The Bite Size Podcast with Lorayne Michaels

Are You Ready for a Revolution

• Lorayne • Season 2 • Episode 51

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Lorayne shares her experience at the Align Conference, exploring themes of healing, revolution, and personal growth. She emphasizes the importance of facing challenges, prioritizing emotional health, and recognizing one’s inner strength on the path to becoming the best version of oneself. 
• Reflection on the Align Conference and its impact 
• Importance of healing and confronting past traumas 
• The concept of "seeing it through" challenges the urge to run 
• Re-evaluating goals and shifting focus from achievement to health 
• The empowerment of choosing one’s narrative after trauma 
• Encouragement to discern actions thoughtfully and avoid rash decisions 
• Highlights from motivational speakers, including a formula for grit 
• Commitment to evolving past old narratives and embracing authenticity

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Email Me: LorayneMichaels22@gmail.com

Speaker 1:

Hey, it's Lorraine. As you know, it's my joy and passion to teach and encourage others through this podcast, but my heart is actually at live events. Currently, I'm available for booking, so if you're organizing a live event, I'd love to share my story. Your audience will walk away with tangible tools on how to overcome limiting beliefs, break down obstacles and discover their gifts, talents and abilities in order to live a life that God created them to live. It's not the size of the audience that's important. It's the connection and impact that I will bring. For more information, email me at lorraine at theboldbeginningscom. Welcome back to the Bite Size Podcast. I'm your host, lorraine Michaels and mean. I want to talk to you about life and God's plan and how we think we're going about it in the right way, and we think that we're pursuing the things that the desires of our heart, but maybe we're missing it. So I recently got back from an event in Scottsdale, arizona. It was Brooke Hemingway's the Align Conference, and Brooke Hemingway is amazing. She puts on a fantastic event. She brings in phenomenal speakers. It was incredible. This was my first one. It was wonderful. It was great. She did a great job. Her theme she always has a theme for the event for a line, and it's usually, you know a word, that they focus on, and this year it was the revolution and her workbook for it, her handout. I've been to lots of events and this workbook, this handout, this schedule of events, if you will, is by far the best I have ever had been given used. It was amazing. I have it still, and usually when I come back with them, I have my notes and I go over them and that's it. I put them away and maybe, if I think of something that I might have written down, I'll pull it back out. This, though there's so much gold in it, brooke, fantastic job Like I, will come to your events for that alone, anyways. So in the beginning of the book she has a definition of revolution, and I'm going to read it to you because it is very significant. So, revolution For an individual revolution can signify a profound and radical change in one's mindset, life direction or way of being. It's when someone completely redefines their approach to life, breaking away from old habits, beliefs or limitations to embrace a new transformative path. That right there, I want you to. That right there. Okay, I'm going to break off on a moment for this.

Speaker 1:

So prior to going to this event. I did not want to go because I felt like I'm going into a different season and I'm not so sure where God is bringing me and I'm completely open to the fact of my business might be changing and, in a way of, I'm just open to whatever God has for me and if it's speaking, so be it. If it's coaching, so be it. If it's not, I'm okay with that. So back in October of 2024, if you didn't know, I completely deleted everything. I got off social media completely. And not only did I get off social media, I deleted everything, all my accounts, call that smart or not, irregardless. I did it and it was just so that I can hear from God, get alone with God and restructure things.

Speaker 1:

I was rethinking things, maybe coming back different, if at all, I came back, coming back different, if at all I came back. I kept my podcast because that's very important to me, but I shed it all. I was having a really, really difficult time mentally. I was having an extremely difficult time in my marriage it was literally crumbling. Same with parenting. I was having a difficult time being a stepmom and 2024, literally I was in the refiner's fire, I would say almost the entire year and I really questioned a lot of things my business decisions, my relationships, just everything was questioning it. And so I did not want to go to this event because things had changed. I wasn't pursuing things in my business the way I was. I was really I am really focused on healing. I'm really focused on my marriage and healing, that parenting, all the things, and I just don't know if showing up as a coach and a speaker is where I'm at right now. If the opportunity arises, absolutely. I have keynotes I would coach, like absolutely. But am I heavily pursuing it the way I once was? No, not at all. You know what I am pursuing, god, you know what I am pursuing my marriage, my healing, becoming and being the best version of myself, the best mom, parent, stepmom Um, that is what I'm focused on, and helping other women in that arena, um, possibly. So I went because I had already paid for it, because I had already committed to it, and this time I'll tell you I went to this event completely in a different headspace, mindset, completely different.

Speaker 1:

Normally I go with these high expectations of what I'm going to receive and who I'm going to meet and who I'm going to connect with, and I usually show up to these events with a zeal, a passion, an energy of there's something here for me and there's nothing wrong with that. However, I found that when I did show up for that not that you know I'm going to, someone's going to give me something, I'm going to get something not with not so much of that spirit, but with these high expectations of I'm either going to help someone, I'm either going to connect with someone, or I'm going to receive something like a message or a word or whatever. Like I had very high expectations in all aspects of attending events. This one, a line I came into it with zero expectations, I didn't expect anything. I came into it with completely open hands to whatever you have for me, god. Maybe I'm going to help someone somehow, maybe not. Maybe I'm going to receive a word, maybe not, and I'm okay with it, and I'm okay with it, and I'm okay with it, and I'm okay with it, and I'm okay with it and I'm okay. I wasn't expecting a miracle, I wasn't expecting anything and there's nothing wrong with that. I just had a very open mind, open heart and open spirit.

Speaker 1:

And so this definition of revolution about signifying a profound and radical change in one's mindset, life direction or way of being. It's when someone completely redefines their approach to life, breaking away from old habits and so much of the conference. A lot of the speakers touched on healing and a lot of there was different exercises that people walked us through, a practice of looking back at your childhood self and what it was that maybe they needed, and Brooke walked us through a meditation as well about your childhood, your seven-year-old self and what they went through and honoring what they went through and seeing them where they were at and letting them know that they're safe and so much of it. It was so powerful because I am in that current state of healing. I am in that current state of healing of going back to my childhood and uncovering traumatic events that had happened that I didn't heal from that. I stuffed in my subconscious that my mind completely blocked out, but my body held on to that and my subconscious held on to that and it's showing up in different ways as an adult and I'm recognizing it, not knowing that it was from my childhood that you know I'm walking through that in therapy of what a specific event it was and how to uncover that, but I was able to recognize it, and being there at that event only confirmed it that I'm in the right spot. I needed to be there to hear the certain things that were said, but confirmation that I'm in the right spot in my healing and in my business, and whatever's going to happen is going to happen, and maybe I need to make a change or a shift, and I'll tell you what. Something that I learned and that I am learning and that I know I need to speak about is seeing it through.

Speaker 1:

So, whatever that looks like, seeing it through, normally my tendency when things get tough is to run. My tendency when things get hard is to protect myself, to put up barriers, to put up walls and to run. Whether that's jobs, relationships, whatever the case may be, it's to put up my walls, protect myself, withdraw and run and just get out of the situation. And this year in my marriage, I was tested so much and I wanted to run so bad, but I had to realize that that's not going to get me where I want to be. That's not the person that I want to be. I don't want to keep running. There's no reason to leave this marriage. I need to work on it and I had to face myself in the mirror and figure out what it is in me that needs to heal so that I stop running. Same with business what is it in your business that is so difficult that you're not facing?

Speaker 1:

And there was a few things that just really spoke to me at this event that I absolutely loved and I wanted to, you know, take with me and also share with you and I'm going to find it in my notes from this incredible book. Something that was said about 2025, you know, a lot of people write goals, make goals, and that's so good and something that I realized I don't have any goals for 2025. I did not make any goals for 2025. And here's why Because I don't want to be so attached to something that I am missing what God has intended for me, and I was so focused since 2020. I was so focused on speaking, coaching, getting on stages, making, you know, six-figure business and all these things I was so focused on that I was missing the thing that God had in front of me that I really needed to work on, and that was my relationships, my marriage, my healing and becoming a better version of myself. I was going to events and working on personal development? Absolutely. I have learned so much, yes, but the most important thing was my marriage, and I was neglecting it.

Speaker 1:

And so for 2025, my goal isn't to get on as many stages as I can to earn six figures. That's not my goal. My goal is to heal. My goal is to become the best, most healthiest version of myself mentally, physically and emotionally. My goal is to have that rich marriage that I know I deserve, that I know God wants me to have, I deserve that I know God wants me to have and to be the woman that God created me to be, and if that leads to speaking opportunities and coaching opportunities, great. If not, that's okay. And so how I feel that that can be applied to you, whoever you are, wherever you are, is not to have goals Like hear me on this, don't set your sights, your expectations, so high and get so fixated on something that you miss the simple thing, and the simple thing is healing. What is it that you are resisting and facing? What is it that you're trying not to face? Do it? Heal from it?

Speaker 1:

You know someone had said to me that, um, I'm not really being authentic or not talking about. I'm too soft, and I know they did not mean that in an insulting way and they're just trying to help me. However, they also know me from a long time ago and they also know me from a place where I was so hurt and so broken and so toxic living, you know, binge drinking and just living in a very unhealthy way, and I understand they want to see me succeed and flourish. But the softness in my podcasts are coming from a place of healing, are coming from a place of I want to be soft, I want to be gentle. I don't want to be that bad A chick that I used to be. I don. I don't want to be that hard chip on my shoulder Don't give a rat's egg. You know what I mean. Like that's what I used to be. I used to be different, very, very different. And so this is authentic and I am coming from a place of gentleness and softness and healing, because that's what the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit refines you and really I want to be a loving, gentle, soft woman. Don't get me wrong. Like don't cross me. I do have like, yeah, don't cross me. Don't mistake my softness and gentleness for weakness, because I am a strong woman. I am not someone to mess with. Don't get me wrong, I'm still in the world. I am not Jesus here, but there's a difference in me from who I was and who I am and who I'm becoming, and I I hope that for you as well, as you're going through whatever it is that you're going through.

Speaker 1:

Um, another thing that I heard at the conference that I was like, oh, that's good, that's kind of a hard pill to swallow, but it's good and it's. You're only the victim once. After that you're a volunteer, and what that means how I took it is everyone has trauma, everyone goes through something, some level of trauma, and that's not for us to determine whether that's a traumatic event or not. If you experience it and you feel that it was, then it is. But how you relive the story in your mind or whether you are speaking it and sharing it with other people, you're only the victim once, and then after that you're a volunteer. And so I find that to be so empowering. And I talk about this also not giving the control to other people, because you have the control of how the tape plays after it happens. You have the control to remain in that victim mentality and mindset or become the victor. How are you gonna heal from it. Whatever that was, whatever happened to you, stop staying stuck in the victim space and get the healing. Like, do the thing that you need to do to get through it so that you're not stuck in that yuck in the in the mud. Really, you know, get, get the help that you need, whether it's coaching or counseling. Um, heal from that. And you, I mean like I hope that really empowers you when you hear that, because it did me. What was another one, something I wrote down Discern before you burn. Before you burn all the bridges, have some discernment.

Speaker 1:

You know Lindsay Schwartz, a mentor of mine. I absolutely love her and she has openly talked about how last year was the hardest year of her life and she's going through a rebirth and you know a rebranding and a whole new her and she hasn't figured it out yet and that's amazing, it's so beautiful yet. And that's amazing, it's so beautiful. And she also is creating a new online space, her Instagram. She deleted all of her posts. I thought she went private or blocked or I don't know. It just looked weird. You know, when someone blocks you, it says they have no posts. And I messaged her and I was like hey, did you delete all your posts? And she's like, yeah, I'm rebirthing, you know coming out different. And I was like, huh, that's amazing. I should have thought of that before I deleted mine.

Speaker 1:

So discern before you burn. That was a good one, but I can't wait for her. Her healing journey is so beautiful and she has done it with. I have known in the back of my mind what was going on, but I have been waiting to hear her story and I can't wait until she comes out and and who knows, maybe she won't disclose everything that has happened. But I know when you are hurt at the level that she has been hurt, it takes a tremendous amount of strength to continue to show up the way that she is showing up, to continue to have that grace and respect for herself and for the other people involved. And it's not so much that she respects the other people or person involved, but she has respect, she has self-respect and she's not the kind of woman that's going to throw dirt on someone for her namesake to make her look better, because I have been in a situation where I could have trashed the other person and I didn't, because that's not who I am.

Speaker 1:

Oh, john Gordon was there. That was amazing. He had some amazing things. He gave us a formula for grit and that has to do in life and business and relationships and marriage, and it was incredible, incredible, some of the things. I wrote down a formula for grit Number one, to be inspired by vision and purpose. Number two, to be fueled by optimism and belief. Three, to be driven by love and commitment. And four, to be revived by resilience. I took a bunch of notes and I'm not going to go over all of that on this podcast, but maybe in a future one. So so good, so good. I absolutely loved it.

Speaker 1:

I did come home early because I felt like I got what I needed to get out of it and I wanted to be back home with my family. I was longing for that and it worked out perfectly. So I did it, longing for that and it worked out perfectly. So I did it. And again, it all back to the expectations not having any expectations and just going with an open mind, open spirit and open heart to receive, to give whatever it was, and I did just that and so I completely had peace with it. I got to meet some amazing people, got to spend some time with some wonderful ladies and my mastermind and Amberly Lago's mastermind.

Speaker 1:

And another thing oh my gosh, sam Willing. Her Instagram is Coach Sam Willing. She had an incredible journey, incredible story, and one of the things that I wrote down after listening to her is there's a difference between the stories we want to tell and the stories that God wants us to tell. And I resonate with that so much because I have been through hell and back and I have been through a lot and that has really curated what and how I've shown up and what I want to coach about and speak about. And hearing that and also what I've been through this last year, I've realized that maybe that's not what I'm supposed to be talking about on stage. Maybe, you know, it's not about the three pillars mind, body, spirit. Maybe that's not my coaching program. Maybe it's not about infidelity and sobriety. Maybe that's not what God intends for me to talk about, and maybe it is healing, and maybe it is marriages, maybe it is parenting, I don't know, because those are the things that I have been resisting talking about.

Speaker 1:

I've been resisting talking about marriage because this is my third one, so I feel that I don't have a place or space to talk about that because it's my third one. But that, in where the enemy really messes with you is, makes you feel a level of guilt and shame and inferiority that who are you to talk about marriage, lorraine? This is your third one. No one's going to listen to you. Who are you to talk about parenting, lorraine? You're not even. You've never even birthed a child. You have a stepson and I just I.

Speaker 1:

I rebuke that, first of all because just because I am on my third marriage, third and final marriage, that doesn't mean that God's not going to bless me with a beautiful, healed, healthy marriage. Maybe the fact that we have been through trials, we've been through the fire and we're still standing and we're working through the yuck, and maybe because of that we will be able to help other couples through hard times, because we went through it and we have such a beautiful relationship and a beautiful, god-honoring marriage went through it and we have such a beautiful relationship and a beautiful God-honoring marriage, maybe because I've never birthed a child and I've gone through raising a child, that his mother abandoned him and I've been in his life longer than his birth mother. Maybe God has allowed me to go through that to help another stepmom who's struggling with infertility, who is struggling with step-parenting. So I rebuke any of those negative things that the enemy negative thoughts, negative all of that that the enemy is trying to feed me, those that the enemy is trying to feed me, those lies that the enemy is trying to feed me, because God has called me to this, god has called me to this marriage, god has called me to this um role as a step-mom. And so again, no expectations, totally open and willing to be where God wants me.

Speaker 1:

Inky Johnson if you haven't heard him, go look him up. He was a college football player that got injured, ended up getting paralyzed. His right arm is paralyzed Amazing story. That man is phenomenal. He had so many good nuggets and I'm going to end it with this the things that I got from his talk were incredible Finishing what you started and I've talked about this a little bit throughout this podcast, in this episode about commitment Finishing what you started, staying committed to what you committed to long after the feeling is gone.

Speaker 1:

So when you're in love, you know on your wedding day and you know you're so excited and so in love and you're so ready and willing to be in this relationship, and then stuff gets hard, the stuff hits the fan. You go through, you know, whatever trial it is in marriage, and that feeling that you had on the day of your wedding of excitement and I will be with you till the end, is gone. But staying committed and staying in that relationship, whatever it is that you committed to, when that feeling is gone, staying committed, it doesn't even have to be about marriage, it could be about anything, but staying true to what you said. And then here's another one that I absolutely loved Make sure your software is updated. Make sure your software is updated.

Speaker 1:

You're trying to do a new thing with old programming, and I loved that because it just reminded me that I had been trying, for 2024, to do a new thing. You know, but I had old programming. But I had old programming, and what I mean by that is I was doing all the personal development, going to the events and learning all these new things and wanting to implement them. All the while, there was trauma that had never been dealt with. There was old programming, old habits that I still had in me, and so I'm updating my software, and so I want to encourage you, friend, to update your software to do the work that you've been avoiding doing whatever that is, in whatever area of your life.

Speaker 1:

The thing that you've been avoiding doing God is calling you to face and the stories that you've been telling. I want you, I challenge you, to think about it. Are there some stories that you're avoiding telling or talking about because you maybe feel shame, or you feel like people don't wanna hear it, or that's not your story to tell. Maybe God is calling you to tell it? The thing that you feel most unqualified to do, god may actually have qualified you to do and to talk about and to be so with that friend.

Speaker 1:

That was my little mini recap of the Align Conference 2025. I can't wait to share with you some upcoming things that's happening. If this episode has helped you in any way, please let me know, and the nicest thing you can do for me is to leave me a review. If this podcast, if any previous episode, has ever helped you, leave me a review and let me know, and you can find me on Instagram. Lorraine Michaels, send me a message, friend me. I would love to connect with you in any way, as always, friends, remember you were divinely created for a divine purpose and there was no mistake in you. Have a great one.