Alright, listen. You’re either reading this because you have been wanting to go the capsule wardrobe route, or you are reading it because you are a clothing addict like me and you’re like, “no way.”
…The Capsule Wardrobe For Clothing Addicts
Mompreneur
Your Presence Is Their Present
I remember one of my friends saying this YEARS ago in reference to Jesus— that His presence is our present. (Shoutout to YOU if you are reading).
At that time it was a very stirring statement, but like all novel things and revelations, over time it became less of a wowing revelation and more common knowledge in my life.
…Don’t Lose Your Identity In Motherhood
Anybody else out there spend your entire life dreaming of becoming a mom? For as far back as I can remember, I looked forward to having babies. I had very vivid dreams of my life as a mom, and longed for the fulfillment of that dream. Even still, I had equally vivid dreams of other things in the midst of parenthood. While I never wanted a “career” in the conventional sort of way, I knew I wanted to “do something” with my life beyond being a mom. And if you are reading this and thinking that being a mom is doing something with your life, you are right! My point today isn’t that being a mom isn’t enough, or that it cannot be your identity. My point is that too many women lose their identity in motherhood, and it doesn’t have to happen.
You see, when I was a child, I loved all the babies. I wanted them all. I imagined my life as a mom, and I loved everything I saw. I wanted nothing more than to raise children. But I also saw so much more than that. I didn’t see myself as a mom who just stayed at home and cleaned the house all day… and I certainly didn’t see myself folding piles of laundry and ironing my husband’s work shirts all day every day (because that wouldn’t be a dream, it would be a nightmare).
I saw myself continuing to dream even after my dream of becoming a mom was fulfilled.
I saw myself continuing to be my own person rather than living through my children. And I never dreamed I would lose my identity in motherhood….
Dear Everyone, I’m A Fraud
Something happened a few months ago. I can’t fully explain it, but it pretty much went down like this: I suddenly started caring way more about what other people think. I’d love to say I have always been someone who lets things roll off my shoulders, but unfortunately, that would be a lie. I lived most of my life really caring, as in it really mattered to me what others thought about me. And then somewhere along the way, by the grace of God and God alone, I stopped caring so much. It was a good thing. I suddenly realized that the opinions of others don’t define me. And with that, I realized that life is too short to worry what other people think. And while I still allowed others to have a voice in my life, I held tight to that truth- that the opinions of others don’t define me.
But then, without warning, that detrimental people pleasing spirit snuck up from behind. No warning. Nothing. Just like that, I was my old people pleasing, people fearing self. I no longer believed that the opinions of others don’t define me….
4 Tools That Took My Business To The Next Level
Y’all, I seriously cannot even begin to explain the excitement I have with the momentum in my business right now. And who do I have to thank for that? Y’all! Seriously, y’all have loved me and supported me and believed in me like no other, and I am forever grateful. Because I love sharing, and I really believe in community over competition, I want to give back and share with y’all the four tools that took my business to the next level. Before I share, however, I want to clarify something. This is not a “how to blog” blog post, and that will never be the direction I take. I feel like bloggers often feel like that’s the only way to make money, and therefore shift gears and neglect who they really are. I will never sacrifice who I am or lose focus for the sake of money. The four tools that took my business to the next level are tools that took me there within my niche. I believe these tools are fundamental and can take any blogger, within any niche, to the next level and bring a great deal of success.
Alright, so here we go. I hope these tools carry you to the next level, whatever your niche or area of expertise may be!…
The 3 Biggest Challenges With Working From Home
This one is for all of my work-from-home friends, and especially for the ones with babies! While working from home is the ultimate dream for many people, there’s a challenging side that many people neglect to see. It definitely is my dream come true, but for me, working from home has taken a lot of discipline and a lot of effort. And again, while this post is geared towards other mamas, the challenges that come with working from home are certainly not exclusive to mamas.
For all of the work-from-home mamas out there, you know that babies can be entirely unpredictable at times. Even the most routined babies can be inconsistent, so it can create a great deal of challenges when working from home. But if we take a step back, and eliminate children from the picture, the challenges are present before we add the kiddos to the equation.
The nature of working from home is one in which there are numerous distractions as well as a lack of accountability in the midst of those distractions. Whether it’s the laundry, the dinner you needed to start an hour ago, the buzzing Facebook notifications, or even the ability to work in your jammies and be more relaxed, there are distractions everywhere….
How Jealousy Is Holding You Back
A few months ago I posted a simple thought on Facebook. It was something like, “being jealous of another person’s success won’t make you successful. It will only make you bitter.” I was pondering the issue of my own jealousy, but also the jealousy of others.
As I thought about jealousy and what it really is, I realized that there is nothing about being jealous that will make you successful. There is literally zero benefit in envying another person’s situation.
I also said, “we need to stop envying others and start learning from them.”
Because that’s the thing, we could learn so much from others if we weren’t busy being jealous.
But too often, we occupy our minds and our thought life with jealousy. We envy another person’s success rather than seeking our own. We literally waste time casting judgements in our minds and speaking negativity over another person’s success.
We waste all that time envying what another person has and being jealous of their accomplishments when we could be devoting all that time and head space to our own dreams and desires….
The Five Step Plan To Turning Your Dreams Into Reality
Any other crazy dreamers out there? If so, can we be friends because I live in daydream land 97.3 percent of the time and I’d love to know if I have any neighbors…
But seriously, if you know anything about the enneagram, I am a BIG FAT SEVEN.
I am always, always looking forward to the next big thing. I am always dreaming up something big and trying to figure out how I can make it happen. They affectionately call us sevens “the enthusiasts.” That’s because we (sevens) are extremely excited about almost anything that catches our attention. And it’s true. I am absolutely exhilarated by the rush of ideas.
If that’s you, you know how it feels. It’s so exciting, yet it can become so overwhelming to have so many dreams with zero direction. The weight of the desire to see your dreams turn to reality can quickly result in frustration if you don’t know where to start. I know, because I have been there so many times. I have had a dream and a vision, yet zero clarity and direction. I have wanted to make things happen but haven’t known how. I have even started things without strategy and direction only to get stuck. I have been stuck for long enough at times that I have just given up. Sometimes I get stuck for so long that I just give up.…
How to Start a WordPress Blog with Bluehost
Hey everyone! Laura here, per usual. If you’re a regular reader, you might be wondering why I am introducing myself when I am the only writer at cleanchefmessymom! Well, that’s because today I am super lucky to have an amazing guest post on my site… and now you’re wondering who it is. It’s the one and the only love of my life, amazing husband, and father to my baby. And why am I having him write? Well, over the last few weeks I have had dozens of you reach out to me asking how I turned my blog into a full time business. I know you really want the nitty-gritty monetization tips, but in order to even work with those tips, you need to know how to set up a blog. Daniel will discuss this, but one thing people often misunderstand is how blogging as a business works. If you really want to make money, there’s only so much you can do with “blogging” platforms such as blogspot, wordpress.com, and Wix. If you really want to build your blog into a business, you need to learn how to build it and host it yourself! And that’s where my knowledge ends, so without wasting any more time, here is my husband and tech expert.…
