Yin and Yang: How to do you balance work and family life?
I have three children, aged 5.5, 7 and 8. So I do all my work and coaching in school hours. It’s a very important value to both myself and husband, that one of us (me primarily because of his work hours) is home with the kids at all times when they aren’t in school.
It is very challenging working from home, as I tend to do most of the housework during school hours too and I can get easily distracted from the task at hand. So it’s become very important to just take consistent action each day towards my goals of helping more and more women.
I also take outdoor fitness boot camps four early mornings and two evenings a week, which gets me out of the house and energised.
The Drive: What challenges have you overcome?
I have tried and failed (or tried and not done as successfully as I’d hoped) at a small number of fitness and health related ideas in the past four years. Every time that I think maybe I should just give up and get a “real job” I keep coming back to the fact that helping women is my passion. And if I can’t do that, I won’t be happy, therefore my family won’t be happy and all of us will suffer in the long run.
I think it’s incredibly important that we all do what we can to remain passionate and happy in our lives, otherwise, what’s the point?
Balancing the kids, work, husband, housework – it feels like a never-ending juggle. But when I get comments or beaming smiles from my clients about how much their lives have changed for the better, it makes it all worth it and keeps me knowing that I’m definitely on MY right path in life.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
The pros are definitely the freedom to BE PRESENT when it’s needed the most. I am always there for my children. Before and after school. But also maybe more importantly, I am always there on sports days, or when they are going to get a special certificate at school assembly or as the parent helper on trips.
Another pro is that I only have to answer to myself and I’m not juggling negative colleagues like I hear my husband has to.
Cons are, that I only have myself to answer to! It’s sometimes hard to not have someone to bounce ideas off or to give you that push to keep moving forward! Or when you’re not feeling motivated, to look over your shoulder and ensure you’re doing work.
And as mentioned before, it’s hard to stay on task when working from home, as I want to get the washing on and hung out, I want to quickly vacuum so I’m not looking at dirty floors all day. I also need to ensure that my breaks for lunch don’t drag too long.
Therefore another con is, that if I’m not bringing in an income, I’ve only got myself to blame and that fear of failure is always lurking in the background. I need to remain mentally strong to keep pushing forward to ensure I succeed.
Hopes and Dreams: What’s next?
Next on the cards, is an online course where women can move through at their own pace, to change their health around. It’s like what I do with coaching currently, but without the direct support. I am also soon going to be specialising my coaching into emotional eating. As that is a demon I have already slayed and I know it’s a huge part of why women end up in bodies that on the outside don’t represent who they are on the inside. If I can help them slay their emotional eating demons too, then they will experience those health and body gains as well!
Are you ready to prioritize you? Visit Fi Modderman’s website to learn more or sign up, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram to stay in the loop and be inspired.
