15. Affirmation For Self Discovery: Explore & Define What Lights You Up

We've been taught to focus on career skills, sidelining what truly ignites our soul. Feeling stuck in your career? This isn't a mid-life crisis, and you don't need to quit your job tomorrow. This realization is a moment of rediscovering the light within you and paving the path to fulfillment and true authenticity. 

In this episode of the Mindful Life Changes Podcast (formerly known as the Mindful Career Change), host Valerie Mekki, helps listeners rediscover what lights them up inside with an uplifting affirmation and unpack the guilt of spending time on this quest of discovery by replacing it with curiosity and excitement. We'll explore how those passions outside your nine-to-five can lead you closer to your authentic self. This isn't just about chasing dreams; it's about carving a path that resonates with who you truly are.

Show Notes and Timestamps:

[00:00:50] Intro to the affirmation

[00:01:46] We were told to focus on the skills for the job, not our innate gifts and talents

[00:03:05] If you're feeling stuck in your career

[00:03:49] Make time for your rediscovery

[00:04:30] Priming your mind with a body scan

[00:04:54] Memorize the affirmation

[00:05:40] Say the affirmation out loud 

[00:06:24] Visualize the affirmatio

[00:07:38] Making your affirmations sticky

[00:08:18] How to make your affirmation sticky

[00:09:15] End

Curious to learn how to make your affirmations sticky? Listen to episode 1 and I’ll walk you through how to make your affirmation practice a more effective and transformative tool for your career changing journey.

You’re listening to the right show, formerly known as the Mindful Life Changes or Mindful Career Change. We’ve pivoted through the years, but finally landed on the right path: content for moms in the ‘Sandwich Generation’, because midlife disruption doesn't have to break you.

New episodes drop on:

• Sundays: 20-min episodes addressing common midlife challenges with practical strategies plus a mindfulness practice (affirmations, mantras, or meditations)
• Wednesdays: Bite-sized episodes to reinforce Sunday's mindfulness technique & reset your week

More from The Mindful Midlife Mom:

Discover Valerie's articles on ohhellomidlife.com or watch her videos on YouTube @ohhellomidlife

This podcast explores patience, meditation, confidence, presence, and overcoming resentment while cultivating calm, peace, mindfulness, clarity, mantras, and addressing loneliness and burn out; it covers boundaries, caregiving, guilt, affirmations, working moms, self-care, midlife crisis, empty nesters, empowerment, people pleasing, compassion fatigue, family caregiving, stress relief, self-worth, stress management, and how to shift from reactive to centered when feeling short tempered, offering tools for self acceptance, easing mental exhaustion, building emotional resilience, harnessing inner strength, and preventing caregiver fatigue for those in the sandwich generation through expert advice on boundaries setting.

Chapters

• 0:30 Intro to the affirmation
• 1:46 We were told to focus on skills for the job
• 3:49 Finding time to rediscover what lights you up
• 4:30 Start affirmation with a body scan
• 4:54 Memorizing the affirmation
• 5:40 Say the affirmation out loud
• 6:24 Visualize this affirmation
• 7:38 Make your affirmation sticky

Transcript

Today's affirmation, I am discovering what lights me up, and each day, I am guided closer to a life filled with joy, purpose, and passion. Growing up, we're told, go to school, pick a career, buy a home, have a family, and retire happily. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? But not realistic. It leaves no room for shifts in an industry, relationship changes, and evolving passions.

[00:00:30] We were taught to focus on our skills for our profession, but often it's at the cost of sidelining what truly ignites our soul. May be now you're feeling a little stuck in your career, wondering where the zest for life went. The good news is it's not a midlife crisis, and you don't need to quit your job tomorrow.

[00:00:50] This moment is about something much more exciting and special. It's about rediscovering what lights you up inside. And getting you one step closer to reclaiming your passions, redefining your purpose, and reigniting a life that truly resonates with your authentic self.

[00:01:13] Hello and welcome to the Mindful Career Change Podcast. I'm your host, Valerie Mekki, a career change counselor and guide. Today's episode, we're practicing an uplifting affirmation that takes the guilt out of rediscovering your joy and passion. 

I am discovering what lights me up and each day I'm guided closer to a life filled with joy, purpose, and passion.

[00:01:46] I wish the linear path that I shared in the intro was a matter of fact and played out exactly how it's been sold to us. But life isn't that straightforward. Throws curves. It throws curveballs. We can be faced with changing landscapes in the marketplace, a change in our relationships, or we can simply become uninterested with our jobs and being bored with it. But we were groomed to prioritize our career skills. For success and stability growing up, rather than focusing on our innate talents and passions. But those are the ones that really light us up inside. 

[00:02:25] So for example, you might've been an aspiring chef, but ended up crunching numbers because it seemed safer. Or maybe your dream of becoming a painter was squashed under the stereotype of a starving artist.

[00:02:42] Whatever the reasons, this could be why you're now feeling stuck and deflated in your career. Trust me, I've been there. I can even speak from a place of a career that started with passion, and yet I still ended up with a career change. Life's funny that way. It shifts, and so do we. But that's what makes it so beautiful. 

[00:03:05] So, if you're feeling stuck in your career, I'm not suggesting that you quit your job tomorrow. Responsibilities and bills are real, but why not explore and experiment in activities that sparks your interest again, lights you up inside. Think of it as baby steps, stepping stones into the career you might have had if you just have taken a leap. Rediscovering your passions outside of the everyday grind can be like a secret mission just for you. You know, that thing you do when no one's watching, but here's the catch. It requires you to put away some time, devote this time for yourself, like a self care routine.

[00:03:49] And I get it. Sometimes we're buried under the day to day responsibilities that just thinking about spending time on ourselves can bring up a lot of guilt. That's why I created this affirmation to take the guilt out of the journey of finding that spark again, because you're worthy of it and deserving of getting one step closer to being your true and fulfilled self.

So, are you ready to practice this uplifting affirmation of exploring your natural gifts and talents to help spark that fire back into your life?

[00:04:30] Let's begin by priming your mind and body so you're open to accepting this affirmation practice. We'll start by scanning your body. Letting go of any tension or energy that doesn't serve you. And take a cleansing breath in, and out. 

[00:04:54] I'll begin by reciting this affirmation twice. And while you hear this affirmation, imagine you're writing this affirmation down on a whiteboard, or you're watching someone write it on the board for you. This will help with memorization. So, let's begin.

I am discovering what lights me up, and each day I'm guided closer to a life filled with joy, purpose, and passion.

I am discovering what lights me up, and each day I'm guided closer to a life filled with joy, purpose, and passion.

[00:05:40] I'll repeat the affirmation again, but this time I want you to repeat it out loud to yourself so you can make that connection. 

[00:05:53] I am discovering what lights me up, and each day I'm guided closer to a life filled with [00:06:00] joy, purpose, and passion.

I'll repeat the affirmation again, and once again, say it out loud to yourself.

I am discovering what lights me up. And each day I'm guided closer to a life filled with joy, purpose, and passion.

[00:06:24] Now, imagine yourself in action, doing something that brings you joy. It makes you proud, could be a hobby, it could be something creative, something that you haven't done for a while that ignite passion and lights you up inside. I'll repeat this affirmation again and imagine yourself with this vision in full color.

I am discovering what lights me up, and each day I'm guided closer to a life filled with joy, purpose, and passion. 

I'll repeat it one last time and give you a moment to let it sink in. 

I am discovering what lights me up, and each day I'm guided closer to a life filled with joy, purpose, and passion. 

When you're ready, slowly open your eyes if you had them closed.

[00:07:38] This affirmation is yours to recite and practice for 21 days at least once a day. It's most effective before you go to bed at night or when you wake up in the morning before you start your day. You can take your affirmation practice a step further by making your affirmations sticky. By writing it down on a sticky note and placing it somewhere visible as a quick reminder that you're worthy of finding that spark in your life again. Also, try stacking this affirmation with another affirmation to help solidify that self love and compassion you deserve every day.

[00:08:18] If you're curious to learn more on how to make your affirmation sticky, which is the acronym on how to make your affirmation practice more effective and sustainable, go back to episode one where I walk you through the steps on how to make your affirmation sticky, so it can be a transformative tool in your career changing journey.

Please make sure to subscribe and bookmark this episode so you'll have it handy whenever you need a guide to this affirmation. If you thought this episode was helpful. Please feel free to share it with a friend or a family member who may need a little reminder and encouragement to find that spark again that lights them up and bring back the passion into their life. Or help rate it wherever you're listening so it can help this podcast grow and blossom so other career changers can find it. 

[00:09:15] Thank you for joining me and most importantly thank yourself for taking the time to make a mindful career change. I'll talk to you soon.