This post is sponsored by Vocalpoint and Life Reimagined®. All opinions are my own.
A couple days ago I shared my Goals for 2016. I don’t always have an easy time writing out my goals. In fact, I struggle quite a bit with laying out my priorities, like work and family, and trying to balance it around my health issues. Between my health issues as well as my husband’s and having three special needs children, it isn’t easy to keep it all together and pursue the things I’d like to accomplish.

I have heard of working with a Life Coach, but didn’t really know much about it or how it could benefit me. Working with a Life Coach from Life Reimagined® has definitely been an eye opening experience that has left me with a clearer purpose and how to pursue that purpose realistically. In fact, it help me acknowledge and write out my goals for this year.
Prior to my session with my life coach, I got set up on the Life Reimagined website to create my LifeMap. I was challenged to choose my gifts, passions, those I want to impact, and values through a simple card exercise. I truly had to think about it. I admit, although I can name my top three priorities I haven’t really given it deep thought. This really challenged me to not only consider all of these factors but to truly think about it. I had to narrow each down to just three, and I was actually quite surprised by my answers!

The LifeMap really helped me put things in perspective. I feel like I knew my passions and values, but how am I using them to achieve my goals. At first, looking at my LifeMap, I wasn’t sure how it all fit together. I was eager for my Life Coach appointment so I could really dig deeper into it.

Working with a Life Coach

To prepare for my Life Coach session I first made sure my computer was able to work with the chat program. I simply had to add a plug-in on Google Chrome. This prepared my computer to be compatible with the system used. The life coach session uses both audio and video. I found it rather easy to set up and get ready for my session!
I logged in and was ready for my session. We greeted each other and she went right to explaining what life coaching is, how it’s different than counseling and what to expect from our session. She explained counseling is more like looking at your past and how to overcome what may have been challenging whereas life coaching is looking at the future and how to reach your goals. Before the session I had filled out a questionnaire with details about what I’m working toward, and she had that all in front of her for easy reference. I found that very helpful.
I found my Life Coach so easy to speak with, and this is actually a big deal. I am an introvert and have Sensory Processing Disorder, so being social isn’t so easy for me! The conversation just naturally flowed, though. After we talked for a bit I was asked to bring up my LifeMap so we could go over it together. I was able to share my screen so she could have a look at it. This is when I really felt like my LifeMap was pulled together. She challenged me to answer why I chose what I did, and it made me think further beyond just choosing my answers to what I really mean and why I chose them.
It almost seemed silly to me that I didn’t actually know the why right off hand, but I was so glad for the opportunity to talk to her and really dig deep into my LifeMap. I was able to view it from a new perspective and truly understand it.

To wrap up, we talked about the how. How can I reach my goals? What are the challenges? How can I overcome the challenges. Obviously, with health issues, my husband’s health issues and our kids’ special needs there are things I can’t control. Am I maximizing the good time, though?
My Life Coach really helped me to identify how I can maximize the good time. Between my family and blogging/work – what takes the most energy? When do I feel like I have the most energy? Just those two questions alone made me realize I’ve been doing things backwards. Because we homeschool I have the flexibility to work with whatever schedule works for us. I acknowledged I have more energy later in the day and the family and homeschool priorities take more energy than my work.
That was the “ah ha!” moment that made me realize, if I change my schedule I will be able to actually get more done! Just that thought alone was so encouraging and refreshing! She suggested I take a day off to really go over my calendar and set a schedule that works best. I plan to take a day this weekend (when someone can watch the kids) to have this sit down session and organize my daily calendar the way that makes more sense for me – in a way I can get things done!
I really feel like my Life Reimagined Life Coach opened the door for me to see how I can maximize my time without sacrificing anything that is important to me. It also allows me to work around not only my health issues, but my family’s needs as well as I consider what the “good time” is for all of us. I feel like I’m starting the new year with encouragement and excitement and not that overwhelming feeling I often get when it seems like I have too much on my plate!