Word of the Week: Believe

Life Lesson:

Two years ago, I decided to do something scary. I quit my corporate job, moved across the country by myself, left Andrew and all my friends behind, and embarked on a brand new career in NYC studying Clinical Psychology at Columbia with a concentration in Spirituality and Mind-Body practices and an advanced certificate in Sexuality, Women, and Gender.

I was so intimidated. I hadn’t done school in close to a decade and wasn’t sure if I would remember how to do it. I had never taken a psychology class in my life, half-assuming my getting into an Ivy-League graduate program on the subject was a giant fluke, and felt old and out of place and always one step behind my peers. Not to mention the reason I majored in Quantitative Economics as an undergrad was because I have a learning disability and was terrified of reading.

Fast forward to my first week of classes when I had to read something like a hundred pages, and write thirty (in APA-style, which I had to Google to figure out what it was). I wanted to cry. How would I ever survive? What had I gotten myself into? Was it too late to back out and fly home and press rewind? My first semester ate me alive. I cried myself to sleep most nights, if I could sleep at all. My whole body ached with homesicknesses. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing with my life. Nothing seemed to make sense. It was dark.

As time went on, I would have teeny tiny moments of insight. A piece of research would click for me. I’d hear a new perspective from one of my classmates. I’d study burnout in corporate women and perfectionism and microaggressions and how depression is anger turned inwards. The more I learned, the more I wanted to shout from the rooftops to all women everywhere: IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT.

That’s why I decided to start Monday Vibes in May 2019! This weekly inspirational newsletter for women at the intersection of psychology, wellness, and business. I wanted to teach women that they aren’t broken and in need of fixing but are perfect just the way that they are.

And here I am on the other side of my degree, more clear than ever that this has always been my mission, my life’s purpose: to empower women.

Thank you for being a part of this journey, part of this growing community of incredible women finding success on THEIR terms. Get excited, this is only the beginning.

Ask Yourself: How often does fear get in the way of chasing after your dreams? What would be possible if you allowed yourself to believe in the best thing that could happen?

Weekly Mantra:  I believe in myself.

 

 

When in Doubt, Jam It Out! One More Chance by RetroVision (Be sure to follow the Spotify playlist called “Jam it Out with Elizabeth” to stay up-to-date with the weekly jams 🎵)

Things I am Loving:

The article,  The gifts of being Emotionally Intense by Imi Lo, spoke to my SOUL. So many tears reading it. Lo beautifully articulates what it’s like to be highly sensitive, an empath, intuitive…however you want to call it. I am obsessed with how she reframes all of us who have BIG emotions as truth-seekers and change-makers.

Bonus:

Your girl had her first TV appearance! Check out what I share in Accuweather’s segment on connecting with nature during COVID-19.

XO

Elizabeth