167: #1 Wellness Habit That Has Been Game-Changing For Me Has Been THIS

This is episode 167 and I am your host Melissa Llarena. Today’s listener question comes from a coaching client a mom in academia and she asked what is the ONE new wellness habit you've incorporated into your mom life that has had the largest positive impact?

The habit is to be okay with declining food from my family and other people when it’s not in my best interest from a wellness perspective. This may sound rude or downright ungrateful to some of us especially if you are from a culture where food = love like us Latinos. However, this has been a choice for which I have zero regrets.

I believe that for you and for me we need to give our imagination its best shot possible to work for us --- whether it’s to help you come up with a new idea for a book or to figure out how to navigate the logistics necessary to make the time to do anything for yourself.

You need to think clearly (not be scatterbrained) and to innovate at the drop of a dime and for that reason alone wellness to me requires full ownership and discernment over what we eat. This habit was extremely important especially if you have been known to be a people pleaser or avoid confrontations.

Imagine if every time your loved one told you: don’t worry it’s only a cookie or come on what are you on a diet or look I made apple pie and we have cheesecake you decided that you didn’t want to cause a fuss or look ungrateful or cause an issue or rife? This is something that to me matters a ton and honestly as it related to my client choosing to appease a family member meant forgoing her weight loss goals. So how does this affect her ability to create the best work of her life? In this very specific way, energy and also self-trust. You eat sugar or turkey or don’t work out then you feel lethargic. You won’t have the energy to work after hours to launch your side hustle. Self-trust when it comes to self-trust you just undermined yourself to yourself and although no one outside of you hears that its you and this creates a slippery slope…you start accepting that lying to yourself is okay….this is in the wellness category but spills into other life areas too.

This habit of declining food that does not nourish you is so important because this is really hard and can undo a ton of effort. You are a mom. You need to operate on all of your cylinders. This is not about being ungrateful. It’s about standing up for yourself. You need to nourish yourself to give your imagination the opportunity to wake up, you need to have energy to want to reintroduce playfulness into your life, and you need to have clarity of mind to stretch your thinking when it comes to living life on your terms.

I am writing a book on this very topic and it would mean the world if you asked me your questions around the use of your imagination.  Have you ever felt like the least creative person you knew? Have you ever felt totally stuck and unsure what to do when it came to pressing reset on your life? What is stopping you (really) from bringing your most imaginative, fun, and encouraging self to fulfill your biggest dreams? Do you have a big dream? Have you stopped dreaming for yourself?

So now, I want to hear from you…what’s on your mind when it comes to achieving the kind of unimaginable wellness that can help you achieve your personal growth or professional ambitions as a woman with several talents and skills. What question would you like me to answer for you on a ten-minute or under podcast episode?

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