379 The “52 Pick-Up” Method for Focused Growth and Why Simplicity Builds a Powerful Brand
The secret to simplifying your business model
Structure creates freedom
In this solo episode, Kelsey pulls back the curtain on the structure, focus, and boundaries that help her show up consistently in life and business.
She shares her personal goal-setting system, called “52 Pick-Up,” and explains how assigning just one focus per week has transformed the way she approaches personal development and business growth.
Kelsey also opens up about social burnout, the need for better boundaries as a creative entrepreneur, and how simplicity in business leads to more impact, more referrals, and more peace.
If you're overwhelmed by goal setting, overcommitting, or the ever-changing world of digital marketing, this episode will help you breathe, simplify, and focus.
Key Takeaways:
Structure creates freedom
Try the “52 Pick-Up” method: Focus on one area of improvement for 7 days to avoid goal fatigue and build real momentum.
Boundaries matter: Over-socializing can drain creativity. Knowing your energy limits helps you show up stronger in your business.
Timestamps:
[04:00] The “52 Pick-Up” goal setting method
[12:00] The cost of overextending socially as a creative
[14:00] How boundaries recharge your business
[21:00] The secret to simplifying your business model
[22:00] The power of “trigger words” for generating referrals
To connect with Kelsey:
Access the transcript for this episode:
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Kelsey Rydle [00:00:00]:
You're listening to the Visionary Life Podcast. I'm your host, Kelsey Rydle. Each week I'll bring you conversations with the most visionary humans on this earth in hopes that you'll be able to absorb their wisdom, avoid their failures, and feel less alone on the roller coaster ride that is entrepreneurship. This season, I'll be chatting with creative thinkers, masterful marketers, brick and mortar shop owners, brand builders, and people just like you who have a story to share or a vision that inspires. If I can share one quick secret with you before we get into the episode, it's that we all have a little bit of visionary inside of us. You know, that spark that nudges us to pursue our full potential in this lifetime. But perhaps somewhere along the line, it got covered up. I'm here to tell you that it's never too late to explore that inner voice and access the brilliance deep down inside of you.
Kelsey Rydle [00:00:52]:
It's in you. It's in all of us. Let's dive in. Hey, visionaries. Welcome back to the show. A little solo episode. Incoming here. I found myself with a little bonus time today because I was supposed to meet with a TD Banking small business advisor, and for some reason, they never called.
Kelsey Rydle [00:01:13]:
And if you know me, you know I live by my calendar. Like, I put the time aside. I really try to hold true to my word 99% of the time. And so I thought I had all my ducks in a row today. I'm like, ready to get this. I need a new corporate bank account set up, and I'm ready for this meeting. 45 minutes, I'm getting my documents straight. And this person never calls.
Kelsey Rydle [00:01:37]:
Maria never called. And it's not her fault. We ended up having an exchange when she was like, half an hour late. I emailed her and she's like, something got messed up in the back end of the system. But alas, it always frustrates me so much because I am somebody who looks at the minutes of a day, a week, a year, and I'm like, how can I squeeze the most? And so it really, it's one of those things that really irgs me is when I have a time block that's supposed to happen, supposed to get something done, and then it doesn't follow through for whatever reason. I get this, like, pang of anxiety. I don't know what it is. I don't know if anyone else gets this.
Kelsey Rydle [00:02:18]:
This. Yeah. When even for an example, last night my husband was supposed to be golfing on this particular weeknight. And at the last minute, he calls Me, he's like, I'm not golfing. I'm coming home. You can actually go to your bike ride instead. And all of a sudden, this anxiety bubbled up because I like to know my calendar 24 hours before it happens. I don't like additions last minute.
Kelsey Rydle [00:02:44]:
So anyways, I wonder if I'm like, a unique breed in that regard. I'm the person who would text you and book a coffee date for four months from now and be totally okay with it. I'd be like, yeah, like, right now, it's July. I'd say to you, oh, do you want to meet on November 6 for coffee? Be like, what? Like, do you not have anything next week? But to me, it's just so wonderful to schedule in advance, lock things in, and just know that they're there. But I also feel like some people are the complete opposite, and that's great, too. So, anyways, today's just a solo episode. You guys know what my solos are like? They are all over the place. They are random.
Kelsey Rydle [00:03:23]:
They just basically share what's been on my mind, what's been on my heart. And I try to keep you guys in the loop about anything that is relevant or could be interesting to you. Okay, so first off, I just wanted to share a fun little concept that I've been practicing for years and years and years, but I just finally, like, shared it publicly. So it's a concept that I call 52 pickup. And essentially where this came from. So the name doesn't exactly describe it, but where this concept came from is because I feel like goal setting as a whole can be overwhelming. So when we think about goal setting, it's like, okay, we do it once a year in January. It's very rigid.
Kelsey Rydle [00:04:07]:
It's very structured. We forget, like, sometimes we'll goal set, but then we'll, like, fast forward a few months, and it's like I don't even know what I'm working towards. And I feel like. Because it's too in the macro and there's no direct focus for, like, the day ahead, the week ahead. And so how. I started doing goal setting a few years ago in addition to doing, like, annual business planning, et cetera, but I started to use this concept of just choosing one point of focus each week and then each week changing it so that over the course of a year, there are 52 advancements that I've made in my life. But really I'm only focusing on one thing for seven days at a time. And the whole theory behind this is that I feel like we make self improvement and betterment and optimization of our life, our business, our relationships, our health.
Kelsey Rydle [00:04:59]:
We make it so complicated, right? We get overwhelmed because we have so many priorities and there's goal competition, there's that. We actually don't feel like we've made any progress at the end of a period of time. So what I've started doing more religiously over the past few years is choosing one point of focus for the week. So for an example, I would sit down on a Sunday night and I would think, okay, what is one area of my life that I'm not exactly satisfied with right now? And that area might be sleeping. So a couple weeks ago, it was both mine and my husband's birthday. We had a big party here. We had friends coming over the next day for dinner. We saw family.
Kelsey Rydle [00:05:44]:
It was like one of those really busy weekends. Sunday night I was exhausted and in a good way, like, but I just stayed up a little late. We had it. My husband and I had a date day where we went mountain biking. And I just felt in my body there was fatigue built up. So my priority for that week was sleep. And here's why this is awesome to just have one goal for the week. Because every decision I made for the next seven days, however many hours there are in a seven day period, like every hour, the word sleep ran through my mind.
Kelsey Rydle [00:06:19]:
And if something was going to negatively impact my sleep, I said no to it or I stopped doing it. If something was going to positively impact my sleep, I said yes to it. And that was the focus. So that, that meant that when a friend asked me, hey, can you go mountain biking tonight? Even though mountain biking is my favorite thing to do and he wanted to go at 7pm until 9, I just knew I'm too wired after biking. Like I need a couple hours to wind down that was going to negatively impact my sleep. Normally I'd say yes to it, but that week I said no. When I thought about taking even evening networking calls, sometimes I open up a Wednesday at 8pm Eastern time slot for networking, for people in different time zones or for a connection call. I knew that week I had to close off the block and not let anyone book in.
Kelsey Rydle [00:07:04]:
When I thought about having a couple cookies at 8pm at night, I it was a no. Because my goal is sleep. And I know that sugar before bed is probably not going to help. So that was a goal a few weeks ago. Um, my goal this week is actually a really interesting one. And I'm not going to lie, I'm doing Really poorly at it in some ways. My goal this week is slow down. Um, as a mom and business owner and passionate mountain biker and someone who loves to embrace all the things, some weeks I find that, like, I am like a wrecking ball through the house.
Kelsey Rydle [00:07:39]:
Like, I'm like, oh, my God, we gotta, like, make oatmeal. And then I want to go to the park with Freddy, and then I gotta sit down at my laptop. And it can feel like I'm just kind of doing a lot and moving quickly. And while that is a good thing many days, some days I just feel like it's too much. Usually when I catch myself is when I'm in the kitchen and I, like, smash a glass on the floor because I'm being careless. To me, that's my indicator. I need to slow down. So this week I've been making it a priority to slow down in the kitchen, tell myself to slow down when I'm walking.
Kelsey Rydle [00:08:15]:
Slow down when I listen to podcasts, because I usually would listen at 1.5 speed, which I know, again, psychotic. I don't know what is wrong with me, but, yeah, I just feel like having that one word to inspire your week is really, really helpful. So maybe you choose something like, call five family members this week. Or be in bed without screens by 9pm this week. Or finish a certain work task this week. Maybe you're preparing for a big presentation and that's your goal. Or finish setting up your Google Ads campaign this week. Like, it can be a very business focused goal.
Kelsey Rydle [00:08:52]:
It could be health focused. Doesn't really matter. But I'm curious, do you think this simplified approach might work for you? And the reason why I call it the 52 pickup is because, first of all, there was this card game that we used to play. Like, you know, when you throw a deck of cards in the air and someone picks them up? You call that 52 pickup. But this is like 52 areas of your life that you pick up. So anyways, I thought it was kind of a cheeky name. So, yeah, you guys let me know if you try that method. Super, super curious.
Kelsey Rydle [00:09:22]:
Okay, so I want to shift gears and kind of tackle a topic that might actually be one of your 52 pickup goals. But I was mentioning that two weeks ago, I kind of lacked a little bit of sleep and had to make that my priority. Last week, I went overkill on the social boundaries and over committing my time to other people. So I wanted to share this on the show because I feel like this might be relatable. I am Somebody who is more of an introvert, extrovert. I definitely love being around people. I don't really spend a lot of time alone. I live in a very social area.
Kelsey Rydle [00:10:06]:
Every time I walk out my door, I'm chatting with someone, I'm at the coffee shop, I'm at the market, I bump into people. So I really never feel like I have time where I'm just with myself or I'm with my family and with friends. Like I have scheduled activities because I love to have plans in the evenings, especially on the nights when Dave will be with Freddie. So all that to say I am somebody who loves being social, but I'm also a creative. And if you're a creative too, you often get your most creative ideas when you're solo. And I know with certainty that my best ideas come while I'm driving by myself and while I'm walking. I have like some really great hiking trails where I live. I walk my dog, I put in a podcast and like I love so pre Freddy, when I didn't have kids, I would walk a one hour hiking loop every single day without fail.
Kelsey Rydle [00:11:07]:
I do it a lot still when I can. But some weeks zero times, some weeks three times. So you just never know. But it is like the most nourishing time for me when I just get out, I'm walking, I'm moving. There's something about a walking meditation, you guys, that is, and I call meditation like just being out and like letting my mind wander. So I don't traditionally meditate. Like I'm not sitting on a couch with my, with my meditation kind of queued up. I'm definitely doing more of an active meditation.
Kelsey Rydle [00:11:41]:
So anyways, I know what recharges my batteries. I know what gets me in the perfect and like right mindset for work stuff. So I like I said over committed. I probably just like bent my social boundaries a bit. I was entertaining a lot. I was having people over for dinner or me and Dave were, we let people stay late. And I really struggle when people like stay at my house until 10pm I'm like, oh my God, like I gotta go to bed. And there were multiple days in a row where we had people over.
Kelsey Rydle [00:12:16]:
We were entertaining all people that I love. But I did find that I completely socially burned myself out and it left me with very little energy for the business the next couple days. And I am somebody who every day I like to work on my business. And so that was a reminder to me that I have to protect my personal boundaries. I'm sharing this because for you it actually might be something different but like protecting your digital boundaries. Maybe you were checking your phone 48 times yesterday, maybe you were on Instagram for multiple hours. So maybe it's that, maybe it's health boundaries. Like a friend invites you out for drinks, someone wants to get fast food with you, they want you to skip your run so that you can go watch TV with them.
Kelsey Rydle [00:13:02]:
And maybe you need to have stronger boundaries there. So I'm curious to hear from you guys, like where is one area where you know that if you enforced a bit of a stronger boundary that you could actually have a way more positive ripple in every other area of your life, your business, etc. Speaking of boundaries, I feel like there's one boundary that I've put in place with my business that is actually really been something that has helped me to grow consistently. But I don't often talk about this. So I want Visionary. The search engine game is changing fast. I mean, how many times now do you open up ChatGPT where you used to actually just open Google or Bing? AI driven tools like ChatGPT are rewriting the rules of what it is to play the digital marketing game. But don't panic.
Kelsey Rydle [00:13:59]:
You just need to pivot ever so slightly if you want to rank your business in ChatGPT. And if I could just interject for a second and go off script, I am getting so many leads these days who are saying to me, I found you on ChatGPT. So here's the deal. You guys know I'm passionate about SEO. Google still matters. But AI is a new layer to this game that you cannot ignore if you want quick wins. I want to teach you exactly how you can do it and I want to simplify it for you. What you can do is head over to kelseyridle.com chatgpt I have a brand new free bonus training on how to rank on AI search engines, how to rank on ChatGPT essentially.
Kelsey Rydle [00:14:42]:
So I want you to jump in and future proof your marketing strategy. Grab this free training kelseyridle.com chatgpt or or click the link in the bio. This Training is only 30 minutes long and it's going to teach you everything you need to know to get more leads, more clients and more money into your bank account. I wanted to share how I'm really good at staying in a lane when it comes to marketing and not being tempted by the shiny new thing. So here's what I mean by that. Because every single year there are new platforms, there are new trending things that we can do in our business. So just as an example, you know, 10 years ago it was Periscope and Twitter, and then it was Instagram, and then it was TikTok, and then it was LinkedIn, and then it was Threads, and then it was Snapchat, and then it was Pinterest. Like, it just in the social media world alone, there's been probably 10 different platforms that we've all been told we had to do.
Kelsey Rydle [00:15:46]:
Then there's email marketing, and then all of a sudden it turned into, no, you need text message marketing. There is search engine optimization, but now it's like, no, it's AI search engine optimization. There is like, oh, you need to teach webinars. Oh, webinars don't work now. Do masterclasses. Oh, masterclasses don't work. Go back to doing in person workshops like the rate at which marketing trends and what people are trying to tell you you should do. The rate at which that changes and is so wacky.
Kelsey Rydle [00:16:14]:
You guys like it is. It's hard to keep up with even as a marketer. But I can tell you with certainty that the businesses that do the best and the marketing strategies that perform the best are often the ones that right out of the gates. Yes, they experiment, they take advantage of where there seems to be the most leverage and momentum and where you think you can have the highest return on investment. But after about six months of posting consistently, creating content, showing up in whatever ways you choose, after about six months, it's so important to review the data, see what's working, and then niche down your strategy and then stick with it. Stick with it for 10 years. This is the most unpopular advice because if you have, oh, what am I trying to say here? If you feel like you're jumping ship too much and you're still not seeing results, you're like, okay, I'm gonna start the podcast. Stop the podcast.
Kelsey Rydle [00:17:12]:
Start the podcast. Stop podcast. I'm going to build an email list. No, I'm not. I'm going to be build an email list. No, I'm not. If that's your style and you don't feel like your business has been growing consistently, I can tell you hands down that that's probably part of the problem is that you're bouncing around too much, you're chasing trends, and you haven't just committed and dedicated yourself to a few key platforms and seeing them through for the long haul. I remember listening to an Alex Hormozi podcast and he said when he hired a YouTube strategist and a media editor to onto his team.
Kelsey Rydle [00:17:46]:
They were like, okay, so like, we're gonna experiment with this probably for the first 90 days, and then, like, we can reassess whether YouTube's for you. And he's like, no, I'm doing this for the next 10 years. And I just love that mentality of, like, right from the get go, decide if you're in this for the long game. Because there's so much pressure out there. People are gonna try to tempt you to do this or that to get quick results, but you don't have to do it all. For an example, I have been doing my podcast for over seven and a half years, you guys, and I haven't missed barely a week. It's not always, like, growing and building the most momentum, but just by way of staying in the game of podcasting for seven and a half years. The benefits that have come from it are profound.
Kelsey Rydle [00:18:35]:
Like, not only have I increased my network by hundreds and hundreds of people, I have practiced speaking and showing up 350 weeks in a row. I have created so much blog content from the transcripts. I have been able to, like, have clients find me this way. People have found me through search engine optimization because of the podcast. I've gotten better at talking. I've gotten really good at creating show outlines. The list goes on and on. And like, none of those benefits came in year one.
Kelsey Rydle [00:19:08]:
Maybe a few of them came in year two, but it just kept compounding and compounding and compounding. So I think that one of the things that I've done, done well is really understand my own marketing funnel. I know that at the top of the funnel, we have blogs, we have the podcast and the show notes associated with the podcast. We have my search engine optimization, the partnerships and teaching that I do at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, Toronto Metropolitan University, and a couple other things. So referrals and word of mouth strategies. I know in the middle of my funnel I have Instagram, the podcast is a little bit of that and my email newsletter. And at the bottom of the funnel, what I sell is so simple, you guys. It's one on one marketing consulting.
Kelsey Rydle [00:19:53]:
And I don't try to go crazy with selling new courses and coming up with brand new offers and being so diverted all the time. Because I know that at the core, I'm here to talk about marketing. I am not here to launch a million products, have 5,000 digital offers, to change my messaging all the time. I just want a simple business. I want a simple life. And I've intentionally created that over the last eight years by just being simple with my offers. So every time I show up to create content, I stick with one of my tried and true strategies. I still experiment, and I always encourage clients to experiment.
Kelsey Rydle [00:20:31]:
So, yes, I do things and I give them up, but I do that with a lot of intention and strategy. And I just, I want peace. And I cannot have peace if I'm doing something different for every single client. So that's why I have one core offer. It's the same for all clients. You don't get to customize because that would send me into a crazy spiral. There'd be no consistency and, yeah, just like no clarity within the overall funnel. And so perhaps this is a reminder to you to simplify instead of complicate.
Kelsey Rydle [00:21:08]:
When things aren't going well, don't launch new things. Look at what you can improve about what you've already created and really look at the marketing that you're doing and ask yourself what's working that you can double down on and what's not that you can remove. And before I wrap up the this episode, I just thought I'd kind of share, like, this whole premise of keeping a simple business model, knowing how to distill what you do down into one word or two words or three words. Because I know some of you, when you describe your services, what you offer, how you help, it's like sentences upon sentences, which can feel so overwhelming. And that's why you don't get referrals. But I just wanted to share. So I often talk about having a trigger word that would get you a referral. So.
Kelsey Rydle [00:21:55]:
So for me, the trigger word is marketing. If somebody says, oh, I'm struggling with marketing, or oh, my marketing sucks, I want people to automatically think, oh, like, I could refer them to Kelsey. So that's kind of what I base all my marketing, all my keywords, all my search engine optimization around, et cetera. And so it takes time for this to work, but I just wanted to share. So there is a duo that offer real estate events and meetups for entrepreneurs and in one of the bigger towns nearby. And they had put out a call to action. I didn't know these girls, never met them before, but they had put out a call to action to source out speakers for a big September event that they're hosting. And they said, hey, we need speakers on the topics of marketing, social media, search engine optimization, ChatGPT, et cetera.
Kelsey Rydle [00:22:48]:
And what was really, really cool was that I actually got a message from a couple of peers of mine and friends, and they were like, hey, I don't know if you saw this, Like, I recommended you. Someone else, hey, I just saw this posted. I ended up submitting your name. And then almost immediately I got a reach out from these event coordinators and they were like, hey, you've been recommended by multiple people in the area. Would you be open to speaking at our event? And it was just such validation and confirmation that when you really get clear on what your business does in a very few amount of words, like so simple that a grade three could redescribe it to you, that is such a great referral strategy, because if people aren't clear on your offerings, they cannot suggest you. But if they feel like they know and they feel like every time you show up, you speak to that bucket. I'm not saying to, like, box yourself and, like, keep yourself small and to not explore your edges and your growth as a business owner. But again, like, I think there's a strategy and there's a case to be made for making sure that you're so, so defined in terms of the work that you do and what industry you fit into.
Kelsey Rydle [00:24:04]:
And so I thought I'd share that example of the marketing speaking gig that I booked for September. It also happened with how I got the Toronto Metropolitan University gig. I'm teaching with their digital marketing accelerator for two cohorts right now. They were looking online for marketing experts, and so that's how they got connected with me. Same with another speaking gig that I do with a huge franchise from all over North America. They have about 40 franchise partners. They were looking for a marketing expert to come do trainings with their team. So again, this is like just a very simple, I guess, reminder to get back to how to define your word in or how to define your business in one word, two words and three words and.
Kelsey Rydle [00:24:49]:
And see if you can do it so clearly and actually reinforce those words for the next 365 days. And I almost am willing to bet you that you will get so many more opportunities if you change your LinkedIn bio, your Instagram, change your email signature, make sure your podcast episodes reflect it. Every time you're out and about and someone says, what do you do? Talk about that. Yeah, like, wherever you can share it. And I almost guarantee you your business is going to double because there's so much clarity involved in having a defined business. Okay, I feel like I went over all over the place today. I'm gonna wrap it up for here because I feel like that's all my brain has capacity for right now. I gotta go get my little guy up and wake him up from his nap.
Kelsey Rydle [00:25:37]:
So we'll wrap it here. Thank you guys so much for listening. I am so grateful. I have some really crazy ideas to rebrand this podcast, and it honestly scares the out of me. So if you'd be open to me sharing my rebrand ideas with you, this is like a special call to action. Could you DM me on Instagram and just say, hey, share your rebrand with me. I'd love to hear about it. I heard about you on the podcast or I heard about it on the podcast you shared today.
Kelsey Rydle [00:26:06]:
Just because I do want to bounce this off of a few of the key listeners of this show. So I'd really, really appreciate it. All right, you guys, we'll wrap it here. Thanks again for listening and I'll catch you in the next episode. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Visionary Life. I love bringing you these conversations on a weekly basis, so it would mean so much to me if you could help me out by rating and reviewing the show on either itunes or Spotify. It just takes a second. And if you don't want to rate the show, you could also just take a screenshot of the episode and share it on your social media platform of choice.
Kelsey Rydle [00:26:42]:
Tagging me at Kelsey Rydle. I'll catch you in the next episode.
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