250: How I Shifted My Priorities to Build a Business That Aligns With My Life

Welcome to the She Thinks Big podcast. I'm your host, Andrea Liebross, coach, speaker, life balance architect, and strategic thought partner for high-achieving women who want to think differently, lead confidently, and create success on their own terms.

As an entrepreneur myself and the bestselling author of She Thinks Big, here's what I know: You've been at this for a while, but somehow you can still feel stuck in the day-to-day. And running your business like a to-do list does not fulfill the vision.

So around here, we're not about more hustle, we're about smarter strategy, bolder thinking, and leading a business that fits your life. Each week, you'll hear the mindset shifts, real-world tools, and CEO-level conversations that help you reclaim your time, grow with intention, and elevate your leadership. Now, let's dive in.

Hello, my friends. Welcome to a very, very, very special episode of She Thinks Big. This episode kicks off a five-part anniversary series celebrating five years and more than 250 episodes of this podcast. Yes, although this is numbered the 250th episode, there are probably about 260-ish episodes out there. But regardless of how many are really out there, what the number exactly is, this one is labeled 250. When I say that out loud, I can hardly believe it.

So I started this show in November of 2020, about two and a half years into my business. By that point, I had clients, I had some momentum, and starting a podcast felt like the next normal step, the next evolution of my business and my message. But here is the thing: back then, it wasn't even called She Thinks Big. It was called Time to Level Up. My branding was all purple. Honestly, what I was doing at that point was leveling up my voice and my confidence in how I shared what I knew with the world.

In November of 2020, we had just closed on a lot where we'd build our new house, which I'm sitting in right now. One of my kids was in high school, doing some hybrid learning from her bedroom. The other one was away at college in his first fall of freshman year, locked in his dorm room, not being able to go anywhere except there. And me, I was sitting in a tiny closet under the stairs in our basement, a closet filled with toys and boxes and old costumes. I should dig out the photo actually of that first episode.

I was recording the first four episodes of a brand new podcast. The dog was locked in the laundry room—the two dogs actually at that point were locked in the laundry room. I was praying that UPS would not pull up mid-sentence and the dogs would go bananas. I recorded all four episodes in one sitting so that when we launched, listeners could binge a few episodes right away. It was exhausting and awkward and amazing all at once.

Here's a little confession. In all 250 plus episodes since those very first few, I still have never listened back to an episode before it drops—not once—except for the two episodes that I did record with my kids because I was curious what they sounded like. So really, this podcast for me has never been about perfection. It's been about progress. It's been about taking action before it's polished. It's been about doing B-minus work and turning it in rather than waiting for the A-plus work.

It's about creating some momentum instead of waiting for me to master everything. It's about trusting that whatever I put out there is going to be useful to someone. Honestly, that's what thinking big really looks like. So I decided with my podcast producer and my marketing strategist, when we were thinking about what to do for this 250th episode—oh, and by the way, I am wearing my sparkly top here. So if you have never watched an episode, I encourage you to go to YouTube.

That was something else that wasn't happening in those first few episodes or first probably, I don’t know, maybe a hundred episodes. I was not doing them on video; they were all audio. But when we were thinking about, okay, what do we do for this 250th episode—what began as Time to Level Up has evolved into She Thinks Big. She Thinks Big is really a podcast, a movement, and a mirror for how both I and my clients have grown.

So to celebrate, we had to do something big, right? We had to do something special. This is a milestone. Over the next five episodes, I am revisiting five themes that have shaped not only my business, but they’ve really shaped every woman I’ve had the privilege of coaching: priorities, beliefs, team, systems, and money. Those are really five solid themes that have permeated the podcast, my business, and all of my clients.

So in each of these next five episodes, we’re going to pull back the curtain, and I will share what I thought back then, what I know now, and how you can apply those same lessons to your own business and life. Because this really isn’t about my journey, it’s about yours. I wish someone had told me some of these things five years ago, so I’m going to tell you with the hope that I can save you five years of being on the struggle bus.

With that in mind, I created what I’m calling Five Leaps in Five Minutes. You can access this Five Leaps in Five Minutes at andrealiebross.com/five. You’ll want to download it and keep it on your Google Drive or in your phone notes because it’s like when I do the Coach Me segments in the podcast, along with a “hell yes” action item.

This one resource—Five Leaps in Five Minutes—sums up all of the Coach Me segments in the series and gives you a bit of a to-do list that you can implement immediately. So go get that Five Leaps in Five Minutes at andrealiebross.com/five.

All right, so are you ready? Let’s dive into episode 250. Let’s start with the first and maybe the most foundational theme: theme number one, priorities.

Well, when I first started, my priority was momentum, not mastery. I really said yes to everything—every opportunity to speak, no matter how big or small or what the composition of the audience was. Every collaboration. Every client. Every opportunity that showed up. I thought that saying yes was what successful people did.

I actually had a thing at the beginning called Books and Beyond. I wanted to do this book club, and one of the books that we had in there in the very beginning was The Year of Yes—Shonda Rhimes’ Year of Yes. So I thought saying yes was what successful people did. That meant I was busy, and being busy meant I was moving forward. But what I’ve learned since then is that when everything is a priority, nothing actually is.

Most of the time, what we call a time problem is really a decision problem. So if you’re constantly saying, “I don’t have time,” what you really mean is, “I haven’t decided what matters most right now.” That’s a hard truth I’ve had to learn. I’m going to say that again. If you are saying, “I don’t have time,” what you really mean is, “I haven’t decided what matters most right now.”

This truth that I’ve had to learn—and I keep relearning as my business and life evolve—is something I want you to know now. Lesson one here, I’m going to dive in. Lesson one: priorities evolve, and that is a good thing.

Okay, so I’m going to be really specific in these episodes with my lessons, so I hope you appreciate that format and it’s helpful. If you looked at my calendar five years ago, it was a mess. There were calls back-to-back. There was no white space. I was squeezing in Voxers in between my in-person—yes, everything was in person—in-person coaching sessions, which I did at a co-working space about ten minutes from my house.

So I would go to this co-working space right after I dropped off my high schooler, and I would have coaching sessions all day long. In between, I would squeeze in Voxer messages, emails, managing kids’ schedules. All of this happened on the same day. For that season, it made sense. But if I tried to run my business that way now—if I tried to every day get up and go to a co-working space and see clients all day long, and then go to lacrosse games at night and make dinner and walk the dogs and do all the things—I would crash and burn.

Priorities change because you change. Your business changes. Your energy, your capacity, your goals—they all evolve. Mine did. That’s why my priorities, I needed to recognize what were my priorities. Shifting priorities doesn’t mean that you’ve failed. It actually means you’ve grown.

So I eventually said no to that co-working space. I have said no to seeing clients on Mondays and Fridays. Every time you say no to something that used to be important, you’re probably saying yes to something that matters more now. So if you’re in a season of change, if things that used to light you up now drain you, if you are ready to let go of some of the things you are tolerating, that’s okay. It's just feedback. It’s data. It’s growth happening in real time.

So lesson one is that your priorities evolve, and that is a good thing. Your days are going to look different now than they might have looked a year ago.

All right, lesson two: time is a reflection of your mind. You’ve probably heard me say this numerous times on this podcast.

One of my favorite lines, something I say often, is that how you manage your time is a reflection of how you manage your mind. So if your mind is cluttered with doubt, fear, or shoulds, your calendar is going to reflect that. I once did a masterclass called How to Stop Shoulding. If your calendar is filled with shoulds, it’s going to be full of things that keep you safe, busy, or distracted, but not necessarily fulfilled.

When I finally learned to manage my mind through a lot of my own coaching, reflection, and then setting up some better systems, my time really started to align with my goals. That’s when everything started to feel lighter, more intentional, and honestly, more me. So lesson two: time is a reflection of your mind.

Okay, lesson three. Your energy reveals your true priorities. Here is an exercise I give my clients, and it’s simple but powerful. Ask yourself, “What am I actually prioritizing with my energy?” With my energy. So look at the last seven days. Where did you spend your best energy? Where did you spend your focus, your creativity, your patience, your enthusiasm? Was it on the things that move your business and life forward, or the things that keep you feeling busy and stuck?

So I would say, if I had to answer this question the last seven days, I have spent some of my best energy on creating the outlines for these five podcasts, prepping for my trip to Sonoma that’s coming up next week, and prepping for my speaking engagements in the month of October. I’ve spent some patience on the golf course. I actually got my best-ever front-nine golf score two Fridays ago. I got a 38 on the front nine. So if you know anything about golf, that was a great, great score. That’s where I’ve spent my energy there.

I spent some enthusiasm rooting for IU football. I mean, who knew that they could be ranked number three in the country? They are number three in the country at the time of recording here. But these are things that move my business and my life forward. These are the things that don’t feel like busy or stuck. So if your calendar and your energy don’t match your goals, something is off.

Your job as CEO is not to manage time. It’s to manage focus. It’s to manage energy. It’s to manage belief. Because focus without belief just becomes a to-do list. But focus fueled by belief becomes results. Okay, listen to that. Focus fueled by belief becomes results.

Okay, I’m going to bring this home. Here are some action items. I call them hell yes action items. These are the things, this is your assignment, this is your think big homework, and here’s what I’d like you to do. Remember, the three lessons in this episode were: priorities evolve and that’s a good thing; time is a reflection of your mind; and your energy reveals your true priorities.

So to bring it home into some practical applications: number one, I want you to write down what you would consider your top three priorities. I want you to label each one with a big F for Future-focused or P for Past-driven. Number three, I want you to circle the one that your future self would care most about. Then number four—this is key—I want you to block off one hour this week to take one bold, imperfect step on that future-focused priority.

Here’s your bonus assignment. Notice what you say no to this week. Every time you say no to something that doesn’t align, you’re making space for what really does. Celebrate those no’s. They’re signs of growth. I said no yesterday. Someone invited me to go play pickleball. I said no because I just wanted to chill, for real. I said no last week to someone who wanted me to create a video to promote something. I said no. I don’t want to do that. And I really believe that this is me making space for what matters—for my priorities.

Okay, friends, whether you’ve been here since the Time to Level Up days or you’re tuning in for the very first time, I am so glad you are here. Message me—where are you listening to this episode from? I’m so glad you’re here, wherever you are—in the car, folding laundry, whatever it is.

This five-part series is not a highlight reel. It is a behind-the-scenes look at what happens when you commit to growth, even when it’s messy. Because the truth is, I’m still learning. I’m still figuring it out. But after five years, here’s what I know for sure: growth does not come from adding more. It comes from aligning more. Prioritizing what really matters to your future self, not your past self, is where every next level begins.

If this episode stirred something in you, if you’re realizing it’s time to start prioritizing like the CEO you’re becoming, I would love to help you do it. Inside my coaching program, this is exactly the work we do—turning these insights that I share on these podcasts into action and ideas into results.

Listening to this podcast—you can go listen to those last 250 episodes—I am sure you’re going to learn something and you’re going to get something out of it. It’s going to be awesome. But it’s still what I would consider passive action. If you’re ready to take some massive action, if you’re ready to take some of this learning and change it into results, head over to andrealiebross.com/consult. Book a call. You can also find the link in the show notes.

In those show notes, you can also find the link to the Five Leaps in Five Years—andrealiebross.com/five. Go get it, save it, and read it. Look at it. I’m going to summarize everything, so if you’re driving or doing something else, you don’t have to write anything down.

Friends, clarity isn’t found in thinking more. It’s really found in doing the next thing—the next right thing that aligns with your priorities. So next week, we’re diving into something I wish I’d understood much earlier: beliefs. I probably don’t talk about beliefs at all in the first significant amount of episodes, but I’ve learned that beliefs are everything because what you believe about yourself, your business, and your potential is really quietly shaping everything you do—including how you set your priorities.

We’re going to talk about what I used to believe, what I believe now, and how belief really drives the results. So make sure you’re subscribed, put on your sparkly shirt to celebrate the 250th episode, and check out my Instagram. I probably have some really fun photos this week with this 250th celebration. Share this episode with a friend who’s ready to think bigger.

I will see you next week. There is no time like now to start thinking big. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Thanks for celebrating this milestone with me. Five years, 250 episodes, and we’re just getting started. Here’s to thinking big and acting bigger together.

Thanks for listening to She Thinks Big. I know you’re committed to yourself and your businesses because you listened all the way to the end of this episode. But this isn’t really the end. It could be the beginning of your next power move.

If today’s episode gave you clarity, courage, or just a much-needed breath of fresh air, take that as your sign to take the next steps. So do it. Visit andreaslinks.com to take my Silent Saboteur Quiz and to discover our next steps in getting you to take action and achieve the success and freedom you crave.

You can also keep your momentum going by hitting subscribe right there on your screen so you don’t miss the next episode. Don’t forget to grab a copy of my book. She Thinks Big can be found on Amazon or at your favorite bookstore. Until next time, keep thinking big.