Love Yourself Unconditionally

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/0uq7c03vpxb

In today’s episode of the Inspiration2grow podcast we are going to be talking about starting a love affair with a very special person – yourself.
 
It’s Tangible Tuesday and today I’d like to provide a few tips on how you can begin loving yourself wholeheartedly and unconditionally.  Be sure to stay until the end, there’s a special poem – just for you.

🧡it’s time to fall in love with ourselves all over again🧡. Maybe you struggle with this OR perhaps you just need a reminder. This month can be a great opportunity to start a practice of self-compassion and appreciation—to really take the time to nurture our souls so we can show up as our whole selves.
 
We have to learn or re-learn how to love ourselves.
Your personal relationship with yourself, the way you love you, the way you listen to you, the way you talk to you, the way you prioritize you, the way you celebrate you, the way you nurture you, the way you adorn you, the way you cherish you… all of this is what allows YOU to be a great partner to someone else.  It all starts within YOU.  In order to have healthy relationships with others, first and foremost, you have to be capable of loving yourself – both inside and out.
 
Learning how to love yourself does not just benefit your relationships.  It benefits your health and your whole, entire life.
 
We spend far too much time in admiration of others who have achieved more, who have reached new heights, who have done all the things.  What we should be doing instead is…looking within ourselves to find all the wonderful, amazing things we have accomplished in our lifetime.
 
Valentine’s Day is traditionally the day when we show love, appreciation, adoration, and deep admiration for others.  I encourage you to flip this tradition on its head and dedicate the day to loving yourself, all that you have become, all that you are, all that you want to be.  Spend the day writing down all the incredible things you have achieved during your precious lifetime.  Then jot down all the marvelous things you still want to accomplish – dream big, I mean really big – the sky is not even the limit. 
For today, in honour of yourself and the love you’d like to shower on yourself, ask yourself what the ultimate act of self-love would be?  What are you craving?  How can you treat yourself?
 
Obviously, this looks different for everyone.  It might be booking a day at the spa for some luxurious, much-needed treatments.  It could be booking a trip somewhere – just for the day, a week or longer.  It may be going shopping and buying yourself that top, dress or outfit that you have wanted for some time now.  It might be taking yourself out to a restaurant for a tasty meal and just sitting alone in silence dreaming up your next big goal or move you are going to make in your life.  Whatever it is, YOU DESERVE IT.
 
And speaking of “love” this month… there are a few things I want to remind you of… because there are a lot of people who think they are unlovable.  They feel they have to change themselves in order to gain love from others.  My message to these people is… you have to stay true to who you are deep inside.  You have to remain authentic to you. 
 
For those who are seeking love but feel like you have to change, remember these next words.  I hope they are inspiring and empowering at the same time.
 
It’s not that you’re “hard to love”…
 
It’s that you’ve finally realized how love lands best for you, and you’re not accepting anything less than the kind of love that allows you to feel fully seen.
 
It’s not that you’re “high maintenance”…
 
It’s that you now know what your soul needs to thrive and feel alive, and you’re not standing for anything less – you now have boundaries (they aren’t fierce, they are flexible), but it’s a different vibe.
 
It’s not that you’ve changed…
 
It’s that you now realize what you truly want for your mind, body and soul, and you are working harder than ever, prioritizing your habits over everything else.
  
It’s not that you’re “too much…”
 
It’s that now you have felt a glimpse of your truest self, and you crave to express the symphony that is on your soul – loudly and often.
 
You’re not here to be understood.
You’re not here to stay stagnant.
You’re not here to be nice (kindness, yes, always).
You’re not here to create artificial harmony.
You’re not here to follow the crowd.
You’re not here to be “normal”.
 
As the good ‘ol saying goes – People come into your life for a season, a reason, or a lifetime. It’s not up to you to decide on the placement.
 
You’re here to be ruthlessly committed to following YOUR own path to health and wellness, and you’ll be met by the perfect beings at every level.
 
But most of all, you’re here to be loved, BE love, and love. Period.
 
So dive in deeply this month, Lisa, and give yourself the permission to fall more in love with who you are and all that you are becoming…because you are MAGIC. 
 
A poem to remind you of your self-worth…
 
Accept yourself as a work in progress to continue 
to build yourself into the person you’re dreaming to be;
the person you have all the potential to be. 
 
Accept your flaws, accept your truths. accept your past. 
and make light of them. no one can tear you down if 
you make peace with who you are and where you’ve 
been.
 
If you are going to focus on the negative at all,
focus on turning them into positives. focus on growing.
 
Sometimes, often times, our minds are the scariest 
place to sit. It’ll trick you into comparing yourself 
to others and it’ll trick you into believing you aren’t 
good enough. but you are.
 
You have always been and you always will be.
You’re much more powerful 
when you believe in yourself.
 
If you don’t love 
all of you, who will? 
 
Give yourself time to blossom. 
Reyna Biddy 
 
And, that’s your Valentine’s message for today, friends.  Dedicate the day to yourself, shower so much love on yourself, do the things that bring you joy and contentment, plan and dream of your next moves, write out the words “I love myself from top to bottom, inside and out.” And stick that on your mirror to look at each and every morning.  Have it as a note on your phone – wherever you can be reminded time and time again.
 
On that note,  I want to tell you just in case no one has told you yet today…
You are loved, you are a capable, brilliant, incredible human being.  I believe in you 100 %. Now go out there and show the world what you are truly made of.

Thanks for tuning in today and as always, I hope to have inspired you to grow.
 
Remember to … love yourself first and be your own superhero.
 
Til next time.
 

Strengthening Your Integrity in just 5 Minutes a Day

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/1b0ld246twb

In my work as a life coach, I help people shift their limiting beliefs through strategic mindset work in order to create transformation in their lives – whatever that means to them.  Some clients desire transformation in the area of their health and fitness, others in their relationships, some in their work situation, while others need to break down their long-held limiting beliefs around money or their new business.  But, in all cases, it all boils down to shifting their beliefs in themselves and their abilities.

Side note:  Yesterday’s episode on Sara Blakely’s mindset shifts and development, that helped her make millions with her company Spanx, are great examples of how a growth mindset makes you unstoppable, tenacious, accepting of failure as a means to learn and grow.  If you haven’t listened to this episode, be sure to check it out.

So, let me just say…

Mindset is 100% of the equation.

Today, I’d like to show you how beginning a new habit for just 5 minutes a day will strengthen your integrity and restore your faith in yourself and your abilities.
As an example, I am going to take working out for just 5 minutes a day to demonstrate how such a short period of time and commitment will restore your integrity and dignity in yourself.

However, if you prefer a 5-minute practice of journalling, meditating, creative writing, even reading, that’s fine and this mini-mindset lesson will work perfectly for any habit you’d like to start and gain some momentum in to create change and transformation in your life.

So, find one small way to show up for yourself each and every day.  It’s something that must be doable, realistic, and attainable.  And remind yourself, if you are doing 1% better today over yesterday, then YOU ARE WINNING. 

Your expectations must be realistic because I’m all about creating REAL habits that create REAL results.

The transformation will happen in both your heart and your head.  We want to generate an internal change about how you feel and love yourself.  Our intentions and actions will impact our hearts, minds, and ultimately our souls.  This will become clearer as we dive deeper into the episode.

You see, creating change from the inside out is essential for any habits to take hold and become part of you. Far too many times, people fall into the traps of not creating internal change first before diving into a new habit on only a surface level.

5 minutes a day is everything.

As humans, we try and fail, try and fail, try and fail to the point where we feel we aren’t worthy or valuable.  We believe that we can’t accomplish anything and begin to hate ourselves.

You might be here right now.  You have quit on yourself far too often giving up after a short period of time labelling yourself as a quitter.  Self-sabotage has become your M.O.

In such cases, we are lacking the most important thing in our lives.  We are not yet aware of the sticky glue that will hold our lives, goals and commitments together.  We don’t yet know the key to success in any area of our lives.

What is the magical ingredient?  INTEGRITY

Integrity is doing what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it.

You might be one of the millions of people who are struggling with their own integrity.  We are all humans; we all struggle with this.

But the truth is until you figure this out, you will continue to struggle to reach your goals.

You can accomplish anything you put your mind to. You can set your mind to something and do it – even the big things, not just small things.

The problem is quite simple.  If you stopped and asked yourself why you’ve started and failed so many times, you could figure it out.

You’ve spent your life taking on way too much, so many commitments at once in order to create the change you want.

Going back to my example of working out and becoming fitter.  You may have spent hours at the gym, taking all the classes, running or walking, cycling or spinning. You’ve put yourself on a restrictive diet, depriving yourself of a lot.  

You literally want to take on any and all possible commitments so you can get to your goals faster, but that’s just not sustainable.
This is a recipe for disaster and self-sabotage. 

I promise if you continue to take on more than what it sustainable for you, you are bound to fail. 
There is a silver-lining though.  You can do something about it!

So, many clients ask me, “How is 5 minutes actually going to help me, Lisa?”

When you take a leap of faith, you trust me and start small, you’re actually going to start playing a big game.
Instead of committing to everything at once, which we know now is a recipe for disaster -> commit to 5 minutes a day.

What will happen?  You actually start doing what you said you were going to do.  You start having that thing called integrity show up in your life.  And when you have integrity, you build dignity, which is the love you have for yourself.

You actually start to LOVE yourself. How amazing would that be?

Then you start to realize you are good enough and you can accomplish anything.  Once you know this, you say to yourself, “If I can do this,…”  “If I can actually make and keep a promise to myself, what else can I do?”

Then the world becomes your oyster.

This is what I call “Integrity Momentum”.  You may have heard of the Law of Inertia in physics classes.  Well, it tells us that an object in motion, stays in motion.  Whether good or bad, whatever we have going on keeps going on.

So, now that we have integrity going on and dignity going on, we love ourselves and it can keep going.

When you cross something off your to-do list, how does that feel?  I know for me; it feels pretty good.

How does it feel when you complete something you said you were going to do?

These are all wins.  And after a handful of wins under your belt and days of keeping the commitment to yourself, this is a powerful feeling and has massive value for your mind and soul.

You won’t be able to ignore the thoughts running through your head.  We have to shift our thoughts to:
->  I am a promise-keeper.
->  I do what I say I’m going to do.
->  I am the most important person in my world, and I will value & treat myself as such.

This is INTEGRITY.

After you’ve proven to yourself that you’re a promise keeper, you will start setting your sights higher, deservedly because you CAN and SHOULD.
Before you know it, you’re going to be accomplishing things you never ever thought possible AND faster than before.  Much faster than the time when you thought you had to take on the whole world at once.

You see, what I am going to say may seem very counterintuitive but…

You have to slow down to go faster.
 You have to do less to accomplish more.

And it all starts with just 5 minutes.

Remember that it’s all about showing up and making commitments that are ridiculously simple, so ridiculously simple in fact, that you can keep them and show up no matter what the day throws your way.

The goal is to keep yourself winning, each and every day.

In case you haven’t heard it from anyone yet today, let me be the first to tell you…
You are an amazing human being, so full of potential.  I believe in you.  So, now go out and show the world what you are truly made of.

I hope to have inspired you to grow.  

And, til next time.

Lisa
xoxo
 

Shift Your Mindset For Growth

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/f4zsDptStwb

Have you ever wondered what exactly is holding you back from reaching your goals?

Or, why do some people achieve massive success and others just stay stagnant?  What do they have that you don’t?  Why can’t you create more momentum and level up your life?

The answer to this is both simple and yet complex  –  it’s mindset.  The people who are unstoppable when it comes to going after their dreams have developed a strong mindset and therefore, can stay the course no matter what circumstances arise, or eventual setbacks occur.

The book written by Carol Dweck entitled “Mindset” is an excellent read.  Upon its release, many professionals around the world took a moment of pause and re-evaluated how they approached their jobs as coaches, educators, bosses and even parents.  There are countless examples from all industries and job fields of how a “fixed” mindset played out and how it affected the person’s learning and general approach to life’s situations.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, she outlined how someone with a growth mindset reacted to various situations – positive or negative – and how they used the situation to grow and develop their strengths.

I’ve read the book a few times now and each new read provides further insight into how our minds truly react in certain situations, but more importantly, how we, as individuals, can shift our thoughts and actions to move from a fixed mindset to one that is open to challenges, a mind that embraces hard work as well as effort to achieve new things – in short, developing a growth mindset.

You see, we often set artificial limitations on our own abilities.  For example, we may believe that we will never be good at creative writing, public speaking or other valuable skills.  We fall into the “I can’t…” or “I will never be able to…” mode, which, is based on a few early attempts to do these things but they didn’t go well or ended with a negative experience.

Think back to previous experiences in your own life.  You may have tried to follow a diet and you weren’t able to stick to it and gave up after a short period of time.  It left you feeling deprived of your favourite foods and feeling rather miserable, especially after you quit and gave up on your commitment to succeed.

You may even recall situations during your school time when you received a less than stellar mark on your test. Or the time you didn’t make the school basketball team.  Or the moment you stepped on stage to deliver a public speech and you felt so awkward and embarrassed when your peers started laughing.

The book “Mindset” by Dweck talks a lot about unlocking your full potential by maintaining a growth mindset. Rather than assuming our abilities are static or fixed (unchangeable), this mindset recognizes that we can develop new skills over time – with effort and the willingness to keep going.  With slight shifts to our mindset, we can unlock new options for ourselves and others.
With this in mind, I’d like to explore some points taken from this book.


The first point is comparing the so-called fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

The way we think about and perceive our own abilities as well as our intelligence significantly impacts the trajectory of our lives. This book sheds light on how to develop and maintain a growth mindset as opposed to falling into the trap of a fixed mindset.  So, let’s briefly look at the differences between the two.

Fixed Mindset
People with a fixed mindset believe their abilities are largely set in stone. They also think they were born with certain natural traits and their level of intelligence is fixed too.  As a result of this, they often concentrate their energies on validating their already existing abilities instead of challenging themselves to learn and grow.
Unfortunately, this can cause someone to assume they will never be good in certain areas of their life.  Sometimes they experience difficulty in learning new things because they assume they lack the natural abilities needed to be successful in that particular area.

Having been an educator for 30 + years, I encountered this fixed mindset far too many times.  In fact, it broke my heart when I started working with children, who believed they could never get good marks in math or that they would ever be able to read.  They had experienced failing grades, feeling embarrassed in class when asked to read aloud, being put on the spot when called upon to answer the teacher’s question in front of all their peers, and the list of negative experiences goes on and on.  These children came to me completely deflated of all confidence, self-esteem, self-belief and feeling like a complete failure.
 
A further example, children would come to lessons and say things like, “Well, no wonder I am not good at math.  My mother didn’t do well in math and she hates it too.”  This particular belief passed on from a parent to a child was truly a difficult one to shift.  From that point on, I tried very hard to educate parents on the influence they had on their child’s ability and attitude towards school subjects.  I also recommended they all read Dweck’s book to gain much needed insight into mindset and how it affects our general attitude toward learning.  Did any of them actually ready it?  I’m not sure.  But I like to think I helped those children who thought they were incapable of developing a new mindset toward school work and their own ways of looking at and solving hurdles that arose.
 
Growth Mindset
People having a growth mindset also believe that they begin life with natural strengths.  But the difference here is that these people view this as only a starting point and understand they can learn and grow through hard work and persistence.  So, they perceive their abilities as a foundation for future growth.

Of course, they still have to work through difficulties and challenges when it comes to learning something new.  But, rather than feeling permanently stuck or limited, they see setbacks as a sort of challenge that they will overcome.  This results in invested effort on their part, trying different strategies or even look for feedback in order to overcome these difficulties.

The quote by Henry Ford sums it up quite nicely,
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

I wish everyone would take a moment to really internalize this.  How many times are we stopped in our tracks because we think we are not capable of doing something or we hold ourselves back from attempting a new skill in the belief that we just don’t have the ability?

In my life coaching business, I hear people talking about things they think they can’t do all the time.

I can’t cook. 

I can’t sing worth a darn. 

I can’t draw anything let alone paint – I have zero artist talent.

I couldn’t possibly start a business.

I can’t stick with a diet and lose the weight at all – so why should I even try. I’ll just accept it (and remain unhappy with myself).

I really want to write a book, but I would never be able to do it.

I would love to complete a triathlon someday, but I can’t swim.

Does this sound like you?  Have you ever, and be honest now, said or thought you weren’t capable of doing something and then you didn’t even try? 
Don’t fret, because you’re not alone and the good news is…you can shift your thinking.  The first step is realizing it and then the next step is flipping the script to develop a growth mindset.

I think it’s important to mention that everyone has a mixture of both mindsets depending on the context.  We may have a growth mindset in areas in which we have experienced past success, yet we are still holding a fixed mindset in areas where we have struggled.  This is perfectly normal, but if we desire change and growth, we should aspire to develop or maintain a growth mindset in all areas of life.

How to Develop and Strengthen Your Growth Mindset

The basis of a growth mindset is knowing and being aware of the fact that we all can develop and improve our abilities.  One way to initiate a growth mindset is to think about skills you have learned and mastered in the past and how you have grown in certain situations.  In other words, consider skills you once found quite challenging but yet you find them easy to do now.

For example, getting up early to work out before the day gets crazy and chaotic

Cooking a meal from scratch which gets rave reviews from the family

Getting in a 5 km walk every day

Remember, nobody is born with the ability to read, write or even ride a bike.  Speaking a language, solving basic math and playing sports all require learning and time to master these skills.  And, we have all learned skills, so we need to remind ourselves that it is possible for us to develop new and powerful skills if we want to.

Now, I do realize that some may argue that certain people are born into this world with talent or an above-average “knack” for certain skills such as math, sports or learning a foreign language. But when the word talent is brought up, a quote comes to mind by Kevin Durant, 
“Hard work beats talent (every time) when talent fails to work hard.”

Naturally, some individuals will pick up certain abilities quicker than others.  And, that’s okay. We cannot control where we start, however what really matters is that we can invest time and the effort to continually improve.  With a growth mindset, we set aside concerns about our own starting point and instead, we focus on the end result we would like to achieve.

Whatever you do, don’t compare your progress to that of others.  I think too many of us fall into this trap. Yes, your friend may have lost 10 kilos in 6 months and you are only down a measly 3 kilos during the same time frame.  Perhaps that person you follow on social media has published that book he/she has been working on within one year of starting the writing process.  And, you have been struggling to get your own thoughts and ideas on paper for years now in hopes of one day publishing your book

But in such cases, we have to consider these people who are further along in their progress may have utilized a better strategy or spent more time practicing or they may have past experiences to draw from in moving toward their goal faster.
 
The key here is – other’s rapid progress is not always related to innate ability. The most critical factor is the effort we put in to learning and growing beyond the base level, which we all start from.

If you can learn to love challenges, be intrigued by your mistakes, enjoy taking action and embrace the hard work involved, not become frustrated by failure but rather explore new strategies and continue to keep learning, this will be the necessary fuel for your forward momentum toward your dreams and goals.  This will help develop a true growth mindset.

I’d like to end today’s podcast with some tangible ways you can shift your thoughts toward a growth mindset, breaking down some limiting beliefs you may be harbouring and take some small steps toward your goals.

10 Ways Adults can foster and develop a Growth Mindset

1.       Don’t be afraid of challenges.  Be brave and take them on and embrace them as a form of growth.
2.       Be mindful of the words you use.  Adding ‘yet’ to the end of your sentences will have a huge impact.  Flip the script from “I can’t cook.” to “I can’t cook yet” Make it even stronger by adding, “I can’t cook…yet but I am willing to try and improve.” 
3.       Never give up! Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, so persevere and stay consistent no matter if you’re seeing results or not.
4.       Be open to constructive criticism and view it as a learning opportunity.  Easier said than done because nobody likes criticism but give it a try for reasons of learning and growing.
5.       Embrace the thought that the journey and process are more important than the outcome, so learn to take enjoyment in the journey.  A growth mindset means the journey is never over.
6.       Learn to reflect on and accept failures.  They are going to happen along the way, but they are evidence that you are trying, and failures do not define us.
7.       Constantly ask yourself, “What can I do differently?” Reframe how you perceive mistakes and use them to your advantage by employing new strategies.
8.       Focus on you and your learning, as opposed to competing with others or seeking their approval.  It’s always about YOU vs. YOU.  How can I improve myself? 
9.       Don’t shy away from seemingly difficult tasks.  You have far more potential and capability than you are even aware of. Remember that!
10.   Challenge yourself daily – I want you to challenge yourself each and every day to try something new, go the extra mile, do one thing that scares you.

Whatever this means to you, focus on becoming 1% better each day.

Just in case you haven’t heard this yet today, let me be the first to tell you…

You’ve got this and I believe in you. You have the ability to uplevel your life.   Now, go out and show the world what you are made of, goal getters.

That’s all for today’s dose of motivation.  I hope to have inspired you to grow.

With love,

Lisa
xoxo