Laura McCaffrey

When I was a kid, summers were all about reading.  I loooooooved to get the suggested reading list from school and plot which titles I would borrow first from the library.

My very patient parents would take me to the library all of the time, and let me take home a giant stack of books.

Not much has changed!  Reading is still the main way that I experience joy and relaxation.

Here’s what’s on my reading list for this summer!

1. Good Omens– Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

I recently listened to the Neil Gaiman interview on Tim Ferriss’s podcast, and it reminded me of how much I love Neil Gaiman.  So I put this one on my to be read list!  It’s also now an Amazon Prime series and I heard it was excellent, so I’m looking forward to tackling both the book and the show!

2. I Am Her Tribe– Danielle Doby

Poetry is something that I’ve gotten more interested in recently, as sometimes I only have a few minutes and want to just read a page that will get me thinking, inspire me, or encourage me to feel.  This collection of poetry seems perfect for doing just that.

3. Big Magic– Elizabeth Gilbert

The creative process is interesting to me, and I’m always excited to learn new ways to experiment with my own creativity in the many forms that I express myself in.  Looking forward to reading this one, as I’ve seen so many people rave about it!

4. Shut Up and Run– Robin Arzon

My husband bought me a Peloton bike for Mother’s Day this year and I’m totally in love!  Robin is one of my favorite instructors and I’ve been taking her rides for over a year, first on the app and now on the bike.  Peloton has definitely rekindled my inner athlete, and I’m excited to hear more words of wisdom and motivation from Robin!

5. Becoming Supernatural– Dr. Joe Dispenza

Dr. Joe Dispenza’s books are wildly popular, and from the description of this one I can understand why.  I  think that so many of us are interested in developing a further understanding of the human capacity.  Digging into this one is going to be fun!

6. BARE– Susan Hyatt

I deeply believe in embodiment as an essential part of women’s leadership.  But how can we be embodied when we hate our bodies?  I am learning how to coach around this topic even more, and Susan’s method and energy resonates with me.  This is my second read of this book.  Let’s go on the journey to free ourselves from societal conditioning of what our bodies should be.

7. City of Girls– Elizabeth Gilbert

Not gonna lie, I picked this book up because I like the colors of the cover.  But reading the description of the book was enough to have this one make the TBR list, as it’s about a woman reflecting on her unapologetic life.

8. We Hunt the Flame– Hafsah Faizal

Fantasy and magic told from a very different perspective than an old white dude.  I’m here for it.

What’s on your summer reading list!?!?

Any of these books sound interesting to you?

As part of the Summer Sweetness coaching program, you get two of these books sent to you!

Check out the details on all of the goodness that goes along with the program here:

Summer Sweetness Coaching Program!

Enrollment for Summer Sweetness will stay open through midnight ET on June 21.

There’s also a great early action taker’s bonus, so if you’re in sign up before midnight on June 14 to get in on that!

Let’s make this your best summer yet!

Remember when summer used to actually be fun??

Days lounging by the pool with a good book.

Nights at the local carnival.

Weekends of endless possibility.

Now, as working adults, a lot of that magic of summer has disappeared. 

Days are now filled with sweaty commutes, and nights and weekends look pretty much like any other season.

A lot of us aren’t even using the vacation time that we’ve earned to get away for a few days!
(It’s true!  About 50% of the US workforce leaves vacation days on the table.)

It’s time for us to reclaim summer.

Even though we work hard, there’s no reason that summer can’t be as sweet and joyful as it once was!
By tapping into our own joy and filling up our cups we can then use all of that goodness to create great things in both our careers and personal lives.

This is why I’m so excited to announce my new 6- week one-on-one coaching program, Summer Sweetness.

If you’re ready to take back summer, check out all of the details here!

Summer Sweetness Coaching Program

Enrollment for Summer Sweetness will stay open through midnight ET on June 21.

There’s also a great early action taker’s bonus, so if you’re in sign up before midnight on June 14 to get in on that!

I can’t wait to work with you on making this summer your best yet!

This week, I started a dissertation extension course for the PhD program that I’m in.

This means 7 weeks to focus solely on writing the proposal for my dissertation.

Sounds amazing right?  I don’t have to do coursework plus my dissertation! Yay!

Well my brain totally freaked out.  On Monday I felt completely overwhelmed and paralyzed in terms of my productivity.  I didn’t think that I even knew where to start, what the pieces were of what I needed to do, or how I was going to get anything done.

Then I reminded myself that overwhelm is one of those indulgent feelings that is totally unnecessary to feel.  When we feel overwhelmed, it feels like it’s caused by all of the stuff that we have going on (dissertating, working, mom-ing, running my business, drinking water, oh my!)  

But really the overwhelm is caused by the way that we think about all of those things.

Overwhelm tries to keep us safe by allowing us to lean on confusion to not make decisions that will move us forward, and possibly into new, uncomfy territory, in our lives.

The surefire way that I move through overwhelm is to train my brain to make decisions, and then have my own back once those decisions are made.  

What this usually looks like for me is doing a brain dump.  I write down every single thing that’s on my plate. 

Once it’s all out, I look through that list and see what can be done in a matter of minutes.  And I do them.  No overthinking, just execution.

Now you’ve built up some momentum!

Next I’ll look at the remaining list and see what doesn’t have to get done, or doesn’t have to get done by me.  Those things get eliminated.

Lastly, I’ll look at the bigger projects on my list and determine what the next step would be to at least get started, and if it feels good, the next handful of steps.

Then I go and do those items I’ve identified. 

I make decisions on things quickly, and I back myself up by not spinning out or doubting or giving in to analysis paralysis.

In most situations, a less than perfect decision is better than no decision. 

You can always make a new decision once you see the outcome of the first.  
The way through overwhelm is making powerful decisions.  

Don’t let your brain tell you that you don’t know how to figure things out.

Try it out and see how it works for you!

Oftentimes we think that if we fix a certain part of our lives, then we’ll be happy. 

We wait until we get the promotion

Or find the perfect job

Or find the perfect partner

Or lose the last 10 lbs. 

Or finish up with school

But of course the reality is that even when we achieve these things, get to that next milestone, we don’t find the joy and relief that we’ve been seeking.

There are two things that I’ve discovered through my own development work.

1. You are never done.  That’s what life is all about.
2. You can be happy right now.  With none of your circumstances changing.

This is the power of thoughtwork.  By changing the way you think, you can be happy WHILE YOU’RE IN THE PROCESS OF DOING AND UPLEVELING ALL THE THINGS!  

You don’t need to delay your joy.

If you’re ready to be happy NOW, and want some support I’d love to work with you.  

Shoot me an email and we’ll find a time that works for us to get on a FREE one hour call to get to know each other and see if we’re a good fit to work together.

I’m going to make a confession here.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed.  I feel exhausted.  I feel like I put waaaaaay too much on my plate. 

All of these feelings leave me questioning the decisions that I have made.  Literally, every decision that I have made over the last few years.  Why did I decide to take on all of these things??  Work, family, school, business, friends, working out, it’s all too much.

In order to get through these times where it feels like I’m staring into the abyss that I’ve created for myself, I depend on my ability to coach myself to get back into a place where I’m feeling like I am a co-creator of my life instead of a victim of it.

So here’s the thought work that I did tonight:

I started with the thought: I made stupid decisions that put me in the position of feeling overwhelmed.

Not a great thought, right! 

Especially since I know that I’m not willing to give up on any of the commitments that I have decided to take on. 

This thought leaves me feeling deflated and even more exhausted.

Since I know that my thoughts drive my feelings, which in turn create my outcomes, I then tried on some other thoughts to see how they made me feel.

And here’s the super powerful thought that I landed on that actually made me cry a little:

How wonderful is it that I get to live such a full life!  How lucky am I to be able to have all of these experiences.

Instead of feeling tired and overwhelmed, with this thought I feel invigorated and in awe of what I am able to create and do. 

Gratitude for it all. 

For all the messiness. 

For the accomplishments. 

For my grit. 

For the support that I receive from the people around me.

And just watch what I’m going to create next.

Becoming the next level version of ourselves isn’t always easy. Transformation can come with some pain, and it’s not all grace and flow.

To transform, we often have to be willing to get super uncomfortable. To do things that our logical mind tells us we’re not ready for.

This is where the fear comes in.

“Who am I to say/do/think that?”
“I don’t know enough to even apply for that job!”
“No one wants to hear me talk about that.”

Ok. It’s totally ok and normal that those thoughts came up! But what you do next is the critical part.

To become that next level person, we have to step into that energy of being that person before we actually feel ready.

Before we feel like we’ve even dipped a toe into that pool of being that person.

Before we have any proof.

So picture this:

When you are the next level you, when you have achieved whatever it is that you want to achieve:

– how would you feel?
– how would you present yourself?
– what would your thoughts be?
– what actions would you be taking?

And perhaps most importantly, would the next level you be even remotely worried about what you’re stressing over now?

Or would she be thrilled that you just went for it.

You are becoming your wildest dreams. Start now.

 

P.S. HAVE YOU SEEN TOTAL UPLEVEL YET????

Total Uplevel

A 12 week, 1:1 immersion for women who know they’re meant for more.

Total Uplevel is a COMPLETE LIFE overhaul

Because you knew it was never just about your career, right?

Right now, you might be waking up every day, hustling and grinding and doing all of the work that you are “supposed” to do.

But you are still left wondering “Is this really all there is for me? Am I just going to repeat this pattern for the rest of my life?”

You want to show up unapologetically in every area of your life.

You want to be fully yourself and feel alive in every interaction that you have.

But somewhere along the way you lost yourself. You lost that excitement trying to check off all of the boxes that you were meant to do in order to be a success.

Shouldn’t you feel amazing, happy, at peace even, because you did everything you were supposed to do?

The real secret is that you’ll never feel successful by checking all their boxes and following all their rules.

There is another way.

By remembering who you always were.

By listening to your intuition and inner knowing.

By taking aligned action in every part of your life.

And that’s what we’ll be working on in Total Uplevel.

Here’s some of the areas we’ll focus on.

Upleveling your energy
Upleveling your expectations
Upleveling your environment
Upleveling your career
Upleveling your relationships

You have a choice.

Play the game and stay in the loop of never feeling like you’ve “made it”.

Or have faith.

In yourself.

You can create success on your own terms.

You can become your wildest dreams. Start now.

Message me to learn how to get in, and for more details on what this is all about!

https://m.me/laura.a.mccaffrey