When Asia came to me, her biggest challenge was that she wanted clear strategy for moving forward with her new brand. After her picked my brain session, she was asked during your session, did you gain any insights or knowledge or tools that you didn't have before? Asia's response was, yes! Exclamation point!
This session with Ayana was very helpful. She pushed me with her questions and also was encouraging and clear with her guidance. It made me feel empowered and my goals seem much more achievable. If you're on the fence about whether you should book your picked my brain session or not, I suggest that you do a little research, identify which your core issue, problem or topic is that you want to discuss.
Identify whether you think that I can be the person to help you or not, and if you decide that I'm the person that can help you, head over to SwitchPivaderQuid.com and book your session. I'm here to help encourage and guide you through your plot twist years as your chief and curager and host of the SwitchPivaderQuid podcast. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on iTunes if you have enjoyed listening to this podcast so far and check out SwitchPivaderQuid.com for even more personal and professional development resources. But for now, just sit back, open your mind and enjoy the show.
We're jumping right back in with another episode during Podmas, which is daily podcast December 1st through 12th. I hope that you all have been enjoying Podmas. So today we're going to be talking about what I learned about myself this year. And so as I mentioned, I'm not necessarily the biggest reflective person at the end of the year, but I did want to give some of our listeners an opportunity to share with you all what they've learned about themselves this year, or just what they learned in general this year.
So this episode is going to be a quick one and it's going to be more so about you guys. But I will share a little bit. But before I do any sharing, we are going to hear from our first listener. Hi, my name is Raquel Porch and in 2018, I both learned some things about myself, but I was also reminded of some things about myself that are propelling me into the new year.
One of the things that I was reminded of about myself is just how resilient I am. I've faced some challenges this year, both mentally and emotionally, and so on and so forth that I didn't see coming, and I've pushed through them, and I was just reminded that I'm just a really good strong person. But I learned just how tough I can be on myself. I am my worst critic.
I am my greatest competition. In this year, I learned how hard I can be on myself, and I learned ways in which to lighten that critique that I often carry around of myself. But in doing so, I also learned that I am capable of making myself proud, in spite of being hard on myself and always seeing the things that I can do to improve. I have done some things this year that have legitimately made me proud, and that is just a really amazing feeling to realize that I am capable of making myself proud.
I'm excited about the new year because I just see so many great things ahead. So I'm excited about pushing forward and working on my two businesses, CMLGoods, and Houston PrattleFlee. I don't know what obstacles would come along with trying to improve those two things, but I'm really excited about what lies ahead for both of those companies that I own. I'm also excited and nervous and scared about some sacrifices I'm going to have to make to reach some financial goals, but I'm excited because I know that the end result will be super worthwhile, and I'm excited about seeing what the end result will be.
And then lastly, I'm excited about doing some things that I kind of put off this year, just things that make me better make me happy, getting massages. I said I would do that this year, and I didn't do it very much very often, and so getting massages or spending time with my mom, maybe going on a girl's trip with my mom, just putting some priority on things that make me happy and not just things that I need to do. I'm really excited about making that high on my to-do list in 2019, and I'm looking forward to the new year. Raquel touched on so much.
I loved everything about her experience with this year, where she's learned about herself, where she's been reminded of about herself, her resilience, the things that she's looking forward to in the new year. That's what I forgot to tell you guys. I also wanted them to include what are you looking forward to in the new year, because it's not always just about looking in the past. It's also looking in the future.
What's exciting? What's coming up in the future? And sometimes the new year is just a fresh breath of air for a lot of people, so it's a way to wipe the slate clean. So it's like, what are you looking forward to?
Nothing but amazingness, of course. But I really can appreciate what Raquel was saying about just making time for doing the little things that you enjoy as well. We're always filled with all of these dreams, all of these to-do lists, all of these goals that sometimes we can overlook the fact that we just need to be in those moments sometimes, really with the people that we love, because you never know when those moments might not have an opportunity to be anymore. So taking advantage of that is also really, really great.
Love to Raquel's entry. Thank you so much, Raquel, for sharing with us and just being very honest about your experiences thus far this year. So I guess this is the time where I'll go ahead and throw in a little bit of my own what I learned about myself. So the first thing that I learned about myself this year is that I love to help people.
And when I say I love to help people, it's in a very organic way. And I really truly realize that now because it shows up in so many different ways. Like obviously, I'm helping people when I'm doing the pick my brain sessions. I'm helping people when I'm creating these SwitchPerve to Quit podcast episodes.
But day to day life, there's a lot of things that you guys don't see offline. And I just realize how much I give to other people and how I have this tendency to give freely. Now, there's two things with that. I like that about myself and I can appreciate that because that's one of the things that I don't think that there is enough of.
Everybody is always looking for the quid pro quo, like the something for something. But I do think that I need to watch it sometimes. I need to pay attention because there's always those people who will take advantage of your kindness and your willingness to help in. And I have noticed instances where I've given freely to people and they have not given freely to me in return.
And it's not that I asked for anything and they said no. It's just you just observing and noticing how people move their behaviors. Maybe let's say for example, an instance where they could have thought of me, but they didn't. But they didn't mind thinking of me to ask for my assistance or my knowledge or my expertise in a certain situation.
So it's like, I must not be too far off your radar because you thought of me to ask for my advice and my help. But you didn't think of me for X, Y, Z. Interesting. So with that understanding about what I learned about myself, I know that there are just some times where I need to learn when I need to fall back.
I don't need to give everybody everything all the time. Okay, let's hear from our next listener. Hi, my name is Albi and I'm an online interior designer, a military wife and a toddler mom. And I started this year with those three quote unquote titles as well as a million other things on my plate, thinking that I had it all figured out, thinking that the juggle was supposed to be a struggle.
And that was my new norm and that it was okay. And my word of the year was progress. So long as I was seeing progress, seeing myself move forward and that things were continuing to quote unquote evolve, then it was okay. And so I started this year with what in hindsight was a full clarity.
I thought that I had laid the groundwork to just only, you know, follow a particular wave when in reality 2018 taught me that I know anything. And that was okay, you know, instead of trying to be the perfect designer, perfect entrepreneur in general, the perfect mom, the perfect wife, the perfect student, the perfect friend, and all those things. I was actually shining my brightest when I was imperfect because I was learning, you know, I was making mistakes, but I was taking all of those mistakes and turning them into just these amazing lessons that ended up opening way more opportunities for me. You know, 2018 was a year of a lot of new.
It was a lot of pivots and a lot of quits. You know, I said no to things that I thought were what I wanted while saying yes to things that were scary and new, but they were awesome. So I went from just trying to pursue a particular avenue that I thought was the right one to doing that times 10 was hosting events. I was traveling.
I was doing podcast interviews. I was collaborating with brands with other entrepreneurs. And these are all things that I didn't even foresee coming. And they made me into a version of me that I forgot even existed.
I forgot about this strength and creativity that I had because I had it so buried deep down below my juggle and my struggle. And so for 2019, I'm super excited to take what 2018 gave me the high, the low, the wins, the losses, because really they were all wins. So I'm just excited to take all of that progress from 2018 and just continue to see where it leads me. Now I actually have a level of clarity that was unimaginable before and I can go into 2019 will not more intention because I have these building blocks in place.
So only just a bigger and better. And so I'm really excited for what lies ahead and I can't wait to share with you guys what my journey looks like. Albi, you better drop Jim's honey. She said, I was operating in a faux clarity.
She had a faux clarity when she started this year. Mmm. Love that. And when she talked about the striving for perfection and everything.
And she said, I was actually shining my brightest when I was imperfect. Whee. Mmm. Love that.
Love that. Hold on to that. There's something in that I know so many of us are trying to be the best that we can be and a lot of people get hindered by perfection. But there is something with understanding that there is still good.
There is still amazingness in your imperfections and your lack of understanding and your quest of just trying. Sometimes you just got to try and not look for perfection. Love that. Okay, let's hop into the next one.
Hey guys, this is Renata from nourishwithrenata.com. I am the founder and chief recipe developer for my healthy food and lifestyle blog. And I believe that eating healthy doesn't mean sacrificing flavor. You can eat healthy, nourishing, fueling food that also tastes amazing.
Over the past year, I've learned many things about myself. But the most important thing I have learned is that no one else will support your dreams as much as you do. Now, this may sound kind of negative at first, but let me explain. I used to be a huge people pleaser.
I would go out of my way to take care of the needs of my family, my kids, my husband, my employer, and even my dog before I looked after myself. This also meant that my self-worth was tied up in others' approval. If other people didn't like something I was doing, I stopped. And ultimately, that meant I stopped trying to pursue my dreams.
I had always wanted to start a healthy food blog and share my perspective on healthy living with others. But people in my family didn't get it. I would think to myself, one day I'll get to do it. One day.
It wasn't until one night when I was exhausted, after working full time, getting dinner on the table for my family, cleaning up after dinner and starting on some laundry when I finally had this realization. What am I doing with my life? There has to be more than just doing laundry and getting lost in the daily grind. It was then that I realized that I am the one who has to believe in myself.
I am the one who has to support myself, invest time in myself, and put my own priorities first, even when no one else may understand it. My self-worth is not a reflection of what other people think or like about me. My self-worth is how I think and believe in myself. So now I understand that I am my biggest supporter, and I am the one who is ultimately responsible for my dreams.
And I plan to keep believing in my abilities and achieving my goals in 2019. I plan to invest even more time in my business, seek out more opportunities to not only earn a living, but also impact more people to begin their healthy eating journey. I am so excited to see where 2019 takes me. And I know that I will be my absolute biggest supporter.
Loving all of that from Renata, I felt like she was giving us a bunch of affirmations within her message about what she learned about herself this year. That was just so good. And she's right. You have to be your own biggest advocate, believe in yourself, champion your own dreams, because people are not going to sit around generally and say, yes, you can do it.
You should do it and cheer you along the entire way. Most times they don't have time or don't even care. They're too busy trying to figure out their own stuff. Everybody trying to work through their own stuff, figure out their own life.
So it's up to you to be a champion and an advocate for your dreams and getting out there and trying the things that you want to do. So I hope that this was uplifting for you. I hope that it gave you some encouragement going into your new year and that you found some bright spots and these women sharing their experiences with you from what they've learned this year and what they're looking forward to next year. Enjoy your time.
Enjoy your vacation. If you have vacation coming up, your family, you know, all those good times because it's easy to overlook and let those things go. Those good moments and times fly past us. But this is the season and the time to really immerse ourselves in the love, in the support, in the friendship, in the relationship that we have around us.
And I hope that you're able to do that. And then go into next year feeling refreshed and feeling excited and energized about what's to come and what you are going to embark on. I wish you, as always, all the best on your journey. Thank you so much for spending time with me.
And, you know, like I said, I'm not going to. So I'm going to try and stop saying keep killing it because I want to usher in a new based off of Paul Walker if you listened to the previous episode. And I'm going to end this one with saying be good.