When she moved to a new city, Elizabeth had every intention of continuing the traditional life she had come to love, which included being the classroom mother for all of her four children’s classes and organizing fundraisers at their new schools. However, shortly after the move, her husband left her and the children to take his life in a new direction. His new direction didn’t pan out financially and the result was that there was very little financial support for Elizabeth and her kids. Devastated but resilient, Elizabeth sprang into action; using her network of only a few people, she landed a full-time job with a temp agency. The job barely made ends meet, but it kept her and her children afloat. It was a big adjustment for everyone. Working full-time meant that Elizabeth’s four children, who were used to an overachieving, stay-at-home mom, suddenly had to navigate their world in a whole new way.

Elizabeth’s oldest daughter, Brianna, hated her new school and decided to homeschool herself through the rest of high school. With limited funds, Brianna also made the decision to enter the workforce immediately and forgo college at that time. Neither of these decisions fit into Elizabeth’s parental paradigm about how Brianna’s life was supposed to go. However, Elizabeth was just keeping it together herself and didn’t have the energy to force Brianna into the mental mold that Elizabeth had created for Brianna’s life.

Fast forward 7 years.

Elizabeth’s youngest son, who was starting a new school in a new city, missed the school bus on the first day of middle school so …. he Ubered himself there. Brianna is a very successful employee making more money than her college-educated peers, and the company where she works is currently paying for her to return to school. Elizabeth’s career is extremely successful. She is the manager at an international corporation and all of her children still like her. She takes care of herself physically and emotionally and makes a point to take one vacation with friends – sans children – each year.

Recently, many have experienced their world being upended with the political changes taking place. Some are finding that the vision they have for the country is in conflict with the direction it is going. Regardless of how you feel about today’s political climate, anytime your world is upended remember Elizabeth’s example. Set your priorities and then put blinders on to anything that distracts you.

Priorities give you power because they keep your mind and actions focused on what matters the most. To get started, make a list of what is truly important to you and block off time on your daily calendar to achieve these goals. Consider the following:

What are the priorities you need to focus on for you and your family to feel stable and safe? What priorities do you need to focus on for everyone to thrive?

What planning can you do this week to ensure that you are getting healthy foods and enough exercise and sleep?

What relationships do you need to release your paradigm on? How can those relationships grow into healthy opportunities for both people involved?

How are you going to recharge yourself?

What spiritual practice would you benefit from implementing?

What is one thing you can do that will make you slightly uncomfortable but better aligned with your goals?

What contribution to society can you make this week that would feel good to you?

If you want to delve into these topics and more, go to 2017 Free Coaching at www.artofpotential.com.

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