Wake Up with Susan

Intention, Intuition, and Action - Into the Storm!

• Susan Sutherland

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Have you ever wondered what it truly takes to face your fears and transform your life? Join me as I share my personal journey of growth and self-discovery, exploring the powerful concept of running into life's storms head-on. Throughout 2024, the guiding principle of discipline helped me establish meaningful routines in meditation, journaling, and learning. Now, as we step into 2025, the theme of "impact" emerges, challenging us to embrace new beginnings and confront the fears that have held us back. With an ambitious goal to monetize a YouTube channel, I delve into why this goal is just a physical example of how I can see working through my fears unfold.  This little goal is packed with possibility because doing the work needed for it to happen will unlock so much potential. 

Together, we uncover the courage it takes to grow and embrace our unique potential, focusing on the importance of community and shared support. Reflecting on the transformative journey of inner growth and boldness, I emphasize the power of connection and gratitude, turning to you, the listener, as my accountability partner. This episode is a heartfelt expression of love and appreciation for the courage we all muster to face life's challenges. By sharing our insecurities and finding strength in each other, we can step out of our comfort zones and make a meaningful impact. Let this be a call to action, inspiring you to live courageously and seek guidance from your higher self.

What is a goal that will push you to face your big fears? Are you ready to run into the storm?

Watch this episode, other episodes from Wake Up with Susan and new videos with new content and tracking this journey on my YouTube Channel

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Speaker 1:

Hi everybody, thanks for joining me today. Today we are forward looking a little bit. We are looking at 2025, and I really want you to plant a seed, before I went to MindFest, that we had started working on what our theme of the year would be, what our motto would be, what this alter ego we were creating would be that we would walk into the new year, walk into the next version of ourself with and I put a lot of thought into that and what I came up with was that my word would be impact. Now, this past year, my word has been discipline and I feel like having that be my focus has worked. I have a daily meditation practice and I had been up and down with that for quite a while. I have a daily journaling practice. I've been working on a book that I hope to self-publish. I've been doing A Course in Miracles, which is daily lessons which I record and then upload for the book club, and so there has been a lot of discipline in getting through this year, and I talked about it early on when I was telling you my goals for this year, that I saw it as a saw on a log and the first couple reps you do, your saw may bounce around this way and that way, but the more you do it, the more you do it, the more reps you get in, you find a groove, you get in a groove, and I feel like this year has been me getting in a groove, finding a groove with what I'm doing, and so I planted the seed in October that I want next year to be about impact, and I didn't have a lot of parameters for what that meant. I was just open to the fact that I wanted I want to be impactful. Now I will tell you that me going and sitting with my hospice patient and having a conversation, I feel is impactful. He loves it and is so appreciative of it and and I enjoy it too. I'm not saying your impact has to be some global thing. However, 2025 feels like potential to me, and I know everybody's in different cycles of how they're experiencing their life, and so it may not feel like potential for you. I feel like for many of you it probably does if you're being honest and you can allow yourself to dream big but for me, 2025 feels like an opening, it feels like potential and that's exciting for me right now, and so I was kind of open to. What does this mean? Where's this going? And after I planted that seed After I planted that seed, I had let me just say, I would say, before the plant came up a lot of weeds came up I started seeing things a little bit differently Now.

Speaker 1:

Derek told us a story, which I've heard before, about animals that are roaming the plains and a storm comes up and all the animals run away from the storm and by the time the storm catches them, they are tired and exhausted and laying on the ground getting lashed by the rain, whereas the buffalo turn and they run into the storm, and so, while they're running east and the storm is coming west, their time in the storm is much shorter. And after he told us that story, there was just this knowing that washed over me that what I have to do right now is run into the storm. And so, way before a plant started sprouting, all these weeds started coming up about. You got to deal with this and you've got to deal with this and you've got to deal with this.

Speaker 1:

And there has been a lot of, I guess, some truth telling for me where I'm having to be really honest with myself about things, because what I found is. I had a lot of fear that was masquerading around as allowance, as divine timing. That me saying oh, I'm just open for where God leads me, I'm open to where this path takes me, was actually a little bit of a cop out. If I'm being honest with, if I'm being honest with us, I have a fear of failure and I've told you about my track career and the mini stopped races because I didn't want to lose my track career and the mini stopped races because I didn't want to lose. But I don't think I realized how much that was showing up in this space that as long as I treat it like I'm allowing, then I couldn't possibly fail. If you don't try, you can't fail, and so I haven't pushed myself to really grow or challenge myself because I didn't want to fail Somehow.

Speaker 1:

I think that eventually I'll be able to speak at events Like how the hell am I going to do that when I'm not willing to put in the work Like what? It's not that I'm not willing to work. I haven't been willing to face some of the really uncomfortable things that I would have to do. To put myself in that position is to monetize a YouTube channel, and I have a few bigger goals than that around the YouTube channel, and what I found is it has nothing to do with the YouTube channel. It has nothing to do with it. It has to do with the work that I'm going to have to do in order for that to become a reality. First of all, I'm saying on a podcast that I have a goal, and if you say you have a goal, you have a potential to fail, and so already I am putting myself in a position that I haven't been willing to do before. So that is, my goal of 2025 is to monetize a YouTube channel. You know why? Because that's the fucking storm. Oops, maybe I can cut that out. That is the freaking storm for me.

Speaker 1:

I am going to have to become okay with making money from spiritual work. I do charge for my sessions, but charging for things in general is uncomfortable for me. Now, this is an awesome move to where I can start off with a very large company being the paying customer. You know, youtube is the paying customer. Perhaps if you have a brand deal with a creator tool that you really like or something like that, then that is a comfortable space for me. I feel really good about that, and to even say that I want to monetize this work is really hard for me.

Speaker 1:

I really struggle with it. I struggle with saying that I want to do something as a goal that I could potentially not be able to do. I'm going to go ahead and say I can do it, because the only way I could not do it is if I stopped trying. So I'll just keep trying until I do it right. But I also do not like self-promotion. It is uncomfortable for me. Now, how are you going to go and start speaking at events if you won't pitch yourself to an event?

Speaker 1:

You know, I keep sitting here thinking all of these opportunities are going to come to me just like divine timing, like here it comes and here I am ready to do it. And so what I've realized is, when I go through this process that I have to go through with myself to monetize a YouTube channel. In turn, I am doing the work that will open up the other opportunities that I'm here for, work that will open up the other opportunities that I'm here for. In the fear lies my opportunity, and so setting a goal that is essentially based around every single fear I have probably not every single one. I'm sure I could find other ones, but around my fears, so that I am forced to work through those, is going to open so many other doors, because our opportunities lie in confronting our fears, in running into the storm. And so, as you think of 2025, I hope you see yourself as a buffalo. I hope you see the opportunity that lies when you're like, hey, you know what I am going to do.

Speaker 1:

This DG actually posted something about elite business coaching a month ago and I was like, yep, I'm doing that, I'm just going to do it. And I went and I pulled the trigger and then it was like what am I doing? What am I doing? Like, what am I doing forcing myself to do this? Because now not only am I telling you guys on the podcast, but I have a coach who's freaking, holding me accountable, and yesterday we had a coaching call and he's like to our small group of awesome, freaking people who are just ready to level up. And by level up it is like take these limitations that I have put on myself off, take them off. I'm done.

Speaker 1:

But he's like y'all are going to post every single day because we all have businesses where we are the face of our business. You have to put yourself out there and all of us are like, no, thank you. So you sign up for elite business coaching and then you're like, yeah, I'm definitely not doing that. Unfortunately, that's not really an option. We have to do it. I chose a goal and now I have a coach who's like you're going to do it, but you have to do it this way. And y'all, I am squirming in my chair. It feels so uncomfortable. And also on the other side of that discomfort, that's where that potential is, that's where that possibility lies, that's where all of the things are is me just freaking, getting through those fears.

Speaker 1:

And so I've had a few things happen lately that just kind of reaffirm everything. First of all, I started my YouTube channel and I'm posting videos there, but I also posted a couple fun things that I did. I'd never done a time-lapse video before. I know it's not a big deal, you just press a button, but I'd never done it before and I did it when we were decorating our Christmas trees. Now YouTube has a really fun feature where you can like something or dislike it and so, as a creator, in your studio, you can see what percentage of people liked it and what percentage disliked it.

Speaker 1:

Now, fun fact there are people who bother to hit a thumbs down at a video of you and your family decorating a Christmas tree. Now, in all fairness, maybe that's how you dictate your algorithm, and they're like I really cannot take any more people decorating Christmas trees and that's how they go ahead and sort that out, perhaps, but it did kind of crack me up. It also made me realize that it doesn't matter what you do, you're not going to please everybody, and so I need to get that kind of thinking out of my mind. That somebody is out there judging me yes, somebody is. Somebody doesn't like that. You have red ornaments on a tree. That is their deal. They either are part of the poo-poo party who just go around like poo-pooing everything, or they just don't want to see any more videos like that and not to take it personally. It's not my feed that I'm dictating, like they're just trying to control their feed and it's not a personal attack on me. And so I needed that. I needed something soft where it was like oh, they don't even like that. You know, that was really good lesson for me.

Speaker 1:

I also put up a video about teaching people how to pause before they react to something that they're, not their emotions, and somebody posted that. They found it at just the right time and that has to matter more to me, right? That impact is what I asked for To have something that I shared, change the course of somebody's day, and I have to sit with that. In fact, I think I'm going to print out that comment and make a little board somewhere where I can see it, of just the positive feedback that I receive either from the podcast or my videos, and just kind of as a reminder that the noise doesn't matter. There are people that are connecting with what you're saying and what you're doing and you want to make impact. Focus on them. So those are my goals. I mean it's really funny. So those are my goals. I mean it's really funny.

Speaker 1:

I have to have like 4,000 watch hours before you monetize, which that's a substantial amount of six minute videos, but I believe I can do it. If y'all want to start watching this podcast on YouTube, it is there for you in a playlist you can catch up on all of the old episodes. Anyway, my point is in October, all I knew was impact, that's. All I knew was I want to make an impact, and since then it has kind of unfolded for me. When you plant the seed, allow yourself to show you how that can come to fruition. Would I like to have been given some kind of opportunity where I would have to do less uncomfortable things? Yeah, sure would.

Speaker 1:

But in doing this I've also had a lot of fun creating and learning, and for so long I have been recording this podcast and I put it on YouTube and I never think about it. It was kind of like my guides early on said I have to use my name, I have to use my face and I have to use my voice. So it was like check, check, doing what you said, doing what you said, blah, blah, blah. There are so many things about posting on YouTube. I had no idea and it's been really interesting to learn and really interesting to see how one video will do really well on one platform and get zero views on another, and I don't even know how that works. But it doesn't. You know, it's all in the learning, but I have had a good time learning about it. But it's also a pretty steep learning curve if you have never done anything like this.

Speaker 1:

Now I have had to get over the fact that I don't like people telling me what to do, because there are people who already know how to do this stuff, and it makes zero sense not to leverage their information. And so now I have found you know, wonder how I do this. You just Google it on YouTube and there's a video a three minute video of somebody saying, oh, this is how you blah, blah, blah, which is fascinating. Anyway, I really, really, really, really think that there are a few of you listeners that will be on this journey soon too, and part of my motivation in proving that I can monetize a YouTube channel is to show you that you can too, because I have some amazing listeners with really incredible talents or healing modalities or things that they have worked on, and the whole wide world needs to hear about it, and so I have a feeling that, hopefully, I am showing you all that this is a possibility. Hopefully it will not be too strained and horrible, but I would like you all to see that, of the two and a half billion people who watch YouTube, surely there's a thousand people who would want to watch what we have to say. Let's see.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, I wanted to spend today just sharing with how, that one word, that one word and just saying I want to make an impact. I want to make an impact Now. Will 2025 be the year of like oh, here is Susan Sutherland making this massive impact. Or am I doing the work to love myself enough to think myself worthy of being heard? Is this the inner work that is paving the path for what's to come? I don't know. I just know this buffalo's got to run into the storm and on some days that feels like yes, we are doing this, we are doing this, I am running. And other days, somebody is going to have to kick my buffalo ass and get me on the move, and I realized that and I feel really fortunate that I have some of those people in my life, some by choice and some, you know, by payment, but I'm grateful for it. I am. I am grateful for people who will support me and understand that. I know I said I wanted to do this and now I'm complaining about having to do this, but still encourage me because I'm going to do this. I want to run into the store, and so I have a feeling that this buffalo is going to have a herd and we're going to have a couple of people having some really hard conversations with themselves about what makes them uncomfortable and know that that is where the opportunity lies. And y'all are going to join me. You're going to join me running into the storm, because we're not meant to be here playing safe.

Speaker 1:

One of the quotes that I keep coming back to that I might butcher a little bit, is that I keep coming back to that I might butcher a little bit. Is you stop worrying about what other people thought of you? If you realized how infrequently they did? And isn't that the truth. Why do we think that everybody's sitting out there going like, oh, I wonder what Susan's doing today? They don't care, they are minding their business. They are worried about what other people are thinking about them. They're not worried about me, but gosh.

Speaker 1:

I think one of the great things about being in that group so far is hearing my own insecurities echoed back by other people that I perceive as super confident, that I perceive as just magnetic and shining and thriving. These are the people who that's what they appear to me and then to hear them say like, oh, my God, I can't do this, I can't post daily, like what are people going to think I'm like? Who is she to post every day, the same things that go through my head are going through theirs, and so it is good to have community. It is good to surround yourself with people who are not afraid to admit that they've got insecurities. It is good to find people who are willing to do the work to move through them. Because, y'all, why do we care? Why do we care?

Speaker 1:

You didn't come here to play small, because your neighbor might judge you. You came here to be big, to be brave, to be bold, to be as uniquely you as you possibly could be. You're the only freaking person who can be like you the only one, and so why damp that down for anybody? So if you are ready to get your hair wet, then I really want you to think about your word and ask your guides, ask your higher self, ask whoever you resonate with as a higher power, ask for guidance to be given to you of what that looks like. What is the storm you're going to run into? Because we're not running away from it anymore. We are not going to exhaust ourselves trying to escape what we are meant to find, which is our potential, and that is through the daggum storm. All right, so get your hair cap if you need to, but we're about to get wet.

Speaker 1:

I love you. Thanks for listening. Hey, thanks for watching on YouTube. Go ahead, go ahead, get over there. Go ahead, go subscribe. All right, I love you friends, I really do, and I appreciate you being my sounding board and my accountability partner, because I do feel like once I say something, then a lot of times I have to do it. I appreciate having myself to talk to, knowing that somebody is listening out there, and I hope, I hope I'm inspiring you to be brave and to be bold and to get wet. I love you.

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Susan Sutherland

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