The People, Process, & Progress Podcast - Get Back in Balance with a September Reset

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

September is a natural time to reset. In this episode, I share how I slipped on my own pillar maintenance and used reflection, family time, and a simple framework of People, Process, and Progress to get back on track. You will learn how balance does not come from perfection, but from correction and intentional resets, and how you can apply this principle in your own life and work.

September always feels like a reset. For many of us, our kids are starting a new school year, crisp fall layers creeping in, football season kicks off, the new fiscal year brings fresh energy to projects, and cooler morning spark renewed connection with family. But here's the truth. This year, I realized I needed a reset too. Welcome to People Process Progress.

I'm Kevin Pineau, and this show is where balance and planning come together. We build on the seven pillars for a balanced life and the seven pillars of project leadership, because the same habits that keep us steady at home help us deliver at work, and the same disciplines that drive projects forward also help us live with balance. Each episode brings lessons from fitness, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, recovery, leadership, and health care, and public safety. The goal is simple to help you lead stronger, recover smarter, and stay anchored. This is my two cents and does not reflect any employer.

Now let's own our minds, move our bodies, and anchor our spirits. I had gotten off my pillar maintenance. less meditation, journaling here and there, my evening wind-down routine slipping, eating later than I should, and maybe the hardest one to admit, I was not accepting what I already had. Sometimes our boundaries flexed in healthy ways, but sometimes we realize we need to shore them back up. For me, I had to take stock of what I was blessed with, not just what I was chasing. A song I heard recently helped me remember that. Linkin Park song called Leave Out All the Rest, hit me with one line in particular, and the line

goes, quote, help me leave behind some reasons to be missed, end quote. That stopped me cold. I'd been too focused on what I wanted instead of what I already had. So it took a few days at the lake, visited family, laughed, worked out, reset. That reset gave me perspective, not perfection, but I want to help you find your perspective as well. So let's start with the theme of this podcast, the people, right? The reset starts with owning where you are. and appreciating who is with you, your family, your friends, your coworkers, taking ownership of your current state, pillar one, and at work looking for potential in your team and helping them foster that potential.

So let's talk about process. Let's go back to the seven pillars for more balanced life. If you're not sure where to start, take the online assessment at people processprogress.com. Hint, ownership and mindfulness are usually some of the first areas we need to revisit. or keep it simple. Ask yourself, what am I doing too much of or not enough of for your team do an after-action report of the past year. What should you stop? What should you start? What should we just keep doing? Now let's think about progress. Now remember, progress is any step forward. The first day back in the gym is progress. A single journal entry is progress. One family dinner

without phones is progress. At work, look back on what your team accomplished, quantify it, celebrate it, and share it. So here's the overall lesson that I learned and that I hope you will take stock in is that balance doesn't come from perfection. It comes from correction and intentional resets. So collectively, let's all take this call to action. Think about what our legacy would be right now if we left this earth. Let's identify an area and our lives that needs a reset. Let's write it down. Let's not stop there, though. Let's write two or three solutions for how we will address it because this is how reflection turns into progress. Thank you for spending this time with me on people process progress. If today's episode helped

you, share it with someone who could use it too. For more, check out my two books. The stability equation, seven pillars for a more balanced life, and the people process and progress of project management. Both are available now on Amazon and Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover formats. You can also find more conversations, lessons, and short videos on the People Process Progress YouTube channel, and follow me on X and Instagram at Pinell KG. And of course, keep tuning in here to the People Process Progress podcast where together we keep building balanced lives, stronger teams, and better outcomes. Until next time, own your mind, move your body, anchor your spirit, and Godspeed, y'all.