fear-common-senseI look at the print every day. “Never Let Fear or Common Sense Hold You Back!” It’s just outside my office and is there as a reminder to play outside my comfort zone more regularly. I’m pretty good at that when it comes to outdoors and adventure, but up until very recently I was feeling far too comfortable with everything work-related.

You know that feeling when competence kicks in and you feel like you know what you’re doing? I’ve got my work routine dialed – from presentation prep, to travel, to staying organized in-between. I’m staying on top of sales, coaching, networking, and it’s all good … but it’s all been feeling just a little too comfortable. Which for many would be a good thing right?

Truth is, for me comfortable also means ‘not challenged’, which generally means I’m leaving energy and productivity on the table. In my business lately, I’d been operating from the place of common sense – don’t fix what ain’t broken…it’s all running smoothly. Or was it fear? The reality of that hit me a few months ago as I was preparing for a speech I would deliver at my Canadian Association of Professional Speakers National Convention that took place earlier in December up in Edmonton.

I’d been asked to present on the main stage, which is a great honour, and for me, a right of passage after 15 years in the association. But presenting to 250 other professional speakers is a nerve-wracking gig to say the least. They’re a supportive bunch, and the room would be full of friends and colleagues who wanted me to succeed, but they’d also be watching my performance closely. We can be a critical bunch.

As I started to craft the message I would be sharing in front of my colleagues, a theme emerged that I couldn’t ignore. I would be calling on my colleagues to get Energized for Excellence; to clarify what you really want out of the work you do, to be yourself when you do it, and to do the freakin’ work! It felt like I was writing the speech just for me, as advice I should be heeding for myself… especially the last one..and it stung a bit. Do the Freakin’ Work.

Make no mistake, I work hard in my business, but lately I’ve been feeling like I’m capable of much, much more.

Rewind to January 2016 when I started running again. I’d been an avid runner in previous years – a marathon, dozens of half-marathons, weekly 10km – until a nagging hip injury side-lined my efforts about three years ago. So when I started back at it I was demoralized at not being able to run more than 3km without suffering. But I stuck with it, logging weekly 5 and 6km runs, then 8km and 10km ones. By March I was thinking about signing up for a run as motivation to keep at it.

My friend Kim encouraged me to join her for the Canmore Women’s Half-Marathon at the end of May, and without even thinking I said “Sure, why not?” With fitness and athletics I’ve always known how to challenge myself, and a little hard work in this realm doesn’t scare me – even if it hurts while I’m doing it. I knew I needed to push beyond the 10km I was already capable of. I needed a goal that would require me to log longer runs, to run more than once a week….to do the work. It got me wondering why this comfort-zone‘outside the comfort zone’ thinking was so intuitive for me with fitness, and not with my business. Damn these learning moments!

All the things that make life worthwhile and interesting happen outside our comfort zone. Truth.

So I decided it’s time to toss aside fear and common sense on the work front and bite off a big ‘ol goal for myself in that realm. Enter the 2017 Work-Life Recharge video project!

Throughout 2017 I’ll be filming 52 videos (53 if you count next week’s launch video). That’s a video every week sharing strategies, information and inspiration to help you live energetically, be better at work, and get the most out of life! At first the idea terrified me, because that’s a lot of videos, but then I got excited about the possibilities. Yes it’ll take work, but it will also be very fun. And based on what I have in store for you, it will also be exceptionally rewarding!

And I’ll tell you right now, that you won’t be getting dull, drawn-out ‘talk to the camera’ video spots from me. Not a chance.

img_20161213_155218-002With the help of my brilliant photographer/videographer husband Ewan Nicholson, we’ll be producing short videos that will be creative, concise, entertaining and educational. They’ll be guaranteed to make you think, laugh, and ultimately take steps to recharge your work and life.

And the first video drops December 28th so I suggest you go to my Youtube Channel right now and subscribe to my channel, so you don’t miss a single amazing episode.

If you could do things differently with your work and life in 2017 what would that look like? What do you want more of? What needs to change? What’s a goal you’d absolutely love to bring to fruition once and for all? Make this the year you make it happen. And let me help.

And so you don’t miss any of the information that will help get you there, click the links in the signature blow, or at the top of this page and join my other social media channels too. Lots of good things coming your way once you do.

Let’s do this 2017! It’s going to be a good one.

Carpe Freakin’ Diem!