Making family life at home go from good to great
“I had a few logs in the fire, so to speak, and needed coaching to help me get them all to that roaring flame that I wanted. Everything was lit, but I wanted it to be red-hot. So I signed up for Michelle’s ‘Jump-Start’ coaching session, which was great! Together, we categorized the areas of my life that needed focus and discussed steps to help me move forward.
Overall, I was feeling fine with how things were going along in my life: My kids were basically healthy and my son’s autism was certainly improving. I have a great husband and family. But it seemed like it could be even better if I could get my thoughts in order to start to make things happen. One of the best things I learned from coaching was that living MY best life was so much more than simply ‘making time for myself.’ It was more than taking an afternoon for shopping or a pedicure. While that sounds great, it’s short-lived, and I needed inspiration and motivation for making each day rewarding, valued, and memorable. And doing that with four kids—one affected significantly with autism, while the other three were significantly affected by his autism—seemed…not reachable.
Realizing that I had all the tools for making everything come together in a better way was eye-opening for me. For example, every day I cook for my family; there’s got to be a way to not continually dread every meal. And getting kids out the door for school was not getting easier; it was becoming more and more difficult. Thinking and talking about exactly how I wanted these things to be was an important first step in my coaching with Michelle. We followed-up by discussing which specific steps I needed to take in order to make what I wanted become the reality.
Another great example of how coaching has helped me is in the gym. I now make my time there really ‘worth something,’ keeping the end result in mind and working toward it each time I’m there. That has made a huge difference in my physical health. Getting up at 5:30 is something I used to do for crying babies and for work. Now, I do it for myself. I can easily tell myself (and others) that ‘I don’t have time.’ But it’s not true, because I’ve clearly shown that 5:30 a.m. is okay if it’s work, or if it’s my children…so it needs to be okay for me! Thanks, Michelle!”
