Transform Your Quality of Life

We all can get caught up in the whirlwind of life at times until suddenly we come to a screeching halt and sigh, “There’s got to be more to life than this rat race I’ve been on the last few months (years)!”

The beauty when this happens is it provides us the opportunity to evaluate what we are doing and whom we are spending our time with.

Over the next couple of days take inventory, write down what you are doing every 15 minutes from the time you get out of bed until you shut your eyes for a long night of sleep again.

Once you have it, consciously read it over paying attention to how you feel as you read each entry.

Now, what would you like to have more or less of in your life? Hint: to transform the quality of your life pick more of the things that bring a smile to your face, a warm sensation in your heart and less of the I want to puke, poke a darning needle in my eyes or pull my hair out items!

As many of you know, I am part of the Forbes® Coaches Council and from time to time my comments are selected for publication on Forbes.com. This happens to be one of those weeks! They posed the question, “What is one thing a company can do to improve their employees’ quality of life?”

My response was, “Evaluate Whether Employees Are Overworked, being willing to truthfully evaluate if a person is being asked to perform more than what is possible for one employee. If the evaluation determines yes, the company can create an action plan to change the expectation in order to allow this person to be successful in their role. Being successful generates positive energy, which will enhance their quality of life at home and at work.” – Kris McCrea Scrutchfield

Back to your list, are you trying to do more than one person can actually do?  I get it; we keep taking things on cause that’s what we do! We’re doers! A teacher needs a parent to go on a field trip and our hand shoots out of our pocket like a rocket to say yes.

You have creative bursts where you start new projects at work, at home, on the board you sit on. All systems are green and all cylinders are firing, until today! You reached the tipping point and it’s time to pause, reflect, ditch the things that don’t bring joy to you and find a way to continue feeding the things that jazz you.

If you are doing more than one person can possibly do in a normal working day at your job, it’s time to have a conversation with the person you report to. Don’t ignore it and hope for the best, you are the only person who can take responsibility and create a change. 

Seriously, what items on your list could another member of your team do? What items don’t really need to be done at all? Yes, those items do exist and absorb energy that could be used on something better. What could you reprioritize to free up time?

Reaching this point does not mean you are a failure or slow or anything! It simply means it’s time to evaluate the situation and make some adjustments.

I recently did this exercise with one of my clients. She realized she was spending about 5 hours a week working on a board that she was totally not passionate about. She made a decision to resign her post to focus on things more in alignment with who she is and what her message is. Guess what, she’s much happier and she has been able to refocus at her job bringing a newfound energy, making her more productive and she feels amazing about the change.

What will it be? Are you willing to transform your quality of life by getting real with all that you are busy doing? I would love to hear how this goes for you. Let me know!

If you would like to talk more about the transformation process, click here to set up a discovery call with me today. If you would like to read the other 10 things a company can do to help improve the quality of life for their employees, here’s the link to the full article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2016/11/18/11-things-companies-should-be-doing-to-improve-their-employees-quality-of-life/?inf_contact_key=d62b4b0dc4f994e9b1107715314c1eb0b38aa588336ea805dfcacbb585eb8364#572c6947d97e

Happy reading! Let me know what thoughts or questions you have.

Gratitude Keeps Us Connected

Thanksgiving provides us with an opportunity to pause, gather with friends and family to give thanks for our food and blessings. It’s also a wonderful reminder of how interconnected we are to each other.

If we tracked the trail of the food placed upon our Thanksgiving tables from seed to serving dish, we would have hundreds of hands to thank! Maybe even thousands…

Growing up on a potato farm created a deep appreciation within me for the work it takes to produce food on a large scale for people to consume throughout the year.

It begins with planting a seed, tediously tending the crops over the summer months until harvest time arrives. Harvest is a time when the feeling of abundance is palpable, as one small seed has transformed into many large potatoes; it’s a bit magical.

A bountiful harvest is celebrated, now comes another tending phase. Each potato must be stored, packed, and transported in exactly the right temperature and conditions to arrive successfully in the market.

My guess is, this is where most of us now carefully select our food from an array of options. We are now ready to start the final phase of the journey, the preparation and presentation phase.

As we place each dish on the table creating a visual masterpiece, we begin to feel a welling up of gratitude. We sit down to a beautiful table full of delicious nourishment and give thanks.

This is only a brief glimpse into what it takes to get one vegetable on your table. Before you are in the thick of cooking, seasoning and plating, take a few quiet moments to imagine shaking hands with each person who helped make your dinner possible. Look them in their eye and say thank you.

We get caught up in our lives and it becomes easy to forget all we have to be grateful for. A few years ago, I started a nightly practice before I go to sleep to help me connect to life in a more meaningful way.

Each night as I settle into bed, I reflect on my day and say thank you for everything the day presented to me. Yes, everything, even the things that perhaps didn’t go so well and many times those are the things I’m most grateful for!

Gratitude is a powerful practice and it continues to raise my awareness of how people I don’t know affect my life in a positive way. It creates connection. What and who are you grateful for today?

I wish each of you a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends! If you would like to chat about creating a gratitude practice in your life, click here and sign up for a complimentary discovery session with me today. 

Build Confidence

Are you driving with both feet?

I remember the first time I hit the brake with my left foot and put my passengers head into the windshield like it was yesterday! I was in my teens and it made a lasting impression on me. If you have done this, I’m sure you can recall the feeling as well.  Scary, jolting…you get the picture. My lesson was don’t drive with my left foot.

I also remember the first time I was a passenger and the driver was actually using both feet to drive an automatic transmission car. Their left foot would constantly hover over the brake in a state of fear and sometimes they would apply pressure to the brake at the same time they were pushing the gas pedal. The engine would rev and be ready to go yet the brakes were holding the car back. As a rider, you could feel the constant constraint of being held back.

This is an extreme version of “proceed with caution.”  As I’ve grown I continue to notice we create this same scenario in our lives. We start working towards a goal then fear steps in and we find a way to slow ourselves down. We create the tension and begin to hold back. For example, if we want to have a conversation to resolve a difference with our boss or spouse, we may prepare, get time to talk arranged and then we hold back on saying what’s on our mind. When we do muster up the ability to take our foot off the brake and speak, our voice is shaky and full of trepidation leaving the receiver of our message a bit leery.

Now we have a cautious speaker and leery listener….I don’t’ know about you but that generates a level of anxiety within me just thinking about it! Let’s find a new way to drive with a clear decision on when to go and when to wait.  Sound good?

The one thing that would help a driver to stop using both feet is an increased level of confidence in their ability to apply the brakes appropriately and with accurate timing. The only way to gain confidence is to practice letting go and leaving their left foot on the floorboard of the car for longer periods of time each time they drive.

Where are you driving with both feet in your life? Imagine what it would feel like to navigate that area with more confidence and ease…How would your life be different if you were able to do this? Reply to me and let me know!

Are you ready to practice keeping your left foot off the brake? If so, what tiny step could you take to build your confidence in the area where you’ve been holding back? Breathe and remember small steps added together create marathons! Build your confidence one step at a time.

Invite a friend to join you in your journey. My guess is they too have an area where they would like to feel more confident. Reply and let me know what you decide to pursue.

If you’d like to chat more about how to up-level your confidence to be able to create the life you desire, go after the job you want, have the conversation with your boss or spouse you’ve been meaning to have, click here to schedule a complimentary discovery session with me today!

Discover the Joy Along the Journey

“Life is a journey, not a destination.” This is one of my favorite quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is a powerful reminder to be an active participant in our lives.

We can become so focused on the goal or task we want to achieve we tend to ignore the joy and pain we experienced getting to the goal or doing the task.

The vastness of the learning that can occur when we notice the details along our way is amazing. Being fully present along the journey can also provide an opportunity to notice beauty around us that we ordinarily might miss.

For several years, I walked through a parking lot to get to my office.  Along the walk, I passed by a building with a beautiful painting on one of it’s outside walls. The painting would always spark a smile in me each time I saw it.

Keep in mind, I walked the same path every day and sometimes multiple times in a day, yet I didn’t see the mural on all of my walks. There were many times I was not focused on my path. My mind was highly tuned in to reaching my office and what I would do when I got there that I missed out on the opportunity to smile when passing by the artwork.  I missed a moment of joy in my life.

When we are working to improve a process or establish a habit, we constantly create, test, and implement very small changes and in no time those small changes add up to a highly functioning process or a reliable habit.

If we decide we would like to have more joy in our lives, many times it takes training of our mind to become increasingly present with what is happening now in this moment. 

One of the best ways I’ve found to help me do this is to evoke my senses which allows me to gather information about my daily experiences that I may have been ignoring.

Below are a few ideas for you to try out:

• When you listen to a song, close your eyes, this may allow you to hear parts of the music that you don’t normally notice.
• Notice the walls in the hallways at your work. You may see artwork that you’ve never seen before.
• When you go for a walk, zone in on what you are hearing around you. By bringing your attention to this you may hear new birds signing or running water in the stream near you.
• When you go to the supermarket, notice the people in the store with you. You may see an adorable child who is watching your every move with a curious eye.
• These are all opportunities to bring an increased awareness to our journey and allow us to experience more joy while being engaged in truly living life. The more we practice this skill the more natural it becomes and before long this is just how we operate.

How will you expand your awareness to live a more present and engaged life today? Click here to sign up for a discovery call with me today if you would like to change the experience of your journey through life.  

Changing Your Words

Changing the words that follow your what if questions.

Today’s thoughts are short yet very powerful! When is the last time you had an idea that generated sheer excitement within you and before you could get even the first step planned for how to bring your idea into reality your mind took a detour full of what if questions?

I get it, it happens all the time! Brilliant idea turns into…

• What if I fail?

• What if people don’t get it?

• What if no one shows up?

• What if my boss (spouse, board of directors, etc.) thinks it’s a dumb idea?

• What will people think?

Okay, I could go on, however I’m sure you get the picture.

When this happens it doesn’t take long for the idea to fizzle and fade returning us to the way life has always been. We begin awaiting the next fabulous idea to strike so we can do it all over again.

What would happen if you changed the cycle? Take a moment to recall your last exciting idea and as the questions come flooding in, consciously change the words you use to follow what if with.

• What if I succeed?

• What if this inspires people?

• What if the room is jam packed with people?

• What if my boss (spouse, board of directors, etc.) is completely in awe of my idea and sees how it can help others?

• What if I don’t let what people think bog me down?

All of a sudden you have possibility and your idea can continue to take form! It’s only now that you begin to think about what they next step might be to making the idea happen.

On my mousepad is a quote from Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t you're right!” Imagine if he let his ideas fizzle. Instead he used his mind to keep moving forward with the next step based on what he learned from the last step.

A few years back, I started challenging myself on this concept and I’ve realized I feel amazing and have much more fun when I’m using language that inspires possibility not founded in fear! I encourage my clients to use this shift in language as a beginning to their journey of creating what it is they desire in their life, work and business. Instead of, “What if this never works out?” to “What if this works out?” “What will my next step be?”

You can use this concept whenever you notice that excuses are beginning to occupy the driver’s seat of your life and you are viewing the ride from the back seat!

Start to become aware of the words you are using. If they are destroying your confidence to move forward, then consciously pluck new words from your dictionary that are more empowering to you and your idea! You get to choose your words, no one else is in charge of what rolls off your tongue except you.

Experience how different you feel when you are aware and actually choosing what you are saying about yourself, your ideas and your abilities!

This doesn’t mean that all our ideas are stellar! We still need to test them, learn from our mishaps before we let them fizzle.

I’m curious, let me know, what words you left behind and what new words are you replacing them with?

If you would like to chat more about what changing your language could do for you, click here to sign up for a complimentary discovery session with me today! I look forward to talking with you?

The Gift of the Present

Give yourself the gift of the present.

This intricate spider web was only visible for a very brief period of time, while the early morning dew rested on its threads allowing them to be captured by the bright rays of the sunlight coming through the trees. Once the dew was dry and the sun shifted ever so slightly, they were no longer clearly visible.

If I were not focused on the present I would have missed this unique opportunity to see the breathtaking display of beautiful webs in a multitude of tress along the riverbank during my run.

Time can be divided into three categories: the past, present and the future. I’m always curious to know where people spend their time.

The past can be an incredible source of knowledge and it’s where we gather our wisdom. When we recall an experience it can bring back emotion with it.  While there are times the emotion creates a warm feeling inside of us, there are also times it may generate a darker sensation of anger, fear or worry.

When the past creates warmth, many times we board the express train to zoom right on through the recall with a “that’s just the way it’s suppose to be attitude.”  We don’t take time to let the feeling soak in and bring the experience back clearly into our memory before we rush off.

However, when the past stimulates a darker emotion, many times we choose to hang out in the feeling for days never boarding even the slowest of trains to move on! We may analyze all of the intricate details of the experience to the point of being paralyzed. We can get stuck in the need to make it right because how it happened must have been wrong. We want to prove our point. We want to “show them.” Sound familiar?

The fact is we cannot alter the past. It is what it is, all of it: the good, the bad and the ugly. We can only learn from it and allow it to deepen our wisdom and know that the past doesn’t dictate the future.

What would happen if we flipped the proportions on these two experiences when recalling the past? What if we hung out in the warmth and only stop by the dark for the purpose of learning from the experience? How would our lives be different?

I’m going to jump to the future and my guess is the same could be said for how we manage our visit there as well. We may begin our thinking from a place of success and we zoom through it to then spend hours, days, and sometimes weeks worrying about what will go wrong with our idea or plan or better yet what others may think about our idea or plan.

Back to the previous questions: What would happen if we flipped the proportions on these two experiences? What if we hung out imagining the success of our plan or idea and only stop by the dark side for the purpose of being able to identify possible gaps in our thinking? How would our lives be different?

This brings me back to the present. The most incredible gift we will ever receive and we are given it every day and every moment.  Are we making the most of it?

What would happen if we made a conscious decision to spend 90% of our time focused on today, the experience in front of us? What if we simply took the steps needed today to create the future that you desire, not worrying about the steps you may or may not need to take next week and not punishing yourself for the steps you didn’t take yesterday?

What if we set a limit on the time we spend ruminating in the past and worrying about the future? Consciously choose to BE in the moment, to see the beauty and the challenge that is present for you to enjoy and experience growth from today.

I know when I am able to BE, I feel amazing and I can accomplish huge feats. The minute I retreat to the past or jump to the future my energy shifts and I slow down and feel the weight in my body and my spirit becomes dull.

The present is the only place we can create change from, if you are not thrilled with the results your past has produced, you can take steps today to create a different result.

I choose to BE in the present, evaluate and learn from the past and plan for my future. Where will you choose to live the majority of your life, the past, the future or the present? If you would like to talk more about how to become more present in your life click here and schedule a discovery call with me today. 

Are You Ready To Grow and Change with the Season?

Here in New England, the beauty of the leaves changing color has been absolutely stunning this fall. Each of the colors is unique with various shades and levels of vibrancy carefully displayed on every tree.

In a few weeks, the trees will be barren and the ground will be littered with color and nuts waiting for snow to cover them for the winter months.

Using the changing of the seasons as a reminder to reflect on the past few months and fine-tune the plan for the upcoming season is a great way to incorporate change in your life.

Take a few minutes to think about all you’ve accomplished along with the moments you experienced joy over the summer and celebrate! Notice what felt really great and also what felt a bit off.

As you identify the goals you hit out of the park, what strategies did you use to create these successes? These are skills and tools that would be helpful to bring with you into the next season.

Let’s look at the flip side of this, what goals did you fall short on or get stuck in the muck of achieving? Before you beat yourself up for not reaching these goals, take a moment to decide if they are still relevant to your current plan or is it time to change or redefine the goal to be in alignment with where you are today? This is an important and valuable step that is often forgotten. 

The fall leaves have demonstrated to us that change comes in wide array of color variations and changes that occur, from remaining entirely green to completely fiery red. Making a very small tweak to a goal or idea may be all that’s needed to create momentum to jump in and get started.

Once you have reset your goal, continue to be curious with yourself. What habits or behaviors have you been engaging in that may have contributed to not reaching your goals over the summer? Is it time to let go of this “stuff” and create new thoughts, habits and/or behaviors that serve who you are today?

If you answered yes, take a minute to imagine letting the old “stuff” fall of you just as the leaves drop from the tree and create a new pattern of thought or action that will help carry you to your finish line.

With each season a tree grows and expands, in the fall it sheds it’s vibrant leaves in celebration of a successful growing season and over the winter it prepares to bud with a perfectly sized leaf to fit the tree and the size it is that day.

As you grow and evolve, developing new habits and behaviors are key to sustaining your growth and reaching your new goals.

Over the past few years as I’ve grown as a person and built my business to where it is today, I have relied on this process of continuously reflecting and adjusting to be able to continuously cross the finish line and set higher goals.

What behavior or habits will you adjust today to better serve you and what you currently want to accomplish in your life and work? Remember, small changes made over time add up to significant long-term results.

If you’re feeling challenged by your ability to create sustainable change in your life, feel free to click here to sign up for a discovery call with me today. 

Learn to Say No

To boost your energy, it may mean learning to say no. What have you verbally said yes to, with a smile on your face, in the past few weeks? All the while as the words were flying out of your mouth your insides were screaming NO WAY and your teeth were clenching and grinding together in utter disbelief at your willingness to take on one more thing!   

This vivid description comes from lots of experience. I’m curious; does the description resonate with you?

Learning to say no can be a real challenge for many of us. We naturally want to help, we want to make a difference in the world and nurture others, however if we keep saying yes when we really mean no, we may find ourselves feeling depleted and overwhelmed. Sound familiar?

Let’s do a check in, how are you currently feeling? How energized and full of life do you feel today? If you are feeling stretched thin and not feeling successful in what you are currently doing, here’s a strategy that has worked for me many times and continues to work for my clients.

Take a moment and generate a comprehensive list of all of the places you are giving of yourself and your time. Here are a few items that could be on the list:

• Board and committees you serve on

• Projects you are working on

• Social events you are organizing

• Volunteer hours

• Family commitments

• Commitments with friends

Okay you get the picture. The list can be endless! Once you have your list, rank each of the items based on how much joy they bring into your life. Use a scale of 1-10 with 1 meaning the item does not bring you any joy at all to 10 meaning it brings an incredible amount of joy to your experience in life.  

Locate your 1, 2 & 3’s on the list and let’s take a deeper look at them. What would you like to do about these? What would your life be like without them? Is it possible to give them up to create more space in your life for more of the 4-10 items on your list?

I get this can feel very uncomfortable and scary to give something up. We all take pride in thinking everything we do is absolutely essential and important and without our effort the ______ (you fill in the blank) would fail, yet our heart is just not in it.

The reality is if we release what doesn’t bring us joy, often this will open up time and space for us to contribute in a much greater and more meaningful way to a cause which truly brings us unlimited joy and is aligned with our values and who we are as a person.

Learning to honor and value your time by saying no when we mean no takes practice. It presents us with an opportunity to manage the doubts and questions as they begin to haunt us, “What will people think about me for giving this up?”

What if you took a breath and decided to do it anyway? Try testing this out with something small to see what happens for you. You may notice as you become more comfortable with saying no, all of a sudden when you say yes it creates a whole new sense of energy and excitement!

If you would like to talk about your list and what you would like to be able to say no to in your life so you can create space to be able to shout a joyous yes again. Please click here and sign up for a free discovery session with me today.

How's Your Day?

How’s your day?

We are all asked this question multiple times a day and most of us reply with a pre-recorded message of it’s good, fine, okay and every now and then we might even say it’s great.

I get curious to understand the meaning behind those average somewhat blah descriptions of a day. What would need to happen in our day to create a different response?

One of the foundations of creating success in our lives is the ability to build meaningful relationships with other people. Creating and fostering a relationship with others begins with conversation. Imagine if we made the conversation real and not robotic.

I would like to invite each of you to participate in an experiment with me. The next time you are asked, “How’s your day?” answer with an authentic word that depicts the essence of your day and how you feel. No need to belabor the answer with a detailed story, simply use a word.

Below are a few examples that could fill in the following blank, “I’m ___________ today, thank you for asking.  And you?” As tempting as it may seem, refrain from using the snarky tone when thanking them for asking! Try to come from a place of appreciation that they cared enough to ask.

Exhausted                                   

Energized

Fabulous

Creative

Sad

Grateful

Overwhelmed

Happy

I can hear you mumbling, “I don’t have time to engage in a lengthy conversation,” which is usually the case for most of us. So keep your reply concise using one word. If you don’t have time to listen to the other person’s answer then don’t ask him or her the question, “And you?”.

Now I’m not insinuating that our emotions or feelings can or should be summarized in a word. What I am suggesting is that we start by finding a word that feels authentic rather than simply a rote answer that is easy.

When you do this, pay attention to how your conversation changes with people. Notice what happens for you when you answer with a real answer and watch how the other person responds.

I started this experiment a while back and based on what I’ve learned it has changed the mundane interaction and added value to my day.

People are almost stunned by my response, their shoulders rise, and they look me in the eye and smile. They are engaged with a sense of truly being heard when they asked their question.

My question back to them provides them with an opportunity and the ability to be open and use their own meaningful descriptor.  

The brief interaction comes to a close; however, a human connection has been created.

If you would like to continue to dive in and process the feeling that your word describes, find a blank piece of paper and pen, write your word at the top of the paper then proceed to write for 15-20 minutes whatever comes into your mind.

Don’t judge your thoughts and words, simply write, why do this? Many times after the writing we are able to move into creating an action that is aligned with our values and helps lead us to what we desire in our life.

I’d love to hear what you learn from your experiment. If you’d like to chat about what you noticed from your interactions or writing, click here to set up a free discovery session with me today.

Joy

I strongly believe that creating joy in our lives is a key component to living our best life. Joy generates a feeling of happiness and pleasure within us and when we deprive ourselves of this feeling we are not able to operate from an optimal state.

I’m curious what happens to your plants when you forget to water them? I know when I don’t give the plant in my office the nourishment it needs it wilts and appears very droopy. That’s exactly how I feel when I am not experiencing ample joy in my life! How about you?

Well let’s take a few minutes to see if we can shift that! Sometimes we allow our schedule to become over crowded with to-do lists and we lose sight of our priorities. Many of my clients reach the point where they struggle to recall the feeling of pleasure with in themselves. This is a very personal sensation and can be different for everyone.

Take a minute, close your eyes and try to recall the last time you felt joy, perhaps you had a smile on your face and a spring in your step. What were you doing?

Drawing a blank…here are a few examples of what ignites joy for a few of my clients in hopes to activate your thoughts:

• Walking their dog

• Soaking in a bubble bath

• Running, biking, hiking

• Using luxurious lotion that smells incredible on their skin

• Family dinner and conversation

Now that you have found what provides you joy, imagine how your life would be different if you could experience that feeling more frequently. What would happen if you made a decision and moved this to the top of your priority list?

Take a moment to reflect. Be aware of what comes up for you, “I don’t have time” may be a biggie. Test your idea out by intentionally adding it into your schedule and participating full out while you are doing it. After a few days, you may feel like you have more time than you did before!

I remember when I made a decision to add more joy and humor into my daily life. It felt very daunting to navigate the “where will I possible find the time” and this decision meant I was putting my well being first! Yikes, that too felt a bit scary yet I did it anyway!

I love my new life. I experience joy, love and laughter everyday. I have more energy and time to soak in the sun as it rises in the sky! I desire this for each of you!

You have the opportunity to choose your priorities and how you spend your time. This is your life. It doesn’t belong to anyone but you and you get to be completely in charge! What will you do today to bring more joy into your life?

If you would like to chat more about your joy, what it is and how to build more of it into your life, click here to set up a discovery session with me today.
 

The Changing of the Season Sparks Transition

Labor Day marks the transition of summer coming to a close and beginning of fall for most of us. Playtime decreases as school starts a new session. The crops stop growing as the harvesting process kicks into gear. 

The beauty of transition is there is always an ending before a fresh beginning. Life also tends to follow this cycle for example; in order to embark on an exhilarating new career path you must first experience an ending to your current role.

The cool crisp fall air may spark excitement around the possibility of creating something new. You may sense you want a change, as you may feel antsy. You have the urge to stretch and grow yet you’re scared stiff to let go of the present, walk across the threshold and close the door.

Fear begins to set in and paralyze you. The countless “what if” questions haunt each moment of your day! “What if I’m not smart enough? What if I fail? What if this is a mistake? What will my family think?” It’s happened! You are now caught in the in between space, I call it crazy town! You can’t seem to take the next step.

Sound familiar? I get it. I’ve traveled through and navigated crazy town many a time. My length of stay has varied each time I have made a transition to a new chapter in my life.

The two questions that have helped me plant my feet on the other side of the threshold have been:

1. What’s the worst thing that could happen if I do this?
2. What’s the best thing that could happen by doing this?

The energy burst I felt after answering the second question has always helped propel me forward. It provided the inspiration for me to take the next step towards the change I wanted to have happen. Once I could feel the other side, I was able to create an ending to my current chapter that felt safe and good. We get to choose how we close the door to one chapter and move to the next.

Take a moment to imagine the shift you want to make. What would it feel like to be there? Engage your senses:

• What do you see?

• What do you smell?

• What do you hear?

• Who is with you?

Before you get sucked back into the vortex of crazy town, ask yourself these questions and pay attention to how you feel when you answer them:

• What’s the worst thing that could happen by making this change?

• What’s the best thing that could happen from this change?

I’m curious, as you reflect on how you felt, which feeling would you like to pursue? Only you know the answer for you.

If you would like to chat about your answers and what your next step could look like, click here to set up a discovery call with me today.

Have you made a hiring mistake?

What can you do when you realize you’ve made a hiring mistake?

When you recognize that a person, a role or an organization/company may not be a good fit for each another, it can be stressful and uncomfortable for all involved.

I’m thrilled to share with you that I have been invited to be a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and was recently chosen to contribute to an article that has been published on Forbes.com!  

The name of the article is: 11 Ways to Rectify A Hiring Mistake. The information in the article may help you move forward when you realize there has been a hiring oops within your organization. 

My thought for you from the article:

Tip #10: Learn from the experience
Remember, there’s no shame when a job isn’t a good fit for someone. It doesn’t mean they’re faulty or broken. It simply means the two pieces of the puzzle don’t go smoothly together. Learn from the experience and ask yourself, “What can I do differently to create a better result next time?” – Kris McCrea, PCC, McCreaCoaching.com

Please check out the other 10 highly valuable tips by clicking here. 

I trust this will help you navigate next steps to take when a mismatch has occurred on your team. If you would like to chat about what’s happening in your team, click here to set up a free discovery session with me today.

Summer Hiatus

This week’s note is short and sweet as I’m taking a hiatus to soak in the incredible summer we are experiencing here in New England!

Did I hear you say, “I wish I could do that”? Well here’s my challenge for you this week:

• Take a look at your calendar; notice what you are doing and who you are spending time with in the next few days.
• Ask yourself, “Do all of these people and activities take me closer to my goal(s) for the week, month or year?”
• If not, cancel or reschedule them in honor of summer and take that time to re-energize yourself!

Summer is very short here and this exercise helps keep me aligned with my goals while being able to catch a few extra rays to keep me laser focused.

We spend so much time being busy that we forget to ask if what we are doing and whom we are spending time with is truly valuable.

Sometimes we want to kid ourselves on the importance of a meeting or a task when many times it’s just keeping us busy.

Here’s to your summer hiatus! Doesn’t it feel amazing?

If you are feeling stuck in overwhelm and being ever busy click here to set up a discovery session with me today.

Passion

Passion is found in the journey not a destination.

As humans, we are focused on the destinations in life or the milestones society has defined as success e.g. going to kindergarten, graduating 5th, 8th and 12th grades, earning a college degree, marriage, kids, the perfect job, the perfect house oh and yes the most awesome dog ever! Oops, I forgot the coveted pre-school acceptance for those two kids! You get the point, so many milestones and destinations!

As I rolled into my 40s I began to realize the more we focus on the destinations the less we embrace the journey of life. The journey is the adventure, the experience, and learning to get up after falling on our knees while giving our all to something we are passionate about.

I’m curious, what are you passionate about? Did your answer come flying into your mind or are you feeling puzzled and uncomfortable? Either answer is perfect! Sometimes it is crystal clear and other times it’s just plain foggy.

As we grow and change with the seasons and our age, our passions can shift.  I remember feeling really uncomfortable several times in my life when people would ask me, “What are you passionate about?”

I would try to remember what I replied last time so it would appear I had it all together or try to come up with what I thought they wanted to hear. All the while, feeling less than adequate because I didn’t have a passion! Sound familiar?

One day, I started to dig beneath the topsoil of my life to see what I could learn and discover. To see if there was a hidden passion I kept eluding on my drive to the next destination. What I discovered was I’m passionate about relationships.

Relationships of all kinds: my husband and kids, friends, extended family, colleagues and clients. Relationships have been a part of my life forever yet I couldn’t identify that as my passion because I thought it had to be something outside of me, not simply who I was and my innate strengths. Building relationships comes natural for me and I assumed it was the same for others. As my daughter would say, “Mum, you know what happens when you assume! You make an ass out of u and me!” So lesson…never assume.

Okay, back to you…are you ready to dig deeper and get underneath the topsoil in your life to discover your passion? Here are a few questions to get you started on your journey:

• What comes natural to you? You do it without thinking about it.
• When do you feel, yes feel, on fire?
• What were you doing when you got that feeling?
• What was your favorite thing to do when you were a kid?

As part of my journey, I read Daniel Pink’s book Drive and in the book he posed the question, “What’s your sentence?” What would you write as a summary sentence to describe who you are?

What was my sentence? How would I summarize ME? How would I describe how I wanted to be remembered? I simply started writing and low and behold it developed into this…”I am a fierce woman and coach who creates meaningful relationships with others to inspire and empower them to discover their passions by enjoying the journey through life.”

Tag, back to you…take a few minutes, get out a piece of paper and start writing what comes into your mind. Don’t judge it or over think it, just write…what’s your sentence?

Once you have your sentence, feel free to share it here. I’d love to read it!

If you are stuck and feeling uncomfortable and want to dig a bit deeper, click here to set up a discovery session with me. 

Vacation

Are you wearing your bank of vacation hours as a badge of honor?

This phenomenon has always eluded me.  We earn time off to be able to re-energize our batteries, yet somewhere along the road we took on a belief that the world would not operate if we didn’t come to work, answer e-mail and respond to phone calls 24/7, 365 days a year. Sound familiar?

Well, you’re not alone. Most of us are only using half of our earned time off and out of the half that is using it, we are still doing work or being contacted by our team or employer during that time. YIKES!

Yes, there are health-related benefits to taking vacation. There are also relationship benefits! Starting with your relationship with yourself and your family.

I hear people talk about the things they want to do in their life and then they bow their head and quietly say, “I wish I could take the time, but it will have to wait until this big project is done.”  Then when the project is finished, guess what happens? There’s another bigger project ready to step into its place and the cycle repeats itself.

When I ask them if they have had a conversation with the leader of their team about taking time off, the response has been, “Yes they say go, yet I don’t feel I can.”

What will it take for us to begin to shift this unhealthy habit? No amount of kale consumption, meditation or exercise can replace the real down time that a vacation provides. 

What will it take for you to give yourself permission to take the time you have earned? What have you been putting off doing because you don’t have the time e.g. a trip to the beach, a long bike ride, going to see family?

Take a moment to imagine how you would feel after doing something that brings joy to you. Spending time with family and friends can create a bonding relationship that will help carry you through your next big endeavor and challenge at work.

What if you just decided to say yes to you and reclaim your calendar today? Here’s a very simple idea that has worked for my clients and myself:

• Make a list of things you want to do over the next three months
• Open your calendar and schedule them just like you would book commitments with your clients, team members or customers
• You may need to create the space for vacation time by rescheduling appointments

If you need to reschedule an appointment, don't let the fear of doing that stop you. You are worth it and you have earned the time. 

In my experience, most people are more than happy to accommodate someone taking time off. We tend to create a story in our head that they will be mad or upset which prevents us from taking the action to reschedule the appointment and most times that story is just not true. 

Be courageous and begin a new habit of living life now, not tomorrow by reclaiming your calendar starting today! If you would like to talk more about what gets in your way of doing this, click here to set up a discovery call with me today.

Leadership

You know you want to step up your game as a leader, yet where do you begin?

Is it communication, listening, developing your team at home and at the office, block scheduling? All of these are amazing and will make an impact on your world, however it all begins with YOU and your vision of yourself.

A mirror (metaphorically speaking) will help you take a look and get viscerally real with yourself. This can be a life changing experience. You may be able to see clearer than ever before and identify what’s working in your life as well as what’s not. You may also get to know what your dreams are and what you are currently doing or not doing to make them your reality.

If you are like most people, you are running by the mirror every day as fast as you can to get things done and checked off your lengthy to do list! The mirror is the perfect tool to help you become fully engaged as a leader in your own life and help you get closer to living the life you desire both at home and at work.

Pause, take a breath and gaze into the looking glass for a few minutes. Who do you see? Are you taking charge of your life or do you see someone with huge potential hanging out in a comfy chair watching life go by and dreaming of what could be?

We all dread looking in the mirror at certain times in our life. It takes courage to face the extra pounds, the sneakers that are still in the box or the crucial conversation you have wanted to have with your team or boss at work.  It takes tenacity to close a big deal, only to get up and go after a bigger deal tomorrow.

The glance in the mirror helps hold you accountable to creating the external body that you want to show up wearing in the world. It can also help you create your internal experience as well. You get to change both images you have of yourself starting today.

Would you like to start peeking out from your hiding spot and let your light shine for a few minutes or hours tomorrow?  Stepping out of the comfort zone and actually leading your life can be scary. Let love lead the way and be kind to yourself in the process.

Life and leadership are comprised of moments. Each moment you have the opportunity to be open to new possibilities to make a difference in your own life and the lives of others around you. Will you step into the mirror today and discover all that is waiting there for you as well as what is waiting to be shared with the world?

If you would like to talk more about dusting off the looking glass and taking a look, please click here to set up a discovery session with me today. I encourage you to be the leader you were meant to be. The world is waiting.

Time

Time is a non-renewable resource. Spend it wisely by using it in ways that will help move you closer to your dream.

What would you do if you knew you only had a certain number of days, months or years remaining in your life? Well even though you may not know the exact numbers, the fact is you won’t get to relive today.

If I asked you how you spent every moment of your day last Thursday, my guess is you wouldn’t be able to account 100% of that 24-hour period.  Let’s bring the camera lens closer, what about today?

Grab a piece of paper and begin writing down how you spend your time. Break it down into 15-minute increments. This exercise can provide you with a huge amount of information.

Now, let’s fast-forward to the end of the day. Take a few moments to review what you’ve captured. What do you notice?

How much time was there in the day to recharge your batteries or be able to reflect on the day?

Einstein taught us that the sign of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.

Therefore making reflection time key. It allows you the opportunity to choose the same experience for the next day or an opportunity to do things a little differently to create a new experience. 

When you engage in reflection time here are a couple questions you may find helpful:

• What went really well today?
• What would I like to repeat tomorrow?
• What didn’t go so well?
• What could I do to create a different experience tomorrow?

Sometimes we need to be able to let go of a task or belief in order to create a different outcome. This could mean delegating tasks to others on your team. Be curious with yourself by asking, “What am I doing that could be done by someone else on my team?”

Once you’ve identified an item, begin the transferring process by connecting with that person and making sure they have been trained and they have what they need to be able to be successful then let go and pass it off to them.

Yes, you may feel uncomfortable and anxious about doing this. That is to be expected. Breathe through the feeling and don’t let them deter you from moving forward.

This concept works in all areas of our lives at home, at the office, as well as the board(s) you serve on.

After you have gotten comfortable in your reflection time, continue your stretch and add in the following questions:

• What portion of my day brings me the most joy and energy?
• What can I do to build more of that into my day?

By shifting even a few minutes in your day to doing something that brings a smile to your face will have an impact on overall well-being.

Enjoy the shift and if you feel stuck click here to book a discovery call with me today.

Courage...

Mustering up the courage to move through fear is a skill that never gets old. No matter our age, level of wisdom, or sheer intelligence, we all face the point of decision.

Am I going to stop and choose a path to avoid what I really want or am I going to walk through the dark corridor of fear, shaking in my shoes, to get to the other side; the side where my vision and voice are?

Where are you hesitating and letting fear stop you from taking the next step? Many times we aren’t able to verbalize exactly what we’re thinking in the boardroom, with our spouse or our kids. Knowing that you have a contribution to make yet not the courage to share it with others is like wearing a muzzle.

It feels like someone has pushed the mute button while your inner knowing keeps screaming that you have a worthwhile contribution to make, however you just can’t get the words out and it’s making you crazy.

Finding our voice takes courage and practice.

What’s the tape that plays in your mind when you go to share your thoughts and nothing comes out? Does the tape sound something like this, “They aren’t going to understand what I’m trying to say or they must already know this or why would they listen to me?” There are many renditions of this sound bite.

Let’s create a lyric that plants the seed of courage in your mind right now!

1. Pick a word or phrase that reminds you of a time when you felt incredibly courageous.

2. Soak in the deep feeling of being full of courage for a few seconds, really feel it!

3. Write the word or phrase in all caps and place it in several places where you will see it throughout your day. Each time you see the word connect to the feeling.

4. When the old tape of fear begins to play and you notice yourself holding back or before you enter into a difficult meeting or conversation, pause take a deep breath in and say the word(s) out loud to yourself a few times.

5. Enter the feeling state of courage and speak from there. – You got this!!

Just like plants need water to grow, courage takes practice to bloom.  As you engage and continue to use these 5 simple steps you will begin to retrain your thoughts and build courage each time you do it. This will help you begin to verbalize your thoughts to others in a powerful way.  

What will your word(s) be? One of my clients created the phase, “I am 57, fearless and fabulous!” to help her strengthen her courage and be able to take steps towards her dream!

Let me know if you are feeling stuck and not able to select a word or create a phrase to feed your seed of courage. Click here to set up a discovery call with me today.

Remember to Celebrate...

Remember to Celebrate…

As the 4th of July week comes to a close and so many celebrations have occurred. I’m curious, when you accomplish a goal, do you celebrate or do you act as if nothing happened? Do you simply begin setting the next accomplishment to conquer?

My guess is you simply move on to whatever is next for you. Well, you’re not alone! Many people struggle to find the time and energy to celebrate their life let alone what is happening within it.

As proud independent US citizens, we have learned to get on the track and just keep going around until we reach the goal we’ve set.

As we check off each lap around the track, life is happening and we haven’t noticed the dense green grass in the center of the track or the pristine white lines on the fine black gravel as we pick one foot up and put the other down.

We remain completely entrenched in crossing the finish line. We even train our breath to sustain the challenge and get us to the end!

Unlike the athlete who bursts through the blue ribbon with their arms stretched high pumping in triumph, we quietly set the next milestone and start over again.

Imagine what it would feel like to pause and celebrate. Celebrating is a way to recognize the commitment, effort and work that you have put into accomplishing a feat regardless of the outcome. When you rob yourself of the celebration, you miss out on the opportunity to replenish yourself with exhilarating energy, which builds your internal reserve and confidence that you’ll be able to preserver and reach the next level in your quest.

What do you say when someone wants to organize a celebration on your behalf? Let me guess your words sound something like this, “Oh, it’s not a big deal, really it’s not” or “Stop it, other people do so much more than I do.”

I’ve heard these responses before! We minimize our success then we feel like we haven’t quite made it yet. So we wait to be happy and celebrate once we really, really make it, after the next goal! Sound familiar?

Well the time is now, the day is here and the hour is present. Pause, reflect on where you are right now and celebrate all that it has taken to get to this point in your life. Infuse the celebration with gratitude!

I have learned to celebrate the little things as well as the grander events in my life. Notice I used the word learned, honestly I’m continuing to learn and practice this every day! It’s so much easier to fly under the radar and not own our brilliance.

Create a celebration practice that is meaningful for you, not based on the way others celebrate. Here are a few ideas that I've used:

• Begin your evening meal or your next team meeting with this question. “What are you celebrating today?” Yes, this works at work as well! It’s a great way to infuse gratitude into the work place.
• Write with a celebratory spirit in a journal about what happened in the day.
• Take a walk on one of your favorite trails, as you walk under the branches, imagine crossing the finish line and hear the crowd cheering.
• Enjoy your favorite food or delicious glass of wine with family.

Celebrations don’t need to be a huge event; the important thing is they occur! Enjoy!

If you are struggling to create space to celebrate in your life or your team is stuck on the track going round and round not crossing the finish line, click here to set up a free discovery call with me. 

Writing YOUR Story

Writing YOUR Story...

Are you writing the story you desire for your life?

As the sun rises in the morning and you stretch your body to get ready for the day, what thoughts come into your mind? Are you excited for the day ahead or are your thoughts filled with dread?

If you’re waking up in dread, you are not alone! Millions of people wake up filled with worry and anxiety for the day ahead. They have lost the passion for what they do and they don’t know what to do to change it so they choose to do nothing. They board the conveyor belt of another 10 hours of humdrum, waiting for happy hour to arrive so they can have a few minutes of excitement.

Sound familiar? Ready to make a change?

Here are a few steps to get you started:

1. Create a list of things that bring you joy! I can hear you saying, “Lady, I don’t know what joy is!” Joy is when your heart is filled with a warm feeling of love and your face is smiling, showing all your pearly whites!
2. Pick one item on the list and do it today! TODAY not tomorrow. No more procrastinating! Your life is not a dress rehearsal and you don’t get a mulligan or a do over.
3. Tooooo busy? Just do it, you’ll find the time. I’m sure of it.
4. Repeat tomorrow and the next day and so on.

How can I be so sure of it? Well, there was a time in my life where I was overwhelmed with that same sense of dread and no idea how to get back on track to living my life. I felt trapped in my job and felt that I had given up my creativity and soul to someone else’s purpose and mission.

Today, I now write every page in my book of life with passion, joy and purpose. This change didn’t happen overnight yet it started with the list of what brings me joy. Sad to say at the time I created my list, I struggled just like you, to generate any ideas beyond spending time with my family.

Life is intended to be a rich and beautiful experience. For me, being in nature has created a renewable source of energy and joy for me to tap into every day. This energy makes it possible for me to be present in all aspects of my life and be able to provide support to my clients as they grow and stretch beyond their comfort zones as leaders.

What will your source of energy be? What will help you rekindle your passion and ignite your mojo?

If you’re stuck and would like to talk, click here to sign up for a discovery session with me.