#90 - Unveiling Your True Self: Dawn Taylor on the Journey to Personal Mastery

"Let's be honest: Showing up as your true self – flaws and all – can be scary as hell. But it's also where the greatest growth happens." Dawn Taylor

Welcome to this transformative episode of the Girl Out of Order podcast, where we sit down with the inspiring Dawn Taylor, the creator of Personal Mastery, to explore the profound significance of identity work for women. This candid and empowering conversation dives deep into the challenges many women face in embracing their evolving identities and the importance of continuous personal growth. 
Dawn reminds us that identity is not a fixed destination but a continuous journey of discovery. Whether you're just starting out or well into your path, this episode is packed with insights to inspire, uplift, and challenge you to take intentional action toward the life you desire.

Key Takeaways for YOU!

• Discover why identity work is a cornerstone of women's empowerment and how it fuels personal mastery.
• Learn how embracing the idea of being a "work in progress" can open the door to new possibilities and growth.
• Explore how education and intentionality create opportunities for designing a life that aligns with your true self.
• Uncover the power of curiosity in navigating life's complexities and reclaiming permission to explore your identity, no matter your age.
• Hear why community and sisterhood are essential for fostering growth and supporting transformation.
• Gain insight into the role of vulnerability and frameworks in creating a safe space for exploring your full potential.

It's time to find your way home to YOU, to your most authentic self so you can begin to create the life you dream of about deserve. We are in this together!
 
✨ Stay out of order,
xoxo - Christine

February 4th is THE beginning of an important journey. Will you join us? The Who Are You Really Mastermind, A Journey Through the 5 Phases of Identity Creation is launching and spots are filling up fast! If you're ready to find the way home to your true self and design the life of your dreams, join this supportive sisterhood here: https://whoareyoureallymastermind.com/offer

Follow Dawn Taylor:
https://personalmastery.podbean.com/
https://www.facebook.com/dawn.taylor.562329

Dawn Taylor is the founder of Personal Mastery and creator of the transformative program, The 5 Steps to YOU. A seasoned professional in education, Dawn is a passionate advocate for lifelong learning and personal growth. Drawing from her deep understanding of cognitive behavior and the science behind why we do what we do, she empowers women to break through limiting beliefs, design meaningful goals, and take purposeful action. Navigating her own journey through perimenopause and life transitions, Dawn believes every stage of life holds immense value. She champions the power of sisterhood and connection, creating supportive spaces for women to evolve and thrive. Dawn’s work bridges reflective self-discovery with practical strategies, helping women step into their authentic selves and lead fulfilling, purpose-driven lives.

Transcript

Girl Out Of Order (00:01.356)
Welcome back to the Girl Out of Order podcast. I have such a special treat for you today because I am interviewing one of my dear friends and somebody who shares my passion for identity work in women. And just this week, I was having a conversation with another friend who said to me, what if women can't understand what identity work means? And I thought to myself, huh.

Personal Mastery (00:06.106)
Thank you.

Girl Out Of Order (00:28.896)
Maybe that's something we need to dive into. So I'm bringing on to the Girl Out of Order podcast, my incredible friend Dawn Taylor. And you'll notice very quickly, you'll notice very quickly that she is from the UK and has a gorgeous accent. So get your cup of coffee, pull up a chair, get out your notebook and be ready to receive more explanation of what identity work is and why it makes such a difference in the quality of your life.

Personal Mastery (00:37.03)
Thank you.

Girl Out Of Order (00:57.986)
So I welcome to the Girl Out of Order podcast, my friend, somebody I admire so deeply, Dawn Taylor. Welcome.

Personal Mastery (01:03.398)
Thank you so much. really appreciate that warm welcome and right back at you. Absolutely. think that, you know, when women work together, there's such almost like a dichotomy or people want there to be a dichotomy, know, kind of together when we are working, yeah, it can be challenging and there can be times when we think

but there are also moments of absolute genius and moments of complete sisterhood. And I think the best thing about women working together is we're not afraid to challenge each other and we're not afraid to support each other, love each other, hold each other up and tell each other how amazing we are. So I'm super happy to be here, happy to be talking about identity. Thank you. And I can most certainly say that you are.

one of my dearest friends and I love you so much.

Girl Out Of Order (02:04.908)
No, right back at you, right back at you. So before we dive into the meat and potatoes of what our conversation is about, I wanted to just give you an opportunity to introduce yourself to the community. know there are a lot of women in here who already know you because Dawn and I met through Unleash Your Power Within. We met in the community and then we had the incredible opportunity to serve alongside one another as senior mentors for the UHPW community. And it was

Personal Mastery (02:15.014)
Thank

Personal Mastery (02:29.894)
not sure I did it.

Girl Out Of Order (02:33.73)
Such a beautiful opportunity for us to get to know each other. However, sometimes I think you get to know each other people and you see them on screen or you see, you know, them doing certain things, but you don't actually get to know them as a person. So Don, I just want to give you an opportunity to introduce yourself as who is Don Taylor. And I'm just going to leave that big question out there and let you answer it however you see fit.

Personal Mastery (03:00.164)
I think Dawn Taylor is a work in progress. Dawn Taylor is constantly evolving and loves that. know, evolution is not instability. Evolution is not being skittish or insecure or unable to make a commitment. Evolution is enjoying experiences and allowing those experiences to drive who we are.

And ultimately, I once was really so heavily defined by what I did. And that very much was my badge of honor. And ultimately, the growth that I've seen since then in terms of understanding that we don't just stay in one place. know, life is not a series of chapters.

Girl Out Of Order (03:38.19)
Hmm.

Personal Mastery (03:59.042)
already written for us as women and then it's done. Actually, we get to write each chapter. We get to evolve through each chapter. So Dawn is very much a work in progress and will continue to be. I know that sounds like I'm sort of trying to avoid the question and I'm seriously not.

Girl Out Of Order (04:03.597)
Hmm.

Girl Out Of Order (04:18.914)
Yeah. Okay. Well, that's so funny that you'd say that because as you know, I'm an attorney and I don't let people avoid the question. So I'm going to ask no follow up. So I, when you said I was very much defined by what I did, not who I am, I want you to tell the community, tell the world what it is you do in terms of how do you make your living? What is your passion? Because

Personal Mastery (04:27.12)
Hahaha!

Girl Out Of Order (04:47.968)
It's important that women hear this. know there's somebody out there that can relate and say, yeah, I'm a corporate executive. And I really that if I didn't have that, I would be lost or I'm a stay at home mom. if, if I had for some reason to go back to work, I don't know who I would be. I've been, I've been on both ends of the spectrum. And what is also true is what we do is a really big part of the life that we're creating.

So Dawn Taylor's a work in progress. Thank God. Because if you showed up on this podcast and be like, girl, got it all figured out, you'd be pretty unrelatable. However, I want people to understand what you do because it's part of what fascinates me about you, honestly, and what you're doing in the world is really beautiful and important. So tell us a little bit about what it is you do. Call it for a living.

Personal Mastery (05:44.496)
Okay, so I work in education and I work with schools and I have done for 25 years and education for me is the key to everything in life. So I've been so privileged to work in schools within the UK and I continue to do so, but I also work with schools in India as well and I'm very blessed to do that.

So I am very much an advocate of opportunity, the opportunity to learn, to have a standard and a quality of education that allows us to access whatever it is that we need to grow into our true and authentic selves. And that's how I ended up establishing personal mastery was that I learned that what I was doing with young adults.

with children in schools working as part of those teams. Actually, as women, in particular women of my age, we still need that. We still need that guidance, that support, that community that is offered to us when we're younger through education. And that's what I loved about UHPW when we met, you know, the program that we were a part of, the original UHPW program.

was a cognitive explosion. And what I mean by that is I mean that it made so much sense in regards to who we were and how we were starting to explore our identities, why it was we did and said what we did and how we could start to shift that or embrace it and enjoy it more. education is what I do and I'm so super proud of

Girl Out Of Order (07:34.552)
Mm-hmm.

Girl Out Of Order (07:42.998)
Okay. So you said so many important things there and I'm trying to decide which one I want to explore more. But I think I want to explore the interrelationship between the passion you have for education and opportunity and how that led you to not only doing identity work for you,

but then creating personal mastery. But I don't want to get too far ahead because we haven't even introduced personal mastery. So before I go to that exploration, I want to just briefly explain to the community how Dawn and I have come to even be on this podcast and why this is so important. As you know, if you listen to me for any amount of time, I've created, now you'll get to find out alongside Dawn, a mastermind called Who Are You Really?

where we explore the five phases of identity creation. is creating and has created and has already run a beautiful sister mastermind called personal mastery. And what Dawn and I have become so passionate about is the impact that the work we started through the beautiful UHPW unleashed her power within and then continued to carry on in our own lives and missions. And so we both have

these beautiful programs, but as you can tell, Dawn's got a beautiful accent. So she's running her program in the European continent. And we'll get into more of that a little bit later. But when she mentioned personal mastery, I just thought it was really important to pull back a little bit of the curtain on that and explain like, what does that mean and why is that important? So Dawn, the question I have for you in regards to your passion for education is what

Personal Mastery (09:31.115)
for you.

Girl Out Of Order (09:36.172)
What was it or what is it about you working with children and young adults that has created a passion in you for identity work with women, know, actual adult women? Like, what do you think it is that stirred that up in you? What did you see? What pain did you want to address? And kind of what tipped it into you're like, okay, I've got to do more of this.

Personal Mastery (09:44.804)
or.

Personal Mastery (10:01.85)
I think that what happens when we're younger is we have those opportunities to explore, explore who we are. We're almost given permission by society and as our children should be, you know, to be who they want to be. But it's almost like that stops as we get into our 30s and 40s as women. It's almost like, well, okay then. that was your, that was your run at it. And now.

Girl Out Of Order (10:15.566)
Mm.

Girl Out Of Order (10:30.35)
Hmm.

Personal Mastery (10:31.436)
over and you know, kind of like, now just run along quietly. Just run along quietly. And so that joy, that satisfaction, that growth that is experienced in childhood that made me so passionate about education and want to support that and want to be a part of that, stops for us. And so when I hit that age,

Girl Out Of Order (10:57.72)
Hmm.

Personal Mastery (11:00.326)
and I have not had children, I have not been married, all of a sudden I find myself in that zone. And I was not going to subscribe to the fact that I had my lot and I had my alleged opportunities and chances, et cetera, et cetera, because I don't believe that's true. You know, I believe that we are constantly in a period of opportunity and growth.

And therefore I just thought, why does it stop? And I was very much inspired by UHPW because they were teachings and those teachings made sense. Patterns, know, belief systems, values, absolutely correct. And then the more that I, we delved into it, the more and more KK was not the only voice. UHPW was not the only voice saying those things.

Girl Out Of Order (11:40.472)
Mm-hmm.

Girl Out Of Order (11:59.234)
Mm-hmm.

Personal Mastery (11:59.394)
Actually, there was a whole movement and there is a movement. And so that's where it came from. It came from me wanting to reproduce that amazing opportunity and growth that children have for us as women, because we deserve it and we should have it.

Girl Out Of Order (12:24.908)
Okay, so many important nuggets there. First of all, the word that stuck out to me is exploration. And I would add to that curiosity because, you know, I just finished Update with Destiny in December and one of my top values that I'm really embracing in this year ahead is the value of curiosity. It's that engaging with life. It's that dancing with life's complexities. And like you said, exploration.

And you're right. So often when we leave childhood, those ready, that's ready-made opportunities to explore and change and grow and, and inquire, they, they tend to dissipate if we're not intentional. And what started for us in Unleash Her Power Within, and it's grown throughout for both of us throughout different programs we've taken in Tony Robbins and in other amazing thought leaders is

Life is a continuum of growth and challenge and change and inquiry and consideration. And, here's, here's what's amazing. Like this is why this is one of them. Multitude of reasons why Donnie and I work as a friendship and as a collaboration is I created Girl Out Of Order because I woke up one day and I said, this can't be all there is. This can't be all there is. This playing small being stock.

Personal Mastery (13:47.408)
Yeah.

Girl Out Of Order (13:51.988)
you know, putting myself in a box I was never designed for saying, well, I guess I had my run at it. I believe you said, like, I said, not another day, not another hour, not another minute. I'm creating girl out of order because women deserve to live a life where not fitting into these boxes is the perfect fit for them. And I'm hearing you say that same thing. Like as I'm going through life, like,

I didn't check the box of being married. Well, that's not a box I was designed to check necessarily, at least not at this phase. I didn't check the box of having children. That's not a box I was designed. Am I broken? Am I done? Is that not enough? Like, am I lesser than? And what I've loved about getting to know you and your mission and your passion for personal mastery is you said the same thing. Not another day, not another hour, not another minute. I deserve a vibrant life. I deserve to create a designing, a compelling life. But the key

And I want you to drill down on this is designing.

Personal Mastery (14:48.73)
Yeah.

Girl Out Of Order (14:50.05)
designing. What does that mean to you when you think about designing that life?

Personal Mastery (14:54.781)
Well, I think it's definitely about being intentional because when, you know, we are in that growth phase as we're younger, you know, we're very intentional about what we do because we don't see an end. We're just, if I do this, I move forward, you know, I do this, I move forward. And as we get into this next phase of our life, it's almost like, well, I designed this and now I'm here. Well, no.

Girl Out Of Order (15:21.506)
Mm-hmm.

Personal Mastery (15:24.048)
We're is here for a start off and with intention, we can move to wherever we need to be or wherever we want to be. Look, the internet has created an opportunity for a global community that is beyond any reach that we can ever comprehended as young people. taking advantage of that for me is my moral obligation. And what do I mean by that? I mean,

Girl Out Of Order (15:41.774)
Mmm.

Girl Out Of Order (15:53.026)
Okay. Can you just pause for a second? I don't want to interrupt you, but I have to, because I don't want to lose this. Taking advantage of a global community to reach people is an moral obligation. Sisters, that's our empowers for this episode. Taking advantage of the global community available to me because of the internet is my moral obligation. Again, I know you're going to get back to where you are because you're so organizing your thought, but-

Personal Mastery (15:56.111)
you

Girl Out Of Order (16:22.754)
me being me, I have to highlight that because I don't want it to get lost in this conversation because were it not for this global community, there's so much that breaks my heart about what happened in COVID. And there's so many strangely wrapped gifts that came out of that mandatory pause that came out of that COVID because were it not for COVID, I would not know you, my beautiful friend. We would not be in community. We would not have had you HPW. We would not be creating this mastery or this personal mastery and the who are you really mastermind.

Personal Mastery (16:39.78)
Yes.

Girl Out Of Order (16:52.44)
We would not be doing this important work on the scale that we're being able to do it because of that. So anyway, I'm sorry. I just want to highlight that because it is so beautiful.

Personal Mastery (17:01.776)
No, not at But it's about the fact that as women, know, now there is an opportunity for us to access knowledge, the development of skills, community, support, guidance, resource, that primarily before the internet or before a level of understanding of how we could use the internet was not available.

and whether it's because people are married, financially unable to access, geographically unable to access, but there were so many barriers there and now there isn't. And if it wasn't for...

It's not to do with COVID because I know it's a very difficult conversation to have because nobody wants to take anything joyful from that situation. However, if it wasn't for me being able to see that there was a community of women out there who would connect with me, who would grow with me, who felt like me, who had language that allowed me to access emotions and...

process information and be a part of community, know, kind of, like I said, it's now our moral obligation to create, to develop, support, to grow, but never to own the system.

Girl Out Of Order (18:25.966)
Yeah, no, I love that. And this isn't a COVID conversation, but what's instructive about our conversation in relation to what happened during the pandemic is that you can find and celebrate and elevate beautiful things, even out of tragic things. And that's part of the identity work that we do.

Personal Mastery (18:33.316)
No, absolutely not.

Personal Mastery (18:54.054)
Yeah.

Girl Out Of Order (18:55.714)
Because at Girl Out of Order, when you are dismantling those expectations and you are stepping into your power, that's why our first pillar is cultivating bravery. It takes courage to step out of those constraints that have sometimes been the boundaries that have kept you feeling safe when in reality it's kept you stuck. And you can also honor

Personal Mastery (19:15.215)
Yeah.

Girl Out Of Order (19:21.794)
those boundaries, honor those expectations, because there's beauty and things that have happened. We don't want to look back on our lives, And I know you know this, but I'm saying this for our community. We don't want to look back on experiences in our lives and only say, that was horrific. That was tragic. That was horrible. I can't possibly find a single gift in it. If we move through life like that, we're going to find that. But if we move through life and we move through this identity creation and the work that you and I do with women,

Personal Mastery (19:40.326)
Yeah.

Girl Out Of Order (19:50.508)
and we seek out the gifts, even if we have to look really, really hard sometimes, the gifts are there. And that changes and transforms our experience of the thing. And that's what I love about this work.

Personal Mastery (20:08.314)
Yeah, yeah, it's true, it's true. I mean, I've seen you grow, you know, over the time that I've known you and it's been a good few years now and I know that you've witnessed the same for me. And it's just an incredible experience to do that. And, you know, sort of, I never knew that the sisterhood could exist in the way that it does for us. And it's not perfect.

You and I are very different people, you know, and there's times of frustration or times where we don't understand where each other's coming from, but there is always respect. There is always love and there is always connection. And that's the way within which we should exist. You know, I love that.

Girl Out Of Order (20:57.048)
Well, and I want to talk a little bit about that because, you know, in creating the Who Are You Really Mastermind, the one focus, the non-negotiable is the sisterhood, whether it's five women or 50 women, whether we're talking about phase one or phase four, or we're working on our light, our personal proclamation, whatever we're doing, we're doing it in community. And what you said is it's, you can't have perfection as a standard. It's actually a...

Tony Robbins says perfection is actually the lowest standard you can try to quote unquote attain. What we want to do is we want to be in community with other women as we do this important work of creating the life that we really love. So I want to drill down on the whole identity language because I want to sort of take that word a little bit out of it. But as I take it out of it, I want to explain it because what we're really doing

Personal Mastery (21:32.419)
Yeah

Girl Out Of Order (21:54.988)
And what we've both done in the masterminds and the courses that we've created is we've created a system to move through these phases. You call them steps. I call them phases. But we're moving through them with the end goal and the outcome of creating a life you truly love and feels aligned with who you truly are. So when we say identity work, and I'll let you explain if there's nuances to how you feel about it, but for me,

Personal Mastery (22:23.696)
Thank you.

Girl Out Of Order (22:24.354)
When I say I am an identity coach, and when I say that I am an identity mastermind leader, what I mean by that is I am the guide that provides the tools, the strategies, the constructs, and the community to help women do the work to find their way home to their most authentic them. And then when you do that, you build the life that you truly love, and then you take the next steps to have a compelling existence, to be growing.

Personal Mastery (22:28.262)
Yeah.

Personal Mastery (22:44.496)
Yeah.

Personal Mastery (22:52.934)
We can start to do it.

Girl Out Of Order (22:53.666)
to be contributing, to have a life that juices you and gets you going and gets you excited no matter how many days you have left on this earth. That's what identity work means to me, but I wanted to hear a little bit about you because we have differing approaches, but I think we have the same outcome.

Personal Mastery (23:02.906)
Yeah.

Personal Mastery (23:09.51)
Yeah, definitely. I think that for me, it's very much about a framework because framework allows us to explore within a parameter that we feel safe. It's not about all of a sudden just ripping it wide open and being vulnerable. Yes, there are elements of that within the program, of course, but there is a framework and within that framework, you go through

Girl Out Of Order (23:24.462)
Mm-hmm.

Personal Mastery (23:39.138)
Stripping back, revealing, and then developing. It's not like I was this person and now I'm this person. Wow, haven't I changed? Isn't it amazing? Life doesn't work like that. We're not a coin. You don't flip us and then all of a sudden we're on the other side. We are constantly evolving and we...

take the good bits and we shed the bits that no longer serve us. And that's what identity creation is all about. But I prefer the term identity development because I don't believe that we create a new identity. I believe that through experience, through understanding, we develop on to different phases within our lives. And I believe it's just like a natural shredding of our skin.

Girl Out Of Order (24:22.254)
Hmm.

Personal Mastery (24:29.774)
And I think that these frameworks that we've created, whether it's the phases or the five steps of personal mastery, it allows us to, in a safe space, take the time, the tools and the techniques to go through that process of growth and development without fear, without pressure, without judgment. And, you know, if you want to be a part of the community and share, you can.

Girl Out Of Order (24:55.714)
Thank you.

Personal Mastery (24:58.946)
If you want a camera off and you don't want to communicate, you can. However you want to show up, the space is there and we meet in that space. That space is sacrosanct and it is safe.

Girl Out Of Order (25:13.208)
I love that. And you you brought up something really important and it's even making me reconsider the title of my course. And that's the beautiful thing. It's always evolving because I think when you think of identity creation, like that really resonates with me because I believe as we go through life, part of the intentionality is I get to create this life. And what is also true is that that part of that creation, this might be just a language shift.

Part of that identity creation is the development of what's already there. That's why I said, like, my passion is to be the guy that helps lead women home to their truest selves. And then once they really know who they are at their core, they can then create, I really believe we can create a life and design a life we love. When I think back on what you said, it's like, you've observed me changing and growing and evolving. I mean, the woman that I...

was when I started working on personal development in probably mid 2021. And the woman that's sitting here today is so radically different and more peaceful. And she's still, like you said at the beginning, she's still a work in progress. I got some work to do and that's where the development part comes in. And that's an exciting term. And I love that. And I'm going to, course, grab that and use that in my own, my own course.

Because we are developing, and I always tell people on this podcast, the world needs what only you can provide. As Dawn Taylor is developing and changing and evolving and growing, you'll be doing that until the day God calls you home. And when I see people who stop doing that, it makes me really sad. Go ahead.

Personal Mastery (26:55.686)
Yeah.

Personal Mastery (27:00.484)
Yeah. No, no, no. That is exactly it. And the one thing that I've learned over these last few years is until we take our last breath, we're constantly learning, developing and growing. And even right now, there's a part of me inside that's like, my God, this is your first podcast and this is the best you can do. Quickly Dawn, shrink back. Tell Christine to stop recording. Tell her we're gonna have to delete this. Tell her that we're gonna have to like, no, no, no, no, no, Dawn, no, no, no, We shouldn't be here. Stop it.

And inside, I'm having this internal battle right now to stop this podcast recording, to shrink back into my little box and to sit there and say nothing. You know, and I'm not going to do that. And I'm not also going to sit here in this podcast and tell people that I'm not having those thoughts because I am, you know, this is the first time that I've ever, I host a podcast, but it's the first time I've ever been a guest and been asked about what I do for a living or.

whatever that is. So I'm right now very vulnerable and it's made me realize that it's true. We're constantly vulnerable and that's what happens when you're open to growth and you're open to development.

Girl Out Of Order (28:15.03)
Okay. I'm going to try not to cry, but they're, they're grateful tears. And the reason they're grateful tears is what I want our listeners to hear is you're not listening to two women who have arrived and are here to speak from on high and be like, we got it all figured out girls. We've done the work and we're good to go. Because honestly, as we're recording this podcast and right before we hopped on, we had a conversation and I'm sitting here going,

Personal Mastery (28:23.162)
Yeah, it's interesting.

Personal Mastery (28:31.482)
like we have.

Personal Mastery (28:37.158)
Thank

Girl Out Of Order (28:43.606)
I know this material works. I know I can teach it. I know it's going to be amazing, but I don't know how to market things. I have my own insecurities. And so at Grow Out of Order, we show up real, we show up raw, and we show up ready. And Dawn, you are showing up real. Thank you for being raw. That's not easy to admit. And you're ready to grow. Because life can sometimes send us some pretty

Personal Mastery (28:48.422)
you

Girl Out Of Order (29:14.328)
crazy things. And I'll share a brief story. Last night I was on a Zoom call with these incredible women and they both live in Southern California. One of them in San Diego, so she's really super far from the fires. But the other gal that I was talking to, she's a multimillionaire. She's in Tony Robbins' platinum program. And she's doing this Zoom call from the hotel that she's evacuated her family from, or evacuated her family to, excuse me. And

She lives in the hills of LA and she's having this conversation and she's like a super duper badass and she's obviously lives in a very beautiful home. And as we're having this call, you can start to hear the sirens go off. And just in that moment, she receives the news that a fire has sprouted up in her neighborhood and it's too late for her to go back and get anything. And I'm watching this incredibly successful, very wealthy, brilliant

Personal Mastery (30:11.91)
Yeah.

Girl Out Of Order (30:14.942)
generous, kind soul now have to evacuate the hotel she's evacuated to.

And the reason I share that is because it reminds me that we are all experiencing life. And it doesn't matter if you have millions and you've been doing this for decades or like you and I, we're starting out teaching this work that has changed our lives. When you show up real raw and ready, God and the universe comes in and to be like,

Now I can use you because you got out of the way of you.

And I appreciate you being willing to be so honest and vulnerable because it's in that vulnerability that the real work and the real change and the lasting transformation happens.

Personal Mastery (30:58.31)
Shit.

Personal Mastery (31:03.238)
you

Personal Mastery (31:08.262)
There's so many misunderstandings about personal development. First of all, there's this idea that it's linear. There's a beginning, a middle and an end. And it's not. You see, once you, you know, I'm not going to use the onion analogy for the love of God's green earth. am not doing it. But you know, once you start to peel back, you know, your layers and you start to understand more about yourself, you realize that you have

Girl Out Of Order (31:17.826)
Hmm. Yes.

Girl Out Of Order (31:24.686)
Sounds good.

Personal Mastery (31:37.744)
more to offer, you realize that there's more within you. And one of the biggest aha moments and greatest moments is also one of the biggest challenges. And that is that it never stops. That actually there is so much more to life. There is more community, there is more connection, there is more pizzazz and gusto. There's more to take and grab hold of and taste and love and enjoy. And the more you realize that,

more you want. And so that was the biggest surprise to me out of all of it was I thought there was a beginning, a middle and an end. And I realized that there isn't an end. There is a...

Girl Out Of Order (32:19.444)
my gosh. What you said is so important. And I'm sorry. Didn't mean to cut you off. I get, I get excited. You know that girl. But I'm so excited about what you said because part of the, the emotions that I battle with, we all have, we all have what, what I call the shitty committee that sometimes just rises up. Like the minute we take a chance, all of a sudden the shitty committee is like, Ooh, there's our, there's our signal. Time to go.

Personal Mastery (32:23.96)
No, go, go, go. No, no, no, you don't.

Girl Out Of Order (32:45.294)
and it comes flooding in. And that's happened to me since I announced this and I launched it and women are signing up. And I'm like, I wish I'd never done it is the thing. And I think what kind of bullshit is that? And it's because when we step into that discomfort of taking our life to the next level, there's the panic zone that we want to run back to. But that's the beauty of what you just said. There is no

Personal Mastery (32:47.152)
Yeah.

Girl Out Of Order (33:15.278)
beginning, middle, and end. It's these continual moving through from comfort zone through the panic zone. So you can get to the growth zone where the real change happens because when the real change happens, life starts to unfold. And like we talked about before we hopped on here, that you're getting through those clouds as the plane's taking off and you're believing that there's blue skies up there, but you can't see them. But because you understand the process of growth,

You know that if you get through those clouds, that sun and blue skies is waiting for you. And that next level of growth and contribution and connection is going to happen, but you can't stop. The only guarantee you're not going to get there is if you take the plane and we go back down and land. And it's hard because it's uncomfortable.

Personal Mastery (33:58.841)
Yeah, I it's a idea.

Personal Mastery (34:06.054)
Yeah, but, also that zone of growth is, there's no end to that zone. Within that zone, there's another area, there's another area of fear, there's another area of development, there's another area of experience, there's another depth of connection and community. And so it's just constantly expanding. The only way I can explain it, and this is the beauty of it all, it's like the universe. Your personal development is,

Girl Out Of Order (34:33.25)
Mm-hmm.

Personal Mastery (34:35.832)
infinite, literally infinite. Every time when you peel something back and explore something and experience something, there is something beyond that. And if you stop being fearful of that and lean into it, that is the true growth.

Girl Out Of Order (34:56.894)
Absolutely. my gosh. I hope everybody was listening to every word Dawn just said, because something that occurred to me that, you know, when you were talking is this feeling that many women have, including myself. I'm too late. It's too late. I missed out. I wish I, if I'd done this 10 years earlier, but now I'm in my 50s, 60s, 70s and it's just too late.

So can you speak to that woman who is considering joining Who Are You Really? and creating a beautiful identity that she's excited about or considering joining personal mastery and taking these steps of personal and identity development. But her voice in her head says, you missed the boat, sister. Hang it up. This is all you get.

Personal Mastery (35:34.246)
Thank

Personal Mastery (35:47.942)
Sit down. This is not for you. You know what mean? Sit down. Just be quiet. Don't make any noise. People are looking at you. Stop it. You're too old. You're too wrinkly. You're too fat. You know what I mean? What are you wearing those clothes for? Don't say that. Don't go there. This is not for you anymore now. Life's not for you anymore now. And that's how we feel. And in particular, when women go through menopause as well, there is...

huge identity shifts that happen, not because we are driving it and not because we are controlling it and we want it, but because our body starts to bring it upon us. so women who have, you know, sort of experienced the shifts that I have are not just going through the growth that they're bringing for themselves.

but also they're being forced into periods of growth by their body. And that makes us want to shrink back even more. No, no, no, no, no. my gosh, no. Sit down now. Definitely not now. You dry skin and your craggy hands. No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't embarrass yourself. It's awful.

Girl Out Of Order (36:58.082)
Yeah, and yes, I think that's a pain point for a lot of women, whether it's the woman who's gone through a divorce or has been told you're never going to have a child, your body isn't designed for that, or she's, you know, was working in a job she really loved, lost that job, and now she's trying to reestablish herself. So my question to you is very simple, but extremely profound.

Personal Mastery (37:06.726)
and

Personal Mastery (37:17.744)
Thank you.

Girl Out Of Order (37:28.056)
How does personal mastery, who are you really, how does this identity development, how does that address that? I why is it for that woman who is thinking it's too late? Like, what can this work do for her?

Personal Mastery (37:44.73)
think, first of all, it's about thinking about the term, it's too late. Too late for what? A predefined goal that you set how many years ago? A predefined goal that society put on you? A predefined goal that came from what? Social norms, social constructs that came from what? That are dated back to when? You know, I think one of the greatest things that we can do is realize that we'll never get back to who we were.

Girl Out Of Order (38:07.438)
Mm-hmm.

Personal Mastery (38:15.012)
Why? Because that's not who we are. We are who we are right now. And there's an incredible beauty and an incredible joy in that. And the second that we start to realise that there is so much more in front of us, we are not the only one. There are men, women and people who identify out there.

who are literally in the same position, who have the same thoughts, the same feelings, the same desires, the same needs that we have, but they're just sat back, too afraid to step forward. And that's why I talk about the moral obligation. The sooner that we step forward, the sooner we'll find other people who have stepped forward, and then we can connect to make bigger communities. So for me, it's about

Girl Out Of Order (38:48.59)
Mm-hmm.

Girl Out Of Order (38:54.04)
Mm.

Personal Mastery (39:09.53)
People, or I'm not gonna speak for people, it's about myself understanding that we can't go back. I don't want to go back. I'm not that person anymore. I'm me. And there is so many opportunities out there for my wisdom, for my joy, for my love, for my passion. And as long as I don't hide that, then there is so much future and shine bright because people will come.

and their light will bring other people. We don't own community, we facilitate its growth.

Girl Out Of Order (39:44.77)
Yeah, I love that. I love, you know, whether you're that woman who has looked at her investments and think, I missed the boat. I didn't put the money away and now here I am in my fifties and it's too late. Or you're that woman who has, you know, can't run anymore because your knees are shot because you didn't take care of your health. Or you're that woman whose marriage maybe is intact, it's on life support.

It is never, ever too late. In fact, it's not too late until you're literally at your own funeral. And what I would say to that woman out there who's listening, if that's you, you're talking to two menopausal women, but that doesn't mean that we don't understand where you're at, whether you're menopausal or not. Doesn't matter. What we understand

Personal Mastery (40:29.158)
the

Personal Mastery (40:35.366)
You

Girl Out Of Order (40:43.818)
is that you get one gorgeous, beautiful, big, wild life to live. What are you gonna do with it? So, and who are you really? I can tell you as we walk through the five phases of identity creation or development, we acknowledge where we are. We don't bullshit, okay? Get real, be honest, but also give yourself grace. We then move into awareness.

where we pull back, like Dawn said, the layers of sediment and beliefs and crap that is keeping you stuck small and discouraged or depressed. And then we rewire that and we try on some new beliefs and we dance with life's complexities and we realize that life is a dance, that life is an adventure. No matter if you're 70 or 17, life is an adventure. And when you rewire those beliefs and what you believe about identity and about who you are,

and about life, things start to change. And then we get fun. We get into the design phase for, mean, Dawn can speak to her own, but for me, the design phase is about engaging the left and the right brain and creating a beautiful poetic proclamation of who this woman is because your brain doesn't know the difference between what you manifest and what's real. So why not take advantage of that and design a life and identity, a mission, a purpose that lights you

up and hits your feet on the floor and you're like, yes, today's the day. And then we go into the evolution phase where we get practical and tactical and we take this beautiful, gorgeous proclamation and we put it into a plan and we put it into a schedule and we create momentum and action. And then we go into the momentum phase where we talk about lifelong learning. And this is where Don was getting fired up. We are never

Personal Mastery (42:15.344)
Yeah.

Girl Out Of Order (42:33.842)
ever done learning, growing, changing, transforming and creating unless we decide to be. And that's the joy of who are you really and personal mastery. That's the joy of this work. So Dawn, as we come to a close here today, what do you want? I've got one final question that I'm going to hang on to, but what do you want women to know about personal mastery and why this important work may be for them?

Personal Mastery (42:53.83)
Thank

Personal Mastery (42:59.728)
I think the key is that when you're looking for a community, when you're looking, or if you're looking for a system, a process, a structure, a framework to evolve through, I think it's really important that you consider the steps. Because see it for what it is, not worse. Okay, please don't get involved with the growth process and start lambasting yourselves. it's...

and start counting how little you have or how much you've lost or what you'll never have, okay? There is a beauty in who you already are. And this is part of an evolution. It's part of growing and developing as a human being. So personal mastery is about how can we see life for what it is, see life for what it could be and evolve?

Girl Out Of Order (43:41.422)
mmm

Personal Mastery (43:59.14)
develop, grow into that through steady support, guidance and community. Nothing is gate-kept, nothing is owned. All there is is just an opportunity. know, six or seven weeks, however long it is, it is a sure but steady way within which you can unravel and move forward in a space

Girl Out Of Order (44:09.858)
Hmm.

Personal Mastery (44:28.826)
where it is safe and a space where, you know, you can make the decisions in regards to what it is that you want to be and where it is that you want to go.

Girl Out Of Order (44:39.872)
I love that. And I wanted to highlight one thing before I give Dawn our final question. Her program's six weeks, my program's seven weeks. But what makes it so powerful is that spaced repetition that week after week our programs build on each other. The goal isn't to keep you taking this course one time after another, after another, after another. The goal is to give you this spaced repetition so you can stack.

this incredible learning, growing and transformation on top of each other. So when you get to the end, you have that momentum phase, you go out into this world and you make the difference that only you are designed to make. Because I can already think of the women who have already signed up for my course and I wake up in the morning and I think about them. go to night and I think about it. And I think about them because I know that these women are in those world for a very specific purpose that is

unique to them. So I love what you said about you are beautiful, powerful, and unlimited as you are. It's just about uncovering it, developing it, and unleashing it. And I love that. So I've got one final question for you so we can wrap up here. And it's a question I ask all my guests. I shamelessly ripped it off from Jen Hatmaker's podcast because it's such a beautiful question from the poet Barbara Brown Taylor. And you can answer it however you want. What is saving your life right now?

Personal Mastery (46:09.574)
Community and the sisterhood. You and I both know that 2024 was very challenging for a lot of people, including ourselves. And it's sisterhood and it's community that has kept me grounded, has kept me focused and is keeping me moving forward. It is you all that is stopping me from shrinking back and allowing everything we achieved last year to dissolve because I've gone right back to the beginning and feel worthless.

So that is it. It is the sisterhood and community.

Girl Out Of Order (46:43.456)
I love that. I love that. And so the Who Are You Really Mastermind starts on February 4th. Registration's open now. All of the links will be in the show notes and I'm going let Dawn just finish really quickly and talk about when personal mastery starts. So why you just tell our audience really briefly when your program starts and how they can get in touch with you. And all of the information for Dawn will be in the show notes.

Personal Mastery (46:55.046)
Thank you.

Personal Mastery (47:06.118)
Yeah, as she said, the links below will be to the personal mastery website where you can sign up for the wait list for the program. The wait list is there ready for you to sign up. We are launching in May. It's a six week program, so you can sign up now. The window will be open for three weeks and I look forward to seeing you all then, whether you're from Europe, we'll be on a European time zone or anywhere across the world. All are welcome.

Girl Out Of Order (47:35.062)
I love it. All right. Thank you so much, my friend. I appreciate you showing up here for our Girl I Work community.

Personal Mastery (47:38.694)
Thank you.

Okay, we'll it real.

Girl Out Of Order (47:44.526)
We got to keep it real. If you're watching this on YouTube, she hit her microphone because this is what we do. We do real life here on the Girl Out of Order Podcast. that's why we're so amazing. All right. Thank you, Dawn.

Personal Mastery (47:58.554)
guys.