Make "Me Time" to Follow Your Passion

Published on: March 25, 2014

If the idea of “Me Time” sounds like an unrealistic fantasy within the demands of your life, stay with me for a second.

Me time doesn’t have to be a five-day getaway to a luxury spa or even a two-day weekend in a fun city. Me time can be the hour you spending fishing off of the local pier or the glass of really good wine you enjoy after the kids are in bed and the dishes are done. It can be a phone call to an old friend during your evening commute (or while you wait in your car at dance lessons or cheerleading practice). It can even simply be a series of stolen moments to remind yourself of who you are when you’re being the most authentic you.

Issues arise when we start to live every moment of every day for someone else. Yes, we can be of great service to others when we put ourselves second, and we all need to spend some of our time doing exactly that. But when we do so for too long, we lose touch with the things that make our souls sing and our hearts flutter. Art. Music. Sunshine. Sports. Reading. Running. Theater. Special people.

If I gave you 30 minutes right now to do whatever you want, would you be ready? Would you have a list of options from which to choose? Or would it take you time to even remember what it is you like to do?

If you’ve lost touch with your own desires, it’s time to reconnect with them. Spend your first bit of me time making a list of all the things that make you tingle with anticipation. Then make plans to go DO one of them. Soon. Stolen moments strung together are enough to rekindle your inner sparkle. Soon enough, that sparkle will shine through on the outside, too. You’ll find an extra spring in your step and a brightness in your cheeks. People will notice. Most of all, YOU will notice. You’ll start to believe it’s possible to do more of whatever it is you love. To play piano. To join a soccer league. To have a standing phone date with your college roommate. To learn to paint. To go to the opera. To start a blog.

It’s so easy to say we’ll make time later…when this season or that season has ended, when we finish the big project, when the kids are grown…but don’t wait. Begin today. Find the time to follow your heart’s desire and see where it leads you. I’m betting it will lead you back to yourself, which is right where you belong.

Author

Cherylanne Skolnicki

Cherylanne Skolnicki is an expert on how to ease the tension between women's ambitions and their family lives. She has taught thousands of brilliant women around the world how to re-engineer their lives so they can play big both at work and at home while protecting restorative time for themselves. With a B.S. from Cornell and an MBA from Emory, 15 years as a marketing executive at Procter & Gamble, and more than a decade as an entrepreneur, Cherylanne is now a trusted advisor to female leaders in business, medicine, law, science, entertainment, and academia. As the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Brilliant Balance, she also hosts the top rated Brilliant Balance podcast. Her work has been featured on NBC, ABC, and CBS, and in publications like Forbes, Working Mother, and The Huffington Post. She is a Forty Under 40 Honoree, one of Cincinnati’s 100 Wise Women, and a member of the American Academy of Achievement. Together with her husband of 22 years, she is a proud parent of three dynamic teens. With her signature Brilliant Balance Blueprint, she teaches women how to make room for themselves in the middle of their very full lives.

Founder and CCO