Do you struggle to show up for yourself and the things you say you want? Do you find yourself getting to the end of each day with a list of things unfinished, or perhaps not even started? You might get side-tracked with the demands of other people and run out of time. Or you find yourself procrastinating on what you know you need to do and get side-tracked doing things that, if we're honest, just won't move the needle forward on the life you say you want.

Maybe you are a perfectionist and things never get completed because, well, they need just a little bit more work to make them good enough. Or maybe you don't actually even know what you want, don't feel worthy of showing up for yourself, or you're stuck in the rut of simply making it through each day.

Whatever your reason is for not showing up for yourself in the life you want, I want you to know you are not alone, and you don't have to stay stuck in your struggle. Today, I'm breaking down this business of not showing up and sharing the five key things that will help you say YES! to yourself, and showing up for your dreams, with more ease, flow and impact every single day.

If you're ready to get out of your own way and make the life you want your reality, then stick around my friend and listen in.

Welcome to The Self-Creation School podcast, for women who are ready to ditch mediocrity, step up and get more of what they want, and finally say YES! to a life that sets their soul on fire. I'm your host Leanne Letica, Self-Creation Coach, founder of The Self-Creation School AND Queen of YES!. If you're ready to play life by your own personal rule book, and give yourself permission to say YES! to yourself and your wildest dreams, this podcast is the place for you.

Hello there, my friend, and thanks so much for joining me in this episode of The Self-Creation School podcast, where I share my insights, tips and practical strategies for creating a life you're excited to wake up to, one YES! at a time.

Today, I want to talk about how to show up for yourself and your dreams, because it's something that is holding so many of you back, and it doesn't need to be as hard as you make it. But it does require some groundwork. And this is what a lot of you are skipping and why you're finding it so hard to show up and do the things you want to do.

So in this episode, I'm going to be sharing with you the five key things that will help you lay that groundwork so that moving forward, you can start showing up intentionally for yourself and your dreams every single day, in all the ways that will actually move the needle forward on the life you want.

Let's jump straight in and talk about the first key thing that will help you do exactly that. And that is, knowing what you want. What is it you want to do, have and experience in your life?

The important word here is YOU. What YOU want to do, have and experience. Because here's the thing, a lot of you think you know what you want. But it's often being influenced by what you think you should want, or what you believe you have to want. You're viewing your wants, needs and desires through the lens of societal norms and expectations, either society in general, or the norms and expectations set down by your family, friends and your circle of influence.

And these rules that are dictated by others are dictating outcomes in your life that really aren't true to you. And listen, it's only natural that it's going to be super hard to show up and make these outcomes happen when they don't reflect who you truly are and the things that matter uniquely to you. It's not impossible to show up and make it happen, many of us do, and I certainly have, but it will be so much harder. And when you do finally nail those goals and tick all the boxes that society says you should tick, it's likely to feel like a pretty big letdown rather than a win.

Have you ever experienced that? You go after a goal, you work hard, you make it happen. You should be elated, right? It should feel like a win, but for some reason it doesn't. That high, that adrenaline rush you thought you'd experience when you finally hit that goal, that sense of accomplishment, fulfillment and satisfaction, just doesn't happen. And it's usually because it wasn't a goal that aligned with your true wants, needs and desires. Instead, it was a goal you thought would make you happy, because, well, society says it will.

Now, there's two other things that I see happening when it comes to knowing what you want.

The first is that you limit what you want based on what you think you deserve, or what you believe is possible for you. Sometimes, that means you stay stuck in an "I don't know what I want" phase, because there's a mismatch between what you do deep down know you want, and what you are allowing yourself to want. The result of that is, you keep settling for a mediocre life that's less than it actually could be. This is when you find yourself feeling like you're stuck in a rut or just going about your life day to day without things ever really changing.

And the second is that you don't get clear enough on what you want. You know on the surface what it is, but you're not really drilling down into the details and being super specific about it. An example of this is wanting a new car, but not specifying what kind of car. Like what model? What make? What color? What features does it have? What's the color of the interior? Does it have leather seats? Wood trim? Is it a manual or an auto? What price is it? And so on and so forth.

Because here's what will happen if your goal is just to get a new car, and you don't know any of the details. Either you'll get a new car, and find out it's not really what you wanted, or you'll spin your wheels, no pun intended, trying to make it happen because you really don't know what it is that you're trying to make happen.

So, when it comes to knowing what you want, it's important to tune out from all your shoulds, all the norms and expectations not in fact set by you. Know what you, and you alone, want. Allow yourself to dream freely, without limitations or self-judgement about what you believe you deserve, or what you think you're capable of. Give yourself permission to want what you want and dream from a place of knowing that everything you want is possible, even if you don't yet know how it will be possible. Finally, get very specific about what it is you want. Drill down to all the details, the more details the better, and paint yourself a vivid picture.

So, the second key thing that will make showing up for yourself and your dreams easier and more impactful is understanding your why. Why do you want the things you want?

And now here, this isn't about judging or justifying your reasons. It's about understanding your motivation behind doing, having or experiencing the things that you want. Why are these things important to you? What difference will they make in your life? And why is that important?

Knowing why you want what you want is crucial, because when showing up to do the things you need to do becomes challenging and feels all too hard, it's your why that will help you push through that and encourage you to keep showing up for yourself and your dreams anyway.

And a really great exercise I like to do to find out your deepest, truest, and most powerfully motivating why is the seven layers exercise. Here's how that works.

Start with the first reason you think of when you ask yourself why you want to achieve a particular goal you've identified. Write this down as your first layer. This might be something fairly straightforward like, you want to lose weight because you want to improve your health. Or you want to start your own business because you want more control over your working life.

Then, what you do is ask yourself, why is this important to me? This is your second layer. Perhaps improving your health is important because you want to have more energy to keep up with your kids. Or having more control over your working life might mean more financial stability.

So continue this process, each time asking why is that important, after each answer you've written down. And each layer should uncover a deeper and deeper motivation. Until you finally hit that one reason that stops you in your tracks and makes you think, wow, YES!, that's my why. Sometimes you might get to that reason before seven layers, but I encourage you to go at least five layers deep and if you do find your YES! reason before seven layers, just see if you can take it a little further.

By the time you've reached the seventh layer, you should have uncovered a fundamental and powerful motivation that feels deeply true to you. This core reason will likely reveal a much more profound and emotional driver than your initial more surface level thoughts.

Now, this exercise not only helps clarify what's truly driving your goals, but also strengthens your commitment to showing up each day to achieve them, especially on those days when your motivation is low, or your challenges feel all too hard.

If you don't uncover a why that really hits that spot, I encourage you to spend some time to reflect on this and make sure the thing you want is actually something you really do want. Sometimes, we put things on our list of wants that would be nice to have, but we just don't have a strong drive to go after them. There's nothing wrong with those wants, and I don't suggest you take them off your list. Simply know that if you don't have a strong enough reason to make them a reality, whatever it takes, it is going to be a lot more difficult to push through when you are challenged by this goal. And trust me, that will happen.

So that is the second key to showing up for yourself and your dreams. The third key is becoming your who. Who do you need to be to have the things you want?

When you imagine yourself living out your dreams, and fulfilling your why, who are you? What habits do you have? How do you dress? What do you eat? What conversations do you have and with who? How do you spend your time? What do you believe about yourself, about what's possible in your world? How do you think? How do you feel? What decisions do you make? What do you value?

If you've been around me for just a minute, you will have heard me say this many times, and you will hear me say it many times more. Creating results in your life you've never had before will require that you become someone you've never been before. And in order to become someone different, you first must have a clear picture of who that version of you is.

Remember the car example? The same thing applies here. It's not enough to know you need to evolve who you be to have the things you want. The details are important. So spend some time and really get to intimately know this version of you who is living out your dream. Again, the deeper you can dig here and the more specific you can be, the better.

Now, a quick note here before we move on. I want you to understand that changing who you be is not about your worth, and it doesn't mean you are somehow broken. You are inherently worthy just because you exist, and you are not broken and you do not need fixing. As humans, we are meant to evolve and grow who we be. It's a natural part of life. If it wasn't, we'd all still identify as a child, rather than the adults we now are. So this is simply your next evolution. There's no need to make it mean anything more.

So, you have established what you truly want, why you want it, and who the version of you who has this life is. The fourth key to showing up intentionally and powerfully for yourself and your dreams is to identify your where. Where in your SELF and your life do you need to make changes to start to align yourself with the version of you who you are becoming?

Imagine a mirror with the current you on one side and the future you that you detailed in the last step on the other. Who is the future you being that you are not being right now? What is she doing that you're not doing? How is she thinking that you're not thinking? And so on. I actually recommend putting pen to paper on this so you can highlight where your differences lie.

If we use my previous example of starting your own business, the future you sees herself as a financially independent successful business owner. Right now, you've seen yourself as an employee working for an hourly rate in an insecure job. So this will be one area you will need to give some attention to, to help you make the mindset shift from being an employee to being a business owner.

You might also see that the future you looks after her health and wellness because this is vital to having the focus and energy she needs to run a successful business. The current you is maybe staying awake late at night scrolling social media and waking up tired and unrested every day. So that will be an area where you may need to focus.

And maybe the future you spends her early mornings reading to increase her knowledge and her skill set. So it's going to be important to get a good night's rest so you can wake up early and do that. You see how this goes.

So take some time and look at where in your SELF and your life will you need to evolve who you are currently being to bring yourself into alignment with who you are becoming. Think about things like your mindset, your beliefs, your daily habits, your time management, your physical environment, your relationships, your finances, and your health and wellness.

And once you have done this, you are ready to bring all of this work together and map out your how. Which is the final key thing in showing up for yourself and your dreams with ease, flow, and impact.

This is where you take everything you've identified – what you want, why you want it, who you will need to become, and where changes are needed – and translate it into action. How will you bring all of this into reality?

Now, so many of you get stuck right here for a couple of reasons.

One, a lot of you start here without laying all the other groundwork. And so knowing what you need to be doing to move the needle forward is pretty much like guesswork, like stabbing in the dark. And you may or may not get results.

I'm not suggesting that you need to know everything you need to do to get to where you want to go. You don't and you won't. But there's a big difference between being clear and very specific on what you want, why you want it, and who you need to show up as to have it, and going after something without first establishing a strong foundation like this to support you. Being clear and very specific in the key areas I've shared with you will inform your how. And then how you show up for yourself in your dreams will be far more intentional and impactful.

Now, the second reason why so many of you get stuck here is that this is where your storyteller can really start to run amok and start to fill you with fear and self-doubt. What if you get this wrong? What if you fail? What if people judge you? Who do you think you are?

When it comes to the doing part, this is where things start becoming tangible. There's no place to hide here. And when we feel exposed like this, it's normal to want to retreat and simply not show up and do the things we say we want to do. But this isn't going to move you closer to the life you want. And if you're listening to this podcast episode, I know that you want to get out of your own way and finally create this life you imagine for yourself.

So it's important to learn how to shift the limiting stories your storyteller is telling you. To be someone different, so that you show up and do something different, will require that you have a different mindset, that you tell yourself different stories.

Now, I don't have time in this episode to cover how to do that, but there is a really great resource on my website that you can grab for free that will show you how. To grab a copy, simply take my FREE quiz to discover what's stopping you from saying YES! to you and your dreams, and at the end, I'll send you my Self-Creation Shift process for shifting your stories. You'll find that quiz at self creation school dot com forward slash yes story, and I'll leave a link in the show notes for you.

Now, getting back to mapping out your how. As I said a moment ago, laying the foundation in those first four key areas makes things a whole lot easier for yourself when it comes to the doing part. Because what you'll do from here is simply start bridging the gap between who you are and who you are becoming one day at a time, one YES! at a time.

And the best way I have found to do that by far, is by scheduling who you be and what you do onto your calendar. It's quite literally mapping out the next version of you and your dream life, one day at a time, one time block at a time. From your daily routine to blocking out time to take very specific action to your goals and everything in between. And then treating each thing on your calendar as an appointment with the future you and showing up for those appointments just like you would any other appointment or commitment that you have with someone else.

Now before you say I'm out, I don't want to plan every minute of my day. Stick with me because I used to think that too. I'm a creative at heart and I really value flexibility and freedom of expression in my day. And so the idea of having this restricting schedule dictating my time was not at all appealing to me. But here's what happened when I decided to give this a go.

I opened up so much more time in my life to do as I please. The opposite of what I thought would happen became true. I started getting a whole lot more things done in a whole lot less time because I knew exactly what I needed to be doing and no longer wasted valuable time trying to figure that out on the fly.

It also helped me to address things like perfectionism, procrastination, and staying stuck in indecision. And dramatically boosted my self-confidence, belief, and trust in myself, because I started seeing results. I started seeing the gap between the current me and the future me close – and really quite quickly.

So I really encourage you to just try giving this a go and see how it works for you.

Now, the first thing in mapping out your day is to make a list of all the things that will go into your day. Think about everything from when you'll sleep and eat, when you'll work, when you'll do your groceries, cook your meals, clean your clothes, pick your kids up from school, and so on.

Now, you want to do this from the eyes of the future you. What is her daily routine? And use the areas where you identified there is a gap between you and your future self in step four and think about the things you could do in your everyday routine that would start closing that gap.

For example, if your future self goes to bed by 10 p.m. and wakes up at 6 a.m. to ensure she is well rested and energized for her day, and she has time in her morning to read and extend her knowledge before she goes to work, this is something you could implement into your daily routine right away to help you start being the future you. Because you are going to get some sleep at some point, right? So why not start getting the kind of sleep the future you gets?

And listen, your schedule is going to include things that you may need to keep doing right now that your future self doesn't do. Like going to work instead of running your own business. But the idea here is to ensure that as much of your day as possible reflects the future you and then gradually keep shifting your day until it reflects the whole of the future you.

The other thing to think about when you map out your day is your specific goals and what action you might need to take in your day, week or month to help make these goals a reality.

If your goal is to lose weight, then you might include time in your day for physical activity. If your goal is to start a business, you might include time throughout your week to start taking action on the things that you might need to do, like writing your business plan, or setting up your website, or completing a short course to perhaps up-level your skills, and so on.

Now some of this will overlap with what you identified as being areas of focus in step four, and if you painted a vivid picture of the future you, it absolutely should. Listen, again, you won't know all of the things you'll need to do to get to where you want to go. But don't allow that to keep you stuck in a state of I don't know. Take your best guess with what you do know right now. And do that.

I promise when you start taking steps forward and start showing up as the future you, the next step will be revealed, and then the step after, and then the step after that. For now, let's say you know you want to transition from being employed to having your own business, simply create time where you can take action on making that happen.

From here, the next thing to do is put your daily, weekly and monthly activities into time blocks on your calendar. Schedule them as appointments that you block time aside for and you show up for.

Now this isn't about filling every minute of your day with activity. But rather structuring your day in a way that reflects the priorities and lifestyle of your future self as much as possible. I personally like to set alerts for each event, to remind me of what I have scheduled my time for and also to help me keep on track for the commitments I've made to myself and my dreams.

Again, treat these blocks as appointments with yourself, non-negotiables that you commit to just as seriously as you would a meeting with a client, turning up for work or picking your kids up from school. This ensures that you respect your time and your commitments. And it also teaches other people to do the same.

Now, I know some of you probably prefer pen and paper for this. But if you can, I really highly encourage you to do this digitally, so you can set reminders and alerts for the things you schedule. If you do choose to use a paper diary, think about using a reminder app on your phone to schedule those alerts.

And I want to share three quick bonus tips on this before we close this episode out.

The first one is to be very clear and specific about what you will do in each time block. What will be the outcome from setting this time aside?

If you block out time to go to the gym, what will you be doing at the gym? Will it be a cardio class? Weight training? If you block out time to work on your business, what exactly are you going to do in that time? Maybe you'll work on your website. Okay, great. What specifically on your website will you do? Will you be writing copy for your about page, resourcing images for your site, researching e-commerce platforms, and so on? You get the idea.

Why are you setting this time aside? What is it you will do? What is the outcome you will get from doing it? Remember, the more specific you can be about your life, the more specific your outcomes will be.

This tip is what has helped me become so much more productive and overcome my procrastination and perfectionism because when I show up, I know exactly what I need to get done and how much time I have to do it. So, I just get it done. With me?

Okay, so my second bonus tip is to be adaptable. While it's important to have a structure, the unexpected will arise, life will happen, and flexibility is key. If something urgent comes up, of course, adjust your schedule as you need to, but then return to your planned routine as soon as possible.

For me personally though, if I need to miss something that I have scheduled due to something unexpected happening, I have a time block set aside usually in the evening or sometimes on a weekend where I schedule that activity back into my calendar if it makes sense to do so. I find this works because I don't want to eat into my leisure time so if something comes up I want to be really, really sure it is something that I must give my time to, and not just a distraction that is going to actually cost me my free time.

And bonus tip number three is to track your progress. At the end of each week, review what you have accomplished and perhaps what quite didn't work out. This isn't to criticize yourself, but to make adjustments that will help you be more efficient and effective in the following weeks.

Over time, this practice of review will help you refine your daily routine to better fit your evolving lifestyle and goals. And YES!, block out time on your calendar to do this weekly review.

So that's the last of the five key areas that will help you show up for yourself and your dreams. Schedule how you will show up into your calendar, then treat what you schedule as appointments with the future you and just show up like you would to any other appointment.

Now a quick recap on those five key areas before we wrap things up. Know what you want, why you want it, who you need to become to have it, where changes are needed to align your current self with your future self, and then finally, map out your how, schedule it into your calendar and commit to showing up.

Honestly, laying this foundation has been the number one thing that has shifted me from avoiding showing up for myself, to waking up with excitement knowing I get to show up for myself in all the ways I have planned in my day. And every day, with everything I do, I know that I am one YES! closer to being the future me I want to be. I'm excited for you to try this out in your life and what will become possible for you if you do.

Don't forget to take my FREE quiz at self creation school dot com forward slash yes story and grab your copy of my Self-Creation Shift to help you start shifting your limiting stories. I'll be back next Wednesday with another episode. I can't wait to share it with you.

Until then, be the woman who says YES!

Hey, have you joined my FREE mini-workshop the Week of YES!? This powerful five-day workshop will help you take your foot off the brake and start saying YES! to more of the life you crave. Isn't it time you created a life you're beyond excited to wake up to? It all begins with saying YES!. Head over to https://selfcreationschool.com/weekofyes and get started on your YES! story today. I'll see you there.

Do you struggle to show up for yourself and the things you say you want? Do you find yourself getting to the end of each day with a list of things unfinished, or perhaps not even started? You might get side-tracked with the demands of other people and run out of time. Or you find yourself procrastinating on what you know you need to do and get side-tracked doing things that, if we're honest, just won't move the needle forward on the life you say you want.

Maybe you are a perfectionist and things never get completed because, well, they need just a little bit more work to make them good enough. Or maybe you don't actually even know what you want, don't feel worthy of showing up for yourself, or you're stuck in the rut of simply making it through each day.

Whatever your reason is for not showing up for yourself in the life you want, I want you to know you are not alone, and you don't have to stay stuck in your struggle. Today, I'm breaking down this business of not showing up and sharing the five key things that will help you say YES! to yourself, and showing up for your dreams, with more ease, flow and impact every single day.

If you're ready to get out of your own way and make the life you want your reality, then stick around my friend and listen in.

Welcome to The Self-Creation School podcast, for women who are ready to ditch mediocrity, step up and get more of what they want, and finally say YES! to a life that sets their soul on fire. I'm your host Leanne Letica, Self-Creation Coach, founder of The Self-Creation School AND Queen of YES!. If you're ready to play life by your own personal rule book, and give yourself permission to say YES! to yourself and your wildest dreams, this podcast is the place for you.

Hello there, my friend, and thanks so much for joining me in this episode of The Self-Creation School podcast, where I share my insights, tips and practical strategies for creating a life you're excited to wake up to, one YES! at a time.

Today, I want to talk about how to show up for yourself and your dreams, because it's something that is holding so many of you back, and it doesn't need to be as hard as you make it. But it does require some groundwork. And this is what a lot of you are skipping and why you're finding it so hard to show up and do the things you want to do.

So in this episode, I'm going to be sharing with you the five key things that will help you lay that groundwork so that moving forward, you can start showing up intentionally for yourself and your dreams every single day, in all the ways that will actually move the needle forward on the life you want.

Let's jump straight in and talk about the first key thing that will help you do exactly that. And that is, knowing what you want. What is it you want to do, have and experience in your life?

The important word here is YOU. What YOU want to do, have and experience. Because here's the thing, a lot of you think you know what you want. But it's often being influenced by what you think you should want, or what you believe you have to want. You're viewing your wants, needs and desires through the lens of societal norms and expectations, either society in general, or the norms and expectations set down by your family, friends and your circle of influence.

And these rules that are dictated by others are dictating outcomes in your life that really aren't true to you. And listen, it's only natural that it's going to be super hard to show up and make these outcomes happen when they don't reflect who you truly are and the things that matter uniquely to you. It's not impossible to show up and make it happen, many of us do, and I certainly have, but it will be so much harder. And when you do finally nail those goals and tick all the boxes that society says you should tick, it's likely to feel like a pretty big letdown rather than a win.

Have you ever experienced that? You go after a goal, you work hard, you make it happen. You should be elated, right? It should feel like a win, but for some reason it doesn't. That high, that adrenaline rush you thought you'd experience when you finally hit that goal, that sense of accomplishment, fulfillment and satisfaction, just doesn't happen. And it's usually because it wasn't a goal that aligned with your true wants, needs and desires. Instead, it was a goal you thought would make you happy, because, well, society says it will.

Now, there's two other things that I see happening when it comes to knowing what you want.

The first is that you limit what you want based on what you think you deserve, or what you believe is possible for you. Sometimes, that means you stay stuck in an "I don't know what I want" phase, because there's a mismatch between what you do deep down know you want, and what you are allowing yourself to want. The result of that is, you keep settling for a mediocre life that's less than it actually could be. This is when you find yourself feeling like you're stuck in a rut or just going about your life day to day without things ever really changing.

And the second is that you don't get clear enough on what you want. You know on the surface what it is, but you're not really drilling down into the details and being super specific about it. An example of this is wanting a new car, but not specifying what kind of car. Like what model? What make? What color? What features does it have? What's the color of the interior? Does it have leather seats? Wood trim? Is it a manual or an auto? What price is it? And so on and so forth.

Because here's what will happen if your goal is just to get a new car, and you don't know any of the details. Either you'll get a new car, and find out it's not really what you wanted, or you'll spin your wheels, no pun intended, trying to make it happen because you really don't know what it is that you're trying to make happen.

So, when it comes to knowing what you want, it's important to tune out from all your shoulds, all the norms and expectations not in fact set by you. Know what you, and you alone, want. Allow yourself to dream freely, without limitations or self-judgement about what you believe you deserve, or what you think you're capable of. Give yourself permission to want what you want and dream from a place of knowing that everything you want is possible, even if you don't yet know how it will be possible. Finally, get very specific about what it is you want. Drill down to all the details, the more details the better, and paint yourself a vivid picture.

So, the second key thing that will make showing up for yourself and your dreams easier and more impactful is understanding your why. Why do you want the things you want?

And now here, this isn't about judging or justifying your reasons. It's about understanding your motivation behind doing, having or experiencing the things that you want. Why are these things important to you? What difference will they make in your life? And why is that important?

Knowing why you want what you want is crucial, because when showing up to do the things you need to do becomes challenging and feels all too hard, it's your why that will help you push through that and encourage you to keep showing up for yourself and your dreams anyway.

And a really great exercise I like to do to find out your deepest, truest, and most powerfully motivating why is the seven layers exercise. Here's how that works.

Start with the first reason you think of when you ask yourself why you want to achieve a particular goal you've identified. Write this down as your first layer. This might be something fairly straightforward like, you want to lose weight because you want to improve your health. Or you want to start your own business because you want more control over your working life.

Then, what you do is ask yourself, why is this important to me? This is your second layer. Perhaps improving your health is important because you want to have more energy to keep up with your kids. Or having more control over your working life might mean more financial stability.

So continue this process, each time asking why is that important, after each answer you've written down. And each layer should uncover a deeper and deeper motivation. Until you finally hit that one reason that stops you in your tracks and makes you think, wow, YES!, that's my why. Sometimes you might get to that reason before seven layers, but I encourage you to go at least five layers deep and if you do find your YES! reason before seven layers, just see if you can take it a little further.

By the time you've reached the seventh layer, you should have uncovered a fundamental and powerful motivation that feels deeply true to you. This core reason will likely reveal a much more profound and emotional driver than your initial more surface level thoughts.

Now, this exercise not only helps clarify what's truly driving your goals, but also strengthens your commitment to showing up each day to achieve them, especially on those days when your motivation is low, or your challenges feel all too hard.

If you don't uncover a why that really hits that spot, I encourage you to spend some time to reflect on this and make sure the thing you want is actually something you really do want. Sometimes, we put things on our list of wants that would be nice to have, but we just don't have a strong drive to go after them. There's nothing wrong with those wants, and I don't suggest you take them off your list. Simply know that if you don't have a strong enough reason to make them a reality, whatever it takes, it is going to be a lot more difficult to push through when you are challenged by this goal. And trust me, that will happen.

So that is the second key to showing up for yourself and your dreams. The third key is becoming your who. Who do you need to be to have the things you want?

When you imagine yourself living out your dreams, and fulfilling your why, who are you? What habits do you have? How do you dress? What do you eat? What conversations do you have and with who? How do you spend your time? What do you believe about yourself, about what's possible in your world? How do you think? How do you feel? What decisions do you make? What do you value?

If you've been around me for just a minute, you will have heard me say this many times, and you will hear me say it many times more. Creating results in your life you've never had before will require that you become someone you've never been before. And in order to become someone different, you first must have a clear picture of who that version of you is.

Remember the car example? The same thing applies here. It's not enough to know you need to evolve who you be to have the things you want. The details are important. So spend some time and really get to intimately know this version of you who is living out your dream. Again, the deeper you can dig here and the more specific you can be, the better.

Now, a quick note here before we move on. I want you to understand that changing who you be is not about your worth, and it doesn't mean you are somehow broken. You are inherently worthy just because you exist, and you are not broken and you do not need fixing. As humans, we are meant to evolve and grow who we be. It's a natural part of life. If it wasn't, we'd all still identify as a child, rather than the adults we now are. So this is simply your next evolution. There's no need to make it mean anything more.

So, you have established what you truly want, why you want it, and who the version of you who has this life is. The fourth key to showing up intentionally and powerfully for yourself and your dreams is to identify your where. Where in your SELF and your life do you need to make changes to start to align yourself with the version of you who you are becoming?

Imagine a mirror with the current you on one side and the future you that you detailed in the last step on the other. Who is the future you being that you are not being right now? What is she doing that you're not doing? How is she thinking that you're not thinking? And so on. I actually recommend putting pen to paper on this so you can highlight where your differences lie.

If we use my previous example of starting your own business, the future you sees herself as a financially independent successful business owner. Right now, you've seen yourself as an employee working for an hourly rate in an insecure job. So this will be one area you will need to give some attention to, to help you make the mindset shift from being an employee to being a business owner.

You might also see that the future you looks after her health and wellness because this is vital to having the focus and energy she needs to run a successful business. The current you is maybe staying awake late at night scrolling social media and waking up tired and unrested every day. So that will be an area where you may need to focus.

And maybe the future you spends her early mornings reading to increase her knowledge and her skill set. So it's going to be important to get a good night's rest so you can wake up early and do that. You see how this goes.

So take some time and look at where in your SELF and your life will you need to evolve who you are currently being to bring yourself into alignment with who you are becoming. Think about things like your mindset, your beliefs, your daily habits, your time management, your physical environment, your relationships, your finances, and your health and wellness.

And once you have done this, you are ready to bring all of this work together and map out your how. Which is the final key thing in showing up for yourself and your dreams with ease, flow, and impact.

This is where you take everything you've identified – what you want, why you want it, who you will need to become, and where changes are needed – and translate it into action. How will you bring all of this into reality?

Now, so many of you get stuck right here for a couple of reasons.

One, a lot of you start here without laying all the other groundwork. And so knowing what you need to be doing to move the needle forward is pretty much like guesswork, like stabbing in the dark. And you may or may not get results.

I'm not suggesting that you need to know everything you need to do to get to where you want to go. You don't and you won't. But there's a big difference between being clear and very specific on what you want, why you want it, and who you need to show up as to have it, and going after something without first establishing a strong foundation like this to support you. Being clear and very specific in the key areas I've shared with you will inform your how. And then how you show up for yourself in your dreams will be far more intentional and impactful.

Now, the second reason why so many of you get stuck here is that this is where your storyteller can really start to run amok and start to fill you with fear and self-doubt. What if you get this wrong? What if you fail? What if people judge you? Who do you think you are?

When it comes to the doing part, this is where things start becoming tangible. There's no place to hide here. And when we feel exposed like this, it's normal to want to retreat and simply not show up and do the things we say we want to do. But this isn't going to move you closer to the life you want. And if you're listening to this podcast episode, I know that you want to get out of your own way and finally create this life you imagine for yourself.

So it's important to learn how to shift the limiting stories your storyteller is telling you. To be someone different, so that you show up and do something different, will require that you have a different mindset, that you tell yourself different stories.

Now, I don't have time in this episode to cover how to do that, but there is a really great resource on my website that you can grab for free that will show you how. To grab a copy, simply take my FREE quiz to discover what's stopping you from saying YES! to you and your dreams, and at the end, I'll send you my Self-Creation Shift process for shifting your stories. You'll find that quiz at self creation school dot com forward slash yes story, and I'll leave a link in the show notes for you.

Now, getting back to mapping out your how. As I said a moment ago, laying the foundation in those first four key areas makes things a whole lot easier for yourself when it comes to the doing part. Because what you'll do from here is simply start bridging the gap between who you are and who you are becoming one day at a time, one YES! at a time.

And the best way I have found to do that by far, is by scheduling who you be and what you do onto your calendar. It's quite literally mapping out the next version of you and your dream life, one day at a time, one time block at a time. From your daily routine to blocking out time to take very specific action to your goals and everything in between. And then treating each thing on your calendar as an appointment with the future you and showing up for those appointments just like you would any other appointment or commitment that you have with someone else.

Now before you say I'm out, I don't want to plan every minute of my day. Stick with me because I used to think that too. I'm a creative at heart and I really value flexibility and freedom of expression in my day. And so the idea of having this restricting schedule dictating my time was not at all appealing to me. But here's what happened when I decided to give this a go.

I opened up so much more time in my life to do as I please. The opposite of what I thought would happen became true. I started getting a whole lot more things done in a whole lot less time because I knew exactly what I needed to be doing and no longer wasted valuable time trying to figure that out on the fly.

It also helped me to address things like perfectionism, procrastination, and staying stuck in indecision. And dramatically boosted my self-confidence, belief, and trust in myself, because I started seeing results. I started seeing the gap between the current me and the future me close – and really quite quickly.

So I really encourage you to just try giving this a go and see how it works for you.

Now, the first thing in mapping out your day is to make a list of all the things that will go into your day. Think about everything from when you'll sleep and eat, when you'll work, when you'll do your groceries, cook your meals, clean your clothes, pick your kids up from school, and so on.

Now, you want to do this from the eyes of the future you. What is her daily routine? And use the areas where you identified there is a gap between you and your future self in step four and think about the things you could do in your everyday routine that would start closing that gap.

For example, if your future self goes to bed by 10 p.m. and wakes up at 6 a.m. to ensure she is well rested and energized for her day, and she has time in her morning to read and extend her knowledge before she goes to work, this is something you could implement into your daily routine right away to help you start being the future you. Because you are going to get some sleep at some point, right? So why not start getting the kind of sleep the future you gets?

And listen, your schedule is going to include things that you may need to keep doing right now that your future self doesn't do. Like going to work instead of running your own business. But the idea here is to ensure that as much of your day as possible reflects the future you and then gradually keep shifting your day until it reflects the whole of the future you.

The other thing to think about when you map out your day is your specific goals and what action you might need to take in your day, week or month to help make these goals a reality.

If your goal is to lose weight, then you might include time in your day for physical activity. If your goal is to start a business, you might include time throughout your week to start taking action on the things that you might need to do, like writing your business plan, or setting up your website, or completing a short course to perhaps up-level your skills, and so on.

Now some of this will overlap with what you identified as being areas of focus in step four, and if you painted a vivid picture of the future you, it absolutely should. Listen, again, you won't know all of the things you'll need to do to get to where you want to go. But don't allow that to keep you stuck in a state of I don't know. Take your best guess with what you do know right now. And do that.

I promise when you start taking steps forward and start showing up as the future you, the next step will be revealed, and then the step after, and then the step after that. For now, let's say you know you want to transition from being employed to having your own business, simply create time where you can take action on making that happen.

From here, the next thing to do is put your daily, weekly and monthly activities into time blocks on your calendar. Schedule them as appointments that you block time aside for and you show up for.

Now this isn't about filling every minute of your day with activity. But rather structuring your day in a way that reflects the priorities and lifestyle of your future self as much as possible. I personally like to set alerts for each event, to remind me of what I have scheduled my time for and also to help me keep on track for the commitments I've made to myself and my dreams.

Again, treat these blocks as appointments with yourself, non-negotiables that you commit to just as seriously as you would a meeting with a client, turning up for work or picking your kids up from school. This ensures that you respect your time and your commitments. And it also teaches other people to do the same.

Now, I know some of you probably prefer pen and paper for this. But if you can, I really highly encourage you to do this digitally, so you can set reminders and alerts for the things you schedule. If you do choose to use a paper diary, think about using a reminder app on your phone to schedule those alerts.

And I want to share three quick bonus tips on this before we close this episode out.

The first one is to be very clear and specific about what you will do in each time block. What will be the outcome from setting this time aside?

If you block out time to go to the gym, what will you be doing at the gym? Will it be a cardio class? Weight training? If you block out time to work on your business, what exactly are you going to do in that time? Maybe you'll work on your website. Okay, great. What specifically on your website will you do? Will you be writing copy for your about page, resourcing images for your site, researching e-commerce platforms, and so on? You get the idea.

Why are you setting this time aside? What is it you will do? What is the outcome you will get from doing it? Remember, the more specific you can be about your life, the more specific your outcomes will be.

This tip is what has helped me become so much more productive and overcome my procrastination and perfectionism because when I show up, I know exactly what I need to get done and how much time I have to do it. So, I just get it done. With me?

Okay, so my second bonus tip is to be adaptable. While it's important to have a structure, the unexpected will arise, life will happen, and flexibility is key. If something urgent comes up, of course, adjust your schedule as you need to, but then return to your planned routine as soon as possible.

For me personally though, if I need to miss something that I have scheduled due to something unexpected happening, I have a time block set aside usually in the evening or sometimes on a weekend where I schedule that activity back into my calendar if it makes sense to do so. I find this works because I don't want to eat into my leisure time so if something comes up I want to be really, really sure it is something that I must give my time to, and not just a distraction that is going to actually cost me my free time.

And bonus tip number three is to track your progress. At the end of each week, review what you have accomplished and perhaps what quite didn't work out. This isn't to criticize yourself, but to make adjustments that will help you be more efficient and effective in the following weeks.

Over time, this practice of review will help you refine your daily routine to better fit your evolving lifestyle and goals. And YES!, block out time on your calendar to do this weekly review.

So that's the last of the five key areas that will help you show up for yourself and your dreams. Schedule how you will show up into your calendar, then treat what you schedule as appointments with the future you and just show up like you would to any other appointment.

Now a quick recap on those five key areas before we wrap things up. Know what you want, why you want it, who you need to become to have it, where changes are needed to align your current self with your future self, and then finally, map out your how, schedule it into your calendar and commit to showing up.

Honestly, laying this foundation has been the number one thing that has shifted me from avoiding showing up for myself, to waking up with excitement knowing I get to show up for myself in all the ways I have planned in my day. And every day, with everything I do, I know that I am one YES! closer to being the future me I want to be. I'm excited for you to try this out in your life and what will become possible for you if you do.

Don't forget to take my FREE quiz at self creation school dot com forward slash yes story and grab your copy of my Self-Creation Shift to help you start shifting your limiting stories. I'll be back next Wednesday with another episode. I can't wait to share it with you.

Until then, be the woman who says YES!

Hey, have you joined my FREE mini-workshop the Week of YES!? This powerful five-day workshop will help you take your foot off the brake and start saying YES! to more of the life you crave. Isn't it time you created a life you're beyond excited to wake up to? It all begins with saying YES!. Head over to https://selfcreationschool.com/weekofyes and get started on your YES! story today. I'll see you there.