42. Navigating the Balance Between Survival and Self-Actualization: Overcoming Challenges to Pursue Your Dreams with Hazel Brown

Have you ever felt like your basic needs were overshadowing your aspirations for personal growth? Join me, Hazel Brown, as I share the lessons I've learned from navigating the delicate balance between survival and self-actualization. Drawing from Maslow's hierarchy of needs, this episode is a heartfelt exploration of my own journey—overcoming financial and health challenges to pursue my dreams. I discuss the profound impact of having a supportive environment and the courage it takes to walk away from toxicity, all while striving for success and happiness.

It's a candid conversation about the power of perseverance and the significance of the company we keep. You'll hear transparent stories from not just myself but also from successful professionals and business owners who have grappled with similar struggles. We open up about the unspoken parts of our paths to success, the parts not typically showcased on social media, offering you real-world insights that can illuminate your own way forward. This episode isn't just about sharing experiences; it's about empowering you to make choices that resonate with your authentic self and encourage you to become fearless in pursuit of the life you desire and deserve.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to. It's the Human Experience Podcast Hosted by Hazel Brown, a healthcare leader, wife, mom and career coach. If you're big on authenticity, personal development, perseverance and transparency, you're in the right place. Get ready to be uplifted, inspired and empowered as you become fearless in pursuit of the life you desire and deserve. Our goal is to help you level up by creating a safe space to learn and reflect, while listening to transparent stories from our host or successful professionals and business owners who've agreed to share the parts of success that typically gets x'd out on social media, because that's the part you need to see and hear the process. Go ahead and subscribe. You don't want to miss out on these transparent stories and discussions that reveal highs, lows, aha moments and nuggets that'll help you to grow and glow.

Speaker 2: 1:13

Hey, hey, hey. You are now tuned in to the it's the Human Experience Podcast. I'm your host, hazel Brown. Today I wanted to talk to you guys about some things as I was reflecting on Mazel's hierarchy of needs and the thought process around how, as human beings, we need basic needs fulfilled, such as shelter, food security, feeling safe connections, knowing that that is something that I absolutely have used in my life, and understanding the principles of how we are all connected and our wants and needs and how they're interrelated.

Speaker 2: 1:56

It is very difficult for one to function and focus on fulfilling their goals and becoming their highest self when their most basic needs, such as shelter, food, are not met. It is also difficult, as we go up a level in focusing on creating healthy connections, when things such as the security, financial security, health security, personal well-being and all the things are not met. It's kind of hard for one to focus on creating strong relationships and bonds with others Outside of the connection piece. I need to focus on getting myself together before I can focus on trying to be the best version of myself, or a friendship or a relationship or whatever the case may be. That is understood, but I feel like there has been many times where I wasn't at my best, in a financial situation, even in a health situation, but I still show up for my goals. Sometimes you got to push through this stuff right. I've been on both sides. There have been moments in my life where whatever was in front of me was so hard. It felt like in that moment that I was not thinking about a goal, I was not thinking about getting things done right, I wasn't thinking about fulfillment, I wasn't thinking about happiness. I was strictly trying to figure out how to get through what it is I was going through. I think from that standpoint it led me to understand the other side.

Speaker 2: 3:33

Right? How can someone expect you to show up for that connection, expect you to show up to go after your goals, expect you to become your highest self when you don't feel safe, you don't feel secure, you're in a toxic relationship, your friendships are full of negativity, there's lots of judging, there's lots of competing, there's lots of no cheerleading and within that frame, that is a circle that you have, and so within that circle, it then tends to manifest in your life because you start to feel like, oh my God, maybe I can't do it. Oh my God, maybe they're right 9 times out of 10. You're already telling yourself you can't do it. You're already telling yourself you're not enough.

Speaker 2: 4:24

If you're in that circle and framework where the people around you are so negative, their limiting beliefs start to become your own, if you didn't even already have them right, and so I want you to be mindful of knowing that you can remove yourself from circumstances, relationships, situations, jobs, cities, places and things that don't serve you.

Speaker 2: 4:52

I wanted to go there because I feel like, for me, I would be remiss if I didn't remind you that you have one life to live. Every day is your ability to enjoy the life that you have in the present moment, and because you don't necessarily get another life, you have to make sure you're living it in a way that serves you the most. It doesn't mean that, through those connections and relationships, you won't encounter an argument here and there. Hence I said here and there. It should not be every day, it should not be every week, it should not be every month, here and there, and whatever feels comfortable for you I know you're probably like Hazel, what do you mean? Whatever feels comfortable for you, let's rewind and sit there. Some people love drama, right, and you know who you are, and if you're one of those people where you enjoy that argument every now and then, then maybe every week is cool for you.

Speaker 2: 6:01

And you have to know that for yourself. If you're the kind of person where you prioritize peace, you prioritize being around people that value you, they're gonna correct you but at the same time, they see your worth, they know who you are, they have self-actualized you, then you may want that peace to where. I'm not going through this, that and the third every day, every week, every month, like, give me once a quarter and I'm good with that. I want you to really analyze what makes sense for you in terms of too much toxicity in your relationship, whether it be a partner, it be a family member, it be a bestie, it be an associate, it be your coworkers, it be your neighbors, I don't care who it is. I want you to take some time and think about what are your circles like Really, think about what the future looks like for you and decide what needs to happen to create the foundation for yourself where you can show up stronger with peace. You can show up healthy from a mental standpoint, from a financial standpoint and from an overall well-being standpoint when you think about your health and wellness. We're looking at social media, we're looking at this person, we're looking at how others do things, and I think it's very important that we, as human, take some time to reflect on who we are, who we wanna be and what kind of life we wanna live. And, most importantly, what kind of life we're currently living. And how does that life align to the life that we see for ourselves, that we know that we are deserving of? And in that situation there's where you're gonna make a decision Do I push through everything that I'm going through so I can go after my goals or do I need to sit in this and clean it up Because this is not okay. There's no pushing through right now because the circumstances that I'm currently dealing with. It requires some cleanup. We can't push through the muck because it's just too much muck Like I need to get them to send me a whole big old dumpster to clean up some of these people, these things, these situations, all of the hoarding that we're doing in our life.

Speaker 2: 8:29

Because during my reflection, I realized that too many times, aside from going through the muck and it being difficult to push through it, it being difficult to see the vision and how things can come to fruition, I think what happens is we're thinking that other people are supposed to help us reach self-actualization, they're supposed to supply our basic needs. They're supposed to make sure that we feel safe. They're supposed to make sure that we feel loved and our connections are full. They're supposed to help us reach our goals. They're supposed to show up for us, but I would be remiss if I didn't let you know that the person responsible for supplying your basic needs is you. The person responsible for making sure that you feel safe is you. The person responsible for making sure that the connections are pure, strong, full of love, genuine, authentic, real, all the things right. Is you. The person responsible for helping you get to the next level, to use your magic, to use your gifts, to show up as your full self is you, though.

Speaker 2: 10:02

It is extremely important to analyze your circle, to look at the way that you're living your everyday life and how it aligns with your future self and with the gifts that you were born with, with you using all of your inner challenges, goals, wisdom, knowing to get to the next level. How does that align with where you want to go and what you want to be, and who you want to do it with? That's where that reflection comes in to, where you're looking at everyone, everything, the spaces and places that you're showing up in. But, most importantly, you want to analyze you and how you're showing up for you. I feel like, strictly my opinion, I could be dead wrong, but I want you to realize that many times the reason why we're not where we need to be outside of what has happened to us that we had no control over.

Speaker 2: 11:13

I was born into poverty. I was born in without a silver spoon. I was the first in my family to go to college. I had to figure it all out on my own. I had to figure it out. I've seen some things, been through some rough situations, and none of that was my fault. But am I going to use those circumstances and things to stop me from living out the life that I know I'm deserving of living? Am I going to use all of the things that has happened to me and decide that, oh my God, this happened to me because I'm in a victim mindset, or am I going to learn from it and understand that God is too intentional? There is something I was supposed to learn from that. There is something that he's trying to teach me, especially if this lesson keeps repeating, I'm not picking it up fast enough. I'm not learning. I'm not understanding what it is he's trying to show me and, knowing the God I serve, I know that, no matter what it is I'm going through, no matter the feels, whether they're good feels or bad feels, he's too intentional. I'm supposed to learn from this. I'm supposed to use this to lift someone else up. I'm supposed to understand that this situation happens in other people too, and worse. I'm not supposed to be like poor me and you can for a second, but I want you to remember that does nothing, it's not productive, it provides no results, and so I deflect.

Speaker 2: 12:57

But I wanted to make sure I sat there because I wouldn't do you a good service if we just talked about looking at your circles, betting on yourself, and not addressing the fact that, yeah, we go through some stuff, but make a decision. Are those things going to be used to hold you down? Are you going to break through it and understand that you're not alone? Get out a network, start talking to some folks while you're at home, pull up Google, research some of your favorite folks and look at their stories and what they've gone through and ask yourself, man, if they overcame that. I probably need to stop complaining about my little stuff Like I wasn't even in the car, homeless, I've complained about a shelter. I want you to start going through a process where you no longer feel sorry for yourself and you start to realize like I can and I will.

Speaker 2: 14:00

I understand that things happen. I understand that things are not seemingly straight up, like we're going to go through some ups, downs, up, down, down, down, up, down, up down. It's going to happen. But I always say it's not an anomaly to you. Everyone's going through the human experience. I want you to pick things up and understand that you can. You are born with that greatness within. You are deserving of living the life, re-evaluate your life and move forward, embedding on yourself and becoming the person that you know your destined to be.

Speaker 2: 14:38

If you hadn't already listened to episode four, go back and listen to it, because we're talking through Maslow's hierarchy of needs. But I wanted to provide you a different perspective as I reflected on episode four. While, true, we need all those things around our basic necessities, feeling safe, those connections and moving into self-actualization, it is very important for us to analyze our circles and analyze our self and make sure that we're giving our self that safe space, we are creating those connections necessary, we are providing our basic needs and making sure we are well, personally, financially, from a health and wellness perspective All those things. It is very important that you really understand that in this one life, every day is your chance to bed on yourself. Every day is your chance to feel fulfilled. Every day is your chance to be happy and be thankful and grateful in the things that you have today. In the life that you have today, it is not always simply achieving this or achieving that. That mindfulness and loving the life that you're currently living is very important in order for you to love the life that you are working on building. I don't know who this message was for, but I hope it provided everything that you needed to keep going, to keep growing, to keep bedding on yourself and becoming the person that you know you're destined to be. Make sure you scroll up to the top and hit that follow button.

Speaker 2: 16:20

Rate the episode, listen, rate it, rate it. Rate it Five stars, of course. Leave me some comments on your takeaways, after reflecting and thinking about your original thoughts about Maslow's hierarchy of needs, where you are today, how your circle's contributing to where you are today in terms of your mindset, how you're contributing, more importantly to where you are today in terms of you bedding on yourself, feeling fulfilled and going after your goals, being happy and grateful for the life that you have today and that you're building. I want to hear your business. I'm telling you, I want to hear yours. Leave me a comment, send me a message. I love when you guys reach out to me. On Instagram. You can find me at redefining the future. You on Instagram, it's the human experience. On Instagram, workplace therapy, lv. On Instagram, I'm also on LinkedIn. I'm everywhere. Guys Just reach out to me. What you see is what you get. I walk the walk, talk the talk and just know that I'm rooting for you. Keep bedding on yourself, growing and glowing. Let's go.

Speaker 1: 17:28

We hope you caught all those gems. So here for all of it. Be sure to subscribe so that you don't miss a gem. Get a review so that we know to keep bringing you episodes like this. And check us out online at it's the human experiencecom to keep up with us. Keep growing and glowing. Catch you on the next episode.