fb

Something Significant: Liz Nierzwicki | Happyliving.com“From Your Grandeur You Can Only Bless.”
(Jesus’ Course in Miracles[1])

Our Something Significant series is about ordinary men and women who have done extraordinary things in the world. Liz Nierzwicki is a single mom, entrepreneur, author, and a self-described life warrior. After interviewing her, I scribbled the note, Entrepreneur Extraordinaire (although I misspelled both words!).

20160509_141231

My philosophy on significance has two components: doing something you love and creating something of value to others. Liz is a big believer that there is nothing we can’t do when we’re passionate and have a focus. And she loves helping others to believe the same thing via her businesses: Solace Yoga Studio & figureFIT!, her book: Happy Healthy Fit: Transform Your Life in 90-Days With the figureFIT! Lifestyle Program, and her blog: figureFIT!.

Liz’s passion in life is helping others tune into their soul’s purpose and wake up their inner God or Goddess here on earth to experience massive joy, abundance, and peace. At Happy Living, we celebrate her work, as, of course, our own mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of the world, one person at a time. It was my great pleasure to interview Liz for Something Significant.

www.happyliving.com

Hi Liz! So, tell us a little about yourself and how you got where you are today.

Hi Matt! Well, I am a single mom of a single mom. My mom divorced when I was only one-year old. I was an ornery child, a natural leader and stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. I’d always figure out a way to get my way.

I think being the youngest of three children trained me to be an entrepreneur. I learned not to allow other people to choose my reality. I learned drive and passion. I was very involved in sports and loved athletics and competition. I competed with my brother for straight A’s to earn a $500 reward from our mom. She taught me that hard work equals reward.

A steady diet of processed food led to serious digestive issues as a child, and then bad health choices in college literally ruined my bowels. My deteriorating health culminated in a horrible, horrible summer in Finland, where I pooped only once in twelve weeks. I healed myself by learning to eat a clean diet. That whole experience was the catalyst that eventually fueled my entrepreneurial vision.

I studied nutrition science and psychology at Indiana University, switching from pre-med to the business school after changing my mind about becoming a doctor. My business degree was in marketing, with a minor in psychology, and I found that the two elements really play well together in the business world.

After college, I worked for ten years in the corporate world but I just didn’t have a passion for what I was doing. I longed for something more. I wanted to do something that I loved waking up to every day. For me, not doing what I was passionate about was painful, and depressing. I needed to create a business that served others in the areas of fitness, health, yoga, and nutrition.

www.happyliving.com

Was there a specific moment or situation when you became aware of those
things that are most significant to you?

There were two that come to mind.

I got pregnant when I was 24. I was extremely torn about what to do. Then, I felt an internal nudging that told me to read a scripture. The nudging was very persistent. One day I picked up a book of bible scriptures that someone had given me, flipped it open and read this:

“For those that believe in me, from their belly shall flow rivers of living water[2].”

It was like the world stopped! That was a big moment in my spiritual awakening. I decided to keep the baby. It was a hugely significant moment in my life. It was the gift of my son!

The second moment came in 2008, when the market crashed, and I lost my job. Having a home and being a single mom, I was so scared. In fact, I was terrified. I was also depressed. I was gaining weight and I’d stopped taking care of myself. I was getting too big for all my clothing. On top of that, I was mad at myself for not taking care of myself, and I was worried about finding a job. I was internally cussing at myself, telling myself I was fat. My head constantly filled with negative thoughts.

One day during that time, I basically had a breakdown in my closet and I cried. Then I had a vision of my life as a downward spiral. It said, “This is where you’re going with these thoughts, and if you don’t change it, that’s where you’re headed.” I sat with this vision for a moment. And I thanked it. And I prayed. And I said I am going to start doing some new things. That was a turning point for me in my life to start pouring positive energy into myself: working out, eating the right foods, and doing the right things for me, without excuses! Once that day in my closet happened, everything changed.

What obstacles have you faced in your pursuit of significance? How did you overcome them?

My biggest obstacle was learning to truly love myself.

In 2013, I was going through yet another romantic breakup. This time, I realized that I was the common denominator of a long string of bad relationships. One day, I was crying in the car and I said these words out loud:  “God, please send me someone to love because I have so much love to give and I just want to give it to someone.”

And I’ll tell you what. It was like God was sitting right next to me. And this is what I heard: “No! You need to love yourself.” Then He said: “I am you.” That’s when I finally got it. The divine spirit is in me. It’s in you, too. I decided in that moment to take a full year off romantic relationships. It was one of the best things I ever did. I believe most obstacles are mental. My big one was understanding that there was never anything wrong with me, it was just a mental image I held of myself. That false image was my biggest obstacle until that day in the car, where I let the negative image go and replaced it with a positive one. That’s when I learned to truly love myself.

What is one thing you wish you had known 10 years ago?

How about two?

Number one: It’s so important to stay disciplined in your good habits because it’s really easy to put those things off.

Number two: How hard it is to build a successful Internet business.

What is one hope you have for the next 10 years?

I have three!

One: I would like to become a well-known author.

Two: I want to empower single parents to pursue the dream within them.

Three: I want to spread the light of spiritual enlightenment and personal empowerment throughout the world.

www.happyliving.com

Are there any books or resources you would like to recommend to our readers?

Here are two of my very favorites:

Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue

A Course In Miracles

Thank you Liz, for sharing your inspiring story with us for Something Significant! If you want to hear the full, unedited audio version of my interview with Liz, just click here (part 1, part 2). The audio quality is not great but the content is inspiring.

[1] Jesus’ Course in Miracles is a public domain document, and the reader is free to read, enjoy and share any part of it without the permission of any person.
[2] John 7:38

Image via Stephen Radford | This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and then purchase we will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for reading & supporting Happy Living!