Professional Life Coaching: Coach Joelle

Livloud Newsletter: Welcome to the Wonder of Living Life On Purpose

Hello!

Welcome to the Livloud! Newsletter this fine week in February!

This month’s article is designed to give you a Valentine’s Day that kicks butt whether you are in a fresh romance, an ancient marriage or are as single as single gets. To ensure this Valentine’s Day does not disappoint, the article below invites you to take the Mental Health Day Challenge and design a day just for you. YUM!

I am also super excited to tell you that I am working on the final details of launching the Make Your Life program for May 2008. This program is the culmination of all the essential tools to consciously create your life. It is deigned to allow you to experience the magic of a life lived on purpose. Sound like fun? It is, so keep an eye out for announcements because this is going to be one life-changing program.

In other news, my darling husband just booked us on a Caribbean cruise with two of our best friends. The anticipation of this event has already taken up an entire weekend of finding the best airfare, reviewing and booking excursions and even starting the “To pack” list even though it is still weeks away. It is fun to see Jeff so engrossed in the planning and for me it is an absolute gift that I basically get to show up and let my person trip planner take the reins.

May this week be an opportunity for you to share your love with the people in your life.

Lots of hugs, hearts, words of appreciation, and of course chocolate, to you all.

Joelle

A Day for you: Take The Mental Health Day Challenge!

This article is dedicated to Brenda, the first boss to show me the value of time just for me.

It's that time again.

Valentine's Day, much like New Years Eve (and every summer holiday from the age of 16-25) is for many, one of those days that never seems to live up to expectations.

Most of us have spent at least one Valentine’s Day waiting for the doorbell to ring with a flower delivery or wishing for some grand gesture that never came or never came in quite the way it was imagined. As February neared I asked myself “what could I share that would make this Valentine’s Day a special and momentous day for all?” and the thing that kept jumping out at me was a little gift I was given years ago by one of my very first bosses. Brenda Raill was my first manager at Manpower and she introduced me to something that forever changed my experience of work.

The mental health day!

A mental health day is a day off. Not a usual day off like a weekend or a holiday or a sick day when you are too weak to eat much less have any fun, but a perfectly planned day off off off, when everyone else is working, for no reason at all except because you say so.

Just imagine that for a minute...

A day totally off, no laundry, no “just one more thing”, no looming deadlines. OFF OFF OFF!

A day without the phone ringing.

A day without responsibilities.

A day without the kids.

A day without a meal to prepare and no one to answer to.

How would you spend that day?

Sleep in…..go for a walk at 10 in the morning….a day at the spa or an in-home massage…. read books in bed… watch movies all day…paint in the sunlight…go climb something...

Or maybe you take the day off and use it to prepare the perfect expression of love and appreciation for your partner or for other loved one’s in your life.

There are no rules here. Just a day, totally off, just for you.

The possibilities are endless.

But I could never!

I know some of you are thinking you could never do it. You have too much on your plate and too many responsibilities. Or maybe you just feel really uncomfortable with the idea of taking that time for you. Or maybe you are home with the kids and you feel it would be silly or presumptuous or unreasonable to take a day for such "selfish things". Well, if that is the case then I invite you to pay extra attention because you need it more than anyone.

The Invitation: This Valentines day I invite you to take The Mental Health Day Challenge!

I invite you to create a generously crafted day off just for you or if it will bring you joy just for you and the people you love. (Imagine if you invited your spouse to spend the day under the sheets or a day at a resort, with room service, flowers, chocolate and a 5 course meal – hmmm, I am giving myself ideas here :-).)

How to create your mental health day.

1) Clear the schedule for February 14th (or another day in the near future.) If you are self employed what would it take to move all your commitments to other days in the week. If you have an employer what requests would you need to make to have the day totally off, no phone calls, no email, no nothing. If you are home with the children, what would it take to create a day where you can rest your mind and your body, knowing they are well cared for?

2) make a list of all of your favorite ways to use a day.
One of my clients, created her birthday as a mental health day and she filled it with all of her favorite things. The day started ... and if I recall correctly, ended with a massage, she had a special lunch planned, and an entire day in honor of her, doing what she loves and surrounded by her favorite people.

Ask yourself, "what would make a great day?" What comes to mind?

3) Set the stage for your day.
One of the fun things about creating exciting events like your mental health day is that it gives you something to plan for and look forward to. In the days leading up to your day set the stage for the perfect day!

Planning an outing? Book the bowling alley, reserve the room at the resort or schedule the aromatherapy consultation – tell them that it is a special day for you and see if they have any suggestions on how to take your experience up a notch.

Indulging at home? Pick up the chocolate, scour the bookstore for the perfect “day off book” (ahhhh), plan the menu, tidy the house, pile up the fuzzy blankets, rent the movies, buy the flowers.

4) Follow through
You are all ready to have your day and yet it is so easy for us to let life get in the way. Well, don’t! Why should an appointment with your self be any less important than an appointment with a client? Hmmm? Why should a special day with your partner fall second fiddle to the laundry or that report sitting on your desk. Life is full of choices so if you decided to take on the mental health day challenge because it excites you and inspires you then just do it, no excuses, no matter how impossible it may seem when the day comes. There will always be another day to get things done, thousands of them in fact.

Remember, to love the world you must start with loving your self. It is that old airline wisdom of putting on your oxygen mask first before helping the person beside you. When you are taken care of, when your needs are met and you feel safe and loved, you are in the very best place to give.

This Valentines Day join the Mental Health Day Challenge give yourself the gift of time and space and love love love! You Deserve it.

Much love to you,

Joelle

Are you up for the challenge?
Share what "Your perfect day off" looks like on the Coach Joelle Blog ›

Make your life a work of art! Find yourself, take it to the next level, create a whole new life!
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Contact Joelle via email or at 216-320-9298.

”Working with Joelle has really given me the tools to own my power, to trust my intuition and to follow my dreams no matter what.”

-Alexandra Jaye
Malibu, CA

Get more Joy in your job! Increase productivity, earn more and have more fun at work!
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Contact Joelle to explore the possibilities. via email or at 216-320-9298.

“This was truly a life changing event for me both personally and professionally.”

-Gary B. Feldman
Vice President of Sales and
Broker Relations
Delta Dental of Arizona

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