Okay so it seems like I start these posts with a joke about how long it has been since I last posted, cringe, it is pretty obvious I have seriously neglected my blog. Time to move onwards and upwards.
This is an update to my last post, I did get ‘Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs’ from the library and read it last fall. I have to say I really liked the compassionate viewpoint the author has regarding addiction, and how he challenges long held beliefs around addiction.
I have now recommended this book to clients in recovery coaching and to coaching clients who may be dealing with a friend or family member that struggles with addiction. It is certainly worth a read. I hope many people do read the book and that it helps bring about a much needed change in perception and treatment of people that struggle with addiction.
y. Grin.
and two because I have been experiencing some lessons around follow-through. These lessons highlighted for me both how important follow-through can be, as well as the difficulties around “follow-through.”
He serves as a mentor and displays many admirable traits, including direct honest communication that is compassionate, and an unwavering belief in people’s abilities. Perhaps what I love most of all is his catch phrase “Make it work,” on the shows the phrase is referring to the outfits the designers are creating. However I started thinking about this lovely phrase and realized it really can pertain to our day to day lives. As a coach I observe that people don’t give themselves the space to “make it work,” they tell themselves things like “make it perfect” or “do it right the first time.” If more often we just encouraged ourselves and others to simply “make it work” no matter what or how that looks, we might be more willing to try things. I think “make it work” is about being okay with the possibility of making a mistake, of creating something not “perfect.” Overall “make it work” is about showing up, being seen and putting oneself out there. It is so simple, compassionate, elegant, and yes hard. 
changes. It is a positive thing to think about turning over a “new leaf” with the New Year and doing something positive for yourself; whether that be ending an old negative habit, incorporating a new positive habit or working towards some larger life goal. The difficult thing about this time of the year is that making changes has been built-up and hyped and maybe we even feel we “should” make changes. As a result we often make resolutions to change a bunch of things and think we have to start them all and make huge progress right away. I recently read an article that summed up this idea, suggesting that if we resolve to eat no cookies for the entire month of January we will be eating a bag of cookies by two pm. Okay that might be an exaggeration however that is often what ends up happening. The things we resolve to do are either so big or so extreme that we set ourselves up for inevitable failure, and we don’t make an allowance for mistakes or set backs in our resolutions. When we hit that inevitable set back or mistake we feel as though we have “failed.” When we feel we have failed we often label our efforts or worse ourselves as “failures” which ends up being self defeating causing us to abandon our goals all together. Well that doesn’t work! 
I encourage you to join me on that path and start a practice of gratitude. Start simply and with small things, it truly all adds up. I am grateful for all of you and wish you the warmest beginning to the Holiday season!