Maximising Your Potential: How Coaching Can Empower Working Parents

How many times have you thought “how did i get here?”  or is it that you don’t even get the time to stop to wonder where you are? 

As a working parent these thoughts and feelings are all too common.

We may have muddled our way through maternity leave, or even if we mastered our maternity leave, getting back to work can  feel busy, heavy, and feeling like we are just keeping our heads above water.

And then time passes: we adapt, we multitask, we live hectic lives as a working parent and find that we manage to just get through each day.

But that’s just it - we are ‘going through the motions’.

We are surviving but not thriving.

So how do get out of this rut? How do we maximise our potential at work and at home? Prioritise you - As a parent we think of others before ourselves, because we are needed. We don’t often stop to think what we need ourselves. 

The first thing we should do is prioritise our own physical, mental, and emotional health.  

Getting support is key: Choosing to work with a coach can be the first step. Hopefully you have a support network you can turn to when needed. However, working with a coach can often help lighten the load in a different way and empower you by providing a supportive, non-judgemental space to vent, share and garner new focus.

Understand your sense of self and how work fits into this - As a parent we can forget who we really are and what we want. Working with a coach to explore your identity, values, beliefs, skills and strengths can make a huge difference to your motivation, success and ultimately, happiness.

It’s here you can gain clarity on your personal and professional goals, have the space and time to define what you want to achieve in your career and family life and identify your priorities. This will assure your goals align with who you are and what’s most important to you, helping you to feel more engaged and present, enabling you to make intentional choices and spend your time & energy most effectively.

Gain confidence, self-belief and ditch the guilt: Often the juggle of work and family responsibilities can lead to self-doubt and a lack of confidence in both arenas. And guilt is a hugely common emotion experienced by working parents, feeling torn between their professional commitments and family responsibilities.

A coach can help you explore and understand how to manage these emotions as well as support you build strengths that are lacking. A coach can help you recognise and appreciate the skills and achievements that may have become blindspots for you. Through the coaching partnership you can enhance your belief in your abilities and manage your emotions effectively to successfully manage both the professional and parental roles you play.

Get practical: Set boundaries. A parent coach can help facilitate some logistical thinking too.

It’s really important to make decisions around the practical issues of being a working parent such as childcare and flexible working. A Home Contract is a brilliant way to do this. It will help you decide how your home and working lives can be best managed, set mutual expectation and help create boundaries.

Setting boundaries between work and home but also between what you do for others and what you do for yourself will leave you more time to prioritise you and can contribute to healthier relationships, reduced stress levels and improved work-family integration.

Everyone is unique in their needs and challenges but what is universal is how coaching can empower parents to navigate the complexities of work and family life successfully, fostering personal growth, and achieving a sense of fulfillment in both spheres.