According to researchers at Cornell University we make 226.7 decisions a day just on food alone. Imagine the number of decisions for entrepreneurs and business owners! And then layer on the complexities of a design or construction project. Yikes. Decision fatigue is real. Part of that could be trying to use your analytical mind to solve problems that actually require intuition instead.

Many of us in a service business, or any business, put all of our focus on the client or customer. We twist ourselves in knots to please them. We accept unacceptable behavior. We sacrifice our own self-care and boundaries. That’s our saboteurs in action. Your Sage knows the true joy of service is as much about you as it is about serving others.

Relaxation is your super power. Bam! This truth bomb, dropped by Julie Piatt on my favorite pod, made me smile from ear to ear. In a world where hustle, grind, one-upmanship and even burnout are lauded, this can be a tough one for most of us to swallow. What if the inverse of everything you’ve been rewarded for is actually the seat of your power?

An interview with GoSolo. What's your business, and who are your customers? YES2YUM provides 1:1 and group mental fitness coaching for the design/build community so that they can do their jobs with more ease and joy. As a former interior designer and owner, I know that the complexities of running a business, coupled with your personal ways of self-sabotage, can block creativity and deplete your energy and confidence, which impacts business results and your overall well-being.

You can’t create at a high level when you’re tight, upset or perseverating. It’s impossible. Those types of feelings are energy blocks. And creativity is energy. I believe it is your soul expressing itself. And your soul, your spirit, your essence is energy, and it is love.

Society and your Saboteurs perpetuate the big lie that vacation is indulgent, selfish or even dangerous. The competition will surpass you. You’ll lose that project. It will look bad to [fill in the blank]. Your world can’t possibly keep spinning if you take time off! Your Sage knows that for maximum success with peace-of-mind you need to make space, play, and just be. That’s squarely in the Self-Care bucket of Life Styling.

Do you cringe at conflict? Avoid the challenging call with an unhappy client or underperforming team member? Or maybe you say “yes'“ when you mean “no” and later resent it. Whatever your pattern, when your Saboteurs are running the show, it’s bad news for relationships, personal and professional.

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 emotional state has the power to destroy or nurture—performance, relationships, happiness—thanks to our miraculous neurobiology and the wonders of energetic principles. Stress, anxiety, numbness and drama (your Saboteur’s currency) are all contagious. So are peace, calm, creativity and empathy (your Sage’s powers). Where are you hanging out?

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.