Me Time ✨

Happy Sunday, everybody. My name is Jean Mitchells, and I'm sitting here in Chicago in a hotel on a floor that's empty, and over my shoulder, you can see the Chicago Marathon finishers and full transparency. I have a small amount of battery left, so we're gonna get as far as we can. Hi, Chris. How you doing today? Hi, Deonna. How you doing today? Happy Sunday. My name is G. Nichols. I am excited to be here today with whomever dials in on this beautiful Sunday. You can look out across my shoulder.

You'll see the end of the Chicago Marathon. I ran the Chicago Marathon today for Alzheimer's, and, yeah, there's that. And here we are. Full transparency. My battery life is really small. So we're gonna get to 15, or we're gonna get close to 15. But I wanted to jump in today and just honor the importance of taking time for ourselves and doing something for ourselves. How many of you have some random goal out there that you're like, I'm not sure I'm gonna get there. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. And when we set those goals, sometimes we're like, well, that's kind of a lofty goal.

And then maybe we're like, I'll just try that. Try that later, if it's yours. If it's important to you. Why do we as individuals consistently push off all of those goals, all of those dreams that are important to us? Maybe that goal is to read 10 books this year. Maybe that goal is to read 30 books this year. I have a girlfriend that is reading books. The number of books for every year. She is. I'm like, girl, it only goes up. But I love that. That's her jam. And she is in her late 20s, early 30s, and she's crushing it.

And it's what brings her joy and it what grounds her. So this last year, as part of my. I don't know. I'm an athlete. I grew up as an athlete. I play volleyball, play tennis, coached volleyball for a long time. I love doing triathlons because there's variety. Marathons are really hard. If any of you have ever run a marathon or run. Walked a marathon or simply started and maybe you finished and maybe you didn't. Kudos to all of you for that. So. So there are all kinds of challenges in life, right?

You could have a mental challenge where you say, I'm going to take a class every year and learn something new. You could have a challenge where you do arts and crafts or learn a new creative modality. I want to take a creative writing class. You know about any of those? I'd love to try that. My goal, my aspiration is I'm a doer. My brother, when I was a little girl, nicknamed me a doer. So here's how that would go. Do er. Do er. Do er. Genie is a doer. And I would scream at the top of my lungs that I was not.

Fun fact. He's right. I am. I do a lot of things. And those little strengths in us as a little child, dang, they are there and they're strong. But here's what's great. So I process things through movement. That's how I do it. Some people are really great at meditation. Some people are really great at other things. I lead sound bath meditations. I love to take them. But I process my thoughts through movement. Whether I'm walking my dog or going for a run or spinning on a bike or playing tennis or something like, that's just.

That's what works for me. You have something that works for you, and you may have forgotten what it was. My invitation to you is, how do you rediscover that? So last year in October, I was running the New York City Marathon. I was going to do just one more marathon. That was it. It was my dream to do New York City. I had done a couple before a decade earlier, and I was running it for a charity, the Crohn's and Colitis foundation, because a girlfriend of mine and my cousin and so many people I know are impacted by Crohn's and colitis.

So I was like, cool, I'm gonna do my dream mar one done. And it's going to be awesome. And so I raised a bunch of money and I went to go do the race. And two weeks before the race happened, my mom passed away. And I was like, I quit this marathon. I gotta do it. I'm not gonna not do it. I raised all this money and I said that I would and she would want me to do that. So I did. And I cried at the end of it. Cried. I literally broke down because every ounce of my grief, I think, carried me through that race.

And I crossed the finish line and I broke down and I started crying. And that's what we do, right? We do until we can't anymore, and then we process. And that's what I did. What I had learned about these world major marathons JC Lee pulled on here, he has done all of them. He's my idol. And I decided that I wanted to do the World six marathons for my mom and dad because my dad had passed away the year prior with Alzheimer's, which. Which is why I'm running for Alzheimer's today. And my mom passed not because of anything.

She. It was just her time. It was just her time. And so I'm doing all these marathons. So two weeks ago, I was in Berlin. I ran the Berlin Marathon for Crohn's and Colitis. Today, I ran Chicago Marathon. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment, it seems. But that's just it, right? We find a way to process things, and we find a way to give purpose to what we're doing. So maybe it's reading books every year to grow your mind, and that's where you find silence and quiet and creativity. Maybe you sign up to run a 5K.

Maybe you sign up for anything, a class that is strictly for you, and it's something that gives. Gives you purpose. I find for me that I like to do things that ground me in something. Maybe I'm learning something new. Maybe I am trying something new. But on these Sundays when we talk about me time, I am so grateful that my body is healthy enough that I got to run today. I got to meet a lot of really cool people. Fun fact. At the start of the marathon today, the guy that was standing next to me started just shaking with excitement.

It was his first ever Marathon. And 30 seconds later, he got a text that his sister just had a baby he had as his first niece, and he broke down crying, and we all just celebrated him. So I like to be out here and be in this space because I get to hear so many people's stories. So it isn't just about doing. It is about doing, but it's not just about doing. It's about learning and listening and meeting people from all across the world who are coming to do this race. And there are 50,000 people, and they say there are a million spectators.

That's a lot of people. But whatever it is for you, I just simply invite you to put it out there. So here's my challenge. Whether you post it in the chat below or whether you post it in the comments in the main open area, I would love to know one goal, one passion project, one idea, one dream that you are willing to commit to starting for yourself. Because we do a lot for everybody around us, everyone around us, and we're strong. But the thing that I hear the most, and in my day job, if you're new to me, I'm also a professional coach.

And sorry, there's a bunch of people that are taking photos for finishing this marathon. I'm a professional coach and the thing that I hear the most is, oh, I'll get to that when. When what? When I'm happy? When I've lost five pounds. I'll get to that when I'm done with this project at work. Or I'll get to when my daughter is finished with ballet. Like, there's always going to be a when. But the best lesson that we can teach ourselves, the best lesson we can teach our kids, the best lesson we can teach the people that report to us or even the leaders that manage us, is to start one thing for yourself.

And the minute that you spend time prioritizing yourself is the best investment in you. Because if you don't invest in you, who's going to? So my battery life is at about 2% right now. I started with saying that I was gonna run out quick, so I'm going to give you a little peace out. But I'm also inviting you to type in the comments here. Type in the comment on the main chat. What is one thing you're willing to invest in?