As a new year begins, Jason reminds us all that our canvas is blank. Who do we want to BE in the year ahead and what cultures do we want to create?
SHOW NOTES
Jason introduces Season 10 episode 1 of the podcast, New Year: Your Canvas Is Blank! Welcome back to the podcast on corporate culture and leadership and thank you for listening. We engage thought leaders like CEOs, CFOs, managers, VPs, directors, and more for this podcast. We wish to create content that engages your mind and heart and allows you to step back and think and add some positivity to your life. We deep dive into today’s topic.
We can’t control everything but what we can control is our response. Still a lot of work to do but wanted to remind the audience what is within our control is the temperature we create in the organizations and teams we work with.
Please leave a review for the podcast It really helps the podcast to spread these messages out into the world. Please share this podcast with your organization, on your team, or in your life to help spread these messages. Thank you!
If any of these topics are interesting to you please or you want a deep dive on any specific topics, please reach out to us at info@jasonvbarger.com
New Year: Your Canvas Is Blank
As we step into a fresh year, the air is thick with the promise of New Year’s resolutions. From gym memberships to productivity hacks, the focus is often on a frantic list of things we plan to do. However, if you look at the statistics, most of these goals are abandoned before the first signs of spring.
In the season 10 premiere of The Thermostat Podcast, Jason V. Barger invites leaders and teams to shift their perspective. Instead of rushing into a checklist of tasks, he proposes a more profound metaphor: Your canvas is blank. This isn’t just about professional output; it’s about the intentionality we bring to corporate culture and leadership in teams.
Summary: From Doing to Being
The episode explores the psychological traps of traditional goal-setting. Jason highlights research showing that 70% to 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail within the first month because they are rooted solely in “doing”—shallow tasks that lack a deeper conviction. When a goal is just a chore, we lose interest as soon as life gets busy.
To truly succeed in shaping a high-performing team culture, leaders must pivot from a “doing” mindset to a “being” mindset. Who are you compelled to be this year? Are you a leader who embodies joy, connection, and impact? When your actions are driven by your core identity, the “doing” becomes the natural strategy to support that identity, rather than a burdensome list of tasks.
Jason shares his famous “surfing story” to emphasize this point: Where you look is where you go. If your focus is on the person you want to become and the culture you want to foster, your body and your team will follow that vision. By treating the New Year as a blank canvas, you have the privileged opportunity to paint a vision for your life and work that is rooted in purpose and clarity.
Notable Quotes
“Our canvas is blank… we have the terrific and privileged opportunity to paint this year’s canvas however we want.”
“Where you look, your body will follow. What gets your eyes, what gets your heart, what gets your focus, your body will follow.”
“The most successful humans, leaders, spouses, entrepreneurs, parents, teams, and organizations are the ones that are rooted in their being, not just their doing.”
“Who you are compelled to be drives what you then do, not the other way around.”
Leadership Insights for the Blank Canvas
For those steering organizational change or managing complex teams, this “Being vs. Doing” shift is a game-changer for corporate culture.
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Clarity of Vision: If a leader’s vision isn’t clear, the team becomes hesitant. A blank canvas requires a bold first stroke of clarity.
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The Power of Focus: In leadership in teams, what gets the leader’s attention becomes the team’s priority. Are you focusing on the task (the doing) or the culture (the being)?
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Sustaining Momentum: By rooting team goals in a shared identity—who we are as a collective—you avoid the “February burnout” common in most organizations.
Questions to Ponder
As you pick up your brush to start painting this year, take a moment to step back and reflect on these questions from the episode:
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Who do you want to be? How would you articulate the person you are hoping to be in the new year?
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What will you do as a strategy to bring that ‘being’ to life?
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What experiences, people, and actions will you paint on your canvas for the year ahead?
Links and References
Follow @JasonVBarger on social media for even more insights and new video content.
For more insights and practical tips, be sure to check out Jason V Barger’s book Breathing Oxygen. This book dives deeper into the concepts discussed in this episode and provides additional strategies for fostering a positive mindset and effective leadership.
By incorporating these practices into your summer routine, you can breathe new life into your personal and professional endeavors. Remember, as Jason says, “The best leaders, teams, and cultures on the planet stimulate progress by recalibrating their thermostat together.”
Please leave a review for the podcast It really helps the podcast to spread these messages out into the world. Please share this podcast with your organization, on your team, or in your life to help spread these messages. Thank you!
If any of these topics are interesting to you please or you want a deep dive on any specific topics, please reach out to us at info@jasonvbarger.com
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Remember, the best leaders, teams, & cultures stimulate progress by recalibrating their thermostat together.
If you like the podcast, have a question, or just want to share your thoughts about daring to begin please leave a comment below or please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.
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ABOUT THE THERMOSTAT
Conversations and micro-thoughts to engage your mind and heart.
A thermostat is proactive. It sets the temperature in a room. Controls the temperature. Regulates the temperature. But in today’s distracted, fast-paced and digital world, it’s easy for individuals and organizations to act more like thermometers, slipping into reactionary thinking, becoming scattered and inconsistent. The most compelling leaders, teams, organizations, families, or collection of humans of any kind operate in thermostat mode. They calibrate their mind and heart to set the temperature for the vision and culture they want to create. Jason Barger, globally celebrated author, keynote speaker, and founder of Step Back Leadership Consulting, is the host of The Thermostat, a podcast journey to discover authentic leadership, create compelling cultures and find clarity of mission, vision, and values.