Never did I feel more pressure to “do it all” than after becoming a mother.

Lose the pregnancy weight, breastfeed the baby around the clock and ideally for 1-2 years, take care of your man, plan the meals, cook the meals, clean the home, call all the people, keep up with friends, read the books, learn the things, schedule the things, grow the business, make the money…

It’s no wonder women, with children or otherwise, feel like they’re drowning.

I knew I wanted to do motherhood, career and life my way, but I needed to create my own paradigms for how it could—and would—look.

I needed to tune out the world that tells us it has to be hard, sacrificial, less than, or impossible.

That it has to go one way or another, or look a certain way.

That you have to show up differently now, that suddenly you're not the YOU you’ve always been.

That your passions, friendships, ambitions and pay have to all take a backseat.

That you have to be anxious, depleted, and frazzled as you do the things.

There were moments when I felt myself feeding into these messages, and then I remembered who I am.

I’m someone who has always resisted the status quo, despite the tendency I had towards pleasing others.

I’m someone who has always charted my own path, even when I felt insecure and unsure about where I was going.

I’m someone who believes women can have the amazing health, the thriving kids, the happy relationship, and the fulfilling career—even when I once questioned having all of those things at the same time, myself.

That’s what I choose to believe. And what we believe, we can achieve.

There’s no other way I prefer to move through life.

This is what allows me to expand with time—to create more of what feels good to me. Not less.

More closeness with my child, more love in our home, more intimacy in my relationship, more space in the day, more fun in the schedule, more flexibility and strength in my body, more impact with clients, deeper connections, more nourishment to go around for all… there’s always, simply, more.

What’s a belief about your life, or your current situation, that’s no longer serving you? What would you like to believe instead?

As I often say to clients: “Your castle, Your rules.”

The moment we start seeing it that way, everything changes.