As I reach over to the bedside table to press the dismiss button on my smartphone alarm, I think, “just another 5 minutes”, instead, I CHOOSE the thought, “5-4-3-2-1-GO!” #the5secondrule by Mel Robbins, which is so simple and yet so effective! I sit up in bed, light a candle, meditate, and harmonize heart and mind. These well-being practices set the tone for my best day ahead. How we start our day matters for our overall well-being.

Sure we have flaws, we crumble, we crack, and we freak out, as I write these words it reminds me of how my son and husband drive me to lose my mind because of their inability to assist me with managing our home, despite the fact that they are treated like absolute Kings…almost always.

Can you relate?

Yip, sure you can, I know I’m not the only frustrated person! I too have those days where I open that bottle of red wine with the intention of drinking half a glass to take the edge off after a stressful day, whilst preparing dinner. I won’t lie, one glass may have led to a few more glasses which required me to blast the speakers with my favorite tunes and let loose!

I love a lounge disco, it’s readily available, requires no dressing up, there’s no one to pass judgment, I have full control of the media player and well, I have the choice to dance starkers too!

Tackling those daily tasks on your to-do list, with LOVE and with SPEED, doing the school run, moving my body, corresponding to e-mails, coaching and consulting clients, completing HR projects, designing adverts for my INSTA, FACEBOOK, LINKED IN, TWITTER, and GOOGLE posts. Love and Speed, a positive mindset shift, essential daily well-being practices.

Of course, I want to take full advantage of the free marketing we get from the social media platforms, so I have had to research the “HOW TO’s”, and spent hours developing a content media strategy and having loads of fun playing on Adobe Illustrator!

Reflecting on my personal and business progress, setting new goals, planning my week, and my business content plan to be shared, and scheduling my daily and monthly tasks into my diary for the week ahead are essential daily practices I need to do consistently to stay on track.

Scheduled into my diary too, “Search for new recipes”. While we were in the store isles to grab a few groceries the other day my son was complaining that he has lost complete interest in eating because my cooking is so boring and not flavorful enough! My attempt to ensure he is fed nutritious, healthy meals appears to not have been very well received, “BAD Mother!” I thought, “You deserve a slap on the wrist!” Just proves that because he is a teen doesn’t mean that I have stopped beating myself up for “Not doing the best I can for him”.

Taking our spoilt furry Bassett Hound kids to the vet for their Paw-dicure is a funny story I have to share. So, I manage to get the Bassett’s into the vet’s rooms and our younger male “Oliver” freaks out and literally has a poo as the vet approaches him to pick him up and take him through to the room, really now?

Of course, he needed to be sedated to get his nails trimmed and the bill was four times more than what it should have been… Why I am even batting an eyelid about how this panned out is beyond me.  There has never been anything simple or normal about our animals or our household for that matter…. So the productive day I had planned didn’t quite pan out as planned.

The Bassett’s require exercise which seems to be solely my responsibility, grooming them, prepping their bone broth for their healthy meals, prepping our green juice and overnight oat jars too so I get to sail through my to-do list with ease and grace.

Allocating funds to those self-care rituals, the highlighting and dying of those grey’s, plucking or tinting the brows, bikini and lip waxes, let alone taking the time to sit in the salon whilst my mind is racing about what I still need to get through before I can have 30 mins to relax in whichever way works for me at the time.

After many decades I have learned that well-being practices are in fact not an act of vanity but energizing and empowering me to be the best version of myself in my pursuit of LIVING my best life. By embracing these rituals I have learned to look forward to them and believe that it is my divine right and that in order to give love to those close to me and to serve others, these are non-negotiable’s.

After evening dishes and meal prep for the next day, I get to unwind and read a couple of pages of my self-help paperback, Oh’ Yes, and lastly the most important task, 5 mins before I slip into my sleep state, I affirm my “I AM” statements learned from, Dr. Wayne Dyer, “ I AM ABUNDANCE”, “I AM PEACE”, “I AM GORGEOUS” and any others I feel I need.

I hear some of you responding with “ What a load of WOO WOO”!

I dare you to give these practices a try.

What have you got to lose? You can only gain a POSITIVE MINDSET. 

Unfortunately, the reality is that we sabotage ourselves and have reinforced the “I AM NOT” statements, such as, “I AM NOT INTELLIGENT ENOUGH”, “I AM NOT GOOD ENOUGH” for a lifetime, so it will take time to unlearn.

I am sure many of you fulfilling feminine roles may relate to this snippet or maybe enduring TOUGHER circumstances, have LONGER TO DO Lists to get through on a daily basis, and maybe raise larger families single-handedly whilst working in a professional career.

Nurturing, self-giving, vulnerability, and sensitivity– the very attributes of femininity to go under fire——can actually be our greatest STRENGTHS.

Women, womanhood, femininity, a quality, an essence that is enduring and timeless, its inherent nature is magical and holds everything together.

In HONOUR of celebrating the ESSENCE that represents, kindness, bravery, will, passion, grace, and light-heartedness.

“ I SALUTE YOU!”

If you are curious to explore my TruEssence Pathway – a 3 step Process to discover your true nature in my Leadership Mentoring sessions, book a call.

#positivemindset #changeyourmindset #positivepsychology #drwaynedyer #affirmations #dailypractice #mindfullness #5secondrule #melrobbins

Step into those red heels darlings!

Strike that power pose, and strut your stuff bravely, confidently, and courageously!

The reality of Solopreneurship can be daunting, especially when your projects have wrapped up and you’re waiting for the next one to start. My focus has been on keeping my eye on the prize, powering through every day, and holding the belief that the energy I am investing will not be in vain, reinforcing that my efforts will bear fruit soon!

I found myself exhausted after countless late nights at my desk, researching, developing, and marketing my brand, staying on trend—all with a super positive attitude while journeying through my personal transformation.

After exploring and acting on the available resources to continuously improve the version of my service offerings, I anticipated that phone call or email inquiry. I finally got that call—a seemingly “in-the-bag” inquiry! Phew, what a relief! After shooting many arrows, I hit something! Super excited about the inquiry, I was surprised when the potential client went quiet.

The final push for a response came at the last minute, and the service offering was rejected, with no real clarity on the reasons that could help me improve my offering.

Can you relate?

This situation had the potential to send me down the streets of self-doubt and self-destruction, OR I could CHOOSE to sail down the river of Resilience and practice these rituals.

So, how did I choose to respond?

I shed a few frustrating tears, expressed a couple of “Sh!ts” and “F*cks,” and then stepped into my gym shoes—only to realize that my gym was closed. So, I streamed a YouTube workout video, selected my favourite playlist (you know, those tunes that get you head-banging in your lounge disco), and got my sweat on at the foot of my bed, in candlelight—becoz, load-shedding! I must have been a sight for sore eyes!

I recovered, slept like the dead, and woke the next morning to ask myself, “What lesson do I need to learn? What state of mind will help me achieve my desired outcome?”

I thanked my lovely teachers, put pen to paper, observed my thoughts and feelings, listened for the answer, and then took action.

What is my lesson?

My lesson learned is to develop the skill called Resilience. We need to develop that “thick leather skin” that so many people I’ve engaged with seem to possess naturally.

Then there are people like me, who have had to develop this skill, defined as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.”

What positive outcomes have come from this?

The positive outcome from this experience is that I’ve learned a valuable skill that I will apply when faced with similar situations in the future.

What I’ve learned is that it’s okay to feel vulnerable, then snap out of it, and bounce back stronger than before.

Only you can choose how you respond to difficulties. It’s easier to feel the emotion in your body and release it, then MOVE ON, than to stay stuck. It’s not an option for us to mope and dwell there!

I hope these help when faced with similar setbacks.

RESILIENCE RITUALS:

1. Kill yourself and your teachers with kindness. Beating yourself up about the “what if’s,” “would’ve,” “could’ve,” “should’ve’s,” blah blah blah, serves no purpose! FEEL the emotion and ACT from a place of LOVE.
2. Be brave. Continue to put yourself out there! It’s tough, but POWER through! Keep walking tall, in those heels! Connect with your family and friends.
3. Stay Flexible. You need to be able to roll with the punches, darlings. It’s HARD, I know, BUT DO some introspection and be flexible in figuring out what you should do next.
4. Re-affirm WHY you are doing what you are doing.
5. Reach out to those in a similar situation. You don’t have to navigate this on your own.
6. Retreat. Do whatever brings you JOY. Take an Epsom salts foam bath, sauna, or steam bath, book a massage, walk on the beach or in the forest, exercise, meditate, journal, draw, paint, or craft. Do whatever helps you raise YOUR vibration.

NOW GO WITH THE FLOW

Don’t let setbacks hold you back!

Get in touch with me to learn more about my Leadership Mentoring

#truessence #resiliencerituals #leadershipdevelopment #solopreneurship