One of my favorite permission slips and also a reminder I still need CONSTANTLY!

Sneaky sneaky perfectionism showing up as "Oh, this isn't the right time to do this!"

And catching it when it happens, like right now, this feels like the wrong time to post this episode (surprise surprise, brain is often like that) so here it is!

Not to play favorites, but y'all...

I've been so excited to bring you this DELIGHT of a conversation, tune in, turn on the video to see both of our wonderful faces and enjoy! We cover everything from gratitude to depression, photography to raincoats and a lot of buckets and beach balls

More about Marie-Claire:

Marie-Claire Ashcroft, known as the Professional Rebel, is a Self-Expression Specialist combining personal brand photography with rebel confidence facilitation for creative, unconventional, quirky, and often neuro-divergent humans.

With her trademark smile and infectious energy, her background in low self-esteem and depression comes as a surprise to many, as does her inspiring personal journey. Featured in Virgin Entrepreneur, the Counsellors Directory and Standard Issue Magazine as a happiness expert, she’s helped 100s of women across the globe with her unique and intuitive approach.

Clients have described her as a life changing photographer and life coach; her membership community as mind blowing; and that she helps her clients feel understood by being incredibly in tune with their needs - ‘What you do saves lives’.

Website: https://www.professionalrebel.co.uk 

Confidence / Self Concept Freebie: https://www.professionalrebel.co.uk/wtf-is-wrong-with-me/ 

Selfies Freebie: https://www.professionalrebel.co.uk/how-to-take-selfies-for-your-business-a-free-guide/ 

Weekly-ish pep talks: https://www.professionalrebel.co.uk/pep-talks/

Facebook (i use my personal profile): https://www.facebook.com/marieclaire.ashcroft 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theprofessionalrebel/

It's not even an exaggeration to say that other humans are my biggest source of joy.

And yes, I realize that this is the most obvious thing in the world, because yours probably is too (even if you classify yourself as an introvert): your friends, your favorite artists, authors, musicians, your family, your favorite podcast-host, and also random people, the guy who makes your lattes, the woman who inspired you to follow your dreams, the kid who blew you a kiss at work, all human connections and what makes life worth living.

However, the ones I'm talking specifically about in this episode, are all the little moments of connection to STRANGERS. And how important they are for your brain and your outlook on the world AND the potential for new friendships ❤️

Have a listen, and see if you want to take me up on the challenge to spread more light and be open (but detatched!) to the magic of connecting to other humans... starting now.

Good for your brain.

Great for your heart.

Amazing for the world.

Win win win win win 🏅

Sign up for my Triple Treat Thursday here

Muchelle B's YouTube video mentioning the book below

The book mentioned : The power of Strangers

Instagram @elise.aabakken

Do you suspect that you're more loved/valuable/worthy, just overall BETTER, if you're not tired?

Because this still sometimes trips me up. That if I can't "give it my all" then why bother, because it's not gonna be amazing and I might as well... not.

But I don't actually believe that. And knowing what I know about persistent beliefs and how we change our minds and brains to allow for more flexibility and acceptance, this your permission-slip, from one tired human to another, that you can still choose to show up when you're tired, if you want to. Because you're always choosing anyways ❤️

Book a call here

Instagram

Newsletter/Triple Treat Thursday sign up

Is it too dramatic to say that friends make life worth living?

Probably not! One of the longest running studies from Harvard university says this:

"Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, says one of the biggest surprises they encountered was that what makes people happy is also what helps keep them healthy — relationships."

So if you want to be happy and healthy (who doesn't?), putting energy into the relationships and community around you, is one of the best things you can do for yourself and it also benefits those around you! You know I love a win-win-win situation ;)

Joined by wonderful Vicki, we had the loveliest conversation, see more information and where to connect with her below and tune in to a vulnerable, honest, sweet, whole-hearted conversation about friendships, honesty, and the horrible (but necessary) concept of friend-breakups.

Vicki Smith is a licensed psychotherapist and a coach specializing in people pleasing and perfectionism. Vicki brings both her personal and professional experience into her work by blending her time as a mindfulness meditation teacher, her extensive training in Internal Family Systems as well as her background in body-centered yoga therapy. Her work allows clients to get to know the whole of their being. And her mission is to help folks not just TALK ABOUT the life they’ve always wanted, but to actually start LIVING IT OUT!

Facebook

Instagram

Website

Free resource for youu - Unleash your authentic self

-------

Elise's sweet new improved website for booking coaching calls when you're ready to be your own friend. And then you bring that honesty and energy into your friendships and relationships with other humans in your precious life. Can't wait to talk with you!

"Be your own best friend" has SUCH a cliché ring to it, but I still wholeheartedly agree that it's one of the best recommendations for a happier life. Gretchen Rubin talks about this too, that yes, relationships with others are one of the biggest keys to happiness, but also supported by your relationship to yourself!

So in this episode I'm talking about where to start if you don't feel like you're being a great friend to YOU, what I do and an example of what to avoid, as well as some gushing over next weeks episode!

February is turning into friendship month here on the podcast and I'm here for it, hope you are too!

Book a call here

Instagram here

Newsletter here

One of my many many beloved jobs, so why did I stop?

Sharing a lot of love for transformation and some new perspectives on makeup in this episode (a surprisingly vulnerable topic!) and I'd love to know what you think!

Appearance and makeup and the visual aspect of someone is SO impactful and it's been on my mind lately, and even though there are still many paradoxes and more conversations to be had, I wanted to share this with you.

Mentioned is pretty privilege, which is the tendency to judge based on appearance, also known as the Halo-Effect, link here to an article by simplepsycology.org, to learn more about this super interesting phenomenon, which I think is so important to be aware of!

Let's connect on instagram! @elise.aabakken

Do you get stuck when making decisions?

Even seemingly "easy" ones, like when you're decluttering?

"Oooh but it's just things, this SHOULD be easy..."

Blah

Often, it's not a case of not knowing what to do or how to do it, but more a situation where you don't really want to be the one responsible for the decision made. For the consequences.

Or (raising my hand here) not wanting to deal with what I think making that decision means about me as a person.

Here is a little episode with a couple of lighthearted questions to help you practice and also, a reminder of what breaking this pattern could mean for other areas of your life and your relationships. Happy listening!

Do you feel like no matter how much you get done, it's never good enough? That the moment something is finished, you either overthink it (perfectionism, I see you) or go into comparison mode, wondering if someone else is doing it better?

The thing is, it doesn't really matter how much you get done or how wonderfully you do something, if it never counts!

This approach of "I won't be kind to myself before it's perfect" might sound like a good idea, all disciplined and serious-adult-mode, but it is probably hindering you in moving forward at all, making even the things you WANT to do, feel like sh*t, because of how you meet yourself when you do them.

I wholeheartedly believe in the HUGE part your self-kindness plays in any personal growth journey and this episode is all about that and the strict, rigid, unnecessary "rules" you might have accidentally put in place for yourself.

Tune in to get a little challenge on how to give yourself credit and how to catch yourself when you make up impossibly high standards for things you want to do and accomplish.

And the best part? Is that it's probably going to help you do MORE of the things you want to do!

Come hang out on Instagram here

Book a free 15 min call here

Another fantastic guest!

Ah, I'm so excited for you to hear this conversation with Amber Abila, my friend and colleague. Hope you are ready to be pleasantly surprised by a conversation with a coach for bingeing and overeating!

Because honestly? I was a liiiiittle skeptical to having food and eating and body image as a topic for a January episode, with diet culture feeling like it's EVERYWHERE after the holidays, but after chatting to Amber about her approach as a coach, what she focuses on and debunking myths around having a coach for issues around eating and food means, I knew that this was exactly how I wanted to bring this to you! Getting rid of shoulds? And stepping away from and all or nothing mindset? Feeling good and finding joy? YES to all of it!

Find her bio and all links below (and also, aren't we fancy with our video episode? :D )

BIO:

Amber helps women stop overeating & binge eating so they can feel normal and in control around food forever.

She gets what it’s like to wonder why food feels so HARD. She had a “perfect’ life from the outside, but kept the binge eating a secret because she couldn’t figure out what was going wrong.

Once she discovered the magic of coaching and learned that she just needed some simple brain rewiring tools, she started making dramatic shifts in her eating habits and life.