Don’t Do It Alone: The Power of Sacred Support

The myth of the “self-made” success story might be the most damaging narrative in modern business culture. It suggests that true achievement comes from solitary effort, that asking for help signals weakness, and that independence equals strength. Trying to duplicate a “solo” success story is a recipe for burnout and frustration. You don’t *have” to build your success alone for it to be valid and rewarding.

This myth is particularly harmful for women navigating significant challenges, creating impossible standards that guarantee burnout. Doing it alone is killing us, slowly AND quickly.

The truth? No meaningful success happens in isolation. Every thriving entrepreneur has robust systems of support—whether visible or behind the scenes. The difference in a sustainable approach is making these support systems intentional, aligned, and yes, sacred.

What Is Sacred Support?

Sacred Support = Intentional Support

This includes people, tools, rituals, and practices that uphold your well-being while you build wealth. Sacred support honors your values, your capacity, and your nervous system.

The term “sacred” isn’t necessarily religious or spiritual (though it can be if that resonates with you). Rather, it signifies that your support systems deserve reverence, intentionality, and protection. Sacred support isn’t an afterthought or a luxury—it’s the essential foundation that makes sustainable success possible.

Why “Sacred” Matters

Traditional business advice often treats support systems as purely practical resources—tools to maximize productivity or extensions of your working capacity. This transactional approach misses the deeper significance of truly aligned support.

Sacred support differs in several key ways:

Alignment with Values: Sacred support systems reflect and reinforce your core values rather than undermining them. They help you create success on your own terms rather than pushing you toward conventional models that don’t serve you.

Honoring of Capacity: Sacred support acknowledges and works with your actual energy patterns rather than trying to override them. It creates space for your humanity rather than treating you as a production machine.

Nervous System Attunement: Sacred support is designed with awareness of what helps your nervous system feel safe and regulated. It reduces activation rather than adding to your stress load.

Reciprocal Nourishment: Sacred support creates mutually beneficial relationships rather than one-sided extraction. It values fair exchange and sustainability for all involved.

By treating your support systems with reverence, you create an energetic exchange that is balanced, restorative, and sustainable.

Types of Sacred Support

A comprehensive support ecosystem includes four essential types of support:

Emotional Support: Therapists, mentors, trusted friends

Professional support for processing feelings, challenges, and growth
Mentorship that provides perspective and wisdom from those further along the path
Friendships that offer understanding, encouragement, and witnessed experience
Support groups specific to your circumstances or challenges
Coaching relationships focused on your emotional wellbeing alongside goals

Practical Support: VAs, schedulers, automation tools

Administrative assistance that handles routine or depleting tasks
Technology that simplifies complex processes or eliminates unnecessary steps
Service providers who manage specialized aspects of your business
Systems that capture and organize information without mental strain
Household support that reduces the domestic load alongside business demands

Energetic Support: Bodyworkers, spiritual practices, environments that soothe

Physical therapies that address embodied stress or tension
Practices that connect you to larger meaning or purpose
Spaces designed to support regulation and restoration
Nature connection that provides perspective and renewal
Creative outlets that allow processing and expression outside of work

Financial Support: Payment plans, income smoothing, wise investments

Cash flow strategies that create stability during capacity fluctuations
Investment approaches that generate passive support for your goals
Financial professionals who provide expertise and perspective
Proper compensation structures that honor your true value
Emergency funds and safety nets that reduce scarcity stress

Mapping Your Sacred Support Stack

To create a comprehensive support system, it helps to assess what’s missing and what’s strong across three dimensions:

1. Internal Support Systems These are the practices, mindsets, and resources that you cultivate within yourself to create a foundation of self-support.

2. Interpersonal Support Systems These involve the relationships, connections, and human resources that provide different types of support through direct interaction.

3. Infrastructural Support Systems These include the technological, environmental, and operational structures that create efficiency, consistency, and ease.

When these three dimensions are combined with the four types of support, you create a comprehensive “Sacred Stack” support map that illuminates both your strengths and gaps:

By rating your current support in each cell from 0-5, you can identify critical gaps, emerging strengths, and high-impact areas for improvement.

Energetic Boundaries + Business

Many people with challenging circumstances struggle to set boundaries—especially in business. This difficulty often stems from complex factors:

People-Pleasing Patterns: Fear that boundaries will result in rejection or abandonment

Trauma Responses: Hypervigilance that creates excessive responsibility for others’ experiences

Worthiness Wounds: Belief that your value depends on availability or usefulness to others

Income Insecurity: Fear that saying no will result in financial instability

The Aureum Sanctum approach reframes boundaries not as rigid walls or restrictions, but as energetic containers that protect your capacity and clarify expectations. These containers create clarity, predictability, and sustainability—ultimately benefiting both you and those you serve.

Designing Your Sacred Systems

Supportive systems should reduce decision fatigue and increase your sense of spaciousness. Effective systems create reliable processes that continue functioning even during capacity fluctuations, freeing your energy for high-value contributions only you can make.

The difference between standard systems and sacred systems is significant:

Standard Systems focus primarily on efficiency, productivity, and standardization. While potentially useful, they often prioritize output over wellbeing and conformity over individuality.

Sacred Systems honor your unique patterns, protect your energy, and create genuine ease. They’re designed with awareness of your specific needs rather than generic best practices.

If you need support in creating your sacred systems, please reach out to me so we can determine if we should work together.

Your Sacred Circle

Creating (or curating) a sacred circle of collaborators, co-regulators, and community is essential for sustainable success. While systems and tools provide important support, human connection offers unique benefits that cannot be replicated through technology or solo practices.

Your sacred circle provides essential functions that systems alone cannot. I will flesh out this concept further in a future post, but in the meantime, assess your current circle and determine which individuals currently surround you and how these people show up in your life. Ask yourself questions to determine their role in your life. Who energizes you after a conversation? Who do you feel safe asking for help from? Who have you been giving to without replenishment? Where can you seek community or mentorship that aligns with your energy level and vision?

Integrate for Success

Shifting from understanding to embodiment requires gentle but consistent practice. Here are some different practices to begin integrating sacred support into your daily experience:

1. Clear a Drain: Identify and eliminate one person, habit, or task that depletes you

2. Support Swap: Trade support with a friend—30 minutes for each other

3. Sacred Stack Audit: Complete your support map honestly

4. Tech for Support: Automate one thing you’re doing manually

5. Ask for Help: Reach out to a coach, mentor, or trusted peer

6. Boundary Builder: Establish one clear business boundary

The Impact of Sacred Support

When fully implemented, the systems of sacred support you’ve developed will transform your experience of business creation in profound ways:

Energy Amplification: With appropriate support, your available energy is focused on your zone of genius rather than scattered across depleting tasks.

Creative Expansion: Freed from constant logistical demands, your creative capacity naturally expands into new possibilities.

Sustainable Scaling: Your business can grow without proportionally increasing your personal energy expenditure.

Increased Resilience: Multiple support points create stability during inevitable challenges or energy fluctuations.

Deepened Impact: Your unique gifts can reach more people when you’re not handling every aspect of your business alone.

This approach might seem radical in a culture that glorifies self-sufficiency and individual achievement. But what could be more practical than designing support systems that honor both your vision and your humanity?

The path to sustainable success isn’t about doing more alone—it’s about creating the sacred support that allows your gifts to flow without depletion. By embracing the power of intentional, aligned support, you’re not just building a business—you’re creating a revolutionary model of wealth creation that honors the full humanity of entrepreneurs.

What would become possible in your business if you were truly, comprehensively supported? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!

Why The Previous IRS Commissioner Was Perfect For The Job

Upon hearing that IRS recognizes that they need more staff but doesn’t seem to be clear how to best accomplish this, I decided to research the current leadership, to see if the organization had the right people to realize their goals. The things I learned about Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Billy Long initially made me raise a brow, but since I believe in nuanced interpretations, I carefully considered what I learned about him and comfortably concluded that he is actually a very good fit for this role. Unfortunately, as I was completing my analysis, Long was removed from the position of Commissioner! That being said, a little background on Long is still worth considering, even if it’s just for the purpose of comparing the qualifications of future appointees.

Commissioner Long is a former congressman from Missouri, and he previously supported initiatives to abolish IRS. Additionally, there have been questions about Long’s ethical background, as he was once employed by a firm that obtained fraudulent Employee Retention Credits (ERC) on behalf of their clients. Long has stated that he did not partake in any wrongdoing, and Senate agreed with him, confirming him as commissioner in June 2025. Long was removed from his role as Commissioner in August 2025, less than 60 days after he started.

Here is why I think Commissioner Long was perfect for the role:

He has very little actual experience working in tax administration. This may be unusual for IRS commissioners but not for other public roles: there are a number of elected officials that have ZERO experience that qualifies them to participate in the committees in which they serve. The lack of relevant experience isn’t the disadvantage you would expect: it often serves as a prompt to dive deeper and really do the work of understanding how things work from the inside out. Long was in a perfect position to see IRS through fresh eyes.
In this role, he could have reconfigured the IRS in a way that best supported his vision for a fair, efficient revenue generator for the US. As a critic of the current IRS setup, he has a much deeper understanding of the flaws that can be fixed within the system. By focusing on fixing those issues, he could have set in motion the kind of changes that would actually make IRS a much better vehicle for financially supporting its goals and objectives.
I believe in the Emperor Sung effect when it comes to putting critics in positions that were initially opposed to (see The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, Law 2, “Observance of the Law” for more context). There’s something transformative that happens when critics inhabit the roles they initially opposed. This gives them the opportunity to see firsthand where processes break down and how they can actually fix the problem. It’s very rare that someone gets into these positions and doesn’t have a shift in their perspective and interpretations. I believe that Commissioner Long was far more invested in cementing his legacy as a brilliant leader that transformed the behemoth that is IRS, than to be the one that dismantled the agency because of previously held viewpoints.

In any case, we won’t get to see Long usher in changes to the IRS. He has been appointed as Ambassador to Iceland (I can’t say whether that’s a promotion or not: I’ll let you be the judge of that) so we’ll just have to keep an eye out for the next commissioner and wait to see what changes will come. Long seems excited about his new role and I’m sure he’ll share many updates as he settles into his ambassadorship.

I’m interested in who will be appointed next. In the meantime, I’ll watch for updates on IRS’s hiring initiatives and implementation of the OBBBA in the weeks and months to come.

Winning the IRS Employment Game: A Strategic Guide

I recently shared a post regarding the Internal Revenue Service’s “hiring” push that is unlikely to result in any material impact on agency goals and objectives. However, at the end of the post, I mentioned how there would be some terminated or laid-off IRS employees that may be considering returning to the Service for the upcoming filing season, and how these employees could maximize the opportunity regardless of how indeterminate their employment time may be. Here are my recommendations for getting maximum benefit as a re-hired IRS employee:

Prior to returning to the office, schedule any doctor and specialist appointments so that your reinstated federal health insurance can cover those visits. For instance, if I was a former IRS employee that intends to be rehired before the filing season begins, I’d start scheduling doctor appointments for February and March 2026. I’d be sure to focus on those specialists that have a 6-9 months wait list, as well as any doctors that I have been unable to visit while I’ve been unemployed. I’d put those appointments on President’s Day if possible (this is a federal holiday that is open for many businesses, including a good number of medical offices). If, for some reason, I am not hired or my insurance is not reinstated within a few days of the appointment, I’d call and reschedule. I’ve lost nothing, and the medical office still has time to offer that space to another patient.
Leverage your lunch time and after work hours to complete free Skillsoft training to qualify you for a different job. Since it’s been more than a decade since I worked for IRS, I’m unsure how much access employees have within Skillsoft. However, if you are a rehired employee, confirm the Skillsoft access information in your employee handbook or through intranet pages. See if there is an option to download the Skillsoft app to your personal device, where you can use your agency log-in information to complete training when you’re off the clock. If so, explore the training paths that are most beneficial to your goals and use this re-employment period to complete the training. As you complete courses, make sure you retain copies of your completion records, lest they become unavailable to you in the future. Some programs I’d recommend are the project management and business analysis tracks (successfully completing Skillsoft training in either area is accepted by the Project Management Institute and the International Institute of Business Analysis). However, if you’d like to know of additional Skillsoft training that I recommend, let me know, and I’ll do another post.
Research the tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment options available to you. It’s uncertain whether these programs are going to be available when rehired employees return, but if I came back to the agency, this would be one of the first things I’d confirm. Generally, you must have at least one year of employment to qualify, but you’ll have to confirm whether there are additional criteria, such as whether the year of employment must be 12 consecutive months, if you must be a permanent employment (as opposed to seasonal) to qualify, if the benefits are available only to certain job series (positions), etc.,.
This is a perfect opportunity to utilize Employee Assistance Program (EAP) resources. Whatever you need that is available through EAP, go ahead and use it. I cannot remember the full extent of the resources available through IRS’s EAP, but these programs usually offer counseling and therapy services, financial and legal advice for personal purposes, and expedited referrals to various specialists. It’s a complimentary service so get as much as you can while you’re there.
Prioritize completing internal required and supplemental training and save documentation of it. Outside of Skillsoft, IRS used to maintain its own training materials. I advise you to take advantage of these training programs if still available and, should you find yourself laid off again, you’ll be able to prove that you’ve completed tax-relevant and other specialized training programs. These can be great if you enjoy working in finance or tax, and want to distinguish yourself from other applicants for other positions.
If at all possible, invest heavily in your Thrift Savings Program account. Socking away some retirement funds is always a good idea, and the effect of compound interest can work to your advantage. The sooner you put funds in, the longer you can benefit from the time advantage. So if you can put in a little (or a lot!), do it. Your future financial security will thank you for whatever you do now.

If you can think of additional strategies for rehired IRS employees, please leave those suggestions in the comments, so that others can benefit. Also, if there are any points that need correction, please let me know and I’ll be sure to update. Let’s help each other to make the best of this situation!

The IRS “Hiring” Fiasco: The Least Surprising Development of 2025

I will apologize in advance for any snark that you detect in this post. I try to keep things elevated and fairly neutral, but this latest chaotic development from the Internal Revenue Service concerns me, and I don’t want to dilute my thoughts as I address the issues that I see when it comes to the latest hiring “push” from the Service.

Last week, the Internal Revenue Service announced that it would be hiring several thousand employees as contact representatives and tax examination technicians, while simultaneously getting rid of direct filing capabilities (taxpayers are once again going to have to figure out how to use commercial tax filing software if they want to submit electronic returns). This hiring “push” comes after months of intentionally reducing a number of the employees that were already doing collection and tax resolution tasks. Many of these employees were not at the top of their pay scales – they were fairly newer hires – and now the Service will be tacking on the cost of re-hiring people at the same levels of the ones that were just terminated earlier this year.

If that isn’t wacky enough, it gets even more chaotic. The job announcement for contact representatives was posted on July 29th, and canceled on July 31st. Yes, you are reading that correctly: within 72 hours of posting the job, it was canceled on the federal government’s hiring platform, USAJobs. Why was it canceled so quickly? It’s possible that IRS had already gotten the maximum number of applications they were seeking. But, it’s far more likely that the post was published hastily, and it likely was missing a number of critical details. Whenever I’ve seen jobs posted and taken down quickly, it’s usually because the HR Department was ill-prepared and put up an inaccurate, incomplete announcement (most likely scenario) or the requested number of applications (let’s say, no more than 200 or 500) was received (this is very unlikely). The whole thing smacks of impulsive decision making and poorly completed, rushed work.

Oh, that quickly removed announcement? It was only eligible for certain categories of IRS employees anyway: specifically, current IRS employees, and IRS career transition employees (those were previously fired or otherwise subjected to reduction-in-force actions [layoffs]). So, they terminated people, only to attempt to hire the same folks back, at the same pay rates that they were using before. In summary, this whole game of layoffs and rehires is an expensive exercise in futility.

I also mentioned that there is an announcement for tax examination technicians. That post is still available, but it’s for that same limited group of IRS employees (current IRS and career transition IRS employees), which, again, makes the vast majority of people ineligible to apply. Additionally, the tax exam tech posting was done so hastily that the hyperlinked video on the job announcement doesn’t work at the time of this posting: the promotional video generally provided to potential employees isn’t even viewable! All of this smacks of rush work and poor execution from IRS. And of course, the tax exam tech job caps at roughly $60,000, with no telework or remote work options, and the expectation of developing into a technical advisor, classroom instructor or on-the-job trainer (with no additional pay: you’d be getting the same compensation as someone that didn’t train fellow employees).

I’ve seen disorganized hiring efforts before, but this one has to be one of the most comical, considering how the IRS wants to hire back the same people that were unceremoniously discarded several months ago. If I was one of those terminated employees, this game of “keep away” that IRS is playing with people’s livelihoods would completely turn me off to working for them again. However, for those that decide that they want to try it again, and find a way to make these games work for them . . . I have some strategies coming for you later this week. Make sure to come back so I can explain exactly how to WIN while working an IRS job. I’ll talk to you all soon!

Entering My Opulent Era

This is slightly related to the subject of this blog so I figured I’d share.

Today is my birthday. I’m writing this ahead of time, since I’ll be overseas and practicing what I preach.

I’ve mentioned before how I’ve grown weary of the practical (boring) advice that is often offered by financial gurus. I am DONE with promoting austerity as the path to wealth, and I will no longer deny myself pleasure that adds depth and color to my existence. I believe it is possible to live luxuriously while also being wise with money. In fact, I’d argue that (for me) the only reason to be responsible with money is to enjoy the luxuries that money can buy. I may forgo ordering takeout to save up for a pair of Ralph and Russo shoes, or I may decide to stay home and read a book instead of blowing my quarterly massage budget on a night out with friends. Whatever the case is, I may opt for the responsible, “boring” choice, but only if it puts me in line for the luxury I really desire.

I have no interest in denying myself every pleasure, just so I can see a certain amount in my bank account. Yes, I believe in saving for rainy days and old age, but I also believe in leaving room for fun NOW! I don’t want a life where I’m not having fun: I want a life that is juicy, exquisite, and delightful from beginning to the very end. That is why I’m declaring this my Opulent Era. I require opulence in everything I do: my meals, my home, my hobbies, my travel, everything. If opulence means sacrificing the less interesting things, I’m happy to do it. I’m no longer interested in living a dull life JUST so I can have more money in an account. I want to LIVE (still responsibly, but not miserly!)

I’m committing to incorporating more opulence into my daily life. If that interests you, then stay tuned, because I’ll be sharing more of those opulent experiences here. I look forward to taking you all on this opulent adventure with me!

Timing Is Power: Cyclical Planning in Business and Life

In nature, everything moves in cycles—seasons change, tides rise and fall, plants grow and rest. Yet somehow, we’ve created a culture that expects perpetual growth, consistent output, and linear progress regardless of our human capacity for sustainable performance.

This disconnect between natural rhythms and life expectations is a primary driver of burnout, especially for women navigating fluctuating energy, hormonal cycles, chronic conditions, or neurodivergent patterns. These women are often unable to reach certain goals because those goals are based on the concept of predictable, consistent energy levels, which is unrealistic for many.

What if there’s a better way? We already know that it’s possible to earn without exhausting ourselves, and we’ve even explored strategies for going from ideation to income generating stream. Another path to sustainable success that isn’t discussed enough is aligning with your natural cycles.

The High Cost of Ignoring Your Natural Rhythms

Most business planning assumes:

Energy is consistent
Output should be linear
Success = constant growth

These assumptions might work for those with highly stable energy or abundant support systems (and if you need help creating those systems, then I can help with that). But for many women—especially those navigating health challenges or multiple responsibilities—these expectations create a perpetual gap between what’s expected and what’s possible.

The result? Chronic guilt, overextending during high-energy periods, pushing through low-energy periods, and a nagging sense that you’re somehow failing because your capacity naturally varies.

When we disregard our cyclical nature, several harmful patterns emerge:

Boom-Bust Energy Cycles: Periods of intense productivity followed by complete collapse, creating a perpetual recovery-overdrive loop that prevents sustainable momentum.

Diminishing Returns: Work produced during low-energy periods often requires redoing, ultimately creating more work than if you had rested.

Compromised Decision-Making: Important business decisions made during depleted states lack the clarity and foresight available during high-capacity periods.

Health Consequences: Chronically overriding natural cycles can trigger or exacerbate health conditions, creating a downward spiral of diminishing capacity.

The Benefits of Cyclical Planning

Capacity planning isn’t just about self-care—it’s a strategic business advantage. By designing your work rhythms around your natural capacity patterns, you:

Maximize High-Energy Periods: When you honor your natural high-energy times for key activities, you accomplish more with less effort.

Improve Creative Quality: Creating during aligned phases produces higher-quality work that requires less revision.

Enhance Decision-Making: Making key decisions during your naturally clear-minded periods leads to better strategic choices.

Build Sustainable Momentum: Rather than the boom-bust cycle, you create steady progress through strategic alternation between action and renewal.

Increase Revenue Potential: Aligned capacity planning allows for more predictable income generation that doesn’t deplete your resources.

The 4 Cycles to Track

Understanding and tracking your natural patterns is the foundation of effective capacity planning. While everyone experiences universal patterns, your unique combination creates your personal capacity fingerprint. By observing how you experience each of these cycles, you can determine your own unique balance of cycles.

Here are the four primary cycles to track:

1. Hormonal/Menstrual Cycle (if applicable)

If you are menstruating, the hormonal cycle creates distinct energy patterns that significantly impact work capacity and creative flow. Learning to track my menstrual cycle has helped me majorly optimize my business and overall lifestyle. It has been the biggest game changer for me! Here are the phases of the cycle, and what you can expect at each point.

Menstrual Phase (Days 1-5):

Energy Pattern: Typically lowest energy of the cycle
Cognitive Strengths: Intuition, evaluation, big-picture thinking
Business Activities Aligned: Review and assessment, visioning, minimal client work
Business Activities to Avoid: High-intensity sales calls, major launches

Follicular Phase (Days 6-13):

Energy Pattern: Gradually building from low to high
Cognitive Strengths: Increasing creativity, openness to new ideas
Business Activities Aligned: Strategic planning, brainstorming, learning

Ovulatory Phase (Days 14-17):

Energy Pattern: Usually peak energy and confidence
Cognitive Strengths: Communication, connection, persuasion
Business Activities Aligned: Presentations, networking, sales conversations

Luteal Phase (Days 18-28):

Energy Pattern: Gradually declining from high to low
Cognitive Strengths: Detail orientation, critical thinking, refinement
Business Activities Aligned: Editing, systems optimization, completion

Even those who don’t menstruate experience approximately monthly fluctuations influenced by hormones, lunar cycles, or other biological rhythms. If you’d like me to discuss these cycles in a future post, let me know!

2. Circadian Rhythm (Daily Cycle)

Your 24-hour energy pattern influences optimal timing for different types of work within each day. Here are some of the common chronotypes (different circadian rhythm profiles):

Common Chronotypes:

Early Bird/Lion:

Peak Energy: Morning (6am-12pm)
Secondary Peak: Early evening (4-6pm)
Best For: Schedule demanding cognitive work before noon

Middle of the Road/Bear:

Peak Energy: Mid-morning to early afternoon (9am-2pm)
Secondary Peak: Early evening (6-8pm)
Best For: Core work mid-morning, creative work evening

Night Owl/Wolf:

Peak Energy: Late afternoon and evening (4-10pm)
Secondary Peak: Late morning (10am-12pm)
Best For: Creative work evenings, meetings late morning

Dolphin (Irregular Sleeper):

Peak Energy: Inconsistent, often mid-morning and late evening
Best For: Leverage unpredictable energy bursts for focused work

As a lifelong night owl/wolf, I always do my best work in the evening, and it’s no accident that I don’t start work before 10 AM. I generally try to rest during the times when I’m not as naturally productive: that way, I don’t have to redo tasks that I completed when I wasn’t at my peak.

3. Weekly Patterns

Most people experience consistent weekly energy fluctuations influenced by social structures and psychological momentum. This is, of course, influenced by menstrual, hormonal, and circadian cycles as well, but, assuming that you can have a consistent intensity of tasks each day during the week, you may notice additional patterns. Here are some common weekly patterns that may resonate with you:

Common Weekly Patterns:

Strong Start/Fade:

Peak Days: Monday-Wednesday
Challenging Days: Thursday-Friday
Best For: Schedule important meetings early week, lighter tasks later week

Mid-Week Peak:

Peak Days: Tuesday-Thursday
Challenging Days: Monday and Friday
Best For: Use Monday for planning, mid-week for execution

Strong Finish:

Peak Days: Wednesday-Friday
Challenging Days: Monday-Tuesday
Best For: Easier tasks early week, building to complex work later week

In my case, mid-week peak most closely mirrors my natural rhythms. I prefer a very easy start and finish to the week, while my Tuesday – Thursday can be more intense.

4. Seasonal/Annual Cycles

Larger seasonal patterns influence energy, mood, and capacity on a quarterly basis. This is the reason why I recommend Seasonal Resets (you can still see my Summer Seasonal Reset over on my Facebook page). These allow you to regroup quarterly, so you can align your business and personal activities with the predominant energy of the season.

Seasonal Considerations:

Winter (or Low Season):

Energy Pattern: Often lowest sustained energy
Business Focus Aligned: Planning, foundation-setting, deeper projects
Business Activities to Avoid: Major launches, high-visibility campaigns

Spring (or Building Season):

Energy Pattern: Gradually increasing energy
Business Focus Aligned: Learning, developing new offerings, growth patterns
Business Activities to Avoid: Immediate results expectations, rigid schedules

Summer (or Peak Season):

Energy Pattern: Typically highest sustained energy
Business Focus Aligned: Launch, visibility, expansion, connection
Business Activities to Avoid: Deep introspective work, complete overhauls

Fall (or Harvest Season):

Energy Pattern: Gradually decreasing energy
Business Focus Aligned: Completion, refinement, systematization, evaluation
Business Activities to Avoid: Brand new initiatives, scattered focus

Your Monthly Energy Map

Creating a visual representation of your energy patterns provides powerful clarity for planning aligned business activities. Start by tracking daily:

Energy Level (1-10): Your overall capacity for the day
Energy Type: Creative, Focused, Social, Administrative, or Rest
Influencing Factors: Hormonal phase, sleep quality, events, etc.
Aligned Activities: What works best with today’s energy
Activities to Avoid: What would likely create strain today

After tracking for at least one complete cycle (1-3 months), look for patterns:

When do your highest energy days typically occur?
When do your lowest energy days typically occur?
Which energy types appear most and least frequently?
How quickly do you transition between different states?

This awareness becomes the foundation for strategic planning. If you’d like a template for tracking your energy, please click here.

Creating a Flexible Capacity Plan

Cyclical and capacity planning isn’t about forcing consistency—it’s about designing flexibility. The goal is to create a framework that accommodates your natural fluctuations while still providing enough structure to build sustainable momentum.

Understanding Your Capacity

Learn to view your different energy levels as capacity modes. If you can put a number on your energy level, then you can quickly identify the activities, communication style, and rest approach that will suit you best.

Energy level 8 – 10 can be considered full capacity mode. This is a great time to work on growth, expansion, innovation and connection. It’s perfect for any communication that is responsible, generative and expansive, and fantastic for launches, content creation and new client outreach. When it comes to rest in this mode, brief but regular renewals are usually sufficient for sustaining momentum.

Energy levels between 5 and 7 are standard capacity mode. This is an ideal period for maintenance, refinement, and working steadily on an ongoing project. This is when you can plan to release deliverables, optimize systems, and implement strategies that are smaller scale but still impactful. Your communication should be structured, focused and have clear boundaries, so that you can use your energy wisely. You’ll need more extensive rest than when in full capacity mode.

For the chronic pain crew, energy level 3 – 4 is probably familiar territory. This is the limited capacity mode, which is suitable for essential maintenance (the things that absolutely must be done), passive income activities (so long as they require little energy), and minimal operations. Anything automated, with templates, or delegated to others should be leveraged. You should also keep communication minimal and structured, and focus on clearly communicating expectations (you have less energy to go back and clarify). Finally, prioritize rest, and work in short, gentle session.

Finally, when the exhaustion is at it’s peak (energy level 1 – 2), you’ve entered restoration mode. This is the phase where you only do business through previously created, well-operating systems. Client care should be primarily through automated support, and communication should consist of activating out-of-office protocols. Take as much time as you need to rest: you can’t produce from this level of exhaustion.

The power of this framework lies in its flexibility and legitimization of all modes. None is “failing” or “less than”—each is a strategic response to your current capacity that keeps your business functioning while honoring your humanity.

The Cyclical Approach: A Better Way to Do Things

Ready to begin aligning with your natural cycles? Try one of these activities over the next 7 days:

Track Twice Daily: Record energy and mood AM + PM for 7 days
Cyclic Meal Prep: Sync your meals with energy levels (e.g., quick meals during dips)
Create Your Capacity Template: Map out a recurring weekly or monthly rhythm
Plan a Rest Ritual: Commit to one deep-rest activity 2x this week
Energy Audit: Review your current tasks—are they cycle-aligned?

After completing your chosen activity, reflect: What pattern emerged that you didn’t expect? How can this data change how you schedule work or offers? What support do you need to live and earn more cyclically?

Your Cyclical Advantage

When you align your business activities with your natural capacity patterns, you gain several powerful benefits, like enhanced creativity, improved decision quality, sustainable momentum, and more authentic marketing and connection. This approach might seem radical in a culture that glorifies consistency above all else. But what could be more practical than working with—rather than against—your body’s natural design?

Your fluctuations aren’t flaws to overcome—they’re natural rhythms to leverage. By making timing your superpower, you’re creating a lifestyle that works with your body’s wisdom rather than against it—a truly revolutionary approach to sustainable success.

Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth: Personality as Your Secret Weapon

In the world of financial advice, we’re bombarded with one-size-fits-all strategies: wake up at 5 AM, use this productivity system, invest here, cut these things out. But what if the secret to sustainable success isn’t forcing yourself into someone else’s mold but deeply understanding and leveraging your unique psychological design?

This approach – using personality frameworks as the foundation for business strategy – can transform how you create, market, and deliver your offerings. Instead of fighting against your natural tendencies, you can build a business that works with your innate patterns.

Why Traditional Business Advice Fails So Many Women

Most business strategies assume we all process information, make decisions, and engage with the world in roughly the same way. This assumption creates a painful gap between expectations and reality, particularly for women juggling multiple roles or navigating health challenges.

When we try to force ourselves into business models that contradict our natural cognitive and emotional patterns, we experience:

Energy depletion from constantly overriding our instincts
Decision fatigue from operating against our natural thinking style
Motivation dips when we can’t connect with our core drives
Authenticity struggles that customers subtly sense and distrust
Self-doubt when we can’t maintain prescribed business approaches

But what if your personality isn’t an obstacle to overcome but your greatest business asset?

The Power of Personality-Aligned Business

By understanding your cognitive style (Myers-Briggs) and motivational core (Enneagram), you can design a business that naturally leverages your strengths while supporting your growth edges. These are two of the assessments that I recommend when working with clients to create an Archetype Analysis and Alignment. These are a great starting point for creating a personality-aligned business. The Myers-Briggs and Enneagram assessments create a foundation for sustainable success without the exhaustion of constant adaptation.

Let’s explore how these two complementary frameworks illuminate different aspects of your business temperament:

Myers-Briggs: Your Cognitive Blueprint

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) reveals how you naturally perceive information and make decisions – crucial processes in any business. Understanding your type illuminates which business activities will energize you, which will deplete you, and how to structure your workday for optimal energy management.

How MBTI Dimensions Impact Your Business Approach:

Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I): This dimension reflects where you primarily derive your energy—from the external world of people and activities (Extraversion) or from your internal world of ideas and reflections (Introversion).

Extraverted entrepreneurs may thrive with collaborative models, visible leadership, and interactive service delivery
Introverted entrepreneurs often excel with behind-the-scenes expertise, one-to-one client work, or systems that minimize constant social demands

Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N): This dimension describes how you naturally gather and process information—through concrete, tangible details (Sensing) or through patterns, possibilities, and conceptual connections (Intuition).

Sensing business owners typically prefer concrete, practical offerings with clear deliverables and tangible results
Intuitive business owners may gravitate toward innovation, conceptual frameworks, and transformational outcomes

Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F): This dimension reflects your decision-making approach—through objective analysis and logical principles (Thinking) or through consideration of personal and communal values (Feeling).

Thinking-oriented businesses often emphasize objective quality, logical systems, and clear principles
Feeling-oriented businesses frequently focus on client relationships, personalized experiences, and value-aligned impact

Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P): This dimension indicates your preference for structure and closure (Judging) versus flexibility and openness (Perceiving) in how you organize your external world.

Judging entrepreneurs tend to create structured business models with clear processes and predictable delivery
Perceiving entrepreneurs often develop adaptable, responsive business approaches that shift with emerging opportunities

Enneagram: Your Motivational Core

While MBTI illuminates how your mind works, the Enneagram reveals why you do what you do—the core motivations and fears that drive your behavior, especially during times of stress or security. This framework provides invaluable insight into what truly drives you in business and where you might sabotage your own success.

How Your Enneagram Type Influences Your Business:

Type 1: The Perfectionist/Reformer

Business Strengths: Strong ethical foundations, attention to quality, systematic improvement
Rest Challenges: Perfectionism, difficulty delegating, constant self-criticism
Aligned Business Model: Standards-based offerings with clear quality markers and improvement metrics

Type 2: The Helper/Giver

Business Strengths: Intuitive understanding of client needs, relationship cultivation, supportive approach
Rest Challenges: Overextending, difficulty charging appropriately, putting others’ needs first
Aligned Business Model: Relational offerings with clear boundaries and value-based pricing

Type 3: The Achiever/Performer

Business Strengths: Efficiency, results orientation, strong branding, adaptability to market
Rest Challenges: Workaholism, identity fusion with business success, image management
Aligned Business Model: Achievement-focused offerings with clear outcomes and recognition components

Type 4: The Individualist/Romantic

Business Strengths: Unique vision, emotional depth, authentic expression, creative approaches
Rest Challenges: Mood-dependent productivity, comparison, waiting for inspiration
Aligned Business Model: Distinctive, meaning-focused offerings with creative components and personal expression

Type 5: The Investigator/Observer

Business Strengths: Deep expertise, innovative solutions, well-researched approaches
Rest Challenges: Overpreparation, difficulty with visibility, energy protection to the point of isolation
Aligned Business Model: Knowledge-based offerings that leverage expertise while protecting energy

Type 6: The Loyalist/Questioner

Business Strengths: Thoroughness, contingency planning, community building, problem anticipation
Rest Challenges: Anxiety-driven overwork, overanalysis, worst-case scenario focus
Aligned Business Model: Security-enhancing offerings with transparent processes and community components

Type 7: The Enthusiast/Epicure

Business Strengths: Creative ideation, enthusiasm, multi-faceted offerings, marketing flair
Rest Challenges: Starting without finishing, scattered focus, difficulty with routine maintenance
Aligned Business Model: Variety-incorporating offerings with novelty elements and freedom-enhancing components

Type 8: The Challenger/Protector

Business Strengths: Bold vision, decisive leadership, barrier breaking, straight-forward approach
Rest Challenges: Pushing beyond capacity, resistance to vulnerability, difficulty asking for help
Aligned Business Model: Impact-focused offerings with clear authority positioning and protection elements

Type 9: The Peacemaker/Mediator

Business Strengths: Inclusive approach, conflict resolution, seeing all perspectives, creating harmony
Rest Challenges: Self-forgetting, indecision, merging with others’ priorities, numbing out
Aligned Business Model: Integration-focused offerings with consensus-building elements and gentle guidance

Your Unique Combination: The Key to Aligned Success

When you integrate insights from both MBTI and Enneagram, you develop a comprehensive understanding of your business temperament—how your mind works and what motivates your heart. This unique combination creates your personal “energy blueprint.”

For example:

INFJ + Type 4:

Natural Strengths: Deep insight into others’ emotions and needs; ability to create meaningful transformational experiences
Rest Needs: Regular alone time for processing; protection from emotional overwhelm; creative expression without pressure
Business Alignment: One-to-one transformational work; content creation with depth and meaning; behind-the-scenes expertise

ENTJ + Type 8:

Natural Strengths: Strategic vision; decisive leadership; ability to create efficient systems
Rest Needs: Physical activity to release intensity; safe spaces for vulnerability; protected time free from control
Business Alignment: High-level strategy; leadership programs; bold initiatives with measurable impact

INTP + Type 5:

This is my MBIT & Enneagram!
Natural Strengths: Leveraging deep expertise to create knowledge-based offerings, innovative solutions, well-researched approaches
Rest Needs: Regular alone time, manageable levels of visibility and low-pressure expression
Business Alignment: One-to-one transformational work; content creation with depth and meaning; innovate adaptive and responsive business approaches

Transforming Business Through Self-Knowledge

Understanding your personality-based patterns allows you to:

Design offerings that leverage your natural gifts rather than depleting your energy
Structure your schedule around your inherent energy flow rather than fighting against it
Market authentically by communicating in ways that reflect your natural style
Set appropriate prices that honor your unique value contribution
Create systems that support rather than override your patterns
Establish boundaries that protect your specific energy vulnerabilities
Identify ideal clients who appreciate your authentic approach

The Integration Challenge

Understanding these frameworks intellectually isn’t enough—integration requires intentional practice. Try one – or all! – of these approaches to begin aligning your business with your personality:

To start, one of these practices to implement for one week:

One Task, One Type: Align your most important daily task with your MBTI cognitive strength.
Type-Led Wind-Down: Create a nighttime routine based on your Enneagram rest need.
No-Type Bypassing: Avoid behaviors that bypass your true needs (e.g., a Type 2 people-pleasing out of guilt).
Energy Audit: Track when you felt most aligned vs. misaligned with your natural flow.
Design Your Ideal Workday: Based on MBTI + Enneagram, sketch your ideal rhythm.

After the week, reflect: How did honoring your type(s) shift your energy or outcomes? What felt most liberating about working with, rather than against, your natural patterns?

Liberation Through Self-Knowledge

Understanding your unique personality patterns isn’t about limiting yourself—it’s about liberating yourself from the exhaustion of constant adaptation. It’s about recognizing that your success path looks different from someone with a different type—and that’s not just okay, it’s essential for your sustainable success.

Your personality patterns aren’t flaws to overcome but natural expressions of your unique design. When you build a business that honors these patterns rather than fighting against them, you create from a place of authentic power rather than exhausting compensation.

If you need more assistance with integrating your MBTI and your Enneagram, I can help you with that. What would become possible in your business if you fully embraced your unique psychological design?

Why Your Business is a Temple: The Sacred Systems that Scale Elegantly

The deeper truth of what you’re building

Most people think of their business as a machine: something to be optimized, automated, squeezed for efficiency and profit margins. They don’t think of their business as anything outside of a mechanism to accomplish a financial goal.

In the Sanctum, we see it differently.

Your business is a temple. It’s where your deepest gifts meet the world. It’s also where your ancestors’ sacrifices find new form. Their tears, their strides, their efforts – all of these energetic investments culminate into something new and powerful in your temple.

Your business is where your future lineage will one day trace their security and opportunity back to: all of the choices you’re making right now are part of your dazzling origin story.

This is why your systems — the structures that hold your offers, your money, your client relationships — must be more than transactional.

They must be sacred.

The Power of Spiritual & Strategic Infrastructure

True wealth isn’t just about how much money flows through your accounts. Money is just an indicator – a mirror – of previous decisions. However, true wealth is about how your business holds that money, circulates it, protects it, and grows it — without fracturing your nervous system in the process.

Here’s how we approach it in the Aureum Sanctum:

Systems that free time

Your time is your most precious non-renewable resource.

A sacred business honors it by building systems that operate gracefully even when you step away.

Seamless onboarding flows? These ensure that each new client feels cherished and initiated, without you scrambling behind the scenes. Automated payment structures? These trigger beautiful confirmations, not clunky invoices. Evergreen offers or passive products? These allow you to make money while you rest, travel, or simply luxuriate in your life.

Your business doesn’t require micromanagement. Trust the systems that you put in place.

Systems that regulate wealth

The goal is wealth without structure leaks.

Just like water that seeps through cracked jars, or the harvest that rots in the field, a business without proper storage in place will have spoilage and spillage.

Sacred financial systems are like consecrated vessels: Trusts that hold assets beyond your lifetime. Thoughtful tax architectures that transform liabilities into legacies. Elegant dashboards that show you your numbers at a glance, so you steward them with calm clarity.

When your money knows exactly where to go, it multiplies with grace — not chaos.

Systems that honor your nervous system

What good is scaling if your body is in a perpetual state of contraction?

Systems that support your calm can look like:

Calendars that include Sabbath days and silk afternoons — not just back-to-back calls. Automated reminders that replace mental clutter. Ritualized CEO days where you review metrics over tea and candles, so your wealth is tracked in a way that soothes your soul, not spikes your cortisol.

The right systems don’t just make you efficient: they make you feel profoundly safe.

Your temple deserves more than duct tape

Too many entrepreneurs slap together duct-tape solutions and wonder why their empire feels shaky. Temporary solutions rarely generate permanent positive results.

Your business deserves the same reverence you’d give to constructing a cathedral:

Solid foundations, intricate artistry, and space for spirit to move through.

So yes, let’s build the automations and hire the right team.

Let’s set up smart tax entities and invest in beauty-infused client portals.

Let’s do it not just for profit, but as an act of profound devotion to your future — and everyone who will walk these halls after you.

Create Your Business Temple

If you’re ready to treat your business as a temple that blesses you as much as it blesses the world — consider having a conversation with me. My door is open, and I’m excited to serve you as you create the business of your wildest dreams.

Scaling should feel sacred. Your business should feel like a beautiful sanctuary. Your nervous system deserves to thrive right alongside your bank accounts. Let’s build your beautiful vision – together.

Luxury as Legacy: Reframing Wealth Beyond Status Symbols

Redefining what luxury truly means

Luxury has become one of those diluted words — tossed casually over images of handbags, yachts, and champagne flutes.

It’s mostly showing up as a marketing tactic, or a status chase.

And while there’s nothing wrong with savoring fine objects (the Aureum Sanctum itself revels in silk and satin, rich mahogany wood, delicate ceramics and bespoke fragrances), true luxury isn’t just about outward symbols.

True luxury is about spaciousness, sovereignty, and the security of knowing your lineage is protected long after you’re gone.

It’s the soft exhale that comes when your life is structured beautifully enough to allow you to slow down, because hustling isn’t luxurious.

It’s the profound calm in your nervous system when you know your family will be cared for — whether through trusts, investments, or an elegantly designed business that endures.

Luxury as Spaciousness

Imagine waking up on a Tuesday and deciding to wander around a sun-dappled museum instead of checking Slack.

Imagine writing poetry at 2 PM because your automated wealth systems hum in the background.

Luxury is the spaciousness to honor your natural rhythms.

To create, rest, and simply be.

In the Sanctum, we see time freedom as the ultimate opulence.

Because what’s the point of more money if your days still belong to someone else?

Luxury as Sovereignty

Most people conflate luxury with lavish consumption.

But for the feminine CEO, luxury is about self-directed power — the capacity to make decisions without fear or dependence.

It’s having the clarity to say yes or no to opportunities from a place of full agency.

It’s setting prices, scaling systems, and structuring taxes proactively — because you understand the intricate laws and patterns that uphold your wealth.

When your finances are architected with elegance, your business becomes an extension of your sovereignty.

It’s a modern throne, designed to honor your intuition, your body, and your genius.

Luxury as Legacy

Perhaps the most overlooked facet of luxury is this:

Luxury is ensuring your family’s security doesn’t end with your lifetime.

It’s not just the trust fund or the insurance policy (though those matter).

It’s the intentional shaping of your story so it becomes the fertile soil your descendants grow from.

It’s the legal structures that protect your heirs from avoidable tax erosion.

It’s the investments that yield fruit decades from now.

It’s the intellectual property — the books, the frameworks, the brand — that your children or protégés inherit.

Luxury is not ephemeral when approached this way.

It becomes a quiet empire that lives on in every opportunity your lineage experiences because of what you built.

The New Model of Luxury

So no, we don’t dismiss the aesthetic pleasures.

Silk robes, heirloom-quality jewelry, and private dinners in candlelit courtyards are delicious expressions of wealth.

But in the Sanctum, we frame them as byproducts — not the root.

The root is spaciousness, sovereignty, and legacy.

Because luxury isn’t ultimately about showing the world how much you have.

It’s about constructing a life (and a financial ecosystem) so artful and secure that your soul feels deeply nourished — and your lineage is quietly, powerfully blessed.

Are You Ready to Embrace Luxury?

If you’re ready to explore luxury not as hollow flex, but as a devotion to your own spaciousness and your family’s future, my door is open.

Because when wealth is approached as ritual, every decision becomes an act of love — for yourself, for those who came before, and for everyone who will come after

From Idea to Launch – 4 Weeks To Low Energy Income Success

In my previous post, I discussed the quiet revolution happening amongst women entrepreneurs. These brilliant women are embracing a new way to deliver value and create income. By focusing on low-energy income streams, you can rest more while still working toward – and meeting! – income goals.

As previously explained, there are four basic income categories (active, leverage, passive and portfolio) and four types of low-energy income options (digital assets & products; affiliate & recommendation income; membership & community models; and automated or AI assisted services). But, instead of just listing out the options, let’s explore a framework for taking us from Idea to Launch, all in four weeks. The best part of this is that you DO NOT have to stick to a four week time frame: complete the tasks as you have the energy to do so. What good is a low-energy income stream that’s exhausting to set up? If you can do it in four weeks, great! But if not, be gentle with yourself and do what you can: any progress is better than staying still.

Implementation: The 4-Week Action Plan

Transforming these concepts into actual income requires intentional action. Here’s a simple four-week implementation plan:

Week 1 – Brainstorm + Belief Reset

Journal your current money-making beliefs. Unpack those limiting beliefs that keep you from feeling that it’s possible to generate the income you desire without exhausting yourself.
Review the 4 income categories. Understand what it takes to implement and maintain each one. Carefully weigh the pros and cons of each category.
Pick one idea per category that resonates with you. Focus on one at a time, to avoid burnout. If, later on, you find that a particular idea no longer resonates, you can always drop it and try another.

Week 2 – Design One Offer

Choose the income path that feels lightest. Whatever you select, make sure that it doesn’t feel exhausting before you start: that feeling rarely changes once you’ve begun the work. I’d even encourage you to pick the path that sounds “too easy”: that’s probably the perfect one to start with.
Outline your offer using the L.E.S.S. framework. Remember to ask yourself, Can it serve multiple people at once or be reused? Does it feel simple to deliver or maintain? Can you still earn from it while you’re resting? Can it grow without draining more of your time or too much of your energy?
Determine pricing and delivery method. Research similar offers and determine what the popular delivery method and going rate is or, if you’re feeling particularly aligned, choose the number and delivery method based on instinct (you can always adjust later).

Week 3 – Set Up the System

Create or collect the assets. This is usually the most fun: create whatever you’re desiring to bring into the world. Refine it until you’re pleased with the result.
Automate delivery. Consider using platforms like Gumroad, Podia, or ConvertKit or any others that interest you. I’m not endorsing any particular platform: they all have pros and cons. Do a little research, ask in entrepreneur Facebook groups, and try out different platforms until you find a good fit.
Draft simple promotional materials. These can be made easily using free AI tools, like ChatGPT and Claude.

Week 4 – Soft Launch

Share with a small group or on social media. This is your time to tell everyone what you’ve created. And if you’re hesitant to share it, ask yourself, did you give your creation your best effort? If so, then you should be proud to tell people about it.
Track what feels easy vs. draining. This is a crucial step for determining ways to make the income stream as easy as possible.
Reflect and revise as needed. These revisions should make the stream more efficient and less energy consuming.

The Integration Challenge

Ready to ease into low-energy income creation? Try one of these 7-day challenges:

One Idea Per Day: Jot down a single income idea daily, no editing.
Tech Trial: Test out an automation platform like Gumroad or ConvertKit.
Ask & Align: Poll your audience or friends—what do they want from you?
90-Minute Build: Block off 1.5 hours to create a digital product MVP.
Affiliate Setup: Register for one affiliate program and create your first link.

These challenges are designed to help you quickly find an income stream that is enjoyable and low-energy. After completing your chosen challenge, reflect: What surprised you about the process? What felt most joyful or light? What will you keep building on next month?

A Revolutionary Approach to Wealth

Low-energy income streams aren’t about eliminating effort entirely—they’re about strategic effort that creates ongoing returns without requiring constant energy expenditure. These approaches allow you to create value once and receive income multiple times, often while resting, healing, or focusing elsewhere.

This approach might seem radical in a culture that glorifies constant hustle. But what could be more practical than designing income that works with—rather than against—your body’s needs and natural rhythms?

The path to earning without exhaustion isn’t about forcing yourself to become someone else—it’s about becoming more fully yourself and allowing success to flow from that authentic expression.

What would become possible in your life if your income didn’t depend on your daily energy?

I’d love to hear your thoughts below: are you currently leveraging a low-energy income stream? Are you curious about a particular income category? Let me know!