Episode 14: Leading With Seasonal Wisdom

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Episode Summary:

In this reflective and energizing episode of The Joy CEO Podcast, Lori explores how seasonal transitions—especially the shift from summer to fall—can become powerful opportunities for recalibration. Instead of rushing headfirst into the September “pileup,” Lori invites high-achieving professionals to embrace the wisdom of pausing, filtering outdated goals, and leaning into intentional clarity.

Drawing from personal stories (including the discipline of preseason training) and her signature four-step reset process, Lori shares how to realign with purpose, take bold yet aligned action, and sustain momentum through joy. This conversation is not about doing more—it’s about doing the right things, at the right time, with the right energy.

If you’re ready to trade burnout for balance and scattered ambition for seasonal clarity, this episode is your reset button.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

1. Seasonal Shifts Hold Strategic Wisdom

Just as nature moves in cycles, so do our lives and work. Pausing to reflect and recalibrate after summer helps avoid overwhelm and fosters sustainable success.

2. Outdated Goals Weigh You Down

Not every goal set in January still serves you in September. Lori encourages filtering and releasing what no longer aligns.

3. The Four-Step Reset Process

Lori introduces a practical framework to reclaim clarity: Pause, Filter, Align, Act. This structured reflection creates space for intentional growth.

4. Discipline Builds Freedom

Drawing on her preseason training story, Lori reminds listeners that consistency and small disciplined actions create the foundation for joyful momentum.

5. Joy Is a Leadership Strategy

Success sustained without joy isn’t true success. Joy must be built into your systems and choices—not treated as an afterthought.

🔎 Mentioned in the Episode:

• Lori’s Four-Step Reset Process – Pause, Filter, Align, Act
• The concept of seasonal rhythms as a leadership strategy
• Lori’s personal story of preseason athletic training as a metaphor for Q4 preparation

✨ Reflection Prompts:

• What would it look like to intentionally reset this September instead of just piling on more?
• Which commitments need to be released so you can create space for what matters most?
• How can you bring more joy and clarity into your leadership this fall?

🧠 Who This Episode Is For:

• High-achieving professionals navigating September transitions
• Leaders seeking clarity and sustainability in Q4
• Anyone who wants to reset goals with intention and avoid burnout
• Professionals curious about aligning work with seasonal rhythms

📩 Want to Go Deeper?

• Try Lori’s Four-Step Reset Process this week—journal through Pause, Filter, Align, and Act.
• Follow Lori on LinkedIn to join the conversation.
• Book a Leadership Strategy Call with Lori at loripine.com.

🎧 Subscribe to The Joy CEO Podcast

⭐️ Leave a review so more purpose-driven leaders can find the show.

📲 Share this episode with someone who’s feeling the September pileup and needs a joyful reset.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Joy CEO podcast. I'm your host, Lori Pine, and I am so happy to be here with you today as we talk about getting back to it. It's been a great summer, and if you're anything like me, you might've started back in May saying things like, let's just push that to September. 

Let's do that in the fall. How about that's a Q3 or a Q4 initiative. And if you've looked at your calendar, you may see a pile of to-dos decisions, dreams that you quietly postponed. And here they are. It might feel like a 10 car pile up on the highway. You might be there scrolling. You've got notes from June that say, revisit this in the fall, and you might have this familiar knot in your stomach, like, ugh. 

Wow. I really pushed off a lot of things, and it could be things like networking got shelved, the promotion conversation you wanted to have, you're their boss that got tabled, the morning routine that you were so adamant to maintain and you were doing so well since your New Year's resolution. It got completely derailed in all of the chaos of summer and lighter out earlier and lighter out later, and kids being home and different schedules, and so now you're like. 

Whoa, what am I supposed to do with this? So I coach really high performers. I know really high performers well, and what I know to be true is that we don't just take these pauses randomly. We do them with intention. We pause when our intuition tells us that now just isn't the right time. And this season is shifting. 

And so if you've had a bit of a pause, a bit of an influx in this summertime season, you're now gonna shift into a new season where the energy's gonna be different and you really get to choose. Do you want to return in panic and overwhelm, or with intention and joy? And it really is a choice. So let's start with some radical self-compassion and let's really start to talk about what you put down and what's okay not to pick back up. 

We're gonna. Really think about the universe's design when it comes to seasons and how seasons ebb and flow come and go. Kind of start and stop, but more like they tumble into each other, like the waves of the ocean. And we can talk about the beauty of the seasons, you know, just for a moment in that the universe really knows when we need to slow down. 

Like this time and enjoy summer longer days that invite us to just linger and sit and be on a deck or a patio or beach front with the sunshine out later warmer temperatures that are just calling us outside. Planned vacations that pull us out away from our desks and pull us into community and family and nature. 

Half day Fridays. Some of you get to have half day Fridays at your companies, and that reminds us that life exists beyond our computers, beyond our to-do lists. And this is not a coincidence. This is very intentional. We're meant to enjoy our life. We're meant to live in the joy, and that is a season so that we can restore for when we really need to push that the energy will be there.

And the wisdom in pausing is that your subconscious was working with something bigger than your calendar. It just was, maybe you were burned out, maybe you needed the restoration, maybe you were running on fumes, you were processing change, and. You needed some space. All sorts of things could have been happening for you. 

Maybe you simply knew on some cellular level that forced action. In summertime, the heat wouldn't serve you or your goal. You weren't being lazy, you were just being wise and. You know, there are several common September pileups, I'll call them career moves, you know? We'll, we're gonna pause these. We're gonna pause, updating our LinkedIn. 

We're gonna pause applying for new roles. We're gonna have. Pause, having these tough conversations with our boss. We're gonna pause health and habits, you know, maybe we're gonna have a few more cocktails than normal. Maybe we're gonna indulge, you know, in barbecues and picnics and going out more and maybe we're gonna. 

Maybe we're gonna put some relationship issues or relationship investments on pause during this season. Whether it's networking or difficult conversations or boundary setting, we're gonna likely pause creative outlets, whether it's taking a new class, starting a side hustle, learning a skill that's important to you. 

And one big pile up during the season usually is financial, that we pause any sort of serious conversations about our finances, any planning around investments or life insurance. And this is typically not the season where we're having those salary negotiations. So all of those may be the September pileups, and now that September's upon you. 

You're like, Ugh, these are all things that I need and want to do. And so none of these things were abandoned over the summertime. You just honored the rhythm of the season, your own rhythm with them, and you gave yourself and your goals the gift of this pause, this space. Here's what's beautiful. You're not the same person who made the list back in May. 

You're just not. You've evolved, you've changed, you've rested, you've restored. You've had experiences. Hopefully you've connected to people you've loved. You've been out in nature. You've maybe experienced awe and. You've come back with this renewed sense of vigor and energy that makes you different. And so when you pick things back up, you get to do it from this renewed sense of who you are and you're clearer. 

So you get permission to pick up some of the things that you put down, but you don't have to pick them all back up. Isn't that amazing? I mean, I, I love it when I get permission to not pick up some of the things that perhaps I really thought I was obliged to do, obligated to do, and I don't wanna do them anymore. 

And so if you need some of that permission. Here you go. Here is your moment, your sign that you do not have to do them. But the air is changing. We are gonna start moving into fall. Before you know it, somebody is gonna post that they're having a pumpkin spice latte, and we're all going to start to feel the change. 

So with that change, you, you can feel it, and I'm sure you can too. The back to school energy, the harvest time, kind of calling your attention back. You're gonna be at pumpkin patches and taking all those great pictures, and the universe is ready whenever you are. Whenever you are ready to get back to that to-do list, back to those commitments, back to that pile up. 

You can pick from the list as you best see fit as what best serves your needs. So let me tell you about a personal story. So every year in college, in August, every single year, no matter what sport you played, August meant one thing preseason. And I'm talking about the grueling triple sessions sort of grueling, I mean, did I say grueling? 

Morning conditioning, afternoon drills, and evening scrimmages. The kind of training that's just designed to break you, like, like are you cut out to be on this team? Are you gonna tap out and say, I'm quitting, I'm done, I'm hanging up my cleats, or are you gonna stick it out, build your strength, build your stamina, and be part of this team. 

Well, there I was all four years trying to thug it out and you know, here's what I learned. It didn't matter how well I prepared in the off season, how much I went to the gym, how many miles I ran on my own, how many times I. I got out my field hockey stick and did the drills. I was never fully prepared for that first week of triple sessions. 

My body would ache. My muscles were sore in places I didn't even know I had muscles. My feet would have blisters that bled through my socks and they'd have to be taped. I was a mess. And most mornings I could barely roll out of bed to get to practice, let alone actually function. But somehow, and it gives me chills to think about it the second I stepped onto that field. 

My body knew what to do. Something in my spirit would just kick in and I locked into this competitiveness and suddenly. It was like I knew exactly what to do. Every part of my being. My muscles, my bones, my nervous system, my thought patterns just became locked and loaded. And all of those hours of preparation, all of that muscle memory, all of that training, it seemed so inefficient during the grueling preseason. 

It was there. It was right there when I needed it, and it had been there all along. So that's when I, what I want you to know about coming back after the summer and picking things up where you left off. It's not like you stepped away altogether. You were always there doing the work and. What happened while you were pausing is still there. 

None of your skills disappear. Your intuition didn't vanish. Your capabilities don't diminish. You might feel like a little rusty because you enjoyed yourself over the summer, but here's the thing. You get to come back into your arena. You get to step in, whether it's a job interview, a difficult conversation, recommitting to a goal, and your spirit is going to kick in just like mine did. 

You are going to know, and when it really counts, the big project, the big meeting, the boardroom that seems daunting. The executive who seems like they're scary, you are going to hit your stride because it never left you. Because you've rested and restored, and that is so powerful, your competitiveness is gonna hit. 

You are gonna remember exactly who you are and what you're meant to do. So the pause is never wasted, ever, ever wasted. It's your spring and summer training. It's the rest is the preparation. We all need rest, and the restoration was just conditioning and now you get to step back onto the field in this fall season. 

With the things that you've pushed off to get through the summer with everything you've learned, everything you've processed, everything you've become in this time that you've allowed yourself to restore on the vacation that you went away on, on the, the long weekends that you've taken on the long summer nights that you've strolled through your neighborhood or through the city that you live in, or. 

The mornings that you got up early so you could enjoy your coffee on your back deck to see the birds and the sunrise and, and all that nature is, has to offer and all of its glory and all of its beauty. So the joyful reset, we often don't talk about that. We talk about how to hit goals, how to push through, how to be the best. 

That's what I was conditioned on. And what I want you to know is that reset without overwhelm, because the goal isn't to do everything. The goal is to do what matters, and it's really up to you to be able to discern that. You want to be able to discern what you want to do with intention and joy. So I've got a few steps for you to take four exactly. 

A four step process. One, you're going to brain dump, you're gonna brain dump everything you said back in May that you were gonna push off until after the summer. Just get it all out. It, it doesn't even matter what it is. You, you might even make some stuff up along the way, but get it all out. What you were pushing off for May until the fall. 

All the things. Everything you meant too. Everything you dreamed of, everything you've been quietly waiting on. And maybe even some things have come up since you've been enjoying the summertime that you now wanna write down. Do not edit it. Do not prioritize it. Just witness what is living in your head and swirling around. 

Okay? And then notice this is really a what I would do with my clients. So this is. From a coaching perspective, notice if there's any shame coming up for you because that's normal. We're gonna judge it. I want you to really try to breathe through that. Let go of any judgment. We just want clarity here. No shame, no judgment, just clarity. 

Okay. Number two, the evolution filter. This is the magic question. Does this still fit? Who I'm becoming, does this still fit who I'm becoming? So look at each item and ask, is this still aligned with my values? Is this still aligned with where I'm going? Does this fit with the energy I want to have in my life? 

Is this something I want? Or is this something I think I should want? You know, we've gotta stop shooting all over ourselves. I mean, I, I know you've heard that before, but it's gotta stop. It's gotta be with the intention about, is this something you want? And then has my why for this goal evolved or just disappeared entirely. 

So you get to change your mind. You get to outgrow goals. You get to want different things than what you wanted a few months ago. So if networking is no longer your priority. Okay, no big deal. Something else might be your priority. Instead, you may have said, I really wanna write a book. And so instead of that time that you would be investing into networking events, you are going to commit that time to sitting down and writing. 

And I know from personal experience, that is a commitment. Okay, number three. The next right step from everything that made it onto the filter that you're going to do. Choose one thing. Just choose one. Not five, not 10, not three, not one, not just one. Just one. Ask yourself, what's one move I can make this week that's going to realign me to who I am right now to get me back into some sort of motion. 

So you're gonna update a LinkedIn profile section. You're gonna schedule a conversation you've been avoiding. You are gonna sign up for the class that you've been wanting to take. You are gonna declutter an area of your life. Just start with one drawer. One drawer, and you'll already feel better. You're gonna say no to something that doesn't fit anymore. 

And then you're going to tell yourself, this is the mindset shift that you don't need a perfect plan. None of this needs to be perfect. You just need to take the next right step, and then the next right step, and then the next right step. And then number four, momentum through joy. Here's what I've learned. 

Joy comes through doing. Not overthinking. I made myself so miserable for so long by overthinking, overanalyze, second guessing all the things in my head. Stole my joy for years. But the truth is once I started taking action. Action be got action, be got action, which helped my confidence, which helped me get more momentum, to take more action, to move my life in a direction that I wanted it to go. 

It changed everything. So when you take that first step, pay attention to how it feels. Does it light you up? Does it feel aligned? Let that guide you. Let those feelings guide you to your next right step. And if it feels a little bit scary, that's okay too. As though it's challenging though you, maybe it's getting you out of your comfort zone. 

Like some of those difficult conversations can be scary, can be challenging, but they're necessary and that's where our growth happens. So let me just close out these four action steps you're gonna take with. One simple little thought it in that you're not behind, you haven't done anything wrong. You are exactly where you need to be, and you're about to move forward with some real clarity if you follow these steps, and that's exciting. 

Okay, last but not least, September is going to shape your Q4. And this isn't about crossing things off the list. It's not about. How you show up in September is going to, you know, finish the year. But from a leadership lens, I, I wanna be really clear that when you are leading a team of one or a hundred or a thousand, this moment matters because Q4 has a way of becoming a tornado. 

And if you don't get intentional now, you could lose your entire momentum to finish the year the way you want to. So let me ask you a few strategic questions. Are you focused on the right things? Are you zeroed in on the biggest drivers that are going to make the biggest impact? Or are you still scattered across too many priorities? 

Number two, are you delegating. Because if you are keeping too much too close to the vest, you are creating a cog in the wheel and a backlog, and you're frustrating your people. So make sure you are delegating. Ask people to handle things, but ask them in a timely manner so that they have enough lead time to actually accomplish what it is you need accomplished in a sufficient amount of time. 

Number three, team clarity. Does everyone on your team know what it's going to take to be successful in Q4 and hence be successful to end the year? I can't stress that enough. Have you had very clear conversations to ensure alignment? And then last point on this is personal sustainability. How do you want to feel in December? 

Do you wanna slide into the Christmas holidays like a rag, or do you wanna go in feeling like, wow, I crushed it this year? I was outstanding. I showed up in every part of my life with my best self. So what needs to be true about your habits, your boundaries, and how you manage your energy in order for your vision of you to come true as you ring in 2026. 

So the fourth quarter shouldn't catch you off guard. You should know exactly what's happening. You definitely have time, you have clarity, you've got wisdom. Listen, we all have AI tools now that can help us be more efficient, help us get to answers much faster, and use all of the tools that are at your disposal to think more strategically and make a greater impact on your business and your own personal goals and results. 

In closing, I just want to give you this permission slip. The permission that if something's been tugging at you, something you quietly put down this summer, consider this your permission to either pick it back up, not because you should, not because it's on a timeline somewhere, but because you're ready, because you've grown and because your joy is waiting on the other side of this aligned action. 

I also wanna remind you that if those items on the list no longer align with you, it's okay not to pick them back up. You haven't lost any time you've actually gained wisdom and experiences. I hope you've created memories and, and you've hugged people and put your feet in sand and grass and climbed on rocks and been in water. 

You that you've gotten really clear and now you get to move forward and you get to move forward for this place, from this place of really knowing who you are and what you actually want. So here's what I want you to do. Choose one thing, take one step this week, and then come back and tell me how it felt, because I have a feeling you're gonna feel like you just came home to yourself. 

Yes. All right, so I have a few reflection prompts if you would like to journal about any of this. One. What did I put down that still matters to who I'm becoming? Two, what can I release without guilt? Knowing it no longer serves me? Three, where can I take one bold, aligned step this week? Four, how do I want to show up in Q4 and what gets to start now? 

And five, what would it look like to trust my timing instead of fighting it? Woo. I hope you're burning up your journal with some of those questions and really finding some great insight. It's been a pleasure to be with you today. I love showing up and doing this podcast. If you have any questions about coaching your own career journey or what it would be like to join my private group coaching program. 

I would love to talk more. Please find me on my socials and we can have a chat. Glad to be doing it with you. Have a great day.