#418 Watches. Be kind today.

What if the most reliable coach you’ll ever have is already on your wrist? We explore how a simple watch can carry big meaning, turning every glance at the time into a nudge toward focus, kindness, courage, or bold action. Sparked by a caller from Colorado who keeps multiple watches and chooses one to match the day’s intention, we unpack a small, durable ritual that helps you show up the way you planned when the morning was clear and your energy was fresh.

We talk through the psychology behind cues and identity-based habits, and why linking intention to a physical object you already check can outperform willpower alone. You’ll hear a practical, repeatable method: choose one word for the day, bind it to your watch or clock, and use key checkpoints—before meetings, after lunch, at the close—to reset your presence. Aaron shares a personal commitment to enter a high-stakes conversation with “focused and kind” energy, modeling how to apply the cue when it matters most.

If you’ve felt scattered, reactive, or pulled off-course by the noise of the day, this approach turns timekeeping into soul-keeping. Expect clear steps, relatable examples, and a gentle challenge to redefine how you use ordinary objects to drive extraordinary consistency. Try it today: pick your word, glance at your watch, and let that tiny cue steady your decisions and your voice. If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend who loves small habits that punch above their weight, and leave a quick review to tell us what word you’re wearing on your wrist.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Today’s Focus
• 0:27 Caller’s Insight: Many Watches, Many Intentions
• 0:59 Set Your Daily Intention
• 1:19 A Personal Commitment to Focus and Kindness
• 1:52 Invitation to Share Your Watch Lessons

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Growth Instigators Hotline. I'm Aaron Havens, your host and growth coach. This is message 418. This week we are talking about watches, an everyday normal object that we can assign deeper meaning to, something that can grab our attention and represents something bigger. Welcome to part three of five as we dive into lessons we can glean from watches. One caller from Colorado left a message that really caught my attention. They said, I have mini watches. Okay, they have many watches. I pick which watch I want to wear to match the occasion. Oh my friends, that's perfect. So throughout the day, they can look down at their physical watch and it reminds them to take the day seriously, or to lighten up, or to focus, or to believe in themselves, or maybe go balls to the walls. Like whatever was given that watch, assigned that watch for that day, they remember it all day long. Right now, look down at your watch. Okay, and if you don't have a watch, maybe a clock nearby. What does today need from you? My day? It needs a focused and kind conversation. In fact, as I record this, I'm going to have what potentially could be a huge conversation within one hour. I will commit to you that as the meeting starts, I'll look at the clock and remind myself to stay focused and to be kind with my words. I can do that. What about you? What does your day need? How can you best show up? And maybe, just maybe, your watch can be a little reminder to live out the day the way you intended when you started. Don't get caught up and sucked in to any other ways to live. That, my friend, is how a common everyday object can instigate growth. I'd like to hear more from you, more observations from you. What growth lessons can you apply to watches? For those of you calling the Growth Instigator hotline, I'd love to hear your thoughts after the beep. For those of you listening in on our podcast, visit growth instigators.com and send me your thoughts. Let's never see watches the same.