June 1, 2025 • 28 mins
Welcome back to another soul-stirring episode of the Inspirations for Your Life Podcast. I’m your host, John C. Morley, serial entrepreneur, coach, and passionate believer in personal growth through life’s twists and turns. Today’s topic cuts straight to the heart of something we all experience—how plans, no matter how perfect they may seem, often get rerouted by life itself. But here’s the truth: life doesn’t always follow our timelines or blueprints, and that’s not a flaw—that’s a feature. The beauty of the journey is found not in the precision of execution, but in our willingness to adapt when the road bends. In this episode, we’ll explore why planning still matters, how to embrace uncertainty without fear, and how the detours we resist may become the destinations we cherish. So, buckle up. Let’s dive deep into the art of balancing purpose with flexibility, and find clarity not in control—but in trust.
1️⃣ Planning provides direction, but not guarantees ️Creating a plan gives us clarity, focus, and a path forward. It helps us set intentions, organize priorities, and make better decisions with a purpose in mind. But even the best-laid plans cannot promise the outcomes we envision. Life has its own rhythm and often rearranges our timeline in unexpected ways. That doesn’t mean planning is useless—it means we need to see plans as dynamic guides, not rigid contracts. A plan is a tool, not a truth. It steers us toward a goal, but we must leave room for adjustments when reality diverges from our expectations. Recognizing that plans provide direction but not guarantees helps us avoid frustration and disappointment when things change—and reminds us that flexibility is a powerful part of intentional living.
2️⃣ Unexpected changes are part of growth ️It’s easy to resist change—especially when it sneaks in uninvited and disrupts what we thought was secure. But the truth is, unexpected changes are some of life’s greatest catalysts for personal growth. When we’re forced out of our routines or comfort zones, we often discover strength, clarity, and creativity we didn’t know we had. Those shifts challenge us to confront our fears, rethink our values, and reassess our path forward. What feels like chaos in the moment can become clarity in retrospect. Rather than seeing disruptions as derailments, we must start recognizing them as opportunities—windows into deeper understanding and refined purpose. Every curveball carries the potential to elevate us, if we’re open to learning from it.
3️⃣ Flexibility builds resilience .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:14):
Well, hey everyone, it is John C.
Morley here, serial entrepreneur.
It's great to be with you on Inspirations
for Your Life.
It is a Saturday evening and welcome to
everyone, welcome, welcome, welcome.
If you are new here, welcome.
(00:35):
If you're coming back, well, I say welcome
back.
You check out BelieveMeAchieved.com for more of
my amazing, of course, inspiring creations, which you
can find 24 hours a day online after
the show.
You can check it out.
I know you'll definitely enjoy it and it
will definitely improve your life.
(00:55):
Welcome back, everyone.
Like I said, I am your host, John
C.
Morley, serial entrepreneur, not only a podcast host,
but also a podcast coach and a passionate
believer in personal growth through life's twists and
unexpected turns.
Today's a topic that cuts straight to the
heart of something we all experience.
(01:16):
How plans, no matter how perfect they may
seem, often get rerouted by life itself.
But here's the truth.
Life doesn't always follow our timeline or the
blueprints that we have for ourselves.
And that's not a flaw, that's a feature.
The beauty of the journey is found not
(01:36):
in the precision of execution, but in our
willingness to adopt when the road bends.
In this episode, I'm going to explore why
planning still matters, how to embrace uncertainty without
fear, and how to understand the detours we
resist as they may become the destinations we
cherish.
So buckle up, everyone.
It's going to be a wild ride.
(01:58):
Let's dive into the art of balancing purpose
with flexibility and find clarity, not just in
control, but in true trust.
So number one, guys, is planning provides direction,
but not guarantees.
Let me say that again.
Planning provides direction, but not guarantees.
I think that upsets some people that that
(02:19):
happens like that.
I think that's probably something that's important.
So creating a plan gives us clarity, focus,
and a path forward.
It helps us set intentions, organize priorities, and
make better decisions with a purpose in mind.
But even the best laid plans cannot promise
the outcomes we envision.
Life has its own rhythm and often rearranges
(02:40):
our timeline in unexpected ways.
That doesn't mean planning is useless.
It means we need to see plans as
dynamic guides, not rigid contracts.
A plan is a tool, not a truth.
It steers us toward a goal, an aspiration,
(03:01):
but we must leave room for our adjustments.
Now when reality diverges from our expectations, which
that's going to happen, recognizing that plans provide
direction, but not guarantees.
And it helps us avoid frustration and disappointment
when things change and remind us that flexibility
(03:22):
is a powerful part of intentional living.
And I think a lot of people get
frustrated because, you know, they expect everything to
be exactly the way they want, but sometimes
things will come out a lot better than
the way they want.
And I think that's something that we need
to embrace as owners, entrepreneurs, serial entrepreneurs, leaders,
(03:44):
okay?
I think that's an important thing to understand,
guys, a really, really important thing.
Number two, unexpected changes are part of growth.
So why don't we just embrace these changes?
Because if we do, we're going to find
out there's probably something very special waiting for
us at the end.
(04:05):
But it might seem like a challenge in
the beginning, I know, I know.
So it's easy to resist change, especially when
it sneaks in uninvited and disrupts what we
thought was secure.
But the truth is unexpected.
Changes are some of life's greatest catalysts for
personal growth.
When we're focused out of routines or comfort
(04:26):
zones, we often discover strength, clarity, and creativity.
We don't know what we had, really.
These shifts challenge us to confront our fears,
rethink our values, and reassess our path forward.
What feels like chaos in the moment can
become clarity in retrospect.
Rather than seeing disruptions as derailments, we must
(04:49):
start recognizing them as opportunities, pathways, windows into
deeper understandings, and refined purposes of our life.
I think that's important.
Every curveball that was ever thrown to us
carries the potential to elevate us if we
open ourselves to learning from it.
Many will say, oh my gosh, it's a
(05:10):
curveball, like what am I going to do,
like, oh my, the world's over.
No, a curveball is a way for you
to take your resolve and move forward.
I think that's a very, very important thing,
guys, I mean, a really powerful thing.
So when you get that curveball, don't threat,
don't cry, don't worry about it.
Just understand that you have more power than
(05:31):
you think and you can learn, all right?
Okay.
So let's dive into our very, very next
point.
Flexibility builds resilience.
The most resilient people aren't those who power
through unchanged.
They're the ones who can pivot, they can
(05:51):
bend and adapt without losing their essence.
Flexibility is the quiet strength that keeps us
standing when life tries to knock us down.
It's the willingness to explore alternative routes when
the road ahead is blocked.
When we choose flexibility, our rigidity, we give
ourselves permission to evolve.
(06:13):
Instead of holding tightly to what we embrace,
okay, we can learn how to move forward
with grace.
Flexibility doesn't mean abandoning our values or our
goals that we've been living for.
It means carrying them with us in basically
(06:34):
whatever new shape life has or form that
it takes.
It's a skill that we build over time.
And every time we respond to life's uncertainties
with openness instead of resistance, our resilience grows
deeper and more unshakable.
Number four, let go of control, folks, without
(06:59):
losing focus.
And I know that sounds like you're giving
up, but you're not.
You're actually understanding something.
I think that's really important.
So one of the hardest things in life
is accepting that we're not in control of
everything.
All right?
I think that's important.
We can plan, we can prepare and work
(07:19):
hard, but there will always be variables beyond
our grasp.
Learning to let go of control is not
about giving up.
It's about releasing the illusion, okay, that we
can force outcomes.
What matters is maintaining, okay, our focus on
(07:43):
what we can control.
Our mindset, our actions, and our reactions.
Letting go means making peace with the unknown
without losing sight of our purpose.
It means staying committed to the vision, but
unattached to how or when it manifests.
(08:03):
When we learn this delicate dance, holding focus
without clinging, we open ourselves to peace, possibility,
and even unexpected success that surpasses what we
could have orchestrated alone.
Number five, adaptability opens new opportunities.
(08:26):
We all know that from the chameleons, right,
the animals that can basically camouflage themselves very
similar to the way the army wears clothes
that kind of lets them blend into their
surroundings.
We know that that's very important, and being
adaptable can make us not only more resilient,
but it can help us see opportunities that
we didn't know existed.
When we choose, again, this is the key
(08:49):
here, it's a choice, when we choose to
be adaptable, we make space for the magic
to unfold in our life.
Life really moves in a straight line, okay,
and that's where adaptability becomes our secret superpower.
It allows us to recognize doors we didn't
even know existed and step into versions of
(09:09):
ourselves we hadn't imagined.
The more adaptable we become, the more options
we see.
What once looked like a dead end may
turn into a scenic detour that leads to
a better destination.
Adaptability is about staying curious, willing to learn,
and courageous, folks, enough to shift direction.
When you're adaptable, change doesn't threaten you, it
(09:33):
energizes you, it empowers you.
You begin to trust that every redirection might
be guiding you to something even more aligned
than your original plan.
Number six, guys, stay grounded but not rigid.
I think that's a very important thing.
Many people want to be on point, but
(09:56):
for whatever reason, they are just so stay
-hole that they can't change.
To live intentionally, we need roots, values, beliefs,
and a sense of purpose that keeps us
grounded.
But like a tree, we also need flexibility
in our branches to weather life's storms.
Staying grounded means knowing who you are and
(10:16):
standing in your truth, but not at the
expense of growth.
Rigidity leads to breakage.
When we cling too tightly to one way
of doing things or resist evolution, we close
ourselves off from expansion.
Instead, we can choose to anchor ourselves in
what matters most while still remaining open to
(10:39):
transformation.
This grounded flexibility allows us to move with
life rather than against it, staying strong without
becoming brittle.
We've always said you don't want to swim
upstream.
That could be very hard, it could be
very, very difficult.
I know that as you think about life
(11:01):
and you think about where things are going,
you have to adapt this philosophy that I'm
explaining to you, to live intentionally.
You have to adapt that.
And it's something we can all do, but
I know when things get tough, it's like,
oh my gosh, it's like we cling.
And see, when we cling harder to something,
(11:24):
it makes it difficult for us to be
able to change or to see other possibilities.
Number seven, redirection isn't failure, it's refinement.
Let me say that again.
Redirection isn't failure, it is refinement.
That's a very, very powerful thing, guys.
(11:45):
When life pulls us away from something we
were working toward, it's easy to feel like
we failed.
But what if redirection is not a punishment,
but a type of precision to realign us?
Sometimes we don't realize that our plan needs
fine tuning until life shows us a different
way.
Redirection can be a gift, an invitation to
(12:05):
look closer, a pivot to be smarter, or
pursue a path we hadn't yet considered.
What we initially labeled as setbacks may actually
be alignment at work.
They nudge us to become more intentional and
to let go of what no longer is
serving us.
Redirection isn't about giving up, folks.
It's about leveling up.
(12:27):
It refinds not just our path, but our
character and our vision.
And when we can keep tweaking and tuning
into that, and we can keep working on
it, I feel that that gives us infinite
possibilities.
It really does.
But so many people don't give it a
(12:49):
try.
You know why?
Because they're stuck in a certain way.
Right?
They are stuck in a certain way.
And because they're stuck in a certain way,
it's like, oh my gosh, like, what am
I supposed to do?
Be open to change.
Be open to possibilities.
(13:12):
That's a mouthful there, guys.
Right?
That is a mouthful there.
Number eight, guys.
Embrace uncertainty as a teacher, not as an
enemy.
Uncertainty doesn't have to be the enemy.
In fact, it can be one of our
greatest teachers, inviting us to surrender, reflect, and
(13:33):
discover parts of ourselves we might otherwise have
ignored.
When we're no longer sure of what's next,
we're forced to slow down, tune in, and
become more present.
Uncertainty teaches humility.
It teaches us how to trust, how to
be still, and how to navigate life from
a place of curiosity instead of control.
(13:54):
When we're curious about things, we're more playful.
Okay?
I've often said to people, I don't work
a day in my life.
I just creatively play, and I get paid
for it.
When you embrace your work or your passion
as play, you'll never work a day in
your life.
The unknown can be terrifying, yes, but it's
(14:15):
also fertile ground for insight, reinvention, and revelation.
Embrace it not with fear, but with reverence,
and watch what you learn.
I think that's a very, very important thing.
Number nine, guys, trust the journey, not the
destination.
(14:37):
We live in a world that's obsessed with
outcomes, but the real magic happens on the
journey.
Happens between the breaths we take in life.
Every step, every challenge, every breath, every moment
of joy or frustration is shaping who you
are becoming.
Trusting the journey means letting go of rigid
(14:59):
timelines and appreciating the unfolding process of life.
It's about being fully engaged, all right, in
the here and the now, even when it's
messy or unclear.
We stop racing toward the finish line and
start appreciating the road beneath our feet.
We find meaning in the moment.
(15:21):
Trusting the journey doesn't mean we stop striving.
It means we strive with peace, presence, and
a perspective.
That's a mouthful there, guys, but why do
so many people, like, sabotage themselves?
Because they can, because they hear things from
other people, and they think other people are
(15:42):
right, but they're not.
Here's the part of the show that I
really enjoy.
So I'm going to give you basically a
personal story lesson for each of the points,
okay?
And I'm doing this because I want you
to, let's say, connect this with something real
(16:06):
in your life.
When things become real, it's like now there's
a reason to do things, okay?
There's a reason to do things, and I
think that's something that a lot of people,
you know, they just don't understand, like, what
that means, all right?
(16:29):
They don't understand what it means because they're
suddenly lost.
They're lost with, you know, what they should
be doing or what they think they should
be doing, all because one of their friends
or their colleagues or their relatives or their
family says, you know what?
You can't do that.
And we know what Henry Ford said to
us many times.
(16:50):
If you believe you can, you're right.
If you believe you can't, you're also right.
Number one, planning provides direction but not guarantees.
Back when I started my very first business
over 31, 32 years ago, I had a
five-year plan so detailed it could have
been rivaled, a blueprint for building a skyscraper.
I knew what month I'd hit a certain
(17:11):
revenue goal, which partnerships I'd lock in, and
even when I'd upgrade my office.
But six months in, the economy took a
little bit of a dip.
One of my biggest clients backed out, and
several key deals fell through.
For a moment, I felt defeated, like all
the planning was wasted.
But then I realized something powerful, that plan
gave me the structure to adapt.
(17:32):
I wasn't starting from scratch.
I was just rerouting, retooling.
And some of the clients I picked up
in the aftermath turned out to be better
aligned with my values and core beliefs.
That experience taught me that while a plan
offer is clarity, it's not a crystal ball.
(17:52):
It gives us the map, but we still
have to navigate the terrain as it unfolds.
Number two, unexpected changes are part of the
growth.
Several years ago, I was invited to speak
at a national event, a huge deal for
me at the time.
I spent weeks rehearsing and preparing my talk.
The night before my flight, I caught a
terrible stomach bug.
(18:13):
I actually had food poisoning.
I had to cancel everything, I was crushed.
But that cancellation led to an unexpected meeting
with a small local group the following week,
where I tested the same content.
And one of the attendees introduced me to
a new business partner who helped scale my
brand even larger because they invited me to
(18:34):
a seminar ten times the size.
By the way, that place actually invited me
to come back and speak six months later,
and they, of course, didn't hold anything against
me that I had gotten food poisoning.
So you never know when things are going
to happen.
Looking back, that stomach bug wasn't just a
bad luck thing, it was a redirection that
(18:54):
led to unexpected growth.
Life's interruptions often feel like roadblocks, but many
are hidden gifts guiding us to what we
actually need at the time.
We don't think it's what we need, but
the universe knows what we need very well.
Number three, flexibility builds resilience.
I once worked a massive project and did
(19:19):
a product launch that had taken over six
months of development.
Two weeks before the release, a tech competitor
launched something earlier, similar, sleeker, cheaper, and more
aggressive in their marketing.
My team and I were stunned.
I came up with the first wireless alarm
system, it was called Alarms to Go.
We could have gone ahead as planned, but
(19:40):
instead we pivoted.
We scraped some of the fluff, improved the
value offering, and decided to change what we
were doing.
Because what happened was one of the people
that we were doing work with, unfortunately, on
the TV network blabbed to somebody else.
That somebody else was a major superstore.
(20:02):
And, I guess, they don't have loyalty in
the TV business.
And that hurt.
But it taught me that you got to
keep your mouth shut and not share things
until they're sealed.
Sales didn't go where we wanted.
We revised our goal, we came up with
a new product launch for an entirely different
(20:23):
concept, but we didn't tell one soul what
we were doing until the product had already
become a massive success.
That experience reminded me that resilience isn't about
sticking with your first idea.
It's about being brave enough to shift gears
when you're emotionally on board to only go
one way.
(20:43):
When you stay flexible, you don't break, you
bounce back stronger.
Like a ball, right?
You throw a ball on the ground, it
bounces.
You throw an egg on the ground, oh,
it cracks.
Number four, let go of control, folks, without
losing focus.
In one of my coaching programs, I had
(21:04):
a client who initially signed up for a
one-on-one session, but suddenly had to
pursue a pause for family reasons.
I felt out of control.
I had built part of my schedule around
those sessions.
But rather than resist, I chose to release
my grip and focus on what I could
do.
Improve my group workshops and add new resources
to my online portal.
(21:25):
Ironically, those updated announcements attracted a whole new
wave of clients.
That situation taught me that letting go doesn't
mean losing direction.
It means shifting your energy to what still
serves your purpose.
We don't need to control every detail, folks.
We just need to keep showing up with
intention.
But intention that is based on truth and
(21:48):
around your core values.
If you do not do that, and you're
trying to do something else because someone else
has said to do it, you're going to
be so disappointed, folks.
Number five, adaptability opens new opportunities.
During the early months of the pandemic, I
had a few in-person seminars lined up.
With venues closing and travels getting banned, everything
(22:09):
got canceled.
Rather than wait it out, I took a
deep breath and dove into virtual event hosting.
This was a little scary, something I'd never
done before.
To my surprise, I reached more people in
those online sessions than I ever could have
in person.
That pivot didn't just save my speaking career,
(22:30):
it expanded it globally.
Now I speak all over the world.
What seemed like a limitation became a launch
pad.
If we stay stuck in how it was
supposed to be, well, we miss out on
what's trying to become.
Adaptability isn't just reacting, it's unlocking a future
you didn't yet imagine.
(22:51):
Number six, stay grounded but not rigid.
Early in my entrepreneurial journey, I was determined
to follow the business model I had studied
and drafted down to the letter and even
the very character and dot on the paper.
It was built on solid principles, but I
resisted feedback and ignored signs that parts of
(23:12):
it weren't working.
A mentor finally challenged me to resist my
why, my values.
That moment helped me realize that while my
purpose remained the same, my methods needed to
evolve more, to adapt with the world.
I restructured some of the service offerings, gave
my team more creative input, and within a
few months, everything began to flow better.
(23:33):
That taught me that being rooted in purpose
doesn't mean being stuck in process.
Like a tree, we must remain firmly planted,
but allow our branches to sway with the
wind when they want to.
Number seven, redirection isn't failure, it's refinement.
Years ago, I launched a tech product.
(23:55):
I believed it was going to revolutionize client
workflows.
Despite all the effort, it flopped.
At first, I felt embarrassed and frustrated, but
instead of scraping everything, I analyzed what went
wrong and realized there was something valuable burned
in the feedback.
I refined the concept, simplified the user experience,
(24:15):
and planned to relaunch six months later in
a completely different industry, software as a service.
That version became one of our best performing
tools.
That taught me redirection isn't the end, folks,
it's a compass.
What felt like a failure was actually a
filter, guiding me to something more aligned and
(24:37):
impactful.
Number eight, guys, embrace uncertainty as a teacher.
When I was going through a personal challenge
many years ago, the uncertainty was suffocating.
I didn't know what each result would be
or what changes would happen each day.
I learned to be still.
(24:57):
I journaled, I spent time in nature, and
got to know myself in deeper ways than
I ever did before.
That uncertainty pushed me to ask better questions
about myself and how I was living.
In the end, the scare passed, but the
lesson stayed.
It reminded me that uncertainty slows us down
(25:18):
for a reason.
It makes us take a pause, pay attention.
It's not comfortable, but it's often the space
where transformation is born.
And I got to tell you, when the
universe is trying to tell you to slow
down, don't fight it.
Slow down, take the rest.
There's a reason it's doing it.
If you don't, well, the universe is going
(25:39):
to stop you like a Mack truck.
And that's not going to be just discomforting.
That's probably going to be painful.
So take the lessons, stop, pause when you
need to.
Number nine, trust that journey, not just a
destination.
When I launched my first podcast, I initially
set massive goals, wrote 100,000 downloads in
six months, book topped your guests every week,
(26:02):
monetized immediately.
Spoiler, that didn't happen right away.
But here's what I did.
I met incredible people, received moving feedback from
listeners, and rediscovered why I love storytelling and
service.
Now the show has grown organically, and the
most rewarding moments were never part of the
plan.
I had judged the success only by numbers.
(26:27):
I would have missed the real gift, the
connection.
Trusting the journey means realizing that even the
slow climbs and quiet detours, they matter.
They build depth and resilience and offer us
to bring more joy than the destination itself.
We're always on different journeys, folks.
We're always on different paths.
(26:51):
But sometimes we have to realize that the
journey is actually a blast.
And when we appreciate the journey, you know
what happens?
We start to be more successful.
We start to be more conscious of things.
And then we start to learn about what's
(27:12):
actually going on.
I don't know about you guys, but that's
something that is so priceless.
And it drives back to our point for
this week, the master topic, which is timeless
principles for living with intention and integrity.
Intention is doing something because you want to
do it, not because somebody else is telling
you to do it.
I think these are important things, but I
don't think these are easy lessons, and they're
(27:34):
not very simple to swallow.
They require us to go in and search
ourselves and get rid of any ego remnants
that might be lurking.
I think that's an important piece, guys.
And when we learn how to do that,
our life changes from night to dark almost
immediately.
(27:55):
But the reason it doesn't happen is because
of your belief, right?
When your belief changes, your life changes.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm John C.
Morley, serial entrepreneur.
It's always a privilege, pleasure and honor to
be with you guys on these amazing shows,
the short-term content, the long-form content.
Do check out BelieveMeAchieve.com, more of my
amazing, inspiring creations.
Catch you real soon, everyone.
Well, hey everyone, it is John C.
Morley here, serial entrepreneur.
It's great to be with you on Inspirations
for Your Life.
It is a Saturday evening and welcome to
everyone, welcome, welcome, welcome.
If you are new here, welcome.
(00:35):
If you're coming back, well, I say welcome
back.
You check out BelieveMeAchieved.com for more of
my amazing, of course, inspiring creations, which you
can find 24 hours a day online after
the show.
You can check it out.
I know you'll definitely enjoy it and it
will definitely improve your life.
(00:55):
Welcome back, everyone.
Like I said, I am your host, John
C.
Morley, serial entrepreneur, not only a podcast host,
but also a podcast coach and a passionate
believer in personal growth through life's twists and
unexpected turns.
Today's a topic that cuts straight to the
heart of something we all experience.
(01:16):
How plans, no matter how perfect they may
seem, often get rerouted by life itself.
But here's the truth.
Life doesn't always follow our timeline or the
blueprints that we have for ourselves.
And that's not a flaw, that's a feature.
The beauty of the journey is found not
(01:36):
in the precision of execution, but in our
willingness to adopt when the road bends.
In this episode, I'm going to explore why
planning still matters, how to embrace uncertainty without
fear, and how to understand the detours we
resist as they may become the destinations we
cherish.
So buckle up, everyone.
It's going to be a wild ride.
(01:58):
Let's dive into the art of balancing purpose
with flexibility and find clarity, not just in
control, but in true trust.
So number one, guys, is planning provides direction,
but not guarantees.
Let me say that again.
Planning provides direction, but not guarantees.
I think that upsets some people that that
(02:19):
happens like that.
I think that's probably something that's important.
So creating a plan gives us clarity, focus,
and a path forward.
It helps us set intentions, organize priorities, and
make better decisions with a purpose in mind.
But even the best laid plans cannot promise
the outcomes we envision.
Life has its own rhythm and often rearranges
(02:40):
our timeline in unexpected ways.
That doesn't mean planning is useless.
It means we need to see plans as
dynamic guides, not rigid contracts.
A plan is a tool, not a truth.
It steers us toward a goal, an aspiration,
(03:01):
but we must leave room for our adjustments.
Now when reality diverges from our expectations, which
that's going to happen, recognizing that plans provide
direction, but not guarantees.
And it helps us avoid frustration and disappointment
when things change and remind us that flexibility
(03:22):
is a powerful part of intentional living.
And I think a lot of people get
frustrated because, you know, they expect everything to
be exactly the way they want, but sometimes
things will come out a lot better than
the way they want.
And I think that's something that we need
to embrace as owners, entrepreneurs, serial entrepreneurs, leaders,
(03:44):
okay?
I think that's an important thing to understand,
guys, a really, really important thing.
Number two, unexpected changes are part of growth.
So why don't we just embrace these changes?
Because if we do, we're going to find
out there's probably something very special waiting for
us at the end.
(04:05):
But it might seem like a challenge in
the beginning, I know, I know.
So it's easy to resist change, especially when
it sneaks in uninvited and disrupts what we
thought was secure.
But the truth is unexpected.
Changes are some of life's greatest catalysts for
personal growth.
When we're focused out of routines or comfort
(04:26):
zones, we often discover strength, clarity, and creativity.
We don't know what we had, really.
These shifts challenge us to confront our fears,
rethink our values, and reassess our path forward.
What feels like chaos in the moment can
become clarity in retrospect.
Rather than seeing disruptions as derailments, we must
(04:49):
start recognizing them as opportunities, pathways, windows into
deeper understandings, and refined purposes of our life.
I think that's important.
Every curveball that was ever thrown to us
carries the potential to elevate us if we
open ourselves to learning from it.
Many will say, oh my gosh, it's a
(05:10):
curveball, like what am I going to do,
like, oh my, the world's over.
No, a curveball is a way for you
to take your resolve and move forward.
I think that's a very, very important thing,
guys, I mean, a really powerful thing.
So when you get that curveball, don't threat,
don't cry, don't worry about it.
Just understand that you have more power than
(05:31):
you think and you can learn, all right?
Okay.
So let's dive into our very, very next
point.
Flexibility builds resilience.
The most resilient people aren't those who power
through unchanged.
They're the ones who can pivot, they can
(05:51):
bend and adapt without losing their essence.
Flexibility is the quiet strength that keeps us
standing when life tries to knock us down.
It's the willingness to explore alternative routes when
the road ahead is blocked.
When we choose flexibility, our rigidity, we give
ourselves permission to evolve.
(06:13):
Instead of holding tightly to what we embrace,
okay, we can learn how to move forward
with grace.
Flexibility doesn't mean abandoning our values or our
goals that we've been living for.
It means carrying them with us in basically
(06:34):
whatever new shape life has or form that
it takes.
It's a skill that we build over time.
And every time we respond to life's uncertainties
with openness instead of resistance, our resilience grows
deeper and more unshakable.
Number four, let go of control, folks, without
(06:59):
losing focus.
And I know that sounds like you're giving
up, but you're not.
You're actually understanding something.
I think that's really important.
So one of the hardest things in life
is accepting that we're not in control of
everything.
All right?
I think that's important.
We can plan, we can prepare and work
(07:19):
hard, but there will always be variables beyond
our grasp.
Learning to let go of control is not
about giving up.
It's about releasing the illusion, okay, that we
can force outcomes.
What matters is maintaining, okay, our focus on
(07:43):
what we can control.
Our mindset, our actions, and our reactions.
Letting go means making peace with the unknown
without losing sight of our purpose.
It means staying committed to the vision, but
unattached to how or when it manifests.
(08:03):
When we learn this delicate dance, holding focus
without clinging, we open ourselves to peace, possibility,
and even unexpected success that surpasses what we
could have orchestrated alone.
Number five, adaptability opens new opportunities.
(08:26):
We all know that from the chameleons, right,
the animals that can basically camouflage themselves very
similar to the way the army wears clothes
that kind of lets them blend into their
surroundings.
We know that that's very important, and being
adaptable can make us not only more resilient,
but it can help us see opportunities that
we didn't know existed.
When we choose, again, this is the key
(08:49):
here, it's a choice, when we choose to
be adaptable, we make space for the magic
to unfold in our life.
Life really moves in a straight line, okay,
and that's where adaptability becomes our secret superpower.
It allows us to recognize doors we didn't
even know existed and step into versions of
(09:09):
ourselves we hadn't imagined.
The more adaptable we become, the more options
we see.
What once looked like a dead end may
turn into a scenic detour that leads to
a better destination.
Adaptability is about staying curious, willing to learn,
and courageous, folks, enough to shift direction.
When you're adaptable, change doesn't threaten you, it
(09:33):
energizes you, it empowers you.
You begin to trust that every redirection might
be guiding you to something even more aligned
than your original plan.
Number six, guys, stay grounded but not rigid.
I think that's a very important thing.
Many people want to be on point, but
(09:56):
for whatever reason, they are just so stay
-hole that they can't change.
To live intentionally, we need roots, values, beliefs,
and a sense of purpose that keeps us
grounded.
But like a tree, we also need flexibility
in our branches to weather life's storms.
Staying grounded means knowing who you are and
(10:16):
standing in your truth, but not at the
expense of growth.
Rigidity leads to breakage.
When we cling too tightly to one way
of doing things or resist evolution, we close
ourselves off from expansion.
Instead, we can choose to anchor ourselves in
what matters most while still remaining open to
(10:39):
transformation.
This grounded flexibility allows us to move with
life rather than against it, staying strong without
becoming brittle.
We've always said you don't want to swim
upstream.
That could be very hard, it could be
very, very difficult.
I know that as you think about life
(11:01):
and you think about where things are going,
you have to adapt this philosophy that I'm
explaining to you, to live intentionally.
You have to adapt that.
And it's something we can all do, but
I know when things get tough, it's like,
oh my gosh, it's like we cling.
And see, when we cling harder to something,
(11:24):
it makes it difficult for us to be
able to change or to see other possibilities.
Number seven, redirection isn't failure, it's refinement.
Let me say that again.
Redirection isn't failure, it is refinement.
That's a very, very powerful thing, guys.
(11:45):
When life pulls us away from something we
were working toward, it's easy to feel like
we failed.
But what if redirection is not a punishment,
but a type of precision to realign us?
Sometimes we don't realize that our plan needs
fine tuning until life shows us a different
way.
Redirection can be a gift, an invitation to
(12:05):
look closer, a pivot to be smarter, or
pursue a path we hadn't yet considered.
What we initially labeled as setbacks may actually
be alignment at work.
They nudge us to become more intentional and
to let go of what no longer is
serving us.
Redirection isn't about giving up, folks.
It's about leveling up.
(12:27):
It refinds not just our path, but our
character and our vision.
And when we can keep tweaking and tuning
into that, and we can keep working on
it, I feel that that gives us infinite
possibilities.
It really does.
But so many people don't give it a
(12:49):
try.
You know why?
Because they're stuck in a certain way.
Right?
They are stuck in a certain way.
And because they're stuck in a certain way,
it's like, oh my gosh, like, what am
I supposed to do?
Be open to change.
Be open to possibilities.
(13:12):
That's a mouthful there, guys.
Right?
That is a mouthful there.
Number eight, guys.
Embrace uncertainty as a teacher, not as an
enemy.
Uncertainty doesn't have to be the enemy.
In fact, it can be one of our
greatest teachers, inviting us to surrender, reflect, and
(13:33):
discover parts of ourselves we might otherwise have
ignored.
When we're no longer sure of what's next,
we're forced to slow down, tune in, and
become more present.
Uncertainty teaches humility.
It teaches us how to trust, how to
be still, and how to navigate life from
a place of curiosity instead of control.
(13:54):
When we're curious about things, we're more playful.
Okay?
I've often said to people, I don't work
a day in my life.
I just creatively play, and I get paid
for it.
When you embrace your work or your passion
as play, you'll never work a day in
your life.
The unknown can be terrifying, yes, but it's
(14:15):
also fertile ground for insight, reinvention, and revelation.
Embrace it not with fear, but with reverence,
and watch what you learn.
I think that's a very, very important thing.
Number nine, guys, trust the journey, not the
destination.
(14:37):
We live in a world that's obsessed with
outcomes, but the real magic happens on the
journey.
Happens between the breaths we take in life.
Every step, every challenge, every breath, every moment
of joy or frustration is shaping who you
are becoming.
Trusting the journey means letting go of rigid
(14:59):
timelines and appreciating the unfolding process of life.
It's about being fully engaged, all right, in
the here and the now, even when it's
messy or unclear.
We stop racing toward the finish line and
start appreciating the road beneath our feet.
We find meaning in the moment.
(15:21):
Trusting the journey doesn't mean we stop striving.
It means we strive with peace, presence, and
a perspective.
That's a mouthful there, guys, but why do
so many people, like, sabotage themselves?
Because they can, because they hear things from
other people, and they think other people are
(15:42):
right, but they're not.
Here's the part of the show that I
really enjoy.
So I'm going to give you basically a
personal story lesson for each of the points,
okay?
And I'm doing this because I want you
to, let's say, connect this with something real
(16:06):
in your life.
When things become real, it's like now there's
a reason to do things, okay?
There's a reason to do things, and I
think that's something that a lot of people,
you know, they just don't understand, like, what
that means, all right?
(16:29):
They don't understand what it means because they're
suddenly lost.
They're lost with, you know, what they should
be doing or what they think they should
be doing, all because one of their friends
or their colleagues or their relatives or their
family says, you know what?
You can't do that.
And we know what Henry Ford said to
us many times.
(16:50):
If you believe you can, you're right.
If you believe you can't, you're also right.
Number one, planning provides direction but not guarantees.
Back when I started my very first business
over 31, 32 years ago, I had a
five-year plan so detailed it could have
been rivaled, a blueprint for building a skyscraper.
I knew what month I'd hit a certain
(17:11):
revenue goal, which partnerships I'd lock in, and
even when I'd upgrade my office.
But six months in, the economy took a
little bit of a dip.
One of my biggest clients backed out, and
several key deals fell through.
For a moment, I felt defeated, like all
the planning was wasted.
But then I realized something powerful, that plan
gave me the structure to adapt.
(17:32):
I wasn't starting from scratch.
I was just rerouting, retooling.
And some of the clients I picked up
in the aftermath turned out to be better
aligned with my values and core beliefs.
That experience taught me that while a plan
offer is clarity, it's not a crystal ball.
(17:52):
It gives us the map, but we still
have to navigate the terrain as it unfolds.
Number two, unexpected changes are part of the
growth.
Several years ago, I was invited to speak
at a national event, a huge deal for
me at the time.
I spent weeks rehearsing and preparing my talk.
The night before my flight, I caught a
terrible stomach bug.
(18:13):
I actually had food poisoning.
I had to cancel everything, I was crushed.
But that cancellation led to an unexpected meeting
with a small local group the following week,
where I tested the same content.
And one of the attendees introduced me to
a new business partner who helped scale my
brand even larger because they invited me to
(18:34):
a seminar ten times the size.
By the way, that place actually invited me
to come back and speak six months later,
and they, of course, didn't hold anything against
me that I had gotten food poisoning.
So you never know when things are going
to happen.
Looking back, that stomach bug wasn't just a
bad luck thing, it was a redirection that
(18:54):
led to unexpected growth.
Life's interruptions often feel like roadblocks, but many
are hidden gifts guiding us to what we
actually need at the time.
We don't think it's what we need, but
the universe knows what we need very well.
Number three, flexibility builds resilience.
I once worked a massive project and did
(19:19):
a product launch that had taken over six
months of development.
Two weeks before the release, a tech competitor
launched something earlier, similar, sleeker, cheaper, and more
aggressive in their marketing.
My team and I were stunned.
I came up with the first wireless alarm
system, it was called Alarms to Go.
We could have gone ahead as planned, but
(19:40):
instead we pivoted.
We scraped some of the fluff, improved the
value offering, and decided to change what we
were doing.
Because what happened was one of the people
that we were doing work with, unfortunately, on
the TV network blabbed to somebody else.
That somebody else was a major superstore.
(20:02):
And, I guess, they don't have loyalty in
the TV business.
And that hurt.
But it taught me that you got to
keep your mouth shut and not share things
until they're sealed.
Sales didn't go where we wanted.
We revised our goal, we came up with
a new product launch for an entirely different
(20:23):
concept, but we didn't tell one soul what
we were doing until the product had already
become a massive success.
That experience reminded me that resilience isn't about
sticking with your first idea.
It's about being brave enough to shift gears
when you're emotionally on board to only go
one way.
(20:43):
When you stay flexible, you don't break, you
bounce back stronger.
Like a ball, right?
You throw a ball on the ground, it
bounces.
You throw an egg on the ground, oh,
it cracks.
Number four, let go of control, folks, without
losing focus.
In one of my coaching programs, I had
(21:04):
a client who initially signed up for a
one-on-one session, but suddenly had to
pursue a pause for family reasons.
I felt out of control.
I had built part of my schedule around
those sessions.
But rather than resist, I chose to release
my grip and focus on what I could
do.
Improve my group workshops and add new resources
to my online portal.
(21:25):
Ironically, those updated announcements attracted a whole new
wave of clients.
That situation taught me that letting go doesn't
mean losing direction.
It means shifting your energy to what still
serves your purpose.
We don't need to control every detail, folks.
We just need to keep showing up with
intention.
But intention that is based on truth and
(21:48):
around your core values.
If you do not do that, and you're
trying to do something else because someone else
has said to do it, you're going to
be so disappointed, folks.
Number five, adaptability opens new opportunities.
During the early months of the pandemic, I
had a few in-person seminars lined up.
With venues closing and travels getting banned, everything
(22:09):
got canceled.
Rather than wait it out, I took a
deep breath and dove into virtual event hosting.
This was a little scary, something I'd never
done before.
To my surprise, I reached more people in
those online sessions than I ever could have
in person.
That pivot didn't just save my speaking career,
(22:30):
it expanded it globally.
Now I speak all over the world.
What seemed like a limitation became a launch
pad.
If we stay stuck in how it was
supposed to be, well, we miss out on
what's trying to become.
Adaptability isn't just reacting, it's unlocking a future
you didn't yet imagine.
(22:51):
Number six, stay grounded but not rigid.
Early in my entrepreneurial journey, I was determined
to follow the business model I had studied
and drafted down to the letter and even
the very character and dot on the paper.
It was built on solid principles, but I
resisted feedback and ignored signs that parts of
(23:12):
it weren't working.
A mentor finally challenged me to resist my
why, my values.
That moment helped me realize that while my
purpose remained the same, my methods needed to
evolve more, to adapt with the world.
I restructured some of the service offerings, gave
my team more creative input, and within a
few months, everything began to flow better.
(23:33):
That taught me that being rooted in purpose
doesn't mean being stuck in process.
Like a tree, we must remain firmly planted,
but allow our branches to sway with the
wind when they want to.
Number seven, redirection isn't failure, it's refinement.
Years ago, I launched a tech product.
(23:55):
I believed it was going to revolutionize client
workflows.
Despite all the effort, it flopped.
At first, I felt embarrassed and frustrated, but
instead of scraping everything, I analyzed what went
wrong and realized there was something valuable burned
in the feedback.
I refined the concept, simplified the user experience,
(24:15):
and planned to relaunch six months later in
a completely different industry, software as a service.
That version became one of our best performing
tools.
That taught me redirection isn't the end, folks,
it's a compass.
What felt like a failure was actually a
filter, guiding me to something more aligned and
(24:37):
impactful.
Number eight, guys, embrace uncertainty as a teacher.
When I was going through a personal challenge
many years ago, the uncertainty was suffocating.
I didn't know what each result would be
or what changes would happen each day.
I learned to be still.
(24:57):
I journaled, I spent time in nature, and
got to know myself in deeper ways than
I ever did before.
That uncertainty pushed me to ask better questions
about myself and how I was living.
In the end, the scare passed, but the
lesson stayed.
It reminded me that uncertainty slows us down
(25:18):
for a reason.
It makes us take a pause, pay attention.
It's not comfortable, but it's often the space
where transformation is born.
And I got to tell you, when the
universe is trying to tell you to slow
down, don't fight it.
Slow down, take the rest.
There's a reason it's doing it.
If you don't, well, the universe is going
(25:39):
to stop you like a Mack truck.
And that's not going to be just discomforting.
That's probably going to be painful.
So take the lessons, stop, pause when you
need to.
Number nine, trust that journey, not just a
destination.
When I launched my first podcast, I initially
set massive goals, wrote 100,000 downloads in
six months, book topped your guests every week,
(26:02):
monetized immediately.
Spoiler, that didn't happen right away.
But here's what I did.
I met incredible people, received moving feedback from
listeners, and rediscovered why I love storytelling and
service.
Now the show has grown organically, and the
most rewarding moments were never part of the
plan.
I had judged the success only by numbers.
(26:27):
I would have missed the real gift, the
connection.
Trusting the journey means realizing that even the
slow climbs and quiet detours, they matter.
They build depth and resilience and offer us
to bring more joy than the destination itself.
We're always on different journeys, folks.
We're always on different paths.
(26:51):
But sometimes we have to realize that the
journey is actually a blast.
And when we appreciate the journey, you know
what happens?
We start to be more successful.
We start to be more conscious of things.
And then we start to learn about what's
(27:12):
actually going on.
I don't know about you guys, but that's
something that is so priceless.
And it drives back to our point for
this week, the master topic, which is timeless
principles for living with intention and integrity.
Intention is doing something because you want to
do it, not because somebody else is telling
you to do it.
I think these are important things, but I
don't think these are easy lessons, and they're
(27:34):
not very simple to swallow.
They require us to go in and search
ourselves and get rid of any ego remnants
that might be lurking.
I think that's an important piece, guys.
And when we learn how to do that,
our life changes from night to dark almost
immediately.
(27:55):
But the reason it doesn't happen is because
of your belief, right?
When your belief changes, your life changes.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm John C.
Morley, serial entrepreneur.
It's always a privilege, pleasure and honor to
be with you guys on these amazing shows,
the short-term content, the long-form content.
Do check out BelieveMeAchieve.com, more of my
amazing, inspiring creations.
Catch you real soon, everyone.
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