Skip to main content

Maria Connolly, LPC Facebook Facebook Facebook

Tag: mastery

Mastery is the ability to focus deeply on a compelling area of personal development and having the courage to pursue that course until you make it an intrinsic part of who you are.

Become The Observer of Your Life, Then Lasting Change Will Follow

Like an artist, you can become The Observer in your life, to mindfully acknowledge each “brush stroke” as it transforms your “canvas”, your life.

A practice of mindfulness is priceless. Without it, we can go through life only experiencing things superficially, missing the things that bring lasting enrichment. However, when you become The Observer, taking in information without judgment, you’ll see what you want more of or less of, in your life. 

For example… how observant are you? If I asked you to identify the colors in a picture of a forest, no doubt you would say green, brown, and maybe some yellow. But an artist closely inspects each area for color or hue; she also sees the variances of shade (black added to the hue), tone (gray added to the hue), and tint (white added to the hue). Not only that, she detects the differences in intensity and value. Before the painting is done, the artist will have mixed hundreds of different combinations of paint, each one intentionally performing a specific function on the canvas. Why is this so important? Jon Kabat-Zinn explains “The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness.”

Continue reading

Excellence is a Habit that Prevents Self-Defeating Beliefs and Behavior

When excellence is a habit, your preferred way of being, your goals  will be easier to attain and your quality of life improves dramatically.“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Will Durant

Habit is one of the strongest forces in our lives. And that’s a good thing because if you had to stop and make a brand new decision about every little thing in life, you’d never make it out of bed, let alone get to work. While most habits are behaviors that save you a great deal of time, not all habits are helpful. Some actually get in your way of making progress toward desired goals. However, if mindfully striving for excellence becomes your overriding habit — your preferred way of being — then your other habits will be beneficial. Yes, the quest for excellence is a habit that feeds success!

Continue reading

How to Succeed at Anything – Master the Five Stages of Your Inner Game

How to succeed at anything – if you desire, you can succeed at anything when you master the five stages of your inner game, aligning your body, mind and spirit.When we want to succeed at something new, we look to experts to guide us and help us master new goals and techniques. But being told by someone what we should do doesn’t necessarily help because it’s too easy to forget the advice and revert back to old habits. So there has to be more to the story of knowing how to succeed at anything.

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of trying too hard — the more you try the worse it gets. That happens because your focus is on the error, which keeps multiplying it. It’s like the person skidding on a slick road toward a telephone pole. Because your eye is on the pole you unconsciously steer toward it, even if you don’t want to. But if you keep your eyes on where you really want to go, you’ll be more likely to come out of the skid.

In order to reach your goal what you need, beyond expert advice, is to master your own inner game. It has to go beyond just a mental effort. It must involve your body wisdom, too. 

Continue reading

Take Charge of Your Life and Make this the Best Year Yet

Take charge of your life and make 2022 the best year ever“Make New Year’s goals. Dig within, and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This helps you do your part. It is an affirmation that you’re interested in fully living life in the year to come.” ~ Melody Beattie

Do you feel like you’re barely keeping up? That you’re not making any progress forward? It can be discouraging if  past attempts at changing something in your life have failed. If you’re wondering  how you can take charge of your life, this post is for you…

To begin with, does your usual list of New Year’s Resolutions look something like the following?

Continue reading

20 Amazing & Lasting Benefits of Applying Embodied Self-awareness & Leadership Principles

Embodiment coach, Maria Connolly, teaches embodied self-awareness and leadership principles.“Presence — or its lack — has enormous consequences for leaders. Presence grants genuine leadership authority by building trust and inspiring others. This is quite a bit different from the leadership that is conferred by position, title or status.” ~ Richard Strozzi-Heckler

It’s a driving force within us to want our lives to have meaning…that we make a difference, leave a legacy and be remembered for contributing something worthwhile. This desire requires that we step up to our leadership potential, which can be quite daunting. Because before we can lead others, we must first lead ourselves. That’s where the practice of embodiment is so beneficial. You learn to first lead yourself through embodied self-awareness. The way you speak, the words you choose, your body posture, all reflect the harmony you feel by being fully present.

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!