so you WANT to live a life 🚦 UNINTERRUPTED?

TIME TO READ: 5 mins

WHAT’S INSIDE?

• Signature Story

• Quote

• Quick Start Actions

• Resources (A few of my favorite things)

Who would you be if there were nothing in the way of achieving your success?

What would your life look like? Felicia Hatcher’s YouTube video, "Who are you Uninterrupted?" (full video) opens with that question. It was a question that she had not thought of before but was a powerful one.

As I watched this video, I thought about the lessons and wisdom not only applicable to founders in the tech space, but also to lawyers on their paths to mental wellbeing and life reinvention.

But first, some background on Felicia Hatcher. Felicia is a serial entrepreneur, innovative thought leader, and author who has dedicated her career to making a positive impact on the world. She is the CEO of Pharrell Williams's Black Ambition Opportunity Fund, which invests in diverse entrepreneurs with capital, mentorship, and uninterrupted access to resources and opportunities. Through her work over the past 8 years, she has helped entrepreneurs connect to over $100M in funding, contracts, and access to capital pathways and resources by shaping the way individuals show up, are valued, and financially benefit from playing full out in the innovation economy. In her work as a consultant and transformation speaker, companies like Amazon, Google, Spotify, Door Dash, Target, Samsung, Walmart, and Etsy call on Felicia to help shape their inclusive innovation, business strategies, and empower their teams to step into their Zone of Genius.

The Video

The video was an interview with Felicia Hatcher at the Twin Cities Startup Week conference. Felicia has a depth of knowledge and expertise as a tech founder, mentor, business owner, connector, educator, speaker, and more.

As I watched the video, I was moved not only by her story and the diversity of her journey but also by her raw yet logical approach to assessing some of the issues that affect founders in the tech space, especially founders of color.

She weaves together mindset, business, self-improvement, mental wellbeing, and relationship management in a powerful and effective way. This is why so much of her video resonated with the work that I do. Because she recognizes the importance of mental wellbeing and mindset and the resistance caused by limitations placed on ourselves and projected by others.

Parallel to Mental Wellbeing and Life Reinvention

For those on a path of mental wellbeing or even more broadly, life reinvention, self-limitations and projected limitations make changes feel impossible. Layer that with a lack of proximity to resources and people who can support you on this path, and the difficulty increases tenfold.

You feel that you are walking the path alone, with heavy weights pushing you down with each step you take.

In a world where many legal professionals are taught to put our heads down and just do the work, powering through despite the limitations is the norm of the day.

But the problem is that it doesn’t free us from the weights, and many of us are still struggling alone and in the dark. In my personal journey years ago with bipolar depression and even as I continue to make sweeping changes in other life areas, this reality hits close to home. That is why the quality of this question will help you see a path for your reinvention.

So let’s jump into some of the overarching lessons from the video. I would encourage you to watch the video as well (after you read this edition first!).

The Power of the Question

Felicia provided powerful questions which I believe can also be used for lawyers on the path of mental wellbeing and overall life changes.

Question 1: Who are YOU uninterrupted? Who would you be if there were nothing in the way of achieving your success? What would your life look like? Felicia couldn’t answer this question immediately. I’m still digging deep to find the answers to this myself.

Question 2: How are you feeding yourself? What are you consuming in your life? Are these things reinforcing you being stuck or creating resistance to change? This could be from food/books/tv/products etc. In (INSERT EDITION RE: CONSUMPTION) edition, I speak about the challenges with overconsumption. It could be the type and the amount. Be open to how it presents in your life.

I wasn’t feeding myself enough joy. If you know my story, you know that it took around 4 years for me to create a path of stability for my mental health. Recently (3 years ago), I began to plant the seeds to continue my life reinvention. I had a medium-sized whiteboard that I wanted to use to create annual goals around a big vision. I would place it next to my bed so that I could see it daily. When I accomplished each goal, I would move on to the next. Looking back on that and my 4-year path with mental health, I didn’t take the time to celebrate the small and big wins, and so I became more and more disconnected from the joy of receiving. My body never got to experience sitting in the impossibility for long because I moved it from there back to the focus, desires, and work for the next. Now that I recognize this, I’m more intentional about spending time in the present to honor the work and the result.

Question 3: Who and what do you surround yourself with? In the prior edition, I share the power of your physical surroundings on your mental wellbeing and ability to make changes, set goals etc. You surround yourself every day with people, places, and things that can support or sabotage wellbeing and life transformation paths. Take an inventory of people in your life, your social media ecosystem, your living and workspace, and even your outside environment. Use this to evaluate its impact positively or negatively on your VISION.

Question 4: How are you spending your time? Time is a valuable resource. My path to stability as a lawyer with a bipolar depression diagnosis took years. It felt like decades. The current work that I’m doing on other parts of my life is now going on 2 years with more years to go. Some reinventions use more time than others, but how you spend your days can move towards or keep you stuck?

Question 5: What are you running away from? Limitations have and continue to pull us and create resistance from moving towards our desired vision. They can come from what others project on us from their limiting beliefs and even their own identity about who they are and therefore who we are. Somewhere along the way, we adopt those beliefs into our own identity. They live inside us and create self-limitations to interrupt vision. What self-limitations do you put on your life uninterrupted?

In summary, take time over the next few weeks to write and think about these questions in your life.

1. Define Your Ideal Self: Envision the person you could become if there were no obstacles to your success. Paint a picture of your perfect life.

2. Mindful Choices: Think about what you eat, read, and watch. Are these things helping you grow, or are they making it hard to change? Be aware of how they affect your life.

3. Cultivate a Supportive Environment: Reflect on the people, places, and things around you. Assess how they influence your vision for personal and professional growth.

4. Time as a Valuable Resource: Recognize the significance of how you spend your time. Be intentional in your daily activities, understanding that time is a valuable resource on your journey.

5. Break Limits: Find and challenge the limits you set for yourself. Identify the beliefs that stop you from reaching your dreams. Overcome them to create the life you want.

I’ll end with a great story that resonated with me from Felicia Hatcher’s video.

Eating from the Pie vs. Eating from the Garden

Many people are taught that accomplishments, goal setting, and building are eating from a pie. But the problem with a pie is that once you eat it, there is nothing left. Instead, you should look at your development and building as eating from the garden where you plant seeds so that others can also eat the plants.

I write this newsletter because the tools and access to expansive and life-changing questions and lessons shouldn’t just be consumed by those who have proximity to them and then consumed like a pie. Instead, my goal is to plant seeds so that I can support you in some small or large way on your path.

Thank you again, Felicia Hatcher, for planting seeds of a life uninterrupted.

• Envision Your Ideal Self (2 mins):

  • Take 2 minutes to close your eyes and imagine the person you could be if nothing stood in the way of your success. Write down a brief description of the details of your perfect life.

• Mindful Choices Check (3 mins):

  • Reflect on what you've consumed today – food, reading material, and media. Spend 3 minutes journaling whether these choices are contributing to your growth or making it difficult for you to change.

• Environment Assessment (2 mins):

  • Look around your current physical environment – people, places, and things. In just 2 minutes, make a quick list of how these surroundings influence your vision for personal and professional growth. Note down both positive and negative impacts.

• Time Awareness (1 min):

  • Take 1 minute to recognize the significance of how you spend your time. Jot down a brief reflection on whether your daily activities align with your goals. Be intentional in your next activity and document it.

• Identify Self-Limitations (2 mins):

  • Reflect on any self-imposed limitations that may be hindering your progress. Spend 2 minutes documenting the beliefs that might be stopping you from reaching your dreams. Begin thinking about strategies to overcome these limitations and note them down.