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Welcome to Make Your Passion Pay, hosted by LuAnn Buechler, a seasoned leader with a master’s degree in Hospitality Administration and a recipient of the TLC Award for Leadership. This podcast is designed for business owners who have left toxic environments to create their own thriving workplaces but find themselves struggling with team building and mindset. Join LuAnn as she shares insights and strategies to help you cultivate joy and a positive mindset in your business and personal life. Drawing from her experience working with renowned leaders like Dr. Ivan Misner, LuAnn guides you in building a supportive community and mastering the art of people management. Each episode offers practical advice and inspiring stories to empower you to transform your work environment into one that reflects your values and passions. Tune in to discover how to lead with joy, foster meaningful connections, and truly make your passion pay.
This is the EWN Podcast Network. Welcome to Make Your Passion Pay. I'm Luann Biekler, creator of the Make Your Passion Pay Playbook, your host and guide on this exciting journey to building joyful and successful work environments. Known as the little spark, I've helped countless individuals and businesses ignite their potential through transformational coaching, coaching, creating thriving businesses, and joyful workplaces. I have experienced the challenges of leaving toxic workplaces and building something better.
LuAnn:I bring firsthand wisdom to help you align your work with your values. With insights drawn from working alongside world renowned leaders and a deep passion for community and connection, I'm here to show you how to lead with joy and purpose. Let's dive into today's episode and start making your passion pay. Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Make Your Passion Pay podcast.
LuAnn:Super excited today to have my friend Karen Lubin with us. I'll tell you a little bit more about Karen in a minute. Wanted to let you know that we're still in the month of clarity and actually who has been Beth's partner in training for many years. Beth LaFavre was with us last time, and she kind of flowed into connection and core values as well. And so Karen and I are gonna circle back a little bit on clarity and how she views it.
LuAnn:Both Karin and Beth, I met as PassionTest facilitators. And Karen, you were the,
Dr. Karin Lubin:director of
LuAnn:PassionTest programs.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Yes. Yes.
LuAnn:And we And met
Dr. Karin Lubin:a master trainer at the end there.
LuAnn:And a master trainer. Right? Excellent. And now you're doing what for yourself? Tell us about yourself, Karen.
Dr. Karin Lubin:So now I am coaching people and my whole thing is helping people really create optimal health through body, mind, and soul connection. So whatever that looks like, you know, we each have my my whole my name or program name is the Lubin Lifeline to Longevity. So what is longevity? And to me, that is having a quality life that you love. So a lot of us at a certain time, whether it's due to stress, age, whatever, we end up with some kind of a disease or an illness or some kind of lack of clarity, you know, or burnout or whatever it is based on in business or in your personal life.
Dr. Karin Lubin:And I want people to really get super clear about what they love. So that's the clarity piece. And I want them to have it so that it's a full rounded package of health. I mean, I I don't look at it just as, you know, your physical health. That's a big piece of it.
Dr. Karin Lubin:But I also think of the mental health.
LuAnn:Karen, I love that you're talking about, like, longevity, and you've aligned with this the clarity with longevity as well because there was a time when I worked, at a over 55 club to get access to meeting room space. I could use their facilities if I did my workshops for free for their membership base, and then I could invite people from the outside to join us and for a fee for myself to make some money. But what I found there was people who were lost. People who were lost because they aligned their entire identity with their career. And when they retired from that, professional career, they found themselves lonely and isolated and separate from others.
LuAnn:And and you know I'm a hugger, got my little hug pin on today.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Good job.
LuAnn:But I would simply give them a hug and they would say when they came in, I hugged people when they come to my workshops, and they would say, oh my gosh, that's so great. I never get a hug anymore. And so separate from others and no sense of purpose of what they were doing in this world after 55. So for me, I have eliminated the word retirement from my language.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Absolutely.
LuAnn:I looked it up in the Webster's Dictionary and it means no longer of useful service. That's awful. And so never wanna be there, which is one of the reasons I started the podcast because I can talk on a podcast forever.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Good.
LuAnn:It's my it's my long longevity strategy.
Dr. Karin Lubin:That's
LuAnn:fine. And you know how much I love to talk. Right? So what a better place for me to be is in conversation with others for the long term of the rest of my years on this beautiful planet. So, when did you find your clarity and this was where you needed to go, Karen, in this direction?
Dr. Karin Lubin:Right. So I you know, being the director of the Passion Test programs for, like, thirteen years and working with Jenna and Chris Atwood, yourself, a lot of the master trainers, Bethel Fabre, and everyone who was there, let me just say that I learned what was most important because we went through this process of getting clear about what was most important to us today. And that, I think, is really important that we recognize that, you know, our what is important to us might change. It's not like we stay stuck in this one time in our life, which is where I was many years ago when I was in education, and I thought I would be in education for the rest of my life in public education as an administrator, and before that as a teacher. I thought, oh, yeah.
Dr. Karin Lubin:That's what I'm gonna do until I burned out. And I think burnout is kind of the one extreme of when you're not excited about what you're doing, and that's when you want to connect in again. And so I love that, Beth, and you talked about connection. To me, connection was about connecting internally. Then it can be the external connection, which I know you do beautifully.
Dr. Karin Lubin:I am very I think it's so important, and I I I know for myself, I need to connect personally in my heart first. So that passion test process that I still use to this day, I am using as a way to help get clear about what's most important. And about five years ago, I realized that being an administrator in any position, in any place was not my passion anymore. My passion was actually the facilitation, the educating, and the training of others. That's what I loved.
Dr. Karin Lubin:And I was also let's see. Know, I was in my fifties, and I was and then, of course, COVID hit. And, you know, big news, everyone knows that during COVID, you know, lots of things changed for all of us. And I was going to I mean, this is my personal story here, but I really decided that I was not able to go to the gym, so what was I gonna do? I needed to bring people together.
Dr. Karin Lubin:So there was my connection, there was my clarity. Like, I needed people to help me stay accountable, and commitment is such a big one for me. Stay committed to my practice of working out and strength training. So I did that, and I found that I loved it. And it's kind of like what inspired me to kind of move into recognizing, oh, wow.
Dr. Karin Lubin:This other thing that I used to love as director has had morphed and shifted into working with people more on a physical level. And then I do this whole thing with I've created journals and wisdom circles, and there's a whole mental, emotional component that I think is really important. And I found that during COVID, doing exercise, strength training, helped me physically, mentally, emotionally, and literally spiritually. It was like my spiritual practice, and it still is. Who knew?
Dr. Karin Lubin:That was a big surprise.
LuAnn:So I think So
Dr. Karin Lubin:I wanna do it. With all of everyone.
LuAnn:Things I wanna unpack there, right, is that, first of all, we evolve through our lives, and our passions can change, come and go in certain areas, and and the outside society and burnout can be a part of that effect. But continuing to get clarity and going deep into your own heart, which is what the passion test is so beautifully about, is dropping into your own heart and really saying, okay, now at this moment in my life, what is most important to me? And it's okay to make those shifts and it's important to continue to identify back into your heart space. So I will remind the audience as well that you never ever do the Passion Test alone. You can learn the process by reading the book The Passion Test, but I've proved it over and over again in workshops that people who jump ahead of me and try and do it on their own, the process comes out completely different when we step back and they allow me to take them through the process.
LuAnn:So find a passion test facilitator if you're interested in going through the process, and of course Karen and I can always help you with that. And then I wanted to touch on burnout because, well, that's just another emotion folks. It's just another emotion that we feel that is a clue like all our other emotions of that something's changed. Something's not right anymore, and now I wanna look deep into my heart again and reflect on where do I wanna go from here. Would you agree?
Dr. Karin Lubin:Absolutely. I mean, I have a client who I'm speaking with actually today, later today, and he's saying that has all his kids have left the nest. He doesn't love his job, and he's recognizing that he has pulled way back on his time and recognizes, oh, maybe there's something else that I need to do. And he was like, well, I knew immediately I needed to call Karen and, you know, figure out what's my next step. And I love that when people have that sense of boredom.
Dr. Karin Lubin:I mean, it could be boredom instead of burnout. It could be just a stressful feeling. I know for myself, I just felt so much stress because I was not aligned with what I was saying. I mean, I was like, wait. Wait.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Woah. Something's wrong here. Like, there's not this connection of my purpose did not feel in connection with what I was feeling. I was way off. And so when you know you're way off, I think, Lou Anne, you're so right that it helps tremendously to have someone outside of you because I think we can mentally talk ourselves into what we should do.
Dr. Karin Lubin:So when you have someone like yourself, myself, whomever, as a facilitator asking the questions, you get more honest. You know, you drop down into your heart. So I love that you're saying all that.
LuAnn:Yes. But you just brought another word. I love to pick on words, right, and dissect them. And so folks stop shoulding on yourself. There's nothing you should do for someone else.
LuAnn:It's what you need to do for yourself. And I you said too, Karen, earlier, really I think this life is a journey into self, into our own heart, and uncovering our purpose and living our passions. And when you step fully into that, I say you get connected to your life's flow and everything comes easier. It just feels easier because you're authentic.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Right. And, you know, it's a beautiful thing. I have kind of these four directions in my program that I do for the Living Lifeline for Longevity. And for many years people said, no, you've to focus on one thing. And I was like, well, wait a minute, that's not who I am.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Like, why am I listening out here when what was inside was saying, no, you wanna do this coaching clarity piece. Yes, I want to do this strength training. Yes, I wanna do nutrition. And, I wanna do these journaling wisdom circles. Those were all yeses.
Dr. Karin Lubin:And when I listened, everything was like, yes. And when I was told to just do one of those things, it was I like got all contracted, know, like, oh, I didn't feel so good. But what's interesting, Luanne, is even today as we're speaking, I have noticed that there has been like a little subtle shift. I wanna focus more on the nutrition and on strength training with the clarity piece now again. Because that's kind of the clients that I'm bringing in and less on the wisdom circles just for the moment.
Dr. Karin Lubin:I feel like I'm gonna take a little hiatus. And I think that's so good when I can go, Oh, so that's what's happening for me. And then I can be honest with everyone else and say, you know, a little break. I want to get a little creative juice flowing with this wisdom circle journaling thing that I've done for years that I love still, but it's not as much of a big thing where my eyes twinkle and I go, woo. Right?
Dr. Karin Lubin:But I do still feel that way with the nutrition and the strength training. So why not go there? So it's fascinating how these things can cycle even through the work that you're doing.
LuAnn:Right. And, you know, and what you're talking about and and you've done this for years and you're good at it is you're also good at listening to yourself and your own intuition. Feeling that contraction in the moment in in what you're doing, what you're feeling, and going, I need to look a little deeper in this. And many people have yet to reach that kind of ability, to say the least. Right?
LuAnn:And so I think that's another reason why it's super valuable to work with an outside facilitator. Because even for myself, I was just at a conference with my mentors and mastermind and gaining wisdom from them, And they would say things that I know already, but when they said it, it was like, oh, yeah. I gotta remember that. Mhmm. I gotta do more of that for myself.
LuAnn:And so that voice coming from someone else is the voice that you need to hear in that moment to ground yourself in your own heart. Does that make sense?
Dr. Karin Lubin:Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And it's so interesting that sometimes it is helpful to hear it from an outside kind of mirror. It's just mirroring what you already know, but now it's like, yep. Confirmation.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Yep. Confirmation. And that's you know how people say, you know, I've heard it two or three times, so then I know. Gotta take action. Yeah.
Dr. Karin Lubin:That's it. I love that.
LuAnn:Yeah. We've always said yep. And we've always said the teacher appears when the student is ready. So that's also a cue, though, to all my listeners to say when you hear something that really speaks to you, know that that is the message you needed in that day and own that and be ready to take action on that whatever it is. When that outside speaker, teacher, coach, whatever it is, says something and you go, oh, yeah, like that feels so right.
LuAnn:Then take action and make sure you're implementing that strategy, that tool, whatever they're talking about into your practices. Because following your passions and being clear is a practice. It's not an overnight sensation. It's not a one time thing. It's not the end all for the rest of your life.
LuAnn:It's a journey of gaining clarity over and over again of who I am, who is my purpose on this planet, and how do I fulfill that and live my passions in this world. And what Karen and I both You're
Dr. Karin Lubin:saying yes.
LuAnn:Yes. Thanks.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Say yes to those. That's very important. Right?
LuAnn:That's absolutely true. And then when you get into that, then you feel in flow and life is good. Right? And clients appear and strategic partners appear. I just had that attraction last week, and I'm looking super excited to working with an expert on podcasting and podcast guesting, and so super fun for that.
LuAnn:And so you gotta say yes when those opportunities arrive, like Karen said.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Oh, that is so beautiful. And, you know, one of the things that I'm just gonna say that I do my own journals, and I don't care what journal anybody uses, but if they journal and Lou Ann, I don't know if you journal, but what I found is that at least this is my experience. I can keep a lot of things in my head, but after a certain point, I lose it. I can't. So when I journal it, and that is especially when I'm if you have an obsessive thought that you can't keep you know, it just goes on and on and you're rotating that thing in your head, it's so helpful to write it down, get it out of your head so that you can release it.
Dr. Karin Lubin:I have found getting the clarity is when I ask myself some questions like, how am I feeling? What do I need? Is there an action step I might want to take or not? It might be just with myself. It might be just journaling.
LuAnn:Right.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Then there's some movement, and I think you get a third perspective. Like, it's further away than when it's right in your face or right in your head.
LuAnn:Or in that monkey mind.
Dr. Karin Lubin:You're in
LuAnn:that monkey mind and trying to toss it all around. And the monkey, you're balancing between the shoulds and the heart of what I want to be and going back and forth on that. And getting it out sometimes makes it more clear. Right? Plus, can go back to it.
LuAnn:Right? And if you wrote something down today that you're like, really? Is that true? And you look back in your journal and you see, oh my gosh, that same message has come up multiple times. Maybe I need to pay more attention.
LuAnn:Right? So actually, interestingly enough, and being authentic and vulnerable, I think I got away from my journaling and it was another reminder at my conference last week about gratitude journaling. And remember to write down three things, three to five things every day that went right and be grateful for them, because the more you appreciate, appreciates and you get more of what you are grateful for. And so good reminders, good helpful tips for my audience to really, use journaling to get clarity if if not reaching out to a facilitator. Remember to use a gratitude journal to be grateful for all that is already going right in your world because the world tends to focus us on all the negatives and what's going wrong.
LuAnn:And there's still so much that's going right. I was at a animal sanctuary at this trip last week, an animal sanctuary in Canada, and the animals are very free, but the cars go through. Like, the animals can come right up to your windows. And just as simple as some Canadian geese landing on the water, like a whole v shape of them simultaneously together. And this gentleman sitting in front of me on the bus was like, oh my gosh.
LuAnn:Look at those birds. That's so amazing. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I see that in Minnesota every day. How blessed am I? It is amazing and I get to see it every day.
LuAnn:And we forget those things that are right around us that are blessings in our lives and amazing miracles in the world that take place. Like, how do those birds know to fly in that v altogether and land simultaneously when we have to train humans in military experiences to march together? Mhmm. Mhmm.
Dr. Karin Lubin:That's so cool. I have in my journal, I have six lines for gratitude every day. So I am totally with you on that. I think that's really important. And I also of the things I just wanted to kind of go back to around the wisdom you were saying about how a person needs to listen to their own wisdom.
Dr. Karin Lubin:And I don't think it's easy to listen to your own wisdom when you are listening to everyone else unless you do either journaling, meditation, maybe you're doing some therapy of some kind where you're, you know, just talking things through. But I still think a journal is so critical because then it's just you. Then after you've done the journaling, to be able to communicate what you're thinking, what's going on with another person or with a group, however it works, I think is so powerful because then you're being seen and heard for your authentic, true internal wisdom that you have. And I don't think we're validated enough for that. I think, you know, when I look at social media, Luanne, I see, like, one thing one person does and then everyone else is doing it.
Dr. Karin Lubin:And I was like, wow. That's so interesting. Like, there's no like, what's the internal wisdom wanting to stay here? But it's not. It's like the cultural expectation as we do what everyone else is doing.
LuAnn:Right. Well, and that is how we historically have been trained to fit in and be like everyone else. And I'm gonna encourage you to be your unique, authentic self and get clarity and confidence around that to move your move yourself forward. And, yeah, stop conforming.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Exactly. Yeah. Right. And that clarity piece, just to go back to it, you know, the journaling can help, right, so that when you start to write, you know, what is it that you want? One of the things that I had to do to even get my mission statement clear was to look at what was my vision.
Dr. Karin Lubin:My vision is actually to end certain things. Like I want to end cancer. There's, like, a prevalence of cancer. I wanna end, you know, cardiac disease, things like oh, I gotta look up. I wrote it down just to make sure I yeah.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Bone disease. Alzheimer's. Oh, yeah. There's some big things that are all due to what I think is inflammation in our bodies and the inflammation is just like when we're in our teens and our twenties, we kinda can eat and do whatever we want, and it seems like our body just seems fine. And then 40s, things start show up.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Or in my case, I had malignant melanoma when I was in my late 20s, and I was really faced with my own mortality. And when that happens, you know, and that can happen at any age and any stage of our lives, basically. But when we don't feel good or something like a death something is, like, reflected back at you, that's when you start to go, okay. What do I what do I need now to really balance my life or feed my life, nurture myself? You know, we can call it self love.
Dr. Karin Lubin:We can call it whatever we want nourishment, respect, kindness. Because if we do that to ourselves, then the vision also is that people will be kinder to each other. And that that's what I I would like to see. That's my vision. And, you know, there's I could go into much more detail, but that's cons the concept is that I wanted to see certain things diminish dramatically or just be completely gone.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Like, it's not there. We don't have cancer anymore because we know how to take care of ourselves and each other better.
LuAnn:Simple kindness to each other is most important. One of the things I'm reminded of is until we are whole and complete in ourselves, we have trouble taking care of other people, right? We're in our own distraction Yeah. Life instead of being kind to other people. And so, I'm encouraging my audience to be whole and complete in yourself.
LuAnn:And if it is a high priority with you, which many people it is, to be healthy and physically fit, mind, body, spirit. I encourage you to look up Karen's information, buy some of her journals, opt in to take care of you, and get that clarity in your life. Karen, how can they reach you and and get some of your journals?
Dr. Karin Lubin:There are a number of ways. You can go on Amazon and look up Karen Lubin. I mean, k a r I n l u b I n. And you'll see a whole series of different journals. I have about nine of them.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Then or you can go to my website and go to doctor d r karin, k a r I n, lubin, lubin,.com, and you can just see all the things that I offer. But, you know, Luann, the thing about the whole and complete aspect of who we are, that it you know, there's a sense that we come out and we're broken, but we're not broken. We just believe somehow that we have become broken, but we're not. Right? I mean, I know you know this.
Dr. Karin Lubin:I know listeners know this also.
LuAnn:They do.
Dr. Karin Lubin:But we forget. We forget.
LuAnn:Right. We actually come out beautifully perfect little infants and in awe and discovery of the world and we get trained into a, well, as Don Miguel Ruiz would say, we get domesticated. We get trained into a pattern of society and then we forget that beautiful human being we were born to be. And it's about a journey back into that as far as I'm concerned. And I watch people who are really good at what they do, and they're very playful, and they're very passionate, and they're excited, and who doesn't want to play with other people that are in that energy space?
LuAnn:We do. Right. Right?
Dr. Karin Lubin:Yes. Exactly. Yeah. I think the the big piece around your c's, I know, you know, clarity being one of them, we have to start with curiosity and connection. Curiosity about oneself and connect in internally.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Then we begin to, through the writing or journaling or through the talking or facilitating, being facilitated through a passion test process, you've begun to get greater and greater clarity. And I have to say that, you know, sometimes it's like, bam, immediate clarity. There you go. One time. Got it.
Dr. Karin Lubin:Other people, and I'm one of them, it took me eight times to be taken through the passion test process before I really sank into the words felt so good. Like, I just was like, yum. You know? It was so yummy. And so I personally go through the passion test process at least twice a year.
Dr. Karin Lubin:I've done it once a year, and if I don't feel out of alignment, because that's kind of how it feels for me, then I'll just stick to whatever my passions are until the year, and then the end of the year, and then I always, with my husband, we go through taking each other through the passion test process because he's also a facilitator. And it's really fun to be able to do that for each other.
LuAnn:Yeah, that's awesome. And there's a whole another conversation we could have on the passion test and relationships as well. But you just gave me another c, and ever since I identified the first six c's. All these c words are now coming up in in my world that are all true. But as a reminder, what the Make Your Passion Pay podcast is about for the next year anyway, that we're gonna talk about clarity, connection, community, collaboration, commitment with which Karen also mentioned, and creativity.
LuAnn:I would love to add that curiosity in there, and I'm adding in core values and other great words as well that go along with it. So stay tuned and listen to Make Your Passion Pay podcast to learn more about the six c's to making your passion pay. We, Karen and I, want people to live, enjoy, and enjoy their life and live a long life healthy and happy. So look up Karen's journals at doctorkarenlubin.com or on Amazon, Karen lubin. And remember, it's an I in Karen, k a r I n l u b I n.
LuAnn:And enjoy the work that she has to offer. And if I can be helpful, you know where to find me, luannb.com, and make your passion pay. We'll see you next time. Hey, everybody. Thank you for tuning in to make your passion pay.
LuAnn:If today's episode inspired you, I'd love for you to subscribe, leave a rating, and share your thoughts and a review. Every listener makes a difference in spreading this mission of joy and purpose. Want to take the next step? Share this episode with your friends, colleagues, or anyone looking to build a thriving values driven workplace. Together, we can create communities where passion fuels success.
LuAnn:Until next time remember when you lead with joy you inspire greatness. Let's keep making your passion pay.