Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Come get schooled in feeling flat! See who has the key, learn easy techniques to reclaim your passion, and set the expectation that you will.

MM563 – Saying Goodbye to Season 4!

Hello, everybody, and welcome to this week’s episode of Motivate Me! Our final episode of Season 4!

It’s Me! Time here on Motivate Me! and we are working on coming back from flat.

Before we start, let’s get into the right headspace. Let’s engage in the idea that this is time where YOU are the priority. Let’s take two slow, deep breaths to get us centered. Just follow me.

Today’s focus is: Saying Goodbye to Season 4!

So what’s really crazy is that I sat down to write a journal entry reflecting back on this season of Motivate Me! and all my brain wanted to do was talk about where I’m headed, instead of where I’ve been.

I had to pause my journal entry to write out some goals on a separate sheet of paper because I was too excited and distracted. My goals are for the book I’ve been wanting to write about traveling the fifty states in ninety days interviewing people about passion. During that journal entry I got the idea to set a goal to have my first draft done by New Year’s Day.

I broke down the word count and it’s totally achievable.

As you know, I began to fall flat after completing our trip of traveling the fifty states in ninety days interviewing people about passion. First, I was flat because I wanted to write about the trip but I struggled to find my value, and next, it was the pandemic.

It was January 2021 when my family gave me the kind of tough love that makes you work hard to better yourself. And so, I began doing that. I utilized everything I’d learned in my personal study, in my coaching program, and in the almost 450 interviews I’d done over the seasons of Motivate Me! I dug in deep and I was able to get my head and heart back in the game. I was able to reclaim my passion – which brought me back here to you.

I’m going to share here the list of techniques that helped me. There’s an episode focused on each of these techniques here in Season 4. So if you would like details and examples of how to use them, you can check out the episode.

When looking at these steps, know that you can do them in the order I did or in an order of your design. You can do all, or some, of them. The goal is for you to determine what you need and just head in that direction.

I will say, if some of these seem out of your comfort zone or something you’ve never enjoyed, like reading or journaling, please just try it. When was the last time you read or wrote? My suggestions in the episodes of how to read or journal or stretch, etc. may be different from what you remember – or maybe you’re different these days?

OK, so here’s a list of each of the steps I took to reclaim my passion. There are 29 steps total, some are less time consuming than others, so don’t be overwhelmed by this list.  After incorporating these into my life, I was a new person. I feel like I sound like a commercial when I say this, but doing this changed me in only two weeks. Like, two weeks later I experienced euphoria! I was happy, I was excited – I had a clear direction! I had reclaimed my passion!

1. I made myself a priority

2. I took part in a fun 30-day challenge to start committing to something daily

3. I started stretching

4. I prepared mental and physical space where I could be a thinker

5. I rested my body and soul

6. I improved my diet

7. I meditated

8. I journaled with the intention to seek answers 

9. I gathered creative materials to start to build my creative ideas

10. I read books and was an open-minded reader

11. I collected and organized my creative ideas

12. I opened myself up to feedback from others

13. I emotionally detached myself from the lives of others

14. I refused to feel selfish

15. I unplugged from technology

16. I got my blood pumping

17. I experimented with my craft (which for me is writing)

18. I took a small action

19. I connected with my people

20. I got more creative materials

21. I allowed myself to be vulnerable

22. I said no to negativity

23. I bailed on perfectionism

24. I battled fear and nixed excuses

25. I aligned to my life purpose

26. I took a big action

27. I embraced collaboration

28. I learned how to access flow state

29. I created an action plan

Like I said, these topics are the focus areas of each of Season 4’s episodes. If you’re just joining us, I suggest you start from Episode 532, the “Welcome to Season 4!” Episode

For whatever reason, you’re feeling flat right now, or you’re searching for something right now, or you’re trying to bounce back from some sort of life experience right now. There is a reason you are here with me right now. Maybe it’s just because you know there’s more to life than your current circumstance. I have to believe that you’re right: there is happiness and excitement and challenge and meaningful experiences.

And if you feel you’re missing out of any of this, I’m here for you. I understand you. I have provided you with actionable steps to help you. I know where the power to change this is – it is all within you. You just need to claim responsibility for it!

I don’t believe that we’re here to just exist. I believe we’re here to love each other and we’re here to learn lessons.

Think bigger picture.

Wayne Dyer describes our time here as being directed like a game of chess by a higher power. That we are just pieces in a game being moved around to impact each other. Whether we are helping each other or hurting each other, we are learning from each other.

What would it hurt to approach life like a game? To challenge ourselves and to seek victory?

We would love to hear your thoughts. Join us in our Private Facebook group: Motivate Me! Support System and checkout MotivateMePodcast.com for anything else.

I am going to leave you with some truth talk from me to you: I really appreciate you spending your valuable time with us. I have really enjoyed my time with you. I am sending you all the love. I am sending you all the wishes that you are able take a step back from your life in order to focus on you – to make you the priority.

I know that you have it in you to envision, explore, and execute the life of your dreams.

I’ll be rooting for you.  

Remember, you Motivate Me!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Hello, everybody, and welcome to this week’s episode of Motivate Me!

It’s Me! Time here on Motivate Me! and we are working on coming back from flat.

Before we start, let’s get into the right headspace. Let’s engage in the idea that this is time where YOU are the priority. Let’s take two slow, deep breaths to get us centered. Just follow me.

Today’s focus is: Create an Action Plan

So, when I began the process of creating this podcast, I had some really important things to figure out: what will my show be about? What am I about? How will I use my new professional coaching certification to help people? I had learned the kind of information in my coaching program that you can’t just un-know, if you know what I mean? And I wanted to share it with people. I wanted to use it to help people.

In Episode 558 of this season, I talk about how to uncover your life purpose. That was my first step in the creation process of this show. I needed to do a deep dive into who I was and discover what I believed my purpose to be before I could move forward. In Episode 558, I walk through that process with you, so you can do the same for yourself.

I discovered that my purpose is to empower others. OK, I thought, how can I live in my purpose while using my coaching knowledge? One of the greatest points I learned in my certification process is that we all have the answers we need; we just need to learn how to uncover those answers. And that in order for people to buy-in to change, it has to be their idea. My job as a coach is not to roll into your life to tell you what you need to do; a coach’s job is to roll into your life to ask you the right questions that will help you determine what you need to do.

Nobody knows you better than you. Nobody knows what’s best for you better than you. Especially the people in your life who try to tell you they do. Chances are those people are trying to control you or control the direction you take in life. Sometimes people do this with the best intentions, sometimes not, but either way, this is your decision to make.

Getting back to when I started this podcast, it was with the intention to help the masses. I wanted to help people live a life that was more exciting or more meaningful than their current one. And, to me, that meant passion. I wanted to help people discover or rediscover their passion, because I felt so many of us were not living lives we were passion about. We were just existing.

Since I knew that people have to make their own discoveries, I devised a Motivate Me! plan. I thought, if I interview guests who are living exciting and meaningful lives, living their passion, then our listeners can learn from them in a non-threatening way. Listeners could then apply what they’ve learned to their own lives in a way that works for them.

One of my favorite examples of this is show guest Chris Nordhaus. Long story short, Chris was blindsided by a divorce. His passion had always been sport cars, and he had an old one in the garage he would tinker with. Chris, ultimately, recovered from his divorce by buying himself a brand new Camaro and joining a Camaro club. The greatest part about his story is how he rebuilt his life through an old, rekindled passion.

In a short time, he made friends outside of those that were a part of his marriage, he was taking road trips around the country to places like Sturgis, South Dakota, and he became part of the board of the club. He leaned into his passion and he used his passion to recreate his life.

Similarly, when show guest Karen Babb Newhall was going through her divorce, she taught herself how to train Border Collies to herd sheep. When she got good at it, she started a business training other dogs and she has since built a Border Collie rescue on her farm.

I think these are fantastic examples of how someone going through a divorce can hear these stories, consider their own passion, and pull from the practices of both of these show guests.

This is why I started my show, then I thought it would be amazing to interview people in each of the United States. If you’d like to hear a detailed account of how that idea was conceived and carried out, you can check out Episode 533. So we did that, we traveled the fifty states in ninety days interviewing people about passion, me and two women I hired whom I’d never met.

All of this brings us to where we are today – coming back from flat together. And while listening to the experiences of others can be a powerful and informative eye-opener, it means nothing if we don’t act.

Motivate Me!’s foundation is based on an action plan. It’s based on the formula I use to make my own decisions, to take my own actions. And I’m going to share this with you today with the hope that you will write this down and fill in your own blanks.

This action plan is based on three basic steps that are determined by your unique person and passion. The three steps are Envision, Explore, Execute. I’m going to explain each one and give you ideas on how to utilize each.

Action #1 is to Envision

Let’s say your passion is teaching. You’ve always enjoyed being class mom, the cheerleading coach, helping your kids with their homework and projects. But you find yourself in your thirties or forties and you don’t know if it’s too late to start a college career? You try to talk yourself out of it. You know it will cost money, it will take your time and attention away from your family, and you don’t even know if you have what it takes to be a college student. You don’t know if you’re smart enough?

It’s at this point in the process you need to envision yourself doing the thing. See yourself working in a school. How does that feel? What are you wearing? What does your classroom look like? What does it smell like? What do your students look like? How old are they? What subject are you teaching? How do your shoes sound when walking down the corridor? What are you holding in your hands? See yourself designing lesson plans and grading papers. How does this feel to you? See yourself managing home-life. Are you sitting at the kitchen table doing “homework” with your kids – you grading and them working?

Envision how this impacts the people in your world. Do you see a paycheck coming in that’s contributing to the family in a way you couldn’t before? Do your kids have a new perspective on the importance of education? Do you see yourself off from school when your kids are – during breaks, holidays, and snow days? Do you feel proud of yourself for accomplishing a teaching degree? Do you have more to contribute to the family conversation at dinner? Is your partner looking at you a little differently?

How does this vision feel?

Action #2 is to Explore

Wow, OK, you didn’t talk yourself out of this yet. Nice! You want to take the next step and just explore what it would take to make this teaching thing happen. The Explore step is research. It does not cost a penny to explore your options. You could make a list of three or five or ten possibilities for yourself, and comparing them is probably not a bad idea!

But there are things you need to know before making this decision. Is there a teaching certification program near you? Go to the school site, compare the programs, look at the course descriptions. Does this degree interest you? How much does it cost? What does the schedule look like? Do you need to take an entrance exam? Is there a way to prepare for the entrance exam? Do you need childcare or to carpool with friends? Do you need to work around a current job? Is this feasible? Can you make it work? What obstacles will you need to address?

Action #3 is to Execute

If you are at this step, good for you! You have decided just to take that first step towards getting your teaching degree. You may not be ready to sign up for the whole enchilada, but maybe you are ready to schedule yourself for the entrance exam. Maybe the results of that exam will give you the confidence you need to take the next step – or maybe it will inform your decision to abort this mission. It’s OK. It’s a small fee and a little time to figure out if this is your path. So you do it, you register for the entrance exam – step one taken!

Next, you reach out to friends and see if anyone can tell you more about how to prepare for the entrance exam. You borrow the book from a friend and study like you never remember studying before. You take the test. You know the result of this exam will be the deciding factor, and when you open the results and see that you’ve passed, you know there is no stopping you now.

You have made the decision to go for that teaching degree! And all you need to decide next is whether to start slowly with one class, or come fast out of the gate and take a full course load.

Envision, Explore, Execute.

We would love to hear your thoughts. Join us in our Private Facebook group: Motivate Me! Support System and checkout MotivateMePodcast.com for anything else.

I am going to leave you with some truth talk from me to you: We have talked in many episodes about all the things we allow to hold us back. Not today. Today we are only focusing on those things that will move us forward. So, pull from the experiences of others, see that you deserve the same or better, and figure out what and how you need to do that. And most importantly, take that action – you are worth it!

Remember, you Motivate Me!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:47 — 10.8MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

How do you know when you are in “flow state”? What is “relaxed awareness” and what’s its connection to the creative process? Learn about all of this, as well as how to conjure up your flow and how it is connected to serving others.

MM561- Find Your Flow State

Hello, everybody, and welcome to this week’s episode of Motivate Me!

It’s Me! Time here on Motivate Me! and we are working on coming back from flat.

Before we start, let’s get into the right headspace. Let’s engage in the idea that this is time where YOU are the priority. Let’s take two slow, deep breaths to get us centered. Just follow me.

Today’s focus is: Find Your Flow State

Wow. Flow State. Have you ever been so engrossed in what you’re doing that you’ve lost track of time? Have you ever been so involved in something that you’ve forgotten to eat? Has sleep ever become unimportant to you, and all you wanted was uninterrupted time with whatever it is you were working on? Maybe you were making a painting or a quilt or a webinar or remodeling a room?

You may think that achieving flow state is a freak thing that only happens to the chosen, but I believe there are actionable steps you can take to encourage flow state.

If you don’t know my story or what inspired this season of Motivate Me!, I suggest going back and listening to the first episode: Episode 532. Part of my story is that I’d been divorced from flow state for a few years, but then in an event that I discuss in Episode 532, I was inspired to aggressively seek myself again. To get my head and heart back in the game. Finding my flow is what brought me back to you. I became excited again. I started creating again. I wanted to help others again. And this is what I want for you.

Before we move forward, let’s get a clear definition of what “flow state” is. Stick with me here, because gaining this new understanding was an enlightening experience for me, and I’m hoping it will be the same for you.

Many of the guided meditations I do are preceded with spiritual teachings, something I really enjoy. One of my favorite meditations is by Mindvalley and its titled, “A Relaxing Guided Meditation to Boost Creativity.” (You can find it on YouTube.) It’s here that I heard a definition of “flow state” that resonated with me. The meditation guide said that to be in “flow” simply means to be in a state of relaxed awareness.

OK. But, what does “relaxed awareness” mean? If “relaxed” means to “know without doubt,” and “awareness” means “knowing that you are not and never will be alone.” That “you are aware of the help and guidance of a higher power.” Then “relaxed awareness” means that you know without doubt that you are not alone, and you are aware that you’re being guided by a higher power.

This is a pretty deep definition. But, as a writer, I have to tell you that I’ve experienced this. Writers are always looking to find solutions when writing stories. How best to show their audience without directly telling them? How best to move the plot forward? How best to describe characters indirectly without just listing details? It’s much more interesting to find out that a character has an addiction when the writer describes the bottle of pills that fell out of her purse, rather than simply stating it.

I have sat back in my chair while writing or jumped in the shower or taken a walk to get distance from my work, so the answer would “come to me.” It may not be not right away, but the answer always comes… sometimes even in my sleep. I have always believed that these answers come from a higher power, and I know I’m not alone in this.

So the idea of relaxed awareness and its definition in the meditation track struck me because it’s an understanding I have, and have had, for some time. Relaxed awareness is faith in the creative process, simply put.

Have you ever felt an energy shift when you’re working on something? An excitement and a knowing that everything will work out the way it’s meant to? A knowing that you will find the answers and resolutions you’re seeking for your project? A knowing that you are not creating alone, that you are being guided?

Have you ever felt the energy that comes from that kind of belief? That kind of faith?

How about when we used to watch Michael Jordan play basketball when he was “in the zone.” Where he couldn’t miss a shot. Did you see that game where he closed his eyes on the foul shot line and made the basket anyway, as if to say to the other team that he was “in the zone,” and “on fire,” and that he was untouchable. That was a great moment. Man, I miss Michael Jordan!

But in other news, other athletes and scientists, artists and entrepreneurs – all people – experience being in flow state. The question is: Can we capture this and can we control it? I am here to tell you that the answer is yes.

This whole season of Motivate Me! has been about the individual steps I took to reclaim my passion. I suggest trying every technique I’ve shared with you this season, but here is a list that is a big picture perspective geared solely towards conjuring up flow state.

1. Still the chatter in the mind to let ideas surface (through meditation or exercise or prayer or sleep or reading)

2. Explore ideas that surface through journaling (journal seeking answers)

3. Refrain from passing judgement on new ideas (be open minded)

4. Express gratitude (be thankful for everything: the new day, your home, love, everything)

5. Give of yourself to others as much as possible (a call, a text, a tip, a donation, a compliment)

6. Be relentless in steps 1-5

I did all of these things, and when I felt or thought something, I sat down and journaled. When I couldn’t figure out what I was feeling, I sat down and journaled… and immediately ideas came and solutions came.

I continued to do the other steps I talk about over this season, like give myself freedom of thought and physical space to create… and it happened.

It took some time, but in a matter of weeks, I began to feel the flutter of passion. People, for the first time in about four years I felt passion! And not only that, I began to see what I needed to do next on my path – and I couldn’t do it fast enough. I came to see that I was in flow.

I have had many conversations with people who don’t know what their passion is, and I have always wanted to find a concrete way to help them find it. Understanding how I could help others was the big revelation I made when doing what I’m suggesting here. Understanding how I could help others is what put me into flow.

So find what you can do to help others. Aggressively seek this answer. That is where flow state lives.

We would love to hear your thoughts. Join us in our Private Facebook group: Motivate Me! Support System and checkout MotivateMePodcast.com for anything else.

I am going to leave you with some truth talk from me to you: We have interviewed almost 450 people about passion. Every single one connects back to how we can serve others. Every. Single. One. Finding your connection to this using the steps we talk about here and the steps we’ve provided this season will help you discover this. And when you do, you will be so on fire that you’ll be looking to purchase a “Don’t Talk to Me I’m in Flow” T-shirt.

No… I don’t know if anyone is really making flow T-shirts, but if you find one, let me know!

Being passionate about doing something that will serve others is the answer.

Remember, you Motivate Me!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:01 — 11.0MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

In this episode you will come to understand the meaning of collaboration, and you’ll learn it’s importance to our creative lives! You will explore the different ways you can work together with others, and you’ll receive four easy ideas on how to seek out collaborative partners.

MM560 – Embrace Collaboration

Hello, everybody, and welcome to this week’s episode of Motivate Me!

It’s Me! Time here on Motivate Me! and we are working on coming back from flat.

Before we start, let’s get into the right headspace. Let’s engage in the idea that this is time where YOU are the priority. Let’s take two slow, deep breaths to get us centered. Just follow me.

Today’s focus is: Embrace Collaboration

First let’s discuss what collaboration is, then we’ll explore why it’s important in our creative lives, the different ways in which we can collaborate, and where we can seek to find it.

I can only speak for myself and my husband when I say that we have had a history of being stingy with our creative and entrepreneurial plans and ideas. Have you been this way? We were always very guarded about sharing our ideas with other people and completely closed to combining forces with anyone. We have had business ideas in the past, product ideas, book ideas, website community ideas, this podcast, and more.

Now trust me when I say, I believe we need to be very smart about how we do this. We need to make guidelines and boundaries, some in our own minds, some verbally with others, and some things need to be established legally on paper. My goal in what I would like to speak with you about today is really just the opening up of your mind to the idea of collaboration.

To collaborate with others simply means to work together on a goal or project.

When I think of the term collaboration, the arts are the first to come to mind, especially musicians. My nephew is a musician and producer out in Los Angeles and nothing is more free or open than the jam sessions he has with his peers. He’s living in a house with five other artists, and he has a white board set up in the house with a schedule for their collaboration times. They have writing sessions, brainstorming sessions on music and the business end, they have jam sessions. All they want to do is push and support each other and make great music. It’s pretty spectacular. They’re living their dream and striving to make it in their industry.  

Think about all the famous musical collaborations of our time. We wouldn’t have had David Bowie and Mick Jagger’s, “Dancing in the Street,” or The Beatles and Eric Clapton’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” – or so many other amazing songs – without collaboration.

Now here’s the thing about working with other people: We can only approach projects with our personal perspective that stems from our personal experiences and skills. Let’s say I want to start a craft business. I want to get a table at the local market and sell my crafts. OK, great. I can make a really great candle. The quality and color and scent is awesome! But I’m limited. I’m limited in my abilities to take my candle idea any bigger than presenting them in some type of glass container – as pretty as I may be able to make them look, I don’t have the tools or knowledge to do more.

But I have a friend who says, “Oh, wow. Your candles are great, I could cut and stain wood and make iron candle holders for them, would you be interested in combining forces?” The idea of working together may make you nervous. But you think about it and you decide to combine forces.

Next thing you know, another friend loves what you’re doing, and this friend is computer savvy, something you are definitely not, and not something your other friend has no time for. This person offers to set up an Etsy account and says they’ll handle posting pictures of the products, they’ll handle the processing of the orders, the packing, and the shipping. Wow. You just started a whole store, and all you’re doing is what you were good at in the first place – making candles.

Maybe your candles were great for Christmas and Easter, but your one friend who is doing the wood and metal work is also Jewish and offers to make a minora. And your other computer savvy friend, who is a little younger than you, tells you how the new craze is receiving a monthly box from different companies. People can sign up to have clothing items or make up items shipped automatically to them monthly – why not do a candle of the month box?

So, here’s my point: First, we need to share what we’re doing with others. Second, we need to be open-minded to new opportunities. That means we can’t be too tied to our original ideas, and we need to be open enough to entertain the suggestions of others. And third, we need to not be afraid to combine forces.

I am not saying to blindly trust; I’m saying not to be attached to the end result of this collaboration. I’m saying stay rooted in why you wanted to do this in the first place and love the process!

I know things can go wrong and people can disappoint you. This can happen just by even sharing your ideas and not signing up to collaborate. It happened to me and my husband. We shared an idea with some family, they took our idea and created their own version of it behind our backs. Their idea was unsuccessful and now we have no relationship. This is sad to say. In the end, I have to tell you that I’m glad it happened, because the character of these people was revealed. Because it meant that I could stop putting so much energy into caring about people who had no love for me. It hurt, trust me, but now at least I know.

But regardless of experiences like this, we need to share our talents and we need to support others in their endeavors. You know why? Because what we put out into the world comes back to us. Because the more we interact with people, the more they know what we’re about, the more likely someone will connect us to someone else that will help us grow and create even more.

Now sometimes, when we collaborate with others we are pushed out of our comfort zones. I’m pretty sure that’s the second most popular reason why so many of us avoid it. When I got back from flat and was so excited to share the steps I took to do that this season with you, my daughter, Mackenzie, offered to co-host and produce a Zoom program with me. Well, if you think for one second that I’d shrug off the opportunity to work with my daughter on something, then you don’t know me very well (haha).

So, even though I was very much out of my comfort zone, we did this together. And no, it was not my favorite thing, but I saw it through to the end, and I also created materials that I’m using here on Season 4 with you because of it – not to mention how much I grew from the experience. We learn so much from others, and if we opt out of these relationships, we learn less in life.

So, who can you collaborate with and how can you find them? Here are four easy ideas…

First, start with those you love. Bounce your ideas off them and really listen to their input. Consider this a brainstorming session. Don’t go in believing that you’ve already got it all figured out, but also don’t feel as if you have to act on their suggestions.

Second, look at your friend and business relationships. How can you and the people around you use each other’s strengths? How can you add value to each other’s lives? Just make sure you are giving to others before asking for anything.

Third, search online. There are so many online groups where people with similar interests gather. There are also groups where you can find local people. Get to know people this way. You can learn a lot about someone’s personal interests and skills online. Always remember to be careful when meeting them in real life – I know you know this, just needed to have a little mom moment with you.

Fourth, visit establishments that showcase your interest. If it’s crafts, find a market. If it’s cars, go to a car show. If it’s homebuilding or anime or romance writing, go to a convention. You get my drift. Get to know people there. Start conversations, give genuine compliments, ask for advice, pass out your card, exchange numbers, connect online.

Get out into the world with your ideas. Engage those you know and respect, and immerse yourself into the world of what you’re exploring. There is so much right at our fingertips.

We would love to hear your thoughts. Join us in our Private Facebook group: Motivate Me! Support System and checkout MotivateMePodcast.com for anything else.

I am going to leave you with some truth talk from me to you: Collaborating with others is just another way to show our vulnerability. It’s another way to open the pathways in our creative brains. It’s one more way to surrender ourselves to the universe. What’s meant for us is coming; there is nothing we can do to stop it, but what we can do is free ourselves so we can enjoy it.

Remember, you Motivate Me!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:44 — 10.8MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Uncover what is preventing you from taking big action, learn the value of small steps, differentiate between the journey and the outcome, and determine what is in you to do!

MM559- Take a Big Action

Hello, everybody, and welcome to this week’s episode of Motivate Me!

It’s Me! Time here on Motivate Me! and we are working on coming back from flat.

Before we start, let’s get into the right headspace. Let’s engage in the idea that this is time where YOU are the priority. Let’s take two slow, deep breaths to get us centered. Just follow me.

Today’s focus is: Take a Big Action

So here we are in Season 4 of Motivate Me! working our way back from being flat together, getting our heads and hearts back in the game of life. Some of us have been deeply impacted by the chaos of these times. My head has been swimming, too. So many of us have been sick, so many of us have long lasting effects from being sick. So many of us have lost loved ones or jobs or just the motivation to engage in life. So many of us are living in fear, worried about falling ill or worried about getting the vaccine, or not to get the vaccine, or worried about if other people have gotten the vaccine, or not.

And if you were already traveling through something and not feeling like yourself before all this, like me, then all of this just dragged you under deeper.

Here is my general rule of thought in all things “life” – I believe that I’m here on this planet to experience all of life, to feel all that life has to offer: the love, the fear, the change, the challenges, the joy, the confusion… all of it. And I may not always know the direction I should be heading in my life, but I do know that even that not knowing, that the wait-time, the pauses in my life that I may feel stuck in, it is all meaningful, it is all powerful, and it is all meant for me.

So, while I look around and cannot believe the state of our world and country right now, even though it scares the crap out of me and I fear for what the world will be like for my new grandson, I know that sitting idle and wasting the time I have here is not what I am meant to do. And I know that it is my responsibility to pull myself out of this because that action is part of what I am meant to experience.

So, if you’re with me on this, if you’re ready to take charge of what you can control, because let’s face it there’s a lot out of our control right now, then I suggest you visit each of the episodes we’ve shared with you so far this season because each of the small steps I’ve taken have gotten me to this episode: Take a Big Action.

In Episode 532, the first of this season, I share with you the details of how I’d fallen flat, about who and what inspired me to get my head and heart back in the game. All of this is what lead me back to you, because my passion, my calling, my person wants and knows that my purpose is to help you get your head and heart back in the game.

And, Motivate Me! Friends, I am telling you, you can bounce back so quickly and it will feel incredible! I don’t want to sound like a fortune cookie, but I mean it when I always say that we are only a decision away from changing our lives.

Whether you want to create art, lose weight, get in a relationship, travel, learn a new skill. It’s ridiculous how quickly we can change our lives. How quickly we can expand our person through new experiences and new people. If you’re home and unhappy, make the decision to change: add something new to your life or get rid of something old. I am pretty sure you know exactly what you need to do.

Start small with this change. I did. And then keep doing what you’re doing. Enjoy what you’re doing. And when you feel the excitement come to you, ride that wave, and don’t be afraid to go big.

This is what happened to me. I started doing all the steps I’ve included in this season. I was aggressively seeking myself, I had allowed myself the opportunity to become anything, to recreate myself AGAIN – but it brought me back to you. And I fought it. But it happened: I had a brainstorm that what I was going through, the steps to climbing back from feeling flat, could be exactly what you needed, too. It made me understand my struggle, my pause, my frustration with feeling stagnant. I believe I was meant to travel through that so I could share all of this with you.

My story is important to this episode because I had to make a decision. I had to decide if I was going to take the big action of reconnecting with you. There is a commitment in doing this that I take very seriously.

Mentally, I needed time to prepare for this, so with my brainstorm came the idea of starting slowly. That I would just share notes and photos with you of what I was doing on my Instagram. But, I quickly realized that some of my followers are only on Facebook, so I thought: “No big deal, I’ll just also share these steps on my business Facebook Page.” Then I realized that I needed to also keep my Motivate Me! Friends in my private Facebook group in the know, so I decided to share there, too. And well, I already had my Twitter account established, so I should share there as well.

Most important to know is how excited I felt about this. How good my person felt getting engaged with you again. Creating again. Having a voice and a point of view again.

I went from, literally, ordering groceries, cooking meals, and watching Netflix all day to reading and writing like a beast, to posting all over social media. To utilizing all of the avenues I had established years ago to communicate with you that had been lying dormant for years… except for one more thing: my podcast.

And I let that idea sit for a hot minute. I had been low-key, low-commitment minded. I wasn’t looking for the big action. So, I just got started with those smaller steps, but it didn’t last long.

I came to understand that I had more to say than could be translated in a social media post, and I had a website and podcast sitting there waiting to be used. I came to find out later that my podcast actually did need to be reinstated because I had turned a blind eye to it, feeling too disappointed in myself to check on its progress. During those few years, even hearing the word “podcast” filled me with self-loathing. Ugh, I felt like I’d failed. Like I’d lost. Like I let myself and my loved ones down.

But here I was, filled with happiness and joy again, and ready to push through that sadness and disappointment to get that podcast up and running! To get to you again! To take that big action – and I understood the commitment of this action. And here we are, 28 episodes in and only four more episodes to go for this season, and once again, I proved to myself that I can do big things.

And I have bigger things planned for after this. Because one small step leads to many small steps, which leads to big action, which leads to bigger actions – even if you experience failures in between. I’m on this path now, and you can be, too.

I’m sure you can feel my joy and excitement here? These are much different feelings than I had the first time around when we were starting this show. Then, I was so much more afraid of failure. I was so insulted when friends didn’t listen, subscribe, review, and share my episodes. Didn’t they know what it took to put myself out there like this? Didn’t they know what I was risking?

I’m in a different place these days, mostly it’s a place that has proven to me that despite it all, despite the opportunity for success and the risk of failure, empowering others is my purpose, and for now, doing this show with you and writing my books is my path.

It’s important for me and for you to understand that as we reach for whatever it is that’s calling us, we pay attention to the journey and not the outcome. I sure am growing from my time with you. I sure do enjoy this. And despite anything, success or not, it’s something I am called to do.

Thank you, for making my life more exciting and more meaningful.

We would love to hear your thoughts. Join us in our Private Facebook group: Motivate Me! Support System and checkout MotivateMePodcast.com for anything else.

I am going to leave you with some truth talk from me to you: You don’t need to start your endeavors with a big action. I started with many small ones. But what you do need to do, is recognize when it’s time to take the leap into making it something bigger, and then do it. Not for any other reason except for the fact that it is in you to do.

Find the joy you want to have in your heart, it’s out there waiting for you.

Remember, you Motivate Me!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:09 — 12.0MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Have you been plagued with the question, “What is my life purpose”? Get your answers here in six easy steps! And bonus, find out what differentiates you from others who have the same purpose.

MM558- Uncover Your Life Purpose

Hello, everybody, and welcome to this week’s episode of Motivate Me!

It’s Me! Time here on Motivate Me! and we are working on coming back from flat.

Before we start, let’s get into the right headspace. Let’s engage in the idea that this is time where YOU are the priority. Let’s take two slow, deep breaths to get us centered. Just follow me.

Today’s focus is: Uncover Your Life Purpose

I am really excited to talk to you about today’s topic, Life Purpose. Life purpose is kind of a controversial topic. People have their own ideas about what exactly life purpose means, if it’s a real thing, or not; if it matters if you “achieve” it over your lifetime, or not.

To me, the best part about the idea of a life purpose is that a) You get to a place in your own life and mind where your thinking is heightened enough to start questioning the idea “Why am I here?” And b) You go on your own journey of discovery, seeking knowledge about it. And that journey is a long one. It’s not about getting one person’s opinion and believing it, it’s about getting tid bits of information over time and piecing them together in a way that makes sense for you. Because similar to your life purpose, your discoveries and ideas about it are personal to you. Understanding what life purpose is and discovering your own is an intimate process.

I don’t know in which stage of this process you’re in currently, but if you’re like me, you hit a place or will hit a place in your search for purpose where you feel like all you’ve done is random and purposeless. That either you’ve bounced around and done many things and none seem connected and you don’t feel like you’ve arrived anywhere, or you feel like you’ve arrived somewhere, but it’s not the right where.

I want to share an activity with you that I created to help me figure out my direction and my purpose. I had completed a coaching program and was starting my podcast – but I needed to figure out what my podcast would be about? How could I help the most people with the amazing information and tools I had learned? Who did I want to help? What mattered most to me? What am I about?

So here are the six steps I took to figure all of this out. (I suggest pausing this episode as we move along and doing these steps with me, but feel free to revisit and revise your answers over the next few weeks. It took me three weeks of revisiting this process to find the answer I was looking for. And before doing this, I just could not see any of what I found here.)

Step One: I’d like you to make a list of all the jobs you’ve had in your life. For me, that included: working at a pizzeria, at a MacDonald’s, at a Macy’s, at a nuclear power plant, for an accountant, teaching high school English, running a karaoke business, being a Girl Scout Troop Leader, and more. So, Step 1, just list all the jobs you’ve had. (Feel free to pause here.)

Step Two: Look at your list of all the jobs you’ve had and circle the ones you enjoyed most. The ones that made you feel a certain kind of way. (When I was doing this, I remember looking at my list and feeling almost a sense of shame in how disconnected all my jobs seemed. I had gone to school to be a nail technician; I had gotten my real estate license… I look back now and see that I didn’t even put those on my list!) So, circle the jobs you enjoyed most.

Step Three: Of the jobs you circled, write a WHY sentence for each. Why did you circle them? Why are they important to you? What about them made you feel a certain kind of way?

Here are the three jobs I enjoyed most from my long list, and here are my WHYs:

• Karaoke Host – I enjoyed my job as a karaoke host because I could help people make friends and find belonging, I could create the kind of fun that pushed people’s boundaries, and I could provide a medium where people could showcase their talents.
• Girl Scout Leader -I enjoyed my job/role as Girl Scout Leader because I could expose my troop to new experiences that made them feel powerful and important, where they could be creative team players, and where they could formulate ideas and have a space to communicate them without judgment.
• Teacher – I enjoyed my job as a teacher because I could provide students with opportunities to achieve success where they could be in control, take creative risks, build relationships, and see their potential.

(So take the time to write a detailed sentence for each of the jobs you’ve had that really spoke to you in your life.)

Step Four: Identify similarities between your WHYs. What are the common denominators? (It is here that I started to find the connections I was searching for because I could see that while the jobs seemed very different, what moved me about them was very similar. So I paired this information down further.)

Here are my responses:

• I like helping others find a sense of belonging and belief in self
• It is important to me that others feel important
• I enjoy creating risk-taking environments that inspires personal growth

Step Five: Sum up your common denominators in one phrase (If it’s easier for you to put it in sentence form, that works too.)

• Phrase: belief in self, risk-taking, sense of belonging

Step 6: Distill this phrase down into one word – what does this phrase make you feel? This is your purpose. (You have to do some magic here, look at your common denominators and take a step back to see the BIGGER picture. What is the feeling behind it?)

• For me, the word is empowerment
• My purpose is to empower others

One of the biggest things I would like you to take away from this is experience is that life purpose is not a role that we play, it is a feeling we get. This feeling is what we need to be chasing.

Now, we know there are many other people who share our same purpose, so what makes us unique? It is these three final components that I’d like to share with you today that cause us to live our purpose out differently from others who share our same word.

The first component is the characteristics of our core self. Listen, when you leave this body behind, your soul will still be that energetic, giggly self, or it will still be that chill, methodical self, or it will still be that sensitive, gentle self. Our soul self or true self or our core self remains with us – this is your personality!  

The second component is our personal passions. Our personal interests must come into play when considering one’s purpose. Maybe activism is your word, but is your focus on marine life, rain forests, feminism, politics, race, gender, sexuality? Your interests are important; they determine your direction.

And the final and third component is our personal talents. While you may be a great public speaker, someone else may fear public speaking but be an excellent writer. You may be an amazing performer and get your energy from playing on stage with a band, but someone else may be a skilled teacher or producer in the same industry.

Know this: Our purpose is seen in everything we do. Big and small. If empowerment is my word, then I am going to bring it to every experience of my life, whether I am playing with my two-year-old neighbor, I am helping a friend pack her home, I am supporting my husband with his career, or I am writing a book about traveling the fifty states in ninety days to inspire people to live a life that is more exciting or more meaningful.

We would love to hear your thoughts. Join us in our Private Facebook group: Motivate Me! Support System and checkout MotivateMePodcast.com for anything else.

I am going to leave you with some truth talk from me to you: No experiences are wasted experiences. They are all meant for us. We are meant to take away knowledge, skills, and lessons from all of the roles we play in life. There are stepping stones that may look like diversions and there are pauses that may make us feel like we’re stagnant, they have each brought us to where we are now and each leading us to where we go next.

Find the common denominators that will prove to you who you are. It’s who you’ve always been. Then use your interests and talents to get that feeling you love so much back into your life.

Remember, you Motivate Me!