Bring Your Mess Into The Light
Life can feel like an arena. In parenting and in teen and tween life especially. Getting up and ready to face the challenges every day. In your arena, you have 3 seats that are always taken up: Scarcity, Comparison, and Shame. In this episode, I walk through how these three “gremlins” show up in our arenas and what you can do about them!
About the Host:
Nellie Harden is a wife of 20+ years, mom to 4 teen/tween daughters, dreamer, adventurer, servant, multipreneur, forever student, and a devoted teacher, but her ride-or-die passion is her work as a Family Life Coach & Mentor.
Coming from a career background in marine mammal sciences, behavioral work, and a host of big life experiences, both great and not some not so great, she decided that designing a life of purpose and freedom was how she and her husband, along with their 4 daughters, wanted to live.
Her work and passions exist in the realms of family and parent mentorship because she believes that a family filled with creativity, fun, laughter, challenge, adventure, problem-solving, hugs, good food, and learning can not only change a person’s life but is the best chance at positively changing the world.
She helps families build Self-Led Discipline™ & Leadership Into their homes, sets their children up for a wildly successful life on their terms, and elevates the family experience with big joy, palpable peace, and everyday growth!
With a lifelong passion and curiosity in thought, choice, behavior, and growth she has found incredible joy in helping families shift perspective, find answers, and a path forward.
(Nellie has been coaching families for over 10 years and has degrees in Biology, Animal Behavior and Psychology. )
LINKS:
Family Success Vault- https://www.nellieharden.com/vault
Website- https://www.nellieharden.com
Online Community- https://www.facebook.com/groups/the6570project
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/nellieharden/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/nellie.harden/
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Transcript
Hello and welcome to the 6570 family project
Nellie Harden:podcast. If you are a parent of a tween teen or somewhere on the
Nellie Harden:way, this is exactly the place for you. This is the playground
Nellie Harden:for parents who want to raise their kids with intention,
Nellie Harden:strength and joy. Come and hear all the discussions, get all the
Nellie Harden:tactics and have lots of laughs along the way. We will dive into
Nellie Harden:the real challenges and raising kids today how to show up as
Nellie Harden:parents and teach your kids how to show up as members of the
Nellie Harden:family and individuals of the world. My name is Mellie Hardin,
Nellie Harden:big city girl turn small town sipping iced tea on the front
Nellie Harden:porch mama, who loves igniting transformation in the hearts and
Nellie Harden:minds of families by helping them build self love, discipline
Nellie Harden:and leadership that elevate the family experience, and sets the
Nellie Harden:kids up with a rock solid foundation, they can launch
Nellie Harden:their life on all before they ever leave home. This is the
Nellie Harden:6570 family project. Let's go Hello, everyone. Welcome to
Nellie Harden:another episode of the 6570 family project podcast where we
Nellie Harden:are putting aside those power struggles and really finding the
Nellie Harden:path to lead our young women toward confidence, respect and
Nellie Harden:wisdom and prepare them for the great big world out there. And
Nellie Harden:today we're going to be talking about how we can ourselves and
Nellie Harden:help our daughters and our any children that we have bring our
Nellie Harden:mess into the light, normalize mess and be able to start
Nellie Harden:unraveling it in order to get those knots out. So if you have
Nellie Harden:not yet I really encourage you to look up Man in the Arena. It
Nellie Harden:is a
Nellie Harden:poem or speech that Theodore Roosevelt gave. And it is so
Nellie Harden:good Brene Brown, love Brene Brown. And she really talks
Nellie Harden:about this in some of her talks. And this is something that
Nellie Harden:really struck me because when we're in when we are in life, it
Nellie Harden:often feels like a fight or a challenge, at least that we are
Nellie Harden:getting through every single day. Even if it's a great day,
Nellie Harden:you still got through that day with Triumph. And on our hardest
Nellie Harden:days, we get through that day with Triumph. And so Man in the
Nellie Harden:Arena is such a powerful statement that can be put
Nellie Harden:together highly encourage you to look it up, just Google it, you
Nellie Harden:will find it Man in the Arena, Theodore Roosevelt, I have it in
Nellie Harden:my house. And it really reminds us of who's in the arena, who we
Nellie Harden:are, who we can listen to, to get actual good guidance and who
Nellie Harden:we should not listen to, to get guidance. And three of those
Nellie Harden:seats that are often taken up in our arena are scarcity, shame
Nellie Harden:and comparison, those are the ones we do not want to listen
Nellie Harden:to. But if we don't invite them in a they're gonna find a way in
Nellie Harden:no matter what. And they're gonna lurk in the corners,
Nellie Harden:they're going to sneak up on us when we least expect it, they
Nellie Harden:are going to surprise us and it is not going to be good. So kind
Nellie Harden:of like inviting the enemies in, right? We want to invite them
Nellie Harden:in, get put, show them to their seats, and be able to shine a
Nellie Harden:light on them. So we always know where they are. We always know
Nellie Harden:what they're going to say. And we can always just be able to
Nellie Harden:let them be for what they are and then walk away and be in our
Nellie Harden:arena. Does that make sense? No your enemies, right. Okay, so
Nellie Harden:let's dive into these a little bit. It is comparison, shame and
Nellie Harden:scarcity. And Brene. Brown has a TED Talk that she talked a
Nellie Harden:little bit about, well, a lot a bit about the Man in the Arena
Nellie Harden:and some of these seats. And we're going to dive into it in
Nellie Harden:the context of what we do in the 6570 family project. So let's
Nellie Harden:talk about comparison. Comparison is going to show up
Nellie Harden:as stories that we tell ourselves in our head that
Nellie Harden:either glorify us and put someone else down or the
Nellie Harden:opposite, right? It is going to really put us down and glorify
Nellie Harden:someone else. And these are often worst case scenarios for
Nellie Harden:one best case scenarios for another. Which means it's not
Nellie Harden:really true that the truth lies somewhere in the middle there
Nellie Harden:and it's this comparison trap that we get in of I will never
Nellie Harden:be as smart as that other person. I will never be a good
Nellie Harden:enough parent. I will never write the always nevers I am
Nellie Harden:always too tired for this. I am. I can never do that. That move
Nellie Harden:in soccer like my teammate. Ken, I will never get into college, I
Nellie Harden:will never get that scholarship. All of these catastrophizing
Nellie Harden:events can happen with yourself in the driver's seat. Or it can
Nellie Harden:be this grandiose, inflated esteem, which is always fake
Nellie Harden:where it is, I am so much better than everyone else, I am so much
Nellie Harden:better than them because of this, you know, a, b, and c. So
Nellie Harden:this comparison is really a dangerous place to be for our
Nellie Harden:children and ourselves. And if we can, again, shine that light
Nellie Harden:on there, unravel this and find out what's going on, then we can
Nellie Harden:start to deal with it. This can be particularly dangerous when
Nellie Harden:there's comparison between siblings, or what often happens
Nellie Harden:to is when there's comparison between parent, the parents
Nellie Harden:teenage years, and what the teenager is the teen or tween is
Nellie Harden:going through right now. Right? The whole quote unquote, when I
Nellie Harden:was your age, you know, so those can be particularly demeaning
Nellie Harden:and harsh, because they are inside of the home. So again,
Nellie Harden:let's put a light on them know where comparison is coming from,
Nellie Harden:not be afraid to have the conversation about it. And then
Nellie Harden:we can start to unravel it and get to the root. So that's
Nellie Harden:comparison, it's always going to be there. So be aware of
Nellie Harden:comparison in your arena. So let's talk about shame. And
Nellie Harden:shame is the defining identity of I Am, anything that comes
Nellie Harden:after I am you can put that is not shining a positive light on
Nellie Harden:yourself. That is going to be in the shame category. Anything
Nellie Harden:that you could say I am that you're not proud of. You
Nellie Harden:wouldn't stand in front of the arena and shouted unnecessarily
Nellie Harden:then with with pride, good pride, not demeaning pride, but
Nellie Harden:good pride, then that goes into the shame category. And when we
Nellie Harden:start to get into the I am statements, then we're
Nellie Harden:catastrophizing again, right? These are all close cousins
Nellie Harden:comparison, shame and identity. They're like the three
Nellie Harden:musketeers that like to hang out and they're like, Ooh, you
Nellie Harden:didn't get them this time. I'm going to try and get them this
Nellie Harden:time, right? Oh, okay, let's try this time and they strategize,
Nellie Harden:right these these three seeds shame, comparison and scarcity.
Nellie Harden:So when you're down there in the arena, and you have these
Nellie Harden:feelings and thoughts of, I am never going to get into college,
Nellie Harden:I am never enough, I am never going to get the attention of
Nellie Harden:this person that I'm interested in. I am never going to get this
Nellie Harden:scholarship, right. All of those things, those are identifying
Nellie Harden:markers and what it does is it puts you in a box and when it
Nellie Harden:puts you in a box that is just an acceptance of the way that it
Nellie Harden:is box there is no getting out of there. There's no work to be
Nellie Harden:done in order to undefine something right? So that's why
Nellie Harden:it can be so dangerous. If you say I am not smart, then that's
Nellie Harden:just what it is right? And you get into this it is what it is
Nellie Harden:type of mentality which is one of my husband's like least
Nellie Harden:favorite things ever. Which I can see why because you are then
Nellie Harden:just defining it and you're saying it is what it is
Nellie Harden:therefore I will not work on it. Let's move on to something else
Nellie Harden:and just accept this character about myself. And it's not even
Nellie Harden:true. It's not even true. Shame is not true. Okay. They are the
Nellie Harden:lies that we are telling ourselves about who we are. So
Nellie Harden:when the thing it is what it is it goes with some things I don't
Nellie Harden:want to throw it under the bus because there are some things
Nellie Harden:that just are what they are like the car was in an accident. Yes,
Nellie Harden:absolutely. That is definitively true. Right? But my daughter is
Nellie Harden:depressed and it and it made me upset right? We don't have to
Nellie Harden:say our daughter is depressed and it just is what it is and
Nellie Harden:we're going to live with it. No right shame blocks us from
Nellie Harden:action toward the things that are actionable. Okay. So
Nellie Harden:material things can be defined it is what it is, but feelings
Nellie Harden:and lives cannot feelings and lives emotions, actions. Those
Nellie Harden:are actionable and we can always change them if we're still here.
Nellie Harden:We can change them. Okay. So then there is scarcity the I
Nellie Harden:will never be enough so why try? I will never be able to talk to
Nellie Harden:them in their room. So why try I see this with parents sometimes.
Nellie Harden:You know, when I'm talking to them about having those
Nellie Harden:intentional conversations and they're like my kid will never
Nellie Harden:let me in my room. So I'm not even going to try. I already
Nellie Harden:know what they're going to say. That's that scarcity mindset,
Nellie Harden:right? I will never be able to. So that is the other seat, you
Nellie Harden:guys again, shining a light on there and being receptive to the
Nellie Harden:effects that these three seats have, right. And when we can do
Nellie Harden:that, then when we're down in the arena, we could say I see
Nellie Harden:you, I see you, I know that I am enough, I know that there is
Nellie Harden:enough of whatever it is that you need out there. I know that
Nellie Harden:I am one unique person, and there aren't so many other
Nellie Harden:people that have come before me that are just like me, I'm not a
Nellie Harden:dime a dozen, I am a unique person for a unique purpose.
Nellie Harden:Right? That is where scarcity can really, really get you. When
Nellie Harden:it just says what doesn't matter? Don't do anything.
Nellie Harden:Everybody else has already tried that and not and it doesn't
Nellie Harden:work, or other people have tried that. And it has and they're
Nellie Harden:doing great. So why would you come in and try, right? And so
Nellie Harden:your child really needs you, as the parent as the family
Nellie Harden:architect that is planning, designing and building the
Nellie Harden:beginning of their life to help them see these three Gremlins,
Nellie Harden:as Brennan calls them, that are always in the seats comparison,
Nellie Harden:shame and scarcity. So comparison, I'm not as good as
Nellie Harden:shame. I am fill in the blank scarcity, never enough blank,
Nellie Harden:right? So all three of these breed isolation. And as we know,
Nellie Harden:my, if you've ever done any sort of biology lab ever, isolation
Nellie Harden:is where things grow. They breed and they grow in the darkness of
Nellie Harden:that isolation, like a petri dish, right? So let's put a
Nellie Harden:light on these things. Put a light on them. If you don't want
Nellie Harden:to talk about something right away, because you don't have the
Nellie Harden:words. That's absolutely fine. Right? If if you're trying to
Nellie Harden:figure out where is this scarcity, shame and comparison
Nellie Harden:happening, and you're feeling some things, and you're
Nellie Harden:questioning some things, and you're being curious about
Nellie Harden:things, but you don't necessarily have the words yet.
Nellie Harden:That is okay. Take some time. But definitely, definitely come
Nellie Harden:back. And this reminds me so not too long ago, there was this
Nellie Harden:event that was happening really early in the morning. I'm
Nellie Harden:talking like, I think it started at 6:15am. And it was on a
Nellie Harden:Sunday. It was really early in the morning. And I wanted to go
Nellie Harden:to it. But I wasn't going to make anyone in my anyone else in
Nellie Harden:my house, go to it because it's early. It's a weekend. And so I
Nellie Harden:got up and my husband did come with me. And we went and I think
Nellie Harden:it was like a day later, it might have been a day or two
Nellie Harden:later.
Nellie Harden:I just noticed he was acting a little off. And I asked I was
Nellie Harden:like So Are you okay, what's going on? He's like, I just, I
Nellie Harden:just don't have the words right now. And I was like, Okay, well,
Nellie Harden:be sure you come back to me when you do. And another couple of
Nellie Harden:days passed, and we were sitting there eating lunch, and he
Nellie Harden:seemed, you know better. And I said, so the other day when you
Nellie Harden:said you didn't have the words, do you have the words now? And
Nellie Harden:he's like, Well, I thought about it, and I'm okay. And I was
Nellie Harden:like, Well, what was it? You know? And so what happened is
Nellie Harden:these Gremlins were speaking to him in his arena. And they were
Nellie Harden:telling him, You know what, she didn't invite you and didn't
Nellie Harden:want you to come on Sunday morning. She wanted to be by
Nellie Harden:herself. And so she didn't even invite you and didn't want you
Nellie Harden:there. And I was like, Oh, my goodness. I was like, no, no,
Nellie Harden:no, that is not true at all. I'm so sorry. You thought that
Nellie Harden:right? That was his truth was I didn't even want them there. And
Nellie Harden:my truth was, it would be selfish of me to ask him to come
Nellie Harden:to this and sacrifice his weekend morning because we're so
Nellie Harden:busy during the week. I don't want him to sacrifice, you know,
Nellie Harden:resting and sleeping in on a on a weekend. And so I'm not even
Nellie Harden:going to selfishly ask him to come so he feels like there's an
Nellie Harden:obligation to come. So my place was I love him so much. I don't
Nellie Harden:want to bother him and give him an obligation to come. And his
Nellie Harden:place was she is you know, pulling away. She doesn't want
Nellie Harden:me to come so she didn't even ask and see where that can
Nellie Harden:happen. These are the Gremlins that are in our arenas, and I
Nellie Harden:see this with our kids all the time and but that's just an
Nellie Harden:example that happened, you know recently with us, but unless we
Nellie Harden:brought that into To the light, he never would have known what
Nellie Harden:the truth was. And he just would have been living with this
Nellie Harden:acceptance of it is what it is. Okay. So that is a great example
Nellie Harden:of how we need to bring it into the light, unravel it, get the
Nellie Harden:truth, and then move on, right. So if we can expect these seats
Nellie Harden:to be there, make room for them, invite them in. And so they
Nellie Harden:aren't pushing their way in when they're pushing their wing in,
Nellie Harden:they're going to knock something else good out of the way. I have
Nellie Harden:two rescue dogs and every single time I let them outside, one of
Nellie Harden:them she can be behind her. The boy, he could be behind our girl
Nellie Harden:dog. But as soon as you crack the door, I don't know that
Nellie Harden:numbskull. He just plows through and like knocks everybody out of
Nellie Harden:the way and cluding himself, he's knocking himself in the
Nellie Harden:head so he can get outside first. And that is what I see
Nellie Harden:with these three. These three seats of scarce scarcity, shame
Nellie Harden:and comparison, pushing their way into your arena and knocking
Nellie Harden:some good stuff out of the way because of it. So invite them
Nellie Harden:in, Shine the light, put the spotlights on them, be sure you
Nellie Harden:always know where they are and what they are up to. And then
Nellie Harden:they will never be able to surprise you. Right? The more we
Nellie Harden:can expect, the easier it will be for us. And it reminds me of
Nellie Harden:what is it Hunger Games, right moves and countermoves Okay, you
Nellie Harden:guys, I hope that you got so much out of this today. And you
Nellie Harden:can be more aware of these three Gremlins in your arena as you're
Nellie Harden:going throughout the day, and teach your kids to be more aware
Nellie Harden:of them as well. I will be back next week with another episode
Nellie Harden:and remember to keep teaching, keep laughing and keep loving
Nellie Harden:and above all remember to keep showing up with intention during
Nellie Harden:this 6570 parenthood childhood experience because they need
Nellie Harden:you. All right, everyone, I will talk to you soon. Thank you so
Nellie Harden:much for listening today. And I hope you were able to take
Nellie Harden:something from our discussion that you can use to build the
Nellie Harden:foundation of selfless leadership in your own family.
Nellie Harden:If you are a parent with children 17 or younger, and
Nellie Harden:especially those around nine and up, I would love to extend an
Nellie Harden:invitation to you to the best club in town. The family
Nellie Harden:architects Club is a private club where intentional parents
Nellie Harden:go that want to love support, connect or reconnect and really
Nellie Harden:truly help guide their kids and teach them how to self leave in
Nellie Harden:discipline and leadership. This is an online community and the
Nellie Harden:you are welcome to it. Parenting is a project and you are the
Nellie Harden:architect of this one. You plan you design and oversee the
Nellie Harden:construction of the beginning of someone else's life. And that's
Nellie Harden:what goes into these first 6570 days. And it will be the
Nellie Harden:foundation for the rest of their lives. So
Nellie Harden:come join the club. You can find your invitation on the front
Nellie Harden:page of my website Nelly hardin.com that is n e ll ie H
Nellie Harden:AR d e n.com. Thank you again for being a part of this
Nellie Harden:conversation today. And if something really resonated with
Nellie Harden:you, or if you have a question, please don't hesitate to connect
Nellie Harden:with me. You can find me on Instagram at Nelly Hardin. And
Nellie Harden:lastly if you love the information, please please leave
Nellie Harden:a five star review and a comment so more and more families can be
Nellie Harden:impacted by harnessing the strength of these ideas and
Nellie Harden:tools in their own families. So thank you so much. Happy
Nellie Harden:building you guys and I'll see you next week.