I nearly gave up in February.

And by giving up, I mean everything.

Nothing was going well. I wasn’t performing well in any of my many roles.

And, quite honestly, I realized rather quickly that I was in what I coach my clients through all the time — a very messy middle.

It was the Ultimate Funk — a downward spiral that hits me every February. Hello past trauma and seasonal affectiveness disorder and snowed-in birthdays. And all of this in a pandemic.

It was rough.

And.

And I realized I didn’t want to let exhaustion own me. I didn’t want that to be the story I tell for years to come — even though it’s a big part of the story right now. We ARE exhausted. This has been a long, long year of juggling and struggling, of managing jobs and children — without many breaks and without much support.

While these days are hard — so. very. hard. — it’s so important that we remember we get to write the stories of our lives.

And so I began to change the narrative of my February.

I create my Brave Yes Bucket List for this horrible no-good winter season.

I reviewed my 2020 journal where I kept a detailed diary of my mind and life during the shut-down and the months after.

And I dove head first into my own work of rising, leading and flourishing — that begins with my 7-Day Rise Stronger Challenge.

In my work with professional women and forward-thinking organizations, I stress the importance of cultivating unshakable resilience — which is possible to make stronger through a growth mindset.

Rising stronger means … leaning on our strengths, leaning on positivity, leaning on new perspectives, leaning on higher level well-being and self-care, leaning on others and leaning on imperfect action.

You can sign up for the FREE challenge here.

And so … let’s not let our exhaustion define us.

Let’s write a new story for who we are right now and who we want to be.

Let’s let our legacy become how resilient we were in spite of one of the hardest moments of our lifetime.