Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 318 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast! Nice to be with you. Thank you for listening and remember to share, subscribe and give me a 5 star rating if you’re enjoying the episodes.
So my husband asked me what I wanted for Valentine’s day and I told him I wanted one of those whoop straps. Have you heard of those? They monitor your sleep and your strain and recovery for workouts which Im super excited to see. What I love about about my husband is that he wasn’t even a bit surprised when I said that’s what I wanted. The me from a few years ago would have wanted a fancy purse or fancy shoes, maybe jewelry. Don’t get me wrong I still love that stuff but it’s just not really on my radar right now. I think it’s because I realize that if you struggle with feeling worthy or you don’t feel good about yourself inside, getting that high feeling from a new Valentino purse is appealing but if you’re like me, that feeling only lasts so long and then you’re right back having to deal with how you view yourself from the inside.
And if you don’t like that person or you’ve lost that person or maybe you don’t even recognize that person, then constantly trying to fill that hole is like trying to nourish your body by eating potato chips. What I mean by that is you’re never gonna nourish your body by eating potato chips. And you’re never gonna fill that hole with another designer purse or another glass of wine or another vacation. Just like those chips, you simply want more and more, that next thing will do it, that’s gonna make me happy, or I will finally feel worthy, but it won’t last. Why though can’t we just be happy with who we are exactly as we are right now. Ive given a lot of thought to that question. And I think I have an answer.
Because as humans we are designed to want to thrive, we are designed to have continuous growth and most of all we are designed to be social creatures. So if any of these things are missing, we aren’t living up to our full potential and if we aren’t living up to our full potential, it’s much easier to blame someone or something else or to just try to ignore it by distracting ourselves with netflix, food, alcohol and stuff but then that gets old too. So what do we do about it? First of all I would take inventory of where you are in these 3 areas. Are you thriving? Do you know how thriving would look for you? Are you growing? (Not your waistline) Is there an area in your life where you are learning new things, trying new things, stretching your abilities? Stepping out of your comfort zone? And finally do you have meaningful relationships? That’s really the most important question of all three.
I’m reading a book right now called “The Good Life” and the thing that study after study including one by Harvard done over a course of over 50 years has shown that the happiest people are not the wealthiest. They are the ones that have good relationships that are rewarding either with family or friends or both. The people with strong healthy relationships live longer, healthier lives.
But all of those things are really needed to feel like you’re living up to your potential.
I went through a phase about 4 years ago where I thought, you know, we travel so much, I think I will just stop working and be a housewife, which meant basically my day would be working out and hanging with my dogs because all of my friends had day jobs so I was alone a lot, but along with that, I had no real purpose and I had kind of stopped growing. And even though it looked like I had it made from the outside, on the inside I was not happy. I have been on a journey since then to really be the best that I can be and along the way, share what I find with you guys in case it sparks an idea that might work for you as well.
I knew I wanted to thrive as I got older, I went to work on improving my health, I turn 50 this year and I’m determined to be healthier at 50 then I was at 30. I am well on my way. But because I am determined to thrive and continuously grow and have amazing relationships, as a by-product Ive learned so much. First is that what we eat really affects our moods and you can’t outrain a bad diet. I learned that meditation isn’t going to feel like it does anything at all but when you do it consistently, it shows you that you can decide what you’re going to think about. You can control your focus, why that’s so important is that you start to notice those thoughts in your head you hadn’t noticed before and you realize they are what’s creating most of your problems, simply fixing those, will fix a lot of your problems, because a lot of my problems, were made up in my head. My brain still wants to make stuff up but now I catch it and flip it around. That’s the power of meditation. I learned that through consistency. I also learned that your peer group is super important and your family is gonna disappoint you, but you’re gonna disappoint them too. so you love them anyway but set boundaries so that you don’t lose who you are in trying to shape yourself into something you’re not.
So my challenge to you today is to take inventory of where you are. First of all do you know how thriving would look for you? And if you do, On a scale of 1-5 Rank where you would be at thriving. 1 is not thriving at all, 5 being Im totally thriving. Second, write three areas where you are continuously and consistently growing, and finally Make a list of the 5 people closest to you that light you up, that you love spending time with. If you don’t like the answer to any of these what can you do to change it, maybe you have trouble making a list of 5 people that’s ok, try to come up with at least one and when you do, nurture that relationships like your life depends on it It literally does. And keep hanging out here, Im totally dedicated to helping us all live a wildly successful life one episode at a time….and you sharing helps me do that so share this with 3 people. I love you guys. I’ll talk to you in a few days.
