Whats New
This Month?
New content is released each week and will be updated below. But don't worry, all of the info still lives in the Vault section for you to refer back to anytime! Release schedule:
Simplify - First week of the month
Nourish - Second week of the month
Enjoy - Third week of the month
Celebrate - Fourth week of the month
Simplify
Simple Pleasures
This month in the Membership we are putting a spotlight on PLEASURE!
I wonder how much pleasure you currently have in your life? Whether you notice it? Create it?
I wonder what that word even means to you…
In our Simplify Week on pleasure you are invited to take a small (but mighty) step.
Every day I want you to get conscious to the SMALL PLEASURES that surround you. Search for them. Let them land. And here’s the kicker - start taking notes.
These don’t have to be grand gestures or big wins. Small Pleasures is what we are seeking out. Here’s a few examples of small pleasures in my day…
- Looking at my made bed! (For years I didn’t think making a bed was necessary and now I know the pleasure it gives me to see it made, it’s a daily habit).
- Slowly sipping and enjoying my morning coffee.
- Making someone laugh.
- Having all the kids in my bed for night time reading.
- Lighting a candle.
- Wearing my crystal rings.
- Soup for lunch.
Your simple pleasures don’t need to look anything like mine - they are only relevant to YOU!
So get noticing. In our Enjoy week you’ll learn more about why THAT is such a transformative act.
Remember - this doesn’t need to be complicated. It’s a simple task. Creating a life of ease (which is what these Simplify Steps are all about!) is designed to allow space for more PLEASURE and JOY and CONNECTION! So let’s spotlight it.
I would love us to create a group inventory of Simple Pleasures - so go ahead and share yours as you notice them!
Nourish
Small STEPS TEAM FAVOURITES
Is feeding your family something you would describe as a pleasure? Does it bring you joy? We can probably all agree that serving up beautiful wholesome food and having our family eat and enjoy it without complaint would bring us a great sense of satisfaction and pride, but the reality of day-to-day family cooking often looks very different. Even for those of us who love to cook, it can be hard to find pleasure and joy in this task all the time.
So, if mealtimes at your house aren’t ever seeming to bring joy, maybe it’s time to pause and think about why…
“The kids are so fussy!”
Are you holding too tight to controlling how they eat? Could you try to simplify the food you present to them and let go of the attachment you have to them eating it? Maybe you could just provide them with options on the table that you are happy for them to eat, but let them make decisions about what they choose to consume. Reducing the dinner time stress for everyone could help you rediscover some joy in these moments.
“It’s such hard work” “It takes too long”
Are you making it too complicated? Are you choosing difficult meals when simple would suffice? Go easy on yourself. It doesn’t have to be Masterchef. Good food can be incredibly simple.
“It’s boring”
Are you stuck in a rut of cooking the same thing? Maybe it’s time to add a few new things to the repertoire. Or bring back a few old ones.
Small Steps has always been about Keeping it Simple, Keeping it Real and Keeping it Fun. So with that in mind, we have brought back a meal plan for you this month. The team has nominated their Small Steps Vault favourites; the classic recipes that appear time after time on their tables and have proven themselves to be winners with their families. And they really are the most simple of recipes. Maybe you’ll find one in there that you’ve been meaning to make but you just haven’t gotten around to it yet. So now’s the time to try! Download it here.
You never know, it might just bring some pleasure back into feeding your family..
Katherine and the team x
Enjoy
Where is your attention?
This month, talking pleasure, I wonder what has come up for you?
I wonder if you’ve had thoughts like…
“More pleasure would be available to me if my kids weren’t at my feet all day”.
“I can’t focus on my pleasure when I’ve got so much to do”.
“Is work a pleasure?”
“I love my kids, but they drive me bananas, am I a bad mum ifI don’t find pleasure in parenting?”
“I’ve realised I have no pleasure in my life, what have I been doing all this time?! I am a pleasure failure”.
So let’s all agree that shaming ourselves, questioning how good (or not!) we are, does not serve us at all. It doesn’t.
And you know what else doesn’t serve us? Feeling like we are a victim in our lives. That everything that surrounds us KEEPS us from pleasure. It’s just not true.
This week I want to ask you - in Simplify Week - when you looked at that task and maybe for the next day or two, was your attention on pleasure? And as a result - how did you feel?
Our attention is a powerful tool and we can focus it in so many different places.
Could a potential roadblock to experiencing more pleasure in your life be that perhaps your attention is being taken up on a million other things? On what’s going wrong, who is annoying you, the jobs that are incomplete, the food that makes you feel gross, the exercise you didn’t do etc.
So today - ask yourself whether you are committed to keeping your attention on the things that are driving you nuts or whether it’s on the pleasure that is available to you.
How different might life feel if you were a pleasure seeker?
As you saw in our Simplify week it’s as simple as noticing!
What will your attention be on this week?
Lisa x
Celebrate
Big news, please read!
This month we are celebrating a long term member as our Member of the Month, who has been such an integral support throughout the whole of Small Steps.
Gemma Lee McPhee has shared her wins with us - of birthday cakes, dinner ideas, wardrobe culls and was even on one of our member podcasts back in 2017. Thank you Gemma for sharing all your Small Steps along the way and we celebrate your transformation. The team will be in touch soon with details of your gift.
Lisa will be live on Thursday 24th at 10.30am AEST for our September Q & A. This is your chance to ask her anything, so do take advantage of this, as it is our second last session! You can submit your questions by submitting via email or the Facebook group, and we’ll make sure it gets covered even if you can’t be there live.
Remember to find a moment this week to reflect on the pleasure you are getting from your wins this month too, and go ahead and share in the Facebook group.
Bonus
Small STEPS reflections
There’s an extra week this September and so we thought we would give you the Small Steps Reflections ebook that will form part of our celebrations in our final month of the Membership - November - so you can get started!
The purpose of this is not to overwhelm - but rather to guide you in reflecting on what you may take away from Small Steps, and act as a quick reference point when needed.
Over the next 2 months, we invite you to explore the past content and your personal Small Steps journey - this will be different for everyone!
Of course we’d love you to be sharing things you discover or where you’ve experienced transformation. It’s always so motivating for other Members to celebrate each other!
Download your workbook here - we hope it’s a helpful resource and reminds you just how far you’ve come.
Much love
Lisa and team x