Envy is inspiration in disguise

Nice girls don’t get jealous.

We’ve banished envy to the naughty corner, making it out to be this awful emotion that we should feel guilty for even FEELING, let alone ADMITTING.

What absolute BS. I’m outing myself, I get jealous! Absolutely, outrageously emerald with envy! And I’m unapologetic about it.

Today, I was scrolling through Instagram and it just hit me like a WAVE. Ka-DOOSH! I got a major hit of envy over someone I really admire, who’s absolutely crushing it in business, seemingly without any effort. She posted a photo about her fabulous life and I turned into a green monster faster than you can say “50,000 likes”. But you know what? I’m not feeling an ounce of guilt for feeling that way. Instead of pretending I wasn’t jealous, I just admitted it! I don’t want to pretend that I’m not jealous.

BUT instead of letting that jealousy turn into vengeance, we can allow jealousy to guide us.

Jealousy is a desire compass. It’s inspiration in disguise.

WHY am I jealous of her?

1. She has built her business to a brilliant level of success in a really short amount of time

2. She has loads of followers who care about what she’s doing

3. People ADORE and rave about her products and services

4. She makes loads of money (I’m definitely going to talk about money in another post, I have so much to say on this topic!)

5. She’s so honest with the world

6. She’s constantly traveling to exotic places

What does that say about my desires?

1. I desire a level of success like she has

2. I’d love to have a follower base who really care about the work I do

3. I want to put out brilliant products and services

4. I’d love to make loads of money (again, soooo taboo for women to say, going to discuss this in the future!)

5. I would like to be more honest with the world

6. I’d love to do more travel

Why am I grateful to her?

1. Because she has shown me what is possible for me

2. Because she has made mistakes I can learn from

3. Because she has paved a path that I can follow

All of a sudden I feel fantastically inspired and excited and motivated! If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t even KNOW I wanted all of those things. She helped guide my desires. I want to THANK her for showing me a future I can have! I want to rise up to the challenge of building that for myself, not tear her down to make me feel better about my own situation.

Let your envy drive your heart to unexpected places.

Ever wonder what your purpose is, where to go next, or where to begin? Let envy take hold of the wheel and it will drive you to the foot of someone else’s castle to show you what to build. Your only job now is to lay your first brick.

Mantra: My Envy Is My Inspiration.

Also on the list of things I got jealous of today: This bathroom I saw at a friend’s house.
Flipping the jealousy into inspiration: I now know the exact bathroom I want in my future dream house.

Don't be productive, be progressive.

For a long time, I’ve mistaken productivity for progression.

There’s already school of thought around “Don’t be busy, be productive.” But I want to take it a step further. Don’t be productive, be progressive.

Here’s the difference:

Busy = doing things
Productive = doing focused things
Progressive = doing focused things that move your life forward in the direction you want to go

If only I’d discovered this third category sooner. I’ve been pulling my hair out over the last year wondering why even though I’m focused and getting things done, I don’t seem to be moving forward at the pace I’d like.

Sure, you were productive today. But did you make progress?

My day today:

Wake up
Gratitude journal
Eat breakfast
Brush my teeth
Meditate
Hang up a load of washing
Go for a run
Shower
Put on another load of washing
Edit video for Impossible Incubator
Eat lunch
Mindset journaling
Post on Instagram stories
Hang up another load of washing
Watch youtube
Cook picnic food
Go for dinner with friends on the beach
Write this blog post

Can you spot the only progressive thing I actually did?

At the end of my day, I have to be totally honest with myself and ask “If today were erased from existence, would it affect my future?”

I can’t kid myself that putting on 3 loads of washing and going for a run is truly progressing my life forward. My run today won’t affect my life in 1 years time. I could go running every day for the next year and still be in the exact same place in my life. The same with my meditation, or my gratitude journal. They are both good things to do. They are productive and important. But they aren’t progressing me towards my dreams.

The only progressive thing I actually did today was editing my video for my Impossible Incubator launch. It will affect my life in 1 years time, because if I don’t get this launch ready, I’ll have to push it back ANOTHER month, and that will delay my future youtube videos, and podcast, etc.

Seems kinda harsh. But I wish I’d known earlier, I could have saved myself a lot of wasted days.

Ask yourself, did I do something to progress my life forward in the direction of my dreams today?
If the answer isn’t a definite YES, then plan something progressive to do tomorrow, right now!

Showers aren't given: they're earned

Today I woke up and immediately went for a 15 minute run. I’ve been doing this for 43 days now. I’ve only ‘missed’ 7 days. But they aren’t actually missed days, because my running is part of my new rule: I can only shower if I’ve earned it, by exercising enough to need to wash off sweat. Gross, but unbelievably effective.

Just like respect, showers aren’t given, they must be earned.

So on the 7 days I didn’t run, I also didn’t shower. And now I’m 43 days strong. It works because I love showering. Or, more specifically, I love being clean. (Or, even more accurately: I really don’t like smelling bad - who does?). Me, 43 days ago, would never believe it. I have NEVER in my life been so consistent with exercise. Ever.

The other day, I didn’t have time to go for a run, so I didn’t get to shower. And the next day I was so busy editing my latest video I didn’t get a chance in the morning - and all day I felt hot and icky and greasy (it’s summer in England!). By 6pm when I’d finished editing, I was exhausted and certainly didn’t feel like exercising. But the pain of being sticky and icky outweighed the pain of going for a run. And so I went for a run, and earned my shower. It felt so. good. to be clean.

This rule works like magic to form a habit. I can’t believe I never knew about it until now. I’m even considering creating another habit using this rule " ____ aren’t given they’re earned” E.g. “Social media isn’t given, it’s earned”.

P.S. I didn’t invent this rule. I have no idea where I originally heard about it, so if you know the person, please share so I can thank them with a jumbo bouquet of shower gel!