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Paige opens up about one of the most powerful questions she’s ever asked herself: “Why not me?”
In this raw and empowering episode, she shares how that simple question pulled her out of self-doubt and helped her become the woman she never thought she could be. A leader. A podcaster. A motivator. Someone who keeps showing up even when it’s uncomfortable.
This isn’t about perfection or pretending to have it all together. It’s about remembering that change doesn’t happen when life gets easy. It happens when you finally decide you’re done sitting on the sidelines.
If you’ve ever looked at someone thriving and thought, “That could never be me,” this one’s for you.
Paige is here to remind you that it absolutely can.
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Episode Transcript
Hey y'all, welcome to Paige's Perspective, where I
help you find your innerstrength to cope with life.
I have to be honest, I struggledmore than I've ever struggled to
come up with a topic today.
I spent hours going back andforth, reading inspirational
passages, reflecting on theweek, waiting for something to
(00:27):
just hit.
And nothing felt right.
You know, I could talk about howyour environment shapes you,
what peace really looks like,how clarity sneaks in when you
stop chasing, but none of itfelt authentic today.
Maybe one day I'll hit thosetopics.
And y'all, that was just afraction of the topic topics
that I started writing about.
Um, there were a lot more thanthat.
But today I want to be me a bit.
(00:50):
So instead of forcing it, I wentback to one of the phrases
that's pulled me out of pityparties in hard seasons more
times than I can count.
And that's the why not me.
It's such a simple question,right?
But it is a life-changingquestion.
For so long, I told myselfstories about why I couldn't.
(01:13):
I wasn't qualified enough.
I wasn't brave enough.
I wasn't disciplined enough.
Um, I can't handle it.
I'm just not good enough.
And I'd see people doing bigthings and think, all right,
cool, good for them.
But I never thought that Ibelonged in that category.
Then one day something shifted.
It was December of 2021.
Mental and emotional, mentallyand emotionally, like I was
(01:35):
okay.
I was doing really well, butphysically, not so much.
I was scrolling through Facebookand I saw a before and after
photo of a woman who had madesome massive changes.
Like her transformation wasincredible.
She looked amazing.
And instead of scrolling pastlike I usually did, I caught
myself thinking, why not me?
(01:57):
Why do I believe everyone elsecan change, but not me?
So I joined the same program shewas in.
I started showing up.
And at first I was discouraged.
You know, these people werethriving.
And I'm not just talking aboutphysically thri, just physically
thriving.
Like they were mentally andemotionally thriving as well.
They were strong, happy,disciplined, and I thought they
(02:20):
must, they just must have somedamn good genes and haven't been
through any tough shit.
So this must be easy for them.
Yeah, I'm just being honesthere.
That's that's how I feltinitially.
Um, then I saw their beforepictures and I realized, oh my
God, they look just like me,like how I did then.
They weren't born confident orfit or thriving.
(02:42):
They built it.
Some of them had been throughsome really tough shit in their
life too, and that didn't stopthem from being who they wanted
to be.
It was really inspirational.
And that was the moment that Idecided to stop sitting in my
pity party.
I stopped saying, that couldnever be me and started saying,
why not me?
So I followed the plan.
I showed up when it wasuncomfortable, I built
resilience, and through thatprocess, I found a version of
(03:04):
myself I never knew existed.
I became an inspiration for alot of people in that group.
They looked at my story and mypictures and thought, hmm, why
not me?
And they began to do the hardthings.
And it was an amazing time in mylife where I was really
beginning to realize I could bea different version of me.
I never thought I'd be fit.
I never thought I'd be a leader.
(03:24):
I never thought I'd have a voicepeople heard and listened to.
But here I am, a podcaster, um,a woman leading a movement.
Uh, I've done push-ups I neverthought I could do.
I've hosted workshops I neverthought I'd be brave enough to
lead.
I've set boundaries that made methe villain in someone else's
story.
Um, and I survived it.
(03:46):
And some days it feels reallystrange.
Like I'm I'm proud, I'm excited,but I'm also tired.
You know, growth has stretchedme in ways that I didn't see
coming.
Sometimes I still question ifI'm built for the pressure or if
I just keep doing it because Iknow what it's like to have no
one saying the hard stuff.
But I know this every time Ishow up when it's uncomfortable,
I do meet a stronger version ofmyself.
(04:08):
And that's where my purposekeeps finding me.
It's not in the perfection, butit's in persistence.
And through it all, I'verealized that growth and peace
don't come from comfort.
They come from the moments youchallenge yourself and say, I
can do this even if it's hard.
You know, many people relate tomy story from when I was with my
husband in active addiction.
They're like, whoa, you have putinto words that I couldn't.
(04:31):
I'm living that life.
I relate so much.
And many times I relate to Paigefrom 13 years ago.
I'm not that gal anymore.
I've worked really, really hardto be who I am today.
I'm more confident, I have moreclarity, I get out of my comfort
zone and I ask, why not me?
instead of saying I can't.
And this tells you that you canalso do hard things to become
(04:51):
who you want to be.
You can ask, why not me?
I'm not just talking aboutphysical either.
I'm talking about all of theself-care categories that keep
us going.
You know, the mental, emotional,environmental, spiritual, all
the things.
I just refer to the physicalpart a lot since it's visual
proof of what we what we canaccomplish.
And it also pushed me harderthan anything else because it
(05:13):
required massive change anddiscipline within myself.
Um, that portion taught me a lotabout myself and who I am.
This is why I want to speak moreof who I am today than who I was
then, because I want my story toinspire others.
I want you to come out of thisepisode feeling empowered and
knowing that you can do hardthings, even when it feels like
you're drowning.
It's not easy, but damn, it'sworth it.
(05:35):
We can't run and hide and makeexcuses all the time.
We do need to push ourselvesoccasionally to find our full
potential.
Obviously, knowing your limits,but you know, there's that gray
area there.
Anyway, when we created ouronline community, my goal wasn't
to just help people survivethrough their chaos and validate
them through what they're goingthrough.
It was to show that thriving ispossible, regardless of your
(05:59):
relationship status, your past,or your pain.
Thriving isn't about bragging,it's about proof.
It's a story that you'retelling.
Self-care, boundaries, healing.
You know, those aren't fluffyInstagram buzzwords.
They're evidence that you can dohard things.
They're proof that you canrebuild your life from the
ground up.
Some people see self-care postsor stories of others succeeding,
(06:22):
and it they feel discouraged andthey tell themselves, I could
never do that.
I don't want to see that.
I'm not there.
You know, they kind of getresentful and bitter.
And I get it, I understand that.
Trust me, I've been therebefore, but I know what it's
like to be on the other side ofit.
I want to challenge that voice.
Every person that you look up tostarted in a place of doubt.
(06:43):
The only difference is theystopped believing their own
excuses.
We need to surround ourselvesnot necessarily with those who
are like us, but those who welook up to, those who inspire
us, those who challenge us.
Our environment plays a hugerole in how we show up in the
world.
Being surrounded bygrowth-minded people is what
helps us thrive.
Instead of being discouraged bytheir journey, be inspired,
(07:07):
learn from them, allow theirjourney to be a lesson for you
and tell them they inspire you.
You know, that has been one ofmy main purposes from the
get-go.
This is authentic me.
This is real me today.
I want to challenge others andlet them know that they are
capable of being who they wantto be.
So if you're listening right nowand you're feeling stuck or
(07:28):
you're feeling small orunqualified, ask yourself, why
not me?
Why can't you be the one whoturns it around?
Why can't you be the one whogets healthy, who finds peace,
who creates a life that feelsaligned?
Saying I could never be thatperson is a lie.
It's a lie that we tellourselves.
You can.
You just have to decide you'redone watching from the sidelines
(07:50):
and take action.
You're capable of becomingeverything you admire in someone
else.
It's going to be uncomfortable.
It's going to take time.
But the moment you start asking,why not me, everything changes.
I'm here to give people a voiceto validate yes, but to
challenge too, because we don'tgrow if we aren't challenged.
This world doesn't need morecomfort.
(08:12):
It needs more courage whilebeing comforted, obviously.
There is a middle ground there.
So stop saying that can never beme and start saying, why not me?
Because the only thing standingbetween who you are and who you
want to be is the belief thatyou can.
That's all I have for this week.
Until next time, I'm Paige.
Bye.
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