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I’ve been hinting at this for weeks, and this week, I’m finally sharing my story of losing my spark and what it took to reignite it. As you’re reading this, ask yourself,
Because I'll tell you, the strongest people in your life, the ones who outwardly are doing really well, who are super confident, successful, driven, connected and have lots going on (have a really full life) could be the ones struggling, are depressed, the ones who have lost their spark.  This story, I’d say, is the first major time because anytime I’ve lost my spark since, I’ve been able to catch it. I've been able to know what it is. I'll explain a little bit why I didn't know I had lost my spark and the reasons why I didn't want to acknowledge it. How I lost my spark I'm now 45, and this was when I was about 28 years old. For years, I was in a constant cycle of checking boxes. I got the job I wanted, the home, the life, and success in all these different areas. On paper, everything looked great, so I had a good job, and I was engaged to be married, and we were planning on buying a home, and I was staying fit, had friends, and a loving family, and I was ticking off all the success boxes, but deep down, I felt empty. I was showing up every day. I was doing what was expected, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. I'd worked so hard to build this really successful life, a life that was supposed to feel fulfilling. I was doing everything right, but instead of feeling accomplished, I felt drained. I felt disconnected. I was really depressed, and I thought this is just maybe what life was to be like, "Oh, this is just how it is." Maybe there are not as many daily exciting things, or I'm not traveling, or whatever it was, but at the core of it, I felt unfulfilled and exhausted. I was hiding my true feelings just about how crummy I felt, and I was juggling everything. It's not that I necessarily was overworked or overwhelmed, but I was juggling everything, keeping up appearances. But inside, I felt like I was fading. It was like my spark had disappeared. I didn't know how to explain it. But no matter what I achieved, I couldn't bring it back. When I was little, I did well in school. I was the president of the clubs, the captain of sports teams. I knew a lot of people. I wasn't necessarily friends with everyone, but I knew a lot of people, and I knew how to perform at a high level. I knew how to be driven, how to achieve, how to get things done. I was independent, self-reliable, all these great qualities, which I'm sure a lot of other successful women who feel this way have also been in that situation, but I couldn't bring the good feelings back. No matter what I tried, I couldn't bring back that spark. I was pouring all of my energy into things that truly didn't fulfill me. I didn't know at the time. What would I do? I would work harder. I would try to be everything to everyone. I was numbing that emptiness, that void that I just couldn't fill. I was numbing it with distractions, things like wine, snacks. I kept thinking,
I thought the happiness “would come when”, and the problem with "would come when" is that the goalposts just kept moving. I’d say, “I got there,” and then I would feel empty and would set my focus on the next goal, "Okay, well, now it's when I achieve that, or when I get this." I actually thought I could figure it out on my own. I was doing all the things and keeping up appearances, as I said, but it wasn't until my friend pulled me aside at work and said, "Diane, you've lost your spark." I was like, "What?" "Yeah, you've lost your spark." I said to her, "You can see that?" She said, "Yeah, what's going on with you?" Then I started bawling because I was like, "Ah, the cat's out of the bag. I'm not hiding it as well as I thought." But I felt wrong for being unhappy, like I was super ungrateful for the life that I had at that time, for all the things I had succeeded at. I thought, "How dare I say that I'm not happy? How dare I say that I'm struggling with all the success I had?" Some of you might think, "Oh, first world problems, Diane.” But when we have our basic needs met, the Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and then we have even our wants met, none of it matters if, at the core, we are feeling off. From her pointing this out, realizing at that point that I couldn't do it all on my own, I decided to do something completely out of my comfort zone. I hired a coach. Now, when you think,
But the thing was, I wasn't good at being vulnerable because I was always in these leadership positions. It's true. It's lonely at the top because I didn't feel like I had people that I could open up to and confide in and speak my truth about how I was really feeling. It was super strange at first sharing with my life coach, and I was in my pragmatic, analytical brain focusing on solutions, "Okay, so we're going to do this and this and this and this." I thought it was all about goal setting and such, but it wasn't. I wasn't used to being vulnerable like that. I wasn't used to admitting that I needed help, beyond the help that everyone would need. But inside, something told me that this was what I needed, and that decision changed everything. How coaching helped me Working with my coach gave me a perspective that I could not see for myself. It was like someone held up the mirror to my face and said, "This is exactly what's holding you back, and here's how we're going to move forward." That's what you need in these times when you've lost your spark where you're like, "Where am I? Who am I? What do I like anymore?" That's the time when I started reconnecting with the person I used to be. That vibrant, passionate version of me that I thought I'd lost because I looked back and said, "Wow, who is that person that did that? Who is that person that just said, 'Oh, I'm going to go live and work in Japan, and I'm going to go travel here. I'm going to jump out of a plane.'” Who is that wild, carefree, life-loving person? I understand that every day is not travel and moving to another country and jumping out of a plane. But I didn't want to feel stuck anymore, and so coaching helped me to stop feeling bad. For the first time in a long time I actually felt alive again because it seemed to go over probably a couple of years. I've had this happen to me, a bunch of times throughout my career, where I've had these moments of like, "Where did my spark go?" I start to feel like it's Groundhog Day and so disconnected. From that, I've been able to create a life that feels aligned with who I really am, not just what looks good on paper. I've learned how to prioritize myself, set boundaries and focus on what truly brings joy to my life. If you're like, "Oh, I know those things. I know about setting boundaries, prioritizing myself and focusing on what brings me joy," but you're not implementing them - that's the thing. I knew a lot of things, as do you, but they’re no good, if you're not implementing them. There were a lot of things I didn't know. I didn't know about balancing your life in all 10 areas. I didn't know about measuring your life according to satisfaction. I didn't know about living more in alignment with my values, not my morals, but my values, the things that energetically are powerful for me and have resonance. Now, because of those things, my relationships are deeper, my energy is brighter, and I finally feel like I'm living more authentically. Then if you're like, "Well, but Diane, if you realized all of this at that point, then how do you keep losing your spark?" Well, what I see is there's a progression to who we are and what we do and how we develop. My goal is to be 1% better than the day before. When you keep moving up in your success levels, it's like new level, new devil. There are new challenges and new negatives and new feelings of pressure and responsibility and new titles you have to live up to, and new rules where you have to be not only the super woman, but the superhero where you do well in every area, plus you need to save everyone in every area that you're doing well. As you move up, there are new pressures, so you develop differently, and then you fill your time with different things. There are times when I've needed to reset, or there have been times, like after both kids, I had postpartum depression. During COVID, my father died. My whole business model changed from live events to online. After building my online business, my Facebook account was deactivated, so I lost all my Facebook ads, everything I was doing there, every picture I'd ever taken and posted on Facebook. My kids were at home during COVID, and I had long COVID. One of the times, I coughed for eight months straight. That's another period of time where I lost my spark. Another time is when I filled my calendar with more analytical things, things around strategy and figuring things out. My coach called me out and said, "Diane, you are in the work boots, and you need to be back into the sparkly shoes." That rings true for our lives. It's about getting back into the joy and out of the dissonance, the things that are creating friction and sucking your energy. People have commented at different points in my life. Yes, my friend commented, "You've lost your spark," or "Something's off," or "Are you okay?" Then later they'll comment, "Wow, you have this special glow, this new energy about you. You seem to be doing exceptionally well." These sort of comments will come. Some of those comments still came when I had the mask on and was pretending everything was good. But when I've been able to flip it, there has been a glow. I'm in one of those glowy times right now. I am. Because I feel alive. I feel confident. I feel light again, like I'm not carrying the weight of the world anymore. In the no spark times, I felt like I was just surviving, like "I just had to get through the next day, and then I had to do it all over again." You've heard this before, go from surviving to thriving, but I did it in a way that feels true to me. I think that's most important. I see now that the spark actually was never fully gone. That's why I'm doing the ReIGNITE program because the spark is still in there. It's gone from a blaze to this tiny, little ember, and it's just buried under things like expectations, responsibilities, distractions, titles, lack of space, and overwhelm. What I needed wasn't more achievement or more things or more tasks or more material items, but I needed more alignment with what truly mattered to me, every single time. What got me here to where I am today, after each of these times, and what got me out of each of these sparks was just deciding that I was totally done with feeling empty and burnt out, that I made the decision to invest in myself by hiring a coach and take the steps to ReIGNITE that spark and rediscover the joy I had lost and the joy in the new version of me. The joy of a 25-year-old Diane to a 45-year-old Diane is very different. Before it was things like jumping out of a plane, bungee jumping, canyon swings, water rafting. These wild things. Now for me, it's different. It's African drumming, it's stand-up comedy, it's glassblowing, massages, time with friends, church. Totally different. What worked for me It’s really recognizing that something needs to change. Awareness is the first step, and I had to admit to myself that the way I was living wasn't working. Then I needed to reclaim my identity, not from this identity of what others put on me, or society put on me, or that I have just sort of ended up in, and I started focusing on who I really was and allowing that to come out.  I am a little bit feisty. I am a little bit edgy, but often when I can get into these places, I'm playing the perfectionist. I'm playing the goody-goody. I'm playing the person who doesn't make mistakes, and not because I'm hiding my mistakes, but because of the pressure. I get to not focus on these roles but instead focus on me and not just check the boxes. It's important that I really continue to make prioritizing myself so crucial. I learned how to say no, to set boundaries, to make space for things that bring me joy and energy, not just space for things that I've been requested to do, and it's so important for me to connect deeply with others. Just yesterday, I had what was to be an hour or two with one of my VA clients, and it ended up being like four hours of us connecting deeply. But that means that I need to always remember, don't hide behind that polished facade. I had to start building authentic, supportive relationships by being vulnerable. As I let go of perfectionism, I had to stop trying to do it all and instead focus on what truly aligned with my values and my desires. Also, stop measuring life according to success and instead focus on what brought me more satisfaction, which sometimes then doesn't bring accolades. If you’re reading this and feel like this is true for you, then let's talk. Because I believe you can do this, too. You can come out of that place where you've had a lack of spark. A short story about my client I should share a little story with you about one of my clients, who I'm going to call Jane. She really felt like she had lost herself, and she wanted to get her vibrant self back again. She came to me, super confused because, like me, she had a great partner, she was raising her kids, she was building a business, and yet she felt like something was missing. She said, "I don't know what it is," so similar situation to me, and she felt like something was off, like she lost herself in all the titles that she had, and she didn't feel anything lit her up anymore. Like, "What makes me happy? I have no idea." Basically, she was living in black and white, and she also seemed very flat. There was a heaviness, flatness to her. She definitely had lost her spark, but thankfully, through some coaching, we were able to uncover her spark again. We were able to get her back to her best self, not just herself, but to her best self, in under six weeks. This is why I created ReIGNITE, by the way, doors closed last Friday, depending on when you're reading this. Doors are closed. However, if you email me [email protected], I could open a spot for you, depending on where you're at. Share with me what’s going on for you. That's how I started with my coach. I poured my heart and soul into an email to her, and she was like, "I'm taking you on for sure." Anyway, let's go back to Jane. She was so much happier after, and it made her marriage improve. She showed up as a more engaged parent. She was more confident, so her business did better. The best part of all of that is when she said, "Diane, I feel like I'm living in colour again," and that's how it feels when you lose your spark. You're in black and white, and when it comes back, you're in colour. Wrapping Up That spark is there, right? It's still waiting for you to uncover it. If you have a friend in this situation, send them this blog for sure, and they can reach out to me as well. The key thing is to shift from that feeling of being unfulfilled or burnt out to a feeling of being alive and aligned. That's how you're going to have more success in life. You don't have to become someone new. You don't have to change everything about your life. You just really need to reconnect with who you are, and take the steps to bring your spark back. I know it's possible. I did it with the help of a coach, once, twice, three, four times over the years. It's a lot of years. 20 years that I have been losing my spark and then getting it back, and I continue to increase my success along the way. Share this blog with a friend who you think, "Yeah, maybe, she has lost her spark, and she needs to hear your message." If this resonates with you, reach out [email protected], no matter when you read this, I don't want you living in black and white anymore. Until next time, get your spark back and stay dynamic. Read my other blogs:
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We celebrated the 300th episode of the Dynamic Women Podcast. I was joined by a bunch of friends and supporters and I answered their tough questions and vice versa. This is part 2 of that episode. What's one myth or stereotype about women that you believe needs to be debunked? And why? As you're thinking, I did a post the other day about how people judge me when I go away with friends, or even when I do an overnight in Whistler that I do once a year, and they'll say, “How could you leave your family for ten days? What about your children? What about your husband?” I' reply, “What about them? They're good!” Yes, my children are jealous, but my husband says, “You work hard, so why don't you get to go and relax and recharge?” I think the stereotype that women shouldn't be leaving the home to have a little personal vacation is wrong. Needs to be debunked. We need our time away to recharge and relax and have new experiences. Anyone else have an answer for this one? Barb: Two things. One, kind of a little bit on to what you were talking about. This idea of women, they have to be working, and they need to be in the house and everything. I can remember when my children were young, and I would be traveling for work, and people would be asking, "But who's looking after the kids?” My husband and I are an excellent 50-50 partnership and family rearing. My mother's like, "But who gives the kids baths?" It's a different era, and this is now 20 years ago, so the times have changed since then as well, but there's still this kind of idea that a woman can't leave the house to do their job if they have children because there isn't someone back in the house who can look after them. It has been changing. It hasn't completely gone. I think the other thing for me is this idea that you can't have emotions. Maybe I'm not sure if it's a stereotype that women have more emotions, or if it is just the way that our society was and has brought up, but I think I personally show more emotions in the things that I do, and I think that there's a lot of research now about emotional intelligence that shows that great leaders have a better understanding. Not—I don't mean just bursting out into anger or fear or crying or whatever emotion might come along, but that the control and the understanding of emotions is a much bigger part in what our society needs. I think women have this, and I think it's great for our society if we have more people with these abilities leading our children into the next era.” Patricia: “When women speak assertively, they're often perceived as aggressive.” Pamela: “I think I was just thinking about this because I'm like, what could it be? But I think it's the myth that we can't have it all. We can have it all, especially in this day and time. There's VAs, we can delegate, and we can have it all and feel that fulfillment at the same time as we are bringing our family in. I mean, now people work from home. Your families are with you. You don't have to farm them out, or take them to wherever they need to go. I think that myth—we can have it all!” Actually, COVID, I think, helped us out a lot to be able to be normal about things. I can remember I was in a mastermind, or in a training or something, and my son came in. I somehow left the door unlocked. He came in wearing a ninja costume, and he's an extrovert, for sure, and he loves attention, so he was in the camera, and I'm like, "Get out!" Then he leaves, and he comes back with a sword, and he starts putting the sword in the camera, and everyone's laughing, and no one shamed me, which was really good. I think that's where COVID has helped us a lot. I'm going to do kind of the quick answer to a few of these questions, and then I'm thinking about doing longer episodes to really honor the answer to them. Paula’s question for me: Over the last 300 episodes, I imagine you've learned so much. My question is, what is one of the most surprising lessons you have learned, and the one that perhaps you never saw coming? I had to think about this. What came up was actually something I mentioned earlier, is the episodes that get the most listens are the ones where I'm super vulnerable. But like, no surprise! So many people commented on my post where I felt judged that I just did the other day. Many people commented because it’s true about how I'm feeling and they connect with it. The super vulnerable ones get more views, get more downloads, whatever, than the ones where I'm polished. I think that's also true for how I consume content. I want to see someone being real and know the behind the scenes. Lydia’s question for me: What was the number one thing that you feel led you to be successful as a speaker and entrepreneur? Actually, it is one thing, which is really funny—it's one word: implement. Or execution. I go to Vegas three times a year to meet one of my coaches, and there's a big mastermind, and he loves to pull me up to the front to say, “Hey, can you talk about that day you made a sale from stage and made $90K.” He loves when I tell the story, or these other stories because it’s fanning his flame and I play it up. Because it fans his flame, and all is good.  What I say to them is, implement. People will tell you strategy all day long. You will come up with great ideas all day long, but you have to actually get it out there. You have to do it. I'm very quick in action, whether for years and years it was only me and then I had Canadian assistants, and a time when I paid contractors, and then I had my virtual assistants. There's always someone that helps me to get things out quickly. But before, it was me. But before that, I think what's helped me just in life to be successful is my mother's belief in me. She would say, “You can do it. You can do it.” I remember I invited her to a talk in my hometown, and I said, “Mom, you can come to this one. I got you a ticket.” She says, “I can't come.” I said, “No, it's a public event. You can come.” Then she said, “No, I can't come.” I said, “Yes, you can - it’s local.” She said, “I can’t because I'll be nervous.” I said, “Why will you be nervous? You don't need to talk to anyone.” “No, no, no, I'll be seeing you speak, and I'll be nervous.” “Why? I'm the one speaking?” “I know, but I'll be nervous.” “Why? I'm going to do a good job.” “I know you will, but I'll still be nervous.” “Why?” “Well, I never understood all the things you've done.” “Mom, you always said ‘you can do it’, and I believe in you.” “Yeah, but I never understood how you actually could do it.” And it's funny, because she always said to me, “I believe in you, and you can do it.” Then in my head the conversation would be, “I’m so scared, but mom says, I can do it, and mom believes in me, so I'm going to do it.” Then I did it. Sometimes I go so far away from that girl, and I ask:
I have these moments of who was that, and then I have to reconnect with her. Maybe that's a takeaway for you, is to believe in yourself, and the greatest thing is now I get to be that belief for others. There's a funny quote that I say, “If you don't believe in yourself, hire someone who does”, because it's the same thing. That gave me a “How can I” attitude because it wasn't about “Could I do it?” it was about “How can I do it”?
It's twofold: my mama's belief in me, but then my quick action to implement, and I just see it through. Wrapping Up Reaching the 300th episode of the Dynamic Women Podcast is a milestone I’m truly grateful for. It’s been an incredible journey filled with insightful conversations, powerful stories, and invaluable lessons. Throughout this special episode, I had the honour of answering thought-provoking questions and hearing inspiring insights from an amazing group of women. Their contributions made this recording even more meaningful, and I couldn’t be more appreciative of the time and energy they brought to the conversation. To all of you—whether you're reading this blog or you listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube—I want to say a heartfelt thank you for being part of this journey. Your support, engagement, and encouragement mean the world to me. This podcast has always been about empowering dynamic women like you, and I’m excited for what’s ahead! Speaking of what’s next—stay tuned for the next episode, where I’ll share about the times I lost my spark, when I felt like an imposter in my own life, and how I found my way back to fulfillment and joy. If you have a topic, question, or story idea you'd love to hear on the podcast, I’d love to know! Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. If you haven’t yet, I’d truly appreciate it if you could leave a review of the Dynamic Women Podcast. When you do, send a screenshot along with your mailing address to [email protected]—I have a little surprise waiting for you! Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. Until next time—stay dynamic! Diane A special shoutout again to our guests:
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We celebrated the 300th episode of the Dynamic Women Podcast. I was joined by a bunch of friends and supporters and I answered their tough questions and vice versa. Sharing with you below some of the questions and answers from this recording. A recap of the Dynamic Women Podcast This is the 300th episode. We're in our fifth year. My goal with this podcast is to share my experiences, share my truth about all areas of life for women, a lot of it based on businesswomen and how to have success and be dynamic. In those years, I've done a lot of personal solo episodes, but I've also brought on amazing guests to do shows with me. Also, we've done panels, and I'm proud to say that we've won five awards. \We were third in the list of top 50 podcasts and Jenna Kutcher was ranked number one. I was pretty proud of that. We're in the top 2.5% of all podcasts. That's the exciting news about the podcast.  Question 1: In your experience, what defines a dynamic woman? I'm going to just tell you why I chose “Dynamic Woman” as the title. Back in 2013, I started a community called Dynamic Women. We were doing live events across eight different locations. Then the podcast came from that. Why I chose Dynamic Women is because when I thought I was going to call it Confident Women, I realized, there's going to be a lot of women saying, "I'm not a confident woman, so I can't show up at this event."' But it was funny, when I thought of the word “dynamic,” I asked myself, “What does that even mean?” We'll probably get a lot of people saying, “I'm dynamic!” Those are the confident ones, and then the not-confident ones will say, “That sounds cool. Maybe I'm dynamic, I don't know, but it sounds like a cool place to be, and I'm going to meet some great women,” and that's actually what happened. After you tell me what defines a dynamic woman, I'll tell you what all of these women told me at these events. Pamela: “‘Dynamic,’” for me, I mean, just reading the actual definition, constant change, active, you're lively, you're energetic, you're spirited. I think it's a woman who is always on the go and continuously learning and continuously reinventing yourself because to keep up the pace with everything and the way it's going, that's what I see it as.” Barb: “Similar to Pamela, I went to the definition because I didn't know what “dynamic” meant. I don't know, am I a dynamic woman? I have no idea. Yet, one of the core components of what I talk about and how I help people is about leading people through change and understanding - our lives are filled with change. Everything that we do, if we can't learn how to overcome the change that we have to get through, and we will always be going through change, we can't be successful. The fact that we're here, whether you are on camera or not, whether you speak or not, the fact that you've shown up in some way says that you've gone through enough change that this is a place that you can be. I think you fill your place with some incredible women that are filled with dynamic abilities.” Lydia: “I took a little bit of a different approach. I did not look at the definition, but to me, a dynamic woman is a woman who knows herself, knows who she is. She creates her own unique style and lives by that style. She builds a community, and she shares what it is that she has learned that brought her to the place that she's at currently.” Patricia: “Well, of course, she's a resilient woman, and I love to say, “Know your gifts and give what you can.” A dynamic woman knows what fuels her up, what helps her flourish, and she takes that energy and her gifts, her strengths, her skills, her knowledge, and she gives what she can to make a positive difference in the world.” The reason why I started Dynamic Women was because I was sick of surface-level networking. When it's like, shake a hand, take a business card, and then you see the person the next week, and they shake your hand, and they give you a business card, and you go, “We met last week,” or you meet people and they're like, “Oh, what do you do? You're a coach?” Oh, and they're looking for the next person to speak to. I was like, forget that. I'm going to start a community where we actually aren't allowed to sell ourselves. We have to meet as who we are, rather than what we do. By getting to know each other, that know-like-and-trust will happen, and we'll get to know each other in different ways, and then we'll want to do life and business together. When I asked at the events, “What makes a dynamic woman?” and all these words were coming at me, it was so interesting to see they were juxtaposed. They're complete opposites: great listener, great communicator, creative, analytical. They're funny. They're thoughtful. We even got really fun ones, like “sassy pants.” I'm like, “Sure, okay!” We have both sides, and there were so many different definitions of who a dynamic woman was that it was so interesting. This happened every single time I opened up a new location. Karen’s question for me: My first question is around the fact that there's a trend going around with people having coffee with themselves, a younger version of themselves 10 years ago. What would that conversation look like for you? And what’s your biggest regret? If I can, I'd actually like to go back to the younger version of me, past 10 years because I've been in this business for like 15 years. If it was 10 years, I'd probably say, “Start the podcast sooner.” That's what I would have said to her at that moment. Also, my children were young then and I wish I would have said to her, “This is not how life is going to be like. You're just in the trenches now, it will get easier, and you probably have postpartum depression. Go take care of that.” I wish that would have clicked in sooner, but it's hard when you're such a driven high achiever, to be able to not just push through the hard times. But my biggest regret actually, and this is something I think should be taught in the school system is actually measuring my life according to success. This was a game changer for me. As I was mentioning, high achiever, top performer, pushing always like, “Oh, I can be president of that. I can win that award. I can achieve that.” It wasn't a case of “Will I go to university?” It was “Which one and how many scholarships will I get?” It's always been check-the-boxes, reach the success, and get awards and achievement. That's where my focus went. Always measuring my life according to success until I hired a life coach. I did the Wheel of Life, and I realized, “No wonder I can't keep life balance between work and life because work is actually just one area.” I now work on a 10-area wheel of life. That was mind-blowing, that, “Oh, it's not about success,” because I was at a moment in my life where I had checked all the boxes, had all the success, was engaged, going to buy a house, doing all the things before I'm 30, great job, all the stuff. I wasn't happy. I was like, “Well, how am I not happy?” Then I felt super bad because it made me seem ungrateful because my life was so successful on paper, and yet I felt like a void. I won't go into it too much because that'll just wreck the next episode. I'll have nothing left to say, but when I could start measuring life according to satisfaction and look at all 10 areas, I realized, “Wow, I'm not happy in that area, and I'm not happy in that area, and I'm not happy in that area, and that's why I'm unhappy and eating nachos and drinking wine at night” - it was mind-blowing. My biggest regret is that I didn't know about that until I was 29, and so if you're right now going, “But I don't know about the life wheel and the 10 areas and measuring my life according to satisfaction.” Okay, so we need to talk, and I'm going to show you, and life's going to be a lot nicer for you. One piece I also want to add to that is the other thing I realized, and probably what I would tell myself or my younger self, even 10 years ago: Always align yourself according to your values. I don't mean my morals or my faith beliefs and following the Ten Commandments. I don't mean that stuff. I mean my value for things like adventure. I love being a trailblazer, but not the one that's like, “Look at me, I did all these things, and I'm awesome.” More so like, “Hey, I went ahead. I did this thing. Now I'm back with you. I'm going to show you. Here are the steps. Do you want me to walk with you, beside you, behind you, in front of you? Like, I'm going to make it so easy for you.”  I also have a value, which came from the word “challenge.” I like challenge, and challenge came through my sports, my love of sports, and I tore my ACL when I was 28, and so I was unable to play rugby at a competitive level or soccer anymore at a very competitive level. I lost a part of myself, and so I had to bring challenge into my life for fun, to feel alive, and so I wish I had known earlier to really stick with my values, and if I always chase my values, I will always have energy and resonance and happiness. It's when I say yes to things that aren't in my values that I feel dissonance and friction, and it's not fun. Karen’s follow-up question: Diane, so the follow-up is: the first thing you said was one of the things you would have done sooner is your podcast. How does that podcast relate to your values, the wheel of life that you talked about? How does that all come together? I'm really excited about this question. Two pieces: So the 1st piece actually is that I love efficiency. That's a value of mine. This podcast helps me with efficiency. On the other side, the efficiency actually helps me balance my wheel. Before, I used to do a blog and do a YouTube video and then do all my social media and then do my newsletter, and I did something new for everything. Well, that's stupid because it's not efficient, and you have to do so much work. When I did the podcast, I started to realize this is a repurposing machine. The podcast is also my YouTube video because I record on video. If you're a podcaster and you're not recording on video, record on video and then use that for something. Then my team now takes the transcription and they make it into my blog. If you've been reading my blog and listening to my podcast and they sound similar, it's because it's the exact same thing. The blog is just cleaned up a little bit because I speak not as well as I guess people write, or my team transcribes it and fixes it, and then I look back and I go, “Why did I say it that way? I'm going to change it.” Then that is turned into the newsletter and turned into all my social media posts. Then the newsletter and the social media posts refer back to YouTube, the blog, and the podcast. I actually called it Content Multiplication Magic (a program I developed), how to make one piece of content into all these different pieces. Even better if you have a virtual assistant to do it for you. It has given me time back in my life because it's much easier if I'm a speaker first and a writer second - or a writer fifth, I don't even care about writing as much as I do speaking. But for those of you who are writers, you would write first, and then you could read it, and that could be your way of repurposing content and being efficient. When and where are you most satisfied in your life? It's not the success piece. This is satisfaction. Where do you feel that contentment, fulfillment, happiness? Where is that for you? For me, a lot of satisfaction comes on the soccer field, and when I tore my lateral meniscus, the orthopedic surgeon looked at me and said, “Do you do this for fun or fitness?” I'm like, “I love it.” He's like, “Okay, then keep doing it. But it's not the smartest.” Cathy: “Right now, I'm the most satisfied I've been in my life, and it's because I've learned to make decisions based on what I want, what I need, and keeping in mind that if it's not going to either maintain my happiness or increase my happiness, then it probably isn't a good decision. That was where this little guy. He's two and a half now, and I've realized he's 24 pounds, not 20, but he still just wants to be with me. He is my source of exercise. We do a lot of long walks together and gets me outside. I've lost over 30 pounds in two and a half years and gotten fit. It's helped keep my brain clear to focus on my job, focus on my work, and what it is I want and what I'm going to do with it. It’s where I am and what I am doing. Recently, I moved to Halifax. Since I moved here, I lived out in the country, and just being in the city is a whole different dynamic. It recharges me in a way that I didn't even expect when I made this decision. It was based on the fact that I was having way too many in-person meetings to be commuting 65 kilometers each way, two to three times a week. It was too much, and I said, “Well, here's the financial side of it.” But that's not why I'm doing it. I don't want to spend that much time away from home. I don't want that. I don't want to come home and be exhausted. As much as I love the dog, I'm exhausted. I have to make supper. I have to do laundry. I have to take the dog for a walk. I probably have taken him for two walks. I just didn't want that stuff in my life. I wanted the simple life, much simpler, much clearer. Lots of outside time, lots of opportunities to network and start to build my profile more here in Nova Scotia. I had one in BC, but not so much here yet. So that's all the things that are starting to happen, because the dynamic has changed.” The thing that I'm hearing from Cathy is that she looked at “Where am I not satisfied? What am I not happy about? I'm going to do something about it.” That's what’s important around measuring your life according to satisfaction, rather than measuring your life according to success. I've worked with people who have, on purpose, taken demotions instead of promotions, in order to have the lifestyle they wanted or worked one day less a week and maybe made a little bit less money, but they were fine with that. Even better, if you can do both - make more money and work less. Paula: “I was really thinking about satisfaction, so I'm glad you asked this. When you were talking about your own striving for success, and it just really allowed me to reflect that it's that shifting away from success to satisfaction has allowed me to blossom more. I think that's what I would say, and to really refine what it is that allows me to flourish. I think that is the key because success to me just - we're just constantly on that little hamster wheel, but in satisfaction, allows you to take a step back and sit in what it is that's surrounding you, and what it is that allows you to flourish and really, really understand I think the deeper points of yourself through satisfaction.” I love the word “flourish.” That's what we're wanting, right? We want to flourish in our lives. We don't want to be like ho-hum, every day is the same, and life sucks. That's why I actually created the ReIGNITE program, because when I lost my spark thankfully, my friend called me out and was like, “You lost your spark.” I definitely wasn't flourishing on the inside. I was flourishing on the outside, and then my face had to keep up appearances with “Everything's good,” but that's not how things are. Lydia: “It's interesting the last several years, I have put myself in a place where I move around a lot, like last year, for example, I went to Australia twice. I stayed for three months at a time, and that was part of me developing that I have to be satisfied and know who I am no matter where I'm at. It's not being responsive to what's going on around me. It comes from within me. I feel satisfied because I can be in that place no matter where I go." That's goals, everyone. You can be satisfied no matter where you are. I went to a conference, and a lot of the people attending were complaining about everything and blah, blah, blah, complaining, complaining about this speaker and that speaker and this abstract not matching, and all this. I was just like, “We can be in this place of dissatisfaction and annoyance and frustration and anger, or we can be like, what's one golden nugget that I'm going to learn from this person?” It made me think about how we're in control of our own state. Sandrine: “I am more satisfied when I'm being productive. I can be very happy doing nothing like I do lots of dog sitting. I have my happy moment. But to be satisfied, I need to be busy and productive. I only get satisfaction, I think, from that, whether it is from cleaning the house or helping someone or planning, but I think productivity - and people shouldn't know “Oh, you work too much, or you move too much, or you can't relax.” I really take a lot of pleasure and satisfaction by being on the move, and as happy as I can be doing nothing, to really be truly in my element, I need to get things done.” I think that's the key thing Sandrine is bringing up is knowing what makes you happy. That's the hardest question when I talk to audiences when I'm speaking, or even when I was in a professional women's group, and we were waiting for the event to start. I asked, “What do you want?” They were like, “What do I want for lunch?” I'm replied, “No, what do you want in life?” “Oh, I don't know. I never really thought of that. I don't know, a bigger house, more vacation.” A lot of times, people come to me and they confess, “I don't know what I like to do or want. I have all this time off, and I haven't booked it because I don't even know what I would do with the time if I'm not working.” Pamela: “I love to sing. I love to connect with people. Writing and also my podcast, I love that. I love interviewing people and having them share their story. I love to hear how they took their power back when they went through scenarios, but that connection with people and just really helping others. If it can involve music, I love that too. That really fulfills me.” Rochelle’s question for me: How do you GROW into being a leader? First, the leadership part for me comes around having a really high work ethic, commitment, and doing what's right. I think of my times when I was younger. When I was chosen as captain of the teams, no matter the sport, I was often the captain, president of clubs, and president of Student Council. Then, when I grew up and was doing all this stuff, I had a very high work ethic. In soccer, I would be there first, and I'd be already ready and warming up. I would be doing all the drills to the top of my ability. I had to be the top because I'm like, “If I'm going to be your captain, I need to be able to run further, farther, faster.” I would train on my own, and I did a lot of things to raise my own bar so that I could then expect others to raise their bar. Because if I wasn't going to do it, why would they do it? Then also looking at “How can I empower others?” That was probably one of the lessons that I learned and it was news to me that not everyone could do what I could do, or as quickly as I could do it. This sounds a bit egotistical now that I'm sharing that. But I was surprised. I was very surprised because things did come easily to me. When I moved up in my company pretty quickly. I was everyone's friend until I was promoted. Then all of a sudden, people don't want to be your friend anymore when you're evaluating them. I had to keep up the small talk. That's the hardest for me, when growing into being a leader. Because I just like, “Let's get it done.” What I realized too is because I can think of like 20 things, and then I implement the things, and then I'm like, “Oh, it's easy,' and blah, blah, blah.” But it's not for a lot of people, it wasn't. I had to realize that I had to share with people like this level and then this level and then this level, but I get so excited, and I'm like, “But here's the whole thing and all that,” and people get overwhelmed. What I realized is to be a great leader I had to go back to when the teacher sat me beside the struggling kid, I had to remember to share at their level and then help them to build their confidence and not to focus on making it perfect. In business in general as well - make it be easy for them to replicate. The more I made everything look perfect, the more people felt they couldn't achieve what I achieved. I had to learn to turn up the vulnerability, because people think, “Oh, you're so perfect. Everything comes easy to you.” But the reality is, “No, I've had this trouble and this struggle and this and this.” I think the other part of me being a leader was sharing enough of my vulnerability that people thought, “Okay, I could do that.” An audience member yelled, “That gives me hope!” I asked, “What do you mean?” She goes, “You showed me that video of you in the beginning, you sucked. Now look at you. That gives me hope that I can do the same.” And I was like, “Oh, thanks - I think!” Haha! When I learned how to share my vulnerability, not as a weakness, and to show my imperfection, that's when I really became a good leader. Then the last thing I need to share is “Eat humble pie and make small talk.” Yeah, I have to do that. I feel like I need to do a whole episode on that question. That's a good one, and it actually leads me into a side note here. We're putting out “Dynamic Women Leadership Secrets,” launching in—or being published and available at the end of May. A special shoutout to our guests:
Wrapping Up Reaching the 300th episode of the Dynamic Women Podcast is a milestone I’m truly grateful for. It’s been an incredible journey filled with insightful conversations, powerful stories, and invaluable lessons. This was just part one of the episode, so go to the next blog for the rest of the questions! If you have a topic, question, or story idea you'd love to hear on the podcast, I’d love to know! Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. If you haven’t yet, I’d truly appreciate it if you could leave a review of the Dynamic Women Podcast. When you do, send a screenshot along with your mailing address to [email protected]—I have a little surprise waiting for you! Diane Read my other blogs:
There is a happiness mistake that successful women make, and I don't want you to make it. Have you experienced this? You've achieved so much, checked all the boxes, and still felt empty or wondered, "Why don't I feel as happy as I thought I should?"  Well, there was a moment I can remember that I had checked every box that I needed to check at that point in my life.
All of this should have made me feel fulfilled, but something was missing. I kept thinking, "Maybe if I work harder, maybe if I achieve more, or I push through, I'll finally feel the way I want to." I then tried all of that, and then I thought, "Hmm, maybe something's wrong with me because if no amount of success filled that gap, that void, then something must have been wrong with me.” But this is the big mistake that people - successful women especially - make around their happiness and their joy. They think that external achievements will automatically create internal happiness. But no, no, no, no. Why isn't success enough? This is the myth that we've been sold. Society tells us: achieve more, you'll be happy; then buy more, you'll be happy, and do more because then you'll achieve more, and then you'll be happy. But many of us have spent years chasing that success, chasing the promotions, chasing recognition, chasing the perfect life, or at least just being driven enough to go for all of these things. But then we get to a point where we feel that happiness just still feels out of reach. It's like, "Oh, I got there, but I’m not as happy as I thought. I got that other thing, and sadly, it's not as fulfilling as it seemed, and I got the latest thing I wanted, and it's not as satisfying as I had imagined." When I had the moment where my friend Rozz called me out for losing my spark it was really hard, but freeing to have the realization pointed out to me. (I'm going to go through it in more detail in a future blog post. I’ll talk about two stories of where I really lost my spark and how I got it back). After working with a coach, I realized that I was measuring my satisfaction based on external validation. Why isn't success enough? Well, first, I told you, society says that we need to achieve more, so it's pushing us to measure life according to success. I learned I need to measure my life according to my satisfaction because success is external validation, but happiness comes from internal alignment. Have you ever felt off and you didn't know why? Well, that's when something isn’t aligned. You see, achievements don't automatically create joy. We have to be intentional that our achievements are actually fulfilling us internally, not just externally. But the common trap that successful, high-achieving women get into is that they feel like…
It goes on and on and on and on, and the answer is no, because once they get there, success is fleeting. It falls through our fingers. Part of it, we don't celebrate, but the other part is that it's not aligned internally. Now, you may feel happy at the time, but it doesn't stay - that's the fleeting piece - or sadly, it's not even existent at all. I had a client early on in my years who had built a business with two of their friends and ended up selling it for $75 million, their cut was $25 million. This was about 14 years ago, so you can imagine it was and still is a lot of money. And they were only 32. But once they had all the money and didn’t have to work anymore, they thought, "Oh, I'm not happy here. Why?” "I thought this would make me happy. This is what I've been building in university and beyond for years. I focused 24/7 on this goal, and it didn't bring me happiness." It was shocking for them. What we had to do was find that internal alignment. Why do we fall into this trap as successful women? I'm going to give you three reasons. Reason #1: We confuse achievement with fulfillment We measure success. We measure ourselves according to our job title, our income, our milestones, and our purchases, even if we're not materialistic. We want a nice home, or we want nice clothes, or we want a nice vacation. Also, because we're measuring our success according to these things, fulfillment feels a little bit harder to measure. It's intangible because it's feelings of joy, peace, alignment, and happiness. We can't really say, "Oh yeah, I've reached that mark of happiness." This is because we can't see it, and we don't know the path there. We're choosing that success path instead. But the mistake, again, is chasing those external wins without considering our internal desires.
But when we confuse achievement for fulfillment, we will constantly be chasing happiness. Reason #2: We delay happiness. It's the "when… then I’ll"
The problem is, the "then" never comes because you're continuously putting another goal ahead of it, or there's something bigger now that you want. Or you get there and you decide, "Oh, there's something else now in order for me to feel confident,” or just even if it's the epitome of whatever it is. You're only grasping at that intangible feeling because it wasn't the right thing to do in the first place. Reason #3: We prioritize being productive over being present Oh, I'm so guilty of this! Have you been guilty of prioritizing being productive over being present? Because you can’t achieve a goal if you're just hanging out with friends and laughing and having fun, because we're conditioned to believe our worth is tied to how much we accomplish.  It's been ingrained in us. We stay busy not only to achieve. But we stay busy because slowing down feels uncomfortable, and sometimes being alone with our thoughts and our feelings - oh, that's when we go, "There's a little voice telling me I'm not happy. There's a part of me that's pointing out what's missing here.” True happiness doesn't come from that next task. It's from being present with our lives, with ourselves and our loved ones and the things that are in alignment with us. How to create true happiness How do you create true happiness, then? How do you do it? #1: You have to redefine what success means for you. It's not about, "What do I want to achieve?" It's "What actually makes me happy?" and then creating a version of success that includes this and is aligned with your values, not just what society tells you what you should want. Even better, if you start looking to measure your life according to satisfaction rather than success, you're going to be choosing the correct goals and the correct way for you to be spending your time and where to focus. #2: Stop waiting for a milestone to give yourself permission to enjoy life. Some of our goals are five years along. Some of our goals are 20 years along, and even then some goals are out of our control. We might never realize them because some are just stripped from us, like if we get fired or we lose a big contract. Joy isn't the reward for success. I'm going to say that again: joy isn't the reward for success. Joy is something you cultivate daily. Joy is a choice in your life. Simple practices you can do to have more joy in the moment, rather than waiting for that big win or that big achievement, celebrate those small wins, celebrate who you're being along the way to the big win, nd mke sure to add things into your schedule that help you to feel alive. Things that I've done are - well, soccer definitely does, and that has for decades, but things like I did like African drumming. That was wild! The next thing I want to do is glassblowing. Soccer lights me up. Painting lights me up. Stand-up comedy lights me up. You can reconnect with the things that light you up. #3: Switch from that external validation to internal fulfillment. Focus less on "What am I achieving? What do I need to achieve today?" and ask yourself, "What do I want to feel today?" When you check in with yourself, and you ask, "Does this activity/task/goal/friend/situation/event have me feel energized or drained?" Energized is resonance. That's an alignment with you, your values, your wants, desires, needs. If it's draining, then it's in dissonance. There's friction. It sucks your energy. It's not in alignment with your values, your wants, your needs, your desires, your passions. Give yourself permission to add more of the joy in and let go of the things that don't bring you joy. ReIGNITE It’s time to ReIGNITE that spark and live with more happiness by putting the solutions above and more into place. The easiest way to do that is in ReIGNITE! It’s such an amazing program. I'm so excited about it! It is a 90-day one-on-one coaching program with me, together designing the opportunity for you to be able to feel happier, and not only feel happier but ReIGNITE the spark that is inside of you.  To stop feeling disconnected and like you're juggling it all, and instead, reconnect with that piece of you, that vibrant, passionate person that maybe feels like a distant memory, and you miss that confident person and the one who used to shine. That excitement, that energy. The good news - she's just missing, but that doesn't mean we can't get her back. Because the fire is still in you, we get to work together. It's not about reinventing yourself; it's just uncovering that bold, vibrant version of you that's been buried under the weight of busyness and expectations. Really, this is your wake-up call. It's time to stop playing small. It's time to stop succumbing to all this success pressure from society and to start fully living and be in your happy. There's a very special journey. I encourage you to go and check it out. If you're ready to jump in, hit the cart, and let's get this journey started. If you're unsure, there is a little form there you can click, you can fill it in, and you and I can have a one-on-one conversation because, trust me, I only want to work with people who this is right for, and I want you to feel like this is the right choice for you. Then you can be excited to get that spark back. Really, the last question is: are you ready to ReIGNITE your passion and get your spark back? Are you ready to have more happiness and not succumb to these mistakes? Then join ReIGNITE! Share this with a friend, and stay tuned, because there are more amazing blogs coming up. I'd love to have you in ReIGNITE. Letting you know February 21st is the date that the doors close, or when three people join the program, whichever comes first. I'm wishing you a fabulous day. Until next time, stay dynamic! Read my other blogs:
I have had times in my life where I've had to draw a line in the sand. If you’re reading this, you're probably feeling a little bit that way already. I’m going to share with you the five signs so that you know if it's time for you to draw the line in the sand and the three steps of what you need to do next when you feel like you need to draw that line. This might be your wake-up call.  What it means to draw a line in the sand This phrase is really a metaphor, and it means to set that firm boundary saying, “You can't go past this” or a clear, non-negotiable decision. That could be for your own life, so rather than a boundary to others, it could be just some decision you set for yourself. It's that point or line which you refuse to go over or into. It could be in relationships, with work, your personal well-being, or any area of life, but we want to be able to do this now because if you're not going to set boundaries, if you're not going to reclaim yourself, especially as a high-achieving woman, you know what's going to happen? You're going to be so exhausted, so burnt out, that there's going to be an extreme. I've seen this in clients coming to me extremely sick, burnt out, having anxiety attacks, having to quit their job or stop their business, or leaving a marriage when that was not the issue. So many things can happen, almost like a blow-up or an explosion. We want to draw a line in the sand if any of these five signs are happening for you. The 5 Signs Sign #1: You feel constantly exhausted and depleted It's not just once in a while - it happens a lot, and so you're running on empty. You're always giving but never replenishing. Life feels like a never-ending to-do list, and you're like, "How can people even sit and watch TV? I have so much to do!" Or if you are sitting and watching TV, you're thinking, "Ah, I have so much to do, I'm just procrastinating," and you don't even get to rest or relax. You're feeling like, "When was the last time that I felt energized? When was the last time that I had an abundance of energy and that I didn't have all these to-do's on my mind?" I've had times where I would work every day, rather than just weekends being off. I would work in the evenings, I would work on vacation, and I just kept being pushed. I'd miss important things, or I would have a day off, but I'd be so exhausted I'd get sick, or I would just have to lay there and do nothing. I couldn't go and do anything fun. Now, this is an extreme. You might not be to that point. You might just feel like, "Oh yeah, the pressure of my to-do list," or "I'm feeling like there's a lot going on," or "I'm feeling a bit tired." It could be the extreme, or it could be the start of the extreme, but this is one way you might have to draw a line in the sand. Sign #2: You feel invisible in your own life This is because we have so many titles and so many roles that we take on.
I could go on and on and on. Because of all these titles, you've really lost sight of your true self. Wondering, "Who am I now?" You think about maybe changing your role. "Who am I now?" You're showing up for everyone else but not enough for yourself. Changing your job or business? Then you’re thinking, "Who am I now outside of my previous title?" What happens is empty nesters ask, "Who am I now without the kids?" You may fight me on this and say, "No, I do show up for myself. I go to the gym. I take myself to get my nails done." But are you truly showing up for yourself? Is there time and space to be you and do what you want to do? Some signs of this:
Sign #3: You are checking boxes, but you still feel unfulfilled I’ve heard women say (me included), "Okay, I have a home, and I have a good job or the business I want, and I just achieved that project, and I just did this, and this is great, and I went on this vacation." You agree, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I have a successful career, responsibilities managed." But even though you've had so much success, something feels off. Wondering, "What is it? Why am I feeling unfulfilled?" Or you're asking yourself, "Is this really it? I've worked for all of this stuff. I've worked doing all these things, and then I ask, is this it?"  The misconception is that more achievements equal more happiness. More awards equals more satisfaction. More material things equals more fulfillment. It's not always the case. Because we may achieve or buy that thing and then not have the fulfillment or the satisfaction or the happiness we want. So then we try to fill it with something else because maybe the things we're filling our life with aren't really the things that light us up, that get us going, that put us in resonance and give us energy. This takes me to the next sign. Sign #4: You've forgotten what lights you up You say, "Well, I don't even know what lights me up anymore." Hmm, "When I was younger, I loved this, I loved that." Or, "Oh, when I see that, I long for that." Well, in this case, you might be at a point where passions and joys really hit the back seat. Why? Obligations, responsibilities, goals. You're driven, so you're getting a lot of things done, and well, there's just no time for your passions and your joy. Or you don't remember the last time you did something just for yourself - a hobby, a passion, something you really want to do. The shift is starting to realize joy isn't a luxury, it's a necessity. Joy, happiness, fulfillment, satisfaction is not the secondary ROI (return on investment) for your goals. It should be one of the first. We must stop measuring our life according to success. Instead, we need to measure our life based on our satisfaction, fulfillment, joy, and happiness. Sign #5: You know something needs to change, but you feel stuck You look at your life, "Oh wow. I have all this success, or I have all these things that are going well for me, or all these things that I'm busy," but something's off. Maybe you're not even aware that life isn't how you want it to be. You may say, "Is this all there is? Is there something off? Why isn't life how I want it to be? But I don't know what's wrong, and so I don't know where to start.” If your solution is, "Well, maybe I need to remove some commitments so I can do some things that I want," but then you don’t because you have a fear of disappointing others, or you'll make the wrong move. Or you decide to make a bigger move, "Maybe I should quit my job, maybe I should find new friends." But you've frozen and don’t move because you're thinking about how you don't know what the next step is. You don't have the clarity. You don't have the confidence to do that. The key insight here is that discomfort, that fear that's going to keep you stuck, and that stuckness is so much worse than the discomfort of change or the chance that you're going to hurt or annoy someone. Because really, when you put yourself first, people will not always like it, and that's because you're not making every single one of their needs the top priority. But you know it's going to be okay, because what if they put themselves as a priority, and you put yourself as a priority? You'd have extra to give each other. Well, those are the five ways you know that you need to draw a line in the sand. I'll go through them again:
3 steps of what you need to do next What do you do next if you’re now thinking, "I know I need to draw a line in the sand, but what do I do? What do I do, Diane?" Step 1: Awareness Well, first, congratulations on acknowledging that change is necessary. This is the first step. Awareness is key. Once you're aware that this is something that needs to happen, then you can make a conscious change. Because a lot of times we make unconscious changes - we just quit the job, or we ditch the friend, or we leave our marriage, or we run away, or we buy the expensive car, whatever it may be in your solution to the crisis. But just acknowledge that change is necessary. We don't need to wait till we hit rock bottom. We don't need to wait till we have an anxiety attack, or we're burnt out, or we get a terrible diagnosis. You don't have to wait for that. Step two: Get support. Women struggle asking for help, and we shouldn't. The smartest people out there are the ones asking for support and asking for help, and you have to stop trying to do it all alone. We are not meant to be silos. Especially as women, we are meant to be in community, meant to be with our tribe. The greatest growth comes from coaching (I may be biased, but it’s what saved me)- someone in your corner who has the desire to see you succeed and the knowledge and expertise to help you get there. Step 3: Reignite your passion Once you've drawn that line in the sand, you get to reignite your passion, reignite the spark that you know is in there. Don’t worry if you’re wondering, "Where'd it go? And can I fan it and make it stronger?" Just start small. Get some help. Get that support to help you figure out what your passion is, what that spark is, and make some space for it - a little bit of joy every single day. The last part around reigniting your passion in step three is really about what are the non-negotiables for happiness? Is it a non-negotiable to have a walk in the forest every day? Is having Sundays free a non-negotiable? Is not starting your work day at 5 a.m. every day and only working 35 hours a week a non-negotiable? It's still a lot of hours - maybe only working 20 hours a week. Wrapping Up Those are the five signs why you probably need to draw a line in the sand and the three steps to get there. Now here's the invitation: You don't have to settle for burnout, exhaustion, or feeling disconnected. The next step for you after realizing that and acknowledging the awareness that you need to draw a line in the sand is to join my new program called ReIGNITE. ReIGNITE is a 90-day one-on-one coaching program with me. It is new. It is fire. I'll tell you that. I've got three spots where I'm going to help women to reignite who they are, to be able to reconnect with whatever it is that they were before. Because so often we are already amazing. It's not about changing who we are. It's about reigniting that, reconnecting with that. It's time for a change. You know it. You've accomplished so much, you've checked the boxes. You've had the successful career or the busy life or the thriving family, all of these things, and it's everything you've ever wanted. But it's now time for YOU. You're exhausted from juggling it all. You've lost the most important thing: YOURSELF.  I encourage you, go check it out. You have until February 21st or until the three spots are taken to jump into ReIGNITE. You can just go in and sign up. There's a full-pay or payment options. If you're not sure if it's right for you, there is going to be a little form you can fill in. I'm happy to have a one-on-one conversation with you to discuss if it is the right fit for you, because I know there's a fire still inside of you, and I want to work with you to be able to help you to reclaim that spark, to be able to stop living life on autopilot.
It's not going to take six months or years to do. It's just a 90-day process. You don't have to reinvent yourself. We're going to uncover that bold, vibrant version of you that has been buried underneath the busyness and the expectations, and we're going to replace that overwhelm together with joy. We're going to ditch the "shoulds" and help you to really, truly shine that light again. This is your wake-up call. This is your time to stop playing small and to start fully living. Let's reignite together. If you have any questions, reach out [email protected]. If there are any topics that you'd like me to cover, please reach out to [email protected]. If it is beyond February 21, 2025, when you are reading this, feel free also to reach out to see if I'm running this program again, or you can check the landing page that talks more about it. Until next time, stay dynamic! Read my other blogs: |
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