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Speaker 3: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Successful Nurse Coach Podcast, the show where nurses become powerful, profitable nurse coaches. I'm Shelby. And I'm Laura. And we are the co-founders of Nurse Life Coach Academy. We have helped train some of the best nurse coaches in the entire country, and we help them build real businesses with real income, not just cute titles.
So if you're tired of guessing. Tired of doing this alone. You are in the right place. Let's grow your confidence and your skill and let's grow your practice. Let's get to work.
Speaker: Hey, welcome to the Successful Nurse Coach podcast. It's Laura here today kicking off our first episode of 2026, and today's episode [00:01:00] title is. The year of giving medium Fs, and so I'm gonna try not to use that word over and over again, but I couldn't think of a better way to describe what my goal is for 2026.
I find that intentions, words, placing ~some,~ some kind of north star on where we want to develop personally each year is so much more valuable. Like basically focusing on who we wanna be, not what we wanna get or what we wanna achieve. There's nothing wrong with wanting to achieve things, but if we can focus on who we need to be to achieve said things, I think it works better.
And so I had this realization about a month ago that my natural way of moving in the world is to give all the F's or none of the F's and it works really well, right? Because if you give all the F's, then you are committed and you're intense and it's gotta be right and you've gotta hit your goals and it's got [00:02:00] like this high achiever energy to it and it's like very useful.
And I, ~I ~think I stay in that a little bit too long sometimes. And conversely, I'll stay in all the Fs until I burn out or I get in a bad mood and then it's like, I don't care. It can all go to crap or I'm gonna eat the pizza. It's that all or nothing thinking. And this year I want to master the goal of staying in the medium Fs.
I want to have big business goals, but I'm done confusing any chaos, actual self-leadership and others' leadership. And so my commitment is to scale our systems instead of my adrenaline to delegate earlier and to fire faster and to protect my thinking time, to protect my own peace, to value my own thinking, time to value a walk in my forest or a walk on the farm as part of a required[00:03:00]
its not optional part of my day. And it's really funny because in nurse coach training, and you go through different stages of this, of like really living what you've learned, and then you'll find yourself drifted away and then you'll find drifting back in. And so I'm drifting back into like a higher functioning version of grounded balance.
So that means for me, like if you think of being your life being balanced on a zero to a hundred, it means for me personally, when I say medium Fs, it means that I want to live in a stage of not getting 10% over here, not getting 10% over here, I'm totally okay with 20% to 90%, but getting into the red in either direction of not carrying at all or carrying too much, I really want to narrow my, my range of
attachment to outcomes. My range of, um, intensity. You know, I had my older sister visiting me from, [00:04:00] from OUTTA state earlier this year and she reflected something to me and she said, Laura, it's really interesting to watch you in this role and to do what you're doing because you're just as intense as you were when you were a little girl.
And when you were a little girl, you were just so intense. And it kind of made me sad because if any of you have intense children, like they're not the happiest. Like intensity can be an actual like genetic, and ~you're predis,~ you're predisposed to being serious or being intense, and those are all valuable when used appropriately and they're very painful.
And it's painful to see a little girl like a 7-year-old that's super intense. I was intense about my competitive gymnastics. I was intense about pretty much anything. Like I don't really know how to do life. Not intense. And so it was like a a through line of like, Hey, I'm operating in my nature right now and there's nothing wrong with that.
But that doesn't mean that I can't do it differently so that it feels better. I wanna feel [00:05:00] better operating in my nature. And each of you listening, you have your nature. You have a through line from when you were a child till now. It's like not trying to change who we are. I coach a one woman in particular that we are cut from the same cloth.
Super high achiever, NP in private practice, works full time, carries most of her family load, and she's like, she works seven days a week. And she's like, I just always have. And so the shadow side of that is that ~we,~ we work to escape workaholism. Um, there, there's shadow sides to this. So. We wanna be aware of that, but there's also like upsides to this.
And for you, when you think about your new year, how can you use your inherent nature? Like really honor it, be in it unapologetically, and how do you leverage that? Because if you're the opposite, if you're like, Laura, I should have been a hippie on the beach, just reading and talking about nature and maybe getting into [00:06:00] theology, it's like, that's awesome too.
How do we leverage that nature in what you do each day? So my version of harnessing my nature is to give medium Fs to see all goals through medium Fs, to stay grounded and centered, to stay away from the margins. And I'm even playing with the way that I talk, how excited I allow my voice to get. I'm playing with different ways of being this year, and it's like interesting to share that with you.
Somebody would say, I'm playing with my voice and I'm playing with my way of being, and I'm trying on like this different way of being that I haven't been before. But I realize that we don't have to go find ourselves. We have to create ourselves. I'm creating this version of Laura, this 2026 version of Laura that does an amazing amount of output, an amazing amount of work that doesn't let fear stop her, but doesn't lose any sleep.
And doesn't lose any peace in the process because that [00:07:00] version of Laura is dangerous. And if we wanna push nurse coaching into the mainstream to grow it the way that I already know that it's gonna be grown, if I wanna be a part of that, then she has to start leading. And that's what I'm working on. So I wanna talk about some of my personal goals here.
So as far as money. My 2026 money goal is not growth necessarily. Yes, I wanna grow our revenue. I wanna grow my personal finances. Like I, of course I do, but I'm more interested in how do you climb financially in peace. So it's not a singular goal, it's a. Uh, both and I want to grow and have peace. I want to, ~uh, to~ grow revenue and have peace.
I wanna grow my personal income and grow peace at the same time. So that means no impulsive spending from emotional highs. That's really easy for me to do. In fact, I've encouraged a lot of students to do [00:08:00] that. I think that at different stages of becoming, it's not a bad thing to do that. Like, for example, ~um,~ about ~three, ~three years ago I started when anytime I would fly alone, a lot of times I would fly first class, which by the way is not
smart. It's not like, why would you do that? Well, I did it intentionally because I wanted to know how it felt to sit in first class. I wanted to know how it felt to you to think of money as a renewable resource. I wanted to see how it felt to live in my preferences and not just from lack or from, um, being really intellectual about it.
I think that was really important. So like, if that's your stage rock on. ~Um,~ but this year is not that stage for me this year is like growth with more discipline. It is no self punishment budgeting. So like if we have a tough month or we have a tough personal month, it's not like, not going to get my hair done or nails done.
It's like, yeah, ~it's,~ it's this balance [00:09:00] with money of not overspending. Spending frivolously or spending emotionally and also not punishing. And so it's more of a medium f spending routine, a medium F'S earning routine. And ~it is,~ I just started investing, I have this app on my phone called Alina. Alina, I think it is.
And I, I did it on a whim 'cause I wanted to learn more about the stock market and investing like as a hobby. And so I'll do little lessons on my phone and then I invest like four to $500 a month personally. And watching that amount grow and just learning like that is, gives me more dopamine than a, a flight in first class.
Because a flight in first class could be another five to thou 500 to a thousand dollars that I can invest in, watch grow. So that's different for me of like this, this interest in that. And man, I'd like to instill that in my children. So I think that part of it is me just being who I need to be to be a good role model for my children and a [00:10:00] profit that doesn't cost my sleep.
I will often say to Shelby, like, I'm gonna go as hard as I can go until I can't go anymore. And then it will be what it is. And I think this comes really natural for her. I admire this in her and for me, it does not come natural. Um, I am often pushed towards optimization towards. Um, if I put two more hours in doing this one thing, I could get 1% more lift in this area, and so I can get really, really in the weeds, which is again, a great strength.
But this year I'm gonna come out of the weeds. I'm gonna stay in the forest. You guys, I like forests better. I'm gonna stay at figuratively and in in actual reality. I'm gonna walk in my forest and I'm gonna stay out of the weeds in my business. So I'm no longer chasing numbers that come with emotional taxes that I can't afford.
And conversely, if you're in your first year of private practice, don't chase numbers for peace. Just this first year in private practice is to learn, period. [00:11:00] Anything that you make is a bonus. And I promise you, you guys, it's likely gonna be less than you think. It's gonna be your first year and your third year is likely gonna be way more than you thought it would be.
So let that sink in right now. Let that buy you some peace. Let that make you really excited about year three. Let that make you excited about year two. But don't let year one feel like you're failing 'cause you're not.
My health and nervous system, my biggest 2026 goal is not revenue it's regulation, and I think that revenue will come from regulation and that medium F health commitment is consistent, boring health habits. I am walking three miles a day on my walking pad every morning from five 30 to six 30. I just started that last week.
I get, like my emails answered, I, I set myself up for the day and then I go back into the house and I do my kids' routine with them. And so there's this like new rhythm that I'm doing that feels really good in the morning. [00:12:00] So I'm having like a faster, I'm having my tea for 20, 30 minutes and then just getting on that, on the walking pad for an hour.
And that feels a lot better than like a low drawn out morning, which I think when my nervous system wasn't as regulated, I need that long drawn out morning. So I'm like noticing even just changes in my little boring health habits. I'm also doing weekly NAD injections and I'll be doing NAD injections the entire year.
I think it's a, a really important investment. I'm 47 and so I want my all the a TP all I want. Gimme the A TPI want the a TP. Going through perimenopause is strange. Gimme the a TP. So this year's about less intensity, more consistency, rest without guilt, which by the way, I kind of nailed last year and movement without punishment.
And for someone like me that loved to lift heavy was a CrossFitter up until last year. I'm realizing at this particular season, [00:13:00] um, moving without punishing my body looks different. And if I'm being totally honest, it's more boring and it's, it's harder for me to do, but it looks like body weight movements and walking on my walking pad and walking outside.
That's about the extent of my physical activity this year. That's kind of my goal. Um, I reserve my right to change my mind, and then I am done trying to outwork my own biology. And so give me all the A TP that I'm gonna honor the stage of life that I'm in this year, which is less intensity, more consistency, boring habits, boring, beautiful habits with that type two fund payout where you look back on the last six months and you feel really, really good. In my marriage and family.
Hmm. This has been interesting. My family has gotten my leftovers, and even this week, my family has gotten my leftovers. And [00:14:00] at face value, you could beat yourself up about that. You really, really could. And the way that I've made peace with that this week, this month, this season, is that, uh, we all know, everyone in my family knows they're getting my leftovers.
I am including them in the pursuit, in the goal, in the stage, in the season. I am checking in by spending every morning with my family. So coming out into the office first and then going back in and spending that intentional time with my family, and then taking time at the three 30 mark when they get home from school, it's not volume that they're longing for, it's quality.
It's my giggles, it's my presence. It's all the things we teach to do with our clients. It's coming out of fight or flight, it's coming out of survival. It is going into intentionality and it's also letting them see it all. And so I am okay with my family getting my leftovers today. I'm okay with getting my family, getting my leftovers this week.[00:15:00]
We've just hired a bunch of talents, amazing people to help us. And um, you know, three years from now my family will get a lot of me because of the sacrifices that I've made this last year and this medium F'S boundary is that work ends before depletion. So I'm actually like checking in and if it's at all possible, I kind of try to stop when I'm at like the 80% done instead of the 90.
That's that like staying within range change that I'm working with and that my emotional availability is a high priority. So for those of you with like 10, 11, 12, 13 year olds. I think there's a name for this, but it's like this, ~the,~ the Sleepy time phenomenon where the only time they wanna talk about their feelings is at bedtime
when you're exhausted. It's like their little chronotype or their energy or their brain's like. Oh, it's nine 15 or it's 8 45. Mom's very tired. I [00:16:00] definitely wanna go have the most serious talk of the entire week about something that I'm super vulnerable about. And it's just like when that happens, recognizing I'm in one of those moments and then pulling from that extra energy that I've saved for them.
And so my emotional availability is a priority to them. And of course with my husband, you know, his love language is touch and I. I'm trying really hard to intentionally hold him, to kiss him longer, to kiss him for a full five seconds instead of just a peck of, um, lingering with him even when he doesn't feel like it, or even when I don't feel like it.
And I think that's really helped us. It's really difficult to feel disconnected even if you're both working really hard, even if you're not spending a whole lot of quality time together. It's really difficult for us to feel unconnected. When we do 30 second hugs or we kiss for five seconds and, [00:17:00] um, sometimes I'll go into his office when I come in for lunch and just linger.
Um, oftentimes he'll bring me lunch in and I will get up from whatever I'm doing just to give him a longer hug. It's getting excited when he comes home, when he pulls up and stopping what I'm doing to go give him a big hug and ask him how his day is. This is a habit. I don't feel like doing that by the way.
I know he probably doesn't feel like doing that either when we're like busy with our own stuff. But it's building in those cues to my nervous system, like, Hey, it's time to go connect. And that's small. But I know for Evan and I, it will make for a, a very connected year. We also have a really exciting personal goal that we're working on.
I'm not gonna announce it quite yet, I wanna make sure that it's something that we follow through with, but it's something, um, with real estate, it's something for the recovery community. It's something that we feel like was, we were divinely led to just recently. And so we might be birthing that into existence in Q1 of [00:18:00] 2026, which will help a lot of people and cash flow nicely and we're kind of excited about it.
So for me, success that costs intimacy in my marriage, success that costs intimacy with my children is too expensive, period. And it's not about doing less for me, it's about doing differently, and it's about pulling from a more central place of being instead of those margins that I've played with my whole life of being all in or all out.
I'm just gonna be in and steady. I'm like tempering my intensity, and I'm really excited about that. Even as I say it, it makes me so excited and I get to share it with you guys. And what I love about personal development is our ability to create ourselves and iteration after iteration after iteration.
It's so fun. Alright, next [00:19:00] category is my friendships and social life. What friendships, what's social life? Just kidding. Um. Friendships in social life? Well, I am an introvert, as I've said so many times, and we have a larger team that I love, that I feel I have friendships with. Many of them. My younger sister and closest friend works on our team.
She ~is the.~ Fits all the buckets of my best friend. Shelby is definitely my best friend and she's on the team. And so, um, I haven't made a whole lot of time and energy for anything else but my husband's, my kids, and my team, and if I'm being honest. I think this will be a repeat. I don't know that there'll be more relationships, but one thing I did do for myself this year is, and I invested in ~a, a,~ a membership with other founders from all over the country who have live events that you can bring your, um, significant other with you to.
And so my goal is for some front to make some new friendships that [00:20:00] still fit into the version that I'm becoming. I am still not really interested in forming friendships that aren't part of that and call me selfish. But, uh, if that's what I am, then I am. So, I am still gonna say no. I'm going to only invest in relationships that are appropriate for the direction that I'm moving in my life.
And I'm not going to do any more relational sprinting, which means feeling guilty that I haven't spent time with my kids' parents', friends, like it's just not me in this season. And I'm okay with that. And I also think maybe in 2027 it will be, but I know in 2026 if I go by the rule of medium Fs, I, I just, I'm good.
I feel complete in that area. And this next. Section, here's where I'm gonna proudly give a low FS in 2026. [00:21:00] Algorithm drama, internet outrage cycles. I feel like, um, we had an election year, we had an assassination. We had just a lot of noise. And um, you know, if you hover too long on a story, then your whole algorithm is the story and ~that.~
Spending time in that energy is not helpful for me. It does not push me forward. It's actually like really cheap entertainment and escapism. And, uh, when I was writing the curriculum for NLCA is when I started like shamelessly scrolling. Uh, I was spending five hours a day, like reading and writing and it was so, um, mentally draining.
This was in 2024 that I allowed myself to watch whatever I wanted and like whatever reels, whatever, scrolling. Like I was like, dude, you're crushing it. Let yourself do whatever. It's kind of like if you're training for a marathon, you're like, I can eat an extra piece of pizza because yeah, it's just that season.
Well, that habit hasn't gone away, and I'm not writing curriculum anymore. [00:22:00] So I really, really, really want to, if I'm gonna engage in social media, I wanna mostly be a producer, not a consumer, and I wanna be a producer of content that makes you feel good. So that's my, my goal there. That's probably like gonna be the biggest moving target as I'm going through all of these.
All right. And now here's the uncomfortable truth that I'm trying to come to terms with is that a medium FS can feel so boring to the overachievers nervous system. And I'm like prepping myself for that, you know, it's like. If boredom is the new normal, if boredom, I'm using boredom because it's, it really is what it is for me in some ways.
Like medium, anything is boring. What you're gonna be medium Fs, Laura, like you're gonna get the medium drink, not the large. You're gonna get the medium fries, not the large fries. You're gonna get, uh, the medium revenue, [00:23:00] not the large revenue. You know, like it can get my brain plays tricks with me. and that is why this is my edge.
My edge is medium Fs. It is not normal for me. It is not easy for me. It is gonna take intentionality. I'm going to have to wait two to three seconds longer before making decisions. I'm gonna have to wait five to 10 seconds longer before having an answer than I normally do 'cause it's not part of who I am yet.
It can feel like it's not fast enough. It can feel like I'm losing my edge actually leading, leading into my edge. And what I've learned is this, is that my edge was never urgency it was clarity. And so 2026 is the year of clarity of clear thought, clear action, concise decisions made from that medium F's version of me.
That's [00:24:00] coming out to play. So here is my invitation for you as 2026 begins. Pick one area of your life where you've begin been giving all the fucks, sorry, I had to say it. And one area of your life where you've been giving no Fs. And ask yourself, what would medium Fs look like here? And I think even that term is sexier than how would being grounded and centered and holistic be in this area of your life?
I think we can play with the language here to have some fun because what would caring without collapsing, what would trying without urgency, what would your version of being in the middle be? And if I'm talking to you in your two or three a business, don't listen to me. Give all the F's, give none of the F's, like lean into your own capacity.
I think that that's useful part of the journey. So this is certainly not blanket advice. Take it with a grain of salt. But I'm sure there's [00:25:00] one area of your life you can play with me here in the medium Fs. All right. Last thing I wanna say here is I am still ambitious. I still want growth. I still want impact.
I just no longer want any of those things to cause me as much suffering. Because 2026 is a year of calm, ambition regulated leadership, and boundaried devotion to this nurse coach movement that we are growing. And it doesn't mean that I might not get Wiley and do some crazy things once in a while, but I'm gonna come back to the middle quickly and move forward.
And I invite you to join me. All right, if this resonated with you, share this episode with ~a nur with~ a friend of yours that gives all the F's or none of the Fs, even if they're not a nurse coach, they'll probably find some value in it and maybe a couple of giggles. Alright, see you soon in 2026, and talk to you next week.
