50. Normal is a Lie with Michelle Kuei

Apr 6

In today’s episode, Erica has a conversation with Michelle Kuei of Elevate Life Coaching. At age 11, Michelle was in an accident that left her physically disabled. At 4’ 4”, she’s small in stature, but the woman is a giant in spirit. She has embraced and owned her journey of personal discovery and fulfillment, and instead of playing the role of victim, she has written a more fulfilling script for herself. Her “normal” looks different than most, but she reminds us that behind the labels, we are all the same.

As you probably know, Erica is has a soft spot for deep, thought-provoking conversations, and this one does not disappoint.

Are you ready to listen in? What’s Happening In This Episode…

[0:06:01] Michelle’s self-introduction
[0:07:35] Erica reveals her first impressions of Michelle.
[0:09:53] Michelle shares her story of becoming disabled at the age of 11.
[0:11:33] Michelle felt like a victim, like she was abnormal, isolated.
[0:14:46] Normal is subjective.
[0:15:15] What defines a person, what defines beauty.
[0:17:28] Erica and Michelle discuss diversity. Diversity looks at the outside, but on the inside, we’re all the same.
[0:25:23] How the coronavirus is giving us a chance to learn about humanity and about ourselves.
[0:32:53] About Michelle’s book, Perfectly Normal: An Immigrant’s Story of Making it in America.
[0:39:57] On negative self-talk
[0:43:59] On dealing with fear
[0:47:16] On labels like “normal” and “disabled”
[0:55:43] Four blocks of connection: assumption, interpretation, limiting beliefs, and our inner critic

“Diversity was created because we wanted to make people feel comfortable about their uniqueness. But what we don’t realize is that, at the same time, we’re also creating a wall in front of everybody.” — Michelle

QUOTES

“I work with negative self-talkers to help them discover their inner strength and beauty by letting go of the fear of judgment.” — Michelle

“We don’t see the world as it is. We see the world as who we are.” — Michelle

“Normal is subjective. It depends on how you grew up, what culture you came from, what belief system you have. That defines your normal. What is normal to you is completely different from another person.” — Michelle

“In a sense, diversity is a term that we created to help us understand each others’ differences. By doing so, we actually create separation rather than that togetherness. Ultimately, we are not that different. We are all the same. ” — Michelle

“I wish there wasn’t a need to categorize us on things that we don’t have any choice in. Nobody is choosing how tall they are, how long their hair will grow…Nobody has any choice to age… Diversity is so much more than what we have labeled it to be.” — Erica

“Everything that is happening, everything that I do in my work, everything that you do in your work, it’s all based around trying to get people to be willing to accept the concept of, and then to be in the action of, doing something differently.” — Erica

“It’s more important to recognize each others’ gifts than the shortcomings of our limitations.” — Michelle