Latest / Becoming Anchored / Becoming Anchored S3E12: How to Increase Your Sense of Self-Worth
Transcript
- 0:01laura: Hi, everyone.
- 0:02Welcome to the becoming anchored podcast.
- 0:05My name is Laura Dineen.
- 0:06I will be your host for today.
- 0:08Lauren Jackson is not with us, but she is with us in spirit.
- 0:11So welcome to the show today.
- 0:14We have a lovely, exciting guest for you all.
- 0:16Sarah Christianson Jeffs.
- 0:18She is amazing.
- 0:20And I really just have loved her content and following her on Instagram.
- 0:24And so I reached out and asked her if she wanted to be on the show today.
- 0:27So welcome Sarah,
- 0:29sara: Thank you.
- 0:29Hi, thanks for having me on.
- 0:31laura: of course.
- 0:32Yeah.
- 0:32I'm super excited just to learn from you and chat with you today.
- 0:36If you're new to the becoming anchor podcast, we really are
- 0:39about two things on this show.
- 0:40So first and foremost, Lauren and I are human and we go through hard things.
- 0:45We go through pain and suffering.
- 0:46We also go through Joy.
- 0:49And we love to share a little bit more about our personal lives on this show.
- 0:53We also have the wonderful gift of sitting with clients on a day in and day out
- 0:57basis and truly just cherish that work.
- 1:01I was actually just talking to a client today about how
- 1:03sacred the work of therapy is.
- 1:06And so we love to provide some of our insights and maybe nuggets of wisdom
- 1:11that we have gleaned over the years.
- 1:30So if this is your first time listening to the show, welcome.
- 1:33We're so glad that you're here.
- 1:34Quick disclaimer, this is not meant to be your therapy.
- 1:37If you are in the state of Tennessee, we would love to see you.
- 1:40So please reach out to our practice anchored counseling co.
- 1:43If not, we recommend that you find someone who is in your state or local to you.
- 1:49So Sarah, thank you so much for your time today and joining us.
- 1:52sara: Thank you for having me.
- 1:53I'm so glad to be here.
- 1:55laura: Of course.
- 1:56Yeah.
- 1:56Sarah and I were chatting right before the show.
- 1:57And I know that you talk about so many wonderful things on your
- 2:01account and for the record, we will link her account in the show notes.
- 2:05If you all are interested in following Sarah, but we really just talked about how
- 2:10to access your innate sense of self worth and that being the topic that we really
- 2:16wanted to explore with you all today.
- 2:18sara: Yeah, I love the whole concept of that.
- 2:21It's something that I feel really passionate about.
- 2:24And I think that right now, especially we're in December and we're just getting
- 2:30inundated with these messages about Almost like an end of year panic, right?
- 2:34Like get a headstart on your dream body or crush your goals or you know,
- 2:39all these things that you need to do to validate yourself or make yourself
- 2:44better in all these different ways.
- 2:46And I think that the quest for growth and personal development is amazing.
- 2:51It's admirable.
- 2:53People want to grow and, and achieve their goals and their dreams.
- 2:57But I think sometimes along the way people forget.
- 3:00Just how much innate worth they have that isn't dependent on what they
- 3:05do, or perform, or achieve, or the goals that they crush, or how they
- 3:10look, or any of those other things.
- 3:12It's just there within them, and it's unconditional, and I just
- 3:17think it's a really important message for us all to remember.
- 3:20laura: Absolutely.
- 3:22Yeah.
- 3:22I mean, I completely concur and agree.
- 3:25And Yeah, absolutely.
- 3:26And I, I think the messages, especially this time of year and
- 3:31really even into January and, you know, the rest of the year or two,
- 3:35they certainly pop up, but they're problematic and they can be harmful.
- 3:40Because yeah, like there's nothing wrong with working hard or having a dream or
- 3:45goal, but we can almost kind of take that and run with it in a problematic way.
- 3:50And that's what I hear you saying right now.
- 3:52sara: Yeah, I think so.
- 3:54And I think that we just absorb all of these messages.
- 3:57I think that was really one of the reasons why I started my instagram
- 4:01account in the first place.
- 4:03I started it about over three years ago and it was just thinking of the
- 4:08way that we consume social media.
- 4:10And at the time, both my kids were teenagers and A lot of times it's
- 4:15just these micro messages that come through as we scroll a lot of times
- 4:19it's people's highlight reels, right?
- 4:21And that kind of thing.
- 4:22And we're just absorbing this message of like more, more, more, we need
- 4:26to do more, be more, achieve more.
- 4:28And I think that sometimes it can just leave people feeling
- 4:32inadequate or just feeling, you know, Bad about their own lives.
- 4:36So I kind of started the account thinking, okay, if someone just scrolls through
- 4:40my account and they get this message for five seconds to remind them of
- 4:45how far they've come or to remind them that they are enough exactly as they
- 4:50are, that they don't have to do another thing to make them any more worthy.
- 4:54Then I just felt like that was really worthwhile.
- 4:57You know, whoever that reached.
- 4:59I think those messages are important for us more than ever.
- 5:02laura: Hmm.
- 5:03Hmm.
- 5:04Yeah.
- 5:04I mean, a couple of things just to highlight from what you shared, the micro
- 5:08messaging feels important to highlight just in the sense that I think brands
- 5:15as a whole have gotten really adept, if you will, at sending these messages.
- 5:21And they're kind of cloaked in branding and fancy verbiage.
- 5:25But at the end of the day, they do, I think, oftentimes lead to us feeling bad
- 5:30about ourselves or not enough, and they're oftentimes cloaked with some layer of
- 5:34shame or defectiveness, which then, you know, I think people can start to feel
- 5:41like, Oh, wow, I need to do this thing.
- 5:42And then that's, what's going to lead me to experiencing being lovable or enough.
- 5:48So that is interesting that you're talking about that, right?
- 5:51It's like that shame based messaging.
- 5:53It's a little bit more subtle and it's smart on the part of
- 5:56the, these brands, but it's also problematic in many different ways.
- 6:01sara: Yeah, because I think just this message that people feel like the
- 6:05clients that I work with as a wellness coach, I think sometimes that message
- 6:09of just not enoughness or a message of feeling like they're too much in
- 6:14certain ways and just feeling the pressure to conform to their needs.
- 6:18This thing that's out there.
- 6:20I think it's just so important for people to remember, like their own unique light
- 6:25and their strengths and their gifts.
- 6:27And a lot of times when I've worked with clients, like the
- 6:30first thing we do is like, tell me what you're doing really well.
- 6:34Tell me what's strong about you.
- 6:35Tell me something in your life that you are the most proud of.
- 6:39Because I think so many times, again, on this quest for improvement.
- 6:44It's just forgetting to like fortify our strengths.
- 6:47And it's so interesting because even the research shows that like, if we tap into
- 6:53what's already like inherently good and strong about us, it motivates us to pursue
- 6:59the things that we want for the future.
- 7:01It's like a really good practice to do.
- 7:03So yeah, I think sometimes it's just a message.
- 7:06I think, what did they say?
- 7:08Like, you need to hear something, is it seven times before the message sinks in?
- 7:12So I thought, okay, like.
- 7:13Even with the account, if this is just one of the seven messages to remind
- 7:17someone, Oh yeah, like I forgot, I overcame that and I'm going to just
- 7:22stop for a minute and celebrate it before I make out all of my goals
- 7:27and lists for what I want to do next.
- 7:29And yeah, I think it's, it's just such an important thing to fortify what's already
- 7:34there within us to celebrate it, to remember it, to celebrate our uniqueness.
- 7:40laura: absolutely.
- 7:41Well, and we talk a lot about hope on this show and I am a firm
- 7:46believer that that is one way for us to access both our resiliency.
- 7:52and hopefulness about the future is looking historically around what
- 7:57we've overcome what we are proud of.
- 7:59It's that strengths based approach of like, Hey, what is going well for me?
- 8:03What are areas in which I'm really gifted?
- 8:06And we are so quick to dismiss those or maybe forget those as human beings.
- 8:11So I love that you were doing that work with clients.
- 8:13Just out of curiosity, what are the answers that people give you
- 8:17when, when you're asking them, like what they're proud of?
- 8:20sara: Oh, like so many things because I've worked like also one to one as
- 8:25a health professional for over 20 years and like people are amazing
- 8:30and their strength and courage.
- 8:32Like you just look at someone's life, you see a snapshot of it, right?
- 8:36And then you get into conversation with someone and the way that they've.
- 8:40overcome this thing that maybe no one even knew was a struggle for them.
- 8:45I say this a lot to people.
- 8:46I truly believe doing the work and going to therapy is incredibly brave.
- 8:51So that's something to celebrate, to actually speak help and ask for help
- 8:56and say, I don't want to do this alone.
- 8:59I think the way that people just show up Even amidst the fear and the
- 9:04challenge, the way that the resiliency that people have, I know sometimes that
- 9:09word can get a little bit overused, but the true resiliency that people
- 9:13have to get knocked down, get back up again, they're working on themselves.
- 9:18They're taking brave steps, you know, all of those things.
- 9:22And I think even in this like post COVID landscape where, you know,
- 9:26our world has changed a lot and.
- 9:29It's caused a lot of fear and anxiety for people and yet people are still
- 9:33like doing the work and showing up.
- 9:35So the most amazing stories I've heard from people of just strength and
- 9:39courage and kindness and compassion.
- 9:43And I love listening to people's stories.
- 9:46Again, even on the account, people will sometimes leave something in the comments
- 9:50of, of what they did overcome or achieve.
- 9:52And.
- 9:52They're just such great things to remember and to celebrate.
- 9:56laura: Absolutely.
- 9:57And you light up when you're talking about it.
- 9:59So I can tell that it's really meaningful for you.
- 10:02sara: Yeah.
- 10:03I think it just to be, if you can remind someone of that, it's like, we're just
- 10:07so bombarded with information too, right?
- 10:10We're just in this age of information overload.
- 10:13We have so much coming at us all the time.
- 10:16So again, just remembering what's important.
- 10:19and remembering what's already been there is so, so worthwhile.
- 10:24laura: I love this.
- 10:25And I already feel a sense of encouragement.
- 10:27You know, we've been talking for about 10 minutes now, and I already feel a
- 10:29sense of encouragement chatting with you.
- 10:31So I know that the work that you're doing with your clients is so meaningful.
- 10:35But really circling back to the topic for this episode.
- 10:38So how to access your innate sense of self worth.
- 10:41I think first and foremost, we like to provide working definitions of
- 10:46what we're talking about before we're even doing this, the how to write the
- 10:50practical takeaways, the practical steps.
- 10:52So when you're thinking about the working definition or the concept of self worth,
- 10:59you've mentioned a few things, right?
- 11:01This unconditional love, this unique light that individuals have.
- 11:05What else would you add to that today?
- 11:08sara: I think it really starts with just having extra compassion for yourself.
- 11:15And I'm such a big fan of like Dr.
- 11:17Kristen Neff's work around self compassion.
- 11:20I think it's really transformative work.
- 11:23And I think especially for people who tend to be Really driven, really
- 11:27high achievers, and who maybe just have a really loud inner critic
- 11:32that makes them feel like they have to do more and more to be worthy,
- 11:37to feel worthy, to feel validated.
- 11:39I think it really starts with just giving yourself extra kindness.
- 11:44And the whole work and principle behind that is that you give yourself
- 11:49the same kindness and care that you would give to a good friend.
- 11:53And I think a lot of times we find it easier to show kindness and compassion
- 11:57for other people than we do for ourselves.
- 12:00And so this work of self compassion, I think it's just an integral part of
- 12:04accessing your worth because you're really just giving yourself space.
- 12:09For everything that you're feeling, for every challenge, every difficulty,
- 12:15it's really the opposite of toxic positivity where you feel like
- 12:18you just have to put on a brave face and keep like soldiering on.
- 12:22It's more about just giving yourself kindness and especially if you're
- 12:27finding things hard or you're experiencing difficult feelings or
- 12:31you're going through a hard time in your life, just stopping for a minute.
- 12:35And thinking, okay, seeing yourself and giving yourself some kindness.
- 12:40It's giving yourself a break.
- 12:41I think noticing how you feel
- 12:45laura: Absolutely.
- 12:46Gosh.
- 12:46I love all of this.
- 12:47And I deeply resonate with everything that you're sharing just as someone
- 12:53who has had to work differently.
- 12:55I, you know, I know I shared this right before we started recording, but
- 12:58really I've had a couple of different seasons in my career as a therapist.
- 13:02And one of those was right after I had my daughter and we went through just
- 13:06a lot of change and I needed to shift where I was putting my worth, right?
- 13:11Because historically I have been someone that.
- 13:15put my sense of worth in what I achieve.
- 13:18And it can lead to burnout.
- 13:20It kind of can feel like you're on this hamster wheel that is
- 13:23never ending and it's exhausting.
- 13:26sara: Yes.
- 13:27And I think life transitions like becoming a mom.
- 13:31There's so many like times in life where I think that can highlight more in your
- 13:36life because it's such a change and we kind of, we get to know ourselves right
- 13:41through sense of accomplishment, through what we do and all of those things.
- 13:45And if we're suddenly in a situation where everything's different it can
- 13:49highlight some of those areas that feel a little scary and uncertain for us.
- 13:54And I think it just starts with, yeah, the kindness of like,
- 13:57it's okay that I feel this way.
- 14:00Dr.
- 14:00Kristin Neff talks about like connecting to our common humanity too, which is just
- 14:05reminding ourselves that even though what we're going through might be a really,
- 14:09really unique struggle, and no one else has walked in our shoes, but reminding
- 14:14ourselves like the difficult feelings that we feel with it are so universal and
- 14:19that other people feel the same way too.
- 14:22And I think that's an important thing because we can feel so isolated when
- 14:25we're struggling or we can look around us and it can look like other people
- 14:30just have it together or whatever else.
- 14:32So reminding ourselves that we're not alone.
- 14:35In these times, like as a new mom, you know, it's remembering that so
- 14:40many, every other new mom goes through just the same thing and, you know,
- 14:45it just takes away those feelings of isolation, which I think is so important.
- 14:49laura: Absolutely.
- 14:50Absolutely.
- 14:51And it's an invitation really to perhaps shift how we're,
- 14:55how we're doing things, right?
- 14:56If you are someone listening today and you would Resonate with what
- 15:01Sarah is sharing around like, Oh, wow.
- 15:02Maybe I do put too much of my worth in external things, whether that's
- 15:07work or a relationship or job performance or whatever it might be.
- 15:12We don't have to shame that it's really an invitation to do some of this deeper
- 15:18work around like really getting curious.
- 15:21I guess this is more of the how to, but.
- 15:23I, I wonder, you know, why without the judgment there, but why
- 15:28this is the case for me, right?
- 15:30Like I wonder what this is about for me and really looking at this through
- 15:34the lens of curiosity and compassion, I think can be one of the first steps
- 15:40sara: Yeah.
- 15:40laura: starting to question some of those messages.
- 15:43Like we talked about at the beginning of the show can be part of that, that
- 15:48process for you to, if you resonate with what Sarah and I are talking about today.
- 15:53sara: Yeah.
- 15:53I love that.
- 15:54And I love you bringing in like the curiosity piece too, because it,
- 15:58then it just kind of silences any tendency to be critical of ourselves.
- 16:03I feel like I shouldn't be feeling this way, or I should be over this by now,
- 16:07or I should be further along than I am.
- 16:10I think so many people feel that way.
- 16:12They, they feel like they're struggling to keep up with all the
- 16:15noise and everything around them.
- 16:18And I think the curiosity kind of It, it helps to silence all of
- 16:23those things and it helps us just to get to know ourselves better.
- 16:27And I think that's a part of self worth too, is the better we know ourselves,
- 16:32the more we can just be kind and loving towards ourselves too, you know, it's
- 16:37just a part of self love is self discovery and understanding ourselves more.
- 16:43laura: Sure.
- 16:44Sure.
- 16:45Well, in circling back to one thing that I wanted to talk about, you
- 16:48know, I think this theme of comparison has come up in today's show, right?
- 16:52And if we think about what gets in the way of accessing our innate self worth, I
- 16:57do think that that's a piece of the work for a lot of us is if we find ourselves
- 17:03in patterns of comparison or even in patterns of okay, I extend kindness
- 17:09to This friend, but not to myself.
- 17:12That's a similar pattern that's happening.
- 17:15Really exploring that with our own selves, with gentleness and
- 17:18tenderness and compassion can be really fruitful work as well.
- 17:22sara: Definitely, completely agree.
- 17:24I think just being aware that we can all have a tendency to do that.
- 17:29And again, like there's such wonderful things about like social
- 17:32media, the internet, it connects.
- 17:34It helps us more, you know, there's so many great things about it, but
- 17:38it does bring in more comparison.
- 17:40We are seeing so many other people's lives more than we ever have before.
- 17:45And it, but again, we're just seeing little snapshots of it.
- 17:49We're not always seeing the internal struggles.
- 17:52I admire like the mental health accounts that do talk about these things more.
- 17:56I think they're so important, but I think a lot of times it can just, perpetuate
- 18:01that message of people have it together.
- 18:04I'm struggling.
- 18:05I feel alone.
- 18:06And so, yeah, I think it's just so important to create that space around
- 18:12us for our struggles and our hardships.
- 18:15laura: Absolutely.
- 18:16And, and we rarely see the full picture, I think, with social media.
- 18:22And that's something that I'm consistently talking to my clients
- 18:25about is, you know, give me an example of what you noticed on your
- 18:29friend's timeline or on their account.
- 18:33Sometimes people are honest and vulnerable, and I think we're trending
- 18:37in that direction, and that's wonderful, but a lot of times the pictures that we
- 18:41post are the things that we talk about are more of a curated image versus,
- 18:47like you talked about, the reality of what might be happening behind closed
- 18:50doors, and that can be a lot for our brains to digest, too, and can lead to
- 18:55the comparison and can, I think, chip away at some of the self worth that
- 18:59we're talking about today as well.
- 19:01sara: Yeah.
- 19:02I completely agree.
- 19:03Yeah.
- 19:04laura: Yeah.
- 19:05Well, and it's interesting too, because, you know, we do, we practice
- 19:09through a trauma informed lens, right?
- 19:11So, this concept of, you know, how to access our innate self worth, I
- 19:17think we can't I know this is a double negative, but we can't not talk about
- 19:20developmental trauma as well without getting too much into it, right?
- 19:24But, you know, Sarah and I today have talked about, okay, How much are we
- 19:27comparing ourselves to other people?
- 19:30Is there an inner critic going on?
- 19:32Are we extending the same kindness to ourselves that we
- 19:35would extend to other people?
- 19:37How much are we on socials and how much is that actually a picture of
- 19:42real life versus imaginative life?
- 19:45And there is a piece, too, if you struggle with self worth, we almost have to look
- 19:50at our historical timeline as well.
- 19:53So really looking at, and I'm sure you do this some with your clients
- 19:57as well, but you know, as, as a child growing up, how were you talked to did
- 20:03you have someone that believed in you, were you loved on, were you cherished?
- 20:08And those are helpful questions as well because those formative years
- 20:12matter as well in terms of our ability to access our innate self worth.
- 20:16sara: It's so true.
- 20:17I completely agree with that.
- 20:19And I think that, you know, sometimes we do, we go back to move forward, right?
- 20:24I think that's where therapy is such an important piece of that too, to
- 20:27go back and explore those topics.
- 20:30But then also we can, there's so much that we can unlearn and that's
- 20:34just another part of personal development and moving forward is
- 20:38unlearning the messages that maybe we internalize that when we performed
- 20:43well, that's when we felt more loved.
- 20:46And when we didn't perform so well, that's when we didn't.
- 20:48And it's really by like revisiting those stories and those messages,
- 20:54Like, we really truly get to rewrite some of it, and I know that, you
- 20:58know, it's not as simple as that.
- 20:59There's work behind it but that's the wonderful thing even about our brains,
- 21:04about the way that our bodies heal, is that when we go back and discover some
- 21:09of that in moving forward, you know, we can realize the ways that that wasn't
- 21:15true, and that actually this is the truth of who we are, and this is what we're
- 21:19going to cling on to moving forward.
- 21:21Yeah.
- 21:23laura: Yeah, the unlearning, I think, just feels so important to highlight today.
- 21:28Just even the permission to pause and look at our stories and look at where
- 21:35perhaps we were, we needed more from a caregiver or parental figure in that
- 21:41moment where our needs weren't met.
- 21:45We were maybe consistently praised for our grades versus the kindness
- 21:50that we extended to others.
- 21:52And the purpose of this conversation is not to shame our parents, but it's more
- 21:56to allow our adult selves to really.
- 21:58Go back and take care of our younger selves, and I think that
- 22:02can be really fruitful, too.
- 22:03And it's interesting, too.
- 22:04I've leaned a little bit more into this framework, just even having a daughter
- 22:09and watching her go through some of the experiences recently and, you know,
- 22:14looking at maybe some of my own stuff that has shown up even as a mom and
- 22:19So all that to say, I think that can be a really fruitful part of accessing
- 22:23our innate self worth is looking at maybe times when we felt missed in our
- 22:27childhood or when our worthiness wasn't valued or pointed out or appreciated.
- 22:36That can just be really fruitful work to do as well.
- 22:39sara: It really can, and it's so true what you said about, like, when you become a
- 22:42mom, you, you're almost confronted with revisiting some of those messages, right?
- 22:48Because now you're an adult and you're looking at this child
- 22:52and you're knowing that Yeah.
- 22:54How much you love them and that unconditional love that you feel.
- 22:58And you want them to have that same message.
- 23:00My daughter is 15, almost 16 and you know, it's the same thing.
- 23:05Just, I want that message to really sink in so deeply that it's great
- 23:11to have ambition and to want all of these things, but none of it changes.
- 23:16The essence of who you are, you will always be.
- 23:19Such a beautiful, lovable person with this innate worth that does
- 23:24not rest on successes or failures or external validation or anything else.
- 23:31laura: Yeah.
- 23:32Yeah.
- 23:33Wow.
- 23:33What a gift she has to have you as a mother and to hear
- 23:36those messages consistently.
- 23:38I think a lot of people have a lot of grief around this, right?
- 23:42Because if as a therapist or perhaps as a coach, if you're pointing this
- 23:46out to your clients, I know they can almost, my clients at least who may
- 23:50be struggled with accessing their innate worth can almost look at me
- 23:55like with a posture of like, really?
- 23:57Or that's hard for me to, they'll say something like, that's hard
- 24:01for me to believe, Laura, or I was never told that growing up.
- 24:04And I think that can also evoke a grief response for a lot of individuals
- 24:09around, even as we start to like look at what gives us a sense of self worth
- 24:16if they didn't have that growing up.
- 24:19And so there can be a natural grief process as we begin to uncover the
- 24:24layers of our innate self worth as well.
- 24:26Yeah.
- 24:27Yeah.
- 24:28sara: so important to, again, just, like, give yourself space for that grief, too,
- 24:33because that's where I think the self compassion comes in, and that's where
- 24:38you're, like, pushing away any toxic positivity, because toxic positivity
- 24:43would say, like, it's in the past, just move on, and that doesn't serve anyone.
- 24:47I think you have to give yourself space for, and grief.
- 24:52for maybe the things that you needed as a child that you didn't receive.
- 24:56Like that's so valid to grieve that and to acknowledge it to yourself.
- 25:01I think that's part of self love is to really let yourself feel those
- 25:06very valid feelings instead of telling yourself again, how you should feel.
- 25:12It's given, I think it's just, I think self compassion is like
- 25:15such an expansive practice.
- 25:17It's just like, I almost imagine it like it just creates this cushion around
- 25:21you where there's room to breathe.
- 25:23There's room to feel everything that you're feeling.
- 25:26You're not trying to put it away.
- 25:28And then it just allows you to process it more healthily.
- 25:32And I think with the self love too, like you were saying, it's as a concept,
- 25:37I think self love, self worth, it's almost like we imagine You have to stand
- 25:43in front of a mirror and be like, I'm amazing, like all that kind of thing.
- 25:46I don't think that's how anyone necessarily feels.
- 25:49If they do, that's great.
- 25:51But it's more just like the little, little steps at a time, you know?
- 25:55It could be the time where you choose to give yourself the care and the rest
- 26:00that you need instead of pushing through something when you know it's going to.
- 26:05burn out and exhaust you.
- 26:07Or it could be just making a little pact with yourself that, okay, every
- 26:13day this week, I'm just going to try and say one kind thing to myself.
- 26:17That feels true to me.
- 26:19That resonates with me.
- 26:20So you don't, like with affirming words, you don't have to muster up these
- 26:24statements that don't even feel real.
- 26:26It could just be something as simple as, it's okay that I'm feeling this way.
- 26:32And I am going to let myself feel everything I'm feeling.
- 26:36It's just giving yourself like that tenderness.
- 26:39And I think that's a way that you can build that a little bit more is
- 26:43just like those little tiny steps.
- 26:45It doesn't have to be these great big feelings.
- 26:49It really can be like actionable steps that you think, okay, I'm
- 26:52going to try and weave a little bit more of this into my life.
- 26:56laura: Absolutely.
- 26:57Isn't that so interesting when, you know, and you know, I have certainly done this,
- 27:02so I'll be the first to raise my hand with this, but I learned about a new concept or
- 27:06I feel challenged or encouraged in a way.
- 27:08And then I'm like, okay, I'm going to spend five hours thinking about myself
- 27:13for the next day, which, you know, we don't have to have judgment or shame for
- 27:16that, but I love that you're highlighting this, encouraging our listeners to
- 27:21start small and having kindness.
- 27:25for themselves, even in those small steps.
- 27:29And I think that that makes it more sustainable, and gives us longevity as
- 27:34well, versus even burning out around personal development, like you've
- 27:39talked about, or trying to access our innate self worth and burning out
- 27:44because we're spending five hours a day trying to access our self worth.
- 27:48So I think that this, this is just a really important takeaway
- 27:53as well for our listeners.
- 27:55sara: yeah, no, I agree so much.
- 27:56I think if you if you just lean into that intention a little bit, just
- 28:00say, okay, I'm going to try and take a few steps to Show myself that I'm
- 28:08going to be kind, I'm going to fortify my, my self worth a little bit more.
- 28:14I'm going to maybe just whatever it may be for you, journal, write it down, share
- 28:18it with a friend, something that's coming to my mind that I forgot that I overcame
- 28:25and I'm going to celebrate it and I'm going to share that win with someone else.
- 28:29You know, it could be as simple as that and you, if you're setting it as
- 28:33like an intention and a value, then.
- 28:36Rather than trying to muster up a feeling that doesn't necessarily feel
- 28:40true, especially if that hasn't been the case for you your whole life, or if
- 28:44you're unpacking trauma from the past or anything, it's, it doesn't even have to
- 28:49necessarily be this overwhelming feeling.
- 28:51It can just be intentions that you set that you're going to try
- 28:54and weave these practices into your life a little bit more.
- 28:58laura: Sure.
- 28:58Absolutely.
- 28:59Well, then the goal here too is that it, you know, becomes more habitual and
- 29:05I think over time too, you know, our, our, once we start doing something that
- 29:09feels good to our nervous systems or feels good to our bodies and hearts and
- 29:13minds and soul, hopefully there will be a desire to pursue that even more.
- 29:17sara: Yes, absolutely.
- 29:20laura: Yeah.
- 29:21This has just been lovely chatting with you and I feel like I have,
- 29:25you know, definite takeaways to you from today's episode.
- 29:28sara: Oh, I'm so glad.
- 29:29I've loved talking to you too.
- 29:31I think the work that you guys are doing is so great.
- 29:34And it is, they're just such important conversations to have, right?
- 29:38Because it's just Quieting the noise for a minute and just reminding people
- 29:44of who they are and how far they've come and all there is to celebrate
- 29:49about what's already within them while they're on this journey of still
- 29:53trying to grow and heal and improve.
- 29:55You know, it's such a, a great journey to be on.
- 29:58And I think it's.
- 29:59I think that's brave to want to do the work.
- 30:01I think people who want to develop personally or want to do the work of
- 30:05healing or recognize something in their self, in themselves that they want to
- 30:09grow in, you know, that's brave work.
- 30:12But then it's so great to remember too.
- 30:14laura: absolutely.
- 30:15Absolutely.
- 30:16Well, you know, if we think about closing with some homework and an
- 30:20affirmation, Sarah, would you like to do one or both of those things?
- 30:25sara: Yeah.
- 30:25So I guess for homework, just like a little takeaway is maybe
- 30:29just like, think of one thing.
- 30:33That comes to mind that you are just so proud of yourself for, you know,
- 30:38it could be the littlest thing.
- 30:40It could be something that to someone else doesn't even sound like a lot, but
- 30:44you know what it took for you to do that.
- 30:47Just remember it.
- 30:48And if you wanted to take it further, you could write it down,
- 30:51you could journal it, or even share it with someone that, you know, a
- 30:55safe space, someone that you trust.
- 30:58And just celebrate that for a minute in the midst of all this noise just
- 31:02celebrate one thing that you've already done, that you've already
- 31:06overcome, that you feel really proud of, or just something about yourself.
- 31:09It could be a strength that you have.
- 31:12So yeah, that would be the little homework.
- 31:14I think that would be really important.
- 31:15And then the other thing so this affirmation, I just shared it on actually
- 31:20on my social media, but I, I feel like it's important because again, like I
- 31:24said, we're in December and we're just surrounded by noise and, and what I
- 31:29call like end of year panic, right?
- 31:31Like people are even driving crazy or people are rushing.
- 31:34It's, it's just this message of more and more and more.
- 31:39And so.
- 31:40The affirmation would be, There is nothing I need to do, perform, achieve,
- 31:47or succeed at to make me any more worthy than I am right here in this moment.
- 31:54laura: So beautiful.
- 31:55Thank you.
- 31:55Wow.
- 31:56Yeah.
- 31:56I'm going to cherish that and take that with me today.
- 32:00Yeah.
- 32:00What a pleasure speaking with you.
- 32:02I'm just so grateful for your time and really, really appreciate
- 32:06you and your wisdom today.
- 32:07Just out of curiosity, is there anything that you would like
- 32:10to share with our listeners?
- 32:11Any platforms that you're on that you would like to let them know about?
- 32:15sara: Oh, thank you.
- 32:16It's been great talking with you too.
- 32:18I've loved it.
- 32:18I feel like we could just talk forever.
- 32:19Just go on and on about all of these things.
- 32:22Yeah, so my Instagram account is Dear Beautiful Friend.
- 32:26So if you want to check out any of these affirmations or you just want
- 32:29some encouragement in your feed, then feel free to check that out.
- 32:34Another thing is that I have a book of like poetry, prose, and affirmations
- 32:39that's available on Amazon and that's called Dear Beautiful Friend.
- 32:42A lot of people have said that they've gifted it to friends for the holidays
- 32:46or if they know that someone's going through a hard time or they're
- 32:49going through a hard time themselves that might be an encouragement too.
- 32:54And then I also have just kind of following on from the affirmations, I have
- 32:59a free guide that I've created just to get you started in an affirmation practice.
- 33:04Just the power of our words and saying some of the statements every day.
- 33:08And that, maybe we can link that in the notes too.
- 33:11It's also linked in my Instagram account.
- 33:13But it's just a, it's self compassion affirmations.
- 33:17It's three affirmations a day over seven days.
- 33:19It talks a little bit about tips for using the practice of affirmations.
- 33:24So that's another just free resource that anyone can download.
- 33:28laura: Wow.
- 33:29That's incredible.
- 33:30Yeah.
- 33:30We will absolutely link that in the show notes.
- 33:32Thank you for your time, Sarah, and thank you all for being here
- 33:36on the Becoming Anchored show.
- 33:37Take good care.
- 33:38sara: Thank you.
- 33:40Thanks.
- 33:40Bye.