The Journey to the Degree

I remember that evening, it was dark, cold, and raining out. I was rushing to my mother’s house to drop my daughter off so I can go to school and take the Algebra test that I was sure I was going to finally pass. My now 18-year-old daughter was about 9 years old at the time. Like normal, I ran out of my house with flip-flops on which was okay, except that day it was raining so it wasn’t the best idea. Running into my mother’s house I hit my foot on the stairs, and a sharp pain shot through my whole leg. Didn’t have time to process the pain so I dash out the door to school. In the car, I realized I couldn’t put my shoes on so I ran in the rain to class. Took my test and passed, but the end result for me was a broken toe.

Back then as an adult student, I worked a full-time job, my daughter was an athlete, I was active in church and a part of a large family that constantly pulled my attention. My life was FULL, and today it has only multiplied. (Smiles) I now run several businesses, host & speak at events, volunteer, lead in the church, author books, and own a publishing company. I often think about how I am doing this, but I do it every day and the lives that are positively impacted keep me going.

There are a few principles I have gained along my journey that has helped me get this far:

✓ Prioritize my list of to do’s

✓ Schedule EVERYTHING to include downtime

(Yes, even that Lifetime movie nights).

✓ Give yourself grace if you fall off of the schedule and

just jump back in there

✓ Establish healthy boundaries. Say NO when you need

to and know when to sit down.

✓ Create a cut-off time to prevent all areas of your life

from spilling over into the next area.

✓ Get accountability for support and encouragement

The truth is that you can only do what you can do, and good self-care & work-life balance come with gained discipline along the way. It will evolve as YOU evolve, some things may be a priority in one season and take second in another. There really isn’t EVEN distribution of pursuing a thing, it is organizing of the goals in question. Being a single mom with goals I had to try a lot of things and pivot as needed. I stayed focused on purpose, and my why as I climbed out of bed daily even when tired or even ill to attempt to conquer the world.

After years of an unimaginable schedule, I finally graduated with my bachelor’s degree in Psychology & Christian Counseling. I remember the sense of pride I felt in accomplishing something that was once just an aspiration. I encourage you to achieve your goals but never forget to REMEMBER YOU! You can’t enjoy the fruits of your labor in a state of burnout, maintain balance.