"Everything I do is because I love it, it feels good, and the outcome is outweighing the uncomfortableness... We should always step into what’s uncomfortable because what’s on the other side is always growth."

Erica Lippy

Aug 31, 2022

EFR 633: More Passion, More Love, and How to Live in Total Alignment with Erica Lippy

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How to live a more passionate, aligned life… it’s something we’re all wondering, but this week’s guest seems to have the secret formula.

Erica Lippy is a life and wellness coach, renowned fit model, podcaster, and creator of Passion Love Pursuit, and intentional movement that encourages you to be your best self, living a vibrant life more passionately and purposefully. 

In this discussion, Chase and Erica talk about what it takes to live a more aligned, intentional life full of passion and purpose. They speak on the power of embodying your values, separating who you are from who people perceive you to be, and prioritizing self-love while in a relationship. Erica shares her bits of wisdom on seeking discomfort, building confidence, and maximizing self-growth.

Follow Erica Lippy @ericalippy

Follow Chase on Instagram @chase_chewning

Follow him on Twitter @chasechewning

Key Highlights

  • Erica breaks down her holistic morning routine and shares how she uses superfoods like functional mushrooms and cacao, particularly in the morning, to optimize and “hack” her health.

  • Confidence comes from mastering your body physically, mentally, and emotionally. “Very much of what you do in your life is all about being accountable and keeping your word to yourself and your standards,” Erica says.

  • How do you live an aligned life? What does it feel like to embody your values and beliefs? Listen in as Emily shares her candid answers!

  • Erica talks about her experience being a fit model, how it affected her relationship with her body, and how it drove her to find her life’s purpose.

  • If you’re uncomfortable being alone, question that. Get curious why and go deep. What are you missing? What are you attached to? What needs to change? Get quieter with yourself and that will uncover why you feel that way. 

Powerful Quotes by Erica Lippy

Everything I do is because I love it, it feels good, and the outcome is outweighing the uncomfortableness.

We should always step into what’s uncomfortable because what’s on the other side is always growth.

The most powerful thing we have is choice. I believe, personally, that self-acceptance is the pathway to self-love.

Episode resources:


Ever Forward Radio is brought to you by Cured Nutrition

Cannabinoids, mushrooms, and adaptogens for your elevated existence!

  • Increases focus, mental clarity, cognitive enhancement, and sustained energy.

  • Stress relief, gut health, immunity support and mood enhancement.

  • Improves sleep, muscle recovery, body aches, and relaxation.

CLICK HERE and save 15% with code EVERFORWARD

Ever Forward Radio is also brought to you by Athletic Greens

Foundational Nutrition You Can Count On

Fill nutrient gaps, promote gut health, and support whole-body vitality with AG1.

One daily serving delivers a comprehensive blend of 9 products—a multivitamin, minerals, probiotics, adaptogens and more—working together to deliver your strongest foundation for better health.

CLICK HERE for your 5 FREE Travel Packs!

EFR 633: More Passion, More Love, and How to Live in Total Alignment with Erica Lippy

How to live a more passionate, aligned life… it’s something we’re all wondering, but this week’s guest seems to have the secret formula.

Erica Lippy is a life and wellness coach, renowned fit model, podcaster, and creator of Passion Love Pursuit, and intentional movement that encourages you to be your best self, living a vibrant life more passionately and purposefully. 

In this discussion, Chase and Erica talk about what it takes to live a more aligned, intentional life full of passion and purpose. They speak on the power of embodying your values, separating who you are from who people perceive you to be, and prioritizing self-love while in a relationship. Erica shares her bits of wisdom on seeking discomfort, building confidence, and maximizing self-growth.

Follow Erica Lippy @ericalippy

Follow Chase on Instagram @chase_chewning

Follow him on Twitter @chasechewning

Key Highlights

  • Erica breaks down her holistic morning routine and shares how she uses superfoods like functional mushrooms and cacao, particularly in the morning, to optimize and “hack” her health.

  • Confidence comes from mastering your body physically, mentally, and emotionally. “Very much of what you do in your life is all about being accountable and keeping your word to yourself and your standards,” Erica says.

  • How do you live an aligned life? What does it feel like to embody your values and beliefs? Listen in as Emily shares her candid answers!

  • Erica talks about her experience being a fit model, how it affected her relationship with her body, and how it drove her to find her life’s purpose.

  • If you’re uncomfortable being alone, question that. Get curious why and go deep. What are you missing? What are you attached to? What needs to change? Get quieter with yourself and that will uncover why you feel that way. 

Powerful Quotes by Erica Lippy

Everything I do is because I love it, it feels good, and the outcome is outweighing the uncomfortableness.

We should always step into what’s uncomfortable because what’s on the other side is always growth.

The most powerful thing we have is choice. I believe, personally, that self-acceptance is the pathway to self-love.

Episode resources:


Ever Forward Radio is brought to you by Cured Nutrition

Cannabinoids, mushrooms, and adaptogens for your elevated existence!

  • Increases focus, mental clarity, cognitive enhancement, and sustained energy.

  • Stress relief, gut health, immunity support and mood enhancement.

  • Improves sleep, muscle recovery, body aches, and relaxation.

CLICK HERE and save 15% with code EVERFORWARD

Ever Forward Radio is also brought to you by Athletic Greens

Foundational Nutrition You Can Count On

Fill nutrient gaps, promote gut health, and support whole-body vitality with AG1.

One daily serving delivers a comprehensive blend of 9 products—a multivitamin, minerals, probiotics, adaptogens and more—working together to deliver your strongest foundation for better health.

CLICK HERE for your 5 FREE Travel Packs!

Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00:00):

The following is an operation podcast production.

Speaker 2 (00:00:04):

The overarching message over this whole podcast is like, how could we really live in alignment in, in our, our authentic truth of who we are and what we're living for? What's our passion and purpose that we're serving onto the world as well. Yeah, true. So, yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1 (00:00:20):

Welcome back everyone. This is your number one source for inspiring content from people who are putting a purpose to their passion and truly living a life ever forward conversations and messages that will take your fitness, nutrition, and mindset to the next level. I am your host chase tuning. This is ever forward radio

Speaker 1 (00:00:55):

Who doesn't want a more passionate and aligned life. You know, I think it's something we're all wondering about, but this week's guess Erica lippy, you know what? She's kind of got the secret formula and nailed down for us. So let's tune in and find out. Erica is a life and wellness coach renowned fit model podcaster and creator and host over of passion, love pursuit. You know what? That's a show that you just might find your truly on, but she is going to help us learn about what it takes to live a more aligned, intentional life full of just that passion and purpose. We talk on the power of embodying your values, separating who you are from who people perceive you to be and prioritizing self-love while in a relationship, self love is so important. The relationship you have with yourself is one of the most important things I think we can all strive for and hopefully can maintain.

Speaker 1 (00:01:51):

Erica's also gonna share her bits of wisdom on seeking discomfort, building confidence and maximizing self growth. Erica joined me here in the studio in LA. You're definitely gonna wanna check out this video because not only is her message so important and so incredible here in the audio, but you know what? You can just see it. You can feel it, and it translates through her presence. And it would also really mean the world to me, as we continue our video growth to subscribe to our YouTube channel, just go to youtube.com, search wherever forward. And, uh, I'll also have this link for you down in the show notes. The video is also always available on the website. You can find this episode with all the written, all the audio, all the video, all the everything@everforwardradio.com. So if you have already subscribed to the channel, thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (00:02:37):

It really does mean the world to us, and it really does help support the show. Before I sat down for this interview with Erica, I needed to really drop in. I wanted to get very clear, very focused. I wanted to get very present. I wanted mental clarity and I wanted clean sustained energy. So what did I do? I reached for rise from cured nutrition rise helps me cut through the fog and find lasting unbreakable focus, pure focus, pure clarity, caffeine free. So I'm not sacrificing my sleep health later on. I'm not getting a crash, no jitters. I'm just using the power of functional mushrooms and adaptogens such as lions main to give me clarity, to give me focus, to give me sustained energy and to help me be as present as possible with no debt later that we often can experience with more caffeine, more coffee, energy drinks.

Speaker 1 (00:03:26):

Like I said, as lion’s mane, this improves mental clarity and focus, sharpens memory and supports overall brain health. It also has one of my other favorite functional mushrooms and cordyceps. This helps increase performance and endurance mentally and physically also to keep me cool, calm and collected. It has broad spectrum, THC free CBD. This is gonna help support stress management and keep me overall balanced. Just head to toe balanced mind, body and soul. If you guys wanna try rise or any other, one of the amazing natural wellness rooted in nature products from cured nutrition and wanna save some money at the same time and support the show, it's always appreciated. Simply use code ever forward at checkout. When you head to cured nutrition.com, that's curednutrition.com code everforward at checkout to save 15%. Okay. Are we ready? You ready to learn how to live and aligned life and what it feels like to embody your values and beliefs?

Speaker 1 (00:04:22):

Well, tune in welcome Erica Lippy. What did I make today? So I typically have, uh, strong coffee is my jam. It's like always my start. Um, and then I kind of make an impromptu strong coffee as a second. This is just kind like my own little at home Quarta. So a double espresso, I use an espresso machine. Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, this, um, uh, it's like a, it's called be powered by beekeepers. Naturals. Yep. Yep. Super food, honey. Uh, scuba MCT powder Uhhuh, and then just like a splash of, uh, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, mixed it all up and love it. So good. I,

Speaker 2 (00:04:57):

I drink so many things in the morning, like my super mushrooms, my, uh, what else I have my Kaka drink. I have obviously my coffee, but I just have it all.

Speaker 1 (00:05:07):

So what's your morning routine. Let, let share, share the wealth.

Speaker 2 (00:05:10):

Okay. Morning routine, you know, it's ever evolving, uh, and which I like about it cuz it keeps it interesting. So first thing I do, and this is not on a regular basis, I would love to say it is, but I try to meditate in the morning and I actually do red light therapy on my face during the meditation. I've heard that possibly that is not good. As far as like the light, uh, takes you to a certain level. I interviewed somebody that was talking about the light and how, uh, the red light actually weighs you down. Really? I don't know. I'm kind of testing it to see if my meditations are different, but

Speaker 1 (00:05:46):

Yeah, I definitely heard some different trains of thought on that one.

Speaker 2 (00:05:48):

Yeah. So the red light therapy, I do that. And then I, uh, do gro on my face almost every morning. What's that, which is basically a, anti-aging a natural way to like lift and lymphatic drainage scrubbing thing. It's the scraping scraping. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I do that on my face and then I do IGOs, uh, stretches.

Speaker 1 (00:06:09):

You're saying all kinds of,

Speaker 2 (00:06:10):

I've never heard of these are all these things I've learned along the way. So it's posture stretches. I'm big, big on posture. So it's just stretching and realigning your posture. And then I let's see, I have my lemon, uh, warm lemon water in the morning. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:06:27):

What's the, the morning health cocktail.

Speaker 2 (00:06:29):

So I have the, uh, the water warm water with lemon and then following that, I'll have my coffee and I'll add in superfood mushrooms and then

Speaker 1 (00:06:38):

Love me some mushrooms.

Speaker 2 (00:06:39):

Yes, I know. Right. Yeah. And then I have my Kaka bliss, which is basically a superfood Kaka Elixer so I have that, uh, I usually take that to go, uh, when I'm leaving for work or whatnot. And then what else do I do in the morning? I do cold showers. I I'm trying to, I'm mixing it around. It's not in the exact order, but cold showers. Uh, not religiously, probably three days a week. And then I work out, I'll do anything from, I'll go on a walk outside for about 15 minutes and it's actually only to get sunlight and fresh air and just to like get my lymphatic system moving and then I'll work out on either a degree, uh, micro, former, which I have. Oh yeah. On my, you know what that is. And so I have one of those at home. So I'll either do that and then rebounding or I'll go to the gym, wait train, or I'll go for a long walk running. Uh,

Speaker 1 (00:07:31):

How long would you say about, is your morning routine? All these things. If, if you're doing all these things in one.

Speaker 2 (00:07:36):

Yeah. Honestly I wake up about five 30 every morning. So I would say relatively I'm done with everything by nine. So I kinda like leisure, I believe nine. Yeah. By leisurely, like move into things. Wow. So I'm very adamant about my skincare. I love it. It's part of selfcare so that, and of course movement is key for me. That's like health vitality, everything. I I'm sure you agree. Uh, so movement is key and then obviously, you know, mind, body, soul. So the meditation. Yeah. And just, uh, taking time through the stretches, drinking my CA help BLI like all these things she knows. She knows. Yeah. I'm just so my morning routine is everything. I'm sure you could agree. A lot of people also do evening routines. I don't have a particular evening routine to be honest, but my morning routine is like solid.

Speaker 1 (00:08:29):

All right. So my audience is probably definitely done hearing about all the things that I do in the morning. It's what I talk about the most I'm sharing it the most, but it's just the most consistent thing. One of the most consistent things in my life or my health, my wellness, my productivity, my mental health, my sanity, everything. So please break down, particularly when it comes to what you are putting into your body. I was hearing lemon water. I was hearing functional mushrooms. I was hearing Keal. Please share. Why do you put these other things into your body and why? Particularly in the morning.

Speaker 2 (00:09:02):

Okay. So I'm all about optimization. Hmm. Uh, that's why you're here. <laugh> I love biohacking. I'm fascinated because I personally want to be the most healthiest version of my myself. And that requires me to be actually healthy. As everybody has heard, health is wealth. I've struggled in certain health issues before. So that was really reinforced. So I just think that health starts health is everything. So I do believe in consuming as close to the ground as possible. Uh, clean organic grass fed. I do eat meat. Uh, it works for me. Uh, I love vegetables. I thrive on vegetables too. I'm tea,

Speaker 1 (00:09:43):

Root vegetables all

Speaker 2 (00:09:44):

Day. That's amazing. Yeah. No, I just think that like, you feel just so different when you eat clean and also you just feel lighter and you feel more vibrant. And I just think that's just key. And so like these superfood mushrooms, the Kaka, it's just, I notice how I feel when I consume it and it's been a game changer for me. So I just try things for myself, see what works and, you know, disregard whatever doesn't I think it's so key to be so in tune with your body and I've spent my life, as of we were talking about before recording, I've spent my life knowing my body and literally mastering my body to a point that I could. I know when I'm a quarter inch off, like literally, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:10:25):

<laugh> so hang on with you.

Speaker 2 (00:10:26):

Yeah. So I just think health is everything. So the things I do is just what feels right to me. And I tweak it. Like I said, like the cold showers, for example, that's not consuming something, but just the action of doing that. It's very much more for your mind. I believe it's strengthening your mind to do something that's hard. Mm-hmm <affirmative> they don't wanna do. I don't think anybody wants to jump into a cold bath or a shower, but they know it's gonna serve them. And it does. You feel invigorated after. So

Speaker 1 (00:10:51):

Do you ever feel like you're maybe after doing something for so long that you get tired of doing the thing, even though, you know, in the back of your head that it's serving you, that it has served you there's science behind so many of these modalities and supplements and good water and everything you were just sharing. Do you ever feel like, what if I just didn't does, does the benefit and the commitment to these benefits, does it ever outweigh your commitment or your time?

Speaker 2 (00:11:21):

So the only thing I could speak to for that, everything I do is because I love it. It feels good. And it's the, the outcome is outweighing the, you know, the uncomfortableness, if you wanna say, but the one thing that I struggled the most in is meditation being consistent. And then everybody,

Speaker 1 (00:11:36):

A lot of people,

Speaker 2 (00:11:37):

Yeah. Everybody says every person I've interviewed on my podcast, the number one thing they say is meditation, key hands down. And it took me a while to even start a practice, but I have a hard time being consistent. And I actually luckily interviewed somebody that has it reinspired that interest is Emily Fletcher. She talks about her, uh, Zeva meditation method. I don't know if you heard about it, but I'm ready to start that so I could get, you know, reinspired to start a practice again, but that's my hardest thing. And everybody says the benefits are just incredible. Right. So,

Speaker 1 (00:12:08):

Yeah. Um, I've struggled with meditation over the years. It's definitely one of those things that, you know, in my personal development journey has been a common denominator from a lot of people that I look up to that I read that I listen to. And when I began to apply it, it was kind of like forcing something. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I, I, I think I'm supposed to be just this Zen guy, like chilling hard, not okay in the world, but then lo and behold, I sit down and it's thought after thought after thought, and then you realize, yeah, chase. That's what meditation actually is. Right? Yeah. But once I kind of began to take it and make it my own, which I'm hearing you do a lot of that in your practices as well, it became a lot more consistent. And so for me, I'm, I'm a walking meditator and for me, oh, yes. I'm curious if you kinda have the same experience, it's less of me trying to do this thing that I heard is good for me, that is hurt that I heard is good for my wellness, my health, my mental health, whatever, and trying to force myself into that model, but taking it like the infrastructure of it and just applying it like, oh, I can do this, but in a different way, I can do it in my way and keep doing it.

Speaker 2 (00:13:16):

I love that you share that chase because I remember my exact experience with that. And I remember cuz so many people and I know everybody can relate to this. We go on a walk, let's say, but we take our phone. Right. Imagine if you set that phone down mm-hmm <affirmative> and you just listen to nature and you just be with yourself. It is transformative. And I had experience with that, that opened my eyes to doing that more often. I love being in nature. That's where I feel most connected to myself. So you talk about walking meditation. I remember, okay. I, I have my dog chance at the time and we were going for a walk. I'm like, I'm just gonna leave my phone at home. And generally I listen to things. I listen, you know, prepping for a podcast, whatever it may be. I mul, you know, I multitask

Speaker 1 (00:13:59):

The development. Like I'm gonna listen to a podcast, listen to an audio book, which

Speaker 2 (00:14:02):

Is good. But also I think there's so much benefit in putting your phone away and just being, and just letting your mind go where it goes. And my experience of that was profound because I was battling with this one idea of this program. I wanted to start. And initially I was gonna start a, a program on mastering your body because that's something that I've spent my life doing and something I know well, and I could speak well to, but I wasn't field. I wasn't feeling, uh, this drive or pull towards it. So I was battling that idea. And then during that walking meditation, I had like a download that said, no, this is exactly what you could speak to right now. This is who you could serve. And so that was like done and done. I needed that clarity and it would've, it wouldn't have happened if I brought my phone. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so yes. I agree. Like walking meditation, I think it's key that people find, and this goes again for morning routine, find what works for you. Mm-hmm <affirmative> like, know yourself so well that you are so in tune with what feels good for you. What benefits you? What drives you forward ever forward?

Speaker 1 (00:15:06):

Hey yeah,

Speaker 2 (00:15:08):

Absolutely. You

Speaker 1 (00:15:08):

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Speaker 1 (00:16:00):

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Speaker 2 (00:18:08):

It's a good question. I think there always is like little, do we know? Yeah. I think that some things don't re reveal itself till later, but I, I feel like when you work on your body, you're uh, you know, moving your body in some form, weight training, whatever it may be. I believe confidence comes with that naturally. It's a byproduct of it. And so like, I don't think a lot of people think when they work out, this is to like improve my confidence. But I think that's just something that inevitably would happen. You know? So I think that's, yeah, I've just noticed in the things I do. It's like, you'd be surprised what comes out of it. There's always something like something to be gained from it that you just didn't even think of.

Speaker 1 (00:18:51):

Yeah. How do you translate that to others? I know this is a big part of your world as well. And the content that you create and how you work with individuals, how do you go from experiencing these things, the physical, mental, emotional to translating them and delivering them for other people to, to benefit as well?

Speaker 2 (00:19:09):

Well, if I were to answer that, if I hear your question correctly, that I believe very much of what you do in your life is all about being accountable and you know, keeping your word to yourself and your standards. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I have really high standards for myself and let me, let me like kind of lay this out. It is not about perfectionism. Yeah. So my standards are, I want to be healthy. I wanna feel good. I wanna look good, to be honest. And, and I don't think that's bad. I just wanna feel my optimum self. So the standards I have for myself is very much backed by the actions I take the habits, the rituals I do. And so I just think like when it comes down to, you know, applying that to your life is like setting yourself up for the standard you set for yourself. That's personally, what I think is that you need to habits are what builds your life. And ultimately you will become your habits. You know? I think it's very much like I always say I've been working out for so long. It's not something I do. It's a part of me. It's a lifestyle. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, it's not something separate. So

Speaker 1 (00:20:18):

What if, um, a person listening right now doesn't have clarity on their standard or doesn't think maybe they're worthy of a standard. How, how can they implement something to develop a

Speaker 2 (00:20:32):

Standard? I love that question. So first is awareness. Self-awareness is key. That's a foundation of everything. If you don't see where you're at, you won't know where to go. Mm-hmm <affirmative> like, I think it was Preston smiles that said you can't intervene in a world. You cannot see. So if you don't, you've

Speaker 1 (00:20:47):

Always got some great

Speaker 2 (00:20:48):

Oh, drops wisdom. Yeah. I love it. Uh, so I think self-awareness is the key before anything. So you need to know like, how do I feel right now? Where do I wanna go? Like, what is wrong? What's limiting me. Like, what are my beliefs, all these things you need that awareness. Like, where am I at? So you can see where you wanna go. So I lost track of my, my, my thought, oh, clarity. So, so self-awareness, and then I think it's really evaluating and reflecting on your values. I think knowing your values. I don't think a lot of people do this exercise it's talked about, but I don't think many people have actually sat down, gotten quiet, silent journaled and asked himself what

Speaker 1 (00:21:29):

It's toughest thing.

Speaker 2 (00:21:29):

Yeah. And

Speaker 1 (00:21:30):

Especially this day and age.

Speaker 2 (00:21:31):

Yeah, yeah. Cuz there's so much noise around us so we could get so distracted and we could also, you know, this is one thing that I really much relate to when I was younger is like I would form my values based on other people's you know, what do

Speaker 1 (00:21:45):

You mean by that?

Speaker 2 (00:21:45):

So for example, I started dating really young. I had, uh, I started dating when I was 11, but I had a serious boyfriend when I was 13 to 23. Wow. Wow. So 10 years I had a boyfriend and he was three years older. So imagine I'm 13, he's 16. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, that's a, quite a age difference. So I very much formed into like liking what he liked. And

Speaker 1 (00:22:07):

Again, oh, you were so malleable at that

Speaker 2 (00:22:09):

Age. Yeah. So, and I think that's common when you're dating somebody, you kind of start to like mold into them, especially when you're young mm-hmm <affirmative>. So I did that very much. And, and so I didn't for a long time, I didn't know what I valued. I had an idea, right? Mm-hmm <affirmative> like, oh, I, I value honesty, integrity and all these things. But the one thing, one key component is are you living your values? Like, are you embodying? Are you being the person that like stands for those values? Are you like actually practicing that in your daily life? And so I think that's really key is getting clarity. As you need to know what you value, because that's gonna be your GPS to lead you in your life, to, you know, propel you forward and do the actions you do, meet the people you meet and form the relationships you form because of your values. So that's the, a great way to gain clarity.

Speaker 1 (00:23:03):

That makes me think, um, I can definitely relate to that so much in my life growing up. And a lot of these things I still keep near and dear to me, you know, the infrastructure O of my nature and nurture of who I hung out with the belief systems and rules of my family. And my parents grew up, uh, in the Bible belt, you know? So Southern Baptist, you know, went to a, a Christian private school and you kinda reached an age where like, wait a minute, am I in alignment with these things? They might be serving me in terms of, I think I'm a good person. I'm not really getting into trouble. You know, I'm not getting arrested. I'm a law abiding citizen. I'm getting a job, getting a promotion, you know, I'm air quote here, happy by everybody else's standards. But if you really kinda take it in reverse, instead of looking at values first and then lifestyle, what if you look at your lifestyle and just dissect the values that you see in it and how do you feel about them?

Speaker 2 (00:24:05):

Exactly.

Speaker 1 (00:24:06):

And that was a big, big aha moment for me. Hell like just two years ago, I really felt like at 35 I started living for myself for the first time ever. And it was hard

Speaker 2 (00:24:19):

It's eyeopening, right? It is.

Speaker 1 (00:24:20):

It's still eyeopening and why it was so difficult, at least for me was it was like, I needed to grieve this past identity. And I needed to really, really give myself permission to let go of these things that while they served me up to this point, I don't have to keep them with me if I don't want,

Speaker 2 (00:24:42):

Oh, I love what you just said there. So there's a couple things that I'm gonna pull out of that. So alignment alignment to me is a word that I really gravitate towards is living fully aligned. Like, are you, is what you say you want to become? Are you being that in the world today? Like, is that aligned? And I think the only way you could be live aligned life is really knowing like what you truly value, what are your beliefs? What are the things holding you back? And are you saying yes to the right things and no to the wrong things? Like I'll

Speaker 1 (00:25:13):

You just pausing? What's that even just pausing. Yes. Just like, do I need to give this intentional? Yes or no right now. Like it's okay. This is me talking to myself. Yeah. I think it's like, it's okay to just sit and be with it for a little bit. It's okay. To not immediately say yes or immediately. No, because why are we probably doing that based on old belief systems? Mm-hmm <affirmative> old thought processes.

Speaker 2 (00:25:35):

Yeah. And the, the other thing you touched on is the acceptance and grieving the past version of you. I don't think you one. Yes. I think grieving is such an important topic and I've gone really heavy on this, on my podcast because I think it's something that nobody wants to do. Right? It's you're going, you're going into like the trenches of all the ugly stuff. Right? So grieving is a great process to fully release everything that is been stored up in you, all these beliefs and this hate, and this, this stories you tell yourself is like letting it just like breathing out, you know, exhaling all that from you. I think that's an important process, but also I think the other end of that is accepting all that. You are the totality of everything that has brought you here. The good, the bad, the ugly, the mistakes, whatever is literally just saying, I accept that this is my path. This is what, who made me, who I am today. But that doesn't mean tomorrow. I have to be her or him. We always have a choice. So I think, I mean the most powerful thing we have is choice. And so that I, I believe personally that self-acceptance is the pathway to self love. So accepting everything, you know, all those, you know, the past stories, the past lies, everything we used to tell ourself. So we could now move into who we wanna be.

Speaker 1 (00:26:59):

So I think that's what we're all after whether we realize it or not. Um, you know, we kind of started off the conversation, talking about bio hacks, little wellness tips, the physical self. I think all of us, I know myself included start there. Uh, I think fitness is the best gateway drug to all of the mental, emotional, spiritual benefits that come. If you have a solid why and commit and keep the commitments to yourself and just stay adherent for any period of time, you will transform externally and internally. Um, and then as we do like, wait a minute, this just feels right. This feels like home again. I don't know if I'm speaking for myself, but I, for the first time and ever feel like I am working, living, acting out of a place of like heart centered home

Speaker 2 (00:27:50):

Speaking my love language. No, I think that's all what it's about is really just returning home to ourselves. And, and I was, before we press record, I was talking about like, I feel like my journey has been self-discovery and self love. Like how could I love myself, truly love myself, like authentically wholeheartedly, say, I love myself, look in the mirror and say like, you are a beautiful human being. Look how far you come, girl, you

Speaker 1 (00:28:12):

Killing actor.

Speaker 2 (00:28:13):

<laugh> no, it is it's. Yeah, exactly. High five. Look at

Speaker 1 (00:28:16):

You. Look at me. <laugh>

Speaker 2 (00:28:17):

No, but, and that's not conceited or anything. That's actually like that's I think what we should all get to, and I've struggled with self love and self worth. I thought I loved myself. I thought I was confident, you know, and all these things. But when I realized that wasn't the truth, it's like to get to the path of really, truly accepting myself and loving the journey. That's brought me here. Like I always look at, and I'm sure you agree with this. I'm all about like life teaches us so many lessons and it will keep showing up until we learn the darn lesson. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, and it'll get louder and louder until we learn it. And I feel that's what our path is, is how could we continue to evolve ever forward and really just become the best we could possibly be authentically us and deeply in alignment. So

Speaker 1 (00:29:04):

How would you define self-love right here right now? Ha has, has your definition, has your interpretation, has your practice of self-love changed enough to where maybe you do have a different definition now? How, how would you kind of describe that?

Speaker 2 (00:29:16):

You know what, lately, one of the things I've been switching to cuz self-love is talked about. So often obviously it's a very cliche word, but that doesn't take away from the importance of it, cuz I think that's ultimately what it is, but what I've been leaning a little bit more on is self-acceptance

Speaker 1 (00:29:31):

Interesting.

Speaker 2 (00:29:31):

Okay. And the reason being is I believe so many people could say they love themselves, but have they really accepted their past the totality of everything that they are. And I think that when you fully accept yourself that the byproduct is self love. And so, and I do believe that, you know, we're ever evolving, we're always gonna be hit, you know, upside the head and knock to the ground. But knowing that with that, we're able to rise no matter what, because we have the will, we have, we, we know we're strong enough to overcome anything and I've been hit down a lot as you as everybody. And it's like, but we're still here. Thank God if we're still here. You know? And I, I just think that when it comes to self love, the self-acceptance piece I think is a lot that's missing mm-hmm <affirmative> and that radical responsibility mm-hmm <affirmative> and also the compassion mm-hmm <affirmative> for ourselves forgiveness for ourselves.

Speaker 2 (00:30:32):

Like these are the components that I think really stack up to self-love is that, you know, being able to be vulnerable, being able to be honest with yourself, most importantly, but honest with others and not fearful to be like, oh, I think we all have a fear of being judged. That's just human nature. But, but to not hide behind these masks so that we're not seen for who we are, I think there's such a beautiful at such a beautiful thing to see somebody be vulnerable. I think it's beautiful personally. And so I think, you know, the pathway to self love is for self-acceptance. Uh, I think that takes work. I think it's forgiveness. I think it's, uh, being compassionate. Mm-hmm <affirmative> for ourselves. I think it's also, you know, learning to receive. I think a lot of people have a hard time receiving I've I've kind of battled with that myself mm-hmm <affirmative> and uh, we have to ask ourselves like, why are we struggling to receive from others?

Speaker 2 (00:31:31):

And um, you know, I think that, you know, people that give compliments, for example, this is pointed out to me and I thought this was really, uh, eyeopening for myself. I was paid a compliment, uh, somebody, I was doing this speaking thing, he's like, you speak really well, but don't read the paper, blah, blah, blah. And he, and he's like, and you look well, whatever. And he says like, you're beautiful in this. And I kind of shut down his compliment. And the reason being is because he complimented my looks and that's one thing that I don't want to be seen for that mm-hmm <affirmative> like I was trying to avoid that. And so I kind of shut it down. I did say, thank you, but I kind of shut it, pushed it aside. He's like, you know, when somebody pays you a compliment, you should be able to receive it because you know, maybe somebody is stepping really an uncomfortable space to compliment you and that feels good to them, but you kind of like shove, you know, pushed it aside. And that was eyeopening to me. So I love when people, if you pay somebody good compliment, just say, thank you. I received that. Yeah. And see how different that changes when you start to step in that energy. Like to naturally be like, I received that. You're, you're taking it in and you're like, thank you. Yeah. You know, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:32:43):

Um, I first heard that and began to apply it to my life, um, from Sean Stevenson, uh, from the model health show. Yeah. And, uh, I would always hear him say that on his show. And uh, even when I met him years ago for the first time in person and he said it and it just kind of stuck with me of like that's different mm-hmm <affirmative> um, and actually this came up again, I think maybe a week or two ago had another guest here. And we were talking about that of, just think about it visually. Think about if I'm actually giving you a gift. Oh, she gone <laugh>

Speaker 2 (00:33:21):

<laugh>

Speaker 1 (00:33:21):

You got the new Macs though. I see the folder. Icon's different.

Speaker 2 (00:33:25):

<laugh>

Speaker 1 (00:33:27):

The screen server. Okay. On

Speaker 2 (00:33:29):

She gone,

Speaker 1 (00:33:31):

She gone, she back <laugh> okay. All alright, gotta cut for you. NCO

Speaker 2 (00:33:38):

Model health show.

Speaker 1 (00:33:40):

Are you familiar? You

Speaker 2 (00:33:41):

Show. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,

Speaker 1 (00:33:42):

Yeah. Um,

Speaker 2 (00:33:44):

He's great.

Speaker 1 (00:33:45):

Yeah. Love him. Yeah. Amazing guy. There we go. Cool. All right. Thank you, sir. Um, and we were talking about, imagine if you just had this visual interpretation of, instead of like, I'm gonna pay you a compliment versus I'm actually gonna give you a tangible gift and receiving it is actually like taking it, bringing it into your home. It's like, if I show up at your doorstep and I say, Erica here, and you say, cool, thank you. And that's, as far as we go and the gift just stays at your doorstep, you go back inside, it's technically there, you got it. It's yours to do what you want with it. But imagine if you received that gift, it's like bringing that and the person into your home that is completely different. That is so much more intimate and real and more of an exchange. And that's such a good point to kind of accent what you were saying from this other guy of like, it's sometimes the other person just kind of pushing their boundaries to pay that compliment and to even say something at all. And if it doesn't cross that threshold, it's just kind of like, I brought you this and you just left outta your doorstep.

Speaker 2 (00:34:50):

Yeah. And it goes kind of back to like this human connection. That's all what we want. And I think when you're able to receive and give again, giving is give, is giving is just as important, but it's that like human interaction, right. That really authentic connection with somebody is like,

Speaker 1 (00:35:07):

So Flo is exchange.

Speaker 2 (00:35:08):

Absolutely. Exactly. Yeah. So important.

Speaker 1 (00:35:10):

Yeah. So why was it so difficult for you to accept this physical compliment? Okay. And this is something you're kind of working on.

Speaker 2 (00:35:20):

Yeah. Well it's something actually I'm passed now to be honest, uh, again, all the self work I've done, <laugh> it's finally paid off. But so as I was talking about, a lot of people don't know that, uh, only like my friends really know this, but I've been doing stuff we

Speaker 1 (00:35:35):

Love and exclusive here

Speaker 2 (00:35:37):

Take it. So I've been doing something called fit modeling, which is a live mannequin for clothing manufacturers. So let me just tell you what that is. So basically clothing is fit on my body and the mass produce for every size. So my body needs to stay within a quarter inch at all times. So that

Speaker 1 (00:35:55):

Is a feat,

Speaker 2 (00:35:57):

Especially for women. Yes. And the reason being specifically, cuz I fit a lot of denim. So a lot of the jeans out there always fit on my body. So, and

Speaker 1 (00:36:05):

I, so what are you wearing size Erica?

Speaker 2 (00:36:07):

I wear size 27. So is it if that's where you're asking, but so I'm a size 27, but so, uh, yeah, so I've been doing this for so long and I kind of fell into it, but that's, I don't need to get in the whole story of that, but I just fell into it did really well. And you know, I've, I've been consistently doing it full time for a long time. And only after about during the pandemic, actually I finally was like, I've been trying to get out of it for a long time, figure out my passion purpose. And I finally got clarity of what that was. Thank God cuz I was on the pursuit for so long. But uh, so for a long time I was always trying to figure out what this was that I'm meant to do. What is my purpose? That's the question we all asked ourselves. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but um,

Speaker 1 (00:36:51):

Well I want from my life and what do I value?

Speaker 2 (00:36:53):

Yeah. Because

Speaker 1 (00:36:53):

Everybody else wants from me and what they value.

Speaker 2 (00:36:56):

Absolutely. And so I don't find much purpose into fitting clothes, you know? And it's great. It's amazing. I could say I do like I, I love it and I'm very thankful I'm able to do it and all the clients I have and all that. But I very much, since I was in high school, if not even younger was seen for a body mm-hmm <affirmative> and then I happen to go into a career, that's literally chop off my head. I'm just used for my body. It's just a body. I'm just a body. Yes. Wow. Yes. I'm an expert in what I do and I provide feedback and I'm very knowledgeable and all that stuff I'm using my brain. It's not brainless, but, but yeah, it's because I was so seen for my body for so long, even from like the men that liked me, it was always like the looks and the body, yada yada and, and great.

Speaker 2 (00:37:42):

I'm not like taking that for granted. I'm very thankful and I very much appreciate it now. Like I take, I take good care of my body. I love being fit. I love taking care of my body. So it's not a bad thing. And I'm not like tooting my own horn, but how it affected me in what drove me into finding my purpose was really, you know, what, what can I use like up here? What am I meant to serve onto the world? And uh, luckily I discovered it, but yeah, that's why, uh, I kind of like shoved those compliments away because I was trying to move out of like being seen for something else. And again, this, you know, again, the self work is not needing to have that external validation, like, oh, I'm worth this to this person because they see me as this and that's a bad way to think of it. And I was thinking it for a long time. Like I would see all these successful people. I'm like, I want that. But I think really when it comes down to it, we have to figure out what's right for us. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, internally, like what's driving you internally, not from external sources, you know, and to feel love and worthy and all that. So

Speaker 1 (00:38:49):

Can you like really walk us through cuz I've been there and I know the person listening is there has been, there will be there. This is something I think everyone will go through where you are recognized by even just one other person. But it's probably a prominent person in your life, a parent, a sibling, a boss, or a group of people. You are that guy, you are this girl, whether we know you as this person who can do a very specific task or maybe they deem something, um, as like a natural talent and you're like, stop. This is just, I'm sorry I was born this way. You know, like maybe I'm just naturally good at this or Excel in this. Um, how did you, how can we really make the shift? I think for one of two ways we have to do it for ourself. And then we also have to do it in a way that's gonna finally land with other people and translate so that we can, if, if that's what we want to get them to see us for who we see ourselves as

Speaker 2 (00:39:50):

If I were to say, I, I think it's really, I think first it comes down to really connecting with yourself. Like who, what do you stand for? Like what do you, I actually wrote a post today. And it was very much about, this is like, it's not about what you do for a living. It's very much like how do you see yourself as a person? And so I think you need to first get connected with that. And then I think people will see you as that. So I, I don't think, I think it really starts internally first and you embodying that into your life. And so people will see you as so much more than just a podcast or so much more than a fitness trainer or whatever it may be. So I think it's really like, are you embodying, you know, so much of what you value, what you believe, what you preach. Like are you living that go

Speaker 1 (00:40:36):

Deeper there for me please? Embodiment is such a keyword. Um, so what does embodiment of these ideas? These practices really look and feel like, because it's more than just awareness is absolutely right. And it's these concepts you're talking about, but we have to consistently embody them.

Speaker 2 (00:40:53):

Yeah. It, my thought on this is you need to be doing what you love and like seeing yourself come alive in those experiences. Mm-hmm mm-hmm <affirmative> I recently traveled by myself to Croatia. Oh, I love traveling by myself,

Speaker 1 (00:41:07):

Myself. Solar travel is amazing.

Speaker 2 (00:41:09):

I think everybody should do it travel experience. If you wanna get more connected to yourself, travel solo and travel internationally because you're going somewhere that

Speaker 1 (00:41:17):

Start yourself in the middle where you've never been. Yes. And don't speak the language.

Speaker 2 (00:41:20):

Yes. I love that. You agree with that? Mm-hmm <affirmative> I think it's one of the key things of really, really getting close to yourself again, you know, connecting deeper within. And so, uh, my boyfriend's away on a work trip and I just decided I was going somewhere. I went to a biohacking event and then I traveled to Croatia from there. Wow. Alone. And I did what I love about this is I get all giddy about this because this is my jam. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:41:46):

I wanna hear all about it. <laugh>

Speaker 2 (00:41:47):

So, so when you travel alone, you get to do what you want or when you want, like everything is, is to be in alignment with what you feel like doing and what you feel aligned to do. And even

Speaker 1 (00:42:00):

Your own comfort level. Like everything, you're not getting pressure to maybe go explore, do something that you don't want to that might, you definitely go get outta your comfort zone a little bit, but you know, that's a whole other level that I think you might not realize, like even pushing your own boundaries. Wow. You're pushing your own boundary is totally up to you.

Speaker 2 (00:42:18):

Absolutely. So I'm a venture junkie and I realize I'm extreme adventure junkie. <laugh> all right. So, so one of the things I did was caneing, which is basically like when you're repelling down walls, you're you're skim skimmer, scrimmaging, scrimmaging, scrimmaging. Yeah. There you go through water. Same and you are floating along and you're doing all these, uh, adventurous things and fun adrenaline jump through things. Yeah. Well, I mean with a crew, of course, but not I was traveling alone, but I literally came alive like utter joy, like a kid, like wow. Playing out in nature. Yeah. And so

Speaker 1 (00:42:58):

That's what it is. You're going back to play or being a kid again,

Speaker 2 (00:43:01):

A hundred percent. So when you talk about like, how do you embody, like what you value or embody the, the authentic version of you is really doing the things you love and knowing like you have to get really clear and what do you love? What makes you come alive? And I know for me, as we talked about nature is very key adventure, uh, new experiences going somewhere. I've never been playing, you know, being playful, uh, meeting people that are inspiring and motivating, you know, all these things. So you have to get clear on really what you love. Like just, I think that's time. That's the time you need to start journaling and then make a plan to fit it in your schedule. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, cuz we could get so sidetracked and get so busy. We won't fit it in.

Speaker 1 (00:43:46):

You gotta date yourself. You know, I, I do this all the time. I have little, I have moments all the time with myself. It could just literally be a moment at home or you know, if I'm done with work early and May's not home or if she's outta town, I'm out of town, I'll have a whole ass day to myself. I'll take myself out for coffee for that's for lunch. I'll go walk around and explore and just do me with me. Um,

Speaker 2 (00:44:10):

You kinda love yourself when you're by

Speaker 1 (00:44:12):

Yourself. Yeah, exactly. Super key. If you can't have a good time with yourself, I think I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It's a like lean into that. There is a reason or reasons why

Speaker 2 (00:44:23):

I love that. You say that. And I think that's important for anybody to hear right now, is it like, there was a lot of people during the pandemic that especially, uh, extroverts that were, were having a hard time being alone, stuck inside. And I get that and that's totally acceptable. Like you are who you are. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but I do think that if you are uncomfortable being alone, question that like get curious why mm-hmm <affirmative> and, and go deep, like be more alone <laugh> yeah. Get more quiet with yourself. And that will UN uncover why you feel that way? Like what do you, what are you missing or what do you, what do you attach to, so how

Speaker 1 (00:45:00):

Do you do this type of work in your relationship? How do, how do you prioritize yourself and put yourself, make this commitment to yourself and show up for this self love and be in a relationship? How do you navigate that? How do you communicate that? What does that look like? If you'd be willing to share

Speaker 2 (00:45:19):

Such a great question? I think that's such a great question. Uh, so luckily, luckily we both have separate pursuits. We definitely, you know, we both have certain things we're pursuing that we're working on. I think that's super important when you're in a relationship or a marriage or whatever is have something separate from each other, something you love, that's uniquely yours,

Speaker 1 (00:45:39):

Ditto like times a hundred

Speaker 2 (00:45:40):

Is certainly. Yeah, because I, I think there's a lot of people that work together these days, a lot of couples, but I think you still, even if you do that, that's okay. But I do think you need to find something that's uniquely yours, that you could cherish, that you could like mold and make it your own, you know? So that's one thing for, uh, my significant other and I is we have separate things that we're working hard at. Also I have my morning routine. He has his, both of them are totally different. <laugh> and uh, what else? I think that also it's

Speaker 2 (00:46:15):

I think it's just really knowing like what you love and making time for it, but also again, key is making time for each other. I really believe in date night. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, uh, you're married. And so like, I'm sure you agree, like date night is important. Like you still need a date or significant other. So I think that it's so important to make time for yourself. Uh, I do think you need to kind of have that little separation that you nurture what you love. So if you're not doing that, I think that's something that you need to start doing personally.

Speaker 1 (00:46:46):

What is one thing maybe that you are working on the most or maybe is the newest area of your self-love journey and what is one area that you hope blanket statement here? Most people are working on right here right now.

Speaker 2 (00:47:05):

Okay. So to answer the first part of your question, what am I working most? Mm-hmm <affirmative> on self-love or self-development I'll say so the hardest thing for me and I kind of mentioned, this is speaking

Speaker 1 (00:47:19):

Interesting. Yes. Well, you've been doing great so far

Speaker 2 (00:47:21):

<laugh> so, which is it? So let me just share this I'll I'll backtrack a little bit if you don't mind. So I had a learning disability when I, I was younger. I was discovered, I believe I'm not positive, but let's say 11 and it was auditory memory disorder. So basically that means whenever I hear something it's harder for me to retain. I wasn't good at English. English is my first language go figure <laugh>. Wow. But it was just, uh, the memory I had bad short term memory. So my biggest struggle and this also, oh gosh, I could go into so many different ways this, but this showed up in a lot of my relationships too. Like my 10 year relationship, he emotionally abused me and was very much making me feel stupid. So that reinforced my learning disability about feeling I was stupid mm-hmm <affirmative>.

Speaker 2 (00:48:06):

And so, and then luckily the next relationship that was about five years, a very loving relationship. Luckily he made it like cute, like my little things. I would say my little unique things, I would say he made it cute. So at least, yeah, it was like uniquely what I do if you wanna say, but, but the speaking thing, as I fast forward a little bit more in my life, I remember still holding on this liming belief. Like I can't speak well, I'm stupid. I'm just not smart enough. I can't retain, you know, like all these stories I would tell myself until I really kind of unraveled all these stories. I'm like, you know what, obviously I rewrote those stories, but I had to reinforce it. Like you could say all day long. Okay. I'm smart. You know, but if you don't reinforce that and back it with something it's, it's kind of like an affirmation. Yeah. You know,

Speaker 1 (00:48:54):

Knowing without doing is the same thing as not knowing

Speaker 2 (00:48:57):

Exactly. So what I would do, and this is when I started my podcast, fashion love pursuit. So I, I decided this was on my deep personal development journey. Let's say it was, I don't know, like four years ago at this point guessing, uh, I was like, okay, I'm gonna start a podcast. Just, okay, why not? I like this stuff. <laugh>

Speaker 1 (00:49:16):

What hell of a way to get through a, a fear or challenge of speaking.

Speaker 2 (00:49:20):

So that was one of my core reasons. Besides I love personal development. I love like, I just wanna continue to grow and learn. That's my passion. You

Speaker 1 (00:49:29):

Were probably already a consumer of them at that point.

Speaker 2 (00:49:31):

I was. Yeah. And that's what inspired me to do it. So I also on not really consciously thinking of it, but I know definitely in my heart, part of the reason was to prove that I like basically do the hard thing mm-hmm <affirmative> so you could grow through it, you know? And so is basically like, okay. And I remember when I was first doing my podcast, I wouldn't do video. Cause I'm like, I need to see the paper in front of me. I need to read it. Cause I can't remember it. I

Speaker 1 (00:49:58):

To see this probably.

Speaker 2 (00:50:00):

Yeah. And so I did really, I, I tip be toed into it somewhat, but I kept doing it and I kept getting better and better. And luckily like, I feel I'm pretty good at interviewing and I don't need a paper in front of me. I don't like, so I just think that we, I firmly believe this, that we should always step into what's uncomfortable cuz on the other side is always growth. And so learning to, you know, speak better and have that confidence that, that I can do this and I can speak well. Yeah. I'll I'll forget things, stress me. It happens sometimes I can't connect one <laugh> but yeah, but you know what? I think that we all, we all have our unique struggles and I think that if you just constantly choose to grow through it, then we could continue to evolve and become better at it.

Speaker 1 (00:50:47):

<laugh> so. And what about for somebody else right now? Or what are you most here? We are midway through 2022. Um, what are you hoping that the majority of people out there are working on right now?

Speaker 2 (00:51:00):

So I think alignment is one of the big things I'm leaning on right now is really, are you the person you want to become? Is that in alignment with who you are being in the world today? And I, I think are

Speaker 1 (00:51:13):

You embodying it?

Speaker 2 (00:51:13):

Are you embodying it? Because I think so many of us are so disconnected because we have so many things thrown at us and, and so it's so easy to be scrolling on social media kind of idolizing people that are like being a podcaster. You know how many podcasters there are <laugh>

Speaker 1 (00:51:30):

So, uh, 2.6 million.

Speaker 2 (00:51:32):

Oh my goodness. Yeah, but I don't know how many active

Speaker 1 (00:51:35):

400,000.

Speaker 2 (00:51:37):

So that's quite a bit. Yeah. <laugh>

Speaker 1 (00:51:38):

It goes it, but it's drops far. You look at that big daunting number. Oh gosh. Yes. Last I check is like 2.5, 2.6 million total shows. This is apple podcast, but then we look at live or active meaning have they put out at least one new episode in the last 90 days, that number goes from 2.6 million to 400,000.

Speaker 2 (00:51:57):

Yes. And probably drops more like the consistency and everything. So, so it's really easy to,

Speaker 1 (00:52:03):

I it out on the pod stats. Sorry. <laugh> yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:52:05):

As you should. Of course. And uh, so it's very easy to look at other people mm-hmm <affirmative> and you know, think, oh, I wanna be like her or him. And then you get so disconnected from actually who what's or who, or what's true to you. And so I think that, what people should work on today is really finding what's alignment in alignment and true to them and, and really not, and accepting that mm-hmm <affirmative> it's okay if you, I, I'm trying to think the first thing that comes to my mind, I remember having this conversation with a friend and he's like, I just, I do wanna date somebody that I'm attracted to. Like, I like their looks. That's just how I feel. I'm like, that's okay. That's okay. And no one should judge you about that. If anything, I agree you should be attracted to your partner, you know, and, and there's nothing wrong with that. So just the little things is what's an alignment for you and getting really keen and aware. Are you living in alignment in your everyday? Hopefully.

Speaker 1 (00:53:08):

So, you know, and, uh, to go back to your first response about what you're working on, um, it is so true and it's the whole reason why I'm here right now. Why we are here right now, the choice to turn and face the difficult thing. Um, I would not, I would quite literally not be here doing what I'm doing. Had I not had my world kind of like rocked and by not dealing with this traumatic event in my life, but then choosing to literally turn and face the thing that I had been running from for 12, 13 years at that time into not only just like sit and be with it, but to embody it. Yeah. Every time that I used to think of these words ever forward would break me down, cuz it, it was just this reminder of what my dad used to say and how he used to live.

Speaker 1 (00:53:59):

And then it would just make me think of how sad I was that he was gone and then I would get angry. And then it was just this vicious cycle that quite literally tore me up. And so when I chose to stop accepting that as who I am and stop accepting that that's how that was gonna run my life. And I ran towards it. I embodied it now, quite literally, it's on my arm, it's the show. It's, it's everything that I do. And so much of what I do. And so much of what my brother does. And it, it has just imprinted on my family in such unique ways, but we only have been able to grow from it by turning and running towards it.

Speaker 2 (00:54:36):

Absolutely. As they say, uh, if I could remember this quote, you must, what is it? Uh, you must be willing to go in the dark so you could reveal the light. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> something like that. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, like there's always a contrast. So with dark there's light and if we suppress, you know, our dark side, we're suppressing as well, our light side. So I, I think that's so true. A great example is like you, you must be willing to go, you know, it's very hard and it's hard to explain this to people. I think to be willing to go towards the pain, go will like be willing to say yes to what's uncomfortable. I, I feel I live my life this way now is I always say yes to what's uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 (00:55:17):

Yeah. Yeah. I'm with you

Speaker 2 (00:55:18):

Because I, I choose grow regardless. Like I wanna grow, I wanna learn lessons, you know, I wanna learn lessons, the least painful way. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but you know, when you say something uncomfortable, it's like we could withstand more things than we think we can. So, oh

Speaker 1 (00:55:32):

Yeah. So true. Um, well now I would invite you to run towards those two words with me again. Yeah. So, um, ever forward, when you hear those words, what does that mean to you? How do you live a life ever forward?

Speaker 2 (00:55:45):

I love this question because I believe I live this in my every day ever forward to me means living with intention, passion, purpose, to be very conscious in the decisions you make. I, I like to say being conscious with your yeses and conscious with your nos, because everything you say yes to is either gonna drive you forward or it's gonna pull you back. And so you have to be in alignment with, is that what I feel that's right for me and choosing, you know, that whatever you say yes to that, that's, you're connected deeply with your true, authentic self. Yes. And also, I just think that ever forward is also again, as I spoke about is the path of growth. And so for me, it's always about seeking personal evolution and being really grounded in my truth and my existence in the world. So ever forward, I, I love it. That's how I love my life.

Speaker 1 (00:56:41):

I love that interpretation. Excuse me. Um, I love that interpretation. I love all of my guest interpretation. And so it's, uh, I, it's a great way for me to kind of just bring it back home to the theme of the show, but it truly does serve me because it's with every question that I ask with every, that question that I ask in a way it's another way that I'm turning and facing that. And so like it's a choice that I'm making to, to utter it every time that I'm on the show and to invite, to, to bring you into my world a little bit and to make it a little bit more bearable. And so that I can see that it's not just me living in the darkness, but rather there's a way to share this. There's a way to incorporate it into my life and invite others along the way as well. So thank you.

Speaker 2 (00:57:25):

Beautiful. So how do you live your life ever Ford? I'm sure you've explained this many times that <laugh>, let's just pull it out of

Speaker 1 (00:57:32):

You again. Um, no great question. And, um, you know, I used to say that it was, it, it was still for somebody else to me living ever Ford was just being all these versions of myself that I thought I had to be because I had been there for so long, the older brother, the staff Sergeant, the scholar, the, the boss, like all these versions that I was just doing, being, thinking, because everybody else saw me as that. And also just leading with, with this message of just kind of trying to carry this message with me of, because it's a good thing because it's a good, it's a good honor. Right. But really for me last couple years, it's been just, you can be present. You can be very, very still. And in that you can learn more way more about yourself and who you want to be and who you truly are.

Speaker 1 (00:58:27):

I'm talking to myself here. Yeah. Um, and then carry that with you. So instead of always trying to just push forward and push forward and carry these preconceived notions about myself and just all these burdens real or in my head, I actually can do so much more. I can go so much more forward by just shedding all these other things that don't serve me. And then like for me, that is the best way I think I could ever honor the legacy of my father and honor what he set out for us. Um, and at the same time, just getting closer and closer to my truth.

Speaker 2 (00:59:01):

Beautiful. And I think that's kind of like the overarching message over this whole podcast is like, how could we really live in alignment in tr in our, our authentic truth of who we are and what we're living for. What's our passion and purpose that we're serving onto the world as well. Yeah. So true. So yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1 (00:59:18):

Well, Erica, it was a pleasure having you on the show. Thank you so much. You, um, we're gonna have all of your information of course, down in the show notes and video notes for everybody, but where can they go to connect with you? Yeah. To learn more about you, hang out with you. Where, where are you in

Speaker 2 (00:59:30):

The world? Yep. I'm mostly on Instagram. So Erica lippy on Instagram also, uh, let's see lippi.com to find out like resources and everything I'm doing and the podcast and the oh yeah, yeah. The podcast. Of course. I've forgot about that. <laugh> yes. My podcast, passion, love pursuit. I interview amazing people as yourself, which is coming on don't soon. I cannot wait, but yeah, incredible guests. It's all about, you know, personal growth, health, wellness, everything under the sun, really to become our best, most authentic version of ourselves. So love it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:04):

Yeah. Love it. Tune. And everybody. Thank you so much again,

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):

For more information on everything you just heard, make sure to check this episode, show notes or head to everforwardradio.com.