Work Hard Mom Harder

Meet Elena Harris.

Elena is a summer intern at my business, Erica Walter Writes. She is also a rockstar budding entrepreneur and a go-getter like nobody I've met before at such a young age. Her unique perspective on life and business will be a breath of fresh air for listeners who might need to be reminded that

- self-care is hard to prioritize, even when you don't have kids

- decluttering your home and your mind will pay off in big ways

- taking initiative is actually the LEAST risky thing you can do

Now if you don't struggle with people-pleasing, this episode is not for you. But if you are like most of the working parents I know, you often sacrifice your needs for the needs of others.

In this episode, Maddox teaches us a lesson in how to tap into our inner toddler to say no to the things that don't serve us and say YES to ourselves and our goals.

I've been thinking a lot about stories over the past few days. The idea has been following me around worse than a pair of cute shoes I clicked on ONE TIME on Instagram. In today's episode, you'll hear why stories are resonating so much for me right now, and find some powerful ways to look at your own life story through an author's lens.

None of us get to choose how many pages the story will have. But with every new page, we have an opportunity to choose where to take the story next.

And Hudson's short life is proof that it doesn't need to be a long story to be a powerful, life-changing one.

Today's guest is an inspiration to me and countless others for her selfless "gamer-ness" and uplifting participation in the lives of those she loves. My sister, Nikki Sharp, has been mentioned on countless episodes and today we get a chance to look back on her almost-first-year of parenting. What life looks like with New Human on board, how work has been impacted, and how she is finding ways to be true to herself, her partner, her son, and her work through it all. You'll leave challenged, inspired, and clued in to the fact that Nikki and I definitely grew up together.

Children's fiction has some powerful lessons to share, y'all. Today, I'm sharing how a children's book gave my 6-year-old the courage to face the fireman pole at the playground. Discover the reason you are letting fear control you, and how to overcome it, in this week's episode.

Awakening by Vlad Gluschenko | https://soundcloud.com/vgl9 Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

This is a special episode for many reasons, but the most important reason is that I'm kicking off an entire month of celebrating our firstborn.

Hudson would have been 8 years old this July. Normally, the summer brings with it a sense of impending doom as I gear up to feel all the feels. This year, I'm choosing to focus on joy and on giving back.

If you are looking for ways to spread hope in times of darkness, this episode is a great place to start.

There is a powerful movement going on in the world right now. In today's episode, you'll learn how my teenage acting and piano playing career taught me an invaluable skill that we all could afford to employ today.

The ability to tear apart and examine our own interpretations and invite the interpretations of others in order to uncover beautiful, richer melodies and meanings.

And as always, I extend a challenge to listeners to examine their own interpretations as we all participate in meaningful change.

I've been feeling stuck lately. And I haven't been proud of my resulting effort.

I've relied on my ability to "wing it" and in the process, I haven't pushed myself to excellence.

Jim Collins wrote that "Good is the enemy of Great" and the philosopher Voltaire wrote "the perfect is the enemy of the good."

In this episode, you'll hear a few examples of how these two somewhat contradictory phrases are living out in my own life, from my old competitive piano-playing days to teaching Anson how to read. And you'll be challenged to look for areas where you're either not starting, or you're not pushing.

If you've been feeling stuck lately, this episode is for you.

A running analogy in a podcast? How absolutely unique! In today's episode I share with you a mountain run focused on a dirt road. What if we could look up, and see the views, instead of looking down to try and avoid breaking an ankle?

Maybe you in the future has a different perspective on right now than you do. Maybe he or she is shouting back at you to look up.

Do it. Slow down so you can look up. What you are in right now has beauty in it but you HAVE TO LOOK UP.

It isn't useful to tell somebody to do their best. I've found in my experience that most of the time, this phrase gets trotted out when the person on the receiving end is already discouraged or frustrated.

Nowadays I'm trying a different phrase, both with my son as he works through his schoolwork at home and with myself as I continue to navigate life and all of its challenges.

You wanna be your best self? Stop it with 'Do your best' and try this instead.