More Joy. More Peace. More Power.

Tag: Priorities

What Are You Working For?

What Are You Working For?

Sarah Boucher | I Am A Powerful Woman
This is a question I’ve asked myself quite a bit lately.

I’ve been a stay at home mom for 15 years, with just a few months employment here and there, once in a wholesale club, another time as a school bus driver, and off and on over the last 3 years as a childcare provider in my home, but for the vast majority of the time, I’ve been what my husband now calls, “The Stay At Home.”

I’ve been measuring belts in a factory at my new job. It’s easy, but boring. It’s given me lots of time to ponder life’s greatest mysteries, well my life’s greatest mysteries anyway. My mind is ALL OVER THE PLACE during those 2 hour stretches between breaks. I’ve been amused by all the thoughts that come and go rather quickly, completely unrelated to each other (and the songs that pop into my head.) I’ve spent time being nostalgic, thinking about my childhood, revisiting some unhappy times as an adult, giving myself grief over mistakes, and then cheering myself up with some of those songs. I’ve also been able to get in some quality brainstorming.

Here are some of the songs that put some pep in my step or remind me what I want to be up to in life.

You’ll Be Okay
Put on a Happy Face
Breath of Heaven Not everybody’s cup of tea but it encourages me.
All I Want To Do (not the Sheryl Crow song)
Tonight You Belong To Me (random fun song that pops into my head A LOT)

I’m looking at any job I work at through this temporary service as just that, temporary. I like looking at it this way because I feel like I’m not stuck in this particular factory job forever, whether I end up working here for 5 minutes, 5 months, or 5 years. It’s one of the thoughts that are helping me transition from being “The Stay At Home” to a working gal.

There are other thoughts keeping me going too. One of the biggest motivators is of course that paycheck at the end of the week. That MAGICAL paycheck. That paycheck that’s going to help with bills, cover summer birthdays for 5 kids, allow for a couple of Girl Scouts trips this weekend and a road trip with my husband in September, and fund some creative projects. It’s AMAZING how far that paycheck can go in my mind and THAT’S JUST THE FIRST CHECK!!! Okay, in reality the first check was gone to pay a bill an hour after being cashed, but I never would’ve made it to the first check without the dream.

Half the time I enjoy what I’m doing and appreciate the fact that I have all of that quiet thinking time and the other half of the time I think about what other more enjoyable work I might be missing out on and how my right arm is sore and my wrist is starting to hurt and wah wah wah.

REALITY CHECK

When I got to work Thursday night, the lady who works across from me told me that an employee was found dead that morning. He was only 30 years old. I didn’t know him, but I felt sad for my co-workers who lost their friend. It snapped me into the present moment and to what matters most in life.

What am I working for?

For the rest of the night that magical paycheck didn’t seem so magical. In the grand scheme of things, what am I doing with my life? Am I working for “stuff”? What do I want for my future? What do I want now? What am I trading my family time for? Why am I doing this?

I’ve come up with these three answers.

#1 I want the money but not the STUFF.

I’d love to have the ability to buy STUFF but I don’t want that to be my motivation. Stuff is not important to me. I want the money because I don’t want to struggle financially any more. There’s too much stress in the struggle and it can be alleviated. I want financial freedom. Don’t we all? 🙂

#2 This is just part of the journey.

Working now in this way is a stepping stone. It’s necessary and it’s not a big deal. I’ve got a vision that I’m working toward and this is going to help me get there faster.

and finally

#3 I don’t have to have all of the answers.

“The greatest joy in life is being a contribution.” Bill Cumming

I’m pretty sure that the quote above is the short and to the point version of this much longer quote.

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish, little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
George Bernard Shaw

For now, I’ve chosen to contribute to my family in this way and I like the way that contribution feels.

Do you have any words of wisdom to offer for balancing work and home? What are some of the ways you keep things running smoothly? I can use lots of help in this area 🙂 Leave your comments below or come on over to facebook and share them there.

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Sarah Boucher happily encourages women to grow in their power daily at I Am A Powerful Woman. Come join the conversation there. If you are interested in learning about the 12 week conversation What One Person Can Do, you can get in touch with Sarah here.

6 Tips for Finding More Time

6 Tips for Finding More Time

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.”
~Jim Rohn

blank paper

I write in my head all day long.

Sometimes I actually jot thoughts down to write about later—when there’s time.

GUESS WHAT? There’s NEVER extra time.

I write down the same ideas day after day. There’s so much I want to write about but it stays stuck in my head or in stacks of paper that never get revisited.

IT’S DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!

Here are 6 tips for finding more time. They’ve been helping me rethink my own issues with time. I hope you’ll find them useful as well.

#1 MAKE it a Priority.
This activity that you would love to be doing, whatever it is, needs to be moved up on your priority list, whether it’s a creative outlet, exercising, reading with your kids, or serving others.

If you can’t figure out how in the world to fit it in to your already overbooked schedule, move on to Tip #2.

#2 Track Your Time
Track your time to see where you lose 30 minutes or an hour. I did this a couple of weeks ago and it was eye opening. I already knew I was losing time in front of the computer but to track it and see it go was helpful.

#3 Pencil It In
One of the things I want to do but never get around to, because there is always so much to do, is to spend “fun time” with my kids. This is hard to admit because it seems so basic. Other families appear to have this family time down and we seem stuck as a family. We do the same thing day after day. The day seems completely booked with all of the to do’s. Over the summer, I wrote down HAVE A BONFIRE on my to do list. One bonfire led to subsequent bonfires and I learned if I want to have special time with my kids, I am going to have to plan those events. The same goes for my writing.

#4 Good enough
Good enough is a fairly new concept for me and I LOVE IT! Good enough is a POWERFUL weapon in the fight against PERFECTIONISM. It’s freeing to say, “The kitchen is good enough. The laundry is good enough.” We all know the house work is NEVER done. I don’t want to spend my children’s youth slaving to have a super clean home or checked out in front of the computer and miss out on any more time with them. Good enough will be the key that brings me balance and extra time.

#5 What’s possible for one POWERFUL woman is possible for another.
I know of women juggling the same set of circumstances as me, some of them with even more responsibilities than I have. If they can crank out a couple of blog posts, then it’s completely possible for me too. The only difference is that they’ve decided it’s a priority and I haven’t fully committed to it yet. I’m getting there.

#6 Put something down
I recently saw a quote that RUBBED ME THE WRONG WAY, but the more stressed I felt trying to accomplish EVERYTHING on my plate, the more I came to accept the truth of this quote.

“In order to pick up something new, you must first lay something down.” -unknown

I tried to beat the system because I’m rebellious like that. I went right ahead and picked up a business of all things. I signed up to be a Beachbody Coach. To have a successful business means you have to be a product of the product. right? That’s only going to be an additional 30 minutes to an hour of working out a day. No sweat.

Well actually, there is quite a bit of sweat involved. On top of that, it’s a business. I’m discovering that they don’t work themselves.

After a month of trying to hold all of that, in addition to what I was already holding, I eventually found something to set down.

“You can have it all. Just not all at once.” ~Oprah Winfrey

I guess Gloria was right.

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” ~Gloria Steinem

If you‘ve tracked your time and there is seriously not a spare minute in your day for the thing you’d love to do, what can you put down?

So…what are you waiting for? Get busy doing the thing you’ve been putting off. It’s time.

I Am A Powerful Woman

Sarah Boucher happily encourages women to grow in their power daily at I Am A Powerful Woman. Come join the conversation there. If you are interested in learning more about the 12 week conversation What One Person Can Do or in one on one coaching with Sarah, you can get in touch with her here.