10 Ways to Build the Life You Actually Want (Part 1)

 

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Are you feeling like life is slipping through your fingers and you're just along for the ride? 

Here’s a good news: you have the power to build the life you truly desire! 

In this two-part series of the Embrace Your Real podcast, I share 10 practical steps to help you create a life that is fulfilling and full of possibilities. 

Tune in as I encourage you to get clear on what you want, set boundaries, create a plan, take action, and more. In this episode, I also dive into the importance of having a positive mindset, developing a growth mindset, and embracing feedback as a gift to guide you create a life that is beautiful and full of possibilities.

If you love this episode, you’ll also love…

Episode 224 - 7 Ways to Deal with Criticism

Episode 156 - 5 Steps to Aligning Your Actions with Your Goals

If you want more from me, be sure to check out...

Instagram: @embraceyourreal | @movementwithjulie

Movement With Julie | App: https://sale.movementwithjulie.com/

Macro Counting Made Simple: https://www.macrocountingmadesimple.com/

Website: www.juliealedbetter.com

Free e-book: www.juliealedbetter.com/free-ebook

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Transcript:

[00:00:00] Hey. Hey, beautiful human. Can I steal 5 minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Real with Me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace a real. Let's get it. Let's go. [00:00:30]

[00:00:30] Hello and welcome back to part two of our two part series on building the life that you actually want for Yourself. I get it. Like it's feels impossible to live the life that you actually want. And so many people listening to this are just frustrated. They feel discouraged. They feel like everyone else is living out their dreams, and yet they feel like they can't live the life that they want. And so that's why, in part one, I shared these five things. I talked about getting clear in what you actually want, setting milestones for yourself, embracing the power of positive thinking, and just overall just having this attitude of gratitude. Because when you have that, it really changes the lens in which you see your day to day life. Number four, developing a growth mindset. And then number five, realizing that feedback is your best friend. [00:01:16][46.7]

[00:01:17] And so in today's episode, I want to share the last five. But before we do, I want to share this review. It comes from Courtney B I think they said at night she gave a five star review and said, I seriously love this podcast and the Movement Julie app. I've been listening and using her app for about a month now and it's been life changing After having a baby a little over a year ago. I've been struggling physically and mentally and having the podcast and the movement with Julie App have been a game changer for me. Thank you so much, Julie, for what you do. [00:01:42][25.1]

[00:01:42] Well, I'm so grateful. I am so, so grateful that you said that. I'm so thankful that you are prioritizing yourself. Mama, you are amazing. And I know that this life change comes with so many emotions, like the most joyous emotions of like, Oh my gosh, I have this beautiful life that I am entrusted to. But also it comes with a lot of other emotions, like grieving your past life and navigating this new season of life. And so I just want to encourage you, and I'm so grateful that this app is helping you, and this podcast is helping you. So thank you for taking time out of your day to send this in. Let's dive into part two of ten ways to Build the life That You Actually want. [00:02:22][39.4]

[00:02:22] Number six, put yourself out there. You've got to put yourself out there like, don't wait for the perfect opportunity to fall into your lap. Seek it out. [00:02:29][7.2]

[00:02:30] If you continuously wait, you could end up waiting indefinitely, like really putting yourself out there that allows you to become kind of the driver of your life. I know that it's uncomfortable for some people. For some people this comes supernatural like they're the people that are always starting conversations, whether it's at a gas station, it's at a, you know, a restaurant, it's at the grocery store, whatever it is. But for other people, it's difficult. And I know that it can be difficult. I know it can bring up a lot of emotions, but really do it authentically, like when you are putting yourself out there and just like connecting with people that you genuinely want to connect with, it can. It's a lot easier instead of just forcing yourself. I feel like for me, just speaking from a business perspective, earlier in my business years, I felt like I had to network with everyone and I was like, I just need to put myself out there to everyone. And it just felt really inauthentic. Like I felt like I was forcing it. And it wasn't until I actually, like, took a step back and reevaluated and said, you know, what is the purpose of me? Is it just to try to climb a ladder? Is it just to try to get this connection? Or do I genuinely want to connect with this person? And if it was the first option of, you know, I'm just networking to network, then I just wouldn't even put myself in that situation because I was like, What's the point? But if it was to genuinely connect with someone, then it just came a lot more authentic to me. And also, I want to say like, even though like some of the times I put myself out there and it was authentic, that doesn't mean it wasn't hard. So sometimes when you put yourself out there and it genuinely is coming from a good place in your heart and you do want to connect with this person, that doesn't always mean it's going to come super easy or natural. Like sometimes it's going to challenge you. You're going to feel scared to comment or to reach out to this person but don't like. It's amazing to see what comes from you. Actually, just putting yourself out there can really open up like so many hidden opportunities and it can connect you with different people. It can you can like gain access to their knowledge, their experiences, their connections, and you can have amazing conversations and it can lead you overall to an opportunity in the future that you might have otherwise missed. So get out into the world and really connect to those people that you genuinely feel would be authentic no matter if it feels scary in the moment. Which leads me to number seven, which is don't be afraid to ask for help. Now, the majority of people who are living the life that they want, they did not do it alone. Like, trust me when I say this was the biggest mistake that I made both in my health and fitness journey as well as my business journey. Like I thought, Oh, you know, I can do it myself. Like I'm just that type of person. And the fact of the matter is, like reaching out to people can help you in terms of expanding your knowledge, but also saving you so much time. Like when you have the opportunity to learn from others, from, you know, what, they've already walked in a similar path or they've encountered similar obstacles and they found like effective strategies to. Overcome them, Learning from their mistakes rather than experiencing the mistake yourself can save you so much time and so many people are actually willing to share their experiences when you ask a person about themselves. It's so easy for them to talk about themselves. And so that's one thing that I've learned just being in the room, you know, from a business standpoint, being in the room and just asking people about themselves and asking them about their experience, it's a lot easier for them to talk about that versus you being like, Hey, can you help me with this? And trust me when I say like, when you come with an open ear, you'll be able to learn from their experiences and you'll be able to adapt that to your situation. And nine times out of ten it will actually solve or answer the question that you initially maybe wanted to ask them. In my opinion, and this is something that I, I do struggle with it, like as much as I know that it is necessary, I still will be the first to tell you that I struggle with asking for help. But when you ask for help, it is a sign of strength, not weakness. It's not something that you should ever feel ashamed of. So whether this is asking for help with watching your kids or doing stuff around your house or in your business or in your health and fitness journey and just learning from people and investing in a program or investing in a coach or whatever it is, that is not a sign of weakness, in my opinion. That is a sign of strength. That is a sign of self-awareness. And you're able to recognize, you know, I can't do this on my own. And there are people that have gone before me and they already have a lot of the answers that maybe I have questions, too. And the cool thing about that is when you are surrounding yourself with other people, you receive support, you receive guidance which can boost your confidence and it can reassure you that you are not alone in this pursuit of building the life that you desire. Number eight Be adaptable. So life is full of unexpected twists and turns, and being adaptable really does allow you to navigate these changes and stay on track towards your goal. Because let's be real. Like change is an inevitable part of life, which is why being adaptable is so important. This allows you to view or change obstacles or unforeseen things as opportunities rather than threats. So rather than resisting whatever it might be, you might be able to take the time to explore whatever it is and how it can perhaps help you on your journey. Like I know you want to get from point A to point B or from point A to point D or whatever. But you oftentimes will need to explore point, you know, point B, C, D, or all of these different other points in order for you to maybe make your way back to what you initially planned. And I know it sucks, like I know we want the result tomorrow. I know that we want that dream life yesterday like we wanted that. But I always just look at every derailment as an opportunity, as an opportunity to grow and enhance my character, as an opportunity to grow and enhance my faith, as an opportunity for me to learn a new skill that I wouldn't otherwise. And just adaptability allows you to adjust your plans, embrace new possibilities, and see change as a chance to both evolve and grow. And number nine, visualize your future. Now, there's a lot of people that have like mixed opinions on visualization. There have been a lot of studies to show that visualizing can help. Now, I personally believe that visualizing and manifesting are two totally different things. I think visualizing is something that you can vividly imagine in your mind, and it might not go the exact way that you visualized it, but it will give you an overall sense of kind of the direction that you're going. And visualization works on a subconscious level like it does, and it can align your thoughts and your beliefs with the actions that your future you desire for yourself and so vividly imagining what you want. I think when you pair that with prayer and when you pair that with conversations with trusted people and it can be a great tool. I mean, you look at and you research like sports psychology, like visualization, and sports psychology is a huge field that is well researched and well documented and how it can be very effective. And it's because, like the acceptance of your brain, like subconsciously accepts whatever you're vividly imagining as true. And so your brain starts to believe that that's actually the reality. And then this acceptance of the reality influences your behavior and your decisions by creating new neural pathways in your brain. And when you align your subconscious mind with your vision, you're literally creating a powerful force within you that can work with you to propel your life the way that you want it, like the direction that you want to take it. And so when you are able to vividly imagine your future, the cool thing about that is that you're also able to reverse engineer it and you're able to reverse engineer because you have such a vivid depiction of what it looks like. You're able to say, okay, what are the steps that. I need to take to get there, and then you're able to break it down into actionable goals, into milestones, into strategies. And this will ultimately help you to create the roadmap that provides you a clear path for you to follow in terms of keeping you focused and accountable on your journey. I can promise you with consistent practice, visualization can genuinely have a profound impact on your mindset, your focus, and your ability to bring your visualization to life. And lastly, number ten commit to the long game, realizing that building the life that you want will take time. It will take patience. And this is a crucial aspect of this journey. It's important to understand that transforming your life and achieving your goals is a process that will unfold over years rather than happen overnight. Right. I know I say this all the time, but we live in this Amazon prime world where we want everything yesterday, but each year you will evolve a little bit more, you'll grow a little bit more. And if you continue on this journey, it will compound into finally building the life that you want. Like I look back, you know, 3 to 5 years ago and I'm like, Dang. All those things that I learned during those years, I'm so grateful that I learned all those things because in the season of life that I'm in right now, I feel like I wouldn't be where I am without having learned all of those things, if that makes sense, or I feel like I wouldn't be soaking it up as much or I wouldn't be as faithful in this season of life or whatever it is, I feel like I just had to go through certain seasons of life and like some of those seasons, like, were sucky. Some of those seasons were filled with tears and frustration and anger. And I know that some of the seasons in the future are going to be the same thing. But I just have to trust that I go through every season for a purpose and I have to ask, ask myself, and also just pray that God will give me that discernment. And in that season, like what is it that I'm supposed to learn from this season in my life? Like it might be sucky or I might be on a mountaintop. Either way, there is a lesson to be learned in every season that we're going through. And so just recognizing that and remembering that this is just like I talk about in health and fitness, you're in it for the long term, Like really stay dedicated. Stay engaged because this is a long term life. I mean, at the end of the day, like your dream life is going to look different as your life evolves, as seasons change. And so just remembering that you are committed to the long game. Okay. So let me quickly recap those last five things to start building the life that you want in this part two. Number six, put yourself out there by networking. And number seven, don't be afraid to ask for help. Number eight, be adaptable. Number nine, visualize your future. And lastly, number ten, commit to the long game. Don't forget to tune in to part one. If you haven't listened, I will link it in the show notes that you can go tune into that next. But that is all that I have for today's episode. I love you so dang much. I mean it and I'll talk to you in the next one. [00:13:26][656.0]

[00:13:26] All right, sister. That's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie. A Ledbetter. Yes, It's within in the middle for that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world. And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it. [00:19:04]