Have you ever considered that your confidence impacts more than just how you feel when you look in the mirror?

It can impact every way we show up in the world — including how we approach our work or how we stand up for ourselves or the things we believe in.

I didn’t think much about confidence the first 35ish years of my life. People might even say I had more confidence than I deserved 😂

But at the end of 2022 I found myself feeling really disconnected from myself. I think this was a common experience for many of us as we emerged from the height of the pandemic, and mine was combined with a career pivot that left me wondering where I fit in. Perhaps you’ve felt similar after big life changes such as becoming a mother, relocating, body changes, a severe illness, or ending a relationship?

Although therapy is great in all of these circumstances, I found it really helpful to also enlist the support of a confidence coach, to help get to the root of the issue and rebuild.

In today’s episode I’m sitting down with my confidence coach, Erika Eileen. We’ll talk about her confidence journey, which is rooted in her experience with Type 1 Diabetes, and we’ll introduce you to a simple exercise you can do RIGHT NOW to start reconnecting with yourself and building your confidence.

Click play above to listen to the episode, or find The Plan Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.

Additional Resources:

Erika calls this a Sensuality Guide. I call it a Happiness Guide. YOU can call it whatever you want! Below are the directions along with a PDF you can download to create your own.

How to do it: find a cozy spot and 5-10 minutes. On a piece of paper, write out the five senses: TOUCH 👆🏻 SMELL 👃🏻 TASTE 👅 HEAR 👂🏻 SEE 👁. Then think of items or experiences within each category that bring you joy and pleasure. For example, ginger tea for “taste”, open windows for “smell”, or a favorite song for “hear”.

I recommend trying to have items within each category at different price points and time commitments. That way you can always find a little snippet of joy even when you only have 5-minutes or $3.

This might be challenging and emotional to create. Take your time and be patient with yourself. I initially drew total blanks, but over the course of a week or so things sort of jumped out at me sporadically through the day.

Reference your guide when you’re feeling stressed or disconnected from yourself. I’ve been shocked how often I’ve pulled mine up over the past year!

Download: Grab this free PDF for help creating your Happiness Guide. Note: If you’re using my Habit Tracker, you can create this on the tab labeled “Happiness”.

Connect with Erika:

🧾The eBook: I bought this the second it was published and I love it! Erika offers insightful tips for not only taking better photos (iPhone tips galore!) and the best apps for making your photos POP (we’re embracing our cellulite, not erasing it!) but also posing and, most importantly, taking photos with confidence. Truly such a great resource!

For the next 7-days you can snag Erika’s eBook, Hot Pics 4 Hot Girls for $17 (reg. $27) using this link!

📱Connect with Erika on Instagram

Erika’s suggestions:

At the end of every podcast episode I’m asking guests to share something to Read, Watch, Listen to and Enjoy (a la The Weekly Page!). Here’s what Erika rounded up for you:

📚 READ: Erika admits that she’s currently getting most of her laughs from TikTok comment sections. While I don’t personally use TikTok, I do get plenty of laughs from online comments. Fun fact: circa 2010 my partner and I started an entire website called Scromment that was dedicated to the curation of hilarious-ass comments found online. And that was before most of these social media apps even existed — can you imagine the goldmine of content we’d have now?! So anyways — I agree, comment sections are rich for laughs. 😂

📺 WATCH: If you follow Erika online it’ll take you ten seconds to discover that she’s 10% Canadian, 90% mermaid. She’s spending her free time watching videos of people in the sea on YouTube, but her recommendation made me wonder if she’s watched the Merpeople documentary on Netflix? Watch the trailer here.

🎧 LISTEN: A girl after my own heart, Erika is currently jamming to this specific playlist titled “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”. While some John Mayer-inspired stations on Spotify go awry really quickly, this one seems like a glorious collection including Tracy Chapman, Wild Rivers, Norah Jones, Gregory Alan Isakov + more.

🧡 ENJOY: This recommendation nearly killed me because I’m so very far away from a Trader Joe’s, but I’m relying on YOU to try this out and report back! Erika is crossing international borders to devour TJ’s Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip with Cranberry Crackers. Passing through border security with a trunk full of dip? Now that’s confidence.

Where Else to Listen:

Press play on the player at the top of this post to hear my conversation with Erika, or check it out wherever you listen to podcasts.

Get full access to Thyme is Honey at thymeishoney.substack.com/subscribe