There are times when we look at something we would like to accomplish and it just feels too far out of reach - like the work required to get us to that point is not only completely overwhelming but also elusive in nature.

When we consider taking action we think:

How will I find the time?

How will I find the energy?

How will I acquire the skills?

Do I even have what it takes?

By the time we get through this list of questions, we decide it’s too hard, will take too long, we definitely don’t have the skills and we don’t know where to begin to acquire them.  

So, we do nothing.  

I want to invite you to an alternative way to take action in your life: practice taking tiny action.

What is tiny action?

Tiny action is those little steps that we are tempted to skip entirely because we falsely assume they don’t matter or won’t make a difference.  

But the truth is that if we want to become better action takers, taking tiny action might just be the prerequisite you didn’t know you needed.  

Taking tiny action is taking any action step and making it smaller, less overwhelming, less time consuming, less frequent, less energy-consuming.  

As we take action in these small ways, our identity starts to shift and we see ourselves as more capable, more confident, more courageous. We see ourselves as action takers who go after the things we want and actually get them! 

This shift is not tiny. Taking tiny action leads to BIG shifts. In this episode, I share 4 ways taking tiny action gives you more power. Then, I share 3 simple steps to taking tiny action #everydamnday.  

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Laurel Handfield began her writing career years ago in a small, suburban town outside of Philadelphia, PA. In college, she majored in business marketing and after graduation, she worked in sales, marketing, and advertising. However, a trip to the Bahamas led to a shift in focus and a rediscovery of her true passion: writing.

Her vacation to the islands turned into an unexpected romance when she met and fell in love with her now-husband. After two years in a long-distance relationship, she decided to move to the Bahamas permanently. While life in the Bahamas was slower and more relaxed, she also discovered that her marketing career didn’t hold quite as much opportunity on the islands as it did in the United States, so she went back to creating. She wrote and ghostwrote over five full-length novels, including a fictional tale about the only Black family on the Titanic.

Today, Laurel creates coloring/activity books for young girls of color. She still calls the Bahamas home and enjoys the laid-back island life with her husband, three children, and two dogs.

Listen in to hear Laurel share:

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Back in August of 2021, I got a text from my dear friend Laura Cathcart Robbins:

“Sara, I know this is crazy, but I’m going on the Dr. Phil show on Wednesday to talk about CRT and they’ve just asked me if I know of any white moms who might be willing to speak as an ally and I thought of you. Would this be something you would consider?”

I thought for a solid 30 seconds, felt like I might vomit, and then said YES.  

The next day, I flew to LA to record the show.  

It was a whirlwind event around a huge topic: Should Critical Race Theory be Taught in Schools? 

This week, I asked Laura if she would come on the SMA (for the 3rd time - WHOOP!) to have a conversation around our experience and around Critical Race Theory in America.   

If you’re not familiar with Laura, she is the host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room (you must subscribe!), and author of the forthcoming Atria/Simon& Schuster memoir, STASH (due out in spring of 2023). She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice. Her recent articles in Huffpo and The Temper on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is a LA Moth StorySlam winner and currently sits on the advisory boards of the San Diego Writer’s Festival and the Outliers HQ podcast Festival.

In this conversation, Laura and I dig into:

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Melissa Guida-Richards is a Shameless Mom to two little boys and the author of WHAT WHITE PARENTS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT TRANSRACIAL ADOPTION. Melissa uses her gift of writing to help other adoptees and adoptive families. Her work has been featured in The Independent, Zora, Insider, HuffPo, Level at Medium, Electric Literature, Hello Giggles. And she had a viral Huffpost Article, My Adoptive Parents Hid My Racial Identity For 19 Years. She is also a contributing writer for The Everymom.

I am in a Facebook group for writers and when Melissa shared a bit of her story in that group, I immediately reached out to ask her if she’d be willing to join me here on the podcast. I’m so grateful that she said yes.  

Listen in to hear Melissa share:

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For the last couple weeks, I have been talking about triggers in parenting - and life. I had to laugh as I was putting together content for this episode. As I was preparing my notes early one morning, Vinnie told me his “nose was burning.” He shared this about 7 minutes before we were supposed to leave for school. Of course.

Given the current Covid climate, I couldn’t just send him to school. We had to talk through a litany of symptoms, take his temperature, run a rapid Covid test… All the damn things required if one has the slightest inkling their child might be bringing germs to school.  

The Covid test came back negative, but with a sore throat (aka “burning nose”) and a bit of congestion on board, V had to stay home from school. This was NOT the plan I had for my day. NOT AT ALL. 

I found myself totally triggered in the middle of creating this episode on the top triggers facing moms in 2022. Talk about ironic timing…

I know I’m not the only mom who is super over the constant uncertainty of every single day, the endless pivoting of best laid plans, and the chronic fatigue of juggling 197 things #everydamnday.  

In this episode, I share the 8 top triggers impacting moms right now as well. It is my hope that you will feel seen and held as reflect on all that you are being expected to manage right now. Then I offer you some “medicine” to support your mental and emotional health as you continue to show up day after day doing your very best.  

As always, we are in this together. I’m losing my shit just as often as you… promise. Let’s stick together, shall we.

Link mentioned:

• Join me in Jen Lumanlan’s 10 week Taming Your Triggers workshop: shamelessmom.com/taming

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Jen Lumanlan holds a Masters in Psychology in Child Development and hosts the Your Parenting Mojo podcast, which is a reference guide for parents of children between the toddler and elementary years based on scientific research and the principles of respectful parenting. In each episode, she examines a topic related to parenting and child development from all sides to help parents understand how to make decisions about raising their children. She lives in California with her husband and daughter.

This is Jen’s second time on the show. She is back this time to talk about taming your triggers in parenting, which is a very timely topic, like every parent I know is feeling especially spread thin and beyond exhausted after enduring the last two years. We dig into the concept of parenting triggers and then Jen coaches me about a trigger that is very front and center in my own parenting journey right now. Please enjoy hearing me get uncomfortable! 

Listen in to hear Jen share:

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I was in a conversation with a coaching client the other day and we were hashing out some details around her company branding and mission. She is a badass coach who works with moms who want to learn how to prioritize themselves in order to shift the relationship to self and the way they parent to overcome things like mom rage and all the other overwhelming emotions that come with momming on any given day. 

As we were talking through some ideas, she mentioned how the moms she works with want to “become better moms”. I found myself nodding along. Yes, of course! Who doesn’t want to be a better mom?!

The next morning. I found myself in the shower thinking about this conversation and I had a visceral reaction.

NO. WE DON’T NEED TO BECOME BETTER MOMS.  

I get that we desire to be our very best for our kids.  

And we always want to become better versions of ourselves.  

I know so many of you listening are committed to growth and evolution and doing better when it comes to everything from the way you mother to the way you show up at work to the way you participate as a good citizen in your communities.  

But, if we are carrying with us this constant idea that, “I need to be a better mom”, we are likely carrying guilt, shame and a strong sense of not enoughness.  

It is quite possible that your desire to “become a better mom” is completely undermining the incredible mother you already are.

In this episode, I dig into how you can change your mindset around the mother you currently are in order to bring more joy and peace to mothering and life in general.  

You are already an amazing mom. Full stop. 

Link mentioned:

• Sign up for Jen Lumanlan’s free Masterclass on February 12th: How to Tame Your Triggers Around Your Child's Difficult Behavior: shamelessmom.com/triggers

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Amy Henderson is one of our nation’s leading voices on the critical role of parenting and caregiving in developing the future of work. Amy has three kids and is the founding CEO of TendLab, where she has been working with companies and their parents’ groups at places like Salesforce, Accenture, Cloudflare, Airbnb, Lululemon, and many others to optimize the workplace for parents. As cited in Forbes for her "truly collaborative nature," Amy also started and co-leads the Fam Tech Founders Collaborative, a network of over 180 founders who are solving for the needs of caregivers.

A regular speaker and author advocating on behalf of the power of parenthood at work, Amy has been featured in and written for The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, Slate, InStyle, and more. Her book, 'Tending: Parenthood and the Future of Work," was published by Nationbuilder Books in May 2021.

I got to hear Amy speak at an event for her book recently and I was blown away. I reached out to her (aka: stalked her down online) immediately after the event and asked her to join me for an interview. I’m so delighted and honored she said yes. Her work is not only brilliant, but absolutely critical, right now. 

Listen in to hear Amy share:

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Are you the type of person who must keep moving forward in order to keep up hope? I definitely am.  

When things get heavy and hard, if I sit down for too long, the weight of the world becomes heavier with every inhale. The walls start to close in on me, anxiety takes control of my brain, and it can take an uncomfortable, if not unreasonable amount of time to break down those walls.

I hate dealing with those walls, so I am careful not to let them close in on me.  

I stay in motion. I make things happen. I keep up the momentum.  

Even when things are hard. 

This doesn’t mean I don’t rest. It just means that I KEEP GOING, even if I slow down a bit, even if I stop for a nap. It means I keep looking for the light, which sometimes means searching for the tiniest cracks to find the light only beginning to peek in. It means I look for reasons and purpose and people to guide me toward possibility.  

We are in a time right now where possibilities can feel pretty limited. So, I wanted to share with you how I’m helping my clients amplify possibility as I coach individuals and groups through this relentless season. 

In this episode I share 5 steps to help you amplify possibility right now:

After you listen in, let me know how you will KEEP GOING and one step you will take to amplify possibility this week.

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Terri Cole is a licensed psychotherapist, global relationship and empowerment expert, and the author of Boundary Boss-The Essential Guide to Talk True, Be Seen and (Finally) Live Free. For over two decades, she has worked with a diverse group of clients that includes everyone from stay-at-home moms to celebrities and Fortune 500 CEOs.

Terri has a gift for making complex psychological concepts accessible and actionable so that clients and students achieve sustainable change. She inspires over 450,000 people weekly through her blog, social media platform, signature courses, and her popular podcast, The Terri Cole Show. 

When the opportunity to interview Terri landed in my inbox, I JUMPED. I have heard her speak a few times over the years and she is always FIRE. I cannot wait to share her genius here with you! Make sure to check out the free gift she is offering all Shameless Moms at boundaryboss.me/shameless.

Listen in to hear Terri share:

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