01 Apr
Nurture Your Nature

WWB’s 2015 Passioneer Series: ‘How to Make Big Things Happen in Your Life’. A Q&A with Dr. Danielle Dowling

E-Book “Soul Sessions’ by Dr. Danielle Dowling

Welcome to the 2015 ‘Passioneer Series’ with World Wise Beauty

Okay I have a question. Who doesn’t want to make big things happen in their lives? I rest my case. We all do! The great thing about us human beings is all we define ‘big’ differently and have our own special dreams. So what is your ‘big’? I invite you to explore what the next big thing is in your life with the first installment of WWB’s ‘Passioneer Series’.

I am thrilled to introduce you to my first 2015 expert , Dr. Danielle Dowling, Life Coach and author of the featured e-book ‘Soul Sessions.’.  Now don’t be discouraged by the title. This is no lightweight book about wishing on the stars. ‘Soul Sessions’ is a serious personal development guide to help you get clear on what you want and ‘make big things happen’ in your life. Dr. Dowling holds a masters and doctorate degrees in psychology and is a professional ‘Life Coach’. In addition to her impressive knowledge and expertise her own personal life story is pretty inspiring! I am honored to chat with her and I am positive she has something very meaningful to offer you.

If you find yourself saying “somehow, someway, and someday’ maybe what you need is a clarified plan to achieve the aspiration you have been carrying around for so long. Once you visit her website, download some free planning tools ( yep free!) and read her e-book I know you will be totally psyched about making big things happen in your life!  Maybe you will even hire Dr.Dowling as your Life Coach! If you don’t know what Life Coaching is and how it can help you, read on and learn more. Meet Dr. Danielle Dowling…

Lauroly Q- Welcome Danielle! I am so thrilled to feature your practice and e-book “Soul Sessions’ at World Wise Beauty. There are many life-coaches and psychologist out there but I truly found you to be what I call an ‘Ideal Find’! I absolutely love your beautiful, clean and accessible digital platform, but most importantly I appreciated your authentic voice. I also believe your advanced education in Psychology is a huge asset to your Life Coaching profession. The first thing we have in common is New Jersey. You are an original Jersey Girl and I am a long-time transplant from New York. The second thing we have in common is we both want to encourage women to live their lives authentically and flourish. World Wise Beauty’s mantra is to be “comfortable in your own skin’ and I believe true wellness and personal success stems from this very place of inner knowing.  I’m excited about exploring the field of Life Coaching with you, and learning more on how we can all find joy and personal success in our lives. Maybe you could begin by giving us an understanding of what Life Coaching is and how you came up with the title of your E-book ‘Soul Sessions’?

 

Dr.Danielle Dowling, Author of ‘Soul Sessions’

[box]Dr. Danielle Dowling: Hi Laura! Thank you so much for the opportunity to share and connect around some of my most favorite things to chat about. The coaching process addresses specific personal projects, business successes, general conditions and transitions in the client’s personal life, relationships or profession by examining what is going on right now, discovering what your obstacles or challenges might be, and choosing a course of action to make your life be what you want it to be. Life coaching tends to be more concerned with the present and the future whereas therapy traditionally tends to be more concerned with the past…the roots of current day maladaptive behavior. I strongly believe the marriage of both therapy and life coaching gives the client the greatest opportunity to create a life they love living in and making big things happen in their life.

I feel real magic exists at the intersection of a strong spiritual practice and taking consistent, action oriented steps in the direction of your dreams. We are all here on a soul journey. The journey to discover, BE and celebrate our most raw, authentic selves. My book Soul Sessions is a comprehensive, cohesive guide to achieving just that and making it sustainable. [/su_note]

Lauroly Q- With your advanced education and understanding of human nature you must encounter a lot of people who might need a little more therapy before moving on to coaching. I say this because it’s pretty hard to establish authentic goals, unless we have a good understanding of ourselves. It’s no easy task for any person to self-actualize. We all have life experiences that put is in roles, or shape us in such a way that we sometimes lose our authenticity and memory of what really makes us feel alive. This is where life-coaching is so helpful, it helps us zoom in and flush out all the things that pull us away from our true aspirations. How do you select your clients and what would you recommend for the person who is unclear about what they need?

 

Free Download/Make it Happen Planning Tool

Dr. Danielle Dowling: I believe my clients select me! Or rather the Universe brings us together at the most advantageous time for growth and expansion. Yes, I would agree that often we begin by leaning a little heavier on the therapy side so as to clean up burdensome, fear based, self-limiting beliefs that act as the ultimate roadblock between the client and their best life. It then becomes much easier to do the work of becoming clear around desire, intentions, passions and natural strengths. From there confidence begins to build and we begin with creating goals and actionable steps around achieving those goals. Most of my clients agree to specific “soul work” or homework in between our sessions. This helps to keep them focused, on their own leading edge and in the “work.” It’s breathtaking when it all comes together and a true rebirth occurs.

In my experience we are and remain unclear about what we need when we are out of touch with ourselves and ignoring or skimping on our well-being. I encourage my clients to put a good dose of heart centered thought into what they are doing or not doing when they feel anchored in their healthiest, most aligned self. These answers varied a bit based on the individual but it all parlays back to some version of moving their bodies on a regular basis through exercise, daily, quite reflection time, eating whole nutritious foods (most of the time), practicing gratitude, having fun, and working towards a larger, meaningful goal that feels in integrity with their deepest values. If you are unclear about what you need in the larger sense go back to doing the basics. The answers will come when you climb back into your skin and heart. You are the expert on you. The answers already exist you just need to remove the mental blockages between you and it and that is best done with lots of self-care.

 

Lauroly Q- Thanks for clarifying Danielle. It is important to know that coaches are guides, and ideally work with people who are self-aware, and want to take an aspect of their life (personal or professional) to the next level.  It could be you want to find balance between your career and family life, or you are thinking about relocating far away from home, or you want to change careers and maybe start a business. Once we are entrenched in any lifestyle it is sometimes hard to extricate ourselves from the thick of it. A supportive and objective coach is the best ‘treat’ you could ever give yourself! I love how generous you are with sharing some of your coaching worksheets on-line for free. They are printable and fantastic primers to the coaching experience. Danielle what do you think is the most common wall or stumbling block that many women run into when it comes to achieving their aspirations and dreams?

 

Free Download at Dr.Dowling’s Website

Dr. Danielle Dowling: In my experience the most common wall or stumbling block that women run into when it comes to achieving their aspirations and dreams is a lack of trust in themselves. Deep down most of us think we can’t and won’t “pull it off.” Whatever “it” is for her, it is mired in deep doubt and fear. This was very, very true for me for most of my life until my early 30’s when I decided to return to graduate school and earn my doctorate in psychology. I had million excuses as to why I shouldn’t go back and the truth is at the root of it I didn’t trust myself to take on such a huge financial, spiritual, emotional and quite frankly physical responsibility. I didn’t think I had what it took and many women I meet and work with feel similarly in their respective lives. I always suggest beginning with the mantra I began with the day I decided to go back to school, which is: “I trust myself to figure it out.” I didn’t fully believe it of course, but it was a beginning! The simple declaration that I intended to trust myself to figure it out was empowering and validating. As I moved through the experience of grad school and even still today as struggles and doubts come up I say that mantra again and again: “I trust myself to figure it out.” And then I take the next best step. I remind my clients they don’t have to have it all figured out they just need to do the next best step and the information they glean from that will reap the knowledge they need to take yet the next best step. Today, I trust myself more ever and that is a result of telling myself this over and over again and taking actionable steps to follow.

 

Lauroly Q- I noticed you even have a free printable called ‘Relationship Know How’. It’s a great condensed tool-kit helping woman get clear on what they want in a healthy relationship and get their needs met. I love the part where you emphasize how important it is to be honest with ourselves first. You can’t ask for what you want until you are clear on what you want. Have you ever observed the gal who says she wants to be married and have kids and then dates all the ‘bad boys’ that are so far from what she wants it is glaring! There goes those ‘blind spots’ again! That gal might require a little more deep therapy but for the woman who wants to improve her own communication skills while already in a relationship, a coaching experience can be invaluable. Danielle you are now living in California and offer your own coaching services, but I think it was brilliant to create the ‘Soul Sessions’ e-book because it’s the next best thing to a coaching experience with you. It’s also a great training guide to help people tune into to what really matters in their life. What can people expect from your book?

Dr. Danielle Dowling: Thank you so much for the time to discuss Soul Sessions it is very near and dear to my heart. I spend one full year writing and then producing it and so fittingly a lot of soul work went into it! Clients can expect to get greater clarity and confidence around: what activities allow them to feel alive and healthy, what they want to achieve, what they are good at, mitigating and silencing negative chatter, choosing a more empowering perspective, cultivating greatness, steering and directing their emotions, ending self-sabotage, transforming their relationship with fear from dis-empowering to empowering, creating the right support circle and letting the wrong people go, getting grateful and learning when and why it is so essential to take a break and be kind to ourselves. With recorded meditations, podcasts, countless downloads and worksheets this is a guide one can return to again and again through the years for constant inspiration and deep breaths.

 

 

Lauroly Closing- Thank you for joining me Danielle! I am a huge fan of your work and I totally believe we could all benefit from a good life coach like you. I hope my WWB followers will explore your beautiful website and professional services, so they can do whatever it takes to become ‘comfortable in their own skin’ and make big things happen in their life. The e-book ‘Soul Sessions’ is a wonderful workbook and investment in your dreams. Don’t forget to follow Dr. Dowling on Facebook and other social media channels. Visit her about page and learn more about her journey, credentials and passion for life!

P.S  To follow the ‘Passioneer’ series here at World Wise Beauty, click the subscribe button on the sidebar to your right.

Truly Herself,
Lauroly

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *