This episode is dedicated to the most significant love affair of all, the one you have with your SELF. So if you're ready to learn how to send the sparks flying and why that will help you say YES! to more of what you want, stick around and let's talk about exactly that.

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, my beautiful friends, and happy Valentine's Day. Today, I'm focusing on a topic that's close to my heart and one that I believe is crucial for every woman listening – Romancing Your SELF. In the spirit of love, especially today while the world often zooms in on romantic partnerships, let's not forget the most enduring relationship we have is with ourselves. So this episode is all about nurturing that inner connection, about recognizing the incredible importance of self-awareness and self-love.

We'll be exploring how the stories you tell yourself shape your life and how by rewriting these stories, you can cultivate a deeper, more loving relationship with the person you spend every single moment with – your SELF.

Imagine for a moment the freedom, the joy, the sense of empowerment, that comes from truly loving and accepting your SELF, from fully celebrating your strengths and fully embracing your imperfections. Imagine having a SELF Wealth bank account that is abundantly overflowing with all things SELF – like self-love, self-acceptance, self-trust, self-belief, self-confidence, self-worth. Let me tell you. That kind of bank account sets the scene for a one-of-a-kind love affair that will powerfully translate into a life that is every bit as rich.

So if you're ready to experience a profound love affair with who you truly are, stay tuned. This is going to be a conversation filled with insights, practical advice and real talk about loving yourself in the most authentic, meaningful way. And stick around right to the end because I have a very special Valentine's Day gift for you that I don't think you'll want to miss.

So let's begin this conversation by going straight to the very heart of your relationship with your SELF. At the very core of this relationship is a concept that is as simple as it is profound. And what I'm talking about is self-awareness.

Self-awareness is our ability to see ourselves clearly, to understand our desires, our quirks, our strengths, and yes, our areas for growth. It's about recognizing our emotions, our reactions, and the thoughts that flutter through our minds daily. It's the foundation upon which we build our relationship with ourselves. Why? Well, because the more we understand about ourselves, the more authentically we can live our lives, make decisions that align with our true selves, and of course love ourselves deeply and completely.

Now imagine for a moment, your mind as a mirror, reflecting back not just your physical self, but the essence of who you are. This mirror of our mind is shaped by our thoughts, our beliefs, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and what we're capable of achieving. These stories shape our self-perception, and in turn, the reality we live in.

But here's the thing, not all reflections in this mirror are accurate. Some are distorted by our past experiences, societal pressures, and critical inner voice that tells us we're not enough. This is where the importance of mindful self-reflection comes in. It's about taking a step back, examining the reflections we see and asking ourselves, “Is this really true? Does this belief serve me? Or is it holding me back?”.

By engaging in this practice of mindful self-reflection, we can begin to question and ultimately, rewrite the stories that no longer serve us. And this isn't just about positive thinking, by the way. It's about creating a more accurate, more compassionate mirror that reflects our true worth and potential. It's about moving from a place of self-judgment to one of self-compassion, and from a place of doubt to one of belief in our own capabilities.

So as we move through today's conversation, I invite you to think about your own mirror of the mind. What stories have you been telling yourself? Are they stories of strength, resilience and love? Or are they stories that need some tweaking? And I want you to remember that the goal here isn't to critique your SELF, but to get curious about your SELF. Curiosity is the key to unlocking a deeper level of self-awareness and ultimately, to romancing your SELF in the most beautiful and profound ways.

Keeping an open heart and an open mind will allow you to get to know and love your SELF at the deepest possible level. And what I have come to realize over the years is that the more we know and love ourselves, the richer our lives become in all the ways that actually matter – and not just today or momentarily, but every single day.

Now, I want to share with you how you can actively romance your SELF, and shape the outcomes in your life, by rewriting your SELF Stories to nurture a stronger sense of the foundational aspects of your self-concept, so for example, your self-confidence, your self-trust, your self-belief, and so on.

I simply can't stress this enough. The stories you tell yourself are about your SELF, that is who you are, your abilities and your worth, they play a pivotal role in how you feel and the actions you take. They can either increase your SELF Wealth and expand what you are capable of or deplete your SELF Wealth and restrict you. That's why recognizing and reshaping these stories is a powerful step towards not just romancing your SELF, but also unlocking your full potential. It's about turning the stories that confine you into ones that define you, and doing so on your terms.

To begin rewriting your SELF Stories, you first need to identify the limiting stories you've been carrying around about your SELF. These are the stories that whisper, you're not good enough, that your dreams are too big, or that you don't deserve happiness. To uncover these stories, I invite you to ask yourself these three questions. What do I believe about my capabilities and worth? Are there areas in my life where I feel stuck or held back, and why? How do I speak to myself when I face challenges or setbacks?

Reflecting on these questions can reveal the stories that are influencing your self-perception and holding you back. And remember, this is not about self-criticism. It's about self-discovery. It's about approaching your SELF with curiosity and compassion, with an open heart and an open mind ready to understand and transform these limiting self-beliefs that you are holding onto.

Now, once you have identified these limiting SELF Stories, the next step is to rewrite them. And listen, this process isn't about denying your past experiences or your feelings. Instead, it's about changing the lens through which you view your SELF and your capabilities.

So here are some steps to help you rewrite your limiting SELF Stories.

Begin by identifying the specific story you've been telling yourself and which aspect of your SELF is behind it. And here's what I mean by that. Let's say your story is, “I can't succeed in my career”. I want you to go deeper to understand which aspect of your SELF is really at play here. Is it because you believe you aren't good enough, so it could be your self-worth at play? Or maybe it's because you have a fear of public speaking, in which case it might be your self-confidence that's fueling this story.

When you pinpoint the underlying SELF aspect of your stories, you can target your rewriting efforts so much more effectively to increase your SELF Wealth bank balance. And when you have a healthy SELF Wealth bank account, you open a door to a world of possibilities.

So, once you have identified your story and its underlying SELF aspect, the next step is to challenge its truth. Ask yourself, is this belief I hold about myself absolutely true? And then look for the evidence that proves otherwise.

For instance, if you believe you can't succeed in your career due to a lack of self-confidence in public speaking, recall the times when you have communicated effectively, both in and outside of your career. Maybe you were MC at a wedding, or you held the conversation captive at a recent dinner party. If your story is rooted in self-worth, remind yourself of accomplishments and moments, again, in and outside of your career, where you felt valued and recognized.

Now the beautiful thing about tapping into the underlying SELF aspects of your stories, is that if you really cannot find any evidence that supports a time when you spoke confidently or your accomplishments were recognized and valued, for example, you can look for evidence of your self-confidence or your self-worth in times when you felt that way, when you felt confident, or you felt worthy. And again, this could be in any aspect of your life.

And what this does is it allows you to see that you can feel confident or worthy, or whatever your SELF aspect is. That it IS possible. And finding the evidence that disproves your SELF Story in any way, encourages a powerful shift in perspective from a fixed mindset, “I can't succeed because my skills aren't good enough”, “I can't succeed because I lack confidence” to a growth mindset, “my skills have helped me succeed before, so they can and will again”, “I have confidence in other areas of my life, so I can develop my confidence in this area too”.

Importantly, you shake the foundations of your limiting stories at their very core and discover that your underlying SELF Story can in fact be different. And with the evidence you've gathered, you are now ready to write a new story that celebrates your relationship with your SELF AND increases your SELF Wealth.

So the final step is to rewrite your SELF Story and the best way for me to explain this is to give you some examples.

Let's take the story, “I can't succeed in my career because I'm not a good public speaker”. From the evidence you gathered alone about holding your dinner party guests captive in conversation, you could rewrite this story. You could rewrite it to, “I communicate with impact and authenticity, and my voice is heard and valued”. If your story was not about feeling worthy enough, you might rewrite it to, “my contributions are unique and essential, and I am valued for who I am and what I bring to the table”.

Now, this step isn't just about positively reframing your story. It's about acknowledging your true capabilities and worth and fundamentally changing how you view your SELF, and consequently, how you show up in your world.

Most importantly, you are romancing your SELF when you rewrite the stories that do not serve you. You are nurturing your relationship with your SELF and that helps build your SELF Wealth bank account instead of continuing to deplete its resources. By consciously choosing to rewrite your SELF Stories, to romance the very core of your SELF, you are actively investing in a future where you recognize and celebrate your inherent worth, confidence and abilities. That, my friend, is a place from which you become unstoppable.

With that said, I want you to realize that while rewriting your limiting SELF Stories is crucial to romancing your relationship with your SELF, it is in actively romancing these stories that real change becomes possible. And what exactly do I mean?

Well, romancing your stories is about bringing them to life. Essentially, it's about integrating your new story into who you be, your identity, so that this new story, this new belief you want to hold about your SELF, becomes a natural part of who you be, and in turn, a natural part of what you do. So before we wrap things up in this episode, let me share three ways you can romance your new SELF Story.

The first, is to truly embody this new version of your SELF. To do that, start by asking, who do I become with this new story? Visualize the qualities and the characteristics of this new version of you. If your new story is about self-belief, imagine yourself as someone who confidently tackles challenges, who doesn't shy away from opportunities because of doubt. And I want you to realize that this isn't about pretending to be someone you're not. It's about recognizing and stepping into the full potential of who you truly are.

Next, consider the actions that this version of your SELF would take. These actions are expressions of your new identity, they're not just tasks to be checked off. If you see your SELF as a confident woman, what does that version of you do differently? How does she start her day? How does she speak? What choices does she make? Begin to integrate these actions into your daily life, not as forced efforts, but as natural extensions of your evolving SELF.

For instance, if your new story centers around self-worth, the actions you might take include setting boundaries, choosing to prioritize your needs, or perhaps engaging in activities that reflect your value. Over time, what you will find is that these actions reinforce your identity shift, making your new SELF Story, your lived reality.

And last but not least, to solidify this identity transformation, engage in daily practices that affirm and reinforce who you are becoming. This could involve journaling about your experiences living out as your new SELF Story, meditating on your evolving self-concept, or even creating visual reminders of your new identity, for example, creating a vision board or perhaps leaving your gym clothes out before you go to bed.

Visual clues are extremely powerful and integrating these kinds of practices will help you ground the changes in your everyday life and make your new SELF an integral part of simply who you are and what you do.

And because I have personally found journaling to be such a powerful process in transforming not only my SELF Stories, but also integrating my new SELF Stories into my daily life, I want to gift you all something very special and very powerful this Valentine's Day to help YOU romance your SELF.

So I put together a Romance Your SELF Challenge. It's a 14-day journaling style challenge where I'll be sharing daily journal prompts and action steps that explore the different aspects of your self-concept and help you build your SELF Wealth bank balance.

The Romance Your SELF Challenge starts today and it's not too late to join. And I'll be leaving the doors open until the end of this month of love. So if you are listening to this episode at a later date, please do come and join us. The doors will close though, so the sooner you do jump in, the more you'll get from the challenge.

So if this sounds like something you'd like to do, I hope you will accept my gift and come join me in romancing your SELF. To join the challenge, head to selfcreationschool.com/romance. And I'll leave this link in the show notes for you as well.

So that's it from me today. As always, remember that YOU are not a one time event and romancing your SELF isn't either. Commit to making it a lifetime romance, a romance you have with your SELF every single day. Because my friend, it is the most significant relationship you will ever have in your lifetime. I hope I have inspired you to say YES! to yourself, to spark a romance with your SELF starting today.

I'll see you in next week's episode.

Until then, be the woman who says YES!

Have you grabbed your free copy of the Self-Created Woman's Manifesto? This powerful manifesto will inspire and empower you in your everyday life and help guide you towards a life that sets your soul on fire. It's the must have statement for every woman on the path of Self-Creation and the best part is, you can grab your copy right now for free.

Set your everyday up for success and head over to selfcreationschool.com/manifesto to download your free copy of this powerful manifesto today. That's selfcreationschool.com/manifesto. I'll see you there.

This episode is dedicated to the most significant love affair of all, the one you have with your SELF. So if you're ready to learn how to send the sparks flying and why that will help you say YES! to more of what you want, stick around and let's talk about exactly that.

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, my beautiful friends, and happy Valentine's Day. Today, I'm focusing on a topic that's close to my heart and one that I believe is crucial for every woman listening – Romancing Your SELF. In the spirit of love, especially today while the world often zooms in on romantic partnerships, let's not forget the most enduring relationship we have is with ourselves. So this episode is all about nurturing that inner connection, about recognizing the incredible importance of self-awareness and self-love.

We'll be exploring how the stories you tell yourself shape your life and how by rewriting these stories, you can cultivate a deeper, more loving relationship with the person you spend every single moment with – your SELF.

Imagine for a moment the freedom, the joy, the sense of empowerment, that comes from truly loving and accepting your SELF, from fully celebrating your strengths and fully embracing your imperfections. Imagine having a SELF Wealth bank account that is abundantly overflowing with all things SELF – like self-love, self-acceptance, self-trust, self-belief, self-confidence, self-worth. Let me tell you. That kind of bank account sets the scene for a one-of-a-kind love affair that will powerfully translate into a life that is every bit as rich.

So if you're ready to experience a profound love affair with who you truly are, stay tuned. This is going to be a conversation filled with insights, practical advice and real talk about loving yourself in the most authentic, meaningful way. And stick around right to the end because I have a very special Valentine's Day gift for you that I don't think you'll want to miss.

So let's begin this conversation by going straight to the very heart of your relationship with your SELF. At the very core of this relationship is a concept that is as simple as it is profound. And what I'm talking about is self-awareness.

Self-awareness is our ability to see ourselves clearly, to understand our desires, our quirks, our strengths, and yes, our areas for growth. It's about recognizing our emotions, our reactions, and the thoughts that flutter through our minds daily. It's the foundation upon which we build our relationship with ourselves. Why? Well, because the more we understand about ourselves, the more authentically we can live our lives, make decisions that align with our true selves, and of course love ourselves deeply and completely.

Now imagine for a moment, your mind as a mirror, reflecting back not just your physical self, but the essence of who you are. This mirror of our mind is shaped by our thoughts, our beliefs, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and what we're capable of achieving. These stories shape our self-perception, and in turn, the reality we live in.

But here's the thing, not all reflections in this mirror are accurate. Some are distorted by our past experiences, societal pressures, and critical inner voice that tells us we're not enough. This is where the importance of mindful self-reflection comes in. It's about taking a step back, examining the reflections we see and asking ourselves, “Is this really true? Does this belief serve me? Or is it holding me back?”.

By engaging in this practice of mindful self-reflection, we can begin to question and ultimately, rewrite the stories that no longer serve us. And this isn't just about positive thinking, by the way. It's about creating a more accurate, more compassionate mirror that reflects our true worth and potential. It's about moving from a place of self-judgment to one of self-compassion, and from a place of doubt to one of belief in our own capabilities.

So as we move through today's conversation, I invite you to think about your own mirror of the mind. What stories have you been telling yourself? Are they stories of strength, resilience and love? Or are they stories that need some tweaking? And I want you to remember that the goal here isn't to critique your SELF, but to get curious about your SELF. Curiosity is the key to unlocking a deeper level of self-awareness and ultimately, to romancing your SELF in the most beautiful and profound ways.

Keeping an open heart and an open mind will allow you to get to know and love your SELF at the deepest possible level. And what I have come to realize over the years is that the more we know and love ourselves, the richer our lives become in all the ways that actually matter – and not just today or momentarily, but every single day.

Now, I want to share with you how you can actively romance your SELF, and shape the outcomes in your life, by rewriting your SELF Stories to nurture a stronger sense of the foundational aspects of your self-concept, so for example, your self-confidence, your self-trust, your self-belief, and so on.

I simply can't stress this enough. The stories you tell yourself are about your SELF, that is who you are, your abilities and your worth, they play a pivotal role in how you feel and the actions you take. They can either increase your SELF Wealth and expand what you are capable of or deplete your SELF Wealth and restrict you. That's why recognizing and reshaping these stories is a powerful step towards not just romancing your SELF, but also unlocking your full potential. It's about turning the stories that confine you into ones that define you, and doing so on your terms.

To begin rewriting your SELF Stories, you first need to identify the limiting stories you've been carrying around about your SELF. These are the stories that whisper, you're not good enough, that your dreams are too big, or that you don't deserve happiness. To uncover these stories, I invite you to ask yourself these three questions. What do I believe about my capabilities and worth? Are there areas in my life where I feel stuck or held back, and why? How do I speak to myself when I face challenges or setbacks?

Reflecting on these questions can reveal the stories that are influencing your self-perception and holding you back. And remember, this is not about self-criticism. It's about self-discovery. It's about approaching your SELF with curiosity and compassion, with an open heart and an open mind ready to understand and transform these limiting self-beliefs that you are holding onto.

Now, once you have identified these limiting SELF Stories, the next step is to rewrite them. And listen, this process isn't about denying your past experiences or your feelings. Instead, it's about changing the lens through which you view your SELF and your capabilities.

So here are some steps to help you rewrite your limiting SELF Stories.

Begin by identifying the specific story you've been telling yourself and which aspect of your SELF is behind it. And here's what I mean by that. Let's say your story is, “I can't succeed in my career”. I want you to go deeper to understand which aspect of your SELF is really at play here. Is it because you believe you aren't good enough, so it could be your self-worth at play? Or maybe it's because you have a fear of public speaking, in which case it might be your self-confidence that's fueling this story.

When you pinpoint the underlying SELF aspect of your stories, you can target your rewriting efforts so much more effectively to increase your SELF Wealth bank balance. And when you have a healthy SELF Wealth bank account, you open a door to a world of possibilities.

So, once you have identified your story and its underlying SELF aspect, the next step is to challenge its truth. Ask yourself, is this belief I hold about myself absolutely true? And then look for the evidence that proves otherwise.

For instance, if you believe you can't succeed in your career due to a lack of self-confidence in public speaking, recall the times when you have communicated effectively, both in and outside of your career. Maybe you were MC at a wedding, or you held the conversation captive at a recent dinner party. If your story is rooted in self-worth, remind yourself of accomplishments and moments, again, in and outside of your career, where you felt valued and recognized.

Now the beautiful thing about tapping into the underlying SELF aspects of your stories, is that if you really cannot find any evidence that supports a time when you spoke confidently or your accomplishments were recognized and valued, for example, you can look for evidence of your self-confidence or your self-worth in times when you felt that way, when you felt confident, or you felt worthy. And again, this could be in any aspect of your life.

And what this does is it allows you to see that you can feel confident or worthy, or whatever your SELF aspect is. That it IS possible. And finding the evidence that disproves your SELF Story in any way, encourages a powerful shift in perspective from a fixed mindset, “I can't succeed because my skills aren't good enough”, “I can't succeed because I lack confidence” to a growth mindset, “my skills have helped me succeed before, so they can and will again”, “I have confidence in other areas of my life, so I can develop my confidence in this area too”.

Importantly, you shake the foundations of your limiting stories at their very core and discover that your underlying SELF Story can in fact be different. And with the evidence you've gathered, you are now ready to write a new story that celebrates your relationship with your SELF AND increases your SELF Wealth.

So the final step is to rewrite your SELF Story and the best way for me to explain this is to give you some examples.

Let's take the story, “I can't succeed in my career because I'm not a good public speaker”. From the evidence you gathered alone about holding your dinner party guests captive in conversation, you could rewrite this story. You could rewrite it to, “I communicate with impact and authenticity, and my voice is heard and valued”. If your story was not about feeling worthy enough, you might rewrite it to, “my contributions are unique and essential, and I am valued for who I am and what I bring to the table”.

Now, this step isn't just about positively reframing your story. It's about acknowledging your true capabilities and worth and fundamentally changing how you view your SELF, and consequently, how you show up in your world.

Most importantly, you are romancing your SELF when you rewrite the stories that do not serve you. You are nurturing your relationship with your SELF and that helps build your SELF Wealth bank account instead of continuing to deplete its resources. By consciously choosing to rewrite your SELF Stories, to romance the very core of your SELF, you are actively investing in a future where you recognize and celebrate your inherent worth, confidence and abilities. That, my friend, is a place from which you become unstoppable.

With that said, I want you to realize that while rewriting your limiting SELF Stories is crucial to romancing your relationship with your SELF, it is in actively romancing these stories that real change becomes possible. And what exactly do I mean?

Well, romancing your stories is about bringing them to life. Essentially, it's about integrating your new story into who you be, your identity, so that this new story, this new belief you want to hold about your SELF, becomes a natural part of who you be, and in turn, a natural part of what you do. So before we wrap things up in this episode, let me share three ways you can romance your new SELF Story.

The first, is to truly embody this new version of your SELF. To do that, start by asking, who do I become with this new story? Visualize the qualities and the characteristics of this new version of you. If your new story is about self-belief, imagine yourself as someone who confidently tackles challenges, who doesn't shy away from opportunities because of doubt. And I want you to realize that this isn't about pretending to be someone you're not. It's about recognizing and stepping into the full potential of who you truly are.

Next, consider the actions that this version of your SELF would take. These actions are expressions of your new identity, they're not just tasks to be checked off. If you see your SELF as a confident woman, what does that version of you do differently? How does she start her day? How does she speak? What choices does she make? Begin to integrate these actions into your daily life, not as forced efforts, but as natural extensions of your evolving SELF.

For instance, if your new story centers around self-worth, the actions you might take include setting boundaries, choosing to prioritize your needs, or perhaps engaging in activities that reflect your value. Over time, what you will find is that these actions reinforce your identity shift, making your new SELF Story, your lived reality.

And last but not least, to solidify this identity transformation, engage in daily practices that affirm and reinforce who you are becoming. This could involve journaling about your experiences living out as your new SELF Story, meditating on your evolving self-concept, or even creating visual reminders of your new identity, for example, creating a vision board or perhaps leaving your gym clothes out before you go to bed.

Visual clues are extremely powerful and integrating these kinds of practices will help you ground the changes in your everyday life and make your new SELF an integral part of simply who you are and what you do.

And because I have personally found journaling to be such a powerful process in transforming not only my SELF Stories, but also integrating my new SELF Stories into my daily life, I want to gift you all something very special and very powerful this Valentine's Day to help YOU romance your SELF.

So I put together a Romance Your SELF Challenge. It's a 14-day journaling style challenge where I'll be sharing daily journal prompts and action steps that explore the different aspects of your self-concept and help you build your SELF Wealth bank balance.

The Romance Your SELF Challenge starts today and it's not too late to join. And I'll be leaving the doors open until the end of this month of love. So if you are listening to this episode at a later date, please do come and join us. The doors will close though, so the sooner you do jump in, the more you'll get from the challenge.

So if this sounds like something you'd like to do, I hope you will accept my gift and come join me in romancing your SELF. To join the challenge, head to selfcreationschool.com/romance. And I'll leave this link in the show notes for you as well.

So that's it from me today. As always, remember that YOU are not a one time event and romancing your SELF isn't either. Commit to making it a lifetime romance, a romance you have with your SELF every single day. Because my friend, it is the most significant relationship you will ever have in your lifetime. I hope I have inspired you to say YES! to yourself, to spark a romance with your SELF starting today.

I'll see you in next week's episode.

Until then, be the woman who says YES!

Have you grabbed your free copy of the Self-Created Woman's Manifesto? This powerful manifesto will inspire and empower you in your everyday life and help guide you towards a life that sets your soul on fire. It's the must have statement for every woman on the path of Self-Creation and the best part is, you can grab your copy right now for free.

Set your everyday up for success and head over to selfcreationschool.com/manifesto to download your free copy of this powerful manifesto today. That's selfcreationschool.com/manifesto. I'll see you there.