What The Diary of a CEO Taught Me (Jo Moment)

We explore the sting of comparing lives, the grief of roads not taken, and the power that returns when we actively choose the life we have. Acceptance becomes the doorway to redefine success, process envy, and pursue bold goals on our terms.

• owning the life you chose as a daily practice
• grief, envy and disappointment for the path not taken
• conscious tradeoffs between career ambition and family presence
• processing emotions to unlock agency and energy
• redefining success to fit values and capacity
• moving from passive acceptance to active commitment
• choosing goals on your terms without straddling two worlds

If this resonated, share it with a friend who needs to hear it today
And don't forget to subscribe to Balance and Beyond for full episodes and more of these bite sized breakthroughs.

The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute

For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process.

We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself.

If something landed today, there's more where that came from.

And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way.

🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast
🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com
💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne
📷 @therealjostone

Transcript

Welcome And Core Realisation

Jo Stone (Host) 0:04

Welcome to Balance and Beyond Moments, your weekly dose of insight, wisdom, and mindset shifts, all in 10 minutes or less. Whether it's a powerful truth, a fresh perspective, or a spark of inspiration, this is your space to pause, reflect, and reset. Let's dive in. I was watching Stephen Bartlett's Behind the Diary recently and had this gut punch of a realization. I could have had that life. Jet setting, 80 hours a week, building empires, and yet I didn't. I chose something else. And sometimes our choices mean we have to grieve the path we didn't take. Because here's the thing I've realized: freedom doesn't come from having it all. It comes from owning what you've chosen. I love behind the scenes content, sometimes even more than the actual show or movie itself. So when Stephen Bartlett, who's from Diary of a CEO podcast, relaunched his behind the diary series recently, I was hooked. But watching him live this life, traveling the world, crazy back-to-back meetings, making huge decisions, big investments, really big team, something triggered in me. Something went, oh my gosh, you could have done that. Whether or not I would have been that successful or not is not up for debate because I didn't choose that life. But there was a really big part of me that wanted to have a huge career. I could very easily have become a workaholic. I could very easily have let my ambition completely run wild. But a part of me knew that if I made that choice, there would be things that I knew I would not have. I knew that if I completely threw myself into my work, that I likely wouldn't have kids. I wouldn't have been close to my family. And so I made different choices because they were ultimately the things I wanted. I chose to have kids. I chose to stay present. I traded international keynotes and global teams for dance competitions and bedtime routines. And most of the time I'm really at peace with that. But there are still moments where I see someone living a life that I could have led. And those moments of envy, that what if comes right back up and often smacks me in the face. This is something that so many women struggle with. This feeling of no matter what we choose, we're losing something. If we choose to have a family, then we're sacrificing that huge career, that huge opportunity, that workaholism. And then we know that had we made that choice, we would probably not have had kids because there's often for that level of let's call it dedication, for that level of investment in a career, very often a personal life comes second. And you envy the path you didn't take. And when you sit and think about the life that you do lead and you spend your weekend sitting in a dancing competition, those thoughts of did I settle? Have I lost part of myself? Have I become mediocre? Or am I leaving something on the table? Even though I made conscious decisions, even though my choices have been aligned, there is that ache that sometimes doesn't always go away. And this is something that so many women are ashamed to admit because, oh, I've had a family, I wouldn't, you know, wouldn't give them back for the world. Yes, of course. But there is still a part of you that needs to continually choose the life that you had. This is the revelation I had watching this episode. I have made lots of conscious choices in my life. But every time something comes up like this, like, oh, you know, I would have that sort of green monster of, oh, I could have done that. Oh, I would have loved to have done that. I reminded myself that even though I choose this life, I have to keep choosing it every day. Not with this passive acceptance of, yeah, I made my bed, I've got to lie in it, but with this active commitment, with this conscious sitting down, putting energy in. No, no, I really choose this. This is what we forget. In every single moment, we have a choice. We can choose our life, we can choose our path, or we can choose differently. It's when we feel trapped. It's when we feel like we don't have a choice, it's when we feel like we have to brush over the grief or the shame or the envy that we have for parts of ourselves that perhaps we had to put on the shelf for a little bit, or parts of ourselves that didn't get chosen at that point in time. So if you feel torn, if you are someone who looks outside of yourself, looks at other paths that perhaps you pondered and wonders, what if, then you're not alone. Here's the invitation to you. In choosing the life that you have right now, whether you're happy with it or not, but in saying, this is the life I choose, that's going to mean you're going to have to face the grief. You're going to have to face the disappointment, owning what you said yes to and what that yes cost you. This is something we don't want to do. We like to almost live torn thinking about both lives, because then it stops us having to actually process the grief, the sadness, the disappointment, the rage that we didn't pick that path. But we didn't pick that path. So whether we're consciously processing those emotions or not, they're hijacking you. They are ruling a lot of you. Because when you actually process those emotions, when you sit down and say, you know what, I have chosen this life. I'm going to make peace with that. Doesn't mean that you can't do your current life differently. Doesn't mean somebody striving goals, going for big dreams, doesn't ignite something in you and you go, yeah, I'm going to do that. I could go do that. But when you find your power by choosing your life, freedom unlocks. Acceptance unlocks. And it's from this place that you can actually start dreaming again on your terms, not straddling two worlds, the life that you have and the life that you could have had, or maybe the life that you use the word should and you should have had. Of course, I still want to travel. I still have wild ambition. But I need to continuously redefine my success, to choose my life and to be ignited and inspired by others rather than torn and jealous. I get to go first and create a model of success, of ambition, of freedom, of responsibility that fits my life. And so do you. You can choose. You get to own all the path that you've taken. Not by doing more, not by even being more, but simply by owning what you've chosen. Own your path. It will unlock so much for you. And don't just own it today. Own your choices tomorrow. That is the real freedom. It's something that I want for every single woman. I want you to find your power. I want you to get unstuck. So if there is anywhere in life that you have not yet owned your choices, off you go. It's your decision. Welcome to your freedom. Thanks for taking this moment for yourself. If this resonated, share it with a friend who needs to hear it today. And don't forget to subscribe to Balance and Beyond for full episodes and more of these bite sized breakthroughs. See you next time.