Krystel Clear

Small Shifts-Turning Obligation into Opportunity

• Krystel Beall • Season 2 • Episode 10

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This episode explores how small language and routine changes can transform our mindset and daily lives. Emphasizing the impact of reframing thoughts from obligation to opportunity, it encourages listeners to uncover joy in mundane tasks and create a more positive environment. 
• Understanding the power of language in shaping our emotional experiences 
• Transforming chores into opportunities for mindfulness and creativity 
• Breaking habitual patterns to foster openness and adaptability 
• Enhancing emotional awareness in parenting and relationships 
• Recognizing the importance of connection and meaningful interactions 
• Cultivating gratitude for personal growth and emotional release 
• Encouraging listeners to explore their routines and share their own stories of change


Thank you for joining me today. Please know that this podcast and the information shared is not to replace or supplement any mental health or personal wellness modalities provided by practitioners. It’s simply me, sharing my personal experiences and I appreciate you respecting and honoring my story and my guests. If something touched your heart please feel free to like, share and subscribe. Have a beautiful day full of gratitude, compassion and unconditional love.

Speaker 1:

What's up you guys? Welcome to this episode of Crystal Clear. I just wanted to jump on today to kind of go over something that I've been observing for myself and that's been kind of the like say this, not that in my head Ain't out loud, but mostly in my head is where I've observed it, and I wanted to just kind of share a few things with you. For example, we just got into the new year, new season time for, like, rebirth and growth and all of that. But honestly, I also want to acknowledge that, just because it's a new year, we don't always have to make gigantic shifts, right? So it could be something as small as saying, for example, I put four Christmas trees out this year, I need to take them down. It's like, well, when I feel like I say I need to do something, like I need to go to the grocery store, I need to go pick up the kids from school or I need to get this presentation done, it sounds like a chore, right, like it sounds like, oh, it's just like lagging, like I don't know. I feel like need is like a chore, right, it sounds like, oh, it's just lagging, I don't know. I feel like need is a low vibration word. So what I've been really trying to do is I'm excited to work on this presentation, I'm excited to get to be able to use my creative side and flipping that in my mind to where it makes it more something I'm excited about, like being home for three weeks and I don't know about you guys, but the laundry in my home is endless, endless. When you think and you get it all done, one basket is already full again, and that's okay. I get the opportunity this may be a stretch, but work with me here I get the opportunity to wash and fold and put some things away.

Speaker 1:

And usually what I've been doing lately and I think I'm just kind of in a season of purging is when I'm putting things away. I kind of go through each drawer, whether it's mine or someone else's in my house, and I pull things out that either I haven't worn in a while, I fit, check it, I see if it still fits well, If it doesn't, I put it in a donation pile. So I've really been looking at especially laundry for those of you who love it as much as I do least favorite household chore, although some days it's kind of therapeutic as an opportunity to purge, to revisit. Instead of, you know, putting things back in the same old way I do in my drawers, it's like maybe I flip it. Instead of stacking things on top of each other, I flip them to where you can see each item in a line. So I've been trying to really kind of change things up to break patterns Like I feel like this is I'm being really pulled to have completions right. We talked about this in my numerology insights podcast with Hallie Young and Nicole Cato is just really breaking patterns and that nine-year, being like 2025, is a nine-year. It's like a year of conclusion. So really, if I've noticed, I've been in the same pattern, whether it's the burner I use on the stove.

Speaker 1:

I saw a meme the other day and it made me laugh out loud because adulting is like having a favorite stove burner and no one ever talks about that. It's freaking true. Mine is like the front right burner. I don't know why. I always go to it and I realized that when we just got a new stove, we switched from gas to electric. I always go to it and I realized that when we just got a new stove, we switched from gas to electric, still warming up to that no pun intended, because it takes forever to warm up. But I have a favorite burner and no one talks about that. So I've been trying to switch it up, I've been trying to use a different burner and seeing how I respond to that and just breaking these little habitual reactivities.

Speaker 1:

I've gotten back into intermittent fasting and instead of over the holidays I was really loving having my warm coffee in the morning, whether it was decaf or regular. I started dabbling back into the regular caffeine and I loved it. It was cozy, it was great. But now it's like I don't feel like that's serving me well and I just kind of want to again break the patterns. I've gotten back into some intermittent fasting 16, 18-hour fast a day. I love it. I usually stop eating around five or six in the evening and then I'll pick it back up, whether I want to do a 16 or an 18-hour fast, and it's usually after I have my work done and I always break my fast with some sort of protein and then I'll have like. So I've even I have this awesome tea truck in Sarasota called Elevation Tea Company and they're like the only place I can find chai tea, brewed chai tea that's not filled with a bunch of crap, so they brew it in-house. There's also Simon's Coffee House, which is amazing, but anyway, they brew it in-house and I've been mixing that with my protein shakes. It's really good, it's like chai protein Delicious. So, anyway, switching that up.

Speaker 1:

So this podcast, I'm just going to give some examples of things I've been switching up in my life and I would love to kind of hear some interactive feedback, like what have you been switching up in your life or what do you feel like you want to switch up? I think that that's something that I'm always intrigued by what my guests and my listeners are doing in their lives. So I would love to be more interactive with you guys. So give me all the things I want to hear it all. So I gave a couple examples of like I need to and so I've really been trying to shift that.

Speaker 1:

Like I said, or like I'm excited about, or I get the opportunity to like car line. For those of you who have children, if you go, depending on what school they go to I don't know about you, but Sierra Sur to schools, car line are a little crazy. I'll say I get the opportunity to have those awesome car chats because, honestly, I'm not kidding you guys. My daughter's about to turn 15. They go by so fast and they're going to be gone before I know it. So I really have been trying to embrace even driving by her elementary school the other day, I'm like, oh my gosh, it feels like yesterday, but it was so long ago it was four years ago that I was pulling in there.

Speaker 1:

So just really trying to embrace things like going to the grocery store. I think one of the best things that came out of the pandemic is grocery delivery. I'm not going to lie, I am really guilty of that several times a week, but that's a luxury, let's just face it. So, thinking about the grocery store like I hate going certain times a day, it's like, but you know what, you get the opportunity to go and be creative. So I've tried to kind of set aside a little list for myself and write down some things I'd like to do, maybe kind of plan out the kids' lunch for the week and dinner for the week, and we actually have this really great Leo's Clean Kitchen place that delivers food. So sometimes I have dinner covered, but anyway.

Speaker 1:

So that was just a couple of everyday examples and I was talking to my husband and I did a little overnight date night this weekend, which is really great, to have some intentional time after the holidays and just reconnect, reevaluate, move forward. I had actually a lot of fun dates last week, unexpectedly, and we were eating dinner and he said something about oh sorry, about elbows on the table and I'm like you know what, I don't care that your elbows are on the table. The reason, like with kids I understand, like because they'll knock things over right. Like we have a four-year-old, so if his elbows are on the table, that means his arms are flailing. Even same for myself. I talk a lot with my hands, as you guys have probably noticed if you're watching my podcast, so I'm more likely to knock all the things over if my elbows are on the table. Do you consciously think he's like? Absolutely, I was like. It's really interesting.

Speaker 1:

It made me think about the things that we say to our children or to ourselves or to our spouses or whatever, like the repetitive things. Like one thing I know that I'm fully guilty of is opening my daughter's bedroom door, trying not to react. Trying not to react, trying to understand, like in time, maybe she will understand that these things belong in the closet or in the dresser and not on the floor and trying to just let that be her sacred space within reason, and not saying every time I open the door like babe, can you clean this up? Because A I don't want her to rebel and like never want to clean her room and B I don't want her to just remember. That's the first thing that comes out of my mouth all the time.

Speaker 1:

So take a second and really think about the things that you might say to others or yourself habitually, like just second nature responding but not really like just almost like that, just auto response. So take a second, maybe write it down and think about some things that you may say to yourself or others on a regular basis and how you may be able to shift in what you really want them to remember. So one thing I know for me, our little guy he's four and a half he's got a lot of big feelings sometimes, as we all do. And when he's going through times of big feelings, what takes me back to childhood. If I were having big feelings, my stepfather would say things like Do you want me to give you something to cry about? Never went over well, because A it made me so angry inside when he would say something like that to me, it made it worse.

Speaker 1:

Obviously, you get bigger emotions because you just wanted to rebuttal and hit him or something or have it in your five-year-old mind like I wish you would try. So what I've always really tried to do with all the kids but I really have done it with the little guy is do you need a hug? Even if I'm frustrated in the moment, I ask him when he's got big feelings do you need a hug? So which has led to the sweetest and cutest thing is he asked for hugs all day long, every day, from everyone. So it's just something that we've done, and my husband and I were talking about this and we both felt very fulfilled by that, because no parent gets anything, right. But that's one thing I feel like with him, we've really been able to nurture like do you need a hug? So he's going to remember that, hopefully when he's an adult and still ask for those hugs when he's an adult, and I want that to be something that he remembers, that his parents said to him when he's going through big feelings or big emotions.

Speaker 1:

I know that for me, the alternative of you already gave you something to cry about just made me angry, right? So then you get the bigger emotions on top of it. Or if someone were to actually even flow through with that and hit their child or whatever it may be, but like realizing now that that's the other person's reactivity, because I know that I've been in situations I mean being a mother at 25 and a mother at 35, very different levels of reactivity. I have a lot more tools in my toolbox this time than I did before, and I didn't always do it right. I would never say that to her because it was a trauma response of my own. But I realize now that I never really held that amount of space for her. I never really held that amount of space for her, but I do now. So we always have the ability to reset and rewind and just connect with that awareness of what's going on with us.

Speaker 1:

Because one thing that I've realized over all of my years is the reason I am a recovering, people pleaser, fixer, all the things is I do not like to be around people suffering, not that I don't like to be around it, but it makes me uncomfortable inside because it brings about maybe it's grief, maybe it's old trauma, maybe it's like the lack of the helplessness that's found with other people suffering, but understanding and gaining the knowledge and the tools to realize. You know, everyone's journey is different. Everyone needs to figure out what their own coping skills are, and so it's been really great personally to be able to navigate those situations with more self-awareness and understanding that, if I am I mean, life is not perfect there's going to be moments where someone's having big feelings and I'm like I can't fucking deal with this. I excuse myself, I walk out of the room. I try not to blow up or lose my stuff, and you know. So just really having that and taking responsibility for my own response is very important. So those are just a few little examples. We always have that ability to rewire with gratitude and appreciation.

Speaker 1:

One thing that I've mentioned on several of my other podcasts is, you know, growing up I struggled with eating disorders and perfectionism paradigm and you know all of that stuff was. It was like a protect, it was a layer of protection I was putting over myself that really fueled from like deep down worthiness issues that I was going through. So now, instead of and I think identification. So it was worthiness, but it was also I was very identified with being an athlete. I was very identified with being a fitness instructor. I was very identified with being super physically fit. So those identifications led me into thought patterns that I had to hustle. I had to go. I had to always be moving my body intensely to be getting a good workout.

Speaker 1:

And one thing recently I have officially entered my Pilates hot yoga era and I'm loving it. So no more high intensity for me. I mean never, say never. I still like a really good HIIT class or something, but I've been doing this hot yoga sculpt class twice a week. It's a warm hot room. I sweat my butt off. It's amazing, but it's still a really good workout and it's kind of similar to the way that I used to teach them a little partial to our instructor, amy at hot yoga Sarasota. Amazing, lots of pulses, a lot of booty work, all up my alley Love it. And then I walked to Pilates, which is like a mile and a half away from my house. So I can make it like a three mile walk, or I can make it like a six mile walk if I take the long way and loving it and knowing that I'm nurturing my body.

Speaker 1:

So instead of pre-planning my week and signing up for, like all these crazy classes like I used to like legit in 2016, the year before I got married, I would run with Matt in the morning, I would go to a cycle class and I would go to a HIIT class. That is like no wonder my adrenals were totally burned out, but we're nurturing those now and I'm honoring that. My body is changing. I'm honoring that I'm just in a new stage. So when I wake up I plan on moving my body. Like what does that look like? And every day it changes.

Speaker 1:

So again, it goes with stopping the old patterns. Like we again had an overnight this past weekend and they had this delicious like bread, pudding, gooseberry, french toast and I'm not really a big carb person, especially in the morning, um, but I tried some and it was delicious. But I also got the chicken sausage on the side because I wanted to balance it with my protein, because I just like to balance my macros like that. So those are just little examples Before. If I would have had that, I would have been like, okay, I need to sign up for this class or I need to go run before I get home. It's just like breaking those patterns. It's like you ate half a piece of French toast.

Speaker 1:

You're not going to freaking die, but that was a pattern for me and it may seem super silly to other people. I mean, we all have our stuff right. We just released an episode with my husband and some reels talking about alcohol, like going out socially, like, oh, let's go to this favorite place and get my favorite drink. Well, I might go to some of the favorite places, like the Ritz in Sarasota. I used to love a good siren. I would probably die if I drank a siren, if you know. You know I'm just going to say that. But I get a virgin one or I get something totally different and just change it up. If I get the same coffee order at ONA Coffee, I'll get something different the next time, even if it's like switching from oat milk to almond milk.

Speaker 1:

It sounds silly, but changing those patterns are super healthy for your brain and your ability to adapt and navigate and I just feel like I've felt so much freedom with the little things and also not giving myself a hard time if I transition and make some changes. So I am infamous for self-sabotage when it comes to not I set these, I'm going to do this. I make a whole checklist for the day right, and if I don't do the whole checklist, I'm like I just need to do. That was an old pattern. That was like three years ago me. So I've really worked hard to like I'll make a list of my needs and my wants and my has to like, have tos, and you know, if I check off what I check off and guess what, tomorrow's a new day. I have complete opportunity to check that stuff off a different day and it's really not that big of a deal. But prioritizing the things that need to get done or the things that I want to get done, or sometimes prioritizing the wants over the needs, and that's okay too, because, again, changing it up, so we had this full moon of 2025, the first full moon it was January 13th. We are still coming off that energy. You have a good two weeks around the full moon. That is a really energetically.

Speaker 1:

It's a time to release, it's a time to let go, beginning this year of a nine year. It's a conclusion. So I want to know what are you guys letting go of? What is it you're releasing in your own minds, in your own hearts, in your own you know tangible world? Are there things like are you going to quit drinking, quit smoking? Are you going to change up what your routine for your body? Are you going to change the way you drive, to work? Like, what things are you guys taking the opportunity to let go of? And if you're not, why not? And that's something that I've had to ask myself. I'm like, oh, I'll change this up. Maybe not. And it's like, well, why not? And sometimes it's okay to keep the same flow and the same pattern, but I do encourage you at some point to get to the place where you're letting things go, even if it's purging things around the house, which always feels good.

Speaker 1:

I feel like after Christmas this year, taking everything down, I really just kind of had a clean slate and it feels good. It feels good to have just things in order and back to normal and really releasing emotional baggage and welcoming new beginnings. So I am the type of person and I'm sure I've mentioned this before that if I have a cancel For example, I was supposed to shoot a podcast with a friend today and she had to cancel Absolutely no problem at all. I'm going to go in, I'll do a little quickie by myself, even if I had to cancel it. I always look at and I feel like I've always kind of been this way, but I'm going to go in, I'll do a little quickie by myself, even if I had to cancel it.

Speaker 1:

I always look at and I feel like I've always kind of been this way, but I'm really stepping into it and trying to emphasize it to others, as cancellations are an opportunity to have some blank space in your life. So welcome them with open arms. I think so often we can get wrapped up in that, oh, but I wonder why, and like if you've, if you have rejection triggers or you know things happen that you're really looking forward to. But I think it goes back to that like stop setting expectations and just understanding that like life is happening for you, um, and just staying open to those moments. So if I have a cancellation, I am welcoming the blank space. I'm trying not to fill the space, or maybe it is an opportunity to shift something that you wanted to get done and just looking at it as, um, a place of growth and involvement, whether it's thought patterns, whether it's what you do with that time. And I know that one thing I'm just trying to be really intentional about making sure I have a lot of downtime, not too much, but a good balance Downtime time for myself, time for my family, time for my jobs.

Speaker 1:

I was in an event today. Actually, my husband and I were honored by an organization we work with Children, first for philanthropy, and it was really great to be in a room full of nonprofits and business leaders and people in our community that truly find joy in selfless giving, and I think that that's something, something even when my life looked very different than it does now, and I talk about this a lot and I did a podcast with my husband. He has a podcast called Matt Bell Legacy. Actually, he has two Matt Bell Legacy and Matt Bell Limitless. But I'm going to be on his legacy podcasts and he kind of interviews me like who is Crystal, what are you all about? What are your goals, what are your dreams? You know all this, all the things, and one thing that really hit me when I was talking about that. It's like he's like well, how do you feel right now and I had to think about it for a moment I feel really fulfilled, like I think this, this podcast, has been great. It's almost like my verbal journal. I get to talk to you guys, I get great feedback from most of the episodes and have questions, and I love that and I love the interaction and love that. If one episode hits one person, that's my purpose for it, that's the intention. So, when it comes to being involved with people or organizations, I do it from a place of appreciation and gratitude A for the opportunity to have this type of platform to do it, but also just realizing how fulfilling and how happy it makes me to do something.

Speaker 1:

I remember when I was poor in college, I always gave to St Jude Children's Research Hospital. I had not a lot to give. I would send like 20 or 30 bucks or something like that every now and then, and they always send me these cute little return address labels. But I always felt good about it, I was doing something. And so if you feel like you're stuck in a rut and not sure what to do, maybe look at opportunities like that. And one of the things that they left us with which is the reason I brought this up is they mentioned at the end like I'm not going to give an ask. You know, like your typical nonprofit event would be, there's no ask for a donation or anything he said. I asked that you reach out to one person, call someone don't text them call someone you haven't talked to in at least three months and have a conversation with them. And I really was thinking about like, well, who am I going to call? And I might call multiple, I'm sure I will probably eventually call multiple people, but I really liked that. I'm sure I will probably eventually call multiple people, but I really liked that.

Speaker 1:

So when we talk about giving and doing something different or challenging ourselves, it could be something as small as making a phone call we haven't made in a while because we get, I think so wrapped up in this easy communication of text messaging or social media messaging or emailing, that I'm still that person at work that calls everyone because I just like to talk to people, when I could definitely send an email and email thread and half the time it's like, okay, well, can you send this to me in an email too, because we have to loop like five people in and you know whatever. I still like that human interaction and it's good for us. We're built, built for that. Like humans, we need connection and we need those situations that bring us, that lift us up and or do a kind deed for someone, like I know I did a podcast a while ago with another one with Hallie Young, and we talked about, like you know, if you're going through the Chick-fil-A line or the Starbucks line, like pay for the person behind you if you can, or you know just little things I know.

Speaker 1:

After Christmas I was just purging a lot of the stuff in the fridge and we just had all this leftover junk People send you. It's beautiful and thank you so much if you sent it, but like the chocolate covered this and the chocolate covered that, I am a chocolate lover but I cannot be surrounded by it all the time in my house. I got to purge so I took it down to like a Rosemary district in Sarasota and gave it away. There's like a Salvation Army and I just like put it out the window like pillows I didn't need anymore and you know it might not be as safe in your area, but I know these folks. They used to drive right down the school for my daughter's school or right down the street from my daughter's school.

Speaker 1:

But, yeah, just do something for yourself or for others. That makes you feel good. So that's just really what I wanted to jump on today to encourage you to see opportunity and change. Allow yourself time for stillness, and we don't always have to be chasing next. I think there is something really beautiful about taking a moment to have gratitude for everything in your life without chasing or going on to next, and I think that's what I'm going to leave you with today. Short and sweet one. It's been great to connect, as always. I asked some questions in this episode, so I would love for you to comment, reply, email, whatever and what topics do you want to hear about? Let's hear. What is it you guys want to talk about in 2025? Let's hear more of that. Peace.