It's that time of year! When the school bell rings, kids are back, and we get back into routines and schedules! The beginning of a school year is a great time to reassess and can be a new beginning for many of us! In this episode,  we talk about how to set ourselves up to get what we want during this new school year. How do we want this year to look? Is there something we want to have, do, or become?  We will discuss 5 steps to do this.

1. Begin with the end in mind.
2. Create your day.
3. Fuel your vehicle.
4. Add in stops.
5. Create your JOURNEY!

This is a good one to get back into the swing of things! Listen In!

In this week's podcast, we talk about 3 more "lessons" or "reminders" I had while in Italy. Michaelangelo, the great artist and sculptor had a fascinating life and after reading and learning about his story, it is very apparent he was guided, led, and put exactly in the right places to allow him to develop and share his talents.  His dots are all connected.  Ours are the same, we just don't see the whole story now, but they do connect!

We also learned that the most memorable experiences were off the beaten path! Not part of the "tour" but when we ventured off on our own. It can be hard to venture off of our own path, but it's worth it sometimes!

And, my most favorite part, the people.  The Italians, the tour guides, waitresses, traveling companions, all of them.  I loved learning about their lives and their story! And, I missed my own people! Love your people! It really is the best way to live!

Listen in for more!

My husband and I had the opportunity to travel to Rome and Florence and it was amazing! But a lot of planning and prep goes into traveling! For today's podcast we will talk about lessons I learned while planning this trip but also while on the trip! We will discuss our brain's desire to have the entire puzzle put together and know all the answers in the beginning, but remind ourselves we don't have to do that! Just take one piece at a time! Other lessons we will discuss are  to plan for the best AND the worst, ask for suggestions and help, and be patient!  Listen in to hear more!

As an independent insurance agent, my husband Jarred and his business have the opportunity to work for many insurance companies.  Some companies do incentives for the agencies that they are partnered with.  Well, one of the companies does trips for an agent and a guest and it just so happened Jarred drew on the trip this year and we went to Italy!

We had the opportunity to go to Rome and to Florence for 10 days! 

 It was AWESOME! So much history, so many beautiful places and buildings, churches and museums, countryside, and just an amazing experience to get to go and be able to see that part of the world!

 As we were driving home from the airport on the last leg of our 30 hours of travel, we were reminiscing about the whole thing.  Our favorite parts, what we’d have done differently, what we’d do if we do it again, and what we learned!

This trip was with a group of insurance agents from all over the country and their spouses, child, or a guest they chose to bring along. As we all started to arrive at the airport at the beginning of the trip we began to spot other travelers coming with our same group. When we arrived in Italy and began our tours, had meals together, and other activities, we noticed there was a trend in the conversation.

Well, almost all of our conversations began with these top 5 questions.

1. What’s your name and your companion's name?
2. Which one of you is the agent? And what does the other do
3. Where are you from
4. Do you have kids
5. Who has the kids?

It was a great reminder to all of us that we are all in the same boat, the human family trying to support and provide for our people at home. But yet we are all so different and have stories and experiences to share with one another.

Today we will talk about expanding our circles to get to know others' stories. Opening our arms just a little to the many amazing people that have so much to offer and learn from them. We will talk about how and why and so much more! Listen in!

Many times we will find ourselves in an environment with new people or people we are not familiar with. It is human nature to want to stick with our tribes, to be with the people who we know and feel comfortable with, so we will try to avoid the discomfort of meeting someone new and putting ourselves out there by getting on our phones! We will start to internalize how awkward the situation is, pick ourselves apart, and get all anxious! The solution to this is to ask questions! This will help us shift our focus from ourselves to the others in the room.  Pick just ONE thing to ask and you'll be surprised at what that one question will lead to! If we listen intently then their responses will guide us to another question and ping pong back and forth! Try it! You never know! You could learn something new or meet some really great people!

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Do you remember as kids playing Truth or Dare?! Or daring eachother to do silly or crazy things? Sometimes I will dare my own kids to do things.  A dare creates a little bit of competition and fun and games.  It pushes us outside of our comfort zones and causes us to try to do new or hard things.  Sometimes, we need to dare ourselves! We don't always have someone giving us that challenge, so we can create that for ourselves! The reason for this....to increase confidence. When we dare ourselves and push ourselves, we take action. Those actions show that we are capable of doing hard things and our confidence in ourselves increases. We show ourselves we can trust ourselves and we are capable of more than we know! Listen to today's podcast about a dare of the day! I dare you!

There are many people in our lives we will defend to the death. Family members, friends, teammates, co-workers.  There may also be people in our lives that we feel have our backs, but do you have your own back? Sometimes we can be really good at showing up for others and supporting them, but we let ourselves be on the backburner. We don't keep commitments to ourselves and we don't give ourselves any support when we screw up. In this episode, we will talk about ways to have our own backs! We will discuss making commitments and forgiving ourselves.  Listen in!

Have you ever thought about confidence AND humility, together?  Do you think they can coexist? This is something that’s been on my mind and I’ve been doing some thinking about. 

Jarred and I have a motto, “Teach the kids confidence, the world will teach them humility.”

We have always tried to build, build, build because we live in a world that will tear down pretty quickly.

Confidence is the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust.

What is the real meaning of humility? It is the freedom from pride or arrogance! 

Interesting right? It said nothing about freedom from confidence, freedom from arrogance. From a comparison and putting others down!

Listen in to this podcast to learn more about humility and confidence and how to have both!

First, awareness is always the first step! So you are on the right track!

Second, recognize you are a work in progress and so is everyone else!

And third,  be a friend to yourself and to others!

As we are confident and humble, we can contribute to this world and lift those in need!

Confidence and Self-Worth

Humility and Confidence

It was an early morning, or middle of the night at 1:00 a.m. and I heard Otis our dog barking right by my window.  Otis’ bark was loud and persistent.  We live in the country so I was pretty sure there was a critter or even possibly someone in the yard so I got up.  I was sure he was going to wake the whole neighborhood!  I walked to the back door and, turned on the back patio lights, then walked to the front door. I got to the front to do the same, turn on the lights, and saw this weird orange glow.  What in the world! I opened the front door to see one of our two RVs on fire,  a bright orange flame coming out of the top and the fire alarm and carbon monoxide alarms going off! 

This experience was one of those crazy, rare, but lifechanging experiences full of lessons and opportunities to learn from!

Listen in to today's podcast to hear more about the night the sky turned orange, what happened, what we learned, and what we can all take away from this experience!

Most of the time we are told to not get angry and fight, but is it always a bad thing!? Listen in to this podcast as we discuss times when it might not always be bad! Anger is an energizing emotion, and for me, I find myself getting to work and being extremely productive when I get mad.  I get determined, put my nose down, and fight through the challenge ahead.  Fighting doesn't mean we have to get mean and nasty, it can work for us sometimes to protect, defend, and stand for truth! Listen in to hear more!