Embrace Breakthroughs - Part 1

Welcome to the Organized 365 Podcast. I'm your host, professional organizer, productivity expert, and motivational speaker, Lisa Woodruff. This podcast will help you embrace progress over perfection and create lasting, functional organizing in your home. I have so much to share with you. So let's get started. I can hardly believe that we actually did it. We said that we were having the last Embrace. So at the end of June, I had the 5th and last live and virtual Embrace that we're going to have in this season. And in the next couple of weeks, we're going to share with you the breakthroughs that people received as they went through that 2-day experience in community in the Organized 365 app. But good news, good news. While I am not going to do Embrace Live next year, I don't know what Embrace will become in the future. I know that right now, some of you may be ready to embrace. Embrace this next season, embrace your next golden window, embrace the next phase of life. And you're wondering, how does Lisa do that? Like, how does Lisa live in a positive world? How does she think about things that aren't out there and then just create them? How does she create her company culture? Like, how did Lisa do what she did in the last 10 years? That is the Embrace Experience. This 2-day-long, or you could do it in one power day if you want to, experience that's now available on demand will guide you through your current present reality at home, how you're feeling about the phase of life that you're in, the fact that you can love where you are today and still think about where you might be going in the future. We address, you know, the hard times of life and things that you're going through that are not easy to get through. And how do we set goals? And how do we dream again? And how do we not just dream really, really big dreams, but little dreams that will be really big for ourselves, for our family, for our community? How do we do that? How do we take action? How do you believe in yourself the way that I believe in you? You know I do. I totally believe in you. How do you start to believe in yourself as much as I believe in your potential? What are the steps that you take? That is the Embrace on-demand experience. I'm hoping that you'll go through it for yourself. I'm also hoping that you'll do it in small groups all over the world. So let's take a listen to what the Embrace attendees at the last in-person and virtual Embrace in 2022 had as their breakthroughs. Okay, so I made a change which stressed Joey out to no end, but we are going to have breakthroughs. I just can't not do it. I've been thinking about it all week. How do I collect breakthroughs? How do I find out like the transformation that's happened with you over the last day and a half without doing it live? And everyone here agreed that we should do it, so we are doing it. So we're going to start here in Cincinnati. We'll have a few people join us. Give us their breakthroughs that they have had over the last day and a half, and then we will be joining you online. You going, Monique?

Oh, you are gonna go?

You're gonna come up here? She's like ready to leave the building.

You gonna do your breakthrough?

We'll be starting with Monique. That'll teach you to talk in class. Breakthroughs.

Yeah.

Okay.

I have tissues.

It's okay.

Oh, I'm okay. When we take the time, and this is what I like about this event, and yes, I've been in and out, but I have been listening. When we take the time to put me first, before my husband, before my kids, before my pets, before my job, before my passions, Because we don't take the time to stop and think, I think the biggest breakthrough for me is I can pick and choose what I want to do. I can pick and choose where I want to go. And to believe that I get to make those choices, I don't have to live in the boundaries of my family or my friends or my job. I think that we get in a spot and we're stuck here. We don't know that we can get out of it or go around the barrier.

Mm-hmm.

And so just making the choices that I get to pick what I want to do. And I get to make the life I want to live. I think that is something that women are afraid to do. And I just want to say, don't be afraid to make choices for you. It's okay to put you first because, like the ropes, like we're only with us.

Yeah.

And so picking you, choosing you, not in a selfish way, right? But if God has given you gifts and talents, don't hide them. Use them.

Yeah.

So I've been thinking about what I was going to say. I think I've been working my whole life toward being a doctor, and I got that, and then I got a family, and then I got problems. And I never expected all the things that I got, but I was like down, down here because overwhelmed with trying to take care of everybody else. And so just kind of like Monique said, I'm finally lifting my head up out of the water and now able to try to Figure out what I want to do because when in that time when I got so overwhelmed, I lost myself entirely and turned into a totally different person. This negative, just not patient, still caring, but there were times when it was scary how much I didn't care. Like I even for like patients, and so just the idea there's so much burnout in physicians today, and I was turning into that person. I'm like, and I'm only. I was only in my 30s. I still teeter between that, but I'm like, finally like, okay, I want to do this, this, this, this, and this for work. But I'm like, well, if I want to do those things, if I now— maybe I just need to concentrate on becoming that person that I was proud of before and being able to deal with all the things coming at me. And then I'll be able to do that impact at work more than what I'm already doing.

Yeah.

Great.

Thank you. Who's next?

When I arrived yesterday morning, driving here, I was like, why am I even here? Why am I coming here? I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be doing this. Thank you so much, Lisa, and the team. I went from college student to being a single mom. I've not had dreams for myself. In over 30 years, my dreams have been for everybody else.

You've given me that.

It's like, no, I need to take time for me. I've been feeling it. I've been feeling drawn and drawn to it.

Something's not right.

And this is what's not right. I'm not— Hold back.

She's right here.

I was telling myself I was not going to cry.

They're all going to cry. It's okay.

That's what's been off with me is this. I need time for me. I need to make me a priority. I need my sane, and you've given me that. You've given me a pathway to be able to do that. Thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome.

Thank you for sharing. Okay, so that's broken now. Somebody's cried. So now we can keep moving along that path. Anyone else locally want to share? Yeah, Vanessa, don't be shy. All right.

Yes. I've been listening to Lisa for a very long time. I was listening before there was physical products available. So that's been exciting to kind of go on that journey. But I guess one thing that's hit me recently, today, is the importance of the pink work. I always thought, oh, it's fine. You know, I don't need to do all of that stuff, but it's like, oh, that's super important. And it gave me insight into how to make the dreams a reality, I guess, which is a big part for me. So again, it's like the kids, the husband, the school activities, the laundry, the, you know, and it's like, that is— until I can figure that out, it's getting in the way of that pink stuff. So I think just having a game plan moving forward with that has been a lightbulb moment for me. So Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes.

Thank you so much.

All right, do this. We're gonna do this. I can be brave.

Hi, my name is Aaliyah, and my lightbulb moment actually happened in January. My partner, my love, my husband of 11 years passed away suddenly, and I had to reevaluate everything in my life. Everything I had dreamed of, everything I had planned on, everything I had imagined all at once. And the one thing that kind of kept me going in a weird way is being able to sort of box and did just the normal stuff because that was the only thing that felt normal. The only thing that felt normal was to look at things differently. And it really brought my life a great deal of peace. And probably the reason why I'm here today is because I was able to do that. And I started LISN in January of 2020. And I didn't know then, as none of you did, how weird life can be in 2 years. And my sister convinced me in March to come because I said to her I wasn't planning on leaving my house ever again. And she said I should leave my house and do something good for me. And so here I am. And thank you, and I appreciate you greatly.

Thank you.

And she brought her sister and her mom.

I did.

Yeah, so you brought everybody with you, so thank you.

Hi, I'm the sister. My name is Alyssa, and my sister introduced me to Lisa's podcast, I don't know, probably mid-year 2020. And at the time, I didn't listen to podcasts. I'm like, why do I wanna do this? And then I'm a very systematized person, engineering brain. And so then I was like, ooh, This is good. And I had several people also like comment on like my garage is unusually organized. I'm like, doesn't everybody do this? But for me, my sister and I attended Embrace virtually last year, and I was really struggling at that time because I've gone through life like checking the next box. You know, I went to college, got a good job, got married, had my kid, and then it was like, is this it? Like, what do I do?

Yeah.

I'd never thought about dreams for me. And so, it was just really important to think about those things. And so, now I have things that I'm thinking about beyond that will fulfill me and fulfill my life in a way that my day job doesn't. But I also want to thank my mom who's here now for being an inspiration to me and my sister as well. And so, I just, I appreciate your guidance and bringing us together so we can have a nice Girls weekend too. So thank you.

You are so welcome.

Thank you.

Who else?

Hi, I'm Cindy. I've been following you for quite a while, 15, 16, prior to the products, and it's been a journey. And you do for me what I can't do, which is articulate out loud what is running around in my head. There's a lot of mental noise, a bunch of different aspects of life. And I was drawn to you because you systematically approach organization and things like that that I do. And it was like, oh, see, I'm kind of doing this, but she's got it and she's moving with it. And I jumped on the Lisa train because You were doing what I was doing, but you fulfilled it for me, and I think many others as well, in all of the products, all of the improvements that you've made. It is definitely a journey. Today, after Embrace— I did the virtuals before— getting here was really a blessing because I had a whole little weekend for myself planned. I was going to come on Friday. I was going to leave on Monday. And life happened at home. And it was a choice of, okay, you're not going to go, or you're going to get up at 2:30 in the morning on Saturday and you're going to drive 5 and a half hours, and then you're going to go back on Sunday after the event. I chose to do that. I am so glad. I have met a lot of fabulous people and I thank you so very much for following what you're supposed to do and giving it to us.

Thank you.

Of course. Thank you.

Hello. It's interesting because I've been where you are in 2019 and had a breakthrough and then became a certified organizer. Then I started working for you. I just was on board with the whole thing. I loved— my whole thing was wanting to be At this point in my life, I wanted to be involved in my career with something that I believed in, where I knew that it was making an impact in people's lives and didn't expect to get anything out of it. Not that I didn't get anything out of this weekend, but I didn't expect it to impact me again in a different way. But earlier this week, a little situation happened where Lisa and Stephanie had to take me to the hospital because Anyway, long story short, I thought I was having a heart issue, which I was, but it ended up being— what do you call it— from COVID inflammation on the heart from COVID So I'm all good. I'm here. I'm excited to be here. But, you know, those kinds of things just— I don't know, they make you think, right? Give you a pause. And I think it just— it's constant, right? You can think you're doing great and you're doing on this road. And you're on this path, and the next thing you know, you just learn something new or have another epiphany. And earlier you were talking about our love languages.

Mm-hmm.

And that's what affected me because I know what my love languages are. But when she started explaining some situations, you know, and how your love language might come into that situation, I started thinking about why my love language might be that way. And for me, it's quality time. And, you know, it just started digging deeper into that, which gave me some more insight into myself, which I think helps me on my journey. So I just wanted to, you know, don't dismiss those little things and, you know, just keep thinking and dreaming because I don't know, I just think you all are amazing.

Yeah.

And I can't wait to hear more stories about what you guys are doing or what ends up happening. Like, keep us informed. Like, we love to hear that. And I'm just excited for what even possibilities I have. You know, I'm not used to dreaming for myself. So that was another thing that was new in 2020 and 2019. So for me, I'm just excited that I have the permission to dream. And then even if I'm still in a place where it feels good, like it's still good to dream further, like there's more and it's exciting. And it, Seemed selfish at first, but now I'm like, I'm starting to get comfortable with that. So I just hope that you all get comfortable with that as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Couple more. Wait till you see this dress.

Love it.

So when I first realized that Lisa was a woman I needed in my life is the podcast that was about routines. And I had followed a lot of productivity experts in the past, all men. Brendon Burchard, Michael Hyatt, I can't even remember. And I would always feel like I was failing because I wasn't taking the cold shower, meditating for the hour, writing all my important things. And I'm very self-critical and hard on myself and Type A. So learning all these things, but knowing there was just no way with a baby and kids and all of that. that I could ever do it when I finally heard a voice of a successful female who just flat out said, you know, that's not realistic. And this is more how my morning works and how my life works. And you can be a success and not have to fit into the male paradigm. And it was just such an eye-opening, I guess, podcast for me. And then it just seems like you're always just in time.

Mm-hmm.

For whatever it is I need to hear. It's like somehow you're in my mind. And I think for me, why this was really important is I have a milestone birthday next year. I'm going to turn the big 5-0.

Yeah, it's awesome.

And so with that, and I have my oldest is a rising senior, and so I'm getting closer to being an empty nester. I've just put a lot of my dreams on hold for a while. And, you know, when I was A new mom, it wasn't that I gave up the dreams. I just thought, oh, I'll get to those in a couple years. A couple, and you know, a couple years now has become, you know, almost 18 years. And so it's time that I start laying the groundwork. And I think that Cynthia, you were the one who said, you know, kind of creating the on-ramp.

Mm-hmm.

And that I can't just wait till they're out of the house and then figure out, okay, now what am I gonna do? I have to start now. So that in 2 or 3 years, I already have that next chapter in place and have the plan and be proactive. And probably my biggest takeaway is the loving the life that you have now while still dreaming about the future and about your future self. Because I'm always thinking about the next thing and, oh, life will be good when X happens. And I have trouble enjoying the here and now. So thank you very much, Lisa.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I don't belong on that side of the mic though, just so we know. Here is our infamous podcast editor.

She exists. She has a face. So I'm very much not a person who speaks into a microphone. Let's just say that. The first takeaway I had was about the negative self-talk. It's very, very easy for me to say things to myself that I would never say to any of you in this room. So first of all, Taking away, I wouldn't call it a breakthrough yet, a resolution at this point. But then, the second thing was it's okay to grow slow. Also, very much an all-or-nothing person. And so, it's like I have to abandon my family in order to get where I want to go or I'm going to do absolutely nothing with my life. There is an in-between that I can take. I'm also very much an integrator, not a visionary. And so, taking that slow path, I can still have a vision, but that vision is to support other people. It's how can I use my gifts to make something great happen? And I've had the opportunity to do that with Lisa since 2014 in a smallish role, but yet it's a very important part of what's going on here at Organize 365. And I can continue to grow slow. It's taken my business 8 years to get to the point where it is now. And that's okay. 10 years from now, that may look really different because my kids will be older and almost all out of the house by that point.

Yeah.

So no more negative self-talk, and I can grow slow.

Great.

Thank you, Amanda.

Thank you.

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe that we have been able to do the Embrace Conference for 5 years in a row, and now we have the Embrace Conference available on demand. I have so enjoyed curating all the information over the last 5 years and creating this wonderful online and in-person experience that we host the end of June. And now the gift will live on. So what I love about the Embrace Conference is the ability for us to come together and dream and have a community experience. But I had this idea as I realized that this was going to be the last conference, I thought, you know, This content is good. Like, this self-guided retreat is good. And I would love for people to do the self-guided retreat on their own. But also, just like we have the certified organizers that do small workshops and small in-person paper organizing retreats where you can get a smaller, more intimate group of people and more one-on-one attention, I can just see, I mean, I could just see in my mind as I close my eyes and dream a million dreams as we talk about Embrace. I can see people using the Embrace on-demand conference as a way to bring together small groups of people, having a whole bunch of cousins do it when they go and hang out in a cabin one weekend, or maybe your small group or Bible study, or your family would do this, or your girlfriends, or bringing small groups of people together to be able to go through the Embrace experience and choreograph it Oh, I think that's where Embrace is going. If you want to learn more about the Embrace Conference, download it on demand for yourself, or buy it for your small group, just head on over to organized365.com in the events section, and you can find the Embrace Conference on demand or under the program session. We would love to have you join us and email us about your experience. Tag us, tag Organized 365 inside of your Embrace replays and the experiences that you're having on Facebook and Instagram. Instagram. I would love to take part.