Hi, friends 👋🏽. I’m Stacy Casson, Chief Play Officer at Things to Think About, LLC. With over twenty years of continuous improvement experience, I’ve learned to stay calm in a crisis. Is your calendar packed to the gills? Are you constantly double or triple-booked? Do you feel like you have to choose who you are going to fail today? You don’t have to face the doubts alone. I’m focusing on supporting parents and caregivers of elementary-aged students as they navigate overwhelm. I write this blog to help them move from overwhelm to action. As Dan Martell says, “A problem well defined is a problem half-solved.”
Celebrate Your Wins
Pause for a moment:
What’s one thing you accomplished this week—big or small?
Did you clean out the junk drawer?
Get your tax paperwork in order?
Give yourself a manicure?
Drop your win in the comments or share it with a friend!
My wins: This week, I got all my paperwork together to do my taxes. I figured out business taxes for the city and county (oof!). I had a clarifying conversation with one of my best friends. My son and I volunteered at the Ignite Broward Art Installation, and I saw him take ownership of explaining how to interact with an exhibit to total strangers. I’ve reclaimed my dining table and designed social media collateral for TransEd's Ice Cream Social.
Celebrating your wins reminds you that you are capable and competent. It helps you to build and maintain momentum when the going gets tough. Being proactive is also a good way to reduce momentum. When you are ready, keep reading to join me in setting ourselves up for success in the week ahead. This week, I’m my client and going back to my beloved Pokémon.
Last week, I told you the story of Peggy and how I was focusing on the parents of high school students. I have shifted my focus to the parents of elementary-aged children due to inner revelations. I realized that I was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, and it not only confused me, but also the people that I can help. I took a hard look at my upcoming webinar and it makes more sense if I work with parents of younger kids. Train up a child in the way they should go and the like.
This week, I want to share a little bit of my story because it feels like I’m trying to climb the ladder I’m building. I am passionate about overwhelm and parenting because I am a parent of five kids. Most people are surprised to hear this, since I’ve worked full-time successfully. Four of the five have graduated from college, and the youngest is in high school. That’s why I thought I would focus on high school parents. I was not a perfect parent. Who is? My kids will tell you that I owned up to it and worked very hard to become the parent I am today. A huge part of my success has been applying continuous improvement tools to parenting. It may sound like gobbledygook to you, but 5S, Gemba, PRS, and DILO gave me the structure to empower my children. These are tools related to getting organized, problem-solving, and time management.
I’ve leveraged these tools in my parenting and distilled them into manageable, actionable ways for other parents. It’s uncomfortable watching your children fail at times, but learning happens in the struggle. I used to be someone who hated change. I sat with that discomfort and eventually became a Change Management Essentials facilitator. I’m learning to shape change as Octavia E. Butler wrote about in the Parable of the Sower. It’s easier to embed change at the beginning of a project than to try to guide people set in their ways. I’ve unlearned quite a bit as a parent and human being. This is why focusing on elementary school makes more sense.
I’ve been a coach for many years. It’s not a profession, it’s a calling. I’ve used my coaching skills to become a parent who is an excellent listener and someone who invites reflection. My children and clients, never feel judged, and always are empowered to find a way forward. I’ve been told that people walk away from a conversation with “clarity, renewed energy, and a few concrete ‘to-dos.’”
“Okay, Stacy, nice story, but what’s in it for me?” Learn from my fails and get the tools you need to navigate parenting and overwhelm during these chaotic times. I use Pokémon cards as one of my favorite tools because they are fun. Play lowers the stakes and allows you to tap into your intuition. Let’s give Stacy, the client, a code name: Josephine. I use storytelling in my coaching to help clients get a bit of objectivity from their situation. It’s easier to help others. Josephine, is a brilliant coach and passionate about helping parents. She has recently shifted from working with parents of high school students to parents of elementary students. She is trying to wrap her head around what that means and how to proceed.
Josephine reflected on a few Pokémon cards with me, and these were her takeaways. She tells me she has realized she has fallen into the urgency trap and needs a break from social media. Josephine tells me that people will go on with their lives with or without her “How to Have a Not So Manic Monday” posts. She has to leave the training arena and slow down.
So dear readers, I am taking a break and will come back stronger than ever before. I invite you all to make the time and space to sit with your thoughts. Consider journaling since handwriting triggers more interconnected brain activity. The answers are within. I’ve shared the pictures of the cards I used if you would like to reflect on them. Namaste
