Explore YourSelf

Today in the midst of all the pre-christmas shuffle, we found ourselves in a different city and new surroundings. Normally I would have pre-planned everything, where to go, which museums to visit and what I needed to buy.

Today, not so. We ventured out and it was all new, we explored and just wandered around the streets and just went with the flow.

When you are open to the newness of the city you can experience something special, as you are in the moment and noticing those little details. You not only explore your surroundings you also explore yourself. Try it sometime. It feels liberating not to have a ' to do list' , or an itinerary schedule. You are on your own time.

So ok we walked up and down the same street a few times too many, however I realised I did not have a watch on and just let the day unfold.

It was marvelous..

Past Time

When we think of the past, we are somehow transported back, we envisage the memory and often times distort what was. We even change it to suit our current life and for some memories to be completely erased as they are not the ones we want to remember.

Being in the past, is as I like to call it, is just getting the learnings, the education so you can learn whatever you had to and then come back to now. It is our education. If we continually carry this past it becomes like a weight on our shoulders and we do not let go. We monitor our emotions and our vulnerability based on this luggage. Serves a purpose? Think again.

Sure you have learnt the lesson, and sometimes are hesitant to go down a similar path, however you need to take risks to grow and learn and meet new people. Thinking about that time when your heart was broken, will not make this current situation more attractive. So just let go and take a leap of faith, you may find yourself presently surprised.

Places take you back to those memories, and that may be why we visit the same places when we travel, go out to dinner and even keep in touch with the same people, even if we have gone along different paths. It is familiarity that keeps us coming back.

As I sit here writing this, I already have memories of this place, even though I was here a few years ago, it was so foreign then, and now.... well let's say I have come to enjoy the familiarity and await the new.

Attitude of Gratitude

I am sure you have already heard of this saying, having an attitude of gratitude. Yesterday at the cafe a friend compared what I had to what she did not. I pondered about this later, as I was surprised that she would be comparing.

Human nature is to compare, it is our point of reference and to know if we are doing well, we gauge ourselves on our achievements, accomplishments and this gives us validation of how we doing. So if you are male, in the working age range, educated and motivated then you should be making a good income to provide for your family. Likewise for women, if you are in your 30s and not had children, then perhaps it is time to get this area in your life going. (providing you want children, and have a partner). If you fall outside these areas for example you maybe wondering when is this happening and why you don't have this.

I illustrate the above as examples only as in today's society we have so many more norms and variances of a happy life, what used to be once upon a time may not be relevant today. I guess traditional family views are making a comeback in some cultures. My main point here is to be Grateful of what you have, to express that feeling of being truly happy with what is your current reality. Instead of focusing on what you don't have, focus on what you do and show this attitude of gratitude and more will be coming into your exsistence.

So as I thought about what I had, I gained more appreciation of those things and people and realised that age is not a barrier instead it is widsom that I have gained through the years and will continue to appreciate and say ' thanks' .

Chance Meeting

Do you think that meeting people is by chance or some kind of coincidence? I spoke to a gentleman yesterday during my prospecting call, and he believed in coincidence and there is a reason why he attracts a certain type of person. It made me think, as if this was true then we are always creating that attraction wherever we are conscious of it or not. And if that was the case then we need to pay close attention to those that come into our lives as we can learn and grow from each encounter.

That sat really well with me and I can see into my past and see it more clearly why things happened the way they did. It was just a reflection of my own energy at the time thus my experiences matched that!.

Even today I am in a different state of awareness and still amaze myself at the calibre of people that are continually coming into my life. That is surely my creation? and where I am focusing my energy. It surprises me in one way and in another it makes logical sense to me. So perhaps chance meetings do have a some kind of intention, it is what you see and take out of that interaction and how you interpret those learnings I guess..

So whoever is coming next into my life, I am ready and will not be surprised!

Timeless

It is almost midnight in Bangkok and we are on board our last leg of the journey, it is incredible, getting on the plane you have no fixed address at that moment in time you are a citizen of the skies!. Your body is governed by the aircrew routine, lights on you are awake, if they are off, you need to sleep and you can simply just forget looking at your watch, you are now on Airplane time. Also you are so in the present being on the plane, feeling the feelings, emotions, reservations and for the avid traveller the excitment of the pending adventure!

So you are bound in time and space, waiting for the next port of call

You learn to sit and wait patiently as you are forced to wait for the last passengers to bord the plane, great skill to learn.

And you ignore your parched mouth sensation as you crave a drink of water, you are at the mercy of the aircrew, yes another great skill to learn. You are now in their environment so get used to it, get climatised and enjoy this leg of your trip.

After all we are all going to the same destination it is just how we cope with the journey that is unique.

Happy travelling

LIVE OUT LOUD

I would like to share some insights from my last weeks' coaching themes. It is interesting that when we decide to do something we get obstacles, that is because we have set our minds on achieving a goal, we care about the outcome, and thus our 'stuff'comes up. So when you feel you are hitting an obstacle, get excited as you are moving in the right direction.

It is that simple, how else can you get around that obstacle what type of mind set do you need to have to keep that momentum? and who will you become in the process of blasting through them. You will gain so many new skills and ways of seeing the world, it will only add to your already existing skill set. You will attract the resources to make your goal, you will keep going til you have achieved it YOUR WAY!

It reminds me of a young man I coached just the other day, he is on his path and can see the rewards and the lifestyle he will have once he can get around his negative thinking. Once you detach from the outcome and embrace parts of the business, like rejection with cold calling for example, you can move forward. Reframing some of the un-pleasant aspects will help you move forward, so just change the way you think about it~!

And remember your goal, what do you want from your business? what is your 'why'?? this is the motivator and the person you become achieving it.

so LIVE OUT LOUD and have fun!

Choosing the Next Step

Sometimes we feel that life just happens and we are just like a buoy in the sea, drifting, moving in the direction of the wind and current. Yes you get that feeling sometimes as you react to life events and obstacles.

Only 4 weeks ago I had the rest of the year planned, it was all organised and structured. Action list created and I was working through the list, yes the creator of my day.

Then external news hit us, one after the other, so we reacted, discussed and made a decision. Little did I know at the time that one decision impacted the rest of the year, and the next challenged appeared uninvited (as in most cases they are not welcomed!) So we discussed again and based on the first decision we made another plan.. Life events happen everyday, so if you are resisting it, LET IT GO...

It is in how you handle these decisions and turn them around, then you are still empowered and the creator. If you let those situations become bigger than yourself, then you get lost in that overwhelming feeling and give all your energy to those situations. Then you may feel 'stuck' as you resist the new.

There is a reason for this (well in my opinion anyway) so ride the wave and know that you are still on course you originally plotted, your compass is still pointing to your ultimate destination.

Reclaim Your Time

Marsha Egan’s 12 steps to freeing yourself from an email addiction

1) Admit that email is managing you. Let go of your need to check email every 10 minutes
2) Commit to keeping your inbox empty
3) Create files where you can put inbox material that needs to be acted on
4) Make broad headings for your filing system so that you have to spend less time looking for filed material
5) Deal immediately with any email that can be handled in two minutes or less, but create a file for mails that will take longer
6) Set a target date to empty your inbox. Don’t spend more than an hour at a time doing it
7) Turn off the automatic send/receive
8) Establish regular times to review your email
9) Involve others in conquering your addiction
10) Reduce the amount of email you receive
11) Save time by using only one subject per email, delete extra comments from forwarded emails, and make the subject line detailed
12) Celebrate taking a new approach to email and being addiction free!

I'M RELAXED!

You know you should be relaxing and all you do is play slave to your thoughts and what you could be doing instead. We are thinkers and planners and get carried away with what we want, it consumes us.

and we need to relax. I heard a great saying the other day, 'man is ill because he is never still' and that made so much sense to me. Naturally we are functioning at the speed of light and our bodies sometimes cannot catch up, we push and push until we get sick and this forces us to 'relax'. Wouldn't it be best if we were more proactive and incorporated rest and balance into our busy lifestyles?

You would think so, however most people keep pushing the envelope and hope nothing happens to them, someone else gets sick, I'm invincible... (so we think!)

Fortunately our bodies are smart enough and they give us signs that not all is well, it is up to us to listen and be in tune with our bodies, and have that awareness to take a rest day, to chill out, to just BE....

So if you are fighting your body, and dragging it against its' will listen to it and learn to just

r e l a x

what is your fit?

You can have a hissy fit, an angry fit, a panic fit, anxiety fit, epileptic fit, and many more..

They are all states that are triggered by some stimulus. When people have an anxiety fit, it is around performance and outcome and thus the sweaty palms and dry mouth appear. It is just a moment in time and we get caught up in the actual performance anxiety.

Throwing a hissy fit, is not related to age, sure you see children in the shopping center throw these all the time, it is sort of expected. However seeing full grown men/women do this, it is actually funny (well I think so!) They have not learnt a better way of getting what they want, so they ''chuck a hissy" in Aussie slang. Or throw a tantrum (English). They have a particular way of handling situations and it involves acting like a 5 year old.

Angry fits, well these are most likely targeted at someone. They can be road rage fit, and you swear when you are driving because someone cut you off. Or you maybe harbouring unresolved anger and it is festering inside and at boiling point you explode. Thus domestic violence, crime and public property damage can result.

So what I am getting to is what fit do you do? We all have them somewhere, and to be honest with you I do the panic fit. When I am in a challenging situation I can over-react and panic, just ask my husband. Thank godness he is there to calm me down. I need to work on managing this myself and being more calm and centered. mmmm

I see them another way too, sure they are disruptive, however it shows that we need to release an emotion/state and this is how we do it..

So have a think about what would you like to do instead?

(be continued in the next blog)