Have you ever mapped out your business and life choices?

I’m currently in a 6 week inspiring and thought-provoking class taught by my good friend Kim DeYoung.

The class is called “Choice Confident.”

She teaches you how to use questions to map out all the important choices in your life, which she calls “Choice Mapping.” This is based on her book – The Book Of Choice: Mapping the Life You Want by Understanding the Life You Have.

The class and her book are fascinating tools. She puts your choices into three categories: Proactive, Professional, and Personal Choices.

Last night, we talked about professional choices – specifically work relationship choices. (You can also map out past, present, and future choices too.)

All the questions start off with “I choose to…” (She gives you several examples to choose from or make up your own.) Then, you pick the choice that resonates with the decision you need to make. Let’s say the choice is about your business, and you decide—“I choose to work with people whose values are aligned with mine.

”Next, You ask these core 6 questions and write out all that comes up in each question. This will help you see what this choice will look like: (You can also use a mind mapping tool if that’s helpful.)

1. Why does this choice matter to you?
2. What fears could get in your way of stepping into this choice?
3. How do you want to show up as you make your decision?
4. What may become possible because you make this choice?
5. What limiting beliefs could hold you back?
6. What actions will you take to bring your choice to life?

Then, if you want to go deeper, you can ask and write out these answers:
What does making this choice say about you?
What’s the cost of not making this choice?
What’s it worth to you to make this choice?
What’s holding you back from making this choice?
What will it take to rewrite your limiting beliefs as a new and supportive belief?

This is a very powerful tool. You may end up writing a whole lot with each question, and that’s a good thing. This exercise will help you be more self-aware of your choices. As well as guide you to be more mindful and look at your perspective about your choice—Is it objective, or are you biased? How can you look at this choice differently?

One of my favorite exercises was when I looked back at all the people in my life, specifically the ones who helped me grow and make some tough choices. Then, I did a personal map of choice that one past decision: I chose to work with Debbie Phillips as my coach for 10 years.

Then, running through the core 6 questions,my mind was blown by all she’d done working with me to help me achieve my goals and accomplish things early in my career and my relationships that I could have only dreamed of.

Then you add all the people she and her husband (Rob Berkley), who was also my coach and mentor, introduced me to – wow. That was a very inspiring exercise, and I feel so incredibly grateful to them on so many levels. Definitely an exercise worth doing.

I’d highly recommend Kim and her book – The Book of Choice. And if you’re interested in discovering more, drop me a line. Happy to share and guide you however I can.Happy November! Holy moly, we’re approaching the end of the year. If you still have some goals you want to accomplish and need some guidance, I’m here for you – we got this!

How was your Halloween? Ours, of course, was Spooktacular! 😉 My favorite day of the year to walk around the neighborhood is the day AFTER Halloween.

The reason is that we have so many tricker treaters. There are always interesting things to find on my walk the next day. Last year, I found a $100 bill!

This year was a bit more eclectic… I found 2 pennies. (I’m ready to give you my 2 cents! Ha – I couldn’t help myself!) Then I found some discarded mini lights, a Twizzler still in a wrapper, and other candy. Then I also found a feather, a heart, and some poor costume that kept losing its styrofoam filler. Check out the picture below of my stash.

Paragraph I’m Pondering:
“We look with amazement at the people in the circus performing their remarkable feats. These people believe that they can perform these acts and see themselves doing them. You cannot accomplish anything you cannot see yourself accomplishing.

These difficult feats are all a matter of poise and balance. Your success and happiness depend upon your poise and balance… Doubt and fear cause you to lose your balance and fall off into lack and limitation. Like the circus performer – it takes practice. No matter how many times you fail, try again. Soon, you will acquire the habit of poise and balance. Then the world is yours.”
~ The Power of The Spoken Word by Florence Scovel Shinn

Powerful Mantra to Inspire:
“I let go of everything and know a perfect plan for my life now comes to pass.” ~ Florence Scovel Shinn“
The Divine Design of my life now comes to pass. I now feel the place that I can fill and no one else can fill. I now do the things which I can do and no one else can do.” ~ Florence Scovel Shinn

Weekly Photos: Yep, that was us, Alice, Emma, and I handing out candy on Halloween. I feel like I’m officially my parents now! I think Emma had the most fun on her perch, eyeing all the candy, wanting to lick each kid, and accepting many pets and hugs.

Then there’s my picture of all my finds the day after Halloween. It was an eclectic stash from candy to lights to receipts and pennies. Then I definitely scored with an unopened bag of popcorn. You can never go wrong with popcorn – hahahahahaha (she says with a menacing Halloween laugh!)

My last picture is of my favorite mountain—Shasta Bally, in the early morning sunrise. I love how it’s such a beautiful color, almost majestic. I walk by it almost every morning on my walks with Emma.