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Archives for January 2018

Keeping Intimacy Alive & Well When You Have 1,000 Kids

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When it comes to intimacy, people usually jump right to sex. Obviously, intimacy has a lot to do with sex. And it can lead to that but, in my opinion, intimacy is more about being close. Liking each other and wanting to spend time with each other – that’s what intimacy means to me.

Brian and I are close, and I share that with my followers on social media. So I get asked a lot, “How do we keep intimacy and closeness alive, even when we have one thousand children?”

It’s time to stop putting intimacy on the back burner, leaving room for it to occur only after the kids are in bed. You absolutely MUST keep that fire burning ALL. DAY. LONG! You want to be excited to spend that time together once the kids are asleep.

So, let’s dive in mamas!

1. Get the overly romanticized, intimate relationship out of your head!

It is so easy to have super high expectations that the time you’re going to spend with your husband is going to be SO romantic. That your husband is going to want to open up and share all these things with you. But maybe he had a day from hell, and he may have no clue what you want.

Rather than setting yourself up for failure and probably an argument, get out of your head. Let go of your expectations and this overly romantic view of how time should be spent with your husband, and just enjoy the time you have.

2. Communicate throughout the day.

Don’t complicate it, yo!

It doesn’t have to be face to face communication. It can be texting or sharing something that’s funny, or just making the time to call during a lunch break. You want to keep that closeness, so that it feels like you are there with one another throughout the day.

Brian and I feel like we have better days when we actually take the time to connect, especially when it’s a date night. When you’ve been chatting on and off all day, you kind of feel like the pressure’s off, and you can just enjoy your time together.

3. Make time for each other.

Life. Gets. Busy. That’s why you need to make your relationship a priority. Trust me, if you get to the end of the week and haven’t done anything with each other, you’re going to feel disconnected.

Make the time to connect, to share, to talk about the day or the things that are going on. Take time to just decompress without the kids.

This can be really helpful for those who have spouses who work outside the home. You’ll both know that you get to stop working, the kids will be asleep and you’ll be able to do something together.

One of mine and Brian’s favorite things to do is sit down on the couch, after the kids are in bed and we’ve cleaned up a bit, have a snack and watch some shows on Netflix. It just feels so good to connect this way!

4. Be OK with scheduled intimacy.

It’s not unromantic or anti-spontaneous OR unhealthy to schedule in time for sex or just alone time. It’s actually really romantic because it shows that you’re prioritizing each other enough to let it hold space on the calendar.

Brian and I have date night scheduled once a week. We’re in the season of being able to leave the house and go out on date nights every single week. It hasn’t always been like that, though. There were times when I’d have to do some work after the kids were in bed, and it always felt off and weird if we didn’t spend that time together.

You need to make it work for you. If you have to take some time in the middle of the day, if that’s when the kids have their quiet time and your spouse is home, use it to veg out together and hit reset. (It’s always worth it!)

5. Be friends.

Ever since Brian and I met, we’ve been friends, and have developed into best friends. There are so many things we can do together because we like a lot of the same things. At the same time, there are times when we don’t like the same things, or don’t really care what the other person is talking about.

But how would a friend act? You need to take a step outside of the marital aspect and ask yourself, “What would a friend do?”

They might hang out together or listen to one another. You have to be respectful of each other. I think when people get married, they get way too comfortable and end up being really rude. If it were your friend and not your husband, you’d never say, “I literally don’t give two craps about what you’re talking about right now, and I want to talk about me.”

So, listen to each other, schedule time to be together, doing whatever you love to do.

Tips for Scheduling More Intimacy into Your Day-to-Day Life

1. Put your kids in their place. Your relationship with each other is the number one priority. You came together, married, started a life together, and the kids came after that. Your closeness and relationship is first! Set the kids up with an activity, and then take that time to spend together!

2. Choose a time of day that works best for both of you. Your time together doesn’t always have to be at night. When Brian worked outside the home, we’d start our day together because he didn’t need to start until noon. We’d feed the kids, get them set up with their school work, and then find a quiet spot in the house to have coffee together and talk.

3. Couch time! This is time before the kids head to bed. This ties into the first tip: putting your kids secondary to your relationship. This is comforting and healthy for the kids to see that their parents prioritize each other. After dinner, just sit on the couch together and talk while the kids play. Don’t allow them to interrupt you unless there’s an emergency or somebody’s bleeding to death or something.

4. Choose a time once a week for prolonged time together. Make it an actual purposeful date. This will look different for every couple, depending on each budget and the season of life, but just set time aside to be together.

5. Communicate that your goal is to be closer to your spouse. Don’t come at this from a combative spot by saying something like “We never do anything.” It can almost feel like you’re saying, “You suck.” Try something more like, “I want to be closer to you, really bad. How can we do that?” Then, talk about what you’d each like to do, and agree on something realistic that you can both look forward to.

Alright, friends. I hope you find this super useful! I hope it answered all of your questions and inspires you guys to open the door to an awesome February that’s going to be full of love and intimacy in marriage.

Why A Family Mission Statement Is So Important

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A family mission statement may sound a little corny to some, but it can be paramount in creating the life you love with the people you love. A family mission statement is just that- a statement that encapsulates your priorities and goals as a household. It is a great way to lay the groundwork for what your purpose is as a family, what you stand for and what you won’t tolerate.

As a parent, things can get tricky as your kids get older. But through it all if you have something solid in place, you can go back and compare the behaviors you’re experiencing to what you’ve laid out in your mission statement.

You can ask yourself questions like, “While we really believe in this, does this align with what we believe, or where we want to go as a family? How would we like this to end up?”

This is the legacy that we want to leave behind as people and as parents.

“Everyone ends up somewhere, few arrive somewhere on purpose. ”

— Lara Casey

Your family is going to be raised, your kids are going to grow, they’re going to become adults, and your life will continue to go by whether you do anything about it or not. So, why not choose to be intentional and purposeful? Choose to intentionally strive for where you would like to end up.

When I think of motherhood, Proverbs, 29:18, really holds a lot of weight for me:

“Where there is no vision the people perish.”

— Proverbs 29:18

Parenting is messy and just gets messier as the kids get older, so if you don’t know what you want to do or where you’re going, you’re going to fail.

This is also true in business, if you don’t know where you’re going and what you want, if you don’t set any goals, you’re not looking at them and striving for them. You’re probably going to fail because you don’t know where you’re going.

Mama, it’s time to sit down with your spouse and write out your family mission statement. It’s really important, and it’s a great excuse to have an amazing conversation with your spouse.

You’ll want to figure out what exactly you want to do with your family. What mark and legacy do you want to leave on the world from raising them?

It’s not little. It’s not light. It’s heavy and it matters.

This is one area that I believe is really beneficial and important to be intentional about.

I want to share something with you that I haven’t shared in any other place other than in one of my courses –  our family mission statement. It’s something that Brian and I have agreed on. It’s gone through some ebb and flow, and a couple things have changed, but it pretty much has always been the same.

He and I like it. I’m going to share it with you, just to give you an idea, because I think people are afraid to share and be vulnerable. I get it. As an influencer, you’re susceptible to people’s opinions and comments about everything you share. But, I do think that example is one of the best ways we can learn.

This isn’t about having control. It’s not about playing God. It’s about saying “I’m alive, I’m a mother, I’m a wife, I’m a human being raising other human beings, I have contributed to society by having a family, and these people are going to grow up to be adults.” They’re going to be out there interacting in society, and that’s heavy.  I don’t want to just wing it. I want to be intentional.

I want to be intentional and say exactly what we believe and where we are headed as a family.

Our family mission statement:

In our family, we love God and serve people. We are loving, gracious, respectful and accepting, never hateful. We choose kindness, joy, faith, and love. We value curiosity, imaginations that run wild, knowledge, adventure, and each other. We take responsibility for our actions. We pull our weight at home and always offer to help one another. We communicate freely, with kindness and without fear or timidity because our family is a safe space for sharing. We give to the needy, look after others, and stay humble. We have fun together, stay grateful, laugh, hug, and protect each other. We choose collaboration over competition, and cheer each other on any chance we get. Above all else, we love deeply – both within our family and out in the world, because all people are God’s people.

I think writing out a family mission statement might seem unnecessary. You may write it and forget about it. But I have not found that to be true. I don’t do anything to remind myself or our family of the mission statement.  It’s just written down, but we always remember.

We’ve had it on an index card, and on our fridge for a long time. Brian and I took the time together to write it out, and then we share it with our kids. They are really excited about it, and like it too!

Steps for Writing Your Family Mission Statement

  1. Grab a journal and jot down your priorities.
  2. Ask yourself what your core values are and what things you value as a family.
  3. Additional questions that you can ask yourself: What mark do you want to leave on the world? What do you want to raise your kids to believe and be and do and think? How do you want them to act? What do you want to impart on them?
  4. If you feel stuck, look up other examples online, copy ours exactly, whatever you want.
  5. Make sure it lines up with your goals, priorities, mission, passion, purpose and what you feel you’re here to do as a mother and with your family.
  6. Write it out and put it where you can see it, so that you’re reminded constantly of the core value of your priorities.
  7. Share it with your kids, and start holding each other accountable for being a purposeful family.

Remember, friends, where there is no vision, the people perish. Whether you have faith or not, that is really powerful – get to work creating your family mission statement.

I would love it if you create a mission statement, if you feel called, to snap a pic and tag me on Instagram. I would love to see what you and your family come up with.

The words you say about people have a profound effect on the way you feel about them. I believe our words are powerful and we should use them to speak love and life into our families.

I’ve created a free list of positive affirmations you can say about your kids. It’s completely free for you to download. Save it to your phone so you can pull it out whenever you need to.

SEND IT TO ME!

How My Blog Got My Husband Out Of His 9 To 5

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Prefer to listen to this post? I totally get it. Just click play + I am happy to read it to you while you knock out those dishes or drive the road to preschool pickup!

One of my most frequently asked questions is: How was I able to get my husband out of his 9 to 5? But answering that is very difficult for me to share. There’s just so much that goes into it.

I’m opening the door for the first time on a very vulnerable, difficult, at times embarrassing, and then exciting part of our story. I needed to get to a certain place in my life, and in my heart, before I felt ready to really open up and share. I’ve been feeling, for a few months, that I’m getting there and now it’s finally time.

I’m taking deep breaths here, guys. Here we go.

So, a little bit of a disclaimer, before I start…

I’m not going to give very specific numbers, just because this is not a business blog and it doesn’t really matter. I have friends and family who read my posts, and money changes relationships, and it can sometimes be negative. So, while I think maybe one day we’ll get there and share certain things because I do think that the specific numbers add to the power of this story, I am not going to tell you everything in that regard here in this post.

I do think that an aspect of this, and this whole story, can help somebody who wants this lifestyle and who’s maybe on the verge of making a change and pursuing their dreams.

The second disclaimer before I begin to tell my story is…

This is NOT luck.

I think when there’s any aspect of fame or a spotlight in something, people think that you got there because you’re lucky – because you were chosen. 

THIS is the life that you were chosen for. I believe that God has plans, that he has a purpose for each and every person, but I also believe that you can make choices that cause you to miss it.

I said YES to this. I worked for this. I planned for it. I put in the hours, by getting up at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning so I could work on growing my business before Brian left for work. I followed God’s lead and I did the work. It was simply an issue of timing.

Our Story

Let me start by sharing a little bit about where we came from and how our life was before.

Brian and I met in junior high school, and were in the same circle of friends throughout high school and throughout our lives. We were never super close until senior year, when we started hanging out more. I started to really like him. I was attracted to his humility and his character, and he was just really sweet.

Want to hear the cheesiest story ever?

We ended up going to senior prom together, kind of a last minute thing. It was the day before the actual dance, when he asked me to go with him. Just as friends, because neither of us had dates (I’d actually just broken up with the only other person I had dated), so it was kind of a weird point for me.

Brian wasn’t supposed to go either, but at the last minute he was able to because the school band had canceled their event so that everyone could go to prom. He asked me, and I said yes!

Awwwww!
Awwwww!

From there, we just kind of clicked, realizing we were right in front of each other for years, started dating, and got married about two years later.

About eight months into our marriage we found out we were pregnant with Bella. Which was a surprise, because as a teen, doctors had told me that I may not be able to get pregnant, or that a pregnancy could be very difficult. We found out that was not the case, were thrilled, and just started having our family.

Brian landed a job doing cable and internet installation. He’d go into businesses and homes and install services like that for a very large company.

It was a very good day when he got that job!

That was September of 2009, so it was a long time ago! This job was supposed to be 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, but it definitely wasn’t. There was forced overtime, but we were grateful for it because we needed it. We couldn’t get by very well on the normal hours’ pay. So he would work overtime and take other people’s shifts too.

He was working about six days a week with twelve to fourteen hour days. Every once in a while he’d get two days off, but we would always suffer for it by not having enough money to pay all of the bills.

There was a constant pressure on us to make money. Not because we wanted a ton of it, because we never had enough of it. 

We were in total agreement that we wanted me to be at home with the kids, though. Especially while we were having babies. I was content to be a stay-at-home mom – I loved it. I had a hard time with it for sure, but I did love it and knew it was where I was supposed to be. Brian always agreed, and any time I felt like I should go out and do something to contribute, he would quickly disagree and remind me how much he loved that I was at home with our kids. It was just how things were supposed to be in that season, and we could tell by the peace we both felt despite difficult circumstances. 

Our life, having our kids and living in Southern California was very difficult.

There were a lot of scary nights. We had cars repossessed, and a lot of traumatic experiences because of money. We scraped by, made things work, and worked very hard together to make that happen. My part was the budgeting – making sure we didn’t spend too much.

That was our life. I’m very, very much just grazing the surface, but I wanted to give you some background so that I can get to the point. But, it was very difficult and dark.

We’d always talked about moving out of state, because California’s one of the most expensive places to live, especially Southern California. But, our whole family and all of our friends were here. We didn’t really know anyone anywhere else and didn’t really know where we’d move.

We went to Texas and looked around to try and find if that was where we were supposed to be, and it was almost comical how hard God shut that door in our faces. Like, “this is NOT where I want you!” So, we obviously didn’t move there.

During this time, when Emmett was a few months old, we really began to feel led out of California, more so than ever before. It was the kind of thing where you know God’s pulling you do to something, and you can’t get away from it. It’s that undeniable force, or tug, on your heart to do something.

We couldn’t really afford to go out and look anywhere. We’d used any excess money that we had to go to Texas.

We started talking to God, asking him to make it really obvious where he wanted us to end up. It was obvious to us that He would have to move and make it happen for us. We couldn’t afford to do anything. 

We looked at North Carolina and other parts of Texas. We looked at Oregon and Colorado and places like that. Nothing felt right.

Long story short, of all the places in the country, Arkansas made its way into our lives. At first we were really resistant to moving there. My great-grandfather and my grandmother are from there, so I knew a little bit about it, and this particular area that he was from was not good.

But, then a job opened up in a town called Fayetteville. For those of you who don’t know, it’s in Northwest Arkansas, and it’s a neat little city. Very trendy and cute! It’s college town, up near the Ozark Mountains, and it’s just very beautiful.

We decided we’d look into it because it kept popping up and they kept contacting us, telling us that they’d transfer Brian right away. We researched and fell in love with it online. We prayed about it for a week, and just felt like this was it.

So we said YES!

Maybe a month passed (it was a very fast process), and we were saying goodbye to our heartbroken family members.

The only reason we were able to move was because we got two thousand dollars back from our rental deposit we had put down when we moved in. Seriously, we would not have been able to go without that. We were walking by faith that God would provide what we needed right up till move-out day. And of course, He did. 

We got rid of everything and had the tiniest little trailer attached to our minivan as we road tripped across the country. We were moving for a better life.

Right when we arrived at our condo in Arkansas after a 30+ hour road trip!
Right when we arrived at our condo in Arkansas after a 30+ hour road trip!

The job that Brian was moving for was the same job that he had in Southern California, but because of the lower cost of living, even with a little bit of a pay decrease, it worked out to be more money each month. It was also supposed to be better hours, and no mandatory overtime. Our hope was to not be stretched so thin, and we’d have Brian home more.

Our goal has always been to be together. I’ve shared a little of this in the past, but Brian and I really like each other. We have a friendship marriage, we WANT to be together. We had this really unique conviction on both of our hearts to be together and have some kind of life where we were together a lot, if not all the time, raising the kids together.

It was weird because people would tell us, “That’s just a dream, you need to let go of that. You have to work hard and you have to work away at a job to make money. You go to work and that’s it.” We understood that, and we were doing that, but for some reason we couldn’t quite shake this dream of just wanting to be together, wanting to raise our kids together, and spend the bulk of our days together at home.

We always had this in the back of our minds, but we never thought it was really possible. But we thought this might be close. THIS was at least more time at home together, and so we pursued it even as leaving our loved ones broke our hearts. 

When we got to Arkansas, we were very quickly met with the hard reality that this was NOT what we were promised by the company. 

The pay was a good chunk of dollars less per hour than we were promised. It was basically a lie. The pay was not what they had said and the hours were different.

Our life got dramatically worse.

Our family in California, who we missed so much.
Our family in California, who we missed so much.

Not only did it get worse, but now we were away from everybody that we knew and loved. I can’t tell you how difficult it was for me and my faith. My faith has never been shaken like it was in those first few months in the Northwest Arkansas area. It was very, very difficult. For a certain amount of time, I completely stopped talking to God.

I was so angry and hurt that He would lead us out here, away from everybody, for THIS. It didn’t make sense. I didn’t understand, and it was very difficult for me.

It was January and it was frigid freezing for me because, you know, I’m a So-Cal girl. I was standing outside letting the kids get some energy out because they were so cooped up from being indoors all the time. Brian called me from work and said, “I just wanted you to know I found out that in Southern California all of the offices for my company are taking away hours. People are losing their homes, they can’t pay their bills, and they’re losing their cars.”

We were already so close to barely making ends meet, that if that had happened to us, we would have lost everything.

I realized that maybe that’s why God moved us out here. I remember praying and apologizing to the Lord. Asking him to help me be grateful for Him saving us from that,  and asking, “But is this really what you want for us? This life? We’re still barely getting by. We missed this difficult time in California, but is this really what you want for us?”

I’ll never forget where I was standing that day in the park. I can see it in my head right now. I felt Him just come over me and say, “No. There’s something coming, and I need you to not move away from me. I need you to be close to me and talk to me so that you’re open to receive it when I’m ready to reveal it to you.”

That gave me a little bit of hope!

During the move to Arkansas, I started to focus on the blog I’d had since Leland was born. Moving away from my family, I decided to really throw myself into it because I didn’t have anyone.

I started to fall deeper in love with not just blogging, but with helping other women through my story and my experiences, with minimalism and simplifying.

My audience had grown by a few hundred, it was still very small, nothing like it is now, but it felt big to me at the time and I was really starting to like what I was doing.

After that day in the park, I was sitting with Brian, and we were panicking because we were going to have to leave our condo. We couldn’t afford to stay.  We were not making our very low rent every month because of what had happened with Brian’s job.

We were just talking, but I kept bringing up how much I loved blogging, and how I wished I could turn it into a business from home.

I was raised by two very successful entrepreneurs and I’ve always had the entrepreneurial spirit and drive in me. I was sitting with Brian, and we decided to start looking things up. Brian ended up finding Femtrepreneur, a blog all about turning your blog into a business.

I plummeted into this season of googling and learning everything about marketing and being an online entrepreneur, creating courses and growing a very successful business from your blog. I spent all of my late night and early morning time googling and reading and researching and watching YouTube videos.

I created new Audible accounts with old email addresses so that I could get free audio books (they give you a free book credit if you sign up with a new account. I know, humbling) and learn all about marketing and running a business.

I ran straight ahead, full force. 

I had this feeling that this is what God was telling me about. THIS is what he wanted me to pursue.

This became a way to not only contribute to our family income, but also to start getting my message out louder and bigger.

I knew I wanted to grow my blog, and it had always been a frustration point of mine because I just couldn’t seem to grow beyond a few hundred people.

I knew that if I started doing these webinars that I was learning about – these online classes – and inviting people to share and tell their friends about my blog and my message, it would help me grow.

So, the one thing that was really complicated and very new at the time were webinars, online classes like this one. Femtrepreneur had a course on how to do webinars, so I borrowed five hundred dollars from my dad to buy this course. I’ve never asked my parents for money and it was awful, but I knew I needed saome kind of small bit of help. I knew I would make it. Failure wasn’t an option. 

Once I learned how to do that, I just started. I didn’t have a microphone. I was using an old Toshiba laptop that had a fan and would make sounds to cool off and you could hear it in my recordings – it was so bad! But I had to use what we had because we couldn’t afford anything else.

Then, I started opening up and being more vulnerable, and helping other women. Slowly, my audience began to grow, and these women began to ask me for something more, something deeper, something where all the things that I was teaching them and helping them with was consolidated.

This is what would end up becoming my course, Your Uncluttered Home.

I went right to work, starting to create this thing they were asking for. I would ask them questions and get their feedback, and then began outlining this course and realizing it was going to be the thing that I’d sell on my blog.

I didn’t want to pour all this time into this thing and then launch it and have nobody buy it, so I pre-sold it. I started to do webinars and pre-sell the course at the end of the webinars to make sure that people who were saying they wanted this would actually put their money where their mouths were.

From that pre-sale launch, I made more money than Brian made per month. It wasn’t a lot, but it was a lot for us, and it was enough to get us feeling confident that this was a solid idea and really worth pursuing.

I was learning how to do everything myself, like coding and website building, because I couldn’t afford to hire anybody to do anything for me.

I was a machine!

I had this drive in me that wouldn’t die. I was setting my alarm for 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning, every morning, and working for hours before Brian would leave for work. I’d work when the kids were napping, and then get them busy and work more. I’d make dinner, and work at night, stay up late and work even more. It was like I didn’t need sleep, I was on fire and was pursuing this dream.

I will NEVER forget that season of my life. It was when I became an entrepreneur!

After a few months we hit a wall. I was growing, I was working my butt off, but we were seeing almost no financial benefits yet. I had already pre-sold my course to my audience and that was kind of it. I had sold to a good percentage of who was following me, and in the online business world, I’d sold way more than is “standard” in the industry. 

My focus then switched from selling my course to growing my following, reaching even more women. But to do that, I needed more time to spend on this thing. 

I remember seeing some other very popular bloggers be able to bring their husbands home from their corporate jobs, and I really wanted that. We decided that I was going to be able to bring Brian home from his job, and we were going to work together. It became really exciting!

But God very firmly and quickly let me know that making the money we needed AND THEN bringing Brian home was not going to be my story. He wanted to use our faith to tell a story and make a point to other people someday.

He made it VERY clear to both of us that he wanted us to leave the safety of Brian’s job before it made sense.

It was scary. No, it was TERRIFYING.

What we ended up doing was truly the epitome of a leap of faith. We ended up leaving. It got to the point where I was working so hard, doing everything that I could, but I simply could not do what I needed to do and put the time and effort into this to be a success. And also be at home with the kids. We couldn’t afford help, not even a cheap mommy’s helper or pre-school or anything.

It got to the point where it was either he had to quit, or I had to quit. Something had to give. I wasn’t the mom that I wanted to be. I was frustrated and yelling and being pulled in all these different ways. I needed help so that I could focus.

We prayed about it for a couple months. And we’d talk a lot during the day while Brian was at work. What would it look like? What would we do? How long would it take to get the business off the ground?

And we both felt God’s pulling. We knew we needed to do something that would seem ludicrous to everyone around us. 

It came down to a question from God. Are you going to trust me or not?

I know it looked crazy and stupid to everyone around us, and I know we scared the crap out of people, but we had confirmation several times from God.

We knew it was the right move, so Brian went in to the main office one day, and quit.

And you know what they said to him? “Go home now. Forget the two weeks. You’re replaceable.”

Seven years of work and just like that, “bye.” This cemented our desire to work for ourselves and build a company where people would love working. 

Brian came home that same morning and we have never hugged that long or that powerfully ever. It was a very sweet moment that I’ll never forget. 

I began the work of actually creating the course, outlining it, and recording the lessons. I even took a trip to California with a portion of the earnings from my first month making money from the pre-sale so that I could purge some friends’ homes and talk to people who struggled with hoarding.

I spent five days basically not sleeping and going and purging homes and talking to people who needed help. I wanted to make this course the best it could be!

I had a drive to change the world and save my family.

This was where I planned and created Your Uncluttered Home. The post-its were lesson titles so I could see it all in one place while I planned the content. I was so nervous it wouldn't be good enough for my beautiful readers!
This was where I planned and created Your Uncluttered Home. The post-its were lesson titles so I could see it all in one place while I planned the content. I was so nervous it wouldn’t be good enough for my beautiful readers!

God gave me a really powerful word for my business that I still cling to, and that was “I will use you to change the world twice. Once with the message that you’re sharing for mothers, and again with the money you make sharing it.” I truly believed this message, but we faced several incredibly grueling, difficult months first as I clung to it. 

You have to understand that we had followed in faith when we made the choice to leave Brian’s job. So as we went into this season of financial poverty, we felt like idiots. We still knew this was the right choice, that God called us here, but dang it was hard.

Brian can do anything, he’s amazing. And he’s very good at building furniture. So, while at home, he was building benches and chairs and things like that, and selling them on Facebook resell groups on the side. He would make a little from building somebody a custom bench, then I’d do another little pre-sale and make a couple hundred dollars, and that was okay. But we had to ask ourselves, now how can we stretch this? That’s where we were at for a few months.

Brian snapped this pic of me the day I got an email from Ariana Huffington, inviting me to contribute to The Huffington Post Parents and letting me know I was a very good writer. SUCH a good day!
Brian snapped this pic of me the day I got an email from Ariana Huffington, inviting me to contribute to The Huffington Post Parents and letting me know I was a very good writer. SUCH a good day!

I was doing everything that I could. I was writing guest posts while simultaneously working on the course. I was taking whatever I could get. I was learning about marketing and applying it to my website. I was doing webinars and falling deeper and deeper in love with this process of spreading my message, and hearing about how women’s lives were being changed, and really clinging to that promise that God gave me about changing the world twice.

I really believe that our thoughts and our words shape our beliefs, and that our beliefs form our reality.

I believe that we were made in the image of God the Creator, and that He spoke the world into existence and that we can speak our reality into existence, because of the power He gave us.

I believe that prayer changes things and your words matter. 

During this time, I was working on my mindset and choosing to speak words that felt ridiculous at the time. Every morning I would get up and I would go stand outside in my driveway and say affirmations and scripture. I’d say things like, “I am extremely wealthy. I am running a successful business. Money is flowing to me. I am grateful for it, and generous with the money I receive.” While I literally didn’t know how we were going to eat dinner that night. I felt INSANE!                                          

This went on for a few months, Brian was supportive, he was helping me, we were working together, we were brainstorming together. How can we make this course better? How can we get this done? How can this be amazing? We had launched the course. It had done okay, but not what we wanted because our audience wasn’t big enough.

I ended up writing a guest post, “How Getting Rid of my Stuff Saved my Motherhood.” I poured my heart and soul and story into that post, and did everything that I could to make it viral and change the world. I studied virality, formatted the post in a way that captured the audience while sharing the realness of my story. I learned the ins and outs of writing a captivating post and prayed like crazy over it as I submitted the final draft with butterflies in my stomach (and hardly any food). 

A couple weeks passed and it wasn’t getting as much traction as I wanted. I had put a content upgrade in the post, which is something that you can download from the author that will help you take the next step. That content upgrade was The Minimalism Starter Kit that I had put together, and it was how to take minimalism and apply it to your life.

I had been hoping that the viral post and the content upgrade would grow my email list and maybe people would come and find my website through it and buy Your Uncluttered Home. I was frustrated because it wasn’t working.

At the end of this three or four month period (about three weeks after that blog post had been published), and we were at rock bottom.

I wondered, “Why isn’t God blessing what we’re doing?” We were just confused. There was one point where we had to go to a food bank, and I felt like a thief. We had a job and we left it in faith, by choice, and we still hadn’t “made it.”

I felt like I had failed my family. I had applied for and got denied for a job at Target. I remember this one incredibly difficult night, Brian was angry, I was angry, we were confused and upset and scared, and we had stretched one portion of dinner for four kids. Their tummies were full but ours weren’t.

I was terrified. We went to bed and I kept saying, “I’m sorry I failed our family, I’m sorry that I couldn’t do what I thought I could do. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen here.” Brian repeated my apologies on his own behalf. We just kind of fell asleep scared.

When I woke up the next morning, I went to log into things and check on my work stuff. So I logged into my email service, and I noticed that they had locked me out. I had an email in my inbox saying that I was a spammer, and that they shut my account down because it looked like I was breaking spam laws.

I was already feeling depressed, and this was just the cherry on top of everything that was going on with me.

I looked into it and saw that my email list was now over 15,000 people. Overnight! And that number was literally growing by hundreds every time I hit the refresh button. UNHEARD OF. 

How could this be?

I went and logged into other things and I realized that the guest blog post I had written had gone viral. It was EVERYWHERE!

My story, my face and my family were everywhere. All over the internet, and it just kept getting spread around.

That morning I opened up our PayPal account and there was $20,000 in it.

TWENTY. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. 

I had never even seen that number with a dollar sign in front of it. We were freaking out!

I wish I had a video of that morning. We were jumping and screaming and dancing and sobbing. The kids were so confused!

I got in touch with my email service and said, “I’m not a spammer, but I had a post go viral, and that’s why my list exploded.” They fixed my account right away!

There was an email in my inbox in the next couple days from ABC News. They wanted to do a story on me. Good Morning America followed. Then, The Jenny McCarthy Show. Fox News Network. The Today Show. Canadian radio. All of these people emailed me asking to talk to me about my story and about this message.

People were buying the course, and things started happening. My business grew! I had thousands and thousands and thousands of fans on Facebook and Instagram. It was incredible!

This picture was taken by me just a couple days after everything happened. We'd just gone to Old Navy and bought our kids a ton of new clothes, which they needed so so badly. Such a happy time!
This picture was taken by me just a couple days after everything happened. We’d just gone to Old Navy and bought our kids a ton of new clothes, which they needed so so badly. Such a happy time!
This was taken the day I bought my family our first new car. Our Suburban was SO old and beat up. Had no air conditioning (and we were traveling in Florida at the time!), and had tons of problems. I spent the day at the dealership feeling confident about my finances and getting asked for business advice from 60-year-old men. Another good day!
This was taken the day I bought my family our first new car. Our Suburban was SO old and beat up. Had no air conditioning (and we were traveling in Florida at the time!), and had tons of problems. I spent the day at the dealership feeling confident about my finances and getting asked for business advice from 60-year-old men. Another good day!

Most blogs grow slow and steady, but that wasn’t our path. All of the work and faith and difficulty that we had poured into trying to grow happened in one fell swoop.

And now after all of what we had done, I had the money that I needed to take and invest and grow my business. I learned all about being an entrepreneur and a CEO, and over the next 18 months I just grew so much. So many good things happened: new courses, new partnerships, new collaborations, new press and media coverage. Our business is reaching women in countries I’ve never even heard of. It’s amazing.

18 months later, we are just about to hit the seven figure mark in our business revenue.

God is so good.

Snapped by Brian at LAX, on our way to a work event across the country. Traveling together was something we always dreamed of. 
Snapped by Brian at LAX, on our way to a work event across the country. Traveling together was something we always dreamed of. 

I have a message for you. If you’re striving to do what we did, if you have a dream that’s crazy, that people laugh at or that feels impossible, let me just tell you, keep an open mind. Change the way that you talk and think about money. Look for opportunities and clues around you for what you’re good at, and do what you want to do.

Think about how you can make this your reality. Pray about it, put it out there and it will come to you.

If you’re struggling and you don’t know what you want, if you don’t know what to do, if you have a dream that you want to follow and you’re not sure if it’s ever going to happen, my message for you is:

DON’T YOU DARE GIVE UP. 

The world needs you. The world needs good people to get rich doing what they love – sharing their message, changing the world, and reaching people.

The internet allows us so much. The world needs people like you with good and charitable hearts who have a passion and a mission and a message that will change the world.

People who will do good things with money, because there are corrupt people out there with a lot of power and a lot of money, and us good guys need to get up there and match where they’re at so that we can counteract that and do good things for the Kingdom of God and the betterment of humanity.

Finally, I know most of the people who read my blog are women or moms… no matter who you are, no matter what you do, no matter if you’ve gone to college or not, no matter what money you’re making right now, no matter how successful you are right now, or how unsuccessful you feel right now, no matter if you are living in your parents’ house with 17 kids because you guys feel like failures and you haven’t been able to get out of the rut, you can.

Start telling yourself a different story. Decide what you want and where you want to go.

What is your purpose? What are you here to do? Find a way to do that, and make money doing it, and build your dream life. It doesn’t have to be a dream.

Now it’s your turn.

Learn how to turn your blog into a business!  

Download Allie’s Blog To Business Resource Guide and start right now.

heck yes! I’m ready to get started!

One way our corporation is changing the world with our revenue is by partnering with International Sanctuary. They help women who have just been freed from sex trafficking get housing and jobs. They’re AMAZING!

Please know that every time you support my family by purchasing one of my courses or digital products, 10% goes to them. You’re helping yourself rock motherhood, and helping another girl find hope at the same time. 

Women helping women – that’s what our corporation is all about. 

Learn more about my courses

I Don’t Have A Capsule Wardrobe, And Here’s Why

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I get asked about capsule wardrobes A LOT.

People watch my Instagram Stories or see photos of me on the blog and say things like, “I see you wearing lots of different things. It seems like you have a lot of clothes. How do you deal with that?” So, I just wanted to address it directly.

First off, in case you don’t know what a capsule wardrobe is, it’s basically the idea of having thirty pieces of clothing (or less) – kind of having this neutral wardrobe that’s easily mix and matchable. Basically, it goes hand in hand with minimalism.

There are SO many different ways to do a capsule wardrobe. Some people have ten pieces of clothing or less, but thirty or less is about where most people fall. You basically want to keep your wardrobe really minimal.

The idea is that having less clothing options frees up your time in the morning and helps you make decisions about what to wear. It’s a simplification thing. I definitely agree with it and totally get it. And, I know having less clothing will make the decision-making process easier.

So, then, maybe you’re wondering… Why don’t I have a capsule wardrobe?

I love clothes!

I am a person who loves getting dressed!

Having a larger wardrobe allows me to be creative, and being creative in this way adds to my joy. For me, this is part of an abundant life, and brings more joy to my daily life.

It makes me sad that no one dresses up for things anymore. When Brian and I go out for date night, someone almost always says, “Wow, you dress really nice.” It’s not that we go black tie or anything, we just dress well.

I’ll put on earrings, a cute top, trouser jeans and maybe some heels. I spend time doing my hair and makeup, and Brian will dress nicely, too. We love dressing nice for each other – it’s just how we are. I absolutely LOVE dressing up!

If we go to events, or even church on Sundays, we’re always the only ones that are kind of dressed up. I was just raised that when you go to church, you’re going into the House of God and you should dress nice. It’s not a legalistic or religious practice, I just really like it. Plus, it makes me feel good!

You could totally dress nice with a capsule wardrobe, but that isn’t my point.

I love putting an outfit together, it’s my favorite part of getting dressed. I feel beautiful and put together when I take the time to really choose my clothes.

I mean, I’m a mom of four and I work at home… Sweatpants and t-shirts are pretty much my daily thing.

It might seem funny to you, especially if you’re not a person who cares about this kind of thing, but it’s a joy for me. A small, simple joy!

My transition began a few months ago. I was not really into what was in my wardrobe.

I felt that since I teach other moms about how to be minimal, I needed to have a minimalist wardrobe. I was also in a season of really needing to simplify every area of my life. I just needed everything to be as simplistic as possible because I had a lot going on and didn’t really care as much about getting dressed.

At the time, it kind of worked for me, but I quickly found myself slipping into this place of not feeling happy – of not being excited to get dressed in the morning. And, not to sound overly dramatic, but I kind of felt a little depressed whenever it came time to get dressed.

I was feeling unhappy and worn down, and anytime someone would ask about my clothes, I’d just give this automated answer like, “Yeah, here’s about how many pieces of clothing I have. Here’s how many jeans I tend to keep,” etc. It was definitely minimalistic, and it was great for the simplistic part of things, but it wasn’t making me happy AT ALL.

But, then, I had this lightbulb moment where I realized, you know what? I really MISS being creative in this way. I don’t dress really loud or crazy, my style is actually very simplistic, so you’d think a capsule wardrobe would work for me, but I just love having options (and I also really love shopping with my little girl and during my alone time. another simple joy for me!). For me, it’s worth the extra time that my wardrobe takes from me because it’s a joy of mine.

I decided to forget it. I’m not gonna go through the motions and live this legalistic approach to minimalism (which is something I teach against anyway), and I’m just gonna do what I want to do.

I chose to let myself be FREE in this area of my life, and went shopping!

Now, when I see something that is beautiful and I really love, I just get it and don’t worry about how many pieces of clothing I already have.

So, yeah, now I have a fairly large wardrobe. It isn’t massive, but it definitely doesn’t fit into the definition of a capsule wardrobe, and I am SO happy.

I literally run up to my closet and look in it, trying to decide what I am gonna wear most days. Or, if we’re going to have a photoshoot for the podcast or blog, I have fun putting together the outfits I’m going to wear.

I love clothes and I love having things that make me feel amazing. That make me feel beautiful, make me feel thinner and lighter and allow me to dress for my shape in a way that makes me feel better and more confident.

Truthfully, I think if I wasn’t doing what I’m doing now, I could easily do something in terms of helping other women feel un-frumpy and getting dressed in a way that flatters their shape. I love that kind of stuff!

I think that the key message here is that minimalism doesn’t have anything to do with following rules that don’t make you happy.

It’s not about suppressing yourself and just deciding that since you’re a mom, you have to be a super minimalist because it will save you time.

Don’t make it legalistic. If you love to cook and bake, and decide to suppress yourself by not buying the kitchen appliances you need for cooking and baking, you’re following minimalism just for the rules. If that is what it’s about for you, you’re gonna run out of steam very quickly, and you’re gonna find yourself really unhappy.

If you don’t get what the heck I’m even talking about, I hope this message still gets across to you. This is something I deeply care about. The point of all of this, for me, is joy. Living a life and having a home that makes me feel excited to be home, to get dressed, and excited to be with my kids. It helps me to feel focused on the things that matter to me, and my wardrobe is something that matters!

The whole idea behind my course, Your Uncluttered Home, is that minimalism is not about legalism.

It’s not about following these rules or living a certain way and practicing minimalism just for the sake of being a minimalist.

It’s about clearing the clutter in your home and in your life and your heart and asking, what is taking away from what really matters to me?

If something brings joy to your life, like my wardrobe brings to mine, it is not taking away time from what matters, and it isn’t something you should suppress.

I want this to be a message of freedom for you. Here’s your permission to make minimalism work for you and make it something that brings you joy.

Let this be your permission to have what brings you incredible joy. And to have what makes you love your life more.

Are you ready to clear the clutter and focus on the areas of your life that bring you joy?

Your Uncluttered Home is literally everything you need to become a minimalist mama who’s able to be a lot more present for what matters most.

LEARN MORE

The Power of Words and Your Kids

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I’ve always had a love for words.

I can remember as a child almost having a relationship with words.

I was drawn to them, and I loved making up stories, or even rewriting some of the classic fairy tales. They’ve always been a powerful passion of mine.

But, on the flip side, I’m a blunt, passionate person, and whatever emotion I feel, I feel it 100%.

I’m 100% angry, 100% happy, 100% bitter, whatever it is, it’s typically a very strong emotion. And, as I mentioned, words are usually something that I’m good at, but when I am 100% angry, my words can be incredibly cutting. I have this knack for knowing just what to say, that will slice right through. This has been one of the biggest struggles with friendships and motherhood, but especially with my marriage, because those of us who have been married or are married know that whatever your flaws are in marriage, those are magnified by like 1,000%.

As words have been one of my biggest gifts, they’ve also been one of my biggest struggles.

Today I really want to focus on the positive ways I’ve been able to use my words. For instance, being able to know just what to say, I rarely have a clue what it came from. And, most importantly I’ve been able to help change my children’s behavior simply by speaking positive words and scriptures over them.

You might know I’m a Christian, I believe that we were made by God in his image, that he spoke the Universe into existence. I believe that WE have power in our words, and that God gave us this power and control.

Now, after giving you that background, do with it what you will. Feel free to stop reading, but I want you to understand how much I believe in the power of words. I’ve seen words change the way my kids act. They’ve helped me overcome difficulties, and they’ve had a massive part in transforming my marriage.

Science shows us that words are powerful.

The words that you say to people have a deep effect on them, and the words you say about other people have a profound effect on how you feel about them

If you’re constantly complaining about your husband and how lazy he is, you’re just solidifying those feelings in yourself. And, if you say those things to him, you’re just solidifying that in him. I’ve really found this beautiful magic, if you have a problem with something or someone and instead of always saying the negative, start giving attention to the opposite. Then, start watching the positive bloom and actually begin to exist.

Giving you that background, I really want to share how this applies to our kids and give you a small example from my life, and how I’ve seen this transform my children, specifically one child.

My son, Leland, has always been incredibly defiant. He was the child that had me locking myself in the bathroom, sitting down and just sobbing on a regular basis. I was completely lost on how I was going to raise him.

I was really struggling. I started saying things to other people and because of my blunt sense of humor I’d always tend to give really extreme examples of things, because it’s just my personality.

It was a really difficult time. I was exhausted because I was sleep deprived from having had another baby. I also experienced a miscarriage, and no matter what else was going on, I couldn’t catch a break with this kid.

Then, I don’t even remember what happened because my life was just a freaking blur, but I remember having a realization….

What if I stopped solidifying his behavior with my negative words, and instead started speaking positive things over him?

I started Googling, doing some research and found this idea of speaking blessings over your children, so I started doing it for all of them.

It was really awkward at first. Leland was probably 3 or 4, and he’d just look at me like, “What the heck, mom? What are you even doing?” But, I just started to say things over him.

If I was doing the dishes I would say things like, “Leland, you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Leland you have a big purpose. Leland, I boldly claim that you have a hunger for God and the things of God.” Things like that.

In the beginning, I was always scrambling for what to say. It always felt really forced and weird, and if I’m being honest, I didn’t even really believe these things. He was 3, he didn’t really have a relationship with God, and he’s also still freaking the heck out.

As I practiced it more, I found that doing it while we were driving made it the easiest. I’d repeat things like, “You are called to great things. You are a strong leader,” etc. I was doing this over all of my kids but again, focusing on Leland because he’s the main point. I saw changes in all of my children, but with Leland, he became a different child. I kid you not, over the course of a few months, he became a different person.

The tantrums and freak-outs started to slow and eventually stopped almost completely (because he’s still human). He’s still a normal kid but it worked. My words changed him. My story to him and about him changed everything.

When I changed the words that I spoke over him, even when he wasn’t there, I changed myself too. I’d spend time praying out loud and always worked to stay positive, positive, positive. If I’d have a negative thought, I would take it captive and throw it away. I’d tell myself we weren’t going there, and that I was chosen out of every other mother in the entirety of the world to be this boy’s mother. It isn’t my job to let negative thoughts come in.

I chose to speak life.

I chose light, hope, joy and purpose with intentionality for this child, and it changed him.

We have the power as mothers to intentionally use our words to make a difference for better or for worse. The choice is ours.

We’re all in this together and it’s hard. It’s a habit we’ve got to grow and cultivate and be reminded of again and again. Let this message seep in whether or not you have a difficult child.

The words you say about, into and over your children matter. Why wouldn’t we get intentional with that?

If you’re ready to become more positive and intentional with your words, the easiest way to start is to get some ideas. Make a list of positive words, phrases and affirmations that you can say over your kids. If you’d like to do blessings or scripture, just Google it for ideas.

Pick your favorite ones, and write them down. I’ve got a journal full of them that I reference on a regular basis. I’ve also got a note on my phone that has some of my favorite top 20, that I’ll just look at real quick before we start driving.

I’ve also created a list of positive phrases and affirmations for moms, that I’d love for you to grab and use with your kids.

NEED HELP GETTING STARTED?  GRAB THIS LIST OF AFFIRMATIONS!

DOWNLOAD NOW

Let’s start using our power as mothers in a positive way for our kids’ sake. Your words matter so much, mamas. Don’t let the frustrations of the day-to-day bring those negative words out, instead choose to speak the positive.

5 Steps for A Purposeful Morning Ritual

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Morning rituals are a hot topic at the moment. People are beginning to come around to the idea that the earlier you rise, the more purposeful and productive your days can be.

I used to be a night owl. I always believed that I was most productive at night, but the truth was that I felt busy all day (not productive) and by the time the kids would be in bed I’d be wiped and nearly ready for bed myself.

The single most transformative thing I did was to start getting up earlier. It has literally changed my life!

One question I get quite frequently is: What do I do when I get up early? So I wanted to take the time to share my current ritual with you.

Over the last few years my life has shifted, like everyone’s does, and I’ve tweaked and changed my routine as I’ve found suits my life best.

For instance, back when my husband was still working his 9 to 5, I had to get up early in order to get any work done. Everything in my business was relying on me because I did not have the income to support a team. Once Brian was home, I still found it very difficult to write while the kids were around so I started getting up early to write. I’d knock out 1,000 to 2,000 words before their sweet little heads would rise from the pillow.

However, I am now in a season of life where I still want to wake up early, but I can now use it for dedicated self-care time. Over time, this is how I’ve condensed my morning ritual down to a science that works really well for me.

I want to share it with you – each step, how I do it, how long it takes me, and how I make it happen every morning – in hopes that it will inspire you to take action on creating the morning that you desire.

Steps to My Morning Ritual

1. Make Coffee and Get Quiet

I typically get out of bed between 5 and 5:30, and the very first thing I do is make a cup of coffee. While it’s brewing, I get quiet and sit down on the floor, which allows me to feel centered.

I focus on the things around me, like the silence, or how good the coffee tastes (that first cup of coffee is such a small, simple joy for me). Or maybe the smell of the candle I’ve lit or the crackling of the fireplace. I simply let my mind wander.

After a few minutes pass, I allow the time to leak into meditation.

2. Meditate

Meditation is so powerful. It’s also very biblical. It depends on what you’re thinking about and how you’re going about it, but for me, meditation looks like reciting something, (sometimes out loud, sometimes in my head), a word or a phrase, possibly a scripture, with my eyes closed. Closing my eyes allows me to stay present and not get distracted from the meditation.

If I feel like a word is really speaking to me, I’ll focus on that and just keep taking deep breaths, while I continue reciting the word over and over again. I’m focusing on intentionality. I choose to focus on that word, and then I invite the Lord to join me in my morning routine and to be present with me throughout the day.

Occasionally a distracting thought will come. I acknowledge that it’s there, and then purposely let it go. I stop worrying about it, and go back to repeating my word or phrase.

Doing this for 10 to 15 minutes has been proven to reduce your cortisol, so I encourage you to meditate, even if all you can spare is 5 minutes. Set a timer (one without a jarring alarm), and then close your eyes and begin.

3. Pray

After I’ve finished my coffee, I will go into prayer. I give God the day, and I talk to Him about what’s on my heart.

If anything came up while I was meditating, I will give it to God and talk it out with him and pray through it.

Whatever the day may bring, I’ll pray about it.

4. Morning Pages

Morning pages is a type of journaling where you write at least 3 pages a day. The first page is all about your thoughts. Basically you want to do “stream of consciousness” writing. Maybe what’s going on in your life, what’s bothering you, or anything that is going on in your head. It doesn’t matter, just let it out.

If you struggle to begin, I encourage you to just start writing. Usually if I’m unable to think of what to write, I’ll just open my journal and write, “I’m sitting on the couch. The fire’s going. It’s really quiet.” And, then the next sentence just begins to flow out. Try it!

The second page is all about what’s going on that day. Use this page to determine your plan for the day, collect your thoughts and mentally get ready for the day ahead.

The third page is all about gratitude. When you’re writing this page, don’t be vague or obvious, get specific. Instead of just writing that you are grateful for your husband, you could write something like, I’m grateful for the color of my husband’s eyes, or my husband’s mild temper.

Those are just examples, but my point is to just get specific.

5. Read the Bible and Read Personal Development

I start with my Bible and focus on that for 10 minutes or so. I might read my devotional, or wrap myself up with quiet self-growth time with the Lord.

Once I’ve finished that, I will start reading whatever personal development book I’m currently involved in (right now, it’s The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks), and finish my morning ritual off here.

My entire ritual usually takes about an hour, and I realize that may be a lot of time for some, but you don’t need to dedicate an hour if you don’t have it. Dedicate what time you have, and feel strong with the decision to begin making your mornings more purposeful.

For me, this routine has become non-negotiable. I don’t throw it aside, it doesn’t matter how busy the day is shaping up to be. I can always get up earlier to make it happen.

The reason it is such a priority for me is because it has deeply affected my mindset throughout the day. I start in a different place, I feel better, lighter, and more confident. This time also allows me, as a Christian, to invite the Holy Spirit to speak with me, and at the end I invite Him to be with me throughout the day. Doing this is so, so powerful.

Not only that, but it makes me a more patient person, and improves my attitude. If I’m 100% honest with you, my biggest weakness is that I can be very impatient, and I can struggle with anger. But, when I follow-through with my morning ritual, I find that I don’t struggle with these things very often.

And, finally, it provides me with a sense of gratitude in the midst of any difficulties I may be experiencing. It allows me to step back and look at the situation and ask myself, “What is good about this?” and bring my focus there.

You can hop over and follow me on Instagram to see how I practice intentional living in real life.

I hope that you find this encouraging, and that you go and make your own morning ritual that serves you and makes you feel better and more together, confident and peaceful throughout your day.

What follow-up questions do you have? Please share them in the comments!