As Christian women, we often focus on nurturing our relationships with others and our relationship with God, but we may neglect an essential aspect of our spiritual journey - self-care. Taking care of ourselves physically, emotionally, and mentally is not selfish; it is a vital part of deepening our relationship with God. Let's explore how self-care practices can foster healing from the inside out, allowing us to draw closer to God and experience His love and grace more fully. Here's 6 tips for you to take a look at...
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As a woman solopreneur, I know you have a lot on your plate. Balancing your business responsibilities with personal life can be overwhelming, especially when anxiety and stress start to take over. That's where journaling comes in as a valuable tool to help you manage stress and anxiety.
Journaling provides a safe space for you to express your thoughts and feelings, gain clarity, and develop a better understanding of yourself and your situation. It can also help you manage your emotions and reduce anxiety by...
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I recently was given the opportunity to share in a group with other entrepreneurs; and I was so excited and so nervous, but I could tell God was nudging me to take the next step in entering into the next stage of embracing my true self through my business and to show up and serve others...
**If you’d rather see this blog in video format - you can watch it HERE. Otherwise keep on reading, my friend!**
**If you’d rather see this blog in video format - you can watch it HERE. Otherwise keep on reading, my friend!**
After the first week it’s like fear washed over me. I felt like my mind was paralyzed. Every time I sat down to write a new blog or write in my journal all my thoughts were just completely turned off. Like a drought had settled into my mind.
I remember thinking, “Oh my gosh! This isn’t good! How can I show up and serve and teach when I feel like all there is in my mind is a brick wall.” As I’m sure all you have been there too you can just imagine how feelings of frustration and discouragement settled in. I would wonder around my house and I was kind of moody, I’d stare in my fridge, I ate too many snacks, I tried to pray but it was more like me getting annoyed that God wasn’t just handing me any ideas! Like, come on - help a girl out!
My husband finally told me would to just stop trying to think so hard and go do something fun.
Ohhh yeah. Fun. I can easily get caught up with the household chores and the to-do lists and trying to do ALL THE THINGS in my home business that I forget to take time to actually pour into myself and have fun or to make time for self-care. 
I share with women how important self-care is, but yet I wasn’t really taking my own advice. So I went back to the basics. What were things that I enjoyed doing for me and just for fun.
I sat down one evening and started doing a puzzle. I love puzzles! I don’t do them very often though because my dog Lily must think I am ignoring her when I do puzzles and she will sneak up by the table and steal puzzle pieces and run away with them. She has eaten at least 1 puzzle piece from all of our puzzles!! But this time she just laid by my feet and fell asleep.
There was this one certain piece that I kept looking at during my puzzle and I was like where on earth is this piece going to go? It just looked so weird and then I thought does this piece even belong to this puzzle? So I put this piece to the side....
But then it dawned on me. Puzzle pieces are kind of like building our business and gaining new ideas and new perspectives. Towards the end of putting my puzzle together I figure out where the odd looking piece went. I just had to turn it a different way to make it fit correctly. I was looking at wrong the whole time.
Its the same with our business. Sometimes we have to look at things from a different perspective. And by getting a different perspective we have to be continually placing one foot in front of the other. One way we can keep moving forward is stepping away to go enjoy something fun.
I love to walk in nature. I take my two dogs to my parents home, they live in the countryside on around 13 or 14 acres. So my girls can just run free and I just walk the grounds. This is when the ideas begin to flow. By being outdoors I am able to really breathe in deep the fresh air and my mind and body just feels so free by being out in nature.
I also love having an at home-spa evening. I go through my complete skincare routine, facial masque, gemstone facial roller, and an epsom salt bath. It’s SO relaxing!
I wrote an E-book with a few of my favorite Self-Care tips for the busy woman. These are simple tips that anyone can begin incorporating into their routine right away.
Both those hobbies - being out in nature and spa nights - are when my mind feels so quiet and relaxed and it’s like I am then open to receiving new ideas for my business.
So I have 1 question for you today to help you discover what fun you can incorporate into your daily or weekly routine so that you too can begin relaxing your mind so you can receive new ideas that are just waiting to drop into your mind!
What did you love doing as a child? Children experiment and often intuitively know what brings them joy - it just comes naturally for them. So, think back towards your childhood - what activities did you gravitate toward?
Did you tinker with model trains or cars, or could you spend hours coloring or doodling, or did you love playing outside and getting your hands in the dirt? What did you love most about this activity when you were young?
Now, obviously our tastes expand as adults, but at the core, these activities that you enjoyed made you so happy and they became an important aspect of your personality.
So as adults we can color in adult coloring books or do crafts with your kids or grandkids, we can get outside and jog or go snowshoeing or play tennis or garden if being outdoors feeds your soul, and if you liked model trains you can still do those things as an adult. My 88-year-old grandpa still loves model trains!
If you can’t quite remember what you enjoyed as a child then it might be time to go on a new adventure of finding a fun hobby!
Try something new and fun - and if you don’t like it - then move on to something else. A hobby should be like finding a good pair of shoes. It needs to fit just right!
Try something new and fun - and if you don’t like it - then move on to something else. A hobby should be like finding a good pair of shoes. It needs to fit just right!
So now what? What is your assignment for the week? Make time for fun. Make time for self-care, make time for whatever hobby it is that you love!
It’s so important that we take that time to step away from the to-do lists so we can allow our minds to relax so that you too can have your ah-ha moments of welcoming any new ideas!!
If you are looking for some extra encouragement in this area and could use some time exploring new ideas through journaling, I’d like to welcome you to my 21 Days of Encouragement series that is over in my free group: Authentic & Radiant Women Living Their Best Life.
Each day you will receive encouragement and support for your day along with journal prompts. Journaling is such an amazing way to write out your ideas or anything that’s been on your mind.
If this sounds like a great fit for you, we’d love to welcome you! And if not, that is totally okay. I hope and pray you are able to enjoy a fun hobby and to remember to do something you love each week.
Since 2014 I have had a home-based business. I absolutely love working from home and setting my own schedule. It can be a bit tricky though creating boundaries and staying on task. The hardest days are the ones where I don't stick to my planner or I feel like I have to do ALL THE THINGS at once. I've compiled a few tips that have helped me along the way - hopefully these will help you too or spark some ideas on what will work for you as you work from home.
1. Create a Time Blocking Schedule - It's a simple tip with major impact! When you time block your day you have a much easier time sticking to your schedule. I love to work my business from 8:30am to 11:00am and again from 2:00-4:00pm. What happens in-between those times? I work on a cleaning project, prep a meal, meet a friend for lunch, run errands. This helps me to stay on task and feel very productive.
2. Create a Dedicated Work Space - This one is really important. Before I had an actual office on our home I was doing everything from our dining room table. Totally not ideal. The clutter that my job brought to the table made me super frazzled. I had paperwork, notebooks, my laptop and iPad scattered all over the table. Then if someone came over or we hosted a friends dinner all that stuff got swooped up and stashed in a closet. So not organized! We turned one of our guest bedrooms into my office and I loved creating this space as my own. All my work stays in my office now and doesn't clutter my dining room table. This also helps keep you focused and you aren't worried about your kitchen not being cleaned or sweeping the floors.
3. Practice the 10 or 20 Minute Rule - If you have kids maybe working 2 to 3 hours straight isn't ideal for you. I know on the days where I am rushed for time, practicing this rule is very helpful. Set your timer for 10, 15 or 20 minutes and focus on the task that you would like to accomplish. It's amazing how much you can accomplish in a short amount of time if you only focus on that one thing.
4. Practice Self Care - To be honest, not much gets accomplished if I am eating poorly and not getting enough sleep. Choosing healthy food options, exercising, having a morning routine, going to be on time - those all contribute to my self care and having a productive day. Is every day perfect? Not at all. Knowing what helps you have a smooth running day will be so beneficial to you though.
5. Put on Actual Clothes - This might just be a personal opinion, but I know when I dress for work I feel successful and empowered. No, I do not wear dress pants or a fancy dress to work. I do change out of my comfy clothes though. What we wear tends to give off certain vibes. When I wear comfy clothes or I don't change out of my pajamas I tend to be a little more sluggish. When I wear jeans and cute a top I feel more productive. Now I have totally rocked a cute pair of leggings with a sweater while working. Dress in a way that makes you feel productive and not in a way where you want to take a nap all day long.
2. Create a Dedicated Work Space - This one is really important. Before I had an actual office on our home I was doing everything from our dining room table. Totally not ideal. The clutter that my job brought to the table made me super frazzled. I had paperwork, notebooks, my laptop and iPad scattered all over the table. Then if someone came over or we hosted a friends dinner all that stuff got swooped up and stashed in a closet. So not organized! We turned one of our guest bedrooms into my office and I loved creating this space as my own. All my work stays in my office now and doesn't clutter my dining room table. This also helps keep you focused and you aren't worried about your kitchen not being cleaned or sweeping the floors.
3. Practice the 10 or 20 Minute Rule - If you have kids maybe working 2 to 3 hours straight isn't ideal for you. I know on the days where I am rushed for time, practicing this rule is very helpful. Set your timer for 10, 15 or 20 minutes and focus on the task that you would like to accomplish. It's amazing how much you can accomplish in a short amount of time if you only focus on that one thing.
4. Practice Self Care - To be honest, not much gets accomplished if I am eating poorly and not getting enough sleep. Choosing healthy food options, exercising, having a morning routine, going to be on time - those all contribute to my self care and having a productive day. Is every day perfect? Not at all. Knowing what helps you have a smooth running day will be so beneficial to you though.
5. Put on Actual Clothes - This might just be a personal opinion, but I know when I dress for work I feel successful and empowered. No, I do not wear dress pants or a fancy dress to work. I do change out of my comfy clothes though. What we wear tends to give off certain vibes. When I wear comfy clothes or I don't change out of my pajamas I tend to be a little more sluggish. When I wear jeans and cute a top I feel more productive. Now I have totally rocked a cute pair of leggings with a sweater while working. Dress in a way that makes you feel productive and not in a way where you want to take a nap all day long.
There are so many more tips on how to work from home successfully - you can find lots of ideas over on Pinterest or doing a quick Google search. These are just a few that have really helped me. And when in doubt, just drink more coffee! A book that I highly recommend to kickstart your morning and have a successful day was The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.
