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Category: Goals

Mindfulness: Practicing Presence

January 10, 2024
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| Goals, Mental Health
Woman practicing mindfulness

“I want you to focus all your attention on being present in this moment.”  This was the challenge that my friend John gave to a room full of middle and high school students. Every other week on Wednesday evenings, my husband and I spend time volunteering at a local youth ministry. At nearly every gathering there is an allotted time in the evening when an adult will share a lesson with the students. John was the one giving the lesson this particular evening.  John continued on, “I really want you to focus on this moment. Where you are, what you see, what you feel, what you hear.” The room went silent…for just a moment. Breaking the silence, John said, “And...

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Procrastination 101

December 13, 2023
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| Feelings, Goals, Mental Health
Effects of procrastination

Nothing exposes my procrastination quite like the holiday season. Every year I have aspirations of getting my gift shopping done earlier and sending cute family Christmas cards in the mail. I tell myself, this Christmas I’m going to be on top of things. Yet, despite my noble intentions, here we are…another Christmas is quickly approaching and I still have gifts to buy and no cards to send.  While the holiday season seems to magnify my procrastination, the truth is that procrastination creeps its way into my best-laid plans and ambitions year-round. My hunch is that I’m not alone.  Whether you find yourself putting off schoolwork, ignoring financial obligations, avoiding decisions, or postponing work projects, habitual procrastination can potentially lead to...

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Courageous Beginnings: 10 Reasons to Start Therapy Today

November 15, 2023
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| Counseling, Goals, Mental Health
New Beginnings

Do I need therapy? How can therapy help me?  If you’ve ever asked these questions, you’re not alone. Therapy is one of those words with many preconceived ideas attached to it. Some think therapy is only for people with severe mental health diagnoses. Others think therapy is only for crises or processing major life events. And some think therapy is a sign of weakness. I hope to offer some brief thoughts on the value of therapy, and some reasons to start therapy today. “There will be moments when you bloom fully and then wilt, only to bloom again. If we can learn anything from flowers it is that resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying.” These...

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What Type of Therapy Are You Looking For?

May 29, 2019
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| Counseling, Goals
therapy

Whenever I have a potential client referral reach out, it’s important to me to screen them to ensure I am the right fit for the person.  Sometimes I will ask questions, such as “What is bringing you to therapy?”, “What style of therapy are you hoping for?”, and “What are you hoping to work on?”  These questions help me quickly see if I may or may not be a quality match for the client. Why is this so important?  There are so many different types and styles of therapy!  Sometimes what a client is looking for is not a great match for my style.  And that’s okay! Today I’m going to talk about some of the personal styles of therapy...

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Stages of Change

March 27, 2019
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| Counseling, Goals
change

We all have moments in life where we decide to make a change.  Sometimes it’s a career change, a relationship change, or even changing something about ourselves (communication, patterns of behavior, a bad habit, etc.).  Whether you realize it or not, there are often certain, intentional steps that you take when you decide to make a change in your life.  These steps are officially referred to as Prochaska and DiClemente's Stages of Change Model. Today on the blog, I’m going to talk about the Stages of Change and how knowing what they are can make you more intentional in shifting your life in a different direction.  While reading, you may realize that you are actually in one of the stages,...

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Why I Think You Should Start Therapy this Year

January 2, 2019
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| Counseling, Goals
Therapy

Happy New Year from Journey to Joy Counseling! Are you one of those people that sets goals for the New Year?  I’m not talking about just making New Year's resolutions, but setting actual goals.  A resolution is only a desire to do or not do something.  Resolutions, while good in theory, don’t usually (statistically) work out.  According to Forbes, around 8% of New Year’s resolutions are actually achieved.   That means 92% fail! Setting goals can help you hone in on a specific achievement.  Goals represent ambition, and they are dreams.  They create direction and guide us to the desired outcome.  Goals often bring along permanent changes.  Goals are often more likely to be achieved than just resolutions. This New Year,...

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8 Reasons You’re Not Succeeding

January 24, 2018
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| Communication, Feelings, Goals
succeeding

Now that we’re a few weeks into the New Year, it’s a great time to reflect on what is/is not working in your life.  If you’re feeling stuck, stagnant, and in a season where there’s no progress, I would invite you to read this blog.  There are many reasons why you may not be succeeding, and you have the power to make some change.  Here are some suggestions to help you achieve personal growth and success this year: 1.You’re the smartest person in the room The smartest and most successful people in the world know that they have to surround themselves with people who challenge them.  Presidents have staff members, business owners have board members, and celebrities have teams of...

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How to set S.M.A.R.T. Goals

January 3, 2018
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| Goals
goals

Happy New Year from Journey to Joy!  If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking about this fresh New Year and what you want to achieve in the next 365-ish days.  This is the season of New Year's resolutions and goal-setting.  However, the majority of New Year’s resolutions will fail within the first few weeks of January. It’s easy to get discouraged.  If you’ve never heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals, I hope to give you some insight into ways to set better and more achievable goals for this year. S is for Specific When a goal is specific, it means it is simple and precise.  Why do you want to accomplish this goal?  How do you intend to?  What will it take? ...

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