Latest / Lately with Lexi / 23. How I’m Reclaiming My Creativity After Years of Shrinking Myself
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_00: My first job out of college looked great on paper.
- 0:03I was a marketing manager at a tech company with a steady
- 0:07paycheck and a clear path
- 0:09SPEAKER_00: forward and not to toot my own horn,
- 0:11SPEAKER_00: but I was really good at it,
- 0:14which almost made it worse because I'd sit at my desk and I
- 0:18would feel this quiet,
- 0:20SPEAKER_00: persistent guilt.
- 0:22SPEAKER_00: not because I hated my job,
- 0:24SPEAKER_00: but because I wanted more,
- 0:26SPEAKER_00: more money,
- 0:27SPEAKER_00: more freedom,
- 0:28SPEAKER_00: more time to go inward.
- 0:30SPEAKER_00: Wanting all of that at once felt like a contradiction I couldn't resolve.
- 0:34SPEAKER_00: I couldn't even afford my own apartment at the time.
- 0:37SPEAKER_00: I was living with my parents,
- 0:39working in marketing by day and sneaking off to meditate and
- 0:43study spiritual texts
- 0:45SPEAKER_00: at night,
- 0:46SPEAKER_00: wondering why does it feel like I have to choose between
- 0:50SPEAKER_00: the two.
- 0:50SPEAKER_00: That tension between ambition and contemplation,
- 0:54SPEAKER_00: between financial hunger and spiritual depth,
- 0:58it's something that I carried for years before I understood
- 1:01that it wasn't a
- 1:03SPEAKER_00: contradiction.
- 1:03SPEAKER_00: It was more of an invitation.
- 1:05SPEAKER_00: That is what today's episode is all about.
- 1:08We are going to explore why shrinking yourself to fit in is
- 1:12costing you more than
- 1:13SPEAKER_00: you think and how I'm finally breaking free.
- 1:16Welcome to Lately with Lexi,
- 1:18where spirituality,
- 1:19strategy,
- 1:20and storytelling meet.
- 1:22SPEAKER_00: I'm Lexi,
- 1:23SPEAKER_00: and for the last 10 years,
- 1:24I've helped health and wellness brands grow by day and guided
- 1:28spiritual seekers by
- 1:30SPEAKER_00: night.
- 1:30SPEAKER_00: Every episode explores spiritual wisdom,
- 1:33SPEAKER_00: business building,
- 1:34SPEAKER_00: and personal reflections from my life.
- 1:37So come hang out with me in the middle of my home if you are
- 1:41watching onSubstack or
- 1:43SPEAKER_00: over on YouTube as I share what I'm creating,
- 1:46SPEAKER_00: learning,
- 1:47SPEAKER_00: and navigating as a yogi,
- 1:49SPEAKER_00: business consultant,
- 1:50SPEAKER_00: healer,
- 1:51SPEAKER_00: and entrepreneur.
- 1:52SPEAKER_00: Today,
- 1:52SPEAKER_00: we're going deep on something I've been untangling for years,
- 1:56and it's how to reclaim your creativity after years of
- 2:00shrinking yourself or by
- 2:02SPEAKER_00: playing by other people's rules.
- 2:04SPEAKER_00: This episode is all about living multidimensionally,
- 2:08SPEAKER_00: being a spiritual seeker and a business owner,
- 2:11SPEAKER_00: an artist and a strategist,
- 2:13SPEAKER_00: being fully human and fully divine.
- 2:16SPEAKER_00: Because here's what I've learned.
- 2:18SPEAKER_00: We were never meant to be one thing.
- 2:20And when we stop trying to fit into a single box,
- 2:23our lives will start to soften.
- 2:26We become more magnetic when we allow ourselves,
- 2:29all parts of us,
- 2:30to be fully seen.
- 2:31I'll be breaking down four lessons that helped me embrace my
- 2:35multi-passionate self,
- 2:37lessons that I wish someone had given me permission to learn 10
- 2:41years ago when I
- 2:42SPEAKER_00: first entered the world of spirituality and entrepreneurship.
- 2:46SPEAKER_00: Let's start with the lesson that took me the longest to learn,
- 2:50SPEAKER_00: and it was probably the one I needed the most.
- 2:54And this is all about giving yourself the permission slip to be
- 2:58everything,
- 2:58to be all of you.
- 3:00SPEAKER_00: I'll explain what I mean, but I want to start first with a story.
- 3:04SPEAKER_00: So let's go back 10 years ago.
- 3:05SPEAKER_00: It was 2016.
- 3:07I hired my first business coach at the time I was running what
- 3:11most people would
- 3:12SPEAKER_00: consider two separate businesses at once.
- 3:15SPEAKER_00: On one side,
- 3:16SPEAKER_00: I was leading yoga and wellness workshops,
- 3:19SPEAKER_00: doing health coaching,
- 3:20SPEAKER_00: life coaching,
- 3:21SPEAKER_00: and energy healing.
- 3:22SPEAKER_00: On the other side,
- 3:23SPEAKER_00: I was offering marketing services,
- 3:25SPEAKER_00: copywriting,
- 3:26SPEAKER_00: offer creation,
- 3:27SPEAKER_00: sales coaching,
- 3:28SPEAKER_00: and I was genuinely lit up by all of it.
- 3:31My coach looked at what I was building and told me I needed to
- 3:35shut down half of it.
- 3:36SPEAKER_00: The spiritual work had to go because I was diluting my brand.
- 3:41SPEAKER_00: I did what I was told.
- 3:42SPEAKER_00: I
- 3:46And I let go of every spiritual offer I was selling and I went
- 3:49all in on marketing services.
- 3:51SPEAKER_00: Not long after, I was making more money than ever before in my life.
- 3:56SPEAKER_00: I was also completely passionless.
- 3:59SPEAKER_00: My business had turned into a job that I didn't want to go to.
- 4:04SPEAKER_00: And here's the part that kind of embarrasses me a little bit to admit,
- 4:07SPEAKER_00: but I was experiencing major lifestyle creep.
- 4:11SPEAKER_00: I was making more than ever and somehow spending it faster than ever,
- 4:16SPEAKER_00: constantly investing in the next course,
- 4:18SPEAKER_00: the next coach,
- 4:19SPEAKER_00: the next thing that was going to help me feel like myself again.
- 4:23SPEAKER_00: Instead of going inward, I kept looking outward.
- 4:26SPEAKER_00: And the further I got from my multidimensionality, the more lost I felt.
- 4:32SPEAKER_00: And I see this pattern show up with clients too.
- 4:35One example,
- 4:36I worked with an early employee at a startup I was helping to
- 4:41grow.
- 4:41SPEAKER_00: And about a year in,
- 4:43he mentioned wanting to build his own book of business
- 4:46alongside the startup.
- 4:48SPEAKER_00: Then he went quiet about it for about a year.
- 4:51SPEAKER_00: He came back after his first baby was born, ready to finally do it.
- 4:56but still tangled up in guilt about splitting his energy
- 5:00between the startup and
- 5:02SPEAKER_00: his own ambitions.
- 5:03SPEAKER_00: Like those two things were betrayals of one another.
- 5:07SPEAKER_00: Wonder if that's relatable to anyone.
- 5:09SPEAKER_00: What he needed wasn't strategy.
- 5:11SPEAKER_00: He needed a permission slip.
- 5:14Once he gave himself permission to pursue both without one
- 5:18canceling out the other,
- 5:19SPEAKER_00: things got a whole lot more clear.
- 5:22And I think that's true for most of us living in a moment where
- 5:25people are finally
- 5:26SPEAKER_00: learning to advocate for themselves when it comes to their health,
- 5:30SPEAKER_00: asking better questions,
- 5:32SPEAKER_00: doing their own research.
- 5:33SPEAKER_00: But what about advocating for your own self-expression?
- 5:37SPEAKER_00: We don't talk about that nearly enough.
- 5:39SPEAKER_00: Remember,
- 5:40SPEAKER_00: the most important relationship that you will ever,
- 5:43SPEAKER_00: ever have is the one you have with yourself.
- 5:46SPEAKER_00: So
- 5:47when you finally allow all of yourself to exist at once not
- 5:51just the parts that are
- 5:52easy to explain that's when your creativity and authenticity
- 5:56start to shine in a
- 5:57way that really can't be replicated you don't need permission
- 6:01to express your
- 6:02fullness and you don't have to be attached to any single form
- 6:07that the expression
- 6:08SPEAKER_00: takes it's very relieving
- 6:10SPEAKER_00: Being everything means full participation in your life.
- 6:15It means letting your gifts,
- 6:16your ideas,
- 6:17your desires move through you without editing them.
- 6:21SPEAKER_00: Saying yes to what feels alive and aligned,
- 6:25showing up fully instead of shrinking into whatever version of
- 6:29you seems more
- 6:30SPEAKER_00: acceptable to other people.
- 6:32I experienced this personally in 2020 when I launched a
- 6:37meditation membership.
- 6:38I had about 50 students joining me every morning for Kundalini
- 6:42yoga and meditation.
- 6:44SPEAKER_00: And I led this membership for about a year and I genuinely loved it.
- 6:49SPEAKER_00: But underneath it, something was quietly shifting.
- 6:53SPEAKER_00: I wanted to offer something deeper in person.
- 6:56SPEAKER_00: I wanted closer relationships with the people I was serving.
- 7:00SPEAKER_00: I wanted to be in a room with them,
- 7:02but I had a hard time admitting this to myself because I knew
- 7:05that with change came
- 7:07SPEAKER_00: uncertainty.
- 7:08SPEAKER_00: So the more I kept ignoring my heart's desires,
- 7:12SPEAKER_00: the more live attendance and the membership started to drop.
- 7:16SPEAKER_00: And here's what I know now that I couldn't see then,
- 7:19SPEAKER_00: but that dwindling participation,
- 7:22SPEAKER_00: it wasn't failure.
- 7:23What it was doing was actually creating space for what I wanted
- 7:28to build next,
- 7:29SPEAKER_00: which was my first solo in-person yogic leadership retreat in Maui.
- 7:33SPEAKER_00: So here's the thing that nobody tells you about full self-expression.
- 7:38SPEAKER_00: It only works when we stop gripping the results and the outcome.
- 7:42So the moment I released my grip on the membership needing to
- 7:46look a certain way,
- 7:47SPEAKER_00: the retreat filled.
- 7:48So my mantra for this is to hold the vision firmly and the
- 7:53timeline lightly.
- 7:54When you start living this way,
- 7:56something shifts in the questions that you ask yourself.
- 7:59SPEAKER_00: Instead of how do I make this thing happen?
- 8:02SPEAKER_00: You start asking, what is trying to happen through me right now?
- 8:06And that second question moves you out of fear-based anxiety
- 8:10and into present
- 8:11SPEAKER_00: moment responsiveness,
- 8:13SPEAKER_00: which in my experience is where the best work actually gets done.
- 8:18So the problem is sometimes it feels like the whole world is
- 8:22designed to talk you
- 8:24SPEAKER_00: out of being multi-passionate and that's where lesson two comes in.
- 8:29SPEAKER_00: So let me take you back now to 2017.
- 8:31SPEAKER_00: I had newly discovered internet marketing.
- 8:35SPEAKER_00: I was genuinely excited about everything it promised.
- 8:38SPEAKER_00: So more time freedom, location freedom,
- 8:41SPEAKER_00: building something that was fully mine.
- 8:43SPEAKER_00: But everywhere I turned, I kept hearing the same advice.
- 8:47SPEAKER_00: You needed to niche down, pick one thing.
- 8:50SPEAKER_00: You can't be everything to everyone.
- 8:53And I tried that the year prior going all in on marketing,
- 8:57but it fell flat.
- 8:59SPEAKER_00: So I did what any good student does.
- 9:01SPEAKER_00: I read the book, The One Thing.
- 9:04SPEAKER_00: I made my decision.
- 9:06SPEAKER_00: I would just be a health coach,
- 9:08SPEAKER_00: not someone who loved business strategy and lived and breathed marketing.
- 9:13SPEAKER_00: I was just going to focus on health coaching.
- 9:15SPEAKER_00: And you know what happened?
- 9:17SPEAKER_00: Probably guessed it.
- 9:18SPEAKER_00: I felt like I was suffocating and
- 9:20SPEAKER_00: felt like I was denying so much of who I really was.
- 9:23SPEAKER_00: So I would have these ideas about spirituality,
- 9:27SPEAKER_00: exploring different business models,
- 9:29SPEAKER_00: creative projects.
- 9:30I was dying to explore and I would shut them down before they
- 9:34ever had a chance to
- 9:35SPEAKER_00: breathe because they weren't on brand.
- 9:38SPEAKER_00: They didn't fit the niche of a health coach.
- 9:41SPEAKER_00: So instead of trusting my own discernment,
- 9:44I continued to look outside of myself for someone to tell me
- 9:49what to do next.
- 9:50And after years of experiencing this personally and watching it
- 9:54happen with
- 9:55SPEAKER_00: clients,
- 9:56SPEAKER_00: here's what I've come to understand.
- 9:58When you are multi-passionate and you try to force yourself
- 10:03into a single offer,
- 10:04SPEAKER_00: a single lane,
- 10:05SPEAKER_00: a single identity,
- 10:06SPEAKER_00: you're
- 10:10SPEAKER_00: is a signal.
- 10:11It's your nervous system telling you that you've outgrown the
- 10:15container that you've built.
- 10:17SPEAKER_00: Then what happens?
- 10:18SPEAKER_00: Well, we inevitably pivot, stop or start over.
- 10:21SPEAKER_00: And then we shame ourselves for it.
- 10:24SPEAKER_00: We think something is wrong with us.
- 10:26SPEAKER_00: We think we have commitment issues or ADHD really bad.
- 10:29we start to think everyone else figured out the one thing and
- 10:34we're the only one
- 10:35SPEAKER_00: still spinning.
- 10:36And that story keeps us on a hamster wheel that has nothing to
- 10:40do with our actual
- 10:42capacity and everything to do with a framework that was never
- 10:46designed for the way
- 10:48SPEAKER_00: that we are wired as creatives.
- 10:50The one thing philosophy,
- 10:52it works beautifully for some people,
- 10:54don't get me wrong.
- 10:55SPEAKER_00: I'm not here to say that it doesn't.
- 10:57SPEAKER_00: If you are multi-pathic,
- 10:59SPEAKER_00: It's probably going to feel like a cage.
- 11:03SPEAKER_00: And the longer you stay in it,
- 11:05the more disconnected you become from the thing that actually
- 11:09makes you stand out.
- 11:11If you are anything like me,
- 11:13your superpower isn't doing one thing really well.
- 11:16Your superpower is making connections between unseemingly
- 11:21related things.
- 11:22SPEAKER_00: We all know the quote, a jack of all trades is a master of none.
- 11:27Listen,
- 11:27that quote haunted me for years until I finally heard the full
- 11:32quote.
- 11:33A jack of all trades is a master of none,
- 11:36but oftentimes better than a master of none.
- 11:39SPEAKER_00: of one.
- 11:40SPEAKER_00: Let that sink in.
- 11:41SPEAKER_00: Danco calls this being a niche of one.
- 11:44SPEAKER_00: And I think that reframe is so liberating.
- 11:47SPEAKER_00: It's when we bring our unique blend of skills,
- 11:50SPEAKER_00: experiences,
- 11:51SPEAKER_00: and perspectives to everything that we create.
- 11:55Here's what I realized in both my own business and in the
- 11:58businesses of my clients.
- 12:00SPEAKER_00: A lot of us do not operate linearly.
- 12:03SPEAKER_00: Instead, we operate architecturally.
- 12:06SPEAKER_00: One thing leads to the next,
- 12:08SPEAKER_00: not because we necessarily planned it that way on a spreadsheet,
- 12:12but because we trusted our intuition and followed what
- 12:15genuinely excited us.
- 12:17Now,
- 12:18I'm a manifester in human design,
- 12:20which means I'm literally designed to initiate
- 12:24SPEAKER_00: to start things,
- 12:25to create from inspiration and to build in bursts rather than
- 12:30in straight lines.
- 12:31SPEAKER_00: And for years, I thought that this was a liability.
- 12:34SPEAKER_00: Turns out it's kind of the whole point.
- 12:36I have led retreats that effortlessly pointed me towards my
- 12:40next offering.
- 12:41either because I got inspired in the room or because the people
- 12:46in the room started
- 12:47SPEAKER_00: asking me for something new.
- 12:49I have had consulting clients who eventually wanted to come to
- 12:52a retreat or do
- 12:54SPEAKER_00: healing sessions with me,
- 12:55SPEAKER_00: not because I packaged it that way,
- 12:57SPEAKER_00: but because they wanted to go deeper in working with me.
- 13:01SPEAKER_00: And that's the thing about being a niche of one.
- 13:03SPEAKER_00: Your clients are multidimensional too.
- 13:06SPEAKER_00: They don't just want what you're selling.
- 13:09SPEAKER_00: They want to keep working with you.
- 13:10SPEAKER_00: So the through line, it's not your offer.
- 13:13SPEAKER_00: It's not what you're selling.
- 13:14SPEAKER_00: It's actually you.
- 13:15SPEAKER_00: Now I want to be clear.
- 13:16SPEAKER_00: This is not an excuse to do everything at once with no focus.
- 13:21SPEAKER_00: That's not what I'm talking about at all.
- 13:23That's actually a different problem,
- 13:25and we'll get to that in the next lesson.
- 13:27But the reframe I'm offering is that instead of thinking one
- 13:31thing forever,
- 13:33SPEAKER_00: think about one primary focus per season.
- 13:36SPEAKER_00: So you still choose a primary project and focus for the quarter.
- 13:41SPEAKER_00: You still allocate most of your energy output in one direction,
- 13:46SPEAKER_00: but you're not suppressing the rest of who you are.
- 13:50And you stop assuming that your life's work has to stay frozen
- 13:54in a single lane.
- 13:55SPEAKER_00: So freeing when we do that.
- 13:57So the question I ask myself and my clients isn't what is the
- 14:01one thing I need to do?
- 14:02SPEAKER_00: It's what is one leveraged focus that moves the whole ecosystem forward?
- 14:09SPEAKER_00: That question can help create clarity without restriction.
- 14:12SPEAKER_00: It protects your energy output without putting your creativity in a box.
- 14:18And when I finally let go of the one thing mentality and
- 14:22embraced all of me,
- 14:23SPEAKER_00: the yogi,
- 14:24SPEAKER_00: the consultant,
- 14:25SPEAKER_00: the healer,
- 14:26SPEAKER_00: the entrepreneur,
- 14:27SPEAKER_00: that's when everything started to click.
- 14:29SPEAKER_00: That's when I started to genuinely love my work again.
- 14:33SPEAKER_00: And it stopped feeling like a job.
- 14:35SPEAKER_00: So if you've been forcing yourself into a box that feels too small,
- 14:40SPEAKER_00: I want you to sit with this.
- 14:41What if the thing you think is too much is actually your
- 14:45greatest advantage?
- 14:46SPEAKER_00: What if being interested in multiple things isn't a weakness?
- 14:50SPEAKER_00: It's actually what makes you irreplaceable.
- 14:53SPEAKER_00: Now,
- 14:53we've established that you're allowed to be everything and that
- 14:57the one thing is a
- 14:58SPEAKER_00: myth for people like us.
- 15:01But what if you're still feeling scattered and pulled in too
- 15:04many different directions?
- 15:06SPEAKER_00: Totally normal, by the way.
- 15:07SPEAKER_00: This leads us to lesson three.
- 15:10SPEAKER_00: You can do it all, but you can't do it all right now.
- 15:14SPEAKER_00: Hopefully that can help relax you.
- 15:16So there's a difference between honoring all parts of yourself
- 15:19and trying to do all
- 15:20SPEAKER_00: of it at the same time.
- 15:22SPEAKER_00: And that distinction took me longer to learn than I would like to admit.
- 15:26SPEAKER_00: You know, do I want to write a book?
- 15:29SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
- 15:30SPEAKER_00: Do I want to invest in real estate in France?
- 15:33SPEAKER_00: Yes, eventually.
- 15:34SPEAKER_00: But I know right now isn't the time for either of those things.
- 15:39And instead of beating myself up about it,
- 15:41I've learned to let them simmer.
- 15:43SPEAKER_00: Now,
- 15:43SPEAKER_00: if you enjoy cooking,
- 15:45SPEAKER_00: you know that some of the best sauces come from hours of low,
- 15:50SPEAKER_00: slow cooking.
- 15:52SPEAKER_00: heat.
- 15:52SPEAKER_00: Our dreams can work that same way.
- 15:55The ones that matter don't disappear just because you're not
- 15:58actively working on them.
- 15:59SPEAKER_00: They wait, they simmer.
- 16:01SPEAKER_00: And when the timing is right, trust that you will know.
- 16:04SPEAKER_00: What I found is that multi-passionate people,
- 16:07SPEAKER_00: and I say this with so much love because I am one,
- 16:10SPEAKER_00: we tend to want to do everything at once,
- 16:12SPEAKER_00: right?
- 16:13SPEAKER_00: We
- 16:14SPEAKER_00: But when we try,
- 16:15SPEAKER_00: we end up with scattered attention,
- 16:18SPEAKER_00: diluted energy,
- 16:19SPEAKER_00: and projects that never fully mature.
- 16:22SPEAKER_00: Not because we're not capable,
- 16:23but because we spread ourselves thin across too many different
- 16:27directions all at
- 16:28SPEAKER_00: once,
- 16:29SPEAKER_00: and then nothing gets the depth it deserves.
- 16:31SPEAKER_00: Sound familiar?
- 16:32SPEAKER_00: The key isn't doing less.
- 16:34SPEAKER_00: It's about being seasonal with where and what we're focused on.
- 16:39life moves in cycles and the key is to honor them one idea
- 16:44leads for a season
- 16:46others stay warm in the background but they aren't your primary
- 16:49focus and that's
- 16:50okay because we know the cycle will rotate there will be a new
- 16:54season and when you
- 16:56accept that rhythm instead of fighting it your expression
- 16:59actually expands rather
- 17:01SPEAKER_00: than shrinks
- 17:02SPEAKER_00: Now,
- 17:02SPEAKER_00: personally,
- 17:03I follow the wheel of the year and I like to sync my creative
- 17:06efforts with the turn
- 17:07SPEAKER_00: of the seasons.
- 17:08SPEAKER_00: If you'd like me to do a deep dive on creating harmony with nature,
- 17:13let me know in the comments and I can release an entire episode
- 17:16about how I
- 17:16SPEAKER_00: specifically do that.
- 17:18SPEAKER_00: But in general,
- 17:19SPEAKER_00: when it comes to honoring cycles,
- 17:21SPEAKER_00: the intention is not to suppress your other passions.
- 17:25SPEAKER_00: You're protecting them by not forcing them before their time.
- 17:29SPEAKER_00: So for me right now,
- 17:30SPEAKER_00: this podcast and my Substack are where my creative energy is leading.
- 17:35And I actually started this on the spiritual new year on
- 17:39September 1st of 2025.
- 17:41I'll link an article I wrote about it in the show notes below
- 17:45if you want to check it out.
- 17:46And I think the real test for any creative outlet is that you
- 17:51have to genuinely
- 17:52SPEAKER_00: enjoy the process of making it.
- 17:55not just be fixated on whatever desired outcome you have in
- 17:58mind from that thing.
- 18:00SPEAKER_00: So when you love the process, creating becomes sustainable.
- 18:04And you might be wondering,
- 18:06well,
- 18:06how do I get clear on what is important to me right now?
- 18:11SPEAKER_00: So this is where I want to share one of my favorite tools.
- 18:15SPEAKER_00: It is a simple journaling exercise that I use with a lot of my clients.
- 18:20SPEAKER_00: And if you want to pause this, go ahead, grab a journal.
- 18:22SPEAKER_00: And all you do, it's very simple.
- 18:25SPEAKER_00: You write down everything that lights you up.
- 18:27SPEAKER_00: Don't hold back.
- 18:28SPEAKER_00: List out all of the projects,
- 18:29all of the ideas where you feel the most energized just
- 18:33thinking about them.
- 18:34SPEAKER_00: Once you complete that list,
- 18:36you want to review the list and then circle one to three things
- 18:40that you feel the
- 18:40SPEAKER_00: most momentum behind right now.
- 18:43SPEAKER_00: The dreams you didn't circle, they're still for you, just not right now.
- 18:47SPEAKER_00: This helps you focus.
- 18:49So give yourself full permission to focus on the one to three
- 18:52ideas that you
- 18:53SPEAKER_00: circled without guilt for the next three months.
- 18:56SPEAKER_00: Personally,
- 18:57I revisit this exercise at the solstices and equinoxes four
- 19:02times a year in
- 19:03SPEAKER_00: alignment with the natural seasons.
- 19:06SPEAKER_00: But I also come back to it anytime I'm feeling unclear,
- 19:10SPEAKER_00: overwhelmed,
- 19:11SPEAKER_00: or like I'm starting to doubt my path.
- 19:13SPEAKER_00: Anytime that intuitive ping shows up that says something feels off,
- 19:18SPEAKER_00: this is my go-to journaling.
- 19:20And here's what makes it so powerful beyond just getting
- 19:24organized on paper.
- 19:25SPEAKER_00: Writing down your dreams not only helps your friends,
- 19:29focus but it clears the subconscious mind from destruction it
- 19:34creates space it
- 19:35quiets the noise and in that quiet your intuition gets louder
- 19:40you stop feeling the
- 19:41pull to look outside of yourself for answers because the
- 19:45answers were already there
- 19:47you just needed space to get honest with yourself in order to
- 19:52hear them and to
- 19:52SPEAKER_00: recognize them
- 19:53So all of the dreams you wrote down but didn't circle will
- 19:57still be there when
- 19:58SPEAKER_00: you're ready for them.
- 19:59And you'll do them better because you didn't force them before
- 20:02their time.
- 20:03Florence Scoville Finn writes about this in The Game of Life
- 20:08and How to Play It.
- 20:09SPEAKER_00: Great book if you've never checked it out.
- 20:11SPEAKER_00: Please do.
- 20:12And she says that if you have the vision,
- 20:14if you have any vision,
- 20:15it can be yours,
- 20:17right?
- 20:18Sometimes your vision just needs time to breathe and come to
- 20:22life when it's meant
- 20:23SPEAKER_00: to,
- 20:23SPEAKER_00: not when our ego is trying to demand it to.
- 20:27SPEAKER_00: So we talked about giving yourself permission,
- 20:30SPEAKER_00: releasing the myth of the one thing and honoring your focus.
- 20:35But there's one more layer underneath all of this that I think
- 20:38is actually the most
- 20:39SPEAKER_00: liberating of all.
- 20:41SPEAKER_00: So lesson four is all about the yogic path of letting go of labels.
- 20:47One of the most important teachings in yoga is the concept of
- 20:51non-identification,
- 20:53SPEAKER_00: the practice of not attaching to labels,
- 20:56SPEAKER_00: roles,
- 20:57SPEAKER_00: or identities.
- 20:58SPEAKER_00: It is one of the five causes of suffering.
- 21:01SPEAKER_00: It's the moment we fuse our identity to labels such as I am spiritual,
- 21:07SPEAKER_00: I am a marketer,
- 21:08SPEAKER_00: I am an introvert,
- 21:09SPEAKER_00: I'm liberal,
- 21:10SPEAKER_00: I'm Christian,
- 21:11SPEAKER_00: I am this zodiac sign,
- 21:12SPEAKER_00: I'm that zodiac sign.
- 21:13SPEAKER_00: You get the point.
- 21:14SPEAKER_00: The problem is that when we do this,
- 21:17SPEAKER_00: we are unknowingly limiting ourselves to the things we identify with.
- 21:22SPEAKER_00: So here's what changed for me when I really sat with this teaching.
- 21:26SPEAKER_00: If I am all of these labels, well, I'm confined.
- 21:29SPEAKER_00: If I'm not these labels, I am free.
- 21:32SPEAKER_00: I am free to create.
- 21:34I can be a retreat leader on the weekend and a sales strategist
- 21:38on a Monday.
- 21:39SPEAKER_00: I can teach breath work in the morning and...
- 21:42SPEAKER_00: I don't know, analyze a marketing funnel in the afternoon.
- 21:45SPEAKER_00: It's all good.
- 21:46You know,
- 21:47I am a yogi who genuinely enjoys talking about business and I'm
- 21:51pretty good at it.
- 21:52SPEAKER_00: And I've made peace with that.
- 21:53SPEAKER_00: I can be both.
- 21:54SPEAKER_00: None of these things individually define me.
- 21:57SPEAKER_00: All of them express a different facet of myself
- 22:01SPEAKER_00: And once you get that, it is so freeing.
- 22:03When we're defined by a label,
- 22:05any threat to that label feels like a threat to our existence.
- 22:10SPEAKER_00: We defend it.
- 22:10SPEAKER_00: We shrink to protect it.
- 22:12We stop evolving because evolving might mean becoming something
- 22:16that that label
- 22:18SPEAKER_00: doesn't identify with.
- 22:19But when you consciously choose your roles instead of
- 22:23identifying as them,
- 22:24something opens up.
- 22:26you can allow new expressions to emerge without it feeling like
- 22:30an identity crisis
- 22:32you can change direction without it meaning that you failed or
- 22:36that you have to
- 22:36SPEAKER_00: start over you can grow into something you don't have a name for yet and
- 22:42SPEAKER_00: You don't need to explain it to anyone.
- 22:44SPEAKER_00: You stop asking, who am I supposed to be?
- 22:46SPEAKER_00: And start asking, what is alive to express through me right now?
- 22:52And that question changes a lot because it moves you out of a
- 22:57fixed identity and
- 22:59SPEAKER_00: into a living,
- 23:00SPEAKER_00: breathing relationship with your own becoming.
- 23:04SPEAKER_00: Listen, you do not have to have it all figured out.
- 23:07no one does trust me you don't need to define yourself for
- 23:10other people's comfort
- 23:12or even your own comfort you are allowed to be a total mystery
- 23:16even to yourself and
- 23:17it's not a problem to solve that's actually one of the most
- 23:21beautiful things about
- 23:23being human the yogic understanding is that your true identity
- 23:28the soul pure
- 23:29SPEAKER_00: consciousness is
- 23:30The awareness behind your experiences was never contained to a
- 23:35job title or a niche
- 23:37SPEAKER_00: or a role that somebody assigned to you.
- 23:40You are far greater than the roles you take on and the path of
- 23:44self-realization.
- 23:46SPEAKER_00: It's not just about knowing this intellectually.
- 23:49SPEAKER_00: It's about living it moment to moment, season to season.
- 23:52SPEAKER_00: And we talked about this a lot last week.
- 23:54SPEAKER_00: So if you missed that episode, go check it out.
- 23:56So what we're really doing here when we reclaim our creativity
- 24:00and stop shrinking
- 24:01SPEAKER_00: ourselves,
- 24:02SPEAKER_00: we're not just building better businesses or expressing ourselves more
- 24:06SPEAKER_00: authentically.
- 24:07We are remembering the truth of who we are,
- 24:10an expression of God consciousness that
- 24:13SPEAKER_00: infinite potential.
- 24:15SPEAKER_00: If you take nothing else away from today's episode,
- 24:18SPEAKER_00: I want you to walk away with these four things.
- 24:22SPEAKER_00: Nobody is going to give you permission to be your full self.
- 24:26SPEAKER_00: That permission only comes from one place, you.
- 24:29SPEAKER_00: You have got to advocate for your own self-expression.
- 24:33SPEAKER_00: The second is that the one thing is a myth for multi-passionate creators.
- 24:38Your ability to move between worlds,
- 24:40to make connections between things that
- 24:43SPEAKER_00: seem unrelated, to bring your full range to everything you create.
- 24:49SPEAKER_00: That's not a weakness or a lack of focus.
- 24:51SPEAKER_00: It's your superpower.
- 24:52SPEAKER_00: And third, you can do it all, just not all at once.
- 24:55SPEAKER_00: Don't try.
- 24:56SPEAKER_00: Honor your seasons.
- 24:57SPEAKER_00: The uncircled dreams on your list, they're not going anywhere.
- 25:02Focus on what's alive right now and trust that when the timing
- 25:06shifts,
- 25:07you'll feel it.
- 25:08SPEAKER_00: You'll listen to that nudge, that intuition.
- 25:11SPEAKER_00: And know that the best work comes from presence,
- 25:13SPEAKER_00: not from forcing everything to happen on the same timeline.
- 25:17SPEAKER_00: And then finally for let go of the labels.
- 25:20SPEAKER_00: You are not your job title, your niche, your role, even your reputation.
- 25:25SPEAKER_00: You are the awareness experiencing all of it.
- 25:29SPEAKER_00: And when you stop gripping those labels so tightly,
- 25:32you become free to evolve into whatever wants to emerge next
- 25:37without it feeling
- 25:38SPEAKER_00: like you're starting over.
- 25:40SPEAKER_00: Every time you let yourself be fully seen, you are giving others.
- 25:45the permission to do the same thing and that is so so freeing
- 25:49thank you so much for
- 25:50listening to lately with lexi make sure you subscribe on
- 25:54substats to stay up to
- 25:56date with my writings any upcoming events workshops retreats
- 26:00you can also subscribe
- 26:01over on youtube for the video version of the podcast listen and
- 26:06leave a review on
- 26:07spotify or apple podcast that just really helps me be able to
- 26:11reach more people
- 26:12And if you want to explore working together,
- 26:15all of the links are in the show notes below.
- 26:17If you're in Southwest Florida,
- 26:19I will be leading a workshop March 20th that weekend.
- 26:23SPEAKER_00: So come and hang out with me in person if you can and leave any comments,
- 26:27SPEAKER_00: feedback,
- 26:28SPEAKER_00: thoughts in the comments.
- 26:29SPEAKER_00: I love reading all of your guys' reflections.
- 26:32SPEAKER_00: All right, I'll see you next week.