🧩 Life's a Game: The Reflection Pause


Welcome to Life's a Game, a weekly newsletter to help ambitious people build a more meaningful and integrated life. Was this sent to you? Subscribe here so you don't miss the next one.

The Reflection Pause + Why I'm Listening Less


Quick Spin:

  • The reflection pause
  • The 3 Step Process to ⬆️ Reflection Pause

♟️ MY TURN:

Listen up.

We need to stop listening so much.

(That irony was intentional)

Story time….

When I was going through a big growth chapter and found myself repeating some old patterns, I noticed one red flag….

If something happened in my life....

I immediately texted or called friends or posted to social media.

The time-to-share was small and I did more listening instead of thinking.

I wanted to hear what others thought.

But as I grew more comfortable with myself and confident in my ability to make better decisions, that time-to-share gap widened.

I call this the reflection pause.

I pause to determine my own confidence interval of a situation.

  • What do I think is the best next step?
  • What do I want to do and why?
  • What would future me want in this moment?

Over the past few months I’ve seen a trend both across myself, my friends and those I coach…..

The more you listen to others, the harder it is to listen to yourself.

And the harder it is to create.

This is important in other avenues of our day.

  • How often do you open your phone to hear what others are saying before you allow your brain to give you signals of thought and ideation?
  • How often do we scroll for inspiration before we have time to think about what we want to say online?
  • How often do we immediately act on what others tell us to do when we delay our own intentions and goals?

How do you build your own reflection pause? Keep reading.

♟️ YOUR TURN:

The next time something happens in your life and you instinctively want to text others to see what you should do….catch yourself.

STEP 1: NOTICE

The first step is being aware you are doing it.

Notice when you have the urge to pick up your phone to listen to others or distract yourself from doing the thinking yourself.

(If you have a fight with a friend or boss or partner, pause before you text or call someone. See how that feels.)

Step 2: 1% ACTION

Ask yourself what information you need to take the smallest next action step.

MOST PEOPLE USE INFO GATHERING AS A FORM OF PROCRASTINATION.

(sorry for yelling)

But seriously.....you likely don't need that much information from others to take the next step.

For example....

If you want to launch a project:
What do you actually need to know before you take the next 1% step?
What tactical skills do you need to acquire before you take the next 1% step?

If you want to make a decision about a relationship:
What information do you actually need?
Are you looking for advice or actually looking for permission?

If you want to create something:
why are you scrolling for more and more inspiration?
Chances are you know enough to get started.

Step 3: REPEAT

The act of trusting yourself is built through repetition.

Keep creating space to trust yourself.

Listen less, act more.

And watch your confidence increase accordingly.

Let me know if this resonates.


PS If you're struggling with putting the "personal" in personal brand, I want to help.

I've teamed up with Taplio to create a FREE 5 Day LinkedIn Storytelling Email Series to help you master the art of storytelling and use AI to do it faster.

Click here to master the art of emotional connection and storytelling on LinkedIn.

In just five days, learn how to:

  • craft compelling narratives
  • make your content stand out
  • leverage AI (and Taplio) to grow your audience and revenue
  • all 100% free!

Let me know what you think!

Master the art of LinkedIn Storytelling + AI - for FREE

See you on LinkedIn!

Thank you for reading!

I appreciate you so so much!

XO
Amanda

Was this forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
Unsubscribe · Preferences

🧩 Life's A Game

2x Founder | Brand Builder | Creator | Investor Featured in Forbes, Ad Week, Poosh, The Skinny Confidential Over 110,000 people follow Amanda to learn how to get the most out of life. Single mom x3 Teaching Productivity to emerging Leaders via Morning Brew

Read more from 🧩 Life's A Game

35Hard: Newsletter Edition - Kicks off May 5th! Happy Monday, Welcome to the second of 5 behind-the-scenes emails I’m sharing before we kick off my next 35Hard Series: Newsletter Edition on May 5th! If you are ready to get off the sidelines and start, grow and monetize your own newsletter - click here to reserve your spot. Today I’m giving you a BTS sneak peek of the content you’ll get in the 35 Days + 5 Live Workshops. How did I choose the content? As I started creating this challenge I...

Welcome to Life's a Game, a weekly newsletter to help ambitious people build a more meaningful and integrated life. Was this sent to you? Subscribe here so you don't miss the next one. When Two Ambitious People Date ↓ 🧩 Thanks for keeping Life's a Game Free! When I was a startup founder, I feel like I saw Mercury everywhere. Mercury is the banking* product that does more... like credit cards**, invoicing, cash flow management, and working capital, all in one place. As I grew my solopreneur...

a close up of a cell phone with various app icons

The 💪 35 Hard Series You are getting this because you've expressed interest in building a portfolio career. Welcome to the first of 5 behind-the-scenes emails I’m sharing every Monday before we kick off the next 💪 35 Hard Series: Newsletter Edition (we kick off on May 5th!) Remind me - what's 35 Hard? Great question! The 35 Hard Series is a group challenge that breaks down a goal into 35 achievable days of work so you start building your portfolio career in a way that feels feasible. Want to...