218: Now is your time to... ft. Dr Donna Elliott and Cheryl Reid

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Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com. Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Connie Crystals, the podcast. Now today's episode is a really special one because I'm joined not by one but by two incredible women who are doing truly powerful work in the world of personal transformation, purpose, and stepping into your next level. So today I'm welcoming Dr. Donna and Cheryl, the co-founders of Now Is Your Time 2, and together they support people who feel stuck, disconnected, or like they know deep deep down that they are meant for more but just don't know how to access that yet. So their work is all about helping people reconnect with themselves, shift deeply rooted beliefs, and step into a life that actually aligns with who they really are, not who they've been told to be. And what I love about their message is that it's grounded, practical, and deeply empowering at the same time. So it's not just about mindset in theory, it's about making those real life changes, real courage, and real results.. And the name, I think, says it all— Now Is Your Time Too— because so many of us spend years waiting for that exact right time when actually the only time that ever exists is now. So if you're listening to this episode today and you've been feeling that quiet nudge for more fulfillment or confidence or purpose, then this conversation is absolutely going to be for you. So Dr. Donna and Cheryl, I'm so happy to have you here. Welcome to the podcast.

Hello!

Hiya!

Thank you so much for being here. For anyone brand new to your work, can you share with my audience who you are and what is Now Is Your Time 2, what that actually stands for.

Yeah, I mean, Charlene and I have known each other for 20-odd years now, which is insane. We actually met each other in corporate. We worked in financial services and insurance. I mean, snow, but, you know, we loved it at the time. We enjoyed it. And it was actually almost 8 years ago that Charlene's dad suddenly passed away. And it was actually my realization of like, I was like, oh my God, like one day that will be me. And it was the thought of, I'd had this dream for decades to be a coach and have a coaching business. I coached in corporate, but it's obviously very different. And Now Is Your Time really was born from my, like, divine download of like, like, literally, now is your time, you have to do this now. It was like a thunderbolt hitting my head. So I rang Cheryl and I was like, when you get out of the grief phase of like watching Game of Thrones and sitting in a onesie for a week, and you, you need to come around. Like, there's something we have to talk about.

And to add on to that, I'd been doing my, um, NLP qualification, so Neuro Linguistic Programming. So I'd become a master practitioner at that, and separately I wanted to set up my own coaching business, but because of fear, I kept putting blockers in the way to actually go and do that. So I kept telling myself that I needed like amount of money in the bank before I could leave corporate and pursue a coaching business, even though I never ever saved any of the money in the bank to do the coaching business. I just kept pushing the timelines further and further away. I'll do it then. I'll do it then. So I always wanted to be a coach, but I was a bit too scared to make the move to actually do it until Donna sat me down and said, would you like— how would you feel about setting up a global movement and going out there and sharing our personal stories with people what we've done to overcome that and see what happens. And I was like, yeah, there's a global movement.

I think it's so right what you're saying there as well, because I think so many people will resonate with that, because there are so many people in the world right now that probably feel stuck and in survival mode, or like life is happening to them, not for them. So what do you see is like some of the biggest blocks that keeps people trapped in that kind of space?

I love this question, and you're so right. I feel like We had a resurgence, didn't we, after COVID where people were like, that's it, we've got to grab life by the balls and we're going to go and do this and like, you know, life's too short. And then I feel like, as we do, we've normalized that and gone back into a bit of a slumber and it's like hard slog again and we fell into a lot of the same old habits and things that we had pre that reckoning and that awakening that we all had. And, you know, the answer from my perspective is very much that. It's the conditioning, like wanting something and what you're brought up believing is possible for you are very different things. You know, I was brought up on a council estate by people who didn't own businesses. Like, it just wasn't a thing. I mean, I remember I had one friend who owned a house, and we thought she was rich AF, do you know what I mean? Because it's like, she owned a house and had a car. Like, my parents still don't drive, do you know what I mean? So it was that, that paradigm, that programming that you grew up with is always the thing that's keeping you stuck. Because Cheryl and I always say there's kind of like 3 stages to something. There's knowing what you want, there's believing it's possible, but there's believing it's possible for you. And a lot of us get to stage 1 and 2 where we think, oh God, that would be amazing, and look, they're over there doing it. But actually believing that, that life, or that, you know, having your own business, or having a family, or having a partner that loves you and isn't mean to you every week— like, we sometimes don't think those things are possible if that's not what we grew up as reality in our observed world.

And also, it's the thing, isn't it? It's fear, right? Fear is the thing that keeps us stuck because it's fear of the unknown. So even though we can sit here and say there's loads of other people out there, entrepreneurs have their own businesses, then that's great for them. But because we don't have a program, because our fear doesn't know what's going to happen when we take the step and do it, It will do anything to— our subconscious mind wants to keep us safe, so it will do anything, tell ourselves anything in our fear mindset to keep us where we are because it's afraid of the unknown. How often do we spend time catastrophizing and worrying about if I make a move, I make the decision, unlock the golden handcuffs, particularly from corporate, then it's all going to go tits up, right? We sit in worst-case catastrophize of all the things that are going to go bad about the unknown. Rather than what if actually I make the move, I do the thing, and it's really exciting and the great things happen to me like they have to other people. But we don't do that. This is what we help people to do, right? Because we just sit and catastrophize about all of the things that are going to go wrong. So therefore, instead of making the move and it going wrong, we just don't bother doing anything at all.

It's like your brain automatically goes to that. It's got to keep you safe, hasn't it? So it always goes to, no, no, your safety is your bubble. It's right here where you are right now. You don't want to step outside your comfort zone because there might be harm out there, do you know what I mean? So in your experience, what is one of the first internal shifts that someone needs to make before that real external change can happen?

I think in our experience, and this is what we would love to change by the way, we're not saying it's right, but there's usually something where you're done, you know, like when you come to changing your health, it's usually because something catastrophic's happened with your health, like you get really sick or with corporate, often deciding that you want to leave, it's because you've just hit burnout. Like, you just— your body is like, I can't do this anymore. With a relationship, it's often that point where you like look at them, you think, I'm here in this house with you in 12 months' time, like, there's going to be a body in a coffin and it ain't going to be mine. As Cheryl's just putting a hand up there, and I've gone through that as well, you know. So it's like, unfortunately, I think that that moment and that internal shift often comes from that I cannot I can do this anymore moment, rather than from actually, wouldn't it just be lovely if we just went over here and manifested a nice life? We call it in the book— we wrote a book called Become the Real You about 4 years ago now. In that, we talk about like, it's like the pleasure or pain principle, you know. Are we moving towards something, or are we moving away from something? And Cheryl says this most of the time from an NLP perspective, you're driven by moving away from.

And we want all of our motivations to be moving towards. So what we would love to help more people to do is believe it first in mind is what we say, and then it comes in reality, which is what manifesting is, right? You believe it in mind, you absolutely know it's true, it's possible for you in mind, and then we take actions, we move, we vibrate at a different level. So therefore the thing that we really desire then happens in reality. We make the move, we make the decisions, but it all starts with changing what you believe is possible for you by changing your belief system, changing your identity, changing how you think, so that you can then believe that you are this person who's meant for all of these wonderful things and start to act as if they're already here, and then they appear.

How much of transformation do you think is mindset versus taking that aligned action in the real world then? Because there is some crossover, isn't there? But a lot of people just they see this buzzword manifest or manifesting and they think, oh, what, so I can just close my eyes and just imagine something and it's just going to appear out of thin air? But it doesn't work like that, does it? So how much of that transformation is actually mindset versus the aligned action?

I mean, from a percentage perspective, look, and I know you've talked about this, Mart, in previous episodes, like, it's, it's bizarre how much of your actual thoughts you're consciously aware of, right? It's like 3 to 5 they reckon. Out of 60,000 thoughts a day, 3 to 5%. So actually, mindset in the traditional sense of the word is just really the thoughts that you're aware of, which is less than 5% of all the thoughts that you have in a day. The bigger aspect of it really is the subconscious work, the mind work, because mind is in every single part of your being. It's in every single cell of your body because it's actually the, like, how you're showing up and how you're representing in the world. That's all mind. That's all part of you in the physical sense showing what your beliefs are. It's like when somebody says, well, I don't know what my beliefs are about money. We're like, well, how much do you earn, right? So you can, you can tell what someone's beliefs are about money by how much they're consistently and what their money patterns are with debt or with getting money or receiving. So that's, that's all mind, right? So your mindset, actually, even though it's probably one of the words that Cheryl and I commonly use when we speak about mindset and manifesting, much like yourself, because it's what I think it's what people know, it's what they get, like change your thoughts, change your life, I think it's like people have kind of come to accept that, but it's understanding that your mindset and what you think is actually driven by— if you imagine the iceberg, like, your mindset's like the bit above the water, but your mind is everything under that, and it's all your subconscious programming, your conditioning, you just— what you believe without even knowing that you believe it. It's just all the programming that has been put into you and poured into you so that you could function as a grown adult from being a child and up. So your mindset is really important because actually when you become aware of thoughts, then you'd know how to change it. But the becoming aware of what you're not aware of is actually probably the greater aspect of the identity work. And that's where it doesn't matter how much you know about it, actually your beliefs are sometimes hiding in plain sight. And that's why working with, like you, like you do, working with clients from a coaching capacity, or working as a mentor, or working with, or talking to your friend, it's so important to try and help you get awareness of actually what is in your mindset and what's sitting in your overall mind and in your subconscious so that you can then start making change. Because like you said before, awareness is actually the first step to any change.

And it's so important that whether you take 100 aligned actions or one, it's done with the right energy, with the right vibration, with the right frequency of belief that you're taking this step because you absolutely know and you're not questioning because you have faith, you have trust, you have knowing that this is meant for you. So it almost— you can make one step a day or 10 steps a day. It's not really about the amount of steps you make, it's about the feeling, the frequency, the vibration. You take the step in with utter belief, confidence, and trust that this thing is meant for you, which comes from your beliefs and your program, which John has just talked about.

It definitely does. I think as well as taking aligned action, we sometimes get these little divine downloads every now and again of just like little little tidbits of information. Now what's funny is you two actually came into my life through Divine Downloads, and it's so odd. I know I've spoken to you about this before, but I had said to my friend Julie, look, I haven't done any self-development this year. I would love to go to a self-development away day. Are you going to any? Because she's always at them. And she was like, yeah, actually, a couple of weeks' time I'm at one here in Newcastle. And I was like, why didn't you tell us? 'Who's it with?' And she went, 'Dr. Donna and Cheryl.' And I was like, 'Are you joking?' And she was like, 'Why?' And I was like, 'I've just booked them for Manifest.' Now what was funny is when I booked you guys for Manifest, there was a trail of messages on Instagram where you two had been trying to get in touch with me to come on the podcast, to come to last year's Manifest, to tell me that you were doing my book Limitless in your group, which is called Limitless. And I was thinking how have I ignored this? And it was almost like the stars have aligned because this was the exact time that I— this was my time to meet you guys, do you know what I mean? And for you to come into my life. So I do believe obviously there's mindset, there's taking aligned action, but there's also divine timing coming into play there as well, isn't there?

I mean, Donna is a fan of divine downloads, and the team, when Donna has a divine download at 3, 4 in the morning, Team not so much a fan of them.

I mean, we love a divine download. We've actually got a section in Limitless called Divine Downloads just so that when I get one, I can rant it out. Because for me, and you know, you again, I know you know this really well, but it's also understanding that that's how our reticular activating system is working, isn't it? It's like that's how our part of the brain, when we've decided that we're ready for something, our part of the brain, the RAS, which is kind of like the pair of glasses that you put on through the day that belief, that's what it then looks for because it loves a synchronicity. But it's not really a synchronicity. You called that in at some level, and then it's like, oh my God, there it is. So all that evidence, or Spain in your life, have been there for years, but until you were ready and open to that and ready to receive that, you just don't see it. It's like it literally, like, it's like your brain just doesn't see it. It puts the blinkers on over the glasses, and then when you're ready, it like takes the blinkers off and it's like, ta-da! It's like, it's a miracle. It was always there, but And that's really what the quantum field is, isn't it? It's like everything, everything exists. It's already there in potential, but it's not realized until you put those glasses on that wants to see that thing. And then when you're ready and you've called it in, it's like that signal that you're putting out. It's then that you then activate and that potential effectively is what it is. So I love it and I'm a big fan. Like I'm— I used to think that I was just like the luckiest person on God's earth because I would think of something and then it would just appear from like really simple stuff. To men or houses or, like, I've manifested some epic shit over the years, but I just didn't— I love understanding the science behind it because I think it then helps me understand. So do I think it's divine? Yes. Do I think the way that we work is divine? 100%. And I think it's a repeatable system, and when you understand it, you can create that on demand, which is the bit that I get excited about. It's not like a fluke.

Right, and I think the important thing with this is creating the space and being in the energy to receive the download. So most of us, and us included back when we worked in corporate, spent most of our lives in masculine energy— go, go, go, get stuff done, power through, you know, action plans, force, hustle, make it happen. So we were too busy, that busy forcing it and trying, like sitting going, why is this not happening to me? I need to work harder, I need to work faster, I need to work more hours, I need to do more, more, more, more in order for things to be created, to be manifested. And that's the complete opposite of what we want to be doing. We want to be balancing the feminine energy that we all have, which is all about flow and space and allowing the downloads to come in. Because we've stopped— like, we all know, right? You're driving in the car you're in your, your unconscious programming, you kind of— that's took over, and then you get an idea. Or you might be in the shower or in the bath. It's like when we pause and we stop and we're not overthinking, these downloads come in. So we want to be balancing the masculine and the feminine energy consciously so we're creating space to allow ourselves to be human beings instead of human doings, so that the downloads can actually come in because they're there waiting. To be downloaded. We just don't create the space and time to allow them in because we're too busy.

I think personally for me, one of the things that was holding me back from seeing your messages, when I've like reflected on this and thinking about it, was fear. I think fear holds so many people back. The fear came from me not wanting to open my Instagram inbox because it's like opening a can of worms. So I will literally, just to put this into perspective, I can open my Instagram inbox and it'll be like 100 Chinese crystal sellers. And I was always scared that I would miss a genuine message from a customer. And they were complaining maybe that, I don't know, the parcels arrived damaged or they haven't had their delivery or something. And they would then think that I'd ignored them, or I might have opened the message and skim read it or something like that. So now I just have like this automated message that says, sorry, this inbox isn't manned, but if you want to email me, here's the email address. It's like you wouldn't walk into Tesco and like message them on Instagram and be like, oh, aisle 3 needs cleaning, would you? Do you know what I mean? But it's like the same kind of thing. So I had this fear, and I think that fear held me back from actually coming into your world, if that makes sense. Because if I'd overcome that fear, I would have seen the messages, and I would have brought you into me world a lot sooner. You probably would have been at Manifest last year. But so what does fear usually look like beneath the surface? Like, how can people start to move through fear? Because I know it looks different on different levels for everyone, doesn't it?

Do you know, I remember a quote years ago. I think it was the gorgeous Oprah Winfrey said it, and you know when something just resonates with you so deeply, and— or it might have been somebody she had on anyway, but it was something along the lines of, your fear of fear is greater than the thing itself. It's like fear is an emotion like anything else. We teach this in our certification in Mind Coaching, but it's like we think of fear as differently to hunger like we think of it as differently to, you know, excitement or happiness. It's like it has just such a different grip on us, but actually it's just data, it's just feedback. It's just when we can just say, Fear is, that's interesting, that's fascinating. It's another F word other than the usual F word that we use. If you had, every time you had fear, you were just like, that's fascinating, I'm having a strong reaction to that, I'm having a fear reaction, and labeling it as fear rather than I am. Like, I am are your two most powerful words. You're labeling yourself as like your entire being being that thing. Like, I am scared of that, I am scared of change, I am scared of, you know, being visible. How many entrepreneurs say I'm scared of being visible? Actually, it's just feedback. It's something in the action that you've just had the divine inspiration to do is against the programming that you currently have, and it's not marked as safe, right? So there's something that you want to do that just doesn't feel safe and getting curious and exploring that rather than I'm scared, I'll stop. And that's what happens a lot of the time, our fear actually. And you know, we, you know, we talk about imposter syndrome all the time and so many of us suffer from that and then it all kind of, it all kind of ends up in this shit pit of like imposter syndrome and self-doubt and fear and then we then take that as, oh, it mustn't be right or it's not the right or that's not for me, or— and again, all happening 95% at a subconscious level, so we're not consciously opting out of it, we're not consciously not choosing it, but because we are not really trained as young people, as young children, to like really understand our fear and know how to navigate it and know it's just feedback that something that you're about to do or you've had an idea to do doesn't feel safe, let's get curious and understand a little bit more about that. It's like straight away we just back off.

And it can show up in loads of different ways. Like, a lot of people that we speak to are like, I've got this voice and it's not my voice. And they'll say like, I've got an angel and a devil on my shoulder. And like, the angel's my voice saying, yes, go for it. And then there's this other little voice going, oh well, you know, if you do that, you know, people might laugh at you, or you're not as good as someone else. So it could show up as procrastinating, Even when we hear people say, I'm too busy, I haven't got time, we're like, when something's really important to you, you create the time. Like, if you really want to do something, you'll do it. So that's kind of a bit of a red flag, a bit of a fear flag of we're talking ourselves out of doing the thing and coming up with all of these other things, shiny objects over here, that distracts us from doing the real thing we want. Not because we really want to do the shiny objects, because we're afraid to do the thing that we really, really want. So quite often we'll find something else to do, or we'll do things for other people and tell ourselves like we haven't got time to do it for ourselves. Procrastinate. Or even like perfectionism, like really just taking ages over— like Donna just said about becoming visible, really trying to get the way that you're going to become visible so perfect that you don't end up being visible. The thing with fear, we get triggered from things that have happened in the past. So, but it could be something that literally happened like 30 years ago, one thing that happened 30 years ago that's still got a program, and the little devil voice is going, 'Remember when you were at school and you stood up on that stage in the play and you forgot your lines?' And even though you may be like sat there, a 40-year-old at this point, with loads of other evidence in your life where you've been able to articulate yourself in a great way, it'll still bring you that little look for something. Your brain will look for something of, 'Remember that time when you were at school?' and that happened because it wants to keep you safe from that. So it's just understanding that when we are triggered by fear, it's not— never logic. It's, it's not logical, it's not rational. And some people say like, I don't understand, like, I really want to do it, but I've got this fear coming up. And it's like, I'm not a child anymore, but your subconscious mind that's trying to keep you safe is operating like as that 5-year-old child, for example. Trying to keep you safe from looking silly. So again, like Donna says, it's just about being able to stand back and observe and witness and recognize the pattern of what's going on, and then we can take steps to change it.

I love that. And can I just say as well, so before I came to your guys' away day, I was, I was messaging Donna backwards and forwards, tellna, like, all of these excuses as to why I didn't feel like I had any purpose. So I was saying it's a capacity issue, um, like just not feeling it. I'm not passionate, I'm not creative, and I was blaming my little boy constantly. And I know that's an awful thing to say, but it was almost like 2 years ago I felt on top of the world with all of this, and then all of a sudden I've got this little— he's coming up too, but a little 2-year-old almost, to like look after and keep alive. And I think it was just draining me more than anything else. And I almost felt disconnected from my purpose when I'd reached out to Julie and said, like, can we go to an away day? Because I really need this. But after being at your away day, I was only in the room with you for what, 6, 7 hours tops? I came home and I remember messaging you, Donna, saying, I've had this idea, I'm going to create this little bundle. I put this bundle online, made £6,500 overnight. And I was thinking, okay, there's a little divine download that's come off the back of this. And I just kept on going, and I thought, this is the creativity that I needed, this is the spark I need. It's almost like you two give me my purpose back, if that makes sense. So where would you advise someone who feels very disconnected from their purpose? Where would you advise them to start without feeling overwhelmed?

Well, first of all, obviously we absolutely freaking love that. Like, how How cool is that? Like, celebrating it. Definitely a good return on investment. Makes me chuckle. But, you know, something when you were saying it there about fear, about like how you would blame your little boy, it's like what we can sometimes do is realize what we've been doing and then beat ourselves up for doing the thing. And it's counterintuitive, right? We've got to remember, fear for us means FAA, or false evidence appearing real. Like, to you and to your brain, that seemed like a very valid reason why you couldn't progress, because it's easier to give you that excuse or that rationale than it is to do the really, the hardest stuff, which is deeper of like, what in me feels held back? What if I'm successful and then I lose it? What if I'm just— or whatever that is for that person at the time. So we can blame our weight, we can blame lack of money is a really common one, like time, which Cheryl touched on. And it's just for us to understand that, like, celebrate when you realize the ship that you've been sailing on isn't really the ship that you want to be on. It's not going in the direction that you want, because a lot of people might go through their whole life sailing on that ship and genuinely believe that to be true.

So most people don't believe that their purpose, they can make money. So they'll come to us and they go, we could have been working with somebody for doing one-to-one coaching for like a couple of months in, and then they eventually go, I mean, I've had this whisper or like, oh, I've got this pipe dream over there, you know, this thing that I would really like to do but I can't make money from it. We did it, right? So identifying your purpose can often be you have this whisper, you've got this pipe dream. It's the thing that if you had— we often go, if you had like millions of pounds in the bank and you didn't worry about money, what would you want to do every single day that wouldn't feel like work and that would feel like you were in your zone of genius?. And it just like, what do you do? Get up every day. It doesn't feel like— does this feel like work, people? Absolutely not. That's the thing. But most people won't let themselves even dream about that or sit with that or allow themselves to think that's possible because they've convinced themselves it's not secure and they can't make money from it. So that's one element. It's like allowing yourself— dreaming is free, right? We— you can daydream and say, what if I did this? And what if that? And what if this? And what if that? It doesn't cost you anything. You can do it. You don't then have to make a decision. But just allowing yourself to dream. Like, what would I just love to do every day? Doesn't feel like work for us. That'll be your zone of genius, and that'll be your purpose, and that's what you're really meant to do. And the second part of this is really, if you get disconnected, which is what you said, it's coming back to the why. Why is it that you want to do the thing that you're doing every day? Generally, it's about impact, it's about making a difference. And yes, we all want to be rich and be wealthy and make money, and it's about the why we want it. Why do we want to make money and be wealthy? So that we can have more freedom, so we spend more time with our family, so we can have more impact. Generally, that's what we hear, because it gives us peace, because it gives us happiness. So it's really about allowing yourself to daydream about what your purpose may be. And if you already know and you're disconnected, come back to why is it that you want to be getting up and doing this every day. When we first set the business up, Yes, were we afraid? We had this idea and we didn't know what was going to happen. Absolutely, the fear was there. And then when we got connected to having this purpose and this mission, it became so strong. It was more scary not to do the purpose than sit in the fear of doing it. Do you know what I mean? Because we just made it so strong about the why of the impact that we wanted to have in the world, and that's what has driven us through the last 7, 8 years of business, sometimes sat there with no clients, no money in the bank. And we just always had to come back to what's the why that we're doing this. The mission and the impact that we want to have in the world is greater than us sitting here afraid in this moment. Get ourselves back aligned to the purpose and then take it in action.

I love that. And it's so true, just because one of the most searched terms on my website is wealth or abundance or money, prosperity. Do you know what I mean? It's always the same search terms. So it's like every single person in the world wants money. But it's like, why do they want money? Because people come to me all the time and say, I'm really struggling, I want to win this amount of money, or I want to be given this amount of money. And I'm like, okay, why? And they're like, just so I can feel safe. And I'm like, yeah, but why? Why? You need to get clear on how it's going to help you. Is it the time freedom? Is it the fact that you just want life to be easier? But what would you actually spend it on? Can you list it out and literally say, like, I've got £1 million, how am I going to spend this? Because that's going to get you more in tune with actually attracting that kind of abundance, isn't it? But it's like when people just say, oh, we want to win the lottery, they're then like condemning themselves to that one little route of winning the lottery as well, when there are so many ways that this money can come to us. But it's like you're that horse with the blinkers on. You are literally fixated and focused on that one route, aren't you?

Yeah, we call that outlining in spiritual terms, of where you're kind of telling the universe this is the one route, like you said, that that money has to come in. And then, like you were saying about reticular activating system, then you're really not open to those other ways that the universe is trying to speak and synchronise for you, you're like just blocking it out, going, no, no, it's going to come in over here. And the thing is, with winning the lottery and things like that, when people want money or like scratch cards and stuff, I mean, you know, if you enjoy them, whatever, but it's like you're still placing your power outside of yourself, as we would say. You are still not really understanding that you're idolising, to some extent, money, and you're putting that power of, well, when I have that thing, then I'll feel safe. Like, when you feel safe, you'll the thing, you know. And it's— and I know that's something that's really— and that's probably 99% of the work that we'll do with people, of like the what is the thing. Because a lot of the times people aren't clear on the thing. You're conditioned to think that you should have money and you should have a certain lifestyle, and then you spend your life scrolling through Instagram looking at other people doing what you would love to do and comparing yourself and putting yourself again back into this other shit pit of like, but I'm not good enough to do that, you know. And then you end up on this cycle And the thing is that wealth and abundance, all of those things are 100% available to you. But until you really trust yourself and you trust how the universe works and you trust that you can recreate that, like we said, on demand, then you're always going to be chasing, chasing, chasing something. And it's always going to feel quite elusive because even when you get it, the safe feeling won't be there. The happy feeling, the content feeling won't be there because a thing can never give you a thing. Like, you create that feeling, that feeling of abundance, of wealth, of contentment, of happiness. Of peace, of safety, really is— we say this all the time, like, it's an inside job, you know. And when you— this is really comes down to the crux of what manifesting anything is about. It's when you can fully embody and be that thing without ever having the thing, that's when it'll come to you. And that's why you're always walking on this, like, sort of, yes, really want it, we want you to want it, but not where you are defined by it. And that that'll make— that'll be the thing that makes you happy. And let's face it, we all have quite a screwed up relationship, most of us, with money. Because people will say they want money, but then you have the belief that people with money are assholes. People will say they want wealth, but then they worry that nobody will like them if they've got money. People will say that they want money, but then they'll tell themselves they're bad with it. So it's like you're in this juxtaposed position of you've got a goal, but you've got values and beliefs that then aren't like lined up to that. Then you spend your whole life like chasing, chasing, chasing something and you've missed the beauty of the life that was helping you to create the thing. Because then even when you get it, it doesn't give you the feeling that you thought it would. Because like, to your point, Mart, you never got clear on what the thing was in the first place or why you wanted it.

We always say money doesn't solve money problems. We've worked with various entrepreneurs with various incomes, you know, along the way. And whether you've private jet and billions of pounds, or you're just starting out in a business wanting to earn £5,000 a month, the money problems and the money mindset can be the same. Because money mindset isn't about money, it's about self-worth, which again comes down to what you believe about yourself. Are you— do you genuinely believe that you are worthy of 6 figures, 7 figure, 5 figure, whatever it is? Do you genuinely believe that you deserve it? Do you genuinely believe that you are good enough? To hold that, to call it in, to attract it. And we talk about detachment, which is detaching from an outcome, being able, like Donna said, to show up feeling worthy and deserved and operating from that space. Whether you get the client in or you, you're not, whether that per— you get that job or not, you don't question who you are as a person and if you're worthy or if you deserve it. Whether you— whether the money comes in or not, you know, and you're safe about who you are and feel worthy and deserving no matter what. And when you can fully body and operate from that space, that is when the things that you truly want then come into your life, because you're not questioning yourself when they're done. Otherwise, you just end on this, this roller coaster ride. You're like on this raw ride of highs— great, we've had a great month of income this month, yay, I must be good enough and worthy— and then the next month doesn't go so well, and that could just be the time of year or whatever's happening, and then you start telling yourself you're shit and you're not good enough and you shouldn't be doing this and should I go and do something else and then it gets better and you go back up. It's exhausting. So when you can just stand with certainty and confidence and sure— like, surety, it's not a word, you know what I mean? You're sure of who you are at the core regardless of the outcome and result. That's when you start to notice the results are actually what you really want them to be.

I think I've only just started kind of paying attention to that because even just 2 years ago, there was— I was doing my vision board. It was like the start of 2023. And I remember thinking, you know, I've had this clapped-out car now for about 10 years, really want a brand new car. Couple of me friends drove Range Rovers, so straight away I was like, I want a Range Rover, you know, just trying to keep up with the Joneses. That's literally all we do, isn't it? We see something on Instagram, we're like, I want that because they've got it and I'm better than them and it's going to prove that I'm worthy of their friendship and all that shite. So anyway, I went, I test drove a Range Rover. Took photos of me hands on the steering wheel, photos of my legs in it and everything. Didn't have a clue how I was going to be able to afford it, but the money came. I got that car, picked it up on the 1st of March. I literally brought it home, I felt great and amazing for like an hour, and then after that I was like, oh, now what do I do? Can I go and pick my mom up? Should I go and get my friends from work? And it was almost like I wanted to be a little boy racer again and just drive around for the sake of like, they just showing it off. And you know what happened? 6 days in, someone drove into the side of us and wrote all that side off.

Wow.

So I think— I know, I think that was like my own doing because I was kind of jinxing myself. And it was almost the universe's way to say like, look, it's exactly the same. It's smashed up, but it's still drivable. It's all smashed up at one side. It was almost the universe was saying to me, you don't need something so perfect. That's kind of the message that I took from that incident. It took about 6 weeks of me with a courtesy car and that car actually away. And then when it came back, I was like, not even bothered about the car anymore, do you know what I mean? I've wasted all that bloody money on it. And I mean, I've still got it now, I do love it, but it's not something that defines who I am. And I thought that's what it was going to be. I think it was Susie Ashworth that actually said that to me. She was like, you are already the amazing fucking cake, that was literally just the cherry on the top. 'But if you take that cherry away, you've still got a delicious cake underneath.' And I was like, 'Thank you, Susie, I'll take that.' 100%.

We chase symbols of success though, but again, this is the kind of the world we're being brought up in. We are bombarded with images of what we are told success is, and that's not a new thing. I mean, that goes back to like the dawn. If you had a hut and a fur rug, if you had a goat, if you had two wives, if you had whatever, like there's always been something that meant you kind of made it and you get it, but then it still feels empty. And this for me is what like the spiritual path really is about, it's like understanding not how you manifest stuff to get the thing, it's understanding who you are and what's your soul here to achieve and bring, to contribute, to serve as. That for me is the richness and the enlightenment that actually, and I think some of it's an age thing, I think as we get older we realize that actually we've spent a lot of freaking years slogging my guts out to get the things and then you get your things and you're like like, now what? I made a lot of money in corporate, I had a lovely life, did all the things, and had no fucking life. Like, outsourced me child, 10 people had a key to me house. Do you know what I mean? Cheryl would get him to school, someone else would pick him up. It's like, was that success? No. But it was what I've been taught. You get a stable job, you get the nice car, you get the nice house, you live by the beach, you do all the things, you have the nice holidays. Had it all. I wasn't miserable. Like, I've always been a person— I had a nervous breakdown when I was very young, when I was like 19, 20, and really learned how to be grateful and seek abundance and feel abundant. But like I was saying before, you kind of get stuck in these cycles where you realize you're chasing something and then you get it and you're like, and now what, you know? And I promised myself I wouldn't do that after I got out of a divorce from a really violent narcissist, and then I did it again. And then— and you do, and it's and then life will come and slap you upside the head and say, bitch, wake up. Like, is this making you happy? And you're like, fuck no, I want to do something about it. And that's the journey. Like, that's humanhood. That's what we are all here to do and experience and keep waking up and keep elevating. And it's about the wisdom that you gain from each of those iterations of your life and from each of those chapters. Hopefully we all go, actually, let me take that, but let me leave that. Let me take this, but let me leave this. And when you were saying before, talking about purpose, like, like our belief is that everybody is here, everybody is here for a reason. You are here for a reason. Your soul chose this body, chose this time, chose this to create something. The job is like finding out what that is and working against you is your brain, which wants to keep you safe and keep you in the pattern of everything that you've done up until now. So you're constantly going to have these divine downloads, but then your brain is going to tell you that you can't have it. And our journey is about constantly pushing up and butting up against that fear and meeting yourself there and saying, and fucking what? And taking yourself into that next chapter regardless, regardless, regardless of how scary it might be or how much of you feels like, you know, you're gonna plummet off a cliff if you do it. It's like, you won't, you're fine, it's just a life, it's just a business. If it fails, you'll set up another one. If it, you know, like we, when we, when we detach, like Cheryl was saying, like who we are from the thing and just go, actually, wouldn't it be fun if we give it a bloody go? Like, what's the worst that can happen? Is anyone going to die if I try?

No.

Like, for most of us, our jobs don't involve people dying on the ti— do you know what I mean? Like, actually, if we just look at the fun we can have and what can we learn about ourselves on the journey, we can make it a lot easier for ourselves.

And fundamentally, like, all of the clients that we work with, when we speak to them about what their goals are, there might be things like the car, and the dream holiday and the house and the job and whatever it is. But ultimately, it's like, what do you get when you have that? Peace, harmony, happiness, joy, love is generally what most people want to feel when they get up every single day. People go to us, but you're happy every single day? Are you actually happy? Yeah, 80% of the day, 90% of the day I feel happy. Some people don't even know that that's possible. They don't believe that that's possible, and it is. And it's like whatever the thing you are doing on the daily, which is your purpose, creates that happiness. And then the other things like the Range Rover and, and all the holidays add to what you've already got as a baseline. For us, happiness, joy, peace, harmony, whatever is important to you— truth, love— is a baseline that we want to get up every day and anchor into. And then all of the other cherries on top of the fabulous cake we get to have all of them as well. Not instead of or sacrifice.

As well.

And, and, and, and. Got it tattooed on me hand.

I was just about to say, you've got it tattooed on your hand, haven't you? You've got the word 'and' on there. It was like something that you'd said when we were at that away day. It's not a choice of something or something, it's something and something. So you can have that and that. Yeah, you can have your cake and eat it, basically.

Working class people growing up, you're told, well, do you want that or that? Like, it's literally ingrained in us. I heard it, I heard myself saying it to somebody yesterday, and I was like, oh well, it was something like next year. I was like, yeah, I'd love to get the bathroom done, but I also want to have this like crazy holiday. So I'm like, and I heard myself say, so I might have to choose. And I was like, fuck. So I've already decided what I— so we all do it, and that's the— and like, no, no, no, I'm now manifesting the holiday and the new bathroom for next year, or whatever that is for you. But it's like I laugh at myself now because you hear the conditioning, you hear the limitations hiding in plain sight when you say that, all that, that, all that. Like, what is your belief around that? What are you telling yourself? Because it's bullshit. It's all bullshit.

What is one of your biggest beliefs for each of you that you both had to release in your own lives to fully step into who you are today?

I think for mine, the biggest thing was it's not I'm not good enough because that that's too big. But it was definitely like the things like that don't happen for people like me. Yeah, I very much had myself in the I'm just a normal girl from a council estate. I mean, I mean, we didn't start this business, we were in our mid-40s. Like, I'm too old was definitely one, but definitely think that— but definitely, definitely the things like that don't happen to people like me was a big one that I had to like go and create evidence for no, no, no, things do happen like this every single day for people like me, to give my brain some proof so that I could then go and create it, which is what I found in that week from Cheryl's dad being buried. Literally, I, I submerged myself into, I will find evidence of people who sound like me, who are like me, who have done something extraordinary. Because again, this was in the days before COVID like this was I didn't even know if you could be an online coach, Mart, in all honesty. Like, I didn't know it was a thing. I had to go out and go, is this actually a thing? Get a little bit of evidence. I found a little bit of proof and that was enough.

Yeah, for me, it's definitely like not feeling worthy. Like, when we first set the business up, I was quite— I mean, I've always classed myself as being self-aware and this authentic person, you know, and be like really emotionally intelligent. And then set the business up, and when my dad passed away, I actually went and had some counseling. And a lot of it transpired, it wasn't actually about the grief of my dad passing away. I was grieving healthily. It was literally about me understanding who I am and some of the traumas and things that I'd had from being adopted. So I was adopted when I was 3 weeks old, and we know, right, we start to build our map of the world from being in the womb. Evidence shows us. So from being 3 weeks old, being adopted, being given away, like, I had this whole thing that came out from that process. And was working with Donna, helped— Donna helped me about being— my feelings being disregarded and me being given away basically was what was, what was running. So therefore I'm not worthy, my feelings aren't worthy. So I was totally disconnected from my feelings. So as I realized this, had to do a lot of work on, but it was definitely, there's something around there being rejected, being abandoned, being unlovable, not being worthy, which will still come out to this day. And it'll pop up like everybody else's fear does in the most ridiculousest way. I'll be having a conversation about cooking the tea And really, when you dig underneath it, getting triggered, it's not even about who's cooking the tea. That'll come right back down to somewhere around there, not feeling worthy or unlovable because you were adopted when you were 3 weeks old. So it's something that we still, even though we teach this, have to work on for ourselves, recognize the triggers and what's really going on, because the limiting beliefs will still— none of us will get to a point where we don't have fear and we don't have any limiting beliefs. That's just not reality. We will all still get triggered, still have fears. And they'll pop up. The work is about being able to recognize really quickly what's happening and being able to use tools and techniques to get yourself back into alignment.

It's just nipping it in the bud, isn't it, before it takes hold and starts taking over your— the conversations in your head and what you're telling yourself. So if someone knows that they are meant for more but they don't yet trust themselves, what would you say to them right now?

Oh, I mean, I love this. I've literally got the word 'faith' tattooed on my arm.

Have you?

Yeah, yeah, faith. Because for me it was the— I had to practice like it was a full-time job, being in the faith of if I genuinely want to have the desire to be a coach and not be in corporate. I mean, I was away from my son like 60 hours a week, like I didn't see him for the first 4 years of his life virtually, right? And I wanted to make a difference. For me it was that spend as much energy as you possibly can being in that faith and that desire in your heart than you do in the doubt that it's real for you. Because we find it really easy to believe the fear and the doubt and all the rest of it, and we wallow in it, Mart. Like, we spend all our time proving ourselves right with it, because that's what the brain will do, because that's where it wants you to stay, in the unknown and the safe. Doesn't give a shit if you're happy. So if you have this desire and you have this dream and you want this pipe dream, like Cheryl said before. Work it like a full-time job. Get in it, feel into it, experience it, languish in it. You've got to make that more real than your fear. You've got to make it more real than your doubt. You're never going to get rid of the doubt. I still have doubts every day. I question myself every day. Like, why would Mart want to speak to us? Why would you? It's like, if you let that drive the bus, you'll never get the things you want. So for me, it's the faith. Practice faith like you practice eating well, going to the gym, and build the muscle of faith in the thing that you want.

And also, like, it's getting curious. So, like, we believe that your soul knows that your destiny— like, your soul is always guiding you in the direction and the life that you are meant to be living. So it's finding that trust and intuition in your— I'm pointing to my stomach because generally, you know, we say we'll talk to your stomach about your gut Trust your gut, you hear people say. Trust your instinct, trust your intuition. And knowing— it's like getting out of your head, because in the head we tend to then overthink, question, have the self-doubt. And getting into your heart, getting into your gut, i.e., your intuition, and just building up day by day of listening and tuning in, allowing that feminine energy to tune into yourself and getting curious about it and taking steps from that space and just doing like one little mini step at a time to test it out, to see what happens, and then doing another one and another one so that you can start to build more trust and faith. Like, we can all recall, sit here and recall a story where we go, I didn't listen to me intuition, went tits up. Like, we're gonna all recount some of those things, right? And we took a little detour off the path, made a different decision, our soul evolved, we learned some lessons, and then we came back into journey that we're meant to be on. So it's just as much as possible listening to what is your heart, what is your gut telling you to do, and testing it out, taking little steps and seeing what happens when you do that. So you become more and more confident living from that space.

Thank you for that. And just before I ask you my final question, I have to quickly mention you're both speaking at Manifest 2026 next year, aren't you?

Woo-hoo!

Yes, we are.

Finally, so excited.

Give us a quick rundown. What will you be talking about? What will you be covering?

We want people to really under— like, so Cheryl and I are practical girls. Like, we want it to be not just theory, but something you can apply. Like, to know how to actually change. We talk about identity all the time, whether it's with money, love, relationships, whatever. We want you to walk into our talk believing one thing about yourself and walk out believing something different. To walk out believing that that thing in your heart that keeps speaking to you is what you're meant to experience in this life, and knowing who you get to become to make it happen.

We like to activate people. It might feel slightly uncomfortable in the moment, right, because they have, like Donna just said, a shift, an activation, a different perspective on something that they did before, so then they can take aligned action that you were talking about before. And like Donna just said, from a different perspective, from which is a miracle, right? From a different belief system and a different identity so that they can go and take aligned action and do things that's going to take them closer towards their goals. And just helping to instill that belief that it— we always say, like, we're two middle-aged women from the northeast of England, didn't have a business, weren't entrepreneurs. Like, if we can do what we did and create what we have created, then anyone can. We don't— we're not superhuman. I mean, we kind of are, do you know what I mean? Like, oh yeah, you know, aha, we're not, we're not superhuman, we don't have magical powers, we just had an idea, we had a belief, we had a knowing, and we took aligned actions from there as if we were already where we wanted to be. Look what happened. If we can do it, so can they.

So for anyone listening who feels that nudge but they just keep waiting for, you know, someday, what is the one message you want them to take away today?

It's like the company name is it, Now Is Your Time. That nudge won't stay a nudge, it will become a roar. Yeah. It will become much louder than the whisper, and it won't— like mine didn't. Mine, it was 20-odd years of thinking, wouldn't it be nice to be a coach, before I got the bottle up to do it, do you know what I mean? And it's like, trust the desire. If you can, if you can know that you would not— the universe would not give you a desire in your heart that you were not meant to experience. It doesn't operate like that. It's already telling you that, that it's like a preview of coming attractions. Those glimpses that you could get in that feeling, trust it, build that faith. Like, know that now is your time because, you know, tomorrow is not given. Now is where all your power lies.

I was just about to say, you're literally like your next breath. And not to pretend depressing, but like, you, you have no control over what's going to happen. None of us do. When the next minute, the the next hour, the next day. So it's like living your life as if this breath was your last. May sound depressing, but like, what the fuck are you waiting for? Do you know what I mean? You can just spend going around the hamster wheel, just spend the next 10 years wishing of the thing that you really want to have happen, or you can just allow yourself today to spend— this is what Donna did when she had that meeting with a coach. The coach said to you back in April 2018, spend 15 minutes today thinking about the business, the purpose that you want to create. Just 15 minutes. That was on the 4th of April. Now, as your time was officially set up on the 18th of June, that 15 minutes turned into something else. So it's like today, do one thing to allow yourself to lean more into that, to allow yourself to take an action, because tomorrow isn't guaranteed. Sorry, I know it's depressing, but that's—

no, it's not. And I think one of my favorite quotes, I don't even know who said it, but is The scariest place to be in 5 years' time is exactly where you are right now. No growth, just stagnant. Do you know what I mean? That's the scariest thing. So where can people find you if they want to work with you, if they want to follow you online? Where can people find where you hang out?

Well, we are on Instagram if that's where you like to have some fun. It's @nowsjatimetoto. Or you can just come and search our names on LinkedIn. We're over there with the community as well. Facebook. We're in all the places, huh? And obviously come to Manifest next year. Like, why would you not be there? Like, come and sing and say hi. You have to come actually say hi. You'll be there as well, do us a favor. But yeah, come and, come and join the things. Check out the website nowisyourtime2.com. There's some amazing free resources on there as well if you want to take a little look at the energy elevators and things. But whatever you do, do something.

Thank you so much. I've really enjoyed speaking to you both. And what I'll do is I will pop all of your links in the show notes for today's episode, so So if anyone wants to click on any of the links, just have a look underneath this episode and you'll see them all down there. But thank you both so much for your time. Can't wait to see you again. Hopefully it's well before Manifesto because we've got another 6 months yet. I need to see you face to face before then. But for anyone else listening, thank you so much. If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to leave a rating, a review, subscribe, whatever you want to do. Go and share this episode with someone who you think needs to hear it, and I'll see you all for another episode next Friday. See you soon, guys.

Bye!

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