What stories are you telling yourself about why you have to wait for joy? How can you give yourself some of that joy today?

It took me my entire adult life to figure out that I didn’t need to wait to be someone else to step toward my truest life and that there is no such thing as the “right” time. I finally stopped waiting for conditions to be right. I gave myself my own permission slip.

People who do big things in the world, live by their own rules, and invite the rest of us to see things differently get criticized. PERIOD. What if criticism isn’t something to endure and manage, but something to CELEBRATE? What if it’s is a sure sign that you’re showing up in the ways that only YOU can?

When we’re tired, we think we need sleep. Or, at the very least, to lounge around. But according to Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D., author of Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity, there are actually seven types of rest, and we’re often not getting the right ones.

Have you taken any time yet to reflect on the last year? You deserve the time and space to honor all that you’ve felt this year, all the ways you’ve adapted, and all of the lessons you’ve learned. I’ve created some free journal prompts to help you do just that. 

Take a listen to hear more about giving ourselves permission, working with our bodies to uncover truths, teasing apart what’s really important to us versus what we’re doing to please other people, and what life coaching is and isn’t (you might be surprised!).

When we’re trying to override the voice of our inner critic, our impulse is to put up our defenses. We try to ignore it, tell it to shove off, or argue with it. Unfortunately, these tactics almost never work. Thankfully, there’s another way.

We somehow convince ourselves that living a life that feels true to us—rather than what others expect of us—isn’t that important or is secondary to other things. I strongly beg to differ. And the dying would, too.

Your brain is constantly looking for evidence that what you tell yourself is true. So if you’re constantly telling yourself, “I don’t have enough time,” then. . . you guessed it. Your brain is going to go to work finding evidence that supports that belief. Here’s what to tell yourself instead.

This week I reached over 5000 minutes of meditation. Though I have practiced meditation for several years, I have been wildly inconsistent. Some days I don’t meditate. Some weeks I don’t meditate. There have been entire months when I haven’t meditated. Consistency and accountability have their place, but I’m much more interested in how we can show ourselves compassion.