Joy. Growth. Impact.

If you had to describe living as your best self in three words, what would they be for you? Would you be proud of your family and friends telling others you were these three words? 

I hope these words are personal, inspirational, and motivational for you, whatever they are. 

If you've been following me for any amount of time, you've probably heard me talk about living with more joy, growth, and impact. To me, these three words embody the three overall goals I hope my clients and students find. Why? Because I believe these are three points to living a good life. Here's why:

Joy. In personal development, Dale Carnegie once stated we 'can't control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to what happens to us.' The choice to find the funny in things, to find wonder and awe in the world, makes life so much easier.

For example, when I was about five years old, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I remember how scared she looked when she told my younger brother and me she was sick and didn't know what would happen. 

Throughout her treatment, she would crack jokes when she could and would often say, "someday in the future, we will all look back at this time and laugh!" She survived, and she was right. We did look back on some of the silliness of her treatment, even though it was serious and scary. But it made the experience bearable, and taught me we can find joy in tough and dark times. It's actually super important we do because it sometimes is the only thing that keeps us going.

Growth. In my life, and with my coaching clients, people seem the most alive when they are making progress and learning new things. Some people call it "flow" or "presence," and whatever you call it, I'm sure if you think about the best times of your life, they are the times you were growing. It's why high school and college usually are considered as happy-times.

Part of growth and flow states is making mistakes. One of the best points of advice I ever received was from my first engineering manager Max. Early in my career, he pulled me aside and said,

"Making mistakes is a good thing - it means you are trying, innovating, and pushing yourself. Mistakes are problems only when you keep making the same ones over and over."  

I often think of his advice. It reminds me that setbacks are part of the growth process and to not beat myself up too much when learning something new. It also showed me that if I keep making the same mistake, it's time to ask for help because I've exhausted all my ideas on how to proceed. 

Impact. When we work on important things to us, our families, organizations, and communities, we feel enthusiastic for each day. We live our most authentic lives and feel more confident, joyful, and connected when we have all these areas aligned! Ultimately, we all want to leave a legacy, make things better than how we found them, and mean something to other people.

The times I've been working on designing my life and working towards them are the times I've felt most connected to something greater than myself. It's passion, drive, exhilaration, and excitement all in one! 

The times when I didn't think my work mattered, that others didn't listen or care about my thoughts and actions, are the times when it was easy to say, "why bother?" So I always measure things by the amount of meaning and impact something has for me, my family, and my community.

How does coaching help create these three outcomes?

For joy, certified high performance coaching helps you align all the areas of your life (personal, professional, health, and well-being) so you feel the joy and confidence of your authentic self. It helps you create the energy you need to crush it every day. Finally, it helps you take bold action towards your desired impact on your journey of growth. 

For growth, it keeps you honest on your blindspots, holds you accountable for taking action towards your goals, helps you analyze when things don't go the way you want, and cheers you on past mistakes and setbacks. It's helping you discover how and why you do something, so you are a better partner, leader, team-mate, friend, and overall human.

For impact, it's helping you engage with more presence with people and projects. It enables you to figure out what's important, what you find meaningful, and adjust your life towards your purpose. Finally, it's creating the motivation to get up every day and running towards the good work and people you have in your life.

Anyone can feel more joy, growth, and impact in their lives. All it takes is intention, a great process, and the right support!  

Want to experience the transformation of high performance coaching?  Sign up for a free 1-hour strategy session with Shawn by first filling out the high performance questionnaire!

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