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CONFIDENCE FOR WOMEN OVER 40

@shereenhenshaw

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For women 40+ done putting themselves last.
Choose YOU without dropping everyone else.
Boundaries • strength • choices
↓ Now it’s your turn.

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I’ve said “I don’t mind” approximately 47,000 times when I absolutely did, in fact, have a preference. 😂

Where we eat.
What we do.
What time works.
What everyone else wants.

And one “whatever’s easiest” means nothing.

But when it becomes your default, you get REALLY good at accommodating everyone else and weirdly out of practice at saying what you actually want.

So here’s something I’m practising:

Before I say “I don’t mind,” I’m asking myself if that’s actually true.

Because choosing yourself doesn’t always look like some huge boundary or life-changing decision.

Sometimes it’s just having a fucking preference and saying it out loud. 😂

Be honest: what’s your version of “I don’t mind”? 👇 taken in North Lakes, Queensland, Australia by @shereenhenshaw

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9 hours ago

Maybe you didn’t “lose yourself” all at once.

Maybe it happened in tiny ways.

You stopped saying what you actually wanted because “whatever’s easiest” was easier.

You stopped making time for things that were just for you.

You became really fucking good at being the mum, partner, employee, friend, organiser, fixer…

and somewhere along the way, being YOU became negotiable.

I don’t think finding yourself in your 40s has to mean blowing up your life and starting again.

Sometimes it’s much smaller than that.

Having an opinion.
Making the appointment.
Wearing the thing.
Taking the hour.
Saying no.
Wanting more.
Doing something simply because YOU want to.

Maybe this chapter isn’t about becoming someone new.

Maybe it’s about making room for the woman who was there the whole time.

What’s one part of YOU you’re bringing back? taken in North Lakes, Queensland, Australia by @shereenhenshaw

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a day ago

“Let’s just eat at home” sounds financially responsible until dinner is finished and the kitchen suddenly requires a project manager.

By 9pm, I’ve fed everyone, answered 400 questions, located several items apparently invisible to everyone but me and used the last of my patience explaining why bedtime still happens every night.

The dishes have been professionally assessed, deprioritised and reassigned to tomorrow. 😂

My end-of-day capacity check:

What genuinely needs to happen tonight?
What will make tomorrow easier?
What can wait without creating a bigger problem?

Do enough. Clock off.

Rest does not require an empty sink.

If you’ve ever turned off the kitchen light and decided darkness is a valid cleaning strategy, you’re my kind of woman.

Follow for realistic life after 40, selective domestic enthusiasm and strong opinions.

#motherhoodunfiltered #fearlesslyauthentic #mentalload #mumlife #mumhumour taken in Surfers Paradise, Queensland by @shereenhenshaw

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3 days ago

Every night I convince myself that tomorrow morning will be calm.

I’ll get organised, drink my coffee while it’s hot and ease gently into the day like a woman who has her shit together.

Then morning arrives with laundry, missing things, unexpected jobs and questions that apparently cannot be answered without me.

My morning routine is mostly completing tasks I didn’t know existed yesterday while reheating the same coffee twice. 😂

If your peaceful morning also comes with a supporting cast of people who need things immediately, you’re my kind of woman.

Follow for realistic life after 40, strong opinions included.

#fearlesslyauthentic #womensupportingwomen #personalgrowth #strongwomen #strongmums by @shereenhenshaw

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5 days ago

The gym is meant to be my hour.

And then I catch myself between sets checking my phone, thinking about work, dinner, the washing, and the thing I said I’d remember without writing down. Bold choice, that last one. 😂

I used to get annoyed with myself for not being able to switch off. Now I put the phone down, pick up the weight and give myself the next set. The list will still be there afterwards. It always is.

Send this to the friend who says the gym clears her head, then spends her rest break planning dinner. 😂

#womenover40 #workingmumlife #gymhumour #strengthtrainingwomen #womenwholift by @shereenhenshaw

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7 days ago

“You’ve changed.”

Yeah, probably. At 43, I’m done people pleasing just to make sure nobody thinks I’m difficult.

I’ve learned to say no without writing an essay, take my own goals seriously, and let people be a little disappointed sometimes.

Still me. Just considerably less available for things I don’t want to do. 😂

Send this to the friend who’s stopped writing essays to explain her “no.”

#womenintheir40s #peoplepleasing #settingboundaries #selfrespect #womenover40 by @shereenhenshaw

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10 days ago

I used to think warming up was the boring bit before the real work.

At 43, it is part of the work.

I stretch. I warm up. I pay attention to what feels tight and what might need adjusting.

Do I always listen when my body suggests today should be an adjustment day?

Absolutely not. 😂

Sometimes I still push harder than I should, hurt myself and then spend the next few days reflecting on all the warning signs I confidently ignored.

I’d love to say I never make the same mistake twice, but apparently some lessons require several practical demonstrations.

I’m getting better at noticing. Still working on listening.

Follow if your strength, determination and joints are also currently in negotiations.

#womenover40fitness #strongwomen #strengthtrainingforwomen #legday #brisbanefitness taken in North Lakes, Queensland, Australia by @shereenhenshaw

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11 days ago

Some of us say yes so quickly that we only realise what it cost when we’re already resentful, exhausted and trying to squeeze our own plans into whatever is left.

Saying yes can feel easier than explaining our capacity, risking someone’s disappointment or sitting through an awkward reaction.

But every yes still has a cost, even when we pretend it doesn’t.

Before you agree, pause long enough to decide whether the request fits the life you actually have today.

If it doesn’t, you are not selfish, difficult or unreliable. You are being honest about your capacity.

Save these four questions for the next “quick favour” that arrives with three hidden subtasks. 😂

Which question do you need to start asking first?

#workingmum #womenover40 #boundarysetting #mentalload #womensupportingwomen taken in North Lakes, Queensland, Australia by @shereenhenshaw

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12 days ago

Six days a week sounds like I have loads of spare time.

I do not. 😂

Training is one of the appointments I refuse to keep cancelling on myself.

If I waited until work was quiet, the house was finished, everyone was sorted and nobody needed anything, I would never make it through the gym door.

There is always something else I could be doing. Mum guilt can produce a fresh list on demand.

But my physical and mental health belong on the family calendar too.

This hour is something I keep for myself. The list can remain unfinished while I get stronger.

Follow for strong-body, strong-opinion energy after 40.

#fearlesslyauthentic #personalgrowth #strongwomen #womenover40 #strongmums by @shereenhenshaw

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13 days ago

Every time something gets added to the day, we somehow just make room for it.

Because sometimes doing it yourself feels easier than asking for help. No explaining. No worrying about the reaction. No waiting for someone else to get around to it.

So you keep going.
Kids sorted.
House sorted.
Tomorrow sorted.

Then 9 pm arrives. The time you were going to spend on yourself is finally here, except now you’re touched out, exhausted and have absolutely nothing left for yourself or your partner.

At some point, the answer can’t keep being, “I’ll just get it done.”

When the list starts running the day, ask:

1. What genuinely needs to happen today?
2. What can wait without creating a bigger problem tomorrow?
3. What can come off the list without anything falling apart?

Your time cannot always be whatever is left after everything else is done.

Save this for the week when everything feels equally urgent.

#fearlesslyauthentic #personalgrowth #strongwomen #selfrespect #metime taken in North Lakes, Queensland, Australia by @shereenhenshaw

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14 days ago

Every week I think next week will be quieter.
At this point, optimism is becoming a personality flaw. 😂

Maybe the goal isn’t waiting for life to calm down. Maybe it’s getting better at deciding what actually deserves our energy when it doesn’t.

Follow if you’re building strength, self-respect and more choices after 40.

#fearlesslyauthentic #womenover40 #strongmums #womensupportingwomen #selfrespect taken in North Lakes, Queensland, Australia by @shereenhenshaw

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15 days ago

I am perfectly capable of doing it myself.

That is not the issue. 😂

The issue is that somewhere in my brain apparently lives a tiny woman going:

“I wonder if anyone is going to NOTICE how capable we’re being?”

I don’t want rescuing.
I don’t want you to take over.

I just want the offer.

Completely different. 😂

Please tell me this makes sense to someone other than me.

#fearlesslyauthentic #personalgrowth #womensupportingwomen #strongwomen #selfrespect taken in North Lakes, Queensland, Australia by @shereenhenshaw

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17 days ago