Iheartmywork

Spring is in the air. However, a gardener, I'm not. I am fascinated with growth. I was having a conversation with my friend Kevin Makarewicz LPC recently and he shared with me this beautiful metaphor of personal growth, like the stages of growth for a tree.... A time to sleep. A time to creep. A time to Leap. In the first year of a tree's growth, it looks as if nothing is happening. Like it's asleep. This undoubtedly is the most important part of growth for a tree. The roots form and grow deep into the soil to provide a solid foundation for the potential that the tree will grow into. I also know this because of my covid garden experience last spring. Many of my seedlings didn't make it past this stage. Ahem. A time of CREEP is when the tree looks a bit bigger and has started to spread a little. It looks a little sparse. It doesn't need as much water as it once did. It's taking up space and building strength and learning to stand alone. A time of LEAP. And poof. Suddenly, massive growth in one season. The tree has come ALIVE. It has grown into the most beautiful version of itself. Remember, growth unfolds as it should. Nourishment. Time. Space. What else? #growth #leadership #iheartmywork

Only 20% of people and teams reach their full potential* Leaders come to me wondering how they can get the results they are looking for, how to be a more effective leader and how to get their teams working better. The secret isn't in how HARD you are working, how much you know about leadership or how many team building sessions you run.... If we can recognize when we have our hand on the "hot stove" of negative emotions like being frustrated, feeling angry, being anxious, judgmental, blaming others and experiencing self-doubt and shift our minds into the positive emotions of our true self like empathy, curiosity, creativity and foster the ability to trust ourselves, we can transform ourselves, our relationships and our performance. The biggest difference between those people that reach their full potential and those that don't is how much time their mind is SERVING them versus how much time their minds are acting like their WORST enemy. Sign up for my complimentary Mental Fitness Masterclass on March 30th @ 3pm ET to learn how you can start building your mental fitness muscles. Registration link is in the comments. *Based on research by Shirzad Chamine #iheartmywork #mentalfitness #leadership

Last night I overheard something my husband was watching. A motivational speech given by a professional sports coach to players about choice. The ability to have a moment of adversity and then shift for the next play. Moment of adversity. Shift. Moment of adversity. Shift.... The coach kept saying 'you always a choice'. The words were logical. Words I have uttered many times. But the message somehow landed on me as all judgy. It must be easy, right? Very often we don't know even know there's a space. And if we are aware, very often we don't really understand what's really going on in that space. Stimulus. Thoughts and self talk. Response. Judging self, are we are too much or not enough? Judging others , are they right or wrong? Good or bad? Do they fit? Or judging circumstances, I can't be happy with this. In that space we are either torturing ourselves or we are choosing growth, freedom and love. And yes, love. After all, my friend Deb named me The Heart Goddess, so why not? Growth, freedom and love is available to everyone. In any moment. Because it comes from within us. We have to look for it, and we have to practice. This IS the work. What you noticing about the space between? #mentalfitness #leadership #iheartmywork

"You have to look in the sky and keep looking up. You are part of bigger world and when you see an Eagle you can take a breath and know that everything is going to be ok." Those were the words spoken by Christine John in the latest episode of the I Heart My Community Podcast. The Eagle in Indigenous teachings is considered a messenger of the creator and is the symbol of love, friendship, honour, and bravery and mystical powers. Christine is an Indigenous woman who works at Br...uce Power and forges relationships with Indigenous communities. She is an avid volunteer and from a young age she wanted to be a voice for others and help make the world better. With her grandparents being part of the residential school system in Canada, many of the teachings and traditions of her culture got lost and not acknowledged due to the shame created from that dark part of our Canadian history. Christine was determined to explore her heritage and to bring her culture and teaching of the seven grandfathers into her life and to share the teachings with her family and community. I admire her strength, her sense of purpose, the way shares her heart and lifts people up. Thank you so much Christine, I'm grateful.