This short exercise comes from the book Let Me Out by Peter Himmelman and I have found it to have a profound impact personally and with coaching clients. Give it a try!

1. Name your fear. A human name.
2. Spend 3 minutes writing [name] a letter, explaining why you're going to be sending them away for a bit.

Example (from the book):

𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘷,

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 [𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮/𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸] 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮). 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘮𝘢, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘌𝘢𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘨𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 - 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 𝘖𝘬?

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥,

𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳

Now: Try it! How does it feel to personify your fear? What space does writing fear a letter make for you?

I’ve assembled 12 resources that I’ve utilized personally and with clients and am providing them to you in the hopes they ignite the spark that I know is inside of you. Enjoy!

Several years ago I read Marie Kondo's book "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying-Up" and it changed me. The book focuses on items and challenges us to connect items with feelings - "does this toss pillow spark joy"? If not, thank the item for the role it's played and send it on its way.

I loved this method so much that I started applying it more broadly in my life. How can I spark joy in my friendships? How can I spark joy in the work I am doing? How might I find the spark of joy in the mundane tasks I do to keep my 5-person household running?

Guess what?!? I started to see sparks of joy practically everywhere. It was like the world was painted in sparkles. (Funny - as I'm writing this I can literally feel joy in my body!)

Here's how I do it:

1. Look for joy. Sometimes it's a teeny sliver - spot it!
2. Observe what joy feels like in your body.
3. Identify where in your body the feeling of joy radiates from (mind + body connection). For me it comes from the top of my sternum. If I need a "joy hit" all I have to do is place my hand on the top of my sternum, close my eyes and the feeling of joy is right there. I feel immediately lighter and more calm.

Try it and let me know how it works for you!

We can't take good care of others unless we take good care of ourselves, which is why it's important to put on our oxygen masks, first.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to look more deeply at what constitutes self-care. We often hear about physical self-care, which are things like taking long naps or a bubble bath, but there are actually many more categories:

✨ Emotional: journaling, meditation

✨ Physical: getting a massage, taking a nap, going for a walk

✨ Mental: reading a book, listening to a podcast, doing a hobby

✨ Social: going out to dinner with friends, talking on the phone

✨ Spiritual: nature, church, yoga

✨ Practical: tidying your home, meal prepping, organizing a closet

✨ Professional: taking courses to improve your performance at work, tending to your LinkedIn presence

The key is being deliberate with your mindset when you perform the activity. For example, before I tidy my kitchen up after dinner, I put on an audio book and tell myself I am tidying because it calms my mind and makes me happy to see a clean space.

What self-care activities help you feel centered?

Self-care categories: https://lnkd.in/gFBXzHn8

An accurate, consistent LinkedIn presence will help you maintain credibility with your network. I recommend reading through your profile quarterly to make sure it is accurate.

Additionally, LinkedIn regularly rolls out new features that you may not be utilizing! Two of my favorite underutilized sections are:

1. Pronunciation of your name. In the LinkedIn app, you can add an audio recording of your name. This is especially helpful if you have a name that often gets mispronounced, but it is also a way to add humanity and dimension to your profile.

2. Featured section. This is a like a portfolio of your work including documents, and links to articles that enhances your credibility.

Attached is my LinkedIn Profile Checklist - feel free to use this as a resource to update your profile.

What profile section do focus on when you look at someone else's profile? What makes it stand out?

When is the last time you took a deep breath? I fall into the trap of unconscious shallow breathing throughout the course of my workday. Earlier this year I began incorporating breathwork into my day, and what I've found is increased relaxation, reduced stress, and generally better quality of sustained performance throughout my workday.

What I especially love - it's so dang short! Even one minute of focused breathing allows me to be more intentional with the energy I bring to my work.

I partnered with my sister, Brenda Schoeneman, RYT 500 and founder of Yoga B Yoga, to bring you an exercise on breathwork that you can start using right now. Find more of her videos on your YouTube Channel.

What breathing exercises work for you?