My monthly newsletter sent at the end of every month, to stay connected and inspire reflection for creating meaningful work and a purpose-driven business.

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Hi Reader,

I just got back from almost four weeks in Europe and it's honestly felt like six trips in one. Every city had a different rhythm, a different version of me, and every single place had someone I love waiting when I got there.

After landing in Paris for my birthday, my partner and I took a train down to Valencia, where my best friend Kendra has been living abroad with her family for almost a year. I hadn't seen her in so long and it was exactly the kind of reunion you want with your best friend from home. We spent days bicycling through the city, exploring that incredible park that stretches right across Valencia, and just hanging out with her kids and her family in their new life there.

That city really surprised me! It's rideable, livable, warm in the way that makes you start quietly imagining yourself there. It's officially on my radar as a potential European home base one day.

We also made it to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which was amazing to see after almost 144 years of construction. And we happened to be there right around the time Pope Leo XIV came to bless the church!

Between Valencia and Barcelona, we made a stop that ended up being one of my favourite parts of the whole trip. Some friends of ours who used to live in Bali now live with their daughter on this beautiful olive orchard in the countryside.

Their home is a cottage built in 1914 and they're living this incredible self-sufficient life out there. We stayed a few nights, completely off-grid (I got to practice my military showers lol). It was such a gift to get home-cooked meals, long conversations, and just being in their world.

After Barcelona, I headed to Geneva to meet up with my friend Constance before we traveled to the French Alps together for a retreat called Alptitude. And this ended up being one of my most memorable parts of the trip.

As someone who runs retreats, I have a particular eye for them, and I knew going in that this one was going to be different. It was small and intimate. The kind of group where you're not networking, but just being humans together. Run by Carlos and Laurence from The Happy Startup School, they really created something really special.

For one of the days, we got to hike to the foot of Mont Blanc on the Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval nature reserve, where we stayed overnight in a mountain refuge with the group. On the way, we did "Wise Crowds" in the mountains, which is basically a council of people supporting each other with questions about life, work, purpose, meaning. The conversations were incredible.

What I loved most about the people I got to meet was that the things we had in common were the human-first things, which were the values and philosophy on how we want to live. And they just happened to be business owners. I loved being with people who are really intentional about who they are as business owners and who they're becoming. Not just profit first, but purpose first, and then profit comes.

As someone who's usually the one facilitating, it was so good to just be a participant. To receive instead of hold. I think I found my people. Not just in the business world, but in life. And I absolutely believe some of these friendships are going to be lifelong friends.

I ended the trip in Athens, where Travis and I explored the city with old friends who now live there and got to show us around. And we saw Lykke Li perform live at the Acropolis before it closes for renovations for the next three years. I can't think of a more magical place to watch a concert. It was super intimate and something I'll remember forever.

I think the thing that's changed most about how I travel is why I travel. 13 years ago when I first went nomadic, I loved the solo exploration. I loved the new places, new languages, new food, and just wanting experiences constantly. And now what I love most is traveling to see my community. To be able to create memories with people I love and going deeper into their lives.

I'm really lucky that the people I call my chosen family are spread around the world, and that I get to show up in their lives like this, and they in mine.

What a month.

-Lydia

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​⭐ On Building A Life & Business You Love
​Inspiring content you might've missed

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🛫 How I Plan My Year as a Solopreneur Who Takes 2 Months Off

I walk through the four seasons I run my business by and the intentional choices behind working 25 hours a week. This one includes a free download of my year-end review template if you want to try it yourself.

→ Watch the video​

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🎯 Why Niching Down Isn't Fixing Your Coaching Business

If you've been trying to niche down and it keeps not sticking, the problem probably isn't that you haven't found the right niche yet. In this video I share why niching is often the wrong layer to be working at, and what the real question underneath it usually is.

→ Watch the video​​
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🎧 When Do You Know You've Outgrown Your Business?

On this month's Small on Purpose episode, Maira and I talked about that kind of outgrowing that doesn't come with a crisis. The clients are still coming, the money's fine, but something has stopped fitting. If you've ever felt guilty about being bored by work that's going well, this one's for you.

→ Listen to Episode 7​​
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​🌿 Work With Me

There are a few different ways we can work together, depending on where you are right now.

Tiny Business Method​
Six months, 1:1, built around you. We start with the human layer first (who you've become, what's shifted, what you actually want now) and then redesign the business around that. A thinking partnership for business owners who are done running on a model that no longer fits. → Book a strategy call​
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Sweet Spot Intensive​
I have a knack for spotting the thing you can't see in your own work. In one focused session, I'll help you excavate the body of work underneath everything you do, name it in language that actually sounds like you, and map what comes next. → Apply here​

Walk and Talk​
Something's off but you can't quite name it yet. We both go outside, we walk, I listen for what's underneath what you're saying and ask about that instead. Together, we'll have a real conversation about whatever's actually in the way. → Book a Walk and Talk​​​

💡 Ideas Sparker​
​Curated resources to spark inspiration and conversation

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I'm Reading...

• ​50 Lessons on How to Be More Emotionally Intelligent (Without Trying So Hard) - I come back to Joe Hudson's work often and this piece is one of those things you'll want to screenshot and save.
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• ​Mindful Command - Sally-Anne was one of the coaches at the Alptitude retreat and she gifted me her book before we left. It's about how real leadership depends not on what you do but on how you are, which is basically the same thing I believe about running a business.

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I'm Watching/Listening...

• ​Lykke Li's "I Follow Rivers" (remix) - This one's extra special because I just watched her perform live at the Acropolis. Every time this remix comes on now it takes me straight back to that night.
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• ​Childish Gambino's "Feels Like Summer" - This was basically the soundtrack to my whole European trip. It's a tune!

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I want you to know how much I appreciate having the privilege of being in your inbox and a part of your life.

I love having you in our community and value hearing from YOU.

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Thank you for reading :)

PS: Love the content I create for you? Been a long time reader? Now you can show your support for my work by buying me a coffee!☕​

Lydia Lee, Work Reinvention Coach & Freedom Instigator
​Screw The Cubicle​

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