Discovering Your True Identity: Steps to Personal Liberation

Imagine if you were to experience true liberation from living behind a mask, so that you were finally able to speak your truth and fully embrace who you are. How would you feel?  Show Notes | Transcript "The armor in which you continue to place on your own being becomes that much more stifling to the true essence that we were brought into this earth of perfection in our imperfection." - Michelle Bishop In this heartfelt episode, I sit down with Michelle Bishop, a certified life coach and author of "Choose You First," to explore the transformative power of self-love and authenticity. Michelle shares her inspiring journey from silent struggles to empowering others, reminding us that our stories - even the messy parts - can be exactly what someone else needs to hear. Discover how to: How to break free from self-doubt and reclaim your life after adversity The importance of embracing your authentic self and shedding limiting beliefs Why choosing yourself first is crucial for personal growth and healthy relationships Practical strategies for building inner resilience and creating a life filled with joy and purpose Key insights include: The impact of childhood experiences on our ability to speak up and express ourselves How vulnerability and authenticity can lead to deeper, more fulfilling relationships The difference between self-care and true self-love Why small, attainable goals are essential for lasting personal transformation Michelle also shares her personal story of overcoming grief, rediscovering her identity, and achieving remarkable physical and emotional healing. Her journey serves as a powerful reminder that it's never too late to choose yourself and create the life you desire. Whether you're struggling with self-doubt, seeking to build stronger relationships, or simply looking to live more authentically, this conversation offers valuable insights and practical strategies to help you embrace your true self and thrive. Tune in to start your journey towards self-love and personal empowerment! Connect with Michelle Website: Bishoplife.com Resources: Join the Soulful Women's Network here Receive daily inspirational email messages: bit.ly/LoveLightNotes Need support? Go to engagewithgloria.com to schedule a call. Connect with Live Love Engage: Send Gloria Grace a message ☕ Support the podcast ❤ Love this episode? Leave us a review and rating LinkedIn: Gloria Grace Rand Facebook: Gloria Grace Rand YouTube: Gloria Grace Rand TRANSCRIPT Gloria Grace Rand Namaste. Are you ready to meet someone who transformed her silent struggles into a powerful mission of inspiring others? Well, I hope so, because I am about to dive into a heart to heart conversation about breaking free from self doubt and finding the courage to share your truth. And I believe it's a journey that's going to remind you that your story, even the messy parts, could be exactly what someone else needs to hear. But first, I do want to welcome you to live Love Engage. Especially if this is your first time finding us and listening or watching, if you happen to be watching on YouTube. I am Gloria Grace, the founder of Align to Shine Academy and I work with spiritually minded women entrepreneurs to break free from self doubt and step into their highest potential. And that's why I really love our guests today because we are so aligned. Her name is Michelle Bishop and she is a certified life coach and author of the book choose you first. And she helps women reclaim their lives after adversity by embracing self love and building inner resilience. Again, two of my favorite subjects. And through coaching, workshops and speaking, Michelle empowers clients to shed limiting beliefs, strengthen self worth and create lives filled with joy and purpose. And I swear we must have the same website. I, I swear it, it is cracking me up so much because we're just like simpatico here. So I want to welcome you officially, Michelle, to Live Love Engage. Michelle Bishop Thank you, Grace, I really appreciate it. Gloria Grace Rand Oh well, I, I, I just love that you are on this mission to help women love themselves. And I, I know why it's important to me. But I'd love for you to share with our audience what, why is it important to you? Michelle Bishop What I have finally come to the understanding is that no one can feel your love but yourself. And people ask me, you know, why now? And I was like, well, it took almost 59 years to get here and a lot of life experience and through adversities, recognizing that no one can truly complete you unless you're complete yourself within. Gloria Grace Rand I can relate to that so much through personal experience as well. So, so tell us a little bit about your journey because I know part of it was, was you, you are not able, you weren't able to like speak up. I think for yourself as part, part of that. And so, so how did you wind up sort of reclaiming your life? Michelle Bishop When you say unable to speak up, that's accurate. The title of my book is choose you first. As adults, we have the opportunity to choose the decisions and our actions throughout life. But as a child, you have truly no choice. And so when you live in adversity abuse, you learn that as being your normal as opposed to when you might be wanting to speak out, then you're actually pushed down even further into that traps of emotional, possibly mental as well as physical abuse. And, and so you always lean towards taking the least path of resistance so you stay quiet in it. And it becomes a life pattern in so much that you do. And it often creates continued layers of mask that occur throughout the stages of, you know, infancy to even toddler to young, child to child to teenage to young adults, and then, you know, raising children, business. And as those masks continue and you do not speak up, you're thinking everybody, you're, you're doing for everyone else. But in turn the armor in which you continue to place on your own being becomes that much more stifling to the true essence that we were brought into this earth of perfection in our imperfection. Gloria Grace Rand Oh yeah, yeah, I, I definitely, like I said I could, I can relate to that as well because for me growing up it, I really kind of quickly learned it was better to just, you know, try to be not exactly invisible, but to just, you know, kind of like, okay, I want to make sure that I don't provoke, you know, my mom in particular and, and so let me just kind of, you know, try to be quiet and, and that, and not speak up. And yet I do know, and I might ask you, ask you about this if you found this, is that when I was away from my family, I was able to be much more of myself and could. And even in school I found myself in opportunities where I did speak up. Not all the time because I also got bullied in middle school, as I think a lot of people do, but I think especially in high school as I'm getting older. So did you find that, could you find it a little bit easier maybe outside of the family dynamic sometime to be able to speak up a little bit more? Michelle Bishop That's a great question. And I was I guess born very, very filled with love and with a sweet soul and kind. And so in that I really chose not to make a lot of waves. So if that was, I went to a very small private school went which was a great experience because it was a safe environment. But those days are very different back then than they are now. So even back then, if there was any type of questioning, it didn't occur because you didn't speak about it. But I really internalized my own self being by creating my own world of wonderment. I, I enjoyed times that were Quiet that I was in nature, or I would see a flower even. I don't know if you remember those. I think they call them dandelions. Like, you blow those. Yeah, you blow them as a child and just see all this, like, so, you know, it was more of a. Those were more my safe havens because I always felt like I was on the stage or had to act a certain way. My parents, well, my mother actually worked at the school as well, so that made it a lot more difficult. Gloria Grace Rand Yeah, that's true. I could. I could definitely see that. And yeah, I, I, I think my refuge was books. I was always reading. So that way, you know, wherever, you know, in school, at home, what have you. Michelle Bishop So isn't that interesting how we find our own little outlets? Gloria Grace Rand Absolutely. So what made the difference? What, what shifted for you? You finally decide to actually choose you, you yourself, first? Michelle Bishop Like I said, that is a long time coming. Actually, the deciding factor was ultimately when I was vulnerable, authentic and real. It was with the love of my life. I had met my husband, actually, in 1995, and we. He was in a marriage. I was getting ready to be married, and then was married and had two beautiful children. So we kind of drifted away. And then back in 2003, amazingly enough, when my mother had passed away, who was my abuser, I had run into him on one of the busiest days in our area, because it was fall and it's beautiful in the Smoky Mountains. And had. He thought I'd moved back to Florida. And we reconnected and ended up getting married. And I. Before we started our relationship, I'd said, do you want to know me? The real me, not the business person, not the. The mother, not the friend, not all these little channels I put myself in, but all of me. And he's like, absolutely. And so I was completely honest, completely vulnerable, and truly had first experienced love in its full entirety in our relationship. And then in 2019, he had a tragic accident and died. He was in a drowning accident, fell off of a yacht that. On. Off a business trip that I happened to not be with him, and drowned. And that was completely unexpected....