Looking back, I wish someone had told me that being a “good girl” was not a prize, it was a trap. A trap that came with insurmountable expectations and invisible chains of self-doubt and shame.

For many women, this concept of putting ourselves first is uncomfortable at best and non-existent at worst.

“Who am I?”

This is a question I’ve asked myself throughout my life, and I’m always amazed at how the answer continues to evolve.

I know I haven’t been that nice to you in the past. I criticized you, I shamed you, I neglected you. Sometimes I looked at you and secretly wished you were someone else altogether. In my worst moments, I even tried to purposely hurt you.

How do you define “risk”?

Sometimes, risk is doing anything that could endanger your life or physical health.

Other times, risk is doing something that could damage your reputation.

Most of the time though, the things we think of as “risks,” are really just reconfigurations of our deepest fears preventing us from living the life we truly desire.

The silent killer of all dreams is inaction.

I genuinely believe that there's a part within every single person that wants to put something out into the world that is a reflection of their authentic self… But then they get distracted by completely irrelevant things and mental self-sabotage.

“Lisa, it’s your turn!” My mom hands me my Christmas present, a flat envelope. “Here,” she says, “From your dad and me.”