Why High-Performing Women Thrive at Work and Struggle at Home

Why High-Performing Women Thrive at Work and Struggle at Home

You already know how to follow systems, structure, and protocol. You just haven’t applied them to your health yet.

Monica Crawford

Women in leadership roles LOVE systems, structure, and protocol.

In the working world that looks like SOPs, policies, structured work time from 8-5 with a 30 minute lunch break, commonly known do’s, don’ts, and expectations of performance metrics.

I find it somewhat ironic that women who thrive on structure during the work day often have no idea how to structure their personal lives.

Meal prep for the week, then the weekend hits and you fall off the wagon, only to feel shameful that you ate like crap and didn’t stick to your normal sleep schedule, to try it all over again the following week, and simultaneously wonder why you still feel like crap or aren’t making progress towards your goals.

Or you’re still fighting the fact that work runs you so ragged you never get a break and never get “caught up” in any aspect of life, let alone focus on you.

Early on in my law enforcement years I was a probation and parole officer. A job that entailed supervising 70-90 probationers at one time. A caseload that was constantly in need of reports written, office visits, home visits, court appearances, and the like.

In the first few months of that position, I was unable to complete the home visits because I was not yet certified to do. So unless my coworkers agreed to help, the work piled up.

When I finally got certified I had an entire caseload of home visits to do and an unrealistic timeline to complete them in, per my supervisor. Less than one year on the job and I was running myself ragged trying to complete everything. Even staying out late into the night to get the job done.

This ultimately led to returning home after work each day and collapsing on the couch from mental and physical exhaustion. Which meant more sleep, less workouts (my coping mechanism), and less time for me. And soon after, the resentment that came with it.

I had to make a decision to get started again. To literally peel my ass off of the couch after work to get up and go work out, because even though I was exhausted,I knew I would feel better after I did the workout. No matter what it did or didn’t look like.

Being young and new the position, I failed to set my boundaries around work. The first piece of structure to prioritize me.

I set my work hours for what worked best for me. I learned not to worry if the work wasn’t done because I only had 40 hours per week to get in what I could reasonably do, despite what anyone else said. There was no need to spend more mental energy on a job that was set up for me to fail anyway.

I made a mental shift to leave work at work.

From there, the next pieces of structure began to fall back into place. I re-prioritized my self-care, often reading books on the weekends in silence with my pups. I had more energy to meal prep and to work out.

It all started with a boundary. Then the rest fell back into place.

However, I already knew what I needed to do with nutrition and fitness to reach my goals, I just needed to recreate my own structure to get back to it.

Structure is the necessary piece to put habits into place. Over time these habits become routine and they stick.

It’s like brushing your teeth.When you were a kid, your parents had to tell you to brush your teeth. They had to educate you on why it was important. Over time you began to do it on your own and never needed that reminder again.

Structure first. Education next. Consistency. New habit.

This is how I help women in leadership as a Health & Performance Coach.

We find a structure that works for you. I educate you on what your body needs from sleep, self-care, nutrition, and exercise to look and feel your best. Through built in accountability, I help you work to stay consistent.

In six months, your new structure and habits are in place. You look and feel great. You lead from a place of overflow instead not survival mode.

You scale your leadership, your impact, and your business. And level up in every way possible.

Curious to see how this might work for you? Let’s hop on a quick brainstorm sesh HERE and work together to find what fits best for you so you can look good, feel great, and lead with strength.