We recently connected with Sarah Auda and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Creativity is the heart of everything! It’s how we envision what we want more of, it’s how we create new solutions to problems, and it’s the core of how we navigate every day.
But we don’t normally consider creativity like a muscle. It is. The more you take that muscle to the “gym” and work it out, the stronger your muscle for creativity will be.
Personally, once a month, I schedule a whole day dedicated to dreaming and thinking bigger. This practice began a couple years ago and I used a variety of exercises to guide myself through these days. These are the same exercises I lead with my coaching clients. Every “Dream Day” is different depending on what I want.
This is a day to simmer in total possibilities. No active work happens in my business that day. It’s just thinking, journalling, capturing the sparks of inspiration that emerge inside.
All Dream Days are different depending on what vibe I want most. What I have found is that this one day, once a month, invigorates my whole life and business. I complete my Dream Days feeling full, whole, and excited – which is exactly what it’s intended to do!
I sometimes give clients a homework assignment to take a Dream Day. Most people look puzzled because they’ve never considered doing this before and they don’t know where to start. You might be in the same boat. If you are, I’ll include an example and some boundaries below.
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Sample Schedule for Dream Day:
8:30am: Get favorite coffee and head to the spa. Phone OFF.
9-10:30am: In the lounge area, complete a Wheel of Life worksheet (can find on Google search) to see what areas I want to grow most. Consider where I am most fulfilled and where I am least fulfilled – and why. Imagine the best case scenario for my ideal life/work. Play with possibilities. Sky is the limit.
10:30-12pm: 90-min deep tissue massage. Zone out and enjoy.
12-1:30pm: Delicious lunch somewhere nice with an inspiring ambiance and menu. Journal while I wait for food about anything that’s present.
1:30-2:30pm: Go to a beautiful, quiet location where I can camp out and focus. Read that book I’ve been meaning to get to. Get immersed in a different world and story.
2:30-4pm: Make a list of 100 Dreams + Desires (Google for examples). See how far I can stretch my thinking into what I want and what’s possible. See what jumps off the pages. Schedule at least 5 things (big or small) to do in the next month.
4-4:30pm: Write a letter to myself from my future-self. What wisdom does my future-self have for me today? Let the pen go and see where it leads.
4:30pm-6pm: Happy hour at a gorgeous location. Soak in the environment. While I’m there, write at least 3 people a note of gratitude and/or encouragement. Really consider 3 people who’ve made your life better and more enriched.
6pm: Write down any final reflections and head to dinner (optional to keep the Dream Day going from there).
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When you are first starting to exercise the muscle of dreaming, sometimes a full day feels like just too much time. That’s totally okay. You can build up your tolerance for dreaming time!
At the very least, I encourage you to do 3-4 hours to try it out. It might be uncomfortable but it will be a start. Lastly, ensure you have some guidelines and boundaries around how you’ll engage with yourself and others on your Dream Day. For example…
My Dream Day Nonnegotiables:
– Phone is off.
– Out of office auto-reply is on my email.
– Must occur in a beautiful, inspiring location.
– Must feel like a treat.
– Must include opening up to new possibilities, thoughts, and ideas. Even just 5%.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
There was a point in my career in my mid-30s when I was at the height of what I thought success would look like. I had the corporate office below Soho House in Hollywood, an company condo in Las Vegas, expense account, luxury company vehicle, a thriving team, and I was regularly traveling by private jet, which I loved. My professional bucket list was checked off.
The problem was that I had gotten everything I wanted… but I wasn’t fulfilled. I couldn’t understand where my discontent was coming from.
A friend I deeply respected asked me to help her create a plan for her to live more intentionally in her career so she could be more intentional at home.
As we were just rounding a corner in her master plan, she was tragically killed. That moment marked when I left 15 years of corporate work and launched my business full time on my own.
For me, it was clear: I would never again be satisfied with discontent. I had made it so far in my journey and now it was clear that I was capable of more. That moment was my personal basecamp to experience a more intentional, expansive and fulfilling life, which ultimately led me to create this company.
Now, my team and I have three offerings:
1. Life Lab: One-on-one coaching to create the life of your dreams; with more freedom, joy, love, and peace.
2. Leadership Lab: Our globally awarded corporate training and coaching program.
3. Hire us out to speak or facilitate retreats, workshops, lunch and learns, and more.
We are about to launch TWO exciting new things, too!
On February 14 (Valentines Day 2025), we are opening our first ever monthly paid subscription on Substack. For just $33/monthly, subscribers will receive a worksheet, access to Ask Sarah Anything, and one virtual group Fireside Session with Sarah each month for mentorship, advice, and coaching. Link here: https://tinyurl.com/TBCSubstack
And lastly, at the start of April we will be revealing a massive rebrand for the company with a whole new luxury, elevated look that matches our values for: Simplicity, Quality, Intentionality.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Be aware of the value you bring to any relationship or team, which requires time to explore and discover. Secondly, always commit to your growth and invest in purposeful learning at least monthly. Lastly, establish a Wisdom Council of people you trust where you regularly meet to vision, strategize, and talk about your growth. These behaviors will foster momentum, insight, and action plans.
Practically, here are three thing I suggest implementing ASAP:
1, Collect Your Transferrable Skills
The truth is that every experience you’ve ever had (personally and professionally) Have a coach, mentor, or friend that you trust help you walk through every job and position you’ve ever had and start pulling out the soft skills and hard skills that you’ve developed along the way. Maintaining this list will not only be a great way to supercharge your resume and cover letters and it will also help increase your confidence in your abilities. Update this list every 6-12 months.
2. Regularly Invest in Development + Learning
Find an industry or an area you want to learn more about or grow in. This could be anything. A conference or workshop, a wellness retreat, a lunch and learn, or a class. Experiment expose yourself to different and new ideas. Once you find a few topics or tools that you feel excited about, do those more regularly. At least once a month you should be doing something to intentionally grow as a person and as a professional.
3. Wisdom Council
Make a list of at least 3 people you trust completely and who you feel safe with. Invite them to a one-time “meeting of the minds” to discuss what areas of your life and work you want to grow in, and see what discussion gets sparked up. From there, ask them if they would be interested in doing more of this ongoing. From there, start building out an agenda of things to discuss and work on together, and set a schedule for how often you’ll be meeting. Let it grow from there!
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
“The Big Leap” by Gay Hendricks explores the idea of overcoming internal barriers that limit personal growth and success.
Hendricks introduces the concept of the Upper Limit Problem, which is the tendency people have to self-sabotage when they reach a level of success or happiness beyond what they believe they deserve.
He emphasizes the importance of embracing one’s “Zone of Genius”—the place where your natural talents, passion, and purpose intersect. The book encourages readers to push past their self-imposed limits and step into a fuller, more authentic life by identifying and eliminating fears, doubts, and self-limiting beliefs.
Ultimately, it’s about overcoming fear to live a life of abundance and fulfillment.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.threebeatsconsulting.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threebeatsconsulting/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/103073118/admin/dashboard/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChOSMDdFm5jLUztD-yiDNUQ
- Other: Substack: https://3minutesfrom3beats.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
