Smart Women Have Dreams Too!

New Year’s resolutions tend to fizzle out sometime in the first six weeks of the year and attempts to make healthy lifestyle changes often die on the vine. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for many busy women who want to make changes is finding the time to actually make them.

Here’s a question I was asked in an interview recently:How do we justify taking time out for a workout or a healthy lunch or to work on that novel we want to write when our to-do lists are still a mile long?

This question is really getting at the mindset we have about taking the time for these things. The question itself suggests that it’s hard to see our own action items as importantor as of the same importance as the other items on our to-do lists. If you want to make successful and lasting progress with your goals this year, this is a critical shift in mindset that you MUST make.

When we see something as essential or valuable we cease to feel the need to defend or justify it.
What is your mindset about me-time and self care? Too many women are stuck in the mindset of believing that self care is expendablethat it’s anif I can get to it luxury that can be skipped with little consequence if you need to save time. Not true.
The very-busy president of the United States (and every past president I can recall) makes time in his incredibly busy life for regular exercise (as well as for leisure and other self care) does that tell you something about how important and life-enhancing it is?

Consider the costs of NOT taking the time you need for yourself. This includes NOT taking the time you need to move forward on your important goals.

Symptoms or side effects of not getting enough of what you need to thrive include:

Overeating
Compromised health and/or wellness
Diminished energy
Decreased productivity
Reduced focus (including getting distracted from your own goals and priorities)
Diminished passion for the things that are truly important to you
Exhaustion and stress
Time lostzoning out or escaping orbeing tired

When we take time for ourselvesto work on bettering our own life, our health, or goals and dreams we:

Become more of ourselves at our bestthat translates into having more zest and energy for the responsibilities we face

We treat ourselves as valuable and that shows and rubs off on otherswhen we see ourselves, our ideas and visions as valuable we stand taller, play bigger, think broader and are more successful.

We provide a powerful model to those who are watching us. We show others how we expect to be treated and we teach our children that it is important to respect and to take good care of themselves as well.

We have more energy, focus, clarity. We are more confident.

Sound good? Here’s your challenge: what do you need to do to claim the time or energy that you need this week? What do you need to let go of or say no to in order for that to happen? What one action can you take to be more committed to your goals this week?

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Are you a smart, busy woman struggling with emotional eating, overeating,and balancing work and life? Claim your free psychologist-designed audio series: “5 simple steps to move beyond overwhelm with food and life” at http://TooMuchOnHerPlate.com.

Melissa McCreery, PhD, ACC, is a Psychologist, ICF Certified Life Coach,and emotional eating coach who specializes in providing smart resources to busy women struggling with food, weight and overwhelm.
Smart Women Have Dreams Too!19783Smart Women Have Dreams Too!My son Jack came home from school today with an excited,Yippee Mom, there’s no school next Monday because it’s Martin Luther King Day! A few minutes later he comes running back into the kitchen and asks,Mom, who is Martin Luther King anyway? Wow—what a question. How do I answer that one and still have time to get dinner on the table?

So here goes. Martin Luther King was a man who lived in courage and vision every day of his life. He was a man who most likely lived in fear and faced challenges for pursing his dreams and convictions. In August of 1963, he gave a speech entitled,I Have A Dream, which changed the way this country saw equality and fairness forever.

What, you might ask, does this have to do with Smart Women? Well, a lot actually. Many times women live other people’s dreams. Not because we don’t have any of our own. You all know that I believe we are the most creative beings on earth with Big Ideas. Many times we don’t even realize that we are not connected to our dreams and desires. Women are so busy helping others realize their dreams, (family, friends, co-workers) that we don’t take the time to ask ourselves the question,What am I dreaming about?What’s my vision for my future? AndDo I have the courage to act on this dream and vision?

When I had my first child, I was fortunate to be able to stay at home with my new son but there was something missing from my life. I couldn’t identify what it was in the beginning. It took me quite some time because I kept having this conversation with myself that went something like this:You should be happy.You are so lucky to be at home with your child.You are 40 years old and have waited a long time for this. When I really gave myself permission to reflect, I discovered that what I really needed in my life was to be a woman who wore three hats: a wife, a mom, and an entrepreneur. Is it a challenge? You bet. Am I more divided? Absolutely. However I can tell you that I am much happier and I have an energy that fuels me each and every day for this full life.

What fuels you? What’s your dream moving forward into 2010? It does not have to be a vision or mission as big as Martin Luther King. It can be finding time to engage in a hobby that has been on your mind, acting on a Big Idea for a business, growing an existing business or engaging in a fitness/exercise program that will keep you strong and healthy. It’s about you taking action on your dream.

In my Women’s Success Circles, women give themselves permission to pause and reflect on what’s next in their personal and professional lives. When you land on where your energy and passions are, you feel this incredible sense of being alive with possibilities. Everything seems possible.

I think that’s what Martin Luther King must have felt. Alive with a future full of possibilities for people everywhere. How about becoming alive with possibilities for you this year?

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2010 Joy Chudacoff

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