Teresia's Blog

Another productive day of masterminding is occurring and as I mentioned in my previous blog, health and fitness is my number one value as I move into being a mompreneur.

Following that one is:

Quality time with Brian. (Sharing, connection, growth, fun)  I have read and heard that in many situations the father can feel left out or not a priority anymore when baby joins the family.  Many men have this fear, some are conscious of it and some are not.  Go figure - mom is exhausted, stretched out of her comfort zone doing her best to adapt to the changes and needs of this precious soul.  It is natural for a mom to bond and have a connection with baby, but to maintain this with daddy may not always come easy.

It is important to me to continue to cultivate a loving relationship between Brian and I.  I know that great relationships take commitment and effort.

Quality time with our child (connection, sharing, nurturing, fun, mentorship)

Quality time with my girlfriends (connection, sharing, growth, fun)

The day before I left for our mastermind retreat I had an ultrasound appointment.  Brian could not make the appointment; I decided to make it a girl’s event. It was very special to have three of my closests girlfriends there, after we went for dinner.  When I got home I realized how filled up I was to have shared this time with friends.  I get the same feeling when I am with my mastermind team.  When I am a mom, quality time with friends is a must!  Can I follow through?

The above priorities fulfill my values of connection, sharing, growth, and fun.  (Later I will share my insights around my values of inspiration and leadership and how they fit into my business priorities.)

Part of my reinvention from entrepreneur to mommpreneur is to truly step into designing my ideal life first and having my business it into that.  This concept is something I have been coaching on for years.  

As an entrepreneur, with no children I did not feel I needed to  be fully diligent with this concept – as my time was my time and  in every moment I felt I had choice of how I could spend my tim – I rarely felt like I was sacrificing what was important to me.

Becoming a mom I believe it will not be the same experience.  As I have coached many working moms to do so, it is important now for me to claim my personal priorities as number one.  I know it is a stretch.  It is easier said and done.  I love what I do in my business; my business has been my identity for many years.  Success, achievement and making a difference are important to me and have been a main driver for many years.

Can I really put the above priorities first and feel at peace with that? What will happen to my business when I act accordingly to these priorities?

Well I am ready to find out. This is my ideal life. This is what is important to me. I am ready to walk my talk!

I wrote this blog on a short lunch break on day 2. I am behind on sharing my insights with you. I have so many to share!

Well off to be part of another extraordinary conversations as we begin our afternoon of hotseats.

Talk soon!

If you are ready to truly leverage the power of the mastermind and want to be part of an already established, elite, paid mastermind, facilitated by two established business owners and experts in their own field, Teresia LaRocque MCC and Cheryl Cran, CSP, check out the Triple M Mastermind Program: Mind Money and a Life of Meaning.

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It has been a full day of masterminding, interaction and meaningful conversation.  My experience at this mastermind is a little different as it is noticeable my energy level is not the same as it has been at previous retreats.  I have been known for being the catalyst for outrageous, fun activities ( ex. impromptu enrolment of everyone running in the ocean at midnight, and……. hmmm what happens at the mastermind stays at the mastermind,well most of it ).  I have to keep reminding myself I am almost 8 months pregnant and I do need to pace myself.  My enthusiasm is sometimes bigger then my energy level!

 Three of us did our hot seat today.  For two of us a big part of our conversations evolved around the concept of making decisions and choices based on our true values.  It is very inspiring to be part of a group that each individual is very conscious of living their best life (which we feel a big part of that is making decisions and choices based on your values) and supporting each other in not settling for anything less.

I am a huge advocate for living valued based life,  a few years ago I wrote a  self coaching ebook called A New Approach to Goal Setting. Check it out by visiting  http://teresia.com/products/goal.html

I never had health and fitness as a value (even though my actions showed that it has always been important) but after my hotseat I have decided to officially claim it as my highest value at this time in my life.  Being a “mature” mom and wanting to experience much in my life – it is clear without energy,  and great  health, that will not be possible.

A mastermind buddy said “If I don’t put my health first everything else falls apart”.  Being in my early 40’s and becoming a new mom – this statement really resonated with me.

Before I left for my mastermind retreat I had a very inspiring coaching session with a client, his homework was to go through my New Approach to Goal Setting ebook.

We have been working together for over 7 years and our focus has been on leveraging his business and creating his ideal lifestyle.  It was great to discover that he is fully living his values and continues to move towards the ultimate vision of his life.  He also shared that health and fitness is at the top of his values list.  It began the process of my thinking Perhaps for all of us health and fitness needs to be our number one value.  If you are a high functionally individual and committed to living a full life – reality is we need our health to be in peak performance.

At this mastermind retreat I am claiming this is my number one priority – even writing this statement, it feels a little selfish.  What about being a mother, a wife – shouldn’t those roles be first? I am reminded of the anolgy of the safety procedure when flying, we are instructed to put the oxygen mask on first before we help our loved ones.  I see making my health a priority as my oxygen mask.   

My first step in reinventing as a mompreneur is to give myself permission to make working out and healthy eating the number one priority in my life.  I have journaled on what the specific actions steps are and one of the first things I will do is block these commitments into my calendar.  

 My other top values include:

• connection
• sharing
• growth
• fun
• inspiration
• making a difference

Ahh… it is getting late, I need my “baby sleep”.  I will continue to share the other insights of my reinvention and the “ah-ha’s” from the other hotseats tomorrow. 

Time flies when you are reinventing your life!

Nightie night!

Your coach in helping you live your definition of having it all!

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Know Your Values and Priorities

Sometimes, ambitious people need to slow the pace and harness their need to achieve in order to embrace other aspects of life. Like it or not, that’s called balance – and I think my pregnancy enrolled me in an advanced course at the School of Balancing Priorities.

More often than not, priorities come down to values. Because I strongly value family ( sharing and connection), it’s easier to set aside my professional ambitions (for the first time in my adult life – eek!). Because I value time with our child, it will be easier to close the office door.

Our values are a touchstone, a source of comfort and guidance that we can relax into and trust to steer us toward the life we really want. The more intense life gets, the more important they become.

When we are clear of our values it is easier to make decisions. We know what is important – we then say yes to what is important and no to the “shoulds” in our life.

What are your values? Discovering your values is a process. Check out our self coaching ebook on discovering and designing your life around your values.

A New Approach to Goal Setting

With all that said, the fact remains: Mompreneurs live on the fast track, and it’s going to take some time to adjust to a new pace. With knowing my values I am sure making the transition from entrepreneur to Mompreneur could be my biggest challenge yet… but I’m ready for it!

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Construct a Container around the Business. 

This has been a message I have shared with every entrepreneur I have worked with. To experience balance and not be a servant to your business, you need boundaries.

When I’m with my child, I want to be 100% present, not dashing in and out of my home office to check e-mail, or planning a proposal in my mind as I sing lullabies.

The only way to do it is to declare my office hours – and KEEP them. I know this. The problem is that, until now, the business has been my baby. I’ve been on call 24/7, always available, devoted and attentive. Now, I’m just going to have to get comfortable with the idea that on some days, the “to do” list just might not get done. Waaaahhhhh.

Decide what your business hours are. As the owner of your business you can set it up exactly the way that you want. Are you a morning person, do you prefer to start early in the morning and be done by 2:00? Is Saturday mornings an option? Are evenings off limits because this is family time?

Decide your business hours now and educate your family and clients.

Design your business so that your business is serving your ideal lifestyle and you are not being a servant to your business.

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I am going to be a mom!

Am I excited? Yes! Am I grateful? Yes!! Do I have fears? YES!

For years I’ve told women just like myself – ambitious, established, and full of vision – that they CAN have it all, and keep a firm grip on their sanity too. Every fiber of my being believed it, and every day I helped women achieve it.

And yet today, as my belly swells bigger with every passing moment, I must confess: making the move from entrepreneur to Mompreneur looks like a tremendously daunting step!

Can I really do it all? Will I always be exhausted? Will the stress of being a new mom with a thriving business destroy my zest for life? Will I lose my passion for the work I do? How will I balance the demands of my business “baby” and my real-life, crying-in-the-next-room, needs-a-diaper-change-NOW baby?

These are the things that keep me up at night. (Well, ok – the heartburn does too.) But, when the fears subside and the next morning arrives, I stand up straight and tell myself, “Teresia, put on your big girl shoes and go make it happen!”

To tell the truth, there’s no reason to fear. As all my friends will tell you, I am a planner; a super-planner in fact. I designed my nanny plan and postpartum workout plan over a year ago. So it probably comes as no surprise that I’ve been working on strategies to help me through the transition from entrepreneur to Mompreneur. 

Yes, true to form, I’m bringing my professional principles into my pregnancy.  Here are some key ones that I’m counting on.  

Support Makes All the Difference

Women often find it hard to ask for and accept help, which is unfortunate because to truly do it all, we need an abundance of support. (And I am not talking about a good bra, although I sure could use a good one right now – my boobs have never been so big! (Ok I digress)

Whether you’re pregnant or not, do yourself a favor and S.E.T. yourself up with three critical kinds of support:

S: Strategic Support helps us shorten the learning curve, find resources and create faster, better results. It could come from a colleague, someone with more or different experience, a mentor, coach, mastermind group, even someone you hire such as an webmaster or ghostwriter.  Collaboration lets you do a lot more with less time, and that’s what every Mompreneur can use, right?

E: Emotional Support is something that every single person on this planet needs. Women seem to need an extra dose on occasion (okay, daily). But for a woman with a lot on her plate, emotional support is even more important. And if you’re an entrepreneurial woman with high standards and ambitions, well… emotional support is like oxygen! Make it a priority to build and lean on your emotional support team – a soul community of intimate, like-minded women who give you permission and encouragement to be all that you want to be. We owe it to ourselves to establish relationships at that level – because we need it.

T: Task Support comes from those who help us get things done – an assistant, housekeeper, babysitter, even the helping hands of those we love. This kind of support gives us more time and energy for the things that matter most. Did you know that the average woman in a family of four devotes 20-25 hours a week to running her household? That’s a lot of time! Is this the best use of your time? Work on your delegation skills, as well as systematization and automation. Get creative and dare to do things differently.

I used this model to help me build my business, but in truth, it applies to all areas of life – even my maiden voyage into the wild seas of Mompreneurship. “Honey, I’m going to need a lot of support through this transition… can you say, ‘Daddy Saturdays?’

Having the proper support system is key to making any dream come true!

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