Podcast Retreats

#288 - A YEAR OF RE-INVENTING, with Ros Lindsey

Hello 😊

Join me for this inspiring conversation with Ross Lindsey, a registered nurse, public health professional, and the driving force behind the Wellness Nurse Podcast and Launch Longevity.

I first met Ross at our retreat in Fiji, where I witnessed her incredible reinvention journey firsthand.

She went from feeling burned out and overwhelmed to becoming a fierce advocate for health and longevity, committed to helping others transform their lives through small, actionable steps.

Ross shares her personal story of transition and opens up about the pivotal moments that shaped her path, including a powerful decision to prioritize her health and well-being, which led to her own transformation journey.

 

In this episode, you'll learn:

  1. How to make powerful decisions that align with your values and dreams.
  2. The importance of taking small, consistent steps toward health and longevity.
  3. Strategies for overcoming self-doubt and backing yourself every day.
  4. How reinventing yourself can lead to unexpected and fulfilling life paths.

Join us as we explore the power of reinvention, resilience, and self-care. Tune in and get ready to be inspired to take charge of your health and dream life!

As always, I’d LOVE to hear what resonates with you from this episode and what you plan to implement after listening in. So please share and let’s keep the conversation going in the Dream Life Podcast Facebook Group here.    

Have a wonderful weekend… and remember, it all starts with a dream 💛

Enjoy! 

 

💛

Dream Life Founder  

SHOW NOTES:

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UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT:

Hi there and welcome back to another episode. I am so excited about my guest today because I met her at the Fiji retreat that we did last year and I have witnessed her incredible reinvention since then. My guest, Ros Lindsay, It's a registered nurse and public health professional. Ros holds a master of public health and has a wealth of knowledge from her diverse roles in nursing leadership, clinical education, and ICT product management, having witnessed firsthand the devastating impacts of illness on individuals and families.

As well as the increasing pressure on our hospital system due to the rising incidence of chronic diseases and an aging population. Ros is now passionately committed to preventing lifestyle associated chronic diseases. As a compassionate yet fierce advocate for health, Ros hosts the Wellness Nurse Podcast, which I will link to, and is the director of Launch Longevity, an independent online nursing service that will soon.

be launched. And I cannot wait for that. I love anything to do with longevity. And she is just amazing because she has so much great background. Her mission is to help individuals transform from feeling unmotivated to becoming unstoppable in their pursuit of healthier longevity. Ros’s big dream is to see Australians become the healthiest people forever.

In the world. How inspiring is that? Let's get into it.

Well, hello, Ros, and a very warm welcome. I can't tell you how excited I am to have this conversation with you. I'm so excited. That is so good. I wanted to ask you a question before we get started on your very inspiring journey. And that is, did you have a dream as a child, something you wanted to do or become?

I wanted to be. An Olympic gymnast. So I grew up watching Nadia Comaneci. She's a Russian gymnast and she was 14 when I was eight and she got all those perfect 10s in the 1976 Olympics. And I just loved her. And I did gymnastics at the local YMCA in Epping, Sydney. And I did gymnastics in the backyard on a mattress and things, and I just thought that would be the best.

So that was a dream. And then I also wanted to be a nurse, and there were a lot of nurses in my family. And I think I got more encouragement in that area than my Olympic gym. Gymnastic pursuit. So that's actually what I ended up doing.

Yeah, I love that. It's, it's an interesting one where you, you, you said you've got more encouragement for, for the nursing.

I heard this very inspiring story the other day where. It was a, and I can't remember, he's written a book, so I can't remember what the book was called, because it was just told to me in a story last week. And it was basically a kid who was in a classroom and their teacher was talking about the Olympics.

And he was, you know, sharing everything that a student might want to know about the Olympics, but he asked a question, who here thinks that they're going to get a medal in the Olympics? And no one said anything except one child. And he said, well, I don't know who's going to get it. Olympic medal, but I do know one person who won't.

And he pointed at the boy next to him. And that boy then decided to go for it. So sometimes the encouragement is really good. And sometimes, you know, the opposite gives you a bit of a, yeah, a boost in that. I'll show them. Yeah, exactly. And that's what he did. And because he wasn't sporty, he did it in shooting.

And I'm, for anyone listening, I will definitely find out what the book, he's written a book and he's now a coach for sportsmen pursuing, pursuing the Olympics. I absolutely love that story. Absolutely. It's so nice. It's so nice to know when even you have the hardest, you know, no support and you know, I see that in my coaching program all the time.

So many people come into the coaching program and they don't have the support and that's why you need to be around like minded people who give you that support, unless you go with he did like and just say, Hey, I'm going to show him and he did good on him. Well done. Yeah. So we have listeners from all over the world.

So before we get into our conversation, I would love for you to just share a little bit about your journey.

Oh, thank you, Christina. And thank you for having me today. It's just, it's such an honor. You know, I wrote back in 2018, one of my dreams at a Kiki K workshop was to meet you. And I never dreamed actually of being on your podcast, but it's just so lovely.

Yeah. And you know how amazing we'll get into how we kind of met later, but yeah, just share your journey. And then we'll talk about that because I think it's amazing how you just write down someone you wanted to meet and thank you for that. But then making it happens is seems impossible, but now I'm sure you think that was easy.

Well, I have had. a wonderful journey. And looking back, I think I had a really idyllic childhood. So I was raised in Sydney. We lived in Epping, but at the time we just had this massive battle axe block and we had a big, beautiful garden and we had ducks and chooks and dogs and cats and fish. And it was just Mom and dad were into this grassroots magazine, which was like a self sufficiency magazine.

So although we lived in the suburbs and it was a very traditional sort of suburban Christian loving home, it sort of felt like we had a little taste of the country right there in the backyard. And we had lots of cousins and aunts and uncles. They were always around. We were always doing. You know, picnics at Balmoral Beach and weekends at Lane Cove National Park, you know, in the canoes and swimming and bushwalking.

We just, we were always outside playing and I'm really grateful for that, for that start, that foundation in my life because it was full of love and laughter and just people around us, around me that loved me. When I was 12, we moved to a farm. It was about 40 kilometers from Tamworth and it was in the hills near this little tiny town called Dungowan.

I don't know if any of the listeners have ever heard of that, but it's in New South Wales, near Tamworth. And Mum and dad had a dream to move from the city to the country and they made that happen. And so I had all my high school years out on the farm where we had all the animals, you know, the cows and the pigs, the goats, the horses.

And we had this beautiful waterfall and a creek that sort of threaded its way through the property. And it was a beautiful place to live. To be honest, I didn't really appreciate it as much as I could have. I was a teenager and, you know, we were a long way out of town and where I thought all the action was happening at that time.

But it was a lovely place to grow up and we always had a lot of family and a lot of friends. And then after school, I did what a lot of other young Australians do. And that was to pack a backpack and spend a year in Europe. So traveling through Europe, which is, which I just loved, you know, I lived in Germany for six months at the time and a planted a seed or a dream in me that's been dormant for a long time and that I would like to revisit.

And And so I'm currently relearning German, and we're going to visit Germany and Austria and Denmark at the end of the year. I'm going with my children, so I'm just so excited about that. So I love that, that dreams or seeds can stay in there for a long time and it's never too late for them to germinate.

But after I had that year away, traveling, I came back to Australia and I decided to study nursing. And so I did that in Newcastle and then I did my new graduate year at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. where I met and married the brother of a nursing friend. So fast track 30 years, we did all the busyness and all the joy and all the challenges of raising a family.

I have two incredible children, a son and a daughter and they They are the love of my life. And so I worked as a nurse for much of that time at the Canberra Hospital, and I became aware during this time as a nurse and a nursing educator that the types of patients that we were seeing was changing. So more and more patients were physically heavier.

and requiring the sling lifter to move them. And more patients were presenting with comorbidities than was previously the case. So in other words, they were coming onto the cancer ward where I worked for treatment of cancer or side effects of the treatment, but they were also coming with these other conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

So The care that we needed to give each patient became of a higher level. There was much more involved in delivering the care for each patient. So it took longer to care for, say, if you were allocated four or six patients to care for, it just took longer. took a lot longer and I saw that over the years as I was there, that it was just harder and harder for nurses to provide the excellent care that we are trained to give and really less and less time for the psychosocial support that we long to give the patients and they desperately need during those really vulnerable times when they're in hospital.

And so I decided to study a Master of Public Health to see if I could get any answers. And during this time, one of the solutions that came up for me was technology. I thought if nurses could do what we did more efficiently, maybe we could claw back some time so that we could continue to give excellent care.

And I worked as a project officer and then a project manager. Implementing new technologies into the hospital across Canberra. But then during my time as a project manager and public servant in health, actually became the unhealthiest I've ever been apart from when I was an infant. I steadily put on weight.

I was stressed. My blood pressure crept up. My alcohol intake increased. I drank coffee all day, basically, to stay alert during the day. And then I'd have a few glasses of wine at night, just to wind down and to be able to go to sleep. But the excess weight that I was carrying sort of changed the anatomy.

in my throat and I had already been diagnosed with sleep apnea and I'd already had surgery for that, which had actually really cured it. The excess weight just made that it it was recurring again and so it was a real, it was a significant problem. I was just tired all the time and I knew that I was at an increased risk of having a stroke because of that sleep apnea and my blood pressure just kept going up.

So I had a particularly insightful meeting with my director one day when I realized that I actually was just a project number. And that I was trading my health for a project. And yeah, it was big, but that night I made some decisions and I left that job. We sold our family home. The kids had already left home at that stage.

We moved inter-state. We bought a very old home by the seaside near one of my sisters. And this was another dream that I had written down on paper in 2018, when I did your workshop and that was to live near the ocean and to live near family. So, it was through this. Low point of burnout and making a decision to prioritize my health that I was able to fulfill another dream.

And so in moving here, I didn't have to work. I could prioritize my health and focus on making some changes to our home that desperately needed it. So. Thank you. Since making the decision to prioritize my health, I have experienced my own health transformation. So I have gradually made multiple small shifts, tiny shifts in my health behaviors.

I've adopted new good habits and I've given up detrimental ones. And gradually, I have watched a transformation of my physical body, my emotional strength and resilience and particularly in my energy. And I'm just so grateful. So, I've lost 15 kilos, I've come off antidepressants safely, I've ditched the glasses of wine every evening.

My blood pressure is now normal. I'm engaged in strenuous activity that I love, which is pickleball, several times a week, you know, two to four hours at a time. And I sleep really well. I don't have sleep apnea. And so I've completely bit by bit, very gradually just changed the trajectory of my life because Had I stayed where I was and just continued to put on maybe three or four kilos every year, I was really on the trajectory towards chronic disease, and I have completely changed course.

And I mean, I obviously, I don't know, what my future holds, but I have reduced the risks anyway. So I hope that my health journey goes on for a long time.

Yeah. I, I love, thank, first, thank you so much for sharing that. And I think it's so amazing what you are doing now, which we'll talk about in a minute, in terms of being able to help people.

Cause I think there's nothing better for people to have walked that journey themselves, find ways of. You know, working that out, which, you know, often when you look back, seems very one way, but of course it's never like that. It's just like so many trial and error, you know, in business, in health, in relationships, in anything really we just have to try and work out if this is the right path and if it's not, we need to turn.

And I think specifically with my coaching program, we were talking about this last night when I was coaching. When you start a business, it's hard work. Like it's a, it's, and it takes time. And I think these kind of overnight success takes a few years and it's the same with our health and all the things that we want to do.

So thank you so much for sharing that because what you're doing now is incredibly inspiring. So do you want to just share a little bit what you are doing now? Because I feel like you're in such a great place to share your wisdom and your path with people who you now can support.

I'm starting a new business.

It's called Launch Longevity. And my hope and my dream for people is that I can come alongside them, and help them take an assessment of where they are at with their health and then create a custom plan for them to take little steps to help them engage the right people to just help them navigate towards better health.

So as a precursor to that business, I started the podcast, which is called the wellness nurse. And that is just so exciting. I never thought I'd start a podcast, but it's just about meeting everyday Australians that are doing things for their health and finding out. You know, what are they doing? What do they love doing?

What changes are they making? And how are they moving forward with their health? And then I'm also interviewing the experts in the fields of, of lifestyle medicine and, and exercise and nutrition. And it's just, it's really fascinating to see what's going on this space in terms of longevity and preventive health care.

So it's really a growing field and I actually see it as a very critical piece of the health jigsaw puzzle in preventing chronic disease because our hospitals are just a crisis point for want of a better word. We just can't meet the demand that's being placed on it. And that is only going to increase because there's an increasing incidence of lifestyle chronic disease and we are.

It's so inspiring because I, as you may know, I study longevity as well, more just for fun. And because my dream is to live to 120 and I feel like the more I learn, the less I know. It's such a big, such a big topic. So I, what I love when I got to know you was, That you are a nurse, you have that kind of foundation that, that is, I think really important because then you understand the body much more than for us who don't, who haven't studied that, but I just want to take a moment because we're going to talk about how we met, but can you imagine that?

Like a year ago that you would be on this podcast, not only on these podcasts, but you will also have your own podcast. I just want to acknowledge that because that's just incredible and so inspiring. So we met in Fiji. So do you want to just share that? Because I remember it and you know, there were a lot of people, but I completely remember that moment when you said, you know, you share, which I'm sure you're going to share here.

It was so inspiring. And I thought, gosh, sometimes we just need to listen to something or hear something or read something or meet someone. And And you can completely create your dream life. So let's talk about that.

Well, I think it was just during this period of time when I was really learning and exploring, reading everything I could, listening to all the podcasts about health, particularly about self-care and self-love and I had listened to, I'd listened to every one of your podcasts and I was, it was just, you know, another day I was in the garden listening to you and Nicole and Shana and Sarah talking about this upcoming retreat and, I actually said it aloud to the garden.

I said, I'm going on that retreat. I don't know how I'm going to go, but I am going on that. And I wouldn't have been in that position had I not been listening to the importance of self-care and dreaming and imagining what could be possible with your life. Because the context that I grew up in was to love yourself.

was actually a really derogatory term. You know, we used to say at school, Oh, she loves herself. And it, it wasn't nice. Now I know the importance of loving yourself and it's not only okay to love yourself. It's actually imperative. And so when I listened to your podcast and I heard this opportunity, I thought, Okay, this is actually taking action.

This is for me. I'm going to go. And so I mentioned it to my sister and she and her family were coming over for dinner that night and I just said, yeah, I'm, I'm going to go on this and she said, yes, you are. And just like that, it was confirmed. And then somehow between dinner and dessert, we'd book the tickets.

We'd pay the deposit. We'd book the flights and I was going. So it can happen that quickly. And I just think, you know. These things that, that come along, we hear about them. We can just let them wash over us and think, oh, that would be, that sounds nice, that would be fun. Or we can just really tune in to what our, our body is needing.

And for me at that time, That was exactly, exactly what I needed. Yeah. So

I, I absolutely love that. And it was interesting because, because I had a few people coming from my coaching program and Nicole had a few people from her community and the same with Shaina and Sarah. And when I asked you, because I wasn't quite sure where you're fitting in, in terms of not fitting in, that's not the right word.

I wasn't quite sure where, if you came from a specific community and when you said you were listening to the podcast first, it just made my soul sing because I get a lot of great feedback for the podcast, but to get it that personally, it was really beautiful because when you create podcasts, as you know, now, you just hope that, to Some of these episodes will resonate with people and most importantly, change their life in some way.

And you know, and that will be different for everyone, but it was just so beautiful to, to see that. And then seeing your transformation, it was all about reinventing. That was the theme and we're doing it again in October of 2024. And reinvention, I think, You know, I believe we should reinvent ourselves every year because we grow, things change, and we go through challenges and some things out of our control, some things in our control, and every year.

So my, my dream is actually to go to two retreats a year. And when I put that down, It seemed absolutely crazy and impossible. Now it just feels like, I think I should add more.

Because I just did a retreat, She Evolves, which is now called Evolve X with Sarah, over the weekend, a couple of weeks, weekends ago, and it was so inspiring. And even though I was there as a speaker, so you kind of need to Focus on making sure you do a good job. I was also enjoying all the other speakers and everything that came along with the retreat.

So it's just so amazing. And, you know, sometimes we can go on, on a day retreat, which I do now as well, because sometimes we can't go to take five days in Fiji, but so you sometimes the day retreat is amazing and sometimes just to go away. So tell us a little bit about what was the, what was the highlight of the retreat for you?

Well, can I just say when I made that decision, you know, I booked, paid for it, I was going, I just wanted to say that the next day I just thought, Oh heck, what have I done? I am going on this retreat. I do not know a single soul. Oh heck, you know, but then it was absolutely fabulous because I discovered that when I got there, that I was surrounded by all of these beautiful women that were so positive and so welcoming and they were all on a journey.

You know, and I am just so glad I went.

Yeah. Fantastic. And you know, it's funny because I just set myself a new challenge yesterday and this morning I woke up exactly the same. I was like, and I shared it with my coaching program last night and I was like, I'm not quite, I'm not sure it's a, it's something called 75 hard.

I won't talk about that, but it's basically, yeah, it's quite challenging. Like in terms of having time, not so much doing it, but actually having time to do it. And you have to do it for 75 days. But anyway, I shared it yesterday, last night and then like this morning I was like, Why did I share that? Because I'm, I don't know if I can do it.

Now you've got to do it. Now you're accountable. Exactly. But the thing is when you share things and you put it out there, when you feel like it's the right thing, and it is definitely the right thing. It's just more like, because I've travelled so much, I'm like, how am I going to actually fit it all in? But anyway, I'm going to make it happen.

But it's so interesting that you share that because sometimes when we feel like it's the right thing and you booked a trip and you, you know, you pay the deposit. And then the day after you'd be like, Why did I do that? Because that's, and that's a natural thing with our brain, you know, trying to keep us safe and making sure we double check.

So that's completely understandable, but thank you for sharing that because I think a lot of us feel like that. So tell us a little bit, what, what was your favorite part of the retreat?

Oh my gosh, I, I just loved so much about it. So I just started the, the first thing was the venue. Oh my goodness.

So what is, what's it called? The Fiji Marriott at Maumee Bay. Oh, it's stunning. It's stunning. So I had this beautiful room that just was, it was on the ground floor and it flowed out onto the grass and then just was across from this lagoon that was crystal clear water and I swam across the lagoon each morning and then I'd meditate and I'd, you know, journal and then have this sumptuous breakfast and then attend the sessions.

But, and the restaurants were just I mean, beautiful, beautiful restaurants. Yeah. So the venue is, was five star, but that sort of was just the start of it. So there was this beautiful balance between just being on a resort and, you know, you think of a resort or a retreat and it's everything that that is.

So it's time and space to relax and just take time out for yourself. However, it's also packaged within this. framework or a structure where you have the privilege and the opportunity to be in personal contact with these wonderful women who are successful leaders and entrepreneurs that can guide you through, you know, a pathway of reinvention.

And that's exactly what I needed. I didn't know what to do. What to do with my life, you know, I didn't want to go back to nursing as such is what I knew. And I needed to reinvent myself and the tools that are unpacked. By each of the speakers is, you know, you know, they're unique, but they sort of flow together.

There's a cohesion and that common purpose that they're all sort of driving towards is to, you know, you want to see the success of each person, you know, on that journey and find their own way, whatever that is for them. And yeah, it's, it's pretty special. It was very, very special.

I can so relate to that because I'd never been there before and I woke up early too and I went for a walk and I was meditating outside and I was just like, it's so amazing.

And I think specifically go away on your own because of most people who came, came on their own and some of them know people. But. A lot of them didn't, and I think that's so amazing because then you, you would get new contacts and new new friends. And I've seen some of that happening over the last 12 months.

And it was so amazing to see you on Jackie's podcast. And it was just so inspiring to see. And that's why we obviously are running it again. What kind of changes did you make after that? Was there something that really kind of took its own path?

It actually wasn't wash. I thought I would come away with, I mean, I wanted direction with my career, but I also was going through an unhappy marriage and I really wanted very clear direction on whether to stay or to leave.

I didn't get that. But what I did come away with was I made a decision to back myself. 110 percent every day. And the beautiful Nicole Hathaway said something like, you know, she's a wordsmith and she said, the word decision means to decide to cut off. And so I made the decision to cut off perfection from my life and just to have a go at things and also just to back myself 110%.

So I'd always been looking for this external validation Whatever, from everybody else, but it's got to come from within. And that's what changed for me on the retreat. So, I mean, I also made a decision to just create small wins. Like it's hard for me to articulate how it all came together, but Shayna took us through this five year plan and Although I, when I been looking at it again, I haven't actually been very adherent to it, but I have seen that I have ticked off some of the things that I did write down during that time.

And it's just about creating those small goals that then lead you to the next thing. And they're all in the direction of that five year plan. So I've just been ticking off. The, all these little goals, I guess, so my goals are financial freedom and to create, also to create this business and to travel. And so I, I've started this podcast.

I've, I've got an accountant. I've created a company. I'm now a director. I've started writing a book and I'm learning all about social media. But, you know, I don't, I didn't even know, I think I did have an Instagram account before and I don't think it's actually grown that much, but I'm starting to develop the skills to use that.

And I don't know, there's just been so many things in setting up the business. And how amazing is that? Because

you, you, you went on to something that you had no idea what was, what it was going to be, and then you listed. Writing a book, podcasts, creating a business, director, all those amazing things that seem so impossible.

When you set out to think about those, but then if you take what you've done so well, small step every single day and the willingness and the openness to actually learn, because I think that's what we all have to do when we create our dream life. There's no smooth part. We often create Business plans that go like in a, in a straight line, you know, up with growth, but that rarely happens like that.

And it's the same with us. You know, we just have to try things and sometimes it's frustrating and sometimes the obstacles become the positives. And, and there are so many things that has come my way that I could never even have dreamt about. Like it's just unbelievable that, you know, with my first business, Kiki K and now my new business, dream life.

I just couldn't even imagine. And, and, and I remember when Sarah did her session, her design session, designing our lives, I, she gave out all these stickers and I found one that I felt felt worked so well for you. You got these.

Oh, good things take time. That's what you gave me. Good things take time. It's a sticker.

Oh, yes, yes, yes. It's on my board because, and that actually is really powerful because it's like health. I know it's the same in health. Good things take time and it just doesn't happen overnight. And people, people are looking for quick fixes in health. And really they're just not there. And it's the same it seems in business is what I'm learning, but, but I've, I've removed that expectation of myself to make it all happen straight away.

I'm just like chugging along and I'm going to launch this business. And I know that I'm going to make mistakes. I know that it may not be exactly what people need. Straight away, but I, I will give myself the grace to adjust, to listen to people. What do they need? How can I best support them on their journey and keep going?

So I'm excited about that. Yeah,

absolutely. And you know, I, it's so inspiring for people who are. Listening to these, because they might be going through something similar to you and have someone like you to support them is just so valuable because we know that if you go to a doctor, it would just be like masking the problem with drugs or whatever, whatever is needed.

And, you know, I'm not saying that, you know, we do need that as well if we go through something really difficult or, or hard to treat, but prevented him. Medicine, I think is the absolute best and obviously start that before you're in, in anything more serious. So I love that and that's what I'm all about.

That's why I'm studying longevity as well, because I just absolutely love it. It's been so inspiring to see when I met you first and then through that reinvention at Fiji. And then. You know, following from a distance the last year or so, I think you were dealing with a bit of self doubt, which I think we all do when we do something that we haven't done before.

It's just, I had that for my first 50 episodes. I don't know what, what episodes number you're up to, but it took me about 50. 16. Oh, amazing. Amazing. It took me 50 before I felt comfortable. And now it's one of the favorite things that I do because now I'm out and about and I meet people at retreats. I meet people like you.

I just met so many incredible people and I'm like, I can actually invite them to have a conversation on my podcast because not only do I enjoy it, but I also know that I can share that with my community, which is an amazing thing. So how do you feel like you have dealt with self doubt?

I think I deal with it every day.

Honestly, I'm, I've always had self doubt. However, there is a change, and that actually occurred at the retreat, and that was the decision to back myself. But I, I'm still overcoming it, so every day. But I do intentionally choose to back myself every day, and I choose to value myself. every day. And I believe in progress and not perfection.

And I've also found meditation enormously beneficial for overcoming self doubt because through meditation, I have become much more aware of the thoughts as thoughts. They're not necessarily true. They are just thoughts that come and go. And I do have a tendency to get a lot of ants, as they call them, Automatic negative thoughts, but now I'm very quick to recognize them for what they are, just negative thoughts.

And now when those negative thoughts come, I replace them with a new story. I create new stories, and so instead of saying things like, Everything is just falling apart, which is what I can mean. I can still say that, but now I'm quick to say, you know, even if it is falling apart, which it has been over the last few weeks, by the way, but everything is coming together as it should.

So, over the last few weeks, my marriage has actually finally and abruptly fallen apart, which is incredibly sad. And, but on the other hand, everything is coming together as it should to be in a happy in a situation where you are in an environment where you are not being valued. I don't want to be in that environment anymore when I value myself.

And so everything is coming together as it should.

Yeah. Kirsten, I'm sorry to hear that. But I do believe that there will be so many silver linings, which we can never see when we're going through the thick of it. But I do, you have a really amazing attitude. And what I also seen in you, which I think really helps self doubt.

So when you take action every single day, even if you, you know, you go for progress, not perfection. And you know, you, you said you ditch perfection and that's a hard thing to do. I know that for sure myself. But if you take action every single day towards your dreams, there's no doubt you'll end up there.

Eventually it might not always go, you know, to plan and, and, and, you know, Sometimes we go sideways and sometimes we have to restart that happened to me, but if we take action every single day, and I've seen that with you this year and, you know, incredible from like just one year, we're not even up in October yet.

And for you to, you know, started writing a book, starting a podcast and business and learning and then going through. You know, really challenging time as well. That is amazing. So I really hope you know that. I know you know that, but it's always good to hear it. And then also for all our listeners that even when we go through a challenging time, there are times to be grateful, times to be happy, be happy.

And if you take action towards, you know, your deepest dreams like you are doing now, it's just really inspiring and it's inspiring for everyone around you as well.

Yeah, the best thing is to get rid of that perfection because it actually gives you permission to just have a go and to take action, and it's not the end of the world if it doesn't really go that well.

So yeah, and by doing it then you You sort of gain confidence as you go. You think, oh yeah, okay, I did that. You know, it wasn't that great, but I, I did it. And, and then I can do some, the next thing and little step by step, your confidence grows and perhaps, you know, in a year's time, I will look ahead and, and say, okay, my confidence has grown even further. And yes, that self doubt is not as prevalent as it is in my everyday life. I hope that's the case. I think it will be. Oh, absolutely.

But you know, I think we, as we evolve and we want to do bigger things, so maybe next year you will be feeling amazing on what you're currently doing, but you might want to say, Hey, I'm going to start public speaking.

I'm going to do all those, you know, maybe go on television or radio or whatever. So I do a lot of public speaking, so I don't have fear of that, but I do feel uncomfortable when I speak to an audience that is harder to relate to, like, you know, sometimes when I look at people and you do think, I wonder if this resonates with them.

So that's a challenge. So, you know, you just, you just challenge yourself all the time and that's fun and it makes you think that you can do anything, which is, Really fun and inspiring. So for so many people around you as well. So for anyone who are listening and are aware of the Fiji retreat coming out in the end of October, 2024, what kind of advice would you give to them in case they're sitting on the fence?

If they're still sitting on the fence, honestly, just go, if you possibly can. Just go, because if you're wondering, you know, who's going to look after the kids or the family or what, I think people will be so shocked that you take the time for yourself and make it happen. That people will be falling over themselves to help you and support you.

the family at home. If that's maybe an issue for you, I don't know. It's just so important to, to invest in yourself. I think, I don't know if it was you or Tony Robbins or, you know, somebody said the most important. Investment you can make is in yourself. And this is what this is, you know, you've got one precious life and, you know, you may as well spend it doing something that you love and is, is meaningful to you and this just provides a framework within an incredible group of women that are going to love you and support you and, you know, have you back.

And so there's nothing not to love about this opportunity. Really, it's incredible and I would say just go if you can.

This is something because I've, I've been in this situation myself. So this year I got the opportunity to go to Antarctica within a few days. And first it was like, nah, I don't have time and it's too much money.

It was just like, it was just not for me. But then I looked at my dreams and I'm very clear on my values. And then I also super aware that life is short. And I, I took the decision, one of the best trips of my life and the people that I met and the insight that I got there and the connections, it's just amazing.

And the hardest part is making the first decision, because once you make that decision to go on retreats or trips or, or any of those kinds of things that when you, not just like normal trips, because I think what makes retreats and, you know, you can go on business retreats and health retreats and all sorts of different retreats is that the people you meet, because that can completely change the way you look at life because you look at other people and you think, Oh, it's beautiful.

She can do that. So can I, and and also the connection that you talked about in terms of helping and supporting is just amazing. So thank you for that. You know, I, I know if anyone listening who are thinking of it, it's always helpful to, cause obviously I'm biased and I love retreats, but it's always great to have someone on who can talk about it.

They have no, there's no. Invested interest. Obviously I love the retreat that I want as many people as possible to come, but I only want that if they feel that is right for them. And and I think when you make that decision, that's, you know, up to each person to, to make it. But I think having that help and support to make that decision is really valuable.

So I'd love to ask you a couple of quick questions. Do you have a morning routine and if yes, what is it?

I absolutely do. So I have. I have a beautiful day bed because we bought this, you know, cheap house near the ocean. I have this day bed that overlooks the ocean. And so I sit there and watch the sunrise pretty much every morning.

And it's just an incredible way to start the day. If I'm up even earlier, I get to watch the dawn and you know, the redness and it's just the sky changing. It's so beautiful. And then I have a cup of coffee. Just sit. And it's, it's just that time when it's quiet and I know I don't have to do anything. It's just a very precious time.

And then I meditate and I'm just getting back into journaling again. I let that sort of slide for a while, but I'm just, it's helpful at the moment in particular to journal. Yeah. With all that's going on. And, and then I play most mornings, I play pickleball. It's, it's a sport I've picked up just in the, about a year and a half ago.

And yeah, I play that for a couple of hours and then I come home and do a yoga session because it's very important to stretch. And that's one of my new goals, health goals, you know, with flexibility and strength, that's really important to me at the moment. So that, and then I get on with the working day.

So it's usually about 10 o'clock when I start. So that's a bit of a luxury, but then I can just go later in the day if need be.

I love that because I think the morning is just the most, like, I can so relate to the dawn. Like it's almost like when, when the sun is up and I'm like, oh, the people who miss this, it's just, I feel sad for them because it's so beautiful.

Yeah. And if you, if you can do it over water, I think it's just so beautiful. So thank you for sharing that. What's your favorite nonfiction book or a book that had a big impact on your life?

It has to be Carol Dweck. It's called Mindset. Oh, I meant to bring it in, but it's about fulfilling your potential by changing the way that you think.

And it's all about having a growth mindset. Versus a fixed mindset and it's been, yeah, really one of the most helpful books I've read.

Yeah. I love that book. It's, it's such a good one. And once you get into the growth mindset, you can't even imagine not being there. Like when you see people, it's like, why would you not be open for growth?

But anyway, we're all different. So the last questions, question I have for you, knowing what you know now, what kind of advice would you give yourself? So you, you know, you. late teens, early twenties.

I think I would say just trust yourself, you know, listen to, to the voice of wisdom in your heart and listen and stop.

Just trust it.

I love that. I love that. And I think that it is very important when you go through a challenging time, but it's also really important for people who may be super busy and have a very full life because when you, when you feel your days, and I think we're all very guilty of this, me included, is that we often grab the phone or something to kind of just feel those moments.

But I think if we can just. Stop and be aware and meditation certainly helps with that and journaling and walking in nature. But even like when we sometimes wait, like it's so easy just to grab the phone and scroll on Instagram or whatever. And I, I'm definitely guilty of that myself. But Listening to ourselves, you need to have a bit of a quiet time.

You can't just do that, you know, as another thing on your to do list. You kind of need to slow down in between everything. And I think it's so important because if you can listen to yourself and know what's right and wrong, then it's so much easier to make decisions.

That's where a retreat comes in handy.

They've got time to sit and listen and stop.

Yes, exactly. Exactly. The truth is that I, I remember those mornings. So I was up early and one thing that I'm not going to do, I had a lot of other like presentations in the middle of lunch breaks and stuff. Definitely not doing that this year. I want to be much more present, but I was up really early and saw the sunrise and walking and journaling and meditating.

And I was doing the yoga that was offered and it was just so amazing. And I think now second time around, I'm going to enjoy it even more because I, I know what a difference that makes. Well, it's going to be fabulous. Yes. Thank you so much first for joining the retreat, because it was such a, so beautiful to see your reinvention.

And also it's been so amazing to see. See what happened after the retreat and also so amazing to see your podcast and your business and for you to be here. So thank you so much for being so brave to actually listen to yourself and, and take action, even if it's not always perfect and for saying yes to come on that, on this podcast.

Oh, thank you so much for having me today. I've just been so excited about it and just such, yeah, such an honor to, to know you. Thank you.

Wow, how inspiring was that? Gosh, I just love where she started and what she got to during the retreat and what she has done regardless of all the obstacles and and challenging times she had this year as well.

Super, super inspiring. If you happen to be inspired to join us in Fiji, I will link to that in the show notes or just head over to Dream Life starts here.com. I am so excited about this retreat, not just delivering it, but attending it because it's just so good and the people that we get to meet, it's just so amazing.

So that might be you if you wanna join me, and if you're not sure, please reach out and I'm happy to set up a call. Because I really want this to be right for you. So if you're not sure, I'm happy to do that. As always, I'll be back on Monday with a new Monday Morning Motivation episode. Have the most wonderful weekend and I'll see you back on Monday. 

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