When Your Spiritual Teacher Gives You the Ick

You can admire a spiritual teacher, trust their work, buy the books and classes, and then suddenly feel a full-body absolutely fucking not. The confusing part is what happens next: your mind starts explaining away your own reaction. Maybe you’re judging. Maybe you’re jealous. Maybe you’re resisting growth. Or maybe something genuinely changed.

There are actually three very different reasons a teacher can start giving you the ick. The teacher may no longer embody what they teach. Your own resistance may be trying to keep you comfortable. Or you may have simply outgrown the lesson.

Nicole digs into teacher embodiment, spiritual sovereignty, eternal students, why discomfort is not automatically a red flag, and the AP Biology advice that still shapes how she chooses what to learn.

The goal is not to decide who’s bad. It’s to get much better at recognizing what the signal is actually telling you.

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MEET NICOLE

Nicole is an evidential medium and former corporate executive who blends data, systems, and spirit communication after her son began seeing the dead. She’s obsessed with exposing the hidden patterns and frequencies keeping you stuck, and recoding them so you can finally live the life your soul designed for you. She offers private readings, mentorship, and classes in mediumship, spiritual growth, and soul-aligned business. 

Click here to learn more & connect with Nicole: http://links.mediumnicole.com

Transcript

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Stop Choosing The Safe Classes

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Don't keep taking the classes that feel safe, that feel cozy, that make you feel confident and seen and validated in the work. Fuck that. Choose the classes that make you fucking uncomfortable because we don't grow in comfort. We grow by doing things out of our comfort zone.

What The Unity Code Is

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Welcome to the Unity Code, where we explore what becomes possible when we stop keeping spirituality on the sidelines and start using our connection to spirit to actually change lives. I'm Nicole Pope, a medium teacher and former transformation corporate executive. I've spent more than 20 years obsessed with data, patterns, systems, and one question. What actually creates change? These days I'm asking that same question about energy, consciousness, the soul, and our connection to spirit. And no, we're not keeping this theoretical. On the podcast, we're going to teach it, test it, demonstrate it, play with it, and bring real people into the conversation. We'll explore mediumship, energetics, intuition, ancestral patterns, human potential, and some things I'm not even sure we have language for yet. Because the goal is bigger than becoming more spiritual. It's about discovering what you're capable of, using it to transform yourself, expand your life, and step into possibilities you couldn't access before. This is the Unity Code, where spirit meets experimentation, transformation, and a community curious enough to find out what else is possible. I'm so glad you're here.

The Ick With A Trusted Teacher

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Unity Code podcast. I am here hot off the press from the prior podcast episode where we're talking about 2026 ripping you completely fucking open to talk about something that I have seen very, very prevalently with my students. And this is when somebody gives you the fucking ick. Um, and you know it. Like those of you that are students, you definitely know it. You're talking about somebody, a teacher that you used to love. Maybe you have their books and you you've read them a few times, you've listened to every single podcast they've had, maybe you've even like paid them horrifying amounts of money. But now they're saying essentially the same things they've always said, but now your whole system is responding with an appse fucking lutli not, right? And what's so interesting is that when you have that ick feeling, your mind starts to create a story about why you're wrong about your own reaction, right? Maybe you're judging, maybe you're jealous, maybe this is your ego, maybe it's my fault and I'm wristing resisting their frequency. So let's talk about what the hell is actually happening when your mind believes someone is brilliant, but the rest of you has already left the fucking relationship. And I am personally seeing this a lot in the spiritual space right now. Um, so I am gonna talk about this in terms of spiritual teachers because I'm seeing this pattern so clearly. I'm seeing a lot of students come my way from the big names. I mean the big names that have a cult-like following that have so many classes that people are on waiting lists to work with or get a reading from, right? And I have stories of them in these classes with these teachers for months and years at a time, making no progress. And then they come to me, and in the span of one month, they have learned more with me about their own abilities, their own gifts, their own way they experience this work than they have in the entire tenure working with those well-known professionals. And this is a fucking theme. This is a theme, and I think this relates directly to this year of the fire horse energy because I think that we have been stuck in these status quo of these spiritual teachers, these spiritual leaders who, again, have a very well-known presence, have a lot of fucking students, have prices for their services that would be enough to make everybody drool at like getting into this work. Yeah. Ernesto gets it. And at the same time, we're also seeing, or I'm also seeing, students that are no longer finding the value in these teachers. And like personally, this is a problem that I've had too over the course of my career in the metaphysical space because I have tried to learn from people over and over and over again, and eventually they give me the ick. And I've started to self-reflect and be like, what the fuck is wrong with me? Why do I keep ending up with these teachers? But I think this is a very ripe conversation because I think there's a lot of people in the current environment that are noticing the misalignment of teachers and they feel lost and confused. And to be honest with you, it feels like sad and depressing to leave some of these spiritual teachers that you've known and loved behind. And so I want to talk about how you can process this, how you can bring these big emotions and feelings into kind of this actionable plan for you to know is it them? Is it you? Or is it the fact that you have grown out of what they were meant to teach you?

Incongruence And Conflicting Signals

SPEAKER_01 6:18

And this has all kind of started. This entire idea has started with this idea of incongruence. And before I go any further, again, I'm gonna talk mostly about this from a spiritual teacher perspective, but this will be true for any sort of authority figure that you have in your life, where the story that you had about them no longer matches your current reality. So this can be personal relationships, these can be like friends, this can be family, this could be career, this could be coworkers, this could be bosses, this could be leaders at your company. Like this could literally be anything in anyone, because I think it's so such a prevalent thing that we're finding this year is that old narratives are no longer persisting. And the spiritual wool has been pulled from our eyes, and spirits fucking sitting there with their arms crossed saying, I fucking told you so. Are you ready to see it yet? And I want you to feel safe in looking at it because I don't think anyone talks about this. I don't think anyone talks about the feeling of incongruence that can happen when you have somebody that you trust and love leading you, and then it doesn't feel good anymore. And I'm using incongruence pretty simply because I want to just talk about what we expect no longer matches, right? And so what you were told you were going to be taught is not in fact what you were taught. God, that was my first teacher. Right? It could be about the teacher's energy energy and what they say versus the embodiment of the work that they're teaching you. It could also be incongruence inside of you, of saying, like, again, we talked about this. I really believe this person is wise and I trust them, but at the same time, there's something going on that makes me not want to trust them. My lived experience of working with them is something else, and that internal incongruence is the fucking worst. Because it's not just like you don't like them anymore, it's it's the fact that you have conflicting information in your body that causes you to spiral because one part of you says one thing and the other part of you says another, and they are not matching. And so the question isn't always about like I get the ick, what do I do? The question is let's fucking investigate when you get the ick and let's figure out what that means and where it's coming from. Right? What are you perceiving that may be a little bit hidden behind the surface that you can't explain off the bat yet?

When The Teacher Is The Problem

SPEAKER_01 9:39

And so there's three different ways that I really think about um the ick. I'm just gonna keep using the word the ick, everybody. So um, so the first one is that I really want to talk about the teacher first. And there can be an ick with the actual teacher again, because the teacher may have sold you a class, a lesson, a book, etc., and you were all fucking gung-ho about this, and you put your money down and it felt amazing, and you're like, fuck yes, I'm so ready for this. I'm I've been waiting for it, I've been asking for it. But what happens in reality is that there is a disconnect between maybe what you expected or what you were sold on the surface versus what is the reality that exists behind the scenes. And this is a very interesting topic because sometimes it's done on purpose. Let's be honest with all of you. Sometimes this is done on purpose. I feel like this was done on purpose in my shamanic apprenticeship, my first one, because they talked about all the amazing shamanic things, but they did not identify that 25% of the class was going to be doing yoga and tai chi. Right? So sometimes that incongruence in your teacher is on purpose, and that feels like shit. And I've been there, and you've heard the podcast episodes maybe. It feels like shit when you've been specifically explicitly lied to. And I don't know if the teachers would see it that way. Um, and that's where perception comes in a little bit because it was mentioned as part of the class, but it was not mentioned that it was going to be 25% of the class. So this is me probably failing to ask that question. And then other times you may notice that the teacher has immense fucking knowledge that you want to learn from. And you're like, yes. But then the person behind the teaching does not embody the work. And this is where we start to notice that we put a lot of our spiritual teachers on pedestals. We do. I do, I've done it. Where we put them up there and we're just like, fuck yes, I'm signing up for this class. It's gonna be amazing. They're gonna solve all my problems. Um, I'm gonna give my entire development to them. I bow down. But then what we find is they might be really fucking connected and they might be really amazing at what they do, but it does not mean that they have learned the lessons or they embody the work within themselves. Because there are two sides to teaching. Well, there's probably more than that, but I'm gonna keep it simple for this. There are two sides to teaching, and and there's teaching the subject matter as it is from a very divine masculine how-to perspective, which I think a lot of teachers generally do. Generally, because why would you sign up for a class without the how-to, right? But then there's the other side of the house of are they living what they're teaching?

SPEAKER_00 13:22

If they're teaching that spirit is unconditionally loving and that we are one, are they living that experience with their students?

SPEAKER_01 13:36

Are they coming at things from an unconditionally loving perspective? Are they coming at it as an equal thinking everyone is one? Or are they doubling down on the how-to, saying this is the way and this is the only way that you can do this and be successful? Or are they recognizing that every person on this journey has their own unique, beautiful, incredible path with it, their own unique gifts, uh, access, ways that they receive and perceive spirit? And are they helping the student grow into the highest versions of themselves that are possible within the whatever they're practicing, whatever they're teaching? Or are they telling you you have to do it this way? This is probably asterisk, like the biggest bucket of ick that I have personally faced is the teacher. And like I hate to put this, this is gonna be the next one I talk about. Um so I'm gonna pause, I'm gonna put a pen in that for a second. But this is definitely the biggest bucket that I have personally experienced with my teachers are teachers that promise they're gonna teach something and they don't. Um teachers that teach about the limitless abilities of spirit and what they're capable of, and yet teach you a box. And teachers that force you to do it their way. And we can spiral around the why behind this. This could be marketing tactics, this could be their own personal ego of not handling students outside their box. Um, they could feel very jealous or egoistic about students who have abilities beyond theirs. I've certainly experienced those teachers as well. And so, like, I think a lot of this comes from control at a teacher level. An internal I'm pausing because I'm trying to link it to what I'm about to come next. I'm not gonna try to link it, I'm just gonna state it. Because what I find is that teachers aren't embodying the work, they aren't embodying the teaching, they're not embodying, embodying the biggest fucking picture that spirit has for them, that we are all light workers that are meant to come here and do our gifts our own way, and that there is no one right way to do this work. And so for me, this is a lot of teachers, again, following traditional processes without exceptions, focused on the rules, focused on the box, focused on the paradigm that they've seen was successful within themselves, and not having the capacity to allow their students to spread their wings and fly. Because at some point, if the teacher does not embody the work, they will hit their own limitations, whether it is their ego and their nervous system limitations, whether it is their spiritual gift limitations, because the reality is that our connection and our teaching is only so good as the system behind it. And if the system behind it is built on fear and scarcity and needing to be in control and needing to be better than students, then that is the learning environment that these teachers are putting you in. And so I think the first bucket of the teacher being the cause of the ick is absolutely fucking valid. And I'm gonna tell you this is where I've seen it more often than not. Mm-hmm. I mean, the only advice I have for you here is fucking run. That's the only advice I have for you. This is when you run. This is when you separate out the lessons that you are meant for and keep it offline and don't try to challenge the teacher because that's not gonna go anywhere. And don't try to make them grow because that's not gonna go anywhere. Because if the teacher wanted to grow, they would have already fucking grown. Okay. And if the teacher um wanted to be their best selves and wanted you to be sovereign and wanted you to fly, they would fucking tell you that. And if they're not doing that, then then notice notice the patterns. Notice the patterns in these teachers. Everybody, just like take a step back and notice the patterns. Because if the patterns are pointing to, they want to keep you in a box and they want you to do things their own way. Like just that's that's your exit strategy. That's when you're in. By the way, like real, real scenario, because you probably paid for the class, is get what you can out of it. And that's what I did with my shamanic apprentice apprenticeship. Like, just get what you can out of it. I used to show it with my team and be like, show me what you actually want me to know. I hear the teacher's words, I hear the teacher teaching it this way, and then I use my guides to tell me what I need to know. That's how I did it. So I didn't necessarily waste the money. I used the teacher as the starting point to learn more from my team. And so you can always do that as well. So the teacher can absolutely be the ick.

When Your Resistance Creates The Ick

SPEAKER_01 19:28

The second bucket would be you, my dear. And I'm so sorry. But I've come to this conclusion with myself as well in some classes that sometimes the ick is from you. And I want to be very careful here because I think there's a perceived ick from you, and I think there's an actual ick that comes from you. And there's, and I want to separate these two because I think we tend to default to ourselves being the problem, right? Taylor Swift has a whole song about it, right? Like, I'm the problem with me. And I think we tend to, especially if we are learning, default to the fact that maybe I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm not doing a good enough job for the teacher, I'm not learning enough of the lessons, et cetera. So, like you start to default to you are the bad guy. It is your fault that maybe you have the ick and that you should be doing more, you should be doing better, you should be doing different. Because again, as we talked about, we put the teacher on the pedestal. And so, like, part of this is gonna be your own discernment about where is the actual ick, right? Is it actually me or is it actually um the teacher in disguise, as we already just talked about. Now, on the other side of this is your own internal state that is blocking potentially the teacher's ability to teach you the most that they can, right? And this is where the second it comes from, because a teacher's job is if they're doing it right, is not just about the how, it's also to challenge you, as we talked about, right? And so if the teacher is doing their job to teach both sides of this work to you, not only just the how, but also the embodiment of the how, the embodiment of the how requires internal change for you. This requires you to expand your capacity, to expand your knowledge, to do things that are uncomfortable. God, can I just like so many of my students come to my classes to learn and they are not willing to go practice? You are not going to learn unless you practice. You are like, I can teach you cerebrally um the all the things that are you're meant to learn with spirit communication. But if you're not actually doing the work to learn how the communication moves, Through you, you aren't going to be successful. And so part of this is recognizing your own resistance in the growing, in the learning, in the changing. And noticing if your nervous system is trying to go overboard to make you not learn, to make you not grow, to not allow you to be uncomfortable. Right. And your nervous system creating the ick experience as this write-off so that you don't have to do the work. So don't have to feel the discomfort. So you don't have to grow and change, which is utter fucking bullshit. This is why I have an alter ego name for like my nervous system, right? Like, and I love the name uh Patrice, by the way, because of like how we met your mother. Like nobody fucking asked you, Patrice. Nobody asked you. Right? And so, by the way, it's Clarice for mine, which is not after Silence of the Lambs, by the way. It's actually after Percy Jackson, because Clarice is the pain in the ass daughter of Aries. And I'm an Aries. So, like, that makes sense. That makes sense. Um, and so you have to recognize your own internal limitations that is driving this ick of not doing the work. And I get this is me being a pain in the ass to all of you. This is my Clarice coming out to all of you. I didn't have, or I seemingly didn't have too much of this because I was willing to fucking do the work. I will do whatever it takes to learn and be successful as a metaphysical practitioner because I'm obsessed with this fucking work. And I realize that every single limitation that I have within me, every single, and it's not that I don't have opportunities, everybody. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that every single opportunity I had to push past my own ego, I fucking took it when I recognized it. That's a whole other conversation because you don't always recognize it. And that's the whole point here is like recognizing it because it's really fucking easy to write off your inability to be taught from your teacher from the perspective of it's their fault when actually you're not open to shift and change within it. And of course, you know, this is a fine line because the teacher should be teaching you and pushing you enough to expand in your capacity to receive the maximum benefit from the class, not necessarily to follow their own rules, which we've talked about. And so this second bucket really takes an honest assessment of am I open to this work? Is my nervous system, my subconscious beliefs and limitations creating resistance to the change that I need to make to embody what is possible?

SPEAKER_00 25:17

And I have to be honest with you, as a teacher, this one's really hard.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

It is really hard because I want you to have a good experience in my class. I want you to feel confident in the work. And I truly, honestly believe that any sort of internal limitation is just information that can be looked at and overcome. But that involves having maybe some hard conversations. And maybe I need to add a disclaimer that says, like, I want to have the hard conversations with you where I see that there's potential that you're not growing into. And this is definitely what I do in my mentoring, right? I see that you're hesitant here and I don't know why. Let's talk about it. For a few years. Until the embodiment and lack thereof became the limitation to my connection with spirit. And the person that you're hearing today is the person that is no longer afraid of the internal lessons that is willing to be seen and grow and change to maximize my connection with spirit and obviously impact to my clients and all of you. And so being honest with your own internal limitations, your own internal biases, your own inability to see your own potential and work through the discomfort to overcome it is the other half of the work that needs to get done. So don't let the ick or your ego or your teacher on a pedestal point you to that you're doing something wrong. Point it to what lesson is this teaching me that I'm ready to overcome? And so if you find the ick is not actually with the teacher because there's embodiment. They're pushing and challenging me to be sovereign, and you still have that ick, it's probably worth taking a look at yourself and identifying what needs to shift or move so that I can learn and embody the lessons my teacher is teaching me even faster. And I think this is where the gold is. The gold is with this work, right?

When You Have Outgrown Them

SPEAKER_01 28:36

And then we get to ick number three, which is there's not actually wrong, anything wrong with you or the teacher. And this is just all about how you have outgrown the embodied version of this work. And, you know, for all the all the lessons and reasons that we have already talked about, right? Because the teacher is gonna have their specific lessons and embodiment level. You're gonna have your own specific lessons and embodiment level that you are capable of, right? And so at a certain point, just like with every other teacher you've ever had, most of them are there for a reason or a season, not necessarily a lifetime. And so part of this ick conversation can just be that you've outgrown the teacher. And you can look at this because again, you're looking at the teacher. They are embodied, they have learned their lessons, they're teaching you how to be sovereign. There's no problems with the teacher, right? You can look at yourself and say, no, I was open to change. No, I've worked through as many lessons as I can to embody this work. I really feel like I've done everything that I can there. And so if you are looking at number one, number two, and saying, well, the ick doesn't come from there, then you need to look at the vibrational coherence between the two of you. Because your teacher can still be a wonderful fucking teacher, an embodied teacher that's doing a fantastic job. And you can still be a student that is doing a fantastic job taking, integrating, practicing, learning. And yet you can still be misaligned because you've outgrown them, because you've learned the lessons. You have surpassed the embodiment of what is possible with this teacher. And so sometimes the ick is your system saying, we've learned everything there is to learn, it's time for a new teacher, where it's time to graduate, which comes with its own um internal struggle as well, because no one likes to leave a teacher, no one likes to leave a community, no one likes to leave a class. And honestly, it can be like such a mind fuck to even think that you have outgrown a teacher. Can't, isn't it? Isn't that such a mindfuck? Because that's the whole point of why you signed on with them in the first place, is because they have knowledge that you need to gain. But what if you've learned that and integrated that knowledge? Check, check, and there's not much left there. And nobody talks about this. Nobody talks about moving on from the teacher. And you see this so fucking clearly in the spiritual space because there's so many students that are eternal students. I've seen it over and over and over again. And I've seen a lot of the practitioners that will teach classes to keep you an eternal student. They will teach you um the same, it's like a sheep in wolf's clothing or a wolf in sheep's clothing. God, I'm the worst at that. I always say the opposite, which means like I shouldn't be saying these things. But they'll teach the same lesson disguised as all of these different topics, but it's the same fucking underlying lesson.

The Eternal Student Trap

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Right? Which is, oh, I digress, which is why I have the air program, spirit communication program laid out the way that I have, because I could, I could take your money and teach you all of these individual modalities, which means that you would be duplicating the same information across these classes, et cetera. Or I'll just teach you the fucking foundation, teach you the specifics that is different with each of these modalities, and you'll be on your way. But instead, a lot of these teachers take this idea of mediumship and they'll do different classes based on it. They'll do classes based on color, they'll do classes based on career and relationships, they'll do classes based on the clairs, they'll do classes based on X, Y, Z, right? But the reality is that like you should already have a lot of that foundational information where you don't need to be an eternal student. Surface level spirituality versus teaching you the foundation of what's possible. There's a difference. There's a fucking difference in those teachers. And I think that's why I get so pissed off. Hmm. Interesting. I don't know. Gonna have to play with that one. I don't have the answer on that one yet. It's an interesting thought. I'm gonna set that one to the side and pin it for me to mull over later. But that's the reality, is that sometimes the ick is just a misalignment and you've learned what you need to learn. And it's time to move on, which can be vastly uncomfortable to think that you have surpassed. Here's the difference. I'm gonna I was about to say surpass the knowledge of your teacher, but here's the reality is that you have surpassed the lessons that they were meant to teach you. Because your path is not their path. Your lessons are not their lessons. And I have had Akashic Records teachers that I loved and adored and I fucking grew past. And I've had mediumship teachers that I loved and adored and I grew past. Because I'm meant to, because there was nothing else in it for me. So notice if what this one feels like. Notice if you're getting bored in the classes, if you're getting tired, if you're just like not wanting to show up anymore, if um the material feels repetitive, if it doesn't feel exciting anymore, right? Notice if you're showing up for the people in the class, not for the lesson, not for the learning. That's your red flag, everybody, that you have outgrown your own teacher. You have outgrown the class, and maybe it's the class, maybe it's not the teacher, maybe you've outgrown the class because I know there's a lot of mediumship students that just take every fucking mediumship class ever, and I'm just like, you know this, honey. And this is what my team tells me all the time. You know this. You don't need this class, you know this. And I ignore and I go and I get the ick of the first class, and it's not because of the teacher, it's not because of me, it's because I already fucking outgrew him before I even joined the course. That happens too, which is weird, which is weird because that means you're underestimating your abilities. That means I've under underestimated my abilities. Shout out to everybody who's just like, fuck, that's me. Because we want to take classes, we want to learn. And the shit that's out there is the same shit that's out there everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

But you're like, it's the only thing out there, so I guess I'll learn it. And I guess that's why I'm doing spirituality a little different.

SPEAKER_01 36:30

Is because I think there's an opportunity, I mean, there is no fucking limit. No limit to what information you can learn from with spirit. But the lack of innovation in the teaching space and lessons is mind-blowing, is it not? And so I promise, I promise, I have some interesting classes coming up. I can't wait to share it with all the it was my interesting teacher voice. I feel like I'm from no, I feel like I'm like Charlie Chaplin from Lacy 20s. Um, I have some interesting classes coming up because I think people need to learn more in different things, in different ways and in different modalities. And so that's why I'm having fire coming up. Oh, stay tuned. I got a good one coming up for October. Oh, I can't wait for it. I'm so I'm gonna just like I have chocolate-covered espresso beans in front of me. I'm just like, I've had too many of them. God, I can't wait for that. And so, like, this is where I'm starting to infuse the fun because I think learning for me is a perpetual lifetime thing, but a lot of the classes that are out there are are very repetitive. And so if you're feeling that way too, I'm feeling that way. Um, you are in like-minded company, so stay tuned for some upcoming classes that I have. Um, I'm so fucking excited. So, yeah, so pay attention. Pay attention because you shouldn't be signing up for classes just to sign up for classes because you want to learn. Make sure it's aligned for you and what you are meant to be doing.

Finding Your Energetic Yes Or No

SPEAKER_01 38:01

And this is the whole point of my program, my free masterclass out there, everybody, the energetic yes. It was like an hour class. Um, I did have an extra like 30-minute audio only QA that came after the class that I ended up posting. Um, but go sign up for it if you haven't, if you haven't been seen it yet, because that'll give you the energetic yes or no to sign up for a class. If it does figuring out if it feels aligned or not is the whole point. Um and so, yeah, that's kind of where my head was at. And I this has been a really big journey for me. Um, really big journey for me personally, this entire conversation, because it's been years of teachers that I've learned from, loved, and then eventually got the ick from. And and some of it was the teacher not embodying the work or not teaching what they told me they were teaching. Some of it was finding that the teacher is a fucking powerhouse. And yet so emotionally unevolved in every other area of their life. Right? And you can't learn from somebody, you don't want to not that anyone should do this, but you don't want to emulate your life from somebody who you don't envy their life. I know that sounds fucking horrible. But you don't want to emulate the false leaders. You don't even want to learn from the false leaders. And some of them you only find out after you've been learning with them for so long and they let their guard down. You're like, fuck, that's what's behind the scenes. Fuck. Ugh. Ick, right? Ick. And some of them have been learning that there's just some misalignment. I've outgrown the lessons that they're teaching. Which fucking sucks, because some of these teachers, I would keep teaching classes if they had them available. But it's not worth spending my time, money, or energy if it's learning like for a past version of myself and not a future version of myself. And so if you're finding your own journey within all of these, I mean, kudos. Fucking amazing. Recognize that, honor that, like be be proud of yourself for recognizing where you fit into this paradigm of incongruence with teachers. Because when you know better, you're gonna do better. And you're going to sign up now, hopefully, for the classes and teachers that feel more aligned for you. And you're going to start to be able to recognize when there is something internal that needs to be addressed to get the maximum energy and output out of these classes. Because if you're listening to this podcast, you're not gonna settle for just good enough. You are ready to go to the moon and back with this work. And so being aware of the symptoms of piss-poor teachers, piss poor internal regulation and embodiment of the work, and piss-poor selection of classes because you've outgrown the teacher and the coursework is going to allow you to shift your trajectory and draw a line in the sand of the types of teachers and experiences and classes that you want.

Study What You Do Not Know

SPEAKER_01 41:58

And this all goes back to my AP advanced placement biology class, senior year, which I probably told the story before, but you know what? I'm just gonna stop saying that. I'm just gonna keep reminding you of these stories. When I went to go take that class, there was only three of us taking the test because it was a senior joke class. It was just the teacher was a comedian, you just showed up and had a good time. We didn't actually learn anything. But I decided to go for that AP bio test to see if I could place out of it for college. One of three people. And knowing it was a joke class and knowing I didn't actually learn a lot in that class, I asked him, what am I supposed to, how do I study for this test? He was a cool teacher. He totally understood the question. And he said, Study what you don't know instead of what you do know, and you'll be just fine. And I fucking passed that AP biology test. Unlike a women of prayer, I fucking pass, I got a three, which means I tested out of it in college, and the other two people were quote unquote smarter than me, and they didn't pass it. I did. And so my recommendation for you is learn with the teachers who have embodied a version of you you are trying to embody. Learn with the teachers that challenge you, that see that it's more than just the topic.

SPEAKER_00 43:34

It's the entire embodiment of the work at stake as well. Learn with the teachers who are the opposite of you, who are better than you.

SPEAKER_01 43:55

Don't keep taking the classes that feel safe, that feel cozy, that make you feel confident and seen and validated in the work. Fuck that. Choose the classes that make you fucking uncomfortable because we don't grow in comfort. We grow by doing things out of our comfort zone. And if you want to be the best at this work and the best version of you, that's gonna require a little grit, a little muscle, a little recognition of your own internal ick that needs resolution and growth and change. And also a little bit of ick to know when you've outgrown the path and the teacher that you've been on.

Choose Discomfort And Keep Growing

SPEAKER_01 44:48

I love you. I hope I never become the teacher that gives you the ick. If I am, please let me know. I am open to you pointing out my own internal ick or lack of embodiment. I'm fucking here for this. Again, I'm not afraid of it. Give it to me. I will take it, I will learn from it, I will be my best self, and I know that you'll do that too. So I'm so excited for some of the stuff that's coming up. I'm so excited for your journey of being your best self. And don't let the ick get you down, everybody. Just let it be information that helps you become your best fucking self. Take care.

Community Invite And How To Work Together

SPEAKER_01 45:31

This is the Unity Code. If something today made you think differently, sparked a question, or made you wonder what else you're capable of, come join us inside the Unity Code community. That's where experiments are going to continue, conversations are gonna get weirder, and you may even end up being part of the show. And if you're ready to take what we're exploring here and use it to create real change in your own life, you can always work with me directly by booking a session or attending a class right on my website at mediumnicole.com. Because knowing what's possible is only the beginning. The real magic is what you choose to do with it. I'll see you next time on the Unity Code.