Meet Liesl Hays

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Liesl Hays. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Liesl , sincerely appreciate your selflessness in agreeing to discuss your mental health journey and how you overcame and persisted despite the challenges. Please share with our readers how you overcame. For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety most of my life. Candidly, mental health is hard for me to talk about. There are so many unflattering stigmas attached to this discussion. However, I make it a point to share this because I know it will help someone else. My biggest piece of advice: trust yourself. Don’t feel guilty that light therapy, yoga, meditation or exercise weren’t the fixes you needed to balance yourself. You are not weak for getting the right combination of meds to achieve balance. Don’t let the opinions of others who haven’t experienced your reality mold you. I didn’t take medication for years because I felt deeply shameful about it. I got over it. I trusted myself to find what I needed to live fully. That’s what I do now.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Hi I’m Liesl. I’m an author, entrepreneur and human resources strategist. For over fifteen years, I’ve provided strategic direction to small, medium and large businesses on their human capital needs. Today, I own an HR Consulting business with my best friend.

My fun jobs include writing for the wildly popular self-development website LifeHack and being a podcast host on Link 2 Lee’s Summit.

I run on coffee, “to do lists,”and the belief that life begins after you agree to write your own story. I live in Blue Springs Missouri with my children, Mady and Ethan, and my crazy dog Bear.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three qualities that were most impactful on my journey are:

Success takes time: Overnight success is a lie. We all crave it, but it’s an illusion. Building something worthwhile takes grit, determination and failure. You have to be willing to put in the work to create something truly meaningful.

Persistence is more important than talent: I’ve met a ton of talented people who lack persistence and never accomplish their goals. Achieving something requires you develop daily habits that you mostly stick to. For instance, I wrote my book by carving out 30 minutes a day to focus on it. I do not look at my phone the first thing in the morning anymore because it distracts me from my most creative window of time.

Trust yourself: No really. You have really good ideas about how to live your life. When you focus on the opinions of people you don’t even want to be like, you will stall. There is so much wasted energy spent ruminating on things that don’t matter. I wish I would’ve told my younger self that the ultimate goal in life isn’t to be liked by everybody. Instead, it is to find your deep inner voice. Find your voice by being alone with yourself. Go to restaurants alone. Travel by yourself. Go see the movie none of your friends want to. Learning to be alone is one of the most underrated skills ever.

Developing these skills will take time. Go easy on yourself. There are some life lessons that come with experience and age. Devote yourself to becoming a continuous learner. Read every genre of literature. Listen to the stories of people who are wiser than you. Try new things that scare you. Development will follow. I promise.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
I read so many books so this question is challenging. One of the books I continue to come back to is entitled The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Here are my favorite quotes:

“You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his Personal Legend. If he abandons that pursuit, it’s because it wasn’t true love.”

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.””

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. “

Never stop learning, Liesl

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Image Credits
Suzanne Fryer Photography

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