"Over-Committing" and a Respectful Decision

Lately I've been aware of the "over-committing" issue a fair bit. It's reminded me what so many people are in need of (without always recognizing it), but also how scary our modern society is in that regard. Just like pre-pandemic, we're back to over-committing, over-booking, constantly being busy and on the go to the point that we sometimes even forget what we've committed to, let alone have the energy to make it through much of our weeks.

The absolute CRUCIAL NEED for people to SLOW down is scaring me to be honest. I think the scary part is that so many of us DON'T recognize the need to do so, but wonder why their health is suffering.

HOWEVER... I just chatted with someone who HAS!!!

I've been chatting with a prospective client who connected with me back in March. She's a wonderful woman, whom I know I'd enjoy working with. We took her through an initial assessment/consultation and have had some messages back and forth as she sorted out work schedule, what she wanted in terms of my help etc... In addition, she joined one of my women's health and lifestyle groups we got started at the beginning of this month. Since our initial chats however, her goals were all over the place, communication wasn't great and you could tell she really wasn't sure what she wanted quite yet. Add on top of that, she has a high stress job that has only been ramping up stress wise this past quarter, she said.

Our last conversation was after the first group meeting and she was thinking of combining an in-person coaching session here at the studio (every few weeks) with some distance coaching as a possible option. She planned to start this when she returned from her recent work trip. She was scheduled to see me tonight for that first session. After confirming her appointment, she wrote me mid-morning to apologize but she was going to cancel.

From there she explained how stressful things have been (hence the lack of communication and uncertainty with what she wants) and how things have been all over the place (with work etc) that to take on something else / commit to MORE right now, is just not a good idea. As I'm reading this my first thought is; "YES!!!! She gets it! Woo!!!". She apologized again and followed it up by saying she still wants to take part in the women's group (bi-weekly meeting) to keep some accountability in play right now. Awesome idea.

I was/am proud of this woman for making this decision, and immediately replied reminding her that I not only respect this decision but also that HER CHOICE in itself is a powerful move for her overall health. That in itself is a WIN!!!

We went back and forth with a few reminders for her such as...

-Continue what health practices she CAN do right now during these busy times

-Focus on the power of sleep and slowing down after work leading into bed time

-Continue her activity in nature (she's very good at that) while being aware of her energy levels to adjust as needed

-Focus on stress management tools and strategies to help work with her current work stress, lifestyle balance etc...

Basically - Just don't PUSH PAUSE or WAIT UNTIL LATER to do things for yourself. Keep doing good things for YOU, within the means of your energy and abilities during this time.

Did I want to work with this woman and help her with her health goals? Absolutely! I think she'd be a great client to work with. In that regard, I'm bummed we're not starting (yet). But I want someone to be ready, willing and able to work with me as their coach and have the readiness to make small, sustainable changes as we work together. I don't want our effort together to be a drain by any means.

More of us need to take a lesson from this woman. She listened to her body/mind which was telling her to SLOW DOWN. Don't committ to MORE. If anything, do LESS in this sense. I love it!! This is a wonderful example of what mainstream "health info" will NOT stress. It's up to us to TAKE CONTROL OF OUR OWN HEALTH and WELLBEING. Steps like this create that practice.