067: Celebrating your wins

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Wayfair. Every style, every home. Hi everyone, long time no see. Welcome to another episode of Canny Crystals, the podcast. I hope that you're all well. Bloody Nora, where do I start? So obviously there was no podcast episode last week, and I think that's only ever happened once before in the year and a bit that I've been podcasting, so I think we're doing alright. But honestly, what I've been through in the last few weeks has— it's actually been worse than COVID. It's hard as well because I've been putting on such like a brave face for you all, and even interviewing Kirstie Gallagher the other week. I didn't feel like I could cancel it because we'd already rescheduled once before when she was ill in December, so I just kind of grinned and got on with it. So anyway, I spoke the other week about how I had a sore throat after New Year. Well, the chest pains, the breathing, the coughing, the headaches, honestly, the muscular aches, it just all got a bit too much for us. And I know that I'm bad when I have no energy for the gym at all. That's like my red alert, you know what I mean, my red flag. And because I'm just one of those saddles that actually enjoys the gym, so there I am, I'm coughing, I'm wheezing, I'm barely being able to breathe, and I ended up bringing 111 for some advice. So here in the UK, for USA listeners, 111 is the National Health Service's non-emergency number, okay? So you know our country is in fucking tatters as well when they told me that I had to make my own way to hospital because it was urgent that I could barely breathe, but the fastest ambulance that would be able to get me would be 13 hours away. 13 hours. One, three hours. Can you believe that? This country is an absolute joke. Hi to all of my NHS listeners, I know there's a few of you. Um, but yeah, anyway, I ended up in hospital and I was seen pretty much straight away. Fair play to them. So within 40 minutes of me arriving at A&E The first time round, I was given some antibiotics and away I went. And they told me that I had pneumonia and it should clear up itself. Obviously pneumonia is quite a weird thing because my nana always told me when I was younger, "Ooh, you know, wrap up warm or you'll get pneumonia," and stuff like that. You don't get pneumonia like that. But anyway, I always thought it was like a death sentence. I was like, "Oh my God, people die with pneumonia." And yeah, they do die with pneumonia, but they told me not to worry, it should clear up itself with these antibiotics that they gave me. So the next few days passed and I just carried on best I could, you know, like packing orders, replying to messages, just pretty much doing the bare minimum of what I could but without feeling too drained because it was really taking its toll on me body. And I couldn't even stand up without feeling pain all the way down me back and legs. It was almost like I'd been hit by a bus, ran over by a steamroller. And then out of nowhere as the symptoms started to kind of subside with the antibiotics and get better, I started getting the most intense migraine feeling in me head. So it was like I got rid of the cold, got rid of the aches, and I just had this throbbing in me head. It felt like someone had opened me skull up and were literally like using their claws to dig into my brain. It was absolutely horrible, the worst pain I've ever felt in me life. But again, just to feel like a hero and because I didn't want to cancel on other people, I doped myself up on medication, and a couple of Mondays ago— you've probably seen this on Instagram— but I drove the 3-hour drive down to Chesterfield from Newcastle for the Beauty Growth Academy Release Your Inner Queen event. The irony, a queen speaking at a queen event. Um, and I'd had loads of painkillers that morning because when I woke up, I think it was about half 5 because it was obviously an early start, I very almost nearly cancelled that morning. But but I just couldn't do that to Alicia, who was running the event. So, excuse me, just clearing my throat. Um, so there I was, turning up at this hotel with my best friend Nikki, and I was setting up a little stall with just a handful of crystals that I had chosen to bring with us. So it was, you know, just things like keyrings, beginner's bundles. I took a few candles, you know, just little things. Obviously crystals are fucking heavy. Um, and as I was setting all of this up as well, I could just feel this thumping coming back in my head. And just like that, it was like a whirlwind. The doors to the main room burst open and out poured hundreds of women who were coming on their lunch break, and they all just swarmed the table and started buying things straight away. And obviously I was over the moon, and it did take my mind off the pain talking to everyone and be like, oh, this crystal's for this, this is for this. But all I was worried about was that I wanted to maybe have 30 minutes in a dark room sitting in silence before I was due to go on stage. Like I had Strepsils, I had lozenges, I had Fisherman's Bloody Friends. I was trying to get me voice back. So when I approached the front of the main room to drop off me iPad and kind of test out the mic, Alicia announced me name as though I was ready to begin, which was kind of funny to think back because everyone, as I turned round, everyone stood up and started clapping. But the panic in me face must have been real because everyone just burst out laughing and I was like, I'm not ready yet, I'm not ready, give us 2 minutes. So off I went to the toilet, I popped a few more painkillers, and off I marched back into that room to give the performance of a lifetime. I should have received an Oscar, to be totally honest with you. I didn't even focus on the fact that me hands were shaking, or that I was nervous, or that I even felt like I was gonna vomit. I just concentrated on the fact that these hundreds of women were here to hear me speak, and that was getting me over everything else. I was there to inspire them. I was there to share my journey, and help them along on their spiritual journey and get started as well. So 45 minutes later, the talk concluded, and everyone seemed to have really enjoyed it, which I was more than happy about because, I don't know, I just didn't expect it to go as well as it did. I thought I was going into a room full of skeptics, and people were going to be asking question after question of like, "Do you really believe this?" Every single person was on board. And as I went to leave the room, I looked up and there was a queue of people actually wanting to speak to us and wanting to get their photo with us. And I found this quite funny because I felt like such a little celebrity. It's weird me saying that because it sounds so cheesy, but it's honestly how everyone at that event made me feel. Like, I was like, like, there was a queue of people wanting to take the photos with us. I was like, what? What's going on? So everyone was so loving and kind, and, you know, I gave cuddles out to everyone. I got photos with people. One woman even wanted me autograph, and I just found that really, like, surreal. But it was just so nice to meet everyone there because it just brought what I do alive. Because when you think about it, I started this pretty much during the pandemic, and everything I do is digital and it's behind the screen. So it's like, you know, recording TikToks or recording Reels or sending out orders. So I'm replying to direct messages on Instagram, or I'm responding to emails, you know, sending out orders across the world. And I've never got to speak to people face to face the entire time I've been doing this line of work. Other than, you know, like when I delivered that yoga session a few— that was about a year ago actually, when I delivered that session about crystals at my friend's yoga studio. But I absolutely buzzed from all that, and I absolutely buzzed meeting everyone. And I genuinely forgot that I was ill in that moment. And I was just so happy to see so many like smiling faces and to have got through me talk without passing away, basically. And I found it a lot easier as well because it was all women. I think, I think there was maybe one or two guys there, um, but it was predominantly women. And I find women easier to talk to because, you know, I feel like one of the girls myself. Um, yeah, and I've got daddy issues, so, um, I find it really hard to talk to, you know, straight hetero men. But that's a different issue for a different podcast. Um, but if you're listening to this podcast right now and you were at that event, firstly, just let me apologize for how I actually was, because in hindsight, I really shouldn't have attended being that poorly. And I was coughing left, right, and center getting photos with people. But just thank you so, so much from the bottom of my heart for being so patient with me and so kind and making that such an event to remember. Because it's honestly made me want to run my own events now. So whether that be this year, later on, or next year, it's just really got me over my phobia of public speaking. I think the only time that I've ever had to speak publicly in the NHS was when I launched a website around mental health and recovery, and I was supposed to have stood up and gave this 20-minute opening speech, and I spent, um, 2 to 3 minutes basically telling people where the toilets were, the fire exits, the car park. And then I handed over to one of my colleagues in a sheer panic. So this was quite a big deal for me. So thank you so much, honestly, literally pass that message on far and wide to anyone who was at that event. Um, I honestly wish I'd taken more stock with us as well because the stock that I took mostly sold out in the first break, and then we had the lunch break, and then there was an afternoon break as well. So I made just over £2,000 in sales, which obviously I was ecstatic about, and I honestly think that was my best day for Taken so far, but because that combined with what I actually took on my website and what I got, uh, the speaking fee and stuff like that, that was my biggest day in takin' so far. So after the event, me and me friend went to grab some food because neither of us had ate since 8 o'clock that morning, and it was now approaching like 5 PM, it was getting dark. And I went to take more painkillers and realised that I'd run out, and honestly, I can't even begin to describe the next 3-hour drive home. It was the most horrible drive of me life. Like, obviously at that time in the UK it is quite dark. Right now we're in January, and I felt that every single car that was kind of driving on the other side of the road facing us was shining lasers in me eyes. That's just what it felt. It felt like it was burning into me brain. So it got to the point where we had to stop at a couple of service stations, you know, just so I could close me eyes in the toilet for 5-10 minutes, and then we set off again. But once we eventually got home, I'd had some painkillers and I pretty much just went straight to bed. The next day when I woke up, this intense pain in my head, it was back. So I came into work, again I did the bare minimum, and I ended up going home to lie in bed. I closed the blinds, turned the TV off, I had me head under the sheets, I had me eyes closed, I was shivering but I was sweating, I was trying to get some form of relief and nothing was working. Painkillers weren't working. And I think I got to about 5 o'clock that night, this was on the Tuesday, and I just thought, I need to ring 111 again. This pain is so unbearable. So Johnny had to drive us to hospital because again there was no ambulances. And this time we sat in A&E for just over 6 hours. Now you've probably been in an A&E department at some point, an emergency department at some point. I had me hood over the top of me eyes, my eyes were closed, but sat in that waiting area on those uncomfortable seats for 6 hours, it just made everything 10 times worse, and I was not getting irritable, but getting to the point where I was crying with the pain, it was so intense. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was eventually seen around midnight and told that the pneumonia that I had basically had spread to the lining of my brain, which was causing a viral meningitis. Fuck my life. So after some blood tests, I was eventually discharged with stronger antibiotics, stronger painkillers, codeine, a new inhaler, you name it, I got it. I came out like a walking pharmacy basically. And just a couple of days after this, I started to perk up. So you might have seen my video on my story at the weekend when I first went out for a dog walk, and that was the first time I'd left the house other than to go to work since New Year's Day. And obviously we're at the end of January now. It's just really took it out of me in terms of energy and breathing. It's been quite intense, and I feel like I've wasted January, but it's allowed me to get on with like admin kind of things. So it has been like a good thing, but obviously I think it was just a warning sign to me to slow down. So here we are anyway, as I record this, it's Tuesday. Obviously this goes out on Friday. But I feel so much better, and I don't want to jinx anything, but I feel a million dollars in comparison with how I felt over the last few weeks. Honestly, bloody hell. COVID last Christmas, pneumonia this Christmas. Fun times. So I'm slowly starting to get back on track with things, and today will be the first day that I spend a full 12 hours down in the office again. And then tonight I'm going to try and get back on the Peloton, even if that just means a gentle cycle in me own time. I've lost around a stone in weight since Christmas, so Obviously that could be partly down with the fact that, you know, I haven't exercised in a month now, so it could be like muscle weight as well, that I've just like depleted in muscle weight. But anyway, enough about me illness. I'm sick of talking about bloody illness and, you know, ugh. Anyway, one positive was that me mam has now officially left her job. Woohoo! And she had her first working day here— working in inverted commas, should I say— last Friday. And she brought me Nana along for moral support. Honestly, it was more like a bloody daycare than it was a place of work. One of the first things that she asked us was, "Where did you find all these?" "In the river." "Yes, Nan, found all these crystals in the Tyne, and now I just sell them on to people." You can sense the sarcasm in my voice. But yeah, it was like a daycare centre, obviously, just these two. Like, I had them doing like little mediocre tasks just to like break them in. Well, breaking me mama in. I'm saying break them in as if me nana's coming to work for it. She's not. Um, but yeah, I just had them doing little mediocre tasks, you know, like doing a stock check of how many bracelets there were, how many key—

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Wayfair, every style, every home. Things like how many of each, just so I could update the, the numbers on my website, and it just allowed me to get on with other things such as, you know, all the stock that I end up bringing back from the event, stuff like that needed counting and adding back into the inventory on the online shop. So after 2 hours of them doing this, me nana told us that she was ready for home, and obviously because me mam had brought her over, I was like, oh my God, she's gonna have to go, they've literally done 2 hours work and now they're off. So we called to my house because she was hungry, we ended up getting fish and chips, it was Friday after all, and then me mam took them home. So I asked me mam this morning what day she wanted to come over and help out this week, and she replied with, me and your nan are coming over tomorrow. So it looks like nan is going to be a permanent fixture for the time being. Bless her soul, she's nearly bloody 90 as well. Um, obviously I don't mind, however I'm going to have to kind of set some boundaries, I think. But yeah, family, yeah. Obviously from time to time there are weeks that go by where I don't have time to fart, let alone like open the office as a daycare for the elderly. Sorry to you both if you ever listen to this. I know you won't anyway, but never mind. Um, so yeah, anyway, that was that. And then this week, some of you might have seen as well, I appeared in British Vogue magazine this week. That was a massive thing for me, honestly. And I guess that— how can I put this— I kind of pussyfooted around it because I was nervous to almost come off as though I was bragging online about being in Vogue. But one of the things that I've learned through my own self-discovery and my own self-development journey is that The more we celebrate these little wins, the more we become accustomed to, you know, living that lifestyle and getting more sent our way via the universe. So at first, when I got the magazine, I opened it up. Me first reaction was, yes, oh my God, I'm in Vogue. However, I think all these limiting beliefs came in and I was just thinking, oh my God, it's absolutely tiny. It's 3 centimeters by 3 centimeters. And you know, like, my inner, my inner person inside was like, told you so. And just as I had this conversation with myself in my head, I opened my Instagram messages and there was a message from one of you lovely lot. I honestly can't remember who it was because I get hundreds of messages a day, but they'd said, well, you know, it's better to be in the magazine and tiny to not be in it at all. And something with me, like, really resonated with that statement. And I thought, you know what, I'm gonna take a photo of meself. Let's shout it from the fucking rooftops. This is a big deal for me. This is massive. I'm gonna worship this. This is like, my products are in Vogue. If I asked you to name any magazine in the world, you know, 9 out of 10 people would probably say Vogue. It's probably the largest magazine in the entire world. Unless of course you're a '90s kid like me, you might have said Smash Hits, woo-hoo. But yeah, that in itself is just a massive achievement for me. Like, this time last year, I was still working for the NHS. Just 12 months later, there I am having my products featured in Vogue. So what I want you to do, because I think this is really, really important for self-development, self-growth, and for celebrating those little wins, is when you get time today after you've listened to this podcast, I just want you to grab a pen and paper, or grab your phone if you're tech savvy, go on your notes app, and just list all the things, no matter how little they are, that you would class as a win from the last 12 months. And I honestly think that you'll be surprised when you see how many little wins that you've actually achieved in the last 12 months, and they do mount up. So this might be something absolutely massive, such as, you know, you might have got a mortgage for a house last year, or you might have treated yourself to a new car, or, you know, you might have got a promotion at work, or you— could be something smaller, like you've made a new friend, or you You just won £10 on the lottery. You might have like found a quid on the street. Whatever it is, sit with that thought, okay? Resonate with it. Feel it in every bone of your body and just give thanks for that win. And as you do that, just read through your list of every single win that you've like made last year, in the last 12 months. And if you sat there thinking, "I haven't made any wins," of course you've made wins. You've won just by waking up. That in itself is a win. You've got hot water. You've got, you know, the internet to listen to this podcast. You've got a device to listen to this podcast. There are so many little wins, okay? And if you're feeling brave, you could even share your list of wins because, like, share it online, share it with your followers. It wasn't until I went to that event last Monday and I shared my story— I had really limiting beliefs and self-doubt that, you know, who would want to listen to my story? And I think that was one of the biggest things of why I was so nervous about going to the event and delivering that speech in front of hundreds of business owners because I just thought, who would actually want to listen to all the things that I've achieved in the last year or two? And, you know, I think mostly I was worried that I was going to come off and come across as just bragging. But when speaking to people after the event, and this almost sounds braggy in itself, but it's not. After the event, people came up to me and said how inspirational it was. I've had hundreds of messages from people that attended that event saying it was so inspirational and they've realised that because I came from nothing and I've done this in the last 24 months, they can too. I honestly think by doing that event, it's really helped to switch my mindset and switch my focus into knowing and thinking, okay, this isn't bragging at all. This is helping and educating other people and showing them that it can be done. Showing them that I came from a place of nothing, and if I can do it, you can as well. Yeah, and to me, if I had someone on my spiritual journey that had told me all of that at the very beginning, I'd have been onto a winner pretty much straight away. And I often say this, and I said this in my talk as well last Monday, but when we were younger as children, we were kind of suppressed and told by our parents not to chase our dreams. And I don't mean this like directly, like I know some of you might be shouting at your devices right now thinking, you're wrong, Mart. My parents really supported me in chasing my dreams. But what I mean is the psychological things, such as, you know, telling you that you need to work hard to make, make a living, or that money doesn't grow on trees, or on your birthday, blow out your candles, make a wish, but don't tell anyone because it won't come true. Why wouldn't it come true if you told someone? If anything, you're going to be more accountable and have that fire lit under your arse. Yeah. If you tell other people about what you're going to do. If you've listened to past episodes of this podcast, for example, you'll know that back in December, um, I made a commitment on this podcast to do a 31 Days of Gratitude Challenge on YouTube. And that was just something that I'd had an idea about, but I had no clue how I was going to roll it out. But by saying it and dropping it in into the middle of a podcast episode and telling you it was coming from the 1st of January I was committing myself to achieving that, and I knew fine well that if I then didn't deliver that, I'd get hundreds of messages from people saying, where's that? Where's this, like, all singing, all dancing private podcast thing? And I'd be letting down all of you lot. So that lit that fire under me. And yes, fair enough, I did say it was going to be on YouTube, which changed. It ended up being on the Academy website. However, I still delivered. Yeah. And I dare say that it probably would have still been just an idea right now had I had not committed to it there and then on that podcast. So, you know, just remember, don't just write down your dreams, your goals, whatever it is, share it with the world. Okay. And as you reach those little milestones that are helping you to get there, you know, those little stepping stones, those little wins, shout it from the rooftop. Celebrate every single last win. If you've got 1,000 followers on Instagram, celebrate it. Put it on your story. Thank you so much for, for 1,000 followers. You know, the little wins all mount up. Yeah. And if you don't like that and you think that I'm still bragging right now, just unfollow us, hun, because I'm happy knowing that I'm inspiring others and that what I'm talking about and what I do let other people know that you can do exactly what I've done and turn your whole life around for the better. Okay, so yeah, that's been my eventful few weeks wrapped up into a little pod episode there. I'm sorry this hasn't been about anything specifically, but next week I'm going to do a Q&A because I haven't done one in a while, to be totally honest with you, and I'm getting so many messages daily, and I think it would be really worthwhile if I tried to get through as many questions and answers as I can in one pod episode. So if you're listening to this, head to my Instagram story on the day it comes out, which will be Friday the 27th, and click on my story on Instagram, type your question into the Q&A box on my story, and you never know, I could be answering your questions live on the podcast next Friday. So I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please feel free to leave a review wherever you listen to um, this podcast episode on it. I would just really appreciate it, to be honest. It helps this podcast grow to new audiences. And I just wanted to give a quick mention of everyone who has signed up for the 31 Days of Gratitude private podcast as well on the Connie Crystals Academy, because there's over 2,000 of you now, and I can't believe it. There's over 2,000 of you signed up. You're actively working through it. So proud of you all, considering I've been ill and haven't really had the time to formally launch it. All of you that have signed up from it have either heard me talking about it, you know, on here on the podcast, or you've seen a story that I've posted that— but I haven't formally marketed it or promoted it. So just a massive thank you from me. And remember, if you sign up for the 31 Days of Gratitude before the 31st of January, it's free for life. Otherwise, it'll be available, if you're listening to this after the 31st of January, for just £10. And if you click the word Academy from the main menu, cannycrystals.co.uk, it'll take you directly there. Obviously, the Manifesting Money Masterclass that I'm in mid-creation of, that was supposed to be launching at the end of January. However, because I've been so ill, I've not been able to work on it, so I've just had to push that back until the end of February just to give myself a little bit of leeway. But I'm declaring this right now, it's going to be ready by the end of February. Um, So yeah, for all of you that are asking, I'm sorry it's been pushed back, but yeah, it's coming. Don't worry, Manifesting Money, bitches. It's gonna be amazing. Can't wait for that one. But yeah, just be patient just while I get stuck back in. I've had quite a lot of requests as well to put the presentation that I delivered at the BGA event last Monday about achieving your goals online, and I thought I might as well because I've already done it. So I'll find the time somewhere in the next couple of weeks to record this as well as a 45-minute online presentation and I'll stick that on the Academy as well. Sorry if you can hear that, that's my stomach rumbling. I'm very, very hungry. I had no breakfast today.

Whoops.

Uh, so yeah, in the meantime, I hope that you all have an amazing week ahead, and I'll see you all next Friday for another episode of Panic! Asylums Podcast. Lots of love, guys. Take care of yourselves, and I'll see you all next Friday. Bye!

You want to get your backyard summer ready, but you don't want to break the bank? Wayfair gets it. Planning on dining alfresco or relaxing poolside? Wayfair has everything you need to prep your space. Shop now and save up to 70% off during Wayfair's Fourth of July clearance. Score huge deals on outdoor furniture, area rugs, and more. We're talking thousands of products for every style and budget. Plus, surprise flash deals July 6th. Don't wait. Shop Wayfair's Fourth of July clearance now through July 6th at wayfair.com.

Wayfair.

Every style. Every home.