Transformation and new beginnings

 

January 2, 2023 Regenerate Your World  Build the future you want to live in. I know these times aren't the easiest for all of us, but I am an optimist - I see the glass as half-full, instead of half-empty. To brighten up your days, I publish the Regenerate Your World newsletter coming to your inbox on a bi-weekly basis. Let's Get Empowered! Greetings! Happy New Year to You! Below is a guest post from Magdalena Jensen. Magdalena Jensen - is a certified transformational coach, NVC conflict mediator, Women’s Circle facilitator and ceremony/sacred space holder. She previously launched two commercial companies and co-founded a pan-European NGO in the music industry. Magdalena now coaches unique, ambitious individuals - leaders who believe that change starts with themselves - towards their dreams and desires, opening up new possibilities and perspectives.  I met Magdalena after she replied to a post about my transitions project. Magdalena was kind enough to chat with me about her life transitions. During our conversation, a lot of what she said resonated with me. We ended the conversation by brainstorming ways we could keep in touch and collaborate. One of the ways was for her to write a guest post for the newsletter. I hope you enjoy Magdalena's post.  Also, new to the newsletter this week is a freebie section. I created new digital downloads and would like to share them with you! Take care this week and always. Thank you for your readership! Together we can regenerate our world, Julie Below is where you can find more information about Magdalena. Website: https://www.magdalenajensen.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magdalenajensen_coach/ Hello dear readers,    Allow me to introduce myself, today’s guest collaborator in Julie’s inspiring newsletter: I am Magdalena Jensen, a transformational coach, conflict mediator and sacred space holder and I have really been feeling like 2022 was one of the weirdest years of my life.    It was meant to be a breakthrough year - outta the pandemic (finally!) and into a new… something. Yet, 2022 was like that never-ending hangover that has you questioning your very existence, your purpose and why you do the things you do… and why everything around us is the way it is.    Perhaps you feel something similar? Like this past year was some lengthy existential crisis that has you questioning every facet of your reality?    Firstly: know that you are not alone. Many of us have been feeling like we’re in an extended void space, a lengthy liminal pause before “normal” sets back in.    Secondly: know that there is no going back and there’s no one coming to rescue you from this murky discomfort. You are your own savior, you create your own future.    [Bear with me - this is not meant to be a bleak message, but one grounded in a reality that many of us are facing as we wind down 2022 and face 2023 head-on. This is a message to myself as much as to any of you lovely souls reading this!]    I actually find this idea - that I am a herald and create my own future - to be both liberating and empowering AND quite daunting.    Daunting because there is endless possibility for what we may create. We are all creatures of the divine and we have the ability to do and be anything our heart desires.    Liberating and empowering for those same reasons…    So, how to actually hone in on what we desire? How to shift out of this liminal space and launch ourselves forward into 2023? There is no ONE way, but I would like to offer you a few bits that can support you on this journey…    1. Remember that all creation comes from darkness.     Seeds germinate in the darkness of the earth. Babies grow in the darkness of the womb. Fresh blades of grass always push through the ashes of destruction…     When something new is coming through us (and, trust me - something new absolutely is coming through society as a whole right now), we absolutely need to allow that which no longer serves to die off, we need to allow these moments of sacred pause while new life germinates and we need to lean into this inevitable life cycle with grace (or risk feeling frustrated for as long as the germination period takes… and isn’t it “better” to focus on feeding the fertile ground rather than frustrating and disrupting the soil?).    2. Use this time of sacred pause to feed the fertile ground.    There’s always a calm before the storm and we can either fight it or feed it. Personally, I have spent a few futile days fighting this calm period and, literally, all I feel is frustrated and I keep fighting with my husband about nothing at all.    Finally, now that I am nearly a week into this sacred pause, I am realizing that there are far better ways for me to spend my time… I am forgiving myself for being frustrated and, instead, turning my focus to feeding the fertile soil.    What does this look like? Exercise, nervous system regulation and rest (plus planning a plant medicine journey to open the new year). Taking care of our physical vessels is a really great way to remain grounded and centered through the discomfort of change. Regulating and toning our nervous systems is crucial to growth - we need to feel safe at every new level of expansion.    3. Trust that you don’t need to know the whole vision - just focus on the next step.    It can be overwhelming to try to formulate a vision for the future when so many things are shifting in and around us. Release the need to know what is next. Support yourself to feel comfortable in the discomfort. Allow yourself to surrender to what is and will be. Trust that all is unfolding for your highest good.    All you need to do, in this “meantime” moment, is be present. Use whatever favored tools you have to stay grounded, centered and in your body. Take advantage of the quiet to relax into simply BEing (BTW, this is not easy for me at all… I love DOing and often feel uncomfortable simply BEing). Trust that you will know exactly what you need to know when you know it… and see what unfolds.    4. Tune into your dreams to glean information.    After the turmoil of the past few years, many people are finding it difficult to envision their future, project themselves into their imagination and dream. This is completely understandable, for when we are in stress mode all the time, our pineal gland is not able to activate and create our future visions and dreams.     That’s why it can be so important to both regulate your nervous system, and to relax your body into a hypnotic state and be guided to access your subconscious vision for a beautiful future. I invite you to check out this 10-minute guided meditation that will support you to glean information from your own subconscious.      As without, so within.    It is inevitable that we resonate with this moment of liminal space, of confusion, of sacred pause… the whole world is shifting and changing all around us and we need to take a collective breath to gather ourselves before we launch into that expansion.    I encourage you to release any guilt you feel about not vibing with the “new year, new me” New Year’s resolutions hype. I encourage you to give yourself permission to simply BE and feel into the incoming inevitability of change. Remember to take it step by step and surrender to what unfolds. And allow yourself to daydream, to dream dream 😇, to sit with yourself in meditation and be with your vision of your future.    Change is already in motion. It is inevitable. Lean into whatever is shifting in your life and watch it mirrored in the collective.    Lastly, for the astrology lovers out there: Mercury just went retrograde and will remain so until the 18th of January, Mars is retrograde until the 12th of January and these transits are preparing us for the Lunar New Year on 22 January - this can be considered the real start to a new cycle… This lethargy, lull and liminal moment will pass on a collective level and we will all start to feel a natural progression towards our desires and intentions we are now planting.    Sending you lots of love on your journey, wherever you are.   Love,  Magdalena    PS: Feel free to reach out on Instagram and chat - I would love to hear what seeds you are planting and how this germination moment feels for you 😘    Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Click here to get your own subscription. A New Fresh Start https://hellopoetry.com/tag/freshstart/ Everybody has hopes & dreams Dreams that still do exist Dreams that are going to be accomplished Everybody has hopes & dreams Those dreams feel far but they are closer than you expected.. You know that feeling deep down inside that you can’t explain but it brings a form of good energy... It’s your hopes & dreams starting to form. Get ready for the new growth The new opportunities The several eye openers Everything is starting to feel fresh. Free_ minded_lee🤍 #freshstart #growth #dreams  New EMPOWER Possible Free Resources Have you heard of information overload? Yes, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. There are so many options when it comes to online learning it can be hard to know where to start. We can get overwhelmed and end up doing nothing. Click the link below for a few tips that help me move from doing nothing and overcoming information overload by moving into action. How to get started with online learning Take a few minutes to relax and envision an empowered future. The act of visualization helps you to practice and imagine the future you would like to have. It directs your mind to focus on your goals for the future. Click the link below to get started. Empowerment visualization Upcoming Events What: MasterClass Group Where: Virtual Meeting When: Saturday February 11th, 9am-10am  Why: Maximize learning integration in a community of lifelong learners who also support gender equity.  Cost: Free! Click here to register What: THRIVE: Overcome Burnout Duluth, MN Community Education Class Registration opens January 2023  When: February 2023 Why: Participants will learn the signs of burnout and how to overcome and prevent burnout. Cost: $29.00 What: University of Wisconsin-Superior Coffee Break Course: EMPOWER YOUR NEW YEAR Where: Virtual When: Register to view anytime throughout December 2022 Why: The New Year is often a time for new goals and a fresh start. However, most of us abandon these goals in a few weeks. This session will help participants empower their new year and set a vision for the year to overcome barriers to reaching their goals.  Cost: Free! Click here to register Connect with me on social media! info@empowerpossible.com  You are receiving this email because you expressed an interest in my work—thank you! You can change your email preferences or unsubscribe at any time.  Edit preferences or Unsubscribe

The Five C's: The essentials for a positive workplace and life

 

December 19, 2022 Regenerate Your World  Build the future you want to live in. I know these times aren't the easiest for all of us, but I am an optimist - I see the glass as half-full, instead of half-empty. To brighten up your days, I publish the Regenerate Your World newsletter coming to your inbox on a bi-weekly basis. Let's Get Empowered! The Five C's: The essentials for a positive workplace and life 💡 Greetings readers! You may know running my business, EMPOWER Possible, is not my full-time job. I love the work I do as a business owner and I love the work I do in my full-time role. They complement each other and whatever I do in one area benefits the other. A year ago, on a snowy day, I drove to the Essentia Health Business Service Center in Duluth, MN to begin my full-time job as a Well-being Specialist for Essentia Health.  On the first day, my supervisor texted me, she said, we need to start two hours later than planned as the snow had caused issues with daycare. When I received the text I was relieved because I was concerned about getting to work on time and this gave me plenty of time to drive slowly and have a relaxed morning. This also sent me a message, it was a message of flexibility, understanding, and concern. My supervisor demonstrated to me they understood life happens because they have lived experience with needing to make adjustments to work commitments.  During the first few months, this message of flexibility and care was reiterated over and over again however I had trouble believing it. I kept thinking, “they say it is okay for me to have a flexible work schedule but when is the “gotcha” moment going to happen? When are they going to take it back and tell me I am not meeting their standards?”. When I shared with a friend, “my job is going really well but I just keep thinking this can’t be real, this has to be a trick, there is no way this is going to last.” She said, “Julie, you were traumatized. The response you are having now is because you left an environment that wasn’t right for you.”. She was right. When I first started my last job, a colleague shared with me a warning, “this place with suck the life out of you if you let it”. I loved my last job for many years. I am grateful for the opportunities I had. I am grateful for the friends I made. I am grateful for the growth I experienced. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and in the end, I felt betrayed by the institution that gave me so much. After I left there was a period of mourning, a mourning of the loss of identity and the loss of a dream. This leads me to the creation of my new project. I am excited to share I am working on gathering stories from folks who have also experienced grief related to a job loss, job transition, or the loss of a dream. If you have experienced any of these and want to help build a resource for others going through a similar situation please email me at info@empowerpossible.com  Now onto something more positive! Over the past year, I have observed many positive qualities and learned many lessons from my time at my current place of employment. These include: 1) Culture matters. Your actions are either supported or railed against depending on the culture - good culture = productive, motivated, and positive employees. What is culture? It is the shared practices, goals, values, goals, and attitudes that characterize a workplace. It is reflected in how people behave, interact with each other, make decisions, and do their work. It impacts everything — including your happiness and career. Culture covers everything from how quickly people expect you to respond to an email to how the organization adapts to threats and change. 2) Communication is key. In the workplace (and every area of life) communication is important. It has the power to boost or destroy employee morale, increase or decrease engagement, improve or decrease productivity, and increase or decrease work-life satisfaction. Communication affects how teams cooperate and collaborate. Effective communication is clear, kind, time-sensitive, respectful, and honest. 3) Can’t do it alone. We are all connected, there is wisdom that can only be found in the collective. One person doesn’t hold all the good ideas or the answers to the complex issues we face. When one person rises we can all rise together if we help each other and don't feel threatened by others. 4) Control what you can and let go of the rest-set boundaries. This one is a biggie but also the hardest for me.  By setting boundaries, you can work smarter, gain respect and increase your productivity. It isn't always possible to influence your workload however more and more people are able to adjust their workload if they take the steps to do so. You may be surprised at how much influence you can have. First, have a conversation with your supervisor to help you prioritize your tasks, then build your workload off of the list, and make it a reasonable list! Second, set limits by setting work hours and holding yourself to them. The out-of-office auto-reply is your friend. Third, communicate clearly what your limits are, delegate tasks that don’t fit into your workload, and practice saying “no”.  5) Connect your work to your purpose and mission and the organization's mission. By identifying the values that matter to you and understanding those of your organization, connections will emerge. The key is to get clear about yourself, your role, and your company, and then look for that ultimate Venn diagram intersecting the set of your values and the company's values. Need help? Take the EMPOWER Possible Meaning Mini Course www.empowerpossible.com/p/empower-mini-course-meaning  These lessons have made my time at Essentia enjoyable. I look forward to coming to work which for me as a remote worker means walking down twelve stairs to my home office...however I enjoy taking each step! I want to do a good job because I know my colleagues are doing their best too.  I have learned a lot about myself, my worth, my values, and the importance of culture in the workplace over the past year, and look forward to many years to come. My wish for you is that you too can learn what you need from your workplace/life and learn from your past experiences. What lessons have you learned in the past year?  What do you want next year to look like?  Does your current work/life situation support what you would like to see? What topics would you like to explore in the upcoming year?  Please share! Email me your responses at info@empowerpossible.com.  Cheers to the journey!  Thank you for your readership. Together we can regenerate our world, Julie Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Click here to get your own subscription. Celebrating my one-year anniversary with a sweet treat, a Goddess Bar from 3rd Street Bakery in Duluth, MN.  Lastly, I say the statements below every day. It is inspired by the mantra one of my colleagues shared with me. She says it before every conversation she has with a patient. It really captures the spirit of purpose and meaning for me. Upcoming Events What: MasterClass Group Where: Virtual Meeting When: Saturday February 11th, 9am-10am  Why: Maximize learning integration in a community of lifelong learners who also support gender equity.  Cost: Free! Click here to register What: THRIVE: Overcome Burnout Duluth, MN Community Education Class Registration opens January 2023  When: February 2023 Why: Participants will learn the signs of burnout and how to overcome and prevent burnout. Cost: $29.00 What: University of Wisconsin-Superior Coffee Break Course: EMPOWER YOUR NEW YEAR Where: Virtual When: Register to view anytime throughout December 2022 Why: The New Year is often a time for new goals and a fresh start. However, most of us abandon these goals in a few weeks. This session will help participants empower their new year and set a vision for the year to overcome barriers to reaching their goals.  Cost: Free! Click here to register In other news, EMPOWER Possible is on Facebook and Instagram! For motivational quotes and inspiration go to : Empower Possible Facebook  and follow EMPOWER Possible on Instagram.

Lessons from Lucy

 

December 5, 2022 Regenerate Your World  Build the future you want to live in. I know these times aren't the easiest for all of us, but I am an optimist - I see the glass as half-full, instead of half-empty. To brighten up your days, I publish the Regenerate Your World newsletter coming to your inbox on a bi-weekly basis. Let's Get Empowered! Lessons from Lucy Greetings readers! A few weeks ago I dog-sat for a friend.  I have never owned a dog but have dog-sat for friends and family and volunteered for several years at an animal shelter. All that to say I have been around a lot of dogs in the past and have always appreciated their free-spirited nature.  This time was different than my past dog-sitting experiences as it was for 12 days and I was also house-sitting. This meant a fully immersive experience!  After a few days of dog-sitting Lucy, I got into a routine. I noticed a few things that made me think about how I am living my life. I found Lucy knows a thing or two about living life to the fullest.  Her energy and exuberance started to rub off on me. I tend to hold back from expressing my full emotions and think about life in general as to-do items on my checklist. I like the order this provides however it means I can miss out on significant moments because I am focused on preparing for what is next on my checklist. Like many things in nature, dogs don’t operate on a checklist system. For the most part, the life of a typical dog isn’t complicated but it is joyful. Something, we as humans sometimes miss. Therefore we should pay attention to the way dogs guide us through life by living a joyful life.  Below are the 5 lessons from Lucy we can use as our guide. Just to make all our lives a little bit more light-hearted and fun. 1) Play! Run! Walk! Jump! Lucy is 14 years old and still acts like a puppy. She is young at heart and activity also keeps her heart young. Every day no matter the weather (in Duluth that means freezing temps!) we went for a walk outside. Sometimes it was a short walk around the block other times it was a long hike in the woods. What mattered is we got outside to play and walk. According to the Mayo Clinic, adding walking into your everyday routine can help you prevent heart disease and improve your mood. Walking with your dog (or a friend’s dog) is one of the many ways dogs help us stay healthy. 2) Communicate your needs. Lucy always let me know when she wanted to go outside, when she wanted to cuddle, and when she wanted to eat. She would nuzzle me or bark when she needed something. How many times have you found yourself thinking, “why haven’t they (fill in the blank)? about another person. Maybe it is because that person can’t read your mind and know your needs. I am guilty of this, many times I have thought “they should know by now that I don’t like this or that or that I like to do this or that”. I don’t say anything and I pretend everything is fine but then I am resentful that the person isn’t doing what I want them to do. Then my resentment comes out later when it has built up over time. I am working on sharing my needs in the moment and practicing letting go of unrealistic expectations. Lucy knew how to share her needs in the best way she could. We all need to think about how can we share our needs in the best way we can in order to improve our relationships. Communicating what you really need can help clear up misunderstandings and help avoid hurt feelings. 3) Lucy taught me about Love. Lucy saw me at my best moments and my lowest moments. Your dog knows you at your best and at your worst. Tough times can be what leads to growth. We all can learn to be patient with friends (and ourselves) through rough patches. We can learn to provide our loved ones with support in their moments of need and dogs remind us that everyone deserves to be loved as they love without conditions. 4) Listen to your body. Lucy was great at this! She slept when she needed to. Played when she needed to. Moved when she needed to. She drank water when she needed to. I know we can’t always do what we need to at the moment however we can try to structure our day to allow for more flexibility. Think about how much time you might spend doing things you really don’t have to do. If you spend a few minutes thinking about how you spend your time and prioritize what matters most you will be amazed at what you can do. It is not easy to take a look at how you spend your time and then prioritize what is most important but it is worth it.  5) Find joy in the “small” things. Lucy would get so excited about her toys, her food, going outside, and seeing me in the morning. Her tall would be wagging and she would jump in the air. So often we are waiting for the next vacation, the new car, the better job to find the joy- there is joy all around us, so take a moment or two to appreciate it! Today I am finding joy in writing this newsletter while sipping a wonderful cup of tea and watching the snow gently fall to the ground. What joy are you finding today?  In case you missed it last week, I will share a gratitude meditation-its free! It will help you find joy.    https://www.empowerpossible.com/p/loving-kindness-meditation-free-video1 P.S. This newsletter is for you, please share what you would like to learn and what topics YOU would like to read about in the newsletter. Please send me an email, at info@empowerpossible.com I would LOVE to hear from you. P.P.S.  I am working on a project and collecting stories about job loss or the loss of a dream. My hope is to gather stories in order to learn from them and develop an online course or book that will help others going through losing a job or those who are learning how to let go of a dream. Thank you as always for your readership! Together we can regenerate our world, Julie Me and Lucy Lucky Dog Excerpt from Joan Oen's essay, Lucky Dog featured in the 2014 publication Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Dog Did What? ...He scratched Sammy behind the ears and confessed, “I couldn’t have made it through these past months without him.” He explained that Sammy was the one who was always there for him during my absence. It was our dog who helped my anxious husband sleep by filling my empty spot on the bed. It was our dog who raised Shawn’s spirits with his infectious playfulness and constant ploys for attention. Thanks to our dog, Shawn didn’t have to come home from work to an empty, lonely house. Instead, Sammy was always there to greet him by running around in circles of frenzied excitement and jumping on Shawn’s legs until he knelt to receive a series of doggy kisses. Sammy would even lick Shawn’s tears when he cried. “Come on Mr. Floppy Ears, let’s go upstairs with Mommy!” my husband cooed in baby talk to Sammy as we carried my Army duffle bags upstairs. I smiled. Observing the loving bond between Sammy and my husband comforted me. The previous fall I had impulsively bought a friendly grey puppy because I knew I was a dog person. Now, it was very clear my husband was a dog person, too. When the time came to return to Iraq for the last half of my deployment, the drive to the airport was once again, accompanied by tears. However, this time, my anxiety over my husband’s welfare was absent. I knew my husband would be okay; he had Sammy. He was one lucky dog!  Upcoming Events What: MasterClass Group Where: Virtual Meeting When: Saturday December 10th, 9am-10am  Why: Maximize learning integration in a community of lifelong learners who also support gender equity.  Cost: Free! Click here to register What: THRIVE: Overcome Burnout Duluth, MN Community Education Class Registration opens January 2023  When: February 2023 Why: Participants will learn the signs of burnout and how to overcome and prevent burnout. Cost: $29.00 What: University of Wisconsin-Superior Coffee Break Course: EMPOWER YOUR NEW YEAR Where: Virtual When: Register to view anytime throughout December 2022 Why: The New Year is often a time for new goals and a fresh start. However, most of us abandon these goals in a few weeks. This session will help participants empower their new year and set a vision for the year to overcome barriers to reaching their goals.  Cost: Free! Click here to register In other news, EMPOWER Possible is on Facebook! For motivational quotes and inspiration go to : Empower Possible Facebook  and follow EMPOWER Possible.