In my life coaching course, I’m up to the practical component where I practise being a life coach on lovely, understanding friends who’ll humour me with half an hour of their time each week.
There’s a tiny, super obvious question that we ask each of our clients: “What do you need in order to feel happy?”
It comes as a huge surprise to most of them that they can’t rattle off a list. They’ve never even really thought about it. Their life has been a mish-mash of other people’s expectations and they’ve never taken a minute of their own time to see if they’re meeting their own needs. For most, it’s an even bigger shock when they realise that money/work is a source of identity but not so much happiness. That it’s more the little things—the simple things, the sweetness of things like taking time to indulge a hobby or being amongst friends and loving connections.
Part of being able to identify what makes us happy, requires us to unplug from what’s expected, to switch off our hyperawareness of where everyone else is up to, to stop pondering what everyone else will think of your decision, and to snuff out the judgement you believe everyone else will impart if you prance in your own meadow wearing nothing but a smile 🙂
Being able to listen to what you really want in life generally does come from a young and innocent place of simplicity. When you listen to your inner voice, the guidance is completely stripped of complication: “You can do it. It’ll be okay- just go for it, and if it doesn’t work out, you’ll be able to figure it out”. It’s everything else that swallows us up into a distracted murky swamp of indecision and fear.
So let’s unplug from the extraneous stuff and go into our respective calm, rejuvenating spaces (eg. your little meditation corner/Coogee Beach/Blackwattle Bay/in a tiny nook that no one else knows about) and just check in with ourselves. And then, break it down and ask ourselves: What can I do today to make me happy? 🙂
Happy Monday lovelies xxx
PS Anyone wanting to be a life-coaching subject where I get to practise my newly acquired skills like a samurai sharpening his sword, let me know (it’s free). It’ll be fun, laid-back and totally illuminating for you and me both 🙂
