My 19 year old Subaru was doing fine. Well … it had an occasional problem starting. It would need to crank for about 10 seconds and spit out fumes of unburnt gasoline, but then it would run smoothly. This happened only occasionally, about 90% of the times it started great. Buddy, my mechanic, told me to have the starter replaced, but since with some trying I always got it started I did not act on his advice. One day as I was to go to work, the engine just made three pathetic clicks, and then nothing else happened. A tow truck got the car to a mechanic who installed a new starter. Waiting for the tow truck, cancelling meetings, bicycling back and forth to the mechanic all took a lot of time that I could have avoided by listening to the symptoms that indicated that something was wrong with my car.
Most of us avoid maintenance, but denial and avoidance does not mean a problem in gone. In fact, the problem can worsen and cause us much more work than if we would have dealt with it earlier.
Our mental state also needs maintenance. We may be doing fine most of the time, but there may be telltale chronic or intermittent signs that something is not right, just like the occasional starting problems of my car. Here are some telltale signs that point for the need for mental maintenance. (1) Feeling stuck or stressed. (2) Having a low self-esteem. (3) Being unable to find purpose or meaning. (4) Lacking joy in our life. (5) Obstructing or self-sabotaging ourselves. (6) An absence of work-life balance. (7) Desiring a change in our life, but not knowing what that change would be or how we could give shape to that change.
These signs may be strong and convey a sense of urgency, or they could also be mild and intermittent (as the problem with the starter in my car). But whatever the case is, such signs are an indicator that mental work is calling you. In doing that work you might benefit from working with a coach. Yet most of us wait getting help until the pain is so large that we feel that “something has to change, now!” By listening to the telltale signs or glitches in our wellbeing we may benefit from mental maintenance, we may get on a more harmonious path without going through the pain.
Perhaps this applies to you, in that case you could contact me to explore through a cost-free and risk-free conversation how I might support you. Since I believe that a coaching relation should be based on trust and personal rapport, it helps to have such an exploratory conversation. I work through video meetings, so distance is not an issue and I work with clients all over the world. You could also help spread the word of the work that I do by one or more of the following actions.
- Share my newsletters with others, for example by forwarding them or by simply mentioning them to others.
- Post my newsletters on social media, or by reposting them on Linkedin.
- Encourage those who may benefit from my coaching to contact me for an exploratory conversation.
Timely mental maintenance can ensure that your mental engine is running smoothly!