Olympic Lifting, Six Businesses, And Putting Art on the Moon with Justine Martin

NOTE: This podcast was transcribed by an AI tool. Please forgive any typos or errors.

Justine Martin
[00:00:00] Hi everyone today, we're talking to Justine Martin. One of my favorite Aussies. She's one of those people who can do a lot, like running five businesses a lot. But is so relatable, so honest and just a lovely person who has so much to teach about how she really does everything. Oh, and she does this and more as you'll find out with multiple serious diagnoses.
So we'll talk about the behind the scenes of getting a lot done when you have limited time and energy, all sorts of tools that she uses every day to stay ahead. And at the end, she opens up about her weight loss journey after gaining weight, due to a rare condition that she has. Please enjoy this conversation with a truly remarkable human being. That's packed with information that everyone can use. And a ton of love
And visit Andrea Hanson coaching.com for more on Justine Martin resources. We talked about in the show and transcripts from today's episode.
[00:01:00] Welcome to the Live Your Life, Not Your Diagnosis podcast. I'm Andrea Hanson, author, motivational speaker. And master certified coach. When I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, I was told. I would never reach my goals. But I did. And I'm on a mission to prove that life with a chronic illness can still be expansive and quite remarkable.
Everyone has their own unique path. I'm talking to people, living with a chronic illness that come from different backgrounds, have different points of view and are achieving amazing life goals of all kinds. to you inspire you? To achieve what you thought was impossible. These stories are raw. Uncensored and judgment free. This means that there may be some adult language sensitive topics and possible triggers for listeners. Listener discretion is advised
[00:01:47] Andrea: I'm here today with Justine Martin to be resilient means the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties to show toughness. This definition has been the cornerstone of [00:02:00] Justine Martins, extraordinary journey over the last decade, a journey, no one could fathom, but in her words, this journey has changed Justine.
For the better 11 years ago, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Then underwent three heart surgeries and battled three primary cancers. Justine was told that she would never work again, but that was never an option for her Justine, catapulted herself into the world of business. She not only changed her life to give it purpose and direction, but also inspired those around her with her story after learning how to paint and use her artists.
She has become a multi award-winning artist and found the strength and determination to take control of her financial future. She now runs three businesses. Justine Martin is a resilience consultant and speaker, a professional artist, a mom of two grandmother of six, and the queen of [00:03:00] resilience. Welcome Justine to the show.
I happen to know that you actually haven't even put everything that you do this bio.
[00:03:09] Justine: No, I haven't been it's actually now five businesses, so
[00:03:13] Andrea: Oh my gosh.
[00:03:15] Justine: to be six.
[00:03:16] Andrea: Oh my, I mean so much to talk about. I cannot wait to dive into it, but we actually were just talking about something before we got on the air, which is you just won a competition and you are getting ready to enter a new one. So tell me what that is all about
[00:03:31] Justine: Well, I've been involved in strength sports for the past 20 odd years. That's giving my age away now. And I competed in Olympic weight lifting as a masters lifter back in 2016. So after I was diagnosed with the MS and after I had the heart surgeries and I did it for about three, four years, and became a state sporting champion.
Then, , represented Australia at the masters Oceana's [00:04:00] and the Pacific rim championships. And then I got cancer and that took me off the platform and I want us to go back and compete. I love competing, not for anyone else's purpose, but just for me. And it's like, Juzzy one and MS none when, on that lifting platform.
And, it is a mind over matter thing. And, it took me, well from 2016 to early 2022 to, get back on there, COVID had a little bit of a play in the middle of it. So it was all booked to go into a power lifting comp two years ago, and then the world shut down. So that was impossible. And then with the world opening up again, competitions have started and I entered my first Strong man.
event, even though I'm a woman, they don't call it strong person or strong female it's, strong man, but that's okay.
As an all abilities athlete. So not with the abled body ones that I had, when I [00:05:00] was competing in Olympic weightlifting, but with all abilities. And, I won much to my
much to my disbelief.
[00:05:09] Andrea: You're so humble about this. I love how you're downplaying the fact that you're like an Olympic lifter.
[00:05:14] Justine: well, this was different than the strong man events and I'm like, yes, I'm back.
[00:05:22] Andrea: That's fantastic
[00:05:23] Justine: know, it's taken me six years to get back on there. So, you know, overcoming adversity doesn't happen overnight. Sometimes, it takes a long time, but you know, just little steps each week and looking towards that goal and not losing, focus on what your goal is and you can take that into any.
Anything, it doesn't have to just be a sporting activity. Uh, And yeah, I'm back, I'm back, baby. I'm back. And uh, I've gone and, I've gone and signed up for another one which is in three weeks time. So That's going to be interesting, cause I've just had a month [00:06:00] off, touring around Australia, up to the far north coast of Australia.
So about three and a half thousand kilometers from here and yeah, it took a month of training. So I've only just come back into training this week. I'm very sore and three days a week training and Yeah,
we'll see what happens.
[00:06:18] Andrea: I think that's amazing. You know, Sometimes taking time off is like surprising because then you come back and you're like, holy cow, I was expecting to be set back, but really you're not, and it's almost exactly what your body needs sometimes.
[00:06:31] Justine: Yeah. about, Well
no, I don't know about that this week. I'm like, holy cow, my body's hurting and it's like the legs. I did some box squats on, on Wednesday and yeah, my thighs and my glutamus Maximus and the minimus and my ass cheeks really, sore
[00:06:48] Andrea: squats will
[00:06:49] Justine: that it's a good sore. So that's the difference like that pain, that I experience spurs me on because I'm still able to [00:07:00] produce that exercise and then that therefore that pain and I thought, right, well, I'll go back in and do that again
[00:07:08] Andrea: I am with you. Yes, I am with you. I love a good workout soreness. Like I love love when my ass cheeks hurt
[00:07:19] Justine: yeah,
[00:07:20] Andrea: because I've done a lot of squats and you're exactly right. It's, it's a good pain because it means that we are doing this and still are doing this and still are able to put our bodies in a tip-top condition.
Yeah. I don't know what you mean. So you mentioned, and I think this is really interesting, cause I wanted to go into this because a lot of times people have. These goals that they want. Maybe it's not going into a strong man competition, but it could be in their business. It can be in anything. How do [00:08:00] you approach, like, walk me through your approach start to finish with your goal setting and how you look at it.
[00:08:09] Justine: So I'll have a goal. I'll think of something. And, well, let's talk about Morpheus publishing, which is my latest business. That's about to happen. So how that came about and the goals in order to do that was I just written an illustrated last year, a children's book, and I submitted it off to 31 publishers and I got five contracts back, which I thought was pretty good going.
And I'm
like, oh,
I'm I'm onto something here, but not one of those. Contracts would do what I wanted it to do. And that was used my artwork in a, for limited edition, prints and cards and stuff, toys and library bags and linen and everything. And they wouldn't let me do that.
And so I was here with my PR girl and I went off to the toilet [00:09:00] and it was only gone a minute. And I came back and I want to start a publishing house. She's like, well, you're only gone for a minute. I said, that's all it takes for a good idea. Now, the difference in having a good idea and then following through is sitting down and working out.
Okay, well, that's, my goal is to have a publishing house, but what do I need to do in order to achieve that. So then breaking that end result down into smaller bite-sized chunks at, in a smart goal, which is small, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely,um, in order to achieve it. So then it was like, okay, when do I want this?
What's, what's the length of this goal? When do I want to achieve it? And for me, Morpheus publishing, starts on the 15th of July. So that night we're having a VIP night, where Morpheus will be released to the world, so to speak. But, that's the launch of my children's [00:10:00] book as well. So the first book that I'm printing, I decided would be my children's book.
And then from that, it's like, okay, well, what other books can I, , get out in the next six months? And I've got three more that I'm looking at coming, , will, that will be published.
So.
[00:10:16] Andrea: authors or from you?
[00:10:17] Justine: For me. yeah. You know, nothing like
keeping busy. So then I sat down and went, okay, what do I need to do in order to make Morpheus happen?
So I need a lawyer go, right. Well, when do I want that done by and who needs to do it? So I have a big piece of paper and, I do a mind map
on it and or I
like to call them
[00:10:38] Andrea: a mind map.
[00:10:39] Justine: yep.
[00:10:40] Andrea: it.
[00:10:40] Justine: Me, too. And I do that with everything and I call them a mud map. Yeah. Trying to get out of the shit, you know,
[00:10:49] Andrea: Ah, yeah,
[00:10:50] Justine: where, where can I go with this?
So I sat down at the mind map went, okay now let's put some realistic times on, on all of it and then transfer that onto a [00:11:00] sheet, an Excel spreadsheet on what we need to do, in order to achieve it. So that in that's how I do a business goal. And it's very similar to, a personal goal.
So, competing. , at the end of, June, it's okay, well I need to go to the gym three times a week. I need to improve my, my eating. I need to make sure I'm drinking enough water. I need to make sure that I'm getting enough sleep. So in order to achieve just getting on the platform, at that particular date, I have to do all of these things in order to achieve that goal.
So it's not just saying, oh, well, I'm going to compete at the end of the month and then rock off and not have any preparation for it. So, , I want to buy a new car, so that's at the end of next year. Okay. Well, in order to do that, I need to put some money away for savings and then break it down.
Am I going to get get it on lease or am I going to get a loan or am I going to pay for it out? Yeah,
So people don't realize that they're actually [00:12:00] setting goals. But my show that they released, it would be unrealistic for me to say, I'm going to buy $150,000 motor car in the next three weeks.
[00:12:10] Andrea: right,
[00:12:11] Justine: But it's,
realistic for me to say in the next 18 months, I'm going to purchase $150,000 motor car.
[00:12:19] Andrea: and I think that's key because I'm with you. Number one, I'm I am really scary, organized when it comes to like my spreadsheets and all that. Cause I, I need to be organized
[00:12:32] Justine: I
[00:12:32] Andrea: because things
will.
[00:12:32] Justine: you for a reason.
[00:12:35] Andrea: But here's where, here's where I get tripped up with goals. And I think a lot of people get tripped up with goals is you have your timeline and you think, okay, this is realistic, but then you start going through and you realize like, oh crap, this was supposed to be done yesterday.
And now today it's like, I just can't do anything today because I like, maybe I can do one thing today because either something is happening in life or we just don't have energy or [00:13:00] something happens. And then all of a sudden that just kind of ripples out and then you look at it and you're like, well, damn .
And then it just feels like it gets out of control. So how do you, do you build in buffers? Like how do you do that? When things are just not falling into place
[00:13:14] Justine: My health, will throw a curve ball at any particular time. And so we don't give up we just modify. It's like, okay, well, that's not going to work for me that time that I've given it, isn't going to work for me. I've had an adversity crop up. It could be, I'm stuck in bed for a few days or something will happen and it's okay, well, let's just push it out.
Okay. Let's push it out a week. I've lost a week. Let's push it out a week or let's push it out two weeks or that was a little bit unrealistic. What are you thinking, Justine? You bloody idiot. Well, let's push it out a month or let's push it out two months. All right. Because it's your goal. It's not locked in cement.
[00:13:54] Andrea: I think that's a really important thing to know. I heard two things out of that that I think are super important, and need [00:14:00] to be repeated. I think number one is the kindness to yourself, right? It's like, look, it happens sometimes.
[00:14:06] Justine: Life gets in
[00:14:07] Andrea: Uh, Life gets in the way. I have multiple sclerosis like you do.
And it's like, sometimes you just, you can't, you just got to stay in bed for the day or whatever it is. And you just have to have that kindness and say like, look, let's just reassess. Let's just, let's just push it out. Let's just it's it's okay. And um, and then I forgot what the other one is.
[00:14:30] Justine: glad you've got an MS brain fart. Like I do.
[00:14:34] Andrea: Oh my gosh
[00:14:35] Justine: It happens quite often, If the goal is work-related and someone else is involved in it, I give ample time in seeing a deadline. If it's just one of my goals. And I know that it's achievable, I'll set it in that particular time.
And nine times out of 10 I'll knock that goal. The thing with achieving so [00:15:00] much is that I very rarely procrastinate. Everyone says to me, how do you, how do you run five businesses soon to be six? Where do you find the time? How do you, how are you reaching all your goals all the time?
Because I don't procrastinate. don't put off today and what's the saying put it off till tomorrow, what you can do today. And um, I wake up every day and I have my, A list and my B list and I tick off those things each and every day. And I've got a big backboard beside me, which you can see Andrea and it's full of goals for the week, to tick off.
So I do put a little bit of pressure on myself, um, because I am my own boss
and that expectation that those things do have to be done. But I always do the most important thing every day on my A list. So then it's done and then start working through, okay, well that didn't get completed today and [00:16:00] that's the most important thing that goes to the next day
onto my A list.
it's just circulating through them and adding more onto it
[00:16:09] Andrea: and staying on top of it. And you reminded me the second thing is, I think a lot of times we get a little bit shy when we are working with other people and then the deadline gets pushed out. And then all of a sudden it's like, oh my gosh, I feel so bad.
Or I owe this to somebody and that can really ramp up the pressure when we have other people involved. And I think that's where that communication comes into play. And again, I think it's kindness to yourself, but it's being able to say like, I have MS. I have, fill in the blank, uh, chronic illness and just be open and have that honest communication with somebody.
And you know, what, if they're not okay with it, then you're working with the wrong person
[00:16:51] Justine: And, know, full disclosure for people to people as well. If you're having a bad day or a bad week, people people will understand, I'm [00:17:00] sorry, I can't reach that deadline at the end of the week. I'm going to be in hospital this week. Cause I've got something happening and can we Please push it out another week, nine times out of 10, most people will accommodate you.
And because you're being open, honest and authentic, far better than, lying and being passive and
and living in fear.
[00:17:22] Andrea: Yeah.
We all know what those conversations are like when we're talking to somebody and we know they're not being transparent, we know they're holding back. We know they're not telling the whole truth and they're being a little cagey, , you don't have the same compassion for a person if they're not just completely honest and I know it can be hard.
Cause it puts, it puts us in a vulnerable position it takes a lot of courage. It takes a lot of vulnerability to say I'm having a bad day. I had to spend the weekend in bed.
My recovery from that speaking engagement has taken longer than I thought. That's something that happens with me [00:18:00] is like, okay, recovery, not where I thought it would be.
[00:18:04] Justine: do you not set your diary up, that you have a quiet day after a busy day?
[00:18:09] Andrea: I do, but sometimes I need to, sometimes it creeps up and I need three, or I'm not able to ramp back up as much as I anticipated.
[00:18:17] Justine: I'm hearing you. And do you find now that I know my inner circle know without even asking me that I'm having a bad day,
I can now look at me and they'll call it off and say, you're having a bad day out you cause I'll push through and I'm like, yeah. I'm no good today. And, so my inner circle realize that, and quite often as well, tell the outside world, know, I'm, I'm all about being authentic and, the Instagram, influencer that puts It out that, their life is perfect.
That, to me, it's just bullshit. I've shared with, on my socials, my cancer journey, my MS journey. So [00:19:00] yesterday I had an ultrasound on my neck. I had a MSR, a M and S MRI, and that showed that I've got a lump in my neck. And so rather than them just sit and let's see what happens in the next six months I was in for an ultrasound.
And then the ultrasound yesterday showed that there's not one lump, but there's two lumps. And so that, that's just another adversity at the moment that I'm facing. And It's like, okay.
well, do I think of the bad thing or do I think it's a good thing? And I'm like, well, to me, they're just cysts.
They'll just be cysts. And I'll just, they'll just monitor them. Haven't got the results yet. That'll happen in the next week or so, know, there's always something happening. And so I got on the facebook, the, and, just said, I just had, I had the MRI and I put my MRI up and shown them all the lump.
And there is generally a lot of people that are interested and by me sharing my story, it's someone else's survival guide. Oh if Juzzy can do that and [00:20:00] I could do that. And I quite often get inboxes saying, thanks to you. I went to the doctor and, I got my skin checked and I've got melanoma, but I would never have known.
And I now acting on it. Or, thanks to you, I see what you can do with when you've got MS. That inspires me, that I can go out and do stuff as well. And I love that. I love that,
know, People are using my story as their survival guide. So when you have a bad day be authentic, know, tell people around you, today's not a good day.
My cognitives not going to be on point. I'm going to have a lot of brain farts in our face, with MS. And uh, Yeah,
You just kinda have to bear with me. So, but what annoys me the most injury is when people say to me, are you doing too much? I'm sorry, that's your false belief. That's not mine.
Just like when my neurologist said to me, you'll never work again.
[00:20:51] Andrea: know. Yes. I mean, Justine that's the reason for this podcast is because we get told things like that and I'm like, that's not [00:21:00] true. I think it's projection. I think it's their own fears. I think, there's so much that goes into that, but I'm with you when someone is judging and we all know, right.
It's icky when somebody judges us and you can tell because. They're judging it based on what they think, not on what's actually happening
[00:21:21] Justine: Yeah.
[00:21:21] Andrea: on in our brains.
It's like, I don't even think you're talking to me right now. Like what are you even, know, like
[00:21:28] Justine: If you knew me, you wouldn't be saying
that
[00:21:30] Andrea: wouldn't be saying that. Yeah,
no, that's
exactly right.
That's exactly right. So like I said, I, this podcast was born because I faced that same thing. Right. People telling me like, you're just going to have to slow down. Yeah. I was, I was young when I was diagnosed and I had all my dreaMS ahead of me and they were basically telling me That
they are not, it's not going to happen.
Just go ahead and, [00:22:00] and give up on those uh, do something, know, boring and quiet and that killed me. Especially since I didn't listen, I was like you, I was like, screw that. So that's why I wanted to do this podcast is because I want to talk to people who were like, you are like me, who said, screw that you can totally do what you want to do.
You can be successful. You can have a remarkable life, a fulfilling life while you're living with a chronic illness. So I'm looking at you. And like I said, this, your bio didn't even scratch the surface. Like you're 20 businesses and all of your awards and your art, which is amazing.
[00:22:42] Justine: thank
[00:22:43] Andrea: So talk to me,
[00:22:44] Justine: Okay.
[00:22:44] Andrea: you and I think, wow, you're super successful, but tell me what success means to you.
[00:22:49] Justine: It means I have the freedom to choose means the way that my businesses are structured, that if I need to spend a day in bed, I can, it's [00:23:00] about to me building residual income. That supports me around, my disabilities. When the doctor said to me know, you better find a hobby and have a lot of time on your hands, I'd always wanted to learn how to paint and I've done, hobby ceramics back in the early nineties.
And I'm one of these people that if I set my mind to something, I excel in it and that's just the way that it's always been. I ended up supplying five shops, , with hobby ceramics. And won awards, doing that. So then when I took up the paintbrush, now, it wasn't easy.
It wasn't a case of, okay, Billy. He told me, to go find a hobby. And the next day I was in an art studio. I had such major anxiety that it took me four months to walk in that art studio door, which my girlfriend ran. I knew I knew the artists, but I drive there every week and I'd sit outside and I'm like, no, Nope.
And it was getting worse and worse. Then I'd drive home in tears and it'd be [00:24:00] like, what are you.
doing? And I'd gone from the corporate life to sitting at home in four walls and those four walls were my sanctuary, but they were also becoming my jail and people can probably relate to that with COVID and being in lockdowns, same kind of thing.
And you're safe in your house, but then all of a sudden it's becoming your jail and that's what was happening. So I finally, one day I drove there and I'm like, just walk inside. What's the worst that can. What's in. Cause I'd build it all up in my head and I walked inside and sat down and took to it like a duck to water and loved it and started creating.
And now I'd gone from earning good money uh, to nothing overnight and being solely reliant on another human being, to feed me and my children and put a roof over our head and having to ask for money for absolutely everything. And [00:25:00] that was demoralizing. And then entered my first art exhibition and against, I don't know, I don't want to say normal people because I don't think there is such a thing as normal
[00:25:13] Andrea: I am with you. I also, yeah, I also don't think there is normal. I think
[00:25:17] Justine: No.
[00:25:17] Andrea: fallacy,
[00:25:18] Justine: Yes. Uh, let's just say able-bodied people. And um, and, , I sold my first piece for $300, five months after starting to learn how to paint. That could have been a million dollars to me because it meant the world. It meant that I still had some purpose in life cause I really questioned what my purpose was going to be.
And if I couldn't earn money and pay tax and I was a burden on society with the amount of, medical. So in Australia we have Medicare and,
and I was going to be a burden to everyone. So that was an issue. And from that it just kind of escalated and I [00:26:00] started winning awards and. I'm like, wow. I think I'm pretty good at this.
And then I, and I was doing like community classes and the goal just kept the goalposts just kept getting bigger and bigger and I just kept ticking them off.
And it's like, I've reached that goal. What's the next one. And there's a TV program called color in your life, which you can watch on YouTube, but it's shown on a lot of streaming platforMS as well. And what I used to call that my university. So at the university of YouTube, in the university of color, in your life, where they interview an artist for half an hour and they show, tips and hints and,
and their work. and I'm like one day I'm going to be on. And I reached that goal in 2018,
uh, and was on, on that show and that show now for the space gurus out there, that show is going on Elon Musk's rocket to the [00:27:00] moon in a time capsule at the end of next year. So November 2023.
And
[00:27:06] Andrea: no way.
[00:27:07] Justine: yeah, so my artwork's going to be preserved in a time capsule forever on the moon, some mainly and sometime down the track.
[00:27:15] Andrea: that's amazing. What, what were you, what did you paint?
[00:27:20] Justine: Oh,
I painted the dachound Remi, for that one. So big, bold, bright animals that I do. And, and. So then I thought, well, I want to start I want to help other disabled people, with the opportunities that have come from me, creating art and went to open up, art wellness classes, and then got diagnosed with cancer.
And I didn't get diagnosed with one cancer. I go diagnosed with three and two other blood conditions all at the same time.
[00:27:48] Andrea: oh my gosh.
[00:27:49] Justine: All the way through that at not at not one point, did I really think that I was going to die? It's like, well, I'm going to, I'm going to beat these bad cells. Never really called it cancer either though we just bad cells in my [00:28:00] body that the magic juice had to had to kill off.
And, and that's what happened. And then when I went into remission and that did take nearly three years but I opened up that wellness classes
and for the
last.
[00:28:15] Andrea: years during those three years
[00:28:18] Justine: No, I, I continued do art in that three years and continue to put into solo exhibitions or places and put my artwork out there and keynote speak as well.
And I was really big, here in Victoria on the voluntary assisted dying
that they were trying to get in to make legal.
So my story and I was keynote speaking on, on VAD and, through all of it and that got through parliament and
[00:28:47] Andrea: wow.
[00:28:48] Justine: of myself in helping,
[00:28:49] Andrea: realize they had that. That's amazing.
[00:28:51] Justine: Yeah. Yeah. We were the first state, to legalize it and
[00:28:54] Andrea: What you're saying is you took time off during that three years,
[00:28:57] Justine: no, I didn't take any time off. [00:29:00]
[00:29:00] Andrea: which you're saying, as you laid low, and you did nothing for
[00:29:02] Justine: Nah,
[00:29:03] Andrea: and while you were looking at
that.
[00:29:04] Justine: you know, I'd go to hospital and have my chemo and I'd be sitting there drawing. And cause that to me is my happy place. And I just happened to take now make money out of my happy place. And I thought I was in my dream job back in 2010, beginning of 2011. And I'd worked my whole career and I had blinkers on and there wasn't going to be anything else in life.
This is where I was meant to be. This is what I was meant to do and I had it so wrong, so, so wrong. And I, I love my life now despite having chronic illnesses. And I'm probably this consent strange. I'm probably the healthiest I have been in my whole life because I exercise regularly. I drink my water.
I eat food that doesn't have many preservatives. I haven't had a new brain lesion since 2015, which when you're an MSer you know how epic,
That is. [00:30:00] And I don't feel that my body's so much in fighting me anymore. know, I'm on top of that and I have all the coping mechanisMS put on play in place and I know how, I know what to look for.
If this is happening, I know I need to slow down and I do slow down for a period of time until I can regroup. And, we don't give up, we modify and, and it's like, okay, well, if I have to work from bed today or work from bed and I'll write, I'll, I'll sit in bed and I'll write my book
[00:30:29] Andrea: Yes, I, yeah, I have the same thing. Like categories of things. And so sometimes I need one thing that I want to do today and I can pick any of these categories. And sometimes you're right. Sometimes it's like, I'm just going to write today.
Or sometimes it's like, no, you know what? I have the energy I'm going to be doing outreach. I'm going to be doing email. I'm getting, and sometimes all you can do is research.
[00:30:51] Justine: I've also outsourced. I think you, you don't do it all yourself. There's no.
way I could run all this by myself and, [00:31:00] know, just dart wellness classes and now, up and running and I have teachers that come in and help teach. So I'm not in the studio. Every day teaching there's other, other teachers coming in and on now, like the principal would the top.
So that's pretty cool, which then it's freed up time that I can put into, Vango day decals or Morpheus publishing or resilience mindset. So, and resilience mindset was born because everybody kept saying to me, how can you be so positive? What's your secret,
how do you do it? How do you do this?
And I've been an MS. Ambassador in Victoria. So keynote speaking and doing that for the last seven years. And and numerous Everest, you need to go out and tell your story and know,
that you're
[00:31:43] Andrea: powerful.
[00:31:44] Justine: yeah. And, oh, you're an inspiration. I hate that word by the way. I hate inspiration. I'd rather be known as, a motivator than someone who just inspires,
you know, motivate. Well, one's more of an action item. Know.
[00:31:58] Andrea: Hm.
[00:31:59] Justine: So if I can [00:32:00] motivate someone to actually make their life better and they go and action it rather than, well, you can inspire someone, they may not do anything from that.
[00:32:09] Andrea: Yeah, I get the same thing. People tell me all the time
[00:32:12] Justine: Yeah.
[00:32:13] Andrea: that I'm an inspiration. I think it's, I think when I hear someone inspires and when I talk about it, I think about the mindset piece of things. And the way I look at goals is before you do really anything, you've got to get that mindset piece first.
And so to me, the inspiration is it's almost like that modeling theory, right? It's Bandura. It's like, if you can hear that somebody is doing something or see somebody doing something, it automatically helps, you know, that you can do it too. And to me, that's the inspiration. And once you believe that you can do it too, then you can go on and use that motivation to actually take those steps.
So that's what I think, I think of [00:33:00] inspire as being like you're
part of
that
positivity.
[00:33:02] Justine: such word as can't.
So that was the way that we were brought out. There's no such word as can't and always say yes, and then work out how you're going to do it.
[00:33:12] Andrea: Yeah. And that, and I think that's the really interesting part of it is, Like nobody knew what positive mindset was.
Right. It was like, we didn't talk about, like, it wasn't a thing, but I was raised kind of the same way, where you, you figure it out, everything can be figured out.
Let's look at your solution. My dad was a scientist and so he was always, about what can we do? What can we look at? Or the facts have you do it? My mom is British. So she was always like buck up and figure it out. But I was, I was raised with that. And it's similar to you I love that I was raised that way.
I think it's an asset to never, or not never, but rarely think anything different even though I need to sit in my feelings. [00:34:00] Maybe, maybe I need a moment. I need to process. I need to do something. But at the end of the day, I always know it's going to be okay. I always know it's going to be figure out of all.
I always know that, know, life is going to go on.
[00:34:11] Justine: so I asked people, is the glass half full or is the glass half empty? What is it for you, Andrea?
[00:34:19] Andrea: uh, it's full.
[00:34:21] Justine: For me, it's always refillable.
[00:34:26] Andrea: I knew there was a trick question in there somewhere.
[00:34:29] Justine: So it's refillable and you can choose what you want to fill it up with
[00:34:32] Andrea: Yeah.
[00:34:33] Justine: that you can you can choose. And I think to me choice, know, and this goes back to what we were just talking about, choice, I can choose to stay in bed and, have self-pity I can choose that, but I choose not to.
And I get all the time, oh, I don't know how you handle it all. If that was me, I wouldn't be able to do this. And I'm like, don't say that because until you're put into a position, like we are, , [00:35:00] you don't know how you're going to cope with it. And we all have that choice. We all have the choice, whether we want.
And even if you don't have anything from, with you, you have the choice, whether you want to get out of bed in the morning and stay alive, or whether you want to not eat forever and die. So, we had that choice and, and, I choose this pathway. I choose to be because it's far less energy to be positive and happy than what it is to be negative and grumpy all the time.
[00:35:30] Andrea: Oh my gosh. That is so true. I, I always teach that when you, when you're tired, when you have fatigue, a lot of that. Can be what you're putting on yourself. A lot of that can be that negativity. It can be beating yourself up. It can be, know, other stuff outside of that. But a lot of times that negative mental energy down
[00:35:55] Justine: Yeah.
[00:35:56] Andrea: we think on it and just robs our energy.[00:36:00]
[00:36:00] Justine: And I think, if you're not in a good mindset, then ask for help, ask for help. So, I'm a resilience consultant and I work worldwide, thanks to modern technology with
zoom and, I help people face the adversities in their life and give them coping strategies and, uh, on how to move forward and help them, to find the choices that they're making and, and brainstorm with them and, and give them new pathways and, and that as well.
And not everyone has to go to a counselor, but if you are struggling, go and find someone to talk to, I've been in and out of counseling now for 10 years. And
I wouldn't be where I am today, unless I'd sought that help.
[00:36:46] Andrea: I am the same way. That was one of, one of the first things I did when I was diagnosed was I went to a therapist because and you can talk to this too, when, when we're diagnosed, and [00:37:00] anybody who's diagnosed, it doesn't matter what you're diagnosed with. We are put into a traumatic moment going through a traumatic, situation and there's grieving.
That happens. There's processing trauma. There's a lot of that.
[00:37:17] Justine: Yeah.
[00:37:18] Andrea: I still see her today. Like I, I almost think I will never not see her because , she's that helpful? Just with anything, I think seeing any type of therapist or psychotherapist or anything like that is hugely helpful.
[00:37:33] Justine: Oh, definitely. And if you don't like the one that you're saying, finding.
[00:37:38] Andrea: Yes.
[00:37:38] Justine: Well there's options. Find someone that you connect with and that you can be honest and open and roll with. And I don't believe that it's my family or my friends or my children's responsibility for me to offload to them.
So, know, I pay someone externally for that to happen, and then don't feel guilty because I've offloaded to them. Cause [00:38:00] That's
their job. But I feel guilty if I'm doing it to my friends. Cause I think, oh, she, here she goes again, kind of thing. So,
[00:38:08] Andrea: yeah. And you can't, I mean, your friends, don't see you. Objectively your friends, aren't going to give you this. They're certainly not going to give you the same, , advice or whatever that a therapy will. And, but it's even as a coach, it's, it's funny because my friends would say like, can you coach me on this or whatever?
And I'm like, no, I can't because being friends is different than being a coach. And you're not going to like me if I,
[00:38:35] Justine: Yeah.
[00:38:36] Andrea: know, I mean, it's, it's just very different. So yes. I mean, I think friends and family and community are
so important to be there for the compassion and to be able to lean on, but they're not there for things like therapy or
[00:38:50] Justine: right.
[00:38:50] Andrea: or
[00:38:52] Justine: Yeah. That's where we come into play.
[00:38:55] Andrea: Yeah.
[00:38:55] Justine: Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. And, and so that's how [00:39:00] resilience mindset was born. And, from that I've co-authored books and I'm writing my own book on resilience at the moment. And because whenever on asked me, how come you stay positive? What's your secret?
I'm I don't know. I don't know. So I actually
had to take a step back and work with someone as to why I'm the person that I am then how that had evolved. With, with, uh, getting MS and my mum had MSI grew up. She was very ill. So in 1974, she was 27 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. And then she was 33 when she got MS.
She was 40 when she got cervical cancer and lung cancer at 49, but died from complications from MS at 49. And, know, that helped me build resilience all the way through my life. I was three years old when I had to go and live with my grandparents for six months, my brother-in-law. And so that [00:40:00] was the first sign of, resilience then.
And, , is resilience learned thing, or is it something that we're born with? I think it's both. Every adversity that I've ever faced throughout my life. I've built more resilience and learnt more coping mechanisMS and, and that's so, the biggest thing for me is self care.
Nowadays, if you are not looking after your self, you cannot look after anything else. And self-care, doesn't have to cost a lot of money at all.
It's not about going and being pampered and
[00:40:33] Andrea: It's not manicures and pedicures and massages. What are your go-to self-care like, what do you do on a daily? When it comes to self care.
[00:40:43] Justine: this is going to sound strange. I make my bed.
[00:40:47] Andrea: Yeah.
[00:40:48] Justine: all.
right. So the first thing I do when I get out of bed is make my bed. , then I kind of get back into it and there's nothing nicer to me than sliding into a bed that's [00:41:00] made at night. I get a better night's sleep. Because I'm making my bed, and I've achieved one thing for the day. So regardless of what the rest of the day goes, like I've ticked one thing off my list and that's making my bed. , I make sure that I eat right now. I have a lot of food intolerances, and so I avoid those foods. And that's self-care I make sure that I don't, , I try not to speak negative to. So that again is self care.
Self care is, is a huge package. They're drinking, water and exercising. So throughout the day I make sure that I take breaks and go for a little walk around the house if I'm full on, on, on work at home. I'm still, as I said to you off it, I'm recovering from COVID as well.
I've got long COVID. So I haven't been able to go out for my regular walks, but That's normally a big thing for me is to go out and walk a couple of kilometers and, or a [00:42:00] mile and a bit over
[00:42:02] Andrea: That's okay. That's okay.
[00:42:03] Justine: your, your side of the world,
[00:42:05] Andrea: Used to, doing
[00:42:07] Justine: the
conversion
And so, doing that every couple of days, that'll, contributes.
I also watch who I spend my time with.
[00:42:15] Andrea: Oh, so important.
[00:42:17] Justine: Yes.
self care for me is in order to, to remain positive and keep positive. I don't hang around negative people. You are the sum of the five people that you hang around. And if you're hanging around with Mr or Mrs. Whiny on their pity party, all the time,
dump them, , keep them at a distance.
Don't spend too much time with them or call them out on it. Do you realize that you guys are always negative? Why is that?
You need to go and get some external help, cause you can choose to stay on that pathway or you can choose to change for a better way. And I think, that's a big one, have you ever spent a [00:43:00] day with someone or a few hours with someone and you come home and you're like, oh, I am exhausted.
They have drained me of everything. Don't hang around those people,
even if it's family
like limit the amount of time that you're spending with them
[00:43:17] Andrea: I'm a huge fan of boundaries,
[00:43:19] Justine: yes.
[00:43:21] Andrea: family. I mean, not, I, that sounds like my family sucks. I didn't mean that to sound like, I didn't mean that at all, but I'm saying like, if there's people that you have to be around because it's family or people at work,
[00:43:33] Justine: Yeah.
[00:43:34] Andrea: boundaries
[00:43:36] Justine: Exactly. Exactly. And, when you're hanging around positive people all the time, you,
get their vibes as well and the energy and, know, I'll go off to a networking meeting where they're all positive and we'll go and hang out with some girlfriends in a positive and I've come home. And I'm like, wow, that was a really good day.
I'm all pumped up now. Rather than come home and go, oh God, I'm just so drained. I'm going to
[00:44:00] sit on the lounge and eat chips
[00:44:02] Andrea: Yeah. Well, cause
it's contagious,
[00:44:03] Justine: So if you're using any biases to pep yourself up after you spent time with someone that should be a red flag and that you need to look at your boundaries and you need to look at who your circle is, your inner circle and work on changing it.
And social media was a big one. So my self care through the pandemic was I controlled what I saw. So I stopped watching the news
and, know, I've heard people say, oh, that's really a grin interview. And I'm like, I don't care. That's my boundary. That's, I'm letting in my head what I want to let in there.
And if something major happens in the world, people will talk
about it
and then I can do my own research
[00:44:46] Andrea: we are in such an information society. There is no way you're not going to know what's going
[00:44:51] Justine: Exactly.
[00:44:52] Andrea: just because you don't watch the 24 hour news.
[00:44:55] Justine: Yeah, And like on social media, if someone's [00:45:00] boundaries, weren't the same as mine or someone's values, weren't the same as mine. And it was really upsetting reading their posts. There's a little button that says unfollow.
And I don't know if you're unfollowing and I've got two and a half thousand friends on social media on just on one of my platforMS. I can't see them all anyway.
And,
it's just like, no, I'm going to unfollow them for 30 days. Give them, give
myself a break and, control what's coming in.
And that really helps with your self care. So.
[00:45:33] Andrea: Yeah.
And that's a really important part to notice with self-care a lot of times we think about it as taking action, right? So like people say, I always joke. It's not the manicure and the peticure, although that's great. I mean, I'm getting a peti tomorrow excited, but that's not
[00:45:50] Justine: And manicure cause the claws are looking at them a
[00:45:53] Andrea: Nice. No, they look, they look better than mine. But I, know, self care is about what you take in, [00:46:00] so your food and what you're consuming, be it through, know, being around other people or social media and things like that. But it's also about taking away. It's also about looking at what is negatively affecting me.
Like you said, I think it's brilliant. Like, not that I'm against drinking, but if you feel like, oh my God, I need a drink. Why?
[00:46:21] Justine: that's a problem.
[00:46:22] Andrea: Yeah. Like what's going on? Like, why
do you feel like you need know, like, what happened today that makes you think I need a drink or I need, know, a Dorito or
[00:46:32] Justine: Yeah. And it doesn't have to be alcohol because
I'm allergic to caffeine. So I haven't had a cup of coffee in over 30 years. And all he people say, oh, I can't get through my day without having at least two or three cups of coffee. And I'm like, yes, you can.
That's just a false belief that you keep telling yourself. You can definitely get through every day. And I'm like, well, what do you have water and
life. [00:47:00] I thought around enough, now
I need an external force to give me a buzz or high to get through my day.
My self care regime is in there even with the MS that I am looking after myself. So therefore I get that buzz anyway,
[00:47:18] Andrea: yeah.
[00:47:18] Justine: with
[00:47:19] Andrea: know, and I'm not saying I, and I don't think either of you that you can't have anything, like
there's no,
we have to be teetotalers no, not at all. The difference is looking at why you're having it.
[00:47:31] Justine: Yeah,
that's right. I know I have, I have boundaries or I call them rules for me. If I have a drink, I'm in a social situation
because I live by myself and I have one of those addictive personalities and I'm aware of that. And I know that if I cracked open a bottle of wine, I'd want to drink the whole thing,
well, knowing that, how is that going to help me achieve my goals or keep my body healthy? And I don't know about you, but when I have a drink, I pay for it for [00:48:00] the next two to three days. And therefore my productivity level goes down. My mood goes down. Because , alcohol causes, well helps contribute to depression.
And I Don't want to get on that roller coaster. So my boundaries I'll have a drink when I go out for dinner in a social situation. I'll go out with my friends on a Saturday night and I'll have more than one drink. And if you look at my socials, I occasionally I'll live stream it when she's like, oh, she's out
again
[00:48:30] Andrea: Don't drink and livestream.
[00:48:32] Justine: But, uh, Yeah.
My boundary is okay. Well, when I'm at home by myself, I don't drink and I'm far more productive the next day when I haven't done that.
And.
[00:48:42] Andrea: Yeah.
[00:48:43] Justine: being aware of, of what your body does when, you have certain foods, when you have certain drinks, , and when you let certain people into your life and it it's, it's all about that in the whole package is is self care.
[00:48:58] Andrea: And I think, it's something you said earlier [00:49:00] and I think it's so true. It's like these types of things don't happen overnight. Like if, if you were to tell Andrea in the hospital, when I was diagnosed with MS, that these are all the boundaries, you don't have to, you're going to have to have, and these are all the limitations and these are all the things they're going to stop.
And these off, I would be like, hell no, I'm not doing that. Right. But when you do it over time and you do it from that place of self care of this is what I need. And this is how I feel when I give myself what I need, or this is how I feel when I don't give myself what I need. It becomes more automatic to where you don't really think about it.
Like you were talking about like one of your boundaries is you don't drink, when you're home alone, it's like I don't even think about drinking home alone. Like it's not even, it's just, it doesn't even enter my mind. Right. And that's kind of how it becomes
You just, you slowly build on it and some things work so well that there's not even really a question of going back,
or if you go back, it's like, uh, [00:50:00] that's. That's like, thank you for reminding me. And I will never go back to the next, know, five years.
[00:50:04] Justine: Well, I used to be morbidly obese, so
I used to weigh I'm 125 kilos. I don't know what that is in pounds, but
it's like, Uh, it's fat and there's no, I was fat. I was really fat and I was a size 26 in the clothing, Australian 26, which was even bigger. And I made a vow that I would lose weight and I lost 46 kilos and over a hundred pounds.
And, I've never put all the weight back on like. Cancer and went on the chemo. I one of the first things that went through my mind was oh my God, I'm going to be thin. And that never happened to me. I put on weight all the way through my cancer journey.
And I ended up about 15 kilos heavier than when I started. And I'm like, yeah, of course that's going to happen with me. But, uh, I've since got that off. I got 22 kilos back off again. And, I know [00:51:00] that, I never want to go back to that lifestyle of being morbidly obese. That's not who I am anymore.
I've made so many changes and created so many good habits now. But it didn't happen overnight for me to lose that 46 kilos because I have another condition called lipidemia, which is inflammation of the fat cells and resistance to weight loss.
Uh, it took me 445 weeks. So that seven years. Seven years to lose that 46 kilos.
And it didn't matter because it was heading in the right direction
[00:51:33] Andrea: What kept you going during those seven years?
[00:51:36] Justine: a goal and a visualizing and what I wanted to look like and where I wanted to be and the energy that I wanted. That's what kept me going. Yeah. And there's no such word as can't, that's okay with this as my goal, this is what I want to be.
And, we don't give up, we modify, and I've said that a few times now and it's like, okay, well this is working. I'll continue on this. All right, well, this is not, and [00:52:00] I'm always reassessing my goals and what the goalposts are. And it's like, okay, well this is not working. What do I need to do in order to achieve that.
What do I need to change? What I need to modify in order to achieve that? And that's with everything in my life. So whether it's getting to a goal weight or a business goal or. Uh, whatever it is completing a course or it's like, okay, what do I have to do in order to achieve it and just go for it?
And I'm big on rewards as well. Andrea. Yeah. You
know,
[00:52:31] Andrea: what are your rewards?
[00:52:33] Justine: Depending on what the goal is so for example, with Morpheus coming out and publishing my kid's book, my reward for that is I'm going to Bali for four days.
[00:52:42] Andrea: Oh, nice. That's yeah,
[00:52:45] Justine: Yeah. So,
[00:52:47] Andrea: A nice reward.
[00:52:48] Justine: yeah, and not, but rewards don't have to cost much money. One of my weight loss goals, in the past was all, if I got to this, weight, I could go and get a haircut, but I wasn't allowed to have that haircut until I [00:53:00] got to that goal. And the more it became annoying, like my fringe would have grown or it was pinning my fringe back on that, the more I had to then try to get to that.
[00:53:08] Andrea: Oh, interesting.
[00:53:10] Justine: So I, you know, I'm big on, I'm big on rewards as well, but you can't reward yourself unless you've actually reached that goal because then that takes a whole thing around it. And I'm getting back to what I said before. About time, time to me is probably I see it as the most precious commodity that we have because once that seconds gone, once that minutes, past one set hours passed, you'll never get it back. So be careful on what you spend it on and who you spend it on.
And that's how I live my life. So, and that's how I get so much done in one particular day or every single day. It's like, I'm never going to be able to repeat this day again.
not going to wait for tomorrow to do it. I'm going to do it today. So I have a bucket list and I tick off that bucket. And, [00:54:00] I'm, I'm claustrophobic and I'm scared of putting my head on the water and I've just been away to the great barrier reef. And I learnt how to snorkel.
[00:54:08] Andrea: Oh, I love it. I remember my first time snorkeling, I was, I almost had like a little mini panic attack cause I was like, I'm not in control.
[00:54:15] Justine: Yeah. That's me in an MRI machine nowadays. I have to be sedated because I had a turn on number 13, I'm up to number 21. Now I think I have to be sedated and the whole claustrophobic thing. And Yeah.
So for me to, for me to snorkel was massive, then It's like well, that's on my bucket list. I'm taking it off my bucket list and people have bucket lists, but they never ever, ever do anything.
So I called, well, I wanted to this one day. Well, I'm telling you do it now. You know wear your good perfume, use your good cutlery. your good dinner set don't have a dinner set. that you're only gonna use 20 times in your whole lifetime because you only use it once every Christmas use it every day.
Wear your good [00:55:00] clothes. Because life is too short. Not to, I want to smell good every day. I'm going to wear my $200 perfume every single day. I'm not going to sit on it on the shelf for a special occasion because there's not enough of those
in our life.
if I want to smell good, I'll smell good every day with that $200 bottle of perfume, because it makes me feel better.
So it, oh, whatever it is.
[00:55:25] Andrea: Yeah. It's like a little boost, a little shot of, of happiness.
[00:55:29] Justine: Yeah. That's Right.
why do you have three different dinner sets? One for this occasion, one for that occasion. And if they all break, think about another one,
[00:55:42] Andrea: Right.
[00:55:42] Justine: it is it, I think we become so fixated on waiting for a special time or a special occasion or a special day to use things in our life rather than just getting in and doing it and using it and enjoying it.
[00:55:57] Andrea: Yes. And the, and that's the mindset, right? [00:56:00] Is that we're worth using
that
[00:56:02] Justine: Yes.
[00:56:02] Andrea: $200 perfume now, to tell ourselves that we need to wait for something is to tell ourselves that we alone are not worth it.
[00:56:10] Justine: Hmm.
[00:56:11] Andrea: We have to wait for somebody else or some other thing
[00:56:14] Justine: Yeah.
[00:56:14] Andrea: make it a worthy moment.
[00:56:16] Justine: And it's not every day, life is very, very short.
And when you've seen and faced your mortality, like I have on quite a few times, I've had the family called in around the hospital bed and, and have been, knocking on that door that you realize just how short life actually is.
And, and what do you want to achieve in your life? What legacy do you want to leave? And it's fine if you're happy doing what you're doing, but if you're not, then have a really good look at where you want to be and, and what you need to do in order to achieve that. And you can do it, believe in yourself.
You don't need anyone else to believe in you. You just need to believe in yourself. [00:57:00]
And solely yourself, if you believe that you can do it, the less people, you actually tell things to the better when you're, when you're achieving that goal, when you're trying to achieve that goal, because otherwise you have all their false beliefs coming in and then you start listening to it.
So if you've got a big, chunky goal out there that you want to achieve, don't tell too many people to start with because they'll all be negative and you'll make people feel uncomfortable. And that is fantastic.
[00:57:28] Andrea: Yes. Yes. When you start to achieve things or you start to make big changes in your life,
[00:57:36] Justine: Yeah.
[00:57:37] Andrea: can get uncomfortable
[00:57:39] Justine: Yeah, because, because they're then looking at their own things in their own
[00:57:44] Andrea: right?
[00:57:44] Justine: they haven't achieved and what they wanted to achieve. And women are the worst at this. When someone else's lost weight,
[00:57:52] Andrea: Yes,
[00:57:53] Justine: because there'll be like, you, don't want to lose anymore. Don't do that anymore. my goal yet. [00:58:00]
Darn lays anymore because you're making them feel uncomfortable in their own. And that's good
[00:58:07] Andrea: Right. Because they're starting to reevaluate what they're doing and it's making
them question theMSelves and
people don't like to do that.
[00:58:14] Justine: And then they might go and actually do something about theMSelves
because we all have our own choices,
[00:58:19] Andrea: They might be inspired
[00:58:22] Justine: or motivated.
[00:58:23] Andrea: or motivated. Well, Justine, thank you so so much. I really appreciate you coming and talking about your story. And the amount of knowledge and advice and, and ways to take action is just
[00:58:45] Justine:
You're welcome. It's been an absolute blast.
Thank you for tuning into this episode of live your life. Not your diagnosis. If you like the show, don't be shy. Please give us a five-star [00:59:00] rating and review. Follow us on apple podcast, Amazon music or wherever you're listening right now. To see complete show notes and resources mentioned in this episode
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