Confident Homeschool Mom Podcast by Teresa Wiedrick

April 15, 2024 How Can You Live a Charged Homeschool Mom Life?

“The Charge” by Brendon Burchard explores how individuals can activate their passion, purpose, and drive to live a more fulfilling and charged life, providing practical strategies for personal growth.

I want to incorporate the concepts from The Charge so you can live the charged homeschool mom life too!

In “The Charge”, Brendon Burchard argues that the only way to improve the quality of your life measurably is to learn how to activate the ten drives that make you human.

These drives are your desires for more control, competence, congruence, caring, connection, change, challenge, creative expression, contribution, and consciousness.

Also, these drives shape everything you think, feel, and do in life, so understanding and mastering them is critical to your success and happiness.

Strategically activating these drives consistently is the fastest path to living the charged homeschool mom life.

Join the Homeschool Mama Book Club

Sometime in January, our home power was out for a few hours. (This isn’t unusual during a snowstorm in the mountains where I live; in fact, sometimes this isn’t unusual in mid-summer with above-ground electricity and 100-feet coniferous trees).

Back in January, we dug out the candles, reminded ourselves how much stored water we didn’t have on hand, and my husband made grilled cheese on the natural gas single burner on our verandah.

I discovered what an enjoyable evening it was without the “buzz” of electricity and artificial lights.

Naturally, I read, of course, I always read;) But I read by candlelight. Charming.

Later, when I got bored, I kidnapped my 15-year-old son’s cellular and we watched Netflix for an hour in front of the lit Christmas tree (yeah, well, not lit because no electricity, but the tree was still up).

It was delightful.

Why am I sharing this with you? Because it was a powerful recharge evening.

WITHOUT sensory stimulation.

I highly recommend turning off all the lights, dishwasher, dryer, and your tree lights (ha, I’ll assume your tree is no longer up now in April) and discovering the quiet (oh, and the desire to go to bed at 7:30, ha). It was a retreat from the charge of electricity.

In our homeschool mom lives, though, we don’t want the electricity to go out.

We don’t want to lose our verve, our energy, our charge, because we have stuff to do.

Ultimately, we want to make this a meaningful life filled with interesting learning opportunities and Instagram-worthy memories. We want to enjoy it. And we want fuel to continue feeling fully alive, purposeful, and present in each of our days.

In our homeschool mom lives, though, we don’t want the electricity to go out. We don’t want to lose our verve, our energy, our charge. We have stuff to do. And we want to make this a meaningful life filled with interesting learning opportunities and Instagram-worthy memories.

Book a conversation with Teresa if you’d like to live a charged homeschool mom life

Can I hear an amen? We all want a charged homeschool mom life!

But how can we live the charged homeschool mom life?

Firstly, I want to acknowledge that every day won’t maintain the same charged energy.

Our reality: we are humans over here, and our energy can wax and wane because of…

premenstrual tension,

hormones,

sleepless nights,

addressing unhealed parts of ourselves,

chronic illness,

too many kid conflicts,

frustration with a family member,

addressing unhealthy or unhealed relationships,

hormones,

oh, the list could go on, couldn’t it?

We’re human. We have to accommodate for reality.

Real-life scenarios upend our plans all the time…

Surprise transitions looking after an unwell parent,

A flood in the basement,

And a job loss,

A neighbour’s request for help,

Perhaps a dog illness, goat bloat, prolapsed chicken uteruses, (okay, maybe that’s just in my home),

So many possibilities.

We’re human. Life isn’t as predictable as we sometimes hope it will be. We need to assume that big life stuff will interrupt our daily homeschool family life intentions.

However, if we want to live a charged homeschool mom life, Brendon Burchard offers us a discussion on the 10 drives of a charged life. He compels us to explore…

…our drives for control, competence, congruence, caring, connection, change, challenge, creative expression, contribution, and consciousness.

So how are you engaging your drives, homeschool mama?

If we want to live a charged homeshool mom life, we need to incorporate these drives for a charged homeschool mom life…

In this episode, I discuss 5 of those drives. If you want to discuss them all, join me in the Confident Homeschool Mom Collective (previously known as the Homeschool Mama Support Group).

CHALLENGE: The charged homeschool mom life requires challenge.

Well, I don’t think we homeschool mamas lack for challenge.

There’s the challenge of trying to get matched socks on a three-year-old, the challenge of trying to get your son to sit at the table and finish that writing assignment, the challenge of building a healthy partnering relationship amidst the busyness of this family life, the challenge of addressing your needs, the challenge of grieving the loss of a relationship, and/or the challenge of not losing your marbles at the dinner hour.

But how do we frame those challenges?

Are these challenges present to get us down and remain as obstacles in our journey to a satisfied life?

Will these challenges always be with us?

Are these challenges disguised as opportunities for growth, enabling an even richer life (a life we may not see clearly yet)?

ps I believe they are challenges disguised as opportunities for growth, enabling an even richer life, though I have my days when I don’t see that so clearly either.

However, I 100% believe our challenges are our potential charms if we don’t resist the learning, if we create a plan to address those challenges, and even when we can’t see how these challenges might be transformed into charms.

Clarifying question: How could you fully engage your present challenges in your homeschool mom life?

“The only difference between succeeding and failing is not quitting.”–Brendon Burchard

CREATIVE EXPRESSION: The charged homeschool mom life requires creative expression.

Doing creative things brings joy by the act of doing them, not because they are necessarily required activities, but because you enjoy doing them.

If you need to bring back your long-lost passion for embroidery, then search for that in the storage room.

Or if it’s an interest you had when you were little, say, pressing flowers between pages of an old poetry book (am I being specific here for a reason, yes because it’s what I did)? then do that!

Do you want to begin a journal practice that works as both a self-exploration tool, building self-awareness into your life, and also giving you an opportunity for self-expression?

ps If you do want to begin a journaling practice, I’ve designed oodles of journals for you, and you’re also invited to join the Writer’s Room this upcoming Friday.

Clarifying question: What might you bring back into your life that you enjoy doing that is purely creative and only enjoyable for the sake of it?

“The power plant doesn’t have energy, it generates energy. You are not fueled by others; you generate your energy.”–Brendon Burchard

CONGRUENCE: The charged homeschool mom life requires congruence.

It can be challenging to own who you are and live out your life on your terms.

I know it.

Many others have walked the journey toward authenticity and know it’s not an easy journey either.

Have you had this common story in the last few years?

You’ve had massive shifts in your relationships or community,

or you’ve learned things about yourself that have dramatically affected and shifted your partnering relationship,

or even that you’ve come to understand that you just really don’t like a homeschool method you originally signed up for,

but this awareness would require you to let go of expensive curriculum or even a homeschool group…

Then, you are not alone! Many have stories just like you.

I have those stories!

If you’ve joined me in coaching, you’ve likely heard my passport office story. Me waiting to be called up to review my passport application so I could take my first-ever trip with my husband, without the kids. (I had three at the time…a 4-year-old, a 2-year-old, and pregnant with my third).

As I sat, waiting and waiting and waiting, I read my book. It was a book titled “The Normal Christian Life” by Watchmen Nee in the book of Romans. (Always bring a book if there is a waiting room involved).

In a flash, I read something that spoke three things to me: 1. I was trying to get everyone’s affirmation and validation around me: including God’s. 2. I didn’t need God’s affirmation: I had it. Since I already had God’s affirmation, I didn’t need everyone else’s. 3. What would my life be like if I wasn’t searching for affirmation?

I kid you not, that year, 2004, and that moment in the passport office shifted my entire life. If I was created to be here on the planet, then why was I concerned about what other people think about me?

Naturally, as most giant moments of awareness do, it caused earthquake shifts in every aspect of my life. And though I couldn’t see it in the moment, this was the beginning of a remarkable, beautiful, whole, and more authentic life to come for me.

Kinda like the transformation of the Velveteen Rabbit’s where he was transformed from inanimate to animate.

However, this giant moment of awareness required me to live into congruence in every relationship and activity I undertook.

Of course, it sure wasn’t clear to me what that moment meant at that time.

It was confusing and felt isolating.

This new framework didn’t fit with many things I believed about life and in my relationship with others at the time. One element that shifted for me at the time was a massive shift in how I understood God, my purpose in life, and what I believed in my faith.

I hear this discussion frequently in coaching. Seems to be a trend these last few years. Hahahaha.

I’ll just say in a nutshell: in 2004, I was deconstructing before deconstructing was a trend or got a label.

Fast forward twenty years, this massive shift compelled congruence. Who I am in Studio C here is who I am in my regular life.

And it sure is a satisfying place to arrive: congruence.

You’re being called to congruence too: you’re called to you being you, living out your life intention, and being fully present to all that life brings you.

Clarifying question: Is there any area where you know you’re not living congruently, but want to? Consider exploring this with me in coaching. Book a conversation with me to unravel the incongruent to live in congruence.

“The only permission you need to live your most authentic life is your own.”–Brendon Burchard

CONTRIBUTION: The charged homeschool mom life requires contribution.

We humans were built for community; contribution enables community. When we offer our authentic selves and our giftings to the world, we contribute to a more beautiful world.

And it feels great too!

I know you’ll have more time to contribute outside your family as they grow up: really, you will. Because they will grow up.

So when I share that you want to consider how you can contribute, I am not reminding you that someone asked you to teach Sunday School. Umm, unless you love teaching Sunday school, you don’t need more kids to teach on your days off. I hereby declare that just because you know how to teach or facilitate educational things doesn’t mean you should feel obligated to teach on Sunday.

In fact, I’ll suggest you’re likely contributing in very meaningful ways most days already…

You’re impacting a generation, but I know you see that so I won’t focus here.

Every time you hop onto social media and answer someone’s question about homeschooling, you’ve contributed,

Any time you look after your friend’s kids so she can go to therapy, you’ve contributed,

Every time you’ve dropped off a casserole to a new mom’s freezer,

Every time you’ve dropped a text message to a friend who recently lost her parent,

And every time you’ve non-defensively answered a stranger’s question about your homeschool choice,

Also, every time you’ve taken a deep breath, instead of writing something sarcastic or cleverly cutting on someone’s social media post on an issue you think they are wrong about, you’ve contributed. (And also, thank you for doing that! I genuinely appreciate you!)

Since we’re on the topic of contribution, I want to remind you that your bandwidth will expand as your kids grow, your responsibilities decrease, and you’ll see what I saw: they do indeed grow up.

So….have you considered what you might want to do later? Here’s how you can enable yourself to be ready for that time when the kids will grow up:

Invest in yourself now aka spend time doing stuff you like doing right now, even if just 15 mins a week.

Ask yourself where you might want to contribute when your kids are grown: what might be your ten or twenty-year vision board plan? (FYI I created a 2024 Vision Planner for Homeschool Moms, you might want to check that out).

Since some of the women I coach are building their coaching businesses, I want to throw out the possibility that you too might want to be a coach in the homeschool world. What have your life stories taught you about being a homeschool mom? What could you contribute to the homeschool world?

ps If you’re curious to learn more about building a homeschool mom coaching business, connect with me. This is such a fun area for me to guide other women in — even this podcast episode is becoming a coaching session for other homeschool moms to learn how to podcast.

Clarifying question: In what way do you contribute to your community?

“Your life will be measured by the quality of your contribution.”–Brendon Burchard

CONSCIOUSNESS: The charged homeschool mom life requires consciousness.

No matter your growth goal, whether you want to build stronger relationships, release control in how you homeschool, or learn to manage your emotions of frustration, your intention will reap its reward.

Sometimes it’s a long journey, sometimes it’s not.

Sometimes it’s a challenging journey, but sometimes it’s just consistently practicing habits that can shift everything.

However, no matter the length of the life lessons or the strenuous efforts required to move toward your growth goals, our intention will always bring us toward our goals.

There’s a discussion about here on quantum physics:

A flyover concept learned from basic quantum physics is this: “The act of observing a phenomenon can affect its behavior. Similarly, in personal growth, becoming aware of our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors is the first step toward change. By observing ourselves without judgment, we gain the power to consciously choose how we respond to situations and can align our actions with our goals.”

In other words, if you pay attention to something, observe something, aka observe YOURSELF, you can begin to affect your behaviour, your thoughts, and your emotions.

You can change stuff you want to change. So I encourage you to build in self-awareness strategies like…

Meditation

Journaling

Mindfulness exercises

Reflection time aka leaving the house alone

Self-assessment prompts

Daily gratitude practice

Emotional check-ins

Body scan exercises

Setting intentions

Seeking feedback from your important relationships

Mirror work

Conversations with a coach

Clarifying question: Where might you want to set intention and growth in your homeschool mom life?

“The moment you stop working on your dreams, your dreams stop working for you.

Brendon Burchard, The Charged Life

Living a charged homeschool mom life is not just about managing daily tasks and responsibilities, but about intentionally activating the drives that fuel our passion, purpose, and fulfillment.

Ultimately, the journey toward a charged homeschool mom life is a dynamic and ongoing process, guided by our willingness to embrace change, challenge, and self-discovery.

As we continue to engage with our drives and pursue our dreams, we empower ourselves to live authentically, purposefully, and fully charged.

You get to decide how to show up in your life: I invite you to live the charged homeschool mom life.

Other resources you might find beneficial (that require electricity):

Why I Homeschool, Unexpected Challenges & My Transformation

Customized Homeschool Help for Parents that Can Transform your Life

Find a Vision for Your Homeschool Family in the 2024 New Year

Level Up Your Relationships for Homeschool Moms

7 Ways to Build Boundaries in your Homeschools

Breaking Free: How Deschooling Helps You Live a Purposeful Life

10 Simple Steps to the Homeschool Life (& Live it on Purpose)

Join the Homeschool Mama Book Newsletter

A few questions about the book, The Charged Life, by Brendon Burchard…

• Have you read the book?
• Does each of the messages of this book resonate?
• Would leading a charged life counteract your homeschool slump month?

A virtual book club can offer numerous benefits besides offering a place to discuss books for homeschooling moms that mom doesn’t have to read

Here are some advantages to a Homeschool Mama Book Club:

1. Intellectual Stimulation:

Homeschooling can be demanding, and moms often put a lot of energy into educating their children. A book club provides a chance for moms to engage with literature, ideas, and discussions that stimulate their minds.

2. Personal Growth:

Reading and discussing a variety of books can lead to personal growth and self-discovery. Book clubs expose members to different perspectives, cultures, and ways of thinking, fostering personal development.

3. Social Interaction:

Homeschooling can sometimes be isolating for both moms and children. A virtual book club allows moms to connect with others who share similar interests, helping to alleviate feelings of loneliness and provide a social outlet.

4. Community Building:

Book clubs encourage a sense of community and belonging. Sharing thoughts and opinions about books creates a space for meaningful interactions and building strong connections.

5. Critical Thinking and Communication Skills:

Engaging in book discussions hones critical thinking and communication skills.

6. Cost-Effective:

Virtual book clubs often require minimal costs. And you don’t even have to read the books (ask me more)!

Some of the books we’ve discussed in the Homeschool Mama Book Club…

Marie Forleo’s Everything is Figureoutable

Brene Brown’s Atlas of the Heart

My Book: Homeschool Mama Self-Care: Nurturing the Nurturer

Gordon Neufeld’s Hold onto Your Kids

Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness at Home

Sarah Susanka’s Not-So-Big Life

Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication

Amy Morin’s 13 Things Mentally Strong Don’t Do

How Rachel Gathercole Clarifies My Concerns on Socialization

The Homeschooling Option: How to Decide When It’s Right

Drop into the Homeschool Mama Book Club here

Frequently Asked Questions about the Homeschool Mama Book Club…

When will I see the Book Club Zoom link in my email?

You’ll see the zoom link in the Homeschool Mama Support Group on Patreon.

Where can I purchase the book?

Your favourite local bookshop presently.

(Or on my Homeschool Mama Book Club Book Shop).

Where do I find your book?

On Amazon, unless you live where I live, then it’s at my local bookstore too.

PS my book is called Homeschool Mama Self-Care: Nurturing the Nurturer.

Do you have a recommended Homeschool Mama Reading List?

Why, yes I do! But FYI, it’s always expanding. You can find it here.

How long is the Book Club?

Usually about an hour.

Can I ask questions about the book and its applications to my homeschool?

Absolutely! I’ll share my insights from the book and how they apply to our homeschools.

If you have thoughts, insights, or questions, we will all benefit from them.

How can I connect with others at the Book Club?

You are most welcome to join our monthly Support Chats, and group coaching, or connect with me one-on-one for coaching.

Want to connect with me directly?

I offer one-on-one coaching sessions.

Do you want to live the charged homeschool mom life and address your challenges around overwhelm, big emotions, boundaries, deschooling, and anything that might keep you from showing up on purpose in your homeschool (& life)?

Connect with me here.

Teresa Wiedrick

I help overwhelmed homeschool mamas shed what’s not working in their homeschool & life, so they can show up authentically, purposefully, and confidently in their homeschool & life.

Book a no-obligation conversation with Teresa

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