I Dare You to Bet on You

What’s holding you back from living your fullest life? Is it fear, comparison, or the weight of old patterns from your family of origin? In this episode of The Daring Well Podcast, Rita Mercer dares you to believe in yourself, release self-doubt, and bet on YOU.

In this episode, Rita unpacks the biggest battle we all face—the war in our minds. She explores how fear, negative self-talk, and comparison traps rob us of joy and peace. Through powerful reflection, she reminds us that while self-image may shift with circumstances, our self-worth is rooted in unchanging God-given value.

This episode is filled with encouragement, practical steps, and reflection questions to help you recognize the roots of doubt, quiet the inner critic, and step into freedom. Whether you’re seeking inspiration, motivation, or tools to grow in confidence, this episode will remind you that you are worthy of living fully—right now.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why doubt and fear often hold us back from our dreams
• How family patterns shape our self-image and belief systems
• The difference between self-image and self-worth
• Why comparison is a trap that steals joy
• Practical steps to begin betting on yourself today

Reflection questions to take with you:

1. When doubt creeps in, can I trace it back to its root—fear, comparison, or family influence?
2. Am I sabotaging my happiness with negative self-image, or am I choosing to bet on myself with hope and belief in my worth?

✨ Listen in and be reminded: you matter, your dreams matter, and today is the perfect day to bet on you.

Visit me in person at the:

27th Annual Fall Arts & Crafts Show

Saturday, October 18, 2025 9:00 AM-3:00 PM

BOONE COUNTY EXTENSION ENRICHMENT CENTER

1824 PATRICK DR., BURLINGTON, KY

Download Flyer: https://www.daringwell.com/44280/files/68dca4503dc93_1759290448_549733992-10161201343250146-6574036114877823989-n.jpg

* All proceeds for this event will go to support those with cancer in Northern KY.  So it’s a win / win.  

Shop for wellness products for your home and everyday life:

100% Soy Wax Candles, Wax Melts, Solid Lotion Bars, and Aromatherapy Nasal Inhalers.

https://www.daringwellshop.com/

Transcript

Welcome to The Daring Well Podcast with Rita Mercer.

What's holding you back?

Why do we doubt?

Today's a new day.

I dare you to bet on you.

All you have to do is turn on the news, talk to a colleague, talk to a friend, talk to a family member.

It can seem like there's so much negativity in this world.

My heart, honestly, it does ache.

My heart breaks for all the brokenness, all the wars, all the natural disasters.

I think I've seen, there was an earthquake in the Philippines, I believe, and just all the division in the political drama, just all the stuff, all the chaos in the world.

And sometimes it gets a little bit, a little bit much.

And it's my sincere hope that The Daring Well Podcast offers you some hope, some inspiration, so that you can live well, so that you can love well, and so that you can lead well, despite whatever you may be facing, whatever difficulties, whatever stressors that are going on in your life, whatever is going on, please do not lose hope.

Hope is that different thing that lies deep within us.

It reminds us that better days are up ahead.

Better days are coming.

It reminds us that tomorrow was going to be better than yesterday.

And so hope is what we lean in when things are hard and difficult.

So before I dive in today's message, I just want to take a quick moment just to say thank you.

So thank you.

So thank you for listening.

Thank you for sharing episodes.

Thank you for liking.

Thank you for leaving comments and reviews.

Truly it does mean a whole lot.

I'm feeling honestly a little sentimental today because it's hard to believe that this podcast has come so far in just so little time.

In almost two years, we've had nearly 100 episodes.

So I think we're on episode 93 for this episode and almost 5,000 downloads.

So 5,000 downloads in 62 countries and over 600 cities all around the world.

And I'm honestly truly amazed by what God is doing with this podcast, this show, and how He's bringing together like-minded listeners like you, as well as like-minded wellness seekers and wellness mentors and colleagues as our guests that we get to hear from and learn from.

And how He's using me to help spread positivity and light and wellness despite all the chaos that's going on in the world, one person at a time.

And again, that's all because of you.

So thank you.

Thank you for supporting The Daring Well Podcast.

All right, let's get into today's conversation.

So today, I want to dare you to bet on yourself.

So what's holding you back?

Why are you doubting?

What are the biggest dreams that's holding you?

What are the biggest things that's in the way of your biggest dreams?

Let go of yesterday, let go of yesteryear.

Today, right now, it's a new day.

It's a new moment.

It's a new opportunity to live in the fullness of who you were called to be, in your family, in your community, in your value, in your worth.

I dare you to bet on you.

So here's the truth, my friend.

There is a war that's going on.

And the biggest war, it's in your mind.

It's up here.

It's in your mind.

Where sometimes nobody's, nobody sees.

It's the war that you fight silently by yourself.

Sometimes when it's keeping you up at night.

Sometimes when you're in the presence of others, but you can't really be engaged because you're, and you can't be mindful because you're so consumed by your thoughts.

For some, it's a fear.

So maybe it's fear of failing, fear of success.

So what if I do well?

What if the other shoe falls?

What if there's, what if they reject me?

Just fear of not living up to others' expectations, fear of your expectations, fear of your family's expectations.

And for others, it may be a daily fight with negative self-talk.

So negative self-talk of just beating yourself up, which is literally raising your blood pressure, increasing your anxiety levels, increasing your stress.

And for some people, it may feel like a silent battle with your inner voice, that inner voice that tells you that you're just not enough, that you're not smart enough, you're not young enough, you're not old enough, you're not tech savvy enough, you're not strong enough.

You fill in the blanks of whatever enoughness.

But if you feel stuck in that comparison trap of non-enoughness, and it's definitely a trap, it's like a vicious cycle that it's hard, super hard to escape.

And when you try to measure yourself up to other standards, to other's way of living, whether it's at work or whether it's with your family, whether you measure yourself up with your marriage versus someone else's marriage, someone else's kids versus your kids, with your self-image, with whatever the latest highlight reel is on social media, you'll never measure up.

So stop trying.

Just take that pressure off because you're never going to measure up.

There is only one you, one you.

And so why not bet on you?

Focus all of that energy, all of that attention.

Focus all of that on you, what you need.

What brings you joy?

What brings you a sense of happiness?

What makes you feel loved?

What makes you feel safe?

What makes you feel secure?

What makes you feel confident?

So think about all those things, but many times it's doubt.

Doubt that gets in the way of all those things that are big and important to us.

So what's holding you back?

Does it go deeper to the roots of your family of origin?

So family of origin is the family that we grew up in.

So maybe it's not your birth family, maybe it's your adopted family, maybe it's you were raised by your grandparents.

But your family that you grew up in, no matter, nobody's family system is perfect, not one.

Every family system has their corpse, has their level of enmeshment, level of dysfunction.

None is perfect.

None of us are perfect, but no family is perfect.

When you think about doubt, does that come from your family of origin?

When you think about your family of origin, how was love communicated in your family?

Was it with touch?

Were you guys really touchy touchy, Philly?

I am a hugger.

I don't know if you're a hugger, but I am a hugger.

Was love communicated with touch?

Was it communicated with words?

Or did love feel like it was something that was conditional?

So conditional like you had to earn the attention from your parents or your caregivers.

What about conflict?

How did you see it addressed in your family of origin?

Was it dismissed or was there just constant arguing and constant chaos?

How was conflict addressed?

What about criticism?

So with criticism, did that seem so loud?

Louder than words, words of encouragement, words of support.

How was criticism handled in your family of origin?

What about your feelings?

How you feel?

What you need?

Do you feel like those things mattered to your family, to your family of origin?

Do you feel like your feelings mattered?

Did you feel important enough to share or express your needs or your feelings?

All these are questions, no shame, no guilt, and no pointing fingers or blame or anything like that.

But just how do we heal so we can grow and go on to our best self?

All these questions are designed to help you to go deeper, go deeper to the roots.

Where do those seeds of doubt come from?

If you've never experienced doubt with decision making or with showing up as your true self, keep living.

Keep living because at some point in your life, we all have to cross that bridge.

It's up to you how long you get to stay stuck on that bridge, that bridge of doubt, that bridge that you're never able to access your true confidence with true joy, true love, true belief in yourself.

But here's the good news, my dear.

You have the power.

You have the power to rewrite your story.

You can pull out all those weeds of doubt and lies each day.

Each day you get a new moment, a new opportunity to rewrite your story.

No matter the past, no matter what's been spoken over you, none of it matters.

You get to choose.

If you need to forgive yourself or offer forgiveness to someone else, just let it go.

Or if you need some support, if you're struggling with letting it go, get a good coach.

You're welcome to reach out to me.

I do wellness coach.

I do mindset coaching.

I'm a licensed counselor in the state of Ohio, so you can definitely reach out to me if you need support.

You can also look in your local area for a coach or a counselor that can help you to walk through some of these things.

Walk through what are the hangups with your doubts so that you can get free.

If it's forgiveness for yourself, for not showing up for yourself, forgiveness for not putting yourself first, forgiveness to what someone's done to you in the past, don't keep holding on to that.

It's not worth it.

It's robbed you of so many opportunities of living your best life.

So today's a new day.

Today's a new day.

You can restart right now.

Right now, you can start.

And all you have to do is just open up your heart.

So open up your heart.

Even if you don't know like what the next step is, totally okay.

Openness, it's the first step.

It's the first step to finding your true freedom from doubt.

So you can learn to bet on you.

The next step.

The next step is to assess where is your belief level?

Is your doubt stronger than your belief in yourself?

How do you see yourself right now in this moment?

Not how the others see you, but how do you see yourself even when you're not looking in the mirror?

How do you see yourself?

Your self-image, it can change depending on the season of life that you may find yourself in, or it could depend on a situation.

So it could be situational.

So for example, your work, your relationships, or how you believe that the world is reflecting back at you.

But your self-worth, self-worth, it goes so much deeper.

It's your God-given value, value that you never, value that never changes.

It's not conditional.

So let me remind you of this, my dear.

It's okay to take up space.

It's okay to admit that you have needs.

It's okay to admit that you have wants, you have desires.

It's okay to pause and to take care of yourself, even while you're busy helping and taking care of others.

You matter.

You are important, my dear.

And if not now, then when?

When will you focus on your own needs?

When will you focus on your own dreams, your own wellness, your own goals?

Tomorrow, it's not promised to none of us.

Not one of us has any guarantee on the next breath, the next moment.

Life is so precious and you're worthy of living it fully and freely.

So today was just a quick encouragement, just to dare you to bet on yourself.

I dare you to bet on you.

So as we start to wrap up, I just want to encourage you to choose, I dare you to choose self-worth, self-worth over self-doubt, to quiet the negative noise that's going on in your head, all that chatter, all that doubt, to believe that your life, your needs, and your dreams they matter.

So before I close today, I want to leave you with two reflection questions to carry you throughout your week.

So, do you got your pen handy?

Let's get started.

So one question, when doubt creeps in, can you trace it back to its root?

The root of fear is at the root of comparison.

Is it the root of family impact or family influence?

When and where did that become familiar?

So tracing it back to where did this come from?

What's the root?

So ripping it up by the root, ripping up the doubt, the low self-worth, the low self-image, all about by its roots.

The next question I want you to reflect on is, am I living from a place of sabotaging?

So am I sabotaging my own happiness?

Am I dimming my own light?

Am I sabotaging my own self-image?

My self-worth?

Or am I choosing to bet on myself?

Am I choosing to bet and have unshakable faith, unshakable hope, and belief in myself, my self-worth?

So not arrogance, but just trust in yourself, trust in your feelings, trust in your needs, trust in your wants, trust in your heart to lead you in the right way, trust in your values.

So before you go, I would like to invite you to stop by and visit me in person at the 27th Annual Fall Arts & Craft Show.

It's in the Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati area.

So when you stop by in person, I have a free gift for you.

Just be sure to mention that you heard it here on this podcast.

And at the 27th Annual, which is a long tongue twister, 27th Annual Fall Arts & Craft Show, I will be selling some handmade soy wax candles, wax melts, lotion bars, aromatherapy, nasal inhalers.

I actually have a couple that's handy.

All right, so this one is love.

And this one that I have handy is focus, which I don't know if you can focus in and see it.

But so the focus one has like peppermint, has rosemary, so it just helps you to increase your focus.

So you just, you twist it, untwist it, and then you could just inhale it and smell it.

And so, and then I've got love, so make you feel like grounded with different aromatherapy essential oils.

So you can take it off, inhale it, and get some aromatherapy on the go.

So, but I'll have lots of goodies with me to help you to live well in your home, in your everyday life.

So, but yeah, if you're local, I would love for you to stop by and visit me, and I have a free gift for you.

And so, and I also want to tell you a quick thing about soy wax candles.

They're actually way healthier for you than the paraffin blended type of candles that you would pick up at Walmart or Target.

And so they're way healthier for you and for the environment.

So yeah, I would love for you to stop by.

There's going to also be tons of other vendors at the Art and Craft Show.

So you can get an early start on your Christmas shopping, if you'd like to do that as well.

And the beautiful part about this, all the proceeds, all the money raised from this craft show, it'll benefit those that are struggling with cancer.

So those that are struggling with cancer in the Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky area, actually in the Northern Kentucky area.

And so it's just a win-win for everybody.

So you get to get your gift and live well and in your mind, body, and spirit with some of the products, as well as you get to know that you did some good in the world by supporting the vendors that the money will go to the cancer survivors.

So and that's going to be Saturday, October the 18th.

So you got a few weeks to mark your calendars.

Saturday, October the 18th from 9 a.m.

to 3 p.m.

That's going to be at the Boone County Extension Enrichment Center.

And that's at 1824 Patrick Drive in Burlington, Kentucky.

I'll also put a link in the show notes with a flyer for the craft show.

I'll also include my new wellness website.

So you can get some of the stuff on the shop website if you need to, if you're not able to join me locally.

And so that's daringwellshop.com.

So www.daringwellshop.com.

So you can shop online.

All right.

Thank you so much for stopping by The Daring Well Podcast.

If this episode encouraged you, do me a huge favor.

Share with somebody who needs the reminder to bet on themselves too.

And don't forget to leave a review.

It helps me to share this message of positivity, hope, and wellness throughout the world.

Until next time, keep living, keep loving, and keep daring well.

Take care of my dear.

God bless.

Thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of The Daring Well Podcast.

Let's take a break and one step at a time.

If you enjoyed today's episode and want to continue exploring the world of holistic wellness, be sure to subscribe to the Daring Well Podcast so you never miss an episode filled with transformative conversations and actionable advice.

Thank you again for being part of The Daring Well Podcast community.

Together, let's dare to live well in mind, mind, body, and spirit.