Mind Over Matter: How to Reach Your Goals

Laura Sage + Melanie Vargas, Mindfulness Practices Help You Reach Your Goals // Episode 1

Mind Over Matter showcases unique strategies that top business leaders and organizations are leveraging to support employee wellness.

Laura Sage, Founder + CEO of Chill Anywhere, sat down with Melanie Vargas, CEO + Founder of Radical Ignition, a consultancy committed to helping organizations, leaders and teams explore possibilities and create actionable steps for change.  

In her 25+ year career, Melanie has developed a passion for creating pathways for people to be their best. For the last 15 years, she worked in HR and organizational development creating customized training solutions for hundreds of organizations. By creating Radical Ignition, Melanie is able to couple her expertise and passion to help individuals and organizations uncover blind spots that may be hindering progress through coaching, workshops and training.   

During her conversation with Laura, Melanie shared her professional journey from corporate America to professional coaching and the impact that mindfulness has had on her clients and her own personal life.

What is the tie between mindfulness and coaching? 

During my years of HR work in corporate America, I was tasked with going into organizations, identifying the problem and telling them how to fix it. Radical Ignition, allows for me to work with clients in a more transformational rather than transactional way. We work with clients to identify obstacles that may be getting in the way through mindfulness practices and learning to turn inward and be present.

Do you have your own mindfulness meditation practice? How has it impacted you? 

Yes, absolutely. I am a very driven, Type-A, results-oriented individual. I had to unlearn a lot of my behavior from my last job to learn how to be a coach. I was navigating 100-hour work weeks and having a daughter who has heart issues and a stress disorder. I wound up getting sick and reached a breaking point. Through this process of unlearning, I created my own mindfulness practices - meditation, exercise, walking, quiet time, etc. This was not initially intuitive to me. Now I am structured in my work-day to commit to meditation or mindfulness practices to stay centered and enjoy the moment rather than worrying about what is happening in the future or past. If I am not taking care of myself through these mindfulness practices, I tend to go into “future tripping.” Instead of being present, I find myself anxious about the future and feeling more stressed. This transformation in my own life led me to my coaching business and has brought me a lot of joy.

Do you have more of a proclivity to ponder the past or think about the future, versus being in the present moment? 

Because I have the rigor of a program of good self-awareness and mindfulness practices, I tend to stay present. When I am on the path of doing what I know as self-care I feel awesome. That is why I believe in mindfulness. Even my daughter, who has anxiety, has developed practices that support her own self-care. She’s learning new ways and managing through her mindfulness practices. Because of my successes in my own personal mindfulness practices, I see so much value in what you are doing with Chill Anywhere and would love to offer your app to my clients. There is such a need for this in the workplace due to the impact of fear and uncertainty. It is hard to keep employees happy and engaged due to what is happening in the world ranging from COVID to Black Lives Matter. People are struggling. Plus, we need to factor in the impact of isolation and mental health. It is a crisis. Organizations and leaders across the world need to adapt to a new way of leading and learn how to integrate mindfulness. It is time to do things differently. 

Thanks to Melanie Vargas for her time and insight. Please visit https://radicalignition.com to learn more about her work. Interested in bringing mindfulness to your organization? Visit Chill Anywhere to learn more.