Tag: self love

063: The 70’s Man

Posted on by jplatt27

The 70s Man - Own who you are #befearless #bebold #youdoyou #innercritic #relationshippodcast #selfesteem #selflove #affirmations

 

In this episode of Love Always, Jo, I’ll be talking about a man in our neighborhood who dresses like he’s been pulled straight out of the 70’s. He’s just doing him and I find it so admirable that he is doing exactly what he wants. Listen to this episode to hear more about owning who you are.

 

In this episode I talk about…

  • A man in my neighborhood who inspires me
  • Owning who you are

Journal Prompts:

  • What would you do differently if you felt 100% comfortable being who you are?
  • What feels good to you? How can you own that?
  • How can you take a page out of the 70s man’s book?

Quotes:

  • Being happy, radiant, and 100% confident in who you are is bold
  • You don’t have to be like everyone else to belong
  • Be fearlessly you
  • Own what feels good to you
  • Be bold. Wear red lipstick. You do you.

The 70s Man - Own who you are #befearless #bebold #youdoyou #innercritic #relationshippodcast #selfesteem #selflove #affirmations

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047: A Heart to Heart on Burnout

Posted on by jplatt27

How to avoid burnout #lifecoach #relationshipcoach #selfhelp #selflove #personaldevelopment #findingbalance #findbalance #worklifebalance

 

In this episode of Love Always, Jo, I’ll be talking about what’s been going on with me lately. If you’re feeling burned out about summer and everything going on in your life right now, know that you’re not alone. Listen to this episode to hear my heart to heart chat.

 

In this episode I talk about…

  • My breakdown during the month of June – from traveling every weekend to lots of personal transitions
  • How morning pages helped me through this season – listen to the episode here
  • How to preserve space in your calendar so you don’t end up exhausted
  • Ways to steal a few minutes for yourself and step away from the pressures you’re feeling

 

Quotes:

  • Give yourself permission to clear your calendar
  • Sometimes you just need to get through it and know it will be better soon
  • Don’t get too down on yourself
  • Do what you can to lift the pressures off of you that you can
  • Take a step back and survey what you’ve done in the meantime
  • Just show up and be there

 

Journal:

  • Where did you show up well in your life this month?
  • Where can you steal a few minutes for yourself?
  • How can you soak up a simple joy today?
  • What are some things you could do today that would make you feel like life is in order?

 

Are you a high achiever and tired of being burnt out?

I would love to hop on a 30-minute coffee chat with you about something new that I’m working on. If you see yourself as a high achiever and don’t want to continue the cycle of burnout. If you want to move from a place of people pleasing to someone who’s shining in the world, owning who you are, and treating yourself to simple pleasures. If you want to have a calendar that is both full and spacious, I’d love to hear your thoughts and get your input on what I’m working on!

To schedule a coffee chat you can either email me (Joanna@joanna-platt.com) or book your chat here.

P.S. Let me know in the email/form that you’d like to hop on the coffee chat mentioned in Episode 47.

 

How to avoid burnout #lifecoach #relationshipcoach #selfhelp #selflove #personaldevelopment #findingbalance #findbalance #worklifebalance

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043: May Q&A

Posted on by jplatt27

 

This month’s Q&A questions come from Brit and Miranda. In this episode of Love Always, Jo I’ll be answering questions about your inner child, making the workday more mindful, and starting new habits.

 

Quotes:

  • The needs of our inner child can be simple yet profound.
  • Being mindful is about consciously choosing what you’re doing and focusing on and reacting less
  • Being happy doesn’t have to threaten your relationships

 

Journal Prompts:

  • Think back to when you were 5, 8, 10, 12. What was going on in your life then? What did you need? What did you wish for?
  • What was the biggest threat to your well being and happiness when you were little?
  • What do you wish you had when you were little?
  • What type of experiences, relationships, material things?
  • What did you do for fun?
  • What did you want to be when you grew up?
  • When did you lose track of time?
  • What’s your happiest childhood memory?
  • What was your biggest fear?
  • What was your biggest unmet need?
  • What did you need more of?
  • What did you need less of?

 

How can I reconnect with my inner child and get to know her better?

 

Your inner child is there, just under the surface, always. In a lot of ways, she’s running the show of your life—from your big life goals to your smallest desires to your biggest and smallest triggers.

 

Your big girl dreams and your big girl worries are all tied up in the dreams, desires, worries, and wants of your little girl self. They’re the same.

 

If you get triggered by something and you have really really strong negative feelings about something and you’re not sure why it’s likely that your inner child is having a reaction and your inner critic has jumped in to protect your inner child from feeling that pain again.

 

Ask yourself: what does this remind me of? When have I felt this feeling before? Chances are there is a scared, hurt version of you as a child hidden under there.

 

A client and I were recently talking about dating. She said that she went on a lot of dates and some that were even good, but they ended up not going anywhere. When we dug into this a bit, she remembered a time in 8th grade when she told a boy she liked him and in science class, this news got out and she was embarrassed publicly for it. At that moment, a protector was born, an inner critic that would pull her back anytime she liked a guy and prevented her from expressing her feelings for him. Clearly, this would hold a person back in a relationship.

 

The needs of our inner child can be simple yet profound. One of the most powerful experiences I’ve had with my inner child was a walk around the tidal basin and Jefferson Memorial. I was listening to a workshop, ironically about the inner child. At first, I sat and listened. Then I started walking and listening. Then I stopped walking and paused the recording to just stop and be for a little bit. I continued at this pace, walking a little, stopping a little, just as it felt natural to me. This was an important experience for me and my inner child because one of my unmet needs as a kid was quality time with my parents, a quiet uninterrupted time to just go with the flow.

 

Here are some questions to explore — Think back to when you were 5, 8, 10, 12…

  • What was going on in your life then? What did you need? What did you wish for?
  • What was the biggest threat to your well being and happiness when you were little?
  • What do you wish you had when you were little?
  • What type of experiences, relationships, material things?
  • What did you do for fun?
  • What did you want to be when you grew up?
  • When did you lose track of time?
  • What’s your happiest childhood memory?
  • What was your biggest fear?
  • What was your biggest unmet need?
  • What did you need more of?
  • What did you need less of?

 

Want to explore this topic more with me? Schedule a free call here.

 

Do you have any tips for making the workday more mindful?

 

Take breaks — Instead of going through the click routine of checking emails, texts, social media, etc. between tasks, do a lap up and down the stairs to get your blood flowing, take your lunch break away from your workspace, take colorful plates/bowls to work to put your lunch on, take a break to go for a short walk, stare out the window/outside for a few minutes.

Check in with your body — Do stretches every little bit or take a few minutes between tasks to do some deep breathing exercises.

Watch the number of tabs you have open on your screen and mentally

Turn off notifications — Put your phone in a drawer and turn your notifications off, also think about turning off any notifications that are on your computer so you can focus more on the tasks you’re doing. Give yourself permission to reply to emails at specific intervals rather than in between tasks.

 

How do you implement new and better habits into your life if you fear judgment from your friends and family?

 

Acknowledge the fear you have and that it’s the inner critic. Worrying what your friends and family think are your inner critics tactics of keeping you safe and small. It does it because it works. It projects your fears onto your friends and family so that you won’t reach new heights and be better. Your inner critic does this to avoid being shunned or damage relationships.

 

Think about this — by you changing your habits may actually make your friends and family happy…and they may even want to join you. Usually when we make changes, no one even notices for a while, because a lot of the changes we make (setting more boundaries, eating better, going to the gym) are inner changes first and outer changes second.

 

If your friends and family do have a reaction to the changes you’re making, realize that it’s their inner critic popping up in their life keeping them safe. Some things you can do:

  1. Don’t get defensive, just reiterate what you’re doing and remind them their relationship with you isn’t changing just because you’re going to the gym 3 times a week.
  2. Remind yourself why you are making the change.
  3. Find some cheerleaders to help you keep the change going.

 

If you want to talk about change and have someone to keep you accountable to the changes you want to make I’d love to hop on a call with you!

 

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042: Style as Self Care with Lana Jackson

Posted on by jplatt27

How to use style as self care with Lana Jackson #syleblogger #whattowear #stylist #podcast

 

In this episode of Love Always, Jo, Joanna interviews Lana Jackson, a stylist and the creative director of Narrative Styling. Lana founded Narrative Styling to give women back their power; using style as storytelling tool they can leverage. Through Narrative Styling, Lana partners with busy professionals to build versatile and effective wardrobes that work from day to night and every occasion in between. Listen to this episode to hear more about style as self-care.

 

Lana Jackson is a Stylist and Creative Director of Narrative Styling. Lana believes if women could bypass the insecurity and self-consciousness that comes from wearing clothes that don’t fit or suit their personality and lifestyle, they’d be able to focus and get so much more done. We can limit our power as women when we’re distracted by our own self-consciousness. There is a certain power that emanates from a woman who knows she looks good. And there is a void of power when we’re uncomfortable and fidgeting. The clothes we wear and how we care for ourselves sends a message about us and our personal brand to everyone we meet. The way you style yourself can give you power over the story you present to the world. Style can change the narrative of how you feel about yourself and how you want others to feel about you. Lana founded Narrative Styling to give women back their power; using style as storytelling tool they can leverage. Through Narrative Styling, Lana partners with busy professionals to build versatile and effective wardrobes that work from day to night and every occasion in between.

 

In this episode Lana Jackson and I discuss…

  • Lana’s journey to launching her business
  • What is personal style vs fashion
  • How to use personal style as self-care practice
  • 3 tips for people who want to hire a stylist
  • Why you should budget/shop seasonally rather than monthly
  • How to tell a story through personal style

 

Follow Lana Online:

 

Recommended Books:

 

Quotes:

  • Personal style isn’t about being on trend, it’s about putting together outfits that fit your lifestyle and needs – Lana
  • As women we want to do things that have an actual impact – Lana
  • Women care for communities – Lana
  • We want to feel like our inner self on the outside – Lana
  • Find clothes that give rather than take your energy – Lana
  • When you feel comfortable in what you’re wearing you can be fully present in your life – Lana
  • You can’t be too busy for yourself – Lana
  • Life is strung together by moments you need to show up in – Lana
  • Personal style allows you to be present in your life – Joanna
  • Make an investment in yourself – Lana
  • You can’t change culture until you make culture – Lana
  • Build a life that makes sense to you – Lana

 

Journal Prompts:

  • Do you have what you need to live the life you’re living
  • When you get dressed do you feel like you
  • What story are you telling with the clothes you have

 

How to use style as self care with Lana Jackson #syleblogger #whattowear #stylist #podcast

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041: Give Yourself a Break

Posted on by jplatt27

 

I had two ideas in mind for today’s episode: Managing Your Energy and How to Avoid Burnout. Today’s episode is neither of those, but it fits perfectly with those themes.

This episode is more a show than tell. A practice what you preach kind of thing.

This is my last week at my full-time job. Since I gave my notice two weeks ago, there’s been a LOT going on. One of my direct reports got a new job and his last day happened, our fiscal year ended (I’m a fundraiser so this is a big deal), and I was out of the office for two days serving as a judge for an industry award competition, and I had my period last week which requires a big slow down in energy.

This week’s top priority is finishing out my full-time job, closing this chapter, and processing all of the emotions that come with that. And there will be a lot.

Frankly, I don’t have the bandwidth, physically, emotionally, and mentally to do the episodes I mentioned earlier. So I need to give myself a break. I need to give myself permission to do what I can and acknowledge what I can’t and not push. And let that be OK.

Sometimes in life, we’ve got to let ourselves put all of our energy in one basket for a little while.

Sometimes in life, we need to give ourselves a break. Sometimes we have to acknowledge when the lift is too great and choose to let that be OK.

So that’s what I’m doing with this episode this week. And it does tie in to managing your energy and avoiding burnout. Giving yourself a break, recognizing your limits and living accordingly is one way to manage your energy and avoid burnout.

Where might you need a break this week? How can you give yourself permission to take that break?

Quotes:

  • Recognize your limits and adjust your output accordingly
  • Give yourself permission to take a break
  • There’s power in the pause

Journal prompt:

  • Where can you give yourself a break?

If you want to discuss self-care and how to avoid burnout, book a free discovery call with me at joannaplattcoaching.acuityscheduling.com.

Do you know someone who would appreciate this episode, or another Love Always, Jo episode? Send it her way.

 

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040: April Q&A

Posted on by jplatt27

 

This month’s Q&A questions come from a friend and from one of my coaching clients. In this episode of Love Always, Jo I’ll be answering questions about resources on people pleasing and worrying thoughts and anxiety.

 

Links:

Recommended Books:

Quotes:

  • Start setting boundaries in your life
  • Empaths have people-pleasing tendencies because they can feel other people’s energy like it’s their own
  • Allow yourself time to process your day

Journal Prompts:

  • Where might you need stronger boundaries?
  • If you were to give your inner worrier a name, what would she be called?

 

Do you have any book recommendations about people pleasing?

 

A friend texted me this question recently and I thought it might be helpful for you too.

 

I replied: “You mean like this?” With a wink emoji and a picture of the book “The Disease to Please, Curing the People Pleasing Syndrome”

 

And then, for good measure, I added “Boundaries” by Henry Cloud.

 

People pleasing is an inner critic thing, and often people with an inner critic who wants them to focus on other people before themselves lack boundaries and it’s good to be reminded what boundaries are and how they can serve you.

 

I also added “Become the most important person in the room” by Rose Rosetree. This is a book for empaths. Empaths are people who can feel other people’s energy like it’s their own.

 

These three topics, people-pleasing, boundaries, and empaths are very closely related. Empaths have people-pleasing tendencies because they can feel other people’s energy like it’s their own. So, if they can make the people around them happy, they’ll feel happy, because the other person’s energy is merged with their own and it’s hard to tell the difference. But, after too much of this, you will get exhausted. Because even though it doesn’t feel like you have needs, you do. And you can only give so much, you can only take on so much of other people’s energy before your energetic bubble is ready to burst.

 

One way you can prevent this is by having boundaries. Both energetic boundaries where you keep your energy unmerged from other people’s and by having other boundaries…by stating what you need, what is and is not OK with you.

 

As empaths, our energies are outside ourselves, whereas non-empaths energies are focused more on themselves.

 

What small things can I do to just stop my brain from overthinking?

 

The second question came in an email from a coaching client who asked:

 

I’m visiting my parents for the next few days and my anxiety has been high. I went to bed thinking bad thoughts and woke up thinking bad thoughts. I think being home just makes things real for me and all the worries I can push away in D.C. come back when I’m home.

What small things can I do to just stop my brain from overthinking?

 

It’s very very common for anxiety and worry to come in when we slow down. When we’re busy we feel like we can outrun it (that’s why we stay addicted to busyness) and when we slow down, the worried thoughts come in big time. Some of my worst cases of anxiety have come on vacation. This doesn’t seem to make sense because we “should” be relaxed and enjoying ourselves.

 

I so get this. Some of my worst anxiety comes when I should be relaxing or having fun.

 

The worst anxiety I’ve had in my life…and I’ve had a LOT…came when my husband and I went on our first vacation after our honeymoon. We went to Nashville for a week and I could hardly enjoy myself I was so anxious. I remember we were riding bikes through a park and I literally had to stop and put my headphones in so I could listen to a podcast to distract myself. My inner critic was SO loud. It was like a broken record going through all the parts of my life where I was failing as a person, as a friend, as a sister. It felt awful. I was so embarrassed. I should’ve been having fun with my husband. I was miserable when I should’ve been enjoying riding a bike outside, feeling the wind in my hair and pedaling with joy. But I couldn’t.

 

Sometimes we use busyness to avoid being alone with our inner critic and anxiety. We tend to put so much on our plate so we don’t have to deal with our worries, which is why when we do slow down we get an onslaught of anxiety and inner critic thoughts.

 

I heard a great episode on the Daring to Rest podcast about dream deprivation and sleep, and he gave a great analogy. Planes fly above the weather. When they come down to land, they go through the weather and through the turbulence. Similarly, we fly above the weather as we’re going about our day and when we come down at night, relaxing/resting/watching tv/before bed, we go through the turbulence as our brain tries to digest and process all of the things we experienced that day. But we often don’t want to go through the turbulence. And that’s when things build up.

 

What you can do to avoid the onslaught of anxiety/worry when you’re trying to have fun

  1. Can you name your worrier? I like the term the article used “hyper-vigilant brain.” If you give the voice/thoughts a name it’s easier to identify and detach from the voice. You are not the voice, you are hearing the voice.
  2. Recognize that this is the normal process of your brain and it’s gotta run through this process to get back to its baseline. Try to detach from the thoughts. You don’t have to indulge the thoughts but you don’t have to push them away either. Fighting them will only make it worse/louder. Try imagining placing your thoughts on a cloud and let them float by, letting them go.
  3. Give your brain more time to process and rest. Try scheduling in time more regularly throughout the day for your brain to run through this process to make it a little more manageable. You can start with something as little as two minutes between meetings, 20 minutes at lunch to walk around the block, 3 minutes in the afternoon. Set a timer on your phone, like “OK brain…go ahead.” Work on doing this processing before you get in bed, that way when you go to bed you can actually go to bed without staying up going through these processes.
  4. Download the Calm app and do short meditations throughout the day. Here’s a podcast called Mini-Meditations that looks good.

 

Here are two podcast episodes I did about the inner critic that might be helpful too:

 

If you want to discuss how to prevent people pleasing or push past overthinking and anxiety or your inner critic, book a free discovery call with me at joannaplattcoaching.acuityscheduling.com.

 

Do you know someone who would appreciate this episode, or another Love Always, Jo episode? Send it her way.

 

Have a question for a future Q&A session? Follow me on Instagram and send me a DM or leave a comment on my next post when I put the call out for questions.

 

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038: The Magic of the Menstrual Cycle

Posted on by jplatt27

The Magic of the Menstrual Cycle - Love Always, Jo Podcast

 

In this episode of Love Always, Jo, I’m talking about one of my favorite topics: the power of the menstrual cycle. I’ll outline the four phases of the menstrual cycle, how you may feel during each of them, and things to focus on during each phase to optimize your energy, productivity, and self-love and understanding. Listen to this episode to hear more about The Magic of the Menstrual Cycle.

I first got interested in the menstrual cycle when I noticed that my creativity and flow of ideas changed in frequency and I wondered “does this have anything to do with my menstrual cycle?” After some googling, I learned that yes, it absolutely does. And I’ve been fascinated by and preaching about, the menstrual cycle ever since.

 

In this episode, I’ll outline…

  • The 4 phases of the menstrual cycle
  • How you may feel during each phase
  • Things to focus on during each phase
  • Self-love and understanding

Quotes:

  • We compare every other version of ourselves to how we are at ovulation. Don’t do that to yourself.
  • You are just as powerful during your period as you are during ovulation.

Journal Prompts:

  • What things change for you during your cycle?
  • How can you give yourself more grace during your cycle?
  • How can you go with your flow more? What would that look like? What would that feel like?
  • What would it feel like to go with your flow more?
  • What do you like about yourself during each phase of your cycle?

 

The Magic of the Menstrual Cycle - Love Always, Jo Podcast

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036: The Nine Enneagram Types

Posted on by jplatt27

In this episode of Love Always, Jo, I interview Courtney Pinkerton, a certified holistic life coach and creator of the Flourish Coaching Program. She has helped hundreds of women wake up from the fog of busyness to contribute their most dynamic professional and creative gifts and enjoy their personal lives. Listen to this episode to hear more about The Nine Enneagram Types.

Courtney Pinkerton, M.Div & M.PP is a certified holistic life coach and the founder of Bird in Hand Coaching. She has helped hundreds of women wake up from the fog of busyness to contribute their most dynamic professional and creative gifts and enjoy their personal lives. She holds dual master’s degrees from Harvard Divinity School and Harvard Kennedy School and is the creator of the eight-step Flourish Coaching Program. Courtney holds coaching certificates from Martha Beck International and the Spencer Institute and teaches regular international retreats for women. Courtney lives in Granada, Nicaragua with her husband Richard Amory and their three children. Together they are exploring volcanic islands, colonial cities, and beaches and are being tutored by their neighbors in the art of slowing down and living more.

 

In this episode Courtney Pinkerton and I discuss…

  • What life looks like in Nicaragua and the effect it’s having on her family
  • How to connect to your gut, your heart, and your head
  • What are the 9 Enneagram types
  • Top tip for figuring out your type
  • Taking a tour of The Nine Enneagram Types

 

Follow Courtney online:

Links:

Recommended Books:

Quotes:

  • It’s about honoring and addressing the moment
  • How you move through your days and how you address the people in your life is important
  • Your type can be influenced by your country, city, parents etc.
  • Use the Enneagram as a tool to cultivate compassion
  • We tend to flip to different types based on when we’re stressed when we’re secure and our normal type.
  • Give yourself permission to be and to pause, don’t feel like you have to look smart, know the next thing.
  • Let yourself to be in the pause.

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What I learned over LDW

Posted on by Kelsey Leetzow

I had a realization over Labor Day weekend.

I am much better, feel much better, when my life is in motion.

I unintentionally pulled the joy and delight out of my life in the name of growing my business. I started to feel like I couldn’t prioritize friendships or my health because I needed to focus all of my energy and my free time on my business. I’m realizing, though well-meaning, it’s not serving me well.

We had this thing at my high school called Gym Night. My sister always said that she had the best grades during Gym Night season. She attributed this to having less time to focus on homework and things so she didn’t mess around and simply buckled down to get her homework done in the limited time she had.

I’ve gone the exact opposite of that. I’ve stripped my weekly calendar of all the fun things: cooking, seeing friends, working out. My life has become a big go to work, come home, sit on the couch and watch TV loop. And you can bet that I was NOT working on my business in all this free time.

I banged out more content for an upcoming e-course in one plane ride to California than I have in the entire month since I had the idea.

I always feel like I’m super focused on trips to PA too. Probably because we’ve got a lot of people to see and there’s only limited time to spend by myself.

I’ve gained weight. I had a breakdown in the doctor’s office recently about how beige my life is and how many things I’ve got going on in the fall.

Then Labor Day weekend happened. I went to happy hour on Thursday night and then Friday afternoon when work got out early and then had a girlfriend over Friday night. Saturday I got a massage and then later in the day Mike and I tried a new-to-us BBQ place in Georgetown and I stopped at the Gap on my way home. Sunday I had brunch with girlfriends and then Mike and I made dinner at home. Monday morning I made breakfast at home, kneading dough for these breakfast buns by hand for eight minutes. I also made rice krispie treats. Then we drove 45 mins to a furniture place in Virginia and then spent the afternoon and evening with friends at their house. That’s about what I typically do in a whole month, let alone a weekend!

I wrote a blog post over the weekend and I’m writing this at 7am the day after Labor Day.

I haven’t been on a roll like this in a very very long time. I feel like I’ve uncovered a secret I should’ve known about myself:

I am at my best when I’ve got a lot going on.

Note: this is very different and I’m very cognizant about numbing with busyness. That is a completely different thing and needs to be monitored. Busyness is an addiction like any other and I’ve definitely used it in the past.

So, I’m going to add the color back into my life. Cooking (which I love), happy hour, exercise. Because not only do I want a full life, it seems like I need one too.

What I learned from a headache

Posted on by jplatt27

A couple weeks ago, I was in a funk. For three days, I woke up tired and throughout the day had no motivation. “I don’t feel like doing anything” kept running through my head. And each afternoon, I got a headache. On my way to CVS to get some Advil, I thought “I just want to take a nap right now. I want to go home and go to bed.” And then I thought “I’m just going to empower myself to do that. I’m going to use some sick time and go home and rest. My body obviously needs that.”

I got home and climbed into bed for a nap. I thought about turning on the TV while I fell asleep but something told me not to. That I didn’t need the mental clutter and noise. That I just needed to be.

Within two minutes of my head hitting the pillow, I had a realization. There was something at work that was really frustrating me. It had been bothering me since earlier in the week but I didn’t know that consciously. It wasn’t until I started telling Mike about it that I realized how much this was affecting me — and my performance. The next day, I woke up like my usual self, energetic and ready to take on the day. And I had a conversation with my boss about what was bothering me and I felt so much better.

I share this story for two reasons:

1. You’ve got to listen to your body. You are the only one that can feel your body and hear your intuition. It’s up to you act on those messages. You can discern when it’s a “take-some-Advil-and-go-through-your day” kind of thing or  it’s a “stop, listen, or this will just continue” kind of thing. But only you can discern that. So you’ve got to listen and you’ve got to act. Which brings me to my next point…

2. Sometimes you’ve got to empower yourself and give yourself what you need.  Your boss isn’t going to say “I can tell your head hurts and that you’re in a funk” go home and take a nap. No. You need to decide that for yourself and give yourself permission to do what you need to do.

If I wouldn’t have taken that three hours off, I could’ve been stuck in that negative energy (and the corresponding physical symptoms) for a while — impacting both myself, my team, and my work.