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Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:00:00

What's the very first thing that you reach for every morning as soon as you wake up? What is the first thing you do? Today's guest gives us a compelling statistic about what you are setting yourself for if the first thing you reach for is your phone. Yeah. That's mine. It's my alarm. It's probably yours, too. But scrolling through your phone, first thing, may not be the way you want to start your day. Fortunately, today's guest has a solution for us. The 4 questions you need to start your day with. She also has a lot of other wisdom, and you're going to want to hear the statistic on what that phone addiction might be doing to your day. So, listen up.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:00:43

Welcome to The Grit Show. Where our focus is growth on purpose. I'm your host, Shawna Rodrigues, and I'm honored to be part of this community as we journey together with our grit intact to learn more about how to thrive and how to get the most out of life. It means a lot that you are here today. As you listen, I encourage you to think of who may appreciate the tidbits of knowledge we are sharing and to take a moment to pass this along to them. Everyone appreciates a friend that thinks of them, and these conversations are meant to be shared and to spark even more connections.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:01:20

I am so excited to introduce you guys to Megan Miller. She has a TEDx Talk that you would definitely want to check out. It's on the front page of her website. She has so much wisdom to offer about the journey she's had in life and really just being a little bit more intentional about how you're living and how things are happening, and she's got some stories about her journey that has gotten there. Thank you so much for being here with us today, Megan.

Megan Miller [: 00:01:44

Aw, Shawna, thank you, and thank you for building this tribe. I love how you say, are you a doer, or you swim by checklist. You know? I just thank God there's, I needed these words for so long, and thank you for building a community around this and showing up so authentically and purposely, it's a beautiful thing to be a part of, so thank you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:06

Oh, thank you. I know all the people that we have the grit. They've been through things, and now they need some tools to be able to just live their best life and live with a little more ease. So, I'm glad you're here to give us some more tools be a little bit more authentic and live our best lives.

Megan Miller [: 00:02:21

Yeah. You know, isn't it funny that and I know we all see these things online, but I think because we're so busy, just the scrolling, the scrolling, the pings and the dings and the hustling to the next thing. I don't think we ever really pause enough to let it resonate. And I'm sure you've heard this, Shawna, online. I'm sure you all have, dear listener, that, you know, you've made it through a 100% of your hardest days, and you'll make it through this one, too. And we hear that, but I don't think we let that really resonate.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:49

Yes. And I think we do need to let that resonate to remember that we've done it. We've accomplished, and we don't give ourselves credit for how much we've been through. We're so busy just like, okay. Check. I survived instead of like, oh my gosh. I've survived. I've made it through these things, and I'm better for it. And I'm even more equipped to make it through this next hurdle because of how far I've gotten and what I've gotten through.

Megan Miller [: 00:03:11

You know, Shawna, I heard this the other week. As I have gotten more into sharing this movement, being an entrepreneur, have I really found the cornerstone of spirituality? I did not realize how much that bucket of my life was missing before this, and it is true, man. It has given me this faith to keep pushing, pushing through the fear, pushing through the questioning myself, pushing through the imposter syndrome, all of the things, right, the hurdles of life. And I think when you can feel a connection to something higher than yourself in way that feels right to you, it is such a gift to help you keep pushing through. And I heard this the other day in my little morning reading. Every morning, I try to do a little 5-minute guided meditation or something to feel a connection with something higher than myself. And this came up, and I hope it speaks to you the way it did to me.

Megan Miller [: 00:04:02

And it was your life is full of lessons. Your life is constantly teaching you. It's when you look for those lessons, you ask what is this teaching me. You look for the lesson, and then you use your knowledge of what you've learned, and you tie that into your music that you deliver to the world in a way that feels right to you, whether that's the podcast, whether that's how you're showing up at your dining room table, leading your team, leading your church, whatever that looks like to you, that is the true gift of life. Using your lessons and putting that into your music and putting it out into the world in a way that feels right to you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:04:40

Yes. I love that. And I feel like so many people get stuck on feeling that they've made mistakes or made errors or taken wrong paths instead of realizing that they've taken risks. They've tried things. They've done things. And, like, looking at life as an experiment, and they've done the things, and they've learned from every single thing, and that they've grown because of it and become who they are because of it, and it's all knowledge and not mistakes. It's all lessons. And I think that more people need to have permission, if not awareness of that's part of it, and that is the beauty of it instead of sitting there going like, oh, here I am at whatever age I am, and I'm not further. It's like, no. Look at everything you've learned and gained. Like, you're right on the precipice of so many more things because of all of the things you've gained and learned from everything you've done and tried and the places you've been.

Megan Miller [: 00:05:36

Oh, I love that. You know, as you're telling that story, Shawna, it made me flash too. I just had lunch the other day with a dear girlfriend of mine. Here's to the power of unscripted conversations. 15 minutes sitting outside, grabbing a cup of coffee with a friend can be soul food. It doesn't need to be a big whole long thing. And I was telling her about you know, Shawna, I have struggled my entire life with crippling anxiety, and I never gave it any airtime. I ran from it. I numbed it. I didn't share it with my closest friends and family. Hell, I didn't even share it with myself.

Megan Miller [: 00:06:11

And as I've been on this journey, and it has given me the courage to be vulnerable. I was sharing with her how this anxiety, like a tidal wave, it’s just coming over me again, the thoughts, the constantly being on, feeling like I need validation from the outside world that I'm worthy and good and the 75 tabs in my brain that never shut off. And I know my body's tired, but I can't rest because of the thoughts. And she had said to me the most beautiful thing. She said, Meg, you're aware, and what a gift that is. That's growth, man. Because there's a time in your life when you wouldn't have even been honest with this, you're aware. And then she said, Meg, think of any movie that you've seen, any book that you've read. The hero doesn't come out gallivanting through life and all shit's great and good. There are struggles, there's obstacles, but you need that to find what's on the other end of that. Like, you don't know the good without the bad. You don't know the high without the lows. And as she said that, I thought, oh, God. That's powerful.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:07:20

Yes. That really is. And to be able to reframe like, we all have our things. Right? And to be able to take our anxiety, whatever our challenges might be and to find the superpower with them that we're, like, super aware and super connected to things, and that's why we feel things so deeply, so strongly, so keenly, and to be able to find what is amazing about that and what is good about that and to be able to hold on to that is really so key to being able to be successful in life and to be strong.

Megan Miller [: 00:07:52

And I love it. As you're talking about that, it just made me flash too, Shawna. And I've struggled with this my entire life feeling like I need to have it figured out. I'm alright. I got it. And never raising my hand and asking for help because in my mind, unbeknownst to me, that was a sign of weakness. And so, I remember, Shawna, like, sitting in front of my computer exhausted, just so tired, not listening to my body, but feeling like I had to get it done because I wasn't a failure. And then I heard this, and it has been tattooed in my heart.

Megan Miller [: 00:08:27

And may it also do the same for anyone else listening that feels like they're struggling, it feels like they need to do it alone. Caring for yourself, it doesn't happen alone. And it's not a sign of weakness to call a friend and talk about it, to talk about it with your partner, to talk about it in a journal, whatever way you need to outlet, you don't need to go through it alone. And when you have the courage, and man, it doesn't feel comfortable. You'll have the vulnerability hangover. Like, when that TEDx talk came out, Shawna, I wanted to throw up. I couldn't watch it. I watched it with my husband and my parents.

Megan Miller [: 00:09:07

Talk about your most trusted advisers, and I couldn't even talk about it. I didn't want to talk about it. I couldn't watch it. I was so uncomfortable. And what I realized is that, when you can be vulnerable and put it out there, it's amazing what people feel comfortable sharing with you. So, for instance, that talk has been about a couple months, and I have had friends. I've had family, Shawna, that I grew up with my entire life that I realize now I never really knew. Since I put my words and my story, my anxiety and my struggles out, they have felt comfortable sharing with me their own true selves and to put the mask down that we've been taught to hide behind.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:51

Yes. And part of the key is, like, how vulnerable you are with it. Sometimes we think we're being vulnerable because we're just, like, putting something out there, but we're not really being vulnerable because we're not really explaining the depth of it or how hard it was or the real pieces of it. So, I think that that's when we are, like, cringing because we shared it, when we have the hangover, we know we really did it because we really shared. We didn't just dump, like, a fact out there, we actually shared how we felt about it, like, how it really hit us and affected us and felt. And that is when people connect. They connect to feelings, not facts.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:10:26

People don't connect with it if I say, this bad thing happened. People don't necessarily get that, but when we say, this happened and this is how it felt, this is how it affected me. This is how it changed me, and that's when it really makes a difference. And that's when people come back and connect with you over it.

Megan Miller [: 00:10:42

Yeah. So true, my friend. So true.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:10:45

I've had a couple of my podcast episodes that have been very vulnerable, and one of them it's been a while. So, I actually had 5 spots on my brain, which I joke that they're freckles because they turned out to be nothing, but there's a while where they thought that I had, metastatic brain cancer. So, that experience for me was very jarring, and I shared about it. And one of my good friends who is actually, like, part of the few people that I talked to about it when it was happening, for them, it wasn't until they heard my podcast episode and I talked a little bit more about how I felt about it, did they even realize how important some of the other pieces for me. The fact that, you know, that we were talking about moving up our wedding because my fiancé, he was like, I quit my job to be there with you, and I'm like, sweetie, your job is my insurance. You can't quit your job. And you talk to them about being off to be with me, and they're like, you can't. I'm like, well, why not? You have family medical leaves. Like, we're not married. I'm like, oh, okay. I guess we're getting married. Like, you know? So, those conversations that, like, I didn't talk that level with them, we were more talking about, okay. I have this medical appointment. Okay. We found out this from this. It's the fact.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:11:50

It wasn't the feelings even with my friends until they heard the podcast episode, they’re like, oh my gosh. Like, I didn't stop to realize, like, some of what you were experiencing because I was trying to be factual because the feelings part of it was so complex of that. And, really, the hardest part of all for me was imagining leaving my partner after we finally found each other. Like, if it really was true that I had 3 to 6 months to live type of thing. And so, for them, like, recognizing, oh, well. You really were processing that. Like, I had to get married because I might have 3 months to live, and my partner needs to be with me if I go through this. So, for them, like, that piece and then us having that real conversation because of a podcast episode, which is why it's magical to have, like, if you tell the real details. And you don't realize sometimes with your friends, you're not actually getting to that depth even though you're telling them what's happening.

Megan Miller [: 00:12:41

I applaud you for sharing such an emotionally raw experience. Because I'm sure, and I know there were people that needed to hear that, and it found them, and that's such a beautiful gift. You know, I heard a friend say to me that change happens through breakdown, and it can be a breakdown of, like, death. She calls them the three d's, death, diagnosis, divorce. And, yeah. And I was like, oh, yeah. That's true. And I don't think, Shawna, I don't think you can get around that, having the breakdown to break through. Like me, mine was having to have the mental breakdown in order for me to realize how the hell I'm living my life. And I bet for you, too.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:13:30

Yes. Tell us more about that because, I mean, I know a little bit because of your TED Talk and, like, having more exposure to you, but tell my audience a little bit more about, like, what finally clicked for you about what needed to change for you in your life around acknowledging where you were at.

Megan Miller [: 00:13:47

Yeah. You know, isn't it funny? I think we all look for these big things, but there are little things all the time leading up to the big things that you can ignore. So, for me, Shawna, I can look back now, and I can see the signs. Hindsight, what a gift that that is, but I never did in the moment because I was “so busy.” The doing the things, being the things, getting on, getting it done, checklist after checklist after checklist, constantly being on the phone, but of my own doing. No one was forcing me to do these things. It was me, the conversations I was with myself.

Megan Miller [: 00:14:21

So, Shawna, I had a 15-year corporate career in hospitality sales, and it was the first thing in my life that I was ever good at. It's funny you can spend your whole life running from yourself. I did. So, I was a chubby kid raised by a single mother. God bless any mamas who are listening. You're superhuman. I don't care if you're doing it with a partner or by yourself. My mom was 23, raised 2 kids by herself, worked 2 jobs, and so we could have a roof over our head and food on the table. She wasn't around much, so I always felt alone.

Megan Miller [: 00:14:56

I struggled with my self-worth. I was a C student. I had a speech impediment, 600 SAT scores. Like, I wasn't the smart kid in school. I never really knew where I fit in. I always felt like an outsider looking in. And when I got the job in sales, it made me feel like this is what I had to contribute. I was getting the accolades. I was getting the validation. I was damn good at it. So, Shawna, it became like a drug, a drug. I couldn't get enough of it. I was always on. I was always looking for my next hit. It squeezed the joy out of life. It cut me off from my friends and family, all because I became addicted to the drug of achievement.

Megan Miller [: 00:15:39

And so, then for 15 years, Shawna, I had lived my life under I'll be happy when I get the next promotion. I'll be happy when I get this in the bank account. I'll be happy when I fit in this size jean. I'll be happy when, da, da, da. And then I finally got the corner office job running sales for this billion-dollar hospitality organization, #surfacelevelthinking, thinking that that would fix all the things. And then God, universe, divine, whatever word you want to put in there, had a sick sense of humor and said, girl, you are going in the wrong direction. So, a few months, Shawna, after I got that promotion, then I had a mental breakdown on the busiest highway in Philadelphia. Talk about the irony in that.

Megan Miller [: 00:16:21

My whole life was kept being busy. And I had this breakdown where the car was shaking. I can go back there. That was 8 years ago. I can go back there like it was yesterday. And while everything looked good from exterior, from social feeds, from the job, I was popping Lexapro. Nothing wrong with needing a little chemical, a little chemical boost, but I was popping it to numb. I was binge drinking to numb. I was cut off from my closest friends and family because I wanted to just retreat from the world. $20,000 debt, overspending, and I think how did my life get here? How did my life get here? It was supposed to be more than this.

Megan Miller [: 00:16:58

I think we all hit that in a certain point in our journeys thinking to yourself, it has to be more than this. And so, then I spent the next 8 years, and it sounds easy, but it is hard. Spent the next 8 years getting to know myself. Getting to know what I wanted, who I wanted to be in this world. During that 8-year journey, I found the power in the thing that I was never taught, which is the power of self-talk. The person that you never listen to, the person that is the first person you discredit, the first person you ridicule is, yourself. And these small little micro moments and micro decisions and micro steps and how powerful it can be in stepping into your power. So, that has now built the foundation for this movement of the intentional living method that we are preaching everywhere we possibly can.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:17:56

Yes. Living with intention makes a big difference. That's the whole thing about trajectories. Right? Like, you start in this direction, and you end up somewhere totally different the longer you stay on the path. Like, you don't understand, like, how much you can end off the mark that you started, like, thinking you were aiming one place, but, like, you're just off a little bit and you don't understand. So, being really intentional about where you want to be, what you want to be doing, and how you're getting there. It makes a big difference.

Megan Miller [: 00:18:23

And I also think too, Shawna, there is while we all have that gut whisper that says we were meant for more, I know there has been more than this. It's hard to listen to it, and it's hard to take action on it, because you're tired, you don't know where to start, it seems overwhelming, seems like everybody has it figured out but you, so you just stay silent. I did. And you just keep going down the path that you're going on, which is why I'm a huge advocate in these micro steps. So, for me, and this is something tangible for the for the audience here. I began to ask myself these 4 questions in the morning. I used to get up, crack open an eyelid, go right to that phone, scan the emails, scan the social feeds, and did you know, Shawna, that if you do that for 3 minutes, 3 minutes, you have a 70% higher chance of having a bad day.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:19:19

Is that why everyone's having bad days? Because they spend 3 minutes in their phone first thing. Yes.

Megan Miller [: 00:19:24

You know, I heard someone say this the other week, and I loved it. They were like, listen. If you got up and you poured yourself a glass of wine, as soon as you got up in the morning, if you drank a glass of wine before you went to bed, if you drank a glass of wine every 15 minutes, we would call you an alcoholic. Well, we're phoneaholics. And I'm like, oh my god. That's so true. I loved it. I love those. Like, that's so true.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:19:53

Yep. Last thing before bed, first thing in the morning, every time we get a break, that's what we're doing. It's kind of crazy.

Megan Miller [: 00:20:00

You take it in the bathroom with you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:20:02

You can't go anywhere without it. Yep.

Megan Miller [: 00:20:03

Yep. You hit refresh on the way to the grocery store. Listen, and I'm not judging. My hands raised; I fall into that trap. But instead, in the morning, I began to ask myself these 4 questions before I went to the social feeds. Before I went to the email, and it was so powerful. I got the phone out of the nightstand table. I put it to charge in the bathroom, so it forced me to get out of the bed. That's a huge power move. If you can get it away from where you sleep, you'll sleep better, you'll wake up better.

Megan Miller [: 00:20:34

And so, when I get them and when I go to the bathroom to get the phone, because it's my alarm, but it's not by my bed. I ask myself these 4 questions. So, one is, how am I feeling today and why? Think we have tendency to think that we can carry it up in our brain, and we're good, but there's so much power in releasing it. How am I feeling today, and why? Why? Question number 2, what is 1 small act of service I can do for someone else? So, it could be something like leaving a love note for your partner. It could be something as simple as texting a friend. It's like just thinking of you or I listen to this podcast episode with Shawna, you got to check out Grit Podcast. It's great. Listen to this. It could be something as simple as texting the colleague or sending an email to the colleague. Hey. You killed that presentation yesterday. I loved how you shown up. One minute, one act of kindness, it is powerful. My friend, less than a minute, it's so powerful. And 99% of the time when I send that message, I get something back saying you have no idea how bad I needed to hear that. We are all going through our own struggles, all of us. We're all human, and I think we quickly forget that in this transactional world. And then the 3rd question is, what is one small thing that I can do for me? One small thing. I like to call these the shoulds. So, let's say that you always wanted to write the book. It's blocking 10 minutes to free write. Let's say that the career really isn't doing it for you anymore. You want out, but you don't know where to start. It is taking a moment to send that message to the person who you admire to say, hey. Can we walk and talk for 20 minutes? I just want to hear what's going on in your life, how you got here. That's a micro step. If you feel like you're overspending, guilty as charged. Your micro step commitment is that, you know what? Today, when I go to Amazon, I'm going to leave it in the cart for 24 hours. That's a micro step commitment. If you feel like shit in your body because you're not moving, you're eating like crap, you're in front of the screen all day, and you keep telling yourself, I'm going to join the gym. I'm going to run the marathon. I'm going to lose the 20 pounds. A micro step is that you're going to take the dog for a walk for 10 minutes.

Megan Miller [: 00:23:03

It's these little things that begin to change how you show up. When you make the promise and you keep it to yourself, the conversations begin to change. And then the final question is, so how am I feeling today and why, question number 1. One small act of service, question number 2. Question number 3, what is 1 small micro step, 1 small thing I can do for me and my should. Question number 4, what are 3 things I'm grateful for? We've heard this before, Shawna, but it's the simplest things that we know we should do, we don't do.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:23:33

Yes. Gratitude is the most powerful tool, so that is beautiful. That's beautiful. This is a great time as we're getting closer to the end of the year, ready to launch into the next year of, like, reminding ourselves and inserting that back into repertoire. I love it.

Megan Miller [: 00:23:48

Yeah. And you know what else I started to do, Shawna, as you're talking about end of year? We do not celebrate our wins enough. As you talked about in the beginning, we do not. You get so busy looking for the next thing, the next thing that you don't stop to celebrate all the ways that you have shown up. So, one thing that I started to do because you forget. You forget is when something happens, when I either achieve the thing or when something feels like a win to me, I write it in the front of my little journal, and then I see it there every day. I look at it to remind myself of all the ways that I've grown.

Megan Miller [: 00:24:30

So, it doesn't need to be a journal, it can be on your phone, on the note’s app, whatever feels right to you. But creating a place where you look for the wins and you write it down, here's the really cool thing that'll happen. You'll look for more wins. What you look for, you find.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:24:48

Yes. Yep. Just like you see every single car that looks like your car. Once I bought a silver Honda, every car was a silver Honda years ago because once you have it, you see it everywhere. So, start looking for the things you want to be looking for. Look for the wins. Find the wins.

Megan Miller [: 00:25:03

Yeah. And, you know, there's science behind that, Shawna, that you have a bouncer that lives up in your brain. It's called the reticular activation system, RAS. You can Google it. I think it's the coolest thing, and you tell your brain what to let in, which is why you saw the silver Honda everywhere because you were looking for it. Which is why when you look for the more good, you see the more good. Which is why when you get up and you go to the phone and you scroll the emails and the social feeds, and you feel like shit, and you feel like someone's not doing what they're supposed to do, your mind starts going about all the things you have to do. How are you going to get it all done? I'm so busy. You're going to find more things to support that.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:25:48

Yes. So, you need to start training your brain to look for the things you want to be looking for.

Megan Miller [: 00:25:54

Yes. Yes. It's a powerful tool.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:25:58

I love it. I absolutely love it. I think that's a beautiful thing to get us reminded of and to start looking in that direction. That is perfect. I love it. This is so valuable. Thank you so much, Megan. I really appreciate your perspective on doing that.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:26:12

Something that we talk about in every single one of our episodes because we really are, we have a self-maintenance minute, which a lot of people call it, self-care. And the reason we call it self-maintenance is because we want to take off the kind of sheen of it being indulgent and understanding it's just like car maintenance. It's necessary. It's needed. We need to know what we do. And so, each of our guests, we ask them, like, what do you do to maintain yourself? And I'm guessing this routine, these 4 questions, is a big part of it. Is there anything else that you do regularly to take care of yourself?

Megan Miller [: 00:26:42

Oh, I love that the self-maintenance minute. You know, I read this the other day and I loved it. Full self-care is what the outside world bullhorns in your ear. What you should do, be, want, just another way to feel like you're not measuring up. Real self-care is when it feels right to you. And yeah. And I was like, oh, God, I love that. So, for me, what feels right to me is taking a moment in the morning, asking myself those 4 questions, giving myself the space. It's like a habit to do it.

Megan Miller [: 00:27:18

Also, for me, another thing that has been really part of my journey of showing up for me is anytime I'm in the car, even if it's just 15 minutes to go to the grocery store, creating some space for some silence so I can hear myself, I laugh, and I say that it's my altar moments, my church service moments in that driver's seat. And, Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, created this billion-dollar empire for anyone who doesn't know, she created this hosiery line called Spanx, which is now branded off to close many other things, but she started it with $5,000, failed the LSATs twice, was selling fax machines, and said this can't be the story of my life. And she created this, like, folk commute where she would just get in her car and drive and in silence, and that's how she founded Spanx. Isn't that cool? And I have found that when I feel like I'm going to lose my shit, when everything is annoying me, when the emails piss me off or when the text when I'm like, what does people want now? That is the time when I need to find some car time, even if it's just to drive around because I come back feeling more centered. I have some great ideas. So, I would say, dear listener, to create some outer space for you, it doesn't need to be the car. Maybe it could be just a few moments outside with your cup of coffee. Maybe it is taking the dog for a walk without the phone or without the thing, the earbuds, but finding something for you that creates that silence. There is so much to be found in the silence.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:29:01

And you have to. You have to carve out. And that's the whole beauty of us having this conversation each time because it is so different, and I think it's helped wake up some of our listeners to understanding that for some people, it is, you know, meditation or it is exercise or it is, like, whatever else, but it is so different for different people. And one of our listeners, it's milking goats in the morning, which they never in a million years thought it would be that, but that's what they found is became their thing. It's because that is their quiet time. That is their space. That is their me time. And so, it's whatever you define as your me time, and it's something very different. So, it's what for you. Whatever for you is how you can maintain yourself and take care of yourself and show up more authentically you in the world because you've had that space is what you need. So, however you find it.

Megan Miller [: 00:29:45

And I would say, keep getting curious about it. Like, I love, Shawna, how you and I were talking this morning about how, you know, you did the barre class, but that really wasn't for the time. And I think there is something so powerful about that. I love when you said that because you tried it. You were curious, and you're like, you know what? I'm not going to do that time anymore. That didn't feel right. But there is something about when you just keep getting curious and keep showing up. I think we try one thing one time or we think something around like that. I'm not doing that again. But when you get curious, there's so much power in that, so keep getting curious until you find the thing that feels right.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:30:25

Yes. And it goes back to our whole conversation about everything is a lesson. Everything is something to be learned. So, yeah. So, we talked about this morning, I got up at 6 AM and went to an exercise class at 6 AM. And 6 AM exercise class when I have recordings for podcasts at 8 AM, not the right mix for me because I had a bit of a headache. It made me feel thrown off to start my day, and so that's not the right mix for me. So, like, I tried that, so maybe I don't need 6 AM classes. Maybe I need 4 PM classes, or maybe I need to get up and do yoga at 6 AM instead of something more vigorous. Like, but you need to be curious and take the lesson from it instead of just, like, done. Like, no. I got some valuable lessons. It's an experiment. It's all lessons. So, keep trying things because you still need those elements, there's a reason you're seeking it out and just figure out what about it works, what doesn't work, and what are you going to do to figure out what does work. So, keep trying.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:31:17

So, the one thing we do, Megan, which I forget to do this anymore most of the time, if my listeners will probably laugh because I'm remembering it today, is that we have coloring books that we send to our guests as a thank you when I remember to offer them to my guests. We have as a reminder of self-care. But especially as we're getting closer to the holidays, I need to remind our listeners as well about our coloring books. So, we have the Color of Grit as a series, and there's one is the Vintage Mermaid and Magnificent Ocean, and the other one is, You've Got This, which is a series of quotes. So, can I send you a coloring book as a thank you for being on here?

Megan Miller [: 00:31:52

Oh, absolutely, girl. And this is perfect timing. So, when I was just having lunch with my girlfriend yesterday, she was talking about the creative side of our brains and how we need to activate that more and how we're so behind the screens and going through the motions and, like, we're in constant just this fight or flight mode and how we need to activate this creative side. And she was talking about this girlfriend that gave her watercolors and her husband does the piano, and I'm thinking to myself, oh my god, well, what do I got? Like, I can't even draw a stick figure. What do I get? This is perfect timing with the coloring books. Thank you. Yes, please.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:32:31

So, which would you like? Would you like the mermaid one, or would you like the quote one?

Megan Miller [: 00:32:35

Oh, give me the quote one.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:32:37

Alright, girl. We're going to send you the quote one, and you can get your colors on and get yourself some nice zone for creative and this alternate space for thinking, and it's so, so nice way for some self-care tools. That works perfect. We do a grit wit each week, but I really think that your 4 questions, I think, is the perfect takeaway that folks have that they can start applying when getting up in the morning and thinking about how am I feeling, what can I do as an act of service or kindness? What was the third one?

Megan Miller [: 00:33:03

One small thing I can do for me. So, like, your shoulds, like, the things that you keep saying yourself, your micro step. One small micro step commitment to you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:33:11

And I love the micro part of it because I think that is the key is it doesn't need to be big to start. Just start. And don't try to, like, run the marathon. Just start doing the little steps. That's amazing. So, what is the best way to get in touch with you?

Megan Miller [: 00:33:24

Yes. If any of this content resonated with you, please come and check out our tribe over at Megan, MEGAN, -Miller, MILLER, .com. There, you can stay connected to us on social feeds. You can watch the TEDx talk. You can sign up for our micro step Monday community, which is every Monday, one small intentional thought for the weekend. And I can't think of a better thing to hit your inbox on a Monday. Talk about changing the narrative on a Monday. And then also too, you can see you know, we also do speaking, we do consulting. We do some 1-on-1 coaching. So, if anything feels right, come over, check it out. We are here with open arms and would love to welcome you into the tribe.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:34:11

So delightful. Thank you so much for being here and chatting with us today.

Megan Miller [: 00:34:14

Oh, Shawna, thank you. And thank you guys for listening. It was so great to be here, and you showed up for you by dialing in and keeping this commitment to yourself, and that's so damn powerful. So, thank you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:34:25

Yes. That is definitely something. Everyone's showing up today. That is one of your wins.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:34:31

Thank you for joining us today. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to jump on over to Instagram and follow us at The.Grit.Show. And if you aren't already following Authentic Connections Podcast Network at 37by27, you should definitely be doing that as well. Don't forget. You are the only one of you that this world has got, and that means something. I'll be here next Tuesday. I hope you are, too.