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Do you feel overwhelmed with your todo list? Is "creating fulfilling happiness" missing from that list? Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat is here to help you. In 2-minutes a day, over time, you’ll discover how to reduce overwhelm and create lasting happiness through Katie’s signature method of Intentional Margins, happiness science, and musings about life. Start your day with a positive mindset. Many of us can get deep in the feeling of overwhelm. The anxiety of our own ambition can weigh heavily on our thoughts and emotions. We lay down and close our eyes at night and our chest begins to feel heavy. More items on the to-do list than the day before. How will we ever going to get off the hamster wheel of to-dos? When are we going to start living life for more than the hustle? As a recovering lawyer and passion driven entrepreneur, Katie knew something had to change. What she found is that you can have harmony, be intentionally productive and create massive impact, all at the same time - without feeling guilty. So she asked herself a simple question: "How can I get off the hamster wheel and how can I show others how to do the same? She knew she'd had a system for herself, but she’d never put it into defining words. On August 15, 2019, she sat down at her dining room table with her friend Jenna (her business bestie). Post-It notes covering the table. This is where she first defined the concept of Intentional Margins. What are Intentional Margins? INTENTIONAL MARGINS™ (n): A buffer of space and time to create harmony between your to-do’s and your priorities. Now you can get the support you need to manage your overwhelm, one little tip at a time. Regardless of the industry, Everyday Happiness blends inspiration with a pragmatic approach to finding Harmony. You'll be encouraged to throw “balance” out the window for a more achievable approach called harmony. Through Intentional Margins™, you'll be encouraged to develop what harmony means to you, by identifying your priorities at work and at home. Every day, we'll end the podcast help you feel equipped to jump off the hamster wheel of overwhelm and go out there and crush your day. --About the Host-- Katie Jefcoat is a community curator, speaker, author and motivator who supports ambitious women (and a few good men) move from feeling hectic to harmonious. As a recovering trial lawyer, she knows first hand what it feels like to have a demanding job. As an entrepreneur with a passion that lights her hair on fire and a busy family she’s in the thick of it with you. Many people strive for balance and think overwhelm is just a part of life. Sadly, the hustle culture and our never-ending to-do list is creating a life where our priorities are getting the leftover scraps of time. Katie introduces people to what she calls - Intentional Margins™ - a kind of life in which they reduce randomness, create harmony between their to-dos and their priorities and intentionally enjoy the meaningful parts of life - without feeling guilty. Without exposure to a different way, we remain stuck on the hamster wheel of to-dos and never find the “balance” we yearn for. Katie works diligently to expose her community to different ways of doing things, because she fundamentally believes we deserve to make time for our priorities. We deserve to live a life of harmony. And it’s within our control to create it. Katie curates a smorgasbord of content related to managing your calendar, handling overwhelm, setting boundaries, reducing randomness, saying no, self-care, the power of your choices, and more in her Intentional Margins™ Membership Community -- which she calls the coziest virtual coffee shop (on Facebook). Connect and learn more at www.katiejefcoat.com.
Episodes
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Hey there, I’m Jenna Edwards and today I share what advice I would give my younger self. I hope you don’t miss this episode.
Transcript:
Hey there, you're listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But today I'm taking over. My name is Jenna Edwards, and I've been asked by Katie, “what advice would you give your younger self?”
My gosh, what a huge question. But I do have, for me, the best answer, and honestly, “it's find what works for you.” I feel like even now in my older age, there's so much information. There are so many gurus, there's so many how-to and expert advice out there that I'm just like swimming in it.
And so in the last few years, I've really come to learn, everybody works differently. Everybody. And you gather all of the advice and then you try it out and you find what works for you.
You're going to be so much happier because I spent years, I mean, years, feeling flaky, like I wasn't good enough. I couldn't do the things like, fill in the blanks on the negative self-talk. Until I figured out, oh, that just doesn't work for me.
It doesn't mean I'm a bad person. It doesn't mean I can't accomplish the goal. It just means I haven't found a way to get there that works for me. And so that would honestly be the biggest piece of advice I would give myself when I was younger.
I would give it to myself today! Because, I forget all the time. So it's the piece of advice I'd love to give to you. Find what works for you. Don't give up until you do because it's absolutely there. You've been listening to Everyday Happiness where I've taken over for Katie.
I'm Jenna Edwards, and I'll talk to you tomorrow since I'm here all week. I hope your day is as happy as it can be.
About Jenna:
Jenna is a small town girl (like Katie) living big dreams in Los Angeles. Founder of Aggressive Optimism®, she’s excited to talk this week about all things good vibes. She likes to hang out over on the ‘gram at https://www.instagram.com/jennaedwardslife/.
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Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness
And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram
Links: https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Hey there, I’m Jenna Edwards and today I share how I use Intentional Margins® in my everyday life. I hope you don’t miss this episode.
Transcript:
Hey there, you're listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But today I'm taking over.
My name is Jenna Edwards, and I've been asked by Katie how I use Intentional Margins® or intentional happiness in my everyday life. And I love this question so much.
First of all, I use Intentional Margins® all the time. And Katie and I talk about it all the time. It's like one of the biggest things for us. We're intentional about our conversations about Intentional Margins®, as cheesy as that sounds.
So when she asked me this, I was like, well, how do I put that in two minutes? And then I realized, you know what, don't overthink it. Don't overthink your answer. But also don't overthink how you use Intentional Margins® because Intentional Margins® can be used a billion different ways and they can be used all the time throughout your day. And that's going to change from moment to moment as we'll talk about this week. Like, there's a million ways to do everything, and everything changes from moment to moment, so don't overthink it.
Like, for example, one day I was on the phone with Katie - like I do, and I was on my way to a meeting, handsfree, of course, conversation in the car. And, I got there super early and I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm so early. And Katie was like, what are you going to do? And I'm like, well, I always have a book. I always have a book with me or some sort of project that I'm doing so that I can take that time or that Intentional Margins®, and use it for something productive instead of the scroll hole on Facebook.
So just an example of how to use Intentional Margins® in a way that maybe you're not thinking about. And that's what I've got for you today.
You've been listening to Everyday Happiness where I've taken over for Katie. I'm Jenna Edwards, and I'll talk to you tomorrow since I'm here all week. I hope your day is as happy as it can be.
About Jenna:
Jenna is a small town girl (like Katie) living big dreams in Los Angeles. Founder of Aggressive Optimism®, she’s excited to talk this week about all things good vibes. She likes to hang out over on the ‘gram at https://www.instagram.com/jennaedwardslife/.
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Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness
And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram
Links: https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/
Monday Dec 12, 2022
Monday Dec 12, 2022
Hey there, I’m Jenna Edwards and today I share what episodes of Everyday Happiness inspired me and why. My story about getting in my own head and a quote on Everyday Happiness Instagram that really helped me change my perspective. I hope you don’t miss this episode.
Transcript:
Hey there. You're listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But today I'm taking over.
My name is Jenna Edwards, and I've been asked by Katie if there's any episode of Everyday Happiness that inspires me. Honestly, all of them inspire me. I love the little nuggets of wisdom and insight Katie gives every day, so I can't choose just one.
But recently, Katie posted a quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne on her Instagram page that really inspired me. He says, "Happiness is like a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you."
First of all, the pros I mean, come on. Such a beautiful quote, but for me, it was such a great reminder to be still before reacting.
And I wish I had been reminded of this before last Friday, because something happened at the end of the day at work that just sent me into this crazy tail spin in my head. And it affected half of my weekend until I was talking to a friend who reminded me that I just needed more information. And so I needed to be still.
I needed to just calm down and touch base with the person on Monday, which I did. And when I asked the person for clarity about what they meant when they sent me this text on Friday, I was completely mistaken and totally misunderstood what they were saying.
And so I spent half of my weekend in this tailspin when if I had just sat calmly and waited for the butterfly, if you will, I could have used all of that energy to do fun things, to find happiness through Intentional Margins®, as Katie likes to say.
And so I'm just telling you that because I hope the story inspires you to harness the power of stillness, and to go to Katie's Instagram because she has always got amazing quotes and reminders, and I hope it inspires you to create more happiness in your daily life.
You've been listening to Everyday Happiness where I've taken over for Katie. I'm Jenna Edwards, and I'll talk to you tomorrow since I'm here all week. I hope your day is as happy as it can be.
About Jenna:
Jenna is a small town girl (like Katie) living big dreams in Los Angeles. Founder of Aggressive Optimism®, she’s excited to talk this week about all things good vibes. She likes to hang out over on the ‘gram at https://www.instagram.com/jennaedwardslife/.
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Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness
And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram
Links: https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Jen Acuna is a passionate woman of the Universe; a mother, daughter, sister and lover. A baker, an artist, a poet and champion for women. She loves swimming in the ocean as much as she loves working in the kitchen. Experiencing and sharing happiness is her goal in life. I got to ask Jen what makes her happy, tune in to find out.
Transcript
Katie:
Welcome to Everyday Happiness, where we create lasting happiness in about two minutes a day through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life.
I'm your host, Katie Jefcoat, and today, I'm with my very dear friend, Jen Acuna. She's a hustler and she embodies the theme of kindness. So as a self-employed baker and food artist, she's spreading happiness through food memories. When you take that bite, you really do feel the love she's put into her artisan products.
And let me tell you, if that wasn't enough, she also works at the ER at night helping people. So today I'm asking her what makes her happy.
Thanks for joining me, Jen. What makes you happy?
Jen:
Well, first I guess I have to define what happiness is to me. And happiness is a feeling of well being or a sense of contentment. And there's so many things that make me happy, such as swimming in the ocean, cooking or baking in the kitchen. It's listening to music or the sound of people laughing. It is the caress, kiss and attention from a new found love.
It's knowing that I'll see my son soon, who I haven't seen in a while. It's dancing, it's laughing. It's a feeling of light being light. It is looking at trees and seeing all the different colors.
That's what makes me happy is being with family, being with my best friend and sharing memories or making new memories. It's a delicious nap in the afternoon where nothing matters but the comfort of my bed and the sheets.
It's knowing that I'm not alone in this universe, that I don't have to face things by myself, that I have others that I can lean on that makes me happy.
Katie:
Oh, my gosh. We could go on and on. And I know that our listeners have literally been jotting down all of the things because I know they're feeling the exact same way. A good nap always makes me happy.
So I can't wait to get our listeners this incredible, incredible advice and we look forward to hearing more from you in the future. And if you are listening, remember, kindness is contagious. So go out there and spread some kindness in the world today. Thanks, Jen.
Jen:
You're welcome, Katie. Thanks.
About Jen Acuna:
Jen is a passionate woman of the Universe; a mother, daughter, sister and lover. A baker, an artist, a poet and champion for women. She loves swimming in the ocean as much as she loves working in the kitchen. Experiencing and sharing happiness is her goal in life.
You can connect with Jen over on Facebook https://facebook.com/loafingaroundllc and Instagram https://instagram.com/loafingaroundllc
* * * *
Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness
And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Today we are sharing a bonus episode, a behind the scenes conversation with one of my business bestie’s, Jenna Edwards. We share how we know one another, spoiler, it's been decades. And she shares how overcoming a massive trauma helped her find happiness. Tune in to this very special episode.
Transcript:
Katie: Welcome to Everyday Happiness, where we create lasting happiness in about two minutes a day through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life.
I'm your host, Katie Jefcoat, and today, I’m chatting with my business bestie, the person that breathes life and confidence into my space when it's hard for me to see it for myself. She is all about the concept that she created called “Aggressive Optimism®” and she's one of the most favorite people in my world. You’re going to love her, I can not wait, Jenna, welcome to the show!
Jenna: Oh my gosh! I don’t even know what to say after that beautiful introduction Katie. Thank you! Thanks for having me, I’m so excited.
Katie: We are going to have so much fun. I can not wait for whoever listens to this, to hear your magic, to just be a part of this world. So friends, we did not rehearse this. We have no idea what’s going to come out of our mouths for the next ten or so minutes. Just buckle up. I feel like that’s how it goes.
Jenna: I’m really paying attention to the time because you and I can talk about happiness for hours and never get tired. So, ten minutes, got it.
Katie: It’s going to be so much fun. So first, tell us a little bit about you. Like how this person came to be. All the goodness.
Jenna: Oh my gosh, the audience would be like, how do you even do that in ten minutes? So in a nutshell, Katie and I met when we were in the 4th grade, which I love. Both of us moved to this small town in Minnesota and we lost touch after graduation and found each other again because of fate. I really do think it’s fate. I can’t believe we weren’t friends from the moment we met, but now that we are, I can’t imagine life without you. You bring me so much happiness.
I’m so excited sitting in my living room at 6:00 in the morning and I feel this burst of giggle that I’m trying to stifle because Katie brings me so much joy and fills my cup so much.
In a nutshell, I grew up in a small town with Katie, moved to Los Angeles to be an actor, and was an actor for a second. And then a huge incident happened that you can read all about everywhere if you just Google me, which is where Aggressive Optimism® was formed. I had severe post traumatic stress disorder that left me stuttering when I talked, unable to read, couldn't write, and do all the things that you have to do as an actor.
And so I had to do some serious intentional margin work way before Intentional Margins® was created, and some serious Aggressive Optimism® work in order to overcome the PTSD and the darkness that was in my head on a regular basis.
And now I really want to get out there, that if you are struggling with something and people are saying you're going to struggle with it forever, if you decide that you don't want to and you commit to doing the work, that doesn't have to be your reality.
I don't have PTSD anymore, and I was told that I was going to have it for the rest of my life. Just recently I ran into somebody who was also told they were going to have PTSD for the rest of their life and they needed to hear that that wasn't the case.
So I'm sharing it with you because I’m moved to share it with you. Whatever your circumstances are, you can overcome them. It's just a matter of deciding and doing the work. And it's not easy, y'all, it's not easy.
Just hopefully that gives you a little bit of hope. But for me, it was surrounding myself with people like Katie and listening to podcasts like Everyday Happiness and yeah, that's my story in a nutshell. It's not really a good story, I suppose.
Katie: Well, share with the listeners a little bit, if you can, about what this traumatic incident was, so they have a little bit of context into how this all started to shake out for you.
And if you can remember the year when this happened.
Jenna: It was back in 2003, if you can believe it. It’s called the Farmers Market crash, if you want to Google it. But in Santa Monica, California, they have a farmer's market every Wednesday and Saturday.
I was buying oranges at the farmers market on a Wednesday and this old man drove through the farmers market, four blocks, hitting over 60 of us and killing ten people. I saw three people die that day, and my brain just couldn’t handle it. I suffered, like I said earlier, from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
This was something that was traumatic, right? There's no other way to say it. And so for context, that was it. And it took three and a half years before I didn't have a flashback again. So just to give you a little bit of time context, it was a long road.
Katie: And then you decided, you and your husband, to go on a road trip in a teardrop trailer for an entire year. And I saw it on Facebook. So faith and Facebook really is what connected us again, not that long ago.
Jenna: Yeah, it was 2017, and it was crazy, like another traumatic thing had happened. It wasn't quite as traumatic as the farmers market crash for me, but something life changing. And we just decided life was too short.
We had always wanted to do this year-long-cross-country-roadtrip-live-in-a-camper type of scenario. And so we sold all of our stuff and packed up and went out on the road for a year. We were going through DC. And there's Katie, and I couldn't believe it. It was like it really was fate. It really was.
Katie: It's so fun. And we basically talked every day or every week since that meeting.
Jenna: Almost five years ago. That's mind blowing.
Katie: And we think all the time. It's so interesting, you know, how people come into your life for seasons, reasons and lifetimes for different friendships and how this works. I just think it's so interesting for the listeners to think these people clearly are attracted to one another. We have a lot of the same values, yet were never friends in high school. We knew each other. We did not hang out at each other's house. We didn't go to dances together in groups. We just weren't friends.
But we knew of one another because we grew up in a small town of 2,006 people in the middle of a cornfield. Our high school graduating class wasn't that big, so we knew of one another. Somehow we said yes to a friend request when Facebook started, and then years later…
Jenna: Isn't that so funny? I mean, honestly, it's because you intimidated the bleep out of me in high school. Katie, let's be real. It's so interesting to think about our kid brains and teen brains because everything is so big. It's just life or death on a daily basis.
You did, and I knew you were, like, doing your thing. You had really clear goals. Even though we weren't friends, I knew your goals. It was a lot. And I had the same. I really didn't like the town we grew up in, and so I wanted to get out so badly to move to Los Angeles.
So I had my own thing and you had your own thing. And I'm so glad that our things crossed in the most beautiful way at the perfect time. We were both kind of, all of a sudden, on the same path, even though we live on opposite sides of the country.
You would think you would be on the same path when you live next door to each other, but no, it took moving on opposite sides of the country for us to really connect. Fascinating.
Katie: And both of us doing really some in-depth work on what it means to be happy, you would say what it means to be optimistic after your trauma. I didn't necessarily have the same trauma, but was also on the path of what does happiness look like? How do we get more happiness? What is this?
And we both had been on really parallel paths since we were in high school on how do we create this happiness? But yet we were silently kind of doing it ourselves because maybe it wasn't a cool thing to do, or maybe we didn't know each other was doing it, but once we talked and we're like, wait, you do that too? You think about that?
We were like magic. All of the glitter and the sparkles and the magic just comes together, right? It's so interesting.
Jenna: I feel like as you were talking, it reminded me of what they always say with romantic relationships. But I also think it's true for friendships and we don't talk about it often. You have to figure out how to be a whole person before you can be a half of a couple or part of a group and be an effective part of a group. And I think that's what you just described, it’s basically that, we had to go off and figure out who we were individually, otherwise you would have intimidated me still.
Do you know what I mean? And we couldn't be friends if I was intimidated by you. And so it's just by the way, Katie is the sweetest, most amazing, approachable human on the planet. My intimidation was 100%, my own, like, hang ups and issues and all of that kind of stuff, as, you know, because teens. But, it's exactly that, right?
You have to go off. You have to figure out who you are. You have to find you as a person and make a whole complete picture of yourself in order to be confident enough to be part of something bigger, which I think our friendship is like.
You encourage me to do the things that are so scary. I could never have taken that encouragement if I hadn't done all the self work. And I think that's important for people to hear.
Sometimes it's like we talk about it all the time.
Reason, season, lifetime. Sometimes your friends are there for a reason. Sometimes a season, sometimes a lifetime. Sometimes that lifetime is in spurts and chunks, and you're not the same person that you were when you were 16 years old. And so it's just fascinating to me. I love our friendship. The end.
Katie: Well, that is a great place to transition because you are getting so much more of Jenna this week. All of the things that she brings to the table as an activist about the causes that she believes in and actor and film producer and an executive now, like working and doing the most amazing things, and leading teams.
She gets to do so much, and I can't wait for her to share with you some of her aggressive optimism and really, the way that she's framed happiness and what matters as she was going through trauma and other things in her life. So stay tuned for tomorrow when Jenna takes over Everyday Happiness. And until next time, remember, kindness is contagious.
About Jenna:
Jenna is a small town girl (like Katie) living big dreams in Los Angeles. Founder of Aggressive Optimism®, she’s excited to talk this week about all things good vibes. She likes to hang out over on the ‘gram at https://www.instagram.com/jennaedwardslife/.
* * * *
Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness
And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram
Saturday Dec 10, 2022
Saturday Dec 10, 2022
Hey there, I’m C.Lee Cawley and in my final episode of this takeover, I share what brings me happiness now and I hope it inspires you.
Transcript
So hello and again, you are listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But I am C.Lee and it's been a thrill to be here.
The most important question Katie asked me is - what do you do now that brings happiness?
And I am so very lucky that my career brings me so much joy. One of the reasons is because I'm able to help transform people's lives in such profound ways.
So I teach a course called The Paper Cleanse, which takes people from chaos to calm. And I do that by teaching them ways to declutter their paper files and curate their reference files so that they get a lifetime of paper organization. But what's more important than the paper organization is the confidence that getting that taken care of instills in them.
And I have had students in the last year that have reported back to me that because they got their papers organized, their marriages improved, they were able to take the time to travel, their finances improved because they took control of the paper and realized where their money was and how to manage it. I had a client start a non-profit and I've had more than a few start to volunteer, which has given them a huge amount of purpose.
So just getting their papers organized was a knock-on effect to give them a lot more happiness and joy and purpose in their lives and that kind of clarity to my students, when they report back to me, fills my heart with joy! I am so lucky that what I do is able to help so many people and that gives me a huge amount of happiness.
So I have been thrilled to answer these questions and ponder Everyday Happiness and how important it is in all of our lives. I want to thank you for listening all week long.
And don't forget, you can catch another episode of Everyday Happiness here tomorrow.
About C.Lee:
As an award-winning Certified Professional Organizer – of which there are fewer than 400 worldwide - C.Lee is an “agent of change” for her thousands of clients, students, and followers - transforming their lives and homes with her adroit advice and insightful instruction.
Her current mission is to clear desks and minds around the world with her signature course “The Paper Cleanse”. In it, she teaches people how to declutter their paper piles and curate frustrating files for a lifetime of paper organization.
C.Lee lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband of over 30 years and considers herself "indoorsy". She delights in having friends over for decadent drinks and deep discussions. And it appears that she adores alliteration!
You can connect with C.Lee
On Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/c.leecawley_simplifyyou/
On Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/DMVOrganizing
And at her website which offers tips, tools and a resourceful blog = https://www.cleecawley.com/
* * *
Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness
And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram
Links: https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Hey there, I’m C.Lee Cawley and yesterday I shared what advice I would give my younger self and after pondering this question, I realized, I have MORE to add. Tune in today to hear what I’ve really hung onto over the years and why it matters for our happiness.
Transcript
Hello, everyone. You are listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But today I am C.Lee Cawley, taking over her podcast.
Katie asked me yesterday what advice you'd give your younger self, and after pondering it a little bit more, I have more to add.
One of the other bits of advice I would give my younger self and I actually think I did a really good job on this, is to think long and hard about the people you are dating and choosing to spend your life with. And this is not just romantic partners, but also friends.
I have been so blessed that I have had literally lifelong friends that I still keep in touch with today. So I know that younger people are very consumed with higher education and establishing themselves in careers, but careers change.
I've had seven careers in my lifetime, and I might have a couple more up my sleeves, who knows? But what hasn't changed are my relationships.
So my advice to my younger self is to nurture those relationships. And if they are friendships that don't serve you well, then give yourself permission to let go of them. Really surround yourself with the people that lift you up.
I've been very, very lucky that I chose very well. I'm still on my first husband, I like to say, and we've known each other for over 33 years, and we've been married over 30, and I feel so lucky for having the chance to date a lot of frogs before I met my prince. As well as establishing my friendships, I have friends that I'm sending 40 year gifts to for our Ruby anniversary, because we've been close for 40 years.
And I'm not saying not to make new friends, but I'm saying be sure to focus on the relationships as much as you might focus on your education or career.
So that was my second bit of advice for my younger self, and I've got one more question to share with you, and I will see you tomorrow. I hope you tune in. See you then.
About C.Lee:
As an award-winning Certified Professional Organizer – of which there are fewer than 400 worldwide - C.Lee is an “agent of change” for her thousands of clients, students, and followers - transforming their lives and homes with her adroit advice and insightful instruction.
Her current mission is to clear desks and minds around the world with her signature course “The Paper Cleanse”. In it, she teaches people how to declutter their paper piles and curate frustrating files for a lifetime of paper organization.
C.Lee lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband of over 30 years and considers herself "indoorsy". She delights in having friends over for decadent drinks and deep discussions. And it appears that she adores alliteration!
You can connect with C.Lee
On Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/c.leecawley_simplifyyou/
On Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/DMVOrganizing
And at her website which offers tips, tools and a resourceful blog = https://www.cleecawley.com/
* * *
Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness
And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram
Links: https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Hey there, I’m C.Lee Cawley and today I share what advice I would give my younger self.
Transcript
Hello, my friends. You are listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But today I'm C.Lee Cawley, and she's asked me to take over.
One of the questions she asked me is, what advice would you give your younger self? And, you know, I am going to be 60 next year, so I feel like I can speak to this.
And one of the things I always tell people who are younger than me is, you don't have to do something just because you're good at it. My experience was that I was a costume and set designer, and that's what I did. I got my Bachelor's in Fine Arts, and that's what I did after college, but I realized it didn't bring me that much happiness.
The example I give is, I was doing a project for The Juilliard School, and not only did they pay me to design the costumes, they paid me to custom dye the silk chiffon! This was one of the best projects you could ever be in. It was a commissioned piece with a choreographer, and I did the sets and costumes, and you would have thought when the curtains opened, I would have said, “Oh, my goodness, there's my creative energies come to life”!.
But all I really said to myself is “Oh, my goodness, when is this going to be over? I've seen it a thousand times.” And in that moment, I had an epiphany that just because I was good at it didn't mean that it was something I should do.
And when the choreographer said, we've been hired to do another piece, I said, you know, I don't think so. My role models of successful costume designers were people who generally had sacrificed having families and children for their love of theater and film.
And I don't see that happening to me. I want to have a husband. I want to have a child. And that was when I decided not to pursue that career.
So my advice to somebody younger is, just because you're good at something doesn't mean you should do it. And that that's your path to true happiness.
So I hope that resonated with you? I'm delighted. I've got another question or two to answer for the rest of the week.
About C.Lee:
As an award-winning Certified Professional Organizer – of which there are fewer than 400 worldwide - C.Lee is an “agent of change” for her thousands of clients, students, and followers - transforming their lives and homes with her adroit advice and insightful instruction.
Her current mission is to clear desks and minds around the world with her signature course “The Paper Cleanse”. In it, she teaches people how to declutter their paper piles and curate frustrating files for a lifetime of paper organization.
C.Lee lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband of over 30 years and considers herself "indoorsy". She delights in having friends over for decadent drinks and deep discussions. And it appears that she adores alliteration!
You can connect with C.Lee
On Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/c.leecawley_simplifyyou/
On Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/DMVOrganizing
And at her website which offers tips, tools and a resourceful blog = https://www.cleecawley.com/
* * *
Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness
And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram
Links: https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Hey there, I’m C.Lee Cawley and today I share how I use Intentional Margins® in my everyday life and especially how I start my day for success.
Transcript
Hello, people. You are listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But today I am taking over. I'm C.Lee Cawley, and I'm thrilled to be here.
Katie asked me, how do you use Intentional Margins® in your everyday life? And I think that I call Intentional Margins® having routine and rewards, but it's the exact same concept.
So when Katie spoke of this, I was like, “Oh, yeah, I do that all the time.” One of the ways I do that is every day I get up, I get on my treadmill or I go to Zumba class. I try to start my day with movement, and that sets my day up in a really positive way. I've already accomplished something before my day is even started.
The second thing I do is every day I make my husband and myself a healthy breakfast. And we sit and eat breakfast while doing the Wordle. And it's such a nice time of connection. Sometimes it takes us no time at all. Sometimes it takes us quite a lot of time, but it's something that we're doing together.
And talking about our day gives me a point of reference. So just starting my day in those two ways by incorporating movement into my day as a routine and connecting with my husband, we've been married for over 30 years. And by having a healthy breakfast that I prepare him lovingly, that he eats happily and doing this kind of brain exercise on Wordle. And sometimes we even go on and do the Heardle and then he'll do the Worldle.
But it starts our day off in a positive way, and that sets me up for a lot of success. So making the time, just as Katie says, really does make a difference.
So I suggest you decide how you're going to use Intentional Margins® in your life, and know that I'm still going to be here tomorrow to chat to you more. I'm loving this podcast takeover and I'll see you then.
About C.Lee:
As an award-winning Certified Professional Organizer – of which there are fewer than 400 worldwide - C.Lee is an “agent of change” for her thousands of clients, students, and followers - transforming their lives and homes with her adroit advice and insightful instruction.
Her current mission is to clear desks and minds around the world with her signature course “The Paper Cleanse”. In it, she teaches people how to declutter their paper piles and curate frustrating files for a lifetime of paper organization.
C.Lee lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband of over 30 years and considers herself "indoorsy". She delights in having friends over for decadent drinks and deep discussions. And it appears that she adores alliteration!
You can connect with C.Lee
On Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/c.leecawley_simplifyyou/
On Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/DMVOrganizing
And at her website which offers tips, tools and a resourceful blog = https://www.cleecawley.com/
* * *
Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness
And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
Hey there, I’m C.Lee Cawley and today I share what episodes of Everyday Happiness inspired me and why. My story about community is one that I hope you don’t miss.
Transcript
Hey there, you're listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat.But today I'm C.Lee Cawley and I'm taking over.
So Katie asked me, were there any episodes of Everyday Happiness that inspired me? And quite honestly, many did. But recently, one from October 25, which was number 511, and the title was “Strangers on a Train”.
And she spoke about how there were three categories. People who didn't connect, people who just did what they would normally do, and people who had to make a connection with somebody on the train.
And afterward, the scientists interviewed them all, and the people who made the connection reported a much more positive experience during their commute!
And this made me think about a situation that I was in when I moved back to America in 2000. I went to a doctor's appointment in 2001, a pediatrician's appointment. And in the waiting room, I met a guy, and he sasid, “how old is your kid?”
He and I struck up a conversation and we had just moved back to America. I didn't know anybody. And I told him that, and he said “Let me connect you with my wife. She's starting a mom's club group here in Arlington. They're meeting next month.”
And so he gave me his phone number and I called and I went to the very first meeting. And that meeting of that mom's club group was the nucleus of what then became MONA - Mothers of North Arlington, which now, 20 years later, is a philanthropist group of parents in my community that I helped found that has 2700 members!
But more importantly, that simple conversation - because I made a connection with a stranger - created this enormous community, service project and group of people who form so much happiness on so many levels, and it's also how I met Katie!
So I am so thankful for that experience of my own and how I was able to meet Katie through that one conversation, that connection with strangers.
So I will see you tomorrow for another episode. I'm here all week!
About C.Lee:
As an award-winning Certified Professional Organizer – of which there are fewer than 400 worldwide - C.Lee is an “agent of change” for her thousands of clients, students, and followers - transforming their lives and homes with her adroit advice and insightful instruction.
Her current mission is to clear desks and minds around the world with her signature course “The Paper Cleanse”. In it, she teaches people how to declutter their paper piles and curate frustrating files for a lifetime of paper organization.
C.Lee lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband of over 30 years and considers herself "indoorsy". She delights in having friends over for decadent drinks and deep discussions. And it appears that she also adores alliteration!
You can connect with C.Lee
On Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/c.leecawley_simplifyyou/
On Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/DMVOrganizing
And at her website which offers tips, tools and a resourceful blog = https://www.cleecawley.com/
* * *
Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness
And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram
Links: https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/