My First Session With A Life Coach

I’ve had several friends acquire tremendous success with the help of a life coach.  Whether it be for personal, professional or the combination of both dynamics, sometimes we need a little (or a lot) of guidance on where and how to go next.

And I’ve been having a dilemma…

TIME.  How.Do.I.Fit.It.All.In?!

I’ll be honest, which probably won’t come as a surprise to some of you, but I’m a pretty self-aware person.  I know my worth (as you should too!), and understand how valuable every minute of every day is.  And I can vouch for being pretty damn productive…attempting to balance motherhood, marriage, friendships, blogging, social media, networking, research, etc.

On any typical day I am driving my kids to/from school (all while listening to podcasts), working out, creating content, photoshoots, checking email (way more often than I’d like to admit)…and then Instagram…oh.my.goodness.Instagram.

But I have BIG GOALS (again, as you should too), and something’s gotta give if I’m going to reach the next step.  So an opportunity to pour my heart and soul to a life coach was not only desperately needed, but required in order to really understand what was going on.

I won’t go into too much detail, but I will share my recap with Misty Saracino, Seattle-based Life Coach, to provide some insight into what we discussed and my action plan moving forward.

Something I’d also like to note…our session was over the phone.  Which means location and time should not be a hesitation or restriction.  If you prefer to see your life coach, you can also consider meeting for coffee and/or Skype!

Here’s my recap as provided by Misty:

Hi Portia!

I really enjoyed connecting with you today. Your story and the success you have created for yourself are truly inspirational! You are living your dream as a stay-at-home mom and have enjoyed enormous success as a blogger. You shared how you often lose yourself in the “flow” when working on your blog and brand. That’s HUGE. So many people live their entire lives without ever experiencing that.

Your biggest struggle right now is having enough time in the day to get everything done. It’s tough to balance the never ending to-do list that comes with being a mom, wife, and successful blogger. You shared a powerful insight which is that you have a hard time saying no to people that want something from you. I think you hit the nail on the head. Wishing you had more time in the day to focus on what you want suggests that you struggle setting boundaries around your time. You do this from a place of kindness, which is noble; however, this tendency to prioritize others’ needs above your own can lead to feelings of overwhelm and resentment over time. As much as you love what you do, working at maximum capacity over the long run can result in burnout and/or feeling like time slips through your fingers.

Here are some tips/ideas:

** Leave sticky notes of affirmation to remind yourself to say no to offers that aren’t bringing value to your brand and/or helping you achieve your professional goals. To honor your desire to help others, take a little time to come up with a template email response that you feel good about. Depending on the situation, there might be an “easier” or less time-consuming way that you can help now or in the future.

** You have had success with delegating some tasks to others. Consider taking a few more off of your plate to free up some time.

** Put some thought into your short and long term goals for your business. Break your long term goal(s) into smaller, more manageable chunks and create a timeline for yourself. As long as you are meeting these mini-goals and honoring your timeline, I think you will feel like you are making true progress. You shared that you really want to start doing some video blogging. Starting something new can be daunting, especially if you are already stretched thin. Spend some time brainstorming and visualizing what that would look like in 6 months, 1 yr., etc. Take small steps to build your skills around videography – rent a drone to try out on an upcoming vacation, considering taking a videography class, shadow a friend or colleague that uses videos on his/her blog, etc. Start small – try shooting a video of a local outing you do with your kiddos. Remember that the minimum age for remote pilots of drones in the ‘open’ and ‘specific’ categories is 16 years old, however, check with your local National Aviation Authority, as they can lower the minimum age requirement.

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You’re amazing and I would love to continue to work with you on this, if you think it would be helpful. Here are some goals I see for our time together if you are up for it:

1) Digging a little deeper into your tendency to say yes, even when it’s at your own expense (I get this – I have similar struggles) For example, that mommy & me yoga class – can you imagine a piece you could do around that?

2) Clarifying your short & long term vision for your blog and setting up an action plan that is manageable for you

3) (You’re going to hate this one) Finding a few things you can remove from your to-do list – even though you love what you do and how you get to spend your time, I would love to see you experiment a little with slowing down. We can brainstorm ways to do this that work for you and balance your need to be productive but still provide some “down time”.

4) Practicing the art of saying no and reassessing how much time that frees up for you

If you are interested in working together on these issues (and/or anything else that comes up for you), let me know and we can come up with a manageable schedule that works for you. I wouldn’t want you to view or approach this as another thing on your to-do list. The end goal is to find ways to optimize your time and, hopefully, free up a bit more to push your business to the next level.

I sincerely appreciate the time and energy you have already devoted to this!

Misty ????

And now my heart is overjoyed with excitement, eager and hungrier than ever…I CAN DO THIS…and I’m not alone.  I encourage you to reach out to Misty Saracino for an introductory session and unlock something that is heavy on your heart these past few weeks/months/years.  As I’ve mentioned before, we’re in this together!

misty@mistysaracino.com

Cheers!

XoXo Portia

*Photos by Jasmine Klein Photography

Disclosure:  Misty Saracino, Ollie Quinn and Cuyana graciously provided me with a complimentary service and/or product.  The opinions expressed here represent my own, which I take great pride in providing pure honesty…because I’m OBSESSED with sharing the Good!