I’m just thrilled to introduce 30 day happiness challenger and kindred spirit Mara Jeffress to Bliss Habits. Enjoy!
I was at the doctor today and was texting my husband to tell him that I had to go get “blood work” but my phone auto corrected “blood” to “bliss”, which got me thinking about the importance of “bliss work”. Essentially fulfillment coaching is all about bliss work. At its core it is about finding and following your bliss, as cliched as that sounds.
Recently, I have realized that I am happier than I have ever been in my life. This new found happiness snuck up on me. It didn’t come from a major change or radical shift in my life. It happened slowly and incrementally. First, I examined 8 areas of my life: Career, Money, Friends/Family, Relationship, Personal Growth, Health, Home/Physical Environment, and Fun/Recreation. I looked at which were lacking or I was neglecting and picked just one to improve. I started with Fun/Recreation.
Of course, immediately my inner critic popped up and said, “you don’t have time for fun”. And there was some truth to this. With a full time job, a part-time coaching practice and various other projects, I hadn’t made much time for fun. So much so that my fun muscle was seriously atrophying. I realized, with horror, that I had forgotten how to have fun. I worked with a coach on how to bring more fun into my workplace and decided to take regular “dance breaks” (go hide out in a back office for 5 minutes and dance my ass off to a tune I love). This was not only fun but good exercise and a stress reliever. I was increasing my fun and my health simultaneously!
Every few weeks I would pick a new area: I slowly started adding little things to my packed schedule that improved my fun, my health, and allowed me to have my time with friends and family. I took a family ski trip, stared walking 15 minutes a day religiously and stopped flaking out on my already scheduled yoga classes. In the evenings, my husband and my coaching practice got prioritized over surfing the web and online shopping. Each of these changes was small and incremental and it took 6 months to get there, but I can honestly say I have never been happier.
Bliss work doesn’t have to be hard. It doesn’t have to be huge. It can be fun and easy. Just focus on what you want and make it happen, one baby step towards happiness at a time.
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Mara Jeffress, Ph.D. is a consultant and coach at Fulfillment Life Coaching who works with clients globally who are ready to face their fears, jump in, and lead a fulfilling life. Please join her this August and September for the 30 day happiness challenge, or find her on Facebook.
I totally agree that one small baby step at a time can make a giant difference in your life. I am also trying to add fun to my life. Painting can be fun if I let it. So that is my goal – to paint often and have fun while I am doing it!
I really enjoyed reading your post and meeting you today.
Ginny – I left you a reply below! Hope you had a great weekend!
I guess – the smart phone spell checker played an important role in your journey here…! I love dancing too, shamanically it is a tool to shift and transform energy…so good for you and fun! Enjoy!
Yes! The spell checker was very serendipitous that day!
Keep dancing!
-Mara
From blood to bliss… and Bliss Work… I love that! This is a good weekly check up we can all do, taking a moment to check in with those important areas of our lifes. Thank you for this, Mara! :o)
Thanks Tracy! I love the weekly check up idea. I do an initial assessment with all my coaching clients to see how they are doing in each if these areas and it is such a great tool.
-Mara
Ginny – I love that you plan to have more fun with your painting. So much of how we experience anything is tied to the attitude, thoughts and beliefs we approach it with. Have fun with your painting. I would love to see one of them. Feel free to post it on my Facebook page.
-Mara