#lifeworkbalance

3 Tips to KEEP Your High Performers Engaged

It’s the holiday season and end of the year. How is your high performance team doing?

Most CEOs and founders don’t know the real answer, even if they THINK they do. There is no cookie cutter process or formula that works with high performers because they’re driven for different reasons.

This becomes a problem because you don’t know if your high performers are staying or leaving.

The truth for most high performers is that they want to STAY.

They don’t want to be bothered with all that changing jobs requires. They will stay until they feel like they have to go. Often when they leave they’re beyond done with the company.

I am a high performer that has experienced burnout twice in my career. I can recognize an overworked high performer immediately and give them practical tips and tools to help them prevent burnout and stress leave.

3 Tips to Keep Your High Performers Engaged

High performers change jobs when:

1. Their Title and Compensation are not in Alignment with their Results

Compensation is as equally important to a high performer as their title is. If you don’t compensate them AND give them the correct title for the work they do for you, they will eventually take their experience to another company that will.

Overworking is NOT a long term solution for anyone on the team.

I cannot stress this enough – the #1 tip to keep you high performer engaged is to make sure their job title accurately describes the work they do and the compensation equals the work they do.

If you really like the drive of a high performer on your team, tell them. Give them bonuses or extra PTO time. Make sure that your high performers know that they are valuable to your company and that you appreciate them.

I can’t tell you how many high performers leave because of compensation and title alone. Make sure your people are taken care of and that will give them a reason to stay.

2. The Work Environment is Unrealistically Demanding

This is the fastest way to drive your high performer to some sort of medical or stress leave or burnout.

If a high performer complains, LISTEN. If they’re complaining, they’re done.

Just because your high performers CAN get things done on a deadline does not mean to keep them in constant deadlines.

If you need to hire more people, hire more people. If you have a high performer that’s doing the job of 2 or more people, make sure that you compensate them for performing the multiple roles in a company.

The more stressful your work environment, the more likely that your high performance team won’t be as high performing as you’d like.

Stressful environments are ones that encourage long hours and heavy workloads. No worker is meant to function in a stressful environment long term.

This will directly affect your current team members as well as word getting out that you overwork your top talent. It’ll make both hiring and retention difficult.

3. They’re not Fulfilled or Engaged with the Work Anymore

Why do you care if they’re fulfilled or engaged? Their productivity drops and often times, they’re looking for another job.

You don’t want your high performers checked out. If they start doing less, they’re done.

What do you do as the leader?

If a high performer is bored, it’s time for a new title and compensation package that matches their experience and skill level. High performers don’t get bored unless the work is too repetitive or unfulfilling.

Or it could also mean that either they’re not feeling appreciated or they’re tired of feeling stressed out all the time.

High performers are naturally fulfilled and engaged in their work. It’s why they excel and work in ways that other team members can’t.

And just a reminder that you can’t make a high performer. Workers are high performers or they aren’t. So replacing a high performer is costly to every company.

What changes need to be made in your workplace?

What are you seeing and noticing with your high performers?

If you think, oh I have workplace wellness in place and your high performers are NOT taking advantage of it – that’s a problem. WHY aren’t they taking advatage of that, especially when they’re told this is to prevent burnout?

If you need help, schedule a call with me to see how we can increase retention, productivity and have a happy team.

All of these are easy fixes. Make them and they will happily stay.

4 Signs Your High Performers are on a Path to Burnout

What are the signs your high performers aren’t doing “okay” at work anymore?

How close are they to burnout?

The work environment is a big part of how much your high performers will overwork.

Is overworking encouraged with:

Questions and meetings outside of work hours?

Not encouraging them to take true vacations and uninterrupted time off from work? Work travel on weekends?

Giving them more work than they can humanly handle?

Support questions they don’t answer honestly as they continue to overwork to try to make a dent in their workload?

None of these are good and will lead high performers onto a path to burnout. No one wants that.

As a Spiritual Medium and Energy Strategist, I have personally experienced burnout twice in my career. I let myself down, my team and my family.

Burnout, stress leave and constantly being overworked are completely preventable with the right support. I can help.

I’m going to share with you the 4 signs I’ve personally noticed that tells me a High Performer is starting to check out and burnout. Let’s dive in!

4 Signs Your High Performers are on a Path to Burnout:

High performers aren’t known to do these things, so if they are, they are your warning signs.

1. They Start Using their PTO

High performers typically lose PTO from not using it. If they’re starting to use it, while that is good, do a solid check in on them and make sure they’re doing okay. This is your first red flag as an employer.

I had a client that started using her PTO to extend weekends and for job interviews. You want to check in immediately if you see this change.

Most high performers DO NOT want to leave. They will stay if they are compensated accurately for their work, given the correct title for the work they are performing daily and have a proper workload for their role.

2. Getting Sick or Injured Often

I see this one all the time. Often the only way a high performer gets to rest is if they get sick or injured. It was true for me and it’s true for your high performers that don’t have support. While these aren’t things they do intentionally, these are things that take them down.

I had a client this year that had to have a double knee surgery. On top of that, she kept getting sick with everything from Covid to Sinus Infections and then had complications from both surgeries. All of which made her frustrated because she couldn’t work.

She was the definition of overworked. As she started to realize rest was key to her healing with me, she started to find ways to recharge on the weekend instead of working more. Both knees are now healed. But she was given a lot of physician ordered time off in the process. She didn’t even get to have fun. All she did was heal.

Think of work-life balance as an energy balance for your high performers. Their energy is measured like the battery on a cell phone. The less energy they have, the more they’re performing on a deficit. Eventually they’re going to have to STOP and recharge. You don’t want that.

3. Performance Decrease

There is a point where the high performer realizes that doing more isn’t the answer because they keep getting more to do. The list doesn’t end and the pile keeps growing, often more than other team members.

They feel overwhelmed, exhausted and at their breaking point – these are their words by the way. This is when you’ll notice them missing deadlines, performing less and caring less about what they’re getting done. These are all really bad signs if you want to keep this top employee.

When high performers start to drop the ball or decline new assignments, chances are they are in the process of accepting a new position somewhere else. This happens because they’ve already decided to leave your company and they are starting to guide their energy into the excitement of the new position and company.

If you discuss the performance decrease with them and they are not seeking out a new position, be wary that they are on a path to stress leave or burnout – both are bad for everyone on their team.

4. High Performers START Asking for Support

High performers should ask for support often when their workload isn’t manageable. But they don’t. They work longer hours, start doing stuff on the weekend and before you know it, they’re working more hours than many of their team members on their path to burnout.

Asking for help or support is often a high performer’s last ditch effort to stay in the company or in the position. When they start to ask for support when they never have before – this needs to become your top priority to support them.

I know because I’ve been helping them individually for decades and this is one of the things I have them start to do before they start to look for employment elsewhere. If your high performer is asking for support, stop overloading them with more tasks and find help for them on the team immediately if you want to keep this employee.

Work-life balance is the only way forward to creating sustainable success and work-life balance. You want your employees to have both of these things to retain them.

When you tell me sustainable work-life balance isn’t possible, I’m going to help your team find that belief and change it. Burnout and stress leave are completely preventable. Support your high performers with individualized support – I can guarantee you, they need it.

7 Tips to Have MORE Energy to Get Through Your Workday

Do you hit a dip in your energy at work every day at 3:00? You probably even wake up feeling low energy.

As a high performer that has a tendency to overwork, you’re typically spending more energy than you’re replacing each day.

Think about your energy like you do any of your batteries.

At some point, you stop using the device so it can get a full recharge. When do you do that for your body? And the more important question – when do you let yourself FULLY recharge?

I know what it’s like to overwork and run below empty. I’ve reached my breaking point twice in my career overworking as a high performer. I guide my high performing clients to create sustainable work/life balance in their lives.

7 Tips to Have More Energy to Get Through Your Workday

As you go through this list, note what is the most important to you AND what you don’t think is a priority as well.

1. Have a start time for your workday.

Everyday have a set time or a moment where you actually start working. This should not be when you first wake up. Be intentional when you wake up so you create a calm and balanced start to your day that can only make your productivity even better during your work day.

I have a client that woke up and started thinking about work. She was EXHAUSTED. Now she has a set start day each day and this has been a game changer for her in her productivity and energy levels.

2. Take your breaks.

You are not given breaks to work through them. Obviously if you’re on a roll and knocking things out, that’s not the best time to take a break. BUT when you find yourself getting tired, your mind starts wandering, you’re hungry, need to go to the bathroom, etc. use that time to take a break. Breaks allow you to recharge, reassess what you’re working on and create better results. Take them!

Most of my clients don’t take breaks before working with me. I get it! You get things done and more things appear. There are more things to do than time. But you’re a human, your body cannot sit at the computer for too long – plus your productivity goes down. Breaks are good.

Go for a quick walk. Stop and smell the flowers. Go outside for a minute. Whatever you do – take your breaks!

3. Eat your lunch WITHOUT working.

The majority of my clients either skip lunch altogether and find themselves eating junk at 3 o’clock or they work through lunch.

If you take your lunch break and work through it – you have a working lunch which is okay once in awhile but not everyday.

Lunch is a time to fuel your body, recharge, reassess your day and reprioritze tasks when you come back from lunch with a fresh perspective.

4. Have an end time for your workday.

Having an end time for your workday is essential so you STOP working. If you don’t do this, you’ll find yourself working weird hours and when you shouldn’t be. I can’t tell you the last time I had a client start working with me that had a STOP time on their workday.

What you don’t finish today, you can do tomorrow or another day. You are here for more than your work. Plus when you stop working, you give yourself time to play, recharge, relax, etc and that allows you to come back to work the next day more productive.

It doesn’t matter if the end time is the same everyday or set on certain days. Have an end time. This will help you prevent burnout.

5. Do at least one thing everyday that brings you joy.

I know this is hard for my high performers to even bring to mind when asked what brings them joy, but it’s very necessary. What are you working so hard for?

Again, you are here for more than your work. When work is your hyper focus, it’s hard to know what outside of work would bring you joy or happiness but in order to have work-life balance, there must be a life part happening.

Try new things, do things that make you happy. Play. Have something to do other than work outside your work hours. Give yourself something to look forward to – that’ll help you stop working.

6. Get enough sleep at night.

One of the big areas my high performers try to make up on time is by skipping sleep. As you know, the more sleep you get, the better you feel, the better you respond, the more productive you are.

One of my clients would read instead of sleep once the kids and husband were in bed. It was her time to do something for just her. The problem – she wasn’t getting the sleep she needed at night. The book would pull her in and she’d be up way later than she wanted to be and she was exhausted the next day. That affected her patience, her productivity and was an old pattern she was done repeating. Now she has the tools to get to bed at a time that supports her AND normal hours to read and do things just for her.

Sleep is a great way to recharge your body. Don’t skimp on this. Especially since lack of sleep can add to stress, something else you’re trying to reduce.

7. Make self care a priority.

One of my favorite ways to recharge and reset – out in nature.

Self care is HOW you recharge. This is what stops you from feeling overworked, overwhelmed and exhausted.

I find that a lot of high performers don’t know what counts as self-care. I define it as an activity that gives you energy. It has nothing to do with work or taking care of anyone or anything else. It is purely for you to recharge your energy.

Getting your hair or nails done while checking messages or emails is not going to count. Going for a walk without checking on anything work related does count.

Ideally, I’d love for you to implement every tip I just went over immediately. But I am very realistic since I work with very busy high performers. I’d love for you to pick one thing from this list and start doing that tomorrow. Tell me what you’re going to do tomorrow below, I’m holding you accountable.

Now look at what you didn’t think was a priority from the list above and dive deep and ask yourself why that isn’t a priority for you.

Every tip I gave you is very realistic and every high performer I work with is doing every single one of these things and noticing a huge difference in their lives.

Remember, overworking does not give you more energy. It spends your energy, no matter how much you love your work. The more energy you overuse each day, the less energy you start off with the next morning. This continues to compound until you reach your breaking point or until you burnout. Burnout is completely preventable.

How to: Turn Off Work & STOP Thinking About it

Do you find yourself working in the evening? On the weekends? And even on holidays and vacations?

As a high performer, you have to turn work OFF! If you don’t, you will keep finding your thoughts moving back to what you have to do in your non-work hours.

Let me start off by saying, I’ve been there. I found myself overworking in every single one of my jobs. And I’m sure you’ve heard me say this before but I pushed myself to overwork twice in my career because once wasn’t enough. Now I consider myself a successful high performer and I guide other high performers to be this as well. How do we get you to be one too? You have to turn work off and STOP thinking about it.

WHY are You Overworking?

You’re being driven by what I call your Success Wound™. Your Success Wound is your endless inner drive to do more and make more.

Over the last five years, I’ve written articles, I’ve done podcasts and videos to help you start to recognize and begin to heal your Success Wound. Here’s my most recent Success Wound video to help you start to recognize what your endless, inner drive here is. It’s one of three things, you’re proving: I am worthy, I am enough or I am love. Any combination or just one of these is ready to be addressed so you can start healing it and stop overworking.

Instead of Overworking…

1. Have your WHY to STOP working defined.

As a high performer, if you don’t have anything else to do, your default is work. I hear this ALL the time. While you enjoy getting things done and you love your work, you are absolutely here for more than your work.

What to do: Define your WHY. To play, to spend time with loved ones, to take care of your body, to learn a new hobby – your why for life outside of work has to be more important than your why for overworking. Make your why something you want to do, something that seems fun or exciting. Find a new hobby that’s exciting for you – something that you’re not going to want to work through.

2. RECHARGE so you don’t burn out.

You aren’t a machine. Even if you love your work, you’re still spending over 100% of your energy there each day, that means you start the next day out with less than 100% energy. This continues on and on.

So many of my clients come to me exhausted and overwhelmed – putting work and other family committments ahead of their own needs. This is not sustainable and a fast path to burnout.

What to do: Block time on your schedule for you to play and recharge, to enjoy this life you’ve been so busy creating. Activities that recharge you are considered self-care. These are activities that give your body and mind more energy: getting enough sleep, taking a nap, eating lunch, eating foods that support your body, getting a massage or facial, exercising, being out in nature, etc.

3. Make your relationships a priority.

Who nags you and tells you to stop working? They’re telling you this is a problem, listen. So many clients have complained to me about their partners nagging them. Do NOT ignore this or brush it off. They are communicating to you and asking you for a change. Make it!

What to do: Block out time in your schedule to spend with them UNITERRUPTED. Spend time with people that give you energy, that do fun things with you and make you happy. Enjoy this time with your loved ones and the memories you’ll make together.

4. You’re here for more than your work.

No one says on their deathbed, I’m so glad I overworked. Instead they talk about what they missed out on by working so much. Don’t do that to yourself.

What to do: be as passionate about your life outside of work as you are about your career. Schedule the things on your big to do list so you actually do them. Celebrate your wins and success. Love your life – you’re so busy creating it, be just as busy LOVING it.

You’re only paid to work so many hours. Work those hours and then STOP.

End of Workday Routine to STOP Overworking

How do you create closure to your workday in a way that stops overworking and thinking about work?

By having an end of the the workday routine. This will help you create closure around your workday AND help you stop thinking about work.

Look at your calendar for today. Anything you didn’t complete, move to another day and STOP thinking about it. It’s on your calendar, it’ll get done.

Look at your calendar for tomorrow. Any changes? Anything to add? Now you don’t have to think about your workday tomorrow. You know what’s on your schedule, you’ve adjusted it, let it go.
Say, “My work day is done. I did what I could. Today’s work is complete. Everything else will get done at the perfect time. I am off and now I recharge.”

Let go of work. Let go of work as you drive home. And if you work from home or once you get home from work, go for a short walk. Change the scenery so you can shift your energy. Be intentional in letting go of all your work stress so you don’t carry it over into your personal time.

As you move into your life time of your work/life balance, what do you want to do with the rest of the day? How do you want to spend your time? Exercise, meet someone for dinner, play, do something fun, or read a book. Really, there is no limit to what you can do here as long as it isn’t work related.

Sustainable work-life balance is KEY to create a life that you LOVE. Remember, no matter how much you love your work, you’re still here for more than your work.

3 Tips to Deal with Toxic Co-workers that DRAIN You

Do you have a co-worker, team member or leader that brings everyone down?

When you have to be near them, they affect you. Your energy is affected by those around you.

You can try to avoid these negative and toxic coworkers if at all possible but they still affect you. What do you do?

I was recently asked on a podcast interview, how to deal with a toxic co-worker and my answer wasn’t what he typically hears as a response. The only way to deal with a toxic co-worker is by not letting them have ACCESS to your energy.

One of the most important things for you to do is to pay attention to your energy.

Who just dumped into your energy field? Who just lowered your vibration? Who just made you feel awful?

Here’s the thing, no matter where you are or how toxic a work environment can be, you ALWAYS have control over your thoughts, words, actions and your energy.

I’ve worked with my fair share of toxic co-workers and leaders in my career. I find the best way to approach this is by being aware of your energy and not letting them impact yours.

3 Tips for Dealing with Toxic Co-workers that DRAIN You

1. Pay attention to your energy.

How is your energy? Did you get enough sleep last night? Did you skip any meals? Are you having any relationship problems? Is something bothering you?

I ask, because all these things affect your energy. If your energy isn’t balanced, aligned or grounded, you will be more easily triggered and your toxic co-workers can easily affect you. You want to make sure you’re doing what you can to be in a good place energetically. Make sure your body feels taken care of, be in a good place with your relationships, make self-care a priority.
If you know something negatively impacts your energy, limit exposure to it. And the flip side, do more things that give you positive energy.

It’s a good idea to start your day with a meditation, even a quick one so that when you get to work, you are starting strong. Here’s a 5 minute meditation to help you start your workday.
When your energy in a good place because you’ll not only respond better to a toxic co-worker or leader but you’ll feel better. And this really is everything.

2. Don’t let their energy come into yours.

Imagine that when you have an interaction with someone, your energy mixes together, it kinda blends together during that interaction.
You really don’t want to do this with a toxic co-worker or leader. You do not want to take any of their energy on. You also don’t want to build an energetic bubble, wall or fortress to protect you as these all use your energy and not in the best way.

Instead, imagine it not being able to come at you or towards you. It’s their energy. Let them keep it. This prevents their energy from mingling with yours and makes them have to stay in the energetic place they’ve chosen. When they mix with your energy, it makes them feel better. But what they really need to do is make some real changes in their life and stay out of your energy.
This is one of the most important things my clients learn to do when dealing with a toxic co-worker. It’s an easy way to keep your energy clear, elevated and focused.

3. Clear your energy.

If you feel their energy bringing you down, clear out any energy you’ve picked up from them. Notice when you’ve been near them and your energy drops – this is your sign to clear your energy. It takes a few seconds to do in the moment and here’s HOW to clear and reprogram your energy. You can do this silently, anywhere to clear your energy. The sooner you do it, the better you will feel.

Typically a toxic co-worker is something you have to go to HR and deal with or to your manager or leader. But if you are in a good place, they won’t have any power over you or your energy. This is best for you. Change your dance with how you spend your energy with them and what energy you allow them to have access to.

Toxic co-workers and leaders are difficult to work with and they can make you miserable. I don’t want that for you, no one wants that foryou. It’s so easy to change the energy interaction that you have with them instead. They probably won’t even be able to explain what’s changed.

How to Stop Overworking – 5 Tips

If you’re giving everything to work and don’t have energy or time left to play and relax, I wrote this for you!

When your work to do list is overfull, there seems to be only one solution – to keep working through the pile. But what I’ve found is that the pile never shrinks…am I right?

How many hours are you PAID to work each week?
How many hours do you actually work each week?
How many hours are you overworking each week?
How does this impact your love life? Your social life? Your health?

When you overwork, it takes time and energy away from other things you want to do for yourself or with family or friends. Remember, you are replaceable in your work, no matter how overfull your task list is. But you’re not as easily replaceable with your family and friends.

I used to overwork to my breaking point. I was sick often and have 2 specific moments in my life that told me to stop running myself into the ground before I listened. Now I call myself a balanced high performer and I work with other high performers to help them create a life they love outside of work.

5 Tips to STOP Overworking

Reminder: you are here for MORE than your work.

1. Create a work schedule and stick to it.

I talk about this all the time because working in your personal time means thinking about work while getting ready in the morning, working through your lunch, staying late to finish things up, answering emails and texts on the weekends, working DURING your vacation and more.

This is all work and I want you to ONLY do it during work hours. If you have a thought about work outside of work hours, jot it down on a notepad or put a note in your phone so you can handle it during work hours.

Also, turn off work notifications on your phone so you can enjoy your time away from work to recharge.

Only work during your paid work hours. This is not only good for you but your work as well. Overworking leads to exhaustion, overwhelm and burnout. It stops the best high performers in their tracks. I have a client right now that wants me to hold her accountable to having a leisurely morning to ground her energy before she thinks about work. Normally she thinks about work as she gets ready and it messes up her day. Stop this by working only during your work hours – nothing more.

2. Stop letting your to do list grow.

Having people you work with constantly add to your work list means, you’re overworking. I just spoke with a man in the Navy who overworks because his to do list is never ending and it affects other people’s careers. The problem – you’re human and this is not sustainable.

Who else can take these tasks? Is there someone you can delegate to or an assistant who can take more things off your plate. And if it’s something only you can do, what other tasks can you hand off to someone else that anyone can do?

I’ve helped so many clients with this. By having a huge to do list that grows significantly everyday it helps you feel worthy and enough at work at first. You get things done, you prove yourself, people give you more, it’s a vicious cycle that will burn out every high performer.

Assess your workload.

Who at your work isn’t getting the work load you are? Why is that?

Is everyone equally slammed with work or are there people doing less than others? In all my experience working in Corporate, at Spas, being self-employed and working with other high performers – not everyone is working the same. Not everyone cares. Those that work hard and care seem to get more – until they can’t handle it.

You don’t get paid for doing more.

You don’t.

You just get more to do than anyone else or to do more than your job description.

I had a client that struggled with this and she started saying no, and if I take this on – I can’t do this task you gave me. She also stopped working on the weekends and less hours. Guess what? She just accepted a VP role in her company. By saying no and drawing boundaries with her to do list, she’s been getting raises and promotions without even trying. She really can’t believe how much easier it all is.

Stop letting your to do list grow. It causes your more stress and anxiety. There is no award for overworking your co-workers. Or if you’re an entrepreneur, you really do have to pace yourself so you make it through your career.

3. Make self-care a part of your day.

Self-care means anything that allows you to recharge your body and mind. It is doing something that GIVES you back the energy you spent at work. If you think about your energy like your cell phone battery, when you run out of energy – there is no back up battery. You start borrowing energy from the next day and so on.

Think of lunch hour or half an hour as a time for you to fuel your body and reflect on your day. By skipping lunch, you make yourself eat junk that’s laying around and you hit a wall at 3 pm. Plus you keep plugging along when your energy and brainpower won’t be as efficient. Instead, by making self care a part of your day – like taking a lunch every day, this gives you time to fuel your body so you’re not hangry, it allows you to reflect on your morning and assess if you need to tweak your afternoon.

Self-care also looks like getting enough sleep at night and exercising your body. This allows you to show up at work as your best self. Having fun scheduled in with family and friends is also a fun way to boost your energy.

4. Know Your WHY.

Why do you overwork? What are you proving? What does your Success Wound™ drive you to prove: I am worthy? I am enough? I am love? Do you still need to prove anything at this point in your career? Probably not.

I used to overwork to prove my worth and when I did that, all I did was get more work. You can’t constantly prove yourself. It doesn’t work and people typically take advantage of that.

Instead, ask yourself why do I want to take on this task. Does it make sense with my job? My role? My salary? And if you do take it on, what do you take off your plate. Don’t add more to your to do list without handing something back over.

5. Start doing hobbies that bring you joy.

I know, it sounds counter intuitive, but if you just stop working, most high performers have no idea what to do. I watch my retired mother and father-in-law just keep finding work tasks around the house. They can’t sit, be, take time to be present…they work ALL the time. And remember, I said they’re retired.

Part of WHY you work is to bring in money to give you a certain level of a life-style. You want time AND financial freedom. You’re not going to have or feel that if you’re working all the time.

What to do when you’re not working?

Start doing hobbies that bring you joy. Some of my clients have taken up golfing, flower arranging, swimming, Pilates, running, dancing, playing the piano, riding their ebike, playing the guitar, lifting weights, cooking and more.

Find whatever it is for you that gives you a reason to not check your email Saturday morning. You’ll like how this hobby makes you feel. By taking up a hobby, when you think…I should respond to these messages, instead you’ll say, I have class at 9, I’m going to have breakfast and go.

Find things outside of work that bring you joy. You are here for more than your work. You created this lifestyle but you’re not fully living it. Enjoy it!

3 Hacks to Create Work-Life Balance

How will you create a work/life balance for yourself this year?

What New Year’s resolutions did you make to work LESS and play more?

Here’s the thing I want you to remember about work – it should be something you do that easily pays your bills, it may help you have more impact and there’s an added bonus if you LOVE what you do. But work is not ALL you do.

You’re not here to work ALL the time.

You’re not going to look back on your life and EVER think, I wish I worked more. But you can always look back at any time in your life and wish you played more. That’s where this work/life balance comes in.

Most high performers have a toxic relationship with their work that goes beyond time management skills, daily habits and setting healthy boundaries.

As a Spiritual Medium and Energy Strategist, I have spent decades helping my clients create their life/work balance while still moving up the corporate ladder and adding more zeros to their income. One of my clients took a high level position and continues to get raises and promotions without even trying. How did I help her? We did the inner work by addressing why she didn’t feel worthy or enough and how that showed up at work. We also created work/life balance and it was the combination that got her to where she’s at today.

Here are my top 3 hacks to create work/life balance for you:

1. Create a Work Schedule and STICK to it

I know your plate is overfull and if you keep overworking, they’ll keep giving you more work to do. Why? Because you get it done, even if you complain about it. It’s a vicious cycle.

How many hours are you paid to work?

There’s almost always a GAP in what you’re supposed to work and how many hours you actually work. Work the number of hours you’re supposed to and then STOP working.

Also note that thinking about work is WORKING – don’t think about work outside of work hours. I had a client recently who was thinking about work while she was getting ready for work in the morning – what she had to do, solving problems, etc.

Don’t. This is your time to set your intentions for the day, to balance and align your energy so you’re working your best. If you work during your time to get ready for the day, you start your day running and it’s hard to stop that energy. Only work during your work hours. If you get an idea, jot it down to deal with during work hours.

Work only during your work hours. I’m not going to lie, it’s going to FEEL awkward at first. You overwork to prove something to someone from a long time ago. But once you stop overworking, you’ll resent it when you do and you’ll stop. That’s where you want to be.

2. Make Self-Care a Priority

You have to recharge your body just like you do your cell phone. You’re not a machine. When you make self care a priority you:

Feel better
Get sick less often
Have less injuries
Are more present
Have more energy
Are more productive
Are overall happier.

I had a very high performing client recently start making her self-care a priority. She physically had to after some medical issues arose that made her working come to a halt. She started to hold a firm boundary to her work hours and she even included a lunch with friends in her self care DURING the work week. She looked amazing on our last call. Amazing. She beamed with joy when I told her.

When you take care of yourself, it shows. You radiate a different energy – one that’s night and day different from trying to just get through the day.

Self-care to recharge only includes activities that give you energy back. Hair and nails do not count if you’re on your phone, working and not actively recharging. This is what you do to for appearance, not recharging.

Think about adding activities into your day like:

Getting enough sleep at night
Exercising
Taking 30 minutes to actually eat your lunch and reflect on your schedule the rest of the day
Eating regular meals with good food for your body so you don’t snack on junk
Getting a massage and facial once a month (I do this, it’s very possible)
Taking 5 minutes after something stressful happens to be

What self-care will you add to your schedule to recharge? What daily habits can you create with your sleeping and eating? Let me know what you’re going to add to your self-care in the comments below.

3. Schedule JOY into Your Calendar

This is always a hard one when I first talk with a high -performer – what do you do that brings you JOY? Not others, YOU. I usually get a blank look and if I ask this in a group call, everyone is giving me a blank look back.

Why is this such a hard question? Because you’re a doer. You do for others often to the point of exhaustion for you. This means that you make plans with friends and you cancel because you’re too tired. Typically you don’t have enough energy to do things that bring you JOY. You may not even have the energy to think about it. Or it’s so foreign because you’re a people pleaser and you’re used to pleasing others.

This has to stop. Think about things you’ve done that you enjoyed, that were fun. Is it dancing, gathering with friends, scheduling a special trip, a spa day? What is it for you? Now put it on your calendar.

Taking this to the next level for my high performers looks like NOT scheduling one whole day on the weekend. This means no laundry, no errands, no activity of any kind is planned. You wake up that day, check in with yourself and decide what you WANT to do that day. What will bring you joy today and you do it.

I’ll never forget when I introduced this to my clients at a live event. They were so mad – which is intriguing because the intent is to make their lives easier and more fulfilling – which is what this one unscheduled day does. Then I introduced this at another live event I was working at the following month- they were just as mad. Why? We’re so used to being scheduled and doing what we have to do – not what we want to do.

It’s time to make JOY an intentional part of your life again. It seems awkward, but you’ll thank me for it later. All my clients have, even the ones that got really mad at the live events. Joy is what’s missing and is an integral element to the work/life balance. It also brings you into the present moment.

Remember, work/life balance is very possible. I like to call myself a balanced high performer and my clients are well on their way to becoming balanced high performers. Make yourself a priority by having a SET work schedule, making self-care a priority and schedule joy onto your calendar at least once a week. Love you life every single day – it’s also very possible.

Relationship Problems Don’t Disappear, They Grow – How to Solve Them Instead

“I don’t want to deal with it.”

“If I ignore it, it’ll go away.”

“I don’t have the time to deal with this.”

“I don’t know what to do about ____, so I’ll just wait and see what happens.”

None of these statements will make your problems disappear. Problems don’t just disappear – they grow.

The stories I have heard as a Spiritual Medium through the years! Something so little can quickly destroy a marriage, a partner, a work or family connection and irreparably burn bridges and it’s often completely preventable!!!

Unfortunately they often take on a life of their own and end up being way bigger than they started. The answer isn’t ignoring them – unless you want a much bigger and often unrelated problem later. The answer is ADDRESSING the problem as quickly as possible – even if you are a drama avoider.

Your focus should be on love and getting more love back into the relationship. It boils down to communication. You must communicate with the other person and listen to them. Communication is KEY and it’s the only way you will find a solution.

How to Address a Relationship Problem

Listen and understand. This doesn’t mean you agree with their side, but to have a common ground, you have to understand where they are coming from just as they should understand where you are coming from. Listen to listen. Don’t just sit there thinking about what you want to say or how wrong they are. Find a common ground.
Pay attention. Most people do not like confrontation and will do whatever they can to avoid it. If someone is coming to you with a problem, give it your undivided attention now and I promise you, it won’t get to be a bigger problem later. A lot of my clients do NOT like confrontation. But ignoring a problem will inevitably bring you drama and more problems. Instead, address it and move forward as quickly as possible.
Speak clearly. Do not tell them what they want to hear to just make this go away. Say what you mean to say and do what you say you will do. “I feel ___”, is the most powerful statement you can give someone to help them understand where you are coming from. It’s not facts, it’s how you feel and it has to be acknowledged and addressed. People do not want to be guessing how you feel or what you’re struggling with. When you communicate real solutions, everyone is happier.
Be aware of your triggers. Whenever there are relationship problems, it’s always easiest to point your finger at someone else – but this doesn’t fix, change or solve anything. Notice what you are bringing to the conversation and is it elevating the relationship or bringing it down? It is your job and responsibility to energetically be aware of what you are holding onto and why as this affects your relationships.
Make a plan. The problem will not go away if you keep doing the same things repeatedly. Make a plan that you both agree to (compromise will likely be involved) and hold each other lovingly to your agreement. The goal is to move forward, not stay stuck in the past.
Focus on the problem at hand. Not every problem you’ve had over the decades – each problem is addressed individually, a solution is found, and you both move forward. You only bring it up again if they aren’t doing what they committed to doing and make sure you are committed to your promises. Do not keep bringing up the same problem, especially when they bring a problem to you. This shows that you are staying stuck in the past and not willing to move forward with them.

Your relationship goal is to be happy! Not angry, bitter or scheming ways to punish the other person. That makes everyone miserable and creates more problems. Let’s get back to love, peace and happiness in your relationships.

The only way to go forwards is to stop looking backwards. Work together and stop fighting each other. The faster you address a problem, the better everyone will feel.

Ready for some support to shift your energy? You can find my books here.

Lisa Gornall is a Spiritual Medium, Healer and Coach. She is also an author, speaker and offers event support and coaching program support for your clients.

Lisa uses her intuitive abilities to coach successful women at or near their breaking point to reset. Get your head, energy and life on point. Let’s get back to that freedom lifestyle you originally envisioned! Reset.

Healing Generational Patterns with a Spiritual Medium

Generational patterns run DEEP in your family just like disease processes do. What runs in your family is passed down to you but you have the power to change these patterns.

You live by these patterns often without realizing or questioning them. They are engrained into your energy.

As a Spiritual Medium, I work with Generational Patterns often and they guide all areas of your life.

Generational Patterns shape and define your:

Relationships
Abundance
Time
Energy
Mindset

You will find yourself doing the things your parents did, your grandparents and so on until you start to recognize the pattern, stop it and create a new one. Just because they’ve been handed down to you, doesn’t mean they have to continue to have power over you.

What Are Generational Patterns?

Generational Patterns are most often energy patterns that are passed down to you through your biological family and they are strong patterns.

You can also pick up on Generational Patterns from those you are around a lot as a child like your care givers, role models, adopted parents, etc.

Generational Patterns are stored energetically in a specific area of your body. It imprints into your energy and continues through the generations until you stop it and heal it in your body.

They show up in how you take risks or don’t, how you take care of your body or don’t, your abundance beliefs, your intimate partner experiences, how you spend your time, etc. Look at how you spend money, who else in your family spends it the same way? It’s a Generational Pattern.

Healing it in your body doesn’t heal it in your ancestors. They have to do the work to break these patterns in their life. But when you shift it in your life, it will affect your future generations because you changed the pattern.

Discovering Your Generational Patterns

These patterns are not only in your energy but they are taught to you at a young age often by the people who passed the energy on.

Let’s go back to your childhood. What is your EARLIEST memory about:

How relationships are? How to be treated in a relationship?
MONEY. What is your earliest belief about money? Your earliest belief spending money?
How to spend time? Constantly on the go? Put things off to the last minute?
What were you taught about energy? How to spend your energy?

Now look at how these patterns are STILL showing up in your life today! Are they working? Usually they aren’t because they aren’t yours.

Breaking Free from Your Generational Patterns

You have the power to live, create and shift your life in every moment. That includes changing the Generational Patterns in your life.

Are you ready to BREAK free from your Generational Patterns that are no longer serving you?

Get objective – notice they are there and how they are guiding your life and other family members.
Shift in your pivotal moment – recognize you are following the Generational Pattern. Stop going into the actions and energy of the pattern and shift in that moment.
Do what you would like to do instead of what you were just routinely going to do.
Create a daily energy work practice to help you clear your energy.

Just because something has been a pattern for decades for you and longer for your family, doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it when it no longer supports you. You have the power to create a life you love in every moment.

Here’s a 5 minute guided meditation I did to help you calm and balance your energy at any time of the day!

Lisa Gornall is a Spiritual Medium, Healer and Coach. She is also an author, speaker and offers event support and coaching program support for your clients.

Lisa uses her intuitive abilities to coach career driven women at or near their breaking point to reset.

Get your head, energy and life on point. Let’s get back to that freedom lifestyle you originally envisioned! Reset.

My Unique and Untold Career Path as a Spiritual Medium

I was born a Spiritual Medium and it has affected every aspect of my life.

Growing up, I didn’t know a thing about my unique abilities as a Medium, coaching wasn’t around yet and I liked writing but becoming an author wasn’t on my radar.

My current reality wasn’t even an option. It didn’t exist to me!

I knew I wanted to help people heal and it has been a journey to do the work I do today.

How it all began…

Creating My Career

When I was in 6th grade, I had to write a paper about what I wanted to do when I grew up.

I remember tuning in to what do I want to be when I grow up in my 6th grade classroom for my paper. I wanted to be a nurse. I immediately saw a Red Cross truck and knew I wanted to go to Europe and help with the war.

That was it. I felt the energy, I was connected to it and I saw it clearly. I was going to be a nurse. Except…

I Was Seeing a Past Life

There was no war when I was in 6th grade for me to go to Europe to support. That should have been a sign to me!

My yearbook is filled with good luck in nursing school messages. I had the grades, I had the drive and ambition but I was seeing another life. Unfortunately, I didn’t know it at the time.

A life where my husband went off to war and I left our kids to join the Red Cross and help the soldiers with the mission of finding my husband. Which I didn’t do – but I did know him in high school in this life – he was fascinated with Germany and I was not interested in dating anyone in the military. Everything comes back around so we can heal and I did.

I went to nursing school thinking I would be a Hospice Nurse and help with the transition during death for everyone involved. It seemed like a perfect fit but there wasn’t much hospice experience and I HATED clinicals.

I would find myself on the bed talking to my patients about what brought them to the hospital, what problems they had in their life and helped them create a plan to get back to the life they originally envisioned.

– None of this was nursing and nurses don’t have time to do this kind of work. They are very overworked on the floor.

Everything Changed in One Exam

In my senior year with TWO classes to go, planning my Hospice Nursing Career and move to San Diego I FAILED my nursing final.

Failing a final is weighted to fail the whole class since it’s all about being prepared for the NCLEX.

Lisa book signing at an event in July 2019

Mind you, I was an A/B student. I had never failed a test like this in my life.

As we were walking out of the exam, my study buddy (this is a real thing in nursing school) couldn’t believe I didn’t remember a single question from the test as we had studied it all together and knew all the answers. I remember her looking at me with panic in her eyes.

I told her that during the test I felt like I was floating. I kept hearing, “It’ll be okay.” I remember looking around the room. Wanting to go to the bathroom and not being able to focus on a single question.

I got the results the next day from my study buddy – I failed.

At first I was in shock – but not really. I was more concerned about what I would do now. All of my college classes were nursing school focused.

I didn’t want to wait 2 quarters and retake the class. I was being pulled to live in San Diego and when I really surrendered and tuned in to my work, I saw myself doing coaching work like my aunt was in San Jose.

I left nursing school my senior year much to my family’s dismay and began something they didn’t understand.

Claiming My Abilities & Starting My Career

Looking back, it was CRAZY what I did starting my business in 2002. I listened to what I was being guided to do intuitively and no one could tell me otherwise – although they all tried.

Lisa working at a mastermind in San Diego in February 2020.

There was no social media and I had just moved across country from Columbus, Ohio to San Diego. I only knew my uncle, his girlfriend and her family. Luckily I was very guided.

When I said I was a coach they asked volleyball or basketball because of my height. Coaching was so new in 2002.

At first I partnered up and was going after work in organizations. But I preferred the individual and supporting them in letting go and clearing their energy.

I finished my degree after beginning again almost from scratch. I got my Bachelors degree from California State University San Marcos and had a 4.0 every semester! My degree focused on communication, sociology and psychology – all subjects relevant to the work I do today.

I stepped into my power, my abilities, I built a clientele basis and a following.

Creating My Programs

After 15 years of a session here, a session there or small mini packages, I was frustrated. The work I was doing wasn’t moving them forward, they were not getting enough to support to move forward. It was more of a fix me right now session.

I realized that in order to truly create the change my clients were seeking and support them, I had to offer packages. While a session made them feel amazing, the programs help them reach their goals and up-level their lives quickly and easily.

You are here and that means you are healing stuff.

Healing layers of old hurt, past lives, family patterns and more is what you are here to do. You’ll clear out some in one session. But when you’re looking at millions of lives and only being able to clear what YOU are ready to heal in this moment, that is not the work of one session here, one session there.

Programs give you the support and scheduled sessions to up-level your energy and your experiences. The shifts are powerful!

Being a Spiritual Medium Today

I don’t come across people in my life that don’t believe in what I do anymore. They exist but they aren’t in my vibration.

I do have family that still isn’t exactly sure what I do and with them I get to be on break. They don’t pull on me or ask anything of me energetically.

My clients however, they are drawn to me.

I have found my path and the nursing education helps me when my clients have health issues to see what is happening physically and energetically.

I am grateful for the experiences that have led me to where I am now. The work I do is powerful and life changing. While I took the career path less traveled, it was exactly what I was guided to do.

Lisa Gornall is a Spiritual Medium, Healer and Coach.

She is also an author, speaker and offers event support and coaching program support for your clients.