Have you ever felt paralyzed by overthinking and worry? Well, you're not alone, and this episode is here to guide you out of the cycle of anxiety and into the realm of trusting your instincts. Together, we'll tackle the looming pressure of past regrets and future mishaps and uncover strategies to break this harmful pattern and empower you to trust in your decision-making process.
And that's not all. We're diving deeper into the essence of instinctual trust and the transformative power of letting go. I'll offer insights from my personal journey and illustrate why it's crucial to trust the process, irrespective of the outcome. We'll unpack how we can be our own catalysts for change, keeping our stories moving forward by taking that leap of faith. So, join me on this journey, and let's elevate our lives by trusting our instincts and shedding resistance.
Have you ever felt paralyzed by overthinking and worry? Well, you're not alone, and this episode is here to guide you out of the cycle of anxiety and into the realm of trusting your instincts. Together, we'll tackle the looming pressure of past regrets and future mishaps and uncover strategies to break this harmful pattern and empower you to trust in your decision-making process.
And that's not all. We're diving deeper into the essence of instinctual trust and the transformative power of letting go. I'll offer insights from my personal journey and illustrate why it's crucial to trust the process, irrespective of the outcome. We'll unpack how we can be our own catalysts for change, keeping our stories moving forward by taking that leap of faith. So, join me on this journey, and let's elevate our lives by trusting our instincts and shedding resistance.
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Speaker 1:
Hi, friends and welcome to another episode of Elevate with Erica. I'm your host, erica, and I hate for this to sound like small talk when I'm about to say, but I have to comment on the weather here. I'm sitting out in my sunroom because it's one of the last times. You'll probably see me out here until next year. This weather just makes me so happy it is 75 and sunny, and that is not usual for the east coast of Maryland at the end of October, and we all know it won't last long. But the great news is that it's going to last through this weekend, which is perfect for our last minute plans to go camping, this time in a camper, for my son's 10th birthday and Halloween fun.
Speaker 1:
So Halloween in a campground is one of my favorite things to do as a family. People decorate their campers and it's just fun to walk right out into the action, because that's not something that we have at home. By the way, we live in a neighborhood, a huge neighborhood that prohibits trick or treating, so it's ridiculous, yes, but anyway, at the campground it's amazing. Even the adults that hand out the adult treats. You guys know those, those families that do that. Right, that's my people, and if you're one of those families who has something for the adults and the kids, you are no doubt the most loved people on the block. I'm going to be one of those people when I'm no longer trick or treating with my kids, which I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1:
The days are pretty numbered now. This will probably be my oldest, last, first year, even if he does trick or treat I'm not certain that he will it's going to be if he feels comfortable enough to do so. My youngest will be 10 on November 1st and so I think I've got a couple more years with him still. Plus, he's kind of like, I don't know, he's a little bit different than my oldest as in I think he's going to kind of always maintain this kid at heart spirit, naturally, which is amazing. So, yes, I'm pretty excited for the weekend and the gorgeous weather to go with it. My youngest son is going to be a knight and my oldest son, who I'm not sure will actually be trick or treating but just wants to wear his costume and go around on his scooter and just be I don't know a 13 year old boy, he's going to be a banana. So all those things that, all those excitement that I have to look forward to, all these good things that I have to look forward to, I have to share what actually led up to this episode topic today, and I have to be totally honest that I've had a very anxious heart and mind.
Speaker 1:
Yesterday I noticed it and then I woke up with it still today and when my eyes opened it felt like I had been grinding my teeth and my sleep. Do you have those mornings? Do you know those mornings? I had that today and I pushed play on a bar class and immediately I knew that it was the class I was supposed to be in, because her message for the class right at the top was am I trusting my instincts? And as soon as she said that, it was like a like an aha moment that just highlighted okay, this is exactly what you're not doing. That is the source of my anxious thoughts that I was having and you know, it's like those thoughts where you can't quite put your finger on it, but I'm just not great today.
Speaker 1:
Kind of thoughts, you know, and making a decision recently and trusting my choice in it, not ruminating over it, what's happened in the past, what could happen, not overthinking and in case you don't know what ruminating is, this is actually a new word that I found this year, so you're not the only one that had no idea. It's something that I often do and didn't even realize had a name to it, and it's that endless replay of past mishaps and that mental projection of future ones that may never even happen. Right, it's like a Netflix series of worry and, trust me, it's not the kind you want to binge watch and it can lead to anxiety and depression. And, let's face it, that's not how I want to spend my day. Like yesterday, like that was enough for me. I woke up today like I don't want to be like this today and I'm so grateful I pushed play on that bar class and got that trainers message today and look, I'm generally not an overthinker.
Speaker 1:
I'm pretty headstrong, or as stubborn as they call it. When you're little, right, but I'm headstrong and when I want to do something, I just do it. But once I've had a bad experience or once someone has already hurt me, I have a tendency to just constantly rehash that experience in my mind or just assume that it's going to happen again, or put myself in a position for it to never have the likelihood to happen again, which can shut us down from people and experiences, and that's sad, right. It can shut us off from new experiences. That would have been totally beautiful and I made a decision last weekend that I had been putting off for a couple of weeks, and it wasn't an easy decision for me to make, and but it was one that needed to be made.
Speaker 1:
And now I'm faced with okay, this is the road you chose to go down, start walking. But instead, for the past couple of days, I've been kind of just looking down at the road and being afraid to take a step. So today I want to take a dive into the world of trusting your instincts, and they're those thoughts that are dancing in your head and you're not sure whether you should join the dance or just sit this one out. And maybe your instincts are encouraging you to let go of something and you're afraid of making a mistake and regretting that decision. Or maybe for you, letting go doesn't mean giving up. It simply means that you're letting go of the resistance. It's me looking down that road and resisting actually walking down it, right? So it simply means that you're going to let go of that resistance and not give up on the person or situation, right, you're just letting go of the resistance to try a different approach. Resistance is exactly what I've been carrying the last couple of days, resisting my own decision. But what if letting go is just you deciding that you're going to let go in faith rather than holding on or holding back in fear. Or maybe it really does mean that you're walking out that door.
Speaker 1:
I firmly believe that what's meant for us will find its way back, even if we go a little off path. And I know that maybe that sounds like it's out of some self-help book or like a feel-good quote you read one time on Instagram, but I'd rather have that approach than feel like I'm holding on in fear and, in that, miss out on something better. Now, that's the Erica I know, and I know that that person is inside of you too. We just have to kind of get out of our own way. If you can't make a decision, life will decide for you and chances are you're not going to like what you get.
Speaker 1:
Like I said, I had been sitting back on a decision that I needed to make for a couple weeks and I was hoping that the right thing to do would just come to me and I did want to take my time on the decision. But I'm also self-aware enough to know that it got to a place where I was just putting it off, where I was just putting off going one way or the other, and the worst is that my boys were kind of in limbo with me, and kids sense far more than we give them credit for. So I woke up one morning and I just felt this frustration with myself for sitting stagnant. And that's when real change happens. Right Like I work in the fitness space, right, I coach and mentor people on their health and wellness journeys and I can't talk anybody into changing. Real change happens when we get tired of our own BS. We got to call ourselves out and no one else can do that for us.
Speaker 1:
And the problem is we often wait for the right answer, the perfect plan or divine clarity. I told you guys, last week I even drove five hours to look for that clarity in the mountains and guess what? Life didn't serve me up a neatly packaged answer. You don't know if it's right because you haven't done it yet. Sometimes you just need a plan and some guts and the willingness to take that leap of faith, and you won't know if it's the right choice until you've tried it. So take the plunge, even if it means finding your way out of the next tricky situation.
Speaker 1:
Trust yourself, trust your instincts and keep moving, because your life should be a source of joy and excitement, not a burden that you're carrying out of fear. The more that you move, the more magnetic you become to the energy you want in your life. Good things don't just happen to those who wait. They happen to those who take action. So ditch the I wish and I hope things were this way mindset and get out there and make life happen for you. Now I get it.
Speaker 1:
Finding your instincts can be tough, especially when someone has has done you wrong Betrayal, manipulation, heartbreak. They can make you doubt everything, including yourself, because it can feel like, even though I was hurt by someone else, I put myself in the position to get hurt by that person. But here's the deal regaining trust in your own instincts is the most crucial kind of trust that you can rebuild. You've got to learn to listen to your inner compass. Have you ever heard? I'm gonna look, I'm putting on my science nerd glasses really quickly.
Speaker 1:
Have you ever heard of Theta state? It is that magical brainwave frequency where we are just super relaxed, right, and it happens right before bedtime and right upon waking up. It's not that deepest state of sleep, but it's that super relaxed mode. It's that ideal state for meditation and hypnosis. It's a space for creative and intuitive thinking it's supposed to be, should be a source of stress reduction. This is what makes it the prime time for repetitive affirmations and practicing gratitude. But instead, what's the thing a lot of people are looking at right before bed and, as soon as they wake up, social media, searching outside of ourselves for something to influence our mood and energy, which is okay.
Speaker 1:
I actually support grabbing some sort of motivation. First thing in the morning, I'm usually listening to my daily bread app for a motivational, and then I go to a YouTube video where I push play on a motivational video while I'm splashing cold water on my face and brushing my teeth and getting my workout clothes on and kicking off my morning routine. But unfortunately, our social media feed isn't always so inspirational, is it? And we usually end up influenced. All right, but maybe not in a good way. Right, so we can start comparing our lives to someone else's Everyone who it looks like things are just working out great for, they are thriving in this recession, like what is happening. And then we sit even more in our decisiveness because we can't figure out why we can't get our shit together like Miss Susie social perfection over there or we start absorbing someone else's negative stance on the world, and this is why it's so important to not grab that cell phone right before bed, right after you wake up, unless it's to grab something off of social media and instead replace this with gratitude and affirmation and that's not just something catchy to say on Instagram. There's actually science behind why this is so impactful to do when your brain is in that theta state, and you guys know that.
Speaker 1:
I've got something exciting in the works the driver's seat journal. I'm creating my own journal to help people get back in the driver's seat of their life, especially during a hard season. But until that's published, I want you to just take five minutes a day to start doing these things. Write three good things that happened the day before, write three things that you're grateful for today and write three things that you plan to do to make today good. Take control of your thoughts in these moments of your day, because I find myself ruminating and overthinking when everything else in my life is the most quiet. Right, Because parents, that's when we can actually hear ourselves think right, and that's right before bed and as soon as I wake up. I want to throw this into you.
Speaker 1:
While we're on the topic of that driver's seat journal. I asked you guys to help vote on the contents of that journal, created a little quiz, a little short, quick quiz for you guys to do. I'll again put that in the show notes in case you missed it last episode. But also I've created another one question quiz to help you. Help me choose a, choose the cover art for that journal, and so you can go in there and vote for one of your favorite out of the four. So so appreciate you guys getting your input on this, just making the whole process that much more fun for me.
Speaker 1:
All right, I want to wrap up this episode with this reminder to the both of us Let go of the outcome, trust that your instincts are your guideposts and move in the direction that they point you and stay present in the journey that you're on. You are the catalyst for change in your life, and your story is never at a standstill, unless you mean for it to be so. My fellow adventure lovers, let's take a leap of faith together. I'm deciding right now to trust in the decision that I made. I'm saying this with as much conviction as I can.
Speaker 1:
You guys, this is always a come with me podcast. I'm always on here saying things I myself need to hear. I'm deciding right now to trust in the decision that I made Not that it's the right decision, because how would I know that? But that it's the one in which takes me to the next part of my story. Let's just see where this chapter goes, and I hope this will inspire you to trust in that decision that you need to make in your life. To you, whether it's today or if you think of this episode somewhere down the road at your next crossroads, trust your instincts and let go of the outcome. Life is just an open road and every twist and turn is a chance to discover something amazing. Keep on trusting, keep on moving and keep on elevating Until next episode, friends E.
