Tag: thoughts on life

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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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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now things

Posted on by jplatt27

There are so many things we want to do in life: jobs we want to have, vacations to take, relationships to have, things to own. And we tend to want all of the things. Right. Now.

Pressure to have and do all of things makes life so much less fun. Takes away from the joy of right now.

Learning to decide what’s a now thing, an idea or a goal that you want to pursue in this season, and which are visions for the future is one of the most powerful and freeing things we can learn.

Often things we want from a well-meaning, genuine place become “shoulds” and we beat ourselves up for not having enough or doing enough. When our desires become our self judgements, they lose something. Their power becomes evil. When this happens it drains our mental, emotional, creative energy that we could be using to fuel our now things.

So tell me, what are your now things and what are your future things?

For me, my now things are living fully in DC, learning to take really good care of myself, and paying off my student loans. My future things are being a mom and a full-time coach.

P.S. You don’t deserve to feel shitty.

 

link love

Posted on by jplatt27

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.

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.

don’t cry. don’t say that.

Posted on by jplatt27

I’m a crier. I’ve always been a crier and will always be a crier. I cry in conversations with friends, I cry at commercials. I’ve cried at work, and in yoga class, and in church. This is all pretty normal for me.

So take it from me, when someone is crying, the last thing they want to hear someone say is “don’t cry.” Please don’t say that. It doesn’t do anything for the person crying. When you say that, it cuts off the connection.

When someone is crying, you don’t necessarily have to say anything. When someone is crying, you don’t necessarily have to do anything.

The best thing you can do for a person crying is hold space for their tears.

Tears are sacred. Don’t be scared of them. Let them come. And let yourself be present for the person shedding them, whether that’s you, a loved one, or a stranger.

 

P.S. A beautiful little short on the power of empathy. Please watch this.

 

a quote to help with uncertainty

Posted on by jplatt27

I’ve been feeling a little uncertain about my career and purpose lately (read: since college) so this quote, shared in my Desire Map Book Club Facebook group, really resonated with me. I read it and felt like it was written just for me. If you’ve been feeling uncertain or anxious, I hope you find comfort in it too.

Sending so much love,
Joanna

“Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”  ~Rainer Maria Rilke

choc. chip cookies and basketball tickets

Posted on by jplatt27

cookie box 2

Earlier this week, I made cookies for colleagues that took time to speak to the Lafayette students I hosted for an externship (essentially a job shadow). I packed them up in little boxes that I got at Target and delivered them with a handwritten thank you note.

I was surprised at how touched my colleagues were by this gesture. I got so many thank you’s for my thank you. But it was more than that. It seemed like it really touched their hearts.

Then, my heart was really touched when I was on the receiving end of a gesture like that…

On Tuesday afternoon, I got an email from a colleague in athletics:

Joanna, Good afternoon. Would you like two tickets to the Men’s Basketball game tomorrow night? Let me know if you’d like them and I’ll place them at will call for you.

My colleague didn’t explicitly say that this was a “thank-you” but regardless I was touched by this generosity. By his thinking of me and taking time out of his day to do this for me.

These experiences got me thinking about gratitude and connection. I think people just want to know they’re valued. And to have that expressed with a gesture like cookies was really nice. To be offered basketball tickets totally out of the blue (I’ve never been to a game!) was an acknowledgement of respect. These little things go a really long way.

Talk to me:

Have you been acknowledged or thanked recently in a way that really touched your heart?

Is there someone in your life that you’d like to thank?

 

two ah-ha’s i had during coaching

Posted on by jplatt27

two cups of tea.jpg

I’ve had great sessions with my coach the last two weeks and had some big ah-ha moments. While they stand alone, they also relate to each other. In both cases, I almost cancelled the sessions because I “didn’t have anything to talk about.” I’m so glad I didn’t.

Here they are.

It’s OK to be OK.

This came during my first coaching session of the new year. I had a lot of things to look forward to and not much to really discuss. In the beginning of the session, I found myself almost searching for something tough, frustrating, or bothersome to talk about but nothing really came up or felt authentic to talk about in that moment. As I talked it out, I realized “it’s OK to be OK.” It’s OK to not have a complaint for a week. To be happy where you’re at and excited about where things are going. It’s OK to relish the times when things are going your way. When you’re feeling at peace.

In the my next session, I felt the same way. While I had a little bit of resistance and anxiety come up about some things coming down the pike, I’m mostly excited about the opportunities in front of me. I mentioned my fear and we acknowledged that it’s totally normal.

We kept talking about these opportunities and how they are so perfect for me. How they align really well with who I am, what I love, my strengths. They are perfect for me now and perfect to get me where I want to go in the future. We talked about how they fit into a future I hadn’t really openly considered until then. One thing lead to the next and 45-mins went by. Things came out that I had been thinking about and all these dots just connected. It was awesome. So powerful. And that’s when I realized…

Coaching isn’t only for conflicts and problems. It can also be about taking good to great. 

Uh, duh. You’d think I’d know this. Of course, as a coach myself I do know this.

So often we start coaching to get someone out of a conflict or help them make a decision that’s imminent. That what I’ve worked on myself and what I’ve worked on with clients.

But there is also so much value in talking through future ideas, brainstorming, talking about what’s working, why it’s working, and where we may want to go from here, how we can build on the goodness. It’s so powerful to have a space to talk through those types of things. I loved it.

And now that I know this, now that I’ve learned this through experience, I certainly won’t forget this anytime soon.

(You may have to remind me about the first one though…)

Sending love,

Jo