Why do we do that to ourselves?

So much pressure to know what the end result is supposed to be. Where’s the fun in that?

My belief is that the most resonant and aligned lives aren’t pre-drawn but created…not from grand strategy, but from small signals.

From breadcrumbs.

In psychology, Hazel Markus’ Possible Selves theory suggests that we are constantly guided by imagined versions of ourselves–who we might become, who we hope or fear becoming. These visions shape our motivation, our choices, and our identity.

But those selves rarely arrive fully formed. Those future selves beg us to pay attention to subtle clues that might appear first as nudges or whispers. They are resonant moments bursting through the noise of life from what I call the breadcrumb frequency.

Breadcrumbs are the emotional spikes or subtle energetic hits we get when something “clicks” even if we don’t know why. They’re not always loud and they usually don’t explain themselves. But they stay.

Breadcrumbs and Possible Selves share common ground in that both rely on a process of noticing. One notices our imaginative process while creating a vision of a desired future self and the other notices moments that land differently than the rest. We use those moments, and the imagining of future selves, to allow flexibility in our becoming.  

• One is an imagined self, pulling us forward.
• The other is felt resonance in the moment.

Building with only blueprints and being married to the outcome can override noticing because we become obsessed with following plans.

I don’t know many life plans that go exactly as drawn. Do you?

If you’re open to building in a new way, with a scaffolding that moves with you, check out The Breadcrumb Frequency (dropping in July) for exercises I’ve used with hundreds of clients.

It’ll help you build your future best self. Clue by Clue. Breadcrumb by breadcrumb.

The post Under Construction: Without a Blueprint appeared first on Live Your Genuine.

Ya know when you feel something whispering, or tugging at you? It feels like it’s just up ahead but not fully formed.

It doesn’t come with a plan. It doesn’t come at ya as a five-step process. Only a sense.

There are times when it whispers louder in your journal. or as a quick memory, or it suddenly sneaks into a random conversation. Sometimes it’s a download from the ether.

It feels more like a breadcrumb than a blueprint.

I’m not much of a blueprint follower. My default is navigating with intuition. So, when I was inspired to write a book about lessons learned from clients as they bravely changed careers, I followed the nudge. Thought it would put a bow on my coaching career as I wound down my practice.

With a clear concept, meaningful stories, and a draft that was almost finished, I felt that I was where I was meant to be. Doing what my energy was calling me to do.

And then something strange happened.

A line I heard in my head 15 years ago — a “download” — came back with clarity and energy I couldn’t ignore. I suddenly realized what that sentence meant.

Suddenly, what I thought was my first book felt like preparation for the real one. The one I hadn’t planned for. Honestly, I couldn’t have planned for it.

That’s how I found myself rebranding, rewriting, and returning to something I didn’t realize I was always meant to say.

I had to feel my way in and trust my way forward. And I mean full-on trust. Stepping and moving when the energy said step and move. Pausing or stopping when it said, “Okay. Enough.”

Maybe you have something halfway built or in some phase of construction and wondering if it’s okay to change direction. To let go. or pivot toward something that’s calling to you, even if it doesn’t come with guarantees. Even if you’ve sunk so much time into the other thing.

If so, this is for you because the clearest paths don’t always come from strategy. They come from intuitive breadcrumbs.

From noticing the quiet whisper that won’t be ignored.

No blueprint told me to shift gears. But the breadcrumbs? They were everywhere.

You, too, may find that the things you thought were curious distractions or dead ends were actually preparing you for something more aligned.

Maybe you’re not writing a book but navigating a career shift, a calling you can’t quite name, a strange sense that something wants to change.

Maybe you’re learning to trust the part of you that knows before it can prove.

If so, welcome. You’re not lost. You’re building with breadcrumbs, not blueprints.

The Breadcrumb Frequency will show you how.

The post When You’re Called to Follow What Doesn’t Make Sense (Yet) appeared first on Live Your Genuine.

Breadcrumbs, Not Blueprints is for anyone who:

• Has ever struggled to trust their own knowing.
• Says “yes” when they mean “no”
• Hears the “no” from naysayers (out there and in their own mind) louder than their intuition
• Apologizes for changing their mind and falls right back in line with others’ expectations
• Second-guesses their process of becoming who they are because it doesn’t come with a checklist or roadmap
• Feels like they need permission to follow their curiosity – no matter how crazy it seems

It’s for:

• Those who want to live more honestly and more in tune with what’s true for them.
• The people pleasers and boundary beginners
• The brave ones walking away from old roles or ways of being that don’t serve their highest use
• Adults learning how to say no without guilt — and maybe for the first time, yes without shame
• And it’s especially for anyone who was never taught that “maybe” is a valid, sacred, soul-honoring answer.

My words won’t tell you who to be or what is important for you. But hopefully they will help you remember that your curiosity, your energy, and that little whisper you’re so good at quieting are all waiting for you to trust and follow.

Because when you do that, the breadcrumb trail shows up on the way and leads you back home to yourself.

So, yes, it’s always been you. And of course, I’m writing for me, too. This new direction as a writer is part of my breadcrumb trail. Thanks for joining me.

Trust your energy. Follow your curiosity. Live your genuine.

The post It’s Still You appeared first on Live Your Genuine.

It’s extra frustrating because I’ve been pondering who we are without all the “shit” after a particularly (en)lightening bout with a detox tea about a month ago.

Of course, I’ve felt light as a feather (as we all do) on those particularly strong-coffee mornings, but this tea experience was the first time I tapped into an embarrassingly human metaphor about what happens when we’re blocked.

I started wondering about how letting go of loads (ha!) of built-up crap of all kinds…spiritual, mental, and the dropping-the-kids-off-at-the-pool kind.

(This insight could have been used for all its worth while I was actively seeing clients. Anyway…)

I know I’m not the first and this isn’t new stuff, but I began wondering if there wasn’t something more important about detoxing than I realized. Maybe a byproduct of detoxing on the physical level is to help us ask, in the macro way, who we are without carrying the junk we shouldn’t be carrying.

Clenching, probably can’t be entirely avoided as we cycle through life but I don’t think we’re meant to live in that state.

The next version of you doesn’t have room for storing all this heavy stuff.

Don’t you want to know who you are without all the shit?

Check this out: The Breadcrumb Frequency…and try a good detox tea while you read it!

The post Who Are You Without All The💩? appeared first on Live Your Genuine.