Clarity on Fire

Back when Clarity on Fire was brand new, Rachel and I were seriously hustling. (And trust me, that's definitely not a humble brag. I am NOT someone who likes to hustle. Even the word hustle feels gross to me. But there's no better way to describe what life was like back then.) We were working at full-time office jobs, going through an intensive coach-training program, and getting our business off...

Well, this was supposed to be a normal person interview, but Kristen got sick and then our normal person got sick, so apparently the Universe wanted us to do something else this month! So, have you heard about the 36 questions that lead to love? They're based on a psychological study that explored whether or not intimacy could be accelerated by having strangers ask a set of personal, sometimes pro...

Kristen and I are pretty seasoned in the ways of job-quitting. In my first three years of working post-college, I had three jobs and quit them all. And Kristen quit her very first job after 5 weeks (though they deserved it for having a series of meetings about whether or not to start a LinkedIn page for the company. I mean, come on now). Maybe it's our mutual rebellious attitudes, but we've both b...

Welcome to another episode of Dear Krachel, a monthly advice segment where we answer audience questions about life, career, relationships, existential angst, and anything that helps you become a more whole, fulfilled version of yourself. On this episode, we're answering questions from: Larry, a Thriver who struggles to give people a good response when they ask about his job, which he isn't passion...

My dad is fond of teasing my mom about how, back when they were in college, she would buy all of her school books, take them home, and immediately flip to the back of each book. As she glanced through the final chapters of each textbook, she would get more and more anxious. Eventually, fighting back tears, she'd throw her hands up and say,  "I don't understand any of this! I'm never going to make...

Calling all fellow bookworms, library nerds, and general lovers of literature — it's time for another book club episode of the podcast! Whenever there are five Fridays in a month, we devote the extra Friday to a book that we can't get enough of. This time we decided to have a conversation about a brand-new book by an author you may recognize (because our last book club episode was also about one o...

I was sitting on the floor with my 4-month-old black lab puppy in my lap, sobbing. She was happily chewing a bone, oblivious to the fact that I was heartbroken because I was planning to give her away. Scarlett, my puppy, was a bit of a hellion. She had a habit of attacking your feet when you weren't looking, and she would bark at you for what felt like hours without stopping. She didn't care for k...

Some of you are probably very familiar with the unique stress of being at a career crossroads. You feel called to make a change, but you're overwhelmed with fears and hang-ups—Is it even possible to go in a new direction? What will people think of me if I do?? What if I make zero dollars and end up back at square one?! (Cue standing frozen at the intersection like a deer in headlights). That's why...

I don't know if it's my face (whatever the opposite of 'resting bitch face' is, I have that) or my overall demeanor or what, but I must have an invisible sign hanging around my neck that says, "Hello stranger! Please strike up a conversation with me." This happens to me everywhere, including (no kidding) while I'm changing in the women's locker room at the gym. I can't even avoid it when I'm half-...

This one goes out to all of the caring, compassionate, empathetic, concerned people who just want to help others . Especially if, in your altruistic mindset, you deeply believe that you know what's best for someone, and that if they'd only listen to you , you'd be able to solve all their problems. Dudes, from a couple of (recovering) fixers, YOU GOTTA CUT THAT OUT. In this month's Side Chat, we're...

Last month we got a Dear Krachel question from Kate, who asked: "What do you do when you're bored with life? Job, relationships, everything seems like such a drag." Well, Kate, I see your Dear Krachel question and raise you an entire blog post (I have no idea how to play poker, but I'm all in on this question). I've personally been bored with life many times (and to a degree, STILL feel bored with...

I knew Jes was a soul sister the moment she told me that, as a kid in gym class, she was the one who couldn't pass the presidential fitness test. You know that rope attached to the ceiling? The one other kids shimmy up and down easily? Yeah, she was the sad kid hanging at the bottom. (As a tween who couldn't even pass the sit-and-reach, this resonated at the core of my being). So, how does that ki...

I want to start this by outing myself as an absolute school nerd. As in, I used to "assign" myself summer book reports in elementary and middle school. I would gladly be an eternal student — if I could get paid just to go to school and learn for the rest of my life, I'd be in heaven. So when I hear my clients saying things like,  "I'm not really sure what I'm passionate about or what kind of caree...

Welcome to another episode of Dear Krachel, a monthly advice segment where we answer audience questions about life, career, relationships, existential angst, and anything that helps you become a more whole, fulfilled version of yourself. On this episode, we're answering questions from: Broke Girl, who deeply fears becoming a "slave to work," but she has a ton of debt to pay off. Should she keep he...

Pardon me while I dust off my soapbox and get fired up about something (Ha! As if my soapbox ever gets dusty…). I've got a bone to pick when it comes to introverts and extroverts. There's a huge misconception about what both of those words mean, and I used to fall prey to it. In fact, I spent a big chunk of my life feeling like I was broken because of how widespread this false interpretation is. F...

This is one of those conversations that's going to be applicable to 99.9% of you, because who hasn't experienced a toxic workplace at some point in their life?? Whether you're a college student folding clothes at the mall or a Senior VP at a large firm, toxicity ABOUNDS—In the form of cattiness, disengagement, resentment, and groupthink, to name a few culprits. It's about time we tackled this subj...

A client of mine, Molly, is burnt out . She's got two jobs that have her working at least 50 hours a week (usually more like 60-65), including night and weekend shifts. Sometimes after working 6 days in a row, her boss will ask if she can fill in for someone on the 7th day … and she usually agrees, even though it means she doesn't get a single day off in a week. She's also involved in multiple soc...

We doubt there's a person on earth (well, maybe excluding the sociopaths who walk among us) that doesn't feel that they're either "too much" or "not enough." You know what we're talking about: "You're too quiet. You're not interesting enough. You're too weird. You're too intense. You're not attractive enough." We've all got a silent-but-insistent inner monologue that's terrified we aren't EXACTLY...

I once knew somebody who was excellent at deluding herself. Her M.O. was to spend many thousands of dollars every year (money she certainly didn't have) on courses and personal development programs and fancy wellness retreats in Europe. What was pretty genius was that it was easy to justify pulling out the credit card for these things because, on the surface, they all looked like really positive,...

A little over 10 years ago, Lauren's life was thrown into total chaos. Her relationship ended in a shocking, dramatic, and heartbreaking way, and she found herself a single mom to four kids, barely getting by while trying to navigate an intense emotional rollercoaster. In the years since then, she's gone through multiple stages of redefining herself, first through external factors (her struggle, h...

Instead of a new blog this week, we're doing something special that we've never done before — releasing our latest live workshop as a bonus podcast episode! Technically the video replay of this episode expired last Friday, but we're giving it a second life on the podcast. So if you didn't get a chance to watch it the first time around, then you're in luck! This workshop was called "How to find you...

Welcome to another episode of Dear Krachel, a monthly advice segment where we answer audience questions about life, career, relationships, existential angst, and anything that helps you become a more whole, fulfilled version of yourself. On this episode, we're answering questions from: Charlie, a published author who can't get past the feeling that they should be doing something more intellectuall...

I can't tell you the number of times I sat hunched over a desk at some of my old jobs thinking… "What's the point of this? What's the point of this dumb report I'm writing? What's the point of showing up to all of these countless meetings? What's the point of staying here until 5:30pm every day?" And once I headed down that path of questioning … watch out! It quickly spiraled in a dramatic and exi...

Sometimes change happens super gradually, and sometimes in lightning strikes. Ryan's was definitely the latter. Ten years ago, on a seemingly random walk through London, Ryan Mathie experienced a profound breakdown that became a huge breakthrough. Since then he's been incredibly motivated to help other people see how much they're getting in their own way (like he was, pre-breakthrough), and help t...

Three years ago, I wrote this blog about things I wanted to want but didn't actually care about. Reading it now, in 2019, was fascinating because a lot of these things I have NO energy or shame around anymore. So, what follows is my original blog from 2016, with (in the true spirit of a high school theater nerd) semi-dramatic asides from my 2019 self: I want to tell you that I'm a go-getter. I'd l...