Relatable Matters. 

I've been saying this for so long... yet I struggled for most of 2022 to put it into words. 

My obsession with relationships and human interaction (since 2014 significantly) has helped me TRULY help many people in the last 8 years as a coach, mentor, friend, speaker, expert, and confidante.

For years I've coached people in relationships on how to navigate challenging dynamics.

I've coached singles looking for love.

I've coached couples seeking understanding and common ground in times they seemed to lose it.

As I ended 2021, I felt the tides turning in my business, though I couldn't figure out WHAT was next.

At first I thought it was because I entered my first serious relationship in 6 years.

Don't get me wrong - THAT entirely changed my life in the best way - but even as we approached the 1-year mark, I realized that was not what had me feeling the way I did.

It was deeper. It only had to do with ME - not the circumstances of the outside world.

Where did my CERTAINTY go? 

Why was it SO HARD for me to stay VISIBLE in 2022 with my message and offers?

Here's what I broke it down to:

I accomplished SO MUCH in 2019 - 2021, yet I didn't realize just HOW much growth I'd been through.

- I left my 9 to 5 desk job

- I went full time in my coaching practice

- I moved back to MI from FL after 14 years

- I reconnected my relationships with my mom and brother 

- I founded a local women's social club to make new friends (which, as a single person in my 40s, was admittedly terrifying)

- I went back to Jesus and began reading the Bible for the first time in my life

Even just writing all that now, I'm EXHAUSTED!

Enter 2022.

While I WAS these things...

- committed

- vision-driven

- goal-oriented

- faithful to all of the above and to God's purpose for me...

... I was NONE of these things:

- grounded / centered

- focused

- rested

- vibrant

- passionate

So many great things had happened yet where did *I* go???

Why couldn't I hunker down and get stuff done the way I used to?

Why couldn't I set a goal, focus and accomplish it in the time window I once used to?

Why did it feel like I was always running on empty, despite putting  HOURS each day into my physical health, yoga, food prep, meditation, etc.?

Answer:

I'd lost a big chunk of the emotional connection to MYSELF.

I was caught up in the DOING, the TASKING.

I'd allowed my mind to become a generator and a graveyard of brilliant ideas day in and day out.

I'd stopped asking myself, "What do I NEED?" because I'd already received most of what I WANTED.

I stopped relating to myself. 

I stopped fostering my emotional connection to myself.

I had DONE so much... but I gave myself ZERO time to RECALIBRATE.

I SHOULD have been asking myself...

"Do you know who you are TODAY?"

"Do you know what you NEED in this moment?"

"You're out-of-sorts / out-of-balance. HOW do you plan to bring YOURSELF back to groundedness again?"

WHEN YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.

When we stop asking ourselves those questions, it's very easy to get lost overnight and feel aimless and overwhelmed.

So here I am today: 

January, 2023.

My new platform - Relatable Matters - aims to help you...

- grow your emotional connection to yourself

- recalibrate who you are in various seasons of your life, ESPECIALLY in times of big life changes 

- deepen your relationships with those you care about

- understand the people in your life, even when you don't relate to them

If you want to relate to others... start with yourself.

You don't know what you don't know.

Thanks for being here. Share with me your thoughts.  I'd love to hear it!

-----

Relatable Matters: The Blog is committed to delivering tips, tools, and strategies to help you genuinely (and realistically) understand and relate to those in your organization and your home without sacrificing your well-being or hiding your authentic self.  For more on emotional connection and intelligence in your home and work lives, listen to the "Relatable Matters" podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and most streaming applications.