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Archive for the ‘Reflections’ Category

Change Ahead: Apply Within

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Today marks a new start for me. It is the day that I officially announced to the world that I am pursuing new a direction in my work life. That The Enterprising Moms and Apply Within, two businesses I started while growing my young family will no longer be my primary work focus … that I will be exploring work options outside of my home, likely in a traditional work setting.

It is not a decision I have come to quickly or lightly. It is one that evolved out of shifts and changes in my home life creating a need and want for something that will better my needs and those of my family. The process has been underway for some time, though I was not fully conscious of it early on. Even when the need for change began to come into sharp focus, I was not quite ready to acknowledge it. In fact, I was down right resistant and mournful about it.

I have spent years creating a work life and communities of support around my identity as an Enterprising Mom. In the beginning it took me a while even to think of myself as an Enterprising Mom. I would call myself a business owner, self-employed, a freelancer or any number of other things to avoid that word “entrepreneur.” It felt so much larger than me, like shoes 5 times too big. Overtime I came to embrace the idea of being an entrepreneurial and Enterprising Mom and I know that no matter what line of work I choose, that part of me will live on, though it will be expressed in different ways.

There are lots of factors that have led me to this place, many of which I will likely explore here and process through my writing. And, to be sure, it us not all bad. In fact, there is a lot that is good about it. I am getting excited about this change and the liberation that will come. Although I am thoroughly conflicted about the impact this change may have on the amount and quality of time I will have with my kids, I know that I am a creative and resourceful person and will use those skills to create a work life that is a good “fit” for me, my family, my home and my work.

And this brings me to the new name of this blog, “Mama is Having a Fit! “It is about my journey to find just the right work-life fit and what I learn along the way. My hope is that this exploration will not result in too many “fits” or tantrums. But since there is learning in all things, a fit or two may be a part of the process as I work to find just the right Fit.

Carolyn

Mama is Having a Fit! / Apply Within Work-Life Hub

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Posted in Choice, Entrepreneurship, Family, Reflections, Work / Life Integration, work-life balance | No Comments »

New Year’s Resolutions, or Not …

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

It’s January 3rd — have you made your resolutions, yet? Fear not, neither have I. It’s not that I don’t believe in setting goals. I do, emphatically. But, I’m not a big fan of traditional resolutions. So, here are a few suggestions for getting the year off to a good start using a different approach …

Before you look ahead, look back and ask yourself a few questions:

What is your own personal definition of success?

  • Now, with that definition in mind (and canceling out the definitions of your spouse/partner, parents, boss, colleagues, friends and others), what were your greatest successes of the past year?
  • What did you learn from what you achieved and what are you going to do about it? (How will you use this knowledge moving forward?)

What were your greatest challenges?

  • What did you learn by confronting those challenges, or not confronting them, and what are you going to do about it?

Take some time to reflect on the broad spectrum of experiences from the past year. What can you take away from your peaks and valleys and the everyday rhythm of life that will have a positive impact on how you live your life tomorrow?

Now, looking ahead to tomorrow and beyond …

What do you want your life to look like a year (or five or ten years) from now (your ideal scenario; dare to dream!)?

  • Where are you?
  • What are you doing?
  • Who is there with you?
  • What are you most excited about?
  • What was your greatest achievement?
  • What was your greatest challenge and how did you handle it?

(Pay close attention to how you feel as you create this scenario and where you feel it in your body)

Flash back to today … Now that you have a better sense of what your future looks like …

  • Is the path that you’re currently on going to get you there?
  • If not, how do you need to be different in order to get there (more confident, resilient, aggressive, assertive, laid back, willing to ask for help/support, accepting of help/support, etc.)?
  • What do you need more of in your life in order to achieve your goals and how will you ensure that you get it?
  • What do you need less of in your life in order to get there and what changes will you make to ensure your success?

At the end of all of this, you won’t have a bulleted list, and you shouldn’t. The goal is to take the time to be with and learn from past experiences and envision what you want for the future. This enables you to create your intentions for the coming year from a more empowered place based on increased awareness, clarity and knowledge. The focus is less on the circumstances and logistics and more on how it feels — in your body and soul. Pay attention to your energy and use it create the goals that will set you on the path to where you want to be tomorrow, next year and five years down the line.

How do you set resolutions, goals, and intentions for the upcoming year? What helps to keep you on track?

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Posted in Commitment, Goals, Life, Reflections | No Comments »

Celebrate 2008!

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

As 2008 draws to a close, I thought it might be fun, and inspiring, to publicly celebrate successes from the past year. To be clear, the definition of success is completely your own… it’s whatever you’re feeling proud of or inspired about… as measured by your own definition of success and no one else’s.

It could be anything from committing to explore business ownership to launching a new business or landing a new job. It could be that you started a new blog, developed new relationships, found the ideal childcare arrangement, developed a meal planning strategy, outsourced tasks that were draining your time, got pregnant, gave birth or otherwise expanded your family, sent your oldest off to kindergarten or college, rekindled romance, etc. You get the idea …

Some of the things I’m celebrating right now (in no particular order):

  • Set up a new dedicated work space away from the flow of family activities.
  • Purchased tools to help me work more effectively, including a wireless printer/scanner/copier/fax and a wireless hard drive for automatic system backups (yes – I learned this lesson the hard way; going wireless has taken me out of the equation, so backups now actually happen).
  • Formed a Steering Committee for The Enterprising Moms, which will play a key roll in the evolution of our community.
  • Was mentioned in the Washington Post and Washington Post Small Business Blog and appeared on NBC4 News twice this year (NBC4 connection came through a fellow Enterprising Mom!).
  • Launched a new blog, Eco-Active Family, about my family’s quest to have a more positive planetary impact
  • Got myself and my family more involved in volunteer and charitable giving activities. Finally donated all of my baby gear to families in need.
  • Developed many new personal and professional relationships that have contributed to my own growth as a mom, business woman and human being.

So, what are you celebrating???

Since this community is about support, collaboration, and celebration, please take a moment to share and perhaps inspire another!

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Posted in Goals, Life, Reflections | 1 Comment »

Spring Has Sprung!

Monday, April 21st, 2008

I’m back! Winter was a very busy time for me. I’d been taking several classes over the past few months on everything from business to parenting and things are finally winding down. My brain is chocked full of lots of useful (and some not so useful) information.

Because of the number of things with which I was involved and the limited amount of time available, I had to make some choices about how to maximize my time. And so, this blog went into hibernation again for a few weeks until life settled down. And, now that things are settling, I look forward to getting back into a grove.

Spring has sprung and as the weather warms, new growth sprouts and birds start my days with a song, I look forward to a bit of new growth myself. Stay tuned!

Posted in Life, Reflections, Time Management, Work / Life Integration | No Comments »

Living In Choice: Slowing Down

Monday, March 24th, 2008

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I saw the concept of choice play out through the eyes of a toddler — Loosh, my 17-month-old son. Watching him figure out how to have all that he had stuffed into his hands and still grab something new that he wanted even more, was watching conscious choice in action.

When I found myself sick last week with my second cold in the past few weeks, I knew I had some choices to make, so I looked to Loosh as my example. Even though I wasn’t flat-out, shriveled-up-in-bed sick, I wanted to take some steps to avoid getting there.

For weeks my days and nights have been really full. I’ve been engaged in some really fun and interesting work and classes and have been making progress on some really big projects. And, new opportunities have been coming my way. But, I realized that in order to get healthy and do more, I had to let go of some things.

I started by looking at my calendar to see what could be rescheduled, post-poned or canceled. Last week I canceled two meetings and rescheduled an all-day class so that I could slow the pace a bit. I put off grocery shopping until the weekend, when family would be in town. I’d be able to use that shopping time to focus on my projects and go grocery shopping while the kids were engaged with Dad and Granddad. And, rather than stressing about when we were going to clean up the house before family arrived on Friday, I arranged to have the house cleaned.

The wonderful thing about living in choice, is that it’s empowering. With each choice I made about how to spend my time, I felt more energized about making the next choice, and the next. Because I was no longer stressed about how to fit it all in before the weekend while feeling under the weather, I was able to slow down, figure out where my attention was most needed, and focus my energy there. It was a reminder of how all of the stuff that I need to do, and need to do immediately, really doesn’t have to be done by me specifically, and it doesn’t have to be done today, this week, or maybe ever.

My cold is almost completely gone, and so is the pressure of doing it all, myself, today!

Work-life balance is not something to be achieved. It changes as life changes. What’s working today may or may not work next week. Staying flexible, adaptable and creative about how you address work-life challenges is key, as is living in choice!

Have you had to reevaluate and make some tough choices recently? How did you handle it? What was the impact?

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Posted in Choice, Life, Moms, Productivity, Reflections, Time Management, Work / Life Integration | 1 Comment »

Back in the Saddle

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

It’s been a while since I’ve posted — I’m glad to be back! I’ve been busy working on developing my other businesses and refining the focus of Apply Within. I’m really excited about my how my coaching business has evolved to working with those seeking better work-life integration and/or alternatives to the standard 9 – 5.

My web site will continue to evolve as things begin to take shape. In the meantime, I’m bringing this blog back to life to share progress as we go. I look forward to announcing new coaching options, packages and formats over the next couple of months. I’ll also share my own musing about this transition, Getting Things Done, moms in business, alternative work arrangements and more.

Stay tuned …

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Posted in Alternative Work, Reflections, Work / Life Integration | No Comments »

Refining the Focus … Apply Within

Thursday, January 10th, 2008

If you’ve been on my web site recently, you may have noticed a few small changes. You see, after doing my own ‘year in review‘ and pondering what’s been working that I want to keep with me in the new year and what’s not that I want to leave behind, I’ve decided to refine the focus of my coaching business.

Over the past year, I’ve become increasingly involved with The Enterprising Moms, the community I founded for moms who are growing businesses while growing families. As a result of my involvement with the women in this community, I’ve realized that my passion lies in working with woman who want to create their own paths. They may want or need to work, and want to do it on their own terms. Perhaps part-time, perhaps from home or on their own. I want to work with expectant and established moms who are seeking alternatives to the traditional 9 to 5.

So, in the coming weeks, you’ll notice more changes on my web site as I hone my message, establish new offerings, and refresh the site. You’ll also notice some changes in the content of this blog, which will include more postings about alternative work arrangements, work/life integration, family, organization, time management and more.

So, please stick with me as the refining process gets underway and stay tuned for updates!

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Posted in Alternative Work, Reflections, Work / Life Integration | No Comments »

Happy New Year!

Saturday, January 5th, 2008

A little belated, but enthusiastic nonetheless. Though, I must confess, that my new year didn’t get off to the brightest start. Our family lost our beloved cat, Stephen, on New Year’s Eve and it’s taken me a few days to get back into the swing of things.

Stephen was a sweet little fellow with big green eyes, who was had such personality. While he used to hide out when the kids were at home and up and about, he loved coming out and chatting once they were out or asleep, or we had friends or family over. We had him long before we started a family, so he was king of the house for some time. More recently he seemed to reclaim his status in the house by blending in with the family, instead of hiding out. With each subsequent child, he’d gotten a little more comfortable with little hands petting his head, stroking his back, and even pulling his tail. He moved to the DC area with us from Boston, where we got him when he was just a few weeks old. He was more than fifteen years old when he passed. Our usual family rituals for celebrating a new year will now include a special remembrance of our dear little one.

Loosing someone special really taps a person at one’s core and can put one in touch with deep-running and raw emotions. And as painful as it was to experience the loss, there is something about it that made me feel alive. To feel so deeply and to connect with family and friends from this place of sorrow really put me in touch with my humanity.

The support and encouragement I received from friends, family, neighbors and strangers was really a powerful reminder of the impact that one person can have on another, even with the smallest of gestures.

And, it’s on that note that I embrace the new year, celebrating the life our dear Stephen, and celebrating love, connection, peace and the power of the human (and animal) spirit!

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Posted in Connecting, Family, Life, Reflections | No Comments »

The Year In Review

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

As 2007 draws to a close, the pace of life slows and we are drawn to those we love to share and celebrate. This time of connection and celebration is just perfect for connecting with your inner-self and reflecting on and celebrating the year just passed.

So, grab a hot cup of cocoa, a warm bowl of soup, or, my personal favorite — a chunk of rich dark chocolate, and snuggle up in your favorite quiet spot. Now close your eyes, relax your body and your mind and explore the year that just passed. Have a pen and paper handy; better still, invest in a journal and make it an annual tradition.

  • What were your greatest disappointments of the past year?
  • What were the biggest challenges you faced and how did you address them (or not)?
  • What were your greatest successes and what made them so? (Success by your standards, and yours alone!)
  • What were your greatest learnings?
  • What will you do differently in the year ahead based on what you learned from the year just passed?

As you sail into 2008, keep your journal handy. Stay conscious of your challenges, disappointments, successes and learnings; and continue to ask yourself, what you’ll do differently as a result of these experiences.

Do you have a special ritual for marking the end of a year and the transition to a new one? If so, I’d love to hear about it!

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Posted in Goals, Reflections | 1 Comment »