By Guest Blogger: Francine Portelance. [hr]
Are you a “Superwoman”? You know what I mean…
You have a can-do attitude! People are in AWE of you. Everyone comes to YOU when they need something done. For sure, you’re the one to call if they need something done tomorrow. After all – you get stuff done. You excel at…everything.
And…You. Are. Freakin’. TIRED!
Or maybe not.
Or maybe…
…You don’t have time to think about that right now, so let’s put it on your to-do list and figure that one out later, shall we?
Here are 10 ways to know if you are a “suffering” Superwoman?
1. You have found yourself in the middle of an important meeting when you discover you are wearing your sweater inside out.
I’m not saying that this happened to me or anything… but it may have...Okay, it did.
2. You have had to do a “duck and tuck” to retrieve the second pair of panty hose (or sock) that is dragging from your pant leg.
I’m not saying that this has ever happened to me… but, really – who can make this stuff up?
3. Every time your car runs out of gas, you feign shock, hoping, praying, and believing your car can run on gas fumes for just “one more” errand.
4. You rush to get your kids to practice, finally showing up somewhere on time! … only… you find out you had the time wrong, and it’s over. You spend the next 3 days wondering what happened.
5. You get your daily fluids by drinking coffee and Red Bull.
6. You had to do a u-turn because you overshot your destination…by 2 miles…because you are preoccupied thinking about your To Do List…
…and then you miss the turn again.
7. People often tell you they don’t know how you do it all, and you secretly think to yourself: “neither do I”.
8. You never volunteer to drive, because you’d be embarrassed if your friends and coworkers knew how cluttered your car was.
…plus, you’re always out of gas.
9. If it were up to you, it would be Cocktail Hour every hour.
10. Ummmmm, what was I talking about?
…..sorry … I got distracted, the dog is barking, I’m reaching for my 10th coffee of the day, the phone is ringing and someone’s at the door.
Maybe you are chuckling at these true life stories about some times I, and some fellow Superwomen got ourselves into some pretty awkward moments (admit it – you can relate to some of those.) Why do we do this to ourselves? How do we get ourselves into these situations? We are smart! We get stuff done! Admittingly, we are hero-like in the way we get things done…
And…therein lies the problem.
They happen, because we have an over-reliance on our Super Hero powers. We think we can do it all, and get away with it (obviously not). I know that these kind of mishaps can easily happen to any of us. When we are pulled in too many directions, we keep piling stuff on our plates and we spread ourselves too thin.
Although we can giggle at these experiences, there is really nothing funny about this, because the truth of the matter is, we are hurting inside wondering how to keep it all together.
If this is you, maybe it’s time to get off the Suffering SuperWoman treadmill and get your life back!
Francine is a Professional Life Coach and Life Balance Expert. She is most notably known for her work with ambitious, overachieving and over-scheduled women, an epidemic she refers to as Suffering SUPERwoman Syndrome.
After receiving a Master’s Degree in Child Development, Francine worked in the field of early intervention and education of infants and preschoolers with special needs. Over time, she became increasingly frustrated with the reality that there wasn’t enough money invested by the government to meet the needs of its most fragile citizens.
Disillusioned and feeling powerless, she left the security of a regular pay check to start a home-based networking business. Within 3 years, she achieved the coveted position of Independent Sales Director for Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Despite all her successes, Francine knows first-hand the challenges of working 7 days a week, with little time with her family and struggling with physical and emotional fatigue. After her second burnout, Francine started re-examining her life and set out on a new journey to reinvent herself, discovering along the way the important elements of living life with balance and creating a new business helping other women get off the Suffering SuperWoman treadmill and to find a better formula for living with purpose, balance and fulfillment.
Francine has a new found passion for living stress-free, for having fun and embracing new challenges. She is especially proud of having competed in her first Dragon Boat Race last year.