Courtney Carver — and her message of soulful simplicity — is no stranger to regular listeners of our podcast. Episodes featuring her blog posts on minimalism, decluttering, and making positive changes in your life can be found in our archives.
If you’re here to learn more about Courtney and her Soulful Simplicity course, here’s an overview of what you can expect!
About Courtney Carver
Courtney Carver
Courtney Carver launched her blog Be More with Less in 2010. She’s one of the top bloggers in the world on the topic of minimalism. She created the minimalist fashion challenge “Project 333” in 2010 and her message is about helping you regain the space, time and love to remember who you are.
Soulful Simplicity: Course Modules
First things first: the dashboard of this online course has a calming and simple design that is totally aligned with the spirit and purpose of the course.
With four manageable and clear modules presented, you know what you’re getting as a potential student.
Years ago, I was desperate enough in one area of my life to pay a hefty sum for a course that hadn’t been fully completed, and I can tell you that it was no joy ride. I succumbed to aggressive sales closing techniques and sleek marketing copy, which is another story for another day.
As a student, it’s not wrong for you to expect a course that's well-organized.
How is the instructor going to help you get to where you want to be if there isn’t a clear path to stick to?
Course Introduction
There are high-quality videos, audio files, and PDF transcripts to cater to different learning styles.
I appreciated the caring introductory video where Courtney shares “what you can expect in the course to alleviate any overwhelm or nervousness you might be experiencing.”
Because let’s face it — sometimes you find an online course that looks perfect and speaks to you. You get all excited and tell yourself that you will fit this into your schedule and show up for all the lessons. However you might lose motivation or have unforeseen circumstances to deal with. You end up feeling guilty and that you’re making excuses when sometimes, it’s really not totally your fault.
That the course begins on this note reflects Courtney’s empathy and thoughtfulness towards her students. This is commendable in today's cutthroat digital marketing world.
Inspiring PDFs
I enjoy learning through reading and listening to words, so the PDFs in the first module were files I eagerly checked out.
The PDF with the section on creating a soulful space in your heart and the PDFs that show the tiny steps Courtney took to achieve the big goals in her life were among my favorites.
It’s motivational to see someone successful break things down into small steps. It makes you feel that it's possible for you to achieve your own goals too.
As for sections like the one on creating a soulful space within you, there’s a lot of self-reflective content packed into number of pages. There’s a focus on quality over quantity.
As Benjamin Hardy says in a recent episode (OLD 1445): “Are you moving one step in 20 directions or 20 steps in one direction?”
Courtney’s course is designed to help you achieve the latter.
Dedicated Module on Boundaries
The third module is on “Making Time.” The video and/or transcript are very helpful for you to refer to if you have a hard time saying ‘no’ to others.
Courtney talks about her own journey with maintaining her boundaries and “the art of no-ing.” If you’re exhausted from always having to see to the needs of others without prioritizing your own, this module alone should give you the motivation to start saying ‘no’ more often with confidence.
After all, as Courtney mentions, saying ‘no’ to things you’d rather not do allows you to say a resounding ‘yes’ to what you do want to commit yourself to. Which kind of lifestyle sounds better and more meaningful?
Homework!
You might groan at the word “homework,” but you need to put things into action if you want to see results. Having all the downloadable homework assignments and prompts on one accessible page saves you time and makes it easier for you to keep track of you progress.
I found the homework manageable and not too overwhelming, which is important when you’re trying to make small steps in the right direction. A badly organized course that overwhelms you with information can actually backfire and cause you to make mistakes as you try to keep up with an unrealistic pace.
Soulful Simplicity stays true to its nature and doesn’t try to cram too much information or exercises over the span of six weeks. You’ll have time to breathe and reflect while you make your way through the course so that you have time to reconnect with yourself on a deeper level to make simple but profound, positive changes in your life.
Bonuses
The Facebook private group is a great option for accountability if you’d like social support throughout the course. There are three live calls with Courtney Carver. You can submit your questions on the live call or fill out a form from your course dashboard.
Interviews with experts in the field (like Rachel Shanken and Marc & Angel Chernoff) give you an additional view into how these leaders create time and space in their lives.
Closing Thoughts
Things I would have liked to see to enhance my experience of Soulful Simplicity include:
- A short conclusion at the end of the course, similar to Module Zero which contains the course’s introduction, for a motivational close.
- Buttons or links to navigate between the lessons instead of having to click on the sidebar table of contents.
- A way to access the modules from the sidebar table of contents instead of clicking the “dashboard” link to view all the modules.
Other than those small additions, the structure of the course gives you a clear and valuable road map to a happier and healthier you — in mind, body, heart, and soul.
Registration is OPEN at the time of this posting.
Registration closes on January 9th 2020, and Early Bird Price expires on Wednesday, January 1st 2020. The regular price for Soulful Simplicity is $129, but you’ll receive a special price of $99 if you sign up before January 1st.
TWO bonus live calls will be added for everyone who signs up as an Early Bird before January 1st.
You can sign up for Soulful Simplicity through the following link! It makes for a wonderful self-gift to usher in calmness and simplicity during the new year.
Jess Chua
November 27, 2019
