Hola panda bears,

Stuck in a rut? Don’t know how to get out of the hole you’re in?

Feeling lacklustre, outta sparkle, outta joy?

Not sure how to get from where you are to where you want to be?

Imagonna kindle your inspiration bank with 10 tools you can use to climb your way out and get back on your gorgeous path.

Go in with an open mind. Some of this wisdom is deceptively simple. Some of it is deeply personal & hard won experience.

Find the gem you’re looking for that can make the difference for you.

1. Negativity cleanse

Take a review – what negativity are you currently engaging in?

Gossiping? Watching too much sensationalist news? Reading celebrity gossip sites? Nit picking? Hate-reading blogs/Facebook profiles that annoy you? Having google alerts set up for competitors that make you compare yourself and get jealous?

Possum, need to stage an intervention for ya.

If you’re letting too much of this stuff into your life, you probably aren’t getting happier. Or more productive.

It might be time to disengage, and concentrate on creating beauty in your life instead.

From a hippy woo-woo level, it’s lowering your vibration.

From a non-hippy level, it’s taking up too much of your valuable brain space and energy that could be directed to much more wonderful things.

Write down 3 things right now you need to cleanse out of your life. And do it.

I promise you, in a week you’ll feel like a different person.

2. Check your vitals

Are you tired? Have you been eating enough greens? Getting enough movement?

Check in with how your body is feeling and what it’s needing.

Stop burning the midnight oil. Scale back on social obligations. Whip up a green smoothie. Head to a yoga class.

Shift from depletion to replenishment, and watch the sparkle return.

3. GTFO (Get The Fuck Outside)

For the last four months I have been spewing up every day (thanks hyperemesis gravidarum!)

One thing that’s made it slightly easier to deal with is that I nixed using the toilet bowl long ago (the whole thing makes me hurl even more).

Instead, I run outside and throw my little guts up out there.

What a lovely story, no?

Anywaysies, the reason I tell you this is because I feel better when I’m out there, even in the worst convulsive moments.

The wind blows, the leaves rustle, the grass sprouts with tiny specks of wildlife.

All around me, there is growth and there is life.

And the world seems to whisper:

Oh my darling. I’m so sorry you are going through this. We are here.

And I feel like all that greenery and leafdom lean into me, holding the pregnant, hurling woman. And I am not alone.

Nature is one of the greatest healers. And if it can help a convulsing preggo, it can help you too.

Get outside. Stare at the sky. Pick flowers. Go for a short walk.

You’ll be different when you return.

4. Surround yourself with positive peeps

Have you got peeps to surround yourself with that are positive and moving in the same direction as you?

Peeps who make you feel nourished and inspired?

Peeps you can be authentic with, share where you are at, and brainstorm ways to move forward?

Whether it’s a sacred circle or a high school posse or a mastermind, the quality of the peeps you surround yourself with has a direct correlation on the quality of your life.

5. Learn something new

Get a new hobby. Or invest in education that’s going to get you closer to where you want to be.

When you are learning, you WILL start feeling more invigorated and inspired.

It’ll start firing new brain synapses and get you out of that rut and into a whole new perspective.

6. Implement that education, yo!

If you’ve already invested in education, make sure you actually IMPLEMENT it, yo!

It’s not doing anything for you if you aren’t doing something with it.

Set aside time in your calendar every single week to go through education.

As I shared in How To Create A Wildly Profitable 15 Hour Work Week, I make time to do education every single week.

I have goals about how many business books/programs/coaching I want to do.

And I KNOW I get a massive return on investment on education as long as I actually effing DO IT.

Schedule it in now, possum. Dig out the book or program or whatever you’ve been putting off. And make a plan to DO IT!

7. Set some goals

Whenever I’m feeling rudderless, I revisit my Create Your Amazing Year workbook (2014 edition out soon!) and check in with what goals I set for the year.

I get so much immense satisfaction from crossing them off, and reconnecting with my intentions for the year – both in my life and business.

Setting goals can happen at ANYTIME (say, if you’re celebrating the fact you are not puking as much).

It helps you connect in with your soul and what it wants to bring in to the world, and brings back those important qualities of excitement, joy and ambition.

8. Get some clear-headed time

In order to create your own beautiful life, you need some white space around you.

You gotsa switch off to switch on again.

You honestly just need some space to be able to ask your self, your spirit, your body:

What do I need now? What do I need to give myself? What could get me out of this rut? What could help?

Get off your iPhone/computer. Get old school and do some journalling. Stare at a blank wall. Take a bath. You know, ye olden day thangs.

Turn off all the noise so you can hear the little voice that emerges.

Its instructions will probably be very simple:

I need more greens. I need to go out in the world. I want to try something new.

And just follow the voice. It’ll take you back to your equilibrium, your groove.

9. Get the support you need

Become a master of knowing what you need, and getting yourself the support you need.

If you need more support with childcare, work out a way to do it. If you need to talk through some tough feelings, see a counsellor or therapist. If your body needs realignment, get to an acupuncturist/masseuse/insert healing modality of your choice. If you are experiencing depression, anxiety or any other hormonal/body chemistry imbalances, see your doctor.

I’m as hippy as they come, loves, but I unequivocally stand behind and support people utilising modern medicine when they are suffering.

After a long healing journey trying to fix Post Natal Depression through every eastern/alternative option available to me, I am eternally grateful to anti-depressants for helping sort out my body chemistry. I combine it with regular therapy, acupuncture and intuitive healing.

And after long talks to my husband, this week I talked with my doctor. After over four months of being bedridden, ill and nauseous, my poor spirit and heart were feeling pretty worn and low. Depression is a common secondary complication of having hyperemesis gravidarum, and I’m ready for more support to help me fix the imbalance.

Become an expert on you and your thriving. I’m not a fan of just surviving and getting through each day without enjoying it, or feeling connected and joyous. That’s not the point of life. I know when I’m not thriving, and I go find the support I need.

Handy hint: my husband and I check in with each other often (especially during times of stress like the last four months have been) to see how we are surviving/thriving. We are experts on each other as well – we both have behaviours that come up if we’re not thriving. We bring them up with each other, and work out a plan to get back on track with each other. I’m pretty pragmatic about it – “Honey, if I am having anxiety attacks, am overly moody, get angry regularly or stress out over small things, I’m not coping. Can you please bring it to my attention so we can do something about it?”

Yes, I talk about what it takes to have an amazing life + amazing business, but it’s not about some far off perfection, far removed from reality or being a human. I’m a positive, successful, cheerful person (as my doctor says “You are the happiest looking depressed person!”) but that doesn’t stop me from bumping up against the edges of life. I’m deeply mortal and learn lessons every single day (or as I like to grumble sometimes “Fuck I hate being a human! So messy! Can’t we just all ascend into angelic beings already?”)

I talk about mental health here because it’s bloody important. And I honestly see too many women, and too many hippies who are suffering because they believe that there isn’t any other way, that they should be able to fix it by tapping or affirmations or deep breathing, and that if they succumb to medication, there is something “wrong” with them.

Fuck that for a joke.

I’m as into tapping and Louise Hay and crystals and mantras as the next hippy. But through hard won experience, I’ve learned it’s not a cure all. And that medication can be incredibly useful, whether as a long term solution or a short term solution to alleviate symptoms so you can pursue therapy/alternative modalities to assist. Whatever works for you and your beautiful, unique combination of cells and chemistry is a good good thing.

 10. Healing is possible

Sometimes, you will lose all faith. All courage. All belief that all is good and right with the world.

You’ll grasp at straws and tango with the mystery and wonder:

How in the bleeding fuckity fuck did I get HERE?

You’ll have specks of hope in your pocket like tiny drifts of sand, and then they’ll be caught away by the breeze.

You’ll get to the end of your rope. And to the end of the twine. And to the end of the thread.

Even when it all seems a shitfest. Even when it all feels like too much:

Go slow. Give yourself what you need. Softly softly. Step by step. One drop of nourishment at a time.

I promise you, your sparkle will return.

The dawn will come.

And when you don’t believe it, know that the angels do. And they are holding that faith so big and strong that it’s enough to saturate your very being, cocooning you, wrapping you whole, until you are ready and awake again.

Know you are loved.

Give yourself what you need.

You can do this.

All my love,