From Welfare to Warrior: How Words Shape Our World

I recently met my next guest for The Art of Badassery Podcast at an event that we were both speaking at.

I was immediately impressed by Sandy Zimmerman's story of becoming a contestant on TV's American Ninja Warrior at 38 years old and being a mom of 3! Not to mention her massive biceps. ??

What struck me even more was Sandy's background. Despite growing up in poverty and facing a challenging home life, she rose to become a national Judo champion and achieved so much more.

"Girls like me don't dream those kind of dreams... we just want to get through the day not getting hit or not going to bed hungry." - Sandy Zimmerman

Sandy shares that it never even occurred to her that she could compete at such high levels and later in her childhood start training for the Olympics. But it was her Sensei who changed everything for her.

Sensei believed in Sandy's ability, capability and strength. Sensei helped her raise money from local businesses to sponsor her competition fees, because her parents couldn't afford to. This type of mentorship goes far beyond teaching and even coaching. Sensei championed Sandy as far as she wanted to go.

He changed the entire course of Sandy's life by implanting empowering beliefs in her mind until she started to believe them herself.

This episode is a perfect example of how words shape our world. And sometimes, if we're lucky, we have mentors step in to help shift our thoughts (internal words) towards a more empowering future.

As children, our filters are not fully developed, making us susceptible to the words we hear—whether they uplift us or bring us down.

Now, as adults, we have the power to choose which thoughts we allow in and which we need to reject.

Here's how you can harness the power of words to shape our future:

• Become Hyper-Aware of Your Self-Talk: Pay attention to your inner dialogue and recognize the recurring thoughts you have about your energy, health, wealth, abilities, intelligence, and worthiness.
• Filter Disempowering Thoughts: Once you identify disempowering beliefs, work on filtering them out before they manifest as spoken words. This can be a challenging but transformative practice, especially if you've held onto these beliefs for years. For example, saying "I'm exhausted" all the time can drain your energy, while "I'm too busy" may prevent you from prioritizing self-care. It’s time to stop saying them!
• Affirm Your Life Daily: Whether you want to speak affirmations or write them in a journal, consistency is key. Plant those seeds and generate feelings that match the words for more elevating power.
• Get Yourself a Gang: Spend more time with positive people on a quest to improve their lives. Join a mastermind, a book club, an ERG or hire a coach. There's way too many negative people, thoughts and opinions out there in the world and what you allow into your mental orbit matters on your journey to becoming a black belt in Badassery!

To hear Sandy's story listen to the full episode on The Art of Badassery Podcast !

Peace, love and powerful words,

Jenn