Welcome to the Small Steps Podcast. I'm your host, Amy Sue. I'm a nutritional therapy practitioner, blogger at Small Eats, author of Not at My Gas Lunch, Designer, and Evan Lerner. In my nutrition practice, I help you cut through the health and wellness noise to find what works for you.
This podcast is here to educate, inspire, and empower you to grow, try new things, and live a life you truly feel good about one small step at a time. Each episode has small steps that you can try and see how they work for you. You can find all the show notes, small steps, and other episodes at small-eats.com slash podcast. Remember, the materials and content within this podcast are intended as general information only.
They are not to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Hello, hello. Welcome back to another episode of the Small Steps Podcast. It is episode 69.
I want to say thank you so much for being here, and I hope you are enjoying this intention-setting series. I'm dedicating the entire month to intention setting and breaking that down into smaller steps. So this is actually episode three out of the five intention-setting series. So if you want to get the most out of the series, I recommend that you go back to episode 67.
That is the first episode in which we are talking about intention-setting. So this, like I said earlier, is the third episode of five of the intention-setting series, and we are all about breaking things down into small steps. So I want to remind you, in addition to the fact that this is what we are doing, that each episode has some awesome printables that you can use throughout this process. So as I printables, because that's like the term to use, but there's also one that you don't need to pronounce.
So there are worksheets for this each episode. One is a print-friendly version that you can print out and write all the things that you want. And there is one that is a PDF fillable web-friendly. You can download it and then fill it out on your computer, bring it on your iPad, do whatever you want to do with it, so that depending on which ways that you process best, you can do that.
So this step this week is focused all on brainstorming. Brainstorming your intentions. Yes, I know. We have done three out of five episodes and we are not actually two-year intentions yet.
Don't worry. Don't worry. We are going to set your intentions and brainstorming your intentions is a really, really helpful process. So why is this a step in the process?
Why haven't we just jumped into setting intentions right now? Just go all ham and do all the things. Because a lot of times, when we have something that we need to do that we feel is very important with a capital V, capital I, very important thing. A lot of times, a lot of us, once we finally get to all right, we're doing the thing, we might freeze up.
We might feel an intense amount of pressure to get something right. A lot of us have perfectionist tendencies. I know I do. And ultimately, a lot of us get overwhelmed over analyzes.
We just get stuck. So we are creating this space here right now for you to just basically brainstorm, get all of the things out of your brain so that we can lay out all the things that are going on there so that in following episodes, we can narrow it down. But first we've got to get the big pool of things that are floating into our minds out on paper or on the screen or whatever so that we can actually see what's bouncing around there and doing that in a container that feels more comfortable and much lower stakes than like the thing that you write down or the thing that you say is going to be the thing. This doesn't have to be serious at all.
This can be a very curious, fun, open-ended thing. And so that's why brainstorming is an important step to add, just to like lighten the pressure, lighten the like, oh no, it has to be perfect. I know a lot of us have. And this definitely builds on the things that we've been talking about in previous episodes, checking in with what's important with us to us and also what we really want to focus on because we've already been marinating in this brain space.
So that will make brain storming that much easier because you've already been thinking about this and priming this so you're not just pulling this out of nowhere. Like there are things that have been percolating. Also, I want to say that in this brainstorming process that there is no right or wrong answer. There is no right or wrong intention.
There's nothing that is quote stupid or dumb. There's nothing that's too big, too small, anywhere in between. Brainstorming is about and brain dumping is literally about getting everything out. It does not matter.
I invite you to try and just go and write anything down. It doesn't matter how quote weird or strange or stupid or whatever it feels just get it out on paper. This isn't something that we are judging right now. We are just getting all of it out without censoring ourselves without being like, oh, you know what?
So and so would have it just get it all out. And to build on top of that, as I do with so many of these shows and every single one of these intense setting series shows is that I would love to remind you to give yourself a lot of kindness and compassion throughout this process and to lower the volume as much as you can on the judgments, whether they are from you or from internalized beliefs you might have about anything that you write out or think out or talk out or whatever while you are brainstorming because I know that this can happen. And this is the self-limiting things that were like, oh, no, like someone would have an opinion about that or like this feels silly. So you're not going to write it down.
Please write it down or talk it out or whatever is the most relevant way for you to record this. Everything is important. So before we get into the brainstorming and before you get into getting the worksheets and doing all that stuff, there are some things that I invite you to consider before you actually do the act of brainstorming brain dumping. First, consider your emotional and mental state.
Check in with yourself when you're deciding or thinking about doing the brainstorm. This process is going to be so much easier to do when you are in a much more relaxed center-grounded state. If you're feeling tired, a bit on edge, irritated, or you're just coming down from some really big emotions or you just got really pissed off or gotten to an argument or anything, really intense, that probably is going to affect your brainstorming. Or if you feel like you're rushed or you've got a lot of pressure, like all of these things are going to make your brainstorming more difficult or potentially, especially if you're coming from an intense emotional place, this could skew all of your brain starting just to be like, I'm actually not brainstorming.
I'm processing the thing that just happens to me right now. These might not actually be the intentions that you want, but they might be the intentions that are based on the big emotions that you're moving through right now. So check in with yourself before you start brainstorming. How are you feeling mentally and emotionally?
Is this the right time for you to be brainstorming right now? If you feel like sitting down once and doing brainstorming isn't what might work for you, maybe breaking it up, ask yourself this question each time so that you know that when you're doing this, you're in a really genuine and fully connected to you and your values and what's important to you and all of your feelings rather than just one strong feeling or a bunch of stress or anything else. Another thing to think about is the timing, literally like the time of day. I think brainstorming when you know that you are most on or productive or creative is important to think about.
So if you know you're a morning person or night owl or anything in between, take that into consideration and give yourself that time that works the best for you so you can fully show up as you and think about all the ideas and get them out. I know that if I try and do certain activities that really require my brain and thinking a lot of processing at certain times of day, sometimes it just doesn't come. It feels so hard and like I'm pushing really hard and nothing's coming out and like, what's wrong? And then you fall into like this big cyclone, a pit of self-pity, like, I'm gonna choose a time to do this activity where you know that this is the time when you do more creative stuff or more effective things so that it is a lot easier for you to do this.
Another thing to consider is your environment. So choosing where you're doing this is important to consider. So picking a place where you feel the most comfortable or as comfortable as you can can just take away other things that would potentially make it difficult. So this could be a particular spot in where you live.
This could be a coffee shop, a library, a park, a favorite spot that you like that's in nature, the taxi to your car, the train, wherever you feel the most comfortable in doing any kind of like writing or talking or reflecting exercises, go with that. Also, something important to consider is this something you want to do like alone, alone? Like you want to be left alone, you don't want anyone to be looking at you or talking at you or around you or is this something that you're like, I am comfortable with doing this in a coffee shop or being in a crowd of people but no one's talking at me at this one time or is this something that you want to do with other people, whether they are in the room or if you are with a friend and you're like, let's do this brain something together. Maybe you're not actually doing it together, maybe you are, maybe you're doing it at the same time by yourselves but together or maybe you're actually talking out this process together.
Whatever works for you, I think choosing that would be really important. Also consider adding anything to this environment to make it more comfy or welcoming or special for you. That could be listening to a certain kind of music that you know always gets like your creative juices flowing or that makes you feel the most comfortable or calm. Maybe it's a cozy blanket if it's cold or if it's not cold, maybe there's something else that is like something physical that just feels like extra comforting and cozy for you.
Maybe if you are in a more private place, you're not in like a coffee shop or whatever, maybe you like a candle. Maybe you have a cup of your favorite drink that is preferably not alcoholic. I don't have anything against alcohol but I think that oftentimes the more that we create and drink at the same time, the more that things get a little bit lost for people, not everyone responds to alcohol in the same way. For some people it's just like for me, it makes me really sleepy and makes it harder for me to think about things.
So I know that if I were to do this with alcohol that wouldn't really work for me. So the more grounded and lucid you can stay with whatever drink of your choice, the better. If there are any other important objects, like physical objects that you want to have around you, that might be something that would be helpful. Maybe it's a photo of someone that you love, maybe it's a crystal, maybe it's a stuffed animal, maybe it's another friend, maybe it's some flowers, like whatever you feel like is something that just is an extra boost, an extra comforting thing that makes this environment like the intentional environment that you want to set to brainstorm, go for it.
Even if that is as simple as like you have a favorite pen or you're gonna do this not in the worksheets but in your favorite journal, like whatever it is, consider adding it just so that it feels just that much more like yes. I'm being intentional about creating this environment to then bring forth intentions that I will potentially am going to do. How many times can I say intentions and potential a lot of times here? So when you've gotten that space created for you and you feel the most relaxed and comfortable as you can, grab the worksheet from the show notes or your journal or your laptop or your notes app or your voice recorder, which everything works for you.
I would also invite you to take a deep belly breath to really settle into the space and get grounded, especially if maybe you've been like a little bit excited and you're like having all these things or maybe if you are doing this on the train, maybe you're coming home from work or you're heading to work and you've just gotten through a frenzy to like get to the train or you just got there on time or maybe it took you a while to find parking to get into your favorite coffee shop. Take a moment and take a deep belly breath. If it is safe for you and accessible to you, consider closing your eyes. If that's not something you want to do, you don't have to close your eyes.
Take a deep breath in through the nose and out the mouth. If you don't want to take out the mouth, you don't have to keep your mouth closed. If maybe you're in a very, very quiet environment. But having that second should just be like, okay, I'm here right now.
I'm ready. This is what I'm going to do before you actually get into the brainstorming. I also think it would be really helpful to reread over the worksheets that you've been working on for the past two weeks to remind yourself what is important to you, what are your values, what do you want to focus on, what do you really want to bring together here, especially if you've been doing this week by week. This might be helpful to remind yourself if like, you know, times pass, maybe things have come up.
If you've been doing this all pretty close together, I still think it would be helpful to remind yourself so that you have an additional thing to get really clear on as you move into the space. Then it's time to brainstorm. Get all of the possible intentions out of your head. They can be like I said earlier, big, small, they can be for any period of time you would like, whether that's a month a day a week, the entire year four years, five years, we're the rest of your life.
Like even if they seem too big or fantastical, like record them again, like I said earlier, please don't censor yourself, please don't judge yourself, let yourself dream, let yourself go. Maybe it's a broad vision, maybe it's a very specific vision, maybe you know exactly how you want to feel or exactly what something looks like. Just record whatever comes into your mind. There are no wrong answers or wrong intentions here.
If you mean something to think about, like in addition to all of the like looking over the worksheets and all that stuff, here are some questions that might be helpful to think about brainstorming just to soak the fires a little bit. What do you want to create? What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to change?
And something that I think is important, how do you want to feel? So maybe consider those four questions as you are brainstorming. If you're in the groove and you're like, you're writing it down and you're going and you're going, like just keep going until you feel like, okay, I'm good or you're like, I don't have any more ideas, I'm good. If it helps, maybe and if you're someone that like needs a timer, some people work better, like in short chunks or knowing that there's a thing that they have to finish, like maybe give yourself a five or ten minute timer or whatever time you think works best for you.
And if you want to or need to process this and do this over a few days, consider that as well. Maybe you set aside four or five minutes every day in whatever time works for you and you just start down a few intentions or maybe this process just happens naturally throughout the week and you've started it once and then maybe you get an idea later and you're like, oh, I'm going to write this down. I'm going to send it to myself. Make sure that I add this to my list.
And also, I want to say like if your brainstorm was pretty quick and you're like, yep, I know what I want. I'm going to write all these things down. These are all the things around my mind. That's totally okay.
There is no wrong way to brainstorm and figure out intentions and bring them. It can be how it are fast or slow. It needs to be and every single time you do this might be different. And that's totally okay.
So you can do this one time. You can do this several times. Anyway, you want to do this or try this. There is no wrong answer.
Just write out all the things that you want. Write all those things. If it takes you one piece of paper, it takes you to front and back of a piece of paper. If it takes you an entire notebook, if it takes you like 20 minutes, 40 minutes, talk it out.
Go for it. Just be free. And know that if it feels really uncomfortable for you to just like have all of this freedom to write all these things down and to really record all the things that are on your heart and on your mind and things you want to create, that's okay. That is totally, totally okay.
If this is something newer to you or maybe even working through things or narratives or stories or beliefs that you have not been able to do that or you've been maybe receiving messaging that your life has to look a certain way and you're really looking to create something you want different. Yeah, it might feel scary. And that's okay. You get to decide what you want to do here.
You get to decide what dreams you record. You get to decide how you want to live your life for the most part. You get to decide the intentions that you want. So know that if big feelings come up, that's okay.
As much as you can. Give yourself a lot of kindness and compassion. And if something feels uncomfortable, that is not a reason that you shouldn't write it down. You're allowed to feel all sorts of emotions when you write down your intentions.
That is okay. I think it also might be important depending on how you feel after this brainstorming that you might need to give yourself a little bit of love. So maybe you take a break and you don't do anything that requires a lot of mental, heavy lifting or processing after you do this. Maybe if you are with a friend, maybe do something fun and talk about something silly or go do something that brings you a lot of joy that also doesn't require an intense amount of thought or emotion.
You know what I'm saying? Like if you're doing this, like maybe after this is not the time to like do your texts or like immediately jump into something very emotionally texting or having a big deep conversation with someone that's been on your mind. Like maybe this is the time when you watch Netflix or go on a walk or pet a dog or walk your own dog or go over to your friend's house or something that is relaxing and restorative for you as well because this could be a lot. This could be like a lot of things.
And so I think it's also important to consider how can you support yourself after this process as well. We're all about being really supportive here and honoring that if a lot of things come up and this feels really big and draining that that is okay and that you are completely allowed the time after this big intentional brainstorming and braindumping to recharge and to give yourself a lot of grace, kindness and a little bit of extra love if that's what you need. And if that's not what you need, that's also totally fine. Everything here is very bio individual.
If you haven't listened to previous shows, everything here is about what you need and what you need might be different from someone else and that's completely okay. So the small steps for this show, find and create an environment that is best for your brain storming. Brainstorm all your intentions and record them in the best format for you and have a lot of kindness and compassion for yourself. I also do want to add in if you want to review the worksheets that you did before, that would also be the potential.
Great next step. And also if you need to give yourself a little bit of extra love and attention and maybe do something really extra calming and supportive for yourself after doing the brainstorm, if that's what you need, go for it. So that is it for this week's show. Next week we are going to get clear on those intentions that you brainstorm and help you narrow down which ones you want to focus on right now.
I hope you have a great week brainstorming this process, doing it at whatever speed or pace or environment that works for you. If you like the show, please consider leaving it or rating it and review on iTunes. And if you want to let me know how you like it, please tag me on Instagram, send me a DM at small underscore eats if you want to share this with anyone in your life that you think would really benefit from this or has been looking for something, please share it and let them know. Alright, until next week, you can do this, one small step at a time.
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And as always, until next week, you can do it one small step at a time.