Latest / The Inspired Speaker Network / Stop Playing Small: Discover Your Strengths and Own Your Power
Transcript
- 0:00You are listening to The Awakening Woman on the Rise. If you are a woman who is
- 0:06seeking to live a more authentic life but are feeling not enough to step out fully
- 0:11just yet, you are in the right place. If you are a woman who is looking to live
- 0:18your personal truth and make the impact you truly desire, you are in the right
- 0:24place. I'm your host, Wendy Yacboski. Let's step out in this together. Welcome
- 0:31everyone to this call, which I am really, really excited about. I have as a special
- 0:37guest, Betsy Clark, who is a woman that's been doing so much for many years, an
- 0:45entrepreneur, a founder of Coach2Strengths, and a transformation
- 0:50strategist. One of the things that I feel excited about for our conversation
- 0:55is that I believe that many of the women, and men, but the women that are
- 1:01listening to this podcast are those that have a dream or a desire that they've
- 1:11been told they can't have, they believe they can't have, they don't know how to
- 1:17start believing that they can have, and so they don't move forward. And clearly
- 1:24you, Betsy, have continued to move forward because I trusted each one of us
- 1:30that I had moments like, what am I thinking doing this? So welcome, Betsy,
- 1:36I'm sorry. Well, thank you for having me. I'm excited to see where our
- 1:44conversation goes and what evolves and hopefully it will be of service to those
- 1:49that listen. That really is the intention. Yes, well one of the things
- 1:54that certainly attracted me to you apart from yourself when I first met you
- 2:00was your, what I call your handle, so that's coaching to strengths. And one of
- 2:07the things, again, that I think about and I've experienced this myself, that
- 2:14asking them what their strengths are, they don't know. They know what
- 2:21they've been doing in their life, they know what they should be doing, but to
- 2:26actually say, these are my strengths, these are the things I really value
- 2:30about myself. So many falter and I really want to help people find a way
- 2:38that strengths feel normal. It's part of moving through life and an essential
- 2:45part of moving through lives. Do you have anything that you'd like to say
- 2:49about that, Betsy? Well, I think that's a great question because so often you say,
- 2:56well, like what's right with you? And women, they falter, they don't really
- 3:03know how to articulate that and it's a guess kind of sort of maybe. And I
- 3:09really want to help women have a definitive clarity on I am high in
- 3:15empathy, I'm high in communication, I'm high in positivity, I'm high in
- 3:30empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm
- 3:36high in empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm high in
- 3:42empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm
- 3:44high in empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm high in
- 3:45high in empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm high in empathy, I'm
- 3:53high in clothed-with 44, I'm high, I'm position good. So for every
- 3:54time I've heard that in the last 15 years, I could retire because here's
- 3:59the deal, Wendy, you think everybody thinks the way you do and they
- 4:02don't. So that's what makes you uniquely brilliant in the area that
- 4:10you are drawn to. You trust that and then I give words to women. I
- 4:23not feeling like you're being braggadocious,
- 4:26no brag, just fact, this is my truth.
- 4:30And what makes it especially potent, I believe,
- 4:35is you not only know what you bring to the table,
- 4:39which is necessary to be a contributor
- 4:42and to really step into your power.
- 4:46But there's another thing that I think as women,
- 4:48we underestimate is talking about what we need,
- 4:53because we do not want to be seen as high needs or needy.
- 4:58Heaven forbid we have a need
- 5:00and put our needs above someone else's.
- 5:03But at the end of the day, oftentimes we get to a place
- 5:08where we start burning out because we have put ourselves
- 5:11at the bottom of the list for so long.
- 5:15And the way I reframe needs, it's, you know,
- 5:19these are the things that yes,
- 5:21you do need to be fully expressed,
- 5:24but these are the things that energize you.
- 5:27And so for you to be a sustainable woman in your calling,
- 5:34you need to be able to declare your needs.
- 5:38I need this, I suffered during COVID
- 5:41because I'm high in woo, which is winning others over.
- 5:45And I'm an extrovert if you wanna believe in that term.
- 5:49And I needed to be around people to be energized
- 5:53and to be in my sunroom for three years
- 5:56with this enforced stay at home.
- 5:59It was my undoing and it took me a long time
- 6:03to embrace the fact that I need people
- 6:07in order to be energized and fully expressed.
- 6:12And so I think those little nuances are so helpful.
- 6:17And St. Augustine said,
- 6:19delivering us from the lust of always having
- 6:21to justify ourselves, we have to justify.
- 6:25Well, I don't mean to be high needs,
- 6:28but this is, and it's like, girl, own it.
- 6:32You don't need to justify why you have a desire
- 6:35or a preference.
- 6:36It's part of your internal makeup.
- 6:39It's part of your DNA.
- 6:41And is it good or is it bad?
- 6:43I don't know, but with it, embrace it.
- 6:46And accept it and leverage it.
- 6:50Yeah, you know, Betsy,
- 6:52when you talk about having to justify ourselves,
- 6:55I totally understand what you mean by that.
- 6:59And I think about what I perceive
- 7:03the listeners may be experiencing.
- 7:06And let's talk about the difference
- 7:10between justification and bragging.
- 7:14Justification and bragging.
- 7:18Would you say that there would be a helpful understanding
- 7:22between that?
- 7:23The reason that I asked that, Betsy,
- 7:25is that so many, like you said,
- 7:30it's hard for us to ask what we want,
- 7:32first of all, and define it.
- 7:35But the other thing is, is that if we're being
- 7:38any more than humble,
- 7:42that we are bragging, that we are full of ourselves,
- 7:46that we are, you know, kind of the who do you think you are,
- 7:50but yet we need to know our strengths.
- 7:52So how can we blend, is that the right word,
- 7:57blend those two, to feel in our power,
- 8:02to own it, as you said?
- 8:04I think that's a great distinction to be made,
- 8:08because bragging, words are words,
- 8:13but what is the energy around the words you use?
- 8:18And if you can accept this as my truth,
- 8:24there is no need to be right.
- 8:27And oftentimes, for me, my sense,
- 8:30when someone is bragging,
- 8:32it comes from a place of wanting external validation.
- 8:36Sometimes it feels like they're insecure,
- 8:40so I kind of have to let you know,
- 8:42I need you to know, Wendy,
- 8:44that there's who I am, and believe me.
- 8:48And when someone says, trust me,
- 8:50my first thing to do is go,
- 8:52you don't need to tell me to trust you.
- 8:54I intuitively know, energetically,
- 8:57I know that you're trustworthy.
- 8:58So if someone is bragging,
- 9:00it's almost from a place of deficit,
- 9:03as opposed to owning it and being grounded in it.
- 9:09So I'll be personal here, I'm high in empathy.
- 9:14And when I was raised, my siblings used to say,
- 9:17oh, Beth, you're so sensitive.
- 9:18You're just so sensitive.
- 9:20You take everything so personally.
- 9:22Well, it was kind of used to weaponize me,
- 9:27and it wasn't said in a very compassionate way.
- 9:32It was to put me in my place.
- 9:34And this is when we were all very young and unevolved, right?
- 9:38And I've grown to learn that they were young like I was,
- 9:41and it doesn't carry the weight that it once did.
- 9:45Well, now, Wendy, I realize
- 9:48that empathy is one of my superpowers.
- 9:50Yes, I am very sensitive.
- 9:53I'm an environmentalist.
- 9:54I can walk into the room,
- 9:56and I can sense possibly what someone else is feeling,
- 10:01and I can put words to it.
- 10:03So that capacity to have people feel seen
- 10:08and heard and known is, quote unquote,
- 10:11being sensitive will bring it.
- 10:14I will stand behind that and exalt empathy
- 10:19as opposed to being weaponized by you're so sensitive.
- 10:23And I don't know if that necessarily answers your question
- 10:26between bragging and speaking your truth,
- 10:30but I think it's the energy behind it.
- 10:33If I'm trying to convince you that I'm right,
- 10:37that I'm empathetic and I'm sensitive,
- 10:41that feels like I'm bragging.
- 10:42Well, let me tell you about the client
- 10:44that paid me $100,000 because I empathetically,
- 10:48like he's making up this example.
- 10:52I'm sort of shoving it down your throat.
- 10:54Whereas if I say, you know what?
- 10:56But over the years I've understood
- 10:57that I can walk into a room and I can sense things
- 11:00that maybe 34 years ago, I wasn't as discerning.
- 11:06And see, that's more me talking about
- 11:09this is a superpower as opposed to you better believe me
- 11:12and you better accept me.
- 11:14And it feels like I need your external validation
- 11:18to feel good about me.
- 11:21So maybe this will put it in a context.
- 11:25Yeah, there's a difference between being a woman
- 11:28of persuasion and a woman of influence.
- 11:32And a woman of persuasion is Wendy,
- 11:35I get you to land where I am,
- 11:37so I feel good about myself.
- 11:41A woman of influence is I help you land
- 11:43where you need to land so you feel good about yourself.
- 11:46And I see justifying, bragging,
- 11:49kind of in the persuasion camp, if you will.
- 11:55Whereas owning and being grounded in your strengths
- 11:58is more of being a woman of influence.
- 12:01And I don't know if that makes sense to you,
- 12:04but to me I think it's the energy around the words we use
- 12:08and what's the point?
- 12:11Am I trying to exalt myself
- 12:12or am I trying to lift you up?
- 12:16You can be fully expressed yourself.
- 12:18I love what you're saying and I love that difference.
- 12:21And I particularly, I mean, they're both good.
- 12:27And I particularly resonate with a woman of influence
- 12:31because that is what I'm hoping to do
- 12:36through speaking with people such as yourself
- 12:38that have gone through times that were challenging
- 12:42where maybe you didn't believe in yourself
- 12:45quite as much as you do right now.
- 12:48So where it's taking me, Betsy,
- 12:51is how to influence, to have a hand up
- 12:58to a woman who is struggling
- 13:02with accepting the good about herself
- 13:05because she believes that she would be bragging.
- 13:10That she would be bragging.
- 13:13That it's not that necessarily the women,
- 13:20perhaps on this call, I don't know right now,
- 13:23but it feels like bragging
- 13:27when they speak of a strength of themselves.
- 13:29Like when I hear you speak about yourself, Betsy,
- 13:32oh my goodness, I love the confidence,
- 13:35the embodiment, the easy way
- 13:39that you express these strengths of yours.
- 13:43And I'm wondering how you would support somebody
- 13:49that needed to embody and embrace,
- 13:53find their strengths to embody and embrace
- 13:56so that they can start talking about themselves differently
- 14:02from a different energy, from a different place.
- 14:06So I'll give you an analogy that I think is really helpful.
- 14:11And the very first coach I ever hired used,
- 14:14this was the first session we ever had.
- 14:17And it made me decide I needed to be a coach
- 14:19for the rest of my life.
- 14:22So imagine with me, if you will,
- 14:23that you're looking through a kaleidoscope.
- 14:26And I ask you to take a picture with your mind's eye
- 14:29of this beautiful symmetrical design
- 14:33of color and shape and light and brilliance,
- 14:36and oh, it's glorious.
- 14:39And you take a picture with your mind's eye of that design.
- 14:44And then I ask you to turn the end piece
- 14:46a quarter turn to the right.
- 14:48What happens?
- 14:49Well, the picture changes, right?
- 14:52Then I say, okay, okay, so go back to the first picture.
- 14:57Turn the kaleidoscope end piece to the left
- 15:00a quarter turn.
- 15:02Well, the truth of the matter is,
- 15:03you can't go back to that picture
- 15:05that you had a minute ago.
- 15:09So here's the way I look at it.
- 15:12Once you make a shift, the whole picture changes
- 15:16and you can't go back.
- 15:20So I use the Clifton Strengths Finder Assessment
- 15:25because it's been going on forever, for decades.
- 15:29And my strength is not analyzing things.
- 15:33I don't know how they designed this assessment
- 15:36to work out all the biases
- 15:38and how they made it so true to form.
- 15:42But that's not my strength.
- 15:43I work with people where that's their strength.
- 15:46And they rely on me because I'm high in communication
- 15:49to go out and be a television.
- 15:51Tell the vision of why strengths work.
- 15:54So those people are working in their strengths
- 15:57and I can't touch them with a 10 foot pole.
- 16:00They're working with me and my strengths
- 16:03and they can't touch me with a 10 foot pole.
- 16:06And so here's the thing is we all have our strengths.
- 16:08There's my top five, these are their top fives.
- 16:11And when we come together and we interweave them,
- 16:13it's like spokes on a wheel.
- 16:15We can move something so much bigger than ourselves.
- 16:20And I love that sense of how we work with one another.
- 16:26So in order for someone to accept their strengths,
- 16:31it's making that shift.
- 16:35And why I love strength finders versus other assessments
- 16:40is it's taking science and marrying it to the soul.
- 16:45How do you see that, Betsy?
- 16:48Strengths and soul.
- 16:50I see strengths as being a very science based.
- 16:53It's based on data.
- 16:56Data is so important.
- 16:59I need to know that there is very viable truth to the data.
- 17:03That matters to me.
- 17:05But for me to create the data is not,
- 17:09it's above my pay grade.
- 17:12Do I rely on something that has proven,
- 17:15the reliability is very, very high.
- 17:18I have never in the 15 years I've been doing this,
- 17:20have I ever had someone say, this is not me,
- 17:22this is wrong, I hate this, this is stupid.
- 17:24I'm not, I'm done.
- 17:26I just sit down with work.
- 17:27Never.
- 17:28Because I'm not trying to convince them of anything.
- 17:34And so why I like strengths is you and I may have
- 17:39the same top five strengths.
- 17:43It's not common, but let's say in the top 10,
- 17:46we have five strengths that are similar.
- 17:48But because you have other strengths
- 17:50that amplify your strengths,
- 17:53your communication is going to be expressed differently
- 17:56than my version of communication.
- 18:00So this is not a one size fits all.
- 18:03And so when I come in and I work with women,
- 18:05I'm not there to tell them anything.
- 18:08I'm there to expose them to influence them
- 18:13so that they can take in this information
- 18:16and what sits with them, sits with them
- 18:18and can inform their decisions going forward.
- 18:22And guide them and hear patterns when they're talking
- 18:25or are you aware that this is resonating for you
- 18:28or is this so unconsciously true for you?
- 18:31You're not even aware of it.
- 18:33And so that's the science,
- 18:36that's the assessment and the results.
- 18:39And the heart is what I help women bring to the table.
- 18:44So we can carry the head and heart or science and soul,
- 18:48however you wanna put it.
- 18:50But I think it's such a beautiful marriage
- 18:53between those two.
- 18:54And I'm also a heart math facilitator.
- 18:59So I do a lot of heart coherence so that you're grounded
- 19:03and coherence is being in sync with yourself.
- 19:09And so I find that conditioning
- 19:13is living someone else's answers for your life.
- 19:17Think about that.
- 19:18Living someone else's answers for your life.
- 19:23Absolutely.
- 19:24We are conditioned from birth to eight
- 19:27and that's how we understand societal rules and culture
- 19:31and all that stuff and it's really important.
- 19:36But when we need to question our answers.
- 19:38Yeah, absolutely.
- 19:40I had to make a choice.
- 19:41Am I gonna say sensitive
- 19:43and all that is something that's negative?
- 19:46Or am I gonna say, oh, thank you, Father.
- 19:51This is my strength.
- 19:54I can do this for good instead of being weaponized by it.
- 19:58And so it's putting the emphasis on the right syllable.
- 20:03What's right with me as opposed to constantly dwelling
- 20:07on the wrong with me because I can go there
- 20:10in a nanosecond and over the years
- 20:14I've trained myself,
- 20:17does this thought and this belief serve me
- 20:22and what I'm here to do?
- 20:24And if it doesn't, I really have to wing and measure
- 20:27what evidence do I have that this is still true,
- 20:30that this sensitivity is wrong
- 20:32and it's not wrong, it's right.
- 20:35So I hope I'm not flogging a dead horse here
- 20:38but I know it's important to keep going back
- 20:42to fundamentally what is my belief system
- 20:47and possibly it will resonate with your listeners
- 20:50and they'll go, oh, how about the shift?
- 20:54I can't go back because the picture just changed for me.
- 20:57Yeah, we're definitely on a similar page here, Betsy,
- 21:01because it was one of the reasons
- 21:03that I started this podcast
- 21:04is how I felt conditioned in my life
- 21:10for various reasons,
- 21:12but to live a life of safety, a life of belonging,
- 21:17a life of what success is, it had nothing to do with me.
- 21:22It was out there, that's how you do it.
- 21:25And I really have compassion for people that say,
- 21:31I don't even know what's mine.
- 21:33And the thing is, is that I love this strengths finder
- 21:40that you're talking about
- 21:41because the purpose I believe it serves
- 21:46is that it lets people know what their strengths are
- 21:50and then those people, if they're in the place of,
- 21:55let's just say awakening to living it more in their lives,
- 22:01need to have the help of somebody that can guide them
- 22:08to implement, to embody it,
- 22:12to actually see from experience that,
- 22:16oh my God, I do resonate with this.
- 22:18This is something that's really important to me
- 22:21and sort of build that success kind of like step by step.
- 22:27I appreciate you saying that.
- 22:29We can't see our own eyebrows.
- 22:31Yeah.
- 22:33We can't.
- 22:34And everywhere we go, there we are.
- 22:37And we have no idea how the room changes
- 22:40when we walk into the room.
- 22:42And we don't understand how the room changes when we leave.
- 22:46And sometimes it takes someone to put the mirror to our face.
- 22:52Excuse me.
- 22:52And I'll just say, I attribute,
- 22:56I've been together with,
- 22:58I've been dating my husband for over 51 years.
- 23:01Yes.
- 23:03And this assessment has done so much for our marriage.
- 23:09It's given us a language.
- 23:11So if, can I share an example?
- 23:14Absolutely, please.
- 23:16So I'm high in activator.
- 23:18I mean, like I get things done and I'm a catalyst.
- 23:20I act, I jump, then I think.
- 23:25And where's the way I have other strengths
- 23:27that will temper that activator.
- 23:30And my husband and I always work together.
- 23:32We worked together for 35 years as artists.
- 23:34And so we have this house
- 23:37and we've just made this house our own
- 23:40and put a lot of attention into the work that we did.
- 23:43We did specialty wall finishes
- 23:45and specialty wood finishes
- 23:46and we finished furniture, all that stuff.
- 23:49And so I always come up with these great ideas.
- 23:52I'm an artist.
- 23:53I'm always creating more projects for us to do.
- 23:57And I would say, oh, Archie, you know what?
- 23:59We should do this.
- 24:00And he would, because I'm so quick on the spot,
- 24:03he'd go, oh no.
- 24:05Because we either didn't have the time
- 24:07or the money or he didn't have the desire to do it.
- 24:10And one day I said to him,
- 24:13Archie, do you just not trust me?
- 24:15And he said, wait, what?
- 24:17Why would you ask me that?
- 24:19And I said, because every time I ask you
- 24:21about doing a project or like let's take the,
- 24:26let's put beams in our living room, he'll say no.
- 24:30And what I found out is when he took the assessment,
- 24:34he's high in context.
- 24:36So I'm not, I have zero context.
- 24:40And what context is, he needs to know the backstory.
- 24:44He needs to know where I am right now
- 24:47and where that's gonna take us in the future.
- 24:49So for instance, I worked with a coach
- 24:52and it was quite expensive to work with her.
- 24:54And I needed to borrow some of our money
- 24:57and I was gonna pay it back.
- 24:59But it was a hefty investment.
- 25:02And so I said, Archie, this is where I've been in the past.
- 25:07This is a gap in my business.
- 25:11And where I am right now,
- 25:12I think I'm perfectly poised to have this coach
- 25:15take me to the next level.
- 25:17And this is where I see myself in two to five years.
- 25:21And it's gonna cost X amount.
- 25:23Would you do me a favor
- 25:25and just really think this through
- 25:27the next couple of days and then just get back to me.
- 25:31Well, two hours later, he comes back and he says,
- 25:35you know, Betts, I think that's, I mean, you know,
- 25:36pay it back and yeah, I think that's a great idea.
- 25:39And I said, so what happened here?
- 25:44And he said, you really got that I needed to know
- 25:48where you are right now and where you wanna go.
- 25:51But more importantly, you didn't force me
- 25:54to make a decision right now, like activator.
- 25:59So I've told that story from stage multiple times
- 26:02and I have a woman come up and say,
- 26:04that is the most manipulative thing I have ever heard.
- 26:08And I was like, really?
- 26:12Oh, I hadn't considered that.
- 26:14And so I went home and I asked my husband, I said,
- 26:17I use that example about working with Kimberly
- 26:20and he said, oh, Betsy, I felt like you really honored me.
- 26:25You got me, you saw me, you let me do it my way
- 26:30instead of ramming this decision on my throat
- 26:33because you're onto the next thing, you know?
- 26:36Wow.
- 26:37And so for me, think about that,
- 26:41not just in your relationship with your primary person,
- 26:45but with your kids.
- 26:46I know my kids, my son-in-laws, top strength.
- 26:50So I talk to him differently than I do to my daughter-in-law.
- 26:53I wish he had my strengths.
- 26:55But think about it with the team that you work with.
- 26:59Maybe you have a VA,
- 27:00maybe you have someone doing your social media,
- 27:02maybe you have someone doing your website
- 27:04or you have someone doing your marketing,
- 27:06to be able to have the language and to delegate
- 27:09and know that this person needs to sleep on it.
- 27:13They need context.
- 27:15And instead of saying, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,
- 27:17we did that yesterday, how come it's not done?
- 27:21And they can take a deep breath and say, Betsy,
- 27:25activator's running the show a little bit,
- 27:27could we maybe think about this for a week?
- 27:29It was just providing that.
- 27:33And just the ease and the trust that is built
- 27:39within your primary relationships, your team, your clothes,
- 27:45it makes all the difference in the world for me.
- 27:49Some of my clients, I give them,
- 27:51I set up the appointment at the call,
- 27:53at the end of the call.
- 27:54Okay, we're gonna get on the calendar.
- 27:57You're gonna get on the calendar.
- 27:57And they go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
- 27:59I gotta have this on the calendar.
- 28:02But I also have clients that go,
- 28:04Betsy, just send me the link
- 28:05and I'll get back to you in 48 hours.
- 28:07Some of the vacation, resentment is
- 28:13because of unmet expectations.
- 28:17So if I expect you, Wendy, to be an activator
- 28:21and a high achiever and a disser and a fatter,
- 28:24that's all based on speed,
- 28:26and that's not in congruence with your strengths.
- 28:31You and I are gonna have some resentment
- 28:32because we have different speed.
- 28:37And we don't consider that when we're in relationship
- 28:42with people, many of us don't, maybe some people.
- 28:45I think that that awareness is huge.
- 28:47Yeah, absolutely.
- 28:49And I can't think of anything more important
- 28:52than what you're saying right now
- 28:54is learning about each other,
- 29:00those important people in our lives,
- 29:02those important people we serve in our career
- 29:06or business or whatever.
- 29:09And it begins, I believe, with getting to know myself.
- 29:14And all of those are important.
- 29:18And one of the things that I know
- 29:21that it seems like a little bit of a jump
- 29:24into a different part of what we're talking about,
- 29:27but it isn't really, is the gift of the meditation
- 29:31that you are offering us that will be in the gift portal.
- 29:36Because I really believe that meditation,
- 29:40whether it's silent, whether it's guided,
- 29:43whatever it is, when we can stop for a moment
- 29:49and maybe just listen or maybe just be
- 29:52or whatever that might be, or be able to imagine
- 29:57because I haven't heard the meditation yet,
- 30:00I'm looking forward to it.
- 30:02But maybe be able to see a part of ourselves
- 30:05that we couldn't accept with our intellectual brain,
- 30:09but yet in a right brain experience,
- 30:13maybe it's like, oh my God.
- 30:15Like, again, I really resonate with that.
- 30:18That speaks to me.
- 30:20I want that.
- 30:21That matters to me kind of thing.
- 30:23So I'm so grateful that you chose the gift
- 30:27of the meditation, Betsy,
- 30:28because I think that it'll be really helpful
- 30:32that we in this crazy, distracted, busy,
- 30:37monopolizing environment that so many of us live in,
- 30:41we need to just stop for a bit.
- 30:44And I would even say, daily,
- 30:49because I think that it's an assistance for embodiment.
- 30:57That's what I think, an assistance with embodiment
- 31:00because the same actions, the same thoughts
- 31:05will lead to the same outcomes and the same thoughts.
- 31:10So I'm really glad that you have offered that to us.
- 31:16Well, it's my pleasure.
- 31:17It's a unique meditation because it's part meditation,
- 31:23part blessing, part exercise,
- 31:27on just filling down what is your purpose.
- 31:31Wouldn't it be amazing if,
- 31:33and it's a lot in 12 minutes
- 31:36and it can be listened to over and over and over again
- 31:42so that you can really tap into who you are
- 31:46at your core essence.
- 31:50And honestly, Wendy, I do it multiple times
- 31:55and it's not an official meditation,
- 31:58but I think heart coherence repeatedly throughout the day
- 32:02and why you've been talking
- 32:05the way I stay present is I'm doing a heart focused breathing
- 32:11so that I stay out of my head.
- 32:13So I'm not thinking, well, okay,
- 32:14the next thing I'm gonna say is,
- 32:17because then I'm in my head and so often
- 32:20we don't know how to get out of our head
- 32:23and get into our heart and live an embodied life.
- 32:26And so I'm actually doing heart focused breathing
- 32:30while you're talking.
- 32:32Wow.
- 32:33So that I can listen to what you're saying
- 32:37instead of going, okay, well, when she stops talking,
- 32:39I'm gonna jump right in.
- 32:42And how many times have you been in a conversation
- 32:45where you feel like, wow, huh, that was interesting.
- 32:52I don't quite know what to make of that.
- 32:54I was talking in language A
- 32:56and she was talking in language J, you know,
- 33:00we were not communicating.
- 33:02And how do we stay present?
- 33:05You think all we have.
- 33:07Wow.
- 33:07That's all we have is right now, right now, right now.
- 33:12And having overcome breast cancer,
- 33:15I understand there is nothing more important
- 33:18than being present right now.
- 33:20Oh my gosh, Betsy, that is so powerful.
- 33:24And what an experience.
- 33:25I'm sure that must have been challenging on all levels.
- 33:29All levels, right, that you've worked through.
- 33:34You know, Wendy,
- 33:38there was a lot of uncertainty.
- 33:42And I think one of my coaches,
- 33:45I called her and I said, you know,
- 33:48it's not looking good before I had the actual,
- 33:51the official prognosis with a lot of waiting months
- 33:55and months before they could do my surgery
- 33:57and check what was going on.
- 34:00And I just, I was really upset
- 34:03and I wanted her to be upset with me.
- 34:05And I wanted her to get on the bandwagon of,
- 34:09ugh, you know, I don't want to wait anymore.
- 34:12And she said, you know,
- 34:14I don't know, is this good or is it bad?
- 34:17And I'm like, girlfriend,
- 34:19I need you to be saying this is good.
- 34:22And I said, well, wait, what do you mean?
- 34:24And she said, well, I don't know.
- 34:26Wow, no.
- 34:29And I was like, I was gobsmacked.
- 34:32I was like, what do you mean you don't know?
- 34:34And she said, I don't.
- 34:37And I will say, Wendy,
- 34:39I do not ever want to have cancer again.
- 34:43And I do not want anyone to have to go
- 34:46through hearing it's cancer.
- 34:50That is not what I'm saying.
- 34:51And I learned, I have been very loved in my life.
- 34:57And I feel really fortunate how well loved I've been.
- 35:02But I experienced what it was like to be cherished
- 35:06during this.
- 35:08And for a woman to lose a breast
- 35:12really dings their identity,
- 35:14especially when you're an, you know,
- 35:17an old chrome like I am, you know,
- 35:19in my 70s, it's hard.
- 35:22It's hard to have the amputation of any sort.
- 35:26And to be able to say and look you in the eye
- 35:29and say, I felt cherished.
- 35:32That cherished ability,
- 35:36if you want to put it that way,
- 35:38I can still stay in feeling cherished
- 35:41by what happened in that nine months.
- 35:48And so I don't know,
- 35:51whatever your listeners are going through right now,
- 35:54I don't know if it's good or bad.
- 35:57I don't know.
- 36:00And what that has allowed me to do
- 36:04is to allow women the space and grace
- 36:08to live into their uncertainty, not flinch.
- 36:14Because as a transformation strategist, coach, advisor,
- 36:23trusted advisor, whatever you want to say,
- 36:25someone put themselves in the arena to support women,
- 36:30we have to have all the answers.
- 36:32We have to know, we have to have certainty.
- 36:35And I disagree.
- 36:39I disagree.
- 36:40And I'm so much more comfortable saying,
- 36:43you know what, I don't know.
- 36:45I don't know.
- 36:47But I'm here with you, I'm here for you.
- 36:52And if you have to lean on my having
- 36:55a little bit more certainty than you do,
- 36:57then see what I think.
- 37:00But what empathy, true empathy says,
- 37:03which I keep going back to empathy.
- 37:06I don't know why.
- 37:06Someone out there needs to hear about empathy.
- 37:09Empathy is not the same as sympathy.
- 37:12Empathy can be demeaning and degrading.
- 37:16Oh, when do you poor thing?
- 37:18You poor thing.
- 37:19And you're insinuating, it's not what you intend,
- 37:22but sometimes you can be insinuating
- 37:24you incompetent thing.
- 37:26You're gonna struggle and suffer.
- 37:29And what empathy says is, I see you,
- 37:33I hear you and I hold dignity with you
- 37:36because I see your competency.
- 37:40Yes, this is really difficult.
- 37:43And I see you.
- 37:46And you're stronger than you realize
- 37:48and you're stronger than you think.
- 37:51I so appreciate that.
- 37:53And choosing our support people,
- 37:57being able to tell the difference
- 37:59between sympathy and empathy is so key.
- 38:04And if we don't have somebody with empathy
- 38:08in our lives that is our support person,
- 38:13it behooves us to find someone,
- 38:16a mentor, a coach, a professional of some sort
- 38:20that knows and lives empathy.
- 38:26Because again, sometimes we need somebody
- 38:31to believe in us before we can believe in ourselves
- 38:35and empathy can help with that.
- 38:39And you know, something else,
- 38:41maybe someone needs to hear this too, Betsy,
- 38:44but your coach that you're sharing about
- 38:50knew there's a part of you that wants to move forward
- 38:54and was ready to hear, what?
- 38:59What did you just say?
- 39:03And how it has blessed you,
- 39:08because the support that we want
- 39:13and the support that we need
- 39:16sometimes is not always the same support.
- 39:21So again, working with somebody
- 39:24that we come to see and know that we can trust
- 39:28is really key to not just the changes that we want,
- 39:34but the actual transformation that we want.
- 39:39And Betsy, you are clearly somebody who offers so much.
- 39:46Where I want to go now, Betsy is knowing,
- 39:50I mean, of course, we're gonna have your information
- 39:52in the show notes,
- 39:53but where is the best way to contact you
- 39:56either, you know, about coaching to strengths
- 39:59or about moving through a diagnosis or about,
- 40:04I need an empathy, an empathist.
- 40:07I just made that word up.
- 40:09I need somebody with empathy.
- 40:10It worked.
- 40:12But what is the best way to reach you
- 40:16with whatever it is a person would want support with?
- 40:19Thank you for asking that.
- 40:21I would say go to my website,
- 40:24which is coach, the number two,
- 40:27and then strengths, plural,
- 40:31and it's S-T-R-E-M-G-T-H-S dot com.
- 40:37So it's coach two strengths dot com.
- 40:39And there is a place where you can ask to, you know,
- 40:44contact me and I will reach out to you
- 40:46and a little space for you to write what it is
- 40:48that is a concern.
- 40:50And because I don't wanna be talking about strength finders
- 40:56when they've just said, you know,
- 40:57I've been diagnosed with breast cancer.
- 41:00I wanna be able to come at it from a sensitive place.
- 41:05Yes.
- 41:06So I think going to my website
- 41:07is really a great place to go.
- 41:09And then we will have in the show notes,
- 41:12the link to be able to get
- 41:14where does your juicy lie meditation.
- 41:16Yes.
- 41:19It's fun.
- 41:19It's a fun, like I said, meditation, purpose driven,
- 41:25exercise, blessing, and-
- 41:28Beautiful.
- 41:29Yeah.
- 41:30Because it fits all, doesn't it?
- 41:32I mean, we all kind of gravitate
- 41:34maybe toward a certain way,
- 41:36like somebody would go blessing.
- 41:38I absolutely need blessing,
- 41:40or, ooh, I need to journal here,
- 41:42or I just need to be quiet or whatever it is.
- 41:47Or all those things.
- 41:49Right?
- 41:51Oh my gosh.
- 41:53And so again, thank you for that gift
- 41:57and thank you for your time today,
- 42:00everything that you've shared.
- 42:03And as we close up, Betsy,
- 42:05do you have any final words
- 42:07that you would like to share,
- 42:10something of support or whatever that might be
- 42:13that you would like to share
- 42:15with people that are listening or will be listening?
- 42:18Thank you.
- 42:21This quote changed my life
- 42:26and put me on a very different trajectory
- 42:31to own my sassy self
- 42:35and to be comfortable in my own skin.
- 42:41And it's Oscar Wilde's quote,
- 42:43be yourself, everyone else is taken.
- 42:46Oh gosh.
- 42:48And I wish I'd come up with that quote.
- 42:52I think it's so profound.
- 42:55And if you will embody that and absorb that
- 42:58and marinate in that, marinate that in them.
- 43:04It changes everything.
- 43:06We don't need another Wendy.
- 43:09We don't need another Betsy.
- 43:11We need you to be true to you.
- 43:14Be true to you.
- 43:19Energetically, everybody feels the disconnect.
- 43:23We're not fooling anybody.
- 43:26And we think that we're so self-contained
- 43:29and it's written all over our energy field
- 43:34that we're struggling with imposter thoughts
- 43:40or not enough or feeling defective
- 43:44or if they only knew.
- 43:53And the last illustration I will use
- 43:57and I think this is powerful
- 43:59is the question is have you bought a new computer
- 44:02in the last 10 years?
- 44:05And most women will say yes.
- 44:07And it's because we need upgraded programs, right?
- 44:12The other one is that I laugh at my age.
- 44:15I also need more memory.
- 44:18But here's the thing is it would be unthinkable
- 44:21for you and me to have a computer from 2005.
- 44:27That's just ridiculous.
- 44:29It's slow, it's archaic.
- 44:31It doesn't have the memory.
- 44:33I mean, it doesn't have anything
- 44:34that we need currently in 2026
- 44:37or whatever year you're listening to this.
- 44:40But you know what?
- 44:41When do we do that?
- 44:42We're still running on the operating system
- 44:45from when we were little.
- 44:48They're so sensitive belts.
- 44:52And I've decided to rewrite that program
- 44:55and go, hallelujah, thank you Jesus,
- 44:58pass the peanut butter.
- 45:00I love it.
- 45:03And that's our opportunity is are we going
- 45:07to rewrite our programs?
- 45:10And are we gonna update our programs?
- 45:13Because if you want different results,
- 45:15you have got to upgrade your program.
- 45:19And if not now, when?
- 45:22So beautiful, Betsy.
- 45:24Thank you so much, my dear.
- 45:26I appreciate every moment with you.
- 45:29Thank you.
- 45:30This has been nice.
- 45:31I really appreciate it, Wendy.
- 45:32Thank you.
- 45:34Okay, my dear, take care.
- 45:36Thanks.