2746: The Story of Your Life: Rewriting Your Script by Emma Scheib of Simple Slow Lovely on Personal Growth

[00:00:00] Looking to part ways with complicated, expensive and uncertain shipping?

[00:00:04] Then give your business the edge it needs with USPS Ground Advantage Shipping from the United

[00:00:10] States Postal Service. Keep everything simple with clear, upfront pricing and no unexpected

[00:00:17] surcharges. Keep things affordable with some of the lowest prices out there. And keep it all

[00:00:23] reliable with on-time ground shipments. It's time to turn shipping to your advantage. Learn how at

[00:00:30] usps.com slash advantage. USPS Ground Advantage, simple, affordable, reliable.

[00:00:53] Sponsor Message

[00:01:10] This is Optimal Finance Daily, Episode 2746. The story of your life, rewriting your script,

[00:01:18] by Emma Scheib of SimpleSlowLovely.com. And I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast,

[00:01:24] Diana Merriam. Welcome back to a bonus Sunday episode. I do this once a week so we can hear

[00:01:31] a little more content to optimize our lives. An extra episode from one of the other shows

[00:01:36] where we read articles to you. Today, I'm sharing one from Optimal Living Daily. If you enjoy it,

[00:01:42] you can follow or subscribe in your favorite podcast app for daily episodes. So with that,

[00:01:48] here's Justin from Optimal Living Daily as we optimize your life. The story of your life,

[00:01:58] rewriting your script, by Emma Scheib of SimpleSlowLovely.com. Hey you, guess what? You are a

[00:02:07] star. You're starring in the role of a lifetime, the role of your life. And each of us has a script

[00:02:15] that's running a thread through our lives, laying the groundwork for the show to take place.

[00:02:20] The script is made of many different moving parts, unconscious and conscious beliefs,

[00:02:26] our worldviews, our genetic makeup, our hopes and dreams, and so much more. Meet the director

[00:02:33] of your show or life. Also, every good show has a director and our lives are no different.

[00:02:40] We have someone sitting in the hot seat shouting directions, ordering the moving parts around,

[00:02:45] and dictating the atmosphere. And all too often, the director of our lives is our inner critic.

[00:02:51] For the better part of my life, my inner critic has sat in the director's chair and tried to

[00:02:56] tell me who I am. She had her birth at my conception. Conceived to a young woman who

[00:03:02] did not want motherhood and denied the first instinctive connections, the roots of my inner

[00:03:07] critic grew. As I lay in my crib alone, tended to only by hospital nurses, her voice whispered into

[00:03:15] my neural pathways, you are not good enough. You are unloved and unworthy. You are a mistake and do

[00:03:22] not belong. At day 10, I was adopted by two loving parents who took me as their own child, very much

[00:03:29] wanted and loved. But unfortunately, the deep groundwork was done and the inner critic had taken

[00:03:36] up her director's position. She was in it for the long haul. Listening to her directions and demands

[00:03:42] has brought nothing but trouble. I've let her run the script for an eating disorder, frequent bouts

[00:03:47] of imposter syndrome, alcohol dependency, damaging perfectionism, and much more. Well, the buck stops

[00:03:55] here. I've had enough. It's time for her to pack up her chair and hit the road. This is part of how

[00:04:01] I simplify my life. Embracing an intentional, simplified life includes recognizing the things

[00:04:07] that don't serve me and courageously asking them to leave. How to send your inner critic packing.

[00:04:15] Step 1. Awareness. You have to notice the things your inner critic is saying to you. I mean,

[00:04:22] literally take note. Take time to sit down and make a note of what she says. Carry a notebook

[00:04:28] with you. Every time she pipes up, write it down. You won't always recognize her voice, but you'll

[00:04:34] get better the more you do it. Side note, she doesn't really want to pack up her things and go

[00:04:40] home so she'll stay under the radar trying to go undetected as much as she can. She'll disguise

[00:04:45] herself by dressing up like a long-lost friend. For me, this is often busy work. Here are some of

[00:04:52] the other things my inner critic tells me, besides from not being good enough. I'm a procrastinator.

[00:04:58] I'm not a real writer. I'm too big and need to lose weight. I'm not a good parent. Hubby does it

[00:05:04] better. I'm selfish. I'm a fraud. Gosh, she's a nasty piece of work. I would never talk to a friend this

[00:05:11] way so why do I let her talk to me like this? Step 2. Put her firmly in her place. By this, I mean

[00:05:19] recognize that she is not you. Repeat after me, my inner critic is not the real me. Realizing that

[00:05:28] you are separate from your inner critic is a vitally important step. If you need to, you can

[00:05:32] visualize her like I do. Mine is a burnt out, frazzled hair, sleep deprived, overworked B-grade

[00:05:39] Hollywood director. Your inner critic might look like that nasty bully from the playground at grade

[00:05:44] school. Whatever he or she looks like, the key here is separateness from yourself. Step 3. Rewrite

[00:05:52] the notes you made in step 1. This is the part where you get to rewrite your script. Check out

[00:05:58] the script she's given you and imagine you are talking to your best friend. What would you say

[00:06:03] to her if she was struggling with similar issues? You'd likely encourage her and speak positive

[00:06:08] words into her life. Do this for yourself. Sit down with pen and paper and rewrite those statements.

[00:06:15] Tell your inner critic exactly who you actually are. You don't have to believe it yet, but rewrite

[00:06:21] them like this. I am proactive and deal with things in a timely manner. I am a writer. I'm strong, fit,

[00:06:30] and healthy. I'm a very good parent who is providing her girls with an amazing childhood experience.

[00:06:36] I care about others and I'm loving and kind. I'm an authentic, honest person. Step 4. Take actions to

[00:06:45] cement these statements and rewire your brain. This step is twofold. Take your new rewritten script

[00:06:53] and hang it up in various places where you frequent. Back of the loo door, tape it to your

[00:06:57] splashback in the kitchen, make it your screensaver. Get really familiar with your new script. After all,

[00:07:04] a star needs to know their lines to score the big roles. And the second part, take action to make

[00:07:10] these things become reality. Some of them already will be. That's because our inner critic likes to

[00:07:16] lie to us too, but she'll also stop us achieving new things. For example, I'm not yet a published

[00:07:22] author and she likes to tell me that won't ever happen. Well, I can counter that by rewriting my

[00:07:28] script and saying, I am a writer and I will one day be published. But I'm clearly not just going to

[00:07:34] get to that goal by reading I am a writer to myself every day. What do I need to do to make that come

[00:07:39] true? I need to write. Very, very simple. Unless you ask me at 6am tomorrow morning when I'm sitting

[00:07:46] bleary-eyed in front of the screen, then maybe not so simple. Your task, if you choose to accept it,

[00:07:52] is to slowly but surely rewrite the script for your life. I wholeheartedly believe in you. You'll

[00:07:59] always make a better director than your inner critic, so show her the door and send her packing.

[00:08:09] You just listened to the post titled, The Story of Your Life, Rewriting Your Script by Emma Scheib

[00:08:14] of SimpleSlowLovely.com. It goes without saying that a lot of people don't know where to start

[00:08:20] when it comes to investing. Many think you need a lot of money to invest. Some put off investing

[00:08:25] because it doesn't seem urgent. Acorns makes it easy to start automatically saving and investing

[00:08:30] for your future. You don't need a lot of money or expertise to invest with Acorns. In fact,

[00:08:35] you can get started with just your spare change. Acorns recommends an expert-built portfolio that

[00:08:41] fits you and your money goals, then automatically invests your money for you. And I love Acorns

[00:08:46] because I feel that this type of automation is exactly the boost needed for the many people

[00:08:51] who like the idea of investing, but haven't felt ready to begin for whatever reason.

[00:08:55] So head to acorns.com slash OFD or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing

[00:09:01] for your future today. Paid non-client endorsement may not be representative of all clients. Tier 1

[00:09:07] compensation provided. Compensation provides an incentive to positively promote Acorns.

[00:09:11] View important disclosures at acorns.com slash OFD. Investing involves risk, including the loss

[00:09:17] of principal. Please consider your objectives, risk tolerance and Acorns fees before investing.

[00:09:22] Acorns Advisors LLC. Acorns is an SEC registered investment advisor. Brokerage services are

[00:09:28] provided to clients of Acorns by Acorns Securities LLC. Member FINRA SIPC. For more information,

[00:09:34] visit acorns.com. Looking to part ways with complicated, expensive and uncertain shipping?

[00:09:41] Then give your business the edge it needs with USPS Ground Advantage shipping from the United

[00:09:47] States Postal Service. Keep everything simple with clear upfront pricing and no unexpected surcharges.

[00:09:55] Keep things affordable with some of the lowest prices out there. And keep it all reliable with

[00:10:01] on-time ground shipments. It's time to turn shipping to your advantage. Learn how at USPS.com

[00:10:09] slash advantage. USPS Ground Advantage. Simple, affordable, reliable.

[00:10:16] Thank you Emma. This one reminded me of the article I narrated yesterday which talked about

[00:10:22] intuition versus the logical mind, which is like the heart versus head analogy, but also the critic

[00:10:29] versus accepting traits that we have like Emma talked about today. And both, in different words,

[00:10:36] talked about awareness being the first step. Now if you're a long-time listener of this show,

[00:10:42] that might sound familiar because with many different aspects of personal development,

[00:10:47] awareness is almost always the first step. If we don't know where we are or who we are,

[00:10:54] then we can't really get started, or it's really difficult to at least. The same is true for

[00:11:00] dieting or working out. You'll hear my brother Dr. Neil over on Optimal Health Daily talk

[00:11:06] about how beneficial it is to track what you're eating for even just a week because you'll really

[00:11:12] get a sense of where you are so you can plan accordingly. That's the awareness step. Then

[00:11:18] over on Optimal Finance Daily, you'll hear how you should try tracking every penny that goes in and

[00:11:24] out of your life for a month. Side note, I love doing that so much that I've been doing it for

[00:11:29] 12 years now without fail. I can tell you every penny that I've earned and spent in the last 12

[00:11:34] years. Not only has that made tax season a lot less painful, but it's created a very high level

[00:11:39] of awareness around my finances. Whereas tracking food creates awareness around our nutrition,

[00:11:47] and meditation, or in this case just writing it down like Emma suggested, creates awareness

[00:11:54] of what's really going on in our heads. All of these tactics work. The hard part is actually

[00:12:00] taking the time to do it. If you have done it, I want to hear about it. Let me know. You can always

[00:12:06] get in touch at oldpodcast.com or if you're on my free weekly newsletter you can simply reply to that.

[00:12:12] But that should do it for today. Hope you're having a great Friday and I'll see you tomorrow

[00:12:17] over the weekend where your optimal life awaits.