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  • Hello my friend, Alexandra here! Welcome to video #1. The first video EVER in my blog

  • series that will cover PERSONAL GROWTH, RELATIONSHIPS & SEX, FASHION & BEAUTY, CAREER & MONEY.

  • If you see this for the first time, there's a link below to a short intro vid that will

  • explain how this weekly series will work. Check it out, and then come back and get started.

  • I'm taking questions on everything that we talk about, so please ask away in a comment

  • below, on my Facebook page, or on Twitter & Instagram using #askalexandra. All the links

  • to my social communities are below.

  • Now remember to get your journal ready. If you don't know what that is, the intro video

  • I mentioned earlier will explain that as well.

  • Now, onto today's Personal Growth topic: HOW TO LET GO OF GUILT. Why is it so important

  • to let go of guilt? Well, that's because like the past, it's haunting. It holds you back.

  • It's this unnecessary weight that doesn't allow you to be the best YOU possible. It

  • affects your self-esteem, it limits your capabilities and opportunities, and the way to interact

  • with others. And all of this in return manifests itself into more bad decisions, unhappiness,

  • shitty experiences, and everything else you probably... like me... have gone through.

  • For years I spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours searching for valuable advice

  • and to my surprise, so much information I've out there, was written by folks who mostly

  • talked about how guilt makes you feel than giving out solutions on how to fix my problem.

  • Yeah, I know how it feels. It sucks, and that's why I'm looking to get rid of it. And so,

  • I had to figure out how to do that myself.

  • With that said... I wish I could jump into your skin and do the work for you but I can't.

  • I hate to tell you this, but there is NO quick fix. You can't wish yourself free of guilt.

  • You have days, months, if not years of priming guilt-brick after guilt-brick and now you

  • have a freakin' 12 story building of guilt and resentment toward yourself, it will take

  • a little work to tear it down. So, you have to do the work. But if you do it, I can promise

  • you that you will see results. And if you continue practicing it, you will be something

  • else let me tell you.

  • So, if that sounds good to you, get ready to take lots of notes, and let's dive right

  • into it! First things first.

  • Step #1: We need to know WHAT we need to nip in the butt. There's not a one guilt fits

  • all. So you need to figure out YOURS. What do you feel guilt over? And what I want you

  • to do here is list it all!!! Be in a space that enables you the time and silence to sort

  • through your thoughts and feelings. Think really hard, and go back from the beginning.

  • The first memories that cause you guilt. Don't leave anything out.mWhat do you feel even

  • the tiny-tiniest feeling of guilt over? A friend that you never apologized to? A marriage

  • that ended up in divorce? An opportunity that you didn't take for your kids? A business

  • venture you said no to, and now live to regret it?

  • Think about it really hard, and list it all. One of my biggest regrets has to do with my

  • dad. He wasn't around much, but he was my dad none the less. When I came to America,

  • I came by myself. And I didn't feel like I had the luxury of taking it easy. I had to

  • work really hard. And not just for myself. I had the responsibility of supporting my

  • mom, making sure my dad, grandma, family, all of them, have what they need. So I would

  • work at my job till midnight at times, get home at 1, get into bed by 2, wake up at 6

  • to be back in the office at 7, and I got so caught up in work, I only had "time" to call

  • my mom once a week.

  • And every time she would tell me every time. Call your dad, he wants to hear from you.

  • Please call your dad, it's been weeks. Please call your dad, he just wants to hear your

  • voice. And every time I was like "yeah, I'll call mom, I'll call". And I didn't.

  • And then one day, out nowhere, he passed away of an aneurism. And I never got to hear his

  • voice again, and he died without hearing mine. So, as you can imagine, I lived with the guilt

  • of feeling like such a bad person. Was I really that busy I couldn't even take 5 minutes to

  • say hello? For almost a decade, I just couldn't forgive myself. I seeked so much help i was

  • blue in the face and once I realized I was not finding a solution that would fit me,

  • I created my own. I took the steps that I'm going giving you today.

  • So finish step #1 and list all the things you feel guilt over. Do not leave anything

  • out, even if it seems insignificant. And when you list them, do it in a very short sentence

  • like -- guilt for not calling my dad before he passed away. You see what I'm saying?

  • At all cost, stay away from using any judgment. I'm not saying: guilt for being such a bad

  • daughter, I never called my dad. Don't talk to yourself like that. Write it down very

  • logically.

  • Step #2:

  • Now that you have identified and listed all the reasons causing you guilt, you'll need

  • to prioritize them. You'll need to address each and every one of them. but why start

  • fixing the guilt for not buying your kid the $100 toy he wanted, when you could fix the

  • guilt of broken marriage. Does that make sense? Big monsters first. You'll need to put the

  • big, heavy stuff up at the top, and the smaller stuff at the bottom. How can you tell which

  • one's heavier than the other? By the way it makes you feel.

  • Assign a 1 though 10 number that represents the level of pain that you feel as you think

  • of that moment that's causing you the guilt. 10 is the most painful and 1 -- it's not that

  • bad. Read what you wrote, take a moment, and figure out how each one makes you feel. And

  • put the number next to it. If 2 or more have the same number, that's fine. Prioritize by

  • which you'd like to get rid of first.

  • Now that you're organized, and you have all the guilt sources right in front you, listed

  • by priority, you feel better already. You know you're about to have a break through,

  • you're closer than ever before, and it's starting to feel REALLY good.

  • So take the #1 guilt you want to heal and on a piece of paper, write it down. Write

  • down that #1 guilt reason. This is what we're about to focus on.

  • The part that will be hard in this, is that you'll have to go back through that mental

  • clutter you've tried burying. You'll have to paint the clear picture of what happened.

  • What was the string of events that is now causing you guilt? Before you can heal, you

  • have to be very secure in your story and not leave anything to doubt. There's no I'm pretty

  • sure this happened, it's only I'm absolutely sure it happened this way. So without writing

  • a novel, bullet point what happened. Don't leave anything out, and don't be afraid to

  • face the emotions.

  • Once you have everything clear as day, you'll need to start the healing work by taking Step

  • #3. And that's asking yourself this.

  • And say it however it makes sense to YOU. But ask yourself this: Did I have sufficient

  • information about the situation that's now causing me guilt, before I got into it? Let

  • me explain this question with an example.

  • I was 19 years old when I got married. I know, I was really young! But I was in love... And

  • before getting married, my ex husband and I would go out to a dinner, he'd have a drink,

  • like normal people do, go to the movies... Normal couple-y stuff. A little bit into our

  • marriage, he picked up the bottle. And then he found the whole box of wine. And then every

  • night he would go to bed drunk. Then drunkenness turned into all sorts of different problems.

  • So after 2 years of that, I left. It was absolutely the best thing to do for myself, but I felt

  • so guilty over it.

  • I felt like a quitter. Have I really tried hard enough? Did I give up too easily? Here's

  • why I want you to ask yourself Did I have enough information about the situation, before

  • I got into it: I felt guilt because I left my marriage. Right? But I was married to man

  • with a vicious problem. The man I chose to marry, was a normal guy, not a guy with an

  • addiction who was refusing help. The information I had at the time I entered into the situation

  • that caused the guilt (aka the marriage), was completely different. If I would have

  • had the knowledge that he was an alcoholic, or going to turn into one, I never would have

  • married him, and there never would have been a divorce to feel guilty about. Does that

  • make sense?

  • Did I have sufficient information about the situation, before I got into it? Write down

  • the question, think about it really hard, apply it to your circumstance, take your time

  • and cover this from all angles. And then answer the question with a simple YES or NO. There's

  • no MAYBE in this process. Be honest to yourself. Nobody will see this but YOU. Nobody will

  • judge you.

  • Now, ask yourself this second question: Given the access to information that I had at that

  • time, were there any other options available to me?

  • Example: I was fresh off the boat, less than 2 years in America, I didn't know about 'Interventions'

  • and AA. There's no such thing in Romania where I'm from. I was really young and he was 15

  • years older and quite intimidating, so, sincerely, I had limited knowledge about how to fix this.

  • I didn't know how to deal with an alcoholic, and I was so scared every time I had to approach

  • him about it. And he wasn't listening to anyone else either.

  • So think about it, and ask yourself: Given the access to information I had at that time,

  • were there any other options available to me? Again, assign a simple YES I had all the

  • access to information as I possible could have, or NO, I didn't or didn't have enough.

  • Lastly, Question #3: Given the emotional state I was in at that time, were there any other

  • options available to me? You have to remember. When you're emotionally vulnerable, your view

  • of solutions is rather limited. You're living in such a narrow place of fear and craziness,

  • you see things like this (put visors on to the sides like a horse).

  • Given the emotional state you were in at the time (be it fear, depression, insecurity,

  • high stress, etc), would you have been able to see and take, a logical path; one better,

  • than the one that you took? Was your mind clear and capable enough to make the better

  • decision? Then put a YES or a NO next to it. Make sure that you are Really comfortable

  • and secure in your answers. And trust me when I say take your time, you want to do this

  • right the First time!

  • And remember, this is not justifying past bad decisions. It's simply a logical approach

  • to a healing process.

  • So now. You answered the 3 questions, and I'd like for you to take a look at your answers.

  • One thing I want to mention to anybody that answered NO to question #3 -- What's very

  • important to acknowledge here is that the best choices are made with a clear head, would

  • you agree?

  • Do you agree that when you're angry you can say things that you don't mean? Why's that?

  • It's because your judgment is clouded. When you are in a state of emotional distress you

  • can have all the access to information possible, that still won't help you think clearly. It's

  • not a normal state of being. The situation you were in, placed you in a state of emotional

  • distress. And nothing that anybody could have said or done, would have helped you. Nothing

  • would have helped, because you didn't have all of YOU. Please realize that emotional

  • distress is chronic, and you're not immune to it. It's a place of such darkness, no rational,

  • light-filled decisions can be made from there. A mind cluttered with darkness cannot possibly

  • do the right thing. It's just how it is.

  • I wanted you to answer those questions in order to understand that there are deeper

  • roots to your actions. All that we tend to see is the surface, the end result to our

  • actions. And in the case of guilt, we only see what we did wrong. But what we have to

  • understand, is that our actions, are a product of many things. From our state of mind, to

  • our environment and its changes, past experiences, etc. Does that make sense? Don't be so quick

  • to judge yourself.

  • Now it's time to move to the solutions part of this video and start with the first act

  • of healing, (how I like to call it) and that is to Cry out from your sadness. If you think

  • that sounds corny or crazy, you have to get over it! Guilt isn't making your life hard

  • because you're so fucking breezy about your problems. I mean it. Let everything that you've

  • been hanging on to, out. Crying does not make you vulnerable. It does not make you less

  • of a person. You have baggage you have get rid of, and to do so, you have to get over

  • this hump. You will get over this hump the moment you stop bottling up your feelings.

  • Feel that feeling of pain that you have. This is the moment to allow yourself to feel sad,

  • feel sorry for yourself. It's OK! Allow yourself to be humbled and go through the pain. You

  • feel you fucked up, this is your time to really regret it and get it out of the way. No more

  • hiding from it. Make sure that nobody can hear you, so you don't feel self conscious

  • or weird about it. You need this uncensored time to connect with that felling that is

  • causing you guilt. And in that state of mind you will be far more open to healing.

  • If your guilt comes from something not so heart-wrenching, you can skip this step. But

  • make sure before you skip it that you're not doing it just because you think this would

  • be stupid. Make absolute sure that there's nothing deeper than what appears on the surface.

  • The second act of healing, is to formally Apologize. In writing. It's very important

  • to do it in writing, because when you write, you give your thoughts some additional time

  • to properly put themselves together. You're now in that state, you've cried, connected

  • to the source of pain, so you'll have the perfect opening to be vulnerable and honest,

  • and humble.

  • If you didn't wrong anybody but yourself, you can skip this step and go to the next

  • one. But if you feel you did somebody else wrong, then write this apology to the person

  • you feel you've wronged, and write down the uncensored truth. If you didn't have the emotional

  • strength, say it.

  • Write down that you were emotionally unable to do better even though you wanted to. Apologize

  • for not having been stronger at that time. If you were strong, but you didn't have enough

  • information, say it. If you had it all, admit you did wrong. You weren't perfect. Admit

  • that you've lived with the guilt for however long. Apologize and ask for forgiveness. Mention

  • that you are now ready to let go of the agony that has affected your life for so long, and

  • forgive yourself.

  • I wouldn't necessarily recommend sending the letter to the recipient since that can re-open

  • the can of worms you're trying to close, but if that will make you feel better, you can

  • do it. Just send it as is. Don't double check, proofread and edit. Being raw, and truthful,

  • and in that emotion is part of the healing. If you'd rather not send it, write the letter,

  • then in a safe place, burn it entirely. And look at it.

  • This is the moment when your apology is released into the universe. As you see it turn to ashes,

  • feel yourself surrendering everything that held you back. Feel your wrong doing released.

  • Lifted. Your message is now filling the air, and it will be delivered.

  • Once you've sent out or burned your message, the third act of healing is to write down

  • on a separate paper, HOW the guilt has affected your life, your relationships, your state

  • of mind and overall life. What has the guilt done to you? Think about it really hard. Write

  • it all down and after you're done. Look at it. If only one thing is on that list, it's

  • too much. It's proof that your life was affected by guilt. Haven't you had enough?

  • With those things outlined, I'd like for you to start writing a letter of forgiveness to

  • yourself. Because you've been really shitty to yourself. Beating yourself up for so long,

  • living a life with limitations, for something you can't even go back in time and change.

  • You might look at me and think that's weird. But then that tells me you don't think your

  • guilt is that big, or you don't think letting go of it is that important. You don't think

  • that guilt has affected you long and hard enough and you'd like to baby it a while longer.

  • So I ask you: Do You have less value than anybody else? When you wrong somebody do you

  • say I'm sorry? Why wouldn't YOU be good enough to apologize to? Because in guilt, you've

  • hurt yourself tenfold what you might have hurt the other person.

  • So we need to get to writing. In this letter, I want you to address yourself by your name.

  • Write down how guilt has affected your life. And now you know those things, because you've

  • just written them down a second ago.

  • I am so sorry for having punished myself for so long. I am so sorry for having treated

  • myself so badly for all this time. I'm sorry that I kept myself away from happiness because

  • I didn't think I deserved it.mI'm sorry I deprived myself of peace. I am so sorry that

  • after all this time, I still don't trust in myself fully. I'm sorry I've allowed this

  • guilt to develop insecurities that are affecting my relationships and my life.

  • Get it off your chest. Say you're sorry for everything you've put yourself through. For

  • all the ways your life has been affected as a result of having that guilt.

  • Also very important here is to write in a separate paragraph, what you've LEARNED from

  • this. And how will you handle a similar situation in the future, if faced with it? What will

  • you do? I'd also like for you to write this portion down in your journal as well, in the

  • Accountability tab if it's appropriate, as a way to keep yourself accountable in the

  • future.

  • In the fourth act of healing I'd like for you to fold the apology letter you wrote to

  • yourself, set it aside and start writing down HOW you will feel without the guilt. How will

  • your life be like? Who will you be, without the burden you're carrying? What will you

  • have? What will you do? Will your relationships improve? Will you have more success at work?

  • As you're writing these things down, feel that feeling of happiness, of living a life

  • that's liberated. Get excited about the wonderful things that can be accessible to you now.

  • And while you're in that feeling of happiness, take all 3 papers- what guilt has done to

  • you, your apology and the how you'll feel without guilt, and go in a safe place, and

  • burn them.

  • As you're watching them turn to ashes, I want you to think about how you've done your time.

  • Every second that you spent with guilt means that you have done your time. You've punished

  • yourself for long enough, and now it's time to move on.

  • It's time to forgive yourself. It's time to live the life you've always wanted. To feel

  • the happiness of finally being free. Feel that happiness you've deprived yourself of!

  • Think about how much better life will be as of right now! Everybody deserves a second

  • chance, we were not born perfect and holy. YOU deserve that second chance, and it is

  • now time to take it.

  • And by taking all of these steps, you will be able to move on and leave behind everything

  • that's been holding you back as a result of guilt. If you want, as a reinforcer, list

  • all the reasons why you deserve a second chance. You're not any different than me, or anybody

  • else. Why NOT you? Why can't YOU be forgiven? What's so BAD about you that's so much worse

  • than everybody else?

  • Nothing!!! My friend, it is time to move on.

  • If you need to go through the same process over again for the same guilt, that is totally

  • fine. You might discover new things the second or third time around. In some instances, I

  • had to do this 4 times before letting go of some of my guilts, that's how deep and stubborn

  • some of them were. But I did it. And honestly, it has changed my life.

  • A tip here is to plan a day when you can be alone and do this. Plan a day when you can

  • be all by yourself in the house for at least 4 hours. Use a sick day, have somebody help

  • with babysitting, tell your spouse you really need a day to yourself. Whatever it is, give

  • yourself enough time. If you feel rushed, it's not going to be as impactful.

  • And once you're done with the #1 guilt, but only after you feel you've conquered it and

  • let go of it, you can move on to #2. Remember not to rush through this. Your life is not

  • a gamble, you're not at the races. Deal with one guilt at a time, so you dedicate all the

  • intensity and all the power of healing into one funnel, and not all over the place and

  • miss the mark.

  • Then follow the same steps for guilt #3, and 4, and trust me, you'll slowly be able to

  • clear guilt from your life, and start living a better life. I know this works. It Can work

  • for you too.

  • So. That's it for video #1 what did you think? I'd like to hear your feedback. In the next

  • video coming out next week, we'll talk about RELATIONSHIPS & SEX. Specifically how to become

  • the most perfect partner YOU can be.

  • It's going to be so amazing, you don't want to miss this out.

  • Subscribe to my YouTube channel so you're first to get these videos, and join my website

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  • I love reading your comments, so ask me your questions, all the ways to contact me are

  • linked below. And if this video motivated or inspired you, please hit LIKE, & share

  • it with the people you love most, and with those you feel could benefit from it.

  • I love you for watching and I'll see you Soon. Be kind to yourself and to all those around

  • you.

Hello my friend, Alexandra here! Welcome to video #1. The first video EVER in my blog

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