As we move into the last days of 2011, I invite you to take an extra hour just for you…sit with pen in hand and reflect on this past year.  Go through each of these questions as a way to celebrate your achievements and ponder the question, what’s next?

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” — T.S. Eliot

Step 1:  What music or sounds reflect this past year for you?

Move to your favorite chair or place in your home. Start the music. Get comfortable with a warm drink and this year’s calendar at your side. With notepad and pen, begin your Year 2011 Reflection.

Step 2:  Starting in January of 2011 and through December, month by month, list what you are most proud of .To help you add to your list, consider:

**Actions taken** who you have become** gifts given** gifts received** shifts in thinking** items acquired or released** risks taken** opportunities grabbed on to** attitude changes** movement through transition** support you have given**projects completed** projects started**  goals identified** goals completed**…. Remember, nothing is too small or too great to add to your list.

Step 3:  Identify 3 guiding principles that guided you in this year. Some new ones for me this past year were:

“Do it a different way!”

“Celebrations aren’t the party – they are the events in my life that honor tradition, gratitude and the blessings I have received.”

“One moment can change the entire course of my life”

You might also think of your guiding principles in terms of a theme for the past year. Another way to think of this step is to identify the 3 beliefs that guided you to a sense of pride for all your accomplishments?

Step 4:  Now look back through the year and consider what didn’t work as you wanted or hoped it would? Give yourself the gift of compassion as you compile this list. Try not to focus on the why, but only the realization that life is an experience and you are in it. Consider the unrealized expectations, unexpected circumstances, challenges, gifts given and gifts received but not planned for nor expected, interruptions…

Step 5:  Please, email (Marybeth@wholelifecoaching.com) a copy of your completed lists.  If you’d like to talk about it, we can arrange a one time session and all you need to do is make a donation, in any amount, to my PayPal account.  You can always add to it later and as we speak! Share what you are comfortable with. We will probably not have time to look at each item on your lists, so highlight your choices for discussion.  Sometimes it’s just nice to be witnessed.  Wait you’re only half way there.

New Beginnings Year 2012

The answers to these questions begin the basis for your focus for Year 2012.

“You have done what you could — some blunders and absurdities have crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”   Emerson

1:  What’s the theme you’d like to have for 2012?

“The year of CLAIMING AND HARVESTING WHAT I’VE SOWN”

“The year of peace, prosperity, and purpose”

2:  As you stand on one of the peaks looking forward, what future is calling?

3:  What is the essence of what is next for you?

4:  How will you nurture the relationship with yourself?

5: What other relationships will you nurture and how?

6:  What changes do you anticipate or hope for in the next year?

7:  What self-lies (e.g., “I am not powerful.”) are you ready and willing to end?

8: Is there unfinished business, goals, or intentions from 2011 that will carryover into 2012?

9:  Picture the energy you will have in 2012 – what does it look like (shape), what color is it, is there sound?

10:  What gift(s) will you commit to giving yourself in the next year?

11:  Are there gift(s) you will give to others?

Know that I celebrate you this holiday season as I reflect on the many blessings I am grateful for in my own life.  Happy holidays ……. Much love, Mary Beth

“For each of us eventually, whether we are ready or not, someday it will come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame, and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned or owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.

So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won’t matter where you came from or on what side of the tracks you lived at the end.

It won’t matter if you’re beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built. Not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered

or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew but how many will feel a lasting loss when you

are gone.

What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.

A life lived that matters is not of circumstance but of choice.”

1. Sell your stuff or other peoples’ stuff- Ebay, Craig’s List, garage sales
2. Start a small or micro business – use your talents, grow & sell produce, clean houses, consult
3. House/Dog or Cat/Child sitting – for the nurturing folks
4. Tutoring/teaching – ESL, piano lessons, reading, math
5. Handyman – help others fix their homes or do some woodworking
6. Baking cakes, cookies, pies – sell to busy friends
7. Rent a room in your home – to a trustworthy person
8. Sewing/art/design – use your creativity for others
9. Moving jobs – help people get their stuff packed & transported
10. Recycling cans/boxes – some places pay money & you’ll be helping the enviornment

What are your creative ideas to bring in more income?  Please share and let’s make it through this time together.

Life purpose is the phrase that identifies the path we are on in life.  It is what gives us power over all the internal and external voices trying to tell us what to do, that grounded and centered truth that when being lived makes us unstoppable and unconcerned about others’ opinions, judgments and criticisms.  The answer to the question ”Why am I here?”

To Do: Life purpose visualization

Structure:  I am the metaphor that impact or I action to/for/of effect

For Example:

I am the well digger that helps people go deeper into their truth.

I am the guiding hand that helps people put their puzzle together.

I am the silk that wraps the world in it’s own beauty.

I am the meadow that incites the dances.

Purpose inspires the activities of your life.  Therefore, it is important to understand this when you are planning to meets your goals.  Purpose connects your values and brings meaning to your life so that no matter where you go on your path you will feel connected to the larger Agenda of your life.

Step 2:  What’s your dream?

Begin with the area of your life you most wish to focus on and look at the dream you envisioned for your future.  This dream will be more specific than your purpose but less specific than your plan.  The dream comes before the plan in order for you to connect with a new quality of life, a deeper sense of being, a value-added life.  The dream inspires and motivates you to set about making it happen.

To Do: Mind mapping

Step 3:  What is your plan for the next chapter of your life?

Planning is how you implement the vision in the real world, now.  Purpose is the “why”; dreams are the “what”.  Planning is realistic, logical, definite, factual, literal, and time-driven.  It is the “how.”  When you plan you take your purpose and dream and break it down into goals, objectives, action steps, and time lines.  Planning is a step-by-step process for making the dream happen.  A plan is fluid not stagnate.  Frequent evaluation is required, along with adaptation to new resources and opportunities as they are discovered.  The framework of the plan will remain, as a vehicle for making the dream happen.  Plans need to be definite, sequential in events, and commitment with time management.  See your wish list for possible first steps.

To Do: Action steps

So many individuals are waking up to who they truly are and looking for ways to know their Truth, to express their essence.  As Human Angels, we hope to have a positive impact on others as we journey through this life and we cannot do that until we understand our Truth.  I believe, that is why so many attachments are being stripped away at this time.  Whether it’s the image you hold or yourself, your job, your relationship, your money, or your health, their leaving washes away the old map of reality.  I know from personal experience, it can be both painful and scary to experience such sweeping changes and it virtually ensures a deeper connection with your soul.  Your soul holds great wisdom and loves you no matter what.  NO MATTER WHAT!

It’s been waiting for this opportunity to speak with you.  All you have to do to facilitate this relationship is to spend some time each day breathing deeply into your belly and saying, “Yes, to life.”  In time, you will develop a new level of trust in yourself and the chaos of world conditions no longer keeps you in a frenzy.  You’ll feel increasing peace of mind and heart.

We are crossing into a new era, expanding ourselves, and the idea of work is going away.  Creative, self-expression is evolving as the new standard.  As we evolve beyond mental conditioning and stop trying to control things, the soul’s wisdom comes through to guide us and heretofore, unimagined potentials open us for us.

If you are interested in developing your relationship with your Truth and finding authentic work please contact me for a complimentary consultation: marybeth@wholelifecoaching.com

It is helpful to work with a coach to discover these truths, as a coach is an objective observer and can connect the dots for you when needed.  The next step involves researching, sorting, and sifting through the world to find work that meets your criteria of being YOU.  Now you are armed with the proper information so you don’t have to blindly read job postings and you don’t have to take others’ advice.  In fact, it will benefit you greatly to let go of any need to please anyone but yourself.

Often, it is following the well meaning advice of family and friends that gets us off on the wrong career path to begin with and so you’ll need to march to your own tune this time.  I really believe that each of us is chiseled by our life experiences in order to live out our purpose.  When we clear away the mental clutter and tune into our feelings, the way forward is remarkable clear.  We’ve grown up learning to trust our minds and ignore our hearts so we make “practical” decisions on our careers.  Choices that leave us feeling empty.  It’s no wonder so many individuals find no meaning at all in their work.

It takes courage and persistence to find “your ideal income” position and you simply aren’t living fully until you do.

Now, while you’re spending this time with yourself, start compiling your life story.  To begin, separate your life into decades. As you consider each segment of your life, complete the following sentences:  the significant events during this part of my life were…, the one event I remember most is…, these events affected my life in the following ways:, the person(s) who influenced me most was (were)…, this part of my life affects me now in the following way….

As you look at the patterns and texture of your life a deeper understanding of who you are will emerge.  Connect with the excitement and inspiration you feel as you consider certain ideas or goals.  Here’s a tip to follow when creating the life of your dreams.  Create the feeling of that new life every single day.  Whatever you wish for in your life, it has a feeling attached to it; find that feeling and connect with it as often as possible.  I often focus on my life being a meditation.  That is, the divine connection I feel during my meditation will dominate the rest of my day.  When I have this experience, it doesn’t matter what I’m “doing”.   For I know that my life serves a higher purpose than that which is readily apparent to me.  From this feeling place I make all the right choices, take all the right steps and I am grateful for the mystery in remembering who I am.

I hope this causes you to pause and remember who you really are.  Peace and Love.

At this point in your life, do you live from your life’s purpose?  If you immediately answered yes to that question, congratulations and thank you for being “present” in the world.  You approach life pro-actively by learning, growing, and being responsible.  You likely feel confident, joyful, self-sufficient, invigorated and inspired.  If you aren’t sure of the answer to that question than you probably aren’t living “on purpose.”   If you aren’t living your life’s purpose you can view this as a gap between your performance and potential.  It’s not that you’re a bad person or deliberately avoiding being your full self it’s just that your haven’t taken full responsibility for your life.  We must acknowledge our deepest desires, our life’s purpose, in order to manage change.  Once we understand our purpose, our future becomes clearer.  It no longer just a dream because we are naturally inspired to plan; as we must be able on some level to see the journey from ‘here’ to ‘there’.  At this point, life just flows.  We adjust the plan occasionally as wonderful surprises, challenges, and countless opportunities come along, always knowing that we are performing our best, living from our life’s purpose.

Coaching can lead to an understanding of your life’s purpose, which in turn can lead to performance beyond your expectations and dreams.  You can feel a sense of personal achievement by individually choosing goals to provide for optimal growth and spiritual fulfillment.  Unfortunately, few people manage to view the changes in their lives as an opportunity for self-development.  It is hardly surprising, therefore, that their lives lack sparkle.

Coaching does in fact shed light in each of these areas.  To expand, let’s look at it through the eyes of business executive Michael Lynberg, author of The Gift of Giving:  “Listen to that still small voice inside you.  If you do not live your life completely, realizing goals you hold to be worthwhile, making your unique contribution to the world, nobody ever will.  Your song will die with you.

“Many of us have discovered what we want to do with our lives.  We havea purpose that resonates to the very core of our being.  Somehow our lives will never be complete unless we answer this calling.  But we refrain…the ‘still small voice’ whispers a dream…but later that day or the next our vision starts to fade…immersed in the practical, ourdreams and aspirations seem uncertain and perhaps a bit foolish.

“We plod the highway of conformity, each following the other.  We seekwhat others seek–comfort, security, money, power, pleasure.  We are not alone, but only a stranger to our better selves.  Years leave wrinkles upon the skin.  But this loss of enthusiasm leaves wrinkles upon the soul.

“It is impossible to tell another what path he or she should follow.  Only you, in stillness and humility, can listen to that still small voice. Success and happiness are not distant goals to capture and hold.  They happen incidentally while you are fulfilling yourself.”

Quote from Michael Lynberg in “If I Knew Then What I Know Now…CEO’s and Other Smart Executives Share Wisdom They Wish They’d Been Told 25 Years Ago”, by Richard Edler.  You know that your inner voice is talking to you constantly, yes?  Why not bring a little magic into your life this week and actually listen to it…what dreams are reoccurring and what desires are being unleashed?

What do you have to gain from honoring this voice?  Where does it want to steer you?  What does it want you to eliminate?  To increase?  To focus upon?

Enjoy some quiet time this week, away from your ‘to do’ lists, and see what transpires.

Peace and Blessings!

1. Outcome: this is what you would like to happen.  THINK BIG – you can always make adjustments
2. Why Will It Work: You’re confident about the above outcome – why do you think it will happen?
3. Introlerables: You have boundaries and limits – what are they?  No matter how tempting the outcome, can you still honor yourself and maintain your sense of integrity and self worth.
4. Must Have’s: Certain things, conditions, and elements must be present to acquire and sustain your commitment to this process – what are they?
5. Things I Can Live With: These are the throwaways, the negotiable pieces you can give up without endangering your core values and principles – what are they?
6. How: How are you going to reach the above outcome?  What are the steps necessary to do this?
7. Who: who will you need to facilitate your reaching your outcome?  What role will they play?  How should they be approached?  Will they share the spoils?
8. What: What needs to be in place, or accessible to make this thing happen? What would you like to be in place ideally?
9. Where: Where or in what location would this process have to occur to best meet your needs and that of your clientele?  How does where fit your needs and requirements?  How does where fit the diversity and uniqueness of those within your market niche?
10. Goodness of Fit: Pause here and think about all the effort and work you have just put into your masterpiece and creation.  This is how well you feel all of the above works interactively with each other to bring about your desired outcome.  Do all the parts feel comfortable to you?  While honoring others, are you honoring yourself?
11. Things I Cannot Change: Now that you have a sense of “Goodness of Fit” and perhaps you would like to “tweak” things, what things are not under your control and are exogenous to your solution set?  You still desire to reach your outcome, but “outliers” can effect your central path.  So what can you do about them?
12. When: As far as timing, when would be the best time for this process to start while taking advantage of market conditions, your own physical, mental, and spiritual place, and your ability to talk your talk, walk your walk?