Episode 759: How To Start Over – The Mindset Shifts That Turn Setbacks Into Strength With Julie Gaeta

EBT 759 – Julie Gaeta

[00:00:00]  

You are going to want to download our bonus Supercut that gives you all the information you need to master Pinterest. Head to eatblogtalk.com/masterpinterest to download today. 

[00:00:14] Megan Porta

How do you rebuild your life and your mindset after everything changes? Julie Gaeta is a holistic health coach, mom of nine children and the force behind Becoming You With Julie, after a 22 year marriage ended, she started over completely from scratch. And what she discovered about mindset habits and resilience will inspire you no matter where you are on your journey. From energy protecting systems to routines that actually stick, this episode is full of simple yet powerful mindset shifts that set you up for real success. Enjoy the episode.

[00:00:54]   Intro

Hi food bloggers. I’m Megan Porta and this is Eat Blog Talk. Your space for support and spirit, collaboration and strategies to grow your blog and your freedom. Whether that’s personal, professional or financial. You are not alone on this journey.

[00:01:10]   

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[00:02:17]  Megan Porta

Julie, how are you today? Just down the road from me, we just learned I’m waving to you from Burnsville.

[00:02:24]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah. Hi, nice to meet you.

[00:02:26]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, so nice to meet you and always great to meet you, fellow food blogger. Locals too.

[00:02:32]  Julie Gaeta 

Yes. Yes.

[00:02:33]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Well, I’m super excited today because you’re going to talk about one of my favorite topics of all time. People listening are not surprised when I say mindset and just ways to get a handle on your mindset. So you can be more successful not just in your business, but in your life and living so, so super excited for it. But before we get into that, do you have a fun fact to share with us about yourself?

[00:02:58]  Julie Gaeta 

I do. I have been homeschooling for more than 25 years and I have nine children. And for a few of those years when the kids were younger, we actually went full time in an RV and traveled. It was amazing and hard and it taught me so much, but it was an incredible experience all around.

[00:03:19]  Megan Porta 

Oh, my gosh.  So how many children did you have in the rv?

[00:03:24]  Julie Gaeta 

Seven.

[00:03:25]  Megan Porta 

Okay. Oh my gosh.

[00:03:27]  Julie Gaeta 

I know, I know.

[00:03:28]  Megan Porta 

That’s a lot. Oh, my God.

[00:03:30]  Julie Gaeta 

It is a lot. They were little, so it was fun, you know, but it was still. It was a lot.

[00:03:35]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, yeah.

[00:03:36]  Julie Gaeta 

We were outside a lot.

[00:03:37]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. We travel in our RV as well a lot. We have a home as well, but we only have two children and I. Seven. Seven is. You must be super mom and superwoman.

[00:03:54]  Julie Gaeta 

I don’t know about that. But it.

[00:03:55]  Megan Porta 

You learned.

[00:03:57]  Julie Gaeta 

You lear to do it, you know?

[00:03:58]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. And you learn. I’m sure you took things away from that experience that.

[00:04:02]  Julie Gaeta 

Absolutely.

[00:04:03]  Megan Porta 

This helps you to streamline and just be more efficient and all of that.

[00:04:07]  Julie Gaeta 

Yes.

[00:04:07]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Very cool to learn that about you. Okay, so tell. Give us a little background on your blog. Your blog is called Becoming You with Julie, correct?

[00:04:15]  Julie Gaeta 

It is. Tell us that. Yes. So it started out kind of in. More of towards a lifestyle blog. I wanted to do food, but I was really scared to take that step into it just because I was told by so many people that it’s just oversaturated, not worth it, and I was just unsure what to do.

[00:04:34]   

I was just coming out of a 22 year marriage and I knew I wanted to do something, but it was very muddled in the beginning. So I ended up writing on Medium for a few years and then transfer that over to the blog. And then I started doing like a recipe a week and it just kind of grew from there.

[00:04:55]   

And I’ve been plant based for more than 20 years, so I decided to kind of take it a little bit further and the younger kids all got involved with it. It was kind of a family project and it’s turned into this recipe site now with some lifestyle still. I knew I wanted to help people and overcome things and build mindset and cook healthy and it all kind of comes together after the divorce too.

[00:05:23]   

I did do my holistic health coaching, so I wanted to kind of bring that all together and now we’re really gearing more towards food blogging. Okay. Yeah.

[00:05:32]  Megan Porta 

So how long has it been just a food blog or geared more toward that way?

[00:05:36]  Julie Gaeta 

Well, I started out on Squarespace, so the food that we were doing was just little. Squarespace is not really great for food blogging. So it’s really hard to. It’s hard to say an actual date. I’d say we started taking it really seriously about a year ago and moved over to WordPress about probably four or five months ago. So it’s. I feel like we’re just beginning, honestly, really taking it seriously and going. Going all in.

[00:06:04]  Megan Porta 

Amazing. Well, you’re here now. You’re path of growth. That has feel good, right?

[00:06:09]  Julie Gaeta 

It does, yes, absolutely.

[00:06:11]  Megan Porta 

So you mentioned that a long term marriage ended. How does that play into all of this?

[00:06:20]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah, so I’ve wanted to do food blogging, my gosh, since probably early 2000s, and it just really wasn’t supported in my marriage. So when that ended, I’m just like, well, it’s time for me to start going after what I want too. And the kids were getting a little bit older by that point.

[00:06:37]   

And when the divorce happened, it was very hard. I had to go through my stuff, you know, it’s just devastating. But at the same time I was growing and listening to positive things and understanding that I had a choice how to handle it and if I was going to move forward or stay where I was.

[00:06:54]   

And I chose to move forward. So. And mindset is everything for that. So that’s kind of where that came in.

[00:07:00]  Megan Porta 

So it set the stage for realizing like you need. This isn’t something you can just let sit on the back burner. You have to focus on mindset for life. But also, did this carry over into your blog and just getting going with that too?

[00:07:17]  Julie Gaeta 

Absolutely, yes. So I’ve been very intentional with just getting up in the mornings and deciding this is what I’m going to do. And even if it was scary, I just pushed myself to do hard things because I knew one foot in front of the other will eventually get me there. And yeah, I just kept challenging myself.

[00:07:36]   

I got different coaches and kept pushing forward. And like I said, I started out with more of a lifestyle in mind and wrote on Medium for quite some time, but then brought this over to the blog and have been pushing forward ever since. Not always in the right direction, but it eventually got me here.

[00:07:54]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, and that’s part of the story too. We’re not always going in. I mean, it’s like a roundabout, like a detour. Right. Like, sometimes we feel like we should be moving exactly toward the goal, but we’re just going in a roundabout way, and we’re learning lessons along the way that are really important.

[00:08:12]   

Most definitely, as well. Yeah.

[00:08:14]  Julie Gaeta 

Yes.

[00:08:15]  Megan Porta 

So it sounds like the ending of your marriage just kind of launched you into, okay, I am going to make this happen. I need to focus on mindset and. And, like, having a lot of children, too. Did you feel like, I don’t know, an extra sense of just needing to be on a track where you’re focusing on mindset because you had. You have to be. Otherwise I had to imagine. Otherwise you would crumble, right?

[00:08:43]  Julie Gaeta 

Absolutely. Yes. And, you know, they were all dependent on me to be okay, so I. I knew I needed to be okay, and it wasn’t really a choice. I just needed to move forward. So actually, what really kicked it off for me was Tony Robbins, believe it or not, I went to one of his seminars and.

[00:09:01]   

And I did his RPM. Is it RPM? Whatever the book is, I think it’s RPM. And I took a weekend. The first part was I took a weekend with my girlfriend in Atlanta and went out and had a very fun weekend and just kind of let go of all of that baggage and being married for that long and just had some fun because I did not leave ever in the marriage.

[00:09:23]   

I was always taking care of kids and, you know, working and doing that kind of stuff. So that weekend of fun was really fun. And then I took a weekend and just sat down and decided, you know, what is it that I want in my life? What can I do? What have I been doing?

[00:09:40]   

And, you know, once I figured that out, what I wanted, well, what do I need to do to get there? So I laid it all out, my priorities, and kind of worked backwards from that and set it up from there. So, yeah.

[00:09:53]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. So it sounds like a reset, and then just like, okay, what, like, getting real with yourself. What do I want? What do I need? And then probably also, what do I not want anymore? And exactly how to move forward. Yeah. Through that. Oh, gosh, that’s.

[00:10:12]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah.

[00:10:12]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Life sometimes brings us those times when we just need to reflect and get really real with ourselves for sure. In order to move forward. So, yeah. Thank you for sharing all of that.

[00:10:25]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah, of course.

[00:10:26]  Megan Porta 

So can you talk a little bit about resilience? Because, like, your situation was heavy, but that’s not the end of, like, life keeps going and throwing stuff at you. It’s not like, well, I’m done with hard stuff. That’s not reality. So how do you keep exactly going over and over?

[00:10:46]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah. So there was. After the divorce, I just decided, you know, I’m going to keep moving forward. So I put challenges in front of myself that were hard, just things that really were not directly to the path where I am right now. Like, I did lifeguarding, a lifeguarding course, and became a lifeguard and a swim instructor out of nowhere.

[00:11:06]   

And that was a challenge that was really hard to pass that certification. And I took up swimming, and I started doing half marathons and just different things that would challenge me and keep me going. I think always having some type of goal in front of you is really important because it’s just. You have a purpose to move forward, and it’s a good thing for me, at least.

[00:11:30]   

And with the kids, you know, I really needed to push myself and show them that just because this happened, we can still be okay. We’re still going to do our routines. We’re still going to have our family nights on Saturdays. We’re still going to do movie nights. We’re still going to have a family and keep moving forward.

[00:11:48]   

And I’m going to figure this out one way or another. And that built resilience and showing up and doing hard things taught me I can do hard things even if I don’t want to. Even if it doesn’t feel good, it’s still something that needs to happen.

[00:12:01]  Megan Porta 

So, yeah, what a good example for your kids. Just like, mom’s not going to let this defeat her. And I’m sure that carries over into their lives, too. Just having that example in you will affect their lives so positively now and later. So good for you. Yes, for sure it will. I love that you did the lifeguarding thing and got into swimming, because that.

[00:12:27]   

I mean, that doesn’t relate to, like, what. The problems at hand, but it must have been something like a spark, like, ooh, I need to lean into this. What. What kind of spoke to you about those two things?

[00:12:39]  Julie Gaeta 

So I have wanted to go learn how to swim. I mean, I’ve always swam, but I’ve wanted to learn how to actually swim in a lap pool under the water. I just never really. I never took classes or anything. So I went to a master’s class, and I had been processing it, like, should I do it?

[00:12:58]   

Should I not? And believe it or not, the hardest part was, like, I did not want to get into a swimsuit. That was the barrier for me. I was like, if I can do that, I can do it, because those swimsuits are so unforgiving they are. So. So I showed up on Masters or to the Master’s, and it was.

[00:13:15]   

I was swimming with my head above the water and it was. It was quite the show. But I. A couple girls that I met there took me in and they were lifeguards and it just kind of developed from there and they encouraged me and we. We’re still friends today. It’s, it’s. It was really nice to have that support, especially during that time, because we were still not quite divorced when I started that, and it was just.

[00:13:39]   

That’s a hard time. So having something to kind of push towards and work towards was really good. And I didn’t a swim instructor for very long. It just wasn’t my thing. But it was very well needed in that time. And I think that’s the biggest part is just finding something to kind of grasp onto and push forward when you’re going through a difficult time.

[00:14:00]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Do you think it’s kind of a little bit of a healthy distraction too? Just something that’s challenging, that’s healthy, that you can focus on? That’s not your problem?

[00:14:10]  Julie Gaeta 

Absolutely, yeah. Yes, definitely. Yeah. I think that especially stepping out of that. Your comfort zone, you know, and that was definitely outside my comfort zone. And then I felt, you know, when I showed up in the swimsuit, not happy with how I looked, but I did it anyway. That feels good. You know, it’s stacking up those wins. It’s just a really positive thing to push out of your comfort zone.

[00:14:31]  Megan Porta 

Oh, so much girl power here I am. Loving this, Julie. Okay, talk about habits a little bit, because with what you’ve been through and like, honestly, the journeys of all of us, I think habits are so important. So talk about that a little bit. Yeah.

[00:14:48]  Julie Gaeta 

So I’ve been doing my habits for quite a few years, but since the divorce, again, I really anchored in on those. I just. My morning habits and my evening habits are the ones that ground me, and if I miss them, the whole day just kind of derails. My morning habits don’t always look the same, but they’re always some sort of something that’s going to anchor me and something that’s going to make me feel like I achieved something.

[00:15:12]   

So one of the easiest things that I found is getting up and making my bed immediately. It doesn’t matter if I’m, you know, if somebody’s coming over, not coming over, the bed is going to be made and it’s such a small thing and it takes a few minutes to do. It’s not a big deal.

[00:15:26]   

It doesn’t have to look perfect. It’s just done. And then I’ll usually do like a walk and. Or yoga or something that will just make me feel like. And currently it’s swimming, but something that makes me feel like you accomplished something. You know, you did good today. This is a great start to the day.

[00:15:46]   

And more than that with the habits, it’s also with the eating side of it too. Like, I’ll always do meal prep during the week so I can come back and there’s food in the fridge so I can eat a healthy breakfast. I can throw together a stir fry and I have the sauce already made.

[00:16:00]   

So it’s those little things that, that, those habits that just kind of help your days and your weeks move forward really well.

[00:16:08]  Megan Porta 

Have you read Atomic Habits?

[00:16:10]  Julie Gaeta 

I have, yes.

[00:16:10]  Megan Porta 

Okay. I was gonna say, I think that that’s. That’s a life changing book for anyone who feels like they don’t have habits in place. Read that book.

[00:16:20]  Julie Gaeta 

Absolutely. It’s one of my favorites. I’ve read it a few times. It’s. It’s so good. And I’ll probably read it again.

[00:16:26]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s one that I do read regularly.

[00:16:30]  Julie Gaeta 

Just. Yeah.

[00:16:30]  Megan Porta 

It never gets old and I need to be reminded of these things. Fair.

[00:16:34]  Julie Gaeta 

Absolutely. Yes. Those reminders are so helpful.

[00:16:37]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. And one of the things he talks about in that book is that just kind of like. I don’t know how he words it, but leaning back on your habits when things feel out of control and that kind of sets you on a path of rhythm again. Like, okay, just knowing that you get up and you work out in some way and make your bed.

[00:16:55]   

I mean, it’s as simple as that. That can set the tone for your whole week if you can just remember to do those things that make you feel good and accomplished and.

[00:17:05]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. The other side of that too, though, is that it is really easy to fall off too. You know, it is just as easy to get up and grab the phone and look at analytics or whatever.

[00:17:16]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:17:17]  Julie Gaeta 

And I know when I’m doing that kind of stuff, I won’t have the same kind of day.

[00:17:20]  Julie Gaeta 

So I really try to be intentional with that.

[00:17:22]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. The pain of having a crappy day usually sets me back on track. Like, okay, I. I do need to lean on these habits more and.

[00:17:30]  Julie Gaeta 

Right.

[00:17:31]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:17:31]  Julie Gaeta 

So true.

[00:17:32]  Megan Porta 

Yep. And you talked about having a nighttime habit or habits as well. What do you do there?

[00:17:37]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah. So that might look like yoga. It’s usually like, I have. I go with a block schedule. So I usually will have my blocks of time, family time and I’ll do in the evening. I like to do meal like a chia seed pudding or something for the morning so that’s ready. Or make an herbal tea to put in the fridge for the next morning.

[00:17:56]   

Something that’s going to make next. The next day better. I’ll maybe I’ll tidy up the kitchen, of course. Maybe throw a load of laundry in. Something that I kind of feel accomplished with. And then I will plan my day the next day. Of course, you know, the most important things, the three most important things.

[00:18:11]   

But it’s usually a lot longer than three things. I wish I could narrow it down to three, but I haven’t quite mastered that yet. So. Yeah, it’s just that kind of stuff. And then, you know, winding down with yoga or just relaxation, gratitude, journaling. Something that’s going to just kind of calm me and just the little things like turning the temperature down in the room and you know, no blue lights and or you know, just keeping it really calm at the end the last hour. Yeah, that helps a lot.

[00:18:42]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, absolutely. It sounds like you’re so intentional with everything, which really pays off. And having a house full of children too. I’m sure you, you have to.

[00:18:53]  Julie Gaeta 

Not a choice.

[00:18:54]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, yeah. The efficiency and streamlining your life. But.

[00:18:58]  Julie Gaeta 

Right.

[00:18:59]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. That’s great that you stay on top of that.

[00:19:00]  Julie Gaeta 

It forces you too.

[00:19:01]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, yeah.

[00:19:03]  Julie Gaeta 

But it’s not perfect by any means. Don’t get me wrong. Yeah, yeah. Do you have work in progress?

[00:19:08]  Megan Porta 

Do you have suggestions for people who have a hard time with habits just maybe starting small?

[00:19:13]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah, definitely. So what I love are 10 minute habits. And it doesn’t have to. When you first start, it’s just taking 10 minutes to do yoga, 10 minutes to journal, 10 minutes to listening to something that’s inspiring or 10 minutes to read something that’s inspiring. Just take 10 minutes to do something in the morning that’s gonna make you feel like it’s a win and you keep stacking those little wins and I would definitely not jump into it like doing five, six different things and committing to that because that’s what I do.

[00:19:42]   

And I’ve learned, I’ve learned not to do that because I like to jump all in and it sets you up for failure. It’s those little things that really help make a difference. And in fact, with a couple girlfriends I, we do kind of did this little mastermind group and we check in at night to say these were my three wins.

[00:19:59]   

From the night and then we check in in the morning and we say, you know what, what was our win for the, for the day or whatever. It’s just, it’s a really nice thing to have accountability to do something small, something as small as, you know, I made somebody smile today. It doesn’t have huge.

[00:20:16]   

It’s just something that you can know that you’re, you’re growing, you’re doing something intentional and you know, it’s a habit that you try to be purposeful with.

[00:20:25]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, that accountability piece is so helpful if you can tap into that.

[00:20:30]  Julie Gaeta 

It is.

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[00:21:40]  Megan Porta 

Okay, I want to hear about the 80/20 rule because I know you like to focus on that and how it plays in to helping with your mindset.

[00:21:49]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah. So when I first started everything, I tend to jump into things like I said. And when I first started this whole thing I was on Medium. I was. And then I jumped into all every single social media channel I could possibly find and I was like all over the place. And I had at one point 4 different coaches plus an organizer trying to help me figure out what to do.

[00:22:13]   

I was just like, okay, this is going to happen no matter what. And then I started reading E. Myth and the E. Myth Revisited. Is that what it’s called?

[00:22:22]  Megan Porta 

I think, yeah.

[00:22:23]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah. And that was so eye opening. Benjamin Hardy, he was another one that really helped me with the 80/20. It just to understand that you have to focus in on what you want and you can’t be everywhere. You have to be somewhere, but not everywhere. And so I really had to bring that all in, which wasn’t easy.

[00:22:42]   

And it’s still not to this day because I get distracted. Really easy with this looks great. This is what I need to do and let’s do this. But it’s. I found, and I’m finding that when you bring it into the 20%, that will actually move the needle. That is what matters. It’s not doing everything. It’s trying to stay really focused on what, what you’re trying to do and what that goal is.

[00:23:06]  Megan Porta 

If somebody is struggling with where, how to figure out what the 20% is, do you have recommendations for how to go about even figuring out what it is? Yeah.

[00:23:18]  Julie Gaeta 

So what I like to do is start with the end. What is it that I’m trying to accomplish? So like if it’s meal prep or if it’s blogging, I want to find out what my end result is and then I kind of work backwards from there and there’s a lot of excess in there.

[00:23:33]   

And that’s where Benjamin Hardy really helped me with the 10x book. I don’t know if you’ve read it or not.

[00:23:38]  Megan Porta 

That is an amazing book.

[00:23:40]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah. So that was really helpful in just determining, you know, what is it exactly that I’m looking for and what is extra here, what do I need to really focus on to get this done. And I found that ChatGPT has been incredibly helpful with that personally. I can list in everything that I have that I want to get done and he can say, well, this is what you need to do.

[00:24:03]   

It’s just, it’s so helpful to see it from a different perspective than, you know, all in your head. If you just write it all out. I think that really helps because there, there are so many things to achieving a goal and a lot of it is extra.

[00:24:19]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, I know. I love that you’re leaning on Chat GPT because it is, it’s like a non human perspective that just write the facts and it’s exactly no emotion, emotion out of it.

[00:24:30]  Julie Gaeta 

Right.

[00:24:30]  Megan Porta 

Yes, yes, I know. I’ve, I, I have leaned on it as well for goals and helping to shape what I focus on and what I don’t focus on too.

[00:24:40]  Julie Gaeta 

Right.

[00:24:40]  Megan Porta 

So yeah, that’s.

[00:24:41]  Julie Gaeta 

It makes a huge difference.

[00:24:43]  Megan Porta 

It does. And then reading books like you do, I think just keeping on top of books like Atomic Habits and you mentioned 10x is better than. Yes, 10x is better than 2x and then.

[00:24:55]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah, yeah.

[00:24:56]  Megan Porta 

Have you read The Gap in the Gain?

[00:24:57]  Julie Gaeta 

I’m assuming I have it on audible.

[00:25:00]  Megan Porta 

Yes. Yeah, that’s a great one.

[00:25:03]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah, it is.

[00:25:04]  Megan Porta 

And Then E-Myth Revisited. I kind of forgot about that book. It’s been so long since I read that. I should. I’m going to write it down. I need to reread that.

[00:25:11]  Julie Gaeta 

Yes, yes. Another one is Seven Habits. I go back to that one all the time.

[00:25:17]  Megan Porta 

An oldie but goodie.

[00:25:18]  Julie Gaeta 

Yes, definitely.

[00:25:19]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Okay. Now I’m inspired to get some of my old books out and read them again. Thank you, Julie.

[00:25:25]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah, of course, of course.

[00:25:27]  Megan Porta 

And then once you start focusing on some of that 20% that actually matters and moves you toward your goals, letting the 80% fall away, doesn’t that feel so good? And then you’re like, bye, bye. I didn’t need you and I didn’t even know it.

[00:25:41]  Julie Gaeta 

Exactly. Exactly. Yes. It’s like I can look back a year ago and I’m like, what was I doing? What was I thinking? And it’s so much more focused now. And I know in a year from now it’ll be the same thing. It’s just. It’s always changing. It’s always evolving.

[00:25:54]  Megan Porta 

So always dream lighting. Which kind of leads to my next question, which is systems. What systems do you have in your life and business that help support all of this?

[00:26:04]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah, so I kind of have a system for everything. I. And that the E-Myth book was very helpful with that just kind of really like with social media, I was everywhere and getting nowhere and I’ve come to the realization that I need to be definitely on the website and I need to be in one place because I can do little things here and there, but I really can’t give it all to everything because there’s just nothing left to give.

[00:26:29]   

So having a system which again I use ChatGPT for, very helpful. And I just break it down like I do it for having that framework for meal planning for the business, for doing recipe, the blah, you know, just writing the recipe templates out. Everything has, you know, we. We follow a framework for everything.

[00:26:52]   

And I just found that even with planning, the weeks with. With my kids and just doing block planning, I always make sure to get it in if it has. If I have a system and I have the framework for everything and I have. It just helps to be organized that way.

[00:27:07]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:27:07]  Julie Gaeta 

So yeah, yeah.

[00:27:09]  Megan Porta 

Family planning and blocking definitely carries over into business too, I found. Do you agree?

[00:27:15]  Julie Gaeta 

Absolutely. Yes. And I have a couple of younger ones that, you know, help me out from time to time and it’s just, it’s wonderful to have that time to spend together with recipe testing and whatever it might be because we’re Doing this anyway in real life, eating food that we’re testing. So it’s.

[00:27:32]   

It’s really being able to block that time, even together, really works well. It’s just very efficient. And it’s. It’s. It’s checking up all the boxes for spending time with them and getting things done with work, too.

[00:27:43]  Megan Porta 

So that I always like to ask moms this, who also run businesses and have busy lives. Do you have any tips for just being an engaged busy mom? For just, like, streamlining? Like, maybe it’s something you do in the mornings or some sort of prep that you have to share?

[00:28:04]  Julie Gaeta 

Well, I think probably the biggest one is with food prep. We’re always spending time in the kitchen, and that’s with homeschooling. That’s with everything. Like, they’re in the kitchen all the time, and I am, too, because of what I do, you know, so having that time together and, you know, like, when we drive places, we’re listening to audibles together.

[00:28:23]   

Just have. Making the most of the time to educate and learn and have fun together, too. That’s a good question. I’m sure I have many. I can’t think of one right now, but I love.

[00:28:37]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:28:38]  Julie Gaeta 

Okay.

[00:28:39]  Megan Porta 

I feel like you moms with a lot of children and again, like, running multifaceted businesses are the ones who just have all of the, like, I don’t know, just little tips that I would never think about. Because you have to. You have to.

[00:28:54]  Julie Gaeta 

I have to, yeah. It’s just, like, probably normal for me. I don’t know. It just. Yeah. I’m very intentional with making everything. Like, I try to do things together all the time. It’s like we’re just together and we do things and we get the things done that we need to get done because we’re together and because of the homeschooling.It really does. We’re always together, so we. I try to make it good, you know?

[00:29:17]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. So how do you do if you’re homeschooling? How do you have help when you do, like, this call or. You have to get focus work done.

[00:29:26]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah. So we have blocks of time for different things. And, like, if I’m out writing, they’ll come with me and do their stuff. We go to, like, Caribou or to the library or whatever it might be. And my youngest now is 11, so it’s not as hard as what it’s been. So, yeah, there’s definitely time blocks for things.

[00:29:45]   

Like, right now, they’re downstairs doing their stuff. At least I think they are. They know what they’re supposed to be doing, but there’s accountability for that, so we’ll get that checked out.

[00:29:59]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. I love it. Yeah. All right, so energy. Let’s talk about energy, because in my opinion, is the most valuable resource. I just have learned over the years that I need to protect my energy above almost all other things. What are your thoughts on that?

[00:30:15]  Julie Gaeta 

Yes. Yeah. So I definitely struggle with that one a lot because I am, like. Even with friends, like, I can. I can be on the phone and I will listen for three hours if somebody’s going through something. And I empathize so much with them, you know, and I just. It kind of takes away what I need to do, and there’s times for that, but it can’t be all the time.

[00:30:38]   

So it’s just kind of putting boundaries around that kind of stuff. And I think I would say, you know, comparison is a huge part of it, especially with food blogging. It’s like when I first started, it’s like, oh, my gosh, these people know exactly what they’re doing, and it looks amazing. Amazing. And how am I ever going to do that?

[00:30:55]   

And just the outside opinions and all the endless distractions that there are. It’s really hard to focus when you’re thinking about that kind of stuff. So I found that it’s really important to be intentional, like, to. I don’t ever get up and start scrolling. I learned that the hard way. I. I never allow myself to do that because that’s not starting the day good.

[00:31:17]   

And I’m going to start out the day feeling like I’m inadequate for a lot of reasons, you know, whatever it might be. And I think, like, I’ve gotten to the point in my life now, like, even with friendships, I definitely love talking with my friends. I just have. I have a boundary around the times that I do and how much time I can do it, because it.

[00:31:40]   

It matters. If I’m going to get this. Work, a business and have a family, I only have a certain amount of time. And that’s just. That’s. That’s my biggest struggle. But I think it’s definitely worth realizing, you know, sitting down and kind of evaluating where your time is going in the day and how to best, you know, protect that. Because it matters. Yeah.

[00:32:01]  Megan Porta 

All of those little things that you mentioned, comparison conversations with friends, that they might seem like they’re not stripping you of your energy, but they secretly are. So.

[00:32:11]  Julie Gaeta 

They are. Yes.

[00:32:12]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Finding what is taking your energy from you and then.

[00:32:16]  Julie Gaeta 

Right.

[00:32:16]  Megan Porta 

I think awareness. Right. Just being aware of what is definitely. Yeah.

[00:32:20]  Julie Gaeta 

Yes.

[00:32:20]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:32:21]  Julie Gaeta 

It’s all about awareness, for sure. Yeah. And it’s easy to get, you know, lost in that a little bit. It’s. It’s easy to spend a couple hours talking on the phone and it’s, it’s fun, you know, a lot of the times it’s fun to get lost in that kind of stuff, but at the same time, if you have a schedule and you’re trying to get things done, it’s just not possible to do that kind of stuff because you only have so much energy in a day, you.

[00:32:43]  Megan Porta 

Know, so, yeah, you have to be careful with what you give your energy out to. And I feel like it is. There’s such a learning curve too, and it’s a process of learning and growing and just that awareness thing that we talked about, becoming aware and then like, okay, I’m aware that my two hour conversation stripped a lot of my energy.

[00:33:03]   

So growing from there and then the next week you learn even more. It’s absolutely constant process.

[00:33:10]  Julie Gaeta 

Yes. Yeah, me too. Definitely.

[00:33:15]  Megan Porta 

Okay, so I, I feel like you have just streamlined your life, your mindset. Are there any other tools you have, like, you’ve mentioned books, Tony Robbins, anything else that just sets the tone for you for your year, month, week, day?

[00:33:34]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah, it kind of, it’s like I, I like to attend seminars that are always, you know, kind of just uplifting. Tony Robbins was huge with that. And there’s. I just went and saw Ed Mylett, which is another favorite of mine. I just. He’s another favorite. I, I really. Yeah, I, I just enjoy being around people that are just inspirational and always moving and accomplishing things.

[00:34:03]   

And so that’s really uplifting. And I always also. I think we talked about this already, but I’d like to always have something that I’m working towards, just some type of goal, whether it’s physical or even like with. I did a mind group with my friends and it was just a year of focusing each month on time management or family, you know, getting closer with the family, always having something to kind of, kind of just keep me on track, you know. Right now I just signed up for a two mile swim in Lake Superior next year, which is going to be very challenging.

[00:34:41]   

I’m hoping I can do it, but excited to do it. So that gets me in the pool and it just makes me be the kind of person that, you know, the kind of person that does a two mile swim in Lake Superior has to have discipline. So I need to be disciplined and I need to be showing up each morning to the pool or I’m not going to be able to do it.So I love having those bigger picture goals to work towards and continually, continually go through.

[00:35:08]  Megan Porta 

So, yeah, that’s so inspiring. That whole frame reframe of what kind of person does X and then lining yourself up to be that person by just doing it and exactly committing to it. Yeah, yeah, that’s, yeah. So inspiring.

[00:35:27]  Julie Gaeta 

Thank you.

[00:35:27]  Megan Porta 

Is there anything else that would be helpful, do you think, for listeners who want to get a handle on their mindset, Julie, before we start saying goodbye?

[00:35:35]  Julie Gaeta 

Yeah. So I think it’s just being very intentional with what you want in your life. You know, I like to start from the end. Who do I want to be in two years? Who do I want to be in five years? And it takes a certain, again, a certain kind of person to be, you know, hopefully the better version of yourself in two years or five years.

[00:35:55]   

And it’s constantly working towards that and putting things in front of you that are hard and challenging. So it forces you to grow in a good way. And I think it’s all about growth and continuing to educate and learn and risking and setting out for things that are scary because when you do hard things, you know, you can do more hard things and it’s just, it’s. It becomes easier each time. So that’s kind of what I would say. Yeah.

[00:36:26]  Megan Porta 

Well, thank you. You have such an inspiring story, but also you’re just an inspiring person, I think…

[00:36:32]  Julie Gaeta 

Thank you.

[00:36:33]  Megan Porta 

Listeners will be really encouraged by everything you talked about. So we thank you for sharing everything you did today.

[00:36:41]  Julie Gaeta 

I appreciate that. Thank you.

[00:36:43]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, you’ve already given us tons of inspiration, but I do like to ask my guests at the end if they have a favorite quote or additional words of inspiration. Do you have anything for us additionally?

[00:36:52]  Julie Gaeta 

I do. I have a current quote sitting right next to my bed. I have. I change my quotes often, but I’ve had this one for a little while and that is we generate fears while we sit. We overcome them by action by Dr. Henry Link. And I think that kind of sums it all up.It’s a powerful quote.

[00:37:11]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, that sums you up too. It sounds like. We’ll put together a show notes page for you, Julie. Okay. So if you want to go look at those, we’ll have everything we talked about today. You can head to eatblogtalk.com/becomingyouwithjulie. Tell everyone where they can find you, Julie.

[00:37:31]  Julie Gaeta 

Right now. A little bit on Instagram, but mostly on becomingyouwitthjulie.com of course. Pinterest but that’s about it right now.

[00:37:40]  Megan Porta 

Sounds good. Everyone go check out Julie. And again, thanks for being here Julie. And thank you so much for listening food bloggers. I will see you next time.

[00:37:50]   

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Eat Blog Talk. If today’s episode stops, sparked an idea for you, snap a screenshot, post it on Instagram Stories and tag me Eat Blog Talk. I love seeing what resonates with you. I will see you next time.