Let Me Reintroduce Myself

There have been a lot of changes here in the last few years, and I thought it might be time to reintroduce myself.

Hi! I'm Sarah...

I can vividly remember creating my 35 at 35 list just prior to my 30th birthday... it was a list of 35 things that I wanted to achieve before I turned, you guessed it, 35! And now I find myself sitting at my laptop aged 40!! Where did the time go?

So who am I? 

If you had asked me this question 10 years ago, even 5 years ago... I think you'd have gotten a very different answer to the one I'm going to give you now. A combination of different things - getting older (& hopefully wiser!), the Covid-19 pandemic, navigating some difficult situations with the children and investing in my personal development - have really opened my eyes to what's important in life. Perhaps you can relate?

I'm a single mum of two pre-teens... gosh, what a tricky age they are both at! My son is nearly 13 years old and my daughter has recently turned 11. The hormones are really kicking in! When I was newly single (just before my 30th birthday!), they were 9 months old and just over 2 years old... and I thought it was difficult then. I had believed it would get easier as they got older... spoiler alert, it hasn't. It's a different type of difficult. When they were little it was physically demanding, whereas now it's emotionally demanding. Perhaps it's compounded by the fact that I'm a single mum.

A year ago I gave up my employment, and ventured into a new territory... I had been a Senior Director of Global Program Management at a large pharmaceutical company with teams of project managers across America and Europe, but it just wasn't feeling right anymore. 

You can read more about how I left my corporate career here.

I had been investing in my personal development, the kids were in a difficult spot and I had this realisation that I was prioritising the wrong things. It felt good to step back. I still work in pharma, as a part-time consultant... this means that I can choose the hours I work, and I'm no longer on work calls in the evenings (which came as a result of working with the US and the time difference). With this change in work circumstances, and some other strategies, I've managed to carve out time and space to build my creative businesses.

I'm a certified transformational life coach (although I acknowledge that this is a phrase that's banded about a lot now and perhaps it's not always so clear what it actually is! I've a post on life coaching on my website which might be of interest - you'll find it here). I've decided to call myself a 'productivity coach and small business mentor'. Essentially, I work with small business owners, and help empower them to make sustainable changes in their businesses using project management strategies (drawing on all my corporate experience), plus a mix of mindset work and practical activities so that they get more time. Organisation, systems and processes are my jam!

In addition to the coaching, I'm also an abstract artist and I sell my art via my website. Everyone is creative in their own way, and what I love most is sharing my story... whether that is through my art, my blogs or my weekly newsletters (you can sign up here if you'd like to receive these).

I wholeheartedly believe that it's possible to build a business whilst still being present with your family.

I also believe that it's possible to do this whilst not burning the candle at both ends, or worse yet - burning out.

I am an advocate of living mindfully or more minimally; if you can simplify & streamline your home life then this is one way of creating additional time... giving you freedom to choose what you do with the time you've created.

Freedom and adventure are important to me. One way that I use the additional time I've created is to travel in my campervan, Verity (@veritythevw). My future vision involves more travelling and exploring Scotland. I'm building a business that will allow me to do just that.

Generosity or giving is another value, and I now volunteer every week at the local hospice. I run mindfulness and meditation sessions each week for the out patients at our Living Well Hub. Find out more about my volunteering here on my website.

Lastly I'm passionate about nature and the environment. I get a lot of inspiration from nature for my art, and I love to take walks in nearby parks and forests with my dog, Evie.

Getting clear on my personal values has been an impactful personal development exercise. Being in alignment with my values, in both my personal life and my business, means that my life and work feels good.

Hopefully this gives you a flavour of who I am...

I'd love to hear more about you. Let me know in the comments what is important to you (and if you want some help figuring our your values - this article that I have written might be helpful).

Sarah x

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Here are some ways that I can help you - 

 

🤍 Free training

Slide into my DMs on Instagram with the words ‘Get More Time’ and I'll send you the links to a couple of video training sessions I've recorded on how I use my Google calendar to time block, plus my morning routine and evening routines to book end my days.

 

🤍 Take my 5-day course, ‘Project Manage Your Life’

My popular challenge is now available as a self paced course. Click the link above for more information. In just 5 days, and for £55, I'll have you feeling more organised. 

 

🤍 Work with me 1-to-1

I currently have space for 1-to-1 life coaching clients. Are you a small business owner feeling burnt out, overwhelmed and stressed? I can help you find more time in your day, get organised using project management strategies and personal development techniques, and have you feeling calm and back in control. Find a spot in my calendar here to book in for an introductory call (this isn't a pushy sales call, but rather a genuine desire from me to help you).

Lockdown

I wrote in my first newsletter about the COVID-19 pandemic being a wake-up call, as I'm sure it has been for many of us. Being in the high risk category, I was confined to my house for the first few months; something I was actually ok with. I'm grateful that I was still able to work from home, which I had been doing regularly anyway pre-lockdown... plus I had beautiful surroundings and a garden too. As a single parent of young children, I've had plenty practice being restricted to my home. Except, on this occasion a whole myriad of online classes opened up and it felt like I wasn't missing out. I threw myself into trying new things... such as meditation and life drawing. I joined yoga classes virtually, personal training and even a facial massage class. 

Life coaching is not new to me. I had a few sessions with a coach when my mum passed away, and then I also hired a coach when my marriage failed. Connecting with Lynette Gray, and more recently Jill Ritchie, has been life changing. That may seem like a bold statement, but it's not an exaggeration. Shortly after we went into lockdown I had a handful of 1-to-1 sessions with Lynette. I know that I work well with coaches; I've had great results with personal trainers but I don't do as well when I'm working on my fitness on my own. I will show up, and more importantly take action, when I am accountable to someone. Lynette's energy is phenomenal and her story is compelling.

I committed to Lynette and Jill's 6 month group coaching programme which we started at the beginning of this month, and the 10 members of the group were also granted access to their new 21 day Unearth Your Power online course. Each day on the 21 day course there was new content... meditations, journalling prompts, personal development exercises on money mindset, visualisation and so forth. It's true that the more you put in, the more you get out; and I threw myself into all the activities with gusto. 

I've recently finished listening to The Miracle Morning on Audible, and I've been rising early and having 1-2 hours to myself before starting my day job. Evie (our Cavachon puppy) has been helping me get up, but irrespective of her, I'd be up... what a difference it makes to your day. 

My morning routine is now coffee, light bite to eat, affirmations, gratitude, journalling, looking at my future vision board, walk with Evie and then a second breakfast. I squeeze in some reading when I can (this morning it was a few pages of Elizabeth Day, How to Fail), although I typically will save the reading for evening. The only thing I'm missing that I feel I need to weave in is meditation. 

My future vision board includes more creativity; I've been enjoying painting so much and it feels good to get my emotions out onto the canvas. I opened an Etsy shop to sell some of my work, and have sold a number of original paintings already which I'm super proud of. My second newsletter, which will be circulated at the start of August, explores some of the inspiration for my art. If you'd like to get on the list to receive a copy then please share your email with me. I promise not to spam you or share your address with anyone else.

I'd love to hear from you; do you have a morning routine and what does it include? 

Check out my video on my morning routine below - 

Sarah x