Success Has No Switch… Finding the Dial

In this episode of The Different Thinking Podcast, Zach Hensrude challenges the myth that success is just a matter of flipping a switch. Inspired by insights from Jon Acuff’s Soundtracks and a powerful analogy from Dave Thomas of Daystar, Zach explores how real growth and momentum come not from instant changes, but from intentional tuning.

You’ll discover:

• Why the “flip the switch” mindset is a myth
• The truth about the success dial—and how to turn it
• How to recognize and reverse dial drift
• What it means to lead with long-term consistency

Whether you're leading a team or leading your life, this episode offers practical wisdom for turning up the volume on your goals, one notch at a time.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Different Thinking Podcast, where creativity is welcome, conventional wisdom is tried and tested, and growth and development are nourished so that someday you can help to change the world. Now here's your

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host, Zach Hensrood. So I have a question for you. Have you ever been in a place where you wanted to make either a small or or significant change, but have become frustrated because even though you have made those changes in your life or in the way that you conduct business, they haven't seen immediate results. And you start to think to yourself, why can't I see those immediate results? It's almost like if I could just go in and Do these things and create that focus, that consistency and that discipline. And I want this outcome. Why doesn't it come so quickly? I mean, I have fallen prey to that question so many times. And as you could see from the recording date, the last episode that I did was in July of 2024. And so there's been a bit of a gap, but during that gap, I've spent a lot of time really working on developing myself as a leader, creating the focuses and the disciplines that it requires to run a larger organization. Probably, I mean, I thought I knew what I knew, but then over these last 10 months, I really got a masterclass in understanding that I really didn't know what I thought I knew. And so I'm glad to be back on the Different Thinking Podcast with you. I've gotten folks that have texted me during this gap period telling me how much they enjoyed the show and wondering when the new episodes are coming out. And so here we are. We're starting with this episode here with this question of, have you ever gotten frustrated that when you have And let's go ahead and define it a little bit better. Where you've gone internally and flipped a switch and created that focus, that discipline, maybe even tried to create that immediate consistency, but you haven't received those immediate results back and wondered, why not? Why can't I? I mean, all it is, is I just flipped the switch and it should come back to me. A few months ago, I was reading a book called Soundtracks by John Acuff. It was recommended to me through a program I was taking with Buffini and Company. I bought the book. I actually bought the book for multiple people because of the premise in behind the book. I have a huge belief in, and that is the internal stories, the internal voices that, that that are in our brain that really guide and direct us. One of my coaches would say the stories that are just not true. And it's really interesting from a psychology aspect when you dive into really understanding and unpacking the internal voices that people have and the things that they would say to themselves that they would never say to another human being. I mean, it was absolutely a fantastic book. And if I could recommend it, I would recommend it right now for you to purchase and read. Very simple to read, really well laid out. And if you've heard John Acuff speak or read one of his books, you know there's a bit of humor in there, and I always enjoy humor. Humor, having fun, I think is incredibly important. But as I was reading this book, I had a lightning bolt moment where I go, ah, this would be a great podcast episode. And if you've ever wondered how I structure and create podcast episodes, it's not where I would read a book for an episode. It's as I'm reading a book, personal development book or a business book, all of it. I will find those moments where it comes to me, goes, this, this would be a great podcast episode. This would be great to share with aspiring leaders or leaders who know that they're, they're, they have so much more to do and to give to their people. I mean, that is really what makes a different thinking leader. Probably why you're listening to this podcast is that you want to give more back to your people. One of the aspects of the mission is that conventional wisdom is tried and tested. One of the things that's very, very interesting is that there's a lot of conventional wisdom of how things have always that have always been done a certain way. And then you ask the why. Well, why has it always been done a certain way? And people will look at you that have given you that advice, mentors, or even if you're taking classes and you raise your hand and say, excuse me, you say that this is the right way of going, but can you share with me why? They go, there's really, Zach, there's really no reason other than it's always worked this way. And so conventional wisdom is, would say that, hey, there's been a certain way that leaders can create change in their organizations or their businesses. They just really need to do this one thing. And the lightning bolt moment hit when I was reading and John was having a conversation with the family counselor, director of family counselor. I should say this right. Director of Family Counselor at Daystar Center, which is a place in Nashville for kids. And they're having this conversation and Director Thomas said this to John. He said, we think that there's a switch out there. And if we can just find it, we can turn it off. We can turn off the background noise completely. And we only have to do it one time and we'll never hear it again. And I thought that was really interesting and I'll share more of what John responded back with, but I found it really interesting because I had always heard coaches, trainers, or even when I was in youth athletics where someone would just say, Hey Zach, flip the switch, flip the switch. And it's something where he even said, director Thomas even said to John, people want there to be a switch, right? And I found that extremely interesting, especially when you start to think about the frustrations that we feel as leaders or frustrations that come up when we either, I say we, us collectively, I tie myself into this, need to make a change or are forced to make a change. There's times where as a leader, I would like to make a change, but there's other times where I'm forced to make a change. And in that, there's that internal mindset of, oh, I just need to flip the switch because I was coached that mentality for years. It's just a switch. You flip it. And when you flip it, it can create that discipline, that focus, and that consistency. And so as I was pondering and processing it, I started to think, okay, Okay, was there ever a time in my life where I've fallen prey to this switch mentality? Almost like a myth, this flip the switch myth. Has there ever been a time that I've fallen prey to that? And immediately, I began to recall a time in my life back in 2008. I know I've shared this on the podcast before, but I think it's incredibly important to continue to share this Uh, my story, because I think that creates connection with you because the thing is, is I, I share my story to, to make connection, not to say, Hey, here's everything that I've overcome or done. And, and I want you to know that I'm no different than you other than I'm just a, just a guy behind a microphone, just trying to help others and create content. So in 2008, uh, it was very, very heavy, probably the heaviest I'd been in life. Actually, I had that scary moment where I was, I mean, I'm in my mid-20s at that point. I went to go bend down to tie my shoe and all of a sudden I'm, you know, breathing heavy, trying to tie my shoe in my mid-20s. That's not, I can't live that way. And so I go on this health journey. I'm single. I'm rooming with my brother and my best friend. We're living in this small town called Snohomish. I mean, no attachments. And so it's something where I go on this health journey where I buy all the supplements. I go to the gym for two hours an evening. I hop on like a weight loss system. I chose Nutrisystem at that time. I didn't read up on it. I didn't follow the guidelines. I just I just ate the food and I became incredibly disciplined. I became incredibly focused and I was consistent. I mean, I even, there was times where I said no to hanging out with friends because it cut into my gym time. And I remember my friends getting so annoyed with me. But it was, it was so fulfilling because sure enough, I started to see the progress, the outcomes of I started to lose the weight. My clothes started to get baggier and baggier. People were noticing and complimenting. Which of you have ever done that before? It's really fun. It's great. It's a lot better than when you're gaining a lot of weight because when you're gaining a lot of weight, people don't say, hey, wow, looks like you put on a few, right? They don't say that. But when you've lost it, they go, wow, you look great. I didn't want to say anything before, but wow, good job. And so I went through this process in 2008 and I lost a bunch of weight, like in and around 150 pounds. I was looking good. I was feeling good. I started, I actually started dating someone shortly after that. And I mean, life was awesome. Now, like anything though, if I kept up that consistency, that discipline, that focus, I would probably have not gone back or changed or drifted back to where I was. And over the next, I want to say, well, I know for sure I gained most of my weight back within four years. And then after that four-year mark, I gained the rest of it over maybe about a seven-year period. And I've always struggled with weight. As long as I can remember, I've always struggled with weight. But what kept me positive and what kept me going was an internal voice where I just kept saying, hey, all I got to do is just flip the switch. All I got to do is just flip that switch, start working out again, eating right again, and I'll be successful. And there was a couple of times where I'd start to flip the switch. It would go good for about a week, maybe two, maybe even a month. And then I would inevitably drift back to where I was. And for me, I can easily gain weight when I'm eating the wrong things. And so that little lie that you tell yourself, oh, it's just this one time turns into, it's just this two times turns into, holy crap, it's been three months. Wow, it's been a year and now my clothes aren't fitting. And so that's that moment where I realized I have fallen prey to this flip the switch myth. And in the book, John goes on and director Thomas said, it's not a switch though. It's a dial. John's like, it is a dial. And that's really the second point of this podcast is when you understand about these voices or this internal dialogue that you have with yourself or this subconscious belief that is that it's not a switch. I can't just flip the switch, but I can start to turn down or turn up the dial. Just like right now I have my podcast board in front of me and I have dials and switches. The dials allow me to turn down or turn up, you know, depending on what I want to accomplish. And when I read that in the book, that moment of aha, that's exactly what I've been struggling with. is that I've been thinking this entire time internally that I'm just one switch away from immediately being successful, but that's not how human beings work. I mean, I didn't gain all my weight back off of just one time I ate something and flipped the switch, and guess what? I'm fat again, right? It was incremental changes. It was like slowly turning up the dial. Slowly that scale went higher and higher and higher, right? And so when you start to think about these internal factors, why we get so frustrated is it really kind of depends on where our dial is at. It really depends on where the dial is at is with the process that you're going to have to go through. Like in this podcast and even in the book, they talk about turning down the dial, switching the switch off to silence the voices, to do it one time. And so let's follow along with that premise in leadership when it comes to success. Let's turn down the things that are stopping us like procrastination. Let's turn down the things that are stopping us like drama or energy drainers. Let's turn down the busyness work that we know we should be delegating. Let's turn down the voices that says, hey, I'm the only one that can do this. No one else can. I mean, these are the things as leaders that we tell ourselves that can hold this back. And it's like, oh, I can just flip the switch. I could just do this. I can just use this tool, this process. And it's this incremental change. And it's something where it's a process. Like I think of a switch going from one to 10, one being just silent or even maybe zero where it's off completely. Right. And 10 just being silent. you know, bonkers crazy, you know, like at a concert, you know, a guitar rift. And so it's something where, you know, turning down that dial is incredibly important to start to create that focus, that discipline and that consistency in the change that you and I want to make in our businesses, right? I can't just flip the switch and all of a sudden cut all spending and be immediately profitable because businesses have to spend money to make money. I mean, in my real estate brokerage, there's times my staff will reach out to me, hey, can we order these postcards for this agent? Well, yes, we have a service that allows them to do that, that we make a little money on, but we have to wait the 30 days to do so. right? We have to spend the money to make the money. And ultimately by having them send out postcards, the hope is that they'll meet new sellers and start to work with them. And there's another sale. There's another opportunity for both the agent and the brokerage. And so it's something where you can't, you know, it's incremental changes. You can't just cut all spending and be profitable, but you can't just not focus on spending and expect to To go, whoops, we ran out of money, right? It's an incremental change. And so it's a dial. It's not a switch. It's a dial. So I started to dive in even further because, okay, so let's say... I start to turn down this dial. Well, why, why doesn't it just stay there? Like bringing up the health situation again with losing the weight. Why didn't it just, why didn't it just stay there? Because we naturally drift in the, in the way that we don't want to go. especially as leaders, if you're talking about being more focused, more disciplined, or even more consistent, you're talking about creating profitability or a standard operating procedures or, um, uh, keeping staff towards mission. If we're just to, to set it, if you and I were just to set it and walk away with no accountability, no minor adjustments, um, Well, what happens over time is that it goes the opposite way of where you and I want it to go. For our businesses, our organizations, or even our groups that we're leaders of, to get them to go in the direction that is on mission or where our vision might be, it requires focus, discipline, and consistency. And so this dial tends to drift in the opposite direction. I mean, even in this premise of the book, if you don't work on the negative soundtracks, if you don't work on the negative things you say to yourself, while you may get to a point of success, eventually those start popping up again. You're no good. You suck. You can't do this. Just give up. You had your chance. It's over now. Someone else is coming to replace you. And so this dial, this dial starts to drift. It really does. So that gets me to this final point of like, if this is constantly creating frustration, if this question is coming up of why can't I just make these changes one time and just be good is because that's not how life works, right? And I know it kind of sucks hearing that, by the way, like I wish it did where we could just flip a switch and that's it done. But that's not how life works. We what we give attention to what you and I give attention to as leaders. That's what gets fixed. I mean, I just had something recently come up where I had set something up over a year ago. had an expectation of one of my staff members to be doing this one activity. And, and I went back to that staff member over a year later and said, Hey, I'm just following up. I realized as I went through and started to follow up on what I asked you to do there, this is marketing. There's no posts. There's no, there's no, there's nothing out there. And the staff member got back to me and goes, Oh, I didn't know about that. And see, in my mind, I already thought it was fixed. But because I went on to the next dragon or the next thing that was in my way, the next obstacle, the next mountain, it naturally just drifted away where what I was expecting to be done was not being done. And this poor staff member was like, I don't remember having this conversation. And to that person's point, they had every right to say that because they don't recall that. There was no follow-up for over a year. And it naturally drifted away from not ever happening. And so I think it's important to always remember that to have something successful, to have something that is going to hit goal or hit what you're aspiring to, it has to be intentional and proactive. You're not going to accidentally just accomplish what you want to accomplish, right? And so it's this process of constantly turning this dial down. Now, if you're like me, you love extremes, like turn the puppy all the way up and turn it all the way down. But that's not how that works. It's incremental changes, incremental turns. Just it's one step at a time. And so since there's no switch, there's no immediate. And so as leaders, we have to turn down that dial. Each and every day to finally do the things that we want to do. That dial, when it goes up, I mean, especially if we take it from the premise of this book, that's where you find the procrastination. That's where you find the internal voice that tells you you can't. Your inner critic. Bedros Koulian talks about your inner critic all the time. And so if you're struggling with stuff not getting done as you intend it to get done, it's Maybe because you're believing in this switch mentality, this switch myth, where all you have to do is flip the switch and next thing you know, you will be successful. But I'm here to tell you, friend, that's just not the truth. Well, hey, I really appreciate you listening to this episode and being a part of this community, the Different Thinking community. As always, feel free to reach out, whether emailing or even through the podcast itself. Give out a comment or even share how much you've been enjoying this podcast. And I'm excited to be bringing forward more content that is helping to really help us as leaders, you and I as leaders, help people. And as always, remember today is a great day that you can apply different thinking. Take care, everyone. Thank you for listening to the

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different thinking podcast. Please follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. Don't forget to rate and review us. And remember today is a great day for you to apply different thinking. Thanks again for listening.