G’day gorgeous ones!

I received this great question from Alana in the UK:

Hey Leonie!

Thank you for inspiring me every day to live my dream – I see how possible it all is now!

Can I ask –  how do you decipher what to post on your business blog – what areas of your life do you keep private?

And how do you take care of safety and privacy stuff when you blog?

This is definitely something we all need to be aware of.

Not in a crazy fear kind of way.

Just the simple, actionable steps you need to take.

And then continue on your merry way.

There’s two issues to tackle here:

Simple privacy (as in: my high school boyfriend knows the colour of the jocks I am currently wearing because I Instagrammed them – aka “The Overshare“) and financial + personal safety.

So let’s first go with the personal privacy stuff first:

 

How Much Of Your Private Life Should You Keep Private On Your Blog?

My simplest answer is this:

I go with my gut.

Whatever my gut tells me, I trust.

It hasn’t failed me yet.

I’m totally okay with telling the world I’m six weeks pregnant. I’m totally okay with crying on video because of a miscarriage scare. I’m totally okay with sharing (semi-nekkid) birth photos & our birth story.

I’m okay with those things because it lit me up and I knew it was the right thing to do.

There are many other things that I don’t share simply because my gut says not to.

My love (who is very hot, I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned that before) is much more private than me.

 

What to do with husbo’s (and other’s) who have different internal privacy settings than you?

I usually ask his permission before I write something about him or post too many photos of him.

He tells me if he wants something to be taken down.

We talk talk talk. We work out our shared comfort ground.

After 11 years of knowing him, I’ve got a fairly good grasp on what his internal setting would say.

And it’s kinda lucky that he DOES have different settings to me – because oh my goshness, it would be a 24/7 tsunami of Chris hotness if he didn’t.

 

What about children’s photos online?

I also have a certain protective boundary around what I share about my daughter online.

Again, I trust my gut.

I personally am okay with sharing pictures of her online because I don’t see it as any different than taking her out into the world.

(I understand and respect your right to see things differently to me. Your kids, your choices!)

I don’t particularly talk to much about *her* though. It’s up to her to decide who she is.

 

Should you keep private life separate from your business blog?

I personally can’t think of blogging without bringing me and my story into it.

I know my tribe trust me because every single step of the way over the last eight years, they’ve known my story. And for me, it’s like the best thing ever because it means I have 20 000 soul sisters in the world. When I meet fans/tribe/readers, they already know me and therefore they are awesome and fabulous and just the kind of people I want to be around.

And it’s also what I’m attracted to in other people’s blogs: hearing their story, getting to know who they are, how they live their lives.

It’s compelling + teaches me so much.

Again: It’s up to you. Trust your gut. Be as vulnerable, honest + sharing as you are called to be.

 

Let’s talk Personal + Financial Security!

So that was about personal privacy online.

Here’s some general guidelines on shit you need to be aware of to protect your financial + personal security:

  • Always use a PO Box/redirection service when it comes to signing up for domain names, packages for your business etc, your Contact page, your address for mailing services (i.e. Aweber or Infusionsoft), NOT your residential address.
  • Make sure you don’t give away answers to the “secret questions” that can be used to get new passwords for your accounts (i.e. “mother’s maiden name?” “what school you went to?” “town your father was born in?”)
  • Don’t share your middle names online.
  • If you don’t wish to have certain people know what you are doing, consider using a made-up name for the internet (I have a couple of friends who do this!)
  • Consider not using location services on your phone to tag on Facebook or on Instagram where you are on the map, or where you visit.
  • Consider not posting photographs where you are – take photos and post them later.
  • Consider not sharing when you are on vacation – or being very upfront about having house sitters when you are!

 

How A Hippy Protects Herself Energetically

 

And I’m a certified, bonafide hippy crunchy woo-woo.

So I actually do energy techniques as well to energetically + physically protect myself.

I do sacred space clearing + protection of my home + land often (if you’re interested in learning more about how to do this, my Sacred Space Clearing Kit is the best way to begin).

I use the techniques I taught in the Healing Goddess workshop to protect my own energy field.

I trust my gut and if someone gives me the heebyjeebies, I remove myself from their presence (whether online or in real life) el pronto.

I have a No B.S. clause in my life.

I get regular intuitive healing attunements.

If something is off kilter with me, I get it fixed: whether through acupuncture, counselling, intuitive healing, coaching, relationship counselling or western medicine. I call this the “Get A Freaking Professional!” approach to life.

Often weird shit is a reflection that something is askew in your own life. Keep yourself aligned and you’ll have less crazy to attend to.

All this means: I have less weird shit to deal with because I am 100% No Weird Shit Allowed. I enforce that with my boundaries, my intention and with my actions.

 

And most of all:

Again, be aware but not alarmed. Just do what needs doing, and carry on with your glorious life. Don’t let it hold you back!

I see so many clients who let fear creep in so much that it stalls their progress.

It’s needless. All this shiz is workoutable. Just take step by step by step to do what needs doing.

And then keep growing, sharing + shine your light!

love,