Everything is Fine, but You Are Still Unhappy: Change Your Mindset with Cortney McDermott

Cortney McDermott is a bestselling author, TEDx speaker, and mind-body expert with a Master of Science from the London School of Economics. She speaks four languages and splits her time between Italy and the US. There was a time in her life when it looked like she had it all, but in reality, she was “miserably successful”. She had a series of “cold shower moments” where she realized that, despite her accomplishments, she was unhappy. She looked around and saw that it didn't seem like anyone around her was feeling fulfilled either. Finding her way out of that space and helping others do the same has become her calling and new career.

In this episode, Mathew and Cortney discuss their shared experience of working up to a successful career and then deciding it was time to “blow up what they built''. Approval, appreciation, and crafting an image can be addicting, but it can also make it harder to evaluate if your life is meeting your true needs or just bringing external validation. From a young age, people are given belief systems about who they are, and then they’re expected to stay within those boundaries. In order to find our true paths, Mathew and Cort say we have to rewire those thoughts and escape the pressure of thinking we have to be something special or something other than what we feel called to be. Most people are running around with masks on, playing characters with personas, but Cort tells us we can choose who we are and reinvent ourselves every day. By letting go of what we think people expect us to be, we can access our full potential. Unless you can control your mind, you won't be able to give up trying to control life. Cort and Mathew both describe what it looked like when they let go of control and how they are still working to ride the wave of existence without trying to control the chaos. We do this in an attempt to achieve the illusion of safety, but in reality, all it does is limit us. Letting go doesn't mean you stop caring about things. Rather, you decide to let go of the addiction to caring what people think about you. It means deciding to follow your intuition and finding ways to transition from where you are now to where you want to be. Cortney outlines the science behind shifting your mindset, gives us practical tools on how to get started, and leaves us with her most important piece of advice to help us start the journey.

“I am not the belief... that doesn’t have to define me.”

In this episode, you'll hear:

• What are “cold shower moments,” and what are they trying to tell us?

Follow the podcast: 

• Listen on Apple Podcasts (link: https://apple.co/3s1YH7h) 

Connect with the Guest

• Cortney on Instagram 

Resources:

• Give Yourself Permission

Connect with Mathew Blades: 

• Twitter - twitter.com/MathewBlades

Additional Credits:

• LFPWLI is managed by Sam Robertson