What a ball it’s been creating these podcasts, going deep and silly with so many fabulous women. I wanted to share some key highlights, so here are concentrated tips and hacks from me and the brilliant minds of women I have connected with this season. You can listen to the full pod episode here.
1 – Take Action
As demonstrated by Metz who founded an ad agency, by Tracy the pro organiser, by Lauren the washable period product founder, by Claire the meal planner… if you don’t take action, the movie doesn’t get made. The scenes don’t happen, the script writing was pointless, there will be no reviews of the show and no sequel. MMA – Massive Mental Attitude – underpins everything I do as a coach, as a person who GETS SHIT DONE and as someone with a wild imagination who likes to make dreams a reality.
This doesn’t just apply to physically doing things. You have to take MASSIVE action with your thinking too. Not just once a week when you suddenly feel depressed on a Sunday night that the working week is about to start all over again. But continuously. You have to train your brain to question everything. Stop accepting the nonsense your inner critic bitch offers up to you as truth. Yes it can be hard work, some exhausting and sometimes like opening a can of worms, but you’re on this journey, are you going to fully commit and get the results and answers you want by jumping in the pool? Or are you merely going to sunbathe and dip only a toe in the water? Think of MMA as a form of radical self care. By questioning and challenging your inner critic, you will begin to notice the ways you’re getting in your own way, building barriers in your mind. The more you see the ways you are being self-destructive, and speaking to yourself in a derogatory manner, the more you can start to change this voice, being more compassionate and making choices from a place of intention rather than reaction.
2 – Have a Plan and a Routine
I love change and I crave newness, but I have learned since building a business and becoming a coach that actually routine and making plans is essential for getting shit done and moving forward. Moving to Brighton, having my house purchase fall through and then experiencing the chaos of trying to buy or even rent in such a volatile market, I have experienced and felt, deep in bones and grey matter, how much a disruption of routine can affect your productivity and mindset. If you view routine as boring, try reframing it as a facilitator: routine creates the space for freedom and creativity. It is the cement to your bricks. If you view routine as something to keep you safe, what happens if you routinely schedule something that pushes you out of your comfort zone?
Establishing a routine helps build the mindset of trusting yourself because you know you show up for the stuff you’ve promised yourself you’ll do. You know what you’re doing and when and are less likely to deviate. But you also know that plan B is likely and perfectly OK. Someone who knows themselves and has routines in place to help, simplify and push them forward is someone who feels more calm and more confident.
3 – Dance!
I can’t help but think of the lyrics from the Baz Luhrmann ‘Sunscreen’ song from the 90s – ‘dance, even if you have nowhere to do but your own living room’. Which is basically all of us during COVID. Dancing shifts your energy. If you’re stuck, literally or metaphorically, it helps you to find flow. If you’re sad, it helps lift your mood. It can put you into a meditative state. It can put you into a positive state. Anyone who’s been on a call with me will know how much I love to dance. So good for shifting anxiety too. If you’re someone that feels subconscious dancing, try turning the lights off at home and dance to some different types of music until you can feel yourself let go.
4 – Focus on what you want more of, not what you want less of
Don’t focus on what you want less or none of, for example: ‘I don’t want to feel overwhelmed by this!’ Instead, focus on what you want instead of the overwhelm: ‘I want to feel calm and in control.’ The more you think the thing you want instead, the more your body starts to believe it, and before you know it, you ARE more calm and in control. Constantly thinking about how you don’t want to be overwhelmed will only to lead to, you guessed it – more overwhelm! Your attitude is everything so notice how much time your brain spends doing negativity vs the thing you actually want. Know you have the power to change this by thinking on purpose – by that I mean stating a positive thought instead of listening to the negative one.
5 – Build a Team
One of the most beautiful tips came from Michelle the adventurer. She recommended you have ‘teammates’ – the people who can help you get to the place you want to be. Us humans need a community and this concept illustrates why – we can’t do everything alone. It’s impossible to know and do everything. The people on your team might not even know you have chosen them to help you, but YOU know.
6 – Time Off
Anyone who has trained for a physical event – a marathon, a triathlon, whatever – will know the importance of rest days. The same is true for whatever you’re doing with the rest of your life, with your mind. If you’re building a business, a side hustle, a new relationship, running a family… you need time off from the demands of daily life. Even if for you, due to being a parent or a carer or whatever, it means a solitary walk once a week, this is essential. If you can make it an entire day of down time with no phones, no socials, even better. Time for the fragments of your soul to come to rest after putting them through the paces of modern life is essential self care. If you are not prioritising yourself, you have some work to do on why. No matter how busy you believe you are, there is always a way to show yourself more compassion.
Missed one, or want to listen again? You can catch up on all episodes of The Absolute Empowerment Pod here.