Skip to main content

Maria Connolly, LPC Facebook Facebook Facebook

Category: Self-Leadership Skills

Experiencing Emotions Fully & Safely Through Journaling – Find the Style that Works for You

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Emotional Intelligence, Self-Leadership Skills.

Have you tried journaling? Perhaps you’ve started, then been distracted, so you feel as if you failed since you don’t have an entry for every page. Your journal is a tool for experiencing emotions whenever you NEED it.“I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” ~ Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Emotions – we love them when they make us feel good. But when we’re experiencing emotions that make us feel uncomfortable we want to control our emotions, turn our emotions off, hide our emotions, manage our emotions, or numb our emotions. We can even hate ourselves for the way we feel.

It’s easy to label emotions as good or bad, but your feelings are simply messages from your body and mind informing you that you have a situation needing your attention; and you’re going to learn something from it!

Continue reading

Stop Beating Yourself Up! 5 Powerful Self-Compassion Truths Revealed

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Self-Leadership Skills, Transform Your Life.

Empower yourself and stop beating yourself up by reaffirming it’s necessary to care for yourself kindly, otherwise you have nothing to give to others.Most of us would never tell our best friend, “Oh, you’re so stupid”, yet we may beat ourselves up with demeaning self-talk. The sad reality is that most people have never learned to treat themselves with the kindness and patience they have learned to bring to others. 

We all need to hear that we have permission to be good to ourselves. Giving yourself and your clients the key to self-compassion is empowering, because it clears away hidden misconceptions that you may not even know are lurking in your subconscious.

Continue reading

Use The Power Of Community To Help You Create Your Own Path

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Self-Leadership Skills.

When you create your own path in life it’s vital to base your goals on who you really are, instead of who you wish you were or on what other people say.Can you imagine what life would be like if someone else made all of your decisions and told you what to do every moment of every day? To be forced to do things you hate…to be kept from expressing any of your personal likes and dislikes. Being deprived of your self-determination is a horrible injustice. Yet sometimes, you may take for granted or misuse the right to create your own path in life.

Of course, we’ll run into bumps and seemingly insurmountable obstacles on our chosen path. Sometimes it may become so difficult you may want to give up. Please, don’t, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you’ll get past that roadblock. After all, if were easy, you wouldn’t be growing, testing the waters outside your comfort zone, and extending yourself fully.

Continue reading

Keep Your Commitments to Yourself. It’s The Way to Feel Fully Alive

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Self-Leadership Skills, Stepping Forward.

It’s often the last thing we do – keep your commitments to yourself – but it’s vital to learn these skills to live a fully engaged and fulfilled life. Keeping commitments — love it or hate it? Perhaps you know someone like Nora? She’s really good at keeping her promises to other people. The kids need a ride to the game…she’s on it! Hubby needs a tool from the hardware store, she’s rushing to get it. Never missing an appointment, she’s known for being dependable, helpful, and loving. But…there’s someone she routinely ignores and mistreats…herself…and she knows it, as her journal entry testifies:

Continue reading

Feeling Drained? Discover How to Manage Your Energy and Reclaim Your Vitality

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Change Your Life, Self-Leadership Skills.

When you’re feeling drained, a somatic approach makes you fully aware of energy sappers and how to renew your physical, emotional, and mental energies.Don’t you just hate it when you try to use your cell phone, but the battery is dead?  Not because you’ve made so many calls, but because the apps running in the background have used up all the energy? These hidden drains on your operating system affect your ability to connect with others. Is something similar happening with your mental and emotional energy when you’re feeling drained? Are there hidden energy zappers working in the background that you’re not even aware of?

At the end of this article, you’ll find a list of 95 possible hidden energy drains. I encourage you to look the list over and identify the ones that are impacting your life right now. But for now, it’s more important to work on the skills that will help you manage your energy mindfully and intentionally. Then when you identify an energy zapper, you’ll know how to pull its plug!  

Continue reading

Let's get started with 30 free minutes

I invite you to learn more about me and my coaching and counseling services. Please contact me to schedule an “It starts with you!” 30-minute complimentary consultation with me, in-person, by phone or via video consultation, so we can explore our partnership.

SCHEDULE

How to Step Forward to a Future You've Created

Discover how to replace your old, self-limiting map with a new map full of possibilities for the future

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE INTRO TO STEPPING FORWARD TODAY!