Ready Set Coach Podcast

Mastering Your Monthly Planning Routine with Life & Performance Coach Teresa Hildebrand

• Emily Merrell and Lexie Smith • Season 2 • Episode 105

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In this episode of the Ready Set Coach Podcast, Lexie Smith sits down with life and performance coach Teresa Hildebrand to master your monthly planning routine. Together, they explore the importance of setting clear goals, breaking them into manageable milestones, and incorporating flexibility into your planning process. Teresa highlights how crafting a personalized routine that aligns with your priorities can help you achieve your goals, even in the most unpredictable seasons of life.

Whether juggling multiple roles as a parent and business owner or struggling to find structure in your daily routine, Teresa's approach offers practical strategies to build consistency and stay on track. This episode provides actionable tips and reflection prompts for anyone overwhelmed by time management challenges to help you navigate your unique circumstances. Tune in to hear how to create a monthly plan that works for you and learn how small, intentional steps can lead to big, sustainable results.

Here’s what you’ll learn: 

  • How to create a planning routine tailored to your unique life and business needs, especially if juggling multiple roles.
  • How do you identify your main goal for the month and reverse-engineer it into manageable milestones and daily tasks.
  • Tips for planning around life's unpredictability (travel, family commitments, etc.) without feeling overwhelmed.
  • Identifying the key tasks that produce 80% of your results can help you prioritize your time and energy effectively.
  • Steps to build a consistent planning routine, even in busy seasons, without needing perfection.
  • How to approach planning with a mindset that focuses on progress, not perfection, especially when life is chaotic.
  • Taking time for yourself, even in small amounts, is essential for productivity and avoiding burnout.
  • How to plan flexibly to accommodate life’s challenges without derailing your progress.
  • Practical strategies to manage your time, focus on priorities, and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
  • Key questions to ask yourself to gain clarity on what really matters in your business and life.

Listener Links: 



Lexie Smith  

Hello everyone. Today you are with Lexie, which I never know if people are like, damn it, or YAY or indifferent, but I'm so excited to welcome today's guest. So Theresa, welcome to the show.


Teresa Hildebrand  

Thank you so much. I am so excited to be here.


Lexie Smith  

So let's dive like straight in to giving us a little bit of your elevator pitch. Who are you? Where do you live? What do you do? What's your Social Security? Give us all the things. All


Teresa Hildebrand  

right, so I am a life and performance coach for mom entrepreneurs, and basically, I just help them reject the do it all culture, because we can't do it all, but we can do a lot of great things and the most important things with excellence. And I try to help moms do that every single day. And I had to really struggle with this, so I bring in my experience, my personal growth, that I went through just to give them strategies and help them understand that they could be amazing at what they do, and I just help them refine that. I am a mom of two, and I live in Southern California. I have been married to my husband for now 19 years. And the unique thing about kind of my journey is that I actually run our business, or my husband and I run our business together, and we actually left our nine to fives to do this full time. So that's really kind of like this unique challenge, and also unique, like superpower that we have, that we can actually do this together, and we also bring that knowledge and that experience to our clients.


Lexie Smith  

Okay, so we need to dive into I have so many questions. Let's go a little bit more into the journey. What were you and your husband doing in corporate, and what prompted you guys to want to leave and go in this direction or pursue this venture together? Yeah.


Teresa Hildebrand  

So it has been quite a journey, and there has, there have been many pivots along the way, but I started off with and I'll start I mean, obviously I started off doing many different things as far as a career. But my last career was in sustainability, specifically for UCLA health, and I was managing, developing and managing their sustainability program. And at the time, my husband was working full time as a law enforcement officer for LAPD. So we were working for, like, really big organizations and, you know, awesome careers, but it got to a point after our kids were born that we started to think about our vision differently. It's like our lives completely change once we had children, and it didn't happen, you know, right, when they were born, right? It was kind of like evolved after that, because we thought to ourselves, do we want this life that we have right now? It was chaotic, it was unpredictable. And yes, we were doing really great in our careers, but was that the most important thing? It wasn't, and we came to the realization that we didn't want to live the way that we were living, and we didn't want to miss out on a lot of the things that we were missing out with our children because we were so busy we were in that do it all culture, and it was very detrimental to our own health. And that's kind of where the pivot began, when we started to focus on ourselves, and we actually really dove into nutrition, we dove into fitness, and it changed our mindset as well, because we thought, well, if we can do this, and other people are actually asking us how we did all this, maybe we can actually create a business out of it. So it actually first started off as a health and wellness business, and it evolved into more of this life and performance coaching, where we found that the mindset was the most important thing. It's like we had to really dig into what drives people to do things, what really creates change, long, lasting change in people's lives. And it's not really like the tactics and, you know, the meal plans and what have you. It's the person that you become. It's like, Who do you want to become in order to achieve your goals, or to become that person that you want to be. So that's kind of how our journey began. And you know, eventually it got to the point where I was able to leave my full time job, and it wasn't this perfect time. I really want to emphasize that, because sometimes you. We think we hear these stories where we're like, well, it was like all the stars were aligned and we were making so much money that I just, like, left my job because it was so comfortable. But it wasn't the case. It was like we took a leap of faith. I left a six figure career in order to be home and to build our business. But we had this vision. We had this vision of both being home, and eventually, my husband was able to leave his full time job about a year and a half ago. And you know, it's been this crazy roller coaster, but here we are, wow,


Lexie Smith  

wow, wow. I can't so my husband and I are both business owners very differently. He has a fifth generation family owned manufacturing company that's very well established, but I was very lucky that when I decided to do my transition, he was in full support. And, you know, we have it's an interesting perspective his stage of business first mind. But we laugh sometimes, and we talk about where I go, you know, what if I just came and worked for you? And we both look at each other, we know it would never work in a million years. There's no freaking way. So we don't have that combined working superpower. We work great as parents and as partners, but I just have a whole nother layer and level of respect for couples who can do a career together. So just like all all the kudos for you, and while I could, very selfishly, take this episode in that direction and turn this into a couples counseling for Lexie, which is entire, the through line of this season truly has become, like each of these episodes have become some sort of therapy that I've needed. So for those who are tuning in to every episode, you guys are getting all the laundry, but here is where I want to go, because you are an expert at so many different things. And I was, I was perusing your website and going, you know what? What would be nice to supplement with the rest of the lineup of the season and highlight what you do best and like obviously, selfishly, what I want to know too. And I stumbled upon a blog post you did, um, called Mastering your monthly planning routine. And this has come up quite a bit, um, across the verticals of my businesses, from coaching to my agency, and I'd love to dive into, how does one even begin to grapple with the concept of a routine in business? I think sometimes maybe it feels a little little bit more achievable in life, in regards to, like, Okay, I'm going to work out in Wednesdays. But if you have a career that's busy and there's a lot of factors at play, and you're a mom on top of that, I don't even know where to start with this topic, basically. So, so you help me. Where do we start here? Yeah.


Teresa Hildebrand  

So basically, you want to talk about, like, how do you plan around your business or, how do you plan for business task, business challenges in in such like, a wide sense, is that what I'm Yeah,


Lexie Smith  

I mean, just even that title, right? Mastering your monthly planning routine. I think we could go a lot of different routes here, but I guess let's start with, what does that even mean? Like, what is mastering your monthly routine mean to you? Yeah,


Teresa Hildebrand  

and it's, it really goes down to like, what is a routine, right? Because I think that every everyone's routine is different, and it's really about focusing on what is most important to you and like, what makes you tick, like, what makes you like, thrive, right? So it's really understanding, like, what is it that I want to accomplish? Let's say, in this month, right? What is going on right now in my life that can actually derail me. But then, what is it that I want to accomplish? Because sometimes I think that we focus on. Well, this is what I want, but then we don't realize that we also have this thing called life, and things happen and we have challenges, and it's not to go down like a negative rabbit hole, but it's really about understanding that, like, Yes, this is life, and it's filled with challenges, that doesn't mean that we can't achieve what we want to achieve. We just have to understand that, you know what? If this happens, then this is what I'm going to do. So it's really about first laying down the groundwork of what it is that you want to achieve, what's the main goal, what's the main thing? And I think that we need to focus on just one thing, because a lot of times we want to get so many things done, especially like in, you know, 30 days, right? We're like, oh, well, we can get so many things done, but we don't understand that sometimes we can get off track with all of the things we have going on. So focusing on. One thing that you want to accomplish is first and foremost, and then you reverse engineer from that. What are the things that I'm going to need to do in order to accomplish those things? And then just start breaking them down. I usually think about this in terms of goals as a whole, but I can also use this in my planning, in my monthly planning. So I take my one thing, the one thing that I want to accomplish, and break it up into progress milestones. And then within those progress milestones, then I start to develop like the daily tasks. So I actually, I have, I created a planner specifically for mom entrepreneurs who not only want to, you know, plan out their their day as far as their life, but also, like, what can they focus on with their business? Like, what are those high impact activities that they need to do every single day? So the way that I break it down is, what are some of those progress milestones that you need? So let's say, for example, you want to, you know, achieve the 10,000 you know, income, revenue milestone for a month. Let's, let's say that that's your big goal, right? And then you want to break it down. What is it that you need to do in order to get to that point. Well, one thing is, you need to find clients, right? So that's one big milestone. Is finding clients. Let's say it's five clients that you need. And then another milestone would be like setting up like the proper workflow that you need in order to not only take care of these clients, but to find these clients. And then maybe another progress milestone is setting up your social media or setting up that thing that is actually attracting those clients. And see what I mean, it's like breaking down into smaller, more manageable pieces. So that's kind of like, how I see, like, as far as monthly planning, is just getting to that big thing and breaking it down as much as possible, so that way, each and every day, we're actually working towards that thing.


Lexie Smith  

Okay, so I'm gonna throw throw a challenge at you, and we're gonna put on your coaching chops, but I think you're going to be up for the task, and I agree that so much of this is mindset. So you're probably going to hear me as I present this and be like, oh, there's so many things we need to fix. Lexie, but here's what comes up for me, okay, when life is lifeing and life life's been life and hard lately, and I related a little bit to a season in my daughter's life when we considered getting a sleep trainer. She wasn't sleeping through the night, and the objection I had on that call is what I'm finding now that our life is so like, we aren't home for months, like 30 days. We travel so much, we have my husband's out of town, so I'm the only parent. Then I'm out of town, so he's the only parent. Then we're out of town, we miss Wednesday and Thursday, so then we have to stack calls, and there's almost no consistency. And if I even look at, you know, the next month, I am gone every single weekend in multiple days of a week, including work trips. So I sit down and I try to think about, how the heck do I even begin to create a routine for my business? Create a routine for myself when life is not giving me a structure that is allowing me to now, is this all in my head? Like, how do I work around that?


Teresa Hildebrand  

No, it's not all in your head. I mean, you know, when you see the big picture, like, okay, there's, there's so much going on, and how can you plan for inconsistency, right? But I think when I think about planning, I don't think about perfection, because I understand that it's not going to go as planned. But the simple, the simple task of just planning things out is much more helpful than not having a plan at all and just kind of throwing up your hands, right? So if my clients come up to me and tell me, Okay, listen, I need to have some structure. I need to have a routine. But it seems impossible to do that, because either kids get sick or I'm traveling or I'm doing this and that. And one thing is that as a coach, I have to understand that my routine is not necessarily going to work for somebody else's routine. So me just telling you, hey, this is what you need to do, like simple, right? But that's not the case. And that's the beauty of coaching, is that it can be personalized based off of the season that you're in, or you know your your life, right? So it's really about asking questions and. Getting to the root of why you're finding yourself in this situation consistently, right? So, like, my question to you is, first off, like, what is the most important thing for you to do in your business?


Lexie Smith  

Um, serve my clients. Serve them. Fulfill my contracts.


Teresa Hildebrand  

And how do you serve your clients?


Lexie Smith  

A lot of different ways. Coaching feels a lot more straightforward. That business, the agency, is a lot more. There's less. What's the word I'm looking for? Uh, it's the day to day is a little bit not as clear. Like coaching, let me, let me. So coaching, you know, maybe it's, I have a call every other week, and these are the things they can expect, and they have a 24 hour turnaround time, where the dynamic nature of my PR agency is, you kind of, there is some structure. And like, you know, they're always going to get a monthly report, but you have to ebb and flow with days and trends and etc. So my main goal is making sure that I'm showing up for my clients that seems to be in this season, the primary thing that kind of crushes everything else. It crushes, you know, any potential thought of new business. It crushes. You know, thinking, is this really want? Because I'm consistently in this I need to deliver mode, yes,


Teresa Hildebrand  

yes. So, because you want to be there for your clients and serve them the way that they expect you to serve them, right, it's really about figuring out, like, what is it that you can do, and what is it that someone else can do? So we can't do everything right? So it's about finding and I always think about like, these different principles, one of like these principles that I always latch on to, because it's something that has really changed my life is focusing on that 20% that 20% of activities that produce 80% of your results, because a lot of the clients that come to me have a problem with time. Time management is a big issue. And of course, it's like, it makes sense, because we have so much going on, and because there's different seasons, and sometimes we're really busy, and sometimes it's like, it's an off season, so it fluctuates, but there's always, like, this theme of a lack of time, and sometimes I find that there is A lack of focus and priorities, because we think that we have to do all of the different things that allow us to provide the service to our clients. But that's not always the case. You have a genius Lexie, like you have this thing that only you can do, and then the rest of the things that we do are normally things that other people can take care of, right? So my next question to you would be, if we had kind of like a coaching session, would be like, what is that 20% for you?


Lexie Smith  

What is that 20% that I can I only I can do it, that I can delegate. So some


Teresa Hildebrand  

of that 20% is basically the things that are your priority and the things that only you could do, but also the things that would actually move the needle forward, or maybe be a domino. So it would be that domino that would actually let other the other dominoes fall.


Lexie Smith  

I think that's a really powerful question that I need to think on. And I think it's a really powerful question to kind of pause. And for those of you listening to take a moment instead of like, waiting to hear what I'm going to say, you know, reflect that question back to the audience. You know, if you're feeling like you're relating to, you know, where I'm sitting in any capacity doesn't have to be exactly the same. But if you're in a state of overwhelm, or time management issues are coming up, or, you know, there's some you're relating to this in some way, can you pause right now and think about, what is that 20% for you. And you know what? I I could not agree more that questions, especially for coaches, are some of the most powerful things or tools that we have, and sometimes they're not even that complicated. Sometimes it's a question we know and it's a question that's been posed time and time again. So going back to the theme of time management, I'd love to know, you know, for those coaches who are listening, either for them to put in their tool belt or for them to ask themselves, because I think we all need a little bit of what we are teaching as well. Yes, are there any powerful questions, other questions when it comes to time management that you. Like to offer listeners,


Teresa Hildebrand  

yeah, I think there's been a lot of different like prompts that I've been able to to really focus on to help me when I'm really struggling. So sometimes we'll, like, go on day to day. And I'm going to be completely honest, today was like, one of those days where it was just like, back to back meetings, the kids needed to get ready for school, and I knew that I had other things on the docket. And sometimes it gets to a point where you just feel so overwhelmed that you can't even think straight, right? There's there's this lack of clarity, and you sometimes just have to stop and just breathe, right? But for me, like one of the most important questions to ask myself, when I'm having those moments, or when it's like, it's not really kind of like this urgent moment. It's just like one of those, like themes of the season where it's like, really busy. It's like, what is the most important thing that I need to do right now? Like, like, what is that thing that I need to focus on? Because I can only focus on that thing and then let the rest, let the rest of the stuff be right. So for me, it depends on what's going on, but like, for me, like, let's say today, it was like, I just have to be calm. I have to be calm because I can't be my best self, and I can't show up to these awesome podcasts, or I can't show up for my clients if I'm not in the right headspace. So normally, like a question like that is like, what is important to me right this moment, and then when I answer that questions, there's usually follow up questions that that, that it leads to. But I think that it's just a way for us to kind of like, snap out of this fight or flight sometimes that we are in right because there's this constant there's constant motion, and sometimes we don't give ourselves the space and the ability to just, like breathe and just be calm. And I actually did have to do a meditation, like for 10 minutes just to make sure that, like my my mind was going crazy, then my body was following. So when we do that, when we give ourselves breathing space, then we allow ourselves to just kind of, like, release things, and then get more focused on, like, what the task is at hand. Yeah,


Lexie Smith  

I think it's a really, really powerful reminder. And I think we can default to say, I don't have time to do that. But the reality is, if you don't put your own oxygen mask on, you don't fill your own cup, then everything else on your list, list is going to be affected accordingly. So I think exactly a beautiful reminder, especially for those moms out there. I mean, it's transferable if you aren't, but for moms who are used to prioritizing these little, living, breathing creatures we birthed, right, it's extra hard to want to focus on ourselves. Now, one


Teresa Hildebrand  

thing like I I'll add on to that, is something that I have found with with myself, but also with my clients, is that there's this guilt that starts to creep in when we start to think about focusing on us. It's not selfish to focus on us. It's actually something that will not only help us, but it'll help everybody else around us, like when I'm moody, when I'm snappy, when I lack clarity, I am not my best self. And sometimes all it takes, and it really depends on the person, but for me, sometimes all it takes is just like me stopping what I'm doing and just like centering myself, because I know that what follows like that, that energy that you have when you're just, when you feel like you're just like your world is chaotic, is not the energy that I want to bring to my kids. It's not the energy I want to bring to, you know, the people that I serve. So don't feel guilty. And it's really easy to say that, like, don't feel guilty, right? But it's a process. It's like you have to keep reminding yourself that you you need to take care of yourself like you said, like you need to put that oxygen mask on, because there comes a point where it's not going to be easy. It's not going to be just, oh, hey, let me just like, stop for 10 minutes and do a meditation. It can be to a point where you just can't anymore. It's like, so before it gets to that point, like, give yourself, add it to your routine. Just five minutes, 10 minutes. And that's that's all it takes to actually make improvements. Normally,


Lexie Smith  

we give a parting homework at the end of the show, but I think, guys, there's been homework throughout this entire episode and reflective moment. So I want to offer back to to go back or read the transcript, whatever, whatever you guys feel inclined to do, and sit down with the questions, down with the points, find time for you today to to think on these things like consider it. You know, if you need to be someone who's assigned like or ordered to do something, you are ordered to do this, guys, because it's to our own, all of our own benefit and everyone else around us. So I want to ask this, if people want to experience more of your brilliance. Learn about how to work with you. Where should they go? Where they where should they connect? So I hang


Teresa Hildebrand  

out on Instagram, so you can find me there, Theresa Hildebrand, underscore coaching. Sorry, it's super long, but that's where you can find me. That's kind of where I hang out. But if you want to actually also check out, like the work that my husband and I do. We have a YouTube channel called Modern leadership, and you can find us there. We do workshops, and we talk about all things entrepreneurship and just being able to create harmony within your life, beautiful.


Lexie Smith  

Okay, and we'll put those in the show notes. The last thing that you have to do, you are obligated to do, required to do by coming on the show today, is sing the awkward outro with me. And it is just that awkward. So when I say go, we're gonna sing out Ready Set coach podcast, and I'm not even going to give you time to think about it, so you guys, thank you for joining us on The Ready Set coach podcast. I have blackmail on everyone


Teresa Hildebrand  

from my gosh, bye.