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Your Past Doesn’t Define You · More Than Before

0:06
This is more than before with Nathan Cook.
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Hey everyone, our guest today is a global award-winning speaker,
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best selling author and quite an amazing singer, might I add, who
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is finishing up her first album. Right now in the recording
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studio, she is inspirational, a bright light and she's just an
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absolute joy to be around. She's a good friend of mine.
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She's a colleague, Dr. Michelle Moras.
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Welcome to the show. I am super excited to have you.
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You know, it has been a really long time coming to start this
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podcast up. You and I, we've been on a lot
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of podcasts together. You have your own podcast that
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you run. Actually, you have a couple
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shows that you run very consistently and it is just an
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honor for me to have you on as a guest and to share this amazing
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woman with you today you are about to experience.
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Some amazing, amazing gifts of information, so make sure you
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got a pen ready. Take some great notes because
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Michelle is just going to pour into your life.
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Michelle, welcome. How are you doing today?
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I'm doing great. I'm thinking, Oh my goodness, I
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have a lot to live up to. Well, just like you always do
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with me, I got to set the bar really high, got to have high
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expectations for everyone, right?
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It is true. I always do that too too.
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But thank you so much for watching.
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And Michelle, I'm excited. You know, it's it's funny, we've
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known each other for a number of years.
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But I want to go back to start our our talk out, to start the
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show out. I want to go back to a really,
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really distant past. I want to start out with where,
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where did Michelle come from? Because I think we, we that know
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Michelle have seen her in this amazing glory.
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You know, I knew you before you. All of a sudden blew up and
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we're this amazing. You've always been this amazing
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speaker. But before everyone knew who you
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were. I'm curious, where did where did
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you grow up? What?
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What was life like as a kid for you?
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Do you know the movie The Jerk? Yeah, Steve Martin.
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I always say I was born a poor black child.
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My father is French Creole and my mother's Filipino and he was
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military stationed in the Philippines.
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So I grew up in the Philippines for the 1st 16 years of my life.
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Most people would not realize that Michelle did not spend her
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childhood here in the US She actually has a very different
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outlook on life because of that. Oh, big time.
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I had so much culture shock when I came to America.
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I I honestly, truly believed that people sang in the streets.
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The streets were gold. Candy grew on trees.
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I mean, I really believed all the hype that Hollywood had ever
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put out. I expected to see Gene Kelly.
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So when I came off the airplane at, you know, 15 1/2, I came out
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and said, who by this wonderful morning, and no one answered me.
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So I realized we're that there aren't a lot of Nathans in the
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world. Because when I met you and I
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sang, you sang with me. And that's really what what
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brought me to you as I've always loved to sing and I've always
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wanted someone to answer me and people didn't.
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And I learned that at 5th and then a half, the streets are not
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made of gold and people are not singing and dancing in unison.
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It's true, they're not. But, but I will say Michelle
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does work hard to get everyone to sing.
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Everyone to come around and and be part of something great.
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You know, that's one of the things I love about you
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Michelle, is that you are so real, so inviting.
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You have this community aspect about you that you just welcome
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people in to your community. What was community like for you
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growing up? Like, what was it?
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Was it large community? Was it small community?
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Like, you know, I grew up. I grew up in a family of four,
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four kids, me included. And you know, for me it was
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always this like OK kind of rough and tumble kind of thing.
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I have, I have. I have a little inkling that
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maybe community for you might have been bigger than just a
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couple people. My mother's the eldest of 16
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children, so my mother and my grandmother were having children
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at the same time. So my uncles and my aunts are
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the same age as my brothers and I and my sisters.
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So I grew up with all my aunts and uncles.
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We were all the same age. We were all riding our bikes
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together and doing crazy things together.
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And we were they, they were my uncles and my aunts.
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But we grew up as a gigantic family.
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So think of 12 other children about my age and then my fam, my
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immediate family. There was four of us.
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And then ten years after me, they were the twins.
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So this huge pack of just the immediate family and then all of
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the real cousins. So in the Philippines, if you
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know Philippine culture, we are family and we just gather
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people. So a lot of times I called
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people my aunts and my uncles and my cousins and we really had
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no relation. It's just they were always with
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us and we were always eating and dancing and singing.
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So yes, I love community. I love that so much.
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How, how has that shaped the way that you create community around
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you right now? I love everyone like they're my
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brother and my sister I and that's what I think people get
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confused when they meet me is that I really do see you as my
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brother and my sister I and I I you're maybe a complete stranger
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but to you I love you until you prove me wrong and I'll still
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love you. So it doesn't really matter.
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But that's what brings that's why I am the community oriented
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human I am. You know, I can walk into a room
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of 3000 and a good 2000 that walked by me will say, gosh,
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that's a really nice person, whoever she is a really nice
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person, you know, it's just who I am.
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It's part of me. It really is part of you.
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You know, You've always been so welcoming.
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Ever since I've known you, you've always been a person that
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just welcomes everyone in. And I think what's interesting
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about that too is because of that ability to welcome people
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in, you know, you have welcomed people into your life that maybe
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weren't the greatest people. And over time, I think there was
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a maturity that came along with that of, hey, you know, I'm
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creating this tribe that I want to grow, that I want for them to
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reach their full potential in life.
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I want them to swing for the stars.
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And because of that desire, you actually started editing the
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people that you were surrounding yourself with.
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You know, with that process of going from, hey, I have a tribe.
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Everyone is welcome, which is true.
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Everyone is welcome until you start to really get to
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understand and know the person. And I think there's maybe some
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characteristics and traits about those people that come forth
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that you say, you know what, this person actually isn't part
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of my tribe. What was, what was that process
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like? Maybe that was a was that a like
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an early on in life process where you started to realize
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that you had to maybe put some boundaries in or was that
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something? That came along with career, and
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as you came along with with speaking and and mentoring, it
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came along later. Because as a child I kept
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looking. I'm always looking for the good
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in people, always. And as a child it kind of burned
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me. As a teenager, it burned me
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more. And as I got into the political
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world, like my my past life was in the political world, I
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started realizing not everyone is what they seem to be.
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And then when I branched out into the coaching world and all
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the other things that I've gone through, I went, yeah, no, yeah,
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no. And I just noticed that there
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were personality traits I did not want anywhere near me.
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And so basically, the number one that I keep away from me is
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negativity. If someone talks about anyone
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else, I'm very nice about it. I just step away and I I'll let
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them talk and oh, interesting and note to myself if they're
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talking about so and so, more than likely they're talking
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about me. So you can just go away because
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gossip is elaborated, whatever. I don't care if you think it's
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the truth. It's your reality, not everyone
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else's. So don't talk about it.
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So that's the first person I decided I need to keep out of my
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life. Negative people or people who
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talk about other people. And then the other thing was I
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realized people who can see beyond their nose, if they can
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see, Oh my gosh, in in five or ten years, I would and see
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something big. I don't even care what the big
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thing is, just to be able to see.
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Because when I've met people who are in my world and I said, you
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know what? One day I'd like to sing on
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Broadway and they went another chance of that.
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You're not even in New York. I knew I needed to keep those
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people away from me. We are so susceptible.
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Our subconscious minds remember everything that gets taken in.
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When I was recovering from my, my traumatic brain injury, I
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realized that when people would say something to me, it would be
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internalized, even when I didn't want it internalized.
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So I have a brain injury and I would go out and I would say,
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I'm sorry, I have a brain injury.
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And I can't remember. And they do you have a brain
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injury. I'm so sorry.
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Why aren't you home? I mean, how do you, how do you
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feel? Are you sick?
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And they would ask me all these questions, and although I'm
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saying straight to them, I feel fine.
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I'm just tired. When I would get home, my brain,
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my subconscious, would take in everything they said and I
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would. Do I have a brain injury?
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Maybe I'm sick. Maybe I should sit in the dark
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and my body would get physically, I'll.
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So I am very careful of the people who interject negativity
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into my mind, even when they don't even mean to.
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So you're 55. Wow, do your joints ache?
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Because wow, when I was 45, my joints were aching.
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No, I'm good and I'll walk away. Why?
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Because I'm if I am 55 and if I hear that, I will start aching.
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It's what your mind does. You take on what you hear.
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So I also avoid music that is agitating movies that are
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agitating TV shows. Anything negative that will be
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put into my subconscious mind, I avoid.
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So that's why I'm usually singing happy songs and Disney
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songs and I'm. I'm laughing and smiling and
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watching things and like nature shows where you know, birds are
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flapping, you know, not the tigers eating things, but just
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happy things. Because I know my subconscious
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mind really is sensitive to it, and I believe everyone's is.
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I just noticed it because I have a brain injury.
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You know, I think what's really interesting about that, I love
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that you. I love that you give like two
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really good parameters that you've put in place in your life
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to make sure that you're putting the right people in place,
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actually have this kind of dual thought within the people that
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you're bringing around you. First of all, the negative
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people, those that might speak or gossip about others.
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I love that you say that. But the negative, the negative
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thought person that is in your life is truly, and it's going to
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sound really bad, but they're cancer.
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They really are cancer. And that doesn't mean that you
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don't have people around in your life that have a reality about
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them. Because we need people in
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reality, the people who are dreamers, we we need them around
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us. So we could say, Oh yeah, maybe
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I maybe I shouldn't go and sell the farm, you know, to go on
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this little adventure of mine, right?
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We need people like that. But we also need people in our
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life that not only bring us to reality, but see the opportunity
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and potential of what we could be.
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So I love that you say that about taking out the negative in
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your life, not being so removed that you don't see reality, but
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removing the negative. And then having people in your
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life who are big visionaries, people who see beyond what their
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nose is, I love that you say that.
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It's such a great visual because most people can't see what's in
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front of their face, like. And even at some point, I think
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even for you, there was a long period of time where you didn't
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sing right, You didn't sing at all because of things that were
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spoken over you. In your life, Tell me.
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Tell me a little bit about that because you have this recording
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that you're actually finishing up right now.
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She's in the studio working hard.
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Her voice is absolutely spectacular.
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And if you see the full range of the type of music that she's
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working with, your brain is just going to explode.
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So Michelle, how in the world did you go from not believing
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you even had a voice? To being a powerhouse voice
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that's starting to record and about to put her album out for
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the first time ever. How did you do that?
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I went back to my roots when I was a little girl.
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My father wanted us. There were so many of us in the
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family. He wanted us to be like the new
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Jackson 5. And so I was always the front
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person. I was always the singer and they
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always put me in the front and I would sing.
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And as I got older, I would try out for church choir and they
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would say, sorry, you can't be in church choir, you Can't Sing,
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you Can't Sing. And so I would hear you Can't
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Sing. And then when I was in high
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school, I heard I had in my mind, I Can't Sing.
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And I remember my one of my siblings said, well, Michelle,
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you're a church singer. You're not a, you're not a
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singer singer. Well, so I went back to church
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and church said, no, you are not a choir singer.
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You don't blend. And so I thought that was a very
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bad thing. So in high school, all of my
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friends, I was a big band person, pep band and all that
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stuff. But I never joined the choir.
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And one day I was walking down the aisle of the hallway of the
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school and I'm, you know, me, I always sing nowadays especially.
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But in high school, I there was a girl named Wendy, and I had
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this crazy thing about me where I love to sing lyrics that work
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like sentences. And so she was walking down the
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hallway and I went, who's peeking now from under the
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stairway? And I was singing to her down
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this hallway, and it was echoing like a bathroom.
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So my, the acoustics were amazing.
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And a teacher jumps out of the room, he goes, who's singing out
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here? And I went and I hid and all my
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friends went is Michelle. And they all pointed at me.
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I'm like, they all outed me out. And the teacher comes out and he
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goes, why aren't you in my choir?
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And I said, oh, I'm sorry Sir, I I Can't Sing.
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And he said, I beg to differ. And he brought me in and he
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played scales on the piano and he told me whatever I play, you
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sing. And he went dum dum dum dum dum,
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He went all the way up. And when he's done, he said, do
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you know you have perfect pitch? I said, I don't know what that
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means. And he said he also sang three
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Ledger lines above the staff and two below perfect.
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I went OK, is that good? He is.
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That's very good. You're in my choir.
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And so he brought me an entire schedule.
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He took me out of physics to put me in his choir and I ended up
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having moved my my physics. It was crazy.
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He moved me and he was the first one who said, I don't know who
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told you you Can't Sing, but you can sing.
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That was my senior year. I never auditioned for anything,
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for any solos because I'm just a a singer.
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And I remember him coming up to me and he said, you need to
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audition for the class song. And I said, Oh no, that's for so
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and so and so and so. I'm not that good.
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He says just audition. And we auditioned in front of
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the whole choir for our senior song for graduation.
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And I got it and I sang in front of my graduating class, and my
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class alone I think was like 5000.
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And I I remember the whole room and it was a from fame.
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I sing the body electric, I glory in the glory of rebirth.
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And I remember singing in it, my whole voice taking that entire
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stadium up, thinking, Oh my gosh, I love this.
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But as years went by I never got into the choir again.
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And then I was told to shut up. I was too loud and I remember
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encapsulating that into me. And it wasn't until I met you at
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Doctor Paul Shealy's event that I had this huge revelation that
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my voice was part of who I am and that I by holding it back, I
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was holding back the next level of me.
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I was always lost and now I found myself and I found it
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through music. And so that is why now I've
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recorded an album, because people like you in my life.
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I mean you were one of the people I kept near because you
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see the potential. I mean you see the dreamer in me
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and dream with me and it's helped me dream bigger than I
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can dare to dream. It's having people of in my
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world that do you know what, wouldn't that be cool?
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And we dream big. And what I do is I shoot for the
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stars and wherever I land I'm happy.
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And now I have an album coming out and I found out by my music
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producer who happens to be a Commodore, that I have a
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phenomenal voice. Here I am always thinking I was
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mediocre. I'm OK.
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I'm. I'm a great Disney singer.
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For my kids to know that I have an album with a person who has
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an ear for music. That's all he does.
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My husband has a recording of me singing in in the recording
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studio. And Thomas, his eyes are closed.
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He's not touching any keys and he's he's in the music while I'm
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singing. He's not touching anything and I
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think that is probably the biggest, wow that I have a
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trained musician who's been doing this for 50 years of his
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life or whatever, in love with my voice.
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And I think what are the possibilities and what's next?
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Because dreamers like you? Wow, What's next, you know?
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It's spectacular. I love what you you said this a
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little bit earlier and I want to, I want to double back to
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this, that it's important to surround yourself with people
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who believe in you. You know, it's it's funny
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because as you were talking, this phrase came into mind.
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Don't let people place their perceptions of you on you,
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because that's what happened for a long period of your life.
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Because the majority of people that are around us, that are
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around people, you know, I I would say that you and I were
19:12
both bright, shiny stars. We we naturally track, you know,
19:15
people throwing things at us. And there's there's something
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about this, this piece of it's really easy for us to allow
19:24
other people to place their perceptions on top of us.
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And and the more we allow other people to place their
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perceptions on us, the more we begin to change to meet that
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expectation. Ever expectation you allow
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people to place on you, you'll never outlive that.
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However, if you place your own expectation of yourself to be
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higher than that of anyone else, then you will always rise to
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that level of expectation. You'll never.
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You'll never go below that. You'll always need it, and
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you'll never go above it either. So place a great expectation of
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who you are and who you're created to be.
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Because I love this. Your teacher was the first
20:04
person. Who you borrowed belief from.
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You borrowed belief from this teacher who heard your voice and
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said, Oh my gosh, Michelle, you are absolutely spectacular.
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You need to join my choir. There is the belief and then he
20:19
saw something greater than you. Hey, I want you to be the star.
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I want you to belt it out and to sing and what you never knew and
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what you know now, Maybe not back then, but your voice was
20:34
part of who you are. And I I'm almost curious, what
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do you think would have happened if instead of going back to the
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people who didn't believe that you were a good singer?
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What do you think would have happened in your life if you had
20:49
surrounded yourself? If you had placed that belief
20:54
that you were a singer close to you, proximity of belief, if you
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had surrounded yourself with those people way back when you
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were a kid, what do you where do you think you'd be today?
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Honestly, I would have sung the original Porgy in best
21:08
summertime. I would have done it younger.
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But you know, The thing is is my voice has matured exponentially
21:15
over the past five years and I was smiling at you when you're
21:18
you're doing that review because a quote came to mind and I
21:21
happened to have it on my board here next to me.
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It's a quote by MH McKee. Says a true leader has the
21:28
confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions
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and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.
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They are much like Eagles. They don't flock.
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You find them one at a time and I keep that next to me because I
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meet so many Eagles in my life and they're with me for a little
21:50
bit. I learn and then they fly away.
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And now I see myself as an eagle, that also I come through.
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I'll help somebody and then I fly away and there's so many of
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us just kind of circling around, you know, doing our thing and
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helping each other when we need each other.
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But like your question, who would I be if I was surrounded
22:10
by people who believe me from the get go?
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You wouldn't be talking to me right now.
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The other thought, it's kind of dark.
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I would have burned out by now. I'm 55 if I had started with my
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father wanted me to sing when I was 5.
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I would have been like a young Michael Jackson.
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I would have been either went supernova or burned out and has
22:34
been now because I went too fast, too soon before I was
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mature enough to understand. See, I also do believe
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everything happens for some reason, what shape or what form,
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but everything that I has gone on in my life has prepared me to
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1 handle the amount of attention that will come with this ability
22:52
to sing because apparently I have a very unique voice.
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And two, all the things that have happened to me in the past
22:59
have prepared me mentally to be strong enough to handle the
23:02
criticism that comes with being in the spotlight.
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The old me would have crumpled. The new of me says bring it.
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It's OK. I don't need your opinions.
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I know who I am, you see. Yeah, you know, I love this
23:18
about Michelle. For those of you that don't know
23:21
Michelle, definitely follow her on Instagram, on Facebook,
23:25
wherever their social media she has.
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She has social media, social media out there.
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Make sure you follow her. But you know, one of the things
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I love about Michelle is truly her journey.
23:34
If you were to, if you were to go back, you know, it's funny
23:36
because I was actually going back a little while ago and I
23:39
was looking for when Michelle first stepped out into the
23:42
speaker world, I was encouraging her to do Facebook lives when
23:48
Facebook lives were a thing. And so I I was like, hey, you
23:51
know, you need to go and you need to start Facebook lives and
23:54
do it. And she said, well, I'm only
23:55
going to do it if you do it with me.
23:57
I'm not going to do it for any other reason.
23:59
And so I said, OK, like, I'll, I'll do it with you.
24:01
And so I was searching through Facebook to find our first
24:04
Facebook life. I took a little screenshot here.
24:07
Now look at, just look at the woman.
24:09
If you're watching the video here.
24:10
If you look at her, you see a woman that is just completely
24:15
stressed. She like how how much did you
24:18
weigh in this picture, Michelle? That was before my cancer
24:23
diagnosis, so I believe I was at at least three something 3, 100,
24:28
so over, so over 300 pounds. And I'm not, you know, my mother
24:35
taught me. Well, I'm not going to ask now,
24:36
but let me if you were looking at Michelle right now, She
24:39
doesn't look anything like this photo.
24:42
And one of the most remarkable things about Michelle is that if
24:45
you were to look at her and look at this picture from the past,
24:48
you would say, Oh my gosh, Michelle, did you get on some
24:51
kind of like, diet? Are you on keto?
24:54
Are you on Paleo? Are you?
24:55
You know, what diet are you on? What did you do to lose all that
24:58
weight? And here's what I know about
25:00
Michelle. The time of transformation and
25:03
change for her had nothing to do with diet.
25:07
It had nothing to do with exercise and had everything to
25:10
do with her identity and her mindset.
25:15
Michelle, you know exactly that time period that I'm talking
25:19
about. Walkthrough for the listeners
25:22
right now. What did that look like for you
25:25
to release, right? That's the word we like to use.
25:29
What did it take for you to release this weight?
25:33
Because it wasn't a physical thing.
25:35
It was it was 100% a mental thing.
25:37
In order for you to be where you are today?
25:39
Well, I think. It's a 98% mental thing, 2%
25:42
physical. I I was battling a brain injury,
25:46
so I have a traumatic brain injury and on top of that got
25:49
diagnosed with breast cancer. Now the old me was I need my
25:53
brain, I don't care about my body and so I just let my body
25:56
go, OK. My brain injury.
25:58
I was stuck in my body for over 2 years so I just.
26:01
They've just fed me, and I never moved.
26:03
And so I gained a lot of weight, So I was.
26:05
I've dropped 240 pounds. OK, So when you look at me, you
26:09
think she's definitely on some sort of a diet.
26:11
No, I'm on a livid. I say a livid because with my
26:16
brain injury, I had to feed my brain food for it to heal.
26:20
I needed high protein. Well, with the high protein came
26:24
high fat. So I'm eating protein.
26:27
And then my cholesterol started going up.
26:28
And they're like, you need to eat only lean protein.
26:31
I'm like, OK, So I have to do this.
26:33
Yes. OK And you have to take out
26:35
this. Yes, I do.
26:36
OK. So lean protein.
26:38
And so I went to lean protein and I cut out all red meat and
26:41
went to only fish. And then my body got really sick
26:44
because I couldn't get enough iron.
26:46
So all these things I was doing, trying to feed my brain.
26:49
And while I'm feeding my brain, I found out I had breast cancer.
26:53
So my brain started healing. Then I found I had breast
26:55
cancer. But with a breast cancer, you
26:57
basically go on a very strict, almost like a diabetic diet,
27:03
where you have to watch every carb that comes in because carbs
27:08
turn to sugar. So I started watching.
27:10
I cut sugar. I I understood white sugar out.
27:14
So anything that was white didn't go into my body.
27:17
That's what I understood. That's how I started.
27:19
And I. I started taking away.
27:21
I took away sodas, first sodas and and splenda in my coffee.
27:26
OK, so I started that. And what happened was I realized
27:29
that sometimes it works, sometimes it didn't.
27:32
Like I wasn't diabetic. So if I ate rice, my blood sugar
27:36
didn't spike, but if I had a potato, it did.
27:38
So I went, OK, well I'll eat potatoes and I won't eat right.
27:41
You know, vice versa, I'll eat rice and I won't eat potatoes.
27:44
And so I just kept playing with all these different things they
27:46
told me were bad for me and found this.
27:50
Happy place. And what I realized was I'm
27:53
worthy. That's what the 98% was.
27:58
I was worthy of health. I was worthy of living longer.
28:02
I was worthy of not having pain. I was worthy of healing.
28:05
And in order to do that, I needed to give my body what it
28:08
needed. So in order to give my body what
28:10
it needs, I needed to get quiet enough to listen to it so often.
28:14
We eat and we eat so fast, you know, Dang, I eat that whole
28:17
plate. I must have been hungry.
28:20
I don't do it that way anymore. Now I take a bite and I think I
28:24
might chew it like 15,000 *. I I I think they call it mass
28:29
masculating mastication. Mastication.
28:32
I choose so long that everyone else is done eating and I'm
28:35
still on bite one and so everyone laughs at me.
28:38
But what I do is I wait for my body to tell me when it doesn't
28:41
want it anymore. So I will put something in my
28:44
mouth and I will chew. I love French fries.
28:47
I mean love French fries. I can't eat them.
28:51
I'll put them in my mouth. I'll chew and do, and my body
28:54
literally will say that is old grease that is gross.
28:59
And although I love them, my body hates them.
29:01
So I listen to my body. That's kind of how I did it.
29:06
And so if you're ever around me, yes, I eat slow.
29:10
Yes, I eat like a bird, but it's because when I eat, my body will
29:14
tell me when it doesn't want it anymore.
29:16
You know, I also have a little bit of a side note.
29:19
I've had nine surgeries since my breast, my double mastectomy.
29:24
I had 9 surgeries every six months.
29:26
They cut me open. So every time they cut me open,
29:29
that would stop me from wanting to eat because they put me on a
29:31
liquid diet or they would put me on a water thing or nutrient
29:35
packets. And you know, you've seen me,
29:37
the little nutrient packets, it's because they took out part
29:40
of my colon. So I have other things in my
29:44
body that are. Missing from my body.
29:47
That makes me have to be really careful what I eat.
29:50
So everything's different for everybody.
29:52
But the number one thing is knowing that you deserve to be
29:55
healthier. Because the old me didn't
29:57
believe that. And the old me also believe what
30:01
everyone says. You're 50, you're just going to
30:04
gain weight. You're a woman.
30:05
Just suck it up. Suck it up, buttercup.
30:07
It's hormonal. There's nothing you can do.
30:09
And the old me believe that. The new me now knows.
30:15
You choose. You just have to find your own
30:17
way over a round or through. You know what I love about your
30:21
story, Michelle? You know you've had such amazing
30:24
success in life, you know? And I say that no one gets to be
30:29
woman of the year without having some amount of success.
30:34
Someone doesn't get to host multiple shows, be in movies,
30:40
have an album that's coming out like she is an international
30:45
speaker, highly paid speaker that travels around the world to
30:48
speak. I think if I remember correctly,
30:51
there's there's even Dubai here in the future that you're going
30:55
to be going and speaking like she is, she is not in a small
31:00
pond. She is in a big, big vast ocean,
31:05
and to see where she is, you might see where she is right
31:09
now. You might easily come to the
31:11
conclusion that, well, everything just was perfect for
31:14
her. Everything fell into place and
31:16
it was just right and she never struggled.
31:19
And I hope you heard the first portion of her story.
31:22
First of all didn't grow up here in the States came to America
31:26
expecting something that wasn't a reality and we haven't even
31:31
got in the the section of life which I want to maybe hit if we
31:34
have some time of what was that like for you growing up here in
31:39
the States once you once you got over here.
31:41
But what's really fascinating is you did have trial after trial
31:47
after trial after trial when I first met you and I didn't know
31:52
this at the time you had just come.
31:55
You, you just started your recovery process from having a
31:59
traumatic brain injury. And we have this really
32:04
interesting interaction that most people that hear it, they
32:07
kind of laugh. But I'm, I almost am in shock
32:10
when when you tell it because I'm like, Oh my gosh, why did I
32:14
ever do this to this poor woman. But, you know, we're we're at
32:18
this international conference and we're both in the same bus.
32:22
We're both going to the same place.
32:23
And you look at me and say, hey, are you, are you going to this
32:25
convention? And I said, yeah.
32:27
And she's oh, what's your name? Oh, I'm Bartholomew, is what I
32:31
said. And he oh, nice to meet.
32:34
Meet you, Bartholomew. I'm Michelle.
32:37
And like, the only reason I said Bartholomew was because, one, I
32:41
didn't really want to be seen or really talk too much.
32:44
I had a long flight. But then on top of that, I was
32:46
curious if I could actually say the word Bartholomew.
32:49
It just seemed like a really difficult tongue twister to me.
32:51
And so and so I didn't know at this time that she had this
32:58
traumatic brain injury. In fact Michelle, how did this
33:01
brain injury come about? Like how did tell tell me how
33:05
that journey from when it happened to getting to that
33:08
place? Because it's quite, it's quite
33:10
an amazing, God ordained story for you to even be on the bus
33:15
with me at that point. Yeah, because wow, brain injury.
33:21
I I was driving to pick up my kids from school.
33:23
I was writing political things at the time, and I looked at my
33:27
computer screens. I had two of them and I said,
33:29
dear God, give me a break. I mean, I was so tired.
33:33
It was the end of a campaign year and my alarm went off to go
33:37
pick up my kids from school. I went to go pick my kids up
33:39
driving up around the hill and there's a stop sign to the back
33:43
parking lot at the school and a little girl had ran the stop
33:46
sign. And she slammed into my car.
33:49
Engine block fell. I mean, it was a mess.
33:52
And I jumped out of the car to check on the teenager.
33:55
Because I'm a mom. That's what I do.
33:57
And apparently I passed out on the back at the back of my car.
34:01
And when I woke up, the paramedics were over me saying I
34:04
needed to breathe. You have to bring your heart
34:05
down, man. You're having a heart attack.
34:07
You need to breathe. You need to breathe.
34:09
And apparently I was out for over 40 minutes.
34:12
So that's how they knew something was wrong with my
34:14
brain. But. 12 days later I stopped
34:18
speaking coherently and then I stopped walking.
34:20
And then for the next two years, three months, I did not move at
34:23
all and I would speak, my husband said.
34:25
In the morning I would speak in fragmented sentences.
34:28
That really made no sense. But if I sang, I made sense so I
34:34
could say I I remember seeing the images not be able to find
34:37
the words. So I would say cylinder liquid.
34:43
And I I could see it, but I couldn't tell you what it was.
34:46
But I could sing. I could sing.
34:48
I'd like some water, please. Perfect.
34:52
So it was part of my brain injury.
34:54
So all this happens at the end of this.
34:57
Two years, three months. I'm suicidal.
35:00
And I'm mad at God for putting me through this, because what
35:02
did I do to deserve this? And I had been trapped in my
35:06
mind with my with all my inner critics and all the things I
35:10
never got to do. And I'm their doctors are
35:12
talking around me like I'm never going to walk again or talk
35:14
again. They don't know anything.
35:16
What's wrong with my brain? It's just not working.
35:17
Maybe I have a concussion. I'll get over it, that kind of
35:20
thing. And at the end of that two
35:22
years, three months, I was screaming at God and I was in my
35:26
head screaming at him saying, if you hate me so much, then just
35:29
kill me. Just kill me.
35:31
Because I tell you, the worst thing in the world is to have
35:33
your babies. Cleaning you I I can't explain
35:38
it. It was horrible.
35:39
And I was so helpless and I couldn't do anything.
35:42
And my babies were taking care of me.
35:44
And I I said I wanted to go. And I heard you're not dead yet.
35:49
Get up. And that's the story I shared on
35:53
my Ted X was that voice that I heard.
35:55
And then my Ted XI said it was my mother-in-law, but it was
35:58
definitely not my mother-in-law. And then there was a voice.
36:00
And that voice that I heard. I saw every bad thing that had
36:03
ever happened to me. There was someone holding me and
36:06
protecting me from much worse. And in that moment, I realized
36:11
I'd been running from the wrong, wrong God.
36:14
I was running, and I was not succeeding because he had been
36:17
protecting me. He wasn't torturing me.
36:19
He was taking care of me. And then the other thing I
36:21
realized was that I played small all my life, thinking that I was
36:25
being hated by something bigger than me and he'd been protecting
36:28
me. And then I realized, if I've got
36:33
something that big protecting me, why in the world am I
36:35
playing small? And I promised God that I would
36:39
walk through every door. I would say yes to every
36:41
opportunity. And if it was meant to happen,
36:43
it would go. If it wasn't meant to happen,
36:45
then it wouldn't. And so I kind of live that way
36:47
now. It's like, OK, I'll do it.
36:49
Oh, didn't work. OK, No big deal.
36:54
So if I recall correctly, you were at work.
36:58
No, you you were actually part of Toastmasters.
37:01
And at a Toastmasters meeting, someone spoke leadership over
37:05
you specifically. They kind of kind of like your
37:09
teacher back in high school who said, hey, you're a great
37:12
singer. Someone came up to and said, hey
37:14
Michelle, you're actually a leader.
37:16
Like you're you're a good leader and you kind of gave him the
37:19
stare. And I want you to tell a little
37:21
bit of that story because that I think that crescendos really
37:24
well to where we first met, right?
37:27
OK. Well, my doctors, my neurologist
37:30
said for me to get my memory back, I should go back to what I
37:33
used to do. Well, I have my calendar alerts
37:36
and it said go to Toastmaster, go this, do that.
37:39
Apparently I was the Southern Division governor for
37:41
Toastmasters in Colorado Springs.
37:43
And so I went to the clubs that I was scheduled to go see,
37:46
apparently. So I went to one of these club
37:48
meetings to figure out what Toastmasters was because I did
37:51
not remember and everyone knew me.
37:54
And so I I sat in the back of the room trying to figure out
37:57
why did everyone know me? And they're all doing their
38:00
little talks and everything. And then someone says, well,
38:02
Michelle, come on up and tell a story.
38:03
And I'm like, OK, I have a 16 second memory.
38:08
I went up, I tell tell a story because I forgot that I didn't
38:11
know how to tell a story. And I told some story about a
38:13
crocodile or yeah, a crocodile when I was a kid.
38:16
And when I came back, Robert Kittredge came up to me and he
38:21
said, are you OK? And I said, I have a brain
38:25
injury. He has.
38:26
Well, you seem off. And I told him I have a brain
38:29
injury. And that's all I said.
38:30
My daughter took over and said yes, she got in a car accident,
38:33
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And he said, Michelle, you know,
38:36
you were you're a great leader. I said I am.
38:39
He has. Oh, yeah.
38:41
He says maybe you should check out the John Maxwell team and
38:43
study it because that will maybe click your memory instead of you
38:46
driving around town to Toastmaster meetings.
38:49
You could be at your computer and just listen and maybe it'll
38:51
it'll help. And so I did that and he also
38:56
introduced me to Harmonized Brain center Dallas Shepherd,
38:59
who does all of my neuro feedbacks to sessions on my
39:04
brain. But it was Robert Kittredge who
39:06
had me sign up and then said I will meet you at the at the JMT
39:10
conference and you won't be alone there.
39:13
And that's why I signed up, so I could learn, apparently as my
39:17
husband, when I went home and told my husband what, what
39:19
Kittredge said, he said, yeah, you have a whole bunch of John
39:22
Maxwell books. I'm like, I do.
39:24
And so I I looked and I'm like, I really do have a lot of John
39:26
Maxwell books. And so I ended up studying this
39:29
and a lot of it did click. I had been reading John Maxwell
39:32
books since I was 14. So I I'm a big fan of John
39:36
Maxwell, just didn't realize it. And then I went to the John
39:39
Maxwell Conference to be certified because.
39:42
Part of my brain injury is I don't have a strong, I didn't
39:46
have a strong recall. I could not remember bills and
39:49
things of that nature for the political arena that I used to
39:52
have. And so I was shifting to help
39:54
myself as a coach, not to help anyone else, just to help
39:59
myself. And that's where I met you.
40:01
Going to the John Maxwell conference was trying to be
40:05
around other people that were positive.
40:07
Other people who are improving themselves would help me.
40:10
It was all selfish. Help me find who I am around all
40:14
these positive people and look, we're still friends.
40:17
Well, we're still friends after, you know, I told you my name was
40:19
Bartholomew. Which by which, by the way, all
40:23
night go ahead. And I had it in my head and I
40:27
remembered your face, Bartholomew.
40:29
Bartholomew. And the next day when you went
40:31
on stage and they said Nathan Cook and you ran on stage with
40:35
that bow tie, I went, how did they get his name wrong?
40:38
They got his name wrong, and I was trying to fix it from the
40:42
back of the room. That's not, that's not Nathan
40:45
Cook. His name is Bartholomew.
40:47
And they thought, well, maybe that's his middle name.
40:49
I do. Pretty sure he called himself
40:50
Bartholomew. And so it wasn't till later that
40:53
someone else, I think I went to Robert Kittridge and I said they
40:57
announced Bartholomew wrong. And he said, who's Bartholomew?
41:01
I said the guy right there at the top, the bow tie.
41:03
And he went, that's not Bartholomew.
41:05
Bartholomew, that's that's Nathan.
41:07
And so I came up to you. I said I thought your name was
41:10
Bartholomew. Yeah.
41:13
It was, it was quite an experience.
41:18
Well, you know what's what's so fascinating about your story,
41:20
Michelle, is just how much trial you've gone through.
41:24
You know, you and I, we've talked about the Crucible of
41:27
life. You know, life truly is this
41:28
Crucible. It heats up and we have the
41:31
opportunity to let go of the impurities, let go of the things
41:34
in our life. That maybe God doesn't want us
41:37
to have any more so that he can prepare us for what he does have
41:40
to mold us into an amazing vessel to be able to speak life
41:46
into other people. Right.
41:47
You've, you've heard me talk about that.
41:49
You know, I was at your speaker boot camp earlier this year.
41:53
You know, it was great to get that invite from you to be there
41:55
and to pour into other people. And what's so fascinating is
42:00
that your life truly has been this Crucible.
42:03
You know, it heats up. You have dross that's removed
42:06
these impurities that are removed from your life.
42:08
And just when you think, Oh yeah, I'm going to be molded
42:11
into something, you know, no more hardship, more hardship
42:14
comes in and more hardship comes in and and you look at Michelle
42:17
and you're like, oh, well, she doesn't, she doesn't have any
42:19
bad days. She's not having anything going
42:21
on. Her life, like everything is
42:23
just up, up, up and up. And you know, I've been
42:26
fortunate enough to be on this journey with you for long enough
42:28
to see those UPS and those downs.
42:31
But I will tell you this. When she says about when she
42:35
talks about not having negative people in her life, not only
42:39
does she keep negative people out of her life, but she is a
42:45
positive person that emits light into other people's lives.
42:49
Like she works hard to be positive in every single
42:52
situation. In fact, I remember very
42:54
specifically when you were first diagnosed with breast cancer,
42:57
you called me. Tell me about your your breast.
43:01
Cancer diagnosis. And I said and you were telling
43:04
me about, Oh my gosh, like what's going to happen with
43:06
this? And it was a moment where you
43:08
were, where you weren't maybe quite as positive as you
43:10
normally are. And I said, but think of all the
43:15
people you're going to be able to help now with this story,
43:18
yeah, yeah. And all of a sudden that shifted
43:21
and from that point I never heard the Oh my gosh, I'm going
43:26
through breast cancer piece from that point forward it was
43:29
always. This is, this is an experience
43:31
that I have, that God has given me, that's he's gifted me, that
43:36
I'm going to be able to speak life into other people.
43:39
You have this natural ability to be positive, a positive light
43:45
into other people, that it doesn't come natural to a lot of
43:48
people in your life. How has been positive That?
43:56
I think 'cause I think it's a core identity of you.
43:59
I think your core identity is being a positive person and
44:02
seeing the good. Even Even when it's hard to see
44:05
good, you still see the good. How has that played well to you,
44:10
even in some of the hardest circumstances in life where
44:12
maybe the people weren't as kind, that weren't as true as
44:17
you would hope they've been that that positivity is my core of
44:23
resilience. When people ask you, how am I so
44:25
resilient? I used to be the coffee bean.
44:28
So for those of you who don't know what that is, a carrot is
44:33
hard, right in its natural state.
44:36
An egg is very delicate in its natural state.
44:39
A coffee bean is bitter and hard.
44:40
No one knows what to do with it in its natural state.
44:43
But you put all three of those in boiling water, and you put it
44:47
in, and you put it in and you put it in the The carrot
44:51
dissolves into nothing. It goes from being hard to gone.
44:56
The egg, yeah, the egg which was so fragile becomes so hard and
45:01
if you cook it long enough it starts to stink.
45:04
I mean it just it, it alters itself to something polar
45:08
opposite. But that the coffee bean, which
45:10
no one knows what to do. But you put it in that hot water
45:12
again and again and again and it puts off an aroma.
45:17
It takes over the environment, It changes the environment.
45:22
I choose to be a coffee bean. I will not be that fragile
45:26
flower that when bad things happen, I break and crack and I
45:30
don't know what to do, or neither will I lose my identity
45:34
like the carrot does. I choose to change the
45:36
environment that I'm in. That's the positivity in me.
45:39
That's the resiliency that happens in me.
45:42
And it has saved my life in every bad thing that has
45:45
happened in my life. And I remember talking to you
45:48
about that breast cancer ordeal because I remember coming out of
45:52
my brain injury doing what God wanted me to do.
45:56
Yes, I'm doing it. And then got this diagnosis of
46:00
breast cancer. And I remember thinking, am I
46:02
not moving fast enough? I mean, God, what did I do
46:05
wrong? I thought maybe I had.
46:07
I had squandered the time he had given me to to do whatever he
46:11
wanted me to do. And when you said that, that I
46:14
could help other people, I went, that's it.
46:18
He's giving me more so I can help more.
46:21
This is awesome. And so when doctors were talking
46:24
to me, like when they cut my breast off, I mean they, they
46:27
gave me a double mastectomy. All the other women in the ward
46:31
were crying. I wasn't.
46:34
And when the doctors and all the nurses started coming to my
46:36
room, I said, am I dying? And they said, why?
46:39
I said because you're all in my room and said you're just so
46:45
happy, you're just glowing this joy and you just had this
46:50
surgery removing your breast. Why why are you so happy?
46:55
And I said because it didn't kill me, I'm alive.
46:57
You saved me. And now I can go do more.
47:01
And they went, how how do we duplicate you?
47:04
How do we help? That's what I'm doing.
47:06
I I'm a speaker. I I have a book and I'm, I'm
47:09
writing another book right now. I mean, and they're like, mind
47:12
blown. I had a lot of fans in the
47:14
hospital because of that attitude change.
47:17
And that's how another time I got to be closer to you is the
47:21
John Maxwell DNA award. I won for Positive Attitude out
47:27
of all those coaches around the world, just like you won.
47:31
Right. Mine was valuing people and
47:35
adding value to them. So you have this adding value
47:38
and valuing people and then you have this, you know, amazing
47:41
woman on the other side of the table that's that's having a
47:45
positive attitude. You know here what Michelle was
47:49
just talking about because her words should be ringing in your
47:54
ear because so many people, and maybe you're in this position
47:56
right now where you feel like, man, life is just hitting me.
48:00
And I don't feel like it can get up.
48:01
Like the economy is bad, or I lost my job, or maybe I'm going
48:05
through a divorce, or maybe I'm having issues in my
48:07
relationships, or maybe my kids are wandering away from me.
48:11
Or there's this and there's that.
48:12
You can point to all the bad things that are happening in
48:16
your life. We categorize them as bad,
48:18
right? I hope that you hear what
48:21
Michelle's saying is that the things that are happening in
48:24
your life, God is preparing you for something.
48:28
There's a There's a reason those things are happening in your
48:31
life, because God wants you to show up differently in this next
48:35
season of your life. There's a reason that he's
48:37
giving you these things, and it's not to make you hard like
48:39
the egg, it's not to make you soft like the carrot, But it is
48:43
to be a leader. John Maxwell talks that
48:46
leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less, that every
48:49
single person is a leader, whether you're a small kid or an
48:52
or someone who's on the other side of the mountain coming
48:55
down. Every single one of us is a
48:58
leader, and the only way that we can be an effective leader is to
49:03
not be changed from here only, but to start creating change
49:08
that goes out from us, that emits from us.
49:13
You know Michelle, there are a lot of different topics that
49:17
we've talked about and I love just how real you are.
49:21
Who you are truly does come out. Of everything that you say,
49:25
everything that you do. And I want to touch on this last
49:29
piece because I think it's big, you know, in terms of your
49:33
relationship with God. Because I think that a lot of
49:36
speakers, a lot of people, they don't speak about God.
49:41
That like we we kind of categorize God as, you know,
49:43
this person, you know, ethereal being out there.
49:48
But you have. An amazing relationship with
49:52
God, where you walk with it. It kind of reminds me of that
49:55
old hymn. You know, I walk with him, I
49:58
talk with him. Like you have a connected
50:02
relationship with your creator. And I think so many people are
50:06
seeking that. So many people are just kind of
50:08
lost nowadays. And I'm curious for you, how has
50:12
your relationship with God? How has that transformed your
50:18
life in in terms of walking through these circumstances?
50:21
Like what is that relationship with God?
50:23
Like, what is that meaning for you?
50:27
It's freeing. It's freedom.
50:31
I walk without fear. And I know people say, you know,
50:35
you've done you've gotten some bad things.
50:36
I mean, bad things have happened to me in my life.
50:39
But now I know that no matter what happens when I'm prepared
50:43
in some way, shape or form, I've got to find it.
50:45
Two, he's got my back. I cannot tell you how scared I
50:50
used to be. And now I'm not afraid of really
50:53
anything but maybe spiders. I mean, and I still talk to
50:55
spiders. And so my thing is when I when
50:58
people say how do you walk in and what's your business plan or
51:01
whatever, I say I walk in faith. And I truly mean that because I
51:07
can have the best business plan and God will do that person.
51:12
And it's really subtle. I listen just like I told you.
51:16
I listen to what to eat. I listen and I go and I go talk
51:20
to this person that just happens to pass by me and I talk to
51:24
them. And sure enough, God wants me to
51:26
meet them for a reason. So my thing now is my
51:32
relationship is really different.
51:33
Growing up, I was always afraid of God.
51:36
I was told to be afraid and to to to fall down and be and
51:41
humble yourself and be afraid of him.
51:43
And what I found is I can be humble and love him so much that
51:48
I know nothing will hurt me. Even when it does hurt, it won't
51:53
hurt me. And I I can't explain what that
51:56
means to your average human. But you've been with me through
52:00
those pains and I'll be crying because, I mean, they cut me
52:04
open. I'm in pain.
52:05
I'm like I'm hurting, but I know this is going to save someone
52:09
else later. I feel so blessed and humbled to
52:16
have been chosen for this incredible task that I've been
52:18
given. I mean the hurdles, I I I mean
52:22
talk about refined silver. I mean, I've been under that,
52:25
that, that on that burner so many times.
52:27
It's crazy. I'm crying about it already.
52:29
It hurts. But to know that I was chosen,
52:35
there are no words. I I I am so blessed to be alive
52:44
and I will serve him through and past death.
52:49
I love that so much, especially what you just said, that you are
52:53
chosen. I hope.
52:54
I hope you're listening and you hear that that you are chosen,
52:57
that God has you here for a reason, that there's even if
53:01
it's just one person to speak into that person's life, you're
53:04
here for a reason. You know.
53:05
Michelle and I both believe this wholeheartedly that.
53:08
Each and every person has a purpose in life.
53:11
Just because your purpose might be speaking life into one child
53:15
doesn't make you any less than the biggest speaker on the
53:20
biggest stage speaking to millions of people.
53:23
God sees every single one of us and says you are my child, I
53:27
love you and I want the best for you.
53:31
Listen to me, Come to me, sit at my feet, let me teach you and go
53:36
out. And speak the message that I've
53:38
given you right You know, Michelle, you are such a wealth
53:43
of knowledge. You have incredible wisdom.
53:45
Make sure you go find her on social media.
53:47
But also, Michelle has one of her books that she's actually
53:52
only for this program. From what I understand, she's
53:55
actually going to be giving you a free copy of her digital book
53:59
Unapologetic, An Entrepreneur, An Entrepreneur's Journey from
54:04
Pain to Pride and. If you go to her website
54:07
www.drm360.com, that's www.drm360.com.
54:18
If you go there, don't don't click on the book.
54:20
If you want to buy the book, you can click on the book.
54:22
But if you want to get this free digital copy of the book.
54:28
Click on the text, shoot her text.
54:30
It's gonna go directly to her and she's gonna send you a copy
54:34
of the book. If they text me on my contact
54:36
card and say hold my crown or unapologetic, I will send them
54:44
the PDF of either one of them. Oh my gosh, that's absolutely
54:48
amazing. I hope you get this.
54:49
So shoot her a text, get a copy of one of these books.
54:53
They are absolutely phenomenal. She's a great writer.
54:57
And not only that, she's a great storyteller.
54:59
Whether you want to dive more into her story of being
55:03
unapologetic or if you want to dive into the stories of some of
55:07
the amazing people that she works with.
55:09
You know, as writers who are coming up, you know, Michelle,
55:12
like I said, you are so multifaceted.
55:15
It's hard to fit everything that you do into one quick setting.
55:19
And I know we're up at the top of the hour here, but I do want
55:22
to ask you one last question before we jump off here because
55:24
I think it's really important. There are so many people in life
55:28
right now that are trying to do more.
55:31
They're trying to add more things onto their plate.
55:34
You know you are a a speaker. You are a writer, an author.
55:39
You help other people write. You help other people become
55:43
speakers. You are working on an album
55:47
right now. If we were to look at your
55:49
speaking or your docket for everything that you're doing in
55:52
your life, man, it seems like you're doing a lot of stuff.
55:56
But you and I both know that life is more than just doing.
56:00
It's about being. Can you tell us what is 1
56:05
practice that you have in your life that helps you stay
56:10
grounded when so much is going on around you?
56:12
Time blocking. I know when I'm most productive
56:15
is in the morning, so I do everything I possibly can in the
56:19
morning. But here's a caveat.
56:22
I also learn that I used to work seven days a week, 12 hours a
56:27
day. I mean, I was.
56:28
I'm a workaholic. What I found was when I only
56:31
work Tuesday and Thursdays and work at the same pace that I do
56:35
only on Tuesday and Thursday, I'm more productive on Tuesday
56:38
and Thursday than I am when I'm working the entire week.
56:41
Why? Because when I was working the
56:42
entire week, I would do something and I'd go to a
56:45
meeting and blah blah blah. So all my productive time I
56:48
would be at networking meetings or whatever.
56:50
By the time I got home, 12:00, one o'clock I'm eating and then
56:54
1:00 I'm falling asleep. 2:00 I'm completely useless.
56:57
And then I can't get anything done.
56:59
And So what I realized is I categorize my morning.
57:02
My first thing in the morning is I must go to the gym.
57:05
Period. That is a date with myself every
57:07
day. Then Tuesdays and Thursdays.
57:09
So Monday, Wednesday and Friday are my off days.
57:11
I go hang out with girlfriends or my friends like you.
57:14
And I have coffee and I do the fun things, the things in life
57:18
that I was missing when I was locked in my body.
57:22
Tuesdays and Thursdays I work but I do my product.
57:26
So I go to the gym and then I do all my hard brain work in the
57:30
morning. I do it before 11:00.
57:34
After 11:00, between 11:00 and 1:00 I'm useless.
57:37
I'm either eating or I'm sitting on my chair with my feet up and
57:40
reading a book. I'm doing listening to music.
57:43
I'm doing me time during that time period.
57:45
After that 1:00 or like in this case, I was doing my nails today
57:49
so and after 1:00 I do things that I don't have to be the main
57:56
force of brain energy. So I do a lot of podcasts in the
58:00
afternoon I I'll go to networking meetings in the
58:02
afternoon, things where I don't have to be fully on.
58:05
So how do I stay productive and be so busy?
58:09
I know when I am productive, so find out when you are productive
58:13
and put your most important tasks during those time periods.
58:16
I also suggest you need to take a day off, a day where you do
58:20
nothing else but love on yourself and feed your your
58:24
nurturing side, that you need to sit in water.
58:26
Then go sit in water. You need to go hang out with
58:28
your friends and just sing karaoke all day.
58:30
Then do that. I don't care what it is, but
58:32
find at least one day. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are
58:35
my off days. I work Tuesday and Thursday,
58:38
then Saturday and Sunday is my husband day.
58:40
So I go to the cabin. There's no anything there, no
58:43
radio. It's just us and a lot of books
58:47
and a lot of puzzles. So yes, I'm incredibly
58:50
productive by taking a lot of time off.
58:53
It's. It's so easy for us to want to
58:56
fill our calendars with more, but I love the fact that you
59:00
intentionally through time blocking.
59:02
Yes, you're productive, but through your time blocking you
59:07
Createspace, you create margin in your life to make sure that
59:11
you can actually show up for those times to be grounded in
59:15
who you are so that when you show up.
59:17
You're the best person, Michelle, that can show up in
59:20
that exact moment. I absolutely love that.
59:22
I have a quote for you. I wrote it during my brain.
59:24
And the quote is Change is an emotional journey.
59:28
It's not rainbows and butterflies through a field of
59:30
daisies. It's uncomfortable, but it
59:33
forces you to evaluate who you are and the beauty is in the
59:36
possibilities. That's how I love.
59:39
That. That's so good.
59:41
I love that. Thank you so much, Michelle.
59:43
Thank you for being on the show again.
59:46
Make sure to like, share, Follow this podcast with all of your
59:50
good friends and we'll see you guys next time.
59:53
Be more, see more and experience more together.