Refreshing Your Spirit

Time to read: 30 seconds

Gwynn Valley at sunset

Hello Rebels,

I'm away at camp.

I spend three weeks working at my children's summer camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. In a departure from my regular life of coaching and momming, I spend my days as the Miller (as in grain and an actual water-powered mill) where I take children through a farm to table experience that involves lots of corn and lots of food. (It also involves dead fish, which is a story for another day.)

At camp, there is little cell service, spotty wifi, no TV or technology, lots of fresh air, baby animals, and hundreds of children. Even though I end each day covered in cornmeal and drop in bed exhausted at night, I am grateful I get to spend so much time each summer playing with children. They refresh my spirit.

As we prepare to start the Quiet the Noise Challenge, I invite you to consider what refreshes your spirit.

Where can you step outside your usual existence, even if only for a few minutes or a day? What can you do or where can you go to quiet the noise in your life for a while?

If you'd like a quick daily practice starting on August 5, our challenge is just the thing. You can join us here.

Anne and I look forward to seeing you there!

Christina

P.S. If you're excited for the challenge, please invite some friends to join by forwarding this email to them. They can sign up here.

Stop Wasting Your Time and Energy

Time to read: 56 seconds

Actual teen has been changed to protect privacy.

I was driving my 15-year-old to work in silence this morning. If you've lived with a teenager, you know that morning isn't their most vibrant time of day. After 15 minutes of silence, she got out of the car. I asked her a simple question which was met with the icy teen stare and something like, "Mom, you're always asking stuff like that. It's so annoying."

I pointed out to her that I had said, like, 3 words to her all morning. She responded, "Yeah, three annoying words."

Here's what's important to you about this interaction. Many times throughout your day, you are either on the giving or receiving end of your version of 3 annoying words. People say rude things to you. People respond in unpredictable ways to the things you say, and you have to clean it up.

In these moments, you have a choice.

You can get upset, make up stories about the deep implications of the interaction, and let the situation hijack your entire day (thereby killing your creativity, sucking your energy, and rendering you unproductive and crabby), or you can laugh, recognize that the interaction was nothing personal and move on to use your energy and creativity to move forward on the things you want.

The choice to ruminate or let go makes all the difference in the kind of day you'll have and how much you get done. Don't waste your time and energy creating unnecessary noise.

(Oh, and if you want some help to quiet the unnecessary noise, join the Corporate Rebel Quiet the Noise Challenge right here.)

I hope this helps!

Christina

P.S. If you find that it is hard to resist creating unnecessary noise in your work and life, join my BFF, Anne Lippin, and me for the Corporate Rebel Quiet the Noise 7-Day Challenge. Be done with wasted time and energy. Join us here.

The First Step To Get What You Want

Time to read: less than one little minute

Earlier this summer, my children and I spent a week at my parents' house clearing the clutter and hosting a yard sale. Even while schlepping boxes and sorting the toys from my 1970s childhood (bye-bye Spirograph), I think of YOU.

The goal in clearing the clutter from my parents' home is to free them to enjoy the things they love and to ensure that the house remains one they can manage and stay in for a very long time.

What does my parents' yard sale have to do with you?

This...

The first step to move toward the future you want is to clear the clutter. In your life, the clutter might be old thoughts that no longer serve you. It might be saying adios to friends who don't make you feel good about yourself anymore. It may literally be about trashing projects you're never going to do or clearing off your desk so you can focus. All of this clutter clogs your mental and energetic pipes and makes it impossible to move forward.

You know the experience. You try a few tips you read online and even though things feel smoother for a few days, you revert right back to the doubt, fear, and inaction.

Here are three simple ways to clear clutter from your life in order to create space to move toward the things you want:

1. Clear physical stuff. Clean out your closet. Get rid of actual stuff.
2. Clear the mental stuff. Challenge the disempowering beliefs. Dump the doubts and negative thinking.
3. Join the Corporate Rebel Quiet the Noise Challenge. My BFF, Anne, and I will spend 7 days cleaning out your pipes and getting you on the path to what you want. It's like a yard sale for your mind and soul. You can join us here.

Can't wait to spend more time with you!

With rebel love,

Christina

P.S. If your friends and family have clutter - mental, physical or otherwise, invite them to join you in the Corporate Rebel Quiet the Noise Challenge. They can join the fun here.