Leverage Your Time Balance Your Life

Today we talk about how to reorient towards the future by planning your next steps. Look at the month ahead: is it full? We'll talk about how to eliminate tasks to give you margin for what's most important. Or, is your upcoming month empty? Then it's time to work towards your long-term goals. Use the information you gleaned from reflecting on the previous month to help you reorient...

There's no doubt we live in divisive times. Sometimes it seems we'll never find any common ground. Today we discuss how we can bridge the gap by finding points of connection in our shared humanity. We discuss when it's important to stand up and speak out, and when to keep our opinions to ourselves.  To read Dr. Walker's article on the subject, click HERE. Send us Fan Mail We su...

Gather 'round everyone, it's storytime! Vicki (Dr. Walker's wife) and Wende recount entertaining tales of stressful times in their careers, and what they learned from it. You'll gain some new ideas on how to deal with stress by reflecting back on previous difficult situations in your own life.  Send us Fan Mail We sure would love to hear from you! If you've found value in...

Reflection is a powerful tool for making meaning of the events in your past, so you can use that information to reorient towards your ideal future. Wende shares several helpful tools to help you reflect such as questions, evaluating using "what's working/what's not working," and a 2x2 grid to categorize your reflections into positive/negative, in your control/outside your contr...

Finding the right words for the right moment is a rare achievement. In heated situations, it's best to take your time and remain silent until you can express yourself accurately. In this episode we discuss tips and ideas for clear and concise speech. Send us Fan Mail We sure would love to hear from you! If you've found value in this podcast, please take a moment to leave a review, subscr...

In this episode we help you conquer your anxieties about public speaking. Dr. Walker has given keynote speeches to Fortune 500 companies and shares tips on keeping an audience engaged and entertained. Wende is currently improving her public speaking skills by participating in a Toastmasters Club. These tips will help you speak more effectively! Mentioned in this episode:  B4Nine Toastmasters Open...

Are you getting enough rest in your life? We don't just mean sleep - we're talking about emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical rest. Rhythms of rest make us more productive and happier. Today you'll learn several ideas for carving out more time for rest in your busy life.  Send us Fan Mail We sure would love to hear from you! If you've found value in this podcast, please t...

We're past "Quitter's Day", when most people drop their New Years Resolutions.  In this episode we ask, "How do you keep track of your goals & intentions?" We look at several different methods, everything from the simple checklist to the much more complex Franklin-Covey method. We also review  " The Essentialism Planner " (Dr. Walker's Christmas gif...

Today we dive into Greg McKeown's follow up book to Essentialism: Effortless! Think about the most essential projects in your life: how can you make them easier and more fun?  How can you set up routines and boundaries so that execution is easy? We talk about all this and more in today's very practical episode. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to listen to our summary of McKeown&apos...

Happy New Year! Today we kick off Season FOUR of LYTBYL (we mistakenly said Season 3 -- oops!). Dr. Walker and Wende discuss their thoughts about New Year's Resolutions (hate 'em), goals (love 'em) and intentions. Here's a suggestion to help you live your best life in 2025: listen to this podcast every week! Mentioned in this episode: Wende's "Your Year in Review&quot...

Today we're diving into the final chapter of our book, and the topic is faith! We share stories of our own personal faith journeys, talk about the commonalities of different world religions, and encourage you to explore your relationship with God as you understand him. This is our final episode of 2024. We hope you enjoy the holiday season, and we look forward to connecting with you again in...

Chapter 11 of our book is about finding freedom from addictions. Substance abuse is rampant in our society, and no family is untouched by the effects of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or other addictions. We discuss the benefits of the 12-step program popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous and how to find lasting recovery.  Send us Fan Mail We sure would love to hear from you! If you've found value in...

Chapter 10 of our book is all about physical health and fitness! We share best practices for eating right and exercise, two keys to living a long, healthy, and productive life. As with everything else, moderation is key, so we encourage you to start slow and make small changes over time.  Send us Fan Mail We sure would love to hear from you! If you've found value in this podcast, please take...

Today we discuss Chapter 9 of our book, which is all about the value of life-long learning. We talk about cultural literacy, critical thinking, and how to read a book to gain maximum value from it. We're passionate about being life-long learners and we show you how to have a growth mindset throughout your life. Send us Fan Mail We sure would love to hear from you! If you've found value i...

How does a sense of humor benefit us in times of stress? Today we discuss  Chapter 8 of our book. We talk about different types of humor, and the importance of looking at the lighter side of life. We hope you have fun listening to this episode, that's what it's all about! Send us Fan Mail We sure would love to hear from you! If you've found value in this podcast, please take a momen...

Chapter 7 of Leverage Your Time Balance Your Life is all about the value of work! Dr. Walker recounts exciting tales of assisting in surgery as a teen with his mentor, Dr. Leonard Coleman. Wende talks about how she created a path for her dream job in her late 40s. And Vicki (John's wife and Wende's mom) talks about breaking the glass ceiling at the Duke University Development Office in t...

Today Dr. Walker and Wende discuss the world's most difficult (and most fulfilling) job: parenting! This is the topic of Chapter 6 of the companion book, Leverage Your Time Balance Your Life, available now on Amazon.  Join the conversation: Send us Fan Mail We sure would love to hear from you! If you've found value in this podcast, please take a moment to leave a review, subscribe, and s...

Dr. Walker is a romantic at heart, his daughter Wende...maybe less so! But whether or not you demonstrate affection with flowers and violins, this chapter will help you learn more about what true love actually means.  Send us Fan Mail We sure would love to hear from you! If you've found value in this podcast, please take a moment to leave a review, subscribe, and share it with your friends! W...

Being emotionally healthy is key to living an abundant life. Today we discuss a variety of emotions in Chapter 4 of our book Leverage Your Time Balance Your Life . We focus on how to deal with anger, depression, grief and guilt. You'll learn the ABCs of thought used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Join the discussion! Send us Fan Mail We sure would love to hear from you! If you've...

Chapter 3 of our book is about the importance of having a positive attitude! We discuss the concept of embracing our failures so they can teach us, how to speak the negative away, the power of optimism, visualization, and more! Send us Fan Mail We sure would love to hear from you! If you've found value in this podcast, please take a moment to leave a review, subscribe, and share it with your...

Today Dr. Walker and Wende review the principles in Chapter 2 of their new book, Leverage Your Time Balance Your Life, now available on Amazon !  Chapter 2 is all about making time for your most important priorities by doing first things first, following the 80/20 rule, and overcoming procrastination. Wende talks about how to apply these teachings by cultivating efficiency with an activity noteboo...

For the next 12 weeks, we'll be previewing the 12 chapters of the new Leverage Your Time Balance Your Life book. Today we dive into Chapter One, called "Time to Dream: The Bigger the Dream, the More the Time." We'll show you how to create a compelling vision for your future then break it down into SMART goals and manageable daily action steps.  Send us Fan Mail We sure would lo...

The Leverage Your Time Balance Your Life book is almost here! Today we discuss what it was like writing a book together, and we briefly touch on each of the chapters. We'd love to get a copy in your hands soon! It will be available from Amazon in early September in both print and Kindle versions. Check our new website for status updates or email Wende at wende@personalretreatday.com to let us...

We welcome back our favorite Six-Sigma black belt, Jeff Morris! Jeff explains 8 common forms of process waste with the acronym "DOWNTIME" and how we can apply these concepts to improve personal productivity. The 8 types of waste are: D - defects O - overproduction W - waiting N - non-utilized resources T - transportation I - inventory M - motion E - excessive processing Want to hear more...

We kick off Season 3 of LYTBYL with an awesome guest, Matt Olin! Matt is the co-founder of Charlotte is Creative , Co-Leader and Host of Creative Mornings/Charlotte , and Co-Publisher of The Biscuit newsletter. With all these endeavors, Matt's overarching vision is to grow Charlotte's reputation as a premiere city for creativity. Today we discuss the opportunities and challenges that cre...