Speaker 1: 0:10

Hey there, I'm Jenny Perez. I'm a wife, mom and small business owner, and although I love being all of those things, I'm at the point where I feel like there's something more to life outside of those roles. Does that sound like you? If you're in search of that extra magic, craving a dose of positivity, purpose and real talk on being worthy, capable and able, you're in the right place. Let's kick off this journey together. Ignite that spark, radiate some positivity and discover what makes your life and business truly shine. Ready to jump in? Let's spark some radiance together. Hello, and welcome back to the Sparking Radiance podcast. I'm Jenny Perez. Thanks for being with me.

Speaker 1: 0:58

So I have this plan in my mind that I would use some time this afternoon to record an episode, and I had it planned out. My family and I, we went away for a few days. We did a little staycation. Our girls were on vacation this past week and we wanted to do something special with them. So we did a staycation, stayed a few cities over, stayed in a nice hotel, went out to a few nice dinners, girls got to play in the pool, and you know, we had a great time. However, this morning my youngest daughter started saying Mom, my throat is scratchy. So as parents, we know exactly what that means. She's coming down with something and probably within less than an hour or two she was hot and she had a fever, so of course we had to take her over to the urgent care, make sure she didn't have anything serious, and luckily it's just a virus, probably a cold, that's trying to pin her down, and she threw up a few times as well, so the time that I had planned to record an episode kind of got distracted by that. However, I still want to make sure that I check in with you all, so one of the things that I can say is that I'm excited to say that Sparking Radiance has grown. Thank you for those of you that have been listening since day one, I can tell you that exciting things are around the corner and our listener count is growing, and your support for this cause and for this passion of mine is so greatly appreciated.

Speaker 1: 2:35

And I kind of wanted to remind everybody the reason why I started Sparking Radiance and what inspired me to go on this journey with you is that I wanted to create an environment where people can listen in and they can embrace their authentic selves, and I wanted to remind them of their inner light, that they carry and the power of their light, the power of the personal growth and resilience that they can continue to develop from themselves. But not only that once their light is shine, like how they can pass it on to someone else, and creating just a community where we can thrive together and grow together. And kind of going back to that, going back to that growth process, I wanted to ask a big question of everyone that has been following along in this journey with me and I wanna to know the big question is where do you want to see yourself grow? And a lot of you, a lot of times I'll leave activities or I'll just kind of pause a question in there and I'll say reach out to me. And quite a few of you have and I'm excited to hear what your growth or where you want to go looks like. Some of you have been vague and I understand it's personal, but I want to encourage and support that growth and some of you have been really specific and been open about it.

Speaker 1: 3:53

My big question for all of you this episode is where do you want to see yourself grow? And the reason why I mention it is because, in order for us to embrace our authentic selves and grow and shine our light. I kind of got to get an idea of where we're at. Personal growth, of course, is going to look different for everyone, and what this episode really is. Just me asking like a question like where do you see yourself? What area of your life would we, as an audience, want to learn or grow more in? And I ask this question because I want to be able to invite guests on that fulfill that growth, that are part of that growth, that spark that growth. Right, it's not going to be a straight line for everybody and that's why I want to take this time to ask and maybe I will check in you know every episode here and there check in like what does growth look like for you? Where do you want to see yourself grow?

Speaker 1: 4:52

For some of us, it's in technology, like all of this AI and all these types of integration and social media, whatever it may be on that end. Some of us it's technology. For some of us it's maybe health. How can we help ourselves grow in health? For some of us, it's overcoming anxieties and fears. For others of us, it's thinking bigger. I'm just so curious to know where do you see yourself needing that growth? And the fact that you're listening to this podcast, sparking Radiance, gives me an indication that you're looking to grow yourself and some of us it's spiritually. We want to grow spiritually, we want to go holistically. We want to grow I mean, there's so many areas of life that we can grow relationally. We want to grow our relationships. How can we grow our relationships? Right? But I'm asking this question because I think it's a big one as we turn this next corner and it helps me plan out future episodes, future guests and, of course, future growth between all of us here.

Speaker 1: 5:59

So I wanted to also share this article. As I always do, I typically look for some research to back up what we talk about, but I did find this article by Better Up Magazine. Of course, I'm going to put that in the show notes for you. But what does it mean to improve yourself? Growth, and it says.

Speaker 1: 6:17

For some people, the idea of improving yourself is motivating. For others, it can be helpful to think about it as growth. Growth is a positive and not always a straight line. Improving yourself is a very personal journey and specifics can change from person to person. It requires putting in the work and being willing to experience discomfort. Change is uncomfortable. Growth requires stretching past what you know, but every step you take is part of the process toward becoming the best version of yourself. Behavior change can be a long process, but it doesn't have to be grueling. In his talk, atomic Habits, james Clear talks about the power of improving just 1% every day. Improving yourself can be a series of small habits, like taking five minutes in your day to be more mindful, or it can be a more involved process, like overcoming your fears. However, bettering yourself does not mean changing the core of who you are. So, for example, if you're an introvert, you shouldn't aim to be an extrovert.

Speaker 1: 7:25

I liked that they said that and they acknowledged that, because, again going back to the mission of Sparking Radiance, I want us to be true to our authentic selves, who we are at our core. How do we bring the light of who we are at our core that makes us the beautiful people that we are? I also liked I have not read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. I've seen it referenced a lot of times in other writings of books that I've read, so he's definitely on in other writings of books that I read, so he's definitely on my must read list. I know it's an oldie, but a goodie book Definitely. I probably will try to get that one in squeezed in. If you have read it, message me, let me know what your thoughts are on it. But I mean, that's the other thing as well, too. Kind of getting an idea of where you all would like to see.

Speaker 1: 8:09

Growth can also create things for our community as well. Like, I know a lot of people who like to be a part of book clubs, so if I knew of a certain group of people that wanted to grow in their health, obviously I would connect them with somebody that is also on that same journey as well. Reading books and having book clubs and things is something that we can consider down the line. However, in this article they also mentioned 15 ways to better yourself. I'm not going to list them all, but where you can experience growth is being more mindful of making time for rest, reading more books or listening to more podcasts. Right For those of us that don't have the time for books, we always can create time for podcasts.

Speaker 1: 8:52

Start a gratitude practice. I think this is key, especially in the season that we're going to be in soon. Learn new things like a language or a skill. Write in a journal. I think I probably, if you're a journal writer, reach out to me because this is something that interests me. I've heard so many great things about that and I might probably do a whole episode on journaling itself down the line.

Speaker 1: 9:14

Nourish yourself with healthy foods. This is one that's important. Practice saying no, limit activities that drain you, that one's tough, and spend more time outdoors. Add movement to your life. We've talked about some of these. Work to improve your fear of failure. These are just some of the ways that it says that we can better ourselves.

Speaker 1: 9:33

But I think in some of these, I think there's going to be some of you out there that say, yeah, jenny, this is the area of growth that I want to focus on. Reach out to me, because I and again, everything that you share with me is made for this community and I would like us to grow together and I want to kind of take pole and see where you're at, because I want to be able to support that growth that you're currently in or where you would like to be. So it just basically helps me identify where I can bring a little bit of clarity and help making sure that you achieve your goals, and I really want you to take time to think about what it is that you'd like to improve in your life. It could be your career, your personal life, your health, your mindset, your relationships. I want to be able to gather that information again so that I can make sure that I'm catering the future episodes to inspire you. And with that said, guys, this is going to be a really, really short episode because of what happened this afternoon with my daughter. However, you know, I still want to make sure that I'm getting something out to you all and showing my appreciation for each and every one of you for coming along this journey with me and this growth journey together, this sparking radiance journey.

Speaker 1: 10:53

But I do want to share this. Last couple of weeks, since my daughters have been in school, they keep hearing my daughter say this thing about buckets, buckets, buckets and that, and they would say that doesn't feel like they tell. When you know they're kind of bickering with each other. They say that doesn't fill my bucket. Or when they do something really nice, they'll say my bucket is full. And I kind of want to share this with you, because one of the areas that the article mentioned that you can help improve your life is. It's what did I say Practice kindness towards others. So I wanted to share this bucket example with you and I have this message with my daughter a conversation that I had with my daughter that she explained a little bit more detail and what this bucket situation was. So I hope you guys enjoy this sweet little message from her. Hi, what's your name?

Speaker 2: 11:46

Rosiah.

Speaker 1: 11:47

And how old are you? Six and Rosiah, can you tell me the story about filling up the buckets? I heard you the other day talk about buckets. What does that mean?

Speaker 2: 11:57

Well, you have to say please or thank you, and then your bucket, the water it fills, when you can't see or feel your bucket on top of your head.

Speaker 1: 12:10

Okay, and how do you only fill your bucket, or can other people fill your bucket?

Speaker 2: 12:15

Other people can fill your bucket.

Speaker 1: 12:17

And how can other people fill your bucket?

Speaker 2: 12:19

By saying please or thank you.

Speaker 1: 12:21

And that's it Only, please, and thank you. Yeah, any other ways they can fill up your bucket. I thought you gave me some examples.

Speaker 2: 12:27

Like people can, like they can do. They can help people and they can do things for them.

Speaker 1: 12:36

You know like that Well, can people take away water from your bucket? Huh, no, no, but they take away water from your bucket. No, no, but they could only fill people with water, yes, okay. And so what happens when your water gets full?

Speaker 2: 12:52

The next day, like if it's full at the nighttime the next day, it'll go down to the bottom, so you can start all over.

Speaker 1: 13:01

You know, yeah, do you get your bucket filled a lot? Yes, yeah. Can you give me some examples of what makes your bucket filled?

Speaker 2: 13:15

Like you can like. If you were reading a book and you needed to read, I can go take your coffee cup in the sink.

Speaker 1: 13:19

if you were done Like that, I would fill my bucket you would feel oh okay, so doing kind things for others is a way to fill your bucket up as well yeah and also saying please and thank you oh, of course, yeah, and can you give me another example of how you can fill someone else's Like?

Speaker 2: 13:38

if Dad couldn't go get the ball, but I could. I could go get the ball for him and I would fill my bucket.

Speaker 1: 13:48

Yeah, Do you think that we can also fill other people's buckets up too?

Speaker 2: 13:52

Yeah, but that way it's a bit more hard. That way you have to like. You have to like, say please and thank you to other people.

Speaker 1: 14:05

Yeah, yeah, doing kind things for sure, rosiah. How old did you say you were again Six, six. I think you're a very bright girl and I think that you understanding that, yes, this life is about us feeling our buckets and people's buckets. That's right, by doing kind and nice things for others. It's a very big lesson to learn and take with you in life. I love you.

Speaker 1: 14:32

What a sweet message that was about the buckets. She's right, we can fill people's buckets up and people can fill our buckets up as well. So you know, when you think about that, think about the bucket. The same thing with our light we can give people light or we can take light away. So, guys, I encourage you to share with me where you'd like to grow. I want to be able to fill your bucket, to let your bucket overflows and you're able to share with others and their bucket overflows.

Speaker 1: 15:02

For those of you that are following sparkingradiance on Instagram and sharing the episodes, thank you for being a part of this journey. Continue to do that, continue to support this Sparking Radiance movement, and I'm just excited to see where this is going. Again, this is a project that I started with an idea in mind and I appreciate all of you for coming along on this journey. Continue filling buckets, continue saying please and thank you to those around you, of course. And with that said, guys, have a great week and I love y'all. You hear that clap. That's me cheering you on for completing another episode. I don't know about you, but, man, that was quick. If you like what you heard, hit the subscribe button or share the episode with someone you think that might need a little spark and help us grow by leaving a review. Remember, keep sparking that radiance from within. Until next time, shine on.