On Values and Happiness with Andrea Owen

Life coach. Author. Hellraiser. Andrea Owen is passionate about empowering women to value themselves and fiercely love who they are. She helps high-achieving women let go of perfectionism, control, and isolation and choose courage and confidence instead.

Catch Andrea’s first interview on In Her Voice here.

Here are some of the big topics we talked about…

  • You might struggle with happiness, but you can improve, have compassion for yourself!

  • Key points of our journey “value work” - some of the top values: love, freedom, courage, adventure, giving back, authenticity, stability, safety, integrity, honesty

  • Spiritual transitions and one’s changing relationship with one’s religion and devotion

  • Creativity can look like so many different things. Define what a value means to you!

  • Authenticity examples: being yourself AND knowing when you’re in perfectionism, people pleasing; taking responsibility for your mistakes and making apologizes; cleaning up messes/ apologizing; having hard conversations and setting boundaries

  • Don’t set values and run away — know what they look like on a daily basis

  • Be proud of how you showed up no matter the outcome

  • Identify red flags of when you’re out of alignment

  • Become aware of incongruity so you can make a choice about who you want to be

In Andrea’s Voice


“Happiness is where you are proactive in your life in focusing on the things that make you feel good. There are things that we can do that will help us along the path of happiness.”
“What’s important about the way you live your life? What attributes and virtues matter to you?”
Your values might change depending on the season that you’re in. I invite people to try not to be attached to what a value ‘means.’”
“Print a list of values from the web. Circle any that jump out at you. My guess is that first round you’re going to circle the ones that look good on paper, that you want to be your values. Don’t be afraid to circle ones you might not yet honor in your life. I call those aspire values.”
“Ask yourself what values you need to honor to get you to the next level in your personal life.”
“Professing and naming your values is like naming your children and calling that parenting. It’s not how it works! It’s the same with values. You can tell people what your values are. The next step, what does that look for you on a ground level, day in and day out?”
“I’d have cheated myself, not honored courage, if I didn’t have an uncomfortable conversation.”
“There’s a feeling of congruency, you feel at home and comfortable of who you are. The more aligned you are with your values, the more brave you are in your life, the more you can trust yourself on the other side.”
“When I have moments of being out of alignment with who I want to be, I notice it within a handful of minutes. The solution for me: self compassion, then making a decision about what needs to be done. I have been practicing this for about 12 years!”


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How To Stop Feeling Like Sh*T with Andrea Owen

Andrea Owen is an author, mentor, and certified life coach who helps high-achieving women let go of perfectionism, control, and isolation and choosing courage and confidence instead. She has helped thousands of women manage their inner-critic to create loving connections and live their most kick-ass life.

She is the proud author of 52 Ways to Live a Kick-Ass Life: BS Free Wisdom to Ignite Your Inner Badass and Live the Life You Deserve, (Adams Media/Simon & Schuster). Her second book: How To Stop Feeling Like Shit: 14 Habits That Are Holding You Back From Happiness is due out January 2, 2018 (Seal Press/Hachette Books).

When she’s not juggling her full coaching practice or hosting retreats, Andrea is busy competing in triathlons, chasing her 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter or making out with her husband, Jason. She is also a retired roller derby player having skated under the name “Veronica Vain”.

Here are a few of the big topics we talked about:

  • Kelly introduces Andrea and some of the amazing things she’s accomplished.

  • Andrea was involved in Roller Derby and shares what caused her to retire.

  • You have to allow yourself to feel the feelings.

  • Remove the mechanism you’re using to numb out your feelings.

  • There is always something to be grateful for, and having a gratitude practice is what helped bring Andrea back to life.

  • We get so caught up in learning what our purpose is, instead of just valuing the amazing life and path we have.

  • None of us have it all together.

  • High achievers value themselves the most for their achievements. We discuss how we can learn where this comes from and move past it.

  • My Solo Episode: Protect Your Energy

  • It’s time to embrace failure.

  • You are worthy no matter what.

  • Listening and trusting your gut instincts and reactions to things.

  • Meditating and how it can do you good.

  • Andrea shares what her inner voice is asking of her.

In Andrea's Voice:

“You're allowed to fall, you're allowed to totally eat shit, but there comes a time where you feel what you feel and then it’s time to get back up and do it.”

“I didn't have time for feelings. They were a distraction, they were too painful, they were too overwhelming.”

“We don't die from feeling our feelings, and they don't go away if we numb them out.”

“Emotions are our bodies way of expelling and processing what needs to happen.”

“None of us have it completely figured out. If someone's trying to sell you that I think it's snake oil. I'm a big fan of knowing that my purpose is my path, and I think that everyone's purpose is their path.”

“One of the most courageous things we can do is embrace failure.”


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