Your Next Clear Move
Welcome to Your Next Clear Move™—the podcast for leaders, professionals, and high-capacity humans who are done “getting ready” and ready to move.
I’m Debbie Peterson, Leadership Readiness Expert, and in each episode I deliver grounded insight, clarity-driven mindset strategies, and one actionable step to help you stop the drift and lead yourself forward.
This isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about reconnecting to what matters—and making decisions that align with who you are and how you want to lead next.
Subscribe for weekly clarity drops that fuel your next level—with confidence.
Your Next Clear Move
Your Real Edge in Leadership (and It Isn’t Hustle)
Ever feel like you're sprinting on a leadership treadmill that's only getting faster? You're not alone.
The relentless hustle culture has convinced us that leadership success means constant availability, perpetual action, and an always-on mentality. But high performers are hitting walls they never saw coming – and that old "push through it" reflex isn't grit, it's a straight path to depletion. What if your real leadership edge isn't about doing more, but moving with greater intention?
In this illuminating episode, we unpack the concept of sustainable momentum – the steady, repeatable energy of forward motion without self-sacrifice. This isn't just about checking boxes or getting through another week. It's about building leadership endurance, strengthening decision-making, protecting your energy, and sharpening your impact.
You'll discover how the Clarity Compass framework connects your values (why), vision (what), belief in yourself (who), and actions (how) to create a burnout buffer that keeps you leading from what matters most. We explore practical micro moves that compound over time, mindset shifts that rewire energy-draining thought patterns, and clarity rituals that anchor you to your core priorities.
Leadership burnout isn't just a buzzword – it's the line in the sand, the breaking point that many leaders are approaching faster than they realize. Whether you're feeling behind while overachieving or simply wondering if there's a more sustainable way to lead, this episode offers actionable strategies to recalibrate. Turn off email for 20 minutes. Block 30 minutes for focused work. Reframe the thought "I don't have time" to "I'm choosing to make time for what matters."
Ready to stop spinning and start leading with focus? Listen now to discover how one micro move and one clarity ritual can transform your leadership trajectory – helping you go farther, not just faster, while bringing others along with you.
Hey, hello and welcome back. I am Debbie Peterson of Getting to Clarity, and I am here today to help you make your next clear move. So this is the place where you come to be ready. It's not about getting ready, it's about being ready so that you are anchored to what matters, you get to reconnect with that, you trust yourself enough to take the next clear step. And today we are talking about how you have an edge in your leadership, what your real edge is in leadership, and let me tell you it is not hustle. So I want you to stay tuned.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Getting to Clarity podcast.
Speaker 3:The place where busy leaders discover how to create more success in their leadership journey with less sacrifice in their life.
Speaker 2:Here's your host, debbie Peterson, of Getting to Clarity, all right.
Speaker 1:So what I want to open up with is you know, if you're tapped into this podcast, it's not because you can't do things, it's not because you can't go fast. If you're looking for an edge in your leadership and you don't want to hustle anymore, you are here because you want to get to where you want to go without losing yourself or falling apart in the process. Because burnout isn't just a buzzword anymore, it is the line in the sand, it is the breaking point. And even high performers maybe even especially high performers they're hitting walls. They didn't even see coming. High performers, they're hitting walls, they didn't even see coming. And that old leadership reflex of oh, I just got to push through it, that's not grit, it's depletion, it's exhausting you and who you are. So leaders who thrive now aren't the ones who do the most. They're the ones who make moves with intention, something I call your next clear move. Those are the people who create sustainable momentum. It's not just about momentum anymore. It's not about hustle, it's not about speed. It's about the steady, repeatable energy of forward motion, without sacrificing yourself along the way.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about what does this even look like? What is sustainable momentum? Well, momentum often gets misunderstood as urgency, right, but real momentum isn't that sort of manic sort of energy. It's more meaningful. Sustainable momentum is built on three things. So the first of which is micro moves, these small, tiny, intentional, very, very key word there actions that compound over time. Number two, mindset work, rewiring the thoughts that, silently, you know, chatter in your head, drain your energy. And three is having clarity rituals. So these are habits that keep you anchored to what matters most. So sustainable momentum doesn't just help you get through the week, it doesn't help you just, you know, check boxes. It helps to build your leadership endurance, it strengthens your decision-making, it protects your energy and it sharpens your impact making. It protects your energy and it sharpens your impact. So it's how you lead with clarity and you stay in the game long enough to make a real difference, right? So there is something I created is called the clarity compass, and it is what gives you direction. Literally, clarity is personal. It's your answers and it gives you your direction. And how this works in action is that you know. I want you to consider this when you're moving fast, without direction, it's just like spaghetti at the wall and it is easy to run out of energy to run on empty. And that's where the Clarity Compass comes in. It's not just a decision-making tool, but it's a burnout buffer. It helps keep you away from that edge where, when you go over the edge, it's really hard, if not impossible, to come back. So here's how the Clarity Compass maps to sustainable momentum.
Speaker 1:So we're going to talk about the why. The why are your values, what it is that you value in the work that you do? So the question here becomes are your actions, the things that you value in the work that you do? So the question here becomes are your actions, the things that you're doing? Do they align with what you care about, with what is important to you? Because burnout often begins when your calendar doesn't match what is important to you, when it doesn't match your core, when you're doing things that aren't aligned with who you are. It depletes you what? What is your vision? So do you know where you're doing things that aren't aligned with who you are? It depletes you what? What is your vision? So do you know where you're going and why? And why does it matter? When you are considering this, then You're anchoring what you do with what's important.
Speaker 1:Okay, especially when things get distracting who? Who is your belief? Do you believe you're capable of creating change, even in small ways? Do you believe in yourself? Trust yourself enough to get to where you want to go? This is where the mindset lives. Okay, this is where the mindset lives. Okay, this is where the micro moves matter.
Speaker 1:When you find yourself in a place where it's like I don't know what I'm going to do next, I don't know what my options are. I just know that where I'm at is not where I want to be, one tiny move, a micro move can help you get out of that. And then how? How is your action? Are you consistently taking steps, no matter how small, that take you in the direction where you want to go? So this isn't about busy work, it's not about pressure. It's about meaningful movement. So when those four points are in sync, you're no longer spinning. You're leading with focus. So why is tied to your values? What is tied to your vision? Who is your belief in yourself? How is your action? So let's put this in a real world scenario or a reset. So I've heard from many leaders that I work with who feel behind, even while they're overachieving, and the common thread is they are constantly available, they are constantly on, they are constantly reacting.
Speaker 1:So one simple shift like turning off email for 20 minutes a day to focus on vision, work, the deeper thinking that can be a reset. It doesn't have to be all day, but that tiny micro move gives you the space to think, to plan, to breathe, and often all it takes is just to begin untangling what you're chasing and focusing it on what you value. So sometimes momentum begins by giving yourself permission to just stop sprinting, okay. So what is it that you can do right now? So here's how to create sustainable momentum today. So one make one micro move a day. That's it.
Speaker 1:Choose one small action that moves you closer to what matters. So maybe this looks like blocking 30 minutes for focused work and you do something that strengthens your leadership, your career or that moves you towards a long-term goal. It's going to move you forward towards that goal. Maybe another micro move could be that you send a check-in message to a teammate, somebody who's been quiet lately. Maybe it's a message to a mentor that you lost touch with, or maybe it is connecting with someone whose work that you really appreciate and you let them know. That's a micro move. Maybe another micro move could be that you decline a meeting, that you know that you don't need to be there and it doesn't serve your priorities. So sustainable momentum isn't about scale, it is about consistency. It is what you repeatedly do.
Speaker 1:So another item that you might be able to do right now is to number two, name and reframe a mindset block. So consider what thought or thinking is slowing you down today. I mean, pause and pay attention to the head chatter, what's going on under the surface. So, if that's not the thought that you want to have, what is the thought that you want to have? Instead, you flip it. So, for instance, oh, I don't have the time. It could become. Instead, I'm going to choose to make time for what matters most Instead of oh, I'm falling behind. For what matters most, instead of oh, I'm falling behind, it is flipped to. I am choosing what might put my focus on and what I'm going to carry forward.
Speaker 1:And sometimes those thoughts, they're from stories that used to be true but they aren't true anymore. But we're still running them because we haven't stopped enough to say Is the story really true? So your brain can hold on to these outdated scripts and maybe it was thinking that once served you, but now it's just serving to keep you stuck, and that's not where you want to be. You know thinking that, oh, I should be further along. Do you ever do that to yourself? I thought I'd be farther than this at this point, or, man, if I slow down, I'm going to fall behind. But those beliefs, they're optional. You choose to believe them, even if you're doing it automatically and you don't realize. So I want you to know they are optional and once you pay attention to them, you pull them into the light and you take a look at them. Then you can choose differently.
Speaker 1:So another option is number three choosing a clarity ritual. So what does that look like? Well, it could be a five minute Monday check-in to ask what matters most this week, that you are actually taking a moment to think about the week that you have in front of you. What is most important and how do you want to show up? You know, maybe it's a short journal entry on what matters now. What's pulling or distracting you, what's pulling your attention and what do you want to focus on next? That's a reset. Maybe it is a phone-free walk where your ideas can just percolate, they can breathe. Maybe it's replaying a conversation that you would have structured differently. You know, maybe it's working through a decision just to see what can come up when you're not distracted, or maybe it's finally hearing your own thoughts again.
Speaker 1:So from there, from the clarity rituals, you know, pick a place to begin. You don't need a perfect plan, it is not about perfection, it is just about being present. It's the ability to pause, it's the ability to really tune in and know what matters and lead from that place instead of reacting and being in or on autopilot. That's the shift that matters. So when you shift your internal dialogue, you shift your energy. It makes you feel different. And when your energy is focused, then your leadership follows.
Speaker 1:So choose one micro move and one clarity ritual to try this week, just one. It doesn't have to be dramatic, it just has to be doable. And if you're wondering whether your current pace is sustainable, if you're asking yourself that question, I think you might already have your answer. Pause and ask yourself is the way I am working actually helping me to lead or is it just helping me to keep all the balls in the air, all the plates spinning? And if it's the latter, then let's recalibrate. Okay, I'm here for you. And if you want to explore other leader readiness programming, then head on over to my website at wwwdebbypetersonspeakscom, and you know, there's tips, tools, techniques, articles. There's a bunch of stuff there for you that will help you move with clarity. So you don't just go faster, you go farther and you have an opportunity to bring other people with you. So have a really great day and I'll talk to you soon. Bye-bye for now.
Speaker 2:Thank you for listening to this episode of the Getting to Clarity podcast with Debbie Peterson.
Speaker 3:If you enjoyed this show, please rate and recommend it on iTunes or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.
Speaker 2:To learn more about how you can bring Debbie and her transformational clarity leadership strategies to your organization, visit DebbiePetersonSpeakscom.
