#33 Make Time for ME Time

In this shorter ‘podcast mini’, Kelly invites you to notice when you're allowing the viewpoints and opinions of others to dictate your life, and the importance of filtering out the noise so you can hear your own wise inner voice. Are you allowing enough silence and creating ME time for knowing yourself on a deeper level?

The beautiful poem Kelly reads is by Becky Hemsley. With gratitude x

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Read the Transcript for this Episode below:

Episode 33 of the project me podcast.

Hi, I'm Kelly Pietrangeli, the creator of  myprojectme. com. This podcast is designed to be an entertaining, lighthearted, inspirational, personal growth journey.  Each episode goes in a mostly chronological order as I piece together the books, modalities, people, and experiences. The fallen onto my life path exactly when I needed them and how often I resisted the very things I needed the most or didn't see the gifts contained in the challenges until later  by sharing my stories.

I hope to inspire you to reflect on your life path. What are the seeming coincidences that have led you to where you are today?  What are the hidden gifts within your challenges? And what magic is out there waiting for you as you let go of resistance and follow your own breadcrumb trail.  At the end of each short episode, there's an opportunity for you to reflect on how my story relates to your own life.

You'll also find a PDF of journal prompts in the show notes or in the podcast section at myprojectme.  com.  Hi guys, welcome back. Or if you're new to the show, welcome. This episode is going to be a different one from my usual longer storytelling episodes. I'm going to call this one a podcast mini, a short one on a subject I feel very passionate about.

The importance of silence and me time for the purpose of going within and getting to really know yourself on a deeper level.  I've always been an advocate of me time, meaning time for me where I'm not focusing on anybody else. This was vital to me as my kids were growing up and it became the founding premise of my blog, myprojectme.

com, the website, my book, my membership. When we lose touch with ourselves, we lose a part of ourselves, and then these missing parts need to be retrieved and pieced back together so we feel whole again. And when we don't feel whole and at one with ourselves, We can't feel at one with the universe. There will always be a disconnect.

Moments of feeling plugged in and fully switched on, but it's like when there's a loose wire and the light flickers on and off. The connection is intermittent and unstable.  And then, when we don't feel whole, and we don't feel at one with the universe, we see others as separate from us. This division plays out in conflicts with others.

We need to be waking up and entering into a unity consciousness. Unity consciousness mostly means thinking and ultimately acting in ways that unite us to ourselves, to others, to the world and the universe. I'm going to do a separate episode on this subject because I'm feeling more and more passionate about the subject of unity consciousness, but going back to the importance of me time so we can begin to feel whole again.

The first big step to this is becoming more aware of a tendency we have to listen to too many outside voices and seeking outside confirmation. And so we're not even sure what we think or believe for ourselves.  We lose our intuition, our own inner knowing. We give away our unique personal power.  We hide parts of ourselves that were not too much for some people and we end up hiding it from ourselves too.

My friend Kiki posted a poem into our WhatsApp group a few weeks ago and amongst all the usual jokey memes and silly videos, this one really stood out for me and touched me deeply.  I know it was shared far and wide, so maybe you've read it too, but it's easy to glance at these things and move on, and I think this one deserves some unpacking.

It's written by Becky Helmsley.  She sat at the back, and they said she was shy.  She led from the front. And they hated her pride.  They asked her advice, and then questioned her guidance. They branded her loud, then were shocked by her silence.  When she shared no ambition, they said it was sad.  So she told them her dreams, and they said she was mad.

They told her they'd listen, then covered their ears.  And gave her a hug while they laughed at her fears.  And she listened to all of it thinking she should be the girl they told her to be best as she could.  But one day she asked what was best for herself  instead of trying to please everyone else.  So she walked to the forest and stood with the trees.

She heard the wind whisper. And dance with the leaves.  She spoke to the willow, the elm, and the pine. And she told them what she'd been told time after time.  She told them she felt she was never enough.  She was either too little or far, far too much. Too loud or too quiet. Too fierce or too weak.  Too wise or too foolish.

Too bold or too meek.  Then she found a small clearing surrounded by firs. And she stopped.  And she heard. What the trees said to her.  And she sat there for hours, not wanting to leave. For the forest said nothing. It just let her breathe. Hmm.

Did that touch you too?  All of that trying to please everyone else, and not even being sure what you want for yourself. Can you relate to that?  There is really ever going to be one way. To truly differentiate between the outside voices and your own inner knowing, your own truth.  And that is to have alone time, by yourself, not listening to anyone else speak, so you can hear the wise whisperings of your heart.

And that means overcoming the urge to always press play on a podcast when you have some time to yourself. I know all about that addiction to outside stimulation. It's autopilot these days to press play and fill our ears with something rather than be alone with our thoughts. Be it the car radio or turning on the news, we have never in human history spent such little time in silence.

And now with cordless earbuds, we can literally have input straight into our ears while we're doing everything. And the more accustomed we become to this, the less we enjoy and appreciate silence.  It feels uncomfortable.  Being alone with our thoughts can be very agitating.  But just as the poem suggests, it's when we take time to ourselves for inner reflection that we can hear ourselves and just breathe.

And doing that in nature is such a beautiful way to really connect with ourselves. The trees are so wise. I became a proper tree hugger in 2020 when I walked to Hyde Park in London for my daily government approved exercise. I used to sit under my tree, the tree with the portal, and then listen to the leaves whisper.

Do you ever do this?  And what about that whole part of the poem about trying to be what you think others want you to be or simply being afraid to be your true self? Maybe because you're not even sure who your true self is.  Journaling has always been my best tool for investigating who I am. Pouring out my emotions and then asking myself, Okay, so why am I feeling this way?

And then exploring what comes up.  Our answers lie within us when we allow ourselves some time, some space, some silence to ask ourselves questions and allow the answers to come forth. Not from our heads, but from our hearts.  I did a whole podcast episode about journaling and what a vitally important personal growth tool it's been for me.

And I did another about meditation and how it finally helped me to understand the importance of having space between thoughts and realizing that I really could tame my monkey mind. I didn't think it was possible.  You can go back to all the earliest episodes and download the free PDFs of journal prompts.

They're so good for asking those important questions that'll help you to understand yourself on a much deeper level.  If you're feeling like you never have time for yourself to journal or meditate or be alone in nature, that in itself is worth investigating with curiosity.  I have a simple yet very powerful worksheet called Me Time, and it's helped so many women to put a pen to paper and find pockets of peace they didn't think they had until they did this exercise.

It's on the free action sheets tab at myprojectme. com, it's called Me Time.  One of my absolute favorite Me Time treats is a candlelit bath with essential oils. And journaling in bed rather than watching one more episode of Ted Lasso until I'm too tired to think that is my current watch. I love Ted Lasso's.

Each episode is only 30 minutes long and so I just kind of go, Oh, I'll just watch another one. Um, but my, my evening me time in bed, you know, don't do it every night, but you know, journaling, I don't have a bath at the moment in my rental apartment in Madrid, which is, Like that was my favorite winter me time treat, but if you've got a bathtub, oh my gosh, take advantage of it.

Light some candles and just even once a week, give yourself that time.  The whole concept of Project Me is, as the name suggests, a way of putting focus on you and putting yourself into the driver's seat of your life. Why would you let a backseat driver tell you where to go in your life? Yet that's what we do when we don't listen to our own inner GPS.

This is about taking personal responsibility for yourself, knowing what you want, and believing that anything is possible and moving towards your dreams and desires without worrying about whether they make sense to anybody else. If you're new to the Project Me Global Movement, I started this back in 2013.

Come on over. It starts with the free Project Me Life Wheel Tool and all the content at myprojectme. com. You can explore all that. If you're a mother, I wrote a book called Project Me for Busy Mothers that really helps you to get the foundations of your life into a good place so that you've got that time for yourself.

Treat your life like an exciting, ongoing project and see what opens up for you when you do. I'm now actually working on creating the Project Me Inner Life Wheel.  The existing life wheel covers your eight key outer world areas to build that firm foundation beneath you. But life is so much more than outer world management.

Once you've got some good systems in place, better time management, you're feeling more organized and like you're not drowning in to do's, a magical space opens up to begin exploring your inner world. And from there, An awareness and an awakening to whole new levels of higher conscious living that you can't even begin to grasp when you're still too absorbed in the minutiae of your 3D worldly existence.

You can feel like everything you can see in front of your face is the most important thing, but something happens once you start moving into these other realms.  I teach how to awaken to these higher levels in my high vibe journey and in my higher programs and to make it super easy to grasp and really actually to implement it into your life.

You don't have to be woo woo to get it on a really deep level. And even if you are already a personal or a spiritual growth junkie, my programs help you on that practical level to bring it all fully into your life as a part of your daily life.  That can be a really tricky part. You know, we read all these super inspirational books and material and watch YouTubes and check out all this stuff and you know how much it would help you if you actually were consistent with it.

But then your worldly life stuff takes over.  I feel like I'm here to do this, to be that bridge between the world, the existence and everything that's on the other side, to wake up to what else is out there. It's absolutely beautiful to witness these awakenings and then to see people merging the physical and the spiritual, so they aren't in these two separate compartments.

You still have your outer world, but it's now flowing with a current of energy that you feel so plugged into, so fully alive.  Okay, this mini episode might turn into maxi if I start going off on all that. So I'm going to end it here with an invitation to have a date with yourself within the next, let's say five days,  get out your calendar and block out some me time.

I won't tell you how long you can decide if you can only spare 30 minutes or if you can do a whole morning or one evening or one hour at some point, get out your calendar and schedule in some me time, block that out.  And if you don't even know what you do on a quiet, reflective date with yourself, know that this can take place at home.

You don't have to go anywhere. Um, choose a cozy chair. You could wrap a blanket around your shoulders, pour yourself a cup of tea, or what I really like, my favorite place is in bed with pillows propped up behind me, some candles in the evening. Like I said, my bath when I had one, um, use a journal or a notebook, you know, get a new one.

If you don't have one, call it your project. Me have a look at the journal prompts that come with all the earlier episodes of this podcast. They are filled with reflective questions to ask yourself because I realized, you know, just opening up a blank page for a lot of people can be like, uh, I don't know where to start.

So just start with these journal prompts, just have a look and start answering the questions and you'll be amazed at what you begin to learn about yourself.  You can also use the free Project Me Life Will tool that has lots of prompts for looking at your outer world. So if you're in need of building that firmer foundation beneath you, that is such a good place to start.

Ink in your date with you into your calendar as if it's the most important medical appointment that you can't miss.  Because it is that important.

Dear listener, for listening.  Relax your forehead.  Take a long, slow, deep breath in,  and let it all out with a sigh.  Do you feel like there are parts of you missing?  Are you letting outside opinions or limiting beliefs hold you back from being your truest you?  Do you give yourself enough quiet time, without listening to the voices of anyone else, so you can hear your own inner voice?

Do you use meditation and journaling as tools to quiet the over analytical mind so you can drop into the wisdom of your heart?  When's the last time you connected with the trees to hear their wise whisperings?  When are you going to have that date with you?

Thank you for listening to the Project Me podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe. Please follow or subscribe in your favorite podcast app. I really appreciate your reviews so much and you sharing it with your friends or on your social media channels. Be sure to tag me. To get the free Project Me life wheel tool, head on over to myprojectme.

com and that'll also put you onto my newsletter list and you'll get updates on my programs, my retreats, and anything else I'm cooking up. You'll also get the inner life wheel when it's ready. You can follow me on Instagram. I'm Kelly, Project Me. Or on Facebook, I'm Project Me, Kelly P.  New members are warmly welcomed into Project WE membership.

Soon we are making our 22 vision boards and getting clear about what we want to bring into our lives this year. Thanks to our brand new membership team, you're going to get some exciting new extras too, that are going to really help you to find your focus. Go to  myprojectme. com forward slash project WE for all of the Project WE details.

Until next time, open your mind, open your heart, and stay curious.  We all need some space in our lives for the magical and unknown.