Curating Confidence In Dating, LIKE A BOSS.

You present such fierce confidence at work, with friends, your take charge wonder woman attitude smashes most everyday challenges with such ease and yet… when it comes to the world of love and dating, that inner rock star has gone MIA.

And, I know it’s been savage out there in the dating world lately.  You’ve gone on a zillion 1st dates or maybe haven’t even made it past the online dating message phase to get out on a date.  And with each miss, your confidence plummets a few steps further down a black hole.

I hear it all day long, ‘confidence’ is the top item on almost every woman’s TO DO list, when it comes to finding and attracting love.

Confidence is our outer bravery.  It’s how we translate the way we feel about ourselves on the inside to those around us, how we show our self-worth on our sleeve.  Unlike self-worth, we can put on confidence like an off the rack dress, fairly easy, TEMPORARILY.  And temporary is okay.  Temporary is what confidence does best.  It just means confidence has an expiration date.  That expiration date, is triggered by our real time self-esteem. 

The more self esteem (or self worth) we have on the inside, the brighter and longer our confidence shines on the outside. Think of self worth as the fuel we add to the fire we burn whenever we meet someone new.  Building up higher self worth, is absolutely possible, and a HUGE part of the work I do with my private clients, but it takes time, practice and some hard graft.  Today, we are going to zoom in and focus on CONFIDENCE.

We can indeed turn up the volume on our confidence, at will, even before we deep dive into up leveling our self esteem.

The following is a very short, and very sweet TWO STEP technique that you can start using today, in the very moments you pick up your phone to swipe away AND when you head out to that first date.

The Confidence Mantra

STEP ONE:  THE END GAME

Take a few minutes here to think about what is the best-case scenario of this interaction, whether that be in person on a date, heading out to a group outing or event where you could meet someone OR simply clicking on your online dating app. 

*WARNING*  The correct answer to this is NOT “Meet the love of my life/future partner/the one/soulmate!!!   Ease off that pressure valve, dearest one!  

When I say best case scenario for this date/message/event, what I mean is HOW CAN THE NEXT 5 MINUTES, 10 MINUTES or even THE NEXT FEW HOURS go really REALLY well?   What would be a fantastic first date?  What would it sound like? Look like? Smell like?

Maybe, that ideal first date for you, would look like…

We have a good time, laugh hard, eat some amazing food and the conversation flows nice and easy. There is a spark and the date ends with us both thinking and saying, we want to see each other again. 

Notice, it was not focused on what the other person was going to be, but instead on the time you were going to create with each other?  Focus on what #winning would like for this one interaction.

Also, there was no ‘love at first sight’ crazy talk.  We need to keep it real AND yet still positive & gorgeous. 

We do not want to walk in with super low expectations either like…

I hope he/she has a pulse. I hope I don’t want to stick them in the eye with my fork halfway through our meal…

Yup, I’ve been on those dates too, lady!

So now, let's phrase up this first step…

“We are going to laugh hard, have some yummy food, flowing convo and at the end, both of us can’t wait to see each other again!”

all photo via unpslash

STEP TWO; Show up in your Sunday best.

We want to show up, positively shining!  Whether that be on a date, via a message sent online or at a local meetup. We have so much to offer that special someone, so very much to contribute to a real loving relationship.   Tell me what you’re working with mama!

I want you to take a few minutes here to think of THREE things YOU are bringing to the table on this interaction. 

It can be ANYTHING…  your special brand of witty humor, your Star Wars nerd extraordinaire status, your incredibly kind listening skills, Open heart, Great laugh,  Fierce intellect,  Adulting like a boss, Thirst for adventure, Sharp political wit, your business saavy #bossgirl heat, and yes, even those damn fine legs you worked hard to get!  

ANY THREE THINGS YOU KNOW you have to offer.

Once you have them, let’s construct the second part of that confidence mantra so it sounds something like this…

“I am going to let THING 1, THING 2 and THING 3 shine bright tonight!  I will let them lead me like a beacon into a FAB night/date/message/event,  with this person! "

Now… tweak that shit.  Make it your own.  Your own words, your own tone.

OWN. IT.

Then… ready?

RECORD IT.

Either type it up as a note in your phone or a personal voice memo, that so you can play back whenever you need it, cause mantras are all in the repeat!  And we shall need to, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT as often as it takes to call up the light forces of our confidence!

My private clients LOVE this one, so brave up my lovely, try this technique out and let me know how you get on!   Not only will you feel better about you, confidence is a killer at attracting others to us, like bees!   Get buzzing!

And remember the wise words of Marianne Williamson as you two step your way through creating and using this mantra, my dear!   xx

Using 'Reflective Listening' To Improve Relationship Communication

Communication is a multi faceted skill set.  We often get so caught up in improving our ‘Verbal’ communication skills, we don’t dedicate the necessary time to all the other bits that make communication successful. 
 
Perhaps the most overlooked and wayward of the communication skills these days, across our society as a whole, is LISTENING.

Why yes.  Remember LISTENING?  It’s that oh so crucial other half of Verbal communication, that if we don’t get it right… we miss out on the conversation and on connection, completely.
 
 
Today, I wanted to focus on one particular listening skill we can all easily work towards being better at, every day called REFLECTIVE LISTENING.


 
>> You know when your partner jumps in, midway through your well thought out rant and finishes your sentences for you?
 
>> When you find yourself tuning out your partner, as you retreat into your own mind to carefully mount your defense, AKA your response, to what they are saying?
 
>> Or how about when you KNOW you’re speaking plain English and yet still, what they heard and what you said, simply doesn’t match up??


 
Seeing RED yet?

I don’t blame you.  We’ve all been there.
 
This is what listening to respond looks like.  WE NEED to learn how to listen to UNDERSTAND! 
 
This is also why you keep having the same conversations over and over, and are getting nowhere but straight to the land of frustration and anger. 
 
Next stop on that train?
 
Derailment!   Cause why bother, right?   Why even go through the trouble oftalking about this anymore?  Nothing ever changes!  They aren’t really listening to you, anyways!


Using a technique called REFLECTIVE LISTENING can quickly help you become a better listener.  Reflective listening, begins with the simple act of repeating back what someone say to us, but in your own words.  This shows you didn’t just hear what the other person said, but understood it as well.

rying this skill set on.  At first, can feel a bit odd and insincere.  You may even think, this might prove more annoying than anything else.  However, when used correctly (and practice will get you there)  REFLECTIVE LISTENING is a killer way to drive conversations forward.
 
Here is a prime example of such an exchange;
 
SPEAKER 1
I get so angry when you spend so much money without telling me. We’re trying to save for a house!!!
 
SPEAKER 2
We’re working hard to save for a a house, so its really frustrating when it seems like I don’t care.
 

 
Now, TONE is really important here.  We want to use a tone that comes across as a statement, with a bit of uncertainty.  The end goal is to express ‘I think this is what you are telling me, but correct me if I’m wrong’. Your reflections don’t have to be perfect.  If the other person has to correct you, that’s actually a really good thing!  Helllllo!  Now, you are actually having a conversation based on trying to really understand one another better.  Not, oh I don’t know. Trying to prove a point, win an argument, or force someone to hear you!
 
That, my darlings, is progress from the familiar train wreck we are accustomed to, in just a few sentences exchanged.


 
Try to reflect the other persons emotions, even if it wasn’t part of the sentence they spoke. 
 
SPEAKER 1
Why do you always take this route?  There is always traffic and we are going to be late again to pick up the kids?
 
SPEAKER 2
You’re worried we will be late to pick up the kids, and I’ve chosen the route I know best, that usually has traffic.  Do you know a better route we can take?
 
Speaker 1 never mentioned being worried however it was probably implied through their tone or the look on their face.  When we acknowledge emotions, it hows we are not just listening and mimicking back their words but using our eyes to read our partners communication as well.  The understanding, just got next leveled! 



 
Sometimes our partners have a whole lot to say in one statement, filled with both essential and non essential details and story lines.  And pulling out a notebook or recording device to keep up, well that might not send the right message J
 
When we reflect back, we want to pick out the main points only.
 
SPEAKER 1
First, I woke up late, because you turned off both alarms. Then I went to get in the bathroom to get ready and nearly killed myself because the floor was soaking wet from when you took a shower, my mom called and you know how that gets me worked up, the dog peed on the floor, the kids were running around with two different shoes on, I forgot to brush my teeth, and to top it all off I get into the car and there is no gas in it BECAUSE you the last person to drive it, left me on empty!! 
 
 
SPEAKER 2
I hear you saying, you had a shitty morning and that I contributed to that by not taking the time to consider how my actions may affect you. 
 

The reality is, most of us have a handful of well grooved auto responses on hand that are continuing the unsuccessful dynamics in our relationship communications. 
 
Do you know what I say when my husband complains about the route I chose to drive?
 
“Oh, sorry… did you want to drive?!?!?!“ in my best flippant nasty tone.
 
Yup. Almost every time.  Not very reflective, huh?
 
Most humans are creatures of habit.  We wear a groove and settle there.  Sometimes habitual structure can be a good thing.  We always say ‘I love you’ when someone leaves the house or a quick kiss goodnight before rolling over, like clockwork. 

However, when the groove becomes a rut, and is causing communication to break down in our relationship, the very next thing to go is connection. 
 
Without connection, love cannot survive. 
 
 

I love to hear how you get on with introducing REFLECTIVE LISTENING into your communications in the comments here!

Resilience In Dating 101

If you have spent any time out in the wilds of dating, you already know that rejection can be a very large part of finding and attracting love.

Then again, life is full of rejection is it not?

Rejection from jobs.

Rejections from universities.

Rejections from publishers.

Rejections from credit card companies.

Rejections from bosses for promotions.

Hell, even our own bank account can offer a big old DECLINED when we were just about to brave it up for that pair of leather pants, we never thought we could rock, until just now!

Brene Brown, whom I love to bits, states in the TedTalk, that when other people dare greatly to be seen, get rejected, fail and get back up… we call it courage. In fact, Ted Talks is like the failure club. Almost every person who gets on that stage tells us their own stories of rejection and failure. 

So why are we so filled with SHAME instead of COURAGE when it comes to rejection in our dating life?

Why are we so focused on those who would not and could not SEE US and LOVE US, that we often give up, take breaks and find it soul destroying in the arena of love?

Building up some serious resilience to rejection is crucial if we are to triumph!

I have some of my tops tips (and some of my own personal memes for you to keep close) to help build up your resilience to rejection, so when that date foes badly, when they never call, or ghost you mid message.. my darling, you can rise strong each and every time!

Rejection is a blessing, in disguise;

Be philosophical about it – now you are free  to find someone who adores you, admires your loveliness and brings out the best in you.  This is not YOUR loss. You are still offering an incredible gift, YOU.  Beautiful, caring, smart, sassy, funny, incredible YOU. Grab on to the gratitude that your gift was not wasted on someone who could not or would not appreciate it! 

Hit that NEXXXT button, babes!

Thanks for rejecting me;

Consider all the reasons they were wrong for you. This helps to move on emotionally.

Write a list if it helps.

Even if that list is simply; IF they can’t have the human decency or honesty to communicate they’re not interested, (AKA ghosting!) then they’re NOT someone you want to be in a relationship with, anyways!

Sometimes we have to spend a whole lot of time, energy and thought filtering out the wrong ones.. Thankfully, they often do it for us!!  YASSS!

LIVE AND LEARN;

Sometimes we receive constructive criticism and advice which can be used to improve upon ourselves. It doesn’t mean we’re defective but it’s always a good practice to live and learn

If you have an amicable relationship with the person who rejected you, ask them why!  I strongly advise either this be a person you were friends with before the dating OR someone who offered the rejection in an adult and kind manner. 

This one requires some bravery, I know you got!

It’s too easy, to let life smack us around a bit.

That is, until we realize, this is OUR LIFE.  And though it has many things in it that we cannot control, we always have full power over what happens next.

How we respond.  To the situation, the person, place or thing… even how we respond to our feelings, is within our power.

We can love it back or hate every minute of it. We can focus on all things we have not, or on what we do have.  What we have to lose OR what we have to gain.

We can live in the solution. Or stay surrendered to the suffering.

Every minute, of every day. The choice is ours.

Today. In this minute. I CHOOSE LOVE. I CHOOSE RISING STRONG. I CHOOSE BEING SEEN AND HEARD!

What will you choose?

Are Modern Dating Trends Infiltrating Relationships, too?

Do we leave behind some of the more insidious dating trends, once we get into that sometimes elusive long term relationship?

Over the recent years, in my own dating and relationship coaching practice, I have witnessed and helped my clients overcome every new dating trend, the good, the bad and the really horrific!  

The way human beings navigate finding love, and the many pitfalls, no longer surprise me however I was unpleasantly surprised  to see these dating trends outliving their seemingly obvious expiration dates, by showing their face with the couples, I work with too! 

Knowing what I do, of human nature and how the brain easily attaches to both good and bad behaviour, I shouldn’t have been surprised.  The following is a deep dive into which dating trends are taking up more permanent residence and how they can adversely affect our romantic partnerships.

1.GHOSTING

image; Pixaby

Ghosting first came onto the scene as the way the worst kind of people cut off all contact shortly into the dating process, providing no reason or notice to the other person at all.  Steadily, ghosting became so common, it became acceptable. Even the nicest of people consider it absolutely acceptable normal dating behaviour.

Our technology, the same one that serves us so well, like apps that allow us to order food, taxi’s, dating, buy shoes, schedule doctors’ appointments all without ever speaking to another human being… is this same technology boom that allows GHOSTING to be such an easy and acceptable mode of operation in today’s dating scene. 

As a society, we have so much available to us whose sole purpose is to allow us to avoid uncomfortable situations and avoid having REAL conversations with REAL people in the REAL world.  This now very normalized dating trend, has opened more people to avoiding conflict and it is indeed carrying over into our relationships.  Don’t want to hear how you let your partner down again, by working late?  Send a text.  Don’t want to have that tough conversation about how unhappy you’ve been, face to face tonight? Send novel long wassap message!  Want to tune out from the conversation that is indeed happening, right now live?  Grab your phone and start facebooking! 

Going ghost on confrontation and conflict, is very much happening in partnerships too.

2. BREAD CRUMBING

image: Pixaby

Bread Crumbing, defined by Urban Dictionary as “the act of sending out flirtatious, but non-committal text messages (ie "breadcrumbs") in order to lure a sexual partner without expending much effort,” equates to leading someone on.

Short bursts of minimal effort in order to keep partners interested and on the line, is a new trend for those in relationships as well. How this typically plays out, is two people who are in a committed relationship, but one partner is really just waiting ‘for someone better to come along’.  By taking a hostage, their current partner, they ensure they remain cared for and will show up ‘just enough’ to keep the relationship going. But they aren’t really in it, to win it! 

However even in committed relationships, where one person is not waiting for something better to come along, a form of bread crumbing can still take place. 

We know our relationship needs work, our partner has been banging on about all the things we need to do, in order to keep the relationship alive and happy.  And we do some of the things. Well, really, we do just enough of the things to get them to shut up.  We do just enough of the things, to claim a proper defense.  To state “Look!! I did this thing!!, You can’t say I’m not trying!!”.   This form of behavior isn’t necessarily malicious.  Chances are the dynamic has become so threatening, the motivation so negative, that this person is just trying to avoid pain and discomfort.  If they were motivated by their partner positively, they would do a lot more of the things, to gain the rewards

3. SPEAKING OUR TRUTH

imagel Unsplash & Jessicaelizabethcoaching.com

This trend setter is everywhere we look these days.  Authenticity guru’s are abound with the honor and speak your truth.  Honest, direct kind communication in a relationship is a beautiful thing.  HOWEVER, Honesty without compassion is brutality. Keep it kind, kids!

I have a great filter I offer to clients, that helps to mediate in their own heads, what really needs to be said and when. 

• Does it need to be said?

• Does it need to be said, BY ME?

• Does it need to be said, RIGHT NOW?

• How many times does it need saying?

If we can pause, long enough to drop our thought through this filter, we can be more sure that what comes out the other side of said filter, is the truth, that needs speaking.

Furthermore, true partnerships cannot have communication, discourse and collaboration without listening too.  LISTENING is the other half of communication. If we are spending all of our time, thinking and mapping out responses, how we will deliver ‘our truth’, and real talking ‘our truth’ at every opportunity, we kill communication, dead.

4. NEGGING

image: pixaby

Negging is ugly. REAL ugly.  Negging, as defined by Urban Dictionary is the manipulative behaviour of men (#notallmen) by offering up low-grade insults meant to undermine the self-confidence of a woman so she might be more vulnerable to your advances.

If we are in a relationship with someone who is using negging, the more relative term here is emotional abuse. It is absolutely not okay for our partners to be actively undermining out self-confidence and self-worth, to take the advantage.  In relationships, I witness both men and women equally negging each other, shredding each other’s confidence and esteem to bits in order to feel better about themselves, be ‘right’ or simply to assuage a long held resentment they have about their partner.

Any relationship expert, counselor or coach will assure you that partnership is about two people bringing out the best in one another, NOT tearing each other down. In my own relationship coaching practice, the bulk of the work done with couples and empowered individuals in relationships is unifying them back to a place of fighting the good fight for their life and dreams, shoulder to shoulder, together! 

Can you identify any of these trends in your own relationship?  What is one action you can take today, to start moving away from these trends?   Let us know in the comments!

It’s time to learn the 'not so trendy' behaviors and techniques that will last a life time of love.

How to dodge the post date FIZZLE ZONE!

Oh snap!  I’m addressing the dreaded post date ‘Fizzle Zone’ today!
 
The Feminista Seeks Love facebook group has been a buzz with this topic lately.
+
My private clients are always telling me the struggle is realAF.

Lucky for them and for YOU, I have just the cure for this well known woe!
 

And here you find yourself...

The hard work and swiping has paid off, you’ve met someone, hurrah! 
 
The date was fab.. check! 
 
They looked like their profile pic (hey now, not always a given)… check! 
 
You laughed, connected and sparks flew. CH’CH’CH’ECK!!
 
BOOM!  On to date two, right??
 
Um. Not so fast, my lovely. 
 
In our modern age, and with our fulfilled amazing lives, often the first few dates can stretch out over months, not weeks!  YIKES!
 
Maybe it’s you?  Jetting off to India for a couple of weeks? Business trips to the west coast? Best friends wedding has you maid of honoring like whoa for the next two weeks!?
 
Maybe it’s them?  They have a business trip? Their mothers 50th do up North?  or some other shenanigans that have them unavailable for the next few weeks?
 
Either way, locking in those subsequent dates, is proving tricky. 

Welcome to what can very quickly become THE FIZZLE ZONE. 

image credit; Pixabay

We’ve all been there. 

Stilted messages back and forth.  Awkward salutations and ‘how are you’ snooze fest attempts to connect, then slowly AND very surely, the spark gets snuffed out and you never get out on the next date.
 
Momentum is EVERYTHING in this life... however, legit, there's just no time for another face to face meeting in the next couple of weeks! 

So how do you keep up the momentum in the interim? 



Forget the who texts who first, lady.  We are well beyond that child’s play. 

I’m about to give some REAL TALK  on exactly HOW to keep your post date message game tight AND AND AND learn more about them while the weeks pass AND AND AND have fun!!!  Um, yes, This whole dating thing?!?! It supposed to be one of the best times of your life!! 

Crazy talk, right?  Not your experience? Let’s change that, today!
 
Messages that offer value, provoke thought, trigger the memory sensors, ignite playfulness, offer eye catching visual stimulation, prompt the mind to engage and fuel the desire to continue that engagement all the while creating those all important smiles...WIN EVERY TIME!
 
The following is a fountain of tips and tricks on sending messages that not only engage someone to keep that momentum going, but attract the right person to you.  
 
Wave goodbye to the tired old “Hey you”, “Whats up” and “How are you?” messages, cause we’re about to kill them with fire!


 
**WARNING**  DO NOT Google ‘Dating message ice breakers’.  The sheer volume of WTAF, creepazoid, hot mess that is those search results can not be unseen, lady!   Good thing, I have come up with a killer list of ideas, so you can be spared that untimely google death! YIKES!
 

Ready? Away we go!

 

Hot Tip #1
KEEP IT FUN, KEEP IT LIGHT, KEEP IT VALUABLE.

image credit; Pixabay

Don’t be ‘that person’ who offers no value.

Engagement begets engagement, and RELATIONSHIPS are all about offering value to each other.  Think about it, we want someone to share our lives with;  someone who brings with them more laughter, happiness and companionship to our world.
 
We need to be able to offer that as well.  

Not sure how to translate that into messages?  No worries, I got you.  In fact, the whole wide world has an endless fountain of next level engagement and value for you!
 
HELLLLLO 2017!  We are surrounded by extreme engagement content everywhere we look!  On social media, online, websites, Youtube, Giphy.com, our own phones that take amazing pics... heck, we need look no further than our very own timelines to find incredibly engaging content to pull from!



 

Hot Tip #2

FOCUS ON WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW

What did you two connect over on that first date?  What common interests did you share? 

Was it your shared love for running? So much laughter over who was the bigger excel nerd?  A lively debate over 80’s hair metal vs 70’s glam? Did you spend 20 minutes comparing notes of your favorite foodie spots?
 
Whatever it was, these initial connections are our hefty building blocks, and build on them we shall!

IDEA 1 – Send them a pic of your lunch.  Hey, food porn is called food porn for a reason. At one of your favorite foodie spots?  Snap a pic of your lunch and send it with a note “Told you Eddies Tacos’ were the best in the city.  Play your cards right, and I might just treat you to one of these bad boys on our next date”.
 
IDEA 2 – Snap a pic of your computer screens massive excel spreadsheet, send it off with “What do you know about Excel level ninja?!?”
 
IDEA 3 – Is your favorite running store having a mega sale?  Send them a link! + “Wow, mega sale happening @ the best shop EVER for running gear!  thought of you! Let me know if you score something sweet.”

IDEA 4- Send them a youtube link of your fav Guns & Roses video "Seriously? how can you deny the legend that is Sweet Child Of Mine?"

Hot Tip #3
Zoom in on ‘THEM’

image credit;  pixabay

Start with what they already told you about themselves.  Fav TV show?  Fav Band?  Upcoming trip they are going on? 

IDEA 1 – Head over to Giphy.com and grab a hilarious Simpsons Gif (or whatever TV show was their fav) and pop it into a message. 
 
IDEA 2 – Is their fav band playing nearby this summer? Grab a link to the article about it and send it along with a note “Hey, just wanted to make sure you saw this… THEY’RE COMING TO TOWN! WOOT!” 
 

IDEA 3 – The space between dates doesn’t mean we stop learning more about them as a person. Use an icebreaker that revealslike,  "I am inviting you to my desert island… you can only bring 3 items, what will you bring "

When we listen, retain what people say about themselves and ask them to know more, we create human connection.

Hot Tip #4
Zoom in on YOU

image credit; Unsplash

Yes, fierce YOU, gorgeous!

Try these on for size;

IDEA 1 – Use that in hand multimedia.  If you are indeed away on holiday, send them an image or video of the scenery or activities. Include a playful message, like “Oh snap, now THIS is where we should go on date 2!”
 
IDEA 2 – Did you see a video online that made you C R Y with laughter today?  Send it!  “This made my CRY with laughter, had to share.  Hope it brightens your day in the same way”.
 
IDEA 3 – Icebreak that shizzle!  "Here are three things about me, one of which is a lie.  Guess which is the lie?"  It's a classic, well curated,  icebreaker AND also a cheeky, fun way to prompt engagement AND they learn more about you!

Hot Tip #5
Next level "How are you today"

image credit; Giphy.com

Its not what you ask, its how you ask it.
 
IDEA 1 = “On a scale of 1-10, 1 being Clark Kent and 10 being Superman, how’s your day going?”
 
IDEA 2 – Maybe they’re off on a course which is why they couldn’t schedule date two, send  “Hey Mr. Smarty Cute Pants, how’s the course going?”

IDEA 3- Declare a GIF war... HOW YOU DOOOOIN'?

 
My darlings, my dears, take the above… tweak them, flesh them out, make then your own and kiss that uncomfortable go nowhere fast messaging of yesteryear, GOOD BYE!


(p.s. including appropriate yet moderate emoji usage, is always encouraged!)


Any questions?  The comment section is always open!  Looking forward to hearing from you. xx

Want in on all the laughs, wisdom and community over @ the 'Feminista Seeks Love' Facebook group?  Click on over and see us!

It's decision time! Should you stay or should you go?

We’re standing at a crossroads. Red light. Green Light.

We can stay, or we can go.

credit pixabay

No matter how many times we have turned this decision over in our mind, we remain stuck, fearful and confused.

One moment, every fiber in our body says ‘GET OUT’!!

The next moment, we never want to leave.

This one foot in, one foot out mindset and state of confusion, can cause the relationship to break down entirely. And the harm, the traffic buildup, can damage the entire city we live in.

And when we find ourselves stuck at that crossroads, staring desperately up at the traffic light, too paralyzed to move, it’s the obsessive questioning that is plaguing our will to love and love.

• How long can I live like this? 
• Does he/she love me anymore?
• What will happen if I leave? 
• Will I ever meet someone again?
• How did we get here?
• Can we get back to a better place? 
• Am I wasting the best years of my life? 
• What will my family say? 
• What will people think of me? 
• How will this affect the children?
• Why won’t he/she listen to me?
• Did I choose the wrong person?
• What’s wrong with me?
• How much crime TV does one have to watch to ensure no one finds the body? (just kidding, or am I?)

The above questions are valid, HOWEVER they’re the wrong questions.

They’re not making things any clearer because they’re driven by fear, helplessness, anger and resentment.

As long as we are paralyzed, unsure of which direction to go, we CAN NOT and WILL NOT invest, in either course.

credit; Unsplash/ Flo Karr

Often, at the very start of coaching people in relationships, I ask them to commit to something incredibly scary.  To suspend all their doubts and disbelief and decide wholeheartedly, TO STAY.

It’s a TEMPORARY ask.   

We set a specific timeline, usually 90 days, for them to absolutely commit to staying in their partnership. 

Why do I do this?

Well…

1. The merry go round of indecision is exhausting.  It can zap us of all our energy. We’re going to need A LOT of energy to focus on the work to repair and rejuvenate their relationship.

2. As long as you are standing at the traffic light, vacillating between green and red, stay and go, you will undermine ALL of the work that needs doing.  I want my couples to experience results. Often that result, is, a marriage or partnership SAVED!  Sometimes that result, is finally knowing beyond any doubt, it cannot be saved.  Staying in limbo is torture. Not just for the individuals in the relationship, but everyone within a 10 mile radius.  That traffic, gets WAY backed up! (and yes, that traffic… that city… it’s YOU, your partner, your family, friends and loved ones, my dear)

3. If our heads are swirling with the tornado of questions you have been asking yourself for months, even years… you won’t be able to hear the powerful life changing questions I have to offer. AND you need to hear them, dearest one.

WE HAVE TO GO ALL IN. 

TOP DOWN, PEDAL TO THE METAL. 

credit; Pixabay

Today, I want to offer up FOUR of these epic questions to you! 

My lovely, I cordially invite you to get into the drivers seat, take a deep breath and take your eyes off the traffic lights and put them on the road ahead of you, where they belong.

Ready?  Let’s go!

• So why, is being in this relationship AND making it work, important to YOU?
• If we were having this conversation 1 year from today, and you were looking back over that year, what has to have happened in your life for you to feel really happy with your progress. 
• What are THREE actions, YOU can do THIS WEEK, that would bring you one baby step closer to results you want to see in one year’s time?  
• What’s stopping you from doing them?  Resentment? Expectation? What conditions or doubts, spring to mind that are blocking YOU, from taking action?

Take these away with you, grab a pen and paper and dig deep.

Then, comment below or privately email me your answers! My door is wide open and I always love to hear back from my gorgeous tribe. 

Sending you all the love,  xx Jessica Elizabeth

#relationshipcoaching #marriagesaver #partnership #relationshipgoals #askyourself #keeplove

Your SURVIVAL guide to The 7 Stages of a Break Up...

Breakup's are a bitch.

And recovering from a breakup, is a process. It can take weeks, months, even years!  The overall timing of the break up process, is different for everyone. 

AND, it's filled with pitfalls, relapses, resentment and pain.  Notice I didn’t say suffering?

Pain is part of life.  Suffering is optional, babe.

The similarities to ‘the 7 stages of grieving’, a well defined and researched arena of loss, prove to be an invaluable guide to making it through a breakup.  I wanted to take a few minutes of your day, to let you in on my own spin for navigating the breakup process, AND getting to the other side of it, fast AND whole!

Warning; The stages don’t always come in this order, nor do they always come one at a time! YIKES!

The 7 stages of a breakup;

A fierce woman's MUST HAVE survival guide!

Stage 1. Shock & Awe: "What the hell just happened?"

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Shock is the body's natural protection against pain. We are foggy, disoriented at first. This is also not a natural state for the human body, so we reach out and begin to grasp onto what might steady us again.  

We become almost desperate for answers…  How did this happen? When did the relationship, turn?  Who the hell is this person? What else have they lied about? How could they do this? What did I do wrong? How can I fix it?

The overwhelming NEED TO KNOW can be all consuming. It can plague our thoughts at work, out with friends, and home alone. You fixate on things your ex said at various times that you see as contradicting the breakup, and you hold onto them now as if they are gospel. The desperation to make sense of something so jarring compels you to debate friends, family, co-workers, even strangers, about why the relationship ended, while you justify to them the reasons it shouldn’t have, as if convincing them it is equal to convincing your ex.

Yet somewhere within, you have moments of clarity, too. Which is good. We’re gonna need those moments of clarity to build our bridge to having a healed heart!

Ask yourself;

What if the NEED TO KNOW why this happened, is beyond anyone’s ability, even your ex’s ability, to explain?

What if they don’t even know what went wrong? 

Do’s & Don’ts:

• Do journal the heck out of it, and choose 1-2 trusted ‘ride or die’ friends to unpack at nausea, if needed.

• Do set a time limit on these thoughts. 5 minutes, 30 minutes. When the time is up, imagine an alarm dinging. Stop, and MOVE ON to thinking or doing something else. If your mind obsessively wanders back over, DING DING DING, Stop and move on.

• Don’t just talk to anybody willing to listen. Don’t take to social media to post your musings to your 1000 Facebook friends to answer.  Hostages won’t help you get out of this alive, my dear.

Stage 2. Denial: "This is so not happening."

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Denial is rejection of reality and a storage of feelings. The thinking is that, if you don't accept the heartbreak, then it didn't really happen, thus leaving hope for reunion. During this stage of a breakup it is common to call, email or even Instagram-stalk — anything that feels remotely "normal" about the relationship — in an effort to put dealing with the heartbreak on hold.

Denial can also take form of us running ram shod right over the pain. Acting as if we don’t care, that this doesn’t hurt. Going out on a flurry of dates the very next week, laying claim to the old battle cry “the best way to get over an EX is to get under the NEXT”. 

First off, Ewww. Second, your heart, your feelings, whilst painful and overwhelming, ARE VALID. Pay them the respect, the acknowledgement they deserve. They are infinitely patient, and will wait. Walk through them, own them, what does not kill us makes us stronger, dearest one!

Do’s & Don’ts;

• Do visualize the waves of pain and grief you feel as if you are sitting in the shallows by the sea. Allow them to wash over you, breathing them in deeply and exhaling them, as the wave recedes gently back into the ocean. The more we fight the waves, the more likely they will smash us to bits on the shoreline.

• Don’t minimize the situation or run from it. Pretending the breakup and the pain you feel is better off if not dealt with will create emotional numbness and leave you paralyzed and stuck.

Stage 3. Bargaining: Battling the IF only’s, WHEN’s, and WHAT if’s.

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You are willing to do anything to avoid accepting it’s over. YOU can make this right!! We tell ourselves that being without our ex is so intolerable, that you can work harder, deal with it, even settle to win them back.  Can we get really REAL with each other?  It’s the fear of being alone, that’s kicking your ass.

The fear of that is so palatable, that we confuse the feeling of fear as a fact of life . Logic has no role in negotiations when fear is driving the bargaining. If you cave to this bargaining phase, not only will you find yourself back in a relationship that is broken (it’s called a break up for a reason!) you are placing the entire burden of repairing, maintaining, and sustaining a relationship onto yourself. It's as if the responsibility is yours and yours alone to make it work this time.

Ask yourself;

What if no matter what you did, it still didn’t work out?

If only you had gotten out of this relationship sooner, what harm and pain could you have saved yourself?

Do's & Don'ts;

• Do go out and enjoy some activities alone. Go out and see all the movies, he/she never wanted to see with you. The long country walks they always ruined by bitching it was too rainy. We both know there are quite a few things, you LOVE to do, that have been neglected lately in favour of spending time in your relationship. 

• Do catch up with friends you haven’t seen in a while. Take that weekend girls trip to the spa or to the coast!

• Don’t lose sight that there were TWO people in that relationship, and TWO people who contributed to it’s ending. One person alone CAN’T fix it. You can’t possibly take responsibility for everything. Somewhere inside, you know that.

Stage 4. ANGER: Rage, RAGE against the dying of the light!

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Although all of us experience these phases in different order, anger usually comes further down the road for most of us. After fear is done pillaging our souls.  

HOWEVER oh boy, when it comes… Anger can be wildly empowering, harnessing it to fight off the temptation to call, text or Facebook stalk them. There is an element of self-righteousness to this anger, which isn’t such a bad thing. You suddenly wake up and say I MATTER TOO! I DESERVE SO MUCH MORE!  ROAR! 

As long as this anger doesn’t become drunk with rage, I say grab onto it with both hands lady!  Your anger, can absolutely empower you. Anger can be just the motivation we need to add the bite back our fierceness and wake us from the sadness that has been weighing us down.

Just don’t stay there. Feeling and accessing anger is a normal phase of the breakup AND a normal human emotional reaction.  Anger that lingers, that we store away somewhere and brandish too often, becomes bitter resentment.  “Resentment is like drinking poison expecting the other person to die.” Resentment will slow this whole grief process down to a crawl. Resentment will kill the opportunities of new love that awaits us.

Dos & Don'ts

• Do harness your anger for good. Use that anger to propel you in making a list of all the things you want in your next relationship. All the things, you won’t ever tolerate again! When the anger comes, write that new must have list!

• Don’t stay in anger too long. We all have the dark side of the force in us, my young Jedi, don’t let hate consume you. Even if you do look better in black!

Stage 5. Relapse AKA Nostalgia; Just one more time, this time will be different, remember all those good times?

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RED ALERT! This is a BIG ONE! 

If I had a dollar/pound for every time I got a Facebook message, email or heard on a call or in a session with a client getting all ‘moth to the flame’ on a past love…

Just when we are almost through the worst of the break up, getting some real clarity and hope for the future. BAM! Nostalgia comes whispering it’s sweet nothings in our ear. 

Usually we are doing something that is predicating the relapse. We may have even been trying to sustain contact with our EX, right after the break up, in hopes we could one day be great friends one day. WE may have been going through old holiday photos or doing a sneaky 'harmless' snapchat. You may actually be able to convince your ex to try again (this may not be the first breakup with this partner) or convince yourself that meeting for coffee or one final bedroom romp is just the closure you need.  It will TEMPORARILY relieve the agony of withdrawal. However, despite your best efforts, you will not be able to carry the relationship solo. I'm sorry to say, it probably won’t end well this time, either.  

Unfortunately, you may need to go through this process of breaking up and reconciling more than once before you're absolutely convinced it's time to let go.  I too, often leave a whole lot of claw marks on the things I really should let go.

Do's & Dont's

• Do circle back to that must have and all the reasons you would never again list you made in the anger phase, fast!

• Do institute a zero contact rule for AT LEAST 60-90 days post breakup. I know this one is hard, however it is the absolute most sure-fire way to move on. I’m talking Tried. Tested. True. Proven. Bulletproof. A complete detox! no reaching out, no responding.

• Don’t contact them. I mean it. Trust me. Not even a tweet!  

• Don’t forget those 1-2 trusted friends you chose to hear all the tears. If you do opt for some more claw marks, don’t hide it from them, they love you and your going to need their support.

Stage 6. Acceptance; Sweet, sweet surrender.

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Acceptance, when it happens early in the process, can feel more like surrender. You are holding up your end of the breakup because you have to, not because you want to. Either you or your ex has developed enough awareness, sense and control to recognize that you are not meant to be. Over time, this initial, often tenuous acceptance becomes more substantive, as both of you begin to recognize, independently, that there are boundaries that at least one of you must maintain in order for the breakup to stick, because it has to. When that acceptance deepens, it feels like the warmest kindest of embraces. It brings solace… and hope.

Do's & Don'ts;

• Do remember acceptance is a verb. It requires action to exist in our language. Follow up your acceptance with actions that match.

• Don’t believe for minute that surrender equals defeat. Laying down your arms, means not having to fight anymore. The war is over. Let peace into your heartland!

Stage 7. Hope; Walk towards the light Carrie Ann.

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Breakups level us, in part because they also shatter our relationship with hope. As acceptance deepens, to truly move one, we must have hope. We must move from the belief that you can singlehandedly save a failing relationship, to the possibility that you just might be okay without your EX,  to you have all that you need within you to be happy, to YOU WILL LOVE AND BE LOVED AGAIN,  one day very soon.

Hope is a crucial life force. Hope still exists somewhere inside your heart, you will access it more and more as you continue to allow some meaningful distance between you and your ex. If you are not so sure if you will ever feel hope again… start by believing, that I believe.

Do's & Don'ts;

• Do talk about your hopes and dreams for the future with anyone who will listen. Hearing ourselves speak our hopes aloud can help us cement them into our thinking. Put it out into the universe.

• Don’t ever stop believing you are worthy of love. Or believe that you are alone. 99% of the human population has multiple stories of failed relationships. I do. There is nothing wrong with you! You’re just human. Welcome!