It's good to know your priorities in life.  If you have a business and are working on increasing your clients and other aspects of business, you know it takes a lot of work.  Whatever you are doing in life, you are likely to be busy with your activities and schedule.  What do you do when something comes up to change your plans or interfere with your goals?  If you have family or other crises that sometimes come up like I have, then it's good to be prepared for how you want to deal with it.

I recommend knowing what level of issue will take your attention off from your own activities and onto someone else's activities. If you never diverge from your own activities and always accomplish your goals, then this article is not for you.  Share it with a friend who needs it.

Once you have decided what level of issue will take you away from your activities, decide for how long.  Obviously, if there is a death in the family, this unexpected situation will affect your life and plans.  Sometimes, an illness will also affect things.  What I would like you to decide is what things won't affect it, even if others want it to and want your help. If it is not a higher priority than your life, it is okay to say "no".  Or, if it is a higher priority at first, decide when it will no longer be.  What needs to change in the situation to make it a lesser priority or a higher priority again? It does not require your attention any longer than you want it to. Give yourself permission to set a limit and stop giving it your attention or your time whenever you choose to.  That is usually easier to do if you make these decisions ahead of time. 

If you need help in setting limits and sticking to them, contact me.  I have had lots of experience in going from not being able to set limits well at all to being pretty good at it, which leads me to my experience this week.

I was really looking forward to my vacation.  A family emergency occurred on Saturday evening.  I am really expecting this to be a good thing in the long run.  At first, it was okay to give this my time and attention.  Then, not so much.  About two days into this, I decided it was no longer more important than my own life and plans but it took me two days to get out of it, once I decided.  I could have gotten out of it sooner, but not in a way that would have been okay for me or others involved.

Looking back, if I had been more prepared for this situation, I think I could have devoted a day or two to it and then left it for others, if I had handled it differently from the beginning.  This may have required more exploring of the situation, more evaluation for how much I was willing to give up, such as the suggested questions I shared above, and more concern for my own needs.

I did get myself out of the situation and salvaged some of my vacation.  We took a train to Boston Friday and listened to music, saw and ate a lot of good food and had fun relaxing in great weather with many interesting activities going on.  I did get to see family on my vacation.  I think my next vacation will be more of a getaway.

I am continuing with offering a very special deal each week this summer, each for a limited time. See this week's special deal in block below!  I will have specials on almost all of my services, so if you've been waiting for a good time to work with me, this is it!

Please share this email with your friends or through the social media buttons above so everyone can benefit from the specials.