Re-Defining Success to Fit our Busy World

With the volume of information we process amidst the extensive distractions of a technological age, there is a limited amount of attention we can give to each aspect of our life. Should we try to do it all? Or should we make different choices. What does it look like to re-define success in the context of a modern world?

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Two Lessons Learned

There are two major lessons that I've learned from the 10 years we searched before discovering my daughter's gluten intolerance. 

• First, that bull-dogged determination is called for in life, sometimes.
• Second, that our life challenges can be used for good in the service of others.

This video addresses both of those lessons, and tells a poignant story of our discovery of gluten and its impact on our family.

Eight Tips to Prepare for Postpartum, Parenthood and Life

Elaine Taylor-KlausThe prospect of becoming a parent for the first time is damn scary! I mean, you take on a job for which you have no experience, it’s a matter of life or death, and it’s 24/7. Talk about a challenge.

I am a seasoned veteran of the shock of the postpartum experience. My first child taught me, the hard way, that the time spent preparing for an ideal birth was incomplete without equal importance placed on preparing for postpartum life and the beginning of parenthood. Let’s just say we had a tough first year togethe

So later on, in my years as a teacher of pregnancy yoga classes for women, and labor and delivery classes for couples, I tried to teach budding parents to use pregnancy, labor and delivery as a training ground for parenthood.

Now, after three kids of my own, and watching hundreds of new mothers and their partners fumble and find their way through the early maze of parenthood, here’s some useful advice for all stages of parenthood, both pregnancy and postpartum (which, by the way, lasts forever after): 

1. You can’t control what happens, you can only control how you respond to what happens.
2. Expect the unexpected and be prepared for anything.
3. Trust your instincts.
4. Learn to ask for help and support, and actually accept it.
5. Let your partner BE a partner – get over the ‘super-woman’ myth that you have to do everything yourself. If there is no partner, find an ally!
6. At all costs, maintain your sense of humor (choose laughter instead of tears.)
7. Create and join community wherever it presents itself. Loneliness and isolation start a vicious cycle.
8. Practice taking care of yourself.

Read the full version of this blog on ShareWiK.com, where she is a regular columnist.

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Elaine Taylor-Klaus is a Life, Leadership & Parenting Coach and the founder of Touchstone Coaching and ImpactADHD™

Staying Power and Forgiveness: Keys to Supporting people with Addiction

Severe addiction causes a lot of pain and guilt for friends and family. Staying with a friend without getting too close, and finding Forgiveness without condoning bad choices is a recipe for success. It may not always lead to a happy ending, but it’s a way to manage the conflict with integrity and respect.

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Finding the Life Lesson in Loss

On my way home from my grandfather's last evening, I finally returned my mother-in-law's call from earlier that morning. I had forgotten. She wasn’t upset, she simply asked, "How are you?" "Other than the fact that I have a ...

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