Today I had a session with my first personal life consultant. It was free, from Reddit. I got the feeling she was just getting started and wanting to practice.
I didn’t make it easy for her. I had no expectations nor any direction. I quite like my life and my work. But of course I could always be better.
Like a therapist, she just asked questions after questions. Helping me try to find my own answers, carefully trying not to offer any.
What are my priorities? #1 family, #2 myself, #3 relationships (friends and clients).
What do I want more of in life? I would like to have more quality time with my son, during his most precious developmental years.
What’s keeping me from it? My work.
Why don’t I just schedule my work around? I feel responsible for others. I want to be there for them. I enjoy helping others. And because I am paid retainers, I feel responsible during work hours.
Ultimately, I realized it would be lovely to have a 3 days weekend.
Why don’t you take another day off? I already take days off occasionally. But my mind is on work or elsewhere.
Why don’t I just drop some work and charge more? I already don’t have that much pressure. I don’t want to mess with a good balance. The more money the more expectations.
… the questions eventually looped on and on.
But ultimately, I decided to work towards Friday as a personal or casual work day instead, rather than a family day. I would still be at the computer, but using those times for me. By taking care of #2 (me) more, I will hopefully be-able to improve the quality of time I have with #1 (my family).
All in all, it was a satisfying session. It’s nice to have someone ask the questions we often forget to ask ourselves.
The biggest takeaway is it’s important to take care of myself, before I can think of others.