Hearts and Pants Afire!

Start. Stop. Start. Stop. Ever have this happen with your best laid plans? It’s like me and this “lifestyle” journey I’m on. I started my first actual diet in December, right before Christmas. Started. First two weeks were great. Then came the holidays and shortbread, tea and turkey. Stopped. January 1^st, started again. I wasn’t seeing the results I wanted the third or so day, and yes, I had a hissy fit and got distracted and discouraged. Stopped. It took a day of not doing this diet to make me fully understand what was important: it wasn’t the diet that was the point – it is that I feel healthier and happier when I am being mindful of how I treat my body. If it takes longer to see my thighs get smaller, I’m okay with that. It isn’t about the destination... (here comes the cliché), it’s the journey. Who am I Being in this journey?

As a coach, I find myself deeply caring and believing in my clients and their dreams – I honestly and truly believe in the potential of each of my clients to have full and enriching lives, pursuing their biggest possible life. I have seen amazing things happen for my coaching clients. This just one of  them.

There are some clients that come to coaching hoping for a quick fix or to be told what they should do with their lives. Well, there are no quick fixes in coaching. While some potential clients are curious about what a bigger, awesomer life looks like, a lot of people aren’t ready for that kind of commitment to themselves. Coaching isn’t a 2 week fad diet for your life. It is about envisioning what is possible, creating that vision and pursuing it like your pants are on fire. Some clients get coached for months or years, because coaching keeps them on track, excites them and incites them to greatness. I love what I do!

Start. Stop. Start. Stop. Some of you may have already abandoned your New Year’s Resolutions. Some of you may be punishing yourselves for giving up too soon, setting the bar too high, not doing enough, not being good enough. Speaking from past experience, that kind of self-talk is tedious and destructive. It doesn’t serve you and doesn’t get you any closer to who you truly are capable of being. I know for myself, I work hard at creating an environment with reminders of who I want to be, which is a loving, caring person. I have a Chinese proverb painted on a wall hanging in my meditation space: “If you get up one more time than you fall, you will make it through.” There are amazing stories to be told by people who defied the odds because they did this very thing. Steve Jobs fell down. Steve Jobs got up. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Same goes for Jim Carrey and JK Rowling, to name a few. Do you think Einstein got it right the first time? Or how about Olympic calibre athletes...  they don’t always score gold, but they keep on going. You’ve got to want to get up to have a chance to stay up.

There are going to be stagnant times in life where you feel like nothing worthwhile is happening in your job, your relationships, your fitness routine - there are natural plateaus to all cycles  – but those can be great opportunities to go even deeper and get curious about what is meaningful to you in that moment. If you’ve already abandoned your new year’s resolutions or considering it, ask yourself what your resolutions mean to you. Do you like the person you are being when you are doing these things? Are you excited? Connected? Resonant? If the answer is no, go deeper and find that which sets your heart and pants on fire. I will be the President of your Fan Club and Fan those Flames!

All I ask is that you not abandon yourself.  I’ll be right by your side.