Smart Self Care for Busy Women
A 4 week e-course designed just for you!
* Due to a website facelift in progress, I am going to postpone the start date of the next class until the dust settles from our renovation! thanks for your patience and understanding – E. *
Dear One,
I see you.
I hear you.
I know you.
Exhausted, overwhelmed, running on empty, running every which way, helping others, caring for others, busy, busy, busy. Whether you are raising children, growing a business, caring for elderly parents, volunteering , working your fanny off in your job, maintaining a romantic relationship (not to mention all those pesky friends and family members who need your attention), fostering four leggeds… whatever it is you are doing, you are ready for change.
How do I know this?
Because I was you.
My Journey of Self Care story
Many moons ago, I was saying yes to everyone else and ignoring my own inner voice that was begging and pleading for help and I said “shush. I have no time for you.” I was working 70 hours a week in a job I hated, in complete denial that my (first) marriage was slowly disintegrating before my eyes and my health was in major crisis.
The Universe decided to put me out of my misery and it all came to a halt – fast. My then-husband asked me for a divorce, I quit my job and within 6 weeks relocated to a new city where I had only one friend. Turns out, that city was the amazing Asheville, North Carolina which is a powerful place for healing and transformation and that is where I embarked on my Journey of Self Care. Elizabeth’s Return to Wholeness. Chapter Two of my amazing life as a Grown Up.
When I arrived, I sat on my mountaintop and cried for three months. There were days when I forced myself to go to the grocery store just to buy a loaf of bread so that I would have to talk to the checkout clerk. It was a dark, dark period in my life but it was filled with tremendous gifts.
The greatest gift of all? I started listening to myself. My own inner voice. My wise sage.
I completely overhauled my life. Day by day. Bit by bit. Step by step. And one day, I woke up and said “OK, I can do this.” And I got back out into the world and into life. And the magic that ensued is, well, pretty darned magical!
Within a year I built a sustainable coaching practice where I was paying my rent and they didn’t repossess my car. I developed an incredible circle of friends and I started going to church. I read books, took naps and journaled my anger, my grief and my dreams for the future. I went for long hikes and went out on dates where we would take picnics up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and watch the moon rise.
Within the second year, I met the man who would become my now husband and father of our child. I knew on our second date that he was “the one”. I called my girlfriends and told them so and they said “No way! How do you know? You just met him? And you just started dating again?!” and I said “I just know.”
I had cleared the cobwebs through remarkable self-care. And I was able to hear that sweet, still voice inside and I knew. I knew that he was the one. I knew the timing was right. I knew that my life was on track again.
I was talking with an old friend and I said “I think I’ve finally reinvented myself! Yay me!”
She said “No, I think it’s really more like you rediscovered your old self. You just lost sight of who she was.”
Such. Wise. Words.
We forget who we are when we stop taking care of ourselves. When we put everyone else’s needs first.
We burn out. We get sick. We have financial problems. We have relationship challenges. We stop listening to our intuition.
So I know you. You are not just ready for change. You are ready to rediscover you. The real you.
So what are you ready for, really?
Ready for more (joy, peace, beauty, inspiration, bubble baths anyone?)
Ready for less (clutter, stress, overwhelm, information overload, whining)
Ready for better (health, relationships, food, sex)
Ready for different (there’s got to be an alternative to This, right?!)
What if I told you that _________________________ (vibrant health, quality friendships, joy and ease at work, a deeper spiritual life, more intimacy with your partner, stronger financial situation, you pick!) was yours for the taking? And all you need to do is ask?
(Yeah, I know, you think I’m full of it. But hear me out here.)
It sounds too good to be true right? That’s what I thought, too. I am living proof that turnarounds can happen, shifts abound and that magic and miracles are waiting for you too! If I could do it, so can you.
I want to teach you how. Why? Because I’m so much happier, more peaceful, more fulfilled, more joy-ful, more successful in my life now than I was over a decade ago.
And I want you to be happy, peaceful, fulfilled, joy-filled and successful, too.
Your self care dreams
Some are simple, yes?
Sleep in once in a while, take an hour for yourself once a week for a walk in the woods, cook more meals at home, start a yoga practice, use the bathroom without an audience (for those mamas with young kids!)
Some are more involved
Start a business (or step into a bigger vision of the business you already have), quit your j.o.b., take a week of vacation (anywhere will do but Belize would be nice), write a book, declutter your home
I can hear you groaning going “yeah, right… how am I going to do all that?”
What I’m here to tell you is that the sky won’t fall if you put yourself first.
Ok maybe not even first, how about the top 3? Or even top 5 on your list?
Because if you’re like a lot of women, you’re somewhere down in the double digits.
But you are not serving ANYONE well if you’re not serving yourself.
God did not make us the incredibly gorgeous and amazing beings that we are so that we could spend our lives running our selves ragged, beating ourselves up and feeling miserable and exhausted all the time.
We are here on the Earth to learn and grow and play and have fun and explore and love and love some more.
And it all starts with YOU. And YOU believing that you are worthy, deserving, and amazing. And YOU deciding that it’s time to learn about this self care stuff or face the consequences if you don’t….
Smart Self Care for Busy Women starts Monday September 22, 2014
Here’s an overview of the program:
Week #1 Self Care 101 – you’ll look at the truth and lies surrounding self care (including the lies we tell ourselves), complete a self-assessment and make some conscious decisions for the weeks ahead.
Week #2 Self Care Strategies – you’ll learn five critical strategies for practicing smart self care which will help you to shore up energy drains and regain your personal power
Week #3 Practical Applications – you’ll examine five key areas of your life where you can apply what you’re learning in real time (business/career, health/wellness, relationships, finances, spirituality)
Week #4 Sustainable Self Care & Support for the Journey – you’ll learn ways to anchor your new attitude and practices around smart self care so that they become part of your life (just like brushing your teeth!)
Here’s how it will be delivered and what you’ll get when you sign up:
– Daily e-mails with a link to our private blog where the lessons will be posted – 4 weeks of inspiring lessons in self-care – you’ll receive 20 lessons in all
– A .pdf file of all the lessons so that you can print them out and review them regularly to keep instilling the learning (you’ll receive this at the end of the program)
– Membership to a private Facebook Group to share wins and celebrations, ask questions and seek support and inspiration
– A recommended reading list of my favorite self care resources for your personal and professional benefit
– A few surprises along the way that we’ll keep under wraps for now (otherwise, they wouldn’t be much of a surprise, would they?!)
Sign me up! I’m ready to practice Smart Self Care!
Beta Launch Price is only $99
(what this means is in exchange for a low cost, I”ll be asking you for feedback during and after the program so that I can keep improving content and delivery for future participants)
Note: Please be sure when you complete your payment via PayPal that you click on the live link “Return to the Inspired Entrepreneur” – it will take you to a hidden thank you page on my website with your first “homework” item (if you choose to accept it!)
The program is self paced. What this means is that you can do each lesson each day at your own pace. You’ll receive an e-mail each morning but if you don’t have time to read each lesson until afternoon or evening, that’s OK! And if you have a skip a day, that’s OK too. Life is busy and full and while the goal of this program is to encourage you to create more space and breathing room in your life, if the program feels like a “should” or a “have to” then that’s not particularly supportive now, is it?
The community support is perhaps the most critical component of this program. My experience over the years has taught me that when we hang out with people who are interested in the same things we are, we are more successful in achieving whatever we set out to accomplish. If you want to lose weight, hang out with people who go to the gym. If you want to write, hang out with writers. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, hang out with other successful entrepreneurs. So if you want to get better at your self care, what better place to hang out than with other women who have the same goal?
You’ll have direct access to me through the Facebook group. I’ll pop in every day and make comments, answer questions and offer additional resources from time to time.
Who this is for?
If you can see yourself described in any of the below, this program has your name all over it.
– An entrepreneurial woman who is searching for the sweet spot of running a business and raising your family and, oh yeah, maintaining your sanity.
– A professional woman who is success minded, achievement oriented and can see that if you don’t make some changes to your pace soon, you will be forced to slow down or break down. You’ve decided it’s time to get proactive.
– A stay at home mom who is giving 200% to your family and your community leaving a deficiency in your own energy bank account. You’ve realized the truth in the saying “If mama ain’t happy, nobody’s happy.”
– A woman living with chronic illness. You may have recently been diagnosed and thinking “OMG how do I deal with this?!” Or you may have been living with it (MS, RA, Chron’s, thyroid issues, diabetes, etc) for years and know that the key to your wellness is investing in your self care.
Kind words from past participants…
I signed up for the Smart Self Care course to learn some new and creative ways to practice self-care while being a working mother. E-courses work perfectly for my busy schedule!
I realized I wasn’t as clueless as I thought about self care. I was doing a lot of it but just didn’t know. It showed me how important it is for me to teach it to my daughter through being a good role model.
I loved the secret group on Facebook and had some great aha moments from other participants from our conversations there. I found it very helpful to learn of other’s experiences. It also made me not feel so alone.
Nina Patel, Children’s Yoga Teacher, CYT www.mantramom.com, Houston, TX
About half way through your self-care course, I realized a few crucial things-
1. I didn’t really know the difference between self-care and goofing off/taking a break. No wonder what I was doing wasn’t make me feel any better- IT WASN’T SELF-CARE. Now I know better.
2. I was scared to burden others. Even though I preach to my clients that asking for help is a GOOD thing, I’m terrible at it myself. It never occurred to me that someone else might really enjoy helping me the way I enjoy helping others.
3. The time investment wasn’t ginormous which was what I’d feared. The lessons were still super rich without being super long or labor intensive. I wasn’t spending a ton of time yet the self-care was making a huge difference.
I can’t say enough how glad I am to have taken this course. I look back at the content on a regular basis to feed my own soul and to pass on to my clients!
Brenna Peyton, Professional Organizer, www.oneorganizedgirl.com, Franklin, TN
As a therapist, I’ve always been committed to self-care, but I recently moved and it clearly disrupted old patterns, and I was in need of a serious rebalancing. This class reinforced the VALUE of practicing self-care on a daily basis. The Facebook group was GREAT, and really helped us feel a virtual connection in this journey. I highly recommend this course!
Banta Whitner, LCSW, psychotherapist and group facilitator www.bantawhitner.com, Black Mountain, NC
Your intentionality was very clear throughout the course, your gentle hand in the course was evident. It was a peaceful course – no push, no harshness – and it felt like it was only there for my benefit – lots of love in it…a gift to me. In short, it didn’t feel like it was a generic course, but one tailored to ME and my needs, and that is quite a feat. You are good at this, Elizabeth, very good. And I look forward to my next window of opportunity when I take another course or work more closely with you one-on-one.
Dr. Sue Ebbers, Performance and Instructional Design Consultant, President & CEO www.changebydesign.us, Tallahassee, FL
As a SAHM to four children it is easy to fill my calendar with obligations for everyone. Everyone but ME. The Smart Self Care Class helped focus my attention on how saying “yes” to all requests for my time creates a mom who is “just barely keeping it together,” where any unexpected thing can throw me into chaos. Being more mindful helps me to say NO sometimes and I now keep some white space in the calendar as cushion room, as a place where I recover energy to be more present when I do say “yes.”
Tricia Nitsche, Stay at Home Mom to 4 kids and a dog, Winston-Salem, NC
Sign me up! I’m ready to practice Smart Self Care!
Your investment is $99. We start September 22nd. The beginning of fall. Great way to set yourself up for success with self care this fall, eh?
Note: Please be sure when you complete your payment via PayPal that you click on the live link “Return to the Inspired Entrepreneur” – it will take you to a hidden thank you page on my website with your first “homework” item (if you choose to accept it!)