Nicole  
Welcome back to the Hair of the Dog podcast. I'm your host Nicole Begley. And on today's episode, I am chatting with Heather about my dear sweet grandmother, and how she has managed to still be kickin' in her own house, at 106 and a half years old, and how I realized the other day that she has some pretty ridiculous secrets to life that we should all be applying to ours for success in our personal life. And of course in our business. 

 

If you want more happiness, longevity and positivity in your life, well, you're definitely going to want to join us for this episode. Stay tuned.

 

Voiceover  

Welcome to the Hair of the Dog podcast. If you're a pet photographer ready to make more money and start living a life by your design, you've come to the right place. And now your host, pet photographer, travel addict and chocolate martini connoisseur, Nicole Begley.

Nicole  

Hey there, everybody. Welcome back to the Hair of the Dog podcast. I am back with my friend Heather Lahtinen, who I have stopped coming up with interesting intros because she's been on the podcast so much. Welcome back to the podcast, Heather.

Heather  
OK, so I'm wondering if we could just change my title to co-host. How about that? 

 

Nicole

I think you really honestly should just be co-host of the Hair of the Dog podcast. 

 

Heather  

I'm here for it.

Nicole  

This is week four in a row now. And you know, last week with the lessons from home rehab projects, and then this week, which we're gonna be talking about in a second I was like, I'll just record this on my own. But you guys, I mean, let me know if you agree. It's probably … So anyway, we are here today. And by the way, this is going live on December 20, which is my birthday.

 

Heather  
Happy birthday, my friend.

Nicole  

It's not my birthday yet because we're batching this early. But you know, I'll take that for that day. And so anyway, since it's my birthday, I want to give you guys out there in Hair of the Dog land some advice on how to live to be 106 plus. 

 

Now, before you get all like, Nicole, you look damn good for your age.

 

Heather

106! Wow! 

 

Nicole

I'm not actually 106. I am 60 years exactly younger than that. But anyway, my grandma, you guys might have heard me talk about her. My mom's mom was born in 1916. And she is still going strong. still lives by herself in her home. And she turned 106 this past July. So she is currently 106 and a half. She now says it's her sixth birthday. Because she started over.

 

Heather

Oh my gosh. Because why not? 

 

Nicole

Exactly. 

 

Heather

And you know, when you told me you wanted to record this, I actually would have been offended if you didn't invite me. Because you have often told me about your grandma and I met your mom earlier this year. And I was asking your mom all about her mom, because I am so fascinated by this woman and she lives not too far from me. I mean, I might be dropping in on her … hi, my name is Heather again and see how you're doing but remind me her first name. 

 

Nicole

Irene. 

 

Heather

Irene. We have a chicken named Irene.

Nicole  
Yeah. So I was thinking about it because you know, I was checking with my mom and I we just kind of joke like, is she doing incredibly well today? Because every morning on the phone, she starts off with … my mom's like, how are you? She's like, I am doing incredibly well. And then I started to like think about it. I'm like, hh, this is the reason that she has lived this long and for three reasons …

 

Heather

Three!

 

Nicole

Three reasons that she has lived as long as she has, and I … she has stopped saying this one, but I was pretty sure that she was going to affirm her way through affirmations to bringing her sight back. 

 

For a little while, she was starting to say every morning, my eyesight is getting better. And now here's the thing. She's not just saying these. Every morning, my mom talks to her. She says, I am doing incredibly well. I am so lucky to be in my house. I am so lucky to be pain-free. I have never had a pain in my life. Now, of course she has. She's had headaches, she's had knee surgery, like she's had pain. But she truly believes like she is not even remembering that pain. She is just like select remembering. 

 

And she's still sharp. There's a couple of short-term memory things that she'll forget sometimes. But you can ask her like anything from her life. And as long as she can hear you to hear the question, she will just tell you all about it, like she is still mentally with it. So she truly believes that she is doing incredibly well. She has never had a pain. 

 

And she is so freakin grateful to still be in her home. In fact, she fell, like two months ago, maybe three months ago. Actually, it was the summer as well. We weren't in Italy. My mom was in Italy with us. And you know, the paramedics came and she has one of those Life Alerts. And they're like, oh, we should take her to the hospital. She's like, no, no, I'm not going to hospital. I'm going to die in my house. I'm not going to the hospital. 

 

Heather

Wow. 

 

Nicole

And she was like adamant like, man, we just we just need to go check you out like so anyway, she was there. And she was back pretty darn quickly. But yeah, she is just so thankful. So this is actually the fourth lesson. So I didn't write that one down. It's her gratitude. She is just so thankful to be where she is and to be in her home and to not have to been in a home or anything like that.

Heather  
Oh my gosh, so no, I'm actually, I'm literally taking notes. Yeah, I love Irene. I'm gonna, I actually have sidenote elderly widows are exceedingly important to me. And I have two in my life, that we literally call each other best friends. And I visit them. One is 95. The other is 93. I visit them as often as I can. And we're always talking and I'm always asking, you know, for wisdom or advice on marriage and life and children and adult children and just … I highly, highly value those women. 

 

Nicole

Yeah. 

 

Heather

And I think that when my mom was telling me one point a couple years ago, my mom's in her 70s, she was like, you get to this age as a woman and you feel almost like forgotten, like, lost, invisible, she said. You feel invisible. And that really stuck with me. And I thought I never want an older woman to feel invisible because she has more wisdom in her pinky finger than I have in my entire body. So I am going to go out of my way to make sure elderly women feel seen. I do it in Walmart. I do it at church, anytime … I just have a real heart for these women. So every time you know you and I are talking about personal things, I'm like, how's gramma doing? You know, she good?

Nicole  
She's doing incredibly well.

 

Heather  
So number one. Number one is I'm doing incredibly well. 

 

Nicole

Yeah.

Number one originally was just like, I was gonna talk about those affirmations. But I realized part of it is that gratitude. So definitely number one is she is so grateful for still being in her home for what she's had. She's so grateful for the amazing life that she's lived. She looks back and you know, she's always, you know, she hasn't left her house in probably 16 years. Like she, she's just she's afraid of falling, you know, cuz she can't see very well, she can't hear very well. So she hasn't left in so long. But, you know, we asked her the one time she's like, what do you…  do you wish you could still go, like do you miss going out? And she said, no, I am just so grateful for all the incredible travels and experiences I've had I think about those.

Heather 

Wow. So not like even an ounce of, you know, regret or sadness or what could be. She's just completely focused on the positive. That's amazing.

Nicole 

Yeah, it's absolutely incredible. Yeah, number one lesson in life from my brain is definitely gratitude. Okay, number two, are those affirmations, which we started to talk about. And the key for these so I think people hear affirmations and like, what good is it do for me to say something that I kind of sort of don't even really believe every morning? Like it feels so hokey to do affirmations. But they work. 

 

Heather

Right. 

 

Nicole

I firmly honestly believe this is why she's still with us. 

 

Heather

I agree. 

 

Nicole

Because she says every day to my mom, my mom calls her every morning at 9 a.m. I am doing incredibly well. I have never had a pain. You know like she just, so now it's become the family joke. Right? Hey, have you talked to Gramma. Is she doing incredibly wel?.

Heather  
Irene is incredibly well. Here's the thing about affirmations. Yeah, some people and by the way, I know this because I was one of those people. 

 

Nicole

Right, engineer Heather. 

 

Heather

Totally, totally. I can absolutely relate to that. 

 

But at one point, I thought to myself, What does it hurt to try? OK? And I don't care how hokey it feels, it works. And if you think it doesn't work, you are wrong. Because I have seen the transformation in my own life. I've seen it. You know, through the stories you and I share. There's just so much evidence to prove that it works that you just can't deny it anymore. And you feel hokey. OK, so what, who's gonna know that you're saying it like you feel hokey to yourself? Like, what? 

 

Nicole

Right, right. 

 

Heather

I mean, that feels cheesy. OK. You choose your word, but I don't know.

Nicole  
Is there a certain amount of time that people should like commit to like, 60 days, 30 days? That's a good amount of time to be like, I'm just going to commit to trying this.

Heather  

OK. I love that. OK. So for anyone who is like rolling their eyes, and I was you, OK, I understand, I would say 30 days just to see if something happens, and or 60. But here's the truth. I'm not kidding. If you decided right now to shift that belief. You could, you could start today and feel great about it. 

 

Yeah, choosing hokey, cheesiness is exactly that; it is a choice. You are choosing to think that in avoidance of what might help you, that sounds stupid to me. So you can continue to choose it, you can try to you know, some people, I was one of these people, I needed time, I needed proof, right? So I was, but now where I'm at, when somebody tells me to try something, I do things in an instant, because I'm like, I'm not wasting time with my own stupid thoughts. 

 

Because they usually aren't serving me. So you know, what's the … I talked about this one years ago. So regarding my exercise and my health, I work out very regularly, but I'm in my mid to late 40s. So you know, you start to get this little, like they call it the menopause, like, belly or whatever. OK? Whatever. So I started saying to myself, I have a flat stomach, I have a flat stomach, I have a flat stomach. And I just would say that over and over and over and over again constantly. And one day, Craig observed me getting dressed. And he said, wow, your abs look really good. Like your stomach is looking really good. And I, I just died because I said, I've literally not changed anything. Except I started saying it. And I'm like, oh my gosh, it works.

Nicole  

Well, and I think that is where we are the hardest on ourselves is how many times you look in the mirror and you're just like, ugh, like we are so mean to ourselves about our appearance, or maybe those extra couple pounds on our stomach or extra couple pounds on our thighs or wherever. And you would never say that to a friend. But the way we treat ourselves is horrific. And I know that it's bad. And I still catch myself sometimes. And it's like no, and I, I immediately try to change it, which, you know, it takes a while to start to really get into those habits, but you're able to catch it a little bit faster when you start keeping an eye out for like, what am I actually saying to myself?

Heather  

Absolutely. So when you look at yourself in the mirror, if you say ugh, just OK, number one, stop doing that. Just stop and look for something that you like about yourself. And don't tell me there isn't anything you like about yourself. You know, I woke up a couple mornings ago with my eye like half swollen shut for no good reason. It's still kind of funny looking. But I looked in the mirror. And my first thought was, oh my gosh, I look ridiculous, like I have these trainings to do and my eye looks crazy. And then I laughed and I was like, OK, it might be true. But it doesn't serve me, it doesn't feel good. So I totally shifted. And I literally said to myself in the mirror, Heather, you have really pretty blue eyes. And I said thank you. And then I said you're welcome. And then went on with my day.

 

Nicole  

I love it. You do have very pretty blue eyes. 

Heather  

Thank you. Thank you so I could focus on you know, this eye looks kind of funny and whatever. Or I can focus on what I do like about myself, you know, you choose, you choose.

 

Nicole 
Right, right? Oh my gosh, I love it. I love it. And for those of you guys that want to maybe dive a little bit deeper into affirmations, there is a book by Jon Acuff, Soundtracks. That is such a fun read. He is hysterical. It is a great book, highly recommend it. 

Heather  
I've actually covered it on my podcast. So if you look If you look up Soundtracks with the Flourish Academy podcast, I did one or two episodes with my friend Angela talking about it. It's a really fun, light, easy read, it just gives you a different perspective on it. And the soundtracks that we are currently playing for the most part are negative and not serving us. 

 

Nicole

No, 100%. 

 

Heather

Yeah, just be aware, just be aware. And then shift them, find something that you do like about yourself. And, you know, I was actually reading about people in weight loss, and they're, they're like, you know, they hate their body. And, you know, we're trying to say, well love your body, but that's just too far of a stretch. 

 

So, we also talk about these ladder thoughts we call them. So you could say, if you're not ready to say I love my body, or I love this about myself, could you just say I have a body? Instead of, instead of I hate my body? Right, right. Yeah, that's I have a body is not negatively charged. Correct. I have a body. And if you were Irene, my guess is you would be saying, I'm so grateful for, I'm doing incredibly well in this body.

Nicole  

I'm doing incredibly well. My body's still hanging on. Yeah. Fantastic. All right. So she's got the gratitude. She's got the affirmations. Number three, is she has no stress. 

 

Heather

How is this possible?

 

Nicole

She lives from a place of it's all gonna work out. Like her house. It needed a new roof. She literally said -- this was like 10 years ago -- she's like, I thought for sure my roof went out, or I didn't think I'd outlive my roof.

 

Heather  

Who says that? That is fantastic.

 

Nicole  

So anyway, so like her house is older things are falling down around her. But she doesn't stress about it. She actually just says, Oh, I'll call Renee. She'll take care of it.

 

Heather  

I mean, like, it's because I wonder if that's partly because in 106 years, through every major disaster and pandemics and wars and economic downturns and such that she believes that because it's actually true.

 

Nicole

Right, right. Like, everything's still around.

 

Heather  

She went through the worst of the worst. She has literally seen it all. And she survived it. And so she just now shrugged her shoulders and just like a new roof. That's nothing. You should have seen the Great Depression. 

 

Nicole  

Right? Right. 

 

Heather

Yeah, we didn't have food. 

 

Nicole

See the Cuban Missile Crisis? We're gonna talk about like World War Two with our victory garden, like, oh, yeah, everybody had a victory garden. You know, it's a place to grow your own fruits and vegetables and like just all the different things and she was … she also worked at a time when women didn't really work. She worked for operator for Bell Telephone, I think whatever it was called at the time. So she was in like the switchboard, boop boop, puttin' the little things in.

 

Heather  

She was at Bell telegraph, probably.

 

Nicole  

So, anyway, so yeah, so she has this, just this belief of, it's all gonna work out and doesn't allow herself to get into that stressful emotion.

 

Heather  

OK, Nicole, I but I have a question for you. Because I was actually talking to your mom about this. Well, first of all, Irene did not read affirmation books, right? 

 

Nicole

No. 

 

Heather

This is totally her natural state. 

 

Nicole

Yes. 

 

Heather

OK. Wow. That's exceptional.

Nicole  

I honestly don't know that it was always her natural state. 

 

Heather

Interesting.

 

Nicole

Like, I don't think, you know, when she was going through .. I don't know. I should ask my mom. She was like, always super like, it's fine. It's chill, which actually, I think she might have missed my mom tell stories how, like her. She had two older sisters that were twins. And so my mom was the youngest. And then every September, my mom would go live with a friend. Because my grandma and my grandpa would like go to Europe for a month.

 

Heather  

Like what? So I asked your mom, I was asking your mom about Irene and then I said tell me more about your dad. So I didn't know that your grandpa, Irene's first husband, died very young. 

 

Nicole

Yes. . 

 

Heather

Like suddenly. Tell me about that.

Nicole  

Um, yeah, my mom was oh gosh, 20 maybe, I think he was like 50-ish. But that was before they had any heart monitoring cholesterol, they had no idea what any of that was. So high cholesterol runs in my family, my mom's is way high without medication. My brother has high cholesterol, mine has gone up a little and then I have used some affirmations over the past couple years to actually lower it, so it is still …

 

Heather

Amazing.

 

Nicole

It's not in need to get anything that so anyway, so I'm using that power. Yes, the power the brain right there is but anyway, ya know, he had just had a massive heart attack that you know, they just did didn't have the medical ability to keep an eye on that kind of thing or to treat. Yeah.

Heather  

So I said to your mom, I was like, wait a minute, we were sitting on your couch in the living room, and she tells a story like so matter of factly. And I was like, How old are you? And she was like, I was 20. And I said, your dad was young. Yeah, he was really young. I said, OK, how did your mom handle that? I mean, her husband of however many years, literally drops over dead. I mean, at, you know, at a time in life, when your kids are starting to move on, and you're like, actually getting your life back to yourselves and right, there's a lot of fun things that you can do. 

 

And she, your mom had to think about it. And she was like, well, she grieved. But she was just like, she focused on living. You know, on moving forward and living. And I said, That's so interesting. I was talking to a pastor once. And he said, he works with a lot of widows. And he said, there's two types of widows. There are widows who bury their husbands and are like, OK, they grieve, and then they're like, let's go, you know, I'm gonna move on, I'm gonna have a purpose, I'm going to do things. And there are some that die within a couple of months.

 

Nicole  
That I think that's two types of people for anything. You know, there's the type of people that like something happened in their life. And, you know, 20 years later, they're still focused on this, like, they're still giving so much energy to this past event. Or there's the people that like, alright, that happened. Let's move on. And you know, and it doesn't take away like it like the moving on, after, you know, somebody passes away suddenly, like, doesn't take away all your incredible memories, and all your incredible experiences with them. You know, if anything, I think it honors that because they would not want you to be sad. No, I mean, of course, you're going to be sad. Those are very words, they wouldn't want you to be stuck in this perpetual state of grief. 

 

Heather

That's right. That's right.

But she made that choice. I just, when I when I get to meet Irene and sit down, I'm bringing a notepad and you better brace yourself, because we're going to be there for hours. 

 

Nicole

She would love it. 

 

Heather

I'm going to ask so many questions, but I just wonder again, not that it matters. I'm just curious. Was that a conscious decision? Or did she …

Nicole  

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, she did. She then got remarried. And then he passed away. And then she was dating some people and they would pass away. She was just like, I'm just done dating. I killed them all.

 

Heather  

I mean, that's like, funny, that's a good attitude. Instead of oh, I killed 'em all. Or, you know, she was like …

 

Nicole  

They can't handle me.

Heather  

I'm too much for the living. Which I believe to be true about Irene. Yeah, that's just phenomenal. I, I just want to tap into like a 10th of that, you know what I mean?

 

Nicole  

You know, 100%. It's, and it's just incredible to see how these little mental tricks like whether you know you have them or not. And if you don't have them, if you're like Heather, Nicole, that's not my natural state, I can't do this. Well, you can train yourself to be state more. So, you know, anyone this that mental state, and these habits are available to anybody. 

Heather  

Oh, OK. That's actually a really important point. Because I think you're right that some people are going to say, I can't do that. That's not who I am. And that's just a thought. And thoughts can be changed. You can shift that to I'm learning how or I want to improve … like, really, when somebody's getting ready to XYZ? Yep.

So I'm ready. I'm excited or welcoming. 

Nicole  

Or how about start with, I have thoughts. It's like, I have a body. I have thoughts.

Heather  

I have thoughts. And I get to pick them. But don't tell me you're not that way. As if it's written in concrete, final answer. It's a circumstance and you can't change it. Because that's just not true. And by the way, when you say things like that, like, that's just who I am. It makes me want to roll my eyes so far back and like, how is that serving you to say that? Stay and stay in that thought,

Nicole  

If that's who you are, if you're just, if you're saying, well, that's just who I am and you're super happy with every aspect of your life, great, right? That if there's things that you're like, why is this not changing? Oh, that's just who I am. You have just given up all your power to change it? Because well, yeah, how can you change it? That's just who you are.

Heather  

So you're a victim to who you are. Give me a break. Now. My daughter said to me the other day, and she's 20. So you know, I'm gonna have a little bit of grace. But she's like, Mom, I just have this chip on my shoulder. And I'm like, I know you do. How's that working out? Is it serving you? And she's like, well, it's just who I am. I just have this chip on my shoulder and I'm like, oh, great attitude, that's gonna help. 

 

Like, I like dusted off her shoulder like physically, I hit her shoulder. And I said, drop it. You can decide right now to let that go. She's like, well, I don't know where it comes from or why I'm this way. I mean, she doesn't love it. She knows it's not serving her. 

 

Nicole

Do you need to know why?

 

Heather

Sometimes knowing why, you know, having some information is helpful, that's true. But you don't need to know why to make a change, you can just decide, I am now a positive person. I am now a person who's going to be incredibly grateful that I'm in my home. Irene's just happy she's in her house. I mean, she's in her house, she's independent. She's doing incredibly well, you could be doing incredibly well, to do incredibly well. We should have like a T shirt or something made, like Irene says or I'm doing incredibly well. I mean, what, why not even days when that feels like a stretch. Like it will still make you feel better. Because here's the thing. You can't tell me she's doing incredibly well, every single day. But she tells herself that …

Nicole  

Yep. 100%. Yep, totally believes it. Oh, here's the other … all right, this is five lessons. 

 

Heather

Ok, great.

 

Nicole

She had self-discipline back when she was you know, I mean, we're talking like still in her 90s. When she did more than like, right now she just goes from her bed to her chair, like that's, that's really her day. But she for a long time would not allow herself to have her cup of coffee until she did her exercises.

Heather  

In her 90s. I'd be like just have the coffee. You're 90 years old!

Nicole  

Yeah. No, she would she would wait to have our coffee until she did her morning exercises. So there's some discipline for you.

Heather  

OK, that's really interesting. I just did an episode on the Flourish Academy podcast on how to have a great life. And it's all about non-negotiables related to discipline like this. So it's like, to her that was just not an option. She's going to exercise it is not an option not to. So you might as well just get it done, and then set yourself up with a little reward at the end. That's, that's literally Irene should be on the stage as a motivational speaker.

Nicole  

It's that and it's also kind of like a habit stacking, right. So it's like, yeah, so my habit is I do my exercise, and then I get the coffee. So it's kind of tied to our coffee.

Heather  

Yeah, habit stacking is actually one of my favorite things. So James Clear wrote Atomic Habits. I think that's, that's where I learned that. And, gosh, I want to read … I have it right here. I keep it handy. Because, by the way, James Clear, is the only person whose email list I'm on that I actually read the emails every week. They are that good. And every week, you will see a quote, or a post from me on social media, attributed to James Clear because of that email. It's just, he's just so good. But habit stacking helps to improve your discipline. Oh, but wait, Nicole, I'm just, I'm just not a disciplined person.

Nicole  
How's that working out for you?

Heather  

That's a story. That's a thought. I'm not a discipline person. It's just a thought. It's not the truth. It's just a thought. Could you shift the thought? I'm learning to be a more disciplined person.

Nicole 

Right. I'm becoming a disciplined person.  

 

Heather

Oh, man, so many great lessons. And the thing is, Irene doesn't even realize the ripple effect, impact the way she lives her life is having on you. And then me and now your audience.. I mean, what a legacy.

Nicole  

She would love it. Yeah. Right. We have one more. Oh, that's the three goals that have turned into five are the three things that are turned into five things. And that is, she always has a goal or something to look forward to.

Heather  

But you've got to be kidding me? At 106? She sets goals?

Nicole  

Yeah. So I mean, her goals are different than our goals. Our goals are, are really, you know, it's just like, having something really exciting to look forward to. So she loves Christmas. She loves Christmas music. If you walk into our house right now, like you need headphones, because the music is so loud, so she can hear it. It's just like blaring Christmas music. And like every point in the year, there's something new to look forward to. So she, this is actually the earliest that she started looking forward to her birthday, that she's just started playing the Christmas music. And she said to my mom the other day, she's like, I've been listening to Christmas music. And you know, my birthday is just around the corner, which is July, six months from now, but there's always something like my brother came home for Thanksgiving with his new baby. So like, certainly she's going to hang on for that. And then she's going to hang on for Christmas. And then like somebody else is coming home or this is happening or this is just something to look forward to. So it's always having this, this thing in the future that she's excited for.

Heather  

It's forward thinking. It seems to me that that's like the undercurrent of all of this is about looking forward to a better future. Like that's, that's the fabric that sort of ties all of this together. Because that's evident with you know, I'm doing incredibly well, I have an amazing life. She's affirming it's all going to work out, let's future focus, like she's just imagining a better future where it would be very, very easy for someone who is 106 …

 

Nicole

And hasn't left their house in 10 years …

Heather  

It would be very easy to get hung up on the past. Or, you know, I actually have friends, you know, that are my age that are hung up on the past. Now they say, do you remember that time? I have this one friend from high school, I'll periodically see her just out and about and she'll say, I remember this one time and Mrs. McCormick's class, and you did this, we said, I have no literal clue what you're talking about. None. I know. She's just so I mean, good times, I suppose you know, but I don't know. I just think it's remarkable for someone 106 that can look forward to all of these events. And that's probably what keeps her going. 

 

Nicole

100%

Heather

What do the doctors say about her health? 

 

Nicole

Well, her neighbor's a doctor. So he comes over for like, she doesn't leave the house. She hasn't really been to a doctor. She's on no medication, like zero. No, yeah. We joke that she's gonna outlive us all. She's going well, she's actually getting close enough that I think she's going to have on our sites, the world's oldest person, so that's going to be her. That's gonna be her next goal.

Heather  

Who was, what is that? 

 

Nicole

117. 

 

Heather

Wow. Wow, was that person from Italy? By chance?

Nicole  

Do you know or Japan? I think they were from Japan. Yes.

Heather  

There's those two areas are known for … the Blue Zone wants to show on that. Yeah.  So interesting. But it seemed to me what I gathered from that show was pointing to your number three, which was these people don't allow stress to  … stress kills.

 

Nicole  

Yes, it increases inflammation in their body. And you know, and then you can also go to their having a whole good diet. Like it's not, you know, this isn't a nutrition podcast. But like, even when I was in Italy, and then in Spain, and in Scotland, like I was overseas quite a bit this year, eating like a maniac, because the food was so good. And we had private chefs. In Italy, we didn't. But I mean, it was in Italy, so there was a lot of good food. And I didn't gain any weight on any of those trips. Why? And I was eating bread and cheese. And like all the things, I didn't let any of it slow me down. But it was real food. Not all this processed, quote, real food that we have here. And so I think the combination of what they eat, which is you know, lean meats, fish, like, you know, natural fats from olive oils and fruits, vegetables, and like any bread is like actual real bread, not all this modified craziness with preservatives, and then that lifestyle of, it's all gonna work out.

 

Heather  

Oh, gosh. OK, so what I've heard here is I need to eat more bread. That's what I …

 

Nicole

In Italy. We need to go to Italy and eat more bread. Or Spain.

Heather  

Yeah. I mean, you can watch them make the pasta. And it's just like, they're using flour and water and oil and egg. And you know, they're making pasta. So it's, everything's very fresh. So it's just really interesting, because it's not that I have my sights set on living long per se, although that's great. It's like, I just want to live really well and happy and OK, not, you know, life, bad things are gonna happen. But with a positive outlook. Like, I'll get through this … 

 

Nicole

And even when bad things happen … like, obviously, you're going to have some grief, but still being able to turn around and continue to live your life.

Heather  

Oh, so a good friend of ours, tragically just lost her mom very suddenly and unexpectedly. And her mom happens to be the same age as my mom. So I'm, you know, I'm talking to her periodically -- I actually need to check in on her today --and I found this article about how to be useful in grief. Like you could be … or is this maybe a different topic for a different day. But you know, grief is something you do need to experience and walk through and feel. 

 

But is there a way to not be just a heap on the floor? Is there a way to approach it in a healthy manner that means you're feeling the feelings, you're accepting the loss, but you're also being useful and just, I just want to be useful, I guess, like in every area of my life, I just want to make sure that I am showing up fully to my fullest potential and I'm not letting my own thoughts hold me back from what I could be. So I'm just, I just want to make sure again, that I am living up to my fullest potential and then I'm not letting my own thoughts so especially the negative ones hold me back from what I can contribute to this world. Like that's really important to me. 

 

And I would just, I would love to interview Miss Irene. To just like understand what her thoughts are behind her approach again, is it conscious? Is it just who she is? How did she come to these conclusions? Like we need to set up a time is what I'm saying?

Nicole  

I love it. We will try to get on that, for sure. Can maybe we'll have to, we'll have to take a little microphone. Have Irene's musings and knowledge dropped to the podcast.

Heather  

And I'd say let's do it soon. Because you know, she's she's a little elderly, but since she's gonna live to 118, I guess …

 

Nicole

Right, exactly. Yeah, I mean, she's definitely sticking around till her next birthday, because that's just right around the corner. I love it. I love it.

 

Heather

Thank you for sharing that. 

 

Nicole

Oh, my gosh, of course, thanks for joining me on this incredible conversation. Because, you know, the more I thought about it, I'm like, man, there are some incredible life lessons. 

 

Of course, all of these types of things are the real work for our business. You know, like, yeah, we need to have some best practices for how to market, how to message, how to create a website, like, but so much of the success that you're looking for, it's coming down to things like that, I see it all the time from our people that are in your Elevate, that they're like, oh, something just shifted. Now all of a sudden, I'm getting these inquiries, I'm having bigger sales. Like, it's, it's incredible to watch.

Heather  

It's the most fun I've had ever in my life is to watch that.

Nicole  

It's not about a new breed of business strategy. It's the same business strategies that are in the Academy that are in your Flourish Academy, like it's the same strategy. But now all of a sudden, they're getting incredibly different results. Because of these types of things.

 

Heather  

It comes down to this and there's a training inside of Elevate called the Belief Triad, it comes down to belief. They believe that they all of a sudden something shifts in their brain. And it's this tiny little thought that's like, wait a minute, I can do this. Exactly.

 

Nicole  

Exactly. Yeah, instead of the …

 

Heather

Oh, I can't.

Nicole

There's no, no way.

Heather  

It's the, it's the tiniest little shift, where people are saying, I don't know how to do this, I can't do this. That'll never work for me. I'll never hit six figures. And they just go on and on and on. And then one day, I crack them open. And it's the, it just takes us one thought, and I know it so I'm very patient. Because it takes time. And that's fine. I'm here for it, you know, so. And then I sneak in there with this like, well, what if it was possible? And then at some point when that shift happens for them, all of a sudden they're posting hey, I just had an $8,000 sale.

Nicole  

Right? Right. Yeah.

Heather  

Yeah, like, how is that possible? Like, in those high? I just, I just believed that I could do it. 

Nicole  

Yeah. Yeah. 

Heather  

OK, if it's that simple, then let's lean into this idea of belief.

Nicole  

Yep. Yep. And you guys, keep track of Irene's five tips for a long life. Gratitude, affirmations, no stress, always having a goal. Oh, gosh, what was the other one?

Heather  

I actually have six. I took notes. I'll read them to you. So I have number one is I'm doing incredibly well, I've lived an amazing life, you know, which goes into number two, the affirmations. Number three was no stress. It's all going to work out. Number four is gratitude. And I love this thought of just being grateful for my home.  I have a home. It's actually very rainy. It's rainy and windy here. Yeah. Nice. I'm happy to have a warm home. Number five was self-discipline. That was the exercise before coffee. And six was goals or something to look forward to.

Nicole  

Yep. I love it. So how many of those things do you guys have in your life? And how can we incorporate more of them? That is our question for you. Let us know as usual on Instagram if you found this helpful. And yeah, Flourish Academy for Heather and Nicole Begley official for myself. And thank you, Heather, for having this incredible chat.

Heather  

It was my pleasure. Actually, this is one of my favorite episodes we've ever done. Thank you for having me. You know how much I love your grandma. And I haven't even met her.

Nicole  

I love it. We'll have to make sure that happens. All right, everybody. So great to see you all have a wonderful holiday season. And we will be back with a new episode after the new year. But don't worry, don't worry next week, we're not going to leave you all hanging in while you have some time off. We're going to do some replays of some of our most popular episodes because there are 170 previous episodes. 170, Heather.

Heather  

There's a lot of really really good information in those episodes. And you know, if you're new to the podcast, just jump around and you know, grab what speaks to you, but man, there's just a lot of good insight to be had.

Nicole  

Yep. And then we'll be back after the new year. And we're gonna kick it off with just awesomeness because I have no other word.

Heather  

I can't come up with it. It's gonna be great. You're going to do incredibly well.

Nicole  

We're gonna do incredibly well in 2023. Oh my gosh, that definitely needs to be a shirt. It's gonna happen. All right, everybody, so good to see you. Happy holidays. Talk to you soon. 

 

Thanks for listening to the Hair of the Dog podcast. This was episode number 171. If you want to check out the show notes for access to any of the resources that we mentioned, simply go to www.hairofthedogacademy.com/171.

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