The Passionate Voice

A Changing of {Life} Seasons

• Career, Lifestyle

Well hello there! I appreciate everyone’s messages, texts and check-ins asking what the heck I’ve been up too as of late. Its hard to believe the last time I blogged was back in May. Thinking of what I’ve did between now and May is somewhat daunting. Daunting in a good way though. Let’s just say that being able to have the time to properly ‘digest’ something like an election is a healthy process to go through. I’ve needed the time since May to process what I’m only realizing now was A LOT that took place in the last four years of my life #OntheRoad #Commuting #NewBaby #Motherhood #MaternityLeave #LIFE

After watching this video and hearing of the notion of ‘life’s changing of the seasons’ from a fellow #GirlBoss,  it made me realize that I too, am going through a changing of the seasons in my own life. I am putting to rest, four years of my life in politics and a career I loved. Anytime I become nostalgic, I think of people like the Minister I served, who has known nothing else than serving people in a public service capacity for 30+ years.

The best part is that I am welcoming this changing of the seasons with open arms in a way I’ve never before. I really think that is why we all love being Canadian, because one of the perks is we know each year we get 4 seasons guaranteed – with each season promising something different and new for us. In life though, we don’t necessarily expect our life to change that often as the seasons come and go. But I’m learning more and more that it is in fact, a healthy process to ‘change. To adapt. To come to terms with the old and look forward to the new, all while being the same person I was before. It really is a transformational experience – this whole being unemployed thing. (And yes, when you’re a political staffer and lose an election, you do in fact also lose your job). Its a scary yet exciting feeling knowing I am the captain of my own ship, the creator of my destiny. Wherever I want to go, I can go. (I feel like I sound like a mix between Dr. Seuss or Tony Robbins, ha!)

I’m going to share a whole separate post on my experience #onthecampaigntrail. I shared a lot of my journey on Twitter and Instagram for the month I lived away from my family but the experience warrants its own post. It was an incredible experience of hustling NON-STOP. And while we didn’t achieve the outcome we set out to accomplish, I know that we did everything possible and the team I worked with was nothing short of amazing.

Here’s to the journey ahead on the road less traveled, as I experience this changing of life’s seasons. I hope you too come along and share in this journey with me.

Get Comfortable with the Uncomfortable

• Career, Food for Thought, Inspiration, Leadership, Lifestyle, Making a Difference

November has been an eventful month. Both unexpected and welcomed news relating to life and work has made being uncomfortable somewhat of a new norm.

Oh and just throw first-time parenthood into the mix.

I think this is something millennials get criticized for often. Perfectionism. Wanting to always do things ‘right’. Not wanting to fail. Not wanting to step outside of our comfort zones to deal with the uncomfortable. Our predecessors think this is unrealistic of us.

I say this is just human nature. We all want to be comfortable.

And the more I’m realizing, regardless of age or gender, people don’t like to be unconformable.

Its why:

  • We don’t leave our jobs, even if we may not like doing them.
  • We may talk about the same thing over and over again, because we are familiar with the content.
  • We like to eat the same thing for breakfast every morning, because it becomes part of our daily routine.
  • Its why we vote the same way every time, even though we may not understand why we really continue to vote for them.
  • Its why we continue to listen to the same music from the generation we grew up in and don’t welcome new music. (Its why I’ve also heard so many people say they don’t like Taylor Swift’s new album because people weren’t ‘expecting’ her new sound. I think its killer).

Its why a lot of people don’t go out on their own to pursue their side hustles full-time.

Becoming your own boss is a perfect example of being uncomfortable. Knowing you are inevitably the reason you fail or succeed is all on YOU. Yes, there are going to be times of being uncomfortable when you’re your own boss. Things like being turned down for opportunities, approaching new clients for work, not making what you had budgeted or ruffling some feathers from a tweet or post.

These are things I’m still learning to get better at accepting everyday. And the more books I read and the more conversations I have with people, the more I realize this is NORMAL.

Being comfortable gets you no where. Being too comfortable leads to complacency. Its why I love being a millennial because I think we’re pushing the boundaries. Some may think in a good way, others may think its too much. We’re talking about the things that previous generations found uncomfortable to talk about. We want to pursue change at a faster speed than most can handle. Remember, no great ideas or actions were done in a place of complacency or being comfortable. Steve Jobs said it perfectly when he said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” – Steve…

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The most healthy, successful, optimistic people, both in work and life, know to expect the unexpected. They are resilient to what comes their way, both good and bad, expected or unplanned. They’ve learned to roll with the punches. 

They are comfortable with being unconformable.

And sometimes, when we least expect it and we’re forced to deal with something that makes us more uncomfortable than we could have ever imagined, we surprise ourselves by how we handle it. We become comfortable with it. 

I’m learning to be better at being uncomfortable every. single. day. Try it with me.

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Sunday’s are for Thanks

• Inspiration, Lifestyle, Social Media

Sunday’s for me are a day of reflection and for gratitude. I realize everyday we must be grateful but Sunday’s in particular allows us peace, calmness and clarity to see through the busyness of life to realize how fortunate we are. I think we all struggle with gratefulness in some form or another – especially in the social media age of keeping up with everyone’s perfected instagrammed lives, it can be hard to keep our brains focused on what it is in our lives that is good.

For the first time in a while, we weren’t road warriors this weekend with Blake. We stayed put and enjoyed the things that we love about the city we live in. It made me appreciate the small things we did that had such a big impact on why our weekend was so awesome. Here is just a sample of our weekend that has me full of gratitude….

  • The best news from friends
  • Catch ups with friends by a fire outdoors, reminding us of the last few summer weekends we have
  • Free tomatoes from a stranger/neighbour down the road whose garden was too plentiful… something I think many gardeners experienced this year with their tomato crops
  • Trying this alternative version of a 7-layer dip from Alberta Milk that was super quick to make (still haven’t tried it, its chilling in the fridge!) and a new chocoloate zucchini bread recipe (baking in the oven as we speak!)
  • Sunflowers to brighten the kitchen table
  • Watching your newborn discover new sights and sounds in the most simplest things
  • Prepping for an upcoming social media presentation this week and loving every minute of it!
  • Working on an exciting social media project that captures the social media usage of Ontario agriculture stakeholders.. its in its early stages but the results are going to be interesting to say the least (have I mentioned how much I love figures and stats when it comes to social media?!)
  • Reading Magnolia Journal on a Sunday morning with a coffee in hand and a sleeping baby in my arms
  • A bike ride on the most gorgeous Sunday evening… this weather couldn’t be more perfect!
  • Fulfilling my promise at the beginning of the week of blogging every day this week which I am happy to report I did.. 7 for 7! And the best part?! More ideas are a brewin’ so watch for more to come!

I’m trying my hardest this year to practice gratitude, its why I’m proud to have kept up with my commitment and one of my goals for this year of writing down one thing each day I’m grateful for. Let’s just say that my #365DaysofGratitude jar is overflowing. I can’t wait to read them all at the end of the year.

A line from the latest Magnolia Journal said it best, “Gratitude turns what you have into enough.” Amen to that. Happy Sunday!

“Gratitude turns what you have into enough.”

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#2017 Check In – Q1 (Jan-Mar)

• Agriculture, Career, Communication, Food for Thought, Inspiration, Leadership, Lifestyle, Making a Difference, Public Speaking, Social Media, Travel

A majority of companies and businesses measure annual performance, broken down in 3 month increments in terms of Q 1/2/3/4. By setting goals for the year and reviewing them every 3 months, it allows for a consistent check-in to ensure things are on track to meet annual goals, sales figures, performance measures, etc.

Goal-setting and check-ins are part of corporate culture, but we don’t look at ‘check-ins’ the same way we do with our own personal goals we’ve set for ourselves.

Most often times, holding ourselves accountable can be the main reason whether we achieve our goals (or not).

We all start with the best of intentions at the beginning of a new year – or for some, in the springtime or in September with the start of a new school year –  but if we don’t have mechanisms to hold ourselves accountable, another year can pass like the one before and that passion project can be shelved for another year.

Unlike the work world where you know your performance is going to be measured, your boss will check in, performance reviews take place and/or your salary may be impacted, if your serious about the intentions you’ve set for #2017, you’ll be serious about holding yourself accountable to achieve these goals.

I shared these 2017 goals/habits at the beginning of the new year. Using this as my ‘Q1 check in’, I’m happy to report I’ve committed whole-heartedly to two of my goals – blogging once a week using #Blog452 and doing #365DaysofGratitude (which I realize I need to share more about!). In terms of the other 3 goals I’ve set, I already have the personal development course in mind I want to attend later this fall which I will be registering for this month; I have tons of ideas (and the equipment ready!) to get the podcast up and going (slowly but surely!) and travel plans are in place (hopefully, if all goes well with the arrival of Baby A!) to explore new destinations later this summer.

What I’m most proud of in the first 3 months is the 5 habits I’ve really tried to stick too – getting up early to enjoy the outdoors; weekly meal planning; consuming less TV; being more strategic about social media consumption; and so far, I’ve loved the weekly coffee dates I’ve been able to fit in to help stick to my #Blog452 goal and client work.

One concept that has really stuck out for me recently, as I’m almost through Neil Pasricha’s The Happiness Equation, is how we all have 168 hours available to us in a week. If you sleep on average 8 hours a night x 7 days a week, that’s 56 hours gone right off the top, known as the first ’56 bucket’ (and the most important of course!). If we work on average, a 40 hour work week, plus factor in commute time, extra hours worked, prep time, etc, a second ’56 bucket’ can be established. Its the third and final ’56 hour bucket’ that is ours to do with it what we want. THAT is where working on your #2017 goals/habits kicks in.

Yes, goal chasing can be overwhelming and daunting. Yes, some days are more productive than others. Yes, some days you’re ahead feeling great, and other days you just need to watch Netflix to let yourself have a break. Yes, some days you hear great feedback and other days there are crickets. With only 3 months off the top of 2017, I’ve been able to learn to take small, actionable steps each day/week to work towards the goals I’ve set.

If you make this type of commitment (it really isn’t rocket science, just sheer willpower), you can and will see your goals through to fruition.  And just think, we still have 9 more months to go, what an awesome feeling!

As I get ready for my biggest life-changing moment yet, in May (motherhood!), I already can’t wait to report back on Q2 progress…. I suspect its going to be the BEST life experience. How are you making out with your #2017 goals, I’d love to hear from YOU!

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Start Putting Your Sh*t Out to the World

• Career, Communication, Food for Thought, Inspiration, Leadership, Lifestyle, Making a Difference, Public Speaking, Social Media

Through the personal work I do with my platform The Passionate Voice, I’ve always worked to help others, both personal and businesses, to harness their voice through social media work and in-person communications training. Helping them to learn how they can speak up, be heard and make impact in whatever industry they are in.

A perfect example of this is Ag Women’s Network. There are so many fellow women in agriculture/food and fellow bloggers and social media users who are putting themselves out there about the topics and issues that matter most to them. Its also an incredible personal development forum to learn from each other. I recently challenged these same women to blog (or start blogging!) with me in the personal #Blog452 challenge I’ve set for myself this year. One month in to 2017 and I’m happy to say, I’ve blogged every week!

I realize putting yourself out there to the online world takes confidence and guts.. and some would shy away from this. I also realize that there are a lot of ‘fence sitters’ who are watching others around them do what they wished they themselves would or could do. This isn’t a bad place to be in though so all the ‘fence sitters’ reading this, take this as your “call to action” post 🙂

Have you thought of starting a blog but held off, time after time, because you were worried what others would think or weren’t sure how to get easily started?

Have you been in a meeting and wanted to say something but feared what others would think and so you refrained from sharing your thoughts?

Have you wanted to give a talk at the front of a room but feared what the crowd may think of you and/or how you would be able to present in front of an audience?

Putting yourself out there to the rest of the world is not easy. Once you begin speaking your mind and showcasing your passion or what your good at on a platform, it is an outlet to be quickly judged by others. Not everyone can do it nor are you ever really ‘ready’ for what follows once you finally do put yourself out there for the rest of the world to judge.

Putting yourself out there doesn’t necessarily mean big, elaborate gestures. It can be the smallest, most simple step. It can be finally putting up your hand at a meeting and saying something. It could be sending that email to the person you’ve always wanted to contact with. Joining a committee, board or team after thinking about it joining. It could mean FINALLY starting that blog/website to showcase your talents and what your good at in hopes that one day you’ll be recognized for those talents or to positively make a difference.

“Putting yourself out there doesn’t necessarily mean big, elaborate gestures.” #PassionateVoice

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Putting yourself out there is never easy. But it is SO worth it once you do. Trust me, this is something I’ve struggled with in doing my work at The Passionate Voice. These posts don’t just write themselves… and many of my posts have sat in draft form until this year when I committed to 2017’s #Blog452Challenge.

But I promise, just go ahead and test the waters and you’ll see what I mean.

Really, what’s the worse thing that could happen….. besides crappy tweets from people or hearing crickets because you don’t think anyone is reading? In all seriousness, what really is the worse thing that could happen? 

If anything, as I’ve personally learned, you’ll be mad at yourself that you didn’t put your sh*t out there SOONER.

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