Executive Lifestyle & Mindset Coach & Speaker Carla Reeves
In this episode, I am joined by Carla Reeves, who is known for her compassionate, direct, and truth-telling candor. Carla Reeves has coached hundreds of executives, CEOs, and other ambitious leaders over the past ten years. She is committed to guiding individuals to clarity about the real stumbling blocks that stand in the way of their growth and equip them to experience profound shifts in their confidence and ability to communicate powerfully.
Carla spent 10+ years in Corporate America working in Human Resources and Information Technology. She left Corporate America at age 32 to raise her boys and live the entrepreneurial life she loves. A series of entrepreneurial adventures organically evolved into the coaching she does today. What she knows to be true is that people are far closer than they realize to the very things they deeply desire. Often, the only thing standing in the way is an old, outdated way of viewing themselves and the world around them.
Carla uses the analogy of the lens of a pair of glasses… if we are looking at the world through these and they are marred by faulty or unhealthy thinking, no matter how successful we are, we are not going to experience our life as happy. She talks about the escapism that so many people think will make them happy - escape from a relationship, or a job, or a location. Carla tries to get people to delay those actions in order to help them discover what is really driving them.
Carla is a big proponent of journaling, so I asked her why she thought that is so important. She said there are many benefits but that she would focus on three ways it can be a helpful tool. Journaling can be a mechanism to empty your mind and clear out all of the noise, which Carla calls taking out the mental trash. It also gives us a little distance from our thoughts and awareness of what we are allowing in our headspace. Clara also says she likes to think of journaling as a tool for navigating our lives, to get things down with pen and paper in order to examine the circumstances and prepare our response.
I asked Carla to explain the meaning and importance of mindset shifts. She said we often get focused on what we don’t want, and how fear can play a part in unhealthy and unproductive thinking. She said that it is important for us to be aware of this and then ask ourselves what we do want, and focus on that instead of imaging negative outcomes.
We talked a little bit about the pandemic, the wide range of reactions to it, and how Carla is helping her clients get through this challenge. She said the tone of her coaching calls have really changed from being forward-thinking and goal-focused to rather a survival mode kind of situation. Carla said because we are getting so much information, and much of it conflicting, and differing view and opinions, it is even more important to unpack our thinking, whether through journaling or speaking to someone we trust. She emphasized how important it is to control the things that we allow in our lives and the power that they have over us.
During this interview, Carla really emphasizes the power our thinking has and how much positive influence we can have if we take the time to become aware of it and change it up, if necessary. This episode is incredibly helpful in reminding us of the need for self-care if we are going to grow both personally and professionally and I hope you will join us!
Notable Quotes:
“What holds people back has more to do with what is between their ears rather than the external tools they have at their disposal.”
- Mike Simmons
“On the outside, life looks really good, but there is a disconnect on the inside for them to actually experience that.”
- Carla Reeves
“Thriving begins on the inside.”
- Carla Reeves
“A deep change in the way that you experience life requires a deep change in the way that you think.”
- Carla Reeves
“We have to examine our thinking first to really shift our outer experience.”
- Carla Reeves
“A lot of high-achievers have an old, out-dated story inside themselves that doesn’t fit, but got lodged inside them somehow.”
- Carla Reeves
“I try to help my clients let go of their faulty thinking which causes relentless striving for never-ending achievement.”
- Carla Reeves
“What I discovered was that many people came to me for coaching because they wanted to escape something.”
- Carla Reeves
“They become fueled by inspiration or passion rather than trying to prove something.”
- Carla Reeves
“Just replacing that fuel or engine with something more productive and positive is the key.”
- Mike Simmons
“Journaling is like taking out the mental trash and will help you to be more present and engaged.”
- Carla Reeves
“If you don’t make decisions for yourself, life will make them for you.”
- Mike Simmons
“A lot of times we get focused on what we don’t want.”
- Carla Reeves
“We create a lot more suffering and struggle with our thinking.”
- Carla Reeves
“We all carry a load - the heavy is in our heads. We may not be able to change the load, we can control the weight by the way we choose to think.”
- Carla Reeves
“Mastermind groups become a lifeline in challenging times.”
- Mike Simmons
“This is a time of re-invention for people.”
- Carla Reeves
“The pandemic has given us all a “Little House on the Prairie” life scenario.”
- Mike Simmons
Links:
Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months
