Janine Wood
Life Coach
Follow Me
  • About Me
  • Free Session
  • Programmes
  • Retreats
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Testimonials

E for Ego, Evidence & Energy

25/1/2015

0 Comments

 
Welcome to week 5 of this alphabet inspired newsletter.January can seem like a very long month when its cold and dull, with less sunshine to brighten us all up. All the activity and excitement of Christmas and New Year starts to fade. So today in what will be the last newsletter of January I want to examine some of the things that contribute to our overall mood and state of mind (ego) and how we can begin to recognise that and examine the evidence  in order to protect our energy levels. Too much time coming from ego based thoughts can drain our energy and exhaust us. Looking at alternatives and changing limiting beliefs into positive ones can really boost our energy levels and change our outlook.
Picture
Evidence - To  challenge any ego driven or potentially negative belief once you have recognised it, you need to  assess the evidence. You can do this by answering a series of questions.
1. What evidence do you have to support it?
2. How old is that evidence?
3. What does having this belief cost you on a daily basis?
4. If you no longer had this belief, what could you achieve?
5. What if the opposite were true?
6. What would need to happen for you to change this belief?
7. What could you do to begin the journey of changing this belief?
8. What would tomorrow be like if you were to let go of this belief?
Really dig deep and know that even when  you have done the work the old thought pattern is often so engrained  you can slip back into old ways automatically.  Use a friend, coach or mentor to help you
recognise the ego based and automatic responses that identify the limiting belief you are working on. They often see what you miss.

Picture
Ego -  What is it? It is your perception of who you are. When you think to yourself ‘I am..........’
These thoughts are created by the many beliefs you have which make up your reality, (See  B is for beliefs, behaviour and bliss ) A strict and rigid belief system can keep you stuck as it encourages you to resist new information and makes you fearful. Your ego reaction to something new and different that challenges one of your own deeply held beliefs often generates negative reactions that hamper your personal growth. The ego is a valid part of you. You can manage it by learning to recognize and allow it. Don’t resist it but do challenge it when it appears. After your initial knee jerk reaction to something, take a breath and ask yourself – Now how do I really feel? What are the facts? Research it a little more, examine the evidence. Is your initial reaction justified or even true? What does your consciousness think? This is such an important skill to master and is the key to great self development.

Picture
Energy Levels - Physical energy levels can often be improved by getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet and looking after your body. However the mind also has a massive role to play. Not being fully aware of your thoughts and emotions can be a massive energy-drain especially when you unconsciously invest it in negative thinking or emotions. Becoming aware of your ego based thoughts and examining the evidence around them, helps you identify those negative thoughts and belief systems that no longer serve you and zap your energy. Once you have identified them, acknowledged them,  you can choose something more empowering as you explore the evidence. Choosing to focus our thoughts into positive goals, tuning in to what we like and want will boost energy levels. Negative thought processes and emotions will drain them. So my top tip to keep you mental energy state high is to begin to raise your awareness around your ego based self talk and start choosing to tell yourself a new and more empowering story.

Picture
Professional Bio
Janine Wood is a woman who thrives on her sense of adventure and her capabilities at giving  anything a go. She left her 6 figure corporate income to live her rural dream life in France with the love of her life Tony and their two  rescue dogs Junior and Benjy.  Janine is inspired by interior design, creation, music, art, dance, fun and personal growth and she lives each day with love, laughter and inspiration. Her role now is to inspire other people who know that they can take more out of life and supporting them as they too discover how to live every day like it was their best.
Subscribe to this Let Go and Love Life Newsletter here. 


0 Comments

D is for Dreams, Destiny & Decisions

18/1/2015

0 Comments

 
Welcome to week 4 of this alphabet inspired newsletter. After a long weekend over in the UK last week, on a fantastic training course, I am inspired to share why it is so important to dare to dream, discover your destiny and make decisions to move you forward in life. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it can be to keep on growing, learning, and be inspired to continue to stretch our imagination. The key ingredient for me is always about deciding to take 'action' at whatever stage in the process you are. Make time to dream, discover your destiny and then decide to take action.
Picture
Dare to Dream -  In the words of Walt Disney 'If you can dream it you can do it'. To dream is to seek a purpose in your life. It allows you to open up to possibilities, to extend your boundaries and push your limits. Daring to dream really is the starting point of great success and achievement in your life. My top tip though is to keep on dreaming as you will inevitably achieve many of your dreams along the way and grow in the process. Big dreams result in big growth allowing you to help and inspire others along the way. All your dreams can come true when you have the courage to pursue them. One of my favourite quotes is “Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.” - Karen Ravn. If you find the process of dreaming difficult, think about using guided meditations or visualisations to help you on your way. YouTube is a great source for these. You can see an example here.

Picture
Destiny  - Have you discovered yours? Do you need some help? I know I did! This realisation dawned after I spent 25 years on a career path based around a job I just fell into at 17 when I left college early. Somehow somewhere I forgot my childhood dream to never work in an office and ended up doing just that for many years! Has something like this ever happened to you? My message to you today is that its never too late to discover your destiny and do what it is you love rather than perhaps what was expected, or what naturally seemed to come your way. If you love what you do, I would say you have already found your destiny. If not though -  what can you do to uncover it? I went to a great life coach to help me work on an area I found really difficult. I was so entrenched in the way of life I had carved for myself I no longer knew the answer to the question - 'What brings you joy?' To help me answer that question, my coach gave me a very simple exercise. You can download your copy of the same exercise  here if you need help too.

Picture
Decision- To move forward and take action, all you have to do is decide to decide. Are you thinking easier said than done? Making no decision is also a decision, but one that inevitably keeps you stuck. Often the first decision to make is - Do you really want something in your life to change?  This can bring up all sorts of fears, doubts and 'what if's'. One way to conquer these is to decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.  Susan Jeffers book 'Feel the fear and do it anyway' provides great insight and tools to help you turn indecision into action. One of the big takeaways for me was to replace the concept of - 'what if I make a wrong decision' with her 'no-lose model' on decision making. When faced with any choice point,  stop thinking in terms of right path or a wrong path. Start thinking in terms of path A and path B both of which are right. Each path will be full of opportunities, just different ones, neither right nor wrong. This is such a great way to open up your thinking and take the pressure off too. Check out the book on Amazon here.

Picture
Professional Bio
Janine Wood is a woman who thrives on her sense of adventure and her capabilities at giving  anything a go. She left her 6 figure corporate income to live her rural dream life in France with the love of her life Tony and their two  rescue dogs Junior and Benjy.  Janine is inspired by interior design, creation, music, art, dance, fun and personal growth and she lives each day with love, laughter and inspiration. Her role now is to inspire other people who know that they can take more out of life and supporting them as they too discover how to live every day like it was their best. Subscribe to this Let Go and Love Life Newsletter here.


0 Comments

C is for Chance, Choice & Celebration

11/1/2015

0 Comments

 
Welcome to week 3 of this alphabet inspired newsletter.This week I am taking a chance and writing this in advance so it can be delivered to you all automatically while I am on a trip over to the UK!. Relying on technology is a choice I have made to free up my time. Fingers crossed I will be celebrating the successful delivery of this newsletter when it arrives in your inboxes on Monday. Being a little bit of a control freak, with perfectionist tendencies can make change a challenge! Okay enough with all the words beginning with C there were so many to chose from it was difficult to narrow it down!
Picture
Chance -  How many chances pass you by, simply because of that inner voice that nags and tells you things like - You can't.....? What if......? The time's not right....It might not just be your inner voice.

Perhaps a parent, a good friend or your partner has something to say and regularly offers an opinion that adds to your confusion. My top tip is to avoid the naysayers and raise your awareness to that inner voice and what you are telling yourself. Often these doubts that stop us in our tracks are coming from a place of fear. What would you give yourself permission to do if you were not fearful of the outcome? What actual evidence is there that you can't, or, that you will fail? How real is the 'what if' - and if that was the worst that happened how would that be? Don't let chances pass by almost unnoticed, open up your mind to possibilities.......

Picture
Choice  - We always have a choice, even with the most difficult decisions. Sometimes too much choice can paralyse us and keep us stuck in a state of procrastination. When you are finding choice difficult,  use these questions to help you reach a conclusion.

Q1. What is your dream job, partner, house, life or other relevant topic?
Q2.Which route takes you
closer to that? Don't know......
Q3. If you did know, which one would it be?
Q4. What could you do if you knew you couldn't fail?
Q5. If you could wave a magic wand what would this allow you to do?
Q6. If you had all the time/money/energy/power in the world, what could you do?
Q7. Which option feels right for you? Remember, this outcome is for you - not everyone else. Work with a friend, coach or mentor to get clear and choose to move forward with ease and grace. Keep it simple, decide to choose and then commit to your decision. A tool that can help you prioritise your  choices is the wheel of life and you can access a copy here.

Picture
Celebration - There are so many sayings that become truths in our mind like 'pride comes before a fall' or 'beginner's luck' that we get used to  brushing our achievements aside, or immediately forget about them and move onto the next thing in our busy lives. However, taking time out each month to note down all your successes is a great way to boost your confidence and self esteem.  I keep mine in a journal, and am part of a great online group Global Fab Friends where celebrating success is really encouraged. If a journal doesn't appeal to you, how about a success jar. Don’t censor your “successes”. If you have a really productive day where you cross all the tasks off your list? That deserves a success note just as much a say taking new career path. If you feel happy or proud or excited – grab a pen and make a note. The jar is great for cheering you up and also when you come to write your yearly review.

Picture
Professional Bio
Janine Wood is a woman who thrives on her sense of adventure and her capabilities at giving  anything a go. She left her 6 figure corporate income to live her rural dream life in France with the love of her life Tony and their two  rescue dogs Junior and Benjy.  Janine is inspired by interior design, creation, music, art, dance, fun and personal growth and she lives each day with love, laughter and inspiration. Her role now is to inspire other people who know that they can take more out of life and supporting them as they too discover how to live every day like it was their best.
                                         
                                            Subscribe to this Let Go and Love Life Newsletter here.

0 Comments

B for Beliefs Behaviour & Bliss

4/1/2015

0 Comments

 
Welcome to the second in this alphabet inspired newsletter.Thanks to all of you that signed up for this newsletter last week, I have been overwhelmed by the response and had some lovely feedback too. So this week we are onto B for beliefs, behaviour and bliss!  This is such a big one for me, as when I was first asked if I had any limiting beliefs I said no I don't think so, but of course I did. Working on those beliefs, really did help me to change my behaviour and   find   my bliss too! This  was a  key  part of my transformational journey away from  25 years in the corporate world - to my dream life in rural SW France. If you missed issue 1 - A is for Attitude, Aims and Action you can see it here
Picture
Beliefs -  Our beliefs are what motivate us and have real impact on the way we live our lives. We tend to collect beliefs subconsciously, from our friends, family, society and from our experiences. It can be a really useful exercise to explore our beliefs to see which ones might be limiting us in some way. I know this really helped me to identify the areas I needed to work on to move forward in realising my dream of coming to France.
Why not download this simple exercise  here to explore your beliefs. You just need to complete a few sentences without really giving each
one too much thought, just write down what pops into your head when you ask yourself:
                                                                              I always........I never......... They are......I can't......Download the rest here.
You can also answer the questions with a particular topic in mind like: Money, Career, Relationships or whatever is relevant for you right now.
Lets have a discussion about limiting beliefs and how we can identify and address them on my facebook page.

Picture
Bliss - As Jospeh Campbell said "Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls". This is so true. Open your mind up to the possibility, take daily action - no matter how small the steps and all of a sudden a new path becomes clear.  What is it that really makes you happy? Do you even know the answer to that question? I know I didn't back in 2011. Through coaching and investing in myself, all became clear. The how was still a mystery, but the belief was there. My behaviour changed. I took positive daily action that in just 18 months got us here to France. In 2009 my dreams were affected by ill health and redundancy. Income no longer covered outgoings, and all seemed bleak........My French dream become reality on the 12/12/12.  If you would like to find our more about how this happened for me, and how I can help you with your journey too why not book onto my free Let Go and Love Life Teleseminar on Monday 19th January. You can sign up here.

Picture
Behaviour  - Anyone that has broken a new years resolution knows how hard it can be to change the habits of a life time. Is this one of your limiting beliefs that contributes to your giving up a new behaviour too soon? This is a great example of a limiting belief that contributes to a behaviour pattern. Exploring your belief system is a great way to identify why we do what we do and if we really want a change to occur. If our why is strong enough, we can begin by exploring the limiting beliefs. This will help us identify the areas we want to change, and what action steps we can take to help us make our new behaviour as easy and habitual as the old one.
Some great questions to help us here are:
1. Where did this belief/behaviour come from?
2. Who gave it to me?
3. Are they always right?
4. What will keeping this belief/behaviour mean to me now and in the long term?
5. How will my life be different if I let go of this belief and change this behaviour?
If you need some support with this do get in touch with me here.

Picture
Professional Bio
Janine Wood is a woman who thrives on her sense of adventure and her capabilities at giving  anything a go. She left her 6 figure corporate income to live her rural dream life in France with the love of her life Tony and their two  rescue dogs Junior and Benjy.  Janine is inspired by interior design, creation, music, art, dance, fun and personal growth and she lives each day with love, laughter and inspiration. Her role now is to inspire other people who know that they can take more out of life and supporting them as they too discover how to live every day like it was their best.

Subscribe to this Let Go and Love Life Newsletter here.

0 Comments

A is for Attitude, Aims & Action

1/1/2015

0 Comments

 
This is the first in this alphabet inspired newsletter.I am so excited to launch this weekly newsletter for 2015. I will be sharing all the learning's, hints and tips that have inspired me on my transformational  journey away from a 25 year career and corporate life - to my dream life in rural SW France. My mission is to inspire and support you to discover and unlock your passions in life too. I want to let you know that whatever it is that brings you to life - really is the most important work you can do. Find out what inspired me to let go of my many limiting beliefs that kept me stuck and  what it took to give myself permission to really love life!
Picture
Attitude - Is Everything. Getting this right and working on improving it daily enables everything else in your life  to start falling into place. I began working on this from day 1, when my coach gave me a gratitude journal. It turned my life around. Completing this daily retrained my thought processes to focus on those things in my life I already had to be so grateful about. It lightened my mood, and really was one of the keys that unlocked the first door on my journey to France. So if you have ever been told you are a negative person or have a negative attitude to life - Don't panic I heard this too, but you can turn this around so very quickly. If you would like to read more about my story you can check out my Life Purpose Blog here.
Picture
Aims - What a great time of year to start thinking about yours? So what are your aims and intentions for 2015. How are you going to go about setting them? Have you ever thought about using a dream board? Its great fun to spend a few hours with friends over coffee and cake, with some old magazines, internet images, some words, a piece of card, scissors and some glue! When its finished place it somewhere you can see everyday and be amazed at just what manifests when your aims are identified. Here is an early 2012 dream board of mine, and there have been many since with a new one in the making for 2015! Happy sticking.
Picture
Picture
Action - This is what actually makes things happen - My biggest tip here is to avoid overwhelm and procrastination two of the biggest blocks that prevent us from moving forward. More on that later. For now just remember you don't have to achieve the end results all at once. You can take it one step at a time. It might be that your Holiday Trip of a lifetime is your intention, and you know you need £10,000  which may seem an impossible task right now! Don't give up on your dream. Work out  what one thing can you do right now to take action toward that ultimate objective? It might put it on your dream board. Or put a plan in place to earn the extra income you need for the deposit. If that still feels too big, it might just be  to buy the swimsuit you are going to wear when you get there..... Each time you take action you remind the Universe what it is you want.
If you would like to receive this newsletter every week, then please sign up HERE  
Picture
Professional Bio
Janine Wood is a woman who thrives on her sense of adventure and her capabilities at giving  anything a go. She left her 6 figure corporate income to live her rural dream life in France with the love of her life Tony and their two  rescue dogs Junior and Benjy.  Janine is inspired by interior design, creation, music, art, dance, fun and personal growth and she lives each day with love, laughter and inspiration. Her role now is to inspire other people who know that they can take more out of life and supporting them as they too discover how to live every day like it was their best.


0 Comments

    Janine Wood

    Living my dream life in France as a transformational Life Coach. Looking forward to working with you, to help you make that shift, and  move towards living your dream life too.

    Categories

    All
    Confidence
    Dreams
    Empowering
    Joy
    Life Purpose
    Limiting Beliefs
    Love Life
    Motivation
    Personal Coaching
    Personal Journey
    Retreat
    Self Belief
    Self Discovery
    Success
    Values

    Archives

    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2013
    October 2013
    June 2013
    February 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.