Practicing radical self care! -7:30AM post gym selfie from Friday

(*Todays message was originally posted on my Instagram account Friday morning- hence the emojis!). https://www.instagram.com/elizturnercoach/?hl=en

Burn Out 

This is a subject that comes up again and again in my line of work. I have seen so many women juggling full time work, their families, supporting loved ones who are ill or disabled, striving to be perfect at work and home (the topic of perfection I will leave for another day as that is a meaty one!) – all while putting themselves on the back burner. A few years ago I did this as well.

But I learned some hard lessons and I do this no longer! ?

Why I practice radical self-care?

Because it is key!

If you aren’t functioning at 100% how can you best support others?

We want to be functioning from a soulful place of strength not operating out of fear, right? You can only run on the fumes of anxiety and stress for so long and then you will hit a wall.

How to prevent this?

RADICAL SELF CARE!

and…

… for me, going to the gym consistently is one of my RSC pillars.

My alarm went off at 5:30am and I did not want to get up as I was tired from a busy week, and the bed was so cozy, but I thought about how good I would feel after. So I went and took some of my micro aggressions out on the medicine ball! ?

Now as I write this I feel less stressed about events that before were bothering me, I feel calmer and stronger and I sleep better. ??

Exercise, restorative sleep, massages with an RMT, play, family time, things to look forward to, and eating food that comes from the ground, not a box or bag, are other key pillars of RSC ?.

The Daily Check In

So today please check in with yourself and ask what you are doing in terms of RSC?

How are you feeling in your body right now?

What would feel good to you to do today?

-Coffee with a friend?

-A nap?

-A stretching class?

-A hike?

-A long soak in the bath?

Do it!

Put yourself first and watch how everything else falls into place!

You deserve it!

xo

Eliz

The post Radical Self Care appeared first on Elizabeth Ritchie Counselling & Coaching Services.

– Kate Spade

First Kate Spade and then Anthony Bourdain. Could the week of ended on a lower note?

Kate Spade!

With her whimsical and colourful handbags and note paper.

Kate Spade a depressed person? How can this be?

And then.

Anthony Bourdain.

The well loved pirate of the cooking world. A man with such a lust for life, such gusto, with an innate ability to connect and make us want to travel and eat and embrace life.

WT heck?

The world is still reeling.

I gotta admit Friday morning after scrolling through the news on my phone I cried.

It was like I lost a friend.

We Have to Keep Talking About Mental Health 

This past week has been a reminder.

A reminder to keep talking to each other, to keep connecting, and reaching out and asking ‘How are you doing?’ and more importantly,  ‘How are you really doing?’

And if we know of a friend who is struggling right now, check in with them.

We are all busy, with full lives and competing priorities, but if we lose the ability to connect with others and to care, we are truly doomed.

On Shame 

We can’t let shame get the best of us either.

There is no shame in feeling broken, unloved, or less than. We ALL have been there one way or another, had some type of mental health crisis – be it depression, anxiety, a panic attack, whatever…

You don’t need a diagnosis from a doctor to have a mental illness.

And know there ARE solutions to this!

There are ways to work through whatever is dragging you down, but to do that you first have to have to –

tell someone.

It is ok to lose the battle…

…but keep fighting the friggin war!

A couple of resources to share;

The best books I have come across in terms of getting past shame and finding the courage to be vulnerable, to open up to others about your pain, is Brene Brown’s work.

‘The Gifts of Imperfection’ and ‘Daring Greatly’ are two good jumping off points. Her TED talks on these subjects are excellent as well. Google them.

Pema Chodron’s book ‘When Things Fall Apart’ is another excellent resource.

Crisis Hotlines

Canada – http://www.crisisservicescanada.ca

U.S. – http://crisiscallcenter.org/get-help-247/

Europe – http://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/Europe/

If you need any specific info / resources feel free to connect with me at admin@fullflightlifecoaching.com 

And, if after this rough week you want some good news….

Because it is June, my birthday month and I’m going to be half a century old – yep fifty years old!!  I have put together a fun little something that you can check out HERE

xo

Eliz

The post Yep I cried. appeared first on Elizabeth Ritchie Counselling & Coaching Services.

We are half way through November and the the holiday season is upon us! Yikes- How did THAT happen? Who needs some ‘holiday survival tips’? I do!  lol

For me, the last couple of weeks have been a whirl of work, hockey, piano, costume parties, kid’s field trips and fairs. Whew!

In fact, it was so busy that I ended up putting my group coaching / cardio program ‘The Club’ on hold, which I was so looking forward to rolling out, but I have learned the hard way that there are limits to what I can manage at one time, so I stepped it back.

So are YOU ready for the holidays?

I am quasi ready.

I say ‘quasi’ because although things have been hectic (which seems to be the norm in my life!) my life will soon be going into WARP SPEED, and by ‘warp speed’ I mean moving out of our house as the renovations begin. (No they have yet to start…I thought we would be half way through by now!)

These aren’t just little renos either, I am talking about having to remove every light fixture in our house (with the exception of the boys rooms), and remove all major appliances, and completely clean out the garage and storage room type of reno.

Our pricing meeting with the renovation company is this Tuesday which puts us a step closer to demolition day (Good riddance blue powder room with the angel wallpaper!), and OF COURSE the reno will coincide with the Christmas season- Murphy’s Law!

So given the above events, this year my intention is to be as mindful as I can and use all my coaching tools to make sure December is full of peace and joy for myself and my family, and not chaos and overwhelm.

How to ramp up the peace, joy and fun this holiday season!

Here is to a peaceful and joyous holiday season! #nooverwhelm #nostress #noillness

On that note, I am now going to make a hot cup of tea and watch (again) the final installment of my  ‘Holiday Survival Guide’ videos which I made back in 2014.

I just watched videos 1 & 2 and took notes because I had forgotten a bunch!

Now if you have been a Full Flight insider for some time you may have watched these videos before, but don’t let that stop you from viewing them again because they are as relevant as ever, and are full of tips such as setting an intention for your holiday season, saying ‘no’ to events that drain you, and scheduling into the calendar ONLY the stuff that lights you up.

You can check out all three videos (Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh) out HERE.   Make sure you start with video number 1 (Gold).

#selfcare

Today I am off to do some holiday shopping downtown, followed by an overnight stay at one of my favourite Vancouver hotels, The Sutton Place. I am going solo and along with taking in all the bright lights and Christmas decorations, I am looking forward to some quiet time too, some alone time where I can gather my thoughts and energies for the festive season ahead, and for the new year, which is just around the corner.

Hope you enjoy the videos!

I also hope that you make the most of your holiday season, and if you don’t hear from me for awhile you will know that I am deep in ‘reno mode’.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

xo

Eliz

I try and make a solo trip to the Sutton Place 1x per year -this shot is from last year’s stay. #selfcare #reflectivetime #dreamingandscheming

The post ‘Holiday Survival Tips’ – and why I am checking into a hotel today… appeared first on Elizabeth Ritchie Counselling & Coaching Services.

My ‘sit spot’.

With the beautiful autumn weather we have been experiencing on the West Coast I have been called away from my ‘To Do’ list and out into the sunshine of my backyard, where my ‘sit spot’ is. This is when I sit in stillness, observe nature and watch my thoughts for thirty minutes or more.

Personality wise my ‘set point’ for most of my life, has been more outer focussed.

The ‘Let’s start a project!’ ‘Set things up!’ ‘Make things happen!’ drive has long been a strength of mine as it guides me to get stuff done. The downside to this is I can ‘bite off more than I can chew’, and end up exhausted, and completely done with the world.

The Nature Cure

Over time I have learned to pace myself, and am now discovering the benefits of looking inwards, as opposed to externally.

Sometimes in my back yard I’m not meditating per se, but sitting quietly and observing the natural world around me; the bees, wasps, ants, and birds. Often I watch our cairn terrier Rebus as he snoozes in the sun, roots around in a hole, or tries his darnedest to catch a squirrel.

I am constantly surprised at how being in nature is SO satisfying.

How this backyard patch and the life within it, and the sky above me is, most days, all I need to restore balance.  The sun is warm, the sky is blue, bird song surrounds me, there’s a smell of grass and wood smoke in the air, my body is at ease in the chair- nothing else is needed or needs to be done.

‘To Do’ list?  What ‘To Do’ list?

When I make time for a ‘sit spot’ the outward stuff that I am usually propelling myself towards falls away.

In that moment I can understand how people who have lost everything; gone bankrupt, hit rock bottom, ended relationships etc. sometimes say that the worst thing that happened to them, turned out to be the BEST thing that ever happened to them.

Because in their stripped down, humbled state, they realize that they still possess everything they need, inside themselves and in nature.

Got Challenges?

And so my friend know this, despite whatever challenges you have right now in your life,  peace and contentment is always available to you.

It is available to you, IF you put away your ‘To Do’ lists for awhile, get off your phone and turn off Netflix, and tell your partner and your kids that for the next 30 minutes you are UNAVAILABLE.

Then find a quiet spot, outside in nature if the weather is good, and sit in stillness and fill yourself up on all the goodness that surrounds you, and is within you.

xo

Eliz

PS    AND!!!!!! Be sure to check out the beautiful poem by Mark Nepo (below) which was shared on FaceBook by one of the coaches from our Martha Beck tribe -I absolutely love it! And don’t miss the news about my new group coaching program, “The Club’ at the very end.

Quieting the Thieves

Today I am sad, or so I thought. But more I am tired of keeping up with all that doesn’t matter.

I’m sipping coffee, listening to the rain. I like watching the leaves hang in long weather. I like to close my eyes and feel the rain quiet the earth. I welcome that quieting. I like to have my habits of going here and there interrupted. I was caught in the rain when coming here. The cool blotches sink in all over.

The many lists I carry in my shirt are wet. I take them out to dry, and all the tasks have blurred. At last. Unreadable. Forgettable. We carry these lists near our heart and finger them like worry beads. It doesn’t matter what is on them. They are the thieves, and it is the insidious virtue to have everything in order before we live that is the greatest thief.

I feel the rain drip down my neck. I think I’m becoming unfinished.

-Mark Nepo

PPS

…and in case you missed it ‘The Club’ (Coaching, Cardio & Coffee Club) for local ladies kicks off Oct. 22nd. There will be awesome coaching lectures (by me!), hip hop dancing and snowshoeing and more…click HERE for all the details! Newbies always welcomed!!!

The post One thing that has saved my sanity (and it is not a ‘To Do’ list!) appeared first on Elizabeth Ritchie Counselling & Coaching Services.

Aftermath of the Las Vegas massacre Photo by FloCombat

In this Full Flight post I’m going to address the hard things first, followed by three uplifting things that I know you will appreciate -so be sure to read all the way through ok?

No way around it.

This past week has been devastating.

I CAN. NOT. GET. MY. HEAD. AROUND. what occurred in Las Vegas.

I watched the news last night and they showed pictures of all 58 of the victims.

Beautiful, caring people of all ages, bright lights of their communities, mothers, father, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, all gone…..incomprehensible.  My husband pointed out that the loss of their lives will affect their families and neighbourhoods for generations to come.

Only someone with no experience of true love and connection could unleash this kind of horror.

And then amidst all this, the news that beloved rocker Tom Petty had died as well. Gone too soon at age 66.

‘You and I will meet again, when we’re least expecting it.

One day in some far off place, I will recognize your face. I won’t say goodbye, my friend, for you and I will meet again’.

– Tom Petty

Yep it was an awful week and it shook me, as I am sure it shook you as well.

I had all this pent up, angry energy and felt-off kilter.

But I also know feeling this way doesn’t serve anyone.  It doesn’t serve me, my family, my clients, my friends, it just isn’t helpful. And all that energy has to go somewhere, so what to do?

I started by channelling my dismay into Facebook Posts. After doing that for a day or two, I still felt sad and unsettled, so I took a different tact.

I did 3 specific things to get myself back into balance- and it worked!  And I posted a video about it on social media.

I called it:

‘3 Ways to Raise Your Vibration and Restore Your Equilibrium’

If you are feeling off balance or despondent after this awful week, or due to any other challenges you are experiencing in your life, then I recommend that you watch this VIDEO (click on the word ‘video’ for the link) because I know that if you take these steps, you WILL feel better!

If You Are a Local Women This Uplifting Group May Be Just What You Are Looking For! 

And for you local ladies (Surrey / Vancouver, BC area) – exciting news!!!

I have a new in- person coaching group starting soon! It’s called-

 ‘The Club’

(Coaching, Cardio and Coffee Club that is!)

‘The Club’ kicks off later this month and is a 4 month group coaching program that will meet up twice a month -once for group coaching and a coaching presentation in the evening, and one time a month for an ‘action’ oriented event (snowshoeing, private hip hop dance class etc…) on a Sunday.

If you are looking for fun group of like- minded women and want to be inspired, empowered AND break a sweat, you can find out all about this new fun coaching group HERE.

Need More Laughter? 

(and who doesn’t?)

And because we all need more laughter in our lives, check THIS trailer out – Steve suggested we watch this show last night and I was uplifted because it was HILARIOUS (especially the bit about the socks!!!!).

You do need a subscription to NETFLIX however to access it…and I recommend that you do as it does not disappoint!

That’s it for today lovely.

Sending you peace, love, light and laughter after a tough week, and to my fellow Canadians – Happy Thanksgiving!

We ALL have so much to be thankful for don’t we?

xo

Eliz

The post After a tough week, 3 uplifting things for YOU! appeared first on Elizabeth Ritchie Counselling & Coaching Services.

And so September draws to a close. What a blur! One day I will experience a calm and quiet September but I don’t think it will be for many years! lol

Back to school, kids sports and lessons kicking off, prospective clients calling about booking strategy sessions, clients booking coaching sessions after taking the summer off, business meetings ramping up, and on top of this typical September activity I am trying to pack up the house as we prepare for our move out and upcoming renovations. Last week,  I was feeling overwhelmed by it all.

However I am an old hand at feeling overwhelmed AND getting myself out of it, and I willl share six techniques I used this past month which got me out of overwhelm and helped save my bacon.

1. Having a meal plan-

Ideally having five days of meals planned out, or at the very least, three.  Know what you are preparing and make sure you have all the ingredients in house. This will save you time and and energy, keep things running smoothly on the home front and ensure that you are eating nutritious foods.

2. Early bedtimes-

During the last few weeks of summer my husband and I got into a habit of staying up late watching TV. This caught up with us in early September when my eldest son was waking up at 4:30-5:00AM anxious about the coming school day (which meant we were waking up at 4:30-5:00AM!). We started going up at 9:00-9:30PM so we could do some quiet reading, wind down and fall asleep at a decent time. This made for much better mornings!

3. Keeping up the exercise-

During stressful times regular exercise can be the first thing to go. However, it is when we are at our busiest and most harried that we need to get our heart pumping and move our body. Since January I have pre-booked and pre-paid, a bi-weekly workout at my gym. This means I will get out of bed and get to that 6:25AM class on a consistent basis.

This arrangement has been working really well for me and since January I have only missed two classes due to illness. When I attended my old gym which was a ‘show up when you feel like it’ and ‘work out on your own’ arrangement, it was much easier to take a pass or go, but not work out to the best of my abilities. Pre-booked and pre-paid small group training is the way to go for me now.

4. Doing a ‘Mind Dump’ and using a ‘Priority / ‘Non-Priority’ list when overwhelmed-

If you participated in the Passion Dream Challenge or have been following me for awhile you may remember these two tools. I had to use them last week as I was getting bogged down by all my ‘To Do’s’.

I took all the thoughts swirling around in my head and captured them on paper. Immediately I felt lighter. Then I sorted them into one of the two columns. Was this item a ‘Priority’ or a ‘Non-Priority?’ Seeing my ‘To Do’s’ noted in their respective columns instantly made me feel more organized and capable and I knew I could handle all I needed to do.

5. Use a ‘Daily Compass’ every day-

The second step after doing a ‘Mind Dump’ and a ‘Priority / ‘Non-Priority’ list is having a ‘Daily Compass’. From my ‘Priority’ list I then take the top three items I need to get done today and I write them down and put the paper where I can see it.

If I am working at my desk my ‘DC’ is next to my computer, if I’m in the kitchen it’s taped to a cupboard, if I am out it’s on my phone. Then, regardless of how nutso the day gets I will not be thrown off track. I can look at the ‘DC’ and be reminded of my true priorities and focus on what really needs to get done.

6. Have an ‘Anchor’ to remind you of your goals-

Keeping our eyes on the sweet things in life helps us to stay joyful and not get bogged down in the day to day minutiae. I have a friend who said she always has to have something to look forward to like a holiday to keep her feeling good.

One of my big goals is to go on a safari in Africa and there is one specific company I want to travel with and the cost of their safaris? Well let’s just say you would not call them inexpensive! 🙂  I am not in a position to go on this trip anytime soon but regardless, I have signed up for their e-mails and love getting their newsletter and being reminded that this is a treasured goal of mine.

Newsletters or e-mails from this safari company act as an ‘anchor’ to my big goal and reminds me that this is what I want to do, and that there are delicious things in store for me if I stay on track with my dreams. I had one of their e-mails pop into my in-box yesterday, with news about three new leopard cubs and it was a welcome treat!

If you haven’t done so already, I recommend you create some kind of similar ‘anchor’s in your life. This can be a vision board with pictures on it that represent your dreams or having a password on your work computer that reminds you every day of one of your wild and juicy goals. Use these ‘anchors’ to keep your dreams alive and present in your everyday life.

Want more tools like these? 

There you have it my friend, six essential survival skills that will help you get through ANY month with joy and ease.

If these tools resonated with you and you want to take things further, check out Passion Dream School my 6 week e-course all about creating a more beautiful and peaceful life. It is chock full of techniques like these as well as videos, audios and more!, AND I am offerring $100 off until Friday, September 29th at midnight. Correction! – Now extended to Sunday, October 1st at midnight as I was slow to get the information out on social media 🙂 !

If you want to de-clutter your world (mentally and physically), get some more awesome coaching tools like these, and create a more gorgeous life, get my fun and easy e-course HERE

xo

Elizabeth

The post Six Life ‘Survival’ Essentials You Need to Be Using appeared first on Elizabeth Ritchie Counselling & Coaching Services.

How to get a ‘bird’s eye view’ of your life…

Scroll down to see a video that I originally created for Passion Dream School, my 6 week online program that wrapped up a few weeks ago. This overview, called the ‘Change Cycle’, is from the work of one of my coaching mentors, Dr. Martha Beck and it enables us to take a ‘bird’s eye view’ of our life and the different phases we encounter. It also helps us to understand how, particularly during challenging times, those phases may affect us. Martha taught us this framework in our coaching program and since then, I have found it very helpful in my life and I think you will too!

If you have been a Full Flight reader for awhile, then you may recall how last year I wanted to boycott the month of June.  So much going on!

This June was no different, extremely busy, with new pieces added to the puzzle which I will fill you in on at a later date.

Anyhow, I pretty much crawled into July, and this week hit a complete wall which I wrote about in a recent Instagram post...(the one with the pic of the colourful Hawaiian soaps).

Coles notes version of that post;

 When you feel like you have too much to do, and not enough time to do it, you should rest!

That said, I’m off on vacation soon for two weeks at our summer place up the coast, where there will be plenty of swimming in the ocean, barbecuing, reading and resting. The entire family is looking forward to some much needed down time.

I hope you enjoy the Passion Dream School video all about the ‘Change Cycle’, and that you are having a wonderful summer so far!

Chat soon! (virtually) 🙂

xo

Eliz

The post How to get a ‘bird’s eye view’ of your life (video for you!) appeared first on Elizabeth Ritchie Counselling & Coaching Services.

TGIF!

Hope you are having a fantastic day!

I’m talking about goals today so keep reading to find out what my pant size has to do with my current goals and my ‘word of the year’!

Well it is the end of the week peeps and we finally seem to have seen the back end of the winterish weather. It is sunny as I write this but more spring rains are a coming apparently, on par with living in a rain forest I guess!

I am in a ‘fabulous Friday’ kinda mood as I am off to see U2 and Mumford and Sons at BC Place tonight with Steve!

Cannot wait!

I think the last concert we went to together was Coldplay about 5 or 6 years ago, we are well overdue.

And yes I did pay WAAAAAYYY too much for these tickets through a ticket resale site (thinking I was purchasing in Canadian $ when it was really $US-gulp!) but I am going to put that aside and enjoy the show, and for the record I am TOTALLY going to lobby for legislation to out- law ticket re-sales, I cannot believe that this is allowed! What hasn’t anybody done anything about it? I will be contacting my MP this week (I don’t know why I didn’t do that at the time I got fleeced, but will do so now!).

I am also feeling particularly pumped this morning as I am on an endorphin high from my workout at Thrive Fitness Studio. The instructors there really know how to push you (so much so that you can barley lift a loaf of bread the next day) but overall I haven’t felt this good in a long time.

I need to give my friend Erin props for suggesting it to me;

‘Thx Erin!’.

I have a bunch of updates to share with you today – related to my ‘Word of The Year’ so be sure to keep reading because there are some points I am hoping you can take away and apply to your own life.

Let’s go! 

Passion Dream School is Underway!

This week I am fine tuning Module 3 of Passion Dream School, my online course that is all about creating a more peaceful and gorgeous life.  I can’t believe it is Week 3 already, we are about half way done! And the feedback about the course so far has been good. Yay!!!

As I review the information contained in the first 3 weeks of the modules – about owning your worth, creating your ideal environment, and goal setting, I find it is helping me recalibrate my daily practices and improve my focus as I continue to work towards my goals.

‘Word of the Year’ Update

If you have been a Full Flight Insider for awhile you will know that every year I like to choose a ‘word of the year’ (WOTY) -a word that represents how you want to feel in the coming months, and for 2017 I choose ‘LEAN’.

I liked ‘LEAN’ as it represented what I aspired to, not just in my body and overall health and wellness, but in my home environment, business and finances too.

So that means for this new year I intended to;

• lose some weight and gain muscle (become ‘lean’ in my body)
• de-clutter my home and create a more uplifting, peaceful environment (make my space ‘lean’)
• weed out unnecessary expenses, fees, charges etc. from our financial investments and ensure that we only hold worthwhile vehicles  (make our finances ‘lean’)
•  in my coaching business, get more specific about what I provide as a coach and who I can best serve, while paring down programs that no longer resonate with me, or my overall business model (make my business ‘lean’)

We are now four months into 2017 and let me tell you, for the first two months I really wondered about the wisdom of choosing ‘lean’ as my WOTY AND announcing this publicly on social media!

February was a dismal month as the kids were sick and then there were snow days so school was cancelled, and it all felt like two steps forward, one step back.

By month three though, I found my stride, and I want to share with you a few things that helped me stay on track with my WOTY, as my experience may help you as you focus on your own ‘WOTY’ and your own goals for the remainder of 2017.

SO ABOUT ‘LEAN’

Why I quit my gym…

Although I liked the gym I was going to (and had been going to for about 15 years) I quit last month, because in January I started a small group training exercise class (as mentioned above) at a studio close to my house. Going to my previous gym and working out on my own wasn’t getting me the desired results, so I knew I needed to change things up.

When I first started the class (1x per week each Wednesday)  I could barely get through the 45 minute circuit (and my ongoing plantar fasciitis didn’t help matters either-still not cured of that BTW), but over the next few months I saw an improvement in my cardio and strength, so a few weeks ago I decided to add a second class.

I am happy to report I feel like a different person!

Here are some changes I have noted;

-I went for a bike ride with my kids and my youngest said “Mom slow down you are going too fast”, where as in September I was huffing and puffing, trying to keep up with them. *That was my first big clue that I was making gains (I have not weighed myself since January and I have NO CLUE what I weigh right now).

-Last weekend I went in for my 3 month assessment at the studio and instead of holding the plank for 40 seconds I held it for a one minute 15. Instead of lifting an 8 pound weight like I was doing back in January, I was now lifting 15 pounds. I could not even do a proper burpee when I started and now I can do 10 in a row.

-I went shopping the other day for new summer pants and bought two pairs that were both a size smaller than what I was wearing last summer.

Improvements!!!

Why I didn’t care that I irritated our financial planner…

So you know how I was focussed on making our family finances ‘leaner’?

Well in February I spent TWO WEEKS, (yes two entire weeks) reviewing every aspect of our financials- mortgage, debt, investments, RRSPs, RESPs and Oliver’s RDSP (registered disability savings program) AND doing research on the best investment vehicles for our family. (Handling the family finances doesn’t really turn my husband’s crank, but I actually enjoy it and I think I am pretty darn good at it too!)

This financial overhaul meant talking at length to our advisor and asking him any question that came up. My advisor is a patient man and he responded to all my emails and spent a couple of hours over those two weeks on the phone with me explaining anything I didn’t quite get.

There would have been a time not so long ago where I would have just accepted the advisors recommendations and not spoken up about anything I was confused about, but I can’t live like that anymore. I am at that point in my life that I don’t care if I ‘make waves’ (and it has taken me a long time to get here!).

I figure it is our money and I need to understand where it is going and what it is doing, and I don’t care if my many questions irritate someone.

Because I spoke up I now have a much better understanding of what is going on with our investments and the market,  and once I had the information I needed I instructed our advisor to move money from funds of their choosing to funds of MY choosing and in the process switched over some $ from mutual funds to index funds (lower fees).

Last month our investments had a great month, so so far so good!

But really, regardless of what happens in the market, I feel it is a big WIN, because spending time and energy to understand what is going on with our money and then making our financial investments ‘lean’, turned out to be a very empowering experience.

The state of my office

Welllllll……, it hasn’t come along as far as I had hoped but my husband is almost done with scraping the ‘popcorn’ off the ceiling, so I am hoping that by next weekend we can start prepping to paint.

Once painted I can move out of the laundry room (where my desk and computer currently are) and set up shop again. When I moved into the laundry room several months ago I did a big purge of old papers, files and books and I will do another before moving back in.  I am slowly getting streamlined and creating a beautiful new space to work in, and I bought a new picture for my office wall which I can’t wait to put up.

So in terms of streamlining my home (making it ‘lean’) it is coming along!

The state of my business

As mentioned the Passion Dream School course is underway and I am having a blast with it !!!

I discovered the I really love creating audio trainings (a big part of PDS), and this is something new for me. This course is all done on-line which is fabulous as the participants can work on it on their own time, and re-listen, review portions as need be.

Due to scheduling conflicts, I decided not to run another round of the ‘live’ Power Posse group this spring, but I am looking forward to catching up with the last PP group next month for a coffee, a hike and coaching ‘brush up’ session (if the gals are interested in a ‘brush up’ that is).

We will also be stopping by Vista D’Oro winery, as Lee, who was part of the last Power Posse group, has just published a cookbook ‘The Preservatory’ all about her delicious preserves and I am looking forward to getting a copy and taking home another jar of her delicious vanilla rhubarb preserve.

As usual I have other ideas percolating in regards to Full Flight Life Coaching so watch this space for info about more about future offerings…

What I learned about this ‘word of the year’ process – in a nutshell

I’m sharing all this with you because I think choosing the right (for me) WOTY helped keep my focus in the above areas of my life.

So that being said I recommend;

-That you have choose a ‘WOTY’ that is right for YOU, and if you have chosen one, now would be a great time to review it and see how you are making out in terms of your progress.

-That you have the necessary supports in place to help you achieve your goals. (I could not have made progress on my health & wellness goal without enrolling in a new exercise group, or trying something new)

-Don’t be afraid to ‘make waves’ and ask the questions that need to be asked. Women have a particularly tough time with making themselves heard but when we stay small and quiet we lose our power. Don’t accept the status quo if you are uncomfortable with it.

-Make changes if you need to. Just as I quit one gym and signed up with another you may need to juggle things a bit too.

-Listen to your gut but do your research as well. I knew that in terms of our finances our fees were too high, so I asked to move our money, but before I did I made sure to do all my homework so I could stand my ground with my advisor and not get ‘talked out of things’.

As we approach the half way point of the year, take a few moments and check in with yourself and see what small adjustments or tweaks you might like to make in order to get closer to making your goals, (your dreams really!) a reality.

Hope this helps my friend!

And now I must dash, get my kids over to my Mom and Dad’s and head downtown for the big show!

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo

Eliz

PS

The below clip is from a social media post the other day (word of the year update on Instagram).

The post U2, my pant size (lol), going after your goals, and more …. appeared first on Elizabeth Ritchie Counselling & Coaching Services.

Most times we are doing better than we realize.

I have been thinking a lot about how hard it is to slow down, step back and appreciate how well we are doing. To take a moment out of our day to practice some self love. I don’t know about you, but my mind, when I let it run amok, immediately latches on to the ‘next thing’ in both the personal and business aspects of my life.

For example;

I watch my elder son with his unique needs learn to print legibly and spell, and think;

When will he be able to write a full page?

I bang out 10 burpees at the gym, compare myself to my gym mate who can do 30 and ponder how long it will take until I can do 30. I wrap up a great coaching session with a client and instantly wonder when the next new client will walk through my door. I complete one coaching program and before I have a chance to catch my breath, I instinctively start planning the next launch.

It does make one’s head spin…

…and thankfully this tendency is weakening!

By saying ‘no’ to over scheduling, putting self care at the forefront of all of my decisions, and incorporating practices into my life guaranteed to slow me down and be more mindful, I can then focus on how well things are going in my life and I can better appreciate my progress.

Last night I sat on the couch completely wiped after a week of coaching and filming 8 new videos (8!) for my new free coaching challenge (coming soon!) and from getting up at 4:15AM for a 5:30AM morning workout.  Just sitting and doing nothing felt really good and while doing so I silently congratulated myself.

‘Girl, you did good this week!’ .

Yes there was unfinished work on my desk and dirty dishes in the kitchen sink but no matter. Winter and summer, work and rest, ebb and flow it is all cyclical, and last night ease was called for, not the creation of an enhanced ‘to do’ list,  so I kicked back with my husband and watched Netflix.

Do You Have A Self Love Practice?

At the end of February’s Love Warrior coaching workshop we gave heart shaped notebooks to each participant and asked them to, each night before they went to bed, write down one thing they did well that day, and to do this for 30 days.

The point of the exercise was self love – to make themselves aware of and appreciate the hard work they did for their families and others, day in and day out, actions which in the blur of everyday life often pass unnoticed.

I participated in this practice too and each night before I turned off the bedside light I jotted down at least one thing I had done well that day.

Some days were good, some not as good, but I did it and looking back I have to say doing this positively impacted my life.

It wasn’t that I did incredible things every day, in fact, some days were downright mundane, but keeping the focus on my daily accomplishments certainly made me feel better than lying in bed thinking about all the unfinished business I had to do, or mulling over something that had not gone off the way I had hoped it would.

It also reminded me that the routine days, the days when my energy went into the menial tasks that all mothers and workers of the world do- grocery shopping, preparing meals, cleaning / tidying the house, practicing piano with your child, reading with your kids, seeing to the family’s health and dental appointments, business paperwork, bookkeeping…. this stuff was actually the important stuff, the stuff that keeps your life and that of your families positively moving forward.

What I jotted down in my heart shaped notebook;

-‘Made a healthy family dinner’.

-‘Felt really tired so listened to my body and spent time resting in the backyard’.

-‘Completed my blog post’.

-‘Reviewed our financial investments-hard mental work!’

-‘Made fish for dinner (healthy)’.

-‘Washed dog after dog park.’

-‘Completed a tough workout at the gym despite my plantar fasciitis’.

-‘Visited with my niece / family -brought my niece her birthday present’.

-‘Had good coaching session with client X, then shopped for groceries’.

Not earth shattering stuff is it?

But it made me feel good to write these things down. Even if I got into bed somewhat discouraged because I hadn’t accomplished as much as I had wanted to do, or because I got bogged down on a tech problem, or was exhausted from the constant activity that comes with being a Mom to young kids- through this practice I was forced to stop, be mindful, and identify out at least one positive aspect of the day.

Yay! – ‘I did get a healthy dinner on the table tonight’, I would say to myself.

Message: I am caring for my family.

Yay! -‘I completed my blog post’.

Message: I am making my work a priority and putting in the time.

Yay! -‘I was tired, so I took a nap’.

Message: Despite having a bunch of stuff to do, I cared for myself and rested.

Don’t Have a Self-Love Practice?

Steal this one please!!!!

And today (and maybe for the next 30 days if you really want to be good to yourself!), I hope you take a moment and congratulate yourself for all YOU do.

I know life can be tough.

I know you do A LOT.

You are doing SO WELL!…

…and I hope on a consistent basis, you slow down and remind yourself of that.

and if you feel like you have been letting yourself down a bit in the self love department you might want to check out THIS -it’s for Friday April 28th and I have one spot available.

xo

Eliz

The little heart shaped note books we gave out.

The post Why I am doing so well and YOU are too! (Self Love Sunday) appeared first on Elizabeth Ritchie Counselling & Coaching Services.

There can never be enough flowers! (especially in February)

February- the month of all things LOVE. I’m all for romantic love, never ending love, passionate love,  devoted love, star crossed love etc. but I’m here to to tell you that there is something more important that needs to be in place first, before you can have that ideal partnership or a gorgeous, love infused life.

Can you guess what it is?

I bet you can.

Yes, it’s SELF LOVE.

In The Name Of Love (not the U2 song- self love!)

Now maybe I’m stating the obvious here but often self love is an afterthought (particularly with women).

Unfortunately there was a period in my life where I wasn’t a great practitioner of the art of self love and it wasn’t pretty!

Basically it was a sobbing on the bathroom floor, shlepping around in sweat pants, not bothering to touch up my roots, no energy to see friends, overwhelmed with life type of situation, one I am not in a hurry to recreate!

I sometimes see the self love deficit in my clients.

They are smart, successful, loving, generous women who tend to put the needs of their partners, children, parents / family members, and sometimes even coworkers and bosses, ahead of what they need, and with fuzzy boundaries they wind up feeling depressed or resentful (or both).

As you go about your busy life I want to ensure that you are seeing to YOUR needs, which are just as important as the needs of your loved ones (if not more!).

Why Self Love is Priority 1!

If you are practicing self love, you then have the energy, the health, the mind set, the sense of generosity to love your partner, your family, your community and basically, the world.

(*The other day I did a Facebook Live video on this very subject which you can see HERE – scroll down on my feed to find it if you are interested.)

As a mom I know that if I am not taking care of myself properly I can end up irritated and snappy with my kids. This is a red flag for me that I need to take some sort of action whether that is to get out of the house, take an exercise class, have some alone time and meditate, be surrounded by nature -whatever I need to get me back to feeling good.

However the trick is not to let it get to that ‘red flag’ point- preventative medicine girlfriend!

My Valentine’s Gift to You! …

…A Check List For Feeling Good

Whether you are partnered up or flying solo, below is a list of nurturing, pampering things you can do to care for yourself this Valentines Day (and EVERY day!).

To help you slow down and calm down-

-Meditate

-Walk a labyrinth

-Sit outside in nature and observe the wildlife around you

-Light a candle and focus on your breath, breathing deeply

-Take a yoga class

-If you are so inclined, check out a church service or just visit one to sit in silence

-Get yourself a colourful pack of pencil crayons and color a mandala

My mindfulness mandala colouring book

To give yourself an energetic boost…

-Buy your self a gorgeous bouquet of flowers

-Allow yourself to be pampered, go and get your hair blown out or arrange for a pedicure, and for fun pick a nail polish color that is totally outside your comfort zone!

-Book a massage, and if that is too pricey do it yourself! Give yourself a neck or foot massage with some fragrant oils. Studies show that a foot massage before bed can enhance your sleep.

-Splurge on some beautiful lingerie (no saggy butt grama panties!). By taking your wardrobe and self care up a notch you send subliminal messages to your soul that YOU matter!

-Snuggle up in a soft blanket with a good book and a cup of hot tea (To really get that cozy vibe going I recommend Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series set in the snowy and picturesque Quebec Townships or ‘The Nest’ by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney (book pictured below)- it’s a raw but funny read.

-De- clutter an area of your house, preferably a spot that you view frequently. Place a beautiful object there or fresh flowers and get a ‘hit’ of pleasure every time your eyes rest on that spot.

-Sit down for a delicious meal (even if its just for you!), use your best dishware, glasses and cloth napkins -light a candle and savour your food.

-Redecorate a dreary space, rearrange the furniture, paint, shop for an ‘inspirational’ object that you can decorate around. Don’t put up with areas in your home that bring you down (This is an area I need to work on big time!).

This was a Christmas present from Steve and I loved it!

To shift your mind set-

-Call a good friend for a chat or meet up for coffee

-Watch, view, listen to UPLIFTING things (banish the news, political social media stuff, horror flicks etc.). TED Talks can expand your world, comedies are good for the soul and Netflix has the sumptuous series ‘The Crown’ with clothes and sets that are guaranteed to take you out of your head space and into the world of Queen Elizabeth II!

-Go to a bookstore and pick out a book or magazine that you don’t typically read. If you generally read mysteries, try one of the classics or sci- fi. If you usually buy Oprah’s ‘O’ magazine pick up ‘National Geographic’ instead and allow yourself to be amazed by cultures and animals from the far corners of the globe.

-Get the focus off your own life and help someone else. Volunteer your time in some way. If you don’t have the time, donate to a charity that has meaning for you. Make cookies for your elderly neighbour, offer to walk a friends dog, check in on someone who may be isolated. Helping others is a wonderful thing and it helps us feel good too!

The inner fix-

-If your head feels about to burst, pull out a pen and your journal. Try ‘stream of consciousness’ writing like Julia Cameron describes in her or start book The Artist’s Way, or start a dream journal. Write down whatever snippets from your dream you can recall. Review your journals from time to time to capitalize on the wisdom that you will find there. Often our subconscious knows things waaaaaay before we do!

-Watch your self talk! Sometimes we can be beating ourselves down without even being aware of it. If something is bothering you try to pin point what the issue is. Instead of fixating on what isn’t working in your life, focus on what IS working and direct your attention to what you want to have happen in the future.

Say things to yourself like;

‘Only good things happen to me…’

‘Things may be challenging now but I will figure it out as I go along…’

‘Won’t it be wonderful when_______happens’.

Self care to the max!-

-If you are struggling don’t white knuckle it by going it alone. Hire someone to assist you, get yourself a counsellor or coach.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or stuck in your life that is my speciality! In my Overwhelmed to Optimal coaching program I work with clients privately to get them unstuck and back on track to creating their BEST lives.

Snowshoeing on Mt. Seymour with my pal Kathryn – gorgeous scenery on a blue sky day!

Wishing you much ‘joie de vivre’ (‘a cheerful enjoyment of life’) this February! 

So there is my Valentine’s gift to you!

I hope todays post reminded you of the importance of SELF LOVE -before anything else, and showed you the many ways we can care for ourselves daily.

xo

Eliz

PSIf you are a local woman (Vancouver, BC area) there are just a few spots left for our afternoon coaching workshop based on concepts from Glennon Doyle Melton’s bestselling book ‘Love Warrior’ if you would like to join us Feb. 19th in Ocean Park.  Click here for full details.

The post Warning! If You Don’t Do This One Thing Then You Can’t Have A Great Life appeared first on Elizabeth Ritchie Counselling & Coaching Services.