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Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:00:00

What do you think of when you hear money mindset? Is it enough of a buzz term that you don't start to process it? Or do you think of it as a way you define money? Or perhaps the way you let money define you. Do you peel back the layers to uncover the different narratives around money that have woven themselves into your way of thinking, your way of being? The narratives that go so far back you weren't paying attention to them or were too young to notice that you were learning them? We have an amazing gift today of a brain training expert who has specialized in wealth and success to help us uncover and tap into the way our brain connects to these money stories and our money mindset and what that means for you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:01:00

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.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:01:36

Mary Lou Rodriguez is a brain training expert with wealth and success. With an international reach, Mary Lou is a speaker and teacher who has helped thousands to shift their stories, upgrade their beliefs, and live their most unstoppable lives. I love that she used the term unstoppable.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:01:54

Mary Lou has had the privilege of sharing the stage with esteemed people like Dean Graziosi and Brendon Burchard. She's a keynote speaker and the host of the top 5% podcast, The Unstoppable Mind. Using science-based methodologies rooted in neuroscience and hypnosis, she's helped people rewire their brains for 6 and 7 figure success. Isn't that so exciting? Her powerful online programs, trainings, and brain training audio help people eliminate disempowering habits, fears, and self-doubt. I am so excited that I got to meet Mary Lou and have been part of some of her trainings and love everything she has to offer. Such perspective, such value. So, thank you so much for being here and sharing with us today, Mary Lou.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:02:39

Shawna, I'm excited to be here. It's such a pleasure. And it was so great when we met, and you gave me a hug, and you're like, we're going to connect. And I was like, yes, we are, because I loved your energy, and I love what you do in the world. So, I'm really happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:55

Yes. And you have so much to offer. So, I'm so pleased that everyone in The Grit Show community is going to benefit from the wisdom and what you gained. And I love that you have grown in this way and really focus on the neuroscience and how there's so much more to changing things than we realize and that our brain is at the core. So, as we look at changing things, that's where we start. So, tell us a little bit about your journey to recognizing how the brain is such and neuroscience is such an important piece of understanding how we can make shifts in our lives around our beliefs around money and how that affects us?

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:03:34

Oh, I'd love to. And I want to just start off by saying that my journey with money has been a beautiful, beautiful journey, and yet, it's been a journey full of a lot of pain and a lot of struggles because I did not understand for decades, what was blocking me when it came to creating wealth. I just didn't. And feel free to interrupt me, Shawna, at any point because sometimes I could just go off on tangents. But I always share with people that my parents were immigrants from Mexico, and so we were like, my first memories are being in the strawberry fields, and watching my mom and my siblings pick strawberries. And that was just what we did during the summers. We did that to make ends meet because we didn't have enough. And so, I learned early on that we were poor.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:04:27

And I remember, like, during the summer, right before summer was going to start, I remember how most kids would be talking about what they were going to be doing on vacation during the summertime. And I knew what we were going to be doing, which was working in the fields. And so, I tell people, and this is really the truth, poverty was my greatest wound for a really long time, and it's become my greatest gift. Because I know how to help people train their brains to believe and to have a different relationship with money. So, I struggled my entire life throughout my 20s, throughout my 30s. I didn't hit 6 figures until I was 45 years old. And, I mean, I don't know if that's normal or not, but I was making 35 to $40,000 a year, and I never surpassed that.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:05:20

I could see that other people were doing it, I just didn't know. Like, I even remember graduating. So, I graduated from college with a good friend of mine, and she was, like, taking over corporate America. And I remember thinking, we have the same degree. Why am I only making this amount, and she's making that amount? And that was, like, some of my first, like, realizations where I started to think, is there like, what's happening here in my life that I am not creating more money? And so, it wasn't until the pandemic. Just to give people some frame of reference here, I'm an entrepreneur, and I work in the online space now. But prior to that, I had an office in Beaverton, Oregon. And I would see clients, and I'd help them with coaching and hypnosis. And once the pandemic hit, I remember thinking, like, I don't know anything about being in the online space. I don't know how to do hypnosis online. I hadn't even really used Zoom. I was just so, so unsure about how I was going to continue.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:06:28

And here's what I did know though. I was an entrepreneur. I was struggling. I shared an office space with 4 other hypnotists. And we would, like, block out our times. And I thought that, honestly, Shawna, I look back now, and I was like, I thought that that was going to be my life, that I was just going to struggle as an entrepreneur. And so, when the pandemic hit, I had the opportunity to really do a deep dive in, what kind of woman did I really want to be? And I didn't know at that time, I didn't understand what that really meant, and I did not understand how that would impact my wealth, but I knew I wanted to change. And so, I was like, where do I start? Because I had done the manifestation stuff, and it didn't work for me. And now I know why, but at the time, I didn't understand. So, I was kind of grasping at straws. Like, what strategy is going to help me become wealthy Mary Lou?

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:07:26

Yes. What are the blocks? What's getting in the way? And I feel you because, again, like, I was somebody who didn't even know to want the things that I was missing, if that makes sense. Because I grew up in a small town and didn't even, like, realize, like, my dad never made much money. Like, we were 4 kids. We were always, like, on that edge, and so me getting as far as I did, felt like, oh, well, I'm making 30, 40,000. I'm doing better than my dad did with 4 kids and whatever else. And like, oh, no. That's not enough to do the things I want to do. That's not enough to travel. That's not enough to live in houses and buy a house and do the things. Yeah. So, not even realizing, like, how much and then trying to get ahead and, like, why do I keep hitting the ceilings? Right?

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:08:06

Yeah. I know. And it's so true. It's like I think about that now. I made 30 to 40,000 when I worked for somebody else. I couldn't even make that on my own. Like, when I became an entrepreneur, I was lucky if I hit 2 to $3,000, maybe. Maybe. And that was the truth. When I started looking at, like, what is truly blocking me, one of the first things that I dove into was and that's the other thing, Shawna, is, like, I've learned to just be my authentic self, and my authentic self is imperfect. And I will never edit my podcast. I hope you don't mind that.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:08:45

No. Not at all. But isn't it funny how those things come through? Because, again, like, I grew up not exactly like you, but similar in those ways. And I remember when I lived in Boston, and I actually manage just before you could like, Google things easily on your phone and what not. I have all sorts of words that I’ve said wrong and I still have ones I’m sure I say wrong because I learned with context clues. Like, I didn't have a fancy education, everything else. Like, I got a fancy graduate degree before that. Like, I worked, plod my way to get those things, right? And so, throat lozenges, like, I thought it had an s at the end. And I had to say, like, 5 people in my house, like, have this big conversation, and everyone's like, no. And I just thought, like, no. It's this way. Because I didn't know any different. Like, it's always been said wrong around me. I have other words I say wrong because of the way my mom always said them or whatever. Right? And so, somebody finally went and found one that had a riddle package. It said, no. It's lozenge. It's lozenge. But I was like, okay. I guess you know some things that I just haven't.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:40

Like, I didn't even know. I didn't even know the things I don't know and didn't know and was saying wrong and doing wrong because of whatever else. So, yeah, you can be yourself and that and those are the moments when it became clear that I didn't grow up the same as everyone else. I was at this level within graduate school. So, they called me out once when the national anthem was playing on the screen, and it was a country artist. And so, I was like, oh, Shawna will know. And everyone in the room was like, no, she won't. Why would Shauna know? And I was like, yeah. I know that is. I grew up, like, so it was so funny that, like, all those times and it's like who you are because you're very successful now. You've done amazing things. And so, it's hard for people to, like, go, like, of course, you would know all these things and do all these things. But being authentic, we all have our things. Yeah.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:10:24

Being authentic and showing up as my authentic self was probably one of the most difficult things that I overcame because I felt like I was not good enough as regular old Mary Lou. And that's what I grew up believing. And so, one of the first things that I had the opportunity to look at was what did I believe about money? You know, how did I grow up with money? How did I learn to feel with money? Because I didn't even know how I felt, honestly, with money. And a lot of times, most people don't. When I ask people, how do you feel about money? People say, I love money, and I love to hear that because I know that their conscious mind, you know, I know that they consciously want to love money. And so, I'll ask the question, does your bank account reflect that? Only because I want to get people to think. I want to get people to think because I didn't know how I really felt about money until I did the deep dive. And how I really felt about money was that I felt a lot of stress and anxiety when it came to money.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:11:27

The truth of the relationship that I had with money, I was so mad at money. That's how I really felt about money. That is what was happening in my body unconsciously. I was walking around vibrating that, emitting that truth, those feelings, and I didn't even know it. And I kept reinforcing it by the way that I spoke about money, which was, there's never enough. I'm always broke. I'm struggling. I'm always struggling. I don't have enough money to buy whatever. I used to shop at grocery outlet. And I did whatever I needed to, to make ends meet, and I did it, but it wasn't the way that I wanted to live my life. And I didn't know that I was reinforcing over and over and over again to my brain what I didn't want. So, the neural pathways that were deeply embedded about how I'm not worthy, I'm not good enough, that I'm always going to stay broke, that I don't have enough, that success isn't for me, money isn't for me. I kept reinforcing that in my conversations with my friends and with myself and with my family, because my family has a poverty mindset. And it's not their fault. It's not any of my siblings' faults. It's not the audience who's listening to me. It's not your fault. We learned to be this way.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:12:48

And we're not honest about that because we're also taught to not be honest about it. Like, we're learned to say, like, we love money, we're happy with money, and we can't talk about the struggle because we need to put on the show around it instead of being honest about where we're at. And you can't work through those layers if you're too busy trying to hide them from yourself even and your friends and your family and your partner and everyone else instead of being able to show with the lights so you can actually clean it off and work with it.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:13:20

Yes.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:13:21

And it's so complicated because of that. It feels that way anyway.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:13:24

Yes. And so, it was no wonder when I started learning about the truth of how I felt, I was like, oh, no. I wonder why I kept manifesting the same scenarios. More stress, more anxiety, more not enoughness. It was a pattern that I had that I wasn't even aware of. And so that was one of the biggest blocks, was understanding the truth of how I felt. The other big block, this is something that I think a lot of people can relate to, but I didn't know how to be committed to the idea of being wealthy. I wanted to be wealthy. I was interested in becoming wealthy, but I wasn't really committed to the practices that it actually takes to rewire your brain and to create new neural pathways in your brain. And I just didn't know this. Like, honestly, I was like, I want this, and I looked for easy, shortcut ways, which is how I found hypnosis because hypnosis, I love hypnosis, by the way. Hypnosis accelerates neuroplasticity, and I thought that that was the way that I was going to become wealthy. But what I didn't understand is that you can rewire your brain within. I call them brain training audios because that’s what we’re doing. That’s how I practice hypnosis and I teach hypnosis is that we’re training our brains for how we do want to think and feel and act. But what I didn't understand was that I could do all the brain rewiring in the morning while I'm listening to my, you know, plugging in my earbuds and listening to my audios. But if in my day-to-day life, I'm in my old identity of broke Mary Lou, I'm going nowhere fast.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:15:07

And so, it's like, I have 1 foot on the gas and 1 foot on the brake. So, I'm just constantly, like, moving forward, moving backwards, moving forward, moving backwards. So, there was a lot of learning that I had the opportunity to do. And for me, the brain science made sense because it's, like, easy to understand. I'm like, what are the steps? Teach me the steps. What is it that I need to know? Because I couldn't understand manifestation. I couldn't even get there because of the way that I really thought and the way that I really felt about money, and then what I really believed about money. I didn't understand the importance of our beliefs. I do now. And so, I was never going to become wealthy with the old version of Mary Lou. I had to completely change who I am.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:15:51

That's hard. And that's hard when you have so many people around you, especially family and everything else and partners at times and people that you spend your most time with that have those shared belief, unspoken beliefs, like, reinforced beliefs that we just take for granted that it’s in the air we breathe. And so, to dismantle those is complicated.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:16:15

It is complicated. It is. And I used to like, now I'm in such a different space that other people's beliefs, you know, they don't impact me. Even my families and I love them dearly. But I understand that in the beginning of this journey, I really wanted to belong. And, you know, my sisters would start to talk about money and what they couldn't afford. I would just jump into that because that is what my normal was. You know, that's just what I did. And then the other part of it too is, like, it was a sense of belonging for me. It was how I was connected to my sisters. And so, when I started to change, everything around me started to change. Now it's come back now, you know, now I'm close and I have relationships with my sisters, and it doesn't impact me at all. But in the beginning, we just grew apart for a little bit. People fell out of my world, which was perfect. And then, you know, it was, of course, the pandemic was happening during that time. I cocooned, and I did the work to change my life. I became completely committed.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:17:21

That's amazing. And you were able to, on your own, kind of dismantle those beliefs just by studying and figuring out and looking at that. That's incredible.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:17:31

Yes. I was like, what do I really believe? What do I want to believe? And I had the skills and the abilities because I’m a hypnotist to be able to rewire my own brain. I just needed guidance along the way. You know, help me to understand how I'm getting in my way. Okay. Let's look at my thoughts. Let's look at my feelings. Let's look at my actions. I laughed because that self-sabotage just jumped into my brain because that was the action I was taking was self-sabotage.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:17:58

Yeah.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:17:58

Or procrastination. So, I was taking these actions that didn't align with my vision of being wealthy, and even that wasn't my fault. And I really mean this with all sincerity. I had a pattern. It was fear, and so my response was to run away from my dream. I didn't understand that at the time. I just knew that it was hard, and it felt hard, and I didn't have the tools to be able to look at, how do I shift this so that it's not self-sabotage anymore, but it's self-empowerment.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:18:27

Amazing. And your ability to, like, figure that out. Because I think that sometimes, even if we see it, we're like, well, how do I stop doing it? Like, even if I see it happening, how do I go a different direction? And so, that's pretty incredible that you've been able to do that. And you work with other folks, and that kind of changed your business and your entrepreneurship journey because you were talking about that shift to being online was also when you shifted.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:18:50

Yes.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:18:50

So, you've been able to make a big difference then.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:18:53

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So, part of this is the feeling that we have. You know, it's like, our soul's path or our heart's journey. Like, I knew that I was meant to serve. I knew that I was going to create impact in the world. I just didn't know exactly how. So, I kept taking the next step. Okay. Let me learn Zoom. Let me get Wi-Fi that's going to support Zoom and not just the cheapest Wi-Fi. I remember it was always freezing in the beginning, but I learned I just kept taking aligned action, and I would tell myself, I'm courageous. I'm courageous when I did not feel courageous, and I felt scared. And I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to survive and to make it in the online space.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:19:41

And what I didn't know, which I know now, but at the time I did not know this, the online space gave me access to the world. And I met a lot of incredible people, and I began helping people across the globe. And that would never have been possible for me before.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:19:59

That's amazing. And did you do primarily, like, the work with hypnotism and coaching then to be able to make this impact on others and change your focus?

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:20:09

When I first was in the online space, I would do workshops, and I would barely talk at the beginning. I'd be like, okay, everybody. Thank you for coming. Close your eyes, and let's, you know, do a visualization on money. Now, you've been to my workshops now, so you've seen how I've really grown into the woman that I always wanted to be. And now I'm going to do a next level version of myself, a multimillion-dollar Mary Lou. But I grew into that woman even though I didn't know her very well in the very beginning, I became her. And that changed everything.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:20:46

The first thing that I always want to do when I'm working with people is I want to be able to give people hope that they can change their lives, whatever that is for them. No matter their traumas, no matter their stories, no matter their upbringing, no matter their addictions, like, no matter their bankruptcy, no matter what, they can change their lives. And so, I always lead with that. I always remember my deeper why because I was one of those people who did not believe that I could change my life.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:21:15

Mm-hmm.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:21:15

I did not believe that I was going to be able to quit drinking alcohol. And I struggled with an alcohol addiction for 15 years and it almost took me out. It almost like, it was right at the cusp of saying, this is it. I'm just going to be a drunk for the rest of my life. And so, my job in the world is, yes, I teach the tools on how to, you know, change your brain, how to really rewire it in a way so that you can know your self-worth, you can know how valuable you are, you can know how important you are, you can just truly believe in yourself because it starts there.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:21:52

Yes.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:21:53

It's absolutely incredible that I am where I am now, and I didn't do it alone. There was a lot of amazing people in my world who were my coaches and my mentors, who could see that I wanted to live a different life, and they supported me, but I was committed. So, first and foremost, like, always going back to that, even when I'm doing all the things, my bank account should be different now. You know? And I'm like, it's still the same. And I didn't understand that I was still giving my bank account meaning that it was defining whether I was successful or not. Just so many layers of growth, but just to be able to give people hope and then teach them the tools, give them the tools so that they can actually apply it and change their lives. Like, I have the best job in the world.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:22:40

And that's one of the beautiful things I love about you, and I think why I'm drawn to you and appreciate you so much is that you see people where they are, value them where they are, and see that potential and see the ability to see them move along that trajectory and to be able to go to those places. Because I feel like sometimes you hear someone speak and you're like, oh, they're not talking to me because the fact that I need to already have, you know, so I listen to a lot of entrepreneurial folks. Right? Like, I need to have a list of 2,000 people before I can even try to launch my business or even before I can do this. I have already been successful in 20 different ways before this applies to me.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:23:17

Yeah.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:23:17

And I love it that when speaking to you, it's like, no. This is a journey that we can all go on and we all have inherent worth. We all deserve to have these things, and this is a journey we can go on together to get there. And I love that that's your perspective and that you emanate that.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:23:36

Thank you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:23:37

Yes. It's beautiful because I think that more people need to feel that and see that that this isn't something that's only for elite people to go to the next level.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:23:44

Oh, no. No. No. No. Now I love it. At the time, I didn't love it, everyone. But I know exactly what it's like to have shame around being broke as a child, and I know exactly what it's like to have shame around being broke as an adult.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:24:02

I get it. This is really my journey. This is why I have such a gift when I teach about money because I understand what it's like to be stuck. I just love it so much. I do. I do. Because when people can start to have awarenesses around what their blocks are, and they can begin to shift that and change that, it's incredible what opens up. I call it possibility. Living in possibility.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:24:31

Yes. And that people can be unstoppable. So, how much is that divorcing yourself from that shame and letting go of that and not letting money be a definition and seeing it? Because I know I've heard you talk about how money is an outcome, is a symptom. It is not the root of anything. And how much of being able to see it that way is part of that transformation?

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:24:54

I know. This is such a good question because if we were in class, you know, I would say, don't throw your shoes at me, everyone, because the truth of the matter is that, and yes, you said it, it's that money is a symptom. It is the effect, but there's something at the root. So, what is the root? And this is where I tell people, I'm like, worthiness and deserving play a big part in who you are being and who you are becoming. So, what do I mean by that? I mean that a lot of people, and whether they're aware of this or not, do not feel worthy and deserving of having money in their lives because they just don't feel worthy and deserving. They don't feel like they're good enough. And I always say, what do you have to do? Tell me. Tell me what you have to do to be worthy and deserving.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:25:48

And then a lot of the childhood stuff will come up. Well, I'm supposed to be successful. I'm supposed to have a 6-figure income, or whatever it is. Right? Whatever we were programmed and conditioned with, whatever societal standards are in our brain, you know, usually, that'll come up that they're not worthy and deserving. So, I work on worth and deserving. Like, I do that on every single topic that I teach. There's always worthy. I always talk about self-worth and whether people understand that or not. Because a lot of times, people will be like, I don't want to work on self-worth. But this is the thing that is going to change the trajectory of your life when it comes to money. Because you will learn to feel whole and complete now. And when you feel whole and complete and worthy and deserving, guess what comes? And not just money, everyone.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:26:40

All the other symptoms. That thing's on the other side of, like, what you feel worthy and deserving. You find the life partner. You find the way of serving the world and the work you do that you enjoy. You know money is just one of the many things that comes with that completeness and showing up in the world and it respond to you in that way.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:27:00

Oh, well, you get me. You get me. Yes.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:27:02

I get you. I get you. I think that's kind of a big part. So, the name of the podcast is The Grit Show, and I think the title is about the people listening that we all have the grit. But I think part of it is we have the grit, but there needs to be a little more ease in life, and there needs to be able to recognize that that underlying piece of how we've shown up with the grit, but that isn't always the answer to get us with things. Right? It's like, we sometimes have the grit because we don't think that we deserve things without proving ourselves and doing the hard work and doing all of that. So, I feel like, the people that are here, the people that have, like, spent a lot of time trying to prove ourselves and trying to work extra hard and that we need to let go of that a little bit.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:27:44

Oh my gosh.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:27:45

And let the things come to us a little bit and need to believe that things are possible and that we are worthy. And that's kind of who's listening right now. That's who I'm talking to right now. The hard worker who's been trying really hard to do everything right in life instead of just recognizing that you can believe and you can trust and that you can allow these things into your life and that rewriting your brain to know that you deserve these things.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:28:11

It's powerful. It really is. And I love to work with people on breaking the habit of trying to be right or trying to be good because that will absolutely muck us up. Because when we're trying to be right, it's because we're trying to make all the right decisions and the decisions that we think are going to make us successful in whatever way that that is. And so, that's paralyzing. Honestly, I feel like making the right decision is paralyzing. And so, I don't look at decisions like that anymore. I do not put right on decisions. I don't use that word because I know that every decision, I make is going to either I'm going to learn from it or it's the decision that is going to take me to the next step. And that's honestly how I look at decisions. Just what am I going to learn from this? But I've taken right off because that is so much pressure, and that does cause procrastination and self-sabotage and overthinking because we're trying to do it right. So, for all the listeners out there, one piece of advice is, just make the decision. It doesn't have to be the right decision. What's the decision that is going to lead you towards your dreams? What's the next step?

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:29:22

Yes. And it's never finite. There's always another decision. There's never an absolute right. There's another path and another breaking the river, so there's another direction to go to where it needs to be. So, it's okay. And that's hard to learn because I think we want the safety of there being a right.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:29:38

Oh my gosh.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:29:39

We want the safety of there's this this if I do a, b, and c, then I'm going to get the house that I want, the relationship I want, the everything perfect, everything done. It would be so nice if it was just that easy.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:29:51

Yes. I understand it now. I just want to share that, for me, it shifted, like, how I show up every day, like, loving myself, telling myself that I'm doing a good job, celebrating my wins, like, validating myself, acknowledging myself. It's a different game when you're doing that, versus what I used to do, which was telling myself I was never enough. I was reinforcing that. And I remember when I learned that, I was like, you’re kidding me, you know? And that was such a big awareness when I was like, I keep telling myself over and over and over again that I'm not good enough, when I could be telling myself something different. I’m worthy. I’m deserving. Which is what I did for almost 2 months after I got sober.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:30:39

So, when somebody tells me they can't wire in a belief or they're struggling, I understand all of it because I've done the work myself. And I remember when I first got sober, I was like, what do I have to believe in order to stay sober? That I'm worthy and deserving. I'm worthy and deserving. And I would say it like a mantra because, otherwise, my brain was going to go back to what it was doing before, which was thinking about all my problems and thinking about alcohol. So, I shifted my focus to I'm worthy and deserving. I said it so many times that I remember I'd get up and go to the bathroom, and I could hear it playing in my head, worthy and deserving. But just shifting your focus. So, this is important because this is a brain thing.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:31:22

I had trained my brain to be in lack. Okay? And that meant that I was always seeing that there was never enough. And once I became aware of that, I shifted my focus to see what I did have in my life. Now, I didn't know how easy it was going to be to shift from lack into abundance, but it really was because I trained my brain to see all of the abundance in my life. Even when I only had, like, a couple $100 in the bank account, I was like, look at how much I do have, versus look at how much I don't have. I want everybody to remember this. Where's your focus? Is it on lack or is it on abundance? We could talk money all day, Shawna. I swear.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:32:08

No. And that's fabulous. And I think that that focus piece is so important. And to recognize that you're the only person that can do this. You're the only person that can rewire your brain. It's helpful to surround yourself with people that are looking for the positive, that are looking for the abundance, that will reinforce the positives. Like, if you have people feeding you the negative all the time of what you're not getting done and tearing you down, like, that'll definitely bring you down. But even if you have a best friend or a partner or a boss or someone who's constantly saying, you're great, you're good, you're doing good, you're going to make this happen, you have so much potential, like, even with that, that's not enough.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:32:49

You have to tell yourself. You have to believe yourself. You have to see yourself. You have to look for that because you can just shut them off and not hear that. It goes through or the way our brain hears, it goes to that emotional part of your brain. And if your emotional brain is ready to shut down all of that, then you're not going to hear those positives that are coming in. So, you have to turn that emotional part of your brain to listen to those things. You have to be looking and having the focus to have those things come in. Otherwise, it's not going to come in. You got to let it in. And I really want us to because we are still going to get to our self-maintenance minute and our grit wit to take away, which I'm very excited for. But I really want, before we get to that, to talk a little bit more about the work you're doing in this amazing group that I've had a little chance myself to jump into and get some benefit from. But you're having this great opportunity around the science of getting rich so people can connect with you on a regular basis to be able to get this. Tell us a little bit more about what you do.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:33:47

Yes. So, right now, I am doing a 30-day challenge based on the book, The Science of Getting Rich. And I have been having such a blast helping people to embody the principles of wealth. And so, the challenge is completely free. And when you sign up for the challenge, you get a brain training audio, and it's called, Your Pathway to Riches. And it's a really beautiful audio. It has the principles based on the book, but it also has a ton of Mary Lou in there, which is, you know, like, a lot of self-worth, a lot of, you know, I'm a multimillionaire because I exist. And because I exist, everything now is because I exist. That's where I'm at now. But don't worry. If that's not where you are, you know, it's like, please still come to the challenge because this challenge is great for anyone who is just beginning their path of wanting to change their relationship with money, or it's perfect for somebody who's ready to up level to the next version of themselves. And we're having a lot of fun. So, free brain training audio, there's 2 free money calls, and you can get coaching, and I help people understand what is in their subconscious. There is nothing more than I, it's like, I absolutely love to figure out what actually is blocking people. So, having the opportunity to be coached by me is a really big deal because not only do I love what I do, but I don't coach very often one to one.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:35:09

So, it's a real opportunity for people to connect and to learn about what's inside of their brain. So, there's free calls, there's daily prompts, there's a really beautiful community of people who are on this path. And I do call them the unstoppables, you know? I do. I do because I want them to hear that enough times that they really believe that their dreams are already happening. They just may not be able to see it yet. So, this is what we talk about a lot in the 30-day challenge. I call it a vortex, an immersion of being in your wealthy identity now.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:35:43

I love it. And so, if this is resonating with you as you're listening, this is a great way for you to come into Mary Lou's community and be able to connect more with this. And you also have your podcast, so they also get to listen to you regularly as well. There's lots of beautiful ways. So, we're going to have all of that in the show notes. We're going to have a link to get connected to the group and a link to the podcast for you guys to be able to connect more with Mary Lou because this is very important, beautiful stuff. And I know a lot of people are working with us. Right? Because we have so many more messages and beliefs around money than we realize, and to have this opportunity to have a space to connect to other people working through this and to be able to, like, put this behind us, put it in the dust, and move on to be unstoppable and to be able to reach our potential is just so exciting. So, I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. So, let's chat a little bit because we talk every single podcast about self-maintenance because we are reframing. It's not just self-care. It's not just an indulgence. We're not going to put any of that taint to it. It is required for our well-being to be who we are and show up in the world like we need to.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:36:50

So, what are some examples of things you do to maintain and take care of yourself that we can share with our audience?

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:36:56

Oh, I love that. So, I love to journal. I think it's so important to be able to write down my thoughts, whatever they are. You know, they don't have to be positive. They don't have to be empowering. I just write down the truth of how I'm feeling, and it's such a beautiful way to be able to feel expressed and then be able to just release it and move on with my day. So, I love to journal. I also love to hang out in my hot tub. So, I have a hot tub. I'm in my hot tub. I'm listening to Sound Bath Healing. It is the most rejuvenating, I just feel like a million bucks when I get out of the hot tub after our podcast. I'm going to take the rest of the day off. You know, I've had a really beautiful week full of fun things that, you know, I got to and get to deal with and work through in my business. And it's not bad stuff, it's just business. It's just life, and this week was extra, extra busy. And so, I decided I'm going to take the rest of the afternoon off. And I am going to play, and I am going to have fun because I'm choosing that. I don't have to wait until 5 o'clock. Even though I'm an entrepreneur and not get to choose my own hours, I still felt like it had to be hard. And now I'm breaking out of the hardness, and I'm like, you know what? I'm going to choose fun and play because that's how I want to live my life.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:38:17

Yes. Exactly. And you have to give yourself space to be able to enjoy life and balance the being focused, doing the work, being very full, very busy, but let yourself rejuvenate so that you're able to show up just as much next week and give what you need to give.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:36:35

That's right.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:38:36

That's beautiful. I love it. Yay. And so, for the grit wit, the takeaway from this, I'm curious about even us just talking about identifying some of these money beliefs is what I'm curious about. But do you have thoughts on what we should do as our takeaway and with our grit wit to take away from this today?

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:38:53

I would love to invite everyone to just take a few minutes to journal about their relationship with money, about how they really think and how they really feel. Because one of the things that I love to share with people is that we're not doing this from a place of self-judgment. We're doing this from a place of self-compassion. We're just being curious about what is here so that we can begin to understand and then shift it. Now I know, it's like I wasn't wrong. I wasn't bad for being challenged with money my entire life. It's what I learned, and I still don't have to feel bad about it or that it was wrong. Like, now I know that I used to judge myself so much.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:39:34

So, when you're doing the journaling, really just channeling self-compassion, self-compassion for yourself because you learned, everyone learned to have the kind of relationship that they had with money, and now you get to shift it. So, I think journaling about that so that you have self-awareness is key.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:39:54

Yeah. That honesty is the first step because I think we don't even realize sometimes the way that we think or believe and the things that come out of our mouths, like when we're talking to our kids or talking to our partner and making restrictions on ourselves. And I think that awareness that we're doing things because we like to purchase this item instead of, we can only purchase this because it's the cheapest thing that we can buy instead of it being like, no. I love the color of this top and I'm getting it. It has a bonus, that it's a great deal, but I'm not just buying it because it's the cheapest one that's here. Like, I'm buying this because I need a new top and this is a shirt that I love. And so, that you're giving yourself a message of I deserve a beautiful new top and this is the color I love and this is a great deal instead of, yep, this is the cheapest thing I can find and that's why I'm buying it. And how you tell yourself is the important part of it, even recognizing that there's a story with that and dismantling that a little bit. So, I think that journaling about that, that's a beautiful thing. Are there specific questions you think that we should ask when we're doing that journaling?

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:40:53

Yeah. I think that asking yourself how you really feel about money, what did you hear growing up about money? Those 2 will tell you everything. And then just free flow, like, just free write everything that comes to mind. This is what I did. This is what I still do. I'm excited about being the next level version of myself, and so I'm still going back and going, okay, what do I believe now? So, how do I feel about money? And then, what did I grow up hearing or believing or learning about money? So that you know what some of the conditioning and the programming that you learned automatically, that'll all just come up for you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:41:32

Fabulous. I love it. I'm going to do that today. I'm going to do that in the afternoon. Yes. I think it's a beautiful thing to do that and to continue to kind of check-in about how those things are evolving and growing because I did something similar as part of one of your challenges. So, I want to go back and check and see where that's at and how that's changed and grown as I've been able to be in your sphere and gain from your influence.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:41:55

Oh, I love it. Thank you for being a part of my community, and thank you for participating in the challenge. And it's so much fun, Shawna, when we can just overcome these blocks so that we can just live our best wealthy lives now because it's possible.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:42:10

It is. And this conversation is so needed and the work that you're doing is so important. So, I’m so grateful that you’re out there doing this and helping people to look at this. Because again, the tendency is we look away and to ignore it and pretend that it doesn’t exist and then to just add more stress and more tension and more negative energy that's just feeding that narrative that's just making things harder and pushing us further down. So, it's beautiful the work that you're doing. And I'm so grateful you came and chatted with us today and shared some of that perspective so folks know more about you and can connect with you.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:42:42

I love it. I had such a fun time, and I'm so excited to be here. And I'm so excited to continue to teach people about how to live their best lives, their most unstoppable lives with money, with love, with whatever it is that you want to, with whoever you want to be and however you want to show up in the world. It's really an honor to be here, so thank you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:43:03

Yes. Thank you so much. And we'll have more ways to contact Mary Lou in the show notes. And thank you for joining us today. We'll see you again next week.

Mary Lou Rodriguez [: 00:43:10

Bye, everyone.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:43:13

Thank you for joining us today. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to jump on over to Instagram and follow us at the.grit.show. And if you aren't already following Authentic Connections Podcast Network at 37by27, you should definitely be doing that as well. Don't forget, you are the only one of you that this world has got, and that means something. I will be here next Tuesday. I hope you are, too.