My Dream for 2021

Earlier this week, I published my second book of 2020, entitled The Road to Here (get your copy here). In the introduction I talk about where “here” is … 

“Here” is nine months into a global pandemic …

Yet …

“Here” is good … 

“Here” is happy … 

“Here” is content (mostly) … 

“Here,” I have three healthy and wonderful daughters … 

“Here,” I get to work from home supporting learn-from-home families … 

“Here,” my husband and I are the strongest we’ve ever been …

“Here,” I am healthy … in ALL the ways that matter …

“Here” is good … 

When I take some time to think about where I am and where I want to go, I’m feeling a “nudge” to stop … to savour … to celebrate … 

This week I wrapped up a very successful book club … I had two ladies join me (one a complete stranger and one I only know a little bit through work). Both took a day recently to sit down and make their life plans (as the book outlines), and both are “set” for the year ahead. It was a gift to have them and a gift to be a part of their journey over the last several weeks.

I also wrapped up a LIVE Read Aloud series for work. Each week I read a story and then shared resources and ideas for “extending” learning at home. We had anywhere from 80-130 viewers each week. It was a fun journey and I received many thank yous and notes of encouragement along the way!

But my biggest win of the week would have to be hitting “publish” on my second book early Monday morning. This book wasn’t in my plans for 2021, but it hit me in early November that I needed to create a piece that outlined my journey over the last couple of years … I feel like I have learned and grown and changed so much, I just HAD to share this with others … so I set a goal and worked on finalizing the content in November, then the final editing in December … and just like that, it’s already available on amazon.ca in Kindle and paperback format … 

But despite these significant accomplishments in recent times, I’m ALREADY trying to determine “what’s next?” for me (be sure to give yesterday’s podcast a listen on this very topic) …

What’s left “to do” or accomplish in 2020? What’s on tap for 2021?

As 2020 draws to a close, I am aiming to “settle in” with my little family … we will savour and celebrate everything we can Christmas-wise … we will read and listen to books … we will get creative … we will stay active … we will spend some time outside each day … we’ll watch movies … and we’ll play games … in the “fringes,” I will write (and record podcasts) … I will get things set up for a weekly publication in the local newspaper starting in January … I will do more planning (and dreaming) for 2021 … I will finish off a couple of little courses I’ve started … 

As for 2021 … the “aspirations” are piling up … but one thing I’ve been REALLY toying with for 2021 is life coaching … I first heard of this concept about a year and a half ago … my brother actually hired a life coach one year … I was envious … I loved the idea of having someone help me “get clear” on what I wanted … I yearned for a different perspective … different ideas … different ways of looking at things … I wanted someone to talk to … someone to push me and keep me accountable to my goals … but the financial investment was SIGNIFICANT … like thousands of dollars significant, and I just couldn’t take the leap to get my own life coach … 

But, again and again, over the last couple of years, I’ve found myself saying, “I need a coach” … “I need a bit of help to get things figured out here” … “I need someone to talk to” … but, truthfully, I’m not even quite sure where to start to find a coach that would be a good fit for me … and I still have MAJOR reservations about the financial investment … after all, I feel like I’ve been pretty successful doing a lot of “the work” on my own … 

Beyond toying with the idea of having my own life coach (I do still want one and will continue to explore this for 2021), I keep thinking that maybe, just maybe there are others out there who are like me and could use a life coach of their own … then I wonder if I could coach others? 

And, as I wonder this, of course, a whole smattering of limiting beliefs present themselves … 

Who am I to coach someone else?

What skills do I have?

What training? 

No one you know would ever actually hire a life coach! And if they did, they certainly wouldn’t hire YOU!

People aren’t interested in this stuff!

To combat some of these rather harsh put downs from my subconscious, I’ve started working my way through a Life Coaching Course (when I’m done, I’ll have a fancy little certificate to post on the wall). Am I learning anything I don’t already know? Bits and pieces, but truthfully, I’ve got a lot of this goal-setting stuff down pat … I’ve been doing this successfully for YEARS! It’s why I am where I am … 

I’ve also been trying to remind myself that I DO have a teaching degree (and 14 years of teaching experience … in the classroom AND online), which assists with the “coaching/teaching” side of things I would think … 

But, maybe more importantly, is just some of the “life” stuff I’ve learned and figured out along the way … the things I found terribly difficult as a mother (and still do) … making a major change in our life (for the better) … securing a new job … having a “challenging” third pregnancy (and delivering a baby 10 weeks early) … writing a couple of books … maintaining a blog … learning to care for myself … prioritizing …  asking for help … and the like … 

Maybe, just maybe, I could give women the permission they need … the courage they need … to do some of these things … because I did them … and if I can … they can too!

Also, I ACTUALLY kind of feel like I’ve finally got a few important things figured out (though I suppose this could change at any time) … things are good right now … we’re ALIVE … and healthy … and WELL … and because things are good, I feel “called” to show others how they got to be so good …

That’s what the book, The Road to Here, is all about … 

And that’s what this next venture … Life Coaching … is all about too … 

Things are good … so I must share the wealth … I must serve and help others to achieve more … to be more … to do more … with this ONE precious life they’ve been given … 

But I don’t want to “self-promote” … I don’t want to “market” the newest branch of Our Life Well Lived, which will be Life Coaching (it will probably just be another “tab” on my website) … I don’t want to “sell” anything … I don’t want to persuade people that this is for them … I just want to help … I just want to serve … I just want to “pay it forward” … and “give back” … and, right now, I feel like this is the only way I know how … it’s the only way I can “contribute” right now … because it’s all I have to give … 

My dream for 2021 is to coach ONE woman a month … for a dollar amount of their choosing to a charity of their choosing … *go ahead and read that again … I am NOT doing this for the money … I have a great job that pays the bills!*

What would this entail?

• a weekly meeting (likely via ZOOM or over the phone due to COVID)
• help with goal-setting
• resources and tools needed for success
• built in accountability for the month (I’m just a text or email away)

So what do you think of this NEXT crazy dream of mine? Are you in?

It would be an absolute GIFT to serve in this way!

So please, please, please reach out to me so I can SERVE in this special, special way.

Help make my dream for 2021 come true!