An amazing thing happened to me last week, I met my tribe! We were a group of women that got together with the mindset of how can we help each other and it was beautiful. I know a lot of my clients and entrepreneurs I talk to look for what I found last week. Want me to tell you how this happened?

It all started with me being tired of having to go into Atlanta to network and networking is key to my business. Isn't networking in some way shape or form key in every business? Going into Atlanta is a half day (at least) trip for me because, well...in one word, traffic. In running my own business a half day means a lot. Plus, I wasn't finding my people, my business tribe.

My clients say all the time, being an entrepreneur can be lonely and not everyone around you gets what it's like. If only there was a time that they could get together with people that understand a little bit of what it's like to walk in the shoes they are in.

Let me be clear, just in case any friends are reading this, I have a couple different tribes. It wasn't that those tribes weren't working, it's that I needed something different then what they give me.

I have my tribe of friends who are toddler moms, I know that I can count on them for anything. They lift me up and bring joy to my life everyday. Without these women I would die or go crazy.

I have my coaching tribe, two of them actually. They are a tribe of peers who know this work that we are in. One of them, my Vibe Tribe, witnessed my life change and I theres, in a way that no one will and when we get together it is like no time has gone by because we SEE each other. I might of just cried a little!

Back to wanting to have a tribe of people that I could network with lean on and also be close to home, oh and be all women because that was who I saw this tribe being. One day it dawned on me that I live in a pretty special place (Google Serenbe) with pretty amazing women that live here. It's one of those things that I experienced when I was at Golden Seeds, I was surrounded by brilliant, successful women but you would never know how successful because no one has a chip on their shoulder or walks around with their resume.

So I thought what would happen if I put a call out to see who was interested in meeting. I posted something on our neighborhood FaceBook page and the respond was crazy. I wasn't alone in desiring this type of tribe. Not going to lie, it took a minute to get a date together. Mental note, do not try to get a meeting together like this in the summer. Finally, a date was set and a meeting called. There was a lot of time spent by me thinking through how to run this, but I realized this wan't my group to run, plus I had to real with myself that I can't take on one more big thing. It needed to be whatever we wanted/needed it to be. I decided that I was going to ask two things and step back 1) introduce yourself 2)what do we want this to be? By coming with no preconceived notions left space for amazingness to happen.

Who came weren't all entrepreneurs and that was perfect because we realized how we can help each other in not just running a business but business in general.

We decided on a format that would work for us (again me not running it) that someone different would host each month and someone would talk for 10 or 15 min on a topic they think the group would find valuable.

There are two things I asked everyone to agree to, because I think for women this needs to be said 1)ask for help when you need it that is why we are all here 2)celebrate your successes.
​
If you are reading this and are thinking, how do I create this? It's as easy as putting a call out, however that works in your area, for people who are interested in getting together around a common theme. Mine was women in business. Who knows what might get created if you give it a try.

Who has learned to think that a bump in the road is a bad thing? You can't see it, but my hand is raised. Why do we look at bumps as set backs? When it comes to our business, the bumps can be what's keeping us up at night. 

As Entrepreneurs, we can fear that bumps could have detrimental effects on our business. In the venture capital world, I have seen this happen, but it was because the entrepreneur gave the moment power and let it consume everything. Fear became reality. 

Not going to lie, as a growth strategist and coach, bumps in the road keep me in business. A lot of times my clients can feel like the bumps turn into black holes with no way out. My role is to help them navigate this time and push to make something great come from it. 

What if I were to tell you that bumps in the road can actually can be the catalyst that catapults you forward. Growth comes out of these moments. If we change the way we look at the moment...because in the grand life scheme it's truly just a moment or blip..amazing things happen to you and your business. 

Is this one of those things easier said then done? Maybe or maybe not. What's holding you back from changing the way you look at it this?

What if the bump was actual a spring? Go head jump on it, jump high, now  look down at the bump in the road, what do you see? Is there a way to change the situation? What good can come from this? 

In one of these moments now? What are you going to do about it? Reach out for a no cost strategy session and we can take a step towards catapulting you forward to great things.  

Sign up for a no cost strategy session here. 

​What happens when I say the words perfect and perfection? For me, my body tenses because I know being perfect is unobtainable. If perfection is unobtainable, why do we strive for it? Why expect that ourselves, things, situations, and our businesses have to be perfect? What do we get out of it? 

Recently, during a coaching session a client had a AHA moment that they needed to be present and stop worrying about everything in their life being perfect. Present over perfect! Holy power shift! If you took all the energy that goes into perfection and channeled it into just being present, how would your life change? 

Think about the impact this would have on you, your business and your family. Try to be present in every moment you can for an hour, a day, a week, a month...what changes, what shifts? 

Who is with me to make 2018 the year of being present?! Comment below if you're in!

​Happy New Year!  



​

The holiday season is officially upon us, starting with Thanksgiving tomorrow. There have been a few clients that have said to me this week that they know they should feel thankful for what they have but that their negative self talk creeps in. Why does that seem to happen more around the holidays? Is it something that we can change? Oh my goodness yes! Let's get into the state of thankful!

There are tools that I give to my clients that help them conquer the negative self talk, because let's face it when they are challenging themselves to do the hard work the negative talk tends to rear it's ugly head. Sometimes the holidays are challenging. I would like to give you a shortened version of two tools that I use, in hopes that you won't even need them this holiday season. 

The first, I want you to picture this negative voice you hear as a troll. Make it as ugly as you want. Do you have it pictured? Next I want you to say to yourself that you aren't going to listen to the troll. Don't talk directly to the troll or acknowledge it, that gives it too much power. Next, I want you to throw or kick it as far away as you can. Like, really, really far away. It might try to come back, so you need to make the return trip hard. If it comes back, throw or kick it harder this time. 

Secondly, now that this troll is gone, I want you to picture biggest thing in your life that you are thankful for. Maybe it's simply a family member smiling, a snuggle with a pet or the last chat you had with a friend. Maybe it's you. Every time you feel yourself engaging with the troll picture, what you are thankful for.  You'll find that the troll has a hard time being heard when you focus on something positive. This is what the holiday season is about. Finding the little (or big) things to be thankful for about can be a game changer. 

Did this help? I hope that it did. 

This year, I'm thankful for my family, friends, neighbors, clients, the air I breathe, the ground beneath my feet, the changing season and YOU! 

Would love to hear what you are thankful for this year. Comment below. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Confession, most of the time I have songs running in my head. I tend to think and feel in songs. It's the easiest way for me to tap into what I'm feeling or want to say.  One of my new favorite songs to sing to myself is "Get Back Up Again" from the movie Trolls. The video is at the end of this post if you want to check it out.

I know, I know, Trolls? Let me explain. My son is in love with the music from this movie. It is all that we play in the house, the car, on my phone, ALL THE TIME! Another confession, I'm not tired of it yet. Most of the music is a blend of new songs that we dance around too and older songs that I'm loving again. 

The song "Get Back Up Again" is one of those songs I hope my son will understand and carry the message with him forever.  It's a song that reminds me to live this way. Every time I get knocked down, no matter how big or small the punch, I'm getting back up. Because there is nothing getting in my way of being me, my success and living life the way that I want.

This is what I want for not only me and my family, but for all my clients and everyone reading this. When you get knocked down, get back up again. If you have trouble getting back up, ask for a hand to help you. If you don't have time to watch the video here are the lyrics:

I really hope I can do it
'Cause they're all depending on me
I know that I must leave the only home I've ever known
And brave the dangers of the forest
Saving them before they're eaten
I mean, how hard can that be?
Looking up at a sunny sky, so shiny and blue and there's a butterfly
Well, isn't that a super fantastic sign
It's going to be a super fantastic day
Such marvelousness
It's gonna bring a pocket full of songs that I'm gonna sing
And I'm ready to take on anything
Hooray!
Some super fun surprise around each corner
Just riding on a rainbow, I'm gonna be okay
Hey!
I'm not giving up today
There's nothing getting in my way
And if you knock knock me over
I will get back up again
If something goes a little wrong
Well you can go ahead and bring it on
'Cause if you knock knock me over, I will get back up again
Whoa oh oh oh, get back up again, whoa oh oh oh oh oh
I'm marching along I got confidence
I'm cooler than a pack of peppermints
And I haven't been this excited since
I can't remember when!
I'm off on this remarkable adventure
Just riding on a rainbow
What if it's all a big mistake
What if it's more than I can take
No I can't think that way 'cause I know that
I'm really really gonna be okay

 

As a mompreneur I feel like balance should be a four letter word. Balance is something moms try to continuously look for to find from the day your baby is handed to you. I spent my days trying to give everything in my life the same amount of attention, being a good mom, a good wife, good at my job, oh yeah and kinda sorta taking care of myself aka balance. You know what happened? I sucked at it. When I started my business, life became even more out of balance. I now had two children, my son and my business. All day long I fought this urge to want spend time on my business baby and felt horrible. Then when my to do list became an incredibly long list mocking me, I would have a sitter watch my son so I could work, I felt horrible. No where in any of that was time for me.  It felt like I was failing at everything. 

Then I went to a coaching weekend to further my coaching education and oddly enough the topic was balance. Sometimes the big man upstairs has a sense of humor. It was a intense weekend, but I walked away with a clear perspective. Balance is all about what we make of it. Balance isn't 50/50. Balance is figuring out the areas of your life you find important at that moment and figuring out the amount of time your feel comfortable giving each. This includes taking care of yourself, don't forget about that. You will never feel truly balanced if you forget about yourself. To be the best mom and momprenuer you need to take care of yourself first. 

I'm a visual person, I actually took a circle and made a pie chart of my life and talked to myself. Yep, I out loud talked to myself. First there were my buckets or major areas in life, being a mom, my business, my relationship, myself...wait I'm redoing that list in a better order. Myself, being a mom, my business, my relationship. Now that I had the major buckets I figured out how many hours I could reasonably spend on each. Maybe I should put sleep in there? I love me some sleep.

Then I figure out how much time that equaled. Here's my example:

• Myself-1 hour-this includes 15 min to shower, very important to those around me all day
• My son-8 hours as primary caregiver, 2 of those hours are of just him and me time playing outside
• My business-5 hours-I can up it to 7 if I get up an hour earlier and work after dinner
• My relationship-at least an hour in the evening
• Sleep-please Lord, let it be 8 solid hours 

That leaves an hour for whatever else is going on. 

I realize that your buckets and life might look different then mine, but we all have things out there vying for our attention. 

It might not even be about splitting things out in hours for you, that is how my brain works. Truly, it's about making a conscience decision everyday to spend YOUR time how you need/want to. Then do it! Let go of the guilt, it doesn't serve you to hold onto it. 

Take this day by day, eventually you won't have to think about it so much. 

So... should balance be a four letter word? Hell no! 

If balance is feeling unobtainable for you, shoot me an email at lauren@simplyessentiallife.com. Let's figure it out together.