Happy First Anniversary to the Leading Yourself Podcast!!!
It has been a year since I published the very first episode of the Leading Yourself podcast!!!
1 year
30 episodes
5,700 listens
21 countries
I feel happy, grateful, humbled, excited, accomplished, more confident and fulfilled.
It has been a hell of a journey, a journey that started way before I published that very first episode. In the last year I have learned so much, I have grown so much, I've stepped out of my comfort zone and as a result my comfort zone has expanded in way I could have not imagine. Last week while we were on vacation, I spent some time reflecting on this past year and some of the lessons learned, realizations and take always from my first year as a podcaster. Let me share some of them with you. They are not in any particular order or important, I think they all have been pretty significant. Some are things I learned, some are things I already knew and got to reaffirmed through my experiences in the last year. All of them have made me a better version of myself in some way.
You can listen to all the stories behind every one of my learnings on episode 32 of the Leading Yourself Podcast. It's just a 20-minute listen! If you are not into podcast (why aren't you!? you don't know what you are missing out!), don't worry, here is a summary just for you.
Just go! Take action before you are ready, that is what success is all about.
If you have been listening to my podcast from episode one, you know what it took me a long time to take the first step. I dreamed, thought about, planned to start a podcast for over a year. I wanted to have everything ready before I even started recording the first episode. I got lost in researching the equipment I would need, how to edit episodes, how to publish them, etc. Some people call it analysis paralysis. Yes, that was me! But one day I decided to just take action, locked myself on my daughter’s room and recorded that very first episode.
Was I ready? no!!! Absolutely not!!! But I did it! And if it wasn't for that imperfect first step, I would not be here today. The success I've accomplished in this first year started with that imperfect step. It was because I decided to take action even when I didn't have all the answers, even though I was not "ready". Just go! Act! I learned that even on the very first day, that day I locked myself on my daughter's room and kicked off this amazing journey.
Many things I do, I never realized how I do them.
I've had the privilege and honor to mentor many people over the last years. More often than not, people have asked me how to do a do something and my mind goes blank, and my typical answers tends to be "I just do it". It's incredible how many things we just do in autopilot. It amazes me how many times we just make something happen, like if we were cooking cake and when asked what the recipe is, we don't know what ingredients, amounts of each ingredient or process we followed to bake that perfect cake.
Starting this podcast has helped to to reflect on how I do what I do and be able to narrow it down to the steps I take, the things I take in account or consider to make a certain decision or yield a certain result. To continue using the same analogy, podcasting has allowed me to be more mindful of what I do and how I do it so I can share with you the recipe to that cake.
Self-reflection is KING
On that same note, podcasting has reaffirmed what I already knew, that is that self-reflection is KING. It's really the secret ingredient for personal growth. Personal growth starts and ends with self-reflection. Everything that I have shared in the last year on my podcast has come as a result of self-reflection
You'll never get a YES unless you ask
I've been honored to have people like Scott Miller, Stacey Flowers or Britt Baron as guests on my podcast. If you asked me a few months ago I would have told you no way I would be able to have people of their caliber in my "startup" podcast. To be honest, that limiting believe is what stopped me from reaching out to them. They all looked, seemed and felt unreachable; yet they all invested over an hour of their busy schedules to join my podcast. I am so grateful for that. What I learned is that you will never get a yes unless you ask. you will not reach a goal unless you leave your limiting beliefs behind, you'll never get there.
Take more risks, be bolder
I have been more of a risk averse kind of person in the past, but in the last year I have stepped out of my comfort zone and take bolder risks than ever, and that has allowed me to expedite my growth.
Surround yourself with people that are better than you, that inspire you
Most of the inspiration for creating content for this podcast has come from situations that I have faced that have spark that self-reflection that I was talking about. But another key source of inspiration has been the people that I surround myself with along this journey. Friends, colleagues, mentors and even people that I have never meet in person. I call them my "virtual" mentors. Book authors, public speakers, podcasters, people that are better than me in certain areas of my life from whom I have learned and have helped me grow. As i listened them many times I have found myself going back in time and connecting to past experiences of mine that have helps me self-reflect on what I learned from those situations and experiences and that has become the starting point for me to start creating new content.
Protect your voice
The counterbalance with surrounding yourself with people that are sources of inspiration, is the risk to lose your voice. While it's important to surround with people that is better than you, people that are sources of inspiration, they should be that, inspiration.
I've learned I need to be careful and find that balance. I had to limit my consumption of social media and content for certain sources, so I could project my voice and not become an imitation copy of someone else.
There is always a way! You'll figure it out!
I have always found a way, always figured things out and this was not going to be the exception. There will always be roadblocks and challenges but when you have a clear vision and you are determined to accomplish your goals; you will always figure things out. There have been many weeks that I was close not to have content ready to share, but every time I figured it out. I promised myself I would put out a new episode every other week and I did not missed one week. Not only I put out a new podcast episode every week, but I put out a quality content episode (or so I want to believe).
Never break a promise to yourself
Very related to the prior point, I made that promise to myself and stick to it. I have no contracts to fulfill, no commitment made with anyone else but myself. Many times is easier for us to keep promises we make to others that those we make to ourselves. It's easy to find excuses, to give up, to relax, to give them a lower priority. Believe me, many weeks, as I mentioned I was close to break that promise, but I didn't, and that is something I feel proud of. I know now that I can translate that resilience and commitment to any other of my life.
Build routines and rituals
In order to honor my commitment, I had to build routines to helps me make the time, to find the inspiration, to make the time for self-reflection. My morning routine specially has been key this past year. I have perfectioned my morning routine to allow me to do all those things and help me keep that promise to myself.
Fill up your cup first
There is no way I can create new content every other week if I don't fill my cup first. It's impossible to pour from an empty cup. I invest in average 60 minutes every day filling my cup in all aspects: learning, self-reflecting, moving my body, meditating, and all the things that help me fill my cup.
Be proud of where you've been but never become complacent
When I listen to the very first of my podcast I kind of feel embarrassed, but I think that is actually a good thing. That was the reason why I started my podcast, because I wanted to become a better version of myself. I feel proud because it took me almost a year to record that very first episode. I feel proud of every episode I have shared in the last year, but I never have and never will become complacent because I know I can continue to improve, and I try to improve at least 1% every time I create new content and record a new episode.
It's a marathon not a sprint. Pace yourself!
In the last year I had to pace myself on two main ways. On one hand as I create content. There have been many weeks that I published new episodes two weeks on a row because once I have created the content it was hard for me not to share it immediately with you. developing that patient has been a learning curve. On the other hand, I've had to pace myself when it comes to my personal development. My personal growth has always been a priority for me, but that has been exponentially increased in the year. I've had to continually pace myself because I wanted to consume all the content, read all the books, take all the trainings, listen to all the podcast, but when it comes to personal development or this podcast, quality is more important than speed. Sometimes we need to slow down and pace ourselves. for me reminding myself that this is a marathon and not a sprint has been key to ensure that I am intentional around the content I create and my own personal development.
I can't close this article without sending you a big THANK YOU for listening to the Leading Yourself Podcast. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to fulfill my purpose, because if you were not listening there would be no reason for me to create more episodes.
If you are enjoying the podcast I want to ask you one BIG favor. Please go to Apple Podcast leave me a review, share the podcast with someone you care and if you haven't done it yet, don't forget to subscribe so you get notification every time there is a new episode available.
Do you have suggestions for future topics you want me to cover on the podcast, email me, I would love to hear your ideas.
Looking forward to celebrate many more anniversaries of the Leading Yourself podcast!
