Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Design Yourself

Step into the new year with intention and purpose! In Shine Your Light in 2025, we explore the profound questions that guide your journey: What kind of light do you shine? How can you embrace the gifts hidden in your shadows? And what will empower you to make the impact you envision? Join us for thought-provoking conversations and practical insights to help you illuminate your path and inspire those around you. Let’s make 2025 your brightest year yet!

Links and Resources:

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

5 prompts to invite you to shine your light in 2025

1. What kind of light do I imagine myself as in 2025? A midcentury lamp? The sun? A star? A crystal chandelier? A beeswax candle?
2. What sparks your light? What brightens your spirit?
3. What gifts are available to you in your shadows?
4. Where do you want to shine your light in 2025?
5. What will help you radiate this year?

• Design Yourself: 2024 Letter to Yourself
• Design Yourself: Sharon's Annual Letter (2024)

Wintering is a season in the cold. It is both literal and figurative. It acknowledges those times where we move through a fallow period – cut off from the world. What is the power of wintering? How can we learn to call in the dark and the cold?

In today’s encore episode on wintering we discuss what wintering is, borrowing from the brilliance of writer Katherine May; we speak to the power of wintering, specifically the power of the dark, the cold, letting go and resting; and we close with reflection questions to spark your own best thinking on how to integrate this practice.

“So that is my wish for you – that you may be unburdened by the cold and dark of wintering. And more than that. That you can embrace it. Call in the dark and the cold – don’t run from it. It is through learning how to sit in this discomfort that we build our resilience for when the unexpected winters arrive.”

Links and Resources

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/wintering-3/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

We can’t change what we don’t see. So how do we sense a new consciousness? What tools will support us? How do we keep it simple and accessible? Cue this episode where we discuss the simple tenants of a life-changing practice. Listen in to learn all the how-tos of Journaling.

Links and Resources:

For show notes:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/building-a-journal-practice/ ‎

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. Use what works for you. I used to think journaling needed to be in a particular kind of notebook and sound a certain kind of way. Not anymore.
2. Try different formats. “Morning Pages;” Bullets in a word document. Letter to Love. Haikus. Handwritten prose in a bound journal. My own “journal” is written on loose paper and placed in a file folder to keep it in one place.
3. Leverage prompts. These can be questions, like the ones shared on this podcast. It can also be a meditation. A response to a piece of art. Or something you read. Or a view out your window. I will often think of a question and draw tarots to prompt be to respond.
4. Be consistent. This is a practice. I’m not a stickler that you have to do it every day. But it should be regular.
5. Do it for yourself and have fun. Don’t take yourself too seriously. This is for you. 

• Julia Cameron’s books, including the Artist’s Way to learn more about the practice of Morning Pages
• Oliver Burkeman writing about the power of morning pages
• Join Liz Gilbert’s Letters from Love substack

Holiday letters aren't the only tradition during the close of the year. Cue the tradition of the Annual Letter to Yourself. What have I learned this year? How have I grown? Who has made an impact? What do I want to remember? Join Sharon as she reflects on these questions and more in reading her 2024 letter.

Links and Resources:

For show notes:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/sharons-annual-letter-2024/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

As we the close of 2024, it is a natural moment to take stock of lessons learned and goals for the year ahead. Join us in this Design Yourself episode as we consider what we are celebrating and what we are calling in as we learn the art and ritual of how to write a year-end letter to yourself.

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Paragraph One: Take stock on past year.

• As I look back on this year, I wanted to let you know that…
• I am celebrating…
• I worked really hard to…
• I learned…

Paragraph Two: Reflection on what got you here.

• The thing that supported me most is…
• The values that have guided me are…
• The challenge I faced is…
• The thing that made all the difference is…

Paragraph Three: Curate the lessons learned that will guide your year ahead.

• As I look to the year ahead, what I want to carry with me…
• What I want to leave behind is…
• The advice I want to hold onto is…

Links and Resources:

For show notes:

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Meaning-making is a very human endeavor. We are quite good at coming up with what we believe the unspoken clues and loud declarations mean. What are ways to challenge our assumptions? How can we stretch our understanding to see a situation with a fresh perspective? That’s what we get into in this Design Yourself episode on Seeing with New Eyes.

1. Ask someone who knows you well for a trusted take
2. Ask someone who doesn’t know you well for their hot take
3. Get clear: Clarify your questions and reflect on your answers
4. Expand your own perspective through consciousness-raising activities that feel right-fit for you. A tool we really enjoy using on retreats is tarot…
5. Step back and take care – walks, facials, hikes, delicious food, not sitting in front of a screen all day.

• Get to know Sharon’s business besties, Catherine and Elena of StoryMine
• Listen to this Design Yourself episode on Living in the Question

Links and Resources:

For show notes:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/seeing-with-new-eyes

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Hope is a choice. It's about gifting your attention to the light. Perhaps a simple concept, but one that's not always easy to execute. Particularly in inevitable moments of intensity - whether in our culture, around the board room table, in family text chains, or our own inner life. How do you get grounded in the midst of it all? How do you resist joining the whirlwind? Even when facing a wave of turmoil, how do you tap into finding hope? 

In this episode Sharon dicusses the following practices and prompts to help you come back to your own light:

1. Meaningful Partnerships (at work, in my creative life, with loved ones) 
2. Setting Boundaries 
3. Prayer 
4. Doing good work
5. Singing

1. What is needed now?
2. What has brought a smile to your face this week? 
3. What (or who) gives you hope right now?
4. What is the gift of the shadows you see?
5. What quiets your despair?
6. What is needed now?

Links and Resources:

For show notes:

 https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/finding-hope/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

When the world gets intense, it's important to take breaks. Join Sharon as she does that by reading three beloved and personally connected poems. We start with a beloved poem by Meditation at Lagunitas by Robert Hass, who Sharon had the opportunity to study under in Berlin. We then turn to Saskia Hamiton and her poem Then. Saskia was another great teacher in Sharon's life and the person who first introduced Sharon to Hass' poetry. We close things out with the physician and poet Willam Carlos Williams and his poem The Red Wheelbarrow. May you find grounding and a little inspiration in the words of these writers.

• Robert Hass | “Meditation at Lagunitas”
• Saskia Hamilton | “Then” from Divide These
• William Carlos Williams | “The Red Wheelbarrow”

Links and Resources:

For show notes:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/take-a-break-with-three-poems

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Our bodies are incredible sources of wisdom. They are an important resource for ushering our ideas, dreams, and impact into the world. What happens when our bodies signal distress? What insights might we glean from the unlikeliest of places? That’s what we get into in this Design Yourself podcast, Lessons from the Emergency Department.

In this episode Sharon shares some of the insights that emerged during her own recent trip to the hospital, including:

1. Own Your Value (and Put on Your Oxygen Mask First)
2. Cherish Your Support Network
3. Ask for Help
4. Demand the Attention You Need (with Neutral, Observable Facts)
5. Delightful Surprises are Everywhere

Links and Resources:

For show notes:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/lessons-from-the-emergency-department/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Joy is a light-filled anecdote to volatility, grief, and complexity. What different flavors of joy do you experience? How might you invite more of that into your life? That's what we discuss in today's podcast on Finding Joy.

Sharon shares 5 flavors of joy that she has been experiencing recently, including:

• Lighthearted Joy - Like a easy, breezy, predictable romance novel. (She's been loving Emily Henry's  books like all the other readers creating this explosive growth of this genre.)
• Joyful Connection - Like holding hands with a loved one. Taking part in meanful traditions that connect you to history and the present.
• Heart-centered Joy - Like deep, soul-baring conversations.
• Joyous Anticipation - Like the fun of looking forward to an exciting vacation. Cornell University did a cool study showing how we gain more happiness from anticipation experiences versus object.
• The Joy of Knowing - Like when you have a clear budget, sense of priorities, even knowing what you are going to eat.

Links and Resources:

For show notes:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/finding-joy/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

It’s easy to let momentum take hold. Our expectations drive us to continue without letting up. Our desire to please or gain approval might do the same. But at what cost? What are the different ways that we can step back and rejuvenate ourselves? And what happens when we do? In this episode of Design Yourself we invite you to give yourself a break.

Links and Resources:

For show notes:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/worst-job-ever/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. Celebrate when you take breaks
2. Distinctions and lessons on types of breaks:
   • Time Off: Sabbatical | Work Pause
   • Time Away: Retreat | Getaway
   • Down Time: Walk | Dance Party | Massage
   • All the Time: Rhythms, Routines and Rituals
3. Journal Prompt:

What is my relationship with breaks? For myself? For others? What kind of break might I offer myself this week that could make all the difference?

• The Parents Aren’t Alright from the Daily Podcast

What is the worst job you’ve ever had? And why? What made it so? In today’s episode, Sharon discusses her answer to those questions along with some prompts to inspire you never again to have the worst job ever.

Links and Resources:

For show notes:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/worst-job-ever/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. What makes my professional light shine?
2. What environments delight me? Both physically and in the type of leadership and collaboration?
3. If you were to do something wildly different, what would it be? What else? What else?
4. What are dealbreakers for you? What makes you feel out of integrity with yourself?
5. What makes me feel safe to leave a job? What conditions will allow me to be able to stay OR leave a job? How can I take small steps to have make sure I have these conditions in place.

Big change rarely happens in an instant. Transitions are a natural part of the process. Transitions can feel uncomfortable. How do you build up resistance to stick with it? What supports you in building momentum toward a new destination? That’s what we get into in this Design Yourself episode on Sitting in the Messy Middle.

Links and Resources:

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/sitting-in-the-messy-middle/ 

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. Be clear on your why.
2. Partner on the HOW.
3. Stay present to what’s needed now.

• Design Yourself podcast on Partnering

Rarely can our dreams be realized in isolation. Partnering with others is a natural consequence of ambition. That doesn't mean it's easy. What makes for effective working relationships? What are the conditions that steward us to powerful teamwork? How do mutual accountability and productive conflict fit in?  We explore these questions and more in this episode focused on partnering and productive conflict.

Links and Resources:

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/partnering-and-productive-conflict/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• Marie Kondo’s book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”
• Patrick Lencioni’s model highlighting the conditions needed for effective teamwork: trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, results

Deep listening can change the world. Listening impacts so many things: Our understanding, our questions, and our connections to those around us. When we listen deeply, we light a spark for transformation.

But listening isn't easy. There are habits and culturally accepted practices that hold us back from really listening to understand. The good news is that you can create simple shifts to improve the quality of your listening and inspire others to do the same. 

This Design Yourself episode highlights 12 habits that prevent us from listening – including rehearsing, daydreaming, and placating. We invite you to see with a fresh perspective where your listening gets derailed and to make simple shifts to bring your attention back to listening to understand.

Links and Resources:

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/how-to-be-a-great-listener/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

You can download a summary PDF of the Listening Blocks and tips for being a great listener here.

Mind Reading – Assuming you know what the other person feels

Rehearsing – Planning what you want to say next

Filtering – Listening only for what’s relevant to you

Judging – Evaluating the speaker and what they say

Daydreaming  – Getting lost in your own thoughts

Identifying – Relating everything you hear in yourself

Advising – Listening to solve or direct

Sparring – Invalidating the speaker through argument or debate

Being Right – Resisting all communication that suggests you are wrong

Derailing – Changing the subject

Comparing – Trying to figure out how you compare to the speaker

Placating – Agreeing too quickly

Source: Messages: The Communication Skills Book by Matthew McKay, Ph.D., Martha Davis, Ph.D., and Patrick Fanning

• Which listening block shows up most frequently for me?
• What new awareness am I taking with me about the quality of my own listening as I learn about listening blocks?
• What’s one listening block that you could pay attention to this week to improve the quality of your conversations?
• What’s one thing you could pay attention to this week to improve the quality of your listening? (e.g. set aside technology; ask for a colleague to be your listening accountability partner in a specific meeting)

• Messages: The Communication Skills Book by Matthew McKay, Ph.D., Martha Davis, Ph.D., and Patrick Fanning
• Original Design Yourself episode on Listening Blocks

How we spend our days is how we spend our lives. Routine matters. It is a foundational building block that shapes what we do and how we do it. It seems simple enough: Make a choice each and every day to align with what matters. But it is not always that easy. How do you balance the short—and long-term priorities? How do you shift long-held routines that involve other people? We get into these questions and more as we discuss routines reimagined.

Links and Resources:

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/routines-reimagined/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• How do we cultivate the eyes of a traveller when we don’t go anywhere at all?  
• How can we make mindfulness a way of being, even amidst habit and routine?  
• How do we remind ourselves of the unspoken choices we have everyday?  
• How do we act with courage as we make these choice – and own the life that these choices build?
• What’s working in my current routine?
• What would I like to change?
• What’s the ideal way for me to start my day? End my day?
• What small change could I make right now that would make a huge difference?

• “A New Chapter and Routines” – original post read aloud on this episode
• Design Yourself: Preparing for the Camino with Aimee Rowe
• Design Yourself: On the Road with Aimee Rowe
• Design Yourself: Walking the Camino (while pregnant!)

Leadership is an embodied act. When we feel good, it shows. So it is perhaps not surprising that many executives are curious about personal style. Some people savor the act of dressing as an opportunity for individual expression. Others prioritize efficiency and ways to save time in the morning. No matter what the motivation, there is one person Sharon refers her clients to time and time again: Natalie Tincher and her team at BU Style. So in this season of back to school and the changing of seasonal wardrobes, we take you back to this throwback interview with Natalie from 2018. We discuss everything from fast fashion and personal styling tips to how love and empowerment fuel everything Natalie does. We also learn about what some of the investments Natalie has made to scale her business including hiring her first employee and rebranding her business. This episode is a great fit for anyone who has ever wondered how to put your whole self into a thriving entrepreneurial business. It’s also a must-listen for anyone curious about the power of self-love and failing forward.

“I lead with my heart and love with everything in life. So I need everything I do with my clients to also feel that way.” – Natalie Tincher

Summer Series 2024 | Curated guidance and resources to guide and support you in making this season – and what follows – just what you wish it to be.

Stay Connected

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/style-from-the-i…-natalie-tincher/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• Join Natalie's upcoming course Style From the Inside Out. Registration open now; course starts September 26, 2024.
• Original Design Yourself show notes from Episode 88: Empowerment and Personal Style with Natalie Tincher of BU Style
• Time Out New York, Top Six Personal Shopping Services which highlights Buttoned Up Style (now BU Style)
• Marie Kondo’s Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
• The website Sharon peruses for capsule wardrobe inspiration
• Essentialism
• AYR jeans

Whether you have dreams of building your own home, are in the process of moving through a life transition or are just curious about Sharon’s new life in the woods, this week’s episode is for you. Sharon begins by sharing a glimpse into the reality of life in her new two room cottage in the Catskill Mountains of New York and then shares the connection she sees between designing a physical space and designing a life and offers the 5 key lessons that she has learned through the design phase of her building process. We’ll explore everything from the power of welcoming change, how trust is a key priority in getting great results (with sanity in tact!) and how building something from scratch isn’t the secret to perfection.

Summer Series 2024 | Curated guidance and resources to guide and support you in making this season – and what follows – just what you wish it to be.

Stay Connected

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/building-a-home/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• Simplify
• Take Breaks
• Be Free and Bold
• Cultivate Courage and Get Comfortable with Fear
• Keep Evolving

1. Embrace Imperfection
2. Prioritize Trust
3. Be Clear on What Matters
4. Hold the Big Picture and Be Present Now
5. Change Things Up

• See the Sharon’s home on the Magnolia Network show “Where We Call Home” (Season 3, Episode 1 | Catskills Schoolhouse); now streaming on Max.
• Original Build Your Home show notes
• Jonathan Adler and his first book My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living
• Robert Hite
• Above the Fray exhibition that inspired the cover art for today
• New Minimalism
• Marie Kondo
• Young House Love Has A Podcast
• The Speed of Trust

Sharon reflects this week on work-life balance – or imbalance. She shares the marriage advice that stuck with her as she nears her wedding anniversary: “Marriage takes 100% effort to be successful, but rarely is it split 50-50. Sometimes it’s 60-40. Sometimes it’s 90-10. But it always takes 100% effort to work.” She shares how this framework applies not just to a relationship with our spouse but to any time we work with others.

Summer Series 2024 | Curated guidance and resources to guide and support you in making this season – and what follows – just what you wish it to be.

Stay Connected

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/marriage-and-partnership/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• The most inspirational advice I got leading up to my wedding:

“Marriage requires 100% effort to work. But rarely is it split 50-50. Sometimes it’s 60-40. Sometimes it’s 90-10. But it ALWAYS takes 100% to work.” Mimi Barringer

• Taking the Lead is the series from the podcast Note to Self. Much of the series follows two Brooklyn moms with a tech idea that has the vision and ambition to change what it looks like to be a working mom. But of course, they are dealing with many of the same stresses they hope to solve.
• Later episodes in the series also check in with the dynamic working parenting duo Andrew Moravcsik and Anne-Marie Slaughter.

“It’s not that I don’t want to work. I do want to work, but I want to work in a way that allows me to be home much more than a high-level government job would let me do right now.” Anne-Marie Slaughter

“We started out like most couples start out, I think a little bit naive, thinking that we are a two-career couple and we will also split the parenting 50-50.” Andrew Moravcsik

• If you’ve never read Anne-Marie’s influential Atlantic article Why Women Still Can’t Have It All, wait no longer. Read it!
• This week marks the first time in our nation’s history that a major political party nominated a woman for the office of President. No matter your politics, this is a special moment. I loved watching this video overviewing her career narrated by Morgan Freeman. 
• Finally, below are the two key distinctions that helped me see how I was good at adding things to my life and work and why I was struggling to let things go. I had to start strengthening my emotional muscles to get in shape for those changes.

Intellectual Learning – Ability to take on new things (e.g. job, hobby, relationship, etc.)

Emotional Learning – Helpful when you are processing how to put things down (e.g. making a move, a job transition, ending a friendship, etc.)

• Original podcast episode “There is No Such Thing as 50-50”

Every moment offers us a new choice. Will we be guided by the momentum of what has been or carve a new path forward? In this episode of Design Yourself Sharon discusses five tips for how to choose your own adventure and highlights what this guidance looks like in practice as she shares an adventure unfolding in her life right now.

Stay Connected

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/choose-your-own-adventure-2/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. There is no, singular “right” way.
2. Be clear on what matters to you.
3. Take aligned and inspired actions.
4. Tilt towards the good kind of scary.
5. Be present

• What is a 46er?

Summer is a season of rapid growth – in our gardens, our home lives, and at work. What is your relationship to this season? What transformation might you like to spark in the weeks ahead? Join Sharon as she shares five prompts and personal reflections inspired by this season.

Summer Series 2024 | Curated guidance and resources to guide and support you in making this season - and what follows - just what you wish it to be.

Stay Connected

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/bottling-up-summer-2024/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. What emotion or energy does summer inspire in you?
2. What is your present experience with Summer?
3. What are some sweet memories of this summer?
4. What would you like to call into the remaining weeks of summer?
5. What parts of summer would you like to bottle up to take with you into fall?

Hitting goals is not enough. Don't get me wrong: I love to run after a bold and audacious goal. But goal achievement can't be the end aim. Goals naturally come and go. They are a way to focus our energy and attention on something. This episode of Design Yourself explores the guiding question: "For the sake of what?" For the sake of what are you working hard to hit those goals? For the sake of what are you running your business? Sometimes work gets us so heads down that we forget to look at the big picture and ask if our energy is driving towards the kind of success that we want. Using the lens of running a business, Sharon offers up questions to ground you in your for the sake of what and then offers how you can cascade this foundation into the way you run your business. This episode is a great fit for anyone who runs a small business or dreams of starting one. It will also speak to those who seek more alignment between your actions and your dreams.

Summer Series 2024 | Curated guidance and resources to guide and support you in making this season - and what follows - just what you wish it to be.

Stay Connected

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/for-the-sake-of-what/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• What is it that you are after in this life?
• What are your values?
• What is your deepest held conviction?
• What do you want to offer into the world? What is your unique contribution that you and only you can make?
• What do you want?

• Guided vision meditation in Episode 5 of Design Yourself
• Original Episode Show Notes with photos from family hike

Have you ever found yourself in a place where your head keeps spinning on the same question (or set of questions)? But no matter how much energy you expend thinking about it, you can’t seem to come to a confident conclusion? You are not alone. We often get stuck on “unanswerable questions” because they are rooted in a way of seeing the problem limiting our ability to move forward. In today’s episode, Sharon shares a simple process for moving from question to action. Learn what it means to “live in the question” and why this practice is powerful for helping us shift from stuck to transformation.

Summer Series 2024 | Curated guidance and resources to guide and support you in making this season - and what follows - just what you wish it to be.

Stay Connected

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/living-in-the-question/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Let us all remember to be in the practice of resilience together.

1. Write down the unknowable questions
2. Capture the questions underneath each question
3. Probe Deeper
4. Gather information
5. Watch your questions evolve
6. Give yourself grace

• It makes big, important questions more accessible
• It promotes a growth mindset
• It empowers you with actionable steps

• Podcast on grief that I reference in today’s show. 

• Here is the Jimmy Kimmel clip that brings a spirit of humor to the grief that half of the country is feeling in the wake of the election.

To lead a life of intention asks us to connect to what we desire. Simple in concept, but often hard in execution. Many things will grab our attention: Competing priorities; jampacked schedules; and people-pleasing habits - to name just a few. Many of us will falter on this path because we have been trained to act. When something is missing, we feel compelled to do something - anything! - to find a new way forward. Today's podcast offers an antidote to that restless pacing.

Learn to listen to yourself. What is it that you really want? 

In this episode, you will be guided to think about:

• What kind of a vision is meaningful to you right now? What type of vision? What time horizon?
• What parts of your story are you proud of? What parts do you want to keep holding? What parts are you ready to release?
• What do you look like when at play?
• When you imagine yourself in your desired future, what do you sense? Feel into the details.
• What steps could you take today to start moving you on this path?

Summer Series 2024 | Curated guidance and resources to guide and support you in making this season - and what follows - just what you wish it to be.

Stay Connected

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/where-am-i-now/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

We are halfway through the calendar year and officially into the summer season. It’s a natural time to take stock of how your year is going. What’s working? What’s getting in your way? What do you wish for? Do your answers inspire you to make any shifts as you head into the second half of this year? Let’s explore these questions in “Where Am I Now?”

Stay Connected

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/where-am-i-now/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. What’s True: How am I doing right now? You think specifically about: Mood? Energy? Emotion? Fulfillment? In the whole of your life and in key parts of your life (e.g. work, family, health, finances, creativity)?
2. What’s Working: What am I most proud of right now?What brings me most delight in my daily rhythms and routines?
3. What’s Missing: What am I wanting? Consider something that you might be missing or wishing that you could amplify
4. Lessons Learned: What do I notice (without judgement) as I answer these questions?
5. Taking Action: What changes will I commit to making?

Consensus is not an evergreen goal. It is neither realistic nor a worthy goal to chase everyone agreeing all of the time. How can we promote productive dissent? How can we move forward as a team when we don’t all have the same opinion on what the path forward ought to be? Tune in to this Design Yourself show to discuss how to disagree and commit.

Stay Connected

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/disagree-and-commit/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• Expertise and authority sit with a functional leader
• Time requires us to move swiftly
• Team is at an unresolvable impasse
• Experimenting with HOW to do something based on more options than you have capacity to do right now
• Team can do so in a way that honors or vision, mission and values
• Watch For: Disagreeing on core teaming tools: Vision, Mission, Values, Goals, Measures of Success

Creating conditions for Productive Disagreement

• Team Lead listens only
• Ask powerful questions instead of making declarations
• Art of empathetic summary
• Practice in a low risk way
• Get clear on what the team is doing and how we will use the commitment in the rest of our work

• Lack of clarity on what your focus is, if there is a decision being made and if so how that decision is being made quickly deteriorates trust.

I love a big-picture strategy, but sometimes the most important place to focus is right where you are. What supports us in being able to keep our heads down - with purpose? What gifts are received when we commit to immediate tasks? Explore together in this week’s Design Yourself Focus on This Effort.

Stay Connected

For show notes visit:

  https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/focus-on-this-effort/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• Be clear on sense of direction – but not fixated on it
• Have trust with key stakeholders
• Understand the connection of this effort to the larger picture

• Mental fitness and resilience
• DIg in and learn what’s needed now and next
• Momentum building

“I guess I do subscribe to the joy being the journey, not the destination (especially when the journey has tracked milestones).” – Vision Coaching Client

Weeds happen. In life and the garden, we confront valueless things that encroach on the priorities we want to cultivate. What lessons can we learn from digging in the dirt and listening to the birdsong? How can we move with intention as we remove what is undesired and create space for our visions to flourish? Join me in this Design Yourself episode to discuss weeding in the garden.

Stay Connected

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

 https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/weeding-in-the-garden/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. Stay Present to the Task at Hand – It’s easy for me to get lost on my plot of land thinking about the many things that I can and want to do. But – even with a team of support – my wish list won’t happen overnight. I’ve been ruthless in the garden this season about the task that needs doing right now.
2. Pay Attention to Your Mindset – I can get caught in the “not enough” trap. I have so many ideas that I want to tackle the “what about this other thing I ALSO want to do.” Shifting from a focus on taking action on the full vision to focusing on a small piece.
3. Find moments to rest. Take breaks. Enjoy the baby groundhogs and fireflies. Sip a hot beverage.
4. Get help. Invite others to join. Hire values-aligned collaborators. Many hands make light work – and light hearts.
5. Savor each step. Hands in the dirt. Pulling the weeds. Loosening the soil. Transplanting.

Boredom: Friend or foe? For many of us, boredom is a luxury in our fast-paced lives. While some avoid it at all costs, boredom sparks enormous creativity and productivity. If we surrender to doing nothing, there are many opportunities to be bored in the mundane moments of life. What is your relationship with boredom? What distracts you from being present right where you are? Come explore in this Design Yourself episode how to let yourself be bored.

Stay Connected

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/let-yourself-be-bored/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. What is your relationship with boredom?
2. Could you embrace the mindset of bored and brilliant?
3. What are habits that are preventing you from boredom? Netflix, early morning scrolling, the impulse to text back/stay on top of emails, etc.
4. What boredom experiments could you design? 
5. What’s one commitment you make today to explore this topic further?

• Manoush Zomorodi’s book Bored and Brilliant

Demands on our time, attention, and other resources are real. For many of us, our default way of processing stress is to dig in and take action. This action orientation leads to a swirl of activity, which exacerbates the situation. How do we center ourselves in the middle of the storm? In this episode of Design Yourself, we discuss how to get out of the whirlwind.

We cover:

• Reasons for the whirlwind
• What to do to calm the storm
• How to make the calm a sustainable way of being

Stay Connected

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/getting-out-of-the-whirlwind/ 

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• Overwhelm
• Workplaces stress
• Not being able to find or connect to your purpose
• Not believing that you can get out of the whirlwind 

• Shore up your foundation (e.g. breathe, take breaks, sleep, nurture yourself)
• Get clear on what you want
• Draft a believable path to move you from here to there

• Start with a roadmap
• Build the navigation system
• Develop a practice of “going beyond” (e.g. checking in on the current state, desired state, and the alignment of your movement on the path)

• Data shared on workplace stress can be found here
• For more on the swirl of Sharon’s summer and to explore how to savor this season, listen to this Design Yourself episode from the archives on Bottling Up Summer

Frustrations are a normal part of life, but living in a state of frustration is exhausting. What is at the core of our dissatisfaction? How can we start to shift from this space into something new? That is what we discuss in this Design Yourself episode on transforming complaints.

 In this episode, we discuss:

• Why honoring our complaints is a necessary starting point
• Four moves a complainer can make to transform from complaint to request
• Why trust is critical is coaching someone else to transform their complaint
• Ways to build trust and rapport when you are on the receiving end of a complaint

Stay Connected

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/transforming-complaints/ 

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. Mindset Shift: Behind every complaint is an unasked request. 
2. Get Clear on What You Want: What might resolve the complaint? Be specific.
3. Start with yourself: Success begets success. What is one thing you can do to start seeing positive momentum? What can you do? 
4. Engage with others: What can others do? Communicate a request with specificity. 

• Establish a foundation of trust. When you do not trust someone, you will not change their mind.
• Listen to Understand. Be curious. Ask powerful questions.
• Summarize What You Heard. Playback what is clear to you now. Stick to neutral, observable facts. Do not step into the role of problem solver or advisor.
• Be Clear About the Path Forward. Co-create what comes next. If needed, draft a medium/long-term view of what a sketch of what your best thinking is on what will need to occur over time. Be specific about near-term actions.

Things don’t always go according to plan. And sometimes it’s almost comical just how far off the rail our plans go. What can we learn from these experiences? How can we get back to our goals in a productive way that honors the realities of what we are experiencing? That’s what we discuss in today’s episode on What To Do When Everything Goes Wrong.

Stay Connected

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/what-to-do-when-everything-goes-wrong/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• • Connect to the Story of Growth - not Victimhood
  • Remind Yourself of the Wins
  • Leave space for Going Sideways
  • Remember that Fast is Not the Goal
  • Cultivate the Emotion, Regardless of Outcome

• Design Yourself episode highlighting the Vision Journey

We are all on a path, and obstacles showing up is inevitable. How we respond is not. How do you determine how to move around barriers? Where do you look for guidance? What if you had the confidence to trust your inner wisdom? In today's Design Yourself episode, we explore together how to be your inner compass.

 In this episode, we discuss:

• The components of our inner compass (vision, values, guiding principles, guard rails)
• How to define these components
• Key strategies for operating with our compass 

Stay Connected

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/be-your-own-inner-compass/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

The components of our inner compass

• Vision, values, guiding principles, guard rails

How to define these parts

• Vision - Where are you headed? For the sake of what?
• Values - What matters to you? Can you distill it into four words?
• Guiding Principles - What are the operating principles that allow you to move with and towards your vision in alignment with your values? (e.g., We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for. Leadership is a mindset, not a role. It is a priority to be as healthy on the inside as we appear on the outside, i.e., no beautiful, rotten apples.)
• Guard Rails - What creative constraints serve your roadmap?

Key strategies for operating with our compass 

• Notice without judgment when you are looking outside or within for answers.
• Challenge old narratives that are comfortable but don’t work for you.
• Consult your inner compass and see what resource or combo of resources will guide you.

Someone asks you if you'd like to join a particular gathering or experience. Quick - how do you respond? Do you think it through? Do you respond in the moment? We all have patterns around how we process decisions and that’s what we get into in today’s episode on Yes Habits.

In this episode, we explore:

• Two types of yeses

1. Methodical Yes

2. Spontaneous Yes

• How our Yes Habits align with different visioning types

1. Linear Visioning

2. Magical Visioning

• Reflection questions to get you thinking about your Yes Habits

Stay Connected

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Methodical Yes – Taking the time to think through the hows and ifs of a commitment before saying yes.

Spontaneous Yes – Allowing yourself to respond in the moment with a yes, often based on a feeling of values and vision alignment – even if you aren’t sure how it all connects for you.

Linear Visioning – A process of laying out a clear pathway of steps for how to bring a vision to life.

Magical Visioning – An intuitive process for moving towards a vision based on what you sense is needed now.

• What do you notice about your yes habits? Are you more of a methodical or a spontaneous Yeser?
• Do your circumstances tend to influence how you say yes? (Personal versus professional? The risk assessment? The person posing the opportunity?)
• Is there a safe, low-risk place where you could stretch yourself to try it a different way?
• Anything else that you want to remember about yes habits?

Who you are today is the guide to who you will be tomorrow. What wishes do you have for your future self? What wisdom do you want to be sure to carry with you? In the episode of Design Yourself, we explore questions to inspire Future You.

Stay Connected

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/future-you/ 

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. What is something you can do right now as a gift to Future You?
2. What does Future You want you to know right now?
3. If you were to sum Future You up in 3 words, what would they be?
4. What advice do you want to give Future You?
5. What has shifted for Future You? How did they make that happen?

You Already Have All The Answers by Amanda Deibert

Humans can adapt, but so can systems. What happens when we spend the majority of our time caught focusing on what we have to do…and we don’t focus on what is problematic about the way we do things? In this week’s episode, we challenge the notion you always hold the answer and instead remind listeners that it’s not your fault.

Stay Connected

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/its-not-your-fault/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• Real Self-Care by Pooja Lakshmin
• Yale University’s testing policy announcement and the policy itself

Human beings are interconnected, and we really can accomplish more together. But when it comes to visioning, how do we know what’s ours versus someone else? How can we connect what someone else sees as possible to what we really want? That’s what we get into in today’s Design Yourself episode on Vision Alignment: Tapped for a New Opportunity.

Stay Connected

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

 https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/tapped-for-a-new-opportunity

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• The “light” and “shadow” of someone sharing what they see as possible for you.
• The importance of assessing the relationship you have with the person offering you a new opportunity.
• 3 steps to evaluate the new opportunity:

1. Listen to understand.
2. Return to center. What do I want?
3. Build the path forward. 
   • Build trust and mutual support in the relationship.
   • Stay clear on your “what,” i.e. what is the next step that you want in your career?
   • Then get clear on “how” to evaluate the role and your ability to learn and grow in alignment with your career objectives and business need.

Productivity is a dead-end pursuit. Our to-dos will always fill whatever space we give it. How can we let go of the habits driving us to do more, better, faster? How can we make time for what matters most?

In this episode of Design Yourself we explore:

• Our relationship with time;
• Examples of how time influenced the daily routines of artists Sylvia Plath and Erik Satie;
•  Sharon's musings on how urgency and scarcity impact our relationship to how much time we have and how much time we need;
• Reflection questions to create awareness and alignment on how we each move with and in time.

“Productivity is a trap. Becoming more efficient just makes you more rushed, and trying to clear the decks simply makes them fill up again faster. Nobody in the history of humanity has ever achieved “work-life balance,” whatever that might be, and you certainly won’t get there by copying the “six things successful people do before 7:00 a.m.” The day will never arrive when you finally have everything under control—when the flood of emails has been contained; when your to-do lists have stopped getting longer; when you’re meeting all your obligations at work and in your home life; when nobody’s angry with you for missing a deadline or dropping the ball; and when the fully optimized person you’ve become can turn, at long last, to the things life is really supposed to be about. Let’s start by admitting defeat: none of this is ever going to happen. But you know what? That’s excellent news.”

-Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks

Stay Connected

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/how-to-make-time/ 

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• What is your flavor of distraction?
• What if it’s not time that’s hold you back? What else could it be?
• What are you wishing for? How might you make that happen in the next month?
• What else might work to try?
• What if you let time be?

• Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It by Oliver Burkeman
• And a good summary and review in The Guardian by Tim Adams
• Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey

Our stories shape us. They form the fabric of not just where we are coming from, but also what we believe is possible. Stories forecast our future. How do we find the pulse of our narrative? How do we decide what’s working and what is getting in the way? How do we understand what’s my story versus what’s our collective story?

Let’s explore in this episode of Design Yourself as we discuss how stories move us.

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/stories-move-us

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

1. What do you notice about your current movements? Look at how you move - in your schedule, through a room, in your home, at the grocery store. What do you notice without judgement?
2. What distinctions do you have about your movements? Your pace? Your intensity? How would you describe the characteristics of your movements?
3. What does your movement suggest about about the stories you are telling? Are you winning? Rushed? Transforming? Out of balance?
4. What kind of story movement do you want right now? Are you dancing? Floating? Resting? Driving? Cycling?
5. What kinds of tools support your story movement? If you are dancing…do you need tap shoes? Jazz shoes? Are you in a vehicle? What kind? A single speed bike or a bike kitted for the next world tour?
6. What commitment can you make today to your own story movement?
7. How will you know you are honoring that commitment?

• Never underestimate the power of music! Here is the song "Naughty" from Matilda the musical.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Are you already living that life? Are you curious about the road not taken? In this episode of Design Yourself, we cast aside the artificial constraints of what is true right now and play with what we might create with imaginary lives.

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

 https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/life-keeps-happening/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

In this episode we...

• Learn a Julia Cameron prompt from the book The Artist's Way inviting us to imagine five alternative lives to the one we are currently living;
• Hear about how to take simple steps to actually do what you feel called to do right now, instead of waiting to create perfect conditions to do the thing the way you might imagine it happening.
• Learn about what five things Sharon's imagining doing herself and which imaginary life she's been stuck on for over a decade.

• Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way

Turns out, there are a lot of things we can’t control. That’s part of what makes life so precious: It’s unexpected. Sometimes miraculously joy-filled. Othertimes cripplingly painful. How do we recognize when we are swept up in the swirl of life? How do we find our footing in the middle of a tsunami? That’s what we discuss in this Design Yourself episode, Life Keeps Happening.

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

 https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/life-keeps-happening/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

• Honor that life happening is what’s normal.
• Celebrate some of the ways I saw this show up tied to a joyous moment in my own life last week.
• Highlight THE question I return to, when life shows up: What is needed now?

• “That Would Be Enough” from Hamilton

Do you dream of a change in your life? Maybe it’s about getting to the next level of your career. Or maybe there is a long held creative desire, like being a part of an award-winning show or publishing a best selling book? Today we talk about how to move toward your big dreams in a sustainable and powerful way in this episode of Design Yourself on the Vision Journey.

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

 https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/vision-journey/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Join to discuss:

“The path you take to get there is indicative of how you will feel when you get there.” – Sharon Lipovsky

• More White Space (eliminate distractions, set boundaries with people around your time and service; set boundaries for yourself around time to do nothing and see what emerges)
• Build a Creative Practice (e.g. paint, write, draw circles, garden, journal reflections)
• Put Yourself First (say where you want to eat; decide how you want to spend your time; practice seeing what you want in small, daily ways so that you can build the muscle to see into bigger manifestations for yourself)
• Follow Your Energy (this will both help build strength and resilience and will allow you to practice discernment – an important skill in leading with vision. Some days Bridgerton reading is energized…other times it’s a distraction…learn how to tell the difference!)

• Do the dishes – and nothing else.
• Walk to walk – and nothing else.
• Identify eliminating distractions
• Write a short daily “notice without judgement” reflection on how your practices are going
• Consider a creative practice like the one described in the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
• Draw circles
• Have an accountability date with your partner (or other/s)
• Celebrate every win. Build momentum behind your subtle changes – start to build the new wish path.

There are so many questions to process in our lives - and even more answers to sift through. Our intuition is our quick-thinking guide. But many of us don’t listen. What gets in the way of tapping into our instinctive internal whispers? How can we tune into our ability to understand something right away? That is what we cover in this Design Yourself episode on exercising your intuition.

Join in to discuss: 

Common Intuition Blockers 

The 4 A's. Ambitious, Achiever, Accomplished, Accomodating. These traits aren't blockers unto themselves. When overused, however, they get in the way of accessing our intuition.

Thinking Too Big. Stop focusing exclusively on what's out of your control; start adapting your moves into what you can do right now.

Chasing External Validation. Stop prioritizing what other people want you to be; start getting clear on what matters most to you.

Numbing Yourself with Busyness.  Get comfortable with stillness, rest and quiet. 

Being too scared or exhausted to listen to yourself. Listen to your own internal whispers. This could be a gut feeling, heart feeling, bone feeling, body feeling. Rarely does it come from intellect.

Exercises to Build Your Intuition Muscle

Exercise 1: Notice, without judgement.

Exercise 2: Get comfortable with discomfort.

Exercise 3: Find ways to get still internally (this can include movement!) - meditation, writing, hiking, doing the dishes, peloton

Exercise 4: Listen to yourself. When you have a question - ask yourself first. When you reach for research, ask yourself first.

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/intuition-exercises/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Words matter, but the emotions behind the words matter more. That energetic exchange that sits beneath the surface makes a huge impact in our ability to connect and collaborate with others. So how do we do this? And what’s one emotion that makes all the difference? That’s what we discuss in this Design Yourself episode on leading with love.

Join in to discuss: 

• How emotions are a silent (usually) player in every interaction you have.

• 4 Actions to Lead with Love

  1. Radical Self Awareness – Start by noticing what emotion shows up when you lead. Are you calm or anxious? Delighted or frustrated? Angry or sad? Simply notice without judgement what emotion/s show up when you lead.

  2. Set an Intention – Whether love is already present or not when you lead, set an intention to lead with love. Simply invite in the potential to bring love into the mix.

  3. Embody Love – Love is not just something we say or do. Love can show up in the way we are. We can embody that feeling of love in how we stand, walk, and gesture. Practice physically holding love.

  4. Grow Love - It's amazing how much we can grow or intensify the feeling of love, simply by paying attention to it.

   

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

 https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/lead-with-love/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

You have been told, how important it is to listen and care for others. And it is. But it requires us to do the same for ourselves. How can we give, when our own buckets aren’t full? What does it look like for us to practice this tender concern for ourselves? That’s what we discuss in this Design Yourself episode on Self Empathy.

 Join in to discuss: 

• Why self empathy is so wildly important

• Why empathy must start as a self practice

• Applying the Empathy Rules for others to ourselves

  • Embrace Not Knowing

  • Embrace Radical Difference

  • Embrace Commitment

  • Embrace Community

• A sweet story about 1st graders putting these lessons into action

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/self-empathy/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

The wildest, dreamiest things start from the smallest of steps. How can we be more mindful of how what we do today connects to where we dream of going? What practices support us on that path? That’s what we get into in today’s episode on Baby Steps to Giant Leaps.

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/baby-steps-to-giant-leaps/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

We live and work in a complex world. The markets, environments, and circumstances in which we operate are changing rapidly. How can we evolve our leadership to find new, compelling, and sustainable solutions? How can we spark transformation from the inside out? That’s what we discuss in this episode of Design Yourself on adaptive leadership.

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

 https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/adaptive-leadership/ 

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

I'm going to let you in on a little secret today. Those spaces where you feel most clumsy and lacking in ability offer incredible growth opportunities. But not if you sit around judging yourself or worrying about what other people think. In this episode of Design Yourself learn how to cultivate the mindsets that will accelerate your learning as we discuss The Art of Incompetence.

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/the-art-of-incompetence/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Happy New Year! Tis the season full of calendar-driven inspiration about how to make this year the best one ever. Words of the year, themes of the season, goals, resolutions and intentions abound. How can you avoid getting caught up in trends and move to the beat that works best for you? That’s what we get into today's Design Yourself episode on Discerning What’s Right For Me.

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/discerning-whats-right-for-me/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Celebrating milestones is a foundational leadership practice that supports us as we build positive momentum toward our goals, strategies, and - ultimately - our vision, mission, and purpose. In today's episode, Point Road founder Sharon models this practice as she pauses to celebrate and reflect on 200 episodes of Design Yourself. Learn about what the show has meant to her, what she's most grateful for and what struggles she's faced along the way.

Links and Resources

To book your 1:1 Vision Reading:

https://pointroadstudios.com/product/vision-reading/

For show notes visit:

https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/celebrating-200-episodes-of-design-yourself/

To connect on Linked In: 

@Sharon Lipovsky

@Point Road Studios 

To connect on Instagram:

@pointroadstudios

Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify