Take 5 I I'm Taking 5

A shift in focus. Doing more with less.

Hi, Mother Runners—

I mentioned I’m reading the book Essentialism, which was recommended to me by David Block, founder & CEO of the supplement company Previnex (who sponsors my work). David has become a friend over the years. He recommended the book when I was discussing some issues I was having with my business—and that I felt spread thin, like I was spinning my wheels, and wasting my time.

The book teaches you how to focus on what really matters to your mission & let go of what doesn’t. That is a brutal oversimplification…

I read it thinking it would help me with my professional life. But in essence, it’s helped me even more with my personal.

I didn’t realize I was trying to do it all—grow a business while being with my kids all the time except for basically when they are at school. And while I was physically doing both—I realized I wasn’t doing both well because mentally I was straddling the roles 24/7. And I was feeling frustrated in both because I felt like I was borderline failing in both.

So, I’m taking a step back and letting things go so that I can be more present as a mom and business owner—no more straddling—no more trying to be in two places mentally at once.

When I am playing with Cal—I don’t want to be answering text messages or writing emails too, subliminally sending the message that he isn’t as important. He gets 100 percent of me. When I’m writing or responding to my athletes, I want it to be when my kids are otherwise occupied. There will be a division—and to do this, I need more focus. I need to do more with less.

While I may be “producing less”, I’ve already seen the difference in my children’s well-being (less fights and tantrums, more confidence & fun)—and that matters most to me.

So with that, I am pausing this email for now.

I had high hopes of creating a community and safe space here in Substack for mother runners. But I got ahead of myself & overestimated the time I had. & also realize that the need can (& is) be met on my Instagram and website. The podcasts will also continue so listen to my mother runner chats on YouTube (and please subscribe!).

I may come back here or have it fill a void—but for now, you can please connect with my on Insta or at themotherrunners.com.

Thanks for being here.

Whitney