Mantra with Jemma Sbeg - I Let Myself Trust The Process

Episode Date: July 21, 2025

This week’s mantra is "I Let Myself Trust the Process." When progress feels slow or the path ahead is unclear, it’s easy to spiral into self-doubt or try to force control. But trusting the process means allowing life to unfold in its own timing—while staying present, grounded, and committed to the journey. In this episode of Mantra, we explore how to release the pressure for instant answers, surrender what you can’t control, and lean into patience with confidence. This Mantra will remind you that growth is happening, even when you can’t yet see the outcome. Mantra is an OpenMind Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. For ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to OpenMind+ on Apple Podcasts. Don’t miss out on all things Mantra! Instagram: @mantraopenmind | @OpenMindStudios TikTok: @OpenMind Facebook: @0penmindstudios X: @OpenMindStudios YouTube: @OpenMind_Studios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Open Mind. Welcome to a brand new week. Here is your mantra. I let myself trust the process. I'm Gemma Spagg and every Monday, I give you a simple but powerful phrase to consider and bring into your life, a philosophy to guide you in the week ahead and hopefully even beyond. In each episode I unpack what our mantra really means, how it has shown up in my life and how you

can bring it into yours. I also offer journal prompts and a weekly challenge to help you take this mantra and put it into action. At Open Mind, we really value your support, so please make sure to share your thoughts on social media, rate, review the show, leave a comment below, and follow mantra to help others discover the podcast. For more exclusive content, monthly bonus episodes, early access, and ad-free listening. Join our Open Mind Plus community on Apple podcasts. Every month they also respond to your questions and comments in a special bonus episode, so leave a comment on this episode or on Instagram at MachoOpenMind to be involved. Stick around.

We'll be right back after this short pause. Every detail will be handled with simplicity and professionalism, giving you the peace of mind that you've done all you can today to remove any burden from your loved ones tomorrow. We are your local Dignity Memorial provider. Find us at DignityMemorial.ca. The Dignity Memorial branding is used to identify a network of licensed funeral cremation and cemetery providers owned and operated by affiliates of Service Corporation International. Okay, let's get right into it. It is time for this week's mantra.

I let myself trust the process. I love this mantra. I'm so invested in this mantra. I am living this mantra right now. I am trying to believe it as much as I can. So I'm super excited to be able to talk to you guys about it today. So what does it firstly mean to trust the process? I feel like we hear this phrase thrown around everywhere on TikTok and self-help content from gurus and

wise people, just trust the process, trust the process. But if you've never had experience trusting the process before, if you find trust to be inherently very hard, you may not know what that looks like. Trusting the process is firstly going to look very different to everyone based on your goals, where you want to end up in the future, even your belief system. But I think in general, we can still break it down into three parts. If you want to fully trust the process, you need to firstly, trust yourself. Self-trust is the most important component here. Secondly, you have to trust in the timing of things.

Know that when the time is right, it will all come together. And finally, it's going to sound counterintuitive, but you have to trust in the detours. You have to trust in the detours. You have to trust in the things that don't go right. You can allow yourself to be sad for that reality that you may be missing out on, but you also have to see this as things working in your favor, removing what would have been wrong for you so that the right path is clear. I always think about this quote, maybe the bridge needed to be burnt so you didn't cross the wrong bridge. And I feel like this is an excellent example of

that. Let's break all of these components down a little bit further, starting with self-trust. You guys know self-trust is probably my favorite concept and idea on this planet. The opposite of anxiety is self-trust. The opposite of fear is self-trust. We need it for everything. It's really about knowing if it's your time that you will know that it is and that you will know how to act and that you will have the capabilities necessary to be successful. You have all the necessary skills to deal with success, but also to deal with setbacks on the way.

I think self-trust for me as well also involves being able to trust your intuition, not just when it tells you to act, but when it tells you to hang back. And to say no, when it tells you very clearly, this thing isn't right for you, trust that part of you that is saying that. This ability is just as crucial as being able to jump in headfirst because you know, deeply, when something doesn't align, you can feel that in your body. It feels forced. It feels hard, but not fulfilling.

It feels detached from our values and our interests and our soul. It feels exhausting, but not in a good way because I think hard work and exhaustion, they have their time and their place, but self-trust is knowing when the timing is wrong and knowing that a better opportunity, a better relationship, a better environment, whatever it is, will come. You don't have to be grabby or force things that aren't right for you or grabby with things that aren't right for you that are meant for others. You trust that when it feels right, you will know, and that you have done all the preparation

internally to step into action. Trusting the process also equally means trusting the timing, which means being okay with things not happening right this second. Knowing that just because they're not happening right now doesn't mean they will never happen. Just because something isn't meeting your timeline expectations doesn't mean it's not for you. I always think about this quote that talks about how Oprah didn't get her big break until she was, I don't know, 44 and Harrison Ford was a similar age and Vera Wang didn't design her first wedding dress until she was 40. Many other successful, aligned people have similar stories. I am sure that they had times when they felt like they were never going to get there. They had no idea what they wanted. They felt lost, confused, lonely in their dreams. All along, things were conspiring

for them. If all your inspiration and all the great things that will ever happen to you in your life happened before 30 or before 40, when we, I guess, think that they should happen, what would we have left? Ideas take time to marinate, success takes time to take hold. Skills take time to develop. Love takes time to find. Time is not a curse. It is your best friend in this process because it is

the space in which you learn and you grow and you experience things. All of that is very useful in the long run. All of that is building the platform on which you'll be able to reach your dreams. Don't rush an artist, that's what they always say. Don't rush the universe, the original artist, God, whoever it is. You don't want your dream life to come out premature, do you? It's like that analogy I saw the other day when

we fail to trust the process. It's like baking a cake, putting it in the oven, and then opening the oven every five minutes to see if it's done. And when we do so, we inadvertently end up ruining the cake. Let the universe cook. Let it create. Let it take its time. It's not like you're just waiting passively, of course. Like obviously try things and investigate and create in other ways, but also don't think that all you have now is all that you're ever going to have. This very easily brings me to the last point, trusting your failures, trusting your detours. We discussed this with another mantra the other day,

I accept that rejection is redirection. Guess what? I still believe it. I will believe this until the day that I die. It is a grounding philosophy for me. Hindsight will always reveal to you how many things you were protected from that in the moment you felt that you were missing out on. Heartbreak that saved you from a loveless marriage, one pain for a worse pain, missed apartments that saved you from, I don't know, mold, missed exits that gave you a rainbow, like all those kinds of things. Failure is a detour. Failure is an opportunity.

It is definitely, most certainly not the end of the road. And also, what else are we meant to believe other than that? That every time something doesn't work out, it's because you're not enough. That every misstep is proof that you're failing. If you get into that mindset, you are never going to feel like you're a winner even when you have everything that you want. That mindset is exhausting and it's not the truth. Sometimes we don't get what we want because something better is still being built behind the scenes. Sometimes we are rerouted because the original road would have taken us somewhere. We were never meant to stay. It's not naive to trust that. It's very resilient. This is going to sound really strange. I'm going to give you a metaphor for this.

Every time I think about this, it reminds me of when I walk my dog, my sweet, precious, beautiful Talu, my little puppy. She's gorgeous. She's a little bit dumb. of Talu, my little puppy. She's gorgeous. She's a little bit dumb. We love her, but every time we get to a traffic light, she's always wanting to keep going. She always wants to just keep walking. She's not traffic conscious at all. And I always make her stop and I make her sit. The other day I was looking at her and I was thinking, she's probably she's probably thinking, what are we doing? Like, why are we stopping? Like I'm on a roll. I want to go. I want to keep going.

Not realizing what I'm protecting her from. Not realizing that if she was to keep going at this moment, she would get hit by a car and it wouldn't be pretty. And I know it sounds like a weird analogy, but sometimes I think about it that way. Every time I hit a roadblock, every time I feel like I've stopped when I'm on a roll or that I've stopped when I should be going, going, going, what am I being protected from? What cars are actually coming at me that the universe is stopping me from walking in front of?

You can't just trust the process when things are going well. When things are falling apart, progress is also happening. Think of Simone Biles, think of Cocoa Goff, think of Steve Jobs, think of Taylor Swift in her Reputation album, think of Martha Stewart, think of any single hero of yours. What if they had just given up at that point, at that point of failure? We would have missed out on so, so much from them. Now, of course, none of this is an excuse to not work hard and to just sit passively by and expect for things to fall in your lap.

I'm definitely not claiming that. Trusting the process does not mean that you just sit back and wait for the universe to hand you your dreams. It does mean that you show up, you do the work, but you also stay grounded even when the results aren't immediate. It's knowing in your heart of hearts that this isn't about instant reward. This is a delayed kind of gratification, the best kind of gratification, even if it's not

aligning with your expectations. You can plant the seed, you can water it every day, you can give it sunlight and care and still have to wait months before you see something bloom. Trusting the process is choosing to believe that what you're doing matters even when you can't see the impact. I think this way of saying things is primarily a kind of emotional armor against the full force of setbacks and failure. Basically we're trying to make sure that along this

road towards whatever you're pursuing, you don't feel demoralized. You don't feel like giving up. Reminding yourself of the process, even if it's invisible to you, is a really great antidote and a great soother. I think it's so difficult because we are very uncomfortable with uncertainty and we deeply crave control. It is part of our human DNA. Humans, you and I, we want answers, we want structure, we want routine, we want timelines, we want to know. Uncertainty for us from a very evolutionary historical point of view meant danger.

It meant something that we would have to anticipate and potentially fight against or flee or survive. And so now in this modern day context, uncertainty feels just as scary. We want to control outcomes, not realizing that control means knowledge, means anticipation, means ruining the surprise. Imagine if you knew how everything was going to work out. Do you know how boring that would be? Oh, great, I got a promotion. I already knew about that five years ago. Oh, great, I met the love of my life on this day at this time. I already knew that was going to happen. Oh great, like I found success. Well, I always knew what was going to happen and not in a good way, but in a way of like, cool, this is all mapped out for me. You have to see uncertainty and the unknown as something that holds not just

mystery and maybe fear, but excitement, anticipation, exhilaration, surprises, all of these incredible things for you to look forward to. Trusting the process, it's about being intuitive. It's not necessarily about being comfortable. It's not necessarily about needing to be in control and know how everything is going to work out. It's kind of being okay with just release, releasing expectations, releasing your need to know everything and just sinking into possibility and sinking

into the trust that you have for yourself, that you have for timing, that you have for your failures. I'm going to share with you how this has shown up in my own life. In many ways, what I've learned, what I've resisted, trusting the process and what that experience has definitely taught me. So stay tuned. We'll be right back after this short break. Welcome back.

Now that we've looked at the meaning behind today's mantra, I let myself trust the process. It's time to get personal with you guys and share some of my own insights and reflections about this phrase. Do I have stories for you about this? I'm sure I will also in my lifetime have many other stories. In fact, I hope so. I think the universe or whatever it is, is really trying to tell me to trust the process right now. I've been having lots of doubts about my future, about where I currently stand, comes across as a lot of intense chaotic feelings, but it's been a big year for me, a huge year. I published a book, I moved house, I adopted a dog, I'm moving to London, I was on book tour, I'm still going on more stops.

In all that chaos, I can't help but stop and think, okay, a lot is happening, a lot is going on, where is this taking me? What's the next phase of my life and the next phase of my career? Because when I look into the future, there is no five-year plan. There is no organization. It is just pure chaos. And it's freaking me out. It's making me scared.

And so as much as I'm telling you to trust the process, I think this episode is a reminder to myself as well and to me, just because you don't know how it's going to work out, doesn't mean that things aren't currently happening. Just because you haven't been able to put the puzzle together yet, doesn't mean that pieces aren't falling into place. I have to remind myself as well of past times

where hindsight has made it all so clear what was leading me to a fantastic moment. I think about building the psychology of your 20s, for example, my OG podcasts, my firstborn child, and how I started that really with no plan. And then I faced so many setbacks, and there were so many things that went wrong, and so many things that I thought I was going to do that didn't happen. Throughout that process, I was working a full-time job, and I really thought that that was going to be my career.

But things were happening, things were happening that I could not anticipate. And because I wasn't rabby about it, because it was purely a passion for me, I think I was able to kind of loosen the reins. I wasn't trying to force things. I wasn't trying to make things happen. It came very, very naturally because intuitively I was trusting the process without even realizing and it led me to where I am today.

I also think about writing my book. When I first started writing a book, I don't know if I've talked about this, but I had another publisher and it wasn't working out and it was not a great relationship. I remember being like, oh my gosh. At some point, I had half a manuscript and I didn't know where I was going to publish it and I felt very unsure. I was like, I'm just going to stop writing this. Maybe this is a sign that it's a bad idea. At that point,

I was projecting into the future only what I had already experienced, not what was coming my way. So basically, I was like, this is not going to work out and this is going to be a failure because I'm having these failures leading up to it. Little did I know that I would find an amazing publishing house and I would find an amazing team and that I would finish the book. There was so much that actually that initial setback of not working with those people saved me from in a way. There was a bigger opportunity waiting for me. I just had to be okay with stepping into the unknown and I had to be okay with just kind of diving off the cliff and hoping that someone would catch me. This is kind of a bonus example of this and it's around finding love.

Trusting the process when you're finding love, I think means that you are less likely to settle. I think it means that you are less likely to accept what you don't deserve. You're less likely to force a relationship with someone that you know is not accept what you don't deserve, you're less likely to force a relationship with someone that you know is not right for you. You know that person isn't right for you. You know that you're forcing chemistry. You know that you don't actually love them.

But because you can't trust that someone better might come along because you don't trust that love sometimes takes time, you rush into timelines that aren't meant for you. What if you just let the right timeline happen? What if you just relaxed into this idea that you can't control everything? You can't control all the outcomes and timing. You can only control your expectations and your mindset. I hope these really serve as examples for you guys. And I'm sure you have examples of your own setbacks that you realize were actually

bridges, expanders, incredible moments of good luck and good fortune that you could share, moments where you thought you were losing and you were really winning. I also always think, what if I'd rushed? What if I said, this is taking too long and I just taken whatever was first offered to me? What if I just said, this is taking too long, this isn't working out and I'd given up? I would have missed out on so much. I would have missed out on my career. I would have missed out on my book. I would have missed out on almost every single good thing that is happening in my life right

now. And I know that sounds dramatic, but I really would have. If I had forced myself onto a more predictable timeline because of a lack of trust, I really think I would have regretted it. You know, I actually have an example of this where I didn't trust the process and I artificially rushed into a relationship that I knew wasn't right for me and I was so sick of waiting and I was so sick of being patient so I just decided that he was going to be the one. None of the signs were there. There was no self-trust involved in that. There was no trusting in timing or trusting in the

failures. I've decided that this is what I want and I've decided that the timing is right, so I'm just going to pursue this. I'm not with that person anymore and that relationship was actually a really hard relationship. It was also a very empty relationship. Whenever I get panicked by things not happening fast enough or things not happening the way that I want them to or feeling uncomfortable in the unknown,

I always think about that time and how much worse it is to be in a space where you know what you're experiencing is not meant for you and is not right for you. So I want to give you some tips and some insight into what trusting the process might look like because I know we haven't really spoken in specifics. Here are some of the more detailed examples of what trusting the process feels like, looks like, smells like, tastes like, so that you can really know when you're doing that and aligning your actions with a genuine sense of intuition and trust. Trusting the process means working hard because you want to and in areas where you are fulfilled, not because you're necessarily expecting a particular payoff at a particular time.

Trusting the process means going into spaces and into places and into roles where you feel genuine excitement and joy and love for what you're doing, rather than just feeling that you just have to do this to get ahead or whatever it is. Trusting the process looks like letting go of a timeline, the one that you seem to have unconsciously believed that's in the back of your mind. Instead of thinking about your life in months and in years and having a six-month plan and a 12-month plan and a 12-month plan and a five-year plan and whatever it is and saying, well, this is when I want to

get married and this is when I want to have kids and this is when I want to get my promotion, blocking things based on years and months and times. You instead swap that out for dream life design. Visualizing an image of your future rather than the pathway towards it, focusing on what it will look like and feel like without years or months or days attached. Then taking that back a step and just focusing on one thing that you can do right now. Trusting the process also looks like celebrating failure as much as you celebrate success. I saw this video the other day of this girl going out for dinner and getting a cake with

some candles to celebrate her divorce. Not that I necessarily think that divorce is a failure, but when someone asked her, like, oh, what are you celebrating? Is it a birthday? Did you buy a house? Promotion? She's like, no, I'm getting divorced. And it was this real beautiful moment of like, yes, you're getting divorced.

And that's probably very sad. And it was probably a very hard decision, but what is that opening your life up to? What is the next chapter going to be for you? Trust, celebrate, enjoy the failures. They are also doorways. They are secret opportunities. Trusting the process means saying yes when you feel ready and saying no when your gut is telling you that you're not. And I'm not saying it's your anxiety, it's not your self-doubt that we're listening to, but it's about being picky and choosy about what you choose to pursue so that when the right thing comes, you can jump fully in. You know, that's the whole saying, Jack of all trades, master of none.

That's sometimes how I feel when I feel like I need to have like a finger in every single pie and I need to be like making sure and testing like, is this right? Is this right? Is this right? Sit back, relax, be curious, be intentional. Know that it will feel right for you. It will feel right.

You will feel a calling. You will feel a pull. You don't, again, need to be grabby with opportunities that are meant for someone else. And I think I've already said this, but just to reiterate it, let curiosity guide you above all else. Let yourself be curious rather than fearful. Let yourself be interested in what is going on rather than scared when it's not working out. I always talk about

this book, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and she talks about it in that novel. And it's so powerful and so true. Something terrible happens, something unexpected, something you didn't want to happen happens. Be curious, be open to the idea that maybe this was actually a good thing. Now that we've unpacked what it really means to trust the process, let's talk about how to live it, especially when patience runs thin and the outcome isn't clear. We've all been there. I'm going to share some general prompts and our weekly challenge.

So stick around for more after this quick break. It's good to have a routine. And it's good for your eyes too. Because with regular comprehensive eye exams at Specsavers, you'll know just how healthy they are. Visit Specsavers.ca to book your next eye exam. Eye exams provided by independent optometrists. This is a true story. It happened right here in my town. One night, 17 kids woke up, got out of bed, walked into the dark, and they never came

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Welcome back. We're going to explore this week's mantra a little bit further, starting with our deep thought of the day. When I think about this week's mantra, I let myself trust the process. I feel like this quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is really fitting.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. That's really what it feels like. If you visualize it, if you imagine trusting the process and not knowing what's going to happen, there's a lot of empty space there. There's a lot of darkness. There's a lot of uncertainty. You're building the house as you stand in it. You're building the staircase as you stand in it. Isn't that incredible though, that there is so much to come that you haven't

seen yet, that there are surprises that you cannot even imagine, that there is good fortune behind corners that you haven't even come across yet. I love this quote because I think it also really enforces and reinforces this beautiful idea of faith and hope and believing even if the evidence isn't there yet. Having all the answers is not always a good thing. And whilst we're in this reflective mindset, let's keep going. I'm going to bring you a few journal prompts to help you explore what this mantra is bringing up for you today. And if journaling isn't your thing,

I know for some of you, you don't necessarily love it. If you don't have your journal nearby, totally okay if you're in the car, if you're cleaning. Just think about these prompts. Just invite some open thoughts into your mind, wherever your brain takes you, listen, focus inwards, pause. What does this mantra gently revealing to you in the season of your life?

Our first prompt, can you think of a time when things didn't go to plan but worked out better than expected? What did that teach you? How do you usually respond when progress feels slow? And what does that reveal about your relationship with patients? Have there been times where you have perhaps self-sabotage

without even realizing? And finally, what's something in your life right now that feels unresolved? And are you willing to let it unfold without rushing to fix it? What would that require from you? Now that you've made space to reflect, let's also give your mind a moment to rest. In just a second, you'll hear a custom music track, and I encourage you to take this opportunity to process this week's reflections in whatever way feels right for you right now.

No pressure, no expectations, literally just let your mind wander. If this doesn't connect with you, that's totally okay, just skip ahead around 30 seconds. But as you settle in, keep our mantra in mind. I let myself trust the process. As the music plays, let it shape your thoughts and take the time to really connect with whatever situation, experience, expectation it's bringing up for you. Beautiful. Whenever I take a few seconds to just breathe, I really do notice how much lighter I feel.

It's like this mini reset for my mind in a very chaotic life where we're always busy, we're always on our phones, there's always some kind of music playing in the background. We just sometimes need space to pause and really think. So now that you have had a moment to reset and ground yourself, let's take all that energy, let's bring it into action. It's time for our weekly challenge inspired by our mantra. So the purpose of this challenge is really just to help you take what we discuss and

turn it into real actionable steps in your life. I'd love to hear how it's going so you can reach out to me at mantra open mind. Each month of course I respond to your reflections on these challenges, your questions, your comments and a special bonus episode that is available exclusively on open mind plus. Okay, so this week the challenge is called the surrender step. Choose one area of your life where you're feeling stuck, impatient, or you're trying too hard to control things, and just step back. Take something off your plate.

Let someone else do it. Let yourself not do it. That might look like, you know, pausing a decision, delaying a conversation, simply choosing to just let something be unfinished for now. It might be hard, it's very much worth it. All right, as we wrap up this week's episode, I want to share a few final thoughts about the mantra, I let myself trust the process. This is something I really need to remind myself right now. I'm in a point of

flux. I'm in a point of not knowing. That's okay. I can be patient. So can you. I can know that good things are coming for me even if I don't have the evidence right now. I don't need to have all the answers. Something brilliant is brewing. Something amazing is being built behind the scenes, behind a big curtain right now, I'm gonna give the universe time, I'm gonna give life time to build it, to be the artist, to let it cook, trusting the process doesn't mean having it all figured out, you don't actually want to have it all figured out, you would have nothing else to do with your life. Just stay open whilst things unfold.

This is an adventure. This is exciting, even when the path isn't clear. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is just take a step back and just say, if it's meant to be, it will be. I'm going to trust the timing, trust the detours. I'm going to trust myself. Thank you for joining Mantra, an exclusive Open Mind original powered by Pave Studios. At Open Mind, we value your support, so share your thoughts on social media,

and remember to rate, review, and follow Mantra to help others discover the show. For ad-free listening and early access to Mantra with me, Jerma Spegg, we invite you to subscribe to Open Mind Plus on Apple Podcasts. I will share another insightful and introspective mantra with you next Monday. Until then, keep showing up for yourself and your journey. I'm Gemma Spegg. See you next week.

Mantra is hosted by me, Gemma Spegg. It is an Open Mind original powered by PAY Studios. This episode was brought to life by the incredible Mantra team, Max Guttler, Ron Shapiro, Stacey Warenker, Sarah Kemp, and Paul Leberskin. Thank you for listening.