Nov 14, 2018 | Your Relationships

Catherine A. Wood

The Modern Achilles Heel

This week I want to share something that has been on my heart lately.

It’s the idea around intellectually “knowing” how you’re getting in your own way versus actually being willing to change.

Self help books can be both a gift and a curse. The thing is, you can learn an intellectual knowing of what you’re doing, how you’re self sabotaging, and getting in your own way…

…but the difference between knowing this and actually being willing to change are absolutely distinct conversations.

For some people, their personal knowledge of disempowering patterns can be an Achilles heel because they can talk themselves out of changing or resign themselves to the fact that they can’t create anything new or different.

I spoke to someone recently who has a profound level of self-awareness and intimately knows how she gets in her own way.

It pains me to hear her intellectualize her way out of changing her life.

It’s like she’s settling and resigning herself to the reality that her life is “just the way it is” and she can’t do anything about it. Instead of looking for new avenues of possibility, she has to search for small wins and shortcuts to feel better,  as if giving  herself permission to not have what she actually wants is ever the path to choose.

This shows up in various ways. It may look like focusing on her professional prowess to hedge around a lack of personal fulfillment. Or showing up confidently in the boardroom as a crutch when she has no power in her romantic relationship.

It’s heartbreaking.

The point I am sharing here is the importance of really, truly starting to get curious around the areas of your life where you’re settling or intellectualizing yourself out of making a change, and then focusing on the areas of your life in which you do have the personal power to change.

Oftentimes, by focusing on regaining our personal power in one new area of life, we invite and create the possibility and momentum to change many other areas of our life too.

I invite everyone to start playing this game.

The one that has you get out of your comfort zone.

Because our comfort zone expands and contracts with our willingness to take on something outside of it.

So, will you take your first step outside of your comfort zone right now by declaring your willingness to take on this game of possibility?

If you said “yes,” reach out and tell me more.

To your absolutely unbounded potential,

Executive leadership coach Catherine Wood's signature

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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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