Guest Post: The Life of a Minimalist and Minimalist Coaching Session Giveaway

 

Last September I attended FitBloggin' conference in Baltimore.  At the conference, I was lucky enough to meet and room with a very special lady.   She is a minimalist coach and blogs about living a minimal lifestyle and helping moms lose weight.  Her take on the "simplier" life, her devotion to her son and her overall attitude inspired me and I hope you enjoy her guest post as much as I enjoyed reading it!

Meet Mylene from Mylene Deveau Minimalist Coaching.

I have been working in daycare for the past 12 years. I have seen all kind of families. But what I've noticed is that motherhood seems to automatically comes with feeling overwhelmed.

Well, when I decided to have my son as a single mom, I made myself a promise. That I would not be overwhelmed all the time. I would not forget to take time for myself as a women and I would do what it takes to make my life simple.

And I did. Most of the time, I do not feel overwhelm. I made my life pretty simple and uncomplicated.

How did I do it? I made that a priority. But first, I believed it was possible, and then...I made it happened!

I chose to live close to my family and let them help me with Gustave. I chose to have a small house so I wouldn't be too stressed out about money and also have less to clean.

You may not be able to move like I did. But you can take a look at how you actually spend your days. You can see how much time is spent on things that are not serving you or your family. Or things that are stressing you out. 

How much of what you do is in fact because you think it is how it SHOULD BE... instead of what you really want?

 Really ask yourself why you are doing certain things. What intentions are behind some actions?

For example, I believe my son should eat healthy. But when I still thought healthy meals meant traditional square meals, I always ended up cooking frozen meals instead. Why? Because that's not for us. I come home late after work, and we are both tired and hungry. Maybe one day I'll be motivated enough to prepare meals in advance in the Crockpot, but I'm not there yet. And you know what? Most of the time, we are thrilled with lots of crudités, fruits and a simple sandwich.

Once I let go of the belief that I needed to cook meals just like my mom in order to be a good mom, I started to offer much healthier meals and even enjoy preparing it! I accepted that I wanted something different, and I feel much better since then.

Another hot topic? Extra-curriculum activities.

My son is almost 5 years old and doesn't do soccer, music, hockey or karate. I felt bad about this. Really bad and guilty. I want the best for my son. And like any little boy, he needs to be active. But my town doesn't offer classes for his age. That would mean having to drive at least 30 minutes back and forth at night or the week-ends. After a total of 1h30 of driving and 9 hours of work with young kids every day, the last thing that I want to do when I'm not working is to drive again...

So what am I suppose to do? If my son takes classes he'll be happy, but I know I'll be exhausted. Which mean, for me, a lot less patience and tolerance when I'm with my son. Does my son deserve my irritability for 1 or 2 hours of soccer? No.

So I looked for solutions that would be good for both of us. And it made perfect sense to commit to be more active around the house, outside. With my son. We play ball, I'm the one who taught my son to ride his bike, we walk by the river... I also try to start running and Gustave always joins me and cheers me on.

I still notice some weird looks when I say that my son doesn't take classes. But it doesn't matter anymore. Because what I know for sure is that it's the best decision for us. We are not stressed by an overload schedule and we are spending quality time together, active and outside.

Those are only 2 examples of what I have decided to implement in my life, in order to make it easier. They might seem banal to you. But the fact is, it was difficult to accept it totally. To be at peace with the fact that I might not want exactly everything of what my mom, my friends, society think motherhood and family life should looks like.

I believe everybody can do this. Can create the family life they want. Everybody can slow down.

Here's 3 easy steps, coming from the A.C.T. therapy, to help you see what is in your life, what you want, and how to change it.

1- Be aware.
Write what a typical day or week in your family looks like. Go through your to-do list. Writing it all down might help you get a better look. How does it feel to see everything? Look at how your body react when you go through your list. If anxiety or frustration comes in for some particular task, maybe you can take a deeper look at it. Is this really a must do in your life? Can you tweak something about it, or maybe delegate it to somebody else? (you do know, I hope, that you don't have to do everything! :p) And if you look at an activity and you smile and feel really good about it... you know what it mean! It's probably a keep for your family!

2- Commit.
If your kids are old enough, make it a family project. Talk to them and explain them your goal in this process, the benefits that everyone could receive by simplifying your daily routine. Talk about how you could change little, simple things. Because wanting to make drastic changes might not be the best idea. Chose something that you know you can do.

3- Take action!
This is where the fun part start! You will see results and be thrilled! Some days will be easy and rewarding. But you will also struggle. And offer resistance. And probably your family too, even if you were very committed at the beginning and still is. But if you are truly committed to stop being overwhelm, you will try and try and try again. Until it becomes a lot easier. And you will realize that one day, you are ready to take a step further because your life do feel less overwhelming and you want more!

But I will be honest with you, it is not always easy. And the worst obstacle you will encounter is you. More precisely your thoughts.

And that's where I come in. As a life coach, I am not stuck in your story with you and I can help you notice and being aware of the sabotaging thoughts you are having. I can help you discover why you are having them and how they makes you act in a way that push you away from your goals. Most importantly, I can help you gain back this awareness so you can be more awake and in power in your life!

So please, share with me! What is the one thing in your to-do list that you would love to let go? That you know for sure would make your life easier but you just can't seem to do ? Leave a comment below and Amanda will choose randomly 2 lucky ladies that I will be happy to give each 3 sessions of 30 minutes, by phone!

You can also come visit my site www.mylenedeveau.com where I regularly post about coaching, weight loss, minimalism and how to simplify your life!

Mylene is also offering three 30 minute coaching sessions to TWO lucky readers!  To enter, just leave a comment below stating why you want to win a session with Mylene.