| Achieving Personal Fulfillment Ezine (sm) Progressing Rapidly from Dreams to Action..."(sm) July 2006 |
| Published by Maurine D. Patten, Ed.D., CMC Founder & CEO, Patten Coaching & Consulting www.pattencoaching.com |
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| In This Issue: 1. Preview 2. Do You Have the Right Conditions for a Meaningful Life? 3. Getting into Action 4. Looking Ahead |
| 1. Preview Achieving Personal Fulfillment Ezine explores how to progress reapidly from dreams to action. It is a free monthly email newsletter written by Maurine D. Patten, life/business coach and clinical psychologist. Topics are presented from the perspective of Maurine Patten and are provided to help you get the results you want. It will help you manage change, improve your Emotional Intelligence and make better decisions with less effort. Summer is in full swing. No matter what your age, the longer, warmer days allow you to pursue a variety of outdoor activities. I hope it will give you more time to socialize, be more physically active, and savor the special things that are meaningful to you. This issue focuses on the conditions that are necessary to give meaning "within" life. Back to Index |
| 2. Do You Have the Right Conditions for a Meaningful Life? How would you answer the following two questions?
How you answer the two questions above indicates whether you will live passionately or withdraw from life and its challenges. After much research and study, Jonathan Haidt describes the conditions needed for feelings of fulfillment to exist (The Happiness Hypothesis, 2006). Back to Index |
| 3. Getting into Action Haidt found that one of the most important conditions necessary for you to flourish is love. It begins in the early stages of life in the form of parental love. Love is necessary so that you will form attachments that help you feel secure and brave enough to explore life during childhood and adolescence. As adults, experiencing passionate and compassionate love can lead to "true" love in marriages and relationships. "True" love is defined as mainly compassionate love between two people who are committed to each other with some passion added. Some of the benefits of healthy relationships are a stronger immune system, a speedy recovery after surgery, and a lower risk of depression and anxiety problems. As a single person, compassionate love is shown to others with similar benefits, being healthier and happier. In essence, everyone needs to belong. A sense of belonging is necessary for healthy self-esteem. The second important condition is having and pursuing goals that allow you to use your strengths to create states of flow (Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi) or engagement (Martin Seligman). It is possible to experience flow in your "work" which is defined in a broad sense as how you would answer the question "What do you do?" It might be having a career, volunteering, being a student, or a full-time parent. Whatever you call "work" gives you the opportunity to meet the basic drive of "making things happen" or achieving your goals. This need is often referred to as a need for competence or mastery. It allows you to become competent by interacting with or controlling your environment. It is why you get more pleasure from making progress toward a goal rather than achieving it. The third condition is to know that you are making a contribution to something greater than yourself. How you view your work will determine how fulfilled you feel. If you feel your work is a calling rather than a job or career, you will be more fulfilled. During a coaching session, Erin realized that she could use her strengths of creativity and love of beauty to take flowers from her garden to a shut-in during the summer. Mike was not using his strengths of fairness and leadership. Recently, he joined a committee to create a handbook for new residents at his retirement facility. These choices have helped both of them experience more meaning in their lives because they are engaging their strengths. By establishing the following three conditions, life becomes more meaningful:
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| 4. Looking Ahead Committing to getting the right relationship between yourself and others, yourself and your work or environment, and yourself and something larger than yourself brings a sense of fulfillment and meaning in your life. Happiness will follow. It is a by-product of the choices you are making. What steps will you take now to strengthen your conditions for a meaningful life? Let me help you:
I look forward to hearing from you, mdpcoach@pattencoaching.com Maurine Patten mdpcoach@pattencoaching.com Back to Index |
| Subscription Information: Achieving Personal Fulfillment Ezine is a free publication. If you, or someone you know, wants (to continue) to receive the Journal, click on SUBSCRIBE or go to: http://www.pattencoaching.com and click on Ezine Archives. If you do not want to continue to receive the Journal, click on UNSUBSCRIBE or go to: http://www.pattencoaching.com and click on Ezine Archives. Be assured your name and email address are confidential. We do not sell, rent or share our mailing list with anyone. |
| Contact Information Patten Coaching & Consulting Voice: 630-584-8936 Fax: 630-584-8868 Web: http://www.pattencoaching.com E-Mail: mdpcoach@pattencoaching.com (c) Copyright 2002 Patten Coaching & Consulting All rights reserved. |
| Distribution Rights Achieving Personal Fulfillment Ezine (sm) is copyrighted, but you may retransmit or distribute it to whomever you wish as long as not a single word is changed, added, or deleted, including the contact information. However, you may not copy it to a web site. Republication of Achieving Personal Fulfillment Ezine (sm) in paper media is encouraged and permitted by individuals, organizations and associations, as long as the issue is reprinted in its entirety, without change, and includes the contact information. With advance permission, we are happy to edit an issue to fit your space requirements. Republication also is encouraged under other circumstances. However, the advance permission of Patten Coaching and Consulting must be obtained in the event that changes in the text are desired. |
| Mission Achieving Personal Fulfillment Ezine is dedicated to inspiring and expanding your perspective in order for you to move forward in your personal and professional life. Achieving Personal Fulfillment Ezine is a publication of Patten Coaching & Consulting; CEO, Maurine D. Patten, Ed.D., CMC, mdpcoach@pattencoaching.com We would like Achieving Personal Fulfillment Ezine to be as interactive as possible. If you have feedback, comments, topics you would like addressed, or can suggest additional resources to benefit us all, please email us at any time. Send your e-mail to ezinefeedback@pattencoaching.com. Please forward this issue to anyone you think would find Achieving Personal Fulfillment Ezine interesting and beneficial. Your recommendations help us keep growing, and ensure an excellent exchange of information and techniques. Archives You can read previous issues of Achieving Personal Fulfillment Ezine in our archives on our archives page. |
| About Maurine D. Patten, Ed.D., CMC Maurine Patten is a clinical psychologist and certified life/business coach. Her professional career includes: independent business owner (25 years), Assistant Professor at Chicago State University, and consultant for education and business. She is a graduate of the MentorCoach program and a member of the International Coach Federation. She is experienced in training and management development for large national and international firms. She has a strong background in working with individuals and couples on clarifying and achieving goals. Dr. Patten has training in coaching, Emotional Intelligence, retirement assessment and planning, cognitive therapy and health psychology. She has published articles, made presentations, and conducted workshops about:
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