True Balance Life Coaching

Picture yourself walking down the street in a busy urban area of New York, London or Los Angeles.  Moving along you are mesmerized by magnificent architecture, the innocence of a child’s laughter, the fancified shop windows, the smells and sounds of the city.  You are completely lost in thought when by the grace of a complete stranger,  you are saved from being run over by a rogue vehicle blowing through a red light.  Your heart is racing and you are wicked stunned.  You thank the super hero on the street by offering him your first born and stumble off  grateful to be alive.  Your wake up call has been delivered.

What will do with this message?

It’s time to get out of your own way and begin taking action in the areas of your life you deem most important. There is no more time for ego-teasing lip service or negative self-talk. If you need help getting focused,  schedule a no cost coaching session with me or another coach out in the world and move one step forward on the path of your desires.

One of my coaching clients is a brilliant creative visionary. Her vision of idealistic greatness paralyzed her for years from taking action on the small things which bit by bit, drop by drop,  add up to the full life she is desperately seeking. Couple this paralysis with brutal self-talk and we have a smidge of a vision versus reality challenge.

Like the fantastical dreamer meandering through the city,  this bright woman was preoccupied with rich textured dreams and magical notions.  She almost missed the harbinger of a tragic nightmare threatening to suck the life from her extraordinary vision.  We are working together to travel back to the beginning of her story with the commitment of making plans and celebrating incremental actionable steps over a clear and specific time line.

Big Ideas —> Plans Phases —> Action Steps  = Critical Path Time Line

Creative people overflowing with ideas and wacky scenarios love to play. Dabbling here and experimenting there can be big fun and certainly not as scary as stepping into your power to create your life’s dream.  I enjoy experimentation as much as any creative,  but have learned that too many trials lure me away from the laser focus I am finally learning how to surrender to and flow with.

As a personal coach I share my time inspiring creative entrepreneurs to accelerate their journey toward a full and balanced life on their terms. In my opinion, the best way to foster liberation is to live it, breath it and study it.  I am ecstatic to shine a focused stream of dazzling golden sunshine with the purpose of illuminating each bold and interesting plan of the people I play with.

Getting Out of your own way looks like this:

• Learning how to be happy with incremental victories that lead to your BIG VISION

• Being grateful for your experience and talents – There is nobody in the Universe quite like you.

• Reminding yourself daily of all you have accomplished

• Setting realistic daily, weekly and quarterly goals

• Kicking your own ass,  hiring a coach or tapping into a mentor to accomplish short-term plans

• Creating an environment of daily creative productivity

• Communicating with like-minded people who are happy to be a part of your support system

Open your eyes and look around.  You can get out of your own way and honor your creative vision.

It is never too late to begin again.

“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Last night a rush of anxiety reminded me how important it is to relax and unwind before going to bed.  My heart began racing about midnight after 30 minutes of coaxing myself to fall asleep.  It was the night before a crazy-busy week filled with a shit-load of personal and professional obligations.

Like the revving of a race car’s engine, my mind was ready to go. One giant mental check list on a repetitive track of past, present and future thoughts. I was a driver in a cut-throat mental speedway without the option of slowing down. Green flag waved, the Shanny 500 was under way.

How the race began …

I finished watching an old episode of Lost, snuggled under the covers and began thanking the Universe for so many blessings; for a warm bed to sleep in with plenty of blankets, for my healthy body and loving family. Gratitude for a lovely Autumn day with activities like yard work, picking out pumpkins, drinking cider and gobbling up spicy cake donuts.

Time to rest  …  Ahhhh  …

Falling off to a deep sleep would have been lovely if it weren’t for the tenacious voices in my head.

After resting in bed for awhile, the reality of the upcoming week began to unfold along with remnants of what happened the prior week. I was traveling at a high rate of speed going for the apex of every turn around the track.

“Why did My daughter’s teacher take it upon herself to talk with my nine year old about the facts of life without my permission, how can I make the best of the situation?”  “What a big week,  I have a school function on Monday night and a teleconference on Tuesday and Yoga to teach on Wednesday.” ” It is too much.”  “It will be fine.” “You need to get some rest.”  “I am peaceful, I am peaceful, I am Peaceful.”   “Crap why is my heart racing? “I’m sure I’m alright,  just a bit anxious about the week.”  I was beginning to feel out of control.  The CAUTION flag was waved and I needed a pit stop.  “Breathe deeply.” Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale … Deep inhalation, deeper exhalation.

After several minutes of focused breathing the caution flag was removed.  My mind and heart had settled down, and I finally fell off into a much needed deep sleep.

We all experience anxiety from time to time.  Understanding some of the emotional and physical symptoms will help get through your next race.

In addition to the primary symptoms excessive fear and worry, other common emotional symptoms of anxiety include:

Emotional symptoms of anxiety

• Feelings of apprehension or dread
• Trouble concentrating
• Feeling tense and jumpy
• Anticipating the worst

Physical symptoms of anxiety

As a product of the body’s fight-or-flight response, anxiety involves a wide range of physical symptoms. Because of the numerous physical symptoms, anxiety sufferers often mistake their disorder for a medical illness.

Common physical symptoms of anxiety include:

• Pounding heart
• Sweating
• Stomach upset or dizziness
• Frequent urination or diarrhea
• Shortness of breath

Relieve Your Symptoms

• Learn how to control your breathing
• Change up your physical location
• Practice yoga, meditation and deep relaxation techniques
• Get in a hot bath
• Read or listen to soothing music

How do you relieve symptoms of stress and anxiety?

Do you have any resources to share?

For more information about  how you can support yourself when feeling anxious, check out www.anxietyslayer.com

One of the definitions of overwhelm is being buried or drowned beneath a huge mass.

Feel familiar?

My particular brand of overwhelm is more like … suffocating skin crawling madness. I used to be the mistress of overwhelm. The discomfort was intense and yet there was a rush involved with pulling off what felt impossible. It took years to get acquainted with the damage ripple caused by all of the needless stress.

The good news is you can learn to minimize this paralyzing feeling by facing what’s going on and taking action; like a gymnast on a balance beam, taking one step sure step after the other.

Sure steps with a Go … Be … Flow … attitude.

Most of the solopreneurs and entrepreneurs I play with are passionate, talented and risk averse people who are really good at what I like to call, connecting the dots. Their ability to coordinate ideas, people, places, projects and synergistic energy is astounding. Their keen sense of knowing combined with pure unbridled feeling manifests great opportunities.

These fine characteristics and what seem like unlimited opportunities can be distracting.

Why?

Because people of this caliber can do ANYTHING.

Connecting the dots is a blessing if the entrepreneur is conscious enough to apply her connectivity talent to her own “in the weeds” life situation.

A HA!

Learning to go with the flow is a tremendous kick in the pants. Of course it helps to be head long into “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle as I’m keying this post.

Practice moving through life with grace and clobber overwhelm by incorporating some these ideas:

Take deliberate action a by choosing and revisiting your priorities every week. A list of targeted activities will help you remain on your quest.

Carry out extreme self-care. This may mean taking time out to get a haircut, massage or a soak in the bath tub. Take some alone time to read a good book, take a walk and get out of your head.

Visualize your ideal accomplishment, and then make a list of tasks that can be addressed to bridge and traverse where you want to be in the natural flow of things.

Determine what projects you can delegate. Asking for help is freeing.

Eliminate any unnecessary tasks and activities. Do what you absolutely must, and junk what isn’t an absolute necessity.

Allow yourself to say NO.

Give yourself credit for all the things you DO complete.

Talk to a trusted friend, life coach or mentor. Get clarity by being with people who you admire, who are good at managing stress.

The next time you are feeling overcome with a sense of impending doom,
take a deep breath, gather your thoughts and let the clobbering begin.

Action Cures Fear !

In Balance,

Shann