Four Ways to Feel Better Without Spending a Dime

Croissants always make life rosy!
Coffee + croissant = think time

LOVES!! How are you?

To be honest, I’m feeling more excited about my  work life than I have in a long time. You know that feeling, when you get to do the thing that makes you come alive? As in, you would do it probably even if you didn’t get paid? This is the season I feel like I am stepping into.

And a HUGE part of this is because of the Resilient Entrepreneur e-course Sarah and I are launching in ONE WEEK, May 3!! Ahhhh! Y’all, we are doing it! And FYI, the early bird $35 rate ENDS SATURDAY, so sign up today!

But, if you wait until after Saturday and pay the $75, you do get a surprise goody in the mail with your registration. So there’s that!

But back to today. The thought life part of our e-course is (between us) my favorite section. Before I did the research and study for our mindset teaching, and living with what felt like chronic anxiety and fear about my job, I just assumed stress was normal. Ending every day feeling like your head had been put through the ringer was par for the course of entrepreneurship. Overwhelm was something you just had to get through. I believed if I worried enough, somehow the effort was going to catapult me into another financial stratosphere.

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Bigbsy and I on what I call a “walk and pray” to clear my head

Wow, how wrong I was!

What I learned, PRAISE the LORD, is that pressure, overwhelm, anxiety- is a lie. We are not (literally, physically are bodies are not designed) for chronic stress. We are made to live in health! To feel good, do good, have faith, think the best possible outcomes about the future. Worry does NOT pay the bills- but positivity can.

And that’s what Sarah and I talked about last night- 4 Ways to Feel Better Without Spending a Dime.  Here are our notes!

Baking is a huge stress reliever and mindset reframe for me!
Baking is a huge stress reliever and mindset reframe for me!

Drop worry today! As in, THIS very MOMENT!

  • YOU control how you feel. You are not powerless!
  • Worry does not pay the bills. Worrying “enough” (aka the American mindset) does not earn you anything but stress and negative health outcomes!
  • Worry is nearly always negative speculation and self-sabatoage.
  • Worry takes energy away from doing the positive things you are made to do!
  • Identify if it’s a worry thought. Ask yourself questions like: is this within my control? Is there anything I can practically do to resolve this?

Declutter Your Space.

  • Overwhelm and worry can make us feel paralyzed. Check yourself before you wreck yourself and do something active instead!
  • It’s amazing how when your office or desk is clean, you feel your brain relax and recharge.
  • Clean your space every Friday, or take a 20 minute break and organize your desk.

Reframe how you think about the crappy things that happened to you.

  • Make a list of five things that frustrate you. Do a deep dive and journal to reframe those things!
  • Reverse the perspective- Why are you better, stronger, or smarter? How have these things benefited you?
  • Life is seasonal! As cheesy as it sounds, the sun always shines after it rains. Trust that things are working out for you.
  • Remind yourself that this is a work in progress but YOU have the choice on how you communicate your circumstances. Use words to add hope and life to your situation.
  • Choose gratitude when crappy feelings come up and you will feel empowered instead of victimized.
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Bonus points for taking time to treat yourself!

Stair step, don’t leap!

  • Appreciate emotional stepping stones as progress! Leaping isn’t genuine.
  • Ask yourself: what could I do to feel just a little bit better? This question is more empowering and “doable” than trying to make a dramatic shift and feeling like you can’t.

Ok guys. YOU inspire me! I hope you have the most peace and gratitude-filled weekend. Go on a walk and eat a slice of cake! Annnnddd let me know if any of these strategies help in the comments below!

 

 

Four Ways to Reclaim Your Impact!

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IMPACT.

That word rings loudly in my head these days! For someone quickly rounding the corner to 33 and with five years under my belt as an entrepreneur, I’ve done a lot of thinking about this.

Like- what exactly do I want my impact to be? What do I truly care about, at my core? What makes me uniquely me?

And the same goes for you. What are your values? What’s important to you? What impact do you want to have?

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These are the people (and Bigbsy) that I want to impact and live life with!

Because I know, my dear Luv Cooks readers, that besides our collective love of food, there are lots of other loves in our lives too. For me,  I’m realizing more everyday what I want the impact of my entrepreneurial life to be. I want people to feel loved, encouraged- like they experienced a bit more JOY in their day than they otherwise would have through encountering either myself, my videos or my recipes.

I also realize that there are LOTS of things that vie for our attention. I mean- the emails, the family events, social obligations, community or work shin digs, chores, texts, facebook messages- you get it.

But here’s the thing that Sarah and I talked about last night on our Instagram live teaching: you don’t HAVE TO allow these other things- the things you don’t really care about, I mean deeply, at your core- to ruin the impact you want to have in your life. That’s right, I said “allow those things.” We actually have a choice- to choose to pursue the things we are uniquely gifted at, to build the dreams only we can accomplish- or, we don’t. We choose other things instead. And the missing key for us to BUILD THE IMPACT that we want? One word: boundaries.

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I’m learning to say NO to distractions so I can say YES to quality time with my hubs!

Boundaries are a game-changer.

Boundaries define us. Literally- they allow us to communicate to the world where we end and others begin. They teach us to take responsibility for our decisions because WE (not other people) are the ones who have to deal with the consequences. They give us freedom to decide to do the things that make us happy and others’ lives better (it’s soo good y’all, what we are going to teach about boundaries in our course!!)

So, to help us ALL develop that boundary-setting skill a bit more (because it’s VITAL to our impact) Sarah and I  came up with a list of the TOP 4 WAYS to RECLAIM your impact for GOOD!

KNOW YOUR VALUES

  • What’s important to you?
  • What annoys you? You VALUE the opposite of this!

KNOW YOUR GOALS

  • What do you want to accomplish this year?
  • What feels exciting to complete?

KNOW YOUR LIMITS

  • How to spot when a boundary is crossed?
  • Check your “emotional check engine light”- You may feel disappointed, insecure, exhausted, angry, unhappy

SET BOUNDARIES

  • Make a conscious rule to protect your values and goals
  • Start slow with small “no’s” (i.e. if a restaurant gets your order or coffee wrong, send it back)
  • This teaches us NOT to ultimately care what people think
  • These decisions build self-worth and confidence, which leads to impact!

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Take Action Challenge:

Look at your list of goals, and pick one. Actively set a boundary around that. What will you say no to and yes to, to ensure it will happen?

*Take a goal, then turn it into a rule. Add it to your schedule! 

Also, don’t miss, FOR FREE, this Reclaim Your Impact boundary-setting worksheet! We included it in our teaching last night and it is CLUTCH for making those boundary commitments LAST!

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                                                  Bigbsy’s future is so bright he needs shades

Also, we will both be going into much more detail on boundaries and impact during our 3-week Resilient Entrepreneur course! You can register and check out more info on the ways we are going to teach you to be an overcomer here. Happy weekend my loves!!

 

 

 

 

 

Top 4 Energy Drains & How To Solve Them!

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My self-care for the week: this Vietnamese salad from The Kitchn

You guys! How are you this week? In particular- how is your energy?

To be honest- since the beginning of the year, mine has been lagging. For those of you who follow the blog, you know how much I LOVE to encourage people. In fact- it’s why I started this blog, to share the love and passion I have for food. And really that love is a love for people, to make them happy and excited about life through the things THEY can make.

But to be real, I haven’t been able to do much of that this year. I felt like my impact was getting buried in the day-to-day tasks of running a food styling/photography/recipe development business. So, my friend Sarah Deshaw and I started talking- why were we both feeling drained? Like we were out of sync, a bit burnt out and distracted? Why did I feel like I wasn’t making the financial and spiritual impact that I wanted to create?

And then, a light bulb moment. If we were feeling this way, surely other people were too. I mean, how many of us have gotten to the end of the week (or weeks, or months) and wondered what we actually accomplished? I mean, crossing of to-do lists are great, but did those things make us feel like we were coming alive? Is our life now better than it was a month ago?

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We decided to do something about it, and have now spent months developing a course called The Resilient Entrepreneur. This course has been life-changing for me as a businessperson. It has become Sarah and I’s way to help us all to THRIVE despite what our businesses look like today- to actually love our lives as entrepreneurs again, to make impact on the things that matter to us, to feel better than we ever have.

Energy Drains!

Over the course of the next few weeks I’ll be sharing more details, but for now, I’d LOVE to for you to check out an Instagram Live teaching Sarah and I did last night on the Top 4 Energy Drains for Entreprenuers and How to Solve Them. This teaching is ahhhmazing, and hints and some of the content our course will center around. You can find it HERE on her story, and also download NOTES from the teaching HERE . AND because you made it all the way to the end of this post- a link to our EARLY BIRD sign up rate for the course, $35. I promise it will be worth every single penny (and I know how precious your pennies are, because mine are too!)

Alright my loves- enjoy this fantastic content, and I pray that this weekend, you get to REST. That you take a full 24 hours to simply enjoy your life and do NO work. Because you are fabulous and I want to see you succeed for the long haul.

Happy Friday!

 

Vegan, GF and Paleo FUN in Fort Collins, Colorado

I ADORE grocery stores, especially stores that have lots of options for those of us who are on specific eating plans. Whether you can’t have gluten, or cow’s milk dairy, or meat- I GET IT, and for a girl from Alabama, Colorado blew my mind for all of the fabulous offerings for alternative eating!

On today’s video I highlight some of the most awesome stores, products and creative food to grace my path while I was in Fort Collins food- styling for a breakfast chain. From Wild and Free kombucha, to vegan butter and the best vegan chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had, some of these products may even be found near you!

***And just to be clear, NOT EVERYTHING on this list fits paleo, gluten-free and vegan eating, so just check the labels to make sure it works for you!

In case they aren’t at your local grocery store, here is a list of all of the stores/purveyors I mentioned!

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Photo from CoYo’s site. I am obsessed with this beautiful styling!!

Whole Foods Market in Fort Collins
Outrageous gluten-free lemon poppyseed bread:
***Goat cheese gouda
***Vosges mini exotic chocolate bar library
Jilz crackers (LOVE!!!):
All natural Wrawps:
CoYo coconut yogurt:
Natural Grocers:
Miyoko’s creamery mozzarella and butter:
Miss Jones Baking Co:
Revolution Market Fort Collins
Wylder Coffee Co
***Kim and Jake’s gluten-free cookies

Wild and Free kombucha

***Not everything on this list meets all the criteria of vegan, Paleo, and gluten-free, so make sure and check the labels to see if it will work for you!

Spicy Kimchi Soup with Sweet Potatoes

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I have NO shame in confessing my love for kimchi.

This spicy-sweet, Chile-infused Korean nectar of the gods is sooo ahhmazingly delicious (especially when purchased from your local international foods store). In fact, Jake and I have a Korean market down the street from where we live who makes DIVINE kimchi.

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Everyone who reads this blog also knows about my deep love and affection for sweet potatoes. Giiirrrlll can I throw down on some sweet potatoes! In fact, when I was a kid I actually turned orange from eating so many sweet potatoes (just call my mom, Nurse Julie, she can tell you alll about it:)

And of course, as a somewhat obsessed food philanthropist, I want all of y’all to enjoy sweet potatoes and kimchi as much as me. So, here we have our spicy sweet potato kimchi stew. Honestly, it’s delicious hot and cold (perfect for this crazy Nashville weather we are having) and 100% amazing on all fronts.

So hang at your house in your PJS and make some soup people! Love y’all!

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Spicy Sweet Potato and Cabbage Stew (you can also see the full recipe on Bham mag’s site!)
This veggie-centric stew is perfect for cool April nights, and warm April days. The softened sweet potato adds texture to the rich base of sauteed bell pepper, carrot, onion, and garlic. A bit of kimchi cooked through the stew gives a hit of spice; serve with more alongside for a spicier red chili flavor.

Yield: 8 servings

What You Will Need:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups diced sweet onion
  • 1 1/3 cups diced red bell pepper
  • 2 cups chopped carrot
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 6 cups diced sweet potato
  • 7 cups sliced green cabbage
  • 1/2 cup spicy kimchi (or mild, if you like less heat)
  • 6 cups chicken stock (or veggie stock if you are vegan or vegetarian)
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted tomatoes
  • 3 ounces tomato sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Green onions, sliced, for topping
  • Crushed red pepper, for topping

What You Will Do:

  1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in large Dutch oven.
  2. Once hot, add onion, bell pepper, and carrot. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add garlic; stir frequently for 1 minute.
  4. Add next five ingredients; saute 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
  5. Add sweet potato, cabbage, kimchi, chicken stock, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil.
  6. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are softened.
  7. Add Worcestershire sauce and salt. Stir until combined.
  8. Serve warm, topped with sliced green onions and red pepper, if desired. Try adding additional kimchi to each bowl for a spicy kick!