Working incredibly hard but never gaining traction? Your days feel like building blocks scattered on the ground instead of actually building something? You're not broken—you just need a better filter.

Every demand on your attention is stealing time you can never get back. When you don't understand the three types of attention demands, you start losing relationships with healthy people, doubting yourself, and believing your focus on your calling is somehow selfish. In this episode, you'll learn the simple one-two-three system that helps you identify what type of attention each demand requires—and whether the context is aligned. This is your secret weapon for protecting your joy while staying on track with your calling.

Host Shelly Rood introduces the three-phase system from the Hardcore and At Ease Framework—SELF, OVER, OTHERS—and shows you exactly how to apply the Phase Filter Question to real demands: emails, networking events, client requests, and team questions. You'll discover the viral Turkish Olympic shooter Yusuf Dikeç story and why his silver medal performance in just glasses and a t-shirt perfectly illustrates Phase 1 work, why women leaders often get trapped in Phase 3-only thinking, how Jennifer's twenty years without Phase 1 time is literally destroying her body, and why the Phase Filter saves hours of guilty deliberation.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Introduction and Purpose

(01:00) Understanding Daily Demands

(04:11) The Three-Phase System

(10:22) Phase One: Self-Awareness

(21:14) Phase Two: Social Awareness

(26:39) Phase Three: Exercising Authority

(33:58) Practical Applications and Examples

(44:24) Conclusion and Next Steps

IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER:

✓ The Phase Filter Question that lets you make decisions in seconds instead of hours of guilty deliberation

✓ Why personality assessments are essential for Phase 2 work (and the peacock-vs-owl story that changed everything)

✓ Otis's "peas and porkchops" wisdom for managing networking events without drowning in follow-ups

✓ The thick black line between Phases 2 and 3—and why crossing it destroys both relationships and authority

NEXT WEEK: Episode 31 - Andy Rhodenbaugh: "Building Excellence on a 4-Day Work Week"

StoryBrand marketing coach Andy Rhodenbaugh shows you how protecting Fridays, stacking projects strategically, and finishing work before releasing it creates sustainable success.

RESOURCES:

Learn More: Hardcore and At Ease Framework - https://www.OthersOverSelf.com | Boundaries Lesson Download (complimentary) - check show notes | Strategy Session - info@missionambition.org

Affiliate Disclaimer: I only recommend products I genuinely use. Full disclosure: https://othersoverself.com/affiliate-disclaimer/

Get the Gear:

🎥 Neewer 660 LED Lights: https://amzn.to/4qN93UL/ | 🎬 Diffusion Filter Upgrade https://amzn.to/3YwZWLZ, check variations | 📊 My Business Report: https://hardcore-and-at-ease.captivate.fm/biz-report | 🎯 StoryBrand.ai: https://hardcore-and-at-ease.captivate.fm/storybrand-ai | 📚 Business Made Simple:

Episode 29: "What 'Protect Your Joy' Taught Me: 7 Lessons from Living Hardcore and At Ease in 2025"

Are you watching your calling being held back by unhealthy patterns you've been tolerating? In 2025, "Protect Your Joy" became show host Shelly Rood's operating principle—not self-care, but mission stewardship. This episode reveals why protection decisions come with ongoing costs that last for years.

Ambitious leaders face a brutal truth: Sometimes the biggest threat to mission success isn't external competition—it's the environment leaders tolerate. In January 2025, show host Shelly Rood chose three words that saved her calling: Protect Your Joy. But here's what nobody tells you about protection: the demons don't die easily.

This episode walks through seven protection decisions Rood made in 2025—from launching a podcast during home chaos (hitting top 1% globally in six months) to firing profitable revenue streams that drained mission capacity. Each lesson came with third and fourth order effects she's still managing today. Court dates from a 2014 divorce. Social media slander from contractors let go. Collections calls over bills she's certain were paid.

Rood explores the difference between prevention (delaying disaster) and protection (defending what matters), Gandhi's principle that change starts with self, and why zero-tolerance policies aren't harsh—they're strategic. Plus, a preview of 2026's focus: building the ONE thing after protecting capacity.

(00:00) Introduction: Protect Your Joy

(01:21) The Mantra of Protect Your Joy

(02:27) Understanding Joy as Fuel

(03:17) Challenges and Unhealthy Patterns

(06:05) Prevention vs. Protection

(07:28) Real-World Examples of Protection

(12:52) Seven Lessons from 2025

(17:02) Mission Protection and Personal Boundaries

(24:24) Intentional Quality of Life Standards

(35:51) Conclusion: Focus for 2026

1. Why "Protect Your Joy" means mission stewardship, not self-indulgence—and how joy functions as your fuel indicator
2. The 7 protection decisions that liberate purpose-driven capacity (with ongoing costs each requires)
3. General Slocum's continuum of harm principle and why some behaviors cannot coexist with mission success
4. How launching imperfectly during chaos beat 8 years of perfectionism—and reached top 1% in 6 months

Next Week: Episode 30 - Guest Interview A powerful conversation with a leader who's built collaborative excellence without burning out. Then the following week: the full 2026 Blueprint reveal, including the shift from "Protect Your Joy" to "Build The One Thing."

Get the Gear: 📚 "The ONE Thing" by Gary Keller: https://amzn.to/49msBIB 🎯 StoryBrand.ai: https://hardcore-and-at-ease.captivate.fm/storybrand-ai 📊 My Business Report: https://hardcore-and-at-ease.captivate.fm/biz-report 📈 My Marketing Report: https://hardcore-and-at-ease.captivate.fm/marketing-report

Learn More:

Are you loved for who you really are, or just the model of perfection people expect? When do ambitious leaders get to lower their standards and just be accepted? This episode answers that question with raw stories from five women veterans who discovered we don't have to choose between being excellent and being authentically ourselves.

In this special recording from the Others Over Self 2023 Leadership Conference & Women Veterans Engage - Detroit (presented by General Motors), Kelly Tulloch leads a powerful panel featuring Erica Hoover (Michigan Women Veterans & Special Populations Coordinator, MVAA), Pazzella Bonner (Homes for Heroic Veterans founder), Sarah Gagnan (Air Force veteran and GM autonomous systems specialist), and Qwynn Galloway-Salazar, Ph.D. (Founder of In Their Honor, LLC and end-of-life doula).

You'll hear stories about being told they're "too happy" for military service, modeling plus-size clothing when the industry said they didn't exist, starting businesses after being fired while caring for dying parents, and being 65 years old still working on self-acceptance. These women reveal how they built confidence through failure, transformed criticism into fuel, and discovered that sharing your light only makes it brighter.

This is about building social support networks that catch us when we're questioning everything. It's about creating communities where ambitious leaders can be both excellent and struggling, both capable and needing support—both hardcore and at ease.

CHAPTERS: (00:00) Introduction and Host's Opening Remarks (01:21) Personal Reflections and Challenges (03:31) Panel Introduction and Backgrounds (07:55) Defining Confidence (12:59) Overcoming Adversity and Building Confidence (29:53) Embracing Empathy and Understanding (30:47) Navigating Challenges and Setbacks (33:40) Advocacy and Identity (38:31) Building Confidence and Inner Strength (51:38) Final Reflections and Takeaways

IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER:

1. Why we don't have to choose between being loved and maintaining standards
2. How to build social support networks that hold you through hard moments
3. The difference between "fake it till you make it" and authentic confidence
4. Why sharing your light with others only makes yours brighter
5. How five women leaders turned their biggest setbacks into their greatest strengths

FEATURED PANELISTS: Kelly Tulloch (Panel Lead) - Military Woman Advocate, U.S. Air Force Veteran Erica Hoover - Women Veterans & Special Populations Coordinator, MVAA, U.S. Navy Veteran Pazzella Bonner - U.S. Army Veteran, Founder of Homes for Heroic Veterans, 2021 Macomb County Veteran of the Year Sarah Gagnan - Active Duty 2008-2019, Michigan Air National Guard, General Motors Autonomous Systems Specialist Qwynn Galloway-Salazar, Ph.D. - U.S. Army Veteran, Founder of In Their Honor, LLC, End-of-Life Doula & Death Educator

NEXT WEEK: Episode 29 - "Year-End Reflection: What Winning Leaders Do Differently" - We're closing out 2025 by looking at what actually worked this year and how to carry lessons forward without carrying the weight.

RESOURCES: Hardcore and At Ease Framework: https://othersoverself.com/ Strategy Session:...