"Beyond Limits: My Journey to an Empowered Mindset"

My focus on mindset has been on ongoing journey. I didn’t chose this focus intentionally, but as I reflect on my life I can see how the conversation has become forefront in my existence.

Early in my life I was riddled with anxiety to the point that I was afraid to go to school, afraid of sleep overs away from home and was so overwhelmed with emotion it made me physically ill. As a kid I didn’t know what anxiety was and in the 90’s it wasn’t a thing parents talked about with their kids, or at all for that matter. I was always shy growing up and had a lot of self doubt.

In my early 20s I was just starting my career as a hairstylist and in a love blind abyss, ended up in a long term relationship with a narcissist who unbeknownst to me at the time, controlled everything about my life. I thought that when you fell in love, no matter what, you made it work. I was young and dumb, for a lack of better words, and gave it my all until I realized that I had to love myself more than him or the idea of a fairy tale ending.

In the midst of this wildly unhealthy situation I had put myself in, my dad was diagnosed with a rare cancer and was given 6 months to live. He fought a fight that was courageous and awe-inspiring and that cancer didn’t get him for 7 years. I feel robbed of my fathers presence in my life, but I am forever grateful for that time I had with him.

During this season the mental anguish on our family, watching the only man in my life who every truly love me fade away was nothing short of life changing. Before he passed I broke up with my boyfriend and moved home. I spent every morning having coffee with my dad and I know that it brought him a huge sense of peace knowing I wasn’t in a toxic situation anymore.

These two events in my life were pivotal to my interest in gaining mental and emotional agility, to moving through the trauma and taking daily action in becoming a stronger, clearer, enlightened version of myself.

I read a book years ago that awakened this knowing inside of me that I had the power to control the outcome of my life. A New Earth by Ekhart Tolle was the first conversation around our inner voice, our mind and our ego that set me on a path to mastering my mindset. Through the years I have read countless books on mindset, emotions, gone to seminars, learned routines, practiced meditation, overcome fears and pushed myself to do things I never thought I could.

Our mindset is what creates our reality. Our perception of any and every situation is what plays out in front of us and as soon as I understood the power that I held in my life, I took responsibility for my part and devoted myself to being better, day by day.

Now, let me be the first to say, I do not have it all figured out. But I understand the benefits of living a good life with a positive mindset and have been feeling called to share my story and help other people with theirs.

In a strange tangent, years ago as I began learning about modern marketing on social media, these tools and practices around mindset became more valuable than ever. Putting your face, your work, you life up for the scrutiny of the world and in comparison of other people in the industry was (and still is) downright stressful.

But I made a commitment to figuring things out, showing up when I didnt want to, staying consistent, and the hardest hurdle of all, staying true to who I am, every step of the way.

I share all of this with you so you can understand where I started to where I am today was wild and painful, triumphant and beautiful, confusing and enlightening winding road. And I'm still on that road. And always will be.

The thing about a positive, abundant mindset is that the work is never done. I still have days I want to pull the covers up and hide from life. But we have a choice everyday to let our circumstances bury us or to climb to the top of that hill and cease the damn day.

I hope you know how uniquely special you are in this life and that everything you need, everything you are looking for is within you.