Hey hummingbirds,

I’m sitting here still in my pyjamas and (obviously) no makeup. The hair hasn’t seen a brush in an age.

But I have my camera close by and a wild case of nutbaggery (don’t worry, it is probably not contagious. Maybe). SO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS. RIDICULOUS ILLUSTRATED BLOG TO COME.

Don’t disregard the silly as excluding the smart though.

You can have both, ya know. You can be the clown genius shaman anytime you like.

Your kind is well understood here.

Fuck, I can just feel myself ready to jump on a tangent here.

Instead, I’m going to FOCUS ALREADY…

and just write ya the damn blog. YEAH?

If you’re ready to find out how to work less, earn more, get more shit done + have more fun as you do it…

put your hands up! Then put your hands down.

Because you need to scroll.

Now scroll away! And bathe! In Leonie-style productivity hacks that WILL make things more rad for you. High fives!

1. Self Control App

Honestly peeps, I reckon that the reason 98% of us aren’t getting shit done as quickly and easily as it can be is because we are ENDLESS DISTRACTED BY SHINY THINGS.

And by shiny things, I mean the internet.

Yeah yeah, I know I know. I get it. The internet is important. Hey, the internet is where I run my whole business.

But guess what? Being ONLINE is NOT my job.

Nor is it yours.

Get the fuck off the internet + just do your shit already.

And because I know your self control compulsion might be all jacked up on Twitter-anticipation, here’s a handy way to enforce your way into tech-solitude:

Self Control App.

Install it (it’s only for Macs, sorry PC lovers.) Ban all the sites of distraction (FB, Twitter, Instagram + Youtube are all on my ban list). Choose how long you can cope without it. And BAM. TOO BAD FOR YOU. NO MORE INTERNET UNTIL TIME IS UP.

In the meantime, you actually, you know… get the important shit done. Who woulda thunk it?

2. Ye Olde Fashioned Self Control App: Take Self Away From Wi Fi + Have An Artist’s Date

Here’s another handy hint: fuck off to a cafe. Drink (chai) tea + eat (gluten-free) cake.

Steer clear of the joints that give you free wifi. That’s kinda counter productive to the whole shindiggle.

Or head to the museum. Or the park. Hey, I used to do ALL my work up a tree, in a park or trawling cafes.

Give yourself an artist’s date (as coined by the magnificent Julia Cameron). Read more about that kinda goodness here.

Fill your well. Enchant yourself. Get inspired. Pour your miracles out.

3. Engage the Wild Donkey Technique

Seriously, possums. Tell me you know about the Wild Donkey Technique To Getting Shit Done, yeah?

If not, download this little (free) e-book for ya that me + my daughter made for you a couple of years ago!

This shit is seriously world changing… I still get emails about it all the time from happy creatives who are finally getting their miracles finished + out in the world!

Click HERE to download your FREE Project Finisher Ebook!

(Right click or Option click and choose “Save As” or “Download Linked File As”)

4. Keep A Pen + Paper By Your Side

When I’m reading business books, studying education programs, reading the paper, am falling asleep at night or am just out and about… I make sure I keep a pen + paper nearby. That way, whenever I have an idea, I immediately jot it down so it’s out of my head + actionable.

I might have a ginormous brain but I don’t like all its room being taken up with thoughts like

“Must buy brasso next time I’m at the shops so I can clean down all that antique stuff my ma-in-law brought me. Also, I should probably do the polishing of them this weekend. And SHIT I just remembered must book an appointment with my accountant to discuss financial planning. Also: what kind of love affair did Eleanor Roosevelt have with her husband? That might be inspiring. I should read up on that. And holy crap, just remembered, must rewrite all my email autoresponders because they are probably getting old now. Must read up on new potential indigenous health charities based in Australia to support too. And I have to send a card to my bestie. Probably a unicorn one.”

Honestly peeps, that’s exactly how my brain works. That’s like five minutes inside my brain.

And if I tried to remember everything, it’s just not going to fucking happen. I’d feel muddled and anxious all day long.

I pop ALL of these ideas down in my journal in my to do list section. And then when it’s the appropriate time, I cross it all off my list.

And my brain gets to keep all its space for thinking up magical, world-changing ideas. Like this:

5. Don’t stop believing.

As in: don’t spend all your time fucking around, wondering if you’re good enough to do this. Make sure your to do list doesn’t look like this:

TO DO

• Sit around second guessing myself
• Procrastinate because I’m shitting myself with fear
• Look at what everyone else is doing and compare myself mercilessly, convincing myself it’s “research” but really it’s just fodder to make myself feel like secondhand shit.

Instead, your to do list should look like this:

• Have total faith + belief + love for what you are doing
• Do it.

That’s it panda bears.

Go out and do the stuff that matters.

Your work is needed in this world.

Stay focussed, keep the faith, fill the well + pour your miracles out.

All my love,

p.s. if you are reading this in Google Reader, please note that Google Reader will be shutting down on July 1st of this year. To continue to get updated content, please subscribe to my email list (if you haven’t already) which will include a weekly recap of articles written on the blog.

Hola darlinghearts,

Three pieces of inspiration to share with you today.

They all made me gasp with delight.

#1: EVIL HUMANS = INCORRECT

I read this quote on the weekend, and I honestly did a double take when I read it, before squeeing YESSSSSS! It affirms a fundamental principle of humanity that I hold dear.

“Although human beings are capable of being selfish, lustful and aggressive, that is not what they are fundamentally. Beneath the surface, at the psychological and biological core of human nature, we find basic goodness and decency. When people appear to be something other than good and decent, it is only because they are reacting to stress, pain or the deprivation of basic human needs such as security, love and self-esteem.”

- Abraham Maslow

How amazing is that? #soamazing

#2: VERANDAH NEST BEDS ARE THE GREATEST INVENTION IN THE WORLD

BEHOLD:

It was my mother-in-law’s birthday on the weekend. We celebrated by spending pretty much the entire weekend on the verandah, BBQ-ing and eating and talking and reading and blue butterfly spotting. On Sunday afternoon, Starry got a bit overstimulated from the laid-back celebrationfest… so I ended up making her a little nest on her mini trampoline. She curled up on there, surrounded by her beloved puppies + mermaid toy + dog toy + books. And it was the most beautiful sight… one that curled up in my heart.

It honestly felt like such a beautiful affirmation that all the work we’ve done – as a family, in my business, in our lives… to create the life we wanted… it’s come true. And I’m so glad I get to cultivate this life for my daughter. I’m so glad this is her childhood.

Also: now to make a giant nest bed for the Leonie!

#3: MUSIC INSPIRED BY THE LEONIE!

Once upon a time, I sent myself off to boarding school. And honestly peeps, it was one of the best decisions I ever made for myself – I was so tired of being bullied at my old (state-run, small town) high school. It seemed like there was a chronic case of dickheadedness there, and I left so I didn’t catch it.

ANYHEWSLES, I chose a lil boarding school that was out of the way + filled with kids off remote cattle properties around Northern Australia + Papau New Guinea. Everyone there was kind of just nice and excited to have human contact really, so dickheadedness was contained only to those unfortunate ones that were born with it and weren’t able to shake it off.

SO. WHAT I REALLY MEAN TO SAY IS THIS:

I met some really beautiful souls there. One of them was one of the 13 year old girls I looked after (because, you know, I was a totes responsible 16 year old). Leanne was a ridiculously sweet, kind soul with an angel voice. We spent a lot of time hanging out at the music house (she was there to actually, you know, practice music. I was there to practice kissing boys. #justsoyouknow)

Years later we reconnected, and keep weaving magic together.
She’s still making music. She’s the lead singer of an awesome band — LittleLam. (I still practice kissing boys, but there’s only one of them now, and he’s mega hot. Also, probably not classed as a “boy.” #justsoyouknow)

Anyways, Leanne messaged me to let me know she’d written a song after reading this post of mine.

At which point I melted into a puddle of happy.

SO happy to be doing this work. SO happy to be witnessing others doing theirs.

Behold, the magic that is:

How effing rad is life?
#itsthebest

big love,

(Me, in India, knowing I must do what I can to help.)

Hola my treasures,

Something really important to talk about today. This sits near and dear to my heart and soul purpose, and I reckon it does for you too.

I really, really love this world. I love its lands and its animals and its people.

And I want to be an earth angel here. I want to help end suffering. I want to bring kindness into the lives of those who need it. I want kids to be able to live until they are adults. I want them to do their gift in the world. I want mamas to stop dying in childbirth. I want to help men stop starving. I want animals to have their own place here in the world. I want this world to be thriving and surviving for the next hundred thousand years. I want to change the world and make it a sustainable, nourishing, beautiful place for all of us to exist.

And I reckon that BUSINESS and MONEY can change the world.

Am I a big dreamer?

Of course, fuck yeah.

Will I make shit happen?

Yes indeedy. I’m convinced I’m gonna be the next Bill Gates (but way hotter and way more liable to talk about sacred vaginas.)

And so will you.

I honestly believe that EACH of us can make a huge difference in the world. Whether you help just one life – you have just changed one person’s whole world.

I do what I do – in helping women build their own amazing lives and businesses – because I know once their needs and their family’s needs are taken care of, they’ll go on to change their communities and world.

So sweetheart, let’s talk today. Let’s get back to basics and talk about HOW we can use business, money and giving to change the world.

Because we absolutely CAN and WILL make miracles happen.

GIVE MOOLAH TO THE CAUSES THAT LIGHT YOU UP

Kelly Cutrone said in one of her ridiculously good/dramatic/totally Scorpio-ish books (I can’t remember which, I read both back-to-back in delighted rapture):

Help the people you are supposed to help. We each have things that lights us up, that we are called to help. Do that. Just do that. I’m here to help teenage girls and gay boys. That’s who I’m supposed to help. If you’re called to help tiny horses or old people, do that.

(Also, I paraphrased the buggery out of that! Could you tell?)

Anyways, I think it’s bloody useful advice.

Help the people/animals/environments that YOU feel really personally called to doing something about.

I’ll always remember a girl I met in a tiny village in India.

Her eyes haunted my dreams for months afterwards. I wish I could have adopted her.

Instead, I ended up sponsoring a girl in India through World Vision instead. Helping girls in India are something that makes me light up, makes me breathless, makes me feel like I was here. I see myself in them, and I want to help. So I do.

I’ve also adopted an American bison because buffalos are my totem animal and they are so special to me.

And I’m passionate about helping to preserve the Great Barrier Reef - the natural wonder of the world that’s just at my doorstep.

Choose what makes you sing, and do it!

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU GIVE?

Age old question here. And there’s no right answer.

The only right answer is the one that’s right for you.

Sometimes you might only be able to afford a tiny piece here or there.

Other times you might be rollin’ in the abundance and be ready to give in large doses.

I’m always tweaking how much goes out to philanthropy, making increases when the time is right.

It’s gotta feel good inside you – coming from a place of love, ease and abundance and not “ohhhhh fuckkk I feel so much lack right now and this makes me feel even worse!”

Sometimes I decide to invest back into my business by hiring another staff member with the goal that we’re able to make a greater amount of money for charity in a year by doing so. Sometimes I’m on a philanthropy spree, making four figure donations to a charity at a time on top of our monthly donations (some day soon it’ll be a five figure donation! Then a six figure! Then more and more! Hoorah!)

There’s no “right” or “wrong” way of doing this. There ain’t no judgment here, sista.

Do what feels good and right in your heart. When we’re talking about changing the world, there ain’t no wrong answer.

CONSIDER MAKING PHILANTHROPY AN INTEGRAL PART OF YOUR BUSINESS

It doesn’t have to be an after thought. It can be a guiding force in your business. You can decide right from the very beginning (or starting right now) how much of your proceeds will go towards changing the world. You can make it a percentage of your overall revenue, or you can make it a portion of the profits from a special program/offering/event you run.

It’s something I feel really passionate about, and have done in my own business.

For example – every membership in my Amazing Biz and Life Academy has part of their membership fees donated to our “Amazing World” charities, including:

• Kiva
• Doctors without Borders (Medecins san Frontieres)
• Opportunity International
• Red Cross
• World Wildlife Fund
• Royal Flying Doctor’s Service
• Green Power initiatives
• World Vision sponsored children.

It brings me a huge amount of delight to do that with the world.

And I was completely delighted to get this email from Kiva… totally lit me up + inspired me to do even MORE!!!!!!

TOMS shoes is another great example of philanthropy being built into the business model.

Since the very beginning, TOMS have donated a pair of shoes to children in third world countries with every single pair of shoes sold. And now with the introduction of their eyewear range, they are continuing the One-For-One tradition – one pair of glasses to those in need for every pair of glasses sold.

If you want to read more about philanthropy as a sustainable business model, I can highly recommend checking out Blake’s book:

CONSIDER DONATING YOUR TIME/SERVICES/PRODUCTS

Every year, I donate my yearly 2013 Create Your Incredible Year workbook to any charity/non profit around the world who wants to use them. (If you’re part of a non profit, you can still request them here!)

Those donated workbooks ended up being used by over 2300 (!!!!) souls around the planet who needed them, from organisations that included:

• women’s shelters in the United States
• Indigenous Australian women’s services in Sydney, Australia
• disadvantaged women advocacy services in Cambodia
• animal sanctuary in the United Kingdom
• aged and elderly services in New York
• cancer survivors in England
• women’s charities in Zimbabwe.

A couple of weeks ago, I got this heart-warming email from one of the case workers who used it.

A few months ago I applied to use the Create your Incredible Year workbook in a community agency. I would like to share with you how the non-profit organisation  has used the workbook to support women clients.

As you might know already Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia had its biggest flood in January. There is a whole suburb that went under here and many other places were badly affected. Homes and business were so badly flooded that they won’t be rebuilt again. Many  people have struggled after this natural disaster. After reading the offer for the use of the workbook I had a great idea to support women who had been affected by the floods by using this workbook. I went and developed a full day workshop based around the workbook. As we are non-profit organisation and are always needing funding to continue our work I put a proposal together and put it forward to 2 community groups that I thought might help. Zonta and Rotary inner wheel very generously donated money so we could print the book out for participants and funded lunch for the workshop. The workshop was free for all women who attended.

We set out to run 2 workshops, which ended up filling very quickly so we had to put on another one. 40 women in total have attended over 3 workshops and have worked through the ‘Create your Incredible Year’ workbooks. These workshops provided a space where these women could come together to share of their experiences of the floods and begin to imagine a brighter future for themselves and their families.

The women were all deeply grateful for the workbook and for your generosity to allow us to use them. The workbook was the perfect platform to help these women move from feeling helpless and overwhelmed to feeling empowered.

The feedback from the workshops has been very positive and we would like to continue our work throughout the year to support women who have been affected by the floods.

Getting that email made me get sparkle water in my eyes and a funny warm goo in my heart. Totally reminded me of my purpose here on this earth and supercharged me to do even more. I’m so so grateful for the case worker who created the workshops for those women, and the organisations that helped make it all happen. I know this kind of good work is happening all around the planet and I want to support it.

Some other examples of how I’ve donated something-other-than-money to support organisations:

• I’ve volunteered as a mentor at my old high school
• run free workshops at a local safehouse for women
• donated boxes of my book to the local high school
• donated my artworks to the local nursing home.

(I’m giving you these examples to serve as inspiration for what’s possible for you in your neck of the woods!)

GET YOSELF A VISIONARY ANTHEM

Whenever I need some philanthropy juice, to remind me what I do and why I do it, to get me back on my path + making miracles happen… I watch this:

Find the song, movie, story, doco that makes your soul sing + calls you to action. And make it your anthem, your touchstone, your reminder.

(I definitely wanna be like a chick version of Bill Gates. Except hotter. And way more liable to talk about sacred vaginas!)

TEACH OTHERS THE VALUE OF PHILANTHROPY

It’s always a wonderful thing to remind each other about how amazing philanthropy is, and how much we really CAN make a difference.

I think we forget sometimes that it’s a really wonderful and useful thing to do – sometimes it takes a tragedy to remind us.

There are people, animals + environments around the earth every day that our love, money, time + energy can help alleviate pain from.

• Talk about who you donate to.
• Talk about what you are passionate about.
• Tell people about the good work that is happening around the world and how they can help.
• Think about working as a group with friends/work buddies to support something bigger than you.

I created a Kiva team last year for my tribe to work together. I’m so proud of what all the women have done to change the world – over $11 000 has been lent to fund entrepreneurs in third world countries.

(If you haven’t tried out Kiva yet, you can click here and get a free $25 loan to give – it’s the most amazing program I know about!)

EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS

Sometimes I get discouraged that what I’m doing isn’t enough. There’s so much MORE I want to be doing.

But EVERY little bit you do DOES make a difference. If you can help even ONE person, you can consider yourself a success:

To laugh often and love much;
to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children;
to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others;
to give of one’s self;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.

Let’s go change the world and succeed, my darlinghearts,
with love, joy + enthusiasm!

P.S. If you too want to see the world change through philanthropy, make sure you share this post along! Yay!

Hola lovebugs!

HEY YO!

I have muchos useful advice/wisdom/guidance for ya’ll today on how to become the woman breadwinner + have a deliriously happy family (with no weirdness between you + your hunky love).

But before THAT happens…

Super exciting news party people!

Leonie TV is back… and way more sexy/weird/funny/irreverent than usual.

I KNOW. HOW IS THAT EVEN DAMN WELL POSSIBLE.

Well it all started because I was bored shitless on the video-making front, and I asked myself what would make me giggle again…

and I thought what was most fun of all was wearing pyjamas while laying in bed because that’s my favourite thing in the world, and one of the true delights of being an entrepreneur I reckon.

So I dragged down a spare bed to our recording studio, and set it up…

only to realise that if we ever have guests/friends/workmen visit…

it’s totally going to look like I record a porn show down there.

Evidence:

Honestly peeps. It cracked me up.

Luckily, if that were the case, I would legit have the Greatest Porn Star Name Known To Mankind (if you follow that ole first pet/first street name formula)…

Are you ready for this?

PUSSY STATION.

Yes. I know. YOU ARE WELCOME.

I willfully encouraged other party peeps to share their homegrown porn star names over on ze Facebook playground. There’s enough gigglesnort-worthy-fodder to keep me guffawing for weeks, I tells ya.

It’s pretty much ended up being the most perfect set ever. Already gotten so many laughs out of it!

NOW ON TO DA BIZZZNESS

This week’s sparkly new Pyjamas Entrepreneurs episode answers the following question from ze lovely Danielle:

How do you balance income (or lack of income) between husband and wife? How did you and your hubby decide that is worked for you to be the primary income earner?

But here is where I still have a little bit of a struggle. I know you talk about releasing our hiccups around money. I’ve been doing that for years and it’s allowed me to make money and be of service. But my husband and I still have this weird energy around money and he still wants to try to make a living (his business is still starting after 2 years and not much income) while mine is making consistent income. What can you share with us about how you decided you would be the one making money for the family… or what advice can you give women who (like me it seems) have this inner belief – the man should be making more money so I can take care of my baby – YET when that happens I go crazy and feel that I am letting down a gazillion women I’d like to help through the work I do.

As you can see, it’s all a big confusing mess in my head! Any advice on your process would be mega awesome! anytime… thank you

In this episode I’ll be sharing:

• how to know if it’s the right thing for your family for you to be the woman breadwinner
• what essential conversations you need to have with your hunky love
• my personal journey of how I’ve made it work as the solo breadwinner of our happy lil fam
• what speedbumps + relationship fuckeruppers to look out for (fuckeruppers actually IS a scientific word. Not really. But you DO know what it means, so there’s that!)
• how to have a fucking glorious time as you do it all!

It’s a longer episode – a fairly intensive workshop because I wanted to make sure you gorgeous women got all the information and wisdom you really need to make this a shining, beautiful thing in your life.

Okay… Bring a cuppa tea, get cosy + jump in bed with me!

If you likes it and want to see more, make sure you likes it or share it along!

High fives + furry pyjama-clad hugs,

Hi lovebugs,

I recently shared the Amazing Biz and Life Manifesto + What I Pledge To You.

It’s also important for me to share my boundaries about how we work with people, what’s acceptable and what’s not.

I believe boundaries in business and life are really important to spell out.

You may also find this useful in your own business if you are struggling with spelling out your boundaries.

So here we go, loves.

A comprehensive list on the best way to contact me, what not to do on social media + what will get you fired from working with me.

• Email is always, always, always the best way to contact me. Please don’t Facebook private message my personal profile or Facebook comment or Twitter DM if you have any questions or issues with any downloading programs. Please just send an email instead to support@leoniedawson.com so you can get the fastest responses possible. (My staff will respond to messages on my Facebook page, but email is always the first ones that are responded to.) It’s just way too hard to keep track of a zillion different message possibilities spread out among a zillion social media channels otherwise.
• Please offer my support team + myself with the same respect, compassion + understanding that you would want someone to offer to you (or to your best friend or dearest loved one). I have an amazing customer service support team who treat everyone so amazingly. If you are in any way abusive, passive-aggressive or nasty, I will fire you as a client and block you on all social media channels. I do not invite negativity or abuse into my life or business. I do not work with people who throw shoes or negative energy. If you have any questions, communicate them clearly and kindly, and my amazing team will happily help.
• I am a kind, generous and compassionate person AND I also am not a therapist/your mother/a doormat. I have a No BS policy firmly in place.
• It’s okay if you don’t resonate with me at this time. You do not need to let me know if you don’t resonate with me, or think I should be different. I don’t need to know about it as I’m concentrating on serving the people I do resonate with.
• Please don’t use my Facebook page as a way to promote your stuff or affiliate links. Please don’t spout negative shit/throw shoes either. That’s not okay with me. Your comment will be deleted and you will be banned.
• Along the Facebook line – don’t tag me in photos just to promote your stuff that has nothing to do with me. That’s not good social media etiquette.
• I don’t wish to know if you believe if I should be eating/parenting/living differently. I often don’t feel comfortable sharing photos of what I’m eating because someone usually shares an unwelcome remark about what I should be cutting out from my diet. I make my food/kid/life decisions based on the whole picture of my family and what is right and true for us. I will ask simply + very clearly if I have any questions that I’d like clarity around. I don’t need to know if you feel that soy/olive oil/coconuts/fresh air is THE DEBBBBIL AND WILL KILL YOU. Where I hang out is a judgment/critiquing-free-zone. (By all means, share about it on your own social media channels/blog. If I’m interested and searching for it myself, I’ll find it there.)
• Two money things to be crystal clear about – first of all, please note that there are NO refunds for Academy memberships. I pour everything I can into the Academy. I wholly believe in the incredible value and transformational power of the Academy. Even if you don’t end up using the mastermind forums, you still get to keep & use over and over again over $3800+ of my pride-and-joy products. It’s amaaaazing value, and I really wholeheartedly believe & know you’d be hard pressed to find as much content, love and goodness in a very small priced program. When you invest in your self with the Academy membership, your purchase is final. If you’re wanting to be an Amazing Biz & Life Academy member, say Yes to it with your whole heart & spirit. I notice that sometimes peeps buy, and then have a partial freak-out and want to back out because they are afraid of making the transformations that will come. You need to stand behind your commitment, and do the work — that’s the only way you’ll actually see results in your life and business.
• And the second money boundary – if you decide to invest in the Academy using our generous payment plan, please understand that you are obligated to actually paying off your payment plan. I give immediate access to the Academy with the part payment plan, and this is offered in full faith that you are committed to paying in full. I’m not down with peeps going into the Academy, downloading all my programs and cancelling their payments. That’s stealing, and it’s not the honouring kind of energy I uphold in my life and business. I commit totally to giving you as much as I can to help you. You need to honour your commitment too.
• Don’t copy my stuff. I see way too many copycat yearly workbooks out there. You honestly need to trust that inside you are ideas that you need to bring into the world. Plus copying gets you beyond nowhere – just because it’s been successful for me, it’s something I’ve worked on, cultivated and grown for the last four years. I’ve built my huge tribe over the last nine years with dedication, love, inspiration and commitment. You can’t copy true success. You absolutely need to create your own kind of success by birthing your own original ideas – that’s the only way to have a prosperous, sustainable business that feels like it’s on soul purpose for you. Plus, copying feels icksville.
• I pledge to turn up + make the Amazing Biz and Life Academy into the most powerful, generous, affordable business + life development program out there. It’s also important that you take responsibility for your own education and involvement there. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it have a drinky-poo.
• I will make decisions for the Academy and for my business that are right for my soul and life. They will not always resonate with every single person on the person, nor should they. I can only do what I am led to do, what is true and right for me.
• I am not into negativity of any kind. I will not engage with it, and I will remove it from my world. My intention is to create positivity, joy, growth + empowerment every where I go and hang out. If you’re not able to rise to that level, I’m not willing to have you a part of my business, life or world.

If these don’t feel like something that’s an appropriate fit for you, I understand and wish you love.

For those who are ready to do the work, I happily welcome you into Leonie World with open arms.

Boundary-setting can feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I think “GAWD, DO I REAAAAALLLLY HAVE TO ACTUALLY SAY THIS STUFF?”

But I’ve learned that I do. And what’s more, it can be a really useful experience – it helps everyone involved feel safer.

Now you know how I roll in this world, what’s okay with me and what’s not. And you can or decide this isn’t the right thing for you at this stage of the game, or jump in with a whole-hearted YES and high fives!!!

I’m sending you all dollops and dollops of love and kindness,

Hola my ladybirds,

Two weeks ago, I went on a sacred solo retreat.

My first time away from my daughter since she was born.

It was a massively intense experience – from the very beginning of not believing I could actually go away on my own, through to the aftermath of what’s happened since I’ve come back.

I wanted to share it with you.

To encourage you, inspire you, or plant a seed to have your own retreat (whether you are a mama or not!)

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

It started with a healing.

Months ago – many many months ago, too many to even count,

my dear mentor/healer/intuitive/counsellor/sage/support Hiro started urging me:

“Leonie, you need to get away. Just some time for you to be in your own energy. Just some time and space for you to be with yourself and integrate everything that has changed for you over the last three years. You need this.”

And I argued, of course.

I argued that it wasn’t possible.

I argued that Starry wouldn’t survive without me.

I argued that I couldn’t afford it.

I argued that my hunky love would never, ever agree.

In my mind, it was not possible. Not possible or doable at all.

But she kept on suggesting, in that gentle, loving way of hers:

“Leonie, your soul needs this.”

And I listened but I KNEW it wasn’t possible. Not doable. Not at all. Not in this busy, full life of mine.

And then finally, I listened more.

And we did some healing around my stories of support + what I could and couldn’t do as a mum.

And I said “yes.”

HOW I GOT THE SUPPORT OF MY HUSBAND TO DO IT

I was nervous talking to my love about it.

I believed really that I could only possibly maybe only have a night away.

Even though Hiro had urged me to take more time than that.

Even though I wanted more inside me.

So I decided to go in with the bargaining chip of a too-high-request. (That’s not necessarily the best way, but it’s what I was okay with doing in that moment. Also: this was not the first time we’d talked about it. Ya gotta communicate the shit out of these things.)

“Honey, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Yeah?”

“You know how I’ve wanted some time away by myself for a really long time? I really need to do this now. I want to fill my well after looking after Starry for so long, and I want to do it especially before I become pregnant again. Can we please work out a way for me to go for two nights?”

(I fully expected him to say – “Why don’t we just try one night instead?”)

And he shrugged his shoulders and said

“Yeah, sure, that sounds totally fine honey.”

And he said it like I’d asked if he could mind Starry for five minutes while I popped down the shops.

So I said

“Right. Well. I wasn’t expecting that. If you’re this cool about it, can I go for three instead?”

“Yep. Cool with me.”

And then I made a sound like this:

#$UEOIUOIEWu5oi uwioueioudosdjkjsklfdjk lajdsf;kljsg;klshf;j$$%#U% IOUWQIO%UWI$U~!!!!!!!

And then I danced around the room singing “The hills are alive with the sound of muuuuusic!!!!”

And Starry joined me, because that looked like fun.

And it was. And I’d do a lap of the room and then kneel to kiss Chris’ feet,

and Starry would mimic me,

and we all cackled and giggled and laughed together.

And it felt like the sweetest, most joyous family moment.

What a gift. What a special, special gift.

HOW I PREPARED MY DAUGHTER

I talked to Starry about it too.

It helped that her Poppy Bear (grandaddy) had just gone away on his own retreat for a few days.

I told her that I was going to go on holidays on my own as well, just like Poppy Bear had done.

And that she’d be at home with Daddy and have some wonderful special time with him.

And that I’d come back after three nights of sleeping, and that she’d be taken care of and have fun.

She understood and was fine about it.

When I left, I got her a rose quartz shaped like a heart, and knelt down in front of her. I put it in her hands, and wrapped my hands around hers, and told her if she ever felt lonely or like she missed me, she could hold the heart and she’d feel all my love surround her.

She was totally stoked about that: “Ohhhhh! Mummmmmy! Thank you berry much!! Thank you berry berry much!!!! I LOVE!!!!!”

And she kissed the shit out of my face and it was beautiful.

(Incidentally, she loved that little ritual so much she has continued to bring me the rose quartz heart since then, and wants me to put it in her hands again like last time. What a special crystal-connection thing to share!)

HOW I CHOOSE MY RETREAT LOCATION

I think about going to a B&B in the rainforest just down the road from our house.

Just incase, you know, an emergency happens and PEOPLE NEED ME YOU KNOW.

But then I got over myself.

And I remembered Hiro asking me:

“If anything was possible, where would you go?”

And the answer was a little beach that is one of my favourite places in the world.

It happens to be the place where I saw dolphins for the first time.

And when I sit there, I feel like I can see the future. I feel peace.

And I feel like somehow it’s energetically connected to the coastline of Northern California.

It’s special. So special.

That’s where I wanted to be.
I hunted for a place to stay where I could see the ocean and be close to it.

I knew I could probably find a place on the cliff that would give me that kind of connection.

So I found a Tuscan-style B&B to stay at.

I wanted privacy, solitude, quiet + spellbinding beauty.

That’s the essence of why I wanted.

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED: THE BEGINNING OF RETREAT!

When I entered my villa, my eyes welled up. I shivered with delight.

It was spellbindingly beautiful.

Before I came, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to see the ocean enough. I was worried I’d feel too much like I was in a room with two-small-windows and no privacy.

But there I was, at this apartment on the cliff, down six winding staircases.

And the walls are glass and all I see is sky and sea.

The sea is immense and high.

For some reason, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen an ocean that sits so high on the horizon. I don’t even know if it makes sense, but there it is. The wide and immense Pacific Ocean.

Clouds rolls over and shadowsshape shift across the sea.

The wind washes around my little place in the world. Green trees push and rush against my windows.

In a word: perfect.

I loved that it’s not perfect too.

I loved that there are cracks, and I love that there is water damage on the ceiling. I love that a window is broken.

I’ve always loved things that are broken, for some reason.

I felt exactly like I am in Italy.

It’s all Tuscan and wood and terracotta and slate and rock and ornate wooden rocking chairs and ceiling freezes with ivy.

I called my dearest love when I arrived to let him know.

To tell him how grateful I was.

To tell him it was the greatest.thing.ever.

And he knew.

And he understood.

HOW I SPENT MY RETREAT

I spent the next four days and three nights awash in beauty.

When you ask what I did on my retreat, I don’t know much of what to tell you.

I just listened to what I wanted.

I did what my body and soul wanted like a quiet, soft animal.

I read. I stared at the sea. I took a half-hearted attempt at a nap (I’m shithouse at napping). I did a little bit of collaging. I read some more. I ate. I drank tea.

I dragged a rocking chair out onto the deck. I sat and read and stared at the sea and I sang to her.

I took myself on a date to a little, packed Italian restaurant and drank half a glass of champagne at the bar. I attempted to watch The Voice but it sucked not having my hunky love and my mother-in-law to trade comments with, so I read some more instead.

I went to the toilet by myself (!!!!!!!!!!!) I pooped in PEACE!

I also had enough space around me that I actually missed my husband and daughter – not in a sucky way, more in a “I’m noticing how much my heart swells when I think of them” kind of way. I wrote a little. I read some more. I sat on the bed and stared at the ocean. I talked to myself and told myself jokes (I tell you, my BFF Leonie really IS the best ever!) and I laughed hysterically. I bathed in the Essence of Leonie. I really, really dig that bird.

ALSO: I GOT A TATTOO (!!)

I also marked something big off my list – I got a tattoo.

I promised myself long ago that I wouldn’t get my first until I’d gotten past my Saturn Return. I’d always had a feeling that I’d have a particularly intense one (helloooo being a Scorpio… I never do anything by halves!) I also knew that I wouldn’t be the same person I was before my Saturn Return.

And I was right. I was very much reborn in lots of ways over the last three years. And I’m coming out the other side now, and it’s a beautiful fucking thing to lose your faith and joy and find it again.

So I marked my initation with a rainbow medicine wheel.

The medicine wheel is important to me for many reasons – it was a big part of the sacred womens circles I’ve been involved in over the last decade. The four directions apply to so many parts of my soul, life and business. Most of all, it reminds me of the need to retreat, to fill my well, to head into my own cave, to be nourished.

As a creative and as a mama, I can forget to do those things.

I felt it would be the most wonderful visual reminder for me.

I’ve been doodling and designing and drawing it for over a year now, and I wanted to do it before my hunky love impregnates me again.

Here’s a tattoo pinboard I created:

And a page from my journal:

I originally wanted to have a white buffalo in the medicine wheel (buffalo is my sacred totem), but decided to keep it simple and go with just the medicine wheel.

I didn’t use traditional colours – I instead used my favourite colours in the positions that most resonate with me.

It ended up being a really easy experience. I mean, I wouldn’t get a tattoo for fun. But easier than pushing a baby out your vag fo’ sho’. Now I’ve done that, I feel pretty much invincible with a glittery cape and shiz.

Anyways, I quite adore how it looks, and it feels like it very much belongs there.

And it was a gorgeous way to end my retreat too.

The next day, I woke up as the sun rise over the ocean.

And I got so excited that I couldn’t wait to get back home to see my two loves.

HOW MY DAUGHTER SURVIVED MY RETREAT

She was completely fine, of course. Even when I didn’t think that would be the case. (I totally thought I WAS SO NEEDED!)

She cried zero times. When she woke up the first morning without me there, she crawled into bed with her Daddy and said

“Mummy on holidays in the orange car.”

And he said:

“She is sweetie, but the car is blue.”

“Oh YES! BLUE CAR! HAW HAW HAW!”

(Because blue cars are infinitely more funny than orange ones, apparently.)

She was totally fine with that explanation, and appeared to understand that I’d be away for a little while longer than usual.

So she had a party on the verandah with her daddy and grandparents.

She played outside. Played with her dogs and toys. Read books. Had endless bubble baths.

(It sounds like she was on a wonderful retreat of her own!)

THE HOMECOMING

When I returned home, I totally was expecting some kind of fanfare. Like:

OMG YOU ARE HOOOOOME I LOOOOVE YOU SOOO MUCH

(from both my hunky love and daughter)

Cue panpipe music and running across the field towards each other, arms outstretched.

Instead, it was like:

OH HEY WASSUP

as though I’d just been at the shops for five minutes.

It didn’t crush my heart, if that’s what you’re wondering.

Instead it made me think:

Well. Fuck me! It turns out I’m actually a lot less needed and a whole lot freer than I thought I was!

That feels beautifully liberating and exciting to know that truth.

Also, they are very cute. Witness:

And now, it feels like so much less of a BFP (Big Fucking Production) to go out on my own now.

I don’t have to micromanage things! I don’t have to organise the crap out of my family!

I can just know and trust that hey, my husband knows what he’s doing. My daughter is completely and totally fine without me around 100% of the time!

So much so that I was invited out this weekend to go camping with a bunch of wild magic women to do a full moon ceremony, and I said yes without even thinking.

Because of course I can do that. Of course that’s doable.

And it is.

It feels so good.

I know now beyond a shadow of a doubt that

EVEN THOUGH I AM A MOTHER, I CAN STILL HAVE MY NEEDS FILLED.

I can still give myself what I need. I can still have time to myself! I can still have much needed soul retreats! I can still have solo adventures! I can still go out!

This feels fucking MASSIVE to me, loves.

Massive! Huge! Ginormous!

When I became a mama I thought I no longer had the right or the priveledge to self care.

Now I see it is absolutely fucking ESSENTIAL.

THE BENEFIT OF SOLO RETREATS

Here’s what I noticed from having a solo retreat:

I come back and I’m a much happier, present mama and wife.

My well has been filled, and there’s plenty to spare (instead of feeling like it’s hitting dry every week!)

Heading off to my retreat felt like my soul firmly came back – clunk – into my body.

Like my soul had found its home.

And from there, I radiate brighter.

My radiance touches my daughter and my husband.

And they are much more able to be at home in their own soul’s too.

WHY SOLO RETREATS ARE GOOD FOR BUSINESS TOO

I’ve long maintained that having a full, beautiful life filled with hobbies + holidays that aren’t all business are very good for your business.

It’s so, so important to fill your well. To NOT work 24/7 without break.

When you DO fill your well, nourish yourself and have time away you will be:

• more productive
• more inspired
• able to see your business more clearly – including what you need to say yes to more often, no to and change the direction of
• more able to face the challenges of your business without it rocking your core.

I had grand plans for writing a book (hahahahah) during my retreat.

I didn’t lift my pen, except to scrawl some words in my journal of

omg this is the greaaaatest everrrrrrrrr

That’s what was needed. I came back being able to see my business from the top down, instead of immersed in the forest.

It was a blessed, beautiful, needed experience.

Feeling more like myself than ever before (and ain’t that the best feeling ever!)

All in all: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. DOUBLE THUMBS UP!!!!

To your space, nourishment + dreams come true,

In love and light,

Hi lovebugs,

I’m sharing this because I have been asked my use of the F-bomb.

So here’s my public declaration:

Yes, I do swear.

And I’m okay with it.

In fact I’m more than okay with it.

I don’t believe I’ll be changing it anytime soon. It’s a part of my self that I happen to adore.

I really love, love, love being Leonie. And I’m 100% okay with being a Leonie that swears.

I write in the way that I speak – honestly + decoratively.

I understand that for some peeps may not resonate with it. I understand some people may feel offended by it.

I understand. I’m also okay with it.

I also understand that it can be a cultural thing – Australians by and large tend to be more down with swearing than the US + UK (probably not Ireland though – swearing is their national language and would beat out Aussies anytime! Ha!)

For me, I don’t use swear words in violence or anger. I use them with joy and creativity and passion. I do it because it makes me gigglesnort. I do it lightheartedly.

What you won’t find me saying is: “Well that’s just fucked and people are fuckheads.”

What you will find me saying is: “Holy fuck, the world is so indescribably beautiful.”

I do it because that’s how I speak.

I understand my writing may not please all people. I understand that. There’s no way I actually CAN please all people.

It’s an impossible task.

Especially since I’m also liable to talking about vaginas. And goddesses. And hippy-woo-woo things. And death.

And yet I can’t hold back the dam that’s inside me, the truths that want to be spoken, the things that need to be heard by some people at some time. It may not be for everyone. But it will be right for the right people.

I also understand it’s much more important for me to speak in the way that feels right and happy to me, without holding back.

I don’t want to feel like I’m hiding my swear bear nature when I write to you.

I don’t want you to be surprised if you ever meet me in person and I decoratively describe something with F bombs.

I actually happen to find tongue-in-cheek, perfectly placed and heartfelt swearing to be endearing and hilarimo. I dig when people are that real. I like women who swear.

I also appreciate that might not be your way of seeing it, and that’s okay.

If you don’t like any form of swear words, you might like to choose to not read my writing.

(I don’t need to hear if you find me offensive. Or annoying. How you think of me is none of my business if you do.)

What’s really important to me is this:

Turning up and creating. Writing what is in my heart and soul as honestly, vulnerably and on-soul’s-truth as possible (that may or may not include swear words, depending on what I feel called to writing). Doing my best job at helping the other souls that I am destined to help. Loving the buggery out of my self as I do it all. And changing the world through philanthropy. That’s my job. That’s all I need to focus on.

There are six billion paths up the mountain to God.

This one is mine.

All my love and blessings,

Dearest possum pie,

This is probably the most random thing I’ve ever written. AND THAT IS SAYING SOMETHING.

Also, potentially one of the greatest. Also: THAT IS SAYING SOMETHING.

It’s a whole bunch of shit that I think about before going to sleep and I think

“Oh, I should write to them and tell them!”

“Them” being you. My peeps. My tribe.

This is like being in my brain.

It’s a fun, exotic, kooky place. It always amuses me.

Also: happy anniversary to my ridunkulously handsome/spunky/sage husband. It’s our 12 year snogaversary and our 2 year wedding anniversary today. He’s my favourite dreamboat/teacher/student/muse/soulmate/best friend. I had no idea (maybe an inkling) that that hot IT guy at work would be my future husband and impregnator. We celebrated our special day by helping my parents-in-law change light bulbs this morning, and this afternoon I’ve buggered off down the mountain to a cafe to do some writing. And I (of course) forgot my wallet. So he ended up driving all the way down the mountain to give it to me. I thanked him with a public snog and perve. He has nice legs and a nice heart and I like that in a man.

ANYWAYS.

May I present to you: A Cornucopia of Fucking Random + Delightful!

THE LEONIE DICTIONARY OF WORDS

I often get people say “Erm WTF didjajustsay? Is that English?”

Nope… it’s Leonie-ism. My special own lil creative, rambunctious language.

And because you are my BFFs, I’m sending you the decoder to it.

Behold, this is what the shit I say means.

THE LUSH + LYRICAL LIST OF LEONIE LANGUAGE (BECAUSE ALLITERATION IS FUN!!)

Radfest = so rad it’s like an orgasm of radness.

Gigglesnort = when you get the giggles so hard you snort. I’m not judging you for it. I do it too.

Ridunkulous = ridiculous. As in: ridunkulous good.

OMFG = Oh My Flowering Genius. Oh hang on, nope, that’s not it. OHMYFUCKINGGOD!

ERMAGERD = OMG = Oh My Gawd!

Dobleros = Moolah = Money = Gold Coinage.

ICGLTASS = I Could Give Less Than A Single Shit = I don’t believe I care much for that.

Hunky Love = Hottest Man On The Planet = My Husband.

Holy dinger = Holy crap = Term of surprise or intense emotion

WADDAFA = WTF = Why The Face (a little Modern Family joke there for those of you playing along at home).

That’s So Unicorn Right Now = Holy Fuck I LOVE IT!

Laydeez = Ladies = Womenfolk = Dear Sisters Of The Holy Vagina

#ladyboner = I do believe I find that very attractive.

knackered = Australian-ese for “golly gosh I am tired!”

fortnight = Australian/Queen’s English for two weeks (i.e. “I get a #ladyboner at every fortnight at least”)

My guilty pleasure website:

Buzzfeed. SERIOUSLY. SO FUNNY.

Other (not so guilty) pleasures that I will never, ever apologise for:

• I don’t watch any movies except romantic comedies that have a happy ending.
  Most movies (including kid’s movies) are too scary for me. I fucking LOVE formulaic, bland movies. I get too emotionally involved and distraught if it doesn’t have a happy ending. My brain just doesn’t GET that it’s not real life.
• I read a LOT of romance novels.
  It’s like taking a brain holiday, otherwise I’m all switched on entrepreneur brain 24/7. I read about 85% Victorian romance, 10% Western romance, 5% assorted trashy smut. It’s pretty much the greatest ever. (Last year, I read over 200!)
• I read fan fiction.
  Here’s how that goes: I get obsessed with a movie or a TV show. I think about it a lot. Consider the relationships and deeper meanings of everything. Read up on all of the characters/trivia/miscellaneous on Wikipedia. Consume every piece of Fan Fiction there is available.
• I have an addictive personality.
  I’m a Scorpio which happens to be the most addiction-riddled star sign. I happened to miss the predilection drugs/grog/smokes though. My predilection instead is to reading/specific food textures/superfoods/creating/obsessing over TV shows and movies.

BRITCOM SHOWS YOU SHOULD WATCH

When Marissa was here for our first team planning retreat, we gleefully introduced her to the plethora of British TV comedy shows that we love and adore.

And honestly?

It think Britcom is so dang underrated. It’s funny + dry + weird + delightful.

Here’s the ones I reckon you should start with:

Miranda

She’s pretty much my best friend ever. If you don’t love this show and squee over it, we probably can’t be friends. I’m sorry, but THAT is how strongly I feel about this show.

This is probably one of my favourite moments on TV. EVER. It’s like she can SEE INTO MY SOUL:

Gavin and Stacey

Honestly? Even just watching Episode 1 of Series 1 is enough. It’s like the best movie ever made just in that.

There’s romance! And comedy!

But you’ll keep watching. Because it’s bloody irresistible. Perfect characters. Perfect lines. Perfect everything.

#BRINGBACKGAVINANDSTACEY!

The IT Crowd

When I met my hunky love, he was the IT guy at my work.

This is the greatest IT department show ON THE PLANET.

Stella

There’s drama! There’s love! There’s kindness! There’s made up words! There’s stunning scenery! There’s sexual chemistry between peeps in their 40s that’s kind of riveting and hard to look away from.

It’s all there!

Doc Martin

My hunky love found this show for me because (in his words) “I wanted to find you something light and quiet and gentle for you to relax and enjoy.” #ladyboner for his thoughtfulness!

And it is. It’s kind of like if Sheldon Cooper got older + moved to Britain + fell in love with a school teacher.

It’s like watching porcupines trying to cuddle each other. It’s real + stunning + awkward.

I don’t know why I’m so obsessed by it but I am.

I love the whole idea of two people trying desperately to love each other and being so effing flawed and baggage-ridden.

Modern Day Pride and Prejudice, with significantly less Colin Firth. But Martin Clunes IS oddly sexy. So there is that.

I GUESS IF I’M TALKING TV, I SHOULD SAY WHAT OTHER SHOWS I LOVE

But I can’t be assed linking to them. So if you’re really called, you can play LMGTFY.

New Girl.

Beyond perfect. I thought it was way too hipster for me judging from the ads. But NO! It’s actually funny + smart + spunky + delicious!

Arrested Development.

And YAY! They are doing another season! At LONG LAST!

Community

Adorable. Full adorable.

The Office

Both UK + US editions. But I’m more obsessive about the US version because it’s a longer term obsession.

Pam + Jim = Pim forevaaa!

The Voice Australia.

But only during the turn-the-chairs rounds. After that I just start getting depressed about all the people who are getting kicked out. That’s the point in time I start reverting back to reading the latest Tessa Dare romance novel on my Kindle and saying ICGLTASS.

MY SACRED MANTRA:

Fuckem.

If someone doesn’t like me/my work/my ideas/my overexcitable personality/that they think I’m a sellout/that they think I’m annoying or weird/how I look/who I am/that I swear/that I’m pretty much a happy labrador in a human body?

Fuckem.

I don’t believe for one single second that I am supposed to be anyone but Leonie.

I really, really fucking LOVE being Leonie. I love being her best friend. I think she is funny as shit and smart and a determined motherfucker and an all round good person.

I’m okay if other people don’t see that. What they think of me ain’t none of my damn business.

What is my damn business is being who I am and loving the shit out of me (which is pretty damn easy, really!)

I don’t believe my personality/body/anything should be any different. I was born this way for a reason. And I believe and trust in that reason.

And of course, I’m totally down with optimising shit and healing my own stuff.

But I don’t do it because I’m not good enough or that I need to change in order to be loved.

I do it because I love to heal and grow.

All it does is bring me closer to myself.

And I love that.

THE END

Was that the greatest or was that the greatest?

Now get out there and go ask out that hot girl/guy you’ve been perving on for ages.

I did. It was the best thing I ever did.

All my love + courageous fist-pumps,

Hola party people!

Each year I share some of my big goals + dreams for the year from my own 2013 Create Your Incredible Year workbook + planner.

It’s May and I still haven’t shared ‘em. I got a bit embroiled in creative birthing to get my biggest goals launched – my new website and the new Amazing Biz and Life Academy.

And now they are both out in the world, it’s the perfect time to share with you what some of my 2013 goals are… and also check back in to see where I’m at with them!

I’ve been noticing a heap of gorgeous goddesses over on Instagram lately doing an instinctive, organic review of the goals they wrote in their 2013 planners, it’s pretty amazing to see how many of their goals have already come true.

I’ve included business, body, family, love, adventures + friendship goals into this mix.

So here we goes party peeps… what my goals are and where I’m at with them!

ADVENTURES

• Take the historic train up the mountain with Chris and Starry
• Visit the Daintree
• Go on flight at coffee plantation
• Go to Yungaburra
• Go bowling
• Go to Yungaburra markets
• Go to Mareeba markets
• Go on holiday by myself
• Have a beach holiday

FUN TIMES + FRIENDSHIP

• See dolphins again
• Have 2 1 friends visit on holidays (1 down! My bestie visited!)
• Make friends and have fun!
• Make 3 good new friends
• 3 months holidays (I’ve taken a couple of weeks of holidays already, not sure if I need or want to do longer month ones though – I am getting so much better at filling my well on a daily/weekly basis now!)
• Feel connected with dear old friends
• Have amazing, inspiring entrepreneur soul sisters to uplift me
• Find my women’s circle
• For me, Chris and Starry to have a wonderful network of friends and community here

FAMILY, HAPPINESS + HOME

• Try out extra playgroup
• Get pregnant (obv, this is a new goal )
• Name our place
• Grow a garden
• Eat own passionfruit
• Grow a pumpkin or watermelon patch (got watermelon seeds to propagate to about two inches… and then my hunky love mowed over them. Ha! Next summer I’ll be coming at the watermelon patch like a spider monkey!)
• Research Sacred Sabbath (read this book, it rocked. Tried a couple of others, they didn’t give me the jollies. Will keep researching!)
• Cultivate a morning routine
• Make a firepit
• Write 12 letters to Starry
• Send 52 14 cards (done a fair whack of them already WOOT)
• Have a connected, loving, intimate soulmate and best friend relationship with Chris (status update: dude, I have not loved him more than I do right now. And I know that will keep on growing. It really does just get better and better!)
• Make at least 12 fun crafts with Starry (already done, but will keep doing!)
• Be a happy mom with a great, loving relationship with Starry (and new wee baby soul that’s wanting to come through!)
• Go to a concert with Chris
• Feng Shui our bedroom
• Eat own bananas
• Read books to Starry every day
• Buy Ostara real scissors
• Make at least 12 things with Starry
• Organise getting our keyboard sent
• Have 52 Friday Date Nights
• December: 2013 Instagram album
• December: Have a glorious Christmas season
• December: Make another advent calendar + do it!

CREATIVITY

• Make a doll
• Do a painting workshop
• Make Angel + Charlie dog toys
• 52 Artist’s dates
• Find music I am deeply excited about
• Make beautiful art that sings to my soul
• Write a novel
• Re-release “73 Lessons Every Goddess Must Know”
• November: Do Art Every Day Month
• Repair hole in wedding shawl
• Find a magazine I love to read
• Make my office a sanctuary
• Love writing again
• Feel like I’m a divine channel to Spirit again
• Feel creatively inspired, invigorated and productive
• Embrace pop music
• Make a felted journal
• Find a TV show to obsess over (Doc Martin)
• Adore creating

BODY

• Get yearly dental
• Take care of my body, nervous system and soul as a first priority
• Summer: Try aqua aerobics
• Weekly yoga or pilates
• Get osteopathy for my jaw
• Get 12 massages
• Get skin check-up

SPIRITUALITY

• Feel centred and aligned with my soul in every area of my life
• Keep learning from deep, sage, wise and spiritual teachers
• Be spiritually inspired and invigorated
• Have a spiritual experience (circle, retreat etc)
• Find my women’s circle
• Keep doing fortnightly healing mentoring
• Deepen my spiritual journey
• Get a tattoo
• Get a year reading

FINANCE

• Institute monthly financial reporting (I’m doing it already, but want more structure around it)
• Half yearly financial review
• Put $x into savings
• See a financial advisor
• Continue learning about money, finances + investment

TO INVEST IN

• Get iPhone screen fixed
• Get air-conditioning in office
• Rainbow chandelier
• Outdoor lounge for back verandah
• New washer/dryer
• Get screen doors installed
• Get air-conditioning in hall

BUSINESS GOALS

• Double business in size to 7 figures a year
• Release Amazing Biz and Life Academy
• Rebrand website
• Have a planning retreat
• New Academy membership site
• Create new programs for Academy
• Create intensive Six Figure Business program for Academy
• Make a massive difference in the lives and businesses of 30 000 clients this year
• Continue to spend 25% of time in education
• Continue to make a massive impact through philanthropy through money + service donations

WOO HOO!!!

What a list!

Feeling massively inspired after re-reading all that!

I really want to invite you to check back in with your own workbook goals (and if you haven’t done them yet – it’s totally not too late at all. It’s only too late if you don’t do them at all! We get lovelies investing in the workbook every single week!)

And if you decide to do a blog post/Instagram photo/Twitter about what goals of yours are coming true… make sure you let me know about it on FB, Twitter or Instagram and I’ll repost them so everyone else can get inspired too!

Let’s go make miracles happen dearest!!!

So much love always,

Hola lovebugs,

I’ve been feeling a little bit nervous about sharing this.

Quite vulnerable.

And yet, I couldn’t not share it either.

I’ve been sharing about life + spirit + biz since the beginning.

I’m pretty much an open book.

So I couldn’t not tell you all this either.

Plus, it’s pretty dang hilarious when ya think about it really.

*

Not so long ago, I shared with you my decision to only have one child.

Writing that post and sharing it with you was immensely healing for me.

It was really a call for all of us to make + celebrate + love our own decisions, our own choices.

I’d felt so much external pressure to want another child that it was a great relief to say:

No. This is my truth. This is how I feel about that right now. This is my choice.

After writing it, I just felt a deep sense of peace with my decision.

Like I didn’t have to fight anymore as to why my choice was okay. That it was okay for me to make a decision that was right for me.

It was like liberating myself from some ancient family patterns about not being able to choose.

*

When I wrote it, I didn’t believe for a single moment that I would want any more.

But I know enough about life now to never say never. (Even when I really did believe it would be never!)

So I wrote:

I’m immensely grateful that I have a choice. And that I’ve found peace with what I am wanting right now.

I also understand that one day I might completely change my mind. I don’t believe I will at all, but I know enough to know that the universe is wild and expansive and that unseen vistas appear at every corner.

*

So I wrote it. And felt damn great about it.

Hurrah! I claimed my truth! I claimed what I wanted!

And then just a few weeks after I wrote it…

(ha! I’m sure it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for!)

A little baby started knocking on the door of my spirit.

*

(Oh Universe. YOU. YOU ARE SO FUNNY!

I love how much you teach me. I love how much you show me the way.)

*

So this lil soul started talking to me.

Like, hippy style. Soul to soul talkin’.

One night, I was trying to go to sleep when a vision of a baby appeared.

And I was all (oh so graceful)

Oh fuck THAT. That is SO NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

I figured after three years of saying NONONONONONONO that the universe would have gotten the picture by now.

And I tried to ignore the vision and go to sleep.

Hours later, I still wasn’t asleep.

(I’m usually asleep within minutes of closing my eyes… so not being able to pop off to sleep was completely bewildering to me!)

*

The next night, more of the same.

Again, I was very graceful about the whole thing:

Look. NO NO NO NO NO. I’m NOT HAVING ANOTHER BABY! Sorry mate, but you’re not coming through me! You’ll need to find someone else!

But there it was. This very beautiful little baby.

And there was so much of me that didn’t want to have another one. So much a part of me that wrapped having a baby up in the experience of too much pain + heartbreak.

And there was also a little part of myself that was already in love.

And this sweet little soul said to me:

What if it was different this time around? Could you possibly imagine what it would be like if you did it differently?

And this little yearning on my heart said it was time to imagine.

So I took a leap of faith, and I imagined.

I imagined what it would be like having another baby knowing what I know now.

I imagined what it would be like if I gave myself the support I needed.

I imagined what it would be like if I didn’t have to go through the extraordinarily painful time of moving back to my hometown with babe in arms, only to witness my parents divorce and my family of origin implode.

I imagined what it would be like if I didn’t have to go through the painful (but needed) soul lessons that I did the first time.

*

And at the end of the imagining, there it was, the simple profound truth:

it could be different this time.

And that it WOULD be different this time around:

I’m not the person who I was three years ago.

I’ve done an immense amount of healing work thanks to time, counselling, Hiro, kinesiology, acupuncture + therapy.

I’m just not who I was before. I don’t have to go back and do all those hard lessons again.

I know how to find and give myself the support I need. I know I don’t need to suffer to be a parent any more. I know what I need now to be healthy and happy and filled with a love of life. I know how to set boundaries in my own life. I know I don’t have to give myself away to my child or my parents or anyone else. I know that I belong to me.

*

As soon as I knew that…

the world shifted.

And I saw this beautiful soul and I knew I dearly wanted to be the mother of it.

And I saw that it could be an immensely healing experience for me to experience pregnancy, birth + mothering a newborn with this new person that I am.

And that yes, oh yes, I very much wanted this baby.

(I’ve got tears running down my face as I write this.)

*

I hadn’t really believed that there was another soul out there that was destined to be mine. It hadn’t talked to me yet, it hadn’t shown itself. I mistakenly thought that was because it wasn’t there. But that wasn’t true:

It just wasn’t the right time yet.

*

My world did change that night.

I know those words can be bandied about.

But it is true for me.

The constellation of my cells rearranged from mama of one child into the mama of two.

Where there wasn’t before, there was a space in my life for this little soul to emerge into.

There was a space in my heart that sung for joy to see it.

*

After hours of staring into the darkness, quivering with excitement, I woke up Chris late at night to tell him, tears running down my face.

The poor dear was tired, so I promised him we’d speak in the morning.

And I slept that night with this feeling inside me that just as I’d managed to prophecy:

the universe is wild and expansive and that unseen vistas appear at every corner.

My vista had appeared.

*

When Chris was awake enough the next morning, I told him simply:

Sweetheart, I think I might be ready to have another baby.

And he laughed. The dear man has listened to me talk for three years about me feeling like I only wanted one child. He’d been kind, and understanding, and deeply compassionate. We’d talked for hours upon hours about this.

So he was a little bit unsure about just how serious I was.

Hon, I’m actually really serious. There’s a little soul who has been talking to me. And before I commit to my decision… I wanted to check in with you. I need to know that you’d be fully on board with having another baby as well. Can you think about it for the next few days and let me know your decision?

So he did. Bless his heart. I knew he was open to having another child, but I also wanted him to feel really clear about his decision.

I really wanted it to be a whole-hearted decision from both of us.

And he sat with it.

And I sat with it.

*

And on day three, he told me:

I do. I do want another baby.

And I said

I do

too.

And it’s just as beautiful an I do as the two times we got married (the first at a courthouse, the second days later by the sea). Just as much of a commitment to our love, our future, our family.

*

Days later, we were talking in the car.

And I asked him:

“Did you always want to have two kids.”

“I did. I always felt in my heart that we were destined to have more than one.”

“But in all those years of me telling you I only wanted one, you didn’t tell me that.”

“I know. I knew I just needed to respect your decision, and support you. I know it was a hard time for you the first time around. You are the one who would need to be pregnant and give birth, so I knew you needed to be able to make the decision you needed to make.”

I was speechless for a long while after that.

I was really touched by his grace, and love. I feel all the times he told me that it was okay for me to want what I wanted. That he understood my pain of Post Natal Depression and truly shitty family stuff, and how interwoven it was for me in the experience of having a child. He had my back. He was on my team. He honoured me as a woman, and as a mother, and as a female who really needed to have power over her own reproductive choices.

I actually am teary about that right now (bit of a wet post this one is… lucky it’s not a letter because it’d be all tear stained!)

Now I want to say this, lest you think my husband is a perfect being: we have a very human love relationship. We’ve fought and yelled and nearly broken up and deeply misunderstood each other. For a long time in the early years I didn’t know if we actually did have what it took to be a lifelong love relationship – we seemed to bump up against each other’s pains so often, we spoke different heart languages and argued every single week. I was very young and silly, he was not as young but still silly. We had so much emotional maturing to do.

And we did it together. We grew + got better at communicating. We healed our own shit. We learned how to get on each other’s team. We did counselling separately and together.

For some reason, we just stayed together. I so believed that I could see his highest self and that he could see mine, it was just our human bullshit getting in the way.

And I was right.

I wasn’t right about a lot of things – I was wrong about believing that he was supposed to save me, I was wrong about what love was supposed to look like, I was wrong that if he didn’t understand me he was “being an asshole.”

I didn’t see him for who he was because I had so much of my own stuff in between me and him, and he had so much of his own stuff too.

I see him more clearly now.

I don’t see him perfectly of course.

And I think it’s pretty exciting to think of how much more clearly I’ll see him in ten years, and twenty years, and fifty years.

I see him as himself. I see the immense grace and love he gives me. I see the deep blessings and lessons he has taught me (even when I railed on them to begin with).

I see his power and light and I see how he can take care of himself and his feelings (I used to think that was my job many years ago! How funny is that!)

I see him as being human and flawed and marvelous and magnificent all at once.

He continues to surprise me with his grace, wisdom + support.

And his support of my mothering-choices has been a very dear and deep blessing for me.

*

So, I got a little sidetracked there. Talking about love.

But it’s all important. It’s all inter-related.

So we decided.

We decided we were ready for another baby.

And I wrote a really, really long list of all the things that caused me pain the first time around.

All the things that made me think

“Fuck me! I can’t do this again!”

And I wrote a plan.

A plan of support. Of how I could do it differently. Of how I could be softer + kinder to myself.

It feels really effing good to have all my fears + pain written out, and how it could be different this time around.

*

I’m not going to do pregnancy, parenting or birth “perfectly” this time.

I’m not going to follow any theology except my own.

I will not prescribe to any parenting beliefs that do not serve me.

I’m doing this thing judgment-free.

I’m doing it with a huge amount of support and with self-care boundaries in place.

I’m not going to sacrifice myself on a sword to be a mama. I just don’t think that shit is good or happy for anyone.

I don’t know if I’m going to talk about exactly what parenting choices I make this time around (whilst we did it with Ostara, co-sleeping, breastfeeding, attachment parenting + natural birthing are all up in the air for a range of well-thought, well-discussed reasons that are very specific to physical conditions I have and what is right for my family this time around.)

I am absolutely not okay with any judgments/advice about this. I will delete and block any judgmental remarks about what I will or will not do this time around. I am not okay with any kind of “this one way of parenting will save the world and everything other way will fuck up your kids” kind of evangelism. I am not down with that kind of militant negativity at all. I reckon it’ll kill ya way quicker than anything else will. In fact, I know it will because I lived with that kind of judging “perfect mother” Nazi in my head and it broke my heart + my nervous system.

What I AM down with is:

Peeps letting peeps making whatever choices they need. Peeps respecting every family makes their own choices that are best for them. (I like this particular post on MODG about it actually.)

Women letting other women be who they are and do what they wish to do. Trusting in each other to make our own decisions.

I think this is all a really wonderful journey of learning complete acceptance for every possibility. Of knowing not too hold too firm to anything… except for love.

I never ever ever would have considered not breastfeeding… until I was struck with a very odd condition that makes my bones dislocate out of their sockets because I was breastfeeding. (FUN, RIGHT?)

And then I realised: hey, everyone has really, really specific needs. And blanket ideas of how things SHOULD work aren’t helpful to anyone. In fact, they often bring a great deal of pain.

*

Bodies are really, really different for everyone and need different things.

I talked to my new doctor yesterday. Gave her my long + complicated history of all the cray cray body things that happened last time (hyperaemeia, hypermobility = recurring dislocations of pelvis + jaw during pregnancy + breastfeeding, cystic breasts which resulted in constant blocked ducts and chronic recurring mastitis (8 times in a year including 3 late night emergency visits), pre and post natal depression and anxiety thanks to a sensitive nervous system that produces too much adrenaline when taxed). (We didn’t even get to touch on all the bullshit life stuff that went down!)

And she said:

You know Leonie, I completely understand why it took you a long time to be ready for number two. That’s a whole lot of really difficult things to cope with on top of having a baby. I’m going to be here to support you and any choices you make for this to be better this time around.

It was a real relief. Deep relief. To feel that much support.

*

It took me a long time to be ready to have another baby.

Because it took me a long, long time to understand…

that I don’t have to do it perfectly.

That I can be kind to myself during this process.

That I can give myself what I need during it.

I feel that now. I get that now. At last, at long last.

*

Every mama is making the best decision she can for her own family, and I reckon we need to love and support the shit out of her for it.

Maybe that’s something my husband can teach the wonderful lesson of:

That he let me decide what was okay for me. He loved me enough to let me be who I was and feel what I felt and need what I needed.

And that it’s also really, really okay for us to make a choice. And then make another choice.

*

Phwoar, this got a bit heavy laydeez. But so much is interwoven in it all.

*

I was sitting at mama craft morning the other day.

And I told the womenfolk there:

Ya, I think I’m ready for number 2.

And they were all:

WTF! I thought you were totally set on having just 1!

And I was all apologetic and:

I know! I know! And then… I changed my mind. I usually never backflip on decisions!

And one of them said, so sagely:

Ya know, that’s okay too you know. It’s okay to choose and choose again.

And another said:

It’s okay for you to do this differently you know. Every mama must.

*

This is one of the longest-winded-winding posts ever.

But I needed to get that out.

Needed to share what’s in my heart.

*

I’m really excited.

Really excited about what’s to come. Excited about when this little soul will decide to manifest in the physical world.

Excited about how I can do this differently… listening only to the book of my own intuition.

I know now that I can be so deeply supported during this whole thing. That I can take care of myself and tend to myself and give my body and soul what it needs.

That I can heal what needs healing on every level as it happens… not depriving myself of that kind of essential self and soul and body care.

And that feels so very exciting.

And what feels even more exciting is meeting this special little soul who was patient enough to wait for the right time…

and who I love already so very much.

*

Thank you, dear sisters, for being with me as I sit and share and process,

Thank you for allowing me to be who I am.

Thank you for sharing this winding, beautiful, astonishing, magical journey with me.

All my love,