If nobody were watching, what would you be doing?

I mean after the first two days of too much bad TV and good wine…  Then what are you doing?

If nobody saw, if nobody cared, if nothing was needed, nothing expected.  Then what?  What would you still do that you do now?  What would you add in because it just made you feel better?  What would you quit doing because there was no longer a point?

How scary/relaxing/vivid/boring/blah would that be? Really.  I’m curious, tell me here.

Caryn

PS:  This is one of my favorite topics to coach on.  If you want to schedule a 60-minute power session and knock these questions out of the park email me: caryn (at) caryngillen.com.  I’ve got a spot carved out with your name on it.

• 

{ 0 comments }

Security: The state of being free from danger or threat.  I coach because I believe everyone deserves to feel secure and the work I do supports that feeling.  How does security show up in your life?

It could be the way you create your home, the seat you choose to sit in at restaurants, the way you parent your children, or the co-created vessel that is love between two souls.  We all have these invisible boundaries that are okay for us – and we aren’t always in the practice of noticing what those are.  For example, some people wait to get gas until the light blinks at them – for 20 miles.  Others don’t leave home without a snack and never get below half a tank, just in case.  The bar is set differently for all of us and respect of our ‘safe zones’ is a major factor in feeling secure.

We typically can tell when a stranger is in our bubble, because they are strange.  It is harder to tell when we are challenging our own bubble because we are not strangers to ourselves.

This week I want to challenge you to be more aware of the edges of your bars, zones, or bubbles.  Where do you quietly, constantly, challenge your own safety?  Where do you give yourself way too much security, a place so comfortable you are getting all mossy and stagnant?  Why might this information be helpful?  If you are spending less energy trying to recover from threatening your own safety you have extra energy for _________.   Now, THAT is the point – on with the good life!

Keep the conversation going here and do feel free to share this post on your Facebook page!

Caryn

• 

{ 2 comments }

I blog from intuition.  The majority of these posts pop into my head and hit the ‘paper’ just as quickly.  Today there is nothing coming up – and then I realized there are days where we just don’t have it.  Can’t feel the inspiration, don’t have a great idea, or really just don’t want to do something.

These days happen.  They do not change who you are.  They do not take away from you being you.  My not having a blog topic is having this blog topic.  The juice is everywhere.  So the next time you are certain the world is against your plan and maybe you should scrap it all – I challenge you to find the juice in there.  What is it challenging in you?  What is it highlighting?

Love and intuition – or at least best intentions…

Caryn

• 

{ 0 comments }

Okay, if you are part of the challenge we started last week, read on!  If you don’t know what I am talking about read here first and then come back to this.

Maybe you only got a day or two completed or maybe you did the whole week.  Take what you’ve got and lets work with it.  Nobody gets to be ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ for not doing it all etc… Deposit all negative self talk in the garbage and get your head back in the game!

Now that you know what you do with your minutes, what was that question you set aside last week?  Grab it and go through the following:

1. What is the first thing that that question brings up in you now that you have done the time log?
2. Is that question still relevant or do you want to shift it a little bit?  Do so if that feels better for you – don’t if you just don’t want to deal with a scary truth in the answer!
3. Note anything that surprises you about your time log?  (Do you spend more time cooking than you ever thought?  Do you see where you could get more sleep?)
4. Now look at the time log and ask yourself what you are doing that feeds your soul, gives you energy, lights you up, makes you happy – anything along those lines.  Highlight them.
5. Look again and notice the things that drain you, make you feel heavy and suck your energy.  Highlight those in a different color.

Keep thinking about it as over the next week.  Notice what you are wanting more of, what you are conscious of in a different way, etc.   Meet me back here in a week for the final check in on time logs!

• 

{ 0 comments }

Time is on my mind, it appears to be on everyone’s mind.  So that is the topic of this week, the first in a two-part post.

Time, we all have it, many us want more of it.  Some of us waste it, others bend it, and others wonder where it all went.

What is your greatest complaint or challenge related to time.  Not your “I should say this” rosy answer, but your true, this is what I am dealing with answer.

Got it?  Write it down somewhere you wont lose it.

Okay, now here is where you get to go to work.  I want you to do a time journal this week (I know, I am getting life coach-y on you, do you love it?!).  Starting right now, log what you do with your time.  Do that until this time next week.

For example:

6:30am – Alarm, hit snooze.

6:38am – Got up.  Made coffee.  Got ready for the day.

7:10am – Drank coffee.  Ate breakfast.  Scrolled through Facebook.

7:33am – Realized I was running late, ran out the door.

Something that, when you look back at it, will tell you what you were spending your time on.

That’s your homework, report back next week with your time log, that problem you listed, and a pen.  Now get to work!

Questions or comments?  Post them below.

Caryn

PS: I’m doing this too, so you are not alone.  If you want support jump over to the Facebook page and check-in.

• 

{ 1 comment }

I interrupt this blog post to go to jury duty.  No, really.  As this post goes out in newsletter form I am headed to the courthouse to see if I will spend my day enjoying the misadventure moments in time – or enjoying the process of being a juror.

Jury duty got me thinking about interruptions – because I think we all agree, it IS an interruption!  How do we deal with these interruptions, and deal with them well.

We all have “well laid plans” or “best laid plans,” at minimum, and then there is life.  Illness, flat tire, sick kid, jury duty, grief, a case of the blah’s…  The list really does go on, and on, and on!

We are all so much more gifted in the art of adaptation than I think we give ourselves credit for.  Somehow we make it work.  We fit it in.  We find the time.

I just wanted you to know that I see that in you and I hope that you give yourself permission to enjoy the wavy lines that are life.  Feel it.  Be moved.  Enjoy the upset and welcome the not-so-ideal situations.

You’ve got this.

Caryn

• 

{ 4 comments }

Where do you recharge?  Where does your energy come from?  When you need to be reenergized do you call up your friends and plan gatherings or do you silence your phones altogether?

I’m asking if you are an introvert or an extrovert.  I am an extrovert, I am extroverted, I gain energy by being with, and especially interacting, with people.  In fact, I have pretty much given up late night coaching sessions because I get off the phone so energized my clients lives and progress I am up until 2am!   Even being an extrovert I need time alone to be with my thoughts, to cozy up with my books, and to write without distraction.

Knowing this information about myself has helped me so I wanted to start the conversation with you.  I have linked you to a TED talk so that you may meet a champion introvert who is way out of her comfort zone on her mission to help educate us on what we are missing.

TED talk link to the talk.  (by Susan Cain, author of “Quiet: The Power of Introverts”)

After you watch it let me know what felt important to you, we’ll start the conversation HERE.

Caryn

PS:  It’s 19 minutes of uninterrupted, thoughtful entertainment, you DO have time! Watch it here.

• 

{ 2 comments }

It turns out that people find life coaching confusing (I am smiling here…).  I get it!  I want you to get it too.  The following is my way of pulling back the curtain and taking you back stage…

Coaching is for you and about you.  There is nothing you have to do to take care of me (your coach) in the coaching relationship.  Our first session we will design how you want me to be as your coach.  If there is ever anything that comes up that makes you question what we are doing, what I am doing, what is going on in general – bring it up.  There is ‘juice’ everywhere, every topic is up for coaching and it is your job to get as much out of our work together as you can.  Being uncomfortable in the process is how you know you are learning, changing, and accomplishing!  Permission to get ugly, to cry, to fail, to fall, to learn, to be curious, to be wise, to surprise yourself, and to be great have all been granted!  There is room for all of YOU here and I am so thankful to get to join you.

Typically you call me for our sessions, that way I know you are ready.  Sessions are 30-minutes long and take place 2-4 times per month depending on your goals for our work together.  I expect you to commit to the process for as long as feels productive to you, 6 months to a year is typical, I do not require a particular timeframe.  I will not scold or shame you for not doing what you say you will do, I will ask you to find the learning that is there for you.  I do hold you accountable for your goals and what you say you want.  I keep track of your progress.  I champion you.

Coaching Package:

• 1 60-minute Discovery Session
• 8 30-minute Coaching Sessions
• Unlimited Email Coaching
• $690.00 – payment plan options available on request

I am currently, holding space open for three new clients.  If you think one of those spots is for you, let me know.  We can talk about it and decide together if it is a good fit for you right now.  I also hope you’ll pass this along to anyone who popped into your head as you were reading.  Referrals are my #1 source of new business and the greatest compliment any business can get!

Now it’s your turn!  Any questions you have that I didn’t answer here?  Post them in the comments section below and I will answer them shortly.

Thanks so much for reading.  Sending you good thoughts,

Caryn

• 

{ 0 comments }

• 

{ 0 comments }