Positive Structures Work Well With Goals!

You have set your goals. What else integrates well in helping you reach your goals? Try a few of these – there is little to no cost.

Strengths and Skills – use them to reach your goals…play to your strengths…maximize and utilize your strengths and skills – they are transferable
Vision Board – buy a piece of foam board at a craft or variety store…think about what lights you up. What makes you happy? Cut out photos of people, places or things. Also cut out words that have meaning to you…that light you up or that you want in your life. Thumbtack or paste them on the board and keep it out so you can see it daily. It keeps your wants, desires, and dreams in front of you.
Gratitude Journal – write a few items down each day that you are grateful for (preferably in the morning)…it’s a great way to start your day! Gratitude puts you in a positive mindset. When you feel positive, when you’re happy, when you’re grateful, you are more apt to accomplish your goals and be productive.
Create a Positive Mindset - replace old limiting thoughts that are not serving you with new positive thoughts that do serve you. Be aware of your self talk.
Positive Affirmations – make it a daily practice to think and say positive things to others and yourself! When’s the last time you said something positive to yourself? Looking directly at yourself in the mirror and saying positive things speeds up the process of feeling the effect of the positive affirmations. Start with “I believe in myself!
Exercise and Laugh – both send off natural endorphins which make you feel better; they also keep you healthier.
Meditation is another healthy idea; focus on your breathing. Mediation is a huge stress reducer.
Support – get the support you want from others
Don’t be critical of yourself (or others)

Set Those Goals!

In the past several weeks clients have wanted to focus on goal setting. So whether I am brainstorming with them to come up with the goals or they come to me with goals already set and need a partner to hold them accountable to endure successfully reaching them, this is perfect time to get going and pursue them.

Setting goals will make you feel more focused, give you more clarity and can get you the results you desire. Make sure your actions are aligned with the goals you’re setting and take action steps to reach them. Take the time to internalize your achievement so that the goals set are not just about chase and conquer.

Here’s a few tips when goal setting. Make sure they’re:
Intrinsic - meaning to YOU and not somebody else
Detailed and Specific - gives you more clarity, makes it more real and attainable
Realistic - set yourself up with realistic goals or else you’ll be setting yourself up for failure. Aim for goals you can reach and will have to stretch out of your comfort zone a bit;
Stretch - out of your comfort zone…realizing goals that are too easy to reach won’t feel as meaningful and satisfying as something that you had to step out of your comfort zone to reach
Accountability - to jump start your success, be accountable to another person.

Are You a "Benefit Finder" or "Fault Finder"?

After listening to Tal Ben-Shahar lecture on “Benefit Finders” and “Fault Finders” I am very aware of the impact this perspective has on our lives. I’ve noticed with clients, friends, family, and business associates that they generally tend to look at situations, and at other people, and either find faults or benefits. So do we see stumbling blocks or stepping stones? It’s a choice we make daily.

Do we look at the stars each night or take them for granted? Do we appreciate our family, our work, our every day? Do we take people, our health, and life for granted or do we celebrate them? Are you embracing life or living by avoiding?

“Benefit Finders” focus on the positive. When you focus on the positive, the good appreciates. If you choose to focus on the negative, the good depreciates and the negative is accentuated.

What we focus on in our relationships matters a great deal. What we focus on in our personal and business lives determines the quality of our lives and those close to us. It’s up to us to create our experience…it’s your choice!

Remember to see the good, the difficult, to see the potential in the seed…to be a “Benefit Finder”.

"The David" WIthin Us

Finding “The David” Within Us

How we view life is all about the perspective we have. Since being snowed in for days with no electricity, I started to look through books I hadn’t looked at in a while. I came across the photo of Michelangelo’s statue “The David”.

As the story goes, Michelangelo was given a huge slab of granite and asked to create something from it. After working on it hour after hour he created this magnificent sculpture that he named “The David”.

Now there’s two perspectives here…One way is that Michelangelo chipped away at the stone and created David. And the way I view it is that David was always in their and he had to chip away at the excess stone to get to him.

I believe “The David” is within all of us. We are all Magnificent ! We just sometimes have to chip away at the layers, the outside sources and influences that have us looking at ourselves with limited thoughts as opposed to unlimited, unused potential that we all have.

Unleash your Magnificence….See “The David” within you and the people you’re in relationship with.

The Power of One

The “Power of One” is an incredible phenomenon. Each of of us can make a difference. Think of this, a person can light one candle and with that one flame thousands of other candles are lit while never diminishing the light of the original or any other. That one candle can light up the world and so can you!!

So how would you like to make a difference? What’s your vision?
Now it’s your turn to light the flame!

How Resilient Are You?

After taking a wonderful course with Dr. Tal Ben-Sharar at UPenn, and since taking on the position as President of the International Coach Federation Metro DC Chapter, I have been thinking and visioning what I’d like to see for the year, for my clients, for my chapter, and for you. There’s a few things that pop that I’ve learned so much about that I want to share with you because I know it will be helpful. It’s about Resiliency…because resilient people pick themselves up when they’ve stumbled. They don’t let anyone or anything keep them down for long.

Resiliency can profoundly change how enthusiastically we approach challenges. Resiliency can transform hardship into challenge, failure into success, helplessness into power, victim into survivor and allows survivors to thrive. Anyone can master resilience and from that you grow – you grow personally, you grow your business, you help your client grow.

Everyone has that resiliency factor…you have to work it like a muscle and build it up…it will make a tremendous difference in your life!