The End…or the Beginning?

My dearest readers. I’m going to start by being straight up and telling you that this is going to be my last newsletter of Small Changes, BIG Impact. Maybe just for a little while. Or maybe forever. I’m not yet sure at this point but that’s okay because I don’t need to make that decision at this very moment. Time will tell!

Why, you wonder? Let me explain. (There is an insight in this newsletter so keep reading. There is something for you to gain here. Just because it’s the last edition for now, it doesn’t mean it’s not going to be valuable.)

I’ve been working with some coaches (yes, even coaches have coaches!) and one thing that has come up for me as a priority in what I do is doing things from a place of pure joy and authenticity.

I’ve spent some time reflecting on my life, my life’s work, and I’ve come to realise that I often propel myself forward into things where part of it is a sense of joy and authenticity yet lurking within it is the energy of ‘I should be doing this’ or ‘It’s what everyone else does’ or ‘It’s what’s expected of me.’

I LOVE writing. I LOVE personal development and helping people develop a sense of self-love and self-acceptance. I LOVE learning and teaching about the mind and how we can use it to support us. I truly do. But what I’ve found is that writing this newsletter for 72 weeks straight has put me in a place now where I’m doing it out of habit, like it’s a strategy and something I ‘must do’ each week.

My intentions behind the newsletter were always pure – I just wanted to connect with others who wanted to hear what I had to share and could benefit from what I know or have training and experience in.

But the feeling that is going into my newsletters lately is not the feeling I want to move forward with. I don’t want to show up in your inbox each week because I feel like I ‘have to’. I don’t want to show up because it’s what someone else thinks I should do. And I certainly don’t want to show up just because it’s what I’ve been doing for so long. I want to show up in all parts of my life from a place of joy and authenticity.

Continually Changing

We all shift. We are all continually changing. Otherwise we’d still be in love with the person we had a crush on in Year/Grade 6 😆 or we’d still be thinking that pretending to smoke candy cigarettes made us feel cool! (Or was that just me and my friends? 😂) Either way, I think you get the point.

We don’t stay the same. We won’t always want the same things. And we don’t need to keep doing the same things just because it’s what we have always done in the past. Life is ever changing. And this is the beauty of it. There is always an opportunity for new things to come.

I talked about having hobbies in issue #48 and doing things just for the joy of it and nothing else. While we can’t just have hobbies in life (I’m well aware that there are other things we need to do beyond that), I am also aware that most people don’t allow themselves enough joy in their day to day lives. They don’t take the opportunity to allow themselves to make decisions based on what is right for THEM. They continually find themselves habitually thinking and doing what is best for others or just following what they have always done.

This means not allowing themselves to take risks, start something new, end something old, or make any significant change. But most of all, they continue to choose to disappoint themselves so that they don’t risk disappointing others.

Yes, showing up in your inbox each week is helpful for many of you and I know you’ve enjoyed and benefited from the insights I’ve shared (or at least I hope so!🤞) but it’s come to the point where I need to reconsider what I want. I choose to find ways of doing things from a sense of joy rather than a sense of duty I’ve created for myself. I choose to risk disappointing you so that I no longer disappoint myself by doing something that has lost the feeling of joy or authenticity for me at the moment.

You get to use this as a reason to judge me or you can use this as a reason to do the same in your life.

I know most of you will completely understand this and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that.

I need my time back because there are things I want to do in life and I simply don’t have the time or energy to do it all without sacrificing my time with my kids, my family or creating my life’s work. There’s a course on the way, a book in my mind and so many wonderful ideas that I’m playing with. That is where my energy is being drawn.

How You Can Benefit From This Today

If this is disappointing to read, I am sorry. If you’re not bothered, then I’m also sorry that my newsletter didn’t inspire you enough.😂 But here’s how you can all benefit from this.
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What things are you still doing in life just because you’ve always done them?

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What things take up your time or your energy but aren’t actually infused with joy or authenticity?

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How have you changed in life in a way that you can notice your time and energy taken up by things that no longer match with the current you?

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Where are you disappointing yourself so that you don’t risk disappointing others?

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The concept of doing things for joy, for fun, with no hidden agenda has been infused in a lot of my emails because it’s so important and so powerful. And what would it mean if I talked the talk but didn’t walk the walk?

This is me walking my talk.

I am unbelievably grateful and appreciative of all my readers who have ever opened my emails and gained something positive from it. Your time, your interest, your dedication to your own needs and self-worth is invaluable! Please don’t stop that journey of truly learning to love, accept and embrace your whole self.

If you value what I do and want to keep delving into the work of self-love, self-development and self-acceptance without needing external validation, I will send an update email with where I’m showing up and where you can see my content. (I’ve taken a month off social media so when I restart and I decide what platform I will call home, I’ll let you all know.)

Until we meet again, I’ll leave you with the link below to access all 72 issues of my previously published newsletters which gives you a lot of material to sink your teeth into should you feel joy in that. 💛

💌 Access All Newsletters Here​

You are your own greatest asset and when you learn to value yourself fully and not let your mind get in your own way, life will change right before your eyes.

From me to you, thank you!

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Love and gratitude,

Martina x

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