Her Advice: How To Design Your Life When Your Hands Are Full

ADVICE

When Your Hands Are Full

BY COACH CHRIS

Christy Jones, also know as Coach Chris, is an improvement coach for leaders and helps them break free from feeling overwhelmed and prepares them to take their teams to high levels of performance. Contact her at www.beginmonday.com.

Can you actually believe it is April? Already? Me neither! Well, time is ticking and it consistently reminds me that whatever you and I are planning to do or even go after, we do not need to play around and wait; we need to do it now!

In 2015, I wrote and published a book titled “How to D.E.S.I.G.N. Your Life When Your Hands Are Full.” This was a major accomplishment for me because I had always dreamed of writing a book and getting it published and so I did! (My husband is encouraging me to “re-release it” because he says that there is so much wisdom in those pages that I need to dust it of and put it back out there in the market in a fresh way. Maybe I will soon.)

You know, I am not much of a designer or decorator at all; that is not my strength. In fact, when I had a redesign project for my home ofce, I had to call in one of my good friends who is fabulous at designing any kind of space in a home. Kimberly Lucas was truly a life saver during those moments when I was about to pull my hair out behind trying to arrange a bookshelf to make it look like I am sitting in a senior executive’s ofce. She came to my rescue! Now, although I may not be good at designing or decorating a house, I have come to gather some secrets that I want to share with you to help you D.E.S.I.G.N. your life particularly when your hands are full.

As women, our jobs are never done. Although we are senior executives, writers, speakers, waitresses, CEOs, doctors, lawyers, nurses, physical therapists, counselors and so much more in our careers, many of us are also wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, teachers, guidance counselors for our family, ministers, caregivers, and so many other roles. We have our

14 Her — April 2021 www.reflector.com/her

hands completely full! But here is the deal, no matter how full your hands are, you have to make sure that you are positioning yourself to go after your personal dreams passionately. You have to carve out time to nurture what you see in your heart and position yourself for success.

Let me give you a few nuggets from my book that I believe will help you to go into this next phase of your life full of passion and postured to prioritize what is important to you. It is time for you to make some adjustments and decorate your life with things that will make you fulflled as you live on purpose. Nugget 1: Decide what you really want.

Too many times, I have had conversations with women who are simply settling for what everybody else wants them to have instead of cultivating what is truly in their hearts. I have seen it time and time again where a woman will just take whatever comes instead of creating what she wants in her life. You have to spend some time and commune with your heart and make a decision about what you really want in your life. Nugget 2: Eliminate Excuses

Someone once made a statement, “Excuses are like armpits: We all have them and they all stink!” Excuses will hold you back from the life you really want. You have to stop making excuses and start making bold moves. Enough with allowing what you do not have to stop you from going after what you want to have. Remove those barriers called excuses so you are free to create the life you really want. Nugget 3: Set your course for action

In other words, set yourself up for success. You have to take charge of your environment and set yourself up to win. It is time not to just be on the sidelines of life. You have to get in the game and make some waves. You have too much in you to simply settle. You are too gifted, you have too much invested. I encourage you to set your course for action. When you are in motion, you are in action, and where there is action, there will be traction. Go for it! Nugget 4: Implement you plan

Listen, it is not enough to set a plan; you have to work your plan. You have to make sure that you have the right strategy and resources to design the life you desire to live. You were made for more, and you need to implement your plan. Nugget 5: Get past it

Listen to me, life has trouble built into it. I know this is going to sound kind of harsh, and I really do not mean for it to, but you have to get past it. You cannot live your life stuck in the trenches of the past. You are better than that! You are more than what has happened to you. I know you have experienced some really bad stuf, and I have, too. (I will have to share that at another time.) But here is what I am sure of: You can get past it! You can move forward, and you can have a life that is better than what you may be experiencing right now. Nugget 6: Negotiate to win

In life, there are tradeofs. You take the good with the bad. You take the bitter with the sweet. Life will not always hand you a dozen roses free of thorns, but you have to learn how to take those fowers and cut the thorns of. You have to win with the hand that you have been dealt. You have to have the mindset that there is always a way. You will have to negotiate to win. You may not always get exactly what you want but if you get 80% of 100, then you really are doing really well.

Listen, I want to simply encourage you today to survey your life. Your hands may be full, but you can certainly D.E.S.I.G.N. your life when your hands are full. I hope our time together has been helpful. Until next time, know that I am cheering for you and I am here to help you win.