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About Our Guest- Lisa Mustard- Pivots To Shift Your Life
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Lisa Mustard is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Life Coach in South Carolina. She is married to her sweetheart Billy, mama to two daughters, puppy wrangler, lover of health, wellness and fitness, and personal development junkie.
When she turned 40, she had a wake up call.
She was tired of going through the motions of her life and career as a therapist and wanted to pivot her skill set and do new things. She didn’t know what those things would be so she began testing out ideas and business opportunities. Some were busts such as private practice while others were successes such as life and personal branding coaching and podcasting..
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Full Podcast Transcription
Lisa Mustard 00:01
The fear of changing and growing and shifting. It\’s scary for a lot of people, you know, especially mid life, it can be really, really scary. But at the same time, if you really want your life to change, you want it to be better. You got to try different things. So that\’s what I like to do. I like to help my clients try different things to see what makes their life better.
Diva Nagula 00:24
Hello, this is Dr. Diva Nagula. Welcome to From Doctor to Patient, where our goal is to bring you topics of discussion that will educate you on the various healing modalities to help balance the mind, body, and spirit. Today I have an old friend Lisa mustard joining us today she is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and life coach in South Carolina. She\’s married to her sweetheart, Billy mama to two daughters, puppy wrangler, lover of health, wellness and fitness and personal development junkie. When she turned 40, she had a wake up call. She was tired of going through the motions of her life and career as a therapist in wanting to pivot her skill set and do new things. She didn\’t know what those things would be. So she began testing out ideas and business opportunities. Some were busts, such as private practice, while others were successes such as life, and personal branding, coaching and podcasting. Lisa, so awesome to see you again. It\’s been 25 years. Wow.
Lisa Mustard 01:31
I know I can\’t believe it. So much has happened. You\’re a doctor. Oh my gosh. Who knew? You probably knew back in the day, but it is so cool to reconnect after all this time and to see you. So thanks for having me. Really excited.
Diva Nagula 01:47
Yeah, thanks for coming on the show. But I hear lots to talk about and lots of catching up to do so. Gosh, tell me what\’s been going on your life. You know what this whole transformation that you went through at the age of 40 and had this wake up call? I mean, a lot of us go through this. I don\’t want to say midlife crisis. But actually it\’s kind of one of the really is that you\’ve kind of solved now on the other side of it. So what\’s been going on? What was this transition like for you?
Lisa Mustard 02:12
Yeah, so I will work really hard to keep it short and sweet. But when I turned 40, I did, I had a wake up call. And I was just kind of tired and overwhelmed. I was burning the candle at both ends, I had a great job, I get to support a military branch. But I realized that that was kind of like a lot of stress and a lot of just a lot of moving parts. And I was raising, with my husband, two young children. And I realized one day I was like I, um, things are good. Things are really good. But I\’m not. I\’m not living my life to the extent that I thought I would be at 40. So I kind of got really curious about well, what do I do now? What\’s next for me. And first and foremost, when I at 40, I really wanted to feel good in my skin again. And so I worked really hard to find, like find my mojo. And for me, that was just kind of, you know, being more consistent with my workouts with my healthy eating with all my self care. So that\’s really where I started was, was with my health, you know, sure, at first it was a little bit of a vanity thing. But then it really got into more of a health and longevity thing, because let\’s face it, I\’m not getting any younger. And so I really wanted to go into my midlife and 40s with the best, give myself the best chance at longevity and health as possible. So it kind of got all that stuff in order. First I got back into the gym, I truly believe, one of the fountains of youth is lifting weights, and, you know, strength training. So I got back to doing that. I didn\’t let it overtake my life. I\’d done that before in the past where I got kind of a little bit the diet, nutrition, diet, nutrition, exercise cycle kind of made me a little crazy. And it wasn\’t working to begin with. So I got really focused on Well, what is my formula for success, and what\’s my definition of success. So I got really clear on those things. And I realized that I could take the same skills, the same cognitive skills I was using to kind of bring myself around to where I wanted to be in other areas of my life. So I realized like, you don\’t have to continue to burn the candle at both ends. When it comes to your career and your work. You can shift and pivot and do something different. And, and so I kind of just decided it\’s time for me to do new things. Don\’t get me wrong, I love what I do. I love supporting the people that I support, but I also needed to challenge myself in new ways because I was getting stagnant. And so that kind of also hit me in my early 40s. Like how do I want to continue to do this work of helping people and supporting people and I got really clear on you know, I love helping women feel confident in their skin. I love helping them, you know, challenge themselves and grow their self confidence. So it kind of shifted away from therapy and move more until life coaching. And along the way, you know, I did my own life coaching work. In fact, my funny, my next episode on my show is with my life coach, like I brought him in and we did a session. So you know, I just kind of decided I wanted to pivot, and then I wanted to take my message further and wider. And I decided, well, I\’m going to start a podcast. And I\’m going to focus on talk therapy topics, because I love the field of talk therapy, I think it\’s such a wonderful gift to give oneself. And it\’s so helpful for so many people. But I also saw my peers kind of losing their spark and losing their light and kind of molding to what, you know, your job tells you you need to be or your supervisor tells you to need to be. And I wanted to help them kind of find what lights them up again, with this work and help them challenge themselves and also decided I wanted to take continuing education in our field to a podcast. So I\’ve been working hard to with that business model to bring a lot of my courses a lot of my shows are now within the state of South Carolina are eligible for CEUs and I\’m working on my national credential to get. So any LPCs or LMFTs is can gain credit from, you know, my pod courses. And along the way, of course, all of that has impacted my marriage and my parenting. And I wish I could say that it\’s like, you know, all these different steps, all these different things that you need to try, but really, for me, it was getting very still, and just paying attention and being present, and focusing on gratitude, and allowing things to just be and to not follow every thought down that rabbit hole of anxiety and dread and panic. And that\’s really been a test over the past seven months. As we deal with this pandemic, for me and for clients and possibly a bit for a lot of your listeners too.
Diva Nagula 06:59
Yeah, it\’s been a tough seven months. But, you know, I know, as we are in our mid 40s, and ladder 40s now, it\’s it\’s interesting how you are able to pivot and pivot with such confidence because a lot of people pivot to a new career and a new lifestyle. And they\’re not able to pivot so well as you have, because a lot of people are afraid to move and transition because of fear. Because it\’s it\’s, they\’re losing a stable job. And they\’re transforming. And they\’re living a steady income. And there\’s so much routine that they\’re fixated on, and the whole family is dependent on that routine. And so it\’s it\’s interesting how you\’ve made that shift, and now you\’re kind of coaching people, you know, to do that same sort of thing without having fear. And that\’s, that\’s wonderful. And, you know, I think that\’s important, because a lot of people, I think, need that guidance and need that coaching and need someone to really push them to, to make that shift and make that transition. And it\’s great that you\’re in that position where you can really have an opportunity to help transform and shape people\’s lives. So kudos to you and, and but what\’s the secret sauce, like when you are able to coach your folks like, how do you empower them to make this change?
Lisa Mustard 08:21
Yeah, I think that well, first and foremost, thank you for saying all those things. You know, I\’m it\’s a journey. And it\’s a process. So I don\’t want people to think like what I\’m going to say, today is going to just be like, Oh, yeah, Lisa, it\’s that simple. It\’s that easy. It\’s not for a lot of people. But I think you get to that point in your life where you\’ve heard that saying, \”the fear of staying the same is worse than like the fear of trying new things\”. So I think it just depends on the person and where they are in the process. And sometimes it\’s not so much that they want to leave their job. It\’s just kind of like finding the joy in the day to day, it\’s kind of like finding, walking in alignment with their values. Because we can get we can easily get pulled off of the path when stress hits or an unexpected situation arises or, you know, it\’s it\’s really easy for us to kind of like get pulled, into a different direction. So I really think it depends on the person and what their ultimate goals are. You know, but a lot of it is very similar. So if somebody wanted to switch careers, like for example, I was chatting with a friend about two weeks ago, and he was like, you make a great real estate agent. You\’d make such a great real estate agent. And I said, you know, if I was 10 years ago, I\’m 47, I was like if I was 10 years younger, I might consider it but I really don\’t at my point in life don\’t really want to learn a whole new skill set. That\’s a lot like I could take a lot of the skills I have with what I do now. But for me, it\’s learning a whole new language. It\’s learning a whole new market, it\’s learning a whole new profession. I was like I\’m better off kind of knowing what my strengths are and kind of staying within what I know Well, but it\’s about pivoting. And people always say, go after your passions, you know, your passions are gonna, you got to follow your passions. Well, at 47 years old, I got passions, but I know I\’m also a realist like, just because I\’m passionate about health and fitness doesn\’t mean I\’m going to go off and start my own like fitness program. I just don\’t want to do that. I mean, I might enjoy it. But that\’s not my strength. So I help folks midlife, let\’s take an inventory of what your strengths are what you\’re really good at. And then what, what are you excited about? What could you see yourself doing? How can we, you know, help you pivot into something a little bit different. And I\’ll tell you diva, so many people, what they say is, they just want to make more of an impact, it\’s not so much that they want more money, there may be fearful of pivoting, and they\’re gonna lose that income to make that impact. But there\’s still lots of ways that people can make an impact and not have to leave what it is that they\’re doing or the responsibilities that they have. I\’m telling you if I can figure this out, like, it\’s having it\’s having patience and being persistent, and taking massive action. And a lot of people when they hear me say that, that either excites them, or or they\’re like, no, I\’m not ready for that, or it scares them.
Diva Nagula 11:18
Yeah. And then what specifically, you know, since most of my podcasts are geared towards, you know, health in the wellness field, and something about a health modality that\’s kind of off the beaten path. I mean, obviously, the fitness that you do isn\’t isn\’t, you know, off the beaten path, it is mainstream, but is it done in a way that is unique? And explain how you how you shape people\’s lives utilizing health and fitness? I mean, obviously, it\’s a combination of diet, and exercise. But I think you were mentioning early on that it\’s really about weight training, how that is, is huge with your clientele. And that\’s really how a lot of the changes that you see take place.
Lisa Mustard 11:56
Yeah, and you know, I am not somebody with a master\’s degree in kinesiology. So if I get something wrong, y\’all don\’t don\’t hate on me for getting things incorrect. I just, I\’ve just been in the gym over 25 years. I mean, wouldn\’t last time you and I saw each other I don\’t think I knew what I couldn\’t do a pull up probably. Right. I mean, I couldn\’t, I wouldn\’t even know how to find the gym at VCU. I don\’t even think I knew where it was put it that way. But when I hit my mid 20s, I kind of realized, like, you got to find something here, you got to find something that keeps you moving and keeps you engaged and helps with your health. And so I went started going to the gym, and I didn\’t know I was going to love it at all, I just kind of fell in love with being there. I think I had a really good experience with the people I was, you know, meeting at the gym. And so that kept me going back and we developed a community. This was in Atlanta in the late 90s. So that\’s really when I started to see the benefits of weight training. And you know, yeah, of course, it was total vanity in your 20s. Like, I wanted to look good. I was single and living in Atlanta, like, what young woman didn\’t want that. But what I also got in the gym was I started building my confidence. And I had never really had anything challenged me like that before. And I saw how when I would add more weight to the bar, and I could push it. Like I can do hard things. Like literally I can push hard things. And so that just kind of was like this domino effect in my life. And in my, my thoughts, I guess, like I can do different things like I don\’t, I can try new things. Not everything I try is going to be great. But I can try new things and kind of make a decision if it\’s going to be for me or not. And that\’s kind of like how a lot of we build our self confidence too. But yes, I do believe that weight training is, you know, as we get older, we lose muscle. Our bones get you know, they get frailer fragile. I mean, I remember my grandmother probably in her 60s, telling finding out she had to, you know, osteoporosis or she was on that path. And I don\’t want to I don\’t want that for me. So I was like lifting weights. And on top of that, you\’re you\’re able to eat more like you can, you know, you\’re you build more muscle, you\’re burning more calories at rest. It\’s just, it\’s just good for your body overall, like I\’m sure somebody out there who\’s a exercise or trainer could you know really get into the weeds on that for you for your listeners. But I I have done the thing where I\’ve stopped the weight training and just run and that for me, like I enjoy running. But I also came away with some knee injuries and some overuse injuries and it just after a while it wasn\’t I wasn\’t reaching my goals. So yada yada yada. I really believe that strength training is one of the fountains of youth and it keeps you young, you have to stretch you know, to be able to continue you know, and that\’s important. We have to stretch because if we don\’t have our stretching, you know, mobility goes down. It helps with your balance. You know, I see a lot of people in their 50s who deal with balance issues and that\’s how we can get injured we fall we can\’t eat can\’t get up
that kind of stuff. And of course, it helps with like our metabolic processes. So, I just am a huge advocate for lifting weights. But there\’s other resistance training too, that is great for women, if they don\’t want to go to the gym, and a lot of women are fearful of turning into Arnold, which isn\’t going to happen. I mean, I wish I could grow muscle like Arnold No, just kidding. I\’d have to be taking some some illegal things to get there. But I get it like, it\’s it for some women, that\’s, that\’s not what they want. But then I\’ll tell you, I have women at the grocery store, stop me all the time and say, How do I get arms like you? So you know, ladies, don\’t be afraid to lift some weights? Like, don\’t be afraid. Yeah, so and then on top of that, you know, eating what we eat is so important. And this is something that you went on your own quest to learn more about nutrition and what we eat, and what we put in our body and Whole Foods, like eating whole foods, whether you eat meat or not, or whatever eating program you\’re on. You know, I think that you got to find one that you enjoy, and that you can stick with. And over the past seven years or so I\’ve been playing around with intermittent fasting as well. And I don\’t know if I will, what if I\’m receiving the benefits of what they say intermittent fasting does, but I share like that eating style, it fits my lifestyle really well. So get your water and get your sleep. And if you don\’t have our sleep, you know, gosh, we can go crazy. And sleep affects us in so many different, you know, areas as well.
Diva Nagula 16:41
So are you typically when you have your clients? are you focusing in on those? Those few things, you know, the sleep, the diet, you know, the weight training? I mean, is that what\’s really, I\’m not gonna say secret sauce, because it\’s kind of common sense. But I guess it\’s a good combination for you to help coach people in making transformations and empowering them to make a change.
Lisa Mustard 17:02
Yeah, I mean, definitely, they\’re open to it, you know, but a lot of people might not be ready for hitting the gym, you know, four days a week. So I\’m like, Okay, what are you open? What are you ready to commit to? Is it walking, you know what, so I meet everybody where they\’re at. And if for whatever reason, it\’s, they don\’t want to do it or it\’s not for them, then, you know, I don\’t force them to do something that they don\’t want to do. You know, I\’m kind of I\’m a big believer in, I want to be the model. I want to inspire women, but I kind of do want to inspire women that they can in their mid in their midlife like you can still love your body, but at the same time want to change it. You don\’t have to settle for this midlife spread. You can you know, I see him in in a lot of groups on Facebook for menopausal women, and I just want to shake my head because they all just want to take supplements to get rid of their hot flashes. They all want to be told what diet they should eat. And I\’m just like, I mean, don\’t get me wrong, like I still experience symptoms of menopause. But maybe because of my lifestyle choices. It\’s not as prominent, prominent for me. And so I, I like I want to be a voice for that. But at the same time, I also just kind of want to be like, well, this is what I do. And if if you want to learn more than come, I\’m here, but I definitely just meet people where they are and if they have questions from me, of course I will answer them and, you know, be a value where I can.
Diva Nagula 18:39
And tell me like when does a client come to you? I mean, is it sort of like not necessarily last resort, but I guess at what point do they find you and then what kinds of things do you implement to help them?
Lisa Mustard 19:52
Well, I would say it probably depends. They find me. How do they find me? That\’s a good question. I mean, my podcasts they find me on social media, word of mouth, I get a lot of referrals word of mouth. And a lot of the times, it\’s just \”I heard you say something, and it resonated with me.\” Can I talk to you about it? And so I\’m like, Sure, let\’s just have a conversation. And then we talk and I find out that that\’s an area in their lives that they want to be different. And so I say, \”I feel I can help you with that. Are you open to doing some coaching?\” But then some people I\’m like, you know, that sounds more like you need therapy? And can I refer you to somebody? You know, because I don\’t really, it\’s therapy and life coaching are very different things. But, I really feel like everybody is different. I, you know, everybody wants to like, kind of say, What\’s, what\’s the sauce? Well, I think the sauce is, I listen to people, I listen more than I talk. And then I want to help them reach their goals. So for some people, they don\’t quite know what it is they want to do. We just have a conversation. And that gives them something to think about, or might ask them a question that gets them thinking, and then they come back to me three, four months later. But then I have some people that are like, \”Yes, I want to coach with you. I want to, like, let\’s go like I\’m ready.\” And I think everybody is just on a different timeline of when they\’re ready. Does that make sense?
Diva Nagula 21:17
I think I think it\’d be kind of helpful. If you\’re able to divulge, like, a specific client that you have that\’s approached you, and what kind of changes that you\’ve been able to see through your coaching methods? And like, how long did it take to see that transformation is still ongoing?
Lisa Mustard 21:35
Sure. Let me let me get one in my head here. That would be good. Let\’s think. So I would say, one of my most recent clients, a lot of the stuff that she was dealing with, was just not feeling fulfilled in life, just kind of feeling rundown feeling unappreciated, not appreciated at home, and also wanted to make some changes in her physical health. So really, it was getting clear with her on what does she value? What are her highest values? And is she in alignment in her highest values. And when you take a step back, and you kind of, you know, look at what people find to be important in their lives, and then they\’re not living them out. That\’s where the disconnect happens for most of us, we might say, We value our marriage, or we, we value our family first. But we\’re not walking in congruency with that or an alignment. And so it\’s helping them. Do you really value it? First of all, like, do you is that really something that is a value to you, you know, really getting clear on that. And then Okay, well, if it\’s a value to you, what are like three to four simple things that you are ready to commit to, that you can start doing tomorrow that are going to help you feel more in alignment with putting your family first or focusing on your family. And sometimes it\’s simple stuff, like, I need to put my phone down and be attentive at dinner, or we need to eat dinner three, four times a week together instead of everybody kind of being in their separate being in the room or having the TV on, or I need to make time with my for my husband for he and I to have our alone time. So maybe those are three things that the client would want to work on. And then we meet up and talk about it later. How did it go? How did you feel afterwards, there\’s anything you want to change about it? Do you feel like you can continue on with that. And there\’s other things along the way like that. I would suggest daily to practicing gratitude, practicing not going down the rabbit hole of those, those thoughts that just kind of enter into our brain kind of finding, like what could be good about today. What What is great about today, making a plan the night before for things that you want to accomplish the next day, really just helping people take control take back their life, and living it out with alignment and with purpose. So that in like I said, it just really depends on the client and what what their struggles are and what they want to do. Some people don\’t want to change, you know, they like, they like being stuck in some people, I tell them, you know, that\’s a choice you\’re making, by staying where you are, that\’s actually a choice that you\’re making. So realize that, that\’s your choice, and there\’s other choices that you could make. So some people do like to stay where they are and they like to. And I understand because the fear of changing and growing and shifting. It\’s scary for a lot of people, you know, especially midlife, it can be really, really scary. But at the same time if you really want your life to change, you want it to be better. You got to try different things. So that\’s what I like to do. I like to help my clients try different things to see what makes their life better.
Diva Nagula 24:51
Yeah. And coaching is something unique. I mean, I would say there\’s been a plethora of coaching, life coaching whatever you want to call it over the last, I don\’t know, a couple of years and before that it existed, but not to the degree it does now. And it\’s interesting because I feel it\’s needed. I feel more people are leaning that way. Because I guess it resonates with them more than saying going to a therapist. And there are actually distinct differences between a therapist and a life coach. And specifically now I think it\’s interesting, because I think there\’s so much need for coaching, because people are having such issues with depression and anxiety because of this pandemic. Are you seeing a lot of people having issues with those types of things? And, you know, mental health issues?
Lisa Mustard 25:39 Oh, yeah.
Diva Nagula 25:39 Last seven months?
Lisa Mustard 25:40
Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, this is a very trying time. It\’s trying time for everybody. You know, when this first hit, my anxiety was through the roof back in March, like I had sleepless nights. And here I am, I\’m a coach. And I\’m, like, you know, talking to people The next day, trying to keep my eye together. And like, it got to a head for me that I had to make a decision. Because I was using some unhealthy coping skills for me, like I never was drinking at 430 in the afternoon, as soon as my last client like, that was new to me, but I just felt like I deserved it. Like, I was going through that mindset, like, and then finally, I was like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, like, Lisa, what the heck are you doing? You\’re, you\’re trading a walk with your dog for an alcoholic beverage. And I just had to kind of like, Okay, wait, that\’s a sign like, something\’s going on here. And so for me, that was like, Alright, get back to what you know, works for you, and help your clients with this as well. So, you know, there\’s still scary moments, there\’s still a lot of unknowns out there, people are out of work, kids going back to school around here, I don\’t know what it\’s like, by you. There\’s a lot of my friends with kids, we don\’t know what\’s best, like, do we send them back, because they\’re just gonna, they\’re gonna start school and another two weeks here, going back. So there\’s a lot of unknowns, but I\’m in your doctor, you know, so I just encourage my clients talk to their doctor, know what\’s best for you and for your family, make decisions based on what\’s right for you don\’t watch the media, turn off the frickin TV, stop scrolling Facebook, if you\’re gonna get on social media have an intention, when you get on there, set a timer know, why you\’re getting on, don\’t just get on because, you know, there\’s a whole I could go on, this is a whole other podcast. But there, you know, there\’s, they know what they\’re doing to keep you on social media, they know what to feed you to keep you on those platforms. So you have to realize that there\’s bigger things at play here. And I mean, like, algorithms, people, that\’s going to keep you to see the stuff that makes you anxious, because that\’s just the way it\’s programmed. So I\’ve been working really hard, you know, and this just honestly, the past couple of weeks for me has been, and this is because I reconnect with my life coach, he reminded me of what can be great about this pandemic. And for a lot of people, when I say that they\’re like, What are you talking about? There\’s nothing great about this pandemic. I\’m like, Yeah, no, I get it. But what could be great about this pandemic, like what could be great about this for you and your life? And once they get over the shock, I think some people have being asked that question, it\’s kind of like an eye opener, like, life is happening anyway, we have this time anyway, we\’re gonna get through this. And what\’s it going to look like for you on the other side? What will? How will you have moved through this? Because how you move through, this tells me, and you, a lot about yourself? So I don\’t know, that\’s kind of like a big question.
Diva Nagula 28:29
That\’s really important, because it\’s all about people. People have to look inward during these times, and kind of identify what things are bothering them and triggering them, and why are they being so triggered. And then you really have to do some introspection to figure out those things and learn about yourself and then eventually fix those things. So those aren\’t issues that come again, that are surprising and shocking, because you\’re able to deal with it a little bit more ease. And, and I think that\’s huge, because people instead of what you were doing early was trying to like, check out with an alcoholic beverage or a drink or a couple of drinks, you\’d actually change your tune and started to be more focused on Alright, let me fix this crap of mine. And let me just make it more productive so that I don\’t sit there and lose grip on reality and check out.
Lisa Mustard 29:18 Yeah
Diva Nagula 29:18
and I think that\’s that\’s an important message to convey. And I also think it\’s really important to understand that social media is not our friend. I I\’m not a big proponent of it. And actually, I was like, about two months ago, I was realizing that my anxiety levels started to like go and it wasn\’t because of fear of what was going on with work. It was more because I was like sucked into all that algorithm crap that they feed you and it was just making me angry. I was angry all the time. And then you go and watch the TV and you watch you know, the news and media and it just feeds that anger and anxiety so I literally stopped watching TV. I Stop watching the news, I stopped, I\’m scrolling through social media, everything sorry, everything got better. You know, I\’m not as angry. I mean, my anxiety levels have definitely, become less, I\’m having better sleep at nights and it\’s and people it\’s they\’re so addicted to those screens and, and not only are you having issues with the content that you\’re reading, but then you\’re on that screen. So it\’s disturbing your brain, and all that blue light that you\’re exposed to, it really wrecks your sleep. So for me, that\’s, that\’s one of the few things that I was able to change and see dramatic effects, you know, almost, you know, within a few days, yeah,
Lisa Mustard 30:36
it\’s, it\’s amazing. Like, I totally get that, you know, what you\’re saying within a few days, it can, it can happen that fast. And I\’ll tell you, one of the things that I have loved the most about this pandemic, I\’ve been able to take my dog for a walk twice a day if I want. And I love that. I love being able to just go outside and walk the dog and be outside, get out of the house, get away from the screen, you know, and just be with the dog.
Diva Nagula 31:05
You know what I\’ve done. I recently have done this, like, sometimes, I have my phone on me, or even yet I don\’t have my phone on me. But I have my smartwatch on. So I\’m sitting there walking my dog. And it\’s pinging me. And it\’s preventing me from being in the moment. And it\’s like I can\’t be present. And a lot of people have dogs, and they tend to do walking, but they sit there with their phones and sit there texting or on the call, I like to take that time now is something that I\’ve just recently discovered and started doing. It\’s just, it\’s called mindful walking. So I\’m just walking, I\’m literally appreciating and looking at every step that I\’m taking forward, I\’m appreciating what\’s around me, I\’m looking at the beautiful leaves that are changing color on the trees. I\’m looking at the ground, I\’m looking at the colors, I\’m really trying to be more present and more grounded. And this is an exercise that I feel that helps me, you know, really calm myself. And then you know, I\’m right now my life is chaotic. I got so many things going. And the last thing I need is to take that chaos and have that with my dog, and that\’s like my dog\’s time he loves it. And sometimes I feel I\’m so irritated. I want to get back to the to my house that I\’m like tugging him because I\’m running out of time. It\’s not helpful for him. It\’s not helpful for me. So I\’ve been ike, okay, this mindful walking is 20-30 minutes. Let\’s just sit there and be present and it\’s been it\’s been a game changer. It\’s been I come back into the house, I find myself I have more energy, and I\’m able to like focus in a more productive way. So it\’s it\’s really a simple task, you know, of being more mindful and appreciative and expressing gratitude and then being present.
Lisa Mustard 32:42
Yeah, I love that. Yeah. And your dog probably appreciates it too, right?
Diva Nagula 32:46
Yes, he sure does. He does.
Lisa Mustard 32:49
Yeah, I think it\’s great. I think the hardest part for me is getting my kids to go outside and like you guys go outside, you know, go outside, go outside. And they just, you know, it\’s harder for them. They want to play video games, and they want to be on the, the electronics and as a parent, that\’s a struggle. But, you know, we all have to make peace with that on some level and figure out what, what enough of that is for them. And that\’s a fight though. For those listeners who have kids like, Oh, it\’s a fight sometimes. But yeah, I love how you said that. And I I also have loved it. In the beginning, I realized how much we were eating out. So being able to cook more was wild. Like I was cooking so many more meals at home.
Diva Nagula 33:34 More healthy too right?
Lisa Mustard 33:35
Yeah, well at times, like don\’t get me wrong, we still love like, you know, pizza and chicken wings and all that but just kind of like getting more creative in the kitchen and finding that part of me again, because, you know, for so many years, it\’s been go to work, come home, gotta make dinner. Gotta rush through that. And when you\’re home all the time, you know, it\’s like, well, I\’m home and I don\’t have a client for an hour. So I\’m gonna go ahead and make dinner in the morning. And doing similar things, but at different times during the day is kind of cool. Like mixing up your schedule and your body and your mind. It\’s very freeing, you know, kind of getting out of the old, the old schedule, I\’m gonna have a hard time honestly going back to the office and going back to that routine, because I really love what we\’ve got going on right now. But you know what, at the same time, it\’s kind of made me on the mission to Okay, well, if I love this about this pandemic, how do I keep that part going? How do I how do I now have more of that in my life? How do I have more time with my kids? How do I have more time to cook, you know, healthier, different meals? How do I have more time to do more life coaching and get away maybe from the clinical work? So, I\’m kind of taking my own advice as I\’m working with my clients and my customers it\’s like a parallel process. So I don\’t know, I joke around and tell people like, \”Well, I had this experience today. Does this resonate with you? How does what does that sound like for you? Does that make sense?\” It\’s always a parallel process.
Diva Nagula 35:19
Yeah, I know all that makes sense. But I know you\’re short on time. And I know. And you know, speaking of time, I know you have a busy life and you have to get to it. But for our listeners, what is the best way for them to find out more about you?
Lisa Mustard 35:33
Sure. Well, I also have a podcast. And my podcast is called The Therapy Show with Lisa Mustard. And it\’s primarily for talk therapists who are looking to grow their skill sets, professional development, maybe get some CEUs, but I also have been doing a series called Midlife Magic, where I\’m interviewing all kinds of people and I am going to have you on the show soon you\’re going to be one of my next guests, where I talk to people in their midlife that are doing cool and unique, creative things and kind of pivoting and not just like inspiring people to do different in midlife, but actually giving us the know how, like, how are you doing this, like really diving in and getting the framework for what they\’re doing? But so LisaMustard.com is my website. I\’m on social media, mainly Instagram and Facebook. But yeah, you can find me over there. And if people want to learn more about me my website is probably the best place to connect with me because you can send me an email. Or you can also private message me on social media.
Diva Nagula 36:34
Lisa it was so great to catch up with you again after all these years. And thanks for coming on the show.
Lisa Mustard 36:39
Oh my gosh, this has been so amazing. Thanks, Diva for having me. Thank you!
Diva Nagula 36:43 Take care!
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