How To Get Out Of Your Own Bubble

Lauren Best (00:00:08) – Welcome to Provoking Possibilities where we reflect on pivotal life moments, ask thought-provoking questions, and dream up new possibilities for living a life you love that may be a little out of your current reality. I’m Lauren Best, a certified hypnotherapist and provoker of possibility, and I’ve created this podcast for people who are curious about exploring new ways of living, who are looking to connect deeper with their bodies, their intuition, their hearts, and then known, and who are really ready to just embrace their most authentic selves to move into flow and into alignment. There is just so much that is possible for us when we open ourselves up to exploring new possibilities beyond our wildest imagination. So if you’re ready and curious to begin exploring new possibilities, join me every week for a new episode of Provoking Possibilities on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let’s dive in.

Lauren Best (00:01:09) – I am your host, Lauren Best, and I am a certified hypnotherapist and provoker of possibility. And before we get started, I would like to take another moment to just thank anyone who has come back to the show and is giving it another listen as well as anyone else who is just joining for the first time. I am excited to welcome you. I am so grateful that you have chosen to spend your time with me listening to this show and also giving yourself that same space to really open up your mind, your heart and discover something new, perhaps about yourself or perhaps about life and doing things differently. So thank you for being here for this episode today. I am excited to talk a little bit about how to get out of your bubble, and I love this quote that I’m gonna share with you by Albert Einstein.

Lauren Best (00:02:07) – And he says that we cannot solve our problems, the same thinking we use when we created them. And although we’re not gonna get into, you know, what’s I important for solving problems and navigating certain situations or scenarios that are going on in your life, perhaps I do want to talk about this idea of removing yourself for creating more space in your environment, in the work that you’re doing in your life, and really looking at embracing more spaciousness and this concept of slowing down to speed up. And this might be an unfamiliar concept to you. So I’m really excited to share some of my experiments that I’ve been doing and finding more of that spaciousness in my schedule and how giving myself the time to get out of my comfort zone and this familiar bubble that I’ve created around myself, which is so, so comfortable. I just wanna share, you know, how instrumental that has been for me to not only enjoy my life more, but also my business much more as well.

Lauren Best (00:03:22) – And in this world that we live in, it’s so, so easy to really get caught up in the doing and in taking action and feeling like if you’re not taking action, then you’re going to be behind. And the truth is, that’s not true. But it can be really, really hard with all of the things that we’re constantly hearing where we should be taking action. We should be, you know, working towards our dreams or success with such purpose. And sometimes there’s much more purpose in just slowing down and doing things differently and giving yourself that space to, to explore. I have definitely found myself getting lost in the noise, and it’s something that I am constantly reminding myself to do is, you know, create more, more spaciousness and move away from the things that I think I should be doing from time to time. So today we’ll chat a little bit about, you know, what that really means to get out of your bubble and make space for new experiences and how you too can begin to reevaluate your priorities and also allow that reevaluation of your priorities to refocus your intentions and use your energy in a way that feels really good.

Lauren Best (00:04:49) – And you know, with that, I wanna share with my ex my experiments and ex experiences that I’ve been having lately. I wanna talk a little bit too about these micro routines that can really be helpful in actually getting us out of our bubble and how that can hopefully inspire you as well to really reclaim your own time and your life in a way that just feels really good for you. So I wanna do a little bit of a time capsule and step back to, I believe it was November of 2022. And this is my first big trip out of Canada. I mean, I had traveled to the US um, I think once, yes, I think once, um, since the pandemic started, since I moved back to Canada. So this is my first big trip, you know, going overseas. So November, 2022, I was going back to London.

Lauren Best (00:05:50) – I had studied there and lived there for I think four or five years. It’s hard to remember. And the last time that I was there was actually the day I moved away to Singapore. And that must have been, goodness, me and my friends who I were visiting were trying to remember, but it must have been, you know, three or four years before that. So I went overseas back to the uk, back to London to a very familiar place. But knowing that who I am is very, very different, I was, I was no longer a student anymore. I was back in this, you know, new version of me as a business woman. And feeling that familiarity of this place that I had called home for so long was so, so comforting. But it also was a place where I could spark a lot of new curiosity for myself in, you know, time changes, a lot of things.

Lauren Best (00:06:50) – And this place and the people that I love that I was visiting there were also really different. So that was really exciting. So I spent some time really reconnecting back to some of those roots that I had set up back in England and enjoying time exploring new places and revisiting the old ones that I just loved so, so much. I, like I said, spent some quality time with some of my very best friends who I hadn’t seen in those three or four years. And I was able to meet a lot of new people as well. And, you know, being back in a place where I had spent so much time growing up and discovering who it is I wanted to be, I was studying design when I lived there and, you know, I, I think a lot of my perspectives were shaped there, but since I had left, had changed quite a bit and it was a place as well that I was able to redefine, redefine some of my values.

Lauren Best (00:07:51) – And it was so refreshing to just really revisit this place and this new chapter of my life where I have a new sense of confidence and knowingness of who I really am. Because when I was there, it was really this time of exploration and it was a good reminder as well that every single day that I wake up and live, like I can still continue to redefine who I am and continue to learn myself, learn more about myself even though I do have this deeper sense of confidence and knowing this and who I am. And while it’s been a really good and fun experience, it being there really, and just having more of that space to walk around, basically where I returned to back in Canada was, you know, in the middle of the country. And a really big part of why I loved London was that you could walk out your doorstep, you can walk down the street, you can find a cute little cafe or shop, whatever it may be.

Lauren Best (00:08:58) – And that was something that I really, really was missing. And although I was working while I was there, I really wanted to prioritize my time there, my time for walking around and wandering and meeting up with a friend for a casual lunch and a coffee and a, and a tea. Like I so love. So I really, before I even went on that trip, had to kind of reprioritize, you know, what are my working hours going to look like? What kind of time block can I give myself and what space can I create in my schedule that will allow me to wander and allow me to meet up with people and just see where the wind would take me? And with this phrase that I’ve been hearing over the last year, this slowdown to speed up, it really only began to carry a deeper meaning in my world, I think when I was on this trip, because I had that chance to get out of my regular environment, out of my regular routine and really enjoy this process of introspection, you know, when I would have my walks or really different conversations with different people that I wasn’t having in my, you know, regular life.

Lauren Best (00:10:20) – And there were a few moments, I think over this past year where I had tried it out, you know, taking some rest and hitting pause on some of those things that I thought I had to, to be doing to really reevaluate if these actions and things were really things that were important at all. And then I would find myself again, you know, just picking them back up, picking up the things that did make sense and maybe even things that didn’t make so much sense still, but still spending less energy than I would have otherwise on those things. And I think it really gave me a good foundation of trying that out to really, you know, put it into place and put these actions, um, into a space and place where I gave myself that permission even more so to say, this is, you know, the life I wanna live, so let’s design it to work for me and work for me in that way.

Lauren Best (00:11:20) – And I’ve also noticed a pattern in that, that it isn’t until I really do give myself that chance to get out of my bubble, to change that environment, to give myself that permission to shift around my priorities of really just picking the most essential items to focus on in my business that I am much more intentional with how I spend my time, whether it be with work or other life activities. And I’m sure my business coach, Lydia Lee, who was on the show a few weeks back, uh, you know, she’s, if she’s listening to this, she’ll probably laugh out loud because she’s just been telling me this. And the rest of us in our coaching group, like slow down to speed up, be more intentional with how you spend your time and prioritize the most essential items. And it can be so easy to hear that and not necessarily let it be true to you and give yourself that permission to really prioritize and just pick those essential things.

Lauren Best (00:12:23) – So it takes time. If you’re someone who has heard it a billion times before and are struggling, you’ll get there. You know, it just is this trial and error sometimes of, of trying new things. But I think what I would recommend as the best thing you can do for yourself is, you know, giving yourself that new environment. And if, you know, traveling to England is not accessible to you, perhaps it’s even, you know, a road trip up for the day or a walk in a new place that you haven’t walked before or visiting a friend somewhere else for a weekend, whatever it may be. Something as small as changing your environment can just really trigger new behaviors, new new habits and new routines as well. And some of you might really value that ability to have a regular routine and know exactly what is going to feel your calendar from day to day.

Lauren Best (00:13:26) – And for me, I have really come to notice how much I value the site of empty space gathered throughout my calendar from week to week. It’s really interesting, and it wasn’t always like this, but at the beginning of starting my sch my own business, I mean my schedule was not full of client sessions and now it is, it was full of white space, but lots of doing. So, although things look really different, they also feel really different. And I really had to also prioritize that time to do the things I love instead of just, you know, sitting at my desk each day and just doing, doing, doing. So just noticing as well how your time is actually reflected into reality. So whether it be like that visual of your calendar and it perhaps seeming empty or seeming full, it really depends, you know, what you do with your time and just create that space no matter how little or how much space is there to do the things you love.

Lauren Best (00:14:45) – Whether you are, you know, super busy in a day and your calendar looks really full, you know, taking that five minutes to have a walk or you know, 15 minutes scheduling 15 minutes between each client session and or meeting or activity, whatever it is you have can just really give you that space to make a beautiful cup of tea or to, you know, have a nice stretch, whatever it might be. So really just looking also for those different opportunities to work into the day, the things that you really, really love. And creating that spaciousness of time has also meant that I have had to set up boundaries and some regularity in my schedule, like shifting and prioritizing all of my important client growth to the beginning of the week, which is another thing my coach had been telling me for a long time. But it really took a lot of experimentation for me to figure out which day of the week perhaps I would feel the most energized to do that type of work.

Lauren Best (00:15:53) – And for people, this might look different every week, this might look different every month. And until you kind of give yourself that space to figure out what that looks like for you and what’s gonna feel the best for you, it can be really draining and it can be difficult. But now it is possible. It is possible to figure out, you know, what types of micro routines as well are gonna support you in showing up in a way that feels energizing and safe and comfortable. And for me, this also meant that I get to create my own micro routines as I go. And also that I get to lose space for no routine at all. And that’s kind of one of my favorite micro routines in a way. And it looks like having the later part of my week available, it looks like making time for those midday team meetups with my friends or going for Pilates or taking a extra 15 minutes in the afternoon between two clients to have a really nice stretch time to rest, time to explore a new area of the city or whatever it else, whatever else I feel like doing and compelled to do at whatever time is available to me.

Lauren Best (00:17:16) – So I really encourage you to think about, you know, what are some of the things that you really love? And you have, if you haven’t done this before, this is one of my favorite exercises. Basically I invite you to create a list of your life recipe. So within this list of your life recipe, you can start to write down all of the ingredients that would make up your ideal life. So it might be something like no commute to work or you know, a 30 minute walk to work, or it may be being able to take your work anywhere around the world or, you know, sleeping in until 10:00 AM every morning. I’m not sure it might be, you know, it can be anything. Anything that really lights you up and allows you to feel good and just really paint a picture of the things that you love to do. And by writing them down it can be a great exercise as well. Once you have that lace life recipe together to pick and choose, you know it each week, what are some of these ingredients that you’re going to throw into the works and allow you to really live in that dream life recipe that has you feeling really, really good and joyful and just really happy with the life that you’re living.

Lauren Best (00:18:38) – So I wanna change the conversation a little bit here and talk a bit more about breaking out of this bubble that I had created for myself because it wasn’t necessarily, you know, as easy when I wasn’t having those opportunities to travel abroad. And for some people who might not have those opportunities to travel abroad at all, you know, what are some of these elements of these highlights in your, your life recipe, whether it be, you know, making time for yourself, making time for friends, getting rid of the things that no longer feel good. And the point of this really is going back to this reflection I had on, you know, this time that I’ve spent away from my bubble and this bubble of comfort that I’ve built over the past two plus years, like that bubble is exactly what I needed to really, really remind myself that I’m meant to have variety in my life.

Lauren Best (00:19:51) – So even if you are unable to do some of these things or experience rather some of the things that are on your life recipe, you know, just giving yourself the variety of of these different ingredients can be really impactful. Or just showing yourself that you don’t need to completely change the way your life is, but you can experience, you know, these little things here and there that really make up the bigger picture of your life to be enjoyable and to be designed on your own terms and giving yourself that permission to do those things. I know for me, I have had to move to this place where I no longer need to give myself permission to rest or spend my day doing whatever it is I feel like, but it really wasn’t always that way. And having that out of my, my bubble has really affirmed to me why I have gone through this process of designing a business where I can be nomadic, where I can manage my time as I please and have the spaciousness to decide what that looks like from day to day and even season to season.

Lauren Best (00:21:04) – And it’s never too late to switch things up and really reclaim your time and your life in the way that feels good for you. And something that really surprised me more recently was kind of turning my schedule on its head and the way that I had been operating in it. And as I mentioned, I had recognized more recently that having my busy client sessions on Mondays was really energizing for me and it felt good to have them there. And I was working with another practitioner who was doing some healing work with me and you know, she kind of brought up, I mean it seems like a silly reminder to say it out loud now, but you know, we are also here to work. We’re here to enjoy our lives, but we’re also here to do different things. And I think for a long time I was also kind of having this contrasting energy a against doing and being, and that can also be really confusing.

Lauren Best (00:22:12) – This again, this idea of slowing down to speed up and slowing down ourselves from just simply doing can just have such an impact in, you know, when we do take action again, we can be a lot more clear in what it is that we want to show up for and what it is that we would like to do. But this really, this this concept that was shared with me during that session about, you know, you’re looking for this idea of success, which to me, I believe I am living. Because for me it is finding that balance between work and play and doing and being. And for me that will always be an intentional thing that I design into my life and my schedule and my business and just finding that space to enjoy and do the work that I love. Yet a lot of the time we have this idea of success being tied to financial wealth.

Lauren Best (00:23:16) – And for me, when I started my business, I thought, you know, that’s gonna be a great byproduct of it, but it’s not necessarily what I’m chasing anymore. I know I will, you know, if I have enough to do the things that I love, you know, what do I need more for? And so with that kind of rebellion of I just want to be happy and not have to chase this financial success, I was also de I, I realize now denying myself of more of this financial abundance that I didn’t want to be this, you know, control over me or you know, this idea again, which I thought I had shed a long time ago, which I think I really have. But I saw how it creeped up back at me again, this idea of success, meaning that you have to work really, really hard. So as a mechanism to not have to work really, really hard, it was kind of like, you know, my idea of success does look different and it’s not based on that finance, which is true, but I also wanted to position myself in a way within my work where I could support more people.

Lauren Best (00:24:39) – And in that case, you know, that would bring me more financial success. So I did a little experiment and right after that call I went to my calendar and I opened up a whole nother day in my calendar that I usually typically keep as a education day, as a personal day. And I opened it up to my clients and within a few hours I saw a few more clients book in. And that is something I only ever dreamed of probably a year ago. I really truly couldn’t have imagined people just booking in just like that. So for me it was this really cool experiment of, you know, if I open this up, will there be more people that come? Will there be more people that I can support? And with that, will there be an ex, you know, a monetary exchange that is mine and is meant for me?

Lauren Best (00:25:36) – And people are, you know, these, these affirmations that I’ve been reciting these last few years is, you know, people can’t wait to work with me. And it was just really this really cool experiment that showed me, you know, I can hold space for more people without burning out. I think that’s a fear that I’ve also been carrying with me in terms of, you know, having gone through burnout and have now been very intentional with how I design my work in my life so that I don’t go back to that place. And so I think what the message in that is, is that, you know, we can continue to allow our limiting beliefs to limit us, but when we open up our hearts, our time, our space to the things that we might want at different types of junctures in our life, then we can invite new possibilities to really just show up for ourselves.

Lauren Best (00:26:39) – And it’s not to say that it always has to be this way, perhaps in a few weeks from now, um, I’ll open up another day or close that day off all, all together, but it’s allowed me to now, you know, have that consistent income coming in, in this week and the week before and next week I’m taking the whole week off. So that week I’ll have a lot more spaciousness. So there’s that balance, there’s those seasons, there’s that spaciousness and speeding up that we can kind of flip flop between and see what works for us and really just, you know, continue to experiment as well with, with all these different things that can really allow us to reclaim our own time and really design our lives in the way that feels really good. So if you’ve been listening and have been thinking about how you too can get out of your bubble and begin experimenting with slowing down to really take more intentional action when the time is right, I really encourage you to start with that life recipe and really see what are the ingredients there that, that you already love, that you can easily work into your day and see where you can make space for them.

Lauren Best (00:28:03) – And just be open to this idea of seasons changing energy, changing your time changing, and you know, not seeing everything as a set in stone kind of thing. I know that was something that for a long time in my life, not just in my business, but in my life, I felt like if I, if I made certain decisions, they were essentially permanent. When really now I think I’ve shown myself time and time again of how much I’ve pivoted in my work or pivoted in the places I live or just the friendships that I have, that there is so much room for change. There’s so much room to refocus your intentions, to reevaluate your priorities. Because as we grow personally or financially or emotionally, our priorities can absolutely change. As our families grow or as new opportunities come our way, our priorities get to change. And most certainly, they probably will naturally begin to change whether you’re ready for it or not.

Lauren Best (00:29:22) – So see what feels good and just try experimenting. Try experimenting with things that are different from the ways you’ve been doing things with still adding that comfort, those comfort of those life recipe little nuggets of joy and love and excitement and comfort and just see where it takes you and just know that if it takes you to a place that perhaps is uncomfortable, that you can too as well one day, find comfort in it. And you know, we don’t always have to be out of our bubble, but we can create our own bubbles anywhere that we go.

Lauren Best (00:30:05) – I am so excited to bring this little treat to you because right now I am offering a buy one get one offer for my private hypnosis happy hour sessions, which for two sessions is just $222, which is the price of one session on its own. So right now you can buy one, get one for the price of one, just $222 for two sessions. And within these hypnosis happy hour sessions, we can focus on whatever it is you want to show up with, whether you have a goal in mind or some sort of desire, and you feel like there’s just blocks and limiting beliefs that are stopping you from actually going out there and following your intuition, or whether you’re struggling to manage your time, your energy to set boundaries, or wanting to show up in the world a little bit differently than what you are right now.

Lauren Best (00:30:57) – We can also figure out how to connect back to your intuition a little more, listen to the whispers of your mind and do some work with your nervous system and just feeling comfortable and safe in your body. We can focus on letting go of old stories, rewriting your beliefs, reprogramming those beliefs, and just really visualizing what your idea of success could look like in whatever it is you’re going through at the moment. So do know that there will be a limited amount available, but you can book these sessions all the way through to the end of the year. So right now, you can visit my website, lauren best.com and book those sessions through there or follow the link below and you can get access directly to that BOGO offer for private hypnosis happy hour, which will be two sessions for $222. So make sure you don’t miss out and I cannot wait to support you to really connect to your subconscious mind and see where the session might take you.

Lauren Best (00:32:05) – Thank you so much for joining me on this journey of exploring new possibilities and embracing your most authentic self. I appreciate you and your willingness to open your mind and your heart to new ideas and ways of being that are beyond your current reality. So if you found value in this episode, please take a moment to leave a reading and review on Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to this podcast. Your support helps us to spread the message of compassion, self-discovery, and personal growth to more people who may benefit from it. And if you’re looking for additional support on your journey of self-discovery and transformation, I invite you to visit my [email protected] where you’ll find resources, courses, and coaching services to help you navigate life’s challenges with more ease and joy and confidence and support. So please check that out. And more than anything, I hope you’ll remember that you’re not alone on this journey. We are all in this together, and by embracing our most authentic selves, we can create more compassion and connection to the world. So please keep dreaming, keep exploring, and keep provoking possibilities with love and intuition. I’ll be back soon with more thought provoking questions, inspiring stories and powerful insights and conversations to support you on your journey. But until then, take care of yourself and others and remember that you are worthy of love and possibility.