Who Are You?

This article originally appeared on the 1000 Ripple Effects blog, you can see it here

When was the last time you asked yourself “Who am I?” Really truly explored ‘you’. Your history, future dreams and how you show up in life today?

Everybody has a story, a journey they have travelled, learnings they have made, history. Very few people have led a ‘privileged life’, we all have stories of sadness, of absolute joy. Too many people have seen the extremes of violence and felt desperation. Seen the effects of illness on loved ones, and themselves. Suffered loss they never felt they could move on from. This is your story, your beliefs, possibly even your anchors, holding you in place, unable to move. 

These experiences are what have shaped you to be the person you are today. They don’t have to define your future. 

When was the last time you dreamed of a better future for yourself? Do you wish for happiness, fulfilment, clarity, freedom, or balance? You are not alone – most people do. You can change your story – and you can start today!

The journey of self-discovery takes a lifetime. It takes a lifetime because you always change and grow. This is good, this is what you want to happen. What is holding you back from starting? Do any of these sound familiar:

Fear
Fear of what you will learn about yourself. Fear of being vulnerable to others. Fear of accepting things you have done in the past. Fear of reliving your past. Fear of change. Fear of becoming the person you always dreamt about. 

Think about what scares you? Why does it scare you? How can you face the demon? What will motivate you to work through the bad stuff? What does fear look like to you?


Lack of self-love
Guess who our biggest critics are – yep our self. How many times have you told yourself you will do x only when you have achieved z? How many times have you thought ‘I don’t deserve this’? 

Poor body image, lack of self-worth, lack of confidence, all come from lack of self-love. When was the last time you loved yourself? Wore jewellery or clothes which made you feel great. Exercised or had a massage to make your body feel great. Laughed, orgasmed – releasing the natural feel-good drug of oxytone.

When was the last time you celebrated being you?


Stifle dreams
Dream takers are everywhere. It starts in school and with our parents, then their ‘can’t’ and ‘don’t’ language becomes our inner voice. And we most likely say those words to others – our friends, team members and our children.

Remove negative words from your language. Replace negative speak with positive affirmations. Remove people from your life you do not believe in you. Stand tall and back yourself. Be your own personal cheer squad.

When was the last time you dreamed of your future – and then plotted how you were going to make your dream a reality? 

Too much noise
When was the last time you stopped and listened to the noise in your world? The cars, sirens, children, dogs, birds, trucks, workers, builders, the radio, TV, your phone. How do you feel? Can you concentrate on what you are trying to do? Does it raise your stress levels?

Stepping away from the noise and busyness of life, enjoying the silence, being in your mind, is important. In fact, meditation and mindfulness are key to self-discovery. Slowing your mind, allowing sub-conscious thoughts to filter through. Reduces stress, allows for problem solving and connects you with your mind and body.

Where do you start on your journey of self-discovery? How do you find out who you are? 

• Face your demons – release your fears – revisit your past
• Recognise your strengths - understand who you are
• Define your life purpose – identify your passions – do things that make you happy
• Clarify your values – understand your beliefs
• Set goals – create daily intentions - be focused
• Find inspiration – surround yourself with people and things that lift you up
• Seek challenges – stretch yourself - create new thinking
• Spend time alone – practice self-care

Stop being your own worst enemy! Stop lying to yourself about your emotions and feelings and start accepting them and allowing yourself to feel whatever is it you feel. If you have no clear idea of who you are, you will have no clarity in what you want or seek.

Self-discovery is a journey of a life time. There is no easy fix, no magic pill or fairy dust. It is constant – as you evolve and grow, you will receive new insights about who you are. The more you understand about yourself the more empowered you are going to be.

A clear self-understanding will bring renewed confidence, awareness, and strength. You have a purpose. You find happiness, fulfilment, clarity, freedom, and balance in all areas of your life.
What difference can you make to the world, yourself, your family and community? How are you going to show up?

Simple: marketing starts with a plan

Keep it simple. Make it easy. Be creative. See the results.

Marketing confuses business owners. I see it all the time. It doesn't have to be. You need to make your marketing efforts relevant to your business. Set objectives you can achieve, without setting yourself up for failure.

Marketing is not sales. Marketing is not about doing everything you can think of. Marketing is not free. Marketing is not a quick fix.

Forget confusing marketing concepts and jargon: let's go back to basics.

Marketing is about getting your customer into your sales funnel and making a sale to them.

You need to ensure you have the right customer in your sales funnel. You need to be aware of your competitors and what they do. You need a strategy with goals and how you will achieve them. You need campaigns. You need a customer focused funnel. You need to measure and review everything you do.

You need a plan.

Not just any plan a strategic marketing plan.

Your marketing plan needs to be aligned with your business plan. Ask what business goals you have that require marketing to see them achieved? There is the start of your marketing goals/action.

Don't have a plan sign up to our free 5 day challenge (for business and marketing plans).

Planning is crucial to a businesses success - you really do need to allocate some time to creating a plan. Think of it as a road map. If you take the 5 day challenge - you spent an hour or two, once a day for 5 days to give yourself a way of moving forward and achieving goals in your business.

I just don't understand marketing
No problem. What you need is the knowledge around the different elements of a plan. Easy. Do what I did - go to Uni for three years, work in the industry for 20 years. Or shortcut it and join the Marketing Accelerator Program. Where in 12 weeks you will receive all the knowledge you need right now to set yourself up for a fabulous future in business.

The 12 week marketing accelerator program, and will move you from being lost in the marketing jungle to business growth. Creating new business habits and strengthening your business core.

All business owners suffer overwhelm, and why wouldn't we. Managing financials, legal, human resources and marketing - all before we have started making our products or delivering our services.

Register today

A support community— helping you do it all

This article originally appeared in the online version of Bubble Life

We are not designed to be able to do it all – alone. Being a present mum, domestic goddess, super business women – none of it. Super-mum is a myth and kept alive by others highlight reels on social media. When you believe you need to do it all alone, you will only end up adding stress and pressure to your life.

The answer. Ask for help. Accept help. Give help. No expectations. Create a support community.

Where do you need help in your life to ease the pressure? What tasks could someone else do for you, freeing you up to do more of the things you enjoy?

Are there tasks in your business you can automate or outsource? What tasks take you away from income generating – for me it is bookkeeping and social media! Maybe you are doing tasks which you are just not qualified or experienced to do – someone else could do it quicker and with less stress. Do you need help organising yourself or helping to think bigger picture, stay accountable or someone to simply talk with and brainstorm.

What about on the home front – could childcare help you, or reciprocal playdates. What about holiday programs or extra-curricular activities. I have always found these a great way for energy to be diverted and an outlet other than home or school. Could a cleaner help free up your time or maybe you need help in the kitchen – could a timesaving appliance help, meal swapping with friends or even buying fresh pre-prepared meals? Maybe you could invest in having someone help to organise and put systems in place in your home s it operates better. Do you need to organise your family schedules better? What isn’t working, or could work better in your home to ease your stress and free up your time?

Self-care is often what we are missing in our life. As mums we are always giving to others and rarely filling up our own energy cup. Putting ourselves last – all the time. This leads to us burning out and no longer able to give. Stop doing that. What things do you enjoy doing? What fills you up? What makes you happy? Write a list and then every week allow yourself ‘me time’ and do something on that list. Is it meditating, yoga, walking, going to the gym, reading, having a massage, getting your nails done, going to the hairdresser….what excites you, and re-energises you.  Could you ask a friend to do these things with you – making sure you both do them. Even better swap babysitting with a friend so you can both have ‘me time’.

If you think about each of these areas of your life, defining what balance means to you in each. 

Identifying the actions, you need to take to make the changes you need to. Seeing where you need help, defining the type of person you need to help you make the changes. These people are your support community, you may have to pay some or ‘ barter’ with others. You will have your people who you can ask for help when you need it.

The lifecylce of a mum in business

This article originally appeared in Inside Small Business

One of the many questions I pondered when writing When Business Meets Baby was when is the ideal time to start a business – before or after you have a baby?

I considered the motivations people have for starting a business and the lifecycle of a business. I also considered why people have babies and the growth stages of a baby. I concluded there was no ideal time to be mum in business, all you have is today.

Being flexible
When you look at the life cycle of a baby, every month, week, day and hour bring more developments. At each stage their needs and wants change, and it is different for every child. While the journey may not be an easy one, and you will make sacrifices, it is possible to balance raising healthy, happy children and growing a business.

Maintenance vs growth
When you have a baby, you’ll need to make the decision about whether you put your business into either maintenance mode or growth mode. Your decision will depend on so many different factors – the stage your business is in, the staffing or resourcing you have available, finances and more.

Maintenance mode – This mode will only really work if your business is already developed. Think of it as pressing the “pause” button. It is not viable to keep the business in this mode for too long – business basics say that we need to continually develop, market, and give effort to the business.

Here are some tasks that will help you maintain your business:

• Before baby is born, create marketing content and schedule their release.
• After baby is born, answer emails, Facebook messages and other forms of communication.
• Send a couple of newsletters.
• Update your social media a couple of times (just automate it!).
• Refresh your website and all your social media.
• Look at your accounts – assess each service or product, examining what is making money and what is not.
• Complete any legacy work from before baby was born.
• Revisit your business plan and consider what is your core business.

Growth mode – Employment of this strategy will depend on whether you have a start-up business or an established business. It will also depend on the funds you have available to invest. Here are my three top tips for implementing growth mode after the baby’s birth:

• Work out how much time you will have available for the business and then commit to using that time well.
• Surround yourself with the right people, in terms of business support. You need people who are both clever at their area of expertise and who also understand your business.
• Develop the business. Always think big picture. If this strategy is going to work for you then you need to make sure that your limited time is spent working on – and not in – the business.

Remember, too, that it’s OK to grow slowly – at the end of the day, you can only do what you have time to do. While focusing on growth in your business, it’s also important to ensure that you are engaged and present with your children when you are with them.

Rachel Allan, marketing consultant and author of “When Business Meets Baby”

Choosing Success

Being an entrepreneur and business owner is challenging. There are amazing ups, but terrible downs. For some,you may get stuck in the downs. I am really interested to understand the difference between those who climb out of the downs and those who choose to exit their business at this point.

Of new small businesses being started, 70% are owned by women. Sadly, 1 in 5 of these businesses will fail in their first 5 years. These women can not make it out of the downs, to experience enough ups.

So, can you choose success? Is it really that easy? What is at play, in your mind and in your physical environment holding you back from being the absolute best version of yourself. Here are some of my thoughts. I also want to hear your thoughts - you might choose to comment on the blog, email me or take our survey.

Here are my seven reasons I believe women are not seeing success:

1. Feminine Vs Masculine energy
Men and women are different. We see the world differently. We have different ways of approaching problems. We have different emotions, and respond differently to those emotions. It makes sense that we do business differently.

One is not right or wrong, better or worse. It is just different.

In my experience, I have seen women become incredibly successful within a male dominated corporate world - I have also seen these women have to use masculine energy to make it.

Increasingly,  I am seeing women who are clear on their identity and choosing to enhance and utilise their feminine energy. Showing up in the world authentically. Time will tell if this will have the same success as trail blazing women before us who have shattered glass ceilings and led the feminist movement.

Statistics are showing that increasingly women are leaving the workforce and corporate world, choosing instead to create their own small business. Gender equity is becoming an issue because women don't want it - this world is not aligned with growing a family and creating a work life balance.

I believed that the old boys club was being broken, and that old money in communities was not dominating. However, I recently had a conversation with a local business women, whose business survival was in doubt because of the 'old boys club'. She even told me that one of them walked out of a meeting with her because she was 'a woman' - yet he was happy to take rent money from her!

How should women show up in their business? What energy should they have? How do you show up in your business? Jump into the survey to answer these or comment below.

2. Lack of Confidence
This is so common with women. Starts with statements like - I am just a.....mum, housewife, volunteer, secretary - whatever! No person is 'just a' all those jobs have amazing skills, skills and experience you bring to the role.

Women feel the need to be perfect and have all their ducks in a row before they hit the go button. Have you heard yourself say 'I just need to do X, before I could possibly do Y and Z'. Believe in yourself, back yourself and just do it!

Here are some other things that are confidence killers:
Guilt. I have spoken so many times about guilt, it is a wasted emotion, it is seeing the world through old fashioned societal views of the role of women, it is comparing yourself to others highlight reels on social media. Bin that guilt!! Believe in your purpose and big picture.

Lack of purpose. Understand that every single person on this earth has a purpose, a mission. What is yours? Become aligned to it. Show up every day being connected to your purpose.

Lack of passion. I believe confidence comes from being authentic, acting with integrity and having a passion. A passion that drives you every day to achieve your mission. Stretching yourself, standing out - because you believe in your purpose, you are backing yourself and showing up confidently in your world.

Ego. By being confident you have more people you are reaching, this good right. Them someone says something to you, disagrees with you, unsubscribes or stops following you - you hurt your ego. Only your ego, but your confidence gets hurt too. Self-doubt creeps in. DON'T LET IT! Remember your purpose and your passion.

Competition. Then you find someone is doing what you are doing, or running programs you want to run, written a book you want. Again, you decide it is not worth it - ego gets hurt again. What if you make the choice to show up in the world and do it your own unique way. In a world of abundance there is enough for everyone. Will you allow competition to stop you being successful?

Ability. Our final reason for not being confident in our own ability, I believe, is we are not aware of our strengths and weaknesses. We do not play to our strengths and acknowledge our weaknesses. We do not believe that we can do it.

Do you agree with these statements? Maybe you can think of others. Jump in and answer in our survey or comment below.

3. Lack of a Support Network
I have said this before and will say it again - there is no way that we can do all of this alone. Women we need support in our homes, with our children and in our business.

Join supportive networking groups, take part in a mastermind or coaching program. Go to workshops or conferences. Meet people. Connect with likeminded business owners. Get a coach or mentor or both. Become accountable to someone.

Get a cleaner. Babysitter. Someone to wash the car, mow the lawns, walk the dog. Whatever you need to maximise the use of your time.

Create strong relationships with your child's friends parents. Your mummy and daddy network will be there to help you over and over again. Picking up or taking to school. Play dates. Cooking.

Look at help you need in your business - can you automate or outsource to ease the pressure. Do you need to hire a staff member.

Do you agree that you can't do it all alone? What support do you find beneficial. Jump over into our survey or comment below.

4. Work Life Balance
I hear so many women say 'I have no work/life balance and that is the way it is'. I don't agree with this statement. I have many pieces of writing talking about this.

I believe we have changed the way we think about 'work' - what we do for a living and to earn money does not shape who we are - it is not our identity. Also business progression and success is not linear and rational - especially when you are juggling a family and possibly even a part time job. It is like waves - there are the up times and the down times - when you have the down times you need to give more to your business. Does this make it feel unbalanced?

There is also this thing called - Superwomen syndrome or Super mum - and I say NO WAY to that. Again I have written heaps on this. Does putting too much expectations on our self mean that we don't feel balanced in our life?

Your life doesn't have to be 'perfect' by others standards it only needs to be perfect by your standards. And if your standard of perfect is making you feel unbalanced and stressed then it is time to change your standards.

What do you think about balance? Can it be achieved? Pop over and complete the survey or comment below.

5. Fear
So many fears in our life. Being too successful. Being seen as too ambitious. Fear of failure. Being judged. Taking on too much responsibility. Being found out as a fraud (the 'impostor syndrome'). Fear of being invisible and the list goes on.

Can you relate to any of those?

People are afraid of no. They won't stand out from the crowd. Fear stops them being confident. Ego feeds the fear. Squash that fear I say. Live your purpose and be strengthened by your passion.

What fears do you see in yourself or others? Comment below or jump over to our survey.

6. Planning
I am a planner - so I can relate to too much planning and not enough doing. I will often say to myself 'stop dreaming, thinking, planning, mapping and JUST DO IT.' There is no point doing all the planning if no one hears about, buys it, uses it!

At the other extreme, jumping in and doing something with NO planning can be equally as bad. You will be seen as always reacting, jumping from one shiny thing to another. You will not be focused in your business. You won't see milestones or achievements. You won't know what is working and what is not. Basically you will be stumbling around in the dark.

Which are you? What is your thoughts on planning? How essential is to business? Comment below or in our survey.

7. Money Mindset
Having a good relationship with money, accepting wealth, welcoming money into your life. Saving, budgeting, pay yourself, do not over commit. Outsource, get a coach, spend money to make it. Have you heard all of these things and been totally confused and lost on money.

Maybe you have tried a program and every day you tell money how much you love it and still nothing. You ask the universe and you can not see how it delivers. Maybe this works for and maybe it doesn't.

What works for everyone is knowing your numbers. Where does the money come from, what are you spending it on. Understand where your customers are in your lead funnel and how many. Pull more of those people through your funnel to sales.

Get control over your finances and stay on top of your numbers. Understand the flow of and value of money in and out of your business.

What is your money mindset? Do you have a good relationship with money? Is this important? Do you know your numbers? Comment below or take our survey.

8. Lack of Understanding Marketing
Formal qualifications and over 20 years marketing experience is telling you to understand marketing. Who is your customer and what appeals to them. Your products and services - are they what your target market wants? How are you communicating to them? What is your mix - online and offline? Your lead funnel? Measuring and reviewing it? How about your messaging is it clear?

I believe you need a marketing strategy, which is well thought out and considered.  A strategy, backed with sound research, giving campaigns which are measurable - all feeding your customers into a lead funnel which provides sales and customer retention.

If you do't understand marketing then you need to learn. You don't need to do it yourself, you can outsource. To effectively outsource you still need to understand what it is you are outsourcing and how it fits into your businesses bigger picture.

Comment below your thoughts on marketing or complete our survey.

Do you agree or disagree with these thoughts. Share your own thoughts below. I would love to hear them!

Doing it alone......

The fastest growing business sector is that of Women in business - and women who are also mums. And they are starting micro-businesses in droves from their kitchen table - often with a child hanging off their leg.

Too many of these businesses will fail. Businesses with awesome concepts and ideas. Filling a need in our society. Failing because of a lack of support, not believing in themselves and lacking the confidence in their knowledge.

Many of these businesses leave it way too late to get help. And when they are getting help they are stumbling around in the dark, often not with the type of help that they need.

You can't do it alone. No single person is an accountant, lawyer, marketer, HR, manufacturer, distributor and so on. You will need support with the day to day things and also the big picture business development. Do you know people who are trusted and real experts and who you like? Do you need to find them?

More importantly, do you understand the concepts behind the tasks that you are outsourcing or employing someone to do? For too many years, I just outsourced my books, then wondered why they were such a mess and I had no clue on how I was going financially in my business. When I took the task back, understood the process and also run the reports I needed to, I could then look at having someone else help me.

Once you start to gain support in your business, you will find you will achieve balance also. When the big picture is clear, and the daily tasks are being completed, with a focus on achieving the big picture - then your business is set for both growth and success.

Having a coach or group you meet with is invaluable to help your confidence grow as a business owner - tapping into the knowledge and skills you already have and guiding you to upskill where you need to. Rachel offers a range of coaching programs that you maybe interested in - take a peek here

Asking for help.....why is it so hard?

As an independent, high achiever, I am used to just getting on and getting the job done. At whatever cost to my health and time. Well I used to be until I had a child and my priorities shifted. The person I used to be would not ask for help, I would just keep pushing through and make it happen. Then I refocused and started to ask for help, I even give help, without question. I offer even to help people out - take their kids, cook a meal, give them an ear to help with business.

I find being helpful and receiving help so gratifying. So why don't we ask for help. Why don't we take it when it is given. Why are we afraid of 'help'.

I have heard excuses like 'I couldn't take the help' = your pride and ego are in the way. Or 'I would only have to help them back' = either selfishness or a lack of confidence in yourself. Maybe the person giving help does not expect anything in return.

We are increasingly moving into a sharing economy - Uber, Air B&B - to mention a few. We can share cars, driveways, caravans, swap houses. We can trade our time on air tasker. Even my parents were part of a 'babysitting club' which allowed them the odd night out with no kids.

Human's have never raised children alone - we started in villages, many society's still encourage a village way of raising children. Children who have different influences in their life, create different values and have a broader way of looking at life. Parents need to let go of the belief that we must do it all alone. More importantly we need to trust in others to look after our children.


If your children are being looked after you will have more time to give your business dedicated focus. Or maybe if you want to raise your children in your way, you need to let go off some aspects of your business. Which brings up more excuses 'I don't have the money' 'I am a control freak and can't let go' 'I don't know who to ask' 'I tried it once and it cost me more money and time'. Have you heard yourself say any of those things?

A question - what do you want from your business? Why are you in business? What sacrifices are you willing to make to achieve those wants and whys? Is it time today with your children, or is it handing over tasks and some control to others in your business - so you can have time with your children today? Or maybe you will leave business growth and success until tomorrow - when your children need you less. How will that fit with your ego and need for stimulation outside being a mum.

There are so many reasons why you should gracefully accept help, ask for it from your support community and also give it. All without expectations - just because you can. Start listening for when people need help and offer it. Also next time you feel the pressure building - ask for help!

If you would like to book a clarity session with Rachel to explore this further then please follow this link

Plan for a successful 2018

New Years Eve resolutions are a funny thing - often made up on the spot - and not robust enough to last the year. I don't make them anymore preferring instead to set goals for myself and then break them down into actions that I can achieve on a daily basis.

Are you already working on your 2018 goals?

Possibly, your end of 2017 was so full on you missed the chance to stop and think about it - take our planning challenge to help you

Maybe you have started the year and already being sidetracked into other people's priorities and losing focus on your own goals. Do you need some accountability in the mix of support?

Are you still lucky enough to be on holidays. Spending time with your children, hopefully resting. Are you excited about jumping back into your business and reaching your goals. Seeing the opportunities that come to you this year, how you will grow and how your business will grow.

Whatever state you are in at the moment, here are my tips to making sure you stay focused all year long:

1. Be connected to your goals - they need to excite you and inspire you
2. Have conversations with trusted people to always improve your goals
3. Ask for help when things get too much - automate or outsource
4. Be accountable - find a group or person who will keep you accountable to what you say you are going to do
5. Use a planner. Break the goals down into quarterly, monthly and weekly actions and goals
6. Put them somewhere you will always see. Be reminded of them. Don't be led astray

If, like me you are waiting for school to go back do not stress - not long now! Enjoy your 2018.

For more on our Campfire Conversations click here

For more on our Accountability Pods click here

The Power of a Campfire

Campfire's bring people together. Encourages intimate conversation. Campfire's are wild and cosy at the same time. Radiating warmth and promising relaxation. Around a campfire anything can happen, they are magical, honest and enchanting. 

When was the last time you experienced a campfire - maybe a firepit, bonfire or even a fire place with a strong mantel and chimney. Been mesmerised by the dancing flames. Warmed by it. Maybe used the heat to cook food or marshmallows. Had conversations that were as deep and mysterious as the flames themselves.

Can you build a fire? Starting with small sticks and eventually allowing bigger and bigger and logs on. Maybe you hunted for the sticks and logs, cleaning up the floor of the forest. Have you watched a fire sizzle down to embers, before eventually nothing - a pile of charcoal left where once flames danced.

Have you smelt the fire smell on your clothes - maybe even your camping equipment or in the house. Reminding you of the connections you made with new and old friends and the conversations - wild and crazy, uninhibited.

Maybe you are left with a different way to view life, a new idea or a fresh way to tackle a problem, maybe you laughed so hard you are just left feeling happy. That is part of the magic of a campfire.

As people, we crave conversation with others. We need it to change our thinking, open our minds and become better versions of ourselves. 

Picture yourself stepping up to my campfire with flames dancing and welcoming you. Joining other people who are likeminded, have businesses and want success and growth. Learning a new way to tackle old problems.

That is the Campfire Conversations series and you are welcome to join my life or business stream - come for all sessions or join us for just one. Learn more here

Connect, gain support and learn. 

Back to school - Business mum style

This article originally appeared on the Business Business Business blog - see it here

The juggle of being a business owner and parent is real. We all feel it and we all have our own way of managing it. Some seem to do it with grace and ease – others simply struggle. And then school holidays happen.

While school holidays have their advantages (no uniforms, lunches, excursions, fundraising, assemblies, 9am start times) they can also hamper your productivity. Especially over the looong break in January (we have 7 weeks) – I am counting down the days until routine can set back in. When I know the hours, I can work in my business on a weekly basis. I can cross things of my to-do list and action my goals.

This year I have started to plan on getting nothing done for my business during the school holidays – or I may set myself one or two ‘projects’ I would like to complete. Anything else is a bonus. This has been hard to achieve, it has mean’t re-thinking my business and the model I operate with. Focusing on core, money making tasks only.

To be able to ‘let go’ during the holidays you need to dedicate some time to planning and preparing your business. Essentially putting it on auto-pilot for a while – especially regarding marketing and promoting it.  You can leave some fulfillment, administration, and business development until after the holidays – simply add tasks to your to-do list. Once I am back in the business, then a couple of admin days later and I am off and running again.

Changing speed in your life, I find, is hard. Switching between parenting and work. Juggling business and school. In school holidays the balance shifts towards your children, opposed to your business. When school starts you need to shift that balance back, and slip back into routines which work for you and your family on a daily basis. Here are my 5 tips to making that easier:

Set your school routines up – uniforms, lunches, communication with the school. Use a new term to freshen up routines which were not effective previously

1. Pre-cook snacks and dinners in the holidays – have them on stand by for those out of control days
2. Don’t set deadlines or events for the school holidays, don’t add pressure to yourself
3. Know your goals for the next term, and the main project you will be working on when you step into your business – start with your feet firmly on the ground
4. Continue your auto-pilot a couple of weeks after you are due back, give her head the time and space to get up to speed again
5. Use holiday time as a time to rest and refresh. It is amazing what might bubble up for you when you are giving yourself the thinking space. Enjoy this time with your children.

There are so many school holidays in a year (12 weeks), plus pupil free days and public holidays, sometimes it feels like you are taking one step forward and two back. And then there is illnesses – bugs and other things collected from schools – sometimes by the time a cold has gone through the house three weeks have disappeared.

I have tried to continue working through the holidays and illness – this resulted in me going around in circles. What has worked for me is forward thinking and planning. Understanding a couple of weeks before holidays will be full on and a couple of weeks after will also be full on – however in between you will get time to be with your children and enjoy their company. This time will not last forever.

Finally, if you do need time to be in your business during school holidays – lets face it seven weeks is a long time. There is always playdates or holiday care to fall back on. Use your support network of mum friends – ease the pressure for both you and your children.

The key to your success

Welcome to a brand new year. What is in store for you for 2018? Are you excited, scared, ready to step outside your comfort zone?

What help do you need to stay on-track, focused and moving forward with clarity.

Do you need a coach? Check out Rachel's programs here

Maybe you need accountability. If you do then maybe an accountability pod is just for you.

In botanical terms pods protect the seeds until ripe and then split open to reveal them. In animal terms a pod is a group of marine animals (think whales and dolphins) or hippopotamuses who group together for protection, support and socialisation. Are you ready to step into a pod that will help you grow into a successful business?

Are you lacking accountability in your business? Would you like a group of people who will support you and believe in you? But you don't have time or money for masterminds, weekly coaching programs and so on.

Let me introduce you to Accountability Pods. You will meet your pod fellows three times formally over a 10 week period. Expanding your goals, maintaining focus and finally - CELEBRATING!

Pods will be run online through Zoom, with dates being set at the first session. You will be placed in a pod with up to 4 other people where we will match business stage, type and challenges as much as we can. There will be a secret Facebook group created for your pod, which you can use between sessions to bounce ideas, gain motivation or just vent. Remembering giving as well as taking.

To join follow this link

The numbers......

It was the week for numbers. Time to weigh in and do body scans – at first I was curious to see how I was going, then I started to feel dread – what if the numbers went the wrong way.

 

Many people are focused purely on what the scales tell them. I had considered buying scales to use at home. I thought that by seeing the numbers on a regular basis it would be my motivation to keep going. I had never been motivated by the numbers on the scale in the past so why would I this time around?

Time to check in on myself. What was my why in re-joining Fernwood and sacrificing sleep in the morning to head off to the gym. It was to gain more energy. It had nothing to do with the numbers, the numbers were secondary and only a goal I set after a few weeks I saw weight loss. So back to the main purpose, was I feeling more energised? YES I WAS.

 

I had created a habit of turning up 3-4 times a week and getting ‘huffy and puffy’. I had also created a new habit of eating right largely thanks to the Challenge. I had support within Fernwood to stay focused on those goals. I was doing more for my own health and wellbeing now than what I was 4 months ago, winning.

What did my numbers show me? They were moving in the right direction – the ones that were supposed to go up were going up, the ones that were supposed to go down were going down. Happy dance. Then I thought – I would like those increases/decreases to be greater. I then asked myself to get that result what did I need to do. The answer, I just needed to keep doing what I was doing but get better at it. More sessions at the gym, less straying into bad food habits.

At the half way mark of the challenge my new ‘bigger’ goals are five times visiting Fernwood and zero tolerance on bad foods (makes me feel sick anyway!). Giving me more energy and more focus to meet the needs of my exciting life!

Be Present

I am more than aware of the importance of being present in your life. I write about it in my book. On Monday this week I was walking home from Fernwood after a workout. The endorphins are running, the air is warm and crisp, the sun is rising over Mt Buninyong, Ballarat is waking up. I tap into all of those positive feelings. Every step I take I enjoy this moment. I don't think about the 100 jobs waiting for me at home that need to be done in the next hour. I am present in my own body and enjoying that walk home.

On Monday and Tuesday I am feeling great - as Lee woud say 'I got this'.

Then on Wednesday I can't get to my early morning workout - instead I steal some cuddles and kisses from my daughter. I get the day started. School drop off and head off to a 9.30 appointment. My head is thinking ahead through everything I need to have done for today, tomorrow night and Friday. My mind is racing, I was actually awake half the night thinking about everything that I needed to do (that coffee at 5pm was a BAD idea).

I stop at the red light, my mind racing, I go - only the car in front is still stopped at the red light. Crash. I close my eyes, open them, I have just hit a car. All because I was too busy thinking about things I shouldn't have been at that time. Luckily all passengers were OK - shaken - and both cars can get repaired.

After organising all the insurance and checking the cars were OK to drive, I retreat home for cuddles with my dog. This was the universe telling me to slow down and be present in my life. However the first thing I did today was not eat - my bad food habit - I didn't eat all day and then reached for sugary lollies to get the energy. So bad.

Tonight I not only feel bad for the accident that I caused and the excess I need to find, but my old food habit taking over - and not getting to the gym.

I am grateful today for my family, who I happily hung out with tonight instead of heading back into Fernwood. I am also grateful for the lessons I have learned today - here is to being more in the present tomorrow and every day after that! A return to the feeling I had on Monday.

Self Care is key to a healthy lifestyle

This week I could have easily fell into that feeling of failure towards the 12 week challenge that I did in the first week. Instead I turned it into self care - and I even had a massage!

This time last week I actually wasn't sure how I would meet all of my commitments for this week, and I hadn't even considered the commitment to get to Fernwood. This week I have travelled 532km's, (not counting playing mum taxi) and spoken five times at four different events. I have networked, celebrated International Women's Day, met some work deadlines, sold some books and my ecourse. Every day I have stuck to the meal plan, had more than enough water, walked twice to school with my daughter and dragged myself to an early morning PT session with Emily-who slowed it down a bit for me (thanks!), although I am still sore today. SO I am not going to think of the three gym sessions that I didn't get to, or any of the challenge meetups I didn't attend.

The first week showed me that I am doing this for long lasting benefits, beyond the 12 weeks, to change my lifestyle to a healthier one, and to look after myself better. Part of looking after myself is to now when I am busy in one area of my life I need to slow down in another - I really truly only have so much time in the day and I still need sleep.

One of the other things I have struggled with is meal prep - things have been pretty busy in my house lately - so I took Monday as a day to plan ahead and get on top of my house needs. To fit the Fernwood meal plan into my meal planning for my family and make it easier for me to prepare food for myself so I eat the right things - all day.

Having a massage was an absolute indulgence this week. I regularly have massages, this week I truly needed it. Helping to loosen up muscles that have been working in the last 6 weeks that haven't worked for a long time. De-stressing in the middle of a crazy week and really what a way to honour International Women's Day!

Next week is not as insane, so I really look forward to resetting and resuming my 6am out of bed and off to Fernwood routine and hopefully to some challenge meetups also!

Pressing the Reset Button

I pressed the reset button and got back into the challenge this week with all my heart. My big lesson this week is that I need to get planned and organised around food - because that is what gets me through the day and week. What is more it stops me 'snacking' on wrong foods! I also learned that my time at Fernwood is in the morning - the longer the day goes on the more excuses I have for not going!

There seems to be loads of discussion around the food - I started the 28 day breakthrough before beginning the challenge and from that I learned two things. 1) my daughter wouldn't eat the meals, and our family has two rules - we eat together and we eat the same thing. So it was back to our family meals. Plus I have a thermomix and I can't have it just sitting on the bench! The other thing I learned with the 28 day program was that there was way too much meat for me, so for the 12 week challenge I switched to the vegetarian option - yummo! The bonus us that I have healthy snacks and lunch planned - so I don't skip a meal and then graze!

I really don't like dealing with food and hate thinking about what to eat - so I plan meals for one month, I (online) supermarket shop once a fortnight and do fresh foods (fruit & veg market, butcher and health food shop) weekly. I also try and cook up on the weekend - including meals and school snacks.

The biggest challenge I have had with the meals is fitting them into my meal planning for my family - then I was shown the search function in the recipes. Now I can plan it all out!

I have a really busy week with work coming up - so next week anytime at Fernwood is going to be bonus time - I will be spending time preparing ahead a lot of meals so that I can take them with me and still eat well!

This week Emily made me work hard in PT and it felt good and I also got a new program, which is always a good motivation to keep on going!

Failing in the first week.....

Week one of the challenge has kicked off and by Wednesday I was feeling like a failure! I was seeing posts of other people hitting the gym, attending the Challenge class and here I was menstruating, recovering from a cold virus, meeting deadlines (and kicking goals) at work and being an attentive mum by attending school sports day. The thought of getting into Fernwood was stressful as I dragged myself through each day, just trying to keep everything in balance.

On Wednesday night I promised myself an early night, ready for my first PT with the wonderful Emily. My early night didn’t happen. Thankfully, my PT session did. Today I feel great (a little sore….) and ready to step back into my habit of exercise.

I have been able to keep to the food plan this week (modifying it to suit my family and me). I did fall into the trap of comfort eating (an old habit…) but it just didn’t have the same positive effect it would have a couple of months ago. There was no comfort, reaching for a piece of fruit or some nuts helped more than the chocolate!

To beat my feeling of failure I had to have a discussion with myself about taking each new day as just that, a new day. With a new day comes the chance to pick up where you left off and continue the journey. To be reminded to think about the bigger picture, and the end goal to help with motivation. Creating the habit of exercise and good eating and making that part of my everyday life – when my body says slow down I need to listen!

Emily reminded me this morning that a more ‘sustained’ approach to the challenge will be more successful and that made me feel so much better!

The Fernwood 12 Week Challenge

I am making my health a priority in 2017 and so on the 20 February I will be starting the Fernwood 12 Week Challenge. I am excited, nervous and a little stressed about how I am going to fit it in, but it is a priority so I am going to make it work for me.

This is my 3rd time as a member of Fernwood. I have not focused at all on my health in the last 6 years - instead focusing on my daughter, business and life. My health has been the missing piece.

With this piece missing I have had little energy - and certainly not the energy to keep up with a busy little girl and a business that I am wanting to upscale this year.

So I committed in December 2016 to re-joining Fernwood and finding my energy again. In January I begun by simply creating the habit of going 3 times a week. Then I decided that if I could create the habit of exercise then I could eat better and aim for weight loss also. SO I started the 28 day breakthrough challenge and decided that I wanted to shed 50kg in total and it would be great to lose 20kg by Christmas this year.

Already I am starting to miss exercise on days I am not doing anything, and on days where I slip a little and can't pre-prepare healthy food then I feel yuck!

My intention this year is to think bigger with all of my goals - so what has started as gaining energy has quickly grown to creating healthy habits around exercise and food and wanting weight loss.

Just when I thought this could not get any bigger or anymore focused I have taken the opportunity to join the 12 week challenge. I have added to my diary all of the appointments and the extra classes, and my PT sessions. I already know that I am not going to get to them all, as family and work are still high priorities. I will make the best effort to re-schedule or do make-up sessions to fit in around my world. Plus I will be sharing my journey along the way.......

I have already said no (or later in the year) to a couple of other opportunities which have come my way, in order to make room for achieving this very big goal of mine - and my why - To have the energy to give to my business and keep up with my daughter.