Thursday, January 28, 2010

What is a Life Coach

Many of my close friends know I've been working with a life coach for about a year now. Her name is Lynne, and she has helped me beyond measure. Frankly, I don't know where I would be without her. She's coached me through the most challenging experiences of my life. This woman is a true angel.

I have enjoyed being coached so much that I am going to become certified as a life coach, as well. I want to help others with all I have learned from Lynne this past year. At this point, though, I feel I know enough to be dangerous, so I'm taking the certification class to be properly trained.


This blog is actually a homework assignment from my first class. I've decided to write about what a life coach is, because I don't think many people really understand. So here it goes...


A life coach is someone who helps you live the life you want to live ... who helps you be the person you want to be ... who helps you live in peace and harmony instead of chaos, guilt and regret ... who helps you achieve your goals. Most of the time, people hire a life coach to help them in one of five areas: relationships, career/business, health, finance and spiritual growth.

I hired Lynne to help me with relationships. Whew, what an amazing year it has been. Thank God for her, because I needed more help than I realized at the time! I have healed failed relationships from many aspects of my life by accepting responsiblity for my part in their demise. Sound scarry? It is! But it's also liberating at the same time! Imagine how great it would feel to start shedding all of your old baggage. It's awesome!


I have a multitude of stories about my successes with working with a life coach this year -- both personal and professional. Remember the Million Dollar Coupon? Yep, she coached me through that, too! I almost didn't accept the assignment out of the fear of failure, and I thought about giving it up several times when the going got tough. But she stood beside me the entire time, reminding me of my intentions with my career and the project, encouraging me to dig deeper and try harder. It worked amazingly!



So, that's all for now -- just a little tease about what a life coach is...stay tuned to learn more later. If you like what you've just read, I'd recommend reading David Essel's Slow Down, The Fastest Way to get Everything You Want. You can start to change your life immediately!



Make it a great day!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Going with the Flow brings on the Best Monday Night Ever


Last Monday night I was looking forward to a fabulous dinner of Italian Beef. I've never made it before, so I was really excited about it. I teased Paul via text message all day about how great it smelled while it was cooking!

I had also planned a babysitter to come over from about 4:30 - 6:00 to play with the kids so I could get some work done. I was very excited about this guilt-free time to work.

It was going to be a great night!

Around 5:10 p.m., I realized both plans were going south. The babysitter sent a text message saying she got held up at cheerleading practice. She wouldn't be there until 5:30 p.m. My Italian Beef was either not done or overdone. Apparently, you are supposed to be able to shred it with a fork -- very easily. This was not happening. Kids were yelling, phones were ringing... "Oh my, what is happening to my perfect night," I thought.

At that point, my mom called in and said not to worry about the beef -- it probably just needs more time to cook. Fine, plan B for dinner that night.

Then, I almost texted the babysitter back to let her know that we would schedule another night for her to help out. But, something kept me from doing it. A little voice inside my head said, "Just let her come." So I did.

Paul called on his way home from work, and I explained what was going on. He suggested we take advantage of the babysitter and go out for appetizers and wine. Then, come home and see if the beef was ready. That sounded awesome to me!

I made pigs-in-a-blanket for the kids and the babysitter, and out the door we went. We were only gone a couple of hours, but it felt so liberating! We took advantage of the fact that things were not going as planned ... and made the night better than it would have been otherwise -- a Monday night date night! Wohoo! It was awesome!

I was so grateful for that little voice in my head that allowed the babysitter to come, even though it was later than I was hoping for. It allowed us to have a fabulous Monday night.
Allow is a word I'm learning a lot about lately -- we can plan all we want, but sometimes, things don't go as planned. I'm finding that going with the flow and seeing how things turn out isn't so bad. In fact, it's fun! What a great lesson for those of us who tend to try to control everything!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The "Stay-at-Home Mom" of the 2000's

I am so excited that one of my public relations projects -- The Million Dollar Coupon -- has been included in David Meerman Scott's newest version of The New Rules of Marketing & PR!

It got me thinking, "Not too shabby for a stay-at-home mom."

Gone are the days where women who choose to leave the workplace to take care of their children can not be successful in their careers. Gone are the days of the dreaded "gap" on a woman's resume for her years as a stay-at-home mom. Today, millions of moms are leaving their full-time jobs to spend more time with their children and pursue their careers.

For the record, I am not advocating that every mom should be a stay-at-home mom. I think moms should do whatever they think works best for their family. I always say, "I am not worthy of working moms!" I don't know how they get everything done in the little time they have before and after work each day. For me, though, being a stay-at-home mom has been the right choice.

Above all, the experience of seeing this project receive recognition from David Meerman Scott makes me grateful for all of the people and experiences in my life. If it weren't for the support of my husband, family and friends, I would not be able to do what I do and remain even remotely sane. So, thank you to all of you! Especially my mother-in-law, who helps with the kids so often!

In addition to the gratitude, I guess my message to those of you reading this is that you can do anything you set your mind to with the right tools and attitude. Here's to a great 2010! Thanks for reading!