Christine: You are listening to the Your Empty Nest Coach Podcast, episode number 6, Empty Nest Prep, part 4, Taking ACTION in My Life. …
Hello, my empty nest friend. How are you? I’m thrilled that you are here. This is part four of a five-episode series titled Empty Nest Prep. These five episodes are the base level material of everything that I teach. I recommend listening to them in order, as they build upon each other and these five episodes have material that will be referenced throughout my podcast.
Today, we’ve made it to our actions.
Christine: You are listening to the Your Empty Nest Coach Podcast, episode number 6, Empty Nest Prep, part 4, Taking ACTION in My Life. This podcast is for you, a mother who years ago walked away from a career to raise your child. Sure, you’ve been busy with volunteering, car pools, maybe part-time work and taking care of everyone. But your main gig, that’s been your child. Now, that they are in their later years of high school, the empty nest looms ahead for you and it’s freaking you out. I’ve been there, and I get it. Together, we’ll turn our freaking out energy into freaking awesome energy.
Hello, my empty nest friend. How are you? I’m thrilled that you are here. This is part four of a five-episode series titled Empty Nest Prep. These five episodes are the base level material of everything that I teach. I recommend listening to them in order, as they build upon each other and these five episodes have material that will be referenced throughout my podcast.
Today, we’ve made it to our actions. For a quick review, in part one we noticed our thoughts by picturing them as thought boxes being delivered to a house, which is our mind. In part two, we learned to observe those thought boxes while being kind to ourselves. In part three, we learned that we are responsible for our feelings 100 percent and what thought box we open determines how we feel. Now that we have identified the feeling, what comes next? That would be an action. This is your action, or inaction, in response to the feeling that you have in a moment.
In the example from our last episode, we automatically went to a thought box that led us to feeling frustrated. I’d like you to take a moment and feel frustrated. I have no doubt that there is something that immediately comes to your mind, that’s in your life, that leads you to frustration. I want you to go there for a moment. Feel that feeling in your body. Does it make you want to take, or not take an action? Let’s take the feeling of excited. There’s got to be something in your life that makes you feel excited. Go there for a moment. Feel that in your body. What type of action, or inaction, does it make you want to take? That feeling brings up the action or inaction in your life.
This is what I want you to understand. The feeling of frustration may bring you inaction and it could bring you an inability to have empathy for another human being. If the feeling of frustration is with your child, in a particular moment, how do you think you show up in the world, at that moment? If the feeling of frustration is while you are at work, do you believe it is even worth your time staying in frustration? How much work will you get done, when you have that feeling?
I’m adding on to our visualization now. Head back to your thought boxes. You chose your box. You always choose it. Right? You have a spotlight on it. You get in it. You then, sit in the box wrapped in the feelings of the box, and now, there is an action that happens. Almost as if you become one of those ballerina’s in a jewelry box that spins to music. Really picture this. You choose the thought box. You get inside of it and you feel the feeling. It’s written all over inside. The moment you are there, the platform begins to spin. This is the action that the feeling caused. As the platform spins, you are moved to an action, or maybe, this feeling causes no action at all because the crank is broken. In the way I visualize it, the action that takes place and the music playing is different based on the feeling associated with that thought box. Sometimes, I’m not even a ballerina. You make this whatever works for you. It’s your visualization.
At the end of that song, when the music stops playing, it marks the end of your action and you now, have a result. A result in your life, that you created. I hope you’re following me, because when we put all of this together in the final part of this series, next week, and you work on it, your life will change. I’ve already said this in a variety of ways, but every thought in your life is a thought that you have chosen. It might be such an incredibly well-worn path to a specific thought box, that you believe it has to absolutely, 300 percent be the thought that you have to have in that particular moment. But, my empty nest friend, that is never the case. You chose it. You can fight me on this. That is absolutely a thought, too. Be curious why you want that thought.
The important question is do you want your thoughts to boss you around? Or, do you want to use your thoughts to create the life you want? This brings us back to the beginning. All of those thought boxes and what causes us to go into the thought boxes, that is what our next episode is all about. We’ll put all of this together using a tool created by an amazing life coach in our next episode. I can’t wait to share it with you.
My questions for this week are:
1) Are you with me, or are you completely lost?
2) Have you noticed anything different about your life since listening to this podcast?
I invite you to fly over to my Empty Nest Flock Community, at youremptynestcoach.com/community to share your answers to this episode’s questions. I look forward to seeing you there, my empty nest friend. Remember to be patient with yourself, as you learn this. You are worth it, and you are amazing!
Since you are still listening, my Early Bird Registration may still be open for my six-week, personalized online coaching program. I have only a handful of spots available, and this program will never again be offered at this low early bird price. Head over to my website, YourEmptyNestCoach.com and click on the six-week coaching program link on my menu. There you will find videos, testimonials, and even a printable about the program. I would love to see you there. Go check it out!