Identifying and Overcoming Your Limiting Beliefs

Welcome to The In Between Podcast. I'm Astrid.

And I'm Alexis. And we're 2 best friends on a journey to living a fun, intentional life.

We know it's easier to share on a season of life once it's behind you, but what about when you're in the middle of the growth, confusion, and decision-making?

This lifestyle podcast is for the everyday gal who loves to travel, talk about business, relationships, fashion, and everything in between. Hello friends, and welcome back Welcome back to another episode of The In Between Podcast. Uh, it is one half of the pod, Alexis, and the other half, Astrid.

We are so excited to be chatting with you all. Um, little side note, we are so close to hitting 20K. I think we're 500-some downloads away from hitting 20K. So thank you all so much for listening, for sharing. We love all the DMs, we love all the texts, everything. It just feels a little wild. To see that number and see where we've come from.

I know. It's really special. I was texting Astrid earlier today of like, I think we're going to hit 20K downloads before the end of the year. I believe it. And it's possible. I'm so excited. Today's episode is focused on limiting beliefs and limiting beliefs specifically that are standing in the way of your growth. And When we think of limiting beliefs, they can apply to so much of our relationships and our personal life, how we feel about ourselves, as well as the way that we show up in our careers and in our businesses. And Ashton and I just wanted to talk through some of our own limiting beliefs, as well as some tools, some processes, some different mindset shifts that we've gone through over the past couple of years as business owners. But also 2 girls that are so passionate about personal growth and development. And just be vulnerable, share what we've learned when it comes to limiting beliefs. And I'm really looking forward to this episode.

Me too. Oh my gosh, this was an area of my life that I had so much breakthrough when I started coaching 2 years ago or hired a coach for it. And I'm like, I was mind-blown when I was able to dive deep into what limiting beliefs are and what it is that was holding me back. But before we dive into that, do you have any weekend updates? What did you do this weekend?

Weekend updates. I'm in my food-making era. I made so much, like so many different recipes. And there's something about being home in the wintertime that just feels so cozy. And so Matthew and I made tomato soup for the first time, like homemade tomato soup. Like, you know, bake and roast all the vegetables, blend them. We made delicious truffle cheese grilled cheese, which was unreal. Oh my gosh.

That sounds incredible.

And then I made this tortellini sausage soup and I made a cozy beef stew. stroganoff that was macro-friendly. And I'm just like, I am loving making— oh my gosh, we made sourdough French toast yesterday for brunch, like Sunday brunch here at the house. And I'm really proud because we didn't DoorDash at all. We were just like, let's just make food. And I went to Trader Joe's, got all my favorite things, and it was just a really wholesome weekend spending time together. Also, I was in my creative flow, I was like working on client stuff and I feel like a breakthrough that I've had when it comes to my weekends is I've been so fiercely protective of my time where I'm like, I will not work on the weekends. I will not. And what's happening over time is like, I'm working on client work that excites me because I'm working with clients that excite me. And before it was like, I want to be so protective of my weekends because I didn't want to do things I didn't want to do on the weekends, if that makes sense.

Yeah.

And now I'm like, Oh, this is so fun. I'm like going through different client projects and carving out time and like, wow, what a fun way to spend 2 hours on a Sunday. I like this. Instead of my mindset before was like, I don't really like that work and I don't want to do it. So that's been a fun, like, experience that I am learning for weekend work, which usually I'm, I don't do. So that's been fun.

I love that. I love that so much. I think it's one of those beautiful things of when we find what we're not only good at, but also that you're passionate about.

Yes.

Spending that time on it gives you so much life compared to during the week or putting it in the box of this is work and being able to just marry that together with I'm actually passionate about it. And then it can sometimes swing to the other side where you're spending your weekends doing what you love, which is work, and then it's too Too much of it, but in good doses of it, it's beautiful to see that. And I feel like the same level of work can take less energy out of us when we see it less stressful and we see it as life-giving. So I love that you had that breakthrough. And, you know, attach all links to these recipes because it sounds incredible. Yes.

I was like, you know what, in another world, an alternate reality, I'm a chef. And I'm a food content creator and that's what I do. And then Riley messaged me and he was like, this can still be a current reality. Like you can still do this. And I was like—

I think we've identified our first limiting belief.

I can't be a chef.

That is a limiting belief. It's a limiting belief.

Great point.

Great point.

Um, the other, the other like small weekend update is Matthew and I organized our closet and like got all the little fixings to make our closet more organized. And this is something I've put off and put off and put off. And I got like sunglass holders and a new jewelry holder and just like actual things to put my accessories. And I feel like I'm stepping into a mini mall inside my closet now. And I—

I love.

Am obsessed. So this is your sign to make time for those little house projects that you sometimes put off. Matthew said something about the closet thing that was so interesting to me. He said, the longer you put something off that you know you really want to do, the less confident that you are that you'll actually achieve it. And I was like, oh dang. I was like, that's really good, Matt. He's like, well, you've put off wanting to organize the closet for so long, like months. Probably like 5 months I've put this off. And he's like, so then you just became less and less confident that you'd ever get it done. And now you did it and now you feel so confident that you proved yourself wrong. And so I'm like, okay, okay, I got to work on this mindset.

I love it. Absolute breakthroughs in the Teichmiller-Hughes household.

Truly. How was your weekend?

It was good. It's been really busy. Just the tail end of weekends in wedding season, which is like lots of sessions. Had a beautiful wedding on Saturday that was actually local to me. But it was the— it was like at her grandma's Airbnb. And they had someone woodwork like their entire ceremony setup, which was so beautiful.

Whoa.

Yeah, I was dying. It was so stunning. So yeah, it was, it was beautiful. The poor groom did not feel the best. So We were working with that one. It's just flu season and things like that.

I did not want to get the flu.

We made it. My goal was like, no one's going to be able to tell from these photos that he was not feeling well.

Good. The energy was high even though his physical health was low.

Yeah. And then yesterday I got to do the sweetest engagement or anniversary session with one of my couples that actually got married a week before you did.

Oh, cool.

Or like the day before you did. I can't remember. It was in October. Um, but yeah, they built a stunning house, uh, here in Effingham. Absolutely beautiful. And so we just did a really cute in-home session, like jumping on the bed, dancing around. Like, they made cookies, we had the music box, and we just had the best time just bebopping all over their house and being kids, uh, with all of it. So it was very sweet. If you have been listening for a while, you know that for me, getting to work with my past couples is everything. I just adore them so much. So my heart was full. So yeah, lots of work. And but actually, this is not an and, it's a but. I am taking off for vacation tomorrow. So while I'm hustling hard—

y'all, it's Astra's birthday week. So you're going on a birthday trip?

Yes, yes. I'm going on vacay. I'm going to be by the ocean, which is one of my favorite things to do. So I'm working hard, um, to catch up with everything so I can truly disconnect and find that like peace and calmness that I'm very much craving after such a crazy season.

Yeah.

And yeah, I'm gonna turn 29, so this is officially gonna be my last year in my 20s.

I'm so happy for you. Thank you.

Thank you. So that's where I'm at.

I cannot wait to see and hear how your trip is to Florida. You're gonna have the best time. You and your man just vibing. Rest, sleep. You're gonna sleep so much.

Yes, I can't wait. Like, literally no alarm, no one bothering me.

Yes, I love that. No alarm. Um, what are you in between right now? Um, unless you want me to go first, because I actually have prepared one for this week. You go for it. Okay, well, if you're not— if you're a first-time listener to the In Between podcast, Astrid and I always share every week what we're in between right now because We truly believe that there is always something that you're in between. You're navigating a choice you're looking to make somewhere, something that you're trying to grow in. So mine is I'm in between shifting from shifting to being more open-minded around the books I read. I know this is a small one. However, I do believe that the content that we consume shapes our thoughts, it shapes our beliefs, and it can really impact our energy at the end of the day. And I have been on like a fiction-only warpath when it comes to reading books. And over the last couple, like month or so, I've really been opening myself up to learning more in my business, learning more in my creativity. And so I have naturally been more attracted to nonfiction. And I think in my early to mid-20s, when I was deep into like working at startups, and I mean, I still work at a startup, but working at startups and really opening up my mind to entrepreneurship, I read like so many personal development and business books that it kind of burnt me out. And then I swung the pendulum in the other direction and I only read fiction. So now I'm like, okay, let's just intuitively read what we need to read and also not feel like you have to finish a book as well. Read a book until you get what you need from it. And if you're done, then you're done. Whereas sometimes I would push myself to read and waste time on something that wasn't really helping me or— So I have been DNF'd. DNFing, did not finish. I've been DNFing so many books lately where I'm like, my time is so important. I want to read things that I'm either really interested in or they're really entertaining or I'm getting extreme educational value or insight and not feeling this pressure to push through.

Mm-hmm.

If it's really not serving me. So I know that's probably small, but I'm just like opening myself up to not feel— not reading or spending time on things that don't really bring me any value and reading more nonfiction again. So.

I love that. I don't feel like it's small at all because I think having that impact, like you said, of what it is that we're consuming and shifting from consuming a lot of content on social media and then now having different kinds of books that you enjoy expands our mindset so much more too. Um, and I just really, really love what you just said of you don't have to finish a book because I think it's the reasoning, right? Like, are you just avoiding it because you know it's good for you and you're like, honestly, I just prefer to scroll on social media, but the content is good? Then that's different. But if you're genuinely putting in the work and you're just not connecting with the author, not connecting with the content, Then put it down, move on to the next one, resell it or donate it. And I love that. I think a lot of us that are very goal-oriented can feel the pressure to finish it, and it doesn't have to be that way. So thank you for that call out. You're welcome.

Happy, happy to serve. Uh, what about you? What are you in between right now?

Oh, okay. Literally so much. Um, Okay, I am in between healing my hyper-independence side of things.

Mm-hmm.

And it's kind of— I don't think I've told you about this specifically before, but— or lately, but specifically this month, there's been a lot of opportunities where, um, with my family I've been able to heal some of that, and with my partnership as well. And so By nature, October is one of the busiest months for me. And so having people in my life that are reminding me that I don't have to do this alone, and in a more stern way being like, you say you're drowning, I'm offering help, you don't want to take it? If you don't want to take it, I'll respect that. But just know there's, there's this card on the table. And be able to call me out on it rather than let me play like, oh no, but like you're so busy too and you're so stressed too has been humbling and really great. And so I think that when you've been through periods of your life where you've just kind of had to show up for yourself, you just like, it's either you put in the work or nothing happens. You stand up for yourself or nobody else will. You've had a lot of those things to navigate through. It becomes a part of your identity in all areas. And so I'm learning when I need to exert that and when I'm able to just lean into that softness and receive that help and support. And I also had a different scenario of that happen with my family this, this month, and they jumped in and like helped me and just helped heal my heart a lot as well of, okay, like I have a community around me that deeply cares about me, deeply loves me, wants to support me, and I can tap into that. And so this is your friendly reminder to put your ego aside and to speak up Whenever you need help, which I'm still very much working on, and also accepting the help. Because if you would do that for that other person in your life, it's only fair to let them do that as well for you. Okay.

She said what she said, everyone. She said what she said. I'm really proud of you. That is such a good reminder, I think, Everything that you've navigated, and then letting people in, like letting people see that you need help, but then actually taking it is such a humbling experience. And there's also, at least for me, I'll speak for myself, there's a level of ego in asking for help where I'm like, oh no, no, I got this. You know, I actually have everything. I'll accomplish everything and I'll do it on my own on time. And I won't even just like meet the goal. I'll kill the goal. And so it's like. This hyperachiever where it's like, you don't really have to do that. And when we do that, we miss out on the opportunity to bring people with us and to let them be in our sphere as we learn and as we grow. And so it's cool to see you let people in in that way. And I'm really proud of you. I need to probably work on that.

Yeah.

Mostly on the professional side of things. I feel like personally I'm Have worked on that, but on the professional side, I'm like, "I got it. I don't need to delegate anything." And I that's a terrible strategy.

We complement each other well because in business, I'm like delegate everything. Yes. Okay.

Well, limiting beliefs shifting into today's topic, and maybe that's like even one of them is like I can't ask for help as a limiting belief. So when if you're familiar with the term limiting beliefs, or maybe you're not. I'm going to just kind of set the tone of the way that we're talking about limiting beliefs and what they mean to us, just to have some common language. When I think of a limiting belief, it's something that I believe that is somehow rooted in even my identity of like what I believe to be true about myself. And when I believe the limiting belief, it's Something that stops me from achieving a goal. It stops me from asking for help. It stops me from being vulnerable. It stops me from trying something new, failing, whatever it is. Like, the limiting belief puts a cap on our ability to move past the belief. What would— how would you describe limiting beliefs? That's kind of my description of them.

Yeah, that's fantastic. I would add, from my experience, limiting beliefs are these little— I picture them as these little suitcases that we pick up along life that we don't realize we pick them up. And it's based off of what our parents tell us that we are, what they say about themselves that they are, about what our teachers or our friends or anyone has told us, plus what we conclude after any experience. someone didn't tell you specifically you're not talented enough, but not getting chosen for those teams, or you always submitted your art and it was never chosen or was always ranked last, you then define that as I am not talented enough or I'm not an artist or whatever that might be. And so I believe our life experiences and the people around us create those limiting beliefs and we all have them. And the work is really to start identifying them in our different areas in life and rewire that. And our brains are so powerful in being able to rewire it, but awareness is really the first part. And so yeah, in my life, I feel like that's how I would pinpoint it or describe them as.

I love that you mentioned the environment or your culture or what in your surroundings is influencing your limiting beliefs that we have. taken on from others and that we have made truth. I think that's such a big piece because sometimes it's our own experiences and sometimes it's what other people tell us and we are like, okay, well, that's the truth because my parents said it or my boss said it or my client said it, whatever the situation is. So that's really important to mention. So when it comes to my limiting beliefs and how I've tried to work through them, Astrid mentioned something really important around awareness. So it's tough to work on a limiting belief if you don't know it exists. And so how you can identify if you have a limiting belief is to pay attention to the language that you use when you're talking about something and your thoughts. So sometimes you're, you're going to speak these out and sometimes you're going to be thinking them. Mm-hmm. But when sentences start with, I couldn't do that, I shouldn't do that, I can't do that, that's not for me, that kind of language, ask yourself— sometimes it's true. Sometimes it's like, that really is not a path I want to take. And then sometimes if you go a little bit deeper, ask yourself, where did that thought originate? So I can't earn 6 figures. I can't start a business. I can't be in a happy, loving, healthy, safe relationship. I can't have healthy, warm, compassionate relationships with women. Like whatever that belief is, it usually starts with some version of I can't have it. I'm not supposed to have it. I shouldn't have it. And I think that's what can help us identify That, oh, okay, is that actually true? Where did that come from?

Yeah. Oh my gosh, so good. I feel like we recorded an episode about fears, and, um, I invite everyone to go back and listen to it because it was such a powerful episode. And I almost feel like this is the second part to that, where if you are able to pinpoint what you are most afraid of and the different fears, whether it's a big one or a small one, a lot of times that tells you what is your limiting belief. You might fear that if you have a healthy lifestyle, then now you're sacrificing all the fun and adventure and things that you can eat and enjoying life. If you fear making money because you've seen people lose it all, and then now they're stuck with all these bills and they're stuck with everything and it's just devastating, you would just rather not have it. Then that there's a limiting belief. And so I think being able to pinpoint it with your fears and vice versa, in a way, I, when I was working through mine, being able to think about your big dreams. So the whole polar opposite side of things. And that immediate, we'll like, we'll dream about something. And then right afterwards, there's an immediate emotion that we have, which is usually a fear or a reasoning for why we believe we can't achieve that, or, oh, that's too complicated, or that lifestyle is not for me, or whatever that might be, then that can really help you identify that limiting belief as well if you're not sure where to start with this healing part.

Yeah. And I— you brought up something as I was thinking through that. When we notice the fear attached to the limiting belief, sometimes we'll almost manifest what that limiting belief is. So if we say, I can't have healthy relationships with women, friendships, like I can't have deep, healthy friendships, we won't. And I can't earn 6 figures. That's just something I can't achieve because I'm scared of XYZ. We won't go for the promotion. We won't raise our hand. We won't ask for a raise. We we will keep ourselves from having that thing because we believe that we can't have it. So it's not just something that you believe; it in it influences your actions. It influences your ability to grow in that direction or actually achieve that thing. And so because we believe it, we it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy or you manifest it, whatever language like vibes with you. But it becomes the reality because I think either subconsciously or consciously, we end up making decisions that support the limiting belief. It's like—

Absolutely.

We look for the evidence and we're like, oh yeah, well, this is why I can't have that, or this is why I shouldn't do that. Look at all this stuff that's happened. Well, it's because our choices and our actions reflect the belief that we have. Not that it's really not for us, it's just that we're operating from a mindset of, I can't, I shouldn't, I won't, this is not for me. And so our actions are going to be reflective of that limiting belief mindset.

Yes. So good. I feel like a lot of times that also ends up showing up with self-sabotage where—

Yes.

If you did have an opportunity to make 6 figures, but then you have this limiting belief of, I will never be that, then you're likely not charging enough for your time. You're likely avoiding the work of actually looking at your finances, actually managing it well, actually responding to clients and responding to DMs and responding to texts. And so there's actually a big part that we talk about on the Creators Collective course, which is Being able to realize how many things in our business come from limiting beliefs and come from self-sabotage because we don't actually believe that we can be that kind of person. And so whenever it comes in our personal life or in business, I feel like there's a few steps or things that happen, which is life tells us there's, this is who you are, or we choose to believe something. And then we run into scenarios where we're like, okay, like, I am not able to be that, or I'm not able to step into that. And then after that, that's where we really get to decide if we embrace that as part of our identity, or if we get to release that as something that has happened to us and perhaps was true, but is no longer who you are. And I think being able to really talk yourself through the fact that you are never fixed. You are never just positioned in one area. You can always evolve. You can always grow. But whenever we believe that, we self-sabotage. And I experienced ways or experienced parts of that whenever I started dating again, because I didn't realize at the time that my limiting belief was that I would never find love again, that I'm not enough, and that someone's not going to fight for me. And I have to fight for myself because no one else will. And so I was very much on the defensive. Anytime that I was dating, anytime that anything happened, I would look for the most minor thing to try to run away. And so while I actually didn't act on it, it was my instinct. And I had to bring myself back to ground and be like, okay, this belief is there. Let's rewire. Let's get some input from friends. Is this actually a thing or is it just me? trying to think through all of this. And so in a way, it's a self-defense mechanism or a protective mechanism because we don't want to feel the pain of what it will look like to not achieve that, of what it will look like to not become that person that we actually so deeply desire to be or to have.

Yeah, I'm so glad that you brought that up because we all have intense relationships with failure. Like, you know, I don't, I don't want to know what's on the other side of effort because if I try and I really put in 100% and it doesn't work, what does that mean? You know, what does that say about me? And so I think there's 2 things here that we can practice. One is how can you have a relationship with failure where you're rewiring your mindset or your brain To think of it as a learning opportunity. Every time I try something new, I try to look at it as education. So when you're young and you're learning math for the first time, you're going to get math wrong. I still get math wrong.

Okay.

But I'm saying like, whenever you're learning to spell or you're learning to do anything new, you're going to fail at first. You're going to fail lots. Like you're not going to get it right every single time. And so now as an adult, because we have responsibilities and we're grown and we're mature, we think that there's no room for failure anymore. And we operate from this mindset of we need to be perfect out the gate. And so I have tried to look at failure or effort, I'm trying something new, as I'm educating myself. This is education on how can I learn something new from this experience? Instead of marking it as a failure. Another thing that we can practice here is not attaching meaning to where there is no meaning. And I think this is something that goes hand in hand with limiting beliefs, because when we have this limiting belief, um, let's say I can't, um, well, let's go with the 6 figures. I can't earn 6 figures. This can be either in your business or in your career. We make that mean something about us. We make it mean that we aren't intelligent enough, we aren't strategic enough, we aren't ambitious enough, we aren't whatever. And so while we have that belief, we also make it mean things about our identity. And so where are there ways that you're attaching meaning to your limiting beliefs about your identity that's not even true, but because Of that limiting belief, you're like, oh, well, this is what that means about me. Like, I'm just not an ambitious person. I just don't really speak up and that's just, you know, I'll give it to somebody else. Like, that looks like too much effort. You know, I'm not going to— I just don't want to take myself out of the game. And we attach that meaning. And I think that, again, self-fulfills the limiting belief because we've made it mean something about our identity.

Yeah. So true. I feel like the intricacies of having our limiting belief be so attached to our identity, whether it was previously established, like we had a belief about our identity and then it got like solidified with a limiting belief, or the limiting belief came and then we started to put that onto our identity. I think that's where the main part comes in, where you feel this almost paralyzed when it comes to taking action. And so I guess I have been in the spot where I understand my limiting belief and I understand what I need to do, and then there's this big in-between where you just feel paralyzed.

Yeah.

You feel the fear. You feel like, why can't I do the thing that it requires to do? Why am I so successful in doing all these other things and this specific area I just And that's where I realize the importance of rewiring our brains and the importance of daily working on our brains just as much as a workout. And so when we have these limiting beliefs, they run free. They truly run on replay in our mind, whether it's on tape.

Like a tape.

They're on—

yeah. A mixtape. Alexis's Limiting Beliefs, Volume 1.

Volume 1, literally. So whenever we realize it, whether it's conscious or unconscious, it is there every single day, every single week. And so what would happen if you were to grab your limiting belief, speak the truth about it, and then speak what you actually want it to be to yourself every single day, and you rewrite that song and you rewrite that mixtape? Tape to the truth about your life. And so a lot of times we limit what our lives can be. We can say, oh, I love how that person travels so much. I wish I could do that. But like, that's just not for me. Well, what if it can be you? Well, the next step, at least what helped me, was rewiring that. And so a very tangible thing that I can share with you all is I have notes in my phone. And I wrote down the 3 main limiting beliefs that I had. And then for each one of them, I wrote the opposite. And I was like, actually, I am talented enough. I am good enough. People— all of these different things that spoke the opposite to that. And then I wrote out the dream attached to that specific limiting belief. And then every single day for about 90 days straight, I did that. And no joke, 60 days within doing that along with a course, I quit my job. I realized that I had such a limiting belief when it came to money, to what I was capable of doing, that I was stretching myself thin and not going after what I really, really wanted. And I was self-sabotaging it. And if you were to ask Astrid 2 months prior to that, I'd be like, no, I love what I do. I love both of them, so I don't want to quit. And that was my reality. But I invite you to bring that to the forefront, really rewire your brain in that through exercises, and then see what's possible. See when you free yourself from that stuff, free yourself from all that baggage, what can you actually step into? And you'll be surprised. And like you were saying earlier, then your actions start to match that. Then your brain starts to look for opportunities to actually make that happen. You're like, Okay, I'm gonna make $1 million. Then you're like, okay, well, that checklist that I have on my to-do list of looking at my finances has to be a thing now. So now I step into it and I show up more excited because it attaches to that goal. But yeah, I feel like that exercise just really changed my life honestly. And to this day, I still do it consistently.

That's huge. I have a follow-up question.

Yeah.

So during the 90 days, because of the way that you were rewiring your mindset, did you experience more opportunity? Like, did more opportunity come your way? What— and my second question is, were the opportunities always there, but is it because you changed your thoughts about what was possible you actually saw those opportunities and you explored them, took them?

I think it's both. So in different areas of my life, like my career, I was able to seek out more opportunities and also be able to— I basically created a whole plan of, okay, let's just dream a little. What would it actually look like if I went full-time? And so I put it on paper. And then when I saw the numbers and saw it, I was like, what have I been doing? I've literally just been leaving money on the table. And so part of it was it was there all along and I didn't take action. And other parts of it have been, okay, there's this one specifically, and this is more on the fun dreaming side of things. I put on there that I will take my mom. She's been dying to go to Dominican Republic. And so I have on there under my financial one that I've taken my mom on a trip to Dominican Republic. And so that has been on there since January of last year. And June of this year, I received an inquiry for a wedding for Dominican Republic for next year. And so I was like, okay, this is happening. It's coming together. And so I feel like it's a mixture of both. I feel like you open up yourself to what is already around you that you were so blind to see.

Yeah.

And God, the universe, whatever you believe in, also then is like, oh, you're ready to receive this now? Here you go. I'm going to actually give that to you now because you can steward that well. You can actually— you have the mental and maturity capacity to deal with it and not sabotage it.

That's huge. I think your energy shifts when your beliefs shift. So it's like because you were believing new healthy thoughts about yourself and what was possible, your energy shifted. I think too, people want to work with people who have good energy, confidence, they're really excited and passionate about their work. And when you have those limiting beliefs, sometimes your energy, it's almost like a faucet.

Mm-hmm.

Like the faucet will turn off and it's kind of dry. Like it's tough to grow without water. And so when you're shifting your limiting beliefs and you're starting to Think more positive, fruitful thoughts about what's possible for your life. I think the water spigot turns back on and things start to grow because people feel that attraction to you. You're attracting new opportunities. You're attracting things that you never thought possible because you now think it's possible. And I think just like the law of attraction, like people are attracted to. What you put out. And so, or they're detracted, they're unattracted to what you put out that's maybe negative energy. So that's a big one that I've noticed in my life the past year and a half specifically, like past 2 years, year and a half of really stepping into my full confident self. I feel like I have attracted different opportunities That have just come to me because of the way that I have changed my mindset. Something that's also helped is Matthew and I, we don't do them as often, but we actually just did one this weekend. We'll go on a manifestation walk or a prayer walk, whatever you want to call it. But what we do is one person goes at a time and you pick a timeframe. And then you speak about what's happening in that time frame as if it's already happened. So you're speaking life into it. You're speaking like real energy into wherever it is that you want to go. So this past weekend, we chose 6 to 12 months. 6 to 12 months from now, this is what's happening. And then we spoke like, I am doing this. I achieved this. I went here. I feel this way about my relationships. I feel connected to my family in this way. And we get so specific on exactly what we're doing, how we're feeling, the money we're making, the opportunities, the relationships that we're deepening in every category of our life. And it is so fruitful because I think when you're doing a lot of internal work, you can be in your head about it.

Yeah.

When you do this practice with a close friend or with your partner, there's something about verbally speaking this into existence that's really powerful and also speaking as if it's already happened. Like, this is going to be my reality because it is my reality 6 months from now. It's completely different than like, well, I hope this happens. Maybe this will happen for me. I don't know. Well, we have to make it happen. And so it totally shifts the way that we engage with our dreams, with our thoughts, and with our beliefs. So this manifestation walk for Matthew and I has helped us believe that these things are possible for us. Like, this is real. This is where we'll be in 12 months. Now, we have to obviously take specific action steps to make that happen. We're not just like putting it out there and then— God is just gonna boop, here you go. Like, I don't— I personally, that's not how I believe things work. I think that you have to take— some things are just miracles and land in your inbox, okay? But I would say, at least my experience in building business, I have to put in daily effort. I have to put in daily work. But that has been a practice that has really helped Matthew and I with the limiting beliefs and just what's possible for us.

I love the idea of inviting your partner into this because not only is it beautiful to build that together, but then when you do achieve these things, someone's been there in the trenches with you that was like, remember when we were speaking this into existence? And I want to point out something that you guys are doing, which is walking while you speak things out. And so I forgot to mention this whenever I was chatting that, or whenever I was sharing That I walk while I speak mine out as well. And I learned this when I was in therapy. At the time, it wasn't on limiting beliefs, I guess kind of, but she would have me walk around every single day, every morning and every night. And I had to tell myself that I was strong enough to face what I was facing, that I was able and capable to process all of it, that I was able to heal. And she specifically said, you have to walk When you say these things because there's something that connects with your body and your brain that helps really rewire your neurotransmitters, I believe is the correct term. But it helps rewire when you physically move while you're saying these things. So you guys intuitively did it and I love that. And for anyone listening that wants to do this, An, do it while you're walking, while you're moving around the house and being able to speak these things as if they've already happened. is actually how I also wrote mine out. And I want to point something out where it's like when you speak things as if they've already happened, they create a certain kind of confidence that you show up differently, right?

Yeah.

And so if you're able to— one thing that I was doing whenever I went full-time was I'm a CEO, I'm a leader, my team is proud to have me as a leader. I like all these different things. I spoke them out about my business and the opportunities that were coming my way. I'm an international photographer. all these different things. And it was almost like when the opportunities came, I wasn't surprised, but I was excited. And that energy is so different. And so our language changes when we are posting online, when we're talking to people, when we're communicating where we want to go. We're not shy about our dreams. We're not saying, oh, well, I would like to someday shoot an international wedding. You're like, oh no, yeah, I really want to shoot an international wedding. That's where I'm headed. I'm really hoping for it. I've got a shoot that I think is really going to help you there. And you just start seeing those opportunities. So I think the amount of confidence it can bring just doing that exercise every day is huge.

Yeah. Another thing I want to mention on the confidence piece is when you say it like that in a room full of people or whether it's a mastermind or whether you're— whatever your network and your environment is with your relationships, If you say, yeah, I'm working towards shooting international wedding— weddings or international brand gigs, cool. Then people start to associate you with, oh yeah, Astrid's wanting to do that. Actually, I have a lead I want to send her. I have a referral. Because we're speaking what we want into existence, people can also help us. They can support us. They can say, oh yeah, Alexis is working on this project. I know someone who'd be perfect to help her with that. But if we keep that all inside, then we don't allow people to come in and support us as we're trying to grow. And I think that's another kind of 10x level of growth is when we get referrals and we get connections from other people that we wouldn't have on our own. But if we don't ever say exactly what we want, people don't know how to help us.

Absolutely. That's so good. I love that. Just putting it out there and being able to accept those new things that come our way.

Yeah.

As we wrap up, one last thing that I was going to say, and this is more on— I don't know, I guess I'll just share it because it feels crazy that it happened. But at the beginning of this year, I grabbed some images of what I thought represented some of my goals and some of the things that I wanted to achieve, a vision board. I made it and set it as my background. And It was wild because some of them were just like, okay, yeah, I would love to fly first class. Like, just fun little things that still matter and are still important to us. And I had this crazy experience when I was flying back from Paris where I was able to last minute upgrade. It was a whole thing. And then I was the last seat that they gave for first class that day. I went first class, I sat down and my seat was literally the same view as that picture that I had pinned from Pinterest, like the left side of the plane with the champagne, with where the window was at. Like, I, when I looked down at my phone and looked up, I was like, what is, what in the trippy universe am I in right now?

I remember you sending me this screenshot back to back. It was so cool.

It was so, so crazy. And so all of I love that to say. Like, even in the small things that we may feel like, oh, well, that doesn't really matter as much, it matters. And put it out there, add some visuals to it. Part of limiting beliefs can be hard and heavy because you're working through traumatic experiences, and others can just be us putting the cap just because. And so embrace all of it, add some visuals to it. Like, what do you want your life to look like? And consistently have it in front of you like a wallpaper so that you are reminded that's what you're working for, that's where you're headed, and you can have the life that you dream of.

100%. I couldn't have said it any better myself. I love that real specific example. And I think it's important to, like Astrid mentioned, find visuals that represent the life that you're building. When we— when our mind does go down, you know, that old default path, sometimes visuals can help us click back into place. You know, where can you put sticky notes on your mirror? Or like Astrid mentioned, changing the background of your phone or of your laptop wallpaper to remind you of the life that you're building. When you're having a bad day, when you're struggling with your thoughts, when those limiting beliefs are coming in, I think it can really, really help. I have loved this topic. I think Ashton and I both have a lot of experience with it, but it's also not unique. Like, everyone goes through different thoughts and navigates different limiting beliefs. I hope that this episode was helpful for you. If it was, would love for you to leave a review on either Spotify, iTunes, or wherever you're listening to the podcast right now. And if you really resonate with this episode and you want to share maybe an aha or a breakthrough moment that you had, send us a DM at inbetween.pod. We love hearing from you, love all your messages, and it's really cool to see what you're learning from the podcast, what's resonating with you, so that it helps us, you know, create more content, more episode topics that you love. And then if you want to connect with me personally, you can do that at Alexis Or you can connect with me @astrojohannaphoto.

Thank you all so much for tuning in, and we'll chat with you next time.