How to Navigate Challenging Times

During my two-and-a half years of being homeless, I promised myself that when it was over and life was easier, I would help people navigate their own challenging times. 

Today I want to share some of my best tools for navigating a challenging time!💜

First, if you want to hear more about my homeless story and the huge lesson I learned, you can watch the video HERE.  

Second, the more stressful life is, the more important it is to bring your focus to really small things that ARE working in your life. 

Why small things? Because when we can find the wins and feel gratitude in the small things, we pave the way for more possibilities in the big things. For example: 

• Listen to a bird sing. Be present. This works for all things in nature. Maybe birds don’t wow you like they do me, pick a flower or tree. Allow yourself to feel the relief or joy or whatever emotion comes up for you. Nature is a beautiful self-soothing tool. 

• Be grateful for things we usually take for granted, like clean water and hot water with the turn of the tap, your books, or a favorite spot in your home. Anything that is small, that you typically over-look, but now you’re being intentional! No matter what your challenge is, there are hundreds of things you can be grateful for. 

• Upgrade some small life-style items like your bath soap, or dish soap. The pen you write with the coffee you drink. Being intentional about the details of your life has a powerful effect on your mindset and experience. I’m a coffee snob. Even when I was homeless and broke, somehow I managed to always have my favorite coffee on hand. I could start my day EXACTLY how I love to… with a delicious cup of Philz Coffee!! The more small pleasures you can focus on, the better you’ll feel, even if something huge is challenging you! 

If you’re going through a challenging time, please know that you're not alone! There’s so much more I can say on this topic. I’ve even thought about creating a program devoted to navigating challenging times. If that interests you, DM me on IG (@brendafloridacoach) or email me by hitting reply to this email. I always love hearing from you!!

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The last few years have stretched most of us in ways we couldn’t imagine. 

Along the way, most of us picked up a fair amount of anxiety. Even if, like me, you aren’t prone to it, anxiety seems to have set up camp in our yards! 

So many people I talk to and coach feel like there’s no escape. As if anxiety is something we have to learn to live with. 

Now, I don’t like being a victim to anything or anybody and I don’t want my anxiety to have power over me. 

I may not be able to stop anxiety from knocking on my door, but I know that I have power over how I answer the knock. 

On Thursday, Oct. 21, I’m teaching a FREE Masterclass with three of my best anxiety busting tools. These tools are tried and tested through my worst days. On some of those days the anxiety threatened to paralyze me. These tools allowed me to shift my thoughts and energy, allowing me to move forward with my day. 

It’s such a relief when you experience that shift. I want you to have relief. 

Join me on October 21, 2021 at 4 pm Pacific/7 pm Eastern for my first Third Thursday Masterclass! Yes, I’ll be hosting a FREE class every third Thursday on different topics and this month, it’s busting through anxiety! Register to get the Zoom link and the recording. That way, if you can’t make it live, you can listen later.  Register here.

And bring a friend! Just copy and paste the registration link: https://thirdthursoct21.pages.ontraport.net/

or, forward this email to them. Everyone is welcome, I just need everyone to register so I know who is coming. 💜

Let’s bust through that anxiety and move forward with what is possible instead of what is paralyzing! 

3 Simple Anxiety Busters

Here’s what’s possible: Calm in the midst of difficulty. 

That may not feel true, but it is. I coach clients on how to do it every week. 

On the Third Thursday of October, I'll show you how! 

October 21, that’s next Thursday, at 4 pm Pacific/5 MNT/6 Central/7 Eastern we begin a monthly series I’m cleverly naming “Third Thursdays” so we can all remember when it is! 😁

This month I’m covering anxiety. As always, you’ll get some coaching and teaching along with practical tools to calm your anxiety, no matter what the situation or cause is. 

Nope. That’s NOT too good to be true. Remember, I’ve been divorced, fired, broke, had a failing business, an adult child who lived in profound unhappiness for years, I’m just saying, I’ve been through some shit. 

I can help you “find the calm,” wherever you are. 

Join me on Oct. 21, for Third Thursday! 

I’ll have a registration page in a  couple of days, but so you don’t miss it or get busy and forget, just hit reply and I’ll sign you up. That way you’ll get the recording, as a resource and in case you can’t make it live. 

Can’t wait to see you for the first Third Thursday and show you how my clients and I “find the calm” in the midst of stressful situations. 

The Cure For Anxiety

Would you like the cure for anxiety? That’s not a trick question.

I’ve noticed this pattern with clients and I’ve experienced it myself. 

Anxiety typically arises because we are avoiding something else. 

Let me give you an example. 

I was coaching a client who wanted relief from her anxiety. As I began to inquire about some things in her life, that initially seemed unrelated to the anxiety, I noticed she had some unexpressed anger at her husband. When I asked her about it, her response was, “it was a stupid thing for me to get mad about. He didn’t mean it.” 

How many times have you said that to yourself? “They didn’t mean it. I was stupid to get mad.” 

Then, low and behold, anxiety begins to emerge. Quite possibly over something unrelated. 

Our emotions are energy in motion. They will go somewhere. 

If we don’t acknowledge them, accept them and feel them, they will morph into anxiety. 

My cure for anxiety is to allow yourself to feel your feelings. When they happen. And, when it will serve you, share them. It’s important to express our truth. 

Sure, it’s easier said than done. Most important things are. That’s why people hire me to coach them through it. You don’t have to do it alone. 

I had someone ask the other day how to work with me. It’s easy really. You book a 15-Minute Discovery Call and we chat about what you want to work on. Anxiety. Impostor Syndrome. People Pleasing. Career Issues. Relationship Challenges. Taking a Big Leap. Whatever it is, we’ll find out if I am the right coach for you. There’s no obligation. At the end of the call we’ll decide what the next steps are. Easy peasy. Use this link to book your Discovery Call and we’ll figure it out together. https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=11249251&appointmentType=8395116

Massive Improvement in Record Time!

Seem too good to be true?

Usually anything that’s really massive takes a lot of time.

When it comes to improving your life…

Working with me as your coach, is a super-charged life-hack!!

Think about all the things that most of us have struggle with, probably, for years:

·      Childhood trauma.

·      Family drama and stress.

·      Fears about money.

·      Anxiety about job security.

·      Stress in relationships.

·      Coping with the rollercoaster of being an Entrepreneur.

Can you relate to any of these? If you’re like most of us, you can relate to more than one.

We get so used to them being in our lives, it feels normal. It can feel like who we are.

“I have anxiety issues.”

“My family is dysfunctional”

“I’m always worried I could lose my job or money. It happens all the time to people. I can’t afford to relax or take my eyes off the prize, even if it is exhausting me and making me sick.”

We begin to take on circumstances as if they are who we are.

That’s when we need a life-hack.

You are so much more than your circumstances. No matter how huge and impossible yours may seem.

Enter, best-life-hack-ever… a great life coach!

Why? No, it’s not because I am one.

Here’s why hiring a life coach will save you tons of money and tons of time while you create massive improvement in your life:

·      I am objective, I don’t have any preconceived ideas of you or your life.

·      I have no agenda for you. You can quit your job, leave your business, live off the grid, buy a mansion, take off a year to sail the world, risk everything to start a business, leave your marriage, get into a polyamorous relationship, never go home for the holidays again… respectfully, I don’t care about the “things,” or the circumstances.

·      I have no baggage with you. We’ve never had a disagreement or pissed each other off. I’m not blinded by my love for you, although I have love and compassion for you. I don’t know what you did as a teenager or at any point in your life before our first session. I don’t know your family and what their expectations, imperfections or biases are.

I only know you as you are, right now.

It’s a fresh start.

We’ll create who you want to become.

Will we dive into some of those past circumstances, family patterns and who you think you are. Those things are helpful to the process. Then we’ll fucking liberate you from the things that hold you back!

As your life-hack, life coach, we’ll focus on what you yearn for, the thoughts that stop you in your tracks and how to turn them around so that they become empowering. We’ll tackle the feelings that diminish and limit you and transform them into the feelings that your liberated new-self will feel, then we’ll take action. Action that is inspired, playful and in alignment with your highest good.

It’s fun. It’s fast (especially compared to years in therapy.) It’s life changing.

One of my recent clients described it this way, “I really do feel like a shiny new person Brenda. You have changed my life forever. Thank you!” Jennee

Let’s get your life-hack started. Book a 15-minute Discovery Call and we’ll explore how I can facilitate you getting the sustainable transformation you’re looking for. There’s no obligation or commitment. This is an exploratory call to see if I can help you and if so, how. I’ve got some openings in the next few days, so give yourself some relief. Let’s talk about what you need. Book your call now, right here.

A miracle at the Beach

The picture doesn’t do it justice.

There were a million people on the beach!

Okay, not a million,, but it was a Saturday, tourist season and hot. I’ve never seen so many people at my favorite beach, La Jolla Shores.

Picture this, I had to park unusually far away. I had a cooler with ice, drinks and food, my beach chair and beach bag. I haul it all down the hill and walk about 3/4 mile to the beach.

It’s almost high tide so the million of us there were pushed back towards the boardwalk. We’re practically sitting on top of each other.

This whole scene may sound terrible to you, but despite all of this, I was sooooo happy to be there!

The beach, under any condition, is my favorite place.

I settle in. Then a group of people down the beach a bit leave, so I move down to take their spot and have a little more room between me and my fellow beach enthusiasts.

I get the clever idea that right before it’s dark, knowing that many of these folks will leave, I’ll leave my chair, cooler and bag on the beach, trek up the hill to my car and bring it down to the beach parking lot so I don’t have to haul all my stuff up the hill!

Aren’t I clever?

Until… it’s almost sunset and I go to get my car keys.

My car keys were gone.

I lost my keys on a beach crowded with people with the tide coming in!!

Immediately I realized the foolish thing I did when I moved to my second location, but it’s hours too late. The tide is higher than where I was originally sitting. Hundreds of people have come and gone.

Yes, I panicked a bit.

How the hell was I going to get in my car? My extra key was in the glove compartment, but how was I supposed to get it? Short of breaking out a window (Yes, I’m thinking about the scene when sexy Patrick Swayze broke his car window in Dirty Dancing, but quickly realize my situation is much less sexy!)

After a few tears and verifying that I did NOT renew my AAA Membership last year… I noticed the light was still on in the lifeguard tower. They had pulled in all their equipment earlier, but there was someone still cleaning up.

I asked this young life guard if anyone turned in a set of keys? He wasn’t sure and said he would go look.

BAM! He came back with my keys!! I burst into tears! I’m not sure I’ve ever been so grateful in my entire life!

Oh! Did I forget to mention the only other key on my keyring is the key to the padlock on my storage POD in PA with everything I own, that isn’t in my car, in it??!!

One moment all my possessions were locked up and the keys were gone. The next minute, I had the keys to everything!

It’s a great metaphor for life. We always have the keys to unlock whatever it is we need. Sometimes we forget we have them or we lose them, temporarily. But, they are always there. Waiting for us to claim them.

Then we can unlock everything that this generous world has for us!

Have you lost your metaphoric keys? I’d love to help you find them. I’m good at it!