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In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about coaching and confidentiality. Find the Full Notes to this episode at RecoveringCorpoholics.com/40. Did you ever want to work with a coach but then think, I don’t want my business getting out there?! This is especially true if your employer is paying for the coaching.  Since coaches are not bound by a medical board and that anyone can claim to be a coach these days (AKA why it’s so important to work with qualified coaches these days!), it can be hard to let your guard down and trust that what you say will be confidential.  But I am here to tell you that is just not the case.  I want to assure you that when you work with a professional coach, especially a coach who is accredited through the ICF or the CCE, whatever you say is 100% confidential.  It is actually our duty as a coach to not disclose any confidential information you tell us during the course of our sessions, unless we have your permission.  There is only one circumstance where confidential information may be shared without your permission is if you were to say something that puts your life at risk.  Now there are other times where confidential information may be shared, however, we must have your permission to do so. For example, if you are sitting for your ICF coaching credentials, sometimes you are required to submit a coaching session recording.  This shows to the coaching accreditation board that you have the skills to coach. But a coach would never record you without your permission! Otherwise, they violate the coaching code of ethics. I would ask in advance if it would be OK to record a future session. And if you are comfortable doing so, I would state at the beginning of the recording the date, the purpose of the recording and who it will be shared with (a coaching board that will keep the recording confidential). This is just one example but I want to assure you that you are in the driver's seat with your information. You can say no to anything!  That is why it is so important to discuss this prior to starting your coaching relationship.  When you begin your relationship with a coach, confidentiality is a topic that will always be brought up by your coach and discussed… if you are a good coach that is, again that’s why it is so important to work with a trained and certified coach.   Discuss this with your coach. Look at your contract (and there should always be a contract) and see what it states. Maybe the contract states information may be shared for training purposes only, maybe it states that only your name will be shared for hourly tracking purposes (that is for credentialing), but, whatever the case may be, just ensure you know! This is especially important when working with a coach hired by your employer. Just know what information can be shared.  And when you are unclear about anything, don’t like what you see and / or If you don’t see anything on confidentiality on the contract (which is a red flag in my opinion), ask your questions, have it added!  Do whatever you need to do to make yourself comfortable. Go to RecoveringCorpoholics.com/40 to see some standard contract language you can ask your coach to add. Coaches are professionals and our only goal is to help you achieve your goals. I do this work full time and take my job very seriously and I would never compromise my relationships with my clients. And every other professional coach should think the same.  Your information belongs to you and you alone and I will always protect that..... FIND THE FULL SHOW NOTES + EXAMPLE CONFIDENTIALITY CONTRACT LANGUAGE HERE.

In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about goal planning. Find the Full Notes to this episode at RecoveringCorpoholics.com/39. This episode is all about goal planning. Because if you don’t have a plan, you don’t have a goal, you have a wish.  And if you don’t know where you are going, you will end up someplace else!  You may have a goal in mind but if you don’t have a plan in place to achieve that goal, and I'm talking about all the steps and everything you need to do to achieve that goal, then you may not reach it. Let's take a second to be real with ourselves.  I mean, Just think about 2020. That was an unprecedented year that no one expected. We may have started out with goals but with everything that happened that year, your goals may have taken a hit.  Instead of being strategic about your time, we all turned on our survival modes and had to deal with things we never had to deal with before. I know that was totally unexpected but so is life.  Having a child sick, you getting sick, having more work to do, dealing with daily life... I mean things happen! We get busy. Moral of the story, if we want to achieve our goals, we need to be strategic in our actions and take control of our future. Aka have a plan! Without goals, we can drift from one thing to another resulting in a feeling that time has been wasted on things that are irrelevant, irresponsible or just  unimportant.  Having goals, we get to choose the direction of our lives and create our future. Goal setting gives us something to look forward to. I don’t know about you but I get excited when I have things I want to achieve. One thing that I especially love about goal setting is that it triggers new behaviors or habits, helping guide our focus and helping us sustain that momentum in life.  I think the most important thing to note here is that the process of working on our goals makes us happy. We are for sure happy when we achieve our goal, but it's the pride in ourselves that we actually did something we committed to that lights us up.  Just take a moment and think back to a time where you wanted to do something and you actually did it. How did you feel? Amazing right?! Well I want you to feel that again because that’s exactly what we're doing this week! OK so let’s get into it! Now that you have your goal down and it is SMART and gives you a SPARK, I want to show you the process of planning your goals.  First, take your top goal you identified and set a date for how long it’s going to take you to achieve.  Maybe it's to lose 20 pounds so you decide you want it to take 6 months. Second, I want you to break that down by monthly milestones. For example, if your goal is to lose 20 pounds in 6 months, how much do you need to lose each month to lose 20 pounds? Around 3-4 pounds.  Then for each month, write down what it would take or look like to lose 3-4 pounds. That's a pound a week! What do you need to eat each week, what exercises do you need to do? Take all the guesswork out! You can even be extra and write down what you will eat each day and when you will work out. That will for sure set you up for success.  And the same goes for a life goal.  Say you want to write a book and you say it will take you one year. OK, well, where do you need to be at 9 months, 6 months, 3 months, etc., in order to complete your goal?  Now it depends on how you want to break it out. Maybe the goal is to write a chapter per month. Then what do you need to do each week in order to complete that chapter? Maybe it's to have the book completed by 6 months and then have it edited by 9 months so it is finalized by month 12. Whatever the case may be, take your goal and figure out how long it will take and t

In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about How to Develop Goals You’ll Actually Want to Achieve. Find the Full Notes to this episode at RecoveringCorpoholics.com/38. There are all things that we want to achieve in this life. However, sometimes, we just aren’t clear with what that is, we get stopped along the way or sometimes we actually don’t want that goal even though we may think that we do. But what if there was a way to set goals that we actually wanted to achieve so we were more motivated to get to the finish line? Let’s get into it. A Goal is a desired result that one plans and commits to achieve. Now a lot of you may know this, but if you want to be truly successful in achieving your goals, you need to be very clear on what your goals are.  Here is the criteria your goals should meet: First, your Goals should be Outcome focused What is it that you really want to achieve? And that outcome should make you feel excited!  If you have a goal you are excited about, I promise you that you’re 90% of the way there. Second, Goals should also be In line with your WHY and your values The more a goal aligns with your inner or core values - the EASIER it will be to achieve. The more your goal will Drive you!  This way, if you get wrapped up in the day/week, your goal is something you love and want to do. It will be easier to keep going or pick back up.   Note: You can achieve goals that don’t align with your values/your WHY but it's usually harder and less satisfying. For example, your job may require you to take some accreditation test.  If you're not crazy about your job, you may not have the same passion and excitement to keep your momentum to study going. It may feel more like a chore.  But think now that you have to take a test to be the best in your field, a field where you are so passionate about, how do you feel about studying now? Challenged? Excited?  Third, Goals should be stated in the positive Instead of saying: “I want to stop snacking”, say “I want to eat healthy” Instead of saying: “I want to quit smoking”, say “I want to be healthy, be able to breathe and live a long life”.  Instead of saying: “I want to quit my crappy job”, say “I want to be in a career that I can impact millions, that I am passionate about, that I am recognized for”.  See the difference? —----- Fourth, your Goals should be SMART I’m sure you’ve heard this so many times so I will just briefly go into this. SMART Stands for..... FIND THE FULL SHOW NOTES HERE.

In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about 3 reasons why you’re not achieving your goals.  Find the Full Notes to this episode at RecoveringCorpoholics.com/37. If you’re ready to achieve big things but are having trouble finding the time to do so, you’re not alone.  According to Forbes, when asking Leaders if they successfully completed their goals for the day, the majority of them responded with “I have no idea”.  (I believe) There are three main obstacles that keep us from achieving our goals.  First, that we aren’t clear or are realistic on what your goals actually are. Second, that we just can’t find the time to work on them (there's just so many fire drills these days!). And third, that we actually have too many goals (and we don’t know where to focus).  So how do we solve those three obstacles so you can start achieving your goals today? Keep Listening.  You aren’t clear / realistic on what your goals are The first obstacle I want to talk about is not being clear or realistic about what your goals actually are.  Sometimes we have no idea what we want to achieve, we just have things we want to do (aka we are not clear on what we want).   For example, I have the goal to record an episode of my podcast each week. However, that is not a goal. That is an action step for a goal. The goal here would be to gain more attention, become a thought leader, use it to later write a book, etc.  But I didn’t put that together until one day I stepped back and thought to myself, why am I taking up so much of my time for my podcast. I’m not someone famous and don’t have a big following so is it even worth my time? And when I had a lot of things to do, I would choose doing that vs my podcast. But now I am clear on what I am trying to do! I want to use this for my clients and eventually put it together for a book. And now I make time for my podcast! And for being realistic, I believe you should dream big, for more info on that, go listen to episode 26. But you also need to be realistic with how big your goal is and how much time you have to achieve it.  Saying you want to win a fitness competition in a month when you haven’t worked out in years may not be the best. But 3, 6 months or a year, that's definitely doable! Set yourself up for success. So to avoid this obstacle, here are some of the other things you can do: For every goal or dream you have, ask yourself: “Why do I want to achieve this”? And if you don’t know, start thinking of the big win you want to achieve for that year. Think about why that is important to you and how it’s going to benefit you? On the opposite spectrum, you can also think of what the risk is for not achieving your goal.  And don’t skip this! I know there is a lot to get done and you want (and like) to get stuff done. But being clear on what you’re trying to achieve is going to make you feel way more accomplished than if you didn’t.  You can’t find the time to work on them  The second obstacle on why you’re not achieving your goals is that you just can’t seem to find the time to work on them.  Life is crazy these days and there is so much to do. From all the things we need to get done at home to work to everything in between, we can be spread thin.  FIND THE FULL SHOW NOTES HERE.

In this week’s episode, we’re going to talk about how we want to be remembered as it is a great tool to think about our goals and push ourselves to dream big! Find the full show notes at RecoveringCorpoholics.com/36. Sometimes when we are thinking about our goals and what we want for our lives, we unconsciously tend to think about only the next 5-10 years of our lives.  Some of those questions that we ask ourselves may be, “What do I want?”, Where do I want to go?”, or “What do I want to achieve?”.  But sometimes those questions fall short. Why? Because those questions assume we know what we want and only have us focus on the now and the short-term future.  And what may end up happening is that we go after things we thought we wanted, only to later discover we actually didn’t want them.  So how do we turn this around to be more purposeful and find goals and dreams that will last our lifetime?  It’s to ask ourselves a different question: How do I want to be remembered? And I love this question because it allows us to think in a different way, it shows our values, how we want to show up and it allows us to start working on that now vs thinking we need to have a plan in place in order to achieve it. So for this 3rd exercise, I want you to think of yourself as someone who is retiring, turning 70, getting a life achievement award, aka, any situation when you are older and there is going to be a party to celebrate your life and all your accomplishments.  People will be giving speeches of your life's work and the impact you made on the world and on them. I want you to think about, ‘What are these people saying about you?’ ‘What impact do you have on them or the world?’ How do people remember how you made them feel?’  Write down the speech of what they would say about you. Just a quick caveat here, I want you to think of the message alone, not who the people giving  the speeches are. This exercise may help you focus on what’s really important to you. And what’s great is that you can do this for every area of your life, too. How do you want to be remembered in your career? As a son or daughter? As a parent, etc. There is no wrong way to do this so just think about the legacy you want to leave behind and what’s truly important to you.  Then once you have that, take a look at your current goals and see if they align. Maybe they do or maybe you’ll want to think again about what you want to achieve. That’s all I have for this week's episode. I hope you liked these past 3 episodes on exercises to help you dream big. If you did, please rate this podcast or share with your friends. Stay Inspired and Live Powerfully,  Felicia

In this week’s episode, we’re going to talk about how to create a bucket list as it is a great tool to think about our goals and push ourselves to dream big! Find the full show notes at Recovering Corpoholics.com/35. A Bucket list is made up of all the things you want to achieve, do, learn, see in your life - basically, all the things you want to experience in your lifetime.  This exercise is great as you can really think about what you want out of life and how you can start doing those things now.  There are no rules here. If you want to have tea with the queen, go dog sledding, become a doctor, etc., amazing! This is your list and what you want for yourself - not for others. Once you're done with this list, put some timelines on it. If you think you can do the list item in a year, indicate that with a 1, 5 years, put down a 5. Same with 10 years, 15 years, etc. Now you have a plan of everything you want to do and when. Now start looking at the items you can do in a year and think about how you are going to get them done. Maybe make a vision board with it! Note, if you’re stuck between doing a bucket list and a vision board, I love doing a bucket list first as sometimes when we think about what we want to achieve, we put restraints on ourselves. However, with a bucket list, we tend to just put down everything (i.e. mind dump)! In addition, it doesn’t take as long to do and it allows us to really dream big - and that is the whole point to this episode. That’s all I have for this week's episode. Stay tuned to next week as we go further into pushing ourselves to dream big by writing how we want to be remembered. Stay Inspired and Live Powerfully,  Felicia

In this week’s episode, we’re going to talk about how to create a vision board as it is a great tool to think about our goals and push ourselves to dream big! Find the full show notes at Recovering Corpoholics.com/34. A vision board is a collage of images and words that represents your goals and dreams.  Vision boards are great as they allow you to take your goals and dreams out of your head and allow you to visually see them.  With a vision board, you not only have the goal in mind, but now you have a picture in your head to motivate you in a different light.  You may have a goal to lose 5 pounds this month. Great! But with a vision board, you now have a picture of someone in skinny jeans, buttoning their jeans, or just looking great and happy. And you know what they say, a picture is worth 1000 words! In addition to having the image now in your head, a vision board also allows you to see your goals on a consistent basis so you are reminded of what you want to achieve (assuming you put the board in place you can see).  You still need to obviously still put in the work and take action to achieve your goals but this is a great first step in doing the preliminary work that is going to set you up for success.  Start by thinking about your values. If your goals are not aligned with your values, then achieving those goals won’t really resonate with you, keep you going when it gets tough or make you feel accomplished when you achieve them.  When starting your vision board, think about the following questions:  What’s important to me? What do I enjoy?What inspires me?What would I do if there were no limits (i.e. time, money, etc.) or no judgment?What kind of life do I want for myself; my health; my family; my career, etc.?Am I putting restraints on my goals/wants or am I dreaming big?What do I have to do for my life to be what I want it to be?Where do I need to go? Where do I want to go?How do I get there?What am I missing in my life?Why do I want this?Tip: You can write the answers down (I prefer a spreadsheet) so you can really get organized and think about what you want.... SEE THE FULL SHOW NOTES HERE!

In this week’s episode, we’re going to talk about how we’ve stopped dreaming big.  Find the full show notes at Recovering Corpoholics.com/33. When we were young, we all had the wildest dreams and goals for our life. But somewhere along the way, as the realities and responsibilities of life grew, the size of our dreams diminished.  We have learned to settle and tell ourselves that we are happy with where we are. Yes, we are grateful for everything we have but when did it become OK to not have grand dreams and goals for our lives like we used to! Yes our priorities shift but when did we lose our imagination and drive to be and do anything! That’s why this week, I want to reispire you all to dream big! You may have heard me say, you don’t know you are checked out until you check back in. And the same goes with our goals. You may not realize that you not living your goals or have realistic goals until you think, is this really what I want for my life? I know for me I had a 20 year vision in HS with what I was going to do. Become a CEO. I had to get into a good school, get the internships, land the NYC job, get promoted fast, find a partner, make Partner, have or make this much money, buy the house, have the kids, go on fancy vacations, etc.  But when I wanted to leave the Corporate world and become a coach, I realized that I either achieved all of that or didn’t want it anymore. And then I was left with now what?  Yes, I still wanted to go on nice vacations, I still had financial goals, but there wasn’t anything big that was pushing me like there was when I was younger.  Yes, I wanted to become a coach, but I just wanted to make the same money I was making. Yes, I wanted a house, but a house that was just bigger than where I was.  But if you asked my younger self, you would have heard me say: “I am going to be the best coach, I’ll be like Oprah or Tony Robbins.  I’ll have my main house on the water with a big boat and houses around the world so I can travel. I’ll be a billizionaire and be able to feed all the children in the world! I realized then that I was putting limits on my goals. Yes I wanted a big house (so I could have an even bigger family), but I wouldnt be able to get that unless I did this or did that. Or it wasn’t possible as the market is so overpriced now, it would be impossible! I had so many considerations baked into my dreams that they were no longer dreams. Just things I wanted or hoped to happen.  Somewhere along the way of life, we let our current reality shape what we think our life should be like and by accepting that way of thinking, we allowed our dreams to become realistic. But why is that? Aren’t our dreams possible? Aren’t there people out there making a killing and living out their best life? Why is it unrealistic for us but possible for them? FIND THE FULL SHOW NOTES HERE.

In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about why there is nothing wrong with you! Find the Full Notes to this episode at RecoveringCorpoholics.com/32. Feeling stuck in your job is not an easy feeling. Especially when you have no idea what you want to do next. Even if you do have an idea, it’s not easy to switch when your friends and family think you're crazy for leaving a good career behind.  This is also true for the people that have multiple passions and want to explore them all and for the people who knew exactly what they wanted and don’t anymore.  So what ends up happening is we start to question ourselves. We can’t help but think “why can’t I be happy or content like them (or my coworkers)”. And then we start to doubt ourselves and think: “will switching really make me happy” or “will I ever be happy”. And thinking this way leads you to believe that something is wrong with you.  That you will never figure it out, that if you do, you won’t succeed (for numerous reasons such as you don’t have the skills, the experience, the attention span, etc.) and you’re going to be kicking yourself for leaving in the first place.  But let me stop you right there and tell you NOTHING IS WRONG WITH YOU! If anything, something is wrong with THEM! You are meant for more and you want your life to be filled with meaning, with passion and to me, that is a life to be lived. You are an exceptional human being with so much potential and interest, and people like you change the world. In reality, there is nothing wrong with either side. It just is that we are all different, we all have different wants and needs and live different lives, no matter how similar we both seem. Who cares if you want to change careers to do something you’re passionate about. Who cares if you have to switch jobs multiple times until you find something you love. Who should care anything about your career, other than you? People used to think that you should stay in one job, that women shouldn’t work, that learning disorders were actually people who were lazy, but times have changed. People have stood up to these silly presumptions and have changed the world. Changing misunderstandings starts with you. Be the change you want to see. Your life is too valuable to settle for anything less. And the more people that go out and do this, the more life will be better for those to come.  The working world is starting to see a shift toward meaningful careers and it is an amazing time to be in the workforce. You don’t have to stay in one job. You may have loved something one time, but just like how we change, so do our passions, job interests and therefore, careers! You are more than qualified to do what you love. You are more skilled than most people out there. You just have to start believing it. Maybe you don’t have the exact skills just yet, but if you have the desire to do something, that is worth more than any skill. I know I would hire someone who is willing to go the extra mile anyday over someone who has the skills but no desire.  So stop hiding your talents, stop not believing in yourself and just start doing what you love today...... FIND THE FULL SHOW NOTES HERE.

In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about how to use music to motivate yourself Find the Full Notes to this episode at RecoveringCorpoholics.com/31. Feeling down at your job, discouraged about your job search or just feeling downright unmotivated? One simple solution to lift your mood is to listen to music! Studies show that listening to music is like a workout for your brain. Not only does it ignite creativity, but it is a valuable tool for reducing stress, improving your mood and creating a more happy mindset.  It’s like a workout for your brain (as long as the music is upbeat and you like the music you’re listening to).  And a happier mindset brings more benefits beyond just feeling good. It can make you feel better about your job, give you the motivation to keep going in your job search and just downright feel good! I won’t go further into the stats or studies of listening to music but if I were to give you any advice for this week, is to take the time and create a playlist of happy, encouraging music that you like so if you do feel down, you have your happy playlist to lift you back up! I know that if I feel stressed, anxious, or even nervous, I put on some happy jams, stand up and rock out. Even moving your body helps!  I know I do this before any interview or new client call. It just makes me feel ready to win! I put some of my favorite songs along with proven happy songs in the full show notes at RecoveringCorpoholics.com/31 so head over there now to check out that list now! Remember, my list of songs could not work for you - you have to find what makes you feel like getting up and dancing! That’s all I have for this week so hit the play button and start jamming! Stay Inspired and Live Powerfully, Felicia Songs I love to listen to... SEE HERE FOR THE FULL SHOW NOTES (& SONGS)

In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about how to search for a job when you have no idea what to search for. Find the Full Notes to this episode at RecoveringCorpoholics.com/30. As a full time employee, your time is valuable. You don’t have time to waste applying for a bunch of jobs that you’re only semi interested in, hoping they’re better than where you’re at.  That’s why it’s so important to take the time to explore and research positions that you would actually want to do and use your time to apply for those jobs. However, how do you search for something when you have no idea what to search for? It may sound like an impossible task but trust me when I say it’s easy. All you need to do is give yourself time and work backwards.  As long as you have an idea in mind, you can use job sites, such as LinkedIn, to make specific searches to really drill down to find a career path that you’ll love. Not sure how that works? Well listen in as I take you through the steps of how you can just search for a new career when you’re not sure what you want to do next.  Make a List of keywords  The first thing you’re going to want to do is to make a list of jobs, job responsibilities, interests, industries, company names and any other keywords that you can use to then search for jobs.  Nowadays, most job sites allow you to be very specific in your job search, allowing you to search from almost anything you choose, such as company name, position, years of experience, salary, qualifications, education, and so much more. You can even filter on jobs to ensure only jobs that meet your needs come up. For example, you can search for marketing and then salary over $100k to ensure only those types of jobs come up. Now I do want to caution you here on filtering too much because you can leave a great job on the table (as I believe if you have the skills or desire, companies can be flexible on salary).  In addition, the goal here is to explore. I have my MBA so when I filter on jobs with Master degrees, I get a lot of high level job openings, which is great. However, if I take education out, so many more jobs come up that I can explore from so I can really see what is out there.  Plus, maybe you might have to take a step back, but then you want to think about what the job is after that. I know I had a client that had to take a slight pay cut but was going to be making more than she made now in just 2 years (doing what she loved).  So again at this time, keep an open mind and explore! ...... SEE MORE AND FIND THE FULL SHOW NOTES HERE.

Last week, we talked about how important it is to send a thank you note. In this week’s episode, I want to talk about when to send a thank you note.  Find the full show notes for this episode at RecoveringCorpoholics.com/29.  Sending a thank you note is an opportunity to show your gratitude for someone and their time. In addition, it shows that you take time out of your day to appreciate people and express that you care.   We all know (hopefully!) how important it is to say thank you after a job interview with a hiring manager. But what about all those other steps in the job interview process? What about networking or just casual conversations? As we learned last week, only 25% of people at most even send a thank you note after an interview so in this week’s episode, I want to go over all the opportunities you have to send a thank you note in the career space to make an impression and land that job..  The Formal Interview I will start with the most common answer, an interview! And I am not just talking about the final interview with the person who says ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to hiring you. I am talking about sending a Thank you to everyone that you are in contact with throughout the entire process.  Talk to someone who is just scheduling the interview, send a thank you note. Talk to the recruiter quickly, send a thank you note. Talk to the hiring manager, definitely send a thank you note.  Some might think it’s not necessary to send a thank you note to everyone, and even a waste of time, but let me tell you, all of the people in the process talk and if you want to be remembered as someone who goes the extra mile.  And honestly, even though you want to show people you care, it’s also important to just care! You want to be someone who is thoughtful and wants people to know that they are appreciated.  Now the thank you notes to the people earlier in the process don’t need to be as detailed as the final interview Thank You, but they do need to be thoughtfully done.  For example, it's not: Dear X, Thanks for scheduling the interview. Best, X. It’s Dear X, Thank you for taking the time to schedule the interview for the X position with me. I am grateful for your time to do this for me and excited about the opportunity. Looking forward to the interview with X on xyz, Best X See the difference? And just a quick tip, if any of the interview process is done over the phone, always ensure to ask for the person's name and their email address. Not having someone’s email is not an excuse to not send a thank you note! Informational Interviews The next topic I want to talk about where you should send Thank you notes are after information interviews. FYI, I did a deep dive on everything you want to know about information interviews. To listen to that episode, go to RecoveringCorpoholics.com/26.  An information interview is an opportunity to connect with someone to learn more about a specific area of interest to you.  Information interviews are helpful as it allows you to take your research to the next level and learn from someone who is actually doing what you want to do. Now, you can do these informal interviews with anyone, peers, people in positions you want to be in, however, you should still send a thank you note to anyone you talked to, even if you didn’t like them or like what they had to say. And it doesn’t have to be as drawn out as a formal interview thank you note. It just needs to be ... FIND THE FULL SHOW NOTES HERE.