Hypothyroidism, insulin resistance, and pre-diabetes caused my physical health to deteriorate. The symptoms associated with being hypothyroid were especially trying on my mental health. Fatigue, weight gain, feeling cold all the time, and hair loss all increased my depression.

I was at such a low point emotionally that the steps I took not only saved my thyroid, but also my life.

When a blood test proved my thyroid hormones and glucose levels were out of whack, I felt frustrated. All I did was complain, and ask, “Why me?” My mental health deteriorated further than usual.

It was at that point I decided that I needed to fight back.

This podcast episode is the story of the five month fight back that ended with normalised thyroid hormones, and no sign of diabetes. 

Honorable Mentions (if you can't access these links, try using the Apple Podcasts or Overcast apps)

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In the last podcast episode, we talked about what values mean to us, and how we (and others) are able to shape our own personal values. 

We talked about the importance of being conscious of what personal core values we are developing, so in this episode, I'm sharing an easy process to find out what your values are right now.

By questioning how you show up in significant moments in your life, both good and bad, you'll be able to determine what your are.

In my experience, I found that "care for others," "reliability" and a "sense of community" came from the fulfilling activity of making scrubs for healthcare workers. I was then able to see these cropping up elsewhere in my life (e.g. making this podcast), and realised that these are values that are deeply embedded within me. 

Having a list of the values my moral code seems to consist of was incredibly helpful. It allowed me to think about which values I want to exploit more, and which might be ones I'd like to remove (because - spoiler alert - some of us display ethics that we have subconsciously absorbed and don't truly serve us).

"Loyalty" was a value this process led me to really question. I realised that a conflict with a relative was so painful to me because I'm incredibly loyal. If I only looked at the way that value showed up in that event, I'd probably have wanted to leave it behind because it was incredibly painful. 

The process, though, of examining these values more closely led me to be able to analyse other places that my loyalty shows up: for example, I'm a friend, who will check in on people regularly, and continuously stand beside them in whatever they face. That's not painful, that's fulfilling - a reason to keep and use my loyalty even more! 

I also came to realise something else important about my personal core values: they also dictate what I'm passion about, and help me to define what activities are in alignment with who I am.

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"IT'S NOT WORTH IT" <--- WHO SAYS?!

Value is defined by the Google Dictionary as “the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.”

Thus, when we say "it's not worth $50", we're making a judgement call. We're actually saying that thing "doesn't hold $50 of value for me".

I love my $200 body composition bathroom scales, but if you offered me (and I could easily afford) a $200k+ DEXA scanner, would I want it?

The call I'd make is whether it was 1000x (i.e. $200k / $200) more useful / worthwhile to me. For me, the answer would be "no", but for a pro-athlete? Maybe a different response. 

Value isn't assigned by the price on the label, but by the buyer - and, because it's an opinion the buyer holds, it means the seller can change their mind. 

Essentially, business marketing is about persuading someone that something is useful to them. 

But what about the OTHER definition of "value"? The personal one?

Google Dictionary defines this as "principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what is important in life."

I have inbuilt values that dictate how I live my life on a day to day basis. 

But how do these compare to monetary values?

Well! Just like a good marketing campaign can shape what you believe the worth is of a product or service, your personal values and ethics can also be shaped by external 'forces'.

Our values come from past stories that we have told ourselves or have heard or seen from those around us. It means that we begin to ABSORB even the most personal of ethical morals from what is going on around us.

We may not previously have thought much about having the personal value of "protecting others", for example, and yet now we are wearing masks to help avoid others suffering. This new value many of us are developing has come from news stories, WHO advice, government campaigns and so on. 

We have been shaped into people who protect others (through the use of masks) by the information that we are absorbing. We would not necessarily have automatically come to do this, and make this association between a strong ethical demand to protect others, and the wearing of a face covering.

Whilst this is a GOOD (in my opinion) shifting of personal values, we need to be conscious of what we are subconsciously absorbing. Just as when we spend money, we use a cost-benefit analysis ("is this worth $50 to me?"), we need to be thinking of our personal values similarly. 

"Is protecting others worthwhile to me? Is this a value I want to adopt?" [I hope your answer is "yes" to this one, by the way!].

There is value in EVERYTHING to someone - you just need to work out if that someone is you. 

Honorable Mentions (if you can't access these links, try using the Apple Podcasts or Overcast apps)

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WANT TO AVOID THE EMPATHY TRAP PAIN? Here's how!

Being an empath and / or highly sensitive person can be painful, and finding our way through this can be difficult.

I have been called stand-off-ish / nosy / trying to live in people's heads etc etc. Simply for being my authentic self. 

In today's podcast, I'm sharing five things that happen for me regularly and that I've developed some awesome tips / hacks to overcome!

Honorable Mentions (if you can't access these links, try using the Apple Podcasts or Overcast apps)

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ONE MASSIVE PART OF MY PERSONALITY I RUN FROM - my empathy.

It sounds kinda silly to be frightened of something that is supposed to [and, indeed DOES] bring about deep, passionate, purposeful connections with people, animals and situations. 

But it can get incredibly painful - absorbing EVERYONE'S emotions, not always being capable of working out which feelings actually belong to me...

I also attempt to problem solve, whether I'm asked to or not - that's led to a few 'heated discussions' over the years...

These things convinced me that I didn't WANT to be an empath, that I needed to run as fast and far as possible from this godforsaken 'skill'.

My coach and I have touched on this a number of times over the last few years, but it's only in the last month or so that I've honestly made a commitment to accept this as a part of me.

It feels bizarre to embrace something that doesn't have scientific explanation. I'm ever the skeptic about woo-woo...

In today's podcast, I'm sharing the pros and cons of being someone who just can't connect on a shallow level!

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We can find out what our preferential growing conditions are: just like plants, it's possible to determine the best combination of factors for growth.

In today's episode, I share my top five things I believe we can learn from PLANTS, in order to improve our lives and prospects for personal development. 

It's only a short episode, but it's life changing - Be More Plant. 

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Did you know that you're just a glorified carrot?
Like vegetables, we need conditions to be just right for us to grow.

Water, feeding, sunlight, temperature, greenhouse vs outside, soil, size of container - plants are fussy little creatures, really!

But - newsflash! - where our personal development is concerned, we need to be just as FINICKY! 

Sometimes, we get so out of control that we do things we don't even know will help us grow - stressed veggie plants do that too, they put out a heap of male flowers, and no fruit.

They are producing pointlessly, simply panicking - and we do the same sometimes. 

But, the truth is, gardeners have learned to treat plants in the optimum way to maximise ripe fruit or flowers. And we can do the same with our progress... we just have to pay attention to what works for us!

Plants just keep growing towards the light, like we grow towards our goals, when the environment is working for us. 

And we have one MASSIVE benefit over plants - they have a limited growing window, but we have every day of our whole lives.

In today's podcast, I discuss how we owe it to ourselves to create the right personal growth conditions for ourselves and stick to them consistently. Just like that herb plant growing on your windowsill. 

Honorable Mentions (if you can't access these links, try using the Apple Podcasts or Overcast apps)

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The barrier to change / a great job / decent healthcare / acceptance is never YOU.

The barrier is societal patriarchy... white supremacy... systemic racism... culturally engrained homophobia... and so on... 

In today's episode, I share the five steps I use to go from seeing MYSELF as the problem to viewing the TRUE obstacle.

We cannot bring change, unless we're ready to see how society's perception of certain groups is the genuine barrier, rather than things we cannot change (e.g. skin colour / sexuality etc). 

Honorable Mentions (if you can't access these links, try using the Apple Podcasts or Overcast apps)

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"I'm female, therefore I can't get a boardroom job" = being female is the problem. NO! 
The barrier is societal patriarchy.

"I'm Black, therefore I can't get optimal healthcare" = being Black is the problem. NO!
The obstacle is systemic racism.

"I'm gay, therefore I am not accepted into this religion" = being gay is the problem. NO!
The issue is culturally engrained homophobia.

YOU are never the problem, and by labelling the problem as yours because of something you can't change, you're ignoring what you CAN change: society's perception of your skin colour / sexuality / gender / religion etc etc.

In today's episode, I discuss why this is such a huge problem, and how by saying something is specifically our fault, we are shunning responsibility and actually doing a disservice to all those who are like us!

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In today's episode, I'm sharing my APING five step method for moving into a place of neutrality about situations in your past... and using those situations to propel you forward with responsible action!

If you haven't listened to the previous episode, all about how we move through anger / self blame to a place of responsibility for our [re]actions, please do so. It will make this episode make waaaay more sense!

Honorable Mentions (if you can't access these links, try using the Apple Podcasts or Overcast apps)

Kain Ramsay - Responsibility Rebellion: An Unconventional Approach to Personal Empowerment

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