Episode 14
Essence | LAYC14
ESSENCE is defined as “the basic nature of a thing; the quality or qualities that make a thing what it is”.
We may also refer to essence as our authentic self, true nature or spirit, our core values.
I believe our essence evolves as we do, and if we allow it, it becomes truer, richer, more distinctly ‘US’.
Finding myself at the busy intersection of Who Am I Now, Who Was I, and Who Do I Want to Become, I realized my decisions would have two different outcomes.
My choices contribute to me becoming more of me or less of me.
I alone influence the strength of my essence.
With this revelation, I have a powerful vetting system for actions and relationships.
In this episode, I reveal more about my journey to self-discovery and some of the process and tools I use.
I am happy to share one of my essential Encore tools with you!
Get your free copy of my Personal Currency Evaluation and Unlock Your Vault of Lifetime Accumulated Value.
www.myencore.me <<< easy to remember, tell a friend!
About the Host: Isabel Banerjee - Your Next Business Strategist and Transformation Catalyst
Dynamic, a self-made entrepreneur who overcame obstacles with an unrelenting positive nature, a farm girl work ethic and a conscious choice to thrive rather than survive, Isabel Alexander Banerjee cultivated an award-winning, $10 million+ global chemical wholesale business and grew it from dining room table to international boardrooms.
Isabel’s strengths include the ability to initiate & nurture strategic relationships, a love of lifelong learning and talents for helping others maximize their potential. An inspiring speaker within both industry and community, she is a driving force behind those with the courage to follow her example of thriving against the odds.
With 50+ years of business experience across diverse industries, Isabel is respected as an advisor, a coach, a mentor and a role model. She believes in sharing collective wisdom and empowering others to economic independence.
Founder of the Lift As You Climb Movement (https://www.facebook.com/groups/liftasyouclimbmovement)
Chief Encore Officer, The Encore Catalyst (www.theencorecatalsyt.com) – an accelerator for feminine wisdom, influence, and impact.
Author & Speaker ‘Who Am I Now? – Feminine Wisdom Unmasked Uncensored’ (www.IsabelBanerjee.com)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelalexanderbanerjee/
Thank You for Listening!
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If you have questions about this episode, please send me an email at HELLO@TheEncoreCatalyst.com
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Transcript
Welcome back!
Speaker:On today's episode, I'd like to explore one of my theme...
Speaker:" Es"...the letter E and today, it's Essence...
Speaker:that's on my mind.
Speaker:Essence, as in our authentic self.
Speaker:What are the characteristics, values, behaviors, super-powers, quirks,
Speaker:unique attributes that make us...
Speaker:Us?
Speaker:Because that's, what's been going on.
Speaker:We've been evolving as women through our lifetime becoming more of us.
Speaker:Most of the time.
Speaker:I know, I certainly can think back on times where, I didn't feel like it was
Speaker:me authentically, but I was obligated to fulfill a role or responsibility,
Speaker:or carry on in a persona, that I didn't feel was fully truthfully me, but I
Speaker:did it out of necessity and obligation.
Speaker:All the women that I know have shared stories of different times
Speaker:in their lives, where, we were scripted into a part or a role.
Speaker:We were cast there by someone else or directed by someone else to do a
Speaker:job, be in a relationship, step into uncomfortable spotlights for a while.
Speaker:That's who we are as women, we show up.
Speaker:And we do.
Speaker:The part about this is that most of our lives, we have been evolving by,
Speaker:refining and honing our unique essence.
Speaker:And that...
Speaker:Today you are more of you than you were yesterday or the day
Speaker:before or the decade before.
Speaker:That process continues while we breathe, because after all, if we've
Speaker:stopped changing and growing, then we are starting to decay and we are
Speaker:starting to contract in our life.
Speaker:That's sad.
Speaker:It doesn't mean that it's always comfortable, or welcome on this
Speaker:journey through womanhood wonderland.
Speaker:To be going...
Speaker:Oh my God...
Speaker:Who am I now?
Speaker:Who am I now at this point in my life, in this relationship, in this business,
Speaker:in this career, in this passion project, that is still unfulfilled for me.
Speaker:I had a conversation with my girlfriend we talked about how...
Speaker:yeah...
Speaker:We were teen moms.
Speaker:We were single parents.
Speaker:We grew up in shoes that were too big for us.
Speaker:And we grew into them.
Speaker:As entrepreneurs and leaders of our companies and leaders in our communities.
Speaker:We continue to grow and evolve because that was our essence, that was our nature.
Speaker:To always want to learn more, expand our capability, have a greater impact.
Speaker:To be a very positive influence with the people around us, to the
Speaker:extent that we could every day.
Speaker:She, and I, and many of my friends have taken that on as a privilege
Speaker:and a responsibility in our lives to be constantly growing and expanding
Speaker:so that, we could lift others as we were climbing in our personal
Speaker:lives and professional lives.
Speaker:Remember...
Speaker:We don't have two separate ones.
Speaker:All of us is one.
Speaker:That's part of the essence philosophy that I have as well.
Speaker:How you show up, in your personal life, and how you show up in your professional
Speaker:life, cannot be two different essences.
Speaker:There is only one of you.
Speaker:When you reach an age in your life, or a stage in your evolution where you have
Speaker:more time to start to think about...
Speaker:Hmmm...Okay, I did what I had to.
Speaker:I did what was put in front of me, to provide and to...
Speaker:not only survive, but to thrive in my life.
Speaker:Now, I have the opportunity to think a little more about
Speaker:what I choose to do next.
Speaker:As wonderful as that privilege is, it's also a little intimidating, because
Speaker:for much of our lives, we've been going, hell bent for leather, getting
Speaker:everything done that we had to do.
Speaker:I know when there is that pause, the opportunity to go...
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I get to choose.
Speaker:It can strike a little fear in the hearts of entrepreneurial
Speaker:women, evolutionary women to go...
Speaker:Hmm...
Speaker:Now, I have to consciously choose and I'm responsible, for a 100% of what I decide.
Speaker:How do you do that?
Speaker:Well, for me, it was a, it was a journey for sure, after stepping out of, or being
Speaker:given a little push out of, the identity, the persona, that I had lived for decades.
Speaker:Selling my business in my late 50s, moving to a new country, starting
Speaker:a new relationship and realizing...
Speaker:Oh my Goddess...
Speaker:I don't know who I am now.
Speaker:I used to have a very clear picture of who I was.
Speaker:I had a business card that told me every day that I was the CEO of my company and
Speaker:that set out my mode of operation for the day, told me what I needed to show
Speaker:up as, and who people expected me to be.
Speaker:Suddenly.
Speaker:I was only answering to myself, about who I expected me to be.
Speaker:And I found myself in a place of having to break up involuntarily
Speaker:with that old, comfortable persona, because I've gotten used to her.
Speaker:I didn't always like her.
Speaker:Let's be truthful about that.
Speaker:There were some days...
Speaker:Wow...
Speaker:I really didn't like myself, but now I found myself in a new place, where
Speaker:saying goodbye to who that Isabel was, and creating, being responsible,
Speaker:for deciding my new role in life, how I was going to show up, and
Speaker:writing the script for that character.
Speaker:Creating my next starring role in life, was a journey, and I
Speaker:didn't have, any expectation that I was going to have to do that.
Speaker:I didn't think ahead.
Speaker:I didn't have a plan to say...
Speaker:The day that you stop living that life...
Speaker:those habits, that community, those routines, those people in your life...
Speaker:What are you going to do?
Speaker:How are you gonna do it?
Speaker:Who are you going to be?
Speaker:So...
Speaker:I know that I am in good company, because there are millions of us baby boomers,
Speaker:that have worked a lifetime and followed along with the societal script of go to
Speaker:school, get a job, get married, buy a house, have children, save a little money.
Speaker:You know, work yourself up the ladder...
Speaker:or build your business...
Speaker:With an expectation of that's your retirement nest egg.
Speaker:And then, I never thought...
Speaker:What am I going to do with decades more time?...
Speaker:So that I feel...
Speaker:valued, and that I have a purpose every day that makes
Speaker:me want to get out of bed...
Speaker:and supports me in the decisions that I will make to...
Speaker:How will I grow?
Speaker:What will I learn next?
Speaker:What will be the legacy that I want to live, while I'm here, while I'm present?
Speaker:To influence it, and to enjoy it, and experience it.
Speaker:And when I have decided that...
Speaker:When I have decided...
Speaker:What is the legacy that I choose to live now and notice, I didn't say
Speaker:forever, because we are evolving and things change and opportunities
Speaker:will present as we learn and grow.
Speaker:When I choose what my legacy is now and how I live it,
Speaker:how will that impact others?
Speaker:How will I be able to lift others as I'm climbing as a human woman on this planet?
Speaker:And how will I empower others to create and live their legacies?
Speaker:It's a lot to wrap your mind around...
Speaker:How do you do that?
Speaker:How do you break up with your old self?
Speaker:How do you decide who you are next, and how do you choose the actions that support
Speaker:you every day to be more of yourself?
Speaker:What are the actions that you have to remove from your behavior in your
Speaker:lifestyle that are supporting or causing you to be less of who you are now?
Speaker:That's my thought process right now is...
Speaker:What am I doing?
Speaker:What do I choose to do?
Speaker:That makes me more of who I am, more of me today.
Speaker:Not the me of yesterday or years or jobs or relationships or personal
Speaker:growth and confidence of time gone by...
Speaker:But more of me, as the woman that I am today, recognizing that who I am, is this
Speaker:accumulation of my life experience, the mistakes that I've made, the wins that
Speaker:I've had, the learning that I've been open to and the ambition I have to...
Speaker:Have an impact, to influence others in a positive way to love, and be
Speaker:willing to let go of the need for reciprocation in love and to be lovable.
Speaker:It's all part of how we evolve, and become who we are today.
Speaker:Our true essence, our authentic self.
Speaker:It's all part of the Encore plan that I created for myself...
Speaker:And recognizing that each aspect of what I just mentioned, is part
Speaker:of building out that new character, that next and best role in my life.
Speaker:So that I feel like I can really stand in the spotlight and shine and feel
Speaker:like I'm the star of my life that I've created, to be able to give that same
Speaker:gift of framing it that way to others.
Speaker:So that's what I'm all about right now.
Speaker:And I'd love to know what you're all about, and what you are learning about
Speaker:this true essence of you now, and...
Speaker:Were there any surprises?
Speaker:Did you realize that you needed to break up with some of your old paradigms about
Speaker:yourself, to allow yourself the freedom to really grow today and into the future?
Speaker:One of the ways that I have been able to work through this process is.
Speaker:The opportunity to look at my life as an accumulation of lifetime value, tacit
Speaker:knowledge, strengths, skills, lessons, that I learned from the things not to do.
Speaker:All of that adds up to me into like a tremendous treasure
Speaker:vault of who I am going forward.
Speaker:The things that I did well, the experiences I've had, the travel that
Speaker:I've done, the skills that I acquired, all of that is the foundation, a very rich
Speaker:foundation for the future that I choose.
Speaker:Living my legacy and being more of me.
Speaker:I'd like to share that with you.
Speaker:I have a Free PDF that you can download.
Speaker:I call it Unlocking Your Vault...
Speaker:Because you do...
Speaker:You have a vault of accumulated lifetime value.
Speaker:I'd like to share with you today.
Speaker:One of the tools that I created in my Encore process, it's a very important one.
Speaker:It's one that I use at the beginning of this whole...
Speaker:creating my new script.
Speaker:I call it unlocking the vault, because each of us has through
Speaker:our lifetime accumulated this vast treasure trove of lifetime value.
Speaker:Value that we've accumulated ourself and curated in terms of our experience, our
Speaker:education, our skills, our strengths.
Speaker:Everything that we've learned about ourselves, that we are
Speaker:best at, and want to do more of.
Speaker:Even the things that we have learned, we don't like...
Speaker:Those were mistakes.
Speaker:We don't want to repeat that.
Speaker:Or that was, then this is now.
Speaker:It is all part of personal currency that is unique to you.
Speaker:It's really a marvel about the treasure that you have accumulated as you.
Speaker:Your authentic you, throughout your life.
Speaker:In the show notes, I'll give you a place to sign up, to get a free
Speaker:PDF worksheet and guide to help you work through that process.
Speaker:I'd love to know if you got any surprises about the incredible treasure you are.
Speaker:So for now, You have a great day!
Speaker:Great life!
Speaker:Live your legacy.
Speaker:I look forward to the impact that you create.
