The Chris Voss Show - The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Lauren St George, Creativity Expert and Change Facilitator

Episode Date: October 14, 2023

Lauren St George, Creativity Expert and Change Facilitator Answerwhatsnext.com Lauren St George is a South African by birth, an American by choice and a global explorer by design. These life experiences have fostered in her an appreciation for the diversity of people's ideas, motivations, strengths, and dreams. She is a coach and a consultant. Lauren specializes in helping people and businesses think more creatively, overcome big hairy challenges and envision a brighter future. She wears her coach hat with What’s Next. What’s Next is a radically different approach to finding more fulfillment in your life. What’s Next’s process is based in brain science, social psychology and the best practices used by the top businesses to drive innovation, plan for the future and yield success and applies them to our personal lives to disrupt comfortable patterns and design true change. Our program approach and tools get people to breakthroughs and jumpstarts change quickly in a unique and engaging way. Lauren wears her consultant hat with Accenture helping internal teams and their top clients solve big challenges – innovate products/services, envision the future, build partnerships, create targeted messaging for specific audiences, and help win projects ranging from $100+ Million - $2 Billion. Before Accenture, she ran Fresh, a consultancy dedicated to helping startups and innovation teams create fresh brand and marketing strategies. Previous to Fresh, Lauren co-owned a boutique creative agency. UnitOne partnered with clients such as Coca-Cola, Georgia Pacific, Hershey’s, Citi, J&J, TNS, and 3M to name a few. Lauren has worked with everyone from individuals to non-profits and from start-ups to Fortune 500s across most industries, geographies, and products + services. Her experiences help to bring multiple perspectives to all her clients. At the heart of Lauren's entire career, the single thread that connects it together is creativity. Whether that is through herr work with marketing and branding, storytelling, coaching or consulting she helps people think disruptively, break through obstacles and reach their bold goals.

You wanted the best. You've got the best podcast, the hottest podcast in the world. The Chris Voss Show, the preeminent podcast with guests so smart you may experience serious brain bleed. The CEOs, authors, thought leaders, visionaries, and motivators. Get ready, get ready, strap yourself in. Keep your hands, arms, and legs inside the vehicle at all times, because you're about to go on a monster education roller coaster with your brain. Now, here's your host, Chris Voss. Hi, folks. This is Voss here from thechrisvossshow.com.

The Chris Voss Show. Who the hell hired an opera singer this week? Maybe we should just have different singers come in and sing the Chris Voss show. That might be a bit. We'll have Taylor Swift to come in and maybe sing it for us. And then next week we'll have, I don't know, Bruce Springsteen or something like that. How much money do we have? That costs five bucks, folks on Fiverr.

So there you go. If you ever need operatic singing of your podcast intro, you can do that as well. But the main benefit is that I don't have to sing it after 13 years of singing that bit halfway through our show. So welcome to the big show, my family and friends. We have the most brilliant minds here. For 15 years, we're coming to you with three to four new episodes a day, 15 to 20 new episodes a week. And if you're not listening to every single

one and taking notes, there is a homework test at the end of the week on Saturdays. And if you don't pass that, then, I don't know, we don't talk to you for the next week or something. Anyway, guys, be sure to further show your family, friends, and relatives. Go to goodreads.com, 4chessch relatives go to goodreads.com 4chesschristmas linkedin.com 4chesschristmas

it's kind of that linkedin newsletter holy crap i think just passed 7 000 and so it's already up to 7100 today like it's just like it just goes up like a like i don't know it's the it's the powerball lottery um and uh go to chrisfoss1 on the tick tock. We have a young, amazing young lady on the show today, and she's going to be talking about her insights and shall. She can help you get unstuck, refocus and overcome fear to live the life that you've always dreamed of. Cause everyone wants to leave,

live the life they've always dreamed of. Is there anybody out there that wants to live a life that they have nightmares about? No, I don't think so. Maybe, maybe King guy, that might go for him. Lauren St. George joins us on the show today, and she is a creativity expert and change facilitator. She helps companies and individuals navigate change, overcome big hairy challenges. That's what some of my girlfriends have called me, a big, hairy challenge.

And imagine bold solutions. She is the founder of What's Next, a one-of-a-kind, highly engaging program that helps people figure out their next best chapter. Often, this need for change is triggered by a major life event, divorce, grief, emptiness, or retirement, or feeling stuck or unsure on what to do next, whether it's your career, your purpose, your happiness. At the heart of all, we're looking to live a more fulfilling life, and Lauren has helped hundreds of people find theirs, and she can help you find yours too. Welcome to the show, Lauren. How are you?

I am fabulous. How are you today i am excellent it's wonderful to have you thank you very much for coming by and enlightening us and educating us give us your dot coms please so people can find you on the interwebages the best one is answer what's next dot com that's where you can find me sign up for my newsletter get an appointment with me whatever you need. There you go. And there'll be a link on the Chris Voss show. So give us a 30,000 overview.

I kind of teased you out a little bit, but give us a 30,000 overview of what you do and how you do it. Well, I would say I'm not your traditional coach because I come from an innovation background, which means I really help people with disruptive thinking, really break out of patterns, think differently, and pursue the things that they've been putting off going after. We all have dreams, but life gets in the way

or fear gets in the way. And so I've found that a lot of the methodologies I use with businesses to figure out what's next for them works really well with individuals. And so that's where what's next came from. There you go.

And I'm taking a look over your website and you talk about, is it time to change careers? Do you have a dream that you want to pursue? Do you want to learn how to pronounce words? If you didn't flunk English in second grade, which I did ready to gain, regain the zest for your life and focus on you and where to start we kind of go through these points that i kind of alluded to in your bio or you kind of alluded to

in your bio that gave me that uh you know we go through times of sometimes uh reformation or crisis or cathartic times or we go hey man is this all there is or hey i'm i'm not really sure that what i wanted is what i uh really wanted you know what's that old line be careful what you wish for you might get what you want uh and some people you know uh they've they've they buy into you know well so uh what is you know society tell me to do uh go to college uh get a job uh get married. And they don't really sometimes give thought as to that process as to like, what kind of quality job do I want to have? What kind of quality marriage do I want to have? What kind of quality life do I want to have?

And sometimes we finally wake up, I think when we get a little bit more, I don't know, mature and aware, and we go, hey, maybe there's something better out there. Maybe I want to do something different. That's my problem in life. I'm so bored with me. Um, this is why we have people on the podcast is because I'm hearing about me probably so is my honey. Uh, so tell us about, uh, what got you down this journey, how you became a coach and why you, uh, you know, what went through your life and said, Hey hey i think i want to help people change wow that's a big question right i mean i think for many of us it's it's you know one thing leads

to the next and it becomes once you as you said get to a more mature age you uh you have a culmination of of life experiences that i think leads you to you know seek your own purpose and um and that was it for me it was really what was what was my next thing um i had run i'd run businesses in the past and and done a lot within the corporate world but uh you know with a lot of good things happening but but finding that the things that i was doing was taking a long time for them ever to sort of see the light of day um and i i found myself doing a master's degree because I always said I was going to do one,

but nothing came along that was interesting enough. I found myself doing one in creativity, which is really the science of how we solve problems. And from that, I found that I could use a lot of that to really help people. And that was far more fulfilling because I could see results in a much quicker way. I'd had people in the past tell me that I should be a therapist and I really prefer to look towards the future

and to really help people get to that next level. So it just became a natural thing for me over time with what I was naturally doing that it came to be. And I find it highly rewarding because I see people making, you know, big leaps in a short period of time. And there's nothing like that. It's rewarding for them. It's rewarding for me as well. There you go. Now you helped a lot of people before that as you were developing stuff

and executives you work with at a company called Accenture, I guess. Small company, yes. 730,000 small, size of a small country. Yeah, I find that, again, a lot of what I was doing there works well in this next chapter for me because at the end of the day, we're solving problems and the process, the natural process that our brains go through to solve problems is what I help people do.

And so when you need to really call up that ability to think through a challenge to come up with solutions and to put a plan into making it happen, that's where I come in. There you go. And you guys help projects ranging from $100 million plus to $2 billion. And now you've translated that into working with Fortune 500 executives, startups, nonprofits in the coaching service you provide. So you talk about the five simple questions people must ask to answer

or ask and answer, I suppose, uh transform your life uh tell us uh what those are tease them out if you can absolutely so first question is where do i want to get to and that's probably the hardest the hardest one of all but i think we all uh we all have that dream we have that that thing that we've been suppressing we've been thinking about we haven't we haven't hit the go button on yet so i think it's really looking at what do i want next uh what's that goal where would i like to be three to five years from now um and and once you have that kind of inkling of of what that is the next question you need to ask yourself is why do i want that because i think at the heart of of why is our is our fuel it's the thing that's going to keep you going um if you can't

answer that question of why i want it then you probably don't want it too badly right that's the one thing i was gonna if i can interject that was one thing i was gonna ask you about do you find sometimes that people think they want something and then when they really ask the why they go maybe you don't want that after all because you know you can always the grass always looks greener on the other side. It's the old analogy, right? And sometimes you really need to probably ask that why and say, why do I really want to go over to the grasses on the green on the other side?

And is it really going to be greener when I get there? Not only do you need to ask that question once, I believe you need to ask that question about five times and peel back the onion. Because the first answer to why is is often very surface level yeah kind of fantasy a little bit yeah well it's not too honest it's it's not as vulnerable as it probably needs to be so uh peel that onion back and really get to the core of what your why is because sometimes it can be that you're trying to escape something and you're you're basically in a mode where you want to be anywhere but here because here might require some self-accountability

and some self-actualization and you know some work do the work and it sometimes you know it's better to escape but uh like uh ralph alder emerson you travel, wherever you go, there you still are. You never get away from yourself. And a lot of people do that. They'll hop from relationship to relationship. They'll hop from job to job. They'll hop from life to life if you're one of those people who believes in that. And I forget the Hollywood actress who was into that.

But, you know, and they'll always find that they still have the same problems. They're still that same person, you know, and they just keep repeating the same sort of thing. So what are the next steps? So the next step, so you know what your goal is. You've kind of got an idea of what you want to tackle next in your life or maybe some huge change you want to make you understand your why which to me is your fuel it's the thing that's going to keep you going when life you know life happens when setbacks happen uh the next question to ask yourself is what's going to get in my way what are the obstacles that i'm going to face because it's never clear sailing for any of us right um so what's what's

going to get in the way um and and the the next piece to that is to really group those things and look at what are the simple things that, you know, the small kind of the annoying gravel in my shoe that's probably easier to overcome. What are those kind of rocks that are going to take a little bit more effort? And then what are the boulders that are going to take a lot of time, a lot of effort, or maybe are not movable at all.

So that's the question is, you know, what are the obstacles? What's going to get in my way? The next question, of course, is how am I going to overcome those? And that's where really getting into problem-solving mode is key and bringing in other people if you can. You know, solving challenges is not an individual sport, and if you've got a support system that you trust and can bring in, I believe the more brains working on a challenge, the better. And then once you've got the obstacles, you know how you're going to overcome them.

You've got to put the plan in place to make it happen. And that's, I think, where the science of getting things accomplished actually comes in because you can have a beautiful plan, but if you don't execute it in the right way, you're probably never going to get to the end of it. And so that to me is about starting off with things that are small and simple to do so that you're getting some quick wins, accounting for, you know, taking good record

of the steps that you're taking, the progress that you're making, because I think we have really bad memories when it comes to progress. record of the steps that you're taking, the progress that you're making, because we are, I think we have really bad memories when it comes to progress. And we'll often look at the things that knocked us down, but not how far we've actually gotten. And then you need to celebrate the wins. You need to celebrate each and every one that happens, because again, it's about keeping that momentum going. Yeah. And you've got to plan. If you don't have a, what's that old line? If you don't plan to win, you plan to fail. Or if you don't, yeah, if you don't, if you fail the plan, you plan to fail, I think is the line. And so making those plans is really important.

When people, how does someone realize that it's time to make a change in their life? When's the best time? You you know sometimes people aren't happy they're miserable they don't really know why how what how is uh what's the best way to identify that maybe it is time to make a change well i think two things come to mind one is now's the time because you probably if you're asking the question you've probably been putting it off that's a really good point you have to kind of you know it's time if you're thinking about it um but truly i think the time is when you have been thinking about long enough um when it gets when you get to that tipping point of enough is enough

um and you've put it off for too long and um and you're worried about you know you're worried about the regrets you're going to have if you don't go down that road definitely that's probably the time yeah yeah and you just you just maybe you recognize you've been miserable for a while that things aren't working the way you thought they were um and then uh what what are some of the tips in your mind that lead to a more fulfilling life what are the identifying marks you know if i want to know if my life's being fulfilling or not, what are some things I need to look for? So there's a framework that I like to use. It's like having a three-legged stool. If one of the legs is off, you're going to wobble. So I believe that there's three pieces to fulfillment. The first is, am I engaged in in something it does not have to be career

but for many people it is so do i feel engaged in something and engagement usually is uh am i doing some kind of an activity where i lose sense of time i feel like i'm in a state of flow i really you know i throw myself into it i'm passionate about it so there's something in your life that you feel engaged in uh the second is am i doing self-care am i doing things that are you know solely for me and that can be small things from taking walks in the morning having your quiet time with your cup of coffee all the way to am i traveling am i doing things that make me personally happy because we we often take care of others first um but they do say you know put your put your oxygen mask on first

when you're going down in a plane. So, you know, you have to have a certain level of self-care before you can take care of people around you. And then the third thing is impact. Are you having some kind of impact? Are you giving back? And that does not have to mean, again, that you're giving money to charity.

It can be for some. But do you feel like you're paying it forward in some way? Are you, are you sharing knowledge with others? Are you helping others grow? Are there ways where you feel like you're having impact? And then those three things are present in your life. You have a pretty even stool and you should be feeling more fulfilled.

Yeah. Cause if your basket's full, then you feel like you're like giving back and you kind of like, I need to do something more with my time. And I've kind of got things under a secure point of thing. How do you motivate yourself? Say I reach that point, like we've talked about, where it's probably the best time for me to change what's in my life. But I don't want to go through the work of planning and doing all the stuff. Like, why can't it just all just come to me on a silver platter?

How do I motivate myself out of inaction to take action and go, let's change my life? Well, I think first you need to look at the cycle of action and motivation. There's times when motivation is present, it's easy to have action. It could be, you know, that's a simple, easy side of things. Usually you're in a place, as you just described, where you have to have action first

in order to feel motivated. So there is a point in time where you just have to force yourself to do something. And the more you do it, the more motivation you have. Case in point, most people know they should be going to the gym, but it's easier to sit on the couch binge-watching a show, eating chips than getting to the gym.

Sometimes we just have to force ourselves to do it. So I believe that once you get things going, once you've started to get some motion, motivation is that much easier. You find yourself feeling better, looking better. It's easier to keep motivated. We all know how easy it is to fall off of that wagon, especially in the exercise department,

but across all parts of our life where it can ebb and flow. And so I think you need to acknowledge that motivation will be present more so at some points and it will kind of recess and it will come back. Ride that wave when it's high, when you've got will kind of recess and it'll come back ride that wave when it's when it's high when you've got a lot of energy and you've got momentum um and then give yourself compassion when you kind of fall backwards a little bit because it'll it'll it'll come forward again but in order to produce action i do believe that you need to find an uh a step that you can take that you can do in less than two minutes. So it may be as simple as I know I want to start doing yoga again.

My first step might be just find my yoga mat. The next day, you know, put on my yoga clothes. The next day, maybe get in the car and drive to the yoga place. Whatever it is that just starts you moving forward, and that's easy, and you can say yes i accomplished that um you have to there's part of you actually has to build trust with yourself that you're going to follow through so you got to do those things that are going to show that you that you uh that you respect yourself enough to do it i like that uh you know that's one of the

things i have where sometimes i don't feel like going to the gym and i think i stole it from arnold schwarzenegger but uh there's some days you don't feel like going to the gym. And I think I stole it from Arnold Schwarzenegger. But there's some days you don't want to go to the gym. And I'm known for beating myself up pretty good at the gym. And sometimes you don't want to go back the next day or, you know, you're just sore. Sometimes you just, I haven't gotten enough sleep and I'm kind of off. And I don't want to go deal with the gym today. And one thing I learned is I go, okay, great.

You don't want to go to the gym. You don't want to lift the big heavy weights and push yourself. Okay, great. We're going to the gym anyway. And if you want to sit on the massage, they got these beautiful, these wonderful, what do they call them? Zero gravity massage chairs. And they do help with recovery. And then there's the jacuzzi and then there's the sauna. Sauna is really good for you, especially if you feel beaten up. Sometimes you go sit in the sauna or jacuzzi and it kind of helps restore you. And I go, okay, well, we're going to the gym anyway. You don't have to do the heavyweights, but we're going to the gym. And just like you said, put the yoga pants on, find the yoga thing.

So I'll go to the gym. And it's kind of funny. As soon as I walk in i smell the place and i get in the environment my brain kind of kicks right back into gear like a muscle and goes okay i'll lift a few weights and then you know i kind of listen some rock and roll and get the get get the juices going in the old brain and and i'm like hey i'll lift some weights and you know then pretty much soon sometimes I'm right back into my routine. And just showing up is half the battle sometimes to getting yourself motivated to do stuff.

So I like what you say. And then, of course, to what you do, being a coach, having that self-accountability partner, that coach who's going, hey, did you do that one thing today? That can make all the difference as well. Absolutely. Accountability is a big thing. Um, I do, I do work with people one-to-one. I also work, uh, with people in a, in a group situation and group coaching, I think is very powerful because of that very thing. Uh, it provides accountability for you. You're going to, but you're also going to show up for other people. You know, if you have a, again, I don't know why I keep using these workout analogies, but if you have a trainer who's waiting for you to show up,

you're more likely to show up for the training session than stay in bed because someone's actually waiting on you. But the same in coaching, if you're showing up for a group, you're going to show up for them and for yourself. And so I find group coaching very powerful. There you go. And years ago when I wrote my first book, up for them and for yourself and um so i find group coaching very powerful there you go and i years ago when i wrote my first book uh i had a i had a group of us that were doing uh accountability

uh we were like an accountability team and everybody would try and write an hour a day and it was kind of like a competition and having that little competition like really helped um knowing that you know hey other people are gonna probably post today they wrote an hour and you're like oh man wow uh and that made all the difference in having someone hold me accountable have somebody coach me to you know give me that kick in the butt when you know we'd have little meetings and be like hey did you do your writing if not uh you're getting a kick in the butt uh you know, we give each other a bad time. So there you go.

What are some good practices to keep motivated to reach the goal? You know, so we do the work that we've talked about so far where you're, you know, laying the foundation, deciding what you want to do, deciding you want to go for it. And, you know, we're making those first steps. How do we keep going through that and make sure we don't get stuck? I think it's some of the things we've talked about. It's definitely accountability. If you can find someone on a similar journey to you and you can work through it together, that's that much easier. You celebrate the wins as they happen and make sure that it's just, it's the small things as well as the big, because again, you want to keep, you want to keep that fuel going. That's

going to keep you motivated to move forward. I think it's having a plan that really breaks it down step by step with, with deadlines so that again, you're holding yourself accountable to some kind of a schedule saying, I'm just, I'm going to get it done sometime. It's, it's unlikely it's going to get done. It's going to get pushed off. I think it's about making it manageable for your life. We all have things that we're already responsible for. We have jobs and families and friends and obligations. For many people trying to make a huge change all at once or in a very short period of time, it's hard. There are certainly risk takers out there who are prepared to make a huge change all in once or in a very short period of time, it's hard. There are certainly risk takers out there who are prepared to make a bigger leap, but I think for most people, it's about making it something that you can fit into your life

that is achievable. A lot of people I work with, it's about, for them, it's about starting their own business or looking for the next career. I think you need to pace yourself to make sure that when you take that step you're taking that step to something that feels more solid um again especially with the people that i work with who are you know 40 plus who do have a lot of those other responsibilities and if you are the you know one of the bread winners or the main bread winner you can't just take a huge leap. Sometimes it feels too risky.

So making it manageable, make sure it fits into your lifestyle so that you can achieve it over time. And then I think it's about being consistent. Like you said earlier, no one's going to hand it to you on a silver platter. It's not going to happen overnight. So remaining consistent even when you don't want to um is is the thing you just got to keep in mind just keep going even if you're not seeing the

results keep going because one day you will that's true and sometimes you're laying the foundation and it takes a while sometimes for the lights to go on and then one day you've built you've built it and you put that final nail and you don't sometimes realize it because you're working away and all of a sudden the lights go on and everything's working and you're like, holy crap, that worked. So one thing you talk about is people that suffer from imposter syndrome. How can people avoid that, gain confidence? I hear a lot of people talk about that these days i think imposter syndrome tends to happen around things that we care most about um and it's fear it's fear of losing something um usually for a lot of people it's around career and i think the thing that you need to do is really take stock of what got you there because it likely didn't

again happen overnight. And so taking a step back and really taking the time to write down because, again, seeing things on paper makes it more real. How did it get you? What are the steps that I took? What were the experiences, the wins, the expertise that I've gained over time? And I think if you can validate why you're in the room to yourself, that imposter syndrome starts to go away. Another thing with imposter syndrome is definitely it's linked to self-confidence. And self-confidence is not something that I write one list and all

of a sudden I'm good to go. It's something that you've got to chip away at. And so I believe that if you have that list that shows you all of those accomplishments, the experience, the expertise that's gotten you to this point, and you keep referring back to it, you will have something that over time helps you to lessen that voice that's in your head. I think it's also about understanding where that voice in your head is coming from, because it doesn't always mean that what you're hearing is reality. It's not always truth. So stepping back and saying why do i feel this way um what's causing me to believe that i shouldn't have a seat at the table um and i think again peeling back the onion if you if you start to really look at why why am i afraid that i'm in the room you may get to a very different answer that then i don't believe very different answer than I don't believe that I have a place at the table. It could be that there's some other fear that's playing out

at that moment for you. But I think, again, you're there because you worked to be there. Uncover why you believe that you shouldn't be there. And I think that those two things will certainly help to chip away at that imposter syndrome and build up the self-confidence. So it sounds like you're saying reframing your perception of where you are and who you are, maybe some gratitude as to what work you put in to get there and reframing it so that you're asking different questions that really identify your true value absolutely questions are powerful things yeah and sometimes

we need a reframing like sometimes it's it's it's not so much what we have or where we are but it's about asking different questions and sometimes we get in these loops in our little brains that, you know, constantly feed us stuff, uh, you know, and it, this R2D2 reticulating activating system that we have, you know, if we start thinking, well, I'm not good enough, I'm not good enough. Your brain starts telling you, well, you know, you're not good enough. You know, you're kind of stuck at this. Uh, yeah, you're kind of an imposter, but if you really look at, like you said this uh yeah you're kind of an imposter but if you really

look at like you said what got you there i mean you didn't fall out of the sky and land there i mean maybe some people did do people do that still i don't know i think they did in the 50s or is that aliens i get that confused um you talk about creativity and how it can change people's lives how can people use creativity to improve the quality of their life? Well, you know, first of all, I think creativity is often mislabeled as artistic ability. So people say I'm not creative, thinking that they can't draw, they can't paint.

Creativity is actually the ability to come up with new and novel ideas. Basically, it's problem solving. So it's something we all can do. It's a muscle like any other that you can strengthen over time. And there's simple games and things that you can play to help build that muscle. But I think the way that it changes your life is that there are principles that underpin creativity. And I think that they help us to really ride change.

And those are things like, actually, you just mentioned it, being able to ask provocative questions. Solving problems comes down to, I think, the questions that we ask. And if we ask the right questions, we will get far better answers out of them. So for example, if someone says,

you know, I want to build a bridge, the question would be, well, why do I want to build a bridge? I want to get to the other side. Well, do you really need a bridge to get to the other side? What is it? Why do you need to get to the other side? Well, I want to deliver a message. Okay, well, do you need a bridge to deliver that message? The more you can ask those questions that really chip away at it, you'll get to, you know, you'll get to a better place where you can be, you can solve a problem in a new and different way. And so maybe that message you needed to get across, you can just email it, you don't need the bridge. So asking provocative questions will help you get to that. I mean, I think another piece that helps us to be more creative is really adopting uh a yes and mindset so yes and comes out of the uh the world of improv comedy which is you

know if you're having a conversation with someone uh if if they give you an idea uh if you would immediately say no you've completely ended the conversation you're not going to go anywhere so a yes and uh yes and mindset is that when people present you with ideas when you're not going to go anywhere so a yes and uh yes and mindset is that when people present you with ideas when you're having conversations build on it say yes and keep going it might not be the best idea to begin with but the more you can build on it the more you can grow an idea um it also counteracts that that reptilian part of our brain that's there to keep us uh safe um it's it's uh it's our original brain and it's uh was there to keep us safe when we were being chased by willy mammoths these days we're not being chased by willy mammoths but anything

that is perceived as as being threatening to us uh will trigger that fight or flight response and so change new ideas uh you know a spouse is saying something and then you find yourself immediately going, no, that's usually that fight or flight response going, oh, that's threatening, that doesn't feel comfortable, that's breaking the patterns. And our brains like predictability, they like to run on autopilot, they like patterns. And so that yes and mindset helps to counteract when your brain immediately goes no to an idea, you actually force yourself to say yes, and build upon it, you're going to get to a much more fruitful place. So that's a principle from creativity that I think can anyone can use

in their life right now. Awesome sauce. So as we round out the show, tell us how you work. Some of the coaching you can do. I've been looking over your website. You've got several programs and ways that you coach people and a newsletter. Tell us about some of the ways that you work with people. So I have a group coaching program, and that's usually for people who are starting in a place of really feeling stuck and uncertain. They know they want change. They know that something's going to give, but they're not quite sure what it is that they're heading towards.

So maybe you don't know what that goal is. So the group coaching is a great place for that because it gives you the accountability. It's giving you a group of people who become your sounding board. It's a small group. It's usually four to seven people. And you'll get new thought or thinking. You'll get different expertise and experiences and backgrounds that will hopefully break that cycle.

You just keep asking the same questions, you're going to get the same results. So that kind of breaks you out of that. For people that are a little further along or prefer one-on-one coaching, I do one-on-one coaching as well. If you have that goal in mind, but you want accountability, you need to help putting that plan together, then someone helping you overcome the obstacles as they happen, If you have that goal in mind, but you want accountability, you need to help putting that plan together,

then someone helping you overcome the obstacles as they happen, then coaching can be a great thing for that. There you go. So either group or one-on-one coaching. And it looks like you do the group stuff over a six-week period. I do. There's a set framework that we use for that. Starts off with reacquainting yourself with yourself. We lose a lot of things along the way,

the things that we were once passionate about or ideas we had that we didn't pursue. So we start off there and we work through figuring out what that next chapter looks like, getting ideas on how it's going to happen, putting the plan in place. So over six weeks, we cover a lot of territory, which is great because it really jumpstarts people's next chapters.

Awesome, Sauce. So how can people onboard with you? I notice you have a book a call discovery appointment people can make. Tell us how that works and people can find out if they're a fit and work well together with you. The best way is to either reach out to me through the website or to book a call. We can discuss

where you're at, where you're trying to get to, and see if it's a good fit. And if I'm not a good fit, I always like to give people resources and ideas as to what they can do next. There you go. So if you think you want to make the next steps in life, if you think you want to go to the next level,

you know how to reach out to her and do it. Give us your final pitch as we go out. Yeah. So, you know, onstowhatsnext.com, sign up for my newsletter. We have a weekly newsletter that'll give you some tools, some inspiration to really help you get to the next level and pursue that dream that maybe you've been putting off.

There you go. You know, folks, if you think you're done, you're probably done. So there you go. You just need to find if the next step's going to be the right thing to do. Because I meet a lot of people that think they're done and sometimes they're just escaping from self-accountability

and escaping from themselves and whatever mess they've created. And really you should probably just work on cleaning up your mess, but you also need coaches and help for that as well. So thank you very much for coming on the show, Lauren. We really appreciate it. Thank you. I enjoyed our time together.

There you go. Thanks so much for tuning in. Go to goodreads.com, 4chesschrisfast, linkedin.com, 4chesschrisfast, youtube.com, 4chesschrisfast, and chrisfast1 on the tickety-tockety. Thanks for tuning in go to goodreads.com for chest christmas linkedin.com for chest christmas youtube.com for this christmas christmas one on the tickety-tockety thanks for tuning in be good to each other stay safe and we'll see you guys next time