If you’re like many reading this, you are a busy woman who is used to creating success. You run a business or are moving forward in a profession where you excel. Maybe you manage a busy family. You juggle, you prioritize, and you get things done.
Except for maybe a few very important things—personal goals and priorities which are important to YOU. Taking control of overeating, changing the number on the scale or the way your pants fit (or don’t), improving your health, your stress level, and your well being. For many of you, your life is going gang-busters, but YOU feel like you’re being left behind.
If you are like many high-achieving women I know, you may have crafted a story to tell that makes it look like you are okay with the way things are. You mask it with confidence and you focus on the other things you are so good at. You may even tell YOURSELF that this is the way things have to be. That you can’t have everything and that there’s just no time for you right now.
You may have “them” convinced and you may even believe it yourself, but please hear me say to you what no one else may be telling you:
It isn’t true.
Not only is there room for YOU in your busy life, there’s a place for your hopes and dreams and personal goals. Go without them for too long and you’ll lose a huge part of yourself that makes you successful, effective, and who you are. If you are like many smart busy women I know, you might already feel like this is happening. Putting yourself at the bottom of your priority list, spending the time and energy struggling with wellness goals that you aren’t succeeding at, and wearing yourself out pretending it doesn’t matter takes a huge toll.
It is possible to make a change and the secret recipe is usually not “more willpower, more tough love, and a dose of more hard work.” The life you want shouldn’t burn you out.
This strategy isn’t for everyone, but if you are serious and ready to get on track with your goals in the fastest, most lasting way possible, here is the power tool I recommend.
Hire a coach–the right coach for you.
You’re used to pushing yourself and working hard, but you probably aren’t accustomed to asking for and receiving high quality support, assistance, and consultation and strategy—at least when it comes to your personal goals. Too many high achievers live their lives by different rules than they’d have for their loved ones or their business. They push themselves too hard, go without the tools and techniques that add ease to the process, and may have never had the experience of having someone in their corner who is invested in getting them to their destination.
If your business was failing, you’d call in an expert or a consultant. You would invest in success. That’s what coaching is—it’s putting a highly trained expert on your team whose job is getting you to your goal. If you mean business, it’s well worth it to invest in yourself. Go for quality. Do your homework and find a coach who has the credentials you respect, who speaks your language, and who has expertise in what you need. Prepare to commit for a length of time that will allow you to be effective. My six month private coaching programs are designed so that we work through the energy of the “honeymoon” and are still working together when you hit the rough spots and places you might generally get stuck—because succeeding through these places is what creates success that lasts.
High achievers are generally good at convincing others that they don’t need help. You are so capable and competent that people tend to assume you know what you are doing—even when you feel like you are failing miserably.
The right coach is going to help you get past that and learn a better way—by leveraging the strengths and skills that you already have, factoring in the demands of your life, and helping you chart out a course that you can actually navigate.
Is this strategy for you? As I said, it’s not for everyone. Are you ready to invest in yourself and to start living the success you really want? Your mind may go to war with you over this, but if you are ready, you know it in your heart. What do you want to achieve in the next twelve months? The next five years? If you were there now, would the investment have been worth it?
Take good care,