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Kori Gouge

Transformational Alchemist | Writer

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authenticity

There is no such thing as bad luck

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“Bad luck” either makes a man or destroys him.

 

There is no such thing as bad luck honestly. However, if you have experienced significant losses, faced tremendous difficulties, or been stuck in what feels like an endless cycle of doubt, depression, and debt, it might feel like bad luck (I have been through all of these). It might even feel like the worst thing that has ever happened to you.

 

And this is where you have a choice – will you allow it to destroy you or will you allow it to be one of the greatest gifts?

 

I know this is challenging – probably one of the most challenging things to do, to be honest. Especially if you are in a place where it’s hard to see the way out. This is precisely when you must not ‘get out.’ This is where you actually need to dig in and go deeper. Because if you do right into fixing it, you miss the lesson in it.

 

Everything is always working FOR you, regardless of how it may appear. When you don’t allow yourself to explore what is happening on a deeper level, you are wiring your brain to continue to repeat this pattern. If you give yourself the strength and courage to see this differently and to choose to rewire your system, disrupt old patterns, and create a new way of being, you heal more than your current situation, you heal years of the neglect and mistreatment of your soul.

 

This experience is your soul asking you to wake up.  It is often major losses and intense challenges that are the very things required to wake us up.

 

Most people prefer the path of least resistance. As such, choosing the difficult road is not the first choice. This is why many people stay stuck in dissatisfying jobs, unfulfilling relationships, and less than great health.

 

It’s not great but it’s not quite bad enough to incite change. Until it is…

 

You lose your best friend to cancer. Your business is barely crawling along. Your debt is at an all-time high. Your arguments with your partner are worsening. Your body image and health is about in the toilet. Your self-doubt and self-dislike (loathing) are through the roof.

 

And you know you can’t go on like this. That living in this place is not living.

 

Resist the urge to immediately fix it. Instead of being critical of what you are going through and your response to it, be curious.

 

How is this actually perfect? How is all of this working FOR me?

 

Journal on this without restriction and allow whatever comes up to come up. Let your imagination, not your head to discover the gifts in this “mess.”

 

What you discover there is GOLD.

 

All destruction is in service of creation. Your soul is asking to be birthed anew, to take its rightful place as the driver of your life. Honor this process. The truth is now being revealed so that you can finally be free.

 

Awaken your heart. Ignite your spirit. Activate your soul genius. Set yourself free and RISE UP.

 

I invite you to reach out to me if you are stuck in that old pattern of struggle and deeply desire to be free – free to be aligned with your soul genius, to be living in alignment with your truth, to work from a place of divine power and highest service,  and to be the YOUEST you, fully, unapologetically, confidently, courageously, and abundantly.

 

That is my gifting – guiding my clients back to their TRUE radiant, abundant, magnificent soul. If you’re ready to step into the true you – confident, powerful, prosperous, wise, wealthy, and peaceful, set up your call here:

http://bit.ly/Rebel_Soul

 

In Denver, this Saturday, July 7th, 2:30 – 5:00p pm – Activate your soul genius and light your year on fire! More info and registration here:

http://bit.ly/Soul_Activation

 

Stop all the DOING. Focus on how you are BEING and everything changes.

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There is no way to change your being by your doing.

 

You’ve done all the things. Marked off all the boxes. Followed all the suggestions of the uber-successful coaches. Webinars? Done. FB ads? Yes. Livestreams? Of course. Email marketing? Yep. And the list goes on. Marketing. Networking. Strategy. Systems. Programs. Courses. You’ve done it all. And, now, you’ve lost the light. You’ve lost sight of why you started your business because the business you’ve created is not feeding your soul. But isn’t this what it takes, you ask yourself? I’m doing all the things. But, inside you know this isn’t working. It’s not fun. It’s not you. Your business is no longer a reflection of you and your unique genius. It is now this thing you feed, this thing on your to-do list. And, it sucks. And, that energy  – the energy of striving, proving, doing – it is not only robbing you of your joy, it is also affecting your business. That energy is not attractive and actually serves to repel your ideal clients. This only serves to lower your energy even more as you get frustrated and scared.

 

If you want to turn your business around, it is an inside-out job. You have to start within. You have to begin with your being, not your doing. You can change your doing all you want (and you have!) and it may work for a brief spell but it’s not sustainable. Your soul longs for more – for the whole picture – financial success, significance, impact, incredible health, awesome relationships, the whole package not just the bow.

 

How you are being affects everything. Every. Thing. You can’t hide energy but you can transform it. You can elevate it. You have to BE in the energy of the person who is already living the life you desire, running the business of your dreams, traveling to all the places on your list, engaging in the most incredible relationships, and enjoying awesome health, prosperity and abundance in all areas of your life. NOW. Not when you get a client or complete your marketing or lose weight or whatever it is you place in between you and everything you desire. YOU must BE the person you desire to be NOW. Right now.

 

Once you do that, all the doing flows. You have the exact right words your ideal client needs to hear in your marketing post. You are at the right place at the right time to get asked for a collaboration. Your energy flows from your intuition and your intuition guides you to exactly where you need to be, one step at a time. It is your job to listen, honor, and act on it. Immediately. Without question or hesitation. This is how you invoke the magician – that being inside you who can make something out of nothing, without regard to time or space. Throw off the restraints and start walking. Eyes forward. Trusting the path. Go where it leads you. Be the highest expression of you and you’ll never go astray.

 

If you’re ready for a high-level guide to lead you back to you, to guide you to trust yourself, your authentic self, and your truth, always, no matter what, I invite you to contact me to find out more about working together.

P.S. Coaching requires 100% responsibility. It will not save you if you don’t OWN it and do the work. It will save you by equipping you to save yourself. No, it isn’t a magic pill or bullet. It isn’t a secret formula. It requires work. It requires grit and determination. But the reward is a freedom unlike any other. Freedom from everything that has ever held you back – limiting beliefs, dysfunctional default thought patterns, playing small, and all the reasons (excuses) you’ve ever made about why you can’t have what you truly desire. Because the truth is you can.  

 

Burn all the rules and come back to YOU

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Recently I was reflecting on why I pursued the path of entrepreneurship. I wanted to start my own business because, at the time, I felt like a shell of myself. I was going through the motions. Get up, work out, go to work, go home, go for a walk, eat dinner, read. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

 

I knew there was something more. Something that lit me up. Something that brought me more alive.

 

So I started down a new path. First creating my own business entity as a contractor for a private tutoring company in San Jose, Costa Rica. While there, I pursued my coaching certification, which felt like the perfect next step since I had been coaching and conducting professional development training for the previous six years.

 

Upon my return to the US, I coached for free for close to 100 hours. I eventually got my website up, got some headshots, and worked on marketing. Things should be flowing, now, right?

 

They didn’t. It was fits and starts. I would have clients, then no clients, then clients, and then no clients again.

 

I thought It was my branding, so I invested in a branding coach. Nope. Maybe my energy was blocked, I thought. So I invested in an energy coach. Still no.

 

What gives? I was focusing on the problem to the exclusion of the solution. The solution was to come back to me. To remember why I started down this road in the first place. I wanted to help people transform their lives, rewrite their story from one of struggle and discontent to one of success and fulfillment. I wanted to be location independent. I wanted to determine my own schedule and my own rules yet here I was following rules that weren’t working for me.

 

I believe that creative, fulfilling, financially rewarding work is available to everyone. That is why I began this journey. I saw so much unhappiness, so many lives unlived, so many people going through the motions, not living a life that would light them up.

 

When I lost my best friend to cancer, this became even more clear. This is all we get yet we often stay in unfulfilling jobs, unhealthy relationships, and maintain destructive thoughts and habits. I am guilty of this as well.

 

Not anymore. Settling slowly steals your soul. Discontent is your sign that it’s time to do something different. To stop complaining; stop tolerating frustration and overwhelm. It’s time to declare that you are only available for work, activities, friends, and relationships that light you up, that feed your soul, that stoke the fire inside you. That is why you are here. You are here to shine so brightly that everyone around you recognizes that they, too, have a light to share with the world.

 

Once I stripped away all the rules and blocked out all the noise, what remained was seven core tenets of how I run my business. It’s not a formula where you have to follow these seven steps exactly or it won’t work. It is a foundation that guides everything you do in your business – from enrolling your first client to creating your first $10k month. It informs how you show up each day and leads you to your next right step to continue to grow your business smartly and soulfully.

 

What it does for you is give you the freedom to run your business on your terms. It allows you to show up authentically and powerfully. It allows you to step into being that powerful, passionate, impactful, and prosperous business owner and entrepreneur that you know you are meant to be. And, that, is priceless.

 

If this is speaking to you, I invite you to book a call with me to learn more.

 

This is your time to shine.

 

Believing in you,

 

Kori

Use the power of improv for better planning – Wait, what?

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Many of us have a love/hate relationship with planning. Some love planning, others love to fly by the seat of their pants.

 

There is power in both.

 

It reminds me of the world of improv. As an improv actor, you are making it up as you go but you have prepared beforehand. It makes it a much better show if you have practiced the tools of improv before stepping out on stage.

 

Where I think improv could help with planning is to bring some of its tenets into your schedule.

 

One of the most important components of improv is to let go of judgment. It is more important to get out of your head, get onstage, and let the scene unfold vs worry about what to say and try to be funny. The other part of equal importance is presence. You have to be fully present on stage. You have to pay attention to what is right in front of you. You have to be your curiosity and interest with you.

 

Think about applying this to planning. Give yourself 20-30 minutes of undivided attention to plan/create your day. No distractions. Bring your curiosity and interest to it. What do you most want to achieve or accomplish? Why? How and who do you want to be? Suspend your judgment for that 20-30 minutes and explore what emerges as you plan your day. Be open. Let your imagination and your heart play with your mind. A bit of magic happens when they all come together.

 

To summarize, here are three steps to enhance your planning with the power of improv:

 

  1. Be present. Put your phone on do not disturb. Turn off all notifications. Regard this time as sacred. Take three deep breaths. Honor this time as a space of creation.
  2. Suspend your judgment. Allow whatever surfaces to surface as you plan your day. Make your response come from your inner wisdom vs. your inner critic. Try this as a default statement: Isn’t that interesting?
  3. Be curious. Allow yourself to explore how you most want your day to go and how you want to show up throughout the day. As new ideas flow or resistance creeps in, be interested. What do they want to tell you? Where might they lead you? Imagine yourself at the end of the day. Imagine looking back on the day and ask yourself, “How do I want to feel as my day comes to completion?”

 

Plan your day from that place  – the place of creativity, curiosity, presence, power, and imagination. You’re engaging your mind while equipping it with a new set of tools to discover a new way of being. Use the imagination to power your ideas, use your mind to create the steps, use your body to take the actions. All while keeping that connected to your heart and soul.The goal of this is to invite you to dream big and start small. That is where you create rhythm and find harmony.

 

I encourage you to implement these three steps at the beginning of your work day – before you check your phone, email, the news, social media, etc. Prioritize you and your day. Embrace the power of improv as that is what life ultimately is – improvisation – we are all making it up as we go. The goal is to check in with yourself so you notice what’s working and what isn’t. Then you can make changes so that your life begins to reflect the life you desire more and more. This happens much more quickly when you stop beating yourself up and over analyzing. Simply pay attention with curiosity. Bring your presence to the moment. Because, as author Dan Millman states, the quality of our moments become the quality of our lives.

 

I’d love to hear how you are choosing to show up today. Send me an email and let me know.

 

To more ‘in the moment’ moments,

 

Kori

What mask are you wearing today? (NO, this is not just for Halloween.)

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I used to love Halloween. It was a day where I could be anyone I wanted to be. A 1920’s flapper, a gypsy, a cowgirl, a man, Charlie’s Angels, anything.

 

The thing is you don’t have to wait for Halloween to be anyone you want. You can decide TODAY to show up as the person you desire to be, the person you truly are.

 

Does that feel scary? Many of us have gone through life wearing different masks. This is who I am at work, at home, with friends, in sports, etc. It is like we are always auditioning for the part, trying to get it just right so that we will be accepted, so that we will gain approval. This is exhausting because there is no endpoint. Once you discover a certain mask works, it’s hard to take it off.

 

The question to ask yourself is how do you feel inside? Often, when you put on a mask, you don’t feel truly seen. This leads to self-doubt as you question if people would really like you once they knew who you really were.

 

It can be scary to take off the mask, to allow yourself to be vulnerable, to be exposed.

 

The coaching and online business industry world is full of people wearing masks. It is filled with pictures of yachts, luxury vacations, and designer everything. Much of it is a facade – it is the appearance of success. You don’t know who that person really is without their mask. (This can also make you feel bad if you slip into comparison-itis.)

 

Despite the fear, there is great reward in removing the mask. We all crave being fully seen and known. To feel a sense of belonging from that place of authenticity and realness is profound. Your belonging was not bought, it does not hinge on you being a certain way, having a certain amount of money or prestige. You belong because you are you –  all of the good, bad, and messy parts of you. That is beautiful.

 

In the spirit of taking off the mask this Halloween, I’d like to share with you some things maybe you didn’t know about me.

 

I still struggle with self-doubt though I am getting better at catching it and challenging it more often now.

Though I had friends in high school, I often felt like a loner and I enjoyed time by myself. Some of my favorite memories are running alone in the mountains after school or on Sunday mornings. These times felt sacred to me.

As a freshman in high school, I would often hide in the library during lunch and eat my lunch alone, hiding behind a desk so as not to get caught by the librarian.

In fifth grade, our class spent a week in the mountains at Outdoor Lab. It was one of my most favorite experiences of elementary school. I loved being outside and learning about the stars, trees, animals, and nature. I decided I wanted to be an outdoor lab leader when I was in high school so I could experience that again and be a guide to fifth graders. I applied and was not accepted.

I’ve felt like an outsider at many points throughout my life. I have now chosen to see those times as opportunities to learn more about myself – who do I want to be, what’s truly important to me, what lights me up? It has not been easy but then again, nothing worthwhile ever is.

 

I say, throw off the mask. Share your struggle. Let people in. Allow people to see who you truly are. I know they will love you even more for it.

 

I encourage you to explore what mask you might be wearing, what its purpose is, and how can you discard it. Set your true you free.

 

What mask will you throw out today? Let me know so I can celebrate YOU.

 

P.S. Check out this amazing podcast where James Wedmore interviews Lewis Howes about his new book, The Mask of Masculinity.

This Halloween, the best costume is YOU.

Wins, Authenticity, and Vulerability

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Where are you winning? I’ve been sharing some of my struggles this week – with moving across town, not having the best attitude at times, and making some stumbles along the way.

Since it’s Friday, I thought it would be the perfect day to share our celebrations. Yes, we have challenges, and perhaps your week has been tough, but let’s pause for a minute and find the bits of joy and the wins you experienced this week.

 

Did you work out consistently? Have you extended your meditation practice? Did you finish that project ahead of schedule? Did you speak up for yourself in a situation where you normally don’t? Did you book that trip to Iceland, Cuba, Greece, or Austin? Did you spend time playing with your kids without looking at your phone the entire time? Did you prepare a healthy meal? Did you go to bed before midnight? Did you wake up before your alarm clock? Did you try something new? Did you make a new connection? Did you do something, one thing that scared you this week?

For me, I did an impromptu video – no notes, no fixing the hair and makeup beforehand. I came in from a run and wanted to share some of what came to me during my run. I decided to do it right then – sweaty, face flushed, and still in running clothes. This is getting me out of my comfort zone. I like to prepare. I like to know what I am going to say. I like to write it down. I like to practice it. I like to make sure my hair, makeup, and outfit look nice. But you know what? That isn’t day-to-day life. Yes, we get fixed up and we prepare for certain things, but more often than not, we are some version of a bit of a mess. That’s what I want to share more of – that we are all works in progress. We don’t have a camera crew and a makeup assistant and personal stylist following us around all day. Even the people who do have this help, it is usually just for a specific period of time. Then, after the show, that’s when they let their hair down. I say, let’s let our hair down more often. Let’s let people see us for who we really are – that’s where the truth is and that requires a high level of vulnerability. And with vulnerability comes tremendous growth. That is something to celebrate!

Where can you allow yourself to be more vulnerable? We all crave authenticity and you being the real you is powerful.

So, to end your week, I encourage you to celebrate your wins and celebrate being your most authentic self.

 

Wishing you moments of joy, authenticity, and vulnerability,

Kori

P.S. Speaking of vulnerability, I’d love to hear from you! Reply and let me know what’s going on in your world – what are you struggling with the most? What are you celebrating? Where are you headed? I can’t wait to hear all about it!