e043 – Decisions by Design with Chris Atley

This episode features a very special guest for Sabrina, her first ever personal coach, Chris Atley. She is known for her ability to help business owners reduce the overwhelm, and move through the obstacles keeping them from realizing their business dreams and lifestyle goals. Chris is an award winning coach, TEDx speaker and bestselling author. She has been featured on media outlets such as Bloomberg Radio, Fox, ABC and the Manhattan Neighborhood Network. The number one topic for women right now is self-care. Chris is convinced self-care is almost as important as breathing. And sometimes it is simply breathing. It is hard to separate out what is self-care when we are marketing images of spa days and chocolates. It may be a bit of a buzzword right now, but it is about honouring yourself and doing things that make you feel happy and more at peace and calm. We need to fill up our cup in this way first, so we can give to other people. Appreciating and honouring ourselves so we can provide to our families. It could be daily habits, once a month massage. But finding a ritual in your day will help alleviate the stress that wears us down. Start scheduling self-care as an appointment. You wouldn’t skip a doctors appointment- don’t skip one for yourself. Make sure to plan it for a time when you are energized and excited. Mornings give ample opportunity for time to yourself, enjoy coffee and set a good foundation for your day. If waiting until the end of the day, it gets pushed off from being tired, rushing through bedtime routines, etc. Sabrina and Chris have faced all of the excuses from not being a morning person, to not being able to wake up that early and more. It could start with walking the dog each morning, or getting out of the house. Self-care needs to work for you. If you really are not a morning person, try it at night. Make this work for your family and your schedule. Work with your support network and trade off time, ask your partner, a friend, whatever resources you can pool. Balancing little kids sleep schedules and a solid self care routine in the mornings don’t always align, but the key is to make sure your needs, including sleep are being met. Try nap time, or involving the kids in your meditations or affirmations like Sabrina did. Chris focuses her coaching on building an abundant mindset in her clients. She focuses on what our thoughts and beliefs are deep down so that we can see how we are showing up in life. Chris helps people manifest their biggest dreams and goals by shifting their mindset into a nurturing, flexible growth. As moms we are told we are “just a mom”. Between the full time work of the invisible motherload, on top of the children and losing our identities when we become mothers, we can lose focus on ourselves. Following a path on how thoughts shape our reality and focusing on the study of miracles, Chris has developed a podcast on One Simple Truth, a deep dive into the study of miracles in a nondenominational way. She focuses on how to remove the roadblocks in our way. By breaking down the complex ideas behind these mindset shifts, it makes the practice more approachable and accessible, and you learn how to apply this on the practical level. You can understand it on a higher level, but applying it practically can take more understanding. How to start your mindset journey: Get clear on what we want and believing it's possible. Look to someone else who does believe if you’re having trouble believing it. Find a role model and believe its possible. Get clear on what your beliefs are deep down. If you are not where you wanna be, there is a belief somewhere that is affecting how you are showing up. If it has not shifted emotionally or in our subconscious, it will be manifesting in our day to day. Analyze how you feel about success. What do you really believe? Be ready to receive.