We can so often overthink what we are supposed to be doing in the next season in our lives (or now — inside THIS now of 2020), when so much of it is right in front of us, inside our life experience.

Your professional experience is part of the puzzle, but is not all of it. 

What have you experienced in life?

There’s been joy. 

There’s been pain.

Both will be folded into what you call work, however, one has the power to truly humanize what you do for “work” and make you feel even more on purpose and that’s the pain…

How can you turn your pain into (a) purpose?

Once we transformed it, we are meant to give from that fountain of wisdom…are you folding it into what you do?

Let’s make happiness your business by creating your authentic brand…

To the best of the rest of your life.

Life is good!

Today, inside my REIMAGINE Women’s Council, the topic was leadership.

I had a less than elegant start to the morning just 10 minutes before my clients popped on.

Using five or six different devices, the internet, then zoom and then the recording function were not working (in that order). And in the rush of it all, I started to choke on the last of my my salmon and eggs and couldn’t stop coughing for a couple minutes. 

It was 11:57am and our call started at noon.

With 30 seconds or so to go, it worked, but not before having to move from my standing desk in the living room to the office, not knowing where my papers were that I needed for the call. 

Between my assistant and Josh (another positive to him being home all the time — thank you JHM :), I finally saw my face on the screen inside the zoom room, recording function now working, and began to teach…but not before I let myself be student.

I didn’t try to pretend that everything had been fine, instead, I let them in on what had transpired. All of it, as I always do. The salmon and eggs part bringing a smile to my face and theirs — 

Leadership is grace under fire, we hear, but what does it mean?

I think it means parking our sh*t SO we can show up and do the work we’re meant to do (my bff Zsuzsa and I talk about this parking what feels like daily). 

Grace under fire doesn’t mean pretend, it means you keep going by parking the mess. You don’t let the mess get the best of you, YOU handle the mess, but only after you show up with purpose and honesty. 

So many of us walk around hurting others because we, ourselves, are hurt, tired, rushed or stressed. 

We’re not able to park our sh*t and then we wonder why it all feels sh*ty…why our relationships or conversations are amiss.

Again, parking our stuff doesn’t mean ignore it or stuff it down — but it does mean asking ourselves, what’s most important right now (and then using the tools we hopefully have in arsenals to calm the nervous system to know the answer, without hesitation, and to do the thing!). 

Is the drama of this or are the people and showing up/showing up honestly for them more important?

This is me doing yoga after our two hour REIMAGINE session. Ten minutes before this shot was taken my assistant called to let me know that she logged into our newsletter platform and that everything was gone — all of our newsletters and every subscriber from the last nine years.

I didn’t jump up and try to fix anything, there was nothing to fix…I did, however, finish off my savasana, breathing and accepting what potentially was. Continuing to take care of ourselves is crucial in times like this. 

As I laid there I also thought, ‘there are worse things’ and this I know well. It helped to relax me even more. 

I came downstairs to check our platform and account out and saw the issue. Operation: everything found! 

Leadership is not about a pretty picture, though, again, we are led to believe it is. 

And, what we’re all living right now is not that either. But what helps us get through, beyond parking our sh*t, if even a little bit more, is to do the things that bring us some ease and joy right now (what calms you? Do that EVERY DAY), whatever it is, all so we don’t infect others with “our stuff”, with our mess. 

When we give our mess to others by way of our negative attitude, harsh words or off-putting energy, it only stays that way ~ a mess. 

Our husbands, kids, grocery clerks, clients, nor assistants need more mess (remember, they’re holding their own), we ALL need more of this.

Let’s be it. 

Life is good,