Decision Ease

How much do *dinner decisions* stress you out? 😱

We know they're not that hard...and YET, they can cause so much chaos!

They certainly did for me until I decided this was officially a problem worth SOLVING.

The same thing was evident with my clients too. As soon as we started scanning for Decision Fatigue, the conversation always ended up at dinner!

So today, I'm walking you through the process of ELIMINATING Dinner Decision Fatigue.

Grab your FREE *Easy Dinner Decision Template* so you can see exactly how to easify your decisions about what's for dinner at kirstenparker.com/47.

Is this the most stressful, hardest problem happening in your life right now? Probably not.

But will solving it free up energy, time and mental space — which you can then use to better deal with those bigger problems? ABSOLUTELY.

And if you happen to be in one of those lovely Drama-Light Life Chapters then double YAY, because you just get more bandwidth to ENJOY your everyday!

👉Get your FREE PLANNER TEMPLATE👈

 It includes 3 different options, to account for different brains liking different systems. 

Enjoy!

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Jackie de Crinis is an expert in stress management, overthinking and JOY. (Already hooked? ME TOO.)

And she knows what she's talking about.

With a background of 30+ years as a Hollywood Producer, working for the biggest name companies on high profile shows, she has ample experience with STRESS.

"There's this concept of 24 hours in a day, and you're like 'Well I have to sleep a FEW hours, so I've gotta figure that out 'cause I need to function. And then everything else was about multitasking, and trying to get ahead of the next tsunami of problems...

...I was always doing three things at once. It was just this juggle-fest. It felt like: I'd go to sleep with my heart racing, and I woke up with my heart racing." 

After she finally retired from television, and before she decided on her next career move, she prioritized getting her adrenaline down and recovering from that decades-long way of living.

In this episode, she breaks down the 4-step Checklist she gives clients when they're working on Stress Management at the foundation — aka their HOMEwork.

"What's amazing is - when you start doing that, you raise your self-concept, and then we start showing up differently in other ways. All of sudden, it's like I  exercised today, I ate well today, I meditated today, I drank water today, I got a good night's rest...Oo, I feel like dressing up today - I feel more powerful - I feel more confident to enter that meeting. 

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What do you do if you find yourself Decision Fatigued?

Answering this can bring up all kinds of overwhelming options like "get rid of half your wardrobe" or "hire a million people to delegate stuff to."

While sometimes solutions like that are helpful, more often than not, what you really need is to approach your decision-making differently.

In this episode, you're getting Shortcut Menu of Options to keep in your back pocket, for whenever you need!

PS: The Decision Fatigue & What to Do About It workshop is available on demand - get it now!

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What even IS Decision Fatigue?

We care because understanding it = how we solve it better & faster. 😉

I used to hear about the concept of Decision Fatigue and think sure, that makes sense in theory...but then I'd generally assume one of two things:

a) It didn't apply to me. - After all, I'm not over here makin' life-or-death decisions all day long. I'm overthinking "dinner" so...how fatigued could I really be?

b) There's nothing to be done about it. - Apart from wear the same outfit every day like all the famous successful people who "cut down their decision load" in this extreme-sounding way...what can you really do about the fact that your brain gets tired?

As a Decision Coach now, however, I'm committed to making sure we all understand what the heck is REALLY happening with the phenomenon of Decision Fatigue — and how to SOLVE it! 

This week, we're diving into the science of Decision Fatigue:

When you're more knowledgeable about what's happening to you, you're more primed to solve it. 

AND I want you to be less hard on yourself in the process.

I've worked with a lot of people who want to diminish their challenges because "I shouldn't get so overwhelmed by decisions about dinner" — but this episode proves that it makes sense, and it's a valid problem to need to solve!

ENJOY 🙌

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HOKAY, you've got a potentially challenging conversation or situation coming up. 

How do you prepare for it?

Normal Tuesday? There's a good chance you dread it up until the second it happens, mince your words & fumble through it, have an awkward-at-best experience, and then move on not *completely* in love with what just happened.

I propose this instead: Conscious Conversation Prep (it works for "situations" too).

(Head's up, List Makers, you're gonna love this one!)

But this tool will work for ANYONE to get you more mentally clear & energetically set for what you're walking into. 

Which increases your chances of getting what you want by at least 500. (Educated guess.)

This episode covers a concept I teach in-depth inside the Decision Masters Program, but just hearing the outline here will make this upcoming challenge SO much easier for you. Pinky promise.

Because it addresses the main problems that get in the way of feeling, thinking & acting the way you want to during that conversation / situation:

Solving these problems is quite EASY, you just need a clear process to run your mind through so you don't end up getting overwhelmed, confused & distracted (and end up self-sabotaging...or just having a terrible time!)

Clients have used this tool to prep for:

While those you may not be looking forward to this conversation / situation — a) they actually CAN be easy & enjoyable more often than you expect (this takes practice!), and b) this tool will make you feel more prepared, confident & intentional either way. 

Enjoy!

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Obbbbbbviously most of us are putting more on our daily plates than we can logistically, energetically or just like, humanly handle — can we agree on that? 🙋‍♀️

But Kirsten...I legit have 17,000 things to do AND I'm super capable & hate B- work, so I feel like these are still fair expectations.

I know. 

That's the problem. 😑

For a lot of our lives, pushing ourselves to our breaking points, going above and beyond x10 and reeeeeally testing how far we can stretch 4 hours' sleep has resulted in BIG SUCCESS.

Whether that meant high achievement or mere survival of an extreme challenge — we learned the same thing: We can cope with A LOT on our list. 

Until we can't. 

If you want to break this cycle (because you've found, as my clients & I have, it turns out living in the constant push-pull of adrenaline rush-burnout is NOT super fun), it will require a MENTAL switch. Not just a nifty trick to time-block your calendar. 

If you're overloaded right now, and you're committed to building a NEW norm, where you still get to work hard & pursue goals but not at the expense of your well-being or life enjoyment, this is the ONE question I want you to ask. ☝️

It'll take less than 5 minutes, and doing this every day for a week will start to change the way you think about your "list" for LIFE. 

Enjoy!

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Want to love your work more (...or at all)? Ever struggled with the Inner Critic??

This episode's for you, my friend!

Winn Clark, my own former coach and now friend-for-life (she knows, it's not weird...), drops in this week to give you some BIG stuff to think about:

👉 How to create lasting change by changing the narrative you're living in

👉 How to REALLY deal with that "well-defined Inner Critic voice" that's all too familiar for the high-achiever

👉 She normalizes the fact that creating change (particularly in your career) feels so frickin' hard at the beginning

👉 The importance of being in an intentional energy when you decide to think about your Future Vision OR your Inner Critic

💥 Plus the 3 Interviewee Questions:

It tends to be a decision people try to make "from the head up." If you can bring the decision down into your body, into your heart and into your gut...bring your head and your heart AND your gut to the equation. Do you feel like "This is what's next for me, for my own development, for my highest good"? That's the place to make the decision from.

2. What kind of decision-maker do you consider yourself to be right now?

Historically, I'm an Overthinker. I'm wired to be an Overthinker. But when I reflect on the good decisions I've made - last week, last month, last year, over the course of my life - every single one of them has been an intuitive hit in my body. It's a physical body knowing.

3. What's a recent self-honoring decision you want to share with us?

She says "It sounds pathetic, but..." - You know the small things are the big deals, though, so you'll love her giant answer!

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About Winn:

Winn Clark coaches creative entrepreneurs, coaches, and executives in 1:1 and group coaching offerings. Inspired by the transformation she experienced being coached and a lifelong passion for personal development, Winn launched her coaching practice in 2015 to support clients in reaching their fullest potential in their work and lives!

Winn is a Certified Integral Coach. In 2016 she completed the year-long Professional Coaching Course at New Ventures West in San Francisco, where she serves as adjunct faculty as co-lead of The Business of Integral Coaching Program. She’s a member of the International Coaching Federation.

Winn created the All-In With Winn group coaching program for creatives and coaches who want to go next-level in their business. She also developed True Path, a proprietary framework to support people in finding their dream career. Executive coaching engagements come from a variety of industries including entertainment, marketing services, and technology.

Before becoming a coach, Winn spent over 20 years in the corporate world in product management, marketing, and business development at places as diverse as a Fortune 500 company, a financial services start-up, and the world’s largest CRM/direct marketing agency. She earned an MBA from the University of Minnesota.

Winn lives in Paso Robles, California, where she supports clients across the US and the world. You can learn more about her at winnclark.com or follow her on Instagram @winnclark or on LinkedIn.

What even is an "ideal life"? Turns out, this huge-ish question is super worthwhile to ask, and Brazen Coaches Calley & Valerie are here to help us answer! 😁

This interview is for you if you have any kind of job / life dissatisfaction OR you just love the idea of feeling good about the direction you're taking yourself.

We talk about:

Plus the 3 Interviewee Questions!

Book a call! Don't overthink it 😉 and don't force yourself into a blind commitment. Meet with people — see who you vibe with — take advantage of the free consults or sessions most coaches offer.

2. What kind of decision-maker do you consider yourself to be?

Valerie: I'm an independent decision-maker. I don't like to talk to a lot of people — I don't like to get a lot of feedback from people...until I'm kind of in a position where I've made a decision and I might need to consult my husband or make sure he's on board. Other than that, I don't like to have a huge amount of people involved.

Calley: I might need to know all the options for a decision before I make it. And I'm kind of the opposite of Val: I need to talk things out in order to fully process them myself, so I like to bring other people into it. People who I know aren't going to try to sway me in one direction or another. And I'll preface conversations with "I just need you to listen, I don't need you to help me." And a lot of times I come to my own decision in the process of doing that. 

3. What's a recent self-honoring decision you want to share with us?

Holy smokes, they had the SAME answer and it's AMAZING. 🤩

Enjoy!

About Calley & Valerie: 

Calley and Valerie are co-founders of Brazen Coaching, a woman-owned business that helps women create a fulfilling life and profitable business for themselves without burning out. Together, they are on the cutting edge of self-care and business coaching for female entrepreneurs. As experts in business, wellness, self-care for women, and mindset change, Calley and Valerie are primed to shift the paradigm of female entrepreneurship and push the boundaries of what women believe they're capable of.

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Do you think of yourself as a "confident person"?

Or is that a feeling that ebbs and flows, depending on the day or situation?

What if we could stop thinking about confidence like it was this measurable, liquid thing? Like "it's either there or it's not...there's either a lot or a little..." 🤔

The truth is, the way I used to think about Confidence was completely all-or-nothing. And somehow, despite all this stuff I grew genuinely confident in, my focus tended to fall on where I was LACKING.

And the more air-time I gave all that stuff I wasn't fearless, adept or comfortable with yet...the more I came to see myself as an Impostor-y Unconfident Person Full of Doubt. Which was neither fun nor the entire truth! 

But when you have this push-pull all-nothing relationship with Confidence, it's way too easy to inflate any doubt you do feel - and it snowballs from there.

Today I offer you:

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If you're getting to the end of each day and - no matter what has or hasn't "gotten done" or "gone well" - you feel disappointed in yourself...this episode is for you!

This is one of the most disheartening and exhausting funks to be in (ask me how I know) and I want to give you a reliable way OUT of it. 

Listen to find out: 

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