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Christine: You are listening to the Your Empty Nest Coach podcast with Coach Christine, episode 86: The CEO of Your Life: When Others Toss Things Over Your Fence. I work with mothers of high school students and beyond, who are in the trenches with sad and possibly, overwhelming thoughts about what their life will look like when their baby heads to college and begins to leave the nest. My clients’ big question is what will I do with my time? Is this you? I’ve been there, and I get it. Empowering you to write the next jaw-dropping, amazing chapter in your life is my passion. I am energized by leading you in the process of exploration and am thrilled when you unlock the power that lies within you. This podcast is my gift to you.
00:00:48
Hello, my empty nest friend and CEO of Your Life! What adventure are you on right now? How are your thoughts doing with it? Whatever the adventure is, please know that you are strong enough to handle it. You are brave enough to consider your thoughts, process through your sensations (or emotions), and get to the other side. I am cheering you on!
00:01:13
A quick reminder that if you find yourself talking back to me at any part of this episode, or if something resonates with you, please take the opportunity to leave me audio feedback either through SpeakPipe or my Google Voice number. You’ll find the information to do this in the description of this episode: on Apple Podcasts click “Details”; on Spotify click “See More”; on Overcast press the I for information button. Get the idea? Of course I always have full show notes with links to anything I discuss in the episode, and a full episode transcription on my website. Those reside at YourEmptyNestCoach.com/P (for podcast) and 86 (for this episode’s number). I can’t wait to hear from you!
00:01:55
Thanks! Thank you! It’s time to thank our sponsor. This episode is sponsored by my membership community, The GPS Support Flock; Your Flight to Success in the Empty Nest. If you are ready to find the GPS of your life, sign up to receive an immediate and free download of my PDF, “How to Find Yourself in the Empty Nest,” our GPS Life Principles document. You will also have the opportunity to learn about our community. See the link in this episode’s show notes or fly on over to my website, YourEmptyNestCoach.com. Click the GPS Support Flock button. See you soon!
00:02:43
I’m adding some more to our CEO of Your Life analogy today. I’m going to once again assume that you are caught up in this analogy. If you aren’t, some of this may not make sense. Head to episode number 64 for the start of Becoming the CEO of Your Life series.
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I’d like you to picture your mind’s house, the yard, the fence and your Protector’s station just outside of your fence. Do you have it? Now, I’d like you to picture your Protector taking a nap. There is a large group of humans [screaming people] I am going to call it a herd, let’s say 30 or more, heading toward your fence, actually, running toward your fence. They get close to your fence and toss thought-deliveries over and inside of your fence. [Crashing noises]
00:03:47
For now, let’s say your Protector isn’t trained well. They wake up at the sound of the unexpected deliveries and run out to see what the commotion is. With an untrained Protector, your mind is only able to focus on what their flashlight shines on, and they find statements such as: “Did you hear the gossip about John Doe? It is this…” or “You aren’t nervous enough about the pandemic,” or “You really shouldn’t parent the way you are, we have the correct solution.”
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With a light shining on the thought deliveries, it is all you can see or think about. Whatever that thought is for you, more humans from the herd toss it over your fence. [Crashing noises] Remember, it’s a herd! More packages of the same thought delivery, over and over, and over. Your property darkens and it is difficult to find your Protector, much less train your Protector who is now a hot mess, running [heavy breathing] around and tossing these thoughts into your house because they’d rather have a clean yard than to take out the trash. Are you able to picture this?
00:04:55
Now imagine for a moment that the group of humans are the media, be it social media or traditional broadcasting media. [Crowd noise]. Or imagine that the humans are a herd of your family members (or maybe two family members [giggle]) that you see occasionally but they have a lot to say about everything. I want you to understand that the herd of humans outside of your fence will always be there. They show up in one form or another throughout your life. Sometimes as colleagues, sometimes as family members, sometimes as the general public, or media. The good news here, is when you become able to manage the herd well in one area, you can apply it to the others.
00:05:38
Choosing to be mad that they are behaving the way they are behaving, only makes it more difficult for you to level-up your own life inside of your fence. In a way, more difficult to clean up your property. After all, you can’t control the herd. Remember, they are outside of your fence. Yes, I know, I’m repeating myself [giggle].
00:06:00
Where you have the chance to level up is by making your Protector aware of the herd of humans that darken your property. By training your Protector to notice them early, to provide you with an early warning signal, you have the ability to raise your fence, before they are close enough to share their well-meaning thought-deliveries. Remember, the higher you are in training mode, the more control your Protector has of your fence. While your fence may be down, your Protector will skillfully see the herd coming and decide ahead of time what deliveries will be reviewed or left alone. As I’ve said in a prior episode, I imagine fence posts popping out of the ground to skillfully block those tossed thought deliveries. This is super powerful and it allows you to keep your property illuminated. Isn’t that a beautiful thought?
00:06:49
In the day to day, you may notice that listening to the news all day puts you in a dark place, that is a good time to consider how to not listen to the news all day. Put limits on it. Notice it when you are in a space that has it on all day and do what you can to protect yourself. Or if you recognize that a family gathering causes this type of thought-tossing, notice the family members who give your protector a bit of a training break, who positively impact your energy and make an effort to spend more time with them. Learn how to skillfully change the subject or give yourself permission to leave a room or conversation. Oh my goodness, yes, of course, they may react to the change in you, but protecting your own thoughts and energy is important, my friend. Do you want to stay in a darkened property to make another human comfortable or do you want light and energy as you care for yourself? It is up to you. It always is up to you, and my friend, you are worth it.
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The questions I have for you in this episode are, can you identify the thought-delivery throwing herds in your own life? And, how is your protector doing with the training? Fly on over to our Facebook Group to share your answers to these questions with our amazing flock. Our Faceboook Group name is Green Popsicle Sticks. Want to know why? Listen to episode number 17. Or head to my website: YourEmptyNestCoach.com/community for links to join our flock. We look forward to seeing you there!
00:08:24
Thanks! Thank you! A huge shout out to every member of my GPS Support Flock. I invite you to fly on over to my website, or see my show notes, for a link to learn how you may become a GPS Support Flock member, where you will gain access to all of my programs, monthly workshops, group coaching, and more. See you there!
00:08:50
If you enjoyed this episode, I invite you to take a moment to subscribe to this podcast. It is free after all! As always, I provide content to make you think, my empty nest friend. My hope is that I am able to provide you with thoughts that positively impact your life. And as always, please remember that you are amazing! Well, you are! See you!
[Bloopers!]
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