3584: AFGO - The Best Personal Growth Mantra of All Time by Shana Olmstead on How to Cultivate Awareness

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00] Life pulls us in so many directions. With work, family, and our health all needing our attention, it can be difficult to make decisions that are aligned with what we care about most. If this resonates with you, I recommend the audiobook, What We Value from communications and psychology professor Dr. Emily Falk. She'll guide you through making more purposeful choices that feel authentic to you.

[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_00] Find What We Value on Audible, Spotify, and wherever audiobooks are sold. Before we start, I want to share a super powerful practice I use called NSDR or Non-Sleep Deep Rest. In just about 10 minutes or so, this yoga nidra practice leaves you feeling as refreshed as after a nap without actually sleeping. Experience it for yourself on our guided podcast. Search NSDR and look for the one from Optimal Living Daily.

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00] This is Optimal Living Daily. AFGO, the Best Personal Growth Mantra of All Time by Shana Olmstead of ShanaOlmstead.com. And I'm Justin Malik, your very own personal narrator today and every day. Me narrating means there are no interviews, just a short podcast where we can both improve our lives one day at a time. So with that, let's get right to today's post and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_00] AFGO, the Best Personal Growth Mantra of All Time by Shana Olmstead of ShanaOlmstead.com. My 98-year-old great-aunt has the best personal growth mantra of all time. AFGO. It stands for Another F-ing Growth Opportunity.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00] That's really what all of this is about, this Earth School thing. Every annoying person or long line or painful experience, it's all here to teach us and help us grow. My aunt isn't the first one to describe this, of course, but with her years of practical wisdom, she really knows what she's talking about. She lived her golden years until recently on the family property she grew up on in California with her two sisters.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_00] They all had their own homes and, as their health and energy allowed, would take walks, very short walks, to each other's houses for coffee and chatting time. Maybe a little bit of gossip. We called it the granny net. She recently moved into a facility where she'll be more comfortable and taken care of. Even as her two sisters passed away in 2016, they were all so close and best friends until the end. She, the oldest, is hanging in there.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_00] I'm sure part of her longevity is this attitude of AFGO that she has integrated into her being. To me, this is a continual practice of remembering. I'm the one who chose this. I signed up for all of this on a soul level to learn how to grow and expand. There are no problems. I'm not a victim. Life is a teacher. And I'm a student. Eckhart Tolle has another beautiful quote that relates here and helps guide the way I live my life. Quote,

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00] Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. End quote. What if you asked for all of the experiences you're going through because you knew they were exactly what you needed to evolve and expand? What if challenges are actually a blessing, not a frustration, because they create the necessary contrast to know what you really want? What if everything is an opportunity to practice maintaining your positive frequency no matter what the circumstances?

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_00] What if everything is happening for you rather than to you? That perspective really changes everything. I'm not saying it's easy or quick to transform the way you look at things, but with conscious awareness and gentle practice, the sweet little neural networks in your brain can begin to catch up to the level of conscious awareness your body and soul have known all along. There are no problems. All is love and growth.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00] Everything is always working out for you. Some ways to practice being in the flow of AFGO energy are, number one, start with awareness. The more present and aware we are, the more effectively we can intervene in the old unconscious patterns that keep us in worry and fear energy, rather than the energy of, what is this here to teach me? This means to check in often with how you're thinking and feeling internally,

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00] at least once an hour, taking a mindful breath, for example, and scanning your body for any tension, asking yourself, what am I feeling right now? The better you get at knowing yourself and your baseline of feelings, thoughts, and sensations, the more quickly you'll be able to shift away from tension when it arises and into excitement about the opportunity before you. Number two, start investigating, without judgment, the times you're triggered into upset

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_00] and notice any patterns or themes around the triggers. This helps you to learn about yourself and be more prepared to change perspectives when they come up in the future. For example, if you know that you always get frustrated in traffic, start preparing the trip next time before you get on the road by changing the internal dialogue. What if all of these slow drivers are here to teach me patience and I'm willing to let my commute and the emotions that are triggered to help teach me to shift my vibration back to peace,

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_00] no matter the circumstances. Shifting to sending all of the other drivers on the road love and compassion with the understanding that we are all one and working towards the same thing can help the AFGO process. The understanding is that someone cutting you off in traffic is not actually attacking you personally. They're probably just late for work. They're here to teach you compassion and trust.

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00] Number three, gently taking some inventory of other things in your life that have seemingly been problems or negative events in your life, but have actually been transformational in your learning about who you really are. This can help reinforce the concept that this is actually happening all the time, whether we are aware of it or not. The job that you lost, for example, actually led the way to you taking time off to find your true calling and go after creating that instead.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00] Number four, finding or cultivating some spiritual running buddies to discuss the learning opportunities in both of your lives. Having support in a safe space to process the shifts in awareness from a victim mentality to an empowered soul on a mission of learning really expands and accelerates the process for all involved. Number five, surrender, surrender, surrender. When you feel you've surrendered enough, keep surrendering.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00] Letting go of control of the outcome is a giant part of letting the universe teach you. The more you continue the illusion of control, the harder it is to take away the soul lessons that in truth you really want to learn. And number six, ask for support and guidance from the universe along the way and trust that it's always there to support and love you on this journey of learning. Cultivating the feeling of being loved and supported always may not be something you're familiar with yet,

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00] but you wouldn't be hearing this if you didn't know what it meant and weren't ready to begin practicing. Even a few minutes, once or twice a day, of cultivating a feeling of loving energy all around you from the universe can begin shifting your vibration in a big way. This will allow you to be open to learning from your experiences rather than letting them depress or disappoint you. You are always safe and loved.

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00] You just listened to the post titled AFGO, The Best Personal Growth Mantra of All Time by Shana Olmstead of shanaolmstead.com And I'll be right back with my commentary. This show is sponsored by Liquid IV. Liquid IV. Hydration goes beyond just water. It's about absorbing the right nutrients. I've been using Liquid IV to stay energized during my busy days and it's a game changer. Just tear a stick, pour it into 16 ounces of water, and enjoy.

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[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_00] Shopify.com slash old. Thank you to Shana. She's narrated more often over on Optimal Relationships Daily, so you can check out that show for more from her. I'm sure you can relate to this one in some way. For me, this podcast journey definitely relates. So does my experience with meditating. The podcast journey is probably obvious. Everything's a growth opportunity when you're just starting out. For me, I always disliked and avoided public speaking.

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_00] That actually hasn't really changed much. But this is one way I practice speaking a bit more. A big growth opportunity. And I mention meditation because that's what I've learned over the years. You notice the thought, let it pass, and come back to the moment. Which is what we should be doing with life's minor annoyances. Getting stuck in traffic and so on. It's really just a lesson in patience. And I thought what she mentioned about bigger problems being game changers was true too.

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_00] When my business partner and I struggled to monetize our biggest project back in 2012, really forced us to think in a new way. And all of that led to the creation of this podcast. And all of our podcasts in the Optimal Living Daily Network was back in 2015. And that's why I'm here today. So maybe today we can both try to spot one growth opportunity in our day. Could shift our perspective just enough to make a positive difference. With that, thank you for being here every day.

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_00] Have a great weekend and I'll catch you tomorrow. Where your optimal life awaits. You're ready to go. I'm here today. .