Episode 449: A Simple Shift in Perspective That Unlocks Growth and Wealth

Jamila Souffrant 0:02

We are all students of life on this journey. I don't think you can ever know it all. I certainly don't know it all. I'm always learning and I'm always also adjusting. And even my perspective today can change on something that I thought I had a strong opinion about. I can change our mind. We have the ability to change our minds.

Intro 0:23

Welcome to the journey. To launch podcast with your host Jamila Souffrant as a money expert who wants her talk she helps brave journeyers like you get out of debt, save, invest and build real wealth. Join her on the journey to launch to financial freedom.

If you want the episode show notes for this episode, go to journey to launch.com or click the description of wherever you're listening to this episode in the show notes, you'll get the transcribed version of the conversation, the links that we mentioned, and so much more. Also, whether you are an OG journeyer or brand new to the podcast, I've created a free jumpstart guide to help you on your financial freedom journey. It includes the top episodes to listen to, stages to go through to reach financial freedom resources and so much more you can go to journey to launch.com/jumpstart

to get your guide right now. Okay, let's hop into the episode. Hey, hey, hey, journeyers, welcome to the journey to launch podcast. I am your host. Jamila Souffrant, I'm so glad you're here with me today. Now you know that we talk a lot about money here, most importantly, the journey to achieving your financial dreams, financial independence, but also living your best life in the meantime. And so today will be a solo episode, which I really like doing, because I am going to make this a short but hopefully impactful one where I'm reflecting on lessons that I am learning in my real life, or things I'm observing that directly apply to not only my journey, but I think, also will help you with your journey. Now, mindset and habits are a big part of you reaching your financial goals. I call these the two intangible things that we need to work on and be mindful of and do, meaning improving our mindset about who we are, what we think is possible and how we see the world, and also our habits, the things we do on a day to day basis, those two intangible items that can't always be measured are impactful to the tangible things we want to achieve with our money and life, meaning increasing our income, optimizing expenses, increasing assets, decreasing liabilities, so we can reach financial independence. But those things are not possible, increasing your income, optimizing your expenses, reducing debt, increasing assets without first understanding and improving your mindset and habits, which is why a lot of my solo episodes. And then when I think about the journey of myself and journey to launch and everything that I've been doing, I always come back to mindset. And how can I help you think about your world differently, what's possible for you differently, and then I always relate it to things that are happening in my life. So today, I want to share a story with you on how solutions and things that you feel are a problem that I once and still think maybe things are problems for me can be solved, and the answers are in front of us, and we are just not prepared, maybe to realize them, or just not at the space yet, to take advantage of the lessons in front of us. And so sometimes those answers are hidden in plain sight. They're in front of us, but we just have to see them. And sometimes we won't see them until they're ready. And most of us spend so much time looking for solutions. Sometimes it's a easy solution and we think it should be harder. So we keep looking. We're like, is this a trick? And maybe things should be harder? But whether it's our finances, our career or our personal growth, the things that we are completely missing, the puzzle piece that will complete the puzzle or help us get to the next step of our journey is usually right in front of our face, and so if you've been struggling with a everyday problem or something you haven't noticed yet, I want to share experience that I've recently had where it helped underline the point of solutions being right in front of us. So here's what happened at my kid's school, there is a mini track in the park. So typically, when I pick up my kids from school, especially now that it's been nice, it's getting a little chillier now that we are in the fall weather, but still nice. By the time I pick them up, they like to go to the park and play. And if we can do that, I like to stop because I know they've been cooped up all day in school. And so I'm like, Yes, have at it. Go play. Now, this mini track is something that the kids run on, or usually they're just, you know, it's just part of the park. And I remember last year I started to see this man who walked the track, and he looked pretty fit, but he was just walking in like, circles. It's a mini track, so it's not that big you from the track, you can still see all parts of the park. And I just noted that I saw him walking in. And I said, Oh, he's probably, you know, getting his steps in good for him. Typically, while I was at the park, I would be sitting down just, you know, looking at the kids, looking at my phone scrolling, and didn't really think much of it. So this was last year that I noticed him. Fast forward to this year, I was thinking about more of how to get more movement in and exercise into my daily routine, because while I am very active, when I can run and work out in the morning, sometimes I don't get to do that, or I know on the weekend, I don't really work out at all because I'm preoccupied with all the kids activities. And so I was thinking to myself, you know, I want to be a bit more active because I sit a lot outside of the workouts that I do. I'm sitting at my desk, I'm sitting in my car. And so I was thinking, how can I get more of that in? I should be walking more. And then I thought to myself, wait a second, why not just walk the track? You know, I'm stopping at the park anyway, almost every day after school I'm here for about about an hour. Why not just walk the track and get some steps in? And it was such a simple solution. When I thought of it, I'm like, this has been this track has been here the whole time. My kids have been going to school here for the past eight years, and I've never considered that while I'm at the park, I can walk this track to just a little bit more exercise in or just to move, move my body. And it was like this answer was right in front of me all along. I didn't apply it to myself. So when I saw the man walking the track, I thought, oh, good for him, but I never thought to myself, wait a second. You can walk it too. It just didn't hit me until recently. And that's when I thought, wow, this is such a way in which life works. Our money works, our life works, our journey works, because salute the solutions we are looking for. Whether it's to save money, invest smarter. Maybe it's a problem at work. They are in front of us. There are the tools available for us to use, but we have to understand what the tools are and how to use them. And it goes back to mindset. If our mindset isn't ready, if we're not curious enough, if we're not paying enough attention, we'll just miss them. If we don't think what the person is doing can apply to us, maybe someone else that is seeing success in something, and you think, oh, that's just them. That's not me, you won't think that whatever methods they're using can be applied to you also. So we need to be more curious. We need to notice things. We need to say, what if I did that? Or how could that help me when possible? Just like me observing the man on the track last year again, I never considered, oh, this is something I could do. I just noted it. And it's a reminder that oftentimes answers will not show up for us when we're not ready to receive them, and they might show up in the most unexpected places, the student has to be ready for the teacher to appear. It's also similar to when maybe there is some advice someone has been telling you for a long time, or a resource that has been available to you, but you just you don't look at it, you don't listen to it until you're ready to receive it. How many times has that happened if your parent has told you something, as a mother now myself telling my children this, I'm like, I'm giving you the answer, but they don't want the answer. They want to learn on their own. And eventually they get to a point where they can receive the answer or learn it on their own, because they're ready to take it in and to learn. And so think about your life that way. Think about all the things that maybe you're stuck in right now, or you're looking for a solution, and become curious and observant about how or the things around you can help you achieve those problems. The key is perspective, curiosity and being ready to act when the solution is sitting in front of you. Hey, journeyers, if you are loving this podcast, then you will love my book, Your journey to financial freedom, a step by step guide to achieving wealth and happiness. I wrote this book for you. This book is for you. If you want a clear and enjoyable path to having more money, options and a rich life. This book is for you if you hate your commute and the fact that you need to seek approval or permission from a boss. I hated that when I worked. This book is for you if you weren't born into wealth, you didn't marry rich or won the lottery, but you still want freedom. This book is for you. If you're at a crossroads, a major decision or event is imminent, maybe a career change, marriage, starting a family, pressures are reaching a tipping point, and the discomfort and the desire for more can no longer be ignored, and this book is for you. If you find yourself zoned out at meetings, looking out the window or daydreaming about the life you truly want. So go pick up your journey to financial freedom.com. So I can show you how to map out how to get from where you are today to where you ultimately want to be. And enjoy the journey while you're on the path, head over to your journey to financial freedom.com. To see where you can pick the book up. It's available on Amazon, bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble, your local bookstore everywhere go to your journey to financial freedom.com. To get the book now.

And so this story about the park, it's not just a way about getting more exercise in or finding more steps. I mean, it's a great solution for me, but it's really about your mindset. It was about my mindset. And so we're often looking for complicated solutions to simple problems, and it can be right in front of us. The answer, I find that to be empowering, because it lets me know that I do have and have access to everything I do need, or the things I need right now, I just have to be willing and able to be open to see them. So start thinking about shifting your mindset to I have no solution for this, or I don't know what to do to how can I make this work? I wonder what things in front of me are available to help solve this problem that I have not been thinking about. The power is within you. The power is your mindset and how you see things. So be prepared to be ready to notice the opportunities in front of you to think creatively and to apply what you learn in real ways. Now, some practical takeaways I want to share with you. So one, the answer is often in front of you. Pay attention to what is already in your environment, your routine or life, just small observations. Be a scientist in your world, right? Observe and see what is there already for you to solve your problems. Two, Curiosity is your superpower, ask questions, notice patterns, challenge yourself to see things differently. Three, mindset unlocks opportunity. Be ready to learn, be open for change, just to see things differently and willing to act. Most importantly, willing to act when the solution appears number four, small actions compound so tiny adjustments in your life or finances, they can have really big results. And it might seem small, just like for me now that I'm walking a little bit more, and I don't do this every day because we are not able to stop every day. And I'm, you know, I'm walking, sometimes I can get, I've gotten two miles in walking this little track. On average I'm doing about a mile. But it's not just the steps. Sometimes I don't have even that much time, and I've gotten maybe, like, a quarter of a mile in, but I feel empowered doing it because I'm like, I can really multitask. I'm actually when I'm walking. I told my husband, you know, I found a way to get some more steps in. And he was like, that seems really boring because you're walking in smaller circles. But I said, You know what? Like, I've been listening to podcast. I have been making calls so avoiding, like, I'm not a phone person, but I have noticed that I started to call people that I needed to catch up with more often when walking around. So multitasking, so it's tiny, the result isn't always necessarily getting more calories burned or steps in. It is I feel empowered that I'm able to get something off my plate or do something I've been putting off and having more time to do this thing while my kids are also having fun and multitasking. And the thing is, I would have been in this park anyway, but usually sitting down. And then the last thing I want you to take away is the student must be ready. We are all students of life on this journey. I don't think you can ever know it all. I certainly don't know it all. I'm always learning, and I'm always also adjusting. And even my perspective today can change on something that I thought I had a strong opinion about. I can change our mind. We have the ability to change our minds, and with that, though becomes and shows us how growth can happen. And so whether maybe you can't figure out that problem in your life yet, or you don't see the solution. Know that when you are ready to see it, as long as you're being open, curious and willing to learn, that you have the confidence in yourself that you'll be able to take the solution and be prepared for the opportunity when it comes so patience, perspective. And readiness are key as students of life and on this journey. So next time you feel stuck, I want you to ask yourself whether it's your finances, your career, personal growth, look around observe, ask yourself what solutions are in front of me, and take action, or if you need to continue to observe, observe, ask yourself, what opportunities are you ignoring because you haven't been ready to see them yet? And where in your life could you do small things that can create large results? Okay, I hope this episode helps you. If you are digging it, if you like it, take a screenshot, share it with me that you've been listening on social media. I always love that sometimes I'm just, you know, speaking into the void. I'm in my my little office, speaking to myself, and then we press Publish, and then it goes out to how many 1000s of people listen to the podcast. And so I don't always want this to be a one way conversation. I want to hear from you. So share with me that you're listening. Share with me maybe there's a solution to a problem that you overlooked for so long and you were able to find it and share it with someone else who may find this episode helpful. Okay, I'm on social media at journey to launch on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, so share it with me there and make sure you're on my newsletter list. That's where I also sent out tips and updates. And you can stay the most updated with what's going on on all things journey to launch and Jamila Souffrant and until next week, keep on journeying. Journeyers. Don't forget. You can get the episode show notes for this episode by going to journey to launch.com or click the description of wherever you're listening to this, and you can still grab your jumpstart guide for free to help you on your journey to financial freedom by going to journey to launch.com/jumpstart

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