WITH ANDREA CRISP
“Where ever you find yourself in your journey — when it comes to your mindset — it will always be necessary for you to THINK FEEL AND ACT as though it has already happened. ”
About This Episode:
Are you ready to take that next step in your life towards success. Today on the podcast I am going to share with you what it takes not only to be successful but how to embody that next level version of yourself.
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Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?
Are you ready to take that next step in your life towards success? Today on the Courage Cast, I'm going to share with you three tips to really not only be successful, but how to embody that next level version of yourself. Hey, friend, are you ready to take courageous steps to create a life in business you love. Welcome to the courage cast.
I'm Andrea Crisp, mindset coach, author, and a multi passionate entrepreneur. For years, I was afraid to allow myself to shine that was until I discovered that I could step into my own power, shift my mindset and take ownership of my own destiny. Now I coach women across the globe who are ready to own their life and make a massive impact. Each week I'll share conversations with amazing humans who've been willing to face their fear and pursue their purpose. I'll provide a blend of practical and spiritual advice to help you take brave steps in your own life and business.
Hey there, welcome to the courage cast. My name is Andrea, I am your host, I'm so glad that you are joining me today, you are in for a treat, because we're going to be talking about success and what it really takes to be successful in your life. And if this is something that you have felt as though it has been eluding you, then I want to encourage you to press pause on the episode right now, go grab a pen and paper or open up your notes app on your phone and take some notes. Because honestly, I truly, truly believe that if you can start out working these three principles, these three keys in your life, everything in your life will change. And you will start being successful at a whole new level.
There was a time in my life that I absolutely hated, running. Like when I mean hated. I really like had this loathing feeling to running. It felt a bit like the bane of my existence. And it all stems back to when I was in college. I was basically I think, forced into taking a mandatory reading class. And it was something that we all had to take in my college, it was a Christian liberal arts college. And I don't know it sounds super archaic now to think about the fact that we had to take a running class. But we did. And I waited and waited and waited to finally sign up for this class. And it was literally the last thing I wanted to do. Now, I'm not sure if I made it up. I mean, there's been so many years that have passed since then. But I really, this is the excuse I used, I would tell the coach every single day that I'd go into the class that I had shin splints, and this actually got me out of running. So either was the smartest person in the world, or the stupidest depending on how you look at it. Because when the last day of our running class came in the spring of that year, our coach called on everyone to go outside and we were going to run the track. And I remember thinking to myself, like well, I probably shouldn't be running the track, considering you've had me on the stationary bike this entire time, because I had shin splints.
But I ended up having to run alongside every other person in the class, who had been preparing for an entire semester for this running test. Now I've blocked out a lot of it, I have no idea how many kilometers or miles we even ran. But honestly, it was the worst experience. So here we were standing at the track, we were put into pairs I was paired up, surprisingly, one of the fastest and best male runners in the class. So we were going to be tallying everyone's laps as they ran. So I had him and I would count how many laps he had. And basically what we were doing is you know, we were cheering that person on. So of course he ran his, you know, time it was so fantastic. Everybody was cheering him on at the end. And then it came time for the girls to start at the starting line. And the first little bit seemed fine. It's like anything right? You start running and you're like yeah, okay, I can do this. But then as I got through like basically to the end of like lap one. I was dying like my legs were cramping. My heart and my chest like they felt like they were going to like, just completely burn up and explode. And I was so dry, like, my mouth was so dry, I could barely even swallow.
And so what we were doing is as we would lap through, we would give popsicle sticks to our partner. And that was the way to count how many laps that person had left, which I mean is crazy, because they didn't want anyone to cheat. So they use popsicle sticks. And as I started, you know, basically to get worse and worse with the running. My partner would run alongside of me when I would go by him on the side of the track. And he would encourage me, he helped me keep going. And then as we got closer to the end of my time, he was literally running the entire way around with me, just to keep me motivated. And just to keep me going. And when I finally crossed the finish line, I literally collapsed to the ground. And I remember laying there like I thought I was literally going to die like the coach was telling me to get up and walk around and I was like, get up, walk around. What do you what are you kidding me like I can barely I'm like, I'm barely breathing, let alone walk around. And as I lay there on the ground in the grass, I made up my mind, I would never, I mean, I would never run again. I was not a runner. I had never been meant to be a runner. And I would never, in my lifetime ever run again. And the reason why I tell you this story is because literally almost two decades later, I found myself living by that narrative that I was not a runner. It was part of who I was, I had taken on the identity of someone who really never ran.
And I would joke about I only run unless I'm chased. And honestly, it was something in my life that I lived and breathed by. And I would brag even that I wasn't a runner, I created an entire narrative and entire identity around how bad of a runner I was. And that kind of stayed with me up until I was probably about 38 years old. I'm thinking it was 38. Now when I look back, but when I was 38, I was working at a church. And I was working with some of the younger staff and we were talking one day. And they were talking about training for a particular race. And one of the girls had been running for some time. And she had just completed a race in Toronto, and she was going to prepare for another one. And she said to me, why don't you train with me? And I was like, you've got to be kidding me. You must not know. I am not a runner. So I went into the whole spiel of what this all entailed. And for some reason, Michelle convinced me to try. So I don't know what she did. That made me even think it was possible. But I actually decided that I would start training for a race.
And I was thinking probably I should do a 5k first that was like my my first gut instinct, because obviously that's what people do is a 5k. And she encouraged me she's like, You know what, I would go bigger than that I would go right to a 10k. So, before I knew it, I was signed up for a 10k it was the zoo run in Toronto, and I basically needed to start training right away. So this podcast title today is basically titled How you think, feel and act will determine how successful you become. And the reason why I'm relating this story about running to this particular topic is because this is something in my own life, an example a real example in my own life, where I saw this completely change in my life and I'm going to share with you how that change and what manifested within my life.
But it all started when I started to realize that my thoughts have power and everything that I really had believed about myself whether that was relationally physically, business Spiritual, financial, anything, anything and everything all stemmed from what I thought. So I started to recognize where my thoughts were coming into play here, I started to really become more aware of what I was thinking all the time, this is something that I'm doing on a regular basis, this is something that I even work with my clients with, is becoming aware of what are we thinking, because our thoughts are really so powerful, that we can think ourselves into an entire story, or perception about something in our lives. And everything that has manifested within your life up until this point, has stemmed from what you think and feel, and the action you take to manifest it, whether it be good or bad. So for me, it was thoughts like I'm not smart. And that one came from a narrative in high school where I just consistently failed grade 10 math over and over and over again, then, of course, I will be the last of my friends to get married.
This is also something that manifested in high school because I remember thinking to myself, all my friends always have boyfriends, and they always easily get dates. And I had this whole story wrapped around how I had a hard time dating, and I would be the last person to get married. And sure enough, here I am. 48 years old, never been married. Okay. So if you don't think there are power in your thoughts, let me tell you right here and right now, there are significant power in your thoughts. So you may think to yourself, well, Andrea, like, if there's so much power in your thoughts, and why haven't you changed your thought patterns around getting married, I have to honestly say to you, this is something that I'm actively working on. And I know that has taken me a long time to get to where I am today. And I have to undo and reframe, though thought those thoughts in my own life.
Another one was, you know, when I became an entrepreneur was I will never have a successful online business. And that was a story that I told myself, when I started seeing everyone around me that was starting their businesses start to succeed, and I wasn't succeeding as fast. So I developed a whole narrative, a whole story around that, and what that looked like for me, and all of these thoughts, every one of those thoughts, and many more that I've had to work with, I've had to deal with, I've had to uproot in my life, I've had to reframe, were really about me not being smart enough, not being able to be in relationships, not being able to be successful, not being able to be financially stable. And those thoughts, those thoughts, all culminating together, became my identity, who I was identifying as, and I literally had taken on the identity of someone who was not smart, was not marriage material was never going to be fine, financially successful, just like I had taken on the identity of not being a runner. And so wasn't until I really started doing this in depth, the work, the mindset work, to learn that we have the power to shift and change how we think, how we feel, and how we act.
And when I started to understand this principle, when I started to live this principle out in my life, and started to see that things were shifting in my life, I was shifting beliefs. And I was shifting the identity of who I had made myself be. And no, I read the book, I think it's called unbecoming it's Glennon Doyle. And this was years ago. And I remember thinking like, wow, like, Isn't this so much the truth because, you know, we spend a majority of our lives trying to become something. And then we have this like epiphany, and something happened in our lives, where we're like, we're gonna burn it all down. And Glen and Doyle talks about, unbecoming who we thought we needed to be. And for me, and becoming, was really about unraveling these beliefs, unraveling this identity and letting go of what I thought I was, and who I thought I was.
So just the other day, I was chatting on Voxer in Voxer, for those of you who don't know, is a text app and this is something that I use with my coaching clients, and we text and audio back and forth throughout the month and they can ask questions, we can talk about some of the limiting beliefs in their lives, I can give them real time answers and ask questions to help keep them moving forward. This is like a very, very powerful way to integrate these new thoughts in our lives. So on Voxer, I was chatting with one of my clients, and one of one of these things came up for her specifically. And I started to share with her how you think you feel an act are all going to be how you are going to shift your identity. But when you become aware of what those thoughts are, or when you become aware of the prevailing feelings or emotions that are present in your life, or the actions you're taking, that are in like hustle, or they're in inaction, you know, either one, that is really going to be telling of where you are now, and really how you can shift it to move forward.
And so as we were talking through Voxer, I was encouraging her to really start to shift her identity around who she is becoming. And we had already done the process of the unbecoming, which is identifying the limiting beliefs, which is really getting clear on where did that root in her life? And how do we start moving that forward? Now, I want to go back to this example of running, okay, so, as I mentioned, like, you already you already know, you already know, I, I had this belief, I had this identity, I was living out of the identity that I was not a good runner. And I basically had proof that I wasn't because obviously, I had failed or an in class lay laying on the grass, you know, thinking I was going to die. And identifying where that belief originated for me was step number one. So here it was 38 years old, and fast forwarding to when Michelle has asked me to sign up for this race. So we've signed up for the zoo run. And I'm going to start running and training for a 10 gay. And here I am, I'm going to go to the gym. And I'm going to start on the treadmill, because that's basically all I really knew. And it was still spring and so still pretty wet and cold outside. But if I had allowed for that old story in that old narrative to keep me where I was, in the past, I would never have even allowed myself to start.
But I was starting to uproot this belief and this story, this narrative around who I was as a runner, and I had to start applying these principles to my life, I had to think as a runner. So before I even lace up my shoes and went to the gym, I literally had to believe that I am a runner. Now this didn't start right away. Like this is something I had to kind of ease into. Thankfully, I had friends who were training with me, and we were checking in with each other, and we're watching each other's progress. And I didn't feel judged, I didn't feel shamed. I just kind of felt like you know what I I'll do what I need to do. And I literally remember running for my first consecutive five minutes on the treadmill. And it wasn't very fast.
But I made it through five minutes. And I was looking at the clock on the treadmill. And I remember going back to my condo and talking to my brother and telling him that I'd run for five minutes and how excited I was. And here's the kicker, my brother in high school, long distance runner, I kid you not. So I mean, is that not irony or what? So he was so proud of me. And he's like, good job, Andrew. And so he funny for him, because he's always had the identity of being a runner, even since he was a kid, and I did not have the identity of something else. Now, as I was like learning to think like a runner, then the next stage of it was starting to feel starting to embody what it would be to be a runner. And for me, this was all about having some sort of an emotional connection around the belief that I could be a runner. And as I continued my training, I would go through these highs and lows of being a runner. And you know, some days I was really sore. And some days I felt really good. And some days I didn't. But I was deeply, deeply connected with this vision and belief of myself running. And before I was ever running the 10k which I honestly never did until the day, I think two days before I was going to run.
I never had actually run 10 kilometers, but I had to envision myself doing it and see myself at the finish line like I had to endure Vision, I had to feel it in my body, I had to emotionally connect with it. And even when I talk about that with my clients now about how that that plays out in their lives, how are they feeling, and connecting with the vision for their lives and the vision for what they desire in their lives, it really is about deeply being connected to the outcome in a way that they can actually envision it happening. And so it's holding the belief as though it is already done. And then the third stage of this principle is really taking action. And so this is not necessarily just going into like hustle culture and hustle, you know, for your worth, or hustle and get all the things done. It's about being super, super intentional with your action. And when I was in the process of training, I remember one particular day I was running outside and I was coming to the end of my run.
And I must have been going like, I must have looked like I was dying because honestly the guy that was coming towards me, he he was like, you know, running full speed. And he literally put his hand out to High five me when he ran by. And as we like connected our palms to one another. I was like, literally infused with something that was like felt like otherworldly to me, I felt like it could do absolutely anything. Because I had embodied this version of myself, that was a runner. And it was almost as though he was allowing me to be part of this, this group of runners like he was say you're a runner. And, and I think that was the thing, like, as I've learned more and more about running culture, and as I learned about, you know what that feels like, it's like, you're a runner, even if you don't run, like you're a runner, if you've run five minutes, 10 minutes, five hours, I don't want to definitely do that. But, I mean, who knows, maybe someday. But here's the thing. As I was doing that, as I was thinking and feeling and acting like a runner, I literally had this moment where I was like, You know what I need to go out and I need to just buy myself some new gear. So when bought some new running shoes, I went and got some, you know, new Lululemon pants and like, just this whole outfit. And first it was like something that I was going to do as a reward to reaching a certain milestone.
But I honestly started to realize that this is not just a reward, like getting something new is not a reward. It's actually embodying and so often people talk about, like, get yourself something as a reward, and you're gonna look forward to it. And I say, you know, what, what about if you get it at the beginning, and start embodying that version of yourself now, like be her right now. So not only was I starting to dress like a runner, but I warmed up and I cooled down like a runner, and I had a playlist on my phone, I was literally a runner, even if I had the probably the slowest time on Face the earth. And it was a far cry from being in college like I kid you not. But when we learn to think, as what we desire, we take on the identity of what we desire. So whether that be success in our business, whether that be attracting a relationship clients, with that just is really about being confident in who you are. When you think as though you are that is actually coming to you. And the next step is feeling is really connecting emotionally to that outcome, connecting emotionally to who you are becoming in that, and allowing ourselves to envision ourselves in the outcome and being fully immersed in the emotions in the process. And then of course, acting as though we are in alignment with the outcome that we desire. It's taking that aligned action, it's about really discerning and being quick to decide on things that are full body Yes.
And like yes, I'm going to do that and I'm going to totally step out of my comfort zone and make that happen. So wherever you find yourself on this journey, when it comes to your mindset when it comes to really stepping into that next level version of yourself is always going to be necessary for you to think and feel and act as though it has all ready happened. So I was 38 when I ran my first 10k and since then I have run several races since and I even ran 10k on my 45th birthday, which was about three years ago. And honestly, I think back to my very first zoo run re so I was If Michelle and Peter and we had some other friends there, and my parents showed up, my dad, who was 65, at the time, even signed up for a 5k race, and he ran the 5k, while I ran the 10k. And while Michelle and Peter ran the 10k, and honestly, it was like one of the most monumental days of my life, it was a pivotal day, in who I am. And just last week, I was thinking about where I'm at with my body. And you know, just things that I've been going through physically and in through this year. And just like feeling like everything in my body is changing and shifting, and I feel I feel out of control of sometimes I really just do. And so I made this decision, that I am in a place in my life right now, where I, I really, truly want to embody the next version of myself when it comes to my health.
And when it comes to my fitness. And so I don't want to be a woman in her 40s, late 40s at that who's overweight, tired, moderately active, like that is not who I want to be. So I made a decision, then to start running again. I made the decision to embody this next version of myself in my fitness and in my health. And as I started doing that, I started going back to these principles, how do I want to think about me as a runner? How do I want to feel? And how do I want to act? And it's so surprising to me, because already it's almost like as though I'm infused with this running vibe, like your runner, Andrea. And the day I decided, I went to the gym, I got on the treadmill, and I ran my first five minutes. And you may say, well, it's only five minutes. And I'm like, No, I remember the first time I ran five minutes and how proud of myself I was. Because I had started, I had begun the process. And so even if it was painful, and it was, you know, like, I felt like my legs were burning. And they were, I ran my first five minutes. And I am embodying this next level version of myself by thinking feeling and acting as though I am her now. So my friend, I encourage you whatever goal you have, whether it's a goal that is going to complete out the year, or it's to start thinking about what's coming. If you truly want to be successful in any area of your life, any doesn't matter if it's relationships, business, health, fitness, whatever it is. It really is all about how you think, how you feel, and how you act and really stepping into the identity of the person who has already manifested that reality. And if you're thinking to yourself, Andrea, I want to do that that's exactly what I want to do. I want to shift something in my life and I am ready to take that step. I encourage you to jump on a free discovery call with me and let's talk about how you can start making that a reality for your life. Go to the link in the show notes. There is a link for you to book a free call there. Or go to Andrea chris.ca forward slash schedule. friend thank you for hanging out with me. Until next time, remember you have everything you need to live bravely. If you like this episode of The Courage cast, we'd love to hear from you. Leave us a rating and review and while you're there, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Original Music by Steven Crilly.
