Energy Coaching

I have been a world class athlete for many years.  As I transitioned to the “real world” and became a successful entrepreneur and a life coach, I noticed many traits that were present in both my careers as an athlete and as a business woman.  Some of these traits were imperative for me to achieve my goals. 

Focus, discipline, hard work, integrity, passion for what I am doing, confidence and commitment are some of the attributes that allowed me to realize my dreams.  While these are all good qualities to have, the main reason why I was able to achieve my goals was/is my mindset.  “It’s all up here” it’s not just a saying; it is a reality.  We are who we think we are!  This mindset will lead us to take actions that will help us step into our power and become the person we want to be.

The attributes I mentioned are also found in many people that we know and admire that have achieved positions of leadership in the world.  We all have the potential to develop these qualities.  It’s within our reach.  We simply need to decide to change our mindset and go for it.  What does that mean?  It means that we need to become clear about what you love, define a goal and design an action plan to achieve it.  It means to be open to recruit help if necessary, create a support system that will encourage us to move forward and to have compassion for ourselves during the process. 

Most of the people I come across have been trying really hard to live a fulfilling life.  A number of them have the right intentions and the wrong mindset.  This week I want to invite you to play with the notion of “what if’s…”.  What if I have all the resources I think I need to succeed, what if I could make a living doing exactly what I love and help people in the process, what if I had the clarity to know what I really want, what if…  Write down your answers in your journal or in a piece of paper.  What feelings come up for you?  Play with it.  See how you feel when you allow yourself to be open minded and creative.  This exercise will give you a taste of what it feels like to have a different mindset; one that will actually help you move forward and become a great success! 

With energy,

Ana

Our response to a ringing phone is one of the few things in life over which we have total control and decision making authority.  There are answering machines and voicemail that can do this job for us when we need it.  Yet, many times we don’t seem to realize that.  If the phone rings, some of us feel that we must stop whatever it is that we are doing and answer it. 

Why not turn the ringer off about thirty minutes before you have to leave to be somewhere?  This way you won’t be tempted to answer the phone and add stress to your day having to rush out of the house.  Other suggestions for when not to answer your phone:

1.  While having an important conversation with a friend, with your significant other, with your child.

2.  During meals.

3.  While having your own quality time with yourself.

Ask yourself the question, “Is answering the phone at this moment going to make my life easier, or is it going to add stress to my day?”  Simple as it seems, choosing not to answer the phone, on selected occasions, can be a very empowering decision and can greatly reduce the stress in your daily life.

With energy,

Ana

1.  Start from where you are and take one step at the time.  Be gentle with yourself.  A tool I like to use with my clients is to ask them to always have a picture of themselves as a child around their office or in their bedroom.  The picture reminds them that we still have that child inside of ourselves.  We would not say things to a child that would diminish their fragile selves.  Think about that before you call yourself less than wonderful things.

2.  Examine your resistance points  - the things that irritate you, limit you or cause you to react.  I realize that’s a tough one and it does take practice.  It’s worth it to breathe a few times, get outside of ourselves and ask why we are reacting.  Examine your reaction with a clinical eye.  Resist the temptation to judge; just observe yourself and ask why you are reacting the way you are.

3.  Recognize that whatever you are experiencing at this moment is appropriate to your need to grow.  Everything we experience is preparing us for our next step.  When we embrace the challenges we are able to focus on the present and find solutions much more quickly. 

4.  Stop worring about others and what they think of you.  Seriously, who’s paying your bills?  What people think of you will most likely be forgotten within the next 10 minutes if you are important to that person.  What they think of you will not affect their lives.  Why should it affect yours? 

5.  Realize that it doesn’t matter what happened to you or who did it to you; the only thing that matters is what you do about it.  If you choose to forget it, it’s history.  If you dwell on it you will create negative feelings around yourself. 

6.  Learn to refrain from judging others.  Things are rarely what they seem and we don’t know what others have been through.  It’s best to give people the benefit of the doubt and wait a bit before saying something that might hurt others.

7.  Learning to operate hollistically by opening up to the other possibilities that are always there.  If you see things the same way, you won’t find new solutions to old problems or better ways of doing things. 

8.  Finish your unfinished business.  Forgive, forget and forge ahead.  Let things, people and relationships go with grace.  Start from the outside and work your way to the inside.  Your wardrobe is a great place to begin!

9.  When faced with an apparently hopeless situation, take action, any action.  Inertia leads to depression. 

10.  Take time for yourself and for doing things that bring you energy.  Make sure you do exactly what brings you joy - get your manicure, pedicure, massage, read the book you love, drink the tea you adore, eat that pice of chocolate after lunch, exercise.  Whatever it is, make sure you do it for yourself.  It’s not indulgence; it’s recharging.

Wishing you an empowering month!

With energy,

Ana

It has been said that our ultimate concern in life is to avoid pain and to gain pleasure.  I respectfully disagree with this affirmation.  My opinion is that our main concern is neither to gain pleasure nor to avoid pain but rather to discover a meaning to our lives.  How do we find meaning to our lives?  Great question…

First of all, our lives are so individualized that their meanings are also unique to each one of us.  Second of all, the situations in our lives are constantly changing.   What I mean by these two statements is that, to find the meaning of our lives, we need to first look inside ourselves and ask questions that are pertinent to our lives and not to that of others.  The answers only fit us, our passions and our mission.  The second statement has to do with finding a meaning to our lives by finding a meaning to the present moment we are living.  It’s about asking questions then and there, finding out the why - an aim - for our lives.  The meaning of life differs from person to person and from moment to moment. 

Ultimately, it’s all about understanding the present moment as being your life’s meaning.  Taking ownership of every second of our lives, constantly seeking to live a life that is aligned with our passions and with our desire to contribute, simply overflows our lives with meaning.  Learning that even our suffering has a meaning, allows us to see that when we accept a challenge, we are presented with an opportunity to go deeper and perhaps discover the true meaning of our lives.  A challenge forces us to live in the present, to worry about it, and to even forget about the future or the past in order to focus on its solution. 

Explore, ask and look for your own answers!  No one else can find them but you. 

With energy,

Ana 

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how”  Nietzsche.

Living from the heart means that you choose a life and a lifestyle that are true for you.  You make important decisions because they resonate with your heart and with your own values, and not necessarily with those of others.  You trust your own instincts more than the pressures from advertising or the expectations of society, family and friends.  Living from the heart is about trusting the quiet voice within you that emerges when you quiet down enough to listen.

Moving to Hong Kong was all about listening to our inner voices.  We trust that everything will be OK because we are designing our own path the way we want it to be and according to our values.  The other part of the equation is to live one day at the time and take actions that will build the road to get where we want.  Even when things don’t seem to be moving at the pace we want them to move, we trust that the direction we chose is the right one for us. 

The way to live from your heart is to commit to live a life that reflects your inner voice.  Ask yourself questions like:  “How do I really want to live my life?”, “Am I following my own path or doing things simply because I’ve always done them the same way or because I am living up to someone’s expectations?”  Then, quiet down and listen to yourself.  The answers will come and you will be surprised at what you might discover.

With energy,

Ana