Courtney Elmer’s main passion in life (other than her hubby, adorable baby and dark chocolate) is helping busy mompreneurs go from scattered moms to super moms. Achieving success without the stress can seem impossible when you’re juggling a family, your personal life, your daily chores and tasks, and a business. However, Courtney mission is to help moms understand that they can have it all and do it in a way that won’t make them want to pull their hair out.
So what does it take for you to get there? Well for Courtney it took a major health crisis to make her stop and look at how hectic and overworked her life was. Her stress manifested in a way that threatened her life, and she knew it was time for a change.
Courtney shared that she doesn’t want other women to wait for a health crisis, for a financial crisis or mental burnout for them to take charge and make a change in their lives. If you feel that you’re at the end of your rope and don’t know how to turn things around to make your life what you want it to be again, then I encourage you to take note of all the fantastic things Courtney shares in this episode. Her message is so powerful and everything she did for herself you can do too, so let this be the sign you needed to make it happen and create that future you’ve been dreaming of.
Start with figuring out what your unique gifts and talents are:
We all remember being at camp or in a new class when we had to go around the room and tell everyone something interesting about ourselves I’ll be honest; I absolutely hated this exercise. It felt like some unspoken competition where you had to one-up what the last person said…and that was if you could even think of anything to say. I always struggled with what I would say because I was so focused on what I thought everybody else would find “cool” or “interesting.” I wasn’t thinking about myself and what made me unique.
When you’re feeling lost, and you are searching for how you can make an impact on this world, go back to that 5th-grade exercise and ask yourself that question of what makes you interesting. Your first instinct might be to say “nothing,” but I’m here to tell you that that isn’t an acceptable answer so keep trying. Whether you realize it or not, there are unique qualities and talents in all of us; it’s just a matter of having the bravery, grace, and insight to notice them.
Courtney realized that she had all of the talents that she wasn’t using that could be formed into a business to serve and help other women. It took some deep introspection, but she was able to recognize what she was good at (and what she liked to do) and was able to figure out a way to make that a career.
Don’t get discouraged if this is hard for you. It’s hard for everyone unless your a narcissist (and let’s be honest their evaluations of themselves are rarely accurate.) If you are struggling with coming up with something, go to your family and friends and ask them what are some qualities about you that they admire or what they think you’re good at. Sometimes it takes an outside opinion for us to open our eyes to our strengths.
“Success” means something different for everyone:
Since we are young, our culture is imposing beliefs on us, and eventually, we end up thinking those beliefs are the norm. Whether they are inherently true to us or not, we strive to adhere to those norms and fit our life and our views into that box. “success” is a cultural norm that has become synonymous with big houses, fancy cars, designer clothes, private jets and basically what you see on every Real Housewife show. However, that definition of success might not align with the kind of life you are trying to build for yourself.
You can go after and achieve all of those things that make you “successful,” but if it’s not aligned with your true purpose, then you’re going to end up feeling empty and will spend your life always searching for something else to fill you up.
Balance is a lie:
We all have heard the term “work-life balance.” Ok great, but what the hell is that? To many people, they think the Instagram and Pinterest moms who have all the perfect outfits, the beautiful home, and the well-behaved baby are the ones who’ve figured out that balance. Maybe they have for them, but I know that no matter how hard I try my life will never look like that so their idea of balance wouldn’t work for me.
We spend our lives chasing after this idea of “balance,” and we put our dreams on hold for “one day when…x,y,z.”
The truth is, that idea there is one definition of “balance” is a lie. It’s going to be different for everyone, and that’s ok! Moral of the story, don’t get caught up in what everyone else is saying you should do. Your balance and what works for you is going to look vastly different than anyone else, so my suggestion is to try out a few different options to see what fits. Trail and error will teach you what doesn’t work first so don’t get discouraged. Eventually, you’ll find harmony between everything you do in your life, and you’ll know that you won’t be burnt out at the end of the day.
Resource List:
Jennifer Fulwiler- One Beautiful Dream
Get In Touch:
https://www.courtneyelmer.com/
https://www.courtneyelmer.com/take-the-quiz/
https://www.instagram.com/CourtneyElmer_/
