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3 Ways to use Gratitude as a Tool to Advance & Delight Your Future Self -70
Episode 7021st November 2023 • THE GRIT SHOW • Shawna Rodrigues
00:00:00 00:49:23

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In this episode of The Grit Show, host Shawna Rodrigues delves into the fascinating concept of the future self and the powerful role gratitude plays in decision-making. Join her as she explores the importance of considering what our future selves would be most grateful for, sharing personal examples and thought-provoking insights along the way. Shawna takes us on a reflective journey, discussing the benefits of self-maintenance and gratitude as tools for planning and finding happiness. You're in the right place if you're looking to gain perspective on challenging decisions, engage in self-reflection, or simply trying to find joy amidst the chaos. This episode is an inspiring guide to navigating life's twists and turns as Shawna explores the delicate balance between joy and responsibility, and how to find gratitude even in the face of challenges. Don't miss this episode filled with practical tips and heartfelt reflections to help you navigate the path towards your future self's greatest gratitudes. Thank you for being part of this community!

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Helpful things referenced today-

Other podcast episodes

TT The Power of Being Thankful -10

TT Gratitude, Regret, & Letting Go -22

Conquer the Stress Cycle & Focus on Your Well Being- How to Escape Burnout: Part 1 -57

Dynamic Microphone I used in this episode (and yep - this is an affiliate link, so if you click on it, you are helping the podcast a little too!!)

https://amzn.to/3QR3GDw

Podcasts that joined the Authentic Connections Podcast Network:

The Heart Chamber with Boots Knighton

Real Estate Energized! with Dill Ward and Nicholas Nascimento

Marli Williams Podcast - Let's Lead Together with Marli Williams

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Shawna Rodrigues left her award-winning career in the public sector in 2019 and after launching The Grit Show, soon learned the abysmal fact that women hosted only 27% of podcasts. This led to the founding of the Authentic Connections Podcast Network intent on raising that number by 10% in five years- 37 by 27. Because really, shouldn’t it be closer to 50%? She is the Director of Impact for the network, which offers full-service support for podcasting from mentoring to production. In September 2023 they are also launching the EPAC (Entrepreneurs and Podcasters Authentically Connected) community for those in early stages and wanting a place for weekly connection. She still finds a little time for her pursuits as a best-selling author and shares the hosting of Author Express, a podcast that features the voice behind the pages of your favorite book. Find her on Instagram- @ShawnaPodcasts and learn more about the network and other happenings at https://linktr.ee/37by27.



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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Transcripts

We feel it is important to make our podcast transcripts available for accessibility. We use quality artificial intelligence tools to make it possible for us to provide this resource to our audience. We do have human eyes reviewing this, but they will rarely be 100% accurate. We appreciate your patience with the occasional errors you will find in our transcriptions. If you find an error in our transcription, or if you would like to use a quote, or verify what was said, please feel free to reach out to us at connect@37by27.com.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

Are you familiar with the concept of your future self? Not just the idea that you exist in the future, but the idea that conceptualizing who that person is and relying on their wisdom, or perhaps speaking to them and utilizing them can have a profound effect and motivation on your present? It's a pretty powerful concept with some strong research behind it. And today, as part of my love of all things gratitude and the holidays celebrated in the United States every November that I cherish because thanks and giving are both in the title. We are going to line up these two concepts and see what it brings us.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

Welcome to The Grit Show. Growth on purpose. I'm glad you found us. This is a community of folks who have gotten this far, but exercising our grit and maybe being a little wary from that path. We are here as seekers to learn together a little more about how we can move through life with a bit more ease and a bit more joy. I'm Shawna Rodrigues, and I'm honored to be leading you on today's journey. If you're new to the show, welcome, and be sure to follow or subscribe wherever you listen so you can continue to get reminders each Tuesday as new episodes release. And if you've been here a while, thank you for your loyalty. I hope you've taken a moment to get your free coloring pages. The link is towards the bottom of the show notes, or you can just go straight to coloringpages.thegritshow.com. Signing up for them also gets you on our mailing list, and you'll get an email each week keeping you up to date on the episode topic so you know what to expect. If you get those already, I'd love for you to respond and let us know what you enjoy most about the show or ideas you have for topics you would like for us to talk about in the future. You are why I'm here doing this, and I really treasure hearing from you. Thank you for being part of this community.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

Today is another solo episode. And I'm excited to get some time 1-on-1 chatting with just you. If you stick around to the very end, you'll also get to hear trailers for a few of the podcasts that have joined the Authentic Connections Network. The Heart Chamber podcast, which is a podcast on hope, inspiration, and healing. Larger conversations on open heart surgery, talking to individuals who've had it and also experts around how to be supportive around it. There's also Real Estate Energized! They say it much better than I do, which takes a deeper look into property sales and understanding that it's really a transformational process with this transition that folks are going through. And what you really are interesting, the professionals you work with is so much more than just the sale of your home. We also have The Marli Williams Podcast - Let's Lead Together. And in this podcast, each week, Marli is diving deep, and she goes deep into the world of transformation from self-discovery and the art of crafting epic experiences. It can feel lonely when you are the person leading these experiences, and let's leave together as this opportunity to really have Marli at the helm, giving you guidance and ideas about how to make these experiences even more powerful and how to have people there with you on that journey. That's a great podcast. You'll really enjoy it.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, at the end, you can hear the trailers for each podcast to get to know them a little bit more directly from the individuals who are hosting them, and there'll be links in the show notes so that you can go to our network's website to be able to learn more about those, follow them, check them out, recommend them if you're not somebody who is doing leadership opportunities and don't see yourself that way, but you know somebody who might like that, and you can refer them away, same with the Real Estate or The Heart Chamber. We, at Authentic Connections, we get that we have very specific audiences that are excited about our podcast, and we just are excited to have you be part of the conduit to help us find the folks who are most excited to hear what these incredible women have to say in their podcast and who they should best connect to.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, now for us to get to the gratitude. And as we get started, I always want to start with what I am grateful for because there is just so much. Do you feel that way? Do you feel like there's just so much to be grateful for? I know as I'm listening to these amazing podcasts and these incredible individuals that I get to work with on their podcast, it definitely is something that I get excited about and one of the many things that I'm very grateful that I get to do this work and work with them. So, I'm very excited for our conversation and how gratitude and our future selves can work together for a betterment and how those things connect. But as soon as we talk about gratitude, I don't want to get into the future self-part of the conversation. I just want to focus on gratitude. And I also wanted to make sure that we took a moment to just pause and acknowledge something. And our last episode that we had on grief with Lori, Lori Mitchell, isn't she amazing? Her story is so powerful. Her ability to speak so honestly and clearly, about what she experienced and continues to experience. And the fact of that and how to kind of work through that and walk through that, I think, is so powerful.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

And I just love that this is a community, and we are a place where we can have a wonderful, lighthearted, laughter filled great conversation with Mara about how to entertain and get ready for the holidays. And we can also have a serious conversation with Lori that also had moments of laughter because we just have this great rapport with the folks who come to share with us and connect with us. But we can have that depth of conversation and that the folks start listening to this, that you are someone who has that balance. Right? The desire to entertain and connect and also that desire to sit with folks who have dealt with grief or sit with our own grief and have tools to navigate that as well because we're all very human, and we have that full range of things to deal with and to grapple with and to move through. And so, as we have this conversation on gratitude, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge the authenticity that kind of goes hand in hand with us. And one of the reasons I love gratitude so much, and I feel like when it really entered my life and I connected to it and glommed onto it as being this really great tool for me was because it wasn't just spray-painting over the pain or pretending that bad things don't happen.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

As much as I loved Pollyanna as a kid, yes. Y'all, I just dated myself. As much as I loved Pollyanna as a kid, there was this piece of it that sometimes felt like it was, there was the bright side, the toxic positivity of trying to make everything be okay and look okay and be good, and gratitude is just this deeper layer. It's like not looking away at something bright and pretty. It's looking deeper to find the deeper layers of things. And that's what I love about gratitude, that I can be a mess. I can have bad days. I can have hard things because we all have hard things, and I can still have gratitude.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

And I hope that you all see that, and I strive very hard to have that balance on the podcast of being very authentic with all of you and very real and honest with all of you. But part of that gratitude and navigating through life is having the real emotions, but having the gratitude be what you come back to and be kind of that true north that kind of orients you to keep you going in the right direction. So, for me, personally, in the last few weeks, I've had two people that have passed away in my life. One was a friend from college who I haven't seen in some time, and my heart aches most for the love of his life and their child and the loss that that family is experiencing because they're a young family, and that's just tragic, and that's hard. So, that's definitely what my heart aches most for is them. And then I also lost a family member. And with both of those, there is grief. And grief is one of those things that, like, attaches to other loss.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, when you have loss and you have grief, like, there's layers to that. And it's not the level of grief I experienced when I lost my mom or the level of grief that I know some of you are experiencing right now. But it is grief at the same time. And you can have that grief, and you can also find the gratitude. And gratitude the I found was the deep gratitude that my metastatic brain cancer turned out to be freckles, and I'm still here to speak with you today that I get to help epic women launch podcasts and help to tip the scale so that there's a higher percentage of women's voices in podcasting, and I feel like there's fewer voices being silenced in a sense, and that more women are able to share their message and their mission and to connect with more people and make the world a better place because those messages and that information is getting out there and connecting with people who need to hear those things. And so, those difficult things and those are two examples of what's happened in the last few weeks for me. We all have our things. Right? And, as you know, other things have been rough too.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

I've had a house for sale since June, I've been in that transition of us moving, but not fully being moved because the house isn't sold and closed and figured out for 6 months now. Half of my year has been spent in that transition, and there's emotional and financial strain that goes with all of that. And, I don’t think we need to go into depth. You guys can imagine. And it's been the 1st year of launching a business. I have a wedding that I'm planning, and then there's the typical family stuff that everyone has. And so, as much as I have all those things, I also know that when I have those bad days because I get to have my bad days and I get to have my moments where I'm overwhelmed with those things and stressed about things, but then I'm able to come back to that gratitude. And I get to be grateful that I have a wedding to worry about, that I get to marry the love of my life.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

And I'm grateful that I have friends who understand that I'm not entirely joking when I say that we may end up eating hot dogs at the wedding, and they'll still fly to Oregon to come to my wedding because they're to celebrate me and my partner and our relationship, and they're not coming for the food. So, I'm very grateful to have those friends, and I'm very grateful to have a relationship worth celebrating that can go through these up and downs and be this amazing rock and support through all of this. And I'm grateful that I have a house to be worried about selling. I worked so hard for so many years, I have the privilege of owning a home. And so, the burden of having a home that's not selling is the opposite side of the coin of being so blessed that I was able finally buy a home. Right? And so, there's that balance of, like, you get to feel those emotions and then get to the other side of the gratitude. But I just want, you all do know that I get it. It's so hard to be grateful sometimes, and we all have our moments.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

And I guarantee my fiancé could tell you a list of mine. And it's important. It's important to experience the full range of our emotions and not try to spray-paint over it and mask it. And that's why I come back to gratitude because I feel like the gratitude is that real emotion that I can find, for me, that's the real emotion I can find. And so, when you're able to complete the cycle of the difficult emotions, the hard emotions, the anger, the frustration, the grief, the sadness, the frustration, whatever those things are that actually work through that cycle. And, again, you can always go back to our episodes with Matt on burnout was a conversation, but especially episode 57, we talked about completing that stress cycle. And part of that stress cycle is fully experiencing those emotions and getting to the other side of that emotion. And when you get to the other side, like, that's when you can find the gratitude.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

And so, find the other side of that and give yourself the credit when instead of taking a week to complete that stress cycle, spending a week, like, stuck in this place where you're just grinding your wheels over your frustration that something isn't going the way you want it to. Something isn't working out the way you need it to. Things aren't coming together, and you're just so exhausted by it all and just staying in that same place that you feel those emotions, you go to the depth, you feel the frustration, you feel that exhaustion, you rest, you take care of yourself, you nurture yourself, and then you're able to get up a little sooner, and you're able to find the gratitude on the other side of that. But not until you've gone to the depths and actually let yourself be exhausted, let yourself be sad and hurt and overwhelmed in all those emotions and then cared for yourself and nurtured yourself to the other side, and then you can find the gratitude. And when you can do that, instead of it taking a week to do that, you can be able to do that in 2 days, in a half day. That's when you know you're making progress. So, be gentle on yourself. And as we talk about these things with gratitude, just know that gratitude is part of the array, and it's not a way to cover up and get rid of other emotions and other things that we don't want to feel.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

That we need to feel those emotions, let them run their course, and then let go of them. And the gratitude and the joy in those pieces are where we want to stay and to sit in and experience more fully because all those things exist. We all have those other emotions too. So, just know that the goal is we're not trying to not feel. The goal is to fully feel and be able to surface a little sooner each time that you're going to those depths and to be able to use gratitude as a tool to kind of give us what the true north is and to anchor us and make it easier to get out of that. So, that’s why as you see others joyously celebrating, as you see me finding things to be grateful about, it doesn't mean there aren't also depths of emotions that we're experiencing or that I'm experiencing and things we've had to work through to get to that place of gratitude and that it's fully human to have to do that. And when you're in that place and having that hard time, that you aren't alone in that. And so, know that you're not alone and that we we're right there with you getting to the other side of that.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, just want to mention all of that. And if you're most excited about the conversation around gratitude, and as we go into this conversation connecting it to your future self, you’re like, I want to get more into the gratitude and get a little bit more about the hands-on pieces of, like, exactly, like, what practices I should be doing to have more gratitude because that really appeals to me. Just know that we do have 2 other episodes because I love gratitude. So, episode 22, which is, like, almost exactly a year ago, we talked about gratitude in more depth. And then episode 10, which is even earlier in the show. It was on the power of being thankful, the Thursday Thoughts. We had the short episodes that talked about the power of being thankful. So, you have 2 other episodes you can go to and dive into if you want to get more support and more information around gratitude and more concrete ways to kind of apply it and use it in your life.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

And for episode 22, there was more information. It was a longer episode, so we covered more things than just gratitude. So, go about 12 minutes in before you actually get to the meat of the conversation around gratitude. But those resources are both there for you as well so you can get more into what you want to implement and be able to add into your life and your world. So, today, we're going to focus on this concept of your future self and how gratitude can kind of marry up with your future self as you're doing planning and thinking. So, I know it's November, but the end of the year is just trucking. Like, I mentioned in my wonderful conversation with Mara that here in the States when we have our Thanksgiving holiday and then our folks celebrate Hanukkah or Christmas holiday and then New Year's and, like, boom, before we know it, it's January. So, like, the end of the year, we just slide in nonstop and crash into our new year.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, it can feel like the time to plan and reflect can kind of get jumbled in there. So, this thinking of gratitude as a tool with your future self, I think, is a great tool for just reflection and planning in general. So, the concept around your future self is that as you're trying to make changes, as you're trying to plan for your future, for you to be able to think in terms of what your future self would want. And in terms of your future self being able to give you advice on how your future self, got to where they are and how things work to acknowledge them as the more knowledgeable individual, let's figure things out. So, if I want to be an entrepreneur that, will put it in different context, makes things easier. So, if I wanted to have a start-up business and I want to have 3 stores and I wanted to be running them remotely from somewhere else and I want to be doing this in 5 years, like, how did I accomplish all of that? And to put myself in the mindset of the person who already had done it all, like, how did I do that? And to kind of take it from that place looking back to make those decisions on how to do that. Right? So, that's kind of your tool of your future self of giving yourself that you have the knowledge and the wisdom. And sometimes you have to tap into beyond where you are to find the answers for you to apply to where you're at now.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, that's one of the really great tools about your future self and a good way for you as you're planning to think about what you need to get to where you want to be. So, if you're thinking about what you want at the end of next year, where you want to be next December, that future self, like, where do you want to be and how do they get there when you're doing that? So, part of our conversation today is how we can use gratitude as part of that tool and part of that formula. Because in past conversations, I've definitely shared that for me, gratitude was a powerful diagnostic tool. The gratitude seemed to be the 1 magic wand that helped me realize what I actually wanted in my life, what I was actually grateful for, that for some reason, for me, phrasing things as what I was grateful for was the right way of phrasing things. And so, when it came to me being grateful that I left work early and met my friends for dinner instead of staying until 7:30 to work late on a project, that I actually left work and went and did something that was good for my well-being, for my soul, for my happiness, and I was thankful that I did that to start realizing what was actually important to me because all these other measures, at least in my life that I've been given, were painted by other peoples and other opinions and other ways of looking at things. So, it was hard to judge because I couldn't tell if I was getting joy for my success at work or joy for my time with friends or what was happiness, what made me happy, like, all those things were so muddled for me that it was hard for me to tether, like, what I should be focusing on. But at the end of the day, when I went to bed and reflected on what I was actually thankful for, I was thankful that I didn't stay at work and get more work done because all that work was still going to be there tomorrow even if I would've stayed late.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, for me, it was very beneficial for me to help me recognize where my priorities needed to be and what was actually important to me by looking at what I was thankful for. So, part of that in deciding, like, for yourself, to look at your future self and what is your future self, going to be grateful for. So, when you're deciding, like, what am I going to do about this trip in January. And I have a lot of stuff going on at work in January. It's not a good time to take a trip. I also really want to go on this trip because I don't get to see these people very often. And for you to actually put yourself in the place of, like, so, what am I going to be? What is my future self, going to be most grateful for. In February, am I the most grateful that that I stayed on top of these assignments with work, then I got this stuff shepherded through and taken care of and then I had this project taken care of?

Shawna Rodrigues [:

arly, my word of the year for:

Shawna Rodrigues [:

But my future self would be most grateful now if I want a year from now for me to be so happy that we went to the ceremony and had the wedding however that looks. And there's so many things that on the surface, it might be, well, you're still trying to sell a house. You know, things are still up in air, you haven't gotten your business where you wanted to because of these other transitions. Like, is this the right time for a wedding? And, interestingly, it is for a lot of other reasons. And we moved the wedding to a different month, and that month is just a better month to get married, it seems. Better for travel, better for people being there. I've already, like, started some of the preparations. I feel better prepared for it to be that month.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

ons. So, as you're looking at:

Shawna Rodrigues [:

And you're like, you know what? I want to be able to go on this great trip that we wanted to do. And so, you know, you can always go back and listen to our bonus episode on kicking your bucket list to learn more about that. So, as you're looking at what you want to do next year and you decide that you want to take a specific trip. As you're doing that, deciding what level, what trip you're taking, what you're doing, looking even further at your future self a year after that, what they're going to be most grateful for. Right? Are you going to be grateful that you fit it in because the kids are getting to the age that this is going to be the last time you can really all travel together and enjoy this together and make the most of it? Is it a case where, actually, on reflection, maybe we shouldn't do this big of a trip because of the stage the kids are at? I think my future self will be most grateful that we do something nice and calm and just spending time quietly together than this big epic trip because of where we're at. So, if you're having a hard time deciding or if you feel like you're pushed up against it and someone else is pushing for something else, it might be beneficial to look beyond that side. Because we went to Yellowstone in August, and it was a bit challenging for that trip because it was at this place and time where we were literally moving into our place or we're moving to that week-ish. So, I was in the middle of our move.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

I was going to come back and have to go finish packing the house, and we'd already promised these kids were going to take them. We were meeting friends from a different state. My fiancé was having to take unpaid time. We had nowhere for the cats. Sure. I talked about it on the show. So, you probably heard a little bit about my trying to grapple with all these decisions, but it was really a matter of me looking ahead to, like, 6 years, a year from now, would I be most grateful that I canceled the trip and minimize my stress levels and focus on x, y, and z? Or would I be grateful that I made it happen, and we made it happen, and it was such an incredible trip. It rained the whole time, but we had such a great time, and I was so grateful we went. It was challenging. I didn't have any service on my cell phone even, so work kind of had to go to the wayside, all those things, but we had such a great trip. And it was one of those things beforehand that I wasn't sure, but for reasons that in the future, I would look back and be glad I did. We went ahead and did it, and I'm super glad we did.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, when you're having hard decisions and trying to figure things out, so not only looking at your future self and what your future self might advise you or recommend for you, but in addition to that, to also look at your future self and look at what they would be most grateful for, and that that can really help you make the right decision and kind of navigate those places, and figure out what decision you should make. So, that is my encouragement for all of you is to marry together the future self and looking that far ahead and looking back and also to do that. And if you're in a really suck place, people use letters to their future selves as a tool, and so maybe put yourself in the place of your future self, writing a letter about what happened on that trip or what happened about that decision if you're trying to decide about moving, if you're trying to decide about changing jobs or trying to decide about a decision for 1 of your kids and what their needs are, that if you put yourself in the mindset of your future self, 5 years from now, 2 years from now, a year from now, and what your thoughts are on that decision that was made. It might help you to be able to see that decision, especially if you look at what you'd be most grateful for based on that decision.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, it's a tool to use. So, I encourage you to file that away as a tool for you and to look at that in that way. So, self-maintenance. We still do that even when you have just me. So, I'm actually in Pacifica, California as I record this. So, shout out to my audio engineer, Mark, who encouraged me to bring my mic. In fact, this is a very affordable mic that it's great to use this in less ideal recording environments because the fact that it doesn't pick up the outside noise. So, right now, even though I'm secretly hoping you can all hear the ocean because I can hear the ocean in the background because I'm literally across the street from the ocean. You probably can't hear that because that's the beauty of having this specific microphone is that it does not pick up as much of the background noise.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, it's a great mic to have. And I'll actually put a link into the show notes for our folks because people are really big on getting the YETI mics. I love my YETI mic, but it's really meant for environments that are built for good sound. So, when you're recording less than ideal environments, like when you're out of town and traveling, you need to have mics that are more forgiving for the situations like this one is. But I digress. Self-maintenance. So, the reason that I bring up where I'm at is because I am down here to do some consulting. That's what I have traveled for. And I made sure to carve out 2 different things to really make this trip work for me. So, one of them is that I've been walking next to the ocean every day that I'm here and the weather has been surprisingly delightful for this. And the ocean is a salve for my soul. It seriously is. It is in my blood, I think. Both my long-ago ancestors are from the Azer Islands and the Norwegian are Norwegian and out on boats. So, I think that it's deep ingrained in my soul that the ocean is very good for me, and I love the ocean. It makes me very happy.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, I actually have my alarm clock. It's one of those that turns the light slowly, gets brighter like the sun coming up, and then it has the sound of the ocean is what I wake up to, and it's the absolute best. So, it's definitely, the ocean is very good for me and very healing for me, and the sound of the ocean is just excellent. In fact, we might do an entire episode just talking about the analogy of the ocean and life because the ocean is just a beautiful thing. So, that’s my first thing has been walking by the ocean. Being close to the ocean has been very good for me and soft for my soul and great for my nervous system, in general, is a good thing for me.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

ut some time for planning for:

Shawna Rodrigues [:

ime to be able to prepare for:

Shawna Rodrigues [:

d since I've been thinking of:

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, if you're trying to figure out what you want to do for the holidays after listening to the episode with Lori Mitchell, you're really feeling like you just want a quiet holiday with just your family. And you look ahead 1 year, 2 years from now, what are you most grateful for from that holiday? Are you going to be grateful that you spend it with just your family, or is there going to be this ache because you didn't get to see your family, and it was important that you saw them because you don't get enough time with them because they're further away. Like, what's actually going to matter to you in 2 years? What are you most grateful for in 2 years that you made with that decision? So, whatever decision it is, to go ahead and just spend a little reflective time about that decision and what you're going to be most grateful for about it and see if that's a tool that helps you with decisions that can sometimes be a little stickier and or harder to work around. So, that's our grit wit today, is to go ahead and apply that future self and gratitude, marrying them together, and seeing that as a tool to see if you can find a way that's helpful for you in your decision making to make things a little bit easier.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, to wrap things up, as you get closer to your holiday shopping, you know what I'm going to remind you about? I'm going to remind you that we have The Color of Grit, coloring books available for you. All you have to do is follow the link in the show notes, which is down towards the bottom, or just hop on over to Amazon and search The Color of Grit because it's kind of nice that it's that easy. Isn't it nice, Color of Grit? We're a little unique that way. And they're beautiful coloring books, and they're great gifts. And it also means you're supporting the show, so you're giving us a gift as well as a gift to whoever you're buying them for. So, you're making it possible for me to be here with you each week and for you to be able to have these amazing thought leaders that come into your home and share their wisdom, and for these little conversations, I get to have with you 1-on-1. All it is, is the coloring book you'd be buying anyways, and it has this double benefit of helping to support the show. We've also added an option to leave what is commonly referred to as tips or buy me a coffee? Have you heard about doing that for podcasts and for other things for other creators? So, we've added to The Grit Show website, and we're calling it community affinity sponsorships. Because if you know me, you know how I am about words. Right? So, you should not be surprised that instead of having a buy me a coffee button, we have a community affinity sponsorship. The good news is the base level is $3, which is about what it is to buy me a coffee. I actually drink tea, but it's about the same price.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

So, it's like buying me a coffee, like, price wise, but it's called, a community affinity sponsorship because if we can have affinity sponsorships with big companies, I think we can also have meaningful ones from members of our community. So, that's why they're called community affinity sponsorships. So, if you do want to buy a coloring book, that's amazing. If you want to instead, because you don't care for coloring books, no harm, no foul, and you still want to support the show, you can just jump on over there and just go ahead and keep $3 or more than that. So, it can be your little way of showing that you enjoy these podcast episodes and want to show your love because we are totally here for it and totally appreciate you giving in that way. So, podcast.thegritshow.com/support, and we'll have that in the show notes as well so that you can give whatever you can. We're grateful. We're very grateful for it.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

A lot of podcasts do charge between 3 and $10 a month for memberships, and we just want to keep The Grit Show free. And we want to be able to have a way that you guys can still give your thanks and show support of the show, especially this time of year. Right? I forget what the sponsorship for small business Saturdays, all the different stuff. Right? So, these are your ways that you can give back and show support of the show and show that you're part of this community and showing up for that. So, we’d be very grateful for you to do that. And we'll be doing shout outs in the weeks to come. So, know that whatever you put under the name will be spoken out loud with gratitude and shared. So, just know that will happen.

Shawna Rodrigues [:

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.

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