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Celebrate your wins

In the water at Casuarina Beach

Celebrating your wins is an important step on the journey to achieving your goals.

Pausing to congratulate yourself for following through on your new habit or goal buoys your energy and enthusiasm, and keeps you going.  Think how a sporting team is inspired by cheering from supporters.

Periodically taking time to notice how far you’ve come builds confidence. Reflect on your successes and mistakes, so you can apply lessons to new goals and challenges.

Celebrate with friends and colleagues, thank them for their help and support along the way – you may even inspire them to achieve their own goals.

A little self-promotion is good thing too. It shows you have confidence in yourself and other people may want to place their trust in you.

The more you celebrate, the more you have to celebrate!

A celebration can be as simple as a daily self-congratulation for taking action to achieve your goals or following through with new habits.  Then choose bigger rewards or celebrations for bigger achievements.

Celebrate each kilo lost, each fear faced, improvements in speed or efficiency and watch your commitment to achieving improve.

Multitasking? Stop it!

For a long time I considered myself an expert at multi-tasking.  I often would be working on 3 or more tasks at the same time, thinking I was being productive.  As a single mum and small business owner I figured multi-tasking the best way of getting everything done.  Wrong!

It made me constantly stressed and tired.  I made mistakes that I then beat myself up about, and, worst of all, I often over cooked or burnt dinner.

Then one day I read a list of “Zen things” and at the top of the list was “Do one thing at a time”.  I started putting this into practice and discovered that I was much more efficient and productive, made less mistakes and produced better quality results (and meals).  Admittedly, it took me a while to develop this new habit and even now I sometimes have to remind myself to stay focused, but it has been well worth the effort.

I did some research to find if other people had similar results and here’s what I found…. Read More…

Adapting to change

If 2020 was the year of cancelled plans and forced change, what does 2021 hold for us?

The risk of infection and prospect of lockdowns and border closures means uncertainty is our constant companion, at least for now.

We are not in total control of anything.  But being resilient and adaptable are qualities that have helped humans survive for centuries; these are the same qualities we need to navigate the changes forced on us over the past year.

Two maxims I use to view change in a more positive light are:  “Whatever happens I’ll be ok” and “What if this is the best thing that could have happened?” Read More…

Create some friction!

A few weeks ago, I watched an interview with Gweneth Paltrow, where she was talking about how being a success at a young age meant that many people came into her life to help smooth the way and make life easy. It wasn’t until her father sat her down and suggested that she was in danger of becoming an A-hole, that she realised that a bit of “friction” in life is a good thing.

She expressed perfectly something I have been thinking about and working on myself. I noticed that when someone achieves success, they sometimes slide backwards (often dramatically) soon after. I wonder if, without the ‘friction’ created by striving for success, these people step back and stop challenging themselves to become better people and to improve and enhance their skills.

The ongoing challenges we face every day can be good for us! Needing to earn an income to pay bills and mortgages means we Read More…

Getting stuff done

A few weeks ago, I worked with a client who was struggling with procrastination. You know, that great thief of time.

She had a series of assessments she needed to hand in to complete her course; she frequently found herself being distracted and avoided getting them done.  A few days after our session she contacted me to say she had already finished five, and was well on her way to completing the rest.

I often work with clients who feel stuck or blocked, who struggle with procrastination and avoid uncomfortable tasks.  They sabotage their own ability because they don’t feel ready, or lack the confidence, energy, time or motivation to make that first move and then follow through.

This is a subject I feel somewhat of an expert on – there was a stage where the “pro” in procrastination could have referred to me. Here are some of the ideas and techniques I use to keep procrastination at bay.

Just start!

Above my desk I have a hand-embroidered sign that simply says “Start”.

This has been an invaluable reminder when it’s time to write another blog and I find myself sitting at my desk staring at a blinking cursor on a blank computer screen.   To just type notes and develop ideas gives me a base to build my next article.

Sometimes the pathway or process to completion only comes to light after you get started. Read More…

Why falling off a bicycle was the best thing that happened to me

cyclingThe answer… It increased my confidence.

To give you some background… There is something about having your feet clipped into pedals that leaves you feeling quite precarious, and since buying my first set of ‘cleats’ a couple of years ago I have been working on getting past my fears around riding a bicycle.  (Of course the riding part is fine, it’s the “what if I fall off” that causes the problem)  So there I was at cycling training with my daughter.  Yes, I am the ONLY adult training with kids, AND guess who’s the biggest scaredy cat!  We were practising skills, specifically ‘track stands” where you are required to bring the bike to a halt and balance on the spot or at least balance while going very slow.  I had watched the kids do it and now it was my turn. Read More…

Goal setting

eye-on-the-target

Why set goals?

Setting goals helps to give your life direction and purpose. It helps to organise your time and resources so you can create the life you want to live.  They help you to focus your energy in a positive direction.

How do I get started?

A great first step to take in goal setting is to brain storm a list of what you would like to achieve.  At this stage don’t think about what is possible or likely, just make a wish list.

Another of my favourite ways to find the goals to put your heart and soul into, is work out a picture of how you would like your life/lifestyle to look in 5 years’ time.  Don’t get bogged down in the name of a specific location, but you can be very specific about; climate, style of home, social life, travel, employment, ability to regularly walk on the beach/bush/mountains.   Make your picture as detailed and complete as possible. Read More…

Put those goals into action

action-before-motivationAfter your have written down your “S M A R T” goals.  The next step and perhaps the most important step is to take action to make those dreams and goals a reality.

Take the first step

This may come as a surprise to you but motivation comes AFTER action, not before.

If you have been waiting to wake up one morning and feel motivated to get started, you are actually more likely to keep procrastinating. When you set a goal that challenges you, there will be some things that you may not enjoy doing. You will probably need to force yourself to do a little something to create the momentum to take the next step and the next. Read More…

We are like our mobile phones!?!

me-mobileWhen you buy a mobile phone it comes with default settings. Over time you download a variety of apps to help you to use the phone more efficiently.  When something happens and your phone needs repair, it usually comes back with the default factory settings and you have to download all your favourite apps again.

The advantage is that now you know which apps are the most useful and you only download those, not bothering with the ones that you rarely or never use. You might also download a few new and different ones because you want to test them out and see if they will be helpful. So now you have a phone that is functioning even better than before.

Read More…

Change

 

Temperance

Temperance

My tarot “card of the day” yesterday was Temperance and part of its message was to remind me that when working on a project – to change a little, then step back and assess the results and to find balance before moving forward. This seemed to be good guidance for making changes and it occurred to me that I had already been using the same strategy for conquering fear. Read More…

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