Here are a few decisions I've made with my mind:

1. Bought a house I couldn't afford.

2. Got a puppy I couldn't take care of.

3. Joined a real estate program to fix and flip houses.

My husband busted me. We were on vacation with friends, and the night before, I'd poked fun at him (or maybe I outright insulted him…?).

I didn't know what he was referring to when he asked why I'd said what I said (If you know me, you know any number of statements could have spread their wings at the foot of my mouth that evening).

I lifted weights at the gym for the first time in ten years, and an hour later, I had a brand-new body… said no one ever.

Everyone knows it takes time and effort to become physically fit. However, if you change your diet and work out, you'll soon notice improved strength, weight loss, and muscle definition.

The other day, I went into an establishment I frequent, and the lovely woman who works there was making idle conversation, telling me about another patron.

“She’s good people,” she said. “She’s like us.”

I heard myself respond, “All people are good people.”

I did a cool thing the other day (which brought up my low parenting score for last week).

When I was in Denver this summer, I met with a new friend, Ted Barrett, who created a communication technique for tense conversations.

He was married for 45 years before his wife passed (she sounded like an unbelievable woman), and together, they developed and used this method in the final five years of their time together (which transformed what sounded like a pretty great marriage to begin with).

I spent the last ten days in silence

Are you intelligent, witty, dependable, loyal, self-sufficient, and confident?

And are you also exhausted, guilt-ridden, anxious, sleepless, self-doubting,

irritated, resentful, and/or burnt out?

Today’s “empowered” woman can cycle through these emotions faster

Shall I begin with the dogs infesting my house with fleas or the functional medicine doctor who says I’m allergic to eggs and coffee?

Yes, that’s right, I’m allergic to joy.

That alone had me wandering the kitchen in my pajamas at 12 noon,

Well, I eeked through Hannukah by the frizz of my humidityinfused hair this year.

But this year, instead of badgering myself about my inability to plan, lack of creative gift ideas etc., etc., etc., I enjoyed every lackadaisical, thirteen-yearold-nagging-me minute, and guess what?

It turned out great, like it does every year, except without my internal suffering. I showed up with presence, thoroughly enjoyed myself, and am damn proud of what I accomplished at work.

I’m in the business, for heaven’s sake. 

This only matters if you want to create your life on purpose rather than by accident.
 
This is edgy, but it's true:

See if the examples below resonate with you.

You know the one - the voice in your head that's inordinately concerned with what other people think, how you look, that stupid thing you said, and what you're currently "failing"?

Have you noticed that she doesn't respond to reason? That's because she's not rational.

In kindergarten, I used to hold my breath until my face turned red.

My mother still tells me how frustrated I got whenever I didn’t know whatever was being taught at school.

“How could you know it if you haven’t learned it yet?” She’d try to console me.

Now, when my mind insists I should know, my teacher tells me, “You can’t jump over your knees.”

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” – Viktor E. Frankl 

I talk much about moving through life from the "inside out." 

In other words, using that seldom-heard voice banging around the soundproof box in your gut to determine what's right for you, not for Aunt Nelly, your spouse or child, or even what your mother taught you, but what's right for you.

When I first booked the From Burn Out to Badass workshop, I imagined myself bouncing into the venue on night one, bushy-tailed and polka-dotted.

However, as the time approached to craft what I wanted to teach, it came to my attention that Cinderella's stepmother (who has a habit of living inside my head) had been on a rampage, leaving me exhausted.

In other words, I had to teach how to avoid burnout when I’d allowed myself to become burnt out.