During our trip to Africa, one of the seminar presenters, Phillipa Bond, gave a presentation on the ’seasons of life’. I won’t go into all of it here, but it outlined how our lives are like the seasons (for example, Spring when you are born, then you go into bloom in Summer of your youth, etc). Anyhow, something that resonated with me was the fact she said many women go through a transitional period in their late 30’s (36 - 38) where you kind of think, “Is this all there is to life?” and then go through an experimental stage to sort things out. This was so true for me and I thought I would share my experience with you here.

Everything in my life went pretty much according to plan; nothing spectacular, but just your ordinary life, I suppose. I graduated from university, moved to another country (Australia) to live and work, had a great career in international education working in Australian universities, where I traveled the world (business class, to boot!) recruiting international students; I met Chris and got married; had children and continued working part-time from home with American students studying in Australia.

One evening, after Chris had gone through some personal development course, Chris decided that we should sit down and discuss our goals - both individual and family goals. It was then I had a little ‘wake up call’ on my life, because everything that I desired/dreamed/wanted as a goal was really dependent on Chris, the main income earner of our household. For example, I stated how I wanted to live overseas somewhere for a year or two (like Sweden, or South America) but Chris would then counter-act with he had just started a new company and wouldn’t be able to do anything like that for 5 years or more, etc.

Not that I am blaming Chris, per se, saying he was controlling or dominating my life! Not at all. But it was just a sudden realization of what my role was in the family and in life. I felt like I was just here to make sure everyone else’s life went smoothly (eg the running of the household, making sure the kids’ day was organized, making sure Chris had clean clothes, dinner on the table, etc). At that moment I reduced my entire day-to-day life as, “My career is doing the laundry, and my goals are to see how many loads I can do in a day, efficiently”. Ok, as you can see, I was having a bit of a ‘Is this all there is to life?” moment! I was 36, and I definitely felt stuck in a rut.

It was this moment that I became more enthusiastic about joining Chris in personal development programs. I wanted to get myself OUT of that rut, and more importantly, out of that mindset! I decided to make that year all about me, or Me Incorporated, as I dubbed it. It was a very life-changing time for me.

And I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I didn’t do anything drastic - like train to climb Mt Everest, or anything like that - as you may be expecting! Do you know what? It was the very simple things that started me back on track. For starters, I decided to take control of my health and make it a number one priority. Although I am definitely NOT a morning person (I’ve seen the sunrise before, and don’t really need to do that every day!) I decided to become a morning person and arranged to see Personal Trainer twice a week at 6.30am. This way, I could get in my exercise but be back home in time to organize and get the children to school. I also decided to have a bit of ‘me time’ for things that made me feel good. For example, I arranged to have a full-body massage, a spa pedicure or a facial once a month (and sometimes all three!). It is amazing how these ‘treats’ can make you feel better about yourself and your outlook with others. As they say, “a happy mummy makes for happier children!”.

I also started to read some personal development books. There is one that I have found that encompasses all areas of life: Jack Canfield’s, “How to get from where you are to where you want to be”. That book has been great in getting myself on track to goal-setting and making ideas into a reality. I had never set any kind of goals before, and so this book was very instrumental in getting me to think this way — from small daily goals, to bigger career-driven goals. Basically, I started to question myself more — instead of just saying, “Oh I couldn’t do that” or “that’s a dumb idea”, I would start to think things through more and ask, “Why not?” which has really turned things around for me.

I can look back now and see that I definitely was going through a transition in my life, and I’m pleased to say that I made it through. I’ve started a few new ventures (including this website, Familysuccessclub.com!) and have a more positive outlook on life!

Hello and welcome to my introductory post! I thought I would just write a quick introduction to myself and the types of posts I will be writing. First a little about me: I was born and raised in Boston, USA and came out to Australia in 1989 to spend my Junior Year studying abroad in Adelaide, South Australia. I chose Adelaide because my parents are originally from Adelaide and all my relatives live there. I loved it so much, that after graduation, I returned in 1992 to live and work (with international students studying abroad in Australia). In 1994, I met Chris and we married in 1997. We now live in Brisbane and have three gorgeous and very busy children: Ella (7), Jack (5) and Finn (4).

As we mention in our introductory video, Chris and I have spent countless hours and thousands of dollars on attending personal development, business development and success programs. However, I must say that I started out a bit of a pessimist about all this success and development stuff! I always supported Chris in the programs he was attending, and saw him grow in leaps and bounds both personally and professionally, but I must say, I was kind of dubious that any of ‘this stuff’ would help me! I guess I thought that since I didn’t own my own huge company, etc that this stuff wasn’t even for me. However, once I attended a few personal development programs, I noticed some changes in my attitude and outlook on life (as you will see in subsequent posts).

So my posts will be more anecdotal about the changes I have made/gone through in my life as a result of all the success programs we have participated in. So I would like to think of my posts as more ‘down to earth’ and perhaps aimed more at the partner in your relationship that is not the main business or income earner. I will be doing blogs/posts more on personal development, relationships, children (if you have any), family and friends. Chris is more the business/success man, so I will leave all that to him! Although I am currently developing my own internet business (aimed at students studying abroad in Australia), I am more focussed on improving your self esteem and your relationships with family and friends.

I hope you find my blogs/posts useful!

Here’s to your success!

Ann