Coach Mo Faul- America's Kick Ass Career Coach

This week we look at freedom in a new light, it comes with leaving something behind. What we leave behind might be an old job, an old lover or an old self. Maybe it is something we clung to that defines us. Perhaps it is a message that we received from long ago about ourself that we know doesn’t serve us any longer. Departures can be scary, exciting, exhilarating, exhausting, energizing, all of these and more. We know they take an abundance of energy, which is why we must have fuel behind the change, otherwise we drift back to our known ZONE. To reflect on where we might have to make a departure to have more personal FREEDOM, let’s ask ourselves 3 key questions: Where is my next opportunity? Is there something holding me back that I must leave? How can I create a big enough why to motivate me to make the change? With a plan and a fueled up reason we can move onto anything that gives us greater FREEDOM.

Many times I have had so much determination that I ran into obstacles and stayed with a desire too long. Was it too long? Perhaps sticking with it could have produced a better result? This is tricky territory. We know we want to achieve something so we keep at it. We can leverage DETERMINATION very well after our mind is clear! I love the quote by Mark Twain, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”. This is when DETERMINATION backfires. I will also tell you, that when you get clear and have a pure heart, DETERMINATION is essential to move you toward your clear desires. There is a balance between pushing with the universal flow and pushing from your ego.

We get our best DELIGHTS by exploring our senses and being in a state of sense-stimulation. When we stimulate our senses we open the door to receiving joy. That is the true essence of JOY, DELIGHTING ourselves. Let’s not get overly caught up in delight, it is temporary. DELIGHT sparks the feeling we want to have often so we are on a plane of joy, this is where our source speaks to us. I know for me, essential oils, flowers, candles and soft blankets can really help me feel surrounded by warmth and calmness. We need to bring back a bit of the holiday entertaining every now and then, or just the feelings of the Holidays. This week The 3 Questions we need to ask ourselves to create more DELIGHT and therefore more JOY are: What scents, sounds, touches and tastes make me feel calm? What scents, sounds, touches and tastes makes me feel loved? What scents, sounds, touches and tastes makes me feel excited? Take in the scent of a flower and feel DELIGHT

I have to tell you something, we all recognize things that are different and people who are different. This creates SEPARATION, not Togetherness! Sometimes and I push people away. Why does this happen? Because we all have a primitive brain that is set up to protect us. Protect us from foes, from lions and tigers and bears, OH MY! In today’s society we don’t (often) have those types of attacks, but you know what? We all have that primitive brain, the amygdala. It reacts to things that are not “like” us. When we say, “NOPE that’s not me, that’s NOT how my world works and that HURT me in the past”, our amygdala jumps in to save us from danger. When we Differentiate and allow the primitive brain to run us, to rule our world, we push away things in those categories: NOT like me, NOT like my world view and HURT me in the past. We make quick snap judgments AND REACT and PUSH AWAY to avoid the hurt.  

Speaking is so important to having a MOST LIFE because we are communication creatures! In this high-tech world we are on our phones emailing, texting, snap-chatting and “hurry, let me get back to everyone NOW!” But, is it really speaking? Speaking and relating with people matters so much in how we enjoy a MOST LIFE. The right words, the right tone, the right posture. Connection! Speaking is how we connect in our world. SO, we have to DELIVER the best spoken words and the non-spoken language. Most of our speaking and delivery is random and we just SPEAK our MIND! As you prepare to DELIVER your messages better this week, ask these questions to get started. These are the three big questions you need to deliver a message that MATTERS.  Examine those three questions, take action!  

Let’s talk about decisions because, getting organized, starts with decisions. As a matter of fact a lot of things in life start with decisions. Here at MOST LIFE we have organized drawers, organized money, and created lists. How? Through DECISIONS! Creating harmony and de-cluttering feels good, it remove stress. So lets talk about the decisions we make on what to organize. We can’t organize everything, so we have to decide, or prioritize.  We have to get clear. We get clear by asking questions. So in this episode on “O” for Decisions we ask 3 questions. These 3 questions help prioritize where we will spend time. Sometimes, the best DECISION is one that will give a gift of positive influence to someone else! The 3 BIG questions this week: What is your biggest mess? Where can you get the biggest bang for your time? What is a mess that is stressing out someone you love? This is how we get clear and make decisions about what to organize,

When I was young I loved learning about how the body works and I loved helping people. I taught kids in my neighborhood how to ride their bike without training wheels, wow, was that a great joy! So, off to college and I chose nursing. My direction in life came from my interest in science and my joy of helping others. This was INNER direction. I also received OUTER direction, anytime I was good at something OR when I was not so good. These informed me along the way. Since I wanted a career that encompassed more than direct patient care, i chose the business side of healthcare. That took me on a different direction. Anytime we have to find our direction we MUST ask 3 important questions: 1. WHAT do I really want? 2. WHY do I want it? 3. Am I GOING there? These questions help guide us and move our actions toward the answers. If you really want to see patients every day and feel that connection, nursing is a great place to be. If you want more of a business career, a different choice is made. Once I answe

Breath is so fundamental to living, it is ALL we need to survive a day! We can live a day without food or water, but we can only survive less than 4 minutes without breathing. We breathe on our own with no conscious mental awareness at all. We do however, have habits of shallow or chest breathing that do not maximize our breathing architecture. Yes, our rib cage, diaphragm and heart-lung machine has a physical working basis or expansion when we breathe IN and contraction when we breath OUT. Meditation is an essential part of a MOST LIFE as it is the combination of breathe work and quieting the mind and connecting with source. We are at our best when we connect with a quiet mind at least once a day and become centered with our inner spirit. Centuries of documentation about the value of meditation can be found. Let’s do a few deep breaths NOW! Take some time this week to honor your breath!

Many of us were raised with a sense that you need to protect and hold things in order to be safe. We were told that loyalty, keeping something and staying the course were all values to be “held” in high esteem. It was ingrained in us to NOT LET GO! There are so many rich avenues to explore in this topic, it is exciting and scary all at once! I recently let go of a big, successful career. Many people thought i was, well, in a word, crazy! And that’s why we don’t let go! We fear criticism, we lack confidence in the decision, we hang on to what we know! Letting go of everything just to say we can let go isn’t the point here. Let go in a fully committed effort to release what is holding you back from your full expression. Let’s build your fully realized self!

There are a variety of ways we can think and interact with others. How we use our mind and what we invite in to our mind that creates patterns and habits is important! Most of what we do in this area is out of the habits we form through repetition. The people we spend time with influence our habits. The more time we spend with people, the more they influence us and the thoughts we have. When we engage in dialogue with others we learn. We learn about who they are and we learn about who we are. We also get imprinted with the way they ARE! Yikes! Have you ever been in a conversation and it goes in a direction that you do not like?

As a young girl I played super hero often. I really liked imagining that I could do anything (to anyone) with a simple thought, the extension of my hand or the blink of my eye. In those days Batman, Superman and the Fantastic Four were popular, my brother and sisters and I played different roles, dressed up and used towels and old Halloween costumes to play the parts. It was so much fun to dress up and be a superhero! It is time to bring out our superhero as adults! Let’s dream and be our own SUPERHERO! Where do you need to fly in and save the day? Where can you exert your powers to do something you have been wanting to do? If it helps to put a cape on to feel the powers, go ahead and pull a towel out of your closet!

We are so evolved, that we are not as connected to nature as the past generations. We need food and water for survival. Turn on the water faucet, shop at the local super-sized grocery chain. No longer are we foraging in the woods, growing food on the plains, picking fruit and berries, no, we are shopping. We need nature and the outdoors to thrive! The air we breathe, the birds chirping, all important to us. Seasonal changes, sounds, all of this is essential to survival. Since we no longer really live in and with nature, we are hungry for it. Literally, we desire the outdoors, our body needs it for vitamin D (there is an epidemic in low vitamin D levels in the U.S.). We know we want to, we know we need to, so when will we, get back to nature?

The end of one year and the beggining of a new year is a natural opportunity to reflect and plan. Let's take the time to do year end and year beginning thinking. It is one of the most important uses of time. The nay-sayers will say, “why bother, it doesn’t matter”. Well... of course it matters, any definite plan or thought(s) you have matter. Even if it doesn’t all come together, it is fun dreaming and if you plan to achieve something and do fall short, you are likely ahead of anyone with no PLAN! So, plan, it moves you forward. You have the ability to define your life exactly how you want it… “You are the sum total of everything you've ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot - it's all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.” -Maya Angelou

This is going to be a fantastic exercise to start off this year or any year or really any special time. It's all about organizing your vision. Time to create vision boards for this year and your future. There is power in vision boards and creating a defined outcome. Cut out pictures and words from magazines that represent what you want your world to look and feel like, put it on the board and imagine life the way you really want it! Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?? Organize your vision boards. Have fun! Do it now, don’t put it off- your life is waiting to be designed!

When you write in your own handwriting YOUR goals are set in motion. You are the author of your life. Taking it up a notch, when you add emotions and pictures and vivid designs to your life it sets in motion a magical energy that charges your subconscious mind. The events in your life begin to unfold in a manner that matches your plans and your emotions. Take stock of a final frontier in setting your vision in motion-YOUR voice! Do you know what your voice sounds like? Do you know that you have different voices? Your external speaking voice radiates from within and shows the world what you are about. Are you pensive and thoughtful? Then your voice is likely to be slower, deeper. Are you energetic and running around trying to accomplish a lot in little time? Then your voice is likely to be faster and the pitch higher or the tone more variable. How do you use your voice?

After surviving breast cancer, Mo took her health VERY seriously.  Studies show that with today’s mass food production we don’t get the essential nutrients in foods that were available 40-50- years ago. We are also exposed to many more toxins in the food growing process, so we need to be more aware of what we eat! Eating CLEAN is a daily routine. We can snack on carrots and celery, but is it enough? Many natural health remedies include juicing and the popularity of some of these approaches has caught the attention of many people over the past few years. Your Energy and vitality is so important to living the life you are meant to live, give yourself the gift of juicing.  

Freedom is a terrific attribute to life, but how often do we actually feel it? We want it, but do we ever grasp it? We all seek freedom of self and freedom within our self. Our soul and deep inner being seeks expression. We desire to live a life that is in alignment with our purpose, we want to connect with that purpose. This is the true "MOST LIFE”, one that is based on consistent action toward a purpose that fuels us and gives us meaning. As you design your MOST LIFE, then dream it, then live it, you uncover a person inside that may be hidden from view. The self CAN be comfortable with the self. It is just this moment when we meet, understand and know the inner self that we are FREE! I am now more free to explore my talents in the kitchen, where is your new playground?

There is nothing more stimulating than using our brain in a new way. Our brains get wired with each task and each thought. We either wire a new pathway or we add wires to an existing pathway. When we were younger we laid new wires all the time, learning new skills, socializing, being “trained” in behaviors by parents, teachers and other adults in our life. We were the passive recipients of their values, mores and expectations. Did we have a choice? No. But now we do. The big question here is, is your brain wired in a way that serves your highest purpose and pushes you toward your higher self?