Curt Sassak

Teaching Mid-Career Leaders how to navigate life & career transitions using my Proven Recipe / Improve the quality of your life / Create your next chapter by design, not default / Former Chef

Live workshop on July 28th:  Land your next 6-figure role faster. Stop getting ghosted. Start getting noticed. See my featured section for details

𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙃𝙖𝙨 𝘼 𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙪𝙢𝙤𝙧

Imagine eating your favorite dish every day for 20+ years, until one day it doesn’t taste good anymore.

Worse, is you don’t know why, and have no idea of what you want. 

That was me at 39.

Award-winning chef. Five-star kitchens. I had everything I wanted on paper. But inside? Empty. 

I had climbed every mountain only to find myself thinking,  “Is this it? What’s next”

I couldn't figure out why I felt like this, and it frustrated the f*ck out of me. 
I pushed through thinking it would pass. Wrong.

Eventually, it all caught up.
I was 60 lbs overweight, drinking to cope, lost $250K in potential earnings, and in a miserable career that no longer fit. 

So, at 40, I took a bold step: I reinvented myself in every way.

I left the only career I knew with no idea and not job; just the gut instinct that I had more to offer.

So I used what I knew:
Recipes.

A recipe is a process. It’s clarity + execution.
That’s how I reinvented myself. 

The result?
I’m in the best physical and mental shape of my life. And, I'm helping change lives for the better. 

I help high-functioning, high-achieving professionals (35+) who want freedom from a toxic job. Freedom to build something with meaning, and leave a legacy. 

You don’t need another “mindset guru” with motivational memes.
As one client put it: “Curt cuts through the noise fast. No fluff. Just results.”

That’s me.

A few wins:

→ Reena beat 457 applicants to land her dream hospital job.

→ Jordan pivoted to a new career he loves, with better pay and family time.

→ Matt said: “Curt didn’t just help my career. He helped me take back my life.”

Enter: The Career Recipe Boot Camp

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients
 ✓ Get clear on your values, skills & goals
 ✓ Ditch the limiting beliefs holding you back

Step 2: Start Cooking
 ✓ Build a roadmap tailored to your life
 → So you move with purpose—not by default

This isn’t a pep talk. It’s a tactical reinvention plan.

You don’t need to burn it all down.
We build upon what you've already built.

You just need a better recipe.

Ready to cook something that feeds your soul?

Curt

DM me the word "Recipe," and let's write your next chapter. 

Common keywords:
Career coach. Personal development coach. Executive coach. Midlife career change. Career clarity. Personal reinvention. Transition coach.

Founder

So, you’re career driven, have had success, and now you feel like there are no more mountains to climb.

You got to the top of the “mountain,” and achieving your goals only to find you don’t feel fulfilled or happy. It’s like, WTF?

Your life/career no longer serves you. All you know is that you feel stuck and see no way out. You need to make a change. But doing what?

Then fear creeps in. You have questions.  “What do I do now?”  “I don’t know what else to do” 

“If I change careers how will I make enough to pay my bills?” and so on

These are the same questions (and more) I asked myself when I did a career change after 27 years as a chef and started over at 41 from zero.

Did you know a New York Times study found that 75% of Americans don’t have a clear sense of purpose?

And, there are serious health risks associated with a lack of purpose

A lack of purpose affects your self-worth, self-confidence, and self-esteem.
Which, in turn, can lead to depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and other health issues.
I experienced all of those.

The good news is this: You’re only 5 steps away from finding the purpose, fulfillment, and new career you so desperately want.

They are the same 5 steps I used to go from feeling lost/stuck and finding a purpose and fulfillment

All it requires from you is self-honesty and a commitment to change

I coach people through one-to-one sessions

You think asking for help is equivalent to failure? Yep, I used to think the same, but that’s your ego talking

Consider: If you’ve been stuck, and the steps you’ve taken have not yielded results, what makes you think anything will change by repeating what you’ve done?

What got you here will not get you THERE.

Just like a car needs realignment from time to time, our personal and professional vision needs realignment from time to time

So, you can remain stuck and lost, or you can send me a DM

Career, Business & Executive Coach | Mindset & Mental Fitness Coach | DISC® Certified | Mentor

I work with founders whose businesses are growing, but whose operations are starting to feel chaotic.

The business is working.
Revenue is coming in.

But decisions feel heavier.
The team leans in too much.
And the founder starts to feel like the bottleneck.

This often shows up as:

- constant firefighting
- decision fatigue
- a quiet sense of “I should be better at this by now”

I understand this moment well.

I’ve spent over 30 years working in and alongside leadership teams across corporate and start-up environments, with responsibility for people, revenue, and operations.

Through this work, I’ve repeatedly seen what happens when growth increases faster than a founder’s capacity to think clearly, lead decisively, and stay out of constant reaction mode.

One thing is always true:

If the founder is overwhelmed, the business will be too.
No strategy fixes a leadership bottleneck.

My work focuses on that exact pressure point.

This isn’t generic leadership training.
It’s personalised work grounded in performance psychology, neuroscience, and real-world leadership experience.

Most of my clients come to me when:

✔︎ They’re making more decisions than ever, but trusting themselves less
✔︎ The team relies on them for things they shouldn’t
✔︎ Everything feels urgent, yet progress feels slow
✔︎ They’re firefighting instead of thinking strategically
✔︎ Stress is rising and headspace is shrinking

The work happens across three layers.
Skipping any one of them keeps founders stuck.

1. Lead Yourself
Improve decision-making and rebuild trust in your own thinking.

2. Lead Your Team
Shift ownership back to the team so problems stop landing on your desk.

3. Lead Your Business
Cut through noise, focus on what drives progress, and create momentum.

I’ve worked with leaders from organisations including Nike, Amazon, Warner Bros, and the NHS. Today, my focus is singular: founders navigating growth, decision fatigue, and the weight of leadership.

Outcomes my clients experience include:

✔︎ Simplified operations and clearer priorities
✔︎ Avoided or corrected costly team decisions (incl. a £250K mis-hire)
✔︎ Stronger leadership presence and communication
✔︎ Stepping out of firefighting and regaining thinking time
✔︎ Reduced stress at work and at home

Clients often tell me I make complex situations feel simpler, and create a space where they can think clearly and make decisions they trust.

If you’re ready to regain control of how you lead, and build a business that performs without burning you out, you can book a free 30-minute consultation below.

Monica Federico, Assoc. CIPD

Meetings aren’t work. They’re what stops work.

Cut one every week and gain your brain back.

Too many meetings are the fast way to lose clarity, time, and energy.
Yours and everyone else’s.

If you feel that since the holidays you've done more meetings than work - this is for you.

Before you send that next invite, ask:

1. Is real-time discussion actually needed?
2. Are we making decisions - today?
3. Will live input genuinely help?
4. Are the right people in the room - or just everyone?
5. Could this be handled in writing instead?

And then the real question:
Would you want to sit through it?

If not - cancel it. 
No drama, just a better use of time.

✅ Less noise
✅ More clarity
✅ Better use of everyone’s time

Instead of another hour-long meeting, you could be:

➤ Thinking through a tricky decision properly
➤ Following up one-to-one where it matters
➤ Giving quality feedback that actually helps
➤ Reviewing priorities or simplifying the plan
➤ Taking ten minutes to reset and refocus

That is better leadership ROI.

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Monica Federico

When growth creates chaos, I help founders take control again | Leadership & performance coaching for founders, CEOs & business owners | Neuroscience-informed

Before you add anything new,
clear out what’s slowing you down.

It’s hard to move forward with ease when we are still carry things that weigh us down.

 • Habits
 • Situations
 • Stuff
 • Toxic people.

All of it adds friction.

Before adding new goals or better habits, it helps to create space.

 Space for what matters in your business.
 Space for your physical and mental health.
 Space in your home.
 Space in your relationships.

That space doesn’t come from doing more.

👉🏼 It comes from letting go.

• The clutter that slows decisions
• The habits that drain energy
• The things tied to an old version of you
• The connections that just take and never give

If we don’t lighten the load, everything feels harder than it needs to be.

So instead of adding more this year,
I’m clearing things out.
Making space.
And choosing a lighter way forward. 🚀

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📌 Save this list for an easier 2026
♻️ Repost to wish others a happy new year
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Coach for Founders, CEOs & Business Owners → Clarity under pressure | Better decisions | Teams that deliver | Grow your business without overwhelm | Neuroscience-informed leadership & performance coaching

You're probably giving too much feedback.

And it's hurting your team.

Bad feedback damages more than silence ever could.

I see it everywhere. 
Leaders who feel obligated to comment on everything.
Who mistake volume for value.

The result?
Teams that second-guess themselves.
People who stop taking risks.

Before you give feedback, run it through this 
3-question test:

1. Is this about them or about me?
If you're frustrated or need to vent... that's not feedback. That's management therapy.

2. Can they actually act on this?
Feedback without a path forward is just criticism wearing a suit.

3. Will this help them win?
If it doesn't make them better at what actually matters, keep it to yourself.

Most feedback fails question 1.
Some feedback fails question 2.
The best feedback passes all 3.

Your job isn't to have an opinion about everything.

It's to develop people who don't need your opinion about everything.

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You’re being too patient with new hires.

The warning signs show up in week one.

If not, certainly within the first 30 days.
But many leaders ignore them for months.

The problem isn’t that you can’t see them.
It’s that you tell yourself they need more time.

I’ve seen this play out dozens of times with founders and executives I coach.
The red flags are always there early.
We just don’t want to believe we got it wrong.

I got it wrong too at first,
until I learnt what to watch out for.

The slides break down 5 specific behaviours that predict a bad hire, all observable in the first 30 days.

These aren’t personality quirks or adjustment periods.

They’re patterns that get more expensive the longer you ignore them.

Trust what you see at the start.

📌 Save for your next new hire
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5 Red Flags of a Bad Hire

35% of meetings are unproductive, costing the UK £50 billion and the US up to $259 billion every year.

(Source: LSE)

That’s not just about lost productivity.

It includes delayed projects, poor decisions, innovation slowdowns, and hours teams can’t get back.

Some people dislike meetings.
Some people love them.

I’ve always enjoyed the energy of a good meeting, when it’s run with clarity, structure, and respect for people’s time.

Here’s how to make that happen.👇🏼

Before frameworks, there are some basics:

✅ Share the agenda in advance
↳ Let people know why they’re coming and what they’re expected to contribute.

✅ Make sure people are prepared
↳ Share the data they need ahead of time so they’re not catching up during the meeting.

✅ Communicate the end time and stick to it
↳ If people don’t know when it ends, they can’t pace their input. Set expectations and respect them.

Once those are in place, choose your format based on the meeting’s purpose:

🟣 For Decision-Making
Helps turn discussion into clear, aligned decisions fast.

1. Clarify the decision
2. Lay out the facts
3. Explore trade-offs
4. Align on outcome
5. Put it in a plan

🔴 For Problem-Solving
Use when something isn’t working and the team needs to move from frustration to focus.

1. Define the outcome
2. Explore the reality
3. Open up options
4. Decide the action
5. Agree how to review

🟡 For Status Updates
Keeps updates tight, useful, and aligned.

1. What’s complete
2. What’s stuck
3. What’s coming
4. What support is needed


🔵 For Idea Generation
Use when you need new thinking, not just quick answers.

1. Define the challenge
2. Suspend judgement
3. Capture ideas
4. Group and theme
5. Select ideas

If your meetings feel too long, too vague, or too frequent, this is where to start.

Save this for your next one. 💾
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♻️ Repost to make meeting more effective & efficient
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Leadership will always be demanding.

But KPIs aren’t the hard part.

We often talk about leadership in terms of strategy, decisions, and results.

What gets talked about far less is what it actually costs to be responsible for other people.

There’s a point where you realise:

• the state of the business and the team reflects how you’re leading
• there’s no one else to blame when things aren’t working
• and taking full responsibility isn’t empowering. It’s confronting

I’ve been there.

Moments where I’ve thought,
“I didn’t handle that as well as I could have.”

Sometimes it’s one comment.
Said too fast.
With the wrong tone.
A very human mistake.

And you don’t always see the impact straight away.

Sometimes it hits you months later.
Sometimes years later.

You realise that moment stayed with someone.
It shaped how they saw themselves.
And sometimes how they saw their future.

So we ruminate. Quietly.
Not because we’re confused.
But because we care.

And this is the part most performance conversations miss.

Sometimes business performance isn’t fixed with more frameworks or a better strategy.

It’s fixed by improving the quality of leadership in these moments.

Leadership that requires:
• self-awareness
• emotional intelligence
• the ability to regulate yourself under pressure

It requires inside work.

Because leadership doesn’t require perfection.

It requires honesty.
And the willingness to ask for support when you need it.

Getting it right all the time isn’t the job.
Noticing, owning it, and adjusting is.
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♻️ Repost to normalise the bits we don’t talk about enough
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Monday shouldn’t feel like damage control.

Yet most people lose 8+ hours a week without noticing.

Not to big projects.
To meetings, pings, “quick questions”, and context switching.

This isn’t a motivation problem.
It’s a boundaries problem.

The cheat sheet breaks down 12 small rules that quietly give you your time back.

Nothing extreme.
Nothing unrealistic.
Just decisions most people avoid making.

A few that matter more than people admit:

• 30-minute meetings beat 60 every time
• “Always available” kills deep work
• Checking messages all day is productivity theatre
• Saying no is a career skill, not an attitude problem

You don’t need better hacks.
You need clearer defaults.

📌 Save this.
Pick one boundary.
Apply it this week.

—

Hi, Monica here 👋🏼
I coach founders and CEOs to lead more effectively
and build high-performing teams.

♻️ Repost & help others in your network
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10 signs you are actually a high performer
(And how to become one, if you’re not)

Not everyone who is a high performer identifies with the label.

I’d describe every single one of my clients this way.
But some resist it at first, until we look at the evidence.

High performance isn’t necessarily about:
 • Your job title
 • Your profit or salary
 • An impressive CV
 • Or how loud you are in a meeting

It’s how you think.
How you show up.
How you operate when no one’s watching.

If you don’t realise you’re already operating at a high level, you never get the chance to use that ability with intention.

Here are 10 signs you are a high performer 👇

1️⃣ You often feel like you haven’t done enough
↳ Start tracking your impact weekly, not just your tasks.

2️⃣ You spot the flaws, risks or loose ends 
↳ Don’t stop at critique, offer solutions that move things forward.

3️⃣ You’re willing to act before you feel 100% ready
↳ If doubt creeps in, remind yourself you’re learning as you go.

4️⃣ You’ve become selective with your time & energy
↳ Explain your “no” as a strategy, not as being difficult.

5️⃣ You care about outcomes as well as standards
↳ Explain the 'why' behind your accuracy and precision

6️⃣ You naturally switch between detail and strategy
↳ Help others connect the dots the way you already do.

7️⃣ You adapt your message based on who’s listening
↳ It is not lack of authenticity, it is sophisticated leadership for influence and impact

8️⃣ You’re mainly driven by internal ambition
↳ Write down you 'why' for when external recognition feels scarce.

9️⃣ You are a steady presence when things go wrong
↳ Use your calm to create thinking space for others.

🔟 You’ve realised you can’t and shouldn’t do it all
↳ Cut or delegate the 20% that drains you to free up what matters.

Each of these reveals how you currently operate.

High performance is already your default.

PEAK performance begins the moment you start using it with real intention.
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♻️ Repost to back the quiet high performers!
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Founder Coach → Clarity under pressure | Better decisions | Teams that deliver | Grow your business without overwhelm | Neuroscience-informed leadership & performance coaching

10 Signs You Are a High Performer

Most hiring mistakes happen before the interview even starts.

Not during the interview.
Not because someone “fooled” you.

But because you never defined what good actually looks like.

You’re asking questions.
But you haven’t defined what you’re listening for.

I worked with a client who kept hiring “the wrong people.”

When I asked to see their interview prep, they had nothing.

No clear job spec.
No definition of success.
No clarity on what the team actually needed.

They weren’t hiring bad people.

They were hiring the best interviewers,
not the right people for the role or the team.

Here’s a quick cheat sheet for what to do before you interview anyone 👇🏼
(see image)

Two more things too many leaders skip:

1. Define what your team actually needs

Look at your existing team.

What’s missing?

Do you need:
• Someone task-oriented or people-oriented?
• A challenger or a consensus-builder?
• A strategic thinker or a strong executor?

There’s no “better” profile - only better fit.

2. Ask yourself: does this even matter?

Leaders often project preferences that don’t affect performance.

• Extroverted vs introverted rarely matters unless the role truly requires it
• Style ≠ substance
• Comfort ≠ competence

Don’t confuse personal preference with job requirements.

If you don’t define success upfront, interviews become storytelling contests - and the best storyteller usually wins.

Not the best hire for you.

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Most people don’t struggle with motivation.
They struggle with direction.

You wake up Monday already tired.
Inbox full. Calendar packed.
Busy… but oddly behind.

That’s the problem.

When everything feels important, nothing actually moves.

The problem isn’t effort.
It’s where that effort goes.

It’s spending your best energy on the wrong things, in the wrong order, at the wrong time.

And over time, that compounds into frustration, stress, and the quiet feeling that you should be further ahead by now.

The fix isn’t a new productivity app.
It’s a better operating system.

Over the years, I’ve come back to the same fundamentals again and again - the principles that cut through noise and create real momentum.

That’s what this visual breaks down 👇

Not hacks.
Not hustle.
Just timeless rules for getting meaningful work done, consistently.

Save it.
Revisit it when things feel chaotic.

And if Monday feels heavy today, start with just one principle and ignore the rest.

Progress loves simplicity.
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One of the most common leadership mistakes I see
is confusing demanding with toxic.

They’re not the same.

Demanding means high standards, clear expectations, and real support.

Toxic means unreasonable demands without support.

The difference shows up in the details.

🎯 A demanding workplace defines what success looks like.
❌ A toxic one keeps changing the rules.

🎯 Demanding gives feedback you can use.
❌ Toxic gives criticism with no path forward.

🎯 In demanding teams, failure is data.
❌ In toxic ones, mistakes are stored and used against you.

🎯 Demanding workplaces have clear, consistent standards.
❌ Toxic ones change standards based on mood or power.

🎯 A demanding boss pushes you to grow.
❌ A toxic boss pushes you down.

Here’s what I’ve noticed from working with leadership teams:

People who’ve only worked in toxic environments
often mistake any challenge for toxicity.

And people who’ve only worked in highly demanding environments sometimes tolerate real toxicity,
thinking it’s just “high standards.”

Both miss the real difference.

One builds you up while pushing you forward.
The other slowly wears you down.

If you’re a leader, know which one you’re creating.
If you’re navigating one, know which one you’re in.

The difference determines whether people grow
or break.

—

Monica here ✍🏼
I coach founders and CEOs to lead more effectively
and build high-performing teams.

🔔 Follow me, Monica Federico for more like this.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate 🎄
Normal service will resume tomorrow. 🤍

A business owner came to me with a sales team that hadn’t hit target in 8 months.

On the surface, it looked like a sales problem.

 • Reps blamed marketing for bad leads.
 • Marketing blamed sales for poor follow-up.
 • Weekly meetings ran for 90 minutes.
 • Nothing changed.

Performance was inconsistent.
One rep was at 180% of quota.
Three others were stuck around 40%.

At second glance, it looked like a skills gap.

It wasn’t that either.

Once we started working together, the real issue became clear.

The founder had trained everyone to sell the way they sold.
Strong individually. Competitive. Self-reliant.

What they hadn’t built was a sales team.
They had built individuals sharing a target.

So part of my work wasn’t sales coaching.
↳ It was leadership coaching.

Specifically, helping the founder stop leading individuals
and start designing a system the team could operate inside.

Over the first 30 days, we made three changes.

1️⃣ We removed blame from the culture.

We introduced one rule.
If you raise a problem, you bring a solution.

Sales and marketing leads started meeting weekly.
Not to defend themselves.
To fix issues together.

2️⃣ We made performance visible.

A shared dashboard showed everyone’s numbers.
No hiding behind averages.
No territory excuses.

Transparency created accountability
without micromanagement.

3️⃣ We changed how the team met.

The 90-minute complaint session became a 20-minute review.
Each rep shared one win.
And one challenge they had already overcome.

People started learning from each other.
Instead of competing.

The shift was immediate.

 • Reps asked each other for advice.
 • They shared techniques that worked.
 • They jumped on calls to help close deals.

After 90 days:

 • 4 out of 6 reps hit or exceeded target.
 • The team close rate moved from 23% to 52%.
 • One underperformer left and was not replaced.

But the biggest change wasn’t on the dashboard.

The founder stopped trying to be the best salesperson in the room.

And started being the leader who made everyone else better.

The lesson was simple.👇🏼

You don’t scale performance by training people harder.

You scale it by designing better systems and leading differently.

If this sounds familiar, that’s usually the signal.

DM me “team” and I’ll tell you whether this is something I can help with.

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✍🏼 I'm Monica,
I work with founders, CEOs & owners on leading more effectively and building high performing teams.

🔔 Follow me, Monica Federico for more like this.

You’re doing better than you think.

Here’s the proof. 👇

You’re tracking the P&L.
KPIs are on the table.
Momentum looks strong.

But leadership can be harder to measure.

So how do you know if you’re really doing a good job as a leader?
Not just as a founder.
Not as an operator.
As someone people actually want to follow...

High-trust leadership shows up in quieter ways.

Here are 8 signals to look for:

1️⃣ People come to you with problems AND solutions
2️⃣ Your team feel safe disagreeing with you
3️⃣ Decisions move faster when you're in the room
4️⃣ Colleagues seek your input beyond your remit
5️⃣ People pay attention when you speak
6️⃣ People grow under your watch and they know it
7️⃣ You own your mistakes with honesty
8️⃣ You remember the personal details that matter

If these sound familiar, pause and take it in.
You're doing more than executing. 
You're shaping culture.

If a few feel uncomfortable, that’s not a red flag.
That’s your next edge.

Leadership is built in moments.
In tone, in timing, in how people feel when they leave the room.

These signs are more than a checklist.
They’re your feedback loop.

Which one stands out most for you right now?
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♻️ Repost to encourage more positive leadership
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8 signs you are a great leader

People don’t quit jobs.
They quit leadership that takes them for granted.

They quit because of every moment they felt invisible.

And if you’ve ever lost a great employee and thought:
“I didn’t see it coming”...

❌ Maybe you weren’t looking close enough.
❌ Maybe you didn’t hear them when they spoke up.
❌ Maybe you didn’t speak up for them when it mattered.

It may sound harsh but I have made a couple of these mistakes myself in my early days. 

The only way not to repeat them was to admit I did. 

Below are the 10 most common leadership mistakes👇🏼

Easily done when we get distracted.
Because things are moving fast.
And the pressure on leaders is real.

But don’t lose sight of what matters.

✅ Show up for them.
✅ Reward fairly.
✅ Have their back.

That’s what keeps your best people.

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♻️ Repost if you believe everyone deserves great leadership
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Most people don’t fail their goals in January.
They fail before they even decide on a goal.

That’s why “set better goals” advice rarely works.

Different goals need different frameworks.

As we head into the gap between Christmas and New Year, this is the moment to pause and choose the right model.

Here’s a simple way to think about it:

• SMART goals → When you need clarity and momentum
• OKRs → When alignment and progress tracking matter
• BHAGs → When you need a bold, long-term north star
• GROW → When you’re stuck and need structured thinking
• WOOP → When motivation isn’t enough and obstacles matter

No need to pick one framework and force every goal into it.

Before January starts:

 1. Decide what kind of goal you’re setting
 2. Choose the framework that actually supports it
 3. Then build the plan

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Your team dysfunction isn't obvious.

It's the small patterns that compound into big problems.

I see this with many founder I coach.

They know the team isn't hitting their potential.
But they can't pinpoint what's breaking down.

The dysfunction hides in plain sight.

And by the time you notice, it's already costing you talent, momentum, and deals.

These patterns have predictable fixes.

Swipe through for the 7 I see repeatedly 
(and exactly how to address each one)

📌 Save for your next team review
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—

Hi, Monica here ✍🏼
I coach founders and CEOs to lead more effectively
and build high-performing teams.

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7 Costly Team Dysfunctions & How to Fix Them

Every emotion only lasts 90 seconds.
That’s neuroscience. Not poetry.

This post is written by my friend and great coach, Florence Divet ☀️, give her a follow!

According to Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, the chemical life of an emotion in your body, 
- adrenaline, cortisol, stress chemistry - rises, peaks, and fades in about a minute and a half.

So why do we stay angry for hours?
Anxious for days?
Sad for weeks?

Because we keep feeding them with our thoughts.

➤ Anger doesn’t just stay 90 seconds. It grows when you replay: 
“How dare they talk to me like that? I should have said…”

➤ Anxiety stretches for days when you spiral: 
“What if I mess this up? What if they find out I’m not good enough?”

➤ Sadness lingers when you loop: 
“Why does this always happen to me? Things never work out.”

Instead of letting the wave pass, we pour fuel on it.
And suddenly what was designed to move through us in 90 seconds overstays for 90 days.

And the part most people miss: your brain isn’t trying to torture you.
It’s actually sending you a shopping list of needs.

Decode the signal → respond to the need → interrupt the loop.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

🔹 Angry → needs release
Blast a song and sing (badly, loudly). Vibration calms the storm.

🔹 Anxious → needs grounding
Two rounds of 4 (inhale) -7 (hold) -8 (exhale) breathing. It steals oxygen from spirals.

🔹 Stressed → needs movement
Stress chemistry is physical. Burn it with a 5-minute brisk walk or 60-second dance break.

🔹 Sad → needs perspective
Write 3 gratitudes that are specific and time-stamped (“My son’s laugh at 7:43 this morning”).

🔹 Overthinking → needs clarity
Do a brain dump. Get it all on paper. Then highlight the ONE task that matters today.

Notice what’s happening here?

You’re not rejecting emotions. You’re listening to them.
Then giving them what they asked for without giving them the keys to the house.

Because emotions are like uninvited guests. 

They knock loudly, rearrange the furniture in your head… and leave.
Unless you feed them dinner and let them stay.

That’s the choice in front of you:
→ Spiral mode: keep fuelling the loop.
→ Power mode: one small action that shifts the chemistry.

The magic isn’t in avoiding emotions.
It’s in interrupting the loop.

Here’s what I’ve learned after years of letting emotions drive the bus:
Emotions are data, not destiny. 
Signals, not sentences.

So next time one barges in, pause and ask:
“What is my brain actually asking for right now?”

Name the emotion.

Then do ONE action.

Feed it → It grows stronger.
Shift it → You reclaim your power.

The choice is yours. 
Every. Single. Time.

📍 Save this for the next time your emotions try to run the show as your 90-second reset guide.

♻️ Repost to help others manage their emotions better

If facing severe emotional distress, PTSD, or mental health issues please seek help from a professional.
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Most “lucky breaks” are not random.
They’re the visible result of quiet, boring habits.

When I look at people who seem lucky in their business and careers, the pattern repeats.

They aren’t waiting for the right opportunity.
They’re consistently creating the conditions for it.

A few of the habits that quietly stack the odds are in the cheat sheet 👇

None of these guarantee success.

They just increase your surface area for luck.

More chances for the right person, idea, or timing to find you.

If this is how you’re thinking about 2026, feel free to repost it.🍀

Not bigger wishes.
Better habits.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ✨🤍
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📌 Save this for a luckier 2026
🔔 Follow Monica Federico for mindset, performance & leadership insights.

6 common goals.
6 simple systems you need to succeed👇🏼

Nobody’s motivated all the time.
So the most successful people plan for that.

They design their environment and their time,
so progress doesn’t depend on how they feel that day.

Here is how to do it:

🏋️‍♀️ If your goal is fitness

 • Lay out workout clothes the night before
 • Decide the workout in advance
 • Keep shoes or kit by the door

🕣 If your goal is to stop working late

 • Decide tomorrow’s finish time the night before
 • Time-block tasks with clear end times
 • Identify tomorrow’s 3 non-negotiables before logging off

🍏If your goal is eating better

 • Choose 3–4 repeat meals
 • Keep ingredients visible and easy
 • Don’t buy or keep trigger foods at home

🧘🏼‍♀️ If your goal is a calmer morning routine

 • Keep your phone in another room overnight
 • Have water ready to rehydrate as you wake 
 • Set your alarm early enough to avoid rushing

📵 If your goal is fewer phone distractions

 • Turn notifications off by default
 • Remove social apps from your home screen
 • Keep your phone out of reach during focus blocks

🛌 If your goal is better sleep (night-time hygiene)

 • Set a fixed shutdown time
 • Lower lighting at least 60 minutes before bed
 • Turn all screens off and keep a book or journal ready

You don’t need a perfect start to the year.

You just need structures that support you on ordinary days.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ✨
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📌 Save this for an easier 2026
♻️ Repost to wish others a happy new year
🔔 Follow Monica Federico for mindset, performance & leadership insights.

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