Thanks for being here.
Join The Visibility + Storytelling Challenge
Join me for a seven-day Instagram Creativity Challenge: create seven posts in seven days (using the prompts below), and everyone who does will win prizes. If you've been here a while, you know I have an annual birthday sale every year. Each year during my...
Sort your stress into three piles
What really causes me to freeze Sometimes I get really productive during stress. REALLY productive. It's my coping mechanism and I run around like an energizer bunny, getting it all done. I think my inner monologue truly believes that if somehow I accomplish every...
Taking Care Of Yourself
In a tired year, how do you persevere? Here are a few ways to restore and recharge. For my empaths, highly sensitive friends, and people who are feeling the fatigue of this year, a reminder to take care to fill up your own bucket and create boundaries to protect you as a person.
“Mom, Go That Way!”
When your four-year old helpfully gives you directions as you’re driving home.
What You Can Do
Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday. A Supreme Court Justice, an advocate for women, for equality, for justice. The best kind. Here’s my two cents: Let the anger burn pure and clean. Let the tears flow out. Let it burn clean and hot in you, but do not let the anger take you down. Do not let the emotions bury you. Find a clarity and focus inside of this.
It’s Okay To Skip The Marketing Pressure
Just a reminder: if you’re feeling overwhelmed, mentally rough, or you’re in a financially tough spot right now, skip the marketing pressure to buy things on deadlines. More good opportunities will come in good time. You do NOT have to buy anything right now that you don’t need.
Do This To Make Your Day Better
Today I want to share a tool that can help you set yourself up for a successful day. I learned about it from Hugh Jackman. Hugh is a well-known musical theater performer, artist, and singer (who holds the Guinness World Record for “longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero”). He talked about the practice he uses on a recent episode of The Tim Ferriss podcast. Here’s how it works.
Setting Boundaries & Saying No
Saying no is powerful. My toddler wields the word on a daily basis, and in many ways, I’m in awe of his unabashed claim of the word. Yet saying no can be hard! How do you do it well? Here are my time-tested strategies.
August Sabbatical (Does 2020 Include A Sabbatical?)
Every summer, we take a break as a family and take a summer sabbatical. Typically, we take a few weeks off in August, sometimes up to a month. This year is a little different, of course, because 2020 has been a tidal wave of epic proportions. Still, despite everything going on, we’re going to hang onto the threads of the idea of a sabbatical and take a small step back. Sticking to a semblance of structure and routine can be stress-relieving, especially when things are chaotic.
How To Make Better Decisions: 4 Helpful Strategies When You’re Stuck
Decision paralysis is real. Sometimes when I have a huge decision looming ahead of me, it’s hard to figure out what to do. Just the other day, I met with my operations planning team, and we reviewed the pile of work that I had on my plate ahead of me. My lead operations person looked at me and said “Sarah, you have to make some tough decisions here. You no longer have enough bandwidth to complete all of this.” We had to get real about the time we had, and the projects we could do. The hardest part? Decision making. I’ve written before about why making decisions is so hard. Today I want to share four strategies you can lean on when you feel stuck and don’t know your next move.
2,000 Books Is Not Enough
Since starting my social media break last week, I’ve noticed something interesting. I’m hungry for more books. Books feel like a breath of fresh air. Like a complete conversation in a world that’s forgotten what more than a sentence feels like. The comparison between a book and Twitter is divine, and real. I’m back on track to read 50 books this year, but I want to read more. Here’s how I’ll do it.
Take A Break: Social Media Sabbaticals + News Vacations
I felt giddy. It turns out, being separated from your phone doesn’t feel like problem, it feels like freedom. The tether in my pocket was gone, and I could be right here, with people, full attention and absorption. The music overwhelmed, surrounded me. The innovation sank into me. Each line was a delight, and because it was improv, it was here—and then it wasn’t. My laughter felt larger, full-bodied, round. My face was open-mouthed with rapture and love and the full sensation of music, not just in my ears, but a part of me. To be honest, being away from my phone felt like being high.
I Feel Like An Awkward Teenager Again
We’re 90 days into shelter-in-place and social distancing, and I’m beginning to feel the affects on my energy, mental stability, and emotional resilience. To be honest, I feel like a 14-year old teenager again. I notice that I feel way more uncomfortable, insecure, and worried about what other people think about me, at least more than I typically do. Remember age fourteen? Yeah, I never thought I’d be back there again, but my brain and my mood feel eerily like I did when I was a teenager. This is not easy.
LET’S TALK: A PODCAST
Let’s Talk 11: Getting Out Of A Rut
How do you get out of a rut? When you’re stuck at home, with children or without your brain (or BOTH), how do you get back into a groove and find your way? This episode is for anyone that feels anxious, stressed out, overwhelmed, or unable to complete a to-do list. I’m taking the view that it’s time to learn and adapt to our situation, and figure out the best strategies for us as individuals and how we get through this.
Let’s Talk 10: Saying Good Morning
Lately the strangest thing has been happening: I’m finding myself drawn towards social media, and wanting to connect more. So every morning, I’ve been sharing a small snippet of my morning routine on my Facebook page, and it’s turned into my virtual coffee shop. Listen in for how it all works, and why it’s helping me so much right now.
Let’s Talk 09: Perfume, Coffee, Candle, Lipstick
Making sense of days that make no sense requires new patterns, habits, and routines. For me, trying to muddle through the cacophony of work and children and non-stop days at home is very, very challenging to my brain. So, to help, I’ve been building small rituals into the day to start to cue myself that yes, work is happening now, and yes, it’s a new day. These are some of my favorites.
// Big Life Questions
What would you bring with you into the woods? Reflection questions on your own fire, the art of creation, the necessity of destruction, and your intrinsic value.
Central Park by Vivienne Gucwa on NY Through The Lens. Reflection, rejuvenation, and three questions. This weekend, I left the city to join one hundred other entrepreneurs, creatives, and innovators to shake off some digital dust and retreat in the Poconos Mountains of Eastern Pennsylvania. In addition to the typical packing...
When I hold on too tight…
I've noticed that when I hold on to things, it doesn't mean that they get better. When I held on--and I held on so tight! --the writing didn't get better, the launch of my newsletter didn't get any better; it got longer. It almost disappeared into the abyss of doubts and worries, of perfections and neuroses; it almost wasn't....
“You can have everything you want.” — “You will never be enough.”
Are we being taught to want everything and never be happy with anything that we get? Why these two cultural mindsets don’t serve us–and how pervasive they are in our everyday lives.
Everyone starts somewhere.
Even the master yogi took a first class. To become anything, you have to begin. Start somewhere, take a tiny step. Something is better than nothing. Everyone starts somewhere.
Are You Too In Love With A Dream to Make It Real?
Where does your mind go when you daydream? That big dream, that thing in your mind--the really big one. Yes, that one. What's your big, scary, hairy, crazy, totally unrealistic dream? The one you wish for fervently and find yourself thinking about on and off while wandering? Have you thought about making it real? Making it...
Bravery
Bravery. Bravery is showing up. Bravery is saying what you believe in. Out loud. To the people who need to hear it. Even if that person is you. It's having honest communication with your self, your teams, your communities. Bravery is saying no when you know you need to. It's saying no to the wrong things so that you can say...
// Decision Making
Case Study: Making Restaurant Decisions Easier
I was sitting at a restaurant not too long ago, reading through another incredibly long list of options, both overwhelmed and exasperated by the choices in front of me. I just want something good to eat! I thought. I don't want to read everything and choose. My analytically-focused brain, however, often prompts me to...
Are You Over Thinking?
Sometimes the answer is just doing it. Not thinking about doing it. Not writing about doing it. Not talking about doing it. And not waiting on it, or giving it more time. Anticipation can be deadly.
Just One
What would just one of something look like? Not a diversity of items, but a simplicity of things. A specificity, a selection, and a deliberate choice between several? Not three workout programs, but just one workout program. Not seven yoga mats or towels, but just one. Not eight new dresses or blouses, but just one. Your...
Boldness is Genius. Do it. Decide.
"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too." "All...
Finish or Punt
Ever have too many projects and don't know what to do? Friday was a bit of a panic. I've got 8 projects overwhelming me right now. I honestly thought I'd drop all 8 balls and let them come smashing to the floor in a bit of Awesome Failure Glory. Panicked. You know, the "I'm going to be an exceptional failure and never do...
Commitment
Goethe, on The Power of Commitment: "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative ( and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then...
// How People Work
Six questions for better conversations
The default American question “What do you do?” doesn’t suffice. Here are six of my favorite questions to ask people instead, and why they work. Asking people better questions is a great way into a more interesting conversation.
How you move through the day
There are many ways to go about a day. It’s not always as important what gets done as it is *how* I am showing up, and *who I’m being* in the process of all the doing and non-doing that I’m engaged in. In my mastermind circles, we call this “ways of being.” We work through three major phases and processes in our work together, which I describe in this post.
July Book List
July was a busy reading month. I was focused on recording and prepping interviews for my upcoming maternity leave, and with all the extra interviews scheduled, I had quite a list of books I needed to read to prepare! Here’s the complete list of books I read over the last month: one of them, Overwhelmed, is one of the best books I’ve read so far all year.
What will teach you more?
Instead of trying to make the best possible decision based on an estimated guess of an outcome, it’s important to remember that we can’t control the outcomes. (If we could, then planning, marketing, and making would be far more boring and predictable.) Instead, I like to ask this question in order to make decisions in the face of uncertainty and unpredictability.
Join me! Live podcast show in New York City — Thursday, August 9th
Friends! I’m joining the host, best-selling author, and founder of Unmistakeable Media for an intimate evening podcast recording of the Unmistakeable Creative Show. We’ll be taping live in New York City on Thursday, August 9th, after work. Join us. Tickets are sold in advance and are first-come, first-served, with an intimate venue and a limited audience size. Yes, I’ll be staying up late and waddling my big pregnant belly to a stage downtown to talk about startups, parenting, philosophy, and systems. Srini Rao is the bestselling author of Unmistakable: Why Only Is Better Than Best, and will be leading the discussion.
How My Kid Teaches Me About Leadership
The learning curve of building a new human from scratch and re-wiring yourself as a parent and a functioning adult comes with plenty of challenges. Yet it also feels strangely familiar: like the long days of marathon training, or like the late nights studying to get your MBA on the side of your full-time gig. Here’s how parenting rewires us as leaders.
// Conscious Community
The Man at the Grocery Store
The man in the grocery store is in love with me. I can tell by the way that his eyes watch me, and the way he smiles at me from behind the counter. I pull my basket up around the edge of the aisle, glancing briefly at the pop tart magazines. Mmm… chocolate. I grab one. Impulse buys. The elderly couple in front of me tinkers...
Who We Are: A Profile of Readership of This Blog. (And Four Book Winners!)
You and me, we're the magic of the internet. Last week I sent out a survey to readers to get a better sense of this community that we're growing here. We had nearly 200 responses to the survey, and the results are in -- Here's what we look like: GENDER: Readers are about two thirds female and one-third male: (69% of responders...
Who are you? (+ survey + free book giveaway!)
The community is growing here! The community here is growing quite a bit, and it's exciting to meet many of the new faces becoming part of this tribe of readers. Long-time readers that have been here since the onset might see more and more faces pepper the comments; in addition, I get to work with many of you one-on-one...
How Do You Find Your Right People? Hint: It’s All About Energy
Ever been at a party and felt like you were completely exhausted? That you couldn’t stand to keep your eyes open for another minute, even though it was supposed to be an amazing party? Likewise, have you ever stayed up almost all night, focused and driven, surrounded by brilliant people and creative ideas? Energy comes in limited quantities. Who you surround yourself with–and what type of energy they feed you–is crucial to doing your best work.
From Love or Hurt?
An overwhelming number of human reactions come from a place of love or pain. When someone offers you criticism, look at what they say (no need to internalize it immediately; instead observe it and ask yourself if the critic-giver is an important person or voice in your life, and how valuable it is); then: ask yourself if...
RECESS: A FREE AUDIO COURSE
Five minute guided resets for sanity and clarity. Listen to the free samples below or sign up for the full course—also available for free—at sarahkpeck.com/recess
GUIDED STORIES, BREATHWORK & VISUALIZATIONS