235 – How to use your phone to become a more joyful Mama

Mama, this is the last podcast of April. So we are wrapping up our month of being intentional. And I am so excited for May because it is mental health awareness month. And the first week of May, is actually anxiety and depression Awareness Week that is nationally recognized and May, Mother’s Day. So all of those combined, we’re going to be talking a lot about mom anxiety, where it comes from, how it affects you, and how you can use it to your advantage as well because you can! And to wrap up April and being intentional, Mama’s Daily Dose is.. how to use your phone to be a more joyful, Mama. Let’s get moving before we get interrupted.

 
How can you use your phone to be more intentional and more joyful? Set alarms. I don’t know about you, but I have so many alarms and alerts on my phone because I will forget everything. As a mom, there is just so many things going on so many decisions to make so many things going on in that brain that I constantly forget things. My four year old always asks me, “Mommy, why did you forget this?” Or I asked him to remind me so he’ll say, “Why do you need a reminder?” Because there are so many things going on in my mind! 

 
So a lot of times, we need those little reminders. And as we talked about yesterday, you can use those transitions as reminders, but a great way to do it that you’re not going to forget, set alarms in your phone. Whatever you want to feel, set that alarm, I have an alarm that goes off in my phone three times a day that says bring the joy. It’s just a reminder to me that it is up to me. If I want to be joyful, I can… if I don’t want to. I don’t have to either. There have been times where we’re in the middle of a tantrum. Maybe both my kids are throwing a tantrum. And then my alarm goes off. And it just says bring the joy. And I’m like, okay, all right, this is up to me, I can take personal responsibility for it. I have that internal locus of control, I can bring the joy. I also have one in there that says “what am I capable of?” they can be whatever you want. Just set those alarms and get that daily notification. That daily reminder of how you want to feel.

Mama, your action today is as soon as this is over. Take out your phone because I know you’re using your phone to listen to this and set an alarm for how you want to feel. You asked yourself this morning, “how do I want to feel and how do I want to make others feel?” Pick a time, put that in the alarm in your phone and it will go off and you will get that reminder, that automatic reminder. You are juggling lots and it can be difficult to remind ourselves in all of these transitions throughout the day. So make it easier on yourself. Utilize that phone that you already use, to help you be intentional. 

 
I will see you next month for mom anxiety month where we talk everything mom anxiety. So if you have some anxiety as a mom, if you know someone else that does, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and share with your mama friends. Because you know what? We all need to feel connected. We’re all going through this journey together, feeling that connection, knowing that you’re not alone, and knowing that there are ways that you can help yourself too! And have a great day free of mama guilt because you deserve it.

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Mama’s Daily Dose

Meghan Q Barrett is Mom Success Coach who helps mamas figure their sh*t out so they can create a life they love as “mom” AND an individual without the mom guilt.

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234 – “When we don’t want anything…when we cannot exactly define what we want…”

Mama’s Daily Dose is… a quote from Donald Miller, in his book Hero on a Mission, “When we don’t want anything, or perhaps, when we cannot exactly define what we want, we become characters in a story with no plot.” Let’s get moving before we get interrupted.

I get to write my story, you get to write your story, you get to write the story of your life. You can choose the plot, you can choose the characters, you get to choose everything about the story of your life. But the main thing in there is the choosing. If we don’t know what we want, or we don’t choose something that we want, then the story has no plot. There’s nothing to string you along, to be interested in, even interested in your story.

That’s why for so many moms, everything looks great on the outside, but you know, like something is missing on the inside, you just feel like something is missing on the inside. It’s pretty much because you have lost interest in the plot of your story of your life. So take a look. And have you made a decision about what you want your story to be what you want it to look like, what is the plot? What is the character in your story, doing? What is your character trying to overcome? That is the plot of your life, and you get to choose it. But with that, with that internal locus of control that we talked about earlier this week, you have to make a choice. Because if you don’t, the external is going to make a choice for you. And more likely than not, you’re not going to be super in love with the plot of that story.

Mama, your action today is to kind of like take a step back and really look at your life as a story. For most of us, you are probably in your early to mid 30s. We’re somewhere in the middle of life here. So what do you want the rest of your story to look like? If your life was a story that you were reading, where you want that main character to go? What does she overcome? And who does she become at the end? Do you know the answer to that? If you don’t take some time to think about it and think about it from the perspective of a story, like it’s not you. You are looking at a book at a movie and what do you want from that character?

And if you don’t already, give me a follow on Instagram, @MeghanQBarrett, and that is Meghan with an H. Have a great day. I will see you tomorrow for the end of April, intentional April. I have one last intentional action for you to take every day that is like super duper small, very little effort that can have big rewards with it. And have a great day free of mama guilt because you deserve it.

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Meghan Q Barrett is Mom Success Coach who helps mamas figure their sh*t out so they can create a life they love as “mom” AND an individual without the mom guilt.

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233 – How to leave the park without kicking and screaming

You know, when you’ve been at the park for a little while, and it’s, it’s time to go home, it’s it’s lunchtime, we got to get things together, and then it’s going to be nap time. So you’re like, “Hey, come on, y’all let’s go! Time to pack it up. Let’s get on out of here.” And it just doesn’t go that well. There’s all this kicking, and they’re screaming, and then you’re getting upset, but you’re trying to stay calm. And then there’s all these other people looking at you because they’re like, “Hey, I’ve been there too…” Mamas Daily Dose is… how to leave the park without kicking and screaming. Let’s get moving before we get interrupted.

Mama, we’ve all been there. We’ve all been in a situation where we grab our kids, throw them over our shoulders, their legs are flailing all over the place. And they’re screaming, “NO I don’t want to go! Let me down. Let me out.” And then you have all these other people looking at you. We’ve been there. First of all, let me tell you, those people are looking at you not because they’re judging you. But because they’re also parents. They’re like, You know what? I’ve been right there. I feel for you. 

 
So how can you leave the park? How can you leave the jump place? Oh my gosh, like the Defy Gravity near us. Every time we leave. It’s just, it’s it’s the most difficult thing ever. I always told myself, we’re never coming back here. And then we go back… anyways…How do you get them to leave? 

One of the most difficult things, not only for children, but for adults, is transitions, transitioning from one thing to another, shifting your focus from one thing to another, not bringing in feelings and emotions from the past experience to this new experience. So how can you ease those transitions? And it’s about being intentional. Take that moment like how you do in the morning that we talked about yesterday… How do I want to feel? How do I want to feel in this next transition…in this next situation? It may be different. Maybe I feel one way at the park like I’m joyful. I’m here I’m playing with my kids were having a good time. And then that transition to hey, it’s time to leave. How I’m feeling is I’m setting that boundary. I’m digging my feet in here. It’s time to leave. But I’m also setting them up too. I’m letting them know that that transition is coming. You know, there’s two minutes left, you can do one more thing at the park. And then ask them how they feel. Tell them, hey, this is a transition coming up. We’re leaving to go home. How do you want to feel here? And you can tell them Mommy wants to feel organized and secure and that we’re leaving. How do you want to feel? So not only you being intentional with your feelings in those transitions, but asking your children how they want to feel in those transitions too will help because for everybody, transitions are difficult. It’s hard not to take those emotions from the past. And just that experience right before and the past of our whole lives into the next experience. So be intentional with how you want to feel in that next experience in that transition. And ask your kids to be intentional with how they want to feel.

Mama, your action today is to look at the transitions in your day. And use those to take a moment to ask yourself how you want to feel in this next situation. When you walk through a doorway. How do I want to feel going into this room? When you get in your car? How do I want to feel going to the park when you’re leaving the park? How do I want to feel use those transition times as a time to check in with yourself on how you want to feel and check in with your kids to on how they want to feel. And have a great day free of mama guilt because you deserve it.

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Meghan Q Barrett is Mom Success Coach who helps mamas figure their sh*t out so they can create a life they love as “mom” AND an individual without the mom guilt.

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232 – How to get the most out of your morning in 10 seconds

How did your morning go today? Did it get you started off on a great foot for the rest of your day? Or was it not so awesome? And then set the tone for the rest of your day. And Mama’s Daily Dose is.. how to get the most out of your morning. Let’s get moving before we get interrupted. 

 
I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. And if you aren’t super satisfied with your days, and you want your days to get better, look at your morning. The key to a better day lies in your morning, and it lies in you being intentional. I’m not saying you need to set up this big routine that you have to do every single morning. I’m just talking about being intentional in the morning, and how you want to feel for that day. Being intentional means that you set the intention of what you want to bring to the table that day. How do you want to feel? 

 
So every morning I ask myself, “How do I want to feel and make others feel?” This takes maybe 10 seconds. I will feel joyful today, I will feel present today, I will feel grateful today, I will feel energetic today. Whatever the word is for you pick that emotion. Remember that emotion gets you IN motion. And just being intentional and saying that to yourself. That’s going to set you up for the remainder of the day. Because you’ve already told yourself, hey, this is how I’m going to feel today. And remind yourself throughout the day too, sometimes you’re going to slip out of it. It happens to me all the time. But then I take a moment, I remind myself, I have other reminders to remind me too which I’ll let you in on that secret on Friday. But take the time in the morning to be intentional. 

 
Mama, your action today is to ask yourself, “How do you want to feel? And how do you want to make others feel today?” Be intentional. Think of a word just one word that you want to feel and that emotion will get you IN motion. It will get you intentional on that’s how you want to feel for the rest of the day. Instead of just feeling whatever’s coming your way because you have that internal locus of control. You get to write your story and you can choose how you want to feel. And have a great day free of mama guilt because you deserve it.

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Mama’s Daily Dose

Meghan Q Barrett is Mom Success Coach who helps mamas figure their sh*t out so they can create a life they love as “mom” AND an individual without the mom guilt.

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231 – Monday MamAffirmation: I GET to write my story

To start your week off, we like to do a Monday, MamAffirmation, and Mama’s Daily Dose is… I get to write my story. Let’s get moving before we get interrupted.

Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A book has it, a movie has it, a story that you tell your children has it. And your life is a story. There’s a beginning, there’s a middle and there’s an end. But unlike sitting in a movie theater, you don’t know exactly when you’re in the middle. Or when you are at the end. You know, the beginning, you’ve been there for it. Birth, birth is the beginning, right there. But after the birth, there’s the whole story in there, there’s a whole plotline and there’s sub plot lines, there’s a lot going on in your life.

And you get to choose the way you want your story to go. How we talked about a few weeks ago, the menu of life, the Cheesecake Factory menu of life, there’s so many choices out there, there’s so many stories that you can write in your life, and you get to write it. There’s two ways basically, to look at life. There is the internal locus of control, or the external locus of control, the internal locus of control is saying, I get to write my story. It’s saying, I have control over my life, I take responsibility for my life, and I can direct the way that my life goes. Whereas the external locus of control is basically, all this crap is happening TO me. This happened to me because of this person…because of that, I don’t have any control over it. All of these outside forces are in control of my life, you are no longer writing your story. You’re leaving your story, up to fate up to somebody else. But the cool part is you get to write your story. You can choose the way you want your story to go, you can choose the middle of your story, and you can choose the end of your story. So what do you want your story to be? What do you want your life story to be? Because you mama, get to write it.

Mama, your action today is to repeat the Monday MamAffirmation: I get to write my story. Make sure it’s that you GET to you don’t HAVE to write your story. You GET to write your story. It is a privilege. It is an honor, that you get to write your story and you get to direct your life the way that you want to go. It’s your responsibility. It’s on you. You have that internal locus of control. You have that control over your life. You get to write your story. So what do you want your story to be? And if you don’t already give me a follow on Instagram @MeghanQBarrett, and that is Meghan with an H. I’ll see you tomorrow and have a great day free of mama guilt because you deserve it.

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Mama’s Daily Dose

Meghan Q Barrett is Mom Success Coach who helps mamas figure their sh*t out so they can create a life they love as “mom” AND an individual without the mom guilt.

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230 – The lowest points in your life include this…

Mama, we’ve all had those low points in life, life is about having some highs, and some lows, maybe it’s been a low for a couple hours, days, weeks, maybe even years. And Mama’s Daily Dose is… the lowest points of your life, include this… Let’s get moving before we get interrupted.

We all have those low times in our lives. And sometimes they can last a couple days, and sometimes a couple years. But most of those low points all have something in common. And one of the lowest points in my life was when I had postpartum anxiety. And I was drinking. And I was just in this constant cycle of anxiety, fear, guilt, anxiety, fear, guilt, anxiety, fear, guilt, and I just kept going around and around and I felt like I couldn’t get out. And once I came on the other side, I was able to look at it with a little bit different perspective. 

 
And looking at it, I kind of compared to other lower points in my life, and what did they all have in common? And what I found was, I didn’t have a goal, I didn’t have something I was working towards. I was just floating, I was just trying to survive. The other times I had compared it to were times I had reached a high, I achieved a goal. And then I was there. And then I didn’t have anything after. When I went to Tegionals with CrossFit, that was my goal. I worked on that hours and hours a day for years. And then we went to Regionals; afterwards, I sat around, I started drinking again, because I didn’t know what was next. I didn’t know what I wanted next. A lot of people have this. After they get married, you put in all this effort for this big event. And now you’re married. And you’re like, “Okay, what’s, what’s next? What’s, what’s going on next?” So if you’re feeling like you’re in a low time right now, or look back on some low times in your life, and did you have something you were working towards? Did you have a goal? Did you know where you were trying to go? Or were you just there, flowing and trying to survive?

Mama, your action today is to look back with some perspective on a lower point in your life. And did you have something then that you were working towards? Or were you just kind of flowing, waiting for what would come by or really just trying to survive? And there are going to be those times as a mom, where you are just trying to survive. But taking a look at it, looking at it ith perspective and being like, “Okay, I do need to put my energy and my resources into getting by right now. But what’s something small, what’s a little goal that I can work towards, what’s something that’s down that road that I have something to look forward to?” And hey, if you are loving this podcast, if you are getting a little more out of it, make sure you subscribe, and share with your mama friends. That’s how we keep this podcast going. That’s how we keep sharing all this knowledge and experience to help other moms and their kids and your kids. And it just keeps flowing down! And have a fabulous weekend and a great day free of mama guilt because you deserve it.

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Mama’s Daily Dose

Meghan Q Barrett is Mom Success Coach who helps mamas figure their sh*t out so they can create a life they love as “mom” AND an individual without the mom guilt.

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229 – “There is one quality which one must possess to win…”

Mama’s Daily Dose is… a quote from Napoleon Hill, in his classic “Think and Grow Rich,” “There is one quality which one must possess to win and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.” Let’s get moving before we get interrupted.

Burning desire. Now what does that mean? That is really just the emotion behind it. And that is what a lot of people are missing in their goals and their dreams and what they want to do. Their wish or goal may sound something like “I should lose weight, I want to lose weight, I want to start a business, I want to make some money…”  There’s no emotion behind it. And that is what most people are missing in their goals and their everyday lives. 

Emotions, drive our decisions, you buy things mostly on emotion. Because you feel for it, you feel like you need it, you feel like it’s going to make your life better. So what is your burning desire? And it doesn’t have to be something that’s like, “oh my gosh, I’m going to change the world.” You just need a goal and have some emotion behind it. My first goal ever in CrossFit was to do a pull up. And the whole reason I wanted to do a pull up was so that I could get a picture of me doing a pull up in my wedding dress so that I could post it on social media. And I totally understand how self centered and stupid that sounds. But that was my burning desire. I had a reason, I had an emotion behind it to put in all of this work to do my pull up. So do you have a burning desire behind what it is that you want to do? Kind of like how we talked about yesterday…with no limitations, what would you do? Okay, now you know what you want to do, what is your desire behind it? What is the emotion behind it? That is going to give you that drive to go towards it.

Mama, your action today is to think about, what is your purpose? Right now! We don’t have to think your big life’s purpose. Let’s just focus on right now. What is your purpose right now? And what is that burning desire, that deep burning desire behind it? What is that emotion behind it? That is going to give you that gas to move the vehicle that emotion is what gets you IN motion. And if you haven’t already, please subscribe to this podcast and share with your mama friends. We want all the moms out there going after their more! And have a great day free of mama guilt because you deserve it.

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Meghan Q Barrett is Mom Success Coach who helps mamas figure their sh*t out so they can create a life they love as “mom” AND an individual without the mom guilt.

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228 – What would you choose?

This is one of my absolute favorite questions to ask people. And Mama’s Daily Dose is… if nothing were stopping you, no limitations at all…what would you be doing? Let’s get moving, before we get interrupted.

Imagine it, you have no restrictions. You have all the money in the world all the time in the world, all the resources, all the childcare. What are you doing? What do you decide to do? This is an excellent question. I love to ask this to not only all of my coaching clients, but to people that I just meet. And trust me try it, it’s kind of an awkward situation. But I also love awkward situations. Okay, tangent there. Anyways, this question really gets down to the source of what’s going to make you happy, because we’re taking away all of those excuses, or all of those roadblocks that can get in the way of you doing what you want.

I worked with a coach at the end of last year, and she asked me this, and right away, I was like, “Oh, I’d go travel the world, I would go show my kids the world, we meet all these people see all these cool places, all this stuff. And then I stopped and I’m like, “You know what, that was my answer for so long. But that’s not actually what I really want to do now. I mean, I would like to go travel and do those things. But on an everyday basis, what I want to do is, I want to wake up, hang out with my kids have breakfast with my kids, go workout, I want to be there for all the sports practices, music lessons, whatever it is, my kids choose to do have dinner with them, and put them to bed. That’s actually what I really want to do.” And I suppressed that for so long, because that doesn’t sound nearly as cool as traveling the world. But the traveling the world didn’t feel right to me. It didn’t stick right with me. But saying, I want to go to all of my kids baseball games. Like that gets me excited. That’s what I really want to do. Even if I had all the money in the world, and I could pay whomever to bring them to baseball games or film it while I’m off in Milan or wherever I am. No, I would choose to be at the baseball games.

So if you had no restrictions at all, what would you choose to do? And there’s no wrong answers. Maybe yours is you want to travel the world and live this lavish lifestyle. And that’s great, but it’s also totally okay to be like, I want to live in my house that I live in right now. And I just kind of want to lead the life that I live right now. I am very happy with that. There is no right or wrong answer. It’s what feels right for you.

Mama, your action today is to ask yourself, “if you had no restrictions in life, all the money all the time, all the things? What would you choose to do?” And say your answers out loud. If you have a couple that come to mind, say it out loud and see how it feels say, “I’m going to travel the world with my kids. We’re going to stay in all these different countries.” Or say, “I’m going to hang at home with my kids. Take them to baseball practice,” or “I’m going to create this awesome company” or “I am going to foster all these dogs and save a bunch of dogs.” It doesn’t matter what it is. It’s what feels right for you. And if you don’t already, give me a follow on Instagram @MeghanQBarrett and TikTok too. And have a great day free of mama guilt because you deserve it.

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Mama’s Daily Dose

Meghan Q Barrett is Mom Success Coach who helps mamas figure their sh*t out so they can create a life they love as “mom” AND an individual without the mom guilt.

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227 – Where are you going to be 1 year from now?

Mama, how often do you think about your future? Like what you want specifically for you? I know you think about your kids future, maybe they’re going to play this sport or play those instruments. You think “what are they going to be when they grow up?” But what are you going to be when you grow up? And Mama’s Daily Dose is.. Where are you in a year from now? Well, let’s get moving, before we get interrupted.

 
When you have kids, especially young kids, a lot can change in one year, in 365 days. Just think about it, that’s why so many people take those monthly photos in the first year because your kid changes so much. But you know what? You change a ton too mama. And how often do you think about and plot out where you want to be in the future? 

And a lot of stuff changes all the time. And sometimes it can be difficult to be like, “Oh, hey, in 10 years, I want to be here.” But I want you tofirst focus on, where do you want to be in one year? Who do you want to be? Do you want to be in the same place that you are right now? Or do you want to change? What are the things that you would like to see in your life? 

So often as moms, we focus on the future of our kids. And yes, that is important, too. I was talking to my son, and I’m like, “hey, what sport do you want to play in the fall?” It’s April, and we’re already talking about what sport he wants to play in the fall! And then I took a moment, and asked, “well, what do I want to do in the fall? There’s more that I want to do than chauffer my kid to baseball or whatever sport he chooses. So you take the time to think about where your kids are going to be in a year or so. But have you taken the time to think about where you want to be? What are some things that you want to accomplish? Where do you want to be in April 2023? What does April 2023, you look like? What is she doing? What is she feeling? Who is she?

Mama, your action today is to set a two to three minute timer and just write down all the things that you want for you in the next year. So in April 2023 What are you doing? Who are you? What are you feeling? Those feelings are so important because as humans for one, we are emotional beings. We make so many decisions based on our feelings, and even more so as moms it’s like that mom intuition that we talked about before. So many of those choices that we make in life are off of those gut feelings. So take the time today to think about where you, YOU, specifically want to be in one year in April 2023. And have a great day free of mana guilt because you deserve it.

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Mama’s Daily Dose

Meghan Q Barrett is Mom Success Coach who helps mamas figure their sh*t out so they can create a life they love as “mom” AND an individual without the mom guilt.

Book your Confident Mama Session

226 – Monday MamAffirmation: I know what I want!

Mama’s Daily Dose is… a Monday, MamAffirmation: “I know what I want.” Let’s get moving, before we get interrupted. 

Last week, we talked a ton about trusting yourself and listening to yourself, and you know yourself best. And from my experience, not only in coaching, but just talking to people in general, you know what you want. I believe most people already know what they want or what they want to do in life or who they want to be in life. But we don’t always want to listen to ourselves, it can be difficult to accept what you really want, if it goes against some of those subconscious beliefs, or what people around you expect of you or the role you’re supposed to play. 

And one of the difficult things is, is that we don’t really know when this is going to become apparent to us. So I believe that everyone knows it’s in there, you know, somewhere, but it’s not always going to become apparent when you want it to. There’s plenty of people that have found this later on in life like Vera Wang, she didn’t even enter the fashion world until she was 40. And then Martha Stewart, she blew up in her 50s and then you know, all that crap went down, but she came back at 72! She had a show with Snoop Dogg, a rapper. I mean, you just never know when it’s going to come when it’s going to dawn on you. So if you don’t know already, don’t stress. take that time to listen to yourself. And who knows maybe you’ll be 72 on a cooking show with a rapper. 

Mama, your action today is to repeat the MamAffirmation: “I know what I want.” And even if it is not apparent right now, trust that it is somewhere in there for you. And take that time to listen to your self. And have a great day free of mama guilt because you deserve it.

Rather listen than read? Listen to the podcast here:

Mama’s Daily Dose

Meghan Q Barrett is Mom Success Coach who helps mamas figure their sh*t out so they can create a life they love as “mom” AND an individual without the mom guilt.

Book your Confident Mama Session