Choose what to change

This week review the list of changes we

wish to make in our lives.

 

Read it over and see if there are additions or

subtractions to the list. Perhaps more items

occurred to you over the week. Try to make it as

complete as possible.

 

Now choose the one item we want

to work on first.  I say one item because

regardless of the many “benefits” of multi-tasking,

making a significant change is requires our complete and

undivided attention.

 

So how do we choose?

 

I suggest picking the one area which has been standing

in our way the most.  It has been our mind for awhile.

The one area in our life for which we have often said

“If only”.

 

Our biggest challenge!  Is it health or fitness goal,

a financial problem, a mess around us, a relationship,

an unsatisfactory job, a fear, an unfulfilled dream?

 

Pick the challenge which will bring the biggest satisfaction

when we conquer it.  The challenge which will enable us to

move forward with other parts of our lives.

 

The challenge we are willing to change right NOW.

The one area we are committing to overcome

by year’s end.

 

In just 48 days We can say I did it!

How to start?

This week – Take time everyday to work

On your project. Commit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making a change on our lives

I am back with my weekly blog coaching series.  I hope you will learn

from my tips as much as I do. Honestly, there will be a few technical

glitches which I am working on – better layout, adding photos, headings,

etc. to enhance  your reading experience.  So please bear with me

as I improve my blog posting skills.

 

As you recall each week has an assignment to follow.

So remember to schedule time in your week to commit to yourself and your growth.

 

If you missed the first 60 or so posts which began in the fall of 2012 –

don’t worry, they will soon be available to my email subscriber list. To be notified

when, sign up for the newsletter on the side panel.

 

So during this first series which begins today and ends at year’s end, I want to inspire,

educate, encourage, empower and challenge you to make a change in your life.

 

Our lives are a series of growth opportunities and by embracing them

we can enrich our time on mother earth.

 

So instead of burying our heads in the sand, of procrastinating,

of holding onto negative beliefs and fears, let’s tackle our

issues and take charge of our lives.

 

Step one assignment – pull out your journal and make a list of everything,

every single thing in your life you want to change.  I know when I

made my list, it was so long that I immediately felt overwhelmed.

But as time went on, I realized that by making my list, I could let of the endless stream

of to=do’s running a loop in my head.

I felt freer to pick one item and work on it.

 

It may be helpful to list you tasks into these categories with a few samples:

Self: take a class, organize the garage, rekindle a passion.

Health: lose ten pounds, run a 5K, meditate regularly

Wealth: save 10% of my income, make out my will, get a new job

 

While this may not be your final list, it will get you going.

Start writing!

 

 

15 Minutes of fun each day

Can you believe that it is already March?
We say this every year, time goes by
so quickly. This month we turn forward
our clocks – adding an extra hour of daylight
and celebrate the arrival of spring!

Both sign of life renewed, a new beginning.

This quick passage of time reminds us of
how important it is to really enjoy our
lives – to consciously have FUN.

So what is fun? At first, I think of
outrageous laughter, silly movies, great
jokes, playing games, being with friends.

But we are able to find fun in everyday
activities as well. For example, I like
to crank up the music and dance while doing
household chores. It take the drudgery
out of the task.

Essentially any activity that we really
enjoy can be fun. Do you garden, dance,
read, work out, volunteer, babysit
grandkids, cook, hike, write, play music,
explore, etc?

By beginning the activity stating
“This will be fun!”

and end the activity stating
“WOW that was fun!”

We are mentally letting our brains
know what works for us. We are
reminding ourselves of activities we
enjoy and want to include more of in life.

So each and every day this month let’s
schedule in our calendars our 15 minutes
of fun.

All there is is Love

Happy Valentine’s Day

A day for love. But this does not
mean just for our partners in life.

As you go through the day, pay attention
to all of the love in your heart –
Love for –
ourselves
our special someones
our family
our friends
our skills, and talents
our passions
our gifts
our committment to help others
our committment to protect the planet
and all of our special loves….

When our heart is full – give thanks that
we have this love. Be gratefu and feel
the ability to love even more.

2014 Dream

January – beginning a new year, time to commit to a new
dream. I say a new dream because over our lifetimes we will
have many dreams. Dreams which will create a meaningful
and successful life.

I encourage you to commit to use your journal as an essential
tool to create change. Journaling is simply the act of writing.
When you write down thoughts, it makes them real. If you are having
difficulty writing, a vision board is another option to journaling.
It creates visual images and can be updated on a regular basis
using pictures, phrases, and quotes. Both techniques can be used
simultaneously.

It is so easy to forget what we are working towards if we do write
down our dreams and goals and track our progress.

Reviewing your biggest dream life story we created last year,
let’s write out the dream we will commit to achieving this year.

Are you still working on solving a problem? If yes, don’t be
discouraged. Change is hard. It can be a long, slow process with
many bumps and obstacles along the way. The important thing is to
keep moving forward and do not give up.

Are you ready to pursue a passion? A hidden or undiscovered desire,
which has been dormant for a time.

You decide, the point is to just get started and commit.

This year, I will only be posting monthly. If you are
new to this site, you can sign up to receive the weekly
coaching series which I posted in 2013.

Celebration

Congratulations on a successful year
of CHANGE.

Even if you made just the tiniest adjustment,
it is a step in the right direction – and this
is a reason to celebrate.

Last week the charge was to reveiw the year
and our progress. Hopefully, we learned something
from the exercise.

It could be a strength we rediscovered, a
weakness we need to work on, an untapped skill, a
forgotten dream or just a desire to continue
to grow and develop.

Personal development is the ultimate goal of
my coaching tips and techniques. Because this
both our task and challenge in life. How can we
do better, how can we experience more of life,
how can we persevere through tough times, how
can we tap into our true personality and passions,
how can we best use out unique talents and skills.
We began the year identifying our biggest dreams.
Of course, it may not have been easy to reach them
in one year.

We had to believe that we could succeed. We had to
overcome limiting beliefs and obstacles. We were asked
to consciously bring more joy and happiness into
our lives. We had to set goals, adopt new habits,
know when to delegate, overcome procrastination and
ask for the support of our friends and community.

This is asking a lot. So as a new year begins,
it is time to recommit to our dreams.

Are we continuing on pursuing our dream or still
working on solving a problem in life. Either way
stay with me as we move int0 2014.

2013 progress review

Two more weeks until we have completed a full
year of setting goals, adopting new habits, creating
more positive thinking, overcoming obstacles and
especially making our dreams come true.

This week, let’s review our progress.

I know I did not succeed in achieving all of
my goals, but there is one I am most proud of.

My background is in finance and math. For me
to commit to a writing program was a Hugh challenge.

For months, I struggled with writing
this blog every week. But I am proud to say,
that of the 52 weeks, I wrote for 49 of them.
That is a big WOW. I am happy. I feel like a more
confident writer and gained so much personal
knowledge as I read and studied about how to
CHANGE. Because this is what it takes to achieve
new goals and dreams.

This week’s process works best with your journal.
Go back through your notes. What did you try?
What worked? What did not? What did you learn?
What can you improve?

What lessons will you keep working on? What goal did not
give you the result you were looking for?

Don’t worry if you do not give yourself high marks?

Change is a life long journey. Even when we achieve
our dreams, it is time to commit to new ones.

Make this exercise count. It is the basis for future.

Temptations

We are in the home stretch – ending another
year – 2013.

For many of us, these are difficult last few
weeks in the year. The pressure of shopping, entertaining,
house cleaning, traveling, visiting, not to mention
the agony of getting every gift just right.

Now is not the time to also give into temptations.
The temptation of overindulging in food and drink,
and the mistake of overspending our budget.

Now is the time to step up and just say “NO”
to excesses by sticking to achieving our goals,
and staying committed to living our dreams.

Let’s schedule extra time in our calendars to focus on
our priorities – creating new habits, improving our
physical and financial health, reorganizing our messes,
repairing relationships – whatever our goals have been.

Let’s keep progressing and end the year strong so we
can begin anew in 2014 proud of our accomplishments
and successes.

New habit review

We began our new habit after the Oct 24th blog,
over 40 days ago. How is the progress?

If you stuck to your plan for at least half of those
days you should congratulate your self. Now you
may think, I am not giving you much credit but we
must realize that change is hard. At least you should have learned whether this is a correct habit for you at this time of your life.

So even if, for example, getting a new job was your goal but you just learned of a medical condition which requires a treatment plan, perhaps the stability of a routine, a sure paycheck and medical benefits became a more important priority for now.

This tells us we are not always right the first time around when choosing a goal and also, things come up with may take precedence in life.

But what can we learn from our 15 or so days of a practicing a new habit:

-1- we discovered what time of day for our action works best in our schedules.

-2- we discovered if we have the tools and skills needed to adopt a new habit.

-3- we discovered if we earned any benefit from adopting this new habit.

-4- we did take “some” action

-5- we did not give up after missing some day of action

-6- only we know if you gave accomplishing the goal our best effort and life got in the way.

Going forward we must determine if we made the right choice for this new habit. If yes, continue with the plan with a few tweaks, if necessary. If no, choose a new goal and get started.

You can review the Oct 24th blog post – 8 steps to create a new habit.

Delegating

We are born with specific talents and passions. We also develop skills from our education, circumstances, and opportunities. These are the things we should develop and nurture.Every thing is not for everyone.

Sometimes when we may find ourselves procrastinating about completing a task, it may be one does not use our talents or abilities.

This may be an excellent time to consider delegating the task to leave more time for us to enjoy doing things which do best.

Delegation is asking another to complete all of part of a task.

At first, this may be easier said than done. We may worry about
letting go.

Some reasons why we may not be comfortable delegating are:

-1- We are afraid of losing control. “Nobody can do this task as well as I can or the way I want it done.”

-2- We must ask for help. We are used to doing everything ourselves. We may be afraid to be turned down.

-3- Fear of being incompetent. We do better focusing on what we enjoy and do best, than struggling with tasks we are just not good at. We may think we are weak.

-4- The cost. There are several ways to have help which does not include cash payments – such as trade, ask a family member, ask an employee.

Next time we find ourselves stuck with completing a task, consider who you may ask to help us or do it for us.