Lost? Stressed? Confused? Exhausted? Disconnected? Unbalanced? Powerless? Miserable? Do you make a living or do you make a dying? In response to the growing number of clients that I see manifesting a very modern condition of stress and overwhelm in their lives, I have cobbled together the following commentary. Forgive me for providing an intellectual narrative, I have written this in the hope that it is causal in getting at least one person to change themselves for the better. You may also be interested in this introductory video on How to Stop Depression
Our culture has got itself into quite a bind… and as a Life Coach I enjoy clearly showing people, one-at-a-time, that there really is a different way to live your life. A way that is better for you, your family and all peoples.
We've turned our personal shortcomings into a disease. Individualism has generated chronic self-indulgence and hugely inflated aspirations to happiness while sapping our will to overcome adversity. Past generations had much worse to deal with, but showed stoicism, forbearance and fortitude. Chimney sweeps and match girls had no time to worry about stress; they were too concerned about where their next meal was coming from. While parents once buried their tiny children in droves and suffered pestilence, war and poverty with a cheerful smile, we are running to the therapist's couch over the smallest setback. It can all be boiled down to "Buck up!"* -- as a Life Coach… I do not think so!
Men and women cope with stress in different ways. I offer Life coaching for Women and Life coaching for Men.
It's not that people have gone soft so much as that they are profoundly disorientated by the ceaseless discontinuity of change. Experience becomes utterly random and meaningless. You were doing really well in your job but you still got fired; you thought your relationship was strong but your partner has fallen out of love with you. Appalling images of suffering in the world are interrupted by advertisements for car insurance: barbarism and banality, cheek by jowl. What lies behind the escalating weight of emotional distress is that awful struggle to make meaning, that instinct that our lives should have a narrative and a purpose and should make some sense.
Whereas previous generations had a very strong grasp of the meaning of their lives, whatever the catastrophes which befell them. Meaning inspires resilience: if you have some explanation for what happens, it gives strength. That's what past generations drew comfort from. It is the sheer meaninglessness of the chaotic instability of our experiences, which exposes us to despair. We have no answer to "why me?" We have no account for the suffering that is the inevitable lot of human beings - death, disease, betrayal, frustration - other than to employ desperate strategies to avoid them.
Originally from an article in the Guardian Newspaper
Our modern way of life
Information overwhelm, constant change, unlimited options, great wealth, instant global communication, always-on, profit-centred living is claiming its quarry… Nature always seeks equilibrium – is the awakening of people to the insanity of this reality nature's gentle way of slowly bringing the madness of our culture to a gentle stop? The stress and overwhelm that so many people wallow in on a daily basis is a very modern set of phenomena that urgently requires that the old-fashioned distaste for emotion is abandoned if we are going to grasp the nature of the beast we are dealing with. There's a real danger of an ostrich mentality, insisting to all with depressive tendencies that what they feel is not real, they're just unwitting victims of a gigantic cultural fraud. Rising stress and dissatisfaction seems an inescapable consequence of the kind of rapid, disruptive change driven by market capitalism.
Inevitably, there are many casualties many of whom turn to a life coach to catalyse their awakening. A life coach bestows help, not disbelief. Coaching that can develop an account of our lives which connects with that of others in the wake of declining religious and political narratives.
Coaching can play a crucial role in the lives of many who manage, as Baudelaire put it in 1845, a kind of heroism of everyday life, in which they make themselves at home in the maelstrom of modern life. It's an achievement all the more remarkable for the fact that it can call on few of the markers such as extended family, community and faith upon which previous generations relied so heavily. Perhaps as a coach I can stand-in for some of those missing roles.
I know that in each of you there is just as much endurance, forbearance and cheerful determination as shown by any previous generation. As a life coach I can help you answer all these questions and more! Are You ready to transform how you live your life? Ready to get un-stuck? Remove Problems? Are you committed to being all that you can be? What if you could not fail? or how about learning how Meditation can change your life?
If you are looking to change your life situation, if you describe yourself as lost, stuck or caught in a complexity you may find my Happiness Compass E-Course of great value.
Take up the challenge of confident life purpose discovery. Using a safe and supportive foundation of trust, freedom of expression and commitment, I always work to help you explore your inner being, to de-stress in your personal and working life and to align with your life purpose, true values and fullest potential. Using a stimulating face-to-face, phone support and email program customised to fit your current personal development needs, my coaching focuses on your inner guidance, purpose, skills, beliefs, techniques and processes necessary to assert yourself into a great future.
I partner with intelligent, successful people who want to excel at their passion, gifts and unique talents in a way that brings them success, happiness and balance. Otherwise, do what you always did and you will get what you always got!
