Unlocking the transformative power of gratitude is worth your time because studies show that it leads to:
More a satisfied life and a hopeful future.
Stronger relationships because of a tendency to show appreciation for loved ones.
Health benefits like stronger immunity, lower blood pressure and better sleep.
Improved mental health like reduced depression and anxiety.
Improved resilience, protecting us from the turbulence of an uncertain world.
But the question I keep coming back to is, how do I want to show up in this world?
Do I want to show up with outrage, self-righteousness and judgement?
Or with compassion, love and understanding?
Which one is going to be more productive and create lasting change that I want to see in the world?
Read MoreDo you feel like your professional life is plagued by daily distractions trying to scuttle your work day?
The number one thing you need to know about distractions is that DISTRACTIONS ARE NOT OUTSIDE OF YOU.
The kids are not distracting. Hubbies, cute dogs, the news, your colleagues, your comfy bed, and the dirty dishes are not distracting.
It is actually your BRAIN that is distracting.
Read MoreGrowth is hard.
Instinctively we gravitate towards seeking pleasure, avoiding pain and expending minimal effort.
It’s in our ancestral DNA. It’s how we survived for thousands of years and kept our species alive.
But if we want to evolve and grow, we have to be willing to overcome our desire for comfort and embrace discomfort.
Read MoreEver notice that the destination that you anticipated so highly wasn’t what it was cracked up to be? Or the goal you worked so hard to achieve didn’t turn out as planned? Check out today’s blog about focusing on the journey not just the destination.
Read MoreDo you give yourself credit for everything you accomplish daily?
It feels so good when you do.
It boosts your energy and confidence. It gives you that much needed encouragement to help you slay that next task, especially when life gets challenging.
I’m infamous for feeling like I’ve barely accomplished anything despite my long list of accomplishments. This all changed when I learned to implement these strategies.
Read MoreDo you love all parts of you unconditionally?
Do you give yourself unconditional love when life gets challenging?
Unconditional self-love is loving yourself with no strings attached.
You love the good and the so-called bad, ugly, broken that you see in yourself.
You believe you are worthy of your love no matter what you’ve done or anyone has said about you.
Read MoreMany of us are feeling heightened uncertainty these days around work and the start of the school year.
We are all charting new territory with remote and hybrid learning, working from home while managing our kids’ education, loss of jobs or the threat of it, and the always looming threat of contracting COVID, etc.
Figuring it all out can be stressful.
So many of us moms don’t love our lives because we don't love ourselves enough. We're so harsh on ourselves when we don’t live up to our own expectations. We beat ourselves up for not being perfect and amazing at everything. This lack of self-love and self-compassion is the root cause of so much of our pain and struggles. Many of us associate self-love with narcissism and having a big ego. But self-love is simply having a high regard for our own well-being and happiness.
Read MoreWith the horrific death of George Floyd last week and the riots that have followed, my blog on calendaring didn’t seem relevant. I just couldn’t hit the send button. I believe we should be reading and following black voices and leaders, reflecting on how we can become part of the solution and taking action.
Read MoreDo you feel disorganized and distracted while working from home?
You’re not alone. It’s the number one complaint I hear from moms these days. We mamas prioritize everyone else but ourselves. We run ourselves thin, leaving ourselves unsatisfied and unfulfilled.
The first step in reclaiming your time is taking an honest look at your foundational thinking (your primary thoughts) around work and work-life balance.
Read MoreTwenty months ago I stopped drinking (October 2018). No one would have called me an alcoholic back then, but I felt like an over-drinker. I’d generally have 1-2 full glasses on weekdays and 2-3 on weekends. At the same time, my body was screaming at me with almost daily tension headaches or migraines.
I managed my headaches by practicing yoga in the mornings, jogging, eating healthy, downloading with girlfriends, hiking in nature, and escaping from the city when I could. Let’s just say I developed a really high pain threshold over time.
Read MoreSome of us have partners or kids who do notice all our hard work and this certainly makes life a little easier, but most of the time they are busy surviving their own hectic schedules (even more so now with the extra stresses of COVID-19). If only they would say “thank you” more often and recognize our heroic efforts, THEN we’d feel better, appreciated or at the very least be less angry. Sound familiar to anyone?
But here’s the hard and liberating truth. Other people can’t affect our feelings. We are responsible for our own feelings. It’s our job to feel better if that’s what we want.
Read MoreToday I want to talk about our minds. Just like we regularly clean, organize and declutter our homes of things we no longer need, we need to do the same for our minds.
Our minds have upwards of sixty thousand thoughts per day. Most of them run subconsciously in the background unnoticed because they are repetitive and efficient. Some are positive but many are negative and don’t serve us.
Left unexamined many of us will tend to think they are true. We’ll think them over and over until they become ingrained beliefs in our minds.
Read MoreStarting to feel a bit neurotic from being stuck inside with your family?
How many of you are writing “instruction manuals” for how your loved ones should behave so you can feel better during this COVID-19 quarantine? 🤣
I’m certainly tempted to. I’d love for my kids’ rooms to be spotless instead of a collection of dirty dishes and clothes. I wish my husband would massage my sore lower back and take his two computer monitors back to his office downtown. And please God, someone tell our adorable cat to stop shedding so much hair so I don’t have to vacuum daily and start cuddling with me instead. 😝If everyone did this I’d regain a sense of cleanliness and serenity in my home.
Read MoreIn attempt to see things through a positive lens, I am choosing to believe that this global shared experience will bring the world together. It will help highlight our shared humanity, how interconnected we are, and thus our shared responsibility to take care of our planet and each other. So much beauty will come out of that awareness. And I am thinking about what role I will play in making this happen in my communities. What skillsets do I have to enable this vision?
Read MoreFeelings are generated by your thoughts. Can you trace your feelings back to the thought that generated it? Ask yourself if it is really true. And if it is true, do you want to continue thinking the thought anyways? Is it serving you? The choice is yours. There is no right or wrong answer. The idea is to bring awareness to it and be intentional about your choice of thoughts. Sometimes we want to feel sad and angry. Other times we don’t. Only you know what is best for you.
Read MoreWith most of us suddenly working from home due to COVID-19, I thought I’d share some tips I’ve learned over the last decade. May the force be with you my friends! You’ve got this. We’re all in this together. 💪🏼
Read MoreThe lesson of “a circumstance is neutral until we give it meaning with our thoughts” was fresh on my mind from my adventure last week in Plano, TX (see my recent blog post). So I quickly switched directions, dropped those thoughts and deliberately chose to think “I’ve got this! I know exactly what to do. I can figure this out!” This generated feelings of self-confidence and determination. It fueled me to plan my day and week, prioritize what was important and start taking action immediately. These thoughts were more likely to serve me and my family than my previous negative thoughts. There was nothing wrong with my previous thoughts, it just wasn’t taking me in the direction I wanted to head in.
Read MoreI had just finished unpacking my suitcase at the Renaissance hotel in Plano, TX, and was about to grab some lunch when I got a text on my WhatsApp that read “Did you guys see that Brooke cancelled the Business Workshop 10 minutes ago?”
I had been looking forward to this workshop for months. I was finally going to meet Brooke Castillo in flesh and blood, the Master Coach I had studied and certified with last year. This couldn’t be happening!
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