When life feels tough, you know what you don't need to hear? "This too shall pass" or "It could be worse" or "What're you gonna do?" What you need to hear is something more like that sucks. Or maybe - that’s so hard. That might not be what you thought I was going to say but hear me out. This is actually grounded in parenting psychology.

Questions are just your brain being curious. And that's a good thing! It's when you let those questions fester and sit unanswered, that's when you start to question yourself. So if you're feeling doubtful or guilty about anything in your life right now, find the question that needs to be answered and answer it.

As I was coaching a client recently on her feelings of mom guilt, we decided to try out a different word. One that doesn't come with so much weight and the thought that you've done something wrong. We swapped guilt for doubt. Mom doubt. (or just doubt because not everything we experience as moms has to be labeled with the word "mom". No one ever says "dad guilt".) Doubt doesn't mean you've done something wrong. It means you're unsure.

If you're in a season that feels like you have no end in sight, how can you lean in? How can you make it your purpose to go all in on whatever this season requires of you? And if you read last week's email, how can you track where you are today so that your future self can see how far you've come?

I implemented a few simple routines that I could do each week to prioritize my own career growth and ensure that I'd always at least have some ideas about where I was headed and what I was working toward.

In a recent conversation with Allison Tolman on her podcast, New Little Life, we talked about prioritizing and making time for the important things as a busy, working mom, including how to fit pumping into your day-to-day life.

If you have been thinking about how to stop resenting and start loving your partner too, you're not alone. What if you started evaluating all of the other things that you do in a day? You can decide that asking for help and delegating is the fastest way to get what you ultimately want - more time and space in your days.

If you want to join me in journaling and reflecting, here are the prompts I'll be using to guide my thinking. Use one or use them all. But lean into this last week that sits between 2022 and 2023. There will be plenty of time in January to take action. I promise.

When you plan an activity or outing, do you think ahead to the memory it will create? It's kind of like taking a picture to capture a moment so you can have physical evidence to go along with the memory. I love looking back at photos from years past and being reminded of all of the things that we did, the places we visited, and the milestones we crossed. And...I want to remind you that those memories also happen in the little things as well.

What makes you feel alive? That's a question I've been asking myself on repeat ever since I watched one of my clients achieve a BIG goal because it was something that made her feel alive. I have to tell you this story because it's inspiring AF.

“You’re the one who chose to have kids.”

That comment was made over the holiday weekend during a heated discussion about keeping our gathering small because of all the viruses going around our extended family.

And this person, like so many others without kids, sees kids getting sick as the parent’s problem to figure out.

Coasting at work or quiet quitting is getting a lot of air time these days. But the truth is, working parents have gone in and out of phases of coasting for years as we navigate returning from parental leave, co-parenting with a partner's demanding work schedule, or just daycare illness season each fall/winter. It can be necessary at times and life/career-saving too. But what if you're stuck coasting because you think you don't have the time or energy that "leaning in" to your career will take? And what if the truth is, it doesn't take that much more?