We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lillea Hartwell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lillea, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
What a great question, one that I see many of my patients and students struggle with on a regular basis. I believe–for me at least–it comes from within. It comes from first cultivating a sense of self..From asking the question who I am aside from every other person in my life? When its just me, by myself, what are my preferences? Cultivating that sense of self has actually been a journey as I grow and evolve. And it develops from there, once I knew who I was I could start to embrace that and live from that place. I recognized that by living in my authenticity I would not be for everyone and that I was not here to appeal to everyone, to be accepted by everyone, to be embraced by everyone. I acknowledged that what I am here to do on this Earth is much bigger than being liked by everyone and that in order to fulfill on my service to humanity, it may trigger some folks and it may be met with disagreement. Ultimately, though, it all started with self-acceptance and building from there.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
We are living in a world now where natural medicine is being embraced more commonly which really excites me. As a naturopathic physician, I have noticed that people are more open to alternative suggestions and alternative modalities in my private practice. I truly believe that what we consume, whether its the thoughts and ideas of others, certain foods or beverages, what our skin absorbs when we apply our daily regimens, etc. all influences our health. And lately, I have had an influx of patients who are observant of that in their own health and seeking tools to improve their health and minimize consumption that doesn’t serve them, replacing with products that do.
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 3 qualities that were most important on my self-esteem and confidence journey were: 1. cultivating my sense of self
2. getting clear on what my purpose is
3. authentically embracing that in my daily life
The third stage is an ongoing process. We are living in a day in age where strangers can form an opinion on who you are without truly knowing you AND express it to you on public platforms all in milliseconds. It seems there’s no shortages of criticism thereby making staying true to who you are and what you are here to do a more arduous task. Continuing to show up, stay open, and be vulnerable is something I am proud of my introverted self for doing.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I truly believe in going all in on our strengths AND being more well rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in. By doing one, you invariably cultivate the other. For example, my #1 best investment is myself. I continue to learn, grow, and evolve. Every time I do this, I hone my craft of medicine even more, my receptivity to my patients, expand my knowledge of how we as humans can heal and can better connect with others in my life. What I have learned year in and year out in private practice is that the entrepreneurial journey requires me to curate and strengthen every aspect of self, which in turn allows me to show up more fully and in stronger connection with my patients. Everything I encounter with self, every wall I hit, every stagnancy I work through, allows me to better coach and support my patients and students. Its all a teachable moment, first for self and then for others.
Contact Info:
- Website: drlilleahartwell.com
- Instagram: @drlilleahartwell
- Facebook: @drlilleahartwell
- Linkedin: Dr. Lillea Hartwell
- Twitter: @drlilleahartwell
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmD1hxsVVZ3a8nW53oJG1ZQ
- Other: https://dr-lillea-hartwell-training.mykajabi.com/freebies
Image Credits:
A. Stein, O. Thompson
