Sparkle and Grow

Today's episode is a follow-up to the 4 steps to Change Your Life and a life update. I recap the 4 steps, share with you all some things that have been happening in my life as we go on this journey together, and make an announcement about what's to come. Join our growing Facebook community by searching in "groups" Sparkle & Grow Community. Email me at [email protected] and find me on Instagram @sparkleew

Welcome to the final episode in the Changing Your Life mini-series! This one is short and sweet and I have a major announcement. Step 4 is all about determining what skills you might need to follow through with your goals and getting an accountablility partner. Research shows that people are more likely to follow through when they have someone holding them accountable.

Major announcement: I started an online community! Check out the Sparkle & Grow Community on Facebook! It's a private group where we an share our thoughts, opinions, and ideas as we all grow together.

As always, feel free to email at [email protected] and find me on Instagram @sparkleew

Welcome to step 3 in the Changing Your Life mini-series. Today is all about setting goals around the list created from episode 2. Set achievable, realistic goals to help acheive anything on your list! Nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough.

Let me know how you are doing with these "assignments." What are some challenges? What things are coming up for you? What questions do you have? As always, [email protected] or find me on Instgram @sparkleew

Welcome to step 2 of changing your life! Today's episode is about writing down (or typing out) your goals. Sit down and really take time to write or type all of the things you want to accomplish or achieve in your life. Don't hold back! Be as lofty or as minimal as you'd like, but be specific. Step 1 was about making the decision to change and step 2 is deciding what it is we want to do. We're creating the roadmap to our new life.

Please share with me what this taught you or how it helped you, what came up for you during this exercise. Email me at [email protected] and put "podcast" in the subject line. I do respond to everyone who emails me so you can trust it is genuinely me with whom you are communicating.

You know you need to make a change in your life, you can feel it! Or, something has ended in your life and you must make a change in order to survive. Or, you feel stuck and unhappy, totally out of alignment with your purpose. Whatever the case, if you're looking to change your life, you need to start somewhere. Start by being honest with yourself about where you are in life at this current moment. Let's make a plan and start with step 1! Journal about this, write it out, type it up. Answer these questions: where am I in life right now? What are my obligations that I must adhere to? What is the worst case scencario? What happens if that comes true?

Let me know what you think and what things came up for you during the journaling. I'm so excited to be on this journey with you! We're going to make changes together so we can all live our very best lives.

On this episode, I'm sharing with you all a very real, unedited version of myself and what's happening in my life at this very moment. This episode is meant to be raw and honest as I share some real struggles that have come up seemingly out of nowhere. I know so many people can relate to having a sudden change in their life that shakes things up and leaves them feeling lost and scared. My goal is to connect with you all on a real level and to let you know that it's okay for crappy things to happen.

Leave me some feedback, connect with me on social media, or email me to let me know if this strikes a cord with you and how you've handled a less-than-ideal situation.

Today's episode discusses the concept of unconditional love and what it means. I break down how it applies and to whom. I make the argument that unconditional love is NOT experienced in a romantic relationship and provide some evidence as to why. I include a citation for an academic journal entry from Dr. Stephen D. Hales.

Please let me know what you think about this!

In this episode, I talk about my relationship with money and how it has evolved over the years. I went from someone who knew very little about managing finances to developing my own budgeting method in a matter of months-out of necessity. Learn the steps I took to get my finances under control and to a place of peace.

Below is the link to the book I wrote called Get Your Money Together: A Budgeting Guide for Beginners. If you want to learn more or see how I did it, this is the best way!

https://a.co/d/60knHuf

Warning: I use the "f" word a few time in this episode

I go off script in this episode and dive into the topic of reacting to others. I talk about how it is not your fault if someone treats you poorly. Their behavior is a reflection of them, not you. I also discuss how we communicate nonverbally through actions, facial expressions, gestures, and even our clothing and how we need to care, even a tiny bit, what other think of us. Though there is freedom is saying we don't care about the opinions of others, there are few times when we need to care, even on a very surface level. There is psychology behind appearance and how we communicate using our clothing and our overall outward presentation.

Please feel free to leave me some feedback! I do not think my opinion is always right or that I have the final word on any of these topics. I value the input from you all, so send me a message if you feel moved to do so.

Ramirez, A., Sunnafrank, M., & Goei, R. (2010). Predicted outcome value theory in ongoing relationships. Communication Monographs, 77, 27-50.

Floyd, K. (2011). Interpersonal communication (3e). McGraw Hill, New York, NY.

Thank you so much for joining me on this episode. I have listed the mentioned resources above. Please check out their works for further information and to dive even deeper into this topic. Here's a basic outline of what I'm covering as it relates to ghosting:

· Being attracted to other people

o Attracted by appearance

o Attracted by proximity

o Attracted by complementarity

· Uncertainty Reduction Theory

o Charles Berger & Richard Calabrese

o A theory suggesting people are motivated to reduce their uncertainty about others

o The more certain we become about a person, the more likely we are to "like" them

· Predicted outcome theory

o Michael Sunnafrank

o We try to determine whether continued communication with a person will be worth our effort

o Approach vs avoidance behaviors