It’s easy to recognize that we should say NO to the things we don’t want to do.

Do you ever find yourself following rules that don’t work for you anymore? 

I worked on Labor Day. A bit ironic. On the holiday that honors laborers, I was laboring. Not because I had to, or because anyone asked me to. 

Again and again, a topic many of my clients are bringing to our coaching conversations is feeling like they’re “in limbo”, that space in between now and the future, waiting for things to happen. 

Two years ago, I attended a women’s retreat titled “The Gospel According to Dolly Parton.”

A friend recently told me about an exhibit he had once seen at a museum.

Have you ever had something not work out the way you had hoped…only to find that things worked out even better than you had planned?

Are you in the process of making a career pivot? Many of my coaching conversations focus on a change someone’s thinking about or actively trying to make in their career. But whether they’re moving towards or moving away, there’s one thing they all have in common. 

Do you ever feel like something’s holding you back? 

That invisible string that’s keeping you from taking the leap, making the change, or doing the thing you know you want to do to create the future you want?

Do you feel like you’re in a holding pattern?

This has been coming up a lot lately in my coaching conversations. 

Now that we’re in the hottest and driest part of the summer, the garden is looking a little different. The geraniums have really settled in, and are full of vibrant blooms and new blossoms.

One of the most powerful forces we encounter is gravity. Invisible, yet powerful. Perhaps what makes it most powerful is that we can’t see it.

Here’s a little overlooked fact for you. Today marks exactly halfway through the year. It’s Halfway Day. 

How are you celebrating?

When faced with something that feels hard or overwhelming, I’ve long been a fan of asking the question: “What would this look like if this was easy?” But lately, I’ve found a new question that’s creating some interesting results.

Impostor syndrome comes up a lot in conversation. Perhaps this is something you’ve experienced, too. That sense that you're going to be “found out” as an imposter. You don’t know what you’re doing, you don’t belong, you aren’t good enough. Pretty much everyone I’ve ever talked to has experienced this at some point, and many are experiencing this as we speak.

This morning, as I was watering the 5 large flower pots in front of something, I noticed something that gave me hope. 

Let me back up a bit…

I often work with clients who feel stuck. Unsure about what to do next, what action to take, what decision to make, how to prioritize what’s in front of them. Sometimes, it’s because their destination, where they want to go, is unclear or muddy. Other times, they have clarity around the goal, but the path to get there is what’s tripping them up.

“Christina, I wish I hadn’t wasted all that energy.” I was sitting across from my client, a talented woman who was actively looking for a new job after losing her job. She had seen it coming. Her company had been acquired, and the acquiring company had been slowly reducing headcount in her organization, quarter by quarter. Finally it was her turn.

I recently read The Power of Systems: How to Create a Life that Works by Steve Chandler and Trevor Timbeck. I’ve long been a systems thinker…I have many past lives filled with workflow diagrams, spreadsheets, and process flows. I love systems. And yet, thinking about the invisible systems all around me, the ones I’ve created and operate in every day of my entire life, has been eye opening.

I had a 45 minute break between calls. Perfect, I thought. I’ll eat some lunch, make progress on an interesting book, and have a few minutes to prep for my next conversation. I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Oops. I didn’t have anything to eat. My system had failed me. Ok, my system hadn’t failed me, I had failed to work the system. 

Have you ever noticed this about your systems?