Welcome to the Elevated Edit Podcast.

I'm your host Blakely Ramsey and the goal of this podcast is to discuss all things personal development, wellness and the art of editing your life in an elevated way.

From mastering morning routines to mastering your mindset, we're going to sift through the noise and empower you to take elevated action.

Make sure you catch the show notes.

For all the details.

Enjoy the show.

Hello and welcome back to the Elevated Edit podcast.

It has been a a week around here.

If you are brand new, this is the first time you were listening.

I launched the Elevated Edit Co last week.

It is a systems and habits coaching company and the mission of the Elevated Edit company is to allow women to implement systems into their life that help them magnetize more abundance and more joy and time freedom.

So we are all about quality, not quantity over here.

And launching a company was the best learning experience I have ever gone through.

There were a lot of successes.

In certain ways it exceeded my expectations wildly and there were also some hard lessons.

There were some, you could call them on the surface, failures.

I tried to glean information and lessons from everything.

But one of the things that I was most excited about with launching the company was getting feedback from my target demographic.

So it's one thing when you were like working on your baby.

Like I've been like working on my company over here in my office by myself.

You know, I've been of course talking to my coaches and my mentors and you know, everyone in like my mastermind groups and some close friends.

But for the most part I've been over here in like a systems and habits bubble and I'm like making my product just it's my baby, it's my little love and I'm just working on it every day and I'm pouring so much into it.

I'm giving it, you know, joy in life and I'm bringing it up from the ground up.

But I knew that it was going to have to pivot and shift when I actually took it to market.

And I learned some really valuable information.

I tried to get in as many conversations this last week as humanly possible and I didn't want to hear good things.

Like I didn't want people to be like, oh, I loved this or this was great or this really resonated with me.

I wanted to hear what's confusing about the messaging, what doesn't make sense, what, what do I need to work on and tweak and craft so that this can become like a really high level company.

And one side note on that you don't need to take advice from everybody.

This is why it's so important to know who your target demographic is and know exactly who you're talking to.

So that way when you do get feedback, you can go, okay, I'm, I wasn't, I wasn't ever targeting you in the first place.

Versus, okay, these are the women that like, I actually want to help and like, actually will learn and will benefit from this company.

Like, what are they saying to me?

Is it making sense?

Are they getting it?

Like, what's off?

And so I have really worked on my messaging because I know the value of systems and high level habits.

I just need to.

It is my responsibility to make sure that I am articulating the mission and the vision accurately.

Like that is at this point and for the next, I'd say year, that is my job is to make sure that I'm refining my messaging to the point where there is no doubt that if I am speaking to the person who I know this product can help, they're like, oh, that's, that's for me, 100%.

So at this point, that is my full time job, is to constantly be in conversations and constantly get feedback about like, okay, what is working and what is not.

And one of the things that I quickly realized this last week that is going to be an obstacle is a lot of women have the mindset that they are someone who cannot execute.

They're like, oh, I'm just someone that, you know, I've tried all the things, you know, I've read all the books and I've bought a planner and I've tried other systems, but I'm just not someone who is good at time management.

I'm just not someone who can execute at a high level.

Like I've tried before and I can't do it.

And I want to be like, but this is different.

This is really going to help you.

Because it's a mindset shift.

I'm like, I've got to get them to that point where they feel confident and they know that they can do it.

They know that they can be someone that can execute at a high level.

And so while I was doing research for that, I got, I got so much good research this weekend.

Like I've been in a research hole in here in my office.

Like, I've got a, almost like a quarter of a big notebook full of just research for this.

And so I was like, I've got to bring this to my podcast girlies, because I know they're going to benefit from this too.

So today we're going to talk about the truth about execution and why some people stay stuck and what you can do about it.

And one thing that I've really realized is there is a difference between people who stay stuck and people who actually execute at a high level.

And it's not what you think it is.

The media and marketing and a lot of like, you know, like bro messaging is going to tell you that, oh well, the most intelligent people execute at a high level and the people who put in the most effort and the people who are the most motivated, they're the ones that are executing at a high level.

But that's not always necessarily true.

Through a lot of this research.

And I feel like my own personal life is basically research 24 7, just me, you know, practicing and modifying the way I live.

The people who actually move the needle are the ones who are mastering high quality input, precision execution and systems that make action inevitable.

And you might be like, okay, likely, that doesn't make any sense.

I'm going to break it down for you.

Okay?

We're about to lay the foundation.

We're going to talk about why some people stay stuck in the first place.

And the first one is a big one.

I feel like a lot of us get stuck in this hamster wheel.

I know I have been on it before and I still tend to fall back on it occasionally.

And that is, they confuse effort with execution.

So a lot of people think, okay, I've got a big goal, I am ready to.

I'm ready.

Like, today's the day I'm going to wake up.

I'm going to be motivated.

I'm going to get all the things done.

I'm going to work more hours, I'm going to do more tasks, I'm going to do more busy work.

But then you don't actually make real progress.

And, and somebody might have come to mind, like, it might not be you, it might be a friend.

And they're always busy.

They're always like running around, you know, they're like, oh, I'm so busy.

I just, I can't.

I don't even have time to sit down.

I don't have time to do that.

I don't have time to do anything.

I'm so busy, they're never actually making real progress.

It's because execution isn't about doing more.

It's about doing what actually matters.

So I want you to visualize this for a second.

You have a walking pad, and your walking pad, you know, you put it under your desk, or maybe you put it in front of the tv and you're like, wow, this really helps me get more steps in.

Like, this is great.

I can multitask.

I can get more steps in.

I don't even realize that I'm doing it.

Like, this has helped me get more steps in.

This is so cool.

And so I want you to envision that your friend lives in walking distance from you.

We'll say it's a 10 minute walk to your friend Ann's house.

And Ann calls you and she's like, hey, girl, I want you to come over and I want us to.

To, you know, do some yoga or whatever you and Ann do together.

And you're like, okay, great, I will be there in 10 minutes.

If you get off the phone with Ann, you're like, oh, I know exactly what I can do.

I'm gonna hop on my walking pad because my walking pad has been helping me get my steps in.

Maybe I can shorten the time to get to Anne's house.

Instead of getting there in 10 minutes, I can get there in eight minutes.

So you drag your walking pad outside because you're like, man, this walking pad has been helping me get this.

These steps in.

So you get your walking pad down, you crank that thing up to 3.4.

I don't know about your walking pad, but that's as high as mine will go.

You crank that baby up to 3.4 and you start walking.

You set off, you're like, okay, I'm about to get to Anne's house.

About to get to Anne's house in eight minutes.

Ooh, eight minutes pass by, ten minutes pass by, and you're like, wait a minute, I haven't moved.

I'm walking, I'm putting in the effort, but I'm not getting anywhere.

That's because you're doing busy work.

Like, that's literally what busy work is, is walking on a walking pad.

Which is fine if your goal is to say, okay, I want to hit 5,000 steps while I'm working.

But if your goal is to get to Anne's house, you need to get off of the walking pad and actually take steps to move forward.

And that's the difference between doing busy work.

Well, you're walking on the walking pad.

You're sweating.

Okay, you're moving, you're grooving.

You're not actually moving forward.

You're not actually making progress.

That moves the needle.

And there are a million quadrillion kajillion things in 20, 25 at the time of this recording, that can feel like walking on that walking pad.

When you're trying to get to Anne's house, social media is a big one.

Tweaking your website, perfecting your brand colors.

Like, there's a thousand things that you can do that make you feel busy.

You're like, okay, I'm doing more, I've got more tasks.

I've got a ton of busy work.

I'm doing all the things.

But are you actually moving forward or are you just exhausting yourself?

Because let me tell you, you can walk on that walking pad for three hours, you can be exhausted, and you're never going to get to Anne's house.

You need to be focusing on the things that actually move the needle forward.

Okay, that's number one, they confuse effort with execution.

Number two, they don't have systems that make execution automatic.

The people who win aren't the ones who are trying harder.

They're not trying.

They're not putting in so much effort.

They're the ones who design systems that make execution inevitable.

This next thing I'm about to say might hurt feelings a little bit, but I needed to hear it like 150 times for it to click for me.

And so if I have to say it 150 times, I will.

If you have to think about what to do every single day, you're already behind.

If you wake up in the morning and you go, what am I going to do today?

What is going to move the needle today?

You are already behind.

You need systems that make execution automatic because your system should work for you even on your worst days, even when you're not motivated, when you're sick, when a family member's sick, you unexpectedly have to go out of town.

Like life is going to throw you a thousand cur curveballs.

You need to have systems working in the background to go, okay, I have to, I have to tend to this.

But I know that my systems, my system's got me.

They're either running in the background or when you get back to whatever it is you need to be doing, you know exactly where to jump in.

You know exactly what to do.

You know exactly what is moving the needle.

That is what systems can do for you.

They make execution automatic.

So you're not just relying on motivation or you're not relying on conditions to be perfect.

You have plans and systems and automation running for you in the background.

And the third thing that some people do that keeps them stuck is they focus on volume instead of quality.

The highest performers are doing less but they're doing it better.

So I want you to think about this.

Less output is higher quality.

High quality input equals high quality results.

Right now, for me, a personal example of this is I want to be doing all.

I want to be omnipresent.

I want to do every, every social media platform possible.

But I know if I try to master everything all at once, I'm going to master nothing.

And I do want to be the best.

I want to be the best across all, all platforms.

But I know the less output that I have, the higher quality it's going to be.

So for the next, at least month, maybe two, I'm focusing on YouTube.

I am going to have a system in place.

I'm going to still post on Instagram, still post on Facebook, still post on LinkedIn, but I'm going to be doing the very bare minimum on those.

And I am, like, honing in on YouTube.

Hired a coach.

I'm all about hiring a coach these days.

If I can hire somebody to help me elevate, that is exactly what this girl's going to do.

I've hired a YouTube coach.

Like, I'm going all in on YouTube because, quite frankly, I've done the research and for my personal business, it is the avenue that will help me grow the fastest.

And so that's what I'm going to focus on first.

Then when my YouTube intensive is over, I'm going to move on to the next platform, you know, whatever that is.

And so less output, higher quality.

Also focusing on higher quality input so that I can have higher quality results.

And this looks like I'm listening to less music, but better.

I'm listening to a lot of classical music.

I'm listening to a lot of, like, frequencies that are, like, conditioned for creativity and, you know, working at a, you know, focus or whatever it is.

I am listening to less podcasts.

I'm listening to very specific podcasts.

I'm listening to less audiobooks, very specific audiobooks.

I'm reading less books, very specific books.

Like, you see what I'm getting at here?

It's less to create higher quality, okay?

Because the goal isn't to be busy.

The goal is to be effective.

And I want every different iteration of my life to constantly be like, okay, I'm doing less, I'm doing less, but I'm doing better.

I'm doing better, I'm doing better.

And that's how you really move the needle.

Okay?

So let's get into the nitty gritty on what you can do about it.

If you are Someone who is like, maybe you're feeling stuck.

Like, you've got a big goal, you've got a mission, you've got an aspiration you're like trying to reach, but something's just in the way and you're like, I can't figure out what it is.

Y'all know we're all about taking elevated action over here.

So, you know, I'm going to give you some, some elevated action tips.

Number one, cut the noise.

I want you to identify the 20% of actions that create 80% of your results and then drop everything else.

And my people pleasers, I need you to hear me when I say this.

You might have to rewind it, listen to it again.

I need you to identify the 20% of actions that create 80% of results and drop everything else.

That means you're not going to be able to get to 100.

Everything's not going to be perfect.

You're not going to be able to do all the things.

You're not going to make everyone happy.

You're going to get 80% of your results and you're going to have to be okay with that.

Because if you're constantly aiming for a hundred, you're going to stay on that wheel of never making real progress.

Trust me, I'm over here saying this, like, listen to me, because that was me and I made no progress.

And once I jumped off of that wheel and was like, okay, what's the 20% that I can really focus on?

That's when things started to really move for me.

Once I started being okay with like, okay, this is at 80%.

I'm telling you, that's when I started seeing really high level output.

Because it's not about working more, it's about working on the right things.

So I want you to ask yourself, like, when you're about to do a task or take on a new obligation or whatever it is, I want you to say, is this moving me closer to my goal or is this just making me feel productive?

Because there's a lot of things that you can do that are going to make you feel productive.

At the end of the day, you can get to your, the end of your checklist and you checked off all the things and you look up and you're like, oh, wait a minute, I didn't actually do anything that moved the needle.

Huh.

Versus.

I'll take my yesterday for example.

All I did yesterday was read one book.

Now, we went to town and we had breakfast and we cleaned, cleaned and we did a couple other Things, but I didn't listen to the radio.

I didn't listen to an audiobook.

I didn't listen to podcasts.

I didn't watch tv.

I read this one book and I finished it, and at the end of the day, I was like, man, you know, all I did was read this book.

Like, that's kind of disappointing.

I wish I would have got more done today.

But then I woke up this morning after I'd slept on it and let my subconscious kind of, like, suck everything in.

And.

And I was like, wow, Finishing that one book and focusing on that one book because that book was so important to something I'm working on.

I was like, that moved the needle a lot.

And so focusing on that 20% that created an 80% result for me was huge.

And I dropped everything else.

Yeah, there were some shows I wanted to listen to.

There's a couple podcast episodes I wanted to listen to yesterday, but I was like, no, I've got to focus in on my 20%.

So ask yourself, is this moving me closer to my goal or just making me feel productive?

That's a great question to ask yourself.

If you are someone who feels like you're constantly on a hamster wheel of, like, doing and not actually seeing results, ask yourself that question.

Okay, number two.

Install execution systems.

James Clear.

You'll hear me quote this time and time and time again.

I think it's one of my favorite quotes.

You don't rise to the level of your goals.

You fall to the level of your systems.

You see it play out time and time and time and time and time again.

If your success depends on willpower or motivation, you are playing a losing game.

You're going to wake up with motivation.

And this is just coming from my personal experience.

I wake up motivated maybe 30 to 40% of the time.

I wake up in the morning and I'm like, yes.

Like, I am so motivated.

I'm going to crush today.

Today's going to be a great day.

I'm springing out of bed.

I'm running.

I'm ready to go 30 to 40% of the time.

The.

The rest of the time, I'm like, oh, good.

I just want to sleep.

I just want to cuddle in my chair with my kitty cats, and I want to watch a Hallmark movie, and I want to drink hot chocolate, and I don't want to do anything.

Okay.

You can't rely on your motivation.

You have to rely on systems.

Systems should be so effortless that action feels automatic.

Like, I have systems set up in my Life that on those days when I wake up and all I want to do is watch Hallmark movies, I just have to like, step into the system.

It's automatically running.

I just have to step into it and it, you know, action gets more action.

As soon as I start a little action, my system is running so smoothly.

I'm like, okay, here we go.

I'm in the, I'm in the ocean of systems now.

And by lunch I'm.

I'm usually back in my motivation.

But you can't rely on motivation or willpower to be successful because it's.

That is going to fail you the majority of the time.

Through this last week of conversations, I realized that a lot of people think that systems are super complicated, that they're going to add more onto your plate.

And the beautiful thing about systems is they take so much off of your plate and they allow you to just execute almost effortlessly.

And so I have created a challenge.

I will announce when the first round of it will run, but it's going to be value packed and just a really.

Oh my gosh, it's going to be so amazing.

I'm so excited.

That's actually the book that I finished yesterday was about creating high level challenges because I've taken challenges before and I'm like, this was a waste of my time.

Like I shouldn't have.

It was a waste of my money, it was a waste of my time.

And I don't ever, like, I don't want to put on a challenge that is a waste of time for you.

And I know you don't want to sign up for a challenge that's a waste of time either.

And so I am putting a ton of effort, of high level effort into this challenge.

I also have other people who have ran hundreds of challenges really refining each part of the challenge for me.

And so it's going to be the systems that simplify challenge.

Be on the lookout for that very soon.

And it is going to help you set up systems that feel effortless so that action feels automatic.

Okay.

Number three, what you can do to get unstuck is focus on micro wins.

This goes back to we're not waiting for motivation because execution is a habit.

It's not a feeling.

We want you to win today.

Micro win today, then another micro win again tomorrow because that momentum is going to compound.

I have mentioned the gap and the gain on this podcast before, but it is such a great book because Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy really help you shift your mindset around the things that happen in your life and Instead of looking at it in the gap, like, oh, I'm so far from where I want to be, you turn around and you look at it as the gain.

Like, wow, I have grown so much in the last 24 hours, in the last three months, in the last three years.

It helps you get those tiny micro wins every single day because your momentum is going to compound.

So when you feel like you had a little win today, you're like, yes.

And then you'll get a little win tomorrow, it's like, yes.

And then you add those little wins up over time, and soon execution becomes a habit.

It's no longer a feeling.

Just remember, small, consistent actions over time will always outperform bursts of effort, which are eventually followed by burnout.

And once again, I'm raising my hand because that was me.

I used to be the out performer, doing all the things, saying yes to everyone, and then I burn out.

It is a vicious cycle, let me tell you, okay?

And finally, to get yourself unstuck, if that is where you're at right now, is you can raise your standards.

High performers don't just try harder.

They operate differently.

Okay?

Execution isn't about working yourself into the ground.

It's not about hustling and grinding and all of these, like, big, heavy words.

It's about mastering efficiency and precision.

And so one way that you can do this is to ask yourself, am I operating at the level required for my next level?

And that is going to shift your brain a little bit because it's going to go from like, okay, I just need to do more.

I need to do all the things to.

Wait a minute.

What do I actually need to do to be the person who is operating at my next level?

Do I need to shift when I wake up?

Do I need to shift the way I think about things?

Do I need to shift what my evening routine looks like?

Like, it really makes you look at.

At micro instead of macro.

You're no longer like, oh, my gosh, I need to do all these things and I need to be omnipresent and I need to, you know, be on in email and Pinterest and Instagram and all this stuff.

It's like, no, hold on, let me focus in and say, what do I actually need to be doing and who do I actually need to be being to operate at the level required for my next level?

So for me, with my YouTube intensive, this is a great example of it is I am no longer doing YouTube activities.

Like, for the next two months, I am fully embodying someone who operates on YouTube at a high level.

And in order to do that, I've really had to kind of, like, break my brain and rebuild it.

And, like, okay, I am constantly recording.

I have my gimbal set up on my desk right now.

Like, I charge my gimbal at night when I charge everything else.

I am, like, constantly refining my YouTube system so that.

That way, when I start to execute, it is seamless and feels effortless and automatic.

It's all so good.

This stuff is so good.

Oh, my goodness.

But I want you to remember that this is all about the fact that you're either executing or you're excusing.

There's no in between.

And look, I still make excuses some days.

I live in excuse land.

But if we are going to actually move the needle on our goals and our mission and our vision, we have got to start executing at a high level.

And the highest level isn't always harder.

It's just clearer, simpler, and sharper.

So the question turns from, can I do this?

Like, am I capable of doing this?

To am I willing to execute at the level required for my next level?

Am I willing to become the person who can execute at the level required for my next level?

And it kind of shifts everything.

It really does.

It shifts your mindset.

It's just the way you operate.

It shifts your way of being.

And at the end of the day, it can take a lot of that busy hustle.

All the stuff, like, all the just hamster wheel work.

It can take a lot of that off your plate and allow you to, like, really laser focus in on what actually moves the needle.

Because if you're circling the same problem and if you feel like people are constantly passing you by, then it's time to move differently.

You know, it's time to do something different.

It's time to be someone different if the same things you've been doing haven't been working.

And that is why I'm just so thankful for this podcast and the fact that I can get on here and talk to you and we can grow together, because it really has.

It's.

It's been so great.

So if this episode hit home for you, I want you to DM me on Instagram @theblakelyramsey and tell me what's one area that you know you need to execute better.

I have a list of areas right beside me that I'm looking at right now, so I know you probably have at least one.

So DM me on Instagram.

Let's talk about it.

If this episode is one that you just have a friend that you're like, I think she needs to hear this.

Please send it to her.

If you have not, please leave a review.

It helps me reach other women just like you, and I'm just so thankful that you tune in and listen every week.

And I the messages that y'all send me mean more to me than y'all could ever know.

Sometimes they do embarrass me because I forget that I'm not just over here talking to the abyss like people are actually listening to this.

But it is.

It's my passion project.

It's my baby.

I love this podcast so, so much and I love getting to hang out with you every single week.

With that, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and I will see you in the next episode.

Thank you for tuning in to the Elevated Edit podcast.

I hope you found today's episode and inspiring and full of actionable tips.

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Until next time, keep growing, glowing and elevating your life.

See you soon.