More Lovin Podcast

My acronym to improve any relationship💗

You're listening to the Love Tidbits Podcast, where you'll discover a small, tasty, delightful, bite-sized tidbit of love ~ I'm your host, LeAnn Austin

Hey y'all, welcome to Love Tidbits, episode #35: Improve Any Relationship

Y'all know I'm passionate about the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship, and I love acronyms. So, I created an acronym to increase the love you feel for your daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, or really anybody. I'll be using the daughter-in-law examples today. But you can apply this to any relationship you like.

Basically relationships are simply our thoughts about the other person. You might have a daughter-in-law you love dearly and someone else might not like her at all. Why? Well, your daughter-in-law hasn't changed. The other person has a different experience of your daughter-in-law because the other person thinks different thoughts about her. That person's relationship with your daughter-in-law depends on that person's thoughts about her. So again, your relationship with anyone depends on your thoughts about them.

So, if you want to improve your relationship with anyone, I want you to think daughter-in-law, which is abbreviated D I L.

The D in my daughter-in-law acronym stands for Discover. Discover, find out, learn about, get curious about the other person.

For example, one of my daughters-in-law likes Cheerios for breakfast, the other one hates tomatoes and okra. They both have an eye for beautiful things, and they love their dogs, and they love my sons. If there is a relationship you want to improve, discover everything you can about that person.

The I in our daughter-in-law acronym stands for Intuition. Intuition is defined as the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. It's instinctive. It's that feeling in your gut.

What's your intuition telling you about the other person? Listen to it. Sometimes I'll get the intuition to text my daughters-in-law, or to say something, or do something. And I never regret listening to my intuition.

And lastly, the L is for Love. Love, I love the question, What would love do? If you were feeling love, what would you do? Sometimes that's saying no, sometimes love is setting boundaries, and love is always telling the truth.

Well, that's it. If you want to improve your relationship with your daughter-in-law, or anyone, remember the acronym I created D I L ~ Discover Intuition Love ~ Hmmm, something to think about.

Have a good one y'all. And here's to daughter-in-laws, relationships, and love. If you're enjoying this podcast, please share and leave a review to help others hear tidbits of love.

Do you have a daughter-in-law? I have two. They are amazing, and I love and adore them, but that wasn't always the case. Whether you love your daughter-in-law already and know there's space for the relationship to become even better than it is. Or, you're really struggling with your daughter-in-law, and you feel anxious, worried, or angry every time you're together, or even thinking about her. This Lovin My DIL course is for you.

This course that I created includes years of experience with my daughters-in-law, life coach training, and lots of love and inspiration. Everything I've used to have a beautiful relationship with my daughters-in-law, and I'm sharing it with you.

These five secrets will allow you to stop walking on eggshells, be less worried and anxious whenever you're with, or even thinking about your daughter-in-law, and have the loving relationship you truly desire.

Click the link in the show notes, and if you purchase now, you'll receive a special bonus. Here's to Lovin My DIL y'all, have a good one.

A tidbit of my coaching journey ~ Thank you Jody Moore💗

You're listening to the Love Tidbits Podcast, where you'll discover a small, tasty, delightful, bite-sized tidbit of love ~ I'm your host, LeAnn Austin

Hey y'all, welcome to Love Tidbits, episode #34: Better Than Happy

In 2018, I had a friend suggest that I listen to a podcast. Now back then, I didn't even know what a podcast was. So I was trying to figure out how to get this podcast, she said, "Better Than Happy" by Jody Moore. And I figured it out and I loved it. I binged listened to all the podcasts that Jody Moore had created. And I went to her Be Bold event in Spokane, Washington. And I decided I wanted to be a life coach because she taught me what it.

So she started my amazing journey that has led me to where I'm at now. That has led me to having my own podcast "Love Tidbits". So many things have happened because of the things Jody Moore has done and taught me. And I will forever be grateful to her.

Well, recently she wrote a book called "Better Than Happy". I love this book. This book is one you want to buy and highlight and read multiple times, because there are countless gold nuggets in this book.

So two things that I just want to scratch the surface on today from this book are, well, first of all, let me tell you. Basically Better Than Happy, it also says, "connecting with divinity through conscious thinking."

So Jody basically says, "thinking consciously means taking a look at your thoughts and then deliberately choosing what you want to think instead of settling for the default thoughts your brain offers." So this is a faith based book, whatever religion you are. There's so many faith concepts tied into this, and conscious thinking. So again, highly recommend it.

But the two things that I wanted to mention from this book are; the first, agency. Robert D Hales said, "Agency is the catalyst that leads us to express our inward spiritual desires in outward Christlike behavior. Agency permits us to make faithful, obedient choices that strengthen us so that we can lift and strengthen others. Agency used righteously allows light to dispel the darkness and enables us to live with joy and happiness in the present, look with faith to the future, even into the eternities, and not dwell on the things of the past. Our use of agency determines who we are and what we will be."

So most of us understand the importance of agency. Now, sometimes we like having agency and sometimes not so much, especially sometimes we wish other people in our life didn't have agency, but we do. And so Jody shares ways to help us get better at focusing more on controlling our own agency, and less on trying to control the agency of others. Cause we can't do that. We can't control others.

She says, "we can be so focused on how other people are using their agency, that we neglect to consider how we want to use ours. We can delegate our choices to the automatic, unconscious part of our brain and just react to life and the people around us, or we can deliberately choose who we will be in any given circumstance."

We get to decide if we're going to judge others, or if we're going to love others. We get to choose whether we're going to be critical or curious. So think about who do we want to be?

The other little nugget I wanted to touch on is forgiveness. How do we forgive people? And how do we forgive ourselves? One of my favorite questions that I love and use often, and Jody shares as well is, What would love do?

Love is considering everyone involved. Sometimes love says no. Sometimes love sets boundaries. Love is wise and kind, and love always tells the truth. Love says, "sometimes I feel hurt when I think about what happened in the past." But love also says, "I just want to let it go."

So forgiveness is not something you do. It's something that happens internally because it comes from your thoughts. Forgiveness is a belief system that creates a feeling of love, or at least curiosity. Remember, trying to love someone who you believe has wronged you in some way, will be challenging if you aren't loving yourself first. Again, consider asking the question, What would loving me and loving everyone involved do?

Y'all know that loving ourselves is dear to my heart. And it's the focus of my life and my business. I believe the two great commandments, which technically there's three: Love God, Love Others. Love Me., encompass everything we need to do in this life.

Jody shares a quote that I love, "Once you get good at being compassionate with yourself, loving other people is easy." Hmmm, something to think about.

This is what I do every day. I help people get good at being compassionate with themselves. Join my Lovin Me program, and become an expert at loving you.

Have a good one y'all, and here's to Better Than Happy and love.

Do you have a daughter-in-law? I have two. They are amazing, and I love and adore them, but that wasn't always the case. Whether you love your daughter-in-law already and know there's space for the relationship to become even better than it is. Or, you're really struggling with your daughter-in-law, and you feel anxious, worried, or angry every time you're together or even thinking about her.

This Lovin My DIL course is for you. This course that I created includes years of experience with my daughters-in-law life, coach training, and lots of love and inspiration. Everything I've used to have a beautiful relationship with my daughters-in-law, and I'm sharing it with you.

These five secrets will allow you to stop walking on eggshells, be less worried and anxious whenever you're with, or even thinking about your daughter-in-law, and have the loving relationship you truly desire. Click the link in the show notes, and if you purchase now, you'll receive a special bonus. Here's to Lovin My DIL y'all, have a good one.

Listen to how a race car pit crew can help discover your purpose~

You're listening to the Love Tidbits Podcast, where you'll discover a small, tasty, delightful, bite-sized tidbit of love ~ 'm your host, LeAnn Austin

Hey y'all, welcome to Love Tidbits, episode #33: Pit Crew & Purpose

Have you ever heard the quote: "Comparison is the thief of joy?" I think that's a pretty common one, that is credited to Theodore Roosevelt. And I agree, when we compare, we despair. Comparison blocks inspiration, clouds our judgment, and feels discouraging.

I recently heard Brooke Snow talk about comparison in a way I'd never heard before, and it really resonated with me. It also reminded me of going to the drag races with Jeff. So those of you who have an appreciation for fast cars, this is a fascinating perspective.

Think about a race car pit crew. Apparently at some point in the course of a long car race, a race car driver wears down the tires of the car and the tires need to be changed. The changing tires doesn't stop the clock from ticking. The driver needs all four tires changed as fast as possible, so they can get right back on the track.

Enter the pick crew. A team of 20 guys and gals, at the ready, who astonishingly change all four tires of the car in less than two seconds. This is a magnificent display of teamwork, focus, and precision. Every person has a very specific purpose. Each member of the pit crew does one job.

On each tire, one person removes the bolt, another removes the tire, another puts the new tire on, one person jacks the front, another person jacks the back, one person on each side holds the car steady, and there are spare people in place in case something fails. They work as a team. It is beautiful and brilliant. What they accomplish all together is far better than what they can accomplish separately.

But just think how fast this would all fall apart, if the front tire person started watching the rear tire person. Just glancing away would cost precious time for everyone. What if the guy or gal started saying, "Hey, that guy yanks off the tire so much better than I do." What if the tire person looked at the person holding the car steady and thought, "wow, their job is better than mine, all I do is yank off a tire."

Every single one of these jobs is completely vital to success. Every single one. If one person gets distracted, or starts to doubt or compare, then it's downhill for everyone. You can't do all the jobs, but you can do your part really well.

What if we look at other people as teammates, rather than competitors? What if we're all in this together and we need each other? What if the part we play matters and we matter? It's human nature to compare ourselves, but the more we are aware of what we're thinking, and we accept ourselves right where we are, meaning we know the part we play and we know our purpose. That gives us the power to get out of the stuck, to stop beating ourselves up, and to appreciate all the wonderful things we do now.

I love the quote by Bob Goff: "We won't be distracted by comparison if we are captivated with purpose." Hmmm, something to think about.

Have a good one y'all ~ and here's to knowing our unique purpose, that we matter, and love. If you're enjoying this podcast, please share and leave a review to help others hear tidbits of love.

Do you have a daughter-in-law? I have two. They are amazing, and I love and adore them, but that wasn't always the case. Whether you love your daughter-in-law already and know there's space for the relationship to become even better than it is. Or, you're really struggling with your daughter-in-law, and you feel anxious, worried, or angry every time you're together, or even thinking about her. This Lovin My DIL course is for you.

This course that I created includes years of experience with my daughters-in-law, life coach training, and lots of love and inspiration. Everything I've used to have a beautiful relationship with my daughters-in-law, and I'm sharing it with you.

These five secrets will allow you to stop walking on eggshells, be less worried and anxious whenever you're with or even thinking about your daughter-in-law, and have the loving relationship you truly desire. Click the link in the show notes. And if you purchase now, you'll receive a special bonus.

Here's to Lovin My DIL y'all, have a good one.

Ways to connect with Arda Ozdemir~ https://www.rise2realize.com/ https://www.instagram.com/rise2realize/ https://www.youtube.com/c/Rise2Realize?app=desktop

You're listening to the Love Tidbits Podcast, where you'll discover a small, tasty, delightful, bite-sized tidbit of love ~ I'm your host, LeAnn Austin

Hey y'all, welcome to Love Tidbits, episode #32: Realize Love with Arda Ozdemir

I love observing and connecting with other humans, especially noting how they feel and implement love into their lives.

We have the amazing Arda Ozdemir sharing some beautiful love insights with us today. Alright Arda, briefly introduce yourself.

Hi LeAnn. I am a spiritual mentor, a life coach, a founder of rise2realize organization and balance organization. We help people transform their lives, find their highest potential, find their callings, find deeper connections in their lives.

So that's what rise2realize is about. And I'm the founder, as well as the creator, of a five step power method that we follow to help people accomplish those wonderful things in their lives.

Ah, nice. So I'm going to ask you three questions. The first is: how do you incorporate love into your business and/or your life?

Well, first of all, I don't differentiate them. Life and work are the same to me. I used to be in the corporate world. I started, I left the corporate world about 12 years ago and started pursuing my calling and so therefore love became part of my life. And the work that I do became basically work of love. Helping people achieve their highest potentials. So therefore work, life, it's all the same now. And every day is, every session, every interaction became a manifestation of love.

That's so beautiful that there's not a disconnect. They're just intertwined. I love that.

That's life, LeAnn that's life.

It is. Yeah, oh, I love that you incorporate love so much into everything that you do. Beautiful. Alright, so what is something that you love about you and why?

There are many things that I love about myself. After I kind of did my own personal transformation journey after I left the corporate world, I realized a lot of weaknesses about me turning, which I again loved. Turning into something that I can use today. For example, I was very curious about people, and I call it maybe weakness or something that I haven't really worked on when I was in the corporate world. All of a sudden that something that I ignored, but that was something in me, became a point of love and connection within myself. With myself, investigation. I love how much investigative I am. I love, as I said, curiosity and investigation, as well as taking failure as a opportunity to grow. If I have to point out and that's why I started with weakness, I think I have this tendency to fail to learn. So I don't go for success. I go for failure or I should say I attempt, I jump in, and that side of me, I really came to embrace more and more over the years.

What a beautiful thing that you embrace failure because that's where the growth is. I love that. Ah, I love it.

Exactly, I think it's a shift in perspective and when I bring, and now I have a team of life coaches who are really incredibly connecting with people and growing their practices. Everybody, everybody talks about how I made them feel comfortable by saying failure is an option. Even we bring that to our clients, and all of a sudden the perspective shifts.

Everybody's now enjoying life, loving life, loving themselves, loving others, because there is not much of that survival instinct remaining in them. We are not in that fight or flight response system anymore. We are in that flow, in that connection, that deeper connection with life.

Oh, that's so beautiful. And that curiosity that you love and appreciate that investigation, so yeah, that's beautiful. Thank you. Alright, so before I ask you the last question, is there anything else you want to share and where can our audience go to find out more about you?

So, thank you. Thank you for the opportunity LeAnn. So the website is rise2realize.com and I think you can share the link. So it's number two between rise, and realize. So R I S E number two, R E A L I Z E.com. Rise2realize and where they can find some information about me there.

Most importantly, I don't know when you're going to release this podcast, but we are offering two incredible life changing workshops. One of them is emotional mastery. We are all stressed, but we don't know how to regulate our emotions, as well as how to respond to triggers. Kind of getting out of our fight or flight system, defense system, but becoming more in touch with our own power and stepping up and setting our boundaries.

So there is a five week course called emotional mastery that I teach starting October 4th. Tuesdays, five Tuesdays. We are meeting from 6:00 to 7:30 pm pacific. So if anybody wants to get some information, go to the website and there's a contact form. Reach out to me through that. The message goes straight to my inbox, and I will make sure that they are signed up for, or I'll give more information about the course.

The second one is the life coaching school. We started life coaching school. About two years ago, we have 30 graduates. Nine of them are active and seeing clients. Within six months, they started within last six months. LeAnn just, they started just opening. I don't know what's happening in the world, but there was this opening and we have a referral program and they have two, three clients already. They are on their way to open their practice. They open their practice, grow their practice, expand their practice. It is an incredible, fulfilling and rewarding journey for anybody who wants to help others. And we have incredible tools to share with, with prospective life coaches. And it's been incredible. It's a 12 week program, very interactive, very practical. So again, they can go and look at, look for that information on the website.

Okay excellent. And then you also wrote a book, The Art of Becoming Unstuck, correct?

Oh yeah. Thank you for mentioning.

Yeah. I want to hear a little, so many things. Yes.

Thank you. Yes, The Art of Becoming Unstuck. Okay, it touches all of the methods that we teach at rise2realize, and it takes you from your emotions, your emotional reactions, all the way to mastering them and, going beyond that, giving you different alternatives of communication strategies.

Excellent. Alright, well good, we'll put all this in the show notes and thank you so much for sharing that. Alright, so the last question: what is your favorite quote about love?

So, I mean, you and I had a quick email exchange about this. I don't know whether it's about love for anybody who will be just listening to this quote, but it is all about love in my own life. And the quote it: "We are not the human beings having spiritual experiences, but the spiritual beings having human experiences." by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

So a french philosopher looked at life and saw that the life is basically a manifestation or reflection of our spiritual side. So we are human beings having spiritual experiences because life is spiritual. Meaning life is love. When I say spiritual, that's what I feel; love, the connection, deeper connections. And through these experiences, we learn about ourselves. And by learning about ourselves then we get to know ourselves and love ourselves, the weaknesses and the strengths. And we combine them together. We integrate them together and we become better human beings.

Yes. Ah, I love that. And yes, "we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience." Hmmm, something to think about.

Thank you Arda, for sharing your tidbits of love with us. Have a good one y'all. You're welcome. And here's to love.

Do you have a daughter in. I have two. They are amazing and I love and adore them, but that wasn't always the case. Whether you love your daughter-in-law already and know there's space for the relationship to become even better than it is. Or, you are really struggling with your daughter-in-law, and you feel anxious, worried, or angry every time you're together, or even thinking about her.

This Lovin My DIL course is for you. This course that I created, includes years of experience with my daughters-in-law, life coach training, and lots of love and inspiration, everything I've used to have a beautiful relationship with my daughters-in-law. And I'm sharing it with you. These five secrets will allow you to stop walking on eggshells, be less worried and anxious whenever you're with, or even thinking about your daughter-in-law and have the loving relationship you truly desire. Click the link in the show notes. And if you purchase now, you'll receive a special bonus. Here's to Lovin My DIL y'all. Have a good one.

If you would like to become an expert at loving yourself, check out my Lovin Me program at leannaustin.com

Could breath be used as a tool?

You're listening to the Love Tidbits Podcast, where you'll discover a small, tasty, delightful, bite-sized tidbit of love ~ I'm your host, LeAnn Austin

Hey y'all, welcome to Love Tidbits, episode #31: Just Breathe

What do you think when someone tells you, hey take a breath. That's the last thing you want to hear or to do.

Well, I've been taking some incredible certification classes from Brooke Snow and Candice Toone. I now have a whole new understanding of breathing, and the powerful effect it has when we're a little more intentional about our breath.

I took a few classes in high school and college about our bodies, but didn't remember that the respiratory system is the only system in the body that can be regulated both consciously and unconsciously. You can breathe without thinking about it, and you can breathe on purpose. You can control your breath. And breath is one of the most amazing tools we have for being happy and healthy.

I find it interesting that many of the books I read and have spoken about on this podcast, mention breathwork or meditation in some form. I used to think that was a little woo, woo. But now I completely agree that breathing does make you feel better.

There's lots of scientific evidence to prove it. Breathing helps to release tension, increase creativity, helps your body detoxify, reduces anxiety, helps you relax, and makes way for clearer thinking.

I've also learned that nose breathing is better than mouth breathing, who knew? And most of us are mouth breathers. Very simply, mouth breathing is shallow and causes us to over breath. Nasal breathing or nose breathing, allows for more oxygen to get to active tissues, provides a sense of calm, and allows us to function better.

So a really easy way to practice nose breathing is, breathe in through your nose, into your belly, and exhale a little bit longer than you inhaled.

Some of you also may have heard of grounding exercises. Grounding exercises are things you can do to bring yourself back to the present moment. They could be quick strategies, like take three deep belly breaths, or longer, more formal exercises like meditation.

I have a section now available in my Lovin Me program with some simple breath and grounding exercises. If you want to learn more, join us anytime.

If you're breathing, you're feeling, and if you're feeling you're pausing to take better care of yourself. That's what it's all about y'all, loving and taking care of you so that you're well equipped to help other people in your life.

I love to just put my hand on my heart, breathe in through my nose, and out through my nose. Just breathing and pausing with my hand on my heart, brings me back to the present and fills me with love.

I appreciate this insightful quote by Dan Brule: "Breath is the link between mind and body." Hmmm, something to think about.

Have a good one y'all ~ and here's to breathing and love.

If you're enjoying this podcast, please share and leave a review, to help others hear tidbits of love.

Do you have a daughter-in-law? I have two. They are amazing, and I love and adore them, but that wasn't always the case. Whether you love your daughter-in-law already, and know there's space for the relationship to become even better than it is. Or, you're really struggling with your daughter-in-law, and you feel anxious, worried, or angry every time you're together, or even thinking about her. This Lovin My DIL Course is for you.

This course that I created includes years of experience with my daughters-in-law, life coach training, and lots of love and inspiration. Everything I've used to have a beautiful relationship with my daughters-in-law. And I'm sharing it with you.

These five secrets will allow you to stop walking on eggshells, be less worried and anxious whenever you're with, or even thinking about your daughter-in-law, and have the loving relationship you truly desire.

Click the link in the show notes. And if you purchase now, you'll receive a special bonus. Here's to Lovin My DIL y'all. Have a good one.

What is essential to you?

I believe choosing the essentials is loving ourselves~

You're listening to the Love Tidbits Podcast, where you'll discover a small, tasty, delightful, bite-sized tidbit of love ~ I'm your host, LeAnn Austin

Hey y'all, welcome to Love Tidbits, episode #30: The Essentials

Summer is wrapping up, school is back in session for some of you, and reading the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown, has got me thinking a lot about what are the essentials?

Greg starts his book with a quote from Lynn Yutang: "Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials."

We've been exploring this in my Lovin Me program. It's fascinating to me how taking care of and loving ourselves, is honing in on what is essential to each one of us.

We're really good at loving others and doing what they want, but when we don't prioritize our lives, someone else will. Have you noticed this in your life, maybe with your kids, your partner, a friend, your work, your church, or whatever? When we're not intentional about what is truly essential for us, the non-essentials take over. Like Greg says, "We can either make our choices deliberately, or allow other people's agendas to control our lives."

This may look like saying no a lot more often. Thank goodness Rosa Park's quiet, but resolute refusal to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus, propelled the civil rights movement. As hard as it can be to say no to someone, failing to do so can cause us to miss out on something far more important.

Greg's book Essentialism, has lots of amazing quotes and practical tips to create an essentialist life. I highly recommend reading this book.

A couple of other things that he mentions that I love:

The power we have to choose. Choice is at the very core of being a human. We don't have to do most things. We have agency. What if we chose to do the things that are most essential and loving for us? What would that look like?

Greg talks about the impact of play. He says, "Play has the power to significantly improve everything from personal health, to relationships, to education, to organization's ability to innovate. Nothing fires up the brain like play. When we play, we are engaged in our purest expression of humanity, the truest expression of our individuality. Is it a wonder that often the times we feel most alive, those that make up our best memories, are moments of play."

And lastly, Greg talks of sleep. This is an asset we want to protect. This is something I've been thinking so much about, and getting more of. It makes a difference when we get our sleep.

My favorite quote from Greg's book is this: "The best asset we have for making a contribution to the world is ourselves. If we underinvest in ourselves, and by that I mean our minds, our bodies, and our spirits, we damage the very tool we need to make our highest contribution." Hmmm, something to think about.

I believe loving ourselves is choosing the essentials in our lives. This is why I created the Lovin Me program. This beautiful community is a space where we learn and practice countless skills, discover what is essential in our lives, strengthen our mental & emotional muscles, and truly become experts at loving ourselves.

Have a good one y'all ~ and here's to the essentials and love.

If you're enjoying this podcast, please share and leave a review, to help others hear tidbits of love.

Do you have a daughter-in-law? I have two. They are amazing, and I love and adore them, but that wasn't always the case. Whether you love your daughter-in-law already and know there's space for the relationship to become even better than it is. Or, you're really struggling with your daughter-in-law, and you feel anxious, worried, or angry every time you're together or even thinking about her. This Lovin My DIL course is for you.

This course that I created includes years of experience with my daughters-in-law, life coach training, and lots of love and inspiration. Everything I've used to have a beautiful relationship with my daughters-in-law, and I'm sharing it with you.

These 5 Secrets will allow you to stop walking on eggshells, be less worried and anxious whenever you're with, or even thinking about your daughter-in-law. And have the loving relationship you truly desire.

Click the link in the show notes. And if you purchase now, you'll receive a special bonus. Here's to Lovin My DIL y'all ~ have a good one.

What is one decision you can make today?

You're listening to the Love Tidbits Podcast, where you'll discover a small, tasty, delightful, bite-sized tidbit of love ~ I'm your host, LeAnn Austin

Hey y'all, welcome to Love Tidbits, episode #29: Make 1 Decision

Growing up, remember when you learned that you just needed to make a decision, to not take drugs or to not smoke. So when you make that one decision, if things came up later on and you were at a party or you were offered drugs or a cigarette, you'd be like, wait, no, I already made the decision. So I'm not going to do that.

This is something similar to that. You make one decision. Now often we have a hard time making decisions, and we spin in confusion, and we ask everyone else what they think that we should do. And we see what social media is doing. And all this procrastinating is happening in trying to make a decision.

And you know, indecision is a decision. So what if we stopped this hamster wheel that we have going on, and we simply make one decision? Oprah says, "Nothing happens until you decide, make a decision and watch your life move forward."

Now this doesn't have to be a big thing. I'm not talking about a super big decision that you want to spend a lot of time on. I'm simply talking about making a decision. Which big decisions you don't have to spend a lot of time on, just a little side note there. But what about just deciding something, anything? Sending a text, smiling at two people, drinking some water, being outside, whatever you want, make the decision and do it.

Sometimes you make one decision, and then you're not going to want to do it. For example, in my business, I made the decision to make some videos. And I don't necessarily love that, but I know it helps me grow my business. So I know that I'm not going to want to do it. I put it on my calendar. I know it's coming and at the time, I'm like no I don't want to do that. I made a decision to make a video, but now I don't want to.

Well part of making one decision, is doing it anyway. Even when you don't want to do it. It's a skill. As we practice making one decision and doing it, we get better and better at honoring our decisions. So we're building the skill of making a decision, and following through with it.

So let's make one decision, something you'll do no matter what. Something that when you're questioning it, you know that the decision is already made and you don't need to decide again. Even if you don't want to, you do it anyway.

I love the quote, "In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take and the decisions we waited to make." (by Lewis Carroll) Hmmm, something to think about.

Have a good one y'all ~ and here's to making 1 decision and love.

If you're enjoying this podcast, please share and leave a review to help others hear tidbits of love. If you would like to become an expert at loving yourself, check out my Lovin Me Program at leannaustin.com

I'm so excited to tell you about a new course I created, and is now available to purchase. Years of experience with my daughters in law, life coach training, advanced certifications, and lots of love and inspiration are beautifully woven together in the Lovin My DIL course.

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You're listening to the Love Tidbits Podcast, where you'll discover a small, tasty, delightful, bite-sized tidbit of love ~ I'm your host, LeAnn Austin

Hey y'all, welcome to Love Tidbits, episode #28: Lovin My Daughter In Law (DIL).

On to the podcast. I have two special guests: my daughters in law. I love and adore these cute girlies. And I'm excited to share with you how they implement love into their lives.

We have my amazing Sarah, my first DIL, sharing some beautiful love insights with us today. Alright Sarah, briefly introduce yourself.

Okay, I'm Sarah. I married LeAnn's first son, Brandon. We got married two years ago in June. And I'm a master student at Utah State studying human development and family studies.

Yea! Alright, our first question: How do you incorporate love into your business and/or your life?

So I don't have a business, so I don't know if that question applies, but as far as my career I would say, I think I actively seek to make sure that everyone around me feels loved and accepted for who they are.

I think in past work experiences, I've met a lot of people whose experiences were very different than mine. And so it took some time for me to ask the right questions, and get to know them on a deeper level, so I could not only understand them, but grow in love for them and accept them for who they are, and not seek to change them, which I think in the past I've been that way. And so it's good for me to practice unconditional love for people.

And then that kind of transcends into my personal life as well, of just not only accepting other people outside of my family, but also making sure that I accept myself. I accept my husband for who he is. I accept my in-laws, and I accept my family members.

And as much as sometimes conflict happens, I think it's just making sure to resolve it as best as you can, and understand that we all have different emotions, and we just need to accept them, do the best we can, and just be kind to each other. I think there's a lot of, a lot of hate in the world, so it's good to be kind to everyone.

I love watching you do this, and as you've, you know, really reached out to other people, when you said asking the right questions, is there a particular question that you've learned that you'd like to ask people now that maybe you didn't in the past that might help our audience know how to be more inclusive like that?

I think the best phrase I think is: Tell me more OR What has your experience been like? And just from there, you can be more specific. Like at one time I was working at a treatment center, and we had some individuals who aligned with the LGBTQ+ community. And at the time, I honestly didn't understand too much about gender and sexuality. And so it was asking them experiences to understand their point of view. So that I could learn, but also to just get to know them, and being able to see people's experiences, you can't deny what other people feel, or what other people have seen or heard in their life. And so it kind of helps me identify what my own truth is. And in seeing in asking for other people's experiences, it helps keep your mind more open to the fact that other people just have different views of the world. And I think it makes it a more diverse and beautiful place.

Ah, so good. I love those questions. Tell me more. Beautiful, thanks for sharing that. Alright, so our second question, you alluded to a little bit, but what is something you love about you and why, I want something specific.

OK, this is actually fun, I got to hear the questions before coming here. And so, in pondering on that question, it was good for me to reflect and do that self-evaluation of what kinds of things I do love about myself. I would say I love how passionate I can be. I love learning. I love sharing knowledge too. I love being creative. And I also just love my body. I think it's great. I obviously, I think there's always things you could hate about yourself in terms of your physical appearance. But I think for me, it's been helpful for me to just reflect on what things my body can do. Certain features about myself, that I actually do love about me. And in doing that, it's let me let go of a lot of external pressure and that's been so, so helpful.

And I also appreciate just, I think I'm a fairly kind soul. I think I do really well with people. And I think having that natural talent has been very helpful in my life and getting to know people and, it leads me to have other service opportunities to help other people as well.

Ahhh, I totally agree. Yes, so beautiful Sarah, thank you. Okay, so before I ask you the last question, is there anything else you want to share, and where can our audience go to find out more about you if they'd like?

So I have an Instagram account. It's @saraheaustin_, and a little space at the end. So you're welcome to come follow me. You're welcome to message me. If you need a friend, I live in the Logan, Utah area. So if you need a friend, come hang out. And yeah, I feel like I've shared pretty much everything I wanted to say. So, but if you ever have more questions for me, feel free to ask.

Excellent. And we'll put your Insta in the show notes too, thank you Sarah. Alright, so last question. What is your favorite question or quote about love?

Yes. Let me pull it up because I've already forgotten. Okay so, this is also a fun experience, cause I didn't have one that popped up in my head right away. And so I did some searching online for things, and I really wanted a quote that resonated not only with myself, also with the concept of self love and self acceptance. Cause I think that's something I'm working on mastering right now. I feel like I do really well at loving other people, but I want to learn to do better at loving myself.

And so the quote that I found says, "How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you." I don't know who said it, but it really resonated with me because ultimately we have the most control over our lives. And we're going to be with ourselves for the rest of our life, where this is the relationship you're going to have forever. And so it's important to protect yourself from other people, protect yourself from stressful situations, and treat yourself well. Like go get the new swimsuit you've been wanting, or go hiking and enjoy just feeling the sunlight on your skin. Like do things for yourself that make you feel good, and treat yourself like you would treat anybody else.

Try not to say negative comments about yourself. And ultimately we can't control what other people think about us, but we have control over our own thoughts, our own feelings. And along those lines too, it's like, we are the main character of our story. And so if you are always paying attention to other people, you're giving them the power to be a main character in your story. But they're not main characters, you are. So, and if other people are saying negative things about you, that just means they're giving you more attention than they're giving to themselves. And you know, what's most important is just you get to lead the life that you want to lead. And no one else can say anything about it. So, yeah.

Sarah, I need to have you come teach in Lovin Me program, that's awesome. Y'all know I'm...Yes, exactly...I'm all about self love. And I love that you are noticing this at a young age and really implementing it into your life. So thank you so much. That thought, "How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you" is beautiful. Hmmm, something to think about.

Alright Sarah, my amazing, beautiful, daughter in law, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your tidbits of love with us. Yes, of course.

We have the amazing Kristen, my second daughter in law, sharing some beautiful love insights with us today. Alright Kristen, briefly introduce yourself.

Hi, my name's Kristen. I'm from Tennessee. I live in Logan, Utah with my husband Kurtis. We have a one year old lab, his name's Kato. So we did the little K A family. I went to school at BYU, Idaho, and graduated in healthcare administration, and so I work for an ENT office. I do scheduling. And then I love to be outside and run and my main things.

Ah, awesome. Alright, how do you incorporate love into your business or your life?

I would say in a few different ways. So like I mentioned, I work for an ENT clinic, so it's a medical office. And we see lots of patients every single day, and they all have different things going on and different problems. And I deal a lot with surgical scheduling and so people are, you know, kind of in a situation where they're scared or they're going under, going for a procedure. And so I feel like I incorporate love there, because I try to show kindness and compassion and listen. Usually when people have health problems, and they're coming to you, they're nervous themselves, and they just need a smile. So I try really hard to smile at work, and just make people feel like their problems are being heard. And that they have someone to go to and someone listening.

And then, you know, at home, I try to with my husband and my dog, I feel like quality time is kind of a fun way to show up, and so we, I try to plan activities, and do a lot of things, with one on one time to show Kurtis that he's loved and that I care for him. So we do like date night each week on just a Friday. And we set aside time Friday and Sunday to just hang out with each other. We don't usually have our phones with us. So I feel like showing and giving attention, makes people feel loved.

I love that. And you are such a great example of that. It's so fun to watch you and Kurtis do so many things. And when we're together to get to join you as well. And yes to the health issues because we've had some in our own family and I call Kristen frequently saying, "Hey, help me with this" and she's an expert at figuring that all out. So I know you help a lot of people with that. Awesome, I love that.

Alright, so the second question: What is something you love about you and why?

I would say I love that I'm very driven and goal oriented. Because it makes me proud of myself and gives me something to look forward to. So I love progress, and you know, getting better every single day, so I try to be better than I was yesterday. And I love that about myself, just cuz I can see how far I've come, and it's something that I feel like makes the world better and makes me better. And so I kinda like that I set goals and work towards something.

And you're very, very good at doing what you say you're going to do. I admire that as well. And it gives me a little kick in the pants too, when I'm like, oh, Kristen's doing it. I better kick it into gear. So yes, that's an amazing quality, I love that. Alright, anything else you want to share before I ask you the last question?

No, I think that's all I've got.

Alright, you don't want to tell about fishing or anything like that?

Oh well, I did. So this year with being driven and like goal oriented, I just decided I was going to set a goal. Well last year, actually, after we left our family reunion, I had been talking to LeAnn about how I wanted to run a half marathon. And I couldn't even run a mile when I told her that I just, I ran in high school and wanted to eventually run again. So I set a goal that we were going to run a half marathon, paid for it, picked a date. And then I was like, crap, I guess I should learn how to run . So I worked towards it every single day, and we did run our half marathon in April.

And then since then, I have just added running into my schedule and working out every single day, and I've seen huge changes in my life, and just how motivated I am. And so then I was able to add in other goals. So I added in not drinking soda, and I've gone basically the whole year, I think I've had two sips of soda this whole year.

And then I was like, oh well, let's make time for hobbies. And, you know, get better in other areas. So then I picked up fishing. So now I'm all into fishing and I go pretty much every week, once a week, and work on my casting, and I research it, and have a goal to, you know, catch a bigger fish every time.

That is so awesome. And we love that, and Jeff loves that his daughter in law loves to fish too, so that's super fun to do that as well. So great. Alright, so tell us, what is your favorite question or quote about love?

So I picked one by Laura Pexton, and she says, "Every day no matter what I face, I can smile and love others." And I picked that one cuz in high school we had to pick a word in our art class, to write down and decorate and do something artistic out of. And so I picked the word saunder, which is the realization that everybody around you, even strangers, are living a life just as complex as yours. And so it made me think that with everybody having something going on, sometimes other people are hurting. Sometimes they're going through the best phases of their life, but you never know what's going on. But no matter what you're going through, you can at least smile and love others.

I love that, and your smile. Hmmm, something to think about y'all. Thank you Kristen. Sure love and appreciate you. And thanks for sharing your tidbits of love with us.

If you're ready to strengthen the connection with your daughter in law, and show up as the mother in law you truly want to be, purchase my brand new Lovin My DIL course today. Details in the show notes, or at leannaustin.com. Have a good one y'all, and here's to Lovin My DIL.

If you would like to become an expert at loving yourself, check out my Lovin Me Program at leannaustin.com

3 questions to ask yourself about your neighbors...

You're listening to the Love Tidbits Podcast, where you'll discover a small, tasty, delightful, bite-sized tidbit of love. I'm your host, LeAnn Austin

Hey y'all, welcome to Love Tidbits, episode #27: A Fire and Neighbors

This morning, I went for a run with my dog Nutmeg, and when we got home, I looked over at my neighbor's house and there was smoke coming out of the back roof. And I was like, okay, wait. What's happening here. And I ran back out into the front yard, and ran over there to make sure he was alright. And his house was on fire.

So thankfully some other neighbors were walking by as well, and we got him out and his animals out, and I called 911. And we had a lot of fire trucks come, and they were able to put out the fire. It was a pretty significant fire, and I don't know what all the damage will be, but as I was able to just sit and visit with my neighbor, and lots of neighbors came out, it just got me thinking about how important it is to me to know our neighbors. And I love connecting with my neighbors and the opportunity that I have to live near people. And I think it's really helpful to know a little bit about them so when situations like this arise, we know a little bit about what we can do to help.

So, I've tried to ask myself three general questions when I think about my neighbors. The first: What's something interesting about my neighbor? I like to know just some little thing about them that's interesting.

The second: What is important to my neighbor? There's things that are important to them. And they may or may not be important to me, but it doesn't matter. I like knowing what's important to them.

And then my third question is: How can I love my neighbor? What can I do to love them? In this moment, this morning, loving my neighbor was going and helping him get out. Was going and contacting some of his family. And it was just being there with him and loving him. And I was so grateful that I was able to do that.

I truly have the best neighbors in the whole world. And I am so grateful for each of them and how they are a part of our lives. And I just challenge you, wherever you live, whatever situation you're in, to take time to get to know your neighbors.

And I love this beautiful quote from Fred Rogers. He said: "All of us at some time or other need help. Whether we're giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That's one of the things that connects us as neighbors. In our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver."

Hmmm, something to think about. Have a good one y'all ~ and here's to amazing neighbors and to love.

If you're enjoying this podcast, please share and leave a review to help others hear tidbits of love. If you would like to become an expert at loving yourself, check out my Lovin Me Program at leannaustin.com

Here are a few tidbits from an amazing book ~ enjoy!

You're listening to the Love Tidbits Podcast, where you'll discover a small, tasty, delightful, bite-sized tibit of love. I'm your host, LeAnn Austin

Hey y'all, welcome to Love Tidbits, episode #26: Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It

One of my favorite books is titled: Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It, by Kamal Ravikant. Kamal takes us on his fascinating journey and I highly recommend reading this book.

He was, before he wrote this, very concerned about what will other people think, and even to share this. He was terrified. And yet, he did it anyway, which makes this so much sweeter. Kamal shares a vow he made to himself and the importance of keeping this vow. Often we keep commitments or vows to others, but he teaches us the importance of keeping these vows to ourselves.

Kamal understands the importance of the mind and love. He knew it was an inside problem and he needed to find an inside solution. So he created a practice to work on his mind. He started with telling himself that he loved himself. Simply beginning with this thought, and then noticing how he felt. At first he said it felt fake, but very quickly it became real.

I love how this telling himself that he loved himself, reminds me of what I teach my clients and what I practice myself. This light switch trick. Every time we turn on a light, telling ourselves what we love about us. It can seem really corny and really fake, but if we keep practicing it and reinforcing that love with light, it becomes easier and we're really honoring this truth for ourself.

Now, the next part of Kamal's practice was a simple meditation. Noticing what we're breathing, how we're breathing. He talks about taking ten breaths, inhaling: I love myself, and exhaling: whatever comes out.

The third part of his practice was to stand in front of the mirror. Really close to the mirror, so your nose is only a few inches away. He said to focus on your eyes and say: I love myself. Repeat it and watch your eyes, he says. And he suggests doing this for five minutes. Repeating: I love myself, and pausing occasionally to watch how your eyes are reacting. Smile at the end, Kamal says, of the five minutes. I love how he shared, if anyone looked in your eyes, knowing that you love them, this is what they saw, and give yourself that same gift.

Then the last part of Kamal's practice, is to ask yourself one question. "If I love myself truly and deeply, would I let myself experience this?" Hmmm. There's so much more valuable information in this book that you can incorporate into your life. And again, I recommend reading and trying what Kamal shares.

A few other tidbits. He says; "All freedom starts within. Even if you want to forgive others, you must forgive yourself first. Only the free can free another." And he also mentions the power of a vow. You go all in. If you stumble and fall, you get up, dust yourself off, and continue on. And there is only one way, forward.

We're wired for love y'all, and when we make our mind better, everything is better. My favorite question to ponder that Kamal continually asks himself is this: "If I love myself truly and deeply, what would I do?" Hmmm, something to think about.

Have a good one y'all ~ and here's to love. If you're enjoying this podcast, please share and leave a review to help others hear tidbits of love. If you would like to become an expert at loving yourself, check out my Lovin Me Program at leannaustin.com