Joyce Dillon

Health, Wellness & Purpose Strategy Coach

Life Balance

Awaken To Your Calling: Create the Life and Work You Love

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  • Are you yearning to make a life change but find it overwhelming?
  • Do you continue to work at a job that drains your very soul?
  • Are you fearful of doing what you most desire to do?

There is always a particular moment when you clearly know you need to make change in your life. That desire for change is a like a grain of sand in a shoe, imperceptible at first but grinding away until it becomes the only thing you notice. Your instinct is to dismiss the feelings. Saying, “I can tough this out “or “it could be worse”.

Often we find it easier to recognize the emotions and feeling of others but nearly impossible to recognize our own needs and yearnings. Why is this?

By midlife, after years of loss, comprise, denial, and fear we lose track of our “true self” and the dreams we had. We often struggle letting go of what does not serve our highest needs.

The ego has great difficulty letting go of anything and will defend itself with great intensity. The truth is we must let go of who we are in order to become who we want to be. Gregory Levoy, author of Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic life says, “Sometimes we hear the calling but fear what will be demanded of us if we respond to the “call”.

Our lives speak through our actions and reactions, our intuitions and instincts, our feelings and our words. If we can learn to listen, read our own responses, we will receive the guidance we need.

You must slow down to be able to hear the “calling”, as to why you need to reinvent yourself, change your mindset, change your career, go back to school, or start a business.

Moments of awareness come in many ways to point us toward action.
They include:

  • A dream that keeps coming back.
  • A symptom in your body that reoccurs
  • A call from someone you need to hear from
  • A book that falls into your lap
  • An emotional issue that keeps reappearing
  • A e-mail that excites you about doing volunteer work

These wake-up calls stimulate your intuition; encourage you to ask deeper questions and to seek the answers. This process is a gateway into the deepest layers of your “inner self”.

The time is now! All it takes is an idea, a discovery or a breakthrough that turns the fear of your unwanted situation into the hope of new possibilities.

Strategy Session:

StrategySession
To explore what your next step is request a complementary strategy session, where we’ll meet together for 30 minutes and uncover what you’d really like to create in your life, and I will show you how I can help you reach your dream.

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7 Great Reasons to Listen to Discover Your Calling

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rainbowWelcome to 2014 a New Year.

How is this year going to be different than last year? If you don’t make any changes in your beliefs, dreams or expectations for your life not much will change.

If you could live your life with more passion and purpose what would you be doing, what would you be feeling, how would your life change?

It is not that difficult to make simple life changes than can dramatically shift your life?

This is why Jennifer, my co-host and myself decided to make our own life changes this year and to offer the strategies and practices we are doing on a free teleconference: Discover Your Calling: 4 Power Steps to Activate Your Life Purpose; Wednesday, January 15th at 7:00pm EST.

We have so many people who are interested we had to get more telephone lines! If you can’t attend the complementary teleconference just go ahead and sign up and we will send you the link to download the call.

If you are struggling with feeling connected, passionate, in service and living your purpose here are 7 reasons you should listen to the teleconference.

  1. You have a sense that there is more you are here to be and do in this lifetime, but you are not clear how to tap into your brilliance.
  2. You know you’re supposed to be living a much bigger life than you are now, but don’t know how to make this change.
  3. You’re stuck in old emotions, memories and other unproductive life patterns
  4. You dread going to work or performing your current daily activities.
  5. You expend a lot of energy resisting change or trying to force things to happen or go your way.
  6. You don’t feel connected to your life anymore, or you don’t feel aligned to the natural flow of the universe.
  7. You are frustrated with your lack of progress and spend too much time with struggle, fear and doubt.

Seize this opportunity to explore 4 Power Steps to Activate Your Life Purpose. Sign up Now!

Is Stress Keeping You Up At Night? 7 “Stress Buster” Tips

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Stress Management TipsWhat keeps Americans awake at night? For most of us and especially small business, executives and health care providers, as well as caregivers it’s stress. There’s just too much to do, and not enough time to do it all.

We push ourselves to do more and more…

We are a population that’s dependent on medication to get to sleep and get through the next day. This is often the result of our increased usage of technology and life-style choices we choose to engage in.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 70% to 80% of all disease and illness is stress-related. Add to that the fact that the needs for an estimated 75% to 90% of visits to physicians are stress-related, and there’s good reason the drug companies are having a field day. It’s not necessary to get all stressed out over stress when there is so much good information and knowledge about how to reduce it. Managing stress well leads to improved physical and psychological health.

As a life and wellness coach I teach these top seven “stress-busters” (stress management techniques) to all my clients that help them dramatically reduce stress and improve the quality of their sleep. The results are life-changing.

  1. Mindful awareness of thoughts and beliefs – Become aware of what you are thinking and feeling during the day. Are your thoughts negative, fearful or limiting? Do you worry about everything: money, health, and relationships? If you are thinking negative thoughts, you are attracting into your life negative people and unhelpful situations. You are doing the very thing you do not want to do. Try to “let go” of the thought and replace it with a positive belief or image.
  2. Set Boundaries – If you want to alleviate stress you have to set healthy boundaries. And in the world of business that means setting boundaries with technology. It means un-plugging from cell phones and e-mail at a reasonable time each day. It means not having to be on call 24 hours to answer you phone. Having advanced technology is fabulous but not to the extent that you are unable to sleep or engage in activities without checking your e-mail.
  3. Quiet The Mind – Mediating before bedtime for ten to twenty minutes can be very helpful for reducing stress and promoting sounder sleep. Sit quietly in a comfortable chair, close your eyes and breathe deeply. Focus on your breath; relax your chest and body. When your mind wanders and you find yourself lost in other thoughts, let the emotion or thoughts go and return your focus to your breathing. This practice works quickly to reduce stress and rebalance your body. Continue for at least ten minutes or until you feel drowsy.
  4. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise – It’s a great way to release tension and fortify ourselves against the physical effects of stress. Engage in aerobic activity; take a walk, run or swim. Try a new, fun exercise such as NIA, belly-dancing or boxing. Exercising in the evening, however can be counter-productive, particularly if the exercise is vigorous.
  5. Laugh and Have Fun – Laughter is one of the healthiest antidotes to stress. Take yourself lightly and your work seriously. When we laugh or even smile, blood flow to the brain is increased, endorphins are released, and levels of stress hormones drop. Start to notice how often you smile. People who experience joy, fun and laughter sleep well.
  6. Diaphragmatic Breathing – The following exercises make use of the breath and can enhance the ability to fall asleep due to their calming effect. Put one hand on your abdomen and close your eyes. Take a deep breath in through your nose and expel it slowly and completely through your mouth. You will feel your belly flatten. Exhale fully, drawing in your abdomen. At the end of each third exhalation, hold your breath for as long as you can. Then repeat the process two or three times, or until you feel sleepy.
  7. Take Action – Rather than worry, re-live the situation over and over or spend sleepless nights thinking about the consequences, take some action to move the issue forward. Get a wellness coach or a therapist, talk to a friend, and begin journaling… just do something! Procrastination weakens productivity, compounds your anxiety and causes the stressful side-effects of guilt, anger and low self-esteem.

If you need assistance in helping to reduce your stress and improve your life – balance check out our Wellness Coaching.

I would love to know how your mange your stress!