New Year review
This January is not only the start of a new year, but a new decade now is the time to take stock of your life and how it is going.
Ask yourself how the last year, and even the last decade has gone for you. What did you do well, what didn’t work, what did you achieve and what have you learnt as a result?
Ask what you want to duplicate this year, and then ask “what don’t I want to repeat in 2010 and indeed the next decade?”
Take time to do this review and write down your answers, consider all aspects of your life, your health and fitness, relationships, family, career, finance, spirituality, fun, leisure, personal development and home.
Once you have done this, picture the way you want your life to be, either in your mind or using cuttings from magazines and photos to depict your desired life, like a story board.
Finally make some plans for your desired life to become reality, one step at a time, and give yourself small tasks to do daily towards the desired outcome.
Before you go to bed each night, look back at the day and ask “have I achieved what I set out to do today?” Then make your plans for the next day and so on, and do not let yourself off the hook.
We all have the ability to make 2010 an amazing, happy and productive year.
May 2009
The Weight Loss Coach
You’ve all heard of Life Coaching no doubt, but what about weight loss coaching?
Sure you don’t need to be told that over fifty percent of the UK is now overweight or clinically obese. What with TV programmes such as ‘You are what you eat’ and ‘Celebrity fat club’ to name a couple.
Did you know that there are over fifty million children worldwide under the age of five who are overweight or obese?
If you are overweight by however much – a few pounds, half a stone, two or three stone, five to ten stone, you could also be experiencing physical problems.
Most common are; Joint pains, Arthritis, Back problems, Type two diabetes, High blood pressure, Digestive problems (indigestion, heartburn and constipation), Breathlessness, Heart problems and Asthma.
Being overweight can cause severe depression, low self esteem, lack of confidence, and many sufferers develop phobias such as fear of going out (agoraphobia).
If you have all or any of these problems then you know that your situation is unacceptable, you want to get it sorted for your own sake and the sake of your family. Rest assured that this doesn’t have to be forever, that there is a way out.
In my experience as a coach the objections people have about losing weight are; Not wanting to go on a diet, thinking they have to starve themselves, and seeing this as the only way to lose weight, not wanting to give up favourite foods. Believing that it’s too hard, that it’s too late, they are too old, that there’s no hope.
What weight loss coaching can do for you;
Find out what you believe about weight loss.
Find out what’s stopping you from losing weight (if that’s the case).
Your reasons for losing weight.
Full body analysis.
Put you on a healthy eating programme exclusive to you.
Find a realistic exercise programme.
Work with you each week to get the weight off, boost your Confidence help you feel and look amazing!!
Are you having an uphill struggle, and about to give up? DON’T!!
Fall into the someday trap, do it now you won’t look back.
March 2009
Think Play and Act BIG
Are you suffering from dis-ease or dissatisfaction, are you leading a small life? Most people are, we all have talents that go unrecognized we all have voices that go unheard and we all have something to say, to teach, to write about and even to sing.
Because fear rejection, or what others might say about us or think about us if we came out of our shell, we stay locked up and imprisoned in our homes, jobs and relationships that don’t serve us, and we plod along through life waiting for the break that never comes.
We feel that no one knows we exist, that no one knows what we are capable of, that no one hears us or sees us for who and what we really are, and if they did wouldn’t they be amazed.
As Thomas Edison said “If we did all the things we are capable of we would literally astound ourselves” what if that is true? The question then is “what if”?
Rather than looking back and asking “what if I had done things differently would I be happier now”, (bearing in mind that the past is over and has no bearing on the present) we could ask ourselves what would happen If, or how would it be if we stepped out of our self imposed imprisonment or our comfort zone?
What would it be like if we dared to tell people or show people what we can do, taught them what we have learned, wrote that book or sang that song? What if we dared to lead a bigger life doing more, being more having more, what if we dared to dream and make those dreams a reality how would it be?
In reality the opportunities present themselves daily and possibilities are endless we just miss them whether deliberately or mistakenly. The first step is to ask yourself “how will it be if I never put myself out there, if I never break down the barriers?” “How will it be if I’m never recognized, if I’m never heard, if I’m never seen?” The answers may be too painful to bear.
The remedy is to challenge yourself to step out and make yourself known, to be seen and heard, to stand in who you are and what you do in all your glory. This is the most powerful action you can take for yourself, and the first step toward this would be to get the help and support of a life Coach who can work with you personally to help you become who you truly are, to do what you are meant to do, and to have what you truly deserve out of life to finally realise those dreams.
Start today to think, play and act BIG, you are more than you appear to be, greater than you imagine.
February 2009
Post Natal Depression
Symptoms: can range from a few tears and feeling down and tired, to in more severe or acute cases: insomnia, loss of appetite, anxiety, pacing the room, panic attacks (some or all of the time), and irrational thoughts of a morbid nature. These can range from imagining people you know being dead, feeling overwhelmed, feeling empty, worried about being a bad mother, wanting to switch off your mind and your thoughts.
There may also be physical symptoms: Chest pain, racing heart, headaches, breathing problems, nausea, dizziness, sweating, aches and pains.
Contributing factors: Traumatic birth with complications, fear of not knowing what to do with baby and being left alone with baby, multiple births, lack of help and support from Family/Friends, existing relationship/marital problems, low self esteem and self confidence among others.
Conventional treatments: May be anti depressants, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychotherapy and counseling.
Working with a Life Coach is a new take on dealing with this condition, unlike counseling which deals with the past, coaching deals with the present and future, working through your expectations as a Mother, getting organized, changing thought patterns, raising self esteem and self confidence and building new strategies to cope with your new status as a Mum (working or otherwise).
Building your new life as a Mother, getting your body back in form (taking care of you), you will discover ways to move your life forward and enjoy your offspring. Gradually your depression will lift and you will feel like a new woman, able to cope with whatever challenges may come your way.
If you are suffering from this crippling condition, you need help fast, give coaching a go; you have nothing to lose and your peace of mind to gain. Bear this in mind - this condition is only temporary.
January 2009
Setting Goals Is It Really Necessary?
It’s January the time of year when perhaps we have set some New Year resolutions. They may be just pie in the sky, (in other words we know we should we know we could, but we don’t ……lose weight, stop smoking, stop drinking, de-clutter ect) or they may be set in stone, (Problem is we don’t know where to start).
There’s no method, strategy or plan, and the thought of setting goals and having to work out how we are going to make it happen is quite overwhelming to some. Then there’s the possibility that what we want could actually happen, and that can be just as overwhelming to some, they are actually afraid of success, and what it will mean to them.
Consequently we put off until tomorrow, until we are better off, until the kids grow up, until we retire, and before we know it our dreams and aspirations are dead. WE’VE GIVEN UP!!
The strategy for anything we want in life is first to have a dream, (in other words a vision in our minds of what it would be like to be living that dream). Second is to have a burning desire to achieve that dream, and third to take action toward making the dream a reality, the three go hand in hand.
The key to setting up our plan to achieve our goals is to take it a step at a time, think big, picture that ultimate success in our mind and don’t let go of it for one moment then set small realistic steps toward our ultimate big picture.
We can set goals a day, week or month at a time. We can set short term, medium term and long term goals. If you are the sort of person who gets overwhelmed easily, then set goals for what you can achieve each day and get a friend or family member to hold you accountable, and support you in your quest.
Always set your goals with the intention of carrying them through and don’t give up if you don’t achieve each step when you say you will, just reset the goal and go again. ‘A WINNER NEVER QUITS AND A QUITTER NEVER WINS’
Goals need to be in writing, with a date when they are to be achieved, with someone to hold you accountable and support you on your quest, and above all it’s extremely important to reward yourself for having been successful. The goal must be written as though it has already happened or is happening.
An example would be:- The goal – Lose ten pounds by 31st May 2009 – I want to achieve this goal as it would improve my health and fitness, and I would look great and be extremely popular. – Steps I could take now are stop eating junk food, step up my exercise, and drink more water this starts today. – My friend is supporting me and holding accountable. – my reward for achieving my goal is a great new outfit.
Keeping a positive mental attitude throughout, monitoring your progress, understanding that anything is possible, and above all not giving up are all key components to realizing your goals.
I wish you huge success with whatever you are working towards in 2009 I know you can do it I believe in you!!
October 2008
How’s your life going?
At this time of year when we are hurtling towards Christmas we start to take stock of our lives, we look back over the current year and deliberate on what went wrong, who did what to us and what didn’t go right. Funny how we always focus on the negative aspects, perhaps they had more impact. We then start to ask ourselves why, and questions such as “what am I doing in this dead end job or relationship, what is my purpose, what is the point of my being here?”
What we don’t all realize is that we get an answer sooner or later we just choose to ignore it, Read that again.
Deep down inside us we all have the answers to our lives, and when we ask we get an answer which may come as a nudge, whisper or an idea. Maybe a feeling that tells us what feels wrong and what feels right. Problem is we don’t often recognize it, and it often passes us by (we ignore it) and rarely follow it through.
We realize what we need to do to change a situation, but that’s just it we are afraid of change. It’s safer to stay in a dead end job than risk losing money, it’s safer to stay in a dead relationship than risk being alone, and we stay safely in our comfort zone even if it’s killing us.
What if we gave up our job in order to move up the ladder or start a business doing what we love and getting paid for it, maybe even tripling our income? What if we ended our relationship and spent some time alone finding out who we really are? Would that be so bad?
Here’s the challenge, next time you ask yourself a question, be aware when you get the answer, listen to your intuition, think about it and then take action. You’ll be amazed at the results.
Remember coaching can help you to identify the answers and take action.
September 2008
The power Of Thought
You may or may not be aware that what you are thinking about yourself at any given time is true whether it’s good or bad.
Thinking in a way that puts you down i.e. “I’m not good enough” or “no one will be interested in me” or “I can’t” is absolutely true at the moment you have that thought because you believe it.
The good news is that you can change that truth by changing your thoughts; yes you have the power to put aside belittling thoughts and replace them with strong powerful uplifting thoughts.
Not possible how could I do that? You ask; There are many ways, the first is to become aware of what you are thinking (catch yourself out) realize the type of thoughts you are having and how you are feeling at that point.
When you are thinking in ways that put you down you may feel dull, lethargic even depressed, and you may be slumped with your head down. When your thoughts are uplifting and empowering you feel light, your spirits soar and you feel great, you stand up straight with your head lifted as though nothing can stop you.
There are a few old quotes which can help at times like these, ‘There’s no such word as can’t,’ ‘where there’s a will there’s a way,’
‘Nothing is impossible’. Tell yourself “I am better than good enough”, “I’m the most interesting person I know”, “I can do anything I dream of doing”.
When you catch yourself in the bad thought trap, say “STOP” This will automatically break your pattern of thought, and you can now set about changing the way you are thinking.
Consider enlisting the help of a Life Coach we can help you to break old patterns either of thought or behavior, and guide you to a much more productive future, where the world could be your oyster, or whatever it is you aspire to achieve or become.
August 2008
Off Balance
How often have you been in a situation where you want something in your life and you can’t figure out what it is? Often this can make you stand back and take a look at your life, what you are doing and where all this is taking you.
Some might call this mid-life crisis, some may call it a slight hiccup, and in the main, most will ignore it.
There’s a quote that says “People stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as though nothing happened”.
Guess what? When this happens it’s not just a passing thought, it isn’t going to go away; it’s going to nag at you in one way or another until you take notice!! Aha but it won’t be enough to just take notice NO! It’s going to continue to nag at you until you do something about it.
When this situation arises, (and for most of us it does at some time or another in our lives) it can make you feel uneasy, off balance, stressed anxious or even ill. So what is it, well deep within yourself you have all the answers to your own personal life, a kind of inner knowing about what is right for you in your life, what is the right thing for you to do, which path is right for you, how you can be getting the most out of your life, what makes you tick in other words.
You may or may not believe in destiny, but each of us comes called, we each have a purpose, something we are meant to do. It may have already been obvious to us at some point, and we have just ignored it and pootled along as usual.
There will have been thousands of ideas that have run through your mind giving you hints, which you’ve thought about briefly and then dismissed as being too difficult, or stupid, too time consuming or expensive.
The next time you feel off balance, empty, like something’s missing, dissatisfied or disillusioned, stressed or anxious, even fearful. STOP! Think about it for a while, ask yourself what it is you need to know, and leave yourself open to the answers, they will come when the time is right, when you are ready to listen. You might surprise yourself.
