Growing your Glow

As part of Happy YOU Year, I spent the week on Instagram highlighting how the Illumination Kit can help you with that. Let’s walk through an element in each of the guides and use it to grow your glow this week!

Foundation/Discovery

In starting out our growth journey, we need to scout out and identify what is holding us back. What excuses do you tell yourself about making changes in your life? More importantly, do you even see them as excuses?

Being aware of where you are holding yourself back is an important exercise in the Foundation + Discovery section of your Illumination Kit growth journey.

Let’s begin the journey of scouting out our inner glow by really listening to what you say. What excuses do you hear yourself using to put off investing in yourself? To avoid building a foundation to live a life that lights you up?

Write out that list and identify where you are holding yourself back. Begin to strip away the false narrative that rules your everyday life. Don’t make excuses for why you can’t get it done. Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.

If you’re choosing to complain about it, you’re choosing to accept it.

Let’s start choosing a brighter life for ourselves by shining a light on our excuses today!

Visioning

You are the world’s greatest storyteller. We tell ourselves stories all the time. Stories about who we are, what we can become, what we think about ourselves and how to live our lives. You are so convincing too because you believe every . last . one . of them.

I include this in the Visioning section of the Illumination Kit for a reason. You are exactly the story you tell yourself you are. It’s time to start telling ourselves BETTER STORIES!!! Flip the script on what you say to yourself.

“I don’t have enough time” —> “I prioritize what is important to me”

“I am not smart enough” —> “I am confident I will figure this out”

“I am not talented” —> “I am excited to try something new”

Start by changing the story you are creating for yourself in your thoughts.

♥️ I am doing a great job

♥️ I am seen

♥️ I am enough

♥️ I am worthy

♥️ I am loved

♥️ I am brave

To inspire your new stories, I created a special I Am Meditation for Mothers to believe these about yourself today. Listen and start to tell yourself a better story.

Quiet

In this section, I’m sharing how cleaning the ceiling fan is a key element in my growth journey, also titled “The attack of the giant dust bunnies.” Our ceiling fan was a haven for dust. We need an air purifier for the living room because it is the only room without one and the dust accumulates quickly. Definitely something we don’t clean (ever) but seeing them grossed me out.

So I challenged myself to the 10-minute spot clean to tackle those not-so-cute dust bunnies. I put on the music, set a timer on my watch and jumped into it.

• I saved a few minutes because the ladder was already out from a different project

• Grabbed some rags and spray

• Tried to not be grossed out by the dust bunnies

• And done!

Official time: 4:38

So why would cleaning the fan be a part of my personal growth journey? Relieving yourself of visual clutter allows your mind to have more space too with one less thing on the hamster wheel to-do list. It reminds you of how much you can get done in a short amount of time when you focus. It gives you a sense of accomplishment and tangible progress in your life.

I was honestly a little surprised I was able to finish it so quickly. If I didn’t give myself the 10-minute boundary on the task, I’d probably still be looking up at a dusty fan, worrying that the dust bunnies were going to launch themselves off (and probably land in my cup of tea). Even accounting for grabbing the ladder and running the dirty rags to the laundry, I barely went over the 10 minute time block. It reminded me of how much I can get done when I set my mind to something. And to reframe how I see my mini pockets of time in a day. They have the potential to add up to big results, motivating me to keep going.

And that it why this exercise is a part of the 3rd phase of the Illumination Kit, using all forms of Quiet to give us more mental and physical space for growth.

Growth

The glass of water next to my bathroom sink is not just a glass a of water. It’s a love note from last night self to my this morning self. A step to make it easier to take care of myself.

Filling up a glass of water isn’t a hard thing to do, but waking up and just being able to grab it and start my day hydrated certainly makes things easier. And I’ll take every bit of ease I can!

Let’s do more things our future selves will be thankful for! Whether it’s-

• going to bed so that you have enough time to fully rest up

• setting out your clothes or vitamins the night before

• spending a few minutes journaling and celebrating what you are grateful for

• reading a few pages from a personal growth book each day

• leaving yourself a note of where you left off at the end of the work day

• setting the coffee maker

• making a meal plan for the next day

• filling up your water glass for the morning

All of these little actions add up to one big love fest to your future self! And are a huge catalyst for your personal growth. Does this make you feel inspired to do things for your future self?

How about you?

So how do you feel about your growth journey? Are you committing to give these tips a try in your life this week? See where these small changes can take you in even a short amount of time?

If you are interested in growing your glow, I fully recommend the full Illumination Kit experience. You get a handcrafted journal and four themed guides to help you along your journey. And you’ll get my support! For accountability and encouragement, I’ll be mailing you handwritten cards to align with the theme of each booklet. Nothing brightens a day like getting a card in the mail!

And while you wait for mailman Mike to deliver your Illumination Kit from my mailbox to yours, be sure to follow me on Instagram and sign up for my newsletter!

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Stephanie Rose is a mom, wife, business owner and a forever student in finding ways to know herself better. She acts as guide for your own journey, sharing insights, tools and practices to help you remember your magic and live a life that lights you up. Sign up for her newsletter and check out her free resources.

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