The Joyful Flamingo
The Joyful Flamingo Podcast guides and empowers women to tune into themselves and zoom in on their own well-being through laughter, connection, knowledge, and celebration! We’re here to create a tsunami of self-discovered, self-loved, and self-understood women who show up in this world unapologetically and joyfully so that we can pass the torch for generations to come! Join us to start leading your most vibrant, aligned and joyful life.
The Joyful Flamingo
20 Questions Every Woman Should Ask Herself
Emily found a list on Oprah.com titled "20 Questions Every Woman Should Ask Herself", and today's she's sharing them with you along with some prompts that will help you answer them for yourself!
Listen to this shorter episode a few times over to get the real effect, and check out the links below to get access to the original list, as well as the option to download Emily's Prompt Guide to get you started if you're struggling with where to start!
Original List of Questions from Oprah.com
Emily's Prompt Guide to Help You Answer Them Yourself
Time Stamps
0:58 - Intro
1:42 - The importance of asking yourself hard questions
5:54 - The homework Emily's giving you this week - - what she really WANTS to know!
7:07 - Emily poses each question and gives you a prompt for each one if you're struggling with where to start when answering for yourself!
16:53 - Wrap up, and a reminder of what's in the show notes for you today!
Connect with Emily:
On The Gram - @thejoyfulflamingo https://www.instagram.com/thejoyfulflamingo/
For Collaborations - thejoyfulflamingo@gmail.com
The Joyful Flamingo Podcast is produced by jpvoiceovers.
You can find them here : jpvoiceovers
*DISCLAIMER*
Just a reminder, that I am not a medical or psychological professional. Each one of my episodes has been inspired by my own experience and journey through life and is brought to you through my own opinions and my own lens. Any suggestions or advice offered here do not substitute proper conversations with your own healthcare professionals for either your physical or mental wellbeing.
(upbeat music) Anyone else like a good list, whether it's my to -do list, a grocery list, a toddler activities list,
or simply just the places you need to travel before you're 50, I'm a sucker for 'em. And I came across a great one compiled by Oprah .com and I really wanted to share it with you all.
It's called 20 Questions Every Woman Should Ask Yourself. Let me be clear, in my opinion, this list isn't just for you. women. So if you are a male flocky hanging out with us today,
don't hang up the phone. Today's shorter episode is going to be one that all humans are likely going to want to re -listen to a second time,
maybe with a journal in hand, and then maybe pass along to anyone who you're co -creating this beautiful life with. It's an interactive episode and I'm I'm pumped.
So let's dig in. Well hey there friend and welcome to the joyful flamingo podcast. I'm your host Emily Shriver and I am obsessed with empowering women to tune into themselves to zoom in on their own well -being so in turn they can lead their most vibrant aligned and joyful lives.
I want to create a super of self -discovered, self -loved, and self -understood women to show up in this world unapologetically and joyfully and to pass the torch on for generations to come.
If any of that feels aligned with your vibe, stick around. I'm so glad you're here. Now, let's go find our joy. Hey,
hey, hey, Joyful Flamingo! flock and welcome back to the pod this week. I'm so thrilled to have you here listening to another episode. We are nearly 20 episodes in.
What the hoodle who? How did that happen? I'm really excited you're back for another episode. And I'm really excited to lead you through a little bit of an exercise today.
Exercise I know, it's a boring word. And I think as darn teachers made it that way. but this one's not boring. I promise you, I also need to preface if you're in the car or you're listening as you're doing the dishes and you're thinking to myself,
uh, an exercise, I have no pen and paper. You're stressing. Stop stressing. Don't worry. Keep listening. You don't have to be ready with a pen and a notebook and hand or anything like that to still get so much value from today.
Okay, it may be one of those episodes that that you listen to now and then you revisit again the next time you carve out a quiet moment to yourself. Notice how I said carve out a quiet moment to yourself.
Originally I was going to say next time you get a quiet moment to yourself, but let's be real friends. I rephrased it because really if you're not carving it out for yourself,
it ain't going to happen. So carve it out and if you need some help, I'll tell you. how to do that, go back and listen to the episode called book ending your day for joy or something like that.
That episode is going to help you figure out how to carve even just five, 10 minutes out for yourself every single day. Okay, so I've always been a fan of lists. I was actually talking to my therapist about this in my last session,
how my obsession with lists is actually only in which is quite scary. And truth be told, it may actually be going down a little bit of an unhealthy path,
quite honestly. We are dissecting it in my sessions, don't worry. But for now, when I find a good list of content that can actually guide me along learning more about myself in a really thoughtful and purposeful way,
I'm all about it. And I came across this list and I thought, thought, I wanna share this one, I wanna share this one with the flock. Today's episode is going to be relatively short, but the purpose of it is to pose the questions so that you can fill in the answers with your own thoughts.
I really want you to actually ask yourself these questions and put them to good use to help yourself grow in the direction that you wanna grow in. I mean, how often can you we actually say that we're asking ourselves questions like these,
but then also really, truly taking the time to answer them? I mean, I know for me, there are tons of times where I'm in the doom scroll, dah, dah, dah. And I see some sort of prompt on a reel or a post.
And I think to myself, oh, wow, what a great question. I should think about that. And then I put it on a list of things I should think about. [LAUGHS] And then guess what? I don't, I don't think about them.
Can anyone give me an amen on that one? Today is not meant to be like that. You know, regardless of whether you're listening to this in the car or on a walk with nothing to write, or you've curled up with a tea or a coffee or a fizz or a wine and you're ready to tackle the entire world right now in your journal,
whichever way you're listening to this on either end of the spectrum. Today you need to pause. pause, take a moment after each of the 20 questions that I post today and literally pause the episode,
like pause my voice, make me stop talking and really contemplate each question for yourself because how much better off would the world be if we all just asked ourselves more questions intentionally and then actually rolled with whatever the answers were to help you?
grow and evolve ourselves into better humans. Some of these questions I'm going to pose today are going to be simple for you to answer. Some of them really difficult, and that's going to differ from person to person.
And it will be very telling to each and every one of us, which questions are we loving versus hating? Which ones are we avoiding and why? And I really need you to answer them.
to do something for me this week. I really want to hear all of that feedback that goes through your brain after this episode from you. I'm not joking. I really want you to message me,
direct message me. Tell me, what was the ickiest question for you? What was your favorite? What was the question that you want your partner to answer the most? I do have one more thought.
After you listen to this episode, I want you to to tell me would anyone be interested in a women's circle event, either in person or virtual, to sit down and take this exercise one step further and share what came up when they asked themselves these questions and started to answer them.
I know that was a lot of questions for me to ask you to tell me the responses to. I will be sure to show up on socials this week and ask all of those questions again to kind of give you an easy format,
a little bit of a cop at way of letting me know your answers to them. But don't let that stop you from messaging me directly right after listening to this episode and telling me your thoughts. What was icky? What was great?
Do you think a women's circle is something that you would be interested in participating in? I really want to know. Consider this an interactive episode. Okay. You're all dying to know what the questions are.
You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up. up. Tell me the questions. Remember, I did not make this list. This is from Oprah .com. So I think it was originally published in the O Magazine. For me,
some of these questions I'm like, oh yeah, that's a good one. Some of them I'm like, meh, I can take or leave that one. I feel like that's like not super important for me.
And some of them I'm like scared of (laughs) and we're all different, but there's no doubt about it. something here within these 20 questions for everyone. And the point of it is growth. Question number one.
Do I examine my life enough? So this is the point where you pause or you listen for this little prompt and then you pause. So question number one, do I examine my life enough?
Seems basic, right? But it's not. Basically this question is asking you. you, do you ask yourself questions to make changes in your life where changes need to be made?
Or have you been on the hamster wheel for far too long? Do you want some perspective? A four -year -old asks 300 questions a day, generally. An adult,
about 25. So be a toddler, be a toddler. Do I examine my life? enough? Question number two. Do I care too much about what people think?
I mean, the answer is probably yes for all of us, but I'd encourage us to go a bit deeper and write down the three people that you care the most about what they think and ask yourself the question,
why? Why them? Why do I care so much about what they think? Question number three. am I with the right person? I mean,
I didn't make the questions, so don't shoot the messenger. I told you some of them were easier than others to answer, but truly, like holy cow, have you asked yourself this question lately? And this doesn't have to spur on a negative outlook either.
The way I thought of this question could also be answered with like a resounding yes, and it will just help you remember all of the reasons why you love your partner, why you choose your partner every single day.
They don't always necessarily make you happy. It's definitely not always easy, but it's right. Am I with the right person? Question number four, what's your deal breaker?
This could be as deep or as simple as you want it to be. Is it that you absolutely need people to flush the toilet and replace the toilet paper rule? roll. Or maybe it's that you absolutely will never put yourself in a space anymore that does not make you feel safe and valued.
What do you need? What's a non -negotiable? What's your deal breaker? Number five, what do I really want to do all day? Oh man,
this hits deep. What do you want to do all day? day? What do you really want to do all day? The average person changes careers between three to seven times in a lifetime.
It doesn't mean you have to, but it does mean you can if you need to or you want to. So are you happy in your work life right now? What do I really want to do all day?
Question number six. How do I want to be remembered? I loved this one. In 80 years from now, when someone in your family lineage sees a picture of you and asks, what were they like?
What do you want them to say? How do I want to be remembered? Question number seven, do I say yes enough? Shonda Rhimes wrote a book about this.
It's called The Year of Yes. I read it probably almost a decade ago. And basically the concept is that she said, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes." to everything for a year. When was the last time you said yes to something outside your comfort zone?
And I'm not telling you to say yes to everything, but are you doing it enough? Are you getting complacent or are you continuing to experience new things? Do I say yes enough?
Question number eight, do I know how to say no? So this is on the flip side. Are you? you afraid to say no when it's a full body? No, check in with yourself full body.
Yes proceed full body. No place a boundary Do I know how to say no? Those are two really good ones.
Do I say yes enough? Do I know how to say no like a super fine balance, right? Question number nine. Am I helpless? Okay, this isn't an intense word to use,
but I think the idea of it is, can you take care of yourself? Are you relying on too many people to do certain things for you? Are you self -sufficient? Are there areas that you really want to learn more about?
And side note, this is obviously for people who are able, right? We're not talking about people who are in a time, in a space where they need to be taken care of right now. Obviously,
right now, we're talking about people who need to be taken care of right now. more about learned helplessness that kind of perpetuates itself, right? Are you self -sufficient? Are there areas that you really want to learn more about?
Am I helpless? Number 10, am I helpful? Big or small, are you giving back to those around you? We're better humans when we're part of helping with some sort of bigger purpose outside of ourselves,
right? What are we doing to help others? Am I helpful? Number 11, what am I afraid of? Whew, really though. Like,
what terrifies the shit out of you? Get real here, get raw. You may notice a sense of freedom just come across you, even just by voicing this little nasty bugger thought out loud.
Okay, what am I afraid of? of? Number 12, am I paying enough attention to the incredible things around me? An attitude of gratitude,
friends. What you focus on grows. Are you taking the time to relish in and appreciate all the small beautiful things in life right now? Am I paying enough attention to the incredible things around me?
Number 13, have I I accepted my body? Don't float past this one. I know we hear it all the time, but your body is your only forever home.
Dissect your body part by part if you need to. Start at your head, move down to your toes, place your hand over every inch of you to add kind of like a tactile piece to this question. Have I accepted my body?
Number 14, am I strong enough? enough? What has made you stronger in the past year? The past five years, journal it out, remind yourself how far you've come.
Am I strong enough? Number 15, have I forgiven my parents? Whoa, Nelly, this one might feel like a big one for many, but it's an important one.
Maybe it's for something small that you're holding resentment for, or maybe something colossal. regardless, forgiveness for anyone is going to manifest differently for every single person.
What's your version of it? Have you done it yet? And if not, what are you waiting for? Have I forgiven my parents? Number 16. Do I want children?
I realize this is a sensitive topic for many for different reasons. But remember, just because you're a woman doesn't mean you need to want to have children.
If you're currently in the trenches of it all, whether it's trying to conceive or surviving through the infant, the toddler, the teenage years, there are others out there who will help you feel solidarity in that,
so find the community that you need in this. Do I want children? Number 17, does women need children? what I wear reflect who I am? Does what you wear make you feel confident?
Does it make you feel comfortable? Does it make you feel like yourself? Those are the most important things. And I'm actually really considering doing an episode on fashion and how to dress, not only for your body type, but for your personality,
I don't know. It's still in the beginning brain stages. Tell me what you think. Does what I wear reflect who I am? Question number 18, what am I missing out on?
We all have our tried and true favorites, right? But when was the last time you ventured outside of that? Think books, films, podcasts, food, travel, sports, experiences, all of it.
What am I missing out on? Number 19, do I let myself fall enough? They say, never let success get to you.
your head, never let failure get to your heart. Fail forward over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. There is a large chance that if you're not failing or falling,
you're standing still. Which has the greater repercussion? Do I let myself fall enough? At number 20, the last question,
why are we here? Okay, this question may not have any answer, friends, and that's okay, as long as we don't stop asking it.
As Barbara Irenreich says, and maybe I said her last name wrong, Irenreich, the work of answering the question, why are we here,
may itself be part of the answer. Asking after the purpose of life. life gives our lives purpose. So why are we here? (upbeat music) I told you,
some are easy to answer, some are harder, some are impossible maybe, some are like an, oh yeah, some are like a meh. That's a weird one. Some are,
whoa, my gosh, I don't know. But when we ask ourselves questions, we throw. our growth into a momentum that's unstoppable. There were 20 questions posed for you today and I know you all are probably going to want a way to revisit them somehow,
especially if you're a visual person like me. So I'm going to attach two links in the show notes for you. The first is the link where I originally found the list on Oprah .com. That'll give you a quick and easy way just to look them up again.
The second link is a place where you can click. to grab both the questions and also some prompts for each one that I've written out for you if you're really wanting to complete this exercise in more detail.
Be sure to scroll like below the episode title on whatever platform you listen on in the pod to grab those links for yourself. And that's it for today friends short and sweet it's your job to fill in the blanks for the rest but for now know that I'm so so incredibly grateful for you all.
Thank you for being part of our joyful Flamingo Flock. Until next time. Just a reminder, Flamingo Flock, that I am not a medical or psychological professional.
Each one of my episodes has been inspired by my own experience and journey through life and has brought to you through my own opinions and lens. Any suggestions or advice offered here do not substitute proper conversations with your own health care professionals.
professionals for either your physical or mental well -being