When The Season Calls For You To Just Do Your Best

Recovering from a foot surgery, I, Kristi Falany, was thrust into a season of life that demanded a reevaluation of my own standards of "doing my best." In the intimate space of this episode, I unravel the threads of self-compassion and intentionality that wove themselves into my period of healing. As a life coach and business owner, I grappled with the juxtaposition of immobility and the inner drive that propelled me to constantly achieve. This personal narrative explores the transformation that occurs when shifting from the relentless pursuit of more to embracing the present moment and the pursuit of excellence within it. I share the insights gained from my own coach, which illuminated the beauty in responding with grace to life's varied seasons—be it creation, learning, or rest.

Join us as we traverse the often untold stories of our challenging seasons, shedding light on the profound growth that lies within shared vulnerabilities and community support. Drawing from spiritual wisdom, I extend a heartfelt invitation to those navigating their own tumultuous times, encouraging perseverance and excellence amidst adversity. For the high achiever struggling to decelerate, or the soul searching to rekindle a lost spark, this conversation is a beacon guiding us back to the person we are destined to be. Discover, together with me, the art of thriving in our current circumstances, and recommit to a life lived with unwavering intention.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hi, I am Christy Ballard-Fellaini. I am a certified life coach who found herself at 42, freshly divorced kids off to college, and having never dated in my adult life, I was starting in the middle. If you haven't yet hit, start on your middle time in life, let's do it together. Let the journey begin. Hello, hello, my friends, I hope that you are having a wonderful day today. So today is a big day. Today is the day that I am going for my follow-up appointment after having foot surgery.

Speaker 1: 0:52

So, in case you did not know that, two weeks ago I had foot surgery, surgery to remove some bone spurs, surgery to repair some plantar fascia issues, and so for the last two weeks it's been kind of tough. I have been immobile for the most part, meaning that I can't drive anywhere, I can't take myself anywhere. I have spent a ton of time in recovery on my keister, with my foot propped up, with my foot on ice. Luckily, I am able to go places now I feel more comfortable taking my scooter out, but I have to be dependent on either my husband or a friend, and so the last two weeks have definitely been a different season for me. So you know, of course, as you are recovering from any type of injury or surgery or what have you. You know that as more time goes on, you start to feel better, you um start to feel like you're making progress, right, you start to see that you're making progress. And so that has definitely been a road to travel, right? Because, of course, in the first couple of days, right after surgery, you know, you're coming off of the anesthesia, coming off of trying to figure out like, how to navigate things, how to.

Speaker 1: 2:42

For me, it was like, okay, how am I going to stay off of my foot, how am I going to at least be mobile in the house, how am I going to learn this new way of, you know, basic self-care and trying to run a business on top of that? And so I remember the first couple of days after the fact, and I was thinking to myself, you know, even before having had the surgery, I wasn't even expecting the hiccup that it was going to cause in my business, because my line of thinking as being an overachiever was that, you know, after the first couple of days, I'm jumping back in, I'm ready, I'm going for it. Right, I'm doing all of the things that I would normally do to grow my business and to keep my business going Well, my body had other things in mind and so I really, really had to slow myself down. And so I remember having the conversation with my coach within that first couple of days and I had to tell her. You know, I wanted to reach out to her because I was struggling in that mindset that sometimes us high achievers have, you know, as who put a lot of pressure on ourselves, who want to continue things, to keep rolling the ball. You know, even when our circumstances want to put a halt to things are telling us that we absolutely need to slow down. And so I was struggling with my mindset of am I able to be in this season of recovery and keep my business flowing in the direction that it has been flowing?

Speaker 1: 4:37

And so I remember going to her and asking her the question how can I, during this season, just do the bare minimum, how can I just do the bare minimum to just get by? And I love what she said. She said, first of all, that idea of bare minimum probably doesn't feel good for you Thinking about doing the bare minimum. She said, of course I know you, christy, I've been working with you for a while. I know that you are someone who is a go-getter, who is constantly striving for more, is constantly, you know, in the process of creation, and so when you think about doing the bare minimum, I know that that's a stretch for you. She said why don't you choose to do your best? And I had to pause for a minute and I was like, yeah, that feels way better, choosing to do my best. And so you guys, there are seasons in our lives where we need to just choose to to do our best.

Speaker 1: 6:03

So here are some of the seasons that I am seeing some of my clients going through A season of creation, wanting to create more for themselves. A season of listening and learning, so being open to listening what life is trying to teach them and being able to learn from the circumstances. They're currently going through A season of grief, a season of quiet. Several of my clients, their careers or their business center around tax season, and so they are just grateful to be in a season of quiet right now. Some are in a season of rest and me myself a season of recovery. And so that's how I like to define the different circumstances in our lives that we go through as seasons, because if you look back over your life. Things are constantly changing, circumstances are constantly changing, and so, if we look at them as being just a season, it helps us to decide that it is here for a short period of time. And how can I continue to move forward? Because how you choose to respond to the season that you're in does matter.

Speaker 1: 7:43

And so when my coach mentioned to me why don't you just concentrate on doing your best? This is exactly why it made so much sense, because, being a high achiever, there have been times when I have just wanted to push through, where I wanted to check the box. I wanted to check everything off of my to-do list, and so, despite what my body was telling me whether it needed to be a season of slowdown, a season of rest or a season recovery I would want to be in a posture of let me just push through to get it done. And so what happens during that time is, if you are someone who is a high achiever, you often become super, super hard on yourself. And again, I'm speaking to you from experience.

Speaker 1: 8:40

It becomes so easy for us to be hard on ourselves, and I know for me that when I am pushing through and when I am being hard on myself, that is not the time that the best results come into fruition. That is the time when the work results just don't come. When I'm trying to push through. It makes it so much harder for me to create in a posture of trying to push through. And then I noticed for myself when that happens is that this is the time when the shame and the guilt start to come in. This is the time when I start to feel ashamed for the way that I am trying to show up and it's just not working. Or I start to get into a season of feeling guilty about how things just aren't working out when I am trying to push through, even though my body is trying to tell me this is not you working from doing your best.

Speaker 1: 9:51

So something I want to remind you of is that we are the creators of our reality. We create peace, we create calm and clarity just as easily as we create chaos and calamity. So we have got to listen to ourselves, we have got to trust ourselves. We've got to know that we know when we are doing our best. So we've really got to get good about checking in with ourselves and responding appropriately to the season that you are in. So how do we even start to recognize when we are in a season that calls for us to do our best?

Speaker 1: 10:41

The truth is, it's actually every season, every season that you find yourself in, you have the opportunity to do your best, and sometimes your best looks different in different seasons, and for me right now, my best looks way different when I am in a season of recovery versus when I am in a season of recovery versus when I am in a season of creation, and so at this time, I am allowing that season of recovery. I am listening to my body and listening to what it is that my body needs in order to heal from this surgery. I'm showing up in my business as it feels best, and what feels best to me is giving a hundred percent to the clients that I currently have on my roster and continuing to nurture the clients that will be coming to me in the future, and everything else is about allowing my body to heal. So, as I mentioned, today is a big day. It is the next step in the process of healing. Today, at my doctor's appointment, I am going to be having my stitches removed. He's going to move me into a boot and expect for me to be a little bit more mobile. I am hopeful to find out what will happen in the weeks to come that are going to help me to get back to the lifestyle that I am normally accustomed to.

Speaker 1: 12:39

So you guys, stay tuned. I will keep you up to date with all that is going on. If you are someone who attends Coffee and Connections, please join me virtually this month. I have a super exciting topic that I am going to be sharing with you, and so I will post the link inside the show notes so that you can make sure that you join me virtually this month. It's May the 8th. If you are someone who listens to this podcast and you want to know more about this Coffee and Connections thing, click that link to find out all of the information.

Speaker 1: 13:18

Now, if you know someone who is in a season that they are struggling to find their best, I encourage you to share this episode with them, because I believe that knowing that other people struggle in different seasons of their life and how they choose to respond to them can be so encouraging when we know that others are going through it with us.

Speaker 1: 13:49

The biggest comfort that I have found during this season and I heard this from my pastor one time is that God has already seen this day, and so the comfort in knowing that he knows what it is that I am going through and he has already seen me through it is something to hold onto and something to be encouraged by. So, until next week, continue to do your best in the season that you are currently in, and I look forward to talking to you soon. Who is your life coach? I would love the opportunity to work with you as you are rediscovering the woman you were meant to be. Visit christyballardfelainicom for more information on how we can work together to ignite that passionate, enthusiastic woman who may have been tucked away for some time. Let's start in the middle together.