Make friends with your fears: Don’t let them fester in the dark corners of your mind. Write them down, talk about them loudly, give them names, personalities, and understand them. They become less scary out in the open and allow you to unmask the root of your anxieties and at a minimum mitigate the risk associated with it. And allow yourself to feel fully every emotion: joy, sadness, anger.
I was interviewed again! This time by Authority Magazine – check it out!
As far as I can remember, friends, family, and even strangers have always come to me to unburden themselves, to be given a little boost, or to be simply heard. They knew I would always create that safe space they needed to learn, grow and sometimes dare! Fast forward a few years, I became a consultant and if you think about it, it has similarities with life coaching. You meet people at their point of need, and you work with them to get their requests addressed.
Becoming a working mom made me more aware of the unique challenges that mothers face in and out of the workplace, and establishing MyLifeCouch was my way of being of service and amplifying the message about the skills and expertise that working mothers bring to the workplace.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you hope that they might help people along their path to self-understanding or a better sense of wellbeing in their relationships?
“On the couch“ is an awareness voyage designed to take you from depleted to fully charged. We define 1 or 2 of your BIG goals — it could be personal, professional, or both — and we create your personal map for your specific journey. In there we will examine your purpose, passion, and vision but also your habits and self-saboteurs and typical behaviors. Once that is established, we move on to “trademarking” your magic sauce and seeing the application of that in achieving your initial BIG goals! It‘s a 6-week-long program and at the end of it, you have a Map of YOU that gives you a better appreciation of how you are uniquely equipped to conquer your world.
How it might help people in self-understanding? I am a big believer in knowing ourselves intimately, knowing our strengths and flaws so that we can amplify or mitigate when needed. In my opinion, knowing yourself is the foundation of anything you want to develop, for yourself or with/for others, and yes that includes relationships.
Do you have a personal story that you can share with our readers about your struggles or successes along your journey of self-understanding and self-love? Was there ever a tipping point that triggered a change regarding your feelings of self-acceptance?
I grew up believing I was smart, and I could do anything I put my mind to. Entering the corporate world, with no preparation, guidance made me want to correspond to other people’s definition of what was successful. I had no plan, just a strong desire to fit in, to not fall short of the expectations that virtual strangers had set for me. Also being a quiet introvert, I would often be underestimated and made feel invisible. To cope, two personas started co-existing in me: the Gladys at work — invisible, unobtrusive — and Gladys at home — smart, funny, and loving her colors — and that worked for a good while. Two distinct events happened that changed the narrative for me:
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Motherhood gave me a purpose higher than I ever had. I became the de facto role model for my children, and I cared deeply about the lessons I was teaching them.
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The recent pandemic put back into perspective for me what was truly important for me as a person. It allowed the two ”Gladys” to finally meet and blend as one and reconnect with the “smart and could do anything“ part of me. Tap in your inner child more often, I would say.
It was a journey of self-discovery and personal growth! It revealed my superpowers (advocacy and using my voice to amplify causes and people), my hidden ones (resilience, adaptability, courage), and every day I realize I have the opportunity to create a new blank page for me and have fun meeting my own expectations.
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