Full Transcript: TUT - Episode #27 - Are you proud & content right now?

Welcome to the Transformer Unicorn Tales. I'm Katie, your ever-transforming host. This is a podcast about awesome transformations, food for thought, and occasionally unicorns. I am so excited that you're here listening to this. Let's get started.

Hello and welcome to the last episode of this year. Today is a special one, and if you're watching it, then you can see my Christmas tree on one side and my cute little weird Christmas village on the other. If you're not watching it, then maybe just hop on youtube for a second, check out those things, because my Christmas tree also includes, I'm so bad at pointing and stuff, a princess cat that is like a winter princess cat, and it's just like the best thing.

Anyways, we are here to just summarize 2023 and to look forward to 2024. And I think I've said this before, like some episodes I kind of record for myself, but then I get a lot of feedback, like, Oh, this is so valuable. It's so good that someone finally says these things." It's really good to listen to that because sometimes I hear your voice in my head." So it's one of those episodes where it's kind of for me, but apparently also for you, so that makes me really happy.

And there's also an invitation to, even if you don't have a whole podcast, to maybe record something like this for yourself as well, so that you can listen back to it when you're in 2024 and thinking, "What am I doing? What's happening?" So that's what this episode is. We're just going to look back and we're going to look forward. And I didn't really write an outline for this one because I just want to make it like how it comes out.

I do want to say that I did... Today is the 11th. Yesterday was the 10th. And I did the end of year meditation with a really dear friend of mine. She does that every year, so it's such a great moment, just like, you know, look back on the past year and do that year and year again. So I decided to record this episode right after the meditation so that the things are nice and fresh in my mind. And also so that you can maybe go through these things for yourself as well.

So the highlights of this year have been me trying to start a new life in a different country. And it was exciting. It was tiring. It was frustrating. It was all of the things. And I felt really proud of myself for just putting myself out there and trying. So maybe think of things that you were really proud of, even though it might not have worked out as you expected, because then in the middle of the year, I kind of had to abandon that plan and I moved back to the Netherlands again. But here I am now in my beautiful little cottage. It's not a cottage in my beautiful little house in the woods. And it's lovely. And again, it's also frustrating and annoying and just amazing and all of the things. Like, just like the other thing was.

So that's what I noticed, like this year, looking back, is there are always like good things about things and not so good things about things. And it's just how you go through them. And how you navigate it in a way that is good for you.

What I was also really proud of this year is, again, it was heartbreaking. It was terrible to move back to the Netherlands. To just give up on my plans to just feel like a failure for moving back and not following my dreams in a foreign country, like big adventure and stuff like that. But the moment I made the decision, it felt like so deeply the right thing to do. And that's like one thing that I want to take into the new year, that feeling, that exact feeling when I know that even though it's hard, even though it's freaking hard, I'm making the right choice. And that feeling, I want to take with me. So again, another invitation to maybe look at things that you want to take with you into the new year, maybe specific feelings or specific.I wouldn't say situations, but like situations that like, led to feelings that you're like, okay, that's like, there's something there. In previous years, I also had that like, I keep collecting these things so I can take them through other years with me.

Another one was, I was in this beautiful hotel and I had like no worries in the world. That was like in the middle of the pandemic, like being in a hotel, yeah. That's like, that was like already like adventurous, but also scary, but also like I have to do this for myself right now. And I was just sitting in that room looking out over the city and I thought, I made the right choice for myself, even though it was hard, even though it was weird, even though it was like really, really hard in the moment to do, right? If you can just think back a few years, it was like really hard to just go somewhere to like be in a hotel. And also because other people would be like, you know, what are you doing? Like you should be staying at home. Like why are you going on vacation right now? And still, it felt like a really good choice for me. And again, I'm really happy that I had that feeling again this year. So we're taking that with us.

And other things, of course, I started Yogi Help. I'm still not sure how to mix the names of all of my thingies, but me helping other yoga teachers started out as Yogi Help. And then it transformed into Transforming Unicorn, which was already my company. I just didn't know how to mix them together. So I'm just going to keep calling it Yogi Help because it makes more sense. And I finished my teacher training, the 300 hour one. So many cool things. Yeah, I'm not going to name all of them because it's not that interesting. I just want to name the things that I think might be also beneficial for you and the things that I would like to maybe also listen back on.

And yeah, and then I want to move on to next year. So we were also focusing on, you know, looking back on this year. What are the things that you want to take with you? What are the things that you want to leave behind? And maybe there's an intention coming from all of those things, maybe a sentence or a few words or a whole paragraph. You write a whole book. You write a plan. It's really nice and like, you know, like detailed for the next year.

And what came up for me like right away is I'm just going to be very, very honest here right now. There were moments last year where I wasn't sure if I was doing the things because I wanted them or because the world kind of expects us to go that way. Or because that's what we see on social media. And I'm saying this because I think many people might recognize it. Like, if you start looking at yoga videos, you will somehow end up in that world where you just see all the teachers teaching on the beach. Beautiful backdrops. And it just leads to just feeling like, you know, maybe I should be doing that too, right? Because isn't that the dream, but is that my dream. And that's why like, you know, the questions come in. Because I was also thinking back to that moment where I was teaching yoga on the beach and it was amazing. It was like, really cool, you know, it was just really cool.

But then I thought, now that I live in the woods, I go for walks in the woods and that feels way more meditative, very more calming, way more me to me. And, and I thought, okay, so maybe the beach is like, you know, that social expectation thing. And maybe the woods is more what I like. And that's okay. But there I was on the beach, right? So I'm like, come on, get a once we go.

And there are just like so many other of those things like moving to the camping. I see people looking. I know people saying things sometimes like, "Oh, it must be so hard for you, you know, being a yoga teacher. It probably doesn't earn good enough." And I'm like, "What are you saying? Okay. That you have to live in a camping." And I'm like, "No, it's a choice. I live here because I choose to live here. I could live in an apartment in a busy city, but that's not me. So, you know, there are like just these like social setups and cultural things that are kind of expected of people to be done in a certain way. Like you should be living in an apartment or in a house or something like that, not in a camping."

And yeah. Just how sometimes I caught myself following the things that I still felt like I was supposed to do instead of what I wanted to do, maybe deep down. There were also moments where I let myself down in that sense by choosing other people's priorities over mine. Yeah.

And so what came up for me, because that's why I was going with this for next year is being proud and being content. And what it means to me, some learning things, like it's on my head now. So let me show you. I wrote like a little card where I wrote on am I proud and content right now. And that's like a reminder for myself. Of am I doing the things that I want to be doing because that makes me feel proud of myself. You know, like teaching on the beach was something that I'm proud of because I went out there. I did a class. It was super cool to do. But then there's a contentment where it's like, yes, this is cool, but deep down. It doesn't feel like the exact right thing. So if I dig really deep, that's not really what I want.

And on the other side of that, now that I live in the woods, there is the content feeling. But as soon as I like, you know, open social media and I see beautiful people on the beaches and you know, not this background. If you're watching for the podcast, but some beautiful studios that are whatever. You know, there's a sense of like, I should do better. I should do more. Maybe I should edit these videos fancier. So, you know, I like to sound effects and stuff like that. And like, here you go sound effects. There we go. We cover the sound effects now too.

But where I'm going with this, like those things make me feel like I shouldn't be content with what I have, even though it's what I want.

The proud side comes from within me. How can I make myself proud by doing things, by changing things that I can control in a way that it fits me. And the contentment for me at least now is this mindset and this awareness of how the outside world is affecting how I think and feel and act on things. I hope that makes sense. I hope it makes sense, but I think it makes sense, right?

So, if I'm feeling like something isn't right, then I hope I can look at my card and go, am I proud and content right now, and then remind myself, okay, am I acting in a way that feels good for me. And am I acting in a way that is coming from my own desires, feelings, thoughts, instead of whatever, like, you know, social media and all the other things I like whispering in my head. Yeah, and I wrote that down and I was like, yeah, that's what I want to focus on more next year.

And I do want to point out, because I know people who have been following me for a long time or know me, listening to this might be like, but Katie, you're like doing it. You're like, you're already doing that, like, I'm proud of you and like, you're super cool already. Yes, I know, but I want to bring more awareness to these things, because, and I'm not saying because it feels like I'm not enough or because I should be doing more, but because I feel deep down that to be proud and to be content. I can make little changes in the way that I act or think or feel about things to just be more happy so that I can be really proud of the things that I do and I can be really content with the things that I have. Yeah, so like it comes down to like, you know, the thoughts that I have inside myself that I might not be sharing all the time so openly, or what goes on behind the scenes right because I don't know sometimes when I go for a walk and I share about it people like, this is so cool. You go on adventures all the time and I'm like, no, this is the first time that I went outside of my house in a month. You know, I just know how to tell a story really well.

And then, you know, like the down I'm like, I'm not content and I'm not proud because I really wanted to do this more. I just didn't so yeah, those kinds of stuff.

And maybe for someone this resonates like a lot. And if it does, when I wrote down those things I felt a little bit like, and that's a bit like a lot. And it's okay. Yeah, but that's what I'm looking forward to next year to just be more proud and be more content and just bring more awareness to these things so it doesn't come from that way of I'm not good enough I have to do better but it comes from that way of. How can I be more proud and I can I be more content with what I have so I think like they also balance each other. I like that.

Yeah, and I think that's the end of this episode because we look back to look forward invitation to do this for yourself invitation to maybe also record it in some form. So I do the podcast but I also journaled about all of these things so that I can look back this because it's really cool. Like now I can look back on last year's things and it's just really cool to like you know see the progressions and the recurring themes and stuff like that. So invitation to do it as well. And maybe if you want, because I know some people do. Invitation to also share some things about that because I love to hear and I think it's also good for accountability. So now anyone listening to this you know like in six months you can be like Katie are you proud and content. And I would love that I could be like oh yeah I forgot all about that.

Yeah, and so as you all know by the time this episode releases it's the end of the year actually. So I'm recording in this on the 11th of December because I'm almost going on vacation, but you will listen to this at the end of the year and I will be already on vacation so I've said it before and I'm like put it out on social media as well. I might react a little bit slower to things but please send me your reactions your thoughts. Because I really appreciate those. And I wish you an awesome and magical 2024. And I send you nig hugs and I think you're awesome.

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