http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com en-gb felicitaslifecoach.com 2009-4-17T00:00:00Z felicitaslifecoach.com http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#40016 Having recently contributed to a piece on redundancy for the Edinburgh Evening News the Editor asked me to write a short article myself for them. You can access it by clicking here. Hopefully youre not going through this just now or have any kind of threat hanging over your employment or financial security. If you are give me a call and Ill be happy to give you a few pointers for free. Redundancy is something Ive been through myself and having spent most of my career working with people looking for jobs Ive got a pretty good insight into the challenges and solutions. Shelagh xx 2009-4-17T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#37694 I had a bit of a surprise yesterday. The phone rang about 4pm in the afternoon and it turned out to be a radio station asking me to do a phone interview that evening for their Late programme giving the life coaching perspective on making a fresh start in life. It was only a five minute slot but as I had absolutely no idea what questions I was going to get asked or what context it would be in so I figured I should do as much brainstorming before the interview as I possibly could and jot down as many points about making a fresh start that I could think of. The result was about 8 pages of handwritten notes although the interview itself required only a fraction of that information and a bit I didnt think of until the questions actually came up. I was interviewed by Gina McKie of Clyde 1 Radio. It was all over in five minutes but it was probably one of the scariest five minutes of my life Although these things are recorded shortly before being aired theres no rehearsal or go... 2009-3-5T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#36434 Yes its that time of year again and love is in the air. These days things are a bit different for me but I remember the days when Valentines Day was a real drag. It felt like everyone else was having all the fun and I was stuck at home pretending it wasnt happening. I think if I had known then what I know now I wouldnt have been so down about it. Because whilst I believe totally thats its absolutely true there is another meaning to the expression theres someone out there for everyone. Lets reframe that. Whether or not youve met the love of your life there is someone else out there for you. This person is already in your life and waiting patiently for you to notice them. They deserve as much attention love and affection as your significant other and if you treat them right they will never let you down never say a bad word about you and be your lifelong source of strength peace security encouragement and unconditional love. So who is it Its you of cours... 2009-2-10T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#25579 Hi Everyone By my calculations its been about nine months since I last wrote a blog so much for being regular So first of all Im very sorry that Ive neglected you. If I were to explain why I would be here all day pouring out excuses but I dont want to do that. What I will say is that so far 2008 is not exactly turning out how I expected. There have been disappointments and setbacks at every turn for Mike and I since February which has left us feeling confused and uncertain about what to do next. Its not all been doom and gloom though. Since January Ive taken on some lovely new clients welcome aboard the Success Train guys and delivered a twoday Team Leadership Skills course to get me started in freelance soft skills training. Ive also discovered the joys of Emotional Freedom Therapy having a personal stylist and met my gorgeous 9 month old niece from Australia Layla. One particular setback was two weeks before our scheduled move to Gloucestershire on 24 May... 2008-6-15T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#14946 Lets face it deciding you want to have life coaching and setting a date for your first session with your chosen coach is a big step and an important investment in yourself and your future. You want to make sure you have value for money and get the most out of your time with your coach. Your coach wants you to get every ounce of benefit from it too because their reason for becoming a life coach was to see you be the best you possibly can be. So here are a few simple things you can do to ensure your investment pays off in a big way. BEFORE THE SESSION 1. Make sure you keep a notebook and pen with you and your diary. There will be ideas exercises and action plans to go through and you want to make sure its all recorded clearly. This not only helps you to remember your action plans in detail but in weeks to come you can look back through your notes and see how far youve come which is extremely motivating. By keeping your diary with you you can check th... 2007-9-29T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#14776 Hi there Ive been talking to a friend today about her job. Shes totally stuck in a rut hates her job is bored silly has an unreasonable boss who doesnt recognise her abilities and shes paid peanuts. And how long has she put up with this 20 YEARS Seriously I couldnt believe it. 20 years of someones precious life spent being miserable. Thats tragic. I know there are times when we all hate going to work. But think about it. If you work full time then you are putting in at least 35 hours a week possibly a lot more if you live in the UK. Thats a lot of our waking time. Repeated week after week from the time we leave school to the time we retire the most active and productive time of our lives thats a lot of time to be miserable. So what can you do about it First off I suggest you have a think about your values. Whats important to you What do you enjoy doing when youre not working Are your values totally aligned with the work you do For example if one of yo... 2007-9-23T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#11768 We meaning my husband and I are currently in the process of dejunking our presidential ha two bedroom flat in West Calder in preparation for decorating and ultimately moving to a house somewhere. The thing about dejunking is that it allows you to get rid of old stuff to make way for new stuff. You dont realise just how much that dusty old pile of things that you never use look at or even remember in some cases holds you back. It takes up precious houseroom that could be holding newer and even nicer stuff. If youre anything like me this is a difficult process. Its easy to acquire and accumulate more but its not so easy to get rid of it again especially if its got some sentimental value attached. Ive not got a lot of stuff at least I dont think so but others may disagree I got rid of tons when I moved to Scotland for my new life with Mike leaving behind my house my friends my job and a lot of memories both good and bad. It was a brilliant opportunity to clear out a whole lo... 2007-6-13T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#10671 I started off writing a bit of a blog about weight loss and ended up with something that was far too long and have now turned it into my first article under the Health section called Weight Management. This is a pet subject of mine and although Im not professionally qualified I feel that Ive learned so much over the years about nutrition diets and most recently about the way the mind works in relation to the body that I at least have something to say on the subject. And considering all the reams of rubbish you find in the diet books on the shelves at Waterstones and WH Smith these days that make millions for the authors who claim miracle cures for obesity all based on the same old formula eat less and exercise more I figured I might as well have my twopenneth for what its worth. It cant possibly be any less useful than some of the junk Ive got lining my own bookshelves. The truth is that Im far from an expert and having been a lifelong member of the YoYo Diet Club theres a hec... 2007-5-6T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#10167 When you think about it what is the most constant reliable and stable asset you have throughout your life You are You are the one resource that wont let you down and the more you know understand and are able to do the more you can rely on your own inner resources. It stands to reason then that if you have a resource thats only ever going to grow and develop and has your best interests at the core of its very existence its worth investing in. So selfinvestment is never ever wasted. You probably think that having a manicure buying a new outfit going on an expensive holiday are all great ways to invest in yourself and they are. However stuff like that is fleeting. Youll feel invigorated and wonderful for a finite period of time. Even if you get yourself a personal trainer and go the gym regularly youll get a great body but unless you keep it up even those benefits will slip away from you in time. Investing in a life coach is one surefire way of getting explosive and longlasting... 2007-4-16T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#10083 Have you ever wondered how to get anything you ever wanted without becoming some kind of diva or tyrant Its not really that difficult and life coaching can really help. Your life coach can teach you how to look for and get a winwin situation every time. But in the meantime if you just want a few tips try these Getting a Payrise Youve been working your socks off for years and you know you deserve better. One solution is to hit the jobs section of the local paper but you could lose as much as or more than youd gain by moving. The ideal situation is to negotiate a higher salary so that you feel more valued and stop relying on those nasty credit cards. When you approach your boss think confident and keep in mind that youre worth what youre asking for. Have a realistic figure in your mind that wont have your boss laughing you all the way back out into the corridor. Keeping your body language open and confident but definitely not arrogant use nonattacking language such as Ive been... 2007-4-12T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#10046 They say success breeds success and money breeds money. Theres a lot of truth in those old sayings. Have you noticed that when things arent going well in any area of your life whether its health money relationships or work things start to go wrong in small ways and then somehow you find yourself on a downward spiral you just cant pull yourself out of Yet other people seem to have it all and more Why is it that some people appear to be permanently happy and have everything going for them Even in difficult times they breeze through it all with apparent ease and come out smelling of roses. How do they do it Somewhere in the Bible theres a passage along the lines of those with much will have more given them and those with little will have even that taken away. Thats a difficult teaching to understand and I struggled with it myself for a long time but now it makes perfect sense to me. And its brilliant Yesterday I was at home with my husband thinking to myself that my life for... 2007-4-11T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#9796 I really didnt think it was so easy to create a new habit or change an old one. One day about a month ago I had a visitor at work and was very embarassed to find that we had no tea bags or milk left in the kitchen so I couldnt offer her any kind of refreshment other than black instant coffee. As shed asked for white tea when I returned to the meeting room with two black coffees I naturally told her that I wouldnt be offended if she didnt drink it in fact I couldnt stand coffee without milk either and probably wouldnt drink mine. However she seemed quite grateful and accepted it saying so long as it was wet and warm she didnt care what it was. That got me thinking about the fact that its supposed to take you 10 attempts at a new pattern of behaviour to make it into a habit or to get to like something you previously disliked such as getting used to drinking tea without sugar when previously even the thought of unsweetened hot drinks was awful. We had a brief discussion about t... 2007-4-2T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#9653 Have you ever heard people say live for the moment Many times we hear people say we should make time to stop and smell the flowers yet all too often we career through life following a tight schedule of work kids chores sleep work kids chores sleep. Even on holiday we dash from one place to another taking in all the sights and lurching from one event to another so that we come back exhausted and not at all with our batteries recharged. Even if you go away and lie on a beach doing nothing for 14 days you probably dread coming back to the same old routine and have to do it all again. Most of us no ALL of us no matter how good our life is and mines absolutely brilliant thank you still live for the future. Yes things are great now but it will be so much better when Ive got this done that been there. If your life sucks you may think you can be happy when youve got this done that been there. But one thing we all forget so many times is the here and now. Something Im training myse... 2007-3-27T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#9652 This is annoying. I want to write something because I have so much to say but theres so much to say that I dont know where to start I think all the things I want to say are contained on a DVD I saw the other day called The Secret. You may have seen it yourself or heard about it. If you havent seen it yet I really do recommend it. Theres tons of stuff about it on the internet and its easily available in the UK through various websites. Its not expensive and could be the best investment you ever make. Im not kidding or exaggerating here I really do mean that. Many people say the film changed their lives overnight after Oprah did a show about it. Oprah herself is one of the millions who use the secret itself to enhance her life and her career. I wish Id had a copy of it two years ago which would have saved me endless hours of reading and learning it the hard way over several months. When I did see it the contents were no longer anything new to me but it was a very good pre... 2007-3-22T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#9651 Well Im on a roll now Do you realise what day it is today Its Ash Wednesday. That means its the first day of Lent a forty day period of the Christian calendar preceding Easter or the rising of Christ from death. Traditionally as you may know Christians will try to give something up during Lent as a penance for their sins. For me its always chocolate and alcohol but I cant say Im always 100 successful in getting further than the second weekend before I have a Crunchie and a glass of Chardonnay. We do this or try to because Christ fasted for 40 days and nights in the desert as preparation for his ministry and eventual death by crucifixion. It tends to be seen as a time of austerity and sacrifice and I suppose thats one way of looking at it. But its a bit of a gloomy outlook. As a Christian myself I prefer to think of Lent as a wonderful time of anticipation of the great celebration of Easter and an opportunity for personal and spiritual growth. In our churches we have all s... 2007-2-21T00:00:00Z http://www.felicitaslifecoach.com/page15.htm#9650 Life is full of learning curves. Or in my case learning poles and greasy ones at that Only yesterday I had no idea how to set up a website or what a blog was and here I am with both If youve read the rest of my website youll see that Im a Life Coach in training. Its a fantastic experience Im not only learning from my course but learning from my own life coach whos also a great mentor. Im learning about myself all the time some of it good some of it not so good but good in the sense that Im making the less good stuff better. This isnt just something Im experiencing now though. I believe learning is for life and life is for learning. You never know whats around the next corner. Something happened to me a couple of years ago that pretty much left me an emotional wreck. It wasnt the event itself or even the circumstances that led up to it but something that had been waiting to happen for a long time that just needed the right emotional trigger. With the help of some amazing fr... 2007-2-20T00:00:00Z