Sharon's Annual Letter (2024)

Milestones matter. They build momentum, create a chance to pause and reflect, and mark an important moment. Join us in this podcast to celebrate a personal milestone: 250 episodes of Design Yourself!  Together we explore 10 lessons learned in 250 episodes spanning 2016-2024: Use Your Voice Stories Matter Say It Again It's Fun to Connect You Will Be Surprised By Where Connections Lead This Podcast Made Me Better All Leadership is Human People Matter Most Ideas, Tools, Frameworks, Mindsets Unlock Us There is Nothing Stopping You Please note that Sharon and the Design Yourself Team are taking a podcast sabbatical to digest these lessons learned and explore new ways to shape meaningful content for our dear listeners. Stay tuned and subscribed for more information!   Links and Resources: For show notes: https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/business-unusual-celebrating-250-episodes-of-design-yourself/ To connect on Linked In:  @Sharon Lipovsky @Point Road Studios  To connect on Instagram: @pointroadstudios Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Have you ever sensed a change is called for and needed to summon the courage to take action? Have you ever grappled with making life moves when you weren't sure exactly what your new end destination was? Then this episode is for you. Join host Sharon as she shares the details about the upcoming Design Yourself podcast sabbatical.   Links and Resources: For show notes: https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/taking-a-break-podcast-sabbatical-coming/ To connect on Linked In:  @Sharon Lipovsky @Point Road Studios  To connect on Instagram: @pointroadstudios Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Step into the new year with intention and purpose! In Shine Your Light in 2025, we explore the profound questions that guide your journey: What kind of light do you shine? How can you embrace the gifts hidden in your shadows? And what will empower you to make the impact you envision? Join us for thought-provoking conversations and practical insights to help you illuminate your path and inspire those around you. Let's make 2025 your brightest year yet!   Links and Resources: For show notes: https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/shine-your-light-in-2025/ To connect on Linked In:  @Sharon Lipovsky @Point Road Studios  To connect on Instagram: @pointroadstudios Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify   Ideas Shared 5 prompts to invite you to shine your light in 2025 What kind of light do I imagine myself as in 2025? A midcentury lamp? The sun? A star? A crystal chandelier? A beeswax candle? What sparks your light? What brightens your spirit? What gifts are available to you in your shadows? Where do you want to shine your light in 2025? What will help you radiate this year? Resources and Links Design Yourself: 2024 Letter to Yourself Design Yourself: Sharon's Annual Letter (2024)

Wintering is a season in the cold. It is both literal and figurative. It acknowledges those times where we move through a fallow period – cut off from the world. What is the power of wintering? How can we learn to call in the dark and the cold? In today's encore episode on wintering we discuss what wintering is, borrowing from the brilliance of writer Katherine May; we speak to the power of wintering, specifically the power of the dark, the cold, letting go and resting; and we close with reflection questions to spark your own best thinking on how to integrate this practice. "So that is my wish for you – that you may be unburdened by the cold and dark of wintering. And more than that. That you can embrace it. Call in the dark and the cold – don't run from it. It is through learning how to sit in this discomfort that we build our resilience for when the unexpected winters arrive."   Links and Resources For show notes visit: https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/wintering-3/ To connect on Linked In:  @Sharon Lipovsky @Point Road Studios  To connect on Instagram: @pointroadstudios Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

We can't change what we don't see. So how do we sense a new consciousness? What tools will support us? How do we keep it simple and accessible? Cue this episode where we discuss the simple tenants of a life-changing practice. Listen in to learn all the how-tos of Journaling.   Links and Resources: For show notes: https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/building-a-journal-practice/ ‎ To connect on Linked In:  @Sharon Lipovsky @Point Road Studios  To connect on Instagram: @pointroadstudios Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify   Ideas Shared How-To Build a Powerful Journal Practice Use what works for you. I used to think journaling needed to be in a particular kind of notebook and sound a certain kind of way. Not anymore. Try different formats. "Morning Pages;" Bullets in a word document. Letter to Love. Haikus. Handwritten prose in a bound journal. My own "journal" is written on loose paper and placed in a file folder to keep it in one place. Leverage prompts. These can be questions, like the ones shared on this podcast. It can also be a meditation. A response to a piece of art. Or something you read. Or a view out your window. I will often think of a question and draw tarots to prompt be to respond. Be consistent. This is a practice. I'm not a stickler that you have to do it every day. But it should be regular. Do it for yourself and have fun. Don't take yourself too seriously. This is for you.  Resources and Links Julia Cameron's books, including the Artist's Way to learn more about the practice of Morning Pages Oliver Burkeman writing about the power of morning pages Join Liz Gilbert's Letters from Love substack

Holiday letters aren't the only tradition during the close of the year. Cue the tradition of the Annual Letter to Yourself. What have I learned this year? How have I grown? Who has made an impact? What do I want to remember? Join Sharon as she reflects on these questions and more in reading her 2024 letter.   Links and Resources: For show notes: https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/sharons-annual-letter-2024/ To connect on Linked In:  @Sharon Lipovsky @Point Road Studios  To connect on Instagram: @pointroadstudios Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

As we the close of 2024, it is a natural moment to take stock of lessons learned and goals for the year ahead. Join us in this Design Yourself episode as we consider what we are celebrating and what we are calling in as we learn the art and ritual of how to write a year-end letter to yourself. Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify Ideas Shared Year-End Letter Prompts Paragraph One: Take stock on past year. As I look back on this year, I wanted to let you know that… I am celebrating… I worked really hard to… I learned… Paragraph Two: Reflection on what got you here. The thing that supported me most is… The values that have guided me are… The challenge I faced is… The thing that made all the difference is… Paragraph Three: Curate the lessons learned that will guide your year ahead. As I look to the year ahead, what I want to carry with me… What I want to leave behind is… The advice I want to hold onto is…   Links and Resources: For show notes: https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/2024-letter-to-yourself To connect on Linked In:  @Sharon Lipovsky @Point Road Studios  To connect on Instagram: @pointroadstudios Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify  

Meaning-making is a very human endeavor. We are quite good at coming up with what we believe the unspoken clues and loud declarations mean. What are ways to challenge our assumptions? How can we stretch our understanding to see a situation with a fresh perspective? That's what we get into in this Design Yourself episode on Seeing with New Eyes. Ideas Shared Prompts to See with New Eyes Ask someone who knows you well for a trusted take Ask someone who doesn't know you well for their hot take Get clear: Clarify your questions and reflect on your answers Expand your own perspective through consciousness-raising activities that feel right-fit for you. A tool we really enjoy using on retreats is tarot… Step back and take care – walks, facials, hikes, delicious food, not sitting in front of a screen all day. Resources and Links Get to know Sharon's business besties, Catherine and Elena of StoryMine Listen to this Design Yourself episode on Living in the Question   Links and Resources: For show notes: https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/seeing-with-new-eyes To connect on Linked In:  @Sharon Lipovsky @Point Road Studios  To connect on Instagram: @pointroadstudios Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

Hope is a choice. It's about gifting your attention to the light. Perhaps a simple concept, but one that's not always easy to execute. Particularly in inevitable moments of intensity - whether in our culture, around the board room table, in family text chains, or our own inner life. How do you get grounded in the midst of it all? How do you resist joining the whirlwind? Even when facing a wave of turmoil, how do you tap into finding hope?  In this episode Sharon dicusses the following practices and prompts to help you come back to your own light: Ideas Shared Practices for Finding Hope Meaningful Partnerships (at work, in my creative life, with loved ones)  Setting Boundaries  Prayer  Doing good work Singing Reflection Prompts  What is needed now? What has brought a smile to your face this week?  What (or who) gives you hope right now? What is the gift of the shadows you see? What quiets your despair? What is needed now?   Links and Resources: For show notes:  https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/finding-hope/ To connect on Linked In:  @Sharon Lipovsky @Point Road Studios  To connect on Instagram: @pointroadstudios Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify

When the world gets intense, it's important to take breaks. Join Sharon as she does that by reading three beloved and personally connected poems. We start with a beloved poem by Meditation at Lagunitas by Robert Hass, who Sharon had the opportunity to study under in Berlin. We then turn to Saskia Hamiton and her poem Then. Saskia was another great teacher in Sharon's life and the person who first introduced Sharon to Hass' poetry. We close things out with the physician and poet Willam Carlos Williams and his poem The Red Wheelbarrow. May you find grounding and a little inspiration in the words of these writers.   Resources and Links Robert Hass | "Meditation at Lagunitas" Saskia Hamilton | "Then" from Divide These William Carlos Williams | "The Red Wheelbarrow"   Links and Resources: For show notes: https://pointroadstudios.com/podcast/take-a-break-with-three-poems To connect on Linked In:  @Sharon Lipovsky @Point Road Studios  To connect on Instagram: @pointroadstudios Rate, Review & Subscribe to the podcast on Apple & Spotify