Drop the Stress Not the Ball

Shaun Enright
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

We are letting go for success unleashed. Welcome to "Drop the Stress Not the Ball " where leaders and high-performing entrepreneurs come to shed the weight of stress and hear ideas and strategies to get to new heights of success without stress, procrastination, or anxiety. Join us as we delve into the transformative power of letting go for the business-minded, empowering you to lead with clarity, purpose, and unstoppable momentum. Tune in for insights, strategies, and inspiring stories that will fuel your journey to greatness. Free resource: Sales Drift Fix Scorecard + Follow-Up Fix Pack (10 minutes) https://zenright.com.au/sales-drift-fix-scorecard?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=sales_drift_scorecard&utm_content=showdesc

  1. Aug 29

    Allow the Yes to Come Out: Patrick van der Burght on the Science of Ethical Persuasion

    Most heart-led coaches flinch at the word "persuasion." They hear it and think manipulation — making someone do what they don't want to do. Patrick van der Burght has spent twenty-five years proving the opposite: that real persuasion is, by definition, ethical, and that its whole job is to allow a yes that's already there to come out. Patrick is a Cialdini Certified Trainer, a founding member of the Cialdini Institute, and a business partner of Dr Robert Cialdini — whose book Influence is one of the most widely-read business books ever written. He came to this work exactly where a lot of my audience lives: a sales rep who wanted to be better at selling, but wasn't willing to lie or cheat to do it. What we get into: Why roughly 95% of decisions are made by the intuitive brain — and why piling on logical reasons actually costs you the yes The real line between ethical persuasion and manipulation (and the "credibility craters" fake urgency leaves behind) Your internal dialogue is persuasion too: why "I'll lose business without it" moves you more than "I'll get more business" A fast, practical walk through all seven of Cialdini's principles — reciprocity, liking, unity, social proof, authority, consistency, scarcity Why the free e-book you trade for an email isn't reciprocity — and what is The hidden costs of unethical tactics: stressed staff, higher turnover, lost trust Patrick's gift to you: a genuinely generous free offer — 35 days of course access with live Q&A, a no-email-required e-book, and a 7-Day Influence Challenge — at ethicalpersuasion.com.au/free-influence-persuasion. He also hosts the podcast Ethical Persuasion Unlocked. Go deeper: my free guide Go Three Levels Deep → zenright.com.au/go-three-levels-deep

  2. Aug 29

    The Goal That Was Never Yours: Jen Guyton on the National Geographic Cover That Felt Like Nothing

    In March 2024, Jen Guyton's photograph was on the cover of National Geographic — the single goal she'd worked toward, single-mindedly, for fifteen years. She expected to feel like she'd arrived. Within a couple of weeks she was right back to where she started: anxious, restless, "living a few inches above my own body," already scanning for the next thing. That gap — between what she thought the summit would give her and what it actually did — is the whole of this conversation. Jen is a former National Geographic photographer and conservation scientist with a PhD in ecology, who now coaches heart-led high-achievers through what she calls the Rewild Method. And she brought a version of "letting go" most people never consider: sometimes the thing to put down isn't the effort or the systems — it's the goal itself. What we get into: The cover that felt like almost nothing — and the year of "rock bottom" that followed "Internal mission drift": how heart-led people quietly start working for how it looks instead of what's true The stream analogy — why a business fed by external validation runs dry, and one fed from the inside never does The body-check for alignment: does a goal feel expansive, or does it make you want to shrink? The question to ask before you give a goal another two years: what will I actually have then that I don't have now? Why the client chasing "freedom" was sacrificing the very thing she was chasing Building from "what can I give?" instead of "how do I get clients?" Being honest that nobody has it all figured out — Jen catches herself in the pattern too Work with Jen: her one-to-one coaching is at wildbeyondcoaching.com, and she writes on Substack at Wild Beyond. Go deeper: my free guide Go Three Levels Deep → zenright.com.au/go-three-levels-deep

  3. Aug 21

    Real Influence Never Comes From a Pitch: Jay Jacobson on 20 Years as a Funeral Director, and What Letting Go of Control Actually Costs

    For more than twenty years, Jay Jacobson had a job where you simply cannot pitch. Nobody walks into a funeral home to be sold to. All you can do is slow the moment down, be genuinely present, and let the way you serve speak for itself. That turns out to be the whole thing. Jay is a funeral director, business owner, speaker, and the author of Lead by Legendary Example — recently named a finalist for the International Impact Award for Business. He came on to talk about influence that has nothing to do with persuasion, and it took us somewhere deeper than either of us planned. What we get into: Why the funeral home is the best classroom there is for anyone who freezes at selling The difference between giving people what they want and what they actually need — without ever pushing Jay's wife Shelly, a routine surgery that became twelve, and the eighteen months that taught him what control really costs Why "control looks strong but it's fragile, and collaboration looks vulnerable but carries you through" The three-minute rule: how trust is really built, and why it's mostly listening Testifying before the US Senate at thirty-one — and what it taught him about knowing your mission so you can pivot without losing yourself "Be where your feet are" — presence as the rarest and most powerful skill left Find Jay: Lead by Legendary Example and his work are at jacobsonprostaff.com. Go deeper: my free guide Go Three Levels Deep → zenright.com.au/go-three-levels-deep

  4. Aug 16

    Will I Ever Laugh Again? Bryan Blackmon Returns on Joy as the Tool, Not the Reward

    A first for the show — a guest returns. A few weeks ago Bryan Blackmon told us how he went from sleeping in his car and lost to addiction, to 900-plus days sober, to building a viral community called Crab Crew Life — with an 87-year-old landlord named Elaine who told him he was worth it. That was the climb. This conversation is about what carried him up it: laughter. When Bryan first got sober, one of his deepest fears was "will I ever be able to laugh again? Will I ever have fun again?" This episode is the answer — and it turns out joy wasn't the reward waiting at the end of the work. It was the tool that made the work possible. What we get into: How long the laughter actually took to come back (his honest answer: three to five months) The itchy-sheets story: how one task he didn't want to do turned into a four-hour burst of momentum Why you don't have to fix everything first to earn the right to enjoy your life "If you wait on inspiration, your whole life is going to pass you by" Building it for yourself first — why that isn't selfish, it's smart The month he stepped away from six-hours-a-day live streaming, and what putting it down taught him The oxygen-mask principle: why protecting your own energy serves everyone Brushing your teeth with the wrong hand, making tomorrow's coffee tonight, and the quiet power of being your own butler Plus — Shaun on open loops, the weight of the unopened envelope, and why one small finished thing changes the whole day. Find Bryan: everything — TikTok, Instagram, the podcasts, and how to work with him one-on-one — is at crabcrewlife.com. Go deeper: my free guide Go Three Levels Deep → zenright.com.au/go-three-levels-deep

  5. Aug 8

    The Journey from Importance to Usefulness: Chip Scholz on Identity, the Sales Freeze, and Why You Can't Force the Cut

    The best salespeople aren't the best persuaders. They're the most believable. Chip Scholz has spent nearly fifty years in and around sales — selling beans and ketchup out of school, logistics, ten years as a lobbyist — but by his own account he didn't become good at it until he got laid off, moved 2,500 miles across the country, opened a business, and suddenly had to "hunt what he eats." What he learned there reshaped everything: persuasion is the broken tool. The real work is problem-solving, listening, and letting go of who you think you have to be. Chip is an executive coach of nearly 30 years and the author of Small Decisions, Big Shifts, Handoffs, Selling for Geniuses, and the forthcoming novel Dancing in the Eye. What we get into: Why the hardest handoff isn't the business — it's identity The one opening question that replaced every sales script he'd ever learned The journey from importance to usefulness — and the 2012 stroke that forced it Why he slowed down and raised his prices, when most people would have shrunk What a wood lathe teaches about selling: you can't force the cut Why so many gifted coaches never get paid what they're worth — and the conversation they're avoiding The "five people at dinner" exercise — and how it becomes your board of advisors Plus — Shaun on why the freeze at the offer was never a skills problem: it's the identity you haven't handed off yet. Find Chip: his books are on his Amazon author page (search "Chip Scholz"). Go deeper: my free guide Go Three Levels Deep → zenright.com.au/go-three-levels-deep

  6. Aug 1

    Just Over Broke: Ted Kopecko on Why Your Job Was Never Designed to Create Wealth For You

    JOB. Just Over Broke. Ted Kopecko didn't come up with that acronym — one of his mentors did. But it's the line that anchors everything in his #1 international bestselling book Finding Joy: The Journey of You, because it names the thing nobody says out loud at the office: most of us are working so hard to stay just above the waterline that we've forgotten we're allowed to ask for a different life. Ted spent over 30 years across architecture, commercial real estate, and entrepreneurship. He built a large practice, sold it to a national firm, became a commercial broker, and then started looking around and noticing that everyone — regardless of success — was dealing with the same quiet frustration. He calls it lifestration. And he wrote a 400-page, three-years-in-the-making book to help people find their way out of it. In this episode we explore: What JOY actually stands for — and why it's not what you think The four pillars: mindset, identity, time, and direction — and what happens when all four align Why 95–98% of us are stuck closer to a fixed mindset than a growth mindset — and how that happened to all of us starting from the doctor's first slap Why struggle makes time disappear — and joy makes it stand still The 15 pages per day habit that produces 12-15 books a year — and why reading is the cheapest investment in yourself you can make Why your job was never designed to create wealth for you — and what to do about it Plus — the moment Ted watched his father on a gurney in the emergency room two years after retirement, and what his mother said that changed everything. Connect with Ted: Book + free 80-page workbook: findingjoy.us Also available: Amazon and Barnes & Noble — search "Finding Joy Journey of You"

  7. Aug 1

    No More: Sophie Ash on the Day She Fired Her Team, Chose Herself, and Wrote a Memoir in Real Time

    Sophie Ash didn't write her memoir when it was over. She wrote it while it was happening — six years in, with $200 in her bank account, a pile of unpaid invoices, and no idea how the story was going to end. That decision to document the mess instead of shine it up afterward became one of the most honest books written about entrepreneurship in recent years. Be the Person is a memoir about burnout, ambition, and what it actually looks like when the version of success you spent years building stops feeling like it belongs to you. Sophie is an intuitive entrepreneur and communications expert based in Toronto, and her work explores the gap between outward achievement and inner alignment. In this episode we explore: The financial rock-bottom moment that forced Sophie to finally stop performing and start listening to herself Why she fired her whole team — and then quietly rehired a couple of them on completely different terms The three-part journey inside the book: disintegration, restructuring, and rebuilding around what actually works Why the Lego pieces were always there — and how she figured out which ones to keep What it looks like to run a business on intuition and systems — and why you actually need both How Sophie rebuilt her coaching model by doing something radical: asking her clients what was working Plus — the moment she realised that growing her team had been the very thing that was costing her herself. Connect with Sophie: Book: Be the Person — search "Sophie Ash Be the Person" on Amazon for your local version (UK, US, Canada, Australia), or Kindle available globally LinkedIn: Sophie Ash (posts daily) Instagram: @sophieashofficial YouTube: coming soon

  8. Jul 25

    If Your Message Is Stronger Than the Messenger: Wes Towers on Authenticity as the Last Real Edge in an AI World

    In a world where anyone can generate a polished, professional post in thirty seconds — what's left that actually builds trust? Wes Towers has spent over twenty years running Uplift 360, helping trades, construction and industrial businesses get found, get trusted, and get chosen online. He learnt it on the job, not in a lecture theatre. But the reason he's on this show isn't the SEO — it's a conviction about the AI-saturated moment we're all marketing into: that authenticity, sounding genuinely like yourself, is now the only real competitive edge left. What we get into: Why the niche found him — and the Taoist "Wu Wei" idea of doing by not doing, letting the muddy water settle until the clarity arrives "If your message is stronger than the messenger" — why the reluctant self-promoter is often the most trustworthy The AI trust collapse: why we're automating the wrong things (the creative, the human) and keeping the wrong ones A business is like an original painting — a perfect forgery is worth only the canvas once it's exposed. Authenticity carries the story, and the story is the value. Built. Trusted. Chosen. — treating the client, not the lead funnel, as the next wave of marketing Why the goal of social media is to get people off social media — and the humble power of a photo in your email footer How good marketing repels the wrong people and makes the sale feel half-done before you speak Plus — Shaun on AI as a brush: it's just a tool, and we decide the strokes. The human moat has to go around it. Find Wes: book a strategy call at uplift360.com.au, and ask yourself the question he'd want you to — does your online presence genuinely sound like you? Go deeper: my free guide Go Three Levels Deep → zenright.com.au/go-three-levels-deep

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About

We are letting go for success unleashed. Welcome to "Drop the Stress Not the Ball " where leaders and high-performing entrepreneurs come to shed the weight of stress and hear ideas and strategies to get to new heights of success without stress, procrastination, or anxiety. Join us as we delve into the transformative power of letting go for the business-minded, empowering you to lead with clarity, purpose, and unstoppable momentum. Tune in for insights, strategies, and inspiring stories that will fuel your journey to greatness. Free resource: Sales Drift Fix Scorecard + Follow-Up Fix Pack (10 minutes) https://zenright.com.au/sales-drift-fix-scorecard?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=sales_drift_scorecard&utm_content=showdesc

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