by Liesel Darby, Mediator & Divorce Coach

What do the following have in common?

• You’re in the grocery store, looking for your favorite brand of stone-ground mustard, only to find that they no longer carry it. The replacement brand is twice the price, and you don’t like the packaging either.
  
• You’re accustomed to your second shift schedule, but you have just been informed that you are moving to first shift for the foreseeable future. This throws a wrench in your Pilates class schedule.
  
• Your spouse has just announced that he is leaving you for the neighbor down the street that you have been casually saying hi to on your evening walks if she’s out in the yard.

If you answered “things that make you go hmmmm,” you are partly correct. Actually, these are all examples of change, albeit in varying degrees of the impact it will have on a person’s life. New mustard brand versus your world being turned upside down by divorce are not on the same par, for sure. If you’ve been around in this...

by Liesel Darby, Mediator & Divorce Coach

Growing up, you likely heard others, at some point, say the “F- word”, and it wasn’t’ “fudge.” It was a taboo word, and could possibly land you with a bar of soap in your mouth.  In this blog we will discuss a different “F-word”, and it still isn’t “fudge”, but it can still cause all sorts of unpleasant side effects for the unfortunate user.  The guilty word is FAIR, and by extension, FAIRNESS.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

What’s so bad about fairness?  The concept itself seems benign enough and has the ring of righteousness to it. When we perceive that a situation is fair (usually that means it benefits us in some way), life is good. However, that is precisely the problem.  It is the expectation that things should be fair, and when they are not, we can feel like our world is in despair.  We feel indignant, out of sorts, and want the situation to be corrected, pronto. At the extreme end, if we feel we have been legally wronged in some way...

Spring, with its symphony of budding leaves and the soft hum of renewed life, is more than just a change in the calendar. It's a metaphor for rebirth, a reminder that no matter how barren the branches of our lives may appear, the potential for growth always exists. Each sprout breaking through the soil carries a whisper of promise and begs the question: what in your life is awaiting rebirth?

Hello, brave souls. Yes, you—the women who are emerging from the cocoon of financial dependency into the empowering sunlight of fiscal autonomy. Spring is calling to each of you, beckoning you to plant seeds of independence and cultivate a garden of self-sufficiency.

From Barren to Blossoming

It’s that time of year again, when everyone is sick of the cold weather.  If you have to wear a turtleneck one more time, you will scream. It seems as if the days of feeling a warm breeze blow through your hair, let alone lounging by the pool in your new bathing suit, are a long way out. The trees are still...

I remember the range of emotions I experienced when I bought my house in 2007. I was proud to be buying my first home and worried that I was making the wrong decision. I was excited to move in and overwhelmed by all the tasks and new expenses ahead of me. 

Building financial confidence is a journey, not a destination. With each financial decision, we get an opportunity to flex our confidence muscles. Yet, many of us shy away from these decisions due to fear or uncertainty. What if the pathway to building financial confidence lies in the very act of taking action?

Building Financial Confidence Through Action

Action is a tool that shapes and strengthens our confidence. The concept of "building financial confidence" isn't just about gaining knowledge; it's about putting that knowledge into practice. It's about making financial decisions - whether that's investing in a retirement fund, setting a monthly savings goal, or cutting out unnecessary expenses - and learning from the outcomes.

We are often exposed to a scarcity mentality. This mindset tells us that there isn't enough to go around, and it limits our ability to see beyond our immediate circumstances. But there's another, more empowering way to view the world - through an abundance money mindset. This mindset enables us to recognize the unlimited potential for wealth and prosperity available to us all. So how can you start building an abundance money mindset to truly embrace prosperity and freedom?

Understanding the Abundance Money Mindset

The first step to building an abundance money mindset is understanding the concept. An abundance mindset is rooted in the belief that there's plenty for everyone. It rejects the idea of limitation and embraces the possibility of exponential growth and prosperity.

Identifying Scarcity Thinking

To build an abundance money mindset, begin to identify and challenge scarcity thinking. This could be a belief that you don't deserve financial success, fear of overspending, or the ...

Financial independence may seem like a lofty goal, but it's an attainable one. The key lies in breaking down the journey into manageable steps, and that's precisely what we're here to do. As women, we face unique financial challenges, but we also possess unique strengths to harness on our path to financial independence. In this blog post, we'll explore the five essential steps to financial independence for women and provide you with tools to take control of your financial future.

Step 1: Understanding Financial Independence

The first step in this journey is understanding what financial independence truly means. It's not just about having enough money to pay the bills. It's about having the financial stability to make choices that allow you to live on your terms. Financial independence is about being unchained from financial worries and empowered to make decisions that serve your best interests. Whether that means starting your own business, retiring early, or simply feeling secure in...

Recently, a client couple shared a sudden crisis they faced - a car accident had left one of them without a vehicle. Even though this young couple was relatively new to managing their finances, they didn't allow this setback to steer them off track. Instead, they looked for solutions, a shift in their approach compared to a year ago, demonstrating the importance of overcoming financial setbacks while maintaining a wealth mindset.

Key Strategies for Overcoming Financial Setbacks

Deciding to cultivate a wealth mindset is the initial leap toward building a rich legacy. Acting on this decision is the follow-through. However, the most crucial strategy lies in overcoming financial setbacks without letting them erase your progress.

When life is smooth sailing, it's easier to make changes, cultivate good habits, plan budgets, and involve family in financial decisions. You're proud of building your emergency savings and spending responsibly. But what happens when you're suddenly faced with a...

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays with its focus on family and gratitude, and it’s the perfect opportunity to feel grateful for everything that I have, despite whatever bumps in the road tried to take me off course throughout the year. But Thanksgiving can also be a difficult time for people for a variety of reasons so I wanted to share how developing a gratitude mindset can help you take a different approach to not only Thanksgiving but each new day. 

So what is a gratitude mindset? 

Gratitude is defined as the quality of being thankful and exhibiting a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Simply put, a gratitude mindset is the ability to focus on the positive things in life rather than the negative - you know the glass is half full kind of thinking. You see opportunities instead of obstacles. When you can focus on gratitude, the number of things you appreciate continue to grow. 

Why should you strive for a gratitude mindset?

Engaging in a gratitude...

April is Financial Literacy Month! It’s such an important time for me because I truly believe in the importance of education, especially around money. The reality is that the schools don’t provide much, if any, financial education.

So, I want to make sure you have the tools to feel confident in sharing this information with your kids and also so you are confident in advocating for yourself when it comes to your finances.

I remember learning about money at a young age — I must have been about 10 and my brother was 15. My mom was a single mom. She hurt her back and couldn't go grocery shopping, so it fell to us (my brother and I) to go to the store and get what we needed.

It was the first time we had to be responsible to get the groceries and it was a little scary. We were in charge of making sure we chose wisely so we would all have food to eat for the whole week and hadn’t loaded the cart with groceries that would exceed our budget.

Even though it was a little nerve-wracking, that ...

When you want to feel empowered around your money mindset, there's one thing that is at the heart of preparing to increase your income. Sometimes, in mindset work, we forget that we do have a great deal of control. While that control isn't over anything outside of ourselves, we can control our thoughts, reactions, and beliefs — and that is powerful! And it starts with asking.

Kids are great at this. For example, my kids always want McDonald's. Never mind that 99.9% of the time, my answer is no when they ask. But they always ask for it. I'm sure if you're a parent, cousin, or caretaker of any sort, you've had this experience, too.

And as any kiddo is too familiar with hearing… Just because you want it doesn't mean it's going to happen. But when you realize that you have a great deal of power over your choices in your money mindset journey, you can learn to guide your thoughts and actions to prepare yourself for an increase in income.

There are two main steps to getting to the heart o...