130: Achieve MORE While Doing LESS with Kate Northrup

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Welcome to the Earn your happy podcast.

I'm Lori Harder, founder of The Bliss.

Project, 3 Time Fitness World champion, fitness expert and cover model turned self love junkie, lifestyle entrepreneur and author.

Each week I'll bring you a guest.

Or a thought that will help you bust through your fears, connect to your soul and get focused and calm clear so you can elevate your life, business and relationships. We don't wait until we're ready for someone to tell us we're good enough. We take what we want and we anoint ourselves. Get ready to earn, own and unapologetically rock your happiness every single day. Are you with me? Here we go.

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Welcome back to the earn your happy podcast and I'm so excited to have Kate Northrup on the show today. She is an entrepreneur, a best selling author, a mother and an activist. She supports ambitious, motivated women to light up the world without burning themselves out in the process. She is so committed to empowering women entrepreneurs to create their most successful, successful business while navigating motherhood. She is the founder and CEO of Origin Collective. It's a monthly membership site where women all over the world gather to achieve more while doing less. In her book, money A love Story, which you guys, I loved. This book you have to go and get has been published in five different languages. And Kate, Kate's work has been featured on the Today show, Yahoo, Women's Health, Glamour, and the Huffington Post. She also has a podcast with her business partner and husband. And you guys, we talk so much just about life and business and having that desire to be successful, but also how to balance it and what it really looks like to have a life that's successful to you. So let's get started. I loved this conversation. It was one of my absolute favorites because it's completely where I'm at right now. I have a feeling it's right where at too. So you guys, here we go. Kate, I'm so excited to have you on the show. Thank you so much for coming on.

Thank you so much for having me.

I feel like it has been a long time for me of knowing you. So this is one of those moments where I feel like I know you and you're like, who are you? We did meet briefly. So I've known you since I believe you were on. Was it Marie Forleo's? A long time ago and it was when you had money, a love story out and I immediately was drawn to you. You just have that like that vibe about you that's like a best friend. Immediately it's amazing. So I got to meet you briefly at awe, which was amazing. Women entrepreneurs. And you spoke, and I'm like, oh, this woman is so incredible. And I absolutely have to interview her. So I've been chasing you ever since. So thank you.

So it was really great to meet you. And I remember, you know, very clearly, and it was. Yeah. And I know we have a bunch of people in common, so it was perfect.

Oh, my gosh. It's so fun to find that out too. I had a girlfriend who's like, oh, my God, you. You know Kate, or you just met Kate and you want to talk to her. Sure. Let's make this connection. So thank you. Amber, if you're listening to this, that was amazing.

Yeah.

All right.

So, Kate, for anyone who doesn't know your story, I would love for you just to tell a little bit about yourself and how you started doing what you do now.

Of course. So I. I mean, you know, there's always like the how long do you want to go?

But I totally know as far back as you feel you need to get there.

Yeah, I mean, I've always been an entrepreneur at heart. I started my first business when I was seven with my sister. And, you know, we were just selling jewelry and little bouquets of wildflowers on the coast of Maine, and then, you know, did various other things. But my real first business was in the direct selling industry with a company called Usana. And through that company, I kind of, like, got my business chops. I learned the basics about sales and communication and follow up and networking and relationship building. And I'm so grateful for that and presenting skills. I still have a business with them. And it was also, though, through that business that I started making an above average income for a woman of my age at that, like, I started officially when I was 18, and by the time I graduated from Brown in 2001, I had enough income that I didn't have to get a quote unquote, real job. And I moved to New York City and I promptly got myself in about $20,000 worth of debt because I just, like, wasn't paying attention to my money. And I had always been raised to kind of follow the metaphysics of money and the abundance mentality. But so I had this idea that if I just acted as if I had the kind of income that I wanted, that somehow magically I just would. But I kind of missed the part about how you actually have to do something about it. I thought, like, if I did enough affirmations, and then when I Finally faced the fact that I was in all this debt. I realized something had to change and I had a lot of shame about it. I had a lot of guilt about it. I felt like, oh my goodness, like I'm a very well educated person, I'm smart, I'm successful, what is wrong with me? Why can't I get it together? And despite trying all kinds of different debt programs and you know, it was $20,000 worth of debt, which for some people, they might be listening and feeling like that's not that much. And to be perfectly honest, for me in my life right now, that doesn't sound like that much. But at the age of 22, when I had accumulated that in less than a year, it felt like insurmountable because my income was not particularly high at that time. And you know, and so it just seemed ridiculous. And so I, you know, I tried taking my credit cards out of my purse and I tried only using cash and I tried all kinds of different things. And it wasn't until I realized I had kind of this awakening moment, this aha moment. And we can all trace back these moments in our lives where we realize something and then nothing is ever the same again. And for me it was a moment. I was reading Dr. Pat Allen's book Getting to I Do, which is really about self love. And I was reading at the same time Barbara Stani's book Overcoming Under Earning. And there was this intersection where I first had the realization that perhaps if I were to approach my financial life from the perspective of taking care of myself in a loving way instead of the way I had been approaching it, which was from a place of like hardcore discipline and like beating myself up and really finding myself wrong. Like I was really in this place of guilt and shame and feeling like, you know, it's the same place where you feel like if you beat yourself up enough, then suddenly you'll stop eating cookies and start exercising and get a flat stomach. It just really doesn't work that way. We can only beat ourselves up so much. And I realized if I could approach my finances from a place of love as opposed to a place of fear or kind of like this punitive discipline, that maybe I could actually make some lasting changes. And that's what happened. So from that moment forward, I started to approach my financial life and paying attention to my finances and as sort of wrapped up in my self care practices. So I would, you know, I saw sitting down and doing my bookkeeping the same as getting a pedicure and that perspective shift shifted. Everything. And within a relatively short period of time, within a few months after that, six months or so, I paid off all of my debt, I doubled my income and I doubled my savings because I actually was paying attention. I got myself to pay attention to my money for the first time in my life, really. And it changed everything. And so from that came my book, Money A Love Story. And then a lot of other stuff happened and I became a mom. And I kind of am in a different chapter of my life, but that was, like, what got me started on this whole thing and how I started blogging and writing.

I love that. And there's so many different places that I wanna go with you today, so hopefully we can make it to all of those. But before that, you talk about how learn to transition into that place of love and not coming from fear. But there's that bridge right in between where when maybe people are listening to this and they have so much fear around their finances, like, they can't even maybe sit down to look at them or, you know, you said you viewed it as getting a pedicure, but I know that there's that transition in your brain where, you know, you sit down to go and do that, or you sit down to start thinking differently, but it just goes crazy. Like, it's like, I can't do this. This is crazy. Because we think the fear maybe is serving us or gripping is serving us. How do. How did you get through that?

I got help. So I actually had a financial planner sit down with me and go through everything because all of my financial papers had just been shoved in a drawer, and I wasn't looking at any of my statements, and I wasn't. I just wasn't looking. And every month I just kind of hoped that I would make enough money to cover my expenses, and I wasn't. So every month I was going into more debt, but I just wasn't paying attention. So I had no idea how much more. But I knew that if I was going to change the direction, if I knew that, I knew that if I wanted to get where I wanted to go, I needed to first know where I was starting. And knowing where I was starting from was knowing what the financial picture was. And I knew it was just a snapshot. It wasn't like the financial picture forever. It was a moment in time. And that's, I think, the con that our mind plays on us, that whatever situation is happening right now is permanent. And that's what sets off fear and anxiety that, like, what's happening today will be Happening forever. But we all know that the only constant in life is change. And so inevitably things are going to shift. And I have to say, being a mom has taught me this big time. Because when you have a kid, it's like they'll be in this phase. For example, all of a sudden Penelope is in this phase where she won't go to sleep in her crib at night. She only will go to sleep in our bed. But then we have to transfer her. And it feels like, oh my God, this is gonna be forever. But I know in two weeks there's gonna be some other thing that she's doing and I will have completely forgotten this little phase that she's in. And so that's being a parent has taught me about constant change for sure. And that's the same with our financial life. It's the same with any part of our lives that things, things will shift. And so knowing. And the fastest way to shift things is to get honest and clear about where things are now. So I got help and I got on the phone with a financial planner and she walked me through adding up all of my credit cards and adding up my expenses and adding up my income and getting really clear on what the picture was. And what was amazing is when I did that, it was actually worse than I thought. So I did have that experience which I was so afraid of, which is that if I add this all up and I get really clear, it's going to be worse than I thought. And it was. And what was so amazing is the energy I saved from not being in fear and avoidance. Like I realized how much energy I put towards avoiding the situation. And now that I knew the truth, I just kind of like felt so energized by it because I was like, oh, well, this is the truth. Now I can actually do something about it instead of spending all of my time and energy avoiding the truth. So it was actually very freeing for me. And so that's what I recommend is getting help. It doesn't have to be a financial professional, it could be a friend, it could be somebody who you know is gonna be non judgmental to sit down with you. And there's a great, you know, depending on where you're at in your life, there's a great program called Debtors Anonymous, which is free and it's a 12 step program. And during that doing that program has these things called pressure relief groups, PRGs, and you can go and find people to do that with you in that community. If you don't have anyone in your life already.

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Oh, that is amazing. And I love that you say that just because it's, you know, what we don't look at. We have no way to even create focus around where we're going. So it's pretty much just out there flailing. And I love that you said we waste energy because, because it's that constant open loop. We don't even know, just running in the background, draining the battery. So do you ever deal with self doubt around any of your finances now?

And if you do, what do you do? Yeah, I mean, I think this is an ongoing journey and I am, you know, by default. I'm a financial avoider. I'm definitely a recovering financial avoider, but left to my own devices, if I don't pay attention, I will always slide back. And so it's just a daily practice. So Mike and I, my husband, have a weekly money love date where we get together and we look over what's in our bank accounts, what's on our credit cards, you know, what needs to be paid when we do weekly transfers to different accounts for savings and investing. And, you know, we separate our needs and our wants and our business account. And so it's just. For me, one of the biggest things is staying engaged. Just like going to the gym or going to yoga class. It's like you can't just go exercise one time and then you're done with exercising. It's an ongoing experience and being in relationship with your body, so it's the same thing with your money. And so when I notice myself spinning out about financial fear, I really like to get super clear on the reality on the numbers. For me, it really helps to actually, I can slip into anxiety and we can all do this. We slip into anxiety, which is usually based on something false. It's not based in what's actually happening. And so I like to get super clear, okay, well, what income do we have coming in? What's actually going out? What's our monthly nut right now? What's the reality of the situation? Because nine times out of 10, I don't actually need to be worried about anything. But if I actually know the real numbers, so getting cozy with my numbers, when I know the numbers, if there is a change that needs to be made, at least I'm making it based in reality, not based in fear. Because so often we make a decision that's like, oh my God, we're not going to have enough money to pay the rent or the mortgage. And let me spin off and create this new program or let me spin off and just offer this group coaching thing or whatever. And if you really looked at it, it was like, oh, well, we're actually, you know, I need to make $600 versus let me launch this whole thing that's not even on the trajectory of where my business wants to go.

Okay, I love that. So what do you think stops most people when it comes to making money around their passion or wanting to start that business that's in the back of their mind? And what advice would you give?

Well, I think that what stops most people is fear, and it's usually based around not feeling like they're enough. So it's a worthiness conversation. It's like, who am I to go off and build a business and live the life of my dreams? Who am I to think I'm smart enough to grow a business? Who am I to think that I have anything worthwhile to share? It's a lot of those. Especially for women, it's really a lot of the worthiness conversation. And, you know, it comes from being raised in a culture that still tells us that being a female is not as good as being a male in many ways. And so, you know, not to get super political, but that is still very much an issue. And so we have to take it upon ourselves to change the worthiness conversation in our own lives, in our own hearts and minds. Yes, for ourselves and for our own life, but also really for the women who don't have that opportunity and the men as well. Because there are people on the planet who don't have the opportunity to engage in this kind of personal development conversation because their cultures prevent it or they don't have access. And so if you do have access, and if you're listening to this, you are one of the most free people in the world and you have access to some of the best resources in the world. And so I think it's kind of this spiral of self absorption to get all stuck in our like, oh, who am I? Da da da, da da. And it's like, no, just take action, get out there. In the world because there's a lot of people who can't. So not out of guilt, but it's that each person who takes it upon themselves to live out their purpose, or I don't even like the purpose conversation, but like to pursue your dreams and do something that feels good when you do that, I believe that you are busting that open, that possibility open for someone on the planet who either exists already or who's coming after you, who will then also have that opportunity because you had the guts to go for it and to bust through your own bullshit about not being enough. Because the truth is I feel like I'm not enough every day and I just keep doing it because it's like, well, that's not helping anyone. So I'll just keep going. And I think that the. There's an illusion that we look at people like, let's say like you, Lori, your listeners, they might have this assumption that, well, like Lori probably wakes up every day feeling like a million bucks and she just gets after it. And you and I both know that that's not true. We just feel like crap sometimes and we take action anyway. And then we do the things that we need to do to not feel like crap as much as possible. And so whatever your non negotiables are, whether they be drinking green juice or meditating or exercising or getting enough sleep for me sleep, it always comes back to sleep. Oh, sleep heals everything. And especially as a mom with a baby who does not sleep, it's like always sleep for me. So that's what I recommend is getting over yourself and just taking action so that somebody else in the world can. Because for those of us who are altruistic and want to help other people, I think we have to sort of like Jedi mind trick ourselves into getting over ourselves by telling us, telling ourselves we're doing it for other people. At least for me that really helps.

I love that it's so true. And I honestly, what I always go back to is if there's something that I really am desiring to do, it's more painful to not do it. I promise you from two people who take action, it is way more painful to sit in the. Almost like the. I was just reading Osho last night about creativity and he was saying the difference between action and activity. And action is like when you just move without thinking because it's your desire to do it and it's your mission, it's what you're on the planet for. An activity is all of the thought and the Things that drain you up until then. And to stop doing activity but not stop by thinking about stopping. Like, I need to stop this. It's just kind of like, okay, stop now. Do something. So I thought that was so powerful. Okay, I love that. So. So many women I meet, and I think this might be kind of the same answer, but we'll see what. What you feel around it. But so many women that I meet are trying to take their business to the. That next level. So whether it's more money or whether it's just getting out there more, but they're kind of either just spinning their wheels over and over. They're not sure how to do it. What do you say to that?

So, for me, I actually, believe it or not, was sort of in that place. Since my book came out, since 2013, I was really like, my book came out in September 2013. And I'm one of those cases where I didn't really have anything else to say on the topic other than what was in my book. You know, some people write a book, and then there's like, oh, I have 10 more books in me about this topic. And my publisher, of course, wanted me to. The book has sold really well. It continues to do great, and I'm super proud of it. It's a great book. And for me, I didn't have 10 more books on the topic. And if I had written something else, it would have been a regurgitation of what I had already written. And that just felt really inauthentic to me. So despite being asked, I said, nope, I'm gonna have to hold off and wait until I have something new to say. And that really sucked. So I will say, like, for me, from 2013 until very recently, until just about the time I met you, Laurie, last November, I was in this place that I am now referring to as the fertile void. I was in this place of, like, I want to do something big, and I don't know what it is, and this is really uncomfortable. And of course, I kept moving forward with our business. I kept in touch with my audience on a weekly basis. I, you know, did. I created new programs that felt like fun and that they felt it felt valuable. So I didn't just stop taking action altogether, but it wasn't like, oh, my God, this is it. And then in October, I got an idea for a blog post where I was like, wouldn't it be fun if I wrote this blog post called Let Mother Nature Be youe Financial Planner? And I was like, I'll just come up with a way to help people organize their financial action steps according to either the phases of their menstrual cycle or the phases of the moon, which are the same thing. You know, the four phases of each have the same energy. So it doesn't matter whether you're tracking your menstrual cycle or you're tracking the moon. Or by the way, all the four seasons have the same energy as well. So it's sort of like macros and micros of the same thing. And so I started kind of doing some research and I'm reading some books and I just started geeking out and was so excited about it. And then so when I went to speak at Awe and Wanderlust, that was a talk I gave was about really how we can tap into the cycles and the seasons to get us into peak flow of productivity and peak creativity, and also to allow our lives and our businesses to replenish us instead of drain us. I came up with a framework of how to look at the phases of business creation through the lens of the four phases of the moon or our menstrual cycle, which is. Is responsible for human life. And when you look at that, you actually can begin to embrace the phase you're in in your business or in any project that you're working on. And I think that so many of us feel stuck and stay stuck because we are not owning and embracing the phase we're in, and we're trying to be in a different phase. And so we waste a lot of time and energy on trying to be and do something that we are just not at at that particular moment. And there's a lot of comparison and there's a lot of, oh, I should be somewhere else. You know, I love my friend Danielle Laporte talks about who's like a really successful entrepreneur. And a lot of women admire her, including me. She talks about, she's like, oh, yeah, I always feel like I should be, like, way more successful than I am. Like, there's just this bullshit story that we're all telling ourselves to, like, we should be doing better or we should be further along or whatever that even means. And so when we begin to look at our business trajectory as a cycle as opposed to a line. So when we look at it cyclically instead of linearly and we look that, oh, wow, just like the moon, right? The moon. There's a dark of the moon every month. There's a new moon when there's nothing in the sky. And then after that, the mo begins to wax. It starts to appear again. It starts to move towards the full moon. Every single winter is followed by spring. And then after spring comes summer. And that same full moon energy. It's the same energy as ovulation. It's like the peak fertility. It's full bloom. And then after every summer, there's autumn. After every ovulation, there's the luteal phase where you're premenstrual, and they. And then you go back into the menstrual phase or the winter or the dark of the moon. Every phase has gifts. Every phase has opportunities. And when we look at our business through this lens, we are given the gifts of juicing, like getting all the juice, getting all the nectar out of each phase. And what I notice is that women who can't get traction in their businesses, and this was for me, too, like, you don't feel like it's like, yeah, it's going okay, but I'm not getting, like, I'm not getting the kind of traction that I think I should be getting. It's usually because you're skipping the two phases that our culture does not celebrate. And so what I'm talking about are half of the cycle. I call this the upward cycle of success from a business perspective. So half of it is kind of the outward phase. So it's the spring and the summer. It's the high energy, it's the out in the world. It's the things are growing, things are blooming. We can see a lot of action happening. But then there's this whole other phase, these two phases, which are the winter and the autumn, or I call them the fertile void and culmination that are really critical for full gestation, for something to, you know, for a seed to fully take root. There has to be time for the field to lay fallow. There has to be time when you harvest the fruit and then you let the plant alone for a little while. And when we don't do those phases and we skip over them, our work lacks depth, it lacks roots, and it doesn't take hold. It doesn't get traction in the way it would if we were to honor the. The more inward, more intuitive, more tapping in, more restful phases. Because we just. We. We live in a culture that, like, tells us to never stop.

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Okay, so when I first heard you talk about this, which is like delicious, I was like a baby bird in the audience. Like yes, yes. It was just number one, it's just permission number two, it's just saying yes to what our bodies and minds have already known. But we keep pushing because somehow we just think that if we push some more or work some more or do something else, you know, that doesn't even feel like. I don't know, it's just this action all over the place or activity, right? That's like, you don't even really know what it's doing. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like it's moving the needle forward. It's just overwhelming. And then we tend to look at social media or someone that we think is successful, and it feels like they're always doing something too. So then we also mirror that. So for me, I had just started when you were talking about it. It was just like this massive confirmation to start really seeing what the seasons have to offer, to start seeing what the winter has to offer. And I think what happens in our mind is that if we don't see something happening, we think nothing is happening. When it's like, oh, something's happening in the winter.

So much is happening in the winter. You know, if you've ever had the experience of planting a seed, there's a long time when it looks like nothing's happening. You plant the seed, and then it just looks like nothing's happening. But if you go dig up the seed to check, you kill it. So there's a wisdom in the waiting. And now it's a delicate balance, right? Because oftentimes we don't take action because we're scared. So there's a difference. And everybody's gonna be. It's gonna be a personal decision. You have to decide. You have to know for yourself, am I not taking action because I'm scared, or am I not taking action because this is not the time? And you're gonna have to do that dance yourself personally. Because the other thing that's an epidemic is just people being scared just so they don't do anything. So that's not what I'm talking about. But for those. This is particularly relevant for the overachiever category of people who are always going to be doing something. And they're like. They think that the path to sort of fulfillment is being in constant production. And that's what our culture has told us. But the problem with constant production, like asking ourselves to be in a perpetual harvest, will definitely lead to burnout and will definitely lead to your body getting sick. So that's the piece is like to look at. How can I chart my success more according to the earth? And if I were planting a Garden or growing a human being. How can I chart it based on that? Because if you do, you might have fewer harvests, but they'll be more plentiful and you'll be more rested and you won't be so fried all the time. Time.

I mean, what you're saying is literally everything. And it's just there's so much wisdom in it. We're going to talk about or I'm going to ask you about your definition of sustainable success in a minute. But I love that you come from a network marketing background as well, because I also do network marketing. And I think that that business had taught me so much because it's not. It is not always going to be a great. You know, it's not always going to be great. Even if you're making amazing income. People have seasons and you literally see people's seasons. When you do that type of business, it's like, okay, some maybe summer in the middle of the country because everybody finally wants to get out of their house. People are not pushing as much in that business. So you have to understand that when the season is ripe, that's when you run. And when it's not, that's when you can, you know, kind of go and enjoy your life and then come back to when comes it. It's ripe. Like you're still gonna do action, but maybe you're not gonna push. So it's really taught me a lot to be in those companies, because there is seasons, right? When people wanna buy and when they change and when they. It's just really interesting. So. All right, so I know that you have a definition of sustainable success, and I heard it and I absolutely love it. So if you could share that with us.

Yeah. So to me, you know, I've been. I've been sort of like, skirting around this. I realized for my whole professional life, like, how can we work in a way that's sustainable? How can we work in a way that honors our priorities around our lifestyle and our health, as well as around our income goals and our sort of like, more professional goals? How can we. And my husband and I, our tagline for our business has been make a life, not just a living. How can we do that? And to me, I've just recently started using this phrase, sustainable success, which to me means working in a way, growing your business in a way, or just working if you work in a job or in a company in a way that you can imagine doing for years to come. So in a way that has more higher productivity and higher Profits, but less stress. And so for me, I have found that the way to tap into this idea of sustainable success has been number one to define what success even looks like to me. Because I have, you know, I have people I follow on the Internet that their version of success, like they're rocking it and doing really beautiful things. And when I really look at it though, I don't want lives like they have. And so those aren't the people that I want to look to as my role models. Which again, seems so obvious, but like, we can really spin ourselves out looking at the shiny people online, being like, she's doing this or she's doing that. But I have been around this industry long enough to know that sometimes it's not always what it seems behind the scenes. And that's, you know, I grew up in the personal growth industry and I've been hanging around the Internet marketer, personal growthy people for a long time. And it's like some of them are amazing and some of them, you get behind the scenes and you're like, oh, no. And that's why it's so important to keep your eyes on your own paper. Because what matters is if your in front of the scenes matches what's behind the scenes, not if somebody else's does that. That's their own journey, their own karma. That's not your job. And so first and foremost, the first step to sustainable success is really identifying what matters to you and then organizing your life around it. It's super simple. But so many of us forget.

Well, it's so easy to, like you said, just look at other people and be like, oh, and just feel that urgency, like you should be doing something, even though there's so much beauty in just taking that rest and putting it into that one thing. Oh, just even saying that feels good.

I know, right? So relaxing.

So I know that you work with your husband a lot. Is there certain things that you guys have to do to remind each other? Like, do you. Do you seem to go on the same seasons or as far as when you want to push or do you really have conversations around exactly when these times are.

You know, it's so funny, somebody asked me that question yesterday and it's like so interesting. We definitely need to record a podcast about it. Mike and I have a show called the Kate and Mike show because that's coming up. So, you know, I think that he and I are certainly personally in different seasons. I'm right now in this really outward place as we're getting ready to do this Sustainable success workshop and launch something brand new. And it's the first time I have felt this way in a very long time and it feels so great. And he's more in a support role right now, but he also has his own podcast called Project Life with Mike Watson. So I think it's something that, to be honest, I'll just be totally transparent. We could probably work on a little bit more in terms of our conversations around who's in what season and how can we best support one another. We've been in a real transition place since last July about working together and how that's going to best work. And it's very much a work in progress. But I will say the one thing that works really well that we do is every Wednesday when we have our money love date, we also just look at each other and we say, how's it going? And we have a check in and sometimes that check in is five minutes and sometimes it's over an hour and it just really depends on what's happening. But really to create that space when our daughter's at daycare, we know we're not going to also need to be like wiping a runny nose or changing a diaper. Like we're really there with each other. We can talk about how's it going in business, how's it going in life, and that's been incredibly powerful. So simple to check in with each other and be in communication.

I love that. And I listen to your, you and your husband's podcast. I love it. I so feel you. My husband just launched a podcast and we are also in a network marketing business together along with with some fitness and self development business. So it's constantly. I love that you said that because I don't really see it ever, ever ending. Yeah, that conversation. Oh man. So, okay, so I am so excited about your workshop that you have coming out. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Yeah. So what I've really learned is that one of the keys to sustainable success is actually not time management. I think that we have all been sold this idea that the key to success is, is time management. And I believe, and I have found in my own life as a mom since becoming a mom, that it's actually we've been managing the wrong resource and that if we manage our energy instead, then time almost becomes irrelevant or at least we suddenly find that there's more than enough time and that we become the source of time as opposed to always feeling like we are running out of time and it requires a Shift in your relationship to time. And this has been hugely game changing for me because I don't. Have you read the book the Big Leap by Gay Hendricks?

Yes.

Okay. So in that book, and for those who haven't read it, it's one of my all time top recommendations for personal development. He talks about Newtonian time versus Einstein time. And he talks about time cops. And time cops are the one in the relationship or in the family who's always like, okay, you guys, we're gonna be late. Like, get, you know, get a move on, get your shoes on. Like, like, come on. And I was always the time cop. Everyone in my family is so late. And I have been the time cop my whole life. And it's having been able to shift my relationship to time and actually shift into a relationship where I feel like not only do I have enough time, but also everything's happening in the perfect timing. And also I have this sense that time is a renewable resource in my life as opposed to something that's always running out. And as an entrepreneur who always has a million projects going on and like all these new ideas, that's been the hugest gift. So I'm gonna be teaching that in this workshop. And that's one thing I'm gonna be teaching. I'm also gonna be teaching the reasons why women who are mothers, whether you gave birth or you are, you know, you're an adopted mom, or you consider yourself a nurturer and a caregiver, which almost all women do, why we are perfectly wired for business success. So I think the culture has taught us that if you are a mother, if you have children, it will impede your ability to be successful in your career. And so I found some recent research and found my own data that there are certain reasons, there are three reasons in particular, that being a mother or a caregiver sets you up for entrepreneurial ninja hood. So I'm going to share that and how you can capitalize on that. And then I'm really going to share how you can tap into cycles and seasons to access moments of peak productivity so you can get a lot more done in a lot less time and have more time for yourself and more time for renewal and your family.

Okay, so I'm taking your course for sure. I mean, I really am taking your course. I'm so excited. I'm like salivating over here because these are all not only topics that really hit home for me, but we work with so many women in a network marketing company and I could not agree with you more. Around the women who have a baby or who just had a baby, I'm like, oh my goodness, their business is exploding. And I would love to hear about the reasons why to talk about that. That's so amazing.

Yeah, it's fascinating. It's like I am totally. I'm reading books on neuroscience. I'm like studying Einstein's theory of relativity. I'm just having so much fun. I've been having so much fun. I'm more proud of this workshop than anything I've ever done other than grow my daughter in my belly. So I'm pretty psychedelic.

Yeah, you are completely lit up right now. And I can tell it's absolutely where your passion is, which is getting me so excited.

So.

So what's been one of the biggest things, shifts in motherhood that has really just changed either your life, let's talk about. That's changed your relationship and your business.

Yeah. So when I became a mother, so I didn't. So I always knew I wanted to become a mom, but I didn't know. I thought maybe that when I became a mother I might wanna be a stay at home mom. Like, I was really open to anything with the business. I thought, you know, who knows what's gonna happen here? And then what I was so surprised by was that I really wanted to work, like much sooner after having Penelope than I thought I would want to. Like when she was five weeks old, I was sort of like, okay, like I'm gonna wanna start working now. And I didn't. I actually waited. I did full maternity leave until she was three months old. And then after that I only had a nanny for 10 hours a week and just really stuck with, hung out with her until she was nine months. And then she started daycare part time. But it was amazing to me how much creativity I experienced in the post birth time. Again, it was just so surprising to me. And then the other surprising thing was just that it was so much harder. It's been so much harder than I ever could have expected. And I just have such a deep reverence for all the mothers who have come before me, certainly my own mother. And then all the mothers out there just like making it happen. I just, it's like some days just still. I mean, she's still, she's 19 months old and still some days I consider it a huge win if I manage to get in the shower. And it's like I can't even believe that, you know, there. And it's such an experience of like being in the mundane, you know, I Shared with my friend Noah. When I had first, in the early months, I was like. He was like, how's it going? I was like, you know, my life got really small. My life just got so small. And it's been the biggest lesson in treasuring. What, right in front of you? Like, treasuring my cup of coffee in the morning, sitting and really being with Penelope and watching her play in the bath and really realizing, like, my grandfather, who I never had the chance to meet, he passed before I was born. He said to my mom when she was dating, he was like, you know, you want to really make sure that you marry somebody that you enjoy being around. Because, Chris, a lot of days are just three meals. And it's, like, so true. You know, in the entrepreneurial world, we can get so swept up in, like, the number of followers or your conversion rates or revenue generated or, like, how many shares or all the things or the book deal or the speaking gig. And, like, yes, I love all that stuff. And it's. And it's so fun. And, like, at the end of the day, it's like, am I happy with the people who are sitting around the table with me? And motherhood has brought that home so much more. Like, if nothing else ever happened in my career, I wanna love my life as it is. And I don't know, there's not really much of a lesson there other than it's made me really pay attention to the small things in a way that's super profound, and I'm really grateful for it.

I love that it's so beautiful, because at the end of the day, I think it. It just ties into everything that you're teaching and that you're passionate about right now in this workshop that you're doing. Because it's really. It's like, how do we find happiness in the everyday, right? The magic in the mundane. Like, what does that look like?

In the mundane, what does that look like? Because that's all we have. It's true. And Mike was sharing with me that he was listening to a podcast by Ben Bergeron, who's a really big guy in the. In the CrossFit world. And there was the woman who won the CrossFit Games that year. When she spoke with him afterwards, he was like, what was that moment like when you got the medal? You know, in the CrossFit games, they call it the fittest person in the world. Like, these things are insane. I don't know if you've ever. Well, you're in the fittest. I'm sure. You know, it's not. So this woman's like, she's a super high achieving athlete. And she said, you know, honestly, I thought I would be happier. And that made me really sad on the one hand. But I could also really relate because I've had those moments. I'll never forget the moment that I got asked to publish my book. You know, I got offered a book deal, and I was really. It was. I was like, oddly kind of sad and there. And I'm sure there's so many things going on there, but, like, really, those aren't the moments we're gonna remember. Those aren't the moments that make a life. And so it's really. Yeah. Like, how can we. You know, and it's all total cliche. How can you be more present? How can you be more grateful? But it's a cliche because it's true. None of the stuff we think matters matters. And all of the things that we skip by every day are the things that matter the most.

It is. And I mean, that is honestly, like my entire life I've. I've made, you know, I went this whole spurt of, like, not achieving anything because I was just raised in a really religious family and school was not anything that was pushed ever at all. So I went probably into my mid-20s of feeling like, I mean, literally the. The story in my head was, you know, I never finish anything. I'm a loser, whatever that. Whatever it is that was playing. So then I went on to, like, this overdrive of achieving, and it was like, no matter how much I filled with achievement and won awards and trophies and covers and titles, it was like I was getting emptier and it was so painful. So now I'm like, okay, there's that thing. And yes, you get that exciting book deal, and then you just go and you make the same kale salad at your favorite restaurant and you go and you talk with your husband. Then like, whatever, or you sit in one, watch tv. Whatever you do that night. That's it.

That's it. That is it. I know. Like, honestly, my biggest joy right now is like, if I can manage to get Penelope to bed and then sit on the couch with Mike at the end of the day and drink a glass of our locally brewed kombucha and watch Fixer Upper, it is, like, the happiest.

See, I am right there with you.

And I frickin love it.

I know.

It's so good.

I mean, does it make. Does it make the kombucha taste a Little better. Some nights it does, but for the most part it's like, oh, my God. It's like a funny joke. Like sometimes I have this relationship with God, source, whatever, you know, you believe in. I'm just like, we have such a funny relationship. And I just. I always think he's the most humorous. You know, he created humor. So it's like he's so humorous that he does that. It's like, oh, go do all this stuff. But really you're gonna find out that what you're doing. Right? Like that.

That's. That's it.

So, yes, but then it's so good. But how do we learn to enjoy that more? Like, some people might be listening to us who maybe haven't gotten that thing that they think is going to make them happy yet. And they're like, yeah, I don't know. Cause I don't feel that way. You know, how. How can we switch that? Is there something that we can do?

I mean, I really think there are things in life that do make us happy, beyond like the cup of coffee or fixer. Upper.

Right.

Right. Certainly, like surrounding yourself with other people who are on the path to happiness, or at least like conscious of that they can actually do something about it and that it's not just that, like, life is happening to them. I think community is everything. At least for me, it is, you know, consciously spending time with people who I can have the kind of conversations about business, about transformation, about the environment, about, you know, about changing the world. That to me is huge. And we can really do a lot to control who we spend time with. So that's huge. And then also finding work that we love, that's huge. Whether it's at a company that you really believe in, some sort of freelance situation, or running your own business. I mean, running your own business is not for everyone. And I know people who love their work who work for someone else. And some of the people in our team are great examples of that. And so I do think that if you are feeling like happiness is eluding you, looking to. Well, I mean, this is really a total other trajectory. But you gotta get your vitamin D levels checked. Because for me, I used to really struggle a lot with seasonal affective disorder. And like, so the fall was a very hard time for me. And when the sun would start to go down, I would start to panic. And I was really in a depression for a lot of the. Like, starting in October, all the way through, kind of like January, February, it sucked. And then I got my vitamin D levels up and that pretty much went away. So I will say there are sometimes some nutritional things that you can do that make a huge difference. So vitamin D and then making sure you're getting your fish oil is huge. And certainly sunshine exercise. I mean these are fairly obvious but I think a lot of people skip through them. Getting good sleep and drinking water, those are your basics. And then once you've done that then looking at your community and looking at doing work that you love. But what you'll find is that if your physical health is not in order, you're going to really have trouble having the motivation or the willingness to take the actions to steps. And you will automatically only see the worst when, let's say you have low vitamin D levels or you're not getting exercise or you're not drinking water or you're, you know, driving through the McDonald's, drive through for your meals. You're not going to be able to create what you want in many cases because your brain chemistry is going to be off.

It goes back to your whole thing on just managing your energy.

Like managing your energy. Yep.

People think it's like, oh, I need to do that and next thing for my business. But you know, if things aren't moving sometimes it's, I always go back to people. I love that you are equally as passionate about sleep because I'm like, you know, you think your number one is like getting a website, but really it's like you need to sleep more because.

You'Re crazy of your website. Like let's say you need to write really compelling copy. If you are trying to get by on three to four hours of sleep, your copy is going to suck and then you're not going to get the traction. So you're going to spend so much more time and energy than you would need to. If you just did the first thing first, which is sleep, then you're gonna be able to do it in, you know, just a lot faster and get way better results.

I think one of the most freeing things for me has been and I'll, I'll kind of find out what your point is too as far as this. But like I'll feel myself at my computer or you know, I'm writing a book right now and I'll just feel myself kind of pushing and when I feel that it's now I'm becoming really aware of what it feels like for me to go no more, go outside, go recharge or go take a nap. Oh my gosh. I thought of you the other day because What? From your talk. And I was like, no, no, we're gonna nap. Because that would be really, really good for this book right now. Even though I wanted to get out so many words, and instead it was like, it was. I came back to it so much more inspired and recharged and quick. Right? Because when you're recharged, it hits you quickly and comes out and it flows. Whereas before it was like, you know, I could have spent four hours pushing and been really irritated.

Yes. Oh, my God, what a great example. You become a clearer channel for what needs to come through you when you take care of your vessel. The sleep, the movement, the fresh air, the water, the vitamin D. Like, please do those things. Cause your work will be so much better. And I love hearing, you know, like, Richard Branson, when people ask, ask him what his secret to success is, he says, exercise. You know, he's like this world's leading entrepreneur billionaire, and his secret to success is moving his body. Can we not all do that? Like, yeah, we can all do that.

It's so true. It's so true. Whenever I swear, like, running is like my moving, meditation or walking. Anything moving. So. Okay, so if we want to find out more about your workshop, I know that you have. I think you have a video series coming out before it. How can we get that?

Yeah, so I think that you'll have a link right in the show notes. Actually link to that. So I would just go into the show notes and check out the link from Lori to get to the sustainable success workshop. And then everything I'm doing is over@Katenorthrup.com so I would love for you to join me over there. I have a free business clarity and cash creation assessment over at my website. So a lot of the thing that stops people, I think, from getting traction in their business is not knowing. Is like they want to do something to inspire people and help the world, and yet they don't have a clear vision on what that is. And so I walk you through five steps to really guide you and get clear so that you can get the kind of traction that you want. So you can get that over@Kate Northrop.com that is amazing.

And I just want to thank you for how you show up in the world because it's really just impacted my life. And you, you are just that person who proves that. I feel like the more you that you are, the more you truly shift lives. And I just love that about you. I feel like it's, you know, the Kate that I have met now is the Kate that I thought that I knew. And that's just so beautiful. Before I knew who you were. So thank you so much for showing up. How you doing for this podcast today?

Thank you so much for having me. It was a fun conversation.

Yes. And before we end, I always have one last question. Okay, so if you are in an elevator with someone, it's just a really quick ride, like 30 seconds, and they look over at you and they ask, how can I make myself happy? What do you say?

Wow. How can I make myself happy? I think the fastest path to happiness for me is to look at your life and look at the world and find things to be grateful for. It's always like, if I'm in a funk, if I can get into appreciation and gratitude, it lifts me just like a couple clicks out.

Amazing. Thank you so much. And you guys, if you love this episode as much as I did, make sure you share it and go on over to the show show notes and we will see you later.

Have a great day.

Bye, guys. Thank you guys so much for spending this time with me on the earn your happy podcast. I am so glad that you stopped by. If you could take one second to share this episode with someone you think would love it, that would be absolutely amazing and we would be forever grateful. Also, please leave us a review if you feel so moved by going to itunes and leaving us an honest thought, an honest comment, tell us what you think, tell us what you want to hear more of. It would really help us out on our journey to helping thousands and thousands of people. Until then, don't forget to earn your happy. Thanks again, guys.

Bye.

Bye.