At Mid-Summer: Claim It, Name It
Welcome to Kokoro, where ambitious people come to do the inner work that creates outer results.
In this issue:
- At mid-year, recognize what you've accomplished
- The four-minute monologue that stopped me in my tracks
- Good vibes we needed this summer
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🌸 Erin
P.S. My website keeps evolving! I'd love for you to take a peek: erinwarner.net
Change Happens Slowly, but It Happens
In February, I ran a full-day workshop called IGNITE in Austin, Texas. It was fantastic.
But I want to tell you about the night before.
I've spent years being nervous before high-stakes moments. Activated, agitated, feeling like something's wrong even when nothing's wrong.
It's a familiar feeling. But the night before IGNITE, it wasn't there.
I felt calm. Grounded. Confident. This was new!
It was the result of work that wasn't on my to-do list for the event, but work I had been investing in consistently for years: release perfectionism, quit people-pleasing, and learn to enjoy being seen.
None of it measurable. None of it billable. All of it, it turns out, transformational.
So the question I invite you to ask yourself at mid-year isn't just what you have done. Ask yourself what made that possible.
Claim It
Progress on goals tells us what happened. It doesn't tell us why, or what made it possible.
My accomplishments for the first half of 2026 — Kokoro, IGNITE, the L.O.V.E. pilot program, taking the reins at Austin Facilitation Lab — looks like a productive six months. Which it was.
But the list is the output. The system that produced it is the inner work.
Part of that inner work: at the start of this year, I chose four words to live by. Courage, Optimism, Self-Love, Self-Expression.
Not goals exactly — more like filters. Ways of being that I wanted to run my decisions through. The idea is that if I get those right, the doing flows.
Most people skip the system and focus on the output. I used to do that too. So if this is new territory, you're in good company.
Your mid-summer reflection prompt: What are you proud of from the first half of this year?
If you're memory-challenged (like I am), pull up your calendar, your photos, or your notes app and browse. What did you experience, create, contribute, survive, or explore that actually matters to you?
Then go one level deeper — what had to be true about you, on the inside, for that thing to happen?
Write both down.
Name It
The interior work is not a detour from the results. It's the route. And who you decide to be determines what you're able to do.
For the second half of 2026, I'm running the same formula. My keywords stay, but after six months of leading with Courage, I'm shifting the primary filter to Self-Love. Less pushing. More choosing well.
(Courage, Optimism, and Self-Expression are still in the room. Self-Love is just taking the lead.)
My keywords aren't decoration. They're what makes the results possible.
And my ambitions for the rest of 2026 are on fire. IGNITE, Kokoro, the L.O.V.E. Program, and Austin Facilitation Lab are going to need a lot from me.
Your turn: Name one thing you want to experience, create, contribute, or explore by the end of December.
Then name the words you get to live by for it to happen.
Write both down.
Mid-year reflections are one of my favorite ways to celebrate the year so far and gear up the rest of the year. What are you claiming? What are you naming? I read all replies, let me know.
Click the Links for Resources I've Found Valuable Lately
1. Good Vibes
One of the commenters said it best, "I can't get enough of these videos. Everything everywhere has seemed so bad for so long that it's amazing to see people from all over the world happy again and enjoying each other's company and culture 🥰"
2. We're the lucky ones (Diary of a CEO)
For a dose of awe, listen from 10:06 to 14:00.
Gems weaving from, "Have you ever stopped to think about the odds you had to beat just to be here?…You begin your promenade, your fallopian promenade on the road to your mother's sacred womb…How can that not be something to celebrate, the wonder of the odds you had to beat just to be here."
Listening to this in the kitchen one evening, preparing dinner, this soliloquy quite literally stopped me in my tracks as her words washed over me. From the mouth and heart of Harvard-trained neuroscientist and best-selling author, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor.
3. Turning Wake by Ayla Nereo
This song mesmerizes me.
Hanging out on a boat on a lake at dusk. Another result of being fully myself and making new friends along the way.
Before you go: Here's how I can help…
My work is focused on helping ambitious people, including men and women, align their head and self-talk with their deepest-held desire, so they can achieve more, build the relationships they want, and bring their unique gifts to the world.
If you've been successful most of your life, but hit a ceiling or don't feel the fulfillment you thought you would, I offer…
- 1-1 Coaching
- Lightning L.O.V.E. Program for self-love and empowerment
- Corporate Trainings on Leadership, Communication, Team Building
I also set aside office hours specifically for readers of this email. If you'd like to connect and chat about your ambitions, grab time with me here.
Until next time,
🌸 Erin