There's ways of getting to that next level you're not necessarily thinking of
Unlocking the mysteries of the subconscious mind and safe guarding ourselves against commonly used, unethical NLP schemes. Brittany has a master certification in Neuro-Linguistic programming (NLP), hypnosis, EFT Tapping, timeline therapy and mindset coaching and is the Founder of Be Free Mindset.
She shares the subtle, yet impactful, decisions that shape our lives
NEW: YOUR NEXT 90 DAYS COACHING WITH SAM
Key Takeaways
Learn how our innermost thoughts dictate our beliefs and actions.
Resources:
About the show:
Sam Laliberte - entrepreneur, digital nomad and freedom seeker, hosts the Freedom Lifestyle Podcast to expose people to the many ways you can design your dream life and unlock your own version of the freedom lifestyle. Her guests have empowered themselves through flexible work as a way to “have it all” - financial, location AND schedule freedom.
There's ways of getting to that next level you're not necessarily thinking of
Unlocking the mysteries of the subconscious mind and safe guarding ourselves against commonly used, unethical NLP schemes. Brittany has a master certification in Neuro-Linguistic programming (NLP), hypnosis, EFT Tapping, timeline therapy and mindset coaching and is the Founder of Be Free Mindset.
She shares the subtle, yet impactful, decisions that shape our lives
NEW: YOUR NEXT 90 DAYS COACHING WITH SAM
Key Takeaways
Learn how our innermost thoughts dictate our beliefs and actions.
Resources:
About the show:
Sam Laliberte - entrepreneur, digital nomad and freedom seeker, hosts the Freedom Lifestyle Podcast to expose people to the many ways you can design your dream life and unlock your own version of the freedom lifestyle. Her guests have empowered themselves through flexible work as a way to “have it all” - financial, location AND schedule freedom.
Hello Freedom Seekers. Today you are going to meet Brittany, who is the founder of Be Free Mindset. She has a master certification in several modalities through her coaching business, including neuro-linguistic programming. You may have heard of NLP, hypnosis, eft, tapping, timeline therapy and mindset coaching. She uses these different techniques to really guide and mentor her clients, helps them neutralize negative emotions and disempowering beliefs, reprogram your subconscious thought patterns and better communicate with not only yourself but others. And so it would be a mistake if I didn't spend a lot of time in this episode really understanding and unpacking what NLP is, why we should be paying attention to this, understanding what exactly it is at our subconscious level that could be preventing us from unlocking our next level of success. We talked about even some of the ethics around this, because you may have heard of NLP being used by salespeople, by politicians, as a way to manipulate others, because it really is that powerful. Brittany shared with me so many mind-blowing facts about NLP that really shocked me and will probably shock you. So, even if you're like Sam, I'm good. I have unlocked everything I want to unlock. I have leveled up to my maximum level. I don't need any of this. You should at least know what NLP is so that you're not a victim of its potential manipulation. But, of course, brittany is using NLP for good, helping us think about how we can use these modalities to help us as business owners, to help us as partners in romantic relationships, friends, and even just help us be good to ourselves, right, because so much of it is about how we treat ourselves.
Speaker 1:But before we hop into today's episode, I need to tell you about this week's sponsor, fiverr, the world's largest marketplace for freelance services, and by now you already know I'm a freelancer on Fiverr. It's actually become my talk channel for attracting new clients, but I bet you didn't know that I'm also a Fiverr client myself. In fact, whenever I have a project or an idea in my business, I go to Fiverr first to find other freelancers who have services that can bring my project to life. Whether I want to speak with somebody about growing my YouTube channel or get help creating graphics for the launch of a new ebook or digital download I'm releasing, or maybe I want some music to create for my new podcast season, I challenge you Head to Fiverrcom next time you have a project but you don't have the time to execute it. I have been so pleased by how much space and freedom this creates for me. And if you're new to Fiverr, you can use the link in the show notes for 10% off your very first order, with no further delay.
Speaker 1:Here is Brittany. Brittany, welcome to the Freedom Lifestyle podcast. How is your day going so far? Where are you? What are you?
Speaker 2:up to. Thanks, sam, I appreciate you having me here. Yeah, I'm just outside in Toronto, in Pickering. Actually it is a little bit snowy and rainy over here, so just in my cozies, having a cup of hot chocolate ready to chat with you, I'm excited. So thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Yeah, we're having a major snowstorm on the West Coast of Canada as well. I usually record in my office, but I'm recording downstairs in the kitchen, much bigger open space. Not exactly podcast etiquette, but it's just so wild and windy out there, so cozy vibes. What would you normally be doing right now if you weren't on a podcast interview with?
Speaker 2:me Probably doing some deep work. Usually, I've actually set my timeframes or chunks of time for work. This is actually prime time for me. Two to four is one of those timeframes that I'm just on and can do deep focus work. And you've had your business now for how long?
Speaker 1:So I started my business in 2019, so a little more than four years, and one of the areas of your business is coaching, helping people with their mindset, helping people incorporate different modalities to serve them in their business, and one of those areas of expertise is NLP. So for somebody who's never heard of NLP, or like has heard of it but isn't only sure if they really know what it means, can you explain it in the simplest terms as well as you know? What does the acronym even stand for?
Speaker 2:So NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming and I like to basically refer to it as like the user's manual for the subconscious mind, because it's like the easiest way to understand it. Think of like a filing cabinet with all of your stored you know, belief systems, things that you do on autopilot, the way you communicate, the way you strategize, the way you make decisions, like all of the things. But if we break it down kind of even further than that and like into three words of like neuro, linguistic and programming, neuro is basically referring to anything related to the mind, so that mind body connection, that's kind of the focus there. And then linguistics is like all of the verbal communication tones, physiology, how that dictates the way that you perform or, you know, achieve your goals or outcomes. And then the programming is literally like our pattern, belief system, our values, our identity, who we are. So all of that is basically stored in a little filing cabinet inside our minds. That's kind of NLP in that job.
Speaker 1:And so these parts that are filed away like they're inside all of us, and it's more about whether we're opening the filing cabinet and actually going through the files and intentionally using it is exactly yeah, so it's everything that we do is like almost on autopilot.
Speaker 2:like 95% of the behaviors that we actually do on a regular basis, like day to day, are autopilot behaviors, if you think of like waking up in the morning and going and brushing your teeth, even just stepping out of your bed and then going to the bathroom doing your thing, having a routine, like you're not consciously thinking of any of that. So all of these like processes, routines, things that you're doing are all basically stored away and you're constantly doing these repetitive behaviors. But with NLP you're kind of allowing yourself to tap into the subconscious and unlock anything that you actually want to change or repatter or rewire or like new integrations and new learnings that you want to tweak or improve, make better. So a lot of the work that I do with clients is literally tapping into their subconscious mind to help them build better lives for themselves and elevate and grow in their life, their business, their relationships, whatever the area may be.
Speaker 1:And so when someone's coming to you, do they typically have something about themselves that they want to change? Where they're like, I've identified the exact issue. Please, how can I stop doing this on autopilot? Or is it more ambiguous? Where they're coming to you and they're like, I just can't really identify it, but I'm not having the results I want, what are you seeing most common in terms of our awareness of the issues that are preventing us from having what we want?
Speaker 2:So I would say like 80, 90% of people don't know what the exact issue is, but that is, I guess, my superpower. And coming in and seeing that big picture of you for someone right, like seeing, okay, you have this roadblock, or you feel really stuck or you feel really unhappy, or you know you want this level of freedom in your life that you just can't seem to get to. And so that's where we kind of dig into the process of even like questioning. Questioning is a large part of NLP as well, like that's the training that goes into, that is asking the tough questions and getting really curious. And so I think largely it's me asking a lot of questions to trying to unpack what it is that's actually keeping somebody stuck, because it's a lot of surface area type of like bandaid type solutions that they're thinking of. We haven't like cracked that layer and gone a little bit deeper to see, okay, well, maybe it is something else that is impacting this and that you haven't necessarily thought of before.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I think I think that kind of answers your question. It's not necessarily presented like surface level and someone's like yes, this is my issue, how do we change this? But in working together, even if it's just like a single session. We can usually unpack, like maybe there's a little bit of procrastination or self-sabotaging tendencies or maybe there's some perfectionism there, and they're like, oh, I don't know, I don't think so and I'm like, are you sure? Like let's unpack it a little bit, let's get honest with ourselves. It's like open up the book and like make that awareness something that, like is not odd or strange or weird or abnormal, like let's normalize it.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's part of that process, so sometimes you can see results in a single session. That's incredible. That was a question I was going to ask is how quickly does someone typically see results from specifically NLP work, and so I'd love for you to elaborate on that as well. As what are you looking for in these conversations? What types of cues, what types of indicators are you watching out for in your client to really help them identify what?
Speaker 2:their blocker is in a single session, for example, and I mean normally we work together for an extended period of time, but I think it's that single session that somebody needs to see the results. Or even just like a workshop that I host or something you know, just coming in contact with me and being like, wow, like I would have never asked myself that question, which would have never opened up or unlocked that information that, like, I was storing inside of me or suppressing, or these emotions that are coming up to the service, or, oh my God, I'm crying and like why am I crying? And I'm like that's okay, it's not a big deal, let's like, let's unpack that.
Speaker 2:Virtual Kinects here you go, exactly so I think that sometimes people just they don't have the space to fully explore that, and so, like me, allowing that space and that time and energy to fully hear somebody out and really ask me those tough, tough questions, can help them elaborate and, like, have their own little mini breakthroughs, because the changes are small tweaks.
Speaker 2:They're not like these crazy elaborate things that are going to happen necessarily overnight, but with a little bit of like tweak modification. You know, seeing what our decision strategies are like, for example, like you know, people come to me and they're like I don't know why I'm like so indecisive with making decisions and it seems like such a small thing, but it's impacting the romantic relationships, their ability to apply for, like jobs, just like any small decision seems like this big, overwhelming thing, and so we have to kind of chunk it up in NLP is what we call it what's the higher intention of what you are trying to accomplish? And let's see how we can get there in small tweaks and steps and action steps that are going to help you make these decisions faster or anchor you in a better emotional state, for example, when you're going forth with certain big decisions or, you know, motivating yourself to do some work or whatever the path may be for that period of time.
Speaker 1:So a big part of it is just even creating the space to have the conversations, to be asked, the questions, to force yourself to answer the questions. That would unlock these insights, these aha moments where you identify. Okay, this is something I need to change. But then what? Can you give us an example of some homework you might give to?
Speaker 2:one of your clients.
Speaker 1:Do we take action Like what does it look like to now be like okay, know what it is yeah.
Speaker 2:So like I always give home play to clients and like sometimes it's actually really fun stuff that they just haven't done. So I'll say like, for example, for like an initial session, I'll say let's go and make a fun list, so all the things that you want to be doing that you haven't been doing. Usually people aren't asked that question like what am I not doing that I want to be doing? That's one like very simple question and they're like oh well, like I should be exercising. It's like I'm not, I should. What do you want to be doing that you're not doing? And if you're shitting yourself, that's not a good thing either. Right, like it's something that you want to be doing, that's fun. That's why I'm called the fun list. So that's like a very simple exercise that I have people do.
Speaker 2:The other thing is thought catching. So this is a big one. I'll have them write down thoughts that they're having repetitively and basically mark a tip like have a tick mark next to how many times that thought comes up and then we go through and before the next session that we have, I have them kind of like write out a phrase like, even though I feel like whatever it is, like I'm not worthy of this relationship that I'm in. I know that I'm working towards this, this and that, so it's just changing, like flipping the script. We're literally flipping the script on the thoughts in our mind and writing them down on paper so that we can actually read how crazy sometimes these things sound when they're in our heads.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's constantly something that's being repetitive and repeatedly said in your own mind, right? So getting it out on paper, yeah, thought catching is one of fun lists. And then there's like various other ones in terms of like anchoring yourself in a moment. So I have a physical activity which the audience can't see right now, but basically it's when you're feeling a specific emotion that's like a high, high emotion, like you know, confidence or happiness or joy, or like pure bless, in the moment it's anchoring in that ocean using some hand gesture. So I always make clients do that when they are experiencing something for the first time or maybe something that they're really like grateful for. So, yeah, these are all kind of like little tidbits of throwing NLP into their daily life that can help them elevate.
Speaker 1:Okay, I love a good activity, I love homework, it's great to have a great chat, but then so many people want to be in that action. How can I feel empowered in this? What can I do in between our sessions and in between our calls to make sure that that subconscious behavior is behaving in a way that I want it to behave? On your stories yesterday you were talking about the importance of our environment and actually changing our mindset. So can you talk about the external reality and what we might need to have to change in order to impact our internal reality that the everyday person could change? Right, because there's a lot of things that maybe I could change but I can't change tomorrow. Maybe I can't necessarily quit my job tomorrow or end this relationship tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Maybe I should, I don't know, but talk to us about the external environment and your advice around that.
Speaker 2:So one of like the logical levels of change basically is the like lowest level is environment, and it is actually one of the easiest things you know to change your physical environment, because that's something that you actually have control of and that's a conscious like piece of your awareness basically, right, like who you surround yourself with, who you're talking to on a daily basis, who you're working with. That sort of thing all has some level of control, and so we can only move in the direction of actually working on things that we can control in our lives and, above that, in order to change the higher levels of that logical like pyramid, which are like identity and values and beliefs, that is all foundationally rooted on that ground level of your environment, who you're surrounding yourself with. And so, even just like setting up things like boundaries are really important, because that's something that you can control right, and you can remove yourself from a situation if this specific event happens or if there's a consequence that you need to actually be up front about and kind of like act on. And so the environment is a tough one, because it's even something that, like we struggle to know whether we are in the right environment or not, and I think this has a lot to do with how you're feeling as well.
Speaker 2:I know, for like for myself, even in my work environments in the past, I just felt burnt out, I felt overwhelmed, I felt tired, exhausted, like my body, everything in my body is telling me this isn't the right place to be. Did I know that, like I was going to start my business or, you know, move in a completely different trajectory in my life than in what I'm in now? I had no idea, but I did know that I need to remove myself from specific scenarios and situations and build up the courage to do that. So that included, you know, relationships. They included toxic work environments and included friendships that you know.
Speaker 2:I had to physically just say out loud to myself and actually give myself permission to say it out loud to me that I'm not surrounding myself with the people who are actually lifting me up or going to make me better or help me grow or challenge me. And so I think those are some questions that you can kind of ask yourself today. Like, if you're listening to this it's are you feeling that nudged to change or shift, or something in you making you feel like you need to move, you need to switch up your environment, and this can also be done in really small ways too, like decluttering your apartment or your home, like remove things that aren't serving you, donate items that you aren't using, like it starts with some really small adjustments and tweaks and then, once you get really good at that, the big things don't seem as heavily like, they don't weigh as heavily on your chest.
Speaker 1:Basically, I love all of this. I think that I'm somebody who has always been really well connected to my own feelings. I'm able to label my feelings. I'm able to use my feelings to guide my decision making. You could ask me how I'm feeling right now and I could in detail describe it not to generalize, but I find women are a bit better at doing that. I have a husband who is very into growth, personal development, wanting to change, wanting to get coaching. He does not let his feelings drive his decision making and sometimes I don't even know if he knows what he's feeling. Like I've been really pushing back sometimes I'm like describe what you're feeling right now. And he was like I don't know. I never like talked about my feelings growing up or it wasn't like a big part of how I've led my life. Do you ever have clients or like that. They're like I don't know what I'm feeling. What should I be feeling?
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely Like. Again, similar to you, I can pinpoint that really easily in my body. I'm like oh my God, my stomach's off the chains right now. Like I know that I'm like anxious or nervous, or you know, there's this excitement, there's these butterflies. I know what a feeling in my body represents as an emotion.
Speaker 2:Most people don't make that connection and we've almost been like conditioned that way in a sense, with like just modern medicine and the way that you connect with yourselves. We've like dissociated the mind and like your body as two separate things and like you handle them separately. And so that's why when people are asked the question, okay, like how are you today? And they're like describing what they did, and you're like no, no, no, how are you? What are you feeling? And with some of my clients they can't put that into physical words, and so it's more of like, okay, how is it showing up in your body? Like they can feel maybe tightness in their chest, or they're like yeah, I just there's some like moodiness or I did. They can describe it as actions that they've taken throughout the day. And so I kind of shift the narrative of like, okay, how was yesterday? And compare to today how do you feel in a sense of like you know your productivity or your ability to think clearly, or do you feel more energized or are you tired.
Speaker 2:I'm having to give them a few of the like descriptive emotions and they're like, yeah, I'm feeling like that or no, that's not how I'm feeling right now. We're like I don't know. Like right now I don't know. So it's kind of like getting people out of their heads to and into their bodies and that's like largely a part of just uncovering a lot more about yourself and dating a little bit deeper and having the ability to be vulnerable.
Speaker 2:And it's funny that you touch on, like the difference between men and women, because so I've done a lot of like intuitive work too right, and so when you were very connected to your body and women, you know we have that maternal sense for very giving like in general and it's actually related to your brain. So we actually, as women, have more white matter in our brains so we can actually go from logic to intuition a lot faster because that like roadway of white matter in our purpose callisum of our brain is larger, larger surface area. Men have a smaller surface area so they can't go from logic to intuition as quickly like feelings to you know reality, feelings to reality, over and over. Like we can do that pretty quickly, even in like a simple conversation with somebody, but they really need a little bit more time to kind of deeply reflect on things like that.
Speaker 1:So very cool. I love facts like that. Is there anything else you can share with us? That's, you know, maybe mind blowing that you learned about NLP in your certification processor and your research that likely we haven't heard before that if we did, we're like, oh wow, that is pretty crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I think like one fact that a lot of people don't know is about like our communication. So only 7% of our communication is actually verbal. 38% of it is our tone and 55% it's our physiology. So a lot can be said about just you sitting in a room with a few people. Like you are conveying a message with your body language alone, even if you think about like somebody talking to you and how you feel energetically in their presence, like their tone of voice is conveying a lot and a deeper message.
Speaker 2:And so I think also with, like very highly sensitive Individuals, this is a lot more apparent. Like if you feel like you're more of a feeler, I would say more in touch with your emotions, like you can pick up on people's tone, I would say even in conversations, and like you might experience this too with your partner, right, like if something is said in a certain way, you're like I don't know, like what was that kind of tone? Like you pick up on it and you either choose to let it go and, you know, move along, or you're like I think something's up, like let's, let's get into it. Like what's going on, what? Like asking immediately.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he hates it. He's like I can't get anything past you, like he'll just say something and even just look in the eye I'm like what was that? So what do you mean? And then all of a sudden he starts blushing. I was like, well, now you're blushing first falls your eyes twitched. Just say it. Just say I don't want to say it. I'm like, just say it. You have something to say? Just say it. Yeah, love that. That's so, so true. I've heard of sales people incorporating NLP Because of the communication power and because of what you can learn about that, and some people have maybe raised some concerns about ethical considerations. I'm curious what is your take on that?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I mean, like anything else, nlp can be used for good or it can be used for unethical and moral Purposes. It's using everything, literally. Nlp is used by marketers, politicians, people in every industry, and you don't realize that it's being used until you've learned a little bit more about it. So communication, tone, language, patterns, strategic ways of like, you know, displaying a specific product, or you know buyer psychology it's all related to NLP as well, and so you can use it in a very, you know, compassionate, good, ethical way, which is the way that we choose to use it as coaches, you know, really to like help unlock facial cutie and really understand how somebody's feeling and really read between the lines, and so that is like one of the benefits of using it. But it can absolutely be used in ways that are not beneficial for everyone or in like Fly me unethical ways, which I obviously don't agree with. But you know, once the information is out there, people can use it as they wish and choose to benefit financially or in whatever way that they desire.
Speaker 2:So I can't remember what the video is called, but it's like a video based on touch. So, because people know that they're very sensitive to touch, think of going into a store when you buy something. There's some people who need to feel the product, that you feel that cash from your sweater. There's other people that can look at it online and be like, oh yeah, that's my want. So some people are more prone to making decisions or emotional choices If you know there's physical touch involved. You think of like, intimacy and that sort of thing.
Speaker 2:Manipulation can be used in that way a lot, right. So if you're thinking of like, even employers, or sliming, like slime buckets to you know, use that kind of manipulation with people, like that is a thing. And so even physical touch of like holding someone, touching someone, patting someone on the shoulder, whatever it is that can actually exhibit a specific reaction from somebody. And if you know intentionally that you're using that for that reason, I mean that's immoral and unethical and I don't agree with that. Does everybody know that they're doing that? Or is it sometimes more of an intuitive thing that you're in a partnership? You go to hug someone. That's not necessarily using an LP to your like advantage, it's just you know you're wanting to be comforting to someone. But yeah, it can be used in those kind of ways too.
Speaker 1:Well, there's something to be said when your partner just comes over to you when you're working and almost then use rubbing your shoulders out of nowhere, and seconds later there's a special request being made. So it sounds like Whether we want to be using an LP for our own personal development or we just want to be aware that this exists in that or maybe not victims of how it could be used against us seems like a good use of our time. So thanks for explaining and breaking so much of that down for us. I know you also have a pretty incredible story of your own personal transformation and I want to make sure we get into that, because the life you're living now started with you making some drastic changes yourself quitting your job and not having any back-up plan, not even having a plan for how you were going to make money next. So paint a picture about what was going on in your life then, and then I want to get into how you were able to do that without a safety net.
Speaker 2:Yes, gosh, a lot of like resilience and courage, I would say, for something like easy to leave your job. But basically I think it stems back to, you know, a few years ago. So this was before I started my business. I was going through like a really rough time. I was in a relationship that I was like completely dissatisfied and unhappy with. There was just like this missing piece and I just felt like I wanted more the job, that I was in very toxic environment and I was like hustling and slaving and just, you know, exhausted and then also like my health was on a decline. So I actually have prone disease. So I was diagnosed with this when I was 18 and that time in my life I actually had to drop out of university when I was diagnosed because it was bad. It was at the point where I had to be hospitalized, went through surgery, had like a large chunk of my intestine. It was a whole thing. So I think a lot of that also shaped my ability to be very resilient and like make a comeback and just focus on myself, also have that intuitive ability of like reading my body, doing my own body scan, seeing how I'm feeling and being open about talking about things like that and being vulnerable. So that health flare was basically coming back in 2019 and I knew it was like stress related. Like obviously I'm unhappy. I'm in a relationship. I'm not, you know, thriving in my work relationship is not really good Like it was an overall, like I want to call it like quarter of a century, like midlife crisis type thing.
Speaker 2:I was what was I like 2029 at the time and I just remember sitting there and being like I cannot let the next decade of my life be the same as this decade. Like I was started Like was started asking myself the tough questions. I was like what do I even want to be remembered for in this lifetime? I want to leave some sort of legacy and I want to be happy doing it and I want to feel purposeful and driven and motivated and like I just want to have all this freedom in my life that I'm looking for. That I didn't have at the time, so quit my job. Very difficult, I was living in my parents basement. You know it was a whole thing. It was fine. Like I was happy to be surrounded by people who were supporting me in that moment, which was a big deal. Like the support system is huge.
Speaker 2:I removed myself from that long distance relationship and it was after four and a half years. So you know, there was a lot of like race that I had to process during that time and really understand like myself and I realized like I don't really know who I was at that time in my life. I was doing a lot of people pleasing, I was stressed out, I was bringing myself out. So, yeah, left all of that and I was in the hospital for a couple weeks and then, once I got out, I was like, okay, now's my time, I'm just going to focus on me. And so that's when I really like flip the switch on my personal development, making that a priority.
Speaker 2:I hired my own coach at the time because I was so uncertain about, like, my career direction, where I wanted to be, what I wanted to do, and so I just thought, like when am I ever going to have this much time for myself when I can invest in myself and be able to financially but also have the genuine time to like do the work and take the time to express how I'm feeling to somebody else and have that unbiased support because, as much as, like, your family and friends are there for you. There's still things that you don't want to kind of Unleash and like unlock to your parents. So at the time I remember my parents like I had said, like yeah, I spent, like I don't know what it was like five thousand dollars on a couch.
Speaker 2:You feel like I remember my dad just being like are you out of your mind?
Speaker 1:I knew you'd never job.
Speaker 2:Are you know? Yeah, I mean I had savings, which is why I felt like, okay, I can probably do this, but like it wasn't like massive amounts of savings, I'm still like I need to figure out what I need to do. And so he's like, are you crazy? Like what the heck? And Anyways, they just thought I was like insane and I was like no, no, like trust me, there is something in me that's telling me I need to do this, need to focus on myself, and so working with her Literally unlocked this like fire inside me to really work on my self-confidence and myself belief and Really dive into the things that I was good at and understand, like how to piece together Like what I'm really good at, what I love to do, what makes me happy, and like have that be something that Is constantly in the back of my mind when I'm looking for a job or creating that lifestyle for myself, moving forward.
Speaker 2:And so that's when I kind of piece together the fact that, like I've always been into psychology, mindset, literally, like my electives in university were always that stuff right, like languages and learning, or like psychology of normal psychology, the mind, body Then I'm like, okay, it was diagnosed with Crohn's disease more in tune with my body.
Speaker 2:What's going on? So it's like how can I use all of this? I'm just trying to like piece together all of these skills. And so that's when I actually started B3 mindset, because I was like I have so many friends, people that come to me for advice, and as much as it seems crazy to like go into this coaching world and not really know much about it, I felt like I was like destined to do that and so, yeah, and then that really built into taking certifications, doing nervous system regulation work, clinical breath work, emotional freedom, techniques of tapping, and I'll be all of these things. I'm just like trickled into my world, integrating the parts of myself that were like part of you wants to take this nine to five, continue to sign to five, and then part of you wants to take your business further and like how can we mesh those two together and see where, like, the biggest ripple of packed and the most happiness and joy can be built in your life through making one decision?
Speaker 1:And so that's where we are today. Well, I'm so happy for you. It's amazing that you were able to connect all those dots and have all of those different experiences in your life. I'll accumulate into Teeing you up and preparing you for where you are now, which is your happiest life to date.
Speaker 1:I mean a lot of people say there was nothing like childhood, but I don't know. I think my 30s, with money, with confidence in myself, with some security, I would take that over being a kid I would. So a couple questions that I want to ask about your journey. One is you invested in a coach in this process. So what type of coaching were you getting that helps you connect these dots and identify that Coaching was actually where you wanted to go?
Speaker 2:next, yeah, so at the time that she, amanda was her name, she was actually a coach for career development, but also like life coaching.
Speaker 2:So she did a little bit of both, which I found to be extremely Beneficial, because not only are people who are looking for coaching in like the career Aspect looking just for that, they're actually looking for like support and like building their confidence.
Speaker 2:You know, even just in building your own resume or being able to talk about yourself, you need to have clarity in what you want in your life, and so she offered me a lot of that perspective, or like activities and the ability to like Untap or unlock that actual basically, and so that was like what I needed at the time and so that's what. Even in my work, when I'm going to help people out and we're looking at things like from surface level, like we haven't even scratched the surface, basically I'm asking them, like okay, what are your biggest goals and dreams that you've had that seem completely out of reach? Because they're not and you can get there and maybe you're just not seeing the path, and that's why I'm here to kind of help you lead that way into clarity and focus and motivation and productivity, so that you are then building the life that you really want in a way, you're kind of paying it forward.
Speaker 1:Somebody helped you with the life coaching, the clarity, the career Insights in terms of what path you want to go on, and now you're doing that for others, and so it was a mix of like life coaching, career coaching. Those are kind of like the terms you were. Were you searching for, or did Amanda find you?
Speaker 2:I think I was following Amanda on Instagram for quite a while, so it's not like I even really knew what she was doing for a long time until I was actually looking for it and then her stuff was popping up and I was like, oh okay, like what is this all about?
Speaker 2:And like the thing was she wasn't that much further ahead in her life Then I was at that time like she was just just getting out of her nine to five and just like Making this life for herself as well, and so that's another thing. I think like you don't really have to. If you need support or mentorship or guidance, you don't need to be looking for someone who's like already has like a million things that you want or is that like the pinnacle of their Success or you know that road map that they're looking to go on. It's really just looking for someone who is a few steps ahead of you so that you can lean into their mentorship and Some of their advice and really help have them. Help you kind of open your eyes to what you're missing out on and missing pieces that can help you move forward.
Speaker 1:That's super helpful. Another thing I wanted to ask about is your ability to really invest in yourself, because we've talked a little bit about Women and men and the differences, and another thing I do notice is women have more of a challenge investing in themselves financially, especially these big-ticket investments, these four or five figure type investments, and you've been doing this. Not only did you invest in your coach, but you also invested almost another ten thousand dollars in your certifications to actually be certified in in NLP, eft, hypnosis, all the different coaching that you do. So why do you think you were able to invest in it and what advice do you have to somebody who that's a barrier for them and they're not comfortable doing that?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think self-belief is really key in all of these things in terms of just simply investments, like even outside of like the male to female Mindset there just being able to have that level of self-belief in your own skills and your ability to be resourceful, to be flexible in your approach, because sometimes there's ways of getting to that next level that you're not necessarily thinking of and I know that obviously hiring help or you know finding that mentorship is important, but there's also three ways of getting that support until you are at that point that you can actually Afford that or that investment makes sense to you as well, if it's not like just purely a mindset issue and it's just like using your environment again like to your advantage, right, like going to networking events, surrounding yourself with women who have done that for themselves, having conversations, and I think that alone just opens up your perspective and your mind to being flexible in your approach, to being able to ask for help, and you'd be surprised how many people are willing to give you Information and tips and guidance without actually Charging you for you know those conversations and so that's a lot of what I did. I was listening to podcasts. I was listening to your podcast back in the day.
Speaker 2:You know, when I first popped off the nine to five wagon and was really taking those eight months off, I was Consuming so much and it was all free material podcast, books that Kind of gets you in the headspace and even just opening up your awareness, all of the different opportunities that are in your surroundings.
Speaker 2:And even today, right like in leaving my nine to five, I had to discuss that with my partner.
Speaker 2:Like I had to say, like is this going to be a good opportunity to be okay, because part of my income is supporting the mortgage for our new house and like the build, and this is important, and so you have to be having open occasion and discussion, and even hiring my own business coach today. Like all of these things, you get easier as you continue to do them right. So the first, maybe even a small investment that you're making yourself for $100 course or, you know, a $250 program that's just the first initial step and once you do it, and you continue to do it over and over and over again, it just gets easier because you've built that resilience inside of you to know that you're going to use that information to make an impact, and so it's a lot of self-belief, but it's a lot of just like talking yourself into recognizing that you are worthy of this education, of the support, and then just being open to ways to receiving that as well.
Speaker 1:And probably seeing the results, like for me I can definitely relate to. When I first started, I was the most broke I've ever been in my life. I was saying no to basically everything. I was so focused on making this work that it was about not spending any money. And investing in myself was always like this intense decision because cash flow wasn't there, but the more that I did it and then all of a sudden I felt like I was unlocking other opportunities where I was more valuable because of how I invested in myself. It made me really see the direct connection. And it isn't always the same as take this course about learning how to podcast and then you could learn to podcast and make money from podcasting. Like, sometimes there are ways to learn where there's a direct revenue there, but then there's just the stuff that we're talking about today where it's not about, hey, you're going to be able to charge $100 more tomorrow, but it's about this long term journey, investment in yourself.
Speaker 2:That can be less directly correlated and then it's really up to you to make those connections and see that even the course that I took- to with the certification they took for all of these modalities that I'm now teaching, right Like when I took it with, actually so beneficial for myself and I still use all of these things today.
Speaker 2:But that's what also brought me to this level of confidence to be able to speak on podcast or keynote speak, or to go out and even feel confident enough to not charge somebody something and to say I'm going to do this, like because I feel good about it and, aligned, making that decision feels good in my body. Those are all things that I actually learned from that certification that then, down the line, it's like, okay, a referral comes in or somebody saw me speak at an event for free and they're then hiring me. So, like the return on your investment whenever you're, you know, investing in yourself and in your own development, it's always going to benefit you in the long run, and that's kind of just my, my motto with anything personal development wise, love it, completely agree.
Speaker 1:So I know we're over time, but I do want to ask you about one more thing that you put on the form, which I really liked, which is for you, freedom is being able to build your own CEO schedule, which I love. Lifestyle design intentionally creating our reality, choosing how we want to spend each day, each month, each week oh, that is my favorite thing to talk about ever. So in what ways are you intentionally designing your lifestyle that maybe go against the standard path or ways of living? And we can kind of wrap up there yeah, that's interesting, I think you know.
Speaker 2:Again, listening to myself in terms of what times of day I even want to work, that's going against the unconventional, like grain, so to speak, choosing to have sessions or appointments in the evening because that is when I thrive and I'm like, yeah, I'm on, I'm good, I'm good to go, whereas, like, maybe on a morning, I'm like, yeah, I'm a little tired, I'm going to take a slow morning. It's just allowing yourself that freedom to choose what you want to do with every minute of your day. One of the first things that I did when I left my nine to five and I, like, took the business full time. I literally made a big pot of chili at like 11am on a Tuesday and I invited my parents over for lunch, and that made me so happy. I was like this is exactly what I want to be able to do. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or crazy, it's not like a dollar value that is making me, like you know, have this joy. It's literally inviting my parents over for chili on a Tuesday morning.
Speaker 1:I love that so much I'm almost getting a little bit like teary eyed, remembering kind of my chili moment, which is my grandma and I were so close and before I had the freedom lifestyle I would get to visit her yeah, four times a year, but it would be for the weekend and I distinctly remember the first time I was like no grandma, I'm going to stay like a couple weeks, is that okay?
Speaker 1:And just her face of just like oh really, oh, my God, smith, of course, like stay as long as you want. And then like completely creating a workspace for me and getting a table and making sure I had a comfy chair and being like so on board with like this laptop lifestyle that they have no clue what the hell I am doing downstairs in their basement on my laptop, but they are just so supportive of it and me being able to go home and spend time with them. Like it's not always working on your laptop in Bali poolside being 1024 seven, it's those little things that you're like. This actually means so much to me and I didn't have this before.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah, oh, my God, I love that. No, we're both cheering. Oh, that's so sweet. Oh, but yeah it is. It's that aha moment that you think, once you fully like, give into what you really want and what you desire, like that's. There's nothing better than that.
Speaker 1:Literally. Brittany, you're amazing. I love this conversation so much. You're so easy to speak to and I'm so proud of you for your own journey, and I hope people listening to this. If they feel stuck, if they don't know exactly what it is that stopping them from unlocking that next level of success, or maybe they already know something isn't working and they're in one of those transitionary periods where they don't know their next move I hope they reach out to you and see how you can support them. So, on that note, where should we send them? Where should they find more information about you? Do you have anything that you can offer that we can leave them with?
Speaker 2:For sure. Well, thank you so much, sam, for having me. I really appreciate this conversation. Yeah, I am on Instagram at me free mindset. That's probably the best place to kind of get a sense of what I do. You know, scroll along and see like kind of what I'm, what I'm talking about there, and then there is a link as well to book a free clarity call.
Speaker 2:if there is something that you are really feeling the nudge to chat about or explore, I'm open to having a call with you or anyone listening and really just like unlock that on top potential.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Do it Free discovery call. I will include the links to all of that in the show notes. Have a great rest of your day, Brittany. Stay cozy. It's cold out there. You too. Thanks, Sam. Hey, wait a sec Before you head out to your day. I want you to be the first to hear of a brand new 90 day experience that I'm launching just in time for Q2. If you are anything like me, you want to have a fun and flexible summer. You really want to enjoy yourself, but you're probably somebody who feels like you can't truly enjoy yourself and relax If you don't think you've earned it. Your next 90 days is a brand new three month coaching and accountability program led by me, where, together, we are going to accomplish two major goals just in time for summer. Visit what'syourfreecom slash next 90 days to book a free coaching call with me, where we'll discuss whether your goals are even a fit for this program and, if they are, we're going to make this our most satisfying summer yet.