lifestyle coaching – The April Diaries

Ways That We Can Slow Our Brains Down In A Fast-Paced Society | The Process

Published on August 11, 2022 by The April Diaries1 Comment

Mindfulness is key, and it’s been prevalent for quite some time now that the world has succumbed to basically the speed of light. We are always looking at social media right when we wake up, just in case we missed the latest gossip on people we don’t even know personally (e.g., celebrities). It’s so easy to then go from one thing to the next. Although it’s been proven that we have over a billion thoughts a day, it’s important to think about ourselves — what do we need to live and be throughout the day? Notice how I did not use the word “survive.”

Slow mornings are very important, even for our gut health. It’s like I keep telling you guys on YouTube and the podcast, your gut is second to the brain. (Also there’s exciting news I’m going to share with you folx very, very soon and I’m stoked!) I will admit, and I’m using myself as an example here, that I got a little too excited about this news, and my brain just went from “ooh!” to “what if I did this!?” to “I can’t wait to see the results of this!”

It’s perfectly okay to get excited about something, just as long as you’re taking the time to enjoy the process. I remember in eighth grade, there was this game that was quite literally called “the game.” (You’re probably thinking, “damn it, April! You made me lose the game!”) Now that I’m older and more mindful and intuitive, I kind of compare “the game” to “the process.”

According to Merriam-Webster, one definition of “process” is as follows: a natural phenomenon marked by gradual changes that lead toward a particular result.

We often see on motivational social media posts (as opposed to memes), that say “trust the process.” I’ve been seeing those so much recently, which I think is my own personal sign to not think about the process and how fast you’re going to get from point A to Z. You will have a set masterplan, (refer to my last blog post for my 4 C’s Methodology) and you will co-create and trust the universe and/or God to do the rest. This is the process.

Moreover, here are a couple of ways to slow down your mind:

1) journal

2) EFT tapping

3) affirm to yourself “there’s no need to rush.”

4) drink some tea or lemon water

5) make a list

6) exercise (yoga especially helps)

7) read a book that isn’t educational (and not from Audible — as much as I love it!!)

8) deep breathing

9) meditation

10) do something artsy

xoxo,

April 💕

How To Activate Your Goddess Potential Part 3: Knowing What You Want And What You Should Do To Get It

Published on August 4, 2022 by The April DiariesLeave a comment

I was scrolling through photos from late 2020 (I accumulate a lot of photos on my phone overtime) and I found this one photo in particular that said:

Three rules for life:

1.) If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it.

2.) If you don’t ask, the answer will always be no.

3.) If you don’t move forward, you will always be in the same place.

Yesterday, I invested half of my remaining paycheck from my time as a pharmacy technician to my friend, Katarina’s program on how to accelerate my business. This inspired me not only to rebrand Brownies For Breakfast, Co., but to simply move forward.

It’s hard to believe it’s already August — yikes! Where did the summer go? But that isn’t to say it wasn’t filled with self-discoveries and self improvement. For example, I joined a gym, I started walking 10,000 steps a day (though recently I’ve been slacking with that), and I dedicated my weekends to rest days. But as seasons change, (how am I already thinking about fall?) your goals for the future start to change, as well, especially as you mature like leaves falling from the trees.

On the topic of moving forward, I have chosen to immerse into my studies in dietetics after all. As of recently, I had an interview to get clinical experience at a hospital. Though my hope began to dwindle at around 6:00 p.m. tonight, I asked myself, “why don’t I feel any more grateful?” I know, I preach gratitude all the time, but even the best fall down sometimes. (I forget who sang that.)

Moreover, my mindset shifted immediately, and I knew I had to show up for myself and give myself the encouragement that I need. You must have faith in yourself to move forward in life.

I move forward by knowing what I want and not stopping at any rest stop to get [insert goal here].

My therapist gave me an analogy one time before I “graduated,” and it was “you see a light at the end of the tunnel? Are you going to stop? Or are you going to hit the gas pedal?” I replied with the latter.

Healing is a journey. Getting a degree is a journey. But it’s not so much about the destination as it is about the way you’re going to get there. I know people from Vogue who’ve said, “I still don’t feel like I’ve ‘made it’ yet.”

When I felt I didn’t have any proper qualifications to be a personal lifestyle and health coach, I added a CME from Stanford University School of Medicine to my repertoire. I had a goal to complete it, and I did it in less than a week. (Thank you, EdX!)

During your journey, you’re going to get more “no’s” than “yes’s” and that’s okay. It’s whomever’s loss. There will be people who don’t 100% understand what you’re trying to do, and as Selena Gomez once sang, “it doesn’t help when you say it won’t be easy.”

Whomever you are who’s been following this series, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you and if you want to hear more about the goddess potential method, book a 1:1 with me!

xoxo,

April 💕

How To Activate Your Goddess Potential Part 2: Believing You Are Worthy

Published on July 28, 2022 by The April DiariesLeave a comment

When I was a junior in high school and going through bouts of depression, my mom had sent me a quote by someone whom I cannot remember now. But the quote itself said, “My favorite Disney character? Daisy Duck. Because she goes after what she wants and deserves.”

I was on a call two days ago with a woman who was trying to recruit me for a coaching program. As she was asking me questions, she asked me what it is I wanted to do with these degrees I planned on getting in the future (masters and eventually doctorate). I told her straight up, “to get credibility in what I do.” That is actually the first time I was stopped to think that maybe I was going for them for the wrong reason — to have myself go into debt that was not smart, to have control over basically no outcome and to just work for someone else for the rest of my life. I knew I did not want that. Some people pursue an advanced degree because they want accelerate in their career, which is the right reason. The “science” behind the fact that I wanted to pursue something “science-y” just to prove to my freshman-year-of-college self that she CAN “do” science — not a good reason. Also, I convinced myself that my writing career was going nowhere — not true. I wouldn’t be continuing this blog and this series if I still believed it [my writing career] was going nowhere.

Yesterday I made the mistake of putting my size-8-foot in my mouth by announcing I was, in fact, going to [insert ivy league school here] to rekindle my master’s degree. That can’t happen for another year, unfortunately because I then realized, “there’s no way I can afford it right now.” However, if I didn’t believe that I was worthy of a possible degree at [insert ivy league school here] or any of them for that matter, would I have gone for it? I talked to a good friend of mine (hi Katarina!) and she told me that setbacks are good for redirection. Slowly but surely, I am reprogramming my mind to thinking that I am in fact worthy of any degree, even if I choose to go back to Emerson to pursue an MFA instead of finishing the MA. Katarina then asked me, “what are you hoping to gain?” And I told her, I gained this particular mindset.

So, my point is, if you’ve always wanted to do something but never believed you were worthy of it (e.g., a law degree, a PhD, or any advanced degree, anything at all!) Another fact is, you don’t necessarily need one degree on top of another just to feel worthy or credible. This woman who I spoke to two days ago made me realize that, and it almost brought me to tears because it took me God knows how long to realize that I am in fact, credible as is, as a coach, as a writer, as anything at all. I am worthy, and so are you, my dear, regardless of how you identify.

If you missed the previous blog post, read it here. And keep a lookout for a brand new podcast episode every Tuesday and Thursday!

xoxo,

April 💕