Sometimes the most important conversations we need to have are ones with ourselves, and let's get real, they are typically the most difficult.
Ever since I was a little girl, a coping mechanism I use when struggling to get myself through a challenging situation is to put myself in front of a mirror. In that moment, I force myself to come face-to-face with my biggest advocate and greatest opponent – me! Seeing tears roll down my face, allowing myself to truly see the sadness, disappointment, or frustration I am feeling is an actual tool, not just a dramatic interlude (which yes, I am also known to embrace). By facing my feelings, roadblocks or decisions head on I give myself permission to feel all the feels, see how it is taking its toll and force myself to make a decision: am I going to continue spiraling or prepare to snap out of it? It's a conversation I have to have with myself, this is the moment I have to say out loud, get real!
Welcome to get real. My name is Arielle, and I want to guide you to the mirror, helping you through those hard conversations with yourself. Together, we’re going to explore big topics, hard truths and have real talks.
Topics to look forward to will range anywhere from work and career challenges, to friendship, peer-pressure, jealousy, how we set and achieve goals (and cope when we don’t meet them), pivoting, info overload and much more. I have drawn from my own personal experiences and called upon those nearest and dearest to me to advise on the get real conversations we’ve had together, in order to shape the ‘editorial calendar’ of this platform.
What this is not is unsolicited advice. If you’re anything like me, if I didn’t explicitly ask for advice, then there is a 99.99% chance I won’t listen. Why?
Sometimes I don’t want advice. I really just want someone to listen to me and getting it off my chest is enough.
Even though most advice is given with good intentions, no two issues or experiences are the same. People have a hard time removing themselves and their experiences from the advice they are giving.
As much as they may want to, it can be hard for the people in our lives to actually give us the cold, hard truth.
This is the moment we need the mirror the most.
On get real, you’re going to hear real anecdotes that tap into bigger questions we are all trying to answer. All I can do is hope it sparks something in you: you resonate with a topic, a situation, a feeling, and if I am lucky, maybe some advice, allowing you to access your own voice and unlocking the conversations you need to have with yourself, that you may be too afraid to bring to the surface.
With each topic we cover, there will also be get real checklists. I love lists. A to-do list, a grocery list, a wish list, a goals list – you name it, I’ve got a list for it. The Get Real Lists will essentially act as a TL;DR, but be filled with tangible tools, actions and ideas to take with you offline as you continue these conversations with yourself. Because anecdotes are great, but here we are striving for action.
Thanks for embarking on this journey with me, I cannot wait to see where it leads and what paths we discover together.
Click here for a hint of what’s to come next week.
Eagerly awaiting the Get Real lists!!
👏👏👏