An amazing thing happened to me on Tuesday. I became a grandmother!!
My daughter/step-daughter, gave birth to her first child, Dean.
The miracle of life! The miracle of labor, of the human body, of the immediate bond between Mom, Dad and child. The joy, the newness, the awe of it all. There's nothing like the birth of a child.
At a recent conference I attended in Montreal, we were treated to a Native American blessing. A song writer had put it to music and had the huge room of 2,000 people sing it in a round. The words and music brought tears to my eyes. It was a blessing I knew I'd want to bestow on Dean.
Here are the words:
When you were born you cried
And the world rejoiced
Live your life so that when you die
The world cries and you rejoice!
I truly believe that each of us have been put on this earth for a reason. We've all
been given great gifts. It's up to us to use them. Are you living your life so that when you die the world cries and you rejoice?
It's never too late to live your life differently, more fully and with meaning.
As I watched my daughter and son in law become parents...I saw them see new meaning for their lives. Our children stand for us to live our life so that when we die they cry and we rejoice.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Why Would You Need a Coach?
I often hear the comment, you need a life coach, in a way that indicates "you have a problem." I find myself saying, I'm not a therapist, I'm not here to solve your problem. In order to make more clear just why someone would WANT or NEED a coach I'd like to address that very question. "Why would you want or need a coach?"
Many people are self-directed and self-managaing. They take intuitive, they know what they want and they have strategies and discipline to go after it. Yet, these very people are often the first to line up for a coach. They know that a coach can see things that they can not. Every great baseball coach has other coaches on his staff...because he can't see everything. We as individuals can't see past our own beliefs and assumptions. Thus, a second pair of eyes is better than one!
For the people that are not self-directed and self-managing coaching is a powerful resource. Coaching allows the individual to get clear as to where they are in life (like it or not), where they want to be (or perhaps figure out where they want to be) and then create a plan to get there. Coaching for these people offers guidance, support and accountability. Accountability is sometimes the biggest benefit. Where else in your life do you have someone holding you to what you say you want? Figuring out who you are and where you want to be is an empowering experience. One that a life coach will enable you to discover.
A third party that benefits from life coaching is the person that feels run by life. Coaching helps individuals learning to take back their life and be the driver instead of the passenger! Discovering our strengths, changing perspectives and realizing we can create what we want is the power of coaching.
I'm sure anyone who reads this would relate to some part of the descriptions above. Coaching is not about me having the right answers...rather it's about me asking you the right questions.
As a coaching friend of mine says, "Therapists use couches...coaches use stairs."
Coaching is about moving forward and creating.
Hope this helps.
Many people are self-directed and self-managaing. They take intuitive, they know what they want and they have strategies and discipline to go after it. Yet, these very people are often the first to line up for a coach. They know that a coach can see things that they can not. Every great baseball coach has other coaches on his staff...because he can't see everything. We as individuals can't see past our own beliefs and assumptions. Thus, a second pair of eyes is better than one!
For the people that are not self-directed and self-managing coaching is a powerful resource. Coaching allows the individual to get clear as to where they are in life (like it or not), where they want to be (or perhaps figure out where they want to be) and then create a plan to get there. Coaching for these people offers guidance, support and accountability. Accountability is sometimes the biggest benefit. Where else in your life do you have someone holding you to what you say you want? Figuring out who you are and where you want to be is an empowering experience. One that a life coach will enable you to discover.
A third party that benefits from life coaching is the person that feels run by life. Coaching helps individuals learning to take back their life and be the driver instead of the passenger! Discovering our strengths, changing perspectives and realizing we can create what we want is the power of coaching.
I'm sure anyone who reads this would relate to some part of the descriptions above. Coaching is not about me having the right answers...rather it's about me asking you the right questions.
As a coaching friend of mine says, "Therapists use couches...coaches use stairs."
Coaching is about moving forward and creating.
Hope this helps.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Life Balance
I'm often asked to speak about life balance. With the holidays around the corner, balancing life with all the other demands is challenging. Our to-do lists grow longer and our stress levels increase. Leaving us with little time or energy. With all the focus on our "to-do" lists we become out of balance with our "doing selves" and our "being selves".
As one of my clients recently told me,"When the "doing" takes over, it feels like being in a tunnel and all the stuff we have to do has a frantic quality to it. The stuff makes me feel trapped in the tunnel with the frantic feeling of trying to get out."
In addition, when we're over focused on what we need to do, we forget about how we want to be. Most of us don't want to be stressed, frantic, or overwhelmed. We want to be relaxed, present, and calm.
In order to find balance during the holiday season, therefore, think about how you want to be. How do you want to be, for example, on Christmas day? Do you want to be calm, relaxed, excited, playful??
Create your TO BE list. Then, create your to-do list. What do you need to do to be?
Balance the doing with your being.
Remember, too, that it's not what we do that creates memories, it's how we are. How do you want to remember this holiday season? Be present in the moment. BE calm, relaxed and available.
As one of my clients recently told me,"When the "doing" takes over, it feels like being in a tunnel and all the stuff we have to do has a frantic quality to it. The stuff makes me feel trapped in the tunnel with the frantic feeling of trying to get out."
In addition, when we're over focused on what we need to do, we forget about how we want to be. Most of us don't want to be stressed, frantic, or overwhelmed. We want to be relaxed, present, and calm.
In order to find balance during the holiday season, therefore, think about how you want to be. How do you want to be, for example, on Christmas day? Do you want to be calm, relaxed, excited, playful??
Create your TO BE list. Then, create your to-do list. What do you need to do to be?
Balance the doing with your being.
Remember, too, that it's not what we do that creates memories, it's how we are. How do you want to remember this holiday season? Be present in the moment. BE calm, relaxed and available.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Words and Their Power
Words
DID is a word of ACHIEVEMENT
WON'T is a word of REBELLION
MIGHT is a word of MEDIOCRITY
CAN'T is a word of DEFEAT & FEAR
SHOULD is a word of DUTY
COULD is a word of POSSIBILITIES
WANT TO are words of CHOICE
TRY is a word of LITTLE FAITH
MAYBE is a word of PROCRASTINATION
WILL is a word of COURAGE
CAN is a word of POWER & SELF-DETERMINATION
DOING is a word of PROGRESS & FULFILLMENT
DONE is a word of SUCCESS.
What words do you use in your "self-talk?"
Do they empower you?
DID is a word of ACHIEVEMENT
WON'T is a word of REBELLION
MIGHT is a word of MEDIOCRITY
CAN'T is a word of DEFEAT & FEAR
SHOULD is a word of DUTY
COULD is a word of POSSIBILITIES
WANT TO are words of CHOICE
TRY is a word of LITTLE FAITH
MAYBE is a word of PROCRASTINATION
WILL is a word of COURAGE
CAN is a word of POWER & SELF-DETERMINATION
DOING is a word of PROGRESS & FULFILLMENT
DONE is a word of SUCCESS.
What words do you use in your "self-talk?"
Do they empower you?
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Sky is Falling vs. Abundance
These days I find myself struggling between the negativity of the economic news and the pessimistic outlook we are bombarded with and trying to stay positive and optimistic.
Part of me feels if I try to remain optimistic, I can begin to question myself; am I just trying to ignore the realities of the economic situation? Or is the core of me just optimistic and always looking for the lessons learned and the positive possibilities. It's easy to feel the worry, the burden, and the uncertainty that looms over everyone as I go out about my day. The jobs losses, foreclosures, and lost stock revenues are very real. Yet, as easy as it seems to get caught up in the "sky is falling" feeling, I also realize it's a perspective. If I choose to stand and believe the sky is falling, I'll take actions in line with that feeling or outlook. To imagine a world or country where we all believe the sky is falling is not a perspective that is helpful or healing.
I have noticed that when I look at the economy and perhaps the message it is sending, I see a real opportunity to take responsibility to take a conscious look at what is happening. It's an opportunity to live life differently. For me, it's perhaps a way to live with less, to appreciate more, to spend time home instead of out spending time away. It's an awesome opportunity to live more simply and to slow down. It shifts me from the perspective of not enough and doom and gloom to abundance and appreciation.
In all challenges lie opportunities.
Part of me feels if I try to remain optimistic, I can begin to question myself; am I just trying to ignore the realities of the economic situation? Or is the core of me just optimistic and always looking for the lessons learned and the positive possibilities. It's easy to feel the worry, the burden, and the uncertainty that looms over everyone as I go out about my day. The jobs losses, foreclosures, and lost stock revenues are very real. Yet, as easy as it seems to get caught up in the "sky is falling" feeling, I also realize it's a perspective. If I choose to stand and believe the sky is falling, I'll take actions in line with that feeling or outlook. To imagine a world or country where we all believe the sky is falling is not a perspective that is helpful or healing.
I have noticed that when I look at the economy and perhaps the message it is sending, I see a real opportunity to take responsibility to take a conscious look at what is happening. It's an opportunity to live life differently. For me, it's perhaps a way to live with less, to appreciate more, to spend time home instead of out spending time away. It's an awesome opportunity to live more simply and to slow down. It shifts me from the perspective of not enough and doom and gloom to abundance and appreciation.
In all challenges lie opportunities.
Monday, October 6, 2008
There's Enough
My good friend gave me a small desk calendar last Christmas that is filled with "The Law Of Attraction" quips and quotes. As I sat here at my desk removing the past days, I re-read each page. This one stuck out. It stuck out because as each client arrived today they seemed filled with uncertainty and fear due to the economic headline news.
The quote, "To think there is not enough is to look at the outside pictures and think that everything comes from the outside. When you do that, you will most surely see lack and limitation. You now know that nothing comes into existence from the outside, and that everything first comes from thinking and feeling it on the inside. Your mind is the creative power of all things."
As I read that today, I realized how often we feel the outside influences on our lives. I also thought about how, when we feel the outside pressures, the economy, the fear...it can cause us to shift our view of the world and ourselves into feeling the limitations and lack. We begin to imagine what life might be like if we lack money. Or how our life might be limited. Less freedoms, less driving, less travel, less opportunities...This perspective of lack and limitations, when looking from the inside out, is rather bleak and halting. This perspective is not open to choice either.
As the quote reminds us, our minds are the creative power of all things. Our minds perspective. We have choices in which we view things. Take this opportunity to take stock of all the abundance that is in your life.
Although the economic outlook right now is shifting, so may we. It's a great time to shift gears and be thankful for all we do have. It's also a great time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life. It's also a great time to realize how we might need to limit ourselves..perhaps forcing us to be more conscious in our choices.
Live in the perspective that there is enough. Perhaps just changing what we think we need enough of. Enough Love? Enough Money? Enough time? Enough friends? Enough clothes? Enough cars? Enough gas? Enough food?
What do you have enough of?
The quote, "To think there is not enough is to look at the outside pictures and think that everything comes from the outside. When you do that, you will most surely see lack and limitation. You now know that nothing comes into existence from the outside, and that everything first comes from thinking and feeling it on the inside. Your mind is the creative power of all things."
As I read that today, I realized how often we feel the outside influences on our lives. I also thought about how, when we feel the outside pressures, the economy, the fear...it can cause us to shift our view of the world and ourselves into feeling the limitations and lack. We begin to imagine what life might be like if we lack money. Or how our life might be limited. Less freedoms, less driving, less travel, less opportunities...This perspective of lack and limitations, when looking from the inside out, is rather bleak and halting. This perspective is not open to choice either.
As the quote reminds us, our minds are the creative power of all things. Our minds perspective. We have choices in which we view things. Take this opportunity to take stock of all the abundance that is in your life.
Although the economic outlook right now is shifting, so may we. It's a great time to shift gears and be thankful for all we do have. It's also a great time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life. It's also a great time to realize how we might need to limit ourselves..perhaps forcing us to be more conscious in our choices.
Live in the perspective that there is enough. Perhaps just changing what we think we need enough of. Enough Love? Enough Money? Enough time? Enough friends? Enough clothes? Enough cars? Enough gas? Enough food?
What do you have enough of?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Get Into Action
Did you ever notice that when you are about to try something new, or take on a new challenge, or simply anticipating something that you are more nervous before the event then after it starts? When we try something new it challenges our mind and body. When we get into action, it releases our "feel good" hormones. Once we're in action it makes us feel better and the ambivalence we initially encountered decreases.
Clients often come to me because they know they want something, but just can't find the momentum to get started. Weight loss, new fitness routine, or taking the time to discover what is next for them in their lives...they want a change...but what? It's often easier to sit with the ambivalence, the what ifs and the worry. But, what does that really give you? What's the price of not changing? Of sitting and wishing it would just happen?
When I began training for my first triathlon, my head often filled up with ambivalent feelings, worry about what awful things could happen, whether I could actually do it or not, etc. To overcome it, I asked myself why I wanted to compete in a triathlon. What was my "WHY"? Why did I like triathlons? Why did I want to do them? When I discovered my answers to my "WHY" i realized that I loved the challenge of the triathlon, I enjoy working towards a goal, the sense of accomplishment, I enjoy the "wow" factor, and I enjoy the mental challenge most of all. Connecting to the "WHY" is what continues to motivate me.
Ask yourself, WHY you want what you want. Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to begin addressing your procrastination? Why do you want to discover what's next for you? Why do you want to run a marathon?
Why do you want to change? Find positive motivation. Engage your feelings, it creates an emotional charge that will power you through your procrastination and ambivalence. Your brain will naturally want to go towards pleasure...show yourself why you want it, and get into action to get it.
So put those ambivalent feelings to rest, get into action today. It's our own minds that create the "what ifs" before you start...once you begin, you realize it's not so bad afterall.
Clients often come to me because they know they want something, but just can't find the momentum to get started. Weight loss, new fitness routine, or taking the time to discover what is next for them in their lives...they want a change...but what? It's often easier to sit with the ambivalence, the what ifs and the worry. But, what does that really give you? What's the price of not changing? Of sitting and wishing it would just happen?
When I began training for my first triathlon, my head often filled up with ambivalent feelings, worry about what awful things could happen, whether I could actually do it or not, etc. To overcome it, I asked myself why I wanted to compete in a triathlon. What was my "WHY"? Why did I like triathlons? Why did I want to do them? When I discovered my answers to my "WHY" i realized that I loved the challenge of the triathlon, I enjoy working towards a goal, the sense of accomplishment, I enjoy the "wow" factor, and I enjoy the mental challenge most of all. Connecting to the "WHY" is what continues to motivate me.
Ask yourself, WHY you want what you want. Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to begin addressing your procrastination? Why do you want to discover what's next for you? Why do you want to run a marathon?
Why do you want to change? Find positive motivation. Engage your feelings, it creates an emotional charge that will power you through your procrastination and ambivalence. Your brain will naturally want to go towards pleasure...show yourself why you want it, and get into action to get it.
So put those ambivalent feelings to rest, get into action today. It's our own minds that create the "what ifs" before you start...once you begin, you realize it's not so bad afterall.
Friday, September 19, 2008
We Have Enough Time
Time. It's a very valuable commodity. So valuable, yet so often taken for granted or overlooked.
Time. It can run our day.
Time. Is there ever enough?
Time. It ticks away, it's not given back.
Time. It's yours to spend.
Time. A measurement of speed for a racer.
Time. It's a valuable commodity.
Time. How do you spend your time?
Make friends with time. "We race to win, but at what price? Driven by the threat of time, we wonder why we feel so empty at the end of action-filled days." Diana Hunt.
Time. How you spend it defines the quality of your life.
It's time.
Perhaps this got you thinking...thinking is good, it awakens awareness.
With awareness comes new possibilities. Nothing changes, however, without new action.
Create new actions today to spend your time in ways that fulfill you, allow you to live in the moment and go to bed feeling full; not empty. Wondering how to move from how you spend your time now, to spending your time to be more fulfilled? Here's a tip, think about what you love to do. Do you make time for it? If not, make an appointment with yourself. Love to knit, read, exercise, garden? Whatever it is, write on your calendar that you have an appointment with yourself to do just that. Write it. You make appointment with other people...do the same for yourself.
This is the TIME of your life. How are you spending it?
Want a good return on your investment of time? Invest time in yourself.
Check out my "Bootcamp." It's well worth your time.
Time. It can run our day.
Time. Is there ever enough?
Time. It ticks away, it's not given back.
Time. It's yours to spend.
Time. A measurement of speed for a racer.
Time. It's a valuable commodity.
Time. How do you spend your time?
Make friends with time. "We race to win, but at what price? Driven by the threat of time, we wonder why we feel so empty at the end of action-filled days." Diana Hunt.
Time. How you spend it defines the quality of your life.
It's time.
Perhaps this got you thinking...thinking is good, it awakens awareness.
With awareness comes new possibilities. Nothing changes, however, without new action.
Create new actions today to spend your time in ways that fulfill you, allow you to live in the moment and go to bed feeling full; not empty. Wondering how to move from how you spend your time now, to spending your time to be more fulfilled? Here's a tip, think about what you love to do. Do you make time for it? If not, make an appointment with yourself. Love to knit, read, exercise, garden? Whatever it is, write on your calendar that you have an appointment with yourself to do just that. Write it. You make appointment with other people...do the same for yourself.
This is the TIME of your life. How are you spending it?
Want a good return on your investment of time? Invest time in yourself.
Check out my "Bootcamp." It's well worth your time.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thoughts for Real Change
How about this statement, "Real, authentic change emerges only from a place of deep focus and intention." (I read this in "Body & Soul" magazine)
Real change comes from deep focus and intention. Hummm....consider that for a moment.
I'm sure you have some areas of your life that could use some change or tidying up. In order to make those changes, and to make them real and lasting, go to a place of deep focus and intention.
So, I ask you further...how do you go to a place of deep focus and intention? As a life coach one of my strengths is bringing my clients into that place of deep focus and intention. My job as a coach is to ask powerful questions, and challenge my clients to uncover their authentic answers. And the answers are not always on the surface, they are usually found deeper, underneath. This is why coaching can be so effective. It's not easy to look deeply within yourself alone. Having a supportive, encouraging coach enables you to take a more honest look.
As the quote above states, go to a place of focus and intention. Discover the power of meditation and yoga. If that is not for you take a walk or a hike and smell the fresh air, the breeze on your face, the birds chirping. Slow down, relax and find your place of inner focus.
I have always found that walking peacefully with a powerful question or statement on my mind allows me to go deeper into the question and uncover it's truths. And, really staying with the thought or question until I discover all it's riches has served me well. Staying focused on the question with the intention of discovering what might be there allows new a powerful thoughts to emerge. With the thoughts and discoveries comes awareness. With awareness comes new choices for change.
So what about you? Want to make real changes in your life? Take the time to focus and digest the questions in your life. Dig, unearth and discover.
Real change comes from deep focus and intention. Hummm....consider that for a moment.
I'm sure you have some areas of your life that could use some change or tidying up. In order to make those changes, and to make them real and lasting, go to a place of deep focus and intention.
So, I ask you further...how do you go to a place of deep focus and intention? As a life coach one of my strengths is bringing my clients into that place of deep focus and intention. My job as a coach is to ask powerful questions, and challenge my clients to uncover their authentic answers. And the answers are not always on the surface, they are usually found deeper, underneath. This is why coaching can be so effective. It's not easy to look deeply within yourself alone. Having a supportive, encouraging coach enables you to take a more honest look.
As the quote above states, go to a place of focus and intention. Discover the power of meditation and yoga. If that is not for you take a walk or a hike and smell the fresh air, the breeze on your face, the birds chirping. Slow down, relax and find your place of inner focus.
I have always found that walking peacefully with a powerful question or statement on my mind allows me to go deeper into the question and uncover it's truths. And, really staying with the thought or question until I discover all it's riches has served me well. Staying focused on the question with the intention of discovering what might be there allows new a powerful thoughts to emerge. With the thoughts and discoveries comes awareness. With awareness comes new choices for change.
So what about you? Want to make real changes in your life? Take the time to focus and digest the questions in your life. Dig, unearth and discover.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
What are you responsible for?
A friend of mine told me about a women's group she attends. Each week they have a topic and engage in great discussions. During one of her meetings, the topic of discussion centered around this powerful question: "What are you 100% responsible for?"
What a great question! I found myself pondering over that question for several days. What am I responsible for? And what do I want to be responsible for? What am I feeling responsible for that is not mine?
I've discovered that I need to take on some responsibility and let go of some. This has fostered a new outlook for me. I'm committed to making some necessary changes in my life to be responsible for those things that I need to be responsible for. My own happiness is on the top of my list. What about you?
I'm going to keep this blog entry short to allow you to ponder that powerful question as well. Take out your journal and discover...."What are you 100% responsible for?"
What a great question! I found myself pondering over that question for several days. What am I responsible for? And what do I want to be responsible for? What am I feeling responsible for that is not mine?
I've discovered that I need to take on some responsibility and let go of some. This has fostered a new outlook for me. I'm committed to making some necessary changes in my life to be responsible for those things that I need to be responsible for. My own happiness is on the top of my list. What about you?
I'm going to keep this blog entry short to allow you to ponder that powerful question as well. Take out your journal and discover...."What are you 100% responsible for?"
Friday, August 1, 2008
Think
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the definition of the word think is this:
To form or have in the mind. Think implies the entrance of an idea into one's mind.
I picked up the book, "Choices That Change Lives" by Hal Urban. I have had it sitting on my shelf for a few months now, and decided to take it with me yesterday as I sat at the local pool to watch my son swim. I happened to turn to the sixth chapter, Thinking. Being that I love to know what thoughts go on in people's heads, I thought that was the chapter for me to read. With highlighter in hand, sure I'd find some nugget of information I could use, I eagerly began reading the chapter.
Now, to back up a moment. My father in law, a math educator and school administrator, always told his students, children and grandchildren to think. In fact, his license plate for his car was, "Think 1". He insisted that we do not live our lives unconsciously without thought. He believed that the answers to anything evolved if we thought first. I could not believe my eyes as I began to read...
So, here I am reading this book and the author mentions a college professor who also professed the importance of thinking. This professor said, "the problem was that most people never learn to operate it (the brain) as effectively as they could, and that this usually results in unfulfilled lives." "Our thoughts rule of lives." Reading this, I got chills up my spine. It's what I have believe and know...and what my father law knew well before me. Somehow I could feel my father-in-law looking over smiling. (he passed away 2 years ago)
The chapter goes on to talk about the difference between an empty head and an open mind. (Big difference here!!) An open mind is really an attitude of being open to new information and to other points of view. An open mind, therefore, is open to being fed nourishing ideas, thoughts and beliefs. A empty head is just that....empty.
Just as it's important to have a healthy diet, it's important to have a healthy mental diet. While it's impossible to totally control everything that goes into our minds due to the fact we are constantly bombarded with email, phone calls, tv, radio, etc. we can choose to screen out a high percentage of the trash, and replace it with healthier material. It's important, therefore, to have a steady stream of positive, nurturing, and uplifting ideas and information. Stimulate and challenge your mind AND take the time to weed and feed your mind as well.
My father in law was a brilliant man. He chose to share his brilliance with whomever he came in contact with. He always wanted to write a book, but never did. Somehow reading "Choices That Change Lives" reiterated the powerful messages he shared with me. As Earl Nightingale, one of the great modern thinkers, has said, "schools teach us how to remember, not to think." He suggested, "there should be a required course called "Thinking" at every grade level of school and throughout college." How I wish I could make that come true for both Earl Nightingale and my father in law.
I've posted some new quotes with regard to this topic of thinking. Read and enjoy...and give them some thought. Afterall, "You are what you are because of what goes into your mind." - Zig Ziglar
To form or have in the mind. Think implies the entrance of an idea into one's mind.
I picked up the book, "Choices That Change Lives" by Hal Urban. I have had it sitting on my shelf for a few months now, and decided to take it with me yesterday as I sat at the local pool to watch my son swim. I happened to turn to the sixth chapter, Thinking. Being that I love to know what thoughts go on in people's heads, I thought that was the chapter for me to read. With highlighter in hand, sure I'd find some nugget of information I could use, I eagerly began reading the chapter.
Now, to back up a moment. My father in law, a math educator and school administrator, always told his students, children and grandchildren to think. In fact, his license plate for his car was, "Think 1". He insisted that we do not live our lives unconsciously without thought. He believed that the answers to anything evolved if we thought first. I could not believe my eyes as I began to read...
So, here I am reading this book and the author mentions a college professor who also professed the importance of thinking. This professor said, "the problem was that most people never learn to operate it (the brain) as effectively as they could, and that this usually results in unfulfilled lives." "Our thoughts rule of lives." Reading this, I got chills up my spine. It's what I have believe and know...and what my father law knew well before me. Somehow I could feel my father-in-law looking over smiling. (he passed away 2 years ago)
The chapter goes on to talk about the difference between an empty head and an open mind. (Big difference here!!) An open mind is really an attitude of being open to new information and to other points of view. An open mind, therefore, is open to being fed nourishing ideas, thoughts and beliefs. A empty head is just that....empty.
Just as it's important to have a healthy diet, it's important to have a healthy mental diet. While it's impossible to totally control everything that goes into our minds due to the fact we are constantly bombarded with email, phone calls, tv, radio, etc. we can choose to screen out a high percentage of the trash, and replace it with healthier material. It's important, therefore, to have a steady stream of positive, nurturing, and uplifting ideas and information. Stimulate and challenge your mind AND take the time to weed and feed your mind as well.
My father in law was a brilliant man. He chose to share his brilliance with whomever he came in contact with. He always wanted to write a book, but never did. Somehow reading "Choices That Change Lives" reiterated the powerful messages he shared with me. As Earl Nightingale, one of the great modern thinkers, has said, "schools teach us how to remember, not to think." He suggested, "there should be a required course called "Thinking" at every grade level of school and throughout college." How I wish I could make that come true for both Earl Nightingale and my father in law.
I've posted some new quotes with regard to this topic of thinking. Read and enjoy...and give them some thought. Afterall, "You are what you are because of what goes into your mind." - Zig Ziglar
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Facing Your Fears
I wanted to share with you my latest speech entitled, "Facing Your Fears"...it's just something I have learned. I now know that facing your fears opens up a whole new world. Enjoy....
As a woman named, Marie Curie was quoted as saying, “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” Today, I’d like to share with you the power of facing your fears
To begin, I’d like to share with you a story from my childhood. Travel back with me…I’m 5 years old, taking swim lessons at the local Boys Club. It’s “test day” to move up into the next class level. There’s ten of us, anxiously holding on to the wall of the pool in the shallow end. Our instructor, Mrs. Atkinson, stands on the side of the pool, whistle in her hand, eyes piercing at us…she was someone you did not argue with…she was intimating! Mrs. Atkinson, with her loud, screaming voice, instructs us to swim two laps of the pool, with ABSOLUTELY NO stopping!! If we stopped and grabbed the wall for any reason, she would step on our hands.
I stood looking up the vast lane of the pool, seeing the water gently sway and change color with the increased depth. It was like the water was just patiently waiting for me. I could feel that pit in my stomach, the uneasy feeling, the nerves…the “what if” questions running a million miles an hour in my head. “What if,…I get tired”…What if “I can’t do it?”
The whistle blew, one by one we had to put our faces in the water and swim… each stroke and each breath was a struggle. I became increasingly more and more out of breath and desperately needed a break. I HAD to grab the wall. As I very meekly grabbed the wall, and pulled myself to it, I saw those familiar feet of Mrs. Atkinson!! While stepping on my hands, she began “yelling at me to let go and swim…there was NO stopping she yelled! Frightened and panicked, I slid back into the water, fighting for my breath, paddling along like a puppy pawing her way through the water. It left me feeling that if you get tired while swimming, you will be helpless.
I have numerous other frightful water stories; being pulled out by the currents in the ocean, sailing, snorkeling, white water rating, witnessing a near drowning … each event contained an almost terrifying moment. It all began to prove to me that water was something for me to stay away from.
Deciding to train for and complete in triathlons, at the age of 39, began the journey of facing my fear of water.
My first step was to re-learn to swim. I took it slow. Eventually, I began to swim longer and longer. I was becoming more comfortable in the pool. But what about swimming in a lake?
The weekend before my first race, I ventured to a friend’s lake to get used to the lake water. I put on my wetsuit, cap and goggles and walked to the edge of the water. My heart was racing; my body was quivering; that panic and fear came over me like a cold, white fog.
After 10 long minutes… I took a deep breath, bent over and flopped into the cold and murky water. As I began to swim towards the dock, keeping my head out of the water, I could feel the cold water entering my wetsuit, creeping its way up my body. It was a chilling reminder of just what I was doing. My heart was pounding with fright and I wrestled with what could be lying beneath the water to grab me and my own voice trying to convince me I that couldn’t do it.
Pulling myself up the ladder of the dock, I felt exhausted and defeated. The dock, which was covered with bird-droppings and fish carcasses, was a morbid site. It was like visiting a prison in which no one survived! (Was the dock trying to tell me something?) I looked back at the shore…and felt trapped. The dock was no place I wanted to stay. The shore, my comfort zone, laid waiting on the other side of that murky, cold water.
It took every ounce of strength and courage to get back into the water and swim back to shore. I reached shore and felt defeated and felt unable to swim more then 25 yds in that water. How could I swim ½ mile? I did not compete in my first triathlon.
Instead I had to figure out how to get through this storm of fear.
I happened to read that fears are irrational. That to overcome them you must take the time to understand what it is you really fear. This caused me to STOP…to ask myself, “What is it that I am really afraid of?
Drowning?
Feeling helpless?
Getting tired in the middle of the lake and not be seen and given help?
The unknown?
Feeling I could not handle it?…that my fear of water was bigger than I?
I discovered that my fear was based on past experiences, future assumptions and what I was making up to believe about myself. Once I understood this…I began to take charge of my own thoughts and beliefs. Instead of my “what ifs”…I discovered ways to handle my fears. If I got tired, I could roll on my back! Instead of ‘What if I can’t” I made up a mantra for myself, “I CAN.I WILL.”
On August 3, 2004, I completed my first triathlon. Coming out of that water was like that scene from the movie, Rocky. I emerged hands high…smiling. I did it. It was then that I realized that my fears were not bigger than I…I had proved to myself that I was bigger than my fear…and nothing could stop me. I had discovered that the only thing that truly stood in my way of getting what I wanted was my own head. Once I set my mind to believing that I could handle it, I did.
What I learned from all of it…and what I want to share with you is this:
Take the time to understand your fear, believe you can handle it. Feel your fear and do it anyway. The richness of life will emerge. Nothing in life, after all, is to be feared…just understood
As a woman named, Marie Curie was quoted as saying, “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” Today, I’d like to share with you the power of facing your fears
To begin, I’d like to share with you a story from my childhood. Travel back with me…I’m 5 years old, taking swim lessons at the local Boys Club. It’s “test day” to move up into the next class level. There’s ten of us, anxiously holding on to the wall of the pool in the shallow end. Our instructor, Mrs. Atkinson, stands on the side of the pool, whistle in her hand, eyes piercing at us…she was someone you did not argue with…she was intimating! Mrs. Atkinson, with her loud, screaming voice, instructs us to swim two laps of the pool, with ABSOLUTELY NO stopping!! If we stopped and grabbed the wall for any reason, she would step on our hands.
I stood looking up the vast lane of the pool, seeing the water gently sway and change color with the increased depth. It was like the water was just patiently waiting for me. I could feel that pit in my stomach, the uneasy feeling, the nerves…the “what if” questions running a million miles an hour in my head. “What if,…I get tired”…What if “I can’t do it?”
The whistle blew, one by one we had to put our faces in the water and swim… each stroke and each breath was a struggle. I became increasingly more and more out of breath and desperately needed a break. I HAD to grab the wall. As I very meekly grabbed the wall, and pulled myself to it, I saw those familiar feet of Mrs. Atkinson!! While stepping on my hands, she began “yelling at me to let go and swim…there was NO stopping she yelled! Frightened and panicked, I slid back into the water, fighting for my breath, paddling along like a puppy pawing her way through the water. It left me feeling that if you get tired while swimming, you will be helpless.
I have numerous other frightful water stories; being pulled out by the currents in the ocean, sailing, snorkeling, white water rating, witnessing a near drowning … each event contained an almost terrifying moment. It all began to prove to me that water was something for me to stay away from.
Deciding to train for and complete in triathlons, at the age of 39, began the journey of facing my fear of water.
My first step was to re-learn to swim. I took it slow. Eventually, I began to swim longer and longer. I was becoming more comfortable in the pool. But what about swimming in a lake?
The weekend before my first race, I ventured to a friend’s lake to get used to the lake water. I put on my wetsuit, cap and goggles and walked to the edge of the water. My heart was racing; my body was quivering; that panic and fear came over me like a cold, white fog.
After 10 long minutes… I took a deep breath, bent over and flopped into the cold and murky water. As I began to swim towards the dock, keeping my head out of the water, I could feel the cold water entering my wetsuit, creeping its way up my body. It was a chilling reminder of just what I was doing. My heart was pounding with fright and I wrestled with what could be lying beneath the water to grab me and my own voice trying to convince me I that couldn’t do it.
Pulling myself up the ladder of the dock, I felt exhausted and defeated. The dock, which was covered with bird-droppings and fish carcasses, was a morbid site. It was like visiting a prison in which no one survived! (Was the dock trying to tell me something?) I looked back at the shore…and felt trapped. The dock was no place I wanted to stay. The shore, my comfort zone, laid waiting on the other side of that murky, cold water.
It took every ounce of strength and courage to get back into the water and swim back to shore. I reached shore and felt defeated and felt unable to swim more then 25 yds in that water. How could I swim ½ mile? I did not compete in my first triathlon.
Instead I had to figure out how to get through this storm of fear.
I happened to read that fears are irrational. That to overcome them you must take the time to understand what it is you really fear. This caused me to STOP…to ask myself, “What is it that I am really afraid of?
Drowning?
Feeling helpless?
Getting tired in the middle of the lake and not be seen and given help?
The unknown?
Feeling I could not handle it?…that my fear of water was bigger than I?
I discovered that my fear was based on past experiences, future assumptions and what I was making up to believe about myself. Once I understood this…I began to take charge of my own thoughts and beliefs. Instead of my “what ifs”…I discovered ways to handle my fears. If I got tired, I could roll on my back! Instead of ‘What if I can’t” I made up a mantra for myself, “I CAN.I WILL.”
On August 3, 2004, I completed my first triathlon. Coming out of that water was like that scene from the movie, Rocky. I emerged hands high…smiling. I did it. It was then that I realized that my fears were not bigger than I…I had proved to myself that I was bigger than my fear…and nothing could stop me. I had discovered that the only thing that truly stood in my way of getting what I wanted was my own head. Once I set my mind to believing that I could handle it, I did.
What I learned from all of it…and what I want to share with you is this:
Take the time to understand your fear, believe you can handle it. Feel your fear and do it anyway. The richness of life will emerge. Nothing in life, after all, is to be feared…just understood
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Sharing What you Know
Recently a woman I know from my gym told me about her new blog. She told me it was filled with just stuff she knew. Like where to find those hard to find shoes, or how the new restaurant in town was...or what was happening out in the Hamptons! It's truly filled with what she knows. Check it out: www.stacyknows.blogspot.com. Then on another occasion, my daughter's friend, was telling me how she was writing an email to send to her friends and family to share with them what she learned and experienced while on her annual work trip to Nicaragua. These trips, for her, don't mean traveling the a third world country to build houses and leave. Rather these trips touch the core of her soul. She arrives home having experienced amazing relationships, experiences and sights. While she and I discussed what she wanted to convey in her email, I suddenly realized that she too wanted to share what she knew. She knows, first hand, what it smells like, looks like, feels like to live in extreme poverty. She knows and is grateful for all that surrounds us here in the US. She knows the power of a smile. She knows what it is to reach out and help your neighbor.
Then today, as I stood in line for a shower my gym, a woman commented that she admired "us swimmers". She told me how she had such a tremendous fear of getting tired while swimming and then drowning. Her comment touched a cord within me. I, too, had had that exact same fear. The fear that if I were to try swimming, I'd get tired and drown. When I shared with her that I too had had that fear of water, she was relieved to know that others felt that way too. That was the third sychronocity around sharing what you know. I know about fear of water. And, I know about overcoming that fear. I also know that when we face our fears and understand them, there is a whole new world awaiting us.
I am giving a speech on facing your fears. I'll be posting that speech...cause it's really something I know about. AND, I'd like to share it with you. Who knows, perhaps it'll inspire someone else to face their fears and reap the rewards on the other side.
Then today, as I stood in line for a shower my gym, a woman commented that she admired "us swimmers". She told me how she had such a tremendous fear of getting tired while swimming and then drowning. Her comment touched a cord within me. I, too, had had that exact same fear. The fear that if I were to try swimming, I'd get tired and drown. When I shared with her that I too had had that fear of water, she was relieved to know that others felt that way too. That was the third sychronocity around sharing what you know. I know about fear of water. And, I know about overcoming that fear. I also know that when we face our fears and understand them, there is a whole new world awaiting us.
I am giving a speech on facing your fears. I'll be posting that speech...cause it's really something I know about. AND, I'd like to share it with you. Who knows, perhaps it'll inspire someone else to face their fears and reap the rewards on the other side.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Self Talk
Through my athletic experience and mental game training, I have become more and more aware of the power of our words. I truly believe that whatever you believe, you will achieve, whether you want to or not. Whatever our thoughts are that we cultivate in our minds each day germinate and grow. One day becoming reality.
When we repeat something often enough it will start to become you. For example, if you think you are not able to control your eating, you won't. Your self-talk each day will continue to confirm this belief.
A change in what you tell yourself will result in a change in your behavior. So, for example, simply changing the above example to, "I can control my eating." Or if that seems to challenging, try this, "I am learning to control my eating." Begin to let those new thoughts and words cultivate new beliefs about yourself. There's a big difference between believing and telling yourself you have no control and believing and telling yourself you can or are learning to control your eating.
Listen carefully to the words you say to yourself. Choose to change the "I can't" to "I can", the "I have to" to, "I want to", the "I should" to "I could"...
You are what you think!!
When we repeat something often enough it will start to become you. For example, if you think you are not able to control your eating, you won't. Your self-talk each day will continue to confirm this belief.
A change in what you tell yourself will result in a change in your behavior. So, for example, simply changing the above example to, "I can control my eating." Or if that seems to challenging, try this, "I am learning to control my eating." Begin to let those new thoughts and words cultivate new beliefs about yourself. There's a big difference between believing and telling yourself you have no control and believing and telling yourself you can or are learning to control your eating.
Listen carefully to the words you say to yourself. Choose to change the "I can't" to "I can", the "I have to" to, "I want to", the "I should" to "I could"...
You are what you think!!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
The Key to Moving Forward Consistently
Our lives are often filled with numerous obligations, responsibilities, wants and needs. Often leading us to wonder how we can possibly achieve our personal goals when life is so packed with stuff. This "stuff" often leaves us with little time to even think about our goals, our own wants and needs. Outlined below is a process I share with my clients to help them get clear about where they want to be and enable them to move forward more consistently.
Step 1: STOP; find an hour to sit down, relax and visual what you want. How would you like your life to be; want less stress? more time? better health? understand your life purpose? Take time to journal, discover what you really want.
Step 2: From that vision, create your goals. Long term (5 years out), medium 2-3 years, short term (1 year) and then monthly and weekly goals.
Step 3: Write those goals down and post them where you will see them every day.
Step 4: Every Sunday night, write three goals for the week.
Step 5: Every evening, write down 6 tasks to complete for the following day, making sure that at least one task is in line with your goal. This is the key to being consistent. Defining just six tasks for each day helps you stay focused. Utilize your time to move forward, not spinning in an endless cycle.
Step 6: Enjoy the journey, remember goals don't have to be reached...just strived for.
I'm often asked for help in setting goals. Keep them simple and remember to use the SMART acroynm.
Specific-What exactly.
Measurable-It must have a way to be measured.
Action oriented - What's the action that will be taken?
Realistic-It has to be realistic...
Time restrained- Put a date to complete this by.
Goals are helpful to keep you focused and motivated. It's one thing to say you want to achieve the goal, it's another to implement the actions to take to get there. If you find you need support and/or accountability to achieve your goals, that's what I do best.
Step 1: STOP; find an hour to sit down, relax and visual what you want. How would you like your life to be; want less stress? more time? better health? understand your life purpose? Take time to journal, discover what you really want.
Step 2: From that vision, create your goals. Long term (5 years out), medium 2-3 years, short term (1 year) and then monthly and weekly goals.
Step 3: Write those goals down and post them where you will see them every day.
Step 4: Every Sunday night, write three goals for the week.
Step 5: Every evening, write down 6 tasks to complete for the following day, making sure that at least one task is in line with your goal. This is the key to being consistent. Defining just six tasks for each day helps you stay focused. Utilize your time to move forward, not spinning in an endless cycle.
Step 6: Enjoy the journey, remember goals don't have to be reached...just strived for.
I'm often asked for help in setting goals. Keep them simple and remember to use the SMART acroynm.
Specific-What exactly.
Measurable-It must have a way to be measured.
Action oriented - What's the action that will be taken?
Realistic-It has to be realistic...
Time restrained- Put a date to complete this by.
Goals are helpful to keep you focused and motivated. It's one thing to say you want to achieve the goal, it's another to implement the actions to take to get there. If you find you need support and/or accountability to achieve your goals, that's what I do best.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Driven by the TO-DO List?
"When busyness is the measure of time, no matter how much time exists it is never enough." - Diana Hunt
Why is it that we often feel we are really living our life when we are busy? Busy with our to-do lists full of stuff. How often have you said you don't have time? No time to sit down, no time to read a book, no time to meet a friend for lunch, no time to garden, no time for exercise. No time? Because we're busy with our stuff...not what's really important to us.
My clients often come to me with the above complaints. No time, driven by their to-do lists, doing for others, working hard, etc. But, more importantly, when I ask them what is important to them in their life? What brings them joy? What's fun? They don't have an answer. It's easier to just get caught up in the to do lists and daily activities then to slow down and think about what is really important to you.
Take a minute, right now...to ask yourself, "What's important to you in your life?"
Travel, family, compassion, integrity, fun, adventure, learning, creating...?? Now,
how can you MAKE time for these important elements in your life?
Here's a tip: Each night before you go to bed, make your action list. Limit this list to just six tasks. What are the top six tasks you will accomplish tomorrow? Once you accomplish them, you'll have created some space to enjoy with a good book, a walk, gardening, planning your next trip, etc. Create space in your day for what's truly important.
Discover life outside of your to-do list. Get in touch with what's truly important to you. Your life will be forever richer for the experience.
Why is it that we often feel we are really living our life when we are busy? Busy with our to-do lists full of stuff. How often have you said you don't have time? No time to sit down, no time to read a book, no time to meet a friend for lunch, no time to garden, no time for exercise. No time? Because we're busy with our stuff...not what's really important to us.
My clients often come to me with the above complaints. No time, driven by their to-do lists, doing for others, working hard, etc. But, more importantly, when I ask them what is important to them in their life? What brings them joy? What's fun? They don't have an answer. It's easier to just get caught up in the to do lists and daily activities then to slow down and think about what is really important to you.
Take a minute, right now...to ask yourself, "What's important to you in your life?"
Travel, family, compassion, integrity, fun, adventure, learning, creating...?? Now,
how can you MAKE time for these important elements in your life?
Here's a tip: Each night before you go to bed, make your action list. Limit this list to just six tasks. What are the top six tasks you will accomplish tomorrow? Once you accomplish them, you'll have created some space to enjoy with a good book, a walk, gardening, planning your next trip, etc. Create space in your day for what's truly important.
Discover life outside of your to-do list. Get in touch with what's truly important to you. Your life will be forever richer for the experience.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Your Confidence Resume
How confident are you? Do you often feel you lack the confidence to do something?
What gives you confidence? The definition of confidence is your belief in your ability to execute a task. When we're first learning a new task, our confidence might be low. As we practice the new task our skills develop and our confidence increases. How often do we practice a task and not take into account that we've improved? In life, it's important to take account of where you are, where you have come from and where you are heading. With regard to confidence, it's important to stop, take account, see how far you have come! It's a real confidence booster!
When I compete in triathlons, my confidence can take a nose dive, if I let it. One way I have discovered to keep my confidence high is to have my confidence resume with me. My confidence resume consists of my answers to a series of questions. The answers become my positive, affirmations...my confidence resume.
I invite you to create your own confidence resume. How would you answer the following questions?
1. What are your strengths?
2. What have others complimented you on?
3. What have you accomplished that you are most proud of?
4. How would you describe your skills to others if you took the most positive stance possible?
5. What can you say about your life that has given you confidence?
6. When you are confident in some area of your life, what does that feel like?
Feel like you've lost confidence? Don't have confidence? I truly believe that
confidence resides in all of us. Choose to be confident. Dig in...find the confidence...even the smallest grain...it's there. It's within YOU...no one can
take your confidence away from you...only YOU can do that!
SO, Head up, shoulders back, chin up...BE confident!
What gives you confidence? The definition of confidence is your belief in your ability to execute a task. When we're first learning a new task, our confidence might be low. As we practice the new task our skills develop and our confidence increases. How often do we practice a task and not take into account that we've improved? In life, it's important to take account of where you are, where you have come from and where you are heading. With regard to confidence, it's important to stop, take account, see how far you have come! It's a real confidence booster!
When I compete in triathlons, my confidence can take a nose dive, if I let it. One way I have discovered to keep my confidence high is to have my confidence resume with me. My confidence resume consists of my answers to a series of questions. The answers become my positive, affirmations...my confidence resume.
I invite you to create your own confidence resume. How would you answer the following questions?
1. What are your strengths?
2. What have others complimented you on?
3. What have you accomplished that you are most proud of?
4. How would you describe your skills to others if you took the most positive stance possible?
5. What can you say about your life that has given you confidence?
6. When you are confident in some area of your life, what does that feel like?
Feel like you've lost confidence? Don't have confidence? I truly believe that
confidence resides in all of us. Choose to be confident. Dig in...find the confidence...even the smallest grain...it's there. It's within YOU...no one can
take your confidence away from you...only YOU can do that!
SO, Head up, shoulders back, chin up...BE confident!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Your Bucket List
Have you seen the movie, "The Bucket List?" I went to see it after I was giving a seminar and a member made the comment that I should see the movie. At the time of the seminar we were talking making time to do the things we love, but put off because we feel we have no time!
The movie, if you have not seen it, is well worth your time! I won't spill all the beans here...but what I walked away thinking about was, what would I put on a list of things that I want to accomplish before my life is over. Travel, yes, like going to New Zealand or Montana and Wyoming. Trying something that seems too risky and frightful like sky diving? NO. What else, then, would I put on my list? The more I sat with this question, the more I began to realize that for me, it's spending more time with my family...quality time. Having belly laughs with my girlfriends and letting our "hair down," worrying less about getting stuff done and just getting outside and embracing the day. On another note, I'd Go to Manhattan with my husband in a limo, take a horse and buggy ride through Central Park, dine in a really nice restaurant, (like we used to do when we dated...) and then take a walk through the city.
What about you? What's on your list? And...how and when will you make that happen?
Take out a blank piece of paper and begin your list...keep it close and cross off and add to it regularly.
The movie, if you have not seen it, is well worth your time! I won't spill all the beans here...but what I walked away thinking about was, what would I put on a list of things that I want to accomplish before my life is over. Travel, yes, like going to New Zealand or Montana and Wyoming. Trying something that seems too risky and frightful like sky diving? NO. What else, then, would I put on my list? The more I sat with this question, the more I began to realize that for me, it's spending more time with my family...quality time. Having belly laughs with my girlfriends and letting our "hair down," worrying less about getting stuff done and just getting outside and embracing the day. On another note, I'd Go to Manhattan with my husband in a limo, take a horse and buggy ride through Central Park, dine in a really nice restaurant, (like we used to do when we dated...) and then take a walk through the city.
What about you? What's on your list? And...how and when will you make that happen?
Take out a blank piece of paper and begin your list...keep it close and cross off and add to it regularly.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
It only Takes A Minute
Have you ever thought about how each minute, every minute, a single minute affects your future? It may seem like such a small amount of time and that minutes go by so quickly. But, did you ever think about how one minute quickly adds to ten minutes, to one hour, to one day, to one week, to one month, to one year, etc, etc, etc? Minutes are a big deal! Minutes are the starting point of building your dreams. From a minute well spent comes and hour well spent...the hour well spent creates a day well spent...pretty soon you are looking at a great year and from there...it's a great lifetime. And to think...it all started with a single minute.
We are all given the same sixty seconds in the minute. And, time waits for noone. Tick, tick, tick....once spent they can not be replaced. So, choose to spend your minutes wisely! Time is a constant for us all, the rich, the poor, male, female, young and old. Time...we all have the same amount of it. It's how we choose to spend it
that makes all the difference.
How do you choose to spend your time? Do you use it wisely or do you let it pass on by? Do you fill your time with time-wasters? Or do you fill your time with life? Your success or failure depends on how you choose to spend your time.
There is no time to lose...life does come to an end. Life, unlike a minute, is not countable...who knows how long you are here.
It only takes a minute to change your life. It takes less than a minute to make the choice to spend your time wisely and with purpose. Make this minute count. Make the decision to change and move in a new direction. This is the minute that counts. This is the minute you'll change your life!
Now's the time!
We are all given the same sixty seconds in the minute. And, time waits for noone. Tick, tick, tick....once spent they can not be replaced. So, choose to spend your minutes wisely! Time is a constant for us all, the rich, the poor, male, female, young and old. Time...we all have the same amount of it. It's how we choose to spend it
that makes all the difference.
How do you choose to spend your time? Do you use it wisely or do you let it pass on by? Do you fill your time with time-wasters? Or do you fill your time with life? Your success or failure depends on how you choose to spend your time.
There is no time to lose...life does come to an end. Life, unlike a minute, is not countable...who knows how long you are here.
It only takes a minute to change your life. It takes less than a minute to make the choice to spend your time wisely and with purpose. Make this minute count. Make the decision to change and move in a new direction. This is the minute that counts. This is the minute you'll change your life!
Now's the time!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
What Would YOU do with $1 Million CONTEST
I was watching "Deal or No Deal" last night. Howie,the host of the show, asked the contestant, "What would you do with one million dollars?" That got me thinking....
what would I do with one million dollars? I had a great time dreaming about what that would be like, what I'd do, how it would impact my life.
Here's an offer I'd like to throw out here. Answer the question, what would you do with a million dollars? Write your response in the comment section of this blog. I'll hold a contest. On January 31st I'll pick one response. That person will receive $150 of coaching. Perhaps you can use it to propel yourself into moving towards a "million dollar life". One that is fun, exciting, fulfilling and has you really lit up!
What do you have to lose? Jump in. 1 Million dollars! Dream big...what will your life be like? How will that amount of money affect you? What have you always wanted to do but haven't because of money? Who would you share it with?
Be a winner...enter the contest...and dream big.
what would I do with one million dollars? I had a great time dreaming about what that would be like, what I'd do, how it would impact my life.
Here's an offer I'd like to throw out here. Answer the question, what would you do with a million dollars? Write your response in the comment section of this blog. I'll hold a contest. On January 31st I'll pick one response. That person will receive $150 of coaching. Perhaps you can use it to propel yourself into moving towards a "million dollar life". One that is fun, exciting, fulfilling and has you really lit up!
What do you have to lose? Jump in. 1 Million dollars! Dream big...what will your life be like? How will that amount of money affect you? What have you always wanted to do but haven't because of money? Who would you share it with?
Be a winner...enter the contest...and dream big.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Resolutions or Intentions?
It's that time of year...time to make the New Year's Resolution. Do you have one? I have been listening to people say, "Yes, I made a resolution...but I never keep it." Makes me wonder if just the word, resolution means to wish for something, or put some effort in and when it does not materialize quickly enough...out the window it goes.
I am part of a Spirituality Group at my church. This week's topic of discussion will be Resolutions. One member of the group said, let's rename the topic, Intentions.
Intentions give us a new perspective on resolutions. What intentions will you set for this year? What intentions do you have for today?
So what does it take to keep your resolution or to have clear goals or intentions? I recently read that the American Society for Training and Development gathered these statistics of the likelihood of a person completing a goal breaks:
Hear an idea = 10%
Consciously decide to adopt an idea = 25%
Decide when they will do it = 40%
Plan how they will do it = 50%
Commit to someone else that they'll do it = 65%
And when they have a specific accountability appointment with the person they have committed to = 95% actually complete the goal.
My intention for 2008 is to help as many people as I can to create goals that excite and motivate them which will allow them to live a life that is rich, fulfilling and on fire!
What about you? Do you know what your intentions are for 2008? Do you know what you want in your life? Consciously decide to adopt an intention, an idea...decide when you will do it, develop a plan and commit to telling someone of your intentions. Next, have someone hold you accountable to what you say you will do.
It's your life...live it to the fullest! Don't put off doing the things you love...NOW is the time to act. If not now, when? You have a whole year ahead of you.
I've told you my intention for 2008...how can I help you with yours?
I am part of a Spirituality Group at my church. This week's topic of discussion will be Resolutions. One member of the group said, let's rename the topic, Intentions.
Intentions give us a new perspective on resolutions. What intentions will you set for this year? What intentions do you have for today?
So what does it take to keep your resolution or to have clear goals or intentions? I recently read that the American Society for Training and Development gathered these statistics of the likelihood of a person completing a goal breaks:
Hear an idea = 10%
Consciously decide to adopt an idea = 25%
Decide when they will do it = 40%
Plan how they will do it = 50%
Commit to someone else that they'll do it = 65%
And when they have a specific accountability appointment with the person they have committed to = 95% actually complete the goal.
My intention for 2008 is to help as many people as I can to create goals that excite and motivate them which will allow them to live a life that is rich, fulfilling and on fire!
What about you? Do you know what your intentions are for 2008? Do you know what you want in your life? Consciously decide to adopt an intention, an idea...decide when you will do it, develop a plan and commit to telling someone of your intentions. Next, have someone hold you accountable to what you say you will do.
It's your life...live it to the fullest! Don't put off doing the things you love...NOW is the time to act. If not now, when? You have a whole year ahead of you.
I've told you my intention for 2008...how can I help you with yours?
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