What would it be like for you to feel freer?

When July 4 rolls around each year I naturally think of freedom. You probably do, too.

What resonates for me deeply this year is how free I feel. 

Specific questions I am asking myself now are:

• How free do I feel to show up in the world boldly?

• How free do I feel to allow myself to play?

• How free do I feel to start down new paths rather than sticking to the status quo, because that’s what I’m used to.

Whether these questions resonate for you at this moment in your life, or you have others that are particular to you now, I invite you to start exploring.

How free do you feel?

Let’s consider the three questions that keep coming to mind for me. Join me in being curious and see what comes up for you.

1. Do you feel free to boldly show the world who you are — without a mask, without holding back?

I gave a new talk this weekend titled, Embrace Your Bold: How to Amplify Your Voice and Increase Your Impact.

I opened the talk by sharing the impressions I used to have about of what “bold” looked like (such as being loud, and fearlessly doing daring feats). Those concepts of boldness turned me off, and made me doubt how bold I could be.

I also told the audience how I had tried to fake being bold in the past — and how those attempts had always failed. I explained that I have learned that being bold is a deeply personal set of choices, and there are ways to find your own bold, so you naturally and genuinely amplify your voice and increase your impact.

It was a short talk. There is much more I will cover when I expand the talk to a full keynote and deliver it in the fall. For now, I am pondering many ways I want to be bolder in my life, and what hampers me.

I invite you to consider this question, too. It will likely reveal things you have not brought into focus before.

2. Do you feel free to be playful, to lighten up, and let your spirit fly — just for the joy of it?

This question came to mind for me as I spent time with colleagues who were truly playful and joyous when they spoke on the stage before and after my talk.

I yearn to tap and express more of that light, playful energy, and am thinking about how I will begin — today!

3. Do you feel free to explore new options and make changes?

I have been asking myself about changes I want to make for the past few months. I am getting get super-clear, and I have been implementing them, one small step after another.

One decision became clear for me after my wonderful month living in Paris this past winter. I want to adjust the ways I spend my time so that I can paint more and write more. My soul yearns for more space for my own creative expression, and I have started making meaningful adjustments.

What about you?

Might you be stuck in a groove out of habit — about your work, or a relationship? Perhaps you are not honoring a deep desire?

Do you love things as they are, or do you realize you are ready to make a shift?

Are you holding back on making changes because they feel scary?

Feeling free enough to ask and explore the questions is step one!

Try using this special tool!

I created a guide to help you bring full self-expression into your life. It is colorful and fun to use. You will find that the more you are able to be fully self-expressed, the freer you will feel!

Download the guide here (no email needed!), and see what happens for you. 

Let’s all make this a season to activate glorious personal freedom!

How to connect to the truth in your heart

Part of the reason so many accomplished women second-guess themselves (the topic I wrote about last week), and struggle when it comes to confidently speaking their truth, is that they are disconnected from their truth — their deep desires and beliefs.

Many have walled off their hearts.

Sometimes it’s out of fear. Sometimes it has not occurred to them to explore their deep desires, and a block has developed around their hearts. And sometimes they are living life at such a frantic pace that they have not made time for thoughtful reflection.

In any of these scenarios, the wall progressively gets taller and harder to penetrate.

Whether you relate to being disconnected from what you really want, or you lack true clarity about your beliefs, or (like so many great women) you know there is more in your heart to bring into the light, I invite you to take some action and see what happens.

How to start? Get curious!

Curiosity is powerful. When you embrace this mindset your heart will open up more easily and you will feel free to explore there.

Devoting just a few minutes a day for a week or two will reveal a lot.

As you pursue the exploration, you will make meaningful discoveries that will, in turn, make it easier to start speaking your truth.

Why not begin today? 

Grab a journal and do some probing

Pick from the prompts on this list, or dive into each of them.

• Explore your biggest dream. You know, the one that has been whispering (or maybe shouting?) to be heard.

• Consider what your heart yearns to tell you. You may need to sit with this one a bit and simply ask your heart, “What do you want me to know?" followed by, “What else?” How deeply can you probe?

• Ask yourself, if you were not afraid, what message would you find in the deep recesses of your heart. Also ask, if you were not afraid, what would you love to try or love to do?

• Ask yourself what you truly want — in this moment (it could be a hot cup of cocoa, or taking a walk in the woods) and honor it. Even if it is something you cannot do right away, put a date on your calendar and do it.

• Then, ask the bigger question about what you want: What do you want in your life? You might say more love, or a new job, or to travel, or peace of mind. Whatever shows up is great. Write all of it down.

• Also ask yourself what you want to say. It may be something that you have held back on. It may be something you have not dared to say — ever, or to someone in particular.

Reflect on what emerges

You may be surprised at what shows up for you. If so, sit with the insights and see how they settle in your mind.

If truths about which you had awareness have been confirmed in your exploration, you will likely feel more sure and clear.

With the insights and clarity that come to light, it is also likely that you will feel more positively about (and maybe even eager about) speaking your truth in a bigger way, and with more confidence.

And if you still feel tentative about giving voice to or acting on those insights, that’s fine. This is a process that unfolds at different paces and in different ways for everyone. 

Acknowledge yourself for taking action

Every step you take to gain clarity and perspective is significant. Give yourself a smile in the mirror and a “Yay me!” each time you carve out time to probe your heart and reflect on what shows up.

Next week, I will share ways to practice speaking your truth — or speaking more of your truth — with more confidence and ease.

Until then, why not envision yourself experiencing more satisfaction and comfort doing that? (There is more power in visualizing the outcomes you want than you may know!)

I am always happy to hear about your explorations and your aha’s, as well as your questions. 

And if you want to consider having support so you can step into living the truly fulfilling future you yearn for, let's talk soon. I have a several program options that may be a fit for you, and one of them kicks of in a few weeks. Email me and we’ll make a date.

Let’s figure out what you really want

Here’s a question that may sound simple: Do you know what you want?

It’s an important question, but many women consider it in a superficial way.

Knowing what you truly want matters

In the midst of a busy life, it’s rare to take time to ask yourself what you deeply desire.

In the moment, you may want space to think, or to feel calm. You may want something yummy to eat, or feel the desire to connect to someone you miss.

Those desires are meaningful and always worth honoring.

It’s the the desires in your heart that lie deeper — those about which you have awareness and those that may be buried and need to be mined for — that many of us rarely explore.

Those deep desires are the key to creating a future that will be truly fulfilling.

You can learn to explore your deep desires

My life was on autopilot for decades. I had no idea there was another way to live. I took each day as it came, put out fires that flared, made the best decisions I could, and kept going.

It was not until I started working with a brilliant coach that I began making shifts — small at first — that opened up a world of new insight and new ways of being.

I learned to slow down, to tap my heart and listen to my intuition. I was asked great questions I hadn’t ever considered. Answering those questions lead to tremendous new awareness.

Everything I have learned, including my formal training, informs the work I now do with other accomplished women who are at a crossroads, in a transition, or are figuring out what's next.

And it’s a joy to share my approaches with great women.

Here are 3 ways to start finding your answers

1. You can begin slowly and take steady action

If you like to start with small steps, I invite you to order a copy of my book, Live Big: A Manifesto for a Creative Life. It’s full of wonderful small practices you can use each day to bring meaningful shifts into your life. (And the book is so lovely that you will want to pick it up often!)

2. Say “Yes” to a workshop experience

I developed a my Dream Big Vision-Board Workshop to help women go deep into their hearts and find their desires and truth — and capture it all visually, so they can stay committed to what they want in their lives.

I led the workshop this past weekend (see the photo below of the amazing boards that were made!) and I am exploring a date to offer the workshop again.

Sign up for my emails to get announcements, and reach out if you want to plan a special workshop for your team or group.

3. Explore what a breakthrough can look like for you

Check out my signature program Live Big Live! The spring retreat is launching soon, so this opportunity may be perfectly timed for you. (And, there are other coaching options, too.)

You can read what many remarkable women have said about their coaching experiences and outcomes, and see what resonates for you.

Self-awareness makes everything possible

All of the suggestions I included above are paths to personal insight that will set the stage for you to gain clarity and experience significant personal growth.

I would love to hear about the future you yearn to create.

And I would be delighted to provide you with new perspectives and insight, to help you gain some self-awareness right away.

Email me, or book a call here.

I look forward to our conversation!

Here are the beautiful, exciting vision boards each woman made at the workshop on Saturday. Each board shines with the clarity that was revealed in our time together!