Do you know what you are seeking?

What are you looking for with all your searching and scrolling and reading and trying? Maybe this video will help you to feel what you are looking for so you can get more clear and go right for it.

💗, Kelly

What are you looking for with all your searching and scrolling and reading and trying? Maybe this video will help you to feel what you are looking for so you can get more clear and go right for it.

So what does success mean to you? 🤔

So what does success mean to you? 🤔

After my morning meditation I was reflecting on how successful my life is … when I don’t allow distracting influences to suggest otherwise. This is all a personal journey we are on. A creative adventure that we get to evolve and are ALWAYS co-creating.

A life of joy, love, exploration … these are my markers for success. What are yours?

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Pleasure vs Joy - finding a pathway to fulfillment

An exploration of the difference between pleasure and joy and how attending to your choices can change the whole feeling of life and work. Hope you choose to experiment with it!

How to deal with the overwhelm and outrage over SCOTUS's overturn of Roe v. Wade

If you're feeling overwhelmed, mystified, outraged, confused, devastated, or otherwise emotionally triggered over the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, watch this NOW.

In the video, Amy Birks and I share practical tools and resources to help women and supporters of women's rights to turn their fear and rage into power and action. We question the idea that meeting this challenging situation with resistance and angry confrontations is the only way to move forward from here, and offer a more effective, powerful alternative that WILL create the change we're looking for, and much more quickly and efficiently.

FEAR is contagious. POWER is the solution.

Watch NOW to learn how to become instantly more powerful. And SHARE with every woman you know who needs some hope, optimism, and tools for managing their outrage and overwhelm right now.

Operating from FOMO is dis-empowering you … here is what to do about it

FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out - is the age old marketing tool used to manipulate us into buying things we don’t need or want. Amy Birks and I have both trained with coaches who have taught us this very technique which is rampant in the coaching world. We have also fallen prey to it and sadly, we both used it in the past when we were trying to work out how to build our businesses - not something either of us are proud of. BUT with experimentation and exploration of true power, we know another way.

If you are in a marketing, sales, or leadership role this exploration is worth listening to so YOU can examine is you are using it and where you are buying into it - and ultimately how to STOP wasting your energy and be more powerful.

Hope you enjoy!

You CAN stop hustling ... here's how to work and live without the stress of the hustle habits

Amy Birks and I are having another conversation that I think you will appreciate. Hustle is this overrated, exhausting way of practicing life and business that leaves us NOT fulfilled … so why live and work that way when you can do it another way?

Our culture has really done a great job of creating so much fear in us, especially those of us with the high achievers mindset, that in order to have success and feel happy you simply must work hard and hustle. Just questioning that agreement opens possibilities to a life that can be more well lived and joyful.

We discuss other ways of operating here in this episode of What’s the Deal With … Hustle?

I wasn’t really being kind … an exploration of our intentions and the power they have

I originally wrote this post for Harmony Farm Sanctuary where I do a lot of weekly volunteering. It has been an endless teacher for me and so I thought I would share what I learned from MooDonna the dairy cow many years ago that literally changed my life in so many, many good ways.

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I wasn’t really being kind …

About 5 years ago I got very focused on being intentional about who I am in the world. I decided that being Kind was one of my main intentions along with be love and be present.

When I started sharing this with friends, I got a lot of feedback about how kind I already was. But I didn’t feel that way. I was nice, kind seemed like something I could learn to do better.

So I did an assessment about where I was kind. I looked inside and out and came up with some very clear areas to attend to. I realized that I had been taught to be kind … but that kindness was narrow. It included humans and animals I was familiar with. Anyone I had a visual of.

I was really unkind to myself. That was a great start to see that. And when I looked at all the places my energy went I saw how one step away I was directly engaged in lots of un-kindness, and normalized abuse and neglect. Ouch! When I followed my money, I saw my purchases were supporting clothing that was treating women and the environment like they didn’t matter so I stopped that. Then I saw that while I had been primarily “vegetarian” for 20 years, I started to see the direct harm I was financing when I bought cheese and products with dairy hidden inside.

Funny how lessons come at the right time. MooDonna arrived one day at the farm just as I was really asking myself to be honest about who I am and how much my choices mattered. She was a beautiful dairy cow who was so obviously sad and suffering.

MooDonna changed my whole life, I wish she knew that. In one day, I stopped eating any animal products because whether I wanted to see it or not, I was the direct cause of numerous animals suffering. NOT KIND. Nor was it kind to myself to keep pretending I wasn’t part of the problem.

MooDonna spent her life as a dairy cow, kept pregnant – do you know the machine that impregnates them is called a rape machine. I almost threw up when I heard that. Babies are removed and separated right after pregnancy just so the farmer can capture their milk … somehow growing up in suburbia I never put together that milk only comes from pregnant cows. I literally never thought about it. I was contributing to this suffering for mothers and babies day after day.

She was going to be slaughtered because she wasn’t going to be profitable anymore – another kicker she was pregnant! She was going to be slaughtered while pregnant. This is actually common practice. (Gratefully, she was brought to the farm where she changed my life and received so much love for the end of her life.)

So, she delivered a baby at the farm who died right there. It was awful. Heartbreaking and she was devastated. This was like the 12th baby she had not been able to mother. Imagine birthing 12 babies that were taken away and now this one died. This poor lady and millions like her suffered because we like the pleasure of ice cream, butter, cheese, etc. Treated like machines.

Sound a bit dramatic? Well, that day I realized it wasn’t. It was just the truth of what I had been part of.

MooDonna lived and got to be foster mother to our baby cow Norman for maybe a year before she ultimately died of disease. She was a great mother and friend to our goats but she never did really get too close to us humans. She seemed emotionally spent.

MooDonna woke me up in the big picture sense. She showed me directly how I could truly be kind. It wasn’t just in words to other humans or actions but in all of our choices we can follow the results of our choices.

I am kind to myself now. I actively appreciate myself every time I chose to eat or buy something that won’t harm an animal or human as a result. It feels good. Choosing kindness was a life changer. Moodonna taught me to question my beliefs about my need for cheese. The world is now filled with vegan replacements. I have zero excuse to not be kind.

How can this be easy? Getting unstuck with business decisions.

Often I hear leaders and entrepreneurs talk about getting stuck and losing momentum on a project or business decision when things start to feel hard … which then makes it feel harder to get clarity and make decisions and get out of the funk of having no momentum. It becomes a viscous cycle.

Unfortunately, for so many creatives, many opportunities are lost or dropped once this cycle begins and people take it as a sign that its not meant to happen - so maybe try this first.

One of the questions I am always asking is “how can this be easy?” First, that doesn’t mean that in the end it will not be challenging but more so how can this be full of ease - no stressing, trying, efforting to get this moving forward. How can I see this without all the extra distraction and confusion and move it forward?

In this video I address how I walked through it with a friend who is starting a new business endeavor a couple weeks ago. Two days later she happily texted that things were rolling again and back on track so I hope it may help you too.

If you are so busy with all of the thoughts in your mind, where is the space for creativity and real connection with others?

When our minds are busy all of the time, we drain our energy resources. We are literally using up resources that could be used for things that are more important to us.

When you really look at what you are thinking about, most of it is simply distraction. We convince ourselves it’s important but really it’s draining drivel.

The most powerful silence is internal and wowza it’s a challenge in this modern world and in a culture that suggests that more information and thinking and knowledge is better.

Mental chatter is unbalancing and mostly dis-empowering, certainly most of the external chatter we hear and are subject to.

Experiment for yourself with this. Be quiet. Watch what happens when you are quiet. Watch what thoughts arise. Watch what value you give it. Where do the thoughts arise from? Allow it to be easy and quiet. Soften. Let them go.

If you are so busy with all of the thoughts in your mind, where is the space for creativity and real connection with others?

“My attention is my greatest asset.” - I realized that after a meditation many years ago. What I put my attention on is what I create. If I can’t control my attention I am powerless. If I can’t get quiet I can’t control my attention.

Hmm. I also have observed that the mind REALLY thinks it’s so important and that if I don’t think, I won’t produce or act or be the person I think I need to be … but silence has taught me otherwise. It’s pretty magic that thinking less allows me to be more myself and magically I continue to create and live and love … and have many more clear, creative and real thoughts.

So again, experiment. Stop the outside noise. Settle the inside noise. It’s all habit so it will take time but the results will be worth it.

The longevity of real power and good leadership for businesses and entrepreneurs

Yesterday I had a conversation with a woman in her 70’s. She was in a leadership position at a University and was discussing how she STILL has people reach out to her that she mentored decades ago. This woman is a powerful person - she is loving, present, generous with her attention, smart to ahem a few.

Real power - personal power that arises from within - not manipulation, management or coercion is long lasting. It is unfortunately rare. That’s why I love working on the foundation with clients that give the an edge in their business to be different.

I decided to research “what do people think of their boss” online this morning because honestly whether you are a leader in a business or an entrepreneur who pays contractors or employees, people tend to think of you as “the boss.” The one who holds the power and the paycheck. This is what I found in Forbes Magazine:

- Only about half (53%) of employees agree that their boss values their opinion.

- Approximately one-third (35%) feel inspired by their boss.

They discussed other stats in the article but these two really hit home. Especially the one about not being inspired.

Real power inspires. It radiates out so it lights up others potential.

Leaders who are operating on this type of power that I explore with clients, make their work way easier. When you inspire others to show up and be more powerful themselves, they take care of business. You stop hustling, you stop trying so hard to manage all the pieces, you stop feeling fear.

Everything gets easier.

The woman I referred to had created such a ripple effect with her powerful mojo, and continues to do so now, that people love talking with their old “boss.” Her life is fuller because of ease she carries and radiates.

Its joyful to be around truly powerful people and simply exhausting to be around people who constantly need to control the environment - aka what we have come to know as power in the typical world of business.

What's the Deal With ... VALUE

Join us for Episode #1 of "What's the Deal With..." Using Curiosity to Be More Powerful & Get Better Results in Life & Biz

Business Growth Strategist Amy Birks and I are curious about a LOT of stuff that typically hangs up purpose-driven founders, creative entrepreneurs, and high-achieving leaders and we have these conversations ALL THE TIME. So we decided to start recording them to share with you.

In "What's the Deal With..." we use our insatiable curiosity and uncommon approaches to life and business to explore the pitfalls and opportunities within a range of fascinating topics. In each episode you'll find thoughtful philosophies, unique tools, and a challenging invitation to get curious for yourself about how you might think and respond differently to these common experiences we run into in our entrepreneurial human journey so you can live more powerfully and get better results in life and in business.

Episode #1 - What's the Deal With... VALUE

In this episode, we're exploring the idea of "value". How do we determine what's valuable? And what are the consequences of giving things too MUCH value in our lives and businesses?

If you're a leader or an entrepreneur, you're constantly making decisions about where to put your focus - and those decisions get made based on what and how you're valuing the options in front of you.

And if you're feeling overwhelmed by all-of-the-things, or like you're out of capacity for the things that bring meaning to your life, there's a GREAT opportunity for you to look at the value you're giving all-of-the-things so you can determine if they're actually necessary... ...or if perhaps you could be operating more efficiently and effectively by valuing some of those activities a little less.

Watch the video to learn more, and to get some actionable tips for becoming more efficient with your decision making, and more present and powerful in life.

What would happen if you stop “trying” to get things right

Most of us don't realize how draining the energy of "trying" is to our systems. We spend SO much time trying to figure things out, get them right, be a better person, be enough, not be too much, etc.

Trying is one of the most effective ways to deplete power and drain your energy resources. When we remove this from our system - which I speak about more in the video - we start recouping our resources which allow us to think more clearly and make better decisions. When you are trying, you are not actually doing the thing.

I made this video to give some insights to how to let that go and what else is possible when you do. It is one of the best insights I ever experimented with.

Creating space and changing our environment is so vital to changing our mind

Yesterday I was out hiking in the very bright high desert sun(squinting the whole time!), mid-winter in oddly warm weather, right next to old growth Junipers for miles. I was reminded how much making change depends on giving your mind the conditions to do so and I sat down under this tree and talked about it.

Often we engage in many types of activities to grow, change, "become better people" or feel that we are going to be more fulfilled but creating space to allow your mind to shift is a key element in this success. In this video I go over how changing the scenery and having space it affects our brain.

Spending time alone for a couple hours or days, or planning a retreat … or even changing your routine can create space in your mind to see things in a new way and integrate new thought patterns and possibilities.

If you aren't celebrating, your potential for fulfillment is much less.

People who have a high achieving mindset often pass over their accomplishments without much attention and move right on to the next thing on the list, no matter how big the accomplishment was. And this habit pushes fulfillment further away.

In the video I talk about a way to get curious about this and how to step closer to feeling fulfilled but as a starter, power and fulfillment both require having access to your own energy and if all you do is use it up on working hard, figuring things out and solving problems your energy won’t be available to use the way you want. More on the video…

A review of what curiosity is and "What if you weren't afraid of getting it wrong?"

Impatience, dolphins and creative magic

Patience = Presence. If I am impatient I am totally missing what is happening right now - I am in the past or in the future but not here.

If I am not present with you, if I am thinking of you last time I saw you, who I expect you to be or wishing you were different, I am actually disconnected from you and only relating with my projection of you, not who you are right now. That is creating distance between us.

If I am impatient with the creative process I am not actually seeing what is available right now - the ideas are not going to arise based on what I see right now but on what I am bringing in from the past or projecting about its future.

Creation is pretty magical. When we are present SO MANY possibilities come to exist. Presence = Magic.

Last week I was at the beach and was just sitting quietly and being present with what was happening. Available. I had the thought, "I'd like to see the dolphins" and in 4 minutes they were swimming by!!

Then later I was thinking of a teacher, I wanted to read her book and the next morning I went into the used bookstore - not even recalling my thought of this uncommon book I wanted, just being present- and in the first section I looked, there was her book!!

Patience is the willingness to be with what is here now. What don't I know? What is possible that I have not yet experienced or could not imagine before? Who is this person in front of me today? What does this project need to be spectacular?

Patience allows us space to hear the answers without reverting to doing things the same way we have done before. It allows us to be delighted and surprised by what is happening right now.

Leadership is 100% a creative process

First, the start of great leadership is leading yourself. And that means being self-aware and increasingly knowing your Self. People in positions of power who have no self-awareness end up manipulating and coercing not leading.

Leaders operate best when they are present and responsive - neither of those states have fear in them.

This is where creativity comes in. When we are attending to our own self and our “stuff” we open the channels to creative thinking. We are creative by nature so it’s not that you have to become creative, it’s that you need to remove what’s in the way of you simply being yourself.

Responding(vs reacting from fear) to what is in front of you, personal, family, or relationship challenges, staffing issues, funding issues, product issues, etc, is a creative process. We have an opportunity in front of us to do something and we allow our creativity to flow and see many possibilities for improvement and resolution. Then the mind is used for creation rather than blocking change from occurring.

When you are in fear of change or failure, you are reactive, and creativity stops flowing. And people around you feel it. Fear spreads from this place and not only are you stopping possibilities but you are sending the message that others should close down too. This is not leadership it’s management or worse simply manipulation and control. Yuck.

Leaders who can access their creative expression - which comes in many, many forms seen and unseen- have to work much less. They aren’t spending all their energy trying to control because they are seeing with clarity what everyone around them does well. They are inviting in and collaborating with others who also have their own unique forms of creativity.

At one point I was working in a company and taking off three weeks every three months to travel. THAT is a result of allowing creative energy to flow. I luckily had some great models for this and was able to pick up and learn more about working this way.

Creative energy in leadership creates a momentum. It uses way less energy and is always creating opportunity.

You already are this creative force - what can you do to unleash it and generate more ease and joy for you and everyone around you?

The fastest way to start feeling more fulfilled

I made this video about some of the states of being that I let go of in a quest to feel more fulfilled.

A few years ago these small shifts made a huge difference for me so I wanted to share so you can experiment too if you are curious.

It’s totally aligned with my awareness from a few years ago that “Above all else who you are being determines your results.”

It worked to simply notice the states of being and change gears. Now that I changed habits, I see them coming and I don’t go there. So much lighter and freed up so much energy I was wasting. Hope it’s thought provoking and helpful!

Choose to be curious, Kelly ❤️

If you feel stuck, CELEBRATE … here’s why and 2 ways to get unstuck

I bet you are stuck in some area of your life because it’s a natural course of events in the human experience – it´s not something to judge as a defect of yourself. In fact – you can celebrate it!

Here’s why: When you get stuck, you have a ton of potential that wants to be tapped – more joy, love, money, success, fulfillment, ideas – BUT your subconscious mind is scared so it stops up the flow and you start to feel stuck.

That’s it. No fundamental flaw, it’s simply a powerful indicator that lots of potential is available and you are uncomfortable.

We get stuck and unstuck over and over. When we create momentum in any area of our lives – for example, things are going really well and we start feeling more joy – that becomes REALLY uncomfortable for our mind, so it resists.

Anytime things shift and change, you can get stuck. Any time your mind decides you are becoming “too much” you can get stuck. Change and growth is not predictable and the mind doesn’t like that.

After years of working with clients I began to focus on getting people unstuck and giving them tools to do it on their own. Then when they start feeling stuck, they can see it as a great opportunity, get unstuck, get clarity and move forward.

One secret is that you CAN NOT think your way through stuck. Your mind is what got you there.

Movement is KEY to change and increasing your capacity to experience life’s highs. More joy, more success, more love, more money, more happy … seems like you would REALLY want these things right? Well YOU do want them but your mind doesn’t.

Movement – physically, energetically, emotionally, and mentally – helps you bi-pass the thinking mind that got you stuck. You are not your mind, your mind serves you.

You already are a powerhouse of energy and creation. THAT is your foundation – even if you don’t believe it. BUT getting stuck burns off that energy and prevents you from being the fully amazing and fulfilled person you want to be. Just the way your mind likes it.

Here are two ways we can use movement to get unstuck:

• Internal movement – this is having the ability to move your energy. This is your chi, prana, mojo. You can shift your emotions and expand your ability to FEEL more and experience more while letting go of stress and overwhelm. Learning tools here can help you tolerate the discomfort of having so much potential so you can do something productive with it.

• External movement – moving your body, changing your environment. This is the gross movement of your energy. Get your body moving and you change your energy. You can generate and burn off your energy so that you don´t feel so stuck.

These are both connected. They can not be separate. When you can connect the internal and external movements you can quickly expand your capacity and feel more joy, love, success, money, etc. Move your body and move your energy, move your energy and move your mind. Move your mind and it changes.

As you get more refined at connecting the energy movement to your behavior patterns, you start to see where you are limiting yourself – that equals power to make new choices.

This is changing you from the foundation so you have long lasting change rather than changing outside elements only to feel stuck or limited again within days, weeks or months. This understanding has changed my life. Now I feel stuck before it hits. I know a lot of potential is there, I know what to do to “unstick” it and create with clarity and excitement.

Are you moving? To get unstuck, start moving.

What happens when you CHOOSE fun and playfulness as primary intentions?

What happens when you CHOOSE fun and playfulness as primary intentions this week even when you suspect your “supposed” to be serious? 😜

Oh the fun police! That little voice in your head that suggests that you will only be valued, what you say will only be heard, your clients will only pay you… if you are SERIOUS.

Is that even true? In my experience the lighter I am, the more clarity I have. That means I bring more value. It means I become more attractive. It means people want to be around me. And it means I ripple good vibes out.

Recently I realized that 3 of my clients reported that they have more fun with their children since our work together. Interesting! That wasn't even in the primary intentions for our work but as a result of being more of themselves, trusting themselves they lightened up on themselves and started receiving more energy and joy from more sources around them. 

The fun police are a real thing! We limit how much fun and joy we allow ourselves to feel or indulge in¨ for fear of not being able to manage all that goodness. Most people do this… especially amazing naturally radiant people.  

Playful, light, fun energy is highly attractive and helps us create amazing lives. We simply create habits and patterns that limit what we take in and who we are willing to be .. or better yet, ho wBIG we are willing to be. Since play is SO attractive, that means we have to be able to tolerate more incoming attention and energy. 

If I had to sum up my work and that which we explore in The Change Militia, it´s really helping people expand their containers so they can be more of themselves and experience more of life aka increasing levels of full. 

Leaders who are light and playful are loved … so are family members, spouses and lovers.

Children and animals are balls of playful energy available for us to receive.

Where are you resisting all the good vibes around you and where are you limiting your light, playful self?

Here’s an experiment: