Mindset Monday - Bula Bula

This is episode 207 of the Empowered Team podcast.

Hey, guess what? I didn't mean to leave you hanging, but we have two incredible winners of our 200th episode podcast contest where so many people entered and I have to say I'm blown away because I loved to hear what people thought of the episodes, what people's favorite episodes were, and people's suggestions for episodes episodes. So know that if you entered our contest, we are taking note of the people you recommended to interview and the episodes you've requested. So shout out to all of you who entered our contest. And here's the big announcement. The winners already know because I've informed.

Them, but here they are.

That's our drum roll. That is, it's Gina McAndrews who has won the remarkable tablet and. And Kelly Hannah has won the smart plate. So we're so excited that they got to win and enjoy this incredible experience with our contest and celebrating with us. So I have a quote from Gina who tells us this. I love listening to your podcast and learning all the tips to make myself healthier and fitter. I greatly appreciate the coaching you've given me and also your morning power up sessions helping me set intentions for the week and now to win the remarkable. I'm so excited. I've been thinking of getting one for a while and I'm thrilled to get one through the contest. Thank you so much for being you and for all you do to make the world a healthier and better place. Well, thank you so much, Gina and Kelly for your podcast interest and your contest submissions. So we will have more contests in the future. Keep entering and I can't wait to bring the new topics that you have all requested.

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Welcome to the Empowered Team podcast where we explore how to optimize your performance in career, sport and life. And now, your host, executive coach and life strategist, Kari Schneider.

Bula bula.

I mean, welcome to Mindset Monday, everyone.

Here we go. We're gonna set you off into your week so that you've got an incredible.

Intention that's gonna serve the performance that.

You want in your career, your sport, your life, your relationships, because we know that you want to perform your best. So I started with Bula because I came back from Fiji recently and I really wanted to record this on a mindset Monday so that not only I can refer back to it because it was so powerful me for me personally, but so I could also share it for others because I think it'll be something that will be a little shift that makes a huge difference. And that's what we're looking for. We're looking for those little shifts that makes a huge difference in your life. So, Bula, this is a greeting in Fiji, and I was introduced to it for the first time as I was booking my accommodations, as I was getting ready to go there. And I was going there for a Tony Robbins life wealth mastery course. And I was going with some very dear friends of mine who are platinum partners. So we're very close. We go through a lot of deep, deep work together and some of us do business work together. So there's a tight group we're going with. We already have an incredible intention. But what I was not prepared for was what Fiji had to offer. The location, the environment, the people especially. And it was not really understanding this incredible offering that the environment would give me that that gave me so much more than I anticipated. So I was first introduced to Bulla in emails exchanged back and forth to. To get everything arranged. And I thought, well, this is interesting. They. They put this word bula at the end or at the beginning of some of these emails. And so I didn't really know exactly what it meant, but it seemed so exciting and specific to Fijian culture. So when I got there, it was a completely different experience of that word. And when I got there, the people I was surrounded by just had this warm presence, this confidence, this centeredness and this grounded being that we tend not to experience in North America. And that's what really drew me to be so curious about the Fijian people. And I learned a fair bit when I was there, although a limited amount. Obviously, I was there for a short span of time, but I tried to learn from people who had lived there, learn from people who were. Had never lived anywhere else but there, and understand a little more about them. So the way I'm going to lead you into Bula here is by asking you what you would typically say to the following. Someone says, how are you? You'd say, I'm. If someone says love you. What do you say back? Someone says, thank you. And I noticed that in my family, in my household and for myself, I would fall into these what I would call auto replies of how are you? I'm good. Love you. You too. Thank you. Welcome. Even cutting off words that would ordinarily be used like, oh, you are welcome. Just say welcome. So there's so many things that we. It's I, it's not just me, it's people I know, it's my family, it's all of us. Of course we do it. We're, we're busy, we're pressured, we're rushed, we're not checking in with what the answer really is. And you know that when you're exposed to somebody who really does, it's a different experience when someone responds to you to how are you? And they say, you know, I'm really doing well right now. Thank you for asking. Or someone says, love you. And the person replies, I really love you too. Or you say, thank you. You are so welcome. It has a completely different landing. So when I learned about bula, I noticed that the Fijian locals were so genuine and so happy that when they said bula, it was with enthusiasm, it was with emphasis. And it wasn't bula, it was bula. And when I was there, I started.

To.

Pass a Fijian here in the morning or see someone at a meal time and they would say their typical greeting, but I would reply, they'd say bula or bula, bula. And I would say bula. And I realized I was kind of using this North American sing song response as though it would say good morning. And I just replaced the good morning with a pula, but it was bula. But then I thought, well, I want to say it like they say it. It's so different. The emphasis is on the first part of the word and this enthusiasm and this power to it. It was strong and it was heartfelt. And they smiled huge smiles when they said it. And so I thought, well, I'm going to do this too. Not only that, they usually say things twice, not just bula, but bula, Bula. We were at a place called Savusavu, staying in another place called Wasawasa. There's a lot of repeat words going on. So I thought, well, maybe I'll do this too. So I waited to see someone so I could greet them. I was excited to greet someone. And I led in with Booda and they happily led back with booda or booda, Booda.

And I thought this was fantastic. And I was looking forward to the.

Next time I would cross paths with someone and I could actually say Buddha or booda. Booda. And it taught me to feel what I noticed about them, to feel the presence, to feel the centeredness, the enthusiasm, the happiness. They are some of the happiest people, maybe the happiest people I have ever encountered. When we drove through the mountains, through a tiny town, and when I say we, we're in a tiny little taxi cab going from the airport and there might be a little shack on the side of the road and someone hears a car coming along, so they pop their head out the window and they wave with a big smile on their face. And so we wave back. Or the little kids you go by who are heading off to school will wave and smile. The challenge was among our group that one of our leaders challenged us. Yeah, good luck. Try to find a pissed off Fijian. And we went into town. There wasn't the same kind of disconnect that we typically see among society. And it was a beautiful thing to experience. It was a beautiful thing to feel that connectedness and that real, genuine happiness. So much so that the person who was teaching our course that we were in, in Fiji used to live in Fiji for over a couple years. And she considered adopting at one point, but there was no adoption. There was absolutely no availability of small children to adopt because they didn't need to have that system in existence because their culture, their values are God, community and family, in that order. And what that means is that if there's a child who is without a family, then another family or the community brings that child in. So there are no adoption systems. So what does that tell us about how we're being? I pondered it. I watched them, I studied them. I met a woman who, it was Mother's Day and she, I. She asked if I had children and I said yes. And I asked if she had children and what their ages were and their name. And I said after work, she was working and it was a Sunday and it was Mother's Day. And after work I said, are you getting together with your family? Are you going to celebrate? And she said yes. And she said that her husband had passed and it was. I found out within the year, it wasn't very long and she was content and she wasn't. It didn't look painful for her. There was loss there, but it was more. Matter of fact, she still was so grateful for everything she had and so happy. It was really powerful to see. So I invite you this week in your life to consider, really becoming aware of how we respond and how we deliver our greetings, our hellos, our how are you's, our I love you's, our thank yous, these common things that we might say among our co workers, our family, even those closest to us. Can we do it with a little more enthusiasm? Can we do it with a little more feeling? Can we be more centered or present when we deliver our greetings? Bula bula bula. What bula bula means is welcome, be happy, we love you. And before I even knew what it meant, I felt it every single time it was said from any of the strangers that were Fijians that I met and it was really powerful. So I invite you this week to reach out to people in a way that's connected and delete your auto replies. Delete the auto replies that come out of our mouth on the regular and replace them with something powerful and and present and connected. Bula bula. Have a beautiful week everyone.

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