Uncovering You: Personal Growth Through Security & Well-Being

Hello, cadre world and good morning and today is Wednesday and I tell you what this week has gone by extremely fast. I don't know about you all but I cannot believe today is all ready Wednesday. And again, I join you live where we're going to focus on personal growth. We're going to focus on mental health and mental wellness and also our ability to be our true authentic self where we are building connections, where we are being courageous and has those critical and crucial conversations, but also having that compassion, realizing, hey, everybody's journey is different, but how can we collaborate and come together and ask that question, how are you doing today and good morning, Michelle.

So today we are going to focus on the importance of safety and when we think about safety more of that psychological safety, but then ensuring that had good morning mail that we are being our authentic self, we are being seen and we are safe. So in this, in this content today, we're going to focus on three things. That sense of contentment, the sense of security and then also our sense of little being, allowing ourselves again to be authentic in the skin that we are in. So when we think about personal growth and we think about being safe, there's so much of our personal growth and mental wellness that begins with one simple question .

And that simple question is, do I feel safe? And when we talk about safety and feeling safe, it's not only that physical safety, but it's also that emotional safety as well, you know, because we have those moments when we do not feel secure and we tend to shrink ourselves and through content in the past, we talked about that sense of belonging, where we can be our authentic selves as opposed to that sense of fitting in, where we're hiding parts of who we are, and that's not safe. You know, we're shrinking ourselves to fit into a group that is not safe.

So when we had parts of who we are, we are not able to be present. We are not allowing ourselves to respond and we may tend to react to others, but then we can feel free or be able to show up authentically. So when we talk about building that connection between security and well-being, what do we mean, you know, so that's something I want you to ask yourself. When we think about that connection between security and that sense of well- being, what does that look like for us? So it looks like feeling safe, which also gives our nervous system permission to relax because we've all had those moments and we felt that anxiety get the worst of us.

We feel it increasing, increasing, increasing, increasing. And then before we know it, we are anxious. We feel our heart beating really, really fast. We're breathing as if we're about to hyperventilate, all right? So when we allow ourselves to relax, it lowers our anxiety. It lowers our sense of always being our worst critic. You know, we tend to be our worst critic. We tend to see those small things that others may not see. But then also, when we think about creating that sense of security and that sense of well-being, it also allows you to create that room for growth.

And that's what we want. We want that room for growth. We want to be able to be our authentic self. And then we want to also build relationships that feel genuine to who we are. You know, we talked about that personal board of directors, our ability to find those individuals that we can go to, and whatever we share with them, it stays between us. No one else knows about it, you know, unless we definitely harm to ourselves, harm to others. But it sells individuals we can talk to and it stays between us.

So when we have that sense of security, it feels our well-being, it feels our personal growth. And then the sense of us realizing that we're not perfect and no one is perfect . But it's about being accepted both inside and out. So if we think about some practical reflection, as we talk about safety, as we talk about personal growth, as we talk about being our authentic self, I want you to take a moment and I want you to ask yourself, where do I feel the safest? Where do I feel that psychological safety?

Who am I around? You know, you're who, what, when? That's what I want you to think about when we talk about that practical reflection. Where do you feel the safest? Who are you around? And what are you doing when you feel the most like yourself? When you're able to take in that moment and practice those grounding skills and we focus on what do I see, touch, taste, feel, or smell, and then we take that deep breath. So when we think about where you are when you feel the safest, who are you around and what are you doing, I want you to think about those as being your anchors.

You know, we talked about Brene Brown and she talks about us being able to put on that anchor, you know, and be able to put on that shield and armor up. So these are going to be your anchors and I want you to be able to lean into them. And if safety feels distant for you, I want you to practice those grounding techniques. Again, using our five senses, those things you taste, touch, feel, smell, and remind yourself that you are worthy of being seen just as you are. So as we close, I want you to remember your well-being is nurtured when you allow yourself good morning, speed wonder to be safe, when you allow yourself to be seen.

And again, when you allow yourself to be your true authentic self. So there are three journal questions and I am going to place them in cadre. But there are three journal questions that I want you to consider. Good morning, speed wonder. I want you to consider when we talk about being safe, when we talk about that psychological safety. And when we think about your personal board of directors, your go-to individuals who, hey, I share this information with you all, but I know it stays between, you know, the two of us, those individuals who are worthy to hear your story.

All right. So three things and three questions I want you to consider and I want you to ask yourself when we think about psychological safety, feeling safe, and again, being your true authentic self. So the first is when do I feel most safe and seen and what about the environment or person that makes me feel this way? So this one is going to be that person. It may be a close friend, it may be a family member, it may be someone in the church, someone in the neighborhood. But is that individual or that environment where you feel seen and you feel safe?

The second is what parts of myself do I hide or hold back out of fear? And what would it feel like to let them be visible? So when I hear that question, again, I love Renee Brown, but it reminds me of that sense of vulnerability, allowing yourself to be visible and be courageous and embrace those imperfections. All right. For my parents, again, school just started back. There may be a pile of laundry from the weekend, but hey, when my kids got up and they went to school, they had clean clothes on.

We have a pile of dishes in the sink, but guess what? When the kids got up this morning, they ate breakfast and they went on to school. So we embrace those imperfections. And the third is what small step can I take this week to create more safety? And that safety, again, is not always external or always physical. What about those ways I can create safety within myself or within my relationships? So it's going to be that intrinsic motivation. So I want you to consider those three questions. I'm also going to put them in the cadre app, but I also want you to remember that your well-being is nurtured when you allow yourself to feel safe.

So a self-reflection moment, take a look in the environment that you're in now. Do you feel that psychological safety? Do you feel you're going to be your authentic self? Do you feel you're around those individuals who will tell you not what they think you know, you want to hear, but what you need to hear? So when you surround yourself with that circle, it can be a beautiful thing. So until next time, continue to create that psychological safety. Think about your personal board of directors. Think about those individuals in those environments where you can be your true authentic self.

And I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday at 1030 as we continue to focus on personal growth. Get a fantastic Wednesday, an awesome weekend, and I will see you next Wednesday.