314. The 3 Small Habit Shifts That Changed My Energy, Focus, and CEO Mindset

Ever feel like you're stuck in a rut — low on energy, scattered, or just... kinda over it all?

You're not alone, and today's episode is for you.

After hitting a few of those "blah" moments myself, I found three small (but powerful) habit shifts that helped me recharge my energy, refocus my mind, and rebuild my CEO mindset — without needing a 17-step system, a new planner, or a $5K mastermind. 🙃

And the best part?

You can start them this week. They're free, they're simple, and they work.

Today, I'm sharing:

• A 30-Day Mini Habit Challenge to kickstart momentum (and how to actually stick with it)
• How to make the boring, soul-sucking tasks way more enjoyable
• The sneaky power of 10-minute "white space" breaks to reset your brain and boost creativity

If you’ve been running on fumes, stuck in hustle mode, or just craving a little more joy in your days, you're going to love these small but mighty shifts.

Your challenge: Pick one shift to start this week. DM me or tag me (@weddingsforreal) to let me know which one you’re trying — and don't forget to plan a reward for yourself when you nail it.

Episode Highlights:

• [1:15] – Why small shifts > big overhauls
• [4:09] – Habit Shift #1: The 30-Day Mini Habit Reset (and why it builds CEO confidence)
• [13:44] – Habit Shift #2: Making hard tasks feel lighter and more enjoyable
• [16:25] – Habit Shift #3: Why 10-minute white space breaks are your secret weapon
• [20:32] – Quick recap and your action step for this week

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Today's episode is brought to you by The Planner's Vault. The doors are currently closed for The Planner's Vault, but join the wait list now so you can be the first to know when the doors re-open.

Weddings for Real on Social Media:

Instagram: @weddingsforreal

Facebook: @weddingsforreal

twitter: @weddingsforreal

Hosted by Megan Gillikin, Weddings for Real is presented by The Planner's Vault, and is produced by Walk West.

The Next Chapter VIP Experience: January 12, 2025 in Cary NC - https://www.megangillikin.com/2026-next-chapter-vip-experience

Creators and Guests

Host

Megan Gillikin

Wedding Industry Coach + Founder of The Planner's Vault

Producer

Jason Gillikin

CEO and Executive Producer at Earfluence

What is For Real: Life, Leadership, & Unlearning?

For Real is a top 1% podcast for high-achievers who look successful on paper but feel like they’re one group text away from burning it all down. Hosted by Megan Gillikin - serial entrepreneur, business coach, keynote speaker, and recovering people pleaser - this show explores burnout, boundaries, identity shifts, and the brave act of unlearning who you thought you had to be.

With unfiltered conversations, “I thought it was just me” moments, and just enough humor to keep it from feeling like group therapy, For Real is your permission slip to evolve.

Formerly Weddings for Real - and glow-ups look good on us.

00:00:00 - Megan Gillikin
Hey there and welcome back to the show. I'm your host, Megan Gilligan, and this is episode 314. Today, we're diving into something that might just shift your entire week or entire month for the better. So if you've ever felt like you're stuck in a rut, you're low on energy, or you're just going through the motions, well, my friend, this one's for you. I'm walking you through three small habit shifts that have helped me reset some low energy moments and brought way more fulfillment, motivation, and actual CEO energy into my daily life. These are the things that I turn to, especially when I'm feeling stuck or scattered, and I want to share them with you today. And the best part about these three shifts is that you can start them this week. There's no need to overhaul your Life. No complicated 17 step system, no program that I'm selling you on. They're going to cost you exactly $0. And real quick, before we jump into the three shifts, I just want to thank you so much for being here. Whether you're tuning in for the first time or you're a longtime listener, I want you to know that every download, every listen, it truly means the world to me and it has kept me going seven years with this podcast.

00:01:15 - Megan Gillikin
So if you find something in today's episode that sparks an idea, a fresh start, or even just a little more ease in your day, it would mean so much if you would take a moment to share with a friend who might need it, too. And make sure you hit that follow button on whatever podcast platform you're listening to so you stay in the know for all of our upcoming new episodes. And because you're listening to this, you should know that there's some exciting news coming so soon to the podcast, and I'll be sharing it with you in the coming weeks. All right, let's dive in. Hey there. I'm Megan Gilliken, and this podcast is for fellow wedding pros that know what it really takes to thrive as a professional in the wedding industry. Because it's not what they show you in the movies. Spoiler alert. It takes more than a wave of a wand or toss of confetti to take someone's special day from big idea to big success. As for me, I recently sold my luxury wedding planning business, and now I'm a business coach, international speaker, online educator, number one cheerleader of wedding pros, and a mom of three. This podcast is a wedding professional. Safe space to laugh and dish about the glitz, the not so glam.

00:02:29 - Megan Gillikin
And all things weddings. For real. Okay, my friend, we are talking about three habit shifts that will bring you more energy, more momentum, and more fulfillment in both your business and personal life. And I want to tell you why I'm sharing these now. Because if you're anything like me, the world feels heavy right now. The news is heavy, the to do list never seem to end. And if you're honest, maybe your calendar is a little bit more like a cautionary tale than a curated, careful life plan.

00:03:04 - Megan Gillikin
I feel that, and I've been there many times myself. And when that happens, it's really easy to start feeling like you're living on autopilot. You're reacting instead of leading. You're grinding through the day instead of actually experiencing it. And that's why I wanna share these three simple habit shifts that you'll actually feel the difference from little tweaks that add up to big energy over time. Now, this episode is a quick, mini episode, but I'm here to help you reconnect to your own momentum, your own energy, and your own leadership. And hey, as you're listening to these three, if you're already doing one or more of them, that's amazing.

00:03:41 - Megan Gillikin
You're already moving towards more ease and joy. And if you're not doing any of them, there is no shame at all. I just want you to pick one that you're most excited about and seems the easiest to tackle and start with that. I don't want you to try to tackle all three. Start with one and start today or start tomorrow so we can keep it simple. All right, here we go. Habit shift number one is gonna help you break a bad habit with a 30 day mini goal.

00:04:09 - Megan Gillikin
Now, this is one of my personal favorite ways to kickstart momentum, and that's to choose one of my bad habits that I know is dragging me down and then set a 30 day mini goal to shift it. Sometimes I'll start this at the beginning of a new month, but you do not have to do that. So you can start this today as you're listening to this and look ahead 30 days to when you will finish this goal. Now, why 30 days? Well, because it can be hard to commit to something and say, I'm going to do this forever and ever, or I'm going to do this for the rest of the year. And what I found in all of my habit work is starting something and having a goal in mind will help you with some confidence and trust in yourself that you can keep it going.

00:04:56 - Megan Gillikin
And one of my favorite ways to regain momentum is to tackle just one habit at a time. Now I want to give you some real life examples of things that I have done this challenge with. One I've done a saying no more often challenge where each day over 30 days, I look at all of the things that are coming my way.

00:05:16 - Megan Gillikin
The asks, the emails, the offers, and I say no to one thing every single day. And flexing that muscle of saying no is one of the ways that I have quieted my own inner people pleaser. Because when I stop and pause, it makes it so much easier to get away from that automatic people pleasing yes. Another thing that I've done this 30 day challenge with is facing financial tasks that I've been avoiding.

00:05:41 - Megan Gillikin
Now this is one that I have to honestly come back and do pretty regularly because I've gotten into a flow of looking at my bank account, understanding my P and L statements, having my monthly call with my bookkeeper and asking questions. But some of that future forecasting, some of the intentional budget decision making of how I'm going to spend my money, I can fall off of that real quick. That's my ADHD brain. I don't find it fun, I don't find it enjoyable. So it's very easy for me to push that to the side and not do it. I will also get sometimes an invoice or a tax bill that I need to pay and I will set it on my desk for way too long of a period of time until I start to feel the guilt creep up and then I will tackle those tasks.

00:06:28 - Megan Gillikin
So using a 30 day challenge to tackle some of those financial tasks and telling myself, okay, here's what success looks like with this and outlining it so that I have a plan has been so helpful. I'll share more on this in a little bit. Here's another one that I've done and that is breaking up with scrolling my phone in the dark when it's time to go to bed at night.

00:06:49 - Megan Gillikin
I have struggled with this for years and over the last several years there have been many times where I do this 30 day challenge to put my phone across the room. I get into bed and I am there with no phone and I have to fall asleep without it. And I've also tackled this as a morning task when I wake up in the morning, not letting my phone be the first thing that I reach for as well as the last thing that I reach for at night. So stopping that scroll, stopping that attachment to my phone and not starting and ending my day with scrolling on Instagram or even worse the news which I have done before. So these are real life examples of how I have tackled this 30 day bad habit challenge. They were small, simple things, but shifting them.

00:07:37 - Megan Gillikin
They changed not only how I showed up in my business but also in my day to day personal life. So I want you to think of something right now that you know is either a bad habit that you've gotten into that is draining your energy or that you know you shouldn't be doing or a thing you've been avoiding doing that you know is holding you back. And this doesn't have to be business related. This can be any change that is going to help you build discipline and momentum and strengthen that CEO mindset. Most importantly, it's going to build self trust and that really matters. So here are some ideas to give you some inspiration and it's a mix of personal things and business things. If you are one of those that is a financial avoider, you could say I'm going to check my bank account daily and review any of the charges that are there and start to make note of any shifts that I need to make. You could tackle the one that I mentioned above about stopping bringing your phone to bed, set it up across the room and have it charging over there.

00:08:43 - Megan Gillikin
I promise you if I can do it, you can do it as well. You could tackle the saying no to one thing a day. This is for my people pleasers that need to practice that a little bit more. Or you could decide that you want to start every single morning by taking a big glass of water and taking all your vitamins and supplements.

00:09:03 - Megan Gillikin
For my squirrel brain ADHD friends, this is something that I have struggled with at times to remember to take my vitamins and supplements every morning. I know those of you that have regular brains are like wait, how do you forget that? But I do. So starting to take a thermos of water with me upstairs, having my vitamins and supplements right there next to my bed and doing that first thing in the morning. That's something that I did that has worked for me. So if that appeals to you, you could do that as well.

00:09:33 - Megan Gillikin
Maybe you've said that you want to limit your screen time. So saying you're not going to be on screens past a certain time each night, all of these are options that could be breaking up with a bad habit or starting a new habit that you've been wanting to tackle. So now that hopefully you have an idea of what you might do, I'll tell you one that I am working on currently. I Am committing to doing a 10 minute strength workout every day for the next 30 days. Not an hour, not a boot camp, just 10 intentional minutes.

00:10:11 - Megan Gillikin
And for those of you that are gym buffs or are working out regularly, you might be listening to this and being like, really, Megan? 10 minutes? That's all you're gonna do? 10 minutes. Well, my friends, 10 minutes is a big deal because I haven't been doing it. I walk regularly. But after I injured my shoulder last summer, strength training has taken a big backseat for me and it's time for me to stop putting it off.

00:10:37 - Megan Gillikin
So here's how I'm setting myself up for success. Number one, I've already selected my workouts within the app that I use. I've gone through and I favorited them. There's so many of them that are 10 minutes long from an accountability standpoint. I told my daughter Molly, who's my middle daughter, and I've incentivized her to keep me accountable because, let's be honest, she's the most likely one in my family to remember and hold me to it. If I don't do my 10 minute strength workout on a particular day, I'm going to owe her $2 for every day that I miss. And she will get to use any money that I have to pay her to treat her and her sisters to do something fun.

00:11:18 - Megan Gillikin
And at the end of the 30 days, my reward for tackling this habit will be a pedicure and a good one with the extra massage time, because that's my favorite part. So how might this framework work for you? Number one, I want you to pick one habit. Number two, I want you to set a 30 day goal and mark it down. So open up your calendar, note what day you're going to be starting it, note what day you're going to be finishing it, and then try to track each day that you can celebrate that you did this. Now, if you have a day that you miss and you fall off, this does not mean that you give up altogether. I think that it's a really good idea to have a range of what success could look like. So ultimately, sure, you're hoping to hit all 30 days, but does success look like if you get 25 days, you get to determine that.

00:12:12 - Megan Gillikin
And that takes me to my next tip, which is to define success clearly. So if it's the phone habit, maybe you say, my goal is to have my phone charged and across the room every weekday night. And then you give yourself the weekend to have the phone and be scrolling at night. You get to decide. And then finally, as I mentioned, with the accountability that I am putting with my daughter Molly, think of someone that you can tell what this habit is. Who's going to check in on you. Accountability is huge. And then I almost forgot, and this is the fun part. You have to choose a reward. Something that's gonna feel good, something that's gonna feel motivating and worth showing up for. Because as business owners, we don't get performance reviews, we don't get bonuses, and we don't get those corporate kudos from our bosses.

00:13:05 - Megan Gillikin
So what I'm saying is you've gotta be your own hype squad when it comes to rewards. You have to choose the things that get you excited. I've given myself solo spa days. I've booked a massage. I've treated myself to an afternoo or just a fun new book or thing for my business that I've been wanting. These little rewards go a long way when you're trying to build better habits. And with that, let's move to habit shift number two, which is make the hard stuff feel less hard. Now, you know I like to keep it real. And we can all agree that there are certain tasks, either in your business or your life, that you tend to avoid.

00:13:44 - Megan Gillikin
Some of the things that resonate for me, and maybe for you as well, that I will avoid are reviewing KPIs. So the goals that I set at the beginning of the year or for each month so that I know what success looks like, I might set those goals. But then going back and actually checking to see how I did, I'm so good at avoiding those. Maybe it's building out your marketing plan, paying those invoices, making those small tweaks and updates to your CRM that you've been putting off.

00:14:13 - Megan Gillikin
But you know, you keep having to recreate the wheel each time you're in it. These things are not glamorous, but we can all agree that they matter. So here's the shift. These things don't spark joy, but what could you do as it relates to your environment and the people that you're with that make them more enjoyable? And what I mean is trying to turn these CEO tasks into a ritual, something that you actually look forward to. And here's a few ideas of what this could look like. Let's say it's time for you to build out your Q3 marketing strategy.

00:14:50 - Megan Gillikin
Reach out to a business owner friend and set up a time for you to meet at a coffee shop or do a virtual co working session where you can hold each other accountable, declare what you're hoping to get done, and have that person there that is going to be alongside you as you're doing the work that you would otherwise avoid. If you don't want to do this with someone, you could take yourself on a CEO solo date. You can go to a coffee shop, you can go to a wine bar, you could go to a hotel lobby.

00:15:19 - Megan Gillikin
You can pick anywhere that is inspiring to you. And if you want to do something like this at home, you can also set a vibe where it doesn't feel so heavy. You can light a candle, you can make a fun drink, you can put on a playlist that makes you feel empowered to tackle whatever it is you're going to do. And I know this sounds really, really simple, and the reality is it is. But it makes a big difference when you start associating these boring tasks with an environment that feels energizing or playful.

00:15:52 - Megan Gillikin
So think about a task that you've been putting off, one of those CEO tasks that you're constantly pretending that you don't have time to do, or prioritizing other things in front of it. Think about that task and then think about how you can make it more joyful, whether it's with a friend, whether it's going somewhere, or whether it's creating an environment at home that will make it feel less dreadful. All right, let's move on to the final habit shift, which is build in white space breaks during the day.

00:16:25 - Megan Gillikin
And y'all do not sleep on this one because it's sneaky powerful. I spent so many years as an entrepreneur thinking that I had to power through the day like I did when I had a traditional 9 to 5 job. Back to back calls, emails and to dos. I would start my day when my kids went off to school. I would work literally until I had to run out the door to carpool.

00:16:50 - Megan Gillikin
I often would have five to six hour long calls back to back to back. No breaks, just hustle. But that pace, oh my gosh, not only did it wreck my focus, but it absolutely contributed to the pace burnout that I experienced. So what I do now and what I want to recommend to you is intentionally build in mini white space breaks every two to three hours. Sometimes for me, this looks like dropping my girls off at school and going directly to the walking trail by my house and doing a 20 minute walk and then heading back home and diving into my workday. And then when I'm in the middle of my work day, I like to find 5 to 10 minute breaks that I use as rewards throughout the meetings and other to do list items that I have tackled. So a couple ideas here are if you have a dog, I go out in my backyard. I go with Gracie, our golden retriever. I take a ball and I will throw it for her. I'll water my plants. While I'm out there I get some sunshine. Sometimes I just walk outside just by myself and I'll walk down the street for 10 minutes. I'll set a timer. I walk 10 minutes and then I turn around and I come back. Sometimes if I don't feel like walking and I don't feel like throwing a ball, I will just sit on my porch and do nothing.

00:18:11 - Megan Gillikin
I'm not scrolling my phone, I'm not writing things down. I'm sitting there, I'm listening to the birds and I'm breathing for a few minutes. And here's why this matters. When you're constantly in go mode, you will find yourself in an always dysregulated, overstimulated state and our bodies never get a chance to reset, recalibrate or just B. For me, this turned into a health thing as well because as I've had blood work done, I've seen that I consistently have low vitamin D and higher cortisol levels and those things can lead to fatigue, low energy and even mood swings.

00:18:51 - Megan Gillikin
So while I do take a vitamin D supplement, here's what science says about being out in real life. Sunshine. Just 10 minutes of sun exposure can increase vitamin D levels significantly. According to Healthline, vitamin D is essential for regulating mood, improving focus and reducing depression symptoms. Sunlight also triggers the release of serotonin which is that feel good brain chemical that keeps you calm and clear headed. And don't we all need more of that right now? So for me, those short outdoor breaks have become non negotiable and part of my daily routine. They help me feel grounded, focused and way more productive because I know I'm working towards a break instead of pushing through like a robot, which is how I functioned in the past.

00:19:39 - Megan Gillikin
I've also noticed that these breaks, like a quick walk or sitting on my porch, they've done wonders for my focus and energy. So this is one of those really small habits with significant impact that I want you to incorporate into your day if you're not already doing this. So let's recap these three tiny but mighty habit shifts. Number one is to choose one bad habit to break with a 30 day challenge and reward yourself at the end of it.

00:20:08 - Megan Gillikin
Number two is to make those hard monotonous tasks that you've been avoiding more enjoyable by turning it into a fun ritual or enjoyable experience. And finally, number three that I just covered is to build mini white space breaks into your day and you will be amazed what five to 10 minutes can do every few hours.

00:20:32 - Megan Gillikin
So my friend, I'd love to hear from you. Which of these habits are you already doing and which of these habit shifts are you going to start this week? I want you to screenshot this episode and tag me at weddings4real and let me know what habit you're working on and what reward you're planning to celebrate it. That's the best part. And if you have a high achieving hustling friend who could use a little more ease and energy too, send them this episode. Because small shifts truly do create big momentum. I'm a living example of that. And you never know who needs that reminder today. And finally, here's the truth. You're the boss. You get to build a business and a life that actually works for you, not the other way around. And if you needed that reminder today, well then I'm so glad glad that you tuned into this episode and let these tiny shifts be your reminder of that.

00:21:26 - Megan Gillikin
Thank you so much for tuning in. Don't forget to hit follow so you're in the know for all of the upcoming things that we're going to be sharing here on the podcast. This episode is brought to you by the Planner's Vault and edited and produced by Walk West. That's all for today, but stay tuned. As I mentioned, we've got some big and exciting, exciting announcements coming soon.