Category Archives: Self Care

A quote that gives me peace and strength

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What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
If it’s a workday: Turn off my alarm, grab my glasses, phone/journal/pen.  After regular getting up activities, I put on my apple watch :)
If it’s a weekend: And I haven’t been woken up by an alarm or by my kids, I check to see what the kids are doing. After regular getting up activities, I put on my apple watch lol!

What gives you energy?
My creative hobbies, completing a priority task, hugging my kids/husband or a really good run, confidence in my experience.

What is your secret life hack?
Practicing gratitude using the DayOne App with the built in Five Minute Journal templates.

Name a book that changed your life?
I have two from the last 10 years: The Alchemist and Light is the New Black.

Tell us about your relationship with your phone? Does it sleep with you?
I charge my phone on airplane mode on my nightstand, so no it absolutely does not sleep with me.  I’ve had a goal to get our phones out of room at night.  First step is to buy 2 alarm clocks and convince my husband to charge his phone elsewhere in the house overnight.

How do you deal with email?
Work email on a typical workday: I check my email too often.  Both due to the nature of my work (I am a manager in the innovation & strategy space) and because it’s been a habit of my career.  I would say several (5-10) times an hour.
Personal email on a typical day: Not as often because I only check it on my phone, maybe 3-5 times a day.

You unexpectedly find 15 minutes in your day, what do you do?
Pull out my e reader and hope that its charged so I can read!

When was the last time you felt burned out and why?
Over the Winter Break! It was the first time I had taken 2 weeks off since 2012.  We hosted several dinners, I cleaned the house 4 times, had to take care of the kids full time for a few days and had to make the Christmas magic (mom’s you know what I mean).  It was fun and exhausting.  Definitely glad to be back to our regular routine after a full and lively break.

When was the last time you felt you failed and who did you overcome it?
Motherhood is the most humbling journey and I fail every day (i.e.: maybe I lost my patience, I yelled, looked at my phone too much in front of my kids or didn’t play with them when they asked).  I don’t put myself down for every “failure” – I am human and a millennial mother in a digital age (we are the first generation of mothers/parents in this type of society)   I overcome it by talking about what happened (with my kids or husband) and lots of hugs.

Share a quote that you love and that gives you strength or peace?
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself // Leo Tolstoy

OOTD_at_work_Friday OOTD_at_work_Monday OOTD_at_work_Thursday OOTD_at_work_Tuesday OOTD_at_work_Wednesday

Feel free to answer these questions in the comments below or on your own blogs or social medium of your choice!  

(Where did you find these questions?)

More like this?  Check out my year in review from 2018.

My Evolution Of Journaling

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Looking inward to find ways to be better for myself is by journaling.

For free writing and diary type entires, I’ve relied on my @dayoneapp. I can write long, free-form and always had an option to export my entire month or year of journaling to a PDF.

I started using the @fiveminutejournal 3 years ago because I wanted to be more present and grateful. It was by far the easiest way to keep me grounded.

When my mornings got to busy and I couldn’t even find 5 minutes to write in the morning because I didn’t have the time to myself I started using the app version of the journal. I would use it on my morning commute – it and made gratitude journaling more convenient.

A few days ago, I found out that I can combine my free form journal writing with my gratitude practice with the ease of an app! I still use paper and pen daily but having everything available on the go without the bulk of a book is a game changer!

Do you journal? Which app do you use or do you prefer a paper journal?

Fall back into Action!

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“Soar, eat ether, see what has never been see; depart, be lost, but climb” // Edna St. Vincent Millay

TLY_Back to Fall1

I love September!  Fresh start, crisp mornings, new recipes, tall boots, beautiful fall photography :)

September has always felt like the start of a New Year of Learning. And although I no longer am in school or formal education, it’s important for me to remember that I should continue to grow and learn. I try to do this as often and as easily I can by: doing new things, reading books, listening to podcasts/Ted Talks or simply by changing my perspective to understand a topic more deeply. I often forget that it’s okay to feel overwhelmed or confused some days.  It’s on those days that I need to take a time to rest and recover but also not forget to keep my goal in mind and continue to scale that mountain.

I am taking this this upcoming month to fall back into action!  I want to get back into good routines and stay focused.  I put together this checklist to keep me motivated and ahead of my goals as we move into the colder months!

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How to be a good mom? (it’s not what you think)

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Who agrees with me that we should rename mothers day to Mother Figures day.

We need to be more understanding to the people who don’t have a mom, to the people who’s relationship with their mom is strained at best, to the people who dread this day because it makes them feel inferior, to the people who’s dad’s, grand parent, step parent, foster parent, aunt/uncle are mother figures, to the mom’s who just want a moment of quiet without the feelings of guilt and definitely to the mom’s who don’t think they are doing anything right (when they are actually doing everything right!)

If there is anything I’ve learned in the almost 5 years of being a mom is that it’s a thankless job.  It’s both exhilarating and anxiety inducing.  It’s a job where you have to be flexible and ready to change to keep growing and build something real.  It’s a job where you have to remain calm when everything is chaotic.  A job where transparent communication are critical to success.  A job where you have to lead with love (especially on the days you want to punch a wall or throw your coffee mug at a window).

But with all that said it doesn’t take a certain type of person, certain type of pregnancy, birth experience or even a certain type of upbringing to be a good mom.

To be a good mom you just have be a good human.

So if you are a good human or you know a good human who deserves a treat (mom, mom figure or non mom) hopefully you can find some inspiration below :)Mother Figures Gift Guide

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Our minds believe what we tell it

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I’ve always been interested in how the brain works and how we can train our minds to accomplish our goals.  Lately I’ve been more in tune with information specifically around learning and focusing.

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I was listening to a podcast recently where I heard Jim Kwik made 2 really interesting points.  He called our minds a (1) super computer and (2) that our minds are always eavesdropping on our self talk.  I made an immediate connection: our minds will believe what it hears us saying to ourselves.  Our self talk can be hugely centered around what our current focus is on.  Whether it be school test, huge assignment at work, a negative situation or a happy moment – our mind will be listening.

I think it’s extreamly important to train our minds to think positively.  I’ve always been a realest, so changing my mindset to be more positive has been a challenge.  But one way to practice positive thinking is by creating a vision board.  I’ve made a few over the past several years and I’ve found that it always sets me up for success.  Maybe it’s subconscious or maybe it’s about how attention and energy compliment each other, but a quick google search will show you how many other people have used vision boards to bring focus to their life.  Vision boards can help with goal setting by:

  1. giving you a chance to be really intentional about what you want (your goals)
  2. allowing you to organize your thoughts about your goals
  3. giving you a visual reminder of your goals/dreams
  4. creating an emotional connection to your goals

I decided to introduce Miss S to the process and journey of the vision board.  I actually called it a dream board with her and I explained to her what it was and what it’s used for.  She was happy to use glue, scissors and sparkle paint but surprisingly was also engaged in trying to think of the things she wanted try, learn, have or do.

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The night before the exercise we discussed stuff she might want to do or see in the summer and in SK.  So I got an idea of what types of images to print.  I also printed some extra stuff that she didn’t mention to see if she would gravitate to those images.  What was interesting was that she picked up things we hadn’t discussed and also told me she didn’t want to use images of things she mentioned in our conversation.

And now that she has her dream board hanging on her wall it’s a constant source of inspiration and a conversation trigger at bed time.  Best part of doing this exercise with her? Was it actually pushed me to complete my own vision board!