Make Your Big Dreams a Reality

Welcome to True Grit and Grace, a podcast designed to empower you to claim your resilience and thrive through life's challenges. I am Amberly Lago, a mindset coach, fitness expert and bestselling author. Each week, I'll dive deep with the world's brightest thought leaders and elite performers to share tangible tools and practical advice to inspire you to keep your eyes on the prize and forge ahead. So get ready to conquer your fears, heal any trauma, lead with your heart, and elevate your life with grit and grace.

Thank you for tuning in. Oh, thank you for being here. This is the last episode that I'm recording from my cozy little office here in Los Angeles. We are moving, y'all, and I realize just how important this podcast is to me and, and that you're on this journey with me. I appreciate you so much. I appreciate your tuning in, your downloads. Um, really appreciate your reviews. It's been about 2 years since I've had the podcast, and I've recorded out of my tiny little office here in LA. And it's the last thing that I'm packing up, actually. The whole house is packed up except for my computer and my mic, and my husband's threatening to turn the internet off if I don't stop. So I just— I'll make this quick. I wanted to just tell you how grateful I am and share some of the things that I've learned with this move. We're moving near my hometown back in Dallas, and I've learned so much about letting go and holding, really holding the vision, trusting your intuition, and working your butt off to make your big dreams a reality. So I'm really hoping, and my intention for this podcast is to set you up for success for 2022. I know a lot of times this time, you know, this time of year people are thinking about their big goals and their big dreams and, and their vision, maybe some healthy habits that you want to start, or maybe some healthy habits that you want to break. But I think it really starts with having a vision for it. And so I, over the past couple of years, have realized more than ever how important it is to have family and that connection. And so I'm going to get to move near my granny and get to hug my granny's neck and my cousins and my sister, my mom, my dad. So it'll be really nice to, to do— to be there. And I got to see the house that we're moving into. I was speaking at an event a couple of months ago in Dallas, and I get the keys, I walk in, and the first thing I do— I don't walk into the kitchen, I don't walk into the backyard or the master bedroom— I walk into the office. And there's this beautiful office, and it's all wood floors and this big wooden built-in desk and shelves. And I mean, there's wood all the way up to the ceiling. And I just start going, testing, testing. And I'm like, this is not going to work for a podcast because the echo was crazy. So I start walking in other rooms going, testing, testing. And my mom was with me and she was looking at me like, what is she doing? And I realized, you know, I, I found the perfect Tiny little room in the house that I'll be able to record out of, and I think a lot of times when you're going through big change, it really narrows in what's important. So I started thinking about okay, I'll have a place to record the podcast, and then next I'm like okay, I've got to find a barn for Ruby to ride. I've got to really find you know I would go to recovery meetings online, but I'll be able to find. I started reaching out to see if there were any meetings there for so I can really. Hold on to my sobriety. Meetings are very important to me. So I really encourage you, whether you're going through a big change or a big move or something traumatic or something exciting, to really think about what's important to you, what your intentions are, what are the things that you must do, and remind yourself, ask yourself, who am I? What, what are— what's your big vision? And I am telling you, whatever your big vision is, Greg Reed, who is a friend of mine, he's been a mentor of mine, he's amazing. And it makes me think about one of my favorite quotes, which says, a dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. And a plan backed by action makes your dreams a reality. And so my whole life I've had these big dreams. You know, it was my big dream to come to Los Angeles, and I had so many people saying, oh, you'll never make it in LA. Oh, what, you think— oh, you think you can be a professional dancer? Well, guess what? I did. I got to travel the world. I've been here 31 years and loved every bit of it. When I was writing my book, people saying, oh, you should just stick to being the fitness girl. Guess what? I held on to that vision. I made a plan. I backed it with action. Finally wrote a book. I'm no different than anyone else. If you have a big plan, you have a big dream, I'm telling you right now, all you have to do is start writing down those action plans, write it into steps, and start taking that action. And you and your wildest dreams can come true. But I wanted to share, you know, a little bit about how it's not, it's not easy moving cross-country, picking up your office and everything. And one of the things I realized is, oh, all these standing appointments I have, and all these appointments that I've booked out until, you know, August of next year are all going to be on a different time zone. And What a transition this is for my daughter. But I have to say, I think my daughter and my husband are more excited about it than I am. I've been kind of in the thick of it with work and travel. You know, thank goodness in-person events are back in action. But I really thought about how hard it is letting go of some things. You know, I won't be able to see these beautiful mountains for a while. I'll miss looking out my office window and seeing these palm trees and the blue sky, and I'm going to miss the ocean. And last night, I'll just share a little story with you because I want you to really think outside the box. Think of different ways of doing things. You know, we might have big plans and sometimes they don't always go as planned, but there is maybe a different way or something even better. Every time you're getting ready to level up, man, it's— the discomfort sometimes feels unbearable. It's It's their fear comes up. For me, feelings of imposter syndrome come up. I start to feel like, oh my goodness, who do I think I am? Maybe I should just stay here in my little safety comfort zone. But that's not where the magic happens. And sometimes we have to let go of things in order to get to that next level. And my daughter's going through that right now. You know, she's got a horse. She just won first place on at her IEL competition for school for horseback riding. She's an equestrian, and she's learned a lot on Ready. If you follow me on Instagram, then you see Ready and Ruby in my stories all the time, and you already know how much we love Ready. We've had him for a little over 2 years, and man, has she learned a lot on this horse. I mean, when we first got this horse The first time she rode him, he threw her over a fence like a rag doll. And I thought, what have I done? And she has learned grit. She's learned patience. She's learned trust. She's learned commitment. And it was a lot of tears at first and a lot of getting back on the horse at first, but she's learned a lot. And now, you know, he's 21 years old and she's ready to jump higher and He isn't able to jump that high, so we've decided to find him a new home where he can not have to do competitions and, and just be comfortable and be spoiled rotten. But still, it's been letting go, and before she gets a new horse and goes to a new barn has been hard. So last night I said, Ruby, let's go say goodbye— or not goodbye, let's say See you next time. Toretti. So we jump in the car, takes us about an hour to get to, you know, LA traffic, get to where this barn is. And the sun's going down and I missed the exit. And I'm thinking, oh my goodness, it's gonna be late by the time we find this barn. We get there and the gate's locked. I try the code, the code doesn't work. I get back in the car and I look on my phone and making sure we have the right address. we have the right address. And Ruby's like, you know, Mom, let's just go home. And I said, no, we did not come this far to, to get this far not to see Reddy. We— there's got to be another way. There's got to be a back road, a side gate, some other way to get into this barn. Let's try another way. So we're driving down these back roads. It's dark. We're in Sylmar, which I have no idea. I've never been in this area. It's like, I don't know where I'm going. I, I keep driving. I go down this side road and I find the road. I said, look, I found the road. Let's go down this road and see if there's a back entrance. We get down this road and there's a guy about to shut the gate. And I'm like, excuse me, wait, can you hold the gate for us? And he's like, uh, no English. And I'm like, uh, por favor. It's about the only thing I know in Spanish, which is kind of crazy seeing how I'm married to a Cuban. I said, please, please, can we go in? I'll I will lock the gate when we're done, please. I don't know what I said or what he understood, but he held the gate open and let us go in. So Ruby and I are going down in this barn the back way. We're walking down these wood— old wooden steps in the dark. We get down to where we think Reddy is supposed to be, and he's not there. Now, all the horses have these face masks on. They've got blankets on. If you don't know horses, it'd probably be hard for you to pick out a horse, they kind of all look alike unless you're a horse crazy girl like my daughter. And so we're walking through, we go into this, you know, the back way, we get— we go in down this barn. We are not— we don't see Reddy anywhere. So finally we're at the very back, at the very end of the barn, and Ruby is walking through saying, Reddy, Reddy, where are you? All of a sudden we hear this whinnying. And Reddy recognized Ruby's voice, and we found Reddy in the dark. And he ate a whole jar of treats. He was licking her face. He was more cuddly than I think he's ever been. He's usually a cranky old man, and he was so sweet. He's gotten a little, you know, more furry since we saw him last, but it was so good to see him. And they got to bond. And we hugged and loved on each other. And it just really made me think that, you know, yes, as uncomfortable it is to do, let go of things sometimes, and to level up to the next level, you still can appreciate what you've learned along the journey. And sometimes it also made me think that, you know, a lot of times, our victories start in the dark. If you think about it, you know, here we were in the dark, we couldn't find him, we couldn't find him. And then we had that little Winnie that was our hope that I think that's him. And it was him. And every new day starts at midnight, when it's pitch black outside. Every new transformation I've had started with enormous suffering, started at my darkest moments is, is when I've had that glimmer of hope that got me through. And I think that, you know, a lot of times we go through transitions or big changes or pain, and then we have these huge blessings and gifts on the other side. Sometimes I know it's hard to see that there's actually a blessing in a really tough situation, but when we find people that have gone through, you know, similar situations as us, that gives us hope. So I encourage you to find people that have gone through situations like you. I remember when I first started talking about being diagnosed with CRPS, and I didn't want anybody to know that I was struggling. I didn't want anybody to know that something was wrong with me, that I had this incurable disease. And it wasn't until I was in acceptance for what was going on, what the diagnosis was, and then I could start to talk about it that I made these connections with other people that seem to get through it and find joy. And I will tell you that you can always find joy. It's within you. It is— all you have to do is tap into it. And it's so important also for you to build moments in your day that bring you joy and allow you to connect. And what I've also been reminded of is how important it is to lower unreasonable expectations that are just causing you stress. Like unreasonable things, like really things that you're putting on yourself, on yourself, on your to-do list that are just unreasonable. Because, you know, the most important thing is your health. And if you want to make an impact You really have to focus on your health. It's so important for you to be your own advocate for your mental, spiritual, and physical health, because guess what? No one else is going to do that for you. It's important for you to take responsibility for making your life what you want it to be. Now, I'm reminding myself of this as much as I'm reminding you, because it's easy to get caught up in things that are exciting or your to-do list or, or you know, often when life gets really good, we start letting some of our daily habits go. Like maybe we stop going to the gym as much because work is so busy, or maybe we stop going, you know, praying as much because we, we don't— we feel like everything's good. Or maybe we stop meditating as much. Whatever it is, for me, I feel like if I stay grounded into a daily practice of focusing on what my intentions are, Really thinking about what my— like, what are the things that I have to do during the day to, to make sure that I'm taking care of myself, my health, and my business, my family, all of the things. But most of all, health first. If I do those things and I make time for myself, then I can really achieve my goals. So what is important to you? Write it down. What is your vision? Write it down. How can you make sure you're taking care of yourself? Now I say move your body. And if you watch my stories on Instagram, you, you see me doing some crazy exercises sometimes. Sometimes I'm on crutches, sometimes I'm hiking, but whatever, I'm moving my body. Because when you move your body, it moves your mind. It's important to have that daily gratitude because that shifts your perspective. It changes the way you feel about what's going on in your life. And so that's one thing that's really helped with, you know, saying goodbye to this chapter and moving on to the next is looking at how grateful I am at different things, different people. For Ruby, it's her horse that's taught her all these lessons. For me, it's so many struggles that have taught me different lessons. And so really think about what it is that's your big vision, and then realize also that there is power in proximity. And that's one of the reasons I loved living in Los Angeles is because that's where— so that's where my work was, that's where my auditions were. But now I think a lot of you have realized that, gosh, You can do so much from anywhere you want now. Thank goodness through Zoom. Thank goodness that, you know, we've realized that you can live anywhere. I think that's why so many people are moving to different places, even in Los Angeles. I mean, the real estate's booming here because a lot of people that lived close to where they worked in the city are like, ah, I don't really have to live right next to where I work in the city. I can live, you know, in the suburbs. And have more space and more freedom. And so thank goodness we can connect, um, online, but thank goodness also in-person events are happening. You know, I think when I, when I talk about the power of proximity, it's important to choose to be in close proximity to people who are empowering, who appeal to your sense of connection to intention, who really see the greatness in you. And I'm excited I get to do another in-person event next month in January. It's called Align Ambition. It's Brooke Hemingway's event. And y'all, she brings together the most passionate, heart-centered people that are like really into self-development and bettering their lives. And the panel of speakers that she has, holy moly, I'm like saying affirmations every day to get out of my imposter syndrome because I'm like, I can't believe I'm speaking with all these people. You know, Dave Hollis will be there, Heidi Powell, Jasmine Starr, Tiff Peterson, who I love. So the, the link for the Align Ambition will be in the show notes if you want to come join us. And I share this because I really am convinced that I'm a better person just by knowing Brooke Hemingway, just by knowing some people that I've been in masterminds with. And I know I'm the luckiest girl in the world that I got to have my own mastermind this past, you know, this, oh gosh, we met in person a couple of months ago. And I can't wait for you to hear next week's episode on the podcast because every single person that is on the podcast is giving a 10-minute powerful talk about their struggles to success, about their transformation, sharing their wisdom through years of their experience to where they are now. So everyone from my Unstoppable Life Mastermind is on the podcast. And so it's going to be like many TED Talks from all 13 of the people that were in the mastermind. And they're family to me. They're my chosen family. So whatever you can do— look, I have a mastermind, but I'm also invested in a mastermind. I'm a coach, but I also invest and a coach. I have a sponsor for my sobriety, but I also sponsor women and have sponsored women. I mentor people and I have a mentor. I have a couple of mentors. It's important to really get yourself in the proximity of people who are doing the things that you want to do, people who have like what you want. And I say that in a way that like, be grateful for what you have, but look to people who have beautiful lives, that they're living a life of joy and freedom, and they have lots of success, whatever success looks like to you, and go, okay, how are they doing it? Get in the rooms with those people, get in close proximity. And, you know, I will just share a story with you. Yesterday, I was working out at Brooke Burke's house. If you don't know who Brooke Burke is, she is a fitness legend. She's, um, you've probably seen her on Skechers commercials. But anyway, she has these classes at her house, and I was taking a class at her house, and I'm like, I'm laying on the mat afterwards looking at her beautiful house going, oh my gosh, this is dreamy. We're in Malibu. She's got a mansion, these palm trees. There's a teepee. She's doing a sound bath. I'm like, This is amazing. And I could have gone like, oh, well, might be nice for her, lucky her. But instead, I'm like, this is what's possible. This is what's possible when you hold that vision, when you trust your intuition, and you work your butt off, and you understand the power of proximity. And so I was feeling a little like, oh gosh, do I really want to move from LA? Well, it's too late now. And I was talking to Brooke afterwards and she's saying, oh, I love Dallas. She goes, in fact, I'm doing an event there. And it really made me think, you know what, you're going to have opportunities no matter where you are, but you have to be willing to say yes to things that maybe— I did not know what I was getting myself into yesterday when I went to Brooke's house. I had no no idea exactly what kind of class it was or what it was, but I just said yes. I was open to the possibilities. So really, if you just stay open to possibilities and make sure you're connecting with people, ask for help. Y'all, I had, I used to have a really hard time asking for help. I don't know what it triggered in me, if it made me feel like I was less than or unworthy, or maybe there was something wrong with me, but I realized that when you ask for help, it's your chance to build your community. Because when you share your vulnerabilities, when you share that you're struggling with something, it gives somebody else an opportunity to step up and help you, and then it builds your connection. Asking for help has changed my life. It's what allows me to stay sober. Asking for help has changed my business. It's, you know, whether I'm coaching with someone or I'm in a mastermind myself, or I'm in my own mastermind and we're able to help each other. Man, that's where the magic happens. And so don't be afraid to ask for help. Know that you're not alone on this journey. I ask for help every single day from God. Now, whether you want to say universe, spirit, I like to say God. And it's not that I pray for help every day. I actually thank God every day. Thank you, God, for allowing this transition. Um, to Texas to be smooth. Thank you, God. I thank him in advance. Thank you, God, for allowing me opportunities to make meaningful connections when I'm in Dallas. Thank you, God, for bringing faith-filled, passionate people into my mastermind so we can share, connect, and we can keep soaring our business and really have a life of joy. So thank God in advance. I think it's powerful, and you can set time in your day to, to have that gratitude. And for me, I have a gratitude practice every day. I have a God squad, and we text each other every single day. I use something that's called— what's it called? Let me look on my phone. I believe it's called My Spiritual Toolkit. I just have it on my home page. Yeah, I'm not affiliated with this. I'm not promoting it. I'm just sharing what works for me. It's called My Toolkit. It's actually a 12-step, you know, recovery toolkit. You don't have to be in the 12 steps to use it, but it sure is helpful. It gives you a daily prayer. It gives you a reading daily. So if you're on the road traveling and you don't have books with you, it will give you a reading. I like to start my day with reading and a short meditation and prayer and a gratitude list. And it has a way that you can write down 10 gratitudes and you click a button and you can save it, and then you can send it to your group text of friends or whoever you might want to send it to. I think it's important to share your gratitude. When you share it, it really shifts your perspective when you can see what other people are grateful for. But it's also a chance to really feel and share that gratitude. And man, I know I say this all the time, but gratitude is alchemy. It really changes what you can't do into what you can do and what you don't have into what you do have. Um, and so throughout this, this big transition from moving Every year, I know, you know, well, some of you might be setting resolutions. I don't like to set a lot of resolutions, actually. I like to set my intention and have a word for the year. Now, last year, I think my word— no, 2020, my word was resilience. This year, my word is— I think my word's going to be freedom. Freedom to do the things I love with the people that I love. To me, that's success. So think about what word resonates with you. Maybe it's grit, maybe it's serenity, maybe it's perseverance, maybe it's determination, maybe it's shine. Maybe you want to have a mantra or a motto for the year, but I think it's important to really set the tone for the year. And there's one last thing I'd like to share before we wrap up. Really plan your day. So we'll talk about that vision, but really make a plan. Like, plan for things that energize you. Plan for things that bring you joy. What— plan for things that really create an impact. For me, making a plan means taking inventory. So what I do every year is I make a list of 3 things. I write down what are the things I did that brought me joy in the year? What are the things that made— moved the needle on my business? Like, what are the things that really made an impact on my business? And then I'll write things down that were a complete Waste of time. Now I know that might sound kind of harsh, like, oh wow, that was a waste of time. But no, there were plenty of things I did last year. I already started this list. There were plenty of things that I did that were a complete waste of time, like worrying about stuff that I, I didn't know what the future was going to hold. Worrying about it wasn't doing me any good. There were things that I did, I wasted time, uh, recording on people's podcasts that they never released. They decided not to do the podcast. That— what I learned from that is I really need to ask more questions and really take a look at who's asking me. I mean, I'm grateful that people ask me to be on their podcast, but look, man, True Grit and Grace got to be top 1% globally because it's been consistent. I've been persistent, and I've had grit getting a podcast episode every single day. Look, I know I'm not the best podcast host. I know I'm not the best podcast, but I'm learning to get better, and I'm just trying to be the best version of me and give you the most value that I can. But that takes consistency. And so to be consistent, we have to look at those things that are maybe distracting us away from what we need to do, things that waste our time. We got to cut those things out. So anything that you're doing, maybe that's scrolling through TikTok, Is that really serving you? Everything you do is either hurting you or helping you. What is a waste of time? Uh, maybe it is— I don't know, I'm trying to think. There's a lot of things that I've done that have wasted my time, but cut those, cut those things out. That's why it's important to write those things. I've just started writing down those things. I'll be able to give you a better, uh, list next time, but I'm going to continue packing up everything now before my husband cuts off the internet. And I just want to say thank you again for being here. Write down those things that bring you joy and decide to do more of those things. Find joy in the journey. It's not necessarily about achieving that next big goal or getting to that next big location. It's about enjoying the journey along the way. If there's something that stuck out to you that really resonated with you on this episode, Please take a screenshot and share it and tag me. I will tag it if— as soon as I see it on your story, I will share it on mine. So you can tag me at Amberly Lago Motivation or True Grit and Grace. And thank you for being here. I would encourage you, if you've got big goals and dreams, to check out my mastermind. It's called Unstoppable Life Mastermind. You can go to truegritandgracemastermind.com. and grace.com to find out more information about it. You are the first to be hearing about it right here on this episode. It hasn't even launched yet because it doesn't start until March, but I will tell you, there are only 20 spots available. And it's really for people who are ready to get the tools, have a community to support them, and go finally Go after your dreams. 2022 is the year where we are just gonna go for it together. I always say stronger together, but it's true. So stay true, be you, and I love you. Thank you for being here, and I'll see you next time. Thanks so much for joining us this week on True Grit and Grace Podcast. If you like it, please rate it or share it with your friends. That would help too.

If you're not yet on the newsletter list, come over to amberlylago.com and jump on it. While you're there, you can grab a free downloadable gratitude journal, and you might just want to check out my book or even check out my monthly motivation Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next week. Bye.