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the story
Hi Nicole! Currently I'm trying to balance a full-time job and multiple projects for my brand, Bright-Eyed Joy. I'd love coaching on how to effectively plan and execute on my goals while still being present in my full-time role, my social life, and of course leaving time for myself. It feels like there's never enough time in the day!
My first session with Nicole was a total brain dump. Shoutout to her because ya girl was really in peak frazzled mode that day. Y’all know that Confused Mr. Krabs meme? That was me. I listed off everything on my plate, getting even more overwhelmed as I spoke. At the end of my ramble I told her that the hard part was, I really loved everything I was doing. There was nothing that I would willingly take off my plate because I’d finally gotten to a place where I was doing things that really fulfilled me. They just took up an insane amount of my time! We ended the session with her parting words:
“This is a tough nut to crack, but we’re going to figure out a way for you to balance all this as best you can.” I sure hoped so because the stress? Not it.
Before our second session the real issue began to dawn on me. I was in a mental fog that was creating a lot of anxiety and bringing out my very harsh inner critic. I kept beating myself up about what I hadn’t done yet instead of taking the small steps I could to work towards my goals. I was very focused on how to execute, but Nicole made sure we took a step back and addressed what was causing the fog in the first place.
“So you’ve been dealing with a lot of hard things at once,” she reflected, then gently suggested that I may want to go a little easier on myself. I hadn’t taken the time to acknowledge that the start to this year was very challenging for me. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do what I’d set out to accomplish, it’s just impossible to account for when life throws you multiple curveballs that leave you feeling like Mr. Krabs!
We spent the rest of our session talking through strategies to help me ease back into my normal process. Committing to new and old routines that stabilize me, creating space for me to be human, changing my mindset to focus on what I had accomplished and would continue to do in the future, and my personal favorite: adding daily wins to my joy jar to remind myself that I’m always making progress, even if it’s small. I finished our session feeling the best I’d felt all year, seriously. The fog was cleared and I was ready to kick into gear again.
the lesson
Coaching is an incredibly powerful and underrated tool, and I’d considered it a luxury until I found Gateway Coaching. Their mission is to provide quality coaching at a fraction of the cost through connecting people like you and I to a marketplace of trained and vetted coaches who are in the early stages of their career. If you couldn’t tell, Ms. Nicole got me together. You can access those same benefits with 10% off your first bundle of sessions when you use code 20SOMETHING.
It’s okay to be a multi-passionate human being. It feels like we’re raised in a world where it’s expected that you do one job and focus on one main thing, that’s it! That is not me. I love to be involved in many different activities and projects. It keeps things interesting and a full plate is never a bad thing to me. During our time together Nicole reminded me that I’m totally capable of managing it all, but what’s most important is making sure I’m taken care of first and foremost.
Always leave room to try new ways to approach your overflowing plate. I LOVE the morning time and I’ve noticed that it really feels great to seize that time before my 9-5 to work on Bright-Eyed Joy. Though I try my best not to fill up my weekends too much, I still can’t rely on just two days a week to get everything done. I’m going to try out early morning work a few times a week and see how it goes. Will keep y’all posted!
Discipline and commitment are two very important principles to lean on when you’re out of practice. Social media freaks me out and so does putting my face in front of a camera. Usually there’s a video component with my newsletters and I hadn’t posted one in longer than I care to admit. Nicole reminded me that I have so many valuable things to say, things people would really benefit from hearing. No one’s tracking how long it’s been (except me). As long as I really committed to myself, my work, and easing over this little uncomfortable hump, I could get out of my head about what I wasn’t doing and just do it already. Spoiler alert: I did it!
Be kind to yourself. I am always and forever doing the best I can.
the light
The thing about coaching that I really love (and that some people may get confused about) is that coaches facilitate conversations and ask questions that ultimately help you come up with your own answers. Nicole didn’t tell me what to do, she skillfully inquired about all aspects of the challenges I was facing and helped me build a solution that was right for me. She was warm, supportive, and empathetic. Welcoming enough that I even shed a thug tear or two over our Zoom call. I felt understood, like someone believed in me when I wasn’t doing the best job at believing in myself. By the end of our sessions I felt a renewed sense of hope and motivation. I could always do it, I just needed a little reminder.
Sometimes we need extra support, someone to help bring our vision to life and provide clarity when we're feeling stuck. I've felt this more than a few times during this decade and my experiences with coaching have always left me feeling focused and centered. So next time you feel like life's a little too out of hand, try coaching. I have a feeling you won't regret it.