Text Monique directly! Share thoughts, feels or feedback!
In this week's episode, Monique tackles the complex relationship between risk and ambition, especially for women of color. Through compelling stories she illustrates the emotional turmoil that can accompany the pursuit of dreams and the importance of acknowledging and processing those feelings. She also emphasizes the power of self-awareness and creativity in overcoming fear and finding clarity in uncertain times.
Join in to discover how to redefine your understanding of risk and unlock your true potential.
GEMS DROPPED
“We will use the past to try to predict the future. Right. Because this is the thing with the women that I work with, they're not just saying, ‘well, I'm scared of taking risks, so I don't even consider it’. You keep approaching the idea of taking those risks, but it's kind of torturing you because you keep approaching it, and then you keep hitting a wall. Everything feels too scary and so you're like, well, let me kind of think through my past–right? So there's this formula, and it feels like an airtight formula, and that's where we kind of get trapped, because if one or two of those variables feel off, you’re like ‘ooh, the risk of failure is now high’. That automatically shuts us down.”
“Where do you have space to actually stop and feel? You typically don't. And things are often happening fast. So you're trying to react, you're trying to think. You haven't gotten yourself any space, any room to feel what you're actually feeling. And that is what's keeping you trapped in that merry go round. There's no creativity available to you in that space because you're just trapped in cyclical, fear based thinking.”
“I challenge you, if you're sitting with this kind of indecision, this fear around risk and this story, to take a moment and see if you can, which I know you can, embrace the belief that I am someone who takes incredible risk and finds success. I am the great I am. I am someone who takes incredible risks and finds great success. What would it be like to embrace that? What are your earliest memories where that is true?”
“You cannot access creativity if the conditions that you have created for yourself to be creative have not been set.”
“Sometimes the way that we protect our imaginations is with our creativity, right? That's where it all flows from by allowing what is arising in us that is keeping us stuck…allowing it to flow through us and to inform us about any limitations that we're placing on ourselves, any lies that we're telling ourselves, any old stories that are coming up and distorting how we believe, how we believe we can exist and what we believe that we can have. That's another way of protecting our imaginations.”
STAY IN TOUCH
Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to ambition@moniquershields.com.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.