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Nicola

2016 A Year of Mixed Results

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2016 ReviewAs we approached the end of 2016, I was keen to spend some time reviewing the events, progress, and slippage that has occurred! It’s also an opportunity to see what lessons can be learned so that they are avoided in the future (not always successfully, I may add!).

In some ways though, reviewing 2016 isn’t an easy task, and this is my first and a major lesson learned! Because, for 2016, I didn’t publicly proclaim my goals in such a way that they could be monitored effectively. But more than that, I didn’t really articulate my goals, even to myself in a way that was useful until much later in the year.

I kind of got wise to myself around September when I realised that my progress was slow and disjointed. I recognise this as a character flaw that I need to work on, because without clear direction, I tend to hop from one thing to another without really bringing anything to a successful conclusion.

I’ve written in the past about being lured by the next shiny object to cross my path and in 2016 I took up that mantle too often and got well and truly overwhelmed.

So with this in mind, here’s a review of 2016. (You can also check out my 2015 review here as a comparison to 2016.)

Despite the lack of well-articulated goals, there were some overriding themes that were uppermost in my mind as things that I wanted to achieve, or, at the very least, progress in 2016. These were: [Read more…] about 2016 A Year of Mixed Results

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

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time flies when you are having fun time flies quotes

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun!

Some weeks just seem to go on for-ev-er…, well, until we hit the weekend and then suddenly time doubles-up and before we know it, it’s already Sunday and the new week is about to roll around.  Feels like I’ve hardly even had a chance to fully relax!  I’m sure you know that feeling!

But why does that always seem to happen?

Ok, it could be partly to do with the relative amount of time involved, as in Monday – Friday accounts for 71% of the week or 120 hours and the weekend is a mere 29% or 48 hours. On that basis then I guess it makes sense that the week seems longer…because it is! But that’s not really what I’m getting at, rather it’s the time-perception thing that’s been going on that’s really got to me this week.

I’ve just felt that time has dragged on and on….

Often this happens just before a holiday period, although I’ll be honest and admit to then feeling time both speed up and slow down at the same time! It speeds up because I’m trying to do so much in the remaining time and it slows down because I so want to be on holiday. Dumb, huh?!

Also, given that we’re so close to the Christmas holiday period, some people have been happily (or even smugly) flaunting their imminent holiday status although I bet their week felt even longer than mine! [Read more…] about Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

The Quote Series: 5 Quotes To Inspire Your Future

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5 Quotes To Inspire Your Future

Having our future isn’t a given, although we all take for granted the idea that our lives will stretch out into the future, affording us the time, energy and resources to do the things we want to do ‘someday’. But it’s an often repeated cliché that the only time we really have is now.

But what does that really mean for us?

For me, being aware of my ‘now’ and how that, through my daily actions and lack of action, is creating my future produces an awareness of what I’m doing, and how it is leading me in one direction or another. And most importantly, is that direction the way I want to go?

With this in mind, I went in search of some quotes that would help us define and really live our ‘nows’ so that our futures become the space and reality we would like them to be. And, if our future turns out to be more terminal than we had anticipated, by living the message of these quotes, we will at the very least have lived a life that was worth celebrating.

Aubrey Hepburn

I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.

I love this eclectic mix of beliefs from Aubrey Hepburn. It reminds me to go with my own particular oddities and not to worry about what others think. It also reminds me that I can let go of the things that don’t serve me on any particular day, wake up tomorrow and start afresh. We all need this reminder sometimes.

For a bit of fun, I decided to rewrite Audrey’s quote using my own words. What do you think?

I believe in sky-blue. I believe that laughing is the best antidote to negativity. I believe in kissing, but I believe in hugging even more. I believe in being strong but that there is strength in vulnerability. I believe that there is power in the laughter of children. I believe that tomorrow is another day and miracles appear when you’re ready to see them.

[Read more…] about The Quote Series: 5 Quotes To Inspire Your Future

It’s Not The Death Bed Regret Scenario

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book1We’re all marching towards it, but we’re not there yet. As long as you got up this morning and took a breath, you’re still with us. But are you making your presence count?

I was struck by a few lines from an article I was reading this morning as it was a particularly good parallel for our lives. It went something like this…

There’s a book on a table in an otherwise empty room. As you approach the book, you can see that it has your name on it. You’re perturbed and wrestle with whether to open the book or not, but eventually succumb and turn the cover.

The book holds all your unfulfilled dreams along with the excuse for not pursuing them. It’s mind blowing and you’re reduced to tears as you read… [Read more…] about It’s Not The Death Bed Regret Scenario

An Ideal Day?!

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…and b-r-e-a-t-h-e….

It was the start of a hectic day.  In this case a Sunday which should have been relaxing, but wasn’t.

You know the kind of day when you can’t seem to find a moment for yourself, when your mental to-do list is screaming for attention, but others’ demands are screaming even louder. The upshot is frustration, overwhelm and stress!

‘Welcome to my world’ I hear you say. And indeed, I hear it.

I have this utopian vision of waking up on a Sunday morning, the sun is shining, casting diagonal brightness through the blinds across the white duvet, my first cup of tea has already been placed by the bed and all is well with the world.

Instead, it was a fitful night’s sleep, punctuated with cat fights (literally) and toothache (ouch!). The morning has dawned grey (but, thankfully, dry) and my morning cuppa is hurting my aching tooth. Add to the mix a hubby with a pulled back muscle, barely walking and needing some TLC, three adult children competing for bathrooms to see who can get out of the house soonest and my mental-to-do list screaming its needs at me, and instead it feels like Armageddon! [Read more…] about An Ideal Day?!

Getting No Bang For Your Buck?

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Working on our goals can be hard, but not always. Sometimes things just seem to come together and the actions we take support the outcomes we want in a very positive way. We know that if we keep going, we’re going to reach the point where we’ll experience success and see our goals manifest. But the reality is that this linear route to success is rare and instead most of us walk a winding road towards the achievement of our goals.

So just how does that work for the rest of us?

Do you ever feel the frustration of working so hard on your goals, but the results are slow in arriving? Or, maybe you’ve made some good progress but then you stall and your progress backslides? [Read more…] about Getting No Bang For Your Buck?