Archive for June, 2010

Three Ways that Taking a Walk Can Help You Make Your Good Life Better

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Taking a walk gets you moving.  It can help to change the scene and offers the opportunity to gain new perspective on any situation you may be dealing with.

When you exercise, your body produces endorphins, those hormones that create a natural high.  Walking can put you into the meditative state in which creativity flows.

Taking a walk is not taking a hike.  A walk can be very, very brief.  Just taking a walk around the hallways in your office building or around the block can make a difference.

Here are three ways that taking a walk can help you improve productivity, manage stress and enhance creativity:


1. Take a walk during your lunch break

Leave the building and walk around outside.  Breathe the fresh air.  Be on the lookout for an unexpected treat – the beauty of bright clouds blowing across a blue sky, the gift of birdsong, a bright flower growing in among the grass. You’ll come back to work refreshed and you’ll work more effectively.

2. Take a walk when you’re under stress

If there is something upsetting you, walking around for a few minutes can help you calm down and gain a different perspective on the challenge you face.  You’ll be better able to deal with the situation when you return.

3. Take a walk to inspire creativity

As you walk along, be open to insights that come to you.  Walking is actually a type of meditation that can help your creativity to flow.  Many of these newsletters have come to me while taking a walk along the Schuylkill River in nearby Valley Forge Park.  As I walk along, my mind as my arms and legs moving in rhythm, the ideas and the words to express them just flow.

When you take a walk regularly, you create a habit that can benefit you physically, mentally and emotionally for the rest of your life!

Posted in Life Stress Management, Stress Management Coaching, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Endorse Both Your Achievements and Your Strengths

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Endorsing your excellence means both acknowledging your achievements and appreciating your strengths, those character traits that have enabled you to succeed.

Being willing and able to endorse your excellence has a number of benefits. Here are some of them:

1. Familiarity with your own strengths provides awareness of the qualities that can help you to succeed.

When you set a goal for yourself it is important to know those characteristics which have helped you to succeed in the past. If you are aware of your strengths and willing to acknowledge them, you can consciously utilize them to help you achieve your goals in the present.

Your strengths may be diligence or enthusiasm or perseverance or any other character trait that has helped you to succeed in the past. Whatever they are, these strengths will always be available to you. You can draw on these same strengths to achieve your goal in the present, no matter how daunting it may seem.

If you would like to learn more about your own strengths, I highly recommend you visit the website www.authentichappiness.com. There you will find the VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire which measures 24 character strengths. It takes only about 20 minutes to complete this questionnaire and it is free! You will have a list of your top strengths. Awareness of these strengths will help you answer the question, “How can I ever accomplish THIS???”

2. When you acknowledge your successes you become an expert in what you can do to achieve your goals.

When you recognize what you do that works, you can build on your successes to reach your goals. Pay attention to the tiny winning choices that you make. Notice the differences they make in your life.

Are you more effective when you take a brief break a couple of times a day? Do people react differently when you treat them with greater kindness? When you become an expert on the outcome of your choices, you learn what behaviors work. You become keenly aware of what you need to do more of to succeed. When you are empowered in this way, the choices you make will create your success.

3. Honestly present your excellence to others.

There are certain situations, such as job interviews, where success depends on your being able to affirm the contributions you have made. This is not bragging when done in a matter-of-fact manner.

A simple acknowledgement of your strengths and accomplishments conveys necessary information while projecting the self confidence every employer seeks in a potential hire.

As you practice endorsing your excellence it will become easier. After all, it is natural to feel good about how great you really are!

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Career Life Coaching, Inner Wisdom Coaching, Intuition Coaching, Life Stress Management, Solution Focused Coaching, Stress Management Coaching, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Replace the Habit of Upset with the Habit of Calm

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

When you are upset about something, it may feel like there’s no way you could calm down.  In fact, there are simple, straightforward techniques you can use to transform upset into calm.  When you do, you’ll deal more effectively with the situation.

Here are the steps you can use to transform upset into calm.

First notice how you feel as you let upset overtake you.  Pay careful attention to the impact of your upset on your body and your mind.

Notice any tightness in your muscles or clenching in your gut.  Be aware of the unpleasant thoughts and feelings aroused by your outrage.  If your criticism is directed at yourself, notice how undermining those attacks on yourself truly are.

Then ask yourself,  “How would I be, if I weren’t reacting this way?”

If you are honest with yourself, you will note that you would be calmer and more peaceful, more comfortable and better able to deal with the situation if you were free of your upset.

From this perspective, you can see that your own upset is as much of a problem as whatever provoked your response.

Really allow yourself to imagine fully how it would feel to remain calm.  Invite the thoughts that would support a calm response, such as “This really isn’t all that important” or “Maybe s/he didn’t do that to hurt me.”

Visualize yourself responding appropriately when frustrated, disappointed or angry.  Then practice the calm you have visualized

As you begin to visualize alternatives to overreacting, you become aware of the choices available to you.  When you feel your upset beginning to arise, take a deep breath and consider your options.  Ask yourself, “Would I rather be upset or calm in this situation?”

Gradually, as you practice new patterns of thought and behavior, you will replace the habit of upset with the habit of calm.

Posted in Career Life Coaching, Inner Wisdom Coaching, Intuition Coaching, Life Stress Management, Solution Focused Coaching, Stress Management Coaching | No Comments »

How to Transform Upset into Calm

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

You can choose to remain calm.

When you get upset about something you may feel like your angry response is inevitable.  In fact, you have a choice.  Choosing to remain calm will help you deal better with the situation.  Here’s how you do it.

First, notice when you start getting upset about something.

Just having a part of yourself that is observing your enraged response, rather than fully participating in it creates a detachment you can work with.

Then ask yourself, “Is what just happened worth getting upset about?”

If you are like most people accustomed to becoming upset when annoyed, your immediate response will be a resounding and heart-felt “Yes!!”

If you take a closer look and are truly honest with yourself, chances are you’ll be able to acknowledge that it’s not that big a deal.  What’s more, though you might wish the situation were different, your getting upset isn’t going to improve anything.  It will only make matters worse.

Pausing to observe your reactions and gently questioning your angry response will give you the time and perspective that will allow you to calm down and respond more effectively.

Posted in Inner Wisdom Coaching, Intuition Coaching, Life Stress Management, Solution Focused Coaching, Stress Management Coaching, Uncategorized | No Comments »