What We’re Talking About This Week

Given that I help people get started working on goals and reach them more easily, why is it that I never encourage New Year’s resolutions?

Because for the most part, they don’t work. Intentions on the other hand, do work. And using them makes the process of achieving something a lot more enjoyable.

Do you know that only 8% of people reach the goals they set? 8%!!! That’s all!

And knowing the seasonal time for setting goals is closer every day.

Dream big. Because dreams give rise to the journey. And that path, the training, the lessons that bring growth, the connection --- in relationships and to something bigger than you, experiences that create memories that last forever.

Anyone following music these days?

Ed Sheeran just released a new single “Bad Habits”. And it’s not just Ed who has bad habits on the mind. It’s something I want to talk about too…

There’s nothing like being deprived of something to help us really appreciate its value.
Among COVID’s blessings was what it taught you about what really matters to you. And this past year deprived us of a lot didn’t it?

...family
…friends
…normal life and “counted on” social interactions…

There’s nothing like a little deprivation to provide perspective.

I love seeing people getting together again. It feels so good to just hang out. Mother’s Day. Birthdays. Upcoming weddings! It really hit me when I saw my best friend from college post a picture of her mouth-watering brunch, “1st meal out in over a year!”. Followed by an open invite to vaccinated friends that the guest room is ready and waiting for anyone ready to drop by.

Finally… our lives are happening again. Our world is opening up.

Welcome back to part two of our worry less series. We’re going to explore 5 ways you can generate a greater sense of calm no matter who you are, where you are or what you do ... so let’s get to it!

If you think you spend too much time in the land of worst-case scenarios and “what ifs?” or catch yourself stressing and can’t seem to stop – you’re not alone…

Now rather than dive in and give you a prescriptive list of things to stop the worry, I want to ask you a bit of a provocative question - as good coaches do … “How does worrying add to your life?”

Keep reading for some specific ways to combat worry. Because life is going to happen!

Do you feel like your “get up and go” got up and went? Are you a morning person, yet you’ve had a harder time getting out of bed lately? Are you pushing through your days to get stuff done? Have you experienced COVID brain fog that’s had you tune out and be more passive than usual? Forgive yourself. It has been a rough year.

I want to talk about your energy. Will you join me?

Any person who has a heartbeat has probably felt overwhelmed at some point or another in their life. Feeling overwhelmed can be really uncomfortable. However, I also know that it’s well within your power to stop feeling that way. Join me to get yourself back into a state of feeling in control, calm, productive!

I want to break from more serious topics because we could all use some joy. Life is Now. So too, joy must be now. A key piece of my clients achieving the success they do is that we work together to discover and apply what works for them. I encourage you to take a few minutes right now to brainstorm your joy makers.

Effective time management is one of the most important best practices for achieving your goals while maintaining peace of mind. Getting the results you want. You no longer measure your success by how much you got done, but by what I did today will give me the life I want… for myself and the people I care about.

So what does it mean to be a leader in your own life? You can bring leadership to anything: your health, a relationship, your family, your community. It doesn’t have to be an official role like a teacher or coach. It has more to do with an approach designed to make something happen for you or others.

New Year’s celebrations were vastly different this year. We shared our resolutions for the coming year. Many resolutions we shared were identical to the ones we shared the year before. Why are resolutions so difficult for some of us to achieve?

We’re at the end of our blog series on grief. I hope you come away with tools to help yourself and support others during the journey that grief takes us on. Over this series of blogs, you’ve learned that experiencing feelings just means it’s time to pay attention - and to feel those feelings. Letting go of some of the pain.

Grief can be a difficult topic to talk about. Letting go lets you remember the person or experience and be free of the pain of the loss. When you hold onto pain, you’re likely closing your heart so you won’t feel the hurt. Which means you close it off to fully feeling love in other relationships.

I believe that too many people suffer when they grieve, and it doesn’t have to be that way. There’s a difference between pain and suffering. Think of suffering as pain with distress added to it. Pain is a healthy, necessary part of loss. Suffering is not.

I want to pause my blog series on grief to acknowledge the beautiful holiday upon us. Thanksgiving. Just the word embodies everything I believe so profoundly in – gratitude and giving thanks. While many of my readers will struggle with feelings of grief over this holiday, I invite you to find a moment to be thankful.

This has been a year of grief and loss. We grieve those we have lost too early; we grieve the way we used to live, pre-pandemic. Grief and loss are topics I’ve long wanted to tackle on my blog, but it seemed too big to be truncated into one blog moment. I invite you to join me over the next few weeks as we discuss loss.

Have you ever noticed how many people are enamored with sunrises and sunsets or the elegance of a plane taking off? Or how much you look forward to certain events every year, whether it’s a change of season, a holiday you love. Aside from the pleasure we get from the actual experience – these experiences give us something else. These moments connect us with what endures.

Have you noticed, seemingly more lately, how often you read where someone is being compared to someone else? It feels like in trying to honor one person's contribution, we've gotten into the business of devaluing another's. It feels kinda mean. Costly. And unnecessary. Does it serve us emotionally?

Let’s take a break. I think we could all use one right now. COVID-19 has had us dealing with so much serious business for months now. And it’s been heavy: full of worry and lots of problem-solving. No matter how it’s affected you specifically, the pandemic has been asking a lot of you. I think it’s time to balance things out. Come join us in our 7-day Joy challenge!

Successful people who realize their dreams don’t have something that you don’t. What they do have is a willingness to focus on the prize and be aware of, and then let go of, self-imposed thoughts and behaviors that get in the way. If there’s something you want and haven’t made happen, know that you have it within you. We all deserve to live our best life.

If you were to ask 100 people you know right now, including yourself, what negative feelings they’ve had in the past several months, in addition to feeling low, I imagine you’ll hear grumpy, angry, frustrated. Anger is just a call to action… to let it out and then put that freed-up energy to better use, doing what fills you up with the ones you love. Learning to manage anger isn’t just for now during this challenging time, but for your health in the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected each of us in different ways. The things that make us feel rooted have been changed like our time with family, routines, work. This may cause feelings of uncertainty. The source of certainties lies within YOU. Let’s find it!

Life calls upon you to decide how to respond, and how you choose to act makes a big difference in the quality of your life: how effective you are, and how happy you are.  Would you like to learn to respond more successfully to what life presents?  Let’s take a look at coping mechanisms.

Now it’s time to talk about some strategies for dealing with feelings of loss, particularly during such challenging times when we’re feeling more isolated than we may have before. Check out my blog for some suggestions to consider.