by Holly Boxenhorn | Aug 1, 2020 | Blog
Discover The Four Pillars To Wellbeing
Plan and simple, happiness is not a goal to be achieved rather it comes as a result of engaging in multiple, varied things that are meaningful and bring pleasure as a side-effect. Yet many of us tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of our lives and buy into the belief that if we can just find that perfect job, relationship, diet/fitness routine, this thing we call life will be a cinch to live. However, study after studies show that despite people initially experiencing a spike in their levels of wellness after obtaining things like financial prosperity, professional /educational achievements, loving relationships, or improved health-with time inevitably fall back to their original happiness baselines. And in some cases, people can even fall below their baselines feeling more defeated. Understandably, it can be disheartening to discover after working really hard and checking all the boxes to attain all those things believed would guarantee happiness is only fleeting.
Truth is, safe guarding our level of fulfillment in one aspect of our lives will not secure our happiness nor prevent us from experiencing human highs and lows. To bring about sustainable wellbeing we need to build our overall resilience by attending to our whole self; body, mind, heart, and spirit. Sure, focusing on any one of these variables can make a difference but by attending to all four we will thrive. Moreover, when life throws us a curve ball-which inevitably it will because no one is excuse from life’s trial and tribulations-you will have an abundance of resources to tap into, enabling you to bounce back with greater ease.
Below you’ll find a brief outline on each of the four pillars to wellbeing, coming this fall I’ll be doing a deeper dive for those interested in learning more about how to thrive rather then just get by. The program is called, Live To Thrive…The Science of Happiness Simplified, it will be a 9 week online, live, interactive course (calls will be recorded, should you be unable to attend) where participants will receive a ton of research based knowledge, tools, and strategies along with personal support to guide them in accessing not only experiencing higher levels of happiness but sustaining it for the long run.
The 4 Pillars To Wellbeing
- BODY- Let’s face it, when we are feeling physically strong, we have the best chance of experiencing the energy we need to complete the tasks and goals that are important to us. I start with attending to our body first because typically it is more easily assessed. We can see and feel how vibrant or drained someone is. We can hear it in people’s voices, postures, and faces. We can even measure it with medical devices. But remember we are all built differently, so there isn’t a single formula that works for everyone. What foods are most nourishing for you? What kind of movement works best for your body? How much sleep is optimal for your performance? Are you staying hydrated? Would your body benefit from supplements or vitamins? What, if any chronic or temporary illnesses/injuries do you need to consider in order to best support yourself.
- MIND- This includes not only expanding our intellect but also training our thoughts to work for us. Attending to our mind is twofold, engaging in learning that is stimulating yet not daunting, enabling a cycle of constant growth. While keeping in mind (no pun intended) that our thoughts will have a way of getting the best of us, interfering with our ability to be present in the moment, wreaking havoc on our confidence, clarity, attention, and focus. Creating daily habits to expand this awareness (i.e quality learning, meditation, journaling, single-tasking, self-introspection, etc) will clear the way for our minds to function optimally.
- SPIRIT- “He who has a why in life can bare almost any how”- Friedrich Nietzsche.Our spirit is what guides us to become fully ourselves and to live a meaningful life. In other words, it’s about connecting what we do and how we do it with who we truly are. What would you like to be remembered for? What drives you? What lights you up? What makes you unique? What things do you most want out of life? How can you share your strengths with the world? We must first accept that we all have this deeper inner side of ourselves and then find time to listen to it. Moreover, honor and then align in accordance with these inner urgings.
- Heart- Cultivate an open heart by practicing gratitude for the good things in your life, love and compassion for yourself, connection and kindness toward others. Remembering all feelings are legitimate and finely tuning in and accepting our full range of emotions can be used as tools to help us understand what’s going on for us in any given moment, enabling us to create greater wellbeing.
Bottomline, we will have a much greater capacity to flourish and grow, to endure life’s challenges and stressors when we attend to our whole selves…Body, Mind, Heart, and Spirit.
Wishing You Always The Best Of Success
-Holly-
by Holly Boxenhorn | Jul 2, 2018 | Blog
CORE Energy…how to create an empowered energetic state.
We often hear references to the importance of building our core strength, but those references usually speak to the physical core. The importance of core energy*, the energy that is at the core of our thoughts, emotions, and actions is what we will be examining more closely this summer. This relates more to how people see themselves, those around them, and the world itself. A person’s core energy is where his or her energy is focused at any given time. A person’s core energy has a tremendous influence on their “performance” in all aspects of their life.
When one feels stress (tension/anxiety) and/or when you feel a lack of engagement (when you’re not choosing to do something or not motivated by it), your energy is drained and your potential for creating optimal outcomes/experiences is decreased. The way you respond to anything you’re about to do or the way you approach a situation or set of circumstances, is unique to you. But overall, an individual’s energetic state is effected and resulted by six key influencers: spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, social, and environmental. What doesn’t affect your energy in one situation may detract from it in another. Anytime you are not “performing” to the best of your ability, something is then blocking your energy and it is likely a result of one or a combination of these six key influencers.
When all of these six key influencers are ideal for you, you have your best chance for peak performance. You see having potential and fully using your potential are two entirely different things. Let’s use the example of gas in a gas tank. Think of your potential in terms of being like a gas tank and how much gas you put in that gas tank is where the six key influencers come into play. If you have all six key factors working at their utmost then your gas tank is full, therefore, you are able to access your full energy and create optimal outcomes and experiences because you now have a full tank of gas behind your potential (capabilities/talent). But what if suddenly one or two of these influencers are compromised in some way (which we will get into next newsletter), your gas tank will now only have half the amount of gas it requires to work at it’s full capacity. So without a full tank of gas (aka maximizing these 6 key influencers) it makes it more challenging to access your full potential because you don’t have a full tank of gas supporting it.
Bottomline, these six key influencers affect how you show up. By learning how these six key influencers are either detracting or supporting your ability to perform, you can create action plans and strategies to get you more ideal outcomes. Ultimately with time, as you learn more about how these six influencers effect you, personal patterns and trends are revealed that help you build a formula for greater success. Providing a performance checklist of sorts to ensure alignment with the best version of yourself as possible even when circumstances are less than ideal or maximize upon them when they are all on point.
Keep your eyes open for next month’s newsletter and learn more about how these six key influencers are relevant to your greater success and happiness!
Wishing You Always The Best Of Success
-Holly-
*Read Part I – “Creating Optimal Outcomes”
This newsletter contains my interpretation of the copyrighted work of Bruce D. Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching.
by Holly Boxenhorn | Jun 6, 2016 | Blog
The Power Of Our Surroundings
June 2016 Insights
Now with the feel of the summer months upon us…everything in bloom, lawns and trees becoming a deep shade of green, temperatures getting warmer, and daylight hours getting longer, I thought this be a great time to take my monthly newsletter to highlight the significance our environment has upon our energy levels. I think like our health this is one major variable that we women tend to back burner and underestimate the impact it has on our levels of stress, as well as how willing and enthusiastic we are to bust some moves to motivate and get going on what we want in and for our lives. Though environmental factors aren’t always under our control you’d be surprised to learn how we can manage them more effectively so we can enhance our performance and inevitably our wellbeing.
Personally environmental variables plays a huge influence on my levels of productivity. I’m heavily affected by the weather, conditions of my working, living, and playing surroundings, time of day, as well as the resources I have available to me (e.g. technology, access to food and drink, comfort of clothing), all playing a key role in creating the most optimal environment for me to be most successful. The funny thing is I don’t even think many us of realize how much we tolerate a less than desirable environment for ourselves. And though yes many environmental factors aren’t always under our control (you can’t stop the rain from falling or how bad the allergy season will be) we can learn to manage them more effectively so they don’t entirely zap our levels of motivation as well as identify how we can possibly better assist ourselves to change our “attitude” around those things we have limited ability to control.
Since we all respond so differently to environmental influences the first thing to determine is your own self awareness around what factors in your environment influence you in a positive or negative way. Below you’ll find a list of conditions and settings to consider…
- Climate/weather
- Time of day
- Adequacy of lighting
- Presence of distracting noise
- Conditions you are working, living, playing within, the space-general upkeep
- Availability of food and drink
- Convenience of where you are at (i.e transportation to and from, rest room facilities, other amenities).
- Equipment available to you (i.e.state of the art technology, phones, comfort of working or resting chairs, desk, tables)
- Proper and comfortable clothing/gear regarding intentions for performance
Now consider what is your ideal environmental setting to best thrive in? And is your current environment working for you or against you…whether it be while you are working, living, or playing. More importantly what can you do to enhance your environment and what choices can you make to foster the most optimal experiences?
Remember it’s all about creating an environment that works for you, supports and lifts you up, not detracts from your performance. Of course, environmental influencers can unexpectedly change on us so with that understanding it is equally important to learn how to not only adapt to changing environments but anticipate what kind of adverse conditions could occur so you can best prepare to adjust accordingly. For example, having printouts of a presentation should a tech problem arise, bringing an umbrella or wearing a raincoat/gear should the weather be questionable, or simply making sure to bring water or a snack knowing this may be not be accessible.
Lastly and most importantly for those environmental conditions we cannot control or have limited ability to manage, we can learn how to foster a better “attitude” regarding them. This is going to be an integral component to assisting ourselves to our greatest levels of success…instead of letting conditions affect our energy, we can change our perspective about them. Yes, of course we may prefer a different environment to access our highest potentials, however, we can choose to have great energy even in less than optimal surroundings and chose to see the glass as half full and not empty. This is where the tool of reframing will lend a big hand. Please go to the “How It Works” link on my website and click on “Valuable Downloads” to learn more about this great coaching tool or better yet reach out and contact me to set up a complimentary session. I’d love to have an opportunity to support and explore enhancing not only your most ideal environmental surroundings to thrive in but assist in any and all aspects of your life that can create the most optimal experiences for yourself overall!
Wishing You Always
The Best Of Success
-Holly-