704 words of content including five tools for self-awareness as the basis for personal change. Approximate reading time: 2.18 minutes. And isn't your Happiness worth it?

This newsletter speaks to Leadership, Happiness, and Coaching in your life and work.

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1. Five Simple Tools to Help You Change Your Life Through Self-Awareness
2. The Executive Happiness Coach®

 

You Can Get There, But From Where? I’m sure most of you understand that creating a strong Vision statement or goals improves the probability that you will get to where you want to go.

But what if you don't know where you are to start? Imagine heading out on a road trip. You know where you want to be, great. But what if your GPS isn't working and the system doesn't know where you are right now? It's impossible to map a path without a starting point.

I’ve seen this theme emerge over and again with my clients. They often have great clarity around outcomes, but they have a low level of self-awareness around current state. How can you define a development plan if you don't know your gaps? How can you choose wisely the path to happiness if you are clueless about your current emotional life?

A few weeks ago I showed up for a session with my coach in a state of Overwhelm. My coach asked me to notice what I was juggling such that I felt so confused about what to do.

I was managing the building of a new home (Paint color! Lights! Granite! Flooring!), decluttering my current home to put it on the market, running a business, rebuilding my website, editing a book, and in the midst of that, taking several family vacations. I was trying to work from three different task lists. Oy!

So I paused to consolidate. I went from three lists and 17 post-it notes to just one Master List. Funny thing — a lot of my stress just fell away once I brought it all to one place. From there it was just a matter of naming priorities.

I confess to being human — even as I help clients deal with similar issues, I am sometimes blind to my own situation!

Here are Five Tools to help you increase Self-Awareness:

1. Conduct an Inventory. In the face of overwhelm, confusion, or conflicting priorities, resist the seduction of taking action just to stay busy. Pause and gather everything that is yours and pull it to one list. I promise, you will find it easier to choose your next action and manage your time when working from only one source.
2. Slow Down and Breathe. I do a little bit of yoga every day. At the end of a good yoga practice, it is customary to lay in Savasana (commonly called Corpse pose, flat on the back with eyes closed and breathing slowly). In a conversation with my coach, I realized that I had for several weeks been skipping the final part of my practice in order to save time! Yikes! I had abandoned a major practice that supported my Calm. Doh!
3. Stop and Look Around. Notice where you are. What is pulling at you? What is present and what is missing? They say that a problem properly defined is 90% solved.
4. Keep an Emotions Journal. In the field of Emotional Intelligence, this is the starting point for Self-awareness and Self-management. Set the timer on your phone for a random time between one hour and one minute and two hours and 15 minutes. Every time it sounds, pause and write down the emotion/emotions you are feeling in that moment. An attention activity like this will dramatically expand your appreciation of both the depth and variety of the emotions you most live in.
5. Watch Yourself. You are often invisible to yourself. Even as you say you want X, you keep doing Y. A Food Log tracks eating patterns and habits. A Time Log (capturing your activity every 15-30 minutes) increases your awareness of how you are REALLY spending your time. Watching what you do makes you far more conscious of your habits and patterns and puts you in a more powerful place from which you can choose differently.

Self-Awareness is a powerful first step toward problem-solving or transformation, because once you can identify your current state, you have the power to choose whether to stay there or go somewhere else. Once you know where you are, it’s easier to plan your trip!

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The 13 Principles of Happiness will remind you, every day, of things you can start, stop, and do more of to live a healthier, happier life. Download a copy today and post it on your cubicle wall or fridge at home. Think happy.

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The Executive Happiness Coach® is a global provider of Executive Coaching and mentoring services. With clients in 27 countries and six continents, my passion is to help build a Happier world and workplace, one Leader at a time.

Want more Happiness, Leadership, and Coaching conversations in your life? Contact me today.

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Copyright © 2016, All Rights Reserved. Reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution:
"From HAPPINESS@TheSPEEDofLIFE, by Jim Smith, PCC, The Executive Happiness Coach®. For more tips on Leading with Happiness, visit www.TheExecutiveHappinessCoach.com."

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