How to supercharge your thinking

Most people misunderstand creativity, and many are sure they are not creative. (I address this all the time, in podcasts interviews and when I speak to audiences of professional women.)

Rather than try to dispel those misconceptions today, I want to share a simple and actionable insight that anyone can use with ease, and that is sure to ramp up creativity and improve your life.

Put all of your brain power to use!

What, you say? I am not using all of my brain?

We live in a culture that leans hard into left-brain thinking.

We want data, we trust facts, and we look for logic all the time. We believe that by gathering all of that we can devise the best strategies and make our best decisions.

But when we hold that focus, we leave the gifts of our right-brain out of the picture. We fail to benefit from the rich insights and creative resources our right brains are there to provide.

How the right brain works, and what happens when we use it.

The right hemisphere of the brain is where imagination lives. Big ideas, new concepts and fresh thinking are spawned there. All of these can emerge when we understand how to get the best from our right brains.

And it's not hard to do!

Here are a few ways to set the conditions for your right brain to get going:

• Go for a walk around the block.

• Take a shower, or a bath.

• Look at the sky.

• Do some people-watching.

• Doodle.

• Sing or dance or play an instrument.

• Or even do nothing for 10 minutes.

Any of these will give your left brain a rest, allowing the right hemisphere to pick up bits of logic, facts and data and come up with fresh, new, surprising possibilities.

Who hasn’t marveled at how they got a great idea in the shower? Now you know why that happened. You can easily create the conditions for great ideas to show up more often!

Abundant creative ideas are great — and there are even more benefits!

Tapping the right brain and opening creative channels also connects you to your intuition — an immense resource most of us miss as we rush through our days. Listening to your intuition is like having a second brain — there is so much innate wisdom available to you when this connection is clear.

When you make bigger connections to your intuition you will notice that your heart is more open. In that way you’ll connect to your true desires, deeply-held values, and reap more insight. That insight leads to personal growth.

I witnessed all of this happening with the remarkable women who attended my Live Big Live! retreat last week.

On each of the three days we spent together I included time for their right brains to play and added creative experiences along with teaching, exercises and sharing. I witnessed accelerated insights, open hearts and glorious inspiration as each woman took steps into her future — futures that are truly aligned with who they are, what they want, and what has deep meaning for each of them. It was a joy to see it all unfold.

I invite you to set the stage for more right-brain activation so that you, too, can be more inspired, create with joy, and Live Big.

Stay safe and well, and keep creating.

(And if you want to explore how Live Big Live! may accelerate your path to living big, schedule a call with me.)

Do you feel the call to greatness?

I have some deep questions to ask you today.

• How big are your dreams?
• What does the future you yearn for look like?
• And as you think about that future, who do you want and need to BECOME to make that life a reality?

I know these can be challenging questions to consider. And I know, too, that if you shy away from them, you will miss out on a huge opportunity to become a creator of the bigger, more fulfilling future that is possible for you.

I know because it wasn't so long ago that I did not dare to ask myself questions like these.

What’s holding you back?

Maybe, like I did a decade ago, things feel safe for you now, and it feels comfortable to maintain the status quo. And yet deep inside you sense that you are settling (even settling for something that's good), knowing that more is possible.

Maybe, like many of my clients, you have a desire to make a bold move — to go for that next level in your career, or start or grow a business, or step into your power in other ways — but doubt that it’s possible, or that you can do it on your own.

Maybe, like many women, for many reasons, you feel the urge to make a change but don’t know what you want in the next stage of your life.

Maybe your confidence has taken a hit along the way, which compounds the confusion or the feeling that you are stuck.

Maybe it just feels too daunting to consider stepping into a bigger version of yourself.

Maybe you feel the desire but don't know how to get started, or how to reach for your dreams.

What if you had support?

Having lived through a massive transition in my own life, I know creating a new reality entails three things.

Start with willingness — willing to believe in yourself, and willing to get help. When I realized my life could light me up in bigger ways, I was willing to step into creating a bigger future. And felt I could safely do that with a great guide.

Next, believe — believe that you matter, and believe in your ability to take steps toward a life that will bring you new levels of satisfaction and joy.

Then commit — to yourself. That means making commitments to be focused and to implement changes that will be life-changing.

I learned that all of these are easier to bring into your life — and lead to bigger results — when you have support.

This can be your time.

If the questions I posed have stirred a knowing inside, the sensation that it is time to step into your power in a bigger way, create a future where you show up as you best self, and bring more of your greatness into the world, then read on.

Last year at this time I created a new way to support accomplished women like you.

Both my private clients and group clients had been making life-changing transformations, and I wanted to bring the best of both coaching approaches together. I designed a new signature program, Live Big Live!, that gets enormous results, in a more compressed time. And, I designed it so that busy women like you can comfortably fit it into their lives.

Three cohorts of remarkable women have experienced Live Big Live! in the last year, and their lives have been transformed. (You can see what past attendees of Live Big Live had to say about their experiences in some lovely short videos.)

The Fall 2021 program is about to kick off — and there are still a few spots left in this intimate program, One may be perfect for you.

I invite you to schedule a Live Big Breakthrough Call with me soon. We’ll talk about your deep desires, your questions and concerns, and what's possible for you. We’ll explore if Live Big Live! is a fit for you — and if not, there’s no problem. We’ll sort out your next best step.

When you become a leader in your life and start to truly live big, you will be a force of change in the world. You deserve that, and we all need that.

Our conversation can be your first step into that remarkable future.

Stay safe and well, and keep creating.

The sure way to create the life you want

The glorious Sunset when I arrived at the retreat center in the Smokey Mountains

Last week I attended a life-changing retreat.

Before I left I considered the “cost” of three days out of the office. I felt sad to miss my son’s birthday celebration. I did not relish the prospect of taking two flights each way.

And, this trip meant postponing a long-awaited hair appointment for a week — as my salon was reopening after renovations. (Those with short hair get that this was a big deal!)

And in spite of all of that, my heart knew this was going to be important. I just could not have foreseen how much would shift and open and expand.

Great coaches have changed my life

When I started working with my first amazing coach, Peleg Top, I experienced remarkable change. I began to truly wake up in my life. A year and a half into our deep work, I realized I wanted to sell my business because it no longer lit me up — and I wanted to be lit up every day!

Peleg and I worked together through my exploration of creativity and he mentored me as I created my coaching practice. I came to know this was the work I wanted to do — work that would excite me every day and have a huge impact for other women. I wanted to guide them to identify their true desires, and tune into the powerful resources inside themselves to create their best futures and live big.

Peleg and I are still close. He continues to guide and inspire me. And we often collaborate.

And for the last year and a half I’ve worked with another brilliant coach, Michelle Villalobos. Michelle’s genius is to help her clients create and build businesses they love. She couples that with guidance for deep personal growth. The focus on personal growth — who I need to BE to live my biggest life — has proven to be a key foundation for stepping into more visibility and more impact in the world.

The time spent at the retreat last week ushered in an exciting new wave of expansion that I will be processing for quite a while.

A great coach can change your life

I rarely look back with regret, but if I could turn back the clock I’d have begun working with a coach a lot sooner. I can only imagine the way my life might have unfolded with that kind of support a decade earlier!

If you work with a coach you love, that’s terrific.

If you have never worked with a coach, I invite to look for someone who is a fit for you and who you believe can guide you to where you want to go in your life. Make a commitment and do the work.

And get ready for a wonderful ride!

It will surely bring up discomfort as you are asked new questions and you wake up in your life. There’s no way to know what it will feel like to begin to approach your life and work through new eyes and a more open heart, and courageously start living in new ways.

There will be rich rewards when you commit and stay with it.

You’ll be guided to bring new and bigger perspectives to your life and explore with new levels of curiosity. You will be supported to bring new levels of creativity into your thinking, and get really clear about what you want your future to look like.

You will start to bring all of yourself and your gifts into the world, with confidence and grace.

You will experience happiness and satisfaction in yourself, your relationships, and your work that will delight you as you move up to each next level.

I want that for you.

We can talk about what it could look like to work together, and see if the fit is good.

Or you may want to consider other coaches to support you. There are great coaches out there, and one is certainly a match for where you are right now.

I’ll be happy to know that you are getting support to create your best life. After all, if more of us do that and stay committed to ever-expanding growth, our collective personal growth will impact the well-being of people everywhere.

That’s how we can each make our own lives better as we make this a better world.

Stay safe and well, and keep creating.

(And if you want to talk about your life and creating your best future, grab a spot on my calendar and we’ll have a Live Big Breakthrough Call.)

You can let go of fear and perfectionism, too!

It’s June! As we head into the summer, and having been vaccinated so we can start reconnecting with the world, I am reflecting on what was happening in my life last year at this time.

Of course, we were in lockdown and unsure about how long our confined way of living would last. Months of living in the pandemic served as an impetus for me to think about how I wanted to make changes in my life.

That’s when I started to create something new. Something bold.

I realized wanted to work with clients in a new way. I wanted to serve them at an even higher level, so they would reap even bigger results, and I wanted to design a program that would allow for more joy in my life.

I yearned for more time to write and more time to paint. I craved more unscheduled space in my life, which is something I help my clients do all the time, but had not done so much for myself. It was time to make a change.

My creative process was different last year than in the past

Like many people, when I embark on creating something big from scratch, I feel excited anticipation mixed with feelings of uncertainty about the outcome.

Years ago, that uncertainty made me super-nervous. I had been a perfectionist for most of my life.

Because I was so consumed with being sure the outcomes would be great, there were things I dreamed of doing but never started. And there were things I started and either did not finish, or spent so much time perfecting that they took way longer to bring into the world than they might have. I also endure a huge amount of stress along the way.

But having learned to be a creator in every part of my life over the last decade, I now welcome the process of diving in, ideating, testing, iterating, and seeing how things go. Going through the creative process without trepidation is amazing!

I trust myself and find joy in creating in a bold way — even when the quality of the end product can’t be foreseen or guaranteed at the start.

What I created changed me, and changed my clients

What I launched last August was my first Live Big Live! program — the first of what are now three retreats I lead each year.

And I just had the joy of leading the third Live Big Live! — for Spring 2021. The retreat took place last Thursday, Friday and Saturday and I am still processing the experience.

And while every part of the three days we spent together at the retreat was amazing, the program actually started 45 days before. I decided, as I created the program, that I wanted women to have a deeper experience than would be possible if we came together for three days without a foundation.

The remarkable group of women in this cohort started on their path to Living Big on April 18. They were immersed in a 6-week preparatory journey together. It provided self exploration and enabled them to arrive at the retreat having bonded as a group, and ready to do truly transformative work.

I witnessed each of them step into new ways of trusting themselves, and I witnessed them release fear.

I witnessed generous support for one another as they each went deep into their hearts to connect to their desires and shape their visions for the future.

I also witnessed them do powerful creative work each day at the retreat, where clarity emerged, insights appeared and new possibilities were realized.

And while we hit on many tender places and tears were shed from time to time, I witnessed joy, delight and celebration.

I have been able to combine the power of group and private coaching, and usher in life-changing transformations in ways that bring me enormous joy. This creative endeavor, that I initiated a year ago, has resulted in all of the outcomes I was seeking.

What are you ready to create in your life?

Is it time for you to figure out what’s next, or get unstuck? Time to stop living with fear as the driver? Time to get help navigating a transition? Are you ready to break through barriers in your work or business, or reach higher than ever before? Do you sense there’s more that’s possible for you, but cannot figure it out?

The next Live Big Live! will kick off in mid-August, for a retreat at the start of October. I am already in conversation with women about the next retreat, and I am delighted that it will be live again (as we were able to be last October).

It’s not too soon to think about this opportunity.

If you are ready to bring remarkable change into your life with love, support, and guidance, and ready to create your future with clarity and confidence, let’s talk soon.

To learn more about Live Big Live! and to see if you’d be a fit to join us, you can set up a free call with me.

Stay safe and well, and keep creating.

The magic that happens when love expands

We are heading into Valentine’s Day weekend, and messages abound about special ways to show love to the important people in our lives.

It’s wonderful to have a day focused on love. In fact, I think about love every day.

I think about self-love as a foundation for being a powerful creator in my life, and how important it is to make a practice of attending to self-love.

You might want to check the post I wrote at this time last year that goes into detail about self-love. And this post, written last spring as we headed into lockdown, addresses self-care, which is a big way we can practice self-love. Here’s one more post that describes great ways to cultivate self-love — it was my mid-February post 2 years ago.

I think about leveraging love and making love a driver in my life day-to-day, even when I am faced with people who test my patience or do troubling things. One great way to do that is to choose love over fear, and this post from last year can help you to that.

I focus on a connection to the energy of love in my heart, that fuels me, and, as a natural by-product, I spread love to everyone around me. This post about my mother, and the love she brought into the world, may inspire you.

And last week I witnessed an explosion of love

Huge love was expressed by the remarkable women who joined me for 3 big days at my Live Big Live! retreat.

The retreat was the culmination of a 45-day journey where each woman was guided to know herself, ask probing questions, and connect to the desires in her heart in a deep way. Week by week, the group traveled together. Everyone started to crystalize a vision for herself that was fully aligned with who she is and what matters most for her now.

And in our 3 wonderful days together — in a virtual setting for this retreat, that worked remarkably well — we moved through a process that led to more clarity, more specificity, and engaging in creative work that both opened hearts and expressed what was in each heart.

I witnessed amazing courage and moving vulnerability, as each of the women connected to the deep desires that inform her vision for the life she wants to create. I witnessed beautiful deep dives into envisioning living their biggest, best lives possible, and how each will step into living those lives.

Each time a tender insight was shared self-love grew in the speaker. That energy deepened connections and inspired everyone else.

I witnessed love throughout each day of the retreat, and marveled at the magic that grew as we moved through each step of the expanding process.

And each woman allowed herself to feel love, too — both self-love and the love of everyone else — and to receive that abundant love.

For some it can be uncomfortable to be the recipient of expressions of love from others who see us in ways we cannot see ourselves. When others share what they admire and appreciate about us, and we are able to accept what we hear with an open heart, it allows our own hearts to open wider. In turn, we have more love to share.

How do you want to bring more love into your life, and into the world around you?

I invite you to take some time and consider these questions.

Certainly, send a bouquet or sweets to someone you love. (My darling husband had the flowers in the photo above delivered on Sunday morning to congratulate me on the successful retreat — an early and very special Valentine’s gift!)

But don’t stop there.

Consider love for yourself. Are you practicing self-love? Can you bring more of it into your thoughts and actions?

And consider all of the ways that love can be a force in your life.

Envision the impact of ramping up your focus on love — in your life, in the lives of those you care about, those you work with, those in your community and even beyond. When love ripples out from us, we rarely know how far it spreads and how many lives it impacts.

And if you are looking for a guide in your life, someone who can help you expand and find the kind of happiness, direction, and love that happens at Live Big Live!, I am happy to tell you that I will be launching the next Live Big Live! journey soon.

This may be the perfect time for you to give yourself the gift of clarity, vision and support to create the future you desire.

I would be happy to speak to you and hear about the life you want to create.

Whether you aim to get unstuck, figure out what's next, make a big life change or find your path to more satisfaction and joy, it’s possible create the future you desire, just as countless clients of mine have done.

Let’s have a conversation about what's happening in your life, the dreams and desires in your heart, and how I may be able to help you create the life you want and deserve.

It’s easy to book a Live Big Breakthrough Call with me, or email me and we’ll make a date to talk. There’s no obligation. It’s an opportunity for us to have a meaningful and enlightening conversation — and maybe change your life.
Stay safe and well, and keep creating.