Do you ever feel like your kids are the CEO’s and you are just an employee in your family?
Motherhood is hands down one of the toughest jobs you will ever have. Filled with transitions and emotions, 24-7 needs, schedules, and challenging planning, a mom’s life is a gift of love and commitment like no other! It is so very easy to lose yourself in the hustle.
Many women get caught in the labyrinth of motherhood and forget who they were before these beautiful little people entered their lives. If you are lost in the day-to-day commitments with your kids, chances are you are also paused in your marriage, in your friendships, and possibly at work as well.
What if it did not have to be that way?
Who wrote your family rule book that did not include you? Yep…you did. That is good news because if you wrote the rules, you can change them too!
Here are new guidelines to reconnect to yourself and your spouse:
· Schedule YOU. Your # 1 power tool is your calendar. Make sure you are on it! If you only have down time when your kids are in school or when you are commuting to work, make sure that you maximize that experience. Take that nap, listen to that podcast, read that book, go for a walk, stop on the way home for that yoga class once a week. It is so easy to omit yourself from the mix of activities. Make sure that you have at least one thing to call your own each day and that this activity gives back to you in some way.
· Commit to dating. Every Saturday night or every other Saturday night get a baby-sitter or a grandparent and spend quality adult time. This does not have to be an expensive evening or over thought. Have a nice dinner, go to a movie, hit the mall, go for a walk, take a class together. If Saturday night does not fit into your schedule then pick a night that does, or a Sunday morning if possible. If you don’t water the flowers…they don’t grow.
· Stay curious: Continue to learn. Take a class. Brush up on continuing credits for work, or get certified in something you are passionate about. Have a hobby that could be a side gig? Offer your services for free at an event or with a friend and “try-on” your entrepreneurial side. Take the photography class; join your husband for a cooking class, intern while your kids are in school. You don’t have to earn money with that certification right away…the idea is to stay in motion and to challenge yourself at the adult level beyond the scope of your family life and your current job.
· Seek the experience: Goals are great but it is the experience itself that elevates and separates a goal achieved from a legacy created. What do you seek to experience? Once you can visualize that, reverse engineer that experience from the vantage point of today. What micro baby steps can you take right now that will feed that experience? Notice I did not ask you to wait until your kids were older, or your boss doesn’t need you, or you have more money or time. When you seek your experience, you seek your truth. Excuses play no role in that. So…want to experience being an entrepreneur? Then intern with one a few hours a week in your chosen area of expertise. Want to experience a healthy marriage? Actively celebrate successes and highlight what you like before you dive into what you do not. Want to experience balance? Tweak your relationship to what is important every single day and lean into that first.
Identifying your experiences is a manifestation tool that brings the results that you want into the possibilities of the moment.
· Lead from the inside out: Listen to your heart and intersect at your mind. It is a blend of the two that create balance and drives happy. Notice I did not say follow your heart and let your mind decide…which is a very different path. Seek the combination of both emotion and intellect, because one without the other can rob you of next steps and tasks completed. There is something organic about leading from within and this naturalness will mirror back in the eyes of your children. You are their first leader. How do you want to leverage and impact that? What are your new old rules?
Randi Levin CPC, founder & CEO, Randi Levin Coaching – is a nationally recognized transitional life strategist, Fortune 500 keynote, author, and reinvention expert. Randi supports women in becoming legends in their own lives! She works with emerging entrepreneurs and women in transition to redefine their legacy so that they can move from wanting success to living successfully. Randi is a legacy catalyst employing the power of today to curate, design, and drive choice and limitless growth. She is a relatable resource and an action-oriented coach building upon her 15 years in Corporate America, her tenure as a stay-at-home super mom, and her successful reinvent and pivot as an entrepreneur and sought-after life strategist. Randi Levin Coaching is widely quoted and featured in top media outlets and she is regularly a featured guest expert on podcasts, radio, and women’s panels. You may have seen her quoted or as a contributor in Thrive Global, HuffPost, Reader’s Digest, Business Insider, American Express OPEN Forum, Working Mother Magazine, Better After 50, or Covey Club. Her workshops have been featured in The Wall Street Journal and Randi is the creator of The Personal Success Accelerator System and a contributing author in the anthology series Get RESULTS!