mypassionatework.com

Thanksgiving Day -

My Perception - an excuse to take off work, pig out, and gather with family and friends.

Dictionary Definition - an annual national holiday marked by religious observances and a traditional meal including turkey. The holiday commemorates a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621, and is held in the U.S. on the fourth Thursday in November. A similar holiday is held in Canada, usually on the second Monday in October.

Even though Thanksgiving Day of 2008 is over, I realize I should celebrate this day everyday.  As I sit here and reflect on the events that have occurred in the couple of weeks leading up to, and during this holiday, it became clear the role I was playing in observing this day. I was celebrating this day by my own perception of how most people I know celebrate; Taking off work, pigging out and hanging out with family and friends. I started to feel sheepish and unsettled, so I decided how I wanted to honor Thanksgiving Day and wrote my own definition:
Giving thanks to those we love and appreciate, being grateful for all that we have, and to always give to others!

This new definition of Thanksgiving Day will have much more meaning to me than just enjoying time off of work, consuming large amounts of food, and face time with family and friends.  I have decided to make a conscious effort to celebrate Thanksgiving Day everyday.
This past Thanksgiving Weekend I am grateful for:

My Family- their health, support and unconditional love. The homemade food and family banter.  There were good times and bad, but I remain focused on the good and stay optimistic about the bad.

Brian, my significant other- His love, support and patience. We traveled many miles to ensure we got to see our three different families; I couldn’t ask for a better travel partner.  The health of his family and the homemade food they provided for a wonderful meal.

Work- The few days of work last week were stressful and all I wanted to do was get out of there for the weekend, but I truly appreciate that I have a job to go to tomorrow morning.

God- To whom I give the most thanks to for our family’s health, the food we were able to enjoy and the safe travels for Brian and I!

What are you grateful for today? I would love to hear from my readers!

How do you feel today? Yesterday? How about the day before and the day before that? On a scale from 1 to 5, rate how you have been feeling in the past few weeks or even longer. 5 feeling you’re best and 1 … just getting by, going through the motions of your everyday life. If you haven’t been between a 1 and a 2, perhaps you are stuck in some area of your life.  If you haven’t been able to pull yourself out of this funk, get unstuck today with your own personal coach!

Whether you feel stuck in a dead end job, the rat race of Corporate America, a meaningless relationship, or simply a mundane lifestyle,  hiring your own personal coach is one of the easiest and fastest ways to become unstuck! There are many great life coaches out there, including but not limited to: Financial, Spiritual, Career, Entrepreneur, ADHD and so on.  Personal coaches are not therapists or psychiatrists, but are unconditional supporters and motivators. Their encouragement and unconditional support helps keep you focused and committed to your goals.

I encourage you to speak with several different coaches whose expertise lie in your area of interest and/or needs before you hire one. This will ensure you hire the right one for you.  Most coaches offer free consultations. During the consultation you will get a feel for whether or not you have found the best one that suits your needs. I met with two coaches in person and talked with two on the phone before I hired one.  The last coach I spoke with, I knew instantly that he was the perfect coach for me.

Coaching with Tom Volkar

Hiring Tom Volkar as my personal coach was undoubtedly a great investment. The time and unconditional support I got from Tom goes beyond the monetary value. I had the pleasure of working with Tom for a few months and continue to follow up with his ongoing experiments that are attracting people from all over the world. I found Tom by doing a Google search for Life Coaches in Pittsburgh. His profile was enough for me to make the call. Prior to hiring Tom, I took part in a two-week unconditional support group experience that he was offering for free. I knew right away that I had found the right coach to work with one on one. His enthusiasm and encouragement was exactly what I needed to get me on the right path in pursuing work life freedom.

I started this post over a week ago and in the interim there have been interviews with Tom by two different fellow bloggers. Akemi Gaines, Spiritual Consultant, interviewed Tom on Entrepreneurship. You can read this interview at:
http://yes-to-me.com/2008/11/05/coaching-the-freedom-of-self-employment-tom-volkar/

And Barbara Swafford interviewed Tom on how blogging has helped grow his business. You can read this interview at:
http://bloggingwithoutablog.com/tom-volkar-life-work-coach-answers-my-questions-and-yours/

Tom has a great community over at delightfulwork. I encourage you to visit and see all the great things he has going on. You can also read about Tom at CoreU.

Go ahead…..Get Unstuck Today!

Let’s face it, work is stressful, mundane and sucks the life out of us when we do not enjoy what we are doing. Sad, but true, millions of Americans are miserable at their jobs. Google “job stress” and you will find a plethora of articles and studies that reveal the harmful effects that stress has on our physical and mental health. It’s scary to think about what stress can do to the human body.

If quitting is not an option, managing stress is important to preserve your mental and physical health. Through my own experience, managing stress became more of a priority than my job when I started to suffer physical signs. TMJ, muscle tension and insomnia to mention a few. Managing stress is a learning process, but when you can find what works best for you, the better off you will be, mentally and physically Read the rest of this entry »

I have compiled a list of my top five must reads for the individual that feels trapped in their life. These books helped inspire me to make personal changes in my life that I once thought were impossible. My gratitude goes out to these writers for their encouragement, inspiration and motivation to get out there and follow your dreams. Be open to change! I encourage you to read the following books Read the rest of this entry »

Having trouble sleeping at night? Are you waking up with cold sweats and unexplained body aches?  Are you hitting your alarm several times before you finally drag yourself out of bed? Are you constantly trying to come up with new excuses in the shower why you cannot make it in to work? Your home life is sound, but you are moody and frustrated. You are healthy, but you just don’t feel good. You have great friends and family, but you feel incomplete. You are unsettled and nothing seems to fill the void of discontentment Read the rest of this entry »

How often do you wish you were successful, whether it is in your personal or professional life? Do you sit at work and daydream about working and living on your own terms? Do you make up excuses for why you can’t achieve that dream? If you recognize all of these things, give up the excuses and put forth the effort in making it happen. There is no perfect time to start; the best strategy is to dive right in and start now Read the rest of this entry »

What is preventing you from achieving your dreams?

“Success Blockers” are barriers you have created through the choices you have made. You must remove these barriers if you wish to change your life. First, you need to identify which “blockers” apply to your life. The Blame Game, Self Doubt, Personal Ridicule and Money are the biggest barriers that distract you from your goals and prevent you from achieving your dreams Read the rest of this entry »