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Welcome to the Upside Podcast, where we help you get unstuck in your life and your business by elevating your thinking and provoking meaningful change from the inside out. I'm your host and we are back for 2026. I am so excited to be back in the hot seat today and to have another episode drop and wow. Happy 2026. To all of you listening. I can't believe that we are here. And I know if you are listening and investing your time in the Upside Podcast, I know that you have big goals for 2026. My message today is for those of you who have big goals, who are looking to do something different in 2026, who are looking to become somebody different in 2026. Because what I know is all of our success is always an inside job. It's always inside to outside. If we want to see changes happen in our life, in our business, in our finances, in our family, in our relationships, it's going to happen internally first. That is just how it is. Always inside to outside. And my very first episode last year of the Upside, I talked about the personal growth journey of who we become. And I gave you the example. And this is one of my very favorite things. If you know me well, you know I teach on this. I talk about this all the time. And that's the stair step of A to B, meaning if we were to draw a stair step with point A being at the bottom, and our desire is to get to the top of the staircase at point B. And so we're always looking at where we're at to where we want to be. Most of our goal setting in life is all around where are we at, where do we want to be, where are we at, where do we want to be, what are the steps that we need to get from that place? And the way that I want to twist your thinking and remind you that at the end of the day, the most important question we have to ask first is who are we and who must we become? It's not just about where we're at and where we want to be. It's not just about going from point A to point B. It's be. It's really about who are we and how do we become the person who does the point B, how do we become the person who accomplishes that goal? Because if we're truly honest with ourselves, if I'm honest with myself, the reason I haven't accomplished it yet is because I haven't become that person. And so my identity has to get challenged. I have to show up differently in 2026. And so do you. And so I want to give you five identities of a goal crusher in 2026. These are five identities of a person who will accomplish their point B, if you will. So here's the first one. You are the one who chooses hard on purpose. So much of life is hard. I think we could all agree with that. Life just hands out hard situations, hard challenges. Life is not easy. I don't think anyone thinks life is easy. Most of the time, though, we don't choose the hard things. We avoid hard things. We are. We run away from that. We don't embrace that. And if you'll look back in your life. I know I can look back in my life. And the things that were really hard and were really challenging, those were some of the most instrumental and pivotal times in my life. Those were the things that developed some of the best character in me. Those were the things that created some of the best outcomes, were the really hard things that happened sometimes to me, sometimes things that I did that created hard situations. But when we go and do the hard things on purpose, put ourselves in situations that are uncomfortable, put ourselves in hard times purposely, then we get to create those results on purpose. And so much of life is about avoiding hard things. When the great, the greats, they go out and they choose it, life will be hard. Or you can choose hard. Hard is the path that will build the next version of you. It's not a punishment. It is actually a gift. So you, number one identity is you are a person who chooses hard on purpose. Okay? The number two identity that you're going to become in 2026, if you are going to be a goal crusher, and that is you are the one who keeps promises to yourself. And we've talked about this before. On the upside, I do believe that one of the number one ways for you to build confidence is to keep the promises that you make to yourself. Sometimes I think when we set goals, we. We set too many goals or try to go really intense as opposed to being consistent. And I'm going to challenge you to commit to small things that you're willing to commit to and stick with it. But when you are the person who chooses to keep the promises to yourself, every time you spoil a follow. Excuse me, Every time you follow, follow through, you strengthen the foundation. Every time you follow through, you build your confidence. Every time you follow through, you plant seeds that's going to reap great results in the future. We a lot of times have imposter Syndrome because we haven't yet become that person. But when you get up every single day, when you said you were going to, when you go to the gym, when you said you were going to, when you go and have a hard conversation because you know that's what you need to do, when you keep the promises that you make to yourself, your confidence is going to increase. So I have a story with my daughter, Jet. So every fall at Schimmel Fenning Middle School is the science fair. Maybe that's at every school. I don't know. It's. It's my worst nightmare. I don't enjoy the science fair at all. But she chose a project, and she decided she was going to test her run times based on she was going to do a certain distance, she was going to do a quarter of a mile, and she was going to drink a different drink before she ran. And sure, her hypothesis was going be around. Water was the most effective drink to drink before you run, and it would yield the greatest run time. Awesome. So she was going to drink cherry juice, chocolate milk, gatorade, water, and Dr. Pepper or root beer. I think she chose root beer because she likes it better. No problem. Anyway. Okay, that sounds all fine and dandy except for when she really got down to it, she realized, wait a second. I have to run a quarter of a mile. And I'm not just running five times with these drinks. I have to do this all, I think, three or four times. Shoot. So she was having to run multiple sprints, and she couldn't do them back to back. Right. Because that would affect the results. And so she got a little bit behind because her. Her project wasn't approved. And so blah, blah, blah. And she bit off honestly a little more than she could. Drew, chew. Starting to get cold at night or whatever. She came to me. She's like, mom. She's like, I. I. Like, I don't know how I'm gonna get all this done. And I'm running out of time. I'm exhausted. She's like, can I just. Can I just fudge the numbers? And I'm going to tell you, I had a moment as a mom that I thought, yeah, let's just fudge the numbers. Who really cares? Like, everyone knows it's either going to be water or Gatorade. Dr. Barbara's not going to really win. It's, you know, what does it matter at the end of the day? And my good sense of as a mother took over, and I said, judd, this is the project you chose. You committed to It. That's not how we operate in integrity. You're going to do the project. And so she did. She did every single run. She got up early to do them before school. She came home after basketball practice, ran more sprints. I mean, it was a whole thing. And when she was done with the project, she looked at me and she said, mom, I feel so proud of myself. And I think as a mom, I almost robbed her of the opportunity by telling her she could throw in the towel. I almost robbed her of that opportunity to keep the promise that she made to herself, to do what she said she was gonna do. And at the end of the day, it built confidence. She was more assured, and she felt so incredibly proud of herself. So I just wanna encourage you. Remember, you're somebody who chooses hard things on purpose is exactly what she did with that silly science. And then she kept the promises she made to herself. You do the same thing. The third one, the third identity of who you're going to become in 2026 is that you are someone who loves change. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you love it. You love change. You are a person who absolutely thrives on change. Some of you are listening and saying, nope, that is absolutely not me. Well, guess what? You are becoming that person. You are becoming a person who doesn't resist change. You are becoming a person who loves change. I have always historically said I'm not a change person. I don't really love a lot of change. And yet on the other side of my mouth, I would say, I love growth. Well, guess what? Change. The very nature of growth is change. You cannot grow personally, you cannot grow in your leadership. You cannot grow your business. None of that can grow. Your money can't grow without change. It is the very nature of growth. Change is always the price that you pay for growth every single time. When I was, I think probably, I don't know, seventh or eighth grade in middle school, and my youth pastor had asked me to share a message at youth group. And I will never forget this, but I don't remember what anything else was in the message, but I said that I was talking about how change is the price you pay for growth. It had these little Ziploc baggies of coins, and the whole idea was change, you know, like. Like change. Money was the price you pay for growth. Anyway, that's just fun fact from Teresa's childhood. Okay, so you are the person who loves change. All right, Number four. You are the person who doesn't have to be perfect. Yes. Permission to not be perfect. You are A person who doesn't have to be perfect. Some of you carry so much weight of trying to be perfect. Be a person of progress. You get stuck and you won't move forward. Because if it isn't perfect, well, by golly, you're not going to do that. Well, guess what? It's never going to be perfect. You are a human being. It is never going to be perfect. It's always going to be a little messy. But your identity, who you're becoming is. You're becoming a person who will move forward even when it's messy. You're a person who says, you know what? It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to get done. You're a person who says, you know what? I'm not going to be held back and use perfection as an excuse for inaction. Oh, yep, let me say that again. You're a person who's not going to use perfection as an excuse for inaction. Inaction. Remember that momentum is always created by repetition. You're never going to become great at something until you do it over and over again. Ever. The the quality is always in the quantity. You know, when I started this podcast, I feel like if you go back and listen to episode one, I think I'm better than I was a year ago. I still have so far to go. We're only 40 something episodes in. Do you realize that some of the greatest podcasters are like thousands of episodes in. I am just getting started of mastering a craft in this. It takes so much time and repetition to get better. They did a study of of two focus groups and let's just say they were making widgets and one group was responsible for making them the highest quality that they could make. And one group was responsible for making just as many as they could. The more they made, the better. And there was a time limit on it. And what they actually found was the group that was responsible for quality made a inferior product to the group that was responsible for quality quantity. Why? Because the group that just started turning out a mass amount of widgets every time they made one, they got better at it, they figured things out and the quality improved when the quantity happened. So some of you have goals on your list for this year that you're stumbling over the fact that it's not perfect yet. You may have a goal for a number of appointments in your business and your conversion may not be great right now. Get out there and do the appointments. The perfection comes with the repet repetition. So your identity number four is you are a Person who does not have to be perfect. Okay, number five. You're gonna love this one. You're the person who sees the upside. You are a person who sees the upside. Remember that. Perception, perspective is your superpower. You know, we can go through life situations. It's interesting as a mom of twins, because I watch my girls do almost everything in life together, and yet I have two very different little humans. And there's a lot of reasons for that. Perspective is not the only one. But there are experiences we can go through exactly the same experience of somebody, sit in a class situation, go watch a movie together, experience some type of dramatic episode in our lives, and two people are going to walk out telling completely different stories around that experience. And it has to do with perspective. Remember, it's not about what happens to us in life. Life's going to happen. 2026, I hate to tell you, will still be full of challenges. Some of them aren't even on your radar yet. Some of them, you're well aware of what those challenges are going to be. But you get to decide the story you tell yourself around that. You get to choose your perspective. You get to decide, is this going to make you or is this going to break you? You get to decide, is this a hard challenge? Is this something that is going to make you better? Is this something that's going to refine your character? Is this going to be a story that you get to tell? Is this going to be something that will be used to impact others in the future? You always get to choose your upside. So my encouragement to you as 2026 progresses, we're just now starting that. When life comes up and smacks you in the face, when you get derailed by some of the. In some of the goals that you set, when you fail, when you mess up, I want to encourage you to look at the upside. Those things are part of your story. You get to decide what it means. Don't let it derail you. Don't let it derail you. Be a person who chooses hard on purpose, who embraces it, who doesn't just accept it when it happens, but looks for hard things so that life will get better. Be a person who keeps their promises to their themselves. Be a person who loves change, who embraces it, who thrives in it. Be a person who doesn't have to be perfect. You have permission not to be perfect. And be a person who sees the upside. And I believe if we will all step into these five identities in 2026, it is going to be a fantastic year. So I hope that you will go on a journey with me. We have so many great episodes planned. Remember, we drop every Tuesday if you are not subscribed@teresaflood. And that is there's a flood. Teresa spelled with an h. There's a flood.com you can go subscribe. We'll send an email out letting you know when the next episode has dropped. And then on Thursdays I send out, especially when I just do these one one on one episodes I send a teaching guide. One of the best ways for you to invest in your own growth and your leadership journey is to teach what you're learning to others. And so I create a teaching guide that you can download on on Thursdays that goes along with next episode. So if you are leading a team, if you are coaching, you can take that guide and use it, or you can just use it for your own reflection and personal growth. But that is a tool that is available to you for all of the Upside subscribers. But I'm excited to go into 2026 with you. I hope that you will continue with me on a weekly basis. I've got interviews lined up with amazing people. I just recorded one actually that's going to up air in a couple weeks with a small business owner and entrepreneur. You're not going to want to miss that one. So many great things in the pipeline. So again, thank you so much for tuning in. It's going to be a great year. Remember, when you invest in your personal growth every day, it will yield you great returns. See you next week on the other side.