Life Coach Kim Fulcher on Making Time to Attain Your Dreams

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Welcome to Ask an Expert where we reach out to industry-appropriate professionals for insights and answers to the complex questions mothers in our community are wrangling with.

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Life Coach Kim Fulcher on Making Time to Attain Your Dreams

There’s no question that the transition to motherhood can set other facets of a woman’s life off-balance. For some it means putting career plans on hold. Others leave the professional world altogether. And even smaller goals—getting fit, putting time into a hobby, traveling somewhere you always wanted to go—can be hard to make progress.

For years at Mamapedia we’ve heard moms share, encourage, and empathize with each others’ efforts to attain their dreams and fulfill their lives. It’s unsurprising that this is a hot topic. It’s complicated stuff. But there are professionals who focus solely on helping women realize their life goals and dreams. So we reached out to one to tap into her wisdom, and to share it with you.

Kim Fulcher is a nationally-renowned life coach, author, and speaker. Kim wrote Remodel Your Reality™; Seven Steps to Rebalance Your Life and Reclaim Your Passion, along with dozens of e-books and eCoaching programs, including My Life Compass. She was named one of 2011’s Enterprising Women of the Year by Enterprising Women Magazine.

Here are some of Kim’s insights around making time to make your dreams come true:

The most frequent complaint I hear from men and women around the world is “I don’t have enough time to _________.” No matter what you want in your life; whether it’s a successful business, financial independence, a loving relationship, a fit body, or any combination of desires, you must make time in your day-to-day reality if you want to bring your dreams to life.

The truth is; you’re never going to find time to do the things that matter to you. (I assure you, it’s not hiding). You must make it. That means you must sit down with your calendar, and schedule regular appointments with yourself to focus on your dreams and goals.

You do have time to create the reality of your dreams. You simply need to identify the places in your life where you’re currently using times in ways that don’t serve your true desires.

• Do you volunteer for projects you don’t really care about, only to find yourself frustrated and resentful when you have to show up to make good on your commitment? (If so – stop that!)
• Do you accept social invitations from people you don’t even like that much because you’re afraid of hurting their feelings if you decline? (If so – stop that!).
• Do you spend time carelessly; cleaning the junk drawer, aimlessly surfing the internet, or reorganizing your sock drawer because those activities allow you to avoid the ones you know really matter – and therefore scare the hell out of you? (If so –stop that!)

Admittedly, I’m being a bit facetious, and yet, I’m doing so because change really is that simple. Decide you are going to use your time deliberately, and be honest with yourself about the ways you waste this precious resource today.

Here’s a question to answer from your heart:

Deep down inside, you know how you waste time. (I’ve never met someone who didn’t have at least one exquisitely honed strategy for doing so). Think about a typical day in your life. What is the one thing you could stop doing today, that would allow you give yourself the gift of 10 minutes a day to work on your life?

And finally, here’s a challenge to take:

Take action to eradicate this time waster from your life!

• If you have an external commitment you need to get out of, make the call and get out of it.
• If you have committed your time to social engagements you don’t particularly care about, make the call to cancel them.
• If you waste time on ineffective activities, determine how you can get yourself back on track when you start to veer of course.

This week, own the truth that you are in charge of your time. You get to choose how you invest this precious resource. As you identify where you’re currently wasting your time and take steps to reclaim it, you are laying the foundation for the life you dream of to come into being

Kristen McClusky is the mother of two precocious young girls, and the wife of a charming geek. She blogs at motherload and works at Mamasource.