How to Build the Future You Desire, One Step at a Time

I invite you to dream a bit. Right now, right where you are.

Close your eyes for a minute or two and imagine being the best version of you in a year — or 5 years — from now.

Dare to dream big, as you imagine what that version of you will look like.

Imagine waking up each day, and how you will show up in the world.

Maybe you will be leading at a higher level. 

Maybe you will be bolder, more confident.

Maybe you will make a big change — in location, in a relationship, in the field in which you work.

Maybe you will be creating something new and amazing.

Dreams can excite you and challenge you 

Quickly jot down the vision you imagined.

Then breathe and feel the emotions that have surfaced.

I venture to guess that the vision you imagined may feel both exciting and daunting.

After all, when we dare to dream big, a part of us tends to step in and say things like:

• Who are you to dream that big?

• That idea is way too scary!

• You can’t do that! 

• You can’t be that kind of person!

• You don't know how to do that thing!
  
  

What will you choose?

It is easy to shy away from big dreams. It feels safe to stay the same.

You know the status quo, even if there are aspects of who you are now and what you do now that you wish were different.

And, its important to know that living a static life, while it may feel comfortable, takes a toll.

• When you tolerate stress…

• When you stay in a situation that is less than satisfying…

• When you fail to try things that your heart yearns to experience… 

• When you stay quiet in spite of knowing there is more of you to show the world…

you stay in a state of being that’s a smaller version of who you truly are.

I know this from personal experience. I lived a very small version of my true self for decades.

What I learned, when I dared to dream big and begin to make small changes, changed my life!

As I slowly stepped into being a more fully expressed, confident woman, I was able to slowly let go of beliefs that had relentlessly dogged me — that I was not good enough or capable enough to do big new things. That I could show up authentically and feel secure in who I was. That I would be able to discover and pursue new and meaningful work and ways of living.

I learned to believe in myself. I learned to connect to my heart and I heard what it was asking me to try and be and do.

And I dared to begin to test out new ways of showing up — and kept going.

Hold your big vision! 

Staying the same means you miss out on tremendous possibilities, great satisfaction, and knowing that you are making the most of your one precious life.

Not only that, staying the same means the world misses out on receiving all that the big, fully expressed version of you has to contribute. We miss out on your genius!

I invite you to hold your vision with reverence.

Type it out, edit it to be full and vivid.

And read it every day — when you wake up and before you go to bed. 

Then, as you start each morning, think about one tiny step you can take to move toward the vision that you conjured. 

Each day holds great opportunities for you to do something just outside of your comfort zone, like:

• showing up with more authenticity

• sharing an idea you have held back on

• proposing a small change

• reaching out and inviting someone into a conversation

• creating simply for the joy it brings you

These small, consistent kinds of actions will move you forward, in ways that will compound over time.

Why not take a tiny step in the direction of your dream now?

Share your dreams, a tiny step or two you’re taking, and how it feels. Schedule a chat here.

What’s stirring in your heart right now?

Maybe you are celebrating a significant life moment this spring.

Families are sharing photos of graduations — from 5th grade into middle school, all the way to PhD completions at universities.

It’s a season of weddings and baby showers, family reunions and birthdays.

My grandchildren turned 6 and 10 in the last few weeks! And I just returned from a family wedding filled with glorious love and joy.

I am also feeling especially delighted about my work now.

I have been leading the prelude to the Live Big Live! Retreat for the last 5 weeks.

Over these weeks I’ve witnessed tremendous insights emerge and special new friendships form as we’ve moved through the virtual portion of the program. This lead-up to our 3 big days together — happening this week — was designed to provide a strong foundation of clarity for each woman, upon which she can build at the retreat.

As we have moved through a weekly sequence of Discovery Sheets, we have shared deeply on group calls. And I have had private coaching sessions with each woman in this fantastic cohort.

I followed my heart

When I created this retreat in 2020 (this is the 11th Live Big Live!), I had a big goal in mind — to provide great women with a process that would guide them to deeply connect to their hearts and desires, and based on that clarity set a compelling vision for the next part of their lives. And, I designed a structured process for each woman to create a personalized way to start making that vision her reality, so that when she left the retreat she would be clear about how to truly live into her vision.

I knew in my heart that we needed more than 3 days together to bring this way of supporting significant change into reality. Thus the idea to meet weekly in advance of the retreat was born.

What do you yearn to create?

I trusted my intuition and my heart when it signaled me that everyone would get her biggest outcome if she came to the retreat with a solid foundation in place that she could build on. 

Other people told me that the additional component of the process was not necessary. They said I did not need to do one-on-one sessions either. They advised me to keep it simple.

And, while that advice might have been fine for others, it was not right for me, and what I wanted to offer the women about whom I care deeply.

Do you have a deep desire to create something new?

Do you feel like there is something more, something bigger you want to pursue?

Even if you do not yet know exactly what that looks like, I invite you to keep the desire alive.

Journal freely and see what emerges. Imagine possibilities and talk about them with people you feel close to.

And get support to accelerate your movement forward. I know that had I tried to create Live Big Live! on my own, it would have taken much longer and would likely have entailed more trial and error than the way I shaped it with the help of my own coach.

Your dreams matter!

When you honor your heart and take a fresh new step toward living a purpose-filled, spacious life, you will find satisfaction and joy.

And all of us will benefit from your energy and contribution.

So connect to your desires and hold them with reverence.

Create ideas, create opportunities, create small steps forward. With every step you will build momentum.

I cannot wait to celebrate you!

Do you dare to dream bigger?

We are well into the first month of 2022. I hear people everywhere talking about the goals they’ve set, or that they are considering for the year, and that’s great.

And, I suggest that there’s a bigger question that’s important to ask now. (It’s one I have been focusing on myself.)

How you are showing up in your life?

How we each show up is the single factor that will most impact the outcomes we’ll look back on at the end of the year.

At a wonderful retreat I attended at the start of the year, I spent three days in deep, quiet reflection about the year past, and setting clear intentions for the year ahead.

This was remarkably special because I would not have carved out the time to do this on my own — nor would I have thought to structure the process as beautifully as my dear friend and mentor Peleg Top designed the experience.

Here are the two questions that kept coming to mind for me, as I moved through those days:

How I have been showing up in my life?

How do I want to show up this year?

These are big and important questions, and I invite you to consider them for yourself.

I also asked myself:

If I choose to show up with more courage, determined to reach new heights, how big do I dare to dream?

And, I added:

What will it take for me to dream big?

This brought me to considering two more questions:

How much can I trust — myself and the universe?

How much support is available, and from whom — to keep my mindset strong, to tend to my health, to take care of the many small tasks that keep me busy but rob me of time to do what only I can do, and more?

I invite you to do some big dreaming and big thinking

Having considered some of the questions I posed above, continue to reflect and explore.

You may want to take a fresh look at the goals you’ve set or the resolutions you have made.

Have you aimed low, or put a cap on how much you dared to go for?

What would it look like to end the year thrilled with something you made real by dreaming even a little bigger than you dared to up to now?

Next, think about who you want and need to BE to step up and live your biggest life.

Will you aim to be bolder? More confident? Clearer about what is right for you to enable you to stay aligned with your values?

With this clarity you can focus on becoming the person who can live her dreams.

Each of our big dreams will be different

For some, it will look like setting good boundaries and honoring themselves by making time for quiet, pursuing a long-dormant passion, or repairing a relationship.

For some it will mean striking out in a bold new direction, or making a change they long for in their career.

For some it will look like vitality of body and mind.

The possibilities are vast.

My dream is to show up as I never have before

I intend to speak on bigger stages to spread the messages I am passionate about, and work with more great women to help them step into their power, so people everywhere create their biggest lives.

My dream is to show up in my studio and paint boldly, so I feel free and fully expressed.

My dream includes completing a project that is in its earliest stages now, that will provide a tangible way for people to learn to live big and create as never before. I do not know the final form for this yet, but I know it is becoming what it’s meant to be, and I am excited about developing it.

And my dream includes a world that is healed by legions of people living their biggest dreams, each in their own important way. By playing even a small part to make that happen, I will be thrilled.

Are you ready to dream bigger?

If something inside of you knows this is the time to step into more of your power, to make your important dreams a reality, let’s get on a call.

Email me and we’ll make a date to talk about your big dreams, what is limiting you now, and what is possible.

These calls are one way I support great women to live big — whether they choose to join one of my programs or not. (There's no obligation or cost for us to have a call, but I limit the number of calls I schedule each week.)

My dream is for you to truly Live Big! I look forward our conversation.

Stay safe and well, and create with joy.