FEATURE:
businesswomen have drive
the workout correctly. I will start this on December 15, 2017, so I have a habit of working out established by January 2018.
I CAN HAVE IT ALL (just not all at the same time)
Example 3: I want to write a book so I am committing to writing a minimum of 15 minutes each day. I will pick an avatar of who I would like my target audience to be so each day I can look at that and write to that person. I will have my first rough draft to my editor by November 30, 2018, at 7 p.m. My goal is to have my book ready for self-publishing by March 15, 2019.
By Colene Rogers
Each of the examples above could be broken down into smaller steps and given a deadline so each action step becomes a mini-goal. The one thing most of us forget to do in this process is to build in celebrations throughout the process. The goal can be large, and as we are striving towards it, we may feel like we are not reaching the goal and we feel defeated or may end up quitting altogether. If we build in the mini-goals and small celebrations, we then can see we are making progress. Following is an example of what I mean. I set a goal for myself in 2010 to become a certified coach. I didn’t have an end goal in my mind, but I enrolled in my first course and began the process. Life happened throughout the process so it took me awhile, but eventually, I was a certified coach. This past August I met a huge milestone of reaching my Professional Coaching Certification through the International Coach Federation (ICF). It is hard to believe that it took over seven years but I did it. I rewarded myself throughout the process by setting small goals, usually around completing each course. After each completion, I did things such as have a nice dinner, get a pedicure, get my hair done or take a mini-vacation. You get the idea. So as you set that large goal, make sure to set the mini-goals and CELEBRATE the wins! You can do this; I know you can! Here’s to an awesome, productive and, above-allelse, FUN 2018.
Colene Rogers owns and operates Colene Rogers and Associates, a leadership development and human resources (HR) consulting group. She is also a member of the John Maxwell Team as a certified speaker, trainer and coach and a Senior Certified HR Professional (SHRM-SCP). Colene uses her 30 years of combined experience in sales, human resources, speaking and theatre to work within organizations, training managers and supervisors to become effective leaders through executive coaching, leadership principles and public speaking. Visit her website at colenerogers.com. In 1995, two months before the birth of my first son, I waddled into a Walgreens. When I reached the cash register with my hands filled with items to purchase, the checkout lady’s eyes doubled in size, and with a voice to match, she said, “You look like you are about to burst.” I wanted to crawl under the counter and hide, but the 60 pounds I had gained from the pregnancy wouldn’t allow it. After giving birth, I attempted a return to my full-time job as a real estate agent. Already I had worked over several years in hotel sales, as an HR consultant and a public speaking and debate teacher in the public school system. I soon learned, even with the flexibility that the real estate business affords, what I really wanted was to be home with my baby. My husband and I made financial sacrifices, and I left my job to be a full-time mom. Blessed with good health and good fortune, a professional woman, beginning in her early to mid-20s and continuing into her 70s will have as many as 50 or more available years in which to work. This is a substantial amount of time that allows a career woman with children to creatively
42 TWM • Women Who Mean Business | Special Section
weave a tapestry of work and family into a picture she can be proud of. In her article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” Anne Marie Slaughter says, “Along the way, women should think about the climb to leadership not in terms of a straight upward slope, but as irregular stair steps, with periodic plateaus (and even dips) when they turn down promotions to remain in a job that works for their family situation; when they leave high-powered jobs and spend a year or two at home on a reduced schedule; or when they step off a conventional professional track to take a consulting position or project-based work for a number of years.” She goes on to say that women between the ages of 22 to 35 will often establish themselves and build their credentials. The ages of 25 to 45 can be the years for having and raising children, and professional women with children will require a period of approximately 10 years that are characterized by flexibility and maximum control of their time so as to allow them to devote to their families. Then, in their late 40s they can immerse themselves in their careers, with plenty of time to still rise to the top in their late 50s and 60s.