Aug 11, 2022 | Your Business, Your Self

A Cry for Spaciousness

As I wake up this overcast morning in coastal New England to the cries of gulls and the salty taste of the sea breeze in the air, I find myself deeply grateful.

If you follow me on social media, you have likely realized I’ve been mostly absent recently. For someone who is all about consistency, this has been a stark contrast for me.

This is something I talk about with clients often, but I have been in a season of business and life that has required a lot of spaciousness for me. Think white space, free time, and solitude even for reflection, inquiry, and a whole lot of creative expression and manifestation.

I notice we often judge ourselves for changing things up, for holding back, for being willing to pivot or change completely, but time and time again our success follows to the degree that we are willing to innovate and ideate.

And oh my goodness, have we been changing things up over here….

For one, after a decade of living in the Washington DC area, we relocated to the Boston area. Perhaps one day I’ll share more about that transition, but that’s a story for another day.

Within the company, we’re deep in the creative throes of the biggest rebrand and reinvention of our business to date, to the tune of multiple four-figures. We’ll be unveiling lots of exciting changes and new offerings over the next quarter, so stay tuned. The journey has required me to hire more support than I’ve ever allowed myself to have before, and it’s been both wildy uncomfortable and nourishing! I deeply believe that our capacity to be and feel exquisitely supported is one of the greatest mindset hacks to success.

Ahhh, and then there’s the small little detail that I’m also planning my wedding, which is just over two months away. And while my partner and I have been together for nearly 8 years now, own a home, and care for two adorable pups together, there’s something about the commitment of marriage that certainly stirs things up.

In writing down these three big changes, it strikes me that I’m in the midst of one of the biggest transitions of my life.

And while the circumstances and details may look different for folks, I find this to be true for many of us. In this semi-post-pandemic world, we are all in the process of transitioning to and creating a new normal for ourselves.

In doing so, the single permission slip that has most supported that season of change is taking space.

If you’ve been following along for a while, you may recall that I declared spaciousness as my word of the year back in 2019. It’s a theme that is deeply important to me…

And I’ve been noticing with clients more recently, a deep desire for more spaciousness in their lives, both in their mental capacity as well as in their schedules.

I was discussing this insight with my coach earlier this year and she reflected something so powerful for me. She said, “This is why people become workaholics because they don’t want to deal with what they find in the space.”

Her words landed like a lead weight.

What is it that we are afraid of finding “in the space” when we honor our boundaries around our schedule, when we don’t overbook ourselves, when we create white space on purpose, when we take vacations and leave work at home?

Speaking from personal experience, I notice I often avoided spaciousness from a deep seated need to prove my worthiness, to contribute, to be productive, all in order to earn other’s love.

Sadly, this stemmed from a deep void of being able to fully love and nourish myself.

Through the work I’ve done over the past decade around healing, I’ve discovered how to both love myself deeply while also creating immense space for myself. This work goes hand in hand.

It’s work we so deeply need as a collective.

If you find yourself racing this summer, your mind flipping from one To Do to another, your finger scrolling Instagram mindlessly, or your schedule jam-packed for days, consider what are you avoiding finding in the space?

It’s a practice over a perfect, but I assure you the fruits of this conversation are deeply transformational.

The ability to be fully present and take in the beauty all around you.
The capacity to still your mind and connect with your intuition.
The willingness to honor your schedule, both time for work and time for pleasure.
The ability to access the wellspring of dreams and business visions that lie within you.

In my mind, it’s all accessible from a willingness to create space.

Creating spaciousness in your mind and with your time is a gift that keeps on giving.

 

ARE YOU READY TO TRULY CREATE YOUR PURPOSE-DRIVEN BUSINESS ON YOUR OWN TERMS?

 

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Catherine is a Master Certified Coach and bestselling author of Belonging: Overcome Your Inner Critic and Reclaim Your Joy.

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Mindful Spending & Navigating Lifestyle Creep with Cris Caruso

In this episode of the Prosperous Empath®, I’m sitting down with financial advisor and UNBOUNDED Mastermind Alum, Cris Caruso to talk about a phenomenon that many people have experienced in recent years: lifestyle creep. Cris has been in the financial services industry since 2004 and a financial advisor since 2008. Beyond that, she has pursued additional education in understanding how our behaviors shape financial outcomes by earning the Behavioral Financial Advisor designation from Think2Perform. She also earned the Accredited Domestic Partnership Advisor credential prior to 2015 as a way to support her LGBTQIA+bclients and continues to use this knowledge to work with unmarried couples and non-traditional families. You’ll appreciate her unique experience throughout today’s episode as she speaks on lifestyle creep, or lifestyle inflation, which is overspending on things that you don’t actually need as your income increases. When you’re early in your career, your spending habits focus on must-haves like housing and groceries. But as your income increases, it’s easy to lose track of what is a necessity and what are simply too many luxuries, and to just keep buying more. Cris and I discuss both values-based and practical strategies on how to identify the areas of your life you should spend generously on and where to be more mindful to reach your long-term goals. How do you live in alignment with your money, especially as an entrepreneur and an empath? You’ll get an answer to this question as you listen to our thought provoking conversation on purposeful spending, the importance of allowing yourself to have fun & fabulous experiences, and more.

Visit this episode’s show notes page here.

The Prosperous Empath® Podcast is produced by Heart Centered Podcasting.

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