Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
It’s a work in progress! We’ll need to figure it all out as a family again when we welcome our third baby next month.
I do think knowing what you need as a bare minimum to be the partner and parent you want to be and trying your best to fit that into the week is important. Being compassionate with yourself is huge too and knowing what perfectionist ideals you need to let go of personally helps me.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
The biggest challenge I’ve overcome is probably my own mindset and believing I could figure out the business side of things as it comes. A good friend once told me “everything is figure-out-able” and that’s stuck with me when navigating new hurdles.
A constant challenge, and one that I love, is working with each unique couple in a way that suits them and will enable them to get the most out of their experience. This is not a plug and play type of experience so I’m constantly learning and growing with each new couple I work with.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
As wonderful as it is to wear many hats, you only have one head so sometimes this can be challenging! That said, I’ve always been interested in how small businesses operate so I’ve loved the learning opportunity to get a holistic view on this.
A pro of running your own business is you get to determine what you take on and what you don’t and how you fit that into your life – a real luxury with young children. I also draw a great deal of inspiration from being the one able to make the call to follow my areas of interest and capability as I grow, and to be able to build these into the services I offer. I feel this enables me to continue to bring energy and enthusiasm to the couples I work with.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
Professionally, I’m putting together a Guided Exploration that couples can use to connect and get to a deeper level of understanding of each other in early parenthood or in the lead up to welcoming a new baby. It will involve a series of questions couples can work through together, along with guidance on how to approach these and some theory behind the concepts explored.
The course will be online, self-paced and low cost so I love that this will be accessible to people who perhaps aren’t ready or able to invest the time in a full coaching experience but are seeking some guidance on how to get through this crazy phase together in a way that makes their relationship not only survive but thrive.
Personally, I’m looking forward to taking some time off to be with my new bub in the coming months and hopefully embracing the love-filled messiness that is life as a family of five!
Visit the Nicole Koelewijn Relationship Coach website to find out more about the services she offers. You can also join her communities on Facebook and Instagram.
