Glow Brighter with Toni: What's Your Word or Phrase?

Transcript from April 14, 2020 Show (Season 1, Episode 1)

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Overview: During this pandemic, we have a golden opportunity to start “over” on our New Year’s resolutions and goals. What word or phrase are you going to use to glow brighter for the rest of 2020? On this episode of Glow Brighter with Toni, let’s dive deep. Let’s talk about how we are doing in quarantine and while we are there, let’s revert back to our New Year’s resolutions and see what our check in point will be. And, let’s get a new phrase or word that will propel us after quarantine and beyond.

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Hello Everyone and welcome to the first episode of “Glow Brighter with Toni”! I am Toni, your host, and I am so grateful that you are here with me today and going to continue on this journey with me. So, you are probably wondering what does glow brighter mean and why do I care? Well, glow brighter is let’s imagine your life at an already pretty great pace that you are fairly content, happy, living your dreams, pursuing things in your life, goals, and you still inquire about life and want to know what else there is. Glow Brighter means that you are finding things in your life, ways to enhance life, to improve life, to be better, to dream bigger, to manifest things, to attract things into your life, and to really have people around you that are helping your grow and evolve into the person that you always dreamed that you wanted to be. So, that’s what we are going to do here. We are going to talk to random people in my life like friends that have been having their own businesses or went through some struggles. Agreed that I will also share my stories on things that I have done, things that I have continued to do, and things that have helped me grow, and to keep glowing brighter. I feel that I am already glowed up. You know when you are in your younger twenties, you realize when you get to your thirties that there is so much living to do and that there is so many things that you have to accomplish. Not even have to accomplish but things that you are like “Wow, that doesn’t really matter to me. That isn’t even a big deal.” These things, these values really matter to me and that is the kind of things that we will focus on here. We will also talk about random Netflix shows like Tiger King or whatever the most popular thing is on and we will sit and grow together. We will even take questions from our listeners and answer questions.

One thing that I am really great is at taking a text, email, written format, and changing that into a very poignant, simple delivery and being very assertive. If you need those kind of services, hook me up and we will go over it here on Glow Brighter and we will figure it out together. So, one of the main things that I have done in my life is that I have had a variety of careers. I have done pretty much a lot of things all within the helping fields but I have also worked at a cleaners. I have cleaned carpets. I was a social worker for an amount of time where I worked with people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities and they also had a dual diagnosis of bipolar, schizophrenia, etc. Then, I worked with children and families in that same regard was in their home as a case worker. Then, I decided to pursue teaching and then I went into life coaching which I do not do as much for individual clients but I still do. I am now an Operations Analyst that is employing life with doing automated processes and I am still teaching. That is my day job but my real passion in life is connecting with other people and finding out what makes you happy, what makes you glow, what makes you light up your life, and what makes you shine and give your light to the world. So, that is the kind of things that I really love and fuels me. I love talking about mental health and emotional health and how to employ techniques to make life even better, to make it grow more, and this does not discount the fact that there is life right now….hello, we are in quarantine. We are in self-isolation. How are we not all losing our minds? How can we keep going faster, better, and more and not lose our brains?

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So, I want to hear from you. I want to hear what is going on. How is life happening? What’s going in your world? I think one of the first things that we will talk about with quarantine is I think it is a time of real self-reflection and real looking at your life, looking at things, people, experiences, travels, and things that you really need to reflect on. How often in our lives do we really stop and think? Granted, I know that I will have some people that will say I am so tired of thinking and hearing myself. I am tired of sitting in my thoughts. I am tired of being self-reflective. My family is driving my crazy. My kids are going off the wall. Or, I live alone and I am tired of sitting here. I am an extroverted person at heart. And granted, you know the beauty of all of this is that we are all in it together. There is not one person that is not feeling the same feelings, that is not feeling “Oh my gosh! I just got furloughed on my job.” Or, I do not know how I am going to continue paying or making the rent. So, basically this podcast is going to be a little bright spot and things to take your mind off of all of those thoughts. Not that they are not there. But, focusing on changing them to even grow, glow brighter, that you can start changing the way that you are thinking to attract other experiences, people, places, and things into your life. That is really what we are going to talk about.

I think the first thing that I will start with is that I was going to launch this podcast back in January and I decided no, I’m just going to build up some things, get things together, need to get finances together, etc. I said it’s not time. It’s not right. And, how crazy that it is coming out in April which was the original revised goal and it is here. We are inside and we are in these times of a pandemic where things are uncertain, where things are moving at a pace that we really do not know. We really do not know what is coming next or what is going to come forward or when we are going to get out of this or what we are going to do. But, what I know and I feel in my heart with a full passion is that we will get out of this, that it will not be for the rest of our time, that it will come to fruition sooner rather than later. That is the kind of thing that I hold in my heart and I keep sending out that intention into the world. I also keep pursuing and pushing that energy out to the world. Do you know that your energy, your passion, your intention, can really change things? Putting into thought the things that you want to happen instead of leaning into what you don’t want to happen actually helps attract those things more? Yes, this is the law of attraction but it is basically those same things. One of the things that I was first going to start in January was talking about having a word that is going to start your year off, that is going to start the way that you are going to propel yourself and go forward in your life. What are you going to do in 2020? It is kinda funny that we are having a reset now. You get to rethink about how you want to restructure the rest of your 2020. You might have had your goals in January where you were like “I’m going to lose 10 pounds. I am going to run a marathon. I am going to learn how to sew. I’m gonna knit. I’m gonna read 400 books. I’m going to do whatever.” But, then it got to be March and the frantic, frenzy, and we are busy and we have things to do and we have various appointments. We have expectations put on us from our jobs, people in our lives, etc. and you forgot about those things. I want to encourage you. This is our first podcast for “Glow Brighter with Toni” but this will not be the last time you will hear this. What is your word or intention moving forward? What are you going to step away from this quarantine and continue to do? So, I’ll give you some examples.

Back in 2019, I was at my job and talking to one of my girlfriends at work. I was talking about how I really did not like the way someone was making me feel and that I really have a block when it comes to telling others that this is not okay. This is uncomfortable. Or, I really did not like that. This person at work said to me, “I cannot believe that you are like that. You are very direct person. You say what it is on your mind. You say it with kindness. So, I’m really shocked that you are having such a hard time with this.” I said, “I know. I don’t know what is going on with me. This has always been a problem. Sometimes I am a people pleaser and you know those kind of tendencies catch up to me.” And, I said, “I don’t want to do that anymore. You know what? I am going to employ and do this phrase.”

My phrase was BGID. That was the phrase for 2019. And you are probably like what does B-G-I-D mean? BGID means B, Get It Done! But instead of B, I use the other word but you can say bish. Bish, Get It Done! Yes, I talk to myself like that. What I meant was I am not going to let others dictate the way that I do things anymore. I am not going to be in this place of “Oh my gosh! I don’t know what is going to happen. Or, they are treating me this way and I am really not going to say anything. Or, I really want this to happen and I am not doing anything to make it happen.” So, anytime I would think that I would say B, Get It Done!

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I started to employ that statement and I still use it today even though it is 2020 and it was my one for 2019. It was just a way that I would face my fears, to face things that were stopping me and I would go forward. I wanted to move out of the place that I was currently at because I was just over it. Like, B, Get it Done! BGID. Anytime I would go and see someone in my life and I would doubt myself and I would say, “Nope. BGID. It’s time. It’s time. BGID.” So, maybe that will be your phrase after we get out of quarantine but all the things that you wanted to do like learn a new language. BGID. If you wanted to rock that pencil skirt that you never rocked before, BGID. If you wanted to go on a trip that you have never gone and you think I’m never going to afford that, BGID. Put your stuff in motion and get it done. That was mine that I used but let me also use some examples of some friends.

I have one friend who said that they really wanted to stand in their power. Like, stand. They felt that they always had people who were around them that was putting them down or that they did not have their back. Or, they would get in situations where and they would clam up and be really insecure and not step into their power or step into who they were. Their word was Stand. They wanted to stand in their power, stand in who they are, stand in the person that they always know that they are and continuing to be. Not restoring back to who they were whenever they were in high school, or with kids, or when they married or now remarried, they wanted to be the person always knew in their heart were. So, their word is stand and how they will stand in their power, how they continue moving forward, how do they continue showing others that mostly, well, not even others but to themselves that they are standing in their truth. They are standing in the person, in the dreams, and in the fulfillment who they are and whom they always wanted to be.

So, the same friend and I, every month at the end of the month, we meet up and talk about our goals. We say, “How did you stand this month? How did you continue to pursue forward?” It is such a great thing to do with a friend or whomever in your life because you really forget a lot of things that you have done and you forget things that you have built upon. You forget how you move through your life and what you have done the prior month. To have someone on a journey with you that can point out what is happening is quite powerful. If you don’t have anyone that you are close to or would not partake in that, you can do it by yourself by journaling and journal your end of the month and see what has happened, see how you can go forward, and what you are pursing. How did you stand? Or, whatever your word is.

For mine for 2020, it is shine. How do I shine? How do I radiate the love that is inside of me? How do I shine for others? Instead of playing in the backfield and not really stepping into all the radiant energy that I possess and have, how can I shine for others? How can I shine in their lives and how can I step up? How can I shine in my own? I have a tendency and maybe you do to where you start a project and you are so passionate about it. You go and research and you do all these things and you say I’m going to do this. And, then you get ready to launch and you think, “Oh. I really found something else that is my passion. Or, I am really scared about this. Or, I don’t know what is happening.” And, that was me for a period of time. I would shift my energy to whomever I was with and whomever I was around whether that was a person, a significant other, a child, or my dogs. Whomever. I would shift that energy to them and light them up and get them moving. And, then I forgot and said, “Man, what about myself? Why am I not putting those same things that I want for others on to me?” My word for 2020 is shine. It still is. It is still shining in 2020 even in this self-isolation space and this new way of being and new way of life. It is coming forth and saying how can I continue to go forward? How can I shine that light with others? One way is by doing this podcast and I am writer. I love writing. Connect back with that. Connect back with your gifts, girl. What are you doing?

That is what I encourage you. During this time, when you have time alone, I mean you do. Let’s be real. We have time alone. We are away from people. Right now, you have this great opportunity and how are you going to use it. How are you going to build yourself? How are you going to….pick a word, pick a phrase, pick something for the rest of 2020 that you are going to employ. This can be a family goal. This can be a relationship goal, friendship, personal, life goal. Whatever it may be. How do you glow brighter? You glow brighter by continuing to seek out how you can shine your light, how can you can stand in your power, how you can BGID for things that you want. I think the thing with this time although it is uncertain and it gives a lot of people worry and anxiety (I completely understand that) but it also gives you the time and reflection to really think about what is one thing or one word or one phrase that I can go forward faster and just be happier? Be brighter. Glow brighter. And just figure out my life. Think about that. Think about that experience. If you want to use BGID, I am down. I still use that today whenever I am talking to someone and I am deciding whether or not I want to go on a trip or if I want to buy something. I am not the best gift giver to myself. So, I have to remain myself to just get it done. B, get it done! Get it done. How do you glow brighter? You get it done. You have a phrase, reflect on what you want to take with you and what you want to pursue in 2020 and make steps to do that. I would also encourage you that at the end of each month to have someone or have a journal where you can chart down and write down how you did your word.

Another friend’s word, as a last example, is going to be relentless. They want to stick with something. They are a great starter of starting a exercise program or starting with I am going to do my nails every week. They are a strong start for two weeks and they stop. How can they be relentless? Which ways are they being relentless? How are they continuing to go forward? This does not mean that you go balls to the walls like saying tomorrow I am going to wake up and I am going to do this everyday. Hell no. We are people. We have feelings. We have others involved. You cannot bust your own chops. You cannot say I did not do better. Or, I failed today and I am just not going to do it. That is the journey of being on this pattern. Do I shine every day during quarantine? No. There are some days like last Sunday. Let me think because when I launch this it will be beginning of April. There was a day in March 29th that it was announced that we would be in quarantine until April 30th. I was at my house, walking the walls. I was saying “Oh my gosh! I can’t do this. I am an extroverted person. I need people! I need to go out. I need to do things.” Then, I was like “Toni! You need to calm it down like seriously. Calm it down. This is your situation right now. This is everybody’s situation. So, are you going to make the most of it? Or, how are you going to use it? You need to put dates in your head or little things that you can do.” The crazy thing is that this morning is that I was on Instagram. Please follow me at my business page @toniappelt1. I will post more stuff there.

Within this same minute swipe, like the post after the post, each of them said and I am paraphrasing the quote. Don’t be looking at the future and thinking what am I going to do a year from now. Or, two weeks from now. Or, a month and five years from now. Focus on the next 24 hours on what you can do. And, that is the same thing I am encouraging you to do. I am encouraging you to do with a word or phrase. What can you do for the next 24 hours? What can you BGID? Do you need to paint your cabinets and clean them out? Do you need to organize your kids’ room? What do you need to do? Step small, manageable steps. It is not going after the big, big, big ending. The whole journey in life with glowing brighter is the journey and getting there. It is being very mindful of yourself and very graceful, having grace with yourself, and realizing I am a person. I am not going to get it right all the time. That is the same thing with BGID. I would keep that as my phrase but there were times when I did not know if I could do certain things that I wanted to do. But, I would have that phrase. BGID. Because it was the anthem cry of I can. To glow brighter, your homework and yes there is homework, is to really think about what kind of things you want to do going forward. What word do you want? I have given a few examples. BGID, stand, relentless, shine. There are plenty of others out there. I really encourage you to pick what word you want to employ or a phrase. How can you do that going forward? Believe me, you have plenty of time. That is all that we are doing right now. We will keep going forward. We will keep meeting and talking here and discussing different things.

Coming up we will talk about gratitude, relationships, friendships, dating, marriage, divorce, kids, parenting, being your own business owner…anything else that you would like to discuss. We will discuss it here. We will talk about how you can glow brighter and also with glowing brighter, we will also acknowledge that we are all just living. We are all in process. Thank you so much for listening and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

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