Ep. 79 Calming Our Inner Critic to Live Our Most Aligned and Empowered Life with Melina Charis
Happy #SeekTheJoy Tuesday!
On the podcast this week is Melina Charis - alignment coach, creative entrepreneur, and writer.
Melina is on a mission to create a balanced, healthy, and fulfilling life - not just for herself, but for you too. This work has become so important to her in recent years as she discovers who she is, what lights her up, and as she continues to learn how to manage her high-functioning anxiety.
Melina and I first met last year when she reached out to me on Instagram. We met up for coffee, and talked for hours. We realized right away just how much we had in common, how much our experiences paralleled one another, and that our dreams and goals were alike too.
After starting her blog almost a year ago, Melina created a completely new vision for her life and career. She started to make a plan to quit her 9-5 job in higher education, and in August 2019 she made the dream of working for herself and pursuing her creative passions a reality. Today, she’s a full-time alignment coach and creative entrepreneur.
I was so excited to sit down and have this conversation with Melina. She’s in the midst of an incredible transition, and in this week’s new episode we chat about Melina’s journey quitting her 9-to-5 to become an alignment coach and creative entrepreneur, learning to quiet the inner critic, and pushing past the voice that says you’re not enough. We chat about how launching her blog in 2018 opened her up to writing again, the connections, creativity and joy it brought her, and being creative for the sake of being creative. Melina opens up about her journey with anxiety, mental health and wellness, the role self-awareness has played in all of it, and the tools and practices she’s relied on throughout life’s transitions. Plus, Melina shares her go-to mantra, the impact embracing her human design as a Projector has had on her business, her biggest dream, and so much more!
You guys are going to love this one! Make sure to join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
“I think that’s one of the greatest journeys of our lives, to really learn how to quiet that voice of I’m not good enough or I can’t do this.”
A year ago Melina had just finished graduate school, and she was in the middle of her first job in higher education. She was on the path that she had envisioned and dreamed of for herself. But then, something changed. She had an aha! moment, and realized she didn’t have to stay in higher education. Instead, she could switch course and work in a different field.
This one thought changed the course of her life, career, and joy - forever.
“We go through different transitions and it’s all about your perspective and your thoughts on it. You can either think about it as I wasted my time, or everything was supposed to happen exactly the way it happened. There’s always something that you can take with you.”
She realized that the career she envisioned for herself wasn’t what she wanted. As Melina shares in this week’s new episode, she picked education as a career path when she had given up on the idea that she could have a career and make money as a writer. She picked this path when she didn’t think she was good enough or creative enough (all of the enoughs!) to make it.
A few days later, Melina launched her blog. She knew she wanted to write about wellness and mental health, and Well Wild World was born (today it’s called Melina Charis!) She bought her Wordpress domain, launched her blog, and that decision to do something new, put herself out there, and choose her joy - changed her life.
Melina has always struggled with anxiety and perfectionism, but she hit a low point in 2014 right after she graduated from college. She was experiencing a ton of life transitions all at once, and she was working full-time as a high school teacher. She developed intense anxiety and depression that affected every area of her life - her relationships suffered, her physical health declined, and she was barely able to sleep or do anything she had previously enjoyed doing.
With a lot of hard work, therapy, and support from family and friends, Melina found her way out. She quit teaching and turned her life around. She began to really focus on her own health and wellness from a holistic perspective - mental, spiritual, and physical. She began a regular meditation and gratitude practice, cooked healthier foods and exercised more often. She made self-care a priority.
Melina’s anxiety improved, but it’s always with her and something she knows will be with her throughout her life. As a result of her own experiences, she started the blog as a way to help others who may also need help reclaiming their health and happiness, and it also served as a beautiful outlet for her to express her thoughts through writing - something she always loved, but hadn’t returned to in a long time.
From there, Melina learned about coaching. She loves listening to others and helping them think through challenges to find solutions, and she realized that this was what she needed to - to work for herself and help others at the same time - and she made a plan to save up and one day be able to quit her job.
“For everyone that I work with it’s about uncovering who you are, who your most authentic self is, and then getting to the place where you’re living your most aligned and empowered life.”
. . . and that’s exactly what she did! In August 2019, Melina took the leap - and I loved the fact that we had this conversation so soon after she made this incredible transition. Her reflections on this journey so far, the highs and lows, what she’s learned, and ultimately the impact that she wants to have - is inspiring. I’m so excited to share with you her passion - for mindfulness, wellness, self-care, and alignment - and helping you along your journey, too.
Through her blog posts, 1:1 coaching, and inspirational poems, Melina share practical and tangible ways you can take action today to improve your mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing and create a more balanced, aligned, fulfilling life for yourself.
I loved having this conversation with Melina for Seek The Joy, and I’m so grateful for everything that she shared! This is such a fun conversation, all about quieting our inner critic to live our most empowered and aligned life - and I can’t wait to hear what you think!
To learn more about Melina, her writing, and coaching program visit her website www.melinacharis.com and on Instagram @melinacharis Facebook @melinacharis Twitter @melinacharis and Pinterest @melinacharis
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