by Shawn Fink | Dec 28, 2020 | Brave Yes Podcast, Recent
Are you ready for the New Year?
What is the New Year calling from you?
For me, it’s to focus on being stronger and stronger so I have the energy and the inner and outer resources to live into my Brave Yes Journey.
Yes, live INTO it … not just dream about it or plan it.
I’m a girl of action.
But until last year, I was often a girl of more inaction than action —even though the common thing I hear from people who follow me on social media is this: You’re doing amazing things.
And yet I always kind of laugh at that.
I’m not doing enough!
I should have done more!
I had bigger plans!
My coaching work is about helping you make a bigger impact — in your own well-being, in your relationships, in your work and creativity and in your community.
I am passionate about helping you feel more fulfilled and to find more meaning in this one precious life you get.
And so that means we have to get you spinning into an upward spiral — not falling into the downward spiral of survival mode.
Goals. Resolutions. Intentions. Wishes. Promises.
That all sounds good this time of the year when we are desperate for a fresh start, especially a fresh start after the most ridiculous, challenging year any of us can remember.
But here’s the thing. Unless you address the underlying foundation of your own wellness, goals are going to feel like just one more thing to do. So, this episode is dedicated to the permission slip to focus on just being strong enough to handle anything.
The Brave Yes Show is here to motivate you and inspire you to live a more authentic life —- one that is in full alignment with your soul’s longings and desires.
And we start not with the big brave yeses … but with the simple act of being more resilient – something we all need right now.
My own story begins with this. I spent years setting big goals — goals I wasn’t ready for in my life because I was too busy living in survival mode.
First we must get out of survival mode.
Then we can fly.
To get out survival mode, we must learn how to Rise Stronger.
In this week’s episode of The Brave Yes, I’m focused on the permission slip you need to rise stronger in 2021.
Listen to this Brave Yes episode now.
The Rise Stronger in 2021 Challenge is designed to give you 6 science-backed tools to bring you greater well-being and resilience. Each day for 7 days, you will receive an email from me with a new element to explore and sink into in your real life. I hope each element will inspire you to do things a little differently so you can be stronger for whatever you choose to do in 2021 or whatever comes your way. Sign up now.
by Shawn Fink | Dec 24, 2020 | Emotional Resilience + Hope
Mothering is hard right now.
Work is hard.
Uncertainty is hard.
Feeling untethered is hard.
Feeling trapped in place is hard.
Staying strong is hard.
Being human is hard.
And yet … I know a thing or 6 about how you can rise up and be stronger right now.
In my coaching work, I bring a wholistic focus to helping you be fully resourced in mind, body and spirit so you can be your best self at all times. Yes, even in a pandemic and a recession.
The truth is the world needs you to be your best, to leave with grace and impact.
And so … how you show up for yourself matters.
- You can choose to focus on your strengths not your weaknesses.
- You can choose to focus on mindful positivity (not toxic positivity — there’s a HUGE difference) and ground into gratitude.
- You can choose to reach up and reach out for help, support, accountability and motivation because resilience withers in isolation.
- You can choose to open your mind to new perspectives and ideas to find momentum.
- You can choose to deeply nurture yourself — and your changing emotions! — fiercely and powerfully to be stronger than before.
- You can choose to grow forward and thrive in place vs. being trapped in place.
The choice is all yours.
I am so glad that I have an overflowing toolbox under each of these strategies to pull me up out of the gutter-like-feelings that take over as I hear the news and worry about the future.
It’s been a game-changer for my life, honestly.
Now when big feelings hit like a tsunami out of nowhere, I know what to do and how to move into a positive upward spiral.
Feelings that I am OK with allowing and honoring because I know how to rise up and be stronger.
Permission granted to YOU to thrive in place.
These resilience strategies are a part of my Rise Stronger Retreat Workshops that I am offering for FREE to teams of frontline and essential workers all over the world through Zoom through March. (I also offer the retreat workshops for business and organizational teams.)
AND, I’m kicking off my brand new 7-Day Rise Stronger in 2021 email challenge where I’ll offer you free daily emails and email coaching along the way. Register for that here. We start on Jan. 4.
by Shawn Fink | Dec 23, 2020 | Brave Living + Identity
If you struggle between wanting to lay down and take a nap or make an impact as a leader or as a creative soul — you are in the right place.
I’ll always look back on history and think of 2020 as the year a whole new generation of anti-racists were born.
Yes, there was a virus and a pandemic that made life really, really hard.
But there was huge progress in ways we hadn’t seen in our lifetimes in the area of racial justice because of the heart-breaking police murder of George Floyd.
And yet .. there is so more work to do to disrupt how white supremacy rules over our every system in society.
We simply cannot give up. We cannot quit. We cannot let our exhaustion stop us.
Because yes. We are exhausted. Tired to the bone.
The thing, though, is this is hard work because it’s a marathon not a sprint.
June 2020 was a sprint.
Now it’s time for the marathon, especially for white women like me.
Because we really do care and we need to prove it.
The world needs us to lean in — not out.
And this is the time we need to lean into our divine rage — before another urgent matter arises.
As a life design coach AND a social justice warrior and anti-racist for nearly 20 years, I will be sharing some of my own well-being practices that help me stay strong, balanced and sane so that I can make a bigger impact without giving up in my upcoming Rise Stronger in 2021 7-Day Challenge. (Sign up here.)
The strategies we’ll be focusing on during that week-long challenge are a higher level of well-being than we’re used to implementing in our lives and that’s why they are so powerful.
However, until then … I really wanted to make sure I specifically address how to make sure you take time for that nap AND your social justice work.
RECONNECT WITH YOUR WHY
In my private coaching work, I talk about your Why Factor all the time. You have to know what you are working toward in order to really know where you are going. It’s far too easy to get sidetracked with shiny objects by the latest explosion in the internet anger machine. Rather than jump all over the place, reconnect with your values, your mission and your personal goals for working toward human rights and social justice issues. If you don’t know what your why is, that’s a great place to start.
PAUSE AND TAKE BREAKS FROM THE NEWS. LOTS OF THEM.
Only you know what your body needs and so sometimes what you need right now is not convenient for the news cycle. It’s OK to opt-out of reading or watching today’s big news story to focus on your needs. If you are experiencing anxiety or overwhelm, it’s time to stop and take a long break. Your brain and your body needs a lot of time to heal and recover, especially from traumatizing events. Pro Tip — It’s even better is to work in weekly — or daily — rests from the news rather than go full on digital escape. I personally try to take at least 60-90 minutes of unplugged time in my day.
GO BIG OR GO HOME
In order to make an impact in the world, we must make intentional actions that actually do good. So while screaming on social media how mad you are feels like you’re doing something, ask yourself what you can really do to make an impact. Instead of sharing on Facebook, can you call your representatives, write emails or call voters? Pro-Tip — Dedicate an hour or two a week solely to your social justice work so you can keep up your own consistency. I do this on Fridays thanks to a colleague who suggested it.
FIND YOUR PEOPLE
The best thing I ever did was start a local group of like-minded people in my community. We started as a small group of super upset and angry women in 2016 and now we are 2K strong with men and women with a variety of passions and life experiences. Having this group to lead, empower and stay connected with has been crucial to keeping me going and not giving up. This is not solitary work that we’re doing. It’s relational. It impacts people. And that’s why it’s really best done with a group to help grow your momentum and not feel so alone. To find your people, you may have to put yourself out there and use your voice. This is a Brave Yes move for sure.
STAY IN YOUR INTEGRITY
Since it’s so easy to get caught up in the collective anxiety or anger of the people on social media, it’s also vital that you keep your integrity about you and know what you are willing to do and what you are not willing to do. For instance, I don’t lead with anger. It’s just not my style of empowering people and disrupting. I am at my best when I am empowering others to use their voice, tend to themselves and leading them on how to stay in their integrity. My line of balance is about staying calm and impactful. You do you. Don’t worry about what others think. Being fully resourced in mind, body and spirit means you will have a greater capacity to serve. You simply won’t be effective if you are exhausted and overwhelmed.
Ready to balance your passions for social justice and taking a nap? Join my Rise Stronger in 2021 FREE 7-Day Challenge. I’ll show you a set of 6 strategies that you can use to feel stronger, be calmer and have more resilience to bounce back from the daily stress of being human.
by Shawn Fink | Dec 22, 2020 | Brave Yes Podcast
I spend a lot of time talking to my clients — and my teenage daughters — about how to avoid making mistakes.
But the truth is that we learn so much better from our mistakes than we do from our successes.
No one really wants to fail at things. Not me.
But in order to live more authentically we have to be more vulnerable and show up in a new way with those we love and the world.
Today’s permission slip is all about encouraging you to take imperfect action and celebrate your mistakes.
I hope this latest episode of The Brave Yes Podcast gives you the permission you need to see your mistakes as something that isn’t inherently wrong with you but just a part of the human experience.
In this imperfect year of 2020 I thought it would be fun to lead you through a few questions and my share my own stories of MY mistakes in 2020 and the celebrations behind each and every one of them.
Oh, and a, bonus … I’ll throw in a prompt at the end to help you celebrate your wins as well. Because we’re all about honoring it ALL around here.
On Jan. 4, I am kicking off my brand new Rise Stronger in 2021 Free 7-Day Challenge. Sign up now and get ready to learn well-being and resilience skills to make you stronger for whatever the new year will bring and to make a bigger impact in your life. Register here.
by Shawn Fink | Dec 14, 2020 | Brave Living + Identity, Brave Yes Podcast
For the longest time I was operating compartmentalized.
All the parts of me were scattered about.
There was the me as a working mom.
There was the me as a thriving business owner.
There was the me as a dreamer.
There was the me as a social justice activist and anti-racist.
And then there was this: the highly open-minded spiritual me.
Then one day this year, I decided I needed to bring all the parts of me together into one whole.
Your wholeness journey — when seen in the light — contains many multitudes and it leads to that whole-hearted enoughness I bring to my coaching work and programs.
And journey it is. Brené Brown calls this Braving the Wilderness (affiliate link)
I call it a journey into the messy middle.
Some call this the liminal space. ALL of it is wild and messy and beautiful and filled with a powerful set of lessons to learn.
The journey toward wholeness begins long before you are aware or conscious of it.
And most women will never give their wholeness the light of day. Most women will ignore their every dream and desire to please others. Most women will put their own needs behind others.
But you’re not most women … you want something more.
You know there’s more to you … and so … permission to journey toward YOUR wholeness.
Listen to this latest podcast now.
