Summary:
In this solo episode, I’m diving into the powerful role joy plays in leadership and personal growth—and why it’s not a “nice-to-have,” but a non-negotiable if you want sustainable success. I introduce the concept of Fire Horse Energy, a rare and intense force connected to the 2026 Chinese zodiac, and how this energy invites bold action, momentum, and deep personal responsibility.

I walk you through the three phases of fire—ignition, roaring fire, and embers—and help you identify where you are right now. Most importantly, we talk about how to sustain your fire without burning out by protecting your “oxygen”: the inner resources that keep you grounded, energized, and aligned.

This episode is both reflective and practical. If you’re feeling the pull to do more, lead differently, or step into a bigger version of yourself—this conversation is your invitation to do it with joy, not exhaustion.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

Joy Is a Leadership Strategy
Joy isn’t fluff—it’s fuel. When I lead from joy, I make clearer decisions, build stronger relationships, and move toward my goals with purpose instead of pressure.
Audience reflection → Where have you been pushing instead of allowing joy to lead?

Understanding Fire Horse Energy
Fire Horse energy is fast, powerful, and transformative—but only when it’s directed intentionally. Left unchecked, it can lead to burnout or chaos.
Audience reflection → Where in your life do you feel this surge of energy right now?

The Three Phases of Fire
I break down ignition (the spark), roaring fire (momentum), and embers (integration and rest). Each phase requires something different from you.
Audience reflection → Which phase are you in—and are you honoring what it needs?

Oxygen Prevents Burnout
Your oxygen is your self-care, boundaries, nervous system regulation, and inner resourcing. Without it, even the strongest fire burns out.
Audience reflection → What replenishes you that you’ve been neglecting?

The Hula Hoop Principle
I share how staying in your own “hula hoop” keeps your energy clean, focused, and sustainable—especially in leadership and relationships.
Audience reflection → What are you carrying that actually belongs to someone else?

🔎 Mentioned in the Episode:

• Fire Horse Energy (2026 Chinese Zodiac theme)
• The Three Phases of Fire: Ignition, Roaring Fire, Embers
• The Hula Hoop Principle for energetic and emotional boundaries
• Self-care as a leadership responsibility, not a reward
  
  

✨ Reflection Prompts:

• What would change if I let joy lead my next decision?
• Where do I need to slow down to sustain my fire long-term?
• What does “oxygen” look like for me in this season?
  
  

🧠 Who This Episode Is For:

• Leaders who feel called to grow without burning out
• Entrepreneurs and visionaries in a season of expansion
• Anyone feeling the intensity of “more” and wanting to navigate it with intention
• People ready to harness their energy instead of being consumed by it

📩 Want to Go Deeper?

Follow Lori on LinkedIn to continue the conversation

• Book a Leadership Strategy Call with Lori: loripine.com

🎧 Subscribe to The Joy CEO Podcast

⭐️ Leave a review to help other heart-centered leaders find the show

📲 Share this episode with someone who’s navigating pressure and wants to do it with more grace

Transcript

Hi, I am Lori Pine, the joy, CEO, and I'm so glad you are here with me. Today we are going to talk about joy and the power of joy in leadership. It is not fluff. It is actually the secret weapon to bring you more of what you want in both your personal life and in your professional life. So if you've been with me for the last few weeks, you know that we did a three part series.

And we really talked about some really amazing things. We've been on quite a journey together about shedding what no longer serves us, sitting in the uncomfortable runway of what might be next. And I shared with you that I have sat on a runway for three full years. And then finally this idea of taking flight when you're really ready to go.

Off to that next journey, and if you're brand new around here, welcome. I'm so glad to have you. This is [00:01:00] perfect timing because what we're talking about today works whether you are just stepping into something big or you've been building some momentum for a while. Today we are going to talk about the fire.

Specifically the kind of fire that comes with this moment that we're in. And let me just remind you that we are in this moment of this fire horse energy as we enter into this Chinese zodiac calendar and the year of 2026, which will start February 17th. And if you're feeling that kind of like, let's go energy.

Heck yeah. Right now. If you're ready to move, to claim to build, to finally do the thing, well then this episode is for you. But if you're sitting on the sidelines and you're wondering, well, I don't even know if I believe in this Chinese [00:02:00] Zodiac calendar thing, or I'm not sure I have the energy because 2025 really just kicked me in the pants.

And you might also be thinking. You know, I don't even know what the fire energy would do for me. You are also in the exact right place. So here's what I know. Fire needs oxygen. It absolutely needs oxygen, and if you are about to burn as bright as you've ever burned, then we need to talk about where that oxygen is going to come from.

So in this episode, you are going to learn three things. First, why the fire horse energy is different from any other momentum, and what that means for you and how you can show up today. Second, the three phases of [00:03:00] fire and how to recognize which phase you might be in right now because each one is going to require something different of you.

And then number three, how to identify. What your oxygen actually is, the things inside of your hula hoop that will sustain your fire without burning you out. We are not here to burn ourselves out. We are here to thrive and to shine bright. So let's dive in. This really is the fire horse moment. Let me give you a little context.

In the Chinese zodiac, we moved from the year of the snake in 2025. We did all the shedding. We, we grew, we outgrew, we got rid of some things, things that no longer served us. Now 2026, it is not just a horse year, it is a fire horse year and. [00:04:00] Those elements mixed with the animal only come around every six years, where the animal itself will come around every 12 years.

So the last time that we had a fire horse year was really not in any of our lifetimes. It was in 1966. And so. Most of us weren't even born then. And if we were, we were too little to know what was happening. So here's what we need to know about this fire horse energy. It is not gentle. It is not slow and steady wins the race.

That is not what we are dealing with. This is intense, passionate, focused, fierce action. This is the year that asks you to go all in. Take the leap, take the plunge, do the thing. Stop waiting. Start moving. This is the year right [00:05:00] now. There has been something on your heart, there has been something in on your mind, some sort of desire, and you've been like someday, someday.

When the kids are grown, when this happens, when I pay off the house, when I, when I, when I, this is the day, this is the year. I don't know about you, but I am definitely feeling it. There is a pull and a readiness that I am just like, I'm done trying to make it all prepared, make it all perfect, and I am just like in this, let's go energy.

But here's the thing about fire, especially the kind of fire that will burn really, really hot. It absolutely requires something that will sustain it because what's gonna happen, it will burn out. And so what sustains fire? Oxygen. So we need [00:06:00] oxygen to sustain this roaring flame that we have. I wanna tell you about an experience I had.

It was about a year ago where I led a retreat of amazing, brilliant women. We all went to Canyon Ranch in Lennox, Massachusetts, and one of the sessions that was facilitated, I actually hired one of the Canyon Ranch experts to come and talk to us about the ancient rituals of fire. And in this process we all wrote something down at the end and we put it in the fire that it was something that we were all ready to release.

And as we sat in that circle, and this, you know, kind of expert woman from Canyon Ranch led our session. She talked about the three phases of fire. There's the ignition, the [00:07:00] spark, the moment when something catches, and maybe that's an idea or a decision or a commitment, but something ignites. We all know that that can be paper to a lighter wood to a match.

Ancient times it was a rock. They used rocks to create that spark. Now. We also can talk about the middle part. So you've got the spark, the fire's going. Then there's the middle part where it's a roaring fire, and this thing is in full blaze, there's heat, there's light, and there's this undeniable presence of something just burning so brightly.

This is where most of us want to live. This is the visible part. The part that people see and admire. It's where you toast your s'mores when you're at a campfire in this bright burning fire. Then the third part [00:08:00] is the embers. It's the part we don't really talk about. It's this quiet glow, this aftermath, the heat that endures when the flames burn down.

The transformations already happened. Now that transformation settles deep into the coals. The embers are where something very transformational has a living proof. Now, most people think that the embers mean it's over, but. The embers are actually where the deepest heat lives. The embers can reignite, and many forest fires, as we know, are caused by embers and they can burn you just as badly as the flame.

So embers are really proof that something very real has happened. Okay, [00:09:00] here's my question for you. Where are you in the cycle right now? Are you waiting for something to spark? Has something sparked? Is the fire roaring? Are you in full flame, or are things starting to die down into the embers? It's important to kind of distinguish, you know.

Has something caught fire for you? Did you make a decision? Take a leap, start something that finally feels aligned? If so, you're really in that exhilarating, slightly terrifying space of holy smokes. Is this really happening? If you're in the roaring fire phase, are you moving fast? Are you building momentum?

Are you feeling that full intensity of this engagement, this heat, this something's right at your, your heels and it's, it's gonna get you, so you gotta keep on going. Maybe you're in the thick of execution of showing [00:10:00] up, of being fully on. If so, you know exactly what I'm talking about when I say fire horse energy.

This is the kind of energy that we're talking about. And then the last piece would be, are you in the embers? Maybe something significant has already happened. You made this transition, you did the hard thing, you changed something fundamentally, and now you're in that quieter space. Where the work is integrating and setting in, you're, you're soaking it up and absorbing it, and it's becoming part of who you are rather than just what you accomplished.

Important. There's no wrong answer here, right? Doesn't, doesn't matter where you're at. What's important is knowing where you are. That matters because each phase is going to need something different. Fire needs oxygen. This [00:11:00] is where we get to the heart of today's episode. No matter which phase you're in, fire absolutely needs oxygen to sustain itself, and without it, it can't roar.

It can't be this big, beautiful flame that sustains you and moves you into transition. Instead, it's going to consume itself and die out. When I talk about oxygen, I'm not talking about any sort of external validation or achievement or next level or next goal. I'm talking about what is inside of you, how you show up and care for yourself.

This is really my hula hoop principle, and I've talked many times about this. If you're new here, let me just quickly explain. If you're standing inside of a hula hoop, what you control is inside the hula hoop. That's it. You only control you, not anybody or anything [00:12:00] outside of the hula hoop. Yet. We spend the majority of our time trying to control all the people, places, and things outside of the hula hoop.

So if you are in the hula hoop, you are going to be able to really control things like. Own self-awareness, listening to your own intuition, grounding yourself when you feel anxious. Rest that actually restores you. Connection that fills you up. Who are those people in your life that actually fill you up?

Boundaries that protect your energy, the practices that keep you tethered to yourself. Even when everything around you might be moving fast, what are the ways that you come back to you? Because it is so vitally important all the time, [00:13:00] anytime, but especially when you're dealing with this energy that is going to be fast and furious.

So this is kind of the unglamorous work. The unglamorous work of making sure you are breathing oxygen into yourself, and nobody's really posting about this on LinkedIn or talking about it, but this is the work that doesn't really look like achievement. It doesn't even look praiseworthy, but it is so essential to getting you where you want to go.

So that your goals aren't just someday goals, they're actually on their way to you. So here's what I've learned the hard way, and I've been so transparent about this. You can't sustain fire horse intensity. On fumes. You just can't. You can't keep showing up. [00:14:00] Keep building, keep leading, keep creating. If you're not also tending to what fuels you on the inside to what fills you up to what is going to be able to sustain you.

Let me tell you what I see as starvation to fires all the time. The belief that rest is for later, that you'll slow down when, when you hit the goal, when you make the money, when you close the deal, when you finish the project, when you get the promotion, when you get through the busy season, except when you get to those markers, there's always another marker.

There's always another thing you're chasing. And so what happens? You compromise yourself. You compromise your rest. And that habit of saying yes to everything, because you're afraid you'll miss out. You're, you're afraid you won't be the favorite one. You're afraid that somebody else will [00:15:00] step in and do it and do it better, and then what will happen, it just keeps becoming this hamster wheel and it, it pulls these yeses out of you.

When you really mean to say no, because what happens is those yeses pull you further away from what really matters to you. So we end up in this comparison game watching what everyone else is doing and using that as some sort of barometer of whether you are doing enough or not. And that is the lie. That is the absolute lie that becomes the performance of busyness.

It gets really confusing with progress, and we don't want to confuse the two. Just because you're in constant motion doesn't mean that your motion has meaning. It doesn't. So all of that is just gonna starve out your fire. It's going to, gonna squash it [00:16:00] as though maybe you even poured a bucket of water on it.

All that oxygen just gets used up and you won't fuel your flame. So what feeds it? What really feeds it? Knowing yourself well enough to recognize when you're running on empty. Before you crash, before you end up in the ambulance, before you have some catastrophic event or medical diagnosis, trusting your intuition when it's telling you to pause.

Pivot or say no. Having practices that really just are going to ground you. Meditation, journaling, gratitude, yoga, Pilates, like the things that could just get you back into your body so that you even know that you're human. And so whatever that is for you. Creativity, connection, whatever actually works for you.

Do that. Do that thing. And then [00:17:00] protecting your space for things that fill you up and not just all the check boxes of the to-do list. So being honest about what you need, and even if that is not convenient, right? So that's your oxygen, that's what's gonna allow you to sustain this intensity without burning out.

Next we're going to talk about how do you figure out what your oxygen actually is? So start by asking a few simple questions of yourself. What makes me feel more like myself, not more productive, not more impressive, not more like the version of me I actually want to be, but what just makes me feel more like myself?

For me, it's. Really low key Sundays. I have a slow start to my day. I stay in my jammies, especially now that it's wintertime. I have a nice homemade breakfast that really just fuels me. [00:18:00] And then I do some puttering around the house and always in the afternoon, every Sunday, as long as I'm in town, I go and see my 95-year-old father-in-law.

There is something very grounding about that for me and those, those sorts of activities. Spending time with my husband being on the couch Friday night, movie nights. I started those when my children were little. They're grown. They're not even home anymore, and I'm still on the couch every Friday night.

Rarely am I out on a Friday night. So those are the things that really matter and restore you when you feel depleted and you can ask yourself, what am I avoiding? Because it feels too slow, too quiet, too simple, but that you know, deep down you need it. Where are you leaking energy on things that don't actually matter to you, but you've convinced yourself somehow that they should.

Maybe those things just need to go altogether. [00:19:00] So these aren't really easy questions, and the answers might surprise you and you know your oxygen just might look different than somebody else's, and that's okay. You can need what you need to need. So if you're serious about sustaining this fire and this fire horse energy, which I really think you are, you have to get honest about what is actually going to feed the fire and sustain the fire for you.

My hula hoop, you know, is something that I talk a lot about on this podcast and it's really a, the circle of what you control. So remember, you cannot control all of these external things that are happening in the world. You can't control other people. You can't control their opinions. You can't control how fast or how slow things move.

You can't control the economy or the weather, or whether things show up on your [00:20:00] timeline or not. But you can control how you tend to yourself. You can control the actions that you take. You can control your mindset, your perspective, your attitude, and you control whether you're listening to your intuition or you're overriding it, whether you're feeding your fire or you're starving it.

So that's your hula hoop for today. And in a year like this, a year of the fire horse that's asking you to go all in and chase those dreams so that there's no regrets, the hula hoop is going to matter more than ever because the fire that you're building, it's going to require everything you've got and you need to make sure you've actually got it.

So here's what I want you to walk away with today. If you're feeling that fire horse energy, that readiness, that intensity, that's let's go momentum. [00:21:00] Just honor it. It's rare energy. 60 years we haven't seen it, and it's powerful and you can use it to do something to extraordinary, but also tend to your oxygen, tend to yourself.

Do not wait until you are depleted and withered and grouchy and angry and just unfit. To be around for yourself or others. Don't assume that you can sustain this sort of power, this sort of energy, this sort of fire, without also doing the quiet work of tending to yourself. Fire needs oxygen, and you get to decide where that oxygen comes from.

Thanks for being here. If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear about it. Send me an email, [email protected]. Share it with someone who needs to hear exactly what we talked about today, or leave a [00:22:00] review or a five star rating. I hope that you will come back again next week where we talk more about the power of joy in leadership.

Glad to be doing it with you. Until next time, thanks for listening to the Joy CEO. I hope today's conversation left you feeling seen, stretched, and a little more grounded in your own joy. If something resonated, be sure to hit subscribe. Leave a five star review and share this episode with someone walking a similar path.

And if you're ready to take this work deeper, connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram at Lori Pine, or head over to my website, lori pine.com, to learn more about coaching retreats and how we can work together. Because joy isn't just personal, it's powerful. And when you lead with joy, you don't just rise, you bring others with you.

Until next time, keep leading with heart and don't forget to claim your joy.