Prep for this weekend ahead of time, with a plan to beat the Sunday and Monday blues.
Do you ever suffer from the Sunday slump blues? It happens to the best of us. Whether you love your current job/life/situation or not, it’s completely normal to feel a slump every once in awhile. If you’re reading this, you’re committed to changing your life to the best version that’s possible. But it takes some time!
If you’re feeling the Sunday blues (a prequel to the Monday funk!), here are three ways you can counteract them NOW. Consider this email your emergency slump first-aid kit.
1) Wake up early.
You know I’m a huge fan of the morning routine! It’s ironic that the days it’s most difficult for us to stick to our morning routine is usually the days that we need it most. If we start our week off in a rush out the front door, it sets a precedent for the rest of the week.
Would you rather have a week of being 10 minutes late, forgetting to eat breakfast and dropping your coffee–or a week of arriving ten minutes early, already caffeinated, fed and with a few blog posts spurring your creative thought? Mmmmm yeah. the second option sounds good to me. Getting up early means you’ll also have time before work to do something YOU want to do. It makes it difficult to resent Monday so much.
2) Grab your headphones.
Download an audiobook or a podcast that you’ve been meaning to listen to, and let it be your soundtrack for the day. Reach out if you need recommendations, I could talk podcasts and books for hours! Music distracts me from my work, but intellectual conversation makes me feel awake and engaged. Find what works for you!
3) Choose a mantra for your week.
Ultimately, your experience comes down to your intention. Decide at the beginning of the week what your mantra will be, and write it somewhere visible. Your mantra will provide you with a brief reminder of what you truly desire, and how you want to feel.
I am a life coach for badass, brilliant & burnt out babes who are ready to ditch the martyr role forever in favor of a thriving and energetic life and career. Through our work together, we will create a mental space of refuge so you can live with intention & dream huge for your future.
Sure, those words sparkle. They are in blogs and interviews everywhere these days, but thereās still a ton of confusion about what they actually mean.
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There are professional life coaches that specialize in every area you can imagine, from business to love. And although I love a green juice and vision board as much as the next person, thatās not the defining characteristic of a life coach. I happen to be a serious feminist with a bit of a nerdy penchant for Game of Thrones, and Iām an incredible coach for women who love honesty and irreverent humor. The one characteristic we all have in common is that weāre here to help you transition from a place of fear, insecurity and overwhelm to a place of clear goals and forward momentum.
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Everyone is held back in some way or another by fear. Thatās a normal part of the human experience, but one that limits your joy and success. If youāre in the middle of overwhelm right now and considering looking for a life coach, but not sure if itās right for you, read on. If youāre not ready to hire a coach but still want some recommendations for mindful living, the list below is a great place to start. Below, Iām sharing my 5 favorite ways that an amazing life coach can kick your booty out of fear and into gear.
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Your coach hears you. When was the last time that you had a conversation in which you felt really heard? For an hour every week, your coach is there to understand you, your circumstances, and your biggest dreams. No phone scrolling allowed.
Youāll prioritize your own development.Itās really easy to buy self-development books and let them pile up beside your bed. In our hyper connected culture, you always have something to do that takes precedent over working on yourself. When you have a coach waiting on you for your next appointment, you canāt shirk the conversation. You also wonāt feel guilty about working on yourself when you have that accountability to someone else!
Youāll get crystal clear.How often in your life have you been asked what you really, truly want with your life? Iāll bet it doesnāt happen as often as you get asked about your responsibilities at work. If you donāt know what you want yet, thatās okay. Through working with your coach you will get crystal clear on what you want for your life now, and what you want for your future. You set the bar, and your coach will hold you to it.
Youāll get to pick their brain. Two brains really are better than one. In addition to being a coach, your life coach has had years of their own experience to draw from. Donāt hesitate to ask them questions about their experience, to request resources that might be helpful for you, or even to ask for introductions to someone they may know. When you hire a coach, theyāre looking to share everything they can to help you achieve your dreams.
Your coach will call you out.This is my favorite thing about working with my own coach. Once you get through the honeymoon phase of creating your goals, itās time to start working on them. Thatās when the fear comes in, and you start to worry that you arenāt doing things correctly, well enough, fast enough. Your coach is an impartial external sounding board, there to remind you that the fear is all in your head.
I was in a yoga class a few weeks ago when the instructor told me how she had been taught by her own instructor that child’s pose, the place of relaxation and rest when the class gets too tough, was the most courageous pose of all.
I have known since I started my practice years ago that yoga doesn’t reward bravado. Your time on the mat isn’t about being the best in the room, stretching the farthest, staying in an inversion the longest.
Our human tendency toward pettiness or jealousy will still rise to the surface at times, though, making it difficult to eradicate when we need to rest. It’s all too easy to start comparing yourself to others in the room. To feel like you won’t give your body the rest it’s screaming for because you don’t want to appear weak, or to be judged by others in the room. The problem with this line of thinking? Once you allow it to infiltrate your brain, it opens the door to millions of other self conscious thoughts.
By allowing fear and doubt to dictate your decision making in your yoga practice, you’re unleashing it on the rest of your life.
So have courage. Retreat to child’s pose when your body feels weak and weathered in class. Put your head on the mat and focus on your breath. And take that pose with you outside of the class.
When your heart feels heavy and overflowing, allow it to rest. Give it a break and some space. Same principle applies to your mind. To your friendships and relationships. To your inspiration, your creativity, your journalling practice. Whatever it is that you’re butting up against and wherever you might be encountering resistance, consider rest. With your forehead on the proverbial mat, gulping down air and releasing judgement, you’ll find a new way to return.
You’ll re-enter the flow when it feels right and natural, and those around you will always welcome you back in.
We’ve been told all of our lives that new endeavors are difficult, that relationships take work, that success is hard earned. And it’s true, if that’s how you approach things. The to do lists will never end, because we live in an expansive world that creates more opportunities for us every day. That’s a beautiful blessing and a curse if you aren’t sure how to rein it in.
Still, being in charge of your own schedule and time is difficult.
Sometimes, although to do lists are there, it can feel like your schedule is too empty of the things you love and enjoy. Like you aren’t growing fast enough. Like you’re behind. You’re spinning your wheels and completing tasks, and yet the schedule doesn’t feel full enough and doubt starts to creep in. Along with the doubt comes rapid burnout and frustration.
Sometimes, I get so wrapped up in my perceived ’emptiness’ of my schedule that I forget to see the bigger picture: that the expansive, unfilled space is just a blank canvas for me to create on.
That space is not a scary thing. It’s something I’ve created for myself to make messes in, to get dirty, to build relationships and have conversations in. To splash paint in beautiful and ugly colors all over. I can literally do whatever I want. It’s not empty-it’s blank. If I have four hours of unblocked time on my schedule for the day, that’s not failure. That’s success: because space and time to create and think is what I want most right now.
Empty makes us feel defeated and burnt out, and blank grants us permission to let loose and create. Which will you choose today in your moment of overwhelm?
A few weeks ago, my boyfriend was heading to work and couldn’t find me in the house. After ten or fifteen minutes, he walked into our closet to grab his jacket and found me reading on the floor, next to dirty laundry and underneath hanging clothes. He looked at me like he was confused if I was a human being, or some creature sent from another planet to confuse him.
I see that look pretty regularly, but it still made me laugh when I realized how ridiculous I must look.
I needed space to focus on myself for morning meditation, the book I was desperate to finish, and a space where I couldn’t hear our puppy whining through the walls. And it worked! Plus, closets are actually cozy.
Unless you live an amazing life, you probably don’t have a dedicated and hella zen meditation hut in your backyard. If you do, please invite me over. Even finding space in our home home to work, journal or think without being surrounded by a million distractions is difficult at times. If you’re anything like me, it might help to remind yourself that your world is FULL of places that can become whatever you need. Room of Requirement style.
In your closet, laundry room or car
Obviously, small spaces are my favorite. As long as it’s (relatively) clean, comfortable and well lit, you can find five minutes of peace in the corner while your dryer is on wrinkle release.
In line at the DMV
You know you’re going to be there for 3 days anyway. Just pop in some earbuds and listen to your favorite meditation app or your favorite podcast. Try Mortified if you’re looking for something hilarious–laughing IS joy, after all.
On your back porch
In my case, it’s a small concrete slab. But at the edge of the slab is grass, dirt, and just enough sunlight to convince me that I’m in a forest (if my eyes are closed).
At a coffee shop
Honestly, coffee shops were not always my favorite place to just sit by myself. I love them know because they’re always buzzing (literally and figuratively once you drink several iced coffees in one sitting) with excitement, and I’ve learned to embrace the buzz. Instead of being distracted or stressed out by that buzz, think of it as the sound of humanity. Embrace it, and let the energy in the air energize your body.
While grocery shopping
Fun fact: I love grocery shopping. And I love walking while I’m thinking. something about the motion of pacing feels like it unlocks a lot of creative energy in my brain. Next time you need some milk/bread/eggs/Hot Cheetos, bring a notepad or open your voice recorder on your phone. Dump out whatever comes up and let your mind be empty while you stock up on supplies.
Where is your favorite place to recenter, detox, refresh, or laugh? Tell me!
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I worked with Laura as my Coach twice. She helped me drop unhelpful labels I had given myself and helped me realize I can give myself permission to lean into whatever career feels good.
The second time I started working with Laura, I had found a day job that had a mission I believed in ā but knew I wanted more out of my career.
I knew I wanted to create something as a leader and could not figure out what that was.
I found myself banging my head against the wall struggling to see how my skills could possibly translate into a money-making career. Again, Laura helped me see that I had all of the right ingredients to manifest and build a thriving company ā I just had to let down the walls I had built up with my limiting beliefs!
By the end of my second time working with her, I had created my own company, brought on paying clients, and moved my day job to part-time.
Laura helped me flip the script with my own self-beliefs and think bigger about what āworkā means, what a āleaderā is, and taught me to trust that my talents are valuable to other people!
Bringing Laura into the picture will open your eyes to possibilities you never believed in previously, and have the confidence and the tools to exceed your expectations with life.
I’ve experienced two BIG changes as a result of working with Laura: 1st – realizing I was trying to push myself into a career I didn’t actually want, and 2nd – I went from having no idea what my next career move should be to building my own business with paying clients! The only thing that kept me from creating this business was changing my thoughts. I had struggled with a huge limiting belief that I was a quitter – and when Laura helped me work through that limiting belief, flip the script on how I see myself, I realized the world was my oyster! She helped me see that I had exactly what it takes to create a thriving business utilizing my personality and people skills, and all it took was a change in mindset, learning to listen to my intuition and gaining some self-confidence.
I can’t emphasize the value of bringing on Laura as a Coach enough. Y’all – before I started working with her, I had written pages and pages in my journal about how I didn’t feel worthy enough to have a thriving career because my Instagram sucked, I didn’t have a lot of followers, and I wasn’t “productive enough” on a daily basis.
Having a Coach whose best interests at heart are to help me see the value in myself, give me action-oriented steps to change my mindset and help me understand that productivity does not equate to worth, and to share in my successes is invaluable. If you’re still unsure if hiring Laura is right for you, take out a piece of paper right now and journal about what you’re afraid of. If you’re afraid of big, positive, massive change in your mind and your life – then it’s time to dig into that fear and make Laura your Coach. You won’t regret it! – Kylie