By: Elizabeth Saigal, Ph.D. CLC

Clients coauthor an agenda with you that could be focused on a financial, social, personal, or environmental goal that has been identified as contributing in some way to their happiness. This means that as coaches what we ultimately do is unravel the external and internal roots of happiness.

Happiness on the outside of us - the product of what we do and achieve - is the central topic of action coaching. Happiness on the inside of us is more primary in process coaching. For both types of coaching, the conversation can be more powerful if both the internal and external drivers of happiness are incorporated.

In action coaching, the energy of the conversation is outwards deciding on the next steps to take. However, coaches can also benefit the client by shifting the spotlight to what brings them happiness irrespective of the timetable they have set for themselves. This allows discovery of values and needs and the extent to which they are expressed through the current path. It also allows a deeper exploration of what brings them contentment and well-being.

In process coaching, the energy is inwards. Clients have the opportunity to connect with their inner wisdom and connect the pieces to discover the next steps. Ambiguity and cloudy vision is frequently frustrating, but the coach can demonstrate the creative benefits of being in this space. It also brings an opportunity for the client to develop greater connection with their intuition and incorporate what is revealed as bringing the greatest joy. This incorporation allows the coach to direct the client back to the external and express how the things that they have identified will manifest in their lives.

Beyond aligning the internal and external to bring joy, the greatest way clients can increase happiness is by just choosing to be so. Usually we get caught up in the expectations and demands of our daily life. Sometimes our schedule fills us with energy and we can’t wait to get started. At other times, we feel depleted and don’t want to engage. What is the difference between these two states of mind?

The choices we make and expectations we have in pursuit of our aims are the gateway to how we perceive what is going on around us. Perception plays a great role in being happy. Everyone can relate to joy experienced when we are on vacation. However, have you considered how the day after vacation is more dragging than any other regular day at work when we have not recently been on vacation, even though the work that you are doing is substantially the same. In this case, our emotion stems largely from our expectation of how we will experience contrasting environments. This is good because we can do something about it. We have a choice when it comes to setting our expectations. These are just in how we allow our viewpoint to paint the picture for us.

What if we became more objective and even if these was something on our agenda that we found challenging or unappealing we could choose to be okay with that and let this perspective just wash over us without becoming embroiled in it.

Taking this further, consider what it would be like to experience vacation every day, to feel enthusiastic and upbeat, to have the time and space to enjoy what is and go with the flow. What elements do we need to incorporate into our daily experience to make this a reality?

A very large part of coaching is raising awareness so that the client consciously perceives discrepancies in what they are saying and choices that they didn’t know they had. The coach can build a bridge between our internal and external experience of happiness and the way in which we actively elect to be happy on a daily basis.

Elizabeth Saigal is an ILCT Certified Life Coach. She offers Life Design Coaching for those intent on connecting with their inner truth and aligning with their intuition to live a life on purpose. You can connect with her and sign up to receive her Free Ten Step Life Design System at www.myspirecoaching.com