Go Coach Yourself

Uncover the day.

Almost there... only you know when you are ready to bloom

On a morning like this, with the beach nearly empty, it'd be rude not to run!
@ Portmarnock

May you enjoy May come what may!

Love is owning all the parts of who you are and accepting others for who they are.

Have you broken your New Year's resolution? You're grand just as you are.

Same Old, Same Old. It’s the New Year and most people are busy making resolutions and setting goals. It’s a great time of the year to say: New Year, New Me. Out with the old and in with the new. But what’s wrong with the old you? Nothing. You are made up of your experiences, your priorities and your traits and be...

Frosty sand.

Beautiful start to Christmas Eve

Day 12:
My goal today is to make 12 goals: one for each month of 2018.

Having a goal for every month of the year is a way to keep yourself focused and give you the same sense of achievement you have had in the last 12 days throughout the coming year. You can then look back this time next December and have a feeling of accomplishment.

These goals don’t have to be linked. There could be a completely separate goal for every month of the year or you could have an overall goal for the year with each month representing a step towards a yearly goal.

Begin with the end in mind.

So, today, I’m going to start my list and by December 29th (which is in 12 days), I’ll have my goals for the year.

Day 11:
My goal today is to be grateful.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year to be grateful for those who are in are lives, for those moments that make up our lives and those situations which brighten our day.

There is a lovely exercise called the three blessings or three things to be grateful for which you can find in the work of Seligmann and Reivich. It’s really simple and is something you can do at the end of each day.

Think of three things that you are grateful for in the day. These could be obvious things like the love of your partner or child; it could be the beauty of a sunrise; it could be someone showing you unexpected appreciation or it could be your ability to connect with someone today.

Sometimes, these things come out of a moment of frustration or sadness and we don’t recognise them immediately. When we take the time to reflect we realise that supportive look from a colleague when your boss is in a rage or the smile of a stranger when you are feeling bad about yourself or the rainbow at then end of a shower that has soaked you to the bone lifted you in that moment and made you feel a little better and the day easier to manage.

Be grateful for these little things that get us through the day as well as the big ones that get us out of bed in the morning.

Day 10:
My goal today is to embrace change.

Everything in our lives changes whether we like it or not. Situations change. People change. We change.

Change can be uncomfortable because it challenges us. We can either go towards the challenge or try and stay stuck where we are and fight against it.

We are on our way to a new year and with it will come all the changes we want to make for ourselves like losing weight, getting fit or starting a new hobby. These changes don’t scare us because in our hearts we know we control if we want to follow through on them or not.

Other changes such as a change of boss, a new job, a change in our partner or friend’s lives which threaten our status quo are the ones we shy away from and fear.

But they are the ones to embrace and move towards. They might signify the end of that part of your life but they also bring something else: a new beginning.

Think of what you have to gain from that new beginning rather than what you have to lose.

Day 8:
My goal today is to take a breath and reflect.

With the madness of planning, preparing and organising for Christmas, we sometimes forget to take a moment.

The end of another year is coming so take some time to think about all the things, big and small, that made up 2017.

I'm going to think about the things I did and didn't do and how they shaped my year.

Every experience is on the way, not in the way.