Welcome to REAL life with Liz!

What better way to kick off this longtime dream and goal of mine (writing!) with a little Real life & totally raw intro and recap of this ahem...crazy year, 2020. 🤪

If we haven’t met yet, I am Elizabeth (or Liz) and this is my blog. I’ve always loved writing but have never actually put it all into one place. It has been one of those back-burner ‘one day’ goals and dreams for many years to create an outlet to get this writing out of my head and into some form of creative space. I finally decided what better way to end the year and start a new one by doing just that!

So here we are, and thank you for being here to share in this journey of life, motherhood, womanhood, health, faith, business, family and all things LIFE. I hope this blog either brings inspiration, encouragement, challenge (in a good way!) or at the very least, some camaraderie & entertainment 💕. I’d also love to hear your comments and thoughts so if something speaks to you please comment, share or get in touch. 

Happy reading friends! 

- - - 

Diving right in! 👉🏽 Let’s talk about burnout... ⁣

𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗧? You start the year with a bang and then somewhere down the road things crash and burn and you wonder what the heck happened?? ⁣

⁣

Somebody please tell me I’m not alone lol 🙈

⁣

𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 🌎 👏🏽⁣

⁣

🔹I had just passed the 1 year mark in my business with Le-Vel, absolutely loving being able to help people achieve their health goals & see them get their mojo back 🤩⁣ myself included!

⁣

🔹I was invited to go on my FIRST ever leadership retreat in Granbury, Texas and got to spend time with, learn from and build friendships with some of the top leaders in our company. An absolutely unreal experience!⁣

🔹I also completed my 2nd ever Crossfit competition and was achieving my own health goals & actually had muscle definition!! LOL. I actually felt like I looked good and felt my very best! ⁣(for someone who’s struggled with image and body confidence this was a MAJOR milestone for me). 

🔹 For the first time in my entrepreneurship career I felt like a real business leader! I was given leadership responsibilities within our multimillion dollar organization training 300+ team members, I was building and leading a team of my own, all while running a beauty studio from home AND being a fulltime single mom while navigating toddler homeschooling during lockdowns. ⁣

⁣

🔹later in the year I then went on my second (first earned!) leadership retreat to Destin, Florida with 28 of the top leaders in our organization and it was epic to say the least. 🏝 ⁣

⁣

Wait....This all sounds awesome!? ....what happened!? ⁣

⁣

- - -

Well after some heartbreak and a series of unexpected unfortunate events...𝙄 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣. ⁣

⁣

I burnt out to the point where I felt absolutely paralyzed and could not move forward with even the littlest tasks. 

My anxiety was the worst I had ever experienced and it took all my strength and focus just to keep myself from sinking into depression. 

I had to step away from everything I was holding together because it was the only way I knew how to cope. ⁣

⁣

As the days and weeks went on I felt farther and farther away from the momentum I had spent over a year building. 

I was devastated. 

I lost my motivation. I lost my drive. And the cycle of anxiety and paralysis continued. ⁣

⁣

So here I was, feeling defeated, sluggish, frumpy, frustrated with myself and completely lost of how to get my groove back...⁣

⁣

Last week I logged on to a mandatory leadership meeting and despite how I felt (like 💩!) I showed up anyways. ⁣

I sat there listening to other leaders share recaps of the year and I realized I wasn’t alone. I discovered that I wasn’t the only one who’s had ups and downs this year and things that have knocked them right over... ⁣

⁣

Yet here we all were, still going! 

Still showing up, still encouraging one another and not letting circumstances, challenges or hard situations knock us off course from achieving our goals. 

⁣

I am so ridiculously grateful for the friendships I have made here but even more grateful for the way these women build eachother up. This level of love, grace, leadership and empowerment of eachother is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. And I wholeheartedly believe that this team was brought to me for a reason. 

⁣

I was reminded also that we always have a choice; to get back in the ring and fight for our goals 👏🏽 and that in most cases by taking the focus off ourselves and shifting it to helping and putting others first, we can truly make a difference around us and create a ripple effect that goes far beyond ourselves. 

⁣

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿. 

It wasn’t too late for me. 🙌🏽 Hallelujah!

My momentum may have taken a turn, but it can (and will!) be rebuilt, and this time, stronger. 

I have learned how to better manage my anxiety, my schedule and my expectations of myself aswell as how to avoid burning out next time life decides its going to test me. 😏 because I know it will! ⁣

⁣

I’ve also learnt that unplugging and throwing in the towel  are not the same thing and that rest is necessary for us to be able to maintain balance. ⁣

(as you can see Aidan already does a better job at resting than me 😂 I’m sure I can learn a lot from him!)

⁣

So while there is some work to do, some goals to reset, some inches to lose and habits to work on....I’m running into this next year harder than ever. 

My dreams deserve it, my kiddo deserves it and my team, both present and future members deserve it. ⁣

𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿; 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀. 🌟⁣

And it is never too late to start going after them! ⁣

⁣

So cheers to 2020! 🥂🎉

 - A year of hard and at times brutal, yet crucial life lessons that have shaped the woman, mother and friend I am and will continue to be going forward. ⁣

⁣

⁣