mindset inspo from a modern slave

Embracing change is never about having enough time.

It’s about making it important enough to you first.

Then you’ll make the time.

Case in point...

A little while back I had my most confronting coaching call yet.

This woman was a full-time mum, married with teenage kids, and living in one of Sydney’s wealthy, leafy suburbs.

She told me she had started putting on weight around her tummy since turning 50. She wanted to stop feeling like a ‘frumpy mum’ and get back to feeling fit, strong and confident again.

It seemed like the normal, all-too-common picture.

But then things got interesting.

She also told me that she needed to hide her exercise from her husband because he believed she should be spending her time cleaning the house.

He worked full-time and still managed to play tennis & golf…

But she was expected to stay inside, prepping meals and cleaning even when the kids were at school.

To the point where if her husband walked in and found her doing yoga in the living room, he’d tell her that the toilet needed cleaning.

This woman was virtually a modern slave.

Needless to say, my feminist radar was on high alert. But it’s not my place to judge, nor am I a relationships counsellor.

And anyway, she was resolute.

She told me she lived for her kids but wanted to feel good about her body again.

She just wasn’t quite sure what she wanted or how she’d go about it.

So, we made a plan.

Actually, she made the plan.

I just asked questions and offered support.

She worked out that a couple of mornings a week, she could get up at 5am and work out in the garage before the others were awake.

She also planned three days to sneak in a beach run/swim while her husband was at work.

And although I gently explored whether there was any wriggle room for her husband or kids to help out, it became pretty obvious that she was on her own.

But a woman with a vision is a force to be reckoned with.

By the end of the call, I could hear a shift.

There was a quiet resolve.

An internal fire.

She finished the call excited to begin her journey and put her plan into action.

And I left that call feeling completely humbled and inspired.

I got three takeaways out of that call:

1: I am so bloody grateful I’m married to a man who a) respects women and b) knows how to operate the washing machine (and currently does all our laundry).

2: No man can ever take away a woman’s power. Because it comes from within.

3: Women like her are why I do what I do.