Month: August 2019

How to say “no” with class

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Hey there! We may have never met, but let me tell you something I know about you: you’re a class act. You probably show up every day determined to do your all, and let me tell you – whether you know it or not – it’s working.

Speaking of doing our all, that sometimes mean we let the things we most want to do slip to the wayside because we take on a lot. Saying no can be really hard to do – especially for women. We grow up being taught the importance of pleasing other people and it creates invisible chains on our time. Then, we become moms, and our time is precious in a way it never was before. But saying no?!? It’s hard!

Today, let’s talk about how to say “no” gently and well. In other words – learn how to say “no” with class! We can say no in ways that don’t hurt feelings and that honor ourselves and our needs. We can say no so that we make space to all the things we care most about. 

Three Ways to Say No with Class

Here are some suggestions that you can riff off of. I’ll follow up with an explanation of why they’re good!

  • “I’m flattered that you asked me. However, it won’t be possible for me to help out with X.” 
  • “Oh, that [insert activity] sounds wonderful. I’ve been feeling spread thin lately with everything going on and need to take a pass. I hope it goes really well and I’ll be thinking of you!”
  • “You know I value our friendship/this cause. Unfortunately, I can’t be there. As a rule, we keep Sunday afternoons for our immediate family to spend time together and get ready for the week.”

(More examples for saying “no,” can be found at this blog post by Marie Forleo. Her focus is primarily the business world, but the basic concepts still apply). Using her advice, we can see that all of the above points are great examples because they:

-preserve the dignity of the other person

-are kind

-are honest

-allow you to set your boundaries without apologizing for them, and

-don’t leave an opening for the person to push back

If for some reason the person does push back, take a firm stance and remember that you are a kind and loving person and it’s going to be okay. Say, “I’d rather not,” or, “I’m not able to, but thanks again for thinking of me.”

Remember Your Body Language

While you’re at it, keep in mind that your body language and tone are speaking even louder than your words! Keep your shoulders down and stand confidently. Make your voice drop at the end of a sentence instead of letting it rise. This keeps your statement a statement instead of some sort of iffy question that someone will try to poke holes through. 

Last – don’t for a second feel guilty about honoring yourself and your life and your needs. After all, in the end, whoever you are talking to also wants you to live your best life. You’re a class act. You do you!

***I’m curious, what activities in your life are you ready to say no to? And how will you say it next time the opportunity comes up? Tell me about it in the comment section. May our lovin’ energy inspire and lift each other up!  go mama!

A love letter from your future self

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To speak from the heart can be a hard thing. To speak truth to yourself from your own heart can be even harder. Today, the truth that I am wrestling with is about how beautiful this life is with and in many cases because of the things that I call mistakes. I bet you can probably relate. We are hard on ourselves and yet, if we step back for a moment, we can see that this thing we’ve made is so incredibly beautiful. In fact, if the future could speak, your future self would write you a love letter. Today, I invite you to listen to your future self – give yourself a whole lot of appreciation for everything you are and for exactly where you are. Your path led you here, and none of it was wrong.

A love letter from my future self

The habit of beating ourselves up over past mistakes – which includes the pain of reliving them – it’s a real joysucker, am I right? I’ve been thinking about that lately as my husband and I begin to renovate our upstairs. We moved in a year ago and have been living on only the first floor, as the upstairs was gross and honestly not livable. The current regret is that I didn’t invest in Bitcoin when I learned about it. Affording this renovation would be sooo much easier with that investment cash. 

What was I so afraid of? I’ll tell you what: I was afraid that I would hurt my future self by spending money now. And I’ll tell you something else. If I’d been wise enough to ask her, my future self would have shouted a love letter from the rooftops, “Everything is great over here! I’ve got this life thing covered and you’re going to be FINE! You do you!”

If I’d been wise enough to ask her, my future self would have shouted a love letter from the rooftops, “Everything is great over here! I’ve got this life thing covered and you’re going to be FINE! You do you!”

Ashley Fisher, gomama.love blogger

My dear friend, your future self is every bit as confident and thrilled with her life. Your future self is in love with you and all the mistakes you’ve made and the life you have and will have because of them.

Buy the latte

There’s this new investment company out there that markets to women – it’s called Ellevest. I’m not yet a client of theirs but I saw a photo of theirs on Twitter that I just loved. It stuck with me. Sort of a future-self shoutout, if you will. It was a photo of a travel coffee mug and it said, “Buy the f***in’ latte.”

Their point is that women are told all sorts of things about how to be wise with money that is actually gendered and can be disempowering. Among them, “don’t buy coffee and you will save so much money.” I’m not a financial expert, but I love this idea they presented. We are 100% capable of taking care of ourselves even in areas where we may have been unconsciously taught otherwise. We can be as brave and daring and bold with money or anything else as we want to be. So buy the latte. Future you is going to be just fine, and present you could use that little joy moment. 

We carry our mothers with us

I have strong memories of asking my mom for a $1 burger on our way to or from the big city that had the amenities our small town lacked. When she said yes, it was a big deal. Usually, she wasn’t interested in shelling out what I considered small amounts of cash to feed our ever-ravenous teenage bellies. I was so angry that she wouldn’t pay a dollar when I was so hungry. 

Now, to be clear, I am blessed to have been well fed through my childhood. These are first world complaints I’m sharing. But they have a point:

I want my daughter to grow up believing that everything in the future is going to be ok. She does not need to spend her life afraid of not being able to get by someday if she spends money on herself in the present. How I feel about money, talk about money, and think about money will inevitably filter down to her. She will do one of two things: she will pick some of it up, or she will throw it to the wind because it doesn’t resonate with the truth she was born knowing. That truth is that everything is going to be wonderful in the end. 

What to do?

So now what? I’ve labeled the problem: my worry over the future, as evident by beating myself up over past mistakes. And I’ve labeled a secondary problem: my relationship with money is my mother’s relationship with money. I picked up on my mother’s preference to avoid spending money on small delights, much to my chagrin. So for my daughter, and for myself, and perhaps even for my mother, I must change. 

Change takes time, but I do love the fact that it is possible. For me, this means getting financially savvy (through the wisdom of women such as Suze Orman and Elizabeth Warren), starting to invest, and an allowance for just-because purchases. While this blog post has focused on my trust in the future and my relationship with money, the concept applies to anything. Trust in the future and our relationship with our children, our spouses, our work, our play, our dreams.

Remember the love letter

Today, let’s give ourselves a free pass. This is your permission slip to thank yourself for past mistakes next time you start reliving something and beating yourself up about it. Remember that your future self has written you a love letter for your mistakes. You deserve a little self-kindness, and you deserve the amazing things ahead because of what you learned by those mistakes. You are kind, you are smart, and you are a powerful creator. You are an amazing mom and friend and a light to those blessed by your love. 

I’m curious – what new adventure are you ready to start, now that we’re sure we’re in the right place and we’ve made the right choices? Tell me about it in the comments. I’d love to know what you’re conjuring up. My our loving energy inspire and lift each other up. go mama!

3 questions to make family gatherings 10x better

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Hey you! You’re a great mom, you know that? Whatever you’ve done or haven’t done so far today, it’s just the right amount. Give yourself a big hug and some personal encouragement because today and every day, you are giving your all. Speaking of giving your all – it’s hard to do that and catch back up with yourself sometimes, especially when it comes to self care at family gatherings.

Am I right?!! No matter how quirky or dramatic or smooth sailing your family may be, I bet you can relate when I say that wonderful wonderful wonderful as family gatherings are, they often leave me feeling tired and drained by the end of day 2 or 3! Good news is there are things we can do to prevent that fatigue.

There’s this quote – maybe you’ve heard it – that if you don’t plan, you plan to fail. Today I invite you to plan for your own self care during the chaotic hubbub of communal or family gatherings. Especially since these things are supposed to be fun!!

I cracked a family gathering self care strategy

As I write this blog post, I can tell you that I cracked a strategy and I’m walking the talk. I’m in the midst of a family reunion. This trip, I planned for my own care ahead of time and I can report that so far, this plan has made me feel so much more present and happy during these precious days together. While I could not presume that what works for me will work for you, I’ll share any way in case it inspires your own course, whatever that may be.

My family gathering self-care items:

1. I will go to bed at 10:00. I commit to excusing myself from conversation or games so that I will be rested for the next day.

2. I commit to going for a run after my daughter is put to bed.

3. I will set my intentions and energetic boundaries for the day before leaving the bedroom (I’m an empath, so setting energetic boundaries is huge!)

4. I will write a couple of blog posts.

5. I will make space to start and enjoy a new book.

I can’t tell you how much better I felt as I packed for this trip, knowing exactly how I would preserve my energy over the next several days. I want to show up with people as my full self, and I firmly believe that I can only do that if I first attend to my own self-care.

Your turn

You, dear reader, are a light in this world and a great mom. You are worth every bit of self care that you can muster. Remember that today and all days, there is space for your self care.

Are you committed now to making family gatherings more fun for yourself? Here are three questions to help you plan a self care strategy of your own.

1. What do you want to make sure you do for yourself over the course of the gathering? (Important: it can be more than one thing)

2. When are you going to do this activity?

3. Is the time you do this thing negotiable? If yes, what are alternatives that you are also ok with?

***Your turn! I’d love to know – what do you do (or what will you do) for self care while you are at family gatherings? What keeps you grounded and present with those around you?