Create a practice of regularly engaging in activities that nourish you.

7. Express your creativity

Engage in such hobbies as quilting or playing a musical instrument.  Sign up for a painting or ceramics class.

5.    Maintenance:

Most people enter the Action stage filled with enthusiasm and excitement.  There is a sense of euphoria as they begin to see positive change and experience the benefits that this brings.

It is much more of a challenge to maintain that change.  As you move further from the negative experiences created by the old behavior, it becomes easier to minimize their costs.  Temptations arise which can be difficult to resist.

Maintenance is the long haul during which old habits are being replaced by new ones.  Lapses are common during the Maintenance phase.  It may be necessary to return to Planning or even to Contemplation to remedy these lapses.

Some people who lapse in the Maintenance stage get so discouraged that they return to Precontemplation.  Don’t let this happen to you!

When you understand that change rarely proceeds in a straight line, you can recognize a lapse as a normal part of the change process and get quickly back on track.

6.    Termination (Transformation):

Once the new habits have replaced the old, maladaptive behaviors you can consider yourself in what Prochaska labels the Termination phase.  I prefer the term Transformation.

In Transformation, the desired change has been accomplished.  With the new behaviors established, you are no longer the same person.  You couldn’t imagine going back to the old behavior patterns. You have achieved your goal.

Understanding the process of change will help you achieve your goals and make your good life better!  If you would like to learn more about the six stages of change, I heartily recommend Prochaska’s book, Changing for Good.

Jeannette Samanen, Ph.D.
Jeannette’s professional development began with graduate school at the University of Oregon.  Her first post-doctoral position was at the Boston University School of Medicine where, as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology), where she specialized in stress management and behavioral medicine.  Jeannette has had over 30 years of experience as a life coach and psychologist and derives great pleasure from helping clients transform their lives for the better.

To Do Lists are terrific for managing your ‘to do’s’. You don’t need to worry about forgetting what it is you need to do. You don’t need to keep track in your head of the multitude of items once they are written down. When you’ve accomplished a task you can check it off your list, providing a momentary sense of triumph.

Here’s the problem with To Do lists: they are like the hydra, the many headed monster of Greek mythology. When any one of the hydra’s heads was cut off, two grew in its place.

If your ‘To Do’ list is kept electronically, the completed items disappear as soon as you delete them to be replaced immediately with the next tasks which arise, or those you’ve been postponing. If you maintain your To Do List with paper and pencil, you cross off the completed items and add new ones. When the list becomes too much of a mess, or you turn the page to begin a new week, you copy over the not yet completed tasks and start all over again.

Either way, no matter how many items you accomplish, there’s a never-ending phalanx of new items ready to immediately take their place. The focus always remains on all of the things you have yet to do, while your accomplishments disappear out of your consciousness and into the ether (or your waste basket).

This can become daunting and, ultimately, discouraging. You may feel like a hamster scurrying furiously on its wheel, never making headway against the constant torrent of To Do. The sense of never being able to accomplish enough undermines your confidence and self-esteem.

To get legitimate satisfaction from all that you’ve accomplished, and build your confidence and self-esteem, create a companion for your ‘To Do’ List: an ‘I’ve Done It!’ List.

It’s easy to lose track of or minimize your real accomplishments. Keeping a record of what you have achieved provides you with concrete evidence you can use to provide encouragement and build your confidence.

When you complete a task, rather than simply deleting it from your electronic To Do List or crossing it off your paper and pencil one, transfer it to your ‘I’ve Done It!’ List. Make a habit of referring regularly to your list of accomplishments to remind you of the progress you are making on important projects in your life and boost your self-esteem. Any time you feel overwhelmed or discouraged, get out your ‘I’ve Done It!’ List, and enhance your confidence by reminding yourself of how far you really have come.

By focusing on your accomplishments, you will build confidence that energizes and empowers you to tackle your ‘To Do’ List with renewed vigor. The increased self-esteem you experience will lead to further success, helping you to make your good life better.

Jeannette Samanen, Ph.D.
Jeannette’s professional development began with graduate school at the University of Oregon.  Her first post-doctoral position was at the Boston University School of Medicine where, as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology), where she specialized in stress management and behavioral medicine.  Jeannette has had over 30 years of experience as a life coach and psychologist and derives great pleasure from helping clients transform their lives for the better.

When you worry you are lost between your ears.  You are focused on some feared outcome in the future.  Though these thoughts and feelings may consume you, whatever you are imagining is less real than what is around you.  Take a deep breath.  Turn your attention to your surroundings. Notice anything in your environment that you can appreciate – the beauty of nature, someone you love, some music you really enjoy.  Whatever your worry, it’s a hypothetical situation off somewhere in the future.  The moment you are living in is real.  It is a gift.  That’s why it’s called the present. Appreciate it fully.  It’s really all you have.

Focusing in the present helps to put what you are worrying about into a larger perspective.  You can see that while your concern is a part of your life, it is only one part of a much larger whole.  When you focus on what works in your life, you diminish the power of your worry.  When you re-channel your worry energy in more positive directions, you’ll be sure to make your good life better.

You may actually value your worrying.  After all, worry can feel protective.  Considering every possible negative outcome can give you confidence that there will be no unpleasant surprises.  The problem comes when worry takes over your life, intruding at any moment of the day or night to distract you from what you really need to focus on.Instead of letting worry take over, set aside brief periods throughout the day devoted to high quality worry.  It’s up to you to decide how often you need to worry and how long each period should last.  You might want to devote the last five minutes of every hour of your waking day to high quality worry, or you might prefer 20 minute sessions morning, afternoon and evening.

During high quality worry time you focus all of your attention on whatever you’re anxious about.  You can allow yourself to get as worked up as you want about anything that’s bothering you.  Once the designated time is up, you turn your attention back to whatever needs to be done in your life.  If worry intrudes at any other time in the day, you very patiently and gently remind yourself that now is not the time to worry.  You turn your attention back to whatever it is that you were doing, confident that before long you will once again have some high quality worry time available to devote yourself wholeheartedly to your concern.  If the schedule you initially choose doesn’t work for you, modify it until you find one that does.  As you practice high quality worrying, you may gradually decrease your sessions in length or frequency.

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!

I designed this telecourse for you

• If you feel like you have it made, but deep down you know that something is missing,
• if you want to ‘give back,’ but can’t imagine finding the time,
• if you yearn for greater meaning in your life.

I have seen the incredible difference pursuing a dream can make in the lives of my clients and I want you to enjoy the same satisfaction.

Go to http://www.letyoursoulsing.com to sign up for the telecourse.

Act now! You have my promise that this telecourse will never again be offered at this extremely low price – less than $50 per session!

In this telecourse, “Let Your Soul Sing: 5 Practical Elements to Create a Life of Fulfillment without Losing Everything You’ve Attained” you will use my 5 Step Signature System to begin creating a life of meaning and joy, a life that turns you on:

• Session 1:  Really Know Fulfillment

You create the motivation you need to move ahead and discover what fulfillment feels like for you – a feeling you can use like a divining rod to find direction and stay on track.

• Session 2:  Move Beyond the Threshold of “I don’t know”

You learn the three primary ways that “I don’t know’” keeps you stuck and two essential methods to move beyond your “I don’t know’s” to create a life of meaning and joy.

• Session 3:  Walk the Spiral Path of Transformation

By designing an action plan and taking your first steps, you start moving along the spiral path to create a life that really works for you.  You learn what works to get you going and keep you moving on the path toward a life that makes your soul sing.

• Session 4:  Use Your Resistance to Move Ahead

You learn the five patterns that resistance can take.  You identify your own specific patterns of resistance and how to deal with them.  You learn how to use the resistance that’s been holding you back to actually help you move forward.

• Session 5:  Enlist Support

The group provides the structure and support that empowers you succeed.  In addition, as a participant in this telecourse, you will be among the first to learn about my upcoming VIP Platinum Group Program. You’ll receive the opportunity for substantial savings on this great program available only to participants in my telecourse, “Let Your Soul Sing: 5 Practical Elements to Create a Life of Fulfillment without Losing Everything You’ve Attained.”

• Session 6 will be entirely devoted to your questions.

Go to http://www.letyoursoulsing.com to sign up for the telecourse, but do it now.  The telecourse begins tomorrow.

Share this information with a friend and they can sign up at $100 off the regular price. Once you and your friend have enrolled in the telecourse, simply email your friend’s name to me at Jeannette@achieveyourgoals.com and I will refund your friend $100 off the regular price of the teleseminar.

Here’s that link again:

http://www.letyoursoulsing.com

Here’s to a life of meaning and joy for you!

Jeannette

PS  Remember, staying stuck in a life that fails to fulfill you, is settling for less than you deserve!  Are you ready to finally live a life of meaning and joy, a life that makes your soul sing?  Click here to lock in your place now:

http://www.letyoursoulsing.com

Do you come to the end of your day wondering what you did it all for?

Do you yearn for greater meaning in your life?

Do you have a dream you’ve been putting aside and sense that now’s the time to pursue it but you don’t know where to begin?

What I know is that when you use my 5 Step Signature System, you can create a life of meaning and joy, a life that turns you on.  You’ll learn – and be able to work with – these elements in the telecourse.  If you’ve been thinking about signing up, now’s the time to act.

Today’s your last chance to receive the special bonus of a complimentary one half hour coaching session with me – a $100 value – when you sign up for “Let Your Soul Sing: 5 Practical Elements to Create a Life of Fulfillment without Losing Everything You’ve Attained.” The offer for a complimentary coaching session expires tonight at midnight.

Go to http://www.letyoursoulsing.com to sign up now.

The telecourse will introduce you to these elements:

• Session 1:  Really Know Fulfillment

You create the motivation you need to move ahead and discover what fulfillment feels like for you – a feeling you can use like a divining rod to find direction and stay on track.

• Session 2:  Move Beyond the Threshold of “I don’t know”

You learn the three primary ways that “I don’t know’” keeps you stuck and two essential methods to move beyond your “I don’t know’s” to create a life of meaning and joy.

• Session 3:  Walk the Spiral Path of Transformation

By designing an action plan and taking your first steps, you start moving along the spiral path to create a life that really works for you.  You learn what works to get you going and keep you moving on the path toward a life that makes your soul sing.

• Session 4:  Use Your Resistance to Move Ahead

You learn the five patterns that resistance can take.  You identify your own specific patterns of resistance and how to deal with them.  You learn how to use the resistance that’s been holding you back to actually help you move forward.

• Session 5:  Enlist Support

The group provides the structure and support that empowers you succeed.  As a participant in this telecourse, you will be among the first to learn about my upcoming VIP Platinum Group Program. You’ll receive the opportunity for substantial savings on this great program available only to participants in my telecourse, “Let Your Soul Sing: 5 Practical Elements to Create a Life of Fulfillment without Losing Everything You’ve Attained.”

• Session 6:  Get Your Questions Answered

Session 6 will be entirely devoted to your questions.  You’ll have the opportunity to be coached by me on-line plus the benefit of learning from other people’s experience.

Please go to http://www.letyoursoulsing.com to learn more and to sign up.  You will receive the special bonus of a complimentary one half hour coaching session with me if you sign up by midnight tonight.

I look forward to ‘seeing’ you on the call!

Jeannette

PS  Remember, staying stuck in a life that is too small for you, is settling for less than you deserve!  Are you ready to free yourself to live a life of meaning and joy, a life that makes your soul sing?  Click here to save your place now:

http://www.letyoursoulsing.com

You must learn one thing.

The world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds

except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet

confinement of your aloneness

to learn

anything or anyone

that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.

- David Whyte

It is my mission to help you discover what brings you alive and create a life based on this, a life that makes your soul sing.

I am offering a six session telecourse beginning next week designed to help you do just this.

Please go to http://www.letyoursoulsing.com to learn more and to sign up.  You will receive the special bonus of a complimentary one half hour coaching session with me if you sign up by tomorrow.

Jeannette

Research has shown, however, that change is actually a more complex and circular process.  In his study of people who successfully quit smoking, James Prochaska identified six stages which characterize any behavioral change. Understanding these six stages of change can help you achieve your goals.

In addition, Prochaska found that few of his subjects actually marched through these steps one after the other.  Instead most of them circled through a number of times before they became and remained non-smokers.

This is important for you to know if you are attempting a behavioral change or if someone you know is.  It’s easy to view a lapse as failure, to become discouraged or even give up.

Instead, you can recognize lapses as a normal part of the change process.  By being aware of the six stages, you will be better prepared to deal with any setbacks and get quickly back on track.

The Six Stages of Change:

Prochaska not only characterized the stages of change.  He also identified the accomplishments necessary in each to move to the next stage.  I offer you both.
1.    Precontemplation:

Precontemplation describes the period before you are aware that a change is necessary.  Another word for Precontemplation is denial.

In Precontemplation, you are living with a problem but refusing to acknowledge that change needs to happen.  Others around you may clearly recognize that you need to change, but you insist that the situation is not so serious that you can’t handle it.

If you are in Precontemplation, before you can to move to the next stage you need to be willing to consider the possibility that change may be necessary.  You need to recognize that the costs of maintaining the problem behavior may be greater than the costs of changing it.

2.    Contemplation:

Once you’ve moved out of Precontemplation, you are willing to understand the truth about the problem behavior or situation and consider the alternatives.  Contemplation is the learning stage in which you gather information.

In the stage of Contemplation you examine the pros and cons of the various options available to you.  You honestly assess all of the costs and benefits of allowing the situation to continue.  You also look at the pluses and minuses of doing things differently. You become fully informed.

Some people go back and forth between Precontemplation and Contemplation for a while before they are ready to move ahead.  You are ready to move to the next stage when, on the basis of your analysis, you embrace the need to change.

3.    Planning:

Once you have committed to bringing about a change in your life, the next step is to figure out how to do it.  You plan your behavior change.

You identify your goal.  You research the various ways you might achieve your goal.  You enlist help.  Often people show up for coaching when they reach the Planning stage, knowing that a coach can help them clarify their goal as well as the steps they need to accomplish it.

Once you have formulated a workable plan, you are ready to move into Action.

4.    Action:

You implement your plan in the Action phase.  This phase can be seen as an experiment in which you learn which parts of your plan work and where the unforeseen obstacles lie.

Circling between Action and Planning is an inevitable part of the change process.  No plan is perfect.  It is essential to view any problems which arise as an opportunity to improve your plan.

Once your action plan is proceeding smoothly, you are ready to move into the most challenging stage of all.

5.    Maintenance:

Most people enter the Action stage filled with enthusiasm and excitement.  There is a sense of euphoria as they begin to see positive change and experience the benefits that this brings.

It is much more of a challenge to maintain that change.  As you move further from the negative experiences created by the old behavior, it becomes easier to minimize their costs.  Temptations arise which can be difficult to resist.

Maintenance is the long haul during which old habits are being replaced by new ones.  Lapses are common during the Maintenance phase.  It may be necessary to return to Planning or even to Contemplation to remedy these lapses.

Some people who lapse in the Maintenance stage get so discouraged that they return to Precontemplation.  Don’t let this happen to you!

When you understand that change rarely proceeds in a straight line, you can recognize a lapse as a normal part of the change process and get quickly back on track.

6.    Termination (Transformation):

Once the new habits have replaced the old, maladaptive behaviors you can consider yourself in what Prochaska labels the Termination phase.  I prefer the term Transformation.

In Transformation, the desired change has been accomplished.  With the new behaviors established, you are no longer the same person.  You couldn’t imagine going back to the old behavior patterns. You have achieved your goal.

Understanding the process of change will help you achieve your goals and make your good life better!  If you would like to learn more about the six stages of change, I heartily recommend Prochaska’s book, Changing for Good.

Jeannette Samanen, Ph.D.
Jeannette’s professional development began with graduate school at the University of Oregon.  Her first post-doctoral position was at the Boston University School of Medicine where, as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology), where she specialized in stress management and behavioral medicine.  Jeannette has had over 30 years of experience as a life coach and psychologist and derives great pleasure from helping clients transform their lives for the better.