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Welcome to Manifestation Lizified,

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your weekly dose of inspiration. This

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podcast is rooted in the belief that a positive

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mindset can improve every aspect of your

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life from work to relationships,

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to your overall wellbeing, by changing

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the way you interact with the world and approaching

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it from a positive place, you

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will manifest a fulfilled life of your

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creation. Hi,

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everyone. I hope that you are doing

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fantastic. It's been

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a little bit of a hot minute since the

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last episode. So I wanted to come

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on board with just a quick announcement before

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we dive into today's Q and A, and

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I wanted to reiterate the fact in case you

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missed it, that manifestation

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Lizified is now moving to a monthly

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cadence. So my aim will be to get something

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out every couple of weeks for you guys , hopefully

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that works for you. And

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I really hope that just during all of this quarantine

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and reopening , that everyone

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has really been taking the time to realize

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what it is that they truly value. And

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hopefully this has been a time of growth.

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I know we've all been going through so many

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different things and hopefully growing

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and , tackling challenges

1:12

with grace. This is why I'm

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really excited to introduce the next

1:16

guest. I think this is an episode

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that you're really going to enjoy, and I

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think that it's going to resonate with quite a few people

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as it's really all about living a life

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of intention. So without

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further ado, I'm gonna kick things off.

1:32

Welcome back to another episode of Manifestation Lizified. So

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many of us are experiencing our share of

1:38

ups and downs during this really unprecedented

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time. So I really wanted to bring someone

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onto the podcast. Who's taken the situation

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and approached it with gratitude and grace. So

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Steph Cainto recently celebrated her

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five year anniversary with her company, and

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it also happened to be the beginning of her furlough within

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the same week. However, she used

1:56

this time to focus on what she was grateful for,

1:58

you know, progress over perfection, and

2:00

she recently launched Intentions of Stef.

2:03

So Stef, I'm really excited to have

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you on the show today. And thank you again for your willingness

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to share your story.

2:09

Of course. Thank you so much for having me.

2:11

Absolutely. So what really drove

2:13

you to start Intentions with Stef?

2:17

So this project has actually

2:19

been in the back of my mind for a few

2:21

years now, but I just

2:23

never had the guts to launch

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it So I had a little

2:27

bit of fears behind being

2:30

judged or not being successful, but

2:33

at its core, I kind of knew that

2:35

this was probably something

2:37

that other people were going through. And when I say

2:40

this, I mean, it's this

2:42

journey of trying to

2:44

find happiness. And so

2:47

Intentions with Stef really is

2:49

just a space to help

2:51

people and provide resources for people

2:54

to identify what is the most

2:56

meaningful for them so that they can live

2:59

the most intentional life possible.

3:02

And so that was kind

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of my drawing point because I had

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gone through it personally. I had

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been through a lot of struggles of not

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being able to identify why was unhappy,

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no matter what kind of successes I was having

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- bucket lists, I was able to

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cross off , you know,

3:20

goals that I was able to achieve. And

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that really started to

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bring me down. And so I had

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gone through a piecemeal process

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of trying to figure out why that was and

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that kind of led to me realizing

3:37

that I wasn't living intentionally. And

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so that's kind of the path

3:41

that I took in, in creating the site in

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hopes that somebody could find use and

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somebody could be able to learn

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from what I've been through too.

3:52

So for you, what exactly does living

3:54

a life of intention mean?

3:57

So I've seen a lot of definitions

3:59

floating around there of what living intentionally

4:01

means. A lot of people have kind

4:03

of bridged on the subject and spoken

4:05

about it. And for me, living intentionally

4:09

really is being able to determine

4:11

what happiness means to

4:14

you and you specifically, and

4:16

not what society tells you, not

4:18

what your mom has told you, not

4:21

what your friends have told you - and really identifying

4:23

what that is, what that happiness

4:25

is to you and then seeking it out

4:27

every day. And so this isn't,

4:30

again, as I mentioned earlier , it's not a bucket list item.

4:32

It's not some big goal you have to hit. It's

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the everyday it's finding out what

4:37

is meaningful to you every day. And

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then intentionally living that out.

4:43

I love that. It's like finding our way back to the present

4:46

moment and really being happy

4:48

with that. And it's approaching each

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and every day with intention, I guess, is what

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you're saying?

4:52

Absolutely. And

4:54

so, you know, I work in marketing and

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media. I know

5:00

the background of trying to

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determine target audiences

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and trying to

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reach particular audiences for particular

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items that you want to market or experiences.

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And when you get served all

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these marketing messages, whether it's from the

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TV shows you watch or the media

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you consume, if you can't

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identify and you don't know what

5:25

is the most meaningful to you, it's going to be hard

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to differentiate between which

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of these messages are truly meaningful

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to you and which aren't. And so

5:34

again, it's kind of that identification

5:37

of what it is that

5:40

is most impactful to

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you and has value to you and then saying,

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yes, that's what I want to hear. That's what

5:46

I want to process. And that's what I

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want to consume versus just mindlessly

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consuming and mindlessly being

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taught and told that this is what

5:57

you need to be happy or successful.

6:00

Love it. I mean, I think that's very similar to

6:02

my journey as well. And many

6:04

of those who've been listening to this podcast for a

6:06

while , know that I decided to shift

6:08

my mindset and really changed the way that I was approaching

6:10

all situations in life. And I think that

6:12

that made a true difference. So

6:14

I think we're both on the same page. So with that

6:17

in mind, I know on your website,

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you mentioned that you've ditched the idea of being

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"unnecessarily busy" and instead

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you really want to fill that time with things that are impactful

6:25

and meaningful. Can you pinpoint

6:28

the exact moment that your mindset

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shifted leading you to this? Was it after

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you got a promotion and you just were like, huh,

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I'm not as happy with this. Or do you have an

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exact moment in your mind where you were

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like, "Nope, it's time to make a change in my life?"

6:42

So it

6:45

was a few years ago, but

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I don't have a very specific moment.

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It was kind of a

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conglomeration of all these different things.

6:56

I got a raise, I was interviewing

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all these cool designers about jobs

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that I used to have in magazines, you know,

7:03

I had an amazing apartment

7:05

about a mile from the beach and all these

7:07

things adding up, I expected

7:10

to be in exponentially happier

7:12

with everything that I hit, with everything that I did, with

7:15

everything that I thought was supposed

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to be this ideal life for me. And

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I just wasn't getting exponentially

7:22

happier. And so while I don't

7:24

have an exact moment, all

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these different things put together is where I started

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to realize, you know, this

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isn't doing it for me and this isn't

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making me happy. And I actually

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had a semi-breakdown where

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I was crying. I

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had no idea why I was crying. I didn't know.

7:42

I really didn't know. And so I started

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picking up some books. I started reading

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into emotional wellness. I

7:49

really started to think

7:51

about what was , I

7:54

mentioned earlier, what was making me happy

7:57

and what was told

7:59

to me as this idea

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of a golden life versus what actually

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was a golden life for me. And so it

8:06

wasn't an exact moment. It was just the

8:08

realization that by now,

8:10

according to society, according to everything

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that I had learned, I

8:14

was supposed to be happy and I was supposed

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to be excited about my life and I

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wasn't. And so that was

8:21

when my mindset shifted.

8:24

And when I started taking steps toward

8:26

intentional living.

8:29

Wonderful. Honestly, I feel

8:31

like as a society in particular,

8:33

we really do wear this, "I'm busier

8:36

than you badge of honor" and

8:40

I'm curious of your thoughts on this, but do

8:42

you think that people are going to start living a lot

8:44

more intentionally after these

8:46

quarantine orders are lifted?

8:49

Yeah, so I hope so. I really do

8:52

hope so. I was actually

8:54

thinking about the other day of how everybody

8:58

right now is being forced to be at home and

9:01

come to realize what

9:04

they used to have and what they

9:06

used to experience and do that they no

9:08

longer have access to. And so all these

9:10

simple little things like being able

9:12

to have a friend or go up to the park , that

9:16

you don't really realize is contributing to your

9:18

overall happiness, but when it's tripped away

9:21

and when you're left with kind of just yourself and your

9:23

own thoughts , you suddenly

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realize like, oh, that was meaningful to me. Or maybe

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that wasn't and that didn't

9:30

mean that much. And now that it's stripped away, it's

9:32

not taking that much happiness

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away from me. So I do hope that

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people will take away, not a

9:41

lesson, but take something away from

9:43

this in terms of being able to really

9:46

determine what is meaningful

9:48

to them and not just filling their

9:51

schedule with XYZ and realizing

9:52

that wasn't

9:56

so meaningful after all.

9:59

Absolutely. I mean, that's my hope as well. I

10:01

really, really hope that people are going to come out of this

10:02

with just a

10:05

lot more intentional, realizing what truly matters

10:07

to them realizing the value of certain

10:09

experiences and almost decluttering

10:12

their lives in a sense.

10:14

Yeah, absolutely. And so I

10:16

can only hope, and that's kind of why I

10:19

started this website as well. We're not really

10:22

taught to think about these things,

10:25

right?

10:25

We're always asked

10:27

as kids, what do you want to be when you grow up then

10:30

, um , what do you want to do when , and,

10:32

you know , what are you going to be reaching for ? And it's always

10:34

these milestones and these steps, and

10:37

it's not necessarily, you know, a

10:40

society that encourages us to explore

10:42

what is meaningful to us from the beginning.

10:45

And so hopefully again,

10:48

you know, I launched this website with the hope

10:50

that it is going to be something

10:52

that helps people. And , um , I really

10:54

love, you know , the, your podcast

10:56

and the steps that you took toward

10:58

, toward manifesting what

11:01

it is that you love. And I think that's so

11:03

important. Thank

11:05

you. So I actually, I was hoping

11:07

you could also share a few tips of my listeners

11:10

about living a life more intentionally.

11:12

Are there any key steps, any , uh

11:14

, tips, advice that you can share with them

11:16

that can kind of get them started? So

11:20

I think one of the key things

11:23

that I think people should do once they

11:25

start moving toward a life of

11:28

living intentionally is to

11:30

really sit down and think about

11:32

their values. And so

11:34

a lot of the times we,

11:37

we think about those milestones,

11:39

right? We think about what we need to check off

11:42

in what we need to achieve or what we

11:44

need to have physically in our lives

11:47

or experienced in our lives in order

11:49

to be successful and happy. But we never

11:51

actually think of what

11:54

is valuable to us. What

11:56

are the things when you strip

11:58

away those experiences, when you strip away those

12:00

things, what are the values that drive

12:02

us? And so starting

12:04

with that core and starting with what

12:07

you value the most will help drive,

12:10

you know , what you should be filling your life

12:12

with versus just filling

12:14

it in blindly. So I do think that

12:17

really the core of figuring out

12:20

how to live intentionally is figuring

12:22

out what your values are and what your priorities

12:24

are in life. A hundred percent agree

12:26

with that. I really do. I think

12:28

that finding

12:31

ways to prioritize ourselves,

12:33

prioritize what matters to us. Um

12:35

, and I know before this podcast episode,

12:37

you and I were talking a little bit about the concept

12:39

of work life balance, and it's more so becoming

12:42

that work life blend. I know that's something that my company

12:44

totes a lot as well. Um , and it's really

12:46

about blending it, right? Finding those values , values,

12:48

prioritizing and blending our lives in a

12:50

way that works. So I know right now

12:53

we were referencing it earlier in terms of

12:55

work, but I think it's really just blending

12:57

all aspects of your life and not

12:59

believing that you can't have balance in

13:01

every, in every part, because

13:03

a lot of people believe that they're , there's no

13:05

way to find that balance. Like,

13:08

Oh, well, if you are doing, and you're successful

13:10

at work, then something is going to give in your relationship

13:13

or this or that. But I just really think

13:15

that if you're living a life of intention, if you are

13:17

really, truly pursuing your values,

13:20

you are going to be able to blend and be successful

13:22

in all aspects of your life . Yeah,

13:24

no, I agree. That was incredibly

13:27

well said. I think, you

13:29

know, we're, we're constantly, again,

13:31

being sold this idea of, you

13:33

know, you should start your own business, so you could be

13:35

your own boss . So , um,

13:38

so that you can spend time doing

13:40

the things that you love. And , and I,

13:43

I really think that what, what

13:46

that happiness state of happiness is

13:48

for us , um , it doesn't have

13:50

to be, you know, again, starting your

13:52

own business. It doesn't have to be , um,

13:55

you know, launching a website like I did, it's it

13:57

doesn't have to be these, these

14:00

key moments. It could be

14:02

the balance between, between,

14:05

you know, your family and your friends and

14:07

your work. And you can love work

14:09

and still, you know , be able to dedicate

14:11

time to your family and friends. It doesn't

14:13

have to be one or the other, as long as you

14:15

determine, you know , what it is

14:17

that, that speaks to you the most,

14:20

then you can prioritize the way that you need

14:22

to. Absolutely.

14:25

So before I let you go, is there anything

14:27

else that you want to share? I

14:30

think, again, the key here is really

14:33

just listen to yourself. Don't

14:35

let anybody else don't

14:37

let anything else tell you

14:39

that you need something else

14:41

to make you worthy, to make you whole, to make you

14:43

happy to make you successful. You

14:46

really need to dive deep into what is

14:48

the most meaningful to you. And

14:50

that is the core of everything and the core of starting

14:53

your journey. Fabulous.

14:57

Thank you. So, so very much. Um,

14:59

if my listeners want to learn

15:01

a little bit more about you, where can they find you?

15:05

So the website, I have his intentions with

15:07

stuff.com, left Stef with an

15:09

F you can head over there. And

15:11

I have links out to my social sites as

15:13

well. And to my contact page, you can

15:15

reach out to me. I love talking

15:17

to people and hearing about their journeys and always

15:20

open the chat. Thank

15:22

you. Thank you so much,

15:24

Liz. Thank

15:28

you guys. So very much for listening.

15:31

So if you enjoyed the podcast, please

15:33

feel free to leave me a review. You can also

15:35

find a few more doses of inspiration over

15:37

at my Instagram manifestation.

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Alright , have an awesome, awesome day.