Do you allow yourself to set priorities and boundaries?
“Vivi, you just came back from South Africa, raise 3 kids, you’re back into corporate, busy setting up your coaching business, joined a master class to do so, still recovering from repatriation. How do you make this work?"
I wish I was Wonder Woman ;) But do you want to hear the truth? Many days it seems to me that I don’t really make it work…
There are the corporate people who are miles ahead from a linear career point of view. A lot of other coaches out there have much more focus on their business and are already -and well deserved so- harvesting their consistent work from the past years. And there are also way more balanced parents than me!
So, I decide to pause. Go for a few days through very messy emotions.
But eventually, I’m back with a lot more clarity and confidence that my path is just fine – for me! My set up involves prioritizing what’s truly important in my life right now and setting firm boundaries to make it happen:
1. I want to have enough time to connect with my kids, to do household chores, to go for dog-walks for my mental health etc. And this means: no corporate work or coaching between 3pm – 8pm and during weekends.
2. After being an expat partner in South Africa I wanted to work part-time to connect with the ‘real working world’ again. But also, to add right away to the family income. Looking at the family schedule I can manage 20hrs/week between Tuesdays and Thursdays.
3. I’m setting up my coaching business based on my resources and time left. And yes, this is slower than expected but so worthwhile for my mental health and the way I show up as a parent! Mondays and Fridays I’m coaching my 1:1 clients and do my masterclass homework. 2 evenings per week I’m currently busy with masterclass calls. And during the weekends I tend to spend some time on my Social Media activities.
And that’s it. My secret sauce. This set up works for me since the kids are all in school & kindergarten and my husband is working full-time. Maybe your set up would look completely different!
Setting boundaries with regards to my time wasn’t always easy for me. It involved getting clarity on what was important to me and confidence to communicate it to my stakeholders: husband, kids, clients, supervisors.
If you feel you need a ‘partner in crime’ in this I’m just one click away :)
Warmly, Viviane