Launch your day right

I have often said the way you start your day is the way you will spend your day.  When you get out of bed with a "I don't want to" attitude dragging yourself around to get ready you will certainly not feel ready to handle anything that the day brings you.  And when you leap out of bed with a start panicked and rushed you will be on edge all day too.  But if you could launch your day in a positive and energetic way, just what could you accomplish?

As Soon as the Alarm Rings...

Spend your first few seconds in bed and allow your body to wake up.  Stretch, wiggle your toes and welcome the morning.  Then allow your mind to wake up!  Don't get out of bed until you can think about at least 3 things to feel grateful for.  Maybe it is something exciting you have planned for the day.  Maybe it is the blessing of your loved ones, or the security you feel waking up in your warm bed.  Maybe it's even that cup of coffee you're going to have in a few minutes.  Whatever it is big or small, those thoughts will lift your happiness level.  Making a regular habit of starting your day in a state of gratitude will dramitically change the way you spend your day.  It will have a positive effect on you and your ability to be at a higher level of performance throughout the day.

Now ... Get Up!

Taking 5 or 10 minutes to embrace your day can be powerful, but don't stay in bed too long!  The longer you lie there, the less you may want to get up and your thoughts might wander past the gratitiude and energetic thoughts to the more mundane tasks ahead.  So before that starts, rise up!  Get vertical and make a cup of coffee, take a shower, feed the dog...

Drink...

I started drinking a glass of water each morning ... before my coffee ... a few months ago and it made such a big difference.  It made me feel more alert.  And studies show how we tend to cut off our water supply after dinner and the morning is a time when our bodies are dehydrated.  Dehydration causes  fatigue, which affects your mood.

Move It

Exercise.  Movement in the morning is so important.  Do you get out of bed just to sit on the couch or at your desk for an hour?  Some of us sit all day as it is, so moving around in the morning can really help you feel more limber throughout the day.  And they say the number one way of chasing away a bad mood is exercise.   A workout at the gym is great, but even just a few minutes of movement—a fast walk, for example—raises energy and reduces tension.  Some morning yoga stretches (I love my Wii Fit) can be a great way to start. 

Self Analysis

If you do wake up feeling anxious or a sense of dread and you can't seem to turn that around, why is that?  Try to pinpoint what's causing it.   Did someone say anything the day before?   Do you have a meeting today you wish you didn't?   Was it the dream you were having when the alarm went off?   If you can figure out why you're upset, that's halfway to feeling better.

Be Kind and Thankful

This isn't exactly news, but generosity and gratitude are both big contributors to happiness.  What can you do for someone else today?   Do something nice for a stranger or friend and see if you don't feel better about yourself.   Remember those three things you're grateful for?  Why not write them down each morning and create a gratitude journal?  It would be a great thing to read around 2 or 3pm when energy starts to dip down.   It seems so simple, but counting your blessings just has a way of making you remember the sun is shining.

Laugh at Yourself

The best comedians point out the mundane aspects of life—relationship strife, a boring job, a closet full of too-tight clothes; they exaggerate those circumstances, and give us a perspective we can laugh about.  Look at your own life and try to appreciate the absurdity of what doesn't go exactly according to plan (the diets, the men, the buzz cut).   Stop taking yourself so seriously!  Acknowledging how little control we actually have over what happens is sometimes a most freeing gift to yourself.

The Bucket List

In 2007, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman starred in the movie "The Bucket List."   It's a story about two terminally ill men who escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.   It was a funny and poignant look at living out your dreams.   But why wait like most people, until you retire or face death to write the list?  Why not live every day from your bucket list?

If you didn't know, a bucket list,  is a list of all the goals you want to achieve, dreams you want to fulfill and life-experiences you desire to experience before you die.  Why is a bucket list so important?  Because I believe it helps us to want more, experience more and live more with a greater purpose.  Without defining the goals we have for our lives we can get too caught up in the everyday mundane tasks of our lives and forget to plan for more fun and excitement.  We might neglect reaching past our own limits.  Without a bucket list we not learn how to think big.  You know you have heard it before, "If you are going to think, might as well think big."

Taking the time to create a bucket list for your life will help you to think bigger and bigger!   Thinking big means going big!   And I don't think a bucket list should be written as part of your "personal race against time".  It's not a morbid task.  It is a positive proactive optimistic plan for YOUR life!  Your bucket list contains all of your personal triumphs yet to be seen.

I also think we should add new goals to our bucket list all the time.  There should never be a time when we stop imagining and planning how we can live out our purpose.  Imagine if every High School Senior was asked to start their Bucket List as part of their graduation requirements?  Wow

All it takes is a pen and a piece of paper to get started and maybe a quiet spot for 30 minutes.  Think about the things you would love to try, the places you would love to see, the experiences you want to have in the course of your lifetime.  Who are the people you want to meet, help and inspire?  Don't worry about how or when right now, just imagine.   Think without limits, without fear.   What will you do with the life that has been given to you?

Will you write a book?  Learn to play the piano?  Climb a mountain?  Speak another language?  Run a marathon?  Travel to India?  Fly a plane?  Take cooking lessons?  Drive a race car?   Come up with as many items as you can.   The items should be things you have not done yet.

Don’t stop until you finish listing at least 101 things!   If you find yourself stuck, chances are you are mentally limiting or constraining yourself.  So release the brakes and remember this is a list of everything you want.

But look past the wants and see the why's.  What will you discover about yourself when you take a look at not only what you want to but why you want to do it?  And wait until you see who you become in the process of achieving the items on your list!

The New Year

As this year comes to an end and the new year begins, it's time to reflect, complete, celebrate and most importantly plan.  It is time to envision what you want for yourself in 2011.

What do you want for your life this year?  I hope you are thinking in terms of more prosperity and abundance!

It's time to plan for success!  Create new habits of thought connected to new patterns of action.  What is your vision?  What do you see for yourself and your business?  What is worth working for?  Are you ready to live more positively?  more focused and energized?

Take a look at some key areas of your life.  Before you can write the plan, you must have the vision and set some goals.   Goal setting is a power play towards achieving success.

Did you know that effective goals setters usually suffer from less stress and anxiety, concentrate and focus better, show more self-confidence, perform better in all areas of their life and are generally happier and more satisfied with life!

There is such a HUGE payoff to setting goals.  It conditions you for success.  The process of setting and achieving goals, gives you confidence in your ability to achieve higher and more challenging goals later on.

So as this new year begins its approach, decide what you want to do with your life and what large scale goals you want to achieve.  Look at some key areas such as:

Personal Growth- how will you develop on a personal level?  How will you fuel your passions?

Career - Are you where you want to be?  Are you doing what you want to be doing?  How will you bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be professionally?

Education - What knowledge would you like to acquire or what area of study would you like to pursue?  What information and skills do you need to have to achieve your 2011 goals?

Family - How do you want your partner or family members to see you?  What impact would you like to make on those relationships?

Financial - What are your short term and long term goals regarding earning, saving and investing?  What are this years goals?  What are the goals for next 5 and 10 years, in your lifetime?

Physical - Are there athletic goals you want to achieve or do you simply want to be healthy?  What steps are you taking to get there?

Pleasure - How do you plan to enjoy life?  Yes, plan to enjoy life!  Ensure that some of your life and your goals are geared towards making yourself happy for no reason other than being happy.

Service - How can you make the world a better place by your existence?  What can you do to give back and help others?

As I write this, I am filled with excitement and anticipation regarding the new year and all it will bring.  What I don't feel is fear.   I made a decision a long time ago to no longer allow fear to cut me off from my own destiny.  I knew if I was going to live up to my own life purpose then I had to stop letting fear get in my way of my own success.

Fear is the reason why so many of us do not live up to our fullest potential.  Fear will stop the abundant and positive flow of energy that is trying to flow to you in your life, your work and your relationships.   Don't let fear interfere with all the goals you are going to be setting.   Instead of fear, tell yourself you will trust.  You see, trust is the antidote for fear.

Let's declare 2011 as the year of Fearless Living.  Isn't it time to take that leap of faith and create a life by design rather than by default?

Happy New Year!

Fuel Your Passion, Ignite Your Profits

Passion is something within you that provides the continual enthusiasm, focus and energy you need to succeed.  True passion does not come from those “feel good” emotions you get from external sources, it comes from within, an almost spiritual force.

The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek word entheos, which means “to be filled with God.”  When you are filled with spirit, you are naturally inspired and passionate.  Sometimes that passion expresses itself in a dynamic and energetic way and other times it expresses itself in a more peaceful and calm way.

Passionate people are enthusiastic about life and work.  They can’t wait to get up in the morning and get started.  They are eager and energetic.  They are filled with purpose and totally committed to their mission.  They enjoy what they do!

Create a plan for your business that incorporates the passions you have for life.  Let your Marketing Plan include people and places that you want to do business with.  Without identifying what you are passionate about,  you might find yourself  "a little asleep at the wheel."

Passion is a powerful tool for success and deserves to be an area you consistently work on.  Passion makes your days fly by!  It helps you get more done in less time.  It helps you make better decisions.  And it attracts others to you.

Spend more time doing what you love to do.  Discover and reconnect with your purpose for doing anything that you do.  Realize everything is a choice.  And when those choices are connected to your purpose that’s when your enthusiasm will build.

Here are some thoughts to explore:

How can you develop and maintain a passion for the most important areas of your life?

How do you know when you have a true passion and purpose for something?

When you express your passion and enthusiasm, you will become a magnet to others, who will be attracted to your level of energy.

Discover Your Best Self

This means something different to all of us.  But one thing remains true, in order to understand your life's purpose, you must first come to understand yourself.  In order to achieve success in life, career and relationships you need to discover your best self!  That allows you to live your best life!

Living your best life means understanding and living out your life's purpose.  It means creating harmony within all parts of your life.  It involves more celebrating and less worrying.  It's joyful not stressful.  Your best self thrives when you are living your best life.

It all sounds so easy doesn't it?  But how to get there?  How do we discover our best self?  First, we have to make the decision to look for her.  Then we have to make a commitment - a life long commitment to the discovery because your best self is not a destination - it's a journey.

To help guide your journey to Discover Your Best Self, consider the following as part of your road map:

Choose Happiness - Be happy for no reason.  Create a state of peace and well being that isn't dependent on external circumstances.  When you are happy for no reason you bring happiness to your outer experiences rather than trying to extract happiness from them.   Live from happiness, rather than for happiness.

Own Your Happiness - Accept that being happy is up to you and that you have the ability and the power to be happier by changing your habits.  Respond to people and events in your life in a way that supports your happiness.

Appreciate Your Trials - The tough times in our life often become the blessings in our life.  Those tough times make us grow up, it develops our character.  Your most difficult times in life are usually the foundation for everything good in your life.

Have a Thankful Attitude - Be grateful!  Appreciate what you have rather than complain about what you don't have.  Gratitude is your ability to show thanks.  Consider everything you have, everything you get to do as a gift.  It will allow you to receive more.

Have a Positive Attitude - Your attitude belongs to you and only you.  No one can make you have a bad day.  To be your best self - look for the best in others and in every situation.  Think in terms of possibilities rather than problems.

Stop Complaining - It won't fix anything.  Complaining is a garbage magnet!  All you do is call more complaining and negativity into your life.  You can not be your best self if you are always focused on negativity.

Make Peace with Yourself - You can only know your best self when you make peace with yourself.  We all have things in our past that didn't go so well.  Blaming yourself robs you of happiness.  Make peace with yourself, free up your energy and accept yourself for who you are.

Celebrate Your Birthday - Celebrate your birthday in a big way every year!  The day you were born was an awesome day and should be celebrated!  It is not just another day.  It is your day.  It is a celebration of life and life is a gift.  Express gratitude for it.  Recognize all the wonderful things that make you uniquely you on the one day a year that is all about you!

Don't Be Ruled by Guilt - We are not built for guilt.  Haven't you noticed how yucky you feel when you allow guilt into your life.  Our system doesn't handle it so well.  How much time do we waste on feeling guilty.  Instead of feeling guilty, make good decisions and have confidence in your ability to do so.

Do What You Love and Love What You Do - What makes your heart expand?  What makes your soul sing?  Don't allow yourself to be so busy going through the motions of the day that you don't pay attention to what truly brings you joy.

Spend Time With Yourself - How can you be your best self if you don't know anything about yourself?  Claim 30 minutes a day as your own time to be with your thoughts. Perhaps read a book or meditate.

Practice Forgiveness - To be your best self you can not walk around angry at someone.  Practice forgiveness.  You can't be truly happy until you forgive.  Feeling hatred, anger and resentment toward someone who wronged you is not a way of punishing them.  It is punishing you and holding you back.

Respect Your Body - Nourish it properly.  You can not solve all your problems by eating happy meals!  Energize your body.  Get out and move around. Exercise regularly.  Love your Body.  Stop looking in the mirror and pointing out all of the things you don't like and wish you could change.  Come to love yourself for who you are and stop focusing on what you aren't.

Filter Out the Negative - Learn to filter out negativity in all its forms.  Negative thoughts, negative words and negative people.  Surround yourself with people you admire, with people who believe in you and want you to be your best self.

Being yourself takes time, courage, commitment and faith.  It is a process of letting go of many false beliefs that we have picked up along the way.  To be your best self means ultimately to love yourself.  You are a wonderful creation.  You can be, do and have anything you want and I want only the best for you!

You become what you think, so think positive!

You have the power to think and be positive and the power to think and be positive will change your life.  People who think positively can see potential in even the most challenging and discouraging situations. In contrast, people who think negatively usually only see the problems and limitations in any situation rather than the solutions.

Negative thinking distorts reality.  Your ability to think negatively or positively is a choice.  When you see things through the glasses of negativity it is impossible to create rational solutions.  Problems seem bigger and harder to get through than they really are.  You begin to feel like nothing can go right.  Negative thinking becomes negative talk and negative actions.  You can not attract good things into your life with bad thoughts.

The alternative is to tap into the power of positive thinking.  That's a choice too!  Understand your thoughts and beliefs and allow positivity, happiness and optimism to be your focus.  When your thoughts are limited, your beliefs are limited and so are your actions.  Until you make positive thinking a way of being, doing and having you will always experience a disconnect in your life, your work, your relationships and in your ability to fulfill your very purpose.

To start living the life of your dreams,  you only need to do one thing ... change your state of mind.

Believe that you have the power to create the results that you want in your life - in large part to the way you respond to the events that are occurring in your life.  Good things are yours to have and nothing is impossible if you have faith and believe in that the Universe is here to support you.

Don't let anyone else stop your flow of positive thoughts.  Protect them and your ability to be positive from the negative thoughts of others.  Don't let anyone else's limited thinking limit you.  Always focus on the solutions and sometimes the very blessings to come from any challenges.

Being positive is a choice, and it requires practice and dedication to the process.  Train your mind to think positively in every situation.  Train your thoughts to be kind and supportive, especially to yourself.   Train your voice to always speak with positivity and encouragement to others.  Focus on all the things in your life that are good because what you focus on expands.  Express gratitude for what you have rather than discontent for what you don't have.

Think highly of yourself!  The world takes you at your own estimate!

Is your list too long?

How do you know what to do first?  How many things can one person do in a day?  Well, many successful people have mastered the ability to get more done by doing less!

It’s a well established fact that the average person cannot successfully handle more than six or seven things in their minds at one time. Yet, we try to do it all the time. One simple method will help … write it down!

This will do more than just create a to-do list. Writing things down is the process of down loading.

The strategy is to keep a short list in order to narrow down what’s truly important to do each day. And writing things down helps you summarize the details and envision the tasks already done.

The next step is to rank those six items in order of their importance. Anxiety can be caused when we have too many things on our minds or when we feel our “plate is full”.

Once you have the list, develop your focus and only keep one thing in the forefront of your mind – the task at hand.

Is it possible, that if you create this list the night before, you might even sleep better? Your subconscious mind will work on preparing you for the tasks of the next day while you sleep. You will find yourself waking up not only refreshed from a good night’s sleep, but also with great ideas for accomplishing the day’s tasks.

Caution!
Don’t assume that the list will allow you to accomplish 12 hours of work in an 8 hour day. Know your limitations. The goal is to have a smooth-flowing productive day, not a day crammed with so much activity that you have nothing left to give your personal life. After all, why work hard to earn an incredible income if your health will be too poor to enjoy it.