Too Much Stress!

Are you feeeling stressed out? Are you tired of feeling like you can't keep up? Do you want to learn some new ways that you can immediately and effectively begin to reduce stress in your life? I'm offering a FREE coaching teleclass on Monday Feb 6th, 9 pm central time in honor of International Coaching Week. I'd love to have you join us. Just email me to register for the class!

Feel free to share this announcement with anyone you think would be interested!

One unforgettable day

In Debbie Ford's new book, The Best Year of Your Life, she encourages readers to create one unforgettable day a month. This does not need to be an elaborate trip. It can simply be a special or unique activity that you know will leave a precious mark in your memory. I love the idea of this and the challenge of it! So far I'm two for two, December and January. What are you going to do to create an unforgettable day?

Connections

How connected do you feel in your relationship with your significant other? Your children? In preparation for a workshop I'm giving on connections this weekend, I discovered the number 1 barrier to us not connecting with others, is ourselves. Some of you may completely disagree with me on this, but think about it. If we aren't feeling connected to ourselves and cared for, how can we expect to do the same with any other person. If you are feeling a loss of connection with others, check in with you and see what is revealed.

If you'd like to take the self-connection quiz, email me.

Help! My Job is Draining Me

I'm giving you a glimpse at the title of February's monthly article. If you'd like to know more, email me. One of the sources of job drain that I didn't address in the article is from being in the wrong job. How do you know if you're in the wrong job? Do you feel excited and motived to be in your current job? Do you dread going to work every day? Try to figure out the source of your job drain. It can be very scary thinking about changing jobs, but sometimes that can be in our best interest. If you feel stuck and you're not sure where to go, this is the perfect time to talk to a life coach to help you truly figure out what you want to do with your life, at least for the moment.

What's Your New View

It's easy to feel stuck this time of year. It's cold, at least for most of us. Winter seems to be dragging on and it's easy to feel stuck in a rut! The hype of our Resolutions has probably worn off. So, take a minute and reassess your priorities. What is really important to you? Are you making those things important in your everyday activities? Instead of asking yourself how did I fail this time or something along those lines try changing the question. Ask yourself, What can I learn from this?

Do You Want to Change Your Life?

I'm excited to announce that I'm offering my special program 7 Secrets to Living Happy and Healthy in a group format! This group is starting soon...Tuesday Jan 31st 12-1 pm or Wednesday Feb. 1st 8-9 pm. If you mention this blog or enroll before the 21st, the group cost is only $80 instead of 100 for 4 sessions!! Please visit www.livinghappyandhealthy.com to find out more. Or, contact me directly at carrie@livinghappyandhealthy.com.

Making Marriages Work!

Did you know that over 1/2 of marriages end in divorce? With 46% of those divorces occuring in the first 5 years or marriage?

The Today Show featured a professor from the University of Rochester who is completing a study with 800 married couples to study what makes relationships work.

They had some important tips and information.

1) Communication is key. It's important to make the time and effort to talk to each other. This includes willing to be vulnerable. It also is very important for each person to feel understood. Couples will argue...about money, sex, and many other things. What they argue about is not as important as how it is handled and how they communicate!

2) Give more than you take. Dr. Gail talked about making sure you are giving more than you are getting in your relationship.

3) Show more affection to each other.

4)Don't let the new roles in your relationship and as parents override the fun and joy you experienced in the beginning of your relationship.

5) Bottom Line: Be Kind to each other!

The results of this 5 year study are sure to shed more light on making marriages work.

Moving Forward!

One of the biggest barriers between ourselves and success are our own limiting beliefs. Here a few powerful questions to help you begin to challenge your own thinking.

1) What would you do if you weren't afraid?

2) What would you do if you could not fail?

In these answers there is a wealth of information you can use to battle your own thoughts!

Thanks Jay Leno!

If you saw Jay Leno last night, you'd know that he had fun poking at us life coaches. He made a joke about why would anyone need to use us...we used to have them, they were called friends!

Funny, but really coaches are more than just friends! Coaches keep their clients accountable. Coaches help their clients move forward and keep their momentum going. They help successful people get where they want to go faster than if they were just trying to do it on their own.

I just had to say my peace. Feel free to check out www.coachfederation.org for more info about coaches!

Super Foods

Have you heard of the new book called Super Foods by Dr. Steven Pratt? It was featured on a re-run of www.oprah.com today. It's worth checking out what some of the best foods are for you to eat. Dr. Pratt reminded us of the simple things like avoiding trans fats (any where you see hydrogenated in the food label), increasing fruits and veggies, and whole grains. Some of the favorite foods he mentioned...spinach, blueberries, any berries, and nuts. He stressed the importance of eating a whole rainbow of colorful foods.

Changing For Good

Are you committed to changing your life in 2006? If you are serious, check out James Prochaska's book, Changing For Good. Prochaska and his colleagies outline 6 steps to change. After researching this issue, they believe individuals must understand what stage they are in to be able to move forward and make change permanent. If you're interested in the 6 stages and a quick self quiz, email me for more!

Kick the Soda Habit!

The Today Show is doing a special series this week about kicking bad habits. Did you know that if you are a regular soda drinker and you eliminate 1 20 ounce soda a day for 1 year, you could lose over 22 pounds of fat in one year? Check out the link above to find out more about how to overcome the soda addiction and why drinking soda is not good for you. This isn't so much an addiction for me, but I am looking forward to their article about kicking the sweet tooth habit!

Credit Card Hikes

Have you heard the latest on the credit card payment hikes? New laws in 2006 now allow credit card companies to increase the minimum amounts you pay. In some cases, they plan to double people's minimums. For people who are just living paycheck to paycheck or who have larger balances, this could be very difficult to swallow. If you want more information on this topic, read the following article.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/creditcardsmarts/P117014.asp

Support Yourself

Think about supporting yourself in two ways!

1) Identify people in your life who can be of help or support to you in making your goal. not only by telling about them will your goal become more of a reality, but if you pick your friends carefully they can provide much needed support.

2) Don't forget to reward yourself! As adults we often overlook this key piece. Pick a few small rewards you can give yourself for achieving your goal!

Two More Tips

The next thing to consider for yourself.....

Have you had this goal or resolution before?

What roadblocks did you encounter?

What are some of the physical challenges associated with your success?

What are some of your beliefs that may limit your progress?

After you answer these questions, come up with some ideas to handle these roadblocks.

More Resolution Tips!

Tip #1 Now that you have a goal in mind, make sure that it has personal meaning to you. Why do you want to achieve this Resolution? If you don't have a strong why, any goal is not going to stay around for very long!

Tip #2 Is your goal realistic and measurable? So often we set off to achieve grand goals without putting things into a realistic perspective. Can you really lose 20 pounds in month safely? You also need to take a look at how you will measure your success.

Come back more this week for more ideas to make your resolutions a real success!