Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 418 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast. Thanks for being here. There’s a lot to choose from in this world of information and Im grateful you’re here with me.
I went to college a little later than the normal college kid. I was a little older older than most of the kids in my classes. I went through at 32 and everyone else there was 19. But I really wanted my interior design degree. It was hard but it was so fun…..now I had in my mind this glamorous idea of what an interior designer does and how they work and how they live. Now, all through school there was this firm that was the number one place that any designer or architect that was newly graduating wanted to work there. It was a coveted position at a well known, highly awarded local architect firm. I’m not gonna call them out because they are good people. So this was a company that was considered the elite if you could work here you have you have done it you’ve made it so when I’m a senior about to graduate with my interior design degree, I thought OK well I’m gonna go work for this company, that’s my goal, hat’s what I wanna do, that’s the best of the best right? So I put in my résumé and then one of the architects, he was also an owner spoke to my professors and they said yes she definitely would make a good hire for you and so I got an interview and then I got another interview and then they decided that they wanted to hire me so they took me on a tour of their design floor and I was so excited to see where my new office would be, you know they were downtown in a cool building.
I was expecting Floor to ceiling windows..they are a very cool architect firm all of their projects win the best awards. So they take me to the Design floor and the head designer who was going to be my boss Showed me where she worked and she’s been working at this architect company for maybe 20 years and she’s the head designer, she’s a big wig at the firm and she shows me where she’s working I kid you not, it’s a cubicle and everyone else that was working, all the designers were in cubicles, they weren’t the full cubicles so you could actually see over them, but every single one was stacked with books of where they were choosing their items from books, or Online where they were choosing their items and I’m walking from person to person in their cubicles and I’m thinking to myself. This feels like a dungeon this woman’s been here 20 years and she’s still in a cubicle. I mean I understand new designers in little cubicles but the head senior designers too??? This was not what I imagined. Because I’m already doing interior design for myself. I have been doing interior decorating for a while by that time, and now that I was getting my degree I was graduating to interior design and I thought I wanted to do commercial and this is what you get. On top of that they say it in their presentation to you you could work 50 to 70 hours a week on a salary in this cubicle where I cant see the outside. Let me say this. I already did interior design. I have my own company. Ive done small commercial and residential for years… I work from home so I can set my own hours and I also have a beautiful view of the outside and honestly I can make working part time what they were offering me working full time with who knows how many hours a week…..so long story short I didn’t take the job they offered it to me. I didn’t take the job and I never looked back now, the point of the story is, I had something in my mind that I had created that was glamorous, and and elegant, and that that life was going to be so much better than what I was doing, which was small projects, a few commercial projects, and beautiful residential projects, so I’m going into these great houses and great Spaces and I can shop wherever I want and I’m outside I’m in control of my time and I make more money. I realized that I had created something in my head. That wasn’t real, I had glamorized what this job would be. When what I already had was way better Than what they were offering me.
It taught me a very valuable lesson that I forget sometimes but only momentarily because I know it’s human tendency to think that it’s gonna be better over there or that job is glamorous or they have a better life because look how they get to travel or they have a better life because look at their huge house. Or their family is better than mine , they seem so close. And I’m not saying sometimes that’s not true. I’m just saying a lot of our problems with sadness, depression, anger, or feelings of unworthiness and jealousy come from our thoughts that what we have isn’t good enough. That what we have is boring and less glamorous. That what we have isn’t already everything we want. That line of thinking does and always will steal your joy. Every time it will steal your joy. That’s why it’s so important to notice when you’re doing it and stop doing it.
And these thoughts can come in the weirdest ways at the weirdest time. I was lying in bed one morning at 2:30 am trying to go back to sleep and I put a sleep story on. This sleep story is a woman who set the world record for traveling to every sovereign country in the world in the fastest time. She did it in 2 years. Amazing feat. And really cool thing to do…. Now I kid you not, my brain decided this was the time 2:30 in the morning to basically say and what have we done? We are so boring. We are uninteresting. We meaning myself and my brain. No wonder I was having trouble going back to sleep while I let my brain have its way with me. I finally got back to sleep, fortunately I was able to put a different sleep story on and calm my brain down. I had to separate myself from my thoughts, Because if I didn’t separate myself from my thoughts I’d be in a lot of trouble. I wouldn’t feel great about myself probably ever. Our brain will send us thoughts that we don’t have to believe, we don’t have to continue thinking them even. It’s ok to argue with your own brain. It’s Encouraged even to argue with your own brain, you’re the boss of your brain and you get to tell it what you’re going to believe.
So this morning when I woke back up I could tell I still had that thought on my mind. The thought of Im not good enough. And so I got to work counteracting it. My brain asked me what we have done and so I reminded it. Reminding myself of all the cool things I’ve done and continue to do. Of all the accomplishments I have had. I am where I am and it’s more than ok it’s actually pretty amazing when I stop and think about it.
I can’t compare myself to the woman who won a world record for traveling to countries. For starters, I don’t want to do that, it’s not my interest. I’m proud of her. But I don’t want to be her. Just like I don’t want to be a designer for a glamorous firm while I sit in a cubicle stacked with books.
If you’re going to glamorize something. Glamorize your life. Glamorize your amazing husband. Your wild amazing kids. You’re oh so fun travel. Glamorize the things about your life you do love, the things that maybe you’ve forgotten about. The things you’ve overcome, the people you’ve helped, the person you are today because of all you’ve experienced.
You are where you are and that’s OK. And if you want more, you have the ability to have it, you just have to figure out the things you need to do to get it. Never underestimate yourself by putting yourself down and NEVER EVER compare yourself to other people. That will suck the joy right out of you so don’t do that. What you have may be exactly what you want, you just may have to remind yourself that.
My challenge to you today is to remind yourself of the cool things you’ve done. Glamorize the things you already have that you really do love. Remind yourself of the things you’ve overcome an accomplished that you’re most proud of. You’re brain is gonna tell you theres nothing, but I promise there are things you’ve overcome that no-one else has, maybe no-one else could the way you did. And tell yourself I am where I am and that’s more than ok, because finding peace where you are right now is the fastest way to open doors to where you want to be tomorrow. Share this with 3 amazing people. I love you guys, I’ll talk to you in a few days!
