July 21, 2025 • 14 mins
A simple experiment with drawing a circle around an ant and a spider is teaching us about the circles we draw in our minds and how they’re holding us back
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Rachel Medina is an Entrepreneur, TEDx Speaker, Christianpreneur, Mommypreneur and an ordinary woman who ditched the C-suite for the SHE-suite by tapping into the new and exciting laptop lifestyle in the SHEconemy, and who built multiple businesses from home, after divorce, as a single mother over 40!
The Rachel Unpacked Podcast is here to help you avoid common mistakes by learning the lessons she learned along the way! Whether you're a corporate baddie wanting to ditch the grind or a single momma ready to learn a new money making skillset from home, the Rachel Unpacked podcast is for you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to another episode of the Rachel Unpacked podcast.
I am your host Rachel Medina andin every episode we talk about
mindset, wealth, building and faith for every girlie who is
looking to change and level up her life.
If you want to follow me on social media, you can do so at
Rachel Medina 101 or visit my website rachelmedina.com.
But if you are ready to build a business in a life that you
(00:23):
love, head on over to our new she eox.com site again, She EO
x.com where you are going to find a tribe of like minded
business building dream aspiringgirlies just like you
connecting, learning and growingtogether.
And a new CEO X partnership program means we attract the
(00:43):
talented, experienced and successful women who are ready
to teach you how they did it so that you can succeed too.
Let's go. I want to talk about something
that I saw on TikTok. It was from a psychologist and I
found it to be incredibly fascinating.
And it is the barriers that we put up in our own mind, in our
(01:04):
own thinking. And it was an experiment that
was done with an Ant. And what the experiment included
was an Ant in the middle of a paper, a white piece of paper or
a white surface. And a circle was drawn around
that Ant. The interesting thing about it
(01:24):
is that if you know, you draw a line, that line is flat.
That is not a wall, It's not a barricade, it's not a barrier.
It's just a design on the surface.
And the Ant would not leave the circumference of the of the
circle. This Ant saw the line OK in the
(01:46):
shape of a circle and did not pass the line, did not go past
the line. This kind of reminded me of when
I used to do the news. I was a news anchor for a local
television news show called Inland Valley News.
I was really young, I was a journalism student, and I was
cast as the anchor. I was hired essentially as the
(02:06):
anchor and quickly I realized I don't want to be the anchor and
read someone else's thoughts about these topics.
I want to get out into the real world and I want to interview
people and I want to be in the thick of it, so to speak.
And I want to be able to communicate my own perception of
the events that I see or the investigations or whatever the
case may be. So there was a plane crash and
(02:29):
the plane happened to crash around my birthday and right in
front of where I lived. And so we were able to get a
camera guy out there. It was so funny because I was
still married. I was married.
I was young and I got my microphone and I got out there
and I got to meet the governor. The acting governor of
California flew in and the head of the NTSB.
(02:49):
It was a really interesting thing.
But the reason I'm sharing that part of it is because when I was
miked up with a camera in my face and faced with this
destruction because of the plane, it was a Cessna plane and
it crashed into an apartment building.
So the apartment building had caught fire.
There was water fluid everywhere.
(03:10):
People were evacuated. It was a chaotic scene, but I
had to remind myself in that moment that I was the journalist
and it was like I was on Eyewitness News, like I was the
investigator on the scene. And it was really quite easy for
me to get into that mode. Like I understood the job.
The assignment is get in there, get the shots that no one else
(03:33):
gets, like get the footage that no one else gets.
I just knew this. I grew up, you know, spending a
lot of time, my grandparents wholiterally religiously watched
the news at 4 PM, 5:00 PM, and even the 6:00 PM news.
And so I was used to seeing whatsome of the stuff looks like.
And then obviously I was studying journalism.
And then obviously I was now part of Inland Valley News and I
(03:56):
was like, let's go. And I'll never forget because
the camera guy couldn't get pastall the police and there was all
these barricades. But because I lived right there,
literally on the same street, right in front, right across the
street, I had access and I also had an extra television camera.
I just so happened to have had this backup television camera
(04:19):
because I was going to be on assignment that Monday morning
really early. And so they just decided,
Rachel, take the camera with youand then we can have a camera
guy meet you and that'll be easier.
So anyways, I had a camera and Ihad my husband at the time.
Keep in mind cameramen are generally tall and they can
(04:40):
shoot at different angles because of their height.
And my husband at the time was shorter than I was.
And so it was an interesting dynamic.
That's a whole other episode if I ever want to get into
something like that. But the the moral of the story
is he was not a cameraman. And not only was he not a
cameraman, he was not in the head space of getting the shot
(05:01):
and being first on the scene andjust getting in there.
So he was like the Ant. So when they put up that yellow
caution tape, he was like the Ant.
He that was the circle to him. He's like, oh, we, we can't go
over there. And I was like, what?
No, like we like everyone else can't.
(05:22):
But like, I can't. Like I'm supposed to be in
there. He was like, Rachel, it's
literally on fire. Yes, I was very determined.
I've always been very determined.
And so anyways, I was like, I give you the camera.
And he was just like, like, no, like you can't go.
I was like, give me the camera like this, Like this is the job,
(05:44):
this is the assignment. So where he saw caution tape,
and I'm not saying you guys, if you ever in a situation where
there's caution tape that you should like bust through the
caution tape, but it's literallylike a plastic ribbon, like
literally a plastic ribbon. And I obviously broke through
and, or ducked under or whatever.
And I got in. And by the way, not only did I
(06:05):
get in, he follows suit. He was so nervous.
He was like, Oh my God, this trespasser, we're going to get
in trouble. There's police everywhere.
Firefighters, I'm like, they're literally saving lives.
Like they're, they're literally doing stuff that's really
important. And then I'm just here to report
on it. So got in, got into the
building. I know, I know I was very young
and determined. Got into the building and I said
(06:27):
go like hit like record and he was kind of like what hit
record? And I just said just shoot, just
shoot the B roll because I know that the cameramen, you know,
they would get like a lot of I guess B roller footage, you
know, extra footage, you know, BTS footage and everything.
And then, you know, obviously I could go in front of the
building where it's like on fireand burnt and leaking and
(06:51):
abandoned and crashed up and allthese different things.
And I was able to like, stand there and be like, and be like,
I'm, you know, I'm at the time Ihad the last name, you know,
with Inland Valley News reporting here on the scene
where Cessna playing just, you know, whatever.
So doing that whole thing was obviously amazing.
You can tell I'm very enthusiastic about it as I
describe it. However, I'll never forget how
(07:12):
he saw that and was like, I cannot, like, I cannot go.
And as much as I was saying, yeah, like, I'm media and I had
my little badge, granted he didn't have one, but I was like,
I had this little lanyard that said that I was media and I just
felt like nothing could stop me.So the moral of the story is the
(07:38):
Ant saw that barrier, saw that circle, that drawing that
someone else put there and stopped itself and would not
pass it at all whatsoever. This the, the, the experiment
went on to do this with a spiderand put the spider on the
surface, drew a circle around the spider.
(07:59):
The spider at first would not gothrough the circle and then
eventually in going right up to the edge because apparently the
spider's name is Rachel and wentup to the edge of the circle.
And then when its little one of its eight little legs was able
to get over, it kind of was like, oh, what?
This is nothing. And then after that though,
(08:22):
after that, they continue to draw circles around the spider,
wherever the spider was, and thespider could care less, again,
like Rachel apparently. So all that to say, always ask
yourself, is this barrier that Iperceive real?
Is this something that is inherited?
(08:45):
Is this a barrier, A limitation that has been passed down
generation to generation to generation?
Is this barrier mental barrier? You know, whatever the, the
thought that you have in your mind that's holding you back, is
that something that's from a childhood trauma?
Is there Are there people in your sphere or that you saw
(09:06):
growing up that failed when theytried to pursue their dreams
that you know, failed miserably by doing XYZ?
What is it because when you holdyourself back, and this goes for
myself, this is for all of us, when we hold ourselves back,
it's not just because there is adeep rooted something or other
(09:28):
that has been planted there drawn OK around us.
There's been a circle that was drawn around us.
The question is who is the the art?
Who is the creator of that? And it could be that it's
yourself. It could be yourself.
Another example is, you know, I've, I've talked about this
lots of time on the show, but people who are very judgmental
(09:50):
of others fear the judgment of others.
It's a really interesting dynamic.
People who judge people on social media really struggle to
get the courage to show up as creators on social media.
And so sometimes we ourselves draw, draw that.
(10:11):
There's another example I can give you that you can be mindful
of. If you are a parent, a loved
one, an aunt, an uncle, a grandparent, you are a authority
figure in your family. You are a leader in the family.
And there's younger individuals,be it your children, nieces,
nephews, grandchildren, whateverthe case may be, keep in mind
(10:34):
that every time you criticize what someone else is doing and
you're doing that in front of these younger individuals in
your family, you are drawing a circle around them.
And you don't have a guarantee that they will be able to
(10:54):
perceive that circle as just a circle and, and, and, and move
on with their lives and do what they got to do for their lives.
You have no idea if that circle that you draw around them, that
impression that you leave on them is actually making is like
a tattoo that ends up literally just like being embedded in them
(11:15):
as a barrier. What is an example of this?
What if, for example, you see someone in the family, in your
friends group somewhere out there and let's just say
hypothetically, OK, they starteda podcast and they're posting on
social media because they want to promote their podcast, OK.
(11:35):
And you sit there and go, what is she doing?
Like what makes her an authorityto create a podcast?
Like what makes her think that she could do that?
Like, or Oh my God, did you hearher episode?
Did you hear her talk about XYZ And like, Oh my God, did you see
her hair in the video on Instagram talking about her
podcast? Those things that you were doing
(11:58):
out loud is drawing a circle around the younger generation
who, by the way, God may have equipped them with the ability
to become somewhat of a public figure who can impact the lives
of others. And I guarantee you now they're
not going to do it. You might say to you, you might
(12:19):
hear that and go, Rachel, come on.
Like everybody has opinions. Like if I say something like
that of my own opinion, it shouldn't stop anybody, but it
does. But it does because there's a
lot of people of all ages that they don't don't feel
comfortable being perceived. There's a lot of people that
they they haven't evolved yet tobe able to develop that sense of
(12:39):
who cares what, you know, people's opinions say or think
about me. Sometimes they think that they
figured it out, but they haven'tbecause they get easily
offended. So you don't know the
developmental stage that they are in and how you are hindering
them by drawing those circles around them.
So be really mindful not only ofthe circles that have been drawn
(13:00):
around you and consider the source of who drew that circle
around you, but be mindful of the circles that you are drawing
around others. Inadvertently, without even
realizing it, through your criticism, through your
comments, you might think that being sort of snarky and
critical of someone who is a public figure is no big deal.
(13:24):
Because anyways, that person's not gonna hear about it.
It's something to Kiki about andchuckle about and kind of just
be a mean girl about. That's fine, to each their own.
But when you are around impressionably impressionable
young adults and impressionable young teenagers and even
children, those things have a lasting impact.
(13:46):
And if you yourself are, whatever age you might be, and
you have thought about really tapping into your purpose,
diving face deep into your passions, showing up in public,
coaching other people, starting programs, volunteering places,
speaking in public, whatever thecase may be.
(14:10):
Starting a YouTube channel, doing TikTok shop, whatever it
may be. Building a business, thinking
and dreaming about becoming a millionaire one day.
Being able to rent a yacht for aweek and take your family to
Central pay, whatever that is, just know it's absolutely
positively 100,000% possible foryou.
(14:32):
As soon as you do like the little spider did and step over
that pre drawn circle around your beliefs, let's go.
Welcome to another episode of the Rachel Unpacked podcast.
I am your host Rachel Medina andin every episode we talk about
mindset, wealth, building and faith for every girlie who is
looking to change and level up her life.
If you want to follow me on social media, you can do so at
Rachel Medina 101 or visit my website rachelmedina.com.
But if you are ready to build a business in a life that you
(00:23):
love, head on over to our new she eox.com site again, She EO
x.com where you are going to find a tribe of like minded
business building dream aspiringgirlies just like you
connecting, learning and growingtogether.
And a new CEO X partnership program means we attract the
(00:43):
talented, experienced and successful women who are ready
to teach you how they did it so that you can succeed too.
Let's go. I want to talk about something
that I saw on TikTok. It was from a psychologist and I
found it to be incredibly fascinating.
And it is the barriers that we put up in our own mind, in our
(01:04):
own thinking. And it was an experiment that
was done with an Ant. And what the experiment included
was an Ant in the middle of a paper, a white piece of paper or
a white surface. And a circle was drawn around
that Ant. The interesting thing about it
(01:24):
is that if you know, you draw a line, that line is flat.
That is not a wall, It's not a barricade, it's not a barrier.
It's just a design on the surface.
And the Ant would not leave the circumference of the of the
circle. This Ant saw the line OK in the
(01:46):
shape of a circle and did not pass the line, did not go past
the line. This kind of reminded me of when
I used to do the news. I was a news anchor for a local
television news show called Inland Valley News.
I was really young, I was a journalism student, and I was
cast as the anchor. I was hired essentially as the
(02:06):
anchor and quickly I realized I don't want to be the anchor and
read someone else's thoughts about these topics.
I want to get out into the real world and I want to interview
people and I want to be in the thick of it, so to speak.
And I want to be able to communicate my own perception of
the events that I see or the investigations or whatever the
case may be. So there was a plane crash and
(02:29):
the plane happened to crash around my birthday and right in
front of where I lived. And so we were able to get a
camera guy out there. It was so funny because I was
still married. I was married.
I was young and I got my microphone and I got out there
and I got to meet the governor. The acting governor of
California flew in and the head of the NTSB.
(02:49):
It was a really interesting thing.
But the reason I'm sharing that part of it is because when I was
miked up with a camera in my face and faced with this
destruction because of the plane, it was a Cessna plane and
it crashed into an apartment building.
So the apartment building had caught fire.
There was water fluid everywhere.
(03:10):
People were evacuated. It was a chaotic scene, but I
had to remind myself in that moment that I was the journalist
and it was like I was on Eyewitness News, like I was the
investigator on the scene. And it was really quite easy for
me to get into that mode. Like I understood the job.
The assignment is get in there, get the shots that no one else
(03:33):
gets, like get the footage that no one else gets.
I just knew this. I grew up, you know, spending a
lot of time, my grandparents wholiterally religiously watched
the news at 4 PM, 5:00 PM, and even the 6:00 PM news.
And so I was used to seeing whatsome of the stuff looks like.
And then obviously I was studying journalism.
And then obviously I was now part of Inland Valley News and I
(03:56):
was like, let's go. And I'll never forget because
the camera guy couldn't get pastall the police and there was all
these barricades. But because I lived right there,
literally on the same street, right in front, right across the
street, I had access and I also had an extra television camera.
I just so happened to have had this backup television camera
(04:19):
because I was going to be on assignment that Monday morning
really early. And so they just decided,
Rachel, take the camera with youand then we can have a camera
guy meet you and that'll be easier.
So anyways, I had a camera and Ihad my husband at the time.
Keep in mind cameramen are generally tall and they can
(04:40):
shoot at different angles because of their height.
And my husband at the time was shorter than I was.
And so it was an interesting dynamic.
That's a whole other episode if I ever want to get into
something like that. But the the moral of the story
is he was not a cameraman. And not only was he not a
cameraman, he was not in the head space of getting the shot
(05:01):
and being first on the scene andjust getting in there.
So he was like the Ant. So when they put up that yellow
caution tape, he was like the Ant.
He that was the circle to him. He's like, oh, we, we can't go
over there. And I was like, what?
No, like we like everyone else can't.
(05:22):
But like, I can't. Like I'm supposed to be in
there. He was like, Rachel, it's
literally on fire. Yes, I was very determined.
I've always been very determined.
And so anyways, I was like, I give you the camera.
And he was just like, like, no, like you can't go.
I was like, give me the camera like this, Like this is the job,
(05:44):
this is the assignment. So where he saw caution tape,
and I'm not saying you guys, if you ever in a situation where
there's caution tape that you should like bust through the
caution tape, but it's literallylike a plastic ribbon, like
literally a plastic ribbon. And I obviously broke through
and, or ducked under or whatever.
And I got in. And by the way, not only did I
(06:05):
get in, he follows suit. He was so nervous.
He was like, Oh my God, this trespasser, we're going to get
in trouble. There's police everywhere.
Firefighters, I'm like, they're literally saving lives.
Like they're, they're literally doing stuff that's really
important. And then I'm just here to report
on it. So got in, got into the
building. I know, I know I was very young
and determined. Got into the building and I said
(06:27):
go like hit like record and he was kind of like what hit
record? And I just said just shoot, just
shoot the B roll because I know that the cameramen, you know,
they would get like a lot of I guess B roller footage, you
know, extra footage, you know, BTS footage and everything.
And then, you know, obviously I could go in front of the
building where it's like on fireand burnt and leaking and
(06:51):
abandoned and crashed up and allthese different things.
And I was able to like, stand there and be like, and be like,
I'm, you know, I'm at the time Ihad the last name, you know,
with Inland Valley News reporting here on the scene
where Cessna playing just, you know, whatever.
So doing that whole thing was obviously amazing.
You can tell I'm very enthusiastic about it as I
describe it. However, I'll never forget how
(07:12):
he saw that and was like, I cannot, like, I cannot go.
And as much as I was saying, yeah, like, I'm media and I had
my little badge, granted he didn't have one, but I was like,
I had this little lanyard that said that I was media and I just
felt like nothing could stop me.So the moral of the story is the
(07:38):
Ant saw that barrier, saw that circle, that drawing that
someone else put there and stopped itself and would not
pass it at all whatsoever. This the, the, the experiment
went on to do this with a spiderand put the spider on the
surface, drew a circle around the spider.
(07:59):
The spider at first would not gothrough the circle and then
eventually in going right up to the edge because apparently the
spider's name is Rachel and wentup to the edge of the circle.
And then when its little one of its eight little legs was able
to get over, it kind of was like, oh, what?
This is nothing. And then after that though,
(08:22):
after that, they continue to draw circles around the spider,
wherever the spider was, and thespider could care less, again,
like Rachel apparently. So all that to say, always ask
yourself, is this barrier that Iperceive real?
Is this something that is inherited?
(08:45):
Is this a barrier, A limitation that has been passed down
generation to generation to generation?
Is this barrier mental barrier? You know, whatever the, the
thought that you have in your mind that's holding you back, is
that something that's from a childhood trauma?
Is there Are there people in your sphere or that you saw
(09:06):
growing up that failed when theytried to pursue their dreams
that you know, failed miserably by doing XYZ?
What is it because when you holdyourself back, and this goes for
myself, this is for all of us, when we hold ourselves back,
it's not just because there is adeep rooted something or other
(09:28):
that has been planted there drawn OK around us.
There's been a circle that was drawn around us.
The question is who is the the art?
Who is the creator of that? And it could be that it's
yourself. It could be yourself.
Another example is, you know, I've, I've talked about this
lots of time on the show, but people who are very judgmental
(09:50):
of others fear the judgment of others.
It's a really interesting dynamic.
People who judge people on social media really struggle to
get the courage to show up as creators on social media.
And so sometimes we ourselves draw, draw that.
(10:11):
There's another example I can give you that you can be mindful
of. If you are a parent, a loved
one, an aunt, an uncle, a grandparent, you are a authority
figure in your family. You are a leader in the family.
And there's younger individuals,be it your children, nieces,
nephews, grandchildren, whateverthe case may be, keep in mind
(10:34):
that every time you criticize what someone else is doing and
you're doing that in front of these younger individuals in
your family, you are drawing a circle around them.
And you don't have a guarantee that they will be able to
(10:54):
perceive that circle as just a circle and, and, and, and move
on with their lives and do what they got to do for their lives.
You have no idea if that circle that you draw around them, that
impression that you leave on them is actually making is like
a tattoo that ends up literally just like being embedded in them
(11:15):
as a barrier. What is an example of this?
What if, for example, you see someone in the family, in your
friends group somewhere out there and let's just say
hypothetically, OK, they starteda podcast and they're posting on
social media because they want to promote their podcast, OK.
(11:35):
And you sit there and go, what is she doing?
Like what makes her an authorityto create a podcast?
Like what makes her think that she could do that?
Like, or Oh my God, did you hearher episode?
Did you hear her talk about XYZ And like, Oh my God, did you see
her hair in the video on Instagram talking about her
podcast? Those things that you were doing
(11:58):
out loud is drawing a circle around the younger generation
who, by the way, God may have equipped them with the ability
to become somewhat of a public figure who can impact the lives
of others. And I guarantee you now they're
not going to do it. You might say to you, you might
(12:19):
hear that and go, Rachel, come on.
Like everybody has opinions. Like if I say something like
that of my own opinion, it shouldn't stop anybody, but it
does. But it does because there's a
lot of people of all ages that they don't don't feel
comfortable being perceived. There's a lot of people that
they they haven't evolved yet tobe able to develop that sense of
(12:39):
who cares what, you know, people's opinions say or think
about me. Sometimes they think that they
figured it out, but they haven'tbecause they get easily
offended. So you don't know the
developmental stage that they are in and how you are hindering
them by drawing those circles around them.
So be really mindful not only ofthe circles that have been drawn
(13:00):
around you and consider the source of who drew that circle
around you, but be mindful of the circles that you are drawing
around others. Inadvertently, without even
realizing it, through your criticism, through your
comments, you might think that being sort of snarky and
critical of someone who is a public figure is no big deal.
(13:24):
Because anyways, that person's not gonna hear about it.
It's something to Kiki about andchuckle about and kind of just
be a mean girl about. That's fine, to each their own.
But when you are around impressionably impressionable
young adults and impressionable young teenagers and even
children, those things have a lasting impact.
(13:46):
And if you yourself are, whatever age you might be, and
you have thought about really tapping into your purpose,
diving face deep into your passions, showing up in public,
coaching other people, starting programs, volunteering places,
speaking in public, whatever thecase may be.
(14:10):
Starting a YouTube channel, doing TikTok shop, whatever it
may be. Building a business, thinking
and dreaming about becoming a millionaire one day.
Being able to rent a yacht for aweek and take your family to
Central pay, whatever that is, just know it's absolutely
positively 100,000% possible foryou.
(14:32):
As soon as you do like the little spider did and step over
that pre drawn circle around your beliefs, let's go.
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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. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.