Episode 53: How to Start Living Your Best Life (Today)
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You’ve heard the phrase “she’s living her best life”—but what does that really mean when you're juggling deadlines, daycare pickups, and dinner plans?
In this episode, Katelyn explores what it looks like for working moms—and why it might not require a big career change, a vacation abroad, or even more hours in your day. If you’re tired of just making it through each day and want to be someone who feels like she's living her best life, this episode will give you a fresh perspective along with practical next steps.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why this phrase sticks with us (and what it really means)
How to spot the gap between surviving and living
Real-life examples of joy that don’t require a life overhaul
A powerful journaling prompt to get you unstuck
How to take one small step toward your version of your best life
links & resources mentioned in this episode:
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You are listening to the Life Coach for Working Moms podcast, the show where we are talking about what it actually takes to make life work as a working mom. I'm your host, Katelyn Denning, a full time working mom of three and a certified life and executive coach. I'm so glad you're here and I hope you enjoy this week's episode.
Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I don't know where you are right now or if you're experiencing the heat wave that we are experiencing here or in so many places in the US right now, but this weekend a friend of mine invited us to go to her pool.
And of course we said, yes, it's so hot. What are you gonna do otherwise? And. We were having a great time. We ended up staying for hours way longer than we anticipated, but at one point my daughter was essentially being carried around the pool by my friend's daughter, who's a little bit older, and my daughter was just laying back in the water, relaxing with her arms stretched out, and her eyes closed.
And my friend looked over to me and she said, she is really living her best life right now. And I feel like I've been thinking about that comment or that phrase, ever since living your best life. So often when I am telling someone about the work that I do, whether they are a working mom or or not, actually, I'd say more so to the people who are not working moms, and they're asking me, what is it exactly that you help your clients with?
Their assumption is planning and time management and efficiency. And yes, we do all of those things in my one-on-one and group coaching, but we do all of those things because really at the heart of what so many of my clients want is to truly live their lives. They want to live their best life. They want to.
Enjoy their family and be present with their kids for the years that we have. They want to have great relationships and memories that they're creating. They want to have fun. They wanna take care of themselves so they can be there for all of it. And for many of my clients, they do want to work. There is a part of either their current role or their field or just the act of contributing or. Solving problems using that part of their brains that they enjoy as well, and they want to do work that they feel proud of.
And so I couldn't think of a better phrase to encapsulate what we are ultimately trying to do. When we look at your time and your calendar and your to-do list and your responsibilities and how to balance it all, it's so that you can live your best life.
I'm curious if you think about that phrase, which again, I, I think has become one that I hear at least I hear uttered more frequently. When did you hear it last? Or when did you use it last? So, my daughter in the pool is a great example. I hear it a lot when I am around parents or families with. Young kids, I'm picturing toddlers who are just running around or the kids who are wearing their.
Princess dress or a tutu or a superman cape, or they're dancing, or they're spinning, or they're, laughing and just enjoying life as toddlers do. Maybe that's your toddler right now. I think of that phrase being uttered when you see someone accomplishing something. Like recently a friend of mine who posted a picture about completing a big race.
Or as my parents and my friend's parents are in that retirement age, when you hear about a retiree taking a big trip or traveling abroad or going to do whatever it is that they do now that they have all of this time, they're living their best life.
Or in the business world, I know I have used that phrase when looking at a fellow business owner who seems to be posting about all of the spontaneous fun that they're having in the middle of the day because they create their own schedule. Now all of these people we say are living their best life.
It's a fun phrase. It's an encouraging phrase. It's supportive. It's a little trendy, but what does it actually mean? If we think about those examples that I just rattled off, and you think about the toddler, right? That toddler has no inhibition.
They don't even know that anyone is watching. They are just in the moment enjoying whatever it is that they want to enjoy. Just freedom, expression and pure silliness. If you think about the athlete, someone who's finished a big race or challenge for themselves, it's accomplishing a major goal, conquering a physical challenge.
Or the retiree who's taking advantage of their new schedule, experiencing new things, not having to worry about work or routines. And then there's the business owner who's living a creative, spontaneous, and flexible life supported by a business that he or she created.
If I'm being honest, when I even list some of those things out, I'm like, Ooh, I almost feel a little jealous living your best life. I want that.
What is it about these particular scenarios that I. Made me or someone around me say she is living her best life,
and I'm starting to think or realize that it's not actually about. The activity that the person is doing when we think, oh, they're living their best life. It's not actually about the travel or the triathlon or dancing in your tutu, like no one is watching or having this spontaneous, flexible, creative life.
I think it's actually about how they feel about their life in that moment and how it makes us feel when we look at that person enjoying their life so much.
Because regardless of what you're doing, training, travel, dancing. Or even if it's just parenting, working your nine to five or taking care of the mundane parts of life that we all have to take care of. If you love it, if you enjoy it on the whole, if you are grateful for it, that shows. That shows, and that is something that not only you feel, but others around you feel as well.
We notice people who are soaking up moments like it's their best life, like this is what they would choose to do no matter what. That's what attracts others to what you're doing to who you are and what makes someone say she's living her best life. Look at her
if you are regularly complaining. I. You feel stressed more often than not. You feel tired most of the time if you are just trying to make it through. That feels to you and everyone around you like the opposite of your best life.
I will be the first person to tell you that your life is about you. It's not about what other people see or think about you. We do a lot of work with clients around other people's expectations of us and other people's thoughts and stories about us, and at the end of the day, we can't control that and it doesn't actually matter.
But that kind of life where you are stressed and tired and just making it through, most of the time, it can't feel good even to you now. I'm not saying you should be living your best life every moment of every day. That is unrealistic. And there are days in every week, even in my own life where I feel tired and have stress or catch myself complaining about the mundane parts of adulting that I have to do.
But this is about the bigger picture and the every days and how do you feel more often than not?
So if you agree with me that other people's thoughts, stories, opinions, expectations of you, don't matter
whether or not someone else believes you are living your best life isn't what we're after here. What we're after is about you believing that you are you believing that you are living your best life.
So now that I've got you thinking about this concept, what does it feel like? Why do we say that about other people? What are we noticing? What are their actions bringing up in us? How are they making us feel?
I'd love for you to get curious about what it would look like to live your best life. Seriously. Have you ever thought about that? If you believed you were living your best life. What would that look like? What would that feel like? If you are someplace where you have access to a pen and paper, or even just the notes app on your phone, write out that question, what would living my best life look and feel like?
And if you're driving and you can't do that, try to remember it for later. To come back to and think about that. What ideas do you have? What comes to mind about what living your best life would be like? Would it include travel? And would that feel like curiosity and exploration?
Would it be enjoying your job? What does it feel like to enjoy your job? Would it be taking a random Tuesday and going to the playground or the zoo with your kids? What does that feel like? Would living your best life be volunteering in your kids' classroom? Would it be reading more novels? Would it be running a marathon or going out regularly on date nights with your husband?
Would it be more adventures and spontaneous outings? Would it be family game nights where everybody is having so much fun around a board game? Would it be starting your own business? Would it be just simply dancing, laughing, or singing out loud from the big dreams to the everyday experiences? What would it look like to live your best life?
I wanna challenge you that maybe living your best life wouldn't take a ton of investment or a complete overhaul of how you do life. It could be as simple as choosing to spend your time a little bit differently. It probably includes appreciating what you have and choosing again, recommitting to what you already have,
and I bet it could include doing more of what you love. I.
From smiling a bit more when you are enjoying something, to being more present in your relationships, to creating some space for yourself, for your interests, for what is fun for you,
and those are all shifts that you can make today. Without needing a new job or to spend money on a trip or anything else that takes a big investment. You can live your best life starting today, and you can make progress toward an even better, best life by starting today. You just have to know what that looks like.
What your best life feels like, and then commit to doing more of that. Commit to creating space to do more of that.
The work of creating space. Making time for the things that you enjoy, that you love, so that you can look back on your life and say, I really did live my best life. That is what we do inside my group coaching program. Beyond Balance, I'm gonna be opening the doors to the next cohort of this group in just another month or so.
And if you are interested, you want to be the first to know the details of what that's going to look like. I would love for you to submit a quick application for the group and you can do that over at themothernurture.com/interest. Again, that's themothernurture.com/interest. To learn more about my time training and coaching program Beyond Balance,
where I help you live your best life.
All right. As always, you can find any of the links and details about this podcast episode in the show notes over at themothernurture.com/podcast. And if you enjoyed this episode, please make sure you're subscribed. Leave me a rating or review. Over on Apple Podcasts or share it with a friend. Your sharing of this podcast means so much to me and I love hearing the stories of friends, colleagues, other working moms that you have sent this to because you know it's exactly what they need.
All right, I will talk with you in the next episode. Until then, take care and I hope you're out living your best life.
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