It’s real easy for me to seek outside myself for the answers.
What should I wear?
What should I say?
What books should I read?
What should I eat?
What course should I take?
Who should I follow?
What should I study?
Who should I trust?
My questions all some version of “What’s the right thing to do?”
One of my biggest drivers is to not be wrong.
In that state, I was at the mercy of everyone else while simultaneously reinforcing the (total BS, but very real) story that I can’t be trusted.
Here’s what I learned to do
Step 1 – I redefined “right”
For me, what’s “right” is what feels good for me at the moment.
My inner protector immediately said, “Absolutely not. We cannot trust ourselves with what feels good.” 👈🏻That’s part of our patriarchal programming.
I listened and acknowledged their fears. “You’re right. It is scary. And, it is going to be super fucking uncomfortable until it’s not and that’s okay. We’re going to be with it together. I’m going to be with you and we’re going to learn how to move with the discomfort and fear.”
And we did.
And we are.
Step 2 – Practice the ask
I ask myself + my body what she wants. Wants to eat, wants to wear, wants to read, wants to study, wants to do at this moment.
I ask her if and how she wants to move, when she wants to wake up, when she wants breaks, who she wants to work with and what she wants to do for fun.
Step 3 – I communicate with her + take action on her desires
Sometimes we take action right away and sometimes it’s later that day and sometimes we negotiate to a different day.
I practice trusting her by letting her lead.
And, sometimes I find myself wanting to ask someone if they think I should take a course or hire a coach or take a program or buy the book and in those moments, I smile and I pause.
I remind myself who I am and what I know and I seek an answer from the only person who knows what I want.
ME.
Now I DO believe in external support.
It’s important + necessary.
The support I invest in is support that helps ME tap into MY answers.
Why? Because I’m fucking brilliant about me.
Just like YOU are fucking brilliant about YOU and anyone who has told you differently (even if it’s you) is lying.
They are likely lying because they love you and are trying to keep you safe. And they are lying about you.
You can unlearn the stories.
You can heal your relationship with your reflection.
You can come safely home to who you really are.
Tag: empowerment
Why am I so tired?
I don’t understand why I’m so tired…
For years, I needed to find a reason to explain the way I felt.
ESPECIALLY if the way I felt meant that I didn’t want to work.
Do you relate?
It was as though the fact that I was feeling tired wasn’t a good enough reason to rest, so I needed to search for some sort of justification.
I see this a lot with entrepreneurs.
We have so many tasks
We have multiple things we want to accomplish
There are an unending amount of items to check-off our to do lists
So if we feel *anything* other than work-driven, accomplish all the things, get it done right now, urgent energy…
We feel less than
Worthless
And in order to soothe the guilt that we feel for feeling tired, we search for the justification.
It is okay for us to rest if we’re sick. We can give ourselves permission to take time off if (and only if) we are ill.
But what if we ARE tired + we’re NOT sick?
What if we’re NOT running a fever?
What if we don’t have the flu?
What if we want to rest because we are exhausted — even if we aren’t able to justify why?
What if we felt like we had permission to listen to our bodies without explaining to ourselves or anybody else why we want to do that?
I know it’s not easy to do because I know that society teaches us something 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 different.
Society teaches us that rest is for weak people + reminds us that we can sleep when we’re dead and tells us to just push through and calls us forward to work harder + set bigger goals and GO GO GO GO!
And society teaches women that they can’t trust themselves or the needs of their bodies and that if we do, we need to have a justifiable explanation.
So of course we believe we have to explain how we feel.
There’s nothing wrong with you if you’re not able to rest “guilt-free”.
The guilt we experience is a normal, conditioned response.
Your response is a reaction to the programming of our don’t stop can’t stop culture.
And it’s part of the reason that many of the women I know and work with are…
On the verge of burnoutIn desperate need of a breakOverworkedStruggling with autoimmune diseaseOverwhelmedStressed outNot asking for helpTelling themselves they can’t slow downConvinced that nothing will get done if they don’t do it Dismissing their own dreams + desires
All of it makes sense.
Until we detox from the programming that has trained us to believe that our work equals our worth, it will not be okay for us to rest.
The switch is not easy (it took me years!) and for many of us with cultural, generational, and individual traumas, it’s more complex.
BUT IT IS POSSIBLE.
You can begin the process by honoring your body‘s feelings without asking her to justify them.
xo
Winning at all costs
I spent much of my life rushing to a finish line that didn’t exist + while missing the journey that did
I was working for my worthiness like it was a thing waiting for me at the end of my never-ending to do list
Earlier this year, my body let me know she was done tolerating what she’d been tolerating (amazingly well!) for so many years
She got sick
My diet had to be completely overhauled, I was in adrenal fatigue + I was realllllll close to walking myself right into an Autoimmune Disease
See, one of my programmed patterns is to fight — push though
If you’re like me, I know you get it
I learned this probably in a similar way you learned it…
By watching + listening to my parents, teachers, leaders + society in general preach the “Work Harder! Do More! Perform Better! Be Stronger! Win at all costs! There’s only ONE seat at the table!” battle cry
But the ones who sacrificed the most…
They never really won or got that seat because the game they were playing was unending – never over
But that didn’t stop me from trying to be the ONE – the winner they spoke about
☝🏻 F * * K T H A T
I could have killed myself and our “perform for your worthiness patriarchal culture” would have stepped right over my dead body + kept on moving
➡️ l needed to learn that I already had that seat I was hoping to earn
➡️ I needed to learn to choose me instead of waiting to be chosen by them
➡️ I needed to learn that getting things done was more important than me doing things
➡️ I needed to learn that collaboration is better than competition
➡️ I needed to learn that a table with only one seat is a table built on fear
➡️ I needed to learn that rest is as — if not more — important than work
➡️ I needed to learn how to slow down
➡️ I needed to learn that it could be safe to slow down + I needed to do the work to make it safe in my body
☝🏻 Those are practices
Those are practices I practice daily + they are practices I share with the entrepreneurial women I coach 
Look, I get it
It’s hard to relax
You feel guilty + lazy because there’s so much you should be + could be doing
And even on those days where you do choose to take it easy you end up feeling worse than you did before you took the day off so you promise yourself you won’t do that again anytime soon
You tell yourself that you’ll rest after this thing is done or after you take care of this one more task, but there’s always one more task
You tell yourself + others that you’re at the bottom of your to do list when the truth is you’re not even on it
I know what you’re afraid of
👉🏻 You’re scared if you stop you won’t start up again
👉🏻 You don’t trust yourself or your body
👉🏻 You’re afraid of losing your edge
It makes sense
After all, this work ethic is why you’re so successful
(or maybe I’m the only one who thought those things + felt that way)
The truth is, my work HAS changed
No longer do I subscribe to the belief that hard work itself makes me intrinsically virtuous or worthy of reward <– as the definition of work ethic explains
AND
That doesn’t mean I don’t work well – I do
Since making these personal transformations…
✅ I’m more productive
✅ I’m more focused
✅ I’m more creative
✅ I’m more inspired
✅ I’m more organized
✅ I’m more fluid
☝🏻 And that’s not all…
✅ I begin my days with me, not with work
✅ My sleep patterns + sleep schedule are more consistent
✅ I have created + upheld boundaries around my time + my calendar
✅ I say “No” without apologizing, guilt + self-shame
✅ I go on weekly dates with my wife
✅ I play with my puppies
✅ I go for walks
✅ I take breaks + naps
✅ I practice yoga
✅ I practice meditation
✅ I have created rituals I use throughout the day that allow me to remain in the present moment
✅ I’ve stopped multi-tasking (as much 😉)
✅ I am doing what I want to do
✅ My body is healthy
Friend, if you’ve got yourself convinced that your unrelenting discipline is serving you, I get it
For years you could not have convinced me otherwise + I have no interest in convincing you, but if you’re tired of feeling exhausted, tense, resentful, stressed out, anxious, secretly out of control while pretending to be in control, overwhelmed + in pain, comment below or send me an email
There’s another way
I promise
xx
what’s your motivation?
it is super easy for us to judge others based on the things we see them doing (or not)…
we often judge based on comparisons of what WE like and what is working or has worked for US…
things like:
+ how they care for themselves
+ their work ethic
+ their relationship to food or alcohol
+ how and whom they date
+ their sex life and choice of partner(s)
+ how much rest they get
+ how frequently they workout or meditate
+ how they manage or cope with their stress
many of these things we are judging could be based on things THEY have said they were having issues with
we’re just trying to help
i get it
i’ve been on the side of wanting to help (fix) others + I’ve been the one doing the thing that others wanted to help (fix) me with
BUT
here’s what i’ve learned…
it’s less about WHAT one is doing and more about WHY they are doing it
+ i’ve not taken care of myself out of fear and over-serving for approval AND i’ve chosen to put me after someone else with intention because of a deadline and/or i knew i’d get to me later that day
+ i’ve worked HARD out of fear and a desire for approval AND i’ve worked hard for a deadline and from a place of intentional choice
+ i’ve eaten food for comfort and to numb out how i was feeling AND i’ve had the same food because i wanted it and it brought me pleasure
+ i’ve drank because i wanted to enjoy a glass of wine or bourbon AND i’ve drank because i didn’t want to feel my feelings
+ i’ve dated for fear of being alone AND dated because i wanted to spend time exploring new people
+ i’ve had sex for approval and a desire to be loved because i was afraid i wasn’t enough AND i’ve had sex because i wanted to experience the pleasure
+ i’ve stayed up all night because i was scared of getting in trouble for not finishing what i started and out of fear of being abandoned if i wasn’t “good” AND i’ve chosen to stay up because i was geeked about what i was doing + creating
+ i’ve worked out from a place of hating my body AND i’ve worked out because i love my body + want to move and stretch her
+ i’ve hidden my stress for fear of not being loved and received + i’ve spoken up for attention AND i have expressed my needs to ask for support + i’ve used my voice to be real and make authentic, vulnerable connections
in my world
it’s never about the WHAT we are doing
it’s always about the WHY
i invite you to dig deeper
with yourself + others
what you find may surprise you…
xoxox
i don’t know
i don’t know
i know
it’s not cute
but it is
a hit
that feeds
the addiction
calms
the twitching
that beast within
is becoming extinct
she’s dying
and she’s afraid
so she rages
in her attempts
to cling
to life
she scratches
on occasion
i can smell her fear
i know
i no longer
need the sanctuary of that old story
i know
i no longer
need the high of your attention
i know
i no longer
need the protection of my pretending
i don’t know
because
the truth is
i do know
the truth
i’m done pretending
i am not
she needs me to know me
i get me
she needs me to own me
i got me
she needs me
it’s time
step-up mic-up pen-up speak-up show-up
visible
i know
i am
the truth
i’d been acting
like i’m not
she is begging
pleading
stop
pretending
faking
feigning
weakness
ignorance
stupidity
but that hit…
of attention
so addictive
feels
so
very
good
another hit…
inhale
hold it
feel the
love
as it courses through my brain
exhale slow
feel the
approval
settling in my veins
confirming
validating
all the things
i’d been contemplating
my worthiness
my intelligence
my pretty
my polished
perfection
good enough
only is
if you
please
tell me so
my attachment to the entrapment
of my addiction
seductive on the surface
is but an illusion
the comfort is deception
for protection
i no longer need
i see me
i am safe
with me
i am safe
i got me
i am safe
anchored
supported
held
inside my truth
i can expose myself
and allow
you
to see me
and your experience
of me
has no power
to hurt me
that power
full in me
is no longer
How To Be Empowered Now
Earlier today I heard my coach say, “If you really are committed to producing the kind of future that you want; don’t stand in judgment of the past that you didn’t want. It doesn’t work that way.”
I remember the first time I was exposed to this idea. It was 2016 and I was in the room at a week long coaching certification being held in Los Angeles. I was pretty stuck in my attachment to my role as a victim in my past. I grew up with alcoholism and abuse in the home and it impacted how I grew up. I was sharing this with my coach and he asked, “Could you have left?” I said an emphatic, “NO! I was a child.”
What followed was one of the most profound things I’d heard and I’ll forever remember how hard it landed. He said, “I’m not asking should you have left. I’m asking could you have left?”
And the answer was yes.
I could have.
I could have walked out. I had working legs and access to the door.
And me holding myself as a victim to my past with no options; holding onto myself as choice-less – was keeping me attached to that disempowering story. Keeping me attached to the pain. Unable to do anything about it.
I had created an energetic string between me in the present and my place in my disempowered story of my past.
And from that attached place, there was no way I could be empowered in the moment, let alone in the future.
While I believe each individual and every situation is personal, at a high-level, I also believe that our ability to be empowered in the future breaks down into 2 main categories:
1. Own that you made a choice.
You have to own that you made a choice. There is empowerment embedded in the ownership. We all make the best choices we can in the moment that we make them. We decide to do, not to do, go, not to go, enter into relationship or conversation… we decide all of these things coming from our highest level of awareness at the time.
If we knew better, we’d do better. You have to recognize that you didn’t have access to how things would turn out in the future when you made the choice you did; so it’s actually unfair to judge yourself based on the results you didn’t know you’d get.
Earlier today a friend of mine posted Maya Angelou’s famous quote on his Facebook page…
“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.”
My comment on his post leads directly into the second step to empowerment….
2. Stop beating yourself up about said choice.
It is what it is. Period. You decided. You made a choice. And remember, a “non-choice” is still a choice. Own it, but please, please, please don’t hold judgment for yourself for what you did/said/experienced when you didn’t know better.
Acceptance doesn’t have to come with self-abuse. Beating yourself up about it isn’t going to help. At all. And yet, so many of us are deeply raging against our own selves. Calling ourselves dumb, worthless, failures, and a torrent of other obscenities that we’d never dare verbalize for fear that we’d be committed.
Once you’ve taken ownership, you’re free to make a new choice.
Here’s what we want to remember:
Our being at choice is empowering.
But, being a victim to the actions of others is easier.
Or as my coach, Sean Smith, says, “Blame is so much easier than responsibility. But I’ve never known it to solve a person’s problems.”
Holding someone else to blame requires them to change for us to feel better. And that may never happen.
If you want to be empowered NOW, you’ll want to own your choices.
At least as options.
Possibilities.
Because in possibility, there is hope.
Hope for your healing.
xo,
Michelle
surrender
{surrender}
psst
you don’t need to add
you don’t need to become
anything
anyone
the “work” is surrender
letting go
releasing your death grip
your clingy grasp
on all that is not love and light
but i get how you think you need it
control
i believed i couldn’t survive without it
control
41 years
you couldn’t convince me otherwise
i’m not trying to convince you now
hold on as long as it serves you
and it serves
and hold on long after it doesn’t
if you want
it served me for years
and i held on long after
i couldn’t trust
so i had to control
when you become aware
you will have a choice
to hold
to tighten
or to let go
and if you choose
surrender
you will fall
and that can be scary
or exhilarating
perspective
but my commitment
is to create
is to hold
loving space
for you
as you fall
i will wait
i will welcome your landing
home
xo
Insignificant: too small or unimportant to be worth consideration
I had this heavy, gnawing, nagging feeling last week. It stayed with me for most of the day on Tuesday.
Okay, to be honest, I’m probably being a tad bit dramatic.
It wasn’t MOST of the day, but it was present.
It was weighing me down and I didn’t like how I was feeling.
It was at about 9:30pm that evening when I connected with the feeling.
I felt insignificant.
I N S I G N I F I C A N T
Ugh.
Frankly, I don’t like admitting that, but it’s real.
My coach says, “Use your language to prescribe your future, not describe your past.” <– Brilliant, right?
And yet, just one week ago I was totally stuck.
Bogged down in my story of my insignificance.
Does this ever happen to you?
One moment you’re “crushing it” and totally on purpose and then then next moment, well, not so much.
Do you feel like your mood and energy can swing?
Sometimes week to week, but sometimes day to day?
And then there are other days where you feel all over the place on a moment to moment basis?
If you said yes, you are not alone.
I can feel strong and empowered and totally badass and then in the next moment feel like I am never going to match up.
Never going to be enough.
After some journaling and deliberate writing, I had uncovered the catalyst.
I had clarity on where the insignificance was coming from.
I could see the truth of my actions.
Or more accurately, the truth of my INACTIONS.
I had accidentally stopped all self care.
Without realizing it, I’d abandoned all 1:1 connection time with me.
I had ceased scheduling any time for reflection or quiet time.
My boundaries were non-existant.
I had been doing an awesome job at clearing time out in my day for meditation.
I had been blocking out specific time to intentionally create and time to sit in a feedback-less environment.
I had been taking baths in silence without my phone.
I had been journaling.
I had been doing yoga and pilates.
I had been riding my bike and singing.
I had been playing.
I had been having dance parties with my dogs.
I had been committed to myself and my self care.
I was doing all of that.
Until about 3 weeks ago.
You know, when I got busy.
I headed to LA for a 5 day coaching certification.
I came home and received news that my father had a stroke.
I was “behind” on my work and “needed” to get caught up.
I was reacting to whatever issue was popping up in the moment.
Running around like a crazy person putting out fires.
Allowing my schedule to control me instead of creating a schedule that supports my life and happiness.
So, not so suddenly, in rolled the stories of overwhelm.
I told a friend that I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water.
Along with my disempowering stories of overwhelm, came the lies about how I’m not enough while simultaneously being too much.
I was pretty much sitting in a feeling of overall unworthiness.
Not so “all of a sudden”, these stories were my reality and all I could see was how I didn’t match up.
How I was failing.
And when I feel like that, I disconnect.
Fast.
I isolate.
I go inward.
Not for reflection, but to hide.
And then I want alcohol.
I feel like I “need” a drink.
You know, to relax.
I tell myself that I can’t relax and get centered without alcohol.
More lies.
I very quickly slide down the slippery slope.
It’s incredible how fast we can get there.
To that place.
I began crafting this story about how my busy-ness is a badge of honor.
How “I’m SOOOOOO busy..” {insert eye roll} and then I cling to that busyness as my excuse for why I’m not preforming.
Not recording videos.
Not emailing you.
Not editing my book.
Not emailing my prospective editor.
Not creating what I feel called to create.
Then in my downward spiral, I noticed something…
When I’m in this disempowered, “I’m so insignificant” place, I don’t TRULY celebrate others.
I can’t.
I don’t have the capacity to do so.
Sure, I can applaud and celebrate at a surface level, but it comes from an energetically weak and disempowered place.
Tuesday night I affirmed to a sister in my tribe, “You’re so great!”, but underneath that statement was the truth.. my truth..
It wasn’t “You’re so great.”
It was “You’re so much better than me.”
And those 2 sentences are totally different.
So, what did I DO?
Awareness is awesome.
But, ACTION is the only thing that will move the needle.
Read on…
Side note:
What follows are broad and over-arching tips from my personal experience. If you want specifics for YOU, I encourage you to email me so we may set up a free consultation call. True transformation will happen when you’ve got someone speaking specifically to YOU about YOUR issue and YOUR sabotage patterns.
Alrighty,
Here’s what I did:
1. I admitted what was happening.
Instead of pretending, I was real with myself. I owned my feeling and said out loud, “I feel insignificant and I’m hiding.”
2. I reached out for help.
I texted a trusted sister coach and I told her what I was experiencing emotionally. That being said, I don’t encourage you text a friend who will wallow in your disempowering story with you. Reach out to someone who is loving, but who will advocate for the highest version of you. And, someone you trust. Someone you feel safe being real with. This could be an accountability partner, a therapist, or a coach.
3. I journaled.
Deliberate writing is a concept I learned where we write out a question on the top of a page and write non-stop for 10-15 minutes. Even if you cannot think of anything to say, you just keep writing. Pen to paper. For the entire time. There may or may not be any solutions that come out of the journaling, but it definitely helps to do what a client of mine calls “word vomit”. Get it out. Out of YOU and onto the paper. Feelings have got to be expressed if we want them to leave. If they’re not expressed, they will stay stuck in you forever. Emotions that we bury alive never, ever die.
4. I unplugged.
I turned off the computer and turned off my cell phone. I took a break and walked away from my desk. It’s super helpful to remove yourself from the environment you’re in. Go outside. Change rooms. Go for a drive or a walk. Changing your environment can have an extremely powerful impact on transitioning your energy.
5. I didn’t try to change how I was feeling.
I didn’t need to discuss it in great detail, but I allowed it to be there with me. Don’t rush rush this. If you’re experiencing anger, feel it until you’re done. If you’re experiencing sadness, feel it until you’re done. If you’re experiencing any emotion, let it be there. Feel it so you may be free to feel something else when it passes. Allow it to take the time it needs to pass. You don’t need to discuss it and keep it alive AND you don’t need to pretend it’s not there. Just be.
6. I drank some water, ate a good dinner, and went to bed.
In these moments it is VERY important to nourish your body. Honor what it needs. Water is always a good bet. Lots of water. It supports the releasing of the toxins in our bodies and hydration always feels good.
7. I decided that what I was experiencing was a good thing.
Instead of beating myself up and judging the fact that I felt insignificant, I told a different story. I decided this feeling must be here because I am growing. Stretching myself. I chose to believe that it was good that I had this experience so that I could become aware of what SIGNIFICANCE feels like. The truth is, we need contrast. Plus, it inspired me to write this blog post! Winner.
What if you just decided that everything that was happening to you was working for your highest good? All of it?
What if you just decided to be curious instead of judgemental?
What if you just decidied to stop beating yourself up for being “here” again and recognized that you’re not “there again” you’re HERE NOW?
What if you went to the mirror and told the chick in the reflection that you are proud of her? That you see her and you love her?
Then what would happen?
What could happen?
What could change?
What if you’d BEEN doing that for the past year?
Where would you be now?
Me? I coached a client this morning around creating a self care checklist. Things she can do to love on herself. I’m doing the same thing. Creating a list that I can reference and choose from everyday to remind myself that I’m important. Becasue the insignificant conversation? That was my way of telling myself that I needed some attention. Not from anyone else. From me.
I’m the one I was waiting for.
And the same is true for you.
xo,
Michelle
I quit.
I recently read an article by Erika Bruhn. She says, “The truth is, quitting isn’t really giving up. Maybe, when you look further, the words “I quit” could really reflect a person’s self-awareness, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence. What if we, as friends, family, and colleagues, looked at the act of quitting as empowered, one that creates space for self-reflection, dreaming, and appreciation for what no longer serves someone? Could the prospect of saying those two words inspire a healthier path? To quit might just be a lean into what is possible and hello to your next healthy step.”
This topic has been on my heart for the past few weeks. I mean, intellectually, I “get it”. To me, it’s sort of like a spring cleaning of my soul. My commitment to you, my tribe, is to assess the HOW.
That’s what you want to know, right? I mean, if I were you {and I am!} it is absolutely what I’d want to know.
In an anxious and high-strung tone I’d probably say something like, “It sounds great Michelle, but what are the exact steps???????????? If you can tell me, I can and will make it happen. What’s the ‘right’ way to quit?”
Here’s how my high-functioning, super-detailed, over-achiever, highly intellectual, perfectionistic brain works:
I want to know…
- EXACTLY HOW do I do this?
- What are the EXACT steps I NEED to follow?
- EXACTLY HOW do I quit?
- HOW do I figure out EXACTLY what to quit?
- HOW EXACTLY do I deal with the reactions/responses from those things and people I do quit?
- Please just tell me EXACTLY HOW to do alllllllllll of it!?!?
- In fact, why don’t you just tell me what to quit and I’ll do that…
On the off chance that you are anything like the me I used to be and the me I sometimes still be, I invite you to read on.
But first, take a breath. {Inhale and exhale through your nose}
And another. {Inhale and exhale through your nose}
And one more.
But this time make it bigger.
Deeper.
Really breathe.
Okay, here’s the honest truth, I don’t have all the answers.
BUT WAIT!!!!!!
I’m committed to working through it. I’m committed to asking questions. Better questions. I’m committed to sharing what’s working for me and what’s not. I’m committed to guiding while I travel and sharing along the way.
With that being said….
1. Get clear on what it actually means to quit.
Quitting has multiple definitions. Here are a few:
To stop, cease, or discontinue
To give up or resign; let go; relinquish
To free or rid oneself
Choose the definition that feels the best to you and add on one {or more} of the following:
… spending time with or on any person, situation, environment, or thing that I actually don’t care about.
… from any person, situation, environment, or thing that depletes my joy.
… any person, situation, environment, or thing that I don’t enjoy or even like.
From this new space, quitting actually becomes imperative to your success, happiness, and overall fulfillment.
2. Get detailed, specific awareness on what you love and what you don’t love.
It may sound elementary, but make a list.
2 lists actually.
Inspired by both Mark Manson and Sarah Knight and their work in this conversation, I started writing down what I love and what I don’t love. Things I give a f*ck about and things I simply don’t. It sounds easy, but from my research, very few of us actually take the time to gain this detailed clarity.
And it’s imperative that you do this before moving to the next step….
3. Stop giving your f*cks to the things you don’t love.
Say what?!
Yup.
We tend to waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy overcomplicate things.
You want the simple solution?
Stop doing sh*t you hate.
Why are you spending any of your time, energy, and effort on things, circumstances, and people that don’t even have the capacity to bring you the joy you’re craving?
If you don’t care about it, if it doesn’t bring you joy, if you’re drained energetically by it, if you hate it.. why are you spending your time there?
Obligation?
Who says?
Who says you HAVE to do a thing?
Can you find another way to make money?
Can you get help doing tasks you don’t enjoy?
Can you trade or barter services?
If you need to remain in a situation or circumstance for a bit longer, can you change your attitude about it?
Let me give you an example…
I realized that I don’t give a f*ck about the restaurant where I work.
WAIT. Don’t judge. Or you know what? Go ahead and judge.
I genuinely don’t care.
You see, the truth is, I care about the guests I serve. I care about the money I make from that service. I care about many of the people I work with. But I don’t care about the company. It may sound harsh and at first I didn’t want to allow that to be true, but I don’t. I don’t care.
And when I began to recognize the amount of time, energy, and emotional output I was pouring into a thing that I don’t love or care about I was stunned into silence. I was mortified. I was embarrassed at how frivously I was spending my precious f*cks.
And you know what was happening to me energetically? I was irritated. Annoyed. In a bad mood. Frustrated. Unhappy. No fun to work with and no fun to be around. Why? Because I was freely throwing my f*cks out and into an environment where I didn’t care. {facepalm}
And as soon as I stopped? Wow. Immediately, I was happier and more fun to work with. I had an ease and joy about my energy that was palpable. I took better care of the guests. I made more money. I didn’t spend my whole shift fighting.
So. Much. Better.
So, it starts with understanding that winners DO quit. They just quit the right things.
Next comes the clarity. What do you enjoy? What drains you? What do you love? What do you hate? What do you REALLY give a f*ck about?
Finally, comes the choice. Do MORE of what you LOVE and less of what drains you. Do MORE of what you ENJOY and less of what you hate. Stop spending your precious time, your mental, spiritual, physical energy, emotional energy, and limited number of f*cks on the things you don’t actually care about.
I get that it might not be an immediate switch, but if the things that you’re doing, the conversations you’re having, and the work you’re committed to don’t even have the CAPACITY to fulfill you, it might be time to start packing….
xo,
Michelle