THE BRAVELY BALANCED BLOG

For the overachiever and the overworked!

How exhausted are you? I know the feeling!

Does being exhausted serve you? What if I told you that you could have it all without subjecting yourself to hustle culture?

Sounds divine, doesn’t it? Follow along and feel the ease!

When Emotions Run High, Pause First
Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls

When Emotions Run High, Pause First

In planning for my weekly blogs, I write down any ideas I come across, then review them for my next blog post. The following idea popped up: how powerful a momentary pause is in becoming master of our personal world.

I was talking to a friend yesterday about a relative he loves who tends to get bossy …

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A Strength And Its Shadow: Lessons From A Two-Toned Car
Empowerment and Living, Personal Strengths Maryanne Nicholls Empowerment and Living, Personal Strengths Maryanne Nicholls

A Strength And Its Shadow: Lessons From A Two-Toned Car

Green and orange: that was the colour of our family car – bright orange covering the top; dark forest green covering the bottom. My dad was a traveling salesman and spent a lot of time out of town. Apparently, this was his way of keeping track of my mom as she went about her day.

Needless to say, it failed:

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My Grandmother’s Quilt
connection Maryanne Nicholls connection Maryanne Nicholls

My Grandmother’s Quilt

The following is a blog I wrote several years ago, about ties with my grandmother through the quilt she made me, and which I use every summer. I’d just switched from winter to summer bedding. That brought me my annual opportunity to feel her presence, and experience the closeness I had with her.

Here it is …

I’ve spent the last month of evenings re-sewing the quilt my grandmother gave me …

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When Hard Work Turns Harmful: A Story Of Change
Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls

When Hard Work Turns Harmful: A Story Of Change

I spent time with an old friend a few weekends ago, who was convalescing after a long illness that was caused largely from overwork. My friend was known for her relentlessly hard work, never stopping when she got tired, pushing through any physical barrier to finish what she’d committed to on time.

People admired her for her energy …

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Mistakes Are So Awesone!
perfectionism Maryanne Nicholls perfectionism Maryanne Nicholls

Mistakes Are So Awesone!

just spent a weekend away making mistakes: I locked myself out of my suitcase and had to go to a hardware store to get something to break into it; I rented a car and, in the process of picking out the one I wanted, left my backpack – that contained everything I work with daily …

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From Knowing to Experiencing: A Journey of Self-Discovery
Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls

From Knowing to Experiencing: A Journey of Self-Discovery

I spent time, recently, re-connecting with friends who I haven’t seen for a while. I loved those re-connections: they brought back past times where we worked together for a common goal and experienced, together, both triumphs and trials. I believe we grew and matured from the experiences, and that an essential part of that growth was our connection.

I was thinking specifically about the trials we met together in an organization we belonged to. …

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From Reaction to Reflection: The Importance of Self-Awareness
self-awareness Maryanne Nicholls self-awareness Maryanne Nicholls

From Reaction to Reflection: The Importance of Self-Awareness

I write about the importance of awareness a lot, especially over the past year. I’ve written blogs, and articles, and spoken about it in my videos. It’s just so critical to self-care – awareness. It’s the first essential step to changing how we approach issues and problems. Without becoming aware that there is an issue, and how we feel about it, there is no way to go further. …

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Ready for a New Beginning? Embracing the Next Chapter of Your Life
Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls

Ready for a New Beginning? Embracing the Next Chapter of Your Life

What do you do when your spouse decides to leave? Or when you find yourself needing to learn to live without the one you can’t live without? Or when your business partner suddenly turns on you and demands a change you can’t agree to?

These are a few instances of major life changes that are visited on us many times over, …

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From Stuck to Unstoppable: Confronting Perfectionism and Fear
perfection, feeling stuck Maryanne Nicholls perfection, feeling stuck Maryanne Nicholls

From Stuck to Unstoppable: Confronting Perfectionism and Fear

I was speaking with a friend this week about something she was really stuck on – deciding what she wanted in her business by the end of 10 years. She actually had a good idea – she talked about it a lot. But when it came down to putting it on paper and executing it, she was stuck.

It turned out that what she was stuck on was her own perfectionism: …

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From Resolutions To Intentions: A Journey Of Self-Discovery
intentions, resolotions, Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls intentions, resolotions, Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls

From Resolutions To Intentions: A Journey Of Self-Discovery

It’s March already so the typical resolution time has come and gone. But not for me – I do mine on my birthday, which was in February. I also decided a while back to switch from making resolutions to making intentions.

Resolutions, for me, were concrete goals I felt I wanted to attain. They often entailed …

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Spice
overeating, Anxiety Stress & Fear Maryanne Nicholls overeating, Anxiety Stress & Fear Maryanne Nicholls

Spice

I like to produce and watch youtube videos. This time of year I see a lot of dieting commercials on youtube. It may be that some of them have merit, but they really aren’t for me and I regularly skip them. I have my own way of dealing with regulating my diet.

Many of us do. But doing so is really hard for lots of us because of these are uncertain times …

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The Power Of A Story
Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls

The Power Of A Story

I have a story. Two days ago my purse fell apart. The story of how I chose this purse has its own story, but that isn’t the one I want to tell today. Today I want to tell how I became a purse abuser.

Yes, you read right – I am a purse abuser. After carefully getting the purse that would fulfill all my requirements, it still ended up not being quite adequate.

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Navigating The Illusion Of Urgency In Unstable Times
Dealing with Urgency, Anxiety Stress & Fear Maryanne Nicholls Dealing with Urgency, Anxiety Stress & Fear Maryanne Nicholls

Navigating The Illusion Of Urgency In Unstable Times

I have written about the topic of urgency probably two or three times over the past few years, and it never seems to be enough. Why? Perhaps because the world seems so unstable right now that everything feels urgent.

If a situation is urgent, it means that it is potentially dangerous and needs to be addressed immediately. That’s the objective view. …

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Be Calm, Be Powerful
mindfulness Maryanne Nicholls mindfulness Maryanne Nicholls

Be Calm, Be Powerful

There is a meditation I was given by 2 colleagues and friends, Victor and Kooch Daniels that helps me whenever I feel anxious, or can’t get a worrying thought out of my head. It’s one of a number of meditations in their book they gifted me Matrix Meditations. I think of it as the 10 times 10 meditation. I’ll share it with you …

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Understanding Victim Mentality: How to Reclaim Your Agency
Victim Mentality, Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls Victim Mentality, Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls

Understanding Victim Mentality: How to Reclaim Your Agency

It was rush hour after work. I was on a fully packed bus trying to zone out so that I didn’t feel the push of bodies against me. When I got home, my wallet was missing. I called the police, who suggested I list all documents that were in there and get them replaced immediately. They also said it was very unlikely I’d find that wallet.

That bitter feeling of being victimized took a long time to leave my body. …

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You have way more than you think
Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls Empowerment and Living Maryanne Nicholls

You have way more than you think

I decided to clean out my tea cupboard. In it, I found 5 unopened boxes of Bengali Spice tea. It isn’t as if these tea boxes are tiny and easy to miss, but miss them I did, over and over again. The reason I kept not seeing them was not only because my tea cupboard was a mess, but that I was afraid I’n eventually run out – and be without!

As a result, I ended up with this ridiculous overabundance of Bengali Spice tea. …

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