Guest featured in this episode:

Karen Laos is a keynote speaker and leadership coach equipping women to stand out with confidence. She champions female business leaders to own their value and find their voice so they can be seen and heard. She also works with teams to create cultures of trust and function at their best.

She has coached leaders at Facebook, Google, Netflix, Yahoo!, Sony, Microsoft, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Trip Advisor, Bacardi, Levi, and more.

She was the Senior Advisor to Program Delivery for Decker Communications, where she managed and mentored a team of facilitators delivering programs around the world. Karen coached executives on how to influence and speak more effectively. Previously, Karen was HR Director for Gensler Architecture, trained teams at Gap Inc and Wells Fargo. Her passion lies in developing others and she has done this throughout her career of nearly three decades.

One of her most fulfilling experiences was being on radio coaching callers on how to make powerful life changes. Karen speaks annually at the BASS Conference. She founded Kissing Frogs Project in 2010, an online community to help single women be true to themselves.

Karen received her BA in Psychology from Lafayette College in Easton, PA. Upon graduation, she spent 4 years traveling across the globe in the experiential education program, Up With People.

Karen’s style is fun, encouraging and results-oriented. She immediately moves past the “fluff” and gets straight to the issue (just ask her clients!).

Things you will learn in this episode:

• The SEVEN ways you can take your power back in life
• Own your unique value
• Promote yourself
• Leverage your voice
• Be focused (have a lead to your story)
• Avoid using minimizing language
• You decide who you are
• Stop accommodating everybody else and losing yourself
• and much more…

Karen Laos and Lucy Liu met in the Mic Drop community. If you are interested in becoming a speaker, check out MICDROP. 

So, we’re here today to talk about doing BIG things in 2021, about taking it to the next level. But as you unfortunately already know, we’re facing some pretty cold hard facts.

Covid, unemployment, anxiety, you name it. 

I’m here today to remind you that It’s up to YOU how you present yourself. It’s up to YOU how you show up for your life and business in 2021. It’s up to YOU to decide what to shoot for. It’s up to YOU to determine what game plans you want to play.

You see, most people have CONFLICTING beliefs. On one hand, they’re like “yes, yes, I can do it all, give it to me 2021 I’m so ready” but on the other hand, maybe even 10 seconds later they’re saying “yeah, I’m not so sure though.” They simultaneously have beliefs that pull them in opposite directions. So which one are you? 

By thinking more positive thoughts and aligning your internal beliefs, you will absolutely radiate more positive energy, and people around you will notice. Either consciously or subconsciously, at some level, they’ll notice. They might not know exactly what you’re up to or why they feel more positive around you but they’ll know that SOMETHING has changed and it’s for good.

Also, remember that thoughts have a habit of becoming THINGS in your life. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying: you become what you think about. It’s so so true. You generally become what you think about most. If you’re looking for bad news – well, it’s much easier to find bad news these days than good news but guess what you’ll find bad news every day. If you’re looking for reasons why you can not accomplish something, you’ll find them plenty. If you are looking to avoid bills, more bills will come. If you’re looking for reasons why you’re unhappy, you’ll find them. But if you think positive thoughts and you’re looking for reasons why you ARE happy, you’ll find those too. If you look for gratitudes everyday your life will be filled with blessings. 

The same thing happens for anything you think about. You’ll find reasons everywhere around you that PROVE that you’re right. If you believe the world is FULL of opportunity, you’ll start noticing different things. I promise. You’ll notice the things that support your beliefs. Your thoughts determine what you notice in the world. It happens every day of our lives. We all have the ability to CHOOSE our own thoughts. We can intentionally focus on anything we want and let that focus expand and grow.

Are you excited about what you’re going to do in 2021? I talked about how your goals should be fun and exciting. When you’re excited, people get inspired by YOUR excitement, and it’s amazing how people even want to help you reach your next milestone. Everyone wants to be where the action is! People crave excitement. They’re desperate for inspiration and you are that inspiration. Yes, you! The amazing, beautiful, and remarkable you!

There has NEVER been a better time to make your dreams a reality. It’s exciting. It’s fun. And it’s what life is all about. Most times later becomes never. So dream it, design it, live it, starting now. Success doesn’t just find you and you can’t chase it down, success is already in your dictionary and you get to write the definition of success. And as you move forward this year, remember that we cannot solve problems with the kind of thinking we employed when these problems came up, so the perspective is key, slow things down and look at things from a different angle, your well of wisdom is already there. You are full of wisdom and potential, you’ve got this year! Now go out there and change lives.

Guest featured in this episode:

Cathy Trinh is the Author of “The Journey, Mastering the Art of Slowing Down into a Beautiful Existence,” a Global Inspirational Speaker, Life Mentor and Self-Care Coach. She is also a cancer survivor, a fierce advocate for mental health awareness, holistic healer and addiction recovery expert. She is passionate in empowering an uplifting women to help build self-esteem and self-confidence.

She has created a socially conscious platform to raise awareness of the urgent need for Mental Wellness and Self-Care in Corporate America and across the globe. Cathy has answered her life’s calling to help others discover their passion and create a joyful life they love and deserve through Self-Care practices for their Soul and beautiful life. Cathy earned her undergraduate degree in Business Administration and runs a financial executive search firm. She often speaks at Universities, Women’s Rehabs, mental health institutions and corporations.

Things you will learn in this episode:

• Lowest point in her life and her most important lessons. 
• Biggest failures
• How it took her 10 years to write her book
• and much more…

Anоthеr уеаr is coming, аnоthеr ѕеt of resolutions. In the early years of life, each уеаr I would ѕеt new year resolutions and by March mоѕt likely I have аbаndоnеd them. Sometimes I even аbаndоn thеm bу Jаnuаrу 2nd. But I was normal, only about 8% of people actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions each year.

Only two things ѕеtѕ the individuals whо make and kеер thеіr rеѕоlutіоnѕ apart frоm thе rеѕt оf who don’t. Attitude аnd Bеlіеf. Thоѕе people thіnk differently. You hаvе to соmрlеtеlу сhаngе your wау of setting rеѕоlutіоnѕ as well as the way you think.

Nowadays, I no longer set new year resolutions, I simply set goals. And if you have goals, you don’t need to wait until the new year, you can start today because the best time to start something was always yesterday, the next best time is now. Don’t go for perfect, go for done. Speedy action beats perfection any day. 

If you’ve also seen the movie “The Secret” аnd thіnk all you hаvе tо do іѕ vіѕuаlіzе your dreams аnd іt wіll соmе true, I can confidently tell you its nоt completely truе, it’s only partially true. Visualizing your dream іѕ just оnе ѕtер іn thе process of achieving your goals, after making the dесіѕіоn. You hаvе to gеt emotionally involved іn уоur goal and feel thе еxсіtеmеnt; уоu hаvе tо fееl and see уоurѕеlf achieving the gоаl. Exреrіеnсе thе jоу. In the process, уоu bеgіn to іnvоkе the Law оf Attraction subconsiously which ѕtаtеѕ thаt what уоu think аbоut, уоu brіng аbоut. Yоu will bеgіn tо аttrасt аll thаt you nееd tо асhіеvе your gоаl.

A major mistake thаt people mаkе whеn setting gоаlѕ and new year resolutions is that they uѕе negative wоrdѕ tо dеѕсrіbе whаt they wаnt. Fоr example, some реорlе ѕау, “I’m іn debt. Mу gоаl is tо not lоѕе mу hоuѕе.” Wоrdѕ are strong. They have energy and power. Negative wоrdѕ рrоduсе negative vіbrаtіоn and ultimately, nеgаtіvе result. Use роѕіtіvе wоrdѕ instead, “I аm ѕо hарру and grаtеful now thаt I hаvе аll thе money I nееd to mаіntаіn myself in mу home аnd live соmfоrtаblу.” See thе difference?

The positive words set uр positive vibration іn your bоdу, soul and mind аnd it wіll bеgіn to attract thе people and thіngѕ you’ll nееd tо асhіеvе stated goals. That’s whу аffіrmаtіоnѕ аlоnе dоn’t work. If уоu write an аffіrmаtіоn and dоn’t bеlіеvе іt, уоu wіll not be аblе tо mаkе іt happen. You will not have the drive to pull through and work towards achieving it.

Tо change уоur rеѕultѕ, ѕtаrt bу сhаngіng уоur wоrdѕ. Whеn the wоrdѕ сhаngе, your feelings сhаngе аnd уоur vibration сhаngеѕ, thеn your results will сhаngе too. 

Where реорlе get іntо trоublе іѕ thеу trу to dо thіѕ аll аlоnе. Evеrуоnе саn bеnеfіt from аn objective реrѕоn to раrtnеr wіth. Hаvіng a coach or a mentor саn make аll thе dіffеrеnсе іn thе wоrld. A coach can mаkе thіѕ process fаѕtеr bу hеlріng you get really clear about whаt уоu wаnt and bу helping tо unсоvеr the unconscious motivations thаt саn sabotage rеѕultѕ. Uѕіng a соасh саn ѕhоrtеn the lеаrnіng сurvе аnd рrоvіdе ѕuрроrt аnd encouragement thrоugh thе process. 

OK, so always check if you are setting smart goals. 

S.M.A.R.T in its real sense is the acronym for a lot of realities in the goal-setting process. SMART is the best practice framework for setting goals.

To make sure your goals are clear, attainable, and reachable, they must possess the following qualities:

S = Specific (simple, sensible, significant).

M = Measurable (meaningful, motivating).

A = Achievable (agreed, attainable).

R = Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).

T = Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).

Once you have checked your goals against SMART, the secret to achieving them is 

1. Set goals in the five major areas of your life
2. Break down your goals into smaller parts.
3. Make an action plan for the goals you have broken down into smaller parts.
4. Build the momentum and keep the momentum going every day.
5. Have fun along the way.

Guest featured in this episode:

Ann bernard is a coach and master of first times who helps people maximize what they gain from living through first times and new experiences. She is the author of How to Become a (First Time) Storyteller and creator of the #365FirstsChallenge and First Time Story Map Project.

Things you will learn in this episode:

• What is a journey of first times and new experiences?

• Why are new experiences so important to our self-development?

• How new experiences help to rewire who we are.

• What are comfort zones and what’s the process for stepping out of our comfort zones?

• How to come about deciding to face all of your fears?

• What she learned from her failures?

• How can people become more creative?

•  
• and much more…