Growth Instigators Hotline

#477 Paint: Primer.

• Aaron Havens • Season 5 • Episode 477

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A red wall always finds a way to show through a single coat of white. That stubborn bleed is the perfect mirror for why old habits, unexamined beliefs, and tired stories keep coloring new goals. We take a common object—paint—and turn it into a clear playbook for growth: prime what’s underneath, layer with intention, and give change enough time to cure.

I share a personal moment that challenged my own thinking. Turnover was up, my words about the team were sliding negative, and the results matched the story I kept telling. With guidance from a trusted advisor, I traced the pattern back to its source and started changing my language. That one shift exposed how words cue attitudes, shape expectations, and eventually produce outcomes. When we talk as if failure is inevitable, we train our eyes to spot proof. When we choose precise, constructive language, we create a surface where better behavior can stick.

From there we map a simple framework you can use today. Identify the “stains” in your thinking that need primer: the labels, absolutes, and venting that feel true but feed the problem. Replace them with standards, questions, and commitments that match the future you want. Build layers through small, repeatable actions—clarifying roles, offering timely feedback, rewarding the right moves, and removing the friction that drags everyone back. Expect thin spots and touch them up. Invite a second set of eyes to see what you miss. Over weeks and months, the room changes color because you changed the process.

If you’re ready to see different colors in your life and leadership, start with the surface you control most—your words. Subscribe for more practical growth prompts, share this with someone who needs a fresh coat, and leave a review to help others find the show. And if you want help applying this to your context, reach out—we’re here to put on the primer with you.

https://growthinstigators.com/


SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to message 477 of the Growth Instigators Hotline, where we examine an everyday normal object and assign it a deeper meaning. I'm Aaron Havens, your host and growth coach. What can paint remind us of today? Alright, let's get right to the punchline today. Old layers affect new ones. If you don't prime over what's underneath, it bleeds through. Unresolved habits and beliefs do the same. No matter how hard you try to paint a red room white, one coat of paint will not do it. Red will still bleed through. It takes layers of paint or primer even to neutralize the red so you can put your preferred color on the walls. Now this isn't a counseling session at all, even though you might consider a counselor after this quick little chat. Okay, what unresolved habits, beliefs, thoughts, life choices are bleeding through today? It takes time to overcome years of bad habit, bad thinking, bad speaking. My good friend Dr. Terry Wartbacher significantly helped me last year. I was having lots of turnover with employees, and the way I was speaking about them was not very positive. It kept getting more negative and more negative. It was my lived experience though, right? She's been in my life for over a year now, and she has seen my patterns. So she boldly went to a place that was the source of the problem. Me. Sure, I was just venting, but underneath it, I was attracting the very thing I was so frustrated about. Bad thinking turned into bad speaking, which turned into bad results. My friends, like red paint, what unresolved habits, beliefs, thoughts, life choices are you willing to confront today? It will take time, possibly layers of healing before you can start seeing the colors you deserve in life. If you need help seeing a better version of your life and leadership, I can help. Sometimes we just need another set of eyes or ears on something to help growth happen. Shoot me a text or send me an email at Aaron at Growth Instigators.com if that is you. Here's to a better life. Here's to better outcomes. Here's to growth.