EGADS: Finding my long-lost motivation

I met my dear friend Naomi just days before she was moving her family from our shared hometown to India. While our timing wasn't ideal, we didn't let the huge distance keep us from building our new friendship. Thanks to countless emails, tweets and private messages we discovered we shared many life experiences and struggles (including having husbands who work long distances from home) and today I consider Naomi and myself kindred souls.

When Naomi reached out to me asking if I'd be her guinea pig for her new venture EGADS (Experiencing Gamechanging Adventure & Daring Solution), I was all in.

It was actually the perfect opportunity for me. I was in a life rut...running on the dreaded hamster wheel of life without knowing how to make any changes. I knew I wanted a better direction, but was lacking the energy, confidence or motivation to change.

After sharing my struggles and a glimpse into my daily life, we started diving into the way I approached life. This was one of my problems...I hadn't really consciously been thinking about things too deeply. I was just complacent to let life pass me by and react to it. I wasn't being proactive or taking charge of my life and pursuing what makes me happy.

Each weekday brought a new EGADS challenge or motivational check-in...some of which really scared me because I didn't know how to immediately reply. For example, have you ever tried to create your own personal elevator speech (outside of your work life)? It's not easy. My initial response was:

     "I am a PR pro by day…and full-time mom and wife striving to find happiness and a sense of creative balance in all that I do."

Naomi pushed me to think deeper...

     "Take out the wife / mom and job description. What would you say then?"

See what I mean? It's not as easy as it would seem...

Naomi also pushed me to "Dream Big" and establish goals for the week, month, year and five years. And because I was on a mission to improve my body as well, she encouraged me to set up weekly menu plans. Makes perfect sense, but being able to put a complete menu plan together somehow took me weeks to achieve. I'm proud to say I've finally mastered the habit and it makes things SO much easier.

For most of my adult life, I've always felt that I needed to strive for the perfect balance between being a mom, wife and professional. And I was always falling short. But Naomi helped me realize that Balance is a Myth! It's much more important to pursue what you're passionate about...what brings you joy. And for me, those things are connections and creativity.

So don't be surprised if I'm reaching out to you more this year...setting up more GNO's, sending more gratitude notes, calling you more...because that brings joy to my soul. 

And I'm striving to create more, whether it's through blogging, painting, creating organized spaces in my home or tackling the thousands of pins I've pinned on Pinterest. 

2014 is my year. It will be filled with Connection...Creativity...Calm...Joy and a general feeling of being a Badass (in the positive sense of the word ;) 

I'm excited to share that Naomi is officially launching EGADS today. She's not as fluffy as a life coach, not as meddling as your mother and definitely cheaper than a therapist. I encourage you to take the leap with her and see how she can help you instill motivation in your life and get you on the path to a future you've always dreamed of.