Plenty with Kate Northrup

Last June I had the absolute pleasure of standing in the back of the room watching my husband Mike share his heart and wisdom on a panel of incredible men at the BirthFit Summit. I was so freaking proud of him. Mike shared the stage with a man who spoke about something that really touched me. This man was raised as a woman and transitioned to being a man in his early twenties. He shared that he was the only person on the panel who knew both what it was like to be perceived as female during one time of his life and male after a certain point. As a result, he had a unique perspective because he understood the experience of being a woman in our culture in a way that most other men cannot. Aydian Dowling is a transgender man, a trans activist, a speaker, an entrepreneur, a husband, a dad, and someone who is impressively fit, compassionate, and articulate. His wife, Jenillee, is an intuitive, a healer, a (MSW) social worker, a mother, a wife, an entrepreneur, and someone who is impressively empathic and transparent. Together with their son Antler, they’re a family. Not everyone understands what it means to be a trans person. Not everyone thinks they’re worthy of all of the things that everyone deserves. But everyone deserves to be loved and to feel a sense of belonging and to be a family. We wanted to feature the Dowlings on The Kate & Mike Show for a number of reasons, including that we really resonated with them as parents navigating being independently employed with a young child while also being committed to personal growth and awakening. It’s also important to make configurations of family that challenge the status quo more visible, so the world can see that love comes in all forms and configurations and that everyone is worthy of it. Listen in to this week’s episode of The Kate & Mike Show to learn: • How Aydian, the first transgender man ever to be on the cover of Men’s Health or any other mainstream magazine, first realized who he was. • What Aydian understands about women that many men don’t because he was raised female. • What the t-shirt that our daughter Ruby wears says that makes Mike uncomfortable and why. • The love story between Aydian and Jenilee and what baking had to do with it. • How becoming parents has challenged them and made them grow. • What’s next for both of them career-wise (they were both beautifully transparent about the moment they’re in right now in co-creating the future). Once you’ve listened in to this important episode, we’d love to hear from you. What did you learn from this episode? How can you apply that to your life and community? You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book! Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

At Thanksgiving dinner last week around a big table with chosen and biological family alike, we went around and shared something we were grateful for that we couldn’t have said we were grateful for last year. At least 50% of us cried. (That’s how I know I spent the holiday with my people.) A few days later over dinner, my dad noted that almost everyone had gone through some pretty intense turbulence in the last year and that we all somehow seemed to be on the upswing at last. (If you listen to our podcast, you know that I keep finding myself singing the refrain to Gloria Estefan’s "Coming Out of the Dark" for this very reason.) Because the folks gathered that night are some of my nearest and dearest, I’m privy to many of the details of their lives, both the exciting and the mundane. Here’s what I know from knowing them and knowing myself: The reason we’re on the upswing is not because of some gargantuan opportunity that swept in and changed everything. Yeah, there have been chance meetings that led to lifetime dreams being fulfilled. There have been super-exciting doors opened. There’s been some fairy dust. But the thing that’s allowed each of the people I adore to not only get on but, more importantly,stay on the upswing are the things that aren’t particularly sexy (and that they sometimes don’t feel like doing) that they do day in and day out, week in and week out. Another word for these mundane things that seem little but, when done regularly and combined all together, contribute to a beautiful life is: habits. Your habits matter because they create your life. Beautiful lives do not happen by accident. They happen because of things that people do (or don’t do) every day to weave a life they want to live. Mike and I sat down to record an episode of The Kate & Mike Show about our daily, weekly, and monthly habits, and we both chuckled because when we say some of this stuff out loud, it’s actually kind of weird! But it works, so we’re sticking with it. Once you’ve listened, we’d love to know which habits we talked about that you’re inspired to incorporate into your own life and what other weird habits you have. Leave us a comment and let us know! Habits matter. The things you do every day create your life, so choose wisely. (But have fun with it because nothing is worth doing if it feels like punishment!) You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book! Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

There’s a little trick I started using in my twenties to determine whether or not I should do things, especially things I was afraid of doing: I would project myself into the future and ask if my 80-year-old self would be happy that I’d done that. Somehow adopting the mindset and life experience of a well-experienced lady crystallized exactly what my not-so-experienced current self should or shouldn’t do. This week is Thanksgiving in the USA, and I find this time of year to be incredibly nostalgic as we meander toward the close of one chapter and the opening of a new one with the new year. There’s a fine line with nostalgia, though. If our lives aren’t what we’d expected, nostalgia can morph into bitterness or regret really easily. And honestly, whose life is exactly what they’d expected? So how do we avoid the spiral of what could have been that tends to stall us out from enjoying the what is that’s right in front of us? We ask older people, specifically people who are on their way out of this particular lived experience in a human body. We ask people who are dying. There’s a woman who has spent a lot of time with people who are dying. She took care of them for 8 years as her career. Her name is Bronnie Ware and when I spoke with her, I found my entire system slowing to the speed of presence. As someone whose tendency is toward action and the next thing, it’s always wild to be in the presence of someone whose mere way of being shifts my whole vibrational rate. This week we have Bronnie on The Kate & Mike Show to talk about regret-free living and what she learned about how to live from spending so much time by the side of people who were dying. She wrote a book about it called The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying, and this feels like the perfect conversation to have as we head toward the close of a decade and prepare to start a new one. In this episode you’ll learn: • The critical ingredient you need to alchemize an experience from something you regret into something that you learn from and let go of • The most helpful way to be around people who are dying • How to live regret-free so that you’re making the most of your precious time here on Earth While our culture tends to be really squeamish when it comes to talking about death, I absolutely love how Bronnie teaches us how to live through talking about this subject. None of us knows how long we have here. You don’t have to have more than one loved one gone too soon to realize this. I’d love to know what this episode stirred up for you. You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book! Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

The hosts delve into the emotional journey of transitioning family dynamics, weaving in humor and personal anecdotes. They advocate for year-end reviews as a transformative practice to reflect on achievements and growth from the past year. Listeners learn about small changes that can yield big transformations in mindset and environment. Emphasizing the importance of planning amidst holiday chaos, they share insights on setting aside time for intentional reflection, blending personal and business goals for clarity and ease.

I’m the kind of person who sometimes isn’t sure what she thinks until I’m talking to someone else. Not because I’m looking for their opinion or reaction, but because I’m an external processor and there’s something about being witnessed that helps me understand myself better. Last week Mike and I sat down to talk about something that I’ve been working on since November 2016 that’s finally ready for the world. Until I sat there in our basement with my love and partner in all of the things listening to me, I didn’t really get the magnitude of what I’ve been working on. I finally realized what a big deal this creation is for me—but also how much potential it has to be a big deal for women all over the world. Here’s what I’ve found: When we strike out to make things with the purpose that they become a big deal (or with the purpose that they make us a big deal), they often fall flat or are somehow unsustainable. When we make the things that are so much an expression of ourselves that we cannot help but make them, even if it’s slowly and quietly in the privacy of our own minds or closets (where I get some of my best ideas), they’re often the things that end up being the biggest deal. This week on The Kate & Mike Show, we’re taking you behind the scenes in the making of the brand-new Do Less Planner, and in the episode you’ll hear me acknowledge how major this thing that I made for you is. You’ll also hear: • The things about producing our first digital product that have been trickier than we expected (nothing is ever all rainbows and unicorns) • How this planner will change your relationship to time, your body, your work, and your worth (I know it’s a big promise but I stand by it) • How this planner came to be with some really important nuggets for anyone making anything, digital or physical • What the elements of my planner system are and how you can use the insights behind them to get better results with less stress • Why this planner has the potential to revolutionize your experience of life After you’ve listened in, I’d love to hear from you: What did you hear in this episode that was a new perspective on time and planning for you? How will you implement it in your life? I’m not sure I’ve ever been as proud of something that’s come out of me other than my two girls as I am about the Do Less Planner. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be sharing it with you now. You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book! Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

Dive into the world of strategic planning as the hosts reveal their personal love for organization and its power to reduce stress. Discover the critical question to ask when planning for the new year and how to avoid overscheduling. They share a unique formula for successful product launches and the vital role of clarity in achieving goals and dreams. With anecdotes on personal struggles and the importance of self-care, this discussion encourages a balanced approach to entrepreneurship and life.

When one of the women who joined our high-level program told me that the reason she’d joined was because she was sick of being the smartest person in the room, I absolutely loved her honesty. It also made me think of the rooms I’ve been in over the years and the rooms I get on airplanes to be in these days. Why do I wrangle childcare and leave my family for 4 days to go stay in a hotel across the country in a room of almost all strangers? Why do I invest money that feels like a lot to work closely with teachers and coaches? Because expansion. Because growth. Because upleveling. On today’s episode of The Kate & Mike Show, I shared 2 specific things that happened just last week. Both were insights that I received from people who have knowledge and skill sets beyond those I have in certain areas (which, by the way, doesn’t always have to do with revenue). Both insights took less than 3 minutes for me to receive but are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars because of what will happen in our business as I implement the shifts. If you feel stuck, uninspired, or like, "Is this all there is?" I’m going to suggest you get yourself in some new rooms. Rooms where people are being their true selves, not the selves expected of them. Rooms where people are unapologetically celebrating their awesomeness. Rooms where people are taking action according to their dreams, not the normal reality that most people think is possible. Taking courses and getting new content is one way to uplevel, and I’m a big believer in it. But even more powerful than that is connection. Connection with people whose presence calls you to expand is one of the most "do less" ways to uplevel I’ve ever experienced. Getting yourself in a new environment catalyzes growth by osmosis in many cases. I can’t think of many things better than growing my business by osmosis. Listen in to the episode to learn how to uplevel through relationships, for behind-the-scenes stories, insights, and some after bedtime hilarity because this was a "late-night" recording (meaning 7:30pm). You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book! Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

If you hang around the planet long enough, you’re going to get sick, and for sure someone you love is going to get sick. A year ago my husband was so sick that he dropped 40 pounds in a month, his skin kept peeling off repeatedly, his entire head swelled, cracked, and was oozing, and he could do little more than sit in a chair all day. This is a screenshot I took while we were on FaceTime when he was spending a week at my mom’s because she was away. I couldn’t do anything to help him, and he couldn’t do anything to help me take care of the girls and our business, so it was easier for him to be somewhere else. I couldn’t allow myself to realize how bad it all was in the moment because I needed to keep it together to take care of our kids and our company, but looking back now, it was really bad. I’m so happy to say that Mike’s health is 95% better and that the dark period we went through a year ago is becoming more and more of a distant memory. But here’s what I’m even happier to say: Mike took the assignment. See, I don’t think illness is simply our bodies needing us to pay attention to something physical going on that needs medication or a procedure. I believe illness is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity for awakening, growth, repatterning, presence, and expansion. But only if we’re up for the assignment. Mike is a different person than he was a year ago. Or, perhaps, he’s actually the person he was always meant to be that was hidden under layers that literally needed to fall off in order to reveal his most beautiful self. At the one-year anniversary of the sickest Mike got during his 9 months of struggle, we recorded a conversation about The Opportunity in Illness for the podcast to let you in on: • The surprising way we view illness that helps us embrace it instead of fear it • The critical switch your body needs to make in order to heal, how the medical system hampers this shift, and what you can do to make sure it happens anyway • Practical steps for getting your body into a healing state that have nothing to do with what you put in your mouth • The question that I ask myself every time I get sick that ensures that I uplevel instead of being taken out Once you’ve listened, I’d love to hear what this episode brings up for you. What did you learn? How can you apply it to your own healing journey? Leave us a comment and let us know. Here’s to all of our healing journeys, physical and otherwise. You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book! Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

So many people who are healers go on to medical school because they want to live out their dream of helping people. But then they discover some of the things that are broken about our medical system, and they don't know where to channel their healing passion. That was the case with Sophie Maffolini, who practices medicine for part of the year in the Arctic and lives between Montreal and Brazil the rest of the year. When she discovered mindfulness to heal her eating disorder and anxiety, a whole new world opened up for her, and she knew she needed to bring this healing to others. Harnessing the power of online business, Sophie has created an impressive business online teaching mindfulness, and it's now making as much as her medical practice. Listen in to hear how this 2019 Origin Incubator member learned to tap into her own intuition to grow the business of her dreams and do the true healing work she's come here to do.

This week we’re bringing you something a little different in our weekly conversation. Ever since the #metoo movement and the uncovering of the toxic masculinity embedded in almost every layer of our society, masculinity has been up for scrutiny, and rightly so. Some men feel scared to open their mouths or have meetings with women one on one at the office. Some are questioning everything they learned about what it is to be a man to decide if they want to carry those beliefs forward or embody something different. And no matter your gender expression, this conversation affects all of us. Whether you’re raising boys, you’re a grown man yourself, or you’re simply in relationship with men as a sister, co-worker, partner, or friend, this conversation is one we all need to be engaged in. What is a version of modern masculinity that we want to be supporting and living into? We brought Jason Rosario, founder of The Lives of Men and host and executive producer of the Yahoo original show, Dear Men, on The Kate & Mike Show to share his perspective on modern masculinity. When I was too sick on the day of the recording to be part of the interview, Mike and I both agreed it was a blessing because we knew the conversation about masculinity would be different with two men talking about their lived experience than it would be with me there. So, we tried something new and had Mike host the episode himself, and after listening to it, I knew we definitely made the right decision. Listen in to this week’s podcast episode for: • An incredible piece of wisdom about what to share with our kids (and what not to) • The one thing we shouldn’t do as co-parents if we want to be supportive of our kids’ journeys • The critical piece that fathers bring to the table (and it isn’t being around all the time as you might assume) • How to deal with your partner making more money than you (especially if you’re in a heterosexual relationship and you’re a man) • An updated concept of masculinity that our world very much needs After you’ve listened in, Mike, Jason, and I would like to know: What did this episode bring up for you? What did you learn or are you now considering differently after listening? Here’s to being, raising, and/or loving great men. You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book!  Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.