Journey to Happiness Part 1 Personal Awareness

I was going through my folder of "ideas" for a blog topic and I found this:
Explore 6 Steps to a Happier Life
Personal Awareness: Values, Goals, and Life Patterns
Setting Priorities and Standards for the neglected area
Adjusting your limiting beliefs that keep you stuck
Time Management Tools to Find the Missing Time!
Stress Busters that fit into your lifestyle
Relationship tools to bring more positive energy into your life

These 6 topics really sum up everything I have been doing as a coach and on my own personal journey for the last 3 years.  I'll start with step one and create a blog for each.

Personal Awareness of values, goals and life patterns

I am turning 54 soon and I have to say, until I began my coaching courses in 2006, I don't think I ever really thought about my values,  I had a poor record for setting or achieving goals, and I had no idea what pattern my life was following. Since I took my courses and have had a coach to help me focus on some of these things, I have spent more time and effort to really look at what they mean to me and then do something about them. 

So what do I value?  The list is long so I will limit it to two.
I value family and close relationships above all else.  I haven't always been the best at relationships and I am consciously working on rectifying that.  I feel I am closer to being able to authentically relate to people the way I want to with almost all the people in my life.  I was coaching a woman and her business partner recently and I could see how much they were struggling to be honest with each other without hurting each other's feelings.  Sometimes we don't like to hear what others are trying to tell us.  And sometimes we don't know how to tell someone what is bothering us.  But if we don't speak up or don't ask, we are living our lives on the surface instead of going deep and being real.  Now I am finding ways to feed my relationships with positive, nurturing dialogue and actions that help me feel proactive and bring my relationships to a new level of connection or friendship or closeness that I didn't always have.

Another strong value I have is becoming a successful business owner.  I love my work as a life and relationship coach.   I feel so happy when my clients move into action around an issue that is important to them or have AHA moments that are transformational.  At first I spent a lot of time in my little world and hoped people would find me.  Now I am actively reaching out and putting myself in situations that allow me to share my passion and connect with potential clients.  If I believe in what I do, then I MUST reach out to help others.  Otherwise I am doing the world a disservice.

A life pattern I gradually identified through my own coaching process was the fact that I shrunk in the face of fear.  Most people lack confidence in some area of their life, and I consistently sold myself short in anything related to my schooling and career, from the time I was a teenager.  Applying for colleges at the last minute, NOT applying to schools that would require major travel or cost more money, Not taking a licensing exam after 3 years of studying to be an Athletic Trainer.  I do give myself credit for going away to school and paying for it myself (no money when there were 10 kids in our family!)  I got a degree in Physical Education but changed my career path after I graduated.  I got married and had kids right away!
To some extent I have broken the pattern and I am facing my fears and doing things anyway.  I am so excited and passionate about coaching that a new pattern has become problematic- I jump from idea to idea and lack some follow-through.  It's actually not a new pattern, but my awareness is getting keener.
That's what change is all about: becoming aware, acknowledging what I am doing and what is not working, accepting my strengths and weaknesses, then accessing my choices to move out of my rut and taking action toward the change I want.
Whew!  That's a mouthful.  My colleague Anna Cole and I call it the 5 A Change Process.
More on that later.
If you would like to join Anna and I for a "Building Lasting Relationships" teleclass please go to my website for more information.  www.newstepslifecoaching.com/workshops_and_teleclasses


Have a happy and aware day.