Wellbeing, The Science Of Happiness, Self Care, Personal Development, Happy Life Habits, Happiness, Habits, Connection
Shaileen Shah
A Thousand Mile Journey Begins With The First ...

Is you life too busy, boring or bland? If yes, read on, focus on self-renewal and energy management making your life beautiful by prioritising how you use your energy, time and attention to engage in activities that help you flourish, thrive, have zest and engagement to feel fully alive.

The year 1994 was a defining year in my life. I was just reflecting and realised that 2024 marks 30 years since I started my personal development and growth journey.

A Thousand Mile Journey Begins With The First Step...
Grief, Wellbeing, Self Care, Relationships, Mental Health, Inspiration, Happiness, Habits, Gratitude
Shaileen Shah
A Christmas Care - Role (Carol) Who Cares? for ...

In the story of Jesus’ birth there are three kings who come bearing gifts. In Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol there are 4 ghosts who visit Ebeneezer Scrooge. His business partner Jacob Marley and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

On 11th Dec 2020 our world changed when my father suddenly passed (https://www.happylifehabits.co.uk/news/2020/12/24/live-love-learn-amp-legacy) away within 36 hours. He was the primary carer for my mum. We had the gifts and ghosts of : Old age, Grief, Loneliness, Parkinsons and Dementia. That was part of our inheritance.

Without those gifts and ghosts this article would not be written, published and shared.

As time goes by the probability that someone close to you will be impacted by dementia is increasing. 

“One of the hardest things in life is to know that you can not stop the decline as you witness firsthand the diminishing cognitive capacity of a loved one due to progressive incurable neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s or Dementia. 

To observe them becoming a shadow of themselves day by day; the impact on their physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing. Knowing there is nothing you can do to stop that decline. Experiencing the loss each day as anticipatory grief.” 

Shaileen Shah - Carer, Happy Life Habits Coach, Speaker and Trainer.

This article is about my role as a carer for my mum who is elderly, grieving, lonely and suffering from the progressive and incurable neurological conditions of both Parkinson’s and Dementia. It shares the perspective of the carer, the challenges faced, how best to look after yourself as well as how to look after and interact with someone who has these conditions or someone you are caring for. 

I salute all those who are carers of any type and ask you to support those who you know who are doing a caring role.

A Christmas Care - Role (Carol) Who Cares? for the Carer? Dementia/Parkinson's/Old Age/Grief/Loneliness
Community, Spirituality, Values
Shaileen Shah
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE

The blog was not planned. The fantastic Mel Robbins video The World Needs Your Light prompted a thread connecting various content. The essence is about being the light, shining our light. This is by living and expressing our virtues, qualities and values. The World Values Day and the Book Club help by recognising the values and virtues that are important to us, how we become Heroic in expressing them each day to be our best and contribute to positively serving the world.

For those who have joined the book club or ordered the book from Happy Life Habits watch this video on the Heroic 7 Objectives to get a sense of what the book is about and how we use it to be our Heroic Self.

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE
Happiness, Happy Life Habits, Inspiration, Habits, The Science Of Happiness, Wellbeing
Shaileen Shah
Every Day Happiness

In addition to being a coach, speaker and trainer, I am now also an author of the ebook, “Every Day Happiness”.

‘Every Day Happiness’ provides understanding, tools and habits we can utilise to navigate a world with rising uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. This increase makes more demands on our Physical, Mental, Emotional, Social and Spiritual Wellbeing. Everyday Happiness is a nonfiction book written for professionals, business owners, leaders and managers reminding them to choose to put Happiness and Positive Emotions at the heart of everything they do. Thereby they will have better happiness, mental and emotional wellbeing, productivity and life satisfaction in all areas of their life.

Every Day Happiness
Connection, Gratitude, Happy Life Habits, Happiness, Values, Personal Development, Purpose
Shaileen Shah
Gratitude is my Super Power

Gratitude is my superpower. When I am immersed in the feeling of gratitude I come alive, have hope, optimism, see some many possibilities, am creative and very productive. My whole energy is different - feel very positive, connected and grounded.

  • Gratitude is my Superpower

  • 7 THINGS THAT AFFECT YOUR VIBRATORY FREQUENCY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF QUANTUM PHYSICS

  • What are your Superpowers?

  • Thanksgiving

  • Inner Compass Good Life

  • Outstanding Black Friday Offer

Gratitude is my Super Power

Year End Review

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End Of Year Review 2023

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Review 2023

At various points in the year I take a moment to review the preceding time period and what is forthcoming. This is often at the end of the year with the Looking Back, Looking Forward workshop, the middle of the year and sometimes ad hoc too.

Like journaling, writing and sharing the review helps me celebrate the wins, learn from the challenges, see growth and gratefully acknowledge the opportunities.

My chosen highlights for 2023

Here are the themes for my chosen personal and professional highlights for 2023 with a brief example. Details on these continue in the blog article.

Commitments, Learning & Habits-

The projects and roles I have committed to I have delivered on. What has helped is consistency, focus, intention & creativity. I have worked from my strengths, stretched, stepped out of my comfort zone, attempted new ideas, used a growth mindset, been resourceful and drawn upon my various past experiences.

Social Connection and Celebration - Various birthdays and anniversaries are celebrated including milestone ones.

Rest & Renewal - much needed overdue holiday break in Kenya with Masai Mara Balloon Safari, forest walks and relaxation at the beach

Community Service & Volunteering - Mental Health Awareness Week digital support and masterclass on Anxiety

Achievements & Creative Innovation - Becoming a certified Heroic Performance Coach from 300 Day coaching program

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Looking Back, Looking Forward - HLH 2021 Review and 2022 Plans

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Looking Back, Looking Forward - HLH 2021 Review and 2022 Plans

In this blog article:

  • HLH 2021 review

  • MasterMind Group 2021 Learning Segment : RCSI : The Science of Happiness & Health

  • MasterMind Group 2022 opportunity

  • A funny True story

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Happy New Year! See the year starts with Happy so be happy. I have recently gone through a year end review using a wonderful tool called the year end compass. I wrote about it last year when I first discovered it. This year I was able to spend a bit more time going through it more thoroughly to reflect on last year and to consider themes for this year. I found the process really enjoyable, useful and contemplative. I spread it over a few days as opposed to doing in one sitting. It allowed me to remember and savour the happy moments, absorb and accept the sadder moments, consider the things learnt and really appreciate the opportunities and moments of joy experienced. With that I gratefully thank all who have supported me on this journey; be it words of encouragement, coming to or sharing about workshops, investing in a happiness journal or two and encouraging others to do so also; creating opportunities for me to share at groups, communities and companies or reading this blog . Thank You.

A few questions from the year end compass:

What is the wisest decision I have made…?

The biggest risk I took …?

The biggest surprise of the year…?

The most important thing I did for others…?

Who are the three people who influenced you the most?

What are the the people you influenced the most?

Plus many more.

Then there are sections to look forward to this this year which included:

This year I will no longer procrastinate any more on…

This year I will be bravest when…

This year will be special for me because…

Take a moment to consider your answers to the questions .

I created a worksheet with some of these questions for the class I teach of 14-15 year olds at Veerayatan SCVP Jain School. It is part of work we are doing in sharing life skills with Habits and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers being the focus. Will be interesting to see how it goes. Really enjoying researching, think about and developing the content to share.

The 3rd Monday in January is known as Blue Monday, a day when many people feel low or more depressed due to various factors. Last year I wrote about Blue Monday. Again my friends at the Museum of Happiness are hosting a Winter Happiness Festival on Sunday 19th January 2020 to coincide with Blue Monday. I am volunteering there, I have enjoyed the previous 2 festivals.

Speakers include:

  • Clinical psychologist Dr Shelley Kerr of Balanced Minds, who will share the science of self-compassion and offer practical tools and techniques to give you full permission to be kinder to yourself

  • Best-selling author and behavioural change expert Shahroo Izadi will share how self-kindness is the key to changing unwanted habits, and how to make meaningful sustained changes in any area of your life

  • Former contributing editor of Ethical Performance Magazine Adam Woodhall of Extinction Rebellion will motivate and inspire us on how to be kinder to animals and the planet

  • Founder of I am Circle Nina Bubamara will conclude with a reflective session to connect and reflect more deeply, champion our creative expression and individuality, and set strong intentions to take action for a happier, kinder world.

We’ll close with a loving kindness meditation for the world and some ecstatic dance to shake off what no longer serves you.

This is a fundraiser to help the museum continue to do the fantastic work it does. Details here if you want to get tickets.

On February 14th (Valentines Day) and February 28th, both Fridays I will be sharing workshops on Happier Relationships at Veerayatan SCVP Jain School in NW London. These sessions are free and open to all.

SCVP Happiness Feb 2020.jpg

Resources

Year End Compass

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About the Author

Shaileen Shah is a Happiness Coach, Speaker and Trainer. Previously having been in finance technology for the investment banking arm of RBS during the RBS takeover of Natwest, the RBS takeover of ABN Ambro and the financial crisis he has experienced the challenges brought by uncertainty, change and stress. He is certified in The Science of Happiness and shares through Happy Life Habits. Happy Life Habits Positively Impacts Happiness & Well Being Levels by creatively and uniquely combining Personal Development + The Science of Happiness + Spirituality. A business for Good; supporting the UNs Sustainable Development Goals. For more information see HappyLifeHabits.co.uk.

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START YOUR YEAR END REVIEW NOW

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Many people in December do a end of year review to reflect on the past 12 months. They go through their calendar, diary, journal and memories to reflect and capture aspects from the year. There is a great free tool called the year compass that can help with this process available from yearcompass.com/gb. The process can be insightful, heartwarming, provide learning and growth. Instead of waiting till the end of the year to do it why not do one at the end of each month, This has the advantage of making the end of year process quicker and smoother, less chance of missing things and the benefit of getting a good feeling as you savour and reflect at the end of the month and the opportunity to savour each following month.

One way to do it is to copy some of the items from the yearcompass into a word document or google sheet and title with the chosen month then add to it each month end.

Things to consider for inclusion are:

What did I achieve this month?

What were insights I gained?

What did I learn?

What am I grateful for?

What was challenging and how did I deal with it?

Who helped me?

Who did I help?

What could I have done better?

What am I looking forward to this coming month?

The YearCompass breaks it down into a few categories which include:

  • Personal Life & Family

  • Belongings

  • Friends, community

  • Intellectual

  • Finances

  • Work, Studies, Profession

  • Relaxation, Hobbies, Creativity

  • Heath, Fitness

  • Emotional, Spiritual

  • Bucket List

This is an expansion of the 4 human dimensions of : Physical, Mental, Social/Emotional and Spiritual.

YearCompass gives opportunity to consider the time period in six sentences such as :”The wisest decision I made…”. and six questions such as “What is the best thing you have discovered about yourself?”.

There is much more to the review doc than shared here, however, hopefully this gives you a feel.

Enjoy reviewing and reflecting