The Confident Podcast
The Confident Podcast, presented by Lead and hosted by certified coach and Lead President Lisa Tarkington, is your go-to resource for mastering confidence and leadership. Whether you're battling self-doubt, imposter syndrome, or just looking for a space to feel understood, this podcast offers real conversations, practical tools, and expert insights to support your growth. You’re not alone in your journey—no matter where you are in life, you'll find motivation, connection, and strategies to step into your full potential with confidence.
Tune in, subscribe, and start your transformation today!
The Confident Podcast
EP 195 | The best pieces of advice I have ever been given
Have you ever been paralyzed by self-doubt or felt like an imposter in your own life? I've been there too, and on this episode of the Confident Podcast, I share how stepping into my authentic self transformed both my confidence and leadership skills. Join me as I recount the invaluable advice from my mentors, who helped me embrace the uniqueness that sets me apart and taught me to find opportunity in adversity. This isn't just a discussion—it's a heartfelt exploration of mastering confidence by turning thoughts into actions, and wisdom about the hidden opportunities within difficulties.
- 0:00: Mastering Confidence and Leadership
- 4:25: Discovering Career Advice From Mentors
- 17:08: Embracing Self-Improvement and Action Steps
Sponsor Athletic Greens, click to order and receive a free gift!
Follow our host, Lisa Tarkington: Click here
Follow The Confident Podcast on:
Lead (formerly Self Love Beauty) 501(c)(3) Nonprofit:
I have two friends that are also coaches of mine and we talk about all these things. We're like we just need to do it, we just need to do it. And then three weeks later, guess what? We didn't do it. And so one of the things that I've really, really noticed is like stop talking about it and start doing it. Welcome to the Confident Podcast. I am Lisa Tarkington, your guide to mastering confidence and leadership. As the business and life coach keynote speaker and the driving force behind LEAD, I am here to help you break free from self-doubt, silence, the imposter syndrome, and step into your power as the person you're meant to be. If you press play today, it's because you're ready for something bigger.
Speaker 2:Each week, I'll bring you real raw conversations and actionable insights that will empower you to redefine your leadership reclaim your confidence and transform into the unstoppable force you've always known that you could be.
Speaker 1:This isn't just another podcast. It's a journey we're on together, so buckle up and let's dive into this transformation. Your next level awaits. Hi everybody, welcome back for another episode of the Confident Podcast. I am your host, lisa Tarkington, and I'm solo.
Speaker 1:Today we're going to have a conversation just you and me, talking about some of the best career advice that I've ever received and how it's completely been a game changer in my personal and professional life. So it's these are tools and advice that I go back to often I mean often especially when I'm trying to make big challenges or when I'm facing whatever. I have big decisions to make where I'm facing challenges, let's put it that way and you know they say that one piece of advice can completely change the trajectory of your career, and for me, I've had a lot of advice over the years that have been pivotal for me. So some of it's been good, some of it's been eh, and both have always stayed with me. But today I'm just gonna be talking about the best advice that I've given. I'll be giving the year that it was given to me, who, where it stood with me and how it's helped me over the years.
Speaker 1:But before I do that kind of, one of the things that I love to do sometimes is just share a quote with you guys. Share with you like a quote to kind of start us out. So this one's from Albert Einstein. So in the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity. The middle of every difficulty lies opportunity. So in the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity. So that's by Albert Einstein, and I just found that very perfect, because whenever we're having a difficult time usually that's when we listen the best to career advice or advice that we're given is that we learn from it. We have difficulty, but there's so much opportunity there, and so it perfectly captures what I've learned and how it's shaped my path. And I cannot wait to dive into this advice with you guys, because it has changed my life and I want it to really just resonate with you, for you to understand, like kind of where it's come from, and also for your reminders of like maybe this will be your advice to kind of step into's come from, and also for your reminders of like maybe this will be your advice to kind of step into your own zone of genius and to help you, so let's dive right into it.
Speaker 1:So the first one I think happened I heard this career advice or just like advice, in my life from 2017 to 2019. So for about three years, I was hearing it continuously and this is from one of my mentors who has been part of my life forever. I actually was his communicator when he was an executive at a company that I was working at and his name was Mike. His name is Mike and he's just been an extremely powerful mentor for me, and I remember one of the things that he said to me for so long for so long is he was the first person to really see me for me, and his advice to me was just be you. And I never really understood that in the beginning, but I realized one of the things that he did as a leader, so he did it in a twofold. So he said it. He told me to be me. He told me that I had a very unique gift of what I was bringing into the world. But the other part is is that he did, is he allowed me to be that Now, when there were other leaders giving me feedback of you need to do this and you need to do that and you need to change this. And so I'm taking all of this feedback from all of these people. But, at the end of the day, where I felt home the most in that job that I had was when I was working with Mike, and that's because it was my safe place to be fully me, to be fully honest with myself, to really use my unique skills and the quality that I brought into the world.
Speaker 1:And I'll never forget when we were working on a project together and something just like didn't feel right for me and I called him up and I was like I just need you for five minutes to give me some advice. And he goes. You know, lisa and I remember this he wasn't even in the country at the time. He was at another global headquarters and he said you know, lisa, you are very different and I think what you have to bring the world you can't always do here, and I want you to know that, like, I just want you to know what you're capable of and what you bring to the world, and that not everybody is going to appreciate it, but there will be people that do, and when they do, you're just going to feel right at home. And that stuck with me and I remember that day so well because he was one of the reasons why I was able to believe in myself, to see that, you know, I don't have to be the circle always trying to fit into the square box or the square fit into the peg or like whatever like analogy we want. I just had to be me.
Speaker 1:And so one of the things that I have like continued to really really take a hold of as I've grown as a human is like understanding my unique talents and gifts and what I bring to the world, understanding what I don't bring to the world, and then also just being me and then being around people that really understand that. And if you follow my life, you can also see that that's who I work with. So my team lets me be me. Josh, who works with me at the podcast lets me be me People that I work with. That's who I resonate with, and when I can't be fully myself, like that's who I resonate with, and when I don't can't be fully myself, I don't fit in and I don't feel myself. And so the best career advice and number one that I've received is like being you and finding people that love you for that. So that's one piece of advice that I got. The next one was very pivotal in my life, so this is from my mentor, logan. Logan has been on this podcast two different times. He has been a mentor for me for gosh since 2019. And he gave me this advice in 2020. I'm going to set the tone for you guys. So COVID had hit Three months later into COVID.
Speaker 1:I was just trying to figure out, like how I was going to structure my company, what I was going to do, and whenever that happened, I would like text Logan and be like hey, I need to chat with you, I need some advice. And what that usually meant is it wasn't just like a one-on-one conversation, it was like, no, we were actually going to do an activity to get out of that mindset that I had. And so I remember showing up to his office, he grabbed a marker for the whiteboard and he just started to draw what was coming up for me. And what we realized is is that, as a visionary, I have so many ideas, so many ideas, and that's a struggle sometimes because you want to do all these things, and when I first came to him, I had these 15 different programs that I wanted to build. So think long, think busy, think like kind of like overextending yourself. And that was very intriguing for me because I was like okay, like I have to think about this a little bit. And then he really challenged me to be like can you do all of these 15 things really well? And the answer was no, I couldn't. I could do them okay.
Speaker 1:And what we did is we looked at really where the steps that I wanted to take and like where I wanted to go, and I remember like we were racing different programs off the whiteboard and that was crazy. And I was just like, okay, and we came up with like the final five, like you have to go deeper into certain things and do them really well before you add the next pillar. And that was a very pivotal moment in my career. I honestly just think in life too right, like all of us, we can be assisted on different boards, be part of these different activities, but we can't go wider until we go deeper and really like kind of finesse and feel very comfortable in this area. And so when you think about those things and going deeper, that is a really pivotal point of noticing like okay, like I can do these things really well now, and every time I kind of got off that curve because I do, I'm a visionary. That is where I went back to. That was the best decision in that moment was to cut certain programs and go deeper, because all of them flourished from there. I remember we grew one by over 150% based off of being able to go deeper into it. So that was something that was really cool for me. It's something that I really struggled with and I talk a lot about that, but it really helped me refocus my mindset.
Speaker 1:And I'm also reading a book or actually I just finished the book. It's called Buy Back your Time by Dan Martell, and that has been really helpful for me to reinforce some of the advice that Logan has given me. So shout out to Mike and Logan already for some amazing advice to really set me up in my life, and now I'm going to take us to the year 2022, to 2024. So I got some advice from another male. I have a lot of male mentors. I have a lot of female mentors, but I feel like these men have just never been afraid to kind of tell me what's up, and I think that that is so important, and so this came from one of my mentors, john. John has just been like someone that I looked up to in the community that I live in for years.
Speaker 1:I actually was very scared and intimidated by him because I just felt like he was this wealth of knowledge and that I wanted a piece of that knowledge from him, and I also know that he's a very busy man. So when he made time for me, that I wanted a piece of that knowledge from him, and I also know that he's a very busy man. So when he made time for me, I wanted to use the time up the best that I could. And so one of the things and this is really hard, really hard career advice for me to take is I felt like one day I was talking to him and I'm talking about all these things going on and I was like I am just like spent, I don't know where to focus. And he looked at me quietly, just let me have my moment. And he said to me well, what is the most important thing right now? And I looked at him and I'll never forget being like I don't know.
Speaker 1:I was just kind of frustrated with that answer and he said there is always one thing that takes priority over all the other things. So what is that number one thing for you? Because you have a lot of things that you want to do, a lot of priorities, but there's one thing that's going to get you from A to Z, and I remember hearing that and not knowing how to answer it. Year later, same thing was coming up. There was a different thing, and he asked me the same question, the same voice and the same tone, very calm, very kind, very amazing leader that he is, and I remember not being able to answer it and I was just so frustrated because I'm like, well, all of these are priorities, we have to have good programs. We also have to have this money coming in. I also need work-life balance, like all of these seem like a priority. It was because I couldn't get out of my own head and, yeah, then it was a couple months later.
Speaker 1:The question got asked again and I finally got it because I was in a different place and I was able to answer that and I remember him smiling at me and I just was like I get it now and I think that was one of the best pieces of advice that I've ever gotten, because we get so busy with life, we have all of these different priorities in life, but sometimes there's just that one most important thing that's going to move the needle on all the other things. And I think in the moment when I didn't really understand or I was growing in my strategic planning, I understood that, but I also knew that there was multiple pillars and priorities and so that was really helpful for me to understand, like what I needed to do differently and what that looked like for me moving forward. And so, again, hard advice for me to take, but really amazing to know, like, okay, what's that one thing that's gonna move the needle for me personally or professionally right now?
Speaker 2:Taking care of your health isn't always easy, but it should at least be simple. That's why, for the last three to four years, I have been drinking AG1 every day, no exceptions. It is just one scoop mixed in with water once a day, every day, and it makes me feel energized and ready to take on the day. That's because each serving of AG1 delivers my daily dose of vitamins, minerals and probiotics, plus more. It's a powerful, healthy habit. That's also very simple, and I like simple.
Speaker 2:I like to drink AG1 first thing in the morning, and that is what is also recommended. I fill up my shaker with extra cold water, add one scoop of AG1, shake it up and I'm ready to go. If I'm running short on time and can't mix my AG1 before heading out, I'll grab a travel pack, and that has been so helpful for all of my travel times. Each is an individual serving of AG1 that's easy to mix on the go, helping ensure I get my daily nutrition, no matter what. If there's one product I would recommend to elevate your health, it's AG1. And that's why I've been partnering with them for so long. So if you want to take ownership of your health, let's start with AG1. Try it and get a free one year supply of vitamin D3 plus K2 and five free AG1 travel packs with your first purchase, exclusively at drinkag1.com. Slash theconfident. Again, that's drinkag1, slash theconfident, so check it out.
Speaker 1:One of the things I am most proud of is how I continue to put personal development at the forefront of my growth. I know this is something many people struggle with, because we don't always know where to start. There's almost too much information out there. It can become overwhelming and requires research to ensure credibility. I also want something that's accessible anytime and that I can pick back up where I left off. I also want something that's accessible anytime and that I can pick back up where I left off. Not only has this been my personal experience, but I've had countless individuals reach out to me for resources. This is why I'm so excited to share with you Lead Within, an online membership platform created for adults, parents and teenagers. It empowers adults in their personal and professional growth, guides parents to nurture resilience in their children and supports teenagers throughout transformative phases. If you are struggling with confidence, self-doubt or stress, lead Within offers practical tools. This platform has content covering a wide range of topics and interactive learning resources. With continuous updates of fresh content, your growth journey never ends. Today, we are offering you 50% off your first month of membership. This takes the cost down to just $5. So visit leadconfidentlyorg, backslash leadwithin and use the promo code podcast50. Again, that's promo code podcast50. To unlock your potential today. Together, let's thrive, grow and lead with confidence.
Speaker 1:The next one is probably something that I so there's, I think the next three or no, the next two are really things that, like I taught myself, and this one is putting your ego aside. So no one's ever told me, like Lisa, you need to put your ego aside. No one's actually ever said that to me. But I realized in my own self-awareness journey that my ego was stopping my potential in my career. My ego was stopping my company from growing. My ego of I can do all of these things was getting in my way, and it's really hard as an entrepreneur Like I'm just going to be completely honest. You want to be everything to everybody, but I'll never forget this advice and I actually this is great career advice that I didn't throw in here, but it's coming up to me as we talk is like there's riches in the niches and I think so many times we try to be the end all, be all to everybody, but it's really important that we niche down and know what we're really good at, and so I think this is personally and professionally how I look at it, like my egos had to go aside.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, when I want to say something to someone that they don't want to hear, my egos had to go aside when, like, I've watched people in my life struggle with things that I know I could support them on, but they're just not ready for me to hear it. My egos had to be put aside when I didn't get. You know, someone else got something over top of me or I wasn't. You know, I wasn't good enough for X, y, z, like I just had to really work on my ego, and it comes in small doses. I'm not going to say I'm a hothead, I'm definitely not. My mom thinks I'm always so humble, which I think is so wonderful to hear sometimes but I think one of the things that I realized is like I can't be the end, all be all for everything, and my ego was telling me that I could and I wanted to take it all on because I had pride in that. And so I've really had to work on over the years of letting my ego go to the side and ask myself, like, do I really need to be part of this? Does this really matter? Do I just have FOMO? Is this going to help me reach my goals, or can someone do it better, or do I just need to stay the course so that I continue to grow, which I think is pretty phenomenal. So when I think about those things, it's just really cool to see what my life will look like and know that, because I've done that work and taken that career advice for myself on, putting my ego aside, how that's going to help me in my future and it already has. To be honest, I can already see the growth in my company and who I am as a person. I'm also a lot more free-flowing as well because of it, and I have another one that's coming from me. This was actually happened in 2024.
Speaker 1:And this really came by realizing that I love to plan. This was a moment in my life where I like noticed that I'm really good at planning, but sometimes taking the action is a lot harder. So like think about it. Like think about how much we love to dream, or I'm going to use and I've had this on the podcast before but like putting together a um, like a plan to go to the gym, or I'm going to wake up every day at 5 am and this is how my day is going to look. But the difference is is like I love to plan, I love to build, I love to dream, I love all of these things, and I just like can do it all day long. I can talk all day about all the things that I want to do, right, like I have two friends that are also coaches of mine and we talk about all these things. We're like we just need to do it. We just need to do it, and then three weeks later, guess what? We didn't do it.
Speaker 1:And so one of the things that I've really really noticed is like, stop talking about it and start doing it. And this is something that's come up, and I've talked a lot. I've talked about this on the podcast before. But, like, even with my husband, where, like, if I am talking about something so much at the end of the day, where I'm just kind of like complaining about it, or I'm saying like, well, if I do, like, if this happens and this will have this ripple effect, and I'm like he's like, yeah, cheering me on I have to also realize like, well, those are all great, but the action has to be behind it, and sometimes that means I've had to make sacrifices, our families made sacrifices to do certain things, but I've had to make sacrifices Our families made sacrifices to do certain things, but I've had to stop talking about it and start doing it.
Speaker 1:And that's sometimes really hard because I spent so many years in my career like sleeves rolled up doing the things. And I love to dream and I love to vision. I love to think about the future because I can see it very, very clear of what I want. But that's only going to happen if I do the action and so that's a great reminder to all of us is like, if you find yourself talking about it a lot but not doing it, it's time to stop talking about it and start putting action to play. That could be around our fitness goals, our future goals, our work goals, whatever goals you have. Stop talking about it and start doing it.
Speaker 1:So, when we think about all the advice that I just gave you guys, it's all about being unique to yourself and being you. It's about going deeper, not wider. Deeper, not wider. It's about really like understanding yourself and like starting to do things versus talking about them. It's about putting your ego aside. And the last one is what's the most important thing right now?
Speaker 1:So those are five different pieces of career advice that I've received, that when I was thinking about this podcast and what I wanted to share with all of you, it really resonated with me. It really made me want to think about like, well, what do I want to give to each of you? And if you take away from one of those things, or maybe think about it six months from now when something comes up, that's great. Career advice is one of the coolest things that we can give to each other. It's advice to help us grow. It's things for us to just think differently. It's also sometimes I have gotten advice from like you know what? I don't need that right now, but I'll keep it in my back pocket. But those five just stood out to me so clearly and so when I think about, the best advice that I would give to someone right now and I have a few of them, so bear with me because I really thought about these things is work through tough challenges.
Speaker 1:So that's number one with the advice that I would give you is work through tough challenges, so don't give up on yourself. There is going to be a lot of hard moments in our lives. There's going to be ups and there's going to be downs. It doesn't matter that the moments where I have worked through things, it is so much more beautiful. I am such a stronger person because of it, and so if there's anything that I could give advice on is like do not give up, keep going forward. There is so much power in being resilient even when you cannot see the light. But I can promise you there has always been a light for me, and sometimes the I'm going to say the darkness has been really tough, like it's gone on for months. But instead of me just being like I'm done, it's really about just like being very persevering through all of that, I would say, and that's been very powerful for me, because now that I've done it so many times, that now I know like, okay, the light will come, even when it's not always easy in the beginning.
Speaker 1:The next one, which you've heard me talk about this on the podcast before, is if the universe keeps giving you the same lesson, it's time to slow down and actually listen to it and make changes. So this is great. Career advice is if you keep getting the same lesson at work, so this is great career advice is if you keep getting the same lesson at work, or, let's use personal keep getting that same lesson. It's time to start slowing down and reflecting. I will tell you that there are many lessons that I've been given constantly and until I was truthful with myself and been like, okay, I just really need to own this, then change happened. But when you keep pushing it to the side, getting defensive, making excuses, it's going to show up again, and that has been very, very important and really a big eye-opener for me.
Speaker 1:The next one is action beats overthinking every time. So everybody, like, raise your hand if you are an overthinker, because for me, many people that I work with are overthinkers. I can be an overthinker. We can overthink something to death, or we can overthink something so much that we actually think it's true, but kind of going back to stop talking about it, start doing, make action, because we can overthink all of the things, but it's really about putting action into place. That's really going to be the game changer.
Speaker 1:And the last one is which I just love talking about is start to understand your zone of genius. You know, the more I would say this last year has been the year that I have spent more time in my zone of genius than I ever have before, and it is so powerful. The other day I worked I think a 14-hour day Wasn't planning on it, but I was so into my zone I was on cloud nine and when you can start to understand your zone of genius which is on episode 150 of our podcast, where I talk all about that, it is so powerful. I'm reading Gay Hendrick's book right now about the zones of genius and I'll be sharing more with you guys soon, but I will tell you the more that you can understand what your zone of genius is and focusing more on that, it is a game changer for you. So that's what I would say Understand how to work through your tough challenges and work through them. If the universe keeps giving you the same lesson, it's time to slow down and actually listen to it and make changes. Action beats overthinking every time and start to understand your zone of geniuses. Those are what I would say are some piece of advice that I would give you when it comes to career advice. I would say are some piece of advice that I would give you when it comes to career advice. And to kind of close out, today, I've given you plenty of advice, many things to think about, but, as you're thinking about this and you're listening to these things.
Speaker 1:One thing that's really helped me is on my computer in my home office. I have sticky notes that are on my computer. I have my purpose statement, which, if you have the Lead Within platform that we own and we run, you can learn how to build your own purpose statement. I have mine very clear. It helps me stay within what I'm really good at. I have a post-it note on the bottom in full capital letters love my life. And it's a reminder every day to live and love my life. And then I also have a sticky note that says don't overthink it. And right now, these are my three sticky notes that I have around my computer, but everybody you know I change them out when I need to. That purpose statement just never changes unless I'm revamping it and cleaning it up, and so when you're thinking about advice that you might need, where you might need some direction, I want you to think about how I can support you. I want to really look at 2025 as the year that you know that you have a community in me, that I can support you in anything that you're doing, and that I really just want to show up to help you become the best version of yourself.
Speaker 1:I have not built this podcast to not help people. I didn't build it for just giving tools and resources, for no reason. I want to see people shine. I want to hear your stories. I want to hear this is the problem that I'm having here and then me be able to give you the resources that you need. That's why we built the Lead Within platform and that is why I'm a coach, because all of these things are so important when we're thinking about how to grow as humans, to become the best version of ourselves and to have that confidence. So just know that I am here for you.
Speaker 1:If you enjoyed today's podcast, please reach out, share a review, share it with someone in your life that you might think needs to hear it, dm me, tell me what you think. Lisa Tarkington, official on Instagram, or the Confident Podcast on Instagram as well. Use the code for the Lead Within platform If you have questions on it. I'm happy to answer and also know that I am always here for coaching, to guide and direct you. So, as I say at every podcast, continue to spread love and kindness to everybody in your life, including yourself, and have a great day.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Confident Podcast. If today's episode resonated with you, head over to leadconfidentlyorg for today's show notes, along with discounts to our services. Don't forget to hit the subscribe button, leave a review and follow us on Instagram and YouTube at the Confident Podcast. Your feedback means the world to me and it helps more people discover the show. And hey, if you're feeling inspired to dive deeper, let's connect. You can find me on Instagram at Lisa Tarkington official. Drop me a message and let's explore how I can support your journey to confidence and leadership. Remember you have the power to choose confidence every single day. Keep showing up, keep striving and keep believing in your potential. I'm cheering you on and I'll see you next time.
.png)
