222: What if What You're Seeking is Closer Than You Think: Good Morning America & The Self Reclamation Project

What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't your circumstances—but the story you've been telling yourself about who you are?

In this deeply personal episode, I share the surprising email I received from Good Morning America and how one unexpected opportunity completely shifted the way I saw myself. Even though the interview didn't happen, the experience revealed something far more valuable: the identities we unconsciously create often determine what's possible in our lives.

If you've ever caught yourself saying things like:

• "I'm just not confident."
• "I'm not a morning person."
• "I'm unlucky in love."
• "I never follow through."
• "I don't even know who I am anymore."

...this episode is for you.

We'll explore how these identity statements are simply practiced thoughts—not permanent truths—and how changing them can completely transform the way you show up in your life.

I also introduce The Self Reclamation Project, a 12 weeks one-on-one coaching experience designed specifically for women who are ready to reclaim their time, energy, joy, and self identity. 

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• Why your identity isn't fixed—and how you've been unknowingly creating it
• The surprising mindset lesson I learned from Good Morning America
• How your brain gathers evidence to support the stories you believe
• The difference between self-awareness and true transformation
• Why personal growth requires integration, not just information
• How coaching helps you uncover blind spots and move through overwhelm faster
• The four pillars of The Self Reclamation Project:
  • Reflect
  • Reclaim
  • Reframe
  • Reimagine
• How changing just one belief can open doors you never imagined were possible

 The Self Reclamation Project is a 12-week, one-on-one coaching experience designed to help you reclaim your voice, confidence, peace, identity, and joy.

Together we'll identify what's keeping you stuck, rewrite limiting beliefs, and build a life that actually feels like yours.

✨ Registration is now open, we begin in September, and this opportunity is limited to just 10 women.

Learn more here: https://maryannwalker.life/coaching-packages

If you're interested, email me at: maryann@maryannwalker.life and tell me what change you're most longing to create. Seats are limited, so email me now to secure your seat. 

Contact me: https://maryannwalker.life/contact-me

FREE How to Get Your Needs Met Challenge: https://maryannwalker-life.kit.com/cdf81f07e6

Transcript

Speaker 4 0:41

Well, hello and welcome back. Now, for those of you that are following me on social media, you know that this weekend, which for me as I'm recording is actually this weekend, it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for me. You guys, Friday afternoon, I was out doing my grocery shopping, and I received an email from Good Morning America. Wait, what? Yeah, that's what my brain did too. I received an email from Good Morning America, and at first I didn't believe it. I went and checked the email address and I was like, "Oh my goodness, it is. It's from ABC. Oh my goodness, this is happening. What is happening?" And in that email they asked me two questions. They said, "Hey, we're doing a segment on bloom scrolling, and we were wondering if we could get your consent to play this clip?" And then they linked to one of my TikTok videos. "And just want to make sure this is your intellectual property. And we also were wondering if you have the availability to potentially do an interview for our morning show on Saturday?" I thought, "Wait, what? Wow." So of course, this is Good Morning America, so I responded and said, um, "Yes and yes. Here's my availability." They wrote right back and said, "Okay, great. We'll let the producers know, and if they choose to move forward with the interview, then we'll reach out to you." I said, "Okay, fine." So I hurried home, I put on a fresh face, I brought all of my lights out. I set up my backdrop so it would look a little bit more professional and fewer distractions in the background. And oh my goodness, I was just so excited. So I waited, and I waited, and I kept refreshing my email to see if I'd heard from them. And I wasn't hearing from them. And I thought, "Okay, well, apparently they decided against the interview," but I still didn't know if they were going to be playing my clip on Saturday morning or not. So I thought, "Okay, well, I'll just go to sleep. I'll check it out in the morning." So in the morning then I went and looked up their segment on bloom scrolling and you guys, they didn't play my clip. But it's okay because as I got thinking about it, you know, well, first of all, when I watched the clip, then at the end of the segment, the guy doing that segment, he said, "Well, and what's really cool is all of the people that we spotlighted here, they've previously been on Good Morning America." And so I realized, oh yeah, obviously they were under a time constraint. They messaged me Friday afternoon, and this was going to be dropping Saturday morning, so it makes sense that they would want to recycle content that they already had. And then my brain also said, "And hey, if I ever find myself on Good Morning America, the odds have now gone up that they just might recycle my content," and then I could say that I had been on Good Morning America more than once. So I'm not bothered at all. I actually found it to be extremely exciting.. And also, it was so fascinating to just watch my brain through all of that. It was interesting to watch my brain experience the high of the possibility of being on TV, and then also to experience the uncertainty as I waited. And yes, there was some disappointment when I didn't get called for the interview, and also predominantly the emotion I was experiencing was, like, shock and disbelief and excitement. Because the truth is, I had never once in my life had the conscious thought that, "Hey, I'm gonna be on Good Morning America one day." "I'm the kind of person that Good Morning America would reach out to." Honestly, I had never had that thought in my life until Friday. I had also never had the conscious thought that, "Oh, I'm never going to be on Good Morning America. I am just not the kind of person that would be on Good Morning America." And because I had never had those thoughts before, when I got that email, it was very interesting to watch my brain, because suddenly this reality that I had never before considered, it had now become a possibility for me. It was not only just a new idea, but it was something that actually felt tangible and within reach. I had never considered this before, and now it was closer than I had ever imagined before. Because now my brain had the evidence because of that email that, wow, I'm the kind of person that Good Morning America reaches out to. Even though I didn't get the interview, I'm the kind of person that they're looking for that would add more joy to their little segment on bloom scrolling, right? Okay, so now to bring this to you, because yeah, we've talked about me enough, even though I might be talking about it some more. But to bring this back to you, how would you finish this sentence: "I'm the kind of person that..." And then fill in the blank. Now, because the brain has a little bit of a negativity bias, then you might have some negative thoughts that come in. For example, you might be thinking, "Well, I'm the kind of person that good things never happen to. I'm the kind of person who is unlucky in love. I'm the kind of person who can never stick to a goal. I'm not a morning person. I'm not a public speaker. I'm not very outgoing. I'm not the kind of person that has a lot of friends. I'm a wallflower. I don't put myself out there." Or maybe you're even thinking, "You know, frankly, I don't even know who I am." Now if those sentences sound familiar to you, guess what? Did you know that those are literally just thoughts? I mean, your brain might be arguing with you and saying, "No, it's true. I have so much evidence that it's true." But none of those things are actually true. I mean, yes, you've told yourself the story enough that you've decided to, like, make this who you are, right? It's like, "No, if I'm a person that's a wallflower, this is how I'm going to show up at events," right? You are seeking for reasons that you are that thing and creating evidence for yourself. But the truth is that they're just thoughts, and you've just practiced those thoughts for long enough that you've decided to make that your identity. Because what if you're actually a morning person? What if your lucky-in-love story is just one date away? What if you're actually the favorite speaker at that event that you just presented at, and you gave your brain all the evidence that you'd, like, totally bombed it and weren't very good? But what if everybody that was listening said, "Wow, I really appreciated their talk the most because they were so real and authentic"? What if you're somebody that Good Morning America saw online and wants to talk to? What if? And what if you could actually have what it is that you're seeking? Now, I am so excited to share with you my new program today. I know I hinted about it last week. We talked about the eight signs that you might be a people pleaser, and I told you to pay attention today because I have something for you. So as of today, then the doors are officially open for this new program. I am officially launching My Self Reclamation Project. So registration is open now. We'll be starting in September, so yes, you'll have time to finish that summer vacation, and yes, you'll have time to get the kids back in school, find your routine again. But this is a 12-week program created to help you reclaim your peace, your joy, and your self-identity. You have been listening to this podcast for a while now because what you've been hearing here, it's been resonating with you, and now is the time to go deeper. I mean, yes, there's a lot of things that can be accomplished through listening to podcasts, right? It does create that self-awareness. But real growth happens not through awareness alone, but through integration. Through actually making this a part of who you are. Listening to podcasts, reading self-help books, all of those things, it's like turning on the lights, okay? It illuminates what is already there. But real change comes through integration. Now, imagine for just a moment that you are in a very dark room. There is no light in this room. It's completely dark. You cannot see your hand in front of your face, and you've been stumbling around in that room for quite a while now. Your shins are bruised up. You can't tell where anything is. You really have to work really hard to try to remember how to navigate this space, and it requires so much mental energy. Maybe you even heard something fall on the other side of the room, and you're thinking, "Oh no, now I have to crawl around to try to figure out what it was and where it is. I'm worried I'm gonna bang up my forehead again. I just don't know what to do in this space. This is so hard to navigate." And then the lights come on. Now, this is the self-awareness. This is what happens when you're listening to podcasts like this one. It's like realizing that, wow, okay, the lights are on. Now I understand why I am the way that I am. I am now seeing myself more clearly. I am seeing the space around me more clearly. I am seeing what it is that I have created for myself, and I can see it clearly because the lights are on now. So now you can see why your shins have been hurting you so much. You can see what it is that you've been banging up against. You can see all of those sharp corners that you couldn't see before. And the truth is that once the lights come on and you can see everything around you and all of these obstacles in your way, it can feel overwhelming. And when you're feeling overwhelmed, what do you do? You call for help. Now, coaching is like having somebody come into that space with you. They help you to determine what stays and what goes. What would be better placed over there? Okay, actually, do you recognize that this was a table you were hitting, but your table's upside down? Let's flip that right side up so it's actually functioning for you in the way that it was intended. A coach can show up and help you with the heavy lifting, the things that you would not be able to move on your own. I mean, yes, there are some things that you can do on your own, but sometimes things are just so big that it's nice to have somebody outside of you to help. And some things have been sticking around for so long, and they feel so big and heavy that sometimes it almost feels like they're bolted to the ground. Having a coach come into that space, it can help you with that rearranging. It can help you to create a space that you actually want, a space that not only doesn't hurt you as much, but actually feels good. Inviting somebody into that space, it helps you to get things done a lot faster. It can feel more energizing. It helps you to see the possibility and to explore those ideas. And also, it is just so nice to have somebody in your corner when things get hard, somebody that's really there to just support you. Now, when my family moved into our fixer-upper home, oh my goodness, you guys, I was so exhausted. As you know, we moved into the home of an OCD hoarder, and we bought the home as is, so we went through each room to try to clean it out and figure out what was what. And because this was a family home, we had a lot of decisions to make. We wanted to preserve as much as we could for the family, and also kind of just sort through all of the junk, and it required so much physical and mental energy. And I did have a lot of help here, and I really appreciate everybody that came to help. Oh my goodness, I couldn't have done it without you. And there was this one room in the house that I had really been avoiding. The piles were stacked extra high. Every single surface was covered. I knew that there was a bed and a dresser and shelves in there, but you couldn't even see it. It was just a lot. And honestly, it was easier for me to just close the door and pretend like it wasn't there. I was just so overwhelmed. And then my sister came over, and she brought a new energy with her. She brought more mental clarity. She helped me with the decision-making. And you know what? She put on a mask, and she took a wet rag, and she wiped up so much dust from that room. And this space that I thought would take me at least a month to get through, within just a few hours, layer by layer, things were being revealed. The room was getting cleaned out. Over time, I was able to see clean shelves. I could see the top of the dresser. I could see the bed. And eventually, we even saw carpet and were able to vacuum. And it was so incredibly helpful and helped me to get out of my overwhelm just to have her show up. And this is what coaching can do for you. It can help you to 10X your progress. When you're feeling overwhelmed, when you're feeling just frustrated and you're not quite sure what direction to go in, then I can come in and assist you. During our 12 weeks together, we'll focus on four pillars: reflect, reclaim, reframe, and reimagine. So we will reflect first on the things that are getting in your way. This is when we're turning on the lights. We're looking at your specific brain, your specific thought patterns, and deciding which ones are and are not serving you, okay? So it's raising that awareness. Then we'll reclaim the parts of you that have been lost along the way. So maybe you've lost your joy, or you want to reclaim your time or your energy or your identity. We'll get really clear on what it is that you want to reclaim for yourself so that I can help you to stand in your own power. Then we'll start to reframe your thoughts, all the thoughts that have been holding you back, and these are the thoughts that you weren't even consciously aware of. But they've just been programs running in the back of your mind. But these thoughts, they have absolutely determined your identity. They've helped to keep you stuck exactly where you're at. They're what has prevented you from getting to where it is that you want to go. So we'll look at all of those thoughts and help you to reframe them, and then we're going to reimagine what else is possible. This is where we invite in possibility. We're able to look around and see, okay, what else is possible right now? Because our thoughts keep us so stuck, but there are so many things that are actually possible for you and closer than you might think. For example, maybe you've never dreamed before of being on Good Morning America, but now it feels possible. It feels so exciting. It feels closer than you thought it could have ever been before. It's kind of like when you're driving and all of a sudden you turn around and you look in your blind spot and something's right there. It's easy for us to think that there's only things there to harm us in our blind spots, but there's possibility and potential as well. So let me share with you how coaching has impacted my life and why I became a coach in the first place. I used to lay awake at night replaying every conversation and every situation. I would be thinking about all of the ways that I should have shown up or what I could have done differently or who might be upset with me, and it significantly impacted my sleep as well as my anxiety. I would be up late at night or up early in the morning just wearing myself out believing that, okay, well, if I don't do it all, nobody else will. I really struggled to ask for help because I was believing that my worth was conditional upon what I could do for other people. So I had to prove that I was worthy by showing up for them, and also I had to prove to myself that, I'm still a good human and I can't have needs, otherwise that means that I'm unworthy. I desperately wanted other people to show up for me, but I didn't know how to ask. I was so detached from my own wants and feelings that I'd often be stumped, and I'd shut down when somebody asked me a question. For example, if they wanted me to do something and I didn't know how to state a boundary, I just would stumble over my words. Or if they asked me what I wanted, because I was so detached from my own wants and needs, I had no idea what to say but now, I experience more peace within myself. I sleep so much better. I am more real and authentic in my relationships. I know who I am now, so I'm able to show up as myself and oh my goodness, it has absolutely changed all my relationships. People want to know the real you. And it feels so good and makes it so much easier for me to state boundaries and things because I now am honest with myself about what my capacity is. My relationships with my husband and with my children have all improved. And yes, I still occasionally get anxious because everybody does, but it's so much better now. At the time, I could not see what changes I needed to make, but coaching changed all of that. It showed me my blind spots, and it can do that for you, too. Having somebody in your corner to show you what is getting in your way, it can make such a huge difference, especially when it comes to showing you what's possible. Okay, so to bounce back to that furniture analogy, if your thoughts were furniture, your coach might show you that, oh my goodness, hey, do you see that big piece of furniture that you put in front of the doorway? That's exactly where you want to go. Let's move that together so that you can actually leave this room. Or they might show you, hey, you know those plants you love so much? they're gonna thrive so much more if we can just move them over there where they get a little bit better lighting." And you might even think, "Oh my goodness, I cannot believe it was that easy. I cannot believe how much easier it is to get to where I want to go just by moving that one thing, by changing that one belief. I cannot believe how much more growth my plants are able to experience because I'm actually giving them the light that they need." because the truth is that when we've been in the dark for so long and we turn on the lights, it can feel overwhelming. But having somebody with you can help to minimize that. And those little changes, oh my goodness, they can make such a huge difference. And you don't have to do it alone. So think for just a moment about what part of you you might have lost along the way. What part of you do you want to reclaim? And are you ready to finally commit to making that change? If you are ready, here's the details, okay? So listen up. The Self Reclamation Project is a 12-week, one-on-one coaching program that I am limiting to just 10 women. The cost is $1,200, and we start in September. Now, I'm going to be honest with you that I do not know yet when the doors are going to open again or what the price will be for next time. So if right now, if your heart is pounding, if there is a voice inside of you that's saying, "Hey, I have been yearning for something like this. I have really wanted this for a long time. I'm ready to not just turn on the lights, but to actually do the work, to actually integrate everything that I'm learning here," then please listen to that voice and come and join me. I am being selective about who I'm going to allow into this program. So if you are interested, you can email me at maryann@maryannwalker.life, I'll put it in the show notes, and simply tell me what kind of a change you're seeking to have most, and I can build a program specific to you. If you want to be one of the 10 women absolutely transforming their lives before the holidays, before the end of the year, then let me show you what is possible. Again, we're going to be starting in September, so you'll have plenty of time to finish off that vacation, get the kids in school, find a routine. But registration is open now, and there are only 10 spots available. So come and work with me. I'd love to work with you. I want to help you to reclaim your voice, your time, your energy, your joy, and your life. Your life can be even more amazing than you could have possibly imagined, and I want to show you what's possible. So consider this your email from Good Morning America, all right? Let's work together to create some lasting change. I love you guys so much, and I'm so looking forward to working with you. I hope you have a great week, and let's talk soon. Bye now.