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Write to Your Current Self

March 26, 2014
letter to self

Photo courtesy of Torley.

I am sure you have an idea of what you want to achieve in the next 10 or 15 years.  It may be vague or exact but we all have some place we want to be.  Some want to be married with kids, others want to have a million dollars, and others dream of living on the beach enjoying their retirement.

Whatever it is you want to have or do in the future, write to your current self like you are sending the letter back through time.  Write like you have already achieved the goal and how much you are enjoying it.  Put this letter somewhere that you can find it later and see how accurate your future self was when the time comes along.

What is the one big thing you would like to accomplish in the next decade beyond anything else?

 

Filed Under: Creativity, Goal Setting, Life Coaching Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Wallet Free Wednesday

March 19, 2014
Wallet

Photo courtesy of 401KCalculator.

I ran across this concept from a bank some time ago and thought it was great.  All you do each Wednesday is leave your wallet at home when you leave.  The purpose being if you don’t have any cash or cards on you then you can’t buy anything.  This causes you to save money at least one day a week.

Try it out!  Brown bag the lunch and make the coffee at home.  Let me know what you think of it and how much you saved.

Filed Under: Money Saving Tagged With: , , , ,

We Change

March 12, 2014
Leave of Change

Photo courtesy of G.

“Things do not change; we change.” Henry David Thoreau

There really isn’t much more than that to write.  Thoreau pretty much summed it up right there.  We all hope things will change but most things do not change unless we do.

You work at a job where you can stand the boss.  You sit there for years and years thinking “One day they’ll get fired and I can enjoy my job” when all it takes is for you to change and take action.  What is stopping you from looking for work elsewhere?  Once  you find that work you can fire your current boss yourself by leaving.

Don’t wait for things or circumstances around you to change your life for you.  Take action right now to move where you want to be.  Fill out the application, do the research, go for a walk – just do something!

What action(s) can you take right this minute to move towards a goal you have?

 

 

Filed Under: Goal Setting Tagged With: , , , , , ,

You Get Used to It

March 5, 2014
Glasses

Photo Courtesy of Sinchen Lin.

It has been said many times that you become like those who are around you and to choose your friends wisely.  The problem we have as people is that we usually don’t realize that those around us have changed us so much until we have been there a while.  If you want to own a business but you are hanging out with people who enjoy not working you will very likely wake up one morning and realize you haven’t worked on your business for quite some time.

Iyanla Vanzant once said “Your eyes will adjust to the level of deficiency present.”  She was referring to how gradually your eyes change and compensate for each other and that is why it takes so long for you to notice that you need glasses.  Once day you realize that you aren’t seeing quite as well as you once were.  This line was used by her to demonstrate that we do the same thing with the people we hang around with and how we change as people because of it.

This isn’t to say not to be friends with those who are different from you.  Even those who don’t want nearly the same things in life can be great friends and supporters.  Just remember, if you want to be a pilot you need to spend time hanging out with pilots.  They are the ones that can help you soar to your dreams.

 

Filed Under: People Tagged With: , , ,

The Past Can Hurt and Heal

February 26, 2014
Arrow - Move Forward

Photo Courtesy of Antony Mayfield.

It is true.  The past can hurt quite a bit.  The one thing to realize, and it may take some searching, is the hurt served you in some way.  Maybe it got you out of a bad relationship, an addiction, or caused you to start the career path that you are on.

If you find out how your past served you it can also help you heal the emotional pain.

If you did something to harm another reach out to them to to try and attempt to make it better.  Even if the person doesn’t accept you need to know that you tried.  This can free you in so many ways and help ensure that you don’t make the same mistakes again.

Learn from your past but look forward to your future.  Living in the past serves no productive purpose.  Using it to learn from can be your greatest gift.

“The past can hurt, but you can either run from it or learn from it.”  Rafiki – The Lion King

Filed Under: Life Coaching, Relationships Tagged With: , , , ,

Page of Change

February 19, 2014

Notebook PageI always hear people say they want to make a change but they don’t seem to know exactly what they want.  I am sure this has happened to you.  You will feel like something just isn’t right but you do not know what you need, or want, to change.

Take out a piece of paper and a pen.  Take the next three minutes and write out everything you would like to change in your life in the next one or two years.  Don’t let the pen up from the paper.  Just write, write, and write some more for the full three minutes.  Set a timer on your phone if you need to.

Once you have finished circle the things you could change right now.  Either make the change or decide you really don’t need to.  Then do the same thing with the items that can take six months, one year, and two years.  Mark off anything you have now decided you really don’t think needs to change.

At the end of this exersize you should have a bit of more clarity on what things you would like to change in your life.  You can now set goals and work towards the long term changes.

Question:  What kind of things would you like to change in your life?

Filed Under: Life Coaching Tagged With: , , ,

A Different Valentine

February 12, 2014
Love

Photo Courtesy of Matt Harris.

Valentine’s Day is Friday in the US. Instead of the candy or flowers why not do something extraordinary?

I’m not going to give you any hints but think about what you can do for your significant other. What can you do that is out of the box? What can you do that will make that day then one your talking about when you are a 110? “Remember that one Valentine’s Day” your other half will turn to you and say.

Go out on a limb this week and be memorable.

Filed Under: Holidays, People, Relationships Tagged With: , , , , ,

A Real Paper Letter?

February 5, 2014
Writing on a Notepad

Photo Courtesy of Dr. Stephen Dann

Real paper? Yep, it still exists. Send some of it out!

In the world today we have so much electronic communication.  Texts, e-mails, social media, and, yes, blogs.  Due to all of this written communication is getting less and less.  Even celebration cards are going digital.

The digital world has certainly changed our lives.  Because of this you can change someone’s day by going back to 10 years ago – write a letter or card by hand and mail it.  I try to do this a few times per month to various people thanking them for something or just saying hi.

Writing the card only takes a few moments.  It can create a huge impact in a person’s day because they probably haven’t gotten anything like that in quite some time.  It is such a rarity for most people that you become the stand out and are remembered as the person who did this.

Another reason for this is after applying and interviewing for a job.  Send a card thanking them for the opportunity to apply for the position.  Simple and easy – the goal is for them to see your name.  Then, after you have an interview, send a thank you card to the interviewer for giving you some of their time.  Again, simple and easy to keep your name in the mix.

The written word is still incredibly strong.  Choose one person today that you can send a card or letter to and see how it changes their day!

Filed Under: Business, Careers, People Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Ten Dollar Question

January 29, 2014
Donation Jar

Photo Courtesy of Dave Dugdale.

Last week I asked the question”If someone walked up to you and handed you $10 with the stipulation you had to make someone’s life better with it what could you do?”

The inspiration came from Chris Guillebeau who wrote “The $100 Startup” which talks about starting a business for a hundred dollars or less.  I was interested in what people could do with ten dollars to change someone’s life.  Ten bucks seems like a small amount of money to make a big change but I wanted to make people think deeper.

Why think deeper?  Because many people will do for others what they will not do for themselves.  You might go buy a burger from a drive thru for someone who is hungry but would consider that splurging if you did it yourself.  I wanted to make people think about how they could make a difference in someone’s life with $10 so you could maybe see how you could change your own life or circumstances with the same amount of money.

Fortunes have been made on little startup money.  Lives have been changed with a kind word and a helping hand with no money at all.  Take ten dollars and in the next week go and make a difference with it in your life.  Start a business, make a donation, or start that retirement account you have been meaning to get to.  Make a commitment to go out and do something with a ten dollar bill during the next seven days!

Filed Under: Life Coaching, People, Personal Finance, Random Acts Tagged With: , , , , ,

What Could You Do With $10?

January 22, 2014
Ten Dollar Bill

Photo Courtesy of Eli Christman

That is a pretty straightforward question.  If someone walked up to you and handed you $10 with the stipulation you had to make someone’s life better with it what could you do?  What would you do?

 

Filed Under: Life Coaching, People, Personal Finance, Random Acts Tagged With: , , , , ,
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