S2 EP23: MIMI CIRBUSOVA, MEADOSWEET MONEY

Nicoa and Mimi Cirbusova, of Meadowsweet Money, talk about the importance of self-discovery, authenticity, and financial literacy in a LIFE BY DESIGN. Mimi's personal story uncovers the need to embrace individuality and express oneself unapologetically, while also recognizing and overcoming limiting beliefs and behaviors around money.  LISTEN IN because we ALL have a relationship with money and that relationship starts with our relationship with ourselves! JOURNALING PROMPT: What's YOUR relationship with money?

CHECK OUT MIMI's WEBSITE Meadowsweet Money - Shame free

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on Amazon today! 

Transcript

Nicoa Coach: 0:01

Grab your coffee and join me Nicoa For a caffeinated conversation about life. I'll be talking to people who have chosen to walk their own paths and just like me, are creating a life by design. I hope that will give you the inspiration you need to do exactly the same. Everybody. Mimi, Saba is here. And Mimi and I, this is like take three for us, I think. Yeah, I think so. The third time is the charm.

MiMi Cirbusova: 0:35

Yeah, we're going with today.

Nicoa Coach: 0:38

And we do hope everyone can hear the yard guys in the background, because that just gives it character.

MiMi Cirbusova: 0:43

Exactly. Exactly. One of my favorite podcasts, they started out and they had a donkey that would go start bragging in the middle of their podcast. It's great. Oh, no, that's a lot more character than my yard guy. Yeah.

Nicoa Coach: 0:55

I want a donkey that breaks in the background. There is a rooster rooster lives across the creek in the morning so I can hear it. Right. Oh my god,

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:04

I love it.

Nicoa Coach: 1:04

Well, I love you. And I posted a picture of you today. And I was like, You're so unique and beautiful and stylish and creative. And, you know, I hope everyone will go and check out your Instagram account at meadowsweet money. Right that?

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:19

You did.

Nicoa Coach: 1:20

Yes. Because you have this 1940s pinup girl style going. And you just really rock it. You really own it. Have you always had this style? Tell me?

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:32

No, I haven't I actually got into it. I was going through sort of a strange phase of life where I was trying to figure out what my style was. And I have to be honest, I grew up in the 90s. And even as a 90s kid, I did not like 90 style. It was not my thing. My mom has this. She says to me sometimes she's like, you know, you came out of me old like you just are not you know, not a typical kid. And so I did some a lot of experimenting. And I realized that my ideal fashion sense. My fashion style was like if I could be a cross between Lucille Ball and Miss Frizzle. And if I could merge those two things, that's like all I want.

Unknown: 2:17

Oh

Nicoa Coach: 2:17

Oh my god, I love that so much. I love both Lucille Ball and Miss Frizzle. I mean, my kids were in the school bus with Miss Frizzle. Right? Yes. Oh my gosh, yes. Oh, great. Oh, I love this. Yeah, I was talking to someone during the retreat, we I just am coming off the retreat. By the time people hear this, it will have been a few months. But coming off the retreat we did for seven beautiful souls over at Bald Head Island. And I said to them, as we talked about body, our bodies and what we thought about our image and our identities. And I said, you know, I just want to be a woman of the 60s and 70s like this free spirit, voluptuous, just, you know, natural. So I'm kind of going for it now. i Your Role modeling.

MiMi Cirbusova: 3:06

Well, thank you. Yeah, I very unapologetically have embraced this style. And it's worked for me and you know, I have certainly days where I'm like, I cannot be bothered to do anything, but you know, just switch out my pajama pants. But like, that's fine. You know, sometimes you just need that. So you or me or purple hair helps. You don't actually don't have to go put your up do and in order to demonstrate that you have an opinion. And, you know, you dress and you show up like you mean it. Thank you. That's all I all I have ever wanted was to be able to show up as authentically as I am. And when I decided to start working for myself, it was like epiphany after epiphany of how much I could show up as genuinely who I am as a person and the purple hair was a big a big first step in that. Oh, I think it's phenomenal. And you know, and my, my dyed roots are part of my story too. I love my color and I'm not gonna go great yet like a lot of people. That doesn't mean I'm gonna you mean your hair tinsel, you don't want your hair.

Nicoa Coach: 4:12

No, I really like my hair. I like the way my roots fade. And, and it looks like you know, I've been out in the sun all day because I usually have been, you know, I love this concept of authenticity. And people get really confused as to what that really means, you know, what does it mean to be authentic and, and we're going to talk about your work and your endeavors here. But we actually can't talk about that stuff until people know who their authentic self is. Because a lot of that authentic self is blocked and clouded and it shows up in our relationship with other people with our money with our work our career our children, you know, if we're not wholly owning ourselves and being authentic then we can't have healthy relationships external to Talk to me a little bit about you're coming to this relationship with yourself and going out on your own.

MiMi Cirbusova: 5:08

Yeah, it's, it's interesting. I. So I grew up in a family that was very authentically themselves. My, my parents are very creative people and they always embraced creativity. I, my mom is a master tailor by trade. She does not do it anymore. But she's a master tailor by trade. And so she she made costumes. And she was, you know, there was a period of time where she actually did costuming, she's caught what was called a Draper. We're our local opera house. And she did that for quite a bit of time. And so I grew up as the tailors kid, where I went to school with all sorts of weird outfits that my mom had made me and, you know, I also often went to school with, you know, safety pins in my clothes, because as just like, you know, the cobblers kids go to school with, you know, broken shoes. It's kind of that sort of thing. But I was really raised in a family where self expression was valued and nurtured. And we, I remember, as a kid, my, my dad, really fiercely saying, like, do not have those same beliefs that we have, you need to be able to articulate why you believe what you believe, and what's important to you. So it is something that I was kind of brought up in. And I also realized at a young age that I wasn't exposed to as many diverse opinions as I could have been, maybe if I had grown up somewhere else, or if I had other experiences, but it was important to me to seek those things out. So I was always fascinated by different cultures and the way people see different things. And is there ever meaning maybe

Nicoa Coach: 6:56

where you realize that your exposure was limited? Was there an example that comes to mind?

MiMi Cirbusova: 7:05

You know, it's, it's interesting, because I think I knew it at a really young age. I think I knew. I mean, I my elementary school, I think was like 99% white kids. Yeah. And, you know, I realized very young that a lot of what I was learning about because again, this was before standardized testing. I was learning about other cultures, and I was learning about other you know, traditions. And but I didn't see it right a day life. So for me, it was I realized pretty young that I had to seek out more viewpoints and more thought. And I think that's part of why I view the world in the way that I do is that I recognized, there's a lot more ways to see the world than just the limited amount of what we're exposed to.

Nicoa Coach: 7:55

I think that's the intentionality, there's pretty key. And it's never too late to be intentional about expanding your perspective and horizons. And we tend to have these blinders on and we don't ever move. We're just like, oh, this is what I know. And this is what I do. Well, what was your relationship? So everybody, you know, I didn't even give all the details but Mimi is a certified financial education instructor. And she really talks all things shame free, you know, money management, and she she mentors people around their relationships with their money. So she helps all the financial scaredy cats out there, on their on their journey up the money mountain, as you put it. Well, yeah. What was your relationship with money growing up?

MiMi Cirbusova: 8:38

Oh, my gosh, we so our family, we were very working class. And I mean, we were just white knuckling those lower rungs of the working class, middle class ladder, you know, we were just trying to hang on, you know, my parents are very intelligent, very hardworking people. I have a very strong work ethic, I think because of them. But I grew up really watching them struggle to make ends meet, you know, they had two kids, they were doing the best that they could. And I mean, like I said, my mom was a tailor. So I went, I went many nights falling asleep to the sounds of her sewing machine, as she was picking up some extra work just trying to catch up on on orders until very early morning hours, you know. And I continued that work ethic with going you know, I worked all through school, I worked more than full time as well as going to school full time, eventually burned out, as anyone would expect. But I I really believed for the longest time that the only way to be successful was to work incredibly, incredibly hard. And so for me, I got to a point where, you know, money was I was the financial scaredy cat so that's why I love working with other financial scaredy cats because I was one right and you know, I would do that thing where you'd open up your bank account on payday, right just to see how much he got paid. And then I would, you know, check it again, only if I was like, who I might be close to, like overdrafting. And I don't want to get to zero balance, right. So I was just terrified to think about money to talk about money. You know, if the topic of money came up, my hands would shake, and my heart would race and I was so uncomfortable. But I had this moment in 2019, where I was working at a little tiny outdoor nonprofit museum, I was making like $16 an hour. And I had this moment where I realized I had a new to me car. So it was not a brand new car, but it was a new to me car, and with a car loan, and a nearly maxed out credit card. And it wasn't that I was going out, you know, living it up, you know, I had had several periods of unemployment, mostly due to going through internships for school doing, you know, the things that I thought were the right thing, helping out my family in times of need. And I just had this moment of clarity where I wasn't upset, I wasn't angry, I just realized I had to figure this out, I couldn't be afraid anymore. And so that really set the path towards me, starting a Debt Free Journey and starting to learn about personal finance. And I wanted to learn about it from people and from sources that were not about trying to make me feel that I couldn't tell you how often I would find resources and information that were not applicable to my situation at all had nothing, it didn't resonate, it didn't make sense. You know, and also didn't match with the reality of what I had experienced growing up and the you know, a lot of things that really weren't my fault, that led to me getting into debt. And so I think, for me, it was is I started talking about my journey on Instagram and with friends. And at first, I had a lot of friends that were like, really weirded out by you know, talking about money. Yeah, I can imagine over time, they would start kind of asking questions and kind of quietly going, Well, what do you think? Who should I start? What should I do? You know, started

Nicoa Coach: 12:23

going up? Well, I want to go back to those thoughts. And those comments, because about money, like looking at the paycheck and, and noticing, you know, Am I close to the overdraft? I mean, there were moments in my own childhood, where I can remember overhearing my mother, on the phone once, and she said it was they were divorced for about five years. And I heard her tell her friend, and it never left me. And she said to her friend, and a great moment of despair, I can't even afford tampons. And I remember thinking in my mind, oh, my God, I never want to be that way. And I remember the over the overdraft checks that check bounced check fees, you know, not being able to afford groceries and all those things, build a story and you are hearing a story of, hey, you got to work 24/7 or 20 hours out of the day, in order to make money to live a life. And these all create our belief systems, right? And then you are talking about the emotion that comes with the story. And then the emotion that we apply to the story about money. And then there's the shame, right? There's the shame. So Oh, my God, I should know better. I should have worked harder. I can't believe I have this debt. You know, and I've been I've had my own little roller coaster over my lifetime. But but if we break it down like that, then your belief system was have to work hard to make money. And then now I'm ashamed because I must not have worked hard enough. Or I gotta go figure

MiMi Cirbusova: 13:50

this brand. Or I'm not smart enough, or I'm not good enough, or I'm not capable enough. And why am I you know, I dedicate so much energy, and especially because if anybody comes from a nonprofit background, you know, how it's like, well, you don't get you don't get paid in dollars, but you get paid and through the, you know, meaning and all that stuff. And, and it's like, yeah, I I, but I also need to get paid. And I gotta feed myself, right. So I think there's certain, you know, stories. And it's interesting to see how these stories get ingrained, so young. And we're often not even aware of our stories and how they're impacting us and the ways that we react and behave through our financial choices, because of the stories that often didn't start with us. Right. Often had nothing to do with us as a person in our own personal experiences, but the things that it's like, picking up luggage that doesn't belong to you and walking through the airport with it. Oh, yeah.

Nicoa Coach: 14:52

I mean, I've even done energy work where I've found out that there had been historic lineage, you know, all my mother's Excuse me, my father's mother's side of the family where there was an elder who was a quite miserly, and in that miser dumb or whatever had passed down this this miserly way of seeing the world through that part of our family. And it made so much sense. Now I kind of believe in all that. So not everybody does. But but we sometimes don't even we can't even literally pinpoint who in our families in this lifetime, created it for us. So sometimes we have to clear those blocks. Well, what's an exercise that people can do to begin to really uncover their story? Is there anything that you'd like to do with your clients or that we could recommend? Yeah,

MiMi Cirbusova: 16:11

I think there's a few different things, there is some amazing work if you are not familiar, by Dr. Brad Clontz, and his team, it's Klo, and tz, which is a fabulous name. But Dr. Brad Clontz. He's a financial therapist, and he does some other work in this space. But he has really identified four categories of money stories or money scripts, as he likes to call them. And there's different stories that we have, but sometimes just understanding what categories we fall into. So for instance, I had a lot of money avoidance stories. So if I, if I didn't really focus on money, and I kind of lived this sort of virtuous life and did the right things that eventually I would be rewarded in some way, shape or form. And I, you know, I had a lot, a lot of these money scripts this doctor comments likes to talk about are all based on this belief that money is not safe. And I'm a little bit like you, I believe that money is ultimately just what we get in exchange for our life energy. But learning about my money, avoidant stories, and in learning how to start not being avoidant, how to address them in a way that was like, How can I feel safe or with this thing, and it's not going to feel safe right away, there are still things that are, you know, stories, because we all have hundreds of beliefs about money and stories that we tell ourselves about money, so it takes time. But that's a really good place to start is by learning your money, scripts, and what category you fall into. And you might have stories in all four of those categories, which is always a lot of fun. But the other thing I think, is really helpful, is sitting down and looking at your real numbers from a place of curiosity. And a lot of us are afraid to look at our real numbers. I don't tell people to start with a budget. I actually think budgeting is an advanced tool. It's an advanced skill that comes as a result of lots of other work,

Nicoa Coach: 18:24

right? So

MiMi Cirbusova: 18:26

for me, sitting down and looking at my real numbers helped me to go wow, I'm noticing some patterns. I'm noticing some patterns around some regrettable and forgettable spending. I'm noticing where my money is flowing and going. And gosh, I'm really not getting paid the amount that I thought I was getting paid. And how might I make some changes? And what would what might happen? If I cut back on my regrettable, forgettable spending? Why am I making so many regrettable and forgettable spending choices? So for me that was kind of a big thing was to start by taking a real hard look at my real numbers. And then seeing how that connects with my mindset. Because

Nicoa Coach: 19:13

the real numbers I always say just the facts, ma'am. Let's go look at the facts. And if you can't sit down and look at the facts without having a panic attack, then we need to deal with the panic attack. Yeah.

MiMi Cirbusova: 19:25

And I think part of it is understanding that your real numbers are not a judgement about who you are as a person, your real numbers have nothing to do like I always say to my clients, your net worth is not a reflection of your, your self worth or worth as a person. That's right. And I Yeah, and I think so many folks take their real numbers personally. And it's just a snapshot in time. It really is because you can change it, it's changeable. So and it's

Nicoa Coach: 19:54

figure out double, everything is routable. Everything can be adjusted. And we sit here and we say things like, oh, I don't really need this, or I could do without that. Of course I could I don't really need these things. And then all of a sudden, when you look at the facts, you're like, Well, are you sure? Do you really need that? Well, I don't want to get rid of that. So people are really attached, right? Because that is part of their identity. And you know, it's funny, you said that about net worth, and I do believe that. But I was also raised with a father who kept saying, Do you know your net worth? Do you know your net worth? And I remember thinking oh four It's the same father who would also say, Don't be afraid of debt. Don't be afraid of it and leverage your money leverage it leverage leverage. So I do an exercise with people that says, you know, money is fill in the blank. Money means fill in the blank, you know, and just a simple exercise and then who am I without? Whatever? Maybe what did you call it a forgettable and regrettable? Regrettable and

MiMi Cirbusova: 20:56

forgettable? Yeah. Because I know so many people who are like, Why did I spend money on this thing? Or what? What did I spend $70 at Target on like, and it's, it's a real thing, it happens, you know, and there's lots of little indicators as to why that might be. But it's

Nicoa Coach: 21:13

hard to offset the, we are in a capitalistic society that says you are not enough, unless you have the eye cream that makes your eyes have no, you know, CRO, CRO fee, whatever we call that right. And you know, you are not enough if you don't also take your kids on vacation or send them to camp. So how do you help your clients separate that? Or how you know, and how did you separate that that's really the questions not about the clients, let's talk about you, maybe,

MiMi Cirbusova: 21:46

about me, in particular, I think it was also understanding that, you know, our capitalistic society, and capitalism and commerce are very different things. So that's important to keep in mind. But, you know, we also are, you know, a world where our basic needs are often needing to be met through capitalism, we have to purchase a lot of our basic needs, right? That's

Nicoa Coach: 22:12

a really good point, I didn't even think about Yeah, it's for,

MiMi Cirbusova: 22:16

for our food, for our clothing, for our shelter for all of our basic needs are something that we have to be able to purchase, and a lot of people are feeling the squeeze of that. So I think for me, it was understanding what are my true needs, because I have told a lot of folks, if it keeps you on this side of the dirt, it's worth the money, you know, right? Like, it's, it's really worth the money if it's keeping you around, because you are valuable, and you we need you here. But it's also getting really clear on what, what it means to align your money with the vision that you have for your life. And I think so often what we're doing is we're coming up with a vision that is dictated by our larger society by our larger culture. I think we're starting as a culture and as a society to question things like, well, is the American dream of, you know, owning a house? Is that really what I want? You know, and we're seeing those stories unfold? So for me, personally, it was starting to look at what is it that I absolutely must have? And then getting even more granular of like, okay, well, food is a great example of that I have a hunger spending trigger, I do not make good decisions when I'm hungry. So let's just start there. So I had to learn about my hunger spending trigger and how it was, you know, guiding me to make decisions that were making me regret spending money in certain ways or making me go, oh, my gosh, where did that? What did I even buy for $10? At this restaurant, right? So I think starting with that place of regrettable and forgettable and saying what is it about the purchases that I make that make me feel really happy and getting super granular and that it's one thing to say, Oh, I love going to happy hour with friends. It's another thing to say, I love going to happy hour with friends where we talk about anything besides work, where we talk about the books that we're reading, and we talk about the you know, epiphanies that we're having, and we're drinking, you know, beverages that are so delicious and well crafted. And I love that we get to sit out and look out on you know, overlooking some water, like getting really granular on what was important to me. And how does that align with it? So I think that's one of the things that was part of understanding authentically, how can I spend my money on my needs, but also on my desires? Because what is actually gonna fill me up beyond just I have food, I have clothing, I have shelter, right?

Nicoa Coach: 25:07

I mean, it's the it's the story we tell. Everything is a story. And we are as I was educating people this weekend, your words are your wand. And as you use your words, I mean, they don't call that spelling for nothing. So we're, we're casting a spell with every story and you know, a big piece of this. Oh, I just crossed my arms in front of me. A big piece of his story that I can remember getting caught up in is this American dream of, well, this is who we are, you know, while we vacation at Bald Head Island, well, bald head Allen cost about 10 times more than every other freaking island out there. You know, I could kayak over to a free Island, you know. So I was like, Yeah, I mean, he asked me how the retreat went when we first started. And I said, Well, ironically, I said, Well, we didn't make as much money as I thought we would. Is it that funny, even though it was the most profound and powerful? And I? I loved every second of it. I have no regrets about it. But then my logical head goes, was it worth it, though? And of course, it was, if I tell the story of imagine and then lives were profoundly changed the impact you had. But if I tell the story from the filter, right, from the filter of money, and well, did you get the ROI? Well, then milk probably shouldn't do that anymore. But that's not the point of living. The Living isn't just the financial return. The Living is, is it fulfilling? Is it powerful? Are you living your passion and your purpose? And if you can align that the more you do it, the more ROI you will get. So we've got to look at the definition of what our return on our investment means. And not just primary needs, but how important is it for Nicoa to be able to say, Oh, my family and I we vacation at Bald Head Island, you know, Am I really that attached to that experience? Now I like money. So talk to me about some stories where because I do like to have choice. And, you know, so I want to make sure people understand that we're not talking about you don't have to simplify down and dumb this down to minimalism, in order to, you know, things all balance out, because I would like to create a relationship with my money, where it's not ebbing and flowing. I would like consistency, where there's more than enough money. So talk to me about shifting that energetic frequency around attraction, and the stories that you have to tell to create that type of ROI.

MiMi Cirbusova: 27:39

It's so funny, you're talking about consistency, because I think we forget that we're parts of nature, and money has seasonality to it. So there are times that seasons, there are seasons of spending, there are seasons of saving, there are seasons of, you know, just sustaining yourself. And one of the ways if our focus is on consistency, we have to ask the question, are we looking for consistency outside of ourselves? Are we looking for consistency within ourselves?

Nicoa Coach: 28:18

Oh, this is good. You are so right.

MiMi Cirbusova: 28:24

Yeah, it's I so I always look at things that from the point of view of what is my input, not what's the output, because I can't there's a lot I cannot control. I can't control if somebody you know, if I get on a call with somebody, and it feels like we're vibing. And it seems like they're, you know, interested in working with me. And then something happens, and I never hear from them. Again, I can't control that know, what I can control is how often I talk about the work that I'm doing, I can control how I show up every day, I can control whether I send that, you know, reminder email to clients, I can control whether or not I take a look at my needs at for that control of like, how do I make this consistent? And, you know, if I'm looking to just make sure that I have what I need, I need to know that number. Right? Right. So my baseline what's what is it that I truly need to exist in the world and to have a decent enough life, that nothing that I don't feel like every single day is a slog. So understand that number, and then when those peaks and valleys come along, having systems in place to ensure that when it's a season of just sustaining, that I have a little extra cushion, so that you know I have in those moments, I can go you know what, I really need to get a pedicure today, if it's gonna really help and I have the funds to do it. And then in those seasons of abundance where we have more than we anticipated and more than what we need, we've put a little bit away for those times that we know are coming. Yeah. So I think part of looking at consistency. And and making sure that we have enough is again really understanding our real numbers and getting clear on what enough is for us. And my definition enough is going to be different than someone else's definition enough of enough and more often than not we're grasping at that concept. without actually looking at the real numbers of it,

Nicoa Coach: 30:33

you're so correct on this. And it's so interesting to me because I've been an entrepreneur for 15 years. And it's interesting that I went to that need for consistency, because I've got 15 years of inconsistency. And yet I have lived a fabulous life. I mean, there's always more, there is always a client, there's always somebody that calls and if you can sit in that knowing and that faith, it's really faith in yourself.

MiMi Cirbusova: 31:03

It's so is I will tell anybody under the sun that if you if uncertainty scares you, entrepreneurship might not be the right. I agree. Because it is a journey of embracing uncertainty. And I have had to learn that day in and day out. It's just being uncertain. Because no one no one has a crystal ball, no one has, you know, the math, we're all doing the best that we can. But even when I think about, like, when I did work for other folks, or I did work, you know, there was a lot of uncertainty there. Sure. There were times that I found out later that I had bosses that were like, I don't know how I'm gonna make payroll, but Right. You know, we didn't get the grant that we thought we were gonna get, right. So that idea of certainty, I think, is a it's an illusion, in a lot of ways. Oh, you're

Nicoa Coach: 31:57

absolutely right. And most people can't see out past about three months anyway. I mean, it really is the truth. And if you can, I remember the other day thinking to myself, you know, what, Nicoa, you've done this for 55 years. And if something pops up, you'll just do it again, you'll just, you'll just keep going just take it one day at a time. And the key factor, I think, is that you don't realize that you are the common denominator. So you if you've already made it through 55 years, then you'll make it through 55. More, I mean, you have the proof, or however the beautiful young age that you are so

MiMi Cirbusova: 32:33

so I'm very happily 3636 was great. 36

Nicoa Coach: 32:38

is a beautiful year I had, I had a one year old with my third child was one year old at 36. And I love that time and I was in the consistent world, right, I had the corporate game, and only a few years later, I quit. So if in fact, you think that money is going to save you, and if I just had the if I just won the lottery, if I just this, then you're actually you're grasping, like you said before, you're grasping at some reality, that's likely never going to occur. But if you come back down to earth, and come back to our senses, literally, what we see what we can touch, what we can feel what we can experience, then we can what can I can control? And how can I tell myself a story that I'm safe? You know, how do you help your clients? shift that storyline for themselves? Is it NAFTA? They see the facts, and they have a strategy in place? How do we really get to the subconscious storyline for them? And I have ideas as to how I park around now. I'm just curious what your thoughts are there.

MiMi Cirbusova: 33:45

It's so depends on the person. But I think what is really helpful I learned this concept from Ted Hargraves of marketing for hippies, he talks about, you know, so often we are sort of oscillating between these two extremes. There's the extreme of posturing and like trying to puff yourself up and be really like bowled and then collapsing, right? And so, you know, collapsing with money is that, you know, I don't want to look at my bank accounts, I don't want to, you know, I'm really avoided, I'm scared to look at my real numbers and scared to, you know, make the phone call and find out where is that 401k from that job five years ago, right. And then the posturing is when we do things like, Well, I'm gonna, this is it, I'm gonna sit down, and I'm gonna, you know, make my budget and I don't know, right, and we kind of oscillate between these two things. And what Todd shares and I have adopted as my word of the year is, we want to break out of that and focus on composure. And composure really says, I am enough. You're human, I'm human. What I really want to focus on is how can I bring a sense of calm? How can I bring my true self into this moment? And I think composure is a place that I really try to help my, my clients get to, and sometimes that's through, hey, we got to do the hard work at this moment. And look at your real numbers. You've been avoiding it, you've been putting it off, and I let's do it together, right? Sometimes the composure is I want you to take a day, to just write out all of the things that have been in your head that you keep saying you're going to do you're going to do and you keep putting it off. And then I want you to right next to it. What would happen if this went? Right? What would it look like for this task to go exactly right? And the truth might be somewhere in the middle, you might not get it exactly, exactly right. But the the, you know, the best case scenario would look like x, right? Because so often we're thinking about all the things that could go wrong, and all the things that, you know, might not work out, you know, oh, I call, they're not going to know who I am, or they're not going to understand what you know, happened, or I, you know, I, I want to do this rollover, and it's going to, you know, mess up, my taxes are great. What, okay, let's, what's the best case scenario? The best case scenario might be that you call it takes 15 minutes, and then you have, you know, all that money rolled over? And you don't have to think about it again. Yeah. That'd

Nicoa Coach: 36:20

be where the mind goes, energy flows. And you, you know, I like to listen to Abraham Hicks sometimes. And she talks about more channels about, you know, people say things like, Well, you gotta take the good with the bad. Like, no, you actually don't. You don't, you don't, you can actually just, you know, take the good, let's focus on the good, what if it went right? I love this advice. And I love this practice. Because if you literally sit down and scenario plan out positive outcomes, then your mind is focused there. Therefore, you're where the mind goes, energy flows, and where we focus expands, then you're moving away from the contraction of the of the breakdown, and you're actually expanding to the breakthrough. And it becomes that breakthrough. I love this composer's space. You're talking about a way of being if we can shine many, yes. Especially with money. Is there a story you want to share about yourself, when you really recognized that you had stepped into that new way of being that new composure? And you thought, oh, my gosh, in the past, this would have made me freak out.

MiMi Cirbusova: 37:29

Sure. So I found it really interesting. Being on a Debt Free Journey, and I did not start, my I did not start by being on a Debt Free Journey. I really was just like, I know that there's an issue, I know that there's something I've gotta fix, and I'm going to just kind of play, play with it, you know, and make it I'm gonna make it an experiment. And something that was really fascinating to me, I ended up finding, discovering, I had $11,000 that I did not know I had, I had a moment where I got this letter in the mail, and I was looking at it and like, I have never heard of this company. I don't know anything about it. And you know, it was saying that I had all this money. And I was like, This doesn't make sense. This is probably a scam. So I went online, I was like, oh, okay, they are a legit company. And I called and I said, I'm understanding that I have this. And they explained that it was from an old job. It was from a 401k that I didn't even remember opening a 401k I didn't even remember it. I was like, I'm sure I filled out the paperwork, and probably just forgot all about it. Because again, it was very money avoidant for a long time. And I was realizing as I was going through this process, because I ended up having to call my former employer, they had to, you know, it had been years there, and they had forgotten to mark me as no longer employed in that company. And I had to call the new CEO, somebody I had not worked for, and let them know and go through this whole process. And I they've made she she made a mistake on the paperwork, and I ended up having to fill out. I had to pay taxes, basically. Yeah, she messed it up the rollover paperwork and just stunk, but instead of freaking out and panicking that I had to pay the taxes on it. And then of course, I got it back later, you know, it's a whole thing. But it was called an indirect rollover. Yes. Wow, all these fancy words. It didn't freak out. I had this realization that I knew enough about personal finance at that point that and had taught myself enough that I just said, Oh, I have that in my emergency fund. Okay. I'll get that back in six months, no biggie. And that realization of where I was at with feeling composure around money, versus where I had been, was like, holy smokes. Holy smokes, like how did that happened? And a lot of it was just getting just tiptoeing through that discomfort. Before I realized I had been tiptoeing so long, I was no longer uncomfortable.

Nicoa Coach: 40:12

Yeah. Oh, that's such a great way to put it. tiptoeing through the discomfort. Yeah, I love that so much. Because when we when we are, when we allow ourselves to go into the discomfort, you don't have to just completely consume yourself in the discomfort and panic. You can want molto at a time, like today, I'm going to check the balance on that whatever. Today I'm going to check the tax refund or the tax payment. Yeah. In a way, how weird is this, but I too had someone contact me about five, six years ago, around six years ago. And I had just come off of a divorce. And I was a little bit panicky about how am I going to sustain all this. And I had left a company and had not brought some money with me and didn't realize it, and it was had moved into an unclaimed money in the state of Massachusetts. And by the way, everybody, you should totally go look up unclaimed money in every state you've ever lived in. Because I also found another like, $250 insurance thing that had not been paid back to me, because we moved a lot. And we found money for family members or like, Oh, dad, you know, it's so fun. What?

MiMi Cirbusova: 41:23

I think I had found one that was like, $99, from Google or something for my husband. Yeah.

Nicoa Coach: 41:29

Oh, yeah. So I'll put that link just because it's fun. And if any of you, you and your whole family can sit down one night, just plug it in and see if you have any unclaimed funds, but the universe will provide right, you will get those types of surprises. And you needed that validation most likely to prove to you and give you some more facts that oh, look, oh, discomfort came. So I can prove and see that I could manage it with my new system. And I'm really proud of you. I mean, what didn't what didn't create example, oh

MiMi Cirbusova: 42:02

my gosh, and to also have the wherewithal and the knowledge to say, I'm not going to just cash this out, I'm not going to, you know, just do whatever i I'm going to very intentionally invest it and reinvest it into my future. And, and I think that's part of, you know, going to this, this place of composure within personal finances, being able to say, Now, knowing what I know, how can I leverage this for my goals, or, you know, it gives you such a beautiful opportunity to take advantage of, of whatever is presented to you rather than running from it or being scared of it? Well, it

Nicoa Coach: 42:40

sounds to me like you have an abundance mindset and not a lack or scarcity mindset. And I'm sure worked at it. And you've had to probably work at your own self love in order to enable them. You know, I think about my history, and many of you know, my friends and family members, and we have a joke, which language is not innocent. So I'm going to actually stop telling this joke. I'll tell it one more time, so everybody can hear it. But it is actually manifested often in my lifetime, around money, which is, oh, our dad taught us how to successfully live beyond our means. Hmm. And that, that causes you to do things like oh, let's just charge it. Oh, you only live to live once, let's go on that trip. Well, you know, I deserve it. But what we're really doing is saying I'm not enough, unless I keep manifest, like keep creating, you know, spending or experiences or stuff or clothes, like I'm a bit addicted to clothing. I'm not enough unless I do those things or my life isn't fulfilling enough. And we have this, this intensity, this need for immediate gratification. And I want to feel good externally, I have to keep trying an external feel good. In order to decide I'm okay. And my work this year. My word, I love composure. By the way, my word is connection. And it's not a connection with you. And it's not connection with anybody else I'm talking to you. It's a connection with me. And guess what, you actually don't want to go out and spend, you kind of get a little, like a little throwing up in your mouth. Or when you go to Home Depot and said you realize you got three new pillows in your bag and you're like basket and you're like what, what? Why it's repelling?

MiMi Cirbusova: 44:35

It's so funny, you're talking about this because I actually I found when I was working with clients initially, I have a lot of folks who are trying to go from this scarcity mindset, which we all know like scarcity mindset is not healthy, it's not helpful. And they were trying to get to a place of thinking about abundance, and they would just shut down like I could see it they would not be in what I realized is abundance in our culture are the Jeff Bezos of the world, the people who are consuming, consuming, consuming and putting all of us on the planet in a precarious situation, and consuming to the point of waste and access. And I realized instead of focusing on abundance, how can I help my folks to get to a place of enoughness was enough for me. And then I think the other thing that was really powerful for me, is, you know, really sort of looking at enoughness is easier when you understand the language of your spending triggers. So those little voices that say, oh, I should go on this vacation, you only live once, right? You know, I feel like those spending triggers are like these little, you know, creatures that kind of come along with me throughout life. And there are moments when I go, Oh, you know, I should just go get this thing, right, you know, and I have to stop and pause and go, What is it that they're really trying to tell me? So, you know, my loneliness spending trigger is a common one that I experienced. And I learned how to listen to it, and hear what it was saying because it wasn't trying to sabotage me your spending triggers are not trying to sabotage you not, they're not trying to make you go into debt. They're not trying to make you spend money in regrettable and forgettable ways. But what they're really trying to do is give you information, like informed information about your needs and your wants. And more often than not my loneliness spending trigger, saying, Hey, you haven't reached out to a friend in a long time, you really need to build some connection, you need to, you know, read, get back to a place of friendship, my hunger spending triggers, Hey, you forgot to eat breakfast this morning. And your brain is shutting down because the glucose level in your brain is going down and your prefrontal cortex is no longer functioning. So there's all these spending triggers that we can have that cause us to make these regrettable and forgettable spending decisions. And then that's when our definition of enoughness starts getting all out of whack. Because we're trying to chase what the spending trigger has been taught to do by society and culture and our upbringing, instead of what it's really trying to communicate, which is, hey, I need to pause, I need to think about what needs Am I ignoring? What's the true thing that I really need? Right? Yeah,

Nicoa Coach: 47:28

it actually makes me emotional. Thinking about it, because it is the same thing as any motion, energy in motion that is moving you it's your messaging system. And it's really a messaging system, that we are chasing a dopamine hit, when we go spin, or we get the new outfit. I mean, if I have to go and unsubscribe to a lot of the brands that I love, because I subscribe to get the discount, right? And then all of a sudden, I'm like, I need that orange colored beyond yoga top and leggings. I have five sets of beyond yoga tops and leggings. But I don't have that color. So I'm like, oh my god, Nicole, what? And I'm getting so much better. I'm like, nope, stop. Like, that's just the ad will confuse you. It's not it may not, it may not even be your trigger, it could just be marketing is so good.

MiMi Cirbusova: 48:32

It is so good. And that is in a way a spending trigger. Because we if we don't really take time to think about it, it's really easy to just kind of go with it. But marketing companies spend trillions of dollars to use your psychology against you. Yeah, they know how your brain works. And again, a good majority, and there's so much research around this, but a good majority of our spending decisions are made emotionally not logically, we like to think that we're you know, very logical, thoughtful people. But the truth is, is that most of the time we're making spending choices based on who we believe that we are, who we believe we should be who we believe other people want us to be, right. So there's so many times that we're making spending choices in you know, just quicker than a blink of an eye. Because we have not created enough spending speed bumps and I think that's something that I love working with my clients on is how do we create these spending speedboats I'm not asking you to not spend, I'm asking you to slow down and think about and kind of realize, oh, like kind of when you're on the highway, and then you kind of turn on to, you know, into this neighborhood. And you get to these, you know, little speed tables where it's like, Oh, I gotta slow down. I gotta you know, I got to think about what look at what's going on around me. Are there kids in the neighborhood, right? So that's really what we're trying to do with our spending choices is just slow down a little bit, look at what's going on around us and then making better choices. And we do those spending speed bumps by doing things like you said unsubscribing from the marketing emails, taking a moment to if you if getting up and getting your credit card out of your purse to put it into the app is enough time for you to go do I really need that. That's a spending speed bump. That's so helpful. So deleting your credit card information from websites and from delivery apps and all of that stuff can be another way to just kind of again, slow down and think about what you're doing. Because again, you You are ingrained and brought up in a way that you have to make decisions very quickly, you have to do things very, very quickly. And that's, again, that place of posturing and that place of like, I've got to do, I gotta go, go, go, go go, right. Instead of composure, which has to, I really need that I really need the orange, you know, yoga, like, it's just a way to think about things. I love, speeding

Nicoa Coach: 50:54

speed, I mean, spending speed bumps, everybody write that down hashtag spending speed bumps, this, you know, and I want to take it one more level, because we can, we can do the work and we should do the work for ourselves, we should really understand our relationship with money. And we should understand our relationship with ourselves in order to then Foster and create what you're talking about a healthy, intentional, conscious enoughness. So that I can then pause long enough to make a spending choice. So when you do the work around your brainwashed way of seeing that, right, once you get through that, then it'll be a lot easier for you to set boundaries with the people around you. So that's a big story for me. So help me play with this because I have been, you know, I've been having holidays. Let's use Christmas as an example. Yeah, my whole life, right. And my mother was a big spender at Christmas like to make it really elaborate. And, you know, my brothers and I are like, man, she really set the bar. So then Nicola, three beautiful babies. I mean, this past year, I have I have done Christmas, Easter, all the things like society says you're supposed to for 27 years as a mother, and I will tell you something about 12 years ago, I got sick of it. And I, I mean, when I commit myself to it, and I'm in it, it's great. And I can make it beautiful. And I'll spend three grand. I mean, it's like so easy, you know, where you got to have the popcorn, everybody has to pop, you gotta have the candy canes on the thing? Well, don't forget to make the cookies and Well, everybody gets the same amount. Well, we spent too much on her. So we got to spend a little more on him. Let's make it fair. And oh, well, it has to look pretty in the display on the next morning. And the Easter baskets have to have equal gift cards and blah, blah, blah. And and I continue with this in this little rant. Because that's how it feels. It feels like, well, the tree was $125. And what you got to have the wreath and everybody decorated and you got to have a light. And then and then you know the people you're complaining to say, well, when they come on, why don't why don't why don't you just dial it back? I'm sorry, excuse me, where he'll help me figure out my boundaries around this so I can dial it back for your experience. Because I mean, it's really, I I set the standard. So everybody kind of begins to expect it. And it's really hard to earn like to make it enough. So yeah, this coming Christmas. I need help. How can I? I mean, I've got grandkids now 20 And up? What am I going to do a part of you wants to jump on an airplane and just go somewhere else or just sit here and not do any of the things? I am having a hard time knowing how to financially and emotionally bring that back down. I'm curious. Yeah, you've probably heard people talk about this before. Oh,

MiMi Cirbusova: 54:06

sure. Absolutely. I mean, I think about it's so interesting. I had a great conversation with my friend Hannah from Hannah's enchantments. And she talks a lot about intentionality. We I went through this recently because my husband is from Slovakia, his entire family is from Slovakia. And one of the traditions when we first started dating again, we have been together this year will be 20 years. We were highschool sweethearts. And one of the things that really upset me is that we stopped doing the traditional Slovak Christmas eve dinner. I was really upset about it was really frustrated that, you know, it kind of got hijacked. And it's a long story. But anyway that I was angry about it. And I had this definition of my head in my head of what it was supposed to look like, right? And I realized after having this conversation with my friend, Hannah, that I didn't need to do Slovak Christmas eve dinner on Christmas Eve. We could do it on y'all. We could do it on another day. We could do it, you know, but I realized how important that part of it was to me and I got really clear on why was it so important to me. Well, okay, number one. I got to see my husband. This was still when we were pretty young. I think I was in my associate's degree program. And I got to watch him get his citizenship. And I got to do See his family grow and be connected to their their culture and balance their American culture and their Slovak culture. And it was, it's important to me that I continue that tradition with, you know, with our kids someday when we have children, and it's important to me to continue that legacy, I took my I took my husband's last name, and then added OVA, because that's the cultural practice. And I wanted to have my mother in law's last name, it was very important to me, because she's a wonderful human being her story is incredible. But I realized how important it was to me to fuse the this, these identities in my in my holiday time was to have that balance. And I started asking myself, what is important to me? What are the things that really matter, and then what else can fall away. And I now save intentionally throughout the year, because a lot of times we kind of, it's so funny how often we forget this thing that's going to happen every single year. And we wait until the last minute to save for it. Right? So or go, oh, my gosh, I gotta, you know, somehow fit all of my holiday expenses in the month of December. Oh, my gosh, all right. And we know it's gonna come every single year, but I have a ballpark number of what that looks like. And I save for it, you know, over time throughout the year. And I also realized that the things that were important to me were not important to other people. Yeah. So again, I can let go of Slovak Christmas dinner, Christmas Eve dinner being on Christmas Eve, because that wasn't the part that was important. To me. The part that was important to me was sitting down with my husband, maybe with his uncle or his mom, joining us having a little bit of bulky having a little bit of, you know, the Portuguese and the fried fish. Right. It was important to me to experience that, because that's what made a good holiday for me.

Nicoa Coach: 57:36

Right? And I have an idea. 27 years, trying to create the best holiday for everybody else.

MiMi Cirbusova: 57:44

Yeah. And how much? How much of it? Do you do? Does everybody else remember because that for me? We have I've had this conversation with my mom many times where it's like, I don't remember all the gifts that I've gotten. I don't remember the what was it? That was important to me? Oh, I really love when my dad makes pancakes. Right? Right. We love it when he experiences Yeah, when my mom, you know, she has to turn on a Christmas story. And we got to do the 24 hours of Christmas. You know, that's it was really important to her, you know, making sure that everybody gets to have a nice cup of coffee. So for me, it's the connection and getting back to a place of understanding the definition of enoughness looks like in this season, making sure that I have pancakes Christmas morning. And if I didn't have it, that's what feels like Christmas for me, having, you know, the ball key. And you know, that, for me feels like the holidays. I think looking at those definitions and asking ourselves what is really important what in what's behind it? Because every action that we have, there's something behind it that we're getting out of it. Right, right. So for me, it's the cultural honoring the culture of my husband, for me, it's honoring the connection I have with my family. And just because we don't do something one year, doesn't mean that we can't do it again. Next year. That's right. I think about that in the context of like, sometimes our traditions are only traditions because we've just been doing them for so long. Right? And right, like, we only have white wedding dresses because Victoria wore it for her wedding. Like that's it.

Nicoa Coach: 59:27

That's it. That's it and the meaning. The meaning of each holiday is really what we need to get back to and the truth is we don't really celebrate Christian Christianity in our house we celebrate spirituality. And so what we're really doing is we created this holiday around Santa Claus, right? And Santa Claus coming so that's materialism at his so I do love your suggestion of really going back to you know in for me my invitation to the family members that we'll be celebrating or be home during that time period if they even are they may not even be here. You know, because everyone has new lives now and jobs and moving around. But maybe simply starting with them and say if there's one thing out of the holiday that you would want to make sure we did that would make you feel homey and loved and cared for and what would that be an each of us can offer that up? And then I can say okay, great. Well, we can do those things, but I I'll do this, which of these other things would you be able to do because If I do not have to be in charge anymore, and that's really owning of that, but I also, I'll have to check it, because it's a habit. And I think that's probably the last thing I want to just tap into with you is, how do people recognize their habits as habits and not necessities? Yeah, because sometimes our habits are numbing their or numbing out or not? Absolutely, yeah.

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:00:58

And I think when we're looking at our patterns of behavior, again, it comes, I always like to look at my behavior from I like to put on my like, little anthropologist hat on. And, you know, say if I was a person watching myself, and taking notes, like a little scientist, what observations would I make, right? I had a moment on my Debt Free Journey where I was walking through target. And I was just like, doing the thing that I had been raised with the thing that, you know, I had done for a long time, and I was walking along and I grabbed, you know, she was I shampoo body wash, I don't even remember, I have no idea what it was. But it was some kind of bottle of something. And I went, and I like, went to drop it in my car. And I went, Whoa. What made me decide on that bottle of shampoo or conditioner, whatever it was, right? What I picked that up off the shelf so fast, I didn't even I wasn't even cognizant, I don't, I don't even know how much time has elapsed. While I've been standing in this target, push it like I, we often do this thing in our life, the same way that we can drive to work every day, and we get to work. And we have no recollection of the drive whatsoever, unless something remarkable or different happens, right? But we can go through life in autopilot. And part of I think being conscious, and bringing in mindfulness into the practices around our money is identifying waves that we've we've sort of settled into routine. Because I don't think it's helpful to try to change everything all at once. I actually think it's really helpful to just become observant of what it is that we're doing, and the ways that we're doing it. And what is the little monkey mind chatter going on while I'm doing these things. Because again, you know, the skincare that you buy at Target is not going to make your boss stop being a jerk. Right? The coffee that you get in the morning to delay having to get into the office is not going to make Darlene and accounting less of a nuisance, right? The things that we're doing often have a purpose and a meaning behind them. But we're so used to just going through that flow and going through on autopilot, that I think if we can stop and just become observant we go. That's not really what I want. But that's not really how I want to put that energy into the world. What might I do differently? And how might I approach this a little bit differently? Do

Nicoa Coach: 1:03:46

you summarize how we teach how we coach, right? Becoming the observer of self. So I always tell people put your hand over your head. That's your true higher self. I love this vision that you created of being the observer taking notes. It's time for everybody to start questioning everything and start taking notes. And why do I buy that? You know, I made me think of that, that that story that's gotten passed down generation after generation, where the person putting the turkey into the oven at Thanksgiving had cut off the bottom of it. They call their mom and says why do we Why do we cut off the end of our turkey? And she goes Oh, because my oven was too small growing up and I didn't fit in there like what are you kidding me? We've been cutting it thinking that was part of the process, you know? So until we start becoming curious, wearing your hat of the investigator or the curiosity hat, we cannot uncover what really matters most to us. And that means coming back to what do you want? And why? Why is why do I want is Yeah, such a beautiful dialogue, everything is aligned, we could do this same topic. We've done it around money, we could do it around relationships, we could do it around food, we could do it around our bodies, you know, exercise or movement, as I prefer to say now. So I hope people will extrapolate these practices in this way of, of being and seeing and find their connection and their composure in order to have a really beautiful relationship with money at a minimum going forward, because that will affect every area of their life.

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:05:31

Sure, absolutely. And the point isn't really money. Money is just this vehicle to get us closer to what we really ultimately want out of life. It's to be more in alignment. So, you know, yes, we're talking about personal finance. And yes, we're talking about money. But the point isn't really about the money. It's about you and your life. And

Nicoa Coach: 1:05:50

it's about energy. Because everything is energy, and you're just trying to find your vibration that's going to attract the experiences on this planet, that give you the most fulfillment and satisfaction possible. That's the only reason you're here is to have an experience. And people like me, me and me, we're going to just give you as much insight and guidance to help you along this journey as possible. So maybe thank you for sharing your perspective. I love having conversations like this, would you share a little bit about what you're working on now, anything now this will come out in a few months. So I don't, I don't want anybody to miss anything. But tell us what's going on.

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:06:31

Really, the best way to get connected to the work that I'm doing is through my website. So meadowsweet money.com, but I do one on one mentoring, I do different programs through my Patreon. So I have wonderful supporters who make it possible for me to have my podcast. So that's a really easy free way to get connected with me is through my meadowsweet money podcast. Yeah, and I am doing lots of different projects and different, you know, things but I think the biggest thing is, is really getting a sense and a taste of what I do. And then if there's something that feels in alignment, then signing up for like a class or workshop or mentoring. So, you know, I'm I'm always here to support people in their journey, while you're role

Nicoa Coach: 1:07:19

modeling the journey. And that's the most powerful way. I mean, what did they say? 2024 is all about authenticity. And so you continuing to earn, on unravel who you were raised to believe you are until now you're continuing to weave that into a new way of being. You also offer a monthly newsletter, I believe. I do say yes,

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:07:41

I have. Yeah, I have lots of free stuff. There's always good information on my Instagram. But my newsletter is a great way to get more of the juicy stuff. You know, there's lots of good little tidbits in there. And I send those out twice a month, one on the new moon and one on the full moon.

Nicoa Coach: 1:07:57

Oh, I love that. Oh, how is this eclipse season been treating you?

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:08:02

I was exhausted leading up to it. And now I well really once we've moved into Aries season because I am an Aries rising I have feel like I've come alive again. Oh,

Nicoa Coach: 1:08:12

I that's really helped. So I think you and I were trying to do this interview right before the Eclipse. And yeah, neither one of us. I mean, I was clearly not grounded. I'm going through massive change in my life. And so I just really grateful that you've said yes to to trying again. Of

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:08:30

course I love talking with you. It's so much fun. It is fun. It's

Nicoa Coach: 1:08:34

easy and beautiful. And I love who you are and your creative style. I was gonna share with you when I did a little more research on you. I saw that you are also an illustrator. I am I am that little book called Little God by

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:08:52

little god of new Vyas. She's one of my very dear friends. She's a professor of poetry. And she is an extremely talented writer. She gave me the opportunity to illustrate her book. And then one of my other very dear friends Andrea cornice did incredible book on it's very short. It's like a beach read about the 1884 murder that happened in Sarasota County. And she is a historical fiction, but it's from the point of view of the sheriff at the time. And she gave me the opportunity to illustrate the cover because Sheriff Watson is a interesting, fascinating character. So I love that. Yeah, I I've been an artist my whole life. And it's something that I love to do. So I express myself through through art,

Nicoa Coach: 1:09:41

well, I think people will will find that they, the more they spend time with that feminine energy and really being creative. The whole hard masculine effort of managing and and dealing with money will become easier. So keeping that energetic balance between Yes, I can look at my money and I can celebrate my money. I can write a bill write a check for a bill and say thank you, thank you, thank you and, and go paint a painting about my gratitude. So if I can find those ways to integrate, it just reminded me when I saw that you were an illustrator. I was like, no wonder of course she is. Of course he is. And that's probably made your journey that a little bit easier for

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:10:23

sure. Yeah, absolutely.

Nicoa Coach: 1:10:26

I thank you very much. I'm gonna get all of this information that you've shared about Brad Clontz and Ted Hargraves, and your friend, Hannah, and she illustrated, we'll put all that information in the, in the show notes. And I'm just going to end with asking you what is the number one thing that you want to celebrate about your life by design?

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:10:49

Oh, gosh, um, the number one thing to celebrate, I think, for me, it's been doing what's unexpected and living my life in a way that is on my own terms. I am so fortunate that I get to, I get to live the life that I'm living right now. And there are certainly things that I would love to do and to grow into and to evolve into but for where I'm at in this moment, I feel so much peace and contentment and fulfillment in what I do, and the things that I want to fix feel so minimal and small, and very achievable and doable. So I think for me, living life on my own terms has been such a blessing and such a an incredible journey in and of itself. So yeah, for me, the celebration is really in the fact that I get to wake up every day. On my own definition of what my life I celebrate

Nicoa Coach: 1:11:53

that with you. I'm assuming that you finish that sentence, because then you froze. Yes, they did. So our editor Tom will come in and do his magic. Hopefully, we did great considering we had issues

Unknown: 1:12:08

up until like a couple minutes ago. It must be time to

Nicoa Coach: 1:12:12

wrap it up everybody again. It's been one hour and 11 minutes and that is my favorite number, the 1111 or 111. So let's celebrate on that note, and I send you off to continue being your fabulous self. I will see you online. Thank you my friend for being my guest on coffee with Nicoa.

MiMi Cirbusova: 1:12:29

Thank you.

Unknown: 1:12:33

Thanks for joining us for a caffeinated conversation. Subscribe to Coffee with Nicola for more stories from people living a life by design. You can also find inspiration on Instagram. Just follow coffee with Nicola and check out our website Coffee with nicoa.com and that's Nicoa N I CoA. We look forward to talking with you soon. And enjoy your coffee between now and then.