Did you feel any anxiety as you checked your calendar to plan your family vacation?

Did you ask yourself if you should even be going?

What about that big project, client, case or customer?

Did you ask around on your team to see how much vacation other people were taking so you could benchmark?

In today’s podcast episode, I am going to challenge you to rethink vacation and why you should take a vacation.

If you are somebody who takes vacation and doesn't think about work at all and you have no issues saying “I need to take these five days off for vacation”, then feel free to pass on this episode.

But if you have ever had hesitation, a little bit of anxiety (or even stress)  around actually taking a vacation and what the implications are of that for your work, then tune in for the episode because I'm going to walk you through a different way to think about vacation and why it's important for you to take it.

My premise here is that taking a vacation reminds...

In this week's episode, I interview Bianca Baader of Haus Pixie Organizing and Staging. 

My confession is that while I was always organized in school (and now at work), I was/am messy at home (mainly clothes and papers).  It's now limited to my own bedroom and not the rest of our house, but it's still a struggle for me.  

Then, if you throw 1) kids, 2) a tendency to hold on to things too long (think pack-rat, not a hoarder) and 3) a Boston-sized apartment you'll appreciate my challenges!   

So, a bit over a year ago, I hired Bianca to help me get my sh&t together before starting my new job.   It was a great experience!  I remember Bianca helping me to determine what I needed to get rid of without judgment, but with some tough questions and push-back again my instinct to hold onto things I didn't need or use. 

And, what took things over the top for me is that we actually took the items to the Goodwill for donation. ...

Mother's Day is a wonderful day, but it can also be emotionally exhausting.   Whether you are just thinking about becoming a mom, you are pregnant and nervous about the type of mother you'll be, or you are deep in the struggle, I wanted to share just a few words of encouragement today. 

My hope for you is to be encouraged when you feel like you are not enough, joyful when you are sad and frustrated, hopeful when you feel exhausted, and cherished even the "thank yous" seem non-existent.

You are doing your best.  You are not alone.

As you go through your week, please remember: 

1. Mother’s still have to mother on Mother's Day!   Even with all the celebration, there are people still counting on you, still asking you for things and still expecting you to meet their needs.  Tomorrow is just Monday, so what are you doing the rest of the days to make parenting sustainable?
2. Motherhood is a sacred role, but it doesn’t have to be your...

In today’s show, I am taking inventory of the first 3 months of 2019.   This year, I want to make a habit of checking in with myself every 90 days (quarterly) to see how I am tracking against the goals that I set for myself for the year.

I set goals in multiple areas of life: Spiritual, Financial, Health, Marriage, Parenting, Personal Development, and Relationships.

I'll review each area briefly, starting with my PUSH Goal.  This is a concept I learned from Michael Hyatt in a goal-setting course.  A push goal isn't necessarily your most important goal, but it is the goal that will have the biggest impact if you can achieve it.  It can start a domino effect to help you achieve your other goals. 

Listen in iTunes

1. PUSH Goals:  Plan meals each week and track food daily
1. What is going well:
1. Planning Meals!  
2. I did meet with a registered dietitian and that has superseded the tracking goals, in that it’s taking a long time to get my...

Parenting. 

It's exhausting.

When they're little, the exhaustion is primarily physical. 

As they get older, it shifts from physically to emotionally challenging. 

We want to love them and teach them.  We want them to cooperate, listen, and learn so that they become empowered, self-aware people. 

Most of the time spent parenting focuses on our kids and what they need to do or learn or how they need to behave and respond to life.   

Today's guest challenges that idea.   Ruth Freeman, a parenting coaching at Peace at Home Parenting and licensed social worker with over 3 decades of experience working with parents and kids, says that parents need to spend more time on their own thoughts and behaviors.   How we raise our kids is a direct product of our own upbringing, fears, expectations, and societal norms.  

That isn't a criticism.  It's an observation. Understanding it can help you identify what...

Last weeks episode focused on self-love.  It laid a framework to think about how to truly love yourself, starting with what you think, say and require of yourself and those around you. 

That foundation is important.  But, the focus of WifeMotherLeader is always how to put action behind ideas. How does this work in my real life that is messy, busy and not packages in 5 clear steps? 

Today's podcast focuses on some specific ways that you can translate self-love into your daily life. Remember, self-care is really self- love in action.  So, consistent self-care is what you do because you have self-love.

Here are 6 ways that you can put self-love into action: 

1. One Hour Per Week of "Think Time."   
1. Many of us spend most of our day consuming content and listening to outside voices.  Maybe it's music, podcasts, audiobooks, your colleagues and clients, and/or your family.   How much time do you have without the background noise...

Hopefully, you've recovered from the onslaught of "love" from Valentine's Day.   Flowers, candy, and romantic love were everywhere.   But, once the day was over (and maybe during it), did you truly feel love? 

What did you say to yourself on February 13th or on February 15th? 

In this episode,  I’ll share 5 things about self-love that are critical if you want to have peace and joy, even if your life is busy and chaotic right now:

• How self-love is different from self-care
• Self-love requires you to talk differently  
• Self-love demands that you advocate for yourself
• Self-love teaches you to forgive yourself
• Why self-love matters to you, your marriage and your kids

If you're pressed for time, you can get a summary below, but the full explanation is in the podcast.

1. How self-love is different

Get a massage.  Get a manicure.  Get a babysitter and take yourself out.   Those are all great...

Mummy tummy.

Pooch.

Baby belly.

It's exactly the thing that you don't want to happen after having a baby.   It's not because you're vain.  The transformation that your body goes through during pregnancy changes so much about you--physically, mentally, and emotionally.   Our physical bodies have many reminders, including scars, stretch marks, and extra stored fat that wasn't there before.   We get it and we're not mad about it.  

However, abdominal separation is more than just your belly looking like it's still a few months pregnant when you're not (although none of us would choose that).  It can be painful and cause other complications because your connective tissue and muscle that support your back and keep your internal organs in place, is  separated. 

In this week's episode, I talk with Caroline Johnson, of Belly Rebuild, about diastasis recti.  Diastasis recti is the separation of your transverse...

Donielle, how in the heck did you end up staying home for four years if that wasn't your career plan?

I worked in market research in the Pharma and biotech industry for about seven years.  I had my first son and went back to work (after about 8 months of leave).   Over the next two years, I continued building my career, until I had made it to the senior director level--a huge milestone!  

Then I had my second son. He was born in September. I went on maternity leave and was going to return in January. But, two weeks after my son was born, we got his diagnosis of Sickle Cell Disease and it literally changed our lives.  

In the episode I share: 

1. Why I decided to leave work (not my career "plan" up until that point)
2. Key lessons I learned when I decided to return to work 4 years later, including
   1. Why your work and your network are the most important things that you have control over
   2. I’ve still got it, although I am wiser and more...

This is the final episode in this series where I share key lessons from 12 years of marriage. 

Lessons 4-12 were not in a particular order, but 1-3 are.  These are the 3 most important lessons that have shaped our marriage.   

These lessons are what have made the most difference in our marriage. They are what I would tell an engaged or newly married couple if I only had a few minutes to share some advice. 

In this episode, I focus on the following lessons: 

• Lesson 3: Teamwork makes the dream work
• Lesson 2: Pray together daily
• Lesson 1: God must be at the center

If you didn't listen to Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3, with lessons 4-12, check them out:

• Lesson 12: Change Yourself.  Don't try to change your husband. 
• Lesson 11: Being vulnerable helps you be understood
• Lesson 10: Cheerleading is a skill you must learn 
• Lesson 9: You have to advocate for yourself.
• Lesson 8: Kids are a gift from God, but...