Julie's Blog

The personal relationship we hold with our stuff in our house is very fascinating. I think our stuff can speak volumes as to who we are, what we value, where we’ve been and even about what’s going on in our lives right now.

Take a look around your house right now. What kind of stories could be told about you?

Any special projects going on or events coming up? Can you see a theme throughout, like kids, sports, travel or a favorite color? Is there an underlying theme of chaos or calm? Can you tell that something is on your mind by what’s going on in your house?
 
I've been pondering and processing a project over the past few weeks. The project is HUGE in my mind because it’s a topic with which I’m relatively unfamiliar, but which is a crucial element for my business going forward. Getting started, even figuring out how or where to start, has felt overwhelming. And then came the actual learning part, which was equally overwhelming...

I was messaging with a friend recently, catching up on our days. I told him that I’d gotten a lot of work done that day, had worked out, and that I was getting ready to head off to meet with a client. His response was, “Nice! You are so busy. The day goes faster like that.”

Hold up. Wait…. What did he say?!

My friend’s statement gave me an immediate visceral response that shot an unusual and unexpected feeling from head to toe. It was as if some sort of timer went off and I was suddenly fully alert. I immediately thought, “Wait a minute here, I don’t want time to go fast!”

This full-body response to such a benign comment caught me off guard, so I played around with it a bit. Why was my reaction so instinctive and immediate? Was I feeling defensive? What was being triggered? Why such a strong feeling?

Then I realized what it was.

It was less about not wanting time to pass quickly than it was about not wanting it to pass...

Baby steps. It’s a common phrase. We all know it and we’ve likely all used it before. Now I want all of us to stop. Please. I implore you. PLEASE stop using this phrase.

Quit cheating yourself with baby steps and actually make the change.

I understand why we say it. It means we’re feeling overwhelmed by the bigger picture and that we’re happy that we made at least some progress. But if you are measuring progress in “baby steps,” do you feel like you made any real progress? And are you actually happy about that progress? I’d say nope and nope.

Yes, progress can take time. For example, if you have a completely disorganized house where nothing has a place and everything seems to be sprinkled about you can’t ever find anything... then, yes, it may feel like a “baby step” when you get the kitchen counter cleared off. Or it may feel like a baby step when you get your Etsy account set up when you’re starting an online...

I feel like I’ve been hearing the phrase “good enough” a lot lately. It seems to be showing up with multiple clients. As our routines stay all shaken up from quarantine and transitioning into the reopening phase, motivation seems to be fading and “good enough” seems to be taking hold. As I’ve pondered this topic, I’ve realized that no matter what challenges we are facing, settling for good enough is a dangerous roadblock.

An example of this came up during a coaching call with a client. She brought up how frustrated she is by her perpetually cluttered kitchen island. I asked her to look at each item on the island and reflect back on how it ended up there. Looking at it all, she realized that she brings stuff in from the car and ends up setting it on the island intending to put away later, thinking that “At least it’s in the house. That’s ‘good enough.’” The problem, though, is that when later comes,...

The last two weeks have left me with a very heavy heart. It’s taken me until now to send anything because I was struggling to process this extremely emotional situation that is gripping the Minneapolis community, as well as other communities across the country.
 
I am truly heartbroken over what happened to George Floyd. My words can’t express how devastated I am that this happened in my city. I am heartbroken over what happened to Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many others.
 
We could talk about the injustice. About the damages - psychological and physical, people and businesses. About the strength or the community. Throughout it all, one message rises up: it is time for change. 
 
And the change starts within each of us. How can I BE better? How I can help become part of the SOLUTION? These are the big, deep-work questions that I have been asking myself - and I hope you ask yourself too. 
 
While I don’t have all of...

As a life coach, every day I’m delving into discussion with people on how to reach a deeper level of happiness. Over the past couple months, there has been a reoccurring theme that keeps showing up in so many people’s lives: FEAR. 

Fear comes in many forms, and can get in the way of happiness for many. We may have fears around being able to take care of our basic needs, like figuring out how we’ll be able to pay bills, when we will be able to return to work or if we even have a job to return to, and how we can stay healthy and safe during this global pandemic.

Very often we may also be grappling with fears around reaching for our goals and dreams, like the fear of the unknown, of failure, of asking for help, and of what people think about us. All of these fears are things that people often let stand in the way of pursuing their goals and dreams, and this is what I want to dig into today.

Fear of the unknown can keep you from realizing your goal of moving to a...

The coronavirus has been a time of uncertainty for so many of us. It has shaken up our lives in countless ways.  I wanted to share a story about how being shaken up actually helped me change my ENTIRE life around. Read on to discover how you can use this time of uncertainty and change for your own benefit...  

For a very long time, I was a financial analyst at one of the big medical device companies. This was the path I had wandered onto after graduating from my undergrad program. 

I love learning. I love school. I don’t remember this particular remark, but my mom remembers clearly when I said I would have stayed for a masters after undergrad. (Which, at that time, would have likely been as a construction major!)

Between my love of learning and my career as a financial analyst, it naturally made sense for me to pursue an MBA in finance…Right?

So, I started taking a class or two per semester. There were classes I really enjoyed, like a marketing...

“I can’t believe I hung onto this for so long.”

What does that mean for you?

I've been working with a client, we’ll call her Nicole, on and off for several years. We've organized and coached together, and she even attended one of my retreats. She's put in great effort to make some big changes in her life, and I really admire her for her diligence and hard work.

Last fall, she and I worked together in her garage going through everything. There was a lot of purging and organizing to do, and we were both determined to get everything completely done before winter set in. We were determined that this would be the first year in a many that she would be able to park her car in her garage.

Nicole’s garage was filled with the typical house, yard and driveway maintenance stuff, as well as seasonal and holiday decorations. While all of that was due for some organizing, it was her parents' belongings that presented the bigger challenge....

Wow. Not sure I could think of anyone who hasn’t gone through an incredibly difficult period in life. How about you? Even people who generally come from a very positive, upbeat perspective find themselves challenged by people, events and situations that can leave them feeling frustrated, heartbroken, depressed or even downright pissed off. That’s just a regular day, let alone managing through a global pandemic and being quarantined.

The reality, though, is that no matter where it ranks from being a simple challenge to navigating emotions, finances, safety, and everything else during this incredibly challenging time we’re living in, we are all going to be faced with, and are facing, these situations. There is no getting around it. The good news, though, is that that’s where real personal growth can come from.

Let’s talk about what happens in your body when you are in a stressful situation. Toxic chemicals are released. Each emotion felt releases a...

Not too long ago, I attended an event where I had the opportunity to hear one of my favorites, Tom Bilyeu. Have you heard of him? Well, I have been listening to his show Impact Theory, as well as his Health Theory show, on YouTube for quite some time. I highly recommend checking them out.

Anyway, I am a huge fan of Tom because of the topics he digs into and the quality of his interviews. I also have a deep level of respect for him because of his authenticity, passion, hard work, and dedication to continuous improvement. And let’s face it, his love for and devotion to his wife are wonderful qualities. So seeing and hearing him in person was an incredible opportunity and, truth be told, I was drawn to the event because he would be speaking.

Tom talked about ideas such as the importance of having grit when you’re working towards creating something big (think Angela Duckworth's book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance). He also talked about the idea of not being...