Unlock your best future

Opportunity to be thankful

Thank you!

Simple words loaded with great power and magic.

There is always an opportunity to be thankful.

Thank you

Grazie

Takk

Salamat po

Spasibo

Merci

Do Jeh

Gracias

Arigato

Toda

The end of the year is approaching, the sales scream out four weeks to Christmas!

There is a mixture of tension and excitement as you shop.

The conforming feeling of so much to do and so little time to do it in.

All around you are the marketing slogans and commercials that can cause you to feel pushed around and pressured.

The Christmas and holiday season hype can wear you down.

Gift yourself some alone time.

This is the opportunity to be thankful.

Gratitude is the elixir for turning dark days around.

What has been, what is and what will be.

Thankful for what is in my life.

I know life is not random and anything that has happened raises my awareness.

Love what is and allow what is happening.

This is the opportunity to be thankful that my experiences can be of service.

What makes my heart sing?

To even just think about it and then list as many as I can.

Light and joy start to fizz in my cells.

This is an opportunity to be thankful.

I create how I perceive my world and I am thankful.

I am on purpose

I plan my actions

Master my day

Track my changes

Cue my world

See the colours and smells and tastes that bring you pleasure.

Paint your life in the colours that you want.

Always keep looking for the opportunity to be thankful.

You will find them everywhere and every time.

Unlock your best future

My words are centred in the desire and intention to help people bring about their best and connect to their best future.
http://isucceed.info

You do want your goals to work for you, you want them to stick and you want your goals to be completed, why else would you go to the effort, only to leave them behind littered with the "just didn't get it done" excuses .

You are on purpose when designing your goals. You start out with great intentions, you want the goals to stick and achieve the end result. Sometimes the tools that you use, get in the way of a great plan.

I have used a few models to help with setting up my goals and through trial and error when I have goals that happen it is because I used the SiMPLE baseline for my goal design. I wanted my goals to happen, goals that would stretch, and be a constructive part of my life and I wanted to remove the fuss about how to write a goal and make it simple.

I have put together 6 parts to consider.....

Here is my SiMPLE acronym, a baseline for goal design.

S for Sensory Specific

There is a lot of power when you joyfully expect your goal to happen, there is no doubt in your mind you are on target to achieve your result. Visualisation is a great tool to use. Imagine your goal as achieved, what are you saying, who are you telling, what are other people saying. Create the expectancy with your senses. Get all your senses involved in what it will look like, smell like, feel like, be very specific, lots of detail, capture the moment and relive the moment. Your goal is important to you, so make the most of all your senses to see it as done.

i for Initiated by you

How can you be 100% responsible? Your future decisions depend on reaching your goal. Start with small habit changes that will move you towards your goal. I have written a few times about habits being the key to sticking with your goal, it does make the difference between keep going and falling behind. Your habits help you so much with the daily small things and action to give you momentum without having to always push and remind yourself what you are after.

M is for the Milestone, Mapping and Measure

It is a strategic move to map your course, set your milestones and measure your progress. How do you know if you have achieved if you don't measure? Your mapping shows you where you are now to where you want to be. Break down the goals to the near future, what you want to achieve in
1 month, 3 months, 6 months and have your stretch goals mapped out for the future in one or 2, 5 or 10 years.

P is for Positive

You are choosing to be positive. Positively positive you will achieve your outcome! Set yourself up mentally to commit to the path and stick to it. Use the positive statement, the affirmations to train your mind. Keep that goal firmly in your sight. Use stick it notes, phone reminders...anything that will keep your focus on your big audacious goal.

L is for Learn

I love this one, because really it is the process, and this ends up being far more significant than the outcome. The people you meet, the learning that comes to you, each day you learn something new. There are opportunities everywhere. You are putting yourself out there and be prepared to receive far more than you thought possible.

E is for Ecological

When designing your goals make sure what you are after has no negative impact on you or others. Remember, 100% responsible. You can't design a goal with the expectation that someone else has to change, you can only work on yourself. The environment you create is filled with gratitude, kindness and joy as these are the feelings to energise and propel you to your goal.

Tools and Resources I depend on

The tools and resources I depend on for designing my life..this is not absolutely everything. It is not a full comprehensive digest, now that would take pages....but what I have here, has made a difference to the quality and design of my life.

I start at the basics and make sure I factor in the tools and resources to strengthen the 4 aspects of health...the physical aspect which is about sleep, fitness, nutrition and meditation; healthy emotions; positive mindset and spiritual nurture.

I figure when I pay attention to these 4 aspects, I stay on focus and feel great.

I start the day with exercise and the exercise needs to be fun and keep me interested. Dancing, Xbox Kinetics, long hikes, surfing...you get the idea - fun is the key for me. We all need to keep moving and get outside.

The everyday must do essential is Yoga & Meditation (Y&M) to get the mind and body alert and moving. An hour of Y&M sets me up for the day and once a week I fit in a half day class of Y&M.

Keeping a journal may not be for everyone and I have no strict system here, my main purpose is to write the thoughts I have for leading my life, the private ramblings are about the why for my goals and my observations on my life's gratitude and appreciation.

For me, journalling is the secret pages on past, present and future. You just can't keep it all bottled up, swirling around endlessly, get it down on paper, or on audio..any tool to help self expression. Your words are a powerful tool to direct your thoughts. The audio tool on smartphone is great to use and the bonus is you can talk on the morning walk.

This leads me to the writers, the bloggers, the book authors, the philosophers, the coaches and mentors who are a source of inspiration, information and knowledge to me. I seek out people who stimulate my mind with concepts that challenge and help me to grow. The web is everyone's resource and it is also my resource playground and the connections multiply, leading me from one concept to the next as part of my research. I keep a timer, just in case I spend too much time looking at the screen...need those mini breaks.

You just can't get too much of the skills, tools and resources for feeding a positive belief.
Your mindset is your strongest foundation for success & the best way to use any tool or a resource is to learn and "pass it on". Don't keep it to yourself, when you are encouraged, who can you encourage? When you receive kindness, pass on the kindness. You get stuck if you just keep learning and gathering and holding on. The best way to use a resource is make it practical, what does it mean for you....put it into action and pass it on.

The critical friends...everybody needs them. The friends you have to bounce off ideas, learn from each other...no matter how outrageous, your friends will listen to understand and give you the space and honest feedback you need. I depend on hearing a friends's point of view and a perspective from their experiences.

Now to the technical...the process, the systems, the strategy, the plans that bring alive all the basics and inside work. Putting the plans into action means your resourcefulness now has an opportunity to show off.

Here are 10 tools/resources I use:

1. Set monthly challenges. I use this to break into some new habits, especially those that are part of my goals. Integrating habits into goals helps the goals to stick.

2. When I want to be really clear on what I want to go for, the easiest thing to do is use a piece of paper with a line in the middle...one side I will list what I don't want and on the other side what do I want instead. the list give you a lot more clarity.

3. I need a whiteboard and sticky notes. This helps me get strategic in my planning, the big picture mind map & the sticky notes I use for keywords that keep me focussed on my purpose.

4. Smartphone reminders. I can use my time in the best way and get the right things done when I set reminders on my phone.

5. 1 x 5 x 5 priorities. Take 1 goal, then 5 actions for the goal, then 5 steps for each action. It is the small steps that will make the big difference.

6. I read a book a week. I write a summary so it is then an easy reference.

7. I use pin interest, evernote, bookmarks and reading list for clipping resources and references to reinforce my goals. Don't just be a collector, factor in a 15 minute weekly review of these clippings. Keep what you will use and delete the rest.

8. Subscribe to bloggers and other writers that will benefit your learning.

9. Listen to music that feeds your soul and brings you joy.

10. Practise the art of visualisation for your goals, morning is best for me.

Just a few Blogs and Authors

http://www.daniellelaporte.com/thedesiremap/

http://www.drwaynedyer.com

https://www.goalmappingonline.com

http://www.learnmindpower.com

Many, many more bloggers who offer their creative and intuitive talents through social media.

Authors: William Glasser, Daniel Goleman, Dr Bruce Lipton, Dr John Kehoe, Simon Sinek, Viktor Frankl, Napoleon Hill, Carl Jung......and so many more. We are very rich to have many wonderful insightful researched writers who help us to design our best life.

Unlock your best future

My words are centred in the desire and intention to help people bring about their best and connect to their best future.
http://isucceed.info

Having trouble with goals? The key is in your habits.

There is one only,
The most important,

The most essential to do, when you want that goal,

When you want to change up your life.

Look at your habits.

Create the habits in your life for goal results.

If I was a list person and wrote down every habit that I have, or that I know I have... (there could be every chance there are some hidden ones there, that get past me unnoticed)....so, if I made a list, then what are they telling me about the wonderful, exciting goals I plan for my life?

For all I know, I could be working against myself!

Your life is really about the sum of your habits, the daily routine that is in place.
Your level of fitness is a result of your habits.
How you care for yourself and others is a result of your habits.
When there is trouble sticking to the goal and seeing it through, it is due to your habits.
Habits have the impact to make or break that big audacious goal.
Your goals have a better chance of happening when you integrate them with habits.

You hear the good news stories of wonderful transformations, and miraculous weight loss. The people who against all the odds become marathon winners, or the "overnight" success in business. The background, the tenacity behind these transformations seems to be the overlooked part in the result. The every day, get up, take the steps, dismantle and create the habits that you know will take you to your good news story. The value add is that the habits that have helped you achieve the goal will consistently raise your standard in other areas of your life.

Want habits that stick?

Start small and when the action becomes natural to you, tweak it up to the next level.

Example: I pick the new habit of eating healthy. That is a big change and I most probably would do it for a few days and go back to the way it was. When I start with the small action of a healthy breakfast, then this I know I can do. It is important to me to be kind to my body. When I have the habit of a healthy breakfast, I can take it to the next level with more healthy food in the pantry. I will want to build on that small habit and look for healthy choices when eating out. Small steps, small changes to my behaviour help to make the new habit stick.

Attach the new habit to something you already do or to a time in the day.

Example: When you factor in a reminder into your routine, the habit has a higher success rate of sticking. Mealtimes are a good place to start, so the healthy breakfast is tagged for me to do everyday.
Use what is already in your life...want a strong core, but you sit a lot? Tag some sit ups or leg lifts to TV commercials, or when you go to the bathroom. Make it so easy for you to do. Make it fun. Make it so you can't resist doing it.

Acknowledge and celebrate

Example: The habit sticks better when you focus on the positive of what you are gaining, rather than the negative focus on what you quit, what you lost, what you gave up. You want to feel good and you want to do things that make you feel good. I value that I have the habit of having a healthy breakfast. Tell yourself how wonderful you are and how pleased you are at having this habit.

Evidence is in the Certainty

Example: Your new habit is now an inside compulsion, your body is wired to the action. For me, I am the type of person who will always have the healthy food option. I started with the small step of a healthy breakfast, it made me feel good. I focused on the small wins, scheduled them into my life and now I wouldn't do anything else but make healthy food choices.

When you have goals you want to make happen, factor in the habits that will lead you to the results you want....you will love the journey.

Unlock your best future

My words are centred in the desire and intention to help people bring about their best and connect to their best future.
http://isucceed.info

"if you want to live a happy life tie it to a goal not to people or object." Albert Einstein

No. 6.... I am here! I have been pulling apart Einstein quotes and musing how they feel on me & here is the last one, well maybe the last one.

No doubt I will look to Einstein for some wisdom gems later.

Goals and happy life were not two things I would naturally put together.
More to happy than goals, you would think.

Yet when the goals are happening, when you are working towards your goal, when you reach the goal, now that is happy!

I have been playing with goals for a loooong time, not always worked for me, tried different models like SMART and I ended up less than happy with myself.

BUT, the Goals that work for you, the goals that you really want can set you up for a happy life.

So, how can goals give you a happy life? Well, here are a few that make a big difference.

Goals develop focus.

Goals help you to be a quality shopper in life, where you only pick out what you want, what will work for you. You will focus on what you need to be and do to reach that goal, no wasting time on something that is not the best for you.

Now that brings more satisfaction into your life.

Goals develop responsibility.

Goals require commitment and dedication and rely solely on you to make it happen. Yes, you can ask for help but it is your goal, your baby and it is up to you.

Now that brings more courage and pride into your life.

Goals can stretch your limits.

Goals show you that you are always more than you think you are. It maybe one small action to start with, get used to that and then move onto some more stretch because you are seeing more of what is possible. You really don't know how far you can go until you keep moving those goals out beyond your limits.

Now that brings more choices, more joy into your life.

Goals create habits.

To make goals happen, to see them as a reality in your life you need to look at including new habits and systems in your routine. It is tough going if you don't rejig your habits or how you are currently operating because if you don't, you will fall behind in seeing your goal come to life. Your new habits benefit your mind, body & soul and a value add to tying your goals to life.

Now that brings certainty and strength into your life.

Goals develop your thinking.

Here is where it gets really interesting, because your goal maybe a tangible thing, like a job, house, car, finances, relationship, yet what the goal is really doing is helping you strengthen your positive thoughts, visualising how it will be and appreciating what is possible. This kind of thinking spills into all areas of your life, not just the one thing you picked out.

Now that brings a sense of truth and peace into your life.

If goals can develop my satisfaction, my courage, pride..if my goals offer me more choices, more joy. If the goals can bring more certainty and strength, more truth and peace in my life....then that to me is the best kind of happy.

Learn Live Hope

The separation of yesterday from today can be a tricky operation.

A habit that sits idly in the background, one we have stopped noticing.

It is an ego driven limbo and a smoke screen for today and tomorrow.

Don't live in yesterday, learn from yesterday.

this is what happens when you look to the past to map your present and future....

You respond to today and to your tomorrow with the thinking of yesterday.

It is playing like an echo vibrating in your life of what happened in the past.

The view of yourself is through other's assumptions, opinions and dreams.

You are born that way.

You blame that way.

At the very least - the basic view of life is that the past is certain.

Living in the past is a rear view look at your future.

& as for "Live for Today"

You live in the grey zone, it is the uncomfortable zone, there is calm and also clarity.

You master your self awareness.

You understand that yesterday is a lesson building on each experience to create a better future.

Make a fresh interpretation of yesterday to see tomorrow.

Make it difficult for others to offend you.

Get plugged into the moment.

Run the day, not the day run you.

Create hope, create certainty for your future

Create the formula for where you want to go.

Factor in Discipline, Commitment &

Vision in your hopes.

Your thinking creates your outcomes.

Know your musts.

At the very least - you are certainly creating the best way to live life.

Shoot arrows into the distance.

Now, the question: Are you learning from yesterday, prepared to live for today and have hope for tomorrow?

Here is a take away for you.

Listening to "I am the Greatest"

R. Kelly

I am that star up in the sky,

I am that mountain peak up high

Heh I made it

I am the worlds greatest

I am that little bit of hope

when my back's up against the rope

I can feel it

I am the worlds greatest

Can you feel it?

Unlock your best future

My words are centred in the desire and intention to help people bring about their best and connect to their best future.
http://isucceed.info

There are only two ways to live your life

"There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Albert Einstein

Artwork sourced from google images

A few years back, I am in a public forum when someone declared to me, in front of all - oh, you are just an Alice in Wonderland, not everyone has a charmed life.

The other people in the room were divided with reactions of giggles, aww now that's an insult, to well aren't you lucky to be seen like that. I am more a lemon to lemonade type of gal and to choose to sit and whine just doesn't sit well with me.

The Alice in Wonderland name calling has stuck with me, as branding can do. I chose to accept it as insight into who I am...a person who has an imagination, believes in miracles, sees magic in the everyday, curious, questioning and ready to run down the rabbit hole. When everything is a miracle you are humbled and the appreciation comes easily for the people you meet, what you do and the path you travel. That is the kind of life I choose.

I have no reference to what a life would be like, when you believe "it is,what it is" & "everything is out to get me". A life where you just don't see magic stuff or fairy dust or stand in awe of a beautiful sunrise, the breathtaking moments that transform the everyday into the magnificent. When you don't see miracles, feelings of boredom, annoyance, impatience overtake your day.

My choice has always been to know that miracles play a part in my life, it is the unexpected and the surprises that transform a life.

As adults we can default to live by the rules, to measure who we are by pleasing others at our own expense. I want to hold on to this childlike insight and have my life expand beyond the rules.

How could I know that the life I design, the goals that I plan will come together...if I don't include a space for miracles?

Here are my top 6 on living a life of miracles

1. Tap into your instincts!
2. Wake up expecting!
3. Sharpen your awareness!
4. Detail your desired intentions!
5. Question the rules you live by!
6. Honour & appreciate your life and the lives of others!

Unlock your best future

My words are centred in the desire and intention to help people bring about their best and connect to their best future.
http://isucceed.info

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." Albert Einstein

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything". Albert Einstein

Bushland is at my front door, I stop and reflect every morning, take in as much as I can of what is around me, every creature, plant, the landscape, the weather, the life cycles and each time there is insight into my connection and place in this world.

There are gaps in my nature knowledge, my list of why and how questions to ask Google get longer. Looking to nature shows me how much there is to learn and the paradox of the significance and the insignificance of who I am. I will stick with the curiosity and wonder because I know it will keep bringing me back to what is important.

"Looking deep into nature" reminds me of my instincts and my creativity and best of all, the peace that comes when you just take it all in.

Our curiosity of how it works and the intangible rush of spiritual connection that happens when you immerse yourself in the present moment and soak up the sounds, smells and sensations nourishes our existence.

Treating yourself to nature - that is everything.

The most personal and memorable moments are the encounters with nature. The joy felt when walking on the spongy path in the rainforest, the sweet air, standing under a waterfall, now this is therapy. It is a connection to the natural energy.

When working in a busy office, interruptions, deadlines, meetings, the hectic day would raise the stress, the best thing I could do is give myself 10 minutes to walk through the avenues of trees in the nearby park. After just 10 minutes the stress would melt away, I would gradually gain clarity about the problems and many times solutions would pop into my head. The best and most productive 10 minutes you could give yourself.

The sights and sounds of nature take the edge off any situation.

Your perception is altered when you stop and look at the natural world. There is an easy richness and connection fundamental to nature.
If it works for nature, it works for you.

If you want a lesson on how abundance works, look deep into nature. Looking deep into nature has shown me that Abundance is not measured by what you have, but by what you can give away. If you struggle with patience, with scarcity, with your sense of purpose - look to nature. If you are looking for calmness and creativity in your life - be with nature.

Albert Einstein, you said it so succinctly "Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything. "

Unlock your best future

My words are centred in the desire and intention to help people bring about their best and connect to their best future.
http://isucceed.info

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." Albert Einstein

For the next few weeks my posts will be centred on quotes from Albert Einstein. Quotes can be just fleeting words in your mind, you acknowledge there is wisdom yet the meaning doesn't stick until you pull it apart and put it back together for your life. You attach meaning when the words come alive for you. So I chose 6 quotes and over the coming weeks I will let my imagination explore the wonders of Einstein's powerful words for my life.

Logical reasoning can be your first go to when working on a problem. You put together a valid argument, the pros and cons, test assumptions, check validity and reach a conclusion.

I have used logic may times to work out what my best path would be and the logistics of getting to where I want to go or want to do. Imagination was of more use when I was younger and yet once at school, I was taught that logical reasoning was the accepted way to show validity, a trusted intellectual method to gain the correct answer...to get you from A to B. No imagination required.

With this quote from Einstein, I am in awe that as a scientist, he valued imagination and its purpose of expanding what is, to what could be. Logic has its purpose, but not at the exclusion of your imagination.

When we look at goal design, it is recommended you start this journey with your intentions, your desires, your imagination. "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it; Boldness has genius, power and magic in it? Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

Imagination before logic. Imagination to open you to everywhere and every possibility and then move your thinking to logical reasoning to formulate and reach the goals.

I don't see Albert Einstein's quote for my life as an either/or, or that one follows the other. A better combination is a mash of the two. A combination of logic with daily imagination fuel the possibilities for each day. When I combine logic and imagination I know it serves me to really cement my intentions and goals. Imagine the possibilities, no reasoning required and it will spark your desire to design your best life. "Imagination will take you everywhere" and you give your life a wider perspective and determination to go from A to B.

Unlock your best future

My words are centred in the desire and intention to help people bring about their best and connect to their best future.
http://isucceed.info