cool things that this woman's doing in the world? Because I really admire that, right? And so they can be guideposts, light posts, light houses.

Polly Mertens 50:23

My favorite question for that that I've discovered recently in some work I was doing is I was doing it about myself, you know. So I was looking at like things that I had done and was like, and what does that mean about me? Okay, because so I could interpret, like, okay, I did X, Y, Z. Let's say, you know, you know, ran a race or something like that. Oh, I did a Spartan race. Like, okay, well, what does that say about me? What does that mean about me? And I learned through that exercise of like looking at myself, I'm like, oh, I can take that for anyone. Uh that means I'm dedicated. That means I, you know, will do the whatever, like blah, blah, blah, blah, all those things. So even if you can't be around that person, I'm sure you could listen some ways, like you can't hear their beliefs, but you could internalize and interpret from the ways that they're being. We know what someone's experience in the world, what they're demonstrating, we can still interpret. So you can grab some meaning from that. That could be helpful for you.

Samantha Pruitt 51:15

Totally, totally, totally. And hanging around people that are doing the epic shit you want to get up to is paramount.

Polly Mertens 51:22

A thousand percent.

Samantha Pruitt 51:23

Paramount. If you're gonna continue to hang out with people who are not achieving or leading a life that you are remotely interested in, guess what your life will look like. It's just how it works.

Polly Mertens 51:36

I would have zero ultra things on my wall, you know, in my house here in my or in my office. I have the the medals from the races that you've helped me get after. Because you're like, hey, I think you could do that. Hey, there the come do this with me. Hey, you know, and I was like, I have those thanks to you because you're in my life, you know, and so that's where the people that were around either, you know, get around them, get up to it. But proximity matters, man.

Samantha Pruitt 52:03

So proximity matters a hundred percent. Okay, and then some final things are we've talked a hundred times about stacking wins, right? So small wins, big wins, whatever. And if there's setbacks, accept it and move the hell on.

Polly Mertens 52:16

Right?

Samantha Pruitt 52:17

Like obviously, it's not going to be perfect, nothing is perfect.

Polly Mertens 52:21

Yeah, yeah. The space shuttle is off course like 80, 90 percent of the time it's on the way to the moon, you know.

Samantha Pruitt 52:27

Oh, that's a good one. It's correcting, correcting, correcting, it's off course like 90% of the time. They're like course, correct, you know. So that's a good one. That's a good one. Oh, be relentless. Well, you're the queen of this. Relentless. Okay. Relentless pursuit of your life, like relentless pursuit of just owning this, fully owning this. You know, and sometimes for me, it's a complete disaster, absolutely complete disaster. I don't give a shit. I was relentless, I did the best of my abilities given all the circumstances. Yeah. And I come out the other side and I'm still like, yeah, I'm good.

Polly Mertens 53:13

Yeah, and you know, and I would say I want to tie this to the experience that you went through recently, losing your brother, right? Like, relentless doesn't mean, you know, we can easily see where you're relentless in running, you know, trail, dah, dah, dah, dah, whatever. But like who you were being for your brother and in the human and the family and stuff like that, the relentlessness showed up in you being perfectly imperfect, having, you know, tearful days, have whatever, but like relentless in being there, like and and fully present, and whatever it took, and riding the wave of emotions, riding the wave of schedule changes, and getting up at midnight, and you know, all the things that it took, you know. So that's what it sometimes looks.

Samantha Pruitt 53:57

I thought during that whole experience, just towards the end of his life, the last couple of weeks, really I felt like I'm literally in an ultra, like I'm using all of the skill sets that I have. A, not sleeping, you know, just being resourceful, just being all the things I know I'm capable of being, because I built all of those skills back there. And being relentless in the pursuit of giving 100% of everything I have available is really what we're talking about in any given circumstance, and people want to do that for people that they love, people want to do that for really important critical moments in their life and in the lives of others. They want to be 110% in all in. But if you don't build that skill set, you won't have it when it counts. And that is a tragedy.

Polly Mertens 54:56

And I think the things we talked about earlier about uncommitting and committing, you know, prioritizing what you are committed to, because when it matters, when it's hard, when it's like you got to show up, like you you recognize whether you do it or you don't do it, is are you really committed to it? Like, are you voting for that thing? Like if that thing matters to you, it's a it's what part of your why, your whatever, it's important, it has meaning to you. You will do it even when it's hard and difficult and uh inconvenient and uncomfortable and stuff like that. It's like this means something to me, and you give it that meaning, but that's when you see, like, did you commit to the things that are meaningful to you? Right, yeah, and if you blow it off, it's like, yeah, I I'm not gonna do that. It's like doesn't mean that to you then. Okay, then like choose your choose your commitment, right?

Samantha Pruitt 55:42

Every uh decision and action is a vote.

Polly Mertens 55:47

Definitely to who you're being, yeah, yeah.

Samantha Pruitt 55:50

And then my last thing is to really know your worth because at the foundation of all of this and to be able to do this most

Prioritize And Uncommit

Samantha Pruitt 56:00

critical work of your life is to understand your innate value. You're just by existing, you are valuable and worthy. So you don't need to give yourself away or give up your dreams or sacrifice your life or sacrifice your health or do things that are not really what you want to be doing.

Polly Mertens 56:22

And I would say you're valuable and it just goes back to a little bit like if you're overcommitted, you may be undervaluing yourself because you think you have to do more than you have to do to gain value. You might want to look at, are you trading something there, right? Like, is there a trade going on? Like, oh, I'm doing this for this person because they'll like me or whatever. Like when you fully value yourself, like you actually have fewer commitments, like you have ones that are really key and really critical. Like these are the people, and these are not the people, and this is the thing, and that's not the thing. You have fewer things and you're really into them, right? Yeah, exactly. You get it? Exactly. Love it, love it.

Samantha Pruitt 57:06

What's your one thing? I'm gonna read at the end a little um statement that I was given this a long time ago. Jeez Louise. Oh, maybe 30 years ago.

Polly Mertens 57:18

This is Did I say while we were recording? Because I wanted to make sure, because one of the key things I wanted to say is like being stuck or unstuck is a lack of a disorder. Did we talk about that? Or what did we talk about that before we hit record? Uh say it again. I'll so okay, so um, you know, I I talked a little bit about like having a vision. So when you have a compelling vision and then you're committed to it, right? Like that gives you that momentum. So when people are stuck, or you know, like they're not moving forward, right? They haven't made a decision and they haven't committed to it. So if you have a ah, I'm stuck, I'm not moving forward. Like if you feel like you're just sort of treading water in something or you're resisting something, you haven't made well you if you're not doing it, you're actually making a decision not to do it. But you know, there's got to be something, so like break that shit up and make a decision. So the stuckness is a lack of like either clarity, commitment, I'm doing it, not doing it, whatever. Either say you're doing it or not, and then fucking move on. Because you're just you're stuck because you're you're not fucking decided and in it. Because if you were, stuff would be moving forward. You'd be like, I'm getting up to it. So I just want to be sure that we we don't, and then guess what? Momentum and results happen. And the I think the human um animal that we are, whether it's our brain or spirit or something like that, really one of the key things, yes, key to happiness, whatever, relationships, is progress. The human, like we are growth-seeking beings, whether you agree with that or not, test it out for yourself. Growth-seeking beings enjoy progress, right? Commonplace, not moving forward. Like, you know, you go on vacation for a week, like okay, right? Like, I remember I had like I went on a 90-day whatever, and I was not, I mean, I was up to like fun stuff or whatever. And then I was like, I'm gonna get up to something, you know, like like getting up to something. And that you talk about driven it, but it was like the pursuit of something meaningful to you, creating progress along the way, is satisfying, is fulfilling to us as human spirits. So human just how we evolved. Yeah, yeah, right.

Samantha Pruitt 59:21

We didn't stay in one place, we didn't do one thing every like we were constantly just out of survival, operating that way. And it's also just where joy is at in the rich experiences, yeah. It's not in the comfort zone, people, yeah, yeah.

Polly Mertens 59:37

Get outside of that. So I think that would be my one thing is like if you are feeling stuck, if you're feeling unmotivated, something's not moving in your life, you feel whatever. Pick something, make a decision about it, uncommit to something, maybe, and go harder in on something else. Like go more deeper, like so you can actually do the things that are meaningful to you, and then you'll start to feel momentum. And guess what? I bet you feel better. I bet you feel better. Better in a lot of areas. Oh yeah. All right. So let's hear this yummy quote you have. It's so good. Okay, you ready? I think I'm I'm gonna I'm I I don't know because you told me it's gonna like have me like jumping up and down. So I don't know.

Samantha Pruitt 1:00:15

All right, let's do it. Until one is committed, there is hesitant hesitancy, the chance to draw back is always in effectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elemental truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans. That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves to. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from that decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, and material assistance which no man or woman could have ever dreamed would come their way. Whatever you can or dream you can, begin it now. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now. It's my favorite part. Boldness, boom,

Sound Plans, Timelines, And Help

Samantha Pruitt 1:01:30

genius in it, magic. Dude, it's true. You and I talked about being in the flow, and we've had periods of our time lifetime and projects and things where we've been so in the flow, I mean, crushing it, and it's because everything was aligned.

Polly Mertens 1:01:48

And it started, like I said, with a decision and like getting up to it. Like once one confidently decides, as you said, like I would say get lined up with that thing because, like I said, I had, oh, I said I'm gonna do the social media, but I wasn't lined up with it. And I see that that like eroded my my power, my fortitude, my willingness to do it on the daily, and put it in my calendar, and da da da da, you know, like I write it down and it's like, ah, so like pick a thing, line up with it, believe that you can do it, and then get it after it, like your life depends on it in a like an inspiring way, not like kill yourself, but like give it all you got and see how, see what the best of it can be for you, right? Because the universe will deliver the goods. It's true, yeah. And so will you. Yeah, yeah. And you'll feel like meaning will come because you'll you'll actually start to see yourself. Like, like I've had moments where like I see what I'm up to, like a third party seeing my like, check me out, you know. Like, wow, you like have those moments where you see sort of like the virtual reflection of yourself getting up to the thing that you said that was mattered to you, being at your bedside of somebody that matters to you, and that's all you're doing right now, or you're you know, you're just grinding away at the miles, or whatever it is you're doing, and you see yourself, you get that vision of yourself, and you're like, wow, I'm freaking doing it, you know? It's so empowering, so empowering. So, so good. I'm so inspired by this already.

Samantha Pruitt 1:03:17

Look at me. Let's go get up to it. So good. What do you want to remind beautiful humans? Woo! How your life feels is more important than how it looks.

Polly Mertens 1:03:28

And every day is your opportunity to find your awesome.