198: You're only one tiny choice away from a totally different life

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Wayfair, every style, every home. Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of Cani Crystals, the podcast. I hope that you're all well. This week I am coming to you live and direct from Northern Ireland. Yeah, I'm on a little week break away with the family, seeing all of Johnny's family. So last Sunday we actually got the ferry over, this time from Scotland, just so we could bring JJ, our dog, with us as well. We've had a lovely week so far. We're lucky that his dad has a little Airbnb up at the North Coast as well, so we stayed there for a couple of nights, and then we've been at his dad's house just outside of Belfast since. We've had a couple of beach days, we've had some long walks in the fresh air. Honestly, it's just been so nice to switch off. Last week was a little stressful because I was trying to get all my work done for that week as well as this week. I was launching the meditation and mindfulness course, but it's honestly just been so nice to spend time together as a family. And it's been different this time round as well, because normally we would go for meals on evenings with Johnny's family or his friends.. And this time we've got our little boy with us and his bedtime is around 7 PM. But you know what, it's been nice to just chill on an evening, just make some nice food, play board games and stuff. It's kind of like Christmas in the summer. And as we were on our way to the ferry, Jonny and Jake were both asleep in the car and I was thinking about what I could talk about in this week's episode because I was just ruminating on, you know, what I was actually going to talk about this week. And I was people watching as we pulled into this service station. And I'm not even 100% sure, like, why this even came up, but I started thinking about how we were driving to Scotland, and that all came from us actually getting in the car. Then I turned the engine on, then I made a decision to drive. Otherwise, we would still be sat in Newcastle, or still in the house, obviously. Yes, these are the types of thoughts that go through my head on a daily basis. So then I started thinking about how the choices and the actions that you take right now are aligning and defining your future. So, for example, if I did the same thing all day, every day, and I went to work, came home, had me tea, put me little boy to sleep, and then did the exact same thing over and over and over again, nothing in my life would change. But if I stepped out of me comfort zone and I did something that I wouldn't usually do, then I would have altered me future and I would have different experiences. So, the one example that popped into me head at the time was applying for a job. So, say for example, if you were jobless and you just sat there not taking action daily, you would just be sat on the couch for the rest of your life. But just by taking one simplified action of applying for a job would then mean that in your future you might be invited to a job interview, or maybe you might start work, you might meet new people, you might actually start enjoying your life. Does that kind of make sense? Don't worry if it doesn't, because I'll explain my thought process as we go through this episode. But what I wanted to talk about is how the actions that you take in your life right now will define your future and who you become because of taking them. So let's kick things off with something a lot of us don't even realize that we're doing, which is living on autopilot. And I don't mean like a cool Tesla that can park itself or anything like that. I just mean like you're the human equivalent of one of those screensavers from the '90s. Can you remember? It just used to bounce around in the same pattern day in, day out, over and over again. So I want to start by getting you to imagine this scenario. So you wake up, probably to the same alarm sound that you've had since 2017. You scroll your phone for far too long. You drag yourself out of bed. You make the same cup of tea. You eat the same breakfast. You go to work. You come home. You have your tea. You watch a bit of telly. You put the bairn to bed. And then you crash on the sofa until you remember that you've got a pile of washing to put away that's been haunting you like a Victorian ghost for the last 3 days. Then you drag yourself to bed, and you're ready to repeat the cycle tomorrow. Does that sound familiar? Because that is basically my life. Now, don't get me wrong, routine isn't the enemy. Routines can be quite grounding. They can give your nervous system that lovely feeling of safety and predictability. But when your entire life just becomes a loop of habits that aren't actually taking you anywhere new, that's when it starts to become a problem. That's when you're not actually living. You're just existing. You're a slave to the universe. And you see, the thing with autopilot is that it's quite sneaky because it doesn't announce itself like, "Hello, just to let you know, you're stuck in a repetitive loop that isn't serving your higher good." It just feels normal to you, and that's what makes it quite dangerous, because when something feels familiar, we assume that it must be fine. But familiarity doesn't mean fulfillment. It doesn't mean alignment even. It just means that you've done it so many times that your brain doesn't even need to think about it anymore., and the brain absolutely loves that. It loves saving energy. But your soul, on the other hand, not so much. Your soul is sat there in the corner like, hi, can we do something exciting? Anything, please? So let's talk about manifestation and how this fits in for a second, because you know I love to bring it back to that. If you are stuck on autopilot, if you are going through the same motions with the same thoughts and the same energy, guess what you're going to attract? You got it— more of the same, more meh, more middle of the road. The universe is essentially responding to your frequency, and if your frequency is just looping around like the EastEnders theme tune, you're not actually opening any new energetic doors. You're just standing in the same hallway waiting for something to magically happen or change, and guess what? It's not going to. So this is the wild part: some of us are waiting for a completely new life to show up, but we're not willing to change the route that we take to work. We're not willing to meet new people or to try new things or even change our Tesco order. It's like wanting to manifest a luxury beach holiday but then never packing a suitcase or checking that you've got a passport. It's like if you are trying to manifest love, for example, but you're just sitting in your house all day every day, how are you going to meet someone? How are you going to meet the love of your life? You could meet them if you went to the supermarket. You could meet them at work. You could meet them out on a walk. You could meet them at a gym. You could meet them at like a, I don't know, a little hobby class or something like that. But you're not going to meet them just by sitting there on the couch, just trying to manifest them. Does that make sense? So what I think is the big question is, where in your life are you stuck on autopilot? Like, what came up for you there when I asked that question? Where are you doing things simply because you've always done them that way? Where are you holding on to routines that don't actually light you up just because they're easy? What might actually shift for you if you did something even slightly different today? Maybe you take a different route home. Maybe you reach out to that person that you've been thinking about for weeks. Maybe you sign up for that class that you've been low-key stalking on Instagram but you haven't had the guts to book. It doesn't have to be a massive dramatic change. You don't even need to move to Bali or become a breathwork instructor overnight. I mean, you can, but let's just start with not living on repeat. Because when you stay stuck in sameness, your future will stay the same as well. And I don't know about you, but I didn't come to this planet just to pay bills and talk about the weather. I came here to live, and that means shaking things up a little, right? That is your cue to take that metaphorical sledgehammer to your routine, or at least start noticing where autopilot might actually be dimming your shine. And we're going to keep on going because this is going to get really, really juicy. So we've caught our autopilot in the act. You know, it's lurking in your daily routine like that random Tupperware lid with no matching box in your kitchen cupboard. So we're gonna talk about something equally powerful now, but in a much more exciting way, which is the power of one single choice. Because we often think that change has to be massive. We believe that we need some kind of dramatic life overhaul, like quitting our job, dyeing our hair bright red, or booking a one-way flight to Thailand. And I mean, if that's your vibe, live your best life. I'm not going to judge you, but most of the time, the real shifts in our life, you know, the future-defining, alignment-activating, soul-expanding stuff, it actually comes from the tiniest of decisions. Think about it, like I was saying earlier, applying for a job, saying yes to one event, downloading one podcast episode, reading one book, deciding just for a day to believe in yourself a tiny bit more than you did yesterday. That's it. That's all you need to do. That is the kind of stuff that reshapes the entire trajectory of your life. So let's give you a real-world example now because I love a good visual. So imagine someone's been out of work for a while. They're feeling stuck, their confidence is low, motivation is somewhere under the couch with the biscuit crumbs, and every single day will look the same for them. So they're sat at home thinking, "Oh God, I wish something would change." But nothing will change until one day they make one decision. They apply for that job and that's it. One email, one form, one moment of courage. And from that one choice, a whole new set of possibilities starts to unfold. Maybe they get an interview, maybe they don't, but maybe that application gives them the confidence to apply for another job and another. And then one day, boom, they land a role. They start meeting new people. They start learning new skills. They start earning money. They feel purposeful again. And maybe, just maybe, they feel genuinely excited about life for the first time in ages. But that new reality, that future, it all stemmed from one choice. Not a dramatic overnight transformation, just a teeny tiny, you know, "I'm gonna try today," that kind of attitude. Now, from a manifestation perspective, you know, every time you make a choice that aligns with your desires, even if it's scary, even if it's small, you're basically saying to the universe, "I'm ready." You're stepping into possibility. You're basically opening them doors, and the universe loves a bit of momentum. It's like, "Yes, finally, I've been waiting for you to get out of your own way." But when we sit around waiting to feel ready, nothing will happen. Readiness is a byproduct of action, not the other way around. So what choices have you been avoiding in your life? Is there something on your heart or in your gut that you know that you need to do, but you just keep putting it off because it feels too soon or too scary or too uncertain? Let me tell you, that one action that you're resisting, it's probably the one that shifts everything for you. You don't need to have the full picture of your future. You don't need to be psychic with your crystal ball. You don't need a 5-year plan color-coded with glittery stickers and mood boards.. You just need to take one step today that moves you even 1% closer to who you want to be. When I was going to these little events called Expert Empires in London, they called this moving the needle. And it was, it was all business coaching, don't get us wrong. But it was the same kind of concept. It was talking about how will you move the needle today in your business. Now the needle, I mean, like on one of those gauge-o-meters, you know what I mean? Where it's like a semicircle with the needle at one side, and they're like, how much is your business making today? Okay, £500 or something, how are you going to get that to £5,000 a day? You need to move the needle. What actions are you going to take to move the needle? So that's what I mean by that. And I mean, if that step is just getting dressed before dinner time today, I salute you, because progress is progress. Your future self is watching you like, yes, keep on going. So remember this: one choice can change your life. Not all of them will, but some of them, some of them will be the beginning of the best chapters of your entire existence. Okay, so there is a reason that most of us don't make these bold moves straight away, and I've talked about this before. It's because we're snuggled up, we're in a burrito blanket, we are in the seductive little bubble known as the comfort zone. And I don't want you to let the name fool you because the comfort zone isn't necessarily comfortable. Half of the time, it's just familiar. And us as humans, we love familiarity, even if it's a bit rubbish, even if it smells slightly of disappointment and underachievement. We cling to it like a toddler with a, a manky old teddy. Because familiarity equals control. Control equals safety, or at least the illusion of it. See, your brain is wired for survival, not success. It doesn't care if you're fulfilled or lit up or living your best abundant reality. All it wants to do is make sure that you stay alive and avoid being eaten by metaphorical tigers. And the second that it sees anything new, so any risk, any leap, any, "Oh, I think I'll start that new business. I'll go on that date." It sees all of them as a potential threat. So, the comfort zone becomes your personal control center. And you know what's coming. You know what to expect. There are no surprises. There's no uncertainty. You're not exactly thriving, but hey, you're not combusting either, so it must be fine, right? Wrong. Because nothing grows in the comfort zone. Nothing exciting, nothing transformational, nothing soul-expanding happens when you're repeating the same safe decisions over and over again. You can't manifest a new life from the same choices that built your old one. And you know what else? Growth is meant to be uncomfortable. That little flutter in your chest when you try something new? That's not fear. It's your inner being getting excited. That nervous energy that you feel when you stretch beyond your usual behavior? That's expansion. It's your energy field literally opening up to more. So let me ask you this: how many times have you not done something because it felt too out of your comfort zone? How many things have you postponed until you feel, in inverted commas, "ready" when deep down you know that that moment might never ever come back. Okay, the only way to stretch your comfort zone is to move through it. So maybe today you just do something slightly different. You have that uncomfortable conversation, you post that video that you've been saving in your drafts, you go to that event even though your social anxiety is doing the Macarena in your chest. Because every time you act in spite of your discomfort, you're expanding your energetic field. You are showing your subconscious that the unknown isn't dangerous, it's just undiscovered. And then over time, that thing that once scared you will start to become your new normal. That stretch will become your new baseline. Your comfort zone doesn't disappear, it just gets bigger. And suddenly the version of you that once felt like a fantasy becomes who you are on a Tuesday afternoon. So what would you do today if you weren't afraid of feeling uncomfortable? And what might open up for you if you stopped trying to control every outcome and just trusted yourself to handle whatever happens? Because your next life, it doesn't live in the comfort zone. It lives just beyond it, and it's just waiting for you to come and claim it. Okay, so I want to talk now about one of my favorite concepts of all time, which is the compound effect. So this is the idea that small, consistent actions done regularly over time they don't just add up, they multiply. So it's like magic, but it's backed by maths. And you know, if something's backed by maths, it's serious. So there is a great book on this, if you haven't read it already, called The Compound Effect. Um, it's absolutely amazing. It goes through this entire kind of theory. But this is how it works. So let's say you decide to meditate for 5 minutes a day. The first few days, you might not feel anything particularly life-changing. You'll probably spend most of that time thinking about what you're having for tea, or what else you could be doing in your life, or whether that email that you sent sounded passive-aggressive. Totally normal. But you keep on going. So 5 minutes becomes part of your routine. Your nervous system starts to chill out a bit. You respond instead of reacting. You start sleeping better. You feel a little more present, a little more patient. And then over a few weeks, you realize your entire energy has shifted. Not because of one grand dramatic gesture, but because of 5 tiny minutes repeated and repeated and repeated. It's like compound interest in a savings account. You might have heard of that. You're investing in your future, not with money, but with energy. So every small choice that aligns with your growth starts gaining interest, and then eventually it pays out in the form of a better life. And the same thing goes for like journaling, gratitude, uh, drinking more water, reaching out to that friend that you've been meaning to text, reading one page of a book before bed, All those little actions feel insignificant in the moment, but when they are done consistently, they start to change you. Now, the problem is we are addicted to instant results. So we want the glow up now. We want to do one workout and wake up with abs. We want to set one intention and have the universe send us a cheque in the post by the morning. But transformation doesn't usually come in one giant lightning bolt. It comes to you in a slow burn. It's a gentle layering of aligned action after aligned action until one day you look around and you realize that you've built a whole new life because of this. So here's a personal example. Trust me, I've lived this. When I first got into manifestation and mindset work, I didn't change everything overnight. I just started small. I started listening to a podcast on my walk. I started holding the crystal every morning. I started writing down a couple of things that I was grateful for every day. I started swapping out negative thoughts with better ones when I caught them. Some days I nailed it, some days I didn't, some days I forgot. But those tiny choices, they added up. They started to turn into habits for me, and those habits started to rewire how I thought, how I felt, and what I believed I was capable of. And I'm not where I am now because I made one epic decision. I'm here right now because I made lots of tiny ones. And I stuck with them. Okay, so if you're sitting there thinking, I don't know where to start, just start small. Pick one tiny action, one new habit. Just commit to it for 30 days. Not because it'll change your life overnight, but because over time it will. This applies to manifestation as well. Like I say, it's not just about setting the intention once and hoping that the angels are going to deliver it to you. It's about living in alignment with that intention through your daily actions. That's where the magic is. So, what is one tiny thing that you could start doing today? What is one tiny thing that you could keep doing after today that the future you would thank you for? Because the compound effect, it doesn't care if your actions are flashy. It only cares if you keep showing up. Okay? So, we're going to talk now about the energy behind the action because, you know, two people can do the exact same thing and get completely different results. I've seen it meself. I've seen it in me students. I've seen it with me and me friends. I've seen it in family. You know, one person might apply for a job from a place of confidence and curiosity, thinking, "This could be fun. Let's see what happens." While someone else might apply from a place of desperation, like, "Please, please, please, universe. I hate me life right now. Just give me this job so I can stop crying in the bath on a night." It's the same action but with totally different energy. So the universe is a vibe reader. They're not just checking your to-do list, they are feeling the frequency behind it. So I want to be really clear here: taking any action at all is amazing, especially when you're pushing through resistance. But when you take aligned action, action that is backed with trust, self-belief, and even just a little bit of hope, it carries a completely different frequency than action that's drenched in fear or scarcity or pure panic mode. So it's like the difference between baking a cake for someone because you genuinely love them versus baking it while muttering under your breath about how ungrateful they are. Technically, you made the cake, but you know that one of them is going to taste better, right? Because you put love and attention into it. And it's the same thing that happens with the things that you're trying to manifest. So if you're taking action from the energy of lack or urgency or nothing's working for me, the signal that you're putting out is one of fear, not faith. You can't fake aligned energy. You can't put glitter on panic and call it inspired action. You have to feel the shift. You have to check in with yourself and ask, why am I doing this? What's the energy I'm bringing into this choice? Now, that doesn't mean that you have to be in, you know, a perfect high vibe bubble all the time. This isn't about toxic positivity or anything like that, because life happens. You know, sometimes you'll apply for the job even while you're crying into your pasta, and that's okay. There's no shame in taking messy action. But when you can, just pause and ask yourself, "Can I bring a little more trust into this? Can I shift into more grounded energy, even just ever so slightly?" So here's your takeaway: like, aligned action beats frantic effort every single time. You don't need to hustle your way to happiness.. You don't need to do 47 things a day to prove that you're worthy. You just need to show up with intention. So do less, but make it mean more. Okay, so I want to flip this whole conversation on its head now, and I want to talk about the magic that can happen when you say yes to the unknown. So we're going to talk about the sliding doors effect, and I only recently read about this, probably a couple of months ago. I can't even remember what book it was in, but it talks about how every decision, even the smallest one, opens up a completely different life path. And when I say Sliding Doors, by the way, for all of you '90s kids, I'm not referencing the Gwyneth Paltrow film with the dodgy fringe, although that is the inspiration behind this. If you've never seen it, the film shows two alternate realities playing out based on one tiny moment. So whether or not she catches a train— that's it, a train— and from that one difference, her whole life branches off in two wildly different directions. So she has different relationships, different outcomes, different everything. Now, I know that's Hollywood, but also it's kind of true because every single choice that you make or you don't make has a ripple effect on your future. Every decision, no matter how small it seems in the moment, opens up a new door for you, or it can close one as well. So you might, uh, think deciding not to go to that event or not to send that email or not to sign up for that course is no big deal. But what if you would have met someone there who would have changed your life? What if that course led to the business idea that made you financially free? What if that one decision shifted the timeline of your entire life in the best possible way? And on the flip side, what if a totally random decision did? Maybe you were just scrolling on your phone and you clicked on a link without even thinking. Maybe you said yes to a coffee with someone that you barely knew. Maybe you randomly joined a Facebook group and ended up finding your next, like, business partner or soulmate or best friend. Life can pivot in the most unexpected of moments, and we often don't even realize just how pivotal those moments were until we're actually looking back. So here's a fun little thought experiment for you. I want you to think of one decision that you made that seemed really small at the time, but it actually changed your life. Got it? Now I want you to imagine, what if you hadn't made that choice? What if you chickened out? What if you hit delete instead of send? What if you said no instead of yes? I find this activity quite wild because this isn't to stress you out or to make you feel like every choice that you make needs to be like calculated or correct. This is about empowerment. Because if that one little moment changed everything before for you, then guess what? You could just be one decision away from the next breakthrough right now. The right job, the right partner, the right opportunity, the version of you that you've been journaling about and visualizing and scripting in your manifestation notebook like your life depends on it. That version might only just be one choice away. Not 10 years, not someday, one flipping choice. And the best part is, You don't always know which moment is going to be that big one. So you just have to show up with an open heart and just say yes more often. You just have to trust that the dots are connecting, even when it might feel a bit random. So I want you to ask yourself this: what is a decision that you've been avoiding because you just can't see the full picture yet? And then think about this: could that be your sliding door moment? Maybe. Maybe not, but wouldn't it be worth finding out? Because let's be real, most people don't intentionally design their lives. They just inherit them. They wake up one day at 40, 50, 60, however old, and they think, "Oh my God, how the hell did I end up here?" And spoiler alert, it's usually not because of one big bad decision. It's just because they never made a series of intentional ones. But you, you're listening to this for a reason. You want more. That's beautiful. But wanting more isn't enough. You have to start making the micro decisions that align with that vision right now. Because guess what? The future doesn't just arrive like an Amazon package with "manifestation" scribbled on the box. You are the one to create it moment by moment, choice by choice. And right now, literally right now as you're listening, you're standing at a fork in the road. You could go back to default. You could go back to routine. You could go back to that meh. Or you can start aligning with the life that you actually want. And don't worry, I'm not asking you to overhaul everything overnight. Like I said, I'm not saying that you need to go and sell all your belongings, go and live in a van doing yoga with a goat named Luna, unless you want to. I'm just asking you to start. What is one thing you can do today that your future self would high-five you for? Maybe it's applying for that thing that you keep talking yourself out of. Maybe it's just starting a book. Maybe it's getting clear on your vision, like really clear, not just the vague "I want more abundance" kind of clear. Maybe it's taking a breath and saying, "I'm allowed to want more. I'm allowed to go after it." Because your future isn't set in stone. It's not something that you stumble into by accident. It's something that you build with every brave little choice that you make. So you've got that awareness now, you've got the tools, and more importantly, you have the power. So this is your invitation: decide what kind of future that you want, and then live today like it matters, because it does. Okay, so that's it for today's episode. I hope this one has left you feeling fired up, maybe inspired, maybe just a little bit like you're the main character in a film where you can finally take charge of your own storyline now. Because spoiler alert, you are! That is what this is all about, okay? So if this episode landed for you, please do me a favor, screenshot the episode, share it on your stories, tag me. I'm @cannycrystals on Instagram and TikTok. You know I love to see what's resonating with you lot. And if you're ready to dive even deeper into this work, come and join us inside the Canny Crystals Academy, or even check out the Manifestation Library. You'll find loads of juicy tools to support you on this Puff. I really hope that you've enjoyed listening to this episode, and I'll see you all next Friday. Speak soon, guys.

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.

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