every small step counts

I started to journal. I started to give daily gratitude and thanks for the blessings in my life. I took an honest look at the situations and environments where I was feeling drained – and deliberately avoided them. I needed to surround myself with energy – positive energy – amazing friends – fulfilling activities. I made it a point to have a weekly lunch with great people or schedule a morning workout to get the day started right.

I was no longer waiting for my phone to ring with ‘hey, what you doing – let’s grab a drink’ :: because quite frankly sometimes what I needed more than that was a quiet night watching Netflix with my favorite person. This may come as a shock to the people who suffer from FOMO – but sometimes exactly what you need is a quiet night alone.

I dropped my cable subscription in early 2018 after the monthly fee nearly doubled ($100 for a basic package – NO THANK YOU!) While my boyfriend and I do miss the local news, I have zero regrets to unplug from TV – OK, we do still have Netflix, but you get my point, right? Now, my main form of entertainment is audiobooks and podcasts. Any topic that interests you, I promise you can find thousands of episodes for your listening pleasure. Me? I started with Build Your Tribe / Chalene Johnson. Then she’d interview someone that piqued my interest… Lewis Howes, I think. So subscribed to his podcast, The School of Greatness… then one of his guests intrigued me, so subscribed to their podcast…. And on and on and on. Once I started down this podcast path, I binged hard…. Like binged harder than we did Longmire or Breaking Bad on Netflix (seriously!).

What are my go-to shows now?? Glad you asked. I still listen to the ones above, as well as Don’t Keep Your Day Job-Cathy Heller, Ed Mylett Show, Rise Podcast with Rachel Hollis, Goal Digger Podcast-Jenna Kutcher, The Ken Coleman Show, The Marie Forleo Podcast, When to Jump-Mike Lewis, Business Boutique-Christy Wright, The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, Armchair Expert-Dax Shepard, Criminal, Do It Scared-Ruth Soukup, and of course TED Talks Daily…. If you only have 15-20 mins to fit something in, you can’t go wrong with a TED talk.

One thing I learned is there is a message to be had in everything you consume; you just need to have an open mind. Be willing to know where your shortcomings are and be openminded to grow and evolve in the change. I think we are all scared to be vulnerable; we are scared to show weakness. We are on social media and see influencers and, heck, even our friends, post perfect pictures and show how wonderful their life is and we all get down on ourselves for not having it all together. Let’s get real – NEITHER DO THEY!

I surrounded myself with positive messages from influential people. Some of those people were local – my sister, family, friends – others have no idea I exist – thanks to amazing networks like podcasts and blogs. I listened to other people’s stories about how they were dealing with the same struggle and what they did to get out. I learned that I am not alone in this mindset. I learned that there are bigger and better things in the world and NO ONE should settle. I learned that there is room at the table for everyone.

I learned… I learned…. I learned… I learned.

(and I'm still learning!)

shout out to my dog-nephew, Archer, for posing with me