Spice Up Your Life!

Presenting another guest article, this time by Mill Valley life coach and mom Johanna Beyer.

Last night I watched Kung Fu Panda with my 4-year-old son. I was thinking that it was going to be another silly kid’s movie, but I was pleasantly surprised by its spiritual message. In the movie Po, a big, clumsy panda, is constantly told by his father about the family’s secret noodle ingredient. When Po is finally able to learn about the secret ingredient, he is told by his father that there really is no magical ingredient. His noodles taste so good because of his hard work and dedication to the art of making good soup everyday. Now that is DEEP!

I began to think about my own life and what my special recipe is for happiness, fulfillment and overall well being. As a life coach I spend many hours each week helping people to create their own special recipes and while I am not the master chef, I have discovered along the way that there may be some KEY ingredients that will take your life from bland to ultra-delicious!

Key Ingredients:

Sprinkle a little bit of what you love to do into each day: I don’t know about you, but as a mom I am practical from the second the sun comes up until I collapse into the sofa at night with my glass of wine. You may think that there is NO space in each day to do the things you personally love, but it is SO important in keeping you energetic, creative and emotionally alive. The first step is to indentify the simple things that you would spring out of bed each day to do. Then make it happen at least 2-3 times a week. It may take some readjusting in the schedule, but it will connect you to interesting people, keep your emotional tank on full and might just lead to the next purposeful step in your life.

Stir in some positive stories: Does your brain love to think about all the reasons why you cannot do something you want to do? Often times, my brain does. Take the ingredient I just described, “Sprinkle a little bit of what you love to do into each day.” Now I am sure that you have some stories about why you cannot possibly fit those things into your day. Great… write them all down. Now on the other side of the paper you need to write down all the reasons why you CAN do these things you love. To make it even more fun, I ask that you double the amount of positive stories to make your “can’t” list look small. Change your stories and you will spice up your life like nobody’s business.

Add a big dollop of dreaming big: Have you ever been daydreaming and feeling so great in your body and then the big voice comes in that asks, “How the heck are you going to make that happen?” While I am all about being practical, it is ESSENTIAL that you let yourself daydream because there are nuggets of truth in all your dreams. The trick is to not let yourself immediately edit. Rather, grab a piece of paper and write down the dream and the qualities associated with the dream. The qualities of the dream are what is important to recognize and from there you can build them into your life.

Add 2 cups of people who inspire you: The best thing to do for your special recipe is to find other chefs who believe in creating an ultra-delicious life too. Find the people who are positive, have successfully overcome challenges and thrive in their work. Not everyone will possess these qualities at one time, but they stretch themselves to live their best lives. They will boost your spirits and inspire you to reach for your dreams.

While these may be some of the key ingredients for a yummy recipe, it is ultimately up to you to play around in the kitchen of your own life to mix, match and even spice these recommendations up to make your very own special recipe… bon appetit!