Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment. --Eckhart Tolle, author, A New Earth

Dear Friend:

Last week I woke up feeling anxious and stressed-out. My thoughts were spinning out of control. A band of mice was running in circles in my head singing a frantic version of the old familiar, “Too much to do and not enough time!”

It’s true. I am juggling—not by choice, but by circumstance—several large-scale, time-sensitive projects simultaneously. And I don’t see how they’re all going to get done. But contrary to years past when I used to “push” for things to happen (read more about the dance of the yin and yang), I do feel that  launching my new book, creating a new RTA web site, revamping our communication systems and taking on a new partnership is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing right now!).

But it’s stretching me to my very limits. 

I’m being called to let go and expand like never before. Moving beyond our comfort zone can feel messy and take us to places we’ve never been before (including the far away land I call, “How the hell did I end up here and how do I get back to the way things were before?!”).

Ever visited here?

It seems many of us are being called to grow and change right now. Are you finding that some of your habits, patterns and/ or ways of relating to others no longer work? Noticing that some of your processes or systems have become obsolete? Maybe it’s time to evolve. I invite you to step back, pause and consider three questions: 

• What in my business, career or life is no longer working for me?
• What in my professional or personal life do I need to release and let go of—for good?  
• What truth about myself, my career (or business) or my life am I refusing to hear?

What do you observe? Are you allowing and embracing growth or are you running from it as fast as you can? Whenever I’m in a period of expansion—whether it’s professional, personal or spiritual—I always take comfort in the reminder that, “Often we have to break down before we can break through.”

In The Energy of Money, author Maria Nemeth says there’s nothing wrong with hard work. However, you can work hard from a place of ease (meaning you’re in alignment with a larger purpose) or from a place of struggle (are you forcing an outcome?).

When we’re challenged to evolve, embrace a new way of being (read more) and come into the highest expression of who we are, we’ll usually find:

• Support will begin to show up to help us get to where we need to go next (just make sure you don’t turn it away like I’ve been known to do in the past!). Read My 7 Favorite Gifts from My 46th Year.
• We feel a blend of fear and anxiety AND excitement and anticipation (my presence coach Frances says anytime we grow, anxiety is a natural part of the process).
• It serves us well to seek the ongoing support and counsel of mentors and wise sages who can help us see the big picture, stay grounded and keep perspective.
• We weather this period more easily if we are kind and compassionate with ourselves and take time out for periods of “extreme self-care” (if you’re working nights and weekends, you’ll definitely need this!).
• We feel in our gut that even though this period may involve a lot of work, it’s the right thing to do (the voice of intuition is usually soft and gentle, she has not been known to carry a club or whip).
• This too shall pass. Just like a political campaign, this time of extreme growth can be intense, but it won’t last forever. And if all goes well, you’ll be harvesting the fruits from this time for years to come!

Whether you’re growing a business, going for a promotion, writing or launching a new book, considering  a career change or new creative endeavor, are in school or receiving advanced training, or are going through a time of personal or spiritual expansion, I’m sending you some of the same magic (read more) that I’m tapping this year. I look forward to celebrating with you when things calm down around a big pot of my delicious butternut squash soup.

Warmly—Renee and the RTA Team

P.S. Ready for some support to help you EVOLVE? In addition to my own resources in the calendar below, I also recommend you check out my sweet friend Lisa Byrne’s Teach Your Life to be Extraordinary online class (for moms, launches Feb. 4) or practicing extreme self-care and taking part in my good friend PhD parenting guru Carrie Contey’s 2013 global EVOLVE program (for parents, registration closes this Sunday!). Many in our community participated in Carrie’s year-long EVOLVE program in 2012 and found it nothing short of life-changing!

P.S.S. Want some free weekly support and tools for inspired living? Join us on my Live Inside Out Facebook Community. I’d love to hear what’s up in your life.  

Upcoming Events and Training:

• January 1-31   Personal Renewal Group Online Facilitator Membership Are you a therapist, coach, parent or birth educator, leadership consultant or women's empowerment advocate who loves supporting women and helping them nurture their emotional well-being? Join an international community and facilitate self-renewal groups/retreats for women based on the award-winning The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal. Learn more. THE INTRODUCTORY PRICE OF $499 GOES UP TO $699 Feb. 1.
     
• January 1-31   DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN NOW: Live Inside Out Teleclasses. Listen in the comfort of your home or office to Renee’s recent Life Balance Teleclasses. Download these inspiring, interactive calls; themes include: The Power of Self-Care, Owning Your Personal Power and Staying Connected to Your Partner. Free for a limited time.
  

• March 1 Renee’s newest life balance title Nurturing the Soul of Your Family: 10 Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday Life (New World Library) releases nationwide and is available in US bookstores. Learn more. Available for pre-order now.
  
  
• March 20 Nurture Your Soul: An Evening of Self-Renewal for parents 6-9 p.m. Mercury Hall, Austin, TX. Enjoy an incredible evening of storytelling, creativity, music, food/wine as we celebrate the launch of Renee’s book. To benefit the Austin chapter of www.childrenandnature.org. Details on how to register for this event coming soon!
  
  
• April 19-21,   A New Way of Being: Women's Self-Renewal Retreat, Esalen, Big Sur, CA.  Nurture and nourish yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually. Tap the Transformative Power of self-care to nourish your body, heart and soul. Learn to integrate self-renewal strategies into your daily life, slow down and access your Wise Self. Step into a New Way of Being.  Led by nationally-recognized career/life balance expert, coach and author Renee Trudeau at beautiful Esalen. Ideal for women in career/life transition. Details here.
  

• June 21-23, A New Way of Being: Women's Self-Renewal Retreat, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, The Berkshires, MA. Tap into the transformative power of self-care to nourish your body, heart and soul. Learn to integrate self-renewal strategies into your daily life, slow down and access your Wise Self and step into a New Way of Being. Led by nationally-recognized career/life balance expert, coach and author Renee Trudeau at beautiful Kripalu. Ideal for women in career/life transition.

• New Way of Being™ Online Work-Life Balance Course: Are you done with overwork, overwhelm and ready to discard your old habitual ways of working and being? Would you like to de-clutter, simplify, learn to leverage the power of self-care and step into a more spacious, free work/life flow? Join Renee as she supports, guides and coaches you into a new way of being and helps you access greater peace and harmony in your everyday life. REGISTER HERE.
  
  
• Private Customized Retreats: Renee is masterful at creating/facilitating empowering half, full day or weekend workshops or retreats for companies, organizations and groups. You can learn more about private retreats here or about her speaking/workshop topics, here. Email Brenda Zook Friesen, events manager at bren@reneetrudeau.com or call 512-459-6700 to check Renee’s availability.
  

You may reprint this newsletter in its entirety provided you include at the end: Renee Peterson Trudeau is a life balance coach/speaker and author of The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal and Nurturing the Soul of Your Family. You can download free book chapters, receive life balance tips or learn about upcoming events at www.ReneeTrudeau.com. On Facebook at: LiveInsideOut.

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