Worthfull Project

"What happens when we're courageous enough and clear enough to be specific about what we're up to?"

I'm back with a solo episode (a week late) and this one is about something I've been mulling on for months/years, but has really hit home for me lately. It has to do with the worth of our words when we are specific -- especially when it comes to our work, our values, our decisions, our relationships, and more. Something I've noticed that I get much more excited and inspired by someone who is specific about what they are up to in the world than someone who is vaguely broad in how they talk about themselves or their work. I'm trying to get specific when I talk about what I do, believe, care about, etc. It's a work in progress, but I believe it's helping me align my words with my worth.

"Listening can be a way to align your words with your worth."

My dear friend Elise Gubler came on the show to talk about her experiences with worth and words as a PR professional for both a large international church and now as a MBA student in her mid-30s. I love Elise for many reasons, but her insight about why it matters what we say (and don't say) on public stages and in private situations is really great. This is something I think about a lot and I hope you get as much value out of the conversation as I did.

• Follow Elise

"The best stories are the ones with turns and twists that you're not expecting."

My dear friend Kristen Metzger, who you just heard from 2 episodes ago, was back in town, and while we were catching up, I asked if she wanted to turn the mics back on so that we could "process out loud" what we've been learning about pursuing our purpose when we don't know what that purpose is. She obliged, and we have another episode for you. Does this mean that Kristen becomes my co-host for all of Season 6? I hope so. I love Kristen and I loved talking about the connection between our words and worth and purpose with her.

• Kristen's first WP episode from this season
• Follow Kristen

"It's what we take into ourselves that we then communicate to others in some form or other. Maybe that's what we see in the faces of the holy ones. What glows so brightly in them is the serenity and kindness they have nourished within themselves all their lives." - Sister Joan Chittister

I read this quote on one of my favorite blogs this month and saved it immediately so that I could record a podcast episode about it. I think this is such a beautiful way to describe aligning our words with our work. What if we all could be holy ones, if we nourish ourselves with serenity and kindness -- so that THAT is what we communicate with others?

• Sister Joan Chittister's Monastic Way blog

"Can you feel like a contributor when you're just in a receiving space?"

I asked my good friend Kristen Metzger if she would come back for a second appearance on the podcast to start exploring what it means to have our words match our self-worth. The twist here is that Kristen is trying to be on vocal rest to heal some vocal damage -- and she's a professional actress, singer, and salesperson. We had a fascinating conversation about the silent retreat she attended in Portugal, the distractions she discovered that words can be, and when there are no words to communicate our worth. I love Kristen and I loved bringing back guest conversations on the show with her.

Links mentioned:

• Kristen's WP episode from 2019
• Follow Kristen

"Being honest is always interesting." - The Boy, the Mole, The Fox, and The Horse

Welcome to Season 6 of the show! I feel lots of gratitude to my past self for starting it in 2017 and lots of gratitude for my present self for continually finding ways to keep it enjoyable, creative, and nourishing. I still love podcasting, what can I say? This season I feel pulled to explore what it means to align our words with our worth. What I mean by that is how to share what we know is true with the world while keeping our self-worth, boundaries, and relationships alive and well. I'm also excited to share that I'm bringing back guest episodes this season! I've taken a 2 year hiatus from them and am ready to share conversations around this topic with longtime friends and peers who I respect and know have wisdom on this. Subscribe to the show on your favorite listening app -- we'll be dropping episodes at least bi-weekly (or maybe weekly if I decide haha).

• Seth Godin blog post
• The Boy, the Mole, The Fox, and The Horse

"When I'm clear about my worth and where I'm focusing it, it is much easier to make big decisions about my work."

It's the final episode of season 5 of the show! It always seems to surprise me, but especially this year, I just realized that it's the end of the year and the end of the season. I've really loved exploring the theme of worthfull work this year as I've been expanding my own work and business and growing far beyond my comfort zone. I summarized my 3 biggest takeaways from this year when it comes to owning my worth at work in this episode. I invite you to do the same -- I'm proud of us. Let's keep going because the world needs our worthfull contributions through our work.

"You don't just get acknowledged every day for what you're developing, what you're learning, how you're evolving."

I hosted a little gathering at my studio a couple of weeks ago for some of my friends and peers who work in media production. It was such a dreamy, cozy, intimate day sharing perspective, wisdom, ideas, and validation that we have in-demand skills but we don't want to use them to make just anything. I have been digesting what I learned since then, but I wanted to share one of the takeaways for me that related to worthfull work. I learned that sometimes the easiest way to see the worth of our work is to listen to a peer and let them be a mirror of the worth of what we do.

"It is inevitable that we will be impacting people so much more than we will ever realize over the long haul."

I have been thinking about impact over the long haul lately. Partly because it's coming to the end of the year and I'm thinking about what I contributed and made this year, and partly because I always feel the responsibility to make a good impact through my work in media production. I read two quotes recently that put me in a good perspective on this -- because there's actually no way to fully understand the impact our work has. It's a long game, so let's play it full of worth.

• Alex Steele newsletter
• Amila Dulic quote
• Sister Joan Chittister

"I've learned a different way to value my work, my contribution, and to communicate that to the people I work with."

I just spent a week at a couple of lovely client events in California and I'm reflecting on how different my way of working has evolved from my early days of media production and event programming. I have worked a lot of events in the last 8 years, and most of them were completely exhausting. After I left LA, I thought my days of working events were done because I was so burned out from them. But after the pandemic, and after my own work worth and boundaries had evolved, I realized that I could set different parameters for how I could work. That's what I did, and it has completely changed my experience working events. I wanted to share how I've evolved my relationship to this kind of work from being pure exhaustion to what I call "easy magic."