I just got off the phone with Michelle, and our conversation reminded me why the You First movement is so essential right now. Michelle shared how overwhelmed she feels—by her husband’s dismissive behavior, by being overlooked at work, and by the weight of everything going wrong in her life. She told me, “When I pray, I’m praying for everyone. But who is praying for me?”

That question stopped me in my tracks.

Michelle’s story is one I’ve heard so many times. Too often, we pour ourselves into others, hoping they’ll pour back into us. But what happens when they don’t? What happens when the people you’re praying for, showing up for, and breaking your back for, are too consumed by their own brokenness to see you?

I told Michelle something that sparked a shift:
“It’s time to change your focus. What if you started praying for yourself? What if you turned your energy toward your own healing, your own blessings, and your own growth?”

Shifting the Narrative

Michelle has been giving so much airtime to what’s going wrong in her life that she’s unknowingly amplifying it. Here’s the truth: where focus goes, energy flows. If you constantly replay the hurts, disappointments, and frustrations, the universe will keep sending you more of the same.

But what if she flipped the script?
What if she started focusing on the blessings already in her life and the ones on their way?
What if she stopped looking outward for validation and turned inward to reconnect with her own strength, worth, and desires?

When you start amplifying what’s going right, you create a magnetic energy that draws even more opportunities and abundance to you.

Taking Back Your Power

Here’s the game-changer: You don’t need other people to validate your worth.

So many of us make the mistake of expecting people, who are walking around in their own brokenness, to treat us as if they’re whole. But they can’t. It’s not because you’re not worthy—it’s because they don’t have the capacity to give what they haven’t yet claimed for themselves.

When you take your power back, everything changes. You stop chasing opportunities and people; they start chasing you. You stop asking, “Why aren’t they treating me better?” and instead say, “I deserve better, and I’ll align myself with those who see my value.”

The You First Movement

This conversation with Michelle isn’t just about her; it’s about all of us. It’s about reclaiming the power we’ve given away in the name of selflessness, loyalty, or fear.

The You First movement is about filling your own life so fully—with love, purpose, and joy—that you naturally overflow into the world. It’s not about being selfish; it’s about being whole. Because when you prioritize yourself, you show up stronger, more confident, and more aligned with the opportunities that are meant for you.

Michelle left our conversation with a renewed sense of purpose. She’s ready to shift her focus, take her power back, and stop expecting broken people to validate her worth. And I know this is only the beginning of her transformation.

If you’ve been feeling like Michelle, let this be your wake-up call. The blessings, the opportunities, the love—they’re all waiting for you. But first, you have to give them permission to enter by putting you first.

This is the message of my upcoming book, “You First: Filling Your Own Life to Empower the World.” It’s a call to action for anyone who’s ready to stop living in the shadows of others and start stepping into their own light.

Your life doesn’t just deserve to be full—it’s meant to overflow. And it starts with you first.