Last week I asked you to revisit the values activity. That was a precursor to our work this week on building your Life View. Knowing what you value in life will help guide you in making setting goals and making choices that are aligned with those values. According to Burnett and Evans in Designing Your Life,  your Life View is your ideas about the world and how it works. What is your place in the world and how do you want to contribute? What makes life worthwhile?

This month we are essentially doing another book study, loosely based on a book by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans called Designing Your Life . I have based a lot of my coaching strategies on this book, and have read it a few times. The authors are professors of engineering at Stanford, who teach students how to design their lives using engineering principals — curiosity, problem-solving, prototyping (trying stuff).

In our habit forming sequence of

The next step in the four-step process of habit formation is Craving. James Clear in Atomic Habits continues by saying that habits are fed by a dopamine-driven feedback loop. Highly addictive behaviors, like drugs, social media, smoking, junk food, etc. are associated with high levels of dopamine. Oddly enough, researchers have shown that you not only get a dopamine hit when you experience pleasure, but also when you anticipate (crave) it. This anticipation, or craving, of pl

As we progress through our work this month on creating habits, systems and routines, make sure you have done the vision work (if you need to do this, visit resources and choose Wish List Vision Exercise ). You want to make sure that the habits you are creating for yourself align with WHO you want to become. Remember when I talked last week about the 3 layers of habits - outcomes, processes, and identity? Well, that wish list vision exercise is the start to figuring it all out

I love discussing behavior change and habits, and James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits  gives us the best framework I’ve found to discuss it in an easily digestible way. I want to start with discussing his overarching idea that there are 3 layers of habits (with the last one being at the center; at the core - so picture it like peeling back and onion):

Optimism. What comes to mind for you when I say that word? Is it picturing someone who is always happy, always cheerful, ready to shower you with their constant positivity? No one can really, truly feel that way all the time, right? It doesn’t seem real. My plan for this month is to shatter that image and teach you about true optimism. And maybe even challenge you to think more optimistically yourself.

The ABC Method (created by Martin Seligman) will help you take a look at the thought patterns that may be causing you to think more pessimistically. These steps will help you to frame your thoughts to promote a more optimistic outlook. Just a reminder – I’m not promoting a head-in-the-sand approach to life where you pretend that everything is fine when it’s not. I advocate both/and thinking. Thinking that allows you to feel the “bad stuff” that we often can’t avoid, while at

I’m not a proponent of New Year’s Resolutions. You know the ones where you set a random self-improvement goal and completely forget about it three weeks into the new year.

I’m excited to share this journaling strategy. I came across this technique in a business retreat with my coach, and the simplicity resonated with me. Here’s how it works, I have provided you with a large list of values  here and in the RESOURCES area to give you a start (and honestly, I can’t imagine that you won’t find dozens and dozens that inspire you).

It’s journaling month!

As we conclude our month of Growth vs. Fixed Mindset, I wanted to return to the idea of self talk. I hope that the journaling prompts over the last couple weeks have helped you to identify that inner voice and assess whether it is a voice encouraging growth or fixed mindset. I conclude our month with an overview of ways to shift your thinking to have more of a growth mindset. Use your journal to explore and practice the methods below. The following are some guidelines to self

Have you started journaling? If you already have a journal habit started, did you implement any of the prompts from last week? I would love to hear from you about how it’s going. Your next e-coaching day is October 27. Let’s plan to talk through email that day at candice@candicesuarez.com .

If you currently do not have a journal practice, I highly recommend that you begin one. Even if it’s just once per week on a Sunday evening. It will get you started. Putting your voice and your inner dialogue out into the world in writing (or voice memo, or in your computer or tablet or phone notes, etc) helps you to begin to identify your self-talk. It will help you to notice your patterns of speaking to yourself. Start a conversation with yourself!