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Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:00:00

Have you ever noticed that some people seem to effortlessly manifest whatever they want, all their dreams, while other folks really seem to struggle to figure this piece of their life out? What if the difference wasn't luck or privilege, but how your brain is wired, how you make things happen is all part of neuroscience. And what. What if you could actually rewire that? Today we're diving into the fascinating intersection where cutting edge neuroscience meets intuitive pract. You'll discover how your brain's filtering system might be sabotaging your happiness without you even knowing it, and learn practical techniques backed by science that can transform your self belief in just minutes a day. Whether you've tried manifestation in the past and had mixed results, or you're just skeptical about the entire concept, this episode reveals the missing link between what you think you want and what you actually allow yourself to receive. Ooh, that's pretty deep, huh? Ready to understand how your brain and mirror work can unlock the life you've been dreaming of? Let's get into it.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:01:12

Welcome to the Grit show where our focus is growth on purpose. I'm your host, Shawna Rodrigues, and I'm honored to be part of this community as we journey together with our grit intact to learn more about how to thrive and how to get the most out of life. It means a lot that you are here today. As you listen, I encourage you to think of who may appreciate the tidbits of knowledge we are sharing and to take a moment to pass this along to them. Everyone appreciates a friend that thinks of them and these conversations are meant to be shared and to spark even more connections.

Monica [: 00:01:54

Monica is an applied neuroscience trained and certified life purpose coach. She's a full time world traveler, adventure junkie, and a total foodie. Her obsession with understanding the science behind how our brain works and breaking it down into actionable steps has led to creating the neuro fulfillment formula in order to help you create a life that you love. And she is here to talk to us about that today. Thank you so much for being here, Monica. I'm so excited to have this conversation with you today.

Monica [: 00:02:19

Oh my gosh, Shawna, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited for this.

Monica [: 00:02:22

Yes. So like, the neuro fulfillment formula is like, I love, I love the name of it. You did a great job naming that. But what, like, led you to focus on the neuro aspect of figuring things out?

Monica [: 00:02:34

Yeah, that's a really good question. And I really think I have to attribute that back to my dad, to be honest. Uh, my father is a very like Science based person. He's a doctor. He always pushed us to like understand more, understand why he's very much an academic. Pushed us a lot in school. And so when I, I kind of found coaching accidentally by kind of going on my own journey and then people asking me for help and I was like, sure, I'll help you. And then I was like, wait a second.

Monica [: 00:03:00

People get paid for helping people do this. And so that's kind of how I found coaching on accident. And as I was going through these things, I was like, man, I'm so curious about why this is working. I'm so curious about like what is happening and why sometimes these things work and sometimes they don't work. I just want to know more. And so I ended up finding the neuroscience school and I was like, sucked in immediately. I was like, I have to know more. I have to know more about the brain and what's happening.

Monica [: 00:03:28

And I just really like dove into it, ended up getting certified through them. And I just, I'm obsessed. I'm such a big neuro nerd. I just love the brain and understanding what's happening because I really feel like when we understand what is happening in our brain and we can break it down into actionable steps, we can make efficient change and we can understand how to work with our brains instead of fighting them all along the way to make feel easy and to feel fun.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:55

That's amazing. I know. And you have like a very specific. You have this great handout you provide for folks around like marrying intuition and with the neuro piece. So how did you kind of start to recognize like how well those two pieces work together?

Monica [: 00:04:10

Actually they work together a lot more than people think. There tends to be this like the science based field or this like spiritual based field, but actually there's this beautiful intersection where it all comes together. Because I believe that we are inherently like spiritual beings and as we understand like part of our being is our brain, so as we understand our brain, we can capitalize on that kind of spiritual aspect of it as well. So when it comes to intuition that actually like marries together so well. And there's actually like scientific studies based on intuition and like the process this is happening in your brain. If you want to like dive into that. I'm like I said I'm a big nerd. I'm happy to go into like what's actually happening to your brain.

Monica [: 00:04:50

But I, I have really just been loving finding this intersection between the spiritual and the science aspect of things because I, I just don't Think things are as black and white as a lot of people think, where it has to be all science or it has to be all spiritual, or it has to be all intuitive. And I, I love this intersection that I have found in my work. I find it speaks to a lot more people as well. It's not as I like polarizing as, as having to pick one or the other.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:05:15

Yeah, people can see themselves in it, that they're like, oh, yes, this is the experience I've had and how it connects.

Monica [: 00:05:21

Yeah, absolutely. And I think it resonates more with people when I can say, hey, do this. And this is why. This is what is happening in your brain when you are manifesting. This is what's happening in your brain when you are working on tuning into your intuition. Because then they have a foundation for what I'm working on and how I can kind of tune it and fine tune it and make sure it is working with my brain, with my, my being instead of just trying something. And maybe it's not super efficient, maybe it's not working as well. Maybe, I don't know.

Monica [: 00:05:51

Like, sometimes manifestation is one of those things that I really like talking about in this area because sometimes people just like make these big grandiose, you know, mantras or manifestations. But there's no. Our brain has a great BS meter. And so our brain's like, I don't think that's going to happen. But if we can use our brain and our environment together to work on manifesting, to work on creating these mantras, then it actually becomes very efficient and we can actually see major, major changes in our lives.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:06:19

So we're doing our manifesting. Like, so our brain is letting us know that no, this isn't where you're at. So how do you get your brain to put the feedback into your manifesting, into what you want and what you want to have? Like, so what are your recommendations to how you get that alignment?

Monica [: 00:06:36

So there's a couple of things we really need to understand about the brain first. And the first thing is that we are constantly observing, like bringing in 11 million bits of information per second, but our conscious brain is really only able to handle maybe 40 to 50 per second. And so there's a lot of information that our brain is taking and storing that we are not even aware of. So this is happening all the time. And then we have this filter called the reticular activation system which is going to say, okay, this is worth like you paying attention to. This is going to the conscious versus this is going to your unconscious. So knowing that and knowing that we have that filter, we can start to train our brain to filter our information differently. So for example, if we are trying to manifest wealth, if we're trying to manifest more money, but our reticular activation is filtering out all the times that we've ever had, money just kind of come to us.

Monica [: 00:07:29

Where money making has ever been easy and been fun, and so the only thing that we're receiving in our conscious brain is money making is hard. Money making is like exhausting. I have to sell my soul. Maybe I'm not even worthy to make money because maybe I haven't ever done it before. And that's what we're seeing in our conscious brain. We're not going to be able to manifest, well, health in a way that just feels good. So if all of a sudden we say we're gonna have a million dollars, our brain's like, yeah, right, I wish. But no, that's never gonna happen.

Monica [: 00:07:57

So if instead we start to train our reticular activation system, and this is actually something that I've done in my personal life when it comes to money mindset is if we start to train our brain to go back and recognize all of the times that money has just come to us, that money has showed up when we need it most, then our it's so much easier to manifest and just be like, money is going to come to me, it flows to me, it fun to make money. And then it becomes something that we can actually start to manifest into our, our real lives and things we start to see. So a really simple thing that I've done is literally anytime you find like coins on the ground or you find, you know, the 20 bill in your pocket that you didn't know you had, you put there forever ago and you forgot about, you, like pick it up and you say, oh my gosh, money is everywhere. It just comes to me. It's just everywhere around me. And then your brain is like, oh yeah, because it is. And remember that one time that I just randomly got the tuition check from my school back that I didn't know that I had overpaid, and it just came back right when my bills were due. And it just starts to pull all of these experiences from your past, all of this information that it's gathered but not given you into your conscious mind.

Monica [: 00:09:02

So then you can start to change your actual reality because you see the world differently now because you have trained your filter, your reticular activation filter to find things. You have told it that anytime I make money. That's important information for me to know. And so now is going to bring that to the forefront of your mind, and you're going to start to. To see so many ways that money just comes to you and you can just make money, and it just becomes something so easy and so natural.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:29

All the ways we filter, so what? For our relationships, for our jobs, and we're job hunting for all those different pieces that what we are remembering, what are. Because our brain doesn't have that timeline piece. It has it all for the present. So we need to choose what we're going to filter and see in the present and what we choose to see in the present or what our filter is putting is what's going to make the difference of what we're going to find.

Monica [: 00:09:51

Yeah, absolutely. And it works so well. Like, it goes back to all your past experiences with this new filter that you have set, too. So, like, job hunting is a great one. If you're like, man, like, the job that I need comes to me, like, it just will show up at when the time is right. And then all of a sudden you'll be like, oh, my gosh, that job you got in high school when you just showed up? And they're like, hey, are you looking for a job? Because we want to hire. We're hiring right now. You know, and then you start to find all your past information to support where you're at, which solidifies the filter and really makes that process so cool.

Monica [: 00:10:21

It's just so cool.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:10:22

Yeah, so it's very exciting. And so it's important for you to recognize that it's not just the words you say. You actually had to, like, adjust the way you're seeing things and remembering things and filtering things for it to actually be effective when you're wanting to have a job you love or when you're wanting to have relationships that are really fulfilling or to connect with people, or if you're wanting to manifest money and having all these other things happen in your world.

Monica [: 00:10:43

Yeah, absolutely. And it just takes a little bit of time. But our brains are very trainable.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:10:48

That's exciting. So when you're working with your clients, does it take a long time for people to kind of work through that and be able to start doing that? Is it like a daily, hourly practice, or how much work do they need to put into this?

Monica [: 00:10:58

I mean, I really think it depends on the person. And that's one of the cool things about coaching, is that it can be super customizable to you. I would say Most of my clients, I mean, we work really hard to set up your environment for success because our brains are constantly taking in stimulus from our environments, and our environments play a big part into how we are thinking and feeling. And so I work really hard with them to about think, set up their environment to help them feel like they can be successful. So depending on what we're looking at and what we're trying, changes, we're trying to make a lot of my clients these significant changes within a month, I would say, of being able to, you know, be constantly working on it, to set up triggers throughout their day. Because at the end of the day, we're all really busy. It's really hard to focus on making change. As you're doing the laundry, as you're running in the store and you're trying to meal prep, are you trying to take care of the kids, you're trying to do all these things sometimes, like adding in that the extra layer of change can be hard, but we can set up our environment to help facilitate it easier so it's less of a struggle.

Monica [: 00:12:01

And. And so, yeah, I would say most of my clients see change in about a month.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:12:05

That's exciting. So you found this work because you realize there's this great way to help people and then really had this background from your dad, if your family, about connecting the science and the neuroscience as it turned out to be able to make these changes happen. Do you have any exciting, like, transformation stories from a client that you can share with us without obviously the information about what they've been through?

Monica [: 00:12:28

I had a client come to me fairly recently, and she was like, man, I have tried for the past 30 or 40 years to lose weight, and I just can't do it. Part of my journey involves a big weight loss story. I lost about 40 pounds after Covid, and so that was a big part. She was like, man, like, can you coach me on this? And I was like, here's the thing is I'm not a weight loss coach. I'm not a nutritionist. But the way that I coach you is I'm going to help you rewrite your limiting beliefs. I'm going to really dig into the trauma stories you're telling yourself to change your perspective on yourself and your body. I'm going to help you learn how to love yourself through this change.

Monica [: 00:13:06

Because our big thing that she was going through was beating yourself up for not being able to lose weight, for not looking like whatever standard she was trying to hold herself to. So as we kind of dug into It. We found that there was a lot of trauma that was holding her back, a lot of things. Like, her mom told her she'd be pregnant by the time she was 16 and told us she was fat and ugly and was always just trying to beat her down. And then when she. She said, when I turned 16, I went to my mom and said, see, I'm not pregnant. Her mom said, I never said that. And just kind of gas lit her and just, like, was so, so awful to her.

Monica [: 00:13:40

And so there was a lot of going through this process of, you deserve to be happy for you and you deserve to take up space. There was a lot of healing that happened in that journey. And at the end of. Of our time together, we. Unfortunately, we were only able to work together for about three months before some financial situations came up and she was no longer able to continue coaching. But by the end of that, she said, you know what has really surprised me about this whole process? She said, for the last seven years, I just have felt so lifeless. Like, I felt like there's no purpose in me living anymore. My life has just felt so dull.

Monica [: 00:14:19

And a big. I mean, a big transition was all of her kids had left the house, and so she was like. And I just didn't have. I didn't have anything for me. I didn't know how to love myself. I didn't know how to be my own friend. I didn't know how to find joy anymore. And she said, through this process, I feel good.

Monica [: 00:14:37

I feel this, like, spark of confidence building in me. I feel like I can be my own friend. I feel like I can go out and take on the world, and I can make the rest of my life whatever I want it to be. And for the first time in years, I feel happy. And that. I mean, that story just gets me emotional every time, because that. That's what I. That's why I'm here.

Monica [: 00:14:59

This is what we're working towards. It's just to help people feel good in their own skin and feel like they have the ability to become the best versions of themselves, because that's the version of them that we need more than now, more than ever. We need everybody to be able to step up and become the best versions of themselves. And so seeing that rapid transformation of, like, hey, she came to me because she wanted to lose weight. And at the end, she's like, wow, I can honestly say that I'm starting to love myself. I'm starting to feel joy. I'm starting to feel happiness for the first time in years was amazing. It was amazing.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:15:37

That is incredible. And that is great that she found her way to that and is able to walk away and keep that. Because that's something that, you know, once you have it, you can keep that.

Monica [: 00:15:47

Yeah, definitely. And she, I caught up with her just a few months ago just to kind of catch up, see how she was doing. And she was like, yeah, like, honestly what you taught me has helped me with my marriage, it's helped me with my relationship. She's picked up a couple of part time job kind of things to like to help her just fulfill her, her purpose more. And she's like, it helps me in those. She's like, every aspect of my life has gotten better because I have learned how to regulate my own emotions, how I have learned how to be my own support system and provide love for myself.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:16:22

That's incredible as the most that is just through the conversations and that work with you, is there any like tips or pieces of the work that you did with her that you feel that other people can integrate that are valuable.

Monica [: 00:16:32

In her case specifically? But I think a lot of us actually need this. I think a lot of us are really, really hard on ourselves. And so I made her do a lot of mirror work where essentially you stand in front of a mirror and you watch yourself saying, hey, you are amazing. I am proud of you. I've got you. And that is so awkward and hard to do, but it's so powerful because the more you like see yourself saying that and giving that affirmation to yourself, the more you can start to feel it in you. And it's this really incredible, incredible thing that happens when you're watching somebody say, hey, I love you. I see you, I hear you.

Monica [: 00:17:09

I'm proud of you. Sometimes for the first time, maybe in your life, but then that person is saying, it is you. It's so incredible. And so I made her do that a lot and she like resisted it a lot. She was like, I just, that's so awkward. And I was like, but you have to like, the more you can say it out loud, the more you can say, hey friends. Like how's it going? Like the more you're going to start, start to feel it. So that was a really powerful one.

Monica [: 00:17:33

I made her put really bright sticky notes on her mirror that kind of caught her attention. So every time she went to the bathroom it said like hey friend or something. So it reminded her to, to constantly be doing that, be giving her that affirmation and taking that time just to like check in really quick, you know, even just as you're washing your hands, just be like, how am I doing? Like everything's doing good. So that was a really big one that I think, I think more people can benefit from. Another one that I, I also think is just really powerful is, is when it comes to rewriting your own trauma stories, this one can be a little bit intense. And so I definitely recommend to just be careful with yourself when you do this one. And you know, if you need somebody to kind of walk you through it, definitely, definitely reach out for support because I just want everyone to be safe in this one. One of the things is that she, like I mentioned, her mom says some really, really terrible things to her.

Monica [: 00:18:23

When she was about 13 years old and she went through some really, really traumatic experiences. We went back to that time and she wr letter to herself in that moment and she wrote just what she needed an adult to have said to her. And then she was able to go back and respond from her 13 year old self and there was a lot of healing. She was able to let herself let go of that experience and fully work through the emotions that she bottled up from the time she was 13 years old and really was able to just kind of release a lot of that trauma. A lot of those triggers that were coming up around that a lot of the reasons she gained the weight in the first place was around this specific event. And so being able to go back and re parent yourself to be that maybe adult guide or be that source of love that you didn't have before, that you needed before, to be able to provide that for yourself is absolutely incredible. And so that is another really big life changing thing that anybody can do.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:19:26

It's so interesting because there is this piece that it's beautiful that community is so important and connection is so important. But there's this element that we don't often learn how to love ourselves or care for ourselves or recognize how important that element is and what tools that is, what tools we need to be able to do something like that. And so being able to say like we love ourselves or care for ourselves and we're there for ourselves and to consider how we didn't have the tools when we were 11 or 9 or 13 or 5 or anything to be that person for ourselves. But we do have that now. And we can reflect back on how we could have and would have and what we would have done for ourselves at those different stages in our life, but also how we are capable of that now. To be that resource for ourselves is Such a thing that we often haven't paused to consider and don't give ourselves credit for and don't take the time to do.

Monica [: 00:20:26

Yeah, absolutely. We are inherently extremely social and tribal people. And I think, especially as women, but just people in general just feel like their value comes in being able to serve other people, which it does. Absolutely. Like, that is an incredible thing. But a lot of times I. I mean, I think of it like a pitcher. Like, if you're trying to pour all of these cups from a pitcher, eventually that pitcher runs out and you won't be able to fill them out and you won't be able to have anything left in your pitcher.

Monica [: 00:20:54

But if you set it up like a champagne tower and you pour from the top, you pour into yourself first, it overflows into everybody else and there's more than enough to go around. And so just remembering that, that it's so important to making sure that you're filling your cup first, because then you can give more and then you can help those around you. I mean, my client is a really excellent example where she said, my relationship is better than it ever has been before. You know, my relationship with my kids is improving. My relationship with, like, myself and my co workers and my. My mom. Her relationship with her mom has changed as well as. And as well as, like, some of her siblings and things like that, because she took the time to pour inward first.

Monica [: 00:21:36

To look inward first.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:21:38

Yes, that's wonderful. And to have those tools and those ideas of how you can make yourself feel supported, make yourself feel connected, make yourself feel, feel those things and that you are able to love yourself. And if you aren't loving yourself, if you don't think you're worthy, if you aren't connected to that, then you can't. It goes back to that reticulating activated system that you talked about and that filter you have. If you don't filter out and see how you're worthy and see that you're lovable and see that you are loved, then it's harder to find that and accept that and experience that from others as well.

Monica [: 00:22:08

Absolutely.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:22:09

That's wonderful. That's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that story about that and that work that you've been able to do with doing that. Do you feel that that's one of the most important things that your clients and folks today really need to embrace?

Monica [: 00:22:22

Yeah, absolutely. I really feel like we live in a world where we are constantly. People are trying to constantly dysregulate us, and constantly they want us to feel afraid and they want us to feel like we'll never be enough because then we don't have time to, to think for ourselves. Then we don't have time to, like, become amazing, amazing human beings who, who aren't dependent on things like retail therapy, you know, or, or different things like that. So I really feel that taking the time to heal yourself from within, taking the time to learn how to regulate yourself, your emotions, your nervous system, and then allowing yourself to, to dream bigger and allowing yourself to, to realize how freaking awesome you really are and start to work towards that is the most important thing you can be doing right now.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:23:17

Yes. So realize your own abilities and put that into play. That's really incredible. I appreciate that. So is there anything else that you feel is really valuable that you've worked with clients on that other people could learn more about and see more of to improve their understanding of this?

Monica [: 00:23:33

There are so many different aspects of this. Like, there's so many different, like, ways that this shows up for people. Yeah, I mean, we kind of mentioned the beginning of the podcast. I work with my, my clients in what I call the neuro fulfillment method. And the goal is exactly what we've talked about. Right. To become the best version of yourself, to help you learn how to heal from within, help you learn how to regulate yourself and your emotions so that you can go out into the world fully prepared to just be awesome, essentially, you know, and to be able to, to help others and to give more and to just create such a beautiful life for yourself. And through that process, I mean, essentially, one of the, the step one is just to rediscover and to clarify your vision and allow yourself to fully dream big.

Monica [: 00:24:23

So many of us are dreaming so small, and we've put ourselves in such a small box because we feel like that's what we're supposed do. We've been given a formula. You know, go to school, graduate, start at the bottom, climb the ladder, buy the house, buy the bigger house, buy the cars. You know, we've been giving this formula of just trying to climb and create more and more, more, more, more. That so many people get to the top of that, and they're like, what was this all for? Why did I do this? And they kind of look around and they're like, is this, is this it for me? Like, I've. I've created everything I was supposed to, but I just don't feel happy. Like, I just feel this vague sense of maybe boredom or this vague sense of unease, like unhappiness. And so just Allowing yourself to understand your core values and to dream of, of a life that you could be living in alignment with those core values.

Monica [: 00:25:13

And what that could look like, even if it's different than you've ever imagined before, even if it's something that you've been told you're not supposed to want, what could that look like? There's two things you need to know when you are making changes, when you're trying to go somewhere, you know, number one, where you want to go and then number two, you need to know where you're at. So understanding the vision, like really clarifying it and understanding what it could look like and what you are working to create is super important to know where you're going. And then we can work backwards from there and say, okay, like if I want to do this, I had a client, she was a teacher and she wanted to start a photography business and she wanted to travel and she wanted to, to create retreats and take people with her to travel. And so we like worked really hard to create that vision and understand this is exactly what I want, this is why I want it, this is how it aligns with who I am. This is what has been holding me back. And then we can kind of work backwards from there. And she just barely launched her first retreat, the beginning of this year. It was a raging success.

Monica [: 00:26:14

It was so much fun. I actually got to go with her, which is amazing. She is a photographer now. She's a full time photographer. Her pictures are outrageously good. She's traveled all over the world. She's been to Iceland, she's been to Brazil, she's been to Guatemala, she's been all over the world taking these phenomenal pictures because she took the time to create that vision for herself. And then we kind of already talked about the next step of my method is to create that unshakable belief in yourself.

Monica [: 00:26:38

And this is the one where we have to revisit a lot, you know, and sometimes it looks like healing from within and sometimes it looks like trying to work on manifesting and work on your mindset and making yourself believe that you can do it. And that's the one that's so individual to everybody. And it, it's involves a lot of trying to guess at what roadblocks you, you might have when creating this vision and then creating a plan for it. And then when it's not the roadblock you come up with, you've already taught your brain how to be adaptable and so then your brain is able to come up with These really cool solutions and then finally just like creating that plan and implementing and working towards it. That's essentially what I go with all my clients. That's the work I do is to help people, to create the vision, to create the belief, and then to create the plan.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:27:24

That's exciting. That's wonderful. And I'm sure that's very impactful as well, because we definitely need more of that. And finding your purpose and growing into that and being able to fulfill that is something that makes a big difference in people. Being able to feel that love in that direction and that fulfillment with pieces. So that's so exciting. Thank you so much for sharing all of that. Monica, what do you do for yourself? Because I know we talk about on our podcast with each of our guests about their self maintenance is what we call it.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:27:51

Because sometimes self care gets a. A bad rap as being indulgent instead of being what you need to actually maintain yourself. So what do you do on a regular basis to really maintain yourself and take care of yourself?

Monica [: 00:28:02

I've actually gotten a lot of kickback from some people on this. But actually one of the things that's helped me the most is to create an intuitive morning routine. So I'm not about rigid morning routines, not about doing my 27 step plan to get ready for the day or anything like that. I do have a couple of things that I do every single morning. I start with water and I start with some kind of move. But I take the time to ask myself and I check in with my body, like, what kind of movement would feel good today? And sometimes that means going to the gym and hitting it really hard. Sometimes that means going on a walk. Sometimes that means having a dance party in my bathroom.

Monica [: 00:28:35

And I have found that the more I can kind of just like check in with my body and figure out what I need to benefit from the day. There were so many times that I, I was trying to do the 37 step checklist morning routine. I was trying to like, make sure I was going to like the gym super hard every day. I was walking like several mil a day. I was trying to make sure I was doing all of these things and it was wearing me out. I was exhausted and it turned into me hating going to the gym and me hating going on walks and me hating doing all these things because it just wasn't what I needed. And it wasn't working with my body to like in my natural cycle. It wasn't working with my body to create actually momentum for my day.

Monica [: 00:29:15

It was wearing me out before my day even started. And so just being able to, to tune in with my body and just be like, what kind of movement does my body need? What kind of breakfast does my body need today? And allowing, allowing myself to go there, you know, allowing myself to do what I need to do to support myself has made a world of difference for me in my productivity, in my own love for myself along my weight loss journey. It has just made the world of difference for me.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:29:44

Yeah, I love that it's intuitive that you're doing the things that you're checking in with yourself, finding what you need and then acting on that. And that's kind of what's setting your tone for how you're doing it. You're honoring yourself first and then moving with that. Thank you so much for sharing.

Monica [: 00:29:58

Yeah, of course. Yeah. There's no two days that look the same. And so I don't know why there has to be a one, like two morning routines that look the same. And so, yeah, it's just made, it's so, it's so good and it's so good for, for myself to just know that I will take care of myself, I will support myself, I will check in with myself and my body and I will do those things and it's, it's made a big difference.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:30:19

And fill your cup first. So. Yes. All in alignment. So what do you think for our grit, wit or one piece from our conversation that people can kind of implement and take away as the one thing that they should focus on to do first? From what we've talked about today.

Monica [: 00:30:35

Oh man, there are so many, like good little nuggets we talked about today. This is a really good conversation. If I had to pick one like a starting place, it would maybe just, just to be. To create the vision for yourself, to allow yourself to just like dream a little bit, to Pinterest, shop around. That's what I, I did when I was working on creating a different life for myself is, is I went on Pinterest and I created a secret Pinterest board. I just kind of Pinterest shopped around for like, different ideas to create a vision board or just to like, journal through. What could life look like? Like, what if life was fun? What if I had everything that I ever wanted? And just allow yourself to start to explore that dream. Because I, I do believe that is the best place to start.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:31:15

That's exciting. I went on a retreat and in January and the what if concept of like flipping everything to the well, what if, what if, what if everything did work out. What if this was possible? What if. And one of the women I went on the retreat for has been so great and cute about sending those messages into and turning things when they come up. Well, what if this happened?

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:31:36

What if?

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:31:37

So you're always looking at possibilities instead of looking at the, the, the negative potential. So you're always giving room and space in the conversation for what if the perfect outcome happened and that you let your brain go to that perfect outcome and leaving space for what you really want and giving time to find what you really want. Because a lot of times you don't even find what we really want.

Monica [: 00:31:58

Yes, absolutely. And that's like just such a great full circle moment in this conversation is, is you are actively training your reticular activation system, your brain to find the what if gifts to find the possibilities instead of to find all the ways it can go wrong. You're now training it to find all the ways that it could go right.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:32:15

Yes. Such a difference. And we don't grow up that way. And we don't. Especially planners, especially high achievers. Like we gotta plan for the worst and do all that stuff and we don't plan for the best and plan for the ultimate and imagine the perfect thing that could happen. So that's so helpful. I love that.

Monica [: 00:32:31

And you have this worksheet that's about trusting your gut for decision making. And we're gonna have that link in our show notes so folks can easily get a hold of that. And you have your own podcast so folks can definitely listen in and hear you more as well. Tell me the name of your podcast again.

Monica [: 00:32:47

Yeah, my podcast is called Notes from a Neuro Nerd: The Science Behind Living Your Best Life.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:32:52

I love that. I love that. That is such a fabulous title for that. So we'll also have that link in the show notes so folks are able to connect and listen to that. And do you have other ways, what's the other best places to. To find you and connect with you? Your website.

Monica [: 00:33:07

Yeah. So my website is coaching by monica.com I'm also most active on Instagram @coachingbymonica, but you can find me pretty much on any social media platform with, with that handle.

MShawna Rodrigues [: 00:33:16

That's wonderful. So folks can connect with you and learn more about this and be able to work with you. And you have a course too that people can take.

Monica [: 00:33:24

I have a couple of different resources, but the one I'm most excited about is the becoming unstoppable workshop, which is a goal setting workshop, which is training you how to set goals, working with your Brain. It came about definitely through all the conversations people were having around New Year's resolutions and how actually it's. I think it's like the second Friday in January has been dubbed Quitters day because like 82% of people have given up on the New Year's resolutions just two weeks in. And so I was like, okay, how can we actually make change here? How can we understand our brains better so that we can make goals that are actually going to stick, that are kind of feel easy to achieve and that are going to build on our brain's natural reward system? It's going to train your brain how to look for the success, to create goals that are aligned with you and not goals that you feel like you need to be setting. Because it's that time of year, we're all setting the same goals and so being able to. To create goals that feel good and feel easy and fun to create. So that is a fantastic workshop and it comes with a journal and it comes with some vision board templates as well.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:34:28

Oh, exciting. So, yeah, just gotta get to your website to find all those pieces, right?

Monica [: 00:34:33

Yep, definitely.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:34:34

Perfect. Thank you so much, Monica. This has been a great conversation and I think that folks were really resonated with it and start to do their visioning and connectivity more.

Monica [: 00:34:42

Thank you so much, Shawna. I've really appreciated this time.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:34:48

I value the time we shared together today. Thank you for making time to be here and to continue taking steps towards growth and bringing more ease into your life. I'd love for us to stay connected on Instagram @shawnapodcasts or @the.grit.show . There's even a link in bio at The Grit Show where you can send me an email to let me know what you thought of today's episode. Hearing from you helps to make the effort that goes into producing this episode worthwhile. After all, you're why I'm here. And since it's been a while since you've heard this, you are the only one of you that this world has got. And that really does mean something.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:35:34

I hope you realize that I'll be back again soon. And I hope you're following along or subscribed so that you'll know and be here too.