FEELING HAPPY

A few days ago, I realised that I am happy.

I felt surprised by the fact.

Why?

Two thoughts came to me:

1.     I was brought up to value the truth. So when people ask how I am, in recent years my response would be “Fine thanks, apart from the arthritis”. The positive was always  depleted by feeling I needed to show what wasn’t good as well as what was. Don’t boast Shelagh or make anyone think your life is a piece of cake!

2.     I don’t think I’ve ever FELT quite so happy. The things that are not positive are not dampening this feeling.

What has changed?

My life is now fulfilling without being overly stretched or under pressure.

The work I do, family support I give and garden I tend, are hugely satisfying.

I’ve lived a life of spinning plates and this is the first season when I can savour the moment. I recognise that I really don’t like rushing. I don’t like being under pressure. Is that age and stage or was it always so? I believe it has always been so and I didn’t recognise it.

How are you doing?

What might you learn about yourself by reviewing your pace of life? Lockdown pressed a pause button for many – what did you notice?

Taking time to reflect on your life can be time well spent. If you’d like to chat this through, let’s have a complimentary discovery call.

Work With The Grain

A lick of paint and it’ll look good as new.

Paper over the cracks; nobody will guess.

It’s just a white lie - nobody gets hurt.

But it’s not true - or it’s not the whole truth.

Don’t you want to be someone who can be trusted? The kind of person people go to for your wisdom and expertise?

Have you spent your whole life worrying that someone will find out you are not as ‘good’ as you have made out you are? Well - time to stop. Time to work with the grain of who you really are, stand tall and live with a healthy rhythm in life because you are using your natural gifts/skills and honing them so you can shine as the best of yourself. And if you’ve lost track of, or never really known, what your strengths are – time to discover them.

Wouldn’t that be nice/peaceful/fun/joy-giving/productive/fulfilling?

I remember a friend once saying that he could write me a CV that would get me any job I wanted. I was horrified. He said that I could then learn on the job and it is what most people do. Really? Not me; I want to sleep at night and get satisfaction and verbal affirmation for doing a good job!

I invite you to have a free call with me if any of this resonates and you want to rise to the challenges that will suit YOU.

Trusting, Listening, Watching, Exploring and Wondering

Life is a bit of a mystery isn’t it? And that can be both daunting and exciting, especially when something unexpected comes along.

As we live within this mystery, I would suggest that the journey into a fulfilling life can be helped by adopting the following:

1. Trusting that there is a route that will take us towards our best self

2. Listening to the positive inner voice of our champion (rather than the saboteur that spews negatives) and to others who we know care for us

3. Watching for those signs that come up by ‘coincidence’ and a pervading sense of peace despite any nervousness about making changes, thereby affirming our direction of travel

4. Exploring and testing out new ideas/behaviours/rhythms in life just as we might try on a piece of clothing to see if it fits and suits us

5. Wondering - with a sense of awe as, through our mindful choices, our life takes a healthy direction that causes us to flourish.

It is never too late to make changes that will put you on the road to fulfilment. I’d love to be your companion on that journey. Contact me for a discovery call to see if you want to invite me along!

Holistic Coaching

There is an aspect around the types of coaching that is similar to the way HR is organised in different companies. Some will break down the HR function into specialisms such as employment law, learning & development or reward, and some will have people labelled as ‘generalist’. I’ve worked in that final category both in the corporate sector and for small and medium sized charities. Then within coaching you get the Executive Coaches; Health Coaches; Recruitment Coaches - many, many more specialist areas. Sometimes we refer to the specialism as a niche.

Whilst I think of myself as a generalist kind of a coach - because I’ve coached people wanting to retire, be a stand up comic, wanting a successful relationship, wanting promotion at work - etc., etc. I also see that my niche thread, that runs through it all, is to see each person empowered to be set free to thrive as the best version of themselves - within whatever situation they find themselves and whatever issue they are doing battle with and feeling disempowered by.

In HR I would say to colleagues that the whole person comes to work and that they are not just the the embodiment of their job title and related responsibilities. They don’t leave the rest of their life at the door of the office. This means that when I coach, I’m looking for the blocks in their life that are preventing them from showing up in the strength of their abilities and gaining the life that they are longing to lead - whether that be an enhancement of what they have or a complete change. These blocks can be long-standing habits or self-perception that has been ingrained over the years through upbringing or negative life experiences.

If you know that the TRUE YOU is not showing up, there can be no better time than NOW to change that. Now is the time to release your true potential, to stop making excuses, to courageously admit to yourself what you want in life and then make plans to achieve it, having kicked away the blocks that have been tripping you up over all these years.

Message me to set up an exploratory call; the cost of that is nothing and it will open the door to SO much.