where are you going?

“Man is not born perfect. He is born incomplete, he is born as a process. He is born on the way, as a pilgrim. That is his agony and his ecstasy, too; agony because he cannot rest, he has to go ahead, he has always to go ahead. He has to seek and search and explore. He has to become, because his being arises only through becoming. Becoming is his being. He can only be if he is on the move.”  Osho

Have you spent any time at all planning out what you’d like the next 10 years to look like?

What do you really want to happen?  Do you believe that you have the power, skills and abilities to create the future you want?

It’s time for your mid-year check-up.  It’s time to evaluate the progress you hoped to make.  It’s time to forge a new set of objectives if your current ones aren’t working for you.   Create a list of things you want to accomplish this year.

In what areas do you want to grow and improve?

Are you focused on exercise, diet, sleep and mindfulness?

• How much sleep are you getting?
• How is your diet?
• How much exercise are you getting?
• Relax, take a deep breath or a few and restore your energy.

Are you living the life you want to live?  Are you aligned with your purpose, goals and dreams?

Spend some time and check-in with yourself.  Journal some thoughts that you’ve had.  What is working?  What isn’t working?   Make the adjustments and finish the year strong.

 

 

 

be intentional first

“Powerful words come with powerful intent. Where you have passion, strength, courage, and determination you can accomplish anything!”
― K.L. Toth

It starts with an intention.  All of your actions start with an intention, an idea that is ready to take shape and be acted upon.  Perhaps you  can call intention as the motivational force that enables results.  Intention is more than just and idea, it is a commitment to getting a result.

What do you want to change in your life?  Has it changed for you?  When did you become intentional about creating change in your life?

Notice that intention precedes attention.  You need to figure out what you want and then commit to it.

If life isn’t going the way you want then decide to do something about it and then make a commitment to taking action.  Write down what you want and then write down your intention.

Want to lose weight.   Write it down and then write down how much you want to lose.  Imagine yourself at your ideal weight.  Write down what you eat each day.  Count the calories you consume.  What would you notice?

Want a better job.  Write down what that job would be.  What are the attributes of the ideal job for you.   What skills would you have to develop?   What do you need to become in order to get your ideal job?

Want better relationships with others.  Write down what that would look like?  What does it take to have a better relationship with anyone?   Set a goal to create establish a better relationship.

Want better work/life optimization.  Write down what it means to have an optimized life and a work life that is optimal.  What does it really look like for you?  What steps can you take to achieve that goal?

Choose the area of your life that you’d like to see improve.  Set a goal and then take action.  Make it happen.  You can take that first step today.

do you know who you are?

“Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves.
But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune. ”

 C.G. Jung

Do you know who you are?   Not who you think you should be but who you really are?   It is easy to cover up the true you in exchange for the perceived you, the you, you’d like to be.   Being authentic will allow you to express yourself fully and comfortably.

When people have been asked “have you ever lied?” and they say no, they are are probably not telling the truth then.   Most people live behind a mask,  a mask that is used to cover up and flaws or weaknesses they have.   It could be  character flaw, or an integrity flaw, or some other issue they don’t want others to see.    Anyone who has said, “I am not good enough” in some aspect of their life to themselves has probably not told anyone else that story.   That is their belief and it is a belief they don’t want to have.    What would happen if you told everyone “I am not good enough.”, what would happen?

How well do you know yourself?  How well do you want to know yourself?

Fill out the following assessment.    Score yourself for each line from 1 to 10 (using the labels below)

Statement as it applies to you. How do you see yourself most of the time?	Hardly ever		Some of the time			Most of the time			Almost always
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
I speak positively about myself	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I support others and their ideas	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I get results frequently.	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am compassionate	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I take responsibility for my actions	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I love myself	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I love others in my life without conditions	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am happy with who I am	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am happy with my finances	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am happy with my physical health	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am happy with my physical appearance	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am happy with my mental health	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am valued as a person by others	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I value myself as a person	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
When I make a mistake I can forgive myself	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
When others make a mistake I can forgive them.	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I don’t hold grudges	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I do my best in everything I do	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I don’t make excuses	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I seek personal growth	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am competent	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am confident	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am strong (physically)	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am intelligent	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am honest with myself	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am honest with others	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am authentic	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I am a person of integrity	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I meet my commitments	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
I use my strengths and talents most of the time.	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_

When you are done just add up the scores for 1, 2 and 3,4,5 and 6,7,8 and 9, 10.    What was your score?  How many were 1’s or 2’s, or 3,4,5 or 6,7,8 or 9, and 10.

What area’s would you like to change?   Where do you want to improve or did you resist doing the assessment at all?

The first step to change is recognizing the areas that you could change, that could help you be more authentic.   When you are able to live authentically you’ll experience greater joy and happiness in your life.

What do you really want to change?   Start today!

Where did the time go?

“It is the idle who complain they cannot find time to do that which they fancy they wish. In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time but the will that is wanting.”   Sir John Lubbock

“I don’t have enough time.”

“I’d like to live a balanced life.”

Procrastination often anchors people’s dreams and desires to the shore of inactivity and results in regret. It takes a burst of energy to move out of the depths of inaction and often that energy is lost in the thoughts of fear and failure.

When there is more activity pushed into a days worth of time than can be consumed it can result in a sense of failure.   Sometimes it is packing into the minutes things that are of low value, easy to do and complete but they may be things that don’t really matter.

1. What really matters?

2. What value will it produce?

3. What will it feel like to accomplish those goals?

Success is about making every effort to complete the goal.

Now more than ever there are tools that can help you use time to your advantage.

1. Simpleology

2.  Evernote

Having your tasks, goals and activities are in one place can help you organize your day better and improve the opportunity for results.

What time management tools do you use?   How well are they working for you?

accountability matters

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”  Niccolo Machiavelli   The Prince (1532)

 

Many people find themselves inspired after a fiery speech, a speech that drives right to the core of their emotional center.   With that new sense of spirit and energy of the event many people commit themselves to action, an action to change.   In a week after the luster of the energy has worn off and the daily routines take over the impetus for change becomes a distant memory.  That once powerful force for change lies dormant and quiet.   What happened?

One of the key factors in successful change is having an accountability partner, someone who is going to work to ensure that each committed goal is adhered to.   Research shows that without having some form of accountability over 90% of change efforts fail.    It is easy to see that change efforts fail.  Just take an inventory of the times you tried to change something, well intentioned, highly motivated and sincerely desiring change that never materialized to the degree you desired.  Just take a look at New Year’s resolutions or weight loss programs, how many people succeed in meeting their objectives, not many.   Those are the obvious change efforts that result in potentially expensive programs that yield little or no results.  Personal or professional change is hard to do and that is the reason that so many top performer’s hire coaches to move them to a higher zone of performance.

Motivation, desire, and accountability do result in lasting change.   Accountability is what is needed for change to take hold and become lasting.