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Have you ever gone through a struggle in your life, and connected with someone who’s gone through the exact same thing? It’s like a weight is lifted off your shoulders when you find out that you’re not alone in the experience. The experience could be going through a divorce, changing careers, or managing teenage children, but today, I want to talk about the challenge of following your dreams. 

In the busyness of life and all of the changes that the pandemic has thrown at us in the past two years, indulging in your passion may not seem practical. At least, that’s what some women were feeling in The Extraordinary Life Tribe last year. They felt guilty wanting more from life when they were already struggling with homeschooling, working from home, and the constant changes to public health rules. Not to mention regular work and family life! 

When the topic arose, however, I could feel a collective sigh of...

Listen instead on The Extraordinary Life Podcast

Inside each of us is a special mixture of gifts and interests, and all of our extraordinary lives look so different! The one thing that people who are working towards their dreams and goals have in common however, is that they make the decision to go for it. In each of my interviews with people living their brand of an extraordinary life, I want to showcase not only the many versions of “extraordinary”, but also to show you that yes, you can have a life you love, too.

For Episode #31 of my podcast, I interviewed Sue Butzow, a posture therapist. We met several years ago in a networking group, and she’s been a member of my Extraordinary Life Tribe for the past year. I’ve also been a client of hers for about fifteen months.  Keep reading for the biggest takeaways from our interview, or listen to the entire podcast here. 

Meet Sue

CO: Sue, tell my listeners a little bit about yourself. 

SB: I'm a...

Listen instead on The Extraordinary Life podcast

I’m always amazed by the resiliency and wonder inside of us, and by the wide variety of extraordinary lives we can choose to live. My friend Tina Short has all of those things and more. Like all of us, she has come up against big obstacles in her life, yet she’s committed to moving forward and continually growing. I had the opportunity to interview her recently for my podcast, where we talked about following your passion, breaking negative parenting cycles, and the power of community. 

CO: Tina, tell us a little about yourself. 

TS: I’m an artist, live in Santa Cruz, and have twin sons who are nearly sixteen. I’m an avid mountain biker and gardener, and I love to spend time outside. Basically, I’m just trying to grow up alongside my kids and do the profession that I love. 

CO: How did you become an artist? 

TS: This is going to sound really trite, but I think I was born as an artist...

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I've been coaching for over six years now, both health coaching and life coaching. There are hundreds of strategies, ways of thinking, habits, and practical tips to improve your life and feel better about yourself, but they’re all redundant without a foundation of confidence. You need to be confident in who you are now and where you want to go, so you can take the sometimes-scary actions required to achieve your goals and dreams. The good news is that you can develop your inner confidence with a healthy dose of self-awareness combined with good old practice. It all starts with connecting to your authentic self.

Know Your Values

Personal values are a big passion of mine, and I think they’re one of the most important things you can know about yourself because they act as personal boundaries. Children thrive when they’re given strong boundaries because they feel safe when they have something solid to bump into. The...

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I talk a lot about envisioning your goals and dreams for ten years from now. This is because while I like to live in the moment, I believe you can live best in the moment when you know who you want to be, what you want to do, and what you want to have in the future. I also know that if you’re not mindful of these things, ten years will still pass by - but without any direction. I know, you have kids to raise, dogs to walk, chores to do, a job, and relationships to nurture… So how do you manage your big dreams alongside daily life? 

Every single one of my clients struggles with this at one point or another, so know that you aren’t alone. Also know that any feelings of guilt (mom guilt, partner guilt, career guilt, etc.) are common as well. For some reason, women have been sold the idea that we can do it all; I’m here to tell you that not only do you not have to, but you shouldn’t. This is your life,...

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As much as I love the power of a good goal, I’m not usually a proponent of New Year’s resolutions or setting goals just once a year. But if you aren’t in the habit of goal setting or if you need to revisit your goals, now is the perfect time to get started. The big draw to setting goals is obviously having something to work towards, but there are many other reasons you should incorporate goals into your life. In fact, I have seven! 

The College Comparison

Before we get to the list of reasons you should be a goal-setter, I want to give you a bit of insight into the power of goals. Think back to your late teens or your early twenties. Very likely you were going to college and had some sort of four year plan to finish school and start living your young-adult life. Along with college came a curriculum of courses that you needed to complete, so it was easy to see the next steps and stay focused on graduating. 

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Have you ever wondered how some people seem to have everything they dream of, while for others their dreams remain unrealized or forgotten entirely? I’m here to tell you that it’s not a question of luck or genetics, but rather the strategies people use to get what they want. Below I share seven strategies you can use to help turn your dreams into reality, so you can stop wishing and start achieving the things you really want. 

1. Understand What’s Important to You

Think back to a time when you’ve been really excited about something big in your life. Maybe it was getting married, buying a house, going on a vacation, or even getting into college. You likely felt a lot of energy and motivation surrounding this goal, and the excitement helped you take the actions to get there. 

Unfortunately, we don’t often use this type of momentum on a regular basis to get what we want out of life. This can occur...

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Do you want to speed up the arrival of your dreams? Of course you do! So why does it feel like it’s taking so long? One reason might be because you haven’t uncovered your big dreams yet. It’s essential to be crystal-clear on what your dreams are before you start thinking about your goals, next project, or new year resolutions; because if you haven’t envisioned how you want your life to be, how do you go about creating it? This is exactly what I help women do in my Design Your Decade workshops, and I’d love for you to join me in one of the January sessions (or grab yourself the DIY version). In the meantime, you can get a jumpstart by asking yourself the following questions. 

6 Questions to Help Speed Up the Arrival of Your Dreams

These questions will help you start to uncover your life’s dreams and make them a reality. So grab your journal, and start dreaming! 

1. What is your highest...

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Connecting with others is one of the ten human drives that Brendon Burchard talks about in his book, The Charge, and it’s been on my mind a lot lately. I did a small group coaching session about it last month, and many of the women said they wanted to deepen their connection to their partners. When you learn to connect with intention your relationships with your loved ones will improve, but so will all of the other connections in your life. It just takes a little positivity. 

Positive Projection

People are more kind, hard-working, and well-intentioned than we give them credit for, and they’ll live up to high expectations if given the chance. Studies have confirmed that if you project positive traits on others, they’ll rise to the occasion. If you tell your child how creative they are and give them the opportunity to show that, watch what they come up with. You can use this with your spouse, kids, family members,...

Listen instead on The Extraordinary Life Podcast

Once you learn to create momentum in your life, achieving your goals and dreams becomes so much easier. That’s right, you can create it! Developing a mindset for momentum will help you to do a little more every day to move closer to what you want, and less of what’s holding you back. It sounds simple, yet many of us struggle to maintain momentum, even when we briefly find it. Let’s find out why, so we can counteract those negatives and turn them into positives. 

Ways People Fail to Create the Momentum They Want

Despite what it feels like when you experience positive momentum in life, it doesn’t just happen. It’s a coming together of a lot of little pieces that support one another (and you!) to keep moving forward. Thus, when we are missing some of the pieces, creating momentum becomes a lot harder. Let’s fix that! Here are four ways we fail at creating momentum, and the positive...