Does this sound familiar?

Whatever is happening in your life, perhaps in your relationships, or your community, can contribute to your sense of overwhelm too.

And though we all experience life differently, most people will say there have been more than a few opportunities for overwhelm in the last few years.

I think overwhelm is a catch-all emotion. Instead, you could be feeling stressed, frustrated, or agitated often.

We know what it feels like, but that feeling of overwhelm can represent many different internal challenges.

Overwhelm is much like the tip of an iceberg.

That iceberg tip can be sharp and destructive, but it's just the tip of the overwhelm iceberg.

There's a whole lot more iceberg under the water.

And the stuff you don't see is harder to pin down (well, not if you have a satellite tracker or something fancy like that, but with your natural eyes, you just can't get clarity).

Overwhelm could be...

• too many opportunities to be frustrated with your partner
• too many activities to attend or too many kids to look in the eyes
• too many angry moments with your kids
• too many confusing moments trying to determine what someone wants from you and how you can appease or satisfy it
• not knowing how to address something with another human or life event
• hearing too many hard stories (from your prayer chain or the television news)
• trying to do the right thing by your kids but not sure if you're hitting it
• trying really hard to do everything for everyone, knowing you're not hitting it, trying harder, and collapsing at the end of the night
• feeling like you're losing yourself to constant demands and requests and needs of everyone else
• trying not to succumb to anxiety because...(you fill in the blank here)
• not feeling supported in your homeschool life (or life, in general)
• homeschool feels like a daily struggle
• not feeling like you're showing up as you'd like in your homeschool (& you'd definitely not want someone to be a fly on the wall watching you)
• being unrealistic with your expectations, knowing it, but not knowing how to stop
• feeling that what you're doing isn't good enough
• and anything else you would put on this list...
  

Do you relate to these thoughts?

What I would have done differently...

I have learned how to feel intentional, confident, and generally satisfied in my life -- and I'll be sharing those perspective shifts in the upcoming group coaching program beginning next week. 

Of course, I learned these things over a couple decades, with a whole lot of stress, frustration, and overwhelm. 😫😬😓😰😥😢😣😩

So what follows is what I wish I had known decades ago so I could have lived my earlier homeschool years more confidently, intentionally, and more satisfied...and a whole lot less overwhelmed.

Want to know what I would have done differently?

1. If I had to do it all over again, I would have started by assessing my expectations before I got planning.
2. Looking back, I would have prioritized clarifying my definition of education much earlier and recognized the importance of child-directed learning.
3. In hindsight, I wish I had simplified our curriculum choices sooner. This would have allowed us to focus on what truly mattered and reduced the overwhelming workload I self-created.
4. One of the biggest changes I'd make is to regularly evaluate our activities to ensure they serve my children's needs. Learning when to adjust my expectations would have prevented unnecessary stress and frustration.
5. I now understand the value of holistic homeschooling, recognizing that learning doesn't happen only within textbooks. I would have customized my approach a lot sooner.
6. Time management and prioritizing (aka time blocking) would have been the first thing I would have done! 
7. If I could turn back time, I would have defined our homeschool and personal goals right from the start. 
8. I would have paid more attention to our daily routines and habits. 
9. Dedicating time to self-care and nurturing an 'all-about-me' activity would have reduced the stress and frustration I routinely felt.
   
10. I now see the importance of setting healthy boundaries and ensuring I'm heard and seen by the important people in my life and learning to see and hear others too.
11. I would evaluate extracurricular activities to determine if they truly serve my kids and adjust my expectations when necessary.
12. I wish I could have moved beyond the "perfect family fantasy" and just embraced the moments whatever was in front of me.

So, yeah, these are the things I would do differently.

Imagine if…

• You can learn to be confident and intentional when you’re up against the challenging days.
• You can know that you’re addressing your kids (and their challenges) on purpose, not reactively.
• You can be at peace each day knowing there’s no perfect homeschool, but that you’re doing a darn good job with your kids. 
• You can learn to delete the unimportant.
• You can create space for yourself in your world, breathing room, to feed your soul.
• You can feel supported, seen & heard in your homeschool & your life. And create a nurturing environment the important people in your life too.
• You can enjoy the memories you’re making on the pleasant days. And put into perspective the memories of the challenging days.
  

If you would like to move toward intention, confidence, and satisfaction in your homeschool mom life a whole lot faster than I did, you're invited to join me in the Overcoming Overwhelm group coaching program.

👀 Here's a sneak peek at what you can expect in the 5-week program:

Week 1: Start Before We Start 

🌟Discover your "why" 

• Why are you here, and what drives your homeschool mom journey? 
• Get a whole lot clearer on why you're overwhelmed, stressed, or frustrated: clarifying coaching from week one!
• Assess your current overwhelm and stress levels.
• Learn how to get the most out of this coaching program.

Week 2: Meeting Your Needs 

🌼Explore why ignoring your needs leads to overwhelm.

• Reflect on whether you're truly addressing your basic needs.
• Find out how to factor separate time for yourself into your routine. 
• Nurture an "all-about-you" thing to rejuvenate regularly.
• Learn to speak kindly to yourself and explore why you already aren't.
• Reevaluate your homeschool expectations and be realistic. 

Week 3: Nurturing Relationships 

🤗Examine how your relationships influence your sense of overwhelm, stress, and frustration. 

• Assess your relationships and how they might be contributing to your overwhelm and stress.
• Discover the art of balancing self-care with helping others.
• Establish boundaries that support your well-being. 
• Explore living alongside others and how to be seen, heard, and still be fully you while honouring others fully too.
• Focus on family harmony and happiness without overidentifying with your child. 

Week 4: Homeschooling Insights 

🏫Clarify your definition of education and learn to lean into child-directed learning.

• Evaluate whether you're doing activities that serve your kids and know when to alter your expectations.
• View your homeschool wholistically: recognize where learning is happening and how you can train yourself to customize learning and educational approaches to each child to decrease overwhelm.
• Learn practices to address yourself when you're in the big emotions of overwhelm, frustration, and stress.
• Discover how to time block and make the most of limited time, yet still live into the most important things.

Week 5: Your Homeschool Goals 

🌈Explore your ultimate homeschool goal & homeschool mom goals too.

• Move beyond the homeschool perfection fantasy.
• Learn mindfulness practices to incorporate into your homeschool mom days.
• Clarify your household, grooming, morning, and homeschool routines (& work routines too, if that is also you!)
• Learn to instill a self-coaching practice with the Overcoming Overwhelm Journaling Workbook to further explore your challenges with overwhelm. 

📔So what's next? 

Your journey to a more intentional, confident, and satisfying homeschool mom life! 

Join the group coaching program to overcome overwhelm and rediscover your joy in this homeschool mom life. 

🌈So are you ready for it? Simply click the link to secure your spot and invest in yourself.🌟