The Power of Oxygen 1st
When my son was little, I was a single mom who was doing it all alone. I was putting everyone else first and my own needs last. To everyone around me, I was successful but little did they know that my success was tied to pushing, stressing, sleepless nights and early morning workouts pushing my body and my limits to the extreme. Until one day I was flying alone and nearly crashed an airplane and I realized that I needed to take care of my own needs first before anyone else. You see, when you’re a pilot, if you have any issues in the plane, you put on your oxygen mask 1st, not your passengers. They need you to land the plane.
This podcast is all about this journey to healing, to getting clear on the desires of your heart… and stepping into them with courage while leaning into, asking for and receiving support. I hope you feel inspired to do less, to follow your passions and infuse them into your daily life and truly claim the life you were meant to live: a life filled to the brim with epic ADVENTURE.
The Power of Oxygen 1st
EP 69: Are You Leading with Love or Just Responding to Fear?
What happens when we let our hearts guide us instead of our fears? For 48 hours straight, I found myself in tears, experiencing what felt like a complete emotional release. Something had taken the wind out of my sails, and I couldn't quite grasp why—until I recognized the difference between self-abandonment and self-honoring.
This pivotal realization forms the foundation of today's deeply personal exploration into the physical and emotional signatures of decisions made from fear versus those made from love. When fear drives us, our bodies constrict—chest tightening, stomach clenching, mind spinning in endless loops of imaginary conversations. But when love takes the wheel, everything shifts. There's a lightness, a clarity, an opening that feels like our nervous system can finally exhale.
Through my own journey of selling my home despite financially "logical" advice not to, I discovered that leading with love doesn't mean ignoring reality—it means using love as your compass rather than letting fear drive your decisions. Fear shouts while love whispers, which is precisely why we must create stillness to hear it. Whether you're facing challenges in business, relationships, or personal growth, this episode invites you to ask: "Am I making this choice from love or from fear?" The answer might just transform everything.
Ready to receive more support in your life? Download my new hiring ROI calculator at dotrockconsulting.com and discover how just 15 minutes of curiosity might change your perspective on what's possible when you truly put your oxygen mask on first.
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Hey guys, this is the Power of Oxygen First podcast and I'm your host, dot Rock. I am an entrepreneur, a mom, a stepmom and a scaling consultant who is obsessed with the art of hiring, support and that dirty word we call delegation. I'm a recovering perfectionist who pushed my body and my limits to the extreme until one fateful day I learned that, just like pilots, I needed to take care of myself first. This podcast is all about the journey to healing, to getting clear on the desires of your heart, stepping into them with courage and leaning into and asking for support. I hope you feel inspired to do less, to follow your passions and infuse them into your daily life and truly claim the life you were meant to live. Well, hello my Oxygen First friends. Welcome back to the podcast. As you know, here on the power of oxygen. First I'm your host, dot rock, and today I just want to share.
Speaker 1:I've had another really intense week and really I think last week was intense as well, but I think it was so intense from, uh like really amazing things happening, lots of momentum, lots of movement towards some goals of mine, and it felt like things were really falling in place and I was just so excited. And then this week really just took the wind out of my sails in a really intense way and, if I'm honest, I cried for like 48 hours almost straight. There were not many breaks in that tear fest and it felt like quite the release. But I started to recognize that part of that was was some anxiety over a friendship, and I just really needed to step deeply into self honoring instead of self-abandonment and I will record a whole other podcast about the difference and what that feels like. But what I realized is if I am self-abandoning, I am really leading with fear, versus when I am in self-honor mode, when I'm really honoring what's deep in my heart and what feels like love, I lead with love, right, and so I'm curious what your thoughts are on leading with love instead of fear. But it's definitely something that's been a real part of my life, in my awareness, for the past two years. I read a Gabby Bernstein book on this topic. I can't remember which book of hers it was. All of her books are good, but it was really about this concept of recognizing leading with love versus leading with fear, with fear, and so I'm just curious if you have ever really thought about what it feels like in your body to just lead with fear versus leading with love.
Speaker 1:For me, I know that when I lead with fear, everything tightens. I start having conversations in my head with someone that I really feel like I need to talk to and I spin over and over and over and over on that topic. When I am leading with fear, my chest gets heavy, my stomach clenches and there's just this odd kind of buzz of anxiety and I wouldn't call it, and I'm just starting to recognize that as anxiety in my body, that spinning, and I'm just starting to recognize that as anxiety in my body, that spinning, that conversation that keeps happening. But really, when I allow myself to get still and lead with love and think about what I would say and how I would have a conversation with someone, when I listen to my heart, I just feel lighter, it feels clear, it feels like light pouring out of me Instead of darkness, instead of clenching, instead of safety, like it feels more open and it feels like my nervous system exhales and really likes that. And now, sometimes the heart-led clarity just doesn't come from the mind, it doesn't even really come from our body. And sure, we can recognize these signs in our body, but sometimes these heart led, love led decisions whisper really quietly when we're still and there's this tiny little voice that says this is the way you are safe and you can trust yourself. You can trust yourself to say what's on your heart and that it won't hurt you heart and that it won't hurt you. So I just want to give you permission to slip into this thought and to pause and to ask yourself are you choosing the path you're on? Are you choosing not to have that conversation? Are you choosing the next step? Are you choosing the next step? Are you choosing it because of love or are you choosing it because you're scared of what will happen if you don't? Are you choosing to not have that conversation because you're afraid of someone else's response? Are you choosing that path because of fear or love? And listen, love and fear often do coexist. This isn't about perfection, it's just about awareness. I think for me, fear tends to shout and love tends to whisper. And when we put on our oxygen mask first, when we really slow down, when we really tune in and honor that whisper, whatever the whisper is, everything shifts, even if it's a little thing. For me it was a little heartfelt conversation. It was maybe two words that I really needed to say. I needed to let myself say it to someone else. I led with love and I feel lighter.
Speaker 1:You might be facing a hard decision right now. Maybe it's something in your business, your health, your relationships, and I'm just curious what would it really look like if you chose love? Even if that's self-love and it doesn't mean you ignore reality, it means you anchor into love as your compass, instead of letting fear drive the car. Love is brave drive the car. Love is brave. Love is honest. And love says you don't have to prove anything to be worthy, even to yourself. Yet fear says you are not enough, and here's all the reasons why you are not enough and why you do not deserve the life that you crave. It says go back. It says don't follow your heart right. And love says you are already enough just as you are, just as you are so broken, just as you are. You're enough. So I hope that you will take a moment right now, maybe today, and just check in. Where in your life do you need to listen to your heart more than your mind?
Speaker 1:You know, this year I really had to let myself, let my heart guide me more than my mind and more than my body. And I just recently made a big decision last week to sell my home and it has been a beautiful blessing in my life and financially it doesn't make that much sense to sell it. Many people have told me not to sell it. And then I finally talked to my financial advisor, who has been in my life since I was three years old. He was my grandparents' financial advisor and he said, dot, let it go, let yourself start totally new, it's okay, you made a great investment, it's okay and you'll make another good investment. And sure, on paper it doesn't make sense to sell it, but in your heart, I think you know what makes sense. And he was right.
Speaker 1:We don't have to figure it all out today, but sometimes, when we let our hearts guide us, when we let our hearts guide us just one small breath at a time, one question, one choice, there's a lot of power in that. I think it's more powerful to lead with love than it is to lead with fear. And in my parenting and in my business as an HR consultant, I choose to lead with love. I could be mean, I can be boundaried, but I try to challenge myself and make sure I am leading with love, especially in those little things in my life that just aren't feeling aligned. When I'm feeling out of alignment, usually it means I'm leading with fear. So that is all I have today. Thank you for being here with me. If this episode happens to resonate for you, I'd love it if you share it with someone you care about. You just never know who needs this gentle reminder that our hearts already know the way. And until next time, keep breathing, keep trusting and always put your oxygen mask on first. With so much love Dot.
Speaker 1:Oh, my gosh, am I excited to share this new hiring return on investment calculator freebie that I have been working on for about six months. You're probably thinking what the heck is a return on investment? Well, that's when we take our revenue minus our expenses and it calculates how much return we get by investing in something. I've applied this very masculine concept to hiring and to the art of receiving support, and so what this little tool does that you can just go and download from my webpage, dot brockconsultingcom. What you can do is go and download this and use Curiosity 15 minutes total of your time. Go through this tool and it's going to help you make a little bit of data-driven decision-making around hiring and why it can help you in either your personal or professional life. You don't have to be an entrepreneur, but you could be an entrepreneur and it's going to help you understand the impact hiring or delegating more or handing off more tasks, or even not spending any money on this and simply asking for more support how that could change your life. I'm excited about this freebie and I hope you will go check it out. Download it.
Speaker 1:Dot rock consultingcom Enjoy. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to another episode of the power of oxygen first podcast. I hope you walk away feeling inspired to do less, to follow your passions and infuse them into your daily life and truly claim the life you were meant to live, and I hope that you start leaning into the art of receiving support. I'm here to support you on that journey. Find me at dotrockconsultingcom or dot underscore rock underscore on Instagram. I'd love it if you'd go follow me and shoot me a quick DM and let me know what takeaway from this episode hit you the hardest, sending you love and adventures on this beautiful day.
