Transcript
David Brower: Mindful just seems to be one of the buzzwords in everything the last couple of years, doesn’t it? Mindfulness, be mindful about this.
Julie Coraccio: I think it’s so important though, because I think for so long we haven’t been mindful. It’s about bringing it into everyday life. You can say, “Well, I can be mindful when I meditate.” What I’m saying is, let’s be mindful when you’re at home, or when you’re working in your business, and making those little shifts, which I believe can have a huge impact on your life.
David Brower: Chief possibility officer, I love that. How did you come up with that fabulous title?
Julie Coraccio: Well that has been working with, I work with a coach, I’m a firm believer of that. I also do some women’s group. It’s happened through my work with her. What she always says is, “In the province of my mind are mind over limitless, so what else is possible?” I have a big sign as I glance over here in my office, and I always ask myself that, “What else is possible?” I’ve seen it in my own life. Where like, “Okay, I have this little goal.” And boom, something else pops out, which was better than I could have even imagined.
David Brower: How cool is that?
Julie Coraccio: That’s why, yeah, don’t limit ourselves. Really, we can create the life that we choose. It’s just our mind, and we limit and stop ourselves.
David Brower: We are our own worst enemy, aren’t we?
Julie Coraccio: Oh, without a doubt. I include myself in that statement absolutely.
David Brower: Yep. You’re an author, what have you written? It looks like you have your own podcast, but you’ve got a book also, right?
Julie Coraccio: “How to Declutter your Life.” It’s a course that you can do via video or via workbook.
David Brower: How fun!
Julie Coraccio: Yeah. It took my a year to do it and I felt like “Oh my gosh! It’s like I’m wading with molasses.” I’m thrilled with the final…and I’m going to have some books up on Amazon. I had to, truthfully, get through a big hurdle like, “Oh my gosh! Do you want to open yourself up and get rid of my fears and doubts?” We’ve got some stuff we’re working on, some books to get up on there as well.
David Brower: Good for you. Fear is an amazing topic isn’t it? Several of my guest, probably including you, could probably do a whole podcast just on fear.
Julie Coraccio: Without a doubt. Without a doubt because that’s really what stops us. Was it Franklin that said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Really when you break it down, it’s false. It’s false evidence appearing real. Most of the time our fears are made up. They aren’t what we think they’re going to be.
I used to do a show where I would interview body and mind and spirit experts and every single person that was on the show as well as my own personal experience, healing sometimes there was this fear of actually doing it. When we went through the process we discovered, “Oh my gosh! It was so much easier to heal and do the work than to hold on to the fear, and the anxiety and the energy of taking that first step and thinking “Why didn’t I start this 10 years ago?””
David Brower: Isn’t that the truth. I’ve been doing voiceover for a long time and I was working part-time as a director of marketing for an automotive group up until this fall and I wanted to go back and do voiceover work full-time. I was fearful of that, of losing that real paycheck. I made the leap of faith and did it, and struggled through it.
And whatever it was said, “Okay, here we go.” My wife looked at me a couple days later and she said, “I don’t know what you did, but you faced your fears and it’s obvious.”
Julie Coraccio: You shifted.
David Brower: I shifted. My business has been going great and that was September 30th of last year. So [inaudible 00:04:09] of facing the fear was really a big deal.
Julie Coraccio: That tells you, again, what else is possible and that this fear is just false evidence appearing real and doing it. I did the same thing with my business. I took a leap of faith. I turned 40. I wasn’t married at the time and I though, “What’s the worse that could happen?” Truly, I was in a really awful job which I’m grateful for everyday because if they hadn’t had been so horrible to me I don’t know that I would have had the courage to just jump out there and start my own business and I thought “Eh, what’s the worse that can happen? If the business doesn’t take off I’ll find another job.”
That was my attitude and it was really freeing because it really allowed me to go for it. I don’t know if I would have otherwise.
David Brower: Boy, that is the truth. I mentioned a moment ago, we are our own worst enemy and we get in our way. But sometimes that sense of comfort and this is my comfort zone, whether it sucks or not, it’s really hard to break away from that piece of crap job until you really face your fear.
Julie Coraccio: I feel so many, this breaks my heart because I feel a lot of people are trapped I jobs that they absolutely hate. I don’t remember where the quote is from or if it was from a play about how many people live lives of quiet desperation and I don’t want to be one of those people. Thankfully, I’m not and there is no judgment for people who are in that place or space, except that I don’t want to be there and that I hope that I can support people in making that shift and moving out of that if that’s somewhere where they’re stuck.
David Brower: Absolutely right. That’s often times, I think again based on my own experience and people I talk to, often times you’re in that place because it’s what your used to.
Julie Coraccio: Yes and you can’t see another way out.
David Brower: Right, right. And then all of the sudden somebody goes, “What the heck are you doing? Why aren’t you over here doing that?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think it was possible.”
Julie Coraccio: Right. Ask yourself what else is possible and expanding. At a certain point in my life, I couldn’t have seen past my nose, but as I’ve grown and worked on myself I can see the horizon, I can see past that, I can see into space or however you want to say it. But I broadened my perspective and when you’re able to do that, you can say, “Wow, that really is possible. I can move forward. I can change that. I can do that.”
David Brower: Often times I think we have to hit the bottom of something before we figure out we have to bounce back out of that and find a new way to place ourselves. Right?
Julie Coraccio: Yes and to make changes. The thing that I want to emphasize that I think is really important, and I had to learn this lesson, everything is choice. Doing nothing is a choice because so many people because so many times people will remain passive and say, “I don’t have a choice,” but that’s not true. Doing nothing is a choice. And again there’s no judgment. To me that’s about having that awareness, having that “Ah-ha,” moment. “Oh, I do have a choice and doing nothing is a choice.”
I really belief that. Again, use what language, what makes you feel good, what makes you comfortable. Remember, if it doesn’t feel right you’re not going to be able to attract or create what you desire. Ask for help and ask for guidance. That’s the first part. I know, as a woman, it used to be really difficult to ask for help. I couldn’t do it. That has been a big switch for me.
The second half of that is when you ask for support, then listen. I believe you are being given signs all the time. It’s whether or not you are open to it and paying attention.
David Brower: Could not agree more. That is absolutely right, at least in my experience. When you look at all the opportunities, when you’re in a place where your mind is open to receive what’s possible all of the sudden you go, “Really? Really? Really?” And then you get goosebumps. I just got goosebumps right then. And you figure out a way to put your toe in the water.
Julie Coraccio: Even if it sounds nuts. I remember something crazy happened and my intuition was like, “Just throw this out there. Just throw a T.V. show out there.” I’m like, “Okay really?” And I did it. It didn’t make any sense and nothing has happened with it and that’s okay and I don’t know if it ever will. Except what I believe was important for that is I listened to my intuition. I trusted it and followed it. You never know where something leads. When I look back on my life and how things have unfolded, it hasn’t been from the likely source sometimes. You just never know what you put out there, how it’s going to come back to you in a different way.
David Brower: I agree. My experience is the same. I was in radio for a very long time and I would think of these programming things to do. “Let’s play love songs. Nobody’s doing that.” That was a bust. Two years later, everybody in the world was playing love songs.
You think of things sometimes but it’s freeing to be able to experience defeat, I think.
Julie Coraccio: Absolutely. I don’t think of myself when I make a mistake. I’m making quotation marks here. If I’ve learned from it, how is it a mistake? How am I supposed to be better or learn? I can’t if I don’t make mistakes. Look at someone like Michael Jordan who was cut from his junior high basketball team and is probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest basketball player in the world. You think, “Wow. If it can happen to him.” That’s why I think it’s really important to not let people get into your head and tell you what you can and can not do. Sometimes, whether it’s a parent, whether it’s a family member, whether it’s a friend, sometimes we have to be really careful about who we tell our dreams to and who we tell our desires to.
There are the naysayers out there who maybe don’t have faith in themselves and don’t believe it’s possible. It’s not always intentional, which is the way they are, will try to ruin someone else’s dreams. Don’t allow that to happen. Be very selective of who you share what you’re trying to create with.
David Brower: If you’re a person like me who’s extremely successful and overthinking things. I’m my own worse critic so I’m busy enough judging my own stuff. I don’t need somebody else to judge me while I’m experimenting with what’s possible.
Julie Coraccio: Right. Absolutely and I’m the same way. At the same time, for instance with my course, I had someone edit that and look at that. That was extremely valuable. She was able to give a lot of really good feedback and made the course even better than when I had it. It’s deciding what the pursuit is and do I need advice from someone who is a professional and asking for that? And then really listening. Is this going to help me? Is it right for me? I had someone criticize, they did it in a really nice way, criticized my podcast, recently. They said “I can tell when you read and when you go off-script and you sound much better when you go off-script.”
And I’m like, “Okay that’s great but also I’ll forget something. There’s a reason while I do the script. A lot of times if you’re clear and cluttered, you’re overwhelmed and the last thing I want to do is have this rambling podcast.”
It was really nice and helpful information, but at the same time I had to decide “Okay. What’s best for me?” Ultimately…I tell this to my clients. “I am here to support you. You have the answers within. It’s my job to help you realize what those are. You know what’s best for you. I don’t.”
David Brower: Yeah. I’m just here to support you in a genuine and authentic way and not get in your way while I’m doing that. Do you find that to be a tough line to walk sometimes?
Julie Coraccio: That’s a really interesting question. Sometimes, but truthfully I always tune in before each client to ask for my highest wisdom and their highest wisdom to come through. I always open things. I want an open dialogue going on with the client. I had a client recently. I really enjoyed working with her except that she didn’t do any of her work. I had to say, “It’s not worth it for you to pay. It’s not worth my time to do this because you’re not willing to do the work.”
Again, there’s no judgment. Maybe it’s not the right time for you, but your life is not going to change if you don’t take any action to do it. I think always being honest and straightforward is the way to go. I’m a huge fan of the book The Four Agreements because number two is, “don’t take anything personally.” If you get upset of me being honest, that’s a mirror to you to look within.
The same thing if I get, “Oh no! I’ve upset the client. Well okay Julie, let’s take a step back. This is about you. What’s going on here?”
David Brower: Yeah exactly. I love that to. By the way, for my 50th birthday I gave that book to all my friends.
Julie Coraccio: Wow, you’re generous. That’s really nice. You know what? I really like that idea. I’m going to borrow that idea for my next birthday, I think.
David Brower: Please do. It was just remarkable and the book stuck with me ever since. My wife’s been a big fan of it. All of that leads to honesty, authenticity, integrity and you have to be real and consistent with all those things and with your clients right?
Julie Coraccio: You do. Another thing I want to say about being authentic, be your own person. It’s been interesting to me, people take stuff that I’ve done and maybe change a word and at one point it was a website. I had to say, “I’m going to take legal action if you don’t change this.”
Have faith that what you do and your ideas are fantastic the way they are. You’re unique. You have that unique perspective. Honor that. Don’t just take someone else’s ideas, hardly do anything and then package it as your own. The thing with that, and it used to bother me for a really long time, and my brother said to me, he’s also another business owner,”Don’t focus your energy on that and don’t waste your time.” He said,”If it’s something like the website and you need to take action then do that.”
The reality is people sense and know when you’re inauthentic and when it is not you. So when I really took a step back and said, “Okay. If they take your quote and steal it, it is what it is. Don’t burn all your energy on that and just trust that who you’re meant to serve will find you and trust that they will be taught a lesson or whatever they need out of it. People pick up on it even if they can’t articulate it because we’re reading energy all the time whether or not we’re aware of it.
David Brower: Couldn’t agree more. It’s funny. It’s probably the 20th time I’ve said that. I had a thing happen to me was, gosh a long time ago, I was bowling professionally. It wasn’t a big tour and all that stuff, I was just trying to bowl in some regional tournaments. I bought this new ball and hired this coach and I was having the darndest time getting my ball out near the gutter so it would curve back into the pins if you know what I mean.
He says, “Brower, trust is a must or your game is a bust.”
Julie Coraccio: I love that.
David Brower: Ever since then, I’ve just inserted trust is a must or your business is a bust, or trust is a must or your life is… You know what I mean? I just keep using it over and over again because it rang so true to me. It gave me confidence. In fact the next day I won the tournament.
Julie Coraccio: Yay! Good job! I met my husband bowling so I like the bowling analogy.
David Brower: Yeah, yeah. Pretty cool. Coaching, professional organizing, Declutter your Life courses, [inaudible 00:16:14] Clutter to Create the Life you Choose: Deserve and Desire. Your website is reawakenyourbrilliance.com and that’s the best way for people to get ahold of you and possibly work with you and learn from you?
Julie Coraccio: Absolutely. I am thrilled I have an updated website. We have a couple more tweaks, but you can schedule an appointment with me. I do a free 20 minute consult because I want to make sure that I’m the best fit for you and to make sure that I can support you.
David Brower: And you have a podcast called Clearing the Clutter Inside and Out. Tell us about that.
Julie Coraccio: That airs every Tuesday at one p.m. Then I also throw a bonus episode out there that is usually Saturday morning. It really concentrates on clearing your clutter in all areas. We don’t just talk about physical. We talk emotional, spiritual, energetic, mental, emotional, relationships. If it’s clutter, which my definition is anything that prevents the life you deserve and desire we’re going to talk about.
David Brower: Your youtube channel. What do you have on there?
Julie Coraccio: It’s Julie Coraccio. It’s all the podcast episodes. When I shoot, I do video as well as audio. If you want to see my smiling face, you go to Youtube. If you just want to walk and get some exercise, then you can listen to it via podcast.
David Brower: I wonder why I never did the video thing on my podcast. I never thought about that. I should think about that because I have a Youtube channel. Have you found a benefit to that?
Julie Coraccio: A 1,000% because you’re reaching two different audiences.
David Brower: Right. Okay. I’m in.
Julie Coraccio: Go for it.
David Brower: Julie Corracio. The Chief Possibility Officer. Asking the question, “What else is possible?” If nothing else out of this 20 minutes, everybody should remember that question.
Julie Coraccio: Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. This was a lot of fun.