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Can you design your happiness?

5/30/2015

It has been said that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This is as true for individuals and couples as it is for leaders. You can design and build your happiness by examining both the physical and spiritual parts of your life and making regular and simple adjustments in the areas of your choice. Here’s how it can be done:

1. Do a holistic (mind/body/spirit) assessment of your life satisfaction by examining the following areas:

Career
Finance
Spirituality/Religion
Fitness/Diet
Family
Friends
Significant Other
Living Space
Recreation

2. Focus on the one or two areas that jump off the page and say, “This part of your life needs some attention!”

3. Think deeply about your areas of change.

What is happening in this area of your life?
What would this area of your life look like ideally?
How will you move from where you are to where you want to be in that area?
What is blocking your movement?
How can you overcome your obstacles?
How will you find the support you need to make the changes you want?

4. Develop daily habits that move you in the direction you want to go.

5. Enjoy your emerging new life and repeat this process for each area.

This life design process is simple, but it’s not easy. A professional life coach is trained to patiently and deliberately walk this journey with you… to stand in your greatness even when you can’t see it… to hold you accountable to what you want most deeply. It’s time to begin the journey to your dreams.

You think you want this, but you really want that.

5/22/2015

Have you ever gone after something and captured it only to realize that it wasn’t really what you wanted in the first place? Maybe it was as simple as a food item on a menu or as weighty as a house purchase or even a career choice. We often make choices without checking in closely enough with our deepest desires for happiness and fulfillment.

How can we get better at going after what we really want out of life? Here are some key things to do if you want clarity about what you really want…

Know what you need. Unmet needs drive you to do what you would not do if you were in a better frame of mind. Know your needs and get them met in reasonable ways.
Know what you value. When you know and prioritize what is most important to you, you will know where to put your time and energy.
Know your purpose. You are on the planet for a reason. You intuitively knew this as a child. Have you forgotten? Get in touch with your life purpose and align your choices with it.
Set boundaries. Say no to anything that is not consistent with your values and your purpose. Say yes to what you most deeply want.

Life coaching can create the conversations that will bring clarity to what you really want. Get in touch with us for a free initial conversation about what you really want.

God & Billy love you just the way you are, but there's more...

5/14/2015

Billy Joel earned a Grammy for best song of the year when he wrote “Just the Way You Are” in 1977. In the lyrics he proclaims his undying love and begs his lover to never change. He wrote the song for his first wife, Elizabeth Weber. The relationship ended up in divorce. Hmmm, love without change doesn’t seem to be true love.

It has been said that God loves you just the way you are, AND that God loves you too much to let you stay that way. This is much closer to the reality of true love than the Billy Joel version. Loving a person the way he is AND expecting ongoing change in the relationship are not contradictions. Wise and caring couples do both. But how?

When couples develop a mutual agreement to share all of their thoughts, reflections, hopes, dreams, disappointments, and everything else in the context of deep respect and care, they both feel loved and honored in the moment and challenged in a hopeful way to keep growing. These couples have much satisfaction with their relationships while sustaining a peaceful excitement about the wonders they still have yet to discover. It’s like saying, “I love this relationship and I can’t wait for what’s next!”

Is this what you want more of in your relationship? I’d love to talk to you about that. Explore our coaching options for information about how you can get more of this built into your love relationship.

Author:
Jim Merhaut, M.S.Ed., P.C.C.

Jim is the founder and director of Coaching to Connect. He has three decades of experience in organizational and relationship work including coaching, consulting, non-profit CEO, program director, project manager, teacher, author and more. Jim holds a Master of Science degree in Education from Duquesne University with an emphasis in Adult Formation.

Can you design your happiness?

You think you want this, but you really want that.

God & Billy love you just the way you are, but there's more...

Author:Jim Merhaut, M.S.Ed., P.C.C.

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Author:
Jim Merhaut, M.S.Ed., P.C.C.