Welcome to Sharon Lincoln, this week’s guest blogger here at BUMP Life.  Sharon is an amazing life coach and a mom of two young children, so she ‘gets it’.  Read on for her advice and try out her challenge to focus on making small changes in your life this month.

Fall is a time of transitions, an opportunity to take a look at our lives and assess what changes we would like to make, or improvements that we’d like to create for the coming year. 

So often it’s easy to get bogged down with lists of things that we’d like to accomplish which as busy moms can easily get lost in the shuffle of our day-to-day responsibilities. The result is nothing gets done and we are left feeling dejected and uninspired. 

For the next month I challenge you to take a look at four different areas of your life and focus on making one or two small changes. You’d be amazed at how clear you can feel once your base line affairs are in order, making room for even bigger changes to occur in the future. Think of the little things that tend to nag you and go from there. Here are some examples to get you started:

Health and Well Being



  • I give my body what it needs to succeed

It’s so easy to overlook our basic physical needs when we have kids and family to take care of. When’s the last time you focused on your own health?

For the longest time I convinced myself that my eyesight was just fine. I’d only wear my glasses when driving, and got used to the challenge of seeing at a distance. I came to accept this as normal. Earlier this year I made the commitment to schedule an eye exam and get fitted for contacts. I decided that I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life living at half potential. By being okay with not seeing at 100%, I had to question what other areas of my life I was choosing to fall short in. By finally admitting I needed assistance, my world literally became clearer and my well being improved dramatically. It was a simple problem that I had lived with for so long when a solution had always been available. 

What areas of your physical well being have you been overlooking? Is there something that’s been nagging you that you’ve chosen to ignore? I challenge you to schedule appointments with your caregivers to face what you’ve been tolerating and fix it once and for all.

Physical Environment

  • My closet is well organized and free of clothing that no longer fits me

I don’t know about you, but so often my day gets off to a bad start when I have to sift through a disorganized closet to seek out an outfit for the day. Even worse is when I come across clothing that no longer fits (the clothes that I keep waiting to squeeze back into). Once I made the effort to clean out what no longer suits me, gotten rid of all the wire dry cleaning hangers, and folded my clothes in a more organized fashion it has allowed me to start the day on a positive note as opposed to feeling frustrated and deflated. I challenge you to clean out your closet and donate any clothing that you haven’t worn in at least a year. You’ll not only make more room, you’ll also be doing something good for someone else in need.

Finances

  • My bills are all paid on time

It’s so easy to overlook paying all the bills on time when we have so much going on in our everyday lives. Taking the small step of setting up on line bill payment will insure that you are making your payments in a timely matter, freeing you of late payments and falling behind on your financial goals. Most vendors will allow you to set up online payments and schedule email reminders letting you know that payment will hit on a certain date.

  • My will is accurate and up to date


Clearly this isn’t a fun task to complete, but knowing that you have a plan in order should the worst happen can put your mind at ease. Imagine the relief you will feel once you know that your family is well taken care of if something should go wrong. Taking the steps to set up a working plan will help alleviate stress around thinking about the worst case scenarios freeing you of anxiety and worry.

Relationships

  • I am fully caught up phone calls

This one can feel most challenging after a long day of work and dealing with the kids. So often talking on the phone is the very last thing I feel like doing. The idea of playing “catch up” with a friend who we haven’t connected with in a while can feel daunting as well. Many times it’s the idea of simply making the call that keeps us stuck. I challenge you to carve out 15 minutes each day this week to touch base with anyone that you owe a call to. Even a quick chat can feel most rewarding once we’ve taken the initiative to reach out.

  • I treat people how I want to be treated

Creating new friendships can feel overwhelming and lonely at times. In particular, when you are a busy mom with a full schedule. Many of us are transplants to the area, far away from close friends and family, or new to parenthood, which opens a whole new social landscape. Navigating through mommy groups and social circles can often feel like the days of high school, when we were all just trying to find our way and fit in. Live by the rule to treat people how you want to be treated, and the laws of attraction will naturally bring you closer to the those that you resonate the most with.

Our whole life is a sum of it’s parts. Though we may want to focus on improving on one area such as career or weight loss, it’s important to realize that each aspect of our life affects the others. By making an effort to improve on one or two small initiatives in each of the above core areas, it will naturally create more space for bigger changes to occur overall.

Sharon Lincoln, PCC, is a Certified Personal and Professional Coach. She is a mom of a two year old boy, and one month old girl and can be reached at sharonlincoln5@gmail.com