Written by: Leslie Gaudet, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Our lives are made up by stories. We write from our emotions based on our experiences and our experiences are what we pull from to write every word, every sentence, and every paragraph and all of that shapes how we see our world, and how we show up in our world.
It ultimately comes down to the choices we make based on the meaning that we give to our experiences.
You decide on what something is going to mean, and you have the choice to make it negative or positive.
You can choose to continue writing a script to support your old story that doesn't serve you and keeps you spinning your wheels, OR you can choose to step outside of the norm and get curious about what life could be like for you if you decided to do things differently and viewed your world differently and then from that place, that mindset, you allowed yourself to step outside of your comfort zone and start thinking and acting and speaking from a place that supports a life you've only dreamt about.
You see, every day is an opportunity for something different; for something better.
This is what I was faced with when I decided to lean into living a nomadic lifestyle and working from anywhere in the world that I choose to, as long as I have Wifi.
I’m not going to lie; it took a little getting my head around because I had to go small; really small.
It meant everything that I owned would have to fit into two suitcases and anything that I absolutely needed to keep had to fit inside the smallest of storage units. That idea took a little bit of convincing of my husband to get around because they are just some things I can’t part with right now; that is important to me.
We took off this past year (yes, during Covid) and left Las Vegas, and embarked on our nomadic lifestyle. We headed up to Canada on the East Coast known as Atlantic Canada to my husband’s hometown of Moncton, New Brunswick, and we spent four months there enjoying a glorious summer.
When October 2020 rolled around, we were ready to say goodbye and we headed down to Florida and took a short 90-minute flight to Cancun, Mexico and met our Air Bnb host at the airport and then we drove down to Puerto Morelos, where we called home for the past 6 months. And it was truly glorious!
When it was time to head back to the States, it was hard to say goodbye, but I knew we would be back in a few months.
As a side note, right now, our lifestyle revolves around our little dog Jackson who is soon to be 15 and once he leaves us for better and greener pastures, then the world will truly open up to us in a wealth of possibilities of where we want to go next.
Let me get back to what I meant, though, by the stories that we tell ourselves because I need to bring you back to the place where I first started thinking about nomadic living and I wasn’t into it at all!
In fact, I was extremely resistant and that was because I was afraid. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of the unexpected. Afraid of the planning. Afraid of traveling to a place I knew nothing about and living in a place where I didn’t speak the language. Afraid that I wouldn’t fit in or wouldn’t like the choices I would eventually make and absolutely love!
It came down to me deciding on what story I was going to tell myself, which one I was going to allow to be my truth, and what I was going to allow to influence my thoughts.
I chose to step outside of my comfort zone and took a giant leap of faith into the unknown realm of possibilities and I allowed myself to really enjoy the experience and was so fortunate to meet some really amazing people who are now part of my friends’ circle.
If I had let my story be managed by my fears, I wouldn’t have taken a leap of faith. I wouldn’t have seen a part of the world that I had only seen in pictures. I wouldn’t have allowed myself to live my life and would have missed out on meeting some amazing people, enjoying a new culture, and I would not have spent the last 6 months in Mexico having the time of my life.
It’s not easy living without a “defined” home base and living out of two suitcases, but it has been so rewarding because I found myself in Mexico.
I had never loved a place with such intensity as I did when I lived in Puerto Morelos. It wasn’t hard to love this place so fiercely because the people are so amazing and welcoming and kind and hardworking and giving and just so inspiring, and so because they made me feel so welcome, I started to feel like I had found a home away from home.
I left a piece of my heart in Puerto Morelos and it is waiting for me to reclaim it when we go back later this year, and I am truly looking forward to it.
My story that I tell myself has evolved this past year. I learned to trust in my decisions and have faith in the choices that I make. I love the person that I am. I love the life I am living. I am living my best life now because now I understand that the stories I tell myself can be ones of empowerment and lifting myself up, and encouraging myself to be adventurous and enjoy my life.
So, if you are feeling like your story is managing you, ask yourself these questions:
1. Do I like myself and the person that I am being?
2. Am I content with the life I am living, OR am I looking to make some changes, but I’m not quite sure what that is or if it is even possible?
3. Am I letting fear narrate my life?
I’m here to tell you that it is possible to rewrite your story if you are willing to take a chance on the unknown with the possibility of an amazing new life and a new you are waiting just around the corner for the big reveal.
If you can answer that you are living your life in alignment with your purpose, with your core values, and that you are moving towards where you see yourself in your near future, then keep leaning into supporting that vision and don’t give up. Never give up.
If, however, you are not satisfied and are feeling the itch to make some changes, then the first thing to do is:
Number 1. Take a Look Back and Reflect.
• How have you interpreted your past experiences?
• How do you choose when making decisions for your life?
• Do you choose based on being safe, or do you allow yourself to step outside of your comfort zone into the unknown zone of possibilities where the magic happens and is waiting to be revealed?
• Do you focus on the positive when you are in decision-mode, or do you allow Fear to be the narrator for your life?
Number 2. Frame a Positive Future for yourself.
• Look for the positive experiences from your past and assign positive feelings to your memories and reflect back on those often. By looking back and reflecting and then in turn facing forward, you start practicing gratitude for every gift you have and continue to receive, and you focus on changing your mindset to what is possible.
• Remember that your mindset is the key to rewriting your story.
• Know and understand that you have the power to change every paragraph that you write for how you live your life.
• Adopt a growth mindset, allow yourself to be open to receive new ideas, new information, and new perspectives, so that you empower yourself in your choices, and allow yourself to step outside of your comfort zone so that you can make changes worth living.
If you feel like you are being held back and can’t quite shake your past’s hold over you, reach out to me at lesliegaudetcoaching@gmail.com. I just may have that something for you that will help you take back ownership of your story.
Looking forward to connecting with you!
Leslie Gaudet, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Leslie Gaudet is a Mindset and Emotional Awareness Coach for women. She helps her clients achieve self-awareness around their emotional triggers by shifting their mindset to make better decisions when they respond, which allows them to bring more balance, peace, and harmony into their life.
Almost 4 decades working as a Legal Assistant and Paralegal in the corporate world left her feeling emotionally and physically drained. That’s when she decided that she had to make some changes for her to live a life she loves. Those changes involved learning to love herself (without judgment or criticism). That mindset is the key to everything because our mindset influences our thoughts, and in turn, our thoughts dictate our words and actions. Thru her journey to self-love and self-acceptance, Leslie became certified as a Life Coach and attained further certifications in Group Coaching and Emotional Intelligence.
She works closely with her clients, starting with mindset because that is the foundational piece to self-love and self-acceptance. She teaches her clients about triggers and how they affect us emotionally by helping her clients tune into, spot, and understand their own so that they can become more self-aware of their trigger moments and emotional responses.
With proven tools and techniques and with her guidance, her clients tap into and discover their true potential to living their life and loving the life they are living.
Leslie believes that you will transform your life when you Change Your Brain (the way you think).
