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Is it possible to acquire clients with neither a website nor business cards?   Today’s guest, Nikki Berkel, offers actionable strategies for marketing your business when you’re first getting started. She shares her recent decision to fully transition from being a corporate employee to becoming a full-time life coach. Nikki says that she gained the confidence to make this big leap by taking time beforehand to establish a system for herself that ensures she wouldn’t be leaving the “comfort” of employment only to dive into something she wasn’t fully equipped to handle. She researched like crazy, which included attending countless webinars and reaching out to established coaches for advice. In the end, she was able to cultivate the mindset, skillset, and courage she needed to finally pursue her passion full-time.   Because of her desire to get her name and message out there as efficiently and effectively as possible, Nikki stuck to two principles: 1) Be honest with people; 2) Don’t make assumptions. Both of these principles, for Nikki, come down to not overthinking the process. The entrepreneurial journey—especially when you’re just starting out—is plagued with challenges, setbacks, and misconceptions. (Those misconceptions include needing the perfect website and business cards to become successful in business.) According to Nikki, as long as you build an authentic relationship with your customer and do great work for them, you will weather the storm of uncertainty and go far.   Just as she simply reached out to successful coaches for advice, Nikki wasn’t afraid to contact other brands and businesses to ask if they needed her services. She kept a log containing all her prospects. By focusing on the “yes” prospects and accepting “no” prospects as part of the journey, eventually she found recurring business. In her own words, “I went out to people who I knew in general could use this help, and I asked them if I could help them.”   Finally, at networking events, Nikki would collect business cards—not so that she can then hand out her own cards, but in order to be able to jot down people’s email addresses, in turn creating an email list.   By focusing on honesty, relationships, and service, Nikki was able to quickly scale her business without business cards, and while having a website that is only “85% complete”. After all, a fully-booked calendar looks much better than the greatest website in the world.   Connect with Nikki at: Website: www.nikkiberkel.com    

If you’re an entrepreneur looking to build your brand in today’s internet-powered world, you need a website and WordPress can help you do just that. Today’s guest, Sara Obando, says it doesn’t matter how many followers and fans you have on social media—those are platforms that you don’t own. Should they disappear, your content and audience will disappear along with those platforms. A website, on the other hand, is something you uniquely own, and it serves as a hub for anyone who wants more information on you and/or your business. Creating your own website is not as scary a prospect as most people imagine. Simply find a host (such as Wordpress or Squarespace), set it up, and you’re good to go. Using the services of a website builder that comes with a host—such as Bluehost—is even better. Listen in as Sara offers advice on choosing the best website-creation platform for your needs, myths around Wordpress, teaching yourself to build a website when you’re not a techie, and determining which Wordpress plugins your website needs. Resources: Wordpress Ready Go: Checklist and workbook filled with strategies for scaling your WP website. Included in the workbook are steps on how to implement Sara’s tips. Grow Together Mastermind: A community designed for budding entrepreneurs looking to build their brands as effectively as possible. Sara's Blog: A great place to get free educational information on how to use, set up, and audit your WordPress site! Plugins Mentioned: Woocommerce—for versatile ecommerce tools ConvertKit—for your mailing list ActiveCampaign—for your mailing list MailChimp—for your mailing list Tasty Pins—for optimizing your images for both SEO and Pinterest Yoast SEO—for all things SEO Connect with Sara at: Website: www.saraobando.com Facebook: @saraobandoweb Instagram: @saraobandoweb Pinterest: @saraobandowebstudio  

Sometimes, all you need to take your business to the next level is a change in attitude.   Courtney Bates shares her ongoing journey as a direct sales distributor for the skincare brand Neora. Courtney has had her share of funny looks thrown at her for being involved in direct sales, especially considering her career as a speech pathologist. However, what started out as a fondness for Neora’s products turned into a passion for empowering families with business ownership.   Listen in as Courtney discusses how to nurture an attitude of gratitude. Such a seemingly simple shift in the way you think, in her experience, has led to a life-changing opportunity to leave an impact on countless lives.   Major Topics in the Conversation The biggest and best opportunities tend to be the most unassuming at first glance. The importance of having a system in place around which to scale your business Finding the right business for you is also about finding the best way you can make a positive impact on those around you. How a gratitude journal can serve as your shield against negativity Setting goals for your business Reframing negative thoughts Tips for new direct sales distributors How to promote your product/s without being pushy   Special Moments in the Episode [3:51] How a seemingly insignificant decision can turn into a business that touches many lives   [7:57] Staying positive as you work towards your business goals   [9:39] How to write a gratitude journal   [12:09] Strategic goal-setting tips   [17:07] Advice for those new to direct sales   [22:00] How consistent, ethical promotion of your product pays off in the long-term   [23:34] How your attitude toward your business affects every aspect of your life   Links: Email: courtney.bates@neora.com Facebook: Courtney Bates Instagram: courtneybates11   Transcript below   Intro: Welcome to Rich in Differences with your host Brooke, where we discover what works for you in life health and business. We are not Legos and one size does not fit all. So, grab a good drink and come listen to different perspectives as we see what sticks for you.   Brooke: Alright welcome to Rich in Differences, and today, we will be talking with the beautiful Courtney Bates from Neora. Did I say that right?   Courtney: You did.   Brooke: Excellent. On topic of setting business goals and staying positive in your business. So, a little bit about Courtney. Courtney has always enjoyed helping other people succeed. She has worked as a speech-language pathologist for 16 years, helping people return to and enjoy their lives. Now, she is focused on her true passion, which is helping other women start their own businesses so they can make the gains they want in their lives. She's a wife and a mother of 4 children and 2 pugs, she enjoys traveling with her family. You can catch her on her morning run at 5:00 AM or in the afternoon on her new peloton. Alright, Courtney you have to tell us what you think about the peloton now.   Courtney: Oh my goodness, I love it so much. I have never been a workout at home kind of person, but I am loving it.   Brooke: Awesome, awesome. And how long have you been doing it? Courtney: Well, just like a week now, I just… it just came in the mail sparkly and new, but I am it. I've been using the app a little bit before I ordered the bike to use… see how I like the coaching with my runs and that kind of thing, and really like that and noticed it was pushing me harder than I pushed myself. And that's what I'm seeing on the bike and that saving me the time of like the drive time of driving to the gym and that kind of thing, so it’s saving me an hour a day, so I'm loving it.   Brooke: Good, because I was seeing about anyone too, so I've been asking people.   Courtney: Well, I can pass a code along to you if you decide you want one.   Brooke: Awesome. Alright, Courtney, so we just heard a little bit about yourself, but how about you tell us a little bit about your business and what started you or your journey.   Courtney: Okay. Probably about 5 years, ago a friend had given me a bottle to try and I basically just tried it, you know, to be nice and, you know, I was like, “Okay,” and used it for a week and really kind of liked it. You know, I feel like I always tried to have good skin, you know, since my first pimple, my mom was, you know, buying me good skincare., but I really never liked my skin until I tried this and noticed it was really addressing all of the things that I didn't like about my skin, you know, that I was still fighting adult acne and starting to get… I was at the time 35, so I started to get signs of aging, that kind of thing, and it was addressing all of those. So, ended up, you know, going ahead and buying the bottle and loving it and then kept using more and more of the products, and everything I tried, I loved. And then it got to the point where I was like, “Wow, I'm spending a lot of money on this.” So, I think, as most people in this business do, I started just to get my products for free. I saw a way to, you know, save myself a little bit of money and thought, “Okay, well, I'll get my products for free and share it with a few friends. And if I make, you know, an extra 100 bucks a month, that's awesome.” At the time, I was a single mom and so, you know, $100 sounded like, you know, a good deal for me, and plus, you know, saving on my skincare.   So, when I first started, I kind of did it underground almost, you're in the closet. Like, I… you know, my day job is I'm a speech therapist, and I was like, “Well, what will people think if I'm, you know… you know peddling skincare and that kind of thing?” So, you know, I would share it with a few people, but I wasn't super open about it. And went on like that for a while, you know, did just enough to get my products free and that kind of thing. And then I would say about a year ago, I really started plugging into the system, because I was kind of drawn to the other women in the group. You know, they're all… they all have a lot of good energy, they're all very positive, uplifting people, and plus, I was kind of noticing that this business is kind of fun.   So, last year… I would say last summer, I really started plugging in and doing the things they were telling me to do. I finally like kind of came out of the closet and started sharing with people the business aspect of it. You know, I never intended to build a team or anything like that. So, as I started doing those things, my paycheck started to grow and I, you know, obviously really liked that. But the thing that I liked really even better than that was that, so all these friends are kind of joining me on my team and I'm seeing them start to succeed with their goals, you know? I'm seeing people that maybe kind of had negative attitudes before turn into more positive vibrant versions of themselves, and I'm seeing friends that were maybe not able to afford, you know, soccer lessons or dance lessons or, you know, a special night out with their husband, you know, now have extra money in their pocket to do those things.   So, even though I started this business because I really loved the products and just wanted a deal, it's turned into a whole nother thing for me. You know, it's kind of become my passion to like watch and help these other women and these other friends build something of their own, you know, that's going to contribute to their families and, you know, help them meet the goals they set for themselves and help them dream bigger and, you know, make bigger goals and think about what bigger goals they can have for themselves other than, you know, just the day-to-day thing.   Brooke: Excellent. I love it because I feel like your story is very common. Like, we all kind of start… because I've been direct sales before, and usually started with a friend trying to get me to try something, because we all start with our first people that we know.   Courtney: Right.   Brooke: And then I went, “Oh, I love this too,” and then like spending… spending the extra money and then being like, “Okay, there’s got to be a better like a cheaper way to do this.”   Courtney: Right, right.   Brooke: You know, and then starting like a business part. And I have watched many of my friends go on to do like amazing things with their business and afford… be able to afford more and more, like you said like, you know, the date nights or paying off debt.   Courtney: Right. Brooke: I had like one good friend who paid off a lot of debt with it, I mean, it's a beautiful way to make money, it's a business. Courtney: Right, right. And I think that's part of kind of when things starts switching in my head. Like, initially, it was just kind of this thing I did to get my free product, but then once it kind of switched in my head that, “Oh, this is… this is a business, this is a real thing. You know, this isn't just, you know, Courtney's little fun thing she does, you know, this is a business and it's bringing in income to my family and it's helping me meet these awesome women and helping me grow my circle,” and it's a real thing that deserves merit and doesn't need to be hid in a closet, you know?   Brooke: Exactly, I completely agree. And I'm so glad you come on here to talk to us about it.   Courtney: Yes, yeah.   Brooke: (unclear) [07:55] feeling that stereotyped. So, I know you wanted to come on here today and talk about the importance of setting business goals and staying positive and moving towards them. So, let's hear them truth bonds, Courtney. Courtney: Alright. So, like I mentioned, I think around last year, this time last year, I really started seeing my business grow. And that was just kind of plugging into the system that Neora has set out. And then at the beginning of this year, you know, I was kind of stagnant, it had grown, but was kind of at where it seemed like it was going to be. So, I re

Do you have a business goal? Do you just want to start your business? Well then I hope you are ready for this episode.     In this episode Barbara Grochowska discuss the three elements you need to reach any goal, but especially a business goal.     We will be discussing:     Gaining clarity! How and why you need it when starting on a journey. Making a plan! Do you understand the steps it will take to get you to your goal? Execution! You can’t reach that goal if you aren’t setting yourself up for winning by creating great habits from the get go.     Episode Mentions:     Neuro-linguistics Programming (NLP)     Tony Robbins     Positive Psychology     Atomic Habits by James Clear     Working with Barbara Grochowska:     Website: https://www.barbaragrochowska.com/     Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarbaraGCoaching/     Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbara_grochowska/     Email: barbara@barbaragrochowska.com     Free Goal Setting Cheat Sheet: Here!     Read the Transcript Below     Welcome to rich in differences with your host, Brooke, where we discover what works for you in life, health and business. We are not Legos and one size does not fit all. So grab a good drink and come listen to different perspectives as we see what sticks for you.     So thank you for listening to rich in differences. And today we have guest speaker Barbara Grochowsa. She's hailing from London today where is extremely hot. Thank you for being with us. Barbara.     Thank you for having me, Brooke.     So I've interviewed Barbara before for one of my classes and she is amazing. She is a great teacher and coach so I can't wait for her to teach her lessons for today. I'm going to read something that I found off of her application that I felt was very insightful and very much how most of us feel in the, in the service space industry. Is it okay if I read a part of your, your application answer Barbara?     Yes, Absolutely.     All right. So she wrote to me in the application. I've lived a great part of my life on autopilot pleasing people. And going through the motions of every day and at last I had to wake up call, which made me become brutally honest with myself and what I wanted in life. I didn't have the skills at that point to change the things around as soon as possible, but I was determined to pave my own way to my ultimate freedom and being control of my life, which I feel like, a lot of us have that moment. And I love the fact that you bring up, bring up the point, like you didn't have the skills at that time, but you're a willing to get the skills in order to go the path you wanted to go. What happened at that time and what did you end up, you know, learning or creating to help yourself move forward on your own path?   So at that time when I realized, and I was living on the autopilot,  I was married, I had a beautiful house. I had everything that I wanted to have, when I was in my twenties and I thought, I just hit a jackpot and I was happy at the time, but everything came down to pleasing people. I  was pleasing people instead of just being myself. I just got into the part of my health, my ex-husband’s family and hoping the things work out and also the thinking of like everyone was getting married around me. Everyone was getting, you know, buying houses, going through different things. And I felt like, Hey, I need to do that too because everyone else was doing that. But then there was some problems in my marriage and before, actually I turned 30, I got divorced and that was the best up call for me because that opportunity helped me to realize that I really need to live my life. I literally didn't know at that point what I'm going to do, but I felt such a beautiful freedom of the, I can do whatever I wanted to. No one's going to stop me. Obviously at that time, you know, it was like I was, everything was new for me at that point and I just, you know, I wasn't exactly sure what that's going to be, but I knew I just going to do something, just something, like extraordinary, something that I haven't done before and not to worry about, you know, all the people, other like part of the family. They were judging me. So he was really, I really need that, like the wakeup call because that's why I was able to find my identity, my voice. Cause during that time when I was married, you know, it was just following others and as I said before, placing people.     Yeah, no, I totally understand. I've definitely been there with the pleasing people in the divorce and finding out afterwards, like after your divorce, realizing I can do whatever I want to do. I can be whoever I want to be. There's, you know, I'm not having to change myself or twist myself into something I'm not in order to make other people happy. So I totally appreciate that. What did you end up deciding to do?     So I felt at that point I'm just going to be a rebel. I went parsing a lot hard and loud and I actually, I moved countries for like six months. I just needed a break from UK. So I actually moved to New Jersey and stayed with my sister and I thought that time, who helped me to figure out my next step in life. Because at that point I just quit my job. I still, I was at the uni, but it was everything online so I could just take the study with me. But then, you know, as much as I had a lot of time to thing in insights, I just didn't, it didn't feel right for me over though. Like I just couldn't, I couldn't get the idea. Maybe I put, I think I was putting too much pressure on myself as far as trying to figure out what's going to be next for me in life. So after that I decided to go back to London and then, you know, it's not like I figured out right away, the moment I touched down in London that yes, that's what I'm going to do after what I think after a couple years I was, I got a path of self-development and I started listening and reading more about that and about, you know, how we can change our mindset and, and you know, all of those great things that we can, you know, enhance our life experience. It was my friend’s influence as well. I was talking to him, um, about becoming a coach and he's kind of, I think, you know, these are traits that place for people in your life that had just come in and they teach you a lesson and then, so sometimes they were spies, sometimes they will go, and he was one of those friends, he just, you know, introduced me to like the NLP and coaching and introduced me to different parts of service developments as well. So that's what I started, you know, getting more into coaching. I mean, I wasn't coaching at that point, but I was, I started researching and I thought, Whoa, you can actually make money coaching people. Because before I was, I was pretty ignorant when it came to coaching and self development, I was just, I had this kind of, you know, background where you should have figured out, you should figure out all the things, how to live, how to take care of yourself and so on. And you know, is it the black and white? That's it. Thanks to him actually. And I was able to see that, it's not the point, it’s not the case and there is so much more to life. The exploration of your bribe and yourself. It's so much beautiful when you take a time and you are actually willing to do the work as well. So that's where I decided to pursue this coaching path. And I liked, you know, the neuro linguistic programming. I found it very, you know, fascinating. And I was at the same time, I was, watching a lot of YouTube videos with Tony Robbins and all other, you know, influencers who they're, um, pioneers in this app development. And that was just like fascinated about it. I was just like, wow, I really want to do that. And even though, you know, looking back, even before I got married, I used to, you know, I like to inspire people. I like to, you know, bring the positivity into life and so on, but didn’t actually paid attention to that. So actually, you know, I looked into becoming a coach then I couldn't just go in and do the coaching because I didn't, I literally didn't know where to start. So I had to, I started researching, I hired a coach to help me to build my online business too. Honestly, it's, it's so hard when you haven't done anything like that before. It is so important to get a mentor or you know, some training course to find out how to do that because you can try to invite everyone in the world. But it's just so much time consuming. But if you can…     She's laughing cause I'm over here shaking my head vigorously. It really is hard if you don't have someone there to kind of help you guide the way some.   Absolutely. And then I came after that, I came across something really cool because I didn't want to only focus on motivation. I also wanted to combine like healthy living as well because for me health is so important. And since I remember I always make, I used to make like different things in the kitchen, like put all the like superfoods into my, in some nice movie like exercise during fasting and so on. And it was cool. I really enjoyed it. So I really had to make this decision, you know, am I going to be a coach who is just to the left coaching and just do it with the mindset, Oh am I going to be health coach? And I felt, you know, I couldn't, you know, at that point I didn't know I could just merge them. And the training that I did actually last year, it helped me to combine both of them and actually even enhanced that pretty much at the moment, human potential coach. So that involves everything like the mindset that have hacking positive psychology, everything to enhance, you know, your persona to help you find out who you are and how, you know, how you can perform at your best in your life. That, you know, I had to, you know, this course was this, this training was amazing. Helped me to acquire the skills that I needed to work with people.

If you’re the kind of person who is scared to create social media content on the fly or just doesn’t have time to do all of that copying and pasting (plus brainwork to come up with that perfect viral post), there’s an answer for that, systems   As Brooke explains, the key to creating a consistent online presence is having the right system. You want a system that makes it easier to create content while saving you time. You also want a system that will let you schedule ahead of time, because life happens.   A social media management tool can do all of this...and a whole lot more...    Listen in as Brooke shares how using a system and the right social media management tool allowed her to maintain a consistent online presence, no matter what was going on in her personal life at the time.   Major Topics in the Conversation What is a social media manager and what are some common ones? Why your business needs a social media manager tool like Hootsuite or Buffer Behind-the-scenes look at Brooke’s system for managing her social media Why your social media system should focus on your needs Keeping a social media presence when you’re not prepared to post   Special Moments in the Episode [0:30] What is a social media manager? What are some examples?   [1:02] Why use social media managers?   [2:18] How to use social media managers as a business   [6:00] Using social media managers to create a consistent presence...when your life hits an unexpected turn   [8:04] How do you social media?   Learn more:   HootSuite   Buffer   MeetEdgar   Canva   AirTable   Kori Linn - Burnout Specialist and Coach   Janice Chaka - Podcaster and Travelling Introvert     Free Training - Eclectic Entrepreneurs   Unsplash.com - Royalty Free Photos     Brooke's Social Media:   Facebook   Instagram   Pinterest     Disclosures    *Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. *   **Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to diagnose, prescribe, treat, or cure any disease, physical or mental. Any advice given on the Rich in Differences Podcast should not be construed as a prescription, a promise of benefits, claims of cures, or a guarantee of results to be achieved. The information, instruction or advice given by Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional medical or psychological diagnosis and care. You should not discontinue or modify any medication presently being taken pursuant to medical advice without obtaining approval from your healthcare professional.   As a listener/reader, you must take complete responsibility for your own physical health and emotional well-being.       Transcript Below   Welcome to Rich In Differences with your host Brooke. Where we  discover what works for you in life, health and business. We are not legos and one size does not fit all. So grab a good drink and come listen to different perspectives as we see what sticks for you.   Welcome to Rich In Differences. This is your hostess with the mostest Brooke. And today we're gonna be discussing systems in particular social media managers. I am in love with social media managers. So what is a social media manager? It is something like Hootsuite, Buffer, MeetEdgar and it's essentially a website you go to, you sign up for it and you link your social media accounts to it and you're able to create posts and schedule posts to be posted in the future. And the application itself will do the posting.    So it's like do all the setup and then the system just does it for you. And this has been a game changer for me. I dislike creating social media by the seat of my pants. I am definitely a planning and organizing type of gal. And if I have to try to come up with witty or you know very thoughtful posts out of nowhere I don't enjoy it and it doesn't come off as true to me. So I use social media managers to help me plan out what I want to post and then it gives me the ability to be as creative and as in-depth as I want to be.   So I want to think about someone you follow that their post always seems really thought out really well written and they post quite a bit. And you're probably thinking "my gosh how does she or he come up with all this content and how are they so consistent with it" more than likely they are using a social media manager. So here's how I use it. You're going to get a very in-depth look in behind the scenes of how a person may use a social media manager in their business.   So we're going to go with the idea of guests interviews because it's what I do. When I have a guest interview coming up I look at first off who's coming up? What are they talking about? I listen to the interview, I've probably heard the interview five hundred times before it's even put out into the world. And I look for certain things like I'll sit down and pick out quotes and look for amazing pictures on unsplash.com, which by the way is an amazing web site. If you are looking for royalty free photos and I will jump on canva.com I'm a canvas beast and I will create social media posts for my Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest accounts. I'll take these pictures and I'll put them with the quotes and just create something fun to put out there, just for this one episode. I'll also research any sort of articles that I feel like are relevant and if my guest speaker is someone who blogs or does podcasts themselves or puts any sort of media out into the world I'll see if I can find something that's relevant and I'll collect that as recommended readings. I will also create a blog post of my own from the episode and any other information. So if they're giving me a freebie that's something I'll collect and I take all this information and I put it into my Air Table because I use AirTable.com for my podcast, everything podcasting is put in to my Air Table and I will go on to my social media manager and I will sit down and schedule out about two weeks worth of posts just on this single episode for this guest speaker. It allows me the time to actually sit down and also research like for example hashtags, if I'm doing Instagram then I'm going to want to have relevant hashtags for this guest speaker.    And again all of that information goes right into my Air Table next to their episode. And so all this information is right here at my fingertips and I simply go into my social media manager I click Monday at 11:09 A.M. because my social media manager says hey this seems to be the time that most people are looking at your post and I post a quote. Then Tuesday maybe I post a recommended reading from my guest speaker and Wednesday I'll post their freebie that they're giving out. And I'll do this all the way up to the time of their episode.    And this again allows for me to sit down and really think things out and really put my own creative spin on how I want to market this episode. For example Corey Lin's episode if you were to look at my social media at that time I had quotes right, but her quotes were on pictures that people were writing in notebooks. And then I have Janice Chaukas episode about podcasting and her pictures were different and she didn't really, we didn't really, do quotes we did tips. So I really get to sit down and put my creative spin on this and that gives me the time and the space to do so, then I'm putting something out the world that's more like me.    The second thing that having a social media manager does is it allows you, and allows your business to keep going when things do not go well for you in life. So here's an example. A little over a week ago my grandmother passed away and it was very unexpected and my entire family including me was in shock and grief set in pretty quickly and my life came to a standstill. She was a huge part of our family. She was always there for us. And you would, we would call her the matriarch of our family and so her passing was a big, big deal. And for me and I'm sure for the rest of my family life kind of just went still. And that includes my business. A few days after her passing I started getting notifications on my phone about people liking my Facebook posts and making comments and I thought to myself but I'm not making any posts. What are people liking and commenting on? And I opened up my Facebook and lo and behold there's all my scheduled posts.    I had completely forgotten that I had scheduled weeks worth of posts already. So essentially I schedule about a month's worth of posts and so I kind of just honestly just forgot about it all in my grief and shock. But the social media manager did what it was supposed to do. It scheduled or sent out the posts that I had scheduled. And so to the rest of the world my business look like it kept going. Even though behind the scenes it had come to a complete and utter standstill.    So a social media manager allows you to also be prepared. And I wasn't even thinking about that when I started using one, for when the inevitable happens. Something in your life will happen that's going to cause you to come to a standstill. That's life. And so having good systems in place kind of allows for your business to keep going even though you may not be at that time. And if you are a natural planner or organizer this is really going to resonate with you. If you're finding yourself having a hard time keeping up with your social media this may be a good option for you.   As a matter of fact why don't you let me know how you do your social media? What works for you? Are you a fly by the seat of your pants type of person? Do you use a program? Do you hire someone? How do you do it? There is no wrong way. There is just simply what works for you.   All right pop tarts that's it for today.  And today I'm going to leave a message to my nanny who passed away.   Hey nanny I already miss you. I have to say yo

It seems like everyone, their mother, and their cat is starting a podcast these days. That being said, finding good advice for starting a podcast isn’t easy. With so many gurus and courses, it can be overwhelming for newbie podcaster.   That’s why we sit down with Janice Chaka, host of The Traveling Introvert podcast, who shares the stories, humor, and advice she gained from 2 years as a successful podcaster.   Unlike most “newbie podcast advice” people, Janice focus in this episode is content. Janice shares how she continually finds ideas for her podcast, and why goals (as well as boundaries) are important to your life as a podcaster.   Major Topics in the Conversation How do you capture ideas for future episodes? Why the first 7 episodes are critical to your podcasts;s growth Why your first goals should NOT be vague like “get more followers” How to set realistic (aka SMART) goals as a podcaster Why you don’t need to be on every social media channel to succeed Why follower count isn’t everything Finding the right-sized podcast mentor for you   Special Moments in the Episode [2:43] How Janice captures new ideas for episodes [3:34] What makes Janice’s podcast a success? [6:20] What tips would you be a newbie podcaster? [6:44} Where are some places new podcasters can get help? [12:00] What is your business’ pain point right now?   About Our Guest Janice Chaka is a podcaster, introvert coach, mentor, speaker, and founder of The Career Introvert. She is also the organizer and host of the Podcast Virtual Summit and the Get Your Podcast Started Facebook group.   Learn more:   Email   FREE resources   Janice Chaka on LinkedIn   The Traveling Introvert Podcast   The Career Introvert website   The Career Introvert on Instagram   The Career Introvert on Twitter   The Career Introvert on Facebook   Get Your Podcast Started Virtual Summit   Get Your Podcast Started Virtual Summit Facebook group   Other Resources   Podcast Movement Anchor Libsyn iTunes Pat Flynn’s course WhatsApp       *Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.     **Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to diagnose, prescribe, treat, or cure any disease, physical or mental.   Any advice given on the Rich in Differences Podcast should not be construed as a prescription, a promise of benefits, claims of cures, or a guarantee of results to be achieved. The information, instruction or advice given by Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional medical or psychological diagnosis and care. You should not discontinue or modify any medication presently being taken pursuant to medical advice without obtaining approval from your healthcare professional.   As a listener/reader, you must take complete responsibility for your own physical health and emotional well-being.   Transcript Below   [00:00:04.390] - Brooke Welcome to Rich In Differences with your host Brooke. Where we discover what works for you in life health and business. We are not legos and one size does not fit all. So, grab a good drink and come listen to different perspectives as we see what sticks for you.   [00:00:21.580] - Brooke Welcome to Rich In Differences and this is Brooke your host. I have with us Janice Chaka as our guest speaker for today. She's giving me the thumbs up because I actually got the name right.   [00:00:33.500] - Janice Yes you did. Nailed it as I said you would.   [00:00:37.060] - Brooke Thank you. Thank you. So Janice has a podcast called The Traveling Introvert. Could you tell us a little about your podcast. And how long you've been doing it.   [00:00:45.640] - Janice I have been doing it two years. Just I think it's time around now because something came up and I was like, oh it's it's been two years and a little bit about it. It started off, It's basically me ranting into the void for five minutes about whatever might have popped up in my life. Normally it's either HR related, travel related, or like running your business related. One of those three topics but super, simple, quick. People have said it's like having a quick coffee chat or like over the water cooler complain with me.   [00:01:16.990] - Brooke I could see that. Would you call yourself an introvert?   [00:01:19.420] - Janice Most definitely. I'm actually dreading the fact that when this comes out won't happened but I've got a conference coming up where normally I can go in and out of the conference and take breaks and they tell me "No actually we're going to livestream it. So no one can go anywhere."   [00:01:32.410] - Brooke  Oh no.   [00:01:36.300] - Janice Yeah.   [00:01:37.660] - Brooke Outside your comfort zone?   [00:01:38.970] - Janice  Oh yeah.   [00:01:43.330] - Brooke So is your podcast the same as it was when you first started or did it evolve over time?   [00:01:48.760] - Janice I like to say it has evolved as I have grown as a podcaster. However, yes we've got a tagline on the end that's slightly different and that's changed as I've pivoted in my business. I now get people who write in and ask me questions that I get to answer on the podcast. So that's changed. Apart from that it's still basically therapy and me venting into the void.   [00:02:14.830] - Brooke That's probably why so many people relate to it! I will be honest, that's what I'm looking forward too, I'm looking forward to getting people's responses and being able to answer their questions as well. So that must help with material and content creation?   [00:02:29.460] - Janice It does and then stuff just pops up every day and then your like, "oh I didn't see that coming". Well I'm gonna I'm going to talk about that. There's a podcast in that. Now my partners got to the point where they're like "Oh this thing happened. Your going to podcast about this arent you?"   [00:02:41.770] - Brooke Do you keep notes on your phone of all the different things that come up?   [00:02:45.970] - Janice Yeah normally. So I have a friend who I have an ongoing WhatsApp voice conversation with.   [00:02:51.480] - Brooke OK.   [00:02:52.130] - Janice So I will message her. Just because I'm better with audio, so it's saved and then I might make a note. I have a project management thing that I use and so I have a list of episodes. I could write "talk about so and so" and it will go in there. To answer your question, yes. Always have a place where you have notes because ideas and stuff come up randomly so you should have one single place where you always put the stuff.   [00:03:15.160] - Brooke I think mine's just notes on my phone, and it always happens and I'm driving too. So it's the safest time for me to be making notes in my phone.   [00:03:21.500] - Janice Voice memos, voice memos rule.   [00:03:26.860] - Brooke  Yes. So what would you say has been the number one reason your podcast has been a success.   [00:03:33.660] - Janice Wait my podcast is successful?   [00:03:35.220] - Brooke I would say so. Come on now, if you have people coming in with questions, I would say it's somewhat successful.   [00:03:43.240] - Janice Well I'll tell you what for the first three months I didn't tell anyone it existed, it was just for friends. Why is my podcast successful? I think it is because what you listen to is kind of what you get. It's also like when people coach with me I'm very much like if you want sunshine and flowers and unicorns. I'm not that person. Here's my podcast, this is what it sounds like, this is what you get. If you don't like it, now's not the time to sign up. I think it's been successful because a couple of things happened one I went to podcast movement and Glass box were running this competition and I won the competition and so I got free advertising for a week. That helped.   [00:04:20.320] - Brooke Oh wow that is awesome.   [00:04:23.030] - Janice Yeah thanks. Glass box.   [00:04:24.320] - Brooke Yeah.   [00:04:25.720] - Janice So now I use them religiously. I also think I've gotten better at telling people. I have a bag, a swag bag that I walk around with and so people are like well (the Traveling Introvert) that's an oxymoron. Introverts don't travel and then I have to go and school them and then we come back and listen to the podcast.   [00:04:41.800] - Brooke Aww nice, that's clever.   [00:04:47.430] - Janice Yeah I don't know, people seem to like it. Thank you people I appreciate you. It's real, it's just me and I think people get value from it.   [00:04:55.390] - Brooke Yeah, I could see that totally. So when we first talk you mentioned the concept of pod fade which is something I actually had never heard of. So I imagine if I've never heard of it others have probably not heard of it either. So would you care to describe what pod fade is?   [00:05:11.290] - Janice Oh I wish I had the dictionary definition. I'm sure Urban Dictionary has this somewhere but basically when your podcast starts you're all excited and you pump out a bunch of episodes and then life happens. And you slam into that like a truck. And you're scared to sort of get back on the horse again. And so there's maybe seven to ten episodes out there, something happens and then you stop podcasting and now you've taken a break. You're scared to go back because you think your listeners will be mad at you or you get overwhelmed or whatever it is.   [00:05:40.570] - Janice  And then you stop podcasting and there's some statistics with Anchor and with Libsyn. Anchor is a free site that you can use, I think over 64 percent stop after seven episodes and then with Libsyn I think it's a huge percentage. So if you go and look and I choose for example Itunes is which is the graveyard of podcasts you'll see a lot that are still new and noteworthy but haven't actually done anything for the past year.   [00:06:07.750] - Brooke That's

For many people, taking the time to sit down and write on a daily basis is something we just don’t have time for.   Yet, a daily writing ritual is a powerful tool if you are looking to change your thoughts and your life.   The best part is, you can see a massive life transformation with just one sentence in a day.   In a conversation with coach Kori Linn, we learn how to leverage the simple practice of daily writing and different ways you can adapt it to work for your life.   Major Topics in the Conversation The daily writing ritual Kori Linn started in 2011 that changed her life How to adapt a daily practice to your life The importance of getting your thoughts on paper-so you can work with them The power of taking small steps to make big transformation   Special Moments in the Episode [1:37] Why Kori started a daily writing practice back in 2011 [2:20] How Kor’s daily writing practice evolved and adapted [3:48] The reasoning behind a daily ritual [4:20] Getting those ideas in your head on paper [7:38] How do you get started with a daily ritual, like writing practice? [11:00] Why small steps lead to big life shifts [12:51] Kori’s upcoming projects   About Our Guest Kori Linn is a burnout coach with experience working as a freelancer, in the corporate world, and other experiences. She uses those experiences and her creativity to build programs and coaching sessions for women at risk or already experiencing burnout. She is the founder of Kori Linn, LLC.   Learn more:   KoriLinn.com Kori on Twitter Kori on LinkedIn Kori on Facebook   Other Resources   The Artist’s Way by Julie Cameron What are Morning Pages? (Julia Cameron’s website) Gratitude Practice, Explained (Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence) Daily Writing Practice (Kori Linn’s Freebie Created for THIS Podcast!)   Subscribe To Rich in Differences Podcast Itunes Stitcher Google Play Spotify   **Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to diagnose, prescribe, treat, or cure any disease, physical or mental. Any advice given on the Rich in Differences Podcast should not be construed as a prescription, a promise of benefits, claims of cures, or a guarantee of results to be achieved. The information, instruction or advice given by Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional medical or psychological diagnosis and care. You should not discontinue or modify any medication presently being taken pursuant to medical advice without obtaining approval from your healthcare professional. As a listener/reader, you must take complete responsibility for your own physical health and emotional well-being.   Transcript Below   [00:00:04.200] - Brooke Welcome to reach in differences with your hosts for rediscovering what works for you in life. Health and business we are not like those and one size does not fit all. So you grab a good drink and come listen to different perspectives as we see what sticks for you.   [00:00:20.910] - Brooke Hi Kori. Thank you for joining us today.   [00:00:23.370] - Kori Hi Brooke. Thank you so much for having me.   [00:00:25.890] - Brooke So Kori, I have to ask what is your drink of choice today?   [00:00:29.790] - Kori Well it's still morning on the West Coast where I live. So right now my drink of choice is coffee. But if you want to talk about my favorite drink right now I'm very much into. Rosé.   [00:00:44.310] - Brooke Ohhh. That's nice. I like rosé.   [00:00:45.740] - Kori It's a nice summer drink. I like it all year round. But it's summer now.   [00:00:50.310] - Brooke Awesome. Right now I am having Pinot Grigio because we recently just hung a flat screen TV up on the wall and that was quite an ordeal. So I'm drinking afterwards.   [00:01:02.370] - Kori Very nice.   [00:01:21.960] - Brooke Awesome. Thank you. So Kori can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?   [00:01:26.670] - Kori Yeah I would love to. So I'm a life coach and I live in Seattle and I work with women who are experiencing or at risk of burnout. But my background is actually in creative writing and so I've had a creative writing practice that I do in the morning since 2011 and I've incorporated that into my work as a coach and my clients as well.   [00:01:49.740] - Brooke Wow. 2011 that is a really specific time. Can you tell us like What made you start doing a daily writing routine back in 2011?   [00:01:57.690] - Kori Definitely yeah. I remember it was 2011 because it was the summer after my first year of graduate school. I was studying at the University of Washington getting my math during finals in creative writing and having a really hard time. And so I read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron which is a great book.   [00:02:17.610] - Kori It has lots of useful stuff for mindset and for creativity. And one of her recommendations is a practice called morning pages. So in the beginning I did morning pages in her style. And then as the years went by I really turned that practice into something of my own design.   [00:02:36.270] - Brooke And exactly how was it turned into your own design?   [00:02:39.570] - Kori That's a great question. Over the years and especially the more I learned about life coaching and coaching concepts even before I was a coach the more I would kind of create very specific prompts for myself. And Julia Cameron style you literally just get up and write anything. It can be anything at all for three pages first thing in the morning but I wanted to focus on specific things like the way you can use a gratitude practice to rewire your brain to pay more attention to positivity. So I started doing prompts about what's going well, what do I like, and what do I love, where was the light showing up in my life and at some point I would also create containers for what we would typically consider the negative feelings because I wanted a space to feel those in a very specific way so I would create that space in my morning pages as well.   [00:03:33.930] - Brooke Thank you. So what changed?   [00:03:36.030] - Kori That's a great question. Yeah. So when I began my writing practice first of all I was a little bit horrified at all of the thoughts that were in my head. I remember the first set of morning papers I did that for the first three pages were just three pages of me listing all the things I thought that I was failing at like in life. So a little a little melodramatic maybe but that really was what it felt like for me then. But the first thing that I learned from morning pages was how to write without censoring myself and because I was in a creative writing program that served me really well. I remember going to a class after that where we did a free write for like five minutes and I just had a ton of stuff on the page because I'd gotten very into that practice of just keep going. Just keep going.   [00:04:26.130] - Brooke All right. And so as you continued to do it what else changed. Like as you continue to move forward how did it evolve? Did you evolve any? Did you change your thoughts change?   [00:04:39.570] - Kori Yeah. Well it's interesting because in the artist's way Julia Cameron does talk about like changing your thoughts and developing new thoughts. She doesn't talk about it in the same way as life coaches but there are a lot of ways in which doing the work in her book was like my pre thought work. And for listeners who aren't familiar with thought work is just the practice of noticing meaning and sometimes changing the thoughts that we're thinking and creating new thoughts on purpose so that we can create different results in our lives.   [00:05:11.550] - Kori Julia Cameron kind of was my prerequisite that I didn't realize was a prerequisite. So I did see all these changes and in the eight years that I've been doing this practice I've gone from being in grad school. And then I was a bartender and then I was a freelance writer and then I was in corporate America and now I'm a coach. So this is a tool that's gone with me through so many different phases of life and that has really helped me understand myself and what my mind was creating. And then when I got into some of those changes that were more difficult for instance going and working in corporate America when my old story was that I didn't have the right background for that it really required learning to tell my story in a new way. And all the practice I had this morning pages helped me get a handle on that.   [00:05:59.810] - Brooke OK so what would you say is the biggest benefit from doing daily writing practice?   [00:06:05.870] - Kori The biggest benefit to me of having a writing practice at all is that you create a relationship with yourself and a space to have that relationship. And when you get things on the page you can really understand them in a different way than when you're just thinking them in your head when you're thinking you can be very immersed in your thoughts when you put them on the page you can see them much more clearly and then you can work with them. But then the other thing that really happened for me is that having this practice over so many years has allowed me to see all the different things I can do with writing. Now my writing is very directed and there's a freebie that I am sharing with shows like the very specific question I ask myself now.   [00:06:50.540] - Kori  But it's very much about helping my brain rewire to see all the data of the things I am doing that are working towards creating the changes I want to see in my life. And that's a way to help you notice what's working and feel better about that. And it feels good to do that but it's not just about feeling good. It's about the fact that when you feel good and notice what's working you do more of what's working. So it's really a tool that actually creates real world changes in my life.   [00:07:22.610] - Brooke That's awesome. That makes me when I start writing daily now in the morning

Do you ever find yourself comparing your business or yourself to other people? Comparing our  businesses against those around us is as human as it is ubiquitous. With social media, this phenomenon has reached new levels. We see everyone’s biggest hits and massive business breakthroughs every day. It’s easy to get trapped in other people’s good news. Often times, seeing all these things are harmless, but sometimes it can be destructive. But can a pattern of comparing our businesses or ourselves to others have harsher effects on how we perceive ourselves? Yes, it can. When you start looking around for what other business owners are doing, you fall into a compare and despair mentality trap and you begin to feel like a loser. You eventually lose the energy you had going, you begin to doubt yourself and your business strategies, and finally you begin to spin. In today’s episode of Rich in Differences we’ll talk about the compare and despair mentality in running a business and also the importance of following our journey. Episode Spotlights Example of Compare and Despair Scenario As a pole dance instructor, I find that a lot of times my pole dancing instruction has a lot of good similarities to what we learn in real life. It puts it into a more physical idea versus just a mental idea. Let’s say I'm teaching 10 girls how to climb a pole. I will give them the instructions and we do it. Then I’ll explain it again and do it a second time because people rarely get things on the first try. But then I’ll always have a few girls who just don't seem to understand what I'm saying and that is totally normal. I’ll ask them like, “Do you just not understand? What's going on?” They're like, “Well, we just don't get it. It doesn't make sense.”  Or, “I'm having a hard time.” So, is I'll drag one of my more advanced students over to my pole and I'll say, “All right, I want you to teach it.” They'll teach it their way and all of a sudden, the few girls that weren't getting it, they'll start getting it. They totally understand now what to do. Here's the thing, me and my advanced students were teaching the exact same thing. We were both teaching how to climb a pole. Yet, my version of the instructions did not reach to everyone. Those who didn't get it, got it from her version of the instruction -- the advanced student's version of the instructions Discover What Sells Your Business We can all be teaching the same thing, but that doesn't mean you're going to get every single person. When you really learn that what sells your business, especially if you are a service provider, is you, the better off you'll be because there is enough business for everyone. While you know someone who might have a prettier website than you or a better opt in or better pictures or more advanced like tech going on their website, they're only going to reach their people. They are only going to communicate well with the people who can hear their instructions. That's not everyone, just like in my class, not everyone understands my instructions. The best way to get everyone on the same level is to include different versions of those instructions.  You're just a different version. You're out there you're saying it your way. You’re packaging it your way. You're handling it your way and the people who hear you and who resonate with you, they're going to be attracted to that. Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe. That's getting clichéd, but it's true. Your vibe will attract the people who want to work with you. When you look at other people, you have to remember that that's their journey, and they're attracting the people that want to work with them. Your job for your business is to get out there and attract your tribe. Sell it your way. Use your mannerisms and be you. How to Beat the Compare and Despair Mentality When you start to feel the compare despair mentality creeping in, take a step back and remember that you are on your own journey. You're out there to get your own customers and those customers are meant for you. Remind yourself that there is enough business out there for all of us. We like to discuss the abundance mindset and coaching. But a lot of times we forget that when we're in our business. In our business, that's when scarcity mindset really kind of creeps up on us if we're not careful. This is one of the ways that scarcity mindset shows its face. You have to remind yourself, there is enough for all of us. Resources: Free Resource Library Course: Mindset Matters Looking to create your own course: Membervault Looking to collaborate and take some useful classes: Eclectic Entrepreneur  Subscribe To Rich in Differences Podcast Itunes Stitcher Google Play Spotify    *Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission   **Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to diagnose, prescribe, treat, or cure any disease, physical or mental. Any advice given on the Rich in Differences Podcast should not be construed as a prescription, a promise of benefits, claims of cures, or a guarantee of results to be achieved. The information, instruction or advice given by Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional medical or psychological diagnosis and care. You should not discontinue or modify any medication presently being taken pursuant to medical advice without obtaining approval from your healthcare professional. As a listener/reader, you must take complete responsibility for your own physical health and emotional well-being.   Transcript Below [00:00:24.070] This is your hostess with the mostest Brooke. All right. So I recently got a message today. I say recently got a message today. I recently got a message and it happened to be today from a young lady who was talking about her compare and despair mentality in running a business. And they got me thinking about really how common that is. And even I can be drawn into that trap. And I just wanted to come on here today and let's talk about our journey and the importance of following our own journey.   [00:01:00.550]  There is enough business out there for all of us. There really is. And what I explained was I'm a pole dance instructor and I find that a lot of times my pole dancing instruction in my class. It has a lot of good similarities to what we learn in real life. It puts it into a more physical idea of the version versus just the mental idea. So let's say for example I am teaching 10 girls how to climb a pole and I'm given the instructions and I've been doing this for many many years so I got the instructions down pretty well.   [00:01:39.070]  And I explain them and we do it. And then I explain it again and I do it a second time because, you know, people rarely get things on the first try and rightfully so, it is the beginners class. I teach beginners class. I probably should have mentioned that. So they'll, you know, it takes a few times and that is totally normal. But then I always have a few girls who just don't seem to understand what I'm saying. And again that i s totally normal since I've been doing this for years I totally recognize signs and I ask them I'm like, you know, do you just not understand like like what's going on and the like well we just I just don't get it.   [00:02:13.840]  You know does it make sense or I'm having a hard time. So what I'll do is I'll drag one of my more advanced students over to my pole and I'll say all right I want you to teach it and they'll teach it their way and all of a sudden  the few girls that weren't getting it all of a sudden they're getting it like they totally understand now what to do.   [00:02:35.230] And here's the thing. Me and my advanced student were teaching the exact same thing. We were both teaching how to climb a pole. Yet, my version of the instructions did not reach to everyone. And those who didn't get it got it from her version of the instruction. The advanced students version of the instructions. We can all be teaching the same thing but that doesn't mean you're going to get every single person.   [00:03:10.570] When you really learn that what sells your business, especially if your service provider, is you. The better off you'll be because there is enough business for everyone. And while, you know, someone who might have a prettier website than you, or a better opt in, or better pictures, or more advanced like tech going on on their website,  they're only going to reach their people they're only going to communicate well with. The people who can hear their instructions and that's not everyone. Just like in my class not everyone understands my instructions and I have learned that the best way to get everyone, you know, on the same level is to include different versions of those instructions.   [00:04:04.450]  So you're just a different version. You're out there you're saying it your way. You're packaging it your way. You're handling it your way and the people who hear you, who resonate with you, they're going to be attracted to that.  You're going to attract your tribe. Your vibe attracts your tribe. And I know that's getting cliche, right, but it is true. Your vibe will attract the people who want to work with you. So when you look at other people you have to remember that's their journey and they're attracting the people that want to work with them. Your job for your business is to get out there and attract your tribe. Sell it your way.   [00:04:51.090]  Use your mannerisms. Be you. So this week when you start to feel to 'compare and despair' I want you to take a step back. All right, I want you to remember that you are on your own journey and you're out there to get your own customers and those customers are meant for you. OK? And to remind yourself that there is enough business out there for all of us right now. I know we like to discuss the abundance mindset in

Emotions are an essential part of our lives. One minute we are happy and laughing, the next frustrated or the next discouraged. Our emotions whether good or bad, high or low they have a tremendous impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health.   How can you control the damaging emotions like anger, temper or resentment?   In general, emotional control is not something that is taught to us. As we get older, it really starts to affect our decisions and it affects all every aspect of our lives including our business. If we don't understand how to get a handle our emotions, then we end up being ridden by them.   In this episode, we'll be discussing three techniques to teach you how to gain control of your emotions. We're going to learn how to get out of the road and onto the sidewalk with your emotions.   Imagination Time Imagine standing in the middle of the road and there are several cars and trucks headed your way. These trucks and cars represent your emotions. If you don't know how to get to the sidewalk, then you are in serious trouble.   Usually, we’ll let those trucks and cars run us over, leaving us desperate to make any quick decision that will get us out of harm's way, the quickest. Even if it is not the best decision, no one has time for rational thinking while standing in the middle of speeding traffic.   Now, imagine yourself standing on the sidewalk looking at those passing cars and trucks. It's a different point of view. Notice that the cars and trucks or your emotions have not stopped their travel. They're still going to happen.   Now you're observing the traffic instead of being in the middle of it and you can make better decisions based on that traffic that is passing by.   How do you learn how to do that? We're going to be discussing the 3 techniques that I was taught is still used today to keep me on the sidewalk and not in the road.   Three Techniques on How to Gain Control of Your Emotions   Breathing We’ve all heard about deep breathing. But sometimes we need a reminder and sometimes we need to actually do it instead of just saying in our heads, “Yeah. We already know this” You already know it, but do you actually do it? Make note of how you feel -- your physical awareness. How's your heart? Where's your mind at? Do you feel heavy? Do you feel right? Do you feel happy or sad? Then take three deep breaths. Now make note of how you feel. More than likely there is a difference. Maybe you feel calmer. Your heart slows down. Maybe your mind quiets a little. Maybe your shoulders relax. Breathing is an amazing technique and it's best used when you're in the middle of an emotional situation in which you need to gain back control. Deep breathing, you can do it anytime. And no. You don't have to do 10 deep breaths. You should take three deep breaths or one huge breath. That's enough to stop the physical reactions that are happening in you. That's what deep breathing is good at. It stops the physical response. If you're a woman, more than likely, you have this wonderful skill of crying when you are frigging angry. This helps slow down or stop the crying. When you feel that big old ball of emotion coming up, take a deep breath and it will slow it all down.   Grounding When people hear grounding, they think of, “Take your shoes off and go stand out in the grass,” or, “Go for a long walk in the nature.” But when you're in the middle of something that's causing you to be emotional, more than likely, you don’t have time to take off the shoes and go stand underneath the tree. That's not to say that those aren't good ideas, but they're not the best ideas when you need something to work now. These techniques are meant to teach you how to deal with things now.   What to Do For Grounding Wiggle your toes and feel the sensation of your toes wiggling together. Once you've honed in on the sensation of your toes wriggling together, that skin to skin contact, now try to feel the solid ground underneath you. This is a very good way to ground yourself when you don't have time to take a walk. So, take a deep breath and then start wriggling your toes. While breathing stops the physical emotions, grounding stops the mental reactions. When you start becoming energetic in your head, you start to leave your center. You start to go off into another place. It's hard for you to concentrate on what's happening now and in a calm manner if your mind is going 100 miles an hour and floating off into different areas, because you want to be prepared to defend or you’re having a bad memory, or whatever the case may be. Grounding takes you from all over the place and brings you back to you again. It brings you back to center and back to the present. It's a wonderful way to come back to yourself and not be drugged around by your emotions.   Physical Awareness Physical awareness is all about learning how to feel your emotions. That means when you are feeling anything, actually describe how it feels. Does it feel like a hard knot at the bottom of your stomach? Does it feel like a heavy weight upon your chest? Is it large? Is it small? Is it a hairy ball that's stuck in your throat? They can't seem to get out of the way. Is it warm? Is it cold? Is it dark? Is it light? Is it sharp? Is it smooth? Really get into what that emotion feels like. What happens when you do that, it teaches you to understand what is really happening versus just assuming you know what is happening. For example, every emotion has a spectrum, but most of the times you won't ever hear anybody talk within the spectrum. A lot of times we hear people speak in the vague. Like, “I'm angry, I'm sad. I'm happy.” Most of the time we don't hear people talk about their emotions in a defined manner. Like, “I'm disheartened, dismayed, displeased, disquieted, edgy, concerned. I feel dejected, detached, or I'm feeling interested, intrigued, invigorated, involved, gratified, hopeful, inquisitive and I’m feeling pleased and pleasant and perky and peaceful, overjoyed enlivened, engrossed, amused, alert, affectionate, adventurous, absorbed, confident, contented, cool, curious, and dazzled, and delighted, eager…” the list goes on and on. Each spot on that spectrum has a different way it feels, but you can't understand the differences and how an emotion feels on the spectrum, if you can't even identify how the base or the overall emotion feels. Physical awareness gives you that skill. It gives you the skill to start to define what's actually happening. Are you actually angry or you just nettled? Are you happy or do you just feel content? These are all important. When you understand what's actually happening on inside, you're able to make better decisions. Summary All of these things will help you remove yourself from the road and put you onto the sidewalk. Emotions, they're going to happen. Feelings, they're temporary, but they're going to roll through like those cars and trucks. When you stand at the sidewalk, you can get a good idea about what's coming, and what to expect, and how to best prepare for it, and how to cross the street if we need to. We can't know these things if we don't understand how to slow our physical reaction with breathing, how to slow our mental reaction with grounding, and how to truly identify what is going on the inside. When we do those things, we can make better decisions in life and in our business. Fear is a great example of this. Fear, for most of us, is a big old, scary monster. A lot of times we don't know how to move through it. Through these techniques, you can learn how to identify fear and the different types of fears and know what to expect when they come. Instead of running and hiding, because you’re being eaten up with fear, because you’re standing in the middle of the road getting hit by the cars and trucks, you’ll be able to see the path through. Always take time to really hone in on what's going on inside of you because you are going to know best about what's happening and how to handle it. Resources:   Free Resource Library Course: Mindset Matters Looking to create your own course: Membervault Looking to collaborate and take some useful classes: Eclectic Entrepreneur    *Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.    **Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to diagnose, prescribe, treat, or cure any disease, physical or mental. Any advice given on the Rich in Differences Podcast should not be construed as a prescription, a promise of benefits, claims of cures, or a guarantee of results to be achieved. The information, instruction or advice given by Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional medical or psychological diagnosis and care. You should not discontinue or modify any medication presently being taken pursuant to medical advice without obtaining approval from your healthcare professional. As a listener/reader, you must take complete responsibility for your own physical health and emotional well-being.   TRANSCRIPT BELOW   Hey, everyone, welcome to Rich in Differences, I'm your hostess with the mostess, Brooke, welcome. This is our first full episode so I'm excited to get started. Actually, this episode is going to be one of three. I figured I would start with a three-part series because these first three episodes are what I teach anybody I coach. And these three things were taught to my, by my own coaches and therapists. Believe it or not, we coaches, get coached too, all right. So, what I'm going to be talking about in this three-part series is emotional control. I don't believe this is something that is taught to us, in general and as we get older, it really starts to affect our decisions, especially in our business, it affects all of our lives. I don't mean to be like, especially in bus

In the bus of your life, which one would you rather be? A driver or a passenger? Many people are passengers on their bus. Only few people are driving the bus and are in control.   In the last episode, we talked about how to get out of the middle of the road and get on the sidewalk with three techniques of breathing, grounding and physical awareness. Today, we're going to be discussing how to become the bus driver of your life, instead of a passenger on the bus.   Imagination Time   Imagine a bus that's full of passengers and a bus driver. The passengers on this bus are your emotions and the bus driver is you.   Who's driving the bus? Is it you or is it one of your emotions? 9 times out of 10 it's an emotion.   When we lack the ability to calm our mind and listen to our emotions, they tend to take over our buses and drive to whatever destination or whatever route they want, regardless of you and what you want.   All emotions are valid. If you're ignoring what is going on, they're going to become stronger and louder.   Let's discuss the monster under the bed versus the stranger coming into your window. Think about your four-year old even if you don't have one.   When they come out of the room and they tell you there's a monster under their bed. Do you believe there's a monster under their bed? No. You calm down the child. Maybe you check under the bed for them and then you send them back to bed.   Imagine the same four-year old comes out and tells you someone is wiggling their window. Is it possible someone could be trying to break into your house?   Life is full of ‘monsters under the bed’ fears and ‘strangers breaking into my window’ fears.   If you don't know how to identify which is which, then you will react to all fears the same way.   How to Identify Fear   Listen to what your emotions have to say.   Emotions have a point, they exist for a reason. We'll keep going with the fear theme.   Fears point is to keep you safe. That's all it wants to do. Anything even slightly outside your comfort zone will send it into panic mode.   Think of the four-year old child. The child will respond to the monster under the bed the same as someone wiggling their window.   You have to know the difference of which fear it's worth looking into and which is worth just soothing the four-year old and putting him back to bed.   We want to get to the point of being able to recognize which is which, so we can respond appropriately.   How you respond is key. When you listen and respond to your emotions, your emotions feel that they are least being heard, and will continue to let you drive the bus without a full blown coup.   What Happens When You Start Listening to Your Emotions Versus Just Trying to Ignore Them.   They become less monsters in your head and heart.   They become what they simply are: an emotion.   Emotions are temporary. They're only here for a time and then they move on.   Some cars drive slower than others, but they do move. Imagine yourself driving a bus and fear has something it wants to say. Instead of freaking out and just letting it take the wheel, you ask it to sit up next to you in the passenger’s seat.   Your emotion is allowed to tell you what is going on. It is here you get to decide the next steps. Does this fear need further investigation or action like a stranger coming through your child's window?   Or is it a false alarm like the monster under the bed and it just needs to be soothed made to understand that you've heard it, but you know better and that will be moving forward.   Either way you get to make the decision, not the emotion.   Practice the techniques from episode one and then also start incorporating listening to what your emotion is trying to say.   All that's on that bus is different versions of you just trying to give you input. If you can learn to hear what they have to say, you can make better decisions on where to take that bus. What routes to take that bus. How fast or slow to drive that bus. When to drive that bus and when to stop and slow down.   All of it is just feedback and you can learn that your emotions are friendly tools that you can use to better understand yourself and how you are reacting to the world.   When you're armed with that type of information, you can make more empowering decisions.   Resources:   Free Resource Library Course: Mindset Matters Looking to create your own course: Membervault Looking to collaborate and take some useful classes: Eclectic Entrepreneur    *Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.     **Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to diagnose, prescribe, treat, or cure any disease, physical or mental. Any advice given on the Rich in Differences Podcast should not be construed as a prescription, a promise of benefits, claims of cures, or a guarantee of results to be achieved. The information, instruction or advice given by Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional medical or psychological diagnosis and care. You should not discontinue or modify any medication presently being taken pursuant to medical advice without obtaining approval from your healthcare professional. As a listener/reader, you must take complete responsibility for your own physical health and emotional well-being.       TRANSCRIPT BELOW   Welcome to Rich in Differences, I'm your hostess with the mostess, Brooke. Hey pop tarts, hope you had a wonderful week and I'm back again to do part two of our series on emotional handling. So, last episode, we talked about how to get out of the middle of the road and get on the sidewalk with three techniques of breathing, grounding and physical awareness. So, today, we're going to be discussing how to become the bus driver of your life, instead of a passenger on the bus. Here we go again, with this imagination. Imagine a bus that's full of passengers and a bus driver, the passengers on this bus are your emotions and the bus driver is you. Now, I want you to see who's driving the bus, is it you or is it one of your emotions? Nine times out of ten, it's an emotion. When we lack the ability to calm our mind and listen to our emotions, they tend to take over our buses, and drive to whatever destination on whatever route they want, regardless of you, and what you want. So, all emotions are valid and if you're ignoring what is going on, they're going to become so strong that they will take you over. Let's discuss the monster under the bed versus the stranger coming into your window. Think about your four-year-old, even if you don't have one or want one. And they come out of the room and they tell you there's a monster under their bed. Do you believe there's a monster under their bed? No. You calm down the child, maybe you check under the bed for them and then you send them back to bed. Now, imagine the same four-year-old comes out and tells you someone is wiggling their window. Is it possible someone could be trying to break into your house? Oh yeah, there is. So, a real fear is started. Life is full of monsters under the bed fears and strangers breaking into my window fears. If you don't know how to identify which is which then you will react to all fears the same way. Alright, so what do you do? You listen to what your emotions have to say. Emotions have a point, they exist for a reason. So, we'll keep going with the fear theme. The first point is to keep you safe, that's all it wants to do. Anything even slightly outside your comfort zone will send it into panic mode. Think of the four-year-old child, the child will respond to the monster under the bed the same as someone wiggling their window. But you have to know the difference, which fear it's worth looking into? And which is worth just soothing the four-year-old and putting him back to bed? So, we want to get to the point of being able to recognize which is which, so we can respond appropriately. But that is the key: how you respond. When you listen and respond to your emotions, your emotions feel that they are least being heard, and will continue to let you drive the bus without a full-on coup. So, what happens when you start listening to your emotions versus just trying to ignore them? They become less monsters in your head and heart, they become what they simply are, an emotion. Like in episode one, the emotion will drive on by, emotions are temporary, they're only here for a time and then they move on. Some cars drive slower than others, but they do move. So, imagine yourself driving a bus and fear has something it wants to say? Instead of freaking out and just letting it take the wheel, you ask it to sit up next to you in that seat that is like just behind the driver but to the right. You know, which one I'm talking about. Here, your emotion is allowed to tell you what is going on. And it is here you get to decide the next steps. Does this fear need further investigation or action, like a stranger coming through your child's window? Or is it a false alarm, like the monster under the bed? And it just needs to be soothed, made to understand that you've heard it, but you know better and that we will be moving forward. Either way you get to make the decision, not the emotion. So, practice the techniques from episode one and then also start incorporating listening to what your emotion is trying to say. Really, all that's on that bus is different versions of you, just trying to give you input. If you can learn to hear what they have to say, you can make better decisions on where to take that bus, what routes to take that bus, how fast, how slow to drive that bus, when to drive that bus, when to stop and slow down, all of it is just feedback. And you can learn that your emotions are friendly tools that you can use to b

Do you always allow your emotions and fears talk you out of taking decisions and risks that could be valuable to your life or business? If so, you're not alone.   Emotions are important. They can impact the decisions we make and compel us to take action, both small and large, about our lives. Our emotions control how we interact and talk to people, how we spend our time, as well as how we handle opportunities and challenges.   In this episode, we’ll discuss the importance of collaboration and talking to others. In the last two episodes, we discussed a few techniques and ideas for learning emotional management. But how do you know what is normal and what is not? Listen in!   Episode Spotlights   In order to determine what is normal or common, you need to talk to each other and be willing to be vulnerable.   It is very easy to get immersed in your own thoughts and emotions and it can become hard to differentiate between what is normal or common, what is a personal issue, or something you should truly be concerned about.   Five Common Fears Among the Business Owners:    Fear of failure  Fear of success Impostor syndrome Perfectionism The inner critic   You’ll be amazed at the number of people who walk around scared they’re going to fail.   If you spend your day thinking negative thoughts, you’ll be depressed and end up thinking that those statements are true.   By sharing your thoughts with others, you’ll realize how normal or how common those thoughts and fears really are.   Fear is normal, but you need to learn that not all fears require you to stay up all night long hating on yourself. Actually, no fear should have you doing that.   When you have someone to bounce your inner turmoil off of, you can start to see what is really common and maybe what isn't.   Then you can make better decisions on how to handle it when those emotions start to come up in predictable ways and common situations.   Collaboration and talking to others is important because you begin to see the things worth looking at, and the things that you can turn away from.   Resources/Links Mentioned in This Episode    Website: Rich in Differences    Rich in Differences Facebook page    Brené Brown: Website     Ways to Subscribe to Rich in Differences Podcast:  Itunes    Stitcher    Google Play    Spotify     Looking for some FREE Resources:  Free Resource Library    Eclectic Entrepreneurs   Some great resources for business that I personally use  MemberVault   *Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.   **Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to diagnose, prescribe, treat, or cure any disease, physical or mental. Any advice given on the Rich in Differences Podcast should not be construed as a prescription, a promise of benefits, claims of cures, or a guarantee of results to be achieved. The information, instruction or advice given by Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional medical or psychological diagnosis and care. You should not discontinue or modify any medication presently being taken pursuant to medical advice without obtaining approval from your healthcare professional. As a listener/reader, you must take complete responsibility for your own physical health and emotional well-being.     TRANSCRIPT BELOW   All right, Pop Tarts, welcome to Rich in Differences, I'm your hostess with the mostess, Brooke, and this is part three of three of our series in emotional handling. Man, I'm going to tell you, I got like notes and it is really hard to like, look at my notes, and then also have like a frank discussion, because part of me is like, go back to the notes, Brooke, because you're going off, onto another, you know, tangent. And then a part of me is like, but this is serious, too. Oh, my God, problems of a podcaster. All right. In this episode, we will be discussing the importance of collaboration and talking to others. In the last two episodes, we have discussed a few techniques and ideas for learning emotional management, but how do you know what is normal and what is not? Okay, now, I do hate saying normal because there is an argument for well, who can really say what is normal. However, for the sake of time, we're going to go with the word normal and common, because I believe we have a slight idea about what I mean. In order to determine what is normal or common, we need to talk to each other, we need to be more willing to be vulnerable, Brene Brown anyone? We need to be talking to each other. It is very easy to get immersed in our own thoughts and emotions and they can become hard to differentiate between what is normal or common and what is very much a personal issue, or something we should truly be concerned about. Remember, monster under the bed versus man coming through the window. So, fear, again, is such a great example, especially when it comes to us business owners because so many fears loved to be activated when we're trying to run a business. So, as a business owner, in our life, we all experience fears. But in business, there are five common fears that show up among the business owners I work with. They are: Fear of failure Fear of success Imposter syndrome perfectionism inner critic. Be sure and go and comment which one plagues you the most. Mine would probably be the fear of success, which is interestingly enough, a fear that is not very much talked about. You would be amazed at how all of us are walking around scared we are going to fail. Thinking no one wants what we have to sell. Who are we to teach this idea? And we walk around hearing our moms, dads, partners, critical friends voice judging everything we're doing. Imagine a day and you might already be here, where you spend it thinking thoughts like, “I suck, and this is never going to work. I can't do this. I'm not smart enough. What if no one buys my program? What if people see that I'm not a million-dollar badass yet? Why would anyone listen to what I have to say? It's already been said by better, more well-spoken people.” All day you thought this to yourself, by the end of the day, I bet you would be depressed and absolutely positive that all of these statements are true. You would go to bed thinking you are truly a loser that does crap work and that no one wants to buy your crappy product. All right, let's change it up, now. Now imagine a day where you start to have the sauce and you call your business bestie or go to my Facebook page, Rich in Differences and say, “I am going out of my mind. I am totally thinking that my work sucks, and no one is going to buy it, I mean, who am I to be teaching any of this? I mean, so and so is already teaching something similar and makes millions, how will I ever be able to compete with that?” And then your business bestie goes, or me because if I catch you in the Facebook group, I'm going to be telling you, “Damn, first off, breathe. Second, do you know how many times I have had those same exact thoughts? We all have those thoughts, especially when we're about to launch something new into the world. I remember so and so talking about herself eating a gallon of ice cream scared to death that she was going to fall flat on her face regarding this deal.” Do you think you would go to bed feeling anywhere near as bad as the first scenario? Fear is normal. But you need to learn that not all fears require you to stay up all night long hating on yourself. Actually, no fear should have you doing that. But you get the point. When we have someone to bounce our inner turmoil off of, we can start to see what is really common and maybe what isn't. Then we can make better decisions on how to handle it when those emotions start to come up in predictable ways and common situations. Because emotions can be predictable if you're paying attention, which you will learn and Episode one and two and if you're doing those techniques. Each time I go to launch anything, the night before I have butterflies in my stomach, I get a little sweaty if I'm being honest, but I don't let that rule me. I know I'm nervous but I'm no longer thinking that I'm terrible, my work is terrible, or everyone is going to hate it, being nervous is normal. So, collaboration is important, talking to each other is important. Because we begin to see what are the things worth looking at and what are the things that we can turn away from? Go to my Facebook group, start a conversation. Have a question, have a fear, not sure what your next steps are? Not sure if you're in the right mental space for your launch? Or wherever you are in your business. Come talk to us and come see how normal or how common those thoughts, the emotions, those fears really are and let us help you. Because that's what this podcast is about, it's about helping you. Alright, pop tarts, that's it for the day. I hope you enjoyed this three-part series. Be sure to subscribe, and come on and tell me what you thought, tell me if you're doing it, tell me if it works, tell me if you think it sucks. I mean, come on, I need to know what's working and what's not working for you. Or if you have any ideas or questions or thoughts or whatever, and just hit me up. Alright, pop tarts, we're going to leave a message to my dad. Hey dad, so glad you listened and no I'm not embarrassed by the fact that you actually like some of my work and it is okay to tell me that and it's okay to like my post, appreciate your support. Love you.  

Are you having a hard time overcoming hard times in your life? Times can be hard and unbelievable situations can happen making life unbearable. Fortunately, there are strategies you can us to overcome difficulties and hard times and succeed.   Our guest today is J'Anmetra (Jojo) Waddell. She is an award winning transformational coach, two times best-selling author and seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience. Jojo is an advocate for domestic violence survivors and victims.   Additionally, she is the founder of Bare Your Hair and Wanddel Consulting Services. She is the only Live Past the Crazy specialist, and she has come on today to talk about the five keys to living past the crazy.     Episode Spotlights   Why Jojo Created the Five Keys to Living Past the Crazy.   She knew crazy first-hand and she hated when people gave her generic answers, “Oh, Jesus will fix it. It's going to be okay. Pray about it.”   She needed somebody to say, “Jojo, today this is what you do. And tomorrow, this is what you do.” She needed steps of how to stop what was going on.   How Jojo Created the Five Keys to Living Past Crazy   After the crazy in her life had stopped, these were things she was consistently doing all the time to keep the crazy at a minimum.   Crazy can be defined many ways. Her crazy was an abusive husband.   The crazy might never to go away, but she can handle it a lot better with the five steps.   What Changed When She Started Implementing Her Five Keys.   She became more clear   It helped to get some of the ideas and thoughts out of head onto paper   They keep her calm, centered, and keeps the crazy away.   She started to value her mental space and her mental quiet time   The Five Keys to Living Past the Crazy   Develop a personal mantra   Write a journal   Develop a daily goal   Start each day new   Find a purpose partner   How to Start Using the Five Keys   Be committed, not interested   Start daily a writing routine   Talk to yourself positively every day   Value your quiet time   Find people who are going to genuinely support you   Resources/Links Mentioned in This Episode J'Anmetra Jojo Waddell’s books on Amazon Contact Jojo:    Website: Be Fearless    YouTube Channel: Fearless Morning Show    Facebook page: Fearless Morning Show.    Instagram: @JanWaddell    Twitter: Janmetra    Email: elizabeth@livepastcrazy.com janmetra@livepastcrazy.com   Check out JoJo's Freebies right here:   Daily Mantra Reading List 5 Keys to Living Past the Crazy   How to work with JoJo  Retreats: Girlfriends Retreat  August 23-25th - Clearwater - Florida  PROGRAMS/SPECIALS 1:1 Coaching (4 weeks ) Meet once a week $97.00 normally $397 open for 20 people. Topics for each week 1. Mindset 2. Foundations Matter 3. New Rules to New You 4. Strengthen your voice by speaking your truth    Live Past Crazy Blueprint- $49.99 Ways to Subscribe to Rich in Differences Podcast: Itunes Stitcher Google Play Spotify   **Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to diagnose, prescribe, treat, or cure any disease, physical or mental. Any advice given on the Rich in Differences Podcast should not be construed as a prescription, a promise of benefits, claims of cures, or a guarantee of results to be achieved. The information, instruction or advice given by Rich in Differences Podcast is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional medical or psychological diagnosis and care. You should not discontinue or modify any medication presently being taken pursuant to medical advice without obtaining approval from your healthcare professional. As a listener/reader, you must take complete responsibility for your own physical health and emotional well-being.   TRANSCIPT BELOW   Interview with Janmetra Waddell 
00:00 (Intro Music Playing) 00:04 Brooke: Welcome to Rich Indifferences with your host, Brooke, where we discover what works for you in life, health and business. We are not legos and one size does not fit all so grab a good drink and come listen to different perspectives as we see what sticks for you. 00:21  Welcome to Rich Indifferences and today we have guest speaker, Janmetra Waddell or AKA JoJo. Janmetra is an award-winning transformational coach, two times bestselling author and seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience. She is the only 'live past the crazy' specialist and she has come on today to talk about 5 Keys To Living Past The Crazy.  Welcome, Jojo, and thank you for coming on. 00:47 JoJo: Hey, Brooke, thank you so much for having me. I am excited to be here.  00:53 Brooke: Me too. I cannot wait to hear what you have to say about this because I believe we all definitely live the crazy life, for sure. So JoJo, what is your drink of choice today?  01:04 JoJo: My drink of choice today would be a strawberry margarita with the mango swirl in the center. 01:12 Brooke: Mmm. That sounds good. 01:14 JoJo:  I didn't start drinking till I was 35 and then I discovered those. 01:17 Brooke: They're great. Wow! I am just drinking straight-up sweet tea, which sounds really lame compared to yours. Oh, 35? 01:33 JoJo: Yeah, and then I was watering down my wine so I would put cranberry juice in my wine.  01:41 Brooke:  That's an interesting way of doing it. 01:43 JoJo: Yeah.   01:45 Brooke: All right. So let's start at the beginning of your story. What made you create the 5 Keys to Living Past the Crazy? 01:56 JoJo: The reason why I started was because I knew crazy firsthand and I hate it when people gave me generic answers: "Oh, Jesus will fix it. It's going to be okay, pray about it." I didn't need that. I needed somebody to say, "Jo Jo, today, this is what you do. And tomorrow this is what you do." And I needed steps and I didn't need generic jargon and people to talk to me. I needed somebody to show me the steps of how to stop what was going on.  02:30 Brooke: I completely understand and I have had similar experiences where all I wanted was an actual step to take and not an idea and that, yeah, that makes all the difference in the world.  02:43 JoJo: Hmhm. 02:44 Brooke: So, did someone come and teach you this or did you create out of like, did you just take from your own experience and say, "This is what I'm going to start doing to help myself" and then create the 5 keys or like, how did all that come about? 02:58 JoJo: For me, these were things that after the crazy in my life had stopped, these were things I finally started to take notice of that I was consistently doing all the time to stop. And crazy can be defined anyway --- your crazy doesn't have to be my crazy. Mine was an abusive husband. And so your crazy could be the kids, the husband, the job, the commute; it could be whatever. But I realized it was the same things that I was doing over and over and over again that help keep me on track and keep the crazy at a minimum. I don't think it's ever going to go away but I can handle it a lot better with my 5 steps.  03:42 Brooke: So what changed when you started implementing your 5 Keys? 03:48 JoJo: Some of the things that change for me, I became more clear because when you're in crazy, the first thing that you don't ever do is grieve. You never grieve so then you can't think straight so you're always in straight panic mode. So that it helped me to get some of my ideas and thoughts out of my head onto paper. So I was able to think clearer, I was able to slow down the crazy and then realized, was I willingly participating in crazy? Like sometimes, you know you're going to talk to that one person that makes you want to cuss in 2.5 seconds but yet, you talk to them. So, was I willingly participated in crazy? So I had to think about that and then I started to value my mental space and my mental quiet time.  I became and I still am very protective, on Sundays, I will bite your head off if you interrupt my quiet time or my mental health time and it has just become things that has, you know, they keep me calm, they keep me centered and keeps the crazy at bay.  04:50 Brooke: Thank you. So let's talk about the 5 Keys. 04:53 JoJo: Yes. 
04:53 Brooke: What are your ‘5 keys to living past the crazy’? 
04:57 JoJo: Well, the first key is for me. Is I had to develop a personal mantra. Like I had because my abuser called me all these crazy names and I wouldn't look in a mirror for like a year, almost two years, I never looked in the mirror. And so I had to develop my own mantra. So it is now on my bathroom mirror in his words as quotes that I have that I say, when I'm having those really bad days, I have a basic one that says "I look good. I feel good. I am good." And I'm going to say that until I'm ready for it. So the first one is just developing my personal mantra. That's for me. The second one is, I journal. I write down everything that I think I'm feeling. So then I can ---because I like to check myself before anybody else brings anything to me: "JoJo, get yourself under control first." So when I'm journaling it, I can put all that down and see maybe where I went wrong or are my feelings really in or did somebody really hurt me.   And the third one is, 'develop a daily goal'. It doesn't matter how big or small. When I had postpartum depression if I brushed my teeth that day, I was excited, "Hey, Jojo, you brushed your teeth today" and I celebrate all of it and I just took it for what it was. I wasn't trying to be anything great.  And then I had to start each day new. I could not hold on to the fact that I stayed in bed and cried all day yesterday. That was yesterday; I deserve to sit in the bed and cry all day. Today is a whole new day. I get to do something different and then I would just get excited about that.  And then the fifth one was, I called them 'Purpose Partners' now, but in the beginning, I just called it my support system

In this episode we talk about what you can expect from this podcast. It's the who, what, when, and where episode!