My First Podcast! - Answering Your Most Asked Questions

Molly, the host of the podcast "Grow With Me," shares her personal journey of self-improvement and offers advice for breaking free from repetitive cycles. She emphasizes the importance of practicing mindfulness, starting with being present in the moment and grounding oneself. Molly also recommends reading self-improvement books, practicing mindful eating, planning and preparing meals, reframing negative thoughts, and finding alternative ways to exercise outside of the gym. She encourages patience and persistence in practicing mindfulness and suggests using journal prompts to aid in self-reflection and personal growth. Hello, lovely listeners, and welcome to the very first episode of my new podcast, Grow With Me. My name is Molly, and I am your host. I am so excited to begin this journey with you. So if you have come from my blog, you know that the Grow With Me blog was started because I was stuck in the same cycle for so long. I was eating poorly, staying up late, not moving, and experiencing racing anxious thoughts because of my overwhelming schedule. This sense of being stuck prompted me to begin my journey, so I dived into topics like mindful living, productive habits, nourishing meals, and more. Sorting through the endless advice that was available was so overwhelming, and a lot of the suggestions did not feel practical for me to integrate into my hectic schedule. That's when I decided to share my journey with you, in the hopes that there are individuals like me who are unsure of where to start when it comes to self-improvement. This podcast will offer you authentic and attainable advice for you to start your own journey and break free from that repetitive cycle. So to kick it off, I wanted to start by addressing the most asked questions I get. These topics will include where to begin, favorite mindfulness practices, and more. Let's jump right in and grow together. Alright, so this first question came from a friend. They said, I want to break free of time-wasting habits, and I want to start making positive changes to my life. Where or how should I start? This is exactly how I felt when I first started this. I felt like I wasted so much time scrolling on my phone, being distracted with future worries that hadn't even happened yet, and overall just not progressing. This is where I realized that the first step of this journey was a mindset change. To be able to start changing my life physically, I needed to change mentally. So how did I do that? Practicing mindfulness. Now, before you roll your eyes, stick with me for a minute. Some people envision mindfulness as needing to be in a full-blown 30-minute meditation. I've heard, I've tried, and I can't stay focused, and it actually makes me more anxious. I totally get that, because I felt the same way. But being mindful is actually more about grounding yourself. This is how I started. Be present in what you are doing. This means not catastrophizing about what is going to happen and trying to plan every single aspect of your life. Be present in the moment. Easier said than done, I know, but let's say, for example, you're having your morning coffee and catch your brain panicking about 100 other things you need to do, or maybe something that is happening at work that day. I like to pause, take a deep breath, and then focus on being present. What does that mean? I savor that coffee, noticing the flavors and enjoying the warmth from it. I focus on what I am doing. How does my body feel? Is my jaw clenched? Do my shoulders need to relax? I shift my racing thoughts to gratitude. How lucky am I to be able to enjoy a cup of coffee with a roof over my head? I tell myself that once I am done with my coffee, I will move on to the next task, one by one. These are just a few tactics I use to ground myself and be present in the moment. Maybe it will all work for you, or maybe you can practice just one thing I mentioned. The important thing is to just start practicing. Even if it feels silly at first, I promise you it has greatly improved my anxious mind. Our next question is, what lifestyle change completely changed your life for the better within a few weeks? This is a great question, and it will differ greatly from person to person. But for me, the greatest thing I did was start reading self-improvement books. Now, a warning, there are so many generic self-help books out there that recycle the same old advice. My personal favorites and recommendations to you are Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest. But Molly, I have no time to read a book. I totally get it. I am also insanely busy, but just try and start with aiming for a few pages, maybe around 10. I bet you'll be like me and start swapping screen time for more page flipping. These books helped center me every day and to focus on just little changes. Atomic Habits talks about how micro habits can lead to big changes. This was so helpful for me as I always was someone who felt like I needed to completely change every component of my life in one day. It's okay if your first steps are just enjoying your cup of coffee and reading a few pages of a book. That will lead to more and more improved habits. The Mountain is You taught me about self-sabotage and taking action. I'm a planner. I would plan 10 years in advance if I could. The Mountain is You taught me to self-reflect and discover what is the block between me and my desired life. So, to summarize, reading a few pages a day completely changed my life for the better within only a few weeks because it was small but significant changes that led me to creating more and more healthier habits. Okay, so now let's switch gears a little bit and talk about nourishing our bodies. So, this question is, I am an emotional eater. I struggle so much with maintaining a healthy diet. Can you provide any tips? I definitely relate to this one. Now, of course, I'm not a nutritionist or a counselor, but I do have advice from my own experience. So, here's my three tips. First, discover what triggers it. Is it loneliness, boredom, stress, or something else? Finding out what the trigger is will help you better combat it. Keep a journal and track when and why you eat emotionally. This will be the first step in addressing it. Second, mindful eating. You can practice mindful eating by paying full attention to your food and the sensations of eating. Remember how I said to enjoy your morning coffee? The same goes for your meals. This helps you connect with your body's hunger and fullness cues, making it easier to differentiate between emotional and physical hunger. Finally, the third tip, plan and prepare meals. The times when I go overboard with eating are always when I'm so hungry and just reach for whatever is easiest for me. Planning meals will help you portion correctly and ensure that you're eating something that is nourishing and you'll be less likely to overindulge. I hope those tips help. Of course, if this problem persists, it is always beneficial to reach out to a professional who can provide guidance, support, and strategies for your specific needs. Our next question is, how do you improve your self-confidence and maintain a positive self-image? One of the best pieces of advice I've received is how to reframe your thoughts. I was so mean to myself all the time. If I did something wrong, I would immediately think, oh my gosh, you're so stupid, or how could you do that? What a failure. I now have learned to catch those thoughts and reframe them. So instead, I think, I am human and it's okay to make a mistake, or that was silly, but I am learning. I'll do better next time. This has helped improve my confidence and self-image immensely. I recommend writing down those recurring negative thoughts about yourself and rephrasing them to be kinder to yourself. Another tip, treat yourself as you would a close friend. If your best friend came to you and explained something they did wrong or something that they failed at, how would you respond to them? Use that same kindness toward yourself. Now let's talk about getting active. This next question is, I'm scared of going to the gym. What are other ways I can start getting exercise? The gym can be an intimidating place when starting out. The best part is you do not need a gym to start exercising. I would like to mention that, of course, everyone varies with their physical capabilities, so this is just what works for me. Also, start with what is comfortable for you and speak to a professional if you have any health issues. So let's refer to those micro-habits I previously talked about. No, you do not need to start by running 10 miles every day outside, but a walk around the block, maybe around the neighborhood, perfect. A great way to get fresh air and some movement. I also absolutely love the abundance of videos available on YouTube. You do not need to purchase a $60 training e-book. YouTube has so many different videos that cater to many different body types. I would suggest exploring there and seeing what you like. Also, maybe there's a hobby that can provide you with exercise. For example, my partner works full-time and plays soccer on the weekends with friends. This is a great way to have fun while getting a sweat on. Find what works for you and go from there. Another common question I get is, how long until I can actually start seeing the benefits of practicing mindfulness? This will differ from person to person, and I would like to start by saying, don't put too much pressure on seeing immediate results. Being impatient may prevent you from experiencing benefits, as you will be so focused on, is it working, rather than focusing on the little improvements around you. I found I experienced the benefits of mindfulness relatively quickly, as I did have a snowball effect where my mindfulness habits did improve other areas of my life. For example, I started using Headspace to practice two minutes of meditation each day. From there, I began journaling to write down my daily gratitude list, and then that turned to me feeling more present and grateful for my life. This then turned into me wanting to take care of my body, and so on. So, to answer the question of how long, it really depends on how you practice. The key is to be patient and persistent. Also, I did mention Headspace, and I do have a previous blog post about this, so check it out. Are you the type of person that buys a million journals and never knows what to actually put in them? If so, you'll love this next question. What journal prompts do you use when writing? As I briefly mentioned, I love using a gratitude list, so this can be just three things you're grateful for. On my worst days, when I feel like there's nothing to be grateful about, I can say simple things like a roof over my head, food in my fridge, and my health. This gratitude practice helps shift my perspective and foster the more optimistic outlook on life. It improves my mood, reduces my stress, and it draws attention away from anxieties and toward the more positive aspects of my life. I also love to use my journal to break down big tasks. Setting smaller goals to lead toward the overall objective really helps me start chipping away at it rather than feeling like, where do I begin? I find that I will avoid large tasks if I do not do this because I get so overwhelmed by the thought of it, so this helps a lot. All right, well, that wraps up our first podcast. If you listened until the end, I would like to thank you for your support. It means so much to me to be able to connect with you, and I hope you found something today that helps you. If you haven't already, please subscribe to my website to be notified when new content goes up. I post new content weekly, and I would love to hear your suggestions in the comments section of what you would like to see next. As always, keep growing, and I will see you next time.