the small things that changed my life: part two

not only is part two here of the small things that changed my life, we're on episode 50?! wow. thank you so much for being here.

we're continuing the conversation about the small things that have changed my life- habits, tools, + tiny shifts that have made a big difference in my self-love journey. sometimes the smallest changes create the most impact.
for any purchases i've mentioned, find them here

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Transcript

Julia Salvia: 0:00

The small things that changed my life and that are probably gonna change your life as well. When we look at the bigger picture of where we are, I'm sure that you can pinpoint something that you purchased, something that you started implementing, something that you started doing. Maybe you started listening to. That absolutely changed your life, and maybe it's something really small, but it's something that made such an impact on you that you've just kept doing it, kept purchasing it. That's what today's episode is all about, and this is part two of my series. The small things that Changed My Life. Welcome back to the Self-Love Archives podcast. I'm your host, Julia Salvia, your self love besie, and I'm really excited to be back here with part two of the small things that changed my life. I even re-listened to the original episode of the Small Things That Changed My Life. It is episode eight. It was one of the very first episodes that I posted here on the Self-Love Archives. It's still a really great listen. I actually need to re-implement some of the things and repurchase some of the things that I talked about in that first episode, especially walking. I feel like we always lose walking. When it gets cold in the colder months because it just gets a little bit harder to get yourself to go outside, especially when it's in a million layers. But I have some new ones for you today and I'm super excited to share them with you because they really have, these small things really have been changing my life lately, and I hope that they can change yours. We're gonna start off really strong. Stop. Giving in to perfection or whatever you think perfection is. Yeah. This one is a doozy. This one's a little bit hard. I have to say that as much as I truly am aware of this and do my best to implement this into every single day of my life, and just kind of have the saying, like it's literally like tattooed on the inside of my brain. Stop trying to be perfect. As much as I try to, sometimes it is very difficult because I think we have these societal expectations of only being able to do things like, you can only do this if it's perfect. You can only love yourself if you're perfect. You can only buy that if it's perfect, or you can only create that if it's perfect. You can only announce it if it's perfect. What is perfect anyway? Who? Who coined the term perfect? Because I wanna have a chat. We need to talk because what the fuck is perfect? What does that even mean? When I started to let go of everything needing to be perfect, and I'm talking down to the way that I cut the apple that I eat in the morning. Have you ever caught yourself just feeling like you can't actually make a move or make a decision because you're waiting for all of these things to line up all of these things to be perfect, or you're waiting to have a conversation with someone or reach out because you're waiting for the perfect time, or you're waiting for the perfect moment? How, how silly is that to hold yourself back because you're waiting for perfection, because you're waiting for something that doesn't even exist. There's no such thing as perfect the way that you get better at something, or the way that you start to perfect something is you just do it. Or maybe it doesn't even really matter. You know, when I, when I started letting that go, or at least trying my best to, it really changed the way that I started to make decisions and it really changed the way that I would then go on to act on something, especially when it comes to sharing with you on social media or sharing. With other people or starting a conversation that might be hard or doing something that maybe I don't know how to do. It helped build my confidence and my trust in myself when I let go of the perfection and just did it. Small thing, small little thing that changed my life. Even though this small thing, it feels more like a big thing. That it does not have to be perfect to let go of whatever perfect means or to let go of perfection. I think that this next one might take the cake it, it might take the cake, gobble it all up, the whole nine micro boundaries. Micro boundaries, not these big boundaries where you stop talking to this person or you cut this person out of your life. Micro boundaries. I started putting my phone on do not disturb. It's on do not disturb 24 7. Unless I am fully aware that I have a call coming in or that I need to respond to something ASAP. And even then, that's set up with some boundaries. My phone's on do not disturb, and that's one of the micro boundaries that I have my phone's on Do not disturb as to not disturb me from a creative moment that I'm having as to not disturb me from doing the things that I need to do for me. So if I'm meditating, what is the worst thing that could happen while I'm meditating? Oh yeah, my phone going off. So my phone is always on do not disturb, and I stopped feeling bad about it. It's really just more of a way for me to do the things that I need to do for me first so that I can then get back to you or get back to an email or get back to a notification later. And to that same point. Another micro boundary that I think is so important that kind of ties in with having your phone on do not disturb, is not feeling the need to respond to someone or something as soon as possible. Some other person's rush, someone else's time management or lack thereof is not. Your fault, it's not on you. Just because they are in a rush for a response does not dictate for you to have a response back to their question or to their email, to their text message. ASAP, and this is coming from the girl that used to literally answer a text message. I'd answer you back in seconds. My phone always literally right at my face, and that took me away from doing so many things for myself or so many things that I had to get done or had to do. My answer can wait, my response can wait. It does not have to be ASAP. Don't allow someone else's rush. Make you feel like you need to have the same rush back. Whatever is yours, will still be yours. Whatever is meant for you will still be yours. Keep that in mind, especially when it comes to those job interviews or those times where you feel like you need to respond with a, an answer, ASAP. You don't. You can take your time. You can set those little micro boundaries. Any micro boundary that is going to let you keep your peace is a boundary that you should set. And you know exactly which ones I'm talking about. Oh, you guys are gonna be so mad at me for this one because this, a lot of these small things that changed your life are just, are kind of like Mel Robbins. Let them theory. You're reading this book as I was reading Mel Robbins. Let them theory book, and I'm listening to her podcast and her auto audio book and, and I'm just hearing her talk about this and I'm like, well, obviously Mel, like, yeah, I'm gonna let them and let me, I'm gonna let them say whatever they want, do whatever they want, choose whatever they want, and I'm going to then choose and do whatever I want for myself. Yeah, of course. Duh. The fact that she coined a term for this allows you to kind of put all of these actions into almost like a category in your brain to then allow you. To easily make the choice to let them, let them say what they want, let them do what they do, let them be who they want, choose what they want, whatever, and then let me go do what I need to do for me. So we could throw that in here. Um, the small things that changed my life, uh, let them, yeah, that is definitely, that goes beyond a micro boundary. That is a strong. Realization and boundary that you are setting with other people in order to do what you need to do for yourself. Let them call you 20 times. Let them text you 20 times. Let them email you three times, and then you get to choose what you are going to do next. What is your next move? What is the best thing that you need to do for you? At the end of the day, you don't have control over what anyone else does, so what do you need to do for you? That brings me to number three or technically number four, since that is just such a good. Term to take with you. It's another thing to engrave in the inside of your brain. Let them, and let me, number four, is be kinder to yourself. I know, I know. I know. This sounds so straightforward and so simple and so easy, but when you actually make it a point to be kinder to yourself, you allow the opportunity. To be kinder to your, to yourself, you allow the opportunity to be kinder to yourself. You allow the space and the energy and the awareness, the self-awareness to catch yourself when you say something that isn't so kind, when you're looking at yourself in the mirror and you're like, oh, I look so fat today, and you catch yourself and you're like, you know what? No, that's not true. I look great today. Maybe I'm not feeling so great today, but I look great today and I am not. Those things, when you make it a point to be kinder to yourself, you make it a point to be self-aware of how you're speaking to yourself and how you are talking to yourself, and I think that is such a small change that you can make, a small intention that you can make with yourself. To change how you feel about yourself day in and day out. Let's get into the fun ones, shall we? Some things that have changed my life, Ugh. If you know me listening to calm music. Jazz music, piano music, music with no sound. Some people like lo-fi, some people like jazz. During the holidays Christmas time, I always listened to more like that Jazzy holiday type of background sound. I always hated it. When I was younger, we had a piano and my parents had this thing that allowed the piano to basically play like on its own. It was kind of creepy actually, thinking back to it, but. They would always play it like in the background. So I, I think I was just more in this place of like, no, I just wanna listen to music. Like I really wanna listen to music. But now, as the world has gotten so loud, I listen to a lot of music that doesn't have any singing in it, that doesn't have any vocals in it. That is really just instrumentals. That's really just background music. Depending on my vibe, depending on my mood, lo-fi, jazz, piano, any, any of those three I kind of inter interchangeably go to. And it is the best, like, I don't know what it is. About the, the sereneness, the calmness of having that playing in the background, but it has really, surely changed my life and allowed me to kind of fill this empty space as I'm working or as I'm doing something that I really need to focus on. Because I don't know about you, but if I am playing some sort of like Spanish music, I just wanna get up and dance. Uh, Tate McCrae has been very heavy on my Spotify playlist lately, and all I wanna do is actually sing her songs. And I cannot multitask. I cannot sing and write and do intentional work at the same time. So, lo-fi, jazz, piano music, calm music, background music, two things. That kind of go in this same realm of creating more of this atmosphere for your productivity, creativity, um, or just creating more of that self-awareness that that space that you need to kind of be with yourself that, that quiet, I purchased these Sony headphones. And I'm gonna link everything physical that I have for you guys in the show notes and everything, because when I tell you these changed my life, it's a little bit more of an expensive purchase, but oh my goodness, these are the best headphones ever. I was looking at, you know, the bows headphones and, and this and that because they were cute and whatnot. And then I was like, wait a second, let me do some, you know, let me do some digging. Let me actually invest in a really good. Pair of headphones and I did, and they're noise canceling. I can change like how noise canceling they are. But when I tell you that I don't even need to put music on, I can just put them over my ears and I hear nothing, which is, you know, a good and a bad thing. But for the most part, a good thing, especially on a plane. Oh my God. I don't think I could ever fly on a plane without these headphones. They have genuinely changed my life. A purchase that's a little bit lower, that also changed my life. That's kind of in the same realm are loop earplugs are really cute, and they're literally just an earplug. They don't, they don't play music. They're not Bluetooth or anything like that, so they're a little bit more of a low buy-in cost, but they're. Cute. You know how like you go sit at, at like a, a concert or a, a sports game or something like that, and maybe they give you earplugs to put in your ears. I think on planes they give you earplugs too, and they're just like this, this mushy plasticy, whatever. And they're not cute. And to be honest with you, they don't really work either. Loop has elevated this experience of, um, using earplugs and they kind of look like little pieces of jewelry in your ear. I brought them with me to a trip that we had went on in the beginning of the year and. Uh, I didn't have my headphones or I think my headphones were dead or something like that, but I had the loop earplugs and I put them in my ear because the airport was so loud and we had, we got in there like too quick that like never happens. But we got there in into the airport way too quick and had to wait about an hour before our flight and it was packed with so many people and I was just getting so overstimulated. So I used my loop earplugs and. When I tell you Chef's Kiss, life changed, life changed for 30 bucks, life changed. I could still hear what was going on. I could still talk to people, but everything was muffled in this way where I could kind of be at peace. Another recent purchase that I made that I really do think changed my life, trace minerals. I go to this workout studio called Margot's and Margaret, the owner, the founder, she had mentioned it at, at some point, um, about trace minerals, and I was like, huh, I never thought to put minerals in my water. And you could put the trace minerals in anything it, the trace minerals has a couple of different minerals in them, including magnesium, I wanna say phosphorus. It has a bunch of minerals in it that normally can be found in natural water. And I thought about this for a second 'cause we had gone to, on a trip to Europe, actually very close back to back. And when you're in Europe specifically. When you go to purchase like a water bottle, first of all, no one drinks water there and you kind of are left to question like, okay, well why? Why is everybody here in the United States like carrying water with them? But over there no one's carrying water with them. It's because they're hydrated.'cause they don't need to carry the water with them. Maybe, maybe I'm missing something, but that's my good assumption as to why they're not all carrying water and chugging water like we are over here. And I'm sure there's a more detailed answer, but when you go purchase water like a water bottle, there are no waters that don't have minerals in them. So it kind of makes you think, okay, over here I'm going to purchase water at a Wawa bottled water. And the waters that have minerals in them are extremely expensive. And then you have all the other options. Why are the options solely over there? Just mineral water. Water that actually has the natural minerals still in it. So it got me thinking, okay, maybe I should go look into and research these trace minerals. I started adding these trace minerals and they, they consider them like the natural electrolytes for your water. I started adding it to my water. I have like a 40 ounce Stanley cup. I would add 40 drops. The serving size for a day is 80 drops, and I started doing 40 drops as to not make it too salty.'cause a lot of people say that if you do too much, it's too salty or you can actually taste it. I started doing just half in each time I filled up my water. I don't even know how to explain this because I am the last person that would sit here and like recommend a supplement or something that is really hard to kind of see the, the change or the difference in. But after just doing this for a week after just taking trace minerals for a week, I felt so much better. Like I felt like my body was hydrated. I felt like I had more energy like I was alive, like I was literally replenishing something in my body that I was like negligent in. And I swear to you, I will never stop putting minerals in my water ever, and it's so much less expensive to do it. Kind of manually like this than it is to just go purchase water bottles that have mineral minerals in them, like Fiji water or something like that. Or to really put your time, energy, and money into purchasing that whole filtered water system that some people purchase for their homes. This. This small thing changed my life. This small purchase changed my life. This is your invitation to a day you deserve. Bloom is more than an event. It's the first ever immersive self-love experience, a full day designed just for you to connect, to feel seen, and to finally receive the energy and joy you've been giving away to everyone else. From inspiring spaces to amazing brands, thoughtful experiences, photo apps, food, drinks, and free goodies. This is a day you won't wanna miss. Every detail is created to help you love yourself more. In this space, we're extending presale just for you. Make sure to use the code Extend at Checkout for $20 off your ticket. Join us this September because you deserve a data bloom. That was actually a commercial break because I did in fact go have dinner. Nick and I went on a little date and I was panicking. There are clothes all over, sprawled all over my office in my bedroom right now. And because I couldn't figure out what to wear, and I get in the car and he says something to me, he goes, you don't have just like a go-to outfit. An outfit that you just wear when you need something to wear for like a date or like to go out in. And I was like, no, the weather changes. What do you mean a go-to outfit? I don't have a go-to outfit. This is Nick's little tip to change your life. Maybe have a go-to outfit. I just, I think we're in this weird in-between. As I film this episode right now of that weather that still feels wintery. Like it's still cold, but it's still warm. Like it's like that, that 50, 60 degrees and I just have no idea what to wear.'cause I need a coat, but I don't have a coat that. Maybe that's what I need. I need an elevated coat. I need a coat that is good for that in-between weather and that would fix all my problems. Maybe that's you. Maybe that's you. So before the break, we were just talking about trace minerals and how I. Taking trace minerals or putting them in my water every time I drink it has completely changed my life. It really has made me feel so much better. To that same point though, supplements trace minerals and supplements and vitamins, there are so many different things that. I feel like we're we're marketed to take, take this, try that. This'll fix that. You should do this. And it's always the marketing of, Hey, do this instead of taking a medication or do this and you'll feel better. And sometimes those results are just not happening. You know, I think at the end of the day we should be getting these supplements, these minerals, these vitamins from our food, but I have no idea what's in my food nowadays. So I would rather be safe than sorry and take certain supplements that I need to kind of replenish where I might not be getting them. And if the trace minerals are making me feel a lot better, I'm gonna keep taking those trace minerals. But my other small thing that changed my life is that I stopped taking so many supplements, completely stopped. And this is why all of the supplements I was taking, whether it was coming from a protein shake, actually. It was mostly coming from protein shakes, or I was taking tons and tons of vitamins in the morning. I'm talking like 5, 6, 7, 8 pills in the morning. No medication or anything like that. Just all vitamins like vitamin D, magnesium, uh, vitamin C. And it's not that any of those are bad for you, it's that they weren't being taken with intention. I was just taking them because we're told to take them. You know, we're told to take a multivitamin, take this, try that, do this. I wasn't intentionally choosing my vitamins specifically, or supplements based on what I needed and what my body needed, and that was causing me cystic acne. I know, I know a big, a big thing. I can say this actually was a really big thing that changed my life, but it took so many years to finally figure out. We've talked about this in a couple of episodes about my journey with birth control, coming off of birth control. Um, I'm not even sure if we've really talked about my journey with cystic acne, but if I look back. To all of the times in my life when I had cystic acne, it wasn't consistent. It was very random. It was around 2016 and it was around 20 20 20, 20 21. During both of those times in my life, I was the healthiest. I had ever been. So you're kind of wondering like, well then why did you have cystic acne? I had no idea. I had no clue. Nothing else had really changed in my life. I was on the same birth control for years. I. Hadn't switched up anything specifically, like in my diet or my lifestyle in my life. Everything was checking off as clear in regards to like my blood work and any other doctors I had seen nothing. So I kind of like chalked it up to just being hereditary because my sister had had it, my dad had had it. So I figured that maybe this is just something that my, that happens to my family and, and that's it. But I visited a aesthetician that specialized in cystic acne, and she asked me a really interesting question after this appointment, and she's like, do you take any supplements? And I said, you know, just like maybe like a, a protein shake, like protein supplements and, and you know, vitamins and everything like that. And she's like, okay, B six. B six has been shown to cause cystic acne when taken in excess. And when you take so many supplements and so many vitamins, of course you're gonna take these things in excess because a lot of brands want to stuff all of their products with as many good things as possible, rather than just focus on that one thing that you need. So in a lot of protein supplements, there is B six. I'm gonna try to find like the article or the actual case study if there is one on this, but all I know is is that whether a study exists or not. The minute I stopped. Overusing specifically protein supplements, but supplements, vitamins in general. I stopped getting cystic acne. I completely came off of birth control. I am very specific and more intentional with the type of supplements that I take, and I still do have the occasional protein shake, but I really try to limit it to one once or twice a week rather than having one every single day. I have not had nearly any cystic acne since that 20 20, 20 21 time period. I tried going on a different birth control and while that worked off on in Dandy, I ended up being the biggest raging bitch that year after I changed my birth control. I did talk more in depth about this in. Another episode. I will link that episode below for you in the show notes, in the description so you can check it out. It's a lot about my story with coming off of birth control, with being on birth control and really learning my body as it is without any medication or anything like that. So if you are struggling with acne with specifically cystic acne. Take a look at what you're eating, what you're putting into your body, and maybe this might be the same thing for you. Maybe you are taking in too many supplements. So now I can count on one hand all of the supplements that I take. Supplements, vitamins and the top ones are of course those trace minerals. I also take L lysine really amazing for your skin. Really great if you get cold sores. Cranberry. Occasionally, if I feel the need to more consistently a probiotic and a prebiotic, they work together. So you definitely wanna take those together. Usually don't necessarily need the probiotic and the prebiotic as long as you are getting those within your food. So probiotic would be something like yogurt, um, and a prebiotic would be anything that has lots of, uh, good fiber. And then. I did and was taking neutrophil for a while. It didn't necessarily make it to my list for the things that changed my life just because, not because it hasn't worked and it doesn't work. I, for me, I. It did work, and it has some like before and afters that I've taken to kind of keep track of, okay, does this work? Because that's really the only way to prove it right to yourself, at least to yourself, is having those before and after pictures. My hair grew a lot, every single time I've taken neutrophil in my life, and I still take it occasionally. But it's a lot. Have you seen that thing? It's four pills. It's four vitamins, and I think with my, I, I literally get so scared taking supplements now, thinking that my, my acne's gonna come back. And although I had taken neutrophil for a year straight and that did not happen. And I also take Mary Ruth's. So that's kind of the gist of the main supplements that I will take or supplements and vitamins that I will take and I will try. I'm in the process of trying, uh, Arma and seeing if that will help. Um, kind of just with like getting sick and I think the whole supplement vitamin conversation could be, could make for a great episode. All in and of itself. This list kept going. I have so many more to share with you, and as I said in part one, this has to be a series. We have to make this a series. Sometimes it is the smallest reminders or quotes or sayings like the Let Them Theory or it's the smallest. Purchase or most intentional purchase. So I hope that after listening to part two of the small things that changed my life, I hope that you will find that some of these things will also help you change your life. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Self-Love Archives. If I missed something, which I'm sure that I have, because there are so many things that could potentially change our lives, big or small, I wanna hear your thoughts and what are the small things that change your life currently? What are you implementing? What are you. Doing. What are you saying to yourself every day? What purchases have been the best thing ever? Leave that in the comments below. I wanna hear them. I'm excited to hear about them and I'll see you guys in the next episode. Talk to you soon. Bye.