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Forbes Coaches Council member Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E®, a time coaching and training company. She is also the author of The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success With Less Stress and How to Invest Your Time Like Money.
What inspired you to become a coach?
When I started my first business in 2005, I had no boundaries and no work/life balance. That was OK at first, but after a couple of years, I felt frustrated that I felt guilty whenever I wasn't working. That lead me to figure out how I could manage my business and schedule in such a way that my company could thrive and I could have guilt-free time off each day.
Following my successful implementation of these strategies, my entrepreneur friends said, "This is amazing! We have great businesses but we're stressed all the time. You should help other people with their time management."
I hadn't thought about being a coach before, but I thought I would give it a try. That "try" happened over seven years ago, and since then I've had the privilege of coaching an incredible group of people from all over the world.
Solving my own problem helped me to help others do the same.
What one piece of advice do you find yourself relying on most? Why?
Coaching is a partnership, not a rescue mission.
As coaches, our job is to empower individuals to help themselves, not to create enabling or codependent relationships. While the right coach can make an incredible impact on your life, ultimately each individual needs to take ownership for their choices.
What is the biggest hurdle your clients face? What advice would you give others struggling with this issue?
My clients' biggest challenge is aligning their time investment with their priorities.
For others struggling in this area, there are three core ways to get out:
- Clarify action-based priorities. This means you know what your priorities are and what actions will put these priorities on top.
- Set realistic expectations. Be clear on how much time you have to spend and what will fit.
- Strengthen simple routines: The more routines you have in place, the easier it is to align your time investment with your priorities.
