Episode 35
Driving Change on a Road Trip | LAYC35
If your nose is pressed to the glass, it’s impossible to see much, and at best, you have a distorted picture of your reality.
You might even end up cross-eyed!
With a myopic or shortsighted view of your life, you literally cannot see the forest for the trees or anything else clearly.
But, if you allow yourself to step back, or, in this analogy, sit back in the driver’s seat of your life, get behind the wheel and head out on a road trip, you will be amazed how much clarity you’ll gain.
Rather than trying to figure out who you are, and what you truly desire by looking through a tiny aperture, put some distance between you and your spaghetti brain, cue up an uplifting playlist and drive!
Eyes forward, hands on the wheel, mind open!
Let the miles untangle the mess of stress, distractions, and chaos that keep you from visualizing the route to the future you want.
Shift gears from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.
Accelerate your imagination, and like the breeze through your hair, let the winds blow away self-doubt, self-criticism, and limiting beliefs.
Steve Jobs said “. . . you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
On a recent road trip, I was reminded once again the white lines on highways are my dots.
I trust they are connecting in my future even though I cannot yet see around that corner.
But, without a doubt, I know the dots can only connect if I keep moving forward.
If I stop, the trail stops, and I’m left sitting at the curb regretting a journey that I didn’t have the courage to begin.
Please join me and my guests in this series about #CHANGE.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll navigate the winding curves of lives in transition, and how to find our way to the next level of evolution.
We will share how we continue to evolve, become more of ourselves, and increase our capacity to trailblaze, mentor and Lift As We Climb.
EXTRA! EXTRA!
Cosmic cameo appearance from #KevinCostner – find out the secret connection that #FieldOfDreams star and I share! And check out his latest venture: #RoadTrip App; www.HearHere.com
Don’t leave home without us!
BONUS:
Download a free PDF of the chapter “I’ve Never Been This Me Before” and find out what #MorganFreeman said in my head that changed my life and continues to evolutionary day!
OR treat yourself to a #RoadTrip and a #GoodBook and purchase www.WhoAmINowBook.com and read the whole story about #WomanhoodWonderland and enjoying the journey!
About the Host:
Isabel Banerjee - Your Next Business
Strategist and Transformation Catalyst
Dynamic, a self-made entrepreneur who overcame obstacles with an unrelenting positive nature, a farm girl work ethic, and a conscious choice to thrive rather than survive, Isabel Alexander Banerjee cultivated an award-winning, $10 million+ global chemical business and grew it from dining room table to international boardrooms.
Isabel’s strengths include the ability to initiate & nurture strategic relationships, a love of lifelong learning and talents for helping others maximize their potential. An inspiring speaker within both industry and community, she is a driving force behind those with the courage to foll0ow her example of thriving against the odds.
With 50+ years of business experience across diverse industries, Isabel is respected as an advisor, a coach, a mentor, and a role model. She believes in sharing collective wisdom and empowering others to economic independence.
Founder of the Lift As You Climb Movement (www.facebook.com/groups/liftasyouclimbmovement)
and
Chief Encore Officer, The Encore Catalyst (www.theencorecatalyst.com) – an accelerator for feminine wisdom, influence, and impact.
also
Author & Speaker ‘Who Am I Now? – Feminine Wisdom Unmasked Uncensored’ (www.IsabelBanerjee.com)
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/isabelalexanderbanerjee/
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Transcript
Well...
Speaker:That summer flew by quickly.
Speaker:Yes, my friends, here we are...
Speaker:We're back together, and it's September, 2021.
Speaker:I am back in the podcast booth, after a hiatus this summer.
Speaker:I had the privilege and the joy, of taking 4 weeks off, and going back to
Speaker:Canada to visit family and friends.
Speaker:Create some new memories, relive old memories, celebrate
Speaker:good times and good fortune.
Speaker:I hope that your summer was equally joyful.
Speaker:So here we are, September 1st...
Speaker:Starting a new season...
Speaker:And although I know that the calendar says that autumn doesn't
Speaker:begin for a couple more weeks...
Speaker:For me, the beginning of September and Labor day weekend have
Speaker:always signaled a big change.
Speaker:It's a change of a page of the calendar and a change of temperatures.
Speaker:Normally, especially if you're in Canada, we start to get cooler in September.
Speaker:It's a change of wardrobe, change of gears, change of attitudes...
Speaker:Because we're going to talk about road trips in a little bit.
Speaker:It's a change of lanes.
Speaker:I'm introducing the theme for a new series of episodes in the Lift As
Speaker:You Climb Movement about change.
Speaker:How change is necessary, to support us, to continue to climb and
Speaker:grow, so that we lift ourselves, and we are able to lift others.
Speaker:Although change isn't always pretty or fun...
Speaker:It's necessary.
Speaker:So to set the stage for this topic and this theme that we're going to explore.
Speaker:Let me share a little bit about my time in Canada.
Speaker:I was treated royally and loved on by everyone.
Speaker:I had dinners that were just over the top wonderful...
Speaker:and winery tours, and lots of great wines to drink...
Speaker:And...
Speaker:boat trips and swimming in lakes, and pools and ponds.
Speaker:And there was even a skinny dipping adventure...
Speaker:Fortunately not caught on film.
Speaker:I sat under stars and dreamt of a future as bright as those stars.
Speaker:I played board games and card games, and met new members of my
Speaker:family I had not previously met.
Speaker:Oh, and laughed and rehashed old silliness and adventures of the past.
Speaker:Then I also carved out some time just for me.
Speaker:I knew how important it was for me to sacrifice spending time with the
Speaker:people I loved before I went back to Canada, and spend some time with myself.
Speaker:To give myself some extra love and grace.
Speaker:The months leading up to this trip for me, were just chaotic and stressful, and busy.
Speaker:In fact, the last couple of years have been pretty much like that.
Speaker:COVID has been a time where I threw myself into a lot of re-invention
Speaker:and learning and transformation.
Speaker:But I still felt like I...
Speaker:I wasn't fully baked yet...
Speaker:You know, like there was this mushy uncertainty?...
Speaker:About what my future would look like and really...
Speaker:What was it that I truly wanted?
Speaker:If you watched the Netflix series, Lucifer, you know, his
Speaker:super power is asking people...
Speaker:What is it you truly desire?
Speaker:Until a couple of weeks ago...
Speaker:I'm not sure even Lucifer could have gotten a straight answer out of me.
Speaker:I had such a spaghetti mess in my brain about what it was I really wanted...
Speaker:What was right for me?...
Speaker:Now, at this stage of my life.
Speaker:And so, I went off on magical mystery tours.
Speaker:Just me...
Speaker:And my thoughts, in the vehicle...
Speaker:for hours of driving.
Speaker:Now fortunately, I love to drive, and so that's not arduous for me...
Speaker:In fact, it is very cathartic.
Speaker:I love that time alone with a bag of red licorice, and just allow my
Speaker:subconscious to flow on autopilot.
Speaker:I find there's something magic about the realization that if I look forward
Speaker:through that great big windshield and look up on the horizon...
Speaker:It's so much easier to see what it is I truly want.
Speaker:When I am in my busy every day life...
Speaker:Where there are so many distractions around me...
Speaker:That can muddle my thoughts and tangle my spaghetti...
Speaker:You know...
Speaker:I'm checking email and I'm getting Facebook messenger notifications and
Speaker:WhatsApp notifications and text messages.
Speaker:And, putting on the laundry and I'm feeding the cat, and I'm
Speaker:thinking about a trip to the grocery store, and planning meals...
Speaker:And, and, and...
Speaker:Always being busy and saying...
Speaker:I should have...
Speaker:I must do that...
Speaker:I need to do that.
Speaker:But when you're behind the steering wheel of a vehicle that's equipped
Speaker:with all the greatest safety features and cruise control...
Speaker:It kind of frees up a lot of bandwidth mentally.
Speaker:I'm not completely an idiot...
Speaker:I'm present to the environment around me and the traffic and road conditions.
Speaker:But I have a lot more capacity to allow my brain to process
Speaker:and sort out a lot of stuff.
Speaker:Occasionally I look in that rear view mirror, and the side mirrors, and I
Speaker:check what's behind me, and what's beside me, and what's going past me.
Speaker:But it's that recognition that I only need to spend a brief moment...
Speaker:Seconds actually, on looking back and off to the sides...
Speaker:My attention needs to be mostly on looking forward, up and out...
Speaker:And like a safe driver...
Speaker:I am aware that my vision shouldn't be right in front of my vehicle...
Speaker:But it should be broader, more encompassing...
Speaker:So that I see truly what's ahead.
Speaker:And I have an opportunity to take a detour when appropriate, to change
Speaker:lanes in time, when I need to...
Speaker:To make sure that I don't miss an opportunity to take a different road...
Speaker:To take a detour that takes me to someplace new and
Speaker:unexpected and unplanned.
Speaker:I love getting lost on purpose, and not controlling the destination...
Speaker:Not controlling the route to get there...
Speaker:But allowing my imagination and my intuition to come up with the plan...
Speaker:To come up with the route...
Speaker:And to allow my subconscious guidance system to keep me safe.
Speaker:If I can turn off the chatter all around me and be present with my
Speaker:thoughts, the clarity about the changes I want to make comes to me.
Speaker:Over the next few episodes.
Speaker:I'd like to talk about some of the learnings and the AHas, and the catalyst
Speaker:that I discovered along those trips.
Speaker:But today, I want to share one of the first lessons for me, in
Speaker:this time, was the realization that if I really want to change...
Speaker:I'm going to have to let go of a lot of things.
Speaker:I'm going to have to release the things that are no longer serving...
Speaker:Who I am now, and who I want to become, and where I want to go.
Speaker:I have to release the attitudes and the beliefs that are holding me back...
Speaker:And keeping me stuck in that place of...
Speaker:I'm not the caterpillar, and nor yet am I the butterfly.
Speaker:And that means that I may also have to release some relationships,
Speaker:and some associations.
Speaker:Certainly some habits that are no longer supporting me to
Speaker:get my wings and take flight.
Speaker:But hey...
Speaker:What kind of butterfly would I be anyway?...
Speaker:If I couldn't stretch my wings and take flight?
Speaker:And so on these road trips, I've also been thinking about...
Speaker:What keeps my wings pinned to my side?
Speaker:What stands in my way from really completing the metamorphosis and
Speaker:traveling wherever I wish to go?
Speaker:What are the habits, the limiting beliefs and the relationships that
Speaker:prevent me from spreading those wings?
Speaker:So stay tuned because I have more to reflect and I will share with you.
Speaker:I also want you to know that we're in really good company...
Speaker:If you like me like road trips, we've got some pretty cool
Speaker:people who share our passion.
Speaker:Kevin Costner in fact, loves roadtrips.
Speaker:I've just finished reading an article about him, where he recounts
Speaker:his childhood adventures and how he learned to love road trips...
Speaker:So much so, that he has just launched a new service, an app, called HearHere...
Speaker:And I'll put the link in the show notes because that's pretty cool.
Speaker:He and some other pretty cool friends of his as your co-pilots and navigators
Speaker:on certain road trips, sharing all of the details and the hidden
Speaker:stories and the byways that you can explore to enrich your road trip.
Speaker:I mean, seriously, who wouldn't want to go on a road trip with Kevin Costner?
Speaker:I've already had a super affinity with Morgan Freeman on my travels.
Speaker:If you've read my book, Who Am I Now?: Feminine Wisdom
Speaker:- Unmasked and Uncensored...
Speaker:You know, I recount the experience of having Morgan Freeman
Speaker:talking to me from my GPS.
Speaker:Now, if you don't already know that story...
Speaker:I'll put a link in the show notes below where you could download a
Speaker:free copy of that chapter entitled...
Speaker:I've never been this me before.
Speaker:Find out what Morgan tells me.
Speaker:All right, until next week...
Speaker:Where we're going to continue on this theme of change.
Speaker:I hope that you enjoy the ride, and remember that the
Speaker:journey and the destination...
Speaker:Are the times that we really can change and choose...
Speaker:How we view that trip.
