Erica: Hey, girl. By now, you know I have Her Collective, my online community for ambitious women who are done doing it alone. Her Collective is for the women who are smart, capable, and driven, but they find themselves stuck on the sticky floors like self doubt, burnout, and waiting for permission that quite honestly never comes. Inside HER, you get more than motivation. You get real support, real strategies, and real momentum.

Erica: We work on things like clarifying what you want now and what's coming next, building confidence without burning yourself out, navigating hard conversations, career moves, and leadership moments with clarity, and surrounding yourself with women who actually get it. This isn't about hustling harder. It's about moving intentionally with the right tools and the right people in your corner. If you're ready to stop spinning, start choosing yourself, and build a career in life that actually feels aligned, I'd love to welcome you inside her collective. You can learn more and join us at www.joinhercollective.com.

Erica: Because honestly, girl, you were never meant to do this alone. When you need a change in your life, what helps you make that change? Is it an accountability buddy? Is it a reward for when you make the change or you hit that goal? What is it for you that makes change easier?

Erica: For me, it's science. I know. I know. That's a little weird, and I'm gonna nerd out on you in today's episode. But when I understand the why and when I understand how, it makes change that much easier.

Erica: Truth be told, it is what helped me give up booze altogether. No AA or 12 step program, but it was all about understanding the brain and the science behind why I drink. In fact, science is what helped me overcome all of my limiting beliefs and fears. So if you're someone who like me has worked tirelessly, who's hustled for her whole life, you've poured your heart and your soul into your career, into your family, and you made sure that you filled everyone's cup first and yours last, you're gonna wanna listen up. Today, we're gonna talk about unlocking the secret to transforming your mindset as we dive deep into the realm of neuroscience, the most fascinating sciences of them all.

Erica: We'll cover what it is and how it applies to your life, the concept of sticky floors, those limiting beliefs that keep us stuck, and how we can use neuroscience to help us pivot our thoughts to the positive. So what exactly is neuroscience, and how does it apply to us? Neuroscience is the scientific study of the brain and the nervous systems, and it reveals the incredible power that our mind hold over our thoughts, our emotions, and our actions.

Erica: It's quite literally this treasure trove of knowledge that can help us understand why we think and behave the way we do. When we tap into this knowledge, we can break free from the limitations that we impose on ourselves. So I'll break it down by giving an example of how neuroscience helped me change and break free from one of my stickiest of floors, perfectionism. Now I've talked on this podcast about how I used to have to have the air quote perfect workout. That was thirty minutes of intense cardio followed by thirty minutes of intense strength training.

Erica: I had this perfectly curated weekly plan which broke it all down, chest and back, back and buys, legs and glutes, core, total body. And I switched that up with different kinds of cardio, and I always, always, always left the gym with a good sweat. Rest days were yoga. Anything else or less than that was trash. Quite literally, I would toss my plan in the trash if I couldn't get it all done.

Erica: Twenty minutes felt like not enough. Inevitably, if my morning plan did not fit the full workout because I was interrupted by a kid or I slept through an alarm clock, I would push it off until later in the day because, well, if I couldn't fit it all in the morning, it was garbage. Now what would always, always, always happen would be the day would get away from me or it'd be too tired by the end of it, and then it would just be a lost cause, and I would have in zero movement. And y'all know that some movement is better than nothing at all. Now once I was able to identify that this perfectionism was impacting my workouts, I could quite literally name that sticky floor.

Erica: I was able to start the work to break free from this god awful habit of tossing my workout into the trash. Now here's where we dive into the science, and here's where I nerd out on you a little bit. The most powerful technique rooted in neuroscience is called cognitive reframing. It's like putting on a new pair of rose colored sunglasses that quite literally shift our perspective completely. So one minute you see the world through one lens, you put on these rose colored glasses, and you're seeing it through a totally different lens.

Erica: Everything has this beautiful rose colored tint. Now, when we reframe our beliefs and our thoughts, we can reprogram our brains neuropathways and break free from these shackles of self doubt that just keep us stuck. Now, I had to replace the thought that anything less than thirty minutes was a waste with some movement is better than no movement. But the way neuropathways are formed is by habit and repetition over time. So I quite literally had to force myself to do those workouts that were less than twenty minutes.

Erica: And at first, it felt really weird and it felt uncomfortable. But after a while, I started to enjoy them, and I started to feel great after those workouts. I certainly felt better than when I wasn't doing any workout at all. So another fantastic piece of information that you have got to know if you wanna change your habits and break free from your sticky floors is this concept of neuroplasticity. You see, our brains are malleable.

Erica: That means they are capable of being molded like a ball of clay, that they are capable of change. So even though I spent years of doing those one hour intense workouts, when I was paid to be a personal trainer and I was paid to work out, I have been able to successfully change the way I think about those workouts. And I honestly feel great doing just twenty minutes, three to five times a week now, if that's all I have time for. Now thanks to neuroscience, we know that our beliefs, in particular, my belief about working out, is not set in stone. Now for those of you that might think I absolutely hate working out and I'm never gonna like it, and this example, Erica, that you just gave does not resonate with me at all.

Erica: I've got even better news. You can change that thought. Yep. I said it. I dare you.

Erica: I dare you to be brave enough to try different things until you find something you may enjoy. Maybe that's working out with a friend, listening to a podcast while you workout, or binging on Netflix on the Peloton. Maybe it's getting outside or swimming or dancing, right? You can change the belief that you'll never enjoy working out. Just like you can change the belief that you might have about yourself that you aren't good enough.

Erica: Or that you're not smart enough. Or not capable enough. You have the power through neuroscience to change that. Our brains are incredibly adaptable and capable of rewiring themselves to create new and empowering beliefs. So you know that I don't like to just tell you these things and give examples about myself, but I like to give you tactics and practical strategies that you can use and implement in your daily life to harness the power of neuroscience to break free from those limiting beliefs.

Erica: And the first step is self awareness. So just as I mentioned earlier, before I even recognized that I had this belief that anything less than thirty minutes of cardio is trash, I had to recognize that. And for me, I did not even know that I was doing that until another mom told me her story about working out and I recognized myself in that story. I saw a piece of me in her. Now, that moment isn't always gonna come just like that.

Erica: We're not always gonna have this epiphany but you can take time every single day to reflect on your thoughts each day. And I do this by journaling, especially if I find myself stuck in this negative space. I'll ask myself questions like, why do I feel so upset and bothered by this? Why do I feel down? Why do I feel like this isn't connecting with me for some reason?

Erica: Or what has me just miserable about this situation? And if you can dig deep and ask yourself these reflective type questions, you can start to identify those sticky floors in self limiting patterns, and those patterns might reveal to you those sticky floors. Then you can consciously challenge and reframe those thoughts with positive and empowering ones. Now another technique that I wanna share is the power of visualization. When we vividly imagine ourselves succeeding at something or having a good workout out after only twenty minutes.

Erica: Our brain interprets that as a real experience. Did you know that? Isn't that wild? Our brain does not know the difference between the real and the visualized experience. So close your eyes and visualize yourself smashing that glass ceiling or in my case, working out for less than thirty minutes and feeling accomplished, successful, and powerful.

Erica: Boom. You did it. That's all you gotta do. Now here's the thing. This is not a one and done situation.

Erica: I wish it was that easy y'all, but sticky floors are a constant work in progress. Just today, I found myself starting to question my workout this morning. Was it enough? Did I do enough? Should I do more later?

Erica: What can I squeeze in later? You know, when can I get more done? And the truth is, I really don't need to. I had a good workout this morning. Just because it didn't last for an entire hour doesn't mean it wasn't good.

Erica: Now if I wanna do extra and it fits into my schedule, cool. But it isn't a need. And the point is, this is not going to resolve itself. Right? I can't just skate on through and, you know, one and done be done with it.

Erica: It's going to require consistent effort and practice. It will require reminders. It will require forgiveness when you fall into your old ways. Make sure that you surround yourself with people who like you, want to grow, and people who believe in you. And my favorite, people who can call you on your own bullshit.

Erica: Sometimes that's just what you need. Someone to call you out on your bullshit when you start falling back in your old ways. Now, as we near the end of this short but sweet episode, I wanna remind you that you're not alone in this journey. One of the main reasons I do this podcast and I share these not so pretty sticky floors with you is because I want you to know that you're not alone. No one is immune to these sticky floors and countless others who are wildly successful.

Erica: We're talking Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, all of them have faced similar struggles, and they come out so much stronger and more empowered than ever before. So you've got to believe in yourself. You've got to trust yourself. Embrace your strengths and trust the science. The science can guide you towards the life you truly desire.

Erica: And I hope this episode has ignited a spark in you to break free from those limiting beliefs, the sticky floors, and claim the success and fulfillment you deserve. Remember, there are only ceilings if you put one up. So stop putting the ceiling on what is possible and start breaking through it. Now, I'm so glad that you tuned in today. Make sure that you follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, all the socials including threads nowadays for more content just like this.

Erica: And I'll see you next time.