People often ask me how I get it all done. To be honest, sometimes I used to surprise myself. It’s not a really surprise anymore though because I have a system in place for how I make decisions and how I execute on those decisions. Now don’t get me wrong, it took a minute to get there. I tried planner after planner, app after app, and book after book. I kept buying more tools and online programs to help me “figure it all out”…

Happy New Year!  Are you ready for your best year?  Seriously, if you do the work, you can make room for an amazing 2018.  And speaking of work, let’s wrap up the work we started in our blog series last month. In the first post of the series, we talked about how we say yes too often which leads to overwhelm.  In the second post of the series we assessed what we have said yes to across the main categories of our lives and eliminated those tasks that weren’t part of our most important categories.

It’s part 2 in my latest blog series! If you missed Part 1, check that out first. Before we dive into how to instantly relieve stress with just one word, let’s recap what you were supposed to do last week. Last week you were to pay attention to how you felt when you were asked to do something. We were looking for a pattern, remember? Did you notice your hesitation when you said yes to teaching the youth at your church on Sunday? Did any request cause you to feel overwhelm this week?

I have a confession to make.  I put out too many chairs. And I’m willing to bet you have too. Do you often feel overwhelmed or anxious about your to do list, wondering when you will have time to yourself?  If you are saying hell yes right now, you have put out too many chairs too. 

recently took a leadership evaluation at work to determine if I would be a good manager.  Turns out I’m not, but that’s ok because I’m a business owner. Boom! But seriously, how are you supposed to leverage that? The evaluation taught me a great deal about myself even though the result might be viewed as a negative one by some. It taught me how certain aspects of my personality are perceived by the outside world.

Having a child was hard for me. Getting pregnant came easy, but the actually delivery not so much. So after losing 3 children I finally conceived my son. And let me tell you, I don’t want to miss a thing in his life. But let’s face it, I do sometimes. Sometimes I’m traveling for work and I can’t be there to put him to sleep or take him to the park. Sometimes I’m working in my nonprofit or speaking to a group of women and I miss his swim classes and his first ferris wheel ride. Am I less of a mom? Is being a mother not my most important role?

Yes honey, it’s my birthday! Cue the party music! This year has flown by and I can’t believe I’m 40 already! Eek! When I was younger I would wish for 40 because I just knew I’d be retired by then. Ha! So much for that. The whole retirement thing may not have worked out, but there are a few things I’ve learned along the way that I want to share with you. And I’m sharing some special news too, but you’ll have to wait until the end… ;)

I know some amazing women. Amazing women who didn’t have it all figured out, but pursued their dreams anyway. Everyday women I know personally who didn’t have the time, but knew they couldn’t let their dreams die.  Let me share just a few stories with you.

I have a mother who realized her dreams of modeling and becoming a dentist were second to her dreams of being an amazing mother. She wanted to ensure she was available to my brother and me while my father traveled for work and held demanding positions. I’m so glad she chose motherhood.

Let me paint you a picture. You have a large six-figure salary, you travel the world often first class, and dine in the finest restaurants on your corporate card. You stay in luxurious hotels and take frequent vacations. Now add this to the pretty amazing life we just described…You work about 12 hours a day, catch 6 AM flights every week to spend the day in meetings only to later have a dinner meeting. And sometimes the people you meet with don’t even really want to meet, but they do out of a sense of obligation.