Speaker 1: If we're connected on
Instagram, you might have
noticed that I've been almost in
a sort of Freudian and kind of
leaking kind of way, mentioning
that I've been working on
something new.
Welcome to the Henny Flynn
podcast the space for deepening
self-awareness with profound
self-compassion space for
deepening self-awareness with
profound self-compassion.
I'm Henny, I write, coach and
speak about how exploring our
inner world can transform how we
experience our outer world, all
founded on a bedrock of
self-love.
Settle in and listen and see
where the episode takes you.
And listen and see where the
episode takes you.
And in and amongst all the
excitement, all of the
anticipation that I have and all
of the delight in creating,
there is fear, there is anxiety,
there is doubt, and I have
decided to bring all of that
here, to open it up, to allow it
into the light, to allow it to
breathe rather than pushing it
down and, you know, only
allowing it to show up in the
pages of my journal, which is
where it has been showing up,
and also in conversations with
Anton.
I have to say, and my
realisation has been, that this
is part of my process, is part
of my process.
So when I create something new,
I need to go through all of
those stages of doubt, and I
think this is true of everybody
who creates anything, whether
that's a new career or bringing
a new person into the world Any
parent will know that that is
also filled with doubt and with
fear or whether it is creating
something new in, you know, in
our work, or creating a piece of
art, you know.
So, with all all creation comes
doubt, and if you listen to the
episode on certainty, then
you'll have heard me talk about
how, you know, certainty can be
the enemy of growth.
So we need, we need this, uh,
this liminal space.
We need to be in this space of
the grey for something new to be
able to shape itself, to form
itself, to gestate and to start
to grow into whatever it might
be.
So the fears that I've been
holding about this, this thing
that I'm creating, and I'm going
to be deliberately a little bit
, um, uh, opaque around what it
is, because I don't want this
episode to be, um, a kind of
launch episode.
This is really about me coming
and sharing with you about the
process that I've been going
through, and maybe there's
something in here that will
really support you if you're
also in the process of creating
something or have experienced
some of these feelings yourself
in the past and maybe there's
something that will resonate or
something that will spark a new
thought for you.
So some of the thoughts that
have been going through my head.
I don't know what I'm doing.
No one will be interested.
It's a waste of energy.
I should be focusing on things
I already know and I'm stuck.
They're just a sort of small
handful of some of these
thoughts and, you know,
alongside that has been all of
the excitement, all of the
energy to go with it, and so,
you know, even just naming those
out loud is so useful, and I
don't know if you can hear, you
know, in my voice it's like oh
gosh, honey, you know.
You know, when we air things,
we take some of the sting out of
them, we start to take some of
the power out.
Or maybe a better phrase is we
start to return some of our
power to us and and stop handing
it over to the um, to our fears
, and obviously our fears are
just trying to protect us, um,
but it's a way of letting them
know that we've listened, we've
heard them and um, and and we've
got this.
You know, we're, we're like
we're paying attention, um,
because you know these fears
that I'm having about this thing
I'm creating, um, maybe no one
will be interested.
You know, that's that's fair
enough, that's there's nothing I
can do about that um, but
that's not enough to stop me,
and that's because I'm also
listening to the voice inside me
that says this thing, this
thing that is calling you, this
thing that is asking to be born,
to be created, is what I'm
meant to be doing right now, and
I'm also really, really
trusting that.
So something that has been sort
of running alongside this work
that I've been doing this, this
quiet, creative work, has been
I've been running a small group
course called connecting with
your hopes and dreams.
Now, I love how the universe,
um brings an idea.
So the you know the thought of
of running this course, that
this began sort of a little
while ago, and what I didn't
know was that it was going to be
the most perfect accompaniment
to the creation of one of my
hopes and dreams, and you know
that's beautiful synchronicity,
isn't it?
And you know, nothing's an
accident, um, because it's been
so useful to to run this it's a
five-week course, actually runs
over six weeks and it's been so
useful for my own inner
explorations and it's been so
beautiful, sitting with this
small group of incredible humans
and you know working together,
facing into our conditioned
thinking, facing into what
blocks us, facing into the
strategies that we traditionally
use to maintain our status quo,
you know, to sort of stop us
pushing out to the edges of
things and, obviously, to really
step into our deepest hopes and
dreams.
We're stepping toward the edges
the edges and you know using
flow journaling, using coaching
techniques to help us step
toward the edges with safety.
And one of the things here is
that this thing I've been
creating it's, it's a space,
it's a space where I want to
create oh gosh, it's so
interesting.
I mean, I can even feel myself
stumble like do I?
Do I share this now?
Do I wait?
And it feels right to wait,
actually to not share too much
now, because I think that would
just be a distraction from what
I really want to talk about.
So if this is sparking kind of
curiosity for you, then please
stay close.
You know, come and join the
mailing list, because that is my
mailing list where I'm going to
share most about it.
Particularly, you know,
initially I'm going to talk
about it with the people who are
closest to me.
So if that includes you already
amazing, and if you're not yet
part of the mailing list, please
do sign up.
But essentially it's a place for
reflection, connection,
journaling, self-awareness, but
the thing that it is most of all
is a place that feels safe, and
I've been really aware of the
need that I actually have been
having as I've been doing this
creative thinking and sitting
with my doubt.
Is that really what I was
looking for was a place of
safety, somewhere where I could
take my fears and my doubts
around this growth that I'm
experiencing now and and be able
to sit with it without anybody
trying to fix me, without
anybody trying to tell me what I
should do or what I shouldn't
do, but just a space where I
could be trusted, um, to work it
out, um, but in you know, sort
of community, um, and that that
feels really interesting.
That you know I'm.
It's like life, imitating art,
imitating life.
You know, it's one of those
things where you look in the
mirror and you see the thing
ricocheting.
And for me, you know, I've been
turning to my journal.
I have also turned to trusted
others as well, people who I
know will hold the space around
me as I do some of my reflecting
, and that's been incredibly
powerful.
Oh gosh, where was my thought
going to go then?
Oh well, I suppose one of the
other things that's sort of been
bobbing up for me is that
yesterday, when we had the final
session of the Hopes and Dreams
course I am going to run it
again, by the way, because it
sold out and I know how powerful
it is.
So if that resonates with you,
then let me know and I can put
you on to the waiting list.
But, um, uh, one of the
exercises that we did yesterday
was in recognition that often,
when we're in a process of
creation, we can find ourselves
disregarding things that we have
created in the past, whatever
they may be.
And it can be so powerful to
look at something that you've
already brought into fruition,
you've already brought into the
world, and to see what were the
three steps, just three.
What were three steps that you
took to make that happen?
And when I did mine, I actually
I chose to think about creating
that hopes and dreams course.
It was the first time I'd run
something that was very you know
, that was exactly like that,
and so the first step I took was
trusting I had the skill and
experience.
The second step was jumping in
before I could change my mind,
and the third step was telling
people about it.
Now, there were obviously many,
many other steps within that,
but writing that reminded me
that when I was in my old
corporate career, I used to have
this awful phrase and I'm so
sorry for sharing it with you.
I've actually shared it here
before, so you might have heard
it before, but if you haven't,
I'm so sorry for um offending
your delicate ears with this,
but I had this awful phrase, um,
which was if you want something
doing, start a fight.
That's nice, isn't it, um?
But what it meant to me was
that in that, like huge, I used
to work at huge corporate.
You know, thousands, thousands
and thousands, like thousands
and thousands and thousands of
people worked there, and I was
relatively senior, so I had this
sort of the tendrils of my
influence stretched out
relatively far.
So the people that I was
connected with it was many, many
, many people, and I used to run
these very big projects that
involved, you know, sometimes
hundreds of people, all needing
to be aware in some way or
directly involved in what we
were doing.
And so this idea of you know,
if you want something doing,
start a fight, basically meant
that you have to cut, cut
through.
You have to cut through so much
noise in that kind of
environment, so much resistance
that actually sometimes the only
way to do it was to.
You know that the thing that
Canadians have been doing with
the Trump administration, you
know, sort of like elbows out
sometimes you just had to do
that.
You had to like wade in and go
like, right, we are doing this
Kind of kick it off and then
deal with the fallout.
Now, I'm not suggesting that
that is a particularly healthy
technique.
However, what I am recognizing
is that the part of me that was
able to do that, that was able
to create that strategy that did
work for me in that kind of
corporate space, that part also
holds that knowledge in a way
that can really support me now.
In a way that can really
support me now.
So when I was thinking about
the creation of that Hopes and
Dreams course and I did that
exercise, like what were three
steps jumping in before I could
change my mind and I actually
put in brackets, starting the
fight, you know, taking the step
.
It's the feel, the fear, and do
it anyway.
It's that kind of mindset and
I'm recognising, you know, and
it feels like it's settling
deeper and deeper and deeper in
my body, even just being here
and talking to you.
So thank you so much for being
part of the creation of this
space that I am.
You know, birthing Is that.
You know that feeling of the
settling in and the just do it,
my darling.
Just do it, let's just see how
it goes.
Everything is an experiment and
it will be okay, like whatever
happens, it will be okay,
whatever happens, I will learn
from it, and and I I also want
to share with you the piece of
journaling that came to me
yesterday from the prompt that
we use right at the very end of
the Hopes and Dreams course, and
if you do sign up to it,
hopefully you'll have forgotten
this prompt by the time we get
there, because we're going to be
using it again.
You'll have forgotten this
prompt by the time we get there,
because we're going to be using
it again.
Um and uh, it reminded me that
I know that everything that I
create is born out of love and
and it's a very um, it feels to
me like a very pure form of love
, and I know that when I connect
back with that part, that part
of me that really knows the
truth so deeply, then really,
whatever offering I bring up and
out and into the world, I can
sit with that and be, be with it
, and maybe it offers something
that is of value to others too,
and obviously that is always the
intention you know to be of
service.
So to let our share this piece
of writing with you and maybe it
sparked something for you too.
So this final prompt that we
wrote to yesterday was as I look
forward, I nurture my hopes and
dreams by.
So, as I look forward, I
nurture my hopes and dreams by
listening deeply to myself, not
second-guessing how something
will be or not be, allowing
myself to dream big, bigger,
trusting what I am creating.
To dream big, bigger, trusting
what I am creating, holding a
bigger space with more people
trusting that I am enough, that
what I am here to share will
give people something only they
know they are seeking.
I also listen to others with
discernment.
I allow myself to hear what's
being said, not through the lens
of my own self-prejudice or
judgment of them, but simply as
the words they are saying, and I
allow that what I am creating
now will feed into and be part
of what I am creating in the
future.
All things are interconnected,
including everything I create.
Nothing stands in isolation.
We are all one, and I nurture
my hopes and dreams by
remembering they, like me, are
born of love.
That feels so moving to me to
read that.
I almost feel like that's my
manifesto.
It's so wonderful when in our
journal, you know, even in, you
know so for me writing that I'm
holding that space, I'm with
that group of people, I'm
essentially in the role of, you
know, facilitator, coach, and,
and, and, and this wisdom came
through.
It was so useful to read that I
think particularly to remember
that what I am creating now will
feed into and be part of what I
am creating in the future.
And I want to add an addendum
to that just as everything that
I've ever created in the past
feeds into and nurtures and
nourishes what I create now, and
that is the same for all of us
All of our experiences in the
past, they all are part of how
we experience the present.
And what we experience now and
what we experienced in the past
are all part of how we
experience and create our future
.
So, you know, acknowledging
that, acknowledging the steps
that we have taken, the
successes that we have realized
in the past, you know that opens
up a question around what is
success.
It's very different things to
all of us, um, but, you know,
acknowledging that, um, we have
moved forward in the past can be
such a powerful reminder that
we can move forward now, and
that being here now, in this
moment, in itself is a way of
moving forward, because
everything changes all the time.
Um, is there anything else that
I wanted to to share?
To share, I think, the other
thing, just to sort of circle
back actually to that point
around safety, that I recognize
that.
You know, when we moved here, it
was largely because I had this
vision that I wanted to create a
solo retreat space, because I
know that that is something that
I really needed during my own
like deep and profound, uh, you
know, um tightly packed period
of change, and I say it in in
those words because obviously
I'm still going through my own
growth.
You know, we all are endlessly
for the rest of our lives.
We don't wake up and, you know,
stay awake without continuing
to do the work we have to.
You know, continue to pay
attention to things, because
falling back to sleep is very
alluring at times, you know,
particularly when the world
feels big and heavy.
And going back to sleep can be
very, very attractive.
So we continue to do the work
in order to remain awake.
And so, you know, just as
creating the solo retreat space
here has been such an important
creation for me because I saw it
was something that I and
actually we've got a retreat
guest here at the moment, and
it's just so glorious holding
space for this beautiful soul
and doing the work that we're
doing together and holding space
as they do their own work.
So, just as you know, that is
something that I recognize I
needed and therefore I have
created it in exactly the same
way.
Uh, this more virtual space
that I'm uh alluding to um and
that I will share a lot more
about um is something that I
recognize I have needed, and and
not being able to find the
format, the, the way that I am
envisaging creating what's
rising up within me, and so you
know, I think that's often the
case.
I remember, actually, when
doing the episode with Adam Lind
about his book Floating Home,
and one of the things that he
was talking about was he almost
felt it was a kind of almost
like a selfish process for him
to write the book, because he
recognized that there was really
so much learning in there.
That was for him, and my
observation was I think so often
when we are creating something
is because it's the thing that
we most need.
So, even if we're creating
something that is in essence in
service to others, um, we are,
you know, whether that's a piece
of art or a um, or a building,
or bringing a new human into the
world, or um, you know,
creating a new course or writing
a book, or um, you know,
running a project in our
workplace.
You know all of these things.
If it's something that feels
like it's really like asking to
come up and out and through you,
then often it's because it's
bringing a deep and powerful
value to you, and that is okay
too.
And it's so funny because when
I was first sort of thinking
about running the hopes and
dreams course and I was filled
with doubt obviously before I
ran it, thinking who are you to
think that you could do this and
why would anybody want to come
and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah
I also recognized that actually
, I also recognized that
actually really deeply
connecting and taking that time
in group with others, in a
really safe space with others,
to connect with my own hopes and
dreams was going to be valuable
for me.
What I didn't realize was quite
how valuable it was going to be
.
So I am going to sign off now
and in a few weeks maybe a
couple of weeks I'm going to
launch this creation in
alignment with the moon.
Um, I think I've I've said to
you before that, um, I've been
really curious about how I've
observed my energy levels, um,
mapping the phases of the moon,
and I've I've sort of played
with this idea of, uh, working
more in alignment with the moon,
um, uh, going from a really
kind of cynical stance, which I
recognize as a part of me, um,
into a more open stance
definitely another part of me
and into a uh well, let's give
it a go Also a part of me stance
.
So I'm in that place now.
I've kind of come through my
cynicism and my openness and I'm
now into the give it a go, why
not?
So I'm going to really work
with the phases of the moon and
the first full moon in June our
next full moon, actually, I
think it is I am going to begin
sharing.
So I look forward to doing that
and I really really deeply hope
it's something that calls to
you and I would so love you to
be part of what really creates
this space.
All right, my darlings, I am
sending you so much love and a
hug and a wave.
Actually, hang on a minute.
I've just realized I meant to
tell you about something else.
I've just done a really lovely
close.
Anyway, um, I've got another
couple of courses coming up.
They're already in the diary.
There's one beginning today
which I'm really excited about,
which also sold out, which is
about self, about change with
self-compassion.
That's really really going deep
into like how self-compassion
supports change.
We've already got a waiting
list for that course, so I am
running it again in September.
Begins on September the 10th I
think it's a Wednesday and all
of these small group flow,
journaling, group coaching.
They are lunchtime courses.
They run for an hour and 15
minutes for four weeks on the
same day each week, and
hopefully that means that if
you're in a working environment,
maybe you're able to clear your
diary enough to be able to come
and join um, and that would be
amazing.
So I'm trying to make them as
um accessible as possible and
also I'm really aware of my own
energy levels and running these
things in the evening just
doesn't work for me.
Um, I do occasionally do events
in the evenings, but it's
that's not where my energy is
like at its like peak, henny.
So so they're lunchtime courses
, and so there's one beginning
10th of September, which is
about change with
self-compassion, and then
there's one before that, which
is beginning I think it's the
10th of July, but I I might be
wrong which is a Thursday for
four weeks, which is all about
shifting from a lack mindset to
an abundance mindset.
Now, there's a lot of stuff out
in the world about lack mindset,
scarcity mindset, lot of stuff
out in the world about lack
mindset, scarcity mindset, and I
think it's really worth
exploring.
And lack can relate to the
beliefs that we hold around time
, around money, around our own
enoughness, around so many
things around know, do we know
enough?
Um, you know energy levels,
blah, blah.
So I think it's such a
beautiful topic to explore,
using the tools and techniques
that I'll be sharing.
So flow journaling is part of
that and also bringing in some
of these.
You know my formal, like
coaching skills, the stuff that
I'm professionally trained in,
so I would love you to join us.
I'm going to put links into the
notes in this episode, in this
episode, and you can always, um,
just have a look on my website,
hennyflintcouk, and go on to
the events and courses page and
you'll see all the information
that you need.
Or follow me on eventbrite is
the other really good thing to
do, and that way you'll see when
new things come up.
Okay, uh, that it, and thank
you so much for listening.
And you know, if it sparks
things for you, please do tap
and send me a note on the.
You know, send me a message on
the notes, you know, of this
episode.
Right at the top of the show
notes, you'll see there's a
little link that you can tap and
send me a message.
I would really love to hear your
reflections.
Or please email me, and if you
email me then I can reply.
So and also just say if you
enjoy this podcast, please do
leave a review, particularly on
Apple or Spotify.
I think you can do that on
Spotify as well.
Please do leave a review
because it's such a fantastic
way of sharing this work with
others and, you know, I think
this is the work that is so
valuable, so useful for so many
of us.
All right, my darlings, I know
it's valuable for me anyway, and
that's all we can know, isn't
it?
Anyway, all right, my loves.
I am now heading off and I send
you another hug and a wave,
thank you.