You at the Center - Turns Out I Really DID Need Some Life Coaching

Disclosure: I was offered a complimentary course by You @ the Center in exchange
for promotion. All opinions are entirely my own and I promise to be as open and honest
about this process as I possibly can.

I started my journey with You @ the Center over a month ago. In fact, today is DAY 48. It’s a 100 day course so I’m coming up on that halfway mark and believe it or not, I am definitely starting to see some changes. I spent an hour talking one-on-one with Rachel Davis (the creator behind You @ the Center) this morning and she was amazing in helping me clarify my goals and actions. I have learned so much in the past weeks and I am now convinced that anyone can benefit from a program like this. And no… she didn’t pay me to say that.

So… to give you some background (for those that don’t live with me). I spent 20 years in the interior design field in some respect: residential, commercial, hospitality, purchasing, until I gave it all up to stay home and raise my girls. When I started blogging, I found an entirely new career path… social media. I absorbed myself in this new endeavor and came out the other end with a 800+ women’s blog network, a part-time job leading blog campaigns, and a full-fledged start-up social media company (Social Elements Media) with the most amazing business partner anyone can have. To say I’m busy would be an understatement.

My biggest issue was how to manage everything when I still had a family to care for and a household to run. I was drowning in the day-to-day responsibilities of carpooling, laundry, meal preparations, shopping, and oh yea… WORK. Working from home is another whole puzzle. How exactly DO you draw the line between work time and home time when you never leave your house?

The You @ the Center program came along at the time when I needed it the most. But… it was 100 day commitment. 100 days is a long time. I mentioned above that I believe this program could be valuable for everyone. That doesn’t mean that everyone should take it though. I think the teacher shows up when the student is ready to learn. I know Rachel came to me when I was open to changing and moving forward. If this post is a sign that maybe it’s time for YOU to take the next step to a more sustainable life (I love that phrase) read on…

So you know where I come from, but this journey is all about where I am heading. What is my “end game?”

I want to continue growing this awesome social media business and making a difference for small business owners in realizing their dreams of prosperity. I want to be able to have time to devote to my husband and children in a meaningful way - not a few minutes here and there, but generate some real quality & quantity time with them. I want to have time for ME to do all the things that make ME happy. I don’t want to be so overloaded with stress and worry that my health suffers. I just KNOW that I can have ALL of this. As Rachel says, it’s all about the flow.

I’ve changed.

• I sleep better at night because I know my plan for the next day. Each evening I look over my calendar and know exactly what the next day will hold for me and I plan out when I’m going to do each task. When you are prepared, you stress less.
• I work smarter, not harder. I set aside several hours each day to focus on nothing else but my workload. I tune out the dirty laundry and the piling dishes and get done the work I need to accomplish for the day.
• I have taken steps to organize the clutter that is my life. I take at least 30 minutes each day to file paperwork, organize my office, clean out the kitchen cabinets, sort through the closets. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of it all, I break it down into small doable actions.
• I focus more on what makes ME happy. I find 15 or 30 minutes here and there to read a book, purely for my own enjoyment. If possible, I carve out an hour in the evenings before bed to wind down and read a good book (except on Thursday nights… because Grey’s, Scandal and HTGAWM).

It all starts with baby steps.

I have found that as I am nearing towards that goal of being truly organized with my life, my life has given me back so many amazing rewards. The happier I am with my progress has translated into more clients and opportunities knocking down the door. And the more my life is in flow, the richer and more satisfied I feel.

Okay, remember I said that I’m only nearing that halfway mark in the course? If I’ve learned so much in the first half, I can’t imagine what my life will look like after the second half. I am excited to see where I end up.

More updates to follow.