82: The MOST POWERFUL MANTRA You Can Say and HOW to Use it with Lisa Van Ahn

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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. 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. Welcome back to the Earn your happy podcast and today I'm thrilled to have Lisa Vanon on the show. She is a professional boxer and kickboxer and she is the founder and creator of the I AM initiative. It is a confidence building curriculum for girls and young women. And today we talk all about the importance of this curriculum and of self love. And also if you have ideas and passion for a certain initiative that you want to get started, we dive into her story about where it came from and exactly what she did to really start making this happen. So let's get started. Lisa, thank you so much for coming on the show. I'm really excited to have you on.

I am so happy to be here.

So, Lisa, I've had the honor of having you at a few of my events and I just love watching you because you are such a true leader. It doesn't matter wherever you go. It's kind of like people are so drawn to you and I just think that's so beautiful. And of course it's because you have so much to offer people. So I'm thrilled today to talk to you about the I AM Initiative that you have going on. So can you tell us a little bit about what the I AM Initiative is and how it got started?

Absolutely. I like to say the IAM Initiative is superpowers for every girl. I believe that all of us have superpowers living within us. And truly though the words I am are our superpowers, what we put behind I am is who we become. And so being mindful of those thoughts and what it is that we believe about ourselves is really inherent to our personal safety and protection. And you can't protect yourself if you don't love yourself. So I really work with girls to teach them what it means to love who they are, to trust what they feel and take positive action in the world so. So that they can protect Themselves, but also be positive change, like, make a difference.

That's so beautiful and it's so needed right now. And where did that come from?

Everything that I created is really stemmed out of my past, my history. So I had a rather traumatic childhood. As I was growing up, I was being exploited. And when I was 15, I really, like, hit rock bottom and tried to commit suicide. I just did not want to be on the plan. From that place, everything sort of came out, came to the surface. All the dark secrets, everything that was hidden came to the surface. And I began therapy. And in that time, I was really learning. I was being told that nothing that happened was my fault. And I had been coming from a place where everything. Where I believed everything was my fault, which is really disempowering. But I also discovered that during all that therapy and such, that truly believing that nothing is my fault is also disempowering. And really, the only way to be empowered is to look at the circumstances in your life and say, okay, I might not be able to control the circumstance, but how can I respond in a way that is. That's brilliant. How can I respond and take control not of the circumstance, but of how I perceive it and how I receive it? If that makes sense?

It does. And what was. So when you say that it was also disempowering because it wasn't your fault, what exactly was that? What was that realization and why?

I'm sorry, I lost you there for a second.

What was that realization? That when it was disempowering for you also, that it wasn't your fault, what was that for you, really?

That I couldn't do anything about it. It's such a victim state. Well, it's really a victim state to put it on everyone else to say, like, it's not my responsibility. I have nothing to do with this. I can't change it. I can't do anything. You know that idea, like, one person can't change the world, One person can't bring about change. It's really. You're really victimizing yourself to say that I can't do anything. And you're. A lot of times you're saying, I can't do anything. When you're putting it on other people, but also when you put it all on yourself, you're saying, I can't do anything. So truly, for me, that idea that, yeah, it wasn't my fault. I couldn't do anything about it. So I had this choice, really, to just step into that and live that. And I did I did. I owned that it wasn't my fault. And what happened was I became a victim again and again and again. And at 19 years old, I was in an abusive relationship with a much older man, and he pushed me out of his Bronco, and I landed on the curb of a kickboxing studio. And in that moment, sitting on the curb as he drove off, I realized, like, I can sit here and cry, or I can pick myself up and walk into that studio and take a class. And that's what I did. And it changed the whole trajectory of my life. So just in that moment, making that choice, and I didn't. I wasn't conscious of it at the time, but looking back, I realize in that moment, I chose not to say, this isn't my fault, and I can't do anything. I chose to stand up and do something.

So, you know, there are those moments where we don't realize what's happening. We don't realize we're changing our lives. But we did make that small shift, a choice that would be maybe outside of our norm to do something empowering. So a lot of times we don't realize that's going on, though. So how did you feel when you walked through the doors? Because sometimes we make that choice, right? And you're like, why am I here?

Why.

Why did I choose this?

It doesn't feel good. It's not familiar. So how did you feel the first few times that you went?

It was super hard. I cried through the entire first class I took, and I was partnered up with someone who I'm sure thought I was just, like, on the verge of crazy. I actually felt like I had gone overboard into crazy. So my eyes were red, and I was crying, and then I would hit something, and then I'd start crying again. And we've been there. The person on the other side of me was probably totally terrified. But the women, their two sisters owned that studio, and they. They recognized and witnessed that I was going through something really rough. And so they stopped me after the first class and said, hey, you know, you did a great job. What can we do for you? How can we help you? We want you to come back. And it was like I needed that witnessing. I mean, truly, like, my I am initiative is born out of. Out of being witnessed and seen and recognized. And I want to do that for other girls. I want to see them, I want to witness them. I want to recognize them. And ultimately, I want them to know, like, that you have to be able to. You have to be able to Recognize yourself. You have to be able to see yourself because very often the world is not going to. Very often the world's going to put you down or give you mixed messages or straight out messages telling you that you're not enough and not good enough. And in order to combat that which is really that personal protection and that safety, in order to combat that, you have to know your worth and you have to know your value.

What part do we play in making sure that we are seen, whether it's by ourself or putting ourselves in situations where we have that opportunity?

I love teaching the girls. There's a mantra that I guide them through when we do our workshops. And it starts with, my thoughts guide my attitude. My attitude guides my actions. My actions create my reality. And we bring our hands to prayer position at our foreheads and say, my thoughts guide my attitude. And then we bring our hands to our heart and say, my attitude guides my actions. And then we direct our hands down towards the ground and say, my actions create my reality. So it's really this like process to me of thoughts guiding attitude, attitude creating these actions. So knowing how to use I am and knowing the conversations that are happening in your head, like what you're saying to yourself on a daily basis, what your patterns of conversation with yourself are, is so important. If those aren't beneficial, if those aren't uplifting, then shifting that is so important. But you can't shift it if you're not aware of it. Right?

Right.

And then the more you use positive languaging, then you begin to build this belief and that's really that attitude, you really begin to like, feel what it is that you're saying. When you feel what it is that you're saying, you can take action effortlessly. And you know, there's this beautiful, this beautiful place of thought, feeling and action that go together. Oftentimes when you're so. When you're so mired in beliefs that are negative and off putting, I mean, like, to say the least, right. I had been living, I'm unworthy, I don't matter, I'm a victim for so many years. There wasn't really any way that I was going to be able to shift those thoughts directly. Like, you know what I mean? It was such a part of my makeup. So for me to move, to move from action up was what happened. So really punching and kicking that movement, like getting it out, getting out the anger, getting out the upset, getting out the suffering, like letting that move through my body allowed me to rework some of those Thoughts, if that makes sense.

Is it like detaching from your identity? Because a lot of times, you know, I'm kind of putting this understanding through my life of perhaps, like, you know, when I went from just being a fitness person to wanting to really do mindfulness and help people with just, you know, understanding what really goes into it and empowerment, it was like, for me, I had to go through my own identity crisis of, oh, my gosh, who am I without fitness? Who am I without being this person for people, who am I without this? So it's almost like that transition for you from, you know, and I used to have a victim mindset when I was younger, too, and it was that transition from being a victim of something to moving through, to realizing that you're strong. So what happens there? Do you attach it to a new thing or are you not attaching it at all? Do you know what I'm asking?

Yeah. So for me, I really love to focus on the two words that I believe are the most important, which is I am instead of I am A. So for me, I am a is identifying with a thing or that if it went away, you would lose it. If that makes sense. Right?

That makes so much sense.

I am a dancer, and if I somehow have an accident and I can no longer dance, I've lost my identity. Instead of, I'm graceful, I'm flowing, you know, I mean, yes, you have that. Those are the qualities of a dancer that you embody that makes dancing possible for you. So for you to look at it, like you said, having that identity cross, like, I'm a fitness person. I'm a fitness pro. This is my place in the world, right? And when you want to shift into more mindfulness and helping people really get underneath what is keeping their bodies unhappy, which truly, it's not about the body, it's about what's underneath that. Right? So when you go to that and you're like, oh, but wait a minute, I'm all this, and how can I be that? When truly, you've always been all of those things. You're energetic, you're enthusiastic, you're compassionate, generous, caring, inclusive. All of those things are your IMs that I recognize in you that can be in a fitness girl, or they can be in a mindfulness girl. Do you know what I mean? Like, they can be you. You get to. You get to cross the barrier and do both. Because you're not just this, you know, fitness person. You're. You're mindful and health. I'm healthy. I'm Encouraging all of those things that made it possible for you to do that transition right?

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That's so beautiful. Because when we. When we understand all of those different, like you said, you can cross over. When we understand all the different characteristics and qualities and attributes that you embody, you can carry that to anything. Because, Lisa, I'm sure, just like myself, like through the years, you are constantly changing. The one thing that's constant is change, right? So when we're so attached to something, it can be really turbulent if we don't understand that no matter if we have this thing or we lose this thing thing or have this person or lose this person, you still have this, you know, these qualities that you can apply to anything and create magic with. If you've created it once, you can create it again. And even if you haven't created it yet, you can absolutely create it out of what you have. So that's such a beautiful share. Okay, so I know that this is on the three principles of think, feel, and act. And we've already touched on them, but let's really break them down. So you talked a bit on thinking, so let's start with that. So when someone first comes into it or first goes to an event of yours, what is that going to look like?

It's I honor my mind, right? And so we talk about what does it look like to honor your mind? And frankly, like, for me, the easiest, simplest way to honor your mind is to be mindful of your I ams, because what you put behind I am is who you become. And so being, like, even, like, you know, I'm a mess, like, how many feel. I catch myself saying that all the time. Like, I can't find something. Everything's disorganized. And I'll be like, oh, I'm a mess, you know, And I just like. Or I'm disorganized. And I realize, like, that repeating that thought again and again engages that quality in my life. So here I am. And is it any surprise that I'm disorganized when it's something that I believe and think? And so identifying what our IMs are like for each of us, they're different. And we can be so many qualities. There's usually like, I would say three to five that we just shine in. You know, like, I mean, I am enthusiastic like, that's one of my qualities. Like, I'm just. I am an enthusiastic person. Even when I'm struggling with being enthusiastic, I still kind of come off enthusiastic because it's just something like, I'm easily excited. If someone is passionate about NASA and they're having a conversation with me and I know nothing about science, I will get excited with them because they're excited. So that enthusiasm, that's a quality for me, that it's a mainstay of who I am. And so I look to that in my life. I look to like, saying I'm enthusiastic, looking for actions in my life, things that I can do that encourage that enthusiasm. So for and for everyone, it's different, like, what those qualities are that they really identify with. And to teach the girls, especially these younger girls, that can be so inundated with, like, you gotta be this, and you gotta be this, and you gotta be this, and you gotta be this to say, like, no, I'm actually, like, I'm actually going to fire back with, this is who I am. And I know that that's who I am. And when you stand in that, there's so much power, there's so much confidence.

So how do you dig for some of those people that are like, I can't even think of one where they're just in such a low space. Have you ever come across anyone like that? What are the questions that you ask or have them focus on?

We talk about what we enjoy most. Like, what is the thing that we can get lost doing? You know, if it's drawing or singing, especially, like, I don't know what I'm good at. Well, that's okay. What do you love to do first? Because what you love to do is going to probably guide you in that direction of your qualities also. You know, it can be challenging because what I really want to teach these girls is that they need to know how to love themselves. So important, right? But. But we have friends in our lives, and our friends can sometimes see things that we can't see. And ultimately, when I walked into that studio and Suzanne and Beth said, wow, you're really strong. I didn't know that, and I didn't believe that, but they told me that, and it took me a while to actually own that. So we also discuss, like, what would your friends say about you? What are the qualities that they would say? Would they say you're strong? Would they say you're kind? And so we start to write down a lot of that. And then I do an exercise. I Have these cards that I've created that are actually. They're going to be. We're doing a Kickstarter project really soon with them. I'm excited about it. But they're I am cards, and they've got mantras on them that are. And they're all of these words, and so we spread them out, and then we roll through and they just, like, flip, and they flip and write down anything that resonates. Because sometimes it's just getting. Sometimes it's just having the vocabulary. Like, in our society. I mean, I'm gonna go on just a minute. Rant. In our society, the vocabulary is so negative. And so, like. And we do this thing. I talk with the girls. We talk about living above the line or below the line. So nothing is good or bad in this world. It's just either above the line or below the line. And we start to identify what's above the line. What's below the line, Qualities, thoughts, feelings, actions that are above the line or below. And where do you want to live? And it's amazing to me when we first start out, how quickly they can come up with words below the line. Bored, pissed off, annoyed, frustrated, angry. I mean, they fly out of their mouth. And then we'll go, okay, what are some above the line? Like, happy, good, and like, good. I'm like, good. No, no, good is not good, is not a descriptor here. Like, so even to be able to have the vocabulary, to identify. Even to say, I identify what I'm feeling right now, to be able to fire off, like, I'm adventurous, I'm enthusiastic, I'm appreciative, I'm grateful, I'm forgiving, I'm loving, I'm compassionate, I'm caring, I'm curious, I'm silly, I'm weird, I'm fun, I'm, you know, like, how many. How fast can you go and how many can you do? And just play it, make a game of it. Like, if you wanted to try it, turn on a timer for one minute and write down as many qualities that you would consider above the line. And then look through them and go, okay, what are three that really get me groovin'? Like, what are three that feel really good? And circle those and start practicing with those.

That is such good stuff. And I know no matter who's listening to it, whether it's teenage girls or, I mean, I think we're all just teenage girls trapped in older women's bodies, it's all the same thing. I'm like, wait, am I still 15. No. Oh, you're kidding me.

This is good because I just ordered a pair of troll. Like the new troll movies coming out. I just ordered a pair of troll leggings and I'm so excited for them to arrive. I'm like, I'm such a teenage girl. Like, I can't wait to wear troll leggings, woman.

I am like, exactly. I just saw some pizza leggings and I was like, yes, this is all so important right now.

These are the important things in life.

Yes, they are. Okay, so feel. I know we touched a little bit, but let's dive a little bit deeper on the next steps of feeling.

So feeling is I honor my heart. What I love sometimes I love the simplicity of what I teach too. People love to complicate things, but I love to try to simplify it. So once we identify the qualities that we desire to be, like, this is who I am. This is who I want to be. This is what I'm, you know, this is. This is what I'm looking to or looking towards. We find that very often that those are also the ways that we want to feel. So if I am an enthusiastic person, how do you think I want to feel? Well, enthusiastic. Right. If I'm strong, I'm graceful, I'm kind. How do I want to feel? I want to feel those things too. And so it goes together really well. And what you find is the more you are able to think, like, wake up and use your IMs and think those that you attach that feeling to it or that passion comes up with the feeling or with the thought in the beginning, it can be really difficult. You say, I'm enthusiastic, but I'm not. But I'm not. But I'm not. And that's why I say sometimes if you reverse engineer that and go, okay, I'm going to take one action today that's going to help me believe in that enthusiasm. And when I do that action, I'll also feel it. So they're also interconnected. It's not like one, then the next, then the next. I mean, there's a playbook and a process, but they interact with each other very seamlessly. Wow.

You know, that is so I am like a lover of simplicity. It's just how my brain works too. I'm like, I'm actually very simple.

Yeah.

And I like that because I think it takes some of the big, complex ideas and makes them really, you can. Tangible. Right. Everyday things that we need. And, you know, it's so funny as you're Talking. I'm applying them in my life, saying, yes. Like, this is so basic and beautiful. Like, one of the characteristics for me would be, I'm funny, I'm confident. So I'm going to seek people in situations where I feel like I could be funny or people will laugh at me, or where maybe I could use that confidence muscle maybe a little bit more. And it's not generally a place that I would used to seek out, but having that awareness makes me say, oh, you know what? I really like being around this person because they make me feel like myself, which is abc, you know?

Right, Right.

So cool. I love that. It's beautiful.

Right? Yeah. And that's so important, especially again, with girls, because you're. You get into these peer groups where it's like, that's the group that I want to be in. But I. But either, like, I don't fit into that group, so I have to do something. I have to compromise myself to fit into that group, which I, like, I teach is a big no, no. That's part of honoring. I honor my heart. I don't compromise in any way, shape, or form. I do not compromise. So I am always honoring my heart. And so for me, a compromise would be like getting engaged with some girls that want to, like, badmouth someone else. Like, even. I mean, like, badmouth a celebrity or whatever. I just. I'm not there with you, so I'm gonna step out, I'm gonna walk away. That doesn't feel good to me. And I am able to do that because I know I trust what I feel. So if I have that kind of irky feeling, like, this doesn't feel very good, I listen to it well. I teach the girls my gut is always right. What I feel is always right. So you have to trust what you feel. If you feel, again, if you feel something below the line, if you feel frustrated and that's below the line, that's not a bad thing. But identifying that and going, okay, so I feel frustrated. What's going on? How can I shift this? How can I take one step and move in another direction? So listening to that heart, feeling that heart, and knowing that if you want to be funny and confident, then you want to hang out with people that are going to, A, appreciate your funniness and your confidence, and B, going to support it, you know? And if they're not, then here is this perfect situation of I choose not to be your friend. I was so victimized when I was growing up because I was also just horribly bullied. And I always like, I want to be their friend and they won't be my friend. And I had again the victim state and I never realized that, oh, I can choose not to be their friend. I can choose if the circumstance is they don't want to include me, then I can actually turn my perspective into a position of like, well, I'm going to change. If they don't want to hang out with me, I'm going to choose to spend time with people that do want to hang out with me.

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You know, I think this is so important for everyone to hear because I mean I'm sitting here getting therapy. So thanks. Thanks. It's just great. It's great reminders because you know, there's been times in the last year where maybe I because I'm really in this connecting phase right now. So I'm connecting with a ton of different people and I'm really trying to learn to be more intuitive like follow our gut. Follow, follow my guide. So you know, I've definitely been spoken to in situations where I was like, oh Dang it. I was really hoping this would work out because I thought there was a lot of synergy here. I thought we could really have fun with this or that. And. And sometimes it's like you can have these expectations of something, and it doesn't even mean they're bad people. They can be amazing people. But if your gut is yelling at you or you're not that person that you enjoy being around someone, it could just be not the right timing, or it could just be saying, this is not the direction to go.

That's great.

So it's so beautiful. So I'm so grateful for that. And let's talk about action.

Yeah. So again, like, we love the simplicity of it. It's so funny. I'm just like, they work together, so. Right. So let's go back to. Well, let's use funny and competent, which, by the way, you have so stepped in, in a way, like, since I've known you in the last couple years of, like, owning that funny brilliantly. And I love that. So, like, we talk about action. Like, you say, you know, One of your IMs is I'm funny. And then you want to put yourself in scenarios where you feel funny. And I just watch you on Facebook Live, and I see you see your photos on Instagram, and they're funny. Like, you're, you know, you got the quirky faces and the fun. You're doing the funny things, so you're taking that action, right? So ultimately, once you have that, like, that I am that quality that you're looking towards and you're developing the feeling that attaches with that quality, action really becomes effortless. Like, funny action is kind of effortless. And you can make fun of yourself about it, but truly, you're making people laugh because you're embodying that. I am. And truly, when you have the thought and the attitude in alignment, action is really effortless. It really becomes like, I think I'm funny and I feel funny, so I just do funny stuff. I don't even have to think about it. Right. When we reverse engineer, which we sometimes need to do because we don't have a strong belief, I want to be funny, and I don't feel like I'm. And you might have experienced this. I don't know if you did or not, where you had to start kind of doing funny things first, and it maybe felt a little unnatural, but you're like, no, I'm really looking towards being more. So I'm gonna take this action, this kind of do something funny, and it Might feel awkward, and you have to take that action a little bit, and then it builds up into the feeling and the thought. Yeah, in those situations, action is not necessarily effortless. Right. But it's necessary. So for me, I was a victim and felt like a victim and had lived that for so long. Like I said, it was just, like, inherent to what I believed my being was. It was not. I truly believe inherently we're all just worthy and brilliant, Divine light. But I had, like. I was so thickly layered with unworthiness and victimization that the only way for me to get to the worthiness was to start to take some action. And so I did, you know, I punched, I kicked, and I started to feel stronger. And when I started to feel stronger, I started to understand a little bit of my resiliency, like, what I'd gone through and come out the other side, like. And I. And I started to experience, like, feeling some awe for even that. That I. That I had made it out alive. And when I had that, then I. I was like, oh, yeah, I've got this strength within me. And I began to feel that and then thinking it came along with it that I'm strong. And it's truly something that I own at this point in my life. I've been through a lot of stuff, and I'm strong, and I still go through hard stuff. And I know, though I live, that I own that, that I'm strong and I can get through this. My dad used to say when I was growing up, all the time, and I hated it. This too shall pass. He would say that constantly. And I was like, dad, stop it. And now it's one of my favorite things to say because I truly, as we had said, change is the only thing that's constant. Right. Like, how I am feeling today, I won't necessarily be feeling tomorrow. Right. Whether I'm taking action today or not, there's always tomorrow that I can take a different kind of action. So truly, like, the one thing that is, for me, constant is just like, I might not feel like I'm worthy today. I might not feel strong today, but I know that I am ultimately, and that's a process that takes some work, especially if you've been through a lot of trials and hard stuff.

I can't even tell you how important that is. Like, one of the biggest things that I've realized in my life is how I feel right now is not how I'm gonna feel in X amount of time. And the more that we understand that I do feel like, it passes quicker, which is really beautiful because, Lisa, I'll tell you, I had just a crap storm morning where I was, like, raging. Like, I woke up to a text message I did not want to wake up to, and I was like, I couldn't even function. I was shaking. I was freaking out. I was crying. And I was like, you're not. Because right away, what do you want to do? You want to, like, cancel everything and you just want to freak out and you want to tell that person, like, a piece of your mind or whatever it is. And. And I was like, you're not going to feel this way in a little while. Go work out. Go say a prayer. Go breathe. Like, this is not real. It's a. It's super emotional because you're attaching feeling to these thoughts. And it's like, you know, because our thoughts send out these crazy chemicals and emotions into our body. And it took over. Just like how euphoria can take over on a beautiful sunset and peace. And it's the same thing. Like, rage can take over and take over your body. So I just thought, okay, we're gonna let this dissolve a little bit. And also I attached, which. This is so cool we're talking about this today. I was attaching, like, I'm loving. I can find love in this. I'm a loving person. Like, I'm connected to something so much bigger than this right now. So. Wow, thanks.

That's pure brilliance right there. Like, for me, the practice of love, forgiveness, and gratitude is ultimate. Like if in those states of. Truly, those are pain states, right? And so in a state of pain, if you can, in that moment, apply love, forgiveness, and gratitude, you will not suffer. You might and will still feel the pain. But pain and suffering are two different things. And suffering is our own creation. You know, suffering is our choice. And that is when we attach to that feeling, thinking that that's what's real, when really what's true. What's real is love, forgiveness, and gratitude. It's really these qualities that are. I like to, you know, I like to call God qualities. Right. So for that, exactly what you did today and that what I teach is that I honor my mind, I honor my heart, and I honor my body. And that protection, like self protection and self love is a daily practice. It is a daily practice. And so every day, one thing. What do you do to honor your mind? One thing. What do you do to honor your heart? One thing. What do you do to honor your body? And you just said all three things right there in that moment, you're like, I was feeling rage. I was overcome with it. It was just all encompassing. And then I said, well, I can do. So I can go move. I can go work out. I can say a prayer. I can meditate. So right there, moving your body is honoring it, right? Saying a prayer is honoring your heart. Meditating is honoring your mind. Right there, you just did exactly what it is, which is why you're amazing.

Thank you for that. And, you know, it's really. I'm just observing how I feel right now. I feel so happy and so at peace. Like, I just want to cry tears of joy because of seeing the other side so quickly. Because in the past, this wouldn't have been quick. Like, I just want to acknowledge that for everybody who's listening, like, this would have been weeks, perhaps, of me carrying it out, maybe lashing out. And because it was a true character attack, and it was like, you know, when you feel that way, it's. You feel like you have something to prove. But there's no. I realized really fast that no one was gonna end. It wasn't gonna be right because this other person's perspective was right to them, and my perspective was right to me. So where do I find peace? And where can I love them for whatever they're offering me? And it was a beautiful offering. And I can tell you that it's already passed and we've already chatted it out. So, yeah, beautiful.

Yeah, that's. That. That is that. That. Like, this is a day. It's a daily practice. Right? And it is something, too. I 100% agree that if it sounds like. Or seems like people move through so quickly, like, if you're watching someone that is a mentor or even just have a friend that seems to move through so quickly that your process is perfect. So if it takes you a week, if it takes you two weeks, if it takes you 10 years. And I'll tell you what, it took me longer than 10 years to get here because I suffered for so long. And for me, I still do. And it's the same. I just catch it a lot faster. The gaps between consciousness, the gaps that I feel between being at peace and calm and in suffering are shorter. So that I don't. They're not as. You know, they're not as extended. It doesn't mean that I still don't. We're human. Those feelings come up. Those things come up. Personal attack is a personal attack. And to apply love, forgiveness, and gratitude to a personal attack is a brilliant thing to do. And Sometimes it takes some time to get there, you know, but ultimately it is like, it's the winning thing. It's the winning deal. And I'll tell you, like, I've been hurt deeply by a lot of people in my past, and I'm just in this brilliant state with the I Am initiative and what I created. And so much gratitude goes to them. I wouldn't wish anything that happened to me on anyone else, but so much gratitude goes to them because I'm able to be positive, change and help girls and teach the things that I've learned because I went through what I went through. And I could still be bitter and angry and a victim. And I'm not.

And I'm so grateful for you. And thank you so much for just putting yourself out there in such a big way to share everything and get really vulnerable and use it as a teaching moment. Because I think if anyone can get at anything from this podcast, from life, from a tough time, it's that it can be, even though you can't feel it right now, it can be the most beautiful gift of being able to help other people. And also being able to help other people is such a healing gift for us. So I know that you feel that way, Lisa, that you just feel gifted to do this work. What does it feel like to do the work of, you know, just being able to pay it forward?

I am quite often in awe. And when I have those moments of awe, I just feel completely connected to God. I feel completely connected when you resonate so deeply with this is what I'm meant to do in the world and there's just no words. And I experience that so often after I do an event. And truly, the first time I did a self defense workshop before, like the very beginnings of the I Am Initiative, I went in and I taught some 11 year old girls and I'd never done it. And I realized going into it, I'm like, they don't need to learn how to do an elbow block and a kick to the groin, like in a wrist break. That stuff is self defense. And yeah, we need those things. But really what they need to know is how to stand with confidence and feel that confidence and act that way, because then they won't end up in situations where they need to use self defense. And I literally, I did not really know what I was going to say. And I went in there and it was a completely inspired workshop. Like everything was spoken through me. I got in my car and I shook with tears of joy because I was still crying. When I think about it, because it was that, like, that real, like, this is it, this is what I meant to do and I found it. And so that's. Yeah, that's what it feels like. It's pretty awesome.

And you know, the first thing that I can think of is you showed up. You just, you just kept showing up. And sometimes the gift is there and sometimes it's not. And then one day you're like, oh my gosh, you just have to keep showing up. And I think that's what people, you know, we can get caught up thinking that it's got to be some, you know, that there's always going to be these miraculous moments whenever you take action. And a lot of times, from everything you've said, there were probably moments of you take a ton of action and nothing happens. And, you know, but if you keep showing up enough, all of a sudden you got this gift.

Definitely. Yes.

So beautiful. So we've learned all about think, feel and act. And I, I mean, literally these things can be applied to every single moment of every single day, for every single person. But I want to talk about, because I think a lot of people are going to be really inspired when they hear this. I talk to so many people who have this urge to start something, to do something, to start taking action. You got the message, you decided to implement. What did that look like from start to finish for you? And I think it starts a lot different than what people think.

Yeah, it's a lot of work. I mean, yeah, an initiative for me is really about, it's really about a passion. Right. And because I will tell you, I mean, I've been doing this, it's still in like infant stages at this point. And I've been doing it for five years, you know, and I'm doing other things on the outside to help keep it alive. You know, it wasn't like, oh, I did that first workshop and now that's my full time job is doing this purposeful work in the world? No, I got my day to day stuff I got to do to pay my bills and then on the side, hustle work, do all of the initiative stuff. And slowly and surely it's growing. So it's not an overnight success experience, but it is building and it's powerful and meaningful. And the days, and there's so many when I'm not motivated and I don't want to do anything. My passion really pulls me so truly, like at the heart of my being, I would say, like the thing I care about most in the World is the end of sex trafficking. And so for me to go in and teach girls how to protect themselves, stand up for themselves so that they aren't. They don't end up in situations where they're being trafficked or assaulted. And ideally, to inevitably be able to have an initiative that goes in and works with at risk youth girls that are coming out of trafficking girls. And I've done a little bit of that, too, which is so powerful and such heartbreaking work, you know, because you talk about feeling unworthy. These girls that have been trafficked, and so many of them go right back into the life again because they, you know, that it's. It's deeply embedded, ingrained, that they're not worthy, that they. That there's nothing else for them. So passion, like, I would say, as far as, like, what it is that you want to do in the world, find the thing that just fuels you. Like, you, you, again, it's your. I am. You get lost doing it for hours at a time. You would do it for free. You would do it. You know, you're just, like, finding that. Find that thing and then start to develop, like, okay, what would that look like for me to share this? You know, it's perfect.

Yes. So where can people. Lisa, I know you have these amazing cards coming out, and I know if anybody knows me, they know I'm obsessed with cards. And I think it's something that is. We can feel, touch, hold, look at. We kind of touch everything, right? Like, how we learn visually. We're gonna say it. It's powerful. It's something physical that we can touch and see. So where can people. I know you have a couple exciting things coming up. Just share with us a little bit about your program if people want to get in touch with you and when your cards will be out.

Yeah. My website is theiaminitiative.com and that has all of my workshops and retreats. And you can get in touch with me if you want me to come and do a girls retreat. I do travel and have done a number of events all over the country, and I can be found@lisavanon.com, which is the thing that is happening that's kind of fresh and new is we're launching this Kickstarter project for this guidebook for girls and superpower cards that I created, and I'm really excited about it. Like you had said, I'm a card junkie, too. So I really created a product that I wanted to use.

Totally.

That's how you do it, right? And yeah, it's just this kind of thing again, when we talk about self protection and self love as a daily practice, like to wake up in the morning and take a couple deep breaths and shuffle the cards and pull out a superpower for the day and read it and take it with you. It just is this. This brilliant reminder to stay connected to you know, who you truly are and those I we are. We've not quite yet launched the Kickstarter, but it's launching next week. So I will make sure to give you the link to that project because I would love for people to check it out and share it.

Well, it's so needed in it and I just want to take a moment to acknowledge you and say thank you not only for this beautiful conversation that has affected my life, but I know it's rippling out into the world. And I pray that if anyone on this podcast really has a group or has influence among young women, that you will at least get in touch with Lisa just to chat and see what you guys can do together. So, Lisa, thank you so much. I always have a final question. Question. Are you ready?

I'm ready. I am ready. I am ready. I'm ready. I'm ready.

You are. There's no way you're not. Okay, so you're on an elevator ride with somebody and it's only about 30 seconds long, and they look over at you and they say, how can I make myself happy? What do you say?

Oh, God, you just broke my heart. I don't know, I just, I. I pull them to my heart and I hold them and I say, love you, know your life and love who you are. And if you can't do that for yourself, find someone who can hold you and love you until you're able to see what brilliance you are.

Thank you so much. And you guys, if you love loved this episode as much as I did, make sure you share it. And until next time, earn your happy. Thanks, 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 and 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.