The Energy Shift You Actually Need

Last week, a client told me she wanted to feel more grounded.

I googled the definition:

Ground.
Verb.
“To prevent from flying.”

She changed her mind.

The energy you’re craving isn’t grounded. It’s uplifted.

So ground yourself just long enough to refuel your jet.

Then do something that makes you feel alive, energised, connected, inspired and uplifted.

You’ll experience life on a whole different level.

Ask Sarah: Am I doing enough?

Q. “No matter how much I get done, or how productive I am, I always feel like I should have done more. How do I know if I’m doing enough?” – M, Serbia.

A. Define “enough”.
Enough to make a million dollars?
Enough to pass your driving test?
Enough to gain 10 pounds of muscle?

You have to know what your desired result is.

Then, you must identify what actions actually create that result.

Crucially, it’s not about identifying what actions would make you feel productive, legitimate, or like you’re doing it right.

It’s about pinpointing what is truly required to get the result.

I call it the Result-Producing Action.

It’s the action that comes directly before the result you desire.

Let’s say your desired result is to sell 20 new websites to architects every year.

Your Result-Producing Action would be to reach out to architectural firms and offer it to them.

You can spend all day working – posting a cute graphic on social media, designing a new logo, reworking your pricing, even working on your existing client websites – but none of that is ever going to feel like enough, because it isn’t.

It’s not your Result-Producing Action.

Instead, you could spend 30 minutes each day of the year making five phone calls to architectural firms, offering your website services – and that would be enough.

(That’s 1825 offers per year. You’d easily land 20 of them.

Even if most people say no, that’s still a result. You got real-world feedback and data. Something actually happened.

Here’s how to do the math:

1. Define the result you want.

2. Identify the Result-Producing Action.

3. Calculate how many times you need to perform that Result Producing Action to ensure you’ll create the result.

4. Just do that. That’s enough.

TLDR:

You’ve done enough when you’ve done something that will produce a result.

This Is Your Sign To Go ALL IN

You’re not the kind of person who is satisfied with a chilled existence.

There are people who are content with the way things are. (Good for them!)

But as a highly driven person, you know you've only scratched the surface of what you can achieve.

Nothing scares you like the thought of wasting your potential.

But that’s what it feels like, right? Like you’re running out of time to make an impact.

It’s not too late.

You know that thing you’ve been thinking about doing?

The one you keep starting and stopping?

The one that will change everything when you actually do it?

It’s time to commit.

This is your sign to go all in.

You Didn’t Come Here To Be Good

You didn’t come here to do your best.
Or please your mother.
Or stay on top of your laundry.

You didn’t come here to meet expectations.
Or commit to forever.
Or purchase a 3 bed, 2 bath.

You didn’t come here to be liked.
Or attend university.
Or be good in bed.

You didn’t come here to follow the rules.
Or give your parents grandkids.
Or shave your legs.

You didn’t come here to be good.
You came here to be free.

Stop Optimising Your Life

If you’re not already making money, you don’t need a plan to scale your business.

If you’re not already posting on social media 7 days a week, you don’t need a content calendar.

If you’re not already going to the gym, you don’t need a workout schedule.

Stop trying to optimise what that hasn't been created yet.

Unless you’re already knee-deep in action, it’s just procrastination.

In the beginning, your job is just to create, make, sell, share, publish, send, post, write, or paint, without preparation.

When I blogged daily for two years, I never batched my content ahead of time. Not even once.

To this day, everything I create is made for the current deadline I’m facing.

Videos, blogs, podcasts, emails – none of it is done in advance.

Planning is an illusion. It’s a trick your brain plays on you to stay in motion without having to face the real work.

That’s why during the first coaching session with my clients, we make a simple, guaranteed plan for their goal.

Then we never, ever plan again.

No organising.
No prepping.
No templating.
No batching.
No strategising.

Only doing.

“Who Do You Know That Can Write Me a 100 Million Dollar Cheque?”

“It’s honestly that simple, Sarah. Just keep asking people “Who do you know that can write me a 100 million dollar cheque?” until you meet someone who can connect you to the right person.”

It’s such an obvious answer, I want to kick myself for asking.

I’m sitting on Zoom in a Sydney Airbnb, talking to a Venture Capitalist who has secured giant cheques from some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley.

I’ve just asked, on behalf of a client, how to raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

I’m expecting him to explain a formal process for approaching investors.

Instead, he tells me he mainly just sends DMs on LinkedIn.

It dawns on me as we’re talking, how many of the results in my own life have come from simply asking.

Clients, apartments, jobs – all because I called or emailed someone (often a stranger) and asked.

What is your version of the “Who do you know that can write me a 100 million dollar cheque” question?

• Who do you know that can help me break into the luxury market?

• Who do you know that can get me featured in a major publication?

• Who do you know that can help me become a professional singer?

• Who do you know that can get my child into a top-tier pre-school?

It feels uncomfortable to ask. Inappropriate, even.

But outrageous requests get attention.

Note that the question is not “Do you know anyone who…”

Because that only requires a yes or no answer.

“Who do you know…” requires a name.

This is one of those times where grit matters.

You can’t ask three people today and then forget about it.

It’s got to be the main question on your lips for the next six months until you get the result.

Most people reading this will think about asking their question.

But what if you actually did it?

How To Want It Bad

If you only kinda want it, you’re only kinda gonna get it.⁠

You have to want it bad.⁠

More than you did yesterday.⁠ ⁠

More than anyone.⁠

More than anything else in your whole life.⁠ ⁠

When you want it that bad, you’ll be willing to do whatever it takes.⁠ ⁠

Anything.⁠ ⁠

Rules no longer apply.⁠ ⁠

You won’t be afraid to knock on every door in your neighbourhood to ask for donations.⁠

Or ring up people you haven’t spoken to in 10 years to ask for help.⁠ ⁠

Or look like you’re trying really, really hard.⁠

When you want it that bad, all excuses fall away.⁠ ⁠

So how do you get yourself to want it that bad?

You devote energy – like you might to styling your hair or cooking dinner – to kindling determination.

Not occasionally, but every single day.

Start making a conscious daily attempt to turn desire into decision, and decision into [relentless] action.

Visualise.
Meditate.
Blast Kendrick Lamar.
Run.
Read a quote.
Listen to a podcast.
Anything that compels you into action.

It doesn’t need to be at the same time each day (your pursuit of the perfect morning routine is just another way to procrastinate what really matters), but it does need to be every day.

My practice? I write.

My notes app is filled with intentional thoughts (5128 notes in my icloud, to be exact).

Most I will never return to.

Because the moment they flow from my fingers onto the page, they have already served their purpose:

To generate drive.

July 2024 Goals

I just moved to Sydney, so this month I’m taking a step back from my usual intensity and giving myself space to work on some fun goals I’ve been wanting to pursue for a while.

By July 31st, I will easily:

Master the Moonwalk

I grew up watching Michael Jackson music videos because my mum was a huge fan. So I can kind of do a moonwalk already.

But it’s not fluid and it doesn’t have the visual effect it’s supposed to. So this month, I’m going to practice every day until it’s so smooth, it’s criminal. I’ll post all the cringe videos.

Thoughts that will drive me to create this result:

• This is so fun

• I want to practice today

• Any minute now, it’s going to just click.

• Once I have this move, I’ll never lose it. It’s like riding a bike.

Solidify the Vision for my Next Coaching Program

As I evolve, my business does too. This year has been full of inner evolution. So I’m ready to create something new. I feel it bubbling up, I just haven’t created enough mental focus for it to arise.

Thoughts that will drive me to create this result:

• I know exactly what to create

• People are waiting for this

• Anything I create will work

What are your July Goals?
What do you need to think to make them happen?

How To Get Lit Up

Your personality has a volume setting.

It’s constantly being adjusted by the people you interact with.

There are three types of people playing with your volume settings:

1. Reducers turn your volume down.

They say things like:

“That idea will never work.”
“You’re too much.”
“Chill out.”

They make you less of yourself.

2. Supporters maintain your volume.

They say things like:

“Great idea!”
“You’re awesome.”
“Keep going.”

They make you stay the same.

3. Amplifiers turn your volume up.

They say things like:

“Omg, let’s make a plan for you right now!”
“Yes, AND you could also…”
“Let me connect you to someone who can help.”

They make you more of yourself.

How lit up you feel is directly affected by the amount of time you spend with each kind of person.

I used to think it was enough to avoid Reducers, and simply surround myself with Supporters to cheer me on.

But recently I’ve discovered that to live my fullest, highest potential life, I need the presence of Amplifiers who actively push me to the next level – without me even having to ask.

“The best way to light yourself up is to be close to someone who is on fire.” – Felicity Huffman

I’m suggesting you also get close to someone with a can of gasoline.

And if you’re lucky, you’re both on fire, and you both have gasoline.

Now it’s a limitless explosion.

Some notes for the Amplifiers of this world:

1. Even though you’re naturally motivated, you can’t perpetually self-ignite. Eventually, you’ll run out of fuel and burn out. Don’t wait for that to happen. Seek other Amplifiers now.

2. Occasionally, you'll encounter someone who doesn’t ignite, no matter how much gasoline you pour over them. If they don’t have at least a little spark, gasoline does nothing but create a wet mess. (Or to use my earlier analogy, you can’t turn up the volume when there’s nothing playing). As hard as it is to watch a sparkless friend struggle, you can’t create that spark for them. You have to let them find it on their own. So be their Supporter for now. Cheer them on. Be there. But stop trying to help them make things happen. You can’t Amplify until they find that spark of motivation within themselves first.

Who are the Amplifiers in your life?

Make a list. Reach out. Do it today.

The Blog Is Back

Between 2019-2021, I wrote a blog every single day for two years.

730 posts. Never missed a day.

It was life changing in so many ways:

• I developed the discipline to show up for my goals, every single day, no matter what. Even when I was sick, tired, busy and resistant.

• I learned how to trade perfect (and even good) for done. Some of the posts I created are physically painful for me to re-read. But I was willing to be bad at writing to get good at showing up. I discovered that a large part of getting what you want in life is allowing yourself to be dissatisfied with the process.

• It inspired me to create a graphic (below) about showing up daily that got seen by 6 million people, liked by 120,000 on Twitter, and shared by 35,000, including by Ariana Huffington, and Steven Bartlett from Diary of a CEO/Dragons Den. I still get messages every week from therapists and schools telling me how they have it printed and hung up in their offices and classrooms.

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A post shared by Sarah Arnold-Hall | High Performance Coach (@saraharnoldhall)

My decision to show up daily came from words by the writer Sean Wes (who is now on a hiatus from the internet).

It’s that last sentence that got me.

I realised I’d been looking for the microwaveable version of success. The ready-meal option. The quick fix.

But there is no shortcut. There’s only doing the work.

And just like Sean said, showing up daily did make me money.
It did build me an audience.
It did solve most of my (business) problems.

The blog itself wasn’t what created success (I’m pretty sure for the first whole year I had about five readers), but the act of learning to show up daily meant that I actually started doing the necessary work to build a sustainable business. I finally learned to stick with things long enough to see them work.

(The truth is, ALL the marketing gurus are right. Every technique, every strategy they say is the secret to success, it all works. But only if YOU work. You can’t try it and stop after a bit because you’re not seeing results. You have to pick a strategy and go all in, and NOT STOP UNTIL IT WORKS.)

So, I blogged for my two year commitment, and then finished so I could focus on creating my podcast, How to Take Action.

Now – two years and 110 episodes in – I’ve been starting to feel that something is missing from my online presence.

I haven’t been feeling on fire with my influence like I used to.

For years I’ve had a theory that to be truly influential, you need to be both inspirational and aspirational.

Inspirational
Noun
Causing people to want to do or create something

Aspirational
Noun
Role modelling the process of doing and creating something

Inspiration alone is useful.
Aspiration alone is cool.

But together, they can light a fire of ambition so hot you can’t put it out.

Think, Kim Kardashian becoming a human rights lawyer. She added inspiration to her aspirational lifestyle. Or climate activist, Greta Thunberg’s double crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to attend a conference. She added aspiration to her inspiring message.

Don’t just share how to do something. Role model doing it.
Don’t just role model doing something. Share how to do it.

If you think of the most influential person in your life, it’s likely that they had those qualities:

1. They taught you how to think differently (inspiration).

2. They role modelled the way (aspiration).

And that’s why I’m bringing back my blog.

I’m creating what I wish existed for me to consume: the juicy, behind-the-scenes of someone’s goals, mixed with the nitty-gritty how-to instructions.

While I won’t be posting daily (my “showing up daily” focus is now directed towards the back-end marketing of my business), I will be updating frequently with my goals, processes, and insights.

I hope it inspires and aspires you to do something impossibly ambitious.