Show Transcript

Please excuse any mistakes. This transcript was generated by AI

0:00:00 - (Kevin Lowe): You are at the end of 2023. Remember, this is a page that we're about to turn. We're about to embark on a new chapter in life, 2024. It's your opportunity to forget about the past and instead focus on the future. What's up, my friend? And welcome to Grit, Grace, & Inspiration. I am your host, Kevin Lowe. 20 years ago, I awoke from a life saving surgery only to find that I was left completely blind. And since that day, I've learned a lot about life, a lot about living, and a lot about myself.

0:00:41 - (Kevin Lowe): And here on this podcast, I want to share those insights with you. Because, friend, if you are still searching for your purpose, still trying to understand why, or still left searching for that next right path to take, we'll consider this to be your stepping stone to get you from where you are to where you want to be. As the year draws to a close, it's easy to start reflecting on what has happened this year, the year of 2023, you start reflecting on the things that you did, the things that you didn't do.

0:01:15 - (Kevin Lowe): And because we are human, we tend to think of the negative. We tend to get so focused on all the things that we didn't accomplish, the things that we didn't do, the items on our list that didn't get crossed off. And what happens then? We start beating ourselves up. We get down about life. We get discouraged about the direction we're headed. Well, friend, today my job is to help you to turn that mindset around, to view those past, quote unquote, failures as stepping stones to get you to where you want to be.

0:01:51 - (Kevin Lowe): Friend. My name is Kevin Lowe. I am your host, as well as a transformational life coach. This is episode number 241. Perfectly aligned with today's episode is something that I'm excited to share with you. Now, I can't give you all the details yet, but I just want to give you a heads up. The first week of January, I will be announcing a new offer for you, something to help make 2024 the best year of your life.

0:02:23 - (Kevin Lowe): Yeah, I'm not joking. I'm not playing around. I got something simple, affordable that can truly impact your life. Now, here's the thing. For those people who are on the email list for grace and inspiration for this very podcast, they're going to have first dibs at an exclusive offer that's only being offered to a select number of people. If you want to have that opportunity, I know you don't even know what it is, but I'm telling you it's good.

0:02:54 - (Kevin Lowe): I'm talking about a buy one, get one offer only available to those on the email list. Now, you of course, if you're not on the email list, you'll have an opportunity, but you just won't have a chance at this special offer. So get on the list by going to Gritgraceinspiration.com newsletter or clicking that same link inside of today's show notes so that you can get on my weekly email list so that you will be the first to know about the special I'm talking about.

0:03:28 - (Kevin Lowe): We want to make 2024 your best year ever. I want to start today by acknowledging the effect of regrets. Regrets, in my opinion, are one of the most devastating things that any of us can have. Things that we regret doing, not doing, not achieving, not taking a chance on. It's a regret and it can eat us alive. And the weight of those regrets is like you carrying a backpack full of rocks, weighing you down.

0:04:05 - (Kevin Lowe): Now, what happens is that all that weight that you're carrying, it dims your inner light. It affects who you are. It affects you being the person that is on the inside, the person who doesn't have regrets in life. Now, the important thing here is I want you to realize that the feelings you have, although valid and it's perfectly fine to feel them, they don't represent who you really and truly are. And I hope that you know that. I hope that you know that you are not a sum of all of your regrets.

0:04:44 - (Kevin Lowe): You're not. You're more than that. You're better than that. I promise you. In our lives, we all experience things that don't go the way we planned. Maybe it's a business venture you embarked on that never took off, or maybe it took off and then it failed. Maybe it was a setback you experienced. Maybe it was just something like you wanting to do something for yourself. Maybe you told yourself you were going to get in shape, you were going to lose weight.

0:05:15 - (Kevin Lowe): And whether you did or you didn't, you're not happy with your results and so you regret the decisions you made. Well, friend, I want you to realize that sometimes in life we have to flip the script. We have to refocus our attention, and we have to look at things from a different angle. Because in with all of those bad situations, I guarantee you there is some good that came out of it, some things that have impacted you that have made you a better person.

0:05:49 - (Kevin Lowe): Now, when I say that you may disagree and that's okay, but I'm here to tell you from my own perspective that almost every single scenario I can think of, there is something positive to come out of it. Sometimes you just got to dig a little deep and you got to find it. Now, I think that's a perfect segue into my next little thing I want to talk to you about is about giving yourself compassion, treating yourself better than you do.

0:06:20 - (Kevin Lowe): I want you to start talking to yourself, to start treating yourself the same way you would a best friend. I've mentioned this a lot on this podcast because I believe it's such a simple thing for us to realize is that we treat ourselves the worst when we should be treating ourselves the best. Treating yourself like you treat a best friend. A technique that I find that helps is to write a letter to yourself.

0:06:50 - (Kevin Lowe): And in this letter, I want you to talk to yourself like you are writing to a best friend. I want you to acknowledge the fact that what you have been through has been hard, but I want you to assure yourself that it's going to be okay. Pour out your heart in this letter. Really take advantage of this mindset exercise of writing yourself a letter and telling yourself all the things that you wish you had the perfect person to tell you.

0:07:24 - (Kevin Lowe): You know yourself better than anyone else. Tell yourself all the things that you need to hear, that you needed to hear, that you still need to hear. And when you finish that letter, I want you to reread it. And I don't want you to just reread it once. I want you to put it away in your nightstand and I want you to read it again tomorrow morning, the next morning, however long it takes for you to finally realize, hey, I can stop blaming myself.

0:07:56 - (Kevin Lowe): I don't have to keep beating myself up. That beating myself up isn't getting me anywhere. No, I want you to cultivate compassion for you. I spoke about this a few minutes ago, and I want to dive a little bit deeper. This idea of reframing our situation, of looking at things from a different angle, gaining a new perspective on a situation. Because inside of every failure, it has lessons. Now, I know that sounds like something your parents would tell you or your grandparents would tell you, and I don't mean to come across like them, but then again, they are the ones with the most wisdom, so we should listen to them way more than we do.

0:08:41 - (Kevin Lowe): I want you to think back to this past year and what happened and what didn't work out, what didn't go as planned, and what is eating you alive at this very moment. What is the thing that you have the most regret over? Now, before you start filling your mind with all the negativity, I want you to flip the script. I want you to ask yourself now, what did this teach me? What did I gain from this? And I want you to get creative.

0:09:14 - (Kevin Lowe): Now, most likely, you're going to say, nothing. I gained nothing from it. Nothing positive. Why encourage you to dig a little bit deeper. I encourage you to look at it, as I said, from a different angle. Remove yourself from the situation and look at it from the outside and try with all your might to figure out what good came out of it. What did you gain? What lessons did you learn? What impact did it have on your future in a positive way?

0:09:46 - (Kevin Lowe): This life, it's full of successes and failures. It's full of wins. And losses. It's full of the ups and the downs. And if we only focus on thinking that the wins, that the successes, that those are the only things that positively impact our lives, then we're missing out on so much more, because it's the lessons inside of the failures. That's where the true stuff comes from that makes us the amazing people that we are.

0:10:22 - (Kevin Lowe): I often used to joke with my little stepbrother when he would fall and get a cut, a scrape. And I would often joke and say, don't worry about it. It builds character. Well, that's kind of what I'm talking about here, is that the downtimes, the falls, the mistakes, they all build character. They all make us the amazing people that we are. It's just time that we recognize it and we utilize it and understand that this past year wasn't as horrible as we may think.

0:10:58 - (Kevin Lowe): Now, the powerful thing about this time of year here we are in the middle of December, coming up on January 1, is that we have an opportunity right now to let go and move forward. Now, letting go, it doesn't mean forgetting. It means not allowing the past to dictate your future. It means that you're no longer letting it weigh you down. It means that you took that backpack full of rocks and you just emptied it on the ground.

0:11:29 - (Kevin Lowe): You lightened your load. One powerful visualization exercise that I think is perfect for this is I want you to picture standing where you are with a red balloon in your hand. And I want you to put all the regrets that you have from this year, all the disappointments, all the things that made you upset, that you're still just stuck on at this moment. I want you to put them inside that red balloon, and I want you to let it go.

0:12:00 - (Kevin Lowe): I want you to let those negative feelings fly away. Because it is time for you to get to love yourself a little bit more, to appreciate who you are, the amazing, amazing person that you are. And I want you to enter the new year with that type of mindset. As I close out today's episode, I remind you of this. You are not defined by your failures. You are not even defined by your regrets. You are defined by the way in which you move forward in life.

0:12:36 - (Kevin Lowe): It's not the falls, it's the rise. That's what defines us. That's what makes us who we are. And my friend, I can tell you this, that if you're listening to this podcast, you're already winning. You're already one step ahead of the rest. And so I want you to keep going, to keep moving forward, to keep pushing a little bit harder. Remember, I told you at the beginning of today's episode that I have something big coming up in January, and I'm offering a special to those on my email list in regards to this big thing. I'm talking about.

0:13:14 - (Kevin Lowe): Just trust me. It's good. It's big. So please check out today's show notes. Find the link to sign up for the newsletter list or just head on over to the website gritgraceinspiration.com newsletter. Last thing I'll say is at the end of 2023, remember this is that. This is a page that we're about to turn. We're about to embark on a new chapter in Life 2024. It's your opportunity to forget about the past and instead focus on the future, my friend.

0:13:54 - (Kevin Lowe): My name is Kevin Lowe, your host, as well as transformational life coach. I encourage you to enjoy the day, to love life, to get out there and embrace this month of December. I'll see you next week.