Welcome back to the Create Yourself podcast!

This week I'm talking about something I've wanted to cover since day one: beauty, and the mask I've worn around my appearance my whole life.

Growing up as the redheaded, freckled, skinny kid who didn't look like her three sisters, I copped some pretty intense bullying, first as a young girl, then all through high school from the boys. It shaped how I felt about myself for decades.

It wasn't until my late thirties that I actually started healing that wound and figured out what beauty really means to me. This week I get into that journey, and I unpack the impossible standard women are held to: stay thin, stay young, stay beautiful, as if our only value is how we look.

It's personal, but I think it's going to be relatable for basically every woman listening. If you've ever felt insecure about your appearance, this one's for you.

If you liked this episode and want to support the show, please like, share, and give it a 5 star review. Your support means everything to me!

Create Yourself Socials:

Instagram:
@createyourself_co

TikTok:
@createyourself_co

Website: www.createyourself.co.nz
Email: Rachael@createyourself.co.nz

Watch On YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy3wfPEnmJb6befgQYOnTpA

This week's episode is basically the playbook I wish someone had handed me back in 2020, when I lost my job as a flight attendant after seventeen years and had no idea what came next.

I walk through the actual process I went through, not the tidy version, the real one: the grief that shows up even when the loss was your own choice, the trap of asking "what can I do" instead of "what do I want to do," and the exact moment things started to shift for me.

If you've ever lost a job, or you're sitting with the itch to change careers and can't figure out how to move, this one's built for you. I get specific about the stages I went through and why skipping the grief part just delays everything else. I also talk about the scarcity mindset that keeps most of us stuck looking backward at what we're already qualified for, instead of forward at what we actually want.

Guided visualisation is the other big piece of this episode. I found it almost by accident, using it just to sleep during the hardest stretch, right as I was also going through a separation and becoming a solo mum with no financial safety net. It ended up being the thing that let me build a sense of worthiness I didn't have the words for yet, long before I had any evidence it would work out. I share exactly how I used it and why I think it's one of the most underrated tools for anyone trying to move through real uncertainty.

I did come out the other side. I changed careers, I got through solo parenting in the thick of it, and everything I learned in that process became the reason I do what I do now. Helping other women find their way through their own version of change and challenge is genuinely my purpose, and I don't think I'd be doing it without having lived it first.

If you liked this episode and want to support the show, please like, share, and give it a 5 star review. Your support means everything to me!

Create Yourself Socials:

Instagram:
@createyourself_co

TikTok:
@createyourself_co

Website: www.createyourself.co.nz
Email: Rachael@createyourself.co.nz

Watch On YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy3wfPEnmJb6befgQYOnTpA

This week (after some chit-chat and life updates), I'm diving into social media and the challenge screen time has become in my own life. I get honest about what's actually showing up in my feed, how it makes me feel, and why we have to bring a lot more conscious awareness to the way we use our phones.

Left unchecked, we end up on a dopamine treadmill we can't get off. And that's what leaves us feeling washed up, unhappy, and pretty miserable about our own lives.

It's not all doom and gloom though. I do think we can use social media in a healthy way, but it takes getting smart about our own restrictions: the times we're on our phones, and what we're letting into our feeds. None of it is random. It's curated based on wherever our attention goes the most.

If you struggle with screen time or find yourself on your phone more than you'd like, this episode should resonate. I share some of what I've been doing to monitor my own usage. It's not about ditching our phones altogether, because let's face it, we're going to be on them. So the real question is how we protect our energy and the way we feel, without mindlessly ending up doom scrolling?

Create Yourself Socials:

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/createyourself_co/

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@createyourself_co

Website: www.createyourself.co.nz

Email: Rachael@createyourself.co.nz

If you liked this episode and want to support the show, please like, share, and give it a 5 star review. Your support means everything to me!

Create Yourself Socials:

Instagram:
@createyourself_co

TikTok:
@createyourself_co

Website: www.createyourself.co.nz
Email: Rachael@createyourself.co.nz

Watch On YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy3wfPEnmJb6befgQYOnTpA