It was December 2020, I just came out of quarantine after visiting my mother-in-law in the Netherlands, she was ill, and traveling to see her was the most important thing I could do for her, my family, and myself. The day I went back to work, still wary and full of emotions, I met my new manager at the clinic. She was warm and welcoming when she said: “I am so glad to meet you Margreet, I’ve heard so much about you. Your name comes up in so many conversations.” I must have looked at her, confused, not knowing what she meant. She clarified herself and that clarification helped me understand myself a little deeper. per. She said: “You are involved in so many aspects of what the diabetes department is trying to accomplish.” I knew she was right.
Saying Yes!
One of my powers is in saying “yes” to new projects and getting them off the ground. In seeing a need and trying to find a solution, understanding a problem and wanting to be part of the solution, looking to add value in everything I do. However, that power also has a downside. The downside shows itself by me spreading myself thin easily, being a people pleaser, feeling like I am disappointing people when I don’t deliver on my expectations in a timely manner, or being disappointed in myself or others if people don’t invite me to be part of a solution. When I become aware of any of the downsides I need to slow down, decide what is really going on, and adjust accordingly. Usually doing this helps enough to move forward again.
Lighten Your Plate
The name “Lighten Your Plate” for my business came to me in 2012, I had just finished my bachelor’s at Sacramento State University, California. The name referred to my education in nutrition and dietetics and the conviction that lightening our plate was the solution to preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Diseases that are going rampant in this country and other western countries. Chronic Diseases in America | CDC . I never gained a single client in 2012-2013 but did work as a contractor discussing healthy lifestyles while cooking with small groups. Jumping forward to 2020, I knew that Lighten Your Plate was still the name for my new business as a life/carer-coach and nutritionist, even though the meaning had changed.
Coaching and then some…
At the time of this writing, I am the sole proprietor of Lighten Your Plate, the CEO, the coach, the thinker, the marketer, the developer, the nutritionist, the health coach, and the personal trainer. I have given up on what was my dream job as a lifestyle coach at a local clinic, to make room for more freedom, a chance to travel, and do what I love most; to coach. However, to be a coach, there need to be clients and thus I am also the marketer, the thinker, the developer, etc…
Taking Care
Lighten Your Plate is here to discuss the balance between using our powers and overusing them, making ourselves useful and making systems depended on ourselves, crippling them when we have to pull back to save ourselves, the balance between being there for people, while not overtaking their issues, to discuss nutrition, values, dreams, and so much more.
Words that I at times need to tell myself are, “I am enough, I don’t have to solve everything, I can stick with my strong suit, someone else will be the coach, nutritionist, or listener when clients decide differently”. I am learning to practice constant weighing and lighting of what I tend to pull towards me naturally, and then having to decide what to let go off.
It might be the season; it might be today’s strong winds when I write this… Anyhow, it’s time for spring cleaning: my question for you and me is: “What can you let go of today, so you continue to follow your power?”
