Yes, I’m a Joy Coach. No, I don’t think you should feel joyful all the time. 

Yes, I teach people how to live and lead from a place of joy. 

No, that doesn’t mean you forget about all the hard stuff and keep pushing away your fears. 

Sorry. 

With my Joy Clubbers and my coaching clients, I get very real about all the feelings. It’s my firm belief that feelings give us our full experience of life. And for most people who are rushing around trying to do the right thing, tick all the boxes, and please the people in their lives – that aching feeling on the inside is the lack of fullness. 

When I meet with clients for the first time they often tell me that they feel stuck. Almost as if they’ve “lost their mojo”. They’re craving something and can’t quite articulate what that is. What’s my next step? How do I feel great about my job again? Should I have bought a house already? Why do I feel so stressed all the time? 

What we quickly uncover is that they’re missing their JOY. They want to live a fuller experience of their life. Be present with their loved ones. Show up in their profession in a way that feels fulfilling. Grow, expand, learn, experience all that life has to offer. 

My biggest piece of advice for them? Keep choosing joy. 

It’s not always easy. Sometimes you have to fight for it. But your joy is necessary. Not just so you can feel good again. When you choose joy, you give others in your life permission to do the same. You give those going through a hard time this flicker of light to turn towards. Your energy becomes magnetic to those around you. 

Choosing joy is about consciously, on purpose, taking action that you know will fill you up with joy (even if you have to wait a little while for that feeling to kick in). 

It’s being happy and excited about your new engagement, even if your friend is going through a devastating break up. 

It’s saying no to the girls’ night out, because all you really want to do is snuggle on the couch and go to bed at 9pm. 

It’s being unapologetic about how much you love pizza, when everyone is telling you it’s bad for you. 

It’s choosing to go away glamping on your sister’s birthday weekend, even though you know you’ll miss her party, because you just need the time away. 

These are difficult decisions at times. Requiring a commitment to your inner truth – that knowing inside of you of what you most need at any point in time. 

Every time you choose joy, you elevate yourself. You release tension and soften into the “real you”. That confident, loving, gentle, generous soul that you are. The one that you sometimes hide from others, despite knowing that when you are fully you, you always get the results you’re looking for. 

Sometimes choosing joy can feel really really easy. Like when you rock up to the coffee shop and your mouth starts salivating the moment your eye catches the strawberry and Nutella muffins. Mmmm… YES! 

Or when it’s a bright, sunny, hot weekend and you just know for sure you’re going to spend it in the park or on the beach. YES! 

These smaller, easier, decisions are actually incredibly helpful. They train us to show up for the bigger, tougher decisions – because our brain literally knows it’s safe to do so. 

Choosing joy is really a training programme of consistently showing up for yourself. Starting small is the best way to ingrain the new habit and get the results – more joy, more alignment, more energy, confidence and more YOU in your life! 

How will you choose joy today?