Hannah Rudnick Coaching

The next time you’re being hard on yourself, or you’re full of guilt or shame, ask yourself what expectations you have of yourself.

Then explore where they come from. Often we are holding ourselves to standards that were created by oppressive power structures like patriarchy, standards that tend to be impossible and unrealistic.

Once we can see where our expectations are coming from, we can decide if they truly align with our own values.

You get to decide what matters to you, and what to expect of yourself. And when you set the expectations, you can remove the guilt and shame from the equation.

This is what joy looks like on me. I didn't truly realize all of the things in life that brought me joy until the last few years. It's been a purposeful choice for me to search out that joyful, alive feeling and create more of it in my days.

What brings you joy? Not sure how to follow that joy? Check out my latest blog (https://www.hannahrudnickcoaching.com/blog-1/what-it-really-means-to-follow-your-joy) all about what it really means to follow your joy.

Sometimes the choices we make aren't based on the life we want, but the life we don't want. Sometimes we wake up and realize that the life we've built maybe isn't built for us to actually enjoy it.

It's never too late to follow our joy to a life that feels just right for us.

Click the link in my bio and go to the blog for my latest on what it really means to follow your joy.

New on the blog! What does it really mean to “follow your joy”? What does that really look like? And how do we do know what really is joyful to us?

Check out my new blog to find out!

https://www.hannahrudnickcoaching.com/blog-1/what-it-really-means-to-follow-your-joy

I've got something new to share with you today! I was so happy to get to join Jessica Guzik on her podcast, The Art of Speaking Up, to discuss motherhood and all of the decisions, struggles, and opportunities that come along with it. Some of the topics we covered are:
• Navigating the challenges involved in being a working mom.
• Navigating the decision about whether you want to have children.
• Carving out time for parental obligations when you're working outside the home.
• Honoring your own needs alongside your role as a parent.
• Untangling from self-blame and guilt.
• And much more!

We also shared some laughs and some wisdom with one another in an all around joyful and fruitful conversation.

Check it out!

‎The Art of Speaking Up: 189 | Navigating the challenges of working motherhood, advocating for your needs, & untangling from self-blame with Hannah Rudnick on Apple Podcasts

Parenting is hard. We worry, we struggle, we bow under the weight of the world’s expectations of us and our own expectations of ourselves.

But parenting is also terrifying. We send our babies out into the world worried they will get sick, they will be hurt, they will experience oppression or discrimination.

Today we dropped our babies off terrified. Today many of us had to explain to children that little ones just like them were murdered at school.

This is not the natural state of things. This is not just the way it is. I said goodbye to my child with deep fear in my heart for her safety, and pain in my soul for the parents who dropped their babies off and never got to see them again.

We cannot pretend this is normal. We cannot pretend this is an acceptable sacrifice for families to make.

If your heart is hurting like mine is, I’m with you, and together let’s figure out something we can do to make this the time that forces us all into action to prevent mass shootings from happening.

What are your ideas for actions we can take right now to make a change?

I wish I had words that would make this better, but words and thoughts and prayers are not enough. In our grief may we find the power to work toward making school shootings a thing of the past.

When we act against the forces that are causing our grief and oppression, we put our pain into change.

Ask yourself: what is one thing you can do that will channel your emotions into action?

Not only is today Mother’s Day, but it’s the anniversary of the day I became a mother. My birth day. And yes, also my daughter’s birthday.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a mother, and so blessed to get to mother this child.

Motherhood is a wild journey, one I wouldn’t give up for anything, but one that has challenged and stretched me beyond belief.

Here’s to all the mamas out there on this ride with me. Here’s to the ways you show up, and to showing up for yourself as much as for everyone else.

Here’s to us.

May every day be a day when mothers are free to live as themselves and fully embody their joys, wants, and needs. .

I want mothers to be free of oppressive structures and expectations.

I want mothers to have the resources they need to survive and thrive.

I want mothers to be encouraged to embrace and express their entire range of emotions and dreams.

I want mothers to get to engage in the parts of themselves that have nothing to do with caring for other people.

I want mothers to have full autonomy over their own bodies and life decisions.

I want mothers to feel heard, supported, empowered, and free.

What do you want?

To all those who are feeling these and many more emotions right now, I’m with you.

If you’re feeling burnt out, chances are you’re putting everyone’s needs ahead of your own. I know this from my own life and from so many of the people I’ve worked with.

We can feel resentful of everyone around us when we’re burnt out, and sometimes with good reason. But the truth is that the only way your needs will become a priority is if YOU make them one.

We cannot wait for someone to come and save us. You are the one to make it happen.

It can feel uncomfortable to demand that our needs be met, because so many of us has been trained since birth to think of that as “selfish”.

It is not selfish. It’s essential. Your needs are important. They matter. And if you don’t start to believe that they matter and stand up for them, no one else will.

What is one way that you can prioritize your needs starting today?