67. Embracing Your Journey: Celebrating Unique Challenges and Triumphs for Personal Growth with Hazel Brown

What does it truly mean to be your best self? Join me, Hazel Brown, as I reflect on my own journey and challenge the societal standards that often overshadow our unique paths. This episode isn't just about meeting goals; it's about meeting yourself where you are. I share personal anecdotes and insights that highlight the importance of embracing our own stories and recognizing that our unique challenges and triumphs are the very elements that can empower us and those around us.

Let's throw comparison out the window and focus on the power of our individual experiences. Together, we will explore how to turn even the most challenging moments into powerful tools for growth and impact. Listen in as I guide you through understanding and appreciating your progress while celebrating your victories. This episode is a heartfelt conversation aimed at encouraging you to honor your journey and inspire others through your unique story. Don't forget to hit that follow button and leave your thoughts; let's continue growing and glowing as a community.

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 am your host, hazel Brown. I am here to talk to you guys about what it looks like to do your best. Recently, I have been in the zone of meeting myself where I'm at right.

Speaker 2: 1:31

Many times, we are trying to meet other people where they are, or we're expecting other things from people or expecting things from yourself, and I think it's so important that we meet ourselves where we are, and so, as I think about that, I think about the importance of making sure that, as you show up for yourself, you are working on being the best version of yourself while becoming the best version of yourself, and I share that, because I feel like many times, our comparison of best is with societal best, it's not with our best, and so I was in the thoughts of just recognizing that, if someone experienced certain life events, such as a health ailment, maybe they overcome cancer, maybe they have overcome weight loss right, they've lost a lot of weight or they've really worked through some mental health issues. Maybe they ran track when they were in high school, shifting gears a little bit. Maybe they were on the debate team, maybe they were on the journal team Maybe they were in newspaper. I share that to say we all have our own life experiences, and for us to have the audacity to compare our best to someone else's best, despite the fact that we did not go through their life journey and did not have their experience, it just became like hoveringly important for me to share because I feel like so many times, society has us telling ourselves who we should be without us taking into account of our journey, our own experiences, things that resonate with us. And so I jumped right into that. But I'm going to rewind.

Speaker 2: 3:26

If this is your first time tuning into the podcast, be sure to make sure you're following the it's the Human Experience podcast by scrolling up to the top and hitting that follow button. When you're done listening, be sure to scroll on down to the bottom if you're listening in from Apple and leave us a comment about your greatest takeaways. Know that all of the episodes are really important in terms of pouring into you as a person and us collectively growing together. You don't have to necessarily listen to one episode after the other to be able to get value and to be able to get experience, to be able to help you become your best self. All right back into the things right.

Speaker 2: 4:08

I feel like when we think about where we are on our journey, so often there's this comparison thing Like this person may have graduated the same time as me. This person may have finished college the same time as me. This person grew up with a single parent home just like I did. This person lived in the same city as me. Like this person has the same resources as me, or this person has more resources than me, and we have all of the different things that we tell ourselves in terms of how come I don't have it too, or why did I have to experience this? Not realizing that those are our gems, not realizing, like those things are what we should hone in on. Those things are the people that we'll be able to make the most impact towards, because there are little yous everywhere. There are people across the world that are experiencing the same things that you did 10 years ago, seven years ago, three years ago, two days ago, and we're in our feelings about what we're going through when, through that experience, we could actually make so much more impact.

Speaker 2: 5:20

One of the greatest takeaways that I've had recently is thinking through my experience. Through my childhood, I used to really always say I wish I had more resources, I had people to help me figure out how to become all the things. I had a guide. I didn't have to be the first in many things. I always used to feel like why do I have to be the first? Why do I have to figure it out? Why do I have to fix it?

Speaker 2: 5:49

But now I realize that, in my experience through life, my mother didn't have money, but she had wisdom, and that wisdom that she poured into me and my siblings is inextinguishable for money, because the reality is she poured values in me, such as love, such as authenticity, such as wanting more for life, such as respect, such as class for life, such as respect, such as class, such as making sure that we have peace, and so I think about all these things that she instilled in me in terms of values, and I recognize now that money can't buy any of those things. Those are things that are in me. It's not on me, it's in me, right? And you have so many things in you that you are sweeping under the rug that you are negating the fact that these things have true value.

Speaker 2: 6:48

These things actually can help you to figure out who you are and where you want to go, not because you see it on Instagram as a cool thing to do, or on LinkedIn or on Twitter or wherever you find your social media juice from YouTube, tiktok, the phone, the newspaper, all the places. Stop looking at what society says is right for you and start looking at what's best for you. Look at the inner. You Stay still. Figure out what really lights up for you, what really has been working for you, what really has been a no for you, what you are a yes for.

Speaker 2: 7:31

Going back to that, if you listened to previous episodes, know that you're a yes for the life you're deserving of, and recognize the experience that you have had that really helped to shape you, that you really felt like you couldn't get out of and ask yourself, like, how do I use this to live a life to help other people? Like my mom used to say it best, we are not here for ourselves, like, and we're not going to wait until things are perfect to be able to help other people. Like my mom used to say it best, we are not here for ourselves, like, and we're not going to wait until things are perfect to be able to help other people, and so we have this expectation that, once we are the best versions of ourselves, we can do X, y, z. But I want you to ask yourself when are you going to be the best version of yourself If we are given another day? We are constantly improving, we are constantly learning new things about ourselves, so why are we waiting until we get to that day? That will never become the day? We need to start betting on ourselves now, and so this episode is really meant to be very short, but really helping you sit with yourself and recognize that your best is your best.

Speaker 2: 8:37

It's not society's best, it's not your ultimate best. It is meeting yourself, where you are current, day to day, asking yourself what means the most to you. How do you want to live your life? What makes sense for you? What do you need to cut out and what do you need to continue? Cut out the fluff, cut out the muck, cut out the fat, cut out all of the extra things that we try to tell ourselves and make ourselves feel better about the way that life is going.

Speaker 2: 9:08

Be honest with the things that you've gone through. Be honest with the things you did not want to go through. Be honest with the way that you had to work hard through certain experiences and understand that there are other people out there just like you going through those same experiences and they don't like it either. Right, they don't like it either. So I think this episode really is more for someone trying to figure out what career makes the most sense for them, what area they should really align themselves into in terms of a nine to five and profession, or an entrepreneur that is trying to niche down, a community builder that's trying to create community. Think through your experiences. Think through the things that really means something to you. Think through the moments that you wish you had someone there to help you. Those are the things that are going to help you figure out what you want to do in your nine to five or what you want to do in your business, because, when it comes down to it, all of the you's three days ago, seven days ago, seven weeks ago, seven months ago, 77 days ago, whatever the case may be, I'm going to use seven because I love that number.

Speaker 2: 10:28

I need you to think through how much you'll be able to make an impact because you've been there, because it's important to you, because you can speak to it. There is no facade, there's no faking it till you make it. There may be a little bit of limited release because it will be something new, but know that you are not new to this. You are true to this because you've been through it and you can make impact and the things that you don't know, you can learn. Whatever the case may be, authenticity is at the forefront. Staying still being, still being one with self really helps you to better understand where you need to go.

Speaker 2: 11:10

And until you take the time to really recognize your values, where you are in terms of your current state, best, what ultimate best looks like the journey you have already been on. You are not going to be in a space to where you feel like you're in full alignment, and I want everyone listening to be in full alignment with where they are in this world, where they're headed. Give yourself grace. Give those around you grace. Have some gratitude with yourself and with other people, because we're all trying to figure it out Now. Take some time to sit with self. Bet on yourself. Go after your goals because you are more than capable, and I am so tired of you telling yourself that you're not, because that's a lie. You are a yes for that life. Now go and live that life.

Speaker 1: 12:03

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. Write a review so that we know to keep bringing you episodes like this. And check us out online at it's the human experience dot com to keep up with us. Keep growing and glowing. Catch you on the next episode.