Part 1 of an occasional series about life coaching

Do you feel like you’re in a slump lately? Most of the time we want so many things that we don’t know which road to take; more often than not we find out that if we put our mind it we can actually succeed in numerous career and life choices. This new found realization makes things even more complicated than it already is, because we often feel that we want to do everything at once, and get so confused and bust that we actually achieve nothing.

Life coaching can optimise your potential

Being able to find out which things we are most passionate about is very difficult because we desire a lot of things. When we reach the pinnacle of success we think that we will want nothing more, and yet when we get there things get even murkier, and we can sometimes lose our sense of self completely.

Just Like Alice
Success is not the basis of finding oneself. Advice is useless, because no matter how many people you talk to, if you don’t heed what they say then it means nothing. What’s more, other people’s opinions can be one-sided because they don’t know the entire situation. Only you have the power because you are the one who experiences your life from every degree and angle.

Coaching In A Nutshell
Contrary to popular belief life coaching is not like therapy, and life coaches are not like psychologists. Life coaches acts as radical catalysts to provoke you into action. Life coaching is an alliance; a synergy between the coach and the person being coached. Life coaching is founded on the belief that people know the answers to their own questions. If you are on a journey blindfolded, you and you alone can take the covering off your eyes. In other words, life coaches can help you to discover your life’s purpose, may it be in relationships, career and everything else in life.

Reach heights you never thought possible with a life-coach

Experts Of Life
Most people ask if life coaches are experts in life. Of course they are; they are experts in their own lives. You see a life coach does tell you what to do, because that’s what they did to make their own lives successful. Every person is different; every way of life has their own variations. We are the authority, the only qualified person to make decisions and suggestions regarding how to better our lives emotionally and psychologically.

We may not know it, but we have the power to recognize which key decisions in our lives are best for us. Every day we make trivial choices that although we might not realize it at first these decisions actually have a great impact in our lives. Life coaches can help us realize certain aspects of our lives, and then provoke us into action to make life more fulfilling.

Making Life Work
There have always been these standing rules that we should segregate our brain from our heart when making decisions. What others fail to realize is that when the heart is connected to the brain, we make better resolutions.

Life coaching is often used by fortune 500 companies to keep their employees focused and content. People at the top of their game are coached so why shouldn’t we be? A chauffer is no different from a company CEO in the sense that both serve their purpose in society. The real question is – are the two happy with the path they have chosen? Life has many facets to contend with. Pinpointing these areas and dealing with them effectively takes a lot of soul searching and nothing is wrong with a little urging.

Are you a reluctant procrastinator? Do you always wait until the last moment to get things done? Do you find you are always putting things off until you can’t put them off any longer? Are your friends, family members, and co-workers frustrated with the way you tackle projects of any size? If so, you aren’t alone.

If you'd rather drink coffee than get that hard job done you're not alone – but you can use positive self-talk to stop procrastinating.

Procrastination is something many people deal with. Although it can be hard to change overnight, positive self-talk is a great way to stop procrastinating and change your life. Positive self-talk can help turn you from a procrastinator into a doer.

Using Positive Self-Talk to Stop Procrastinating
Positive self-talk is a great way to stop procrastinating because you can talk yourself out of procrastinating the minute you start! The problem for most of us who procrastinate is that it is just the way we do things. We don’t even necessarily think about why we procrastinate. It’s our normal approach to life, and it’s hard to stop something we have been doing for so long. Positive self-talk is a great approach to stopping procrastination as it starts because the self-talk occurs in the moment!

Positive self-talk is the practice of responding to your mind’s thoughts as they happen. If you know you have a big project you need to start working on today and you think it can wait until tomorrow, for example, you can stop and remind yourself that it needs to be started today. During those moments when you want to wait until tomorrow, you can use positive self-talk to make sure you don’t put off until tomorrow what needs to be done today. Positive self-talk can stop the negative internal dialogue before it gets to the point of being overwhelming.

Many people use affirmations to help with positive self-talk. Affirmations are positive statements you can use to help you steer clear of procrastination. You should repeat these affirmations when you feel the urge to procrastinate.

An example of an affirmation that may help you with procrastination may be: “I feel no need to create obstacles for myself. I move forward, stronger than ever,” or, “By keeping organized and using my time wisely, procrastination melts away.” These are concise statements that can be memorized so no matter where you are when you begin to procrastinate, you can repeat these positive statements to yourself. Doing this helps you to talk yourself out of procrastination mode.

As you can see, positive self-talk is a great way to combat procrastination. You can reprogram the way you think when you use your affirmations. If you stop procrastination in its tracks each and every time, soon the habit of doing things when they need to be done will replace the habit of procrastination.

Once you repeat the process of positive self-talk many times, you’ll be able to combat procrastination, lead a much less hectic life, and the people in your life will thank you for the change in the way you deal with things! When used effectively, positive self-talk can change your life for the better. So stop procrastinating and start talking to yourself!

Image credit: flickr / ximenacab

We all have to deal with stress from either work or school. You can’t close your eyes to make it go away but you can find peace so you can deal with it. One technique that can offer this is called Zen meditation.

Zen meditation is often referred to as the study of the self. It involves sitting in various postures so you are able to bring the mind and body to a peaceful and stable condition.  This happens as you focus on images and thoughts that just pop up as your heart rate slows down until you reach a reflective state of meditation.

One of the best seating positions to do this is called the Burmese position. There is also the full lotus, half lotus, kneeling or “seiza” posture and sitting on a chair.

Japan Hiroshima Shukkeien Gardens

The key here is to keep your back straight so that your deep breathing will go naturally. This allows more oxygen to enter that will help cleanse and energize the body.

The buttocks must be thrust out and the chin tucked in. The hands should be placed close to the body with the left hand resting on top of the right with palms open and up. The joint of the middle fingers are resting on top of the other with the thumbs slightly touching.

Your eyes should be half closed and your head should be positioned to a 45 degree angle towards the body. Given that it is not easy to keep the eyes like this the whole time, you can try closing them first and then opening them later on. Should you get sleepy, just open them wide.

The challenging part is staying in a stationary position for 15 to 20 minutes. After you have developed a breathing pattern, you slowly relax the muscles from your face all the way down to your feet. As it slows down and oxygen enters, you should focus on positive thoughts and exhale those that are negative.

By concentrating, you are able to unite the body, mind and soul so that your mind is aware of only the present and no longer the past or the unforeseeable future.

Aside from the right posture, you should always wear loose clothing. It is not wise to practice this after a heavy meal because a full stomach usually creates discomfort which in itself is a distraction.

If you would like to learn Zen Meditation, you can read about it or better yet join a group. Once you get the hang of things, you can even buy a few accessories to make the experience a fruitful one like incense sticks, a bell or even a ringing bowl to mark the start and end of a session.

Short incense sticks burn for about 45 minutes while the longer ones are double the time. You can even use the kitchen timer since no one will be there to ring the bell to say time is up.

Zen meditation experts recommend that beginners should try for 10 minutes first until you get used to it before you decide to extend this for 20 or 30 minutes. Should your mind wander off, concentrate a little harder to focus once again on your breathing so your thoughts will settle down naturally.

It’s often said, “We cannot change what we will not see.” Self-awareness is the process of acknowledging not only our strengths, but our weaknesses as well. Becoming self-aware entails listening to your body and feelings and taking action based on what you hear.

If you’re in tune with your body, you’ll know when to say no to that extra piece of cake or say no to staying up late. You’ll become more in tune with your body the more often you respect it. Self-awareness is a process. The more we do it, the better we become at it.

Self-awareness is one of the keys to spiritual development.

How do you become self-aware?

These tips will help you in your journey to self-awareness:

1.    Reflect on who you are and who you’d like to become.
While it’s important to notice your faults and weaknesses, it’s equally important to acknowledge your strengths. 

The better you understand yourself, the better you’re able to accept yourself as you are or change the things you’d like to be different. Self-awareness requires you to be honest with yourself and have the courage to change the things you can.

A full recognition of yourself gives you the opportunity to become the self-fulfilled person you’re destined to be.

Looking deep within your soul, you’ll find the many character traits that make you unique. Begin by acknowledging the positive things. This will strengthen and encourage you to face the less favorable character traits without abandoning your new venture.

On the other hand, when evaluating your strengths, don’t let your ego get the best of you. If you magnify either your strengths or your weaknesses, you can’t possibly get a realistic picture of yourself.

Until you examine the truth of who you are, you cannot move into the person you can become.

2.    Pay attention to your likes and dislikes.
Far too often, people make life-changing choices without acknowledging deeply rooted personal preferences.  Before you embark on goals for your future, have a full awareness of the things you especially enjoy and those you prefer not to have in your life.

3.    Face your inner self.
During your self-awareness process, think about your motivations, dreams, fears and stressors. Think about why you feel the way you do, then begin to work toward overcoming these inner battles.

4.    Ask your loved ones’ opinions.
Talk to people who know you best and really listen to what they see as your dominant character traits and motivations. Ask them to be completely honest with you and be prepared to hear their opinions.

You may not be your own best judge of character. Accept the way your loved ones see you as part of this process. Consider their opinions along with your own analysis in order to see the full picture of who you are.

Self-awareness is a necessary part of self-esteem and change. If you want to grow as an individual, begin with a complete and honest picture of who you are now. This total awareness will start your journey to becoming the best you can be.

Image credit: whatmegsaid