How to Advance Your Career without Sacrificing Your Personal Life with Eva Medilek

Kathi: Hi everyone. I'm back and I'm with Eva Medilek, and we're going to talk today about burnout, energy, how to get your ya-yas back and move forward in your life with full vim and vigor. So welcome to the program, Eva.

Eva: Thank you, Kathi. I'm excited to be here.

Kathi: Yeah, absolutely. I take off my glasses for the glare. So tell me a little bit about yourself. How did you get to where you're being? What were you doing prior to being a small business owner yourself?

Eva: I spent nearly 40 years as a dental hygienist. So I've been cleaning people's teeth forever. And that's literally, it's funny, because I'm so much more now, but it was really hard to shed that identity even when I started my own business. And the first business I started while still working in dental hygiene was a real estate investment company. And that's when I experienced real burnout for the first time, because I was still working in dental hygiene and building my business. And if you remember, there was this commercial for a perfume called Enjoli. And the woman would come out and sing, I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never let you forget you're a man. And it was the eight-hour perfume for the 24-hour woman. Well, that's what I was doing. I was doing that and the cooking and the shopping and the laundry and all of that. And so, yeah, that's how I started. And then that experience of burnout and overwhelm and what it did to my health and my relationship got me into high-performance coaching right now.

Kathi: Oh, that's a great story. So how long did you juggle both? How long did it take you before you really reached the fry point?

Eva: It wasn't long before I reached the fry point, but I juggled both up until about four years ago, to be honest with you. What happened was, because I was doing it all, trying to be it all and do it all so that I could have it all for myself and my family, it did put a certain amount of stress on my body, my neck, my mood. I was a little Miss Cranky Pants all the time. And that was the catalyst that really had me look at who I was being as I was doing, and realize my part in that breakdown and that self-sabotaging behavior, if you will. And it was through our journey of coming out even better on the other side of that breakdown that I really got more into high-performance habits. I was a high achiever, but I wasn't a high performer. I wasn't performing at my best, even though I was achieving all of the success and accolades. I was still able to do both, but I did it with the habits and practices and skills that brought more energy into my life and reversed that burnout, so that I could be a high performer at home, at work and in my community.

I was a high achiever, but I wasn't a high performer.

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Kathi: That's pretty interesting. Yeah, I never thought about that. You can be a high achiever but not a high performer. Sometimes something has to give, and you definitely had the wake-up call with that. I'm so happy to hear that you're able to come about and change your relationship and make it a win-win. Do you have children in a family as well?

Eva: I do have children, but they are adults. But I love to say that when my husband and I had our come-to-Jesus moment, the dog was not upset at all. She just snoozed right between us, and I thought, wow, I'm handling this so well if the dog is not upset, because they pick up on our energy, right? And my children were hugely supportive of both of us. We all have taken enough personal development to be evolved as human beings in those moments. We had the space and the support of family, and I surrounded myself with people who would not man bash or husband bash or whatever, and we were surrounded with a lot of love and support to help us through that challenging time.

Kathi: That's really great. It seems to be a recurring theme with my podcast: you surround yourself with people that are going to empower you and hold you up when you need it, and not put up with your "but I should have," and shoulding yourself and coulding yourself, and the ones that'll really just tell it straight. That's so important for us, especially as women, that we have the rapport with someone who could just cut down on our story and cut to the quick of the story and get us off of that doggone story.

Eva: Yeah, but also to really support us in the work that we were doing, to figure out what our next steps were. Really just saying, there's so much possible for you both out of this breakdown. There's an amazing breakthrough for you. And I thought, wow, this is going to make a really good story one day.

Kathi: Absolutely. And it's a really good story for your new career as a high-performance coach. So let's talk about that a little bit. How long have you been doing it, and who are your clients? Who's your ideal person that you can help?

Eva: Well, I've been a certified high-performance coach since 2019, and I was certified by Brendon Burchard. Some of your listeners may have heard of him. He wrote the book High Performance Habits, and he really has an academy where he personally trains his coaches. I so resonated with high-performance habits because it's a very heart-centered approach. It's not a workaholic, high-achieving approach, but it really is bringing out the best you you can be: how your best self would react in situations, and how to bring clarity, energy, courage, productivity, influence, all of those important tenets of high performance. So my clients are basically busy professionals who are experiencing that exhaustion and overwhelm that's affecting their personal life as they are building their business, as they're achieving that next level of success in their life and business. And we don't want to be successful at a cost to what's important to us. And that's what was happening to me. I was building this business for my family, for generational wealth, for our legacy. But I wasn't a very pleasant person to be around while I was building that business.

We don't want to be successful at a cost to what's important to us.

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Kathi: Yeah. And I agree with you. Brendon's a kind, gentle soul that's a high achiever. So you can do both, and he's a great example of that. So that's awesome. So do you have any productivity hacks, things that help you get more done in less time, that you use personally in your business?

Eva: Yes, I do. It's the calendar. But productivity to me doesn't mean doing more just to be doing more. It really is how effective am I in what I am doing. And so one of the things I do is, put it this way: if you've ever seen a NASCAR race or the Indy 500, and you see those cars going at dangerously high speeds, trying to finish the race and win it without crashing and burning. Right? Nobody wants to crash and burn on the racetrack.

Kathi: Yeah.

Eva: But I remember every time I saw the lead car, the car that was ahead, pull over and stop for a pit stop, my first thought was, well, that's stupid. Nothing's wrong with the car. Why are they stopping now? They're going to fall behind. They're going to lose. Other people are going to pass them up. Well, that was pretty much how I was running my life, afraid to stop. Because those drivers know that stopping for a pit stop, before the tire blows, before you run out of gas, is necessary for them to continue to race at peak or high performance without crashing and burning. And so I actually scheduled pit stops throughout my day. So those pit stops would include me building time in my schedule so that I'm not stuck in back-to-back meetings. I'm not working nonstop, but I'm doing little five- to 10-minute things that actually keep me energized. Like, I eat before I get hungry. Most of us are in reaction mode. We get sleepy, we go to sleep. We get tired, we rest. We get hungry, we eat. What if we were to build our life and our day around stuff that gives us better performance and energy, so that we can be more effective in our productivity?

Stopping for a pit stop, before the tire blows, before you run out of gas, is necessary for them to continue to race at peak or high performance.

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Kathi: I love that. So tell me how a typical day works for you. So you work 45 minutes, you take 10? Or how do you really structure it practically?

Eva: Normally I start my day off with a set morning routine. Sometimes the set morning routine varies, but I do have a morning routine to get me going, because studies show that just having a morning routine wipes out 20% of stress and increases productivity throughout the day. So my calendar is set with 15-minute intervals between each appointment. I don't work more than 50 minutes to an hour before I have a 10- or 15-minute buffer, and some meetings run over. So I at least have five to 10 minutes to move my body, drink some water, maybe sit quietly and do a release meditation technique or something throughout the day. I have a hard stop at the end of my day. One of the things that I found that's really helpful, that's a hack, is when I check my emails, I do creation before consumption. What does that mean? I get out the emails that I need to move my life and business forward first, before I'm in response mode to the emails that come in my inbox. So who do I need to reach out to today? Who do I need to follow up with? And I do all of that creation email first. And that's what I'll do before I go back in, at whatever time I have set in the day, to be in response mode and responding to other people's priorities. And that's putting my priorities first, which is really important.

Kathi: Yeah. And every email is a call to action. Something that I train my clients all the time is that any email wants you to do something. So you need to be very proactive whenever you get in there, instead of being reactive and just reading all those emails, and then you're like, oh my gosh, I have to do this, that and the other. So I love the fact that you're creating your emails prior to reading other emails. That's really a great hack for sure.

Eva: Because that's somebody else's priority that I'm responding to, really. And I do an overall scan to see if there's anything really urgent that I need to respond to first, like, oh my god, I've been waiting for this email. You want to look for those. But yeah, you've got to be really intentional, because it's a black hole. Even the social media. I have to work out first before I even look at social media. That usually requires a meditation afterwards, for sure. I have a certain routine I do in the morning, and then I give myself a timer, five minutes, to just look at what I can find positive in social media, here, here, here, based on what I posted yesterday or whatever, and then I move on. It really is being in control of your schedule without it having control over you.

It really is being in control of your schedule without it having control over you.

Kathi: Yeah. And having a hard stop is brilliant. And I'm sure that that's something that your husband now very much appreciates. He knows you're going to get off at a certain time.

Eva: Oh, I'd probably get off before he does. I mean, we both work from home, which means we're the worst bosses to ourselves ever. But when we do, it's important that when you do shut off, you also unplug and really, really shut off. And I'm more into the high-performance habits than my husband is, and I get to love what is. I'm only responsible for me and the person I am being in relationship. And the beauty of that is that you become a role model for the people in your life. So even though it seems that they may not be on the same page with you all the time, they are watching and observing, and they're seeing how you are able to still show up in full energy and vibrancy with all the work that you have. And they may be stressed and overwhelmed, and they're wondering, how are you doing it? I'm freaking out. Right? So you just set that example.

Kathi: Yeah. And it's a ripple effect. Everything that we do within our house ripples into other areas, and everything that we do to work on ourselves ripples into other people. I totally agree with that. So what's the best piece of advice that anyone's ever given you, personal or business, that you remember all the time, that you're like, yeah, that's a good one?

Eva: Well, I would say the creation before consumption was a big one for me. And also, I would say, to prioritize. We have so much to do that our to-do list could go on forever. I once read a bumper sticker that said, God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things, and right now I'm so far behind that I will never die. I used to think everything on my list was a priority. Had to be done. Had to be done. Had to be done. What are they going to think if I don't get back to them in the right amount of time? And I put this urgency on everything. Everything is not urgent. I've got to prioritize my priorities before other people's. And it was like a burden lifted off of me. I could look at everything on that to-do list and say, okay, what three things on here need to be accomplished by the end of the day today? And I make sure that's done first, and then everything else is extra and gets moved over. I have my little book that everything's in, because I'm at the age that I won't remember it. But I put it down and I'm like, okay, I have some time to do some of this. What's most important now? Actually, that's the name of my radio show. It's called What's Important Now: Making Time for What Matters Most. And I just prioritize really, really strategically.

Kathi: Love, love, love that. Hey, we'll put the link to that show in the show notes as well, so that people can jump into it. That's fantastic. I love it. So I know that you have something that you wanted to offer the listeners. What is it that you want to provide to them, that they can download?

Eva: I have some energy-generating habits to stay focused and productive. There are, I believe, six of them on here, and it's just a nice blueprint for you to structure your day so that your family is not getting what's left over of you at the end of the day, and you're bringing your best self to every task in your day: your clients, your calendars, your calls, whatever you have. You're in full vibrancy and energy. And you can get that at evamedilek.com/energy.

Kathi: Easy breezy. And you can also just click the link below the podcast too, if you don't know how to spell Medilek, which you never know. Click the link for sure.

Eva: Good point.

Kathi: Yeah, that's awesome. So is there anything in closing that I should have asked you, that you just really want to talk about regarding energy, burnout or anything that's your forte?

Eva: You know what? I would end by just saying that your success depends on your ability to be clear, prioritize, and own the responsibility for creating and setting boundaries. That's my basic CPR to go from high achieving to high performing: clarity, prioritize, and responsibility for creating and setting boundaries.

Your success depends on your ability to be clear, prioritize, and own the responsibility for creating and setting boundaries.

Kathi: I love that. Clarity is so very important, because if you don't have clarity, you can't set the boundaries anyhow. Life just happens to you.

Eva: Yes.

Kathi: And we don't want that to happen. You want to grab life full tilt boogie, with a clear, precise direction of where you're trying to go with it. So thank you. This has been such a pleasure to meet you and talk to you, and I wish you much success and congratulations on everything that you're doing. I'm going to actually listen to your show too.

Eva: Thank you. I appreciate that, and it's been a real pleasure being on your show. Thank you for the work that you do.

Kathi: Absolutely. Thanks, Eva. We will see you hopefully sooner than later.

Eva: Awesome. Bye.