How To Open The Door To Time And Money Freedom!

How To Open The Door To Time And Money Freedom!
With Cheri Petroni & Samia Bano

Are you a #workaholic ready for a change?

Listen now to this interview with Cheri Petroni, #ProsperityMindset Expert, as she shares how you can #openthedoor to #timeandmoneyfreedom by resolving #limitingbeliefs that keep you stuck in the #ratrace! Learn how you can thrive in both your personal and professional spheres and fill your life with more #peaceandjoy. :D

About Cheri:

Cheri Petroni supports women who are in pain over health, wealth, and relationships. As a foremost authority in aligning and harmonizing one’s physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies to achieve success in all four of these areas.

She founded the world-recognized Oasis to Zen Transformation Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada, ten years ago on the guiding principle that inner and outer beauty becomes wellness.

Learn more and connect with Cheri at:

Cheripetroni.com

https://www.facebook.com/coachcheripetroni/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/prosperitymindsettips

https://www.instagram.com/cheripetroni/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheripetroni/

To Book your Free HAPPINESS 101 EXPLORATION CALL with Samia, click: https://my.timetrade.com/book/JX9XJ

#liveyourbestlife #livejoyfully #achivesuccess #TimeAndMoney #prosperitynow #abundancemindset #workaholiclife

Here's the audio version of this episode:

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Full Video Transcript

SAMIA: Hello, Salaam, Shalom, Namaste, Sat Sri Akal, Aloha, Holah, Ciao, Bonjour, Buna, Privet and Mabuhay! It's so, so good to be with you again. And I know you'll be so excited and so happy you're joining us today, because we have a very special guest, and it's Cheri Petroni, who is a Prosperity Mindset Expert. I love that. Welcome, Cheri…

CHERI: Thank you. I thank you very much... I'm very pleased to be here to share my own challenges, so maybe other people don't have to suffer as much as I did, unnecessarily, because it really was unnecessary.

SAMIA: I hear you on that. And, Cheri, please tell us more about who you are and what you do.

CHERI: Okay, so, Cheri Petroni… I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the United States… if this is going all over the world, I imagine it may be... And I was a teacher in my former life that became something that was not the way I operate, didn't fit with the school system. So I bowed out graciously. I used a lot of intuition, energy, things of that nature… not really realizing it back then, but this has sort of been the theme of my life. And I ended up creating a spa, a holistic spa here in Las Vegas, and have a lot of different modalities under my belt in the world of alternative holistic healing and healthcare in many ways. So I use energy and vibration in order to help heal. And what happened in my business… technically, I'm an esthetician and a Reiki master and some things like that. But I… And it doesn't matter how many things I have, but the point is, I found myself sitting in the business, gosh, seven days a week. I wanted to say eight, but not quite. I would try to take Sundays off, but it just never happened. And the reason I really focus on time and freedom mastery and healing and those things is because I literally was killing myself in my business. No integration of home life… my kids, my husband… my relationships were not where they needed to be. My self care wasn't where it needed to be. And I was exhausted, I was miserable. I was mean... I sometimes took it out on my clients, and many of my clients have been with me for over 20 years, so they would tell me. So there was this interesting, just strangeness about it. And I joke that in my world, God brings me what I need, if I need it for myself. And so I had this series of time around 2014 where I had received out of nowhere… I didn't subscribe… but some information on wellness and mindset and eating better and taking care of myself better, and then money-time freedom, and then also keeping off the weight, we'll just say, and… with mindset... And so anyway, point being is I have a myriad of other things that I started using… and I was using them, of course, and I was learning for that to be a coach. But here's the funny thing. I started healing. And one day I was sitting there, literally just in that darn desk at the front, at the front desk in the spa, and I just was like, oh, wait a minute... I don't think I'm thinking the same way. And what am I doing? What am I doing here? And so what happened is, fast forward to today, because, as I said, like, it's been about ten years that that started. And I'm not saying I'm completely, 100%, because we're humans, and so we're going to do things that are silly sometimes… but that those basic shifts of my mindset and what I was doing and how I was operating had to change. And accidentally, that's what I did. I say accidentally because it was for my clients, but I ended up doing my own healing in the process. And definitely the person that I wasn't was then, and it was because of that that I was able to stay in business and become a different person and a better person. And my husband and I are still married… 41 years, just about. And my kids are grown, and I have grandkids. So it's a different life today than it was back then. A little bit of a long introduction. It's sort of the story needs, like, it needs to have that ending to see that I'm not... It's not an end, but, yeah, it was amazing... And I couldn't have planned it that way. If I tried to go and do it… probably wouldn't have happened.

SAMIA: Yes…

CHERI: …but my faith kept me there.

SAMIA: Yes. Oh, that's amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that part of your story, because, you know, this is the struggle that so many of us go through. In some ways, we become victims of our own success. When we start our own businesses, our own practices, you actually end up, you know, like, with this, I will say, a good problem of having so much work to do… which in some ways, for sure, is a blessing, but at the same time, it can really create huge imbalances in your life. And, you know, for some people, they didn't even anticipate or realize or recognize what these impacts might be on their lives, and they're not prepared to deal with it. And it can be really devastating when, you know, on the one hand, here you have your business that you set up because, you know, you were passionate about it, wanting to help people, etcetera. But on the other hand, it's consuming your life so much that now your own relationships are suffering, your own wellness is suffering. And how ironic is that, that you had a wellness spa and your own wellness got compromised, you know?

CHERI: Yeah, it is ironic, isn't it?

SAMIA: Yeah. But you found a way out -- that's extra amazing... And thank you so much for sharing that because, you know, like, for me, I'd much rather learn from someone who has been there and done that in terms of what I'm trying to learn rather than someone who just knows the theory of it. So… you don’t just know theory. You have actually practiced what you learned and implemented it in your life, and here we are. So…

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CHERI: And I still am because it doesn't go… Some of these things don't go away. There was an incident the other day and an incident… It was an event that we had to hold as a family… a couple of deaths. And I will say that the toxicity and the patterns from the people in my family that have not chosen to do the work was there, and it didn't take me out. But I had to really go step back and go, okay, realign, take care of my priorities, and do all of those things. But shortly and quickly, because I know what to do now. The awareness is the first thing.

SAMIA: Yes, yes. And, you know, now I've come to see that even when we do find ourselves, sort of… I'll use the word triggered… because that's how I've been sort of experiencing these moments where… because I've also worked really hard on my own growth and development and healing. And most of the time, I'm very calm and happy and peaceful. But every so often, there will be someone that will come into my life and turns out they're holding more negative energy than I'm holding positive energy. Usually my positive energy easily outweighs other people's not-so-positive energy, and I do just fine. But every so often, someone will come and I'm like, whoa, whoa, your energy... negative energy is so strong that… you know, and so for me, I have now come to see it as a function challenge where I'm like, okay, okay, time for me to step up my game. And I have recognized… and it's not… and sometimes it's related to, like, specific issues. So my own awareness gets raised about, ah, see, here with regards to this issue, I still get more triggered. Or here is a threshold that I need to work on in terms of stepping up my own practice and my… up-leveling my own ability to stay positive and peaceful, etcetera... So, you know, trying to do… we do the best we can…

CHERI: Yes. And with what we know, right. And sometimes we don't know. So we don't even know that we are doing these things… or that there is a way out to really get in alignment with what we want and then deciding to do things differently and finding what those things are… because sometimes we don't even know where to begin. And you just think that's the way it is... When I was sitting at work 60 hours a week, I would do things… And I do my coaching mostly online. And so it's a whole different world today. But when I do an eyebrow appointment… oh, somebody wants me at 08:00 at night, and I didn't have any clients since five, I'll sit there for a $15 eye wax... Eyebrow wax... not the eye, that would really hurt… eyebrow wax… And how effective was that? From the bigger scheme of things, looking back at the bigger picture… I was so myopic and, well, I got to have one more client. I got to make that little bit of money… And that’s scarcity mindset at its finest. And which is why the prosperity mindset is what I really focus on to help people get what they want… not what I want. Oh, I want you to have more money. I want you to have more time. I want you to have... No… what do you want? And then we begin. Yeah. Because they need to know what they want first, not me…

SAMIA: Yes. Yes. Oh, my gosh, yes... Because, you know, I really wanted to talk to you about creating more time and money freedom in our lives. And you just raised such an excellent point that if you want more of anything, first… I mean, you have to have clarity about what you really want…

CHERI: Or clarity about what you don't want. This is the funny thing…

SAMIA: Yes…

CHERI: It's quite often people go, well, I don't want this. I don't want this... That's how I start a lot of the sessions, and that's why I do a discovery session. I don't even let anybody work with me until we talk first so we can see, you know, can I help you? And if not, I figure out, well, that you maybe need this over here instead. And because I have a lot of other connections. But, yeah, sometimes I just don't want to have another car breakdown, which is an interesting thing. And it is actually about a money story, but they don't know that. I keep having this happen. I keep having... Okay, well, what is it that you do? My dad used to never fix the cars. He would let them run until literally we would be at a stoplight and the engine would blow up. I remember that when I was probably about 15 and I thought, what is the deal? And so… which were some of my catalysts for later on going, I need to take a look at these things, right. And that's sort of a funny story, but it's the truth... I can actually, when I drive through this same place, it's in Vegas, near my house, I think about that every time, and gratefully I am, that we did not get hit because we were just sitting in the middle of the road and people don't know sometimes. So anyway. But, yeah, those kinds of things can take us into a whole other mindset under the surface, so we aren't aware... So looking underneath, looking at the things below the surface… somatic work… So feeling in the body, which sounds kind of funny to some people. Oh, I'm going to feel, yes. When you relax enough, you're subconscious, you're super conscious… just being allowed to open up from not being in the filing cabinet in our brain, is enough to allow those things to come out. And then bit by bit, we work through it and get to the next step. And sometimes it just pours out and sometimes we have to spend some time there. It's always profound. I'm always like a little kid at the end, like, wow, I know this works. And it did again, like, and I know it works, but I'm just so excited when I see the results.

SAMIA: Yes, yes... Yeah, because, you know, there is like such a simplicity to the, to the process that… it's sometimes… like, to the mind, it's very mind-boggling. How could it be so simple? Like, this is a problem that has bothered me for some time. It may be like for decades that you might have this particular issue bothering you and impacting you so much in your life, and then to find that, wow, the solution and the path towards the solution… so simple…

CHERI: Yeah. And it really is. And really the hardest part is making the decision to take a look and allow yourself to go into that space and start exploring… because then we get to heal, then we move into… we have the awareness and then we start healing and it's, you know, of course it overlaps and so forth a little bit because then you have something else come up and what have you. But then after you start working through some of those things, you get into that belief, oh, I can do this. I'm getting more clarity. I could actually take a day off or two days off or go on a trip. How many people don't go on trips? And when they do, it's two days or something. You don't even get to relax yet, let alone… And then the possibilities start building a new future. And then you go into the empowerment, because after that, other things start to come up. You're healing at the same time as moving forward. And you're building confidence, you're building the empowerment. You're building that clarity, and you're building things new. And then that fourth step really is, in a sense, it's action and up-leveling and action and up-leveling. And this is when sometimes your motivation goes, you start procrastinating. You try to maybe be, oh, you know, I'm going to reward myself and I'm not going to work today when you really have a deadline or something. And so then those little pieces that have come, that along the way we start looking at those, okay, well, what's this? What this, what's this? But we start getting that money freedom, that time freedom. Because most people, this is the motivator, right? Money... You know, oh, my relationship is horrible and I don't know what to do. So I go in and I close the door and I don't talk to that other person. Funny, though, when you start making money, those relationship issues… because relationship with money is an issue. Relationship with your spouse or your mother or your children or whoever are very similar… because the pattern is the same. So what's beautiful is when you go in and start working on one thing, other things start to fall off. And the mind doesn't know the difference. It has no idea... So if I say to myself every morning, well, I'm just not worthy, I'm not worthy. I'm never going to be.

So if I'm saying that to myself, right, then of course my mind agrees... So a simple process can go… we go through an hour, hour to 2 hours, we go through and we take a look at what's going on, why it's happening… not, not the whole details. And oh, you got to spill your guts, and there will be… The important parts will come out, and then we shift. We go into something new and different. We create a framework that's going to help you solidify it. But what's really cool is after that, I give people... it's homework, but it's play work… to start exploring how to shift that. So we have a few things that they get to do different. And so… I'm not a therapist or anything, but they know already what they need to do, or else they wouldn't be here, right? They wouldn't come in and go, well, I'm doing this over and over, and I keep sabotaging myself. And they may say that or they may not, but the fact is they're causing another issue… maybe not directly, but indirectly… things fall into place where, darn it, all those people didn't show up again... Like, we'll say, if they were appointments, well, it's because you go… that's okay, and I won't charge you that fee for not being here, and whatever, we'll just go ahead and put you back in... So they don't respect you, because I don't respect you, and I don't respect me, and I don't respect anybody. And I think that if I give you more, you are going to like me more, which is... So it just snowballs into a whole other thing where we get to go, like, okay, I am worthy. I'm going to do a couple of things. Not 20, not a list of, you know, that's one of the things we do as humans. We then go, I'm going to do all this. And in three days, we're exhausted and angry, and then we do none of it... We go right back. So the mentorship piece is really, really great, too. And then sometimes they need some healing, and so we'll weave that in as you need to do an integration, you know, full, full spectrum healing. I do so many different modalities and coaching along the way. It makes it so gentle, and then before you know it, they're going, wow, wow... that wasn't so bad. You know, we don't have to beat you over the head and make you tell all your story every weekend and try to get you to white knuckle it to the next level. It's not necessary. The brain will follow along... We build a new path, and then the other path grows weeds.

SAMIA: Right, right. Yes, yes, yes... Because, you know, this is another limiting belief that people can have is that, well… because they don't know, the other possibilities… It's like, oh, it has to be hard. Most people, when they think about dealing with, especially, like, mental emotional issues, they think about, oh… like, the therapy model where you have to dig up all the past history and talk about everything that disturbs you, etcetera. But, yeah, it doesn't have to be like that. That therapy pathway... I mean, some people need it because they're not ready or they don't have access or awareness of other methods, but it doesn't have to be like that.

CHERI: Yeah. And, you know, some. Yes... Let me tell you, I can tell you stories about.. I actually was diagnosed with PTSD, which I was surprised, by a therapist, and I will say that I ended up with more PTSD from the therapist. Now, I'm not saying… there was obviously something wrong there in a disconnect, and I was allowing things to happen within my therapy sessions. So there is a place for therapy, and I work with therapists, sometimes with their clients to do these specific pieces because we can work in conjunction.

SAMIA: Yes.

CHERI: And sometimes if they've talked and talked and talked it out to the point that they can't get to that next level and people will quit their therapy, it could be just at that point they're ready to take that plunge and shift some of those things into more empowering, more uplifting, more positive energy to do what is necessary. And what's beautiful, when we do something to change in our life and in our home or in our workplace, it's amazing… I used to have people in the spa get mad at me for I don't even know what. I'm bending over backwards and I've had my keys thrown at me. These are people that I had that I was paying them $1,000 a week to work like 20 hours, right. Which is an amazing good thing in the spa industry. But I pay people well because they're important... Point being, I didn't respect myself to the point that they didn't respect themselves enough to be there, and there was a disconnect. And so what happens is when you change who you are, everybody else changes around you. Because now, I'm not going to say sometimes they're happy about it, but they do come along, and then they're happy later that this all happened… because change is hard for everyone. And sometimes I bring other people in. Now, I've had couples that have come in and, you know, the… usually women are who I work with just because there's a lot of… that just is the thing… I'm a woman, and so there are some specific things with us that maybe men don't see. But I think that they do more and more, they're getting some of the same beliefs and things as we are… But I'll have them come in and I'll go, here's what we're doing. And then we co-create a plan together where, okay, you need day, night. Can you agree with this? And because really, it's the lack of connection. It's not really that you don't care for that person… most of the time… Of course, there are times when, if it's dangerous, don't stay or something like that. But sometimes there's just a little nudge that's needed to be done. Or I go, hey, here's what I did. Because, yes, I'm surprised to this day that I've been married that long. And my joke is, we just didn't pack our things on the same day. One of us was always in it to hold space for the other person who was struggling. That's the secret to saying married and saying happy... It's a funny thing, but kind of it is because people do that. They pack up and they go. And then they think, wow, should I have done that? Maybe, maybe not. I don't know... But you didn't explore first all the options.

SAMIA: Yes.

CHERI: Which is not about money, but it is about money…

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah, I hear you. I hear you... It's sort of like, as you say, the pattern that we show in one area of our life… if you really observe, you'll notice that pattern playing out in other areas in your life, too. And when it comes to relationships, you know, that... and how you maintain a relationship, like, when there is issues with it, that's like a really important… like, something to know about yourself. Because, I mean, ultimately, all of life is about relationships. You know, whether it's our relationships with other people, with the things that we have or want to have, or the relationship with the environment, you know, the planet, you know, you name it… ultimately it comes down to relationships. And so to understand our tendencies in the context of how we do our relationships is so, so important. Yeah... And, you know, you just made me think about my own parents because… they… we just a little while ago, celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary, if I'm counting correctly. And, you know, my mom can be heard sharing similar wisdom.

CHERI: Yeah. And you're going to take that same stuff somewhere else if you just give up and go to a new person…

SAMIA: Yeah.

CHERI: And sometimes, yes, people might need to not be together. However, most of the time, we quit too soon, in everything, as humans. We've been conditioned in a sense to be that way. You know, oh, I'm going to do me and I'm going to do, and then before you know it, you're sitting somewhere by yourself going, well, maybe I didn't want to do me because now what am I doing?

SAMIA: Yeah, you know, this, this makes me think about… think about the dynamics, like, at a cultural level also, because I think in different cultures, like now I'm thinking about, like, Asian cultures, which are much more collectivistic compared to more individualistic cultures, like in America. And I think in some ways these different cultural tendencies are trying to correct each other in some ways. And maybe we go too far… Like in our Asian cultures, there's a lot of emphasis placed on family unity. And there's all kinds of things that we do and that we go through in the name off and for the sake of keeping the family together. But I do see there are times when I think we go way too far. You know, like one of my pet peeves... well, that's the wrong word... One of the things that I really… where I feel we go too far is when there is abuse happening in the relationships… And it’s…

CHERI: …time you need to get out as quick as possible. Absolutely.

SAMIA: Because a lot of times you don't have the capacity. Yeah…

CHERI: Yeah. We don't…

SAMIA:  Exactly.

CHERI: It's set up where they don't have the money or they don't… Yeah. And they don't... Sometimes not a car, depending where they're living. I mean, even, even here in the United States, I'm blown away by the people that come in and I'm like, ooh, you know, in the spa setting, so they're coming to get a massage and the husband sits out there the entire time and I'm… And they don't come…they don't ever come back because they probably don't... And if it were up to me, I would have a conversation with the gentleman and, you know, and I can tell… I can just tell somethings. And it may not be that they're being beat, but they may be verbally abused… or clearly, when somebody comes in… and you can tell a difference, the guy comes in, he goes, yeah, we're going to go and have lunch later, and he goes and he sits in the relaxation room and he's playing on his phone a video game or goes to sleep or something… But the one who's diligently sitting there and they don't have a way out …and they do, it might take longer and there may be some interesting ways that we have to… like, say they come to work with me and I never tell them to leave. Well, I might allude to it or give suggestions in this case, because you don't want them to stay in a place where they could get hurt. And then the other extreme is as well, I have a client who has become my friend, and she's in her thirties, and here I am… I could be her... Well, she's the same age as my kids, and it's a funny and cool friendship. And she talks to me about her family. She's investing in homes and this and that, and she's still single, and she wants a kid someday. And she talks about maybe invitro or whatever, and she's not there yet. And she's helping other women build financial wealth with… because she started bringing in… she actually works here in the casinos, but she's started getting certifications to help people with financial literacy and things. And so, and she says, you know, my family's going, we're really worried about you. You're getting in over your head. Don't you think you should be looking for a spouse? Don't you think you need..? And the fact is that she has her own plan, and she's trying to break out of that, that stereotype of what she should be doing. And she does fosters dogs, and she's making a difference on the planet, and she's having fun, and she has a purpose and her passion, and she enjoys her life. Sometimes I'd like to be inserted into her life more often, but I love it. I'm not jealous or anything. I'm just like, wow, she's figured it out so soon. And she gets pushback regularly. Oh, don't you think you're too much? Why, yes, I am. Thank you... And that was one of the things we worked on. And now she says, yep, I'm too much. Live with it. And she's embraced it, because too much just means you're vibrant and having the life that you want to have. It doesn't mean that there's something wrong... And so…

SAMIA: Right…

CHERI: Yeah, so it is. It is.. And it's everywhere because we have these ideas, which is where all those beliefs come from…

SAMIA: Yeah…

CHERI: All the things that don't work come from something like that, where we misunderstood or were really told and we misunderstood that we could change it when we get to the point, you know… we don't have a frontal lobe that is built till 25 years old. So here we are, three, four, five years old, and we hear something, maybe somebody's talking about… we can't find that bill… because they set it somewhere and they're looking to pay their power bill… You know, when I, in the seventies, when we didn't have any of that and you had to send it… and any of that, as in the Internet… and I heard, wow, we don't pay our bills. There must be something wrong with us. Like, just that, right. And then if there is any challenge, later on, they'll go, oh, something's wrong with me. Like, that piece that was seen from a child's perspective… somehow, I don't know why we hold something like that in our brains, but we do, because that was real to us, and it's… it's a trigger. It is true that it's a trigger, but it's a reaction. It's a reactionary... So there's small traumas and big traumas. When you said trauma, I was kind of happy because, you know, that's how we... because it affected us in a way that keeps us from growing in a positive way.

SAMIA: Yeah.

CHERI: That's what trauma is. And sometimes they're really horrific traumas…

SAMIA: Yeah. Yes, I think we underestimate the impact of little traumas on our lives…

CHERI: Yes. Because they cluster like this…

SAMIA: Yes.

CHERI: And to get to the one in the center, you can get the ones from around the center of the cluster of beliefs, and they will help. And sometimes we have to go in that way. So maybe I am all alone, but it could be I don't have any help. No one will support me. But you get to where I'm all alone in the center… someone may not think that they go, oh, no, I have people all around me, and I have friends, and I have this. But what happens when you need help? Well, I'm so codependent that no one helps me, and they walk away because really, the dynamics is, I'm here to help you, and you don't feel like you need to help me, because I already got it figured out. It's not that they're saying… because my mom has always said that, like, you were always able to just do things, and I was. And it would have been nice if I had felt more loved. Now, it could be that I just did that. It doesn't mean they tried to not love me or that they didn't love me... It was how I perceived it when I was small. That's all.

SAMIA: Right... Yes. And, you know, these kinds of… There's so much about perspective when you think about, you know, an issue like feeling alone, because I have struggled with feeling alone while surrounded by very loving family and friends, but mostly family. But when I was going through my different stages of growth, I mean, you know, I've... The one, I would say one constant that I've always had in my life is my family around me. The friends have come and gone, but the family I've always had around me. And so when I think about the struggles that I experienced with being alone, even when my family was around me, that was what really helped me to realize that, yeah, that feeling of being alone isn't about who's around you and who's not. You can be surrounded by people, even loving people, and still feel alone. And on the other hand, you can be completely alone, but not feel lonely... And so there is that distinction, and there's so much about perspective in when you feel alone or not, when you feel lonely or not. And you don't always understand where it's coming from. You know, it's not always immediately clear to us what's going on there.

CHERI: And you know what that really boils down to, that I'm finding more and more, is we don't know how to ask for what we need. We don't even know, because... So I joke about being an eighties girl and having… we were… put your nose to the grindstone, and when you're 65, you're going to be able to… I want to say graduate… but retire... graduate from work, I guess, and what have you. And that isn't what happened. I stuck my nose to the grinds, and I joked that I've had to have it redone, but that's not really true. It's still my nose. But I felt like that... And I was very good at it because I followed the rules, I followed the directions, and we weren't counting on technology to rushing us. Like, we can't even catch up with one thing and there's more. Because everything in my lifetime compared to… you know, when I, when I was born, it was radio… reel to reel, not even eight-track tapes yet. And there were some records and, and black and white television… which is really funny when I look at what's going on now, I can't keep up, in a sense... So I've had to learn to be me. I am me. I am my authentic, quirky self that can be really silly. And I can explain things in a way that people go, wow, that was very strange. And it works. And I have to be in this technology world, and I'm using that because what happened is, as we moved into things, my teaching was too… I would say, out of the box. But what it was is I really met the needs of every kid in my classroom. And I know now was my intuition, but that's, that's where I learned that. And my principal was kind enough to share that he… how special he thought I was. And I was like, wow. It took me decades to figure out what he meant and he told me to get out before it ruined me. And so then I opened the spa and then I started all of this coaching because I saw my beliefs… And part of that was because I was able to do school well. Straight A student. Perfect, perfect, yay, me... oh, I'm all that... And then technology came. And guess what? I don't know what I'm doing half the time. And if you don't know what you're doing, you pretend, right, until you get it done. Nope, that didn't work with technology because it's a whole different animal. My kids were born… well, my son was born the year that the Internet, well, the email was given to us publicly. Like, I remember when the kids were, they were small, small, small, and I got my first computer… and I was trying to… it was… I was trying to figure out an email address, which is a whole other thing. You go to Best Buy and they're like, oh, what you want? And it ended up being a combination of my kids names because Jake and Kyla, so j-a-k-y-l-a because everything was taken. And I was so frustrated, it was ridiculous... I'm like, I just want this computer. And they made me get an MSN or Hotmail or whatever it was.

SAMIA: Yeah…

CHERI: That's how they were. They were, you know, that was early marketing at the digital level and I didn't know what they were doing. And so, knowing what our needs are, sometimes we don't know because there's things that moving, are moving so fast and nose to the grindstone. Just look up later and you can do that all later. No, don't. There's one thing the listeners need to know is… make sure you take time now to enjoy yourself.

SAMIA: Yes.

CHERI: Because it's not going to go away, you know, I mean, you, then you'll be me where I had to have both of my knees worked on and this and that because I was limping. I was on a cane for nine months. I am not a cane woman, let me tell you. And luckily I don't, I don't walk with a limp or anything anymore, but I had to be purposeful about it.

SAMIA: Yeah…

CHERI: ...because I'm like, no, I'm in my fifties. I am not going to go to bed now and not do anything and like, oh, well, it's too late for me. But we do that and we don't even realize we are…

SAMIA: Yeah. You know, this makes me think about the fear of missing out and how much that controls our lives. Like right now I'm seeing this FOMO, fear of missing out syndrome, occurring in the context of AI and, like, artificial intelligence. And there is like this crazy race that… well, certainly the tech companies are in, where they're like, oh, if that other company gets the technology implemented with their things faster than we do, we will get left behind. And so we have to make sure we beat them. And so they've gotten into this crazy race to integrate AI. And now even at a public level, more and more you're starting to feel this… At one level, it feels like excitement to start getting to know AI and using AI... But at another level, there's also an underlying pressure because you want to figure out how to use it so you don't get left behind. Like, you know, for example, in the context of my work, it's like, oh, you know, AI is being used. Like, if I don't figure out how to use AI to generate text for my things that I, like, write, whether it's a blog post or an ad for this or that, or, you know, then somehow your… the thing that you write may not be as smart as what AI generates because, you know, AI is able to make sure that all the keywords are in there and this and that…

CHERI: And… it’s so funny, because the fact is we got to put all that in for it to come out. It's still a computer, so it's still us…

SAMIA: Yes, exactly. It's like…

CHERI: …and we think that they're helping us.

SAMIA: Yes. I mean, if you... Exactly. I actually went through a training about how to use AI to generate these different kinds of text and so forth. And exactly what you said, that you had to be actually smart about how you were using it, what you were inputting… because trash in, trash out, as the saying goes. And so it wasn't actually just that simple. I mean, in some ways it was, yes, very cool to see the results… but you had to be smart about it. There was definitely a bit of a learning curve and don't even… like, I didn't even, I haven't even tried to learn other aspects of using AI, like generating images and stuff… because they're like, oh, oh, you know, like if you don't learn all of this how to use AI, your expenses are going to remain high compared to someone else who starts to use AI. And then they don't have to pay a graphic artist that money to do custom graphics for them because AI is just doing it more cheaply and more quickly, etcetera, etcetera. So there's like this, all of this sense of pressure that you have to begin to learn and integrate and use AI. But at the same time, no one's thinking about the dangers possibly that are very much present in the context of AI and how AI is being utilized. There's actually some podcasts I was listening to where they were talking about… trying to alert the public about how dangerous AI can actually be and is… not just be, but is... It's already created all kinds of issues. Like, for example, with… because kids, especially the younger kids, they're technology natives, you know, like your children that you were saying, they were still young when the email came out, when the computer came out. So they grew up with this technology, learning it, how to maneuver it, so they adapt to it so much more quickly. And it's the same thing with our young kids now. They're like, they're introduced to AI when they're young. They're adapting to it so quickly and they're getting exposed to the risks… you know, like getting, they were like talking about how these AI chat boxes, for example, in the context of kids safety, the kids start chatting with the AI boxes about all kinds of things and they think, oh, I've made a new friend. How amazing is this friend that responds to everything that I say… But the kids can, you know, get into really… like there are kids with depression that are trying to chat with AI, and the AI is giving them terrible advice on how to deal with their depression. Or, you know, things like that. And so there's all kinds of risks that people are not even aware of, and we're not thinking about managing those risks or anything and just going into this blind race to do AI, just because we have this fear of missing out. And it's such a... And this fear shows up in so many different aspects of our life, as we were mentioning. And then it sort of begins to limit, limit our sense of options. It begins to limit our sense of possibilities… becomes like a seriously limiting belief…

CHERI: Well, it's funny, as you were talking about that, I'm thinking, well, what a metaphor or analogy of what is… what happens with our mind. So it could be... So and I was thinking institutions… So sometimes institutions… So, you know, and I could say it could be religion or government or, you know, you grew up in an abusive household or, you know… institutions just as some sort of structured environment where you were getting information, like from the chat, that is incorrect. Like, I could, when you were speaking about, you know, depressed children or young adults or whatever, and, you know, you, I could see a chat. Well, the only thing that you could do besides what we've already discussed is maybe die or like, because it's so, it's literal and it's not thinking from that other space. And so, yes, there's that whole ethical piece. And when you go in and you actually use it to write our… when we write our stuff, in a sense, we're rewriting the story. So we get that general information and then we go, well, no, no, I don't want you to talk about how every woman is so compromised in the United States. Like, some of it, I sometimes, and I'm like, are you going to give me this again? Please do not give me that none of us make enough money that none of us this, we still are below, we still, like, it's giving me limiting beliefs that some of us were able to break that inner glass ceiling and move from that and we're moving to the next thing. Now what we're doing is this... And so it's not that there, isn't that there, but it's going to give you those, some of the things that it's been programmed into. And then we get to go in and write my... It's funny because I can tell when an email has been written, like, boy, I hope your journey has been good so far today, like, or whatever. And we're going to embark on this… the word embark, chat gpt, in particular, loves that word… And so I'm like, oh, you should have reframed that a little bit. And so it's the same thing with the beliefs because that was really good. And I'm like, never thought of it that way before. But we have that structure and we get all of these beliefs… schools, you know, they tell you and some things we agreed with and some things we didn't know we were getting and some things were somewhere in between… because there are agendas everywhere we go, whether we like it or not. And when we're younger… and from all sides, and none of them are always 100% accurate or whatever, so I'm not going to go there... But, you know, there's just a lot of stuff we get... So when we go inside and go, okay, I don't want to experience this anymore…. okay, well, this is what was going on for me. And just a couple of minutes of here's kind of what's going on… and then you find what's really going on underneath… I use underneath because it's always, we got to dig a little bit, but not, it doesn't have to take long, 5-10 minutes. And then we're going through to the other. And that's what you have to do with chat GPT if you want a really good, like, solid… sometimes I'll go, give me a video script, like that's 1 minute or less because I have a hard time being quiet.

SAMIA: Yeah.

CHERI: …and being that short, right. And then it'll give me something. And I go, well, could you use these? These things… describe this? And then of course I ad lib anyway because I can't help myself because, because I'm confident enough that I can do that. But I have to make sure those pieces are in there so I don't forget them and kind of look at it. But if I just followed what it said, I mean, sometimes I'm like, I don't even know what that is. That's not what, that's nothing. And so, but some of us out there on automatic pilot because we're exhausted, we're not sleeping well, we're not eating well, we're doing our best to get by through the day and, you know, just striving to get through the day and going home and going, oh, I made it... And not even noticing what's going on. And so the marketing that takes place…. so funny thing of the whole thing with the computers, the early digital marketing, but then, yes, the whole thing with chat gpt is the same thing. And if you're not using it ethically, that you're getting a general, a general idea and then you're putting in your own belief system that's going to empower you to move forward, which is just like the beliefs or, you know… or how you relate to other people because that's all beliefs as well. It's relationships, but it's, oh, I believe I have to rewrite my boundaries and say yes to everything because if I say no to something, they'll hate me or whatever, or they're just going to walk away. And if they do, yay... I know that people don't feel like that. I don't either. But if they walk away, those have always been blessings.

SAMIA: Yeah.

CHERI: When somebody threw their key at me because they're mad, because they want to take three months off and not give their clients to anyone else, and when they come back, they expect them all to come back… that was a blessing because they were not going to be someone that we could work together, you know? So. Yeah, but I love that because there is this whole real-time. Yeah. And it's the fear of missing out that gets us to do things that we would not normally compromise within ourselves.

SAMIA: Yes.

CHERI: And that goes back to scarcity…

SAMIA: Exactly. Exactly. The fear of missing out is actually part of a scarcity mindset. And so... And you cannot, you cannot achieve a prosperity, an abundance mindset, if you have the scarcity mindset, they just don't go together. So…

CHERI: Yeah, yeah.

SAMIA: Thank you for raising our awareness of… we have, like, these different ways in which the scarcity mindset can creep up and these different limiting beliefs can creep up into our lives, into our minds the way that we think, and we don't even recognize it as such. So, like you said, we go back again to the awareness piece you mentioned earlier. Awareness… has to start with the awareness to solve the problem.

CHERI: Yeah. And it could be, I'm anxious all the time, or, wow, why do I have this pit in my stomach again? Or why did that just happen again? And you don't have to have it figured out. But another set of eyes, another set of ears, hearing what you're saying can tell me, oh, here is somewhere we can go. And then sometimes we turn left or we turn right or we do a U turn, because I don't know. The beautiful thing is, I don't know any more than you do, but I hold space for you to get to that other side and get to the prosperity, get to that abundance piece that everybody… there's enough for everybody. And then the wealth and prosperity comes in when some of the things begin to manifest. And it may not be a brand new car… that might not be what you want, it might be. It might be a new house. But it might be that you spend every weekend with your kids, or you get to go to your granddaughter's graduation in May, which is what's happening. She's graduating kindergarten. But I get to go drive 2 hours, stay the night where they live because they're not in the same city, and do that… because I have the flexibility... That to me, is more wealth than any pennies or dollars or millions that I could have. I get to do that. And I spent too much of my earlier years when my kids were little, in the scarcity piece, more so, and I was trying to manage… So balancing is really about harmony of what your priorities are in that, and being able to manage those in a way… I don't like the word manage… but work out those priorities on a daily basis, and I can help with that. And everybody needs it. I needed it, and I was making money, and I would… but I was miserable. And who wants that? If you're not playing and having fun, then it doesn't matter... You're gonna die miserable. We don't want that for anybody.

SAMIA: Exactly. No…

CHERI: …So you can do something about it.

SAMIA: Yes. Yes... You know, Cheri, you keep making me think about more things that I want to share and ask you…

CHERI: Well, there's always another time... We can do it another time if it ends up being that that's the case. So there's always something else. Yes.

SAMIA: Yeah. Yeah. No, because... Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh, there's so much, so much for us to talk about, and I know it's time for us to start wrapping up.

CHERI: Yeah.

SAMIA: So I want to thank you again, Cheri, for all the wisdom you've shared with us. And I think for my last reminder, I will just remind our audience to make sure you check the show notes, because I will drop Cheri's links in there so you can connect with her and continue to learn with her and... Yeah…

CHERI: Yeah.

SAMIA: Exactly. Yeah.

CHERI: And I have that earliest money story I want to… I don't think it's on there that. So there's... There's a free thing that you can go through, but don't do it alone. Yeah, go ahead and do a discovery. No, I want to make sure that I give you what you need with that, and you may find, like, oh, that was nice. But so... So, yeah, that discovery call is huge. If you found any of this interesting and you want to know more, and that doesn't mean that we have to go work for five years together. That would be nice, too. But whatever it is, please, please let me know, because I'm here to help support in whatever way that looks like for you.

SAMIA: Exactly. And the very cool thing about you, Cheri, is that, like you said… when someone comes on that discovery session and you don't feel like you'd actually be a good fit, you don't force the issue. You actually refer them to someone else who would be a good fit. So don't be... Don't be scared at all to connect with Cheri and get the help and support that you need…

CHERI: It's really fun.

SAMIA: Yes.

CHERI: It ends up being fun.

SAMIA: Exactly. It ends up being fun…

CHERI: Yes…

SAMIA: Fun and easy. Yay! Love that.

CHERI: If it weren't, then we'd be creating more beliefs underneath it that aren't going to work either. It has to be somewhat pleasant in order for this to work well, to be empowered and move forward and have all the abundance and prosperity that you want, in the way you want it…

SAMIA: Yes, love that. Love that... All the abundance and prosperity that you want, in the way you want it… And, yeah, so that's perfect. So we will let those be our last thoughts for today. And until we connect next time, I just wish you lots and lots of peace and joy...:)