The inner critic does nothing but beat you up - so why do you let yourself cycle on these thoughts?

It could be because you’re deeply afraid that if you don’t keep beating yourself up, reliving the embarrassment, hiding on the sidelines, then you’ll make the mistake again. But this isn’t a given. You can quiet the inner-critic thoughts, build your confidence back and exit that dizzying, unwanted, rickety merry-go-round of self-criticism.

When it’s time to quiet your inner critic, check out these 3 steps inspired by the work of Shirzad Chamine, author of Positive Intelligence and CEO of Positive Intelligence Inc.

Don’t wait weeks or months to truly detach from work, experience something new and stand in wonder of our world. Do it this week, in a 4-hour vacation. Let me help you plan it!

We can get caught up in draining cycles of doing, trying, and disconnected action through sheer force. When we do it too long - we start to wonder where WE are in all of it, where are our values? Priorities? Who even are we anymore? This exercise will help you redefine it.

So often we think we have to figure out everything alone - have the solution, complete the project, know the answer. This is a trap to stop falling into! We are stronger together and it starts with asking for help. This is a 5-step template to help you confidently and clearly ask for help.

We often feel pressure to have big, bold, elaborate, world-changing dreams, but sometimes we’re less “dreamer,” and more “get-through-the-day-er,”. These are the top 4 priorities you need right now to get through the day and then some.

Just like we’ve found with everything else, being in a pandemic adds a special nuance to spring cleaning! Follow this checklist to get the most out of yours!

BONUS: How to spring clean with friends!

So here’s the first thing: I don’t follow instructions well. Maybe it’s my own personality flaw, maybe I’ve been conditioned this way through jobs that haven’t often come with instructions anyway… either way, it’s true.

And, as a person who can just about always count on a self-fulfilling prophecy, I struggled with following the “define your niche” instructions for entrepreneurs.

This reflection on trees deconstructs our need to have gotten here on our own, to be independent, in service of others but not of ourselves.

I share this in celebration of our roots, trunks and buds that bloom.

Here’s where this is going:

1. Plan A is can make us feel like a-holes.

2. Plan B is better.

3. Plan C is catalytic.

Join me in Plan C.

Our energy impacts everything! It colors the lens we use to see the world and in turn, our thoughts, feelings, reactions, inactions and results.

And it’s not all rose-colored as the catchy phrase may make us think! Paying it forward takes energy and each of us are in a different spot on how much we’ve got these days. I invite you to give yourself some time to consider your own energy and when it comes to paying to forward, check what your energy is first!

Last week in a conversation I heard a tremendous insight: Entrepreneurship is about Intestinal Fortitude.

I’m compelled by the idea and want to unpack it! What is it? And how can we develop it to inch ourselves closer to our biggest dreams, one inch at a time?

Thanks … FOR NOTHING! Tomatillos, scarf that knocked my earring out, hours I spent prepping for clients, calendar I should have paid attention to….

Oh wait, hah! That’s not gratitude.

Oprah said, “True forgiveness is when you can say 'Thank you for that experience,” and provides a useful shift away from the thanks for nothing list.

Before all the anxious self-talk such as, “can I really do this?” and, “who do I think I am?” not to mention, “am I embarrassing myself?” fully set in my mind, I committed to gratitude as an antidote.

• To, “can I really do this?” Gratitude challenges, “Look at how ready you’ve become!”

• To, “who do I think I am?” Gratitude exclaims, “Notice the authentic strengths you bring with you today.”

• To, “am I embarrassing myself?” Gratitude reminds, “You have so many lessons to treasure and apply.”

How can we listen for change? A path to consider: self-assess, brush up on your active listening, and watch out for toxic positivity. Let’s be present and there for each other.

We’re 4 days in - does it feel like it? In his book Transitions, Making Sense of Life’s Changes, William Bridges differentiates change and transitions. Change is external, tangible, goal-driven, visible. Seasons change, furniture changes, the people in our life change, years change. Transitions though, are internal. They take time and intention, and we can have some say in how they go.

What assumptions propel you forward? Hold you back? When it’s time to kick one to the curb, what do you do? 1) Ask the question. 2) Build some momentum. 3) Put it to the test. In December I traveled the distance between one of my growth goals and a related, limiting assumption in order to have a better chance at living up to my best. Let’s test it!

In October, I set a goal to embody the mindset that life offers neither problems nor challenges, only opportunities thinking this would help me successfully take the steps I need to launch my practice.

And how did it go? Medium, and I wasn’t sure why. In December, still absolutely needing to embody this mindset for my own success, I led a challenge with a few other change agents to investigate my immunity to the growth I sought.

This week we’ll use our most recent reflection to unearth the competing or hidden commitments that shape our undermining behaviors and stop our progress on goals.