First Podcast Episode. A Brief Introduction to Being Your True Self

Hello and welcome to this podcast, which I have called Being Your True Self, with me, Fiona Hannon. And I must say straight off the bat that this is, how should I put it… It’s a cool new experience for me to be actually recording this first episode of this podcast.

It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a while. And lately I was talking to a friend about it, and something about what she said about that — it really doesn’t have to be perfect. And obviously we all know that it doesn’t have to be perfect, and etc. But really, I really am going to allow it to be far from perfect, if that’s how it comes out. And that’s okay.

So, for example, I might not plan even what I say, or I might just barely, barely plan it. An episode might not even have a coherent message, perhaps. A bit — probably it will, probably they will. But, you know, I may not edit it beautifully. I may not edit it at all, depending on how much I want to spend time on that. But, so yeah, there’ll be ums and ahs, probably. And I might contradict myself, or go back on what I say. But if I allow myself that freedom, I’m so much more likely to actually record these episodes, because even today I was running a brief outline — oh, what should I say in the first episode? And I should explain who I am and why I’m doing this, and what I want for this podcast. And I just, I don’t know, it kind of, I felt a bit limiting, and a bit — it was keeping me from actually just sitting down and starting to record.

So here I am, with not much of a plan. But what I do want to say is that, um, if you’re listening, I’m so glad you’re listening. It’s so cool to have you listen to this inaugural episode. And I hope that — I hope that what I share is useful to you in some way. And that really is, when I look at that — that’s really my main aim with the podcast, is to share my perspective on things, parts of my own journey, what I’ve learned about — I don’t even know what to call it, really –  personal development or spiritual development, but really it is, I guess, the journey of being able to embody more and more and more your true self, which I think really we all want to do.

I guess I can’t speak for all of us. I’ll just speak for myself, certainly. For me, you know, since I was probably about — it — I don’t know, since I was a teenager, I had this very strong sense that there was a version of me that was free and confident and relaxed and just effortlessly herself, and didn’t worry about things. And, um, and I was not that at the time. I was not close to that at the time. I had many fear-based beliefs about myself, insecurities. Yeah. And it has been — it has been a journey to get to the point where now I’m very pleased to say that I really feel like I am that person, that version. There’s obviously always more to go, there’s further expansion to be had. I’m certainly not perfect, and I’m certainly not, quote-unquote, there yet, although – if we ever get there in this physical life. But I certainly am much more myself, and very, very grateful for that, and very pleased. And I have learned a lot along the way, which I do think would be helpful to others who are on a similar path, or have a similar desire to just be able to be themselves, truly themselves, without worrying about so many of the things that we end up worrying about, um, given what we — well, given what society tells us and what we absorb as we grow up, and even, even when we are grown.

And I guess, in — let’s see, I’m trying to — in a nutshell, I suppose, very simply, from my perspective, what happens is we are born, and we are that true self. And then, along the way, we, in a sense, pick up beliefs about the world, but mainly about ourselves, which are based in fear. And, as I said, we pick up these beliefs — we actually, we always choose to take on these beliefs. It’s never like the belief is forced on us, or we have no choice. We had a choice on some level, but we also come here in order to learn particular lessons and to have particular experiences.

And if any of you have seen The Pagemaster — a wonderful movie, I’ll try and be brief — basically, little boy goes on an adventure, and at the end he’s talking to the, I guess, the Pagemaster himself, the wizard who has all the power, and he’s angry. The boy’s angry. He’s like, ‘why did you — you could have just brought me here like that. Why did I have to — I suffered this, and I did that’. And he had all these scary experiences. And the Pagemaster says, well, what good, basically he says, what good would it have been, have been, if I brought you here with a turn of a page — it’s Christopher Lloyd, he’s fabulous — and, and he says, you, and then, anyway, and so the idea was — oh no, he says, sorry, he says, ‘ And yet you stand before me.’ Then he says, ‘ Think, boy, what would it have been like if I brought you here with a turn of the page?’ And then he kind of goes back over experiences that he’s had, and the little boy, Macaulay Culkin, he’s like, huh, okay, right.

And I just think that’s such a great illustration of, really, of life, this plane, or however you want to put it, because if we never had challenges or struggles, you know, how would we, or rather — I think the point is to overcome the challenges, and then to appreciate all the more how we truly are. Like, I have such an appreciation now for different qualities that I have, that I didn’t experience before, because I wasn’t embodying those qualities. It’s only the contrast of what I’ve experienced before that allows me to really appreciate the parts of myself today that I now can be, or experience, anyway.

So, um, so why was I saying all this? So, I think — oh yeah, so just the idea is that it’s not a bad thing that we take on these beliefs that are based in fear. Ultimately, it can be a very good thing, because it allows us to have kind of experience that we, well, in my opinion, we intended to have when choosing to come here and into this life.

So, um, but the idea, very simply, is that, yeah, you, you, um, determine, as you go, as life kind of brings up for you, whatever there is to look at, at any given time. You, you look at whatever is stopping you, whatever is in your way. You determine what that belief is, and then you can let it go, and there’s a lot more that I will talk in the future about this. And at the same time, how you navigate through life, ideally, is by taking action on the things that bring you the most joy, and the most excitement, and the most curiosity.

And what I’ll say is this, I suppose — so there’s many different teachers I’ve learned from over the years. I guess starting — yeah, pretty much 20 years that I have been on this, I suppose, officially, maybe on this path, or, like, dedicated to my own spiritual development or personal development, let’s say. And so I’ve been fortunate to come across many different teachers, many different books, of course, different approaches. And there’s one, though, that resonated with me so strongly right from the beginning and still does today. And I think it’s, in my opinion, it is the most effective and wonderful approach out there. And it is shared by a being called Bashar, B-A-S-H-A-R, who is a channeled entity, channeled by a man called Darryl Anka, and their website is bashar.org, if you’re interested about that, or you may be familiar with Bashar already.

But he — well, how do you put it — he talks about what he calls the Formula, which is a very simple set of steps for living life in the way that will bring you most smoothly along your path, that help you have experiences that you want to have, and crucially, let go of the things that are not you, in the most easy and really pleasant way — might not always be pleasant, but in the most pleasant way. Maybe it can be pleasant. Anyway. And so for me, that  Formula — I mean, it’s available on the website, and I should say I’m not officially affiliated or anything like that with bashar.org, or Bashar, or Darryl, or anything. I think they’re fabulous, but I’m not officially connected in any way with him or them. But the Formula is something that has had a major influence on me, and it forms a big part of the work that I do today as well.

And so, really, if you can — so just to say, the Formula has several steps. I suppose the first step is to take action on what’s most exciting to you in any given moment. And then part of the Formula as well is dealing with your fear-based beliefs, which is what I really love to both do for myself, because it makes such an incredible difference to my life, and also I do this with other people — I support them to let go of their own fear-based beliefs, and I support them to, in effect, follow that Formula, like a version, just because that Formula is very simple. It’s like universal steps that I think will work for anybody, unless the person kind of doesn’t think it’s gonna work, or is somehow resistant to it, or it’s not for them right now — because even with this Formula, like with anything, any tool or any idea, different things work for different people.

So, contrary to what I thought when I was in my 20s, when I found a personal development company that I resonated with at the time, and at the time it really benefited me a lot. It’s no longer like a match for me now, these days, but at the time it was immensely valuable. But one thing that I believed at the time was that that was The Way, that was the only way, and everybody should do this, because it was amazing and it would make them all happy. And I was quite evangelical about it. I’m quite — I did, you know, see people who hadn’t done, I suppose, the flagship course of this company, as, like, having missed out, or not quite getting it, or not being even on the same level. Like, when I think about it now, I was really, um, yeah, I was evangelical. I never always showed on the surface, but I certainly did think everyone should do this work. And now I understand that everybody is different, and everybody’s path is different, and no tool is any better or worse than another. It all depends on what works for the person, which is based, really, on their belief system. So it’s very freeing now to understand that, like, nobody needs to be convinced of anything, and just because something works for me, it doesn’t mean it’s gonna work for somebody else.

But anyway, yes, so I think a lot more to talk about in the future, but just to bring to a close that thought — yeah, I think I was really just saying that in the very simplest terms, the way to become more of your true self is to act on what excites you and do it as best you can, deal with your, um, fear-based beliefs. And there’s a little more to it than that, but that’s basically it. And I have really practiced doing that, and I like to think I’m good at it — I can always improve, of course, and I’m not the only one out there who is good at it, but I certainly have learned, um, a lot about it, and I love supporting others to do it as well, and to just be more of themselves, um, their true selves, harkening back to the title.

So anyway, I have to say I’m really enjoying this, it’s just talking, but I really enjoy it. And I’m imagining that you’re out there listening and responding however you respond, and maybe you’re nodding your head, and maybe you’re like rolling your eyes, and that’s okay. Maybe you’re someone who knows me in real life and you’re like, oh, I didn’t think this is gonna happen. Um, but anyway, here it is. So, uh, yeah, anyway, okay, I think I’m gonna wrap up this first episode. Um, it really was a lot of fun, and, um, I’m looking forward to recording more in the future. And, uh, yes, and so my website is fionacoaching.com, and if you’re at all curious about coaching with me, or anything more, or want to contact me, or anything else, um, you can check it out there. And you — so, welcome to contact me. You know, you can email me, or fill in the contact form. I’d be so curious — um, I know this is just the first episode, but any feedback at all, good or bad, or anything, I’d be very curious about, or anything, any suggestions for what I could talk about. Um, again, I know it’s just the first episode, but still. Uh, yes, anyway, okay, um, whoever you are, I hope that you are doing well and being kind to yourself. And, um, until next time.