2926: How To Be The Best Version Of You A Lot More Often by Katie Pietrangeli with Tiny Buddha

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Living Daily, Episode 2926, How To Be The Best Version Of You A Lot More Often by Katie Pietrangeli with TinyBuddha.com

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Justin Malik, your very own personal narrator.

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_00]: This is where I read to you every day covering mental health, minimalism, productivity, happiness, all that fun stuff.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: I do my best to get permission from authors to read their amazing articles to you to help make your day a little bit better.

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And my day too of course.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So without that, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life.

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_00]: How To Be The Best Version Of You A Lot More Often by Katie Pietrangeli with TinyBuddha.com

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Quote,

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_00]: In chaos there is fertility.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: An ice-nin.

[00:00:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Are you a calm creature in your yoga class? Then you get home and yell at your kids?

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you ever read a really inspirational book or blog and think,

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes that totally makes sense and I'm going to start doing that?

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And then life gets busy and it never quite happens.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you ever feel like you're two different people living in the same body?

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Saying one thing, doing another?

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Me too.

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: For the past 15 years, I've been a self-development junkie.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I've read tons of books and I've attended courses and loads of amazing workshops.

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_00]: These covered everything from parenting to time management, relationships to getting organized,

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00]: healthy eating to setting up a business, plus anything to do with spirituality and personal growth.

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_00]: All of these have inspired me with an array of fantastic ideas,

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but often they remained just ideas floating around in my head without any action planned behind them.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_00]: On the mat at my local yoga center I was the calm, peaceful, positive soul I craved to be.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Yet when I got home and re-entered my chaotic reality, it felt like just a temporary illusion.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I was straight back to my grumpy, irritable, impatient other self.

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_00]: What was wrong with me? How could I be so jekyll and hide?

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: How could I more consistently be the me I loved being around?

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I was writing in my journal one day when I began to list the qualities I show when I'm being my best version of me.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Kind, lighthearted, playful, calm, relaxed, positive and present.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I knew what brought out the best in me, yoga, inspiring workshops, running in nature, laughing with friends,

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: dancing my socks off, getting stuck in an amazing book.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Then I listed what the poor version of me looks like.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Irritable, impatient, snappy, short-fused, negative and mind-spinning in overdrive.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I asked myself what brings out the poor version of me?

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm feeling overwhelmed with a lot on my plate, too much on my mind trying to figure things out in my head,

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: rushed, running late, tired and not enough me time.

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And it occurred to me that since I know what brings out the worst in me,

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: why not look at each of these things and find ways to make them happen less often?

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I realized that I needed to get a handle on the day-to-day running the show stuff.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: To tackle overwhelm and having too much on my plate, I began to take a deep look at my time management.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I learned how to say no, to delegate and to structure my days better.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I began to prepare for success by meal planning, laying clothes out for myself and the kids the night before,

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and I was thinking one step ahead about what I need to take with me before going out the door

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: so I could feel calm and confident that I wasn't forgetting anything.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I began to feel less rushed, I was on time.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Then I got back into a regular journal writing habit.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I also had weekly scheduled brain dumps to get things out of my head and onto paper so I could figure things out.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I crafted step-by-step action plans to get organized and on top of everything that needed doing.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Instead of spending my evening slumped in front of the TV or scrolling mindlessly on my phone,

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I started having regular candlelit baths and getting into bed earlier curled up with a good book.

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: It was the me time I always craved but never thought I had space in my day for.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And I was consistent with it.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I was finally implementing a lot of the great things I'd read about and I felt the best version of me coming out more often.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Once I got on top of the logistics, I felt less stressed and overwhelmed.

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_00]: It was easier to be more mindful and present.

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I began a daily practice of checking in with myself asking,

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00]: how am I feeling?

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Listening to the answers and using them to guide me.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_00]: After a lifetime of telling myself I'm not a morning person,

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I began to wake 15 minutes before the children and use this quiet time

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: to write in a gratitude journal or meditate using an app on my phone.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: It's helped me stop being so cranky at breakfast

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: and send my kids off to school peacefully and with love.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: It took recognizing what brings out the worst in me to turn things around.

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_00]: It didn't happen overnight, but by taking baby steps in the right direction, I got there.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Now I'm able to be my best version of me in my everyday life, not just on the yoga mat.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to be your best version of you more often,

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: write your answers to the following questions.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like my best version of me when blank.

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: How I feel about myself when I'm the best version of me.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: It's easier to be my best version of me when blank.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm a poor version of me when blank.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: What can I learn from these insights?

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_00]: And what new habits can I create to make it easier to be my best version of me?

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to the post titled,

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_00]: How to Be the Best Version of You a Lot More Often

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: by Katie Petrangeli with tinybuddha.com

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[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you to Katie.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Big point there.

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_00]: You can listen to this podcast all day long, but if it's completely passive,

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_00]: you won't reap the benefits nearly as much as someone who's trying to implement at least some of it.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I definitely don't expect you to implement everything, or even half of it, I don't,

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: but at least see what resonates with you and try some new things out.

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_00]: That's probably the hardest step, but once you start, it does get easier and easier.

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The other day I mentioned how I track every penny in and out of my life.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I've been doing that since 2010, and it did start out as a headache.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Now it's easy, and I don't even think about it or dread it.

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: It's just what I do.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: That could happen with other things too, like journaling, being mindful or meditating, and so on.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: It's all possible for us.

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_00]: We just have to make the time and get moving, and you'll definitely get some good results.

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Another thing from the article that I thought was great was the exercise of thinking about your best qualities

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_00]: then what the poor version of you looks like, and then listing the things that brings out

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_00]: the poor version of yourself, and trying to figure out ways to make those things happen less frequently.

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a great idea for a journal entry, I think, so something to try out.

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Let me know how it goes.

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Have a great rest of your day, and I'll see you tomorrow for The Friday Show,

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_00]: where your optimal life awaits.