Q: I am a 36-year-old divorced mother of two. I work full time and attend school part time. I really don’t know what my calling is. I am [pursuing] a degree in business administration, but I don’t know where I am going with it. Right now, I am a conference planner. I’ve got debt issues, procrastination [issues],
and I’m trying to pull it all together — sometimes the road gets hard. I have so much to do, and I am so unorganized. Can you help a sista out? Please!–S. Malloy, Beltsville, Maryland
A: Take some time for yourself — a couple of hours each week away from work, school, and kids — to
figure out what you want out of life and what makes you happy. If you are going to be happy as a working, single parent and part-time student, you must be clear about why you’re taking all of this on.Write down your five most important priorities. Resist the urge to consider your family and friends’ needs; this is about what you really want. At the end of each week, ask yourself: How much time and energy did I devote to addressing these priorities? If your priorities and activities aren’t in alignment, make some changes in either the former or the latter, until they match up.
I recommend two books: I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It by Barbara Sher (DTP; $14.95) and Choosing Truth: Living an Authentic Life by Harriette Cole (Simon & Schuster; $22).
Mail your motivational questions to: Help Yourself, BLACK ENTERPRISE 130 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011 or send an e-mail to:edmonda@blackenterprise.com.