Charis Your Life with Charis Santillie

Do you know the KISS principle? It’s an acronym for “keep it simple stupid.” It was first coined in 1960 by aircraft engineer Kelly Johnson as a design principle for the U.S. Navy. We had our own version of the KISS principle in my family. (Listen in to hear what it is!)  In the past, I had a tendency to make things complicated. What I tend to notice now is that often when I start to feel fru...

Life becomes much simpler when we focus on one thing at a time. Today I'm giving you some real-world examples and visuals of one inch, one degree, one piece, and one step at a time, along with some tips on how to apply these concepts to your own life. What You’ll Learn: - How a fun rhyme about inches can support you as a mantra - What birds and puzzles can teach us about pieces - What tip comedian...

This is my Mom’s story, which is now mine to share. She passed away on Thanksgiving Day of 2013 due to liver disease from alcoholism. The first time I got her into rehab, she wrote some journal entries. This was rare; my Mom did not write or keep any other journals. She also did not frequently express or process her true emotions.  The day I did this recording was the day I was finally emotio...

For a few years now, something I have done for fun is getting two season tickets to the Broadway shows in San Francisco and taking friends to the shows. I recently saw “Hadestown” with Tricia Stone, who was my first boss and incredible mentor after graduating college. A few weeks later, I saw “The Prom” with Christina Bryant, who worked for me for ten years. I was Christina’s first boss out of col...

I spent a lot of time at my dance studio during childhood—the Tri-Cities Academy of Ballet was like a second home to me and the owners/teachers, Joel & Debra Rogo, became an extended family, as did my fellow dancers. Many big life moments happened while I was at the studio, including the moment the First Gulf War began (while my brother was on the front lines as a sniper in the Marines) and th...

Today is the 28th anniversary of my family's hot air balloon accident. In this episode, I share with you some details about that day, the aftermath, and a few reflections I have on it. I also share three gifts I’ve been able to find in that experience.  What You’ll Learn:  - What happened the night before my Dad’s 50th birthday  - What the consequences of the hot air balloon acciden...

Have you ever felt really out of shape, and very guilty and sad about the state of your health? I'm going to share with you a moment of reckoning I had with my body early last year, and what I finally did about it.  What You’ll Learn:  - How I overcame my excuses and started working out again - The importance of listening to your intuition about what’s possible for you - Why I’m so passi...

When we consider how to manage time more effectively, we actually need to learn how to manage ourselves more effectively. We often put in a lot of effort to figure out how to be more efficient, and yet end up working more, not less. If that's the case for you, then at the core of living a more balanced life is learning how to manage yourself to break the pattern. Today, I'm going to share four of...

What are the things that keep you up in the middle of the night? What pops into your head during the day that makes you feel anxious and fret about things? Everybody I know worries from time to time, and some people worry a lot more than others. In this episode, I’m going to talk about the ways you can free yourself from worry, relax, and feel more empowered.   What You’ll Learn:  -...

Too often, we give up our own personal power in ways we don’t even realize. You may be giving away your power by people pleasing, seeking approval, avoiding setting boundaries, not asking for what you want, blaming yourself, trying to save others, and in many other ways. In this episode I’ll share with you some ideas for how you can take your power back.  What You’ll Learn: - How to check in...

So many times in the past, I have been in the head-down zone, hyper-focused on my goals, working many nights and weekends, for weeks and months at a time, not paying attention to my body's fuel gauge. Then, I’d find myself totally depleted, and it would take weeks, months, or even years to replenish. In this episode, I want to help you understand the importance of filling up your energy tank befor...

A common complaint I hear out there can be summed up by the statement, ’There’s no time for me.’ A lot of people are struggling with finding time for themselves. I used to live my days in that constrained cycle, feeling like I was backed up against the wall and just racing around. Today I will help you understand how to break that cycle and free more time for yourself.  What You’ll Learn:&nbs...

I've found that usually, it's not just one specific thing that causes us to feel overwhelmed. It's often all the zillion little things that have added up, and that we've convinced ourselves that we really have to do. So today, I'm going to share with you some useful tips to move from overwhelmed to empowered. What You’ll Learn:  - What PQ Reps are and how they can help you soothe yourself fro...

We’ve all heard something along the lines of, ‘you just need to make time for the things that matter,’ or ‘you just need to make it a priority.’ Well – easier said than done. But why is that? If being out of balance is our norm, then our brain operates like a superhighway with 18 lanes, and we feel like we just can’t take our eyes off the road and figure out what we need to change. So in this epis...

I’m Charis Santillie, and my name is derived from a Greek word meaning grace. I was born with ambition. My parents were entrepreneurs and I pushed myself to be high school valedictorian, class president, most artistic and most likely to succeed.  The summer I turned 19, a hot air balloon accident left my father with a broken neck, me with a broken heart, and my mom coping through alcohol.&nbs...