I am a firm believer that to change something in your life, you have to change what you do daily. The greatest enemy to progress is to delay the courage to act TODAY. Thinking you have enough time can leave you in a long cycle of waiting for another tomorrow. Procrastination and many other negative habits are really just fear disguising itself as a lie; one that convinces you that now is not the time. The hard reality I have come to appreciate the long, hard way is that, “the time is never not NOW to take courageous action towards purposeful goals.”

If something is important enough to you, it should be honored with the commitment of your time and energy right now. Tomorrow never comes, if you don’t take action today. Here’s the harsh reality — anything you start for the first time is going to be NEW, then HARD, but eventually through commitment and discipline it will eventually become EASY.

I apply this 3-part process whenever I am embarking on a new purpose project that is exciting to me. You know when this process is needed because you have this inspiring vision and a lot of passion behind it, but you have no idea how the hell to get there! Fear will automatically tell you it’s impossible, your goals are too BIG, and you’re not good enough to try. This is where most of us fail. We fail because we listen to that negative voice in our heads and choose to delay action, instead of pause for a few seconds to reframe those beliefs around a new mindset before we push through. Author, Robin Sharma captured idea so perfectly for me saying, “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end.”

New

Anything you ever achieved in life was new before there was any action. You identified with an idea before you ever took any initial steps to get there. Whenever I start something new and fear of the unknown starts to kick in, I always start by reframing the present moment, by connecting the dots to the past.

What does this mean? Every great accomplishment you have had up to this point had a beginning. I write about 3 past accomplishments and reflect on how I was able to carry something new, courageously towards a future beyond what I thought was possible at the time. This exercise helps me rewire my belief systems in the present moment. Add in a little meditation and suddenly my “present self,” beliefs around this next “NEW” become more realistic, more grounded. I become motivated to take some initial clumsy actions that launch me into motion. I am reminded that my past self found success, and my present self can do it again.

Hard

Now you have started and there is momentum. My past belief’s have influenced movement and in the beginning this feels fresh, exciting, and aspirational. Once you initiate action, you feel like you are on top of the world.

This is quickly followed by a massive road block. It’s the part when things get “messy”. A great idea gets met with the harsh reality of all the unknown’s you failed to considered, or rightfully feared would happen. You may not have all the skills, resources, or time to bring your project to the next phase. You become frustrated, that fear driven voice not only reminds you of the, “not good enough’s,” but it mixes in a little of the, “I told you so’s”.

This feels like the end, but it’s actually the gateway. The hardest part of achieving BIG goals is starting, not meeting resistance. People quit here, when in reality they have already done the hardest thing, which is believing enough to take NEW action. This phase doesn’t need more hustle, more grind, more ideas. What it needs is perspective.

When things get hard, I always step away. Not STOP, but remove myself from the hard so that I can gain a higher perspective, to get back to the one I had when things were NEW, the one I had during all those past accomplishments that had to survive the phase of hard.

What does stepping away from hard look like:

• Journal about it. Write about the frustrations, write about the problems, ask yourself the hard questions that need some answers. This in itself is a creative release — a mindset reset you need to move forward.
• Ask for perspective help: I hate this one, because my ego always wants me to figure it out alone. This is the path to burnout and eventually quitting. Take those journal entries and share them with people you trust. Ask for their opinion. Better yet, share them with people who have charted your path. Who is an accomplished expert at what you are struggling with? What have they done, how can they help?
• Pay for expertise: just as people who have been where you are at can offer advice, there are just as many people who are experts in building things outside your competence. Pay them them to do it for you. See this as an investment, not a cost. If someone more experienced can accelerate your efforts through the hard work, you can speed up your path back to your initial vision, back to the inspiring creative work you really want to be living in to see your project through.

Step away from the hard and gain the higher perspective. You can then reengage with clarity and discipline.

Easy

This is the most rewarding part, but there are no shortcuts. This is the part where your persistant discipline and consistency get you to flow. You start to create effortlessly and your vision manifests into tangible outcomes that take your projects to inspiring heights. It’s EASY only because it was first NEW, and then HARD. To get to your highest self, you have to embrace the process of all three. They are connected, they are messy and beautiful, but trusting the process is what makes it all worthwhile — leading to another great story that will fuel your next New, Hard, Easy.

Signing Off,

Truth of the Jay

Creativity is everywhere. Sometimes we label it as singing, dancing, writing, or painting, but creativity is anything that allows you to express yourself. It doesn’t need a label or even an audience. It just needs the fullest expression of YOU.

Over recent years my creativity has become as regular as breathing. I can’t be my best at work, in relationships, or in feeling as my best self without it. For me it’s writing and journaling — usually without any outline or plans. I write when I have an idea and when I do it hours go by like minutes and it feels wonderful. Other creative outlets of mine include wildlife photography and coaching other people. But, my favorite is taking photos of coincidences (I call them universe winks) — you know, when a “sign” reminds you that you are on the right path. This is how I have learned to gamify everything from walking through an airport terminal to reading a random billboard while driving. When my imagination is active, life takes on a new dimension of experiencing cool stuff in random every day things.

What are your creative outlets? It’s an important question. Maybe the most important question. When you engage in what you love, life loves you back. This has been my truth. When creativity is intentional, everything else starts to flow around it. You feel good, you help others, and you give your soul its fullest expression. Honor your creativity and you honor yourself.

10 Ways Creative Passions Elevate Everyday Life

1. You get to share the authentic part of you with the world: the key word here is “share”. You have something special to offer. Your creativity is the way you share your specialness with others. Don’t hold back!
2. You release and heal through your art: creativity is art in every form. It’s your art! When you are frustrated or struggle with the adversities of life, you just might find the answers in your art. Express what you can’t say, direct your energy towards the creative release of letting everything else go. This is freedom, this is healing!
3. You influence people in ways you will never know: when you share your creativity with the world it matters to someone. You don’t have to sell your creation or go viral. Sometimes something you create influences a person you don’t even know. You may inspire a change or an idea that completely transforms someone else’s life. I say this with conviction — because so many people I don’t know have done this for me by sharing their creative work.
4. You improve brain function and health: there is credible Psychology and Science that supports the influence creativity has on improved moods, reduced stress and anxiety. Creativity takes you to a place where possibilities and new ideas replace negative thinking.
5. You raise your vibration: this is all about energy. What you think impacts what you believe, and ultimately how you feel. You raise your vibration through your creativity naturally. Raise your energy and your inspiration to do BIG things instantly follows.
6. You feel imperfectly amazing: the key word here is “imperfect”. If it’s your creation, it needs no standard. When you engage in something you love for the pure joy of it, but without and expectation, you start to find the beauty in just showing up. Showing up to build, to intentionally direct your heart and soul to its full expression. Imperfect becomes the perfect way to create resilience and that feels powerful and is the ultimate form of courage.
7. It’s an escape, not “escapism”: it’s not a pill, a therapy session, or a glass of wine, but it’s a powerful way to take you to a magical place for a little while, where all your problems go away. Creativity is healthy coping and it can bring you back to reality with refreshed hope and new perspectives.
8. You are reminded that joy is experienced in the “doing”: getting to the destination never seems to match the thrill of the voyage. Creativity brings you fully into the present moment — there is no past, no future. You are fully immersed in “the doing” and there is no feeling quite like it.
9. You balance out content intake: there is a saying that the universe always balances out through the Law of Polarity. Sometimes we listen, sometimes we talk. Sometimes we teach, sometimes we learn. Energy needs to balance out. In a world where content is coming at us from all angles, it’s easy to become imbalanced. Too much scrolling and learning will deplete your energy. This doesn’t make it bad, it’s just imbalanced. Your creativity is how you fill your tank and it’s how you balance give and take.
10. You engage with purpose, and that unleashes YOUR purpose: creativity is passion, it is meaning, it is how you experience your authentic self. Picasso once said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away”. Creativity is living in your purpose, sharing it is what brings it to life for others.

Signing Off,

Truth of the Jay

There’s a great paradox we all face in a world that celebrates being seen, while also villainizing individuality as the enemy of teamwork. Social media has transitioned from a platform to connect, to a place where everyone is showing off as the center stage hero. The same thing is happening in most organizations where standing out is how we have been taught to get ahead.

It poses the question, “how do you celebrate your individuality and be seen for yout unique impact, while still remaining humble and relatable? There is a sweet spot, and it requires the confidence to show your authenticity, while sharing it through a persona that invites others to share in the journey and spotlight with you. I call this persona, “Confident Humility.” When it is practiced regulaly, it not only feels good, but it influences those around you to feel good as well — this applies to social media, but also in the organizations that you serve.

What is Confident Humility?

Confident Humility is having the confidence to share your ideas and accomplishments — to embrace the opportunity to be fully seen, but to do so in a way that is relatable and inclusive. Relatable means it is genuine, funny, and the behavior invokes an a positive emotional response where people feel what it is like to be you. Inclusive leaves people feeling inspired and connected versus envious.

This is a very tight rope to walk. Show casing your accomplishments can easily be seen as showing off. Narcissism is alive and thriving on social media, but also in organizations where standing out is the best way to get the applause you feel is deserved. When you are too much, you push others away, but when you walk with confidence, while embodying the intention and behaviors required to bring out the best in others — this is where you will be celebrated, but also create enduring connections. Finding the balance will bring you to your peak leadership, while transforming your relationships in exciting new ways. Here are a few philosophies that can help you get there:

7 Ways to Embody Confident Humility:

1. Truth over Performance: when you prioritize truth in communication it resonates as real. Not the unfiltered truth that crosses the line, but pure, honest, and real communication that cuts through the noise and connects people heart to heart. It takes confidence to speak truth and humility to prioritize it over curated performance. People can spot your genuine intent every time and it matters in how things land.
2. Response over Reaction: reaction comes from ego, while responding comes from a place of love. When you respond, you are inviting people to connect with you openly, when you react, you are protecting the need to be right. When you prioritize collaboration over winning, communication reaches new levels of effectiveness.
3. Listening over Speaking: you have two ears and one mouth for a reason 🤔. You can learn more about a situation by listening. Listening leads to discovery, and sharing from a point of discovery offers a broader perspective that invites an audience into actually want to hear what you have to say.
4. Embodiment over Education: how you show up is more noticeable than what you know. Throw up all over people with your opinions and watch how fast they turn away. Embody what you preach in your ideas, and you will create new levels of credibility in your engagements.
5. Discernment over Speed: for every message you share, spend twice as much time thinking about it first. It’s not about what you want to share and more about what you intent to be heard. Influence replaces authority through a more thoughtful approach.
6. Embody “WE” over “I”: when you use the word “WE” instead of “I” in your communications, you shift your purpose to a shared purpose. Success is shared, others are now invited to come along on the journey. You stand out though the paradox of standing together.
7. Post Team Success over “ME” Success: this one is my favorite, because it’s the opposite of what we see dominating online platforms, where individuality and specialness are behind the content so many people post about. It’s not content that’s off putting as much as the delivery. When you post about success, include celebrating the people who helped you, make others the center of the story with you. You will standout because of it, but you will be influencing others by inciting inspiration versus envy. Try this and see how good it feels, watch how good it makes others feel ❤️

There is one practice that always gets me right back to where my feet are — gratitude!

When my mind wants too much past, it leads to depression, when it craves too much future, it brings anxiety. Grounding myself back to the present is where I can always find peace. Life is never as good as it is NOW.

Gratitude is always available, it is staring right back at me in the simple moments that I often overlook. Here are some of my favorite reminders of how I can express it:

10 Ways to Express Gratitude Through Simple Moments

1. The sunrise you will never forget — there is nothing quite like getting up early and watching the sun bring in the day, before the world starts to speak. It’s like a mirror to my soul.
2. The warm blanket and a cup of coffee — calm never felt so good as that first cup of coffee and a warm blanket on a cold day. Tasting that first sip and just being with yourself is bliss.
3. Holding hands with your partner on a bench — safe and loved never makes as much sense as it does sharing a moment with the person you love. Companionship is to feel seen.
4. Listening to a loved one tell a story — happiness takes on new meaning when you experience it being shared by someone you care about. A joy shared, is a joy doubled.
5. Writing about all the things in your life that you didn’t have 5 years ago — remembering never feels so powerful as it does when you realize yesterday’s struggles brought you today’s gifts.
6. Writing about scary things that worked out — resilience brings new courage when you reflect on the discomfort that led you to new comfort today.
7. Helping someone because you can — giving away what you have is how you keep and appreciate what you have.
8. Forgiving someone because it frees you — everything you let go of makes space for something new and more rewarding. Freedom from, becomes freedom to.
9. Receiving kindness — sometimes smiling and saying thank you for someone thinking of you is the perfect reminder that you matter.
10. Creating something — you express your heart through your creative gifts, you gift others with the spirit of your uniqueness. When you inspire others, you return to yourself fully.

Signing off,

Truth of the Jay

The morning routine has been endorsed for hundreds of years with likes of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Oprah Winfrey documenting routines. Prioritizing wellness and creativity before the rest of the world wakes up is an excellent way to build joy in the day ahead. An intentional morning ritual can shape the entire day, and a life built on successful days can lead to transformational success as momentum compounds over time. For me, a strong start, not only leads to a strong finish, but it enhances my gratitude and presence. A life well lived is lived fully in the present. Let your morning routine pave the way to the fullest joy of living one day at a time. Here are some tips for starting a successful day:

5 Practices To Spark Your Morning Ritual

1. Start Really Early: when you wake up fresh and honor the quiet time with yourself, BIG ideas and reflections of gratitude for all the blessings in your life can influence the energy of your day. When the sun has yet to rise, the birds have yet to chirp, and the phone has yet to ring — this is the prime time to connect with your inner being. When you can’t hear anything else is when you can finally hear yourself.
2. Pray, Mediate, Journal, Create: PMJ C— is a great combination for raising your vibration. Hope replaces fear, acceptance replaces expectations, expression replaces repression. Energy flows and so does your spirit.
3. Move & Walk Barefoot: Some type of exercise that gets the blood flowing and heart racing is going to be good for you. If you can’t run, walk, but do something physical to intentionally connect with the energy of your body. I also like to walk barefooted for a few minutes. Doesn’t matter if it’s 80 degrees or -2…grounding your feet, while closing your eyes to draw in the energy of the earth is the perfect way to anchor in the present moment. Feel the moment. Feel your presence.
4. Stretch & Breathe: If you don’t have time for a full yoga class, try 15 minutes of breathwork and body poses. This connects the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual energy that will carry you through the day. I’m a fan of short poses that stretch your legs and back — this releases tension and blocked energy. You will feel the release instantly. Box breathing is another powerful way to release anxiety and tension — breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds, hold it in for 3 seconds, release slowly for 7 seconds…repeat this 5x and watch how fast your nervous system regulates for the day ahead.
5. Have a Cup of Coffee with Yourself: Sit down with your coffee, or favorite morning drink. Taste it, don’t multi-task or look at your phone. BE with the present moment. BE a best friend to yourself and honor what it is like to be alive without jumping to what is next. This is where you will find the pure joy of being alive. Slow down and enjoy it by the sip…

Signing Off,

Truth of the Jay

Someone once told me that when things go wrong, you go “left”. I found it to be a powerful quote about attitude and empowerment — the choice to preserve in the face of adversity. It sounded great, until it became my reality.

Not getting your way sucks and when it comes in the face of rejection it flat out hurts. I spent years working towards something important to me that appeared to be materializing into my long awaited moment. I healed, I hustled, I developed myself, visualized success every morning, and executed a methodical plan. I did my best and went into 2026 excited and ready. But sometimes the universe has other plans and they rarely mirror mine. I had the long awaited conversation that came with a surprising — no, not now.

Ouch! There were plenty of good practical reasons, many were logical and demonstrated there were many variables at play, the wrong timing being one of them. The decision was bigger than me, but all I heard is, “you are not good enough,” even though this it is the farthest thing from what was actually said.

For about a week I sat in it. You know — the victim mentality, the “poor me’s,” the blaming myself for not doing more…this wasn’t the first time something didn’t go my way. I have been here before, but this time I did something very different — I felt my feelings and didnt rush the bestifully frustrating process! I honored what it feels like to be disappointed, to feel let down, and to honor it not with anger and resentment, but with self love. I didn’t give my power away, I instead took it back.

Something radically changed in my attitude after a few hard days. I felt the sadness, I honestly expressed my feelings with people I trust. I wrote about it, I wrote about my journey and how resilient I had become pursuing this challenging goal. Suddenly, all the things that I had not been giving my time and energy to for a very long time suddenly drew me back in. I began to see that this rejection is redirection. This was an opportunity to setup my future self with renewed purpose and clarity of intent, a shift to look past a goal I had already outgrown and see that this may be the greatest thing that ever happened to me. This is what I want to share from this realization:

5 Ways to See Rejection as a Redirection:

1. View rejection as a gift — it is presented to change you: nobody wants to hear this when disappointing news arrives, but this is what I know…we can only connect the dots backwards in our lives to remember how we go here. When I look at those past stories, there were many failures and many of them came just before my life was about to change in a very transformational way. You gift yourself that reminder when faced with a new rejection. You remind yourself how some past struggle was actually setting you up to breakout in a profound way from that experience. This is one of those moments again — receive this gift!
2. Disappointment is a feeling and feelings deserve to be honored: there is a lot of written material out there that will tell you resilience means grinding through, moving on, taking immediate action. But, here is a different take — before you do that honor the moment and don’t do anything. Feel what your soul needs you to feel. Cry, laugh, share, sleep, pray, shout…whatever “feeling those feelings” is for you, that is what your soul is asking to be honored. If what you didn’t get was important to you, then it’s important enough to be with you for the full experience. Yes, the goal is to move forward, but resilience isn’t bringing the wound with you, it’s processing it, healing it, rebuilding from it — versus running away from it. This is the path to growth. To be fully with the rejection.
3. Getting what you want isn’t always good for you: what’s meant for you doesn’t need you to chase it, or overperform to get it. Sometimes something evades us because it’s not meant for us. I believe that the universe works in mysterious ways — one of which is protecting me from things that aren’t good for me. Maybe you get what you want and things fall apart shortly after. Maybe the experience of pursuing it and growing into your best self is the real lesson, versus getting it. Maybe the loss is clearing space for something new that you can’t even see right now. Trust universal timing, and trust yourself that sometimes not getting what you want is a beautiful invitation to finally pursue what you most need.
4. Peace of mind is directly related to your level of acceptance: there is no resentment in the waiting quite like an expectation! When you expect something, you are attaching your serenity to things happening your way. Life is more complex than that, and expecting anything is to reject the most important ingredient of peace — acceptance! When you accept everything, you expect nothing and that opens up the possibility for a world of surprises to bless your life. When things go wrong, acceptance brings you back to gratitude and humility. You suddenly view this current challenge with a lot less attachment when you remember how many amazing things have happened in your life, and how many are going so well today in the present moment. Acceptance is the great attitude equalizer that can balance expectations with reality. Acceptance always brings you back home.
5. Time & energy are finite resources — where have you been wasting them? If you haven’t mapped out your time and energy in a while, there is nothing like a good rejection to set the course. Where have you been spending it, and where should you be spending it? Time and energy are your most valuable resource. You don’t create more, can’t buy some at the store, nor can you get them back when wasted. What a lesson to leave you with. Sometimes we spend months, or even years overextending our resources in pursuit of a goal that doesn’t come through. There is never any wasted experience because the process is always leading you to your highest self. But there is a question to be asked, “what else that is important in my life didn’t get the best of me during this time?” The answer to this question might immediately bring an AHA moment for what you do now, and what you do next. Let your redirection reveal its course, and shift your time and energy to lead the way.

Signing Off,

Truth of the Jay

I came out swinging into 2026. Big plans, with a sharp focus. Reality showed up really fast. A day full of large scale disappointments sent me right back into fear mode. I prepared, I trusted, and I want to blame the universe for not serving it up the easy way, not my way! Overthinking takes center stage. Fear, worry, projection, and “the nothing ever works out for me’s” take over. These are the mind tricks of the “worrier” archetype.

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” -Mike Tyson

I have learned more from adversity than I ever have from my successes. Our greatest gifts are often disguised as an unseen punch in the face — a gust of wind that suddenly out of nowhere changes the entire course of our lives. The universe doesn’t work on clocks, but it does work through alignment. Some of the most beautiful experiences and surprises of my life came just after life threw me a massive disruption. But on the other side of those tests grew a more resilient and grounded version of myself — a version that was only able to hold something bigger and more authentic because getting it wasn’t easy. This is what it takes to experience alignment. It’s aligning with your highest self on the other side of hard things.

The First Thought: FEAR

Through a lot of spirtual work, I have learned the great power of pause. My first thought when faced with adversity is always fear. My mind projects the worst, and that can spiral into a long depressing period of worry. All those negative voices take over: “I’m not good enough, I’m not perfect, I am a failure.” This voice is powerful and it takes over my mind like a parasite. Until I found a new answer.

The Second Thought: FAITH

If you step back from adversity for just a brief moment and sit with those feelings of discomfort, there is a second thought that becomes even more powerful than the first. If you follow it, your entire reality can shift in an instant. This is the shift from fear to faith, the choice to make the courageous shift from Worrier to Warrior.

The Warrior carries faith over fear because they understand one absolute truth — they have successfully navigated every difficulty of life up until now. This powerful awareness shifts reality to see things differently — this is happening for a reason, and it is going to launch me into a higher version of myself. At this point, your bold intuition leads the way — because your soul knows something your mind doesn’t — that this experience is part of your story and it’s not the end, it’s not a setback, but your next setup.

7 Mindset Shifts to Unleash Your Inner Warrior

1. What if, to Even if: the worst case scenario usually doesn’t unfold the way the mind projects it. If it happens, you don’t abandon your mission. You might retreat to discern your options or ask for help, but you never abandon the path of your purpose. “Even if” means you bring the courage to persist and never abandon yourself.
2. Victim to Creator: It’s either happening to you or for you. Victim says blame everyone else, Creator says, “let’s turn this into a really great adventure.” When you create from adversity you can open doors that weren’t visible before. Adversity is an invitation to bring your courageous inner artist.
3. Reaction to Response: Reaction lets the unconscious shadow run the show. It represses the discomfort, while responding requires something more subtle — a pause, a deep breath, the creation of space for discomfort be for a hot minute. When you refrain from action, your intuition guides a more mature alternative — one that requires discernment, temperance, and observation. The subject becomes the observer. Reality slows down and your emotional maturity speeds up. You now can master the moment on your terms.
4. Lose to Learn: Sometimes we win, but we always learn. Sometimes not getting what we want is the universe saying, “not now, not for you.” Rejection is protection, and sometimes redirection. Everything that happens to us can be viewed with neutrality. It doesn’t require a label, or even an emotion. Experience becomes information. And information in all forms, is power.
5. Attachment to Surrender: Sometimes we want it too much. We prepare, we manifest, we work hard, we trust people, we pray and when the universe leaves the door shut or closes it in our face, we blame ourselves. My philosophy is simple— what is meant for me will never pass me by. The universe has always delivered, it usually comes designed as chaos and leads me down a winding road with dozens of detours, but then something new and mysterious emerges. Surrender is not the same a giving up. It’s letting go of an expectation that good things have to happen a certain way. Surrender is the optimism to trust the beautiful path of uncertainty.
6. Mask to Truth: When we don’t feel seen or chosen, the default pattern can be to put on a different mask. If I shape-shift into the version of myself that I think someone else wants, just maybe they will validate me. But every mask reveals a different version that rejects your main truth. When you take off the mask, you risk being seen, you risk being vulnerable, you risk saying what your heart wants to say despite the fear. Don’t worry about performing through your difficulties, instead embody your true self, this is the real flex.
7. Fear to Faith: It will all work out, but only if you really believe that. Attitude is a choice. In the words of Willam James, “Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” Faith is not the absence of fear, it is holding faith as you walk through fear. You do this by trusting the universe, which again has gotten you through everthing up to this point. But, you also have to trust yourself, trust that what you embody through this experience is preparing you for something bigger on the other side. This is the path from worrier to Warrior.

Signing Off,

Truth of the Jay

As I closeout 2025, I find the same default thinking patterns that historically emerge during this annual reflection period. It always starts with the same basic question, “what did I accomplish this past year?” After several years of healing and doing some really deep inner work, I find a pause after asking that question, and a transition to a second thought that causes me to discern what really matters at this point in my life. If you give yourself the grace of considering that pause, new questions emerge. It has lead me to a deeper understanding of what life is really all about. I can sum it up in one simple statement. For me, life is now more about what I embody, versus what I accomplish.

This leads me into 2026 with an open heart that requires me to boldly live in the authenticity of my own light — unapologetically, and detached from any outcomes. WOW! THIS IS WHAT FREEDOM CAN FEEl LIKE.

Joy is now found in the experience of life itself, not achievement of any goals. I still have goals, but whether I win, lose, or learn, I always grow into something more whole. This is new territory for me and it’s beautiful.

These are some of the questions I ask in place of listing accomplishments before I leave 2025 behind. I invite you to explore them with your own curiosity about what they might mean to you:

1. Where did you build resilience? Resilience is not the absence of fear, but carrying your vision through fear with courage. It’s showing up for yourself when it would be much easier to shrink or run away. It is choosing self love, over validation. It’s remembering all the places you stopped over performing, over giving, and abandoning yourself to make others and the world more comfortable. Resilience is the ultimate form of showing up for yourself. If you look back in 2025, you will find your resilience. Your newfound resilience will bring you newborn strength not only in the new year, but throughout the rest of your life. That is the real flex of your 2025 💪.
2. How did you heal? Healing is the most beautiful gift you can offer yourself. It’s unconditional self love. It’s the hug you give yourself after heartbreak, the willingness to feel all your feelings fully, the courage it takes to rediscover yourself through the inner work and allow yourself not become transformed because of it. When did your soul finally take a deep breath in 2025? Where did you bring your best regardless of the outcome? Your most difficult challenges might actually reveal your greatest accomplusments disguised as adversity. The wound is always where we let the light in💡.
3. Where did you choose to open your heart? It is only we we fully accept and love ourselves that we extend the same grace to those that walk among us. When I stopped beating myself up for not getting life perfect, I began to love other people for their same imperfections. My relationships reached new levels. The ones that were one sided without boundaries walked away, the ones that met my vibration stayed and became deeper and more enduring. I opened my heart and it opened the door to a new life grounded in love ❤️.
4. What did you gain by letting go? I once believed that letting go meant giving up. I now realize that what is meant for me will never pass me by. Anything I have to chase or abandon myself for wasn’t meant to stay. When I started to live my life seeking alignment over accomplishment, many things and people naturally drifted away. I no longer correlate safety and routine with alignment. I value creativity over structure, experiences over assurances. Letting go starts with the courage to live life with more curiousity, it’s navigating the unknown without fear holding the wheel, letting go means you embrace life’s mysteries. I let go of having all the answers and relying on the perfect plan. The universe starts to surprise you when you trust that good things will meet you half way. Where did letting go, invite new possibilities into your life 🪐?
5. What do you remember about who you really are? I lived most of my life chasing my future. It left my exhausted and living in a constant loop of unfulfillment. I would work hard to achieve a goal, finally get there, and then realize “getting it” never gave me what I really needed. The lesson — I am already enough, and experiencing life in the present moment is the real joy of living. No trophy, title, or accomplishment can ever fill a void that can only be filled within. What did you remember about yourself before the world hardened you? When you peal back the layers, you might just find that inner child who still knows how to dream, how to take off the mask, how to BE with someone just enjoying their company, and how to live fully in the present moment without expectations. Take a minute to remember who you really are — this is the person who will lead you into your most fullfilling year yet in 2026…more acceptance, more kindness, more service, more creativity, more love, more presence is how we remember 💭.

Give yourself a hug for being who you really are at the close of 2025…nothing more and nothing less than the authentic YOU. I hope you find self love and gratitude as you peal back the layers of 2025. May these insights become your guiding light to opening new possibilities in the year ahead 🎉🥳.

Signing Off,

Truth of the Jay

I started this practice a few years ago where I began creating acronyms as reminders of where I had learned to navigate emotional turmoil in my life. Behind these little anecdotes are a full toolbox of spirtual practices that have helped me learn to sail through the choppy waters of life with acceptance and grace.

Not every storm deserves my energy. I can choose to sail through by leveraging the wind to direct my sail — no matter how hard it blows or what direction in follows. To sail you only need wind, not wind in a specific direction. When you learn to adjust your sails, joy can be found in even the harshest of conditions.

The “Triple C” Challenge:

I call, “Triple C” the metaphor for how my brain naturally reacts to chaos. The keyword is react, because as I will share more about in a minute — there is a HUGE difference between reacting and responding.

Reaction is always grounded in some form of fear. Somebody or something triggers a core wound. My fight or flight responses get hijacked and suddenly I’m off my game….I take the bait! This usually doesn’t solve my problem, but only amplifies it. Like a hurricane that suddenly crosses over warm water — my negative reaction gives the storm more power. I cause more damage, but most of all — I give away my internal peace. At this point in my life, that is no longer acceptable — it is outright sacred that I protect this at all costs! The good news is there is a way through, but it starts with awareness and acceptance of what I don’t control, and the choosing to pause before responding (this is the oppposite of reacting). Here are the “Triple C” traps of the storm:

Spotting the “Triple C” Traps:

• Change: my immediate reaction to discomfort is always to change it because I don’t want to feel it. This is where I have learned to take my power back. Every time you choose to feel discomfort, you are choosing peace over reaction. Welcome it, sit with it, close your eyes and BE with it. You don’t have to change what isn’t yours to change. Joy is found in the courage to meet it with grace. That’s the real power! Learning to do that is to master every difficult moment with acceptance.
• Chase: my second reaction after I take the bait on the first one is to force a different outcome. If I get louder, put in more energy, or if I make you see me and hear me, then just maybe the storm will back away and change course. Here’s the reality — weather doesn’t work that way and neither does the universe! What I chase usually evades me. It creates an inner storm within myself. When I don’t accept, I chase and when I chase, I abandon myself.
• Curate: the last one is where desperation really kicks in. When I cannot change it, I chase, when I cannot catch it, I curate projected outcomes in my in my mind! This is the trap of overthinking, over-performing, and redirecting all my energy to managing the universe’s plan in an effort to make things go my way. I lose every time, because the universe doesn’t negotiate or bargain. It reflects back what you project out. It wants you to dance by following its lead. There is great power found in letting go, but letting go requires letting go 🤔.

The “Triple W” Response — Grounded in Joyful Presence:

Letting go is much harder than it sounds. I hate when someone says it to me, as if it were that simple. The reality is — yes, it’s that simple! But for me, letting go actually means taking action. Here’s what that looks like — it’s not about solutions, it’s about joyful presence:

• Wander: Walking is the most underrated coping mechanism on the planet. It doesn’t require a visit to the doctor or a prescription. It’s available to most of us (who are healthy enough 🙏) in equal doses. Walking away from negative energy is the gateway to joy in the present moment. Giving yourself space is like giving yourself a dose of peace. Separation is the space between reaction and response. In that space are some really amazing joys if you can be present enough to look. Wandering around in nature can reveal some of life’s most powerful medicine. Maybe you see a Bald Eagle grace the sky for the first time, or run into an elderly woman who needs help carrying in her groceries. When I wander, I get outside of my head, which means getting outside of myself. Peace returns, the storm is still there, but I already forgot about it. My day is reset, I took my power back. All this because I chose to walk around the block instead of reacting to a situation that doesn’t deserve my energy.
• Wonder: this is to choose curiosity over judgement. Consider this — maybe this chaos, this storm, this impossible situation is the greatest gift of your life? What if you reframe the paradigm to choose joy instead of reaction? Think about the possibilities you exercise you wonder?How can I have fun with this, what can this teach me, who has been through this that can help me? I wonder what might happen if I choose a new response — the uncomfortable one that opens a new door in my life? Holy crap! Thank you, Universe for this invitation to meet my higher self today!
• Wellbeing: this is to choose joy over everything in your life. My self care is non negotiable. What I eat, how I honor my time and energy, what I choose to give my power to is within my control. To respond is to honor your peace over everything else in your life. My wellbeing is the foundation for all strong relationships, it’s the sail that can be adjusted to the winds direction in any moment. Your wellbeing is the superpower to meet the chaos right where it’s at. It doesn’t need your solutions, it only needs your joyful presence.

Trust the chaos, sail the storm, what’s meant for you will arrive right on time. Joy is always a choice, so respond presently be embodying it. Life’s more fun this way!

Signing Off,

Truth of the Jay

Hurry up and wait! This is the best advice I ever received, but it has taken me years to embody. In a world where productivity and speed are glorified, slowing down requires discipline, and a willingness to wait for the right moment. This is preparation, this is what I call, strategic patience.

Preparing in silence while the storm passes is honoring the energy of the moment. It is working with the chaos, not escaping it or forcing your way through it. It’s accepting what is and recycling it into a new formula growth. It’s letting the wind carry you no matter what direction it blows. Through this experience you learn to master discernment and temperance — this is to master your thinking and your emotions. It’s living in the joy of the present moment fully and experiencing all of the energy that comes with it. Everything happening is information that provides great teaching’s. What will you learn from this happening? Let it guide your next move. This is strategy at its best.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” -Ferris Bueller

5 Ways Slowing Down Accelerates Success

1. Waiting is a Strategy: Let life come to you. You attract what is meant for you, you don’t have to promote yourself or chase it. This is the ultimate form of “going with the flow”. When you wait, you honor the present moment to teach you the lessons right in front of you. The biggest one is to enjoy the present moment of your life to its fullest. Don’t rush your way out of today’s beautiful experiences.
2. Rejection is Protection, then Redirection: If it’s delayed, just maybe it’s not meant for you. Let it unfold beautifully, do your best, journal about your wins and your learning’s. Trust the universe to chart your course. If something or someone leaves, they were meant to, if something new arrives give it a hug and welcome it with curiosity and faith. In the words of Dr. Seuss, “Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, love the people who treat you right, forgive the ones who don’t and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it’d be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.”
3. Wu Wei — Practice the Art of Not Forcing: This Japanese philosophy emphasizes the art of not forcing anything. This is not about inaction, but alignment. When you prepare in silence, the way will appear perfectly. You make your move when you are strong and not desperate. This applies to all situations. You go for it when the situation invites you, not by inviting yourself. Don’t kick the door open, knock and be ready when the situation invites you in.
4. 2 Ears Are More Powerful Than 1 Mouth: When you quiet your mind and open your ears, you can finally start to hear your inner voice. I spent most of my life performing and chasing to meet the expectations of the outer world. It wasn’t until I learned to tune into my own intuition that joy took on new meaning for me. I talk a lot less and listen more. This has opened new levels of spirtual awareness and deepened my connections beyond explanation. I now listen to understand, not to respond. Listening is patience, and patience reveals clarity. When you slow down, you actually speed up your focus.
5. Spiritual Intelligence is Perfect Alignment, Not Timing: The universe has a plan and I have learned to trust it. Self awareness is understanding yourself, but spiritual awareness is understanding yourself and your connection to everything. This means energy always works for you, versus happening to you. Joy’s, delay’s, trials, difficult people, and new opportunities — all of this is working for your growth. The universe aligns and if you are patient and tuned in, you will start to align with it. You no longer rush anything and learn to trust that everything meant for you arrives right on time.

Signing Off,

Truth of the Jay