Choose Fun

Coaching is incredibly practical and clients always leave a session with heaps to do, to keep them towards their goals.

I often finish a coaching session with an invitation: have fun with this! And I realised recently, that even though I say this in relation to the work we’ve agreed on, I’m also really, speaking about life.

So many people I speak to say that they’re feeling dragged down by their days. They’re stressed and busy and feeling pulled in multiple directions. Everything feels serious and weighted by the threat of significant consequence. There seems to be little to no room for play, for fun, for joy.

If you’re keen for a bit more of the good stuff, I would suggest exploring two key areas:

Time

It is tricky to choose a lighthearted approach when you’re feeling immense time pressure:

• How can you have a lighthearted chat with your web designer if you know you have 3 minutes to discuss coding glitches before you’re due for your next conference call?
• How can you feel good about walking the long [and beautiful!] way to work when you’re overwhelmed by tasks for the day?
• How can you enjoy reading stories with your little ones at night when you know you’re desperate to get them to bed [sleep, please!] so that you can get started on a report for the following morning?

Finding time and space is critical. If you struggle with this, I can help.

Language

The language we use has so much power to shape our experiences:

• Say you wake up and the first thing you do is groan that you’re tired
• Or your colleague cheerfully asks how you are and you grumble that you’re stressed
• Or you’re faced with a new task at work and you tell yourself over and over that it’s impossible

How could the world look and feel if you chose different words to make sense of it?

• If you woke and stretched and noticed how good it felt
• If you smiled at your colleague and said you had a big day ahead!
• If you addressed challenge and labeled it an opportunity for growth and exploration

I’m not suggesting fakery – that’s not my style, at all. But I am into reframing and reinterpretation. And choosing to do and say differently.

Tags: life-coaching, Melbourne