Ask Ms. Mindfulness

Want A Free Consultation? Shelley Pernot is a Life Coach in Austin, Texas, who has a wealth of experience in helping her clients tackle the issues in their lives head on and create the lives and careers they long for. She is currently offering a free thirty-minute initial consultation to those in need of either a career coach or life coach in Austin, Texas. What’s the Catch? There’s no catch. It’s understandable you may expect one, but Shelley Pernot is offering this free initial consultation because she knows the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. When we say it’s a free consultation, we really mean it.  Talking with a Life Coach in Austin A local life coach in Austin, TX will be able to understand the unique pressures and stresses that you are facing in your everyday life. Shelley Pernot is a small-town girl from East Texas but has also worked her way up the corporate ladder at a number of fortune 100 firms and graduated from a top European MBA program — so she understands the pressures her clients face. More importantly, she knows how to help you to reach your full potential and specializes in helping her clients “get unstuck.” Shelley Pernot has specialized in public speaking, leadership development, career coaching, and life coaching in Austin, Texas, because she truly believes in their effectiveness.  Contact Shelley Pernot for a Free Life Coaching Consultation! If you need to speak to someone, Shelley Pernot is happy to listen. For a free 30-minute consultation, simply fill out this form or call (512) 200-4269. If you’d like to get a sense of Shelley’s style and how she approaches the life and career coaching process, download chapter two of her new book Running On Empty:  The Irreverent Guru’s Guide to Filling up with Mindfulness here.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you wished “If only I just hadn’t pushed that button?” It all started out innocently enough.  A colleague sent me an email to register for a new free referral database so we could trade referrals.  Good idea I thought, and clicked on the link.  I filled in my info and set up an account.  Easy peasy.  Then I saw a notice for a way to easily add contacts to the referral system through uploading a linkedin file.  It looked simple enough. It was right before lunch and I had an appointment to get to and time was running short.  My thoughts were occupied with the lunch meeting, what I was going to say to my potential client, which route I would take to get to the restaurant, what I would order when I got there.  I also had a number of things open on my desktop, emails that needed sending, tasks that still needed to be completed… Before I even realized what I had done, I saw a screen pop up that said “Invitation sent to 756 contacts.” Ummm, say what???  And then the realization:  I inadvertently emailed my entire linkedin contact list.  Every single person that I’m connected to.  EVERY single one.  (sorry if you’re one of my contacts who happens to be reading this…) What happened next was that horrible sinking feeling, you know, the one you get when you start to panic?  The one that’s normally accompanied by thoughts of “My god, I really am the biggest doofus ever!” or “What are people going to think of me???” It was these thoughts that occupied me as I ran down my stairs in a haze, late for my lunch meeting now.  I heard a very loud yelp as hit the bottom of the staircase.  In my haze I had failed to notice my cat Bijoux lying on the stairs and had inadvertently stepped on her paw.   After one emergency trip to the vet and $150 later Bijoux is now fine I’m glad to report. So what is the moral of this fun-filled story?  FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME.  I know this.  I preach this as a Mindfulness trainer by the way.  I go to great lengths to aid my focus by turning off email notifications, closing outlook during meetings so I won’t look at emails or get distracted, I even recently took facebook off my phone.  But then again we all have moments where we don’t always practice what we preach.  These days with technology being as quick as it is, a lack of focus can have a very big impact with just one push of a button. When has a small lack of focus caused a big impact for you?  And what did you learn from the experience?

If you’re like millions of folks across the globe, chances are you set a New Year’s resolution.  And if you’re like most folks, you probably won’t keep it either.  Some statistics say your chances are about 8%, which is not super inspiring.  And most folks will say it’s because they’re lacking in willpower. As a coach I see this quite a bit.  A client will set themselves a task for homework and when the next session comes, they just haven’t found the time to do it.  When the question why is asked, it’s not uncommon to hear things like “I know I should be doing it, but time just got away from me.” The real reason you won’t keep your New Year’s resolution is that you’re lying to yourself (although you probably don’t even realize it).  The word should is a dead giveaway.  I should cut down on drinking, I should quit smoking, I should save more money, I should be nicer to my kids, I should be more organized. We should all over ourselves all the time. The bottom line is that we make time for the things that are really important.  We don’t however make time for the shoulds.  That’s why they are shoulds.  They are often the things we THINK we need to do because maybe some important person said it was a good idea, or your mom said to do it when you were a kid or you heard about it on TV and thought it would be a good idea. When I hear a lot of shoulds from a client I start asking questions about what’s really important.  If you can connect a should to something that’s really important to you, you have a much better chance of actually doing it.  Let me give you an example: For a long time I thought I should go to boot camp in the morning.  Despite buying the fancy shoes and designer work out top I never went however, even though I kept telling myself that it would be good for my health.  Now I think about it differently.  One of my most important goals is to be the best coach I can be for my clients.  Boot camp is incredibly energizing and when I go I feel so much better the rest of the day.  I’m more focused, have more energy for my clients and show up in the way I want to be seen by others.  So yes boot camp is good for my health, but I really go because it makes me a better coach.  See the difference?  Once I made that connection I started going, and I haven’t stopped, despite the fact it’s been really cold lately in the mornings and I HATE the cold… How’s it going with your resolution?  If the answer is not very well, how could you reframe it to increase your commitment?