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The best way to overcome self doubt and achieving greatness with Michelle Kuei
150 Plays2 years ago
In this episode we are speaking with Michelle Kuei - is an international speaker, certified visibility coach, certified storytelling master, and author. She is the founder of Elevate LifeCoaching, Michelle mentors women to use the power of storytelling as their secret sauce to attract clients and turn their passion for coaching into a profitable business.
We discuss:
- how to elevate your life
- overcome adversity
- how to feel confident in yourself
- why it's important to believe in yourself
- how to help others through your story
- ...and so much more!
Want to know more about Michelle and her work? Check out her website here! She also has Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin and YouTube!
Let us know if you enjoyed the episode by giving a review and rating the podcast 5 stars! Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast and hit the notification so you'll always be in the know about how to succeed in your education.
For more study tips and tricks, check out Mary Coleman's Instagram @allthingseducation21
Want to learn in-demand skills, start a business, or learn how to succeed in the 21st century? Check out fiverr.com to learn more!
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:05
Speaker
Hey, it's Mary Coleman, your host for the All Things Education podcast. If you don't know, I'm a student too, and I'm currently studying psychology. I'm so glad you're listening today because we learn about study and lifestyle tips, chat with professional guests about a range of topics. We learn about the ins and outs of school and uni life, how to form solid friendships, actualize career aspirations, chat about relationships, moving, traveling, and so much more. We have a range of content on this podcast, and it's all to help you be that much more informed about the world we live in.
00:00:44
Speaker
And if you are new here, thank you so much for tuning in. We basically talk about study tips, study tricks, things like we talk about career pathways and how to get into a particular career that you want to get into. And we talk about just so many different things related to study and education, but also wellbeing and lifestyle
00:00:54
Speaker
So, let's
Merch Store Announcement
00:01:01
Speaker
as well. And we also have a merch store that is opening on the 1st of March and it donates 100% of profits to the Bright Futures Child Aid and Development
00:01:02
Speaker
get educated, shall we?
00:01:10
Speaker
organization so they are a wonderful organization I'm going to talk to you guys about in a little bit but um yeah that's super exciting opening on the first of March so first of March 2023 if you're listening in the future you should definitely go check it out um and uh yeah get keen for that anyway this episode today is all about I would say it's a very motivational episode
00:01:33
Speaker
It's focusing on how you can overcome your fears, overcome your difficulties and challenges in life to truly become successful and feel super confident in your body, in your skin. It's just, it is an amazing motivational episode.
Guest Introduction: Michelle Quay
00:01:49
Speaker
And you guys, I am super excited to announce this podcast episode
00:01:54
Speaker
guest star, which is Michelle Quay. And Michelle is amazing. When you hear from her, you're just going to be mind blown. Michelle Quay is an international speaker, certified visibility coach, certified storytelling master and author. And oh my goodness, her storytelling. Yeah, it's it's amazing. So as a founder of Elevated Life Coaching, Michelle mentors women to use the power of storytelling as a secret source to attract clients and turn their passion for coaching
00:02:23
Speaker
into a profitable business.
Michelle Quay's Memoir Discussion
00:02:25
Speaker
So she is the author of Perfectly Normal, an immigrant story of making it in America, a powerful memoir which basically describes her life's journey including a childhood tragedy that changed everything for her which happened at 11 years old and essentially stunted her growth
00:02:40
Speaker
so that she is four feet four inches tall, and she's gonna explain a little bit more about her story in a little bit. But there is so much praise for Michelle. There is, I could honestly go on and on and on about how amazing she is, and I will, you know what, I will. Let me just continue. So, Michelle has been featured in the Los Angeles Tribune Live series, Shout out LA, Voyage LA Magazine Fox, and Authority Magazine for her expertise in overcoming adversity and achieving visibility. And those are the topics that we are talking about today in this episode.
00:03:10
Speaker
We are specifically, as I was mentioning before, it's a motivational episode in many ways, as we are focusing on how to overcome your fears, overcome the challenges and perhaps emotional, you know, boundaries that you have to really achieve the best that you can in life. And obviously listening to Michelle's story is just amazing because you not only hear how, I mean, at age 11, she was permanently disabled in a car accident that, like I said before,
00:03:37
Speaker
throws her growth four feet four inches tall and she needs crutches to walk, left her needing crutches to walk, sorry. And not that she wasn't just physically small, but she also used to live her life emotionally small. And we talk about that in the episode today. We talk about how important it is to overcome things like that.
00:03:56
Speaker
overcome obviously physical things and overcome emotional things, internal things. So I do think this is gonna be a really motivating episode for you guys. And I think that's what I'm most excited for you guys to hear is just to be motivated and inspired that even literally from a car accident, which was tragic, traumatic and horrific really, with all of that adversity, she was able to overcome it and become the most amazing successful woman that she is today.
00:04:24
Speaker
Anyway, that's enough about Michelle and the amazingness of her. I mean, probably not enough. I could continue to go on. But I will give you guys a little
Mary's Personal News and New Segment
00:04:31
Speaker
life update. So I'm currently recording this Thursday night. And my flight is tomorrow morning, which is very fun. Tomorrow morning, super early in the morning, I think 6am or something like that.
00:04:41
Speaker
Oh, I should know, shouldn't I? And yeah, that's pretty keen. I'm pretty excited for that. And that means that I will officially be living in New South Wales. And apart from that, so by the time this episode has been released, I will officially be over there, which is very exciting. Very, very keen for that. And studying an arts degree is something that I've always wanted to do.
00:05:04
Speaker
And obviously I can talk a bit more about that later in maybe another episode, a couple episodes down the track. But I really love studying the arts and I'm very keen to learn everything that I'm going to be learning on campus, which is very exciting. But that's pretty much the biggest thing that's happened this week. Another big thing is I've just been recording and just interviewing with some amazing podcast guests in and out like every day, just constantly communicating with the upcoming guests. And I honestly am just super stoked for
00:05:33
Speaker
everything that is happening. I am extremely keen for everything that you guys are going to hear eventually later down the track. That is pretty cool. Again, I usually do the Book of the Week segment. This week I am not going to do it again just because I haven't been reading anything this week aside from
00:05:53
Speaker
psychology related things and project 50 that I'm doing on Instagram at all things education if you're not already following project 50 is what I'm doing and you're supposed to read 10 pages a day and I've just literally been doing that bare minimum 10 pages a day of something related to like learning about website or learning about coding or learning about how to publish a book things like that but I wouldn't say I'm not reading any fiction or not not reading any fiction at the moment
00:06:16
Speaker
Um, yeah, so a new segment that we're actually going to be introducing now is going to be called review of the week. So essentially every week, um, and anyone is welcome to participate in this. So anyone listening today, you are more than welcome to email me at hello at all things, education 21.com. Hello at all things, education 21.com. And if you attach a voice memo,
00:06:44
Speaker
and just give a 30 second review of what you like about the All Things Education podcast. And I'm going to insert it in here every single week. So we do have a review to give this week and we have a review hopefully every single week for the rest of the podcast episodes, which is really exciting. So we get to showcase someone and this person will remain anonymous, but you can either say your name and you can get a shout out and you can get a little bit of a feature on the episode and share your favorite thing about the podcast or the Instagram.
00:07:13
Speaker
or the store that's gonna open up on the 1st of March, the merch store. And yeah, just send in a review. I really encourage you guys to do so. I've got a couple of reviews that I'm going to slot in, which are super positive and I'm so grateful that people just gave such positive reviews about the All Things Education podcast. But anyway, I'm gonna play this review now for you guys and I really hope you enjoy it.
00:07:36
Speaker
As someone who has listened to the All Things Education podcast, I have found it a very inspiring and motivating way to help me in my studies and personal goals. It is like getting knowledge from the older sister who I never had and now she is providing her helpful advice to the growing younger age groups out there. I think more people should give it a go and definitely try to at least take one thing away which sticks with you and from there apply it to yourself or your studies. It gives you so much to think about and definitely give it a go.
00:08:06
Speaker
Okay, well, that's a cool little review. I really liked it. And again, thank you so much, the person. I know you're listening right now. So thank you so much for contributing and leaving a review. I really appreciate it. And again, if you want to leave a review and you want to give your feedback on what you like or don't like about the All Things Education podcast, please send me an email. My name is Mary Coleman. Email me at hello at allthingseducation21.com. All right, let's talk about Patreon.
Patreon and Listener Engagement
00:08:33
Speaker
So this is another segment that I'm adding in, every single segment that I'm kind of, you know, adding in, I'm going to continue and I'll keep it up. Patreon, I really want to encourage you guys, actually, rewind. If you don't know what it is, Patreon is essentially a membership-based platform where you're paying money per month to access a certain additional benefit to something that you're already receiving. So for example, if you wanted to listen to this episode ad-free, I have a particular Patreon membership
00:09:03
Speaker
that you can pay $5 a month or whatever it is on there. $5 a month where you are able to listen to these episodes completely ad-free.
00:09:14
Speaker
Um, you'll actually hear an ad in the middle of this episode today. And if you kind of are sick of listening to ads on podcasts or whatever it is, then you don't have to listen to it through ads. So you can go into Patreon, you can sign up for that membership, and then you're going to be getting ad free listens. Um, I also have other things on Patreon, which is really exciting. Um, it's something I'm currently developing. So it's something that you can sign up for now. Um, and you'll receive it within the next month.
00:09:39
Speaker
because that's hopefully when I'm going to be releasing it and it's very exciting and this is a bit of a like a What would you call it kind of like a news flash sort of thing? I am going to be releasing a ultimate study guide Which is going to have everything for high school students in Australia only unfortunately because that's just what I know and that's the knowledge I have in so for all Australian students listening if you would like to have the ultimate study guide for high school which covers content from years 10 years 11 and 12
00:10:07
Speaker
specific to each and every state with content that is very specific to
00:10:12
Speaker
Particularly yet the same thing you're in and maybe or explain stories from me and examples It has things like study techniques and memorization techniques how to prepare for exams how to take exams for the first time It is a massive thing that I've been building upon but it's something that I'm really excited to share with you guys so if you want to get access to that study guide and Get access to a bank of all of these different study like study posters Motivational quotes like iPhone wallpapers. I have a Google Drive that I will be able to
00:10:42
Speaker
will set up so that you guys can access and you're able to access it through the Patreon membership. So once you get a Patreon membership, every month you're paying and then you're getting access to the Google Drive.
00:10:54
Speaker
which will continuously be uploaded, you know, with all these different, you know, just like lots of different study techniques and methods and little tips and bonus episode content. So I would really highly encourage you guys to go check out Patreon and I will link it in the show notes. So definitely just go click on it now. The audio episode will still continue playing as you go click on it. So open the show notes right now you guys and click on Patreon and check it out.
00:11:18
Speaker
And if you're interested in any of those memberships, please become a member. I am super excited to start this up and build a little bit of a community around this, especially the study guide. So the bank of the Google Drive document is already up and running, but this digital study guide will be available on its own. So you can purchase it on its own or you can purchase it through the membership and then get digital access to it through the Google Drive.
00:11:40
Speaker
Yeah, so that is that. It is a mega ultimate study guide. It is the best, the biggest, the one you want to have if you are an Australian high school student. And I'm making it amazing because I want you guys to really benefit from it and really be helped. And some of the information is really simple, but something you maybe don't think about. Who knows? Anyway, that
Michelle's Accident and Life Journey
00:12:00
Speaker
is that. I have already introduced the wonderful Michelle to us already today. However,
00:12:06
Speaker
I did just want to reiterate how amazing she is and just to really highlight that she is certified. She's a certified visibility coach, she's a certified storytelling master and she's an author as I was saying before.
00:12:23
Speaker
And obviously, you guys can't see the video, but she smiles so much. She has the biggest smile on her face. She talks with so much positivity, warmth, and love. And it really allows her to bring audiences together and support them in their quest to live more fearlessly. And I feel like you're definitely going to feel the love coming through the podcast episode today. So without further ado, let's listen to Michelle from Elevate Life Coaching.
00:12:47
Speaker
Michelle, hey, welcome to the Old Things Education Podcast. So excited to have you here. I'm so excited to be here. Everything is about education. I truly believe that education is your foundation. Without proper education, without the equal opportunity to education, there is no future. Oh yeah. Yeah. 100% agree. You could not agree more. Oh my goodness. Super stoked to have you. I think let's just jump right on into it. Would you be able to share your story with the listeners a little bit for us, please?
00:13:16
Speaker
Yeah, so my story began when I was 11 years old. So a lot of people are still probably in elementary school, that's probably like elementary, fourth or fifth grade. And I was before that was a very typical normal kid, nothing special about me, you know, like I grow up, I like to hang out with my friends, I'm always very outgoing, very outspoken,
00:13:41
Speaker
My favorite thing is to be on the stage and just do like speech contests. And I remember my dad used to enroll me to a lot of speech contests. And I enjoy being in front of the stage and talking to everybody. I have that, you know, kind of like a leadership kind of myself where I wanted to cultivate when I was little. And when I was 11, I was coming off from school one day. I was meeting my mom who was picking me up.
00:14:10
Speaker
And as I was crossing the street, suddenly I heard a lot of chaos and there was a lot of dramas around me. And I couldn't comprehend exactly how it happened, but apparently there was a taxi that was driving really fast towards me. And as I was standing, got to the middle of the street, the taxi was so, it was running so fast that there was no way for me to get out of the way.
00:14:41
Speaker
And so the taxi hit me, and it hit me and pushes me about 100 feet away from where I was, where I was standing. And the next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital bed. Oh my goodness. So a lot of the details of what had happened during that moment when the taxi hit me and pushes me to 100 feet away,
00:15:03
Speaker
there's a memory gap where I was really just relying on the witnesses who was on site to fill me in to exactly what had happened. And so I wrote a book, but in that book, I was struggling to fill in the details of how the accident happened because I had no recollection of it.
00:15:23
Speaker
Yeah, of course, right. And I remember before that second, that split second, I remember my best friend was calling me from behind. She was like, wait, Michelle, stop, stop. And by the time I turned, I was already down on the floor.
00:15:39
Speaker
And so I woke up in a hospital bed. I felt like I was in pain, but I couldn't understand what was going on. I saw my parents talking to the doctor. And the next thing I knew, I looked down on my body. And I noticed by my waist all the way to my ankle, the doctor had wrapped me with the plaster, with a case. And I was trapped.
00:16:07
Speaker
I was trapped for the following three months after the car accident. I was in that case the whole entire time, so I couldn't go to school anymore. And like, hooray, right? No more school. It was like one of the positives. Best thing ever. You have to worry about it. Like, hooray, no more school. Oh my gosh. Yeah.
00:16:32
Speaker
Yeah. And it was so like, okay, great. But three months, what do I do? And so my parents took me home and they set aside this bed in our living room and where I would just sleep in the living room, do all my business. And for a while I was really enjoying that life of no school and I can do whatever I want, except I was bound. I was trapped to the bed, right? Bedridden.
00:17:00
Speaker
But during that time, I didn't have anything else to do besides just read. So my mom bought me a lot of books. They're mostly storytelling books, a lot of fairy tales, a lot of these really great works of the English literature, but translated in Chinese.
00:17:20
Speaker
And so I was reading a lot of books. I was doing a lot of reading during that time, because that's all the time that I have in the world. So one of my favorites is actually like the suspense of Sherlock Holmes. I'm like all into detective. Oh, I love them so much. They're so good. I love the detective work and it just like create a lot of mystery, right? Trying to solve the puzzles.
00:17:46
Speaker
And so that's basically how I spend my three months after the accident. And when I was ready to have the doctor take out the cast from me, I had to go through rehab. So four years, I was 11, and so four years after that, so I spent four years of going in and out of the hospital
00:18:08
Speaker
going through rehab, physical therapy, and there were some of the places where my bone was broken. It's not healing, so the doctor ended up going back, pushing me back to surgery. And so I, on and off, I have a total of 13 surgeries altogether.
00:18:28
Speaker
So I spent basically my whole entire childhood in an adult hospital going through surgery and just being in the wheelchair for a very long time. And I remember I started to compete in wheelchair. Kids, we have these
00:18:44
Speaker
Amazing things to think about when we're bored, right? And so I started to compete in wheelchairs, doing all kinds of like, really super cool technique with the wheelchair. I can bounce around, I can drive it, I can go really fast, I can chase people down the street.
00:19:01
Speaker
It was just fun. That's great. To me, it was kind of fun. It was it was great that because I was able to connect with other other children who also struggle with their mobility. And a lot of them are struggling with polio because back in the days, you know, we a lot of them have polio.
00:19:24
Speaker
that kind of spread in the 1970s. And so I became friends with them and it kind of, I found a similarity, you know, since Amo was a wheelchair bound and they're wheelchair bound, so there's like some shared similarity. I could share and understand their stories. And so we became friends and that was probably my highlight right before I came to America.
00:19:52
Speaker
So I was born in Taiwan, grew up in Taiwan, and then came to America when I was 15. So right before I got discharged from the rehab hospital, my doctor given me a pair of metal brace to wear. And he said, you're going to continue to wear it because you're still growing. You need to structure support for your bone as they grow.
00:20:16
Speaker
Of course, as a 15-year-old, I would like to look pretty. I would like to dress up and impress the boys. I like to impress the boy and maybe go out a couple of dates. There's no way for me wanting to wear that ugly pair of shoes. It doesn't even look attractive at all.
00:20:39
Speaker
It's like, I look like a robot, right? You know, my legs are stiff, you know, I couldn't bend my knee. And so it's just not very attractive. So of course, I didn't, I did what most children wouldn't do. I didn't listen to my doctor. So I took it off.
00:20:55
Speaker
And of course, it created a lot of side effects from the fact that I wasn't walking properly. I was putting a lot of weight on my leg. And so my left leg is crooked. And so started slowly, my physical health deteriorate. So I could no longer walk long distance by the time I got to college.
00:21:20
Speaker
And I would always have to walk with either assistant or with my two crutches. So that journey was just not very pleasant in the sense that there was a lot of judgment, right? Because as I'm walking like a wobbly penguin,
00:21:39
Speaker
People start to notice that, oh, she's looked very different. Not only does she look different, she's walking funny. And when we see someone who doesn't look a little different, we always have that curiosity of, oh, I wonder what happened to them.
00:21:57
Speaker
And when I was younger, I didn't appreciate the fact that I stood out. I didn't appreciate the fact that I am so visible to among people and among public. And so every time people come and ask me, hey, what's wrong with you? I took it very personal. I took it almost like very defensively. Like, why are you judging me? Like, I'm just a regular person. Can you please not ask me what happened to me?
00:22:26
Speaker
So there's part of me wanting to hide from people asking, but it was just not possible because I would look so different and I'm only four feet, four inches tall. And so immediately people would just start wander. So I grew up with that mindset and mentality of people are going to look and they're going to judge. Now, how do I deal with that judgment? Right.
00:22:51
Speaker
How do I deal with the negativity that people are pressing against me or people that I don't belong among my peers? I never belong into a group of people.
00:23:04
Speaker
And I never belong to these pretty girls who's always being chased by the boys or who's very attractive. I don't belong in that group. And here I am, I'm trying to learn how to speak proper English in a new foreign country where I have no friends. And I'm trying to find a group where I belong.
00:23:29
Speaker
And so that was, that was pretty much the highlight of my entire academic school years, trying to belong somewhere. Yeah. I mean, I was just going to say, Michelle, in, in some way I definitely can relate to that because I speak about this a lot with a lot of guests, but, um, I went through an old girl's school and I feel like the environment was pretty toxic. Like in the sense that everyone was just trying to compete against themselves in their looks and their academic success.
00:23:59
Speaker
And you kind of just fit into like one of three categories. You were either really, really smart and you like to study a lot. Or, you know, you were like really pretty and kind of like the dumb blonde stereotype in a way. Or you were just kind of like a misfit, you know, like with kind of was just no other categories, which was really just the worst for mental health. And for girls growing up in this environment that was like super cultivated of this high intensity of competition the whole time.
00:24:26
Speaker
I feel like it wasn't really good for my mental health. It was so hard because a lot of the time I didn't really feel like I fit in. I didn't feel like I had a place or a sense of belonging. So I can kind of understand where you're coming from in so many different ways.
00:24:46
Speaker
Yeah. It's wild. Yeah. And I think there's that sense of kind of like a competition, right? We all form a little circle when we're in school. There's that sense of likability.
00:25:02
Speaker
Like, do I like my friends? You know, does my friend like me? And we're looking for some type of, I see myself in you, that kind of situation, right? And if I don't see myself in them, and they don't see themselves in me, then there's like a huge disconnect of there's this little pocket.
00:25:26
Speaker
of people coming together but i don't have any pocket that i can tap into i don't have any groups that i can belong to and that becomes like a big issue especially in the very young age where we learn from each other by being inside a group or belonging in into a
00:25:47
Speaker
a culture or society, a club, right? You learn from each other that way. And I feel that was a very crucial moment for me to have that peer bonding, to have that peer support where my people, my peers, can understand what I was going through, but they couldn't.
00:26:09
Speaker
Because they're on a different level. And I was a different level. I was at a very feeling isolated. I didn't feel like I was able to connect. Nobody could understand me. Nobody understood what I was going through. And so that sense of understanding is really crucial for us to find that sense of belonging, to be whether it's in the club.
00:26:32
Speaker
in a society or in a culture or even in a school, in our classroom. Those are really important things that we look for in terms of our growth during that period of time. Yeah.
00:26:46
Speaker
And how long did it actually take you to become comfortable in your own skin and comfortable with the things, the cards you've been dealt in life? Like how long did it really take you to figure that all out
Self-Discovery and Empowerment Journey
00:26:59
Speaker
and overcome it? It took me a very, very long time.
00:27:04
Speaker
Almost a whole entire life, right? If you think about it, it doesn't happen overnight. And this is something I think is really important for the listeners to listen and really to understand that what you're going through
00:27:21
Speaker
It's a phase. It's a transition. It's a period of time where your goal is not to get over it, but to experience it in such a way that you welcome every pieces of experiencing life.
00:27:37
Speaker
You welcome them, you embrace them, right? This is not the time where we're getting through something. We actually want to open our arm to experience and welcome this whatever that we're going through, whether it's the positive or the negative. It took me
00:27:54
Speaker
20 something years, so I was 15 when I got here and I didn't actually start to recognize that there's something about me that makes me unique, make me different. And those are great characteristics that I can have in my life that really can help me become successful in whatever I want to do.
00:28:19
Speaker
It took me 20 years to finally realize that I don't need to be perfect in the way I speak English. English is not my first language. So I don't need to pretend that I sound perfect when I speak. There's always going to be a little bit of accent or a little bit of the way that I pronounce words very differently compared to someone else who is a first language English speaker.
00:28:49
Speaker
And so just having that recognition that there is going to be me and I will always be different that started to allow me to open up the possibility of speaking up and just speaking up having my voice.
00:29:05
Speaker
Sharing my opinion, regardless of how I talk, how I speak, it was like a beautiful window that just opened up to the possibility of I can make more new friends. I can meet new friends. I can connect and speak to new friends. I can share my opinion without feeling judged.
00:29:27
Speaker
Right. And so that was my opening of, OK, so I got this. I can do this. And so that was 20 years, right? But still, there was little things that came up. So for example, when I graduated from college, my first job was trying to get into Boeing 747. So that was my first job interview.
00:29:52
Speaker
And it took me a long time to actually find that position and wanting to apply. I didn't even get hired yet, I just wanted to apply. And I remember walking to the workplace and working to the place and my interviewer
00:30:07
Speaker
was this lady behind the desk. And then all these people who's walking in and out of the company are really tall. They're like six feet tall or more, and big guy. They're built. They go to the gym. And here I am, four feet, four inches tall. I walk in real clutches, and I'm wobbly penguins. And there I was. I was sitting there and thinking, oh my gosh, how can I possibly become the manager of these people? There's no way that I can manage this job.
00:30:36
Speaker
And I remember that day I even took my mom that's how insecure I was about what I was about to do at the college so that was like my thirty my early thirty thirty when I graduated from the college and then.
00:30:54
Speaker
So after that, I decided to go back to school to get my pharmacist degree. So I spent another four years in graduate school and finally got my doctors of pharmacy. And this is all because of my mom who wanted me to have skills and just being able to live my life this way.
00:31:16
Speaker
And so by the time that I got out of pharmacy school, going to the workforce, that's like another layer of challenges and obstacles. And so the challenges and obstacles in our life never stop. But it's the idea of what do you do with these challenges and obstacles? What do you do with these difficulties that shows up in your way?
00:31:38
Speaker
And so what really was kind of like my turning point was when I was 40, I woke up and I said to myself, I am no longer wanting to live this life this way.
00:31:53
Speaker
If I am to live 80 years old, I just wasted half of my years, half of my life feeling sorry for myself, playing small, and always living under people's expectation of how they believe I should be. And it is time. Where's me? It is time for me to live.
00:32:12
Speaker
So I remember the first thing I did was I wanted to take care of myself. I want to look good. Despite the fact that, you know, I walk with crutches four feet, four inches tall. The first thing that came to my mind was I want to be fit. When you go to Instagram, right, you see all these ladies with six pegs and people at
00:32:30
Speaker
protein shakes and they want to have amazing bodies, I want to be like that. And again, it's more like I want to belong somewhere. So I'm thinking if they can do that, why can't I do it? And if I'm able to do it, that's even better because then I prove to everybody that I'm capable of doing things.
00:32:51
Speaker
not only to prove to everybody, but also to prove it to myself that I can do things. And so that was the first thing I did when I decided after years of never being set any foot into the gym. I went to the gym. I started to work with a personal trainer. He taught me how to use a treadmill for the very first time. And slowly, I was able to use a treadmill and start to work on my body.
00:33:20
Speaker
And that was the first thing that I did for myself and because I recognized and I knew that this is not the life I want to live, always for someone else, playing small.
00:33:33
Speaker
And so that was the change for me. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Michelle, I'm literally sitting on the edge of my seat right now. I'm so intrigued. Oh my goodness. You were so inspiring in everything you were saying. I genuinely am sitting on the edge of my seat, scribbling down a thousand words a minute on this tiny little piece of paper that I've got. Yeah. I would really be interested in talking to you about the top three things that, um,
00:34:00
Speaker
you know, this whole experience, this whole journey, this journey of a lifetime, really, what has it taught you and what are the three things, I guess, that, you know, you really want to convey to, you know, the listeners today?
Life Lessons: The HOP Acronym
00:34:15
Speaker
I think there's three most important things that I want to share, right? I want to talk about. And I came up with this acronym called HOP, H-O-P, okay?
00:34:26
Speaker
HOP, the first H, H stands for harnessing your superpower. Every single one of us have some unique superpower. My superpower is being brave and being courageous, and I'm really good with organization. I love planner. I'm a planner addict. If you talk to me about stationery, I can talk all day stationery. Yes. We'll talk later about this.
00:34:52
Speaker
But we all bring in our own superpower in everything that we do. So I think the first most important thing is I want you to make a list of all the superpower that you believe you have. You could be very good with books, you could be very good with math, you could be very good with
00:35:09
Speaker
I don't know with friends and connecting people making making small groups and or maybe hosting events in your school coordinating and running a club. There's something about you that nobody else has so what are they make a list of that.
00:35:27
Speaker
And you're going to eliminate, we're going to cross out, some of the things that you, maybe not so much. So I always like to imagine you're being attacked by trolls. These are creatures that come and attack you. So the first time they attack you, you're crossing the bridge, and they're going to take away three on that list that you have made.
00:35:51
Speaker
So three superpowers that took away by this trial. And then you're going to go onto the bridge again, and you're going to cross. And there you are. You come across another troll who's going to take away another three sets of your superpower. And so at the end, you're only going to have one amazing, powerful superpower that you're going to carry into your heart the whole entire journey in your academic life,
00:36:20
Speaker
in your life in the future, the life that you want to live, that is your one superpower that nobody can touch and take away from you. So think about what that superpower is and write it down, keep it in your journal, paste it onto the wall, make it into your art.
00:36:39
Speaker
Whatever you do, remember that is your superpower. So harnessing your superpower. The next thing is to recognize the opportunity. What are the opportunity that's presenting in front of you? It could be an opportunity that the teacher invites you to speak at a speech contest.
00:36:57
Speaker
Or it could be the opportunity to open up yourself to a podcast. You started a podcast. Mary started a podcast. That took some bravery and to see the opportunity that this is something I can do. This is something I enjoy. So recognize what kind of opportunity is presenting in front of you and be courageous enough to say yes to that opportunity. Try it out.
00:37:24
Speaker
Again, the goal is not to get through, to get over something. It's actually to go through the experience and see what the life has to teach you. So welcome and embrace that opportunity that shows up. And then the last thing that you're going to remember is the P. The P is persistency.
00:37:47
Speaker
everything that we do in life, we have to show up and do it consistently no matter whether you're going to be successful or you're not going to believe that you'll be successful. You're going to show up 100% you. You're just going to show up, see what life is going to teach you, and see what school has to teach you or offer you, and be consistent and be persistent at it.
00:38:13
Speaker
Persistency is going to take you very far, right? Whether you enjoy the process or not, you're going to walk away knowing that, oh, I didn't like this experience of being in a podcast. Maybe podcast is not my thing. Let me try something else. And this is how we find our place to use our superpower.
00:38:34
Speaker
My superpower may not be doing YouTube video. My superpower may be doing more audio podcasting. But you have to be able to put yourself into creating these videos. And every time, you're just going to show up and do that video. And maybe you don't see any result, and you don't like it. Great, perfect. Now you know what you didn't know before. That is new persistency. So the three things that students should learn
00:38:59
Speaker
The audience you learn is called HAP. Honestying your superpower, embracing your opportunity, and persistency is the key. I love it. I'm writing it down as we speak. I'm going to make sure that all the listeners know about that acronym. Thanks Michelle. Yeah, I think what I was just going to touch on next is shifting gears a little bit.
00:39:25
Speaker
What would you say is the one take home message that you really want the audience to know? And just something if they take anything away from this entire episode, which I'm sure they've taken away so much.
00:39:36
Speaker
If they only take away one thing for this episode, what would your nugget of wisdom be? I think it's important to recognize that you are not alone, right? A lot of times we think that we're alone, but that same feeling is shared by your peers, by people who have gone on to this journey before you. And so there's a lot of feelings and emotions that you're embracing right now. It's all sitting in your chest maybe, right? It feels tight.
00:40:04
Speaker
maybe it's anger, maybe it's frustration, maybe it's the fact that you don't get to the grade that you want or the friends that circle that you want to join. There's a lot of emotion coming behind that. So I think whenever you find yourself through changes, whether it's going into a new environment, whether it's a new class or a new
00:40:30
Speaker
new stage in your life or new career or new opportunity that comes up. Recognizing that emotion and knowing that you are not alone and perhaps do a little bit of journaling on that.
The Importance of Support
00:40:45
Speaker
Write it out. Don't hold it back inside of you. I remember when I was going through some difficult changes. One of my biggest
00:40:56
Speaker
enjoyable process my outlet my emotional outlet was blogging so I started blogging like really early in life like in my 20s and because I had no one else to share and I didn't feel safe to share with anyone else because I didn't believe that people would understand me so I wrote a lot of blog blog I kept writing and dumping all my thoughts into my blog
00:41:18
Speaker
And surprisingly, through those words, I was able to make a lot of blogging friends. And they all share the same feeling as I do. So just because you don't talk about your emotion doesn't mean that your emotion is not being shared, it's not being heard.
00:41:36
Speaker
So I want you to think about who are your cheerleaders in your life, right? Who can be your cheerleader who's there to support you no matter what? They're here to really hold your hand and champion you. So who are those people? And during the big changes, going from one grade to another, talk to those people about what you're feeling. Be open to share.
00:42:03
Speaker
And maybe you form a little, your own circle, bring people, bring friends together who understand you, who can hear you and value, bring their friendship together so that you feel seen, heard and valued and validated. I thought those are important things, especially going through changes. Yeah. And who was kind of the biggest supporter when you were going through those changes for you in your life? Like who was that for you?
00:42:33
Speaker
I would say my biggest cheerleader was my mom. My mom was a big cheerleader. She held my hand for a long time. She was my crutches. I was too proud to look different. I was still trying to fit in. And so I was too proud to use the crutches. And so instead of using it, I held her hand.
00:42:54
Speaker
She was my support. She was my cheerleader. And so for a very long time, I didn't have anybody but my mom. So she's definitely someone who's very important in my life. Yeah. And I was just going to say having... I mean, you don't need to have necessarily your parents as your biggest cheerleaders, but just having
00:43:14
Speaker
someone in your life that is a You know your cheerleader like you were saying who is like the biggest advocate of whatever you're doing and whatever Tiny success yet you're doing if you share it with them. They're just gonna you know, they just gonna cheer you on you know Yeah, I would 100% say say the same for me. It's my mom as well Yeah, just she's great
00:43:34
Speaker
They provide the unconditional love. And sometimes we find the unconditional love through our pet. I have a cat. His name is Toby. And Toby to me is unconditional love. So if you have a pet at home, that could be your emotional outlet. Talk to your pet. And studies have shown that it's actually healthy to talk to your pet. Yeah, trust me with a little voice as well.
00:44:01
Speaker
I do the cat voice. It's the cat voice, the cat and the dog. It's so funny. It's like a baby voice, same thing. We look for that unconditional love. Sometimes we find those unconditional love through our peers, despite the fact that we may argue sometimes or initially, we don't think that they understand.
00:44:27
Speaker
But if you think about all these friends in our life, they're really seeing us for who we are. You're friends who last for a very long time. I have friends from years and years ago, my childhood friends, we still are in contact. And a lot of them is because that unconditional love. They love me for who I am and regardless of how I look.
00:44:51
Speaker
what do I say or you know things I was going through they love me for just the way I am and those are valuable. Yes I could not agree more yeah I think this is again shifting gears a little bit I would love to talk about journaling with you
00:45:11
Speaker
Generally something I'm trying to get into personally. I haven't got there, but that's okay. Yeah, what do you think of the idea of gratitude journals or just self-reflection journals, happiness journals? So it's sort of like, what's your take on all those? Yeah.
00:45:27
Speaker
So one of my favorite work is from Katie Byron. She has a work called The Work. And so basically, it's a judgment journal. And the way that judgment journal works is that any time you notice that you're judging yourself or you're judging others, whether it's, oh my gosh, that skirt is so ugly.
00:45:56
Speaker
Right? That's a thought. And so think about that journal, right? What are some of the things that really keeps me motivated? What kind of skirt do I love? What kind of color that brings a smile on my face? Maybe it's a splash of color. So keep that journal as something that note catching yourself with any time that you have this judgment, whether it's against yourself or against someone else.
00:46:23
Speaker
And that would be your prompt. So you're going to write about it, and you're going to come up with two different ways of saying the same thing. So if I were to say that, oh my gosh, that skirt, my skirt looks really ugly, or my body looks really ugly.
00:46:38
Speaker
I want you to come up with two different ways of how you would rephrase or re-say that statement again. So instead of saying, my body is ugly in front of the mirror, maybe say, oh, my hair is really pretty, right? Even though my body may not be the way that I like, but my hair is really pretty and I have these amazing eyelashes that nobody else has.
00:47:01
Speaker
So start by saying something that's more positive towards more positive. It could be a positive affirmation. I know a lot of girls who can understand the positive affirmation now. So say something in positive affirmation or come up with a neutral way of saying it.
00:47:18
Speaker
I am, I am just the way I am. I don't need to be perfect body, right? My body is just perfect for me. Yeah. It's like, um, lucky girl syndrome. I'm not sure if you've heard of it, um, but also like those positive affirmations actually. So yeah. Lucky girl syndrome, lucky girl syndrome. Have you heard of it?
00:47:38
Speaker
I've seen it. Funny how you say it because I just recently saw it somewhere. Within the last 24 or 48 hours, the Lucky Girl Syndrome. Yeah. It's so funny. I know. We love the algorithm. Yeah, I was just going to say, Lucky Girl Syndrome is so good. The concept of it in a way because it's saying that things are always working out for me at any point in time. There's an audio going around on Instagram right now that it's trending audio.
00:48:05
Speaker
It's kind of like, because things are working out for me at every point in time. It just kind of repeats it over and over, kind of like a mentor in a way. And I just love that. It's things like that. It's those positive affirmations, looking at yourself in the mirror, saying, everything is working out for me. I am successful. I am beautiful. I am loved. You know, I love as well. You know, just those kinds of things. I think, yeah, those things are just, it's just so great. Our brain is very sensitive to the word don't. If you say don't do this, people will do it anyway.
00:48:35
Speaker
right so we're very sensitive to the don't so don't don't feed avoid right avoid feeding your brain with all these don't so so anytime you you catch yourself using the word don't or negative
00:48:54
Speaker
Before you say it out loud or before you actually tell it to yourself, change it to something that's a little more positive, something that's more neutral. I know a lot of people have trouble making it and turning it into very positive. So say it's something very neutral, something that has no kind of just blend. Sometimes blend is being okay.
00:49:17
Speaker
So something that's very plain and it's a black and white board, that kind of thing. Just to wrap up, Michelle, did you have any final pieces of advice, any nuggets of wisdom, as I like to call it, that you would like to impart onto the audience?
Mindset Shift and Resources
00:49:35
Speaker
So I will say that any time you catch yourself saying, I can't do this, instead of thinking that or saying that, start by saying, I can do this. I may not like it, right? But I can do this. I can do it because this is going to teach me a lesson. This is going to allow me to explore more about myself. So instead of saying, I can't do it, I can do this. And it's going to allow me
00:50:04
Speaker
to learn more about myself. It's going to learn more about what I'm really good at. Wow, Michelle, thank you so much. I think we had the best chat today. I'm definitely sure that the audience is going to take a lot away from this episode. Would you mind sharing the socials and how people can connect with you if they want to find a bit more about your story and connect you on social platforms?
00:50:29
Speaker
They can find me through my website, elevatelifecoaching.org, or they can follow me on social media. I'm definitely a big, big person on social media on Instagram and also Facebook. Oh, Michelle, thank you so much. That's amazing. You, you are amazing. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you so much for having me. You're most welcome. And we'll talk soon. Yes. Bye.
00:50:52
Speaker
Wow, wow, and wow. That was such a great episode. Isn't Michelle just amazing? You can see how much wisdom she imparts. On to everyone.
00:51:01
Speaker
and you could hear the smile through her voice. I told you, I told you. So, elevatelifecoaching.org. Go check it out, y'all. It's going to be in the show notes as well. And just a reminder, Patreon is also in the show notes. Definitely go check that out right now.
Conclusion and Calls to Action
00:51:15
Speaker
Also, I know that's a lot of requests, but I'd really appreciate it if you would rate and review this episode, this podcast, this channel.
00:51:22
Speaker
If you're on Apple Podcasts, you do have the freedom of leaving a review, and I would love that if you did leave a positive review. We've actually been getting some pretty awesome reviews lately, so that's really great. Keep it up, guys, and rate the podcast five stars as well. That would really appreciate it, just with the reach of the podcast, so more and more people can find out about how to succeed in their education as well. Again, online store, first of March. Get keen, y'all. I'm very excited for that to be released.
00:51:50
Speaker
And yeah, definitely go check out the Instagram at allthingseducation21, which will give more and more updates about the online store and its progression. So far, I actually haven't mentioned it on the Instagram, so you guys on the podcast listeners are the first to know. And that is going to be a great merch store, so 100% of profits, as I say every single time, 100%. Whoa, that's crazy. That's all the profits that are going to Bright Futures Child Aid and Development Organization.
00:52:17
Speaker
So that is a great initiative and I'd really appreciate it if you guys supported it, spread the word around and yeah, first of March, get keen. Alrighty, everyone stay educated and we'll see you next Sunday. Bye.
00:52:33
Speaker
Thanks so much for listening to the All Things Education Podcast. If you enjoyed the episode today, why not support the show? Head to the description of this episode and click on the support the show link to donate in increments of $5. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on your favourite platform. And remember, the advice given on this channel and on our social media is general information only. If you have any specific personal health, wellbeing and or educational issues,
00:52:54
Speaker
Reach out to professionals such as your GP, school counsellor and or a trusted person in your life before making any final decisions. Please do not take this episode as specific personal advice and hopefully you now have more information about the topic you listen to today. For more study and lifestyle content head to our Instagram at allthingseducation21 and the link in the bio will direct you to many helpful resources. Stay educated everyone and see you next time.
00:53:21
Speaker
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Speaker
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