Christy Tending is back for her 5th visit to Jump Start Your Joy. She’s an amazing coach and friend and she’s here to talk about self advocacy, and, what you need to know to live your best life. As an activist and self proclaimed soft hearted person, she’s recently focused her work on the next step in self care, which is taking an active stand for what one needs, in the form of self advocacy.
Intention and Action
Much of Christy’s work is focused on making the intentional step of getting in touch with what you know you need for your life to be well lived. Many of these things are the things you already know you need, and may be what you label as “self care.” The difference between self care and self advocacy, however, is that while self care is often the result of being on the brink of burnout, or is something you turn to once and awhile as a reward for hard work … self advocacy is taking this a step further to making self care something that’s baked in to how you approach your life.
It means that you get in touch with what you intentionally and intuitively need, and you make the time and space for it to happen. This work sits at the the crossroads of intention and action.
Self Advocacy gives you the space to take the action that’s right for you
What I love about Christy’s approach is that it makes room for you and I to be imperfect. It makes room for us to approach the things we’re avoiding and tackle them, even when they are not “fun.” Christy’s approach takes perfectionism, being “right,” and our collective obsession to be constantly entertained out of the equation. It makes room for you to do what you need to do even when it’s not pinterest worthy, exciting or even the popular decision. It encourages you to “be an accomplice in your own freedom.”
When you are intentional about putting self advocacy in place, you stop being a martyr, and you begin placing yourself first, ahead of anything else, whether it be a job, a cause, or any other role you play in your life.
Christy and I also talk about:
- What happens when self care is no longer working? What next?
- The freedom that comes with taking a stand for a cause
- Why you should not make yourself second to any cause
- The vulnerability of putting self advocacy in action
- How to meet yourself in your own imperfection
- Getting in relationship with what is right for you
- Being accountable instead of being right
- How to be a soft-hearted person and keeping boundaries when working for a cause
- Dealing with the things you’re avoiding
- Approaching the world with truth, gentleness, and humor
Resources
Sign up for Christy’s FREE “Self-Advocacy Manifesto” mini-course
Christy Tending’s Website
Christy’s Sacred Focus Program (now open for enrollment)
Christy on the podcast:
Check out Christy’s most recent visit:
Season 1: Episode 25: Self Care and Sacred Focus
Season 2: Episode 54: Finding Balance, Gaining Roots and Wings
Season 2: Episode 62: Daring to be Courageous, Vulnerable, and Human
Want to listen to more episodes?
Binge away, my friend:
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