Success – and stress — in Krista Garrett’s world occurs on two fronts: the business and the domestic. She is an entrepreneur and a mom. But when talking to her, Krista sounds confident, capable, and collected despite the pressure and pull of two distinctly different and complicated realms of responsibility. She sounds warm while also professional, a combination that fits her line of work.
It is her assurance that makes it so difficult to believe that things weren’t always so balanced. In truth, her current self-assurance is the result of a courageous journey of transformation that she undertook.
Her business began well enough, but then her dual roles of mother and business owner took a toll. Krista was so entrenched in a cycle of negativity that she couldn’t see the effects until it was damaging her.
“I had created a negative framework,” Krista explains, and she became stuck. “I was in a chaotic state, feeling panic attacks in the middle of the night.” Krista had begun to feel overwhelmed, and a classic flight-or-fright response took over; she froze. “I felt dread facing the day. I knew that this day would end, tomorrow would start, and I still wouldn’t know where to begin or what to do.” The worst part, Krista began to see the situation as a failure, further leading her into a tunnel of negativity. “I felt like I was a failure,” she recalls.
Krista bravely recounts the darkness of those days, and while she was suffering, it hurt worse knowing that so was her business – and her family. “My negativity affected others. My employees, my husband, and my kids were jumping into the hole with me. My kids were watching me, seeing me model behaviors that might become theirs, and I had to find another way. I couldn’t let the hopeless feelings trickle down into them.”
What do you when your passion dissolves, turning into things you “Have To Do” so that everything feels like a chore?
Change.
At the end of her rope, her company failing and failing as a result of her actions, Krista dug deep and sought answers. She knew in her soul that she didn’t want to give up, so then the only option was to act differently. “It would only get better if things changed,” she said. – If she changed.
“I needed someone to say, ‘With hard work and determination, you will succeed.’” That’s when Krista reached out for coaching, and she found momentum. Once it started, changes kept coming.
“First, I felt relief. I wasn’t shamed, but I had to change going forward to create a new narrative,” said Krista. But, how to go about change felt elusive.
For Krista, she needed to break the negativity and feel unstuck, and the answer was in her planner.
“Before, my perspective was negative because I didn’t see my accomplishments or manage my goals. They weren’t realistic,” Krista explained. Without a clear perspective about success and unrealistic goals, feelings of negativity and failure easily took root.
With her planner, Krista began to see a clearer and more manageable vision of her business – and life. Instead of being just a calendar, she recognized that the planner was unique because it gave her a holistic view of her business that included instead of compartmentalizing her life.
Now, Krista began to use the monthly goals and daily goals to break things down into manageable action items. She began to complete goals and feel accomplished; she began to gain momentum.
“It was more manageable time, more meaningful. I felt more productive, less overwhelmed. Now, it was divided into manageable blocks,” said Krista.
Instead of unfinished goals lingering, potentially becoming forgotten or last-minute efforts, Krista was able to schedule the remaining goals into her planner for the next week, keeping track and seeing them ahead of her.
“It was concrete and visual,” she said. No more guessing, no more fright-and-freezing at the magnitude of 15 things facing her all at once, all in one day.
And it began to affect more than just her business. Her planner also made a difference to her life.
Before, feelings of self-loathing stood between her and her loved ones. It was a pattern of sacrificing for the business, feeling resentful, and then behaving in negative ways. The loathing only increased realizing the kids were watching. They saw her attitude and her approach to health. They were seeing the worst. “I had to ask myself, Am I putting on the best example?” she said.
When her planner listed self-care, Krista understood. She had not been caring about herself; she was sacrificing her needs. Forgetting about herself had become a pattern. Now, the planner added back those needs. “It wasn’t just what you plan Monday through Friday–It’s the whole thing: day to night, 7 days a week.” Life. The planner gave her a chance to include self-care goals and do the things that matter to her and her health.
So, Krista took the time to learn the system, and she embraced what it had to offer. “You have to be willing to have faith, to go out on a limb. Take the time to understand it and see the intent of it,” Krista said. She appreciated the process, and she began to see change, slowly and surely. Her productivity increased, her outlook changed for the positive, her motivation returned, less things fell through the cracks, and she had a more constructive mindset.
Small change leads to big impacts. . .. Momentum.
“It was the questions at the end of the day. What gave you peace today? Joy today? Love for yourself today?” Krista recalled. Through the journal questions, the planner gave shape and substance to her day. Krista began to develop her perspective and take back control over her business. “Change is slow, but constant. The more you can see it, the more you can shape it. That’s what the planner did for me,” she said.
Today, Krista continues to battle against negative default reactions to stress, but she has everything she needs to succeed in her endeavors and push back against the negativity. In a word, her planner brought her Catharsis, an utter cleansing of the past behaviors and perspective so that she could build a new framework, undergoing a transformation that saved her business and in no small measure, herself as well.
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xo
Jennifer