Carmen Ohling, Author at Carmen Ohling, Keynote Speaker + Corporate Life and Leadership Training Coach

What to Do When Tragedy Numbs You

by Carmen Ohling | Sep 25, 2025 | Uncategorized

How do you stay engaged, enthusiastic, and empowered when the world feels too heavy to hold?

Tragedy (noun): An event causing great suffering, destruction, or distress.

We’re not just seeing tragedy.
We’re swimming in it.

And if you’ve felt powerless lately, numb, overwhelmed, unsure how to respond, you’re not alone.

In the face of repeated heartbreak, the most human thing we can do is retreat. We protect our hearts. We focus inward. We survive. But when disconnection becomes our default, we lose something bigger than just our sense of safety; we lose our sense of purpose.

Over time, that numbness turns to apathy. And apathy doesn’t just rob us of empathy, it erodes our capacity for real leadership.

The good news? There is a different path.

My colleague Jason said something that hasn’t left me:

“We are at a crucial inflection point.”

And we are.

We can shrink, or we can choose to lead.

We can be the one who stays open.
The one who chooses presence over protection.
The one who leads with vision, even in uncertainty.

Here’s what helps me to anchor that choice:

4 Anchors for Vision-Led Leadership in a Disconnected World

1. Clarity – Choose your direction on purpose, even when the path isn’t clear. Lead with hope and conviction, not panic.

2. Curiosity – Stay open. Ask questions. Let go of being right. Commit to growth.

3. Compassion – Speak truth, even when it’s hard. Choose connection over comfort. Give, even when it’s inconvenient.

4. Consciousness – Practice reflection. Take personal responsibility. Create time for checking in with yourself through solitude, not isolation.

We may not be able to stop tragedy.
But we can stop letting it steal our presence.

When we live on purpose, out loud, we create ripples that become waves of change, compassion, and connection.

You’re Not in Too Many Meetings. You’re in Too Many Unconscious Meetings.

by Carmen Ohling | Sep 18, 2025 | Uncategorized

Ever walk out of a meeting and think, “Well, that was a colossal waste of time.”

Multiply that by 10, and you’ve got a typical week in corporate America.

According to HBR, the average executive spends 23 hours per week in meetings.

And 50% of them are ineffective.

That’s not just annoying. That’s expensive.

Let’s say your team has 8 people in a 60-minute meeting.

Each makes $90/hour = $720

Do that weekly? That’s $37,000 a year for one recurring meeting.

Now multiply that across your org. Add the cost of low engagement, resentment, and the recovery time it takes after a bad meeting. It’s a silent killer of momentum.

The Real Issue? Not Meetings. Leadership.

At The Amplified Life Company, we teach leaders to distinguish reactive leadership (aka Below the Line) from conscious, values-aligned leadership (Above the Line).

The same principle applies to meetings.

Bad meetings are a symptom of unconscious leadership:

No clear outcomes
Vague ownership
No emotional safety
Broken or unclear agreements
Disengagement masked as professionalism

Here’s how visionary leaders do it differently.

1. Start with an Emotional Check-In

Use emotional intelligence to humanize the space.

Let people name how they’re feeling, yes, even in “serious” meetings.

It’s not fluffy, it’s science.

Psychological safety is the foundation of high-performance teams.

2. Define the Outcome Before You Start

Ask: “What must we walk out of here having done, decided, or created?”

That’s your compass. Everything else is a detour.

3. Use “Above the Line” Prompts to Stay on Track

Pause mid-meeting to ask:

“Are we showing up above the line right now?”
“What don’t we see yet?”
“What’s a possibility we haven’t considered?”
“If we weren’t worried about being wrong, what idea would we try?”
“What would this look like if it were simple?”

This creates real-time accountability and raises the collective frequency of the conversation.

4. Track Agreements Like Gold

Every broken agreement is a trust leak.

Use language like:

“What’s the clear agreement here?”
“By when?”
“Are we all committed?”
“Is there anything left unsaid?”

Use integrity check-ins to restore alignment when things slip.

5. Close With Reflection, Not Just Action

High-performing teams slow down to speed up.

End with:

“What worked?”
“What could we do better?”
“How are we growing together?”

Make meetings a space of continuous leadership development, not just reading reports and giving boring updates.

Final Thought:

You don’t need fewer meetings.

You need more intentional, Above the Line meetings.

Meetings that:

Align your team
Accelerate decisions
Build trust
Activate ownership
Spark innovation

If your calendar feels like a life-sucking machine, it’s time to lead differently.

Grab our free Team Meeting Template and start transforming your meetings today.

Why Leaders Must Move Beyond High Performance to Embrace Peak Performance

by Carmen Ohling | Sep 11, 2025 | Uncategorized

For years, I have been thinking about, researching, testing, and coaching around high performance. This year, I decided: I am no longer coaching high performance.

Here’s why.

High performance has been glorified as the ultimate standard. It’s about discipline, efficiency, productivity, and measurable outcomes. It looks impressive on the outside. But for leaders, entrepreneurs, and high achievers, high performance has a hidden cost.

The Hidden Costs of High Performance

When we focus exclusively on high performance in one area, we often neglect the very things that sustain our leadership long-term: our health, our closest relationships, and our creativity.

Running at full throttle leads to less-than-optimal results over time.
Choosing control over flow blocks collaboration, trust, and innovation.
Defining worth by achievement means confidence collapses when results dip.

High performance may deliver results in the short term, but it compromises our capacity for vision, innovation, and fulfillment in the long term.

The Shift: Adeline Gray’s Example

U.S. wrestling champion Adeline Gray’s story illustrates this shift perfectly. By 2013, she was a three-time world champion, but the grind left her depleted. After finishing with a bronze, she nearly quit wrestling altogether.

Instead of forcing herself through another season, she paused. With her coaches’ encouragement, she reevaluated her training and mindset. She shifted from grinding harder to training smarter. She began listening to her body and aligning her routines with recovery, purpose, and well-being.

What happened? She came back stronger, winning two more world titles and qualifying for the Olympics in record time.

Her story reveals what leaders need most: results don’t multiply by pressure; they expand through alignment.

High Performance vs. Peak Performance

High performance = productivity, discipline, results (often at the cost of sustainability).
Peak performance = flow, presence, fulfillment, and results that last.

A high performer might grind through late nights to meet every deadline.

A peak performer manages energy, health, and relationships so their best thinking shows up at the right moments, without burnout, and while empowering others.

The Leadership Lesson

Peak performance isn’t about balance; it’s about integration. Integrating performance, health, relationships, and vision-driven purpose, so results come with sustainability and fulfillment.

As leaders, our challenge is not to press harder but to lead in a way that regenerates energy, expands vision, and accelerates results. Creating cultures where energy is renewed, creativity thrives, and results compound over time.

High performance delivers excellence.
Peak performance delivers excellence that expands with strength, regeneration, and a vision that leaves a legacy.

If you’re an executive or leader ready to shift from high performance to peak performance, let’s connect. At The Amplified Life Company, we help executives and teams stop burning fuel and start regenerating energy, so their leadership creates sustainable impact. Message me on LinkedIn or connect here at carmenohling.com.

5 Peak-Performance Lessons Every Executive Needs: What a DEXA Scan Taught Me About Leadership

by Carmen Ohling | Sep 4, 2025 | Uncategorized

I’ve been committed to health and leadership for most of my life. I’ve been weight-training since I was 17. I eat anti-inflammatory foods. I lead The Amplified Life Company, where I coach and train CEOs and executives to live and lead at peak performance levels.

So when I had a DEXA scan last month, I expected great results.

Instead, I discovered early signs of osteopenia, which is low bone density.

My first thought?
“This must be genetic.”
“I’m doing everything I can.”

But here’s the hard truth: that phrase, “I am doing everything I can,” is a lie leaders tell themselves. It feels like ownership, but it’s actually complacency. And complacency is the enemy of peak performance.

Here are the 5 biggest leadership lessons that moment gave me:

1. Repetition Without Reflection = Stagnation

Doing the same thing, even if it once worked, will eventually fail. Momentum becomes maintenance. Growth becomes survival. Leaders must reflect and adjust, not just repeat.

2. Good Enough Is Below the Line

“Good enough” isn’t neutral; it’s settling for less than your absolute best. And when leaders settle, they shrink back from the very potential God placed inside of them.

3. The Questions You Ask Shape Your Growth

The right questions open the door to transformation:

Where am I settling?
Where am I not fully taking responsibility?
What am I modeling for others?
Where am I avoiding the stairs in my health?
Who do I need to help me?
What is the next level of integrity or intentionality waiting for me?

4. Your Body Is the First Culture You Lead

If you tolerate sloppiness or avoidance personally, you’ll unconsciously model it professionally. Leadership starts with the standards you set for yourself.

5. Peak Performance Requires Raising Your Standards

For me, that means:

Re-evaluating sleep, nutrition, and hormone health.
Upping the intensity of my workouts.
Adding impact challenges like jumping and bounding.
Revisiting what “healthy” means for this phase of life.
Asking “Who can help me?” instead of “How can I do this alone?”

The Leadership Takeaway

Peak performance isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing better. Aligning with what’s needed now, not what was comfortable then.

When you raise your standards, your leadership sharpens, your influence deepens, and your energy becomes contagious.

So I’ll leave you with this:

What’s one standard you’ll raise today? Share it in the comments, I’d love to hear.

Because how you lead yourself is how you lead everything.

How to Be Fully Engaged in Life: A Simple Practice for Presence, Focus, and Joy

by Carmen Ohling | Aug 28, 2025 | Uncategorized

I read something today that struck me so deeply, so richly, so profoundly, and yet it was so simple:

“When you learn to live a life that is fully engaged, then you can perform your best and love the challenge.” – Jim Murphy

It made me pause and ask myself:

How often do we truly use each of our senses throughout the day?
How often do we take the time to intentionally transition from one activity to the next?
How often are we fully engaged in the present moment of our lives?

Let’s do a quick check-in together today, which is the same one I did before I started writing this newsletter. I call check-ins like this transition rituals.

Q: What are my thoughts right now? Am I ruminating on the past or projecting into the future?

If YES:
Take a deep breath, making your exhale twice as long as your inhale, taking as many as you need in this way. Then, grab a notebook and write your thoughts down, unfiltered. Give them a voice. Write without correction or judgment (this is called stream-of-consciousness writing, and it is pure gold). Afterward, pull out your calendar. If there’s future thinking or planning that needs to happen, give it a time slot. And if you already know your next steps, schedule those, too.

If NO:
Move directly to the next question.

Q: What is my intention for the next activity, meeting, or behavior?

Define your intention in just a few words. Clarity of intention, without clinging to a specific outcome, keeps you present, engaged, and open to possibilities.

Q: Now, how can I clear my energy and drop fully into this moment?

Name one thing you can see, hear, smell, touch, taste, and sense. Sit with each for a moment before moving to the next.

“Sensing” might be new to you. Think of it as your intuition, your inner knowing. I like to call it God’s whisper in my life, and if I am honest, at times I miss it because I am not present enough to hear. This isn’t about right or wrong, good or bad. Release judgment and expectation. Just be here now.

Here’s what this looked like for me today as I tapped into my senses:

As I look up, I’m struck by the bright blue Miami Beach sky. Today, it somehow feels even more vibrant, bluer, and bolder, just for me.

I close my eyes and hear the layered sounds of Lincoln Road: the soothing splash of the water feature beside me, the shuffling of passersby, and the rhythmic sweep of a broom in the hands of a staff member. (In case you’re wondering, Lincoln Road is closed to cars, just pedestrians, so I am perfectly safe and not just wandering in the middle of the street.)

The air smells crisp and clean, not heavy or overwhelming. My fingertips leave the keyboard and brush against the deeply woven grey fabric of my chair. Yesterday, it was still damp from the rain. Today, it’s dry, and I silently give thanks for being the perfect height, allowing my feet to rest flat on the ground, which is the ideal posture for writing here an hour or two each morning.

I savor the lingering taste of my Starbucks blonde roast americano. If you haven’t tried the blonde roast, you’re missing out; it’s smoother and less bitter than many of their other roasts, and the only way I’ll drink Starbucks. My only wish is that they’d offer it in decaf one day, because while I love coffee, my nervous system doesn’t.

Then I open my eyes and smile. My heart is full. Have you noticed how, when you close your eyes and slow down, the world feels sharper and more alive when you open them again? If not, try it. And let me know what you find.

Finally, I check in with my gut, my intuition, with God. I am instructed to write this because too many of us move through our days like a series of unchecked boxes, never fully engaging with each moment.

Too many people are living as if life is just a series of checkboxes.

What I love about this simple check-in is how quickly it grounds you. In less than two minutes, your mind, body, and spirit are all aligned in the present moment. You’re no longer leaking attention and energy into the past or the future. You’re here, fully available for and engaged with what’s in front of you.

These practices are especially powerful in moments of transition, when you’re moving from one thing to the next. Whether you’re shifting from a meeting to family time, from answering emails to a workout, or from a tough conversation to an inspiring project, taking a few minutes to fully close the loops in your mind on what came before and arrive fully to engage in what’s next changes everything.

When you do this consistently, your mind stops dragging the past into the present. Your body releases tension. You feel free, open, ready to give and receive. You show up intentional, present, and fully engaged. And when you do, something beautiful happens you don’t just do more, you become more.

Because when you stack transition rituals like this throughout your day, something shifts:

Your focus deepens.
Your creativity flows more freely.
Your relationships feel richer.
Your work feels more intentional.
You end the day with more energy than you started.

Try this practice at least three times today, before your next meeting, before dinner, before bed. Pay attention to how you feel. Notice the difference in your focus, your energy, and the way people respond to you.

Do you have a transition ritual that you practice in your life and leadership? Share it in the comments below and let me know!

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