Life Makeovers 52 Practical and Inspiring Way to Improve Your Life One Week at a Time

Introduction How often do you daydream about living a better lifea life that reects more of you, your values and deepest desires? How many times have you come to the end of a busy week and toyed with the fantasy of packing a bag and leaving it all behind? I'm sure I don't need to tell you that in today's world most people live with a nagging sense that something's missing or that life is passing them by. So many of us long for time to discover who we are and what we really want before it's too late. For the last nine years I've worked as a personal coach helping clients to reevaluate their lives and connect more deeply with what really matters most. The goal was to improve the quality of their lives. The improvements varied, depending on the client. For some, new jobs that honored their values and their need for a life outside of work helped make a difference. For others, getting the right support or putting smart systems in place allowed them to eliminate the stress of success. And, it was not uncommon for clients to scale back or simplify their lives dramatically in order to reclaim the peace and serenity they desired. Each client's story was unique, and yet they all had one common goalto live a more authentic life, one that reected their values and most treasured priorities. Let's see if any of these stories sound familiar. . . . As Olivia stands by the window in her ofFice looking out over the city, she wonders where her life is headed. Working as a manager for a high-tech company, she feels like she's been on a wild ride. Stock prices are up, sales are strong, and she's been a major contributor to the success of her division. Her work used to be rewarding, but now Olivia feels miserable. Although she found the life she thought she wanted, she feels as if she's lost herself. Olivia gets up early every day, hits the gym by 6, gets to her desk by 8, and on most nights leaves the ofFice after 7:30. She daydreams about how life used to be when she spent more time with her friends, dated on a regular basis, and had more time to herself. At this point Olivia says that her life feels like one long routine day after another. She's tired, lonely, and ready for a change. Olivia's situation is a good example of what happens when we dedicate so much of our life to workwe end up missing our life. We forge ahead, get many of our needssuch as the need for community, recognition, or accomplishmentmet at work, and suddenly discover that we no longer have a personal life to go home to. This realization can be a hard pill to swallow. Sometimes, however, the problem is a little different. For example, in David's situation, his success has given him much more than he bargained for. Sitting at his desk at the end of a busy day David wonders if all his hard work is really paying off. His consulting business is more successful than ever. He's made more money this year than in the last two years combined. And, he can barely remember the days when he worried about making payroll. Yet David walks around with a nagging feeling that something is missing. Although he's reached the level of success he always hoped for, it doesn't feel the way he expected it to feel. He has more responsibility than evera loving wife, three small kids, a large house in the country, and twenty-Five employees to manage. Instead of feeling happy about the role he's created for himself, David says he feels like an employee working for everyone else. He often fantasizes about selling the business, downsizing his family's lifestyle, and trying something new. David's not sure he's willing to continue paying such aRichardson, Cheryl is the author of 'Life Makeovers 52 Practical and Inspiring Way to Improve Your Life One Week at a Time' with ISBN 9780767906630 and ISBN 0767906632.