Stand in Your Power and Embrace Abundance: A Confidence Conversation with Kelly Lynn Adams
Kelly Lynn is an award-winning certified executive, leadership and life coach, mental health advocate, and the creator of the Perfectly Imperfect podcast. She is also the founder of the Empow(her) Foundation which helps girls seven to seventeen cultivate confidence from the inside out. Kelly is also the founder and leader of the “Womxn. Work. Worth. Movement”, which has helped thousands of high-achieving leaders manage their mindset, maximize their time, and monetize their businesses.
Before building her world-renowned brand as a coach, Kelly Lynn spent over 18+ years in Corporate America working for some of the top retail and fashion brands including Gucci, DKNYJeans, Kenneth Cole, and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Today, Kelly Lynn works with leaders and corporations in two of her signature group programs, “Shatter Your Own Glass Ceilings” and “Unstoppable.” Her mission is to lead with love and help people get out of their own way so that they can elevate and expand. She fulfills this mission by helping people reprogram their thoughts, boost their confidence, and supersize their self-love.
During our Confidence Conversation, Kelly dropped several gems, including tools to break through our own glass ceilings and mental barriers to not only achieve success but to find an everlasting sense of contentment and joy in our lives.
Check out a few highlights from our interview below.
Start slow and small.
Life doesn’t have to be all or nothing. If you want to be successful, set your goals, then take reasonable action towards their attainment. The key is to be realistic with yourself about what you can do in a certain timeframe and give yourself grace along the way. Do what is sustainable without feeling the need to take grand leaps.
Stop living in the past and quiet the noise.
Self-doubt is a product of living in the past and replaying past memories that have in some way shaped or defined our core belief systems and views of ourselves. We often hold onto the past because it feels safe and known, even if it’s hurting us. After all, the unknown is scarier than actually taking the leap. To live your life to the fullest, it’s important to recognize when you’re replaying these negative thoughts and release them.
Releasing the past is an internal job.
To release this pattern of projecting your past onto present and future circumstances, start by getting curious about why you keep reliving that situation. Kelly recommends the parts work modality, IFS. Parts Work is a therapeutic ideology that holds that each person has different parts of their mind, body, and spirit, and is a tool used in trauma recovery, self-actualization, and personal development. When engaging in Parts Work, Kelly says that we can feel empowered because “We get to decide which parts go down in the basement and which come up in the living room.” This approach allows us to understand and acknowledge all parts of how we are feeling and showing up (the good, the bad, and the ugly) while choosing to amplify what serves us.
Believe in the power of one.
It’s common to want more or to want to do or be the biggest and best at all times. While setting goals is great, it’s important to also value what we already have and be present enough to realize the power of one. It only takes one meaningful connection to land a big-ticket client, get your big break, or change your life. When we stop searching outside of ourselves and our lives, we get to make more meaningful use of what we have and experience the abundance of what’s already here.
If you want a different life you have to become a different person.
Authentic, sustainable change happens at the identity level, and changing your life and circumstances starts from within. Understand who you want to be, honor where you are and how far you’ve come, and then envision what the future version of yourself will look like. Ask yourself: what does the future me value, how does she act, what does she do? Answer these questions and always keep them in the back of your mind while giving yourself grace along the way.
Motivation is great but it’s not everything.
You’re not always going to feel motivated to get started, but taking the first step will set off a ripple effect of inspired action. Kelly says motivation is like a “quick hit” that helps you feel good at the moment. However, the process isn’t always sexy and you won’t always feel aligned. The key is to hold your goal front and center and do the work it takes to get the ball rolling. Stop waiting and start doing.
