Cunnington Shift Carrie Cunnington

Over the past few months, I have been sharing more about the power of The Three Principles of Mind, Consciousness, and Thought, which is the basis for my coaching practice. This coaching philosophy not only positively changes lives, it helps people understand how to really live life.

I have also mentioned that super coach Michael Neill, whose coaching practice is also based on the Three Principles of Mind, Consciousness, and Thought, has a new book out called, "The Inside Out Revolution: The Only Thing Need to Know to Change Your Life."

I just finished reading Michael's book and I wanted to share a short passage of it with you.

Michael says, "Since stumbling across this revolutionary new understandingin my own life (the Three Principles), I've introduced it to thousands of people around the world and personally coached hundreds to shift their foundations, learn how to thrive, and live from the inside out. My clients and students have made positive and sometimes dramatic changes in their relationships, finances, mental and physical health, and well-being. They've become happier, more secure in themselves, and more compassionate with others.

"But many of them have come face to face with challenging circumstances. Some have lost their jobs, gone bankrupt, become ill, and dealt with family crisis that bring tears to my eyes just thinking about them. Almost without fail, they have found deep reserves of resilience and creativity that have allowed them to handle these difficult circumstances with a level of ease and grace they previously never would have imagined possible.

"If you were to talk with them, you would find them to be as different from one another as people can be. But from the time they had the inside-out understanding for themselves, chances are you'd notice two things they all had in common: a twinkle in their eye and a lovely feeling in their presence."

Back in February, I offered a three-month coaching opportunity for two deserving souls in this Moments of Brilliance community. One of the women who received the coaching opportunity was Sarah Richardson, who is the Director of Admissions and Scholarships at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Sarah has had some challenges in her life that many of us can't even begin to imagine. Five years ago, Sarah's father was murdered on their family farm and to this day, they still have not identified the person who committed that horrible crime. A few years later, Sarah's son was born with a congenital eye condition that left him almost blind at 8 weeks old. Sarah has certainly had her share of challenging life circumstances.

However, Sarah is one of those people who, despite challenges, is full of hope, has a twinkle in her eye, and I always have a lovely feeling in her presence. She is truly an amazing woman and I am honored to feature her story with you today.

In this interview with Sarah, you will hear:


Her story of courage, resilience, and hope
How she felt a deep sense of peace and understanding in the midst of her father's death
How she handles her son's eye challenges with grace
How she deals with the "not knowing"

As always, thank you for being a part of this community. Enjoy your time with Sarah Richardson!

In the past few weeks, I have received so many thoughtful, insightful emails from you about how your over-thinking has become a barrier in your life.

When we over-think, we pay a price. We miss out on:

• Trusting ourselves
• Being present and in the moment
• Having deeper connections with others
• The richness of life

In fact, when I did a Google image search, I was amazed at the number of available quotes and images about the implications of over-thinking:



You might be saying, "Yeah. Yeah. I get it. So what's next? What can I do about it?"

Today, I am featuring an interview with my own coach and mentor, Barb Patterson, on this subject specifically...just for you.

In this interview with Barb, you will hear:

• Why a CEO of an investment firm doesn't think about the many companies he or she owns
• How Barb over-thought a situation to try to control the outcome
• How our moments of brilliance never come from over-thinking
• What's on offer to us when we have a quiet mind.

To hear Barb's interview, click below!

My daughters have learned to knit at school (I certainly didn't teach them. I can hardly sew on a button)...and they love it. We have balls of yarn and knitting needles all over our house. The girls knit in the car, while snuggled up on their beds or on the couch; they knit with their friends and during story time at school. They have knit scarves for my sister, blankets for their dolls, bookmarks (who knew?), coasters for our coffee cups (again, who knew?), and more long, snake-like creations than I care to count.

To knit means to make (a garment, fabric, etc.) by interlocking loops of one or more yarns either by hand with knitting needles or by machine (thank you, Dictionary.com).

It also means to become closely and firmly joined together; to grow together.

Knitting knits people together...

...which is what our Woman of the Week realized as well - and turned it into a business.

Amanda Hofman graduated from the prestigous Barnard College with a degree in economics, but after a few years in different organizations, Amanda was miserable. She didn't feel like herself, she was burned out, unmotivated, and didn't feel like she was living up to her potential.

In her spare time, Amanda loved to knit and had started a knitting group. Knitting was Amanda's hobby but she never considered that it could turn into a "real business." The interesting thing about Amanda's knitting group, however, was that Amanda's skill for teaching women how to knit wasn't what really made her stand out...knitting women together to build community was her real talent. That "ahh ha" inspired Amanda to look at how she could build community in different ways and thus, she cerated Urban Girl Squad - a social group for women in their 20s and 30s who love to try new things, spend time with friends, and meet new people in New York City. Amanda built Urban Girl Squad form the ground up and the group now features over fourteen thousand members and one hundred fifty events per year.

As highly driven women, we're passionate about so many things. The challenge to you this week is to look at your passions from a different angle and see what new opportunities emerge- perhaps your new venture is sitting right in front of you.

To listen to Amanda's interview, click below

When my ceiling fan spins this fast, it wobbles a little bit and that dangling, metal pull-string whips around and makes a clicking sound...it's actually a bit frenetic.

Now imagine that I turn the fan off...and it spins slower and slower until it stops. The wobbling, whipping and clicking goes away. The fan is still. It's peaceful.

How often do the thoughts in your mind feel like the spinning, wobbling, clicking, whipping ceiling fan?

When your mind is in that state, does it sound something like this:

"I have to get this done or else...I might lose a client, I might miss this opportunity, I might not get that promotion, I might be judged as a bad mom, my kids might not get onto the 'right' team or into the 'right' school, I might be judged as not being able to do it all..."

Read that again, but faster. Now pile on your TO DO list, the rest of your mental chatter, and the expectations you put on yourself.

It's frenetic and stressful, isn't it? It certainly is for me...but that's not when my best work or my best thinking happens.

My best ideas come when I'm taking a shower, brushing my teeth, on vacation, or on a walk down by Minnehaha Creek...when my pace is slower and I'm relaxed.

In those moments, the "I have to get this done or else..." moments disappear, and I'm in a state of mind where fresh, new exciting ideas flow.

Now, I can't take a shower or brush my teeth all day long, so I have to find other ways to slow down my mental ceiling fan...

...Which is why every professional athlete and CEO has a coach...and so do I. My coach is Barb Patterson and I am proud to feature her as our Woman of the Week. By listening to her own wisdom and following her inner promptings, Barb has journeyed around the world and lived across the US, Africa, and in Paris.She has worked with executive leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, parents, and prisoners.

Barb is accomplished and driven, and has spent much of her life with a fast-spinning mental fan. But through her own transformation, Barb has been able to slow down her mental fan and get to a grounded, peaceful, authentic place...where some pretty amazing opportunities have opened up for her.

Barb used to believe transformation was about hard work and that the only way out was "through." Now Barb realizes that we are all only one thought away from profound change. New insight, new thought can happen in any moment.

As you kick off 2013, a year that has the potential to full of new, wonderful ideas and opportunities, notice when your mental ceiling fan is spinning out of control. In those moments, take a few minutes to slow yourself down...your mind will follow.

To listen to Barb's interview, click below!

I want to introduce you to our Woman of the Week, Larkin McPhee. Larkin has made award-winning documentary films for twenty years, examining subjects ranging from the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl to the high-minded ideas emanating from the intellectual stronghold, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Larkin has traveled the world, filming on five continents for various film projects. She has also produced two of the most successful shows in the history of PBS pledge drives on the subject of personal finance, featuring Suze Orman.

But what Larkin is perhaps best known for is her intimate, sensitive portrayals of people in critically acclaimed films such as Depression: Out of the Shadows, a primetime PBS special on the illness of depression and Dying To Be Thin, a NOVA special on eating disorders.

These were not subjects Larkin had set out to tackle...they found her instead...and she paid attention.

As easy as it would have been to turn away from these people who seemed lost and confused, and these tough, heavy subjects, Larkin had the courage to take them on. As a result, her documentaries have saved many lives and helped to heal many families.

To listen to the interview with Larkin, click below!