Day 303: Mindy Audlin
“I believe the quality of our life is determined by how we chose to perceive those events. How do we choose to perceive the challenges and how do we perceive the triumphs? And if we can see that we’re growing and that we’re on purpose and that we get to truly follow our bliss and follow our heart and be who we feel called to be, then that’s a joy-filled life, and I think that’s really ultimately what we all want.”
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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Mindy, for agreeing to be part of the Project today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?
Mindy Audlin: Absolutely. This is Mindy Audlin, and I am the author of What If It All Goes Right? Creating a New World of Peace, Prosperity, and Possibility.
Toni: I love that title! So this is going to be … I think inspiration might be really tough for you to answer, but …
Mindy: That’s what it’s all about.
Toni: Mindy, when you think about inspiration, who do you inspire, and how does that happen?
Mindy: Well, I think it begins with ourselves. We have to keep ourselves inspired, and then as we inspire ourselves, then our life becomes, you know, the inspiration for other people. So I think the journey … what I teach people is, you know, it starts from within. How do we use our own imagination to get ourselves inspired about what we’re doing, and then we do it, and then people look at that and say “Wow, if you can do that, then I can do that” and it sends out these wonderful waves and ripples of possibility into the world.
Toni: Can you give me an example of how someone might use their imagination to inspire themselves?
Mindy: Yes. Well, we always use that wonderful little phrase “what if?” because people use those two words … use their imagination in ways that can really uninspire them. What if it doesn’t work? What if it’s a disaster, and it’s like, oh, the inspiration disappears. We teach people how to use “what if?” in a way that builds the inspiration. So what if it’s easy, and what if it’s possible?
And it can be anything from, you know … I’ve had people who have been laid off and are feeling really down. “How do I take that next step? I don’t know what to do.” We “what if?” “What if this is a perfect time in your life to reinvent yourself? What if you’re getting more in tune with your values than ever before?”
I’ve had people who have had illness who have used “what if?” to reframe how they are relating to that illness. You know, “What if this is an opportunity for me to slow down? What if this is a chance for me to appreciate my life more?” And it helps them go through the healing process more gracefully and without it being something that takes them down, but something that actually lifts them up and pulls them forward in their life. There’s really no limit to the way that you can use the question “what if?” to inspire yourself.
Toni: How does that help someone explore their potential?
Mindy: Well, I think that once we unlock our imagination, the potential is already there. We are … in my belief, we are spiritual beings, and we are here to grow and to expand and to evolve, and our imagination is really what lets us do that. So we’re unlocking the imagination and letting people really take wings to see what is possible, and then taking from those ideas moving into our wisdom to know “What is it that’s mine to do? “
Toni: I would imagine that there’s a bit of courage that comes along with this?
Mindy: Yeah, it’s really interesting. For different people, they respond to it differently. A lot of people, we’ve been so ingrained in “what if down” thinking, that to even step into the possibility that, what if it does go right? You know, “What if I am worthy of this? What if this calling that is mine is really something that I can do?” I think it does take a leap of courage to really entertain those thoughts, and at the same time it’s such an exciting thing to get reacquainted with who we are.
So many of us are so … you know, we’re so far from who we are when we start thinking, you know, what if it doesn’t work? And course, you know, these ideas that we have that our imagination can take us so far off course that when we do decide “Okay, you know what, I’m not going to do that anymore. What if today is the day I do something different? What if today is the day I get back on track with expressing who I am and living authentically?”
That is a courageous act, and it’s an exciting thing to do, so it’s kind of fun to have all those feelings and emotions happening at the same time with all that going on. Really, miracles start showing up for people. It’s exciting.
Toni: I like that – miracles start to show up. What inspires you?
Mindy: I am inspired by my three-year-old little girl who is absolutely gorgeous, and I see her and the way she interacts with the world, and it inspires me to want to make a greater difference in the world. I’m inspired by nature. I love taking hikes and being out and seeing the natural order of things and seeing how beautiful it is. I’m inspired by my husband, who is such a great supporter, and we love to brainstorm together. We inspire each other.
I’m inspired by, like you said, the courage from people that I meet, just of all ages, from all backgrounds. People that come together and they say “You know, what if we really can make a difference? What if I do something I’ve never done before? What if it really does matter that we show up when the calling is ours?”
Toni: Mindy, have you always shown up this way? Have you always been a “what if?” possibilities thinker?
Mindy: I’ve always been a happy person. People have always wondered what kind of weird thing I’m trying to cover up for because I always seem so happy. Once people get to know me, like, wait, that’s actually … that’s pretty much accurate. I have a pretty optimistic point of view, so I’m very, very grateful for that because I really think that once we can look at opportunities in everything … once we can look at everything that happens in our life, that’s … you know, we all have ups and downs and struggles and triumphs.
It’s really … I believe the quality of our life is determined by how we chose to perceive those events. How do we choose to perceive the challenges and how do we perceive the triumphs? And if we can see that we’re growing and that we’re on purpose and that we get to truly follow our bliss and follow our heart and be who we feel called to be, then that’s a joy-filled life, and I think that’s really ultimately what we all want.
Toni: It’s interesting, with the Get Inspired! Project a lot of people talk about passion and purpose, and not really … there are many people that don’t know what their purpose is, and I go back to one of the best things I’ve ever heard, just simply stated, Danielle LaPorte – I’m going to give her the credit for this, that’s who I heard it from – she said once, “What do people thank you for?”
Mindy: Oh, that’s a good question.
Toni: And if you can answer that, you might begin to unravel what your purpose is.
Mindy: Oh, that’s a great question, yes.
Toni: And so do you have any advice or any statements to that question of “What is my purpose?” and “Do I need to know what my purpose is?” How do you come at that?
Mindy: Right. Well, I think ultimately our purpose is to live in joy, to live life, and live it abundantly. I think that’s what we’re here to do. And how that shows up, it could be a billion different ways. And I think that we each discover it for ourselves.
I think what happens a lot of times is that we think we’re supposed to know it right now, and so when we don’t know it right now, we kind of beat ourselves up. “Oh, I see all these other people and they know their purpose, and I don’t know my purpose. I wish I knew my passion like that person knows their passion.” So we kind of get down on ourselves because we don’t have it as fast as someone else, or it’s not as clear as maybe we see it in other people.
One of the things I write about in my book is not getting attached to the process and actually loving where you are, because when you can love where you are, it just nurtures the process. It gives us more fertile soil to create what we want.
So if we can say “You know, I may not have the clarity right now, but I know that I’m on track. I know that I’m on my way, and I can love being in the unfolding of it, because I know that it’s leading me to that passion and purpose. And I know I’m going to get there. I’m going to look back and I’m going to appreciate the whole journey – not just the end destination, but the whole journey.”
The sooner we can get that, the sooner we put ourselves on that fast track to be able to have that purpose-filled, passionate life.
Toni: So what do you do now to explore your own potential?
Mindy: Well, I teach and I write and I blog. I spend a lot of time in nature and a lot of time playing. That’s the great thing about being a mom, I get to play a lot. And really, I think creativity is so much a part of our nature that any opportunity to stretch our minds and put ourselves in new environments … I go to the zoo, I go to the museums. I try to do lots of different things to just kind of stay alive and alert and see new possibilities.
Toni: Well thank you so much for all the information that you have given. You can hear how happy you are in your voice, and I love the title of your book. We will have a link to be able to find more information about you at the end of the transcript, and for just showing up today and being present with to the Get Inspired! Project, we cannot thank you enough.
Mindy: Thank you. It’s been an absolute delight. Thank you, Toni.
Toni: Take care, Mindy.
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For more information about Mindy Audlin: www.whatifup.com, www.mindyaudlin.com
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