Being Successful on Your Terms.

My dear friend is at a bit of an impasse, I sat on the train home from work and listened to her talk about her hopes and dreams, and that in so many ways she feels like she is failing at life.

My heart felt heavy.

This beautiful person, at this very moment, is entangled in emotions that a re crippling her confidence. So much so, that she can no longer recognise all that she has achieved and the very bright and special light she brings to the world around her.

She has traveled the world, lived in multiple countries, has a huge circle of friends that care and love her immensely. She has healed and recovered from a broken heart and done so with grace. The last few years have been spent working on her own development, professional and personal and I can say to watch her grow and learn, has been an absolute privilege.

So why does she feel like a failure?

The answer is pretty simple, she is measuring her life and accomplishments by everyone else’s yard stick.

It is so easy to get whipped up into the stereotypical, cookie cutter, ideal of what success looks like in our society. Being part of a perfect pair, having a six figure salary, a big house, the latest model car… you know how it goes.

But ultimately, for me, my measure of success is happiness.

Happiness? That’s a bit broad, I hear you say! Well my definition of happiness is this.

‘My family and I are healthy and have the freedom to live in a place we love, learn new skills, have the freedom to follow our passions, and are surrounded by those we love.’

I can see some of your eye’s rolling as you read my happiness statement AKA measure of success and that is totally OK! I have to admit, it sounds a bit airy, fairy, fluffy and unrealistic. But those of you who know and have worked with me know, that I am a very practical, pragmatic and grounded person. So let’s break that statement down into its component peices.

My family and I are healthy – healthy to me is healthy mind, body and spirit. Healthy meaning we do our upmost to eat well, we live within proximity to open space, being near nature is important to our mental wellbeing, we move our bodies, we exercise and in ways we enjoy. We have access to affordable healthcare be it natural, preventative, or traditional medicine.

Freedom to live in a place we love. For me this is a biggie, my home is the foremost important part of my universe and maybe even more so, now we have kids. My home is my place to rest, relax, play, study, work and create. It’s my 100% safe space and this is how I want our kids to feel about home too.

We are struggling with this one right now, as we have grown, and the four of us are busting out of our current space.

We love where we live!

We are lucky enough to have made the move from the big smoke, we live on the Central Coast. Five mins drive from the beach, ten minutes from forest and bushland, good school and a real community feel. Like many suburbs in NSW, property prices are rocketing and our need to up-size is ever-present but it is more important (to me), to be able to be at home, with our kids, and enjoy that space. Then to invest in a huge and amazing space, but be too busy working to pay for it. Freedom is always front of mind and that includes finances.

No one wants to feel restricted because of their finances. It is no way to live, and it could hinder your quality of life going forward. Our finances play a big part in our life, and many of us earn in different ways. Some of us work a full-time job, some of us work a part-time job alongside a side hustle.

Having the freedom to follow our passions, looks a lot like financial freedom. Our aim is to keep our financial commitments low, so that we can be flexible. Whether that means we go live in another country for a few years, or one of us wants to go to uni to learn something new, to the boys having opportunities for travel. Whatever it is, we try to encourage each other to follow our heart’s desires.

I have always learned so much from learning a new skill, whether it be a new piece of technology, how to make tortillas from scratch or a musical instrument. Approaching life with a learning mind has meant that I am always curious and questioning. It has also made me incredibly adaptable which is an awesome life skill I want for my boys.

Being surrounded by people we love is really the easy bit. Maybe not so much when I was younger, but knowing your boundaries and spending time with people that lift you up, encourage, and make you feel good is just so important.

Here are five quick tips to set you up for success on your own terms:

  • What are you proud of? Write down one thing every day that you are proud of. It might be that you achieved a goal, or you handled a challenging situation in a positive way. Whatever it is, write it down and celebrate your damn self!
  • Listen to who you are at your core, not the mother, sister, partner… You in all your individualistic glory.
  • Don’t ever compare yourself to someone else. You are living your story, have walked only a path that you can.
  • Don’t let other people tell you what success looks like.
  • Define what success looks like for you. When you do this, you will be amazed at what can come up and a lot of the time you will start to realise that some of the things you were aspiring for, aren’t important to you.

We all need to take the time and connect with ourselves and set our own, individual measures for what a successful life looks like.

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Hi, I'm Alisha

I coach women (and businesses) how to value themselves and their female talent. I guide women through a process of releasing limiting beliefs, building their personal wealth and how to navigate the parental transition journey to create a truly flourishing life.

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What Bali Taught Me (That I Already Knew But Needed to Remember)

What Bali Taught Me (That I Already Knew But Needed to Remember)

I’m writing this from Bali, somewhere between a freshly squeezed juice, a pool and a wedding.

And something has already shifted. It always does when I genuinely stop.

I want to share what came up. Not because it’s unique to Bali. Because I think it’s available to all of us, if we let it be.

The Last Time I Was Here

The last time I came to Bali I was single, no kids, and deep in a Kundalini yoga and meditation phase of my life. I spent the first half of the trip in full spiritual immersion and the second half, because I’ve always loved a bit of balance, drinking cocktails on the beach and dancing under the stars until the early hours.

Both halves were exactly right for who I was then.

This time I arrived with a husband, two boys, and a wedding to celebrate. And yes, there was still a dance floor involved at some point. Some things are just non-negotiable. 💃🏾

What struck me most wasn’t how different this trip felt. It was how much of me felt exactly the same underneath all of it. The same woman who needs stillness and movement in equal measure. Who finds clarity near water. Who comes alive on a dance floor and also genuinely loves a morning of complete quiet.

Returning to a place at a different point in your life has a way of showing you who you’ve stayed.

What the Quiet Taught Me

When you step away from the noise long enough, things become clear that were impossible to see up close.

For me this trip it was this: I’d let the pace creep back in. Gradually, quietly, the way it always does. The early mornings on the phone. The evenings half-present. The low-level hum of tasks that never quite switched off.

Nothing dramatic. Just the slow drift back toward a version of myself I’d worked hard to move away from.

Bali reminded me of the difference between functioning and flourishing. I’d been functioning beautifully. I hadn’t been flourishing.

That’s useful information. And I wouldn’t have had access to it without stopping long enough to hear it.

What I’m Taking Home

A renewed commitment to the structures I know work for me.

Movement scheduled like a meeting, non-negotiable. Two email windows a day instead of a constantly open inbox. Evenings that belong to my family, not my business. And the regular, protected breaks that make all of it sustainable.

These aren’t new practices. But the trip reminded me what it actually feels like when I honour them. And that reminder is worth more than any new productivity system I could have come home with.

Something Coming in July

I’m coming home with something brewing.

Reset & Rise is on 24 July. It’s a 90-minute online masterclass for women who know something needs to change but aren’t quite sure where to start.

We work through what’s keeping you stuck, what needs to shift, and what the next real step looks like. It’s practical, personal, and it works.

Details dropping very soon. If you want to be first to know, book a Discovery Call and I’ll make sure you hear about it before anyone else.

Book your free Discovery Call here: https://calendly.com/alishawaterman/exploration-session

In joy, Alisha

What Happens When You Actually Stop

What Happens When You Actually Stop

Tomorrow I’m flying to Bali with my family.

And I want to write something honest before I go.

About what it actually feels like to step away. Not the Instagram version. The real one.

The First 48 Hours

I won’t pretend it feels completely natural from the start.

There’s always a low-level restlessness in the first couple of days. A quiet voice asking whether something important needs you. Whether things are okay without you.

I’ve learned not to fill it. Not to manage it or scroll through it or replace it with productivity.

Just to let it be there.

That’s harder than it sounds. For women who are wired for achievement, stillness can feel almost dangerous. Like falling behind. Like failing. The discomfort of it is real.

But it’s temporary. And what comes after it is worth every uncomfortable moment.

What Comes After

Around day three, something settles.

The thoughts slow down. The background hum of responsibilities quiets. You start sleeping deeply. Finishing conversations without half your attention somewhere else.

And then clarity starts arriving.

Not forced clarity. Not the kind you squeeze out of a journaling session at 6am before the house wakes up. The kind that just shows up when you’ve finally created enough space for it.

This is what real rest does. It doesn’t just restore you to where you were. It recalibrates you. Shows you what you’ve been too close to see clearly.

What I’m Expecting to Find

The last time I was in Bali I was single, no kids, deep in my Kundalini yoga and meditation phase. I spent the first half of the trip in full spiritual immersion and the second half, because balance has always been my thing, drinking cocktails on the beach and dancing under the stars until the early hours.

Both halves were perfect.

This time I’m arriving with a husband, two boys, and a wedding to celebrate. Completely different chapter. Same woman underneath, just with a lot more life packed in since then.

I’m expecting Bali to do what it always does. Slow me down enough to hear myself think. Remind me what I’m doing all of this for. Send me home clearer than when I left.

And I’ll be sharing what comes up when I’m back.

You Don’t Need to Go to Bali

I’m not telling you to book a holiday. I know that’s not available to everyone right now.

What I am saying is that somewhere in your life, there is a version of genuine rest available to you. An hour on a Sunday morning with no agenda. A weekend afternoon you protect from productivity. Ten minutes of actual stillness every day.

The question isn’t whether you can afford to rest. It’s whether you can afford not to.

And whether you believe, in your body not just your head, that you are allowed to stop.

Because for so many of us, that’s the real work.

If this resonated and you’d like to explore what building more space into your life could look like, I’d love to have a conversation.

Book your free Discovery Call here: https://calendly.com/alishawaterman/exploration-session

In joy, Alisha

If Your Business Stops When You Stop, You Haven't Built a Business

If Your Business Stops When You Stop, You Haven't Built a Business

I’m getting ready to step away from my business for a couple of weeks.

And my business will keep running while I’m gone.

Not by accident. Because I’ve built it that way.

This isn’t a post about having it all figured out. It’s about something I had to learn the hard way, and something I think matters for every woman building a business or a career she actually wants to sustain.

The Job vs The Business

If your business stops the moment you stop, it’s not really a business yet. It’s a job that you happen to own.

There’s no judgment in that. Most of us start there. But it’s worth naming, because it points to the work that needs doing.

A business that can run without you for two weeks doesn’t happen by accident. It requires systems, scheduled content, automated processes, clear client communication, and the willingness to trust what you’ve built.

None of that is complicated. But it does require a decision made in advance that your time away is non-negotiable.

Because if it’s not non-negotiable, everything else will fill the space. Everything else is always there.

What the Prep Actually Looks Like

For me, stepping away meant all social content scheduled through Metricool before I leave. Email automations set up to capture enquiries. An out-of-office with a clear return date. Clients briefed on my availability.

Straightforward on paper. But it also required something less logistical.

It required me to actually trust that things would hold without me actively holding them.

That’s the part nobody talks about. The inner work of stepping back. The voice that says what if something goes wrong, what if someone needs me, what if it all falls apart without me there.

That voice is not evidence that you need to stay. It’s evidence that you haven’t yet fully trusted what you’ve built.

And trust, like most things, comes from evidence. From stepping away once and seeing that things held. Then again. And again.

The Deeper Point

Being able to step away is not a sign that you’re not needed. It’s a sign that you’ve built something real.

A business that can travel, that can hold itself while you rest, that doesn’t require your constant presence to function, that’s not a luxury. That’s the goal.

There was a time I would have been stressed out at the thought of leaving for a week. Overthinking, overfunctioning, preparing for every possible scenario, and then not really switching off while I was away because part of me was already bracing for the chaos waiting on my return.

I am genuinely not that person anymore. And the freedom of that is hard to overstate.

What would need to be in place for you to step away for two weeks? That’s a useful question to sit with.

Because you deserve breaks that feel like actual breaks. Not working holidays dressed up as rest.

If you’re ready to build a business and a life that can sustain you, I’d love to have a conversation.

Book your free Discovery Call here: https://calendly.com/alishawaterman/exploration-session

In joy, Alisha

Halfway Through the Year. How Are You Actually Doing?

Halfway Through the Year. How Are You Actually Doing?

June.

We are almost exactly halfway through the year.

And before you scroll past that fact, I want to ask you to sit with it for a moment.

Not to audit your progress. Not to tally up the goals you haven’t hit. But to give yourself a genuine, honest mid-year check-in.

The January Version of You

The intentions you set in January were made by a version of you who didn’t know what this year would bring.

She didn’t know which relationships would shift, which opportunities would arrive, which things would turn out to matter less than she thought.

So before you measure yourself against those goals, it’s worth asking: do they still fit? Are they still the right things for the life you’re actually living right now?

Some will be. Some won’t. Both are completely valid.

A Kinder Way to Check In

Instead of asking did I hit my goals, try asking these three questions.

What am I genuinely proud of from the first half of this year, however small?

What have I learned about myself that I didn’t know in January?

What do I want the second half of this year to feel like?

That last one is the most important. Not what do I want to achieve. How do I want to feel. Because when you know the feeling you’re building toward, the actions become much clearer.

Your Second Half Starts Now

You don’t need to wait for a new year, a new month, or a Monday.

The second half of this year starts right now, with whatever you decide today.

If the first half was harder than you expected, that’s not failure. That’s information. Use it.

If you’ve drifted from the person you wanted to be this year, you haven’t lost her. She’s still available to you. The question is just what small step brings you back.

I’ll be honest with you. There have been moments in the first half of this year where I’ve had to come back to myself too. Where the pace crept back in, where I caught myself running on residual energy again, where I had to deliberately choose to reset rather than push through.

The difference now is that I catch it faster. And I know what to do when I do.

That’s what the work builds. Not perfection. Awareness and the tools to come back.

The second half of this year is yours. All of it.

What’s one thing you want to be true by December that isn’t true today?

Start there.

If you’d like some support figuring out what that looks like for you, I’d love to have a conversation.

Book your free Discovery Call here: https://calendly.com/alishawaterman/exploration-session

In joy, Alisha