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“You rule the day or the day rules you.”

How are you doing, mama? Are you feeling like the days keep passing or are you steering the ship of your goals? Do you see your daily routines building your weeks, months, years in the best way possible?

I remember feeling so busy yet never knowing exactly where my time went. I’d feel semi-productive like I’m DOING things… but my goals always slipped out of my hands. You know the type of goals- the big life ones that you set as  resolution on January 1st but then hit the end of February nowhere closer to them?

Yea, those goals.

Today I’m going to talk about how to begin ruling your day instead of letting the days control you. Are you ready for some tough love?

First, tell me what your favorite TV show or shows are.

If you answered ANYTHING - you have space in your life. ;) 

Ahhhhh I can hear the “but, but, but” now! But Jen - it’s my unwinding time. But Jen - I only watch it at night. But Jen - I could never give up The Bachelor. Now, I’m not saying you can never watch TV again but what I am saying is you’ll need to swap some of that time to make space for those building those goals. It’s a swap that is WELL worth it. You’ve heard the saying that if you don’t schedule it, it doesn’t happen and MANY people advising you to schedule in your workouts, right? Do you do it yet?

If you answered no - here are some tips on how to create more space in your days:

Your daily habits become your results - and if you don’t take control by starting small (with the above tips) you’ll wind up sipping champagne next January 1st, no closer to that goal. The fun part is that once you begin putting these steps in to place and taking action on them, it becomes just “what you do”. Yes, at first it sucks and takes unbreaking some bad habits but eventually you begin to feel weird when you DON’T do your routine.

What cracks of your day can you begin filling with habits that reinforce your goals?

How I’m Unf%&king My Mindset: The Raise Your Vibration book by Kyle Gray. It's a fun daily passage that is related to the chakra system with a guided message each day. It's not too woo woo and can be a fun daily gratitude and devotional for you! Plus they're SUPER short so it's easy to add in to your new and improved daily routine. >>>Check it out here 

Upcoming Craft Your Life happenings: The 90 Day Craft Your Life Method is back. If you’re looking for someone to help you build a gorgeous daily routine that actually moves you to your goals, this is for you. The Craft Your Life Method is for working

#sorrynotsorry for the #rant but the concept of balance (or how most health coaches talk about it) is bullshit.⁣ I don’t know why it annoys me so much but it does. When a health coach posts something that is seemingly “forbidden” if you are eating healthy... and says “balance!”. 🤦🏼‍♀️⁣

⁣Here are some tips to not losing your mind while trying to lose weight:

The Craft Your Life Method breaks that cycle of putting food on a pedestal and using it as a tool to deal with emotions. We work together to identify what triggers YOU (for me it’s work stress and peer pressure!) and redirect it to a more productive way that doesn’t end up face down in a bag of Oreos full of regret and frustration. This takes time AND coaching- and a shit ton of love ❤️ for yourself. But it’s worth it to never view food as a treat (you’re not a damn dog) again.⁣

How I’m Unf%&king My Mindset: Traffic. Most of us deal with it in way that does NOT benefit us. It’s still when you think about it… getting mad for being behind other cars who are also driving on the road, not matching your expectations for pace or destination? Letting your blood pressure rise because someone else is driving differently is NO BUENO. The first thing you can do is give yourself PLENTY of time to get to where you’re going (take control of the situation). The second is to find ways to ENJOY the time. Perhaps you have a rock star playlist or listen to your favorite podcasts on your commute OR it’s the time you enjoy si

"We have all been through a lot in our lives. The difference is some of us CHOOSE not to be a victim."

I belong to a few mommy Facebook groups and I need to call out a trend I’m seeing, because it is DRIVING ME CRAZY.

Ya’ll. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE.

Here are some examples of things I’ve seen posted recently:

“I wish I could ask for a raise because I think I deserve it, but I’m afraid my boss will say no”

“I am the WORST mom for… (insert thing almost EVERY mom has done but doesn’t admit)”

“My husband never does the dishes, I really wish he would so I could spend more time with the kids”

Now, I am not saying that sometimes life doesn’t hand us a shit sandwich. Your furnace goes out so you have to drop $5k on a new one and can’t swing extras right now (been there). Your asshole boss skips over you for a travel opportunity because you’re a working mom. You FEEL like the worst mom ever for not matching up to the idolized Pinterest mom. Your husband doesn’t pull his weight around the house (thank GOD Ryan is a total saint and does more than his fair “share'“).

It feels EASY to sit at a the pity party of women bitching about their husbands, going on and on about their money woes and thinking they’re never good enough. That is NOT your crowd, mama. Not anymore. If you want to up-level your life and live the big life you’re meant to you need to break ties with the things that make you feel and think less than. 

It’s not that shit doesn’t happen - it’s how we react to it. We (especially working moms) try to act like we have it all together when the shit is hitting the fan but we (especially women) ALSO choose to play the victim more than we should. You’ve GOT to take control, mama.

Here are some of my mindset shifts and tips to ditch the bitching and own your life:

What are ways you’re taking responsibility for your own life? How have you changed how you talk and think? I’d love to hear how other working mamas are going through this thing called life, in the best way they can!

How I’m Unf%&king My Mindset: Gratitude wins, always. You cannot be grateful for something and be complaining about it, too. Here’s a little gratitude practice for you - think of a less than ideal situation you’re right now. Maybe it’s a relationship, maybe it’s your job, maybe it’s your crappy car. Write down TEN things that you’re grateful for about it and then follow with BECAUSE. When you add the because, you add the power. Looking for gratitude in shitty situations makes everything better.

As always, find me at www.craftyourlifecoaching.com  Got ideas for future topics? Questions you want explored? Email me at [email protected]

"They say 'you've changed'"...

I recently listened to a Rachel Hollis podcast where her guest John Maxwell described crabs. He said if there is more than one crab in a bucket, you don’t need to put a lid on it. Funny… why not? Won’t they all escape?

Nope. Those asshole crabs won’t let ANY other crabs out of the bucket. If one tries to escape, the others pull it back down. What the heck?!

Oh, wait. That is EXACTLY what will happen when you try to change your life for the better.

“Can you even HAVE that on your diet?”

“Oh, come on… it’s just ONE bite! Have a little fun!”

“Oh, she can’t eat that. She’s on a diet.” 

“Come on, you can skip ONE workout.”

“I liked you even when you were 10lbs heavier.”

These are all things that were said to me when I started to get healthy. Some are well meaning, most are said because you’re making the other person uncomfortable. The worst part? These were all said by people who were family or friends. I was breaking the mold of who I had been for years, and it was like cold water to the face for some people in my life.

You see, when you try to change it makes others uncomfortable. I do find that MOST people aren’t trying to drag you down but the impact can be the same. You have the “one bite” to make them feel more comfortable, you make self-deprecating jokes about yourself to make them laugh, you say “thank you” when they say they loved you before you lost weight (was that even in question?!).

I have had clients who have had more severe instances happen to them when they break their own mold. Husbands resenting them for taking time for themselves to workout or cook themselves a second meal. Parents who make TOO many comments on their weight, making them extremely uncomfortable. Friends who actively wave food in their face to try to tempt them to “enjoy” it. I am here to offer you a few tips when you see this type of behavior pop up. 

Here are my top three:

1- Say thank you (or no thank you!) and move on. You do not owe ANYONE an explanation or apology for your behavior. Short and sweet can be best sometimes.

2- If you do feel called to do so, explain WHY you’re doing this. Often times those who love us don’t know how we truly feel about ourselves. Their well meaning “I liked you both ways!” is nice but when you want to scream “But I didn’t like ME!” it can hurt. Explain why you’re wanting to get healthier, it can go a long way.

3- Invite them to join you. Sometimes a little sneak peek in to your new way of eating, your rock star morning routine and what you’re doing to move your body can motivate others to join. Do this from a place of love - share recipes you’re trying, invite them to the HIIT class, show them your journal prompts.

My prayer is most people support you, even if they don’t understand why you’re doing it or love you just how you are (again, they SHOULD anyhow!). If they don’t - I hope you know I support you 100000%, mama. These are the things no one prepared me for when I started getting healthier, but I hope knowing them helps you be a little more prepared than I was!

What other things have been said to you while you change your health? How did you handle them? I’d love to hear so I can learn more, too!

How I’m Unf%&king My Mindset: You know those mom groups where it can turn in to a pity party fest REAL quick? Become the light. Love on them. Listen to them and add encouragement and hope instead of the “Me too, here’s why my situation is horrible, too!”. Misery loves company but that’s not the company you want to keep.

Upcoming Craft Your Life happenings: The Craft Your Life group coaching program is here! 6-weeks to unf$%k your mindset, ditch the B

HEADS UP- this episode is FIRE and DOES contain swears. You’ve been warned.

A pivot. If you’ve been watching me at all, I’m sure it’s left a few “what the hell is she doing?!” questions… and believe me, I get it. Since leaving Beachbody in October I’ve been redefining who I am, who my business serves and how to best explain that. I’d say I’m sorry for the confusion, but really I’m not. It’s part of life, part of this messy imperfect thing called entrepreneurship and I’m happy to openly display my pivoting, transitioning, figuring this thing out. 

First - I hope this gives you permission to ALSO pivot, start imperfectly, go “hey you know what - who I was or what I was doing isn’t working any more… so I’m going to change it”.

Second- what’s the pivot? Well, I looked back at my last three years of coaching and thought about the handful of women I truly enjoyed working with. I searched for patterns, traits, personalities. It is SO tempting as a coach to want to say "I serve everyone! All are welcome!" when the reality is if I don't focus on specifics, I'll serve no one. It's that one-size-fits-all type diet that I detest and never works.

Here's what I came up with:

Women- I have served men before and have some amazing male clients. No matter how amazing those men are, it changes the group dynamic for women when men are involved. It’s just the truth.

Women knowing they’re made for more- that could be ANYTHING (mom, wife, physically, emotionally, career). Women who want to up-level but already have a ton of shit on their plate.

Working moms- yes, I’ve served singles, men, SAHMs but the ones who by far jive with me best are working moms. Will I work with folks outside of that? Perhaps, if it’s a REALLY good fit for us both.

Working moms who are smart, driven, know HOW to get healthy but WANT a community of like-minded women to support them. As a working mom who is always looking to better myself, that is who I can serve best. I can’t and don’t do it alone, I lean on mentors, friends, personal development. The reason coaching these women is so key to my business is that the ripple effect is MASSIVE.

Empowered women empower women - think of how our workplaces, our homes, our businesses, our marriages and more will change when working moms uncover what a badass they truly are.  When they give themselves permission to shine brighter, be more confident, show there kids and spouse what a badass mommy is - the ripple effect will be huge. YES - I work with the working mom but it NEVER stops there. THAT is the legacy I want to leave with my coaching of working moms.

How I’ll get them there:

By unf$%ing their mindset. Girlfriend, it starts in our head. What we tell ourselves, how we depict getting healthy, the comparison game, quitting on ourselves before we even begin. By building a tribe of women who are ALSO sick and tired of American diet culture, who are ready to up-level in massive ways, who have eachothers backs.

By helping them love their perfectly imperfect body. This begins with first unf$&king your mindset but continues with getting your energy up, moving your body, sleeping, pooping, eating well. This is the nitty gritty that I work on with women I coach.

OWNING your health. YOUR health. Not your mom’s, your judgy neighbors, that friend on Facebook who you compare yourself to. Ownership comes with so many magical things like not giving a damn what others think about you, finally feeling in to what makes YOU light up, dropping the toxic things in your life. Ownership is so freeing.

There will be more to come, but for now - enjoy the ride with me. Stop apologizing for changing. Craft your life. If you're NOT a wor

So this book I’m reading has been rocking my gratitude world. You all know I’m a fan of aligning NEW habits with already established ones to give your goal that one-two punch for success. I like to multi-task, I’m rarely doing one thing at a time so why it never dawned to bring my gratitude practice to the shower is beyond me!

Here is how you can get my shower gratitude guide for yourself. Click here! 

Woo Woo Tool of the Week: Charging crystals! Crystals, just like us, are made up of energy so it only makes sense that we’d need to charge them, right? I use a few tools to charge my crystals but my two favorite are a selenite slab and the moon. My window sills look like a crystal shop on the full moon - which is the best time to charge those puppies. While you’re at it charge some water, too, to water those plants or drink yourself.

How I’m Up-leveling My Mindset: Make a power playlist. Hop on Spotify, Amazon Prime or wherever you stream music and make a few playlists. I have one for the bath, one for raising my energy, one to move my body to. These are like your top secret success tool because music has POWER to change your energy. Need inspiration? Here are my Move My Body, Bath Time, and High Vibe playlists!

Upcoming Craft Your Life happenings: The Alchemy Group is coming! This is a small group experience for just seven women who are looking to take their lives from good to GREAT. Interested? Check it out: www.craftyourlifecoaching.com/community

As always, find me at www.craftyourlifecoaching.com  Got ideas for future topics? Questions you want explored? Email me at [email protected] 

*Remember - you can have a good life and want it to be GREAT. You can have your ice cream AND the sprinkles on top. Whether you want to lose weight, have more money, travel, an epic career or more… you GET to have that. It’s time to step in to your big, magical, epic life.

When was the last time you took a big deep breath?

Today we’re talking about the B in my H.A.B.I.T.S. model- breath. There are so many biological benefits to breathing deep on a regular basis but today I’m taking about the mental and emotional benefits. When I was working with one of my 1 on 1 clients recently she expressed that she doesn’t have time alone in the day, when I brought up a meditation practice. I shared with her this simple way of finding space to pause, breathe, catch up with your emotions - in the cracks of our days.

You see, many people think meditation has to be this 45 minute, on a pillow with chanting and a candle lit type of thing. While yes, that is a beautiful way to practice - for the newbie, it’s overwhelming. Which is exactly the OPPOSITE of why we meditate!

You can do this while sitting on the toilet, just before entering your home, while in the shower, while waiting for colleagues to join a meeting - find the cracks to breathe. So often we run from task to task to task without ever thinking of what we want to bring to the situation or what we need to get from it. We are in constant reaction - it’s time to breath and set intention. Check in with yourself. Center your energy. Breathe.

Let me know how you’re sneaking a little breathing in to your day! I can’t wait to hear how this small practice will change everything!

New Age Tool of the Week: I’m a moon child all the way - with Cancer as my sun sign I’ve always felt drawn to the mystery of the moon. Each New and Full Moon I get the Spirit Daughter workbooks and I’m in LOVE with them. They give you meditations for the moons, insights as to what the cosmos are up to, crystal recommendations and lots of fabulous journal prompts. You can get the digital or printed guide and each one is for ANY Astrological sign - not just the one the moon is in at that time. Check it out at https://www.spiritdaughter.com/collections/workbook 

Up-Leveling My Mindset: Does your job suck? Maybe you’re okay with it but would like it to be better? Or does it rock and you want to honor that? Either way, sprinkling a little gratitude in there will help! How I do this is starting out by writing “I am thankful for X about my job BECAUSE…”. This hails back to last week’s episode - the WHY behind your gratitude. Try it out and let me know how it goes! For more amazing gratitude practices check out the book The Magic, you can thank me later! ;) 

Upcoming Craft Your Life happenings: Meal Prep the Magical Way is here! Learn to make meal prep your bitch in this self-study class for just $33.33. Get details at www.craftyourlifecoaching.com/alchemylab

As always, find me at www.craftyourlifecoaching.com - can’t wait to help you craft YOUR life, 200 feet at a time. Got ideas for future topics? Questions you want explored? Email me at [email protected] 

*Remember - it's craft YOUR life. Not your mom's, not your judgy Aunt Susie's life... yours. Yank that hand back, put it on your heart, listen. Craft your life.

You DO have a gratitude practice? Right?! You’ve probably heard it 100000 times - be grateful, focus on your blessings, write down your gratitude in a journal each day. Maybe some of you are doing this… but maybe some aren’t.

First - I HIGHLY recommend starting one for a few reasons:

I’d call both of those things a win. So, my tip for you this week if you are just starting one or have been doing one for a while - add the “why”. For so long I was writing my ten things each day… “I am grateful for my car”, “I am grateful for Ryan and Zeke” etc. and it was becoming very rote and without feeling. I began reading the book The Magic (more on that under how I’m up-leveling my mindset, below) and for 28 days they recommend writing down 10 things you’re grateful for and WHY you’re grateful for them.

Game changer.

This helped breathe life back in to my gratitude practice AND allowed me to track WHY I was grateful for things. I began to see patterns - things that offer me security, make me feel heard/seen, things that make me laugh… kept coming up again and again in different forms.. It’s ALL about the tracking (which is what I always coach / preach about) and doing your gratitude practice with WHAT you’re grateful for followed by WHY is powerful.

If you’re interested in doing a more deep and guided gratitude practice be sure to read the book below. If you own it or are  ordering it - let me know, I’d love to be your gratitude buddy!

New Age Tool of the Week: Human Design, ya’ll. During my New Age Tools group I hosted Kristen Jett who is a business coach that uses a tool called Human Design. If you haven’t seen the video - be sure to join The Alchemy Community on FB and watch it. It’s like astrology meets high-level energy work in a SUPER fascinating way. She does 1 on 1 readings, too - you can find her at www.starlitstrategies.com

Up-Leveling My Mindset: As mentioned above, I am now doing a 28-day guided gratitude practice using The Magic book as my guide. It’s written by the same folks that did The Secret so you know it’s going to be all woo-woo and all the things I love! 

As always, find me at www.craftyourlifecoaching.com - can’t wait to help you craft YOUR life, 200 feet at a time. Got ideas for future topics? Questions you want explored? Email me at [email protected]

*Remember - it's craft YOUR life. Not your mom's, not your judgy Aunt Susie's life... yours. Yank that hand back, put it on your heart, listen. Craft your life.

Let me set the stage for you - late 2018 I set the goal of taking a bath once a week. I love the IDEA of baths but never take them for a few reasons:

Our water heater is small and can’t fill the tub all the way without getting cold - so you have to run it in two fills

It’s freaking COLD when you get out of the bath. I hate being cold.

However, the idea of a bath - time to reflect, cool bath products, crystals in the water… it’s all so appealing to me. I also love that it kind of forces me to do nothing. It’s dangerous to have the phone near the water (waterproof iPhone? Not gonna test that out…) and I haven’t figured out how to read without getting the pages wet so it forces me to sit and BE.

When I set this goal it was early December 2018 and you know me… I acted IMMEDIATELY instead of waiting for 2019 to hit. I got the pretty  bath products, crystals that are safe for water (amethyst, ametrine and rose quartz for me) and set the date for my first bath. As I was preparing for it - I posted on social media:

“Hey! Who out there takes and loves baths? What do you during them? What cool things do you use during them?”

My mental alarm then went off… I was AFRAID I’d either take a bath “wrong” or miss out on something I “should” be experiencing. {face palm} Oh heyyyyyyy perfectionist tendencies, I see you. I almost ruined a perfectly good bath by trying to find the “perfect"" way to do it. 

How does this show up in your life? The FOMO or fear of starting until you can do it perfectly, whatever “it” is. Perhaps it’s holding you back from signing up for the class or joining the PTA or scheduling dinner with a friend. You’re so worried about it being perfect, right, being how you “should” do it that you don’t just DO it.

I am a HUGE fan of messy, imperfect action and try to listen to myself when I’m overthinking or holding back, trying to do something perfectly. Why? You can’t do anything “perfectly” because A: perfect is defined by the individual and B: we’re always learning, changing, developing. 

My charge to you this week is to DO THE THING. Don’t hold back. Don’t try to be perfect. Just do it, mess up, skin your knees, laugh about it and do it again. Got it? Good. Let me know how you’ll be taking messy action this week and laughing at your perfectionist tendencies!

New Age Tool of the Week: I already talked about the benefits of saging your home - cleansing energy, moving stuck energy, and of course how yummy it smells.

My tip this week is to NOT use the bundle of sage - but rather tear off a leaf or two and light it like incense. I find this is a WAY easier way to burn it, make it last longer AND extinguish it easier. It also doesn't set off our fire alarms when I do it this way, bonus!

Up-Leveling My Mindset: You know I'm a Rachel Hollis junkie - I can't WAIT to see her in person in June at the RISE conference. I snagged her Start Today journal (currently sold out but coming soon!) and love adding it to my morning ritual. You can watch videos about it and do it yourself, without the journal. Essentially you write FIVE things you're grateful and TEN dreams you have - but write the dreams as if they've already happened. So, instead of "I want to live in my dream home" you'd write "I live in my dream home". Let me know if you  start this practice!

Craft Your Mindful Morning by going to www.craftyourlifecoaching.com/mindfulmorning. It’s a steal for just $47.47!

As always, find me at www.craftyourlifecoaching.com - can’t wait to help you craft YOUR life, 200 feet at a time. Got ideas for future topics? Questions you want explored? Email me at [email protected]

*Remember - it's craft YOUR life. Not your mom's, not your judgy Aunt