Interview Yourself for Working Moms: A Guided Journal

Below is an excerpt from Interview Yourself for Working Moms: A Guided Journal. In the first section you will find questions with sample answers. Following that are the same questions with space for you to fill in your own answers. (You may wish to print this page.) You can order Interview Yourself for Working Moms: A Guided Journal from Amazon.com.

Conversation #83: Grounding Yourself in What’s Meaningful

Explorers

The Heart of the Matter: What’s meaningful to you in your work and family lives?

What’s meaningful to me is pursuing work that enables me to express my creative spirit and help others while sustaining loving, close relationships with my family that nurture our individual gifts, our feelings of security, our sense of belonging, and our self-esteem.

Making Memories: How do you remind yourself of what’s meaningful when you’re stressed out by support issues?

I remind myself why I’m pursuing my work and what I love about being a mom. This lets me replace the feelings of anger, frustration, isolation, and sadness, with feelings of gratitude, love, and joy for the heart of my work and family lives.

Confidence-Builders

Life Lessons: What three times have you felt good about yourself as a result of focusing on what’s meaningful to you in your work and family lives?

I felt very good about redirecting my focus from the p’s and q’s of running my business to really look at why I was doing it. It was also good just to concentrate on writing the best books possible. It was truly liberating to stop second-guessing myself in all of the ambiguous situations related to my children – it freed me up to love and guide them to the best of my ability.

Potential Outcomes: What’s the worst thing that could happen if you tried to reduce your stress by focusing on what’s meaningful to you now? What’s the best thing that could happen?

The worst thing that could happen is that I could end up feeling more stressed out by how much is at stake if I don’t work out my support issues. The best thing would be to find more patience and strength within myself to persevere in the search for resolutions to my support issues.

Transformers

Talk-Over #1: How can you talk to yourself in a new way about the heart of the matter that gives you a more flexible approach to getting the support you need?

I can say: “I will seek support when I need it, even if I need help with mundane things, because support will help me grow, personally and professionally.”

Talk-Over #2: How can you talk to yourself in a new way about making memories that gives you a more flexible approach to getting the support you need?

I can say: “I will use tangible reminders of what’s meaningful to me on all levels. I can reflect upon inspirational quotes; keep inspirational keepsakes nearby; and play music that inspires me.”

Conversation #83: Grounding Yourself in What’s Meaningful

Explorers

The Heart of the Matter: What’s meaningful to you in your work and family lives?

Making Memories: How do you remind yourself of what’s meaningful when you’re stressed out by support issues?



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Confidence-Builders

Life Lessons: What three times have you felt good about yourself as a result of focusing on what’s meaningful to you in your work and family lives?

Potential Outcomes: What’s the worst thing that could happen if you tried to reduce your stress by focusing on what’s meaningful to you now? What’s the best thing that could happen?

Transformers

Talk-Over #1: How can you talk to yourself in a new way about guilt triggers that gives you a more flexible approach to structuring your career?

Talk-Over #2: How can you talk to yourself in a new way about making memories that gives you a more flexible approach to getting the support you need?



 

Excerpted from INTERVIEW YOURSELF FOR WORKING MOMS: A GUIDED JOURNAL by Marci Taub, M.A. Copyright © 2002 Careerstyling®, L.L.C. Excerpted by permission of Careerstyling®, L.L.C. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Marci Taub, M.A., a career counselor specializing in work-life balance issues, is president of Careerstyling®, L.L.C., a seminar and consulting company (www.careerstyling.com). She is the author of Job Notes: Interviews (1997), and the co-author of Job Smart: What You Need to Know to Get the Job You Want (1997) and Work Smart: 250 Smart Moves Your Boss Already Knows (1998), all published by Random House/Princeton Review Books. Marci is also a working mom. She resides in New Jersey with her husband and their two children.