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#46 Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: Authenticity, Kindness, and Self Love

Nov 27, 2018 1h 6m 40 insights
Television personality, activist, mother, and wife to Canada’s Prime Minister, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau discusses her battle with eating disorders, why nature and art play such a huge role in her life and what unites us as people.     Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member-only episodes, and more. Sign up at: https://fs.blog/membership/   Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/   Follow Shane on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish
Actionable Insights

1. Cultivate Self-Love and Acceptance

Practice self-love by seeing and accepting yourself as you truly are, as this is the biggest gift for interacting with yourself and the universe.

2. Practice Kind Self-Talk

Pay attention to your inner self-talk, practicing kindness and compassion towards yourself. Challenge negative thought patterns by asking if they truly make you happy, and speak your truth by opening your heart about how you feel.

3. Return to Your Center

Cultivate practices to consistently return to your ‘center’ to find peace in your mind and heart, enabling better adaptation to every situation life throws at you.

4. Reframe Adversity as a Gift

Decide to see adversity as a ‘gift’ wrapped in nasty paper, knowing that inside it offers an opportunity for self-discovery, learning self-love, and extending that love to the world.

5. Practice Emotional Detachment

Work on detaching from emotional dependence on people or concepts, distinguishing it from love and friendship, to maintain your center even when deprived.

6. Embrace Vulnerability for Creativity

Embrace vulnerability as a pathway to creativity and self-discovery, rather than letting the fear of judgment or repressed emotions prevent you from expressing your true self.

7. Face and Discuss Your Truths

Face your personal truths and human condition openly, discussing them rather than hiding, as this is essential for personal evolution and growth.

8. Share Your Truth Openly

Practice opening up and sharing your truth, even in the face of potential judgment, as it is a gift that fosters support and encourages other humans to do the same.

9. Address Hurt Directly and Immediately

When you’ve unintentionally hurt someone, address it immediately and directly by communicating with them to understand and resolve the issue, rather than repressing emotions, which will only intoxicate your life.

10. Develop Relational Agility

Develop relational agility by increasing self-knowledge, which enhances your capacity to understand yourself in a relational context and adapt effectively within relationships.

11. Relate to Others’ Suffering

When encountering someone suffering, reflect on their past journey, consider the origins of their suffering, and how you can relate to it, fostering a sense of shared responsibility.

12. Teach Empathy and Daily Help

Teach children to recognize their shared humanity with those who suffer, understand that adversity can affect anyone, and consider what small actions they can take daily to help.

13. Focus on Human Similarities

Actively choose to see and feel similarities among people rather than focusing on differences, as this is the right path for more peace and connection.

14. Build a Compassionate Social Net

Focus on self-care and personal growth, and simultaneously work to create a tightly knit, compassionate social net where people feel safe to fall back and be caught.

15. Foster Gender Unity and Harmony

Foster gender unity and harmony by valuing and inviting men who demonstrate respect and recognize the potential, beauty, intelligence, and wisdom of women, as without it, society will get nowhere.

16. Encourage Emotional Expression in Men

Encourage men to express emotions rather than repressing them, and cultivate connections between men and women based on proximity, truth, and openness to achieve greater peace.

17. Model Behavior for Children

As a parent, realize that no matter what you tell your kids, they feed off of how you act and live, so focus on modeling desired behaviors and values.

18. Practice Close, Communicative Parenting

Engage in physical closeness, cuddles, and spend lots of time in nature with your children. When frustrations arise, talk about them openly.

19. Reflect on Core Identity

Regularly ask yourself and encourage your children to ask, ‘Who am I when nobody’s watching?’ to discover your core identity and values beyond external circumstances or titles.

20. Daily Silence and Breathing

Dedicate 5-10 minutes daily to breathe and sit in silence to cultivate presence and avoid constantly seeking to escape the current moment.

21. Use Breathwork, Nature for Presence

Utilize breath work (pranayama), yoga, meditation, silence, and spending time in nature as tools to become more present and learn life’s lessons.

22. Integrate Nature for Presence

Integrate short periods (even five minutes) of time in nature into your daily routine to enhance presence and nourishment, and advocate for this practice in various community settings.

23. Practice Daily Presence

Focus on being present in your daily life, as small acts of presence can make a significant difference.

24. Counter ‘Can’t Wait’ Mindset

Actively counter the ‘I can’t wait’ mindset, especially in parenting, to foster presence in the current moment with your children and in daily life.

25. Encourage Youth Nature Enjoyment

Encourage youth to engage with nature for enjoyment, presence, and appreciation, rather than solely focusing on competition.

26. Embrace Challenging Transitions

Embrace and learn from the ‘muddy’ and challenging nature of transitions, both external (like spring) and internal, seeing them as times of revelation and natural cycles of growth.

27. Reframe Mistakes as Growth Opportunities

Reframe ‘mistakes’ as opportunities for growth, learning from them rather than viewing them as failures, as they are part of your journey.

28. Recognize Everyday Creativity

Recognize everyday interactions, decisions, and how you engage with truth as acts of creativity, fostering a broader understanding of your artistic potential beyond traditional art forms.

29. Pursue Creative Passions

Pursue creative passions like painting for the sheer joy of it, and seek expert guidance to develop technique and enhance your artistic expression.

30. Read to Deepen Life Appreciation

Cultivate a love for reading, especially content that explores human truths and inspires a deeper appreciation for life.

31. Engage in Self-Exploration

Engage in self-exploration, potentially through reading or other means, to reveal unknown parts of yourself, understand your potential, and deepen connections with the world and others.

32. Daily Gentle Self-Talk and Breathing

Practice daily habits like gentle self-talk, 5-10 minutes of breathing and silent sitting to create mental space, and taking perspective to start each day with a renewed, positive mindset.

33. Seek Therapy, Yoga, Meditation

Engage in therapy, yoga, and meditation to understand the roots of suffering and cultivate inner peace. View all life experiences, including maturity and motherhood, as opportunities for learning.

34. Maintain Inner Love Amidst Negativity

When negativity or critiques arise, don’t be scared; instead, maintain emotional distance. Cultivate consistent self-respect and inner love to serve as a stable emotional home in all circumstances.

35. Challenge Fears, Connect to Sacred

Challenge fears of unworthiness or external threats to happiness by pushing away self-imposed or society-imposed thought processes, and instead connect with what is sacred within yourself and humanity.

36. Protect and Uphold Truth

Protect and uphold truth, informed by science and expressed through art, as it is essential for freedom and a democratic society.

37. Foster Positive Group Dynamics

As a society, actively encourage and foster good group dynamics, compassion, and collective strength, as humans naturally lean towards this.

38. Prepare Thoroughly for Encounters

Prepare thoroughly (do your homework) for important encounters or presentations, even if experienced, to ensure you are ready to connect authentically with others.

39. Avoid Youth Obsession

Avoid obsessive focus on youth and physical appearance, as it can detract from cultivating spirit, wisdom, and intelligence.

40. Understand the Reality of Politics

Understand that politics is not glamorous and involves significant sacrifice by individuals, which can help in forming a more realistic perspective.