Deep Thoughts W/The Dixons

Welcome Back! This week Nina shares her morning secret which keeps her energized, focused, motivated and up early out of bed without the crash. Hint: it's NOT coffee! Brian asks Nina to share 3 major life lessons she'd had to learn the hard way over the last several years. 

Three Major Lessons From Nina: 

1) Perfection isn't real 

2) Be more like water. Adapt and bend with life. Lean in and stop resisting to life's journey 

3) Take Action! Taking action brings forth clarity. So, go ahead take MASSIVE ACTION! 

*Remember you can get in touch with Nina on Instagram: @ninapaldixon 

*You can also get in touch with Brian on Instagram: @briandixon06

In this episode Nina & Brian share their lifestyle tips on diet. Specifically adding more raw fruits & vegetables to your meals and why this is so crucial to maintaining great health. The main topic is all about confidence! What it is, how to work on it and how we deal with it on days we don't feel so confident. Remember you can connect with Nina on her instagram page at @ninapaldixon. You can connect with Brian on his instagram page at @briandixon06. Enjoy! 

Today is all about confidence!

Where does confidence come from? Is it something we are born with? Is it something our parents instill in us? Do we work at it and become more confident? What’s the deal here?

Why even discuss confidence? 

Two reasons.  (1) many people silently suffer from a lack of confidence & it morphs or rears its head in several forms such as, shyness, some form social anxiety, fear of judgement/opinions from others, lack of belief in self, lack of deservingness for self, lack of self love sometimes too. 

(2) A healthy dose of confidence can significantly help you achieve things in life and experience life in a much more fulfilling and joyous way. For example, who wants to dread going to the gym b/c they are self conscious of how they are working out or afraid of people coming up to them? The gym or your workout session is meant for you. It’s meant to be invigorating and fun and boost your serotonin levels not the other way  around. Another example, who wants to sit on the sidelines of life and watch others achieve success and do things they love and not do them themselves b/c they lack confidence and mask it with fear. Fear of not being perfect, fear of failing etc. You have to be confident in your abilities, be confident that even if a failure occurs you will try again and learn and get there.

Think about it, this applies to any/all areas of one’s life; relationships, friendships, career, changing careers, fitness, body, social life, EVERYTHING!

Listen to the full episode to learn how you can gain more confidence! 

Books:

Quote: "You can't let praise or criticism get to you, it’s a weakness to get caught up in either one."

Get A Sneak Peek Into This Show & The Hosts! In this mini trailer, get a little background information on your hosts Nina & Brian Dixon! Learn about the show and what you can expect every Tuesday morning! 

Remember this show is also available on YouTube as a video podcast! That's right. You can now watch Nina & Brian host the episodes on YouTube or just listen to them on any podcasting platform. Be sure to like, comment & subscribe to "Deep Thoughts W/The Dixons" wherever you choose to watch/listen! 

You can connect with Nina on her Instagram account @ninapaldixon 

You can connect with Brian on his Instagram account @briandixon06

Drop them a message! Email them! They'd love to hear from you! 

After a long week away from home, Nina & Brian are back from a family vacay and talking about INSTAGRAM! Do you feel unmotivated, deflated, insecure & maybe ungrateful after scrolling through IG? You're not alone. In this episode your hosts break down the business behind IG and the strategies used that play with your psyche.  Instagram is a great tool. It's so useful in helping get exposure and being creative BUT what consumers forget to remember is that it's just content...it's not all real. Perception is reality and it's imperative you keep your wits about you. People don't see the whole picture on instagram. You only see the highlight reel of someone's life therefore stop comparing yourself/life to instagram. It's a business for content producers, a creative outlet for artists, and a great way for exposure for anyone. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Comparison is the Thief of Joy; it’s easier to gain tunnel vision and focus on your work, what and who makes you happy. Be inspired or motivated by others but don’t be envious or jealous. These all lead to very negative feelings. 

This week your hosts Nina & Brian keep it simple yet effective. Gratitude is the single most powerful tool us humans have and we don't use it enough. This week learn new ways to practice gratitude everyday and revamp your mood instantly! You will manifest with ease, you will be happier, you will be more motivated, you will be more calm and you will definitely see progress in your life!

The POWER of Gratitude!

This might seem like a no brainer but if we are all being honest with ourselves, how many times do we actually stop and smell the roses? By that I mean stop to look around and be grateful for things as they are because c at one point we have asked and prayed for exactly some of the things we are experiencing right now

We live a very fast paced life, always chasing the next moment and postponing happiness that we forget to be grateful for all that is now. In doing so , you realize how far you have come and how great you are doing and it helps you appreciate yourself and how far you have come. It makes you hopeful and confident in your future endeavors but helps you stay grounded in the present moment which is very powerful; for you cannot create the future without being here now, in the  present moment.

There’s real scientific data behind the power gratitude but not enough dedication to it and I think it should be. I like to keep post-it notes in random places and have little reminders set in my phone that force me to stop sometimes and just be grateful; which in turn makes me happy. I don't care how bad something is, we can always find the good if we look hard enough... past ourselves. There is always a blessing in disguise, there is always a silver lining you just have to be present and look for it.

Look around you and count your blessings right now…..

Books:

Quote: "Gratitude turns what we have into enough"

Nina & Brian turned it up a bit this week! They discuss meditation and self awareness. The benefits of both and how these two learnings and practices have changed their lives for the better! Get ready because this gets deep! 

SELF AWARENESS :

If “awareness” is about noticing stuff in the world, “self-awareness” is about focusing your awareness on yourself.

It’s your ability to notice your feelings, your physical sensations, your reactions, your habits, your behaviors, and your thoughts.

You are aware of all those different aspects of yourself as if you were another person observing you.

Another way to think of it is paying attention to your intuition, also known as your 6th sense or your gut feeling.

Or as someone I once interviewed told me, self-awareness is about being honest with yourself.

We all have a self-image of how we want others to perceive us. You might view yourself as punctual, but in reality you are often late to appointments.

Self-awareness is about focusing on the reality of your behavior and not on the story you tell yourself about yourself.

Why is it important to be self aware though? Why should anyone listening even care to invest time and effort into this?

Listen to the full episode to learn how you can practice and learn self awareness. 

Books: 

Quote:  "When I discover Who I am I’ll be free"

This  quote is great b/c that's the ultimate goal. I don't want to be mad or triggered. I don't want to care what others think or their opinions.  I don't want to disrupt my peace of mind with giving a shit of what religion someone is or isn't OR caring if someone is judging me for my beliefs. I want to live a free, peaceful, happy life. I don’t want to walk around this life reacting to everything and everyone around me. I don't want to suppress it either and then blow up one day…. So to become self aware you understand you allow and then you release. You learn so much about yourself, especially your insecurities, or need or desire to control others, unnecessary fear, child hood traumas, acceptance from others etc. You learn how much shit you take  personally for no reason at all. It's all to your detriment. Eventually you just drop it all. I don't even care to be politically correct anymore and what I mean by that is I'm not trying to put up a facade or a mask around friends and family, We are all different just accept it… I do and it has given me so much peace.

This week things get a bit interesting as Nina & Brian go down the rabbit hole of a very perplexing question...do we have free will/choice or is everything predetermined for us? They explore metaphysical, scientific, historical & societal viewpoints on this question in hopes of spurring some deep thoughts from their audience. Remember you can connect with Nina & Brian via instagram on their personal pages! IG HANDLES ->

Ninapdixon & Briandixon06

THE QUESTION OF FREE WILL VERSUS PREDESTINATION:

Do you ever wonder if we have free choice or will? Or is everything predetermined or destiny?

Last week Brian and I were in the living room working on our computers in the evening and he randomly asks me this question: I did have a response…..

My response was: if we aren’t being true to ourselves and are acting out of fear, judgement, confusion or pure laziness then i believe the universe intervenes in dramatic ways and you can’t explain why and it forces you down another path or another door meant for you. This is why I actively work on myself for myself. I try to be so self aware, and I question my own intentions, actions and beliefs and emotions that bubble up sometimes bc i never want to be forced by the universe I always want to be aligned with my heart and luxuriously create my world.

But, I think we were both left with some open ended questions well after my answer so i decided to make it a topic in hopes of our audience helping us out too. Bc I don't know even know is this a scientific question or spiritual question or a psychological question?

One of the oldest questions aside from where did we come from? How did the earth appear, is do us humans have free will and choice? Meaning, are we able to choose what we will do with our lives?

Our choices feel free don’t they? I chose to have a protein shake after my workout? I chose to eat an apple after instead of nachos? I chose to record this episode today? Listen to this episode to learn what we concluded. 

Books:

Quote:  "Humans are powerless, and even in our exercise of free will, either the universe is going to get down with your plan or it isn’t."

Do our male listeners still use shaving cream to shave their faces? You might want to stop and hear what Brian uses every morning. Just give it a try, you can thank us later! Nina & Brian go heavy on the topic of "Manifesting" or "The Law of Attraction, and how they each go about it in their daily lives. It's changed their lives forever and they wish to share these techniques with anyone & everyone. 

By learning the secrets of manifesting, you can begin to change your thoughts and your life. You can remain focused on what you want to happen. And soon, your greatest desires will manifest.

You've probably noticed that you're constantly thinking about something – about where you want to go or what you want to achieve. Your mind is always thinking and manifesting something.

That's why it's so important to know exactly how to use your manifesting power.

Everything happening in your life is a reflection of what is happening inside of you. Whatever you focus on will take shape and manifest into your daily life.

Of course, you know that not everything you think about manifests. Otherwise, every time you thought about an elephant, one would appear before your very eyes.

That's because the speed at which your thoughts manifest depends on how much resistance you have to their actual appearance in your reality.

Resistance is why no matter how much you may think about what you want, it doesn't appear. Your resistance doesn't allow it.

Until you get rid of the resistance, your desires won't manifest.

But as you eliminate resistance, your desires will manifest faster and easier…sometimes manifesting instantly!

So ask yourself what are you thinking about now? What is manifesting in your life?

Three Elements of Manifesting:

Tip: Don’t mistake what we are saying here for “all I have to do is think and it’ll happen.” No, you have to take action too. You have to learn to listen to your intuition too.

It’s not magic.

Books:

This week, Nina and Brian have lots to talk about! The St. Louis couple witnessed the STL Blues win the Stanley cup, Nina visited her family back home in Pennsylvania and amidst all this they sold a company this past week! In this episode Nina & Brian begin to share lifestyle tips...are you drinking enough lemon mint water? Is your water too hot or too cold? Are you drinking fluoride free water? The main topic of discussion is something the couple is super passionate about.... traditional education and why it may not be the answer for success anymore. One size does not fit all. They dig deep and dissect the pros and cons of the current educational institutions and question the motives behind higher education and the high profits these organizations reel in while students across the country reel in high amounts of financial debt.  

Books: 

Quote:  "You have the freedom to experience any reality you desire. The bridge to carry you to its manifestation is your mind."

On this brand new episode learn what Brian surprises Nina with on her 31st birthday. As Nina turns 1 year wiser she faces her fear of heights and goes rock climbing. Brian & Nina make new announcements for the progressive plans of "Deep Thoughts W/The Dixons." Are you egotistical? Well you are about to find out and how and why you should delete your ego ASAP! 

EGO: it's an unhealthy belief in our own importance. Arrogance. Self-centered ambition.  The one that chooses getting his or her way over anything or anyone else. The need to be better than, more than, recognized for, far past any reasonable utility — that’s ego. It’s the sense of superiority and certainty that exceeds the bounds of confidence and talent.

How to Get Rid of Ego?

Books: