Everyone is stressed nowadays, mothers especially. Today’s new mom puts a lot of pressure on herself. She wants it all: a thriving career, a strong relationship with the one she loves, a family with one or multiple kids. She wants to be available for the doctor’s appointments, the extra-curricular activities and the homework while still being reliable and highly-performing at work and attractive and interesting to her hubby. As a professional life coach and mother myself, what is overly apparent when gathered in a circle of new moms are mothers who are drowning; some have decided not to go down without a fight but some are quietly drowning within their own lives.
If you want a better life for yourself then you need to realize that change is within your control and that only you can get yourself into the life you desire. Here are 4 steps to take command of your life:
1. Know your values and live by them
Your values can be seen as the qualities of life that you cannot live without, for example, I value altruism and respect. As a parent, we lose our patience when we are not living within our values.
Once you know your most important values you can make better decisions. Your decisions should be preceded by this question: “Does it comply with my values or does it go against my values?”
To find out what your values are, ask yourself:
• Who do I want to be as a mother, wife, professional and person?
• What gets me most upset? When you get upset it is often because someone is violating one of your values.
2. Clarify your goals
Develop goals that will get you to live within your values, goals that will improve yourself in every aspect of your life: family, personal and professional.
Guidelines for developing goals and action steps:
• Make sure your goal is within your control to attain
• Make it specific
• Describe it with positive language. Instead of deciding not to “yell” at your kids, say: “I will use a calm voice to speak and discipline my children.”
• Have a deadline for each goal
3. Write down the action steps for achieving your goals
Write down all the steps you need to take to achieve your goal. Do this for each one of your goals. Each step should meet the 4 guidelines previously mentioned. Analyse each step and list all the possible obstacles that could stand in your way and then find solutions for each obstacle.
4. Ask for help
As a mom you are needed around the clock, especially with little ones, you are pulled in every direction: emotionally, physically and spiritually – you could use the help. There is no shame in asking for help. Think of it as a manifestation of your strength and commitment to your family.
You are responsible for your own life - so take the necessary steps to overcome your barriers and don’t strive for perfection but for better each day.
If you would like to work on getting to where you want to be, please contact me for a free introductory session at 450-458-4341.
Gaby Da Silva
Professional Life and Business Coach
www.gabydasilva.com
Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Quick, tell me about your business!
You meet a potential client at the store or at a networking event and they ask you: “What do you do for a living?” What’s your response? Are you ready to fire up your best “elevator speech”? Can you remember your elevator speech? There is a lot of marketing material that needs to be developed when you are an entrepreneur. An elevator speech is one of them, a tag line is another but how do you develop this material? You start by developing your very first marketing piece: your mission statement. And no, a mission statement is not obsolete in today’s social media world.
Your mission statement allows you to clarify your purpose as a business to your employees, your potential clients and even to yourself – since we sometimes lose track of why we started it all. It is a perfect piece to insert in your profile on facebook or linked in. A mission is a short and concise declaration of what your business offers, it is your “raison d’être”. Although it no longer requires being just one sentence, still, it should not be too lengthy. The best mission statement will be to the point and inspiring to you, your employees and your clients.
Your mission statement is the second most important step in developing your business. The first is your vision. You need to know where you are going with your business to be able to get there. Why have a mission if you have a vision? Think of your business as a trip, without a mission you are navigating to a beautiful destination where you may know the location of your destination but you’re not quite clear on where you presently are in the middle of the ocean – which makes it difficult for you to navigate and tell your coordinates to those who need it. You need two points of reference to succeed – a beginning and an end - where you presently are and where you are aiming to be.
Your potential clients can only know what you tell them, so if you are not clear on who you are and what your purpose is then neither are your potential clients.
A great mission statement will convey the essence of who you really are. Start by asking yourself the following questions and then develop a sentence that will best embody your answers.
• What do you do?
• Who are your clients? Who are not your target clients?
• Why are you in this business? Why is it important to you? This question will keep you motivated when the going gets tough and if the reason is honourable, share it with your client – it may just be the marketing hook that you need.
• How are you helping your clients? How do you provide your services?
• Where are you offering these services?
Make sure to review these questions periodically. Your answers may change along your journey therefore, your marketing material will need to change too – make sure to update it when needed.
Here is what I do: I help you maximize the success of your business and your personal life. I am a professional coach who offers public speaking, one-on-one coaching and seminars. Feel free to contact me – I’ll help you, that’s what I do.
Gaby Da Silva Coaching
www.gabydasilvacoaching.com
450-458-4341
Your mission statement allows you to clarify your purpose as a business to your employees, your potential clients and even to yourself – since we sometimes lose track of why we started it all. It is a perfect piece to insert in your profile on facebook or linked in. A mission is a short and concise declaration of what your business offers, it is your “raison d’être”. Although it no longer requires being just one sentence, still, it should not be too lengthy. The best mission statement will be to the point and inspiring to you, your employees and your clients.
Your mission statement is the second most important step in developing your business. The first is your vision. You need to know where you are going with your business to be able to get there. Why have a mission if you have a vision? Think of your business as a trip, without a mission you are navigating to a beautiful destination where you may know the location of your destination but you’re not quite clear on where you presently are in the middle of the ocean – which makes it difficult for you to navigate and tell your coordinates to those who need it. You need two points of reference to succeed – a beginning and an end - where you presently are and where you are aiming to be.
Your potential clients can only know what you tell them, so if you are not clear on who you are and what your purpose is then neither are your potential clients.
A great mission statement will convey the essence of who you really are. Start by asking yourself the following questions and then develop a sentence that will best embody your answers.
• What do you do?
• Who are your clients? Who are not your target clients?
• Why are you in this business? Why is it important to you? This question will keep you motivated when the going gets tough and if the reason is honourable, share it with your client – it may just be the marketing hook that you need.
• How are you helping your clients? How do you provide your services?
• Where are you offering these services?
Make sure to review these questions periodically. Your answers may change along your journey therefore, your marketing material will need to change too – make sure to update it when needed.
Here is what I do: I help you maximize the success of your business and your personal life. I am a professional coach who offers public speaking, one-on-one coaching and seminars. Feel free to contact me – I’ll help you, that’s what I do.
Gaby Da Silva Coaching
www.gabydasilvacoaching.com
450-458-4341
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