Learn how to cultivate a more productive mindset, form sustainable habits, and create a lifestyle that supports both your goals and your wellbeing with host, Monica Reinagel. Drawing on decades of expertise and experience, Monica provides guidance on navigating the challenging process of behavior change in a fun and accessible way. Learn more and find show notes for every episode at https://changeacademypodcast.com
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How to find (and fix) your rate-limiting step
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24:34Sometimes, the system isn’t broken—it’s just bottlenecked. In this episode, we’re continuing our series on translating business strategies into personal growth tools by looking at bottlenecks: those hidden chokepoints where progress stalls and good intentions quietly fall apart. You’ll learn how to spot these sneaky sources of friction, and explore…
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How to "Recession-Proof" Your Commitments to Yourself
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22:17When the economy gets rocky, smart businesses don’t panic—they prepare. They focus on what really matters, streamline what they can, and make sure they’re flexible enough to weather the storm. In this episode, we’re borrowing that same mindset and translating it into the way we think about our own self-care routines and health habits. Because wheth…
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Success always lags. Here's how to take the lead.
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23:11Will you succeed in reaching your next big goal? Only time will tell. Because success (or failure) generally comes at the end of the process. Except that every success or failure is actually made up of countless smaller successes or failures that happened along the way. And paying more attention to those can save us a lot of frustration and disappo…
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Should you walk away or double down? How to know.
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17:39If you feel like your progress (or your motivation) has stalled, you have options. You can redouble your efforts. You can take an entirely different approach. Or, you might even decide to walk away. In this episode, we’ll talk about figuring out which route serves you best. Key Takeaways 1. Taking a break can help protect the quality of our work, c…
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A sure-fire way to set yourself (and others) up for failure
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16:32Are you guilty of holding yourself (or others) to impossibly high standards? In this episode, we're exploring the concept of Ought implies can—the notion that we can only be obligated to do what we’re actually capable of. But how do we know where the limits of ability really are? Are we being too hard on ourselves (or others)? Or are we making excu…
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Transcending the grind: How to thrive in the job you have now
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31:48Feeling stuck in the daily grind? Quitting isn’t the only way out. In this episode, Dr. Jessica Grossmeier shares how to find meaning, connection, and even transcendence in the job you have now. We explore: - How small shifts in perspective can reignite purpose and satisfaction - The power of workplace connections and why they matter more than you …
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When we know better, we do better. Here's why.
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15:09Ever wondered why some changes seem impossible to sustain while others just click? It’s not magic—it’s science. In this episode, we’re talking about a 3-part recipe for behavior change that was first developed 30 years ago and is still making waves today. If you’ve struggled with change or are trying to help others make positive changes, you need t…
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How to cope when your life goes completely off the rails
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31:08Whenever we make plans or set goals, it's important anticipate the inevitable bumps in the road, and be ready to adapt and course-correct. But sometimes, life doesn't just serve up a bump in the road. It delivers an earthquake that shakes us to the core and opens up a chasm into which our entire life--and all of our fancy plans--are thrown. In an i…
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Resolution Remix: A 3-Step Ritual That Sets You Up for Success
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21:07These final few days of the year are a great time to reflect on the year that’s past and think about what we’d like to focus on or accomplish in the New Year. And in this episode, I’m sharing a three-part process that might just become your new end-of-year ritual. Instead of your New year’s Resolutions being a well-intentioned flash in the pan, we’…
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Going beyond pros and cons to get to the heart of tough decisions
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23:26Wrestling with a tough choice? Trying to weigh the pros and cons but going in circles? In this episode, I've got a systematic approach to decision-making that can bring some welcome clarity to complex choices. Whether you're standing at a personal or professional crossroads, or debating different solutions to a problem, this framework will help you…
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Escaping the pleasure trap: How to break highly rewarding habits
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21:48Struggling with hard-to-quit habits? Whether it's the nightly glass of wine, mindless snacking, or endless social media scrolling, in this episode we're talking about why these habits are so sticky - and more importantly, how to finally change them. You'll learn how your brain's reward system actually works (it's not what most people think!) and pr…
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Our thoughts powerfully impact our lives—but we don't always pay enough attention to what we're telling ourselves. In this episode, we’ll take a look at four distinct categories of thoughts: those that are both true and helpful, those that might not be proven but serve us well, those that are true but get in our way, and those that are neither true…
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How to overcome your resistance to change
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19:03In this first episode of a three-part series, we are digging in to why we so often resist making positive changes in our lives. Resistance isn't simply stubbornness or laziness; it can be your brain’s way of keeping you safe. The key is to recognize what our resistance is trying to tell us, so that it doesn’t hold us back. Key Takeaways: - Remember…
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Year-End Recalibration: Let's Make These Last Two Months Count
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14:05As the end of the year looms into view, you may feel some regret or disappointment about unmet goals or unrealized ambitions. Add in the chaos of holiday schedules, and it's tempting to shelve all personal objectives until January. This episode challenges that mindset, showing you how to turn these final months into a period of meaningful progress.…
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The Surprising Secret to Enjoying Weekends and Vacations
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32:57Craving a break from your routines? Discover why that might actually be sabotaging your happiness…as well as your progress. Molly Watts returns to the Change Academy to help me unravel the counterintuitive link between structure and relaxation. Learn how to craft routines that boost mental and physical well-being, make your time off more enjoyable,…
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Why Change Takes Forever (and Why That’s So Awesome!)
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19:53Discover why viewing change as a lifelong journey is not just realistic, but liberating and exciting. Learn how to reframe personal growth as evolution rather than 'fixing' yourself, and explore the powerful concept of change as a form of self-expression. Whether you're working on health, finances, relationships, or any other area of life, this epi…
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The Alchemy of Failure: Finding the treasure hiding in our mistakes
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22:21In a world obsessed with success, embracing failure seems a bit counter-cultural. But if it’s good enough for the some of history’s smartest and most successful figures, there’s probably something the rest of us can learn. In fact, an outsized fear of failure could hold us back from our greatest achievements. Whether you're a perfectionist paralyze…
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What (and how) you practice matters hugely. Choose well.
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18:16In this episode, we explore the role of practice in habit formation and how a thoughtful approach can accelerate your progress more than just mindless repetition. We also talk about the mental aspect of practice and how practicing better thoughts can drive better behaviors. Practice doesn't make perfect; it makes permanent - choose wisely what you …
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The ultimate guide to giving feedback that gets positive results
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28:09Dr. Bethy Campbell joins Monica to explore the delicate dance of offering constructive criticism while maintaining positive relationships. Learn practical strategies for delivering feedback that empowers growth, builds trust, and respects autonomy. Whether you're offering feedback as a manager, colleague, spouse, or friend, this episode provides pr…
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How to create a more effective support strategy
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17:20Change is challenging, for all kinds of different reasons. But one thing that can make it more challenging than it actually needs to be is when we insist on going it alone. Whether you're aiming to improve your health, boost your productivity, or cultivate a new skill, having a solid support strategy can be the difference between frustration and su…
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Revisiting the Joy Choice with Michelle Segar
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31:49Dr. Michelle Segar is an NIH-funded researcher at the University of Michigan. She’s also a best-selling author and health coach. She’s spent close to thirty years studying how to create sustainable changes and healthy behaviors that can survive the complexity and unpredictability of the real world. In this episode, Monica talks with Dr. Segar about…
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3 types of goals and what they reveal about you
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18:22Goals come in different flavors--and they don’t all work same way. By understanding the differences, we can uncover ways in which our goals may be a bit fuzzy, lacking support, in conflict with one another, or even just out of balance. That insight can help us fine-tune our efforts, helping us create lives that are healthier, happier, more producti…
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Sense foraging: How to do an end run around your DMN
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22:12The Default Mode Network, or DMN, is the part of your brain that drives your habitual actions and thoughts. When we feel “stuck” in unwanted behaviors or thought patterns, the DMN is running the show. You might think that the solution would be to somehow ratchet down DMN activity. Unfortunately, this is almost impossible to do. But it turns out tha…
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Why even a great plan isn't always enough
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22:53There's definitely an art to planning. And we'll get into that in this episode. But here’s the thing everyone forgets to tell you about planning: The real trick is actually not in making the plan. The real trick is in sticking to the plan you’ve made. We'll talk about why that is so darned hard--and how to get better at following through on your pl…
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We're told to "Be curious!" Why that's easier said than done.
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19:53Being curious about our experiences (both internal and external) really is key to unlocking our progress and potential. But to be honest, it’s a tricky one. Certain mental reactions often masquerade as genuine curiosity. In this episode, you'll learn to recognize these imposters and pivot instead to the kind of inquiry that actually moves you forwa…
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How we cheat ourselves of the future we dream of
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16:05I'm betting you aspire to a future life that is at least a little bit better than it is now—perhaps you'll be a bit healthier, less stressed, more content. You're working towards a future in which you have achieved certain goals or milestones. What we don't always realize (or fully acknowledge) is that the choices we make today, the actions we do o…
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How being selfish can be an act of service
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27:21Over the past 9 or so months, Karen has lost about 25% of her weight. Which is a big deal. But it’s really not the headline of her story. Her story is really about shedding her lifelong identity as the one who could do everything for everyone. Instead, she realized that focusing on her own physical and emotional health was not only the most caring …
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Roadmap for Success: The practices that lead to real change
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25:06Do you know what separates the people who achieve lasting change from those who stay stuck? I’ve worked with hundreds of clients over the years and some clear patterns have definitely emerged. In this episode, I share the attitudes and behaviors that my most successful clients all embody - insights that can help propel your own progress, whether yo…
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Growth Factor: How to ask for (and receive) feedback
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33:14Dr. Bethy Campbell joins Monica to discuss the rewards and potential pitfalls of seeking feedback–in both your professional and personal relationships. Concrete strategies and real-world examples show you how to elicit the most constructive feedback and then how to process and act on it for maximum benefit. Whether you're looking to improve your co…
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When motivation is a struggle, it's time to realign your why
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19:21In this episode, we’re exploring an aspect of change that can be really tricky: figuring out why making this change is important to you. It doesn’t sound like it would be that hard. But often it takes a little digging to get at the true heart of our WHY, our compelling reason. Whether your goals have to do with your health, finances, career, relati…
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How to make sure you've set the right goals
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12:43We are a society of goal-setters. If you’re not setting and achieving goals, you’re not living your best life. Or so we’re told. And goals do have their place. The thing is that goals (alone) are not enough to really move us forward in the ways that matter most. In order to that, they have to be woven into a larger fabric that also includes our cor…
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How to do the things that you don’t want to do
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27:44Why is it sometimes so darned hard to just do the things that we KNOW will make us healthier, happier and more effective in our jobs and lives? Behavioral activation offers us a framework for understanding and responding to that familiar situation of not wanting to do the thing that we know will actually move us forward. Joining me on the show toda…
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How behavior change experts work on their own difficult habits
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30:45Kurt Nelson and Tim Houlihan are the co-hosts of the Behavioral Grooves podcast and heavy hitters in the behavioral sciences. In this episode, the three of us trade notes on what we've learned from years of podcasting and behavioral coaching and how it impacts our ability to work with our own behavior challenges. (Yup, we still have them!) Key Take…
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Why we can't help comparing ourselves to others
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14:38It’s a very natural human tendency to compare ourselves to the people around us–and even to the people we see portrayed in the media. And like so many other behavioral tendencies, this one is a double-edged sword. Looking at what others have achieved can inspire us to greater effort. It can also make us feel like crap. And we don't want that! Today…
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Why behavioral economics shouldn't be the only tool in the toolbox
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33:43Behavioral economics has given us a lot of insights into how we can influence our own and other’s behavior. But the approach has some serious limitations, especially when applied to promoting health behaviors. Joining me on the podcast is Michelle Segar, a frequent guest here on the Change Academy. Michelle is an NIH-funded researcher at the Univer…
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Looking for happiness in all the wrong places, with Oliver Burkeman
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36:27What if the pursuit of happiness is NOT the path to greater life satisfaction? What if being more productive and getting more done isn’t actually the way to get ahead? In today’s episode, I’m talking to author Oliver Burkeman about some of the ways in which we might want to re-examine our relationship to goals, happiness, and the things that are mo…
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How to get back on track instead of sabotaging your progress
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12:17Over the years, I have worked with a lot of people on various aspects of behavior change–mostly having to do with health behaviors. I have witnessed and celebrated some amazing breakthroughs and successes. But I have also seen people stumble and struggle. Regularly. Something happens and they fall back into old habits or patterns that they’d succes…
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How to stop complaining and find the path to positive change
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36:19Is there something in your life that’s been driving you crazy for a while? Some situation at work that you find yourself venting to your spouse about every night at dinner? Or maybe a recurring conflict with your partner or your kids that never seems to be adequately resolved? Do you find yourself ruminating over a problematic situation every time …
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The inner work that makes outward change more possible
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23:07In this conversation with a recent “graduate” of the Weighless program, Lauren shares some of the key insights that helped her permanently transform her physical and mental health. Lauren is a healthcare professional herself, with a front row seat to some of the consequences of unhealthy habits and lifestyles. She had plenty of motivation to change…
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Why it’s so hard to convert good intentions into action
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15:45There’s clearly no shortage of good intentions in the world, and most of them actually have to do with health. People want to get into shape, they want to eat better, they want to lose weight. Unfortunately, very few of these good intentions get converted into reality. Believe it or not, there’s a technical term for this: It’s called the intention …
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How to know when it’s time to make a big change
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39:00Careers are one of the ways that we find meaning and purpose in our lives. Not the only way, of course. But what if you wake up one day and realize that your true purpose might be better fulfilled by doing something other than what you originally trained for. Now what?! Design thinking offers tools and processes that can help us both imagine and th…
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What if you didn’t have to be more disciplined to succeed?
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26:45I was recently exchanging emails with someone who was struggling to change some unhelpful behaviors. He wrote: “I do really well for a couple of days and then I go totally off the rails again. It’s such a vicious cycle. I just need to be be more disciplined.” And if there is something that you are struggling to change, you’ve probably thought the s…
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Making the most of a reboot (Behind the scenes)
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19:02I’ve decided that my special word for 2024 is Reboot. Much of my last year was consumed by the reboot of the Weighless program–a coaching program that I launched with Brock Armstrong 7 years ago, and which has now been now relaunched in a new format that I think is its best version yet. The Change Academy is not about weight management, per se. My …
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This is the last of a special 5-part Mindset Reset–a little bonus series to help us get our mindset tuned up as we head into the New Year, and into whatever new projects and objectives we’re hoping to tackle. This last mindset reset is really the key to any change you are working on: Remembering that we are all works in progress. Whether or not you…
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We have reached the fourth installment our special 5-day Mindset Reset series and this reset is a juicy one. Many of us have learned the unhelpful habit of moralizing our food choices. Here's a more helpful way to think about the choices we make. If you’re interested in learning more about the Weighless Program, from which this series is derived, g…
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This is the third installment our special 5-day Mindset Reset and we're talking about balancing our approach to food as a source of both nourishment and pleasure. As with most of the things we talk about here in the Change Academy (and in the Weighless Program), the real payoff is in the implementation. So, don't just listen. Make sure some rubber …
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This is Part 2 of our special 5-part Mindset Reset series–a little bonus series to help us get our mindset tuned up as we head into the New Year. In this reset, we're talking about how we recover from setbacks. Because this series was originally developed to accompany the Weighless Program, the examples here focus on typical dieting behaviors and m…
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For this last week of the calendar year, we're departing from our usual format to bring you a special 5-day series called the Weighless Mindset Reset. The New Year is a time when many people resolve to eat healthier. Unfortunately, those resolutions have typically crashed and burned by the second week of January. By taking a little time to tune up …
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Is your diet-tracking app helping or hurting?
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40:34There are apps and devices that help us what we eat, weigh, spend, save, how much water we drink, how many steps we take. But what is all of this tracking doing for us? Are we using these tools and this information to improve our wellbeing or have we succumbed to the tyranny of tracking? Joining me on the podcast is registered dietitian and workpla…
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In order to succeed, you must risk failing (again)
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16:14If anyone is telling you they can guarantee that you will succeed (as long as you follow their method or their strategy or whatever), they are not being upfront with you. Here’s the hard truth: If you want to succeed, you have to be willing to risk failing. In fact, if there is anything that actually does guarantee success, it’s being willing to fa…
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