This is a replay of episode 29 with Kim Nicol. Kim's journey from marketing, to law, to mindfulness and meditation is an inspiration for anyone who feels stuck at their jobs or in their career. There's a lot we can learn from Kim, so check out our great conversation.
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Kim Nicol teaches meditations and mindfulness and has helped thousands of people find calm in everyday moments. In this episode Kim talks about how she went from marketing, to being a lawyer, to becoming a mindfulness and meditations teacher. She also talks about how to relate to others and the many different ways she helps bring mindfulness into people’s everyday lives.
Here are three things you can learn from Kim:
Your journey doesn’t need to be linear
Many people settle for their lot in life. They went to college, got a job, and are stuck there. At least that’s the thought. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Many people think of life as a singular path, but it’s much more complicated than that. Kim’s path took her from marketing and branding, to being a lawyer, and finally to her calling as a mindfulness and meditation teacher.
If you feel like you can’t do anything about your job, think again. Look at Kim as an example, and remember, many other people are finding their way too.
How high powered people can overcome stress
People in positions of power often get stressed because they can’t control everything. They lived most of their lives getting what they wanted, but when things don’t go exactly as planned, they stress out over it.
The best way to overcome this stress is to shift your perspective. It doesn’t do any good to get angry over something you can’t control.
Instead take a breath and decide from a place of calmness. Explore your options and shift your relationships, choices, and momentum so you aren’t burning energy.
Advice on getting started with meditation
When people here meditation, they often think of monks sitting on the floor chanting to themselves. This often turns people away because they are daunted by how intense it can be.
The good news is, meditation comes in many forms. It doesn’t need to be that intense or intimidating.
If you want to get started with a mindfulness or meditation practice, Kim advocates starting small. People often give up because they start off trying to meditate for 20 minutes. Instead, start with a 3 minute meditation and increase the amount of time as you become more comfortable with it.
Kim also advocates approaching your practice with a sense of curiosity and adventure. Don’t worry about getting it right. See how you can make it fun.
A recap of episode 67 of the Cracking Creativity podcast. If you liked it, check out the full episode with Marcella Chamorro where she talks about letting go of your ego, getting into creative flow, and becoming more mindful.
Marcella Chamorro's creative journey hasn't been a straight line. Her career path didn't reveal itself to her until well after she graduated from college. In fact, she took multiple detours including working at a non-profit, getting her masters degree, and starting a web design business, all before finding her true calling.
She only recognized her true calling of writing, photography, and technology after running her web design business. Through these mediums she is able to help people tap into the serenity and enjoyment they crave.
In this episode, Marcella talks about letting go of your ego, getting into creative flow, and becoming more mindful.
Here are three things you can learn from Marcella:
Let go of your ego
One of the problems we face as creatives is letting our ego get in the way of creating something truly great. Often times we tie our self worth to our achievements or the amount of money we make.
Marcella believes those things fed directly into her ego. "The main thing that I had realized was that for a long time, I had been attached to my self worth, to my achievement, and to my ability to make money. And that was feeding my ego so much. Like I made this much this month or I landed X client, or whatever."
When Marcella decided to close down her web design business, she was prepared for the blow it would make on her ego. She knew she wouldn't be making any money, but she also believed it would help her peace of mind. "It was more of a blow to my ego and one that I was looking forward to. So I knew it was going to be an adjustment and I knew the area in my life where I needed the most growth... That's kinda what I felt was holding me back from peace of mind... So I decided, you know what, you think that you're cool cause you make money, how about you make no money and see how that feels."
Our egos often get in the way of being at peace with ourselves. We let it control what we do. We let it drive our ambitions and our lives. But if we are willing to let go of our egos, we open ourselves up to greater possibilities.
Getting into creative flow
One of the problems we often face as creative people is tapping into our creative flow. We know that energy, or spark of ideas, lies within us, we just don't know how to tap into it when we need it.
Marcella believes discipline is the key to tapping into that creativity. "For me it's a lot about discipline. It's a lot about repeating routines over and over, and just kind of triggering that in my brain, and say 'Oh yeah, it's time to write now,' and not having to use a ton of willpower when it's become kind of like a system... In my experience, if I plan things in advance, there's not creative flow."
Another important thing we need to get into flow is working on things that matter to us. We need to choose topics that really speak to us. We need to let it come to us and let go of our ego when creating. "I need to really be feeling a certain topic to... really get into that creative flow. So for me, it's kind of spontaneous and... it definitely has a lot to do with letting go of the ego."
Become more mindful
When you work in a creative field, your mind often wanders. Your head is filled with so many ideas that it becomes hard to concentrate. That's why it is important that you build a mindfulness practice.
A Mindfulness practice allows you to clear your head. It allows you to live in the present moment instead of always living in your head. Marcella's practices mindfulness by concentrating on her senses. "The main mindfulness practice for me are my five senses. I use my five senses to just reconnect with what is instead of what I'm thinking about. So either I'll stretch and feel my body... one of my favorite ones, just because it's so easy, is to just sit and hear everything. So really listen to all the sounds that I'm ignoring the majority of the time."
Marcella believes taking breaks helps her get back into creative flow. She believes those breaks, even if they only last ten seconds, help her get through lulls in her productivity. "I try and really check back in to my surroundings via what I'm hearing, what I'm listening to, and then I get back to work. And it could be 10 seconds, but I realized when I did that that I got through that hour of writing or that email or whatever, however long it took, and I felt kind of energized and not depleted."
Read more shownotes for episode 67 with Marcella Chamorro
Kim Nicol teaches meditations and mindfulness and has helped thousands of people find calm in everyday moments. In this episode Kim talks about how she went from marketing, to being a lawyer, to becoming a mindfulness and meditations teacher. She also talks about how to relate to others and the many different ways she helps bring mindfulness into people's everday lives.
Here are three things you can learn from Kim:
Many people settle for their lot in life. They went to college, got a job, and are stuck there. At least that's the thought. It doesn't have to be this way.
Many people think of life as a singular path, but it's much more complicated than that. Kim's path took her from marketing and branding, to being a lawyer, and finally to her calling as a mindfulness and meditation teacher.
If you feel like you can't do anything about your job, think again. Look at Kim as an example, and remember, many other people are finding their way too.
People in positions of power often get stressed because they can't control everything. They lived most of their lives getting what they wanted, but when things don't go exactly as planned, they stress out over it.
The best way to overcome this stress is to shift your perspective. It doesn't do any good to get angry over something you can't control.
Instead take a breath and decide from a place of calmness. Explore your options and shift your relationships, choices, and momentum so you aren't burning energy.
When people here meditation, they often think of monks sitting on the floor chanting to themselves. This often turns people away because they are daunted by how intense it can be.
The good news is, meditation comes in many forms. It doesn't need to be that intense or intimidating.
If you want to get started with a mindfulness or meditation practice, Kim advocates starting small. People often give up because they start off trying to meditate for 20 minutes. Instead, start with a 3 minute meditation and increase the amount of time as you become more comfortable with it.
Kim also advocates approaching your practice with a sense of curiosity and adventure. Don't worry about getting it right. See how you can make it fun.