My 4 KEY Takeaways from Kate Northrup's Mastermind

I’m still pinching myself over the life-changing experience that was Kate Northrup’s Origin mastermind this week. I had the privilege to be included in an intimate group of women, all committed to pushing each other to continue to step into our greatness in business and in life.

I would be remiss if I didn’t take time to share my 4 biggest takeaways from this transformative event with my OG lady tribe here on the blog. Enjoy!

1. Intentionally creating space for yourself

I talk about this with the Illuminated Squad quite often, actually. But you know the whole “practice what you preach” thing? This is one where I definitely need to put my money where my mouth is. And the last few days threw a huge spotlight on it. For the first time in a long time, I had space to actually THINK. About my business, about my life, about wherever my mind wandered to. And I came to some conclusions about my biz that I honestly wouldn’t have if I didn’t have this intentional space and time. 

When you are creating your schedule for the week, how are you building in space to think? Even 30-45 minutes a week blocked off for this sole purpose can have a beautiful ripple effect on your day-to-day purpose and workflow. Trouble coming up with questions to ask yourself? Ask around! Your girlfriends, colleagues, mentors...they can all help spark inspiration and deeper thinking.

2. Fight the urge to constantly pivot

PIVOT! j/k...don’t, actually.

That’s the million dollar advice from digital marketing guru, Amy Porterfield, who made a cameo appearance at our mastermind. Want some mind-blowing stats? Amy’s company grew a whopping 220% between 2018 and 2019. Her secret? Focusing on her strengths, choosing to do the same thing and not changing constantly. BOOM. I mean...how guilty are we all of pulling the escape/pivot lever every time we don’t see our expected results? It is so easy to assume that we are failing, when that isn’t the case at all. 

So what’s the trick to staying the path and resisting the urge to detour? Returning to your strengths. Ask yourself...what have you abandoned? How are you pouring more gas on the fire of what you are already GOOD at?! Every time Amy Porterfield launches her staple marketing program, she’s not changing anything integral. A few copy blocks here and there, maybe a swap of bonuses...but the meat and potatoes remain the same.

3. If new ideas make you uncomfortable, dig deeper

How many times have you listened to a podcast / read a book / heard a speaker introduce a new idea or method and you immediately felt uncomfortable with it. And by uncomfortable, I mean you literally felt your body have a visceral reaction to it. A gut feeling. An immediate cringe. They’re all trying to tell you something and your body is begging you to listen.

I’ll share with you my most recent experience with this because it caused a pretty profound shift in my thinking. Prior to the mastermind, Kate had asked us all to define “being held” and what that meant to us. The immediate image that came to my mind was a mixture of being trapped, suffocation, and a wild mustang being harnessed (deep, huh?) 

The truth is, there are still pieces of me that really struggle with support. I don’t like to talk about my own troubles or to reach out to people to help me. I am the poster child of the expression “I got it.” And I was really challenged to look this week at why that is. My Type A, get-shit-done persona was more of a defense mechanism than I realized, and a way to quiet those softer parts of myself so I could rise in a male-dominated profession. Woah.

4. You can’t heal others until you heal yourself

Meditation, yoga, journaling...they all carry that “luxury of time” undertone with them which makes the concept really easy to brush off. But are you really making the most of your 24-hours a day if you are constantly carrying the weight of things that do not serve you?  Energetic space is nothing to be ignored. Trauma cannot be healed by thinking your way out of it. Allow your body to feel it, deal with it, and heal it. 

Honestly, when it comes down to it, it all begins and ends with creating the space to just LIVE. The time won’t show up. You need to create that time intentionally. 

I can’t imagine this chapter of my life going as well as it has without consciously investing in support. I love the feeling of being surrounded by feminine brilliance that outshines my own in certain areas but nurtures my ability to own my amazing shine in others. Here’s to linking arms and letting our light illuminate the way.