Today’s post is very close to my heart because it’s so wild looking back and seeing the steps that got me to be the woman I am today. I talk to many of my business coaching clients about cultivating that deep knowing within that helps them step up and into their purpose because it’s essiential to getting anything done in this world! So without further ado, the 3 ways I stepped up as a lead and changed my life..
1. YOUR LIFE WILL EXPAND IN PROPORTION TO YOU COURAGE.
I was at the lowest of lows – literally what I lovingly look back on as my “eat, pray, love bathroom floor moment” for you Elizabeth Gilbert fans. I had spent all night crying in the corner of my living room and then in the shower and somehow finally made it back to my bed. My long term relationship was over, I had done it, he wasn’t ready to go the distance and we weren’t happy. What I didn’t know is that I’d be getting a phone call a few days later from mom letting me know that my 23 year old brother had a terminal illness, an aggressive auto immune disease that had already taken his entire large intestine and was primed to move on to his liver next. I had never been so upset in my whole life. How could this happen to him? Why not me? He’s got so much life ahead of him, such a sweet kid, how am I suppose to live with this? Needless to say, it rocked me to my core.
It also made me realize how precious each day is. We don’t know if we have next year, next month or next week, so I decided to stop WAITING to live. I dove into a heavy meditation practice to keep my head in gear and process all the emotions and I started following my joy. I was now palpably aware that all I had was the now – so why not send that email? I naturally became more ballsy. I still wasn’t sure at the time what I wanted to do, I was on the line between actress and at home baker. I looked forward to spending time in my kitchen, I made pretty low quality youtube videos of me cooking just because it made me happy. I stopped caring what it looked like and started following what felt good and my life expanded.
It was from pouring my heart into what I loved, not caring it paid me but just wanting to bring more joy into my life that landed me on a cooking show on National TV. It lead me to my two book deals in the work, clients who emailed me before I even knew what coaching was and ultimately designing the life I love. Your life will expand in proportion to your courage – what are you waiting for?
2. YOUR STORY IS WHAT HEALS + YOUR STORY IS ENOUGH.
When people first started emailing me after reading my blog about health coaching, I had no idea what I was doing. I thought, ” who am I to be coaching people?” because I didn’t have a nutrition degree. It was actually a lecture I had listened to from Gabby Bernstein that shifted my perspective on the matter. Gabby talked about how it was our story that heals, how the biggest gift we can give to another person is our own experience. I realized that what I had was more precious than any certification or degree because I could help women who had gone through what I was going through. I had reclaimed a healthy body image, learned what food worked best for my body and developed a deeply loving and caring relationship for myself and I could guide others in doing the same. Now, I’ve got even more that I can share and help guide people with because I’ve lived way beyond that but at the time, just knowing that my story was enough gave me the confidence to go out and serve.
I don’t believe our stories are an accident. I think they are divinely orchestrated so that we have an arsenal of real-life tools to help be of service to others. What’s your story? Chances are it’s a big clue as to who you are hear to serve in this lifetime. Gabby has an amazing video about her 3 essentials to step up and be a leader that I highly recommend you check out if you haven’t already because I know it will launch you into even further action! Watch that video here.
3. I STARTED LIVING IN FULL INTEGRITY WITH HOW I WAS HERE TO SERVE.
What in the world does that mean?! Well it’s simple, I focused on living in such a way that if someone was recording my life for a reality TV show – it would be inspiring and people would be inspired by how I went about my day. I practiced radical integrity from everything from my self-care practice, what I ate, how long I meditated, the way I went about my business, you name it. Here’s where the magic really started happening. When you start doing the work on YOU, you begin to fill up your inner well and when you are all filled up, it will naturally overflow on to the rest of the world. When you are completely living your message, content is at your finger tips, you are your own advertising and you don’t need to sell anyone on anything.
I also believe taking care of the practices that support you allow you to be a bigger container for the abundance the universe can throw your way. Your responsibility, discipline and dedication naturally attract the type of opportunities for you to really step up and be a leader. This is a large part of why I created the LightMaker lifestyle mentorship, it’s not just about taking care of yourself, fueling yourself on the highest vibe food and creating time to connect with your inner truth, it’s about creating such a solid foundation that you can go out and design your most expansive life. It begins with YOU, once you are a living example of what you are here to do, once you are filling yourself up so high that it overflows into everything you do, you will naturally float into the highest vision of your life.
(For those of you contemplating the LightMaker Lifestyle Mentorship – we are at capacity but I have decided to let two more people in since we have split it into two different segments, regular + lite, and since I don’t believe I’ll ever be offering this transformational program again. Email me ASAP if this calls you!)