Do you struggle in using your strengths and talents to their fullest potential. Do you have a calling to be doing something but have been hesitating to do it? For me it is to write, blog, put out newsletters, and put up social media posts more and more and more, but up until now I always felt like I was too busy. I was getting hired to coach, train, facilitate, and more which was wonderful as I loved serving clients, but it wasn't leaving as much time to do the things I know could build up my work life to an even better place.

As I stretch this year into building my business in a different direction I am saying no to some things that no longer make sense and moving towards things which now I know can build the direction of my business towards those things which enliven me even more than I was previously was doing. This includes writing, doing social media, and creating more content that is unique and has my own special spin to it. So as a result you may see me putting out more content for you to see and react to.

What is calling you today? What skills or talents are waiting to be fulfilled by you that you have been putting off for a while? What is one action you can take today to move in that direction?

Now that I am truly living in my purpose, my values, and my voice I feel this joining together with ease, flow, and alignment. There is purpose in my soul now that I am taking action on, moving towards, and paying attention to. All of me feels like it is easier to problem solve, make decisions, and move forward because I am aligned to my true self.

As a leader doing the internal work of finding your purpose, aligning to your values, and taking action on them can be hard, but working in that way takes you deeper within yourself. It also provides you with a sense of being true to yourself that allows leadership decision making to be that much easier. You know what is important to you. You can quickly say no to the things that don't matter and spend your time and energy on those things that do. It is like putting your vision, mission, and value statement together for your organization as it puts guiding principles on where you are going. Then you can create strategic goals to move you in the right direction. 

It is the same with your internal purpose and values for the more you move in that direction the more you can living up to your purpose. Then it also becomes very easy to follow through on what is most important to you.

What do you care about as a leader? Are you taking action on those things that are most important to you?

When one door closes another one opens. We have all heard of this adage, but in my life it is working deeply in turning my life around. With love now deep in my bones I am starting to see the tides shift towards healing men, women, and children becoming my path forward. It is with action that I am starting to race towards healing others, doing bigger projects, and taking on more responsibility. I have been given a lot and therefore feel it within that I want to give a lot. I am rising to the occasion and as I do so I am saying no to things that no longer serve that mission and beginning to work towards larger projects which can help to elevate healing of others.

As a leader as we change internally, begin to become more aligned with our nature, our values and our purpose, the old ways of being will shut down and new paths will emerge. I am ready now to move past my old limits, push the boundaries, and be courageous in taking new steps forward. What do you need to say yes to? What is your step towards change?

Have you made a New Year's resolution to focus on your physical health but have already started to slip? Setting and keeping goals can be hard, but it is of primary importance to do so with your physical health. After having Covid, a stomach virus, and then a cold over the holidays it was a vast realization for me how central it is to keep up your physical health and energy levels up to perform in all aspects of your life. With not having many health issues up until now, being low on energy and not as productive as normal for 3-4 weeks felt debilitating. And as a business owner, a parent, a family member it is was hard to keep my commitments.

As a leader it is vital to keep your energy levels up physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. And as I realize over the holidays physical health for me is the foundation for all of the others. Are you working out? Eating right? Getting enough sleep? All of my normal habits went by the wayside while I was sick and I felt it. Now my body needed the rest and to heal but it has been a process to get back to working out each morning, sticking to my nutrition plan rather than stress eating, and for me getting about 8 hours of sleep (even with a toddler at home). 

Now that I am getting back to those habits I feel better, have more capacity to do the things I want to do in my work life and personal life, and can contribute back to all of those commitments that I have. I know that everyone has different levels of physical health but what is one action you can take today to begin to focus on taking better care of yourself? What can you do to move the needle on enhancing your physical health?

Are you leading from your core values? Are you making decisions as a leader focused on what is most important to you? If not, you may be blindly making decisions which are not aligning to those things that matter most.

Getting clear on your values is critical to leading from a place of integrity. My values: Faith, Family, Integrity, Boldness, and Growth are so important in leading the way for me to make decisions as a leader and as a parent. If you are not clear on your values, go to the list of values here. Pick your top 10 that resonate the most with you.

Once you are done with your top 10 list, then whittle the list down to 5. I know it is hard to do but this helps you to get really clear on what is most important. And then take that list down to your top 3. Phew. That was hard I know, but the clearer you get the better you will be able to define what really matters to you as well as make decisions from that place.

As a leader this is a great activity to also do with your staff. They will also get clearer on their values and then together you can share what is most important for each of you. This is a great way to get to know each other as well as develop a strong bond what matters most to each of you.

Values is a critical part of leadership and strong teamwork. Getting clear on them for you and your team can really pave the way to leading from a more purpose driven place. Do the activity and let me know how it works for you!

As a leader you may have gone through a process of change and re-evaluating things during the Covid times. When the entire world was shut down for some time and now that we have re-emerged and begin to flourish in a hybrid environment, who we are and what is important to us is paramount in helping us make decisions daily on what to focus on and where to spend our time.

As I got clearer in my personal life and through becoming a mom, it has emboldened me to make powerful changes in my work life and align my duties, responsibilities and where I want to spend my time based upon the values and now purpose (building up leaders and organizations to thrive as well as lead from the heart and core purpose). For the most important things I do now align to the purpose and as I develop more business I am looking for more opportunities to build more and more things that allow me to serve that purpose.

For leaders this similar process is critical. Really getting clear on what is most important to you and how you want to show that through action out in the world is getting clear on your purpose and values. Once you are clear on those two things then you can truly align your vision with the actions and words that you speak each day.

Are you clear on your values and purpose? If so, are you living those out in the world?

While many people are getting back to "normal" socially and travel wise and are beginning to venture into the office sometimes, most clients I know are still doing much of their work virtually. Hybrid seems to be the way most organizations are moving but that means that the virtual part of work is not going away. As a result we still need to be adept at running virtual meetings effectively as well as managing the chaos that comes with working from home with others there as well.

Check out my two classes on Skillshare that will provide you some insights on how to manage these two scenarios:

Sustaining Balance in Virtual Chaos
​Are you struggling with working from home trying to balance work and family commitments? Has the virtual environment caused a lot of stress and uncertainty for you? Come and learn three skills on how to Sustain Balance in Virtual Chaos. These skills include: how to build up your resilience, set healthy boundaries, and build healthy habits.
#resilience #healthyhabits #healthyboundaries
Check out this virtual class at: https://skl.sh/3g4eI5U

Virtual Facilitation 101
Are you having to lead meetings remotely and wanting to facilitate them even more effectively? Come and join this class to learn the basics of virtual facilitation, a skill which is not going away even in a hybrid environment. Learn about basic technology tools needed. Then learn how to prepare for the meeting, what to do during a meeting and how to make it engaging, and finally what to do post meeting to make it most effective.
#virtual #facilitationskills #meetings #virtualmeetings
Check it out at: https://skl.sh/3w87BAN

As I have learned to become safe in my own skin, elevate the authentic version of me, as well as open up to the real joys of life - love, care, empathy, cherishing the little moments - I am finding that I am much happier and more dedicated to the things that are important to me. I used to spend time on things that didn't matter, that weren't aligned to my purpose, that elevated togetherness but with those whose presence did not uplift me but drained me. 

Now as a result of my family life needing time and dedication I am much less pulled towards opportunities, challenges, and even time spent with others which doesn't uplift and/or inspire me and my daughter to be more and more fulfilled and aligned to who we truly are.

All of the world now feels more genuine, more loving, as well as a lot more open to me receiving and allowing more of the universe's gifts. The universe is always wanting us to pursue our highest potential but I was not always ready to do that based upon my own insecurities. But as I have grown in the last year I have seen just how important time together with positive people are, just how good love feels, and just how regular it is to feel loved and cared for back.

Now that I have incorporated so many of those things into my life I have been able to relax work wise, trust that the right opportunities are not just coming there, but am beginning to say no to those which are no longer aligned to me growing naturally and with the family I need/want to be around moving forward. It feels good to now say no and no longer hold back my true voice, deepest dreams, and now my love, care, and empathy towards others as well.

What do you need to start saying no to in your life or business to make room for the upleveling things?

With deep inner resources now forcing me to stay still I am finally content in my own body, mind, and spirit leading to a deep sense of commitment, to groundedness, as well as now contentment within. For the real me is winning now that the dreams I have had have begun to happen. Life is being lived contentedly and the future within me is pulling me towards love, empathy, compassion, care, as well as now deep fortitude not only but nurturing. 

As a result commitment reigns. Commitment to my daughter. Commitment to the role of mother, daughter, sister, aunt, as well as partner. For the real me is now deeply integrated with others and I feel so much more content as a result. Deep worthiness now opens up inside of me not only but spreads it to others through time, energy, as well as now boldness in the road I am taking towards love as well as career choices. For the commitment inside of me now touches love, joy, fear no more and bravery.

What are you committing to? What is important enough to you to lay down your guard and truly connect with?

When you are living your values and purpose you are in in alignment with your highest self. While things may still be hard at some points there is clarity, development at a deep level as well as joy in the everyday because you are living so on purpose. 

Since my daughter has arrived so many things are falling into place. The role of mother has enhanced my deep development as I am aligned finally with the things that matter most to me - family, faith, and giving back to others. While the real me always had those intentions becoming a mom finally put family first as my daughter is so important to me. Faith has been a guiding principle in my life for a long time, but now I am much more focused on the clarity that it provides to me through living reaching for my highest potential. And finally giving back to others is becoming much more aligned career wise as I am moving more towards transformational work in my coach training, in doing much more leadership training work for the corporate world (but those who also want to do good in the world) and finally now aligning again with the mindfulness and resilience work I got trained in back in 2018. While all of that work came naturally it is because I aligned myself more to my purpose and those things just seemed to arrive.

As I leave my old doubt behind about how I can truly achieve what is most important to me I settle into a value driven existence which is fueled much more by caring, empathy, compassion, as well as trust in the guiding forces of life.