Posted on Monday,

12 Tips to Get the Most Out of Hiring a Life Coach

In today’s blog post I am going to cover some things you can do to get the most out of hiring a life coach. I will begin with some questions to ask yourself before hiring a life coach. Then I will follow up with some things to do during the coaching process.

So let’s begin:

Questions to ask yourself before hiring a life coach

What do you want?

Self-reflection is a big part of the life coaching journey. A life coach is not going to give you the answers. They are going to ask you questions and guide you. You will have to do the deep dive into your heart and decide what you want. Your answer to this question will guide the direction for the life coaching process.

Are you willing to change?

Nothing will change if you are not willing to change.

“What you get by reaching your destination isn’t nearly as important as what you become by reaching that destination.”
Zig Ziglar

Reaching your goal will require that you change. However it is through the process of changing that you become the person who is able to accomplish the goal or have the thing.

“Everything you want it just outside your comfort zone. If it wasn’t, you would already have it”
Jack Canfield

Live outside your comfort zone by hiring a life coach

This is so true. Both quotes point out the importance of change as a process to reach any goal. Change can be hard. Change can be scary. However, with a clear vision of where you are headed, change can be exciting and wonderful. A life coach can help to hold the vision for you during the hard parts.

Are you willing to be challenged?

A Life Coach is not your friend or your mom. They are not going to tell you want you want to hear and make you feel good. Their job is to hold up a mirror and show you what you need to see about yourself. Sometimes this is painful. Sometimes it is empowering. But it always opens a door to a place that you only wished was possible.

Do you want to be free?

If you want to be coddled and hold on to all of your bad habits, then you should save your money and buy some wine. But if you want to break free from the habits and fears that are holding you hostage then a life coach might be right for you.

Freedom to choose a different path. Freedom to choose a different outcome. This can be hard work and fear is sure to raise it’s ugly head. A coach’s job is to help you make the changes you want to make. Sometimes this is by sharing truth. Sometimes this is by helping you overcome hurtles. It is always walking beside you along the journey.

Are you willing to put in the work?

Life coaching is a partnership where both partners need to do their part. The coach will bring the tools, the questions, and the insght. You will need to bring the openness, the flexibility to try new things, and the commitment to work the process. You will need to be open and honest, vulnerable even. You will have to do the self-reflection necessary to open new doors of possibility. You will need to do the work to overcome years of habits and inertia. Plainly said you will need to do the work!

What are you willing to give up?

In order to make a life change you will be required to give up something. Initially, you will need to create some space to self-reflect to figure out what you really want. Then, depending on the change you want to make, you might have to give up:

Habits: What are you doing that is not serving you and moving you forward.
Time : This might mean cutting ties with people who drain your energy or giving up binging Netflix. You might have to give up activities you enjoy. You will need to rearrange your time to make room for the new you to emerge. The new project to come to fruition.
Money: You may need to cut expenses in areas that are less important to create cash to apply towards your dream
Things that use or drain your energy: You only have so much energy so this energy will need to be reallocated to include your new endeavor.

Are you ready to say yes to yourself?

How long will you go on wishing that life was different?

How long will soldier through to make everyone else happy?

Is it time to take care of you yet?

Is it time to realize your dreams?

If not now, then when will you be able to seek your wants, needs and desires?

If today is the day where you decide to say yes to yourself then I would like to offer you a free Life Coaching Session. This will be a time for you to get clarity around what you want and see the next step in your journey. There is no cost or obligation. No strings attached. We will explore if I am a good fit for you and if you are in a place where coaching is right for you.

How to get the most out of hiring a life coach

So once you hire a life coach the adventure and the hard work begins. The following tips will help you make progress towards your goals faster and easier!

Remain open to change

If you do what you’ve always done, you will get what you’ve always gotten. The old adage is so true. Change is a part of life. Change is coming whether you want it to or not. Remembering that the life coaching process is about seeing things in a new way. It is about trying new actions to see how they work out in your life. Your coach is there to support you along your journey.

Take time for self reflection:

Life coaching can be an unfolding experience. As you see things in a different light and try new things, there will be consequeses of those actions. Taking time during the process for self reflection and checking in with yourself is really key. It will aid effectively moving through this process. You will want to identify and gain clarity around what you want to accomplish. You will also want to be able to articulate what is not working in your life. Self refection is the key to this information.

Keep a journal

A journal is a great way to capture your thoughts and to be able to look back and see your progress. The process of journaling your thoughts can create new insights that can aid in great leaps of progress. When the journey gets hard, and it probably will, a journal can be the place to release emotions and frustration. A journal can be a great place to record creative ideas. This is your space to record your thoughts.

Create space for the change to happen

Intentionally creating change in your life is going to require time and effort on your part. One of the things you can do is to create some room for this to happen.

Is there anything that you are doing that you can stop doing?

Is there anything that used to be fun but isn’t any more? Can you stop doing that?

Are there friends in your life that suck your time and energy without filling you up? Can you disengage from these relationships or put boundaries on them?

Do you have items in your life that are incomplete? Do you need to put away a box or declutter the kitchen counter? Do you need to send an email or file your taxes. Make a list of all the items in your life that need to be done and start to work on completing them. Review the list to see if some of these items just be dropped and not done at all?

The idea here is to clear the clutter in your life and in your schedule to create room to take the actions to accomplish your most important goals.

“Saying NO to the wrong things creates space to say YES to the right things”
Mack Story

Be open to feedback

As I said before your coach isn’t here to be your friend. They are there to ask questions and guide you. There undoubtedly will be feedback during this process. You will also get feedback from your family, friends and co-workers as you make changes that affect them. You will want to keep an open mind and listen to their feedback. Then you can decide how you want to react to this feedback. Are there concerns valid and helpful. Are they afraid of the changes you are making and how it will affect them? Feedback is information that can guide you along your path.

Have great expectations when hiring a life coach

We often get what we expect in life. We all know people who worry and stew. Is this the person you want to be? You signed up for life coaching for a reason. Embrace that reason. See yourself becoming the person you need to be to have that vision of what your life could look like.

No matter where you are now, whatever you can conceive and believe, you can achieve.
Napoleon Hill

If you are ready to make changes in your life and reach for your dream, I would love to visit with you. I would like to offer you a free coaching session. In the session we will talk about what you are wanting to do and help you get clarity about your next steps.

Other blog posts you might be interested in are 6 Reasons to Hire a Life Coach and 6 Myths About Life Coaching.

Keep Dream’n

Posted on Monday,

Using Affirmations to Overcome Limiting Beliefs

In this blog post I will cover:

Where do beliefs come from?
How do we know if we have limiting beliefs?
Using Affirmations to Overcome Limiting Beliefs.

I came across a great quote by Don Miguel Ruiz:

We only see what we want to see;
We only hear what we want to hear.
Our belief system is just like a mirror that only shows us what we believe.
Don Miguel Ruiz

That made me ponder belief systems. What are my beliefs and are they right? Or do they only appear right because my belief system is just reflecting back to me what I already believe? If I believed something else, would my life be better? Or would it be worse?

If you have been following me you know I am in a series about Limiting Beliefs. If you are new, you can read past posts

What are Limiting Beliefs? and My experience with Limiting Beliefs.

Today, I want to take a step back and look at beliefs. Where are they, where did they come from and how do change the ones we might want to?

Where do Beliefs come from?

We learn beliefs as children from our parents and the culture we grew up in. What is acceptable and what is not. We learn our place is in society and what is good and what is bad. We learn if the world is a safe place or a scary place. Can rely on people or if we need to rely only on ourselves.

These family and cultural beliefs are so foundational that we don’t even realize that they are beliefs. We tend to think that this is just the way the world is. Because we don’t realize that these are actually beliefs. . . We don’t stop to consider if those ways are still serving us. Are there better ways to respond? Are there better ways to live?

Then, let’s add in trauma

Trauma affects beliefs. Girl holding a teddy bear.

How Trauma affects beliefs

I define trauma as anything that happens that you are physically, mentally, or emotionally unprepared for. Anytime there is more coming at you than you can cope with has the potential to traumatize you. Young children are especially vulnerable because they are still forming their beliefs about the world. Overwhelming events can cause them to make decisions about the world that range from completely untrue to not ideal. These decisions become limiting beliefs.

How do we know if we have limiting beliefs?

So if beliefs are so foundational that we don’t really know they exist, how do we know if we have limiting beliefs? We have to look for clues. For example, if we have a task to do and suddenly be begin to feel:

anxious or nauseous,
tightness in our chest or
other physical symptoms

That is probably our subconscious mind acting on a limiting belief to keep you where are. You see, to your subconscious mind, staying where you are is safe. It is comfortable. It is a known situation. Taking action on the task ahead of you will take you to a place that your logical mind is wanting (a job promotion, a love relationship, or ???) your subconscious is not comfortable and will try and stop you.

Other techniques my subconscious mind uses are:

distraction,
daydreaming or
a flood of new ideas of things I can do.

I am a planner so planning or dreaming about what I want to do is safe for my subconscious. However, taking action will often cause physical symptoms, mind looping, or urgency around other things that need to be done.

Another way to identify and remove limiting beliefs is to participate in my program

Getting Out of Your Own Way:

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

This is recorded session that is available on-demand. For more information, click here,

I will lead you through a memory exercise that will give you clarity on a limiting belief and start you on the way to choosing a better belief.

Using Affirmations to Overcome Limiting Beliefs

Affirmations are powerful statements. We believe what hear ourselves say. If Is “I am so stupid” then my subconscious mind believes it because I said it. I am a truthful person therefore what I say is the truth.

But is it the truth? Probably not. You might occasionally make a mistake but you are not stupid!

So this is how affirmations work: If I say “I am smart. I can figure this out! If someone else had done this then I can to.” If this is the first time saying something like this to yourself then it can feel weird. Your subconscious mind says “Woah, that’s not what you said before.” If you keep repeating it, eventually your subconscious mind will believe it. Over time, your subconscious mind will start to cause you to act in accordance with this new belief. This is when life gets easier and begins to flow a bit more. It does take some time and repetition. But affirmations are a powerful way to retrain your subconscious mind.

Look through the following affirmations and choose one or two that speak to your heart. Write them down and read them aloud or to yourself in the morning and before bed. You can also use the list to spark ideas on crafting your own affirmation.

30 Affirmations to Overcome Limiting Beliefs

I am so happy and grateful for the life I have.

I am worthy

I am dependable and resourceful.

I am unique

I am grateful for all that I have and will accomplish.

I am so happy and grateful that all is working out in my favor.

I am healthy

I am a priority

I am courageous

I am so grateful for all the people that I have in my life.

I am worth it

I am a positive person who attracts positive situations for success.

I am exquisite

I am prepared to take advantage of the great opportunities presented to me.

I am powerful

I am able to accomplish anything I focus on.

I am so grateful for my healthy mind that has the ability to heal itself, with my assistance.

I am unforgettable

I am so grateful for this loving, beautiful, healthy body I have; that continues to get stronger every day.

I am strong

I am happy and content with my life now, while I’m striving for more.

I am joy

I am thankful for all the opportunities I have on a daily basis.

I am loveable

I am beautiful

I am blessed beyond measures.

I am so grateful for the work I do now and the opportunity that it provides.

I am amazing

I am smart

I am grateful for my strength that pushes me towards a better tomorrow.

I hope you found this list of 30 Affirmations to Overcome Limiting Beliefs helpful. I hope you will consider joining me for my Getting Our of My Own Way: Overcoming Limiting Beliefs Session.

Wherever you are in your journey, I hope you are treating yourself with grace and empathy. This is hard work! Being willing to start the journey is worthy of celebration!

Keep Dreaming,

Posted on Monday,

My experience with Limiting Beliefs

In this blog post, I will share

“My experience with Limiting Beliefs
“What are Limiting Beliefs“
“What to do about Limiting Beliefs“

I feel anxious

I don’t want to do this

Distractions are flowing into my mind. Other things I need to be doing. Other things I could be doing. “Let me just take care of this one thing before I forget” whispers the voice in my head. And I really want to eat something.

And this is on a good day!

On a bad day, I will feel nauseous, dizzy, or have a headache. I will have a weird pain in my leg or back show up. Did I mention that I want to eat everything?

So what is going on with me and with my body?

I am pushing up against my subconscious mind’s idea of safety

My logical mind and my heart really want to make this blog a reality and a success. I want to impact people and encourage them to live their best life. I want to make a difference in the world.

But . . .

My subconscious mind is trying to keep me safe.

You see I was bullied in school and it was better to not be seen or noticed.

I developed into a perfectionist that didn’t finish projects. I went from a confident little girl who was going to conquer the world to a grown woman who is struggling to put words on a page.

And …

I am in this weird place of doing enough work on my limiting beliefs that I know in my head these are limiting beliefs. They are not TRUTH. And feeling in my body the reality of these beliefs, that they are still active and driving the bus. I am in this surreal place of feeling what I am feeling …and experiencing what I am experiencing ….while at the same time watching myself in a detached, external way and thinking “Well, isn’t that interesting?”

So, let’s take a step back and look at what is going on here

First of all what are limiting beliefs?

Limiting beliefs are beliefs or decisions that we make that become ingrained in us. So ingrained that we are no longer aware of the decision or belief. It can manifest as

This is the way I am
This is the way the world is
This is the way things have always been

If we dig down into these statements, they rely on foundational beliefs and decisions. When we are babies we are learning and trying to make sense of this world around us. We take in information and believe it as truth and identify what normal is. This gathering of information and decision-making continues as we grow; adding layers and layers. Our brains hardwire in certain behaviors and habits. These behaviors and habits become subconscious, without our active, thinking brain being involved.

Communication between our conscious mind and our subconscious mind is a two-way street. Every time you have an idea, or an emotion, a memory, or an image from the past — this is the subconscious mind communicating to your conscious mind.

What do we do about Limiting Beliefs?

Well, we have three options:

· We can give up, eat a cookie and say that is just the way I am

· We can power through, grind it out, grit our teeth, beat ourselves up and make ourselves do it

· We can Identify and try and clear the beliefs. Often just being aware of the beliefs is enough to dispel them. Limiting Belief Session is really powerful ……

Now the good news here is that you have a choice. You get to choose the action you want to take. Sometimes, we are not ready to jump in and do the hard work. That is ok. I would encourage you to honor where you are at. You are ok JUST as you are and I love you no matter the choice you make.

However, if you are ready to jump into option #3. And you want to start to remove these pesky limiting beliefs from your life -read on!

How do you clear limiting beliefs?

The basic process to clear limiting beliefs is to

Identify the limiting belief

Replace the old belief with new beliefs that better serve you

Anchor new beliefs with Affirmations

Manage your emotions and reactions

Sometimes, you will need to take action anyway

So the first step is to Identify the Limiting Belief. The best way I have found to Identify the limiting belief and begin to replace the belief at the same time is through my program

Getting Out of Your Own Way:

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

This is a recorded session that is available on-demand. Click here for more information

In these sessions, we do a relaxation exercise, followed by a memory exercise that brings clarity about why we act the way we do. This clarity allows us to make informed decisions about how we want to show up in our lives. It allows us to make fast and easy changes in our lives without the struggle of fighting ourselves.

This is such a powerful exercise, and I am so glad to be able to share it with you. I am so excited about the breakthroughs that my clients are getting. I want these changes to be available to you. Did I mention that it is FREE through August So sign up for it here

Anchoring New Beliefs

So the best way to anchor new beliefs is with affirmations. Affirmations are positive statements that start with the words “I am”. “I am” statements are so important because shape and maintain our self-identity. For most of us, the voice in our heads is negative. “I am so ______ (fill in the black with your self-defeating term of choice).

With affirmations, we use the same technique but we use it to build ourselves up. In my case of not wanting to be seen, I can use the affirmation: “ I am lovable. It is safe to speak up.” I then write my affirmation on a notecard. I then say it out loud to myself in the morning right before I get up and then again right before I go to bed. It can feel weird at first. It is so totally worth it to help eliminate the limiting belief, keeping me from the life I want to live!

Managing our Emotions and Reactions

So, let’s get real. Participating in my program is not going to magically make all your limiting beliefs just disappear. I WISH I had that much power and skill!

Anytime you do this inner work, your subconscious is going to try to keep you safe. It is going to try to keep you where you have always been. Emotions and reactions are going to come up. From my experience with limiting beliefs, I have found the best thing to do is to sit with those emotions or actions.

Notice them.
Scan your body and see where they are sitting.
Are you feeling pain or discomfort anywhere in your body?

As a general habit, we tend to ignore what is going on in our bodies. We tend to push away any unpleasant emotions. This pushing away tends to increase the intensity of the feeling. This can create secondary problems such as emotional eating. What I would like you to do is sit with the emotion. Feel the emotion in its intensity. Welcome it and don’t judge it. Sounds weird, I know. But what I have found, is that if you do this process the emotion will shift and move in your body. Eventually, the intensity of the emotion will become less and overall, more manageable.

Deep breathing and meditation can also help to eliminate any lingering emotional residue. Now the emotion might not go entirely away but it should be better.

That leads us to the last step:

Live outside your comfort zone – motivational handwriting in black ink on an isolated sticky note

Take Action Anyway

Whatever we are feeling, we need to take appropriate action. I find that if I just buckle down and get started; that the physical symptoms fade and eventually disappear. I tell myself, “I am just going to get started on this for 15 minutes (or 5 minutes). And then I can take a break and work on something else.” What I find is that once I get started, I can get past the physical and emotional hurdles and tap into my why. Once I can remember that WHY the task gets immensely easier.

And if I am still struggling at the end of the time I set, then I stop and consider the situation. Bumping up to the edge of our comfort zone is difficult. It drains our energy and increases our stress response. We need to realize that we cannot stress ourselves to success. At times like this we may need to take a walk, do some self-care, get a snack and if possible, return to the task to be done.

I have found that what doesn’t work is giving in to the fear and feelings. If I give in and procrastinate or if I allow myself to get distracted, when I do come back the fear and feelings are stronger and the block is bigger. I find that moving forward and tackling a little is the best way to keep the fear and feeling manageable.

If you are having these feelings and physical symptoms then this means that you probably have more work to do on your limiting beliefs. I invite you to participate in (or in another) Overcoming Limiting Belief Session. These sessions will allow you to identify your limiting beliefs and begin the process of overcoming them. You can sign up HERE

One of my favorite Jack Canfield quote is:

Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone.
It is wasn’t you would already have it!

So, join me in the journey of pushing the boundaries of our comfort zones so that we can live the life of our dreams!

You might also like one of my other blog posts “What are Limiting Beliefs” and “Affirmations to Overcome limiting Beliefs“. In the meantime, I would love to hear your comments about your experience with Limiting Beliefs below.

Keep Dream’n

Posted on Thursday,

What are Limiting Beliefs

Today, we will cover the following topics around limiting beliefs:

What are limiting beliefs?
Types of limiting beliefs and a few examples

How to overcome limiting beliefs

What are Limiting Beliefs?

Limiting beliefs affect your idea of

• what you can do,

• what you can achieve,

• what others think of you, and

• what you think of yourself.

It also affects your understanding of how the world works. These distortions can create a cage of belief preventing you from reaching your goals, dreams, and potential.

They create a comfort zone that is almost impossible to get out of unless one of two things happen. The first is a life-changing event that just so happens to bust these beliefs. This could be a death of a loved one, cancer or serious illness, divorce, or other life-altering events. The other way this change occurs is through self-development. This is the active, intentional practice to try and make life better for yourself. It can come in the form of books, blog posts, seminars, or coaching/counseling. It can also come from conversations with friends where old ideas are challenged, and new ideas are considered. This work can also be called Shadow Work, Inner Child, and a variety of other names. It can include techniques like

meditation,
tapping,
counseling
NLP,
hypnotism,
affirmations, and
prayer.

Regardless of what you call it or the tools you use, the basic outcome is of seeing the world differently and letting go of beliefs that no longer serve you.

A great way to identify your limiting beliefs are and learn to change them is to participate in my live Limiting Beliefs Program

This is a recorded session that is available on demand. Click here to learn more.

In these sessions, we do a relaxation exercise. Then notice the feelings/pain/discomfort in our bodies. We then remember back to the first time we remember this feeling and it often brings up an event from our early childhood. We then go through some processes to explore and release any decisions made at that time. The outcome is clarity about why we act the way we do. This clarity allows us to make informed decisions about how we want to show up in our lives. It allows us to make fast and easy changes in our lives without the struggle of fighting ourselves.

This is such a powerful exercise, and I am so glad to be able to share it with you. I am so excited about the breakthroughs that my clients are getting and the changes that will be available to you.

Types of Limiting Beliefs

Self-Image/ Overall Beliefs

Our beliefs about who we are powerful beliefs that often set in our childhood. If we listen to the voice in our heads, we can often identify some of these beliefs. The tone of our self-talk usually mimics how our parents talked to us. Repeating those words and those tones works to keep us trapped in our current circumstances. Some limiting Beliefs about Self Image are:

I am so stupid
Why do I always say the wrong things?
I am not enough.
I have to be perfect.
It is not safe to be seen or heard.
I am perfect and do not need to change.
I do not have the time to work on myself.

Money:

Money is often an area where we have tangled beliefs. Between the influences of

Our birth families,
Peer pressure- Keeping up with the Jones (whoever they are),
Advertising confirming that we are not enough, we don’t have enough, and that happiness is outside ourselves?

Is it any wonder we mixed up about money? Here are some of the more common limiting beliefs about money:

Rich people are bad people.
There is never enough.
You only live once, sacrifice today for a better tomorrow.
You only live once, spend money today.

Work:

The way that you look at work affects the way you show up. Do you see it as a life-sucking obligation, or do you see it as your opportunity to serve mankind and change the world? Your view will make a huge impact on how you experience it. In this case, the journey matters a lot more than the destination, especially since it consumes so much of our waking hours. Change the way you look at work, and you could be enjoying work more than you have before!

Here are some common limiting beliefs about work:

I will never get my dream job.
It’s impossible to make money doing what you love.
My opinion isn’t important. No one listens to me.
What I do is too hard.
All the good-paying and jobs worth doing are all taken.

Relationships:

We, humans, are creatures of habit. We eat the same things. We go to the same places. We pick the same (type) of people to spend our time with. I have friends who have been married multiple times. But, each time they choose the same type of person and end up having the same type of issues. We make our choices in the area of relationships based mostly on emotion. Or worse if we ignore emotion and make a solely logical choice we can end up in an even worse place. Looking at our limiting beliefs can be a way out of this crazy looping. And into a relationship that is both emotionally fulfilling as well as safe, nurturing, and stable. Here are some common limiting beliefs about relationships.

I will never find love.
My family is always trying to keep me down.
No one wants me.
Putting yourself out there only results in getting hurt.

How to Overcome Limiting Beliefs?

So here is a crazy fact that I have learned:

It’s easier to let go of your limiting beliefs than it is to hold on to them.

It’s crazy because we work so hard to hold on to our beliefs. They are often so foundational that we can’t even see them. But once we are able to see them and then release them, it is amazing how things shift and life gets easier. Often is a variety of ways that we weren’t expecting. Life feels brighter and less of a burden.

Identify the belief

Beliefs can also be identified by reviewing a list of limiting beliefs. I was asked in a meditation to repeat “I am enough” and when I did that, I got very emotional. A clear clue that I had bumped up against a limiting belief. So here is my list of 100 limiting beliefs for you to review. If possible, read this list out loud and see if any of them strike an emotional chord with you.

Replace the belief

The next step is to replace the belief. Think about why this might have been true in the past but is not currently true for you. Finding a replacement belief and stating it to yourself whenever the voice in your head brings up the original belief. Here is an example

“I am so stupid” can be replaced with “everyone makes mistakes. It is not that big of a deal and I am not going to beat myself up over it”

Or ” I will never get that promotion” with “If I work diligently, then an opportunity will come to me. If not with this company, then with another company!”

Anchor the new belief

The third step is to anchor the new belief. One of my favorite ways is to use affirmations to the point of it being a mantra. An affirmation can be a mantra when you say it to yourself over and over every day. For example “I am a strong and capable woman” covers a multitude of limiting beliefs. If you tie saying this affirmation with an activity that happens several times a day such as going to the restroom, it can be very effective. After 30 days of this, your life will certainly be different!

Keep working

Step four in the process is to dig deeper. I have found that my subconscious mind will give me one belief to work on but keep several more hidden away. Going back through the process will bring up a different response or a different aspect that can then be understood and changed.

So, in closing, I would just like to caution you to be kind to yourself. These beliefs have been with you for a long time and changing them will be a process. Being hard on yourself will just make the process that much more difficult. Be a kind and understanding friend to yourself as you explore your beliefs and try to integrate new ones into your life.

I hope that you will join me for my Getting Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Limiting Beliefs class and begin this journey to happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.

Keep dreaming,

Posted on Monday,

Struggling To Get Everything Done?

Time Management Ideas

Over the years I have read many time management books in the attempt to try and get everything done. I have had Day-Timers, Franklin Covey Systems, Planner Pads, apps, software and just notepads full of lists. And yet I still find myself feeling behind. Rushing to something that I have forgotten. And feeling guilty about what isn’t done. So here are some things I have learned over the years:

Do the work.

First of all, getting actual work done is the most important thing. I have been known to spend time creating the perfect system when what I was really doing is avoiding actually working. If this is you right now. STOP. Go do what you should be doing. We will wait for you to get done. 🙂

So, using “getting organized” as an excuse to procrastinate is out.

Posted on Friday,

Time Margin: How to fit it all in??

Creating time margin for yourself and your dreams

I just lost an hour and a half.

I was trying to help. I really was.

I was traveling with my son to an event that he needed to attend. We had agreed to leave the hotel at 6:30 to get him where he needed to be by 7:30. I was ready but he was distracted, I think he thought I was being too uptight leaving an hour to get to the event (It could be a thing). Anyway, I was ready and I grabbed his suit-jacket off the hanger and hung it on his suitcase rolling handle.

So, I get him out the door and between needing to get him food, getting lost twice, I got him to the event at 7:35. As he is getting out of the car he realized that he does not have his tie on so he looks in his bag. Then he realizes it is probably hanging on the hanger where his suit was (which Mom had failed to grab).

So… he went into his event and I drove back to get the tie and hanger from the hotel room. In trying to save a few minutes, by over mom-ing him, I got to spend an hour and a half driving back to the hotel. Getting the tie. Driving back to his event so he could be properly dressed.

If I had only let him manage himself, which he is very capable of doing, I would have saved myself an hour and a half and quarter tank of gas.

This made me think of where else in our lives do we create chaos or extra work because we are interfering or helping unnecessarily.?? If we are to find the time in our busy lives to live our dreams and passions this might be an area to look at.

So here are some things to think about to help create extra time and energy for you:

Posted on Friday,

168

We all have 168 hours a week.

Rich, poor, healthy, unhealthy, young, old — we all have the same number of hours a week.

What we choose to do with those hours will determine the life we lead. Work, family, friends, sleep, eating, relaxing and chores all have to fit into these set number of hours.

Along with the meaning of life; how best to spend the time you have available to you is one of the great philosophical questions of the ages. The answer to this question can vary from “Live for the Moment” to the ” Number your Days.” (The idea here is to count the number of days you have and to realize how short is the time you have left).

Many books and articles have been written on ways to manage your time, be more effective, get more things done, etc, etc, etc. I have read many of these books and tried many of the tactics.

I have started/stopped/failed/gave up/and started again.

I don’t know that I have anything NEW to add to the discussion. Yet, how we handle those 168 hours will have a HUGE impact on our ability to reach our dreams or even attempt to start the journey.

Here are some of my favorite bits of wisdom on the subject: