I confessed to a friend this morning that I felt disorganized, that I needed a new system.

"How can I be 15 years into this and still need to reconfigure my set-up?"

Sarah, she said. Your life has changed so many times. What worked ten years ago wouldn't work today. What worked even two years ago needs an update. What you need from your life and your work will flex.

This shifting, editing, iterating? It's normal.

This week’s idea: selective advice

Not all advice is right for us. Not everyone will understand us. The best advice understands our capacity, our lives, our values, and our goals. Everything else is just noise. It’s also on us to stop listening to it. That’s discernment.

Someone described the online LinkedIn hustle-harder-faster content as “bro-etry” and I can’t stop thinking laughing about this.

A reminder: we don’t take advice from people who don’t know what it’s like to live our lives.

Ask yourself:

Does this person know anything about the full spectrum of my life?

Have they taken then time to really get to know me?

Do I trust that they know what they are talking about?

Does this feel right for me, right now, in this iteration of my life?

Before we take their advice at face value, we weight it against how much it actually applies to us.

Finding your right people.

So much of my work is about bringing people together and curating conversations. Bringing together a wise group of people who can listen deeply and really hear what you're saying. These circles are so deeply important and life-giving. It's why I run The Wise Women's Council and Writing Club — places where we can gather around our goals and ambitions and do the messy work, together.

Come join me to meet new people and talk about interesting ideas:

​If you love books, read multiple books at the same time, if you have opinions about finishing books (or not), if you write in the margins of your books, come join me. We're hosting a book club gathering this Wednesday, August 19th. RSVP here to join us.

Then, in September, join me for a series of Salons for Wise Women — brought to you by The Wise Women's Council, an open forum for in-depth conversations and connection around heart-led topics:

​A Conversation about female friendships | Wednesday, September 02.

​Saying the true things out loud | Wednesday, September 16.

​Reinventing yourself and reimagining your career | Wednesday, September 30.

Would be great to see you!

This week's idea:

We look for people who will deeply listen and understand. And we do the same for them—we take the time to deeply listen and understand. That's what connection is about.

— Sarah