Thursday, March 15, 2012

Changing my ways

I felt a change the last few days. Perhaps I am getting wiser and more mature. I have decided I want more balance in my life. I plan to be successful and I need to say "no" more often to do that. I need to set limits and I need to have priorities.
This past fall I was listening to a podcast by Lara Galloway of http://mombizcoach.com/ and she said that we all need to set priorities and stick to them. I thought "well, that's easy!" Then she said we could only have 3 priorities. I thought "Only 3?! Impossible!"
I have always had more than 3 focuses in my life and I drive myself crazy trying to get them all done. Usually I do complete everything and most of the time I do them all well but I feel stressed, distracted and anxious in the process.
But I don't want to feel that way anymore. Especially now that my son is in daycare 3 days a week, I want the days that I am with him to be special. I want to present and focused on him, not thinking about the hundred things on my to-do list.
So here are my 3 priorities:
  1. Family - spending quality time loving each other and getting settled in our new home
  2. Health - continuing to care of my body through good food, self care and active living
  3. Career - taking advantage of the exciting opportunities that come my way
And in that order! Which means I may have to say no to a career opportunity if it jeopardizes too much of the time I spend with my family. I value my family more than anything but I think they may doubt that some days. I have spent too many weekends in my home office with the door shut this winter.
This week I said no to a couple things: I withdrew from one of my courses for next semester (leaving me with only one) and I delayed a guest blogging opportunity until next month. It feels good to set priorities and stick to them. I know I will be a better me (and mom and partner and friend) with less on my plate.

1 comment:

  1. Parrish,

    I am tickled pink to read this fantastic post since it is so clear through your writing how empowered you feel to manage your life! Good on you, Sistah!

    I think it takes all of us moms a while to live our lives, juggling or dancing as fast as we can to meet all the needs of everyone around us. Then at some point, we realize that this system just isn't working, and it isn't ever gonna work, and it's not an option to do more or do it faster.

    At that point, we realize that the choices WE make are the things making us so busy and stressed out. And when we realize that, we are open to change how we make our choices.

    You've done it. You're going to have more control of your time and feel more powerful every time you choose to spend your time on your top three priorities, and to say no if doing something else would conflict with those.

    Your family is going to learn a lot from watching you balance your career with the rest of your life, and it's going to be a great lesson.

    Wish I could give you a big hug.

    And thank you. Thank you so much for sharing this. Every business (and every mompreneur) needs to have a purpose. It's great to occasionally receive a sign from the Universe that this purpose is being fulfilled. You're my sign.

    Warmly,

    Lara

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