Ep 278 | Staying on Track with Big Goals with Colleen Biggs

Having big goals for your organization is crucial, but actually executing on them and staying motivated can be a real challenge. In this episode, we chat with Colleen Biggs, a seasoned entrepreneur and business strategist, about her proven strategies for setting achievable goals, keeping your team engaged, and celebrating wins along the way. Whether you're a nonprofit leader, small business owner, or just someone who wants to level up in 2025, this episode is packed with practical tips and inspiring insights to help you make your big dreams a reality.

What you'll learn:

→ The importance of goal-setting and why it's like a game of darts
→ How to break down long-term goals into manageable milestones
→ Strategies for keeping your team motivated and engaged
→ The power of visualization and creating a vision board
→ Tips for enjoying the journey and not just focusing on the end result

Want to skip ahead? Here are key takeaways:

[06:00] If there was no goal, there would be no meaning to the work. Goals help you stay motivated and on track to doing more good in this world.
[07:45] Break down big goals into more maneagble chunks. Colleen shares how she broke down her long-term Taekwondo goal into smaller, more manageable milestones. “ I never once focused honestly on the getting the black belt, until the black belt was visible in the space.”
[27:07] Ensure everyone knows their role to play in reaching the goals. Colleen provides insights on engaging and motivating teams to work towards shared goals.
[33:57] Goals are important, and having the goal is just as important as the journey. Colleen shares a personal story about running a half-marathon and the importance of enjoying the experience, not just the end result. Celebrate milestones and make the process enjoyable to avoid burnout.

Resources

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Full Transcript

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
Having big goals for your organization is so important, but executing and staying on task can sometimes be overwhelming and it can be hard to stay motivated and ready to complete the task at hand. So you're probably having fun with the planning process and getting all of your big things on paper and moving forward. But how do you keep the team motivated to make sure they happen. That is the topic that we have today on the digital marketing therapy podcast, and my guest today is Colleen Biggs. Colleen Biggs is a seasoned entrepreneur and business strategist with over 22 years of experience in launching over 365 businesses. She has a passion for Empowering Entrepreneurs to make money. With a background in franchising, including her time with a little gem and now franchising Phoenix drone pros. She enjoys guiding small business owners to expand their influence, generate more revenue and achieve financial abundance. As a visionary leader and a business coach, Colleen is also dedicated to helping women build thriving connections through their transformative coaching program and local empower and elevate conferences. She empowers women to unleash their profit potential by building their net worth directly through their networks. So we're going to be talking through all of the goodness that is goal setting, networking, building kind of that space for you to reach the goals that you want to reach without burning out and by staying motivated. So I hope you find this episode helpful. It's a little bit of tactics, a little bit of strategies, a little bit of mindset, but I know that you'll find it super helpful before we get into it. This episode is brought to you by our October freebie. I recorded a short little video that walks you through my steps for how I start to plan my whole year, not just my marketing, but my whole year, what things I'm going to put out there, what events and things I'm going to have, what personal things I have in my space that I need to make sure I have time for. It helps me to make sure that I don't overload myself, and that what I put in my plan I can actually execute. So if you want to watch my short video on how I plan and walk through it step by step with me, you can do that by going to thefirstclick.net/resources. There are tons of freebies there for you. Also, if that's not the one that you need right now, scroll to the bottom that page. You can grab all of the freebies that we've been launching this year. But for now, let's jump into the episode.

Intro
You're listening to the digital marketing therapy podcast. I'm your host, Sami Bedell-Mulhern. Each month we dive deep into a digital marketing or fundraising strategy that you can implement in your organization. Each week, you'll hear from guest experts, nonprofits, and myself on best practices, tips and resources to help you raise more money online and reach your organizational goals.

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
Hey, hey, please join me in welcoming Colleen Biggs to the podcast. Colleen, thank you so much for being here today.

Colleen Biggs
I'm so happy to be here today, girl, thanks for getting us here. Sami, yeah,

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
I am, like, sort of flabbergasted and not ready to be talking about goal setting for 2025 but I know that it's so important, and I'm excited about this topic today. But before we kind of jump into some of the nitty gritty, kind of, why do you love goal setting, and why is it such a powerful thing for you and the clients that you work with.

Colleen Biggs
It would be like, having a dart board with no bullseye. I just couldn't imagine I love to play darts. And I just remember the first time my husband and I went and played darts, and he was like, Do you like, hang out in bars and, like, bet people and do this for money? I'm like, No, I don't do that. I just love sports. So to me, there's always a goal in the sport, right? There's always a goal in getting better. Like when I started Taekwondo in my 40s, the goal was to receive a black belt, like that was my end goal. And so every week there were certain tasks that I needed to do, certain things that I needed to learn. Every 10 weeks that compiled up to 10 weeks, and you know, they would sit down and teach us SMART goals, even in taekwondo, you know. And I loved it because I wanted my kids to send my grandkids to martial arts because of the respect that they teach the kids, the goal setting that they teach them. It's martial arts isn't about attacking people and fighting martial arts is about defending and being able to understand and respect your body, your space, and other people's other people and other people's space. And I don't think a lot of people realize that. So those compounding 10 weeks, every 10 weeks, when I tested for a new belt, became what, what was my two and a half year long track of getting to my black belt? If there was no end in sight, let's just say there was no belt that I was going to get. What keeps us motivated? Nothing.

I. I think that's the thing we need to focus on here. Why goals are important. Because when there's no goal, when there's no finish line, can you imagine going out to run, you know, and them saying, we were just gonna run, and then when you're done, you're done, and like, there's no finish line, there's no metal, there's no sometimes there's a competition based on your age and your category and what place you get. I mean, we just have to face it, we're driven by those goals. We're driven by those deadlines. We're driven by those rewards. I was at my grandson's football game. He's a nine and I was at his football game on Saturday, and one of the guys there said these children are still at the age where they're driven to the treat at the end of the game. They're not as much driven by are they going to win or lose? Because at younger ages, they don't keep scoring football. But now he's at the age of flag football, where they keep score. So the parents are like, all about the score, right? The kids are like, where's my brownie and my Gatorade at the end of, you know, the football game? So they do want to win. They're starting to get to that age where they're driven by that competition. But if there was no goal, meaning they were just throwing the ball around, it would not be a good game, because their goal was to get a touchdown. Their goal was to stop the other team from getting a touchdown, so they know what to do in every play because of that. So those are probably eight examples I just gave you why goals really run everything in our lives. But I know so many people Sami that live without goals, like without a purpose, without a deadline, without something they're reaching towards, and I just can't imagine just being without no drive of something in your future.

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
Yeah, yeah, okay. My mind is spinning because there's so many good things that you literally just said in there, so I'm going to try to remember them all. But the first thing that jumps out at me is you said, every 10 weeks, I had to hit this milestone in order to hit this two and a half year goal of a black belt. And so I think what's super empowering about that, and what I would love to hear your thoughts on, is like having a goal that's two and a half years away. Can sometimes feel like, okay, well, that's forever away. I can procrastinate. I don't have to do like, whatever. So how important were those kind of 10 week steps to like? Did you focus on just the 10 weeks? And then I know I'm going to hit this milestone, and then I know that that milestone is going to build into my two and a half year goal. Like, can you talk me through that a little

Colleen Biggs
bit? Yeah, I never once focused honestly on the getting the black belt, until the black belt was visible in the space. So they bring the black belt in about 10 to 20 weeks before your final testing for the black belt, and they put it up on this rack, and you physically get to see it, and then you're like, This is what I've been doing all of this for. So I never really thought about the black belt. I thought about the next belt and getting to the next belt, because anyway, along the way, I could have quit, right? I could have stopped. I know so many people when I say I'm a first degree black belt in Taekwondo, they're like, Oh, I was a green belt. And I'm like, and you stopped at a green belt, like, what? So all along the way those 10 weeks, I'm glad you said that, because within those 10 weeks, there were tests that we were given within the 10 weeks to get to the next belt. So we would have, like these tests where you had to show that you knew how to do the self defense for that color of belt, that you knew how to do the form for that color of belt, that you would practice the weapon routine for that color of that belt. And then you would get what we would call like a tip. It's called like a tip pass or something. I can't remember the names. It's been so many years, but you get a little piece of black tape on your belt, and when you have three tips and black rings on your belt for those different testing things that we do along those 10 weeks, then you get to test if you're not, if you don't have all three of them on your belt, you don't get to test in 10 weeks. So you're focused every single time you go to that dojo, on working on the form, working on the self defense, working on the weapon, working on the routines, because you have to have those down and learn to be able to accomplish that next test. And if you don't pass the tip test, then you don't get to test for the next belt. So we are challenged every single day in learning something new, in working on a routine. So you could go into the dojo and already know what you need to work on every single time you're there. But we do it as a group. So sometimes we would spar, sometimes we would use weapons, sometimes we would do combat.

They would make. Sit up to keep us fresh on all the things that we needed to know, and that's because you never know what's going to happen with your opponent in the real world, and what's going to happen to you and what you're going to be threatened with ever and I think it's about having that confidence, one that I worked my butt off for two and a half years to get there. But the other piece of that is that I am pretty well rounded now in all of those self defenses, that when I travel by myself, I never am scared, full or worry. It's kind of like when we talk about getting out of debt to you know you you had mentioned it can be so far away, and what keeps us like gazelle, like intensity, as Dave Ramsey says, is looking at what is my ultimate goal, of why I want to get added debt. And sometimes that could take two years, five years, 10 years, like we're talking a long time down the road, right? And most people will fizzle out before they reach that point. And it's about that's why he has you start with the littlest debt. So what if you had a debt that was $1,000 and you paid that off, and then you have to celebrate. The point is you have to celebrate. You don't just move on and great, awesome, and move to the next one, move to the next one, move to the next one. And I think that was something we could probably discuss today, because I got into that trap, and then you don't enjoy the journey, and then it's just about goal setting, and then you're never rewarding yourself when you actually get there, like you're never really looking at yourself to say, Holy crap. Look at how far I came from, where I started to where I am today. This is a huge change in my life for a huge transformation in my life, and we have to celebrate all of those wins. It is crucial well, and that

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
was the second piece of what I was going to bring up. So I love that you said that yourself, because I think especially in the fundraising space, there's always more money that needs to be raised, and there's always, you know, we're gearing up for year end giving campaigns and, okay, well, you know, as we hit certain milestones, we don't actually, I think a lot of times take time to celebrate or as a team, acknowledge, like, Okay, we got this awesome new donor, or we, you know, increased this, or we did that, and I think that leads To the burnout in our professionals in the space, because we don't take the time to kind of take a look at that. So as you're kind of setting your big picture goals, how do you break down, or do you break down, like, milestones? And how do you kind of ensure, when you're working with people, that they are taking the time to not just say, Okay, we did it, like, Woohoo, but really like take it in that we did something here. You know,

Colleen Biggs
I think all year long, you're really kind of plugging along at your goals, and you're kind of reevaluating them. And sometimes I think we even look at goals throughout the year and we say, is this still valid for what I want this year? Because last year, I thought I did, but I think that maybe the demand isn't there? You start realizing that what you had created as a goal that maybe other people aren't wanting to enroll in or participate in, and you feel like, well, maybe I'm this isn't the path I need to be going. I've had a lot of those, the so many people call those failures, that's fine. I've at least I didn't Failure to Launch. I launched and it fell flat, which is okay. I think that's how we learn. To me, those become the stepping stones to how we really get to what matters for us and what works for us and the greatest impact we can make. So I do this exercise with my clients every single year, and it's coming up again in October, which is the month we do it. In October, I get my clients together for two days, and we sit together from like eight to six two days in a row, and I really break down. I kind of get a feel of where they're at. We always have something, whether it be an outing or a field trip, that supports what we're doing in our goal setting, but we really start with, how was your year? Let's celebrate everything that went great for you, whether it was on your vision board, whether it was a goal or not. What really worked well for you? What did you love? What did you learn? What are you excited about? Then let's talk about, what are the things that didn't work for you? What are the things that fell flat, what are the things that you put way more effort into and you wanted to do it, and then throughout the year, you're like, screw this. I didn't like it. It really wasn't my jam. And it took so much energy from me to do that all year, and then the return on that was just not what I had expected. I think if we look at that, we won't continue just doing the same things over and over again, because it's the way we've always done it. We can shift things up right?

Look at AI now and how much AI offers us to switch things up in our business and help us move quicker through content creation or image creation, or any of those things. It helps our teams move faster. So we start with that, and then once we've gotten all the things that we didn't like and all the things out that we loved, it's like, okay, what do you want to accomplish next year? Now what's happening? Like anything new you want to build? Some of my clients were moving into studios from being virtual, you know, so about getting a lease, and what does that look like for me to be locally now, instead of, you know, online, where I can reach so many more people in different countries, so some of them would be creating retreats for the first time or creating new programs. And so we really look at like now, what do you want to do in 2025 and then we sprinkle in the losses, the failures, the wins, the things that just you didn't like to do. And then we look at the things that you love to do. What are the things that you love to do? Let's add those in to what your goal is for the next year. And then we put it all together in a vision board. I really believe in visual stimulation, because I'm such a visual person that my car that is sitting on my vision board last year is what I've been driving for over a year now. And I remember creating the vision board with my client in November that year, and I bought the vehicle in February, and the guy at the dealership, it was a very small boutique dealership, he said, When I finally got a hold of him, and we were going back and forth that week, he said, I can't believe that you were able to get this vehicle. I had so many people come and say they were going to buy it. And he goes, I just I he said, I have no idea how you got it. And I looked at him, I said, I know exactly how I got it. It's the exact vehicle sitting on my vision board, same color interior. Everything was exactly the same.

So when we visualize things, we bring them into reality. So that's why the vision board is so important. And then with that vision board, I have each one of my clients talk about their year. So now they're talking about the next year. So they'll talk about 2025 and I want them to talk about how they feel with with the emotion that they've accomplished, what was on their board, and maybe some things they didn't accomplish. I want it to be real for them. I want it to feel like this was really hard this moment that I had to step into to achieving this, felt like I could never do it in a million years, like I want to know what's on their heart. And so I remember when I got up and did my vision board in front of my clients, because I participate with them too, I cried at one moment and I said, I don't know how to do this. I didn't know how to make this happen. When I started my year, I was scared, and I was I was putting myself out there in a different industry I hadn't done before. But let me tell you what happened throughout the year, and then I just kind of settled into it. So I think it's important to talk as if it's also already happened, because the belief that we give ourselves is more than just the imagery on the board. So we analyze everything.

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
And I love that well. And I think I want to go back also to what you were talking about with your your black belt in that, you know, you had to go back, you had to learn, you had to keep testing. You had to keep, you know, building. They didn't let you move on until you have the right skill set. And so like, as you're kind of kind of combining the reflection and understanding where we've come from to where we're going in that example, you're also kind of really building that foundation. You're building that base for you to be able to take the next step. So I think that's crucially important if you're kind of trying to take that experience into your business. Into your business life, it's like, what do I need to know now in order to get to that next step? As opposed to, what's the shiny object that's in front of me, or what's the thing that the buzz technology or the buzz thing that I need to be participating in? Kind of, how do you take those two things and push them together to say, Okay, this is the goal. This is my vision. This is where I'm going to go, even though it's scary. And this is the foundation that I need in the maybe the financial investment and or the team investment or whatever, to kind of put those two things together.

Colleen Biggs
I'm glad you asked that, Sami, because, you know, I see too many people, and I know someone out there listening to this is going to know I'm that person starting a business is planting a seed. They're willing to water it to start, and then I will tell you immediately they expect that to be a 10 year old oak tree. When they wake up the next day, right? They're like, Okay, I did it. I did it. Where's all the success? Where's, you know? And you know, people say, like, I'm a 10 year sensation, overnight sensation, yep, because they've really been working behind the scenes, building what you see now for 1020, years. So the tree and the plant and all of that doesn't grow overnight, and there's a lot. Of similarities when we're talking about martial arts to plants and growth and sunlight and shadows, and they use a lot of that on you know how the seed is just planted and when it hits the light and as it grows. So I know this for sure in all the businesses that we've bought, that we've started, that we've sold, that there are things that come along that you're not anticipating, that could be deficits, that could be opportunities. And I really believe that when you are honed in to your intuition and the things that feel right for you, honing things back to okay, this is my goal for the year. This is really what I want to accomplish. And you've always got a bigger why tied behind why you want to get there. It might be the people you employ and their families. It might be for the greater good that you're doing for people, whatever that might be, there's always a greater why that supersedes the daily financial burdens, the daily tiredness or your ability to feel like you want to give up some days.

I know my sister in law owns a really big farm out here in Arizona that most people are very familiar with, called schneff farms, and I brought some clients out to her several years ago, and she woke up she said in that meeting that we had, I wake up every day wanting to quit because it's just too much. But then I realized all of the families that I would put out, and all of the people that I employ, and all of the the 25,000 people that come to festivals and, you know, and all their traditions that they've created now on the farm, and if I just give up and don't do this anymore, I let all of those people down. And I think when we think outside of ourselves, it becomes a bigger passion of what we're doing. Nobody starts a nonprofit because they don't have a passion to stop, something to change, something to make the world a better place, right? For sure. Sami, so for me, along the way, there are going to be things that are going to help you get there faster, people that are going to help you get there faster, that come in your path. But you always still need to measure it back to, Am I still on the path? And when the shiny thing comes along, like, I'm on this path to to build this community, and then somewhere along the way, someone's like, oh, you should build these courses, and build these courses, and you should build these courses, and you're like, why I didn't have it in my in my goal setting, to do courses this year. And then you realize, how is that? How is those courses going to help me build my community? If you can see how that's going to help you build that community? The answer to that is yes, if you can see that and it's taking you off to another leg of your business, another way, and you realize like that's going to take me down somewhere where I'm now taking my focus off of building the community. That's when I think you need to ask yourself, Is that the right way to go? Because now you're veering away from what you had said was the most important thing, and you wrote it all out, and you had all the whys tied to it. So I do think it's important to have those goals, because it does help us navigate through these paths when we're trying to decide, is this the right mentor for me at this time? This the right person? Because sometimes along the way, I don't realize it, but I'm spiritually struggling, or my health starts to struggle because I'm so focused on my goals that now I'm not paying attention to my health. And it's like I need to get a health coach to really help me, you know, be the best version of myself to achieve these goals. I need to get a different mentor. There's knowledge here that's a gap, and I can't figure out why I'm not getting to the next level or moving toward my goal, I need to get into a program. Sometimes there's programs. I run a program that called the 12 week year that helps individuals accomplish those goals in a short period of time, so they can take their full goals for the year and chunk them down and reach them faster and quicker. And so some people are like, I just need accountability and be part of a group, so I know that I'm being pushed forward. So again, I think we need to be open to all of the options that are out there, but always still come back to the true meaning behind why did I set this goal in the first place, and what is it going to mean to me to accomplish that? Yeah,

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
no, it's so good and so if we're part of a bigger team, so if we have, you know, you know, if we're leading a team and we're trying to make sure everybody's on board with the same goals like, I think obviously we want to have our own kind of vision board and and goal setting, I think personally as well as professionally. Me, from what I'm hearing you say, but how can we kind of rally the team together to also stay kind of on that trajectory to say, Okay, bring us your ideas. Let's fail fast. Let's have fun with this. Let's kind of do this thing, but kind of keep everybody congruent and understanding like this is kind of where we're going, and this is how we're going to make the most impact that we can.

Colleen Biggs
Yeah, I'm glad you said that, because a lot of what I was talking about was entrepreneurs that are building teams around with their business. So if you're part of a team, so you're not the entrepreneur, you're within a team, and you're working toward that bigger goal. The number one thing the leader needs to be aware of is that their responsibility is to provide the vision and enroll everyone into that vision, and why and how it benefits them, each individually. So the individual conversations on how it benefits them, because not everyone is as jazzed as you are about a goal. And they're like, this is ridiculous. We could ever hit this goal, right? So if they feel like it's too far fetched or isn't going to happen, how can you get them excited about their part? And I think that's the important thing that is missed, a huge miss in a lot of corporations? They just think you're on this team. These are our goals. You're supposed to hit those goals because at your job, and you're supposed to be excited about it. And the answer to that is, technically, they're probably not. And when we get excited about it and help another person realize, here's your part in this, and we can't hit this goal without your part, and that person now sees how their contributions affects the overall goal, and then staying with that person and being there as an outlet for them, being there as a soundboard for them, being there As someone that can motivate them if they feel unmotivated, letting them know that there are going to be times they're probably going to feel unmotivated.

There are going to be times that they're probably going to feel like the team maybe isn't as consistent as they could be, or congruent as they could be. And so bringing them together and celebrating and breaking down and chunking down that kind of overall big goal into all the milestones, just like they do in martial arts, just like we do in so many other things, in the SMART goal, so that they can measure and see where they're at. Because if you've got this goal that's far down, the end of next year, you usually focus on it, like when it's getting down to the wire and you start looking at your numbers, like, where am I? How did I do this year? No, I say you take that entire year goal or quarter goal, and break it down by quarters, then break it down by month, and then break it down by week, and then break it down by day. I used to do that with my clients, many, many years ago, when it was about enrollment, we would break it down to quarter, you know, from year to quarter to month to week to day. And I would say, Okay, so now your employees know every day today you only need to get four the goals, 10 for the week. So when you guys have reached 10, like you've hit your goal, and now they have a reach goal. And then that reach goal, you give them, like a pizza party or party, or they get to do something fun when they reach the goals. So now they're always reaching towards something, and it's fun, and everyone's collaborating and doing it together, and baby, you know, it's like the the owner of the business gets dunked, if, like, just fun stuff, you know? So I think it really is about enrolling everyone, but having that those smaller touch points for them to know how to does my contribution apply to this overall goal? And how can I stay motivated?

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
Well, I love that, and I love that. It brings it back to the data and the real numbers, as opposed to perception also, because I think in any business, things are cyclical, and so yeah, like, you might have weeks of your year where your goal is five enrollments, and you might have weeks where it's 500 because, you know you're in a launch period, right? Or, like, we're coming up on year end fundraising. We know that a lot of money is raised from the 26th to the 31st so instead of going into that period being really stressed out because we still have this giant number, it's like, well, this is how much we typically raise. So like, we've hit everything we've needed to, and we're doing great. So like, let's not be overly stressed about this. Let's just step in and do what we know we're supposed to do, because this is like, what the numbers show us year over year. So I think having those data points that are cyclical matching with kind of the you know, because you might have weeks where you celebrate raising $1,000 because it's a super slow week normally and like, that's actually way higher than what you normally do. So I think that's such a brilliant way to. Keep everybody motivated over time to hitting those goals and getting creative. Because on the flip side, if you're starting to slow down, it's like, okay, well, this is immediately we can respond, right? We know we're not hitting our mark for where we should be, so let's, let's get creative, have fun and figure out what to do.

Colleen Biggs
I agree with you 100%

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
that's amazing. Okay, if you had kind of one piece of advice, I know you probably have more than one, but if there's something that you're going, this is where people get goal setting wrong. This is what they focus on that maybe they shouldn't. And instead, focus on this to kind of move yourself forward and make goal setting a little bit more enjoyable, and the ability to kind of move through and celebrate like, what maybe advice would you give people as they're entering into their goal setting period? Where should they start, or what should they do or not do?

Colleen Biggs
I think goals are important, and having the goal is just as important as the journey. And I did not always know that, but now I do, and it really, it really came from running a half marathon with my brother in law a few years ago, when I used to be a runner, you know, six or seven years ago, and then I hadn't ran for years and years I hadn't, you know, gotten out there and ran. I was doing boot camps and, you know, Taekwondo and all these other things. So he asked me, kind of on a whim, within 24 hours, Hey, you want to run this run with me? I'm like, sure. Like, I was like, Sure. I have always been one for the goal, meaning, I'm going to do it under this time. I'm not going to stop running. I had goals, goals, goals, goals, goals, goals, goals, okay. And then I would run. I would take my banana, get my gorilla bar, whatever, go to the restroom, can go and leave, and then go home. And most of the time I was even home before my kids woke up right for the day. It was crazy that you just go run this big run and all these people out there, and you come through the finish line cry a little bit, because I always cry when I accomplish something I set my mind out to do, and then I did it, and I'm so excited, and then it's over. And then my brother in law asked me to do a run with him, and I wasn't prepared. And I was like, we're just gonna see how this goes. So we ran very slow. It was not my normal two hours, you know, to run and, you know, like a one, I think I ran a half marathon in like, one hour and 50 minutes was my goal, and so this was more like probably three hours. The first thing that people asked me when I said I ran a half marathon, they said, What was your time? Because they're goal oriented, right? Because they've ran half marathons. And I said, I actually don't remember it was like three hours or something. It was ridiculous. But I say, You know what? I wouldn't trade that for any of the runs I've ever done in my past. I'll tell you why, because I saw marathoners loop us that had never happened to me, because I was done before they came through. And I watched marathoners loop us, and I was it was the most amazing sight I'd ever seen. How amazing they were, how athletic they were, they were smiling, how fast they were running, I was just like, this is incredible, you know, and the people we met along the way, and how kind people were, and the conversations we could have. And we never walked. We kept moving the entire time. But I will tell you that I learned more from that moment, enjoying the journey. I still completed the goal, but I enjoyed the journey. And I think that's the number one advice that I would give people out there today, is you've got to enjoy the journey and not just focus on the goal, Goal, goal, Goal, goal, because you'll get burnt out, and you really aren't going to want to do it again next year ever. You're just going to be like, This is ridiculous. You have to have fun. You've got to engage with other people. You need to enroll other people along the journey with you and just enjoy that, that that journey to reach that goal. It's incredible if you allow yourself to enjoy it.

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
I literally just got goosebumps. Yeah, no, I think that's I think that's super fantastic. And I think that's so true, especially in the nonprofit space, where you know you're so mission forward, you it can be hard getting lost in the we're not doing enough. And so I think that's, that's beautiful to remember, to be in the journey. I'm not a runner, so I'm always impressed, like, you could have run a mile in 20 minutes, and I'd be like, Yes, that's good, good, good, good. But Colleen, I am so grateful for you taking time today to chat with chat with me about this, and to kind of inspire people to think about their goals a little bit differently. But if people want to connect with you and learn more about what you do? How do they do that?

Colleen Biggs
The easiest way is go to colleenbiggs.net. If someone's looking for me online, they can look up Colleen Biggs. I have like, six pages on Google. I don't know where all the other Colleen Biggs went, but they're long gone by now. So I'm out there doing everything all the time. I love networking. I. Of being on podcasts, I love talking to people. I love speaking. I have my own podcast take the leap. So I definitely recommend going to Colleenbiggs.net and chatting with me or finding me on LinkedIn is another great way, awesome,

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
And we will link up everything in the show notes at thefirstclick.net/278, but Colleen, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure.

Colleen Biggs
It was so much fun today. Girl, thanks for having me.

Sami Bedell-Mulhern
Wasn't that a great episode? I love Colleen. She's so inspiring. The things that she's done in her life, the way she pushes herself, the way that she just models her personal life and her professional life, I think is fantastic. You can find the show notes and the additional resources mentioned in today's episode at thefirstclick.net/278, I hope that you'll go there and check out all the other episodes that we're talking about with 2025 planning for now. Make sure you subscribe wherever you're listening, or if you're watching on YouTube, so you don't miss out on a single episode. We are currently in the works on our 2025 planning for this podcast, and it's gonna be good. You won't want to miss out on our weekly episodes for now. Thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you in the next one.