"May you always have the freedom and courage to create the family that you want and need."  - Emma Johnson 

Certain stats out there about single mothers would have you believe that you are doomed to a life of welfare, struggle and your children are destined for trouble and probably prison.  While some of those stats might be true, that doesn't have to be true for your single mom journey. 

This week's Book of the Week is a helpful resource for any single mom or mom that is considering decisions that would put her in that situation in the future. 

The Kickass Single Mom: Be Financially Independent, Discover Your Sexiest Self, and Raise Fabulous, Happy Children by Emma Johnson is a book I read a few years ago that had a huge impact on how I saw myself as a single mom and inspired me to take full responsibility for my situation and creating the best life possible for my son and me. 

In this episode you'll hear about several of the topics covered in Emma's book - some inspiring and others that might be triggering at first - but all will make you think and give you hope how you can not just survive single motherhood, but really thrive in it. 

The book is broken out into 4 main sections:

Within each section, I share some of the specific chapters that stood out to me and lessons learned from my own experience as a single mom, including how I become one, finally detaching from the child support chase, letting go of anger and bitterness, the experience of having an involved father figure for my son from a past relationship, getting over my selfish need to be the only one my son could have fun with, the self-sabotaging strategy of being a mom martyr, allowing for help, what I learned from dating single dads and seeing the "other side," and intentionally seeking fulfillment outside of motherhood and work. 

Other chapters that are touched on but Emma gets more into the juicy details on inside the book itself include:

If you have any questions about single motherhood that you want to ask me don't hesitate to reach out and message me over on IG at @sarahlynn.co or email at [email protected]! xoxo

Below are the Single Mom Tribe resources I mentioned at the beginning of the episode: 

Add The Kickass Single Mom to your own bookshelf here (affiliate link) 

BOOK OF THE WEEK 

My friend Katie Taylor (IG: @_katietaylor) changed my life a little when she sent me this book as a gift earlier this Spring.

Simple Abundance is a daily devotion type of book that shares messages of creativity, spiritual practices, and reflections for a living a more authentic self. 

I don't just have books on a shelf - I have book children so it's hard to pick a favorite, but the fact this one rarely is sitting on a shelf and instead, in whatever room I was last in tells you how much I love and how often I read this one. 

Sarah starts each day with a short title and a quote dating back from the 1600s or all the way up to Lady Gaga, so if you're at all a quote person, you'll love it just for that. 

If the size of the book intimidates you - don't let it. Each "chapter" ranges 1 -3 pages, so totally do-able to read daily while your coffee brews or while you let the dog out. 

At the end of each month, she shares practical ideas for implementing the topics from the month. For example - November she had themes of following the Light, so one of her "Try This at Home" tips was to create a Caution Closet that had a portable light and other items needed in an emergency situation. 

Right after those, she shares a list of "Simple Abundance" ideas to make your life easier or better in some way - like having a battery drawer that's fully stocked so you never get frustrated because you don't have a battery for the TV remote or your child's favorite toy.  

Listen to episode 88 on the podcast today to get the details on why you might want to pick this book up for yourself (or as a gift!) and one of my favorite exerts about How to Start Over. 

Grab your own copy*: https://amzn.to/3oOMiAJ

The Panteger Ceremonial Matcha Green Tea* I mentioned I was drinking: https://amzn.to/2HVKfu0

*these are affiliate links so you will be adding to my book fund if you purchase through one of these links. Another option is to support your local bookstore! 

"Being a witch isn’t about what you do, its not spells, rituals, and ceremonies. It’s the stance you take in life."

I realize the topic of this Book of the Week, might not be of interest to everyone and for others might even be offensive. One of the reasons I liked this book so much though is because it's not just about what you think it's going to be about. 

Yes, Witch: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic by Lisa Lister, a gypsy witch, is a book about:

And it's also an empowering personal development book focused on: 

I think we can get into a lot of trouble when we only seek out resources that feed our narrative of how the world works, and when we allow ourselves to see it in black and white, good or bad, their way and my way. That's why I picked up this book and why as the same time I was reading a book about Christianity called, Jesus Is ____ by Judah Smith. 

I don't want my view of the world, other people different than me, and my beliefs to have unconsciously been created, accepted as truth, and then never allowed to be shifted or changed.  

If you're open to it, this book will absolutely give more to think about when it comes to witchcraft and maybe more importantly, about other ways of looking at the world, at other people, and at yourself. 

“Don’t trust this book. Or me. Trust yourself.”

"Too many of us don't know how to treat ourselves well, almost as if we feel like we don't deserve to, don't have time to, don't want to feel guilty about doing so."              -Dominque Browning, American Writer and Editor

The book of the week episode on Monday was an overview of the relationship book, Conscious Loving (my new favorite! You can find out why here in Episode 84), so in this one we're continuing the theme on relationships, but today, focusing on the one you have with yourself. 

And not just the relationship you have with yourself, but how you can still enjoy a full life even when you're not in a relationship. 

One of the biggest lessons I have learned in all the dating over the last couple of decades is to focus less on who I want that "special person" to be and more on how I want to feel when I'm with them.  

What would be on your list? I have written things like I want to feel fun, adventurous, flirty, calm, etc. and then at one point reflecting on my list when I've met my dream guy, I asked myself why do I have to wait to feel and do those things? Is there a way to feel them now? 

The answer of course is, yes and you can start practicing as soon as today. 

Would it be nice to have a special someone to experience with all the things in life you want to do? Of course! But that part is out of your hands, so why do you have to wait around to do and have the life you want? 

You don't, and in this episode, to help you get the wheels turning for your own list, you'll hear some of the ideas I've implemented to help ignite some of those feelings and live more fully, without waiting or putting that responsibility on someone else. 

Resources: 

Listen to Monday's Book of the Week episode, Conscious Loving: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/083-7-steps-to-take-love-off-the-default-mode/id1494532397?i=1000495292543

Simple Abundance book: https://amzn.to/2FTJ8dp

The Book of the Week is our first book talking about relationships called Conscious Loving The Journey to Co-Commitment: A Way to Be Fully Together Without Giving Up Yourself by Gay Hendricks and Kathlyn Hendricks. 

I heard about this one on a recent episode of True Sex, Wild Love with Whitney Miller who I love and follow over on Instagram (@whitnlove), so when she said this book was her go-to relationship book that she's read multiple times, I immediately headed over to Audible to download it. 

However, about halfway through listening to it, I ended up ordering the hardcopy because there were so many things I wanted to highlight and come back to. Plus, Part II of the book is all practical application and strategies to implement so I would recommend grabbing the hardcopy as well so you'll have as a reference to come back to. 

I've read a lot of really good relationship books over the years, mostly when I've been single (because I wanted to be "ready" :) ) and this is the best one I've read to date. 

My favorite things about it are it's focus on coming to a relationship has a whole person, ideas for how to actually be "whole," getting out of victim mode regardless of what is going on, the importance of self-love, and the amazing relationship that can emerge when you're building one another up vs. tearing each other down. 

The book is packed full of helpful lists, perspective shifts, examples, and exercises. In this episode, you'll hear the 7 Steps to a Conscious, Co-Commitmented Relationship that I know you'll get something from regardless if you pick this book up or not (but I highly recommend you do!). 

Resources: 

Amy Mae is a librarian by day, Human Design Love Expert everyday, and proud plus-sized babe who's a fellow Manifesting Generator going through a transition in her business that she's fully embracing. 

We met at a James Wedmore event last year when she bravely stood up and shared a vulnerable moment in her then-business and ever since, I've been so impressed and girl crushing on how fully she shows up to her community in the most genuine and loving way. 

In this episode 82 we get into a few topics you might be able to relate to: 

Get connected with Amy and let her know what you loved most from this interview!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamymae/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007895448053

Join her FB Group, Love by Design to get in on her free masterclass on attracting your soulmate: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lovingbydesign

This week's Book of the Week is A Book of Beautiful Questions: The Powerful Questions That Will Help You DECIDE, CREATE, CONNECT and LEAD by Warren Berger. 

If you are looking for help with a big decision or to have more meaningful conversations you're going to get so much from this book and catch some helpful highlights in this episode. 

I read this book almost two years ago, and to this day continue to go back and reference it. Because of that, if you feel compelled to add it to your own bookshelf, I would definitely recommend the hardcopy. This way, you can easily refer back to it as needed for inspiration and reminders.  

The powerful questions in this book can help you:

Whether you end up reading this one or not, you will catch some of my favorite questions from each category and start to uplevel your career, decision making, relationships and life in general by simply upleveling the questions you ask yourself.