Your Happiness Factor

Before you make a change, you need to truly acknowledge and accept that one is required.   Admitting we need to make a personal change or that we have have a weakness, can be very painful.  It is far more comfortable to blame  others.  It is easier to make excuses and rationalize, rather than admit to things as they really are.   Our sister blog WiseWolf Talking has a new post on personal change.  It is mainly related to careers but the principles apply equally in our lives outside work,  You can find it at this link: Be Successful – Making A Personal Change – Part 1 Admit A Change is Needed | WiseWolf Talking – Leadership, Management, Career and Personal Development : 'via Blog this' Wendy Mason is a Life and Career Coach.  She helps people have the confidence they need to be successful at work and to change career while maintaining a good work/life balance. You can email her at wendymason @wisewolfcoaching.com

Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. Lao Tzu Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary. Margaret Cousins If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily. Gerald Good Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. Buddha Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. Brian Tracy We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. Thornton Wilder Let'

Many people have trouble managing their anger. This post from Mind is for anyone who wants to learn how to deal with it in a constructive and healthy way Anger is a natural response to feeling attacked, injured or violated. It's part of being human; it's energy seeking expression. Our anger can be our friend. It helps us survive, giving us the strength to fight back or run away when attacked or faced with injustice.  In itself, it's neither good nor bad, but it can be frightening. Angry feelings can lead to destructive and violent behaviour, and so we tend to be frightened of anger. The way we are brought up, and our cultural background, will very much influence how we feel about expressing anger. You may have been punished for expressing it when you were small, or you may have witnessed your parents' or other adults' anger when it was out of control, destructive and terrifying. Or you may have been frightened by the strength of your own bad temp

(Photo credit: kalavinka ) Relationships – Who vacuums in your house? Isn’t it odd?  Most studies find, that although the number of working women continue to rise, it is still women who carry out most of the domestic chores. Now vacuuming, more than most other task, seems to cause most heat and not in a particularly nice way. Yes, men do vacuum but they seem to expect women to be grateful that they do! When you think about it, isn’t that a bit strange?  Yes, if both parties go out to work, it is great that they share tasks.  But why should one partner be more grateful than the other? In the kind of coaching I do (cognitive behavioural coaching) we have a concept of distorted thinking.  One of the most common distortions is around a core belief about “ Should, Musts, Have to's and Oughts”. We grow up with beliefs about other people and how they should behave. When they don’t, we get angry – this could be passive- aggressive anger or outright violence. We usually lear

(Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “The aim of good time management is to achieve the lifestyle balance you want,” says Emma Donaldson-Feilder , a chartered occupational psychologist. How do feel about your time and the number of emails you receive? I would be very grateful if you would take part in my poll – you can find it at the top of the column on the right!  (Apologies to Kindle Readers – You will need to follow this link http://www.yourhappinessfactor.net/ ) We can spend up to half our working day going through our email inbox. It can make us feel tired, frustrated and unproductive.  A study has found that one in three office workers suffer from e-mail stress. Apparently o ne in five people say 50 work-related e-mail messages per day is the magic number before  they feel swamped. The effect is even more pronounced for smartphone users -- 37% feel "overwhelmed" by 50 or more work e-mail.   So I’d like to know how the readers of this blog feel.   Mea

Are you stressed-out by your poor work-life balance? Y ou know you have a work-life balance problem when you Don’t have enough time for everything and spend what time you have handling scheduling conflicts, Feel stressed and overwhelmed by trying to balance your different roles. Research for Health Canada indicates four main factors lead to work-life balance problems and stress: Role overload: you don’t have enough time or energy to carry out all the activities required to perform all your roles properly and without discomfort. Work-to-family interference: work demands make it difficult to fulfill family-roles and to provide what family members need from you, for example; Long hours at work prevent you going to the school open-evening   You are so preoccupied with what is happening at work that you can’t enjoy or take part fully in family life, Pressure at work spills over at home and you get into arguments with your partner, your mother or the childr

 (Photo credit: nicole.pierce.photography ) Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.   John Updike You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.   Richard Bach The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.   Eleanor Roosevelt If you ever get a second chance in life for something, you've got to go all the way.   Lance Armstrong May the most you wish for be the least you get.   Irish toast May you get all your wishes but one; So you will always have something to strive for!   Irish toast Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them-a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.   Muhammad Ali Wendy Mason is a Life and Career Coach.  She helps people have the confidence they need to be