00;00;08;03 - 00;00;24;09
Catherine
Hello there. My name is Catherine and I am 23 years old, working as a full time freelancer in the media and entertainment industry. And welcome to the How I Diaries podcast. I'm here to debunk all your fears and doubts surrounding the topic of freelancing and more importantly, get you on your way to a happy and stress free lifestyle.
00;00;24;09 - 00;00;39;04
Catherine
Doing that creative passion you love. So if you find yourself stuck in a job you hate, you're wondering how to get your dream started. You might have heard of freelancing before, but you're skeptical about what it entails. I'm sharing everything I wish I knew earlier and the tips and tricks I gain every day for my own freelance work.
00;00;39;04 - 00;00;58;29
Catherine
So I wanted to make an episode about the mental and wellness side of freelancing and just goal making in general, as I have been practicing this ever since I was a sophomore in high school. It all started when I was first figuring out what I wanted to do with my life and passions. A little preface I go over this in my intro about, you know, how everything started for me.
00;00;59;07 - 00;01;15;21
Catherine
In an earlier episode, I grew up a majority of my life in New York, and then when I was in high school, my family moved to Florida. So I always knew I wanted to go back to school and spend my after college years back home in New York. So 16 year old me had my spark, which was a music theory class.
00;01;15;21 - 00;01;31;27
Catherine
I had taken and opened my eyes into the world of music. It showed me that there was a career in music that was not just playing an instrument or teaching, and it was film scoring. I knew that with the music industry, I needed to put myself in the right environment to be able to get decent internships and experiences.
00;01;31;27 - 00;01;53;16
Catherine
And what better place than home and in New York City. So back then I hadn't realized that I was practicing manifestation, but that's exactly what it was like. Some others, I made a list of all the schools I was interested in, made a spreadsheet of what audition materials I needed to have prepared, researched what other successful film scores did, and the paths they took.
00;01;53;16 - 00;02;24;19
Catherine
So fast forward to senior year, I got into all of the schools I applied to and was even waitlisted by my dream school, NYU, which to me is still a win. But whatever my decision ultimately came down to money and boy, am I glad that I do not have NYU loans. So you can get more specific on my stories and my college experience and how I somewhat regret going to college, as well as what internships I ended up getting and how I got them in my two episodes, how I regret going to college and how I got my internships and college.
00;02;24;19 - 00;02;45;16
Catherine
So check those out. Even in my interview episode, all the things I was doing, little did I know were all practices of manifestation and the concept of energy. So in this episode I'm going to talk about everything a bit more broadly, but of course it is. If it interests you to hear those specific stories, I definitely recommend going to those episodes to see some more about me.
00;02;45;16 - 00;03;05;16
Catherine
I'm not a very religious person. I didn't grow up going to church or any of that. My parents told us very early on that they would let us choose our spiritual path. So it wasn't until after college I really started getting more interested in spirituality and what that means to me. And I still don't claim to be any, you know, official source of info.
00;03;05;16 - 00;03;25;19
Catherine
This is just, you know, your average Joe point of view. But there are a few habits that I formed in terms of manifesting in energy. The very first one, and I believe is the number one factor to just manifesting in all of my successful manifestations is the idea of expressing gratitude. Of course, hell is as old as time.
00;03;25;19 - 00;03;43;29
Catherine
It is similar to the concept of praying, etc. But the way I go about it was actually taken from a book that some might be familiar with. It's Jensen's heroes. You are a badass how to stop doubting your greatness and Start Living An Awesome Life. Now I went through a little bit of a phase and even still in that phase of reading self-help sort of books.
00;03;43;29 - 00;04;05;01
Catherine
At the time of me reading this, I was in a really low place. I was 20 and just going through stupid shit like any other 20 year old does. And this book really put my troubles in perspective and was really able to drag me out of that terrible spot that I was in. But the takeaway, one of the takeaways from this book that I still do today, like I was saying, is the idea of gratitude.
00;04;05;06 - 00;04;24;24
Catherine
No matter how bad a day or week or moment might be, at the end of that day, there is always at least ten things you can list off that you are grateful for. So I set a reminder on my phone 11:30 p.m. and I still have it on just in case I forget. And every night before I fall asleep I ramble off ten things I am grateful for.
00;04;24;25 - 00;04;49;26
Catherine
Most of the time I actually go over ten. I have a few staple things I always express my gratitude for and then ones that are more relevant to my day today. If you take one thing from this whole entire podcast, let it be to practice expressing gratitude. Because the fact of the matter is, to me at least, you can't ask the universe for all the things you desire and not be grateful and appreciative for what it has already given you.
00;04;49;26 - 00;05;11;09
Catherine
You know, everybody wants money. You can't just light a goddamn candle, money, candle and put it over a dollar bill and expect it to do anything. So what I try and do instead, my gratitude, for example, my gratitude for money rambles off like this. I am thankful for the money I have now, the money I had and the money I will have.
00;05;11;09 - 00;05;28;23
Catherine
You know, I do this with a few other things mentioning past, present and future. I have found it very rewarding. You know, I have the same like I said, the same spiel goes with the jobs, you know, my current jobs, my previous jobs, my future jobs I'm thankful for. You know, these are all very simple and easy. I urge you.
00;05;28;24 - 00;05;48;16
Catherine
Go on your phone right now. Set a reminder. Do something and start building that habit of expressing gratitude at the end of every day. The next part of my habits are goal setting. You know, every new year I write down somewhere a list of goals. I actually have it all in my Google Docs and it's the same Google doc from when I was a freshman in college.
00;05;48;16 - 00;06;10;25
Catherine
So it's super cool to look back when you achieve everything and you know, this stuff does work. Goal setting is far more than just listing of things you want to happen. The same idea as before. You can just write a bunch of shit down and have them be unrealistic things at that and expect anything from it. So sure, make all the goals you want long term, short term, daily, monthly.
00;06;10;25 - 00;06;34;28
Catherine
You know, five years from now, ten years from now, when you're retired, literally, whatever the hell you want, just make sure they are attainable and specific. And you know, you can throw in a few crazy, crazy ideas in there, do it. But there there should be a common, you know, thing that ties them all together. I keep going back to the money thing because obviously that is something most people prioritize and worry about.
00;06;35;06 - 00;06;59;24
Catherine
So, you know, don't say you have a goal to be financially free by 30 half the people who want to be financially free probably don't even know how much they spend a month on coffee. You know, you have to have some sort of concept of your debt to income ratio, etc. If you want to talk about financial freedom, it's different for everyone and the universe isn't necessarily going to guess what that will be for you and how much that means in terms of numbers for you.
00;06;59;24 - 00;07;19;05
Catherine
So instead of I want to be financially free by 30, you could write a goal that is instead I want to be financially free by 30 with no debt on a house and have 100 K in my savings account. You know, something like that is more appealing than the generic statement from before, because with manifestation, some things work out, some things don't.
00;07;19;05 - 00;07;51;08
Catherine
So if you're specific, you can check off what worked and check off what didn't. So by the time you're 30, you can look at that goal and say, Do I have no debt? Do I own a house and do I have 100 can savings, you know, whatever it is. And it's a little less discouraging if, you know, maybe you own a house and have no debt, but you haven't yet reached 100 K and savings, you know, but that still feels good that you're like, Oh my God, I just checked off two things instead of just saying, I want to be financially free by 30 and now you're 30 and you don't have a concept of
00;07;51;16 - 00;08;15;09
Catherine
what that means to you. So just be realistic and be specific and make sure everything correlates, like I said and connects to one another. Dream big, but strive to make sense out of all of your goals for your sake and the universe is. The last habit I have is just lighting candles and burning things with intention. I personally burn Paula Santos and different types of incense and candles.
00;08;15;20 - 00;08;32;18
Catherine
Paulo I use because I like the smell of it and I also use it for very specific intentions. I was also introduced. The recording studio that I worked at did this a lot and I just was like, Oh, this is so other people do this to like, you know, it added that like wow factor to me. So I use that.
00;08;32;18 - 00;09;00;26
Catherine
But yeah, with very specific intentions because burning and just like lighting things, everything has different properties and different uses. Paulo You know, they all generically will clear negative energy, but from what I've heard, Paulo Santos is very specific to creativity and all of that sort of stuff. So I burn it with intention, with things like jobs and overall life issues for myself and my friends and family that have to do with creativity and life.
00;09;00;26 - 00;09;18;22
Catherine
And I really do believe that it has the power to clear negative energy and steer it away. I recently have been doing it a lot for my friends and family. My sister just got a new job and that was one of the things I tried supporting her in and etc.. Another few key things to always remember to the universe will never say no.
00;09;18;23 - 00;09;47;07
Catherine
You always will get one of three options. It's either yes, not right now or I have something better. So just know that there is there are no nos in in relation to the universe and your manifestations. And then also in the name of physics and the law of conservation of energy, energy cannot be created or destroyed. So for you people who don't, you know, believe in this or you're just like, oh, it's a bunch of wacky whatever that is a literal law of physics.
00;09;47;07 - 00;10;11;11
Catherine
They have, you know, found this that energy cannot be created nor destroyed. So it really is all about manipulating it and making it work for you and showing the universe how you want it to work for you. You know, I am not here to convert you to any sort of spirituality or practice. I know this is a little skewed for my other topics, but freelance is about living and working the way you want.
00;10;11;11 - 00;10;34;24
Catherine
There are just some everyday, simple, mindful things to think about and relate to them to your own life. You know, you really can achieve whatever you put your mind to if you want it bad enough. And that is what I will leave off on this episode. Let me know if these sorts of topics are interesting and helpful to you, and if this reaches you and you have any other burning questions or stories, I'd be happy to use this as an outlet to connect and build a community.
00;10;34;24 - 00;10;51;11
Catherine
How do you guys feel about mindfulness and energy? What are some of the things you do in your everyday life to practice these things? Follow me on Instagram, how I diaries and your media and let me know. In the meantime, go binge all my other episodes for various other topics relating to how to get started doing what you love and please.
00;10;51;11 - 00;11;08;03
Catherine
Any episode recommendations I'd love to hear. Let me know what your particular struggles are. You're probably not alone. Please subscribe to this podcast so you stay up to date on when I post the next batch, give it a rating and share with a friend who also needs to listen. I post five new episodes at the end of each month, so stay tuned.
00;11;08;03 - 00;11;17;16
Catherine
And as always, thank you for listening.
