Unlearning Society's Expectations for Us
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Why do we think we need to become skinnier? or more productive? or less sensitive? or more outgoing? or whatever it is we think we need to become? Why do we think we need to become less of what we are and become more of what we are not?
Unfortunately, the society we live in has conditioned us to believe we should be a certain way, should look a certain way, and should live a certain way…and we believe it!
In this episode of Embrace Your Real, I challenge you to question why you are doing what you are doing. Are you doing it for yourself or for society?
If you love this episode, you will also love...
Episode 35: How to Feel Your Best
Be sure to follow the podcast on the 'gram, @embraceyourreal.
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, hey, beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace your real, let's get in, let's go.
Hello and welcome back to another bonus episode of Embrace Your Real. I am so grateful that you are spending some time with me today wherever you are tuning in. I love seeing your little snapshots. I just actually posted something on my story from a girl who was walking in the most glorious woods and she was just saying how she was listening to the podcast. And I was like, "Man, you guys listen in some of the coolest places." So if you're listening to this right now, I want you to take a screenshot and I want you to show me where you are tuning in. Just show me, it could be in your kitchen in your house, outside, in your gym, wherever you are tuning in, on an airplane. I've seen so many amazing ones and I just love seeing your faces and connecting my listeners with a face. So thank you for being here.
I have a serious question for you. Now, if you saw the title of this episode, Unlearning Society's Expectations For Us, why do we think that we need to become skinnier or more productive or less sensitive or more outgoing or whatever it is that we think that we need to become? Why do we think that we need to become less of what we are and more of what we're not? Unfortunately, the society that we live in has conditioned us to believe we should be a certain way. We should look a certain way. We should live a certain way and we believe it. We need to get a college degree. We need to be married by a certain age. We need to have kids by this. We need to then buy a house. Whatever it is, we are told we should do this and we should do that. And society tries to tell us where we should be in our lives at certain points in our lives.
And whether we're there or not, we translate that to how successful we are or how worthy we are or how we think we are or should be. Are you guys catching what I'm throwing? If you are relating to any of this, I have something super important that I want to share with you. But first, you know I have to share this super sweet review of the day. It comes from Kelly O. She says, "Mindset freedom. I've been following Julie for a while now and I can confirm she is consistently wise, brings interesting topics to the table concerning health, fitness, and speaks life over her listeners. Her programs have led me to a lot of food and mindset freedom. 10 out of 10 recommend taking the time to listen to her real. You might find the courage to embrace your own."
Ooh, I love that. Thank you so much, Kelly, for the review. If you haven't already rated and read the podcast and you do listen on Apple Podcasts, or you can scooch over to Apple Podcasts for a sec, all I ask is that you press pause, scroll all the way down and leave a review. It really does help us out in the podcast world. We have an audacious goal of reaching a million women by the end of 2020 and I cannot do that alone. So thank you in advance for doing it. If you do, please screenshot it and send it to me in a DM and I will personally send you a response back. I love connecting with you guys in the DMs.
All right. So back to the episode. We need to forget about what society says we should do and should be and we need to start focusing on, instead, what is feeling right to us, what is feeling authentic to us and what is feeling true to us. Now, I want to ask you this. What if our journey isn't actually about becoming anything? What if it's actually about unbecoming anything that isn't really who we are? Are the things you're doing, the things you're wearing, the things you're being, in alignment with who you are and who you want to be? Are they actually what you want to do, what you want to wear and what you want to be, or are they things that you're doing and being and wearing, just because you're trying to fit in a box that society has created for you?
Seriously, I want you to take a moment and ask yourself this question. What are you doing for you and what are you doing for society? If you think I need to lose weight, is that for you or is that because you think you need to lose weight because of what you've seen society say? Or if you think you need to find a boyfriend or think you need to be married or think you need to have kids by this time, is that for you or is that because you've seen something or somebody or society say something about that topic, which leads you to believe that you feel like you're behind if you don't have that? Or if you feel like you need to get a real job or have a better five-year plan or a nicer car or a bigger house, is that for you or is that for society? I need you to clearly define what you are doing for you and what you're doing for society. And whatever you are doing for society, I need you to question whether or not it's actually worth your time and your energy.
The more we focus on what society thinks, the less we are able to actually embrace our real. Let me say that again. The more we focus on what society thinks, the less able we are to actually embrace our real. I want to leave you with a challenge. I want to challenge you to begin unlearning all of the things that you think you need to become and instead focus on becoming who you want to become. So shift your focus away from what you aren't and shift it towards what you already are and nourish and grow that. It is time that you unbecome what you have been conditioned to think that you should be and start becoming more of your amazing, beautiful, unique, and true, authentic self.
If you loved this episode, I know you will also love episode 35, How to Feel Your Best. In this episode, I dive deep into how to truly feel your best, because let's be honest, do you even remember the last time that you actually felt good? I think many of us have forgotten what it feels like to not be tired or stressed or overwhelmed or bloated or run down all the time. Unfortunately, for many of us, it's become our new normal.
We need to realize that what we are feeling in the current moment, whether it be tired, unhappy, bloated, whatever the feeling may be, is most likely a reaction to something else. We're not going to be tired for no reason. We're not going to be bloated for no reason. We're not going to be unhappy for no reason. Something is causing us to feel this way. And in this episode, I give you a three-step guide that will help you figure it out so that you can start to feel your best and you can understand why you're feeling the way that you are because, girl, I want you to feel good again. So be sure to tune into episode 35 if you haven't or re-listen to it if you have a while ago, but kind of forgot the foundational knowledge in there. I will link it in the show notes.
If you have a girlfriend or someone in your life, whether it be a sister, a mom, a coworker, acquaintance, I encourage you to share this bonus episode with them. I really believe that it's time for us to start unlearning society's expectations for us and I don't want you to be the only one to tune into this. I need you to spread this message with me so that we can all start unbecoming and unlearning the things that we think we need to be and start truly embracing our authentic self.
I love you so much. Be sure to screenshot this, post it up on your story, tag me, Julia Ledbetter. I love seeing your aha moments. I love seeing what came up from this episode and I will talk to you guys in the next one.
All right, sister. That's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so, JulieALedbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle, for that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts, to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.