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Developing a Strategy to Find a Sustainable Living

April 27, 2012 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

The process of developing a strategy is the best way to test whether you are actually committed to a specific focus. When you know where you are, where you want to go, and the criteria you have for getting there, developing a strategy can be straightforward.

A strategy is a series of steps we can take to get from where we are now to where we want to be. Often we create strategies without knowing what we’re doing. These “de facto” strategies are reactive in nature. We respond to what’s happening to us, instead of orchestrating what will happen. Are you relying on a ‘de facto’ strategy to change your life?

The Four C’s

To chart our own course, we must consciously create a strategy that works for our situation. This requires the four C’s of creative change:

1) Comfort – knowing what you’re up for

2) Clarity – getting a clear picture of your situation

3) Creativity – being creative about your options

4) Commitment – deciding what you can actually commit to doing.

Stepping Stones

Sometimes we need to develop a strategy that provides a series of stepping-stones…a way to move step-by-step from one situation to another. Stepping-stone strategies usually include taking a variety of interim steps, like keeping a job you’re hoping to leave while studying to enter a new field.

A Helping Hand

Maybe a helping hand is needed. It may be in the form of financial aid or even assistance from a mentor. Often this strategy requires extensive preparation and planning to convince those involved that a proposed strategy will be viable.

The Flying Leap

Some of us are lucky enough to be able to take a flying leap and move directly from the old to the new life with all the planning done in advance. Rarely does this happen by chance.

What Are Your Options?

Are you ready to commit to a particular strategy? To select the best one for your situation, you need to review the strategies you’re considering in detail and imagine yourself carrying each one out. Which one feels best, is most feasible, and most likely to succeed? You can, and should, alter your strategy as you go based on your experiences.

Are you Hung Up?

In searching for a workable strategy we often run headlong into a logjam when trying to change directions. Confusion occurs when we focus on what we fear might happen, or when we over intellectualize to the point that we can’t see the options for doing anything differently. Looking at the big picture it can be hard to see the details of how we can get from one situation to another. A developed strategy gives us ideas as to how we can break the big picture down into manageable pieces. Ask yourself if you are focusing on more than you can take on all at once. Feeling overwhelmed can prevent you from developing a strategy that will get you started.

Experts Can Help

If you don’t know where to begin in breaking your goals down into a manageable strategy, there are experts that can help you… counselors, business consultants and personal coaches. The best route to finding such assistance is through personal referrals, but if you can’t find help that way, check out the web or contact us directly. We offer an initial free consultation

Once you have a strategy laid out step-by-step that you’re committed to implementing, it’s time to put your show on the road! It’s time to act, even if it’s to gather additional information or experience to help you decide on your next step. Each strategy you undertake will lead to the next one. What are you waiting for?

Comments on the substance of ths blogs are welcome. If you have other questions, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

Recognizing the Signs of Change: Are You Sick of Your Work? Is Your Work Making You Sick? Look for a Sustainable Living That Enables You to Stay Healthy

April 6, 2012 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

Sometimes it’s like a rear-end collision – sudden and completely unexpected. Other times it’s more like running out of gas – gradual and accompanied with warning signs that we may or may not heed. The realization that we must change directions is not always of our own choosing.

When it’s time for a change, the sooner you get to the message the better. The longer it takes us to realize that a change is forthcoming, the more sudden, jolting, and wrenching a sharp turn it will be. To avoid sharp turns we’ve got to wake up to what’s going on around us. The quicker we recognize and accept the need for change, the more likely we can take action. To do this we need to read the signs. Except in situations of random acts of nature, there is almost always a telltale foreshadowing of things to come. Sometimes however, it seems easier to look the other way and ignore signals that alert us to what’s coming around the corner.

We can’t let fear of the unknown, of making the wrong decision, or fear of repeating past mistakes paralyze our judgment. We must see and read the signs of change that are taking place within ourselves and in the world around us.

External Signs of Change

Being able to foresee and recognize changes that threaten your future is key to being able to change directions successfully. Here are some of signs that indicate changes are brewing. You should take heed of these because they can and will affect you.

You’re working longer and harder but still losing ground
Earnings, sales, stocks or customer counts are dropping
Layoffs and/or hiring freezes are occurring in your company or within your industry
Rumors abound that new technology may drastically alter your industry
New legislation is pending that may eliminate the need for what you do
An event in your field occurs that leaves you shaking your head in disbelief, surprise or discomfort
Other products and services are being substituted for what you offer
Others in your field start to diversify their work with other skills and interests
Colleagues are leaving your field
Your manager suggests you update your skills

Internal Signs You Need to Make a Change

Often there are no external reasons for change. In fact, our circumstances may seem ideal to others or even be what we thought we wanted. Nevertheless, often there are internal signals that we should pay attention to, including some of the following:

Feeling mildly depressed for days on end
Overeating, using alcohol and drugs to feel better or escape
Not wanting to get out of bed in the morning
Feeling chronically tired
Nagging doubt about yourself and the course of your life
Losing enthusiasm for life
Getting frequent headaches, stomach upsets or a mild or serious illness
Difficulty sleeping or oversleeping
Consistently being irritable, complaining, nagging
Feeling unfulfilled with your work
Feeling in a rut and restless

It’s not enough to simply see the signs. We need to grasp the significance of the signs we’re noticing and take them seriously. Change can consume and overwhelm us so it’s tempting to pretend everything is just fine even though there are definite challenges we should be assessing and attending to.

Are there signs you’re dismissing? Are you toughing it out? Are you pretending things are okay, when actually they’re not? Is there something eating at you? What new information or situations in your life do you need to take into account? Take the time to understand what they mean for you and your future. And finally, be honest, is it time for a change?

If you think we can help, we offer counseling.

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Comments and questions on the substance of this blogs are welcome. If you have other questions about this website, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

The Questions Most People Never Ask Necessary to Find a Sustainable Living

March 31, 2012 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

To find a new livelihood, most people ask one of the following questions:

What could I do?
What should I do?
What’s the best thing for me to do?

The first three questions will likely take you down the wrong path.

Read on to find out why…

“What could I do?”

This is usually the first question people ask when thinking about going out on their own. Chances are there are hundreds of things that you could do. It may be interesting to consider the possibilities, but it is often more overwhelming than helpful. Whenever ‘could’ comes to mind, the ‘couldn’ts’ rush in closely behind. You and others you talk to can no doubt generate a long list of reasons why you can’t do just about any of the things you’re considering doing.

“What should I do?”

In answering this question, it’s likely that nothing measures up to the expectations you or those around you have for what you should and shouldn’t do. You may never see how you can make what you should do interesting enough to actually follow through and do it. And then of course, once you start thinking about the ‘shoulds’, the ‘shouldn’ts’ are right around the corner. There is always some reason why you shouldn’t do virtually anything you’ll ever think of doing.

“What’s the best thing for me to do?”

This question can lead you into a quagmire of seemingly impossible choices. The search for the perfect venture can be as immobilizing as the world of ‘coulds’ and ‘shoulds’. What might look like the most lucrative choice, for example, might be at odds with what you would most enjoy. Or what you would enjoy most might be too difficult.

The answers to these questions rarely lead to choices that you can wholeheartedly pursue. So ask yourself the only question that you can count on to get you where you want to go.

“What do you really want to do?”

The path to your perfect work lies in honestly answering this question. To create a life of your own, start by considering what you’re really looking for in life. The goal of whatever work you choose to do should be to enable you to achieve what it is you want from life. When you hire yourself, you not only get to define the kind of work you do, but you also get to define the working conditions, the salary, the fringe benefits, the locale, the people you’ll work with, and the type of lifestyle your new job will support. You get to call all the shots. So before trying to figure out what to do, figure out what you’re doing it for. Only then can you build your work around what’s most important to you instead of the other way around.

If you think we can help, we offer counseling.

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Comments and questions on the substance of this blogs are welcome. If you have other questions about this website, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

The Inner Compass’s Role in Finding a Sustainable Living

March 27, 2012 by Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

It’s easy to confuse who we are with what we do. This confusion accounts for much of the stress we experience when faced with making big changes in our lives. But studies show that there is an intrinsic genetic element to who we are that can guide us toward the most rewarding paths for our lives. Some of us just seem to know where to go. What is this internal navigation system that guides these individuals from one direction to the next?

If we can connect with this inner compass, we need never feel lost.

Perhaps we can best understand our level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our circumstances in terms of how well our abilities, interests and aptitudes coincide with our opportunities to express them. The joy that comes from pursuing your innate desires, loves and passions can lead you precisely where you most want to.

The more our interests, abilities and creativity are recognized and encouraged, the better we feel and the clearer we become about who we are and what we want. Who is the you that never changes? Where is your joy? Where is your laughter? That is your inner compass. Trust it to steer you in the right direction.

The key to finding your way is to know who you are, what gives you joy and what you will and won’t do. If we listen, our inner compass will tell us when we’re on track and when we’re not, when to stick it out and when to head off in a new direction. In the crush of life’s changing demands, it’s easy to lose touch with our inner navigational system.

So how do you discover your inner compass? One way is to take the time to consider one of your favorite work experiences. What did you like about it? Now consider one of your favorite experiences unrelated to work. What did you like about it? Look for words patterns, feelings, and images that repeatedly suggest common themes. Consider your favorite childhood experiences too. Usually there is a thread of similarity that runs along all the favorite memories- work-related, personal and from childhood. That thread is known as the inner compass. These core themes are at the heart of who you are and are an expression of your inner compass. They are your personal essence in action.

Paying attention to the feelings you have identified will guide your life in a satisfying new direction. If these feeling are consistently absent from what you’re doing or considering, then you’re heading away from the direction your inner compass would guide you. HhWhenever you catch yourself saying or thinking any of the following statements you are not listening to your inner compass. You are instead sabotaging your efforts to fulfill your desires.

I’m bored.
I shouldn’t feel this way.
There’s nothing I’m really passionate about.
But this is what I have to do.
What’s the use? There’s nothing I can do about it.
Yes, but what if…?

If you know you need to change and you’re ready to make a change, but you’re not making any progress toward it, it’s a sure sign that you aren’t tuned in. Without an inner navigation system to guide us, we either reach a standstill or we move on aimlessly without sense of where we’re headed or why. If you haven’t discovered your inner compass, you have to make the effort to find it.

If you think we can help, we offer counseling.

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Comments and questions on the substance of this blogs are welcome. If you have other questions about this website, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.