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.

Embracing Creativity: Stress-Buster Extraordinaire

Jessica is a high school English teacher.  Her job entails stressful interactions with administration and students in addition to the pressures of lesson planning and grading. On days off, she prioritizes creative pursuits.  She makes collages out of artifacts from … Continue reading

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

10 Common Sources of Stress

Ask people why they’re stressed and they’re likely to say that it’s these infernal deadlines or too much work and too little staff, or perhaps the family’s overpacked schedules.  And while these can certainly add to a pressure-cooker atmosphere, they’re … Continue reading

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High Hopes

No matter your situation, what is the one thing you can always control?  Your attitude.  Your mindset.  Your beliefs.  Here are some possibilities to get your optimistic juices flowing. “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being … Continue reading

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How Good is Your Balance?

If trying to maintain balance in your life leaves you feeling like a tightrope walker, you’re not alone.  Most of us have so many demands on our time and energy, life can feel like a three-ring circus.  Take this quiz to … Continue reading

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Stress: Name It and Tame It

Would you be surprised to learn that stress has been named as an underlying factor in up to 90% of illnesses?  One of the best ways to manage stress in your life is to first become aware of exactly what … Continue reading

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Recognizing and Avoiding Burnout

“My candle burns at both ends/it will not last the night.”  Edna St. Vincent Millay Burnout resists simple definition because it affects so many aspects of life. In their book, Beyond Burnout, authors David Welch, Donald Medeiros and George Tate, describe … Continue reading

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To Do or Ta Dah, That is the Question

Not feeling appreciated by others for all we do can be a big source of stress. While we can’t change others into the appreciative, encouraging people we’d like them to be, a natural extension of our personal gratitude practice is appreciating … Continue reading

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An Attitude of Gratitude

The practice of gratitude as a tool for happiness has been in the mainstream for years. Long-term studies support gratitude’s effectiveness, suggesting that a positive, appreciative attitude contributes to greater success in work, greater health, peak performance in sports and … Continue reading

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Fostering Flow: Part 3 of 3

Here’s the final installment (for now) in the Tools for Fostering Flow.  Getting the hang of the Flow thing yet?  Relishing the sheer delight of an effort-less, stress-less, joy-filled existence based in Who you are Being NOT What you are Doing? … Continue reading

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Fostering Flow: Part 2 of 3

We pick up where we left off in the previous blog post.  How have you been doing in your quest for Flow — that effort-less, stress-less, joy-filled existence based in Who you are Being NOT What you are Doing? Here are four … Continue reading

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