Live Your Life Purpose: Tips and Tools for Coping on a Bad Day!

I am going to be frank and honest here. Discovering your life purpose is hard work. It requires a lot of inner work to change limiting beliefs, stay grounded, and keep a positive attitude despite all the noise around you. I refer to noise as life situations that challenge you consciously and subconsciously. You know…those bad moments, days, or weeks that derail your positive mindset and forward progress. It could be a financial difficulty, poor interaction with someone you care for or love, or mounting moments of rejection (not getting a client, being told you didn’t get that job or promotion, or a refusal when asking for help). Whatever the situation is, it leaves you feeling defeated, angry, irritated, anxious, and disappointed…you name the word, emotion, or reaction that resonates with you.

Well, despite positivity being my # 5 strength as identified by StrengthsFinder, I too have those back in THE PIT moments. I wrote about THE PIT in my previous Blog, Confront Your Real Story: The Power of Persistence. The PIT was referred to as the depths of darkness where you experience thoughts of despair, failure, and unworthiness and feel depressed, stressed, and utterly exhausted. You find yourself paralyzed and wanting to give up all HOPE.

I had one of those weeks. Yes, TGIF! But the good news is that whatever challenge, negative emotion, or limiting belief you are experiencing right in the moment, it is temporary.  The key is to develop proper coping skills so that you get “unstuck.”

In this Blog, I am going to share with you some of my methods and resources used to get back up, dust off, and persist on.  Now, I know that everyone has their own ways to cope and that success with these methods is going to be different for everyone. But, humor me here! I have tried many different coping skills and, by far, the following list really works for me. So, I said to myself, Why not share?

1. If you have taken StrengthsFinder, take out your assessment results and read it again. Pay close attention to the words and phrases that resonate with you the most. Remember, your top 5 Talent Themes are your gifts, what makes you unique, and drive your purpose in life. You can NEVER, in my opinion, read your report too much. It is a good reminder to intentionally use your strengths and definitely a way to “ground” you back to reality! If you have not taken StrengthsFinder and would like to know more, visit me at www.beckiejorgensen.com.
2. Meditation. Clear your MIND. Get rid of the noise. Give yourself a break from your racing thoughts. For me, meditation gives my brain a break, renews my hope, and increases my positive spirit. I typically do a meditation exercise before I go to bed. It really helps me clear my head and get a good night rest. Click here for a 108 Meditation Techniques from The Meditation Society of America.
3. Affirmations. Take time to read and recite inspiring affirmations. I love to search the internet and Pinterest for inspiring quotes. I make it a daily routine, first thing every morning for about 15 minutes, to collect, pin, or post inspiring quotes on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. You can also create a quote board and display your favorite affirmations in a visible area to read daily. I love using Inspired Living Affirmations as a resource. Here is a link to their website and Facebook page. On Facebook, you can even request a FREE E-book download full of quotes!
4. Essential Oils. Essential oils play a powerful role in emotional healing. Essential oils assist in healing the physical body, healing the heart, releasing limiting beliefs, increasing spiritual awareness and connection, and inspiring the fulfillment of our life’s purpose. As part of my own journey of healing and inner work, I have incorporated essential oils as a natural and healthy part of my life to find emotional balance, increase my energy levels, and improve my sleep. I have been using essential oils for just over a year with great results! If you would like to learn more, just e-mail me directly at beckiejorgensen@gmail.com.
5. The Law of Attraction: Learn and practice the law of attraction. I will admit I am new to this one. I have started to learn how to incorporate this in my daily “time for me” routine. I believe that it is so important to schedule time for yourself on a daily basis to reflect, give gratitude, and attract good things into your life. The law of attraction is the name given to the maxim "like attracts like" which in New Thought philosophy is used to sum up the idea that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts a person brings positive or negative experiences into their life. Visit The Law of Attraction 
   website or Facebook page. On their Facebook page, you can sign up and download a complimentary Law of Attraction (LOA) Tool Kit.
6. Get a Coach. NO JOKE! Yes, I am a Coach, but even trained professional coaches, like me, need a Coach. The power of hiring a Coach, Mentor, or Accountability Partner is so valuable that I consider it priceless. Having an objective person to talk to, guide you, and hold you accountable for being your best self is key to living out your purpose. Observe and/or read about any successful person you know or follow and you will recognize that they did not get where they got by doing it alone! HIRE A COACH!

My list could go on and on. Of course, reading books, writing, journaling and yoga/exercise are important to add to the list as well. However, for me, I need at times to shake things up a little. Therefore, I am sharing some of my favorite “unconventional” approaches to coping with life situations. Whatever healthy coping strategies you have, try adding one or two different approaches. It is always a good idea to have different tools in your toolbox.

What other coping strategies have you had success with? Visit me atwww.beckiejorgensen.com , post a comment, or send me an email to beckiejorgensen@gmail.com. I would love you hear from you!

Living Your Purpose: The Power of Present vs. Future

Recently, I listened to the audio book, The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. I am going to share my own interpretations and learnings from this book, which I applied to my fourth talent theme, Futuristic, identified by StrengthsFinder 2.0. There are many positive attributes to possessing the strength Futuristic, but there is an awareness that comes along as well.

My StrengthsFinder Report described Futuristic in me as follows:

“Driven by your talents, you possess a high level of skill and/or knowledge about specialized issues, subjects, processes, or programs. You probably combine this expertise with your ability to set definite goals for the coming weeks, months, years, or decades. Because of your strengths, you channel your mental and physical energies toward what you can accomplish in the months, years, or decades ahead. The question you must answer is this: ‘How far into the future can I think before my ideas start becoming vague or uninspiring?’ It’s very likely that you periodically establish performance targets for the week. Once in a while, you think about what your life could be like in the future. Some of these forward-looking images may motivate or energize you to meet your weekly goals. Perhaps you do better work when you can concentrate on your near-term objectives. Instinctively, you create detailed and vivid images of what the future promises. You can describe it long before others can imagine it. By nature, you are eager to get started on a project once you realize what you can accomplish in the coming weeks, months, or years. You work very hard to breathe life into your big dreams. These often push and pull you into the future.”

Part of my journey in living out my purpose is the realization that I need to consciously live in the present moment. However, using my strength of Futuristic in my work as a Success Coach allows me to carry out my “Mission” to:

1. Paint the picture of what could be, 
2. Help my clients understand what makes them unique, 
3. Connect my clients to their talents and strengths to achieve awareness of their true potential, and 
4. Inspire my clients to take action, move forward and live their life purpose.

My point is that I made a very clear distinction on how best to use my talent, Futuristic, without creating mindset limitations that could prevent me from being my best self, living out my purpose, and achieving my dreams! Futuristic is only one of 34 talent themes identified through StrengthsFinder.

As I previously explained in my last Blog post, Expanding Your Strengths:

“Your talents do not exist in isolation. You are not just one thing or five things. You use various talents to respond to different situations, and you frequently use several themes at once, whether you know it or not. The more you examine theme dynamics in your life, the more you will understand how your talents make you who you are.” – Excerpt from Expanding Your Strengths by Curt Liesveld.

For the purpose of this Blog, I am isolating Futurist to simplify and demonstrate application of this particular talent to my learning's from The Power of Now, which has given me a new perspective and has reinforced that living out my life purpose is a learning process. A process that has tremendous opportunities for growth and development to be my best self.

Just one other point to mention is that learning to live in the present has also taught me that there is no such thing as “problems” unless I choose to create and view opportunities as problems. By being open to and welcoming opportunities, and removing negative self-talk/perceptions, I open my Universe to receiving the good out of every situation.

“We must be conscious and responsible for our beliefs and behaviors if we are ever to be free.” – Brendon Burchard

The Power of Now provided me with a new awareness, which is, futuristic thinking unregulated (in my own terms) can create an illusion that the future will hold promises of fulfillment, happiness, and success. However, the uncertainty of the future, the “unknown,” creates anxiety and fear within and “negative thoughts” about problems that really don't exist in the now.  

“Why evoke within emotions of fear and anxiety and spend precious energy creating a problem that does not exist? Doing so robs us of the joy of living in the present moment.” - Beckie Jorgensen

So I have to ask myself, "What can I do now?"  If the answer is nothing, I need to trust that present moment awareness will in-of-itself provide me with a clear solution when faced with an opportunity. If there is an opportunity in the current moment that needs my attention, I take action - remove, change or accept it. Viewing situations as problems vs. opportunities causes undue stress, suffering, and pain.

From past experiences, I know all too well the consequences that negative thinking has on physical and emotional health and well-being. I lost my sense of self and weakened my strength of positivity.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that positivity is my fifth talent theme identified by StrengthsFinder. Below is an excerpt from my report:

“By nature, you desire to leave behind a legacy of great value and worth. In the end, you want your life to have mattered. For this reason, you are impelled to make a meaningful and lasting impact on the planet or people’s lives. Often you urge individuals to do their part in making the world, or at least their little corner of it, a better place for all living things. It’s very likely that you exhibit a deep fondness for people. This explains your ability to help others experience and compliment their accomplishments. Because of your strengths, you often motivate people. You patiently observe, ask questions of, and listen to each individual. This is how you pinpoint someone’s talents, skills, knowledge, interests, goals, and/or background. In the process, you usually discover the best way to train, coach, or praise the person. Instinctively, you like to lift the spirits of the people around you. You know what to do and say so individuals feel useful, valued, appreciated, and important.”

I share this specific excerpt because it demonstrates the POWER and meaning that positivity holds for me. Positivity is an innate gift!  If I do not intentionally fuel my positivity, my purpose of leaving behind a legacy of great value and worth is lost. My life will not have mattered.

“Every time you put something positive into the universe, the world changes. Your kindness invites miracles to show up, not just in your world, but in the whole world.” - Unknown

To stay present, The Power of Now teaches to also ask, "Am I experiencing joy, ease, and lightness in what I am currently doing?" If the answer is no, then I choose to change "How" and not "What" I am doing. By drawing upon my other strengths such as strategic #1, responsibility #3 and learner #6, I am able to create new ways to get things done.  

Because of my futuristic strength, I “channel my mental and physical energies toward what I can accomplish in the months, years, or decades ahead.” Setting goals is very important to me. But to fully live in the present, I need to focus on what I am currently doing now, not on the future results. You see, by focusing my actions in the present moment, I do not create those inner feelings of anxiety and fear nor do I create negative thoughts (i.e., What if I fail?) born from a place of “uncertainty or the unknown" or from worrying about the future results. Why?Because in the present state of being, I have already accomplished my goals and achieved success.

The Key Take-Away: We need to be aware of when our thoughts shift from the conscious (present) to the unconscious mind (past or future).  Listen to those thoughts, feel the emotions, and observe your reaction. But just listen, don’t waste precious energy judging or analyzing them. The art of listening to your mind alone can recenter you to the present moment and bring forth the tremendous value of clarity, confidence, and calm in living your life purpose!

“Living your life purpose is in the now. Not in the noise of past or future thoughts.” – Beckie Jorgensen

Expanding Your Strengths: The Next Level

Theme pairing is one of my favorite exercises when coaching clients who have taken Clifton StrengthsFinder or StrengthsFinder 2.0, and are ready to up their level of understanding to turn their talents into strengths. Doing theme pairing has also given me greater insight into answering my 5 key questions: What do I do? How do I do it? Why do I do it? What makes me unique? and What are my needs?

This summary is excerpts from the Kindle book Expanding Your Strengths by Curt Liesveld, “Your talents do not exist in isolation. You are not just one thing or five things. You use various talents to respond to different situations, and you frequently use several themes at once, whether you know it or not. The more you examine theme dynamics in your life, the more you will understand how your talents make you who you are.”

Theme pairing takes the top 5 talents from StrengthsFinder (if you have your expanded top 34 report you can choose as many as you like) and pairs them together. For the purpose of demonstration, I am using the top 5 talents sequence to walk you through the pairing steps.

Steps:

1. Talent #1 pair with #2, #3, #4, #5.
2. Talent #2 pair with #3, #4, #5
3. Talent #3 pair with #4, #5
4. Talent #4 pair with #5.

In addition to enhancing your own insights, theme pairing helps you examine how your talents can work with other people’s talents to form powerful and productive partnerships.

Expanding Your Strengths introduces you to theme dynamics and includes an interactive Web App which allows you to select theme pairings. If you are ready to take your knowledge to the next level, I highly recommend the Kindle version of Expanding Your Strengths that gives you a unique access code to the Web application. For more information click here: Expanding Your Strengths Amazon Link

My top 5 Talents are Strategic, Maximizer, Responsibility, Futuristic and Positivity. Here is what the pairing for these themes reveals:

1. Strategic + Maximizer = When considering future possibilities, I eliminate the bad to find the good and then sort through the good to find the best.
2. Strategic + Responsibility = Creatively conscientious, I am often aware of the multiplicity of ways in which I can provide service or help.
3. Strategic + Futuristic = My mind’s eye sees clear images of a better future and detects the best paths leading to future dreams.
4. Strategic + Positivity = I prefer to imagine and anticipate all the possibilities because it energizes me and clarifies what I do.
5.  Maximizer + Responsibility = I feel compelled to honor the commitments I make to others and to meet the standards of excellence I set for myself.
6. Maximizer + Futuristic = When I dream about my future, it usually includes me getting better at what I do well and doing more of what I do best.
7.  Maximizer + Positivity = I choose to focus on good rather than evil and on strength rather than weakness, and when I do, it creates energy and hope.
8.  Responsibility + Futuristic = I will make a serious commitment to someone today if it will help my vision become a reality tomorrow.
9.  Responsibility + Positivity = I am serious about the commitments I make to others, not from dutiful obligation, but as a joyful servant.
10. Futuristic + Positivity = My vision has a better chance of becoming reality if I use my emotional energy and enthusiasm while forming it.

Theme pairing is powerful and the more you examine your theme dynamics in your life, the more you will understand how to turn your talents into strengths to make greater sense of who you are.

“The key to intentionally using your talents to achieve higher performance, happiness, fulfillment and success is to turn talents into strengths.” – Beckie Jorgensen

Thinking about hiring a coach? Haven’t taken StrengthsFinder yet and would like too? I would love to chat with you. Go to www.beckiejorgensen.com and you can either fill out the Contact form or complete the pop-up window (if your pop up blocker is on, click Define Your Purpose on the top Menu Bar) for my special BONUS to purchase a StrengthsFinder Code and receive a complimentary 45 minute Strategy Session with me!

Get Out of Your Own Way

I believe that leaving my legacy does not have to be an act of grandeur, or defined by the amount of money in my bank account, or by being designated as “famous.” Though, that is okay too. My legacy is driven by me intentionally using my strengths to make a difference with one maybe two things I do every day. It is about the one person I inspire, the one idea that solves another person’s problem, or the one act of service that helps a person in my community.

“Becoming rich isn’t as much about getting rich financially as about whom you become, in character and mind, to get rich.” - T. Harv Eker

Simply put, it is about how I use my strengths to be my best self and positively make a difference in even a small corner of my World and those around me. By declaring my life purpose, I have, undoubtedly, created a meaningful life.

“I believe we all possess unique gift, but so many of us conform to others expectations.  Live your life to your passions and inspire not only yourself but others along the way.”- Beckie Jorgensen

The most important key is to create your own legacy today. Don’t wait for others to define your legacy after death. The power of knowing today what your purpose is gives you the opportunity, no matter your age, to create a life of joy, happiness, fulfillment, and success while living in the present moment. Live your life now, don’t wait till tomorrow. And if you are “stuck,” unable to get out of the PIT, or simply just need clarity, confidence and calm to know you are on the right path; don’t hesitate to ask for help. Find a Coach, take action, and invest in becoming your best self. You are worth it!

“Start now. Start where you are. Start with fear. Start with pain. Start with doubt. Start with hands shaking. Start with voice trembling but start. Start and don’t stop. Start where you are, with what you have. Just … start.”- Ijeoma Umebinyuo

Considering a Coach?

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