Personal Growth | Grit and Grace Life

When a Strong Woman is Quitting but Not Failing

You’re reading this because there is something in your life that you have an inkling you need to let go of. Whether it’s a job, a relationship, a dream, or a life path, you know you really shouldn’t be involved in it anymore. It just doesn’t feel right, but you aren’t sure what to do about it. You may be quitting but not failing. I don’t know about you, but I have a million “don’t quit” mantras in my head that make quitting feel the same as failing. They all say that if I choose to end something in my life, I am a failure. When you think of yourself as a strong woman, quitter doesn’t play into that description. Having perseverance […]

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6 Things You Should Do to Protect and Advance Your Career

By Clare Marlow / Work & Money, Life & Culture

Are you struggling to advance your career? The biggest mistake you can make is not something you goof up on the job, like forgetting part of your pitch during a client presentation or getting caught complaining about your boss at the coffee station (although this is a big no-no for every employee). The biggest mistake you can make in your career is the one you make against yourself. It’s underestimating your value, doubting your ideas, shrugging off praise that’s well-justified, or settling for a lower salary than you’re worth. It’s taking a so-so job when you know your education and experience qualify you for a better one—or jumping on an offer for advancement simply for the title rather than taking the time

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Need to Stop Procrastinating? How to Eat Your Frog

By Rachel Hagstrom / Purpose

Chances are, you probably have a few frogs you need to eat today (or need stop procrastinating). No, I’m not referring to the actual amphibians (though I’m willing to try the supposed delicacy of frog legs) but rather the metaphorical ones that Mark Twain famously referred to when he said, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” What are the frogs exactly, you ask? Simply put, the frogs are the things you don’t want to do, but actually need to do. Now, if you are a woman who tends to put off the hard

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If You Have Trouble Speaking Up for Yourself – 272

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreThe one thing most people fear more than death? Public speaking.¹ There’s something about standing in front of another person (or multiple people) and sharing our thoughts, ideas, and feedback that makes us want to shrink until we evaporate. But sometimes, neglecting to speak up for yourself can have harmful repercussions. Here to help you see past your fear this week is Darlene Brock and Julie Bender, who get to work excavating the possible reasons why speaking up is so terrifying. Maybe you’ve often been ignored, or never taken seriously, or you feel you’ll come across as foolish (hello, imposter syndrome!). No matter the reason, one thing

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Why It’s So Important to Have a Mentor and to Be One Too

By Megan Miller / Relationships

For 12 years (or more) we are taught. Being enrolled in school gives us structure and a guidebook to living. We are given this safe bubble of trial-and-error in playtime, classes, and teams. Then we graduate with no syllabus or bell to tell us our next move. Post-grad life is scary, post-wedding life is terrifying, and post-pregnancy life is foreign. We go through all of these life-changes without a compass. Years ago the word mentor meant nothing to me. I didn’t need someone telling me what to do. Nor did I have the patience to coach someone up to lead a life they loved. “You do you, and I’m going to do me,” was a mantra of mine. Until I had no

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This Is How to Use Your Gifts to Build Your Business

This Is How to Use Your Talents to Build Your Business

By Christy Wright / Work & Money, Life & Culture

Recently, I learned something that absolutely shocked me: the average American spends 90,000 hours at work over the course of their lifetime. That’s more than 10 whole years of your one and only life—at work! If you love your job, maybe that doesn’t seem like much of a sacrifice. But if you’re among the 70% of Americans who report being unhappy at work, that’s a whole lot of precious time wasted. But here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to be that way. Imagine what it would be like to work for yourself. To set your own hours, work from home, earn an extra income for your family, and help people by using your gifts! Sound too good to be true? Well,

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5 Ways to Love Your Single Life

By Darlene Brock / Relationships

So a large majority of your friends are married, and you are not. Do you celebrate because you dodged the bullet, or do you pine because you hate being alone? Do you dread the next plus-one event, or do you land at the door ready to have a good time, with or without that extra human by your side? Simply, do you love your single life? Being single is neither a malady nor a deficiency; it’s just a place in life. And it can be a really good place. Here is how to make sure that it is. 5 Ways to Love Your Single Life 1. Don’t wait for life; live life. Remove the sentence, “I will (move, travel, buy a house,

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A 30 Day Challenge That Will Boost Your Mood

By Molly Dockweiler / Life & Culture

A lot is going on in our world right now. It’s hard not to get caught up in the anxiety that comes from all the news, all the issues we face that can steal our joy, all the uncertainty of the future. If you are struggling to enjoy the beauty that today holds, a 30 Day Challenge might help you appreciate all the good that is still happening around us, while simultaneously forming a new habit that just might improve your life as a whole. I first heard about the 30 Day Challenge from Matt Cutts’ TED Talk. In the video, Cutts discusses that doing something for 30 days is just the right amount of time to add or subtract a habit

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College Graduation Fear—7 Ways to Know You’re Ready

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture

We have had the pleasure of having several college girls intern with us at Grit and Grace Life and had the pleasure of working with them the year they graduated. Shortly after their college career came to a close, we had a team meeting which they attended. A few minutes into the meeting I was reminded of the seismic life shift they were facing. Watching their facial expressions as they discussed the future spoke every bit of their college graduation fear. The overwhelming, yet excited, panicked, exhilarating, and dreadful emotions they were feeling. The experience made me want to take a few minutes and tell all college grads this—take heart! You can do this! Yes, it’s true what you have known in

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Why It’s Important to Share the Woman You Used to Be

By Ashby Duval / Motherhood

Over the years, I have been a part of several groups of women: organizations, study groups, gatherings of friends, etc. Recently, I was sitting in the audience of one such group when a mom of two stood up to share a bit about herself and her family. She mentioned she used to be a softball catcher and a trombone player and received her master’s at UF. And here she was, a stay-at-home mom with two small children whom she is currently homeschooling. That, plus her quiet disposition and love of motherhood, had pegged her in my mind as someone who must have grown up thinking that’s what she aspired to be. She was the second woman that week who surprised me with her unlikely

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I Did a Social Media Detox and Learned Why We’re Always Reaching for Our Phones

By Caroline Beidler / Life & Culture

One day after my 8-year sober birthday, I decided to do a social media detox for a month (or as long as I could). In the beginning, there really wasn’t any end game in mind. My motivation: I realized that somewhere along the way I started caring what people think. And this started to affect how I felt about myself. Oh, and also: I was spending way too much time checking my phone. I wish someone could have taken my picture and posted it as I contemplated what it meant to erase the Facebook and Instagram apps from my phone. I held my finger on the screen and the icons did that little dance, that shaky “please don’t delete me” dance. This

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6 Steps to Take When You Need to Make a Change

By Darlene Brock / Work & Money, Purpose

One of the great things about the chronological advancement of life is you have brilliant hindsight. As the years pass by, glaring life realizations gain light. The biggest may be that the only time my circumstances ever changed is when I acted. Even though there were many times in life I wished I had a do-over, that cute little reset button, that’s not how it worked. There is nothing that will completely erase the past. There is no miracle cure that will fix the problem and change the future. But, there is always, may I emphatically without reservation repeat the word always, a path to create the change. Forever and in all things there is hope. Maybe I need to scream this

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6 Ways to Focus on Self-Growth as a Woman

By Stephanie Ramos / Health & Beauty, Purpose

I personally get so caught up in all that I have to do that sometimes I miss out on opportunities to grow. At times it’s because I completely blow past them in my effort to complete my to-do list, and other times, I am honestly just too tired to put in the effort for self-growth (am I the only one who collapses on the couch to some Netflix after work?). Growth looks different for every woman because we’re all in completely different stages and places in our lives, but below you’ll find a few things that have really helped me grow as a woman. 6 Ways to Achieve Self-Growth Spend time with other women. I can’t stress the importance of this one enough.

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Growing Plants Taught Me 4 Lessons for a Satisfying Life

By Meaghan Dawson / Life & Culture

During the height of Covid quarantine, I, like many people, developed some new obsessions. Partly as a way to pass the time and partly as a way to distract myself from the horrors of a pandemic, I took up some very strange hobbies. I dabbled in sourdough. But, as one can only have so many carbs, I let that starter go after a while. I remodeled a few rooms and was happy doing it until my killjoy husband put a kibosh on the spending. And I even went through an unfortunate period of time where I wanted to learn an instrument despite being, for lack of a better word, completely talentless. Luckily for all of us, that was short. The one hobby,

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A Strong Woman Has These 7 Things on Her Bucket List

By Rachel Hagstrom / Purpose

If you’re in search of more meaning in life, crossing off a few extra items on your bucket list can be the very thing that sends you on a journey of self-discovery. For some of us, bucket lists contain our longings for far-off adventures and are springboards for our imaginations to roam wild. They spotlight our craving for connection with people and nature; they uncover our inner desire to make our mark in the world. In between their numbered lines dwells a path toward change and a recipe for thriving in our seasons of life. Bucket lists act as the catalyst that propels us forward, both as an instigator and a guide or sherpa in the self-discovery department. Every item on our

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Have a Dream You Keep Putting Off? Here’s How to Make It Happen

By Dr. Zoe / Work & Money, Purpose

What have you always wanted to do? What do you dream about doing that you dismiss, put off, or tell yourself that it can’t happen now or you just have to wait until the time is right? Everyone has a dream. Everyone. I don’t care if you are 100 years old. I know you have one. If you think you don’t, you are lying to yourself. I’m just being honest here. I know that we are often too self-critical, but there are parts of our lives where we just flat out lie to ourselves, keeping us from living the life we were designed to live. Our words are the most powerful tool we humans have. So powerful that they can destroy generations—yes,

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To the Christian Woman With a Crooked Past

By Meaghan Dawson / Faith

As I sat in that stuffy, little room listening to the woman on stage, I looked around at the other women—some nodding along, some with eyes glistening with unshed tears—all with rapt attention. I listened to her testimony, heard her words, walked through her journey with the Lord. And with a bitter inward sigh, I thought to myself, “That’s it? That’s the best you’ve got?” Her story, it was beautiful. Her faith, it was unwavering and strong through the peaks and valleys of her life. I should have felt inspired by her testimony. I knew it took courage and strength for her to sit up there, in front of her peers, and bare her soul in words as personal as any words

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