441: Fear is your power

Growing pains are not fun. But what is fun is holding more, seeing more, knowing more, sharing more, learning more, giving back more. And this life is unlimited. Welcome to the Earn your happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of The Bliss Project, 3 Time Fitness World champion, fitness expert and cover model, turned self love junkie, lifestyle entrepreneur and author. Each week I'll bring you a guest or a thought that will help you bust through your fears, connect to your soul, and get focused and clear so you can elevate your life, business and relationships. We don't wait until we're ready for someone to tell us we're good enough. We take what we want and we anoint ourselves. Get ready to earn, own and unapologetically rock your happiness every single day. Are you with me? Here we go. Foreign. Welcome back to the earn your happy podcast. And it's time for another quickie because there's always time to fit in inspiration. And whatever you're doing today, I'm so grateful to be in your ears. And I know that for me, podcasts have been a massive source of inspiration, of connection, of really connecting to my tribe. And I just want to say a massive thank you for supporting the podcast, for sharing the podcast, for texting it to your friends, for uploading it on social media. That's how the podcast gets out, you guys. So I just want to send a massive heartfelt oh my God, thank you. I love you. I am you. I feel you. It's so cool to be able to talk to you. So something that I feel like you guys are calling on me to share more and more about is just talking about fear and accepting fear, maybe even learning to love fear. And I want you to know right now that good things and the best things in your life aren't going to come from things that feel good. They're going to come from things that scare you. They're going to come from things that expand you before you feel ready. And the biggest things that are coming for you and the things that you are praying for, whether that's a larger audience, whether that is a growing business, whether that is a deep, connected romantic relationship or deep connected friendships, those are all things that are going to take more of you in order to keep them in your life. And I was in SoulCycle this morning and I was thinking about what it takes for a container to expand because the things that you are praying for are big and you're not yet the container that can hold them. So I want you guys to think about how a glass bottle works. So a Glass bottle can only hold so much, much liquid. And if that glass bottle is sitting and thinking about it wanting to be a bigger bottle, it wants to hold more volume. It wants to be expansive. That glass bottle is sitting on the beach and it's staring at the ocean and it's praying, how can I hold all this water? I want to hold all this water. Except when that glass bottle goes back to the glassblower and gets reheated, it's like, wait, wait, wait. Don't be. Don't put me in the fire. Oh, my God. I had no idea. Maybe I don't want. Maybe I don't wanna hold that ocean. Maybe I don't want all of that expansion because that is going to mean that I'm gonna have to go back in the fire until I stretch, and then I cool and I can expand. And that's exactly what life is like. We pray for massive expansion. We wanna hold these incredibly huge visions. Except when we get put back into the exact thing that is going to expand us, a lot of us say, get me out of here. I can't do it. This is too much. I'm not sure of myself. What about my past? I don't know if I can do this. What are people gonna think? What are people gonna say? And we don't sit long enough in the fire to let it burn away our old form and let us stretch into the person that can handle the dream, that has all of that volume and all of those blessings. You need to expand for the blessings, and you need to expand for all of the things that come with it. There is giant responsibility that comes with your dreams. And many of you, many of us, myself included, are wishing for something bigger or more. And we're not present and we're not grateful for what we have right now. And we're also in a state of maybe not wanting the lessons. So many people are like, yeah, but it's hard. Yes, it is hard. It is challenging. You know, so many times I'll put a post out talking about something, a life lesson or how we can learn from it, and people say, yeah, that's easy for you to say. Or, yeah, it's easy in theory, but it's, you know, not hard in real life. This is gonna be, you know, this is one of the hardest things. And I'm like, of course. You know, there's only so many characters I can put in an Instagram post. And I always just wanna say, of course it's hard. Like, the things that are worth having are challenging and you want to run and you want to go back to the easy thing and you want to doubt yourself, but you can't because the only other option is to play small. And we know that happiness is not in that area. Hey, if it is and you are happy and content with your life, like I think that that is like the ultimate spiritual evolution. If you are happy with where you're at, amazing, keep doing what you're doing. But if you have a calling on your heart that has not yet come forward, you don't have any other option but go for it. Even if that is not the dream that it ends up being, that is the carrot. So start following that vision that's pulling you and that will change. For most of you, it's going to change. But let that be the vision that pulls you. Whether it's getting a higher paying job or whether it's starting this business that's going to help you understand business and start another business, whether that's joining that network marketing company so you can start understanding what it's even like to work on your own. And then you can go off and do whatever you want after that. Like, let that be the carrot to start growing you. And know that if it's hard, then that is exactly where you need to be. Because nothing easy or nothing that's already in your life is going to change you and expand you. You guys were all just that glass bottle looking at the ocean, saying, oh my gosh, I just, I can completely. I just want to hold that. I just want to be the person who can contain and just feel what it feels like to be all about that energy right there. And it's about sitting in the fire long enough to expand our container, expand our soul. Sit in those problems. Sit in the problem until you get an answer. Sit in the question until you get an answer. Pray about it until you get an answer. A Course in Miracles says we feel weak when we are relying on our own strength. We feel weak when we're relying on our own strength. And I remember when I sit in problems and I think, I can't do this or I'm not enough or I good enough, I remember and I say to myself, I'm not supposed to do this alone. You need to pray. You need to pray to God, you need to pray to universe. Whatever you believe in, you need to ask for some serious help. And then you need to call some friends or family or anyone who you can share this with, get it off your chest and don't do it alone. The quickest Way to going down a spiral of more negative thoughts is to keep thinking that thought over and over attract even more of those thoughts. Go down a negative, negative spiral and don't share it. If you want to get it out, share it, move past it. Share it. Sharing it is the fastest way to move past it with a group that you can trust. If you don't have one yet, just keep praying and listen to podcasts. Believe me, I have been there. I've been in situations where I'm like, I don't have any friends to talk to. You know, my husband doesn't even understand what I'm trying to do. Like, he's busy at work. He doesn't want to talk to me about this again. So pray, podcasts, books, more prayer. You guys, if it's good, it's probably not going to feel good. If it's good, it's probably not going to feel good. There are a lot of things in our life that we, that we get to do, and we get to show up and make sure that we're doing things that we love, but we get really confused on things that expand us, that are uncomfortable, and we run from them because we're like, that doesn't feel good. Ooh, I don't know if I should be in that room. I don't know if I'm good enough. That doesn't feel good. I'll go back to my other rooms with people who don't elevate me, and we just have the same conversations over and over. Guys, expansion hurts. You're not ready for it yet, right? Your container is expanding and you're not ready for it. It does not. Growing pains are not fun. But what is fun is holding more, seeing more, knowing more, sharing more, learning more, giving back more. And this life is unlimited. But it's all about how long you can sit in the fire and how uncomfortable, how comfortable you are with getting uncomfortable. How much can you love discomfort? How much can you sit in it and not try to run from it? That is your challenge today. How much can you stand in a conversation that makes your solar plexus churn and you're anxious and you're nervous, and how can you just let that be okay? How can you be more interested than thinking you need to be interesting? Right? How can you just sit and let things be okay when someone doesn't like you, when you get a nasty email, when you get a nasty response in your DMs, how can you just let that be okay and understand they are on their own? Journey and let them be the tool in which you grow a bigger backbone and thicker skin. Without them, you don't get to thank them. Without them, you don't get to. You stay the same. Without the fire, without the pain, without all of those things that you don't want, you don't get to expand the container. That glass bottle cannot expand until it's put in the fire. It's impossible. It breaks, right? There's no other way to expand it besides breaking it. So if you want to stretch, you have to get in the fire and you have to sit in it. And that is what you're doing. And you're going to accept it and you're going to love it. So I want you guys to take this challenge on.

2026 is the year that you launch your business. It's the year that you've become the boss. You become the leader. That idea that you have that has been eating at you forever that just will not leave you alone is going to come to life. Maybe it's something that someone tells you you should always sell or a store you've already designed in your head. And with Shopify, 2026 is when you finally make it happen. Shopify gives you everything you need to sell online and in person. Millions of entrepreneurs have already made this leap from household name to first time business owners. Just getting started, you guys. I use Shopify for glossy and I remember when they sent me my little shopping bag celebrating my 10,000 sales and I literally cried because I was so scared to take the leap. And I'm so glad that I did and that I use Shopify. It gives you all the tools to easily build your dream store. You can choose from hundreds of beautiful templates that you can customize to match. Your brand setup is fast with Shopify's built in AI tools that write product descriptions and headlines and help you edit photos. So marketing is built into. You can create email and social campaigns that reach customers wherever they scroll. So as you grow, Shopify grows with you. You can handle more orders, expand to new market and do it all from the same dashboard. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com happy. Go to shopify.com happy that's shopify.com happy. Hear your first Cha Ching this new year with Shopify by your side. Too many people finish their workday feeling frustrated, drained and unfulfilled. I know that. I have experienced that myself. And the good news is It's. It doesn't have to be this way, and you don't need a new job to fix it. Patrick Lencioni, author of the Five Dysfunctions of a Team and more than a dozen other bestsellers, created the working genius assessment to help you pinpoint the kind of work that gives you energy, the kind that lights you up, and it also shares the kind that drains it. So over a million people, including me, have taken it and completely changed how I lead and show up, up every day. If you're a CEO, an entrepreneur, or someone who just wants to level up in business and in life, working genius is going to give you the clarity and confidence to operate in your strengths and find greater joy in what you do. Because confidence isn't pretending to be good at everything. It's knowing where you're truly gifted. Take the working genius assessment today and get 20% off with code Earn at Working genius. Com. That's Working Genius.

Com.

You'll be glad you did it.

Of just looking at the things that are hard, looking at the things that challenge you, look at the things that you feel impatient about, look at the people that you are annoyed with, irritated with. You don't like you don't wish the things that they're doing to you on your worst enemy, but they're doing them to you. How can you accept it? How can you look at it? How can you send them love? How can you forgive them? How can you move on? How can you focus on something so much bigger that you know you have such bigger fish to fry that you don't have any energy to for that bullshit? Like, you literally need to let go of the energetic ties to the bull crap. Like, you guys. Life is too short. We don't even know if we'll be here tomorrow. Life is too short. You have to go and live your life. You have to go and live your life or you're going to wake up next Monday and it's going to be the same. And the next Monday after that and 52 weeks later, it's going to be the same Monday. Except you guys know what I always say, it's not the same. It only gets worse. If you're not doing things that stretch you, if you're not doing different things, if you're not doing things that you love, if you're not doing expansive things, if you're not making time, if you're not setting boundaries, it only gets worse. And you are here to live an extraordinary life. You have a message to carry out. And this is so irresponsible to let someone's comment or judgment or their own fear projection to try to sway you because you forget who is on your side. And that is something so much bigger. That is whoever or whatever you believe created you. And there is literally no challenge or anything that could ever go against that strength and that power. And you are tapped into it. You just have to keep turning back. You just keep have to turning back to it and praying. So it's a choice to give in to that comment, to give in to that email, to give into that fear. That old story. I'm not smart enough, I'm not worthy enough, I don't have a degree, I don't have the education, I don't know how, I don't know how is a bullshit story. You need to turn and you need to pray. You need to remember that every time that you forget and every time you lean into the fear, you've just turned your back on the sun. All you gotta do is turn around and that is always there for you. So, you guys, I'm sending you so much love today. Just grateful. I'm just in such a happy, grateful place. I'm working on projects that I love. They are expanding me beyond anything I can tell you. I'm about to go sit in the fire tomorrow, literally, and just, you know, pray that this vision was given to me for either this vision or a greater vision or just my expansion. But I'm so excited to share it with you in the future as soon as I can, because it does involve you guys. And just it is. It is leveling me up, to say the least, which is going to give me a whole lot of content for the next couple years. So here we go. Thanks for joining me on this journey of embracing fear in every aspect and knowing that it's just like the most delicious thing to ever learn from perspective is our power, you guys. And fear is the invitation for growth. And I will see you, hear you. I won't even hear you, will I? I will see you on Instagram and hear about your feedback, but I can't wait to chat with you on the next podcast. So until next time, earn your happy. Bye everyone. Thank you guys so much for spending this time with me on the earn your happy podcast. I am so glad that you stopped by. If you could take one second to share this episode with someone you think would love it, that would be absolutely amazing and we would be forever grateful. Also, please leave us a review if you feel so moved by going to itunes and leaving us an honest thought an honest comment. Tell us what you think. Tell us what you want to hear. More of it would really help us out on our journey to helping thousands and thousands of people. Until then, don't forget to earn your happy. Thanks again guys. Bye bye.