Acceptance is the answer. Acceptance doesn’t mean condoning bad behavior, or hitting ‘snooze’ again because there’s nothing you can do about the situation. It’s about looking reality in the face and admitting, “Yup, it is like this right now.”

If it feels like more of a Holi-daze for you, fear not. The solution is inside you, always available…read on.

Based on Positive Intelligence®, the wise one inside you (the Sage) has five powers that can shift you out of the daze or funk or malaise created by your fear-based survival brain, the saboteurs. Use just one of these (empathy is always a great place to start) or try to apply all five, in order, to a situation or challenge. You’ll be growing your Sage powers and experiencing more ease.

Inflation. Lay offs. Viruses. This is all “bad,” right? Well…that depends on which part of your brain is running the show. Humans are wired for a negativity bias as a matter of survival. That voice is loud and fearful. We also have a quieter, positive voice that knows any outcome or situation can be turned into a gift or opportunity.

In design and construction, you may be hearing about or even feeling a slowdown. Just typing that my gut constricts and my mind starts conjuring scenarios of gloom and doom. But wait! We are not responsible for our first thought, but we are for the second, third, and so on.

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Let’s be honest. Somewhere along the way, busy became a badge of honor and burnout got normalized. This is not the path of ease and flow; it’s the path of stress and burnout. It’s the lies of the saboteurs—the voices of the inner critic, controller or pleaser to name a few, that create all our stress. In a complex business like interior design, architecture or construction, it’s tempting to believe the lies and to hop on the crazy train of reactivity, urgency, blame and dare I say, drama. That’s a surefire recipe for stress, anxiety and burnout. Sound familiar? Read on.

Our true essence of love, empathy, creativity and curiosity gets drowned out by shoulds, doubt, shame, judgment, fear, numbness, anxiety, and so on. While we might get some results from this place, it ultimately keeps us from performing at our best with lasting happiness and peace in our hearts.

Our society values achievement, applauds competition and rewards performance. Unfortunately many of us depend on constant performance and achievement for self-respect and self-validation. That’s the hungry monster. This post discusses what to do about it.

Those with the Controller have a lot of great traits--confident, action-oriented, persistent, decisive. Yay! Taken to an extreme, however, the impact is not good--high anxiety, lack of connection, and temporary results at the price of resentment from others. In a creative field like interior design, this one is common and it's a killer. Our Saboteurs over-use and abuse our greatest strengths, impacting our performance, our relationships and our happiness.

Janine Aurichio and Lou Ionis discuss the source of your stress and the simple, effective solution of Mental Fitness. Recorded on Lou’s Coaching Lab, this video covers the why and how of your inner Saboteurs and the power and wisdom of your inner Sage to turn your stress into ease and flow.

Remember Mr. Spock on StarTrek? 100% rational, 0% feeling. Know anyone like that? How much are you like that? Our Saboteurs over-use and abuse our greatest strengths, impacting our performance, our relationships and our happiness.

Ever notice you just like being around certain people and not others? Or maybe you know someone who just seems to have all the "luck" and good things seem to come their way effortlessly? Chances are they are operating at a high vibration. Listen to why.

With seventeen years in the interior design business, I know firsthand the joys and challenges of running a thriving firm. Design, architecture and construction is a complex business with countless moving parts; many of which are out of your control, and can lead to stress, lost creativity, and disconnect from your vision and the joy of creating. Add to that our own personal patterns that get in the way and, Houston, we have a problem.

Mental Fitness is the foundation of Life Styling and the end result of using the Positive Intelligence (PQ) operating system, developed by Shirzad Chamin. PQ is a gym for your brain! It trains you to minimize your Saboteurs and to grow your Sage using simple, embodied exercises for breakthrough results in your life and business. This work has deep impact on relationships, work and overall enjoyment of life.

I cannot contain my enthusiasm, gratitude and inspiration that I am now a Mental Fitness Coach with Positive Intelligence (PQ). PQ is a gym for your brain! It trains you to minimize your Saboteurs and to grow your Sage using simple, embodied exercises for breakthrough results in your life and business. This work has deep impact on relationships, work performance and overall enjoyment of life.

In a society that values doing vs being, information vs wisdom, analyzing vs intuition, it can be challenging to buck the norm and be still and be quiet. Sages for millennia have been telling us that this is the way to freedom, and my personal experience confirms this. Being quiet allows us to connect with the infinite abundance energy of the universe; the source of all creativity, prosperity, joy and wisdom. Quiet contemplation raises our vibration and attracts other high vibration energy.

What I know from experience is this, our thinking mind is like a data processor, capable of generating one, two or maybe three solutions or options; while our intuitive mind is infinite and connected directly to Source. Unfortunately, our society reveres the thinking mind and rejects the intuitive one so most of us have lost touch with our intuitive senses. Which would you rather be tapped into?

We all need to be creative, whether you’re a designer, parent, accountant, salesperson, teacher or healthcare provider. Creativity on demand is part of the deal. So are interruptions, distractions, changing deadlines and urgent demands. Unfortunately, these are all blocks to the creative energy necessary to produce beautiful designs and a thriving business. The solution is 100% in your control.

In our go-go, hyper-connected, 24/7, device dependent society, one very rare and valuable element is space. Not exactly the “final frontier” of Captain Kirk, and not that far off actually. Space for wonder. Space for stillness. Space for spontaneity. Space for grace.

What will you carry forward from the pandemic? Frankly, going back to “normal” isn’t all that appealing to me. Normal wasn’t so great in many ways, personally, locally, nationally or globally.

Then I remembered y.a.h.o.o. - you always have other options.

A daily gratitude practice keeps my eyes and heart on the abundance in my life. As Melody Beatty says, “Gratitude makes what we have enough, and more.” I write gratitudes every night before bed and also text them to a gratitude buddy. Sharing is caring and this is a “we” life.

For the past year I have been doing what I want in a grand sense ~ starting this business, working for myself, moving into a new home with my partner, getting a dog. However, there was still an undertow of "should" to my days ~ I should finish my entire to do list, I should have more clients, I should be on social media, I should not eat Ben & Jerry's (again).