Brenda Albiar had a successful career as a corporate executive. A few months into her retirement, she found herself struggling to feel happy.
The brief
Before
The Approach
Using the Fearless Living Training Program
Brenda discovered she had been hiding her true self for decades. And she learned how to access her real, authentic self using the Wheel of Fear.
The Solution
Successful Outcome
Brenda feels happier than ever. She loves who she is, has more fun, and has become even closer with her family.
“I just couldn’t feel happy...”
Brenda spent 35 years climbing the ranks of corporate America.
She had a successful career and retired at 59. Her first few months of retirement were great. Soon, however, she found herself struggling to be happy.
So much of her identity had been tiedup in her work. Now that she wasn’t working, she didn’t know who she was or what made her happy outside of her family. As she says:
“When I retired, it was a shock because I no longer had to play a part I played for 36 years. So then I had to find who I was...
...I didn’t know what happiness was to me. I enjoy my husband and kids but deep down I was missing something...”
“I smiled more than I had before...”
Brenda’s son had taken Fearless Living courses before. He told Brenda to join Confidence Week,a free series on building confidence.
Brenda already felt confident. Though she knew she needed help, so she joined anyway.
Right away, Brenda loved the free series.
She enjoyed listening to Rhonda and found the tools she learned to be incredibly helpful.
Before the week ended, Brenda found herself smiling more than she had in a long time. She realized she had more to learn from Rhonda. So she joined Rhonda’s flagship course, The Fearless Living Training Program [FLTP].
“Confidence Week was amazing... After Confidence Week, I read testimonials from the Fearless Living Training Program. I wanted to see what else was there that could help me further.”
“How can you be happy when you’re down on yourself?”
Brenda had always been hard on herself. She often beat herself up for mistakes she made or things she felt were wrong with her.
During retirement, this became even worse. Because she no longer had people praising her for doing great work as she did when she had a job. Now allex she had was her inner critic constantly judging her and putting her down.
Brenda realized she’d never be happy unless she started to treat herself better. Through FLTP, she got tools that helped her stop beating herself upand feel proud of who she is.
“I don’t beat myself up anymore... I stopped comparing myself to others. I look in the mirror when I get dressed, and I don’t make a snarky comment about my body...
...I find myself happier, more joyous, and smiling more.”
“I was never good enough...”
When Brenda first joined FLTP, she didn’t think she had any fear.
Yet through the Wheel of Fear exercise, Brenda discovered fear had secretly been running her life for years.
Brenda realized she was terrified that people would think she was stupid. And she spent her whole life trying to make sure nobody ever thought she was stupid.
For example, at work, she wasn’t her true self. Instead, she acted as the person she thought she needed to be to succeed. And she was afraid that if people saw the real her, they would think she was stupid and wouldn’t like her.
This fear also showed up in her relationships. She would shut down anytime she got upset. And she wouldn’t share her thoughts, feelings, or needs with others due to fear of what they might think of her.
Brenda saw how her Wheel of Fear showed up in everyarea of her life. And once she became aware of it, she saw she had the power to stop it...
“Fear of failure and fear of being wrong [caused me] anxiety... and the last thing I ever wanted was for someone to think I was stupid.”
“I wanted to let the little girl inside me out...”
Brenda began to realize she had been shutting down her true self for years.
She felt like she had this little girl inside her who wanted to dance, play, create, and have fun. Yet, she never let that side of her out because she was afraid people wouldn’t like it.
Brenda discovered how to access that part of herself that she had buried for years using the Wheel of Freedom.
She learned that her “Essential Nature” was “Creative.” This means that she had a creative side that she had closed herself off from for years.
Brenda then learned how to reclaim this part of her. When she did,her whole life opened up. She felt happier, more playful, and started to feel like her true self.
That little girl inside her had finally been set free.
“Fearless Living gave me the tools [to] live the real, authentic life that I wanted. Had I had this years ago, I would’ve been a different manager, co-worker, [and] friend.”
“I feel happier than ever...”
“I’m happier... I appreciate life more. And it’s great to feel this way at the beginning of retirement because I have so much more to give and live for”