Meet Misha Bleymaier-Farrish, a resilient and authentic individual who has navigated multiple life pivots with grace and determination. In this insightful interview, Misha shares valuable strategies and mindset shifts that have helped her embrace change, turn challenges into opportunities, and prioritize both personal growth and well-being. With a focus on integration rather than balance, Misha’s wisdom shines through as she encourages us to be intentional about our actions, lean into learning experiences, and stay true to our authentic selves.
As someone who has experienced multiple life pivots, what strategies or mindset shifts have helped you embrace change and turn challenges into opportunities?
I’m a strong believer that you can learn something from any experience or anyone, and this is the mindset shift that I have to be in as I embrace that change or challenge and powerfully choose to turn it into an opportunity. Whether it’s your own experience or something you hear along the way that makes an impact, you can learn what to do and, more importantly, what not to do. As you exercise this muscle more and more, you can have check-ins with yourself to make sure you are in that mindset earlier in the challenge. Asking yourself questions such as, “Is this challenge going to teach me what to do or what not to do? Is this a growth challenge that will propel me to the next chapter or milestone?” Asking ourselves these questions during the change or challenge can activate our resilience and confidence to keep showing up, no matter the adversity we are facing. Even if you don’t get into this mindset during the challenge, at the very least, facilitate your own debrief or retrospect afterward. These are the types of questions that I like to ask myself: “Did I accomplish what I set out to do? What could I have done better or worse? How could I have responded differently?” Living life with this mindset of learning something from everything and anyone is powerful because it allows us to grow as individuals at a faster rate. It also gives us a lens of gratitude – gratitude for the pivots and challenges because it makes us more confident and resilient.
How do you balance pursuing your passions and goals while also prioritizing self-care and well-being, especially considering your past health challenges?
I tend to shy away from using the word balance and prefer to use integration. Having a work-life-family integration is essential to living the fullness of life but allows for agility and pivots, which are necessary. My self-care and well-being are part of the “life” portion of that integration. Additionally, there are seasons of DOing and seasons of BEing. Oftentimes people assume that because I’m the woman who gets sh*t done, that I’m always doing, and that’s quite the opposite; my health challenges have forced me to be more intentional and mindful of when I DO vs when I BE. Just like work-life-family integration, we have to have both seasons. Seasons of BEing allows us to rest and recharge for that next season of DOing. Being present in whichever season you are in is equally important. Whether you are in a season of DOing or BEing, there are lots of ways to evaluate the to-do list. The key thing to remember is that it can’t all be done today; you may need to ask for help, and you must lean into progress and not perfection. I’m always evaluating what needs to be done, and I always have a list. I have adopted the following categorization of organizing and prioritizing into three buckets:
Now–These are the items that are immediate, today maybe tomorrow, but it is critical to getting done.
Next–These are the items that may be completed tomorrow or this week. They are a close follower after the now items but aren’t the most pressing.
Later–These are the items that can have a little more time to ideate and plan. They could be addressed next week, next month or quarter, etc.
Whatever season you are in, be all there. Remember to extend yourself grace as you figure out the systems that work best for you. Sometimes you will get the work-life-family integration right; sometimes you won’t, but that’s ok. Keep going.
Looking back at your journey so far, what would you say has been the most valuable lesson you’ve learned about personal growth, resilience, and rewriting your own story?
My most valuable lesson has been to always remain steadfast, fully embracing my unapologetic, true, authentic self–knowing who I am and powerfully choosing me no matter what. I have oftentimes taken the road less traveled, done things in an atypical way, and trusted my gut and intuition, never changing to conform, but always honoring and respecting who I am. I am a woman who wears many hats, who lives a life of confidence, inquisitiveness, imagination, presence, resilience, and influence, and who gets sh*t done in my unapologetic, authentic way. I strive not to live to be liked by all. I have the courage to be disliked, and living a confident and authentic life like that is so freeing. It allows us to dream big for ourselves and for our families, especially as we are rewriting our own story.
Website: https://www.gsdfactor.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mishableymaierfarrish/
