Miracles Happen With Kate Butler

 

Are you aimlessly wandering through life, unfulfilled, and distracted? Do you long for a joyful, vibrant life you love? Today's guest followed the path set out for her by others and appeared to have it all - a successful corporate job, a handsome husband, a gorgeous home, and a beautiful family! However, she realized that she was operating on auto-pilot, not living her dreams or fulfilling her true purpose. Tune in as Kate Butler chats with host Ellie Shefi about how she took control of her life, chartered her own course, and began to live a joyful, vibrant life filled with miracles. Today, Kate is a multiple #1 international best-selling author and publisher, and the host of the "Where All Things Are Possible" television show and the "On Air with Kate Butler" podcast. She is the creator of the Inspired Impact book series and the President and CEO of Kate Butler Books, which has published over 300 #1 international best-selling authors. Kate is also the creator of The Soulful Celebrity, a one-stop media shop dedicated to enhancing your credibility, increasing your visibility, and leveraging your message to scale your impact and income. If you're ready to embrace miracles and create a life you love, then this episode is for you!

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Miracles Happen With Kate Butler

Our guest is the host of the TV show Where All Things Are Possible and the podcast On Air With Kate Butler. She is a multiple #1 international best-selling author and publisher. She is the creator of The Inspired Impact book series and the president and CEO of Kate Butler Books. Having published over 300 #1 international best-selling authors, she is truly an expert on taking your story and bringing it to life in a best-selling book. Passionate about amplifying your message, she created the Soulful Celebrity, a one-stop media shop dedicated to enhancing your credibility, increasing your visibility, and leveraging your message to scale your impact and your income.

Please welcome, Kate Butler. It's great to have you here.

Thank you so much. It's an absolute pleasure to be here.

Why is helping people find their voice and share their stories so important to you? You do that in many ways. What's the genesis of that?

It began with me with my own children. When I became a new mom, I was putting my kids to bed. I was in the nursery and I would be reading bedtime stories. I found myself always changing the stories and the ending that was coming up. Somewhere along the lines, I thought to myself, “If there isn't a book out there that I want to be reading, maybe I should be the one writing that book.” That planted the seed. I didn't act on it right away.  

You see all these amazing possibilities for the people around you that you love. Sometimes they don't always see that for themselves, but I could see what is possible in their own lives. I knew that they were truly capable of doing anything. I thought to myself, “How am I going to be teaching them to go out and do anything with their lives to make their dreams come true when I was not fulfilling my own dreams?”

At that point, I realized that maybe I needed to take the steps to write this book - that maybe I needed to pour into my dreams a little bit more. I thought, "even if I'm not successful in it, I will at least show them what it's like to have gone for your dreams." That's what led me to create that first children's book More Than Mud. It ended up staying on the bestseller spot for over 100 weeks straight, and the rest is history. Everything has all developed from that point. That's really where it began.

You started with a children's book and now you have an entire children's book division in your publishing house. People come out of the woodwork for you to help them write and publish their best-selling children's books.

You are paving the way and shining the light, not only for your own children but for children around the world through taking that first inspired action or listening to that first nudge that pushed you. That's amazing.

You mentioned that up until that point, you hadn't been living in your purpose. It was that nudge of, “How can I be this example for my children if I'm not doing it?”

Now, before publishing, you had a successful career. Tell us about that.

I had a successful career in corporate. Things were going just fine. That's all that you could say - they were just fine. Here I am saying to my children, “Go out there and live your best life. Live life to its optimum fulfillment,” and I was sitting around going like, “Am I going to be doing this for the rest of my life? Am I going to be going to this job and doing these exact things, and this will be my life moving forward? Is that what I'm choosing?” I was in a corporate position and it was just fine, but it wasn't lighting me up inside. I wasn't jumping out of bed in the morning to go do this.

It wasn't until I became a mom that I did start to consider, “Was I put on this Earth to do this corporate job?” For some people, that job that they're in is 100% what they're supposed to be doing with their lives. They are making a huge impact and a difference. For me, the answer was, “No, this wasn't why I was put here.” I felt like I had a responsibility to my children. At that point, I might not have known what my gift was, what my purpose was, or what the next step in the path was, but I knew I owed it to them to at least start to follow those inspired actions to take me on the path that was my purpose and begin to explore it.

You mentioned the children's books and how we now help people to write and publish their best-selling children's books. It's remarkable to hear that back. My children and my husband are involved in my business. It's a whole family affair.

When we started, I didn't know anyone that had published a book. I was learning, researching, and making a ton of mistakes along the way. We had to go through those motions, and that was just me following my path.

Sometimes we have to do it first. Sometimes you are the person to do it first. I'm grateful that I was guided there to do that because now, people come to us. We have been able to take what I've learned over the past 10 years since I published my first children's book. We've been able to take those lessons and develop very simple processes for anyone to plug into, and also allow their dream of publishing a children's book or any type of book to come true. It has been a remarkable journey.

Sometimes we must go first and go after what is going to ignite us and get us jumping out of bed in the morning. That's what that did for me.

Going first as the trailblazer, paving the way, identifying that process, making the mistakes, course correcting, learning from them, and developing the processes and systems that now you're able to share with your clients couldn't have been easy. How did you find the courage to take that first step?

The driving force behind that for me was, "I can either stay here and be comfortable for the rest of my life but never know what it would have been like to truly go after my dreams, or I can go out, fail, make mistakes, and it's not going to be easy, but at least, at the end of it, I will have known that I tried." I thought to myself that it was better to have gone after it regardless of what the outcome was than look back and say, “I never gave it a shot.” That has been my driving force.

I've been very lucky to have had that business background. Although I wasn't meant to stay in corporate for the rest of my life, every step along the way was a stepping stone in my path. I can look back and connect so many of the dots of how that set me up to start my own company to help people with their publishing, and start to build a business out of their books, and help them with their marketing.

 

 Every step along the way is a stepping stone in your path. 

 

That knowledge came from my corporate background - which I have now paired with this passion for helping people fulfill their own dreams. I'm able to help them succeed in business by bringing my corporate background and my publishing expertise together.

Although I was meant to leave corporate and start a new path, it doesn't mean that the old path wasn't relevant and wasn't necessary. It's all perfect. Exactly where you are is perfect, but you don't have to stay there if you are feeling a pull towards more. You still get to choose something else. It doesn't mean that your old path was wrong. It means that you still get to choose where you're going next.

The important point to highlight is that you don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water. This isn't an all-or-nothing or right or wrong. Each step leads you to the next. I love that you were able to connect those dots, go back and say, "What can I take from that corporate career that serves me now as I step into the alignment of my true purpose, calling and passion? How can I harness the power of my life experiences and marry it with what I'm doing now?" That's important because many people think, "I wasted those years. I wasted that time." What I hear you saying is, “No, it's all perfect. Each of those things allows you to call on them in what you're doing now and where you are now.”

You mentioned earlier that when you were taking those first few steps, you didn't really know what your purpose was. You just knew that you were meant for more. You knew that your corporate career wasn't going to be the thing you did for the rest of your life. What was the process that you used to uncover your passion and purpose?

Along the way, we all have many stories and layers. My children were a major part of the beginning of what led me on that path. I'll be honest, I couldn't do it for myself in the beginning. If somebody out there needs to hear this, I want to make that okay. It was stepping up and doing it for my children that pulled me out of my rut.

I also want to share, as a layer to this story, that I was diagnosed with a heart condition in my late twenties. I had this very powerful moment at a somewhat young age where I was going in for heart surgery and they weren't quite sure if I was making it to the weekend.

I remember I was with my best friend that I grew up with at the time. We were both in her condo, and she had other friends over. I walked in and I had just gotten this news. They were all planning where they were going to eat that next weekend. They were also talking about the summer concerts that they wanted to buy tickets to. I remember losing it saying, “I don't even know that I will make it to the weekend dinner plans or the summer concert,” because here I was faced with this news at 27 years old.

The doctors did an amazing job. They were able to go in and fix the problem. With the beautiful medicine that we have available to us, we've been able to keep up with that ever since. I've been healthy. It has been a beautiful journey of awareness. I realized at that moment that it was a wake-up call for me. It was like, “You can just go on living this way or be aware of how precious time is. There is more for you here, but you must go after and get it.”

I remember having that awareness. I made some major life changes at 27. I started to take my job more seriously. I changed where I lived. You take the business, relationships and personal areas of your life. If you take all these important elements, I started to invest in each one of them in a very different way at that young age. I said, "It's not about going out to dinner and concerts anymore. I need to make a shift because I know I'm here for more."

 

What happened when I started a family and became a new mom about seven years later was that I got myself back into that rut again. I want to let people know that it's okay. This is life. It's not always going to be on an upward swing and stay there forever. You can find yourself back in the valley again.

Your question was how did I know the steps to take? I want to benchmark these pivotal moments in my life because I went back to that moment when I had that heart surgery. I said, “You have been given this awareness. You have already been given this moment that you know how precious life is. If you feel a tug and you feel there's more, then it is up to you to go out and get it. You know the difference. You know that it can be taken away at any moment.”

When you are so acutely aware from that perspective, laying there in the hospital, looking up at the doctors, and being woken up saying, “We did it. We were successful,” but not knowing if that sentence was going to come next, when you're faced with that, all of a sudden, that's a real power that you can pull when you're in those moments again.

I want you to know that it wasn't just the steps that I took, although I did and I will share those, but there's so much more to our lives. There are many more tools in our proverbial backpacks that you can go back and pull out when you need them. It's called our life experience, what you've been through, what you've overcome, and using those challenges that you've been through and pouring them into your new successes. All of that came with me.

I asked a very simple question, “If this isn't it, what would you prefer?” I started asking that with everything. "Where would you prefer to live? What would you prefer to be doing if you were to jump out of bed every morning? What would you prefer that your days look like? How would you prefer to spend time with your children? How would you prefer to interact with your husband? How would you prefer to engage with your friends? How would you prefer to show up in the world? How would you prefer to help people? How would you prefer to serve at a higher level?"

I started asking these questions and allowing the answers to come. I got still, journaled, meditated, and allowed the answers to come. I said, “I'm open to receiving answers. I don't know the answers at this moment, but I know that I can ask the questions that are going to invite the answers in.” It then was my job to receive them. We're often so busy that they fly right by. At that moment, I realized, “It's time for me to be still again.”

It’s just like when the universe stopped me in my tracks with that heart surgery and said, “You're not listening so we're going to stop you. You're not going to be able to not stop right now. It is happening. We are stopping you in your tracks.” I knew not to let it get that far. I already had that wake-up call, but here I was again saying, “I got it.” I'm going to ask the questions and listen to the answers. When they come, I'm going to pray that I have enough courage to follow them through. That's what I did.

Speaking of courage, how did you navigate the fear when you asked great questions? You got still and heard the answers. Undoubtedly, there was fear and uncertainty and thoughts of, “How do I do that?” I can imagine that there were limiting beliefs that came up and self-doubt that crept in. I can imagine there were the inner conversations of, “I got the message. Now, how do I act on that? Am I good enough to act on that? Will I be successful when I act on that? Do I know enough?” All of that dialogue that so many people have on a daily basis, how did you navigate that?

 

 Life is precious. It can be taken away at any moment. If you feel a pull or a tug, or like there's more, it’s up to you to go out and get it.

 

First and foremost, I was blessed by being introduced to the tool that helped me the most throughout my entire process, which was meditation. I was introduced to that very early in this journey of the shift in my life. That shift took me from being a new mom, swirling in my life a little bit, being just fine, a little bit self-destructive, and not knowing what direction I was going, into a place of knowing clearly what my purpose is in my life and showing up fully for that every day. That's a big gap. It is what I described there.

Early on in this shift to get to that end place that I described, I was introduced to meditation. I grew up in Catholicism and prayer. I still pray. I think that there are different forms of prayer and meditation. For me, prayer is a conversation with God. A lot of times, I’m asking or having a dialogue. It is an engagement. Meditation is stillness. It's receiving from God. In prayer, it's to put out and then meditation is to receive in. Everybody has a different way of looking at it and interacting with their higher power. It's all perfect for me, That is how I tend to communicate and work with my higher power.

When I learned how to receive in, it was a game-changer for me. I'm not saying I didn't have limiting beliefs or the fear wasn't there, but I felt for the first time in my life this unwavering calmness and strength that overpowered the fear. I've only found that through meditation. It was igniting that inner knowing and inner power within myself for the first time. I had seen glimpses and moments of that, maybe even pockets of time of that throughout my life, but I didn't know that I was accessing and bringing that out at that moment. It didn't make the connection that I could be the one to do that.

My first meditation teacher was Dina Proctor. She said that meditation changed every aspect of her life in 30 days. She was on the verge of suicide. In 30 days, her life completely shifted and change. I knew this person. I worked with her for years. I knew her personally. I thought to myself, “This is someone I trust and know.” I'm receiving this information. I said, “I'm going to try it for 30 days because I can always go back to the way things are.” I tried it for 30 days. I said, “I'm going to commit.” Between starting and stopping, it took me about 47 days to meditate for 30 days consistently.

By about the 2 to 2.5-week mark, I started to get that feeling of calmness and charade, and a feeling of inner joy for the first time ever in my life. I had experienced joy, happiness and elation before, but everything was always connected to something outside of myself. I had an amazing vacation or a beautiful moment where it was family holidays, the birth of my children or the marrying of my husband. I would also allow people to dictate my inner joy and happiness. If my husband was having a great day and he came home from work, we're having a great night. If he had a bad day, I was like, “I'm sorry.” I would allow myself to be in harmony with those I love the most.

When I started to meditate, I discovered this harmony and balance within myself that I tend to control and that I can get a handle on. Regardless of what is going on around me or what anyone else is feeling, doing or experiencing, I get to choose what my reaction is to that and how I'm experiencing that at this moment. Those 30 days are truly tapping into that power within myself for the first time. That set me up for this new journey. I had enough strength within that practice, taking that step to meditate for 30 days straight. I started to take the first steps in the publishing and writing journey, started a new business, and all the things that were going along with that because I was tuned into myself, my inner power, what I was clear about, what I was allowing in and not allowing in.

I was asking the question, “What would I prefer?” I was getting clear about what I was attracting into myself. I was harnessing the inner power that I have and focusing on my joy, strength, inner power, and my connection to source. I'm now being guided by something way higher than myself. I'm saying, "Who can I show up for today in my purpose,” and being guided to that.

From these pieces, I had enough strength to show up for those first couple of steps. When I did, it's like they say, “If you take one step, the Universe will take a thousand.” That's exactly what happened to me.

 

I took the step and all these things started to fall into place. I went, “I only took one step. What happens if I take two?” I would take two steps and all of a sudden, all these things are falling into place again. I went, “This is what they talk about. This is the magic. This is the alignment.”

I started to focus on these little tiny miracles throughout the day. I went, “This isn't a coincidence.” It’s not a coincidence that these things are happening. It’s not a coincidence that I made a conscious choice to make a change in my life and say, “I'm going to show up for a higher purpose for myself. I'm going to show up to see how I can serve more with what I've been given and show up more for this world.” It’s not a coincidence that because I did that and I showed up, I got in tune with myself, my inner power, and what I was capable of. It is not a coincidence that all these things are showing up for me. These are miracles.

When you showed up for yourself, the Universe showed up for you. You made the decision to step into your power, your purpose and your impact.

I love the question, “Who can I serve today?” That focuses on the service aspects, showing up for someone else, and helping others. You are fully supported and guided by your intuition, source, and the Universe.

You mentioned starting to notice the little miracles throughout the day. For people who say, “Things don't just happen. Everything doesn't fall into place,” what would you say to help them be able to identify those little miracles that happen in each moment?

Test it like I did because I was that person that said, “This doesn't just happen. It can't.” My life wouldn't look like this if miracles happen just like that. Things wouldn't be strained with my finances or my marriage. I wouldn't feel exhausted all of the time. I wouldn't be so drained and all of these things that I was experiencing before I decided that it was time for me to make a change. The first thing I realized was, “What's the common denominator here.” It's not all of my friends that have an issue. It's not all of my family that has a problem. It's not always my husband's fault. It’s not that there's not enough money out there in the world. It's not like there's not enough opportunity out there. I am the common denominator. It was me.

If I created all of this around me that I didn't love, then I had enough power to create something about me that I did love. I first had to come to that realization. I have the power to create because I created all of this. I may not love all of this, but I created all of this. I now have the power to create something out. I tested it, “If this is the thing that's going to change everything, let's bring it on.” I did not think it was going to work, but that's why I started to take notice and record the miracles because it did start to work and it didn't even take 30 days.

I was like, “I'm going to write these down.” We focus on growth. As I began to write them down, acknowledge them, focus on them, and give appreciation towards them, all of a sudden, it began to amplify. That's where it got good. There was a lot of fear along the way, but there were also so many miracles and so much alignment happening. By that time, keep in mind that as you start to go for stuff, people become aware of it. Now I was in it. I couldn't give up. I almost would publicly hold myself accountable by putting out, “I'm doing this.” All of a sudden, it's like, “I got to do it because now I'm accountable.” Another little tool that you can use is to tell your friends or your family. Put it out there. All of a sudden, it's like, “Now, it's time for me to show up.”

Once you put it out there, you need to follow through on it because people will hold you accountable. I love that you shared those tools and strategies that people can use for being able to maintain their progress - for claiming it, putting it out there, sharing it with someone that they love, then being held accountable, holding themselves accountable, taking the action, and making the progress. That's such a powerful process!

How do you stay aligned? What's the biggest tip or tool that you can share? When life is starting to pull you in different directions or you're starting to feel a little overwhelmed, how can you stay on course and stay aligned?

The most important thing to acknowledge first and foremost is that our emotions are our indicators. Understanding at a deep level, “If I am going 3 or 4 days in a row, and I am not feeling my best, why? What am I doing differently now that I wasn't doing a week ago that is pulling me from showing up at my best?” It's not to say that we can't have a bad day or something. We're all human. We all have less than great moments and days. The fact of the matter is that we have enough power within ourselves to not have less than great weeks, months and years. There are enough tools out there, and we're talking about a lot of them, that can help us shift out of those moments so that we don't have weeks, months and years of being in that valley that we talked about.

The first thing is the acknowledgment that you are there and saying, “It's okay. I give myself permission. I can be in a valley for three days.” When I get to that fourth day, I'm over myself.

I get over it like, “What is it?” My emotions are my indicators. What got me here? What got me off track, to begin with, so I can acknowledge what that thing is and then begin to correct it? There are a lot of different things that we can do. The first and foremost is, "What are you available for?"

 

 Asking questions invites the answers in.

 

I am a very big self-dialogue person because our self-dialogue is creating our reality.

Whatever you are telling yourself is what you are seeing and experiencing in your life. I'm asking myself, “What are you available for? Are you available for this? Are you available to feel this way? Are you available to engage in this reality or are you available for something else?” I'll begin a different dialogue with myself, “Today, I'm available for it. Today, I'm in a vibrational match for it. Today, I will only attract. Today, I am showing up for it.” It’s like these “I am” statements. What are you? What are you deciding that you are? You have the power to create whatever that may be. That "I am" statement is that command to the universe to provide you with what you have cited that you are. It's almost like you're putting your order to the universe.

You don't order a pizza, call the delivery man every five minutes and say, “Are you here yet?” You just trust that it's going to come. It's the same thing with your “I am” statements. “I am clear today. I am full of joy today. I am successful at writing a book today. I am a successful entrepreneur.” I am, whatever that is for you. It can be around your feelings, emotions, goals, success, relationships, personal development, or whatever that may be for you, but getting really clear.

A lot of times, I find that if I'm off-alignment, it's because I'm not clear about where I'm going and what I'm doing. What I'm doing is I'm allowing life to happen to me versus being in control of my own life. I'm being reactive versus proactive. It's one of the very first things I learned from my corporate job. It’s the very first tool my boss taught me, “You have to be real proactive about your day versus reactive.” I was like, “What does that mean?”

He is like, “You have to plan your day because if you don't plan out your entire day, people will come in, you'll get phone calls, and you’ll get emails. If you control your day and you’re proactive about your day, all of that other stuff will mostly figure itself out by the end of the day by other people doing it. You will have driven it forward for yourself and your own business." It's a tool I still use today. We can use it in business, but we can also use that for ourselves.

Let's talk about setting yourself up for the day. Let's talk about the morning routine that you use or the structure that you put in place to ensure that you are being proactive with your day, that you are taking the actions that serve you, move the needle, keep you in alignment, and keep you on a path. What does your morning routine look like?

 

It depends on what time of year because I have two little girls and it depends on if we are in school time, summertime or whatever that may be. The timing of it may shift, but the activity stays the same. When I get up in the morning, I have a gratitude session, which is starting the moment I wake up and my eyes open. I’ve had to train myself to get here. It's not like I've always done this. It does take practice. As soon as I opened my eyes, I give gratitude to my maker. My maker did not forget to wake me up this morning and I will not forget to thank my maker for that.

"Thank you that my eyes are open. Thank you that I am here, I’m breathing, and I can feel my body. Thank you for my legs and the walk to the bathroom. Thank you for running water and hot water. Thank you for the roof over my head. Thank you for these beautiful children that I get to go and kiss and wake up in the morning, and so on.” That's all before going even get downstairs. My whole morning from the time I wake up, I'm still in my Zen mode. I am not even fully awake yet because I haven't had my cup of coffee and I am just in full-on gratitude.

After I have had my coffee, I go into a future visioning time. This is where I take pen to paper and I put myself 6 months, 1 year, 5 years in the future or whatever that timeframe may be, depending on how I feel that day. I'm calling in and getting clear about what I want for the next phase. It's not about not being grateful for where I am right now. That's important because I just gave gratitude for all of the things I'm grateful for at this exact moment. That's the perfect place to then switch into your future visioning because you're like, “I am grateful for what I have right now.”

This isn't an either-or. This is an and-both. Also, I would love to attract in, experience, see, taste, hear, touch and feel. I'm digging into what it is that will happen in a future timeframe. I'm putting myself on that exact day. It's like Christmas day 5 years from now, my birthday 10 years from now, or just random date like March 13th, 15th, or 17th of a future year. I'm feeling the temperature. I know my location. I know exactly what I'm doing. This has been one of the most powerful tools for clarity for me that I have used in addition to meditation.

From there, I am doing my meditation and my visualizing. I am always exercising in the morning to integrate meditation, whatever comes through the future visioning. This is all energy work. I'm activating not only the power within myself but I'm also the support of God, the Universe or whatever your language is for your higher power. We're not here by accident. Something is out there guiding us. I am calling on that power to guide me because I know that force is here to support me. I'm calling that in. I integrate that into my body through exercise every day. That completes my morning routine.

That’s so powerful. You mentioned that the timing of it may shift depending on the time of year. Some people who are just getting started think, “That sounds like a lot. That must take hours. I don't have that much time.” You're an exceptionally busy woman. You are a powerhouse. You have your companies, your clients, and your family. You're super hands-on with your children and with your community. About how much time does all that take you?

It's such a great question because that is the number one question people ask. They're like, “What else am I doing in my life after doing all those things?” Here's what it is. I get up early. If I find I’m running out of time or things aren't getting done in that routine, I'm getting up at 5:00 AM. All of this, except for the workout, is generally done before my children get up. Sometimes during the winter, if I'm not exercising outside, then that can be done before my kids get up too.

 

 Prayer is a conversation with God. Meditation is receiving from God.

 

All of this can be done before your day even begins. If you're getting up at 5:00 AM, then you're having the time to do this. Instead of sitting there and enjoying coffee for one hour, you are filtering these few things. You can meditate for 5, 15, or 20 minutes. You're the boss of yourself. You get to determine. They say 20 minutes is optimum for meditation. You do it and decide what works for you. I started with 3 minutes, 3 times a day because I had an infant and a toddler. There was no way I could sit there for 20 minutes. It wasn't possible. I had a reset and then felt good. As soon as I would start to get out of alignment again, it was time for another reset. This is how I got trained in the very beginning.

Now I do it once a day. I have tried to have a clear mind before bed too, but I wouldn't classify that as formal meditation. You can meditate for whatever time allows for you in the morning. Your future visioning can take 5 or 10 minutes as well. Let's call this all 20 minutes. Your gratitude takes no time at all. It's what you decided to tell yourself while you were doing everything else that you're already doing. That's what you choose to say within your own thoughts.

We have the same amount of time each day. We all get the same amount of minutes. We get to use all of those minutes and all of those times. It's the coolest thing. Every time I'm like, “I'm not conscious of my thought right now. What do I want to plan? What seed do I want to plant in my mind right now?” That's why I do that in the morning because I know that I've already started the day that way. We're up to 20 minutes and then you can work out for as long as you want. You're probably already doing some type of activity or physical activity to stay healthy and energize yourself.

What we're talking about here is an extra 20 minutes on top of probably what you're already doing. If you're not, I would recommend to start walking for 10 minutes a day. Now we're up to a half hour. Anybody can squeeze out a half hour. Even the busiest person with a million things going on can squeeze out a half hour a day. That's what we're looking at.

I love your point that you started with 3 minutes, 3 times a day. You don't have to start with a 30-minute meditation. It’s 3 minutes, 3 times a day. You eat the elephant one bite at a time.

You get to control how you use the minutes of the day. Instead of scrolling Instagram mindlessly for 3 minutes, you could say, “I'm going to take these 3 or 5 minutes to do my mental break or my reset via this meditation, gratitude, practice or a few minutes of journaling,” rather than having your mental break be scrolling. This is a solid morning routine that you have.

Now, even the best of us can occasionally feel burnt out or overwhelmed. Self-care is absolutely critical. What do you do in addition to your rock-solid morning routine to prioritize yourself and ensure that you are carving out the time for self-care?

I remove myself from my environment when I am burnt out and in one of those ruts that I can't get myself out of. The routine I've shared is ideal, but we are human and we are here to learn. We're always digging these learning opportunities and moments at all times throughout our life.

Anyway, I remove myself from the environment. I like to be outside and workout outside in some way. I do my morning workout. The kids get home and it's a beautiful day. We might go on a family bike ride because I like to be in nature as well. When we can combine family time, movement, and nature, that's awesome. I love to hike, walk, and do all of these different things. That's an easy way to remove yourself from the environment.

Get yourself out of your office and out of the chair. Look at things from different perspectives and in another way. 

 

We start to put ourselves in a new or different perspective. We've taken the vastness of what this exact moment is in time and space right now. It’s like, “I can come back and figure this out,” or I can put it in perspective and say, “This is not that big of a deal.” In the grand scheme of all of this, let's put this in perspective. I do that a lot. I take myself out. I do that also by removing myself for days at a time from my environment.

When I didn't have the money to do that kind of thing, we would figure out a way. My parents and I would switch houses. They would come to watch the kids or we would go to friends’ houses. There's always a way.

Even when we didn't have a lot of money to take a week-long vacation, we would figure out a way to do a night at a local place, my husband and I, or something like that. Now we can go on vacation and we are very blessed to be able to do that. I will work on vacation. I'll get those downloads and that creativity. It's where I sometimes do my best work.

When I am getting to that burnout point, I switch it up. I am not afraid to say, “What I am doing right now isn't working.” I am not afraid to switch it up. I will switch it all up and then come back and say, “What's working?”

I also want to make a point that there is a framework of my morning routine. You can get my morning routine on my website. It's a complimentary tool that we give everybody. It will walk you through it step-by-step. What you'll find there is it gives you categories of choices to make up your own morning routine.

Today, I gave you a framework. I said gratitude, meditation, and integrate it into your body. I said future visioning of some sort. There are different ways that you can do that.

Although I'm always doing that framework every day, I'm doing it in different ways every day. Sometimes my meditation is a walking meditation and I can combine meditation and integration through exercise. Sometimes I'm doing a guided meditation. Sometimes my meditation is a visualization of my vision board. It's not like I'm doing the exact same thing every single day. I do it for as long as it works. When it doesn't work anymore, I switch it up and try something new. It's important to always be evaluating ourselves like that so that we can be moving forward.

I love that point that you made about switching it up and having a framework. I think so many people get caught in, “It has to be like this. This is how I have to do it or I'm doing it wrong.” Thank you for putting that in perspective and for understanding that this is a framework and there are a lot of different ways that you can do it.

Try something and see what works for you. If it's working, amazing. Do more of it. If it's not working, switch it up. Try something else until you find your groove.

I also love your point about layering it in. I love to call that "NET" time. I learned that from Tony Robbins. "Habit stacking" is another common term for it.

I love your point that you can simultaneously be taking your walk. You're outside. You're getting that self-care. You're in a different environment. You're getting your exercise. You're moving your body while you are doing meditation and future visioning, and doing these other components of your routine. Thank you for bringing up those points. They are helpful for our audience.

As we start to wind down here, you live every day in your purpose. You live every day as a force for good. I know you squeeze the juice out of every moment. Let's imagine that you have come to the end of your life best lived. You've left it all on the field. What do you want them to say about you?

 

 Whatever you are telling yourself is what you are seeing and experiencing in your life.

 

I would love for them to say, "She went for it and made a difference by doing so.”

Amen, and so it is.

You referenced that people can go to your website and get the framework for your morning routine. How can people contact you? What is that website where they should go?

People can work with us in a few different ways. We help people publish their #1 best-selling books and children's books. If they aren't interested in writing a full book, we offer people chapters in a book. They can become best-selling authors that way too. We help them write their story and their chapter. We walk them through every step of the way in all of these situations.

If you have an online business or you already have a book, we also have what's called the Soulful Celebrity Program, which is helping you expand your platform through TV, magazine, podcasts, and all the media ways. We plug you in not only on how to pitch and how to get yourself set up for media, but we secure all of that media for you. We wrap it up with a nice bow at the end so that you have a repurposing package for your platform and your business moving forward in this beautiful opportunity that we have for online business.

Whoever is not taking advantage of online business right now, regardless of what you do, either some form of you, be able to take advantage of this time and space that we're in. It's a beautiful opportunity for everyone. We accelerate you in doing that. That's generally how we work with people. We talk a lot here about miracles and mindset. We also have a program called the Pathway To Miracles. It helps people not only stay on that path but if you're new to all of this, to get on that path. If this is familiar to you, it helps you stay on that path by walking you through tidbits every single day for 30 days. You can do it over again at any time. All of that can be found on our website at KateButlerBooks.com.

Any parting words that you would like to share with our audience?

I would love to say that everything you do, whether it's a small step, on track, off track or whatever step you take is a meaningful step. Oftentimes we ask ourselves, myself included, “Is anything I'm doing landing?” I wrote about this. I have published over 300 #1 best-selling authors and I still ask myself, “Is anything I'm doing landing? Is it really making a difference?”

A few years ago, I woke myself up at about 4:30 in the morning because I had an opportunity to be on a morning television show that was two and a half hours away from my house. They already start early. My call time was super early, and everyone thought I was nuts. They were like, “Wait for something local.” I was like, “I have local opportunities too, but I feel this pull. I want to do this.” I adjusted, made it work, made the extra effort, and I went.

I did this morning show. I got the general 3 minutes and 30 seconds that you get on the news in the morning if you are lucky enough to have that opportunity. That was that. My parents might have seen it, but nobody got the channel because it was two and a half hours away. It's one of those moments where you're like, “Why did I make all of that effort? Is anything I'm doing landing here? I'm putting it all out. I'm making all this effort. What am I getting back from this?”

Fast forward several years later, one of my clients in my book, Women Who Dream, sent me this message. She said, “I figured it out. I knew your name sounded familiar. I was visiting my family in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They had the morning news on when we were eating breakfast. This woman came on and started talking about mindset and books. It was a short-lived segment but it stuck with me. I remember saying to myself, ‘I have to get in touch with Kate Butler.’ I wrote it down in my journal. I wrote down the website that you said during that segment. I opened up that same journal to write my story for Women Who Dream because I wanted to remember something from that time period of my life.” It was years ago. She said, “I realized that I wrote your name down and that we needed to connect.”

A friend ended up introducing us for Women Who Dream. All these years later, she forgot about it until she opened up the journals to write her story for our next book. She went, "I planted the seed then.”

If you ever wonder if it matters or if it's making a difference, it is landing with the people who need your message. Show up. Share that message. You might not even know about it for years to come, but it is making a difference to those who need it. That's what I would love to end with here.

That is beautiful and powerful.

Miracles happen. Miracles abound and you are a miracle.

Until next time.

 

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About Kate Butler

Kate Butler is the host of the TV show - Where All Things are Possible - and the podcast - On Air with Kate Butler. A multiple #1 international best-selling author and publisher, she is the creator of the Inspired Impact book series and the president and CEO of Kate Butler books. Having published over 300 #1 international best-selling authors, she is truly an expert on taking your story and bringing it to life in a best-selling book. Passionate about amplifying your message, she recently created the Soulful Celebrity, a one stop media shop dedicated to enhancing your credibility, increasing your visibility, and leveraging your message to scale your impact and income.