Erica Humphrey
Founder of the Erica Effect (Author, Motivational Speaker & Fitness Professional)
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What is your story?
I love this question, what is my story? My story is ever evolving and changing. My story changes as I continue to change. I believe answering this question is one of the most important questions we can answer in our life and here is why. Our story, our internal story about who we believe we are, how and what we think about ourselves is powerful. These beliefs inspire specific emotions and actions that create outcomes in our life. Allow me to give you an example. If we believe we are strong, resilient and capable of overcoming any life challenge or have the ability to achieve any life dream, then we are going to put ourselves into alignment with activities supporting that belief. We may push ourselves to grow through our comfort zone to complete that activity that pushes us closer towards our goal. We may make that cold call, attend that networking event, have that tough conversation, attend that workshop or motivate ourselves through a workout. The possibilities are endless. Or on the flip side, If we are telling ourselves a negative and defeating story such as; we are worthless or not deserving of love then we may attract unhealthy relationships in our lives. Whatever the reality may be for us in every moment, we need to know that no matter what has happened to us or around us in our life â°ÃÃ we get to choose our own story. No one else can define this better for us than us. We must remember our personal power and give ourselves permission to define our story. I often ask others, what is your story? My story is one of being the under dog, the person who everyone thought wouldn't make it in life, let alone become a published author working with Chapters Canada, a Keynote Speaker specializing in youth advocacy and become a saught after award-winning physical fitness expert. It is true I believed I wouldn't make it in one chapter in my life. You see, I was born into a cycle of abuse, addictions and mental health challenges. Growing up through the lifecycle that I was born into was tough. I found myself adopting similar behaviours, attitudes, and emotions from observing my parents. One crisis event led to another as I watched my parents abusive relationship unfold. At a young age, I was in multiple women shelters with my mom. We were living in survival mode. Growing up and going to school was hard for me.It was a struggle to be present in the moment and focus on school work. I was so distracted with the events at home and felt unsafe, afraid and alone. I had a hard time making friends and feeling secure. Towards the end of elementary schools days I found myself giving into peer pressure, bullying, was skipping school and using substances. One influence led to another. At that time in my life, there was a specific traumatic life event that involved my parents separation. Witness it was brutal and it left me feeling abandoned, traumatized, confused and lost. In my book, I call the pain within us our inner villain. My inner villain was stronger than ever and I began looking for connection and love anywhere I could find it. At 14 and 15, my life had gotten worse, I found myself being mixed in with the wrong crowd. I was skipping school, taking hard substances, getting into physical fights and committing crimes. I was sentenced to multiple juvenile detention centres, missing lots of school and life skill development. It wasn't until the last detention I was in, where my mom influenced me to make a new choice and go live in a group home. A big part within me didn't want to go, but a little spark within me influenced me to make a new choice - later I found out that the inner spark was my inner superhero. When I arrived at the group home, I looked myself in the mirror and decided right then and there that I was going to create a new life for myself. That I was going to beat the system that I was born in. One of the biggest catalysts for creating change and the recovery road for me was changing my story. It was changing the way I thought about myself and others. It was choosing to align with beliefs that led me to taking actions on self-care, forgiveness, health, happiness and overall wellbeing. I began to pursue activities involving personal development that led to an awakening in my life years later. So you see, I can't advocate enough about the power of our story and the impactful it has on our life and the lives around us. The story we believe about our selves opens up doors for us and we give ourselves the permission to walk through them and guess what, we have the power to recreate our story anytime we choose to! I challenge others to write out their life story today and write out positive beliefs about themselves allow them to step into their authentic self to live a healthy, happy, loving and successful life!
In summary, take the time to figure out your story, because when you do that great life experiences will naturally happen. After all, we are doing our life work and life has this amazing way of supporting us through.
Who is your favourite superhero?
This is an easy answer! My favourite superhero is my mom!
It is not secret that we wouldnâ°Ãªt be alive today without our mothers. My mom has cared for me since the beginning of time. She has stood by my side and has supported me through my challenges and dreams. There was a defining moment in my life where I had to make a choice. This choice would impact my life for years and the two options could take me into two very different directions. My mom encouraged me to make a choice to go live in a group home. I was terrified to take this leap of faith and move to a new city and enter in new environments. Even though inside I was terrified, I made the choice to go live in the group home. There was something inside me telling me to do this. My fear was more powerful in that moment, but I knew if I kept on the same path I wouldn't see different results so I took a leap of faith. Choosing to go live in a residential program through Western Area Youth Services was a life changer and saver for me. This program provided a different platform of existence for me. WAYS, provide resources, programming, support, encouragement, and friendship. I thank my mom every day for encouraging me to go into this program. What is really cool and something I am very proud of today is I have partnered with WAYS. A percentage of my work goes back into this non-profit mental health organization for youth and parents. If you haven't already, please go to http://ways.on.ca/. and learn about this amazing organization.
What are you most excited about?
I am most excited about how we get to choose how to think about life. One of the first personal growth books I read was â°ÃÃ think and grow richâ°ÃÂ by Napoleon Hill. Through reading this book I realized that I can learn how to control my thoughts. I have the presence within to choose and select which thoughts I want to aligned with. In my book, I Am My Own Superhero, I share how everyone has an inner superhero and inner villain. Our inner superhero is the side of us that is full of joy, peace, clarity, purpose, compassion, forgiveness, strength, etc. Our inner villain is the side of us that is insecure, lost, sad, lacks trust, jealous, scared, etc. Whichever side we listen to and align with has the power. I have been on the journey of transforming my inner villain and creating peace within me. You see I was at a war within me so many years. It wasn't until I practice being self-aware and mindful of my thoughts that this transformation became possible. I truly believe we are naturally designed for personal growth and destined to out grow pain in our life. Like our physical growing pains when we are a young child, we are born to strengthen our mind, heart, and soul. What personal growth activities are you doing today that bring you into alignment to health, happiness, love, and success?
How important have mentors been in your career?
Choosing to work with Mentors has been a game changer for my life and business. Mentors are a key ingredient towards my personal growth and self-development. We learn life through others, so it is critical to find healthy, happy and successful people to learn from. When I was on the pursuit of transformation and recreation. I had a lot of inner work to do. I had to reprogram my mind to live a different life. I constantly looked for successful people to learn from so I could unlearn and relearn new thoughts patterns and behaviours. Mentors love sharing their knowledge with others who are hungry to do and be better. Seeking out mentors opened many doors for me. I learned new skills, gained new work experience, formed friendships and learned key life and business skills that has led to my success today. Iâ°Ãªve connected with strong business, spiritual, relationship focused mentors people who have different perspectives and success stories from which I can learn from. Everyone needs a mentor (s) I've got to mention to remember, that the best mentor is going to be you because of the concept of personal power. We must learn how to be our own mentor because at the end of the day, we know ourselves best. We know what areas we need to work on it in our. We've got to be honest with ourselves to achieve what we need in life. I'm excited to hear about who your mentors have been!
If you had to give one key ingredient to your recipe for success, what would that include?
Intuition is the #1 key ingredient that has lead the creation of success of my business and my life today. I use the power of intuition everyday and it has never failed me. Think of it like an internal compass that is guiding you to make decisions and take action that is aligned with your life purpose and goals for that day. As you've read, there was times in my life when I felt completely off course and I didn't listen to my intuition. I have learned through pain the power of my intuition and today when I feel my intuition I always honour it and it pays off in dividends. Listening to my intuition is something I feel near my heart. It is a strong sense of knowing where I need to be or where I need to go. Practice listening to your intution today, You won't be disappointed!
To learn more about Erica and preview her book "I am my own superhero" visit http://www.ericahumphrey.com/