Angie Stegall

Executive Wayfinder

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Come to the edge (bravery)

braveryRha Goddess, Founder + CEO of Move the Crowd says:

Now is the time. Even when we’re in the thing we built [a business or career], even when it doesn’t serve us anymore, we’re afraid to make the change. Afraid to make the leap. I believe all of us, if we’re really paying attention, are on the edge of something, some place where we’re being called and invited to be brave, in a way that we haven’t been brave before…”

Whether you’re in business for yourself or working on your career, you might be hearing this call to be brave in a whole new way and make a LEAP.

It’ll start as a whisper, but eventually, if you ignore it long enough, it might get delivered as a 2 x 4 smacking your life or business or career into pieces (ahem…or that may only have been my experience).

On Tuesday, I spoke to the North Carolina Association of Healthcare Quality at their annual conference. My topic was bravery as a tool to effectively manage your time and energy.

Bravery is ALSO a powerful self-leadership tool. It’s one that requires us to do things that scare us sometimes (okay, a lot of times…). To take action in a way we’ve never had to take action before.

But, doing things that might scare us (or plain old intimidate us) requires us to admit the things we want, see the changes that must be made, and to make choices. Then, we’ve got to get into action.

So, I’m curious gentle reader: where in your life, business, or career are you hearing this call…the call that’s asking for a new kind of bravery? Are you listening?

The voice is saying, “LEAP! It’s time!”

And you know it is. You’re feeling the fear as you stand there at the edge, but you’re considering LEAPING anyway.

If that’s you…want to consider LEAPING with me as your guide?

I’m looking for THREE new clients in April – would you like to be one of them?

Warmly,

Angie

P.S. May I ask you to share this post with one or two women? Women who hint around about change or dream out loud about something they really, really want. Women who are courageous and brave and know how to take action…but might be feeling a bit less courageous when they think about this big dream because it isn’t clear…or because it is crystal clear but they are holding themselves back?

I’d love for you to share this email with them. Simply copy the website  link above and send a copy their way via email. The sharing buttons below help, too!.

THANK YOU!

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A presentation of choices

Late last week, a friend of mine forwarded over a link with the note, “This podcast is for you.”
The guy being interviewed on the podcast was Boyd Varty, a South African restoration practitioner and wildlife tracker.
He was explaining how he was creating a life he loved, one adventure and one discovery at a time. It was equally uncomfortable and exhilarating, he shared.
He talked about his curious upbringing (his family was close friends with Nelson Mandela) and the natural world education he received at his family’s protected game reserve called Londolozi. Then he met his mentor Martha Beck (who is also my mentor) and she set him firmly on the path he’s on now: coaching, building digital literacy centers in rural communities, and creating wildlife corridors to restore the environment.
Towards the middle of the interview, Boyd gave an example that was so spot on, I just had to share it with you (partly because I’ve lived this way for a lot of years and am practicing it with vigor this past year and partly because it could radically change your life with this one single realization).
choicesA Presentation of Choices
He started out by saying that as we’re growing up, our culture offers us choices for how to live. You can choose this or that. Think of it like, “You be Pepsi or Coke – you get to choose!”
And you feel great because you get to choose!
Except the problem is maybe you don’t know that those aren’t the only choices available.
While you’re feeling all independent about your choices, feeling like you have agency and sovereignty over your life, what you don’t know is there’s a world of OTHER choices available to you if you start looking.
I mean, for goodness sake, there are rarely ever only two choices. And it is your responsibility to go out and explore the world to see what other choices there might be!
For instance, have you heard of Moxie? It is this obscure soda you can get only in Maine. Or have you heard of kombucha? It’s a naturally fermented drink that tastes so much better than any of soda (including Moxie) that’s on the market today.
Now, truly, some people will be satisfied with the choice of Coke or Pepsi. They feel safer. They like to color inside the lines. They feel safe inside the socially acceptable box. And that is cool for them. More power to ’em.
That, however, is not ME.
And if you’re feeling a burning in your belly right now, you either ate too much spicy food OR you’re feeling me as you’re reading this.
If you’re feeling me and wondering what other choices are out there that you never considered, let me introduce you to my concept of Wayfinding.
Wayfinding is me helping you find your right life (that’s a Martha Beck-ism, as is the concept of Wayfinding). Wayfinding is about helping you create a life and work that you love. It’s about helping you discover what works for you and to let go of what doesn’t. It’s about helping you expand your possibilities until you the find the right fit (and then you can choose joyfully and drop the rest).
And the deal is: deeeeeep down, YOU DO KNOW what you want … you may have just pushed it away, temporarily forgotten, or believe you can’t/shouldn’t have it.
And that’s why you’re burning with recognition right now (or burning with heartburn if you ate said spicy food…in that case, you don’t need me, you need an antacid stat).
It takes courage to look beyond the culturally accepted choices. It takes courage to ask, “What else is possible?” 
I especially honor the ones who take the first step and ask that question. Are you someone who wants to dance with the possibilities, even if you don’t currently SEE them…because deep down…YOU KNOW?
I’m looking for THREE new clients in April – would you like to be one of them?

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Nothing. Nope. Nada. Zip.

Hobbes Feb2018Easter Sunday is a day of brightly colored eggs and fake grass and a lot of ham. I also ate the biggest sweet potato I’ve ever seen and I’m not even sorry.

The other thing I did on Sunday was sit outside and watch my cat chase bugs and lizards and even catch a small vole (which he did not hurt…though I cannot say the same for the lizard…sorry, Mr. Lizard).

Now that my hubby and I live, work, and travel full-time in our motorhome, Mr. Hobbes, the cat, has gone from being a happy indoor/outdoor cat to a being a slightly frustrated walk-on-the-leash-only-outside-while-supervised cat.

We’re at my mother-in-law’s house in Gastonia, NC, for the month of April while I work with a few terrific clients in person. She has a nice-sized back yard that is fenced in and welcomes us and the pets with open arms.

Because of that backyard, Mr. Hobbes and I go out there together and walk around. He wears his smart-looking red harness and I carry the leash.

And we’ve been practicing trust, which is a challenging thing with a cat. 

It goes like this: “Mr. Hobbes – I’m leaving your smart-looking red harness on you, but I’m unclipping the leash. You are free to wander, run, climb, and roll about the backyard at will as long as you stay inside the fence. The minute you try to slip outside the fence, you gotta go back on the leash or we go back inside. Go it?”

I imagine he nods his little orange kitty head in agreement. 

Yesterday found us outside in the backyard enjoying the warm spring weather. And honestly, I think we were out there for over two hours.

Yup – I sat and watch my cat wander the backyard for TWO hours.

That’s all I did.

And I gotta confess – it was gloriously relaxing.

Do I have point for sharing this story? Some deep and thoughtful ending? A sassy question for you?

Nope. Nada. Nothing. Zip.

I just totally enjoyed my two hours, sitting in the grass, watching my cat do his cat thing. And not once did he try escape.

Man, he was happy!

And so was I.

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Unraveling

Yesterday I watched a documentary called The Heretic about Rob Bell (the Christian pastor and author of the book Love Wins).

unravelingAt one point in the documentary, Theologian Peter Rollins says, “Interestingly, the word unraveling is the same as the wordraveling. To ravel means to pull apart. It just doesn’t have the negative ‘un’ bit to it. And a lot of the work of someone like Rob is to say, ‘Don’t fear the unraveling – it’s actually positive.'”

In my world and in my experience, that unraveling has a deeply negative connotation. I don’t want to ravel or unravel. But if has to happen, I certainly don’t want anyone to SEE me doing it!

And yet I have come to learn that the questioning of hard things is the work that matters.

• When you are on your knees begging for an answer, you’re raveling.
• When you’re walking through the forest deep in thought, you’re raveling.
• When you gather in a circle – religious or otherwise – you’re raveling.
• Therapy is raveling. Coaching is raveling. Deep fellowship is raveling.

This pulling apart, questioning the pieces, is precious work. Hard. Revealing. Frustrating even.

But also: Powerful and precious. Necessary and useful. Brave and courageous.

If you are not in the habit of raveling like I am, I’d encourage you to consider how you can incorporate a bit of it into your life. Curiosity in today’s world is a powerful tool, one that isn’t encouraged enough.

The outcomes, though, of true raveling can deepen your faith, strengthen your relationships, and change your life.

Don’t fear the unraveling – it’s very positive.

How about we ravel something together, shall we? (HA!)

Warmly, Angie

P.S. May I ask you to share this post with one or two women?Women who hint around about change or dream out loud about something they really, really want. Women who are courageous and brave and know how to take action…but might be feeling a bit less courageous when they think about this big dream because it isn’t clear…

My GENIUS is diagnosing why and where people are stuck.

I’d love for you to share this post with them. Simply copy the link and send it to them or use the sharing buttons below and tag them.

THANK YOU!

P.P.S: The Heretic was a very interesting documentary for a number of reasons. If you’re interested in discussing it, feel free to reach out.

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Stop what you are becoming

This poem terrifies me for how the truth of it strikes me right in the heart. What if life is asking you to pause and stop what you are becoming?

Sometimes
if you move carefully
through the forest
breathing
like the ones
in the old stories
who could cross
a shimmering bed of dry leaves
without a sound,
you come
to a place
whose only task
is to trouble you
with tiny
but frightening requests
conceived out of nowhere
but in this place
beginning to lead everywhere.
Requests to stop what
you are doing right now,
and
to stop what you
are becoming
while you do it,
questions
that can make
or unmake
a life,
questions
that have patiently
waited for you,
questions
that have no right
to go away.

– David Whyte, Sometimes

We each arrive at that place during different times in our lives when the tiny but frightening requests are so terrifying our only choices seem to be flight or fight.

It is necessary to breathe and relax, though, and to remember that these frightening requests are a beginning…

These request are asking something new of you…NOT to become a a new you…but stop what you are becoming so you can plunge into you…to discover a new layer of you…a more real you, someone full of depth and emotion and color.

When you are on a path and you arrive at this place with these tiny but frightening requests…what do you do?

  • How will you pause?
  • How will you honor their existence?
  • How will you breathe into those requests?
  • How will you begin?

Know that we are not meant to go this alone. I have had the privilege of having guides and helpers through my many tiny frightening requests.

Even today, my helpers include a close circle of business advisors, my wise friend Nancy, and my husband.

If it is time for you to pause on your path and acknowledge one of these requests, I’d be honored to dive in these questions that have waited a lifetime for you to explore.

 

P.S. May I ask you to share this post with one or two women? ​​​​​

I’d love for you to share this email with them. Simply copy the link and send via email or use one of the social sharing buttons below.

THANK YOU!

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Calling the courageous!

courageousI feel like I need to apologize to all of my former business clients. They were hiring a consultant and what they got was something a bit…different…something that required them to be a bit more courageous than perhaps they were bargaining for.
I learned this over the years as my clients started calling me their “business therapist.” See, I’ve always gone straight towards the darkness, to the unsaid, and into the vulnerable parts no one ever wants to show (especially to their business consultant).
My work with them always got them the agreed-upon deliverables, but I have to think it might have been a bit confusing for their business consultant to constantly be asking, “And how did that make you feel?” or “Have you had a transparent conversation about this?” or “What are you pretending not to know here?”
Now that I’ve shrugged off the consultant cape, I’m being fully transparent with clients about my need to go straight to the darkness, into the unsaid, and to dive into the vulnerable parts. I cannot seem to stop myself. Those unexamined places matter!
The good news is the courageous people are really responding to my shift in focus from consultant to Wayfinder! 
And when I say people, I really mean women (though there are one or two guys who continue to show up and I admire them deeply for it). Big courage.
I’ve got a little collection of statements and phrases that my potential clients use when we explore the idea of Wayfinding together.
These glorious women (and the couple dudes) talk about what they want. What they dream about. They swan dive (sometimes reluctantly) into the “What ifs…?”
I’m sharing these statements because I want to know if you see yourself in any of them?
There’s so much possibility here to move beyond the stuckness and the fear. To move beyond the “living small” or staying in the acceptable range.
All it starts with is admitting out loud that which makes your knees knock together a bit.
  • What is it that moves my life? It’s really time for me to get back in touch with that.
  • I want to explore what’s fully possible, but I am afraid to really believe I can have it.
  • I want to follow my heart and I want to be supported in my efforts to dream big.
  • I’m constantly negotiating what’s doable, what’s “enough” or what’s acceptable rather than what’s possible.
  • My brain says, “Self, you just need to make money. You don’t need, at this point in your life, to dwell on some pie-in-the-sky ambition to the live the life of your dreams.
  • I’m aware I make myself “smaller” to fit into more acceptable roles.
  • I’m pretending not to know that I’m not, in fact, too old for this big hairy challenge I keep dreaming about.
  • What scares me just the tiniest bit is I know on the inside I must change course.
Whew! See why I titled this blog “Calling the courageous?” It takes BIG guts to admit out loud what’s been admitted here and I honor each and every statement.
I honor the courageous who are willing to step into inquiry. I honor the brave who are willing to dance with the fear. I love the women who dive in, no matter how shockingly cold the water might feel.
I especially honor the ones who take the first step, because that’s all it takes to move from “stuck” to “I can do this.”
P.S. May I ask you to share this post with one or two women? Women who hint around about change or dream out loud about something they really, really want. Women who are courageous and brave and know how to take action…but might be feeling a bit less courageous when they think about this big dream because it isn’t clear…or because it is crystal clear?
I’d love for you to share this email with them. Simply copy the link above, paste it into an email, and send it their way with a short note about why this matters to you.
THANK YOU!