Down-time.......

I mentioned in my last post how tired I'd become. Well things are certainly looking up, now.

As I'd planned, I gave myself some 'downtime' last week, over the children's half-term break, which coincided with my husband taking time off from work, and it's been great for us all.

Highlights include ......showing everyone else how not to skate at the ice rink, with all of us adding to the entertainment of the crowds there by ending up in fits of laughter flat out on the ice! .....celebrating my husband's birthday by turning our lounge into a cinema and eating popcorn and chocolate birthday cake whilst watching 'Robots' (an excellent film!) .......and following that by sharing a bottle of bubbly .....and just not having to clock watch or get up too early.

Now it's back to work for us all. But with new vigour and feeling much more refreshed. Some 'time out' can make us all feel much better. After all, it's important to remember that life is supposed to be enjoyable and fun. Which reminds me of a quote one of my clients once sent me:

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body.
Rather.....
to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming:-
"WOO HOO WHAT A RIDE!!"

Phew!!!

I'm tired! It's been an exhausting few weeks..... Writing and launching two online courses, attempting to night-time train our son, with all the changing, washing and drying bedlinen that entails (we're not there yet!), looking after two children when my husband's work means he is away from the home for much of their waking hours, and supporting my coaching practice and my clients.

I finally realised how tired I'd become when my lower back starting to give me pain - a typical sign of stress overload or fatigue. It often takes a 'warning sign' for us to realise we need to make changes to our lives.

So what am I going to do to improve things? After all, as a life coach helping people take better care of themselves, I should be able to do it, shouldn't I?

Well, I'm planning a massage, I've taken some 'time out' this week, met up with friends and spent some evenings just chilling or watching television, and I'm allowing my business to take a back seat next week whilst it's the children's half-term break. And my husband has taken some time off work to be with the family, when we'll do some fun things and spend time together. All things that will build me up again.

I guess the message from this is to listen to what our bodies are telling us. If we are tired, that's the time to make some changes, before we develop back pain, or a cold, or whatever. Decide what things will build us up, whether it's seeing a friend, curling up with a good book, or a day spent walking in the countryside. And then do it!

It's launched!

I'm thrilled! ........ After weeks of preparation, and lots of time spent putting them all together, I've finally launched my new online courses - 'How to Find More Time for Work and Play' and 'How to Build Supreme Self-Confidence'. Click on the course titles to find out more.

They're both based on what I know works from the coaching I've done with clients. I'm really excited because it's another way of helping people who really feel stuck, but who, perhaps, aren't ready to commit to a programme of face to face or 'phone life coaching. Both can be done in the comfort of the person's own home and at a time and pace to suit them. And I know that both courses give simple, practical tips, and lots of information, to make a real difference.

The interesting thing is that both courses are not just based on my experience as a Life Coach. They're also very much based on personal experience. Sometimes I'm asked whether, as a Life Coach, I have 'everything sorted'. Actually, if I had 'everything sorted' I don't think I'd be much good as a coach. I wouldn't really understand the problems of my clients, and I wouldn't have the same knowledge of tried and tested ways of dealing with those problems and moving forward. I, too, have grappled with the same issues that people who come to me have. I, too, have found it difficult to balance my work life and my home life. I have struggled with feelings of low self-confidence, with the direction my life is going in, with managing my time, and many other issues that my clients struggle with.

It's because of my experience of those struggles, and finding ways to resolve things and move onto better things, that I am so passionate about what I do. And if I can help others to make changes for the better in their lives, whether through one to one coaching, workshops, or online courses, then I'll will have succeeded in my mission.

Please do take a look at the online courses - and email me your thoughts, or post a comment on this blog. I'd love to hear from you!

It's amazing how resourceful we are

I'd just got back from taking the posters I'd produced to the David Lloyd health club to advertise some time management / work-life balance workshops I'm running as their Resident Life Coach, and had to get stuck straight in to creating an octopus! Yes, that's right, I kid you not!

My son's school is having a book week complete with the opportunity to come dressed one day as their favourite book character. Oh, yippee!

The stakes were upped even more when he proclaimed that his favourite book character was the octopus from his book about under the sea. (Why couldn't he have chosen a skeleton from 'Funnybones', when the shops are stocked out with Halloween costumes?)

Anyway, one suitably sparkly remant of material purchased, a couple of off-cuts retrieved from the cupboard, a bit of elastic, glue and an upturned bowl later, and we have something that passes for an octopus..............or perhaps a jellyfish, as several children commented when the octopus and I arrived in the playground! Blue Peter, eat your heart out!

You know, when I first heard the news that I was to provide my son with a costume, I silently squirmed (as did, probably, many of the other parents!) Yet, once we put our minds to something the end result can be quite amazing. OK, maybe my octopus isn't that good (although my son's pretty impressed). But I am constantly reminded what a resourceful lot we all are whenever I meet with my clients or lead workshops. Between us, we have an amost limitless capacity for creating things and for finding solutions to problems.

So, with that in mind, I'm off to complete the next stage of drafting my stress management solution for organisations with another life coach. With a bit of luck I'll be as inspired as I was over the octopus!