Ep223 Lindsay Hack - What Happens When Leaders Actually See Their Future Self? The AI Vision Board Revolution

Lindsay Hack 0:00

And so what I have created is this opportunity to now see your future self. And I always say your brain is like the GPS, the vision board is like the destination, and AI is now the real map to get there. And it's such a powerful thing that I want to share it with everybody.

Mike O'Neill 0:17

Welcome to get unstuck and on target, the weekly podcast that offers senior leaders insights and strategies to not only lead with confidence and vision, but also to achieve groundbreaking results. I'm your host, Mike O'Neal I coach top level executives on the power of ethical leadership to forge teams to be as united as they are effective in each episode, join me for insightful conversations with leaders just like you providing practical advice to help you get unstuck and propel you and your company forward. Let's get started.

Mike O'Neill 1:00

What happens when a vision board goes beyond glue sticks and magazine clippings and becomes a real coaching tool. In this episode, I sit down with Lindsey hack certified coach, founder of hack to fit coaching and creator of an AI powered vision board experience that helps leaders visualize success with striking clarity, and we do something different. I went through the process myself, and this episode, it's the live reveal. We talk about why visualization drives leadership growth, how leaders and coaches can use this tool to unlock deeper insights, and what happens when you finally see your future self with clarity. If clarity drives confidence, this conversation is a powerful place to start. My guest today is Lindsey hack certified coach, founder of hack to fix coaching, and creator of a powerful AI vision board experience that helps leaders visualize success with incredible clarity. In this episode, we're going to do something different. I went through this process myself, and today is the live reveal. Now you may be asking, why does this matter? Vision boards might sound to you kind of fluffy, but in the right hands, they can become a serious tool for clarity, for motivation and leadership growth. I've been looking forward to this conversation. Welcome Lindsay.

Lindsay Hack 2:31

Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here.

Mike O'Neill 2:35

Lindsay, you shared with me off camera a little bit what led you to the kind of work you do, but the name of your business is, is hack to fit coaching. So I'm assuming that you started in a coaching capacity a little bit different than you're doing. Now, give us a little bit of background of kind of what led you to the kind of work you're doing.

Lindsay Hack 2:56

Now, yeah, for sure. So I have been a coach for the last 24 years, fitness, wellness, life coach, and I've taught vision board workshops as part of that capacity for the last 15 years. And a little secret that I've just recently divulged to people was that I actually was really, really struggling to visualize myself. And everybody who hears a coach or talks to coaches, they always say, you know, visualize your future. Think about what you know your life is like in 10 years, etc. And I've done that myself as a coach and in the vision board workshops, but I was always just plain black, and I thought I was broken, and I just smiled and nod, and I just figured that at some point I would figure this out. So I started working with AI images last early last year, just for fun, just for me, just because I enjoy learning. And you know, then it came time for my next vision board workshop in November last year, and I thought, hmm. Wonder what would happen if I put my AI images of me crossing the finish line or standing on the TEDx stand, you know, stage into my vision board, and I was absolutely blown away even telling this story. Now I get goose bumps because the power of seeing myself in that vision allowed me to see what everybody's been talking about for the last few 20 years. I start with the Dalai Lama. I've taken courses, I've done these things, but I just could never see anything. And now, not only can I see it my you know, the neuroscience, we always talk about the Woo. Woo. We it's a little bit of Woo, a little bit of do together. The neuroscience suggests that when you see yourself actually accomplishing your goals, whether it's personal business, you know, relationships, you are therefore more likely to get the work done right? I always say living your future self right now, and that's what AI images have created. So I wanted to share it and yell it from the rooftops. So I started creating workshops. I started talking to people about it, because I just wanted others to realize how powerful it was. And ultimately, I found out there's so many other. The people like me who really struggled with visualization. So I started working with coaches who were looking to get deeper transformations, you know, rewiring of the brain when it comes to their clients, whether, as I said, it's in a business capacity, a mindset capacity. And so what I have created is this opportunity to now see your future self. And I always say, your brain is like the GPS, the vision board is like the destination, and AI is now the real map to get there. And it's such a powerful thing that I want to share it with everybody.

Mike O'Neill 5:29

Now you mentioned coach as a coach, that's how I got introduced to you. And when I learned of the concept, I immediately said, Boy, this could be a powerful tool to help clients gain clarity. But quite frankly, if I'm going to ask them to do that, I need to be prepared to do that myself. And when you and I were talking, I kind of said, I don't know how to have you on the podcast without me going through this process. I want people to understand a little bit of what goes on with this process. I'd love to spend some time a little bit about the mechanics of what results in and as I understand what we would let you show me. And I'll be seeing for the first time, and I'm seeing kind of the first part of a debrief. I know that you spend more time with your clients than we'll be spending in this recording. But let's just start a little bit about So people kind of understand what is it we're talking about. Can you give us a high level overview of the process that you do follow and that I have done over the last number of weeks?

Lindsay Hack 6:36

Yeah, absolutely. So I offer a few different types of ways to work with me, and the one that we're doing particularly, is I need to get to know you really, really well, right? And, you know, without spending hours and hours and hours together, what I have done is I've created a custom GPT which allows you to kind of get into the mindset of, what does your future life look like? What does the perfect day in the life of Mike O'Neill look like? And so you got to experience that already. And so that takes it down to a level that just allows people to really get into that, that that vision. And then I go into a very deep dive questionnaire, which basically asks, you know, things from like, what colors are in your business? Because we want to make sure that we're bringing our own brand. You know, do you like Apple or Android? Do you wear gold or silver? It sounds really, really simple, but the idea behind these images is that emotional connection, right? So the emotional connection when you see that image, you say to yourself, oh my gosh, that is me. And so we need to make sure that if you love blue, you're going to have blue in those images. I love black, so a lot of my images have myself in black. So if you didn't have that, you wouldn't feel that emotional connection. And then so from there, I use a lot of custom gpts that I've created for this, and I design what I call my prompting for your AI twins. So we have and you sent me a ton of photos, which was amazing. I can use anywhere from 15 to 50 photos of you, of your face, of your body. You know, some are selfies, some are full body. I have plenty of you from your races, which I love so much, because it also gives me a little glimpse of who you are, which, of course, you and I have already talked about. And so then I train your AI twin. And what that means is, if you imagine I'm putting in all of these pictures, and the AI is taking bits and pieces from all of them to create your AI image of you. And then from there, we've go through what I classify as your future self, right? And we pick out prompts, and we've done that already, so we're going to look at a few of those today. But then I'm creating these images based on the things that you feel, because what I do and what I love is going to be different for you. It's going to be different for everybody. And so, you know, if we're, I mean, you and I have talked about this already, but trail running is something both of us have have in common that we love. But if I tried to create an image for somebody who's not a runner or not a trail runner, it wouldn't have that connection. So it all comes back to the person and the individual. You know, I have a lot of travel on mine. I don't have a big house or a big car, but I've learned. I've done, you know, private jets and rolls voices. So it just depends on what everybody's dreams and goals are, and we create that future so that you can start living and being like that person right

Mike O'Neill 9:15

now. You know, when they caught my attention, something you just said that really came through based on me answering these very well crafted questions, and that is the emotional side. And I kind of, I kind of go, my goodness, where's she going with this? I thought this is a visual thing, and what I'm learning, and hopefully we'll be seeing, is you're trying to capture the emotional component of what this we're describing, because you have to feel these things as well as see them. You're trying to tap into the senses, and that's something I noticed too. You're asking for answers to questions that kind of it makes it much more. Real. I know we don't have time to get into it, but I know that the incredibly talented athletes, the professional athletes, use visualization in a way that is just quantum remarkable. It is they just don't sit there. And it's it's something they really, really hone. And what I'm understanding is they're not just visualizing an outcome. They're almost simulating experiencing that outcome. And so I what I would say to you as feedback is that that's something that I found, and that is you really do strive such that when people see what is you're about to show me this, there's no incongruence. Wait a second, I'm in a I'm in a red shirt. I hate red. I like blue. And it's those little things which sounds superficial, but if you don't get that right, people might be dismissive. Does that make sense?

Lindsay Hack 11:01

Absolutely, and that's exactly what we're talking about, you know, going back to what you're saying about the athletes, you know, they're they're taking themselves through a game, a race, whatever it is, but they're just not running that race, or they're not, you know, playing that tennis game. They're feeling everything with it. And that's what these images are all about. It's feeling it. And so what like you said, if you're like, I don't like red, I'm not connected to red. I don't feel that way. And all of it comes down to that emotional connection. You know, the neuroscience, we don't have a time to get into all of it, because I could probably talk about it for years, but the neuroscience basically talks about our RAS which is our reticular activating system. It's like the bouncer in your brain that lets things in that are important to you. And so if you're wearing a red shirt, and you're standing at this start line with a pair of running shoes that you don't wear, then your RAS is kind of like, No, I'm not going to let that in. But if you're wearing your blue shirt and you're wearing your favorite shoes, and you're in the scenario that feels really right for you, then it lets it in, and all of a sudden it's giving you the motivation to do with the accountability and the belief, and I think that's the biggest piece to this, is the belief that it is possible. Because now it's not just possible. We see it. We see the race has already done. The athletes already done. You know, it in their head. We feel all of those things. So it is very much an emotional connection, plus a visual and that's really I love, that you give that feedback, because I've had people say, you know, you asking a lot of questions about my feelings right now. What does that have to do with the visual board and the vit and the images? And I like, just wait and see, because once you see it, you, first of all, you can't unsee it. And the second part of that is that neuroscience is like, Oh, there I am. Right? You know, as simple as if I I'm a silver or platinum wearing jewelry girl, if I saw something in gold, I'd be like, not really me. So then you don't feel it the same way. So it's definitely that emotional connection.

Mike O'Neill 12:49

Lindsay, most of the people listen to this podcast, they may not be aware that this podcast is also recorded and is on YouTube, and so when people can access it, this obviously, is going to be a visually rich thing. So I point out to those, if you want to see what is it we're about to show you, let me encourage you to go to the YouTube that will be easily available on that. So Lindsay, I'm going to turn it over

Lindsay Hack 13:16

to you. Yes, I love it. Okay, so I'm just going to share my screen and just give me a second and let me know if you can see it.

Mike O'Neill 13:22

Okay, okay, Lindsay, I can see your screen. Share now.

Lindsay Hack 13:26

Okay, so right out of the gates, you're gonna see probably a really close up picture of yourself. And this is a very, very starting point. Okay, so just so we're very clear for anybody who's looking at this, if you do a quick kind of glance, it's similar. It's similar. There's definitely some similarities, but this is where I start, and then from here I do a lot of tweaking and playing and playing with settings and all of those things. So I don't necessarily want to show all of that detail. I was saying to Mike earlier that I spent hours doing this, and we don't have the time for that. But what I do want to share is how I create the images from the emotion, okay, so, for example, I have in here just a very, very brief description that I used with with a photo that Mike sent me, just one of the, you know, the 30 that we had, and I create the description sentence. So from there, what I do is I use it multiple different custom gpts and prompts that are in chat GTP, but we've already gone through and I have ideas of what his kind of beautiful future self looks like. And so what I have done is I've taken that and I've broken it down into different areas of his life. Okay, so porch conversation at Golden Hour, trail clarity at dawn. We've talked about this executive coaching moment pops, which is, I love that grand grandsons in the park right, and taking these and actually creating them into what I would classify as your prompt position. So I'm just going to do this, this again, if anybody has any interest. In learning this, I teach website, webinars and master classes and workshops. There's plenty to learn. So don't be like, What is she doing right now? It doesn't even matter. But what I want to do is I want to get one of these prompts, and I'm going to actually get them in here. So we're going to take this plain, boring face that sort of looks like you but doesn't actually look like you, and create it into a different scenario. So I'm just going to do a quick check here with some settings that I like to play with, and then we're going to run it. So the beauty of AI imaging is, first of all, this could come up absolutely terrible. Okay, just so we're clear, it's still, it's still a computer, all right. So this is what comes up without doing much tweaking whatsoever. Okay, obviously, I don't know what your grandsons look like. That's not part of what we're talking about here, but playing ball in a park in the fall is what came out from some of the deep dives that we did with our questionnaire. So you can see just and again, without going too deep into this. I don't want to go really, really specific, but you're going to notice a few things. We've got the fall, right? It's just in the background, but it's enough to feel like it's fall time. We've got the clothes that feel like it's fall. You're not in a tank top summertime, right? Um, you know, again, I usually put kids or spouses kind of in the background, a little blurred, because we don't have all of that image, but it's the feeling, it's they're there because I'm in the park with them. And part of that was came up that we were, you know, you were in the park with your with your grandsons, playing, playing ball. So this just gives you kind of an idea of how I take the vision that comes out of the custom GPT and the questionnaire, and I start bringing it to life, right? So, I mean, again, Mike, right out of the gates, what would you say? I mean, without being like, very particular, because I haven't had the time to really spend, would this, does this feel like what you're trying to explain to me when it comes to the custom GPT and the questionnaire,

Mike O'Neill 16:55

it does, and what I answered in my questions is, you know, I want to be a very active person, including to be an active grandfather. Now it looks like I am not active enough in this, because you put it, put like, 20 pounds on me, but I'm not going to complain. But what really is, what really matters, I'm doing exactly what I described to you. I'm in the park in the fall playing ball with a grandchild, which is really remarkable to see this happen in in real time, right?

Lindsay Hack 17:28

And so, you know what? As I get deeper into this, and when you have the final product, there will definitely be a change in body shape. That's something that I will have to play with, you know? And there's going to be a few things, because I'm, as I said, I'm really particular, like, I don't like the hands in this. I'm going to work on a few things, but Right? To see it from a very quick perspective, it just shows, like you said, that connection to, you know, the active pops in the park, right? And again, you know, I would probably take the child out, if I was being perfectly honest, because, again, unless I can get the perfect child, it doesn't feel the connection. But there's a lot of assumptions when it comes to photos, right? You know, if you were with a partner or a child or whatever, you know, somebody's got to be taking the photo. So here we are in the park, and maybe, you know, it's, it's somebody's taking this photo of you and and the whole thing is that connection feel to it, right? So again, there's work to be done, but I just, I'm going to do another one really quickly, just so that we can kind of see how, how it changes based on what your you know, your your goals are, and what your vision is. So we're just going to and again, don't worry about how, if you do want to learn this, I teach it all, so I don't need to explain that. But if, when you think about that vision of that future self, right? I love this one. Okay, here we go. So this is where AI gets all crazy. Sometimes you're currently talking to yourself. Need expert advice, you ask yourself, right? So, so it's funny, I've actually created some images similar to this, where it's the younger version of yourself talking to the older version of yourself, and you're having a deep conversation about what life looks like, right? And so there's certain things in here, again, where, you know, again, it's a fall porch, because I know that was part of it, the front porch. Now, again, you know, there's a beer here. In my case, I don't drink, so that would be a coffee, you know, I know we've talked about a steamy Yeti mug, right? We always, we always joke about our Yeti mug. So, so there are things that I would change here. You can see this. This person looks a little frail. You know, there's definitely some areas that I need to improve on. I'm not quite sure about the photo, but that's okay. So that's what happens, right? Sometimes AI comes out with somebody with five hands. Sometimes AI has a twin that you don't know about in the picture. And we've made certain ones work really, really well. And then other ones where it's like, okay, I need to change this. I need to fix it. I need to look at the prompt and what's going on. You know, it says here, two glasses of iced tea. I don't see two. So, you know, remember, it is still a computer, so we have to tell it very specifically what we want. But what happens is, I take all this information that is given. In from the custom GPT and from the questionnaire, and I create this future self. And part of that custom GPT is, what is your future day look like? What? What is the perfect day? And one of them is sitting on the porch, having, you know, having a moment. You know, there are ones about you, you know, coaching. There's ones about you being, being in the in, you know, with your kids, all of those pieces come together to create this. I mean, of course we have our trail running, one that I'm super excited to work on, that I haven't done yet, but all of that becomes part of this process, so that you can not just see yourself, but also feel that connection to it. And so again, this one could be, maybe you're talking to your older version of yourself, and, you know, he's saying, a great job. Keep doing what you're doing. You're doing amazing I have an image like that because I feel like that's a super powerful one for me. Now, again, we create what you want, and that's where that custom GPT and questionnaire comes in. But it's such a beautiful thing when you start seeing, you know, some of the some of the details, like the fall porch and the rocking chair, because I know that was on there, and like little things like that that come out as we show the pictures.

Mike O'Neill 21:08

Well, May I share my office and where we're recording? It's in my office. That's in my house. Immediately to my left is a very large screened in back porch, literally, if I was to turn the camera and show the scene, it's very similar, up to including those LED lights that are strung across. And we're very fortunate. We live in a very heavily wooded so our backyards are heavily wooded. So what I would say is it doesn't take much imagination for me to say that is me, and it's a little scary, but that's me on the right, kind of how I think I look now, and me on the left as I'm looking at it, as maybe a young professional. That's pretty amazing to be looking at that. Wow.

Lindsay Hack 22:01

I love that. I love that. And so this, this is, this is the power of it, right? So, so there is, as I said, there is some open suggestion of somebody's taking this photo, you know, is it your, is it your partner? Is it your, you know, who, whatever, that's part of it. But then there's some interpretation, like you just did there. And so, you know, it's like, okay, I'm sitting here, I'm working with somebody, they've come up to my house, you know, to share the weekend with me. We're working together, whatever it is. And so that's why I love it so much. And so part of why I am able to get some of these images is because how deep of the questionnaire and the cost of GPT that I went right where you were like, Oh my gosh, it's very Why is she asking me all these questions? Because I want to get deep into your world. And so that I love that about that. And then there's, there's tweaks and plays and stuff like that to work with. But each one is going to create an image that is so deeply connected to you that when you look at your vision board, whether it's on your computer, you print it up and put it on, you know, some type of background, it's going to feel each and every image is going to feel that for you. And then, as I said, Now, you can show up like that person every single day, because you see it, and you know what he's doing, and you know how it feels. And that's like that goose bump moment. That's like the Oh, wow. This is incredible.

Mike O'Neill 23:16

Yeah, Lindsay, I'm loving this, and I hope for those who are watching, you can see just an inkling of kind of what this is going to be. I can tell already I'm very much looking forward to seeing the finished vision board. I appreciate you letting me and us see kind of behind the curtain of what that process looks like. I would be remiss if I didn't come full circle and kind of tie back the theme of this podcast with kind of the question, and that is, this is a podcast about helping leaders get unstuck. Can you think of an example where perhaps you or a client truly was stuck, felt stuck? Yeah. And what did it take to get unstuck?

Lindsay Hack 24:04

Yeah, so many. And you know, when we first started talking about this, that that was, like, the reason that I was like, Okay, we need to do this, because unstuck, stuck is are such powerful words when it comes to anybody who's going through any type of transformation, you know? And I can give you multiple examples for myself, and I've had 258 people go through my workshop, so I could give you plenty of examples. But here's the thing. So what I feel like is, when it comes to, you know, being stuck is that you just can't get to that next level. And that's obviously coming back to the coaching, and you're the expert there. So we'll, you know, we'll leave it there. But so I have a client who has been talking about writing a book, probably for 25 years, okay? And every time she sat down, she just had all those irrational thoughts, like, who am I? What do people care about? What I have to say? And she would freeze and she would not write anything. So what I did is I created an image of her standing in front of a in. Bookstore, reading her book to the world, and it was that moment where she's like, it's already happened. And so now, every time she sits down at her desk, all I said to her is to pull up that image and just start writing. And I'm happy to report, she is on chapter five, and she's now written more than she's ever written before, because it was always up here before. And so that's one of multiple examples. You know, I've sat down at my desk, you know, on a Friday afternoon, humming and hawing about going for my run, not really wanting to. We've all been there, you know what I'm talking about. And up pops my image of me crossing the finish line. I have a medal around my neck, my hands are in the sky, and guess what? I get my butt off the off the chair, and I go for my run. So it helps with motivation. It helps with, you know, limiting those beliefs out the window. So we are able to go from that stuck, whatever it is, whether it's self sabotage, whether it's that kind of limiting beliefs, and looking at that image and knowing not only is it possible, but it's already happened. I've already run my race, I've already got my medal. I've already put it on my metal rack. I It's already in there. So of course, I'm going to get my butt off the chair, and I'm going to go for my run, or she's going to write a chapter. You know, I've had clients reach out for speaking gigs once. I've shown them what it looks like to be on a TEDx stage. I've had people book trips, you know, when they wanted to do a retreat in Paris, and I showed her in front of, you know, the Eiffel Tower, like, three minutes later, she booked her retreat. So the feeling of stuck to unstuck for entrepreneurs, and in specifics, is that they are now seeing it's possible. And when you see it's possible, you act differently than when you don't know and you don't see it's possible. And that's the beauty of these images,

Mike O'Neill 26:35

the enthusiasm in your voice, and for those watching you just kind of light up clearly you're you're doing something that you believe in, the passion comes through loud and clear as we kind of wrap up. I like to challenge our viewers and listeners. If today's conversation reminded you that clarity drives confidence, take that seriously. Sometimes the most powerful shift begins with what we can finally see, and this vision boards can help just that. Lindsay, thank you so much for kind of guiding me and us kind of through that process and for helping others kind of visualize what you do for clients that is possible if folks want to reach out, connect with you, learn more about you and your workshops. What's the best way for them to do that?

Lindsay Hack 27:31

Yeah, that's wonderful. Thank you. Honestly, any socials I'm on, all of them, LinkedIn and Facebook is probably the two one that I'm on the most, and you can see tons of images. There go and take a look. If you're curious, like, can I The answer is, yes, I can. The only limitation is your imagination. I run workshops twice a month, every single two weeks, basically where you can come and learn how to do this. And so really, just come and connect and ask questions. Because I as as you say, I'm very excited. I'm very passionate. But honestly, until you see yourself, you're only going to continue to see generic like you've done way back in vision board land when we, you know, had magazine cuttings out and those type of things. So get involved. Learn how to do it and get to see it. And as I said, there's no stupid questions. I'm very excited to talk about it. I'm passionate about it. So please, reach out if you have a question.

Mike O'Neill 28:22

Lindsay, thank you for sharing that passion.

Lindsay Hack 28:25

Yeah, thank you for having me. It's been amazing.

Mike O'Neill 28:28

So as we kind of wrap up, if this episode brought a challenge to mind, something you've been thinking about as a leader, I want to invite you to something that's a bit different, and it's called a game plan strategy call. It's not a discovery session. It's a focused two hour coaching conversation where we tackle one leadership challenge that really matters to you. You'll walk away with some fresh insight and a meaningful next step forward. There's no pressure, just real coaching is designed to help you think differently and lead more effectively. Curious, you'll find a link in the show notes and to everyone watching and listening. I hope this episode helps you get unstuck and on target. Thank you for joining us for this episode of get unstuck and on target. I hope you've gained insights to help you lead with confidence and drive your organization forward. Remember, at bench builders, we're committed to your success, your leadership excellence and your strategic growth. If you've enjoyed our conversation today, please leave a review, rate and subscribe to keep up with our latest episodes. This show really grows when listeners like you share it with others. Who do you know, who needs to hear what we talked about today? Until next time, I encourage you to stay focused on the target and continue to break new ground on. Your leadership path.

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