Celebrating my achievements in September & my plans for October

My September highlights, a goals update, my plans for October, something new I've created just for you & my favourite recent Substack reads

How was September for you?

It was a bit of an in-between strange month here - I was happy for the kids to go back to school and get into a routine, but the back to school germs meant that I had the kids home more than they were in school, especially my middle son. They seemed to get ill, get over it and then catch it again. So everyday seems to be different at the moment, much like the summer holidays!

Highlights from September

• My daughter turning 10! I can’t believe I have a 10 year old, a whole decade of learning and growing right alongside her. Her birthday was filled with Rainbow High dolls, Squishmallows and a giant vegan cookie birthday cake. We’ve got her birthday party a week today, so she can’t wait for that - I’m glad there was a bit of a break between her birthday and her party as it can feel really overwhelming when everything is at once.

Needed my youngest to help me wrap this giant Squishmallow!

• I stopped breastfeeding - my son is nearly 2 and a half and I never planned to breastfeed for this long but I kept going. It was the right time to finish for both of us, I’d cut the feeds down to just 1 before bed and that didn’t seem to be giving him much comfort anyway, and it was hurting me. I was really worried about how he’d react, but actually he adapted really well, and luckily I didn’t get a hormone drop after stopping either, I think because I’d cut the feeds down over a few months or so.

• Having a bit of time and space to work on my coaching business and post here on Substack again after an all consuming summer. Working towards my dreams during my son’s naptimes, while he dreams beside me.

• Coming downstairs in the morning and lighting a candle at my mini Autumn altar

• We've also had some lovely sunny Autumn walks

• And cosy days reading library books under a blanket too

September goals update

Back at the start of September, when I was feeling the back to school energy, I set monthly goals for September, which I talked about in this post:

Here’s how I got on with my September goals

Health goals

• Daily 10 minute yoga stretches in the morning or evening - completed this

• Do a short Youtube video workout 3 times a week - completed this

Work goals

• Write and record 4 mini podcast episodes ready for release in October - do all of the shownotes and canva graphics too - didn’t end up doing this because it was linked to a workshop that I didn’t decide to run

• Write and post 3 ‘pinned’ Instagram posts on how mums can work with me, an introduction post on who I am and what I do & a post directing people to my Substack - completed this

• Create and plan a workshop ready for release in October - created and planned the workshop and it’s ready to go, but I won’t be releasing it in October - instead I’ve created something new that feels much more aligned for this time of year.

Learning and fun goals

• Create flower pom poms with my daughter from a pom pom craft book - didn’t complete this

• Listen to these 2 workshops in Leonie Dawson's Brilliant Biz and Life Academy (affiliate link): ‘How to Grow your Biz with Launches’ & ‘How to use Substack to Make Money and Grow Your List’ - didn’t complete this

Reflections on my September goals

• I’m proud of the goals I achieved, especially the health goals. I hadn’t done any exercise for gosh 3 years maybe, so it feels huge to have something that’s consistent that I enjoy.

• I’m glad I completed the Instagram posts because those had been on my to-do list for a long time so it feels good to have them pinned on my Instagram profile.

• I didn’t end up listening to the workshops I planned, as I ended up spending a lot of time creating and planning a workshop, then changing my mind and creating and planning my new offer.

• I could have done the pom poms with my daughter, but it just didn’t end up happening. A sign that I need to prioritise fun more I think!!

• It really helped me writing my goals out because I had them front and centre of my head for the month, which definitely helped me achieve them. Having accountability by writing down my goals here on Substack helped my motivation too.

• Even though I won’t be releasing my workshop or podcast episodes as planned, I’m glad I went through the process of planning them, because something didn’t feel right. I kept getting stuck and procrastinating. Then, the idea for a brand new creation came into my head and that has felt completely aligned. I wonder if I wonder if I would have had the new idea, if I hadn’t have written down my goals in the first place.

• I did feel overwhelmed with my goals at points though, which I wrote about here:

What’s in store for October?

Here are my goals for October:

• Launch The Autumn Sanctuary - and include rest, self-care and energy management in this launch too to avoid burnout

• Continue with my exercise goals

• Start this new Christmas Gingerbread crochet blanket - complete the first ‘CAL’ pattern video by the end of October.

• Write guest posts for the lovely Substackers who replied to my collaboration call out in this post

I’m sticking to 4 goals this month because I know that the launch will take a lot of time and energy.

Introducing 🍂The Autumn Sanctuary 🍂 

So after a lot of talk of this new aligned creation, I’m happy now to tell you all about it…

What’s The Autumn Sanctuary all about?

The Autumn Sanctuary is 4 weeks of cosy weekly online gathering circles for mums, via Zoom. We’ll start on Sat 2nd November and they’ll run until Sat 23rd November.

Each 90 minute cosy gathering circle is a space for you to reflect, dream and connect all whilst sinking into the seasonal energy of Autumn.

Designed especially with Autumn in mind, each gathering circle will be a blend of group coaching, journalling, seasonal meditations, mindfulness and self-compassion exercises.

We are going to harness the seasonal energy of Autumn and focus on these different themes each week:

• letting go of what no longer serves you

• bringing more balance into your life

• what you are grateful for this year &

• celebrating your achievements of 2024

The Autumn Sanctuary is going to support you in:

• having some dedicated time and space out for yourself

• being kinder to yourself as you learn how seasonal energy impacts your own energy levels

• finding clarity on your thoughts and feelings from journalling and sharing your story

• feeling grounded and soothed as you listen to the seasonal meditations I’ve designed especially for mums

• feeling energised and uplifted by the collective healing energy of a like-minded group of mums

• finding a small community of like-minded mums and feeling inspired and comforted by them sharing their similar experiences to you

I’d love for you to join us! I’ve got space for 12 mums and we start on Sat 2nd November.

You can find all the info and how to join the wait-list here.

Substack posts I’ve really enjoyed lately:

• Loved this poem from

  Aoibhín
  which combined cosiness and nostalgia.

• A powerful essay from

  Naomi Gottlieb-Miller
  on If Motherhood is So Great, Why Does it Feel So Hard?. Naomi touches on so many relatable points of how society just does not support mums, but how also we are not supposed to complain about how hard motherhood is either.

• This post from

  Zoe Pickburn
  on how mothers make the magic at Christmas.

• Lauren H
  ’s post all about how she’s been fitting in time to be creative around motherhood. And how the creative process is just as enjoyable as the finished piece.

• Loved all of these seasonal book recommendations for kids and adults from

  Stephanie Elizabeth
  .

Thank you so much for reading!

I’d love to hear from you in the comments:

• How was September for you?

• What have been your favourite Substack posts lately?

• If you set goals in September, how did you get on with them?

You might also enjoy some of my most recent posts:

• Motherhood and Creativity Interview #14 with Rachel Fox

• Time for a different perspective

• Motherhood and Creativity Interview #13 with Karen Osman

• A summer round up and setting September goals