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I am sharing with you today, the key to what has been the biggest accomplishment in my life to date. Conquering my mindset and the realisation that I am in full control of my thoughts and emotions has opened up my eyes to a whole new way of existing in this extraordinary world we live in.
Join me in this episode as I explain the magic behind taking baby steps. Aligned action is what has enabled me to continue living my best and happiest life since creating The High Vibe Guide.
And it's something we can all do! Tune in and discover the power of incorporating baby steps into our day to day lives. It will change your life.
Subscribe for Premium Content here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2286124/subscribe
I am sharing with you today, the key to what has been the biggest accomplishment in my life to date. Conquering my mindset and the realisation that I am in full control of my thoughts and emotions has opened up my eyes to a whole new way of existing in this extraordinary world we live in.
Join me in this episode as I explain the magic behind taking baby steps. Aligned action is what has enabled me to continue living my best and happiest life since creating The High Vibe Guide.
And it's something we can all do! Tune in and discover the power of incorporating baby steps into our day to day lives. It will change your life.
Welcome to the High Vibe Guide, the podcast where I demystify the concept of raising our vibration. I'm Jenna, a yoga teacher, mum of three and passionate advocate for helping others to just feel happier. Let me explain to you how we can all live more contented and fulfilled lives, and how it's so much easier than you think. Hello everybody and welcome back to the High Vibe Guide. I hope you've all had a good weekend. I have had a pretty good weekend.
Speaker 1:I posted a fair bit in my stories on Instagram of things I was getting up to over the weekend and it really did make me notice that you do only feel compelled to post the good stuff on social media, don't you? The highlights. And I realised that because I have had a good weekend, a busy weekend, you know. I went to the theatre. I saw the Life of Pi, which was amazing. I had a great day on Saturday with the kids, a really full, fun day. I took my kids and my sister to the outdoor cinema yesterday to see the Greatest Showman Great fun, great weather, until we got rained off towards the end with the thunderstorm that hit. But I did realise that you really do only want to post the good stuff, the highlights of what you get up to, which is lovely half the time, but for the other half, I do really feel like it's feeding into this toxic nature of social media where we only see the good, the shiny. You know the amazing bits. You know the amazing bits which doesn't make up the full and real life that we live. So, bearing this in mind, I will be sure to post some more normality this week. You can get a glimpse into the shit storm that is also prevalent in my life, the not so shiny, and just remember that social media isn't sharing the full picture. Always remember that.
Speaker 1:Oh, and, as some of you know, for the last six months or so, callum, my husband, has been working Saturdays. He's working as a chef currently, so that means on Saturdays he works these mental 10, 11 hour days. So we don't see him, which we don't like, but it shouldn't be for too much longer, fingers crossed. But the one good thing about it is having the TV to myself on those evenings, and my mum actually sometimes even has the kids on those nights, so I get the whole house to myself. So there's no arguing over what to watch and, best of all, no interference or judgment over what I do choose to watch. So often he comes in of an evening and says to me oh God, what's this crap you're watching now? Or just comes in to annoy or mock, it feels like. But this Saturday I watched the Idea of you.
Speaker 1:It's a new movie. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it. It's on Amazon Prime and I really, really enjoyed it. Anyone that's a fan of a good classic rom-com, then I really advise you watch it. It's about a 40-year-old woman, anne Hathaway, who accidentally meets this 24-year-old pop star I forget his name, I think it's Nicholas something but he's gorgeous and it's the story of them falling in love and all the trials and tribulations that go along with that. That Now, I'll be honest, by no means is it mind-blowing or life-changing, but it just ticks every single box when it comes to a good old romantic comedy. The acting's good, their chemistry is very good and it even has a few little gems in there some thinkers for life and one that really stuck with me was a scene where it's her 40th birthday party and they're talking about getting older.
Speaker 1:You know milestone birthdays and someone says you aren't even a real person until you're 30. And then you spend the next 10 years figuring out who you want to be, and this just made so much sense to me. Definitely, for me, my 20s were all about getting it wrong, being the person I didn't want to be, unknowingly pushing boundaries, you know, trying out new things and just failing all over the place. I didn't know who I was and I didn't really have a clue how to find out. But there was something that happened in my 30s where things just started realigning, clicking into place. Maybe a little more clarity was gained, which maybe just comes with, you know, maturity, experience, priorities. So, being 35 right now, I'm just filled with so much excitement for the next five years, for more experience, more truth, finding more growth, and I now cannot wait to see what it feels like when I'm 40. So, to anyone out there feeling rubbish about getting older, to anyone out there feeling rubbish about getting older, put on a different pair of glasses. Adopt a new perspective. You get to be happier the older you get. You get to feel more grounded, less anxious, less unsure. You're just getting closer and closer to finding out who you really are and actually being able to live that truth.
Speaker 1:So after that first little digression that I wanted to share, let's get into today's topic. So I've made a giant revelation recently, another one you'll be surprised to hear. They're just hitting me square in the eyes all over the place lately, all those benefits of getting older, and I want to share it with you. I'm always going on and on to you about baby steps, aren't I? You know this now.
Speaker 1:I don't believe in cold turkey. I believe that we have to slowly introduce new, healthy habits into our lives, and I think that if we do make these dramatic overnight changes, then keeping that change in our lives past a certain point has to rely on willpower, doesn't it? And if you listen to any motivational speaker, any life coach, business guru, health expert, any strategy or plan based around a big and drastic change, and one that requires that sole use of willpower, will not have long-term success. Yeah, you may lose a few pounds, you may go running five times a week for a month or two, you may complete your whole gratitude journal in a week, but you'll find that within a short space of time you've come back full circle, right to where you started, that place where not only are you experiencing all the negative thoughts and feelings that made you want to make the change in the first place. But now you've got added negative feelings of failure, self-doubt, the feeling that you aren't capable of achieving change, that the great stuff out there in the world maybe isn't meant for you, it's just too hard, you're never going to make it, and we can get caught in this cycle for years. Hey, look at the diet industry. That feeling, that cycle is what that purely relies on. That cycle is what that purely relies on. But something happens when we make baby steps, and this works in every single area of life, in any area of progression or growth that you're trying to create for yourself, whether you're trying to lose weight, get fitter, put a stop on your anxiety, start a new business, get a promotion, land your dream job, find the right partner for yourself. I am walking, talking, living proof that building in baby steps, small, realistic and achievable steps, into our daily lives, works in the long run, and not only in the long run, but you'll be able to maintain it forever. So let's break this down.
Speaker 1:I started this podcast very, very shortly after my light bulb moment. Now, this happened at the end of the summer last year, 2023. It was around September. I came back from Ibiza. I was helping out a friend on her yoga retreat to find that my husband had lost his job and I'll be real with you guys, we'd been struggling financially for a few years. I wasn't working much as my kids were still very young. I was teaching the odd yoga class here and there. I was making candles. For those of you that don't know, I set up a candle making company during COVID, but business was pretty quiet at the time as I wasn't investing a lot of time into it. Well, anytime, if I'm honest, really.
Speaker 1:But over 2021, 22, and even into 2023, with reflection, we were always in the mindset of, with reflection, we were always in the mindset of God. Things would just be great if things will be so much better when we were always chasing, projecting our happiness into the future. Now, remember, I never say that having a goal or ambition isn't a good thing. It's a great thing. But when you are consistently putting your happiness into the future by saying we'll be happy when so-and-so happens, we'll be okay when you get this job, when we have this amount of money coming in, by doing this, you're telling your subconscious that it is not okay to be happy now, to be appreciative now, to be grateful for the things you have in your life now. So when you do get these things, you achieve those things that you thought will make you happy. You achieve those things that you thought will make you happy.
Speaker 1:Guess what? You still will not be happy. You might be in that first instant, but let it sink in and you will not be happy Because your mind is conditioned to look for the next thing that will bring happiness. That will bring happiness. Nothing is ever enough. True gratitude and true happiness cannot be achieved when you think and behave in this way. Trust me, I am proof.
Speaker 1:I've got the dream house. We got that next job. We got the amount of money we thought we wanted coming in as an income and guess what? We weren't happy with it. It was just this underlying belief that nothing was good enough and we weren't able to relax and realize that we were in control of our happiness. So when I had this light bulb moment, I finally realized that the enemy here was my mindset. I finally realized that it was in my power to change things, to create more happiness, more abundance, more fulfillment in my life and, as a result, in my family's lives. More fulfillment in my life and, as a result, in my family's lives.
Speaker 1:This is when I started all my baby steps, and here's where most people fall down right in the beginning or in that first period. Because, let's be real, we won't see immediate results from baby steps. Will we Think about it? We start working out. We won't see results in the first week, will we? Hey, maybe not even in the first month, but we're so conditioned to seeing immediate results, instant gratification. We as a society now are so expectant to see results straight away that we are bored by the idea of baby steps. We have forgotten how to be patient as a society. Patience is a virtue it really is. We've been conditioned to forget this, to forget the power of patience, consistency, discipline. I have a really good real life example to very effectively demonstrate my point here Michael Phelps.
Speaker 1:For those that might not instantly recognize the name, michael Phelps was an American swimmer who is one of the most decorated Olympians of all time. This guy has 23 gold medals among his 28 Olympic medals. Now, his journey to winning the gold started at a very young age. He began swimming at the age of seven and by 10 years of age he was breaking national age group records. He joined the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, he trained and he made his debut at the age of 15 during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and he became the youngest male swimmer on a US Olympic team in 68 years. However, phelps did not win any medals at his first Olympics. His first Olympic gold came at the 2004 Olympics, four years later, where he won six gold medals and two bronze medals. His rigorous training routine, combined with his obvious natural talent, allowed him to achieve this remarkable success in swimming, and he continued to compete in the Olympics for over a decade, and he won his final gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Now his journey really just exemplifies the years of training and commitment that's required to reach the pinnacle of Olympic competition, of Olympic competition. Yes, each Olympic athlete's journey varies, but they each dedicate years, if not decades, to training and refining their skills before competing at the highest level and winning the gold.
Speaker 1:Now I know you may be thinking, jenna, I don't want to win Olympic gold, I just want to do this. I want to run a half marathon or start a new business, xyz. Hey, maybe it's even more in line with the high vibe guide. Maybe you just want to feel happier. Maybe you want to beat the negative thought patterns. You want to increase your self-awareness, beat the anxiety, bring some more positivity into your lives. And hey, every single one of these things is a goal, an accomplishment, something that you want to achieve. Just because it's not an Olympic gold medal doesn't mean that it's not as challenging or as important to you.
Speaker 1:So it's obvious from this example of Michael Phelps that his success did not happen overnight, even with his obvious natural talent. Imagine being this young kid who trained so hard, went from big fish little pond to the biggest pond of all the Olympics, from big fish little pond to the biggest pond of all the Olympics after all those years of training and not winning a single thing. Bit of a downer Proof that your path to success is not always linear and it will not always pan out the way you think it will. But with the right attitude you can still get there. But he kept his chin up even after this huge blow, after not winning anything at his debut, and went on to win six goals four years later. Four years is a long time, but he accomplished everything on his journey with consistency and discipline. Because, remember, willpower only gets you so far and so does motivation.
Speaker 1:Think about it it's not physically possible to roll out of bed full of motivation every day, is it? But you know what is possible. But you know what is possible To wake up each day and cultivate your mindset, to feel disciplined, to keep your eye on the prize and keep making steps towards it. Will this feel difficult some days? Yes, will you have to alter your expectations each day, most likely On days where you aren't operating at 100%. We all have them. We aren't machines. What can you do that day? That still says you're taking aligned action towards your goal? Maybe it looks like just not going full pelt that day. It looks like just not going full pelt that day. Maybe you aren't going for that 10 mile run in preparation for your marathon next year. Maybe it's just a quick 2k around the block. Maybe it's even a rest day. Maybe it's not writing in your gratitude journal that day, but maybe it's going for a quick walk, or even taking a cup of tea into the garden, watching the trees move with the breeze, noticing the sensation of the grass under your feet. It's all about aligned action, and the great thing about aligned action is that it doesn't matter how big or small that action is. It all counts. So, coming back to me, hi myself.
Speaker 1:When I first started this podcast the first episode launched in January of this year, 2024, I was still very much at the beginning of my journey. I had my goals set out. I knew I wanted to be a happier person. I wanted to deal with stress better, be more present for my family and to start a new business that would not only be successful but would actually help other people on similar journeys to mine. That was important to me, and starting this podcast and starting to build my online yoga studio, soul Circle, felt scary, terrifying. But I just had this calling, this excitement in my gut, a passion that was driving me like never before, and I couldn't not listen to it. And hey, if you haven't had this kind of calling, then it does not mean that you're further behind on your personal growth journey or that you actually need a calling to change anything in your life. But what enabled my calling was mindset. My light bulb moment enabled me to let go of this huge chunk of limiting beliefs I had about myself. Not all of them, but enough to make me realise that, even though I was scared, but enough to make me realise that, even though I was scared, I could go out and achieve my dreams, that I was capable, and what's helped me every single day is baby steps, aligned action towards my goals.
Speaker 1:So some days I get shit loads done. I record, edit and schedule the launch of my podcast. I get a load of flows recorded for SoulCircle. I maybe even manage to edit and upload a couple of flows. I get a blog written and published. I put a plan together for my next yoga class and, hey, maybe I even manage to prepare healthy meals in that time and actually sit down and eat them. But look on, other days I'm doing housework, doing the food shop, cleaning, folding, tidying, taking my daughter to the playground painting with her puzzles glitter, oh the glitter. Glitter, oh the glitter. Playing unicorn snap, ferrying round my sons to swimming, taekwondo, rugby and where I am right now, the majority of my week, I'm not putting anything physically or materially towards the building of Soul Circle or the creation of the High Vibe Guide, because my daughter is only at nursery two days a week and I have a life, a normal and ordinary life, where my family takes precedence.
Speaker 1:And well, just because of reality and at first, on those days where I didn't feel I was getting much done, anxiety would creep in, I'd be beating myself up and feeling doubt and fear, imposter syndrome, unsure I would ever be able to achieve all this. And that's normal. Okay, we're human. But due to my baby steps, I know this is all part of it. I know that success does not happen overnight, that it takes consistency, discipline and aligned action. I love this term, aligned action, because aligned action might mean that one day I'm not actually ticking anything off on my task list. Maybe instead, I'm sat doing a meditation. I'm visualising my future where I have achieved everything I want to. Maybe it's sitting in a cafe with my daughter drinking hot chocolate, because my goal does not consist of a version of me who's working 24 hours a day. My goal consists of my success that's built around my family and my friends. Maybe a lined action. For me, another day looks like cooking with my husband in the evening rather than squeezing in a late podcast recording because I didn't have time that day. And all of my other baby steps.
Speaker 1:So meditation, gratitude, kindness, yoga, getting outside, eating whole foods, drinking more water these have all helped me rewire my brain. So I now feel anxiety and fear, doubt a minority of the time, and I feel optimistic, positive, grateful, fulfilled most of the time. And on those days where I do feel the bad stuff because obviously I do because of my new mindset that I adopt most of the time I know that this bad feeling won't last forever and that my brain is better equipped at handling it I'm still on my way at handling it. I'm still on my way. Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect. And look, I don't check off each one of those things every single day, god, no, hey. On great days maybe I do, but maybe one day I won't feel like doing any of them, so I just pick off one, the one that feels will be the easiest or the most achievable. This is where that little bit of discipline does have to kick in.
Speaker 1:And, guys, the most important growth doesn't happen whilst you're meditating or on your yoga mat or writing in your gratitude journal. Hey, don't get me wrong. You can definitely have some serious revelations in these moments, but real growth, the real life affirming and game changing growth, happens in the midst of conflict, when you are feeling frustrated, angry or scared. You feel yourself slip in to your old negative thought or response patterns and then you suddenly realise that you have a choice, a choice to do this differently. That's when you know you're really on your way. You know all the neural pathways I talk about, so the old negative thought patterns that we have are running around this very well trodden road map in your brain. These roads are well ridden and well used, so the mind uses these pathways more often, as they are the norm. We know these roads well. We drive them on autopilot, with no conscious effort.
Speaker 1:And when I started my baby steps, all my high-vibing activities yes, some days it was challenging and because I wasn't necessarily seeing these immediate results, it felt very tempting to give up. What's the point? This is a lot of effort for little reward. But it only feels like a lot of effort because we're carving out these new neural pathways, digging these new roads in our brains, which obviously takes up a lot of effort, just like when you're learning a new skill, learning how to drive, how to walk, as a baby. These things were really hard at first, but we now do it on autopilot and I feel almost like I'm just dipping my toes into this part where my mind can think more positively, more easily. It's proof that I'm building this new roadmap in my mind and it's the best feeling ever.
Speaker 1:An example of this was only yesterday. My husband is coming and being the private chef for my first yoga retreat that I'm hosting at the end of the month in the Cotswolds and he's an incredible chef and he's an incredible kind of host in that environment. So I know he's going to deliver a really wonderful experience for the guests that are coming. But my husband, he likes to leave things last minute and you know what 90% of the time you wouldn't know that he's left things to the last minute. He's just one of those guys. He's confident, he's assured, he's sure of himself and he's happy to wing it and it always works out.
Speaker 1:But I told you at the beginning of this episode that he works Saturdays and this retreat is over a weekend. And he said yesterday so bad news. And my initial gut reaction was are you fucking serious? You have had over six months to book this off. And I have said to you more than once have you booked this off? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're all good, but no, someone else had booked it off. So he has to drive back late Friday night from the retreat in the Cotswolds to home to then work the Saturday and then leg it back to the Cotswolds in time to cook dinner for the guests. He's going to have to do a shorter day at the restaurant in his job on the Saturday. But my gut reaction was just to explode at him. And don't get me wrong, I did. I actually did, and I said this is so Callum, this is just so Callum.
Speaker 1:But something I am noticing, even on these occasions where I do flip, it's because it comes from a place of fear. It comes from a place of oh my God, what am I going to do? Because my inbuilt belief is that I won't be able to handle everything on the retreat on that Saturday without the chef being there. But I noticed, even though I did react, I came down very quickly and said right, okay, I'm sorry for my outburst, you can understand why I'm angry. But right, what do we need to do so that I've got everything? But right, what do we need to do so that I've got everything prepped and ready and we won't know you're gone in that time and it's all going to be fine? I have this belief. Now it was less scary. Very, very quickly it became less scary, this fear of oh my, what am I going to do? Because I very quickly realised I've got this, we can do it, it's no sweat, whereas before that feeling of fear would just run rampant.
Speaker 1:But it's just proof that everything I am doing is working, it's paying off. And, like I said, yes, I reacted, I got angry, I got frustrated at him and I let him know how I feel. But I am human because half the time I do have that space now where I can choose how I want to respond which is the best place to be in, obviously, to respond, which is the best place to be in, obviously. But now I also have that quicker come down time so that I can apologize if I have reacted badly. And it's as proof that I'm able to regulate. What I'm doing in those places is resetting my nervous system on my own. It's all happening much more efficiently and it's just proof that everything I'm doing, I'm on the right path, these baby steps are working. I've done nothing overnight and it's made me realise that having a good life has nothing to do with having a good day.
Speaker 1:Now bear with me on this one. But it's all about investing in yourself today and not worrying about the outcome immediately. And you start to see success slowly over time, not in this crazy volatile way where it's overnight. But think about it. What do we do? We seek good days because we seek short-term pleasure, but instead it's important to know that, over a longer span of time, great and amazing, wonderful shifts are happening. We need to stop chasing short-term pleasure so, in order to actually improve our lives, we focus on long-term gains.
Speaker 1:So this actually looks like focusing on small daily habits eating well, exercising, meditating, doing the little things that are meaningful for you. Think of it as daily maintenance. It's this daily maintenance that improves your mindset, your perspective, your outlook. It's this shift that will transform your life. I promise. Please trust me on this one.
Speaker 1:And for those of you that do feel instantly turned off by this concept the idea that it is actually in the small, so-called boring everyday things, please don't feel doubtful. It is just an indication that your mindset is in need of this shift. I promise you will open yourself up to so much more potential for happiness and amazing things in your life, for the rest of your life. Isn't that what's more important? How do you want the rest of your life to look? It all starts here, with you, right now, in the mind, and do you want to learn how to start this journey and do you want to learn how to start this journey, because I'm thinking of giving myself something else to create. I have no idea when I'll have the time, but, hey, we'll figure these things out. But I want to put something together like a workbook or a guidebook or something that will help you get your journey started towards this mindset shift. So please do feel free to get in touch with a yes or a no or any ideas that you feel you would like guidance on something you might be struggling on, and I'll start putting something together.
Speaker 1:Because for me, it's only been eight, nine months since my light bulb moment, since I was consistently living in a negative brain without being aware of it, let alone aware of my power to actually change it. Because, hey, no one else is coming, no one else is going to do it for you, but I feel like I have managed to come out the other side. I feel like I've done it. I feel like I've actually proven the high vibe guide. I feel a book coming on one day Maybe the high vibe guide on the shelves of Waterstones is going to be in my visualizations from now on, yes, but I just feel so overwhelmed, positively, with my own achievement, this success story of getting myself out of this mindset and I can see it in my life starting to unfold only starting, but that's why it's exciting, because I'm so excited to see what else is going to happen in my life.
Speaker 1:Because of this mindset I've managed to cultivate. I mean, yeah, I haven't necessarily achieved all of my goals yet, like I just said, but I feel the main one, my mindset I am conquering, I am rewiring my brain and it's so bloody empowering. It makes you realise that you really can achieve anything and I feel like I'm just bursting at the seams with it. I need to share it. I need to reach more people, spread this message you can do it too. I haven't taken a magic pill. I haven't spent a single penny on any courses or therapy or training, or therapy or training, so I know that if I can do it, then you can do it too.
Speaker 1:I have a lot of love for you all today, thank you, thank you, as always, for tuning in. Keep looking for the good stuff, guys, and I'll see you back here next time. Thank you all so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share with your friends and family to continue spreading that positivity. You can find me on Instagram at thehighvibeguide. Get in touch, I would love to hear from you. Thank you all so much for listening and I'll see you back here next time at the high vibe guide.