Author Archives: djwlifecoach

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About djwlifecoach

I am retired from 40+ years of helping individuals and teams build lives and organizations they love. One of the great joys of my retirement from professional practice is having greater bandwidth to donate my professional and creative talents to support and promote animal and social welfare charities. During my 30 years as an organization transformation consultant, I served as a senior partner in four of the world’s largest, most prestigious global professional services firms. In 2005, I took a five-year sabbatical to find healing and peace because non-stop work had taken its toll. My recovery from burnout led to finding my purpose guiding others on their journeys. As a board-certified coach, author, consultant, radio host, Reiki Master and EFT/tapping practitioner, I share hope, possibilities and empowerment with the world. 111419 DJW Sid CH Pet Corner Photo ShootI help clients achieve rapid, extraordinary, sustainable results by connecting who they are with what they do, a connection often lost through stress and the sheer busy-ness of daily life. Courageous self-awareness and unconditional self-love lead to honest choices based on priorities that nurture you and those around you on a journey to wholeness. Decades in coaching, consulting, change management, organization development, human resources and mixed media artistic expression honed my business sense, professionalism, creativity, intuition, leadership and communication skills. The result? Practical tools that help you become more insightful, creative, committed, productive and fulfilled. Even the most dedicated and hard-working individuals can shift from frustration to a sense of futility when their values, passion, work, and lives become disconnected. One of the problems with not taking care of our health is that the effects of ignoring it are often slow to show up. We continue to juggle family responsibilities, work and finances until we lose ourselves, waking up one day 50 pounds heavier in body and soul—no good to ourselves or anyone else. I love working with people who are ready to take life-changing action to make their dreams a reality. At each moment, you have inside you all the wisdom you seek to choose your life and your way of showing up. Limiting thoughts, beliefs and feelings can block you from moving forward. An absence of love and concern for yourself can result in negative head talk that holds you back with discouraging messages about who you are and what you can do. By listening and caring deeply, I guide you in connecting with your own inner wisdom. We identify the way you’d like to live. We determine what’s blocking you and release you from the hold those blocks have over you—unleashing the positive energy that will fuel you forward. Together we develop a plan to move you closer to your heart’s desire. My books, blog, radio show and signature coaching programs help individuals and organizations harness the transformative energy of love to turn unexplored possibilities into fulfilling realities and step into their greatness. What’s love got to do with it? Everything! My book, Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life! (Hay House/ Balboa Press 2013) shares my story and the stories of 10 of my clients along with my signature Discovery Framework. For fun, I love reading, sewing, knitting, yin yoga, afternoon tea, opera and movies. I live in Williamsburg, Virginia with my spouse, Wilson Abney, and the cat who runs our life, Maisy Jane.

The Power of Play

If it feels like you have less leisure time and fewer unstructured “play” hours in your life, you’re not alone. Consider these statistics:  The average married couple works 26 percent longer each year than similar working couples did thirty years … Continue reading

Posted in All My Blog Posts, Creativity & Self-Expression, Joy & Vitality, Mindfulness, Meditation & Peace, Stress, Perfectionism & Burnout | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Say Goodbye to Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “If only I could have done that differently?” This second guessing is a form of self-imposed stress.  It happens when our self talk is full of should, could or would. “If I were good sister, I would have … Continue reading

Posted in All My Blog Posts, Curiosity, Respect & Compassion, Intuition & Intention, Stress, Perfectionism & Burnout | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lead by Example

Good leaders lead by example. By aligning their actions with what they say, they become a person others want to follow. When leaders say one thing but do another, they create confusion and stress.  More important, they erode trust, a critical element of … Continue reading

Posted in All My Blog Posts, Authenticity & Purpose, Curiosity, Respect & Compassion, Relationships, Boundaries & Belonging | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Relationship Stress From Unclear Expectations

One common cause of relationship stress is unclear expectations.  The best solution for this dilemma is clear communication.  So how do you have a productive conversation about expectations with your partner, friend, boss or  colleague? Begin with a conversation opener such as:  … Continue reading

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Authenticity: Limiting the Impact of Stress on Your Relationships

Have you ever been guilty of taking your stress out on a friend or co-worker?  Has a loved one been able to sense your stress at the end of the day before you even get through the door? It’s quite common … Continue reading

Posted in All My Blog Posts, Authenticity & Purpose, Curiosity, Respect & Compassion, Relationships, Boundaries & Belonging, Stress, Perfectionism & Burnout | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Being Assertive Without Damaging Your Relationships

Asking for what you want—and setting boundaries around what you don’t want—is a key life skill.  But sometimes in our enthusiasm to practice this skill, we over-do our own assertiveness and end up with a partner who shuts down, gets … Continue reading

Posted in All My Blog Posts, Authenticity & Purpose, Curiosity, Respect & Compassion, Relationships, Boundaries & Belonging, Stress, Perfectionism & Burnout | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

10 Practices for Reducing Stress

From the regular, ongoing stress that comes from living in a complex, high-impact culture to specific life events that knock us for a loop, when the negative effects of non-stop stress accumulate, they damage our health physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  Paying attention … Continue reading

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How Well Do You Manage Your Energy?

When relentless demands of a busy life take their toll on performance, we tend to think that managing our time better will improve the situation. If we can just work faster, multitask more efficiently, things will be better, we think, as we buy the … Continue reading

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Proactive and Reactive Responses to Stress

What’s more useful in responding to stress—a proactive or a reactive response?  Actually, it’s both!  What’s important is to find healthy proactive and reactive responses. First, the proactive approach. Proactive approaches involve modifying your behavior or mindset before the stressful situation has … Continue reading

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Eliminate Procrastination—NOW!

The truth is, most of us procrastinate about things we dislike or find difficult.  When you procrastinate on projects or chores that you dread, how do you feel when the deadline is approaching?  Even more paralyzed?  So your procrastination has taken … Continue reading

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