Hi, friends! It’s Elizabeth here, and I am so excited to share Episode 777 of Primal Potential with you today! Primal Potential is a podcast all about you — your ability to change is not defined by yesterday and doesn’t need to wait until tomorrow. Your transformation is now, no matter what stage you find yourself in life!
I have a very special guest to introduce to you today, guys. Her name is Rachel Luna. She is an absolutely incredible woman and a huge inspiration to me, and I know she’ll inspire you too! In fact, I guarantee that the wisdom she shares in our conversation will leave you with more clarity, more fire, and more drive to take control of your life.
I really wanted to bring Rachel in and get her on the podcast because she has a crazy amount of genius when it comes to journaling. She says,
“Journaling, in my perspective, unlocks every secret that you have. … when you journal with intention, you manifest a new reality.” – Rachel Luna
Manifest a new reality… that sounds pretty great, doesn’t it? How many of you have dreams or goals that you just haven’t manifested yet? I know I do! Some of us are on a weight loss journey, some of us are trying to launch a new business… we all have big dreams! And it may be easy to think, “Hmm, I don’t know, I just don’t think journaling is going to be the thing that helps me achieve this…” but I promise, Rachel Luna’s wisdom and brilliance is here to change your mind!
So let’s dive in!
Who Is Rachel Luna?
But before we get in deep on the practice of journaling and how it can help you manifest the reality you want, I wanted to give you guys a little background on Rachel. She is such a special person, and her story truly inspires me!
Rachel grew up in New York City dreaming of fame and fun parties, but all that changed when a coworker at her job at Footlocker mentioned that she was enlisting in the Marine Corps. From that moment on, Rachel was inspired. She enlisted in the Marines herself, and shortly after was deployed to Iraq. She served in the Marines for ten years, and during that time traveled to 18 countries and learned four languages!
But her story doesn’t end there. During her time in the Marine Corps, Rachel met and got to know many wounded warriors who sustained lifelong injuries and disabilities but who nevertheless approached each day with confidence and determination. Again, Rachel found herself feeling the inspiration! When she got back home, she invested in a life coach, and very quickly got out of debt, married a wonderful man, had beautiful children, and launched her own successful coaching business to help people like you gain the confidence and clarity needed to understand their calling and experience financial freedom and incredible relationships!
Since then, Rachel has gone on to do so many other amazing things. For one, she survived cancer! She’s also become a highly sought speaker at events in the US and internationally, and she’s the author of a bestselling book, Successful People are Full of C.R.A.P.: A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting it Together And Achieving Your Dreams (seriously, isn’t that title hilarious?). She’s a podcaster, a successful business woman, and the leader of Faith Activated, which is her year-long, faith-based journaling experience. In the program, she coaches clients through many of the journaling practices she talks about in this episode. It’s an incredible experience for so may people, and I highly recommend checking it out here!
I cannot speak highly enough of this girl. She is so genuinely passionate about helping other people grow in confidence and manifest the reality of their dreams. She has an incredible amount of wisdom to share, so let’s get into it!
Journaling with Intention
Let’s talk a little more about what it means to journal with intention. A lot of people I’ve spoken to have a resistance to journaling. They think journaling is kind of like keeping a little diary and writing things like, “Dear Diary, Today I had Cheerios for breakfast.” But that’s different from the kind of intentional journaling Rachel talks about. I asked her to clarify exactly how that kind of diary-keeping is different from journaling, and her response was so bright and perfect I’m just going to use her words:
“So when I talk to people about their journals or their diaries or whatever, it’s usually they are, like you said, keeping a memoir, a record of what happened … and that’s fine, right? But … That just leads to more of the same thing, right? If you think the same thoughts, you’re going to have the same feelings and you’re going to take the same actions or not take the same actions … or do nothing, and you stay in this loop.” – Rachel Luna
So when we think of journaling more as an exercise in record-keeping or in just writing down general memories or to-do lists, we keep ourselves in this loop. We’re writing down the same thoughts we have every day instead of using journaling as an opportunity for growth.
So how can we journal with intention and use that experience to manifest the reality we want? Of course, Rachel has a perfect step-by-step guide that she shared with me!
“… one of my biggest beliefs is that your thoughts and ideas are like three-year-old children. They need attention, right? What does a toddler do … ‘Mama! Mama! Mama!’ and they don’t stop until you actually acknowledge them.” – Rachel Luna
Okay, so step one: write down all of your feelings. You can write gratitude, frustration, fear, whatever it is you’re feeling in the moment! Then take it a little deeper and ask yourself why you’re feeling those things. ‘Why am I feeling afraid? What am I afraid will happen?’ Just be honest with yourself and emote all over the page!
Then move on to step two, the shift. This is where you start to get excited about what you want. You want to raise your vibration just a little bit higher. Write down some positive feelings, and give yourself some grace here! Maybe you write about how excited you are to be working on a new goal. Maybe you write down how grateful you can be for your period of uncertainty because it allows you to learn and grow. However you can, shift your attitude toward positivity and love.
And from that mindset of joy and positivity, you’re ready for step three! This is where you script your life exactly as you want it. So say your goal is to lose five pounds. In step three, you might write, “I am so excited today because I finally lost five pounds! I was frustrated before, but then I did the work, and I feel happy and proud of myself for reaching my weight loss goal.” Write in your journal as if you’ve already accomplished whatever it is you’re working toward!
“The brain doesn’t know the difference between the truth or a lie, so when you start to write with intention and script a new reality, your reticular activating system is looking around like, ‘Wait, we made better decisions. When did that happen?’” – Rachel Luna
When you script your reality as you want it to be instead of how it currently is, your brain notices the difference. And while that can cause some dissonance, it makes you more mindful of the choices you’re making, and that allows you to start making better choices that are more in line with your personal goals. If you’re trying to lose weight and write in your journal that you’ve already done it, the next time you reach for a slice of pizza, you won’t be doing it mindlessly. You’ll be better able to make decisions carefully, treat yourself with grace and forgiveness, and make strides toward your goal.
I’ve Been Telling Myself (Blank), But The Truth Is (Blank)
One of the journaling prompts Rachel likes to use for herself and with her clients is, “I’ve been telling myself (blank), but the truth is (blank). I think that is such an interesting way to have a conversation with yourself and see the places where you might need to acknowledge some truth and seek out areas where you need to grow.
“This prompt is the prompt that unlocks the creativity because ‘I’m telling myself this, but the truth is that’ … How do I really want to move forward? And … what if this were no longer the truth, and then you go into the script.” – Rachel Luna
When you use this prompt and ask yourself what the truth is and how it differs from what you’ve been telling yourself, you can unlock so much creative potential! Instead of staying stuck in your same old thought processes, you consider how you’ve been rationalizing old unproductive patterns, and that gives you the opportunity to move forward.
“So I think once you start to see that you are making justifications, then you have to go into the practice of figuring out how long are you willing to tolerate your own rationalizations?” – Rachel Luna
Let’s go back to the example of a weight loss journey. Maybe you’ve been trying to lose a few pounds for a while now, but you’ve been telling yourself, “I’m too busy to exercise right now.” If you go through this prompt, you may realize that’s not quite the truth. Maybe you write, “I’ve been telling myself I’m too busy to exercise right now, but the truth is that I’m afraid that I’ll get discouraged if I don’t start to make progress quickly.” Now we’re getting somewhere!
When you’re honest and begin to tell yourself the truth in your journal, you can start seeking solutions to the real problems. If you’re afraid of feeling too discouraged to maintain a healthy exercise routine, ask yourself what you can do about that! Maybe reach out to a friend and agree to mutually encourage each other. Perhaps consider ways you can reward yourself for taking small steps to get into your exercise routine.
So by filling in the blanks in that prompt, you start to identify the real obstacles standing in your way. And when you see those obstacles clearly and treat yourself with positivity and grace through your journaling process, you can overcome your problems and reach your goals!
How to Build Confidence
In addition to being an excellent leader and mentor for clients going through the journaling process, Rachel is an expert at confidence. So I really wanted to spend some time talking with her about ways we can all build confidence in our lives, and unsurprisingly her advice was amazing.
Rachel has been through more than her share of trauma in her life. She’s experienced eating disorders, abuse, and date rape, in addition to her experiences in the Iraqi war and with breast cancer. This girl is no stranger to pain, struggle, and discouragement. But she refuses to let that cripple her:
“I just looked and asked myself… we’re all gonna have some sort of pain, right? So do I want the pain of living in this story, or do I want the pain of shifting and changing and growing and developing and using all of that for my good? Am I going to be a victim, or am I going to take the mess and turn it into a message and help empower myself and empower someone else along the way?” – Rachel Luna
What a powerful question. Are you going to let your negative experiences define your story while you live with the pain? Or are you going to shift and change and transform into something new and better?
You have the power to script your future. It’s not easy, but you can do it. Rachel was also kind enough to share a few of her best tips for growing in confidence, and they are truly golden.
“Number one: Keep your word to yourself. Most people don’t have confidence because they don’t have self-integrity. Most people don’t have confidence because instead of listening to themselves and connecting with their identity, they’re listening to what other people say.” – Rachel Luna
How true is that, right? So often we seek validation from others rather than from ourselves, and that is just a recipe for discouragement!
But how can we confront that tendency and learn to stop caring what others think? Well, for one thing, we can seek therapy. Especially if you have experienced trauma, therapy is an absolute necessity. But you can also question yourself. Remember the prompt I mentioned earlier? “I’ve been telling myself (blank), but the truth is (blank).” What stories have you been telling yourself? Ask yourself what falsehoods you’ve been telling yourself, and then ask what you can learn from that. How can you grow out of this situation?
And don’t be afraid to take baby steps. It’s okay if you’re not ready to totally recover from past trauma, stop caring what others think of you, and become a completely confident person all at once! Instead, Rachel suggests, make a commitment to yourself and keep it for five days. Make it something really easy. You might say, “I’m going to take a shower every day for five days.” And then do it. Then, make another small commitment to yourself and keep it for five more days. Each time you keep your promises to yourself, you grow your self-integrity and become a more confident person.
You can do this, one step at a time.
Be Willing To Ask Yourself the Hard Questions
Guys, this has genuinely been one of the most powerful conversations I’ve had on this podcast. Rachel Luna is such a wise and inspiring woman, and I hope her advice and insight have been helpful to you today. If I could leave you with one last thought from her, it’s this:
“A lot of people talk about self-love as like [getting] a manicure and a massage. Those things are great. I love all of the pampering, but to me, that’s … the superficial self-love. Self-love is having an intimate relationship with yourself where you can ask yourself the hard questions.” – Rachel Luna
That’s what all this journaling is about, guys, and that’s the answer to the question of how we can build confidence in our lives. Are you willing to ask yourself the hard questions, get to the root of your fears, problems, and obstacles? Are you ready to grow in confidence, script your own future, and live the beautiful life you were meant to live?
If you’re thinking, “Yes! I’m willing! I’m ready!” remember that Rachel’s year-long faith-based journaling program, Faith Activated is an excellent way to get into journaling and learn how the process and practice of journaling can truly change your life!
Remember, too, that if you’d like some extra support, a little more coaching, and accountability, I want you to get on the waitlist for our next 12 Weeks of Transformation! In this program, I work with people in a much more personal and structured way to create change. We tackle our excuses head-on and find the core values that will motivate you to take action. If you’re not sure what to do next, I encourage you to check out 12 Weeks to Transformation and get on that waitlist!
I’d also love to connect with you via text! I send out text messages with my daily mindset upgrades and daily encouragement that we could all use during these uncertain times of COVID-19.
Thanks, everyone. I’ll talk to you next time!
Elizabeth Benton