3 Tips for Outgrowing An Old Version of Yourself | Messages for the Empath Soul Podcast
Have you ever noticed yourself outgrowing an old version of yourself? The patterns you never noticed before now sting you each time they become triggered.
The emotions of frustration, bitterness and anger are tell tale signs that something isn’t working. You have new desires that seem bigger than ever, and although they seem possible, you still get stuck in the HOW. These are very clear signs that you are in the midst of outgrowing an old version of yourself. I am here to tell you to keep going.
Your path may become stagnant, you feel stuck or you've plateaued along your journey. I've been there, and I know how frustrating it can be when you don't know what to do next. Over the last 8 years I've outgrown many different versions of myself, and these 3 tips are exactly what I needed to fully shed the old and shift into the new.
Knowing that you are expanding into new levels, becoming a more evolved, more awakened version of yourself. You feel this call to keep going and these are the tips that will support you on your path.
Press play to learn 3 vital tips when outgrowing an old version of yourself, in order to shift you into the next level.
The 24th episode is 3 Tips for Outgrowing An Old Version of Yourself.
Listen here, or scroll down to read more on what this episode is all about!
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Back to the blog - 3 Tips for Outgrowing An Old Version of Yourself
Here I will share a transcript of the podcast episode. I highly encourage you to give it a listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
INTRO
Hello hello hello welcome back to Messages for the Empath Soul. I have a question for you. Have you ever noticed yourself outgrowing an old version of yourself? The patterns you never noticed before now sting you each time they become triggered. The emotions of frustration, bitterness and anger are tell tale signs that something isn’t working. You have new desires that seem bigger than ever, and although they seem possible, you still get stuck in the HOW.
These are very clear signs that you are in the midst of outgrowing an old version of yourself. I am here to tell you to keep going. Keep going because there are parts of this journey, especially in the phase of outgrowing an old version of yourself, where it kind of feels like you plateau, it feels like things become stagnant or stuck. Those are the moments that you need to keep going. I have 3 tips for you today on that journey, moving forwards, as you outgrow an old version of yourself.
You stand here because you’re excited to embark on this new chapter, but you feel like you just can’t shake the old ways fully yet. Something is keeping you tied to the old version of you and you want to fully break free. Well, that’s why we are here together, so let’s jump right in.
This is your soul journey and I am here channeling messages from the Universe to help guide and support you.
This is Messages for the Empath Soul.
If you’re new here, I’m Sydney a ⅖ generator, with a deep intuitive connection. My mission is to empower as many spiritual empaths in this community, creating a ripple effect of compassion and peace that is felt around the world.
Now we are here together today for 3 tips for outgrowing an old version of yourself. I’m not sure where you stand, you probably stand in a similar spot as I am right now, and as I have been many times in my life. Recently though, I’ve been moving through a shedding of old layers, old beliefs and old patterns and it’s been going on for almost a year now. Although I’ve been here many times in the past 8 years. Knowing that you are expanding into new levels, becoming a more evolved, more awakened version of yourself. You feel this call to keep going yet, as I said, that stuckness, that stagnant energy of that old version of you is gripping on and you feel like you are unable to fully shed. You feel yourself slowly saying goodbye to the old and welcoming in the new.
There are 3 tips that I have for you that feel important right now when it comes to outgrowing an old version of yourself. I am reminding myself of these things as I fully shed the skin of this old version of me and step into a new cycle.
Like I said, I’ve been here many times in the past 8 years, so I know what this stuckness feels like. There have been many times that I have thrown my hands up to the sky and I have said “why? Why me? Why is this still happening?”.
In this moment, as I am outgrowing this current old version of myself, I am feeling really good. I don’t know if you can feel my energy or if you can sense my energy, but I am feeling really good because I am remembering these three tips that I have for you today. Now yesterday, I wasn’t feeling so good, and that’s okay because that happens sometimes. Yesterday I remembered these three tips and I put them into practice and that is why I am feeling so much better today.
So, I want to break them down for you so you can integrate them into your own life, as you continue this journey of outgrowing an old version of yourself.
#1 - Notice the inner critic, respond with the inner supporter
#2 - There is always room for more releasing + more joy
#3 - Get clear on what your desires FEEL like, not necessarily what they look like or how they will unfold
NOTICE THE INNER CRITIC, RESPOND WITH THE INNER SUPPORTER
This is something that I am currently teaching in my membership, The Soul Care Space, because I think we can get really stuck on the voice of the inner critic and we completely forget the voice of the inner supporter. The sessions that I have lined up this month that the members are currently moving through are not just learning this lesson, but integrating this lesson and guiding them through the process of noticing the inner critic.
The reason why I wanted to bring this to you today is because, as you outgrow this old version of you the EGO can become extremely loud. That is the inner critic. It’s loud because it’s afraid of the unknown, and the comfort zone it’s grown to love feels way safer. The ego and the inner critic, the ego is the inner critic and the inner critic is the ego. It’s the voice that is trying to keep you small, it’s the voice that is trying to keep you in this box. Not because it doesn’t think you are good enough but because it’s terrified and it believes the path of the unknown, the path you cannot see, it believes the next version of you isn’t safe. The inner critic is trying it’s best to keep you safe. Although it is coming from kind of a not so nice place, if you ask me. If you really wanted to keep me safe inner critic then you would be kind and you would be supportive. You wouldn’t be judgmental and blame me and shame me and tell me I’m not good enough. But this is the difference between the inner critic and the inner supporter.
The inner critic doesn’t know how to support because it comes from fear. It comes from the energy of fear and that is why the voice is tied up in that fear. It’s terrified of the unknown because it doesn’t know what’s safe. There is a goal and purpose with the ego in keeping you safe because in those moments where you literally are in a life or death situation, the ego is great because it knows how to guide you through that life or death situation back into safety. The difference is that you are no longer in survival mode, you are very clear with yourself that you are wanting to thrive in life. When you are on this journey of building a life that you thrive in, you start surrounding yourself with more situations that allow you to thrive. Which means you’re actually not in life or death situations. In survival mode, your fear, your ego and your inner critic are controlling your choices because your nervous system feels like it’s just barely surviving. It feels like you are in a life or death situation every single moment of every single day. You have either already outgrown that version of yourself or you’re currently outgrowing that version of yourself. Outgrowing survival and stepping into creation and a life where you are thriving, a life you are creating, a soul-led life.
Even if you’ve already been on this journey of creating a life where you thrive for a long long time, you still have an ego. There is no way around that, you can’t change that, you can’t just get rid of it. We’re humans, we’re multidimensional beings, we are spirit. You came here as a spirit and you stepped into this human body. In this human body you have a mind, you have an ego, you have a subconscious. That is all part of the journey.
The inner critic is full of judgment, shame, doubt, insecurities, and worry.
Everyone’s inner critic sounds and feels a little different because it’s unique to your journey and the life experiences you’ve had. The inner critic and ego also gets a lot smarter with each uplevel you move through. It may not be using the same terminology you got used to with the last transformation you experienced. As you uplevel and your terminology uplevels and transforms, so does that of your ego.
It’s really important to pay attention to your inner critic. What it sounds like, what it feels like, notice when your thoughts become filled with that tension, that judgment, that shame, doubt, insecurities, worry; notice the patterns tied into your inner critic because that is then how you can recognize “I need to move to my inner supported”.
Remember, you cannot control the first thought, but if you slow down enough you can choose the second thought. Inner critic tries to pressure you into feeling not good enough, whereas your inner supporter always makes you feel safe, loved, and fully supported to move forward with courage.
When you are outgrowing an old version of yourself you have to pay attention to the inner critic, and offer that part of you more compassion. Then you can shift into the inner supporter to fuel positive forward movement.
These are lessons we are unpacking inside my membership, The Soul Care Space, this month. So, if they really resonate with you and you know that your inner critic is loud, you’ve been paying attention for a long time, and you just haven’t been able to find the space to fully break free from it, you haven’t been able to find the practice and strategies to really bring that compassionate energy to it. You want to stop second guessing how to do this and how to activate your inner supporter, then that is exactly what we are doing inside The Soul Care Space. You can jump in and you can partake in those sessions, they are all recorded now for you.
When you know what the inner critic sounds like and what it feels like in your body it can be easier to guide yourself back into that compassionate state. Judging your inner critic for coming forward is just more of the same energy. I’ve caught myself here, this is where I was yesterday. That blame and that shame came forward and then all of a sudden I was judging it, saying to myself “aw man, why am I still here? Why am I still experiencing this?”. Kind of having a pity party and staying in that victim state. Well that was just more of the inner critic. Judging your inner critic is not going to help you outgrow this old version of you.
Compassion and nurturing love is the voice of your inner supporter. This energy will help you to release the fear, worry, doubt or shame, whatever it is that the inner critic is bringing forward; and it will help you to shift into the voice of the inner supporter more easily. When you can have compassion for yourself, when you can bring nurturing love into your mind, into your thoughts, into your emotions, into your energetic space, that is when you shift out of the inner critic and into the inner supporter. When you tap into the voice of your inner supporter and you begin to understand what it sounds like, what it feels like, then you can continue to encourage yourself moving forwards.
A great tip for this is if you are sitting here thinking to yourself “I don’t know what my inner supporter sounds like” I want you to know that your inner supporter sounds a lot like you. It sounds a lot like the voice of your soul, the voice of your higher self. This voice only strengthens over time if you continue to feed it, and if you continue to pour your energy into it. It’s not just about tapping into your inner supporter when your inner critic becomes triggered. It’s about practicing this in the good moments as well. When you are having a good day, what is your mind thinking? What are the thoughts you are choosing to have?
Things I have been practicing in order to strengthen my inner supporter is really recognizing my own gifts. I’ve always struggled with doubts and insecurities around my own gifts; so practicing affirmations and thoughts that say “wow Sydney, I am so proud to be this version of me”, “I’m so proud of all the work I’ve put into myself”, “I love that I am able to offer words of wisdom and kindness to other people”. That recognition and actually taking the time to fill my mind with those thoughts, that is what starts to strengthen the voice of the inner supporter. It’s not just about leaning into your inner supporter when your inner critic becomes triggered; it’s about knowing how to bring that forward all of the time.
Notice the inner critic and respond with the inner supporter.
THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR MORE RELEASING + MORE JOY
I hate to break it to you, but we never stop releasing. There are always more layers, more emotions, more thought patterns to be released. Especially because as an empath, you are constantly being influenced by the world around you, but also you are reaching new levels of awareness. With each new level of awareness you can see a new perspective to the old belief or old pattern that is needing to be shed. The releasing never ends, it’s a constant. Recently I uploaded an episode on my spiritual practices and 11 rules that I have for myself in my spiritual practice. I almost feel like I missed adding releasing in there because that is a rule, a guideline that I hold true to myself. Not just true to myself but true to my path and my journey. It is a guidepost that helps me to know that I am on the right path.
Whenever something comes up on my path that is heavy or weighing me down, that is a clear sign that something needs to be released. I am holding onto something that is limiting, restrictive or resistant and I need to work through a releasing practice.
I had to remember this recently myself, as I was feeling the heaviness of shame and blame for a certain part of my path and wishing I could be further along. I reached out to my mom, as I do, we work very well together on our spiritual journey’s, and she mentioned that she just had her own reminder for releasing. Part of me was like “I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to do more releasing”; again that is the inner critic, the judgement and shame, the frustration. That is a tell tale sign that actually, ya I need to do more releasing. Again, in my last episode about the 11 rules for myself in my spiritual practice, I talked about awareness is better than avoidance, and I talked about AAR, awareness, acceptance, release. The only way that I can release the heaviness or tension that I am feeling is if I choose to accept it. In the moments where I am resisting it, that is not a moment for me to release. I have to come back into that space of accepting it. Sometimes accepting it really is just the reminder of “oh ya, I’m still outgrowing an old version of myself. I’m still shedding these layers and this is another thing that needs to be released”. I think this is a really good rule to carry in your spiritual practice because it’s a reminder that it’s always going to be a step on the path, releasing is never done.
These old patterns are deeply embedded in our subconscious and even our unconscious systems. So there is always something new to be released.
Releasing can feel hard and heavy, so along with releasing there is always more room for joy. This is why this tip includes both joy and releasing. In order to outgrow this old version of you, you have to become the new version of you. There isn’t an in between phase where you’re nothing. You outgrow that version by practicing being this new version. I bet the new version of you experiences a lot of joy, they probably experience a lot of fun and laughter in their life.
So, when you don’t know what to do on your journey, have fun and seek more joy. This was a great reminder for me, as I keep mentioning yesterday I was really struggling. I moved through a release practice, I got home and when I had some time to myself I set myself in a meditation. One of my go to releasing practices is using the energy of a fire ceremony. In my meditation I see myself meeting up with my spirit team, I see the fire they have built for me, they are talking to me and asking me what I need to release. They are giving me guidance, I am channeling very beautiful messages of support, and then my spirit team leads me into the fire. I visualize myself in the fire, kind of like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the fire is a beautiful tool for releasing. I let the fire burn off that old layer, the skin that I am shedding, the old version of myself. Then I move through a cleansing practice after, standing under a waterfall and there is this really beautiful communication that is taking place between me and my spirit team, and then I came out of it. Afterwards I felt so much lighter. Then today I recognized I needed to prioritize more joy, so I went for a cross country ski with a really dear friend of mine, and although it wasn’t the best conditions, we had so much fun. We laughed, we chatted, we laughed at how silly it was, how much we were struggling on the trails and how challenging it was. At the end of our time I dropped her back off at her house and I said “oh thank you so much that was so enjoyable”. She looked at me and said “really?”, I kind of had to do a double take and say “ya it was, sure it was hard and it wasn’t the best conditions, but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much.”
It is a reminder that when you are outgrowing an old version of yourself, yes you do need to release and there is always more to release and again inside my membership, The Soul Care Space, if you don’t know how to release there are so many different sessions solely on releasing. Especially if you know what you are releasing, doubt, fear, overwhelm or pressure, there are so many sessions to guide you through that if you don’t know how to do it or you struggle to do it.
At the same time, filling your life with joy is so important. Growing in this way can be difficult, it can feel draining and exhausting at times, so it’s really important to find what fills your cup back up. Find what brings joy to you, what brings peace back into your life and to actively include those things in your life because that’s what allows you to enjoy this moment; and it energizes you for future moments where you may need to do more releasing.
There is always more room for releasing and for joy.
GET CLEAR ON WHAT YOUR DESIRES FEEL LIKE
The reason why I think this is really important is because it’s not about what they look like or how they will unfold.
I was speaking with a friend recently and she mentioned that she doesn’t know what she desires for her life right now. She feels like she is at an in-between phase of life, not quite who she once was and not yet who she will be. So she doesn’t know what she wants to call in.
I told her, it’s not what your desires look like that matters, it’s what your desires feel like that matters. It’s kind of funny because I was talking to my mom about this same thing because one of my frustrations recently was about my desire not coming true yet. She reminded me (the day after I reminded my friend) that tuning into the frequency of the emotion or feeling of the desire is how it will unfold. It’s such a great reminder for all of us because you might not have the desire right now or even clarity on what the desire is, but you do know how you want to feel. If you don’t know how you want to feel, then you should get clear on how you want to feel in your life; because you can start feeling those emotions right now. You can feel absolutely anything you want, it’s about finding what can help you to feel that way.
It’s why I love meditation because one of the beautiful gifts of meditating is that you can tap into any frequency that you desire while you are meditating, especially if you are doing a visualization practice. You can place yourself in a moment where maybe you’re not physically there in that moment, but you are tricking your mind and your body to believe that you are there and through that your soul is tapping into a frequency that brings up the feeling you desire.
As humans we get so tied up in wanting to know how everything will happen, but part of the magic is about the surprise in not knowing. When you focus more on how your desires feel rather than what they look like, you can more easily lead yourself through the shift into the new version of yourself. When you get caught up in what it looks like or how it’s going to unfold, you are living out of your mind and then you become frustrated, bitter or angry that it hasn’t happened yet. When you can connect to what it feels like you can start tuning into that frequency right now, then you are having fun on your path; it’s in this place that it doesn’t matter how it comes or when it comes because you know it will come. You are already tapping into the feeling.
That is to get clear on what your desires feel like.
These three tips on outgrowing an old version of yourself are really important, and they are really going to help especially if you feel like you’ve stagnated on your path. Maybe you’ve become stuck and it’s led you to feel frustrated because you’re not where you want to be yet. These three tips: notice the inner critic and respond with the inner supporter; there is always more room for releasing and joy; and finally, get clear on what your desires feel like rather than what they look like or how they will happen. These three things will help you to shift your energy so you can step into that next phase fully.
This information means nothing if you don’t take the time to integrate it and apply it to your life. Maybe I’ve planted a seed, but I really want you to integrate this into your life right now. We do this through self reflection.
SELF REFLECTION CREATES SOUL CONNECTION
This is the time in the episode where I share journal prompts for you to apply this lesson into your life because it’s not just about listening to my words, it’s about you taking the time to tap into your own frequency. To come back to your soul, to come back into the energy in your body and to start owning your own frequency and leading yourself forwards as the most magical being that you came here to be.
Self reflection is a powerful tool that helps you to better understand yourself and strengthen your connection with the Universe. Which is where you build trust and find a way to surrender more easily.
Use these journal prompts to continue outgrowing this old version of yourself.
1 - What does your inner critic sound like and feel like?
2 - How would the voice of your inner supporter guide you forwards?
Start tuning in. What does it sound like, what does it feel like? What are words that can start leading you forwards in a way of feeling better, more expansive, more evolved, more awakened, more trusting?
3 - What can you do to bring more joy into your life right now?
4 - What would it feel like to have your desires now?
I am here encouraging you on this path, reminding you to keep going. You are doing beautiful work as you are outgrowing an old version of yourself, and you are stepping into a brand new cycle. I am right there with you, I too am outgrowing an old version of myself and at times it feels amazing, it feels light, it feels expansive; and at times it feels heavy, it feels challenging and it feels dark. This is why I created The Soul Care Space, so we can come together and feel supported. Even though you might not know who else is watching the sessions around the world, you know we are in community and we are all doing the work individually and collectively. This creates the most beautiful ripple effect in the world. Check out the link in the description of this episode if you are interested in becoming a member. Join us, everyone already inside is cheering you on and is telling you that this is the place, this is the place where you feel nurtured, you feel inspired, you feel supported, and you cultivate a life where you feel well. You feel emotionally well, spiritually well, mentally well, and evolved.
Thank you for being here.
GOODBYE
Remember, your life is happening right now. There is not some future moment you need to rush forward to. Be here, take a deep breath, know that you are meant to be in this moment.
Life will always bring more lessons.
Your soul will always guide you to more healing.
Your mind will always require support to see from a bigger perspective.
You will always desire to be seen, heard and understood.
Be here now for yourself. In time you will feel the call to share more light and compassion with the world.
I’m Sydney, signing off and saying thank you, thank you, thank you.
Take your spiritual growth journey to the NEXT LEVEL and start creating real, positive changes in your life now.
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You want to feel more fulfilled.
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Until next time, sending love & light on your spiritual journey,
Sydney Smith
Spiritual Mentor
Founder of Adventuring with Poseidon Wellness
