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Planning 2015 – are you ready?

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Planning 2015It’s time to start planning 2015!  The old adage that if you fail to plan you plan to fail starts to gather momentum at this time of year. As we advance towards the festive season, the busyness leading up to the big day takes over our lives and we often start to lose our way with our good intentions and plans. Couple with this, the increase in entertainment, food and general good cheer and it’s no wonder that things get a little out of control!

But as we all know, come January the 1st, we will all be feeling the effects of a tighter than usual waistband, our fitness levels will have succumbed to the allure of too many late nights and our good intentions to keep up with our homework, keep the clutter at bay or just be more mindful have drifted into no-mans-land!

We may also feel that we have run into an impasse and be questioning our life direction. We may want to make changes, but as yet we have not surfaced those changes into concrete plans and a list of actions.

Whether we like it or not, January is the time for planning 2015! Not just any old plan, but a life plan that specifies the things we want to have, see and do. We need a list of actions that will bring us to that place and we need to be ready to take action. But first and foremost, we must get planning! [Read more…] about Planning 2015 – are you ready?

I did that!

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mau1
This is Mau!

I sat back, content and smug, and continued to stare at the website I’d been working on for the last three weeks.  A ‘cheshire cat’ grin tugged the corners of my mouth upwards as I thought to myself: ‘I did that!’.

Welcome to my new website, it’s been three weeks in the making, thanks to my very limited knowledge of anything techy, but here it is! Working on my website has got me thinking about how far I’ve come since I started this journey…

Do you ever take the time to look back at your achievements? I must admit that this isn’t something I do very often, preferring instead to stay as focussed as possible on the journey ahead. This attitude of not looking back is clearly supported by a number of successful people also, as there are many relevant quotes out there and this one from Zig Ziglar springs to mind immediately:

“Don’t look back, you’re not going that way!”

Succinct and to the point! [Read more…] about I did that!

Reflect to Thrive!

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reflection1 It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done.  Samuel Johnson.

Self-reflection is such an underrated and under-used method of personal growth, I believe.  Although, in fairness to anyone who hasn’t undertaken this ‘pastime’ to any great extent, I think there can be some very good reasons for this.

For example, we usually don’t want to revisit experiences that have been painful or embarrassing, dissecting them to find the gem of learning which would give us the key to moving on with some calmness or equanimity.  Instead, our self-reflection tends to get stuck on justifying our actions or finding fault in others – the ubiquitous blame culture which seems to pervade our society nowadays. [Read more…] about Reflect to Thrive!

Knowing Then What I Know Now!

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audiLife would be so much easier if we had all the information we needed before we embarked on a new project, entered into a new relationship, made an important financial decision or even accepted that new job, don’t you think?  But unfortunately, life just isn’t like that.

Instead, we start and stop new projects, often not seeing them through to fruition, fall in love with the person of our dreams only to discover a few months later that they were never looking for a commitment anyway (or so they say…), buy a new car and then breakdown just days after the warranty has expired or accept a great new job and learn too late that our new boss is somewhat of a narcissist!  Does any of this sound familiar? [Read more…] about Knowing Then What I Know Now!

Lessons I Learned in 2013, Part 2

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7800147562_661f5bd5f9_nThis is part 2 of a two-part review of my life lessons from 2013.  If you haven’t already, you can read part 1 here.  The focus of Part 1 was the personal development I experienced during the year, Part 2 focuses on the challenges I faced during the year and the lessons I learned from those challenges.

If you read my blog or check in to my Facebook page regularly you will already know that in the summer of 2013 I experience two major setbacks.  The first was a car accident that left me unable to drive or be driven with any confidence in my own safety (and the emotional effect this had on me) and the second, my husband having a heart attack.  I was away from my blog and Facebook for quite some time after these events, but eventually I found my way back.  Inevitably life events such as these change and shape us, as they did with me….

I’m stronger than I thought…

…maybe. [Read more…] about Lessons I Learned in 2013, Part 2

Did You Notice….?

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20131215_183003Have you ever noticed how you stop noticing things?  It’s almost as if we become blind, both to the physical and non-physical things.

I noticed this a few days ago, when, for whatever reason I became aware of the naked bulb in my kitchen.  I don’t remember how or when it happened, but the glass shade that belongs over the bulb got broken and, weeks later, it still hasn’t been replaced.  I had, to all intents and purposes, become blind not only to the physical appearance of the naked bulb, but also to the need to replace it.

This got me thinking about other things that we need to change but inadvertently don’t see, even though this may be causing us some kind of pain (physical or otherwise) or is more apparent (to others) in our tangible environment.

Part of the reason for this I guess is that we fill our lives to such an extent that it clearly is impossible to remember to notice everything.  On some level though we are prioritising those things which are important to us, or, more likely, we are prioritising those things and/or people which are demanding something from us.  But how often do we actually take the time to consciously consider that we are noticing the right things?

But noticing the ‘right’ things isn’t always easy to do of course, particularly if those things have an emotional charge and we would actually rather not deal with them, despite knowing that once we have processed our thoughts and feelings we will be able to move on with our lives more authentically and calmly. [Read more…] about Did You Notice….?