1. Wondering why this newsletter seems a bit later than normal?  My wife and I delivered a beautiful 7 pound, 6 ounce baby boy (Joseph Douglas Nau) on November 8!  He's been absolutely amazing so far - so understandably this newsletter's been second on my priority list. Expect some great articles about living in balance with two kids in diapers coming soon :O).  

2. I am EXTREMELY excited to announce that my new eBook- Living in Balance:  How to Consciously Shift from Stress to Success is complete!  All subscribers to this newsletter can DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE! 

3. I have also recorded an audio version of the eBook which can be purchased from my website for $9.99.  At the moment, the audio book is only available by download (mp3 format) as I do not yet have the capacity to ship CD's. The audio book mirrors the content of the eBook and fits neatly on one compact disk at just under 70 minutes of length.  Similarly, it can be easily loaded onto any mp3 compatable player.  
   

NEW ARTICLES AND PODCASTS

Here's the latest articles posted on i-grow.net. Enjoy these free coaching, personal growth and development resources - and please provide your comments on the blog!

• Living in Balance – How to Consciously Shift from Stress to Success
• Growing a Blog Business – November 3, 2008
• Life Coaching: Getting Hours for Certification
• How do I create a Fitness State of Mind
• Why do I act the way I do? How can I change this?
• How to Write a Vision Statement
• Book Review – Personal Development for SMART PEOPLE

As you might have guessed, today's article is an introduction to the concepts provided in my new eBook Living in Balance:  How to Consciously Shift from Stress to Success.  Again, I encourage you to download this for free using the information provided in the 'Special Announcements' section above.  As a subscriber to this newsletter, you will not need to 'sign up' for anything to recieve your copy.  

As I learned through my journey which lead to being diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia 5 years ago, its far too easy to 'unconsciously', or 'passively' accept the life that is handed to you.  Many of us allow external forces to dictate how our lives look and feel.  Whether that external force is our work, our relationships, where we live, or how we were brought up, its easy to become so pre-occupied by the things that we do, that we lose track of our vision, aspirations, goals and desires.  Some of us are not even clear on what type of life it is that we'd like to create in the first place.  When we lose touch with this, we feel overwhelmed, tired, overexerted, underappreciated, and stressed out.   Many people say that they want a balanced life where time is adequately distributed to include work, exercise, family, learning, creative expression, enjoyment and all the things they love, but their actions tell a different story.  If this sentence resonates with you, its time to take action.  

Take this moment as an opportunity to assess your own personal state of life balance.  Do you feel that you are 100% satisfied with how you spend your time, and the state of mind in which you spend this time?  If not, whether you are completely dis-satisfied, or 99% satisfied, use this opportunity to assess where you feel you could improve your current state of balance in life.  What would you do differently starting today if only you had the chance?

It takes time, effort and work to create life balance and to consciously shift from stress to success.  Conscious creation is a process, not simply a declaration, and if you truly want to bring about change with respect to one or more aspects of your life, you'll need a starting point.  That starting point is seeing for yourself not that you 'need' change, but that you want it.  When you know that you want it, you are welcome to follow any path of active creation that you choose, but you may find that path easier when you are provided a proven model for success.  Becoming clear with respect to what you really want and a model for success is the foundation of the eBook Living in Balance..  
I hope that this brief introduction to the concepts discussed in the eBook has sparked your interest and more importantly has provided you with a starting point if these topics resonate with you.  For a brief blog article/outline of what the eBook entails, you may read my full post explaining the contents of the ebook here.  Of course, I'd love to hear your comments and feedback on my blog as well.  

Be Well

Written by
Doug Nau; MBA, Certified Life Coach
www.coachforwellness.com, www.i-grow.net
Professional Life/Wellness Coach & Consultant