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.

How to Calm Your Mind by Coming Back to Your Body

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Controlling Stress, Dream Big - Start Small, Life Skills.

Learn how to CALM your mind by using my 4-Step C.A.L.M. Process. Even in times of great stress, practicing it will help you achieve calm and peace more quickly.

If you’re like many of the women I work with, you don’t struggle because you don’t know how to calm your mind. You struggle in the moment when your body takes over.

Your chest tightens. Your jaw clenches. Thoughts accelerate. A conversation shifts, a comment lands wrong, pressure builds, and suddenly you’re no longer responding. You’re reacting.

And in that moment, it doesn’t matter how self-aware, intelligent, or practiced you are.

Your nervous system has already made the call. This is the piece that often gets missed in conversations about “how to calm your mind.” Because the mind isn’t actually where the spiral begins.

It begins in the body.

Continue reading

Time Management Tips that Reduce your Stress and Increase Productivity

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Controlling Stress, Dream Big - Start Small, Handling Change.

Seven easy time management tips that reduce your stress and increase your productivity by encouraging you to choose a state of mind that supports you.

Do you feel like you’re always battling against the clock and there’s not enough time to do what you need to get done, let alone what you want to do?  And since your long to-do list is never finished, maybe you’re always nagged by a feeling of failure. Here’s a secret that can help: the best time management tips are built not on being task oriented but upon creating a mindful state of mind.

Continue reading

Release the Power of Mastery – Embody What You Learn

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Dream Big - Start Small, Life Skills.

Happy woman enjoying the confidence that comes from releasing the power of mastery

Releasing the power of mastery takes more than continuous learning. After all, mastery isn’t just about what you know — it’s about what you become. True mastery happens when your knowledge is woven into your thoughts, actions, and presence. It’s the difference between understanding a concept intellectually and living it so fully that it shapes how you show up in the world.

We tend to deeply admire people who have achieved mastery — master athletes, musicians, or business leaders. What we admire most isn’t just their skills but their ability to stay calm under pressure, adapt in the moment, and consistently perform at their best. That kind of mastery isn’t reserved for the gifted few; it’s something we can all cultivate. The key lies in shifting from simply learning new ideas to embodying what you learn.

Continue reading

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

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

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

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

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

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!