Brooke Castillo

Read Your Mind

How can you read someone else's mind?

Have them write down their thoughts.

How can you read your own mind?

Write down your thoughts

I have decided I'm a mind reader.

I read people's minds on paper for a living.

And then I read "to" my clients minds.

I help them tell new stories for their minds.

Sounds simple and it is.

It is simple and unbelievably powerful.

So be a mind reader.

Read your mind.

Decide if you like what you have read.

If you don't, write a new story and read it to your mind as often as you can.

How Does She Know?

I love birds.

I know nothing about them except that I love them.

A few years ago we had a Robin's nest on our deck and we watched the entire process from courtship to those babies fleeing the nest.

This year we have doves.

Doves are so amazing.  They work together raising their babies.

They take turns sitting on the eggs and they take turns watching them when they hatch.

I have sat for many an hour staring at their family.

Mom. Dad. Two Babies. One small nest.

I worry about those babies.

But the momma doesn't seem to.

I 'm not sure if she has done this before-but she is so confident.

She knows what she's doing.

I am pretty sure she didn't take a class.

Pretty sure her mother didn't come by at all to help. (I would've seen her)

She just knows.

She doesn't know to say, "I don't know."

I believe we all have this knowledge within us.  When we listen to our wisdom.

When we know that we know...

That's when the magic happens.

 

 

Thank You

I have a a new practice.

Thanking Myself.

I went to bed early the other night and when I woke up I felt so refreshed.

I said to myself, "Thank You."

It felt awesome.  I mean really. I meant it and it felt good.

So I started doing it more.

I made myself a delicious lunch, sat down at our kitchen table and enjoyed it.

Thank you.

I went on a hike and listened to a great book on tape.

Thank you.

I took the time to wear a cute outfit and do my make up and hair before I went out to run errands.

Thank you.

I did some needed thought work models and felt so much better.

Thank you.

I know it sounds corny, but at the end of the day, I felt appreciated.

I felt gracious and respected all at the same time.

Being kind to myself isn't always easy.

But when someone is kind to my kids, I always ask them, "What do you say?"

And now I am asking you, "What do you say?"  To you?

Which Girl are You?

I most likely am not the prettiest one in the room.

Or the smartest.

Or the richest.

Or the thinnest.

Or even the nicest.

But I am most likely the one having the most fun.

Once upon a time I decided that trying to be the winner of the "I am better than you" contest wasn't any fun.

In fact, it was the opposite of fun.

It hurt.

I never won.  Even when I won-I lost.

So now, I focus my energy into being and having fun.

What size is my dress? How much money do I make? How smart am I?  Did they like me?

But rather....

Was I fun?

 

Stuff

I just went and saw the movie, "I Am".

Amazing.

It's main thesis is that humans are built for cooperation, not competition.

But, one of its finer points really resonated with me.  It was about stuff.

It said that human beings need stuff.

If a human being is outside on a winter night, stuff will make it better.

Clothes, shoes, jacket, heater, house, food.  All this stuff can make a huge difference in how happy a human being is in that moment.

BUT

There comes a point where more stuff doesn't make us more happy.

Once we have stuff to satisfy our basic needs, stuff doesn't do much for us.

Bigger houses, bigger cars, more jewels, more clothes, more food, more wine, more more more.

Doesn't make us any happier than the basic stuff.

In fact, in many cases, more stuff makes us less happy.

More overwhelmed. More trapped. More burdened. More debt. More bills. More storage.

In this movie, they hint that wanting more than what you need is actually a form of mental illness.

Think about it.  You never see nature do this.

Lions don't hoard.

Cheetahs don't have clutter.

Birds don't need a nest and a vacation nest.

The have what they need. And only what they need.

So, what does this mean? For me?

It means, I ask myself:  At what point is my tipping point?  

When does the stuff stop making my life better and start making my life worse?

How much stuff do I really want and need?

And who could I help with all that unspent money?

 

Thought Noise

I just read a great book by Bethenny Frankel.

It's called, "A Place of Yes".  

I loved it.

One of the concepts that she writes about so brilliantly is "noise".

She calls our negative childhood thoughts that no longer serve us, "noise".

She got this concept from a life coach (of course) and I think it is an awesome way to summarize what is going on in our minds at any given moment.

It's just noise.

We try to distract ourselves from the noise.  (Doesn't really work.)

We try to dance to the noise. (But noise ain't music.)

We try to make sense of the noise. (But noise doesn't make sense.)

That's why it's such a great word for our old, recycled, negative, painful thoughts.

Don't turn down the noise.

Don't get used to the noise.

Don't pretend you don't have noise.

Find its source and turn it off.

Then you will be able to hear the real music. Your music.

The beautiful music you might not even know about because of all that noise.

I'm on it

I have been an employee and I have been an employer, so when I talk about being on it I know of what I speak.

No matter what job I have had in my life, I have always worked hard.  Always.  I don't like not working hard-it doesn't feel good to me.  

When my boss asked me if I could do something. I said yes.

I did what was asked of me and more.  Always looking for a way to create excellence.

This is how I have lived my life.

It's astonishing to me how many of the employees I have managed who have not lived this way.

I have worked with people who are more interested in telling me what they can't do. What they don' t have time for. How overloaded they are and how busy they are and how hard it all is.

Just so you know, if you are an employee, this is not something your boss wants or needs to know. There is no upside to this type of blather.

If you have a problem-come to your employer with a solution to the problem-not the problem.

If you have too heavy of a workload-suggest ways to lesson the work and increase the quality.  Don't complain about poor little you.  No upside for you or for them.

If you think you are in over your head, you are wrong.  You got this.  You can do this.  Stretch yourself and ask more of yourself. Show up. Do excellent work.

I  have had employees who were never "on it" who feel entitled to some of what is mine.  They have told me that they want some of what I have.  I agree!  But earn it!  You don't just get it.

I remember when I worked at Hewlett Packard some of my co-workers thought our boss should acknowledge them more and give them raises.  I was seriously dumbfounded by this.  These people came in late, didn't work hard, didn't use their creativity to solve problems, complained about this that and the other thing and then wanted a raise?  Are you kidding me?

Get on it. Do something. Earn it. Then ask for a raise.

Can you take care of this for me?

I am on it.

Can you finish on time and complete your work well?

I am on it.

Can you think about ways to improve this company without being asked?

I am on it.

Consider it done.

Anything else you need?

I have never been fired. Never been laid off. Never been easily replaceable. 

Helped build three very successful businesses that are still rockin to this day.

Why?

Because I'm on it.

Are you?