This morning I had a session with Susan (not her real name), who runs her own business and is also a mom. As we were reviewing the goals from our last session, it was clear that Susan was doing well on her business goals, as well as a personal goal of getting rid of clutter in order to make her home more beautiful. Great! However, when I asked her about her goal to join Weight Watchers - she skated by this issue as fast as she could.
My job is to hold her accountable. So I went back to the Weight Watchers issue to explore what was really going on. Susan told me that she wanted to reconnect with Weight Watchers not only to lose weight, but to start eating better. She simply hadn't had the time and a major challenge was getting organized - figuring out meals ahead of time and going to the grocery store to have the healthy food she needed in the house.
Susan confessed that many of her poor choices stemmed from her lack of planning. For instance, it was almost lunchtime and she had about 45 minutes until her next client appointment. What was she going to do? Well, she might pick up a muffin or get a small, lower calorie meal at one of our local drive-thrus.
I listened, not totally believing that poor planning and organization were the entire picture.
Why? I knew that she made a lunch with snacks for her middle school daughter every morning, and asked Susan why she had not packed a lunch today for herself. Her response: "Well, I take care of everyone else, but not myself". This refrain - or something quite similar - is one that I hear over and over again from my female clients.
The underlying issue is about putting yourself on the priority list and paying attention to your needs first, and to also pay attention to the needs of your children and husband. But here's the key: you need to be on the list!
