You Don’t Have to Die to Make Your Life Count: The Seven Pillars of Priority Living with Bill Goodwin

What does it truly mean to make your life count?

In this powerful conversation, Rachel sits down with Bill Goodwin, author of Priority Living: Seven Pillars to Make Your Life Count, to explore intentional living, personal growth, and the deeper purpose behind how we spend our time, energy, and attention.

Bill shares the life-changing experience that led him to develop the Seven Pillars of Priority Living—a framework designed to help people stop merely accepting their lives and start leading them with clarity and intention. Together, they unpack what it means to live with purpose, create impact, cultivate meaningful connection, embrace generosity, and build a legacy that extends beyond personal success.

This episode challenges the hustle-driven mindset of “doing more” and instead invites listeners into a rhythm of being, growth, exploration, and contribution. If you’ve ever felt called to slow down, realign your priorities, or pursue a life rooted in significance rather than achievement, this conversation will meet you right where you are.

✨ Key themes include:
intentional living, life purpose, personal growth, impact, rhythm over schedules, connection, generosity, legacy, and

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Welcome, welcome back to the Fitsin project where I'm your host, Rachel Fitzpatrick, and man, did you have the best Christmas? I really, really hope you had one of the best Christmases you've ever had this year. I know for me and mine, it was such a unique Christmas this year for so many different reasons. We had some new traditions with my son and my parents. And honestly, it just felt like everything was right. Like everything was right in the world. It was so lovely. For the first time, we actually exhaled. And I can't tell you how good that truly felt this holiday season. We've worked really hard. My mom and I, especially over the past few months, understanding this presence piece where we've hosted presence over presents workshops in November and again in December. And it was perhaps maybe more for us than it was for the people that came because truthfully it was like a bliss of a season and I feel extremely blessed and it was so great to share blessings all weekend long for Christmas. It was absolutely beautiful. So I really hope that you had the same type of experience that you were able to practice your presence, that you were able to be in breath and exactly where you were meant to be. So that is my best Christmas wish for you. Some things that I've got going on today. He is a renowned author. He is a coach, a leadership coach, he's a keynote speaker, and he's just all around a fabulous, fabulous person. And I can't wait for you to hear him, hear his story, and hear his whole premise for his book on priority living and his seven pillars that he created for the better of the world. Literally, it's a big gift. And stick around because he is also sharing some nice gifts at the end of this episode that you can tap into that will be such a wonder for your 2026. And it's an honor for me to leave this year with Bill as my last episode for 2025 because it just felt right on time. So without further ado, I would love for you to listen in on this conversation with Bill. Right. Hi, Bill. Welcome to the FITSIN Project. I am so happy you're here.

SPEAKER_00: 3:07

Rachel, it is so good to be with you. Thank you for having me today.

SPEAKER_01: 3:11

Man, I am really glad that we got to have this opportunity because when I very first spoke with you, I was like, this is the guy. This is the guy that I know the FITSIN community would love to hear from. I you've got so much to offer. And I'm just actually just really proud to even get to sit here with you right now and get to be part of this with you because I know you got so much to offer.

SPEAKER_00: 3:39

Oh, well, thank you. It's really an honor to be with you. And I think most people with podcasts do the audio. That's how I typically do it, driving or working out. If you happen to be watching video, you see that my camera, I'm a little orange today. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm filled with hope and optimism. And yeah, so grateful to share this time with you, Rachel.

SPEAKER_01: 3:59

Well, thank you. So um I would love for you to tell the audience a little bit about yourself and how you got into being in the business of Bill Goodwin.

SPEAKER_00: 4:11

Wow, that's uh that's a pretty big question right there to think about that. Uh so I I I grew up just uh I grew up in Arizona and wonderful family. I have two older sisters. I I I just grew up being a person that was always believing that my best days are ahead. And I and I and I still believe that today, now mid-50s, that my best days are ahead. So to be in the business of me, you know, it's really a matter of first and foremost foundation of my life. I'm a person of faith. And I think that that's given me a lot of clarity and direction in my life to be a follower of Jesus and also be one who views people that people are people of value. So I like to meet new people and view them with a 10 on their forehead and just believe the best. So that's kind of what it's like being in the business of me. Of course, I I have my own family, a wife, and grown children now. But I I just I just love being able to add value to people and look at life with the with the lens of, you know, the best days are always ahead of us.

SPEAKER_01: 5:18

Absolutely. I love that. You are one of the most optimistic people's persons I've actually met in a while. Um, what was it you ended your email with? Keep on smiling, have the best day, keep on smiling.

SPEAKER_00: 5:31

Yeah, make it a ridiculously amazing day. And then I say keep keep smiling. You bet.

SPEAKER_01: 5:37

Ridiculously amazing day. That is like your tagline.

SPEAKER_00: 5:42

I think so. It's become my tagline. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 5:47

I'm writing that down. So you've got this amazing book out right now, and it's priority living. And uh I really I loved your the way you described that, where we talked about your seven pillars and how they moved you through life. But before you got into writing this book, like what was it that brought you into this piece of your life right now? Where like you're like a renowned coach, you're a renowned author. Like, what is it that brought you into this?

SPEAKER_00: 6:20

Well, a combination of things, but that really the backstory of the book, Priority Living, Seven Pillars to Make Your Life Count, goes back many years ago to an event that took place in my life in November 23rd, 1999. And I was living in Arizona at the time. I was uh headed to work on that Tuesday, two days before Thanksgiving. I took our small family dog to the groomers, was in line at the groomers a lot longer than I had expected. I had grown up with some allergy and asthma symptoms, and so an asthma attack came on me very strongly at that day, being in the groomers, and I went out to my car to grab a rescue inhaler, was not getting relief, began to panic, wasn't sure what to do. I couldn't breathe. I was gasping for air and I was scared, honestly, like, what's going on? What's gonna happen? So I drove home instead of didn't even think to go to an ER, but I did drive home so I could get my nebulizer machine. And within a short period of time, Rachel, I completely blacked out. And thankfully, let me back up. Thankfully, as I went through my garage door into my house with the little air I had left, I cried out a desperate prayer. I cried out, Jesus, help me, Jesus. And as I went into my house, my wife was out running some errands. My daughter was home from school on a Thanksgiving break, and I called out to her to call 911. And so I blacked out in my family room right after the paramedics had arrived. And um, what took place over the next uh the rest of that day really was I was uh taken by ambulance to the to them to the hospital. I don't remember any of this because I was unconscious at the time. Um and then when I was in the ER, I actually coded, I died in the ER, and my spirit left my body. I had an afterlife encounter in heaven, and I tell the whole story about what I experienced in heaven in my book. So I'd love for someone to consider uh reading that that's interested in learning more what I experienced. And then I uh obviously was resuscitated and I woke up intubated in ICU and intensive care. And um, wow, my life was spared that day. My life was saved that day. And I often say that, you know, you don't have to die and be resuscitated to want to make your life count. But all the more for me was prevalent that I want to make my life count. I've been given a second chance. And so that's over the quest of the next 20 plus years of really developing what I've later now determined as the seven pillars for priority living. You know, Rachel, I never set out to write a book, but over time it just became clear that maybe one or more of the pillars that I've been living could be beneficial for someone else to implement in order to make their life count. So that's kind of the little bit of the backstory of how that all was developed. And then again, more recently, this, this, this last fall, I came out with the book to to help others, people that are curious about my afterlife experience, of course. But it really is about how to implement some key pillars in your life as I have done in my life in order to make your life count.

SPEAKER_01: 9:34

Oh my gosh, that is incredible. And there's so much there that I feel like we could just dive into and we could have hours on hours of conversation with just that story. But I want to pause here. And I love what you said is you don't have to die to make your life count. And that was such a ringing of the ears type phrase, right? You don't have to die to make your life count. How many ears have you seen just like perk up, like tell me more? You know? Like, I'm really like, tell me more.

SPEAKER_00: 10:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 10:12

You were like, Yeah, that's how you developed your seven pillars. Like, that's such an intriguing thing. You don't have to go through that S.

SPEAKER_00: 10:20

Yes. And you know, many of us, it's unfortunate, I don't know why it is this way, but many of us have to go through something that's a wake-up call for us. It might have been a broken relationship, might have been a health crisis, might have been a financial situation, maybe losing your dream job. I don't know what it is. I don't want to speak any ill on anyone. But oftentimes we go through some difficulty of some sort that ends up becoming our wake-up call or our moment of change in our life. And I I hope that our friend that's listening on the other end here, Rachel, doesn't have to go through something difficult in order to have that. Maybe this conversation can be that wake-up call for someone. But I do know that we we we we often find ourselves just coasting through life. You know, I I I like to say that I see many people going nowhere fast. So we're just busy. And that's a word I'm trying to eradicate out of my vocabulary. I call it the B word. Being busy is not being productive, it isn't being fulfilled, it isn't, you know, a lot of the positive things that we want with our life. Because Rachel, most people don't don't miss what I'm about to say here. Most people accept their lives, they don't lead their lives. And when we just accept day by day by day, you know, your days turn to weeks, your weeks turn to months, your months turn to years, and the culmination of that is your whole life. And so I've become very intentional. That's a key word for me. Very intentional about how I make the most of every opportunity, the most of every day, because I realize the value of life. I I lost my life at 28 years of age. I've been fully given a second chance. So I want to make my life count. I want to be intentional, and therefore I want to help others do the same without having to go through maybe a difficult thing that I went through.

SPEAKER_01: 12:16

Man, this is why we and drought ourselves together because I feel the exact same way. Like there are so many, and what I would call like tower moments that people can experience. I've had so many myself that I've also not changed my ways from. But then there are the ones that like that's the one that like wakes you up and makes you have these like new ways of looking at life, new ways of appreciating and living with this intentional life. Like I love that you said most people accept their lives, they don't lead their lives. Like leadership in this energy management mindset is so key to make it this intentional life. I love that.

SPEAKER_00: 13:03

And we have to lead ourselves first. Uh, the hardest person to lead, by the way, is to lead yourself. Many people are coming, and depending upon when they're listening to this, they're coming into a new year, they're creating new year's resolutions, they're creating, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take care of my health, I'm gonna change this, I'm gonna change that. All of that's good, all of that's great. But we know that the first, what is it, the first 13 days or the first 10 days of the year, by the second Friday of January, most resolutions are done. Well, we stop leading ourselves. We need to be intentional about leading ourselves first, and uh, and that that's the way we can make a difference. If you don't mind, Rachel, I'd love to read a little portion out of the introduction of my book, if that'd be okay with you. Yeah, I can't wait. Yeah, I think this describes so many of us. Too many people are going through the motions of their life as described next. After a restless night with not enough sleep, the alarm clock summons you to start the day. It's the start of another series of hours you spend awake before you lay your head on the pillow again. What awaits you? What will you encounter today, both the planned and unplanned? What emotions will you experience? What moment will you have that you will never forget today? Maybe something so positive and unexpected that you will never forget something you see or hear today. Or maybe today will be just another day. That's right, just another day. Another day that starts with you hitting snooze on your alarm before you start scrolling on your little screen, staggering out of bed to the bathroom, scrolling on your little screen some more, and then a cup of coffee, a moment of delight with your coffee before you're off to your scheduled events. You drive to work to look at a medium-sized screen for eight hours of meetings, so many meetings, while your to-do list seems to be growing, not shrinking. After work, struggling juggling the kids' schedules, paying the bills, figuring out what's for dinner, figuring out fitting in some exercise, drinking from the fire hydrant of problems blasting in your face. You gather in the evening to relax with others, to watch your big screen while everyone has their little screen in their hands and faces. You're four feet apart from the ones you love. You know they love you, yet you feel four thousand miles apart. You are lonely, even in the room with others. Your day is a continual bombardment of emails, social media, trying to figure out AI, your hybrid work environment, your 24-hour news cycle, and the never-ending demands that seem to be the on the to-do list for another day. No wonder your chest is tight. You can't breathe at times. This is your life. Well, this is just a Tuesday. Now you know why you are so exhausted. Is this how life is supposed to be? So that's just a little expert from from the introduction of the book. Maybe not all of that, but I think most of us can identify with some of what I just read. And again, that's going back to the accepting our lives, not leading our life, and being just overwhelmed with trying to make it through another day, a week. And before we know it, we're celebrating another birthday, we're celebrating another decade, and we're looking back at our life and saying, is this the life I'm supposed to be living with the time that I have here on this earth? And my book is really a setup to say, here's seven pillars I've found to make a difference in my life, to where I'm not just accepting my life, but I'm intentionally leading my life.

SPEAKER_01: 16:54

That is awesome. There was a time in my life where I'm like, check, check, check on all the things that you just said. When I this past just not this past year, we're still in 2025. 2025, I changed all of that for me personally.

SPEAKER_00: 17:14

Good for you.

SPEAKER_01: 17:15

It's starting with that morning, you know, like that alarm clock that is telling me summons the day, like you just said. And it's that morning routine of intentionally, I'm not grabbing my phone to scroll, I'm grabbing my phone to turn on in meditation, you know, and starting in a different way, in a new way. And that, you know, it did start with me January 1st of 2025. I've been meditating for years. But the first time I've done it every single day. Bizarre. And now I get to talk to people like you.

SPEAKER_00: 17:53

Yeah, that's amazing. Good for you. Way to go.

SPEAKER_01: 17:57

So, what are your seven pillars that help change that whole day where you're not just accepting and living just to be there and you can actually lead? What's your I guess your secret sauce?

SPEAKER_00: 18:14

Yeah. Well, I'll just cover the seven pillars briefly, maybe a a few comments about each one. Obviously, the book, the first seven chapters are in depth of these seven pillars.

SPEAKER_01: 18:28

Taking a quick break for a second, and I just want to invite you to scroll down to the show notes and join the Fits in Project newsletter. This is something that I send out one to two times a week. And if I'm running any specials or deals like my upcoming beginners yoga class that I'm starting in January, that is where you're going to get the most information about it. So if you would like to join in on the online yoga in a beginners forum for January, I would love to have you. So go down there, click subscribe. You'll be getting emails about it. And when you do subscribe to the email list, just follow the prompts to make sure that you are fully in to receive emails from Rachel at fitsenyoga.com. Anyway, I would love for you to be part of the community in more ways than one. And this is just a little piece offering that I'm giving back for January. So I'd love to have you.

SPEAKER_00: 19:34

The following three chapters, I cover priorities. How do you determine your priorities? How do you live a life of priorities? And then the the next chapter is all about your foundation. You need a foundation. We all have some type of a foundation, whether we realize it or not, that we're building our life on. And then the final chapter, the tenth chapter of the book, is all about leaving a legacy. This book is not about dying, it's about living, but we also want To look at how are we going to leave a legacy? So the pillars that you asked, Rachel, will start with purpose. You always start with purpose in our life. And so purpose turns passion into impact. And so I love Mark Twain said the two greatest days in your life are the day you were born and the day you discover why you were born. That's all about purpose. And so that chapter, I cover 10 questions that help the reader be able to unpack their purpose. That your purpose is something that you need to discover. And when you discover your purpose, you determine then what is the best of what you have to help others. And in doing so, then you live your purpose. And then you in return you receive something called fulfillment. You can receive fulfillment on demand when you're living your purpose. And that changes from just getting through a day to being intentional about how am I giving the best of what I have, which is my purpose, living my purpose to others. And so that's the first pillar of my framework for priority living is uh living a life of purpose. And I love to help individuals discover their purpose. There's also a QR code towards the front of the book that takes you to a website that you can download an online assessment called the Purpose Factor. It's a one-of-a-kind assessment, takes about 20 minutes with a small fee, and individuals can get a 40-some page PDF readout of their purpose. It's absolutely amazing. And um, so we start with the first pillar of purpose.

SPEAKER_01: 21:36

I love that. Yeah. I mean, if you don't know your why, I mean that's like the the thing, you know. I've been on these in these weight loss challenges and stuff like that, and it's like this tell me your why, or that's really it. Just tell me your why. But it's like if your why is well to lose weight, more than likely it just doesn't work, right? But if the why is like to have a lifestyle, to be healthy, to um really just make better changes in habits, more than likely that will carry through and stick. So yeah, purpose. You have to have purpose.

SPEAKER_00: 22:20

Yes, clarity on purpose, which then leads us to the next pillar, which is on growth. Um, that's about growing ourselves. The only guarantee that tomorrow we'll be better is if we're growing ourselves today. So uh let me tell you a story about growth for me. When I was my teen years, 15, 16, 17, I was trying to find my way as most of us do in adolescence. Um, I was I I actually I had suicidal ideation. I was not the optimistic person I am today. Um, but I had an uncle in my life, my uncle Tom, who was an entrepreneur. He and my aunt were small business owners, quite successful. And my uncle saw potential in me. And he began to take me under his wing. He began to invest in me. He began to teach me about goal setting and about personal development. He gave me books to read from Zig Ziggler, and this dates me now back in the day. He gave me cassette tapes to listen to and Augmandino books and just really began to invest in me. And I began to see that I could grow myself, first of all, out of the place I was, but also to grow myself into my adulthood. And I've continued on that personal growth journey ever since. I'm never stopping. I believe that goals are great, but growth is better. Both are important, growth is better. Goals are for a season, growth is for a lifetime. And I truly believe that the only guarantee that my life will be better, that tomorrow will be better, is if I'm growing myself today. Growth is all about, you know, be better than yesterday. In that chapter of the book and that pillar, we cover, you know, your personal growth, emotional, intelligence growth. We talk about physical, you know, uh health and wellness growth. We talk about spiritual growth. We talk about a variety of ways that we can be intentional to grow, to grow ourselves. And my uncle really was the instigator or the inspiration for that in my life. And I'm so grateful that I had somebody that took time to invest in me and saw potential in me.

SPEAKER_01: 24:21

That's sweet. That's really amazing. Growth, goals are great, but growth is better. Another tagline. I'm saving these for future references. I'm like, what is this? What can I just say? These are just like perfect nuggets.

SPEAKER_00: 24:37

Yeah, I'm telling you, you know, growth, growth, uh, excuse me, again, I'm all about goal setting. So I I I'm not I'm throwing no shade at it, but again, growth is better. You know, goals are for a season, but growth is for a lifetime, as I just said. But the other thing is goals motivate people, but growth matures people.

SPEAKER_01: 24:58

Ooh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 24:59

Good goals are all about how long will this take? Till I lose the weight, till I get out of debt, till I, you know, whatever, achieve the goal. Goals we ask the question, how long will this take? But when we focus on a growth mindset, instead of that question, we ask ourselves, how far can I go? How far can I go? There's always more potential of how far we can grow. You know, we we grow ourselves to the top. We don't go to the top. You grow yourself to the top. Many of the goals that we want to achieve, we have to grow ourselves in order to accomplish that goal. Because the version that we are today is not capable of achieving that goal until we grow ourselves to be able to accomplish that goal. So that's why I say growth ultimately is better.

SPEAKER_01: 25:45

It's a lot like probability versus possibility. I mean, with growth you can go as far as you want, you know. But with the goals, like you said, you put time to it, and that's your probability of time to meet your goal. Yeah. Growth. I'm in growth. I'd rather grow.

SPEAKER_00: 26:04

Yeah, it's a growth mindset. I love it. It's so good. So that leads us to the next pillar, which is impact. So once we discover our purpose and we're growing ourselves, you know, you can't give away what you don't have. So that's why we need to grow ourselves. We we then can have impact. That's the third pillar. And it's about doing small things to make big waves. And so it's not necessarily about changing the whole world, but it is about changing your world. And that's how we make an impact. So I love talking about impact in that chapter of the book, which really gives us clarity on how day by day we can make an impact. And it might not be, you know, again, changing the whole world, but it might be changing a diaper of a child in the middle of the night. Guess what? We just, we just changed their world because we we we we made an impact in their life. So that's all what impact is is all about, which leads us to the next one, which is rhythm. I love talking about rhythm. It's become something that I find that that many of us in today's world need clarity on rhythm. And what I mean by that is is to build a life, not just a schedule. So rhythm is all about the timing and the pacing of our life. That our life should be a life of rhythm, not just as my life has been so much in the past, is been, you know, fifth gear, full throttle, just go, go, go, go, go, and then reaching a place of absolute exhaustion and burnout. So instead, uh, instead, having a life of rhythm really is like a pendulum swinging back and forth, like a semicircle, if you will, an upside-down semicircle, where there's a pendulum that swings back and forth. I believe there should be a rhythm to our life, a rhythm where we, this is a quote from Mike Breen, who said that we should work from rest, not rest from work. And that's a significant shift where we fill our own cup first, and now we're replenished and we're not depleted, and we're able to be in our work environment or give towards others in a way which is out of the overflow in us, not out of the deficit in us. And that's living a life of rhythm. In that chapter, I share about a time where I can where I reached complete burnout in my adulthood. And uh as a as a driver, as a type A person, you know, I didn't even want to get out of bed because I did not have rhythm in my life. I I just was I was going nonstop, and then I eventually hit a wall and I burnt out. And it was in that season of my life that I learned that I need to leave a live a life of rhythm. And um, there's also a biblical principle here um in in the scriptures in John chapter 15. Jesus talks about abiding, that that there is this rhythm, that there's a time where we rest and we're abiding, and then there's a time where we're being fruitful and we're being productive. And that's a rhythm that we we can develop in our life, and therefore we will be productive and we will be fruitful if we live a life of rhythm.

SPEAKER_01: 29:04

Yeah. I'm a 10 out of 10 believer in some rest and like live and lead from rest. You know, I teach yoga also, and with my students, just we'll go hard in the pain. Like we start a little easy, then we go really hard, and then I take them down to a full-on rest. And you know that is one of the hardest that I see across all of the students. It is so hard for them to just be still and know or rest, you know, like just staying in rhythm, but also like knowing that there's a time to just release and be with all of the things that you've created. You know, you can plant a whole entire garden, but if you're not there to adore it, what's the point of having all of these gorgeous flowers? You know, I love that.

SPEAKER_00: 30:03

Yes. You know, we are we are human beings. We are not human doings. And yet most of us are focus more on all of our doings rather than just being.

SPEAKER_01: 30:13

Bingo.

SPEAKER_00: 30:15

Yeah. So let's move on to the next pillar, if you will, uh, which is explore. We need to chase wonder, adventure often, and explore big. What I mean by that is so many of us get locked in to the way that we live our life. And we go we go about our days so similar. We don't get out of our comfort zone. We don't get into exploring new things. In other words, we are prejudiced. And we might think, well, I would never enjoy going to the orchestra, or I never enjoy exploring new cultures, or I never would enjoy experiencing a museum or something different, whatever it might be. We get so locked in, trapped into just the same old life that we live over and over. And there's so much in this world for us to explore. And so I've come to realize that a pillar in my life is first of all, I love to travel. When I travel for work to speak or as a coach to consult, I don't want to just take in the work and then get back on the plane. There's definitely things in that area that I can go explore and see so I can experience more of life. My my world gets bigger, so to speak, when I explore new things. And even if I'm not traveling, every day I want to find something, somebody that I can that I can learn from or something that I could research. Because when we explore big, we we have a more fulfilled life. So my encouragement is don't get locked in to just, you know, your life is the way it always is. Get outside of your life and begin to look into new things and develop new hobbies and new interests and and learn from other people. And that's what exploring for me is all about.

SPEAKER_01: 31:56

Doesn't that kind of like turn back to even finding your purpose? Like, if you were like, I don't know my purpose, wouldn't you say, like, go explore some things? See what lights you up? Like, what do you love about life and your surroundings, the town you live in, the city, wherever you are? Like exploring it is just a part of it. Like, that's just such a uh yeah, a pillar of life. Like, literally, it's so needed to figure out because you always evolve. You're always changing. And when you find that, it's through exploration.

SPEAKER_00: 32:35

You know, so many of us probably have wonderful things, what we would say in our own backyard. In the greater city where you live, there's there's things to experience that will broaden your your perspective of life. And so my encouragement is start to start to explore even in your own area and say, like, well, what is in my area that if if I were a tourist coming to visit my city or my metropolitan area, what would be some of the things that a visitor would want to see here? There are many of us that have not even done that in our own neighborhoods. So, you know, that's even a great place to start. And then, you know, get get outside ourselves and begin to experience new things. I think that your world will become all the more blissful and encouraging to be able to say, wow, I'm I'm broadening myself. I'm growing myself with some new interests.

SPEAKER_01: 33:27

Yeah. Then you're like, wow, I like it here.

SPEAKER_00: 33:30

Yeah, exactly. So that then the next pillar, pillar number six, is the pillar of connect. Esther Perel said the quality of your life will be determined by the quality of your relationships. I love to connect with people. I love to meet new people. I believe that that I can learn something from everybody I meet, and that they have experiences and knowledge of things that I don't know of. So I'm connecting with new people. Connections fuel the soul. And so in that chapter of the book, Rachel, I have a pyramid that I go through the different stages of connection, from being complete strangers to becoming an acquaintance to becoming a friend or a colleague, how we move up in connectivity with others to help us become more fulfilled in our life by the connections that we have and the connections that we make.

SPEAKER_01: 34:22

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_00: 34:24

Yeah. Which leads us to the last pillar, which is the pillar of give. The more you give, the more you grow. It's all about living a life of generosity. Success is what we gain for ourselves. Significance is what we give away to others. And once you taste significance, success never satisfies. So it's all about living a life of generosity with our time, with our talents, with our treasure. And so that's the seventh pillar in the framework. Again, I go into much deeper. I share stories, I share principles in the book that really help us learn to appreciate and maybe apply one or more of these pillars to our life, which then leads us to the chapter on priorities. How you how do you determine your priorities in order to live a life of priority living? That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 35:11

Now I'm like definitely gonna read this, and then I'm gonna send you an email and I'm gonna tell you how much it's changed, every bit of my perspective, because I can already tell that this would be a game changer for me. An amplifier, so have you. There's things that, yeah, I've resonate 100% with every single one of these pillars and know them to be true in my life and can tell you story after story of how each of these have impacted me and amplified me. But I would love to see how you p package this perfectly with your priorities and how you've been able to give actual call to action for leaving that, leaving a legacy, right? Like leaving a legacy with it and how you can make your priorities match your pillars. That's great.

SPEAKER_00: 36:03

It's amazing. Yeah, absolutely. You know, as we start 2026, um, I'm doing a five-day challenge. So, in over five days from January 5th to the 9th, through my online community called School S K-O-O-L. Maybe we could put the link out there. People can sign up and they get a 15-minute video they watch each day of those days. I'm gonna cover five of the seven pillars as a way of reframing our life as we start 2026. And it's absolutely free. Uh, I just want to give it as a gift to people that, hey, I want to start the new year with a five-day challenge. They would go on the online platform that they sign up for each day and watch a 15-minute video, which will help focus them on one of those pillars for each of those five days. And so, yeah, love to have any of your listeners join me and uh people from all over that are gonna be a part of the five-day challenge.

SPEAKER_01: 36:58

Oh, that would be so cool. I will join you.

SPEAKER_00: 37:02

I'd love to have you.

SPEAKER_01: 37:03

I actually use school through another collective that I'm part of, but um, yeah, I love the app. It's amazing. I would I might even create my own membership through school as well. Like that it's not necessarily a goal, it's probably just what's gonna happen. So yeah, I think you should.

SPEAKER_00: 37:21

That's great.

SPEAKER_01: 37:23

So that is really and I also want to I just want to give.

SPEAKER_00: 37:27

I just feel I just feel like that seventh pillar is just illuminated. I love the word amplified that you said. So it's the end of the year, beginning of a new year. Every year I take time to do a year in review, and I have a series of questions that I journal, that I go through, that I reflect on the last year, and then questions that help me to prepare for the new year. And I'd love to give that away as a value add to any of the listeners. Just email me, just put in the subject line questions, and uh just email me at bill at priority livingcg.com. That stands for consulting group. That's why the CG is in there. Bill at priority livingcg.com. And if you uh email me, just put questions in the subject line. I will email you my year in review questions. You might want to reflect on them. I'd love to give that to you. And then one more thing, Rachel. I just feel like being generous today. Uh and and that is I want to give you a free chapter of my book. And so if you go to my website, there's a link there. You just fill out your name and email, and you'll get a download of a free chapter of the book. Um, and that's at prioritylivingc.com or prioritylivingbook.com. It'll take you to the same place. And uh, yeah, you can get a free chapter of the book.

SPEAKER_01: 38:48

Well, that is seriously so gracious. You've got a free five-day challenge, a year-in question review, and a free chapter of the book. Like this is it's like Christmas, but it just happens.

SPEAKER_00: 39:00

That's right. It's Christmas all over again.

SPEAKER_01: 39:03

I do want to ask you with your seven pillars and knowing what you know now. This is something you don't just do once and you're like a perfected life now. Is this like a you keep this in rotation at all times?

SPEAKER_00: 39:18

I'm so glad you brought this up. So, yes, what I love to share with people is that this isn't like, okay, I checked the box, uh, I'm good. I did that, got the t-shirt kind of thing. This this isn't this isn't a uh a pillars to success or whatever you would call it. This is really pillars to make your life count. So this is a lifelong thing. I've been living these pillars, I didn't call them pillars at the time, but I've been living these seven things for over 20 years. And I know that it works because it's not theory. It's something that I have been doing, I continue to do. I focus on these seven things that really allow me to find meaning and purpose in my life and add value to others. The way. So, yes, I'm so glad you brought that up, Rachel. This isn't a I accomplished that. It's more to be viewed as a framework for priority living in your life where you're always being intentional about exploring. You're always being intentional about growing yourself. You're always being intentional about the rhythm of your life. Sometimes we get off course. Our rhythm, maybe around the holidays, got way out of control. Now it's time to bring it back and get in rhythm again with our with our pacing of our life or connecting with others, or we get locked in and we we don't meet new people. So we need to be intentional about how do I connect with new people to add to the quality of my life and the quality of their life. So this is an ongoing journey, ongoing process in order to live a life of priority living.

SPEAKER_01: 40:46

Amazing. This is one of the reasons I started a podcast, and I didn't know it until after I started enjoying what is it that I love so much about doing this, and it is meeting new people. And I mean, I work from home, I'm pretty isolated, I live in a very rural part of Kentucky, and it's just like I need, I used to thrive in the city, you know, and meet somebody every time. I turn around and travel for work all the time, and now I don't do any of that. So this is like a way for me to connect. And I just am so happy that I got this chance with you, Bill. This has just been the gift that keeps on giving, really.

SPEAKER_00: 41:26

That's wonderful. Yeah, it's so wonderful. And there's probably maybe there's one person out there that says, you know, I love all the free giveaway things, but I want the book. I want to just dive into this book. And you can just go to Amazon, search Priority Living, Bill Goodwin. It is an ebook. It is paperback and it is a hardcover. And uh, Lord willing, here the first quarter of this year, I'm coming out with an audible version of it as well. But it is available on Amazon and uh hope that it adds value to uh an individual that says, I want to dive into a to a new book in the new year.

SPEAKER_01: 42:01

I love it. Are you gonna be doing your own audible?

SPEAKER_00: 42:04

Yeah, I'm in the process of gonna be recording that. Hopefully I practiced there reading that that introduction part to you earlier on the on the on our call here today.

SPEAKER_01: 42:13

Yeah. When you were doing that, I was like, is this an Audible? Because he's actually reading this very like you know, I'm very interested in like hanging on by the words.

SPEAKER_00: 42:23

That's a confirmation. I gotta yes, I'm I'm planning to do that.

SPEAKER_01: 42:29

Yes. Well, thank you so much for your time, your generosities, and sharing your story is so valued. And all of these, like they're gifts to the world. So I hope you feel that back, Thompson in abundance as you've given us this amazing gift.

SPEAKER_00: 42:48

Oh, Rachel, it's so good to be with you today. Thank you for thank you for having me. And I I I I feel the same as I have the opportunity to to just share on different podcasts. I love the people that I'm meeting, and it's been such a joy to connect with you today. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01: 43:06

Like that whole conversation was just such a treat. And like I said, absolutely perfect for today, this time of year, for ending out 2025. Like, again, am so honored that I got to have such an amazing guest to be what capped out my first year as a podcast host and this whole entire journey that I'm on. Like, I just feel really great that the one guy that writes the book, Priority Living, with his seven pillars of purpose and growth, impact, rhythm, and explore and connect and give, right? Like it doesn't get any better than that. So I feel like Bill's message was perfect for what the fits in community loves, was perfect for how we can ground down into our 2025 and where we're at and how we can continue to grow and strive forward, not just alone, but together. I mean, that connection part alone just spoke volumes to me. And all of the pieces that Bill has put together and packaged so beautifully just felt like a true gift. So I hope you take him up on his offer and getting the free chapter to download. Uh, again, you can email him at bill at priority livingcg.com. And you can also uh sign up for his January 5th through 9th five-day challenge on the app School. School is such a cool place. You can do it on a web browser as well as your app. It is amazing, not just for um community, but creators as well, if that's something that you're interested in. And also take him up on his end-of-year review questions. I know I'm going to. So I'm totally thrilled that he's in our aura. He's floating in this whole space of ours. And it was just such a blessing beyond belief to be able to have um such an amazing man with some great insight on priority living, so to speak. So if this episode resonated with you and you know someone who would absolutely love it, I invite you to share it. Please share it. Please comment, please give it a rating. That would mean the absolute world to me. And we can continue into 2026 bringing on amazing guests, much like Bill and a lot of the guests that I've had this year. So it's not lost on me that the people that have come and stepped forward to be on the Fitzin project, you guys have seriously just like made this whole community and it's made this project in and of itself worthwhile for me to continue to do. So I 100% just love you and I'm so grateful, and I'm so thankful, and I feel beyond blessed that I get to be in your presence, that you want to spend this time with me each week. And it is a true honor for me to be part of your life. So thank you so much for everything that you've given for this 2025 year and the success of the Fitzin project. I receive that with a full heart. So as you move into your year and as you move into the rest of your week or wherever you are landed right now and listening to this, I just want you to know that you are your most important project. So bring in and let's on After a Breath. Namaste.