By Penny Zenker, aka The Focusologist
Celebrity wedding planner David Tutera famously said: “Live life with your eyes wide open so you can embrace unexpected moments because you never know when you will be inspired.”
It’s those “unexpected moments” I want to talk about in this final entry in my blog series. In the first two blogs, I told you about the Reset Mindset and the Reset Practice. Today, I’m going to zoom in even further and tell you about the Reset Moment. It’s in these moments that you intuitively activate a Reset Practice, and repeating that practice builds your Reset Mindset. Whether it’s handling last-minute changes or unexpected challenges during an event, mastering these Reset Moments can positively transform how you approach change and uncertainty in your work and, ultimately, your life.
So how do you take and make Reset Moments?
What is a Reset Moment?
At its core, the Reset Moment is a purposeful pause for reflection, awareness, and insights that helps you make a conscious choice or intentional response. It’s a moment to reconnect with your objective and the people, projects, and priorities that matter most.
Potential Reset Moments surround you all the time, but they become powerful only when you recognize and label them as such.
A Reset Moment is the event that triggers the Reset Practice. It’s the catalyst that prompts you to step back, get perspective, and realign with your goals, values and intentions. These moments can be small or significant, and can happen in an instant or be processed over time but each one presents an opportunity to reconnect with what matters most.
There’s no “right” number of Reset Moments to take each day. They are meant to be flexible and useful to you, no matter your circumstances. In a world filled with endless stimuli, Reset Moments filter out the noise and help you focus on what’s essential. They won’t do the work for you, but they’ll help you focus on what matters – whether it’s aligning with the client’s vision, managing your team, or overcoming last-minute obstacles.
High-Stakes vs. Small Reset Moments
In my previous blog, I shared examples of high-stakes situations event planners often face – big, obvious challenges that force you to take action. But Reset Moments aren’t always so dramatic. In fact, the real power lies in the small, everyday moments. Things as simple as how you choose to start your day, how you respond to a coworker’s bad mood, or how you handle an unexpected delay in deliveries.
The way you handle these smaller moments will shape how you respond when the stakes are higher, like when you’re running a major event. Low-stakes Reset Moments help prepare you for bigger challenges through practice and repetition, and this preparation allows you to approach high-pressure situations with calm and clarity.
You Already Know How to Make Reset Moments
Here’s some good news: you probably already take Reset Moments without even realizing it. You just need to identify and build on them.
Reset Moments can be proactive (make) or reactive (take). The easiest way to understand the difference is this:
- Proactively making a Reset Moment means intentionally planning a check-in – like a scheduled meeting, a timeline review, or any recurring task that gives you space to step back, gain perspective, and realign.
- Reactively taking a Reset Moment is like signaling for a time-out in sports, a chance to pause and reassess when something unexpected happens.
Many of the moments in your daily routine, like drinking your morning coffee or taking a walk, could be Reset Moments in disguise. By recognizing them and adding more intention and structure, you transform the value of that time into a true reset. This simple shift turns ordinary moments into powerful opportunities for reflection, clarity, and alignment. The same is true for Reset moments, which are already part of your process.
Event Planning Reset Moments
As an event planner, you already have several formalized Reset Moments built into your process. Here are some examples of Reset Moments you might already take:
- Post-Client Meeting Review: After a client meeting, take a moment to review your notes, clarify any uncertainties, and update your event plan based on feedback.
- Vendor Confirmation Check: Before finalizing vendor bookings, double-check details with your vendors to make sure nothing is missed and everyone is on the same page.
- Timeline Adjustment: As the event day approaches, reassess the timeline to ensure all tasks are on track, and make adjustments if necessary.
- Budget Reconciliation: Midway through the planning process, compare current expenses to the budget to ensure everything aligns and adjust if needed.
- Team Briefings: Before a major task or event day, gather your team for a briefing to ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities.
- Venue Walkthrough: A few days before the event, revisit the venue for a final walkthrough to make sure everything aligns with the plan.
- Post-Event Debrief: After the event, take time to review what went well and what could be improved, gathering feedback from your team, vendors, and clients.
- Crisis Management Pause: If an issue arises, such as a vendor canceling last minute, take a moment to pause, assess the situation, and find an alternative solution.
- Attendee Feedback Analysis: After collecting feedback from guests, review it to identify areas of improvement for future events.
- Personal Breaks: Even during a busy day of planning, take short breaks to recharge, ensuring you maintain mental clarity and energy.
You may not have realized these steps were simply Reset Moments! Each one engages your Reset Practice: #1 Step Back, #2 Get Perspective, and #3 Realign.
Every time you take or make a Reset Moment, you are enhancing your adaptability and focus on aligned action. Be careful not to let these moments become routine, or done in autopilot mode, or taken for granted. You don’t want to get lost in the doing and forget what you are actually working towards. You want to be present with the value you are creating with each one and ensure that each one delivers insight and leads to dynamically adjusting and realigning as needed.
Final Thought: Trust the Process
Eventually, this practice will become second nature. You’ll find yourself naturally incorporating Reset Moments into your work and life, even without consciously thinking about them. You’ll rely on these moments to maintain composure, manage stress, and make sure you’re always focusing on what truly matters.
Reset Moments are the building blocks of the Reset Mindset, and by intentionally taking these moments in both small and high-stakes situations, you’ll strengthen your mindset over time and support others in practice as well, both at work and at home.
Read Part One of this series here and Part Two here. Learn more about my upcoming book, The Reset Mindset, here.
About the Author
Penny Zenker is The Focusologist, a sought-after international speaker and best-selling author of The Productivity Zone: Stop the Tug of War with Time. As a master NLP practitioner and neurostrategist, she integrates the elements of thought, communication, and behavior to provide strategies for adapting to change and maximizing results. Penny’s expertise is derived from building and selling a multi-million-dollar business, managing strategic projects and business turnarounds as a senior executive at one of the world’s leading market research firms, and later working as a Tony Robbins strategic business coach for companies around the world.
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