Prioritize what’s important!

Live a purpose-driven life.

Align your goals with your values.

Spend time on what’s meaningful to you.

Do what’s right for you!

Know your WHY!

When it comes to setting and working on goals, I imagine we’ve all heard phrases like this before. And, I think we all know, when we are able to do these things, our actions feel more directed, and our motivation to keep working on whatever goal we’re pursuing feels stronger and more sustainable.

But, have you ever wondered, in the middle of a busy, demanding day – what does this all even mean? And, what in the world would this even look like? Do I even have time to figure that out?!

Or, maybe you’re not thinking about this often at all because there is no room to think about the bigger picture when the day-to-day grind is so full. Without time to think about what we’re doing, we end up with great intentions we struggle to put into action. Months pass with no change, and then feelings of discouragement and defeat start to creep in.

According to a self-determination theory by Richard M. Ryan, Ph.D. and Edward L. Deci, Ph.D., motivation to make and sustain change comes from three drives:

“…the desire to be autonomous (making choices that are true to one’s core, not imposed by others or one’s inner critic); to be competent (using one’s strengths, becoming skilled in life tasks); and to be connected (doing things that support others).” [Summary from Wellcoaches Blog, Who’s in the Driver’s Seat?]

This supports spending time in the contemplation and preparation phases of change on self-reflection.  Making sure our goals and planned actions fit our current readiness, according to the stages of change, helps us be more successful in achieving our goals.  We often rush past the early stages into action, but then we also skip these important reflections.  Also, when it comes to change, I have worked with enough people and seen enough of their success to know that what makes everything “click” sometimes comes from surprising places. For example, it was planning more time to paint, write, or garden that provided the energy to make the home-cooked meals. It was the desire to support a partner’s love of swimming that got one in the pool for exercise.

Increased awareness of our values, strengths, and connections can be the foundation that new behaviors are built on. This is my inspiration for a new group health-coaching series starting in March, Making Progress with Purpose.

By signing up, you’ll have 30 minutes once a week for four weeks to focus on you and your health and wellness aspirations. We’ll take some time in the beginning to create a vision for well-being. Then, we’ll explore health and wellness from three different dimensions: Spiritual Wellness, Social Wellness, and Creative Wellness. All three dimensions, in research, show a relationship with our sense of well-being and health outcomes. We’ll explore this connection to health and well-being as well as use these three dimensions to increase clarity around what’s meaningful and important to you overall.

This will be a working group, meaning there will be time in each session dedicated to your personal reflections through meditation or writing exercises. I’ll also offer some suggestions about how you can work with each dimension in your daily life for the week between meetings. We’ll discuss as a group your take-aways from the practices, and you’ll create a plan that will help you continue any practices you find worthwhile. If you don’t have a quiet space or available time during the scheduled sessions, recordings will be shared with all registrants so you can still participate during a time that’s right for you.

If you’re ready for some deeper self-reflection, join me, Health Coach Amanda, in the four-week Group Health-Coaching Series, Making Progress with Purpose. Offered Tuesdays starting March 19 from noon to 12:30 p.m. Register in Link to Health (https://linktohealth.osu.edu/) or click the link.