This Episode Appears in Our 'Best Of' Lists:
In this special '12 Days of Business' edition of The Business Owner’s Journey, host Nick Berry features Dr. Haley Perlus, a Sport and Performance Psychologist, speaker, and entrepreneur. Dr. Perlus shares why New Year’s resolutions often fail and how replacing them with purpose and values can transform your personal and professional life. She offers actionable strategies for reflecting on your strengths, assessing your values, and staying curious about new opportunities as a foundation for growth. If you’re a business owner seeking personal growth and peak performance, this episode provides a fresh approach to goal setting and making intentional choices.
Dr. Perlus explains why she’s not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, noting that they often feel forced and lack personal agency. Resolutions tied to an arbitrary date like January 1st often fail because they don’t reflect deeply held values or purpose. This misalignment can lead to quick burnout and unmet goals, giving people an easy excuse to abandon them.
Instead of setting traditional resolutions, Dr. Perlus advocates focusing on your purpose and values. By identifying three core values—her own are health, love, and adventure—you can create a meaningful foundation for decision-making and growth. Reassessing these values annually ensures they remain relevant and impactful in your life.
Reflection plays a critical role in aligning your actions with your values. Dr. Perlus suggests assessing whether you’re living according to your values and identifying three words that characterize you at your best. This exercise helps you stay grounded and intentional as you navigate the year ahead.
As the year begins, Dr. Perlus encourages maintaining an open and curious mindset. By exploring new professional and personal opportunities—such as networking, education, or travel—you can unlock growth and fulfillment in unexpected ways.
This episode is part of the 12 Days of Business mini-series.
Haley Perlus has appeared in several previous episodes of The Business Owner's Journey: Dr. Haley Perlus: The Need for Mental Toughness as a Business Owner, Dr. Haley Perlus: The Psychology of Risk-Taking and Trailblazing in Business (Part 1), and Dr. Haley Perlus: Strengthening Self-Belief and Resilience in Business Leadership (Part 2)
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform and leave a review. Your feedback helps us bring you more valuable content.
Follow us:
The Business Owner's Journey Podcast host: Nick Berry
Production Company: FCG
Nick Berry (00:00)
The Business Owner's Journey. I'm Nick Berry and I've got real business owners telling their real stories, sharing their real lessons and strategies so you don't have to figure it all out on your
Nick Berry (00:13)
So I am wrapping up season one of The Business Owner's Journey with this special series, The 12 Days of Business. We've got 12 days, 12 episodes with 12 of our previous fantastic guests. And today's 12 Days of Business episode is Dr. Haley Perlus And I was joking recently with Haley about her having been on the show enough times, like she kind of like my co-host.
But actually she's taken over the show. guess it just hit me because she's, I'm not interviewing her. This is a solo video that she put together that I'm passing through. So I've become the messenger. But I mean, she's a pretty good person to be sharing their message. So I always love talking to Haley because she makes me a better thinker. She's always got.
you know, some simple heuristics or tools to share that you can go and like, you know, put to use right away. In this video, she has a unique angle on New Year's resolutions and goals. And she says, I'm not a fan. I wasn't sure what I thought about it at first before I heard her talk about it, but I do have a lot of faith in her. So she had my attention and as it turns out, I really like what she says about getting clear on your purpose.
but I wanna know what you think. Goals or purpose? Are you a goal person or more of a purpose person? So let me know. And remember, make sure that you are following the show or subscribed so you'll get the entire 12 Days of Business series. If you prefer, I can email them all of the episodes to you and I'll also send you episode pages, the exclusive guest profiles and all of the other resources that are included that I'm only sending them out.
through email. To get those, you need to go to nickberry.info slash 12 days. That's the number 12 days. Now, enjoy the show.
Haley Perlus (02:19)
Hi, Haley Perlus here. Thinking about the end of the year and being a performance psychology expert, people always ask me about New Year's resolutions and goal setting. And to be honest, I'm not a fan. I'm just not a fan of being forced on January 1st to come up with goals. And from what I know in my humble opinion and experience, it's forced. So there's not a whole lot of
maybe not a lot of agency because we don't do it on our own. It's January 1st. What are you going to choose for yourself for the year? And because we all know that most people fail at their new year's resolutions, it already gives us an excuse for not achieving ours. So I'm not a big fan of new year's resolutions, but I'll tell you what I am a fan of. Something that I learned from my mentors, surrounding purpose.
couple of the exercises we engage in to help us find our purpose, to help us maintain our purpose, to help us make sure that it's still our purpose is to ask ourselves what we value most in life. And I have three values and every year for the new year, I just ask myself with curiosity, you know, are these still my values? And I like to work with three. I don't like any more than three because then mine gets confused. So I like three. And for me, it's health.
love and adventure. And it's going to be the same for me next year because I love those values. But it's nice for me to take a moment and devour and to reflect and see if those are still my values. And it really is so powerful because they really help me make choices in my life. If I'm stuck, you know, I always go back to what I value most in life and they help me make decisions and I'm committed to them. And then I can assess, you know, am I living?
according to my values, am I bringing my values into my life? So that's one thing that I like to do at the end of the year. The other thing is I, again, purpose training, is I look to see what three words characterize me at my best and are those three words still true? And these have changed over the years. And for me, it's bright, full heart, and a strength finder. And I think I'm gonna keep those this year too. They changed two years ago, but I think I'm gonna keep them.
And again, it's waking up every day and being my best self, highlighting my strengths. And when I find that I'm not in a great place, how can I bring one of my best strengths to today? So that type of reflection, do I still like my three best words? Do I still like my top values? Am I going to use them as my foundation for next year? And then last but not least, what I like to do for the new year as I'm approaching the new year.
is be really open-minded and curious to opportunities. So that has been happening. This week in particular, I have been just curious about what opportunities are out there. Who would I like to connect with? What would I like to, I don't know, maybe there's for me, because I'm a speaker, certain speaking opportunities that are out there for me. What education can I acquire? Just cool experiences that I can have.
professionally and then personally the exact same. What trips can I go on? Who can I, you know, what friends who I don't live in the same city with can I go visit? You know, just certain adventures. So that's what I like to do and to fear. And yeah, works for me.
Nick Berry is an accomplished entrepreneur and CEO, whose track record includes founding and leading numerous companies since 2002.
He is also a mentor and coach to other entrepreneurs and business owners who are looking for a trusted (and proven) advisor.
Among peers, colleagues, staff, and clients, Nick has been referred to as both 'The Business Guy' as well as 'The Anti-Guru', due to his pragmatic approach and principled leadership.
He shares his insights and lessons learned, along with those of his expert guests,
on his podcast, 'The Business Owner's Journey'.
.png)
