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The Modern LeadHer Way
This podcast is for ambitious women like you, who are leading in corporate, and want that outer career success to be reflected in how you feel on the inside.
You've worked bloody hard to get where you are, you deserve your success, its now time to experience more satisfaction, fulfilment and peace - that's The Modern LeadHer Way.
I am your host, Emma Clayton, the coach and mentor to support you as you climb the career ladder on the the leadership path, navigating the various transitions in life and work as you go, so you can hit the ground running and feel truly confident in your own skin.
This content aims to meet you at the intersection of your personal and professional development - expect real talk and tangible advice for you to reach your full potential as you show up as your whole unapologetic self.
The Modern LeadHer Way
[085] Spring Equinox: your second chance at a fresh start this year
The Spring Equinox offers us the perfect opportunity to reset our approach to the year ahead, aligning with nature's own rhythms. This transitional season invites us to release what's no longer serving us and make intentional choices about what we wish to cultivate in the coming months.
In this solo episode, we cover:
• How January 1st doesn't have to be your only fresh start
• Nature's awakening mirrors our own potential for renewal and growth
• The "Equals Game" exercise helps clear mental clutter by listing both negative and positive Q1 reflections
• Upcoming Time Out retreats offer dedicated space for this reflection work
If you loved this episode, please share with a friend and leave us a five-star rating and review. For information about VIP Time Out retreats this summer, email emma@emmajclayton.com or connect through social media.
The next Margate TIME OUT retreat is on 22nd March, get your ticket here: https://www.emmaclaytonxo.com/courses/time-out-retreat-spring25
Start your Human Design Journey Today for FREE: https://www.emmaclaytonxo.com/courses/hd-initiation
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This is the Modern Leader Way the podcast for corporate career women who want to feel good on their way to the top. I'm Emma Clayton and I'll be sharing with you tangible advice to help you stop sacrificing your soul in the name of success and experience more balance, confidence and fulfilment both in and out of work. Hello, and welcome back to another episode. This time it's just me and you, and I hope you're very well. I've just had my birthday weekend. Um, it was a real chilled one. Actually just turned 30, 36, I wish just turned 46.
Speaker 1:I still feel like I'm 36 and it's crazy to think that at 36 I was probably just transitioning into my latest promotion at work and was feeling all the excitement and the dread and the doom and gloom that came with the reality that I needed to um up my game. And then it was only a couple of short years later that, um, my whole life would change and I'd end up doing this. So it is kind of crazy to think back at what I was doing 10 years ago and, as you know, I am quite the reflective person. But anyway, slightly off topic, we went away for our first trip in the van. It was bloody freezing, but Buddy acts as a very nice hot water bottle and in my all seasons sleeping bag it soon gets too hot underneath and it's too cold to have your arms out. But it was all good. So we went 15 minutes up the road because, quite frankly, all I wanted was to go out for some nice food, to go for a nice walk, to be by the sea, to hopefully have a sunrise in the morning, and we were like we don't need to go that far away. So we went to Folkestone, around the corner from us, 15 minutes away, and we stayed at a little campsite that's sort of halfway up the cliff called Little Switzerland, and I not only got my sunrise but I also got my moon rise. It was the full blood moon, um, coming up. Well, the day after it was full full, uh, we saw that coming up and it was proper red as it rose over france. And, um, it was a clear night again. Have you seen the planets that are out, like? We've had a clear view of? Like? Uh, I think it's venus, jupiter and mars have all been in plain sight in the skies recently. It's just been like, fascinating. Anyway, had a lovely birthday weekend. Thanks for asking. And yeah, 46, jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:So what I wanted to come on and just briefly talk about is we have a change of season coming up and who has felt the shift in energy? Right, the sun was out a couple of weeks ago and it was actually really warm. At least it was here in southeast kent 17 degrees. I think it was on the sunday, and just the sun being out just makes all the difference to me. I don't know about you. I have also noticed like, for a few weeks now, the snow drops have been coming through, the daffs are starting to pop up, we've got cherry blossom on our neighbor's cherry tree, which always signifies the start of spring, and, yeah, it's just like you're starting to sit, walk through the woods and the wild garlic's coming up and oh it, just it creates this shift in energy in me, and I'm sure it does in you too. There's warmth in the sun when it is out, right, even if it has been freezing the last few days. Happy spring equinox on the day that this is released, and that does bring with it new beginnings. Right, we talk about having a spring clean, like we want to spring clean the house because we want to like out with the old and make space for the new.
Speaker 1:This is the focus of this weekend's timeout retreat, which is the final time of holding the retreat at the Margate Beach House, which I'm very sad about because this will be my third retreat at the beautiful home of my sisters and I'm super grateful that they've opened the doors to me to have my clients come. Some have returned. I had Charlotte came for two, lauren's coming for her second, tracy came a second time around and brought two of her friends, including her sister friends including her sister and yeah, I've. I've just been able to use that beautiful space in a really beautiful way to facilitate people really taking that time out of their busy schedules to just allow them time to think clearly, to get actually to get out of their heads but to be able to think clearly by the time they leave and to be able to reconnect to their bodies, because I always joke you probably heard me talking about it on this podcast that we kind of walk around cut off from the throat down, and this is because we spend so much of our time in our heads and all the to-do lists and the worrying and the coulda, shoulda, wouldas and the what are they thinking of me and am I doing a good enough job and what else do I need to be doing?
Speaker 1:We're up here in the doing and actually what we do in the time out space is we just stop that for a moment, we step away from that and we calm our body so that our nervous system gets a signal to relax, to really truly switch off, and in that time we can explore, like, what are we holding on to from the past that we are, that it's sort of slowing us down, making us heavier, making us sluggish, and what are we ready to let go of? Because, quite frankly, some of this stuff is just we're carrying it around as a habit. Right, if you open your handbag, what is in your handbag? That is just clutter and crap that you've just accumulated over the years and you haven't cleared it out yet. But actually, do you need two packets of tissues? Do you need a broken nail file that no longer files your nails down? Do you need that lipstick you never wear or whatever it is that like, do you need four pens in the bottom of your bag? So, like, how often do we stop to go? I'm just gonna have a little clear out, and not just of our handbags or our homes, but actually of ourselves, right of our heads, of our bodies. So this is what we do on the time out retreat and I'm super excited to be hosting the third and final one at the Margate Beach House this weekend. And I just wanted to give you a flavour for kind of the focus that we are going to be holding, because if you're unable to join us, you get to replicate a piece of this for yourself and you're obviously.
Speaker 1:We're coming up for the end of a quarter and if you were here at the new year for the new year's revolution, I took you through a process of reflection, of looking at the last year, of releasing some stuff right, of letting some some stuff go through the process that I call the equals game, and and also then being able to look forward and saying what is it we are creating in this life? Because how quickly does time go when you get older, like they always said it right, and we never remember, like summer holidays, we had six weeks ahead of us and it just felt like it would go on and on and on and then all of a sudden, it would wrap up at the end and we're going back to school. But it did feel like the days were longer, like we really had spaciousness and time to just be and, you know, be with our friends and do exciting things and go on holiday and a two-week holiday used to feel so long and make so many friends. And then you come back and write to them all like pen pals who had pen pals? Oh, my God, so nostalgic thinking about my pen pals. I always had so many. And yet now, like a six-week period just like flies by so quickly.
Speaker 1:We are coming towards the end of Q1 of 2025. We are a quarter of the way through the year. My friends, if it doesn't really feel like you've kind of got into it or that you've been motivated to start the year, yet it feels like it's flying by at record speed, it's okay, right? This is what I do want to let you in on, a secret of. We are starting the astrological new year for one. We're moving into a new season. It's kind of when nature's body clock resets, right. Nature has been in a period of hibernation, of winter. We see nature coming alive all around us and therefore, if you are only starting to feel like you're getting going now, it's okay, because now you've got nature on your side. Now you get to move in the rhythm of nature. New beginnings are ahead and it's okay if you've kind of had a false start to the year.
Speaker 1:Because you know the 1st of January. Who said to the year because you know the first of January, who said you have to wait until the first of January to set goals? Like, you can set goals any freaking time of the year. You can start setting goals today. You can look back and go okay, yeah, didn't really do what I set out to do in January, but is that still important to me today? And where can I just start? Where can I just start today? Where can I just make? Take that first step today, or this week or before the end of the month. Just set yourself a little goal. But coming back to like, is it actually important to you where you're at now? And if you were with me in the revolution, you would have heard how we move through the equals game. So one thing you can do, which is actually quite good to do at this kind of like end of quarter, end of month, even um sort of position is Q1 equals.
Speaker 1:Take a clean sheet in your journal and on the left hand side you're going to write Q1 equals, and what we do on this side is all the like negative connotations that we have with the first quarter of the year or whatever the point of that belief work is. So here we're doing the first quarter right. So Q1 equals long winter, q1 equals cold and wet. It was quite harsh this winter, I feel, compared to others. Quite, very cold, very wet. Up until more recently it's dried up a lot, which is so much better for my dog walks cross country, because I'm not like slopping through mud. But it's been quite harsh, isn't it? Q1 equals harsh winter, q1 equals a long winter, but q1 equals so quick at the same time. So you're writing down this list and I recommend you go all the way into the bottom of the page.
Speaker 1:Like keep going bringing up all these like negative associations with q1 and what I say is this is like clearing the junk in your trunk. You want to like it's better out than in. We don't have to hold on to some of this stuff and sometimes when you can see it on the page, you kind of go oh god, I didn't realize it was actually that bad. But also it doesn't mean it was that bad. It's just like this stuff is just clunky stuff that's inside of you and it's better out than in and we get it out on the page. So we continue.
Speaker 1:Q1 equals didn't lose the weight I planned to. Q1 equals actually eaten way more than I wanted to. Q1 equals didn't lose the weight I planned to. Q1 equals actually eaten way more than I wanted to. Q1 equals watched way more telly than I wanted to. Q1 equals went into a bit of a Vikings hole. You've heard me talk about that until now as well. Q1 equals not ran as much as I wanted to Like. There's all these things that I haven't done yet this year and actually it doesn't mean I failed, because actually we get to draw a line under that now and that's what I encourage you to do when you've got to the bottom of the page is kind of reset.
Speaker 1:Okay I'm. I recognize that all of this has come up and I let go of that, I release it and I open myself up to all that was positive about Q1. And we do this on the other side. On the opposite side of the page, we do Q1 equals. Well, it was fast. That was also a good thing, as much as it was like crazy that it went so quick and it ended up on the left hand side. It's also thank God it went quick, right, because here we are in in spring.
Speaker 1:Q1 equals a time of reflection. Q1 equals I did get to shuffle. I started my shuffle class. Q1 equals kettlebell six weeks, seven week kettlebell class. Q1 equals two retreats. Q1 equals ending on the best retreat, because this is good news. First retreat I had one person staying. Second retreat I had two people staying. In. This third retreat, I've actually got three people staying, so that for me is progress. That's really good, um, even though I've got less people overall in this one. So q1 equals two retreats. Q1 equals I did so much.
Speaker 1:In January I went to London on a three-day event q1 equals. I went to Tenerife with my parents. Well, I went on my own, but I stayed with them for a few nights. Q1 equals I do feel fitter, like I'm going for longer on my walks. I'm more excited about getting out on my walks than I have been in the past.
Speaker 1:Q1 equals I've been very consistent on the podcast. I've had a weekly episode. Q1 equals I've been clearing my channel in a way, like I've had some things to get off my chest. I really wanted to have some people on and to have some discussions on the podcast that are perhaps a little bit off topic. So I had the Gaza round table that I split into two episodes in January. I had Carrie Russell on to talk about all things self-expression and actually using your voice. I had Evie Montilla on last week and Q1 equals.
Speaker 1:We went viral guys. So Evie came on last week to talk about, like, the healing process and all the amazing work she does and our reel about that episode went a bit nuts and I think it's up to over 16,000 views now, which is awesome, which is just super fun like it's. It's really good fun to to see that happen. I think that's been my most viral reel on Instagram. So I encourage you to do that and actually, when you've got down the the positives, just really notice, like what was easier to do. Was it easy to do the negative associations or was it easier to do the negative associations or was it easier to be in the positives? Because it's going to give you a clue as to your kind of overall vibe.
Speaker 1:And then, on the positive side, if there was something in particular that stood out that like really hit home, like for me when I said it was just so much fun that we went a bit viral last week with Evie. Like that for me was when my energy shifted in the week running up to that and it was part of that energy shift was me saying to Evie come on my show, like I've really wanted to ask you for so long and I haven't. And it was in response to her putting out a post about you know, being ready to say yes to things. So it was just really cool how it all kind of came together. It came together quickly and then it went off and that's kind of like that, that fun vibe that I want to hold on to.
Speaker 1:In into business, going into Q2. What kind of like stands out to you? Is that kind of like oh, that was really loaded when I said that Circle that and and like how can you hold on to that? Moving into Q2, that's kind of like the vibe of today and I will leave it there, but I wish you a happy spring, equinox and, yeah, hope you're just really noticing the shift in energy and making the most of these warmer, lighter days that are going to come our way before long Clocks are going to go forward in another week and basically intentionally moving into Q2 based on reflection on Q1. So I will be back next week with a bit of an update on how this last retreat goes.
Speaker 1:It's not the end of time out retreats. They are going to come back with a bang in September and actually what I'm going to do in summer is open up a limited number of spots for a VIP time out retreat with me. So these are VIP days where you get to come to me. We go out and exploring the coastline and being out in nature, going for a sea dip in the Kent coastline, and you get to stay with me in my Airbnb, which is called the Pizza Hut. For the evening we go out for dinner. You get the whole day with me. It's just me and you, one to one, and we're going to go deep on anything that's coming up for you that is potentially holding you back from being like your full, authentic self in your work and your life.
Speaker 1:So if that feels like that's your vibe, then get in touch. You can email me, emma, at emmajclaytoncom. You can contact me on any of the social media channels and, as always, be sure to stay connected here. Hit the follow or subscribe button and I will see you next week. In the meantime, take care. Thanks for being here for another episode of the show. If you love what you hear, please do share with a friend and, whilst you're here, do leave us a five-star rating and a review. I love to hear what it is you love about the show most.
