Author: jplatt27

it’s ok to want what you want

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Deep down you know what you want.

It’s OK to want that.

In fact, it’s more than ok. It’s amazing. It’s necessary. There will be less tension and stress in the world if you do.

Give yourself permission to want that.

When you want what you want and own it, you give the universe permission to bring it to you. And when you get it, everybody wins. Because you’ll add a little more joy to the world.

Can you imagine if we all did that? If we all gave ourselves permission to want what we want? That little bit of peace from each of us would change the world.

one of the best things i’ve done for my mental health

Posted on by jplatt27
One of the best things I’ve done for my mental health in the last year is unsubscribe from the business building newsletter mailing lists I was on.
I’d read these emails and think I’m not good enough, I’m not doing enough. I don’t want to do that. I can’t do that. It just made me feel really shitty.
I knew I wasn’t going to build a successful business from that place of lack and I’m not good enough so I unsubscribed. And it made me feel a million times better.
If you’ve subscribed to something meant to be helpful and motivational but instead makes you feel small and shut down, it’s not doing it’s job and could possibly even be slowing you down from your goals.
If the dating sites are reminding you of how single you are and make you think “I’m never going to find the love of my life” take a break, don’t login for a while.
If listening to podcasts and reading articles about money make you feel hopeless and sad about your financial state, take a step back and don’t listen to those things for a bit.
If fitness pages on social media make you feel fat and inadequate, change your settings so those things don’t pop up in your news feed.
If reading blogs about positive psychology and your mindset overwhelm you, set up your reader so they’re not the first thing you see.
Step away. Unsubscribe. Funnel it into a folder where you don’t have to see it unless you choose to.
You do not deserve to feel shitty about yourself. I personally believe that you’ve got to love yourself into change. Approach it with hope, optimism, and love for the possibilities ahead.
If there are things that are coming across your screen that don’t allow you to feel good, inspired, and expanded, please, please, please, take the action necessary so they don’t come across your screen.
If they’re going to make you feel less than, get them out of your inbox.
You’ll be amazed at what mental creative energy will be opened up to you when you do.
What do you need to remove from your screen?
P.S. I sent this to my email list this morning. If you want to get things like this right in your inbox, subscribe here.

link love

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three favorite things

Pictured above, three of my favorite things: my husband reading, our comfy bed, and the big windows in our apartment. I’m so glad my weekend will be filled with all three. We’re going to Annapolis for a night to celebrate our anniversary and then we’ll spend the rest of the weekend relaxing at home.

We took our go-to chocolate chip pancake recipe to the next level with this.

New snack this week. Just what I’ve been looking for. Sweet, satisfying, protein-filled, and comfy. But also relatively healthy.

I agree with everything in this post about finding your purpose or calling.

You know I love stuff like this. Just happy. So so happy.

I love Natalie’s definition of style. Her blog has definitely changed the way I think about beauty and style. I’ve also been thinking a lot about the capsule wardrobe she mentioned here.

If you’re dreading going back to your job after this long weekend, check out this program if you want help and encouragement to make a change.

 

 

 

truth is, i’m an introvert

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If you know me in real life, you’d probably bet that I’m an extrovert. I’m very outgoing and love talking to people around me, including strangers.

Truth is I’m an introvert. While I can get some great energy from other people, I really need to be alone to recharge and I require a lot of alone time. Time spent reading, watching TV by myself, laying in bed and looking out the window. I need to start every day just with myself.

I feel pressure to go-go-go-go-go and hang with the group but I don’t like it and I’m certainly not my best self when I do that.

I feel a lot of guilt about this–that I don’t see my friends more and don’t see my family more (especially when we’re in PA) because I love them and I want them to know I love them (my love language is quality time, after all) and “if-I-did-love-them-I’d spend-every-minute-with-them-and-I-wouldn’t-get-tired.”

But I do.

Now that I’m realizing this and acknowledging it, it feels better. Because it’s not personal, it’s just me. Just what I need to be the best version of myself.

what i’m learning about sports

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For as long as I’ve known Mike, he’s been a huge Philadelphia sports fan. Between the Flyers, Eagles, and Phillies we’re always in-season for one of the sports. When we moved in together, one of the most notable things was how much he watches sports. If it’s not an actual game, it’s what we’ve come to call “talking about sports”: Mike and Mike, SportsCenter, Pardon the Interruption, pre- and post-game coverage. In the car we frequently stream Philly sports talk and Mike will also listen to it on his morning and evening bus rides. And though he’s normally a pretty calm, steady guy, that all goes out the window when the Flyers or Eagles are on. The hootin’ and hollerin’ is really something else. It got so bad one time, I was afraid he was going to get so riled up he was going to throw the remote or something and ruin our new TV.

So given all of this, I never really got it. And now, almost 6 years later, I get it.

Sports give you something to be a part of, something bigger than yourself. They bring commaraderie among fans, across generations, and can even bond people through mutual hatred of other teams. One of the most basic human needs is to be a part of a tribe. Being a sports fan is a great example of that.

Sports are an emotional roller coaster and allow you to feel your full range of emotions in a way that isn’t socially acceptable in many other contexts. From an amazing goal to a devastating loss, sports give you permission to openly feel and express it all – joy, anger, and sadness.

It’s home. It’s comfort. It’s the annual hope that this could finally be the year that your team, your city, wins it all.

Are you a sports fan? What about it draws you in?

link love

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life coaching assignment

assignments for a coaching client

I love nothing more than relaxing and reading on a Saturday morning. Here are some links for your weekend. Enjoy!

1. I love The Good Life Project by Jonathan Fields and I really enjoyed this episode.

2. As someone that had the privilege to receive this, I can totally agree that this is one of the best things you can give a friend.

3. You know how much we love Jessica’s recipes. You can bet your bottom dollar we’re buying this.

4. A four word phrase that might change your life (I definitely want to try this)

5. I love this reflection about why the writer yells at her kids.

that’s me

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I love when I read something and think “oh my God, that’s me.” That’s exactly how I felt when I read this passage:

“So I decided that’s what God wanted to me to do. He wanted me to walk around telling people the truth. No mask, no hiding, no pretending. That was going to be my thing. I was going to make people feel better about their insides by showing them mine. By being my real self.” ~Glennon Doyle Melton, Carrior On Warrior

I try to do this here on my blog, but also in true, honest conversations with the people I interact with on a daily basis. I want authenticity to be my thing.

Have you read anything lately that made you think that’s me? If so, share in the comments.

what else will i find?

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The other day I was talking to a friend and she shared a concern about her relationship. “We’ve been dating this long and I’m still finding things that bother me. It makes me wonder, what else will I find?? Will I continue to find things that bug me?”

The short answer is yes.

Yes, you will find more things that bother you. Because we’re human and always changing, it’s very likely that he will develop some new habits. It’s also likely that you may become irritated by some things that never bothered you before.

Like the ice-chewing. He’s probably been doing that for years. But one day, you’ll hear it for the first time. And you’ll think it’s annoying.

But you’ll also find more things that you love, more things that are endearing.

Like the toilet paper. And how he’s really good about noticing when it’s getting low and putting a new roll on the back of the toilet so you’re not stuck. That’s a pretty great small thing. And it speaks to something about his character that you really really love.

And you’ve got to set yourself up to look for that instead. You’ve got to decide that the little annoying things say nothing about his character and who he is as a person. And that the endearing things have everything to do with it.

deep down you know

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You know what you want to do. Deep down part of you knows exactly what you’re going to be, what you want to do with your life. It knows. It really really knows. And it knows it will be fulfilling and you’ll be good at it. And it doesn’t worry about money because it knows the money will follow.

It’s always known.

So, tell me, or more importantly, tell yourself…what are you going to do? Who are you going to be?

to have and to hold

Posted on by jplatt27
I’m on an airplane, heading to Iowa for a friend’s wedding. There’s a little boy in front of me, maybe three years old. He’s wearing footie pajamas and it’s clear he’s getting a little restless. It’s almost 10pm. Aww, do you want to sit on my lap? I wonder. It’d be so nice to hold a little kid in my arms.

And then this big, emotional thought hits me. Someday, I could have a little boy like that. And not only will he be mine and sweet and cuddly. But he will be Mike’s. The thought of having a little Mike to hold overwhelms me, fills my body with this deep emotion that I’ve never connected before.

I love holding my husband. Cuddling, hugging, holding hands. Being able to hold a smaller human that’s part Mike is almost too much to handle. The joy that will come of that fills my heart so much. I want to wrap my arms around this person and surround them with all the love in my heart the way I want to do/try to do with Mike, their future dad.

It feels like my heart is expanding in my chest to make room for this possibility, this reality. My throat starts to choke up because the depth of this is unspeakable.

When I think about having a baby, I always think about him or her as mine. I think about how Mike will be as a dad. How I’ll fall in love with him all over again when I see him holding our baby. But putting together how that baby will be part of my husband, will be his too, is a thought I’ve never consciously had before.

Tears stream down my face as I think about how special that will be. How amazing. The love I have for my husband and this future little person, little version of him, I’m not sure I’ve ever felt anything like it.

Is this what Mike’s mom feels when she says she’s ready for grandchildren? Is this the feeling she’s looking forward to? If so, no wonder.

I think I’m starting to get it. That though kids come with so much uncertainty, so much risk, so many things you can’t protect them from, they are an expression of love. To create a child in that image, from that space, that place of love, has got to be unlike anything else in the world.

I’m looking forward to experiencing these things some day.