Can you believe the holidays are just around the corner? Yes they are! So many great things are associated with the holiday season but as the mom, and a working mom at that, come a lot of stress and added things to do. In this episode, I'm sharing some tips to help you stay organized, and get more of what you want out of the holiday season. There are some free planning tools available to you go to HolidaySanity.com

When we are talking about ending the year strong in your career and planning for your career in the new year, we are really talking about taking a lot of action. But we can start to sabotage this action when we are not in the right head space. Fear, doubt, and lack of confidence can kick in and hold us back. In this episode I am joined by fellow working mom and career coach Angie McNulty to discuss ways to overcome these things that can hold us back.

Do you wish you could be making more money or working a more flexible schedule? You could be, it's just a matter of negotiating! In this episode we are joined by Career coach Claudia Miller.

It's that time of year! The time to end strong with your career goals and get ready for your end of the year review. This is also a great time of year to evaluate where you are in your career to ensure you are on the right path for you. As a working mom we don't always take the time to ask ourselves the hard questions, but that is what this episode is for! Get ready to get planning for your career!

Intimacy and sex in marriage is a key part to a successful relationship. With all that we are trying to juggle as a working mom, it can be hard to find the time or energy to work on this area of marriage. In this episode we are joined by Kim Bowen to help us with the obstacles that get in the way and share tips to help us grow in our intimacy in marriage.

As working moms, we have all been there.  Trying to find time to devote to our faith and work on our health goals, can seem just about impossible.  Maybe if we are lucky, we can get one of these things into a solid morning routine.  In this episode, we are joined by Kelly Wenner of soulstrengthfit.com

She is giving us tips to help us find the benefits of growth in faith and health on a limited schedule.  

As working moms, we all could use more energy and there are many different ways to gain it when we focus on our health.

In this episode, we are joined by Adrianne Delgado who is a registered, licensed dietitian and has almost 20 years of experience in outpatient care.  She is the author of Nourish, Eat, Repeat: A Busy Woman's Guide To A Healthier Mind, Body, and Life.

She shares how to eat proactively to gain health and energy to keep up with the life you are living.  Enjoy!

Learn more at YourLifeRocks.com

Yes, we all know that there are toxins all around us including the cleaning supplies we use to the food we eat.  Maybe you have heard about the movement to remove these toxins from our lives and get back to a more natural way of living to better our health.  Easier said than done.  Replacing the items you use every day can be overwhelming and expensive.

Joining us to make this process easier is Tonya Harris from https://slightlygreener.com/

She is going to give us the grace we need to take away the overwhelm, know where to start, and how to bring healthier, toxic-free living into your everyday.

As we kick off a new series about helping you reach your health goals, we had to start with our resident health expert, Lindsay Young from LindsayLivesWell.com.

In this episode, we are talking all about gut health and how focusing on this one goal can affect your weight loss goals, immunity, and even the way your brain functions.

Listen in as Lindsay walks us through 3 steps to improve your gut health.

Learn more at YourLifeRocks.com

Yes, it's September!  I love fall and as soon as September comes, I feel like fall is here.  There are many things I love about fall, but one of the biggest things is that the change of seasons gives hope that we can make things better.  Like a refresh.

We are living in stressful times and things in this world can seem dark and bleak.  But when we can keep our focus on the light, that is what we will see!  There is hope and it is so refreshing and that hope will transition to all areas of our life.

In this episode, I have 3 tips to help you find hope and renewal in changing seasons.

Learn more at YourLifeRocks.com

Do you know what your kids will be doing after High School?  It might seem a long way off but it's never too early to prepare your kids for launch.

I'm joined for this conversation with Beth Langston from College Flight Plan.

Learn more at YourLifeRocks.com

There is a lot to focus on when our kids go back to school including setting them up for academic success.  It can be a lot to take on as a working mom and that is why sometimes we need help.  Learn how to navigate these waters and what to do in this episode with Meagan Sousa.

Learn more at YourLifeRocks.com

When we send our kids back to school, we want them to succeed in every way.  For most of us, the biggest hope we have for our kids is that they follow Jesus and bring him into all the places they go.  But as they go into the world, there are other influences at work.  We can't shelter them, and it's healthy for all of us to stretch and grow in our faith.  So how do we support our kids to build strong faith in the face of the world?

That's what our guests for this episode are here to help us with! Janelle Alberts, and Ingrid Faro bring such insight and wisdom to this much-needed discussion.

Learn more at YourLifeRocks.com

Back to school can be awesome, but it can also be stressful!  Have no fear, we have an expert for that!  Joy Acaso is an Anxiety Support Coach and Psychotherapist and a repeat guest on this show and a wonderful source of information and inspiration on how we can best support our kids through and transition.

Learn more about Joy at www.joyacaso.com

It's back to school time!  Yes, this season takes so much time and energy and for us working moms, it can be a little overwhelming.  No fear!  In this episode, we are talking about creating a game plan for a successful school year.

Learn more at YourLifeRocks.com

There are a lot of things that can still our joy and one of the biggest is when we are feeling like we are behind, forgetting things, or just not able to keep up.  When we talk about balance, we believe that it is possible when you put God first, live in community, and follow systems that help you stay in balance. This recipe works for balance and it also works for joy.  When we look at that last one, we can struggle because it takes time to get a system in place and things are always changing. For example, I have always worked best when things are in silos. Time with the kids...silo...meaning when I am with them, I am with them and just focused on that.  Same with work.

However, many of us have faced a lot of changes over the last year and a half and a lot of our silos have changed, merged, and life is not as clean cut as we maybe have enjoyed it in the past.  This makes finding the right systems more difficult and sticking to systems feeling impossible.

But, have hope!  I refuse to be defeated by the blessings that God has given me.  Let me repeat that.  

Juggling school stuff, social stuff, strengthening a marriage, taking care of my body, my home, managing my finances, and using my gifts at work are all blessings.  These things can cause stress, but I don’t think that these things or the stress of trying to do all these things and more are a cause to give up on systems thus giving up on balance and joy.

So how do we manage all the chaos?

1.  Get clear on what success looks like to you and how you define balance
2. Focus on one system at a time.  The great thing with systems is that they can cover mutli areas of life.  Start with something like your weekly prep.
3. Put time aside for planning.  This is self care. Weekly, daily is most important.
4. Don’t try to change your natural planning and operating patterns.  If you are a paper person, go with it. If you prefer digital, go with it.  Once you get systems down, then you can improve on those systems and how you do them.  Just because you heard about how someone else does stuff doesn’t mean you have to do it.  Example: Asana and Sunsama, google calendar vs. hand written to do lists and a planner
5. Give yourself grace.  It’s all an experiment in what works.  Know that what you are doing now will change when school starts.  It will change again when the weather changes, and when the holidays come.  It will always be changing so focus on the time you set aside and how you sort through the chaos.  The details will change but the foundations of the systems don’t have to.

Do you know one way to get joy?  Give joy!  Yep, making an effort to make other’s day, in turn, makes yours.  We are built for community and when we serve others, there is a part of us that comes alive!

But, like a lot of good things in this world, we can forget just how easy this is.  We make it harder than it has to be, our own insecurities can get in the way, and well, sometimes we are just so busy that we forget to think about it.

Well, guess what?  Together, we are going to remind each other of just how powerful and simple this can be.  

“Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” Proverbs 11:25

So how can we make this simple and remember to do it?  That is what we are going to talk about in this episode and I am so excited about the action items from this week’s action items.  You can literally do a few of them while you are still listening to this podcast!

• Watch your face

• Reach out and text someone

• Serve strangers like they were Jesus

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’   Matthew 25:40

• Greet others with excitement, love, and like they are the most important person

• Use your gifts in the small humble ways

• Pray for the people you see.  Give me your eyes by Brandon Heath.  Exercise your empathy and ask God how you can serve those around you. 

We all serve our families….but are we doing it in a joyful way or are we building resentment and looking to see if our husbands are doing as much as we are or even just grumble when we do laundry.  

But when we don’t serve our families with joy….it just brings more non-joy feelings to our life.

Remember last week when we talked about Joy being a fruit of the spirit.  When we follow the instructions for life in the bible, it moves us closer to experiencing these fruits including joy.

Again, it’s not that we are not serving our family.  We are taking care of the kids, cleaning the house, prepping meals, shopping, taking care of doctor appointments, medications, school involvement and so much more.  The issue isn’t doing it...it’s the spirit in which we do that can be an issue.

I know for me, I want to serve my family with joy but our intentions and reality are not always the same. I have been praying about this for a bit of time and the one thing that God showed me was this.

There are three things that keep me from experiencing joy in serving my family.

1. Forgetting that this is what God created me to do.  When I lose focus on the biblical principles at play, I get focused on the equality of the housework, and my own needs above the needs of my family.
2. Reactive.  When I plan my schedule and to-do list tightly and I get interrupted to fill a need, I lose it.  There is no joy there.
3. When I become a martyr and not take care of my own needs.

Can you relate to these?  Let’s talk about some solutions.  

1. Get in the word of God.  If you are in the Life Balance Membership, take the Setting Goals in God’s will Bible study...pay special attention to the parenting, marriage, and home versus.  When we can make the bible personal to use and remember the instruction for our creator it makes all the difference.  Life gets noisy so we have to ensure that we are tapped into the vine often and not allow the world to disconnect us.
2. Ok, I am not a fan of the whole take care of yourself before you talk care of anyone movement.  And here is why….it’s a slippery slope.  But we do have to take care of ourselves.  This is what that looks like:   Remember, there is no reward for taking care of everyone else and not yourself.
3. Reactive vs proactive.  I don’t like to be interrupted.  I find that the older I get, the more I don’t like it.  I don’t see this changing anytime soon.  But, when I can serve my family by being proactive about their needs it does two things...1. It focuses my heart and mind on them and what they might need from me. And 2. It allows me to show my love for them and allows them to experience that love.  Give them space (treat others how you would want to be treated) which means creating white space when they are around.

Welcome to our summer joy series!  The next 4 episodes are designed to help bring more joy into your life and this episode we are kicking it off by talking about what Joy is.

Joy is the silence of striving.  It’s more than contentment...it’s like a mix of gratitude and contentment.  It comes from the inside and is not swayed by outside circumstances.  Fruit of the spirit is like real fruit.  It needs to be attended to for healthy growth and it takes time.  So how do you get there?

1. Accept the holy spirit
2. Grow in your faith by
   1. Reading the word of god
   2. Pray and have quiet time with the Lord
   3. Drown out the world and make God bigger

Worship and song is a great way to do this.  For one, it has a big influence on our thoughts and emotions like nothing else can.  If you need to renew your mind and keep your spirit in alignment with God vs the world, this a great way to do it.  

When it comes to summertime, music provides such a big part of the season.  I have many memories of summer concerts, driving with the windows down and the radio up, and music playing while playing in the background while we play in the water, the backyard, or camp.

Adding in an awesome summer soundtrack can have a big impact on the joy that you experience this season.  The words and melody that you hear and sing along with will impact your heart and mind.  This keeps you in alignment with God, growing you faith and growing in the fruit of the spirit. 

Have you ever thought about cutting back at work to give more time to other areas of your life?  It's like the most common daydream for working moms and more and more of us are doing it.  But what if you are a workaholic?  Um....yeah.  I am with you.  I recently went part-time at work and this is what happened and the struggles I went through.  I have learned from this experience and now you can too!

This episode is sponsored by Life Balance Membership.  Learn more at YourLifeRocks.com

Summer is just around the corner and I am totally here for it!  Do you ever think about just how fast time flies?  Before we know it, we will be welcoming in fall.  Don't miss making this summer the most awesome summer for your family and for you!  In this episode, I am walking you through the Summer of Awesome Planning Guide to help you intentionally plan for this upcoming season as a working mom.

In this episode, I reference the full summer planning kit that is available inside Life Balance Membership.  You can get a free 7-day trial by going to YourLifeRocks.com

Have you ever wondered what financial steps are best to take once you have the basics like budgeting and emergency fund in place?  What about real estate investing?  Real estate investing is a great way to passively add income to your family (I mean, as a working mom it's awesome to have something that doesn't add more time to your full calendar), contribute to your retirement, and it's a great way to bless others and further the kingdom of God.

We are joined by Richelle Delia to provide tips on how to get started, find out if it's right for you, and shed light on the ever-important question.....is this the right move for right now?

As working moms, we all have times in our lives when the systems that we have created for balance get interrupted.  It could be for something small like a vacation, or it could be something bigger like a change in a career or even a huge schedule change during a season.  We will be covering both of these scenarios in this episode and giving you the steps you need to get back on track when one of these things happens to you!

This episode is sponsored by Life Balance Membership.  You can learn more at YourLifeRocks.com

I think that by now we all know that the comparison game is one that has no winners.  And yet, we all fall into it from time to time.  So how do we break free from this and start living a life free from it's grips?  Well, to answer that, Heather Creekmore is joining us with 4 action steps to help you find freedom!  Heather is an author and speaker that helps women find a way to release the grip comparison has on them. Her first book Compared to Who? encourages women to uncover the spiritual root of body image issues and find freedom. Her new release, The Burden of Better, offers women a journey into the depths of God's grace to find a way off the treadmill of constant comparison.

Learn more about the mission of Redefining Balance podcast by visiting YourLifeRocks.com

When we talk about life balance, if it’s possible, and how we define it….there is a background to it.  What we teach at Your Life Rocks is biblically-based.  It’s about being obedient to the word of God.  When we are in alignment with his word, chaos has no standing.  

Now, with our aim when it comes to balance, or setting goals, the aim is not perfection.  The aim is obedience.  Every time.  It’s not about us, it’s about him.  It’s when we allow ourselves to be less than in any area of life that we are making it about us or about our flesh.  In this two-part series, we are going to the Bible to see what it says about balance and about the different areas of life (yes, all 8 are in the Bible).