Words of Wisdom from Step Into You by Lorraine Murphy
Lorraine Murphy is like a virtual cheerleader shouting encouragement at you from the side-lines, and her latest book, Step Into You doesn’t disappoint! This book is jam-packed with motivational advice for every area of your life: from mindset to managing relationships, career progression to goal setting and self-care.
Step Into You is soul-soothing, whilst offering the kick up the proverbial we all need!
Here are my key take-aways…
- Defer a decision
“However, the fact is that we are not always in a position to make a decision – or we need to make one decision before we can make another one. The super cool thing is that deferring a decision is a decision in its own right – and you feel like you have made some progress just by deciding when you will make it. If you have too many mental tabs open right now, consider which decisions you could book in for a later date – and use that freed up headspace to make the more pressing decisions.”
2. The definition of an introvert
“Now, I need to bust some myths here. What we have been led to believe is that introverts are shy, socially awkward and retiring beings, and extroverts are loud, socially confident and always the life and soul of the party. The difference between the two actually is that introverts gain energy from time alone and extroverts gain energy from time with others.”
3. The best questions to ask for clarity on vision, passion, and purpose
- If my life could look anyway, and I could not fail, what would I do?
- What are examples of day-to-day bliss in my life?
- What gets me emotional?
- When in my life have I felt a strong sense of purpose, and why did I feel that?
- Who are three purposeful people that I know of and admire, and why do I feel drawn to them?
4. Replace “need to” with “want to”
‘I need to’ is very often accompanied by any combo of ‘Why haven’t I done that already?’, ‘What’s wrong with me?’, ‘Why am I always so lazy/tired/afraid/undisciplined?’ etc.
Replacing the ‘need’ structure with ‘want and why’ pops a pin in the pressure bubble we build for ourselves, and also gives us more of an understanding of why we want to get something done…and that’s infinitely more motivating!
5. You can have it all…but not all at the same time
“I do think women can have it all, but not all at the same time. Our life comes in segments, and we have to understand that we can have it all if we’re not trying to do it all at once.” – Madeleine Albright, United Secretary of State
6. Life is comprised of seasons
“The thing is, we need to understand that life is just like the seasons in nature, there’s a season for the leaves to fall, there’s a season for snow to fall, there’s a season for little buds to pop out on trees, and there’s a season for fully blooming flowers. No one season is about making all of the shit happen all at once. In the same way, life evolves and changes, and I guarantee that if you seek alignment over balance it will flow so much more easily.” – Jimmy Doyle, Healer
7. Set strong boundaries
“I’m sitting in my sandpit, building sandcastles, but sometimes people in the sandpits around me chuck pebbles or twigs into mine, or even come right into my sandpit and flatten my sandcastles. I can’t keep my sandpit up to the standard I want it to be if I don’t clearly tell them to stop it. Think of your life as a sandpit – are others messing with your sand? If so, you need stronger boundaries.”
8. Keep setting strong boundaries
“Open, gentle heart, big fucking fence.” – Danielle LaPorte
9. Our emotions are determined by the boundaries we set (or don’t set)
“As a straightforward rule of thumb, if you’re feeling angry, resentful, taken advantage of, and hurt, taken for granted or disrespected, then I guarantee you there is an extrinsic boundary that’s either not in place or is too weak for your needs.”
10. Embrace difficult conversations
The quality of your life is determined by the number of Difficult Conversations you’re prepared to have – which is why those successful and happy people I mentioned earlier are so adept are creating boundaries in their lives!
11. Set money goals
Get crystal clear on what your money goal is, ask for it and fling everything you’ve got at making it a reality.
